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

[babyblob]

I am watching The Simpson on FXX. Ned had a great line.

"I wish I can live in a simpler time. In a time and place that only ever existed in the minds of Us Republicans."

[Zauriel]

Leo Terrell, a self-proclaimed "fair-minded civil rights attorney" speaks out his mind once more, still backing his master Trump even after his insurrection failed. Leo has become a narrow-minded, brash, petty, and self-destructive clown, who refuses to back down from his insane support of Trump. He reminds me of a character played by Samuel Jackson in the movie Django Unchained.


Leo Terrell vows to 'campaign against' Republicans backing Trump removal

Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney who joined the Republican Party after a lifetime as a Democrat, vowed to take strong action against members of the GOP who vote to impeach or convict President Trump during his final days in office.

"I will personally campaign AGAINST any Republican who votes for either impeachment and/or conviction," he tweeted on Monday afternoon.

Vowing retribution for those who betray Trump, Terrell painted a picture of weak-willed, opportunistic Republicans worthy of primary challengers during his accompanying KABC broadcast. He said that he was "disappointed" that "fools" in the GOP were turning away from Trump.

"I will not endorse any Republican candidate if they betray the president. I will not support or endorse any candidate if they quit on the president. My support, as a Trump Republican, depends on the policies of the candidate, the program of that candidate, and the requirement to drain the swamp," he said, adding that it is "very, very shameful" that members of Congress are abandoning Trump.

“It is very, very, very disappointing for me to hear that Republicans have abandoned the president. They used him. ... There are other Republicans who needed the president's support, his popularity, his magnetism, and when they won, they turned their backs on the president,” he said. "There should be a 'thank you,' not an 'I quit, Mr. President.'"

Pledging continued loyalty to the president, Terrell explained that his conversion from far-left Democrat to pro-Trump Republican in July 2020 was an enduring ideological transformation.

"I am a Trump Republican, and when I became a Trump Republican, it was permanent. ... I will remain a Trump Republican beyond Jan. 20, 2021. I will remain a Trump Republican forever," he promised. "I don't quit because President Trump's policies, his programs, what he did for people, what he accomplished in four years, to me, was an attempt to drain the swamp."

[worstblogever]

Devin Nunes already whined about the Trumpworld social media deplatforming cutting off their communication. Somebody should ask him on camera if he'd rather exchange his Medal in order to be able to post on Twitter/FB/Parler again, just to remind him how worthless that thing is now. Homer Simpson being knocked out by his own Grammy was infinitely more dignified.

Imagine a group of people who think they have a right to Twitter, but think that there are people who don't have a right to healthcare or food.

Now think of Republicans, because that's them.

[Rzerox21xx]

Trump doesn't know what neoliberalism is and is a known liar who manipulates his audience into believing whatever will help him at the moment. What's really strange is how his ratings went up with the Latino/Hispanic community when he tried to throw them in camps and out of the country.



What? Liberal pundits hate Trump, they're not his allies. Their bosses are, though.



The mainstream media has acknowledged this for years, it's old news by this point.



True.

just to give some insight on why Trump did so well in the Latino community, well I guess it could be owe to Cubans, I live in Miami and know personally alot that voted for him. but yeah I been told Cubans vote Republican no matter because they fear Socialism and Communism as the same thing due to coming from Communist Cuba. its like that, or any Latin where their country of origin was ruin by socialism in their eyes. yeah, it explain why FL is almost always red in every election.

[InformationGeek]

I am watching The Simpson on FXX. Ned had a great line.

"I wish I can live in a simpler time. In a time and place that only ever existed in the minds of Us Republicans."

The Simpsons can still pull out a killer line every now and then and boy, does that just really get to the heart of that side of the political aisle.

[Zauriel]

It would not have worked out the way you think it would.



Arnold wasn't a "rising star" in the GOP. He was a moderate Republican to start with but on becoming Governor of California coasting on his fame, once in power, found that he needed Democrat support to get any of his policies done. So he gradually moved towards the center. Schwarzenegger campaigned on a personal brand and a desire for his own legacy (as a mediocre CA governor and a mediocre politican) rather than a party innovator.

