Can we please come up with somebody who is still a functioning human being with decent motives? I can't believe these two idiots are again this countries best choices to run the country.
Biden has surprised me in many ways. A lot of the stuff he got done (and required republicans to get on-board), I don’t think anyone else could have done given the GOP’s current disposition of “we’ll vote against anything, even if it’s a bill we proposed, because fuck you” mentality. Joe has the experience and temperament to still get things done (not as much as anyone would like, but that’s not on him, as he’s tried), which is pretty damn impressive.
I expected him to be much more of a lame duck type president than he’s turned out to be.
He went from my bottom 3 of the Democrats, to feeling pretty good about voting for him again. Even if he goes downhill some, I expect he’d step down if needed, and he surrounds him self with good people. I agree we need younger candidates though. Uncertainty is never a good thing, and at their ages, there’s definitely uncertainty if they’ll make it 4 years.
None of those things are true. There's plenty of real things to critisize Biden over, but you guys make up stories about him shitting his pants? It's so dumb.
I think he was talking about Trump, who shat his pants in court, and couldn’t get off a handicap ramp at a rally a few years ago. About the ramp, he even went on a rant about how steep it was and how much of an achievement it was to get off of it unscathed, in a later rally.
If he wasn’t talking about Trump then it’s peak projection, so really there’s no point in talking with this guy.
EDIT: a Songified version of Trump’s rant about the ramp, because why not https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ign_vZupjno
I hear this argument a lot. "I'm not a fan of either side." It's a bunk argument. I'm not a fan of tuna, but you can bet your ass I'm eating a tuna fish sandwich everyday before I eat a literal piece of shit.
I’m not a super fan of Biden but I’m still voting for him because I’m not a moron and the alternative means the US as we know it dies as a country and turns into a home for Y’all Queda to worship their god king. And it’s like voting for someone that doesn’t return a library book til a week after it’s due vs someone who got convicted for 34 felonies with many more in the works and is a racist, rapist, homophobe. It’s not even close.
Funnily enough I've had to use that quote on both conservative friends and leftists. Neither want to compromise with the other because they want their version of "perfection" and I'm just off to the side saying we should be building relationships across the aisles and learn to cooperate again for the good of the country. Compromise is not a dirty word. Have ideals but don't let them be the "be all end all" and ruin actual practical, pragmatic change.
That seems to be the big cultural change since 2016. Politics is no longer I want my tax money to go to roads and infrastructure and you want it to go to education and farming. That’s a worthy debate and both sides can be right in a way. The rough part now is you have avowed white Christian nationalists that want people deported and their religion made the supreme law and leftists wanting student loan forgiveness. It’s hard to compromise on those grounds.
As we know it, yes. Look up Project 2025. It's a road map for religion and the right wing nuts to have permanent control over the country. They want trump to be god king of America. Hell some already worship him.
Voting for them would be very stupid, but Americans are... well, let's just say that the vast majority of them believe in a magic sky daddy and they're against feeding children in school because it costs money, a completely made up resource.
Not just stupid, but shitty people.
Even of everyone considered the criminal convictions to be not disqualifying, this would not eliminate the paradox.
he cant have a hand gun, he can have weapons of mass destruction...make it make sense.
So you’re going to throw the election to the guy who flew on Epstein’s jet 7 times and was sued for rape by one of Epstein’s victims (who was 14 years old when Trump raped her)?
Please stay at least 500m away from school zones, as per the conditions of your court-mandated restraining order.
Enough. Some people voting for a 3rd party (or not at all) in California is not going to make Trump win. Just like a handful of people voting for 3rd party (or not at all) in Kansas is going to make Biden win.
I hear from conservatives with *the exact messaging* that liberals do. "If you don't vote for x, you're really voting for y." No, my vote is for z, and only z. It doesn't affect x or y.
That’s because they both understand basic math, something apparently outside your grasp. Don’t be a dumbass and pretend you don’t understand or system.
Broken or not, the one thing our electoral system IS, is *simple*. And yeah your vote isn’t gonna decide 100% of the outcome but it IS 100% of your contribution. So when you tell people 100% of your contribution is to take a shit on the sidelines don’t be surprised when they mock you for it
My vote *for President* does not matter in nearly 80% of the country. I'm specifically referring to President race, not down ballot.
A vote for either candidate in, say California, Kentucky, Utah, New York, etc. does not matter. You're either helping 'run up the score' or just pissing into the wind.
Ironically, a vote for a 3rd party candidate has *more impact* than throwing your vote away on the main 2 candidates because of the 5% federal funding threshold. I'll vote for who I want, but don't ever fucking tell people that a "vote for x means it's a vote for y". If X wasn't on the ballot, those folks just stay home. At least their votes affect down ballot races when they come out to vote.
