***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[rillo561]

I wonder if these new task force will go after these recreational states?

 

[whywesteppin]

Belgian parliament debated today on legislation to cut off Saudi funding of Salafist mosques/preachers in our country.
Not sure how they intend to accomplish that but there was pretty much unanimous consent. They said it's time to move past the economic ties with Saudi Arabia and do something about their funding of hate speech throughout the country. Our national council of Imams pushed for such measures as well because they are reporting increasing difficulty fighting against radicalization while the Saudis pour tons of money into the spreading of Salafism.

Good.

Governments should be clear and consistent on what is lawful and what is not.

I realize it's a gray zone when it comes to free speech and freedom of religion versus hate speech, so stuff like that needs to be carefully done and applied equally to all groups. Also, I don't know what the Belgian constitution is like, so maybe what I'm saying doesn't apply.

Going after foreign funding is ok. However, if a random guy starts preaching Salafism, the government shouldn't be able to shut him up on that basis alone.

 

[rolaholic]

I find it absurd that nearly every major candidate being considered is pushing 70.

Yea def in need of a new bench ,problem is who? Not too many younger members of Congress have a big national profile.

Speaking of youth,not saying he should run or anything but just wondering,whatever happened to Martin Carcetti O'Malley?

So best bet is to push Booker more to the left? Promise Warren the VP nod after primaries to soothe far left liberals? What's your ideal situation, Rusty?

It already looks like dude has been pivoting more left since Trump took office,he's been one of the more publicly vocal dems in oppposition.

I just think it'd be the Dems taking another big chance with him since he's got some baggage that would definitely be brought up and drawn out through a general election. I know GOP voters don't give a damn about any of that unless its regarding their opponent but Dem voters still do

 

[EddieDoyers]

I wonder if these new task force will go after these recreational states?

I predict a lot of lawsuits by states waiting to happen

 

[gry60]

http://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...p-team-comments-on-ivanka-trump-clothing-line

Even "Clinton Cash" author is speaking out against Trump pushing his daughter's line.[emoji]128514[/emoji]

 

[whywesteppin]

I find it absurd that nearly every major candidate being considered is pushing 70.

Yea def in need of a new bench ,problem is who? Nothe many younger membees of Congress have a big national profile.

Speaking of youth,not saying he should run or anything but just wondering,whatever happened to Martin Carcetti O'Malley?

He is in O'Malley's March, a seven-piece Irish pub-rock band. They played over here last year but I didn't go.

His wife is a district court judge. She used to run the parking ticket court, but not sure if she still does.

 

[rolaholic]

Don't we already have numerous law enforcement agencies that enforce the national law? The hell we need an extra task force for?

"The world is a mess"

This,dude did describe America as a post-apocalyptic,desolate wasteland of crime in his inaguratation speech,thanks to Bannon, only makes sense he's acting like it is.

Sessions already laying the groundwork with his language during his swearing in,he was following that same line of thinking even though the stats prove otherwise but you know how that goes,alt-facts and all

 

[Belgium]

This order is very vague

"Identify deficiencies in existing laws that have made them less effective in reducing crime and propose new legislation that could be enacted to improve public safety and reduce crime"

Very vague, so let's take a look at what the Fraternal Order Of Police requested from the Trump administration. He is the "law and order" candidate after all so I'm sure it was taken into consideration.

https://fop.net/CmsDocument/Doc/TrumpFirst100Days.pdf

De-prioritize implementation of some or all of the recommendations made by the President’s (Obama) Task Force on 21st Century Policing 

Reverse or amend the broad, Bush-era ban on racial profiling by all or some Federal agencies

 

[rillo561]

I predict a lot of lawsuits by states waiting to happen

Those orders are so vague, and it's technically against federal law... Interesting times.

 

[rolaholic]

I find it absurd that nearly every major candidate being considered is pushing 70.

Yea def in need of a new bench ,problem is who? Nothe many younger membees of Congress have a big national profile.

Speaking of youth,not saying he should run or anything but just wondering,whatever happened to Martin Carcetti O'Malley?

He is in O'Malley's March, a seven-piece Irish pub-rock band. They played over here last year but I didn't go.

His wife is a district court judge. She used to run the parking ticket court, but not sure if she still does.

