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[AntraxSuicide]

We've got Republican posters in here.

And the overall size of the House could handle my suggestion, which would lead to about 1100 members. That's not that much larger, and to be perfectly honest, most Reps don't really do much but fundraise for their next election anyway.

And thinking about it some more, I do think it would reduce gerrymandering. You just have less people to pack into a district, and the raw margins get smaller in those edge cases you use to maintain your advantages. Wave elections would be much more common and easier to pull off (for either party, but that's fair).

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

If you have something to say here that liberals would not agree with, then just give facts for your reasoning and there won't be any problem I assure you.

If you come in and say something like, "Proud of my new president, glad the adults are back in charge" or "The South has no place in the future of our country" yeah, there are gonna be conflicts. This is a place to communicate and pit ideas against each other, so what's wrong with that.

Yeah this is about right. Poligaf is a bunch of liberals ranging from centrists to social democrats with a few socialists thrown in but most people aren't too hostile to presenting facts and arguments.

We've got Republican posters in here.

And the overall size of the House could handle my suggestion, which would lead to about 1100 members. That's not that much larger, and to be perfectly honest, most Reps don't really do much but fundraise for their next election anyway.

And thinking about it some more, I do think it would reduce gerrymandering. You just have less people to pack into a district, and the raw margins get smaller in those edge cases you use to maintain your advantages. Wave elections would be much more common and easier to pull off (for either party, but that's fair).

This is better but still ignores the core issue.

Spoiler

the core issue is that we have districts instead of PR for the legislative seats

 

[neurosisxeno]

Yeah this is about right. Poligaf is a bunch of liberals ranging from centrists to social democrats with a few socialists thrown in but most people aren't too hostile to presenting facts and arguments.

Also Benji (unless he got banned again) who is.... fuck if I know...

 

[AntraxSuicide]

Yeah this is about right. Poligaf is a bunch of liberals ranging from centrists to social democrats with a few socialists thrown in but most people aren't too hostile to presenting facts and arguments.

This is better but still ignores the core issue.

Spoiler

the core issue is that we have districts instead of PR for the legislative seats

Which system of PR would you use? Part of the intended function of the House is for each Representative to have a certain region's interests in mind.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

I think of myself as an independent who has been given no choice but to vote for Democrats since Republicans went insane. If Democrats follow down that road I'll just give up.

 

[neurosisxeno]

Democratic Socialist here? I think. But I have some contentious views--soft on Gun Regulation, Pro-Nuclear, Not against Drone Strikes--so who knows what I even am.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Which system of PR would you use? Part of the intended function of the House is for each Representative to have a certain region's interests in mind.

idrc about open or closed list, if that's what you mean. Closed list is better if you want elites, open list is better if you want inclusiveness and grassroots. I'm partial to closed list because I don't think people pay serious enough attention to rank MPs.

As to the "representing regional interests" this would be easily handled because the two existing parties would break off into smaller parties that represent their constituents' goals. So like, if I'm tired of all these elite banking liberals in the Northeast and want a party based around working class politics, I can just go start my midwestern Farmer-Labor party and then if people in the midwest feel it accurately represents their interests they'll vote for it. The South can have their Christian nationalism party. The northeast can have its technocratic liberal centrist party. These parties can broaden their appeal to multiple regions, but if any one area feels neglected, they can just run their own party without FPTP or gerrymandering woes.

Though this system would be much better without a president, or at least alternative-vote presidential elections. But presidents suck and parliaments are way better so if we get to fantasy resdesign the country we should just get rid of the presidency and the senate.

Democratic Socialist here? I think. But I have some contentious views--soft on Gun Regulation, Pro-Nuclear, Not against Drone Strikes--so who knows what I even am.

I don't think any of those are inherently unsocialist, except maybe drone strikes.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

The Chicago PD is so pathetic that they solved 20% of murders last year.

These losers need to stop striking.

 

[shinra-bansho]

I am whatever George Soros pays me to be.

 

[CrimzonSamurai]

I feel like compared to a lot of political threads in the OT PoliGAF is pretty centrist or at least pragmatist compared to a lot of the total userbase.

I feel like if we had our own little constitutional convention we'd end up with some weird mishmash technocratic republic.