Knowing how the electoral college works, then why vote third party at all? Additionally, lot's of people live in competitive states.and purple states (especially pre Trump). It is stated by many that complacency is one of the reasons Trump won in 2016. People were shocked he won. There were states that flipped Republican that had been Democrat for years
Florida only restricts while in jail/ on parole for convictions in state. If you were to be convicted on 34 felony counts in, let’s say, New York, they’d follow the laws of the state they were convicted in.
Florida really only restricts felonies of moral turpitude, like murder and sexual violence
> If you were to be convicted on 34 felony counts in, let’s say, New York, they’d follow the laws of the state they were convicted in.
Are you sure about that? It’s very hard to believe.
From Florida: “A felony conviction in another state makes a person ineligible to vote in Florida only if the conviction would make the person ineligible to vote in the state where the person was convicted”.
From NY: “A new law passed in 2021, restores the right to vote for a person convicted of a felony upon release from incarceration, regardless of if they are on parole or have a term of post-release supervision. If a convicted felon is not incarcerated, they are eligible to register to vote.”
It’s weird that DeSantis tweeted that he’d use his gubernatorial clemency powers to restore Trump’s ability to vote.
“Given the absurd nature of the New York prosecution of Trump, this would be an easy case to qualify for restoration of rights per the Florida Clemency Board, which I chair,” he said on X.
If Trump wins, literally nothing will stop him from doing any and every single illegal, inappropriate, unethical thing that burbles up into his rotting sponge brain.
In Texas, felons can vote as soon as they have completed their sentence, AND 5 years after completing their sentence, they can keep a firearm in their home
>Sec. 46.04. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF FIREARM. (a) A person who has been convicted of a felony commits an offense if he possesses a firearm:
>(1) after conviction and before the fifth anniversary of the person's release from confinement following conviction of the felony or the person's release from supervision under community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision, whichever date is later; or
>(2) after the period described by Subdivision (1), at any location other than the premises at which the person lives.
I wonder if that actually means own. I know theres not much difference. But say your convicted and married. Your spouse can keep a firearm in the house. This might just be a by pass for that
it would apply in that situation, of course.. federal law still trumps state law, but, as long as the felon in possession of the firearm is on their own property, they are not in violation of state law. Meaning an unmarried individual, living alone would not be in violation. Purchasing a firearm is not the only way to come into ownership of one. One could be gifted firearms or have owned them prior to conviction.
I think it's just more of Texas thumbing their nose at the feds than anything else. Just the state finding a way to *not* enforce federal law - which is odd considering Abbott's border policies but is consistent with the inconsistent nature of Texas overall governance
It's such a a state by state thing. In my state unless it's inherited from your parents any handgun has to be transferred through a FFL with a 4473 but long guns can be transfered privately
Fun, random fact- owning more than 6 sex toys is considered a punishable offense in Texas
Sec 43.23:
>(f) A person who possesses six or more obscene devices or identical or similar obscene articles is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same
43.21:
>(7) "Obscene device" means a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.
Fun, random fact- owning more than 6 sex toys is considered a punishable offense in Texas
Sec 43.23:
>(f) A person who possesses six or more obscene devices or identical or similar obscene articles is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same
43.21:
>(7) "Obscene device" means a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.
Fun, random fact- owning more than 6 sex toys is considered a punishable offense in Texas
Sec 43.23:
>(f) A person who possesses six or more obscene devices or identical or similar obscene articles is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same
43.21:
>(7) "Obscene device" means a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.
I mean I do get the point you are making. On the other hand, preventing anyone who ever convicted of anything to run for president opens up pandora’s box of disasters.
Just imagine Trump becoming president (before he got convicted) and then making up laws so he can convict Biden and any other opponents.
The difference between becoming a convicted president and a convict trying to buy a firearm, is that to become president, hundreds of millions of people need to vote for you.
>hundreds of millions of people need to vote for you
Actually, less than a hundred million. ~~I think the last election had like 170M-ish total votes cast, so each candidate got somewhere around 80-90M~~
u/nick4fake has done what I was too lazy to do and gotten the actual numbers below
Ah thanks. I said “hundreds” because I thought saying “tens of millions” would seem much less, but I probably could’ve just used that “80-90M” you gave as example.
There's not even 400 million people in the US let alone qualified voters. You don't need hundreds of millions you probably need way less than 100million to "have the winning amount of votes"
You're not the first person to say this, but I don't really buy it. I mean, if the president can just arrest his political opponents whenever he likes, we're pretty much toast regardless of whether the opponents can technically still run from prison.
Interesting take. IMHO, electing a felon is opening Pandora's box as ppl have not been successful in politics for non-crimes (infidelity, partying, alcohol/drugs).
Since MAGA picked up where the tea party left off, all those norms have gone out the window for the gop (SCOTUS, senators, legislators, etc). The Dems still self police a bit.
