All Purpose News and Politics Thread Part IV: The Center Cannot Hold

[OldSchoolJadedFan]

The collusion nonsense didn't work, so let's try some Epstein-Trump nonsense, eh? It must really hurt that President Trump is doing well - HRC's supporters haven't stopped crying since election night.

As a registered Democrat, I am astounded by the sheer villainy and full-blown Alinsky tactics used by the so-called progressive left - blatant, shameless liars who rely upon demagoguery to incite sympathy for their agenda, and none worse than AOC - an actress auditioned and paid for by "Justice Democrats", whatever that's supposed to mean.

The worst thing is that, out of the current pool of Democratic presidential hopefuls, the two who are actually worth consideration - Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang - are going to be buried under the "We'll give you free stuff" gang.

Sad times.

[Mister Mets]

That's the most cult-like thing about the GOP right now. Like... I got why people rallied around Bush43... we was a dimbulb, but he wasn't an ***hole to everyone.

Trump's an ***hole. To everyone. He's miserable to work for.

I think the cretins who are left circling the wagons with him aren't doing so out of loyalty, I think they're leveraged. Like, I'm not going to be shocked if any of them are implicated by evidence seized from Epstein. But all of them seem compromised. Obviously, morally, but compromised on a criminal level.

Which goes back to the transition period, and how we heard about the long, long line of individuals within the Trump administration who failed their background checks with the FBI, but they were given "temporary" clearance repeatedly to circumvent the rules.

So you think there's a better than 50/50 shot that Trump's and members of his presidential staff are either active in a pedophile ring, and/or blackmailed by the ringleaders?

The collusion nonsense didn't work, so let's try some Epstein-Trump nonsense, eh? It must really hurt that President Trump is doing well - HRC's supporters haven't stopped crying since election night.

As a registered Democrat, I am astounded by the sheer villainy and full-blown Alinsky tactics used by the so-called progressive left - blatant, shameless liars who rely upon demagoguery to incite sympathy for their agenda, and none worse than AOC - an actress auditioned and paid for by "Justice Democrats", whatever that's supposed to mean.

The worst thing is that, out of the current pool of Democratic presidential hopefuls, the two who are actually worth consideration - Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang - are going to be buried under the "We'll give you free stuff" gang.

Sad times.

How does a registered Democrat come to the conclusion that the progressive left is using full-blown Alinsky tactics? That seems like an interesting intellectual journey.

[PaulBullion]

How does a registered Democrat come to the conclusion that the progressive left is using full-blown Alinsky tactics? That seems like an interesting intellectual journey.

The only interesting thing is that he forgot the #WalkAway hashtag.

[worstblogever]

So you think there's a better than 50/50 shot that Trump's and members of his presidential staff are either active in a pedophile ring, and/or blackmailed by the ringleaders?

Not at all what I'm saying.

Multiple members of the Trump administration who currently serve in it were at least aware of a pedophile violating young women ten years ago, and didn't just ignore it, they remained friends with him, and helped ensure he served as little jail time as possible. One of those people is the president himself, who has already been placed as at the scene of these crimes when they were perpetuated by witnesses. There's the woman accusing him of rape when she was only 13, and now we have a report about a party with "Epstein, Trump, and 28 'models'".

But it's not a ring, because the "ring" is Trump and Epstein. Acosta and Barr have just been pulling strings to cover it up, but aren't kid-diddlers. They're just guys who seem eager to enable kid-diddlers. And I mean... Felix Sater had kiddie porn, too, but he seems to have been ogling children completely separate from everyone else. And Trump still did endorse alleged pedophile (oh, he is) Roy Moore I'm sure doesn't mean he was in the same places as the others. Another high-ranking GOP pedophile, completely unrelated to the rest.

Hey, Mets? Is this making you uncomfortable? That there are so few degrees of separation from your party's president and multiple sexual predators?

GOOD. It should, if you have a conscience left and there's a point where you should stop reflexively defending your party, here it is.

[Mister Mets]

No, they just prefer the idea of presenting that you'll be rounded up like cattle, stuffed into overcrowded rooms, denied basic services, and demeaned since you're a foreign pest for having the gall to leave a hostile environment and trek several thousand miles to an unknown land simply due to some abstract defense that maybe, just maybe, one of those people belongs to a criminal syndicate. All the Bubbas and Bobby Sues who still argue "Build the Wall and Crime will Fall" feel this is justified, ignoring domestic crimes and native issues that lead to crime issues, such as institutionalized racism and classism, since they were too lazy or dumb to bother exploring it, while politicians want to keep their butts in office shall look the other way at these egregious accounts so they can get that donor money and the votes from the aforementioned Bubbas and Bobby Sues.

