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

[worstblogever]

I'm consistent in saying that this approach would be wrong.

No. You are truly not.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Oh, come on now. Trump's a card, but he at least has enough tact to acknowledge his opponents' strengths and give credit where it's due while striving to improve. Win or lose, I'm confident that by November, Trump will have demonstrated that even the heated presidential races of today can be graceful affairs where the notion of painting either candidate as a "monster" is 100% absent. This quarter's road to election wont be a stressful, barefooted hike through a fucking sewer like last time.

The rest of society doesn't see the world with trump eyes.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The rest of society doesn't see the world with trump eyes.

Trump eyes? No thanks! Sounds like a disease to me.

[Mister Mets]

The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. If you can't make time to stand up for women and what is right then all your posturing is just that.

Wait wait wait wait - you think I want more conservatives?? You think I want more people who:

Deny the scientific method, facts and push back against the scientific consensus of global warming?

Want to control a woman's body and her choices? Want to forcibly insert a wand into her vagina and force her to look at an ultrasound of a fetus?

Want to continue to deny minorities the right to vote with racist voter suppression?

Want to destroy the environment?

Give tax breaks to billionaires?

Want to privatise everything under the sun?

Cosy up to dictators?

Think Fox News is fair and balanced and an objective, reliable news source?

Want no accountability or oversight for brutal police departments?

Initiate illegal and immoral invasions?

Imply all Mexican immigrants are rapists and drug dealers?

Are proudly anti-Semitic?

You think I want more of that around here? Do you think that because you say you won't vote for Trump that that somehow absolves you of all the problems related to your Republican party? You are Trump and Trump is you.

Vile.

I do think we should respect one another's time enough not to insist on public comments every time a congressional backbencher says something stupid.

It is a terrible precedent. You're saying that I could bring up any bad thing that people here didn't talk about and use that to malign the board liberals. I don't think that would be fair, but that is the argument when you're blasting people for silence rather than what they've actually said.

I will certainly disagree with your view of conservatives in general, but if you want conservatives to respond to stuff, you would want more conservatives. If you don't want more conservatives, then don't ever suggest that they should spend more time on this forum.

Cancel culture doesn't actually exist, and Biden's lead is double what it was before the 'riots and looting' started.

Trump thinks turning the dial up on racism even further is gonna help him get reelected, but if he wins, it's simply going to be because of damage to the mechanism of voting. No other reasoin.

Biden's lead has generally been quite consistent. He's been about nine points ahead since last year.

I will still suggest Cancel Culture is real, in that ordinary people face serious professional repercussions for pissing off sensitive left-wingers. Sometimes they'll bounce back in different capacities, but they're still cancelled from one subset.

It's also worth noting that what works in one field might not work in another. A fired progressive analyst might get a job at a centrist organization, and a commentator cancelled from PBS could get a job at Fox News, but that only applies within the political/ media ecosystem. Many won't have those options.

Cancelling people in the US isn’t a leftist or liberal position, tons of prominent Americans had their careers cancelled by conservative or right leaning people for decades now. Whether it’s labelling actors as communist or Sinead O’Connor tearing the picture of the Pope or Janet Jackson showing her boob during Super Bowl or the Dixie Chicks losing their entire careers for criticizing George Bush during the Iraq War, people have been destroyed by more conservative elements for a long time now (note how a number of them are women). Colin Kapernick very recently lost his entire playing career for daring to peacefully protest police brutality.

The only difference now is that people are being savagely criticized for socially regressive views. This was never the case before because social media wasn’t a thing and people were smart enough to hide their views. The new right just loves to play victim hood when they are spewing all manner of garbage that rightly gets criticized. Guys like Tucker Carlson and far-right agitators simply want to be allowed to spread their bigotry unchecked without consequence which again is completely hypocritical considering how much they condemned Colin Kapernick and other black athletes protests (Laura Ingraham was so heavily criticized that she had to explain how she could support Tom Brady airing his political views but completely condemned Lebron James for doing the same).