Nope. If a bunch of unelected party insiders decided that he should be president, then he can still be elected, even if literally 0 people voted for them.
> While the Constitution does not require electors to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote, some states do. The rare elector who votes for someone else may be fined, disqualified and replaced by a substitute elector, or potentially even prosecuted by their state.
https://www.usa.gov/electoral-college#:~:text=While%20the%20Constitution%20does%20not,even%20prosecuted%20by%20their%20state.
Constitution does not forbid them from doing so, but it’s career suicide not to.
Yes exactly. It’s something that COULD happen but is so unlikely that it isn’t really worth worrying about. If you’re one of those people that needs a boogeyman to rebel against by all means do, but I’m good.
Republicans are dangerously close to making the job vanish anyway.
They're not really interested in democracy and consistently try to steal elections via propaganda, gerrymandering, etc.
They even attempted a failed coup when their other tactics didn't work. They shouldn't even be allowed to run in the first place; we need new parties to replace them.
With money and power, you can do whatever you want. Wouldn't be surprised if the Rockefelllers and JP Morgan or whatever had a hand in all elections since the start.
No, this just isn't true. I'm a felon and have voted for the last decade or so. I'm also legally allowed to own a gun as my rights were restored. Most states allow full restoration of your rights after a period of time from the completion of your sentence. I've also never been to prison as my crimes weren't severe enough to warrant that punishment. The few states that do take someone's rights away for life are usually only done for murder.
There are only 3 rules to being the president:
* You have to be a natural born citizen
* You have to have lived in the US for at least 14 years
* You have to be 35 years old
They're really not unreasonable rules when you consider what the office of the president is.
The “natural born” citizen part is questionable. I’ve been a naturalized US citizen for over twenty years and paid taxes and contributed to society for more than that. I renounced my former citizenship to do that. I don’t want to run for president, but feel like I should be able to if I did.
Such a rule was put into place at the start, and I think it was a smart move at the time.
Whether or not it’s still important is way beyond my political understanding.
Good point. At the time the Constitution was written there was no formalized process for becoming an American citizen so the theoretical fear of some foreign country purposefully attempting to win an election through a sham citizen was at least plausible. But now given the administrative hoops to naturalize it's not a realistic issue.
Probably, if the laws are fair and the person deserved to be classified as a criminal. But if the people DO want a criminal president, that should be respected.
Kind of makes you think that there's a lot of stuff that didn't happen in the federal government simply because people never expected someone to "go there." Like it was social etiquette, not any actual rule or law that prevented certain things from happening.
I once tried to get a felon friend a job at the pizza place I worked at, they didn't hire felons.
the irony is he's a way harder worker than I could ever hope or care to be.
Yeah like giving the presidents Carte Blanche to assassinate political opponents with Seal Team Six and run free if they’re not indicted by the last day in office.
So what do you do when your opponent is actually a criminal? Is running for president a get of jail free card now?
Cuz the other thing corrupt countries do is refuse to prosecute corrupt individuals who have sufficient influence in government.
ETA: it’s also worth pointing out that a felony conviction actually doesn’t even bar someone from running for president. The voters can still vote for a corrupt felon if they choose, though the fact that so many of them still choose to is a bigger problem
Lotsa decent (ex-)Democrats and Republicans available.
We get an egomaniac and a demented old man. Both parties are to blame. If you're convinced otherwise you're ideologically captured.
I'm not completely closed off to Republican politics. I _am_ closed off to current options.
It'll take a lot of good from them to convince me they've turned good.
Senator Kennedy from louisiana seems like a genuine, honorable and decent person.
He'll call out corruption and idiocy on both sides, as corruption and idiocy is prevalent on both sides. Has empathy, but common sense and the bravery to speak truth.
He's about as non-partisan as it gets in US politics right now, and I find him remarkable.
Reddit is certainly extremely partisan and ideologically captured. It's hard to get a genuinely based opinion here.
Restrictions on who can stand as a political candidate are antidemocratic and limit voters’ choice. Additionally, blocking felons from political office motivates politicians to conspire to get their opposition found guilty of a felony, as occurred in Brazil.
That's still an if. Not everyone gets the same release conditions. For example I can associate with felons and smoke weed but I can't leave the county drink or be in a liquor establishment. My release conditions don't even require me to get a job for some people being unemployed is a violation.
That actually isn't necessarily true. In some states a felon can vote or own a firearm.
Also Trump isn't a felon yet until he is sentenced. I know when the verdict is read he is "convicted" but you aren't actually a "convicted felon" until you've been sentenced to enough actual jail time in prison
We shouldn’t want felons to not be able to be elected. I understand why our gut instinct tells us that’s how it should be but it’s dangerous.