I'm not arguing that Republicans are the Party of the Stupid and that Democrats are the Party of the Enlightened; both parties prefer keeping the voters in the dark for various reasons since the average American voter isn't going to take their time out of their busy days to do research on a politician's stance on every single topic, and instead pigeonholes it to where the person running for mayor must be in cahoots with the Speaker of the House. I personally feel that Republicans go out of their way more to emphasize that they like their voters ignorant and angry.

Also, although that data you gave me sounds credible, my issue with it is that it doesn't give out the full picture. It only explains that the legal immigration comes from three countries totalling 28.2% for 2011, with Mexico being around 13.5%, for example. I'd like to know the other 71.8% from that year, as the immigration process can vary depending on country to country, particularly given relationships at the time, as countries will be less likely to take on immigrants from countries that they have soured on, and it doesn't explain the average process at the time for someone to have applied for legal immigration to get approved. When you're looking at a more hardline leader that condemns migrants, be they Hispanic or of the Muslim faith, that can make that process more difficult as the people in charge during that process changes, potentially making a smooth-looking process complicated. Not to mention, there's also the fact that these people aren't told that legal immigration is possible, or even that it could be viable. They're coming from Central American countries, which are practically the model of dysfunction on the mainland of the Americas. Besides, I know the asylum process isn't foolproof; people come here and get rejected, and are sent back to wherever it was they tried to leave. But, again; you have to ask yourself, if the legal process is so awesome, why do people keep trying for the asylum approach?

As for what you said about "They should be safe in Mexico"... um... no offense, but it's not like all of Mexico is this wonderful, magical place, and I'm not purposefully painting the country with a broad stroke, but you have to consider why they're not staying in Mexico as a reason why they want to come to the States, sir. Even though the quality of life is better, it's not as much, then there's the drug cartels you have to deal with, and large parts of it are still a developing country.

When you write "if the legal process is so awesome, why do people keep trying for the asylum approach?" that seems to suggest that the point of the legal process is to allow in everybody who wants to get in. There are arguments for setting all sorts of restrictions on who is allowed to come in, and how many people are allowed to come in.

The purpose of asylum for refugees is not to provide people a pathway to citizenship in the country of their choice. It is simply to provide safe haven from the persecution they're fleeing. It really isn't meant for anyone looking for a new place to live who isn't satisfied with Mexico.

The main reasons for an asylum seeker to reject a country would be if the same persecution they were fleeing can be found in the new country (IE- Jewish refugees going from one antisemitic country to another) or if they would be targets of a different form of persecution (IE- a gay Muslim goes from a country where homosexuality is outlawed to a country where belief in Islam is .) These don't really seem to apply to Mexico, which has a few advantages over the US> The cost of living is cheaper so the US can save money by increasing federal aid in Mexico to cover their costs for people who would otherwise be in the United States. It's also better for refugees if they settle close to their homeland as that makes it easier to return when the situation is no longer as precarious.

Not at all what I'm saying.

Multiple members of the Trump administration who currently serve in it were at least aware of a pedophile violating young women ten years ago, and didn't just ignore it, they remained friends with him, and helped ensure he served as little jail time as possible. One of those people is the president himself, who has already been placed as at the scene of these crimes when they were perpetuated by witnesses. There's the woman accusing him of rape when she was only 13, and now we have a report about a party with "Epstein, Trump, and 28 'models'".

But it's not a ring, because the "ring" is Trump and Epstein. Acosta and Barr have just been pulling strings to cover it up, but aren't kid-diddlers. They're just guys who seem eager to enable kid-diddlers. And I mean... Felix Sater had kiddie porn, too, but he seems to have been ogling children completely separate from everyone else. And Trump still did endorse alleged pedophile (oh, he is) Roy Moore I'm sure doesn't mean he was in the same places as the others. Another high-ranking GOP pedophile, completely unrelated to the rest.

Hey, Mets? Is this making you uncomfortable? That there are so few degrees of separation from your party's president and multiple sexual predators?

GOOD. It should, if you have a conscience left and there's a point where you should stop reflexively defending your party, here it is.

It's certainly possible we'll get President Pence soon (an outcome I do prefer, even if I don't care for Pence that much.) But you seem to be jumping to conclusions (IE- Barr covering up for Epstein, the idea that there's some conspiracy about why Acosta is pulling strings rather than a US Attorney offering a rich guy a plea deal years before #metoo was a thing.)

