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

[The Cool Thatguy]

I and others have a beef with him because he was in a position of power at the time when some sort of push-back could've been made against the extremists in his party. Instead, he threw up his hands and left office.
He doesn't get a pass now because he says mean things about Ted Cruz.
If he'd been interested in stemming the tide of crazy in his party then we may not have experienced the Trump administration or the resulting fall-out.

Yeah, screw Republicans who retire and then go 'Tut tut' at their former party.

At least John McCain stuck it out and freakin' fought for his principles.

[PwrdOn]

Yeah, screw Republicans who retire and then go 'Tut tut' at their former party.

At least John McCain stuck it out and freakin' fought for his principles.

John McCain was a war criminal who spent his entire political career trying to push us into more wars, and he also hated Amtrak for some reason. He is by no definition "one of the good ones."

[The Cool Thatguy]

John McCain was a war criminal who spent his entire political career trying to push us into more wars, and he also hated Amtrak for some reason. He is by no definition "one of the good ones."

No one in the Western world is considered a 'good one' by your standard, just sayin'.

[Tami]

To those among us from the UK, I honestly can't fully understand what is going on in Northern Ireland right now. I can't wrap my head around it. If you know of a good article or an information source that can provide more expiration, I'd appreciate the chance to read it. Thanks.

[PwrdOn]

No one in the Western world is considered a 'good one' by your standard, just sayin'.

"Don't kill people" is too high of a standard for most Westerners to reach?

[shooshoomanjoe]

No one in the Western world is considered a 'good one' by your standard, just sayin'.

I dunno, he does often defend the evil Red China does.

[worstblogever]

Yeah, screw Republicans who retire and then go 'Tut tut' at their ormer party.

At least John McCain stuck it out and freakin' fought for his principles.

John McCain was a war criminal who spent his entire political career trying to push us into more wars, and he also hated Amtrak for some reason. He is by no definition "one of the good ones."

John McCain has one of the most complicated legacies of any Republican of the past 40 years. In that he was completely full of s*** and inconsistent on the most dire of issues.

He could go on cable news during the Bush administration and pay lip service towards opposing the lack of strategy in the War on Terror, but then in 2008, argue against bringing troops out of Iraq.
He could talk about immigration reform through the same timeline up until 2009, when suddenly he ran ads to "fix the danged fence".
He spent years s***-talking the ACA, only to do the right thing and get off his deathbed to save it in 2018.
He talked about global security with a wisdom and informed opinion, but then could sing, "Bomb Iran" with a dead-eyed stare.

The only reason he doesn't get called out more is the heroics from his capture and refusal to go home without his comrades during Vietnam. That earned him the reverence that few ever got. And he ended up dying "on the right side" for feuding with one of the biggest ***holes in American history.

Somehow, the late Sen. McCain is both of the takes I quoted, at the same time. Neither of you has a bad take.

[green_garnish]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...819_story.html

"The intelligence community has long warned policymakers and the public that pandemic disease could profoundly reshape global politics and U.S. national security. The authors of the report, which does not represent official U.S. policy, describe the pandemic as a preview of crises to come. It has been a globally destabilizing event — the council called it “the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II — that “has reminded the world of its fragility” and “shaken long-held assumptions” about how well governments and institutions could respond to a catastrophe."

[numberthirty]

I dunno, he does often defend the evil Red China does.

"They Are A Really Serious Issue, So It's No Big Whoop If We Are Just A Pretty Serious Issue...."

Seriously?

[Ragged Maw]

"They Are A Really Serious Issue, So It's No Big Whoop If We Are Just A Pretty Serious Issue...."

Seriously?

Can I at least have my crazy hemisphere of origin criticized by some one who isn't posting THIS ****!?:

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and most of the accusations of genocide in Xinjiang are based off of grainy satellite photos and witness testimonials. For example, the claim that millions of Uyghurs are being detained comes from interviewing a total of eight people in different villages who claimed that about 10% of their villages had been imprisoned, and then this was extrapolated to the entire Uyghur population to arrive at the oft-cited figure of 1 million, which then has just been arbitrarily inflated to 2, 3, 5, 10 million depending on who you ask.

What I don't get though, is why so many Western commentators on this subject seem to WANT there to be a genocide in Xinjiang, just like they want to believe that covid was leaked from a lab in Wuhan, or that organs are being harvested from Falun Gong prisoners, or that protesters are being murdered on the streets of Hong Kong. If it's exposing crimes against humanity that you care about, I think that you'll find all that and more much closer to home, whether you're talking about the child separation at the border, or the prison industrial complex, or the continuing drone strikes against schools and hospitals.

