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Texas is freedom land

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joined 2022 September 05 17:27:40 UTC 

				
User ID: 647


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
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Texas is freedom land

				
				
				

				

					9 followers  

					follows 3 users  

					joined 2022 September 05 17:27:40 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 647


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Wait wait wait.




It's not about the object of voter ID, it's about the real goal of those pesky rightists; disenfranchising qualified voters.




How is this “sleight of hand”? It’s the crux of the argument. Opponents really believe that the laws will hurt many more qualified voters than fraudulent ones. If true, maybe the stated object isn’t the “real” object.


I don’t personally think Trump is doing this out of racism. I think he’d gloat about disenfranchising people of any race or creed if they criticized him. But I can see why someone who already thought he was racist would conclude it was the real object.




secure IDs are too expensive and too difficult to get for people who, while citizens and non-felons, don't have their shit together.




This is exactly how the signature Jim Crow policies worked. Setting voting requirements that were easier for your guys and harder for their guys. People are citing THE RACISMS because THE RACISMS are kind of the most obvious comparison.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
But you can! Every state does voter roll maintenance. 36 states require ID. The most lax states tend to check signature and address against their rolls. They also allow challenges from poll watchers and other registered voters. It’s not the Wild West.


Ballot harvesting is more complicated, and I didn’t want to tally up every state’s laws. Did you know that only Texas and California ban paying people for ballots? Suffice to say that such liberal states as New Jersey are absolutely willing to combat ballot harvesting.


And if you can’t be skeptical…what are you doing? I think mass homeless voting absolutely raises eyebrows, even among state politicians. And they’re the ones who control these laws. The SAVE act is an attempt to centralize election control in a less responsive, less stable body, one that’s very honest about its partisan aims. I think that’s more likely to bite us in the ass by 2060.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think that is a bit uncharitable. Do Republicans mean no one should vote, ever?


Voter ID is one of the many, many issues where the parties usually take incremental positions. Democrats are the party of fewer restrictions and verifications. They have been since the Southern Strategy realignment. Their current planks are such radical statements as “expand the VRA”. I think most Democrat voters would endorse bringing all states up to the basic ID requirement. Maybe even a national ID, if it was free.


But that’s not what Trump is offering. He’s throwing shit at the wall in hopes that it benefits his team.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
That’s the motte. It’s quite reasonable, at least after a few decades of civil rights reform, which is why 36 states already have it.


The bailey is that most of those states aren’t doing enough. Even the ones with strict photo ID. They won’t be doing enough unless they massively expand their verification processes, retain extra documents, and also let Homeland Security look through their voter lists to find names which look too Hispanic similar to someone who got deported. Also, they have to do this NOW.


Seriously. Only five states offer an ID that also shows citizenship. The rest have to photocopy and store your extra documents. Only one state has a strict enough photo requirement. If this is so urgent, so important, why have all these legislatures not done something about it already? I live in Texas, which has been tying itself in knots to polish Trump’s ego. Apparently we’ve been slacking.


I support a universal, free citizen ID. I wouldn’t mind bringing all states up to the policy of those 36. I can’t support an attempt to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. As usual, it’s shameless.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Why am I not surprised that NJ has a completely dysfunctional setup?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
20% does seem reasonable. I guess this is just difference of intuitions. If I had to justify mine, I could point to driver’s license numbers or something, but I have to admit I’m going off vibes.


I would support a free, mandatory ID too. We accrued all these goofy workarounds for something that shouldn’t actually be difficult.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Even?


That legitimately sounds like a lot to me.


Like, how many would you think is a lot? 50%?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


To extract myself from any "boo outgroup" reporting,




My friend, if you notice yourself in a hole, don’t start trying to make it a tunnel.


The problem is that you’re beating up a strawman. Expanding that strawman from “cat lady” to “all sorts of organizations” does not make it a better argument. It’s still optimized for scoring points.


I’m not banning you for a colorful bit of sneering. But when you get that feeling of impending reports, maybe…listen to it?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				The American Renewal Act: A 127-Point Systems-Level Overhaul (Citizen Juries, 20% Market Cap, and a New Constitutional Anchor)
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Probably not.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 15, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This just sounds like a WW2-era speech. I can almost hear the mid-Atlantic accent.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Jesus Christ. I feel like that would ground more planes purely from Sig owners.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Sure, but does that count as “getting rid of security lines”?


I guess pre-check is pretty nice.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
A lot of things were different in the 90s. Apparently, we didn’t realize hijackings could be suicidal. I wouldn’t mind replacing the TSA, but I don’t think repealing it entirely is an option.


