Politics

[Crazed_Insanity]

I did not like Kamala and Julian, not because Neanderthal loves them, but because I didn't like how they attacked Biden from the get go. Yeah, it was weird, why would I care if they attack Biden..., shouldn't I be happy?

I just found it distasteful I guess. You could just use up your valuable debate time telling me about the good that you are going to do, rather than try to tear down an old man you guys worked side by side with... I believe most voters figured that out too... that's why even after the initial bump of Kamala's awesome performance..., she wasn't able to build on that momentum. Castro didn't even have any momentum...

The real surprise to me was the slide of Cory's campaign. I still don't understand where he went wrong to lag behind even Andrew Yang at times. Most debates even allowed him way more talking time than Andrew and he is a more eloguent speaker than Andrew... of all of those corporate centrists, Booker was definitely the one I liked the most.

Sometimes I wonder if Booker's doom was caused by Obama and perhaps voters were also given way too many choices? Voters just feel like giving another gender/ethnicity a chance rather than put in another black man into the WH?

[sandydandy]

And to make things even weirder Kamala's real name was Jim Harris. I noticed that too, me bruv.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Wow. Senate leaves for vacation without figuring out how they can financially help average Americans thru this crisis. Stimulus bill was passed back in May by the House. Maybe republican senate will finally pass it after the pandemic is over?

I guess this shows that regardless of your color, average lives just don’t matter. What, you might be starving? Sorry, I’ll get back to you after my vacation! We only save big corporations quickly..., for you little guys... you’ll be in my thoughts and prayers... yeah right.

Anyway, I wonder what do the republican voters think about all this... happy that their govt left them with the dignity of finding no work? If they can’t find jobs, then it’s all democrats’ fault because they shutdown the country and forced them to wear masks? Sigh...

[MR2 Fan]

so #GeneralStrike is trending and lots of people (liberals, progressives) are calling for it, but I don't think it would actually work or do much.

They're talking about a strike for a day or a week to hurt the billionaires. I don't think it will work at all because: A) THEY can wait it out, the rest of us can't B) They are GLOBAL, they have income coming from dozens of countries, so just a US based strike won't do much

[Crazed_Insanity]

We can have these shutdowns and riots and markets continue to rise, I'm willing to bet that if we start a global strike, the stock market will continue to soar higher... yes, the rich will get richer and us poor people will simply remain poorer after the strike. Resistance is futile.

Initially, I thought this virus thing should be able to finally unite us to come together to fight this common enemy..., but I suppose this disaster just isn't bad enough. We'll have to wait til something so disastrously bad like alien invasion I guess...

People need to 'collectively' agree on something in order to replace the 'establishment collective'. Right now we're just too divided, therefore easily conquered. Too busy fighting each other than fighting this virus. Too busy fighting each other than fighting against the billionaires.

[Yw-slayer]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/covid-19-end-of-american-era-wade-davis-1038206/


The Unraveling of America
Anthropologist Wade Davis on how COVID-19 signals the end of the American era

For the purposes of discussion.

[Rare White Ape]

so #GeneralStrike is trending and lots of people (liberals, progressives) are calling for it, but I don't think it would actually work or do much.

They're talking about a strike for a day or a week to hurt the billionaires. I don't think it will work at all because: A) THEY can wait it out, the rest of us can't B) They are GLOBAL, they have income coming from dozens of countries, so just a US based strike won't do much

Billionaires will always find a way to make money out of stuff.

The reason the stock market and the economy is sooooo important is because if it slows down, so does the accumulation of more billions. Meanwhile we could be having the worst recession in a hundred years and Mr and Mrs Average Joe still earns his or her minimum wage and doesn't notice a blip in the weekly pay packet.

The reason recessions are bad is because billionaires reduce their spending by maybe 0.1% and suddenly it's incumbent on the government to fix it, and for some grand reason the money has to be given to the billionaires in the form of tax cuts. So Average Joes and Joelenes across the world cop the brunt of it when government services are cut and austerity takes over and the people who can't afford it suffer the most.

A general strike for a few days won't matter to them. To hurt billionaires, you need to find a way to really hurt them. Like, strip them bare and leave their carcasses drying in the sun.

[Rare White Ape]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/covid-19-end-of-american-era-wade-davis-1038206/



For the purposes of discussion.

It ended at 08:46 on 11/09/2001

[Jason]

What happened on November 9th, 2001?

:p

(God I hate our date format)

[Tom Servo]

so #GeneralStrike is trending and lots of people (liberals, progressives) are calling for it, but I don't think it would actually work or do much.

They're talking about a strike for a day or a week to hurt the billionaires. I don't think it will work at all because: A) THEY can wait it out, the rest of us can't B) They are GLOBAL, they have income coming from dozens of countries, so just a US based strike won't do much

This reminds me of when gas prices went up a bunch so people were trying to organize a one day gas boycott - don't buy gas this Friday and we'll show 'em who's boss!

The problem was, nobody stopped *using* gas. They just filled up a day earlier or a day later, the end result didn't affect oil companies at all.

[neanderthal]

This reminds me of when gas prices went up a bunch so people were trying to organize a one day gas boycott - don't buy gas this Friday and we'll show 'em who's boss!

The problem was, nobody stopped *using* gas. They just filled up a day earlier or a day later, the end result didn't affect oil companies at all.


Pretty much.

It's for the illusion of action, the illusion of fighting back against "the man." It's for the powerless to feel like they're taking control of something.

It's all bullshit.

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/covid-19-end-of-american-era-wade-davis-1038206/



For the purposes of discussion.

I pretty much agree with the assessment of the unraveling of America, but not so sure about the ascendancy of China/Asia though. Xi is definitely not as dumb as Trump, but he is as nasty if not more. This widening gap between the rich and poor is accelerating in both countries...

Unless Trump and Xi go away, the unraveling will only continue. Of course I also agree with the author that in America, even with removal of trump, not sure if we could turn things around. After all I firmly believe Trump is only the symptom of our decay, not the cause.

[Yw-slayer]

The problem was, nobody stopped *using* gas. They just filled up a day earlier or a day later, the end result didn't affect oil companies at all.

But what if they filled up only a bit at a time...?

[FaultyMario]

A general strike for a few days won't matter to them. To hurt billionaires, you need to find a way to really hurt them. Like, strip them bare and leave their carcasses drying in the sun.

The French had the answer two hundred and some years ago.

[SportWagon]

The problem was, nobody stopped *using* gas. They just filled up a day earlier or a day later, the end result didn't affect oil companies at all.

But what if they filled up only a bit at a time...?Well, that could conceivably have hurt the exploited small business owners of gas stations. They're sort of the buffer for various problems which might otherwise affect big oil directly.

[FaultyMario]

Judges, appointed by Trump, [...]

9th Circuit ends California ban on high-capacity magazines (https://apnews.com/11a1e49886a3143f2db3fbf5b10c5069)

[neanderthal]

9th Circuit ends California ban on high-capacity magazines (https://apnews.com/11a1e49886a3143f2db3fbf5b10c5069)

I saw that earlier.
In 2016 idiots really showed their whole asses during the elections.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I really don’t think Hillary or Obama or Biden could fix our gun/social problems... whether it’s mass shooting or BLM...

Besides powerful lobbies, there’s simply not enough political will from the people either! If Sandy Hook couldn’t change minds, if coronavirus couldn’t help unite us to fight it together, I guess we just need to wait for a bigger disaster to happen in order to help American people to look beyond their stupid political differences...

[neanderthal]

"their stupid political differences ..." :lol:

You *really* have no introspection. :rolleyes:

Why ont you chew on those few words and your actions for a few minutes.

[neanderthal]

$48 million raised by the Biden campaign in the 48 hours after announcing Kamala Harris as his veep nominee.

We coulda had a bad bitch, but fuckers were too busy paying heed to white male journalists and Russian disinformation.

Kamala has widespread appeal, (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/15/kamala-harris-west-indian-voters-395554) (unless you're hoodwinked by the "she's a cop" nonsense, in which case say hi to Boris or Vladimir or Pytor or whatever he calls himself. I watched this one woman go out on a limb about another woman who's kid was truant and what she had to go through. Wasn't even the same county as Kamala. And Kamala was no longer DA at that time.) and this article doesn't even mention the appeal she has in the East Indian community.

She's a real one. She called one of the people I follow on Twitter, (https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1294410599686967300) just days after suspending her campaign, because she'd heard he had a biopsy. Days. Just a "hey, you're gonna get through this" call. notcapnamerica on twitter

[Crazed_Insanity]

My actions are as incompetent and lazy as Bernie Sanders I guess.

I gotta do what I gotta do even if it seems futile.

I can still respect the office of the presidency while hating the orangutan sitting in it.

You can continue to blame his rise or Brexit or nationalism to people like me, but face it, voters don’t usually get upset with their governments and want to change directions when everything is going well. I believe it’s the DNC who lacks introspection. They don’t know what they’re doing wrong to not have my enthusiasm and they don’t know what they’re doing wrong to end up losing to some bozo like trump... so they think people like me should be blamed.

[neanderthal]

Try the introspection. It's not always on the menu, but when it is you really ought to do yourself a favor and have a nibble. It'll open your palate to a whole new world of thoughts and ideas and theories. It'll broaden your horizons beyond your narrow ill thought out bullshit to a wider omni verse where things have texture and taste and color beyond your imagination. Where you can smell what a sound feels like. Where you can taste a color. Where you can hear the warm rays of the sun radiating towards you from the sky.

But you can't do any of that without trying the introspection first. I mean, I could tell you what the color blue tastes like, but without introspection, you lack the capacity to understand and contextualise what i'd be sayin.

Try the introspection; it's really good. And it's not always on offer.

[Crazed_Insanity]

If I’m blind and unable to comprehend your description of the color of the sky, introspection will help? Sounds far out man!

Look, not trying to say I must be right or Bernie must be right, but when our nation turns to shit, Bernie and I shouldn’t be the 1st in line to examine what we did wrong.

1st in line should be trump, then Republicans, then democrats...

Until progressives gain real power, it’s kinda pointless to blame progressives... or whatever other 3rd party Russian assets...

We Americans are unable to repent of our mistakes, and love to blame others for it... actually, this tendency isn’t exclusively American, Adam was doing that in Eden since the beginning...

If Mercedes and Hamilton will only blame each other or blame Billi whenever they fail to win the race, they’d never be where they are today.

America will never be great if we can’t accept and learn from our mistakes.

[neanderthal]

If I’m blind and unable to comprehend your description of the color of the sky, introspection will help? Sounds far out man!

Look, not trying to say I must be right or Bernie must be right, but when our nation turns to shit, Bernie and I shouldn’t be the 1st in line to examine what we did wrong.

1st in line should be trump, then Republicans, then democrats...

Until progressives gain real power, it’s kinda pointless to blame progressives... or whatever other 3rd party Russian assets...

We Americans are unable to repent of our mistakes, and love to blame others for it... actually, this tendency isn’t exclusively American, Adam was doing that in Eden since the beginning...

If Mercedes and Hamilton will only blame each other or blame Billi whenever they fail to win the race, they’d never be where they are today.

America will never be great if we can’t accept and learn from our mistakes.

:lol:

Remind us again how you voted last time?

Like I said, try the introspection.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I could’ve voted for either Trump or Hillary and Hillary would win CA and Trump would win the White House. I really don’t think my vote for Jill Stein at the time caused 2020.

I can certain agree that for sure Hillary would’ve done a much better job at handling this pandemic if she were the prez.

