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

[Hellion]

The right is currently trying to 'reform' social media platofrms because people keep saying mean things about the President.

I'm aware of that farce. I was speaking generally.

[Tami]

Judge formally dismisses Michael Flynn case after Trump pardon

(CNN)Judge Emmet Sullivan of the DC District Court on Tuesday dismissed Michael Flynn's criminal case as moot, following Flynn's pardon by President Donald Trump, ending a tortured three-year-long proceeding.

After lying to the FBI and to members of Trump's administration in early 2017, Flynn lost his job as national security adviser, setting in motion a series of events that led to Trump firing FBI Director James Comey and the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russian interference in the election and the President obstructing justice.

I'm fairly certain that the Judge was not happy about this.

[Gray Lensman]

I'm waiting to see which judge / court finally starts to lay their gavel down on them and start meting out fines for filing frivolous lawsuits. The only reason they are doing it as to pacify the big Orange Brat and stay in his favor.

The last one from Nevada had them ordered to pay both sets of lawyers as part of the dismissal.

[Gray Lensman]

Twitter Link

Link to filing pdf

Craziest Parts

Attachment 102966

Attachment 102967

Note how the Solicitor General is nowhere to be found in that paperwork. Since that filing is not for a criminal case, that's the person who should be doing ghus rather than the AG. Except that the SG probably knows how stupid this is and refuses to be a part of it.

[Panfoot]

Whereas Rowling has some unpopular opinions here and there

So were still regarding who gets human rights as "unpopular opinions"?

[Joker]

So were still regarding who gets human rights as "unpopular opinions"?

But she's not as bad as Trump, so it's no big deal!

[Tami]

Elevating Fringe Theories, Ron Johnson Questions Virus Science

WASHINGTON — In choosing a slate of doctors to testify about coronavirus treatments before his committee on Tuesday, Senator Ron Johnson has assembled a cast of witnesses who question much of the public health consensus about the virus.

There is a prominent vaccine skeptic, an outspoken critic of masking and social distancing, and at least two doctors who have promoted the use of an anti-parasitic drug that government scientists have recommended against using to treat the coronavirus.

It is the latest example of how Mr. Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has used his powerful investigative panel to amplify groundless accusations pushed by President Trump, has now embraced the role of the Senate’s leading Covid contrarian.

Even as some of his Republican colleagues have sought to use their platforms to encourage Americans to take precautions against the spread of the virus and persuade the public that vaccines against it will be safe and vital, Mr. Johnson has suggested that the dangers of the coronavirus have been overblown and excessively regulated. And twice in the past three weeks, Mr. Johnson has used his gavel on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to elevate voices who public health experts say represent fringe

[Adam Allen]

I said relatively innocent. You'll not find me arguing against repercussions for outrageous/harmful/dangerous views and opinions. But at the same time, people should be able to distinguish apples from oranges.

Trump practically gave marching orders to the KKK and now he and his supporters are inciting violence and social unrest based on outright lies. The threat level from Trump is much more severe than, say, an author of children's books expressing concern over which gender-designated public restrooms transfolk can or should be able to use. We should also distinguish between their characters. Trump seems like he's only ever been a narcissistic shyster and the ease with which the Republican Party allowed him to become a dictator means that he'll never stop trying to keep that level of power. Trump should absolutely be cancelled. Whereas Rowling has some unpopular opinions here and there but has spent her professional career doing immeasurable good for the world, more good than will likely ever be overshadowed by unpopular opinions, from charity work to bolstering literacy rates. Should she be cancelled? No, because Rowling is defined by so much more than a few opinions on the trans debate, as opposed to Trump, who is pretty much solely defined by negative qualities.

The fact that proponents of cancel culture (or at least their social media personas) display an alarming lack of this cognitive dissonance is concerning, and it really keeps me in my politically centrist position. The extremism from some on the far left in regards to any offense, serious or minor, to political correctness is just as bad as the extremism from many on the far right in regards to any offense to the worldview inspired by the Bible.

There isn't any cognitive dissonance between being able to criticize an influential author for expressing views that are harmful to a vulnerable population, and also acknowledging the ocean or harm created by Trump. Why would there be?

I mean, as far as apples and oranges -- are you saying that you are seeing people thinking she is worse than Trump? Or ... yeah, she's not a politician. But, that does not insulate you from having people disagree with you vehemently. If you don't want people to express their own opinions in response to yours -- you can always keep your opinion to yourself.

