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

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Remind me, how do we have those emails that told people that members of the DNC weren't big Bernie fans again?

Yeah Russians hacked them.

I just find it interesting that it's so easy to ignore all the crap the DNC pulled with Bernie to justify that Hillary won that election. Then in the same breath say "oh Hillary didn't really lose, the Russians ruined everything".

[4saken1]

Yeah Russians hacked them.

I just find it interesting that it's so easy to ignore all the crap the DNC pulled with Bernie to justify that Hillary won that election. Then in the same breath say "oh Hillary didn't really lose, the Russians ruined everything".

.....and by 'all the crap', you mean having a bias against him which ultimately had zero effect on the Primary?

[Tendrin]

Yeah Russians hacked them.

I just find it interesting that it's so easy to ignore all the crap the DNC pulled with Bernie to justify that Hillary won that election. Then in the same breath say "oh Hillary didn't really lose, the Russians ruined everything".

There's a pretty significant difference between an actively hostile foreign power conspiring to elect a dude who'll be subservient to their interests and 'Member sof the DNC didn't much like Bernie and said so in some emails'.

[Tazirai]

How Police Violence Paves The Way To Authoritarianism
Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, believes the only good criminal is a dead one. Many Brazilians agree.

RIO DE JANEIRO ― One quote could have told you that Jair Bolsonaro was going to win.

“A good criminal is a dead criminal,” the authoritarian former army captain proclaimed again and again during his campaign for president of Brazil last year.

Bolsonaro’s words were harsh. But in a country plagued by rising levels of violent crime, the sentiment is widely popular with voters — and reflected in government policy. Brazil’s experience offers a warning to others: As police tactics get more extreme and cops kill more people, support for the killing doesn’t necessarily fall. Instead, as violence increases, so does the desire for even more aggressive solutions.

For decades, Brazil has given its police nearly free rein to shoot and kill people suspected of crimes. As Bolsonaro made his pitch for the presidency, the numbers were only getting worse. Cops in the country killed more than 5,000 people in 2017, a 20 percent increase from the year prior.

Five thousand police killings is a staggering number. There were roughly 17,000 homicides reported in the United States two years ago. Police in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second-most populous, killed more people last year than their counterparts across the entire United States, even though the U.S. population is 20 times larger than that of Rio.

[Tazirai]

The big plan is to ― wait for it ― attack Democrats as socialists.

“Socialism is the greatest vulnerability by far that the House Democrats have,” Emmer told the New York Times.

As any American who has developed to the stage of object permanence can tell you, this isn’t a new plan. It is, in fact, the oldest trick in the book.

Every single political actor since the late 19th century advocating for some form progressive social change ― whether it be economic reform, challenging America’s racial caste system or advocating for women’s rights or LGBT rights ― has been tarred as a socialist or a communist bent on destroying the American Free Enterprise System.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

There's a pretty significant difference between an actively hostile foreign power conspiring to elect a dude who'll be subservient to their interests and 'Member sof the DNC didn't much like Bernie and said so in some emails'.

Consipiring to elect a dude by putting out a bunch of bots on twitter and facebook that could be easily ignored, or releasing emails that actually were real? Neither of which are against any formal rules of an election.

I just find it interesting that you find that to be a deal breaker but freezing Bernie's funds for awhile, delberately scheduling debates on days where people wouldn't view it, and having a bunch of superdelegates declare early when they would have typically shifted based off results was somehow not as unfair.

[Tazirai]

Tucker Carlson Guest Says African Americans ‘Need To Move On’ From Slavery
Mark Steyn told the Fox News host the idea of reparations is “nothing real.”

“Slavery was abolished a century and a half ago, nobody alive today has a grandparent who was a slave, and in that sense I think you reach a point where, you know, you need to move on,” said Steyn, who has previously defended white supremacists. “The reparations thing, eventually, as the decades go by, becomes ridiculous.”

“The point here is this is nothing real,” he later added in the clip shared online by Media Matters. “This is nothing real to the lived experience of people of all kinds of identities today, and certainly not to Kamala Harris.”

