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

[Malvolio]

No, no. Let's try that again. It's NEVER okay to mock someone's natural looks. Period. End of. Get this 'maybe' out of your head, because it's never okay. EVER.


Those are two very different thought processes. I agree, that when someone dresses a certain way, outlandish, out-there... they are going to get criticized. That doesn't mean those who criticize gets a free pass. Those are two very separate issues. ALL people in the public eye have to accept people will be jerks to them, about their looks, their gender, sexuality, race. That doesn't mean we 'approve' of those people... they're still jerks!


I, like most (I hope) was disgusted seeing Trump mimic a handicapped reporter during one of his speeches. And he's certainly gone after a woman's physical appearance before. By and large, my thought process is this: let's be better than Trump. Let's aim above that low, low, LOW bar of self humanity. It's not a huge ask.

Now you see, I don't like to deal in absolutes, like NEVER or ALWAYS. If an adult has pimples on their face, I think it's okay to make a gentle, non-mean spirited joke about it. Same if they have a big nose or big ears. Making the same jokes about a child would be wrong. But an adult should be able to take a few jokes at their expense. Making one joke about someone's appearance does not make you as bad as Donald Trump. If you make a habit out of it and you're not a professional comedian in the tradition of say, Don Rickles, then yeah, it's time to cut it out. I guess all I'm saying is that I prefer to take these things on a case by case basis, rather than having a zero tolerance policy.

[Tendrin]

Now you see, I don't like to deal in absolutes, like NEVER or ALWAYS. If an adult has pimples on their face, I think it's okay to make a gentle, non-mean spirited joke about it. Same if they have a big nose or big ears. Making the same jokes about a child would be wrong. But an adult should be able to take a few jokes at their expense. Making one joke about someone's appearance does not make you as bad as Donald Trump. If you make a habit out of it and you're not a professional comedian in the tradition of say, Don Rickles, then yeah, it's time to cut it out. I guess all I'm saying is that I prefer to take these things on a case by case basis, rather than having a zero tolerance policy.

I'd prefer to err on the side of not hurting people. There's usually little upside to throwing jibes at people's appearances and, usually, your joke isn't going to be creative or funny enough to merit putting them through something they've probably heard a hundred times before over their life span. It's not about having a thin or thick skin, it's just that usually there's no need. This, of course, is different when it's ribbing between friends who know each other.

[CaptainEurope]

The Strange Saga of Matt Gaetz, or How Not to Handle a Crisis

This story is getting so big that the media barely finds time to talk about Biden's dogs anymore.

Now it appears drugs have been involved, as well as payments for sex via a "Sugar Daddy" web site to at least one minor.

[CaptainEurope]

Your guy Trump never had an approval over the high 40s%. He never had a higher approval than disapproval. Jealous much?

Another thing that is looking different in the polls, with Biden and a Democratic Congress: The perception of whether your country is going in the right direction or not.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

This story is getting so big that the media barely finds time to talk about Biden's dogs anymore.

Now it appears drugs have been involved, as well as payments for sex via a "Sugar Daddy" web site to at least one minor.

New Matt Gaetz Bombshell Report Alleges Drugs, Sex, Money... And Receipts

The New York Times said Gaetz and his friend used Apple Pay and Cash App for drug-fueled sexual encounters in Florida hotels. That hole is progressively getting deeper for Matty Perv.

[CaptainEurope]

He always hit me as being something like Cruz.

No Republican holding Congressional office is going to so much as lose a step if either of them take a fall.

Jim Jordan and the KKK congresswoman from Georgia are fighting hard for him.

You know it's a big scandal when CNN is using the dramatic music in the background.

[babyblob]

Now you see, I don't like to deal in absolutes, like NEVER or ALWAYS. If an adult has pimples on their face, I think it's okay to make a gentle, non-mean spirited joke about it. Same if they have a big nose or big ears. Making the same jokes about a child would be wrong. But an adult should be able to take a few jokes at their expense. Making one joke about someone's appearance does not make you as bad as Donald Trump. If you make a habit out of it and you're not a professional comedian in the tradition of say, Don Rickles, then yeah, it's time to cut it out. I guess all I'm saying is that I prefer to take these things on a case by case basis, rather than having a zero tolerance policy.

As an overweight man who had a ban acne problem let me say there is nothing good natured or non mean spirited about a joke on my appearance from a stranger. It is done by the person so they can feel clever and get a few laughs from their buds, and say adults should be able to to take a few jokes at their expense when it comes to looks is just a way to justify being a jerk when said person has the nerve to get upset. it is not funny it is not clever to say something a person has heard a million times before and has issues with. Nothing gives any one the right to mock someone for something just for a laugh. Not everyone has thick skin, and even if they did not everyone wants to hear it nor should they be forced to. People want to hold the moral high ground on social issues and then say hey a couple jokes about some one's looks are okay because its all in fun and good natured. Well it is not fun for the target. It may not make them Trump but it sure as Hell does not make them a person I want to be around.

I got some ice cream at the store a couple weeks ago and some redneck asshole thought he would be witty and crack a joke about my weight. I at 40 and sick of it so I opened a bottle of soda I had and dumped it on the assholes face. At the end of the day a person should just keep that shit to themselves because it does a lot of harm.

[Mister Mets]

This story is getting so big that the media barely finds time to talk about Biden's dogs anymore.

Now it appears drugs have been involved, as well as payments for sex via a "Sugar Daddy" web site to at least one minor.

My favorite line about this...
Biden has a minor Major problem, and Gaetz has a major minor problem.

