US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1759

On August 16 2019 11:02 GreenHorizons wrote:


As many stories as I'm reading about citizens being locked up I'm not entirely sure they couldn't visit immigrants traveling through Mexico and get caught up by ICE/DHS and have it explained as them meeting a threshold for detention.

It is interesting that AIPAC used to be considered pretty right wing but in the era of Trump/Netanyahu they are the moderates.

On August 16 2019 12:38 Falling wrote:
Then it's a bust. I don't know how he looks at his numbers and figures it's time to ride or die. Unless maybe he's hoping for a repeat of 'anybody but Romney' for Biden, and he pops up on top as the next 'not Biden'. . . except Romney got the nomination in the end anyways.

On August 16 2019 17:25 Dangermousecatdog wrote:
They don't. HK's population in itself is the "undesirables". They are used to a free press and the rule of law and a corrupt-free government. They are used to a government that doesn't abduct booksellers in HK, and torture them. That is very undesirable for China.

On August 16 2019 22:07 Ryzel wrote:


This. Hong Kong’s days of being independent from China look numbered. I fear it’s highly likely most of the current population will be rounded up and best case displaced, worst case made an example of (tortured and executed).

Expect to see awkward double talk from Trump where it’s almost mandatory he has to denounce the upcoming cleanse, but is not-so-secretly jealous he can’t deal with his political dissidents like Xi can. Something like “This misunderstanding between Xi and the HK people is truly tragic. I hope it can be resolved without further loss of life/bloodshed!”

On August 16 2019 22:07 Ryzel wrote:


This. Hong Kong’s days of being independent from China look numbered. I fear it’s highly likely most of the current population will be rounded up and best case displaced, worst case made an example of (tortured and executed).

Expect to see awkward double talk from Trump where it’s almost mandatory he has to denounce the upcoming cleanse, but is not-so-secretly jealous he can’t deal with his political dissidents like Xi can. Something like “This misunderstanding between Xi and the HK people is truly tragic. I hope it can be resolved without further loss of life/bloodshed!”

On August 17 2019 04:06 IgnE wrote:


boarding schools in ireland, or for orphans, or whatever were similarly horrible. it is hard to disentangle the cultural obliteration in those indian boarding schools from more general norms regarding the disciplining of lower class hoi polloi regardless of color. (also consider the complicated interpenetration of such norms by sincerely held religious beliefs and the theological obligations of evangelization)

i submit that you should not compare the US at a given per capita income to eg china at that income. 2019 is 2019. it presents new global norms and new technologies of control. i also submit that china probably has an equivalent to gitmo, and that the surveillance and reeducation going on in xinjiang is in addition to its political prisoner and police black sites which are undoubtedly at least as numerous as those in the US.

On August 17 2019 03:52 Mohdoo wrote:
Question: at what point do people think children's rights will become a bigger deal? Currently, parents are basically given ownership of children. Many children essentially have no shot in life because of their parents.

Fundamentally, I feel the issue boils down to the concept of parents having ownership of their children.

strong public child-rearing institutions that the damages of an incompetent (not abusive) parent are greatly diminished, favoring that over a more intrusive child protection agency.

On August 17 2019 04:10 Liquid`Drone wrote:
With regards to children's rights, I believe they have been on a fairly consistent rise for the past century and I think that's gonna be a continuing trend. Children are increasingly being considered autonomous humans rather than future adults, and I think it's a very positive development. (This can be signified by stuff like to what degree children's enjoyment is considered an independent factor in school and not just something that may or may not accelerate their learning.)

However when you deal with 'parents having ownership of their children', I think this is one of the most difficult philosophical and political questions to handle. What degree of bad parenting constitutes abuse of children/ to what degree does society have a responsibility to shield children from the effects of bad parenting weighted against the strong natural bond between parents and child and their rights to raise their child in the fashion that most suits them / is that 'right' a real 'right' and if it is, should it be?

Personally i lean towards building such strong public child-rearing institutions that the damages of an incompetent (not abusive) parent are greatly diminished, favoring that over a more intrusive child protection agency. (Well, that's me the Norwegian speaking. It might be that the american child protection agency is not nearly intrusive enough - but in Norway I feel we might be erring a bit on the other side. )

Allies to Joe Biden have been floating the idea of altering the former vice president's schedule in an effort to reduce the gaffes he has made in recent days.

The allies, growing increasingly nervous about Biden's verbal flubs, have said it's an approach that's been suggested to campaign officials on the heels of the former vice president’s stumbles.

Biden has a tendency to make the blunders late in the day, his allies say, particularly after a long swing on the road, like he had last week in Iowa. They say something needs to be done to give the candidate more down time as the campaign intensifies in the fall.

"He needs to be a strong force on the campaign trail, but he also has to pace himself," said one ally who has talked to members of the campaign team and others in the broader Biden World about how to move forward.

The ally said it was unclear whether the campaign would make any changes to Biden's schedule, particularly because Biden was criticized recently for not doing as many events as his Democratic rivals.

“I think you’ll see the same schedule and maybe even more Joe Biden,” one ally said. “Everyone wants to see Joe Biden be Joe Biden. If he’s held back in any way, that’s almost the antithesis of who he is.”

“I think it’s the wrong approach,” the ally added.