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There is no apt response other than for the over 50% of Americans who voted in favour of their current situation to all suddenly change their minds about gay fr

There is no apt response other than for the over 50% of Americans who voted in favour of their current situation to all suddenly change their minds about gay frogs and space lasers and stolen elections. I can’t see it happening.

mudil 11d ago
Houthis seized Bob-el Mandeb Strait. Even Saudis couldn't have stopped them. That's not particularly American election issue. Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. That's not particularly American election issue.
- LPisGood 11d ago
  Is it not clear that American election issues are directly related to those things?
- Morromist 11d ago
  Uh... and Iran and the Straight of Hormuz?? Did you forget to mention that? Is that an election issue? And who funds the Houthis? And why would they want to close the straight to us? Is it something to do with supporting Israel? No? Ok.
- JumpCrisscross 11d ago
  > Even Saudis couldn't have stopped them. That's not particularly American election issue Energy prices are absolutely an American election issue. Variations in real personal disposable income growth and inflation predict a vast majority of the variation in election outcomes after accounting for incumbency. And Iranian proxies seizing the Bab el-Mandeb–and the U.S. being unable to help Saudi Arabia respond militarily while Iran cements control of the Strait of Hormuz–is the direct result of an American foreign policy choice to, once again, blunder into a war in the Middle East.
- CamperBob2 11d ago
  Even Russia would be better off today if we'd given Ukraine the tools to end the war two or three years ago.
  - 3eb7988a1663 11d ago
    Yeah, but the important question is where would Putin be after that?
- orwin 11d ago
  Houthis were in a weird truce with Saudis and Yemeni government for the last few months. Without US war in Iran destabilising the area, I am pretty sure houthis diplomats wouldn't have been bombed by Saudi Arabia. They might have broken the truce anyway, Houthis still claim south Yemen (wrongly imho, South Yemen is probably the most secularised area of the middle east, probably due to its high literacy rates and Marxist leanings, this would be a really hard sell. Also, Houthis, like Saudis, and former north Yemen leaders, has a clan-based leadership, which isn't a thing at all in South Yemen). Imho a peace over the old borders could have been possible without additional destabilisation from the US. The Iran war made that impossible. Hopefully a peaceful resolution can still be found, quickly.
  - ozlikethewizard 11d ago
    Houthi's were also recently active against Israeli assets as Palestinian solidarity. Another situation that could not have happened without US intervention (support in this case).
- ozlikethewizard 11d ago
  The houthis are part of Iran's 'Axis of resistance' and have also publicly stated one reason for their recent increase in activity being Palestinian solidarity. Given the Iran war and Israels genocide only being possible through US support I'd say the US has a pretty big hand in the matter.
Morromist 11d ago
I'm excited to see all the nutty takes about oil prices from the same people who don't belive in vaccines. I kinda hope they bring back the old idea that oil is actually formed out of non-biological matter and so that means its just basically infinitly seeping up from the earth, we just have to drill a bit deeper. But I think that's a little too nerdy for them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenic_petroleum_origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenic_petroleum_origin
- ButlerianJihad 11d ago
  When I was a kid in the 1980s, the scientific shows and authors all agreed that petroleum was made of dinosaurs. Triceratops and Brontosaurus had died ?? MYA and got compressed into the oil we're drilling for today. It was only about 3 years ago when I learned that petroleum comes from almost anything organic. So, ferns and trees and moss, in addition to Velociraptor and Triceratops, I guess?
  - alyeska2 11d ago
    Perhaps the more accurate description would be that as a kid, you misunderstood descriptions that petroleum was from decayed organic material from long ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
    - ButlerianJihad 11d ago
      Yeah, that is what we get for reading headlines and pictures and magazines, rather than books and scholarly articles and paying attention in class. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED343791.pdf?utm_source=copilot.com https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED343791.pdf?utm_source=c...
    - disgruntledphd2 11d ago
      Yeah, because I was told that it was mostly trilobites, around the same time (mid late 80s).
      - 6d ago
JumpCrisscross 11d ago
> There is no apt response other than for the over 50% of Americans who voted in favour of their current situation Single-digit percentage points of turnout changes would swing the House and Senate. Double-digit percentage changes in voter turnout, as in 15 to 30 percent of unlikely-to-vote registered voters turning out for Democrats in deep-red Republican stronghods like Alabama and Mississippi, gives Democrats a Congressional supermajority. MAGA voters aren't dropping their identity for a while. Possibly never. Most voters who aren't registered or don't vote are lazy and nihilstic and worth ignoring. But a tenth should be pitchable. In a reach, a third of them could find motivation.
senectus1 11d ago
or getting those that didnt vote off their arses to go effing vote. i swear to gods, the australian method of mandatory voting is the benchmark best way to do it.
- croon 11d ago
  You can't make it mandatory at the same time as restricting access to it. Voter participation in the US being low is a design feature. Having it on a Sunday, auto enrolling citizens, having more accessible polling places, etc would also increase participation.
- ozlikethewizard 11d ago
  I think mandatory voting is only reasonable if their is an official spoil option that should trigger something if selected enough. The outcome is tricky in parliamentary/party based systems, as if you have a revote just going to end up with the same parties, but I also think its quite undemocratic to force someone to participate and therefore tacitly support a system that may be screwing them. In a democracy no one should be forced to pick between (what they consider) terrible options.
atmavatar 11d ago
> the over 50% of Americans who voted in favour of their current situation Small nitpick: while Trump won the popular vote, he did not earn over 50% of the votes. There were enough third-party votes that he won with only 49.8%.
soupfordummies 11d ago
It's a lot closer to 33% of Americans who voted in favor of the current situation. Only 65.1% of eligible voting-age citizens even voted. And of that 65.1% only 49.8% voted for Trump.

mudil 11d ago

Houthis seized Bob-el Mandeb Strait. Even Saudis couldn't have stopped them. That's not particularly American election issue. Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. That's not particularly American election issue.

