They might matter. But it is problematic if in a democratic society consumption choices are the most powerful way for citizens to voice their concerns. Since it obviously gives a “louder” voice to people who are able to/do make more and larger consumption choices. Ensuring the principle of “one person, one vote”…

By that thinking anything which showed Clinton and her team were saying politically harmful things could have played a role in her loss. Or is it because the communications weren’t meant for public consumption? Because then the Romney “47 percent” tape was also an illegitimate revelation of his “real” beliefs which…

Wikileaks made Democratic party politicians and officials say and do shitty, politically unpopular things in some cases years before wikileaks existed? I mean, wikileaks definitely wasn’t good for the Democratic party’s 2016 electoral cycle. But it wasn’t a reason for anything. The actual contents of the “bad”…

I’m genuinely considering trying to buy something dirt cheap in a town/suburb around the Great Lakes region. There’s still tons of dying or basically dead towns where houses can be had for less than 50k if they need some work. If climate change starts to get really, really serious in my millennial lifetime then the…

I’m afraid you’re parroting a reimagined “just so” story about the ridesharing business which has been created to try and blame the drivers for somehow “wrecking” the original vision by working too much.

That wasn’t the “intent” of the companies. The companies actively worked to turn “it” in to a full time job for lots of drivers in order to make sure supply would meet demand at a low enough price point to grow the business. The companies could instantly stop the full time work by preventing any person from driving…

But locking the driver in that situation would not be legally required. It’s only necessary if the company wants to escape shouldering costs they at the moment are able to push off on to drivers. The companies are pretending like the current laws somehow legally prevent them from treating drivers as employees while…

She was in jail. You can be in jail even if you didn’t break any law. People get arrested, taken to jail, then eventually the charges against them are dismissed all time. The police can arrest people for anything with the flimsiest of justifications knowing they are able to escape repercussions due to legal doctrines…

What is legally preventing the companies from treating their drivers as “employees” for the purposes of state and federal employment laws while allowing the drivers to retain “flexibility”?

I friend of mine in high school’s older sister went to UT Austin when one of the Bush daughters was there. I think they were in some classes together.

The national interstate voter compact already has 196 EV votes pledged through state legislation to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote. Which will be “activated” once at least 270 EC votes have been pledged by states. More than 270 EC votes are potentially available based on legislation pending in…

I‘m from STL and my parents still live there. So I’d heard a lot about Hawley. I also listened to a podcast (Know Your Enemy, a great podcast about right wing politics from a leftist perspective) about the recent big “nationalism” conference where Hawley was a featured speaker (and only elected official who spoke).

“he’s positioning himself perfectly to pick up Trumpism without being Trump.”

Yeah, Tom Cotton is not stupid. At least in an “IQ” sort of way. He might have insane ideological and/or religious beliefs. But he’s not a fucking idiot (like other people we might know....). So he must think there is some personal advantage to claiming he was the originator of the “so stupid it would seem a bit too…

No, I have disdain for people who make the idiotic argument that Clinton’s ability to win over a demographic which has absolutely no impact on a Democratic party candidate’s ability to win a Presidential election (since, you know, most of those states vote republican by tens of points. And the ones turning purple are…

Well, if history has taught us anything, skyrocketing home “values” will keep going forever! Who needs infrastructure or government services? There will always be a rube who can get a no money down, adjustable rate 30 year mortgage to buy your house someday. It can’t fail.

It’s not even enough to do that. $10-$15 million is meaningless in the context of transportation. That amount probably isn’t enough to “improve” a mile or two of road starting from uber’s front door. But that’s why the guy used what seem like big numbers without putting them in any kind of context. Like what a…

The person to whom you were replying with your “Pretty much the only nice thing I will say about Jezebel anymore is that they rightfully called all the Gawker writers out on that bullshit.” comment had said:

As we’ve now conclusive determined, Sanders voters are not ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY WHITE. But it’s weird how you use that claim to justify your disdain for the (again, historically low number) Sanders primary supporters who didn’t vote for Clinton. That demographic, especially in the upper midwest, were statistically…

Oh, wow. I never thought of it like that. Since the south was such a pivotal area in the 2016 general election it was a bad sign Sanders was unable to win over the old African-American church ladies who everyone knows make or break Presidential elections in those deep south states. Instead Sanders wasted his time in…