The whole crying against cancel culture by guys like Trump is very hypocritical considering he did everything to publicly condemn the exonerated five back in the day. Ultimately, cancel culture as it’s been framed by the right isn’t a thing. What’s happening now is that people are facing the consequences of saying or doing dumb ****....and a lot of these people were in days past seemingly immune to cancel culture.

It's fine to argue that cancel culture is good, although some of the situations go beyond people expressing regressive views.

If this "Cancel Culture" is a left thing that the right cries about, why do they support Trump wanting Colin Kaepernik fired or boycotting Goodyear because they won't let employees wear MAGA hate (or any other political clothing)?

Many people are perfectly fine cancelling those they disagree with politically.

It is obviously better if people could be open about this, although they may often be unaware of their hypocrisy.

Are you aware that a lot of black people are starting to questioning if that realignment never happened and they are leaving the Democratic Party using the term "leave the plantation"?

I'd imagine most of us are aware of this, and eager to see the exact numbers and evidence about this.

[Mister Mets]

No. You are truly not.

I'm unaware of any time I have mocked someone who was assaulted.

That is the type of person you are. I hope it is not the type of person I am.

What the **** mets?

We're talking about an angry electorate declaring their outrage in the streets yesterday, not the old story with the neighbor. What kind of teacher debates like this? What kind of example are you being?

Let's take a look at the chain of posts.

WBE mocked Rand Paul for getting attacked by his neighbor.

Man, f*** Rand Paul.

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. He gets what, bumped into? And he's acting like the crowd was there to tear him to pieces and only leave his hair plugs behind as a warning to others.

He's a goddamned Senator worth millions. If he chose to, he could hire private security, NOT THAT HE NEEDED IT. He's not a victim because he's a s***ty human being who always votes for himself and no one else and people dare to give him dirty looks for it.

He's just lucky his neighbor wasn't waiting in the crowd to finish the job from their yard waste feud.

To this I responded, that we shouldn't mock victims of violence or blame them for being assaulted.

Violence is bad. We should not make fun of someone for being the victim of violence, or blame them for being assaulted.

To this you responded...

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.

And to that I said...

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

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."

In the same post to which you responded, I made clear that I was responding to the portion of WBE's post in which he referred to the time Rand Paul was assaulted by a neighbor.

You removed that portion from the comment when you quoted me, which is weird because that should have indicated which aspect of any earlier post I was responding to.

[Kirby101]

I do think we should respect one another's time enough not to insist on public comments every time a congressional backbencher says something stupid.

Says the man who told us Democrats are for open boarders because somebody wore a T-Shirt.

Many people are perfectly fine cancelling those they disagree with politically.

It is obviously better if people could be open about this, although they may often be unaware of their hypocrisy.

But it is only conservatives that have made "Cancel Culture" an election issue.

[worstblogever]

I'm unaware of any time I have mocked someone who was assaulted.

First off, Rand Paul wasn't assaulted for his politics. He was assaulted because he's a committed ***hole and terrible neighbor.

But since you claim you're 100% against people being mocked for getting assaulted, do you think it's wrong that myself and others mock Richard Spencer for getting punched?



Care to go to bat for why it's wrong for me to mock a Nazi being punched in the face, Mets?

Or are you still "consistent" on this?

[worstblogever]

I'll be frank, mocking someone who gets beat up because they're an ***hole is acceptable.

Mocking someone being assaulted for their politics is wrong.

However, if your politics are, simply, "Well, I'm an ***hole, and my politics are to award poverty, hunger, death and suffering upon my opponents", it becomes acceptable to mock them for it.

And honestly, the GOP aren't very far from making that their party platform right now.

[numberthirty]

I'll be frank, mocking someone who gets beat up because they're an ***hole is acceptable.

Mocking someone being assaulted for their politics is wrong.

