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

[Mister Mets]

Nice of you to cast doubt on a GOP white nationalist, sex-trafficking pedophile's crimes, Mets. Especially given that we already KNOW Gaetz was self-aware enough of his guilt to seek a pardon.

New lows for your bottomless adventure.

Anyway, the Palmer Report, on Twitter, has cast doubt on the veracity of the "unnamed sources" within this article, and how strange this report is.

I posted an article from the Washington Post, a newspaper that is considered reputable and not exactly right-wing hackery. Your aggressive response is unmerited.

This carelessness when it comes to facts, consistency and decorum is not a new low for you, but it is typical of you.

[Mister Mets]

Again, not speaking for BB or anyone but myself. However. It's good to know what the other side is saying and how they're forming their arguments because it tells you where the fight is going to be, let's you see where their weaknesses are (and your own), and helps form arguments against them for use both speaking truth to stupid and because sometimes people can be misguided but then can also have things explained to them in greater detail and change their minds, and while it doesn't always work the big elections are usually won by a slim margin so every drop helps.

To use a few examples from the comic book world, the made-for-clickbait/outrage stories where "Superman is gay" and "Captain America is a Nazi, and always has been, and it'll never go back to normal (until it of course did)". Your set-in-his-ways granddad or uncle might hear that and think the worst, but a quick explanation and an invitation to look up the facts might (heavy emphasis on might, but still) help to negate those kind of stories.

Yelling about caravans of immigrants or "urban" crime rates might grab attention, but if you can point out the real statistics it again can blunt the impact of the nonsense.

More importantly, you're not always right. I don't mean you specifically, I mean one is not always right. Even in arguments with Republicans. So not having your head up your you-know by keeping only to sources and discussion partners that echo your own biases is important. Even if only to refresh/reestablish why you have the beliefs you do in the first place.

You're never going to eliminate arguments you don't agree with, you're never going to silence your opposition, you can only hope to make a better argument and hope that it matters enough to move the needle the slightest bit. To do that you're going to need to know what you're talking about, and what they are. Know what matters to them, know where they're mistaken, be willing to acknowledge you might be mistaken and that if you're checking every box in your Party's stock positions you might be stuck in that bubble and need to venture out. Even if it's to uncomfortable areas.

Following Fox News is a bit different than paying attention to someone like George Will.

It's worth following a wide array of news sources, but an important factor is editorial quality. I'm conservative, but there are progressive media sources I pay attention to. It's easy to have major blind spots if you refuse to do something like that, since you might be unaware of stories that are inconvenient to your side. It's useful to get the best version of the other side's argument.

This is not why people on the left watch Fox News. They're often quite slipshod when it comes to facts, so if you wanted to get the best version of right-wing arguments, there are much better sources. It can be still be useful for people on the left to understand where some Republicans are coming from, and what cultural issues are seen differently. That said, it is quite easy to exaggerate the significance of Fox News. Tucker Carlson has between 3-4.5 million viewers. Over 50,000,000 people voted for Republican candidates for US House in 2018, an election that went badly for the party.

Has the claim been solidified yet?

Not that it matters.


Way to hand them money and keep them in business.

People need to understand hate watching a show or channel keeps said media around.

Keep enabling stochastic terrorism.

Hatewatching does not explain Fox's ratings.

[Tami]

Trump endorsed congressional candidate JR Majewski today says that the reason why there is no record of him serving in combat in Afghanistan in his service record is because it is “classified.”

[The Cool Thatguy]

Trump endorsed congressional candidate JR Majewski today says that the reason why there is no record of him serving in combat in Afghanistan in his service record is because it is “classified.”

I'm certain that's a claim that'll stand up to scrutiny

*cough*

[Tami]

GOP Unveils 'Commitment To America' Plan With Stock Videos Of Russia, Ukraine

House Republican leaders on Friday unveiled their “Commitment to America” agenda for 2023 ― and with it, an inspirational video full of scenes presented as exceptional imagery of America that were actually stock footage from Russia and Ukraine.