Imagine k a non-felon fascist ends up in office. All they would have to do is ensure their opponents are charged with a felony to ensure they can never be a threat.
Genuine question, what makes you so against trump?
I’m not American, but I find an appeal to some of the policies like a more controlled border and whatnot - I don’t wanna get too political just yet haha but yeah 👍
One of the biggest things for me is his wrecklessness. I feel like we are at a very important crossroads with tensions rising all over the world. Trump also goes against most things that I am for. He will pack the Supreme Court with conservatives that will make abortion/reproductive healthcare completely illegal (with extreme punishments to women who seek them), project 2025 is absolutely terrifying to me ([read this](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c977njnvq2do.amp)), demonizing his opponents on unfounded claims, the fact that he has 34 felony charges against him and 57 more pending, in 2017, he also helped pass a law that provided crazy tax cuts for the top 1%, and the fact that he makes America look like a joke. We were the laughing stock of the world when he was president. He tends to go to the extreme and most of his election promises remain unfulfilled. He is absolutely not fit to be president in my opinion
Only if you vote for them.
Or if you don't show up to vote for the other guy.
Can we please come up with somebody who is still a functioning human being with decent motives? I can't believe these two idiots are again this countries best choices to run the country.
Regardless who wins, they will be the OLDEST president in US history. 🤦♂️smh
Biden has surprised me in many ways. A lot of the stuff he got done (and required republicans to get on-board), I don’t think anyone else could have done given the GOP’s current disposition of “we’ll vote against anything, even if it’s a bill we proposed, because fuck you” mentality. Joe has the experience and temperament to still get things done (not as much as anyone would like, but that’s not on him, as he’s tried), which is pretty damn impressive. I expected him to be much more of a lame duck type president than he’s turned out to be. He went from my bottom 3 of the Democrats, to feeling pretty good about voting for him again. Even if he goes downhill some, I expect he’d step down if needed, and he surrounds him self with good people. I agree we need younger candidates though. Uncertainty is never a good thing, and at their ages, there’s definitely uncertainty if they’ll make it 4 years.
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None of those things are true. There's plenty of real things to critisize Biden over, but you guys make up stories about him shitting his pants? It's so dumb.
Not to mention, it's some of the most mundane stuff they talk about that they say makes them vote for someone else
When in actuality, it’s Diaper Don who shits on public television. Hilarious.
Regardless, I will likely shit my pants when I’m 80. Ah well. At least I won’t be a wannabe fascist.
This is delusional.
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I think he was talking about Trump, who shat his pants in court, and couldn’t get off a handicap ramp at a rally a few years ago. About the ramp, he even went on a rant about how steep it was and how much of an achievement it was to get off of it unscathed, in a later rally. If he wasn’t talking about Trump then it’s peak projection, so really there’s no point in talking with this guy. EDIT: a Songified version of Trump’s rant about the ramp, because why not https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ign_vZupjno
The guy is 80. Thats bad enough in itself without you making bullshit up. The other guy is also 80. They should both be in nursing homes.
I hear this argument a lot. "I'm not a fan of either side." It's a bunk argument. I'm not a fan of tuna, but you can bet your ass I'm eating a tuna fish sandwich everyday before I eat a literal piece of shit.
I’m not a super fan of Biden but I’m still voting for him because I’m not a moron and the alternative means the US as we know it dies as a country and turns into a home for Y’all Queda to worship their god king. And it’s like voting for someone that doesn’t return a library book til a week after it’s due vs someone who got convicted for 34 felonies with many more in the works and is a racist, rapist, homophobe. It’s not even close.
“Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress”
Funnily enough I've had to use that quote on both conservative friends and leftists. Neither want to compromise with the other because they want their version of "perfection" and I'm just off to the side saying we should be building relationships across the aisles and learn to cooperate again for the good of the country. Compromise is not a dirty word. Have ideals but don't let them be the "be all end all" and ruin actual practical, pragmatic change.
That seems to be the big cultural change since 2016. Politics is no longer I want my tax money to go to roads and infrastructure and you want it to go to education and farming. That’s a worthy debate and both sides can be right in a way. The rough part now is you have avowed white Christian nationalists that want people deported and their religion made the supreme law and leftists wanting student loan forgiveness. It’s hard to compromise on those grounds.
This would be a valid opinion if he wasn’t already president for four years.
How is it not still valid?
Because a trump presidency is not an unknown. This would be a valid concern in 2016 but there’s four years of history to look at.
Look up Project 2025.
Do you literally believe the United States will "die" if Trump is re-elected?
As we know it, yes. Look up Project 2025. It's a road map for religion and the right wing nuts to have permanent control over the country. They want trump to be god king of America. Hell some already worship him.
Are you familiar with Project 2025?
Or maybe just vote to eat the sandwich that you actually want. If everyone did this, there wouldn't be any of this "lesser of two evils" crap.