 

[neurosisxeno]

I don't think any of those are inherently unsocialist, except maybe drone strikes.

They're the only topics I regularly butt heads with other left-leaning folks about. Also Free Trade. I was for TPP once I learned what the goal of it actually was, but apparently hating TPP is trendy now, so that had to go.

I feel like compared to a lot of political threads in the OT PoliGAF is pretty centrist or at least pragmatist compared to a lot of the total userbase.

I feel like if we had our own little constitutional convention we'd end up with some weird mishmash technocratic republic.

Holy shit can we do that as a minigame?

 

[A Human Becoming]

A part of me worries that all the reported leaks, even the negative ones, are purposefully done to play us and the media. Bannon has made comments in the past that make me wonder if he's playing a different game then everyone else. I'm not talking about misdirection to take the attention away from what's really important or testing the waters before announcing something.

I've been trying hard not to turn Chicken Little. Deciphering what is worth getting worked up about is a chore.

 

[Pixieking]

A part of me worries that all the reported leaks, even the negative ones, are purposefully done to play us and the media. Bannon has made comments in the past that make me wonder if he's playing a different game then everyone else. I'm not talking about misdirection to take the attention away from what's really important.

I've been trying hard not to turn Chicken Little. Deciphering what is worth getting worked up about is a chore.

Jon Lovett Verified account
‏@jonlovett

It is just not possible for a person with a life and a job outside of politics to understand what is happening in politics right now.

Jon Lovett ‏@jonlovett 1h1 hour ago

Trump's bullshit chaos is this dense fog and it burns off each day but it takes a good chunk of the day before we're not bumping into walls.

Jon Lovett Verified account
‏@jonlovett

A lot of people who follow politics all day every day feel a bit overwhelmed right now and that's the point.

Jon Lovett ‏@jonlovett 6m6 minutes ago

editor's note: this tweet is why Trump won

.

 

[whyamihere]

I feel like compared to a lot of political threads in the OT PoliGAF is pretty centrist or at least pragmatist compared to a lot of the total userbase.

I feel like if we had our own little constitutional convention we'd end up with some weird mishmash technocratic republic.

I don't think so.

I don't think we're more centrist. I just think we're more politically aware and numb, which makes us more pragmatic.

 

[besada]

I'm a little teapot, short and stout.

Regarding the various locked threads, pick a reason: Shitty premise not backed by any data, could have been posted as an opinion in an existing thread, degenerated into a Bernie/Hillary fight within the first page, already been beaten to death in a previous thread

It's just remotely possible that a video game message board is not the place from which the revolution is going to spring. As for activism, the 10 Actions in 10 Days thread is up and continues to be updated, so it's not like there's a problem with activism threads. The issue is that most of the locked threads aren't about doing anything, they're about the thirtieth round of navel gazing, wherein someone has decided that their pet problem with the party is why Donald Trump won. They generally produce the exact same sets of commentary as in the last thread and provide a place for people who don't like the left to concern troll. In short, we find little value in most of them.

None of which would probably rise to the threshold of a lock, except the front page is filled with actual news and information about Trump already, and we like to have room on the front page for some whimsical butthole related threads from time to time.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Holy shit can we do that as a minigame?

We actually did this in my comparative politics class for a fictional burgeoning African democracy. It was tons of fun!

Spoiler

I spent basically the first day and a half filibustering for unicameral parliament with PR voting and then had to give up on everything else when I got that

 

[CrimzonSamurai]

They're the only topics I regularly butt heads with other left-leaning folks about. Also Free Trade. I was for TPP once I learned what the goal of it actually was, but apparently hating TPP is trendy now, so that had to go.



Holy shit can we do that as a minigame?

I'd be super down for it but I work weird hours (2-10pm) so I don't know if I could be here for it during peak user hours. If we want to we should schedule it for a specific date/time and set a format. Like, do we divide it by state/geographic are, do we do it as 13 colonies with representative teams like the OG convention or as 50 states, or individually?

Now I want to read "Plain, Honest Men" again.

 

[Retromelon]

About 60 % of murders are solved nationwide. While Chicago's 20% sounds bad in comparison to that, and is, if gangs aren't beefing on facebook or twitter how would you even know who to suspect? No snitchin'!