However, if your politics are, simply, "Well, I'm an ***hole, and my politics are to award poverty, hunger, death and suffering upon my opponents", it becomes acceptable to mock them for it.

And honestly, the GOP aren't very far from making that their party platform right now.

While it's your call?

At least be straight with yourself about that you are laying brick on a wall of "Let's See If We Can Keep This All About As 'Wrong' As Possible..." when you are doing it.

Standing right there shoulder to shoulder with a lot of the folks you say you oppose laying brick on a wall of wrong that other folks are going to have to try to knock down.

[worstblogever]

While it's your call?

Objectively?

Well, since apparently now we have to compare/contrast Rand Paul to a Neo-Nazi, get ready to get uncomfortable, because there's a lot of unsettling things in his political history that I've documented before:

• Sought out and hired known Neo-Confederates to work on his political campaigns rather than distance himself from them.
• Rand also once told Rachel Maddow in an interview that he wouldn’t have voted for the Civil Rights Act.
• Rand’s also discussed conspiracy theories like the Bilderberg Group, the American Union, the Jade Helm conspiracy theory, and even some 9/11 Trutherism, like his father. All are based in Anti-Semitic roots.
• In 2014 when he blamed “political correctness” on people being afraid to declare a travel ban because of the Ebola Virus outbreak in Africa
• Rand Paul once sponsored a Personhood bill that would apply the 14th Amendment to fetuses, as well, showing he’s not exactly the libertartian “hands off” type he portrays himself as.
• After a long pattern of Rand Paul shushing female journalists emerged and was noted by political commentators as evidence of sexist behavior, Paul responded by telling critics that it was “sexist to call him sexist”
• In June 2017 he compared National Health Care, that keeps people alive, to “the gulag”. (Which is amazing, because the gulag is where Stalin sent millions to DIE whereas healthcare does the EXACT OPPOSITE FOR PEOPLE).
• Voted against the permanent approval of The Zadroga Act, which would literally leave the first responders from 9/11 without the ability to get medical treatment for all the toxic debris they subjected themselves to while working "the Pile".
• Talking about getting rid of the Postal Service
• Voting to make sure anyone found to be on a terror watch list during a background check should still be allowed to purchase a firearm or explosives (which they could use to carry out a terror attack)
• Introduces his own Personhood bill, the “Life at Conception Act”, which would grant Constitutional rights to zygotes from the moment of fertilization (while again, opposing the Civil Rights Act that would grant them to actual living, breathing people of color).
• Voted against disaster relief for Houston after Hurricane Harvey.
• In mid-February of 2017, the Trump administration had its first, and not last ties to the Trump campaign being tied to Russia, after General Michael Flynn resigned after it was revealed he failed to disclose several meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign and the transition. And while the Democrats thought that warranted an investigation and several Republicans like Sen. John McCain agreed… Rand Paul deemed such a move “excessive” and “it makes no sense for Republicans to investigate Republicans”, proving that he views oversight as a partisan matter completely.
  
• After Trump’s “s***hole countries” remarks in January of 2018, Sen. Paul actually chastised people for calling the president a racist because “it hurts immigration talks”.
• He literally has hand delivered letters to Vladimir Putin from Donald Trump (really) that the public don’t get to ever learn the contents of, while claiming that the Mueller investigation and people upset about Russians hacking the 2016 election are just “Trump Derangement Syndrome”. H
• is support of smaller government principles flew right out the window after a member of the Trump administration wrote an anonymous opinion editorial in the New York Times in July 2018, when he demanded that White House staff should have to begin taking lie detector tests to determine who actually wrote it.
• During the Trump/Ukraine scandal that led to impeachment, Sen. Paul tried to root out the identity of the CIA whistleblower who revealed Trump tried holding up military aid to Ukraine in exchange for their assistance in smearing Joe and Hunter Biden, indicating he has no issue with Trump openly breaking the law.
• Contracted a potentially lethal and extremely contagious viral infection AND WENT TO THE CONGRESSIONAL GYM.
• Unilaterally blocked an anti-lynching bill.