So that meant he never had it in him to be a national-level Republican candidate. Arnold's instincts as a politician weren't naturally centrist as it now seems. It's definitely moreso than the GOP at large. Arnold is more European conservative than US conservative. But he was by CA standards quite right wing and he ended his tenure as Governor with record low approval rates.



Decency? Schwarzenneger? Oy vey!! Listen, the enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend.

Schwarzenegger was once ranked in the top 11 worst governors list for ethics and conduct violations. He was into cronyism, doing favors for friends and so on. There were reports of drug use and sexual misconduct while in office. He also oversaw executions in a state that had just 13 in the last 40 years, and indeed oversaw the last executions in California. Those executions were so politically toxic and optically bad, that nobody has ordered one since.

Schwarzenegger was arguably a contributor to the media-entertainment industrial complex that paved the way for Trump's presidency. If a former bodybuilder turned action hero could become Governor, why not a reality TV star?

Ironically, the most blue state in the Union has elected Schwarzenegger as Governor. California also elected fellow Californians Nixon and Reagan to the presidency. That was before California flipped blue in 1992.

The residents of Schwarzenegger's Austrian hometown were so ashamed of his policy on the state executions, that they distanced themselves from him and stopped advertising it has the Hometown of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[Gray Lensman]

The Simpsons can still pull out a killer line every now and then and boy, does that just really get to the heart of that side of the political aisle.

My favorite is still the Fox News helicopter crashing.

"We're unbalanced! It's not FAIR!"

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Trump doesn't know what neoliberalism is

You don't have to know what neoliberalism is to be a neoliberal. Neoliberalism is an economic concept and principle, which is private ownership is better than government regulation, and it gets articulated under stuff like "too much red tape", "run a government like a business", or using buzz words like "entrepreneurs" and so on. It's most obvious symbol is playing down political and economic motives in favor of cultural factors or making it about individualism and so on. So Trump in his late-campaign stage made an outreach for African-Americans and decided to call it "opportunity centers" and so on. This followed Tim Scott, the major African-American Republican senator, who started doing that.

The biggest symbol of neoliberalism is that American society and culture since the '80s has treated businessmen as if they are intellectuals. And Donald Trump's entire personal brand is all based on that. The Art of the Deal is a big example of that. Not about the content of the book (it's next to useless) but the fact that Trump felt he needed to present himself that way, compelled to be seen in that light. And it's not just Trump, you have Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos to some extent, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk even moreso (though now that he's semi-outed as a clown, less so). The entire media industry has compelled people, from across the spectrum (mostly in the center), to accept or internalize this. The end result of that is people thinking that Trump having wealth gives him inherent value as a human being, when he in fact has none.

What's really strange is how his ratings went up with the Latino/Hispanic community when he tried to throw them in camps and out of the country.

Not this early-election Pre-Blue Shift narrative again. Biden ultimatley did far better with Latinos and Hispanics than Trump did, as well as African-Americans. There's a section of any community and any group that will vote Republican, but what happened in 2020 is Pandemic meant turnout increased for both parties, so that meant the section of red-voting Latinos went up more than before. That's not improvement, that's just a mirage.
https://www.theroot.com/the-myth-of-...ter-1845502044
https://www.propublica.org/article/t...earn-from-2020

[Robotman]

My favorite is still the Fox News helicopter crashing.

"We're unbalanced! It's not FAIR!"

There was another episode that featured a banner on a Fox News helicopter that said, “Fox News. Not racists, but #1 with racists.”

[BeastieRunner]

This might be a bit too tinfoil hat for me, fair warning. On Parler's delisting ...

According to a decently large tech company that interacts with Amazon on a regular basis through their AWS offering, there are very few reasons AWS would remove any offering from their platform.

My intuition is that there is a lot going on behind the scenes right now.

Within hours enough companies reversed on Parler to effectively kill them. AWS is the most direct with the highest risk in doing it and the least to benefit. That makes me believe that the FBI was involved and contacted the various companies as a mitigation step. They know how big of a problem we could have soon unless action is taken. In basic terms a communication platform was shut down for domestic terrorists with almost no means to revive in within 2 weeks.

I could be wrong, but the shut downs appeared too organized, timely, and efficient. That all dips into conspiracy territory at that point.

Bottom line reality according to the decently large tech company is the basic software architecture a company like Parler would use ... they will be very hard pressed to spin up their platform again any time soon.

I mentioned it in another post of mine but I I would not be surprised if someone on the Senate or House Committee on Oversight for the FCC called Dorsey or Zuckerberg, outlying what is coming down the pike, so they reacted this time.

And yes, that is a little tinfoil hat for me, too.

Just something that has been sticking in my craw about this.

[BeastieRunner]

Damn man. I am sorry to hear about your sister. let me say you are in for a rough ride. All jokes aside if you need an ear my pm are open.

It is hard seeing people you grew up with and love become victims of this cult.

So sorry to hear Beast.

Thanks. I truly appreciate it.

I'm not looking for sympathy ... just wondering if it's something we need? It seems to be a growing trend.

I would like to fight it and help people, not knuckle under.

[Steel Inquisitor]

[QUOTE=Revolutionary_Jack;5322836]You don't have to know what neoliberalism is to be a neoliberal. Neoliberalism is an economic concept and principle, which is private ownership is better than government regulation, and it gets articulated under stuff like "too much red tape", "run a government like a business", or using buzz words like "entrepreneurs" and so on. It's most obvious symbol is playing down political and economic motives in favor of cultural factors or making it about individualism and so on. So Trump in his late-campaign stage made an outreach for African-Americans and decided to call it "opportunity centers" and so on. This followed Tim Scott, the major African-American Republican senator, who started doing that. [./quote]

I'm saying that's why he didn't use that language, and even if he did understand that conservatives don't use neoliberalism in their reasoning to recruit people to their cause. That's strictly leftist. Dubya definitely didn't use that language and he rose to power like Trump did.

The biggest symbol of neoliberalism is that American society and culture since the '80s has treated businessmen as if they are intellectuals. And Donald Trump's entire personal brand is all based on that. The Art of the Deal is a big example of that. Not about the content of the book (it's next to useless) but the fact that Trump felt he needed to present himself that way, compelled to be seen in that light. And it's not just Trump, you have Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos to some extent, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk even moreso (though now that he's semi-outed as a clown, less so). The entire media industry has compelled people, from across the spectrum (mostly in the center), to accept or internalize this. The end result of that is people thinking that Trump having wealth gives him inherent value as a human being, when he in fact has none.

Not all business men, and women, are smart but there are smart business men. Trump is just extra dumb even by their standards. Musk is smart within his own disciplines but he's nowhere near as smart as he's billed at - in fact he's really dumb on numerous subjects. Which isn't that uncommon among intellectuals. For example the brain surgeon Trump hired that was running in the '16 primary - unparalleled genius brain surgeon, though the ancient pyramids were used for grain silos.

Not this early-election Pre-Blue Shift narrative again. Biden ultimatley did far better with Latinos and Hispanics than Trump did, as well as African-Americans. There's a section of any community and any group that will vote Republican, but what happened in 2020 is Pandemic meant turnout increased for both parties, so that meant the section of red-voting Latinos went up more than before. That's not improvement, that's just a mirage.
https://www.theroot.com/the-myth-of-...ter-1845502044
https://www.propublica.org/article/t...earn-from-2020

I didn't say Trump did better than Biden with that demographic, I said it went up despite his policies. The fact that that many Latinos still voted for him despite all he did since '16 proves my point. None of that turned them off from voting for Trump, the white supremacy was a feature, not a bug for these voters.

https://www.vox.com/2020/11/5/215486...ic-vote-latinx

[Zauriel]

Trump doesn't know what neoliberalism is and is a known liar who manipulates his audience into believing whatever will help him at the moment. What's really strange is how his ratings went up with the Latino/Hispanic community when he tried to throw them in camps and out of the country.

.

Perhaps it is because most Latinos are Catholics, whose Church hierarchy strongly opposes abortions.

Justices Gorsuch, Kavanagh and Barrett are Catholics. Gorsuch's and Kavanagh's predecessors Scalia and Anthony Kennedy were also Catholics. They are all known for their pro-life stances.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Ironically, the most blue state in the Union has elected Schwarzenegger as Governor.