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

A part of me worries that all the reported leaks, even the negative ones, are purposefully done to play us and the media. Bannon has made comments in the past that make me wonder if he's playing a different game then everyone else. I'm not talking about misdirection to take the attention away from what's really important or testing the waters before announcing something.

I've been trying hard not to turn Chicken Little. Deciphering what is worth getting worked up about is a chore.

Bannon is the evil genius Rove used to to be for the left. I think his powers have been exaggerated.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Can someone explain why a mod keeps locking threads invoking philosophical questions or sentiment raised in an attempt to decipher and solve the current American political quagmire?

Sure. We are not interested in stream-of-consciousness, College 101 Class, anxiety diary threads. I get that people have nervous energy that they need to expel, but we don't want to be the outlet for that. We welcome threads built around considered, interesting research on the actual causes of the election, or calls to action that mention specific, organized efforts, but we are not really interested in "You Can Fix This By Registering To Vote" or "What If Identity Politics Did/Didn't Make Trump Win" or "Is Reaching Out To The Other Side Worth It Or Not" or "I Think I Am Going To Start A Revolution". As it relates to the threads you have started that got locked, one was a freshman "The Oxford Dictionary Definition of fascism is" take with tons of random bolding and Voxisms like "This Is Not Normal". The other was long ramble about trying to find common ground by saying meaningless platitudes (also included random bolding) to start a viral campaign. We are literally never interested in any threads of someone trying to start a viral campaign ever in any circumstance ever.

My understanding is you are not American nor living in America. This does not mean you cannot have an opinion about US politics. I live in the US but can't vote because I'm not a citizen. I spoke at great length about US politics when I didn't live here, and I will again after I leave here. But it does mean that your project to Solve America is extremely low credibility. Taking part in conversations and sharing news makes total sense, but trying to be a nexus for organizing Americans doesn't. And frankly it's a little patronizing, just as the reverse would be.

But also my question is who do you think are reaching? America's problems aren't that a bunch of college educated video game fans haven't thought about basic civics (and to the extent they are, they won't be solved by someone bolding Wikipedia quotations for them). They are deep and structural. Actual experts who dedicate their lives to making progress on these challenges find them sisyphean, so we don't need hype threads for someone who started watching the news and wants to make a difference. I'm sorry if that sounds rude. Glad you are interested in thinking about these problems, maybe listen for a little while before you jump in to the doing and saying part.

Why is more dumb news about Steve fucking Bannon any more important than people here coming together in trying to fully understand the core of the problem in an attempt to solve it?

This says a lot about how your approach to fixing America is a non-starter: it matters a great deal about what the President's policy advisors think, and report in public. Part of renewing American Democracy will be having a strong media and a civic consensus behind a strong media. The conversation about trust in media, media bubbles, polarization, and fake news is extremely important. A lot more important than saying "Aww shucks, sometimes we talk past each other, we should really break out of our bubbles" No shit.

I was just about to post this in the latest one:

But of course, the thread got locked within 5 posts.

I don't know which thread you mean. If it's the 150th "Wow, What Happened When Trump Got Elected Was Bad" thread, then it got locked because it's useless anxiety spam and already being discussed in literally every thread. If it's the guy who posted the Reddit Atheist / Gamergator video talking about how some other Reddit Atheist wants to create a pressure group to primary the Democratic party, complete with a list of 10 "facts", none of which are substantiated, expressed in what amounts to a Deal With It meme, then we locked it because that is absolutely not the basis for good discussion. I can't think of any other dumb threads we locked in the last hour, but I'm sure I'm missing 40 or 50.

If this isn't enough to understand what we are looking for in a thread, well, I just recommend not posting threads at all. This is not an invitation to continue a derail about how you don't like our moderation and I don't have any further followup to offer besides this.

 

[sphagnum]

You're all reactionaries.

 

[kirblar]

I don't think so.

I don't think we're more centrist. I just think we're more politically aware and numb, which makes us more pragmatic.

Being gay does that to you. You learn to compromise fast.