Likewise I’m pretty sure Bernie would’ve done better than Trump too.

2016 was the antiestablishment year, Bernie should’ve been the nominee. Come 2020, I think it’s clear Bernie missed that chance. People have spoken... and they want normalcy back. Even I want normalcy back. There are other more important stuffs to fight against than start a revolution with Bernie.

Democrats better not miss this opportunity to win people like me back. I can certainly be a centrist, but I’m not going to be a corporate centrist. If the Democratic Party will continue to cater more to corporations than the people, then a revolution will come.

[21Kid]

Well...


There goes the post office. :(

[Rare White Ape]

So lemme get this straight… the Grand Orange Party is complaining about the issues with postal votes, while at the same time engineering the conditions that will lead to issues with postal votes?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Exactamundo! Self fulfilling prophets! Aren’t they so very smart?

[Tom Servo]

So lemme get this straight… the Grand Orange Party is complaining about the issues with postal votes, while at the same time engineering the conditions that will lead to issues with postal votes?

You have it 100% correct. In the meantime, it's screwing over people who rely on it for things like prescription medication delivery or the government stimulus checks that...uh...the Senate failed to actually finalize before going on vacation for a month.

[neanderthal]

So lemme get this straight… the Grand Orange Party is complaining about the issues with postal votes, while at the same time engineering the conditions that will lead to issues with postal votes?

Never mind that they ... engineered the conditions that would make more people rely on the post office to cast their votes in the first place.

Initially I thought it was just too stupid a response to be intentional, the dismissal of COVID, but now i'm thinking more and more that it was part of a diabolical plan to maintain control of at least one of the branches of government.

Which leads me to say, again, "fuck you, every single person who didn't vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016." She warned us. She told us very plainly what would happen.

Here (https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/07/19/hillary-clinton-prognosis-puppet-trump-proves-true/88EzGcRwmCyv40eUu58kVP/story.html)
Here (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/22/us/politics/hillary-clinton-speech-economy.html)
Here too (https://www.ft.com/content/80d2daa6-5543-11e6-9664-e0bdc13c3bef)

[neanderthal]

Well...


There goes the post office. :(

We have to come up with a comprehensive plan of attack to get these ballots in.
* Apply for absentee ballots. If you can't mail them in at least two weeks in advance, drop them in the ballot box on election day or at any of the places where they do
* Early voting. You don't have to vote at your designated polling place for early voting in most cases. Go to the rich people areas and the lines will be short.
* Vote in person Take the day off. Take a folding chair, a fully charged tablet/ phone, a battery bank, a metric fuckton of hand sanitizer, make sure to wear your mask all the time. Maintain social distancing.

[neanderthal]

I could’ve voted for either Trump or Hillary and Hillary would win CA and Trump would win the White House. I really don’t think my vote for Jill Stein at the time caused 2020.

I can certain agree that for sure Hillary would’ve done a much better job at handling this pandemic if she were the prez.

Likewise I’m pretty sure Bernie would’ve done better than Trump too.

2016 was the antiestablishment year, Bernie should’ve been the nominee. Come 2020, I think it’s clear Bernie missed that chance. People have spoken... and they want normalcy back. Even I want normalcy back. There are other more important stuffs to fight against than start a revolution with Bernie.

Democrats better not miss this opportunity to win people like me back. I can certainly be a centrist, but I’m not going to be a corporate centrist. If the Democratic Party will continue to cater more to corporations than the people, then a revolution will come.

:lol:



America will never be great if we can’t accept and learn from our mistakes.

There you were, two posts ago, saying people need to learn from their mistakes. And here you are saying we need to come groveling to you and beg you to suck your dick so you can entertain voting for the Democrats.

You really suck at introspection. I mean you really. fucking. suck. at it.

And clearly, despite Trump, despite all he's done, despite Ruth Bader Ginsburg's ailing health and the precarious ... um ... "balance" of the Supreme Court, despite the stacking of all the lower courts, despite the threat to social security and medicaid, despite, ... fuck it, i'm not listing everything that's threatened, despite all that, you STILL want everybody to bend to the will of the minority left fringe, in order to get your vote? :rolleyes:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Introspection. Try it.


in·tro·spec·tion
/ˌintrəˈspekSH(ə)n/
Learn to pronounce
noun
the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes.

There. I've defined it for you to give you a head start.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Anyway, I have done my introspection and I'm sure you'd agree even if I did vote for Hillary, Trump would still be in the white house, right?

I've also stated I will be voting Biden, but I guess I'm just not allowed to be critical of him... just as the CCP cannot take any criticisms?

If Biden somehow loses again, you're going to blame me for not enthusiastically supporting him?

If Sanders were the nominee and loses to Trump, I most certainly won't be blaming you for his lost. I wouldn't even blame Trump supporters for Bernie's lost. If Bernie cannot attract enough support, it's on him. Just as during this primary, he failed to win sufficient democratic support. So I don't believe it'd be fair for me to blame you for not liking him. Biden did win fair and square. However, the reality that Biden wasn't anyone favorite is still there. Ideally, he'll need to rally all the supporters of Pete, Amy, Warren, and Sanders. Not asking anyone to suck any dicks, all I'm asking is to please not fuck us little guys and not fuck foreign nationals with dark skins. That's not too much to ask really.

[Jason]

Pelosi is calling the House back

[21Kid]

Pelosi is calling the House back
The senate won't, sooooooo...

[neanderthal]

https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1295749182951772165?s=19

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-aoc-kasich-democratic-convention-ocasio-cortez-20200817-qzqxyptb4fap3bs6yh7gw4oi6e-story.html

John Kasich sort of disses AOC as extremists... just as Trump supporters are extremists... we need to be more moderate!!!

Yes, sounds very good in theory and I do like the bipartisan collaborations...; however, did republicans vote for Kaisich? Will republicans really listen to Kaisich and vote Biden?

It does seem pretty awesome to see another republican come to the DNC side to openly support Biden, but at the expense of possibly pissing off AOC's constituents? Progressives are just too extreme to the left? Really? After our nation has been pulling so far extreme to the right, AOC and Bernie Sanders are just too much?

Biden needs a campaign that can highlight his strengths and not just run a campaign about how bad Trump is.

Moderate republicans will possibly vote for you if give them hope, scaring them about Trump most likely won't work.

Imagine if we do not have a pandemic..., Trump will probably be winning this by a landslide, even with Bernie as the nominee...

I sincerely hope DNC will win it back this time..., but I hope you guys can understand my frustration with DNC's strategies...

I'm not asking you to suck my dick, but please, listen to your supporters? Or at least help us feel that you actually heard us?

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1295749182951772165?s=19

Obama/Biden?

Stop living in the past. We need to look forward!

https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1295008521600282624

This is also the part I'm a bit concerned with from that CBS poll.

10. What is the main reason behind your vote for Joe Biden over Donald Trump in November?
Among likely voters
Mainly because I like Joe Biden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29%
Mainly because Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22%
Mainly to oppose Donald Trump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49%

11. What is the main reason behind your vote for Donald Trump over Joe Biden in November?
Among likely voters
Mainly because I like Donald Trump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68%
Mainly because Donald Trump is the Republican nominee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12%
Mainly to oppose Joe Biden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20%

Most of the voters voting for Biden because they hate Trump.
Most of the voters voting for Trump because they love Trump.

Let me stress again, Biden needs to find ways to help people like him more instead of making this about beating Trump.

Nobody on either side cares what Kasich has to say. We don't need to give people like him prime time speaking slots. We're not going to win over that many moderate republicans...

From election to impeachment... the more we make this about Trump, the more he'll likely end up winning.

Thus far, about the only thing I really genuinely like about Biden is because of his relationship with his Corvette. He loves cars... particularly that car. :) We need to stop giving that orange bozo anymore publicity... and we shouldn't have allowed republicans to talk down other liberals in a DNC convention. This just makes the progressives feel like starting a 3rd party.

[Rare White Ape]

One man’s view on why Trump will win again:

https://medium.com/@wiredgourmet/why-trump-is-likely-to-win-again-23e56ccff95b

[Crazed_Insanity]

If only I could be as eloquent, I could be the author of that article. He's pretty much put into words my exact sentiments. I don't want Trump to win, but I also do fear that he just might win again...

Anyway, I'm sure the DNC and folks like Neanderthal couldn't care less what that one man and this man think. If Biden wins, no thanks to us. If Biden loses, it'll be all our fault somehow...

Democratic party really needs to be reminded that it should be a party of people... of ALL people! Until DNC realizes this, Republicans will continue to kick their asses.

[neanderthal]

AOC nominated Bernie for President. Despite him dropping out of the race. It signals ...

And then they want to talk about unity. :smh:

Fuck the fringe left too.

[Tom Servo]

Naah, you're wrong on this one.

https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1295902565750771717

To paraphrase, it's a procedural thing, someone has to second the nomination of anyone who passes a delegate threshold. Sanders asked her to do it.

That said, most media outlets announced it with a headline sans context, so it's not surprising that anyone took it as more than a "this is just part of the tradition" thing.

[Crazed_Insanity]

AOC nominated Bernie for President. Despite him dropping out of the race. It signals ...

And then they want to talk about unity. :smh:

Fuck the fringe left too.

There you go again. Unity goes both ways. Do you really think we need a republican, who barely made a dent in 2016 gop primary, to speak at the dnc convention? What would be the point of uniting with a republican who most republican voters don’t really care much for?

As for AOC, I guess she should be grateful DNC allowed her 60 seconds to speak. And thank you for twisting her words and wish to unite with her by fucking her and her supporters.

You don’t ever wonder why some progressives are turned off by that?

[Yw-slayer]

A headline in the media which is prone to mislead without adequate context? Surely not!!!!

[Jason]

AOC nominated Bernie for President. Despite him dropping out of the race. It signals ...

And then they want to talk about unity. :smh:

Fuck the fringe left too.

Sorry, but no, it's a procedural thing for anyone with enough delegates. You need to chill on the hate for progressives.

Edit: Whoops, didn't see Brian already responded

[FaultyMario]

God’s caliber went through my scrotum... (https://www.queerty.com/trump-supporter-shoots-groin-attempt-trigger-liberals-20200819)

[Jason]

:lol:

Wtf

[neanderthal]

Naah, you're wrong on this one.

https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1295902565750771717

To paraphrase, it's a procedural thing, someone has to second the nomination of anyone who passes a delegate threshold. Sanders asked her to do it.

That said, most media outlets announced it with a headline sans context, so it's not surprising that anyone took it as more than a "this is just part of the tradition" thing.


Sorry, but no, it's a procedural thing for anyone with enough delegates. You need to chill on the hate for progressives.

Edit: Whoops, didn't see Brian already responded

No, no, no guys. I know it's a procedural thing.

My beef with AOC nominating Bernie is that it "looks" divisive. It looks like the "progressive wing" is still trying to get him the nomination, despite the results of the primary.

To me, *that* was the most opportune time for a progressive to fully endorse Biden/ Harris to promote unity. Let some other random unknown dude second Bernie's nomination. It satisfies the protocols, and signals that the progressives and liberals are united in this fight. I just typed that real fast on my phone in the last few minutes of my break. I didn't have time to properly clarify what I meant. Mea culpa.

[neanderthal]

Watch Joe give Hillary her due.

https://twitter.com/riotwomennn/status/1296263513565011969?s=19

[FaultyMario]

Thanks mister, just let go of my arm, you're starting to get creepy.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Watch Joe give Hillary her due.

https://twitter.com/riotwomennn/status/1296263513565011969?s=19

Media didn’t cover her? That made me laugh.

