A Political Thread

[Bada-Bing!]

https://kotaku.com/girl-shot-in-the...tm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=mondayAM

Acceptable Collateral damage in the US from upholding 2nd amendment rights?

 

[Gavin]

Acceptable Collateral damage in the US from upholding 2nd amendment rights?

It'll be twisted by some to suggest that video games cause children to commit violent attacks

 

[Bada-Bing!]

It'll be twisted by some to suggest that video games cause children to commit violent attacks

Yip, but how did he get hold of the gun in the first place? The link to the article says it was not clear how he got access to it. I would hazard a guess it was a hand gun, which the son knew where it was kept by his parents.

I think this is the point of these insanely unneeded incidents such as this and mass shootings. What America is telling their kids is that they are acceptable collateral damage when it comes to upholding the right to bear arms.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

I'm gonna get slaughtered for this I feel, but hey ho.
Basically gun control is difficult in the USA. The constitution is enshrined and aint gonna change any time soon, its just too hard to get a super majority over any issue. I think you'll find the majority of intelligent pro-gun activists in the US arent actually pro gun, merely strict constructionists. They dont believe that everyone should be walking round armed, but understand that the constituion is the core of US politics and without it, the entire system collapses. The reason that there is mass shooting after mass shooting isnt because nobody wants to change anything, it is because the US political system is designed so that changing core principles of the constitution is basically impossible. The founding fathers lacked the foresight neccesary in a lot of areas and this is one of them.

So if we accept that the constitution is gonna stay untouched, then we need to find an alternate solution and I don't know what that is.

The "lets just ban guns" idea is blissfully simplistic, but impossible in the US political system so there is no point banging on about it.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I'm gonna get slaughtered for this I feel, but hey ho.
Basically gun control is difficult in the USA. The constitution is enshrined and aint gonna change any time soon, its just too hard to get a super majority over any issue. I think you'll find the majority of intelligent pro-gun activists in the US arent actually pro gun, merely strict constructionists. They dont believe that everyone should be walking round armed, but understand that the constituion is the core of US politics and without it, the entire system collapses. The reason that there is mass shooting after mass shooting isnt because nobody wants to change anything, it is because the US political system is designed so that changing core principles of the constitution is basically impossible. The founding fathers lacked the foresight neccesary in a lot of areas and this is one of them.

So if we accept that the constitution is gonna stay untouched, then we need to find an alternate solution and I don't know what that is.

The "lets just ban guns" idea is blissfully simplistic, but impossible in the US political system so there is no point banging on about it.

On the contrary, it is because the founding fathers had foresight that the Constitution was so difficult to change. Monarchs in Europe would fundamentally change the laws of the country on a whim to suit their own ends, the founders intentionally set up the system to make it as difficult as possible for 1 person or group to hold supreme power above all others and to rule above the law. That's why the Constitution is so difficult to change and so prized, it is recognised as the ultimate embodiment of the rule of law rather than rule by decree. It has a system for change that is chosen to be intentionally difficult enough to prevent being changed on a whim but also simple enough that it can be changed with suitable support.

The Constitution has been changed numerous times, the issue is that many Americans have an almost fanatical obsession with the 2nd amendment without fully understanding the context or even what it says. Pretty much every gun fanatic ignores the conditional part of the 2nd amendment about bearing arms being necessary to form a militia and that the militia should be well regulated and for the protection of a free state. The 2nd amendment has the provision right there for regulation but they always ignore all that bit and just pretend the 2nd amendment is limited to "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

On the contrary, it is because the founding fathers had foresight that the Constitution was so difficult to change. Monarchs in Europe would fundamentally change the laws of the country on a whim to suit their own ends, the founders intentionally set up the system to make it as difficult as possible for 1 person or group to hold supreme power above all others and to rule above the law. That's why the Constitution is so difficult to change and so prized, it is recognised as the ultimate embodiment of the rule of law rather than rule by decree. It has a system for change that is chosen to be intentionally difficult enough to prevent being changed on a whim but also simple enough that it can be changed with suitable support.

The Constitution has been changed numerous times, the issue is that many Americans have an almost fanatical obsession with the 2nd amendment without fully understanding the context or even what it says. Pretty much every gun fanatic ignores the conditional part of the 2nd amendment about bearing arms being necessary to form a militia and that the militia should be well regulated and for the protection of a free state. The 2nd amendment has the provision right there for regulation but they always ignore all that bit and just pretend the 2nd amendment is limited to "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"

Again, on the contrary, the supreme court ruled in District of Colombia vs Heller that the right to bare arms had nothing to do with forming a militia... No grounds for regulation on that front unfortunately...