 

[neurosisxeno]

I'd be super down for it but I work weird hours (2-10pm) so I don't know if I could be here for it during peak user hours. If we want to we should schedule it for a specific date/time and set a format. Like, do we divide it by state/geographic are, do we do it as 13 colonies with representative teams like the OG convention or as 50 states, or individually?

I would imagine we could do a format where there was a set topic established (e.g. Do we want to ensure the right to bear arms?) and we would give a time window for people to input their arguments and then a window to vote. Rinse repeat. Alternatively we could do it over Discord or something to allow for actual organization and things like Filibusters.

I was always interested in the idea of PoliGAF hosting debates on topics. I feel like there's enough people who could sympathize with the other side to make some of the issues really interesting.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

I spent basically the first day and a half filibustering for unicameral parliament with PR voting and then had to give up on everything else when I got that

I mean, what else do you need at that point? There's not much left to fuck up.

 

[neurosisxeno]

I mean, what else do you need at that point? There's not much left to fuck up.

Savage.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

Savage.

I'm just saying, boy done good

 

[CrimzonSamurai]

I would imagine we could do a format where there was a set topic established (e.g. Do we want to ensure the right to bear arms?) and we would give a time window for people to input their arguments and then a window to vote. Rinse repeat. Alternatively we could do it over Discord or something to allow for actual organization and things like Filibusters.

I was always interested in the idea of PoliGAF hosting debates on topics. I feel like there's enough people who could sympathize with the other side to make some of the issues really interesting.

I have no idea how Discord works save that I made an account to talk to DestinyGAF. Someone else would have to take the lead on that end, but I think that would be the way more fun way to do it. I'll try and draft a format/prompt thing and get it up in the next day or two and we can go from there.

We actually did this in my comparative politics class for a fictional burgeoning African democracy. It was tons of fun!

Spoiler

I spent basically the first day and a half filibustering for unicameral parliament with PR voting and then had to give up on everything else when I got that

What did other people want that you had to filibuster that long for that?

 

[Retromelon]

Would you guys be surprised to learn that there is already a poligaf discord and you're just not OG enough to know about it

I got thrown the fuck out for having a ted cruz avatar on election night tho

And I'm starting to think they didn't appreciate my daily Rick Scott pics

 

[UberTag]

A part of me worries that all the reported leaks, even the negative ones, are purposefully done to play us and the media. Bannon has made comments in the past that make me wonder if he's playing a different game then everyone else. I'm not talking about misdirection to take the attention away from what's really important.

Instead of tackling the big picture, let's dissect something minute and discuss its motivations.

Steve Bannon actively sought out an audience with the New York Times today just so he could effectively lash out at all of Western media for misrepresenting Donald Trump's campaign, his presidency, to tell them that they have no power, that they should keep their mouth shut and listen for a while and that they - not the Democrats - are considered "the opposition party".

What was the point of him doing this? Was it emotional? Was it manipulative? Was it distraction? Was it to provoke the media to attack him? Was it a threat? What's the rationale behind the move?

CNN responded in its traditional schizophrenic fashion where Tapper curtly dismissed it while Cooper devoted a 10-minute discussion panel segment to discussing Liberal bias in mainstream media reporting... but neither response really dug into the motivations behind Bannon's attack outside of simply treating it like the latest salvo of demonizing the media.

So what's the angle?

 

[Maengun1]

as an animal lover, I wouldn't wish living with trump on any dog

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

What did other people want that you had to filibuster that long for that?

A variety of terrible ideas. The largest ethnic delegation gave an equal number of representatives to each ethnic group, even though there were wide discrepancies between the sizes of them. This was the hardest to negotiate with because I had to make them realize why their plan was terrible for them. There was also trying to convince people why bicameralism is bad and why presidents are bad and why districts are bad. Fears about "one ethnic group having too much power" had to be reassured. It was a lengthy fight and one of my finest hours.

And then I had to give up on fighting federalism or the supreme court or gender rights because I'd used up all my political capital orz

 

[Box of Kittens]

Bannon is the evil genius Rove used to to be for the left. I think his powers have been exaggerated.

