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

[Malvolio]

How To Hit Sinclair Where It Hurts, According To An Anonymous Sinclair Anchor

“If you want to make a difference, lobby your lawmakers to have them stop the Tribune deal,” the anchor says.

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Oklahoma Governor Likens Striking Teachers To A Teen Who ‘Wants A Better Car’

Gov. Mary Fallin also claimed that “antifa” had joined the protests at the state Capitol. Oh, WBEEEEEEEE....

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Nurse Fired For Saying Stephon Clark Deserved To Die Raises $20,000 For Herself

Faith Linthicum started a self-promoting GoFundMe campaign after she was fired for her heartless comment on Facebook. Anyone who sent money to that hateful bitch, including her family and/or friends is every bit as much a bigot as she is!

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Hey Trump Supporters, Robert De Niro Is Officially Done With You

“The things that are happening in our country are so bad and it comes from Trump.” Preach, Mr. De Niro! PREACH!

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Dr. Evil Resurfaces With Wild Claims About Working For Donald Trump

And there’s one Trump policy that’s too evil — even for him.

DeNiro's been done with Trump for awhile. Remember when he said he felt like punching Trump in the face?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Oregon governor: I'll say no if Trump asks me to deploy National Guard troops to Mexico border

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) said she would reject a request from President Trump to dispatch National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.

"If @realDonaldTrump asks me to deploy Oregon Guard troops to the Mexico border, I'll say no," Brown tweeted.

"As Commander of Oregon's Guard, I'm deeply troubled by Trump's plan to militarize our border."

She added: "There's been no outreach by the President or federal officials, and I have no intention of allowing Oregon's guard troops to be used to distract from his troubles in Washington."

I wonder how long it'll be before @realDonaldDumbass snaps back at Gov. Brown. We all know that's coming, it's only a question of when.

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‘All It Takes Is One Mistake’: Worries Over Plan to Send National Guard to Border

A little over a year ago, when news surfaced of a Trump administration memo that proposed mobilizing as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants at the southern border, a White House spokesman quickly denounced the reports as “irresponsible.”

“That is 100 percent not true,” Sean Spicer, the press secretary at the time, told reporters aboard Air Force One. “There is no effort at all to round up, to utilize the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants.”

At the Pentagon, where officials had greeted the news grimly, there were sighs of relief: Military leaders have long opposed sending National Guard troops to the border.

“There is a significant opportunity cost,” said James G. Stavridis, a retired four-star admiral who commanded United States forces in Europe and Latin America, adding that troops sent to the border with Mexico — ostensibly an American ally — would “miss important training opportunities for their real primary mission — combat.”

But the idea that Mr. Spicer called inconceivable a year ago is back in play.

On Wednesday, White House officials said that President Trump planned to mobilize the National Guard to the southern border. The announcement came a day after Mr. Trump surprised some of his top advisers by saying that he wanted to send in the military to do what the immigration authorities, in his view, could not: secure the border from what he characterized as a growing threat of unauthorized immigrants, drugs and crime from Central America.

[Tami]

I like to think I'm somewhere in the middle, I don't hate Bernie, but I don't fawn over him either. However, I won't deny I'm tired of the deification of Sanders and the intolerance of ANY criticism against him which, in turn, riles up the haters to level more criticism, resulting in an endless cycle of nonsense.

For whatever it's worth, if Sanders were to run for president again, I suspect he'd fare even worse than Hillary. Republicans would have a field day with him, cranking up their smear machine to churn out bullshit equating Sanders' socialist views with communism, and communism with Vlad Putin and Russia. And voters, gullible as the day is long would fall for that crap hook, line and sinker, meanwhile, Trump would shout from the rooftops: "A vote for Bernie is a vote for communism! He's a bad hombre!" Outlandish? Improbable? Sure, but I could totally see a scenario like that taking place.

I think you hit on the same thing I have strong feelings about. When I look at a politician, or a candidate for a political position, I look at them like I was an employer trying to hire the person that was best for the position. I don't fawn over anyone either, I don't think anyone should deify any politician. I supported Hillary Clinton because I considered the resumes of all the candidates and from that determined that she was the best choice for the job.

We see in Trump the danger of people following a politician blindly simply because of the 'cult of personalty' effect. If you want to like a politican, then like them for the work they did, or tried to do. For their accomplishments, for how they handled themselves in the job.

You can like someone's ideas on issues, that doesn't in of it's self make them qualified for political office. There are a lot of smart people in the country with smart ideas on how to fix problems and deal with issues. But, when voting for a political candidate, you have to also consider the whole package. You have to consider if they can and will do the job they are being hired to do. If they are mentally, physically, emotionally, and intellectually up for the challenges of the position.

[Mr. Mastermind]

I like to think I'm somewhere in the middle, I don't hate Bernie, but I don't fawn over him either. However, I won't deny I'm tired of the deification of Sanders and the intolerance of ANY criticism against him which, in turn, riles up the haters to level more criticism, resulting in an endless cycle of nonsense.