You can’t put the toothpaste back in the 2 oz. tube.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Overheard at work:




Did you hear about the shutdown?

What? The whole government?

No, just DHS. Check your flight info.

So TSA is shutdown, or at least running slow, or—oh, my flight is just delayed an hour.




Business as usual. I was also unaware of any particular crisis brewing over TSA, so I looked it up. Lo and behold: this is actually old news. Nothing has changed since DHS was pseudo-defunded a month ago.


So why am I hearing about it now? Well, a month is long enough for a missed government paycheck. Which means the TSA staff, who were apparently holding down the fort, are getting increasingly antsy. Somewhere around 300 have quit. Combined with a surprise cold front, airport security lines have been upgraded from mild to moderate inconvenience.


The usual suspects are blaming Democrats: Schiff, Booker deflect on shutdown blame amid terror concerns, thousands of DHS workers without pay. I’m still trying to figure out how this is their fault, given the Republican trifecta; Rep. Collins suggests that they are completely stonewalling any attempts at compromise. I think the last attempt was supposed to be a White House proposal from late February, but I couldn’t find the actual text of it, so I don’t know if it was at all credible. Sen. Schumer naturally insisted that it wasn’t. Perhaps we’re seeing two parties sticking to the foot-in-the-door tactic.


So, how does this type of gridlock get resolved? Do Republicans come to the table first? Do Democrats? Do airlines start privatizing security, or do they just give up on running flights?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				The American Renewal Act: A 127-Point Systems-Level Overhaul (Citizen Juries, 20% Market Cap, and a New Constitutional Anchor)
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Do you have examples of the “book deal” model in action?


Obviously, a publisher paying for legislation is corrupt and objectionable. I’m not sure how often they get the opportunity. Outside of (maybe) copyright law, publishing seems like a pretty settled regulatory regime.


Or are you suggesting that they serve as intermediary for other industries?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 15, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Songs of Syx is about managing populations and supply chains, but it doesn’t have micro-scale factory puzzles as a core loop. Might or might not be of interest.


But I’ve been dying for a Rimworld hybrid where you shepherd your colonists through Minecraft tech mods. Single-tile machines fed by cables and pipes, not scaling factories. I can dream.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 15, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
DD_geopolitics strikes again, and it’s roughly as credible as last time.


Twitter delenda est.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for March 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Great writeup. And now you definitely need to read Thunder Below.


I want to point out that 12,000 dead is actually a lot. Gettysburg saw 3,100 Union soldiers killed and maybe 4,700 Confederates. You might be thinking of casualty numbers.


More commentary to follow, maybe, but in short I think aversion to casualties is more complicated.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Biden definitely forgot.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Okay, that’s enough name-calling for one day.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I’ve seen plenty of them, but I don’t actually know how it got started.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Nah, it’s been around. It only shows up if we ban from the comment’s context menu, though. If we go through the user page (say, to compare recent comments), I don’t think it shows up.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I, uh, don’t think that’s a very good model.


First: the historical limit on an empire wasn’t ambition. It was logistics. You sprawled out until you hit a natural barrier (steppe, jungle, ocean) that was wider than your baggage trains could handle. Or until you made eye contact with a neighbor strong enough to stake out its own borders. Transport tech changes that first limit; military and economic tech pushes the second.


Second: it’s not like having those phases ever taught any nation anything! Look at 19th century France. Look at the interwar period. Look at today’s Russia. If the logistics and industrial fundamentals aren’t present, the best you’re gonna get is one generation. Then the revanchists will wrangle enough support for another round.


Third: what do you mean, a smaller library of experiences? There’s no Dune-style genetic memory. Institutional inertia is a joke and a political liability. Our President has more information available than anyone in history, and this is what he chose to do with it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
How so?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Look, I've been complaining about shit like this for a decade. I've bitched about Trump's strongman act and his allergy to existing policy and all sorts of who-whom. I complained about our little warm-up exercise. At times like these, I'm not sure I've ever convinced a single person. Some might call this "tiresome."


I can check in to the motte, clean out the queue, ban a couple people for failing to maintain the normal level of decorum. Some people still have to follow rules, after all.


Maybe I can add a comment emphasizing my disappointment. Maybe I can snark about how many users were ride-or-die for American exceptionalism (courtesy of El Presidente) until they got the chance to blame Jews.


Or I can go back to my fucking job selling fucking munitions to fuckers who will surely use them wisely. Or at least lethally. Then I can go home, play another round of Slay the Spire, and try not to think about it.