You cant be serious

Thought dude would've been back in politics,or in an administrating postion of some sort by now

Thought he had a few decent ideas during the primary, his robotic tone didn't help him out though

 

[rolaholic]

:x @ repealing the racial profiling in federal positions ban

Guess the cat's been out of the bag now that Sessions has been confirmed and now the neo-WS,authoritarian agenda courtesy of Bannon, can finally be implemented and acted upon now

 

[EddieDoyers]

I predict a lot of lawsuits by states waiting to happen

Those orders are so vague, and it's technically against federal law... Interesting times.

Lawyers gonna be eatin doe

 

[whywesteppin]

I find it absurd that nearly every major candidate being considered is pushing 70.

Yea def in need of a new bench ,problem is who? Nothe many younger membees of Congress have a big national profile.

Speaking of youth,not saying he should run or anything but just wondering,whatever happened to Martin Carcetti O'Malley?

He is in O'Malley's March, a seven-piece Irish pub-rock band. They played over here last year but I didn't go.

His wife is a district court judge. She used to run the parking ticket court, but not sure if she still does.

You cant be serious

Thought dude would've been back in politics,or in an administrating postion of some sort by now

Though dude had a few decent ideas during the primary, his robotic tone didn't help him out though

The band's only part-time.

In many ways I think he was actually the best candidate. Little baggage, actually thoughtful and careful, and probably means well.

His demeanor hurt him in the Great 2015-2016 National Shameful Circus that is sometimes referred to as an "election," but if there is significant backlash against the theatrics of trump and the current political climate, I could see voters turning to cardboard in 2020. Although he will of course lose to Ben Barson.

I mean, look at this guy. You have to respect some of what he does:

Looks like he's in the back of an uber, his undershirt showing, hasn't upgraded his phone in 5 years, he don't give a ****. This is not the hero we deserve, but he is the hero we need right now.

 

[gry60]

I find it absurd that nearly every major candidate being considered is pushing 70.

Yea def in need of a new bench ,problem is who? Nothe many younger membees of Congress have a big national profile.

Speaking of youth,not saying he should run or anything but just wondering,whatever happened to Martin Carcetti O'Malley?

He is in O'Malley's March, a seven-piece Irish pub-rock band. They played over here last year but I didn't go.

His wife is a district court judge. She used to run the parking ticket court, but not sure if she still does.

You cant be serious

Thought dude would've been back in politics,or in an administrating postion of some sort by now

Though dude had a few decent ideas during the primary, his robotic tone didn't help him out though

The band's only part-time.

In many ways I think he was actually the best candidate. Little baggage, actually thoughtful and careful, and probably means well.

His demeanor hurt him in the Great 2015-2016 National Shameful Circus that is sometimes referred to as an "election," but if there is significant backlash against the theatrics of trump and the current political climate, I could see voters turning to cardboard in 2020. Although he will of course lose to Ben Barson.

I mean, look at this guy. You have to respect some of what he does:

"I got two phones, one for the plug and one for the gram"

 

[RustyShackleford]

Carcetti could have been a Senator

 

[Nike Jordan]

If Hillary Clinton can get almost 66 million votes with her perceived "baggage", then the next Democratic candidate has a pretty good shot in 2020.

 

[RustyShackleford]

O'Malley rocking that "In the parking lot of a Courtyard Marriot, bout to go cheap on my wife with an intern" fit

 

[rolaholic]

I find it absurd that nearly every major candidate being considered is pushing 70.

Yea def in need of a new bench ,problem is who? Nothe many younger membees of Congress have a big national profile.

Speaking of youth,not saying he should run or anything but just wondering,whatever happened to Martin Carcetti O'Malley?

He is in O'Malley's March, a seven-piece Irish pub-rock band. They played over here last year but I didn't go.

His wife is a district court judge. She used to run the parking ticket court, but not sure if she still does.

You cant be serious

Thought dude would've been back in politics,or in an administrating postion of some sort by now

Though dude had a few decent ideas during the primary, his robotic tone didn't help him out though

The band's only part-time.

In many ways I think he was actually the best candidate. Little baggage, actually thoughtful and careful, and probably means well.

His demeanor hurt him in the Great 2015-2016 National Shameful Circus that is sometimes referred to as an "election," but if there is significant backlash against the theatrics of trump and the current political climate, I could see voters turning to cardboard in 2020. Although he will of course lose to Ben Barson.

I mean, look at this guy. You have to respect some of what he does:

Looks like he's in the back of an uber, his undershirt showing, hasn't upgraded his phone in 5 years, he don't give a ****. This is not the hero we deserve, but he is the hero we need right now.