For whatever it's worth, if Sanders were to run for president again, I suspect he'd fare even worse than Hillary. Republicans would have a field day with him, cranking up their smear machine to churn out bullshit equating Sanders' socialist views with communism, and communism with Vlad Putin and Russia. And voters, gullible as the day is long would fall for that crap hook, line and sinker, meanwhile, Trump would shout from the rooftops: "A vote for Bernie is a vote for communism! He's a bad hombre!" Outlandish? Improbable? Sure, but I could totally see a scenario like that taking place.

Just like all of Trump's scandals in the past would ruin him when the Clinton machine got their hands on him...

Very few people care about what Bernie Sanders thought about Nicaragua and Sandinistas in the 80s (I do because it shows he's an actual New Left socialist deep down despite some of the right wing crap he's spouted since) but to most it's irrelevant noise and most people would recognise he wasn't a communist for wanting modest social democratic reforms (if anything it would make socialism more popular by making it a synonym to social democracy to most people).

Of course if he was the nominee he'd struggle because the Republicans were always favourites to win the Presidency after 8 years of the Democrats and Obama. Not to mention you'd have the entire liberal intelligentsia, and media attacking Sanders and declaring him no better than Trump during the election like they did with Corbyn. But Sanders would have had a better chance than Clinton because he isn't nearly as out of touch or despicable as she was (so long as Bloomberg didn't run as a spoiler).

[PaulBullion]

The focus on optics here seems really misguided.

I've noticed liberals tend to be worried about whether things are said on the right or wrong dates, which doesn't seem all that productive. Should prominent Democrats carry a list of days when they shouldn't say anything that can be construed as mild criticism of Obama?

Mississippi has a large African-American population but if there's a competitive election (and there might be due to the nontrivial chance Chris McDaniel will be the Republican nominee for Senate) they're going to need to persuade others to go with their candidate.

Sanders is also basically complimenting Obama, in the context of a larger point about the Democratic party, which is that they lost a lot of seats in Congress and in state legislatures since November 2008. It's a good thing if the leader in the party is grappling with this in public, especially a guy who wants to have policies that inspire people. A problem with the party is that the voters get inspired by individuals, either supporting one guy (Obama) or opposing a prominent Republican (W, Trump) which doesn't work in the long term.

It's also worth noting that one of the reasons Hillary Clinton lost key swing states is that she was unwilling to address the concerns of voters whose quality of life had declined in the last decade, because she was worried that it would be tantamount to criticizing Obama.

Obama was clearly a top 20 or top 10 president, even though his own party was often hesitant to follow him and Republicans decided it's better to break the government and damage the country than work with him.

The changes he made to healthcare and LGBTQ rights, the discussion about racism he encouraged scared the Kochs and the Mercers so much they put incredible amounts of money into efforts to damage the Democratic party and its candidates - from the astro turfed Tea Party to Cambridge Analytica.

Sanders never showed him a shred of respect. Matter of fact, he suggested a primary challenge to sabotage Obama's reelection.

[PaulBullion]

His approval rating in his home state is pretty high.

http://thehill.com/senators/341501-p...any-home-state

I'm curious how Democrats plan to win the White House without seeking national office. Is the new standard that no Democrat should run for President who also holds elected office?

First of. Sanders is not a Democrat running for office. He is currently an Independent.

Second of, the people of Vermont are very generous considering he is not really doing much work for them.

Sanders Was most absent in votes compared to Serving 10+ Years in 2016

And it didn't pick up much once the election year was over. Here is his 2017 report card.

[Tami]

First of. Sanders is not a Democrat running for office. He is currently an Independent.

Second of, the people of Vermont are very generous considering he is not really doing much work for them.

Sanders Was most absent in votes compared to Serving 10+ Years in 2016

And it didn't pick up much once the election year was over. Here is his 2017 report card.

This is what I mean about looking at a candidate a as whole, not simply hanging on what they say. What they say isn't as important as what they do, or don'r do.

[Jack Dracula]

And this is why me must never stop being pissed at Bush. He goes in and smashes everything with no plan, now we're stuck a decade and half later throwing money and lives away to prop up everything like Atlas keeping the sky from falling.

I have no idea why Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice are all still walking around free. They should all be in prison for their crimes.

[Tazirai]

Ever consider the idea that he isn't the "perfect" candidate either? That we don't need a divider but a someone who can help us work together? All I know is that Obama came from nowhere was was able to inspire everybody, but Bernie has been around a lot longer but can't work with anybody. It's probably why he's an Independant instead of a Democrat. Since he has that spirit maybe he should just run as an Independant. Nothing is stopping him. Better than hearing him harp on about a party that he isn't even a part of.

Yes people will be mad if he split the vote, because ideals mean **** if **** doesn't get done and **** can't get done so long as dangerous people like Trump are in power. It's called pragmatism.

How exactly has he divided the party? I'd like a genuine answer.

There is no such thing as the perfect candidate. Which is why I'm open to someone not named Bernie Running, but like Him. I don't need More Liberal schills. Indepedent or not. Seems to me the only people truly dividing the party are those not wanting to move into the future.

