site banner
Goodguy  2d ago (text post)   Edited 2d ago   8905 thread views

Midterms Megathread

Cause otherwise midterms discussion will be scattered around a bunch of separate Culture War thread posts. And it's nice to have more off-the-cuff rapid reactions in a dedicated megathread.

The first thing I've noticed so far: if the exit polls are correct, Americans are very pessimistic about AI.

13
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I think the clause speaks for itself, but if unclear, my appeal is to the logic that the Founder's intent should prevail and be respected. If someone is against personal property, the separation of powers, the rule of law, and frankly against Christianity, they are unable to honestly swear to defend the Constitution.

I don't advocate for banning anyone's religion or opinions. But certain positions just disqualify some from holding or seeking office under the Constitution.

I think the clause speaks for itself, but if unclear, my appeal is to the logic that the Founder's intent should prevail and be respected.

That logic is not in the Constitution. You may believe we should "respect the Founder's intent" (and that only Christians should be allowed to hold office) but that's not what they wrote.

the oath clause is pretty much pointless decoration, yeah?

Well, no, you are required to uphold and defend the Constitution, and if someone literally said "I don't believe in the Constitution and I want to destroy the Republic," there'd be a good case to deny that person office. But whatever you might suspect about certain elected officials, merely holding political or religious views contrary to what the Founders would have approved of doesn't mean someone isn't capable of following the Constitution.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

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."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats