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

[CaptainEurope]

I'm German and you all probably know that we had unfortunate experiences with fascism.

Back in the early 90s there was a very intense public discussion about whether the capital of reunified Germany should move its capital from sleepy Bonn to the metropolis Berlin.

There were worries that Hitler's capital might bring back old illusions of grandeur.

But I vividly remember one journalist arguing that if any politician did something outrageous in the legislature, he could not show his face in Berlin: he would get heckled at restaurants, at the opera, in stores. Because Berliners are like that.

So that journalist considered angry crowds an important corrective to avoid fascism. You don't have to agree with him, but I think he has a point.

[worstblogever]

I can say the same thing about your view. But hey this is America. We dont have to agree.

If you think it's "revolting in its audacity" that I won't just accept black people being murdered in the streets, or that a Senator fighting to make that acceptable can't have people use their 1st Amendment rights to deride him for that...

I think I won't lose any sleep about your opinion tonight. Because... Jesus, man.

[worstblogever]

I'm German and you all probably know that we had unfortunate experiences with fascism.

Back in the early 90s there was a very intense public discussion about whether the capital of reunified Germany should move its capital from sleepy Bonn to the metropolis Berlin.

There were worries that Hitler's capital might bring back old illusions of grandeur.

But I vividly remember one journalist arguing that if any politician did something outrageous in the legislature, he could not show his face in Berlin: he would get heckled at restaurants, at the opera, in stores. Because Berliners are like that.

So that journalist considered angry crowds an important corrective to avoid fascism. You don't have to agree with him, but I think he has a point.

Remember when Republicans were boo-hooing during "family separation" that DC restaurants would refuse to serve people like Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Steven Miller?

This is that. Except not about child immigrant detention, it's about systemic racism and murdering people in the street.

[babyblob]

If you think it's "revolting in its audacity" that I won't just accept black people being murdered in the streets, or that a Senator fighting to make that acceptable can't have people use their 1st Amendment rights to deride him for that...

I think I won't lose any sleep about your opinion tonight. Because... Jesus, man.

I dont accept Black people being killed in the street which you are repeatedly implying despite my posts in the past that say different. I said I am not defending the man or his polices.

[Tami]

I'm German and you all probably know that we had unfortunate experiences with fascism.

Back in the early 90s there was a very intense public discussion about whether the capital of reunified Germany should move its capital from sleepy Bonn to the metropolis Berlin.

There were worries that Hitler's capital might bring back old illusions of grandeur.

But I vividly remember one journalist arguing that if any politician did something outrageous in the legislature, he could not show his face in Berlin: he would get heckled at restaurants, at the opera, in stores. Because Berliners are like that.

So that journalist considered angry crowds an important corrective to avoid fascism. You don't have to agree with him, but I think he has a point.

My mother, who was 1/2 German, always used to say with some pride how intelligent the Germans are. I had mixed feelings about that, considering what happened in WWII. However, what you just said reminds me why she said that. The US is too meek, too timid, which allows a whole lot of this crazy stuff to happen. I'm glad that the Germans know how to keep people in power in line.

[Tami]

Office Created to Protect Whistleblowers and Discipline Senior Execs Is Doing Little of Either

An office in the Veterans Affairs Department that President Trump created to boost disciplinary actions for senior executives and protections for whistleblowers has done little of either, according to a report the office released this week.

VA’s Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection recommended punishments in just seven cases between Oct. 1, 2018, and May 31, 2020, representing 0.2% of the total complaints it received, the office said in a mandatory report to Congress. The unit sent about 700 cases involving allegations of waste, fraud or abuse to other offices in VA, while it dismissed altogether or otherwise referred out about 2,400. The office took on 389 cases to investigate itself, leading to the seven recommendations for discipline.

Of those, six led to disciplinary recommendations for senior executives deemed to have been involved in misconduct or poor performance and just one was for supervisory whistleblower retaliation. The unit received and investigated a total of 179 complaints alleging such reprisal. The recommended punishment in the one case in which the office found wrongdoing was never enforced because the employee had already left VA. The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection noted its investigations led to the demotion of a medical center chief of staff who failed to separate an employee from an alleged harasser and the firing of two Senior Executive Service employees for discrimination.

The one finding of whistleblower retaliation by the office stemmed from a possible population of 40,000 supervisors within its purview.

[babyblob]

I'm German and you all probably know that we had unfortunate experiences with fascism.

Back in the early 90s there was a very intense public discussion about whether the capital of reunified Germany should move its capital from sleepy Bonn to the metropolis Berlin.

There were worries that Hitler's capital might bring back old illusions of grandeur.

But I vividly remember one journalist arguing that if any politician did something outrageous in the legislature, he could not show his face in Berlin: he would get heckled at restaurants, at the opera, in stores. Because Berliners are like that.

So that journalist considered angry crowds an important corrective to avoid fascism. You don't have to agree with him, but I think he has a point.

I am always amazed that Germany went from Hitler to a pretty stable political (At least that is how it looks here. correct me if I am wrong.) When a country like Russia had the fall of communism but have replaces it with a leader like Putin who is pretty much just as bad. i wonder how some countries evolve while those on the same continent have all kinds of problems with the concept. I wonder why Putin even puts on the show of elections and opposing political parties. And Trump with his talk of postponing the election and sabotage of the post office is going down that same road. I would like to see where America is lets say 15 or 20 years after Trump and Mitch.

