This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Under state law, the statute of limitations was tolled during the periods Trump was out of state. See comment elsewhere. And, even if the statute has run, that does not transform the prosecution into a prosecution for the federal crime.
There appears to be no requirement that they prove he actually committed another crime, but only that he intended to commit another crime. Had I lied about reimbursing Cohen for bribing the night watchman at a bank to pretend be asleep during a planned theft, I would be guilty of a felony even if the theft never took place. Morever, even if they did have to prove that he committed another crime, that would not transform it into a prosecution for that crime. Lots of laws require proof of the commission of a predicate offense, including offenses from other jurisdictions, but that does not make them prosecutions for those offenses.
I don’t know why you assume that someone who simply states facts you find inconvenient is partisan. For the record, as far as I can tell, Bragg is motivated primarily by his own self-interest. Moreover, the prosecution is both politically beneficial for Trump and a terrible precedent; if we want to avoid banana republic territory, then politicians should only be prosecuted for very, very serioys crimes. But my personal opinion does not alter the legal status of the prosecution.
More options
Context Copy link