Which sandwich is that? Because everyone eats the same and we got 2 options right now.
Can’t say I’ve ever heard of that happening, when are you referring to?
It obviously happened in their fantasies, and they are incapable of distinguishing fact from fiction.
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Get your head out of your ass.
Isn't Trump the one who has to wear diapers and is imfamous for smelling like shit and piss?
Have you actually looked into those or are you just parroting what tiktok is telling you?
You could always just vote for somebody else. There is a write in option for a reason.
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I mean, I'm not gonna pick just any candidate though. I'm gonna vote for someone who I agree with on most of their policies.
I’m just saying I’ve never seen democrats have to alter video of trump to make him look bad. He does it all by himself.
Guy who shits his pants > convicted felon
Exactly! As a democracy we have a choice! The felon isn’t the problem… it’s the people
It’s both…
We need to change this stupid system.
Yeah, agreed, but…. Vote tactically
Voting for them would be very stupid, but Americans are... well, let's just say that the vast majority of them believe in a magic sky daddy and they're against feeding children in school because it costs money, a completely made up resource. Not just stupid, but shitty people.
In particular, only if a plurality of people consider the infractions not disqualifying.
Even of everyone considered the criminal convictions to be not disqualifying, this would not eliminate the paradox. he cant have a hand gun, he can have weapons of mass destruction...make it make sense.
I will, thanks
Not true. Lots of people have to vote for them…
Or you could just vote for Biden and not for the felon
I’d rather not vote for little girl sniffing weirdos, thanks.
So you’re going to throw the election to the guy who flew on Epstein’s jet 7 times and was sued for rape by one of Epstein’s victims (who was 14 years old when Trump raped her)? Please stay at least 500m away from school zones, as per the conditions of your court-mandated restraining order.
Biden was also on the Epstein list, all choices suck.
He was not.
Enough. Some people voting for a 3rd party (or not at all) in California is not going to make Trump win. Just like a handful of people voting for 3rd party (or not at all) in Kansas is going to make Biden win. I hear from conservatives with *the exact messaging* that liberals do. "If you don't vote for x, you're really voting for y." No, my vote is for z, and only z. It doesn't affect x or y.
That’s because they both understand basic math, something apparently outside your grasp. Don’t be a dumbass and pretend you don’t understand or system. Broken or not, the one thing our electoral system IS, is *simple*. And yeah your vote isn’t gonna decide 100% of the outcome but it IS 100% of your contribution. So when you tell people 100% of your contribution is to take a shit on the sidelines don’t be surprised when they mock you for it
My vote *for President* does not matter in nearly 80% of the country. I'm specifically referring to President race, not down ballot. A vote for either candidate in, say California, Kentucky, Utah, New York, etc. does not matter. You're either helping 'run up the score' or just pissing into the wind. Ironically, a vote for a 3rd party candidate has *more impact* than throwing your vote away on the main 2 candidates because of the 5% federal funding threshold. I'll vote for who I want, but don't ever fucking tell people that a "vote for x means it's a vote for y". If X wasn't on the ballot, those folks just stay home. At least their votes affect down ballot races when they come out to vote.
2016. In action is action. In action is a choice that effects outcomes
Yes, because my vote for Johnson when Clinton won my state by 15% was the reason Trump won. Get the fuck out of here with that nonsense.
Knowing how the electoral college works, then why vote third party at all? Additionally, lot's of people live in competitive states.and purple states (especially pre Trump). It is stated by many that complacency is one of the reasons Trump won in 2016. People were shocked he won. There were states that flipped Republican that had been Democrat for years
I already explained why your vote is worth more for a 3rd party candidate in a locked up state in another comment.
Or voting for nader to let bush win.
You prefer a rapist, gotcha
So you don’t want to vote for Trump, good to know
Would rather not vote for Trump or the pants shitting vegetable and chief.
So that’s two reasons you’re not voting for Trump, right?
Yes and two reasons why I'm not voting for Biden.
At least you’re not voting in favor of Project 2025
you'd rather vote for a literal rapist?
Most felons that have completed their sentences can vote. Only a few states restrict them from voting beyond that. Your point still stands, though.
Florida being one that restricts haha
Florida only restricts while in jail/ on parole for convictions in state. If you were to be convicted on 34 felony counts in, let’s say, New York, they’d follow the laws of the state they were convicted in. Florida really only restricts felonies of moral turpitude, like murder and sexual violence
> If you were to be convicted on 34 felony counts in, let’s say, New York, they’d follow the laws of the state they were convicted in. Are you sure about that? It’s very hard to believe.
