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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   2691 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 2, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread?

Yes. Why is Trump going all out on executive orders despite Republicans controlling congress? Next time a Dem wins it can all be undone, and if Dems win the midterms, there will be zero chance of passing legislation. Are there too many Never Trump Republicans? Does all the important legislation require a 60% majority? Is the Trump admin working on legislation that I've missed? What's up?

It's not so much never Trump Republicans as it is that the majority in the House is narrower than the number of total wingnutz who won't reliably agree to anything at all in the Republican caucus.

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A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

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