It's not all that ironic as you think it is.

California is a very big state and it has a pretty large population and yeah, California seems on the surface to be aquamarine blue these days...but just scratch it a bit and you get to see a more complex picture. California has several rural counties that vote Republican, and very deep red Republican.

People pointed out that numerically speaking more people in California voted for Trump than any other state in 2016 but electoral college meant that their votes effectively didn't matter. It's not an accident that Kevin McCarthy, a really extreme wingnut and current House Minority leader (seriously he'd be far worse for America should he become Speaker than even an oligarch like Paul Ryan), comes from California. One of the many representatives who decided to vote against certifying the election even after the Putsch came from a county in Los Angeles.

California Dems tend to be socially quite liberal but fiscally quite Clintonian. It's not a total accident that Gavin Newsom used to be Mr. Kimberly Guilfoyle. Obviously she wasn't as extreme then as later, but she decided a centrist Dem fit her moderate Republican views. Newsom as Mayor of San Francisco oversaw the gentrification of the city and basically pledged fealty to the oligarchs of Silicon Valley. California Senator Diane Feinstein is also pretty sketchy (and quite a flop in her position in the Senate Judiciary committee last few years) and quite moderate in other respects. Sure not as much as Manchin but quite so.

As one commentator pointed out, there are now more progressive senators from Georgia than California where both Ossoff and Warnock in their campaigns are further to the left than Diane Feinstein is. And in the 2020 election, FL voted to increase the minimum wage while Californians voted to deny Uber and Lyft drivers rights for any kind of collective bargaining. I am not one who says the Left-Right Spectrum is outmoded, because it isn't. But the Red State and Blue State thing definitely is. It's not a thing that California is one step away from an utopian socialist republic or any such thing or that it can be permanently a blue bastion.

California also elected fellow Californians Nixon and Reagan to the presidency. That was before California flipped blue in 1992.

Let me say that as impossible as it seems now, it's possible for Republicans to regain California if they come up with a kind of libertarianism that allows for social equality but otherwise keeps the government out of big business, they might, might be competitive in California again. I wouldn't rule it out.

My intuition is that there is a lot going on behind the scenes right now.

I'd say that intuition is sound.

Within hours enough companies reversed on Parler to effectively kill them. AWS is the most direct with the highest risk in doing it and the least to benefit. That makes me believe that the FBI was involved and contacted the various companies as a mitigation step. They know how big of a problem we could have soon unless action is taken. In basic terms a communication platform was shut down for domestic terrorists with almost no means to revive in within 2 weeks.

I could be wrong, but the shut downs appeared too organized, timely, and efficient. That all dips into conspiracy territory at that point.

Well it's not really conspiracy theory, it's basically scattershot sudden quick moves reacting to immediate news that happen quickly which nobody realized and quickly doing what can be done to disassociate themselves from a coup.

And I don't think the shut downs are "too organized, timely, and efficient" because in the case of Parler, AWS gave them 24 hours notice before shutting them down. Apple gave them an ultimatum for a day or two. Google Play struck hard and fast, and first. In the case of twitter, they initially suspended Trump for 12 hours and then after that they banned him permanently.

I mentioned it in another post of mine but I I would not be surprised if someone on the Senate or House Committee on Oversight for the FCC called Dorsey or Zuckerberg, outlying what is coming down the pike, so they reacted this time.

And yes, that is a little tinfoil hat for me, too.

Just something that has been sticking in my craw about this.

Silicon Valley had two choices, either one had its downside. They could have continued to platform Trumpworld and earn the ire of the Dems and moderate Republicans and the general public and become tarred with the bracket of Krupp and IG Farben for Trumpmerica or they take steps to divest Trumpworld and invite further ire and debates about their outsize roll that's tanked their popularity across the board, and made them susceptible to regulation. They'll survive with the second option but the wild west days is over.

[numberthirty]

While there is obviously quite a lot going on, this particularly disheartening one is from the "Illinois..." front. Seems like the man in question's behavior might have indicated that something like this could wind up being in the cards. Shame that he didn't get any of the help that it seems like he needed. -

https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2...******evanston

In videos ahead of shooting spree, gunman says, ‘I’m going to blow up the whole community’