Now, if the most qualified person was defeated by a jr senator, what does that say about Obama? Super qualified? Or voters were just too stupid to recognize a truly awesome woman... and picked somebody less qualified?

Listen guys, you voters really should be ashamed of yourselves for rejecting Hillary and failing to hear her ideas properly. Also please listen to the republican who couldn’t win his primary against trump. You voters obviously don’t know what you’re doing. Look at this country now! Don’t be stupid ok? Vote for me! I’m not Donald trump, and I’m running for president!

[Tom Servo]

Steve Bannon indicted on fraud charges involving his "Build the Wall PAC". As mentioned in this thread, there were questions two years ago about why money sent to it was going to a PO Box in Colorado, sounds like now prosecutors know why.

https://twitter.com/KyleClark/status/1296461550379819011

[FaultyMario]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vdUubdf2JI

Don't forget kiddos, red or blue, those politicos ain't nuthin' but admins for the evil empire. 22 years to the day Slick Willy ordered the bombing of a pharmaceuticals factory in a poor country because soil samples came back positive for Empta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Ethyl_methylphosphonothioic_acid).

[Cam]

Steve Bannon indicted on fraud charges...

Republicans committing fraud? Gosh, who saw that coming?

[Jason]

Also, Manhattan has ruled that Trump’s taxes go to the DA, they’ll appeal again, but since the Supreme Court already tossed it back down there in the first place, I assume it won’t go anywhere (INAL, though). But since this is 2020, I assume anything that comes out of it will be delayed until after the election.

Edit: this is related to investigations into hush money payments

[Jason]

Watch Joe give Hillary her due.

https://twitter.com/riotwomennn/status/1296263513565011969?s=19

Boy if that isn’t true. I actually just had a FB Memory pop up from 2015 where I was talking about how CNN was giving Trump a metric butt ton of coverage, but basically ignoring actual politicians.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Decent speech I guess. At least he didn’t mention DJT by name!

May the Lord shine His light on you and our nation and be able to lead us out of this valley of darkness...

[sandydandy]

I thought Obama's speech the other night was stellar. Miss that guy.

[MR2 Fan]

:lol:

It's almost entirely the Trump crime family...too many republicans either not wanting to join or joined the DNC convention instead. Edit: Also Tim Scott as the token black guy....Herman Cain wasn't available for some reason (RIP)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgD7plQWsAIOiCv?format=jpg&name=900x900

In other news, 26 Republicans! joined the Dems on the House bill to save the USPS today

[neanderthal]

I'm skeptical of that bill getting past the senate with Mitch at the helm.

[The359]

They're letting Tiffany out of her cage?

[MR2 Fan]

I'm skeptical of that bill getting past the senate with Mitch at the helm.

Agreed, however just seeing GOP members supporting this bill means to me that the gridlock is shifting

[neanderthal]

Agreed, however just seeing GOP members supporting this bill means to me that the gridlock is shifting

My inner cynic says they know the bill won't go past Mitch' desk. They're doing it for the votes.

[Tom Servo]

One of those "Save our children" marches happened out here yesterday. My favorite part is that a bunch of the conspiracy theorists now have a conspiracy theory that the conspiracy theorists marching weren't actually conspiracy theorists.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Whoa! Syntax error!

[neanderthal]

All those people who were outraged by 4 deaths in Benghazi are super silent about 170000 dead Americans on Trumps watch. Make it make sense!

[G'day Mate]

So Kellyanne Conway has quit the White House, and George Conway has quit the Lincoln Project ...

[MR2 Fan]

So Kellyanne Conway has quit the White House, and George Conway has quit the Lincoln Project ...

Ever since Trump took office, it's always been an odd couple IMO. Their daughter also just announced she's trying to separate from them.

[G'day Mate]

Family in crisis for sure

[Rare White Ape]

I've never really paid much attention to any of them. A quick Google suggests they're all pulling each other in different directions.

Perhaps this move is designed to prolong their unity. Best of luck to them.

[FaultyMario]

In today's episode of Divide and Conquer (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/24/mind-bogglingly-irresponsible-meet-the-republican-donors-helping-qanon-reach-congress)...


“Getting involved in a primary on behalf of an absolutely insane, conspiracy-minded, explicitly racist candidate in a seat that is reliably conservative is mind-bogglingly irresponsible,” said Tim Miller, a former spokesman for the Republican National Committee who is now political director for Republican Voters Against Trump.

[neanderthal]

"So 22% of the DNC delegates voted against the most progressive in DNC history because it didn't contain a specific branding phrase, even though it does call for comprehensive, universal, affordable healthcare for all US residents." Charles Gaba on twitter.

Charles is a healthcare wonk. A great follow if you're on twitter.

[Crazed_Insanity]

This tweet cracked me up



Working Class: Help Us Please

Republicans: No
Democrats: No ❤��️*��#blm

https://twitter.com/forevertawl/status/1294424061590867968


Democrats are definitely better than the Republicans. However, if after 4 more years, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Tim Apple continue to get richer while the working class continue to get poorer, I'm not only going to vote 3rd party, I'm going to start a 3rd party!

This is your last chance Biden/DNC! :p

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNf5PQqdykg

This is mostly for Neanderthal and moderate democrats... what do you guys think of Nina Turner? Just another crazy angry black woman?

Also, she claimed that we have 2 dragons to slay... a fascist one and a neoliberal one... do you agree?

Anyway, for me, I really agree quite a bit with her that my support for Bernie was never really about that white old atheist himself, but about the movement that he sparked. Even in 2020, I kinda abandoned him for Andrew Yang... I thought perhaps Yang could be more pragmatic than Bernie... Bernie is very trustworthy with his integrity, but on the flip side, he could be rather stubborn which is probably the main reason why that he made so little friends and got so little done... but anyway... who ever it shall be... I do hope these 2 dragons will be slayed soon... because otherwise I'm sure America will eventually be consumed by one... or both dragons.

[21Kid]

Sorry, but no, it's a procedural thing for anyone with enough delegates. You need to chill on the hate for progressives.

Edit: Whoops, didn't see Brian already responded Yeah, that's unfortunately why I had to block Mo too.

So much hatred... I just don't understand it. I guess that's probably because I'm a hippy progressive.

[Rikadyn]

More likely the two dragons will fuck and create a hellspawn.

[Crazed_Insanity]

:lol:

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, that's unfortunately why I had to block Mo too.

So much hatred... I just don't understand it. I guess that's probably because I'm a hippy progressive.

I'm sure you blocked me as well, but in case you're in a moment of weakness and clicked to view this post, I just wish to ask you why do you even visit the politics thread if you can't handle opposing or different opinions?

It is perfectly fine to not listen to/read other people's garbage speech that ruins your mood, but is there really a need to advertise the fact that you put somebody on ignore? Whether it be me or MO or Mi or Ma or Mu...

How progressive can you be if you can't entertain other people's ideas and need to shut people up thru the use of ignore feature? Granted, you didn't actually shut Mo up, he's still free to post, but if you are coming into the kitchen, be prepared for a little heat... you might enjoy the exchange of ideas... if the heat is really too much, then stay in the dining area and enjoy the food. No need to come inside the kitchen wearing a nomax suit and look down at all the cooks... if you don't understand something, ask. Try to understand. Mo and Billi are human beings too... and we can actually talk you know? ;)

Anyway, here's Mr. Bean's thoughts on why free, insulting and perhaps even hateful speeches are important... in this crazy world, I'm finding out the people making the most sense now are seemingly comedians... go figure...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiqDZlAZygU

[FaultyMario]

Do not equate free speech to free hearing. You can say whatever the fuck you want, just spare me from having to hear it.

[FaultyMario]

Did you hear Mr. Trump say during the RNC that he plans on staying for more than two terms? Knowing what you now know, would you accept that as a joke or "just his opinion"?

[Tom Servo]

To further what Mario is saying, sometimes it's not the speech but the way it's spoken.

Still, you can be progressive and tolerant and also have a line at which point you do not need to entertain the speaker any longer. If Richard Spencer starts trying to tell me about how white males should run everything and also round up all the Jews, I don't have any obligation to listen and it doesn't in any way take away my progressive credentials. The "how progressive can you be" thing reminds me of a former friend who always went with "So much for the tolerant left!" any time I disagreed with him. It's a cop-out.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I'm not saying everyone needs to hear what I said... I do understand that I'm not that important nor the smartest person around... people can definitely selectively tune stuff off, but to completely ignore somebody to shield yourself inside a bubble is what people prefer today.

Like Mr. Bean is saying... zero tolerance for insulting or perhaps even hateful speech is like shielding yourself inside a clean germ free room. Is that really the ideal way to live? For some with immune deficiencies, this may be necessary, but for normal folks, we shouldn't live like that.

Political correctness and cancel culture are the kind of movement that justified different forms of intolerance and arguably the reasons why it made Trump popular in the 1st place... because he's more authentic... he shoots from the hip... he doesn't use his brain! :p

Anyway, I just thought the idea of 'I do not tolerate intolerance' as a cop-out.

We shouldn't just be tolerant of folks who share your views and intolerant of the folks who do not... or embrace 'diversity' as long as you fall in line of my kind of ideology...

Even Jesus doesn't distinguish between sins. Wage for all form of sins deserve death... and he saves people from all sins. Yeah, Jesus has his form of 'ideology' I suppose, but he is God! who are the left to decide what is tolerable and what's not?

Anyway, my original point is that it should be fine to use the ignore feature when you feel uncomfortable with somebody. That is certainly your freedom. However, it kinda ticks me off when people have to mention repeatedly that oh I have to put so and so on ignore in order to demonstrate how inoffensively superior they are.

Personally, I really don't care whether if you're offensive or not. What's more important is that we're able to share ideas. If you're not here at the political market place to share and exchange ideas... what are you here for?

If you're a true progressive... want to do this or do that for all... then 1st you need to really be tolerant of all. We don't have to like them all, but at least be tolerant. There shouldn't be a medicare for all except you assholes.... and free college for all except you bigots...

[Crazed_Insanity]

Did you hear Mr. Trump say during the RNC that he plans on staying for more than two terms? Knowing what you now know, would you accept that as a joke or "just his opinion"?

This dude likes to think out loud... and I don't think we need to take him too seriously...

Still, it's moment like this that I'm glad our nation afforded us the right to bear fucking arms.

If he does succeed with a 3rd term, I wonder if the secret services would end up choose to protect a dictator or protect this country... Anyway, I can't believe Trump will be able to be a 3 termer. He can dream on.

[Tom Servo]

I think as long as the ignore is for specific people rather than anybody who disagrees with you, I don't see a problem with it.

But that last sentence I fully disagree with. I do not need to be tolerant of everyone to be a true progressive. I don't, for instance, think I need to be tolerant of Jerry Falwell, Jr.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I guess we need to make sure our definition of tolerance is the same...

If he's giving a hateful speech on the street while you happened to walk by, it fucking ticked you off!

Would you beat the crap out of him to shut him up or would you continue to walk away and get the fuck outta there?

If you do the later, then you are a tolerant enough IMHO. There's definitely a difference between tolerate and like. Not asking you to like something you clearly disagree with.

To counter hate speech, the best method is more speech! Listeners are not stupid. Listeners can typically tell who's more righteous and authentic. I think the problem today is that our speech givers lacked authenticity.

