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[Bumber]

Anyone know if there's been any indication that was a thing prior to tonight? I think it's the first I've heard it mentioned (probably because it doesn't make much sense, you'd just use whatever infrastructure we already use for vaccines).

Trump's definitely brought it up before. Could've sworn he mentioned it in the first debate. Google shows articles of Trump considering the idea back in late July.

EDIT: "Kamala Harris is more liberal than Bernie Sanders" 

https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-more-liberal-bernie-sanders-senate-record-analysis-shows-1524481

Looks to be because Harris doesn't go along on bipartisan bills, and because none of Sander's bills ever become law.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

It's mostly because she's spent most of her career in attorney roles _{^{because she's a fucking COP}} where you don't vote on anything, while Bernie has spent a significant portion of his career in Congress voting on things. Fewer data points, so a less accurate rating.

[Dostoevsky]

EDIT: "Kamala Harris is more liberal than Bernie Sanders" 

https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-more-liberal-bernie-sanders-senate-record-analysis-shows-1524481

Looks to be because Harris doesn't go along on bipartisan bills, and because none of Sander's bills ever become law.

As much as I like GovTrack that's a pretty crummy indicator, to be honest. (Their methodology and whatnot is here.) Though they do keep it to a limited time period, meaning that Sanders's longer political career doesn't affect things as much, these cosponsorship figures don't account for things like actual bill content. It also glosses over plenty of other activity that goes on in congress that aren't necessarily tracked as easily, such as hearing activity, what they choose to amplify via press releases or other public activity, endorsements, etc. etc. (The lack of voting records isn't really a problem in the current Senate, as McConnell has let very little legislation reach the floor this congress.)

What's more, going to that link shows that over a larger time period Harris is no longer the 'most liberal' member of the Senate by their reckoning. (She becomes #4.)

(GovTrack's website currently has some caveats up about people using that takeaway, too.)

I'd say that data suggests that she's been highly party loyal recently, though, which is a separately notable figure.

[RedKing]

Anyone know if there's been any indication that was a thing prior to tonight? I think it's the first I've heard it mentioned (probably because it doesn't make much sense, you'd just use whatever infrastructure we already use for vaccines).

Trump's definitely brought it up before. Could've sworn he mentioned it in the first debate. Google shows articles of Trump considering the idea back in late July.

Trump loves to invoke using the military for lots of things they're not really intended for -- riot control, immigration enforcement, etc. so vaccine distribution is just another log for the pile. My guess would be that he does it because he thinks it makes him look tougher.

"We're gonna get the military, I've got the generals all lined up, we're gonna replace the Post Office and have the military deliver the mail. They've got a mail gun like you wouldn't believe, nobody's ever seen something like this before. Takes the Postal Service, what, 2-3 days to get a letter from failing Democrat state New York to failing Democrat state California? This cannon is ultrasonic, can get the letter there in 30 minutes. 30 minutes! It might be a little banged up, I guess, but it still gets there. Obama never got you your mail in 30 minutes. We're gonna have these big, beautiful mail guns and letters are going to be flying all over the place, it's going to be great."

[scriver]

Im convinced

[RedKing]

It would certainly be more interesting.

*sonic boom*
"Mail's here."

[sluissa]

I mean... we've done it at least once before.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a21601/usps-first-official-missile-mail-1959/

[RedKing]

I mean... we've done it at least once before.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a21601/usps-first-official-missile-mail-1959/

........

What this tells me is that the Cold War was basically Trump-tier crazy. What with the Castro assassination plots and MKULTRA and such.

[Frumple]

It was a long period of people getting folks killed mostly over stupid horseshit, with the constant threat of nuclear annihilation hanging over everyone's heads like the sword of damocles. Nevermind the period itself being fucking insane on a lot of levels, it largely drove the generation(s) that lived through it also goddamn crazy. Trump-tier crazy wouldn't be particularly inaccurate.

[RedKing]

It was a long period of people getting folks killed mostly over stupid horseshit, with the constant threat of nuclear annihilation hanging over everyone's heads like the sword of damocles. Nevermind the period itself being fucking insane on a lot of levels, it largely drove the generation(s) that lived through it also goddamn crazy. Trump-tier crazy wouldn't be particularly inaccurate.

Young man, *I* lived through it, and I'm not cra--

Oh. OH.

Granted, I only remember the tail-end of the Cold War (1980's) when the Soviets had been reduced in popular culture from lurking, omnipresent menace to "bad guys in action movies". Sure, the constant threat of nuclear annihilation was still there, and most of us talked about *when* World War III happened rather than *if*. But there was also a weird detachment to it all, like it was something happening on TV but not actually in day-to-day life. Which might explain how so many people are able to see the COVID numbers and the footage of people in ICUs and freezer trailer morgues in NYC and still be like "Well, time to go out to eat and I ain't gonna wear no stupid liberal face diaper!"

[Dostoevsky]

I didn't live through it, but I think some of my favorite less-famous parts of U.S. cold war zaniness are Starfish Prime (let's detonate a megaton nuke in the thermosphere and see what happens, oh my gosh maybe let's not do that again) and Project Plowshare (let's use nukes to dig holes... what do you mean people don't want irradiated water and/or fallout).

[RedKing]

I didn't live through it, but I think some of my favorite less-famous parts of U.S. cold war zaniness are Starfish Prime (let's detonate a megaton nuke in the thermosphere and see what happens, oh my gosh maybe let's not do that again) and Project Plowshare (let's use nukes to dig holes... what do you mean people don't want irradiated water and/or fallout).

When all you have is a nuclear hammer, everything becomes an irradiated nail.

[Starver]

I mean... we've done it at least once before.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a21601/usps-first-official-missile-mail-1959

You did it, less officially, back in 1936 (Greenwood Lake, NJ). It was already tried in Scotland (Hebrides) in 1934, Austria in 1932...

[misko27]

Hey Starfish Prime taught us a ton about EMPs.

You did it, less officially, back in 1936 (Greenwood Lake, NJ). It was already tried in Scotland (Hebrides) in 1934, Austria in 1932...

I misread "1932" as "1939" and interpreted this as some sort of dark WW2 joke about missiles with messages written on them.

[bloop_bleep]

My parent actually *lived* in the Soviet Union since birth, and then left for America soon after it was dissolved. It accounts for their slight racism, slight homophobia, and pretty big distrust of cops and bureaucracy. They're both rather intelligent and informed people though. My dad has recently been talking about moving the family to Canada, since he calls this place "a capitalist wild west"... He definitely wouldn't call himself a socialist though, and dislikes Bernie Sanders, which is the strange thing.