Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Flying Dice]

The Congressional Research Service has released a public web archive of thousands of its current reports. If you're not aware of the significance, the CRS is the institution responsible for providing non-partisan informational reports to Congress, and was not previously accessible to the general public (in terms of current material-older reports tended to percolate out over time).

Just thought I'd pass along something that came up at work. It's useful both for getting a fairly objective look at current events and for developing an understanding of the information that senators and representatives are (hopefully) reading and understanding while working on legislation. This is big, big stuff in terms of quality of information and legislative transparency. Not that I think it'll do much good for people glued to mass media's yellow journalism, but for those willing to inform themselves it's a brilliant resource.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Something tells me we're not going to see a lot more focus about how they can get the Hispanic vote if they just make rad trad Catholic abortion protesting the ontological center of the Republican party. Not in the Posttrump Era.

given that they are often devout Catholics

Catholics are not a notably conservative groups.  Once upon a time they were but not lately.

They are a group that could probably become part of the conservative base if the Republicans were to ever play their cards right. It would be a multi-election process, but you could definitely co-opt and support the traditionalist Catholic influence in conjunction with Catholic immigrants.

Or at least, that was the world we lived in before 2016 rose from the depths and cast down the works of man.

[mainiac]

They are a group that could probably become part of the conservative base if the Republicans were to ever play their cards right.

I dont see why Catholics would be more likely then say mainline Protestants.  (Conservatives dont have much room to grow in evengelical support which is already really high).

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I'm not sure anybody can control the mainline Protestants at this point. The ones in the Religious Right are in, the ones who aren't in have no sympathy. More importantly, the "mainline" is kind of...collapsing. They're probably going to have to admit to a name change once churches start having to shut down from lack of membership.

The Republican party are hardly the darlings in Rome's eye, but there are elements of conservative Catholicism they could definitely resonate with and make a part of the broad Religious Right. But again, we come to Trump.

[mainiac]

You seem to be thinking the important part about Catholicism is the pope or mass or something.  It's not:

I'm an Episcopal, which is Catholic Lite. It's like same religion, half the guilt

Jack Donaghy: That's not how it works, Tracy. Even though there is the whole confession thing, that's no free pass, because there is a crushing guilt that comes with being a Catholic. Whether things are good or bad or you're simply... eating tacos in the park, there is always the crushing guilt.
Tracy Jordan: I don't think I want that. I'm out.
[Jack turns to leave]
Jack Donaghy: [to himself] Somehow, I feel oddly guilty about that.
[Jack crosses himself]

If you feel guilty and you are white, you are a liberal whether you know it or not.  Catholicism is a religion that tells you some stuff but more importantly it's a lifestyle that tells you that you are guilty.  You can skip mass for ten years and you won't get any of the catholic religion but that catholic guilt will still be with you.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

All Christian religious lifestyles are centered around guilt. If you make someone feel guilty for being gay, or having an abortion, or not practicing Christianity, I'm pretty sure that's not liberalism.

[martinuzz]

All Christian religious lifestyles are centered around guilt. If you make someone feel guilty for being gay, or having an abortion, or not practicing Christianity, I'm pretty sure that's not liberalism.

Oh but it is. Those people are excercising their freedom to be oppressed by an institution that is NOT the state.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

You clearly have never met a Republican politician.

[Dostoevsky]

The Congressional Research Service has released a public web archive of thousands of its current reports. If you're not aware of the significance, the CRS is the institution responsible for providing non-partisan informational reports to Congress, and was not previously accessible to the general public (in terms of current material-older reports tended to percolate out over time).

Just thought I'd pass along something that came up at work. It's useful both for getting a fairly objective look at current events and for developing an understanding of the information that senators and representatives are (hopefully) reading and understanding while working on legislation. This is big, big stuff in terms of quality of information and legislative transparency. Not that I think it'll do much good for people glued to mass media's yellow journalism, but for those willing to inform themselves it's a brilliant resource.