[FaultyMario]

Jerry Falwell, Jr.

Cuck video in 3... 2...

[Tom Servo]

My level of tolerance was based on essentially the ignore feature here. I wouldn't beat the crap out of him, but I also wouldn't bother listening.

[Tom Servo]

Cuck video in 3... 2...

That was some serious irony, right? The go-to insult for the alt-right turns out to be his actual kink.

I'm not into kink-shaming, but I do like the way someone else put it: He should get exactly as much shame piled on him as he's piled on other people for their sex lives.

[George]

Did you hear Mr. Trump say during the RNC that he plans on staying for more than two terms? Knowing what you now know, would you accept that as a joke or "just his opinion"?

I say he has never read the Constitution Of The United States (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States) and hasn't even sat still for ten minutes to receive an executive briefing about it to include a few key points he should know as president.

That...and/or the third term suggestion is another bit of deliberate misinformation to distract, confuse, and elicit an emotional response both pro and con from both sides of the aisle.

[Crazed_Insanity]

My level of tolerance was based on essentially the ignore feature here. I wouldn't beat the crap out of him, but I also wouldn't bother listening.

If you occasionally read my posts, I think that is proof that you are tolerant enough!

But seriously, I think Things like political correctness has caused folks to become so fake nowadays that some people end up admiring authentic assholes like Trump!

[Jason]

That was some serious irony, right? The go-to insult for the alt-right turns out to be his actual kink.

I'm not into kink-shaming, but I do like the way someone else put it: He should get exactly as much shame piled on him as he's piled on other people for their sex lives.

Projection tends to be their thing.

Not that there’s anything wrong with consensual cuckoldry, but using it as an insult while having it as a closet kink? Yeah that’s in line with Republicans through and through.

[Jason]

In response to Trump’s 3rd+ term “thinking out loud”

He’s been doing that for a year or two now. It’s no longer a “joke”. It’s not a “ramble”. It’s clearly something he thinks about often and would like to see it through.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yes, it's pretty darn clear that he looks up to dictators and wish to become one.

The only question remain for me is what would his freedom loving supporters do in response... continue to worship him as Jesus or turn on him to remove a dictator...

[Rare White Ape]

I’m not sure what you guys are talking about without the context (because of, you know, the ignore feature…) but whenever I see the term ‘freeze peach’ being bandied about it always piques my interest.

For the people up the back, in the nose picking section, I’ll lay this out in case you aren’t aware:

Freedom of speech is the freedom to say what you want without fear of punishment from the government.

It’s very different to what people think it means, when they say they think they have to right to say whatever offensive (or otherwise) shit comes into their little noggins without being told to shut up by right-thinking people.

Okay?

Lesson over.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That’s the main problem with ignore feature. People don’t really know the context because of that feature, yet still feel good enough about teaching others lessons. :p

Anyway, for sure free speech is 1st and foremost about not allowing governments to shut us up. For us regular folks not part of governments, even telling other people to shut up should be protected under free speech.

I personally prefer authentic insults rather than fake politically correct praises. Of course they’re all should be protected under free speech...

[Phil_SS]

In response to Trump’s 3rd+ term “thinking out loud”

He’s been doing that for a year or two now. It’s no longer a “joke”. It’s not a “ramble”. It’s clearly something he thinks about often and would like to see it through.

Except, if he would somehow convince the government of changing the constitution, which won't happen, Obama would clean the floor with him.

[Jason]

Except, if he would somehow convince the government of changing the constitution, which won't happen, Obama would clean the floor with him.

You think Trump has the critical thinking skills to recognize that? :lol:

[sandydandy]

If I may interject with some Canadian politics. The Conservative party just voted in their new leader, Erin O’Toole, who’s sounding very Trumpish. “Take Back Canada” is his rallying cry. I guess he figured out the easy way to win is to prey on people’s fears.

Trudeau is involved in a scandal and faces a vote of nonconfidence and has decided to prorogue parliament until September 23rd. We’ll see what happens when he gets back.

We may have an election alongside you this fall.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yikes. Good luck Canada! Sorry I can't help you guys, I have my own country to worry about...

[Jason]

Please don't go MAGA on us :(

What's the Trudeau scandal?

[sandydandy]

Please don't go MAGA on us :(

What's the Trudeau scandal? Something about a WE charity scandal. I didn't even look into it, but I know his opponents are all over him. I don't think it's enough to warrant ousting him. The third party in Canada (NDP) might have his back to block any nonconfidence vote. Personally I don't really care about the WE shit, scandal or not. I think JT has been great during the pandemic. Even though I do feel he's giving away a little too much free money. We're all going to pay big time for this.

I'm not typically a Liberal voter, but right now he's the best choice for us in office. I will not vote Conservative again if white nationalist rhetoric is part of the package. I wish Stephen Harper would come back. He was the best Conservative Prime Minister we ever had. Unlike in the US, there are no term limits here.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Term limits should minimize corruption scandals, but it’d also make it easier for personalities like Trump to get into office....

May the Canadian voters make better choices than us Americans...

[Rare White Ape]

Except, if he would somehow convince the government of changing the constitution, which won't happen, Obama would clean the floor with him.

Let’s assume there was support for changing the constitution.

I’m pretty sure that it would only come into effect for the election following the end of the current president’s term. At least, if Congress was debating it, the smart thing to do would be to keep the grandfather clause that the 22nd amendment had in place so as to make it fair for those seeking office at the 2024 election.

And if there was serious consideration given to repeal of the 22nd, there’s no way that it could be pushed through before November. Trump has already got too much on his plate, what with trying to rig the current election and whatnot.

[George]

I heard most of this in the car earlier and read the rest of it when I got home. Worth reading or streaming if you're interested in details of the Trump & Fox News "team".

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/25/905805029/hoax-traces-the-grotesque-feedback-loop-between-president-trump-and-fox-news


CNN correspondent Brian Stelter says President Trump's "cozy" relationship with Fox News is "like nothing we've seen in American history."

In his new book, Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth, Stelter describes the president as a "shadow producer" to Fox News host Sean Hannity — who, in turn, acts as a "shadow chief of staff" for Trump.

[FaultyMario]

Mr Trudeau is facing the third ethics investigation of his five years in office over the government's decision to task WE with administering the programme. WE Charity Canada would have received up to $43.5m to manage the programme under that agreement.

Just over C$900m ($679m, £519m) was originally earmarked for the programme, designed to connect post-secondary students to volunteer opportunities - for which they would later receive a grant - to make up for summer job prospects that had disappeared during the pandemic.

It later emerged that Mr Trudeau's mother and brother had been paid for speaking at various WE events over the years. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53494560)

[Tom Servo]

AOC's response to being asked "Do you actually see truth in media? Or is it hyped for more views?".

https://twitter.com/HanaaTameez/status/1298256278876127234/photo/1

Just because it's in a horrible slideshow format and because I'm a nice person, here's the text of her response in it (with some of the annoying capitalization taken out because I hate that shit and I hope that was someone editorializing her response and not actually from her).



OK so first things first: journalists & members of the press are people with jobs that are overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. So I'm not here to dump on them because they deal with enough. I respect them a lot and admire those who conduct their work with integrity.

But the institutions and incentives in media overall is absolutely incentivized towards conflict and drama, because that is what generates clicks, views, and revenue. That said, when you see a fact that is reported, cited, and verified by several reputable outlets, 99.999% it's going to be true.

However there is a big difference between a fact and the story. And the story (often the headline) that's told surrounding the fact is frequently stretched, mischaracterized, or dramatized to get you to click. Sometimes the story is so misleading that even though it contains facts it is told in such a way that people will walk away thinking the wrong thing, or just getting angry about something that's actually not a big deal. And that creates a lack of trust in media & institutions, and overall polarization. I will give you an example.

Remember this? [points to a picture of her nominating Sanders at the DNC] This was my DNC Convention speech to procedurally nominate Bernie. It was pre-recorded and approved by the DNC, Biden campaign, and Bernie. The DNC provided an advisory to the media days ahead of time that I would be seconding Bernie's procedural nomination.

This happens at every single convention (Dolores Huerta did Hillary Clinton's in '08, etc), and ironically it is considered an important step in uniting the party by paying respect to the second-place finisher and their supporters and sets up a process so we all come together via roll call in the end.

But how did NBC News cover it?

[ Points to headline saying "In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden: "I hereby second the nomination of Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America."" ]
NBC immediately framed this normal process as "AOC doesn't endorse Joe Biden" when they knew this was normal and were advised that the whole point of my role wasn't to do that.

But educating people on the process doesn't generate as much clicks or money, so they framed this as controversially as possible. The fact is true - I didn't endorse Biden in this 60 sec clip - but the story was at best irresponsible.

This actually made my life hell in the immediate aftermath. 20-30 million people were watching on convention nights. Floods of people, misled by NBC, directed a ton of abuse my way and I was cast as "going rogue" and harming the party. A lot of moderate Democrats used this as an opportunity to send a lot of hatred, anger, and vitriol my way.

All for fulfilling a 60 second role that I was asked to do. And NBC News has yet to apologize.

This stuff happens all the time.

(NBC quietly took down the tweet in the middle of the night - after it already went viral)


This was followed by some critical media consumption tips.

[FaultyMario]

If you can, look up Jeff Share's media literacy talks or texts.

He is an advocate for the curricular inclusion of media education in basic schooling and his work with UCLA's media lab is great.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Nobody really want to make anything great again. What’s more important is learn from Trump regarding how to be a politician and learn from Fox News regarding how to run a successful media! MSNBC has learned quite well.

Great news media can just continue to beg viewers/listeners to please contribute their pledges so that they don’t have to lay-off staff...

Back to the AOC story, is MSNBC the only bad actor? I tend to think this was a great setup to screw with the progressives... it’s a job well done. Should Biden loses to Trump, they’ll probably continue to blame the lack of unity because of the progressives...

Bernie and AOC have already bend over backwards for the DNC.... I sincerely hope this incident was purely due to vicious actors in MSNBC only. If I ever found out DNC was involved, I’d vote 3rd party for life.

For now, MSNBC is at the same level as FOX for me.

[Jason]

AOC's response to being asked "Do you actually see truth in media? Or is it hyped for more views?".

https://twitter.com/HanaaTameez/status/1298256278876127234/photo/1

Just because it's in a horrible slideshow format and because I'm a nice person, here's the text of her response in it (with some of the annoying capitalization taken out because I hate that shit and I hope that was someone editorializing her response and not actually from her).



This was followed by some critical media consumption tips.

Fantastic :up:

[Jason]

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/swing-states-2020-election/

[Crazed_Insanity]

Interesting set of curves! Thanks! :up:

What surprised me was Obama actually energized the conservative Arizonians more? Wonder what was that about...

Also amongst the red states, Texans seemed to like Trump the least with a significant shift to the left in 2016... actually Hillary did a good job with Arizona, Georgia too... shifting all 3 of those red states more to the left. Hope that trend continues with Biden...

[FaultyMario]

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/swing-states-2020-election/

Election 2020 is, by no means, a done deal.

[FaultyMario]

Ok. This should fall between rhetorical and scholarly question...

From what I can see, there is an unsanctioned working relationship between the Trump White House and Fox News Media. In which, it has been claimed, there are "shadow" messages sent by Trump during the day that indicates what the editorial line should be, and in turn there's feedback messages thru a number of anchors (most notably Tucker Carlson) from which it could be said that Fox Corporation states its policy advisory, that seems to have all the elements of concerted action. In contracted work like that of the WH to its Press Office or to an advisory or consultancy figure, there would be rules to when, what and how things could be done to comply with governmental procedure.

