No Future for the GOP?
- Thread starter vimothy
- Start date
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Well-known member
"A Vigilante Death Squad Policy": Texas GOP Wants Citizens to Stop Migrants
Republican lawmakers want to challenge the federal government at the Supreme Court.
theintercept.com
By seeking to create a state security force that would include private citizens amassed to “repel” border crossers and do battle with “cartel operatives,” the proposal — House Bill 20 — did make news. If it passes, Texas will field a new unit under its Department of Public Safety to track down, arrest, and deport undocumented people.
Stationed at the border, the unit will be run by a chief serving at the pleasure of the governor, who will oversee a mix of locally recruited law enforcement and ordinary citizens “without a felony conviction.” Unit members will have immunity from criminal prosecution and lawsuits in pursuing their mission to “arrest, detain, and deter individuals crossing the border illegally including with the use of non-deadly force.” They will also “use force to repel, arrest, and detain known transnational cartel operatives in the border region.” Private citizens will be given arrest powers if they are “trained and specifically authorized by the governor.”
[...]
It’s a no-win situation, said Gamino, the border cop-turned-researcher. The Border Protection Unit Act would be bad in practice, he argued, and it would be the law of the land for several years at least. A Supreme Court decision upholding its legality, paving the way for its replication across the border, would be even worse.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Given how many Americans are armed, it's a wonder the country has any crime at all.
IdleRich
IdleRich
Good stuff Leo, cheers for that. People are saying Version said it first but I didn't see it so his delivery clearly lacked the impact of yours.
Anyway to address the point... what the fuck is wrong with these people? Can't they see how that picture completely destroys their credibility on this issue? Surely it would be possible to adopt a pro-gun position in such a way as to not lose the votes of the fanatics while not lol leaving themselves wide open to gotcha photos like this.
I mean regardless of whether or not you agree with his politics it makes him look really bad at being a politician.
Clinamenic
Binary & Tweed
I think the optics here could be pretty drastically relative, EG "doubling down" on your beliefs despite pushback from the opposition seems to be more of a virtue in right wing culture than it is in left wing culture. Maybe thats mostly a US thing, or maybe thats just the impression I'm getting.
IdleRich
IdleRich
Sure but each person can only vote once. You win an election by getting more votes (unless you are using Dominion machines of course). It seems to me that "doubling down" means making the people who are gonna vote for you like you even more, maybe even love you, but it is not gonna increase the number of votes you get.
Now obviously I'm not a US politician, in fact I'm not any type of politician, but I do understand that, as a rule, campaigning is walking a tightrope where you have to gain new voters without losing the ones you already have - but he seems to be putting absolutely all his energy into keeping the ones you have and ignoring the rest.
I guess there can be an exception to that rule though - if your region has a huge majority of gun lovers then it could work.
Leo
Well-known member
you are correct, and it's why trump lost in 2020 and so maybe of the MAGA candidates he endorsed in 2022 also lost. the only people it appeals to are those who already support them.
Clinamenic
Binary & Tweed
Yeah I agree, and theres also the factor that some of these politicians have lukewarm/passive would-be supporters, IE folks who are politically disengaged but who may turn up and vote if they are galvanized enough, and doubling down on certain opinions may sometimes suffice in nudging these folks to be more engaged. Maybe what I'm saying is too theoretical, though.
Clinamenic
Binary & Tweed
Herb? I pronounce it "erb" with a silent 'h'
IdleRich
IdleRich
Yeah that's the one... in English English the word is herb and the aitch is supposed to be pronounced, though of course a lot of English people lazily drop their aitches so it's kinda 'erbs. But whenever Americans say it, there is no aitch but it seems it's not so much dropped, it's more like you aggressively say erbs with a sort of leaning into that "eur" sound at the beginning. So I wondered if you actually spell it without the aitch. Does anyone pronounce the h at the start or is the "official" pronunciation "erbs"?