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BirchTBarlow 13 points ago +13 / -0

The reason Congress created a federal district for the capital is so that they could control law enforcement in the city where they met. Congress met in Philadelphia at the time, and got surrounded by an angry mob. Local law enforcement refused to disperse the crowd.

1
BirchTBarlow 1 point ago +1 / -0

Newspapers have historically lost money too, going back to yellow journalism. The value in a newspaper is setting the agenda to be profitable for other businesses.

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BirchTBarlow 3 points ago +3 / -0

To be fair, it's for the snowflakes at GW.

1
BirchTBarlow 1 point ago +1 / -0

I love they the writers of Parks and Rec originally wrote Ron (the libertarian government boss) to be a bad guy. But it turns out that people liked the character and identified with him a lot.

1
BirchTBarlow 1 point ago +1 / -0

They were always going to park next to the Pentagon given the military contracts they have.

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BirchTBarlow 3 points ago +3 / -0

Joel Osteen gives me the creeps.

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BirchTBarlow 2 points ago +2 / -0

Yes, but the agreement only takes effect when states with a majority of votes in the Electoral College sign on. We're not there yet.

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BirchTBarlow 18 points ago +18 / -0

Okay, but what about "in the bathroom at Whole Foods?"

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BirchTBarlow 15 points ago +15 / -0

Obama was free to nominate someone the Senate would confirm. He never did. No one talks about how Obama is at fault for wasting a nomination in his last year in office.

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BirchTBarlow 2 points ago +2 / -0

it is a slippery slope to form committees for things this important

Agreed. That's why I lean no.

no one has to answer for anything.

Agreed. Also a reason to vote no.

I don't think it's a great strategy to rely on whether it might get sent to the supreme court.

But that matters. If either party thinks that the courts will draw lines in their favor, then they have no incentive to compromise. It becomes part of the negotiating strategy. Which side do you think will prefer to have judges draw the lines?

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BirchTBarlow 5 points ago +5 / -0

I'm torn on this one. On the hand, if the commission can't agree on districts, then it gets punted to the Supreme Court. This could happen quite frequently. I don't like an unelected judiciary drawing boundaries.

On the other hand, the GOP position is a yes because they expect the Democrats to take the General Assembly and draw districts that favor then. I've seen Democrats argue against it for the same reason.

In my ideal world, district lines are drawn by an algorithm. But that's not on the ballot this year. I lean toward voting no on Amendment 1 and trying another method to draw fair districts at a later date.

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BirchTBarlow 5 points ago +5 / -0

Americans respond so much better to optimism.

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BirchTBarlow 17 points ago +17 / -0

Hillary's IT guy had to ask reddit how to delete emails!

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BirchTBarlow 13 points ago +13 / -0

Science is a method of forming and testing hypotheses. Scientists make arguments using objective facts. The process of arguing over what the facts mean is just as political as any other argument, subject to the same human biases and fallacies.

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