[PaulBullion]

BREAKING NEWS- apparently the reason Jacob Blake is handcuffed to his bead is because there is an outstanding warrant for his arrest for an alleged 3rd degree sexual assault by an outside law enforcement agency.

That seems to not be true:

Felony warrants against Jacob Blake Jr. have been vacated and restrains have been removed, Blake’s attorney, Patrick Cafferty, told CNN.
Cafferty also said that the police are no longer guarding Blake at the hospital.

https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status...24502766538758

[Mister Mets]

Agreed. And we all remember that conservatives were silent when federal officers in unmarked vehicles were snatching innocent people off the streets of Portland.

That story appears to have been exaggerated by critics saying America is being Pinochet'd.

https://twitter.com/CharlesPPierce/s...07372219293702

One guy was taken into custody and released shortly after.

A short time later, he saw an unmarked, dark-colored minivan approach. Four to five people in military-type fatigues jumped out, he said. He ran west on Main Street, he said, and as he turned onto Broadway, he dropped to his knees, asking, “Why?”

He said the people in fatigues “simply forced me into the back of the van.” He said one grabbed his hands and put pressure on the back of his neck to keep his head down and another pulled his beany over his eyes, patted him down and asked if he had any weapons.

He said he was driven to the federal courthouse, where someone took his photo against a wall in the garage using a cellphone. He said he was escorted up an elevator to a floor with cells, where his hands were cuffed and ankles shackled. He was placed in a cell by himself.

Two officers approached, telling him their names but not their agencies, he said. They said they read him his Miranda rights, asked if he wanted to waive them and answer their questions, but he said no and asked for a lawyer. At his request, the officers brought him his inhaler, his glasses and a paper mask.

Pettibone said he was released in the early morning hours from the north side of the courthouse, which he said was the first time he realized where he’d been taken. He said he was released with no documentation or record of his arrest.

It shouldn't have happened this way, but if this is one of the biggest mistakes the federal government has made against protesters (which seems to be the case if you're mentioning it a month later and if this guy is addressing members of Congress, and the face of an ACLU lawsuit) it would suggest the situation isn't that bad.

[Mister Mets]

That is (morally) arguing on the level of a fourth grader.

Violence can be bad. Violence can also save lives. Controlled violence is a part of every civilized society. Violence ended the Holocaust.

I do not believe Rand Paul's neighbor is the equivalent of the allied powers in World War Two.

Hey Mets, 180,000 Americans are dead because of people like rand Paul. Deaaaaaad. He got knocked down. It’s called perspective.

And don’t even start with a realistic expectation of safety in public when we are living in a public health NIGHTMARE because people like Rand Paul have still taken no real action. **** that.

What specific steps should Rand Paul have taken that would have reduced the deaths from COVID-19?

That is assuming it played out the way alleges it did. If it didn’t go beyond basically following him around while chanting, then I doubt he was in any imminent danger.

EDIT: Correction - they knocked him down once, which admittedly isn’t the best look on the part of that crowd. So I can understand his personal perspective at least

I was referring to the time his neighbor attacked him, resulting in parts of his lung being removed. That was part of WBE's post, as he said "He's just lucky his neighbor wasn't waiting in the crowd to finish the job from their yard waste feud." and "Guy is a massive libertarian ***hole who can get his fellow Republican neighbor titled enough to beat the s*** out of him until he loses a chunk of lung."

[Kirby101]

What specific steps should Rand Paul have taken that would have reduced the deaths from COVID-19?

Vote to remove Trump before his failure of a response resulted in 180,000 dead Americans for one.

[worstblogever]

What specific steps should Rand Paul have taken that would have reduced the deaths from COVID-19?

For starters, SELF-QUARANTINED AND NOT GONE TO THE CONGRESSIONAL GYM WHEN HE KNEW HE WAS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19.

Thanks for playing.

[numberthirty]

For starters, SELF-QUARANTINED AND NOT GONE TO THE CONGRESSIONAL GYM WHEN HE KNEW HE WAS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19.

Thanks for playing.

While I guess I can kind of see where you are coming from...

I take it you have a list of the exact folks who lost their lives due to being exposed at at the gym he went to?

If not?

It's got right around "Nothing..." to do with what Mets posted.

[Username taken]

Watching the highlights of the RNC and my conclusion is that party is no longer serious. I’m not saying this to be hyperbolic, I’m being totally straight here. For example, Matt Gaetz was talking about “woketopians” and how democrats will bring MS-13 next door, Don Jr wasmtalking about all you can have in the US if Trump is re-elected completely ignoring that Trump is President right now and that’s not even talking about the Guilfoyle nonsense that was immediately meme worthy. The only parts of the RNC that meant something was Tim Scott’s very moving speech about how his family has moved from cotton to congress. Too bad he’s in a party that has racist elements that don’t even accept people like him.

But crazier still is that millions of people will still buy the junk that Gaetz and Trump is selling and vote for them. Completely ignoring the fact that there’s a pandemic that’s killed hundreds of thousands, millions of people are jobless, there’s an eviction crisis on the way and racial tensions have boiled over into violent protests in several cities. Do people really want 4 more years of this chaos?? It’s like the GOP have abandoned policy and given up. But when all else fails, simply resort to the tried and true tactics of fear mongering.

[babyblob]

Vote to remove Trump before his failure of a response resulted in 180,000 dead Americans for one.

Even if the Republicans did vote to remove Trump which they should have done rather then sticking to the party line and loyalty. Would Pence who would have taken over done any Better? I know next to nothing about Pence's voting record so this is a legit question.