Political Digression Thread -- Save UP! Move the politically focused stuff here

[urbanlover568]

And there it is!

 

[go_vertical]

Not surprised at all.  Never before have I voted strictly by party, but you can bet I am now.  The party of division and hate needs to be severely weakened and only then will they (hopefully) learn a majority of this country doesn't want their vision of America. 

[kermit]

^ I been registered as unaffiliated since I turned 18 and I have voted for republicans in the (pre tea-party) past, but I never will again for this reason.

Different subject:

So is Tariq going to loose?

My superficial view from a different district makes me think he will. Do district voters dislike him as much as I do?  Has 6 shifted away from republican BS due to MAGA? Both? 

Seems like it would be tough for him to shift into state politics if he looses a city council election.

Edited July 23, 2022 by kermit

[JRCLT]

And there it is!
 

Scared institution of marriage… when some of those same republicans have gotten a divorce. Wow!! So sacred. Oh and some have cheated on their wives and some have remarried several times… truly these republicans and their hypocrisy is a head banger.

[JRCLT]

The two party system was never meant to exist. Seriously though, how many people seriously think two parties can represent all of the US. Those who are not unaffiliated are most likely the cause of endless exposure to their respective party’s ideologies and have been raised on the basis that they’re right and they other is wrong. As if life were really that simple. It’s only created division as basically the parties polarized and shifted radically apart.

[LKN704]

I know the Biden administration had pledged to work on CDC Director Dr. Walensky's messaging (I think she hired a media consultant) but hot damn this is what she said to WaPo yesterday about the two children who were diagnosed with monkeypox:

Quote

 Both of those children are traced back to individuals who come from the men who have sex with men community, the gay men community.

I literally cannot believe that such a high-ranking official would make such a statement. 

All she had to say was that "both of these children were infected by household transmission". Nothing more. It's irrelevant to the story what someone's sexuality is in regard to the virus' transmission. Sexuality doesn't make any difference how monkeypox spreads, close physical contact does. 

I get that we all make mistakes and sometimes we speak without thinking, and while I don't think she meant to disparage the gay community, focusing on the "gay" aspect will just translate to people who aren't gay (but have been exposed to the virus) ignoring the symptoms (because they'll think "I'm not gay, so I can't get it) and furthering its spread, all while helping to fuel greater hate and discrimination onto the LGBT+ community. 

Right-wingers will literally take this statement and say that gay men are "grooming" children and purposely giving them the virus, and will just be another reason for them not to want gay marriage and especially LGBT adoption. 

Edited July 23, 2022 by LKN704

[urbanlover568]

3 minutes ago, LKN704 said:

I know the Biden administration had pledged to work on CDC Director Dr. Walensky's messaging (I think she hired a media consultant) but hot damn this is what she said to WaPo yesterday about the two children who were diagnosed with monkeypox:

I literally cannot believe that such a high-ranking official would make such a statement. 

All she had to say was that "both of these children were infected by household transmission". Nothing more. It's irrelevant to the story what someone's sexuality is in regard to the virus' transmission. Sexuality doesn't make any difference how monkeypox spreads, close physical contact does. 

I get that we all make mistakes and sometimes we speak without thinking, and while I don't think she meant to disparage the gay community, focusing on the "gay" aspect will just translate to people who aren't gay (but have been exposed to the virus) ignoring the symptoms (because they'll think "I'm not gay, so I can't get it) and furthering its spread, all while helping to fuel greater hate and discrimination onto the LGBT+ community. 

Right-wingers will literally take this statement and say that gay men are "grooming" children and purposely giving them the virus, and will just be another reason for them not to want gay marriage and especially LGBT adoption. 

They want to make sodomy illegal next which would make all Gay people in NC automatically a class 1 Felon with Jail time and have to register as Sex Offenders. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/29/texas-sodomy-supreme-court-lawrence-paxton-lgbtq/

https://www.findlaw.com/state/north-carolina-law/north-carolina-prohibited-consensual-sexual-activity-laws.html

[urbanlover568]

What's going on in this world? Scary times...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cashier-wisconsin-walgreens-refuses-sell-132457089.html

[CLT2014]

5% of the city of Charlotte registered voters voted early.... Polling places a ghost town today.

