All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[Malvolio]

Stroke of genius or just stroke?

Make the ACA better? He kept saying he would do that all during his presidency. Now you want to say he wouldn't have had the votes in Congress to get it done? Perhaps, but then present the plan to the public so we know what we're voting for. Trump never did that. It was always, trust me it will be great, but never anything specific. This all-caps rant is just more of the same.

[Dalak]

For those reading along at home, Mets has provided many older (and some recent) examples of what happens when someone posts things he doesn't want to address, as those have been his responses to his own posts and mine used as evidence proving his misinterpretations and lies were just that. To be clear, the behavior involves describing the argument in a different way that he'd rather respond to instead of what the post he's replying to clearly laid out - the Mischaracterization of Arguments which has the most people upset that I've noticed. It involves ignoring the evidence of the post he's quoting, as well as pretending not to understand what the problem is when called on it (Playing Dumb).

But if we take a look at one of the "annoying memes" I posted:

Here we go again.

Attachment 127857

E: Mets, The Week, and Shrier's Book were clearly only referencing Trans Men aka AFAB individuals identifying as transgender specifically according to his own posted quotes.

If you click the included link and look up at the previous 2 posts, you'll notice why, with this bit in particular standing out:

In Math, 0.3% of 4.2% would be 0.3% multiplied by 4.2% rather than 0.3% as a share of 4.2%, which would get the wrong number, although I do get where you're coming from.

That bolded bit at the end lets us know he's misinterpreting the math specifically to be obnoxious as he knew what I meant and posted that way deliberately instead of there being genuine confusion or misunderstanding. That behavior hasn't changed as recent examples have shown.

So here I am reposting the same old quote to respond to the same behavior from years ago still on display, and it becomes more true the more Mets tries to inject false ambiguity into another situation:

3 Trans woman 0.2
4 Trans man 0.3
5 Genderqueer 0.5
6 My identity is not listed 0.5
7 Agender 0.3
8 Genderfluid 0.5
9 Non-binary 1.9
10 Intersex 0.0
Valid responses = 12

can you tell me if they were brought up as boys/girls? Can you tell me how they were assigned at birth? Can you tell me anything other than they were anonymous students who said they were Genderfluid/etc?

As it is impossible to do so from the data provided, you know exactly how The Week inflated their numbers in order to make the transphobic lie quoted here:

Everything else is used to disguise that fact & how you refuse to admit it,

To explain to others: Using genderless information to make a transphobic lie specifically about a certain gender (Like Abigail Shrier's book with the subtitle "The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters") is ignoring how much Trans Women have increased how they openly identify as well. The fact that any increase was likely due to the relaxing in bigotry against Trans people was not only pointed out to Mets at the time but he replied to it, so it is a convenient thing to ignore when bringing up older arguments - Like nullifying the agency of those who specifically said they weren't listed.
And finally:

[zinderel]

Appeals court allows Trump to post smaller bond of $175 million within 10 days in the Civil Fraud case.

Tefflon Don.

Saw this today…seems fitting:

IMG_2740.jpg

[CaptainEurope]

RFK announced his VP pick. Nicole Shanahan ( I hadn't heard of her before )...

https://edition.cnn.com/politics/liv...ml?ref=mc.news

His fanboys are so unhappy, I love it. They hate that it's a woman, that she is half Chinese, that she is a lawyer, that she's from California.

[CaptainEurope]

Since the Captain of the boat in Baltimore is white and Ukrainian, certain folks on social media have decided to instead hurl blame and the DEI hire accusations at the black mayor. It's like, just admit you want to call someone the N-word...

As far as I am aware, that was fake news and the picture that's been going around showed a Ukrainian who last worked on the ship in 2016. The current crew was South Asian.

[CaptainEurope]

So far, I haven't seen any red flags. ( There's rumor that she had an affair with Elon Musk, but...whatever. )

I think some folks are afraid RFK will be a spoiler for Biden but I think it'll go the other way. A few months ago he was making the rounds on conservative media. And with all his anti-fax stuff and other conspiracy theories, he's more likely to pull votes from the segments of the right wing.

It seems to be different from state to state. In some he takes more votes from Biden, in some from Trump.

I watched the announcement on CNNI and was surprised how low-energy it was. RFK barely had a voice and sounded ancient as he was talking about his father, some imagined good old days, the benefits of organic food and regular exercise.

[Robotman]

So far, I haven't seen any red flags. ( There's rumor that she had an affair with Elon Musk, but...whatever. )

I think some folks are afraid RFK will be a spoiler for Biden but I think it'll go the other way. A few months ago he was making the rounds on conservative media. And with all his anti-fax stuff and other conspiracy theories, he's more likely to pull votes from the segments of the right wing.

If people are right wing or right leaning conspiracy theorists and antivaxers they already have their dream candidate in Trump. There would be little point in switching to RFK Jr.

I think the concern is that an uneducated voter who only knows that they don’t like Biden, will see the name KENNEDY and take a chance on that.

I think Biden will win the popular vote but RFK Jr. could definitely siphon off votes in swing states. The electoral college will screw us again.

Kennedy’s pick for running mate is an odd choice. Though she is an antivaxxer so she’s got that box checked off.

https://edition.cnn.com/politics/liv...ml?ref=mc.news

In her remarks Tuesday in Oakland, California, Shanahan called for further research into “every possible cause of the chronic disease epidemic” while questioning the “cumulative impact” of prescriptions and vaccines on children’s health.

