volkris @volkris@qoto.org

The #SCOTUS ruling on #TikTok was really unfortunate because it was based on the justices not understanding the technology, the facts of the situation.

You could see in the oral arguments that they didn't understand how the platform was engineered, they got multiple things very wrong about it. And that's really a shame.

The role of the Supreme Court in the US is to interpret laws and review lower court rulings, but in this case the issue wasn't either of those, it was a matter of fact that they struggled with, not law.

This legal proceeding was rushed. The two sides did not have time to hammer out their factual disagreement through the normal course of the normal process. And so when it got to the Supreme Court, the Court was presented with a record with inconsistencies.

And this is why we should never try to rush these legal processes.

The justices seemed to think that a shutdown wasn't even on the table. Well, the platform shut down. The justices were proven wrong. Unfortunately, as far as I know there is no procedure for the Court to fix a factual error like this. We are stuck with this ruling until who knows when some future case might provide the opportunity to fix it.

It's legally tragic.

#USPolitics #law #technology

#Democrats overwhelmingly voted against keeping government open.

That really gets lost in all of the media discussion about this. But it really needs to be emphasized. Did your representative vote against keeping government open? You should know that, and hold them accountable for that vote.

#USPolitics

Remember, #Democrats in the #House have nearly a majority of votes in the chamber.

The math says that if they wanted to, they could partner with even a few moderate #Republicans to take control of the chamber outright or at least move their preferred legislation ahead.

The ONLY way a few #GOP hardliners get their way is if Democrats vote with those Republican extremists, supporting their cause.

We shouldn't let politicians point fingers at others, scoring points in this us-vs-them mentality, when they themselves have the tools to make things better.

If the #US government shuts down it will be because Democrats refused to break with Republican extremists and vote to pass funding.

Dems have the votes. Hold them accountable for using them.

#USPolitics

A fantastic sign that so many people cheering the murder of the #insurance #CEO are really off base is that so many describe that role as parasitic.

Factually that is wrong.

A parasite doesn't ask for permission to take, it just takes. In stark contrast, we pay for insurance. And these employees are paid, they don't just drain bank accounts unilaterally.

There's plenty of room to criticize insurance, insurance companies, the healthcare system, the political systems that support that, and on and on, but anyone buying into that entirely false perspective of parasitism is losing the argument flat out.

Because right from the start they're showing they don't know what they're talking about, and it only makes it worse that they're jumping from there into killing people.

They don't make a compelling argument for anyone not already in their echo chamber.

Many #Trump supporters take the stance that he was never ACTUALLY going to impose tariffs, that they were mere negotiating threats, and anyone who doesn't know that is an idiot.

Meanwhile #Harris was criticized for not laying out specifics of what she would do in office.

Funnily, then, that was a contest between someone who **wouldn't** say what they **would** do versus someone who **would** said what they **wouldn't** do.

What a time to be alive.

#USPolitics #kamala

Access to medical care in the US has long been highly regulated. Politicians interfere in personal medical decisions every single day.

Personally, I don't think that's right, but it's the status quo, and it's not going to change any time soon, especially when so many insist on turning a blind eye to that fact.

But it's in that context that "hands off my body" arguments fall flat. We have long lived in a society where political intrusion into personal medical decisions is not only tolerated but actively demanded.

At this point it's not about whether to keep politicians out but rather which politicians to give the power to.

#SCOTUS #Skrmetti #USPolitics

#Biden's pardon of his son crosses the line when it gives a blanket get out of jail free card to any laws his son might have violated, not just the ones we know about.

He put his son above the law. That's striking.

It's only the icing on top that he attempts to justify it by claiming persecution... by the administration that he himself was leading.

We need to be clear that this is disgraceful, as really that's the only way to hold such a person of power accountable.

Biden should be forever remembered for crap like this.

#USPolitics

At this point mainstream #Republicans are saying that they know Biden didn't get all those votes legally when he ran against #Trump not because they have evidence of any particular conspiracy, but because come on, Trump is awesome, how could anyone not have voted for him?

I don't have a dog in the fight between Republicans and Democrats, but geez, I really hate to see how far down the #GOP has fallen in the last couple of years.

That kind of imbecilic argument is fit for drunkards at the bar and fifth rate media personalities, but at this point some of the preeminent conservative talkers are laying that down.

This is going to be a hard four years in media.

#USPolitics

Skimming this article, it strikes me as a pretty good survey of how the state of popular politics in the US ended in a #Trump election.

It captures #Democrats being out of touch and #Republicans being fed up and #Harris running a bad campaign, one that really channeled that out-of-touch-ness.

Or, at least, this confirms my baises :) reflects my perception on the whole thing.

But those themes seem to be repeated over and over through quote after quote.

#USPolitics