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

[Mister Mets]

*taps the sign*

Do you think his elderly relative is a Nazi?

Am I?

So if I meet an elderly relative who I know to be generous and fair minded and she or he employs a phrase from long ago I should disregard everything I know about them?

Or when I meet some one from a completely different culture from mine and they use a phrase that carries racist overtones in my own culture I should immediately assume “racist”?.

Realistically, I’m just practicing empathy by trying to really understand where the other person is coming from.

[aja_christopher]

There is no misrepresentation. I said the following.

You pushed back.

So you pushed back against the idea that all of us should treat the other side the way we would like them to treat people on our side.

This is the argument I replied to:

Well said. The dehumanization of political opponents can lead in a dangerous direction, especially with polarization that leads to many Americans barely interacting with anyone who has different views.

Empathy is important, although it does seem that people calling for it often aren't nice to the people they disagree with. It's something they insist on for some of the people they see as being on their side.

People are currently being persecuted and killed by extremists as a result of right-wing rhetoric that dehumanizes "minorities" as less than others.

Republicans aren't being "dehumanized" -- they are being called out for their behaviors and their policies with facts and evidence.

No one is obligated to "be nice" when pointing out the truth about Republican behaviors that are leading to discrimination against and the death of American citizens.

It is not "both sides" engaging in this kind of discriminatory and violent behavior -- it is clearly primarily a right wing issue.

This kind of blatant misdirection is why many say you aren't "debating" in good faith.

Democrats tried "nice" and Republicans got a Supreme Court pick -- you ignore that and instead argue about "being nice" rather than addressing the primary issue.

Namely that you still have yet to provide evidence that you aren't supporting white nationalist homophobic candidates.

Your concern about "dehumanization" apparently doesn't apply to how your chosen candidates treat the LGBT community.

And how "nice" they are has nothing to do with it so just stop with the hypocrisy and own up to what you are voting for.

This will be my last post on the issue as I'm done encouraging what I consider to be trolling at this point -- you can't say you weren't given fair chance to reply.

[Malvolio]

How many times can you treat someone with respect, expecting the same from them, and then have them treat you like shit, before you realize that you're being played for a sucker?

And if a third party tells you that you should continue to play nice with the one who treats you like shit , well that third party is playing you for a sucker too.

[aja_christopher]

[Deleted.]

[Spike-X]

But I don't know what persuaded you.

Bullshit you don't.

[Spike-X]

Most people get along just fine with people who disagree with them on political issues. I have friends with whom I disagree on economic policies, health care, environment, etc. Friends are more right than me or more left.

But why should anyone treat someone with respect who wants to erase or eradicate them? Why should I treat people who want to deny basic human rights to me with respect when they're dead set on mistreating me? Republicans demand to be treated with respect while giving none. As a party, in their official platforms and in the legislation they pass, want to deny rights to LGBTQ+. They want to eradicate Trans people. They consistently pass laws against women, Black and Hispanic people, like taking power away from Black voters over police, education and judicial systems throughout the south.

Human rights are only a "political issue" for Republicans. There are no "two sides" or "common ground" possible with bigots who would deny me or others basic human rights.

Exactly this. There is no "other side" to the idea that people simply deserve to exist that should be taken seriously or give any kind of equal consideration.

[Spike-X]

There is no misrepresentation. I said the following.

You pushed back.



So you pushed back against the idea that all of us should treat the other side the way we would like them to treat people on our side.

I'm fine with treating Nazis the way they aspire to treat the people they despise.

[PaulBullion]

Special counsel Jack Smith has reportedly honed in on an incident last July in which a Mar-a-Lago worker conspicuously inquired about the Florida resort’s security camera policies—just weeks after he helped an aide to former President Donald Trump, Walt Nauta, move boxes of documents into a storage room just ahead of a visit from Department of Justice and FBI officials to collect classified materials. The unnamed employee asked a Mar-a-Lago IT worker about how the facility’s cameras operated, as well as how long images remained in the system, The Washington Post reported Tuesday night. He later told investigators that the conversation was innocuous and that he had no idea Trump was being investigated or subpoenaed—a statement investigators were skeptical of, the newspaper reported.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/prosec...ium=socialflow

[Tendrin]

Bullshit you don't.

