radix

joined 2 years ago
[–] radix 6 points 3 weeks ago

One's "own best interest" can take a lot of different forms. Especially when the number and variety of plausible candidates are finite. Your preferred candidate for a given office will rarely line up perfectly with your own values. There's a compromise there.

If I vote for my own finances, it may come at the cost of my morals. It I vote for my own moral interest, it may cost me more. If I vote for my own power, it may cost someone else their freedoms. How heavily do I weight my own interests against those of a wider society? Political identities and philosophies are complicated, and can't necessarily be reduced to a single binary choice that is "best" in every scenario.

[–] radix 12 points 3 weeks ago

(not a tech expert, but I've been following it for a while, so I hope this is mostly correct)

Bluesky the app is currently the only (major) app running on the ATProtocol. The protocol itself is open source, and it is technically possible to run your own "federated" version (it's not called that in the ATProto ecosystem, but that's the rough equivalent in activitypub-speak). The protocol is still being developed, so it's not as feature-complete as some people are hoping for, but it's getting there.

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/10/29/some-slightly-biased-thoughts-on-the-state-of-decentralized-social-media/ for a more professional write-up on the differences, similarities, and criticisms of the major twitter alternatives.

[–] radix 8 points 3 weeks ago

I'm looking forward to a few negative moochies as his picks get dumped even before the confirmation hearings.

[–] radix 53 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Back in the day, Norton actually made some useful tools. They've been coasting on that 90s reputation for decades, though. It's all unnecessary bloatware now.

[–] radix 2 points 3 weeks ago

Left of global center? No. Left of USA center? Probably.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/388988/political-ideology-steady-conservatives-moderates-tie.aspx

More Americans identify as conservative than liberal. It's not something we have to like, and certain policies may be quite different individually, but in order to win nationally, Democrats have to defeat voters' own self-identification. Obviously it happens, so this isn't some insurmountable challenge, but the deck is stacked.

[–] radix 73 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I call them "my people."

[–] radix 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)
  1. if he ran as VP for another person, which is constitutionally allowed, he could be elected as VP

This is an interesting, but untested, legal theory. When Al Gore ran in 2000, there were murmurings of whether he should try to get Bill Clinton on the ticket as VP. Ultimately, there was some consensus that this part of 12th Amendment wasn't superseded by any others: "But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."

It's a bit of an open question whether that means only those parts of the eligibility requirements in place at the time (35 years old, natural born citizen, etc), or whether new requirements are also included, such as already serving two full terms as President. Clinton/Gore didn't want to push those boundaries, but Trump certainly could try.

Edit: The 2012 book Constitutional Cliffhangers has a whole chapter dedicated to this and similar scenarios. It became a must-read in Trump's first term, and is even more of one now.

[–] radix 76 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice," doesn't say consecutively. It would take a HUUUUGE leap of logic to insert that word where it doesn't exist. I'm sure someone will make the argument, but by the letter and the intent of the law, Trump is done after this term.

"and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once." If Trump has a heart attack and dies before January 20, 2027, Vance would take over and serve 2+ years as President, meaning he could only be elected once for one four-year term.

The rest of Section 1 just means anyone who was in office at the time is grandfathered into the old rules (no limits).

[–] radix 24 points 4 weeks ago

That cat has a quest for you.

Probably involving fetching some treats.

[–] radix 55 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

That's going to go on your Permanent Record!!

[–] radix 19 points 4 weeks ago

Dejiulio Jr. reportedly admitted his crime at that point.

Dead giveaway that he's not a real cop.

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