The Fall of Roe v Wade: US Politics, June 2022

i like to know about things, and my short life is mine

I mean, I was oblivious to the fact that anyone with intellectual respectability even said that

Watching the hearings and caring what emerges from the hearings are two different things. I think I've watched 20 minutes total?

i've watched (or listened to on the radio) every single one
do you all think i am a moron for having done this? (do not answer this please)
i want to see it with my own eyes
and am not a moron for the record.

nothing will emerge from the hearings.

xp i don't think you're a moron, i'm completely mystified as to why anyone would want to watch them. i already know what happened, it happened two years ago. absolutely fail to see a reason to watch when i could be doing just about anything else.

We've all had to expand our imaginations in the last seven years, man.

map OTM - no judgement for watching or listening, I just can't wrap my head around why anyone would. Like going to church twice a week or attending a 20-hour Marvel movie marathon, the concept just baffles me.

Watching/listening to the hearings adds a dimension that can't be had by simply knowing the substance of the hearings. In the same way you can know all the ingredients in a dish and have eaten that dish before, but looking at a jpeg of the dish on your phone isn't the same as tasting it again.

You deserve a break today.

i really enjoyed that Bowers guy getting choked up about ronald reagan and the divinely inspired constitution

whata hero!

You deserve a break today.

― Eggs Benedick (Eric H.), Monday, June 27, 2022

What happens in the next reel? Do I get dragged off screaming to the snake pit?

A shamrock shake.

xp - If you geniunely want to know why: I am watching it so I can see it with my own eyes, witness it. I don't want to ingest someone else's experience watching it and i do believe it's important to witness. It's sometimes boring but so are the levers of government.

I don't believe that any one of us (human beings on earth) knows exactly what will or won't emerge from the hearings. When someone says "nothing will happen" I have to ask what they know that makes them able to see the future? Let it play out, witness the work being done, and absorb the gravity of the moment. That is why I am watching.

"Nothing will happen" because the hearings aren't designed to accomplish a goal, though - like there's no endgame here that involves prosecutions or changes to the law or impeaching Trump for a third time (lol). They're Spreading Awareness(TM).

I've been listening on the radio, and I find it interesting... it's well produced and the sheer volume of Republicans testifying makes it something more than a partisan show trial

i’m not watching but i’m gonna expend zero effort wondering how anyone could possibly watch it bc that’s a thing dicks do, it’s ok that we’re processing this cultural/political moment differently, maybe post more about how much the democrats suck instead

I think it's a very good thing for both the present moment and the future that the hearings are happening and have been as thorough and well orchestrated as they have been. I haven't felt compelled to watch/listen but have been following them with interest via assorted written accounts and social media. I don't know what if anything they change, but I prefer them happening to not.

"nothing will happen" discounts the effect of Spreading Awareness TM. When done effectively, awareness-raising is an essential component of public education. Whether or not 12 hours of televised hearings will result in any learning is unforeseeable/unmeasurable; even so, that doesn't mean "nothing" has "happened" -- it means the effect isn't measurable immediately with a specific goal or endgame.

also i have to admit it brings me satisfaction to hear people throw DJT under the bus, over and over. it doesn't matter that they are sickening wrong-about-everything pious republicans. i think i find satisfaction in the public airing of the truth.

Oh yeah, there's definitely a benefit in just remembering and/or making people more aware of how terrible the whole thing was. I do think it hurts Trump in a lot of ways, maybe or maybe not in the immediate sense of pushing him away from running again, but it has some corrosive effect on his viability I think.

Most of what is being testified to was reported in the media at the time. The main thing the hearings accomplish, beyond creating a fluently integrated narrative of Trump's coup attempt, is that the testimony has all been given under oath and any corroborating documents have been assembled according to rules that establish their provenance so they could be used as evidence in court or before a grand jury.

If the Justice Department collected all the same evidence they'd have no venue for presenting it to the public. The Committee isn't bound by the same rules, so they can put all this out there prior to any indictments.

unfortunately the hearings may be helping DeSantis:

“I think the January 6 hearings are continuation of the exhausting circus that surrounds Trump,” said a close DeSantis adviser granted anonymity to speak freely. “There are of course the lunchbox Republicans who think this is a ‘mass conspiracy,’ but among the donor class many are just tired of this.”

xp i don't think you're a moron, i'm completely mystified as to why anyone would want to watch them. i already know what happened, it happened two years ago. absolutely fail to see a reason to watch when i could be doing just about anything else.

― the cat needs to start paying for its own cbd (map), Monday, June 27, 2022 3:38 PM (thirty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

idk I feel like there's a lot of new info that's come out of this, I'd assumed it was one of those Trumpy things where you can't condemn anyone who's a fan of yours when in reality there appears to have really been an orchestrated plot to overthrow the government, doomed as it may have been

If Dems did nothing and didn't have the hearings we just accept all the nefarious bullshit of Jan. 6., and I'm for doing something rather than nothing.

I feel like as long as we have our stupid electoral college system, and presidencies are being decided by a few thousand people in a few key swing states, if there is even a small percentage of viewers whose hearts/minds/votes can be persuaded by these hearings then they are worth having and therefore worth watching, at least in part.

XP to aimless's point:
Also primary documents like recordings and sworn testimony land very differently from everyday reporting.

Remembering a news story about election workers being harassed is dramatically different from hearing the live testimony of Shaye Moss and (recorded testimony of) her mother Ruby. When I watched it, the truth hit so hard that I felt the malevolence was undeniable and that is what I am here for. Proving, testifying, speaking the truth and witnessing it. Maybe I have felt unheard and ignored myself so I revel in testimony and truth-telling, idk.

