The Democrat Thread

[StrangeSox]

whoops, forgot the link to the article.

 

http://inthesetimes.com/article/15849/teac...er_the_problem/

 

I think it's the latter.

[Jake]

FWIW, most of my life has been supported financially by a trucking business and the government is not perceived as a challenge to its existence. Conglomeration and vertical integration is a much bigger problem.

[Jake]

whoops, forgot the link to the article.

 

http://inthesetimes.com/article/15849/teac...er_the_problem/

 

I think it's the latter.

 

The original study from the SEF is more helpful.

 

You're basically seeing something that I've seen since moving to the South. When I first got to the South (coming from Illinois) for college, I was shocked at how the vast majority of the people I met from the South went to secular private schools. I literally can't think of one of those in Illinois. Of course, in Illinois, a lot of non-Catholics go to Catholic schools so that they can have a private education, but that is beside the point. In the South, though, everyone just said "the public schools are terrible." Oh, okay.

 

I realized later that "terrible" meant filled with poor black kids. What I have observed, especially in Memphis, is a great deal of hostility toward public schools that is rooted in fear and bias against black folks. You get all kinds of people sending their kids to private schools to get them away from the "bad public schools," and then you have a bunch of people who hate funding their local public schools. No s***! Maybe if you sent your kids there and let them mingle with other kinds of people, the entire community would feel invested rather than just making it a factory to poop out people for those quasi-segregated communities to remain in poverty.

 

There is absolutely no coincidence that the South looks the worst in so many of these metrics, especially that 76% of school districts are majority low income in the South. There is a sense of desperation among people there to invest any amount to get their kids into a private school. I worked with a girl in college whose parents made less than 100k/year, yet were paying 20k/year in tuition to send her to an academy in her rural town.

[Jake]

 

Yep, that's a district alright

[StrangeSox]

Richard Cohen didn't realize slavery was all that bad until someone made a movie about it:

 

 

 

How is it even possible for someone to live in 2013 as a political opinion writer who;s been in the industry for decades and is at one of the most prominent papers in the country to not realize the horror and brutality of slavery? And Cohen's supposedly one of the liberals at WaPo. It's not like 12 Years A Slave is even the first movie to depict the awfulness of slavery.

 

http://wonkette.com/533655/terrible-column...ally-really-bad

 

So is Cohen trying to get himself fired or?

 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/1...l_marriage.html

 

Today’s GOP is not racist, as Harry Belafonte alleged about the tea party, but it is deeply troubled — about the expansion of government, about immigration, about secularism, about the mainstreaming of what used to be the avant-garde. People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York — a white man married to a black woman and with two biracial children. (Should I mention that Bill de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, used to be a lesbian?) This family represents the cultural changes that have enveloped parts — but not all — of America. To cultural conservatives, this doesn’t look like their country at all.

[Jake]

It's true - conservatives are interested in conservation. Being a conservative often means that a change to culture is not wholly embraced up front until its consequences are clear. This is where we see the difference between conservatism and libertarianism: something like gay marriage will usually seem good to a libertarian because it is a matter of liberty, whereas a conservative will have pause until he/she feels comfortable that it won't have harmful effects to society.

 

This is why we speak out - we have to show people that this isn't bad for society.

 

When we bring religion into the mix, bleh. I don't know how to or feel like dealing with people that want to govern based upon their religious beliefs. You could certainly be a Christian, not believe your church can/should allow gay marriage, and still think that society can live on with gay marriage allowed.

[StrangeSox]

Cohen wasn't talking about gay marriage, but about interracial marriage.

[Jake]

Cohen wasn't talking about gay marriage, but about interracial marriage.

 

Right - I'm not saying we should take him seriously, but generally speaking a group of people feeling uncomfortable about stuff is quite necessary

[StrangeSox]

Inevitable, maybe, but not necessary.

 

[iamshack]

Inevitable, maybe, but not necessary.