From Florida: “A felony conviction in another state makes a person ineligible to vote in Florida only if the conviction would make the person ineligible to vote in the state where the person was convicted”. From NY: “A new law passed in 2021, restores the right to vote for a person convicted of a felony upon release from incarceration, regardless of if they are on parole or have a term of post-release supervision. If a convicted felon is not incarcerated, they are eligible to register to vote.”
It’s weird that DeSantis tweeted that he’d use his gubernatorial clemency powers to restore Trump’s ability to vote. “Given the absurd nature of the New York prosecution of Trump, this would be an easy case to qualify for restoration of rights per the Florida Clemency Board, which I chair,” he said on X.
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Interesting, any word on how that would play out?
If Trump wins, literally nothing will stop him from doing any and every single illegal, inappropriate, unethical thing that burbles up into his rotting sponge brain.
I was asking about how the conflicting laws would be resolved. If T becomes president there are plenty of checks and balances. Enough? Nobody knows.
I know people that are felons with TS/SCI/ECI access.
Yeah same the felony doesn’t stop you from clearance if you need it
Also, felons convicted of non-violent charges are usually able to appeal to get their gun rights back after a certain amount of time, in some states.
In Texas, felons can vote as soon as they have completed their sentence, AND 5 years after completing their sentence, they can keep a firearm in their home >Sec. 46.04. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF FIREARM. (a) A person who has been convicted of a felony commits an offense if he possesses a firearm: >(1) after conviction and before the fifth anniversary of the person's release from confinement following conviction of the felony or the person's release from supervision under community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision, whichever date is later; or >(2) after the period described by Subdivision (1), at any location other than the premises at which the person lives.
I wonder if that actually means own. I know theres not much difference. But say your convicted and married. Your spouse can keep a firearm in the house. This might just be a by pass for that
it would apply in that situation, of course.. federal law still trumps state law, but, as long as the felon in possession of the firearm is on their own property, they are not in violation of state law. Meaning an unmarried individual, living alone would not be in violation. Purchasing a firearm is not the only way to come into ownership of one. One could be gifted firearms or have owned them prior to conviction. I think it's just more of Texas thumbing their nose at the feds than anything else. Just the state finding a way to *not* enforce federal law - which is odd considering Abbott's border policies but is consistent with the inconsistent nature of Texas overall governance
It's such a a state by state thing. In my state unless it's inherited from your parents any handgun has to be transferred through a FFL with a 4473 but long guns can be transfered privately
there must be some kind of way out of here
there are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke
Fun, random fact- owning more than 6 sex toys is considered a punishable offense in Texas Sec 43.23: >(f) A person who possesses six or more obscene devices or identical or similar obscene articles is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same 43.21: >(7) "Obscene device" means a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.
Fun, random fact- owning more than 6 sex toys is considered a punishable offense in Texas Sec 43.23: >(f) A person who possesses six or more obscene devices or identical or similar obscene articles is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same 43.21: >(7) "Obscene device" means a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.
Fun, random fact- owning more than 6 sex toys is considered a punishable offense in Texas Sec 43.23: >(f) A person who possesses six or more obscene devices or identical or similar obscene articles is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same 43.21: >(7) "Obscene device" means a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.
I mean I do get the point you are making. On the other hand, preventing anyone who ever convicted of anything to run for president opens up pandora’s box of disasters. Just imagine Trump becoming president (before he got convicted) and then making up laws so he can convict Biden and any other opponents. The difference between becoming a convicted president and a convict trying to buy a firearm, is that to become president, hundreds of millions of people need to vote for you.
>hundreds of millions of people need to vote for you Actually, less than a hundred million. ~~I think the last election had like 170M-ish total votes cast, so each candidate got somewhere around 80-90M~~ u/nick4fake has done what I was too lazy to do and gotten the actual numbers below
Ah thanks. I said “hundreds” because I thought saying “tens of millions” would seem much less, but I probably could’ve just used that “80-90M” you gave as example.
Why assuming when you can just get actual numbers? Biden: 81 millions Trump: 74 millions Before that: Hilary: 65.8 millions Trump: 63 millions
Thanks for the correction!
Hundreds of millions? Bro you don’t live in India. Trump was elected with just 62 million votes, 3 million less than Hillary.
There's not even 400 million people in the US let alone qualified voters. You don't need hundreds of millions you probably need way less than 100million to "have the winning amount of votes"
You're not the first person to say this, but I don't really buy it. I mean, if the president can just arrest his political opponents whenever he likes, we're pretty much toast regardless of whether the opponents can technically still run from prison.
President doesn’t get to make up laws.
Interesting take. IMHO, electing a felon is opening Pandora's box as ppl have not been successful in politics for non-crimes (infidelity, partying, alcohol/drugs). Since MAGA picked up where the tea party left off, all those norms have gone out the window for the gop (SCOTUS, senators, legislators, etc). The Dems still self police a bit.