I'll also note that every session of Congress (that is, every two years) CRS has to make/update a bunch of reports for new members of Congress (and their staff) telling them how the heck things work in Congress. These reports (complete with short summaries at the front of each) are an excellent primer for those looking to learn about U.S. legislative processes.

There are also a lot of CRS reports on military procurement, for those who like to read up on the latest problems in replacing the last few hundred 50-year-old M113s, development of ship-based lasers, etc.

Before this came out the major public source was from the Federation of American Scientists (http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/index.html), but that was incomplete.

[Strife26]

They need to surplus some more 113's, preferably at a time and price that's reasonable for me.

[misko27]

All Christian religious lifestyles are centered around guilt. If you make someone feel guilty for being gay, or having an abortion, or not practicing Christianity, I'm pretty sure that's not liberalism.

A): The word "Mainstream" would have served you there so I don't have to hunt down every bumfuck cult after the Council of Nicea on, from those who believe incest is worship of the Lord to believing Jesus already returned to earth. I'm sure at least one of the Gnostics would disprove you if nothing else.  B): define "centered around guilt". If that means Original Sin it's different then guilt from doing bad things. Some Christians (Calvinists in particular) have a very totalizing view of guilt: Everyone is! Others have much different conceptions. For example in the Orthodox church no one inherits the sin of Adam and Eve: we inherit their consequences (DEATH), but not their personal guilt; and on guilt and sin in general, even being cut off from Communion with the Orthodox Church for some egregious act does not in-and-of-itself damn one to hell, de-emphasizng guilt for sin. But I'm not a comparative theologian.

What's more interesting is your position that guilt defines non-liberalism. Can you really say that believing in guilt, or focusing on it in any way, makes you not-liberal? I've never heard of guilt being used to define liberalism before.

Catholicism is a religion that tells you some stuff but more importantly it's a lifestyle that tells you that you are guilty.  You can skip mass for ten years and you won't get any of the catholic religion but that catholic guilt will still be with you.

...Huh, that's actually pretty accurate way of describing (my experience with) Catholicism. I never really though of it like that.

Wikipedia on Catholic Guilt. It's interesting because the Catholic position of Original Sin seems like it wouldn't lead to a guilt-focused position, but  then again what I know of Catholic teachings (Sin as excess, and their reliance of Plato's four virtues) shows that it could be otherwise...

[MetalSlimeHunt]

The word "Mainstream" would have served you there so I don't have to hunt down every bumfuck cult after the Council of Nicea on, from those who believe incest is worship of the Lord to believing Jesus already returned to earth.

Hey, even Mormons believe in salvation. Can't have salvation without humanity being guilty.

What's more interesting is your position that guilt defines non-liberalism. Can you really say that believing in guilt, or focusing on it in any way, makes you not-liberal? I've never heard of guilt being used to define liberalism before.

what in fuck

I was responding to maniac's statement that liberalism stems from white guilt, and that's what makes Catholics become liberal. How in the hell do you get "guilt defines non-liberalism" from that?

I guess people who are heavily obsessed with a view of the world that divides people into the guilty and the innocent might be less likely to accept liberal or merciful reactions to harm, but I digress.

[Powder Miner]

unfortunately, the us vs them mentality often pervades pretty much ev er y single bit of the political discourse nowadays

[mainiac]

Catholicism is a religion that tells you some stuff but more importantly it's a lifestyle that tells you that you are guilty.  You can skip mass for ten years and you won't get any of the catholic religion but that catholic guilt will still be with you.

...Huh, that's actually pretty accurate way of describing (my experience with) Catholicism. I never really though of it like that.

I'm sorry.

[misko27]

Hey, even Mormons believe in salvation. Can't have salvation without humanity being guilty.

Mormons are weird, but they aren't close to the weirdest Christianity has put out. I'm not even including the syncretic ones.

what in fuck

I was responding to maniac's statement that liberalism stems from white guilt, and that's what makes Catholics become liberal. How in the hell do you get "guilt defines non-liberalism" from that?

I assumed "If you make someone feel guilty for being gay, or having an abortion, or not practicing Christianity, I'm pretty sure that's not liberalism." was meant more broadly, I guess.