[babyblob]

My favorite line about this...
Biden has a minor Major problem, and Gaetz has a major minor problem.

This I like

[CSTowle]

How do these people (Gaetz/etc.) not realize that everything they do/say/spend money on is going to be scrutinized by motivated people looking to bring them down? And that while financial misconduct or questionable friendly deals might be seen as "part of the game", anything remotely sexual attracts eyeballs from the average Joe Voter crowd and is thus going to be scrutinized even more diligently by their rivals and enemies? Paying for your own prostitutes/"dates" using an app, having receipts for hotel rooms/plane tickets, etc. To what end? If you're going to be a creep, at least (for their own sake, but bless them for being stupid and reckless) be smart about it. I'd imagine that's why an Epstein was able to make as many frequent flyer friends as he did, he could bring the girls to them without putting their signatures on anything (aside from flight logs, I guess).

[Mister Mets]

But that's two different thoughts. "SHOULD THEY..." be aware and "ARE THEY..." aware. The fact is people organising political rallies ARE aware, it's their job to be aware, it's their job to be one-step ahead of the story and predict things that could cause problems before, during, or after the rally... whether it should be or not. So let's not pretend someone involved in a high level organising that rally was UNAWARE (whether they should be, or not).

I think you're describing fictional characters. Olivia Pope would be aware. If a real organizer were aware of a sensitive justice department investigation (and I'm sure it sometimes happens), something went wrong. But we shouldn't expect members of the justice department to leak information about investigations to campaign officials.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

It's fitting that the Qanon Cult's insane idea of a sex trafficking cult coincides with Matt Gaetz and the GOP more than it does with the "deep state".

At a certain point there needs to be a "Law of Projection" in Political Science, i.e. the more strident, forceful and insistent the accusation the greater the likelihood that the accuser is projecting their own guilt on to others.

-- McCarthy and Roy Cohn went around accusing and targeting homosexuals for persecution but were themselves deeply closeted gay men.
-- J. Edgar Hoover, second verse same as the first.
-- Richard Nixon insisting "I am not a crook" (cue the Narrator from Arrested Development: "He was in fact a crook")
-- Newt Gingrich tried to go after Clinton for being a womanizer when it turns out he himself was cheating on his wife.
-- Matt Gaetz enflamed Qanon and Trumpista ideas and validated an attempted Putsch all the while being himself a sleazebag pimp of underage girls.

[Agent Z]

No convictions for ex-officers accused of beating colleague at St. Louis protest

No convictions were returned for three white St. Louis police officers accused of beating a Black undercover colleague so severely during a protest over another officer’s acquittal that he had to undergo multiple surgeries.

A jury on Monday acquitted Officer Steven Korte of charges of deprivation of rights under color of law and of lying to the FBI in connection to the attack on Officer Luther Hall. It happened when Hall was mistaken for a protester during demonstrations that erupted after former police officer Jason Stockley, who is white, was found not guilty in the 2011 death of a Anthony Lamar Smith, who was Black.

Hall, who is still with the department, described the 2017 attack to jurors as a “free-for-all.”

Former officer Christopher Myers also was acquitted Monday of a deprivation of rights count, but the jury could not reach a verdict on a charge of destruction of evidence against Myers for allegedly smashing Hall’s cellphone. The jury also deadlocked on the deprivation of rights charge against former officer Dustin Boone, leading the judge to declare a mistrial on counts where the jury could not agree.

Defense lawyers said that police department chaos and dysfunction meant that officers and supervisors on the street didn’t know undercover officers were working that night. Defense lawyers also challenged Hall’s ability to identify his attackers.

The verdicts reignited criticisms that an all-white jury was picked to decide the case.

“If an undercover cop can’t get justice, how will the rest of us who have been maced, shot, beaten, and brutalized ever get justice?” tweeted Cori Bush, a Black congresswoman who represents the Missouri district that includes St. Louis.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncn...mpression=true

[Tami]

It's fitting that the Qanon Cult's insane idea of a sex trafficking cult coincides with Matt Gaetz and the GOP more than it does with the "deep state".

At a certain point there needs to be a "Law of Projection" in Political Science, i.e. the more strident, forceful and insistent the accusation the greater the likelihood that the accuser is projecting their own guilt on to others.

-- McCarthy and Roy Cohn went around accusing and targeting homosexuals for persecution but were themselves deeply closeted gay men.
-- J. Edgar Hoover, second verse same as the first.
-- Richard Nixon insisting "I am not a crook" (cue the Narrator from Arrested Development: "He was in fact a crook")
-- Newt Gingrich tried to go after Clinton for being a womanizer when it turns out he himself was cheating on his wife.
-- Matt Gaetz enflamed Qanon and Trumpista ideas and validated an attempted Putsch all the while being himself a sleazebag pimp of underage girls.

I wouldn't call it guilt in the sense that they felt guilty, just to clarify. A better way of describing it is projection and deflection. If you are doing something that you know could ruin your career or cause other problems for you if became public knowledge, if you are a public figure especially you know that simply keeping it quiet might not be enough to hide it. So, you project it on others and deflect attention from you to them. You use it as a way of creating a public persona of being the righteous one going after the sinners and criminals, the adult version of 'Hey, don't look at me, she/he did it!'

Problem is, Trump has made this now nearly impossible to do and get away with. Like Shakespeare's Hamlet said, "The lady (or guy) doth protest too much, methinks"

[Mister Mets]

One interesting wrinkle with the Gaetz stories is that we haven't heard from any of the women.

When that happens, when telegenic young women give interviews about how they were betrayed and taken advantage of, Gaetz's problems will become more worse.