Can Bernie do anything wrong? In your mind, can he do anything wrong? If anyone is the least bit critical, do you always need to rush in and declare anyone speaking against him a shill for the "Establishment"?

Here's the video of the speech he gave since "Liberals" tend to just react on emotion and the effort of Ruby Cramer who has never written a positive thing about Bernie, nor a critical thing about Hillary.

YOU tell me how the audience reacted yesterday.






YES, Bernie can do wrong and he has.
He doesn't support the Protests against Israel, while also claiming to be even handed in support of the Two state solution. I hope this is the case.

Bernie doesn't have the Greatest record on Gun Reform, which is prmarily because of his state. On National Gun reform he's much better.

Bernie in the beginning of his campaign did not go after the symbolism of the black vote, simply trying to tie everything into economics, which is in reality a huge issue for us blacks, but the optics didn't look great at first.

Bernie supported a person who was Pro-Life, which is their right, however as part of the Democratic Party or at the LEAST Progressive independence, that can't be a thing in the future.

Bernie is actually not as strong as I'd like on Immigration issues. I wish he had done some more work to advance DACA back when the Democrats held the house.

He's gotta stop using the Iraq War vote as a thing. Although it does allow him the ability to grow on issues like Korea and China.

I wish he was more pursuant to nationalizing Marijuana nationwide instead of state by state.

There are others but i'm hungry. :P

Sanders is not new blood. He's one foot in the grave blood, and his politics are stuck in the 60's.

He could pick a side...

His Politics are not stuck in the 60's If they were why are young people so enthusiatic about him?
Why does he need to pick a side when the Democrats don't want to hear anything he has to offer, But always want his vote?

[Tazirai]

Sanders is not new blood. He's one foot in the grave blood, and his politics are stuck in the 60's.

He could pick a side...

[Tazirai]

Yeah, that's not true. There's plenty Sanders could do to satisfy me. Like, for example, apologizing for Siierra Blanca.

Or do the $8000 a year residents of Sierra Blanca not count as members of the working class he cares about?

Here ya go my dude.


What You Should Know About Bernie Sanders And A Controversial Proposal To Bring Toxic Waste To Sierra Blanca
The Vermont senator and hopeful Democratic presidential candidate has been the subject of criticism for a vote on a controversial project that never came to fruition.

[Tazirai]

Word around the campfire tells it Orange Foolius mobilized the National Guard after watching some damn fool piece on Faux News about "caravans of illegals" headed for the border. But yeah, throwing a bone to his Trumpanzees played a part in that decision as well.

Can I steal this from you? LMAO!!

Someone has to guard the middle of the desert or else the Mexicans will steal all the sand! /sarcasm

So while we debate more silly Bernie Sanders nonsense , Trump just deployed the National Guard for really no reason to go stand by the border so the evil Mexicans can't get into the country. Gotta appeal to that base ya know.

Well of course. He'd rather blow money on nonsense than fixing Puerto Rico or Helping improve the VA. But he LOVES the troops.

[JBatmanFan05]

Despite terrible policy positions, Bernie was right on the Dems last 15 years and he is right about Amazon too:

Sen. Bernie Sanders thinks Amazon has gotten so large that it requires closer scrutiny of its "power and influence."

On CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, the anchor Jake Tapper asked Sanders whether Amazon had gotten too big.

"Yeah, I do, I do," said Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who ran as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.

"This is an issue that has got to be looked at," he added. "What we are seeing all over this country is the decline in retail. We're seeing this incredibly large company getting involved in almost every area of commerce. And I think it is important to take a look at the power and influence that Amazon has."

http://www.businessinsider.com/berni...too-big-2018-4

[Tazirai]

First amendment? If your job is to care for the sick and wounded you have no say in who you treat. So if that man had come into her workplace, would she have let him die if left to her own devices? Saying he deserves to die is worth firing her over because as a public health official she has no say in who she treats. Sure she didn't treat the man, but that's establishing a hell of a precedent. She's saying she wouldn't have saved him given the chance and that is a huge violation. Yes some things are objectionable, but if blanket stating she wont treat him she is free to get **** for that.

**** her every one who is paying into her go fund me.
I don't give a flying **** if she's a veteran, she's a ****. And what is there to explain? It's a comment on facebook, not an opportunity for people to dig into what you mean, she's not being deep, she decided to be an ******* to somebody who died. In an age where this sort of tragedy is commonplace I don't blame the hospital for firing her. If this happened in my workplace she wouldn't have finished the shift.

Agreed My mother was an RN and even if she had an issue with white people she knew her role was to CARE for people, not their skintone. Which is why she pursued medicine and worked in Hospitals and later nursing homes of Primarily white people. She didn't give a **** if they were racist or not. They needed help and she was there.

THIS Beyoo... Is beyond help and I love how Racist and Homophobic Conservatives use Patreon and such to support their hatred for others. They should shut this **** down and refund those people their money for being stupid.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Can I steal this from you? LMAO!!

I think TheInvisibleMan used that nickname for Trump first, but hey, help yourself!