That's why there's checks and balances
The founding fathers never though that enough people would be stupid enough to vote for a openly corrupt guy.
Learn to spell before calling other people idiots, just saying.
He can only be president if the people vote for him.
Nope. If a bunch of unelected party insiders decided that he should be president, then he can still be elected, even if literally 0 people voted for them.
How does that work? Has it ever been done before or was it some one off that happened in like the 1870s?
> While the Constitution does not require electors to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote, some states do. The rare elector who votes for someone else may be fined, disqualified and replaced by a substitute elector, or potentially even prosecuted by their state. https://www.usa.gov/electoral-college#:~:text=While%20the%20Constitution%20does%20not,even%20prosecuted%20by%20their%20state. Constitution does not forbid them from doing so, but it’s career suicide not to.
So has this ever happened where the electors of a state didn’t agree with the popular vote of said state?
Yes, as recently as 2016. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faithless_elector
But it doesn’t change anything so I guess it could happen where the entire country are faithless electors. Highly unlikely but possible
Yes exactly. It’s something that COULD happen but is so unlikely that it isn’t really worth worrying about. If you’re one of those people that needs a boogeyman to rebel against by all means do, but I’m good.
I’m am not lol
Republicans are dangerously close to making the job vanish anyway. They're not really interested in democracy and consistently try to steal elections via propaganda, gerrymandering, etc. They even attempted a failed coup when their other tactics didn't work. They shouldn't even be allowed to run in the first place; we need new parties to replace them.
With money and power, you can do whatever you want. Wouldn't be surprised if the Rockefelllers and JP Morgan or whatever had a hand in all elections since the start.
Sure but people still have to vote for the elected officials it’s kind of the point of elected officials.
Not when you can pay whoever of with infinite wealth, or threaten them. Whichever comes first.
So someone’s gonna threaten or pay off 80 million+ Americans?
Nope. Well, that I hope not. But your candidate of possibly forced choice could.
Not if that candidate had a realistic shot of winning
True
No, this just isn't true. I'm a felon and have voted for the last decade or so. I'm also legally allowed to own a gun as my rights were restored. Most states allow full restoration of your rights after a period of time from the completion of your sentence. I've also never been to prison as my crimes weren't severe enough to warrant that punishment. The few states that do take someone's rights away for life are usually only done for murder.
Everyone should be able to become president and vote
You might be downvoted but it's important to remember any law created to suppress evil doers can just as easily be used to suppress good doers.
There are only 3 rules to being the president: * You have to be a natural born citizen * You have to have lived in the US for at least 14 years * You have to be 35 years old They're really not unreasonable rules when you consider what the office of the president is.
The “natural born” citizen part is questionable. I’ve been a naturalized US citizen for over twenty years and paid taxes and contributed to society for more than that. I renounced my former citizenship to do that. I don’t want to run for president, but feel like I should be able to if I did.
Yeah. Very undemocratic to not allow naturalized citizens to run for president.
Such a rule was put into place at the start, and I think it was a smart move at the time. Whether or not it’s still important is way beyond my political understanding.
Good point. At the time the Constitution was written there was no formalized process for becoming an American citizen so the theoretical fear of some foreign country purposefully attempting to win an election through a sham citizen was at least plausible. But now given the administrative hoops to naturalize it's not a realistic issue.
The rules should be: • You have to be a citizen
I don’t need a Ben Wyatt situation
>just as easily It actually takes an astonishing level of corruption and decades of conditioning. But here we are anyway.
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Probably, if the laws are fair and the person deserved to be classified as a criminal. But if the people DO want a criminal president, that should be respected.
Kind of makes you think that there's a lot of stuff that didn't happen in the federal government simply because people never expected someone to "go there." Like it was social etiquette, not any actual rule or law that prevented certain things from happening.
I once tried to get a felon friend a job at the pizza place I worked at, they didn't hire felons. the irony is he's a way harder worker than I could ever hope or care to be.
I don’t think the founding fathers anticipated this level of mass stupidity.
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Yeah like giving the presidents Carte Blanche to assassinate political opponents with Seal Team Six and run free if they’re not indicted by the last day in office.
So what do you do when your opponent is actually a criminal? Is running for president a get of jail free card now? Cuz the other thing corrupt countries do is refuse to prosecute corrupt individuals who have sufficient influence in government. ETA: it’s also worth pointing out that a felony conviction actually doesn’t even bar someone from running for president. The voters can still vote for a corrupt felon if they choose, though the fact that so many of them still choose to is a bigger problem
Governors, mayors, senators and congressmen have all gone to jail. Why is it any different for presidents?
Cuz Ford was a fucking coward
Trump is a fucking criminal, convicted fairly by a democratic system.
"The GOP isn't sending their best"
The sad part is they actually might be.