This is to determine who sets local taxes, addresses our roads, sidewalks, crime, police, fire, local business development, make decisions about the airport, and more...

Honestly sad to see civic engagement so low. I know it is off cycle... but still the priorities of voters are way too focused on Federal Congress while local issues impact our day to day just as much, if not more.

Edited July 26, 2022 by CLT2014

[kayman]

It looks like Charlotte is about to have an overwhelming black and Democratic COC City Council.  Ajmera, Bokhari are both Asian; Driggs is the only white person on there. Vi Lyles will continue to be Charlotte's Mayor. 

This is going to be a very interesting setup with a 2/3rd black council and black mayor.  Charlotte is already a major hub of growth these days for black Americans and those of the African diaspora including Afro-Latinos.

Bokhari won by less than 500 votes against Stephanie Hand, a black woman & Democrat, so he's at serious risk of losing that seat. 

Edited July 27, 2022 by kayman

[kermit]

6 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

5% of the city of Charlotte registered voters voted early.... Polling places a ghost town today.

This is to determine who sets local taxes, addresses our roads, sidewalks, crime, police, fire, local business development, make decisions about the airport, and more...

Honestly sad to see civic engagement so low. I know it is off cycle... but still the priorities of voters are way too focused on Federal Congress while local issues impact our day to day just as much, if not more.

Leave it to Joe to put a bow on it:

I think this means David Tepper is the new city manager?

Edited July 27, 2022 by kermit

[kayman]

On 7/23/2022 at 12:22 PM, urbanlover568 said:

They want to make sodomy illegal next which would make all Gay people in NC automatically a class 1 Felon with Jail time and have to register as Sex Offenders. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/29/texas-sodomy-supreme-court-lawrence-paxton-lgbtq/

https://www.findlaw.com/state/north-carolina-law/north-carolina-prohibited-consensual-sexual-activity-laws.html

You better encourage everyone you know that is LGBTQ+ and allies to register, check their voter registration on https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/ , and vote for the Democratic candidates for office this November 8th then. 

This is why I was jumping Mark Robinson's fat ass along with their misanthropic asses in the NCGOP.  They are showing their support for white  supremacist, neo-nazi ideals.

Edited July 27, 2022 by kayman

[Madison Parkitect]

14 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

5% of the city of Charlotte registered voters voted early.... Polling places a ghost town today.

This is to determine who sets local taxes, addresses our roads, sidewalks, crime, police, fire, local business development, make decisions about the airport, and more...

Honestly sad to see civic engagement so low. I know it is off cycle... but still the priorities of voters are way too focused on Federal Congress while local issues impact our day to day just as much, if not more.

We had about 370 people at Precinct 70, which is pretty decent. Steady stream all day, well ahead of the city-wide average percentages.

11 hours ago, kayman said:

It looks like Charlotte is about to have an overwhelming black and Democratic COC City Council.  Ajmera, Bokhari are both Asian; Driggs is the only white person on there. Vi Lyles will continue to be Charlotte's Mayor. 

This is going to be a very interesting setup with a 2/3rd black council and black mayor.  Charlotte is already a major hub of growth these days for black Americans and those of the African diaspora including Afro-Latinos.

Bokhari won by less than 500 votes against Stephanie Hand, a black woman & Democrat, so he's at serious risk of losing that seat. 

Happy to see a heavily minority CC. Also hard to see this as anything but a failure for Tariq, he barely won against someone who didn't do a lot of campaigning and every one of his handpicked slate got crushed. I'd say this term on Council is his last.

[kayman]

6 minutes ago, Madison Parkitect said:

We had about 370 people at Precinct 70, which is pretty decent. Steady stream all day, well ahead of the city-wide average percentages.

Happy to see a heavily minority CC. Also hard to see this as anything but a failure for Tariq, he barely won against someone who didn't do a lot of campaigning and every one of his handpicked slate got crushed. I'd say this term on Council is his last.

It's a good thing! Many other black and brown Charlotteans I know personally have stressed how the current COC City Council should be more representative of the fastest growing demographics. 

