All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[Kevinroc]

Regarding the Trump shithole comments...

It can be seen as Trump saying what a lot of people are thinking, which has always been part of his appeal. There are going to be plenty of Americans who like what he said, and some conservative defenses of a more nuanced view (just as there will be liberal attacks on the implications.)

It may cause significant political damage because while some mostly white people may think he was right, they might not going to be as motivated by the comments as the international community, or immigrant groups in the United States (as well as anyone who thinks his comments are about race rather than, say, education level of the typical immigrant).

It's troubling because an individual's character or ability to contribute to the United States is not determined by where they came from. That's not really a conversation his administration wants to have, while trying to get legislative support for immigration moves.

A lot of the coverage suggests that it's an effort to motivate the base, but this wasn't something Trump issued as a statement to the public. It was part of a conversation with lawmakers, which is a different context (He could've been saying something he knew would get out, or it could have just been his views/ advocacy for his base.)

Occam's razor applies. Trump's a racist.

[wjowski]

I still believe that google shouldnt had fired Damore, i think public opinion was fast to drag him thought the mud.

The ******* basically posted a memo using cherrypicked junk science to crap on his female coworkers. How the hell do you keep on someone that toxic and expect your other employees to just deal with it?

[Malvolio]

Occam's razor applies. Trump's a racist.

I'll admit it. I used to say that Trump wasn't racist himself, but taking advantage of the racism of his supporters. I can no longer say that. Trump is clearly racist.

[Joker]

And an idiot. He picked Norway?! Really?!

Norway is run on his base's biggest fears. Nobody from Norway wants to come to Trump's America. They're well off and well taken care of.

[worstblogever]

Three years ago, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" ran a profile of the former U.S. Senator from Arizona, Jon Kyl, whose quarter century career in Congress finished rather distastefully, as during the GOP’s 2011 efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, he took to the floor to smear the organization, saying “abortions are 90% of what Planned Parenthood does”. When fact-checkers informed the Senator he was off by about, oh… 30 times what their annual budget is spent on (and none of the money they spend on abortion is government funded), Kyl offered no apologies and said that portion of his speech was “not intended to be a factual statement”. Kyl also justified the passage of SB 1070 by Arizona Republicans by saying illegal immigration had led to Phoenix becoming “the kidnapping capitol of the United States”, which was also false. He also tried claiming eliminating the Bush era tax cuts would not help close the annual budget deficit of the U.S., so it really was a bit of a habit. He was always terribly partisan, including his vote to impeach Bill Clinton during that administration as a member of the House, and in the Senate during the Obama administration, he compared the president’s remarks about the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi to “a judge telling a woman she deserved to be raped for how she was dressed”. Which is shocking, but also doesn’t make a lick of sense. Jon Kyl is now mercifully retired, so his blatant lies are no longer a part of the Senate (the rest of the Republicans in it are more than making up for what dishonesty void he left).



In both 2016, as well as in 2017, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published its profiles of Tom Morrison, an incredibly homophobic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, who first entered the fray in politics back in the Tea Party Wave of 2010. Back in March of 2013, where he began responding to e-mails from several constituents inquiring about forthcoming legislation that would legalize same sex marriage, and he felt the need to make a “slippery slope” argument beyond the pale. In one, Morrison suggested that legal gay marriage would open the door to also legalize bisexual polygamy. But that apparently wasn’t enough homophobic fear-mongering for Morrison, as a month later, he sent another response to a constituent that not only included the polygamy comparison, but also mentioned that legalizing same sex marriage could lead to marriages between a man and “a consenting 9-year-old girl”. After taking a beating when the public found out about it, Morrison apologized and claimed his e-mail was written “in haste” and he doesn’t actually equate gay marriage to statutory rape, even though it was pretty plain that’s exactly what he was doing. If supporting bans on same sex marriage weren't enough, Tom Morrison has also voted against bans on the practice of gay conversion therapy, so there's that, as well. Morrison didn’t back off of his anti-LGBT stances going into 2016, as he added transphobia to his resume, submitting HB 4474 back in January of 2016 to try and institute bathroom regulations on the transgendered to use the bathroom of the gender they were born as. It mercifully failed to pass without incident.

Morrison’s voting record continues to show his disdain for those in the LGBT community in 2017 as well, as in 2017, he voted against HB 1785, a bill that allowed transgendered citizens in Illinois the right to change their gender on their birth certificate records. Of course, that wasn’t the only ridiculous vote he participated in, as he also voted against an increase in the minimum wage in Illinois (during the greatest period of income inequality in our nation’s history), and when a bill turned up to ban “bump” stocks that can turn a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic one after the greatest mass shooting in American history occurred in Las Vegas, he voted against that as well.