If it could be established that a quid-pro-quo arrangement was taking place, could it lead to prosecution? Of what type, criminal or administrative?

Taking that hypothesis one step forward, how does Carlson's recent "Kenosha shooter is a heroic militiaman" (https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlson-how-shocked-are-we-17-year-olds-rifles-decided-they-had-maintain) statements resound with the judiciary?

[Tom Servo]

I'm pretty sure that the "quid-pro-quo" thing that was potentially illegal was that it was with another nation, a quid-pro-quo with a corporation in the United States is pretty much par for the political course.

[Yw-slayer]

Why did Bloomberg decide to play video of Trace Adkins "singing" your national anthem? I was subjected to that by the TV in the lift lobby. FFS, it's probably the only time I've longed for the return of talking heads and graphs.

[FaultyMario]

But isn't the QpQ how racketeering cases are presented?, when a direct order to commit a crime is obviously not able to be proven, and thus an indirect connection between two or more parties that have something to gain from such behavior is made?

[Tom Servo]

I think the thing there is there isn't a specific crime being committed if the President wants a US news organization to say something and they do so in exchange for him boosting their exposure. For better or worse, being full of shit isn't illegal.

[Tom Servo]

Why did Bloomberg decide to play video of Trace Adkins "singing" your national anthem? I was subjected to that by the TV in the lift lobby. FFS, it's probably the only time I've longed for the return of talking heads and graphs.

Ah-ha! Now I know why you keep referencing Bloomberg, you get subjected to it when you're waiting for the elevator. Bloomberg's become as much of a joke as Forbes, Time, and Newsweek but I couldn't figure out why you were focused on it.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Very impressive detective work... ;)

Anyway, although being full of shit isn’t illegal, but we really should make shitting on others illegal. But if we do that to Fox, we gonna have to do it to MSNBC too... For shitting on AOC.

If we pass new laws to restrict Trump, future Democratic presidents will be constrained as well... not sure if these politicians are willing to limit their own powers... plus, the republican senate will block whatever reforms come their way...

[Yw-slayer]

Ah-ha! Now I know why you keep referencing Bloomberg, you get subjected to it when you're waiting for the elevator. Bloomberg's become as much of a joke as Forbes, Time, and Newsweek but I couldn't figure out why you were focused on it.

That, and it's still relatively influential (or seen to be) in relation to markets/economics. I agree that it's not really taken seriously for politics.

The free training and loot/snacks at it were fun, though.

[neanderthal]

Y'all remember a black kid named Trayvon got killed and lotta white people didn't give a fuck that he was a 17 year old?

Y'all notice how the news/ story around the white 17 year old killer of two people in Kenosha is being framed? He who left home, crossed state lines, with an assault weapon (spare me the semantics; it's a long gun capable of shooting multiple bullets from a magazine.) shot a bunch of people, killed two and injured one that we know of.

:smh:


The protests ... did NOT "turn deadly." That kid made it deadly.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Kyle Rittenhouse will probably be invited to future RNC conventions...

Anyway, after Floyd, I really don’t understand why cops continue to shoot black people when their lives were obviously not endangered...

On the flip side, I also don’t understand why people continue to try to resist or run away from the police. Particularly American police who’s known for shooting them in the back!

I understand that I’m neither blue nor black so I don’t understand neither fully, but I get the feeling that this thing won’t be resolved any time soon... sigh...

[JoshInKC]

Anyway, after Floyd, I really don’t understand why cops continue to shoot black people when their lives were obviously not endangered...
Seriously? I'd hope that by this point it was clear that the police are the violent enforcement arm of a white supremacist system, and who operate knowing that they will face zero-to-minimal consequences for giving in to their basest urges while putting the lower classes in their place.

[Rare White Ape]

Basically it’s because cops are racist.

C’mon Billi, say it with me;

“Cops… are… racist”

One more time:

“Cops are racist”

Okay, now try saying it all by yourself:

[Rikadyn]

https://youtu.be/bWXazVhlyxQ

[neanderthal]

Basically it’s because cops are racist.

C’mon Billi, say it with me;

“Cops… are… racist”

One more time:

“Cops are racist”

Okay, now try saying it all by yourself:

Not all of them are, but a metric fuckton of the ones who aren't, cover the ones who are, so ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Tom Servo]

And then you get DAs like ours in LA who appear to be unwilling to file charges against officers except in the most egregious and well documented cases.

[MR2 Fan]

Rudy out there trying to be the next super spreader....amazing....another Trump rally like the one that killed Herman Cain....this time illegally on White House grounds

https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1299153008593375235

[Freude am Fahren]

I think you mean Giuliani?

But yeah that's gross, and kinda hilarious.

[MR2 Fan]

oops, fixed it, was reading about Romney at the same time

[neanderthal]

And then you get DAs like ours in LA who appear to be unwilling to file charges against officers except in the most egregious and well documented cases.

We're still waiting on the cops who killed Breonna to be charged. And we know that they busted through the door at the wrong address, serving a no knock warrant.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Breonna’s case is just unfathomable... this is not just racism, but blatant corruption!

[Cam]

I check the free section of Craigslist on a regular basis. Yesterday, there were a couple of strange ads for conspiracy theories. They were not selling anything. One was just a photo accompanied by one word. The other was a link to a conspiracy theory video. Something something taking yer gunz something... I flagged them for being stupid. I put this here because they were government-related.

I regularly flag the same poster multiple times a week now for submitting right-wing political BS.

[neanderthal]

This tweet is everything about this forth coming election and the people who are hesitant to vote for Joe.

https://twitter.com/BrynnTannehill/status/1299305312256757761?s=19

[Tom Servo]

I regularly flag the same poster multiple times a week now for submitting right-wing political BS.

Heh, that's like me on Nextdoor with Covid misinformation.

[Crazed_Insanity]

If we could step away from America and look at it from a distance... it is kind funny that while the liberals are afraid of the fascists taking over... the conservatives are actually scared of the socialists taking over! Why are fellow americans so afraid of each other because of ideology?

Because they're white supremacists and racists! "No we're not!"
Because They're socialists/communists! "No we're not!"

Each side just continue to smear the other side without any attempt to try to understand the other side... and I really do believe these smear campaigns were all sponsored by the establishment.

Anyway, I will vote Joe, not hesitantly, just not very enthusiastically. My wife is more apathetic... she hates Trump of course, but she likes Trump because he's more friendly to Taiwan... typically democratic presidents were all more friendly and willing to bend over backwards to China... Anyway, she's the type who just doesn't believe either party will make any real difference.

I can't say that I disagree with her that much... pretty sure CA will go to Biden regardless of how I voted. Whether if Biden will actually win? It'll be up to those swing states.

Biden needs to run a campaign not based on fear or hatred of Trump, but one of hope like the one Obama ran. Nothing will win over more votes than hope.

[Cam]

Someone I considered to be a friend has gone conspiracy theorist on me. He's been posting stuff on social media defending the young guy who shot three people in Wisconsin a couple of days ago and implied that protesters were communists, among other things. A little while back, he showed support for an anti-vax politician. He even told people to "Wake up." which is the rallying cry for conspiracy theorists. :smh: Another friendship over thanks to the right-wing crazies. :(

[Crazed_Insanity]

We should try to hold on to our friends... now if they unfriend us, then of course we'll have to just let it go...

Anyway, I just don't believe in "social distancing" when a friend is infected by another ideology.

I am practicing social distancing with a buddy who'd regularly go cycling with other people without masks..., but I don't plan on throwing away the friendship. When the virus thing is taken care of, I shall face him again and tell him to his face that he's an idiot! :p

[sandydandy]

I don’t know if this has been discussed yet...I was flipping channels and made a quick stop at Fox News yesterday. I saw Geraldo talking about Kenosha, and specifically about black people’s general fear of the police, and how it’s justified. It was really odd hearing something refreshing like that on Fox News. Then an old conservative black guy came on to debate him and was just talking out of his ass nonstop. It was bizarre. The black guy talked about a specific black congressman (or senator or something) who had been pulled over 18 times, and how it was totally okay. Geraldo was shocked to say the least, as was I. Didn’t stick around for the rest.


Someone I considered to be a friend has gone conspiracy theorist on me Don’t you just hate it when friends do that? :lol:

I too have a close friend who has gone all conspiracy nut. He served in the Canadian army and has started talking, annoyingly, recently about the “deep state”. A bunch of us are in a WhatsApp group together and this is mostly what he talks about now. It’s exhausting. :rolleyes:

[mk]

And then you get DAs like ours in LA who appear to be unwilling to file charges against officers except in the most egregious and well documented cases.

In case thay are not the same group, what is the possible rationale, non functioning future force?

[Tom Servo]

I don't know all the ins and outs of it, but the main thing I see is the police unions can contribute significantly to political campaigns and the DA's office is an elected position. Having the police union on your side can help a lot, and refusing to charge police officers can help a lot with getting the police union on your side.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Conservative politicians are racists. Liberal politicians like police unions. It’ll be difficult to make black lives matter.

We could defund the police and let our society fall into lawlessness...

It’s funny that we’re going thru similar things as China. People of HK or whatever other surrounding groups are like the black lives in the US... all they want is being treated fairly. However, they’re now being painted as violent protesters.

How will the Chinese and US government do? For sure they won’t defund their militarized police. They need them to protect all the billionaires.

[Tom Servo]

We could defund the police and let our society fall into lawlessness...

Or we could redirect some of the money that we spend on the police and direct it toward things that treat the causes instead of the symptoms of lawlessness.

The fact that we have a situation where police officers are the de facto front-line mental health professionals in this country is bizarre.

[FaultyMario]

I don't think Hillary would fall this low. I'll give you that.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgnNrW_WsAAkF2x.png

[Crazed_Insanity]

Or we could redirect some of the money that we spend on the police and direct it toward things that treat the causes instead of the symptoms of lawlessness.

The fact that we have a situation where police officers are the de facto front-line mental health professionals in this country is bizarre.

We definitely should direct more money to healthcare, education,... but will we really?

Even if they did cut police funding, money saved most likely won’t be used to help narrow the wealth gap.

[Tom Servo]

Well, I can tell you that if we don't change any of the funding we definitely will not redirect any of it. Full stop.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That’s certainly true.

[neanderthal]

Nancy Pelosi is a bad ass!! Always has been.

https://twitter.com/Burkmc/status/1300145276313841670?s=19

[Jason]

Nice :up:

Hopefully some of the new congresswomen can stick around long enough to become the next Pelosi

[G'day Mate]

So now you've got convoys parading around protesters, and everyone's looking for a fight ...

[FaultyMario]

So now you've got convoys parading around protesters, and everyone's looking for a fight ...

Not everyone is, those who are, though, seem to be good students of history (https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/how-the-nazis-succeeded-in-taking-power-in-red-berlin-a-866793.html).


Berlin's new Nazi leader decided to combat the left's superiority in numbers with a frontal attack.

[Goebbels] went to the Pharussäle, a meeting hall often used by the KPD for its mass rallies in Berlin's Wedding district, and gave a speech on the subject of "The Collapse of the Bourgeois Class State." This provoked the communists.

On Feb. 11, 1927, the Nazi Party meeting turned into a violent brawl between the two groups. Beer glasses, chairs and tables flew through the hall, and severely injured people were left lying covered with blood on the floor. Despite the injuries, it was a triumph for Goebbels, whose thugs beat up about 200 communists and drove them from the hall.