I have to give Stephanie Hand some props.  She is very involved in the SouthPark community so that's what helped her with name recognition immensely.  I think she'll run again and trounce Bokhari in a 2023 rematch.

Edited July 27, 2022 by kayman

[CLT2014]

29 minutes ago, kayman said:

It's a good thing! Many other black and brown Charlotteans I know personally have stressed how the current COC City Council should be more representative of the fastest growing demographics. 

I have to give Stephanie Hand some props.  She is very involved in the SouthPark community so that's what helped her with name recognition immensely.  I think she'll run again and trounce Bokhari in a 2023 rematch.

The percentage of Charlotte that is black actually decreased between 2010 and 2020 from 35% to 32.5% (my census source could be wrong, so my apologies if so!). Asian, Mixed, and Hispanic continue to surge as a percentage of the city, while non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black declined.

I do wish we had Latinx representation on the city council as the city is now 16% Hispanic. By 2030, the demographic could cross the 20% mark and will be a critical part of Charlotte's (and America's) future. It would be beneficial to have that viewpoint on city council, but obviously hard to force that to happen, et. 

Edited July 27, 2022 by CLT2014

[atlrvr]

I rarely visit this thread, but wanted to see if there were any hot takes:

I'll bite on the above.

9% of city council members are white vs 47% of the city population

73% of city council members are black vs 36% of the city population

0% of city council members are hispanic vs 15 of the city population

When someone says how the current city council members should be MORE representative of the fastest growing demographics, does that mean should be more whites or more latinos?

 

Separately, Tariq isn't in my district, but I'm generally confused why there is as much disdain?  I mean, is it a desire to see city council be 10-1 (or 11-0) because that says something above local populace values?  Is it because having discussions with potentially opposing viewpoints before making public policy decisions and allocating tax payer resources is considered a waste of time?  I sort of viewed him as a champion of tech and entrepreneurship, with similar levels of party talking points and cronyism as the majority of the other longer serving members.

[kayman]

31 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

The percentage of Charlotte that is black actually decreased between 2010 and 2020 from 35% to 32.5% (my census source could be wrong, so my apologies if so!). Asian, Mixed, and Hispanic continue to surge as a percentage of the city, while non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black declined.

I do wish we had Latinx representation on the city council as the city is now 16% Hispanic. By 2030, the demographic could cross the 20% mark and will be a critical part of Charlotte's (and America's) future. It would be beneficial to have that viewpoint on city council, but obviously hard to force that to happen, et. 

Understandable.  There's been proven internal audit reports by the Census itself and reported by NPR (https://www.npr.org/2022/03/10/1083732104/2020-census-accuracy-undercount-overcount-data-quality) in March 2022 that black and non-whites with the exception of Asian (which was overcounted) were undercounted across the board nationally. That's why there are very serious doubts about the 2020 count demographics accuracy.

Since Latino is an ethnicity so they can be of any racial identity.  Much of Charlotte's latin ethnicity is Afro-Latino and of Caribbean origins. There's a lot of overlap between black and Latin identities.

Regardless it's good to see the prominence of the black leadership here. 

Edited July 27, 2022 by kayman

[CLT2014]

14 minutes ago, kayman said:

Understandable.  There's been proven internal audit reports by the Census itself and reported by NPR (https://www.npr.org/2022/03/10/1083732104/2020-census-accuracy-undercount-overcount-data-quality) in March 2022 that black and non-whites with the exception of Asian (which was overcounted) were undercounted across the board nationally. That's why there are very serious doubts about the 2020 count demographics accuracy.

Since Latino is an ethnicity so they can be of any racial identity.  Much of Charlotte's latin ethnicity is Afro-Latino and of Caribbean origins. There's a lot of overlap between black and Latin identities.

Regardless it's good to see the prominence of the black leadership here. 

The majority of Charlotte's Latinx population is not considering themselves African American though on the Census and is selecting Caucasian as their racial identity, with Hispanic/Latino as their ethnicity. I don't think we should assume the views of every African American is directly correlated with the story of many Hispanics in Charlotte. I'm not aware of any of the Charlotte City Council winners considering themselves to be of Latino heritage for example, have the ability to speak Spanish, et... but maybe I'm wrong and some of them are! I may just need some education which I'm all for!