This guy doesn't blink about conducting his professional career so people literally die. His hypocrisy knows no bounds. He supports Neo-Confederates. He defends his party openly breaking the law. He spreads anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

So if he gets his ribs broken by his REPUBLICAN neighbor for dumping yard waste on his neighbor's property, and it's just kind of an ***hole getting come-uppance?

Forgive me if I don't cry and tears for poor Rand. Because for the past decade his professional career has been about promoting death and suffering on anyone who isn't him.

[numberthirty]

...

Forgive me if I don't cry and tears for poor Rand. Because for the past decade his professional career has been about promoting death and suffering on anyone who isn't him.

Put simply?

It's got nothing to do with that.

It's about having decided that an act of violence is acceptable for whatever personal reason you've come up with.

Which is exactly what a lot of the folks you say you oppose do on the regular.

[worstblogever]

Put simply?

It's got nothing to do with that.

It's about having decided that an act of violence is acceptable for whatever personal reason you've come up with.

Which is exactly what a lot of the folks you say you oppose do on the regular.

Meanwhile, here's you being a hypocrite 100% silent when the McCloskeys point guns at protesters and are given a platform at the RNC about how THEY are the victims.
Two nights later, a little white nationalist who's seen that example, Kyle Rittenhouse guns down the same sorts of protesters, kills them, and right-wing groups defend him, celebrate him, and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for him having murdered people based on their political views.

I remind everyone that Rand Paul got just beat up by an elderly neighbor years ago over yard waste, and while we're discussing how he lied about being "assaulted" on his way back from the RNC the same night and THIS offends you all?


This is why no one sympathizes with you. Right here. Not just the hypocrisy. The disingenous call for "civility" when it's convenient politically. People on the left are murdered, silence. Guy on the right has his ribs broken by his Republican neighbor, and its brought up and you all pretend to be offended and say, "whatever happened to civility"?

Y'all are a running joke I've grown tired of.

[InformationGeek]

Oh boy... WBE, got another one for you.

[numberthirty]

Meanwhile, here's you being a hypocrite 100% silent when the McCloskeys point guns at protesters and are given a platform at the RNC about how THEY are the victims.
Two nights later, a little white nationalist who's seen that example, Kyle Rittenhouse guns down the same sorts of protesters, kills them, and right-wing groups defend him, celebrate him, and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for him having murdered people based on their political views.

I remind everyone that Rand Paul got just beat up by an elderly neighbor years ago over yard waste, and while we're discussing how he lied about being "assaulted" on his way back from the RNC the same night and THIS offends you all?


This is why no one sympathizes with you. Right here. Not just the hypocrisy. The disingenous call for "civility" when it's convenient politically. People on the left are murdered, silence. Guy on the right has his ribs broken by his Republican neighbor, and its brought up and you all pretend to be offended and say, "whatever happened to civility"?

Y'all are a running joke I've grown tired of.

See post #8612 -

Not really going to disagree much there.

Past what you mentioned, that it looked a lot like someone in the group of folks he fired on had attacked him as well.

Just way too many situations where it feels like "Violence" is a lot of people's go to reaction.

Personally, I just haven't seen any of that kind of violence getting us anywhere you would actually want to go.

[Wildling]

This is why no one sympathizes with you. Right here. Not just the hypocrisy. The disingenous call for "civility" when it's convenient politically. People on the left are murdered, silence. Guy on the right has his ribs broken by his Republican neighbor, and its brought up and you all pretend to be offended and say, "whatever happened to civility"?

Y'all are a running joke I've grown tired of.

Gotta say, between the contents of a given 30 post in these times, and whatever that avatar is supposed to be, I can't help but feel I'm trying to read a yeeeears long Sleestak hiiiiiiiss until the Sun finally comes up to banish all this. Maybe just for that Sun to then finally kill us all with climate change, hopefully not.