This comment is spot on. Not saying Bannon is dumb, but if he were the mastermind people made him out to be, you'd think that Trump would have managed better than a victory that came down to less than 40K votes spread across three states. Back in 2005 it felt like every discussion among left-leaning communities online involved ominous warnings about what Rove was doing or what he wanted to happen. His infamous prediction using "the math" in 2006 was the first time the myth that had built up around his powers started to crack.

 

[Pixieking]

Instead of tackling the big picture, let's dissect something minute and discuss its motivations.

Steve Bannon actively sought out an audience with the New York Times today just so he could effectively lash out at all of Western media for misrepresenting Donald Trump's campaign, his presidency, to tell them that they have no power, that they should keep their mouth shut and listen for a while and that they - not the Democrats - are considered "the opposition party".

What was the point of him doing this? Was it emotional? Was it manipulative? Was it distraction? Was it to provoke the media to attack him? Was it a threat? What's the rationale behind the move?

CNN responded in its traditional schizophrenic fashion where Tapper curtly dismissed it while Cooper devoted a 10-minute discussion panel segment to discussing Liberal bias in mainstream media reporting... but neither response really dug into the motivations behind Bannon's attack outside of simply treating it like the latest salvo of demonizing the media.

So what's the angle?

I couldn't tell you what the angle was, but I can say it seems bizarre. Whilst there's a slight-upside in neutering the Dems, there's a whole lot of down-side for the administration in giving the media that power. An independent investigative media is always the opposition of the party in power - look at Fox News and how it maintained anger at the Obama administration and Hillary - and Bannon has just admitted this. As you say - why? What's the angle? Even the slight neutering of the Dems doesn't do really anything, because it'll just motivate the Dem base, surely?

 

[BowieZ]

Sure. We are not interested in stream-of-consciousness, College 101 Class, anxiety diary threads. I get that people have nervous energy that they need to expel, but we don't want to be the outlet for that.

Okay. Now I know that NeoGAF has an official policy for dismissing current political philosophy as 'stream-of-consciousness' and 'anxiety diary,' yet not even to the level of 'butthole whimsy', so cannot possibly occupy a place of equal importance as multiple Steve Bannon threads. I will look elsewhere for a friendly ear in my efforts to cultivate bipartisan grassroots activism. Cheers, and let's move on from this "derail".

If you get published in in a journal of political philosophy or political theory, you can make a thread about the article. I would suggest not bolding random words as that tends to lead to a desk reject.

As I said, now I know better what the bar is for what constitutes something that's thread-worthy. News, or peer-reviewed journal articles. I'll look forward to reading them as they are posted.

So, on another note, Rachel Maddow did a great job tonight drawing links between Russia's counter-counter-intelligence actions.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Okay. Now I know that NeoGAF has an official policy for dismissing philosophy as 'stream-of-consciousness' and 'anxiety diary'

If you get published in in a journal of political philosophy or political theory, you can make a thread about the article. I would suggest not bolding random words as that tends to lead to a desk reject.

 

[neurosisxeno]

Would you guys be surprised to learn that there is already a poligaf discord and you're just not OG enough to know about it

I know about it, but I've never been given a link to check it out. Even though I've been coming here for like 2 or 3 years and have asked around the time of every major political event in that time frame...

A variety of terrible ideas. The largest ethnic delegation gave an equal number of representatives to each ethnic group, even though there were wide discrepancies between the sizes of them. This was the hardest to negotiate with because I had to make them realize why their plan was terrible for them. There was also trying to convince people why bicameralism is bad and why presidents are bad and why districts are bad. Fears about "one ethnic group having too much power" had to be reassured. It was a lengthy fight and one of my finest hours.

And then I had to give up on fighting federalism or the supreme court or gender rights because I'd used up all my political capital orz

Were those ideals ones you were assigned or did you chose them thinking they were realistically the best solution? I fail to see how bicameralism is inherently bad--Presidents are debatable.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

If you get published in in a journal of political philosophy or political theory, you can make a thread about the article. I would suggest not bolding random words as that tends to lead to a desk reject.

in which political threads are never posted on PoliGAF ever again

Spoiler

do IR journals count?

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

I know about it, but I've never been given a link to check it out. Even though I've been coming here for like 2 or 3 years and have asked around the time of every major political event in that time frame...