Isn't he saying that the people with those views need to suppress that reflex, as opposed to not suppressing it? I mean I get why you are angry, and I get why he phrased that the way he did, but, there are actually people that openly will gag...those are the ones I am concerned about...

[StrangeSox]

It's not so much anger as "lol how does this man still have a job at a major newspaper writing his opinion?"

 

There are multiple things wrong with it. First is that the rest of the article is really just boring, generic conventional wisdom. Second is starting off the paragraph by saying "this group isn't racist" and then saying a few sentences later that they need to suppress a gag reflex if they see an interracial couple. That's about as basic as racism gets. Third is that ascribing that view to "conventional" does an awful lot of work. Opposition to interracial marriage is somewhere in the 15-18% range, so it's really not the "conventional" conservative view. His article several months back on Trayvon Martin and the "uniform" had some similar language that seemed to be sneaking in his own personal views as "conventional" or common.

 

Then when you combine it with his pretty long history of writing terrible things when it comes to race (just last week he was shocked, shocked! to learn that slavery wasn't a generally benevolent institution), you really have to wonder why this person gets paid and has been paid for decades to write his opinion. I think Alex Pareene over at Slate covered it pretty well:

 

http://www.salon.com/2013/11/12/richard_co...please_fire_me/

 

There are four, and only four, Richard Cohen columns.

 

1. Boring conventional political column

2. Inscrutable, unfunny joke column

3. “I am scared of black people” column

4. “I am shocked and outraged that people called me racist/idiotic/humorless” column

 

We are due for a number four any day now. He probably has one or two pre-written ones, just waiting for those moments when people remember Richard Cohen’s existence and read the latest things he has said.

[iamshack]

I understand...I guess I just don't waste my energy on people like him...

 

The last girl I dated was black, and so I started to get accustomed to the looks after awhile...not trying to say I'm "used to the racism!" (Of course I couldn't be), but you do learn very quickly that people like that aren't worth your time or efforts.

[cabiness42]

It's true - conservatives are interested in conservation. Being a conservative often means that a change to culture is not wholly embraced up front until its consequences are clear. This is where we see the difference between conservatism and libertarianism: something like gay marriage will usually seem good to a libertarian because it is a matter of liberty, whereas a conservative will have pause until he/she feels comfortable that it won't have harmful effects to society.

 

This is why we speak out - we have to show people that this isn't bad for society.

 

When we bring religion into the mix, bleh. I don't know how to or feel like dealing with people that want to govern based upon their religious beliefs. You could certainly be a Christian, not believe your church can/should allow gay marriage, and still think that society can live on with gay marriage allowed.

 

Yes, yes I certainly can.

[Balta1701]

JPMorgan Chase decided that they were going to do a Q&A live over twitter.

 

The results are about as good as you'd expect them to be; good enough to have actors begin reading the tweets out loud for youtube videos.

[Balta1701]

An Ohio Walmart holds a food-drive for its own employees and it's not an article from The Onion.

[StrangeSox]

this is awful

 

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/1...raping-teenager

An Alabama man convicted of raping a teenage girl will serve no prison time. On Wednesday, a judge in Athens, Alabama, ruled that the rapist will be punished by serving two years in a program aimed at nonviolent criminals and three years of probation.

 

In September, a jury in Limestone County, in north central Alabama, found Austin Smith Clem, 25, guilty of raping Courtney Andrews, a teenage acquaintance and his then-neighbor, three times—twice when she was 14, and again when was she was 18.

 

[...]

 

Andrews recalled Clem’s crimes to AL.com on Thursday. When he abused her at age 14, she said, “He kept saying, ‘This is okay,’ and ‘Don’t say anything or you’re going to get me in trouble,’” she said. Clem threatened her parents lives’ if she told anyone, Andrews said. After he raped her in 2011, she had a family friend inform her parents. She couldn’t bear to, she said, because “I knew it would break their hearts.” That night, her parents reported Clem to the police.

 

In related news, Alabama currently jails 49 people for life without parole for nonviolent drug offenses. Best Justice System In The World!