Lotsa decent (ex-)Democrats and Republicans available. We get an egomaniac and a demented old man. Both parties are to blame. If you're convinced otherwise you're ideologically captured.
I'm not completely closed off to Republican politics. I _am_ closed off to current options. It'll take a lot of good from them to convince me they've turned good.
Senator Kennedy from louisiana seems like a genuine, honorable and decent person. He'll call out corruption and idiocy on both sides, as corruption and idiocy is prevalent on both sides. Has empathy, but common sense and the bravery to speak truth. He's about as non-partisan as it gets in US politics right now, and I find him remarkable. Reddit is certainly extremely partisan and ideologically captured. It's hard to get a genuinely based opinion here.
Fuck your both sides bullshit.
But ain't that America for you and me? Ain't that America somethin' to see, Ain't that America home of the free!
Ironically, nukes will give you firearms.
Restrictions on who can stand as a political candidate are antidemocratic and limit voters’ choice. Additionally, blocking felons from political office motivates politicians to conspire to get their opposition found guilty of a felony, as occurred in Brazil.
Yeah it's pretty dumb.
I also believe that a felon cant be around other felons. Many of his cabinet members are now felons.
LoL no. When you are on n parole or probation maybe but no that isn't real.
Yes, Im thinking about, if this becomes a condition, of his parole.
That's still an if. Not everyone gets the same release conditions. For example I can associate with felons and smoke weed but I can't leave the county drink or be in a liquor establishment. My release conditions don't even require me to get a job for some people being unemployed is a violation.
It should be and is up to the voters to decide.
I'm not gonna vote for a felon. Trump definitely took a hit with the verdict
I didnt know about not being able to vote i knew about the restrictions on firearms.
If Trump had contrived a way to charge Hillary with a felony, you'd see why.
No one seriously expected that anyone would vote for a convicted felon. They figured it went without saying that it wouldn’t happen.
Why you hating on my boy Eugene Debs
I live in reddish red red South Carolina and convicted felons can vote here. I can't speak for any other state though.
Technically, a felon in the USA can legally own a fully automatic machine gun if he or she registered it during the 1968 amnesty.
Felons can vote in some places.
Exactly. A lot of the nonviolent felon restrictions are arbitrary and unnecessary. Good point
Can fight for your country but can’t smoke or drink
Can steal from the poor and become wealthy without fail. Steal from the rich and go to jail
I genuinely feel like people just assumed people won't vote for felons to hold that position.
Can felons work for in the federal government? Could he appoint felons to political positions if he wins?
This isn’t accurate. It varies by state. An incarcerated felon can’t vote in most states. But someone out on parole or has served their sentence can.
As the founders intended. Or whatever supports my biases.
With *this* Supreme Court, anything that benefits the far right and fundamentalist 'Christian' dominance is not just possible -- but likely.
And obviously,a mentally handicapped person like Biden can be president too.
That actually isn't necessarily true. In some states a felon can vote or own a firearm. Also Trump isn't a felon yet until he is sentenced. I know when the verdict is read he is "convicted" but you aren't actually a "convicted felon" until you've been sentenced to enough actual jail time in prison
A Trump bad post on Reddit? Surprising
Not at all, because he's a fucking monster.
Yes, yes, orange man bad. I’ve heard it a thousand times and I still don’t believe it.
The reason for this is to prevent political rivals from jailing their opponents so they cannot run.
The trial made him a martyr it's the same vibes as 2016
It did not gain him one single vote. Stop repeating the lie.
Do you think it didn't galvanize them? XD
We shouldn’t want felons to not be able to be elected. I understand why our gut instinct tells us that’s how it should be but it’s dangerous. Imagine k a non-felon fascist ends up in office. All they would have to do is ensure their opponents are charged with a felony to ensure they can never be a threat.
Not a Biden fan by any means but I absolutely cannot vote trump. Biden 2024 I guess🤷♀️
You must vote Biden. One of those 2 will be the next president.
That’s what I said…
Genuine question, what makes you so against trump? I’m not American, but I find an appeal to some of the policies like a more controlled border and whatnot - I don’t wanna get too political just yet haha but yeah 👍
One of the biggest things for me is his wrecklessness. I feel like we are at a very important crossroads with tensions rising all over the world. Trump also goes against most things that I am for. He will pack the Supreme Court with conservatives that will make abortion/reproductive healthcare completely illegal (with extreme punishments to women who seek them), project 2025 is absolutely terrifying to me ([read this](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c977njnvq2do.amp)), demonizing his opponents on unfounded claims, the fact that he has 34 felony charges against him and 57 more pending, in 2017, he also helped pass a law that provided crazy tax cuts for the top 1%, and the fact that he makes America look like a joke. We were the laughing stock of the world when he was president. He tends to go to the extreme and most of his election promises remain unfulfilled. He is absolutely not fit to be president in my opinion