All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[aja_christopher]

It's tougher to take it seriously as an allegation when it's exaggerated in the past.

The big change in recent politics has been the radicalization of liberal white people, not any change in the attitudes of racial minorities.

https://www.vox.com/2019/3/22/182598...ing-trump-2020

The recent change has also been white people waking up to the reality of racism in America via social media and and (more recently) an openly racist president -- it's hard to see why this would be viewed as problematic, regardless.

It makes sense that some "liberal whites" might have a better understanding of the extent of racism in this country than many black people because many whites have family members, bosses, and co-workers who openly espouse racist rhetoric -- something that is becoming less and less acceptable to "liberals" as time passes, especially in the post-Obama era.

And also I see no mention of the recent "radicalization" of right-wing white supremacists who are now openly shooting blacks, Jews, Latinos and Muslims in public -- a "change" that has been so exceptionally bad that the FBI determined them to be the most dangerous terrorist threat in America.

It's not "radical" to want to see fairness and equality in America -- even if some choose to look the other way when their party opposes it.

You speak of "exaggerations" while ignoring and dismissing direct evidence that your party engages in racist voter suppression against minority voters -- maybe the opposite is at play in that you prefer to downplay an obvious problem within their ranks.

Which is more problematic: whites becoming more "liberal" or white supremacists suppressing votes and harassing and shooting people of color?

[PaulBullion]

On that note, the whole “It’s only racist if you’re privileged, so don’t complain.” argument didn’t exactly encourage more potential “allies” to join the fight, so to speak.

Good. Riddance.

[Ragged Maw]

Good. Riddance.

Hey, I know I was treading a touchy subject, and so kept it as sober and concise as possible. I'm not looking to make enemies here.

EDIT: Though at this point in this unprecedented (for modern times) political climate, I probably should expect a degree of harshness in response as an inevitability.

[aja_christopher]

Hey, I know I was treading a touchy subject, and so kept it as sober and concise as possible. I'm not looking to make enemies here.

EDIT: Though at this point in this unprecedented (for modern times) political climate, I probably should expect a degree of harshness in response as an inevitability.

For the record, I appreciate the input.

[Ragged Maw]

For the record, I appreciate the input.

Hey, thanks. I figured I'd share my own thoughts about why people get hot and bothered about being called racist. Because I honestly think it's not that hard if one understands how humans tend to "work".

[InformationGeek]

Oooooooooooooo WBE! I got someone for you! Meet Kelli Ward! She ran for McCain's Senate seat in 2016 and Flake's seat in 2018. She never got the Republican nomination, but she still counts and is currently the Chair of the Arizona Republican Party! Get a load of this s**t she just posted.

#ProblemSolved #WeAreAllHeroic #1A #JustWearScrubs

[skyvolt2000]

Texas will reopen at 25% capacity on Friday per Governor Abbott.

[sammy_hansen]

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...itions/610261/

Scathing article about the failings of America and particularly the Trump administration AND Kushner.

It reminds of a piece (I don’t know from which publication) when the Ferguson protests were occurring, which basically asked what the reporting would be like if the protests were happening in a developing country.

[Ragged Maw]

It's tougher to take it seriously as an allegation when it's exaggerated in the past.

Yeah. For a time it was kind of this trendy "crusade" of sorts. Though, I'll be frank with you, Mets. In the case of the current POTUS and most of his immediate circle - and I probably should've mentioned this earlier just to make clear I haven't regressed into tribalism - they're kind of insulting our intelligence now by denying that they're bigoted. It's almost like I'm looking at some kid braced against a violently shuddering closet door, trying to lie to their parents that there are no skeletons inside.............just as a massive bony fist smashes a fresh hole through said door right above his/her head.

[numberthirty]

From the "Illinois..." corner -

According to local news radio, a judge downstate ruled against the Governor and for the person who sued on the basis that the Governor didn't have the authority to put a "Stay At Home..." order(and what goes along with it...) in place.

While I'm not really against the idea of trying to keep government power in check on paper, there's sometimes(this one being an obvious case...) where you have to use your noodle for thirty seconds.

The Governor will apparently be filing for a stay in the ruling. Since the "Stay At Home..." order is only going through the end of May(as of right now...), I'd hope they will put a stay in place.

[Malvolio]

I for one, would love for a s***-talking civil war to break out online between fanatical Stern supporters and fanatical Trump supporters. The winners would be everyone else who stays out of it and lets them destroy each other.

Now, now. I, for one, am a long time fan of Stern. Not fanatical enough to start any wars in social media, but a few of Stern's "super-fans" are good decent people. Mary Ann from Brooklyn, for instance is a very nice woman and I would never want anything bad to happen to her.