Maybe you didn't see how this conversation started, but it was when we were talking about vaccine diplomacy and I pointed out that Russia and China had donated 800 million doses to poor countries and the US and UK had donated none, and the immediate response I got was "Oh yeah? But what about the Uyghurs? Checkmate tankie!" If you can't see how fabricated claims of genocide poison the public discourse to serve imperialist aims, then I don't really know what else to say.

I wonder if I can compare this wording to a statement the Armenian (Correction: Turkish) government made about the "totally-not-genocide" on their turf. Maybe we can bet on which comes off as slimier

[PwrdOn]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...819_story.html

"The intelligence community has long warned policymakers and the public that pandemic disease could profoundly reshape global politics and U.S. national security. The authors of the report, which does not represent official U.S. policy, describe the pandemic as a preview of crises to come. It has been a globally destabilizing event — the council called it “the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II — that “has reminded the world of its fragility” and “shaken long-held assumptions” about how well governments and institutions could respond to a catastrophe."

The pandemic was only destabilizing because our leaders chose to prioritize the economy over public health, and ended up wrecking both. There are plenty of examples of countries who dealt with the outbreak much better by using simple but effective strategies that we completely failed to implement because we were too busy arguing over whether to wear masks. Anyone remember this?

[Malvolio]

John McCain has one of the most complicated legacies of any Republican of the past 40 years. In that he was completely full of s*** and inconsistent on the most dire of issues.

He could go on cable news during the Bush administration and pay lip service towards opposing the lack of strategy in the War on Terror, but then in 2008, argue against bringing troops out of Iraq.
He could talk about immigration reform through the same timeline up until 2009, when suddenly he ran ads to "fix the danged fence".
He spent years s***-talking the ACA, only to do the right thing and get off his deathbed to save it in 2018.
He talked about global security with a wisdom and informed opinion, but then could sing, "Bomb Iran" with a dead-eyed stare.

The only reason he doesn't get called out more is the heroics from his capture and refusal to go home without his comrades during Vietnam. That earned him the reverence that few ever got. And he ended up dying "on the right side" for feuding with one of the biggest ***holes in American history.

Somehow, the late Sen. McCain is both of the takes I quoted, at the same time. Neither of you has a bad take.

Yeah, McCain got to have it both ways, didn't he? I think he may have been the only person who could be interviewed by Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly and have both serve him softballs for the whole interview.

[worstblogever]

Yeah, McCain got to have it both ways, didn't he? I think he may have been the only person who could be interviewed by Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly and have both serve him softballs for the whole interview.

Stewart got wise to him... after a few years.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Adam Kinzinger Becomes First Republican In Congress To Call On Matt Gaetz To Resign

Gaetz has so far resisted calls he step down over a sexual misconduct investigation, saying that would “absolutely” not happen. Let's see if other Qpublicans follow Kinzinger's lead.

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CDC Identifies Racism As ‘Serious Public Health Threat’

The nation’s leading public health agency launched Racism and Health, a new initiative aimed at combating health inequities caused by racism. Something people of color have known for the longest time.

**********

Florida GOP Wants To Take On ‘Cancel Culture’ By Secretly Recording Professors

The bill would also require faculty to complete annual surveys on their political beliefs. So much for the GQP wanting to keep government out of the lives of the people.

**********

U.S. Olympic Athlete Sakura Kokumai Targeted In Racist Attack

The martial artist posted videos showing a man aggressively shouting at her while she was working out at a California park. If only she had kicked his racist ass.

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Joe Manchin: Any Voting Rights Legislation Has To Make Trump Supporters Happy

It will be hard to “restore bipartisan faith” in elections with Trump out to destroy it. Is he serious? **** Trump supporters! I am beyond tired of Manchin's unending bullshit!

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Anne Frank’s Stepsister Eva Schloss Says Trump Reminded Her Of Hitler

The 91-year-old Holocaust survivor said that the former president had “obviously admired Hitler and just copied him with his anti-Semitism.”

[mogwen]

To those among us from the UK, I honestly can't fully understand what is going on in Northern Ireland right now. I can't wrap my head around it. If you know of a good article or an information source that can provide more expiration, I'd appreciate the chance to read it. Thanks.

Hi, Tami!
I'm not from the UK, but I can link this to you https://www.dw.com/en/northern-irela...nce/a-57127900