Were those ideals ones you were assigned or did you chose them thinking they were realistically the best solution? I fail to see how bicameralism is inherently bad--Presidents are debatable.

So a couple weeks ahead of the convention, we were given context on our burgeoning democracy in Africa and sorted into four ethnic groups of different sizes and backgrounds. We were supposed to plan our ideal government based on our ethnic group and what we interpreted would best fit what our goals were and then head to the convention with those in mind.

Bicameralism isn't very good because the upper house either an entirely or almost entirely symbolic branch (the UK House of Lords, for example), an unrepresentative sample to differentiate it from the more representative lower house (the US Senate), or an equally representative but entirely unnecessary house (my state senate falls under this, and I'm fairly certain more bicameral state legislatures are the same) that only slows the process of decision making. A unicameral house with PR voting is the most representative of its citizen's views and as such will best implement policy based on what the populace wants. Because populations are usually fairly politically diverse, PR makes for a diversity of political opinions being accurately and proportionately represented so a party can only dominate if it has overwhelming support from the electorate.

I'm only a polisci undergrad though so maybe someone who is more qualified will tell me how wrong I am now though.

 

[AntraxSuicide]

America's problems aren't that a bunch of college educated video game fans haven't thought about basic civics

Citation needed.

idrc about open or closed list, if that's what you mean. Closed list is better if you want elites, open list is better if you want inclusiveness and grassroots. I'm partial to closed list because I don't think people pay serious enough attention to rank MPs.

As to the "representing regional interests" this would be easily handled because the two existing parties would break off into smaller parties that represent their constituents' goals. So like, if I'm tired of all these elite banking liberals in the Northeast and want a party based around working class politics, I can just go start my midwestern Farmer-Labor party and then if people in the midwest feel it accurately represents their interests they'll vote for it. The South can have their Christian nationalism party. The northeast can have its technocratic liberal centrist party. These parties can broaden their appeal to multiple regions, but if any one area feels neglected, they can just run their own party without FPTP or gerrymandering woes.

Though this system would be much better without a president, or at least alternative-vote presidential elections. But presidents suck and parliaments are way better so if we get to fantasy resdesign the country we should just get rid of the presidency and the senate.

I don't think any of those are inherently unsocialist, except maybe drone strikes.

I meant further regional things, like a Rep being some conservative from Upstate NY fighting for legislation that benefits something specific to upstate NY instead of just being another cog in the party machine. I can certainly agree that this is not the case now (where most Reps don't really do anything for their specific districts but just act as another +1 for their party's national pet projects), but part of the intent at least was that if something in Tupelo, MS needed federal attention, that the Rep from that district would try to do something in a way that a body of like-minded (broadly) Reps wouldn't do.

The only way to get this in a PR system is to have party's so regional as to make the distinction meaningless. Which is fine because, again, I'm not convinced that Reps actually need to be in tune to their local politics, but it's certainly a belief held by a lot of people and was definitely part of the intent when the system was made.

I'm also down for some sort of PoliGAF Constitutional Convention. It'd be fun.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Citation needed.



I meant further regional things, like a Rep being some conservative from Upstate NY fighting for legislation that benefits something specific to upstate NY instead of just being another cog in the party machine. I can certainly agree that this is not the case now (where most Reps don't really do anything for their specific districts but just act as another +1 for their party's national pet projects), but part of the intent at least was that if something in Tupelo, MS needed federal attention, that the Rep from that district would try to do something in a way that a body of like-minded (broadly) Reps wouldn't do.

The only way to get this in a PR system is to have party's so regional as to make the distinction meaningless. Which is fine because, again, I'm not convinced that Reps actually need to be in tune to their local politics, but it's certainly a belief held by a lot of people and was definitely part of the intent when the system was made.

I'm also down for some sort of PoliGAF Constitutional Convention. It'd be fun.

I think this is partly a "federalism should probably take care of pet local issues" and partly that political parties would want to reward regions that consistently vote for them. If I have my theoretical midwestern Farmer-Labor party and the insane turnout from Minnesota to give this party support puts us in a strong junior position in the coalition government, I'll probably want to make sure there's lots of infrastructure spending in Minnesota over the next 5 years to make sure the voters there are happy.