[Jenksismyhero]

Yikes.

 

Though there is this:

 

Totten notes that had Woorfood sent Clem to prison with that sentence, Alabama statutes would have required Clem to serve more than 20 years before he would be eligible for probation. In light of that, Totten says, a stint in community corrections was more appropriate. However, AL.com noted that Alabama statutes would have allowed Woodroof to hand down a shorter prison term.

 

I'd imagine a judge knows sentencing laws better than AL.com. If those were really his choices then I can't blame him. 20 years without parole is pretty harsh. But if that's the case, change the law. Community service/probation is pretty terrible.

 

 

[Jake]

If I'm choosing between no prison time and 20 years for a serial rapist, I'm going with 20 years. This is no accident, no misunderstanding, it is among the worst crimes fathomable and clearly so.

[StrangeSox]

Yikes.

 

Though there is this:

 

 

 

I'd imagine a judge knows sentencing laws better than AL.com. If those were really his choices then I can't blame him. 20 years without parole is pretty harsh. But if that's the case, change the law. Community service/probation is pretty terrible.

 

Raping a 14 year old is pretty harsh. I also didn't see anything that says the judge had to give him the length he did as a mandatory minimum.

 

There's also this awfulness at the end of the article:

 

This summer, a Montana judge sentenced Stacey Rambold, a teacher, to 30 days in jail for repeatedly raping one of his students, who was 14 years old at the time. Rambold's victim, Cherice Moralez, committed suicide while the rape trial was ongoing. The judge, G. Todd Baugh, said that Moralez had been "as much in control of the situation" as Rambold—who was 35 years her senior—and that Moralez was "older than her chronological age." The age of consent is 16 in Montana. The case became a national controversy, with the judge apologizing for his remarks, but not the sentence.

 

How are these people judges. What the hell.

 

A similar case happened in Britain earlier this year, too. Rape victims get f***ed by the courts all over the world.

[StrangeSox]

The republican minority in the Senate is blocking yet another DC Circuit Court appointment by Obama. This makes number three, and they're not even pretending to have a real reason at this point.

 

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/11/...urt-of-appeals/

 

I'm not sure why the Democrats don't just junk the filibuster already.

[iamshack]

The republican minority in the Senate is blocking yet another DC Circuit Court appointment by Obama. This makes number three, and they're not even pretending to have a real reason at this point.

 

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/11/...urt-of-appeals/

 

I'm not sure why the Democrats don't just junk the filibuster already.

I really hope republican voters hold the party accountable for this nonsense.

[Balta1701]

The son of Virginia state senator an former governor candidate Craig Deeds was given a psychological evaluation yesterday. He was released yesterday because there were no beds available in the Richmond area.

 

Today he is dead after stabbing his father several times and being shot, maybe suicide not sure on that part yet.

 

Virginia cut its mental health spending by 9% from 09 to 11, closing several facilities in the process.

[Jenksismyhero]

The son of Virginia state senator an former governor candidate Craig Deeds was given a psychological evaluation yesterday. He was released yesterday because there were no beds available in the Richmond area.

 

Today he is dead after stabbing his father several times and being shot, maybe suicide not sure on that part yet.

 

Virginia cut its mental health spending by 9% from 09 to 11, closing several facilities in the process.

 

Blame Republicans.

[Balta1701]

Blame Republicans.

You're hilarious.

[DukeNukeEm]

We are well on the path of openly disowning the mentally ill from whats left of our rights in this country. Their access to the 2A is pretty much over, they cant say what they want or they wind up in the loony bin or sedated by a batch of drugs and now were oh so close to snatching away their protections from unlawful and unwarranted search and seizure. They cant admit anything without someone trying to get them institutionalized (hello self-incrimination) and they are forced to take mind control drugs or wind up back in the nuthouse.

 

It sickens me to see people cheer this trend on. More money to lock people up! Theyre all a bunch of James Holmes' waiting to kill us!

 

I hate it so much. Theyre all treated as criminals before they ever com it a crime.