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

[CaptainEurope]

About that...

Rudy was most likely looking out for Rudy.

That it looked like he was wrecking his career for Trump?

Just how it looked from a given angle.

Then he is not very good at looking out for himself.

Working with Trump turned him from "America's Mayor" (who had already become a bit of a carricature) to a guy sweating out hair dye, losing his law license, howling at an imaginary moon in the parking lot of a landscaping company he thought was a hotel.




Whatever money he made in the short run from some dark sources will line the pockets of other lawyers pretty soon.

[CaptainEurope]

So apparently, FoxNews contributor and substack blogger Gleen Greenwald accused comic book writer Cully Hamner of being anti LGBTI and antisemitic, after not clicking a link and not reading an article and now every comicbook writer everybody formed the Comic Book Writer SuperFriends to drag Glenn's ass all over twitter.

[Tendrin]

You can carp all you want about 'geographic sorting' to pretend away the flaws in our system but it's clearly a BS excuse to allow for results like this:

https://twitter.com/jacobdotgov/stat...44692894699521

And when citizens stand together to overturn GOP legislative nonsense at the ballot box with initiative systems, the GOP attempts to take that away too.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/u...democrats.html

If you value your 'conservatism' more than your democracy, you're just a fascist.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

You can carp all you want about 'geographic sorting' to pretend away the flaws in our system but it's clearly a BS excuse to allow for results like this:

https://twitter.com/jacobdotgov/stat...44692894699521

And when citizens stand together to overturn GOP legislative nonsense at the ballot box with initiative systems, the GOP attempts to take that away too.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/u...democrats.html

If you value your 'conservatism' more than your democracy, you're just a fascist.

In my opinion, it has nothing to do with conservatism anymore, it's all about power, getting it and keeping it by any means necessary.

[Tendrin]

In my opinion, it has nothing to do with conservatism anymore, it's all about power, getting it and keeping it by any means necessary.

That is all political conservatism has ever been. People can talk a good game about it's 'rich intellectual traditions', in Burke and Okaeshott and 'individual liberty' and the 'road to serform', but the reality is that it has only ever been used as a smokescreen.

[numberthirty]

Then he is not very good at looking out for himself.

...

You do realize that we are talking about Rudy, right?

Take a few minutes, and try to come up with five instances where, if you could try to set your personal political leanings aside, you could honestly say "Well, Rudy Did A Good Job There..."

[The Cool Thatguy]

You do realize that we are talking about Rudy, right?

Take a few minutes, and try to come up with five instances where, if you could try to set your personal political leanings aside, you could honestly say "Well, Rudy Did A Good Job There..."

Well, I can think of at least one.

He did a good job poisoning the first responders at 9/11.

[shooshoomanjoe]

It looks like Fox is ignoring Hunter's laptop scandal for a new scandal, Hunter selling off his artwork. And Fox viewers are irate about it. Fox knows how to anger their viewers over nothing.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

That is all political conservatism has ever been. People can talk a good game about it's 'rich intellectual traditions', in Burke and Okaeshott and 'individual liberty' and the 'road to serform', but the reality is that it has only ever been used as a smokescreen.

Corey Robin wrote a book about Conservatism and its history that's fascinating. He pointed out, and I am quoting from memory, conservativism has paradoxically been a movement of change, in that the traditions and values which conservatives defend constantly change and need updating but what happens is a copy/paste for the same defenses and arguments against say, expanding the vote to all men regardless of class, against women getting the vote, against abolition of slavery, against decolonization and so on...applied to newer "encroachments". Conservativism affects elitist ideas when it's convenient, populist ideas when it's convenient, and sometimes mix both together. So it doesn't really have much of a coherent idea.

That said, US Conservatism tends to be far more rigid than conservatism in the UK for instance (not that UK is better, same evil different speed morelike). So Edmund Burke for instance has some interesting arguments and he's someone you can engage with (albeit not agree with) whereas that's not true of American conservative writers like William Buckley among others who generally speaking aren't worth engaging with.