Just my opinion that it would be nice to eventually have some people on the city council that consider themselves to be Latinx given the size of that demographic in Charlotte. 

Ignore everything I said! Marjorie Molina for the win in District 5. VERY exciting for the city of Charlotte to have a woman who can speak Spanish on City Council! Not my district so I wasn't aware, but exciting. 

Edited July 27, 2022 by CLT2014

[kayman]

22 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

The majority of Charlotte's Latinx population is not considering themselves African American though on the Census and is selecting Caucasian as their racial identity, with Hispanic/Latino as their ethnicity. I don't think we should assume the views of every African American is directly correlated with the story of many Hispanics in Charlotte. I'm not aware of any of the Charlotte City Council winners considering themselves to be of Latino heritage for example, have the ability to speak Spanish, et... but maybe I'm wrong and some of them are! I may just need some education which I'm all for!

Just my opinion that it would be nice to eventually have some people on the city council that consider themselves to be Latinx given the size of that demographic in Charlotte. 

Ignore everything I said! Marjorie Molina for the win in District 5. VERY exciting for the city of Charlotte to have a woman who can speak Spanish on City Council! Not my district so I wasn't aware, but exciting. 

I never said that the majority of the Latino population are black or African diaspora. (BTW, there's a difference between being African American and of the Sub-Saharan African diaspora i.e., black, Afro-Latino, or Afro-Caribbean).  I said much of the population are regardless of what put on down on the Census.  There have several conversations amongst many Afro Latinos on the denial their black or Sub-Saharan African diaspora lineage by saying they are white or other although they have those very visibly Sub-Saharan physical features. Across the board, I've personally been in those very conversations on that topic. 

Yes, Marjorie Molina is an Afro-Latina.

Edited July 27, 2022 by kayman

[kermit]

5 hours ago, atlrvr said:

Separately, Tariq isn't in my district, but I'm generally confused why there is as much disdain?  I mean, is it a desire to see city council be 10-1 (or 11-0) because that says something above local populace values?  Is it because having discussions with potentially opposing viewpoints before making public policy decisions and allocating tax payer resources is considered a waste of time?  I sort of viewed him as a champion of tech and entrepreneurship, with similar levels of party talking points and cronyism as the majority of the other longer serving members.

I thought Tariq was a great addition to the council when first elected due to his focus on entrepreneurship and fintech. Unfortunately it feels like (to me) in recent years he has decided to spend his time obstructing needed policy changes rather than working to improve them (UDO and the transit plan in particular). His relationship building in Raleigh also looks (to me) like he is cozying up to the far right, so his progression as a politician looks very “McCroryesque”. This lean to the right led to him proposing changes to our (admittedly unworkable) transit plan to make it a a roads-and-some-transit plan. He pays lipservice to densification but his actions indicate (to me) he is just another sprawl booster.

Having never been a registered democrat I (theoretically) don’t have an issue with partisan diversity anywhere. Having said that, the republican brand is increasingly out of step with urban policy needs (not to mention the other anti-democracy and climate denial elements of republicanism) so I gotta question the judgement and motivations of any politician that chooses to affiliate with that party in the current age.

Finally, and related to both points above, Tariq says more than his allotted share of stupid sh1t. The criminalization of feeding the homeless remark along with stuff like the tweet below make me think he is wholly disinterested in constructive debate on policy and is content to troll instead. IMO, on net, his actions make it harder for us to become a sustainable 21st century city. Granted there are others on the council who do little to help move us in that direction, but their thumb twiddling doesn't generally rise to the same level of obstruction and misinformation that I see coming from Bokhari.