[neanderthal]

So now you've got convoys parading around protesters, and everyone's looking for a fight ...

All this just coz we asked to have the police stop killing us!!!!

[neanderthal]

All this just coz we asked to have the police stop killing us!!!!

And now there are <checks notes> ... <checks notes again> "christian" groups/ people raising funds to defend the killer of two people.

[FaultyMario]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgtqSk8XcAIC8zR.jpg

[neanderthal]

This tweet seems to <edit>sums it up nicely.

https://twitter.com/AngryBlackLady/status/1300438865233154051?s=19

[FaultyMario]

Still what nicely?

She's not really explaining anything.

[Jason]

This tweet seems to still it up nicely.

https://twitter.com/AngryBlackLady/status/1300438865233154051?s=19

Letting the world burn if you don't get 100% of what you want is absolutely selfish, wish my fellow progressives would see that. Make a stink in the primaries, vote as progressive as you can, and if you lose the primary back the most progressive candidate in the general election, and try to push them as left as you can in the process. It's not rocket science.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I think you guys still don't fully grasp why there are people who just don't bother to vote or waste their votes to an obviously loser 3rd party candidates.

Let me explain to you why there's voter apathy and low voter turn out...

It's because it matters not which two they vote for, nothing really changes.

Democrats really need to stop trying to woo moderate republicans... they just won't love you.

Remember, even Hillary won majority of the votes. Majority of the voters know which one is better. If only Hillary or whoever DNC puts up is someone who could actually excite voters, it would've been an easy win. It was an easy win for Obama!

Even 2020, Trump supporters genuinely love him. Biden supporters don't really care much about him personally... they just fell in line... and only support him because they're being "unselfishly" hateful of his opponent and most of all it's the pragmatic thing to do.

That shouldn't be how elections work. Lesser of the 2 evils is what ended up fucking us collectively over. We should be voting for the best candidate!

If DNC can only give us lesser of the 2 evils again and again, perhaps it's time for it to die so that another party can emerge to fully kick the republican's ass.

You guys can continue to blame the apathetic voters as much as you want. However, that's almost like Trump blaming China for making america the greatest covid 19 nation on earth.

When a company's product failed to sell as marketing has hoped, would they blame the dumb apathetic consumers for not buying? No, they try to make their product better or market it better or do whatever else better.

Biden was obviously not the best DNC has... otherwise there wouldn't have been so many candidates trying for the job...

Biden did win the primary fair and square, but you can't denied that there was a big invisible hand forcing the process. Russian meddling not okay, but this 'invisible hand' meddling is perfectly fine? What kind of democracy do we have here? Why would this process excite me in the future? Even if nobody like a certain candidate... and somehow this candidate becomes the eventual nominee anyways... wow! I'm looking forward to this awesome process again and again! My votes don't matter... and our congress care more about corporate and moderate republican interests more than mine... gee... I'm so sorry for feeling apathetic. :rolleyes:

Rather than blaming the dumbass trump supporters and us more apathetic voters, can you guys help me understand why Biden is so good based on his own merits? Get people excited about Biden. Enough blame games already.

Progressive lives matter too you know? There has been a systemic politicism against the progressives... stop blaming us, the least influential group of people for our nation's downfall.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Still what nicely?

She's not really explaining anything.

She wasn't really explaining, she was just asking... and I explained to her. Hope Neanderthal will relay the message because I don't got no twitter account.

[neanderthal]

The drug dealing ex boyfriend of Breonna Taylor was offered a plea deal if he implicated her as party of his business.

https://twitter.com/JasonRileyWDRB/status/1300494389509271553?s=19

Which just shows that we don't need just police reforms, but the *entire* criminal justice system.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Speaking of criminal justice reform, Biden had come a long way, but progressives still want more.

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/10/873509374/joe-biden-has-come-a-long-way-on-criminal-justice-reform-progressives-want-more

Has Biden really came around enough to really put an end to the BLM movement? Are progressives really just asking too much and are being unreasonable?

I guess we'll find out if Biden could beat Trump.

Personally I don't believe Biden has sufficient balls to make any kind of meaningful reform. However, getting rid of Trump would be an improvement..., but then again if there's another segment of the population feeling left out and decided to vote for another orange orangutan into office 4 years later..., that'd suck.

[George]

Here's something for anyone at this forum who might be into video games. I realize most of us are more serious than that, but one never knows who may be lurking...

Biden campaign launches official Animal Crossing: New Horizons yard signs (https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/1/21409727/biden-harris-animal-crossing-campaign-new-horizons-yard-signs-election)

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/70F1QxjZLD5QLLCJh6UvW-86Emg=/0x0:1600x900/920x613/filters:focal(672x322:928x578):format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67325808/IMG_0083.0.png

[FaultyMario]

I think that's smart, albeit a little behind the curve. What's hot with the confined kids these days, Fall guys?

[FaultyMario]

That was some serious irony, right? The go-to insult for the alt-right turns out to be his actual kink.

I'm not into kink-shaming, but I do like the way someone else put it: He should get exactly as much shame piled on him as he's piled on other people for their sex lives.

Does Larry Flynt get a free pass to kink-shame the Falwells?

[Tom Servo]

I think we all do, but yes, he gets more dispensation than most.

[FaultyMario]

Short Rolling Stonte article (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/flashback-hustler-magazine-scores-first-amendment-victory-against-jerry-falwell-128956/), for some context on the Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell trial.


In the parody [Campari ad published on Hustler magazine], a dignified headshot of Falwell complements a bottle of the imported aperitif, with a transcript of the supposed exchange written in-between. Asked by the interviewer about his “first time,” Falwell responds: “I never really expected to make it with Mom, but then after she showed all the other guys in town such a good time, I thought ‘What the hell!'” He then recounts a Campari-fueled sexual experience with his mother (and a goat) in an outhouse.


For years, Falwell – who exercised his significant political capital championing conservative causes and bemoaning the porn industry – consistently singled out publications like Hustler, and its owner Larry Flynt, as corrupting players in American life. Flynt, in particular, typified “sleaze merchantry.”

[FaultyMario]

Does it feel good that a guy, whose most prominent policy proposal was his last name, got beat in an election, in a state that was considered his family's playground, or what?

[Tom Servo]

I'm definitely pleased about it.

[Crazed_Insanity]

How we feel is irrelevant. Just glad voters don’t just blindly support the party favorite. Hope the party will finally recognize what voters want, rather than double down on shoving their approved candidates down our throats.

[G'day Mate]

Hey we should begin some kind of tontine for this place

[sandydandy]

Stumbled across a recent video by Tomi Lahren on FB where she talked about her “losers of the week”.

Sheesh what an angry little girl. I won’t bother to link to it, I’ll spare you all. Every word that comes out of her mouth is 100% bullshit anyway.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Nancy Pelosi got setup by her hairdresser... tricked into believing it’s now legal to visit indoor salons one person at a time. the salon then turned in video footage of her doing her hair indoors to Fox News and now all hell is breaking loose...

I guess the salon will forever lose her business...

The conservatives are pretty impressive at driving wedges between the dnc establishment and the average Joes. I guess this kind of thing is how Joe Kennedy lost the primary...

Also makes me wonder if I’m trumps barber, how long would I be able to pretend to like him until one day I set him up for a fall...

[Rare White Ape]

You’re labouring under the impression that Donald Trump has a barber.

[sandydandy]

You don't need a barber for a wig.

[FaultyMario]

I really liked how AOC informed the postmaster general that if he kept a personal electronic calendar archived in USPS servers then it'd be considered part of governmental records and it would be unlawful to try to prevent an overseeing committee from having access to gov. records.

His reaction on CSPAN was priceless, sort of a "why didn't anybody tell me?" lookaround.

Where does Donnie get these goons? It's just like that guy who served between Sessions and Barr, somewhat ncompetent and riddled with conflicts of interests.

[George]

Where does Donnie get these goons? It's just like that guy who served between Sessions and Barr, somewhat incompetent and riddled with conflicts of interests.

He acts like a crime boss. Having been in business in New York City (and lots of other places), he probably got to know a lot of them and saw how they operate.

Do him a favor and he gives you a job. Be disloyal in any way and he throws you to the wolves.

Competence is irrelevant in both scenarios.

[sandydandy]

He's like a crime boss without morals. Robert De Niro said even gangsters have morals. Trump has none.

[Jason]

I really liked how AOC informed the postmaster general that if he kept a personal electronic calendar archived in USPS servers then it'd be considered part of governmental records and it would be unlawful to try to prevent an overseeing committee from having access to gov. records.

His reaction on CSPAN was priceless, sort of a "why didn't anybody tell me?" lookaround.

Where does Donnie get these goons? It's just like that guy who served between Sessions and Barr, somewhat ncompetent and riddled with conflicts of interests.

AOC is like a really really promising rookie in sports. You can absolutely see the talent is there with things like this. But then she turns around sometimes and absolutely says something stupid. I look forward to her maturing and becoming a bigger part of our politics going forward.

[FaultyMario]

He acts like a crime boss. Having been in business in New York City (and lots of other places), he probably got to know a lot of them and saw how they operate.

Do him a favor and he gives you a job. Be disloyal in any way and he throws you to the wolves.

Competence is irrelevant in both scenarios.

Thank you for correcting my typo.

[Tom Servo]

I'm still kinda confused about the Pelosi salon thing. Salons were allowed to re-open in California a week or so ago. Los Angeles county specifically kept them closed until yesterday, but as far as I know it was totally legit across the rest of the state.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I thought they're only opened outdoors, not indoors.

It turned out it was the owner of the salon that set it up. The owner denied Nancy's accusation, but the actual hair dresser backed Nancy up.

I guess the hairdresser will be fired.

[Crazed_Insanity]

AOC is like a really really promising rookie in sports. You can absolutely see the talent is there with things like this. But then she turns around sometimes and absolutely says something stupid. I look forward to her maturing and becoming a bigger part of our politics going forward.

Yeah, she is very good at tearing down the old, but remains to be seen whether if she, and the progressives, can actually build up something new viably... hope so.

I just hope she won't mature into another Nancy Pelosi or Obama when she actually attains power...

[Crazed_Insanity]

You don't need a barber for a wig.

I know for a fact that he's not wearing a wig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIGcosb22_Y

[Crazed_Insanity]

Here's another pictorial factoid.

3599

[Tom Servo]

I thought they're only opened outdoors, not indoors.

It turned out it was the owner of the salon that set it up. The owner denied Nancy's accusation, but the actual hair dresser backed Nancy up.

I guess the hairdresser will be fired.


Newsom announced on the 28th that salons and barbershops in all counties could re-open for indoor business, with some restrictions on capacity and such depending on what tier your county is currently in.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus/article245337890.html

Los Angeles specifically opted out of that until yesterday. I'm not sure about any other counties, including whatever county Pelosi was in, but I believe most counties went along with it.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Perhaps the video was captured prior to the reopening?

I don’t know, however one looks at that, that was stupid lame news.

[Tom Servo]

I haven't paid much attention to it at all, I just heard about it a couple of days ago and thought "but, I thought you *could* go into salons now?" As is, it's reasonably clear that whether or not you can isn't completely common knowledge, especially when it comes down to county-specific rules.

