All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[sammy_hansen]

There's plenty of hypocrisy all over the media. Examples would be anyone who thought that experience matters when Trump is the Republican candidate but not when Obama was the Democratic candidate, that different standards are relevant to allegations against Kavanaugh than against Biden, that Republican governors should be blamed for COVID outbreaks but we should ignore the much higher death rates in New York and New Jersey when the **** hit the fan there, or that institutional norms matter more when Democrats are in charge than when Republicans are in charge (there will also be many conservative commentators on the wrong side of these issues.)

Hypocrisy is going to be rather prevalent with commentators like Hannity, and also with op-ed writers like Jennifer Rubin.

https://twitter.com/RichLowry/status...81249532870658

I'll note a few potential category errors, in that comparing specific examples of mistakes in Fox News or MSNBC and the Wall Street Journal versus the New York Times doesn't really get to how often the mistakes occur. If one side stretches facts 15 times a day and another does it twice a day, both sides can point out thousands of errors without addressing the serious imbalance.

The "no quarter" comments were not in the op-ed, which is going to have a greater precision of language than unedited tweets, or someone speaking off the cuff.

That is correct. Tom Cotton, a leader of your party, did not argue for war crimes against his own citizens when he argued for sending in the military against protesters in the NY Times. Tom Cotton, a leader of your party, did argue for war crimes against his own citizens on Twitter. (Also, how do you "off the cuff" call for war crimes against your own people?)

A majority of Republicans voted against Trump in the 2016 primaries.

The media helped him get ahead by giving him twice as much attention as everyone else combined, something that did not match the vote totals.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/u...ree-media.html

And how many Republicans voted for Donald Trump in the general election?

[Kirby101]

And how many Republicans voted for Donald Trump in the general election?

That would be 92%. And he still has a similar approval with the Party Mets defends.

[sammy_hansen]

That would be 92%. And he still has a similar approval with the Party Mets defends.

Defending is putting it mildly.

[numberthirty]

While I know that Trump is on the "Dense..." side, someone really does need to sit him down and go over the difference between "Freedom Of Expression..." and "Freedom Of Speech..."

He's not the only American that thinks they are the exact same thing, but come on with that noise.

[Malvolio]

The invasion of Iraq predated the current level of interest in the name of the Washington football team, although there were BS issues the media wasted their time on during the late 90s and early 2000s, and that time would have been better spent on Middle Eastern politics.

I haven't seen much indication that there's a problem of Native Americans being called redskins by white strangers.

I think cultural appropriation is normal, and usually okay, with a few extreme exceptions (blackface.) Much of the left-wing pushback on it has been absurd, like the activists pushing the UN to make it illegal, or protests of a painting of Emmett Till's open casket funeral because the artist was white.

https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/y...iation-illegal

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/a...-protests.html

The mainstream media also treats organizations like the Times and the Post with more respect than Fox News.

I'm not a fan of Fox News, but it largely exists because the mainstream media had a partisan bent in the other direction. There is explicitly left-wing journalism (The Nation, The Daily Kos, Mother Jones) but those organizations are open about their leanings, whereas much of the press pretends to be non-partisam.

Tom Cotton's op-ed didn't call for war crimes. He was calling for the military to perform the same role it did against anti-integration protesters in the 60s. There is an argument that people with military training will be readier to handle riots safely than the average police force.

Is Tom Cotton aware of how the military performing that role in the protests of the 60s and 70s turned out? Does he want another Kent State?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Started the Mary L. Trump book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man yesterday. Good Lord! That clan is dysfunctional on steroids, has been for decades, and Daddy Fred was a straight up monster. No wonder Donald turned out the way he had.

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

White House Changes Rules On Coronavirus Reporting To Bypass CDC: Report

The new process hands the Trump administration more control over data surrounding the worsening COVID-19 crisis. Control, code for "cooking up lies" to make things look better than they real are.

**********

Emboldened Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens The Return To Normality

A coronavirus vaccine is within reach, but its success may test whether social media companies are serious about cracking down on misinformation. How in hell did we come to THIS?

**********

Rush Limbaugh Gets Extra Weird, References Cannibalism In Coronavirus Rant

The right-wing radio host brings the Donner Party into the picture for some reason. Words just fail me.

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

In non-coronavirus news:

What If You Throw A Presidential Convention But Nobody Wants To Come?

Just six weeks from the GOP nominating convention in Florida, the state has surging coronavirus cases, and planners have not come up with a final schedule. Talk about a dumpster fire.

**********

Trump Snaps ‘So Are White People’ When Asked Why Black People Are Killed By Cops

The president also told CBS News that people who “like the Confederate flag” are thinking about NASCAR, not slavery. Those people CHOOSE not to think about slavery, Don. Trump is getting ever closer to admitting he's a white supremacist.

**********

Just When You Thought Ivanka Trump Couldn’t Get More Out Of Touch

Suggesting people simply find new jobs during an unprecedented economic crisis is a new level of chutzpah. Like Daddykins, Ms. Complicit doesn't give a **** about people and that was nothing but bullshit.