You did say "I think the cretins who are left circling the wagons with him aren't doing so out of loyalty, I think they're leveraged. Like, I'm not going to be shocked if any of them are implicated by evidence seized from Epstein. But all of them seem compromised. Obviously, morally, but compromised on a criminal level." Maybe there's some typos, but it suggests that they're compromised on a criminal level and leveraged, potentially implicated by evidence seized from Epstein.

Trump put the guy who kept Epstein out of jail in charge of fighting human trafficking. Think about that.

It really doesn't work that way. The International Labor Affairs Bureau mostly deals with promoting "a fair global playing field for workers.” It's part of the larger labor department. Sex trafficking falls within the ILAB purview but that's not the main purpose, nor is it the only government agency involved.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ing-budget-cut

The idea that Trump picked Acosta for an ally on human trafficking requires him to be deeply familiar with the structure of the federal government.

[worstblogever]

You did say "I think the cretins who are left circling the wagons with him aren't doing so out of loyalty, I think they're leveraged. Like, I'm not going to be shocked if any of them are implicated by evidence seized from Epstein. But all of them seem compromised. Obviously, morally, but compromised on a criminal level." Maybe there's some typos, but it suggests that they're compromised on a criminal level and leveraged, potentially implicated by evidence seized from Epstein.

I don't know that they're leveraged because of Epstein... only.

Every member of the Cabinet has shown to have a streak of corruption a mile long. Like some of them failed their background checks because of previous domestic violence. That's how leverage works. I would be more shocked if they haven't committed a crime. I don't think we're talking sex crimes here, necessarily.

Oh, sorry, I forgot that Linda McMahon's company was just recently revealed to have hushed up the sexual assault of a female wrestler who ended up killing herself. So...

Yeah, this is hard, to not play Devil's advocate for these people, because they're so good at being so f***ed up.

[shooshoomanjoe]

The only interesting thing is that he forgot the #WalkAway hashtag.

I can't believe the far right think that's a real thing.

[shooshoomanjoe]

The collusion nonsense didn't work, so let's try some Epstein-Trump nonsense, eh? It must really hurt that President Trump is doing well - HRC's supporters haven't stopped crying since election night.

As a registered Democrat, I am astounded by the sheer villainy and full-blown Alinsky tactics used by the so-called progressive left - blatant, shameless liars who rely upon demagoguery to incite sympathy for their agenda, and none worse than AOC - an actress auditioned and paid for by "Justice Democrats", whatever that's supposed to mean.

The worst thing is that, out of the current pool of Democratic presidential hopefuls, the two who are actually worth consideration - Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang - are going to be buried under the "We'll give you free stuff" gang.

Sad times.

Gotta love "democrats" that use far right verbiage.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The collusion nonsense didn't work, so let's try some Epstein-Trump nonsense, eh? It must really hurt that President Trump is doing well - HRC's supporters haven't stopped crying since election night.

As a registered REPUBLICAN, I am astounded by the sheer villainy and full-blown Alinsky tactics used by the so-called progressive left - blatant, shameless liars who rely upon demagoguery to incite sympathy for their agenda, and none worse than AOC - an actress auditioned and paid for by "Justice Democrats", whatever that's supposed to mean.

The worst thing is that, out of the current pool of Democratic presidential hopefuls, the two who are actually worth consideration - Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang - are going to be buried under the "We'll give you free stuff" gang.

Sad times.

Corrected for accuracy.

[wjowski]

Laughing my ass off at white knighting for Andrew 'Pay You 1,000 Dollars A Month For Existing' Yang while accusing the other candidates of unrealistic promises.

[numberthirty]

Went back through today. Noticed this did not get a mention. While I have my doubts about if it will be a success, it's at least an attempt.

- https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2...ase-transplant

A new Trump executive order on kidneys could save thousands of lives

[kidfresh512]

Went back through today. Noticed this did not get a mention. While I have my doubts about if it will be a success, it's at least an attempt.

- https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2...ase-transplant

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1149013891512492033

[numberthirty]

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1149013891512492033

Honestly, don't care one bit about that.

You could literally walk up to the mic and say "Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah..." if it was going to potentially address even a bit of said issue.

[kidfresh512]

Honestly, don't care one bit about that.

You could literally walk up to the mic and say "Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah..." if it was going to potentially address even a bit of said issue.

Yes even in his complete embarrassing idiocy. Someone gave him one decent thing to order that could do good.

[Kirby101]

I am Amereecan votar. I live in big Amereecan city. I vote for Mr. Obama and Clinton woman, but now see our President Trump is strong leader. He no colludes and has no sex with the children.

signed,
good Democratic comrade.