It sounds like its possible that San Francisco may also have decided to opt-out of re-opening salons, so maybe that's where the kerfuffle lies. If that's the case, Pelosi (or one of her staff) really should have known better, but so should the salon owner. It'd be another thing entirely if Pelosi had browbeaten this person into letting her come in against the salon owner's wishes, but it doesn't sound like that's the case.

[FaultyMario]

In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed. (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-americans-who-died-at-war-are-losers-and-suckers/615997/)

Article mentions four sources.

[Crazed_Insanity]

We don’t need anymore ‘sources’ telling us these things.

In order to actually ‘impeach’ him, just show us the actual video or audio.

Of course, even the actual grab them by the pussy audio didn’t work... so maybe trump supporters just don’t care... nevertheless, I’m sure that hurt him a bit.

[Tom Servo]

New fun thing in the Washington Post article about this:



In one account, the president told senior advisers that he didn't understand why the U.S. government placed such value on finding soldiers missing in action because they had performed poorly and gotten caught and deserved what they got


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-said-us-soldiers-injured-and-killed-in-war-were-losers-magazine-reports/2020/09/03/6e1725cc-ee35-11ea-99a1-71343d03bc29_story.html#click=https://t.co/Xgfxztfrps

[Crazed_Insanity]

Have not learned from the failed impeachment? More unnamed sources reporting the ‘obvious’ to the left and ‘fake news’ to the right...

In the end nothing changes except the divide between left and right.

Why can’t these reporters learn from Fox News and obtain actual recordings that caught Pelosi on camera or as the access Hollywood tape?

Now I suppose even if we do have actual recording, trump supporters might still not believe. Still, it would’ve been more convincing and cause more political damage.

Consolation is that Trumps military support is dwindling... most in military are gun loving conservatives, I think only 16 % identified as Democrats, but trump only has like 40% support and Biden has 30% for active military folks... so at least if when trump try to become a dictator, at least 30% of the troops will be able to defend our country...

[neanderthal]

Who are the heroes?

https://twitter.com/Strandjunker/status/1301874852832456704?s=19

[neanderthal]

Damn. The truthiness here ...

https://twitter.com/stealthygeek/status/1301904333286465537?s=19

[Rare White Ape]

New fun thing in the Washington Post article about this:



https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-said-us-soldiers-injured-and-killed-in-war-were-losers-magazine-reports/2020/09/03/6e1725cc-ee35-11ea-99a1-71343d03bc29_story.html#click=https://t.co/Xgfxztfrps

Right so all those bloody great movies about POWs in camps making great escapes… we can forget about because they depict losers?

[Tom Servo]

Yep. Now they're losers *and* criminals for escaping prisons.

Also, Fox News reporter confirming details of the story in the Atlantic.

https://twitter.com/JenGriffinFNC/status/1301975321495973889

[sandydandy]

I’ve been watching the polls daily on FiveThirtyEight, (which I only used to visit for basketball stuff), and all I have to say is the Rasmussen Reports are full of shit. It’s like they’re living on another planet.

Then again you never know. See 2016.

[Tom Servo]

Oh yeah, they always skew conservative. I'm not aware of ones that always skew liberal, but I'm sure there are some.

Speaking of, Trump emailed to ask me to answer a poll on his job performance. The choices were "Excellent", "Great", "Good", and "Other".

[FaultyMario]

Could you not re-code the survey to read "shit".

[sandydandy]

Oh yeah, they always skew conservative. I'm not aware of ones that always skew liberal, but I'm sure there are some.

Speaking of, Trump emailed to ask me to answer a poll on his job performance. The choices were "Excellent", "Great", "Good", and "Other". LOL that’s funny. In a sick way.

[FaultyMario]

[...] We shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing ignorance and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our dumb, whatever the cost may be. (https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/multiple-boats-in-distress-sinking-at-trump-boat-parade-on-lake-travis)

[Crazed_Insanity]

Interesting read.

Is trump right that democrats are destroying their cities and states?

Well, not as dramatic as trump and republicans claimed, but for these mostly blue cities and states, should republicans be blamed for problems in LA for example?

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-09-05/is-trump-right-are-democrats-destroying-cities-states?_amp=true

Trump definitely should go but I’m really not that optimistic about our future under Biden. Hope he will surprise me by doing a better job than Obama... if not, then I hope Americans will finally realize both parties have forsaken the American people... and do something about it other than blaming it on the other side only...

[Tom Servo]

That's always full of non-obvious intricacies. Large cities almost always tend to be democrat. Even in Texas, Hillary won in the counties that house Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin. Large cities also tend to have large city problems. So, almost any time a large city has a problem, then you can blame it on them democrats.

It also ignores all the big cities that *don't* have major problems.

[Crazed_Insanity]

For sure I don’t know all the intricacies nor all details of the other large cities in the US...

However, I think it should be safe to say that LAs problems were not caused by trump nor the republicans, right? Or am I missing some other intricacies?

Of course I’m not talking about natural disasters like fires, but social economic problems.

Of course 2, I don’t believe a republican mayor or governor will improve our situations much in CA...

Which is why I’m kinda depressed about our current situation...

[Phil_SS]

It doesn’t matter who is in office, big city problems will only be solved when the society at large makes the problem a goal to solve.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Who is society at large?

The people?

Do we really have power over congress? Our local politicians?

If it doesn’t really matter who is in charge, how will we really increase voter turnout? Increase voter enthusiasm?

Anyway, even if each side enthusiastically support their candidate and we have 100% turnout..., if it doesn’t matter which side is in charge, then what the fuck are we doing?

Anyway2, I don’t believe for a second that a republican mayor and governor will solve CA’s problems, just venting under the hot weather...

[Rare White Ape]

If it doesn’t really matter who is in charge, how will we really increase voter turnout? Increase voter enthusiasm?

For your first question: make voting compulsory.

For your second question: you can't ever solve that one, which is why you do the first one.

[Rare White Ape]

In my youth we Aussies used to joke that New Zealand was the eastern state of Australia.

This week, I've been changing that, and I;ve decided that I'd rather it if we were the western island of New Zealand.

Can we please make this happen?

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/09/new-zealand-jacinda-ardern-learning-wood-carving-twitch/

[Leon]

I will have a word with the people in charge ... but there's some pretty serious concerns about the amount of racism over on that there side of the ditch ;)

[Rare White Ape]

Oh man. We are still struggling with it. 100% I work in a warehouse. We’ve been working with a guy who turned out to be gay.

A gay guy!

He was talk of the town… when he wasn’t there of course. Today he resigned (for unrelated reasons) and my co-worker said “I’m surprised, I’ve never worked with a guy guy before. He was really nice.”

How much fucking prejudice can a society spit out while also thinking that it doesn’t have a problem?

[FaultyMario]

That sounds like prison talk.

[Freude am Fahren]

#Dumbkirk may have just swayed me into being ok with using hashtags.

[Crazed_Insanity]

For your first question: make voting compulsory.

For your second question: you can't ever solve that one, which is why you do the first one.

If it doesn’t matter which candidate you pick, they will only look after the rich and ignore the poor... then what difference does it make whether voting is compulsory or not?

Perhaps we could give voters the option none of the above... and if that option has the most votes, just leave that office vacant or promote the next in line as if assassinated?

I’m just sick and tired of lesser of the two evils who always believe the rich are too big to fail and the poor can be ignored...

[neanderthal]

And yet last time around you voted in a way that was harmful to the disenfranchised.
Really loving seeing Kamala out there generating excitement, telling people to go and vote early.

That's exactly what I will be doing. I am going to vote on the second day of early voting. I'm going to be encouraging everybody to go vote early, and not to mail in their votes as we know what shenanigans they are up to.

[G'day Mate]

Perhaps we could give voters the option none of the above... and if that option has the most votes, just leave that office vacant or promote the next in line as if assassinated?

For the record, despite what is said we don't actually have compulsory voting in Australia. All you are compelled to do is show up at a polling both and get your name ticked off. After that most people go and fill in their ballot (why wouldn't you?), but you're also perfectly entitled to leave it blank or draw a penis on it, put that in the box and leave.

[Rare White Ape]

If it doesn’t matter which candidate you pick, they will only look after the rich and ignore the poor... then what difference does it make whether voting is compulsory or not?

Perhaps we could give voters the option none of the above... and if that option has the most votes, just leave that office vacant or promote the next in line as if assassinated?

I’m just sick and tired of lesser of the two evils who always believe the rich are too big to fail and the poor can be ignored...

The dynamics of voting are too far beyond my expertise to be able to explain it, but the gist is that the more that poor people vote, the more likely it is that someone will stand up to represent them as a demographic, and if they take votes away from the ‘big two’ then it’s also more likely that they will want to win them back through policy adjustments.

Of course, that all may be out the window since we live in the age of wilful misinformation and electoral campaigning-by-press (thanks Murdoch) so I dunno. I ain’t no psephologist.

But you’ve seen how the Overton Window has been shifted gradually to the right over the last 20 years. That shift has huge momentum. There is no way right now to swing it back to the left other than to slow its progress by encouraging everyone to vote. The next step is to slowly but surely turn the crank handle the other way and never give up.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, conservatives voters are typically more conscientious, so they probably paid more attention to voting... also, conscientious type also do tend to end up making more money... and that's how they also got more influences in politics?

Anyway, I don't believe in robbing the rich to feed the poor, but our societies now seemed more like robbing the poor to feed the rich. This pandemic only further speed up the demise of the poor and making the rich even richer...

I really don't see how voting helps..., but for sure not voting won't help either.

Without some sort of reform, I just don't see things improving. Hopefully Biden will surprise me.

[The359]

For the record, despite what is said we don't actually have compulsory voting in Australia. All you are compelled to do is show up at a polling both and get your name ticked off. After that most people go and fill in their ballot (why wouldn't you?), but you're also perfectly entitled to leave it blank or draw a penis on it, put that in the box and leave.

How many votes does Penis get?

[FaultyMario]

QAnon is a Nazi Cult, Rebranded (https://www.justsecurity.org/72339/qanon-is-a-nazi-cult-rebranded/)



QAnon’s conspiracy theory is a rebranded version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

QAnon purveys the fantasy that a secret Satan-worshiping cabal is taking over the world. Its members kidnap white children, keep them in secret prisons run by pedophiles, slaughter, and eat them to gain power from the essence in their blood. The cabal held the American Presidency under the Clintons and Obama, nearly took power again in 2016, and lurks in a “Deep State” financed by Jews, including George Soros, and in Jews who control the media. They want to disarm citizens and defund the police. They promote abortion, transgender rights, and homosexuality. They want open borders so brown illegal aliens can invade America and mongrelize the white race.

QAnon true believers think Donald Trump will rescue America from this Satanic cabal. At the time of “The Storm,” supporters of the cabal will be rounded up and executed.

[G'day Mate]

How many votes does Penis get?

Usually some dick ends up winning the election

[Rare White Ape]

QAnon is a Nazi Cult, Rebranded (https://www.justsecurity.org/72339/qanon-is-a-nazi-cult-rebranded/)

That sounds all very scary but you can't compare Trump with Nazis that's just crazy talk it'll never happen it's not true nope no way Joze

[FaultyMario]

The provoked clashes of protests in left leaning urban areas is literally taken from Goebbels' playbook.

[Crazed_Insanity]

QAnon is a Nazi Cult, Rebranded (https://www.justsecurity.org/72339/qanon-is-a-nazi-cult-rebranded/)

It's really amazing how the democrats fit the profile of this conspiracy almost perfectly..., I used to think pedophile ring part was so full of shit... but then we found out about Jeff Epstein. Okay, so he didn't own a pizza store, but a private island! Also, the fact that we're unable to know exactly what was going on with Jeff Esptein, such conspiracies can only run wilder. (all we need is a pic of Trump with Epstein worshipping satan together...)

