One’s “own best interest” can take a lot of different forms. Especially when the number and variety of plausible candidates are finite. Your preferred candidate for a given office will rarely line up perfectly with your own values. There’s a compromise there.

If I vote for my own finances, it may come at the cost of my morals. It I vote for my own moral interest, it may cost me more. If I vote for my own power, it may cost someone else their freedoms. How heavily do I weight my own interests against those of a wider society? Political identities and philosophies are complicated, and can’t necessarily be reduced to a single binary choice that is “best” in every scenario.

Worst person you know etc etc

(not a tech expert, but I’ve been following it for a while, so I hope this is mostly correct)

Bluesky the app is currently the only (major) app running on the ATProtocol. The protocol itself is open source, and it is technically possible to run your own “federated” version (it’s not called that in the ATProto ecosystem, but that’s the rough equivalent in activitypub-speak). The protocol is still being developed, so it’s not as feature-complete as some people are hoping for, but it’s getting there.

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/10/29/some-slightly-biased-thoughts-on-the-state-of-decentralized-social-media/ for a more professional write-up on the differences, similarities, and criticisms of the major twitter alternatives.

I’m looking forward to a few negative moochies as his picks get dumped even before the confirmation hearings.

Back in the day, Norton actually made some useful tools. They’ve been coasting on that 90s reputation for decades, though. It’s all unnecessary bloatware now.

Left of global center? No. Left of USA center? Probably.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/388988/political-ideology-steady-conservatives-moderates-tie.aspx

More Americans identify as conservative than liberal. It’s not something we have to like, and certain policies may be quite different individually, but in order to win nationally, Democrats have to defeat voters’ own self-identification. Obviously it happens, so this isn’t some insurmountable challenge, but the deck is stacked.

I call them “my people.”

2. if he ran as VP for another person, which is constitutionally allowed, he could be elected as VP

This is an interesting, but untested, legal theory. When Al Gore ran in 2000, there were murmurings of whether he should try to get Bill Clinton on the ticket as VP. Ultimately, there was some consensus that this part of 12th Amendment wasn’t superseded by any others: “But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”

It’s a bit of an open question whether that means only those parts of the eligibility requirements in place at the time (35 years old, natural born citizen, etc), or whether new requirements are also included, such as already serving two full terms as President. Clinton/Gore didn’t want to push those boundaries, but Trump certainly could try.

Edit: The 2012 book Constitutional Cliffhangers has a whole chapter dedicated to this and similar scenarios. It became a must-read in Trump’s first term, and is even more of one now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,” doesn’t say consecutively. It would take a HUUUUGE leap of logic to insert that word where it doesn’t exist. I’m sure someone will make the argument, but by the letter and the intent of the law, Trump is done after this term.

“and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.” If Trump has a heart attack and dies before January 20, 2027, Vance would take over and serve 2+ years as President, meaning he could only be elected once for one four-year term.

The rest of Section 1 just means anyone who was in office at the time is grandfathered into the old rules (no limits).

That cat has a quest for you.

Probably involving fetching some treats.

That’s going to go on your Permanent Record!!

Dejiulio Jr. reportedly admitted his crime at that point.

Dead giveaway that he’s not a real cop.

Pro: a handful of my state’s absolute worst officials are set to quit their jobs and we get a do-over.

Con: they’re quitting to join the administration and they’ll be way more powerful and everyone else will suffer.

Sorry. I did what I could.

https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/your-body-my-choice-hate-and-harassment-towards-women-spreads-online/

Content warning: This article contains offensive and obscene language.

RobCo

Military contractor and aerospace giant obsessed with autonomous AI.

Replace Robert House with El*n and it’s halfway there already.

My first car was a rusty 72 Pinto. Objectively bad, but there’s a freedom associated with a total shitbox as a 16yo that I’ve never had since.

Later had a mid-80s Cutlass Ciera. It already had an engine replaced by the time I got it, and that engine ran fine, unlike literally anything else in/on that car.

Briefly had a 77 F250. Also on a replacement engine, but this motor didn’t last long. That beast only got like 9 MPG, so it wasn’t worth fixing.

The 99 Jetta was fine for a few years, but when things started breaking, they broke in bunches. Finally a mechanic told me there was nothing he could do, so I had to scrap it.

Maybe it’s in cursive, and he’s just younger than yellow shirt.

For federal stuff, yes … probably, it’s never been tested, but the current SCOTUS won’t stop him.

Not for state crimes. Like the 34 felony counts in NY. But enforcement of any sentence (probably financial) is unclear. Also unprecedented.

He is over 35, a natural born citizen, and has lived in the US for 14 years. He was impeached, but not convicted. Accused of insurrection, but the wheels of justice turned too slowly.

That’s the extent of the legal requirements to be eligible to be President. The theory was that any other social disqualifications would be handled at the ballot box.

That theory is now proven to be incorrect, but fixing it takes a constitutional amendment.

Name one of the ten commandments Trump hasn’t broken challenge [impossible]