All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[The no face guy]

I've already touched on that issue, please read above.

I am instead however quite fascinated now with the question as to what is it in right wing extremism that motivates these men to go kill en mass. We always rightfully condemn there actions, but they too themselves are the victims, victims of being indoctrinated by this evil ideology.

Yes historically, both the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China have the highest murder count, but it was the Nazi's who engaged in the most chilling and barbarous acts. I would rather spend my time in a Soviet gulag than be a slavic or Jewish person in a Nazi Concentration camp. In modern times, left wing extremists seem content on smashing universities windows to stop speech they find offensive, or assault someone wearing a Trump hat, but they do not go out and kill people in mass shootings like the far right.

What part of the primal unconscious brain is the xenophobia triggering that turns these men into mass killers? There is something about xenophobia, and the fear of being racially conquered that just motivates these men into pure murderous irrationality.

[TheDarman]

It might be a little early, because we have yet to see polling on this, but Amash might have just thrown this election to Trump. I sincerely doubt that folks will jump off Trump’s train give his above 86% approval rating among his party. And I think Biden’s co-alition is a fragile enough coalition that it could peel off to Amash. This could be real bad. And I think looking at Amash as a Perot-spoiler misses the context of what gave Trump the election last time. Of course, it could be nothing and we might be smart enough to recognize that Amash is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and his policies are very right-leaning. It might be the case he polls too poorly to be a serious contender. There is a lot of uncertainty until we get polling.

Independent Justin Amash launches exploratory committee to run for President.

[Powerboy]

It might be a little early, because we have yet to see polling on this, but Amash might have just thrown this election to Trump. I sincerely doubt that folks will jump off Trump’s train give his above 86% approval rating among his party. And I think Biden’s co-alition is a fragile enough coalition that it could peel off to Amash. This could be real bad. And I think looking at Amash as a Perot-spoiler misses the context of what gave Trump the election last time. Of course, it could be nothing and we might be smart enough to recognize that Amash is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and his policies are very right-leaning. It might be the case he polls too poorly to be a serious contender. There is a lot of uncertainty until we get polling.

Independent Justin Amash launches exploratory committee to run for President.

So he may help Trump but he may help Biden. Either way, Third party candidate who has absolutely zero chance of winning and knows it throws wrench into election.

[TheDarman]

So he may help Trump but he may help Biden. Either way, Third party candidate who has absolutely zero chance of winning and knows it throws wrench into election.

Yeah. I'm wondering if Amash is trying to Perot Trump. After all, Amash voted to impeach Trump, despite agreement with him on issues. Perhaps Amash views him as dangerous enough to assure his defeat. The question is whether or not it matters. Most people are savvier politically than in 1992. Barring something miraculous happening, it seems unlikely Amash surges to a position where people view him as viable. I imagine that it will have little effect. Of course, we know how important little effects can be--look at 2016.

This might be a good thing for progressive advocates though. It suddenly gives them a lot more leverage. It would appear that Amash would probably be the go-to for Republicans to cast a "protest vote" against Trump if they weren't sold on Biden. Those who are so eager to get Trump out of office would likely be willing to swallow a few concessions that they view as unrealistic to still cast a vote for Biden. But Biden will need a stronger coalition on his baseline to compete with Trump, who has been consistently shoring up ******* from his base.

And...it might be a good idea for Biden to pick a minority candidate to run alongside him so that those folks, who have been polled to say they are more likely to turn out for candidates they feel represent or care about their interests, will gravitate towards him over the other two white guys.

[Steel Inquisitor]

I've already touched on that issue, please read above.

I am instead however quite fascinated now with the question as to what is it in right wing extremism that motivates these men to go kill en mass. We always rightfully condemn there actions, but they too themselves are the victims, victims of being indoctrinated by this evil ideology.

Evil ideology isn't confined to any specific political axis.

Yes historically, both the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China have the highest murder count, but it was the Nazi's who engaged in the most chilling and barbarous acts. I would rather spend my time in a Soviet gulag than be a slavic or Jewish person in a Nazi Concentration camp.

This is semantics, a concentration camp is a concentration camp. People forget the Soviet's originally sided with the Nazis in WW II, and even today the Chinese government are doing monstrous acts on their Muslims populations.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50511063

That's not getting into Castro's Cuba, who did this.

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-...e-cuba-n872026

Being left politically and protecting oppressed groups like LGBT aren't intrinsically linked. For example, Tulsi Gabbard.

In modern times, left wing extremists seem content on smashing universities windows to stop speech they find offensive, or assault someone wearing a Trump hat, but they do not go out and kill people in mass shootings like the far right.

Don't let that fool you into thinking they're harmless. What separates them from the far right is that they're out of power, put them in power and this changes. Which is why it's crucial they must never be put in positions of authority. That's why it's a constant struggle to dismiss them from politics, so they don't get another shot at creating another Soviet Union.