[TheDarman]

We have first public and named corroboration of Reade’s claims.

Reade’s old neighbor claims she was told contemporaneously about an assault by Joe Biden against her.

This whole thing is really odd.

[godisawesome]

We have first public and named corroboration of Reade’s claims.

Reade’s old neighbor claims she was told contemporaneously about an assault by Joe Biden against her.

This whole thing is really odd.

This does make the story more feasible and believable, in total.

The interesting thing to me is that the neighbor also flat out said they were still going to vote for Biden.

We may simply have to accept the idea that there’s enough smoke to make the court of public opinion argument shift to the “regardless, Trump is still clearly worse” stage, and redouble efforts to make it easier to get a report out there and open up more avenues for claims to be made and vetted at the time that something happens.

Because the one thing that’s really holding me back from trying to judge the situation for myself isn’t necessarily the “whataboutism” idea of equivalency argument we can expect Trump to make; it was a much weaker and stupider tactic against Hillary Clinton (since there was never an accusation against, her but her husband), but I already voted for her over him even as someone who never liked her. I kind of like Biden, and I regard Trump as akin to my view of Kylo Ren in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy - he’s a blandly despicable turd for whom no attempt to make a moral equivalence will ever be accurate, and is so loathsome that opposition to him is immediately counts as a virtue to at least some extent, or a neutral fact only if he’s matched by someone equally loathsome.

What’s holding me back on judging the situation or feeling comfortable defending Biden, and not just evaluating what a wise political move would be, is an article on Cracked I read by an actual rape victim, and the way one of my students reacted and spoke during a class last year with the Kavanaugh and Ford argument. The amount of hell and the psychological torture that a “slut shaming” defensive strategy against accusations about assault cause, and the frankly humiliating way in which even timely made accusations get investigated, stuck with me from the article. And the ease with which a kid I’m fairly certain will one day know better voiced a complete rejection of Ford's story for dubiously logical and un-empathetic (not apathetic, for the record) reasons, that also stuck with me.

Such assaults are the most nightmarish mixture of an incredibly invasive and visceral assault upon a person and societal taboos, politics, left over outdated morallty, and hard to prosecute natures. The fact that such accusations were part and parcel of wars of terror and “legal” mass murder and lynching of African Americans in the past, at least, also adds enough evidence that such an accusation could be heartlessly weaponized without a crime having been committed (see: Scottsboro Boys). It’s the ultimate smorgasbord mess that could simultaneously see a powerful perpetrator and monster escape scot-free and defame their victim, but also see someone innocent easily destroyed by a falsehood.

So... all I’ll say now about the situation is this: Biden’s team had better be working overtime to prepare the ultimate sympathetic but not-guilt-slinging-and-ostentatiously-rejecting reaction to it. The best way to approach it, given his opponent, is try as much as possible to contrast with Trump and Kavanaugh’s over-the-top and crappy-smelling indignation. The smarter political move on Biden’s part would be to quietly, humbly deny it, and to have the campaign try and maintain as much dignity and respect towards everyone involved in this accusation as they can.

[TheDarman]

So... all I’ll say now about the situation is this: Biden’s team had better be working overtime to prepare the ultimate sympathetic but not-guilt-slinging-and-ostentatiously-rejecting reaction to it. The best way to approach it, given his opponent, is try as much as possible to contrast with Trump and Kavanaugh’s over-the-top and crappy-smelling indignation. The smarter political move on Biden’s part would be to quietly, humbly deny it, and to have the campaign try and maintain as much dignity and respect towards everyone involved in this accusation as they can.

I think that this is accurate. Biden is going to need to address these accusations one way or another. I think the best thing to do is to get him out in an interview where the interviewer can ask him about those allegations and Biden can answer in a muted and somber way that he did not ever assault anyone and that he welcomes a thorough investigation in which he and his team will be completely compliant. That would create not only contrast between the way Kavanaugh and Trump handled their allegations, but it will also demonstrate that Biden, unlike most abusers, is ready and willing for folks to dig around in his past and see if anything is there. This is what needs to happen.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I think that this is accurate. Biden is going to need to address these accusations one way or another. I think the best thing to do is to get him out in an interview where the interviewer can ask him about those allegations and Biden can answer in a muted and somber way that he did not ever assault anyone and that he welcomes a thorough investigation in which he and his team will be completely compliant. That would create not only contrast between the way Kavanaugh and Trump handled their allegations, but it will also demonstrate that Biden, unlike most abusers, is ready and willing for folks to dig around in his past and see if anything is there. This is what needs to happen.

I don’t think it matters. People will believe what they were inclined to. People who dislike Biden will be harder on him. People who do will be more forgiving and sympathetic. Unless a vid comes out or she recanted not much is changing that