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Again, on the contrary, the supreme court ruled in District of Colombia vs Heller that the right to bare arms had nothing to do with forming a militia... No grounds for regulation on that front unfortunately...

Which isn't related to your point saying the founders didn't have the foresight to form the Constitution properly, that is a court ruling at a later date. It's like those who say that the 1st amendment allows free practice of religion but not freedom from religion.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

the problem with americans and the second amendment is that most can't read, thanks to our amazing public education system that just gets better everyday.

and yeah i'm sure video games will be blamed for this and not the fact that a NINE year old had access to a gun

it's becoming clearer with time that this isn't where i want to spend the rest of my life

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Which isn't related to your point saying the founders didn't have the foresight to form the Constitution properly, that is a court ruling at a later date. It's like those who say that the 1st amendment allows free practice of religion but not freedom from religion.

It was meant to relate to your second point about American ignorance of the full extent of the 2nd amendment allowing for restrictions over it. Forget the forefather bit for now, the crux of the argument is that you can't legislate for gun control without a proper constitutional amendment, which isnt gonna happen

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/20/us/great-mills-high-school-shooting/index.html

Students at this school walked out last week to protest our weak gun laws and the community loudly didn't support them. Now three are dead.

 

[McTallshort]

the 2nd amendment is a red herring. No one gave a **** about it 40 years ago, its only since the NRA got political (backed by the people who make these guns) that it became such an issue.

The reason people in America want to own guns? Because they like guns.

 

[Which Tyler]

Can anyone give me a run down on what's going on in Pennsylvania?
Am I right in thinking that they've redrawn the election boundaries to give Republicans an inherent advantage, just less of one than the horrendously biased existing boundaries? That the Rep.s complained, got thrown out of court, escalated and got thrown of that court, and are now going to fire the elected judges that decided against them? Despite being too late to change the map?

Is this actually happening? Or am I confusing Pennsylvania with some Banana "Republic" dictatorship which would consider Putin's recent election to be far too fair to be considered?

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Can anyone give me a run down on what's going on in Pennsylvania?
Am I right in thinking that they've redrawn the election boundaries to give Republicans an inherent advantage, just less of one than the horrendously biased existing boundaries? That the Rep.s complained, got thrown out of court, escalated and got thrown of that court, and are now going to fire the elected judges that decided against them? Despite being too late to change the map?

Is this actually happening? Or am I confusing Pennsylvania with some Banana "Republic" dictatorship which would consider Putin's recent election to be far too fair to be considered?

as a native pennsylvanian who escaped... essentially yes. GOP got in trouble for gerrymandering and the judges hired someone to redraw the district lines. The GOP doesn't like them so they want them to be impeached for doing their job.

 

[Which Tyler]

as a native pennsylvanian who escaped... essentially yes. GOP got in trouble for gerrymandering and the judges hired someone to redraw the district lines. The GOP doesn't like them so they want them to be impeached for doing their job.

Thank you - and am I right in thinking it's an act of petty vindictiveness? as it's too late to get new judges to overturn the decision?

Are those hired judges allowed to re-run, and be elected again? How likely would that be?
Personally, I'll never wrap my head around electing judges; but I guess that's the Eurocommie in me who thinks that the top judges (or police commissioners) should be the best at their job, rather than the best at political campaigning; but hey.

 

[Gavin]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43484386

Austin bombings: Suspect dead - police

Really surprised this is the first time I've come across this in the news. Is it because he is white?

Austin has been on edge amid the attacks, which have led to the deployment of hundreds of police officers to the city.

Two people have been killed and six injured in the bombings

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43484386

Austin bombings: Suspect dead - police

Really surprised this is the first time I've come across this in the news. Is it because he is white?

It was all over our news yesterday... they even reported a second explosion went off but that turned out to be false (not blaming the news sources, information is all over the place after events like this).

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Sounds like he was copying the original Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, but obviously met a different end.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43484386

Austin bombings: Suspect dead - police

Really surprised this is the first time I've come across this in the news. Is it because he is white?

I think you're turning out to be right. Apparently the explosives were being sent to black families.

If this man was Muslim hell would be breaking loose.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43506098

There's a common denominator here.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Trump basically just offered out Joe Biden

We live in such crazy times