mtutiger

I guess this is my problem with Buddha's framing.... it just seems like on this issue, there's no penalty at all to just throwing "Hitler" and "Nazi" around if it comes from the right of the issue. Like it's just expected. Decorum and all that, on the other hand, gets enforced on the left extreme of the issue. It's largely why I don't talk about this issue any more. Most people are in the middle, yet the extremes dominate it. Assuming Roe goes, we'll now get to see one end of the spectrum dominate and see how the people respond.

Are you accusing pro choicers of being Nazis?

Exactly. It's kinda weird to see Buddha adopt the language of absolutists to go after Rob when the absolutists on the issue have the same level of disdain for those squishes who are in the middle on the issue.

I mean, the accusation came from the hard right of the issue.

I've been compared to Hitler in a past debate for holding a position similar to yours fwiw

Where do you stand on this issue? I honestly cannot recall, but the above sentiment would probably be lodged by the furthest extreme toward those who are in the middle of the issue

I'm not even sure how much voters actually care about the manufactroversy, let alone whether it has any salience to those who may be angered by a Roe repeal.

I understand. But the issue is far from settled if/when that day comes. If one cares deeply about this issue, gotta think two or three moves down the line. As I suspect a lot of pro-choice groups are.

Right. But the danger that I see for Republicans in this decision is that, with Roe fully in tact, it's easier to campaign against the most extreme voices on the left of this issue. If you remove Roe v Wade, there's gonna be a Western Land Rush on state legislatures to pass wide ranging, extreme bans on abortion. Put another way, post-repeal, the right wing extremists get the spotlight moreso than in the past. In states like Michigan or Pennsylvania or Wisconsin with important and difficult Governors races in the fall (and R Legislatures), that can make a difference. It was a different time of course, but some of us remember what happened to Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock... there may be a lot of those sentiments floating around state capitols if they go through with this. How much of a difference it makes, idk... but in terms of base motivation, it'll make at least a little bit I'm sure. Long term, given the Washington Post story that came out a few days ago, I'm concerned that we're not done with this at the federal level and that Rs may be looking at nationwide ban. So much for states rights lol

We'll see how much it actually softens the ground, of course... the ramifications if it actually goes through are still gonna be pretty high whenever that ruling comes. Also, in terms of political organizing around the issue, gives pro-choice groups a head start.

Its all good. They may still take advantage of it in spots, particularly whenever Alexander's spot on the rotation comes up; people seem to be assuming that Peralta covers that, but the other option would be to option Willi or Harold and bring up another pitcher from Toledo (presumably Wentz or Faedo) for a start. It's not a terrible idea, but the shuttle back and forth could be Tampa-esque if they do something like that.

I dont believe the Tigers are required to carry 14 pitchers and, with Alexander hitting IL, they only have 13 on the 26 man roster currently if I'm not mistaken. I guess I dont understand, if you have Harold to cover SS, why Clemens couldn't displace Willi Castro at the moment.

It really highlights the importance of State races as well. Particularly in PA, MI, WI and others with Dem Govs coming up this cycle.

What I would say on the politics is that I've come to believe on abortion is that support for it tends to sit on sort of a bell curve: people tend to be somewhere in the middle in terms of legality up to a certain period of time... people tend not to want it totally banned, but maybe not available up until birth. 16-20 weeks or so would maybe be the median. This decision is down at the far right wing of the bell curve. And if the numbers from Texas below are accurate, Roe v. Wade repeal would be wildly unpopular nationwide. But we will see what the court does. What it means for the elections, I don't know.

I see Twitter has decided to go into Chris Cilizza mode this evening. Seriously, leave the "how does this play with XX group" for another day.

Also throws shade on Obergefell and Lawrence v. Texas.

Sure looks that way

One difference between this year and last is diminished playing time. He was mostly an everyday player last year (when he was on the team, not on IL) now he isn't. Maybe that is making it more challenging to get out of the slump?

Can't escape the feeling Haase lucked out here... his value decreases a lot without the bat, and outside of Game 1, he's been pretty absent with it.

The poor maintenance piece makes some sense, and could theoretically be aided by sanctions as well. Maintenance is hard when you can't get parts.

Latest polls aside (showing Vlad with high approval ratings), if there are regions of vulnerability within Russia from a popularity perspective, the Far East would be high on that list. There were some anti-government protests in Khabarovsk back in 2020, iirc, and one would imagine that owing to it's high level of poverty compared to the rest of the country, the sacrifices of this war probably far more greatly on them than in other regions (especially in the European portion of the country). Not to mention it's isolation from the halls of power. I don't know the cause of the fire at the power plant, of course, but uprisings in the east wouldn't be surprising either.

I doubt it will happen, but it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to see what kinda DFAs are out there from other teams' roster reductions, to see if there would be anyone useful in terms of infield depth. I am totally with you on the defense part though - it's nice that Harold can put bat on ball with some frequency, but if you can't field as a bench player, that's not good.

I mean, I think you would have to keep Harold on the roster even if Clemens were here, but unless Akil Baddoo turns it around in a big league uniform, they are going to have to send him down at some point. Unless they are waiting for Reyes to return from IL to pull the trigger on that, bringing up Clemens, who can man 2B, 3B or corner outfield positions would be useful to them as an alternative to carrying Baddoo right now. The point may be moot now, though, given that roster reduction came and went and they kept Willi, who can serve a similar purpose (likely with worse defense, but not my call lol). Regarding the pitching, I would want to hear more comment from the team about Alexander as to why he got put on IL and how serious this might be before speculating too much.... not suggesting that the injury isn't that bad or isn't serious enough to warrant IL, but considering the tough choices the bullpen presented leading up to roster reduction and the quality of Alexander's starts, I'm not sure that it's the most inconvenient thing in the world for him to be placed on IL either.