mtutiger

And I think you can call him out for his crap, as I and others have done in this thread, while thinking that 37/40 is better than 0/40.

A couple of things: 1) It's possible to watch reruns of Friends, watch Saturday morning cartoons, hang out at the mall (kids still do that?), etc. and achieve a successful career in the engineering field. I should know because I did that. Vivek is wildly out of touch with normal Americans and their experience 2) Whatever contempt Trump voters think that Vivek, Elon and others from that crowd think they have for liberals, they all have the same contempt for Trump's own voters. Vivek's screed is a slip of the mask on this reality

If someone is anti-death penalty, are you suggesting that they would/should have been happier with Biden in a hypothetical scenario where he had he taken no action at all versus 37/40 being commuted? People can be unhappy with Biden's weakness and wishy-washyness on this (as I am) while still seeing progress in 37/40 being commuted, particularly given the historical stance of the federal government as it comes to capital punishment.

I don't know that The Hill has too much of a lean in either direction (they lean a bit conservative as far as I can tell, but not overly so)... But they aren't a quality news organization at all regardless of their lean. And their op-ed page has at times posted some wacky op-eds that are both provocative while being irrelevant to reality at the same time This is one of them and, more likely than not, they are doing it to drive clicks and get attention. They know what they are doing

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that an op-ed writer for The Hill doesn't speak for the entire Democratic Party or even everyone that didn't vote for Donald Trump. Holic knows this, but hey, Twitter and meme culture is one hell of a drug

You said nobody had answered that question. Multiple people have, in fact, answered that question. Speaking of straight answers, do you think that our justice system has never once killed someone who ultimately didn't commit the crime?

Yeah, if a person is opposed to the death penalty, it's possible to be disappointed with the action taken (and that it comes across as a half measure) while still feeling that commuting 37/40 is still a positive step. He should have went 40/40 on principle, though... the folks who believe the state has never once killed an innocent person before (or don't care) were never gonna be pleased regardless.

This is a rhetorical question by the way... I think deep down, we all know the answer

The reporting I've seen suggests that they are in the thick of the Bregman sweepstakes. I don't think that's the case if your above statement is true

A trial before human beings... who are both imperfect and not free of sin. Do you think that our justice system has never once killed someone who ultimately didn't commit the crime?

The world's richest man is currently out there at Trump's side, showing up at public appearances, being involved with official events overseas (such as the one last month in France) and making statements that directly impacted budget negotiations and the debt ceiling debate I'm not sure how one can look at the state of play and not see how, at the very least in terms of optics, all of this makes Trump look like a vassal for the world's richest man. I think someone would have to have their head buried in the sand in order not see it even

Amazing how the "America First" guy is now projecting an image of imperial conquest.

I'm probably alone on this, but not sure why we were living and dying on Walker Buehler signing here... It would be nice to have another free agent starter, but if they are adding in free agency, really they need bats...

I actually agree... It's not totally unlike where George Ryan was in Illinois in 2003 (biggest difference being that Ryan was facing prison time), but in a case of conscience changing, it doesn't make sense to settle for a half loaf. You either go all in or you don't.

Unpopular opinion: the death penalty sucks and doesn't accomplish anything. Very few, if any, of the people he commuted to life sentences would have even faced it had he not did what he did today, but I'm glad he did it (although I tend to think that holding back on the hate crimes cases looks unprincipled) It's my most unpopular opinion... It doesn't save government money, it doesn't deter crime, I'm not even sure its about the victims in some cases... its all about something deeper for the American psyche. It's not rational, it's all about emotion... I'm sure some folks will call me woke and stupid for feeling this way, or that I cannot possibly relate... but given all of the above and the fact that we have undoubtedly executed innocents given that our justice system is composed of human beings, the costs outweigh any benefits IMO

Speaking of circuses...

I get it... Ultimately that isn't what I'm arguing for what its worth, it's not about bigger picture issues of population decline. It's more that we have a shortage of labor for a number of jobs, and we ought to promote policies that help fill said positions. And yes, some of that involves fixing the existing system, bringing order and, yes, allowing for more legal pathways for immigration. It isn't about morals or macro population decline issues for me

Boomers are mostly still alive, still buying houses, still shopping in stores and ordering goods on Amazon. They will soon get older and require more in home and in patient care, which will demand more people to provide those jobs and services. At least until the huge age services drag comes. If the answer is to further restrict immigration, throw out hands up in the air and say "it is what it is", we need to be honest that answer may come with higher costs and a reduction in quality of services across many industries and fields.

Obviously - the issue is that, again, the policy we appear poised to pursue seems likely to exacerbate the problems. Maybe I haven't been clear enough, but this is the point I'm driving at. The direction we are heading in immigration wise will make things worse on that front IMO

It's a pretty clear driver of it... G2 makes good some decent points, to be clear, but I don't think we can have an accurate conversation about this that doesn't acknowledge that there is a demographic cliff that we are facing with boomers exiting the workforce. In the context of this last election and what the voters signaled on inflation in particular, it seems pretty critical to maintaining an acceptable level for prices of goods for there to be enough workers to backfill those who are heading for the exits. And to me, there's a fundamental tension between this and what this administration is signaling in how they plan to pursue immigration policy (to put it mildly)

You would agree though that more people are retiring than are currently coming into the workforce, correct?

An AfD supporter literally just attempted one two days ago.

The irony is that the election probably turned more than anything else on inflation (even more than immigration). And there's a fundamental tension in giving the people what the want on both immigration and inflation / the economy.

I think this misses the mark or, at the very least, is an overly broad characterization that might not apply in all cases... Again, within the context of the construction industry, it isn't that companies aren't able to find domestic Americans willing to work, they do. And it isn't necessarily that they aren't paid well - where I live, they are (career earnings can far exceed mine as a Licensed PE, union healthcare as good or better, etc.). I don't think it's pay or compensation that is causing this - it's the demand for projects / infrastructure far exceeding the existing labor force. And it's exacerbated by a larger pool of workers being in the verge of retirement (ie. boomers) and a much smaller cohort (currently Gen Z) being expected to replace their existence. That's a math problem, simply put. As someone on the engineering side of this, I'm always up for complaining about contractors and management, and would gladly say they are wrong if I felt they were. But they aren't here IMO...