This thing though, about "cancel culture" or I guess "political correctness", where some seem to want the ability to say whatever they want, but to be protected from others looking very negatively upon them for saying it -- that ought to cause you some cognitive dissonance. How does that make sense? Rowling (or whoever) gets to express ignorant and biased opinions, but no one else is supposed to have an opinion when they do?

Now, again, this is not at all any attempt on my part to paint her as worst than Trump or even anywhere near as harmful. But, just aiming for "better than Trump" is a pretty low bar for anyone to clear.

Honestly, I have to say, it kind of seems like you're emphasizing kind of questionable criticisms of "the Left" just so you can say you're a "centrist" which I guess is just magically better than Left or Right.

[Jeremi]

Do I have to share the image from yesterday again? 9 times out of 10 when someone says neither left nor right...they are right.

[skyvolt2000]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba...us/ar-BB1bJACK

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine candidate detailed in extensive FDA report…
Cameroon police lift blocking of opposition leader's home
The Hill logoNBA star Karl-Anthony Towns says he has lost 7 family members to coronavirus

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns said he has lost seven family members to COVID-19.

Karl-Anthony Towns standing in front of a crowd: NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns says he has lost 7 family members to coronavirus© Getty Images NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns says he has lost 7 family members to coronavirus
The star NBA player, who is preparing to start his sixth season in the NBA, said that the death of his uncle on Thursday marked the seventh death in his family connected to the coronavirus.

"I've been through a lot, obviously starting out with my mom," Towns told ESPN on Friday. "I feel like I've been hardened a little bit by life and humbled."

Towns's mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, succumbed to complications from COVID-19 in April. She was 58, ESPN reported.

[Hellion]

So were still regarding who gets human rights as "unpopular opinions"?

Point out a specific instance in which Rowling has come out against human rights.

For the record, I don't have much of an opinion on the public restroom debate, but then again I live in Montana. We can legally piss alongside the highways and frequently do.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Today in Texas the Attorney General of that state filed what many are claiming as the most stupid lawsuit ever filed in history. In fact political experts are busy calling that guy a fucking moron more or less for his silly stunt and decided to just tell us all about it ....

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-...7fa382c2b4cc54

“Texas doesn’t have standing to raise these claims as it has no say over how other states choose electors; it could raise these issues in other cases and does not need to go straight to the Supreme Court; it waited too late to sue; the remedy Texas suggests of disenfranchising tens of millions of voters after the fact is unconstitutional; there’s no reason to believe the voting conducted in any of the states was done unconstitutionally; it’s too late for the Supreme Court to grant a remedy even if the claims were meritorious (they are not).

“What utter garbage. Dangerous garbage, but garbage.”

He noted that Texas’s Solictor General Kyle Hawkins, whose job it is to supervise and conduct the state’s litigation in the Supreme Court, had not put his name on the lawsuit, surmising that Mr Hawkins “surely would not sign this garbage”.

Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas’s School of Law, wrote off the lawsuit as a “dangerous, offensive and wasteful” stunt. He also described Mr Paxton’s filing as, and I quote, “insane”.

“It looks like we have a new leader in the ‘craziest lawsuit filed to purportedly challenge the election’ category,” said Prof Vladeck.

Finally, Eugene Mazo from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law told Law & Crime Mr Paxton’s lawsuit was the “craziest case” of the post-election period.

“This is the dumbest case any lawyer has ever seen, and the Supreme Court won’t touch it. Really, this is the craziest case of them all. Unbelievable,” Prof Mazo said.

“It’s just unbelievable to any sane, normal person who understands the structure of our constitutional system and how it functions.”

[Hellion]

But she's not as bad as Trump, so it's no big deal!

This prime example of the Left cannibalizing their own supporters is why I'm centrist. Your "anybody who doesn't agree with me 100% of the time is the enemy" approach overshoots the rational bounds of criticism and is part of the problem when it comes to our deeply polarized society.

[Hellion]

Do I have to share the image from yesterday again? 9 times out of 10 when someone says neither left nor right...they are right.

I fail to see how having a problem with cancel culture/the far-left's hypersensitivity when it comes to identity politics and political correctness automatically makes me right-wing.

[Mister Mets]

Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians

She also slept with two midwestern mayors.

Do I have to share the image from yesterday again? 9 times out of 10 when someone says neither left nor right...they are right.

I wonder if it's a matter of context. In a left-wing environment, are right-wingers less likely to share their opinions? Would left-wingers be more nervous about it in some kind of conservative environment, and therefore more likely to avoid arguments by saying that they see the wisdom of both sides, rather than being honest about where they stand.

On the other hand, from the perspective of someone in the left, a centrist is a right-winger. Someone on the far right would see as a centrist as being very left-wing.