This intolerant twit got to run for re-election in 2016 unopposed in either the GOP Primary or the general election to allow for another two years of him continuing his narrow-minded crusade against the LGBT community. 2018 will prove different, however, as Morrison already has a Democratic challenger set to take him on by the name of Maggie Trevor, and we’re hoping that she gets all the Blue Wave support she can in 11 months to send Morrison packing.

[mojotastic]

We're all welcome to our personal opinions, but you need to be careful when you're spreading your opinions to your co-workers -- especially so much as your opinions are about your co-workers as a group.

You're maybe thinking management could just have told him to stop talking about these things, but once he's put them out there, other employees could too easily say that his continued employment suggested some level of tacit approval of his statements. So, now Google as a company can stand to face claims of a hostile work environment or discrimination etc -- because this guy didn't realize that talking at work is not the same thing as talking in your private social sphere?

No, I'd have to agree to disagree with you on that one, I guess -- I totally see why they had to fire him.

Yep. i find generalization when they come from a place of malice and stereotyping.

I see more like this, after the controversy was revealed to the public, HR could had talk with him and either remind or persuade him about the ideals of the company and also talk about the criticism he had, i think the problem was a lack of communication between Damore and the company, in human resource management classes we were reminded that even if the smallest thing is bother you, you as an employee, you should come forward and talk with your supervisor or the person who can answer your concern, I think the way Damore came forward was worst to him.

On the subject about the memo, i believe it could had been a good subject to talk during the diversity training that google, maybe they already talked about it, but i think having Damore being those training and explaining himself to his coworkers could had been an interesting experience.

Again I think this ideas i have come from the way i am and how i could had handled things.

[ZombieHavoc]

I'll admit it. I used to say that Trump wasn't racist himself, but taking advantage of the racism of his supporters. I can no longer say that. Trump is clearly racist.

You have a weirdly long period for giving someone the benefit of the doubt.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

And an idiot. He picked Norway?! Really?!

Norway is run on his base's biggest fears. Nobody from Norway wants to come to Trump's America. They're well off and well taken care of.

Wasn't Norway's president recently at the White House for a visit, say like on Tuesday or Wednesday? That country was probably the first thing that came to Dumbass Donald's feeble little mind when he spewed his nonsense. In any event, no matter how hard the likes of Baghdad Betty or the rest of the GOP tries to spin this shitstorm, there's no denying the obvious that Trump is most definitely a racist.

[JCAll]

You have a weirdly long period for giving someone the benefit of the doubt.

I'd have thought nobody could possibly be that bad at hiding the fact that they're racist, that he must just be playing it up for his base. But no, he's just an idiot and thinks he's so smart that nobody could ever figure it out, but we all see right though him like glass.

[BeastieRunner]

Beastie's Cartoon of the Week:

[ZombieHavoc]

It's weird. Like, I do not want Oprah or the Rock to run, at all. But I would love to see the debates. I guess that's the problem.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

It's weird. Like, I do not want Oprah or the Rock to run, at all. But I would love to see the debates. I guess that's the problem.

Yeah, the problem being it would be an absolute circus with nothing but screaming and shouting and insults hurled back and forth. Sadly, for a goodly portion of Americans, they don't want moderated debates between level headed, even keeled and responsible adults aspiring to become Commander-in-Chief, they want the Jerry Springer Show. And that plays right into the hands of an unabashed carnival barker like Trump.

[ZombieHavoc]

I actually think both the Rock and Oprah would be good in debates against Trump. They shouldn't be prez.

[Joker]

Wasn't Norway's president recently at the White House for a visit, say like on Tuesday or Wednesday? That country was probably the first thing that came to Dumbass Donald's feeble little mind when he spewed his nonsense. In any event, no matter how hard the likes of Baghdad Betty or the rest of the GOP tries to spin this shitstorm, there's no denying the obvious that Trump is most definitely a racist.

Yes, she was. (Prime Minister, not President.)

It's funny, because Norwegians would be great immigrants. But it's because Norway is a heavily taxed, democratic socialist welfare state. The antithesis of what Trump and the GOP are doing to this country.

Norway has had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world since 2009, a position also held previously between 2001 and 2006. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking. Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity, and the Democracy Index.

Hmmm... why would they want to come here?

[Scott Taylor]

I actually think both the Rock and Oprah would be good in debates against Trump. They shouldn't be prez.

Thinking the President could really conceivably be a pure figurehead position moving forward.