All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[Jack Dracula]

I'm tired of all this "winning" myself.



Can someone tell me what exactly it is about Trump that makes these formerly influential members of the GOP turn to cowards with spines made out of jello? Ryan was supposed to be their next big thing as speaker of the House working in tandem with McConnell, who seems to be hiding in a cave somewhere. If Mitch comes out and sees his shadow, does that mean the shutdown will last another month?

But Ryan just seemed to give up altogether. I don't feel any pity for him at all. They all know that Trump is an incompetent fool with the attention span of a fly.

Trump surprised them with his on-air tiff with Pelosi and Schumer where he took full responsibility for the shut-down. Now, the strategy is to hide and wait it out. It was Trumps idea, so let him be the one catching all of the grief when the bill comes due. Meanwhile, plan how to best take advantage of the resulting chaos.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump surprised them with his on-air tiff with Pelosi and Schumer where he took full responsibility for the shut-down. Now, the strategy is to hide and wait it out. It was Trumps idea, so let him be the one catching all of the grief when the bill comes due. Meanwhile, plan how to best take advantage of the resulting chaos.

Problem is, Republicans continue to back Trump's play, mostly out of fear I suspect, though I don't know exactly what they're scared of since his approval ratings are under 40 percent. Looks like the party as a whole would rather go down with the ship than abandon Trump.

[Iron Maiden]

Giuliani gave an interview over the weekend where he blurted out, "THERE ARE TAPES" only to immediately try and pull it back by saying "I shouldn't have said that".

Trump's lawyer has all the self-control with secrets of f***ing Hagrid.

I'm wondering if Trump is recorded on a voice msg among all the stuff they took from Michael Cohen's office and the cell phones they confiscated.

Trump surprised them with his on-air tiff with Pelosi and Schumer where he took full responsibility for the shut-down. Now, the strategy is to hide and wait it out. It was Trumps idea, so let him be the one catching all of the grief when the bill comes due. Meanwhile, plan how to best take advantage of the resulting chaos.

But these jackasses are letting thousands of govt workers go without pay while they go hide somewhere. They literally have hiding places they can go to when they want to dodge the press or constituents . The subject came up on one of the talking head shows when the new congresswoman AOC went looking for Mitch McConnell.

There should be a bill where this can't happen anymore and govt workers should get their pay if they are forced to come to work like TSA workers, the FBI,air traffic controllers, etc.

[Dragolord09]

The American political system is a mess. Hope some people upstairs remember that they ultimately serve a whole nation, not a specific man, really, really soon. If you believe in prayer, now's the time for it.




Seen a little a bit of The Colossus of Rhodey. Didn't find it very memorable.

I'm very familiar with Douglas Ernst's blog. Used to comment on it a lot before realizing the guy was a unapologetic cyberbully (this was in the pre-Comicsgate days and he didn't seem as rabid back them). At the time, Superior Spider-Man was in full swing and it was a relief as someone who hated the very premise (and still does, to be honest) to find someone else who also disliked it in the sea of "this is the greatest thing ever" comments. In retrospect, it wasn't a good situation.



Yep, I can confirm that. Used to comment a lot on Ernst's blog (this was pre-Comicsgate and at the time and Ernst cloaked his cyberbullying more effectively), and he rarely missed a a chance to attack Slott over anything in a very personal way. Granted, I think Slott has very bad online manners, but still the glee Ernst took in it and the inane pretzels he twisted himself into to "prove" that such and such benign thing was evidence of Slott being evil is really disturbing. Since Slott has moved on from ASM, Ernst seems to have switched targets, with people like Saladin Ahmed Gail Simone, and Mark Waid (over Richard Meyer's suing him) being among his favorite new people to cyberbully and slander. (Really, anyone who stands up to Comicsgate and/or doesn't fit Ernst's sense of orthodoxy is fair game for him these days, it seems.)



Oh, yeah, I was there when he was peddling that. I was viciously attacked for expressing skepticism over the whole affair and wanting to see his claims backed up with outside sources. Never heard if he revised his views or not after it was debunked, but, at the time, it was the first clue I got as to the man Ernst really was.



Yeah, anything not right/alt-right is the enemy and a member of some SJW conspiracy that's threatening to take over the world in his warped view of things. Not that he's ever provided any proof for his claims, beyond weird extrapolations from random online articles and postings. It's all a house of cards when you look at what he's actually saying and suggesting. Frankly, if he wants to believe stuff that doesn't make much sense, that's his decision, but using those beliefs as an excuse to harass and cyberbully people is beyond the pale.

Edit: Ernst has posted a video regarding the thread and the criticism of him (here). It's basically just lying and attacks on Mister Mets and us and him playing the innocent victim of his own cruelty. Really starting to wonder if Ernst's channel should be reported to YouTube; he regularly violates Youtube's policies on harassment and cyberbullying as part of his Comicsgate activies -- specifically the points "Abusive videos, comments, messages," "Deliberately posting content in order to humiliate someone," "Making hurtful and negative comments/videos about another person," and "Incitement to harass other users or creators."

Indeed, Ernst is probably one of the top-tier nuts of his side of politics, but it seems like Avi Green (he's the one in charge of Four Color Media Monitor) and Shawn James (the later had been talked about a couple times in the comic book sections of this forum in the past) are even worse when it comes to their viewpoints.

[Kevinroc]

Right wingers are already trying to "Birther" Kamala Harris.

https://twitter.com/JacobAWohl/statu...36259517108224

[worstblogever]

Another video leaked of the Covington Catholic kids from Kentucky in DC. In this video, one of the fine young men shouts, "IT'S NOT RAPE IF YOU ENJOY IT!"

