Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats

I'm really at a loss as to how any move the US Army makes there can be completely legal. On Mexican soil, it'd literally be an act of war - which isn't within the President's or the Army's powers to start. On US soil, the reasons for deploying the Army are very limited...Shouldn't this sort of thing be more or less what State troopers and National Guard and such are for?

I mean, to be clear, these people should probably be humanely received, checked and classified to see where they came from and if they have legal claim to asylum status or not, then treated accoring to their status (legal/illegal, migrant or refugee, etc), but that's not going to happen any day soon.

Have you guys considered sending the Statue of Liberty back to France? Her message is sort of the exact opposite of your politics now.
 
Gov. Perry sent the Texas guard to the border years ago, and all they did was step on their own dicks. Because there is nothing that they can do down there legally.
 
I'm really at a loss as to how any move the US Army makes there can be completely legal. On Mexican soil, it'd literally be an act of war - which isn't within the President's or the Army's powers to start. On US soil, the reasons for deploying the Army are very limited...Shouldn't this sort of thing be more or less what State troopers and National Guard and such are for?
CNN: Mattis expected to send 800 more troops to southern border
Excerpts said:
(I)t is not expected they will come into any regular contact with migrants. If the troops carry arms, it will be solely for self-defense. (..) But the deployment is strongly expected to adhere to current law which prohibits the routine use of troops in law enforcement functions.

The troops will not engage in lethal operations to stop the migrants. Instead they are expected to provide fencing, wall materials and other technical support at several key points along the border where it is believed the migrants may try to cross.

The troops will also provide tents and medical care for border authorities in those areas. The troops retain the right of self-defense, but border patrol officers will still be the ones physically stopping illegal migration, the officials said.

This deployment is separate from an ongoing National Guard effort along the border to support border authorities with technical assistance. That mission has approximately 4,000 personnel authorized but only 2,100 are currently in place according to the Pentagon.
 
So, i saw this: on Reddit, and my 1st thought was: "Wait, you didn't expect that? What part of the internet have you been on until now?"
 
Oh, and then you get situations like this one, where the police just can't imagine what motive there might have been.

Let's see.... white dude shoots two black people before exchanging gunfire with a third, shouts to a white person cowering nearby that they don't need to worry because "whites don't kill whites," and then flees when white cops show up. I wonder what his motive might have been.
At least this moron didn't manage to get inside the church he stopped at before the Kroger.
 
Electronic voting machines need to be destroyed and abandoned. Too many stories currently where people have selected straight ticket one way only for the machine to decide to change the answers for them.

Just saw a long one where someone selected straight ticket Democrat in Texas and the machine decided they were voting for Ted Cruz. The county clerks office claims it's user error.

Fucking paper ballots man.

 
Electronic voting machines need to be destroyed and abandoned. Too many stories currently where people have selected straight ticket one way only for the machine to decide to change the answers for them.

Just saw a long one where someone selected straight ticket Democrat in Texas and the machine decided they were voting for Ted Cruz. The county clerks office claims it's user error.

Fucking paper ballots man.

Doesn't have ANYTHING to do with software engineers being bad at their jobs IMO. Just link this instead:
 
When I voted I made damn sure all my listings were correct on every page before I hit confirm. I hope others are doing the same.

Also, I really enjoy the between the scenes clips of the Daily Show. I find Trevor Noah can really let loose and give direct opinion. His recent clip actually made me think very heavily about the damage caused by "polling".

 
We still use paper ballots here, thankfully.

DOJ is requesting SCOTUS to make it okay for employers to fire employees for being transgender.

My department at my company is contracted under DOJ.

Fuckers, bring it.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
A spokesman for the Texas secretary of state told ABC 13 that the problem is caused by "user error," and indicated that the election machine vendor could upgrade systems to fix the problem while stating that Texas has not directed the vendor to do so.

"We've heard from voters over a number of elections about this," Oldham told the news station.

They know about the problem, have known about the problem for years, and are not doing anything about it. Somehow I wonder if they'd have really waited this long if "both sides could be equally hurt."
 
They're going to fucking steal this election too. Anything and everything to stay in power.

I don't think telling America that voting doesn't matter, election after election, is going to generate a reaction they'll like.
 

Dave

Staff member
So... are we still worried about setting dangerous precedents by using the impeachment process?
That was for the Supreme Court nomination. Presidential impeachments are already set as precedent and yes, I think he meets the criteria for impeachment.
 
So, do I understand correctly: If Cruz wins, there will be no further action, but if O'Rourke wins, there will be an investigation into all the voting machine shenanigans.
 
You know, I was thinking about this, and I agree all violent terrorism is bad. Let’s not lose sight of the facts, though. Left wing terrorism is down in the United States and Right Wing terrorism is up. 2/3rds of terrorist acts in the US is now performed by Right wing extremists, and most terrorism is performed by individuals, not organized by terrorist groups.

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch...hirds-us-terrorism-tied-right-wing-extremists

I think this needs to stop, and the most vocal dog whistles are coming from our president, something we’ve never seen before. At a rally in Wisconsin this week, Trump one minute claimed This behavior was unacceptable, then the next blamed the media for the divisiveness.

I’m not sure “There are terrorists on the left and right” is all that helpful here. When the group in power claims oppression, it sets up a situation where those in the minority DO become oppressed. It also gives extreme followers the idea it is ok to lash out at critics.
 
You know, I was thinking about this, and I agree all violent terrorism is bad. Let’s not lose sight of the facts, though. Left wing terrorism is down in the United States and Right Wing terrorism is up. 2/3rds of terrorist acts in the US is now performed by Right wing extremists, and most terrorism is performed by individuals, not organized by terrorist groups.

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch...hirds-us-terrorism-tied-right-wing-extremists

I think this needs to stop, and the most vocal dog whistles are coming from our president, something we’ve never seen before. At a rally in Wisconsin this week, Trump one minute claimed This behavior was unacceptable, then the next blamed the media for the divisiveness.

I’m not sure “There are terrorists on the left and right” is all that helpful here. When the group in power claims oppression, it sets up a situation where those in the minority DO become oppressed. It also gives extreme followers the idea it is ok to lash out at critics.
I don't think it's right to say that Left Wing terrorism is down, not from that linked article, anyway. If roughly 2/3 of last year's acts of terror were Right Wing, that still leaves almost 20 that are Left Wing or Islamic Extremism. And with the article saying y'all had only six in 2006, that sure looks to me like Domestic Terrorism of all kinds is up.

It's just all very shitty.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
If roughly 2/3 of last year's acts of terror were Right Wing, that still leaves almost 20 that are Left Wing or Islamic Extremism.
You're forgetting the possibilities of: unknown group/motivation, and anarchists. Looking at the list from the Global Terrorism Database, a significant number of incidents are listed as "perpetrator group: unknown". There are also a few "anti-government" listings. And I don't know if "anti-police" would be classified as left-wing or anarchist.
 
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