Anyway, the world was way too harsh on Germany after WWI... which resulted in their resentment and their desire to make their nation great again.

USA didn't experience anything as bad, but globalism/neoliberalism was the cause for significant amount of working class americans to lose their jobs. So we're definitely heading in that trajectory.

It's sad that we now have 2 world superpowers building walls around their borders, building concentration camps to cage whoever they deem necessary to cage...

The only hope I have left is that at least USA doesn't have a dictator yet.

I do wonder... will the right be okay with a dictator?

I personally kinda doubt it. If Biden loses the election, maybe our only strategy left is to allow Trump what he wanted so that people will finally realize who's the real satan worshipper? Will those freedom/gun lovers really be fine living under a dictator's rule? I kinda doubt that.

Time for everyone to buy fire arm and properly train yourself... just in case.

[Rare White Ape]

https://scontent.fbne3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/119099031_2614824922100456_2008068765257825213_n.j pg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=JvwqOq8waPIAX8Qi8Ca&_nc_ht=scontent.fbne3-1.fna&oh=83e7891e382a654bbcf25e8c9dcb8db3&oe=5F8292D1

[neanderthal]

https://twitter.com/reesetheone1/status/1305134305761468416?s=19

[George]

https://scontent.fbne3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/119099031_2614824922100456_2008068765257825213_n.j pg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=JvwqOq8waPIAX8Qi8Ca&_nc_ht=scontent.fbne3-1.fna&oh=83e7891e382a654bbcf25e8c9dcb8db3&oe=5F8292D1

That'll look great next to the Velvet Elvis.

[G'day Mate]

I can't tell if that's a pro or anti trump painting? Why the dictators in the background? And what are the photographers doing?

[FaultyMario]

It's looking like he's going to get reelected.

Dems are running a negative campaign and Harris is not being sufficiently active with the (figuratively) baby kissing.

Utterly limited but Trump's message is still a positive one: I promise you'll keep your freedom (to be individualistic and dumb).

[Rare White Ape]

I can't tell if that's a pro or anti trump painting? Why the dictators in the background? And what are the photographers doing?

I can’t tell either, but it’s also standing under a waterfall of irony, intentional or not.

It’s so good. Almost as good as The Kramer.

[Crazed_Insanity]

It's looking like he's going to get reelected.

Dems are running a negative campaign and Harris is not being sufficiently active with the (figuratively) baby kissing.

Utterly limited but Trump's message is still a positive one: I promise you'll keep your freedom (to be individualistic and dumb).

Not sure how you can draw that conclusion when most polls show Biden leading.

I do agree we can’t count trump out yet, and Biden needs a more positive and hopeful campaign...

[FaultyMario]

Biden Is leading by less than what Hillary had at this point. A few swing states are marginally above poll error margin. Some segments -Florida Latinos, for example- show a large swing in Trump's favor.

There needs to be hope people can believe in.

[Crazed_Insanity]

There needs to be hope people can believe in.

No disagreement on that!

Anyway, I do believe Trump had the advantage of being an unknown at the time, but not anymore.

If stock market tanks, natural disasters get more out of control in red states, or if more personal bad news leaks out, he could easily be out. If not, then yeah, he just might hang on for 4 more years.

Anyway, I just don’t think either Biden or Trump have it in the bag yet... for Biden to increase his chances, I do agree with you that he needs to share his vision of how he’ll rebuild a better America rather than just telling us that he’ll retake America from Trump.

[FaultyMario]

The people who vote Trump don't care for the stock market in a rational way. And it's not like Trump understands it well enough to present a compelling case to anyone. He bests and enbiggens its performance but that's about it.

Elections are popularity contests, and Trump, the lying sack of pus, racist evil snake that he is, has developed a connection to his feverish fanatics.

He has openly asked them to commit election fraud, ffs!

[FaultyMario]

What's missing from the Democrats is true empathy for the people who are getting duped by this moron.

[FaultyMario]

I agree Billi, neither of the senile, lying, old men running for president should be assured of anything in regards to the election outcome.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, diehard Trump supporters won't change their minds, but that's just a minority of americans. If majority of Americans are truly white supremacists, how the hell Obama became president, right?

I'm pretty sure Trump has shaken the faith of some republicans.

Anyway, yeah, I'm kinda sick of our situation as well.

Take the forest fire issue that I was discussing about in the other thread...

Trump and conservatives would like to blame us on poor forest management and we liberals would just want to shift blame to global warming...

Well, it could be both you know? What is the fucking point of blaming each other while doing nothing about forest management and nothing on global warming?

This is the state of our politics. I'm not going to do whatever you say and you're not going to do whatever I say... in the end nothing gets done... except the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer after each disaster...

[FaultyMario]

No, you're taking my words and mixing the with your ideas.

This is what I said:

Some people are getting duped by Trump.
Most of the people who support Trump have a feverish attitude towards him.
Most people who support Trump do not care for abstract, evidenced-based explanations of phenomena like the stock market.
Most people who support Trump have idealized views of what individual rights are.

Are they gullible? Are they racist? What is the most effective way in which politicians need to approach these individuals? I do not know.

What I do know, is that Trump, like the used-car salesman he is, knows that his appeal to these groups is entirely irrational; and by that I mean that the logical path is not one based on verifiable information.

I also know that collective choice is a complicated area of human behavior, some people make choices based on what they think would benefit them indirectly, others choose certain things out of group pressure; so we really shouldn't generalize to all Trump supporters the idea of a vocal few.

That is not to say that there aren't racist, jingoist, hateful people supporting that political option. But I believe they're still in the minority. However, as they are part of "the group", people who are already on the Trump side would tend to have a favorable view of their actions, if they defend "the group" from "the hostiles".

From that i conclude that a) a message to Trump supporters that is hostile to parts of "the group" would go unheeded, b) a message that is rooted in rationality would go unheeded, as facts do not matter.

Say, for example, that you have a relative in a cult, you do not get her out of the cult by pointing out that the leader is brainwashing her or that what she is doing is going to hurt her. She knows both those things, she doesn't need you to tell her. Metaphorically, people need other people to be "my brother's keeper (https://www.obama.org/mbka/)"; literally, they need that sort of initiatives to be wide-ranging and far-reaching, and not an afterthought.

[FaultyMario]

And here is a problem that we see all over the world with political parties. They are a tool for reaching positions of power, they are no longer place of discussion, a place where people air their grievances; these organizations no longer provide continual community support, they just talk the part during election season, and go away after that. Accountability over these publicly-owned enterprises was lost, that's why an "outsider" like Trump seems like a good idea. On principle. Somehow.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I totally agree with your ideas above, I don't believe my ideas nullifies any of your ideas..., but regardless, I won't mix them together. :p

[Tom Servo]

Some segments -Florida Latinos, for example- show a large swing in Trump's favor.

Speaking of:

‘This is f---ing crazy’: Florida Latinos swamped by wild conspiracy theories (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/14/florida-latinos-disinformation-413923)

[FaultyMario]

Ok. This, for me, is the straw that broke the camel's back.

Whistleblower Complaint Alleges Mass Hysterectomies at ICE Detention Center (https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/like-an-experimental-concentration-camp-whistleblower-complaint-alleges-mass-hysterectomies-at-ice-detention-center/)


The nurse, Dawn Wooten, was employed at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) in Georgia, which is operated by LaSalle Corrections, a private prison company. The complaint was filed with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by advocacy groups Project South, Georgia Detention Watch, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, and South Georgia Immigrant Support Network.

Multiple women came forward to tell Project South about what they perceived to be the inordinate rate at which women in ICDC were subjected to hysterectomies – a surgical operation in which all or part of the uterus is removed. Additionally, many of the immigrant women who underwent the procedure were reportedly “confused” when asked to explain why they had the surgery, with one detainee likening their treatment to prisoners in concentration camps.


The complaint details several accounts from detainees, including one woman who was not properly anesthetized during the procedure and heard the aforementioned doctor tell the nurse he had mistakenly removed the wrong ovary, resulting in her losing all reproductive ability. Another said she was scheduled for the procedure but when she questioned why it was necessary, she was given at least three completely different answers.

“She was originally told by the doctor that she had an ovarian cyst and was going to have a small twenty-minute procedure done drilling three small holes in her stomach to drain the cyst,” according to the complaint. “The officer who was transporting her to the hospital told her that she was receiving a hysterectomy to have her womb removed. When the hospital refused to operate on her because her COVID-19 test came back positive for antibodies, she was transferred back to ICDC where the ICDC nurse said that the procedure she was going to have done entailed dilating her vagina and scraping tissue off. “


Which crimes fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC?

The mandate of the Court is to try individuals (rather than States), and to hold such persons accountable for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, namely the crime of genocide,war crimes,crimes against humanity,and the crime of aggression,when the conditions for the exercise of the Court’s jurisdiction over the latter are fulfilled.

According to the Rome Statute, “genocide” means any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group:

• killing members of the group;
• causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
• deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
• imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
• forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

“Crimes against humanity” include any of the following acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:

• murder;
• extermination;
• enslavement;
• deportation or forcible transfer of population;
• imprisonment;
• torture;
• rape,sexual slavery,enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
• persecution against an identifiable group on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious or gender grounds;
• enforced disappearance of persons;
• the crime of apartheid;
• other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering or serious bodily or mental injury.

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, that's another step in the 2020 death march we're all on.
I keep thinking we're going to hit a breaking point, but it seems like nothing yet.

[Rare White Ape]

What. The. Fuck.

[G'day Mate]

Wow, seriously? That's barbaric. Is the accusation well founded?

[Tom Servo]

I don't know if I've hoped for anything more than this story to be bullshit. It'll be too horrifying if it turns out to be real.

[Crazed_Insanity]

If US government does this, then we’re no different from CCP! Wow.

If true, I hope we will be able to gather sufficient evidences to bring all guilty parties to justice.

However, I failed to see the motivation for this. Who funded this? Why would these doctors agree to do this? How could this be done by the government without anyone knowing until whistleblower blew it? It’s one thing to have a top secret military program, but I’d think it won’t be easy to have a top secret concentration camp... unless you slaughter them all?

[Tom Servo]

That's a good point, what would be the motivation. Then I thought of Stephen Miller and thought "oh...yeah."

[Rare White Ape]

If US government does this, then we’re no different from CCP! Wow.

*cough*

To be fair, the US government has been pretty horrific since the 1950s. Maybe earlier.

Edit: I seem to have forgotten the things that European settlers did to the native population from the beginning, so... it has been really bad since before it even existed?

[Yw-slayer]

Soooooo funny. Go go Billi American freedom 5G Huawei Vaccine Euthanasia Human Rights CNN!!

[Rare White Ape]

I mean, well...

A quick scroll through the excellent Twitter feed from Working Class History provides some nice, comforting self-awareness.

https://twitter.com/wrkclasshistory/status/1304248571550629890

https://twitter.com/wrkclasshistory/status/1305342454028144640

[FaultyMario]

This is abhorrent if true, and with organizations like the ACLU and the Never Again Action movement of Jewish Americans getting involved, there's no indication that it isn't.

And yeah, while there's multiple instances of the American government breaking international law throughout history. I believe this is the first time, since the modern world institutions were put in place, that there are allegations describing such criminal behavior on U.S. soil.