(below: instead of working to improve the transit plan Tariq latches onto expensive and unworkable technology from monorail salesmen. His idea was to tunnel under intersections to create stoplight bypasses. While this sort of suggestion might be fine for an entrepreneur, Tariq decided to use this news to introduce the trite "lets not build the city around 19th century technology" critique of the transit plan -- in essence, more obstructionism)

Edited July 27, 2022 by kermit

[Madison Parkitect]

2 hours ago, kermit said:

I thought Tariq was a great addition to the council when first elected due to his focus on entrepreneurship and fintech. Unfortunately it feels like (to me) in recent years he has decided to spend his time obstructing needed policy changes rather than working to improve them (UDO and the transit plan in particular). His relationship building in Raleigh also looks (to me) like he is cozying up to the far right, so his progression as a politician looks very “McCroryesque”. This lean to the right led to him proposing changes to our (admittedly unworkable) transit plan to make it a a roads-and-some-transit plan. He pays lipservice to densification but his actions indicate (to me) he is just another sprawl booster.

Having never been a registered democrat I (theoretically) don’t have an issue with partisan diversity anywhere. Having said that, the republican brand is increasingly out of step with urban policy needs (not to mention the other anti-democracy and climate denial elements of republicanism) so I gotta question the judgement and motivations of any politician that chooses to affiliate with that party in the current age. In addition, any republican in office in Charlotte is unlikely to have much pull in Raleigh given the anti-urban stance of republicans in general.

Finally, and related to both points above, Tariq says more than his allotted share of stupid sh1t. The criminalization of feeding the homeless remark along with stuff like the tweet below make me think he is wholly disinterested in policy and is content to troll instead. IMO, on net, his actions make it harder for us to become a sustainable 21st century city. Granted there are others on the council who do little to help move us in that direction as well, but their thumb twiddling doesn't generally rise to the level of obstruction and misinformation.

(below: instead of working to improve the transit plan Tariq latches onto expensive and unworkable technology from monorail salesmen. His idea was to tunnel under intersections to create stoplight bypasses. While this sort of experiment might be fine for an entrepreneur, Tariq decided to use this news to introduce the trite "lets not build the city around 19th century technology" critique of the transit plan -- in essence, more obstructionism)

Beyond his general and specific policy views, which I usually disagree with him on, he's made me pretty angry the past few months with his grandstanding and photo-ops using minorities and workers as props. He's held what are essentially campaign events exploiting bus driver safety fears and the removal of the Eastland flea market by getting on the news and proposing solutions that are unworkable and meaningless. It's only served as a way to increase the name recognition for his candidate slate on the backs of these people, and I think it's gross. 

[atlrvr]

Thx @kermit...I think that perspective is helpful.  Don't fully agree on every point, but can understand why the luster is off, and he's now more partisan than advertised.

It's always a shame when people who CAN do a lot of good locally get greater ambitions, because maybe his core skills/advocacy/contributions get compromised.  

I'm jaded though, and think that statement applies to most politicians.

And speaking of jaded and applying statements to ALL politicians....using vulnerable people as props is a time honored tradition of the annual Presidential State of the Union, that every president from both parties fulfills with great gusto! 

[Nathan2]

16 hours ago, atlrvr said:

And speaking of jaded and applying statements to ALL politicians....using vulnerable people as props is a time honored tradition of the annual Presidential State of the Union, that every president from both parties fulfills with great gusto! 

The difference here is that Tariq didn't give his props a choice or in the example of the Eastland market, didn't even tell them what he was doing. 

[JRCLT]

Race has no scientific or concrete definitions and really shouldn’t matter. Unfortunately race like any other discrepancies with ethnicity, language, physical structure body/face, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, etc. we are judged and treated differently based the perception of these characteristics. These perceptions vary on culture, morals, beliefs, and one’s thoughts of and experiences with people of varying characteristics. I’ve been reading this thread about the CC and the representation is important so that the council doesn’t lose sight of the people it serves, but at another point of view a council member should be able to represent their district despite who lives in their district and regardless of who they are themselves. They are a person of a certain characteristic, but that does not mean they have endured the same experiences and hardships that another individual with the same characteristics has. Vaguely they may experience similarities but it is not guaranteed that they will understand everything that the community their characteristics represents. I myself am Hispanic/Latinx but I am also mixed (though perception wise some people see me as African American which just proves race isn’t concrete despite my considered white parent). Honestly I wish I could just get rid of the whole idea of race and makes no sense to me at all and why people think to be treat people differently based on stereotypes but I suppose that’s nothing new with bullies existing and all. Racists are just grown up bullies judging people on what they think know about them simply because biologically they have more of a pigment that makes them absorb light making them appear darker and some facial and body structures that have helped these humans survive and adapt to their environment as they have. Ignorance unfortunately brings prejudice at times just education can.