What part of the primal unconscious brain is the xenophobia triggering that turns these men into mass killers? There is something about xenophobia, and the fear of being racially conquered that just motivates these men into pure murderous irrationality.

We all have that, they're just perfected how to weaponise it and indoctrinate people on a massive scale - something the left is horrible at.

[PwrdOn]

Evil ideology isn't confined to any specific political axis.



This is semantics, a concentration camp is a concentration camp. People forget the Soviet's originally sided with the Nazis in WW II, and even today the Chinese government are doing monstrous acts on their Muslims populations.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50511063

That's not getting into Castro's Cuba, who did this.

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-...e-cuba-n872026

Being left politically and protecting oppressed groups like LGBT aren't intrinsically linked. For example, Tulsi Gabbard.



Don't let that fool you into thinking they're harmless. What separates them from the far right is that they're out of power, put them in power and this changes. Which is why it's crucial they must never be put in positions of authority. That's why it's a constant struggle to dismiss them from politics, so they don't get another shot at creating another Soviet Union.



We all have that, they're just perfected how to weaponise it and indoctrinate people on a massive scale - something the left is horrible at.

Leave it to a centrist to go around spreading right wing propaganda about communists being just as bad as the Nazis. And oh, barbaric Cubans not pushing to legalize gay marriage until 2018, that's a whole three years behind us, get with the program Cuba! And seriously, keeping the far left out of power is hardly something to gloat about, because you're just kneecapping the only people that would actually push back against the far right instead of just laying down for them.

Yeah. I'm wondering if Amash is trying to Perot Trump. After all, Amash voted to impeach Trump, despite agreement with him on issues. Perhaps Amash views him as dangerous enough to assure his defeat. The question is whether or not it matters. Most people are savvier politically than in 1992. Barring something miraculous happening, it seems unlikely Amash surges to a position where people view him as viable. I imagine that it will have little effect. Of course, we know how important little effects can be--look at 2016.

This might be a good thing for progressive advocates though. It suddenly gives them a lot more leverage. It would appear that Amash would probably be the go-to for Republicans to cast a "protest vote" against Trump if they weren't sold on Biden. Those who are so eager to get Trump out of office would likely be willing to swallow a few concessions that they view as unrealistic to still cast a vote for Biden. But Biden will need a stronger coalition on his baseline to compete with Trump, who has been consistently shoring up ******* from his base.

And...it might be a good idea for Biden to pick a minority candidate to run alongside him so that those folks, who have been polled to say they are more likely to turn out for candidates they feel represent or care about their interests, will gravitate towards him over the other two white guys.

The fact a former Republican mounting a third party campaign actually ends up helping Trump says all you need to know about Biden as a candidate. Picking a token minority as his running mate won't make a difference either because, as everyone is keenly aware, the VP doesn't actually do anything.

[TheDarman]

The fact a former Republican mounting a third party campaign actually ends up helping Trump says all you need to know about Biden as a candidate. Picking a token minority as his running mate won't make a difference either because, as everyone is keenly aware, the VP doesn't actually do anything.

Does it though? I’m pretty sure both Sanders and Biden were counting on winning disaffected Trump voters from 2016. It’s hard to get them to swing back from such an extreme option like Trump unless they are the “alternative”. As for VP, I think tokenism underplays the value of picking a black woman, in particular. Politically, it says “I see you” and “I hear you”. For too long, we’ve just expected minorities to trust OUR white males with handling their priorities better than another group of white males. Having someone who clearly is close to the president, especially if that president has demonstrated he listens (as Biden has), is a significant move politically. Turnout among minority voters went down from 2012 when Obama was the top of the ticket. Can we expect it to be as high as 2012? Probably not. But we can’t expect to take these voters for granted. Biden already has the policies most black Americans prefer—that’s why they voted for him. He needs to shore up that constituency.

[PaulBullion]

For some reason I can't help looking at Pence and thinking he'd look great snap taking a disbelieving random girl gun hostage before getting roundhouse kicked out of the building in some 80s or 90s action movie.

It's odd... this board clearly did not exist 100 years ago, but hasn't it been that long since we talked about a guy making pipe bombs and sending them to people Trump had painted a target on?

[PaulBullion]

There's also a story floated by Counterpunch from 2008 that says Biden assaulted a woman in the 70s... in a senate hallway... a week after his wife's death...

...before he was, you know, sworn in as a Senator.

But, y'know. Counterpunch.

Sounds legit.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Leave it to a centrist to go around spreading right wing propaganda about communists being just as bad as the Nazis. And oh, barbaric Cubans not pushing to legalize gay marriage until 2018, that's a whole three years behind us, get with the program Cuba! And seriously, keeping the far left out of power is hardly something to gloat about, because you're just kneecapping the only people that would actually push back against the far right instead of just laying down for them.