I don’t think anything will come out of the hearings, but that’s because one criminal enterprise investigating another criminal enterprise doesn’t really have much to tell me.

None of it is legitimate.

If the Justice Department collected all the same evidence they'd have no venue for presenting it to the public. The Committee isn't bound by the same rules, so they can put all this out there prior to any indictmentsthe red wave.

i’m not watching but i’m gonna expend zero effort wondering how anyone could possibly watch it bc that’s a thing dicks do, it’s ok that we’re processing this cultural/political moment differently, maybe post more about how much the democrats suck instead

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, June 27, 2022 10:01 PM (thirty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

fuck off

the word cynic is based on the greek word for dog. seems like the dogs are having their day today.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission didn't bring one dead Rwandan back to life. I don't know why they bothered.

the word cynic is based on the greek word for dog. seems like the dogs are having their day today.

you are right, table. identifying dogs with corrosive cynicism is a libel against dogs

Good thing my dogs like me corrosive and cynical instead of buying into the idea that the putrid vomitorium of the US government is worth saving.

It isn’t.

The only thing that will change anything is civil war or revolution, and neither of those options are totally great, for reasons that we’ve gone over here again and again. The fact remains that these two things, and/or total climate collapse, are the only things that would allow for any sort of change at the federal level.

fuck off

― the cat needs to start paying for its own cbd (map), Monday, June 27, 2022 2:35 PM (twenty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

you’re being a dick!! my excuse is i’m jet lagged

And if the Dem response to recent events is any indication, when Miami is underwater and the Santa Anas have burned through half of LA and the midwest has totally desertified, the Dems will tweet out “we’re with you on climate justice, which is why we’re wearing green this Thursday and re-working the recycling system in the halls of congress, all while singing a choral version of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin On. Look at Nancy sing, slay queen”

i wasn’t being sarcastic at the end there, i legit would prefer more posts about how the democrats are bad than posts about “how could anybody possibly watch these hearings” a nothing point made by ppl who love the sound of their own voices

but instead someone who routinely goes off on other ppl like an asshole here tells me fuck off instead, ok!!! i get how i could’ve been misread i guess

xp - If you geniunely want to know why: I am watching it so I can see it with my own eyes, witness it. I don't want to ingest someone else's experience watching it and i do believe it's important to witness. It's sometimes boring but so are the levers of government.

I don't believe that any one of us (human beings on earth) knows exactly what will or won't emerge from the hearings. When someone says "nothing will happen" I have to ask what they know that makes them able to see the future? Let it play out, witness the work being done, and absorb the gravity of the moment. That is why I am watching.

― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Monday, June 27, 2022 3:52 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

OTM.

earlier in this thread milo posted something megan
mcardle said. never in my life would i waste my time paying attention to something megan mcardle said. does it change anything to pay attention to the things she says? does it bring any value to this already shitty life?

did i post any of these thoughts? no

tipsy mothra - I included CA environmental laws as an example to try to provide balance. I was trying to make the point that regionalism no longer seems to work in the United States and hasn't for a very long time for whatever reason, perhaps primarily because we were never small enough for interactions of the right sort or had enough common assumptions to start, whereas if we did that might make a difference or at least be a start. There could be or have been a time or place where it makes or made sense as now the EU or Pacific alignment seems to make sense, etc. What one considers a stretch for understanding and what conditions determine that may TBD.

By the year 2040, about 70% of Americans are expected to live in the 15 largest states. They will have 30 senators representing them. The remaining 30% of Americans, in small sparsely populated states, will have 70 senators representing them.

— Melissa Ross (@MelissainJax) June 27, 2022

if anyone else has the curse that i do, of reading something like that and wondering "what percentage of americans currently live in the 15 most populous states?", the answer is 66%, as of the 2020 census. it is a problem!

2 out of 3 live in these 15 most populous states.

Massachusetts	7,029,917
Arizona			7,151,502
Washington		7,705,281
Virginia			8,631,393
New Jersey		9,288,994
Michigan			10,077,331
North Carolina	        10,439,388
Georgia			10,711,908
Ohio			11,799,448
Illinois			12,812,508
Pennsylvania		13,002,700
New York		        20,201,249
Florida			21,538,187
Texas			29,145,505
California		        39,538,223

i object to these 15 states, so i renounced my citizenship from "Big Pop State" and moved to the free state enterprise thought leader of the christian states of america, missouri

(That is probably the worst cause of misrepresentation. One might think there could be better ways to represent certain populations for certain purposes and certain populations for other purposes, e.g., global taxation.)

I mean.. isn't that the way it was set up a couple hundred years ago? House is based on population, and states get two Senators each. You can't jerrymander the Senate, they run statewide

I've heard the 'abolish the Senate' arguments aplenty, but c'mon.. ain't gonna happen anytime soon

Eat the Senators

So who's pumped up for surprise Jan 6 hearings? Surely this will be something new, right? RIGHT?!?

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-wont-consider-lowering-bar-prove-defamation-2022-06-27/

agh! oh sorry, the surprise hearing startled me. ha!

The revised schedule comes several days after the committee announced a brief hiatus to assess new evidence and records obtained by the committee, with plans to wait until after the July Fourth holiday for any further public hearings. The sudden change suggested an urgency and sensitivity around Tuesday’s presentation.

Last week, British filmmaker Alex Holder met with committee investigators behind closed doors and provided over 10 hours of footage to the panel from interviews with Trump, his adult children, former vice president Mike Pence, and from the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. The committee has been in contact with new individuals involved in the efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including conservative activist Virginia “Ginni" Thomas, who is Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife, as well as Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.).

now would be a great time for the hearings to address Ginni Thomas, to illustrate the plain-as-day corruption of the supreme court. seems like a timely issue

maybe Charo is gonna guest star