If you're talking like pork or whatever, it's main function was to help individual congressmen compromise on projects or whatever so it's probably not a huge issue if it's gone, since MPs in such a system would probably act in ideological unison with their party.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

If a particular issue would literally only affect one region, the fact you have a regional representative changes nothing. The odds that a single vote could change the outcome of a 400+ member legislative vote are very low indeed. The main effect of regional representatives is normally that blocs of regional representatives co-ordinate in return for porkbarrel projects. These are usually worse uses of resources than alternatives, since if they were to net national benefit, they'd usually pass a non-regionalised legislature anyway.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

So in a bit of lighthearted news

the 'screw our president' kid, the one who started a trash can fire, is drew carey's son.

Life is stranger than fiction.

 

[mo60]

We're gonna die.



https://twitter.com/GoAngelo/status/824816015150346240

Please tell me trump did not actually say that. I feel like facepalming right now.

 

[BanGy.nz]

Would you guys be surprised to learn that there is already a poligaf discord and you're just not OG enough to know about it

I got thrown the fuck out for having a ted cruz avatar on election night tho

And I'm starting to think they didn't appreciate my daily Rick Scott pics

:jebsad:

 

[JesseEwiak]

I'd also point out that PR system doesn't necessarily mean one PR election for the whole state.

For instance, in California, you could have 10 'Districts' that elect 5 Congressperson per district and in reality, you'd likely get a more intellectually and politically diverse Congress as a result because you'd get non-black majority districts Democrats from Alabama, Republican's from San Francisco, and so on, and so forth.

Plus, it's not like most Congresspeople still aren't going to be people from major urban areas in a 'district.'

 

[aspiegamer]

From what I get out of the mod postings, generally speaking, if any of us want to go off of a mild rant or have general grievances, this is still acceptable so long as we're doing it here? Off in Community this obviously would decrease the messy workload in OT. This is on assumption that there's at least some attempt at a direction in the conversation. Some people just need to be pointed here to pull them out of being likely to post in every single OT thread and cause a fuss.

 

[Trurl]

I'm a little teapot, short and stout.

Regarding the various locked threads, pick a reason: Shitty premise not backed by any data, could have been posted as an opinion in an existing thread, degenerated into a Bernie/Hillary fight within the first page, already been beaten to death in a previous thread

It's just remotely possible that a video game message board is not the place from which the revolution is going to spring. As for activism, the 10 Actions in 10 Days thread is up and continues to be updated, so it's not like there's a problem with activism threads. The issue is that most of the locked threads aren't about doing anything, they're about the thirtieth round of navel gazing, wherein someone has decided that their pet problem with the party is why Donald Trump won. They generally produce the exact same sets of commentary as in the last thread and provide a place for people who don't like the left to concern troll. In short, we find little value in most of them.

None of which would probably rise to the threshold of a lock, except the front page is filled with actual news and information about Trump already, and we like to have room on the front page for some whimsical butthole related threads from time to time.

Has there been any thought of creating a political subforum during these troubled times? Or even a subforum exclusively for American politics so that the wide swath of political news could could still be posted in the ot without dominating it. These times are incredibly important and nobody in this thread wants to encourage people to tune out, but politics is also overwhelming right now. Perhaps gaf mods could even make editorial decisions and have links to a few of the sub forum 's threads so developments aren't hidden but butthole threads also have room to flourish.

 

[sazzy]

Editorial in one of Pakistan's best English newspapers, Dawn.

Its nothing that hasn't been said before, but figured it worth to listen to a voice in a country that will likely be one of Trump's targets in the future.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1310959/trump-vs-america

No matter how much he tries to portray himself as a champion of the white working class, US President Donald Trump is pitting himself against his country's heritage with his latest executive orders against immigrants.

 

[Chumley]

Would you guys be surprised to learn that there is already a poligaf discord and you're just not OG enough to know about it

I got thrown the fuck out for having a ted cruz avatar on election night tho

And I'm starting to think they didn't appreciate my daily Rick Scott pics

Could I get an invite? Y'all I know I done some good time here

 

[neurosisxeno]

Could I get an invite? Y'all I know I done some good time here

Join Date: 07-18-2016

Pffft