Don't pretend like the Soviet countries were LGBT friendly, they were just as bad as the conservatives in many respects. This is what the LGBT community in Cuba were up against, something Castro's own daughter thought was terrible and rightly so.

"The Cuban government began a series of initiatives to repress the gay and lesbian community," Chase said, adding that the government "closed down a lot of urban nightlife and bars, barred gays and lesbians from certain professions, such as education, briefly detained gay men in street roundups, and — most notoriously — imprisoned some gay men in forced labor camps.”

Who in their right mind joins the Nazis in the 40's? Even America knew that was a bad idea, but not the Soviets.

[PaulBullion]

This is gold:

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D)

April 27: "We had somebody apply for unemployment for Tupac Shakur here in Kentucky. And that person probably thought they were being funny”

April 28: "I didn’t know…that we have a Kentuckian who goes by Malik whose name is Tupac Shakur."

There is video: https://twitter.com/RiegerReport/sta...013817858?s=20

[PaulBullion]

It sure is nice to see that Susan Collins was right and Trump learned something from being impeached over his quid pro quo.

...

...

Trump suggests any relief for states hit hard by COVID will require ending "sanctuary city" policies and turning residents over to ICE.

[The no face guy]

Ah excellent! I am a liberal (generally speaking, boring centerist, as exciting as drywall ) but you sound like a conservative poster, and I appreciate your courage to respond, as I find they're usually ganged up upon and drummed out, so let's look at what you have to say.

Evil ideology isn't confined to any specific political axis.

I realize that, but I was speaking in the context of what is happening in the western world today, and as of yet, left wing radicals are not walking into churches and synagogues and turning them into a slaughter houses. If you can find the left wing equivalent of an Anders Behring in North America, Europe, or Australia in the last 10 years, than I will retract that statement.

This is semantics, a concentration camp is a concentration camp. People forget the Soviet's originally sided with the Nazis in WW II, and even today the Chinese government are doing monstrous acts on their Muslims populations.

It’s not semantics, the torture, cruelty and mass slaughter committed by the SS and those overseeing the concentration camps, has been well documented in the annuals of history. The nazi’s euthanized the mentally & physically disabled, and those that they saw as weak and unfit, and created the first genocidal factory assembly line; Auschwitz. The Soviets had no such model, standard practice was to work you to your grave, until you dropped from sickness or died of malnutrition.
Both regimes were incredibly evil, but there was something inherently disturbing in the racial politics of the Nazi’s, which drove them to commit acts of unbelievable cruelty.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50511063

I don’t have time to go through all your links but the Chinese government does far worse than that.

https://nypost.com/2019/06/01/chines...l-worker-says/

The Chinese government is the same government that was ruled under Mao Zedong, (history’s worst mass murderer), and despite their capitalist engine, they’ve adopted to get “rich and glorious” the communist political machinery still orchestrates everything that goes on in China. China is the greatest geo political threat to today’s western democracy, primarily because big U.S corporations are all too willing to do business there. That is why I believe all western commerce should be taken out of China and placed into India. Say what you want about Modi, but India is a democracy modelled on the British parliamentary system that runs all the way through their government bureaucracy.

Don't let that fool you into thinking they're harmless. What separates them from the far right is that they're out of power, put them in power and this changes. Which is why it's crucial they must never be put in positions of authority. That's why it's a constant struggle to dismiss them from politics, so they don't get another shot at creating another Soviet Union.

Oh I don’t think they're harmless, I may think that Milo Yiannopoulos is an utter turd, but he, as well as Charles Murray and less controversial speakers that the far left have tried to ban, should be allowed to exercise their free speech unimpeded by political zealots.

Nevertheless, they are still not going out and committing mass murder in churches and synagogues like the far right. It wasn’t a left wing fanatic that ran over an innocent person in Charlottetown, and that is why they are not equivalent. One side is showing that they are far more capable of violence than the other.

[PaulBullion]

This polling season, Emerson has been more Trump friendly than Rasmussen Reports (while also being Sanders friendly in the primary polls).

Now this:

A new Emerson College Polling national poll finds President Trump's approval rating at 41% approval, with 50% disapproval. This indicates a 5 point swing in both directions since March, when his approval was 46% approval, 45% disapproval. Approval of the Presidents’ handling of the coronavirus is at 39% approval, a 10 point drop from the 49% who approved of his handling of the situation in March. His disapproval rating of handling the Federal Government’s response to the outbreak of the Coronavirus increased 10 percentage points from 41% to 51%.

[PaulBullion]

Democrat Kweisi Mfume won a special U.S. congressional election in Maryland on Tuesday to finish the term of Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings.

Mfume, 71, who defeated Republican Kim Klacik in the heavily Democratic district that covers parts of Baltimore and central Maryland, is reclaiming a seat he held for five terms before leaving Congress to lead the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People civil rights group.