These issues are so complicated even for me to understand and try and write as cohesively and concisely as possible. I don’t think I’m doing a good job at it. It can be frustrating and disheartening when we push the idea of representation based on how people look instead of making representatives listen to all of the people they represent not just the ones they look similar to when they look at themselves in the mirror.

I want to wrap it up and I kind of cut myself off there because I didn’t want to rant. I could probably write forever on my grievances, disappointment, disapproval, and so on about these topics as well as my understanding of why they are important despite my own ideas. I wish they were easily able to be done away with but nothing complex in life has ever been just that easy. Anyway, about the council: representation is important so theres view points based on how they are treated, their unique perspectives and needs, but that alone shouldn’t make them a representative. It’s too idealistic. Like I said above they should represent their district no matter how they themselves look and represent all of their district. This is also difficult but less idealistic and simply listening to the people they represent can go a long way.

Edit: Something I’d like to add that people don’t like to talk about, but I myself think is important to note: is the fact that prejudice, hate, and “bullying” that is racism is not a unique trait of white people. It is a natural human response to defining groups of me and us versus them. A primitive behavior in our brains to create groups and alienate those not considered to be in the “group.” Ive seen different races, ethnicities, sexes, etc. practice prejudice on each other. Though obviously some of these acts have been more deadlier, more impactful, and just more atrocious than others as minorities (as the name suggests) have less power they are more vulnerable to such acts. Simply though, if it weren’t done by one group it could just as easily been done by the other if they were more of them. I think we all fail to think of the other side of the coin. Humans of all kinds are capable of despicable things just as we are capable of amazing and wonderful things (not to make it too depressing).

[15895]

With all the new infrastructure money and now a new climate bill, it’s prime time to do big things. Pete Buttigieg said money will used to fund large transformative projects. But the GOP is so hostile to funding rail transit. Canadian and Blue state cities are already strong in the rail department, already building huge extensions and have *huge* expansion plans in the works. 

Other than Phoenix, Miami & 0.2 mile streetcar extension InMilwaukee, only the most liberal blue-state cities are constructing rail. 

My political digression is how annoying it is that mass transit has become a Red/Blue issue. Atlanta, for example, should be extending their heavy rail system. Instead they go back and forth on whether to add a BRT & LRT extension… MARTA already is proof if you build it right, ridership will be sky high… So I don’t know why they’re not considering heavy rail extensions. Or at least more light rail. 

[quote] 

So why the switch from light rail to bus?

First, understand that MARTA was never planning on train expansion. That’s heavy rail.

Light rail looks like the Atlanta Streetcar.

MARTA leaders told Gray that bus rapid transit is significantly less expensive than light rail -- $130 million compared to $340 million -- for Campbellton Road and can be built faster, and with less disruption.

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/broken-promises-neighbors-question-why-marta-wants-buses-instead-rail/TSSVKA5TZ5HQVJVU4BLCPAZJI4/?outputType=amp [/quote]

It just seems so impossible to get even a single good line in Charlotte or other cities without trying to do piece meal and finding the cheapest routes to build. Then you end up with a nice length in miles of rail but with weak ridership (DART & Houston) 

The below are rail systems u/c in the US. 

Heavy Rail:

Honolulu (20 miles)

Los Angeles (6 miles)

Washington DC (12 miles)

Light Rail:

Boston (4 miles)

Los Angeles (21 miles) 

Minneapolis (15 miles) 

Phoenix (8 miles) 

San Francisco (2 miles) 

Seattle (35 miles) 

Washington DC (16 miles) 

Commuter/Suburban Trains:

Chicago (8 miles)

Los Angeles (9 miles) 

Miami (8 miles) 

New York (11 miles)

Philadelphia (3.5 miles)

San Francisco (3 miles) 

Streetcar:

Los Angeles (4.1 miles)

Milwaukee (0.2 miles)

Philadelphia (2.5 miles)

Seattle (2.4  miles)