Ah, clearly they are worthy of all those willing to defend their lack of honor on the internetz.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

But these jackasses are letting thousands of govt workers go without pay while they go hide somewhere. They literally have hiding places they can go to when they want to dodge the press or constituents . They subject came up on one of the talking head shows when the new congresswoman AOC went looking for Mitch McConnell.

There should be a bill where this can't happen anymore and govt workers should get their pay if they are forced to come to work like TSA workers, the FBI,air traffic controllers, etc.

I'm all for that, but Republicans would nix something like that in a New York minute. An even better and more effective bill would prohibit Congressmen from getting paid if the government is shut down by the party in power. As long as politicians face no hardship like the workers they furlough, they'll continue pulling that stunt, time after time. Meanwhile, Democrats HAVE to stand strong, at this point, crazy as it sounds, the money is meaningless, it's all about the principle, not giving in to Trump's ransom demands, because if he gets an inch, the bastard will take a mile. Hell, I maintain he no longer gives a shit about border security, it's personal to him, he's after the "win", plain and simple, and he'll let the country burn before he loses to his enemy.

[Kevinroc]

Another video leaked of the Covington Catholic kids from Kentucky in DC. In this video, one of the fine young men shouts, "IT'S NOT RAPE IF YOU ENJOY IT!"

Ah, clearly they are worthy of all those willing to defend their lack of honor on the internetz.

They're going to meet their hero, Donald Trump, soon. Maybe even as early as tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/IngrahamAngle/st...83479247552513

(Sorry I have to link to Laura Ingraham's twitter, but that's the first place I saw it.)

[worstblogever]

So between the blackface at basketball games, the kid who has been accused of multiple rapes, the kids who taunted a Native American veteran, and the kid shouted "IT'S NOT RAPE IF YOU ENJOY IT!"...

Which one do you think will be the president's favorite, and would any other president have been ashamed to even be photographed with?

[Tazirai]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t impressed with Aaron Sorkin’s advice to ‘stop acting like young people’

News Flash: Medicare for All & equal rights aren’t trends.

When people complain about low turnout in some demos, it’s not because communities are apathetic, it’s bc they don’t see you fighting for them.

If we don’t show up for people, why should you feel entitled to their vote?

[worstblogever]

But hey, let's not waste our breath on calling a bunch of teenage ***holes that, when there's video we've seen that proves it...

Let's talk about the fact that Giuliani admitted there are tapes of his client, the president, committing treason, that we haven't seen yet.

Of course Trump would rather hang out with the boys from the former topic, to avoid discussing the latter one. And I'm not about to let him bury the lede.

[Tazirai]

Fox & Friends guest tells host a border wall wouldn't help with security
Guest who was brought on to promote Senate GOP bill ends up arguing against Trump's proposed border wall

STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): It was Nancy Pelosi in the last six months or so go -- she said, "I am a master legislator." Well, legislate. And one of the things when you legislate is, you get a deal, and, to get a deal, both sides wind up getting something. Both sides don't walk away empty-handed. In this proposal that the president made on television on Saturday, the Democrats are getting a lot of the things they have wanted in the past. An extension on DACA, other things, lot of money for humanitarian purposes. But, they seem so inflexible about, we don't want to give him a nickel for that stinking wall.

ALI NOORANI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM): You know, so we work with a lot of folks along the border, from law enforcement, to mayors, to business leaders, and they tell us, you know what? Putting up a big wall, that doesn't really help them from a security perspective or from a trade perspective. So, we think that if we're going to secure our border, let's put money at ports of entry. That's where drugs are being smuggled. That's where the security threats are. So, we think that -- we can figure out what's a wall, what's a fence. But let's focus on the ports of entry, because that's where the threat is.

[Tazirai]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t impressed with Aaron Sorkin’s advice to ‘stop acting like young people’

Fox contributor cries "class warfare" after Rep. Ocasio-Cortez highlights extreme inequality
Jason Chaffetz: "It's class warfare, it's division, it's destructive"

STUART VARNEY (HOST): Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talking about the billionaires. Watch this.

[BEGIN VIDEO]

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): But I do think a system that allows billionaires to exist when there are parts of Alabama where people are still getting ringworm because they don't have access to public health is wrong.

[END VIDEO]

VARNEY: What? Ringworm in Alabama? So we've got to take billionaires -- what, what on Earth is going on here, Jason?

JASON CHAFFETZ (FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR): Look, that is class warfare, it's taking a stereotype and exploiting people. She should be taking an awful lot of heat for the idea that these are the people of Alabama who get ringworm. That is absolutely ridiculous, it's derogatory, and it is -- it is just fundamentally wrong at every step. But this is what they believe, and it's class warfare, it's division, it's destructive. And she doesn't even believe that billionaires should exist. The redistribution of wealth is core to what she wants to see happen.

[InformationGeek]

Meanwhile, the president may be making two State of the Union addresses for two different audiences.

NEW: President Trump is preparing two State of the Union speeches for different audiences, sources tell ABC News https://abcn.ws/2FTlNGq

MORE: One is a more traditional address delivered to Congress in the House chamber or some other location in D.C., the other prepared for a political rally at a location outside of Washington, D.C., according to multiple sources familiar with the planning

[Kirby101]

Meanwhile, the president may be making two State of the Union addresses for two different audiences.

The one at the rally is not a SOTU address. It's just another stupid speech. Hope the media doesn't fall for this. Not optimistic though.