The sheer condescenion.

[Tendrin]

FLORIDA HRT CRISIS: SB 254, effective May 17 2023, banned nearly all new HRT prescriptions and refills of existing prescriptions for trans adults, for up to 6 more weeks or until “emergency” state-mandated consent forms are published by the Boards of Medicine.
Trans care bans were never about “protecting children” — they were about making all trans existence completely impossible. See for yourself.

Like we told you.

https://floridaban.com/

[CaptainEurope]

Tara Reade, a former Senate aide who accused President Joe Biden of sexual assault, announced Tuesday she defected to Russia.

The shocking confession was made during a Russian state press conference, where Reade was sitting next to alleged Kremlin spy—and pal—Maria Butina. Reade told the pro-Putin press the “very difficult” decision to move came after the realization that she no longer feels safe in Biden's America.

“I'm still kind of in a daze a bit but I feel very good,” Reade told Sputnik. “I feel very surrounded by protection and safety. And I just really so appreciate Maria [Butina] and everyone who's been giving me that at a time when it's been very difficult to know if I'm safe or not.”


“You have U.S. and European citizens looking for safe haven here,” Reade added. “And luckily, the Kremlin is accommodating. So we're lucky.”

In the hours-long Tuesday conversation—which was live-streamed on Twitter that garnered about 500 viewers—Reade touched upon a litany of topics, ranging from Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine to her critiques of America's “terrible” roads. She asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for citizenship, although she denied any pre-existing ties to Russia.

“To my Russian brothers and sisters, I’m sorry right now that American elites are choosing to have such an aggressive stance. Just know that most American citizens do want to be friends and hope that we can have unity again,” she added, before personally thanking Butina.

“I am enjoying my time in Moscow, and I feel very at home.”

Reade has a history of publicly supporting Putin, including one September 2019 tweet where she claimed Americans “support” the Russian leader. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Reade took to her YouTube channel to promote Russian officials—and criticize the censorship of “good news outlets like [state media] RT]” in the U.S.

In December, Semafor reported that Russian diplomats tried to bring Reade to a meeting on “weapons diversion,” even though she had no known expertise on the topic. While Reade ultimately did not speak at the UN meeting, she did interview Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations on her YouTube channel afterward.

Tara goes to Moscow

[JackDaw]

Do you think his elderly relative is a Nazi?

None of them are, of course. But a good many make statements that would see several regulars here swooning.

Really I thought that I was making a statement that every one could agree with…that a persons surface verbal behaviour doesn’t always reflect their deeper spirit.

[Tendrin]

Tara goes to Moscow

We're all shocked, I'm sure we'll get apologies from all the wannabe lefttists who kicked and screamed at us for not believing her story and called us !@#$libs and so on.

[Tendrin]

Jesus Christ. Hey, uh... WBE?

Ohio Rep. Gary Click, sponsor of a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors in the state, says he’s never promoted or practiced conversion therapy — but he’s been caught on video endorsing the discredited and harmful practice, which his bill likewise endorses.

Bad enough, but it gets WAY worse from there.

During the sermon, he also connects LGBTQ+ identity to Nazi ideology. He shows a picture of himself at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., posing in from of a wall bearing Martin Niemoller’s famed poem “First They Came,” listing various groups singled out for persecution and extermination in Nazi Germany. He likens this to what he considers the assault on the family, saying, “When the family crumbles, society crumbles. If the church is silent, then the church will be held responsible. We can’t afford to be silent.” Never mind that the Nazis sent LGBTQ+ people, especially gay men, to concentration camps and that some churches were silent about that as well as the mass murder of Jews and other populations.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ohio-tran...183608674.html

[CaptainEurope]

We're all shocked, I'm sure we'll get apologies from all the wannabe lefttists who kicked and screamed at us for not believing her story and called us !@#$libs and so on.

Don't forget "rape apologists."