The GOP’s video, “The Preamble to the Commitment to America,” opens with a narrator highlighting aspects of what it means to be an American.

“We celebrate the rich heritage of the American story and the vibrancy of the American Dream,” the voice says, over footage of a drilling rig at sunrise.

But this video snippet, an apparent nod to America’s natural resources, wasn’t filmed in America. It’s stock footage created by Serg Grbanoff, a filmmaker based in Russia.

Grbanoff told HuffPost that he filmed this scene in Russia’s Volgograd region. Here’s a screenshot of the image in the House Republican leaders’ video, versus an original shot on Shutterstock’s website:

[Jack Dracula]

Trump endorsed congressional candidate JR Majewski today says that the reason why there is no record of him serving in combat in Afghanistan in his service record is because it is “classified.”

To be fair, he probably only found out what the word actually means this week after his lawyers told him.

[babyblob]

To be fair, he probably only found out what the word actually means this week after his lawyers told him.

If I were running against him I would put a call into Biden and ask him to do a public statement where he waves a hand and declassifies them.

[Jack Dracula]

If I were running against him I would put a call into Biden and ask him to do a public statement where he waves a hand and declassifies them.

If you catch Biden on the right day he may actually do it.
“Sure, I have a few minutes. What the hell?”

[Gray Lensman]

Nice of you to cast doubt on a GOP white nationalist, sex-trafficking pedophile's crimes, Mets. Especially given that we already KNOW Gaetz was self-aware enough of his guilt to seek a pardon.

New lows for your bottomless adventure.

Anyway, the Palmer Report, on Twitter, has cast doubt on the veracity of the "unnamed sources" within this article, and how strange this report is.

I don't consider the Palmer Report to be a very credible source either. I read enough of it during the early days of the Trump accidency to file them under wishful thinking masquerading as news.

On the other hand, here is a summary of every Fox segment I have ever seen,..

[worstblogever]

I posted an article from the Washington Post, a newspaper that is considered reputable and not exactly right-wing hackery. Your aggressive response is unmerited.

This carelessness when it comes to facts, consistency and decorum is not a new low for you, but it is typical of you.

Yes, it is sadly typical that we have to point out the new lows that you find in trying to defend your party of seditionists and human traffickers.

You could stop going out of your way to defend the worst of the lot. And, I dunno, say something about the ones who actually show any sign of knowing how to govern. Just an idea.

[worstblogever]

Speaking of the GOP and sedition, former GOP Congressman Denver Riggleman was dismissed from the Jan. 6th committee in April, because he was doing a little too much talking to the press.

He just did an interview with 60 Minutes that's a pretty big leak... he says the Jan. 6th committee has evidence about the White House switchboard operator placing a call to a Jan. 6th attacker DURING THE ATTACK. To clarify, this is not an insurrectionist calling the White House... it's someone in the White House CALLED THEM.

[Tendrin]

More of this, please.

An Alaska judge ruled on Thursday that Alaska state Rep. David Eastman (R) will likely be found ineligible for office in a lawsuit seeking to oust the Republican over his lifetime membership with the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/j...per-ineligible

[Malvolio]

Trump endorsed congressional candidate JR Majewski today says that the reason why there is no record of him serving in combat in Afghanistan in his service record is because it is “classified.”

If it's really classified, isn't it against the rules for him to even talk about it?

[CaptainEurope]

Arizona can enforce near-total abortion ban, judge rules

Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson on Friday granted a request by the state's Republican attorney general, Mark Brnovich, to lift the court injunction barring enforcement of the ban, which was enacted decades before Arizona became a state in 1912.

The decision means that clinics across the southwestern state will have to stop providing the procedures to avoid the filing of criminal charges against doctors and other medical staff.

The only exception to the ban would be when the procedure is necessary to save the mother's life.

Siding with Brnovich, Johnson said that because the injunction was filed in 1973 following the Roe v. Wade decision, it must be lifted in its entirety.

[worstblogever]

More of this, please.



https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/j...per-ineligible

I hope it sets a precedent for other states as well. Because there are a LOT of domestic terrorists from that group running for office as Republicans.