Yea I never got the crooked vibe from him at all,always thought he meant well and was on the right side of many issues. He didn't lose for his ideas or his platform imo,he just got caught in an extraordinary election campaign. I don't doubt that dude could and probably would be the party nominee during other election years.

Dude is still young though,he should try to run for congress

 

[IATT]

 

[whywesteppin]

It would've been great if he was in Congress now. He could've gotten more national coverage and built himself up for a 2020 campaign. He would definitely need to work on his image a bit but in some ways it could be refreshing. And I think he could appeal to both African Americans and the Rust Belt, although I honestly haven't tracked his policies as closely as I should.

 

[whywesteppin]

2015 feels so far away:

 

[RustyShackleford]

Ole boy was bout that "Tough on Crime" life. African Americans would look at him funny style.

He goofed this year, since their was an empty Senate seat in Maryland. But lucky for him he might get another chance at the Senate in 2020.

 

[whywesteppin]

Ole boy was bout that "Tough on Crime" life. African Americans would look at him funny style.

He goofed this year, since their was an empty Senate seat in Maryland. But lucky for him he might get another chance at the Senate in 2020.

I'd still take his approach 1 million times over what trump is doing. But you're right. He would have to work on that aspect of his record.

 

[rolaholic]

@CNN : Govt. ethics office says it's being swamped by citizen phone calls and emails after Conway plugged Ivanka Trump line http://cnn.it/2krqv0x

Since when does Trump and this admin give a damn about ethics though?

Kellyanne's probably gonna get a promotion next week as a result of that plug

 

[Belgium]

Good.

Governments should be clear and consistent on what is lawful and what is not.

I realize it's a gray zone when it comes to free speech and freedom of religion versus hate speech, so stuff like that needs to be carefully done and applied equally to all groups. Also, I don't know what the Belgian constitution is like, so maybe what I'm saying doesn't apply.

Going after foreign funding is ok. However, if a random guy starts preaching Salafism, the government shouldn't be able to shut him up on that basis alone.

We have 2 hate speech laws. One is the Belgian anti-racism law, which dates back from the 1980s. It makes these actions illegal:

• Incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence against a person on account of race, colour, origin or national or ethnic descent, in the circumstances given in Article 444 of the Belgian Penal Code;
• Incitement to discrimination, segregation, hatred or violence against a group, community or its members on account of race, colour, origin or national or ethnic descent, in the circumstances given in Article 444 of the Belgian Penal Code; and
• Announcing the intention to commit any of the aforementioned offences, in the circumstances given in Article 444 of the Belgian Penal Code.

It is however very rare that either of those make it to trial. It needs to be very severe, otherwise a judge will simply toss it out.

So in practice it is generally only applied to brutal racially/religiously motivated violence, or blatantly racist and inflammatory rhetoric from politicians or other influential public positions such as law enforcement. If non-violent, the penalty will simply be a fine or none at all.

High ranking police officers have for example have been fined for spreading hate mail through official police channels. Our far-right party has been fined €12000 a decade or so ago. I don't remember exactly what they did but it crossed the line so far that the party completely marginalized itself and had to be rebranded. Though it's not much better nowadays. Some of the old folks are still in the party and several of them attended a neo-nazi convention in Greece in 2016. The party leader seems to want to bring the party back out of marginalization but his other party members aren't doing him any favors.

In the case of hate preachers, they are in a bit of a grey area since their hate speech often overlaps with anti-terrorism laws (encouring youth to fight for IS in Syria, directing young muslims to commit domestic attacks, ...)

Some can easily be deported but we have a pretty large Arabic population who were born here, so it's not necessarily immigrants that are hate preaching jihadism. 4 out of 5 of the Brussels terror attack perpetrators only had the Belgian nationality for example. And while it is possible to revoke a Belgian citizen's citizenship, it's a lengthy process and requires an extreme breach of duty as a Belgian citizen. That generally only applies to people convicted on anti-terrorism laws. Sending off dozens of young muslims to Syria for example doesn't carry a very long prison sentence but it does allow the government to revoke citizenship and deport them.

The second hate-speech law we have is the Holocaust Denial Law from 1995, which makes it illegal to deny the existence or justify/approve of the holocaust.

As the name suggests, it bans neo-nazi groups from being able to operate publicly.