[numberthirty]

Consipiring to elect a dude by putting out a bunch of bots on twitter and facebook that could be easily ignored, or releasing emails that actually were real? Neither of which are against any formal rules of an election.

I just find it interesting that you find that to be a deal breaker but freezing Bernie's funds for awhile, delberately scheduling debates on days where people wouldn't view it, and having a bunch of superdelegates declare early when they would have typically shifted based off results was somehow not as unfair.

Just going to point out that there is a difference between "Less Democratic" and "Actually Rigged".

That said, there is no way that scheduling debates on days when less folks would see them wasn't less democratic. That deciding who can vote in your primary isn't less democratic. Never mind Super Delegates.

Whatever your justification for it might be, it's less democratic.

The same as an Electoral College.

The problem being that no one was seriously discussing that the Electoral College was less democratic when it was going to be HRC with 307 Electoral College votes. Folks were talking about how Trump should respect the way The United States has always peacefully found a means to transfer power.

[numberthirty]

Something that I missed if someone mentioned it earlier...

Lyndon LaRouche apparently passed away earlier in the month.

He's going to have to stay that way for ten years for me to actually buy it.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Tucker Carlson Guest Says African Americans ‘Need To Move On’ From Slavery
Mark Steyn told the Fox News host the idea of reparations is “nothing real.”

Says a couple of white guys who's ancestors probably owned slaves. Fuck them both.

====================

Trump Wants To Set Up ‘Ad Hoc’ Panel To Fight Conclusions About Climate Change: Report

The group of scientists would be tasked with countering a sweeping federal report released last November that warned of a dire future. Of course, threats of climate change don't jibe with Trump's warped vision of putting coal back in the picture.

**********

Twitter Users Serve Up Scathing Visions Of Trump’s Planned July Fourth Bash

The president’s call for a “Salute To America” bash evoked memories of the wild “Honor America” Independence Day arranged by Richard Nixon supporters. Well, anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows this celebration is about Trump, NOT the country. Case in point....



**********

‘Dictators And Old Rich White Guys Get Trump’s Benefit Of The Doubt,’ Twitter Grouses

Angry tweets erupt after president points out that Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft “proclaimed his innocence totally” after being accused of soliciting sex. No surprise there. Those scumbags are Trump's people after all.

**********

Virginia Lt. Gov. Compares Himself To Lynching Victims Amid Sex Assault Allegations

Justin Fairfax, accused of sexual assault by two women, gave the impromptu speech Sunday as the Democrat resists widespread calls for his resignation. Four words, homeslice: SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!

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CNN’s S.E. Cupp Rips Media’s ‘Dumb’ Headlines, Warns Trump Has 2020 ‘In The Bag’

“If I’m Donald Trump, I’m feeling pretty good about my chances.” I'd say that's a warning, one that should be heeded.

[numberthirty]

**********

Virginia Lt. Gov. Compares Himself To Lynching Victims Amid Sex Assault Allegations

Justin Fairfax, accused of sexual assault by two women, gave the impromptu speech Sunday as the Democrat resists widespread calls for his resignation. Four words, homeslice: SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!

**********

This guy is going one step beyond.

That said, this part of the article gave him a run for the money...

But black lawmakers did not object to Fairfax’s speech.

“He said what he needed to say,” said Sen. Mamie Locke.

Virginia Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Del. Lamont Bagby said he’s heard similar rhetoric from his constituents, who have expressed concerns that Fairfax is being treated unfairly because of his race.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

This guy is going one step beyond.

That said, this part of the article gave him a run for the money...

Yeah, well, that was equally as stupid, if not moreso because it's playing the victim card to the nth degree because what Fairfax is going through has nothing, and I repeat, NOTHING to do with the horrors of lynching. And those idiots should know better than to equate that nightmare to a politician literally caught with his pants down, regardless of race.