[Tendrin]

https://www.kansascity.com/news/poli...244232207.html

Kansas Rep. Steve Watkins was charged Tuesday with three felonies and a misdemeanor related to an investigation into whether he illegally voted in a 2019 municipal election.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay, a Republican, announced the charges about a half-hour before Watkins, a first-term Topeka Republican, was set to appear on a televised debate with his primary challengers Jake LaTurner and Dennis Taylor on KSNT.

Watkins called the timing of the charges “hyper political” and “very suspicious,” contending that the district attorney shared a consultant with one of his opponents— a reference to LaTurner and Kagay’s past use of Singularis, a direct mail firm in Overland Park.

[Mister Mets]

Some random white guy hasn't experienced it so it doesn't exist.

I never said it doesn't exist, nor have I said that it's something I would expect to experience if it did.

I asked people in a public forum if any of them were familiar with any Native Americans describing a specific experience.

Really, were it not for Civil Rights, the African American math experts at NASA wouldn't have done the calculations that helped us put men on the moon and get them home.

I don't think I've suggested that civil rights was a waste of time.

I am curious if you guys think the name of a football team in Washington is a civil rights issue.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a cynical jerk.

No biggie.

That is correct. Tom Cotton, a leader of your party, did not argue for war crimes against his own citizens when he argued for sending in the military against protesters in the NY Times. Tom Cotton, a leader of your party, did argue for war crimes against his own citizens on Twitter. (Also, how do you "off the cuff" call for war crimes against your own people?)

In general, I try to go with more generous interpretations if there's any ambiguity, rather than going with the least generous interpretation of what someone said off the cuff.

And how many Republicans voted for Donald Trump in the general election?

The alternative for Republicans was the least popular Democratic candidate in modern memory running on the most progressive platform ever.

This would suggest a Democratic party who saw Trump as an opportunity to go further to the left, rather than offering any compromises to sway anyone on the center or the center-right..

Defending is putting it mildly.

Do you think I'm more likely to back a general election Republican candidate than the left-wing posters here are to back a general election Democratic candidate?

Is Tom Cotton aware of how the military performing that role in the protests of the 60s and 70s turned out? Does he want another Kent State?

Kent State was a clusterfuck, but it doesn't necessarily demonstrate that the modern military will deal with rioters worse than the police would.

[Kuro no Shinigami]

Started the Mary L. Trump book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man yesterday. Good Lord! That clan is dysfunctional on steroids, has been for decades, and Daddy Fred was a straight up monster. No wonder Donald turned out the way he had.

.

Yeah. Maybe Donald wasn't born a monster. Maybe monsters were made. Did Fred's daddy (Donny's grandfather) also raise him to be a monster, i wonder?

The granddaddy was a draft dodger who fled from Germany to avoid conscription.

[Gray Lensman]

Yeah. Maybe Donald wasn't born a monster. Maybe monsters were made. Did Fred's daddy (Donny's grandfather) also raise him to be a monster, i wonder?

The granddaddy was a draft dodger who fled from Germany to avoid conscription.

He also got rich by "mining the miners" during the Alaskan gold rush. I'll let you figure out what that is a euphemism for.

[worstblogever]

I don't think I've suggested that civil rights was a waste of time.

And I don't think I was even talking to you, and just pointing out something ironic in regards to someone else's post.

But if you felt the need to react to the fact that the story of Katherine Johnson and her story in the film Hidden Figures is a slight towards you...

Well, that tells me a lot about you.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Yeah. Maybe Donald wasn't born a monster. Maybe monsters were made. Did Fred's daddy (Donny's grandfather) also raise him to be a monster, i wonder?

The granddaddy was a draft dodger who fled from Germany to avoid conscription.

Given Germany's past time of starting needless wars, back in the day, I wouldn't say being a draft dodger is automatically damning (even if this was before that).

[Mister Mets]

And I don't think I was even talking to you, and just pointing out something ironic in regards to someone else's post.

But if you felt the need to react to the fact that the story of Katherine Johnson and her story in the film Hidden Figures is a slight towards you...

Well, that tells me a lot about you.

This was the chain of posts. I explained that I thought the Redskins fight isn't an effective use of political energy.

You also make some incorrect assumptions about my views.

My own views on the controversy are different than secretly believing the professional left was correct on the issue. Polls did show that large percentages of Native Americans weren't bothered by the name, so that largely settled the matter for me.

I do think the whole argument was mainly a waste of time and resources. Every minute reporters, politicians and activists spent convincing a sports team to change its name meant less time and resources on education, alternatives to fossil fuel, immigration policy, criminal justice reform, etc.

The response was...

Ah, the invasion of Iraq, anyone? And dammit, we could’ve have moon colonies by now if we hadn’t wasted all that time and resources on civil rights!

And then you said...

Really, were it not for Civil Rights, the African American math experts at NASA wouldn't have done the calculations that helped us put men on the moon and get them home.

Someone seemed to think there was an argument that the civil rights movement was a waste of time and resources. You responded on that point, even if no one actually made it.

[Tami]

[shooshoomanjoe]

And your thoughts about Tucker Carlson have a affirmed White Supremacist as his head writer for years?

Tucker is taking a 'long-planned' vacation. I hope it's as long as Bill O'Reilly's vacation that began three years ago.