LPisGood 11d ago
Is it not clear that American election issues are directly related to those things?
Morromist 11d ago
Uh... and Iran and the Straight of Hormuz?? Did you forget to mention that? Is that an election issue? And who funds the Houthis? And why would they want to close the straight to us? Is it something to do with supporting Israel? No? Ok.
JumpCrisscross 11d ago
> Even Saudis couldn't have stopped them. That's not particularly American election issue Energy prices are absolutely an American election issue. Variations in real personal disposable income growth and inflation predict a vast majority of the variation in election outcomes after accounting for incumbency. And Iranian proxies seizing the Bab el-Mandeb–and the U.S. being unable to help Saudi Arabia respond militarily while Iran cements control of the Strait of Hormuz–is the direct result of an American foreign policy choice to, once again, blunder into a war in the Middle East.
CamperBob2 11d ago
Even Russia would be better off today if we'd given Ukraine the tools to end the war two or three years ago.
- 3eb7988a1663 11d ago
  Yeah, but the important question is where would Putin be after that?
orwin 11d ago
Houthis were in a weird truce with Saudis and Yemeni government for the last few months. Without US war in Iran destabilising the area, I am pretty sure houthis diplomats wouldn't have been bombed by Saudi Arabia. They might have broken the truce anyway, Houthis still claim south Yemen (wrongly imho, South Yemen is probably the most secularised area of the middle east, probably due to its high literacy rates and Marxist leanings, this would be a really hard sell. Also, Houthis, like Saudis, and former north Yemen leaders, has a clan-based leadership, which isn't a thing at all in South Yemen). Imho a peace over the old borders could have been possible without additional destabilisation from the US. The Iran war made that impossible. Hopefully a peaceful resolution can still be found, quickly.
- ozlikethewizard 11d ago
  Houthi's were also recently active against Israeli assets as Palestinian solidarity. Another situation that could not have happened without US intervention (support in this case).
ozlikethewizard 11d ago
The houthis are part of Iran's 'Axis of resistance' and have also publicly stated one reason for their recent increase in activity being Palestinian solidarity. Given the Iran war and Israels genocide only being possible through US support I'd say the US has a pretty big hand in the matter.

Morromist 11d ago

I'm excited to see all the nutty takes about oil prices from the same people who don't belive in vaccines. I kinda hope they bring back the old idea that oil is actually formed out of non-biological matter and so that means its just basically infinitly seeping up from the earth, we just have to drill a bit deeper. But I think that's a little too nerdy for them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenic_petroleum_origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenic_petroleum_origin

ButlerianJihad 11d ago
When I was a kid in the 1980s, the scientific shows and authors all agreed that petroleum was made of dinosaurs. Triceratops and Brontosaurus had died ?? MYA and got compressed into the oil we're drilling for today. It was only about 3 years ago when I learned that petroleum comes from almost anything organic. So, ferns and trees and moss, in addition to Velociraptor and Triceratops, I guess?
- alyeska2 11d ago
  Perhaps the more accurate description would be that as a kid, you misunderstood descriptions that petroleum was from decayed organic material from long ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
  - ButlerianJihad 11d ago
    Yeah, that is what we get for reading headlines and pictures and magazines, rather than books and scholarly articles and paying attention in class. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED343791.pdf?utm_source=copilot.com https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED343791.pdf?utm_source=c...
  - disgruntledphd2 11d ago
    Yeah, because I was told that it was mostly trilobites, around the same time (mid late 80s).
    - 6d ago

JumpCrisscross 11d ago

> There is no apt response other than for the over 50% of Americans who voted in favour of their current situation Single-digit percentage points of turnout changes would swing the House and Senate. Double-digit percentage changes in voter turnout, as in 15 to 30 percent of unlikely-to-vote registered voters turning out for Democrats in deep-red Republican stronghods like Alabama and Mississippi, gives Democrats a Congressional supermajority. MAGA voters aren't dropping their identity for a while. Possibly never. Most voters who aren't registered or don't vote are lazy and nihilstic and worth ignoring. But a tenth should be pitchable. In a reach, a third of them could find motivation.

senectus1 11d ago

or getting those that didnt vote off their arses to go effing vote. i swear to gods, the australian method of mandatory voting is the benchmark best way to do it.

croon 11d ago
You can't make it mandatory at the same time as restricting access to it. Voter participation in the US being low is a design feature. Having it on a Sunday, auto enrolling citizens, having more accessible polling places, etc would also increase participation.
ozlikethewizard 11d ago
I think mandatory voting is only reasonable if their is an official spoil option that should trigger something if selected enough. The outcome is tricky in parliamentary/party based systems, as if you have a revote just going to end up with the same parties, but I also think its quite undemocratic to force someone to participate and therefore tacitly support a system that may be screwing them. In a democracy no one should be forced to pick between (what they consider) terrible options.

atmavatar 11d ago

> the over 50% of Americans who voted in favour of their current situation Small nitpick: while Trump won the popular vote, he did not earn over 50% of the votes. There were enough third-party votes that he won with only 49.8%.

soupfordummies 11d ago

It's a lot closer to 33% of Americans who voted in favor of the current situation. Only 65.1% of eligible voting-age citizens even voted. And of that 65.1% only 49.8% voted for Trump.