[Tendrin]

Corey Robin wrote a book about Conservatism and its history that's fascinating. He pointed out, and I am quoting from memory, conservativism has paradoxically been a movement of change, in that the traditions and values which conservatives defend constantly change and need updating but what happens is a copy/paste for the same defenses and arguments against say, expanding the vote to all men regardless of class, against women getting the vote, against abolition of slavery, against decolonization and so on...applied to newer "encroachments". Conservativism affects elitist ideas when it's convenient, populist ideas when it's convenient, and sometimes mix both together. So it doesn't really have much of a coherent idea.

That said, US Conservatism tends to be far more rigid than conservatism in the UK for instance (not that UK is better, same evil different speed morelike). So Edmund Burke for instance has some interesting arguments and he's someone you can engage with (albeit not agree with) whereas that's not true of American conservative writers like William Buckley among others who generally speaking aren't worth engaging with.

Thanks for the recommendation!

[JackDaw]

Hottest political story in UK is that Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, has had an affair with one of his aides.

As:-

1/ Most people think he’s not very good at job.

2/ The aide concerned is a close personal friend that he gave a government job to, without declaring the friendship.

3/ Matt broke several of his own health guidelines in pursuit of the affair. (Farcically at first he tried to claim he pursued the affair whilst at all times maintaining social distancing! But no one believed his manhood was quite that large….)

It would seem it’s a complete no-brainier to sack him, or tell him to resign.

But Boris has decided it’s all hunky dory, because Matt has apologised.

This feels like a watershed moment in UK politics to me. If Sir Keir Starmer (opposition leader) can’t manage…in this situation to get Matt Hancock sacked, time for a new Labour leader I think. But certainly time for a new Prime Minister…sadly Boris is corrupt, and not competent enough to make his corruption acceptable.

[Malvolio]

In my opinion, it has nothing to do with conservatism anymore, it's all about power, getting it and keeping it by any means necessary.

Well, the riff-raff can't be trusted to govern themselves. They're just children, right?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Hottest political story in UK is that Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, has had an affair with one of his aides.

As:-

1/ Most people think he’s not very good at job.

2/ The aide concerned is a close personal friend that he gave a government job to, without declaring the friendship.

3/ Matt broke several of his own health guidelines in pursuit of the affair. (Farcically at first he tried to claim he pursued the affair whilst at all times maintaining social distancing! But no one believed his manhood was quite that large….)

It would seem it’s a complete no-brainier to sack him, or tell him to resign.

But Boris has decided it’s all hunky dory, because Matt has apologised.

This feels like a watershed moment in UK politics to me. If Sir Keir Starmer (opposition leader) can’t manage…in this situation to get Matt Hancock sacked, time for a new Labour leader I think. But certainly time for a new Prime Minister…sadly Boris is corrupt, and not competent enough to make his corruption acceptable.

Silly question: Was that aide female? For Boris not to send Hancock packing after word of the affair got out tells me Johnson considered it nothing more than just a case of "Boys being boys". But, if Hancock was doing the horizontal boogie with another man, he'd be run out of politics faster than you can say "You'll never walk alone" (Liverpool FC's theme song).

[JackDaw]

Silly question: Was that aide female? For Boris not to send Hancock packing after word of the affair got out tells me Johnson considered it nothing more than just a case of "Boys being boys". But, if Hancock was doing the horizontal boogie with another man, he'd be run out of politics faster than you can say "You'll never walk alone" (Liverpool FC's theme song).

A woman.

I did wonder myself if sex of aide would have an impact on chances of Matt being forced out…I actually thought if aide was male it might help survival chances (on argument that calling for resignation might then look to be homophobic.)

In a perfect world it wouldn’t make a difference. But in a perfect world Matt Hancock wouldn’t be Health Secretary. He’s a hypocrite apart from anything else…he’s made very sure people in very similar circumstances have been forced to resign.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Well, the riff-raff can't be trusted to govern themselves. They're just children, right?

Or worse, minorities!