[CaptainEurope]

I'm not sure it it will be a slow death. Truth Social had never had a strong ad revenue stream, and it pretty much only exists for Trump to vomit his latest word salad onto the ether. Plus, with Trump's very real need of cash, I expect as soon as he's able, he'll start dumping his stock, then let the whole thing collapse.

So they had the hearing on Mifepristone today at the Supreme Court. Alito and Thomas seem ready to bust out the Comstock Act to ban it nationwide, because of course they are. But it's got me wondering...

Trump is currently running on a platform of a 15 week total abortion ban across the nation. The Republicans are all 'Pro-Life', blah-blah-blah. Say the Supreme Court actually does ban the drug, further curtailing a women's rights over her own body. While it would be horrible, and I hope it doesn't happen, it could be the greatest gift to Democrats in an election year. "Help give the Democrats the majority, and we can codify Roe into law.'

It's actually something I wonder if some of the more conservatives Justices will be thinking about while making their decision. It shouldn't be, but then again this case should never have been accepted by the Supreme Court at all.

In related news at the deep red state level:

Marilyn Lands, a Democrat who made reproductive rights a central part of her campaign, will win a special election Tuesday for an Alabama state House seat, CNN projects.

Her victory serves as another data point for national Democrats, who hope the backlash over strict state abortion laws following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and concerns about in vitro fertilization treatments will help their party in November, even in traditionally Republican areas.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/p...hts/index.html

[Catlady in training]

A dad joke, but it made me laugh:


x.jpg

[WestPhillyPunisher]

If people are right wing or right leaning conspiracy theorists and antivaxers they already have their dream candidate in Trump. There would be little point in switching to RFK Jr.

I think the concern is that an uneducated voter who only knows that they don’t like Biden, will see the name KENNEDY and take a chance on that.

I think Biden will win the popular vote but RFK Jr. could definitely siphon off votes in swing states. The electoral college will screw us again.

Making him a perfect Trojan Horse for the GQP. Remember, not all that long ago before launching his campaign, RFK Jr. was hanging out with the likes of Roger Stone. There was even a picture of the two of them together. Biden will have to win in overwhelming numbers to keep the EC out of play for Trump.

[Catlady in training]

To explain to others: Using genderless information to make a transphobic lie specifically about a certain gender (Like Abigail Shrier's book with the subtitle "The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters") is ignoring how much Trans Women have increased how they openly identify as well. The fact that any increase was likely due to the relaxing in bigotry against Trans people was not only pointed out to Mets at the time but he replied to it, so it is a convenient thing to ignore when bringing up older arguments - Like nullifying the agency of those who specifically said they weren't listed.

Seriously, if anyone is still questioning why is there an increase in transgender people recently ...

[hyped78]

It seems to be different from state to state. In some he takes more votes from Biden, in some from Trump.

I watched the announcement on CNNI and was surprised how low-energy it was. RFK barely had a voice and sounded ancient as he was talking about his father, some imagined good old days, the benefits of organic food and regular exercise.

You mean on top of his speech impediment?

[thwhtGuardian]

A big factor in the stock price will be whether he wins in November. I prefer he doesn't.

He is limited in his ability to sell stock quickly. From various articles, it seems he won't be able to sell shares for a few months, although I don't know how much that'll matter- anyone determining whether to loan him money will look at the current valuation and later expectations, although he may find a way to screw it up.

It seems to be a meme stock, but that may be enough to help.

This RFK may appeal to people who want an outsider, and that's not necessarily the people who like a guy who was elected to the Senate more than 50 years ago. (Note- I prefer Biden to Trump or RFK, whose prominent role in public office ended after he got fired from a prosecutor's staff for being a drug fiend.)

It's the MAGA version of Gamestonk.

There are some interesting questions here.

One thing that's relevant to various conversations here are distinctions between rules and discretion. A very quick summary is that some people want concrete rules and others want the discretion to make decisions within larger parameters. A problem for NBC is that they would have to explain clearly and unambiguously what makes her worse than all of the RNC/ DNC Chairman who went on to media jobs. There's an argument, but it should be made clearly.

And part of how they explain it sucks. Chuck Todd claimed that she was hurting existing media credibility, but the problem is the lack of it.

If the claim is that she crossed the line with election denialism, that makes sense, but clear standards should be clarified.

Yeah, it worked out well for him.

We've had this discussion before, there's nothing wrong with being a conservative in general it's the specific brand of conservatism you defend day on and day out that gets you flack.

You want to say you think government in general should be leaner and smaller. Okay, I disagree but it doesn't make you a bad person.

You're for outspending the next ten highest spending countries when it comes to defense? Okay, I'm not but again you're not a terrible human being for supporting that.

You believe in strong second amendment rights? Fine, I'm for heavy regulation on gun ownership but you're not scum for thinking owning a gun is important.

You defend politicians for putting forward anti- trans or gay rights legislation though? Yeah, that goes beyond just being conservative and puts you in "I'm a terrible excuse for a human being" territory.

You defend open bigotry in your party? Yup, you guessed it, you're going to be called horrible names.

You downplay sexism in your party? Again, yup that's bad.

And you do those latter things all the time.

[hyped78]

Seriously, if anyone is still questioning why is there an increase in transgender people recently ...

I'm left handed. My mom wasn't "allowed" to be left handed when she was a kid.

[Panfoot]

"DEI" is just the new "woke", just as "CRT" was the go too buzzword before it, people just need their shorthand to be bigoted as hell but slightly couch it.