[numberthirty]

Yeah, well, that was equally as stupid, if not moreso because it's playing the victim card to the nth degree because what Fairfax is going through has nothing, and I repeat, NOTHING to do with the horrors of lynching. And those idiots should know better than to equate that nightmare to a politician literally caught with his pants down, regardless of race.

Actually, I would like to throw in some waffle factor for what Senator Locke said. There is a chance that it might not have sounded the way it looks in print.

But, yeah.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Actually, I would like to throw in some waffle factor for what Senator Locke said. There is a chance that it might not have sounded the way it looks in print.

But, yeah.

I don't give a damn if she sounded like Adele, it was still a wrongheaded thing to say.

[TheDarman]

This doesn't really address the health situation.

And is "catch and release" a reasonable solution, given that it allows people whose claims will be rejected to stay in the US for some time?

I’m sorry. I should’ve made it clearer. If you put people, especially children, in cages, with unsanitary conditions, without viable access to health care, you don’t get to act surprised that bad health outcomes result from it. The Trump Administration made them both more unhealthy and more lengthy stays than any prior administration.

And the fact that Republicans are more comfortable with even ONE kid dying in custody than allowing refugees a short reprieve from captivity until they can be processed and, potentially, returned back to their country, says a lot and largely disproves their abortion stance is not pro-life so much as it is anti-abortion.

The idea that economic places is contrary to the environment has been articulated in numerous places, notably Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything: Capitalism VS The Environment.

https://www.thenation.com/article/ca...sm-vs-climate/

A member of Congress touted by the party as a rising star does suggest no one should have more money than ten million dollars.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/vi...s_it_stop.html

Ten million dollars a year, in income, is more than enough money to buy multiple condominiums in New York City and still have plenty left over. Especially if the argument is that we should have policies that make sure people don’t starve or get stuck in abject poverty forever in a country where people can do that, the frustration is understandable.

Again, David Duke endorses Republican candidates, and continues to support Trump in particular, because these are racist policies that the party is laying out. The fact that there is a proposal to build a wall on the Southern border and the Northern one just continues to elevate the point that this isn’t about drug flows or people flows. It’s about the fact that one group of people are brown and poor and the other group isn’t.

The Southern Strategy point is a bit more complex, since he acknowledges some people are going to believe the abstractions, and he isn't suggesting the goal is to make things worse for brown people.

He says the effect of these policies is “blacks get hurt worse than whites.” That is literally what he is saying in the video. The attempt to give this statement the benefit of the doubt is truly stunning and unbecoming of someone who claims to be moderate in their positions. If you can attempt to justify something like this instead of unequivocally saying that is awful (especially since he did say the thing you just said he didn’t), there is no shortage of racist policy you won’t either a) defend or b) actually be cognizant of. I’m not sure which is worse.

Yikes—what has the party come to if even moderates won’t condemn remarks such as these?

Even the idea of deterring people from coming into the country with BS asylum claims can do more good than harm by discouraging people from making a dangerous journey with children.

That’s ridiculous because, more often than not, I’ve heard claims that are no more or no less valid than claims of the Mayflower migrants for these refugees. And the point is to deter people who are FLEEING VIOLENCE from coming here so they don’t “darken” our body politic. They aren’t “BS claims” if they are fleeing from violence, either because of its government, its government’s inability to aid them against cartels, or other social ills that are caused by an unresponsive government. We need to be expanding the efficacy of these claims, not shrinking them. These people need our help and we are turning our back on them—just as we did in World War II with Hewish individuals.

Her emails were a serious problem.

No. They weren’t. And they weren’t even relative to Trump either especially given how many terrible things Trump has done and would continue to do.

I think she disqualified herself from public office by insisting on prosecuting an American citizen for making an anti-Islam film.

I think Trump actively attacking people for using their First Amendment rights out in the public and private sphere, given its illegality, should’ve compromised him right there from serving in public office. But, yet, here we are, with candidates on both sides not taking the freedom to speech seriously. And, yet, one is president and one isn’t. Can you guess which one you continually make excuses for or give the benefit of the doubt to and which one you continue to attack despite her reluctance to re-enter public life in any meaningful way?