Northwestern Reax

1. Harvard RS reads the best Aff on the topic now
Sorry Georgia, move over. Harvard RS has changed the game. Look at these tags:
“Overhunting of large mammals leave small mammal populations unchecked – that means rat waves.”
“Overhunting ruptures large dung beetles – cascading impact.”
“Dung beetles are key to global agriculture”

This 1AC was awesome. 
 
This plan tho:
The United States federal government should substantially increase restrictions on executive discretion in the implementation of sanctions pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 1978.

I get that the healthcare topic wasn't for everyone, but the death drivey acceleration of Affs on this topic is too much. This isn't really unique to Harvard, everyone is doing it. More on that below. 

2. Going too far
This same Harvard team said zoonotic disease through illegal hunting and bushmeat would cause extinction. The Neg read the disease security K. 2AC #1 is "not our disease spread". NOT OUR DISEASE SPREAD. Note that my criticism is not a question of substance (which Harvard was definitively wrong about), but rather a question of form. Not my Baudrillard is all well and good, but this is too much.



3. Concon is a core generic now
Adapt accordingly! Multiple top 10 teams read it in the 1NC! The 2NR in the semi's included it! The school prayer rider has shown up in several 2AC's as an industry standard response to said convention (#thanksTruf). 

If only I could say this was one of the ten dumbest developments on this topic but alas.

​4. The Rider DA is back
Wow. Ok. A couple things (we are talking about the Cal DA in case you are not in the loop).

First, we first struck aliens in the semi's of Wake and Wimsatt was like "wtf, this is so dumb and makes a mockery of the activity, I would never vote on this." But oh, ok, the rider DA is awesome. Sure.

Second, the 1NC includes a letter to the editor as the rider bad card. Wtf! Also it's from a shitty newspaper (93rd biggest in the US). The only real question is what Cal debater planted the card and why did they choose such a stupid paper (we have to figure out if any of them have connections to Albany). 

This just kind of knocked me on my ass. The Rider DA always does when it shows its ugly face.

​5. Reading an Aff in every area
I don't think anyone has done all 5 yet. I believe Emory GS has 4 (everything but surveillance). I think Michigan GW has 3 (nukes, deference and treaties). I am not remembering anyone instantly that has 3 or more. We only have two :(

​6. Fake Politics DA's are stupid.
I am talking about these DA's that are about one member of Congress. One, they don't work with ESR because they are about interacting with Trump and the plan making things go south. Perm means Trump backlash goes away seems pretty established at this point. Two, no one reads evidence that these people would vote for the plan (obviously). Three, if they have an agenda and are strategic it compounds the issue with #2. Four, these still aren't better than the nothing burger agenda DA for the same reasons that politics is broken and no one can interact with Trump because he is a petulant weirdo. Just go for heg bad or something or link people to dedev like NU and high school juniors everywhere do, fuck. 

​7. Day 1 NU Meals
They were very good. Across the board awesome. Loved it. 

​8. Answer CX Questions
This issue comes up in K debates. Debater 1 asks "what does X mean?" Debater 2 generally does one of the following: 1. We don't take a stance. 2. Why is that relevant. 3. For the purpose of our argument then insert wishful claim.

What Debater 2 seldom does is just say what something means. There is an easy way to resolve this the next time it comes up in your debate. Pause for a moment. Type into your browser what word they are talking about. Click enter. Read the results.

It's really that simple.

​9. This topic is the wild, wild west
Ugh. What have we done? Why is the trade area everything with the economy and sanctions? Why are single treaty Affs ok? Why do deference Affs get to be way smaller than Chevron which is probably not nearly all deference? Why did we let sanctions and operational Affs be a thing? What happens when people remember surveillance is in the topic and topicality does not matter?

Pity for all the 2N's. Have fun with concon. Hope you win the coin flip.

​10. First round voting.
I have thoughts, but I am not sure they are fit for public consumption. I don't want to hurt any feelings or ruffle any feathers. If you would be interested in a blog post about my make-believe ballot and logic, let me know.