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

[worstblogever]

I think that lone wolves, self-radicalized either at home or abroad are going to be the biggest problem in terms of terrorism instead of organized groups like ISIS or al Queda for years to come.

Yeah. Much like a mass shooter like James Holmes or Jared Loughner... you can't exactly track it. Abdulazeez didn't set off any warning flags with friends or family for being prepared to do anything like this.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Yeah. Much like a mass shooter like James Holmes or Jared Loughner... you can't exactly track it. Abdulazeez didn't set off any warning flags with friends or family for being prepared to do anything like this.

Or worse, friends or family who may suspect a loved one is about to go off the rails but refuses to believe he might turn to violence. A friend of Dylann Roof was said to have had suspicions about him, but didn't act on them. We all know how that story turned out.

[Spike-X]

Much of what drives Republican and conservative politics today (and many people's understandings of politics) is zero-sum thinking. If African Americans make gains, it must come at the expense of whites, who will do less well. They look at the shrinking pie and blame immigrants, affirmative action and more, assuming the decline of their status must be from other people getting 'something', because it's zero-sum. This extends to conservative politics writ large, and is one reason why we see the hatred of compromise, IMO.

Of course, it's all nonsense.

Then there's the anti-gay Christianist bigots who haven't stopped whining about their 'rights' being 'attacked' ever since they were forced* - forced, I tell you! - to treat gay people like human beings.



* You can always tell who the real Christians are - they're the ones who don't need laws to make them treat people with decency, kindness and respect.

[Spike-X]

If people were more engaged and educated it woud solve these problems slot faster.

Yep. Which is why Republicans are doing their damndest to slash education budgets, and pass laws to stop 'certain types' from voting.

[TheInvisibleMan]

well this happened

http://dailycaller.com/2015/07/18/sa...ve-conference/

Sanders, a long-time advocate against “income inequality,” attempted to make opening remarks on the subject, but was shouted down by the same protesters. He replied, “Black lives of course matter. But I have spent 50 years of my life fighting for civil rights and if you don’t want me to be here, that’s OK. I will answer your question but I’d like to speak for a couple of minutes, I was told…”

Never able to speak for any amount of time, Sanders soon left the stage long before his discussion was scheduled to end.

One doesn't get many chances to get the black/minority vote on your side, so when one blows a chance like this, it is worth noting

[worstblogever]

well this happened

http://dailycaller.com/2015/07/18/sa...ve-conference/



One doesn't get many chances to get the black/minority vote on your side, so when one blows a chance like this, it is worth noting

I don't know what else they were expecting of him. He just agreed with them, then tried to move on to his planned remarks, and they wouldn't let him.

Still, this does highlight one of my worries about Bernie Sanders... that outside of talking populist economic policy, he's not as comfortable.

[TheInvisibleMan]

no, he tried to placate them, like most every politician does with minority voters

he should have engaged, but he was out of his comfort zone and retreated

EARN IT

[heretic]

At the moment, they still haven't found a solid terror link between the Chatanooga shooter and a terrorist group. They're still looking for a motive. One of the other theories that doesn't play to a cultural stereotype was that he was suffering from depression, and mentally ill.

But since the shooter traveled to the Middle East last year, people will most likely arrive at the conclusion that he self-radicalized.

The real question is how much overlap there is?

[heretic]

I think that lone wolves, self-radicalized either at home or abroad are going to be the biggest problem in terms of terrorism instead of organized groups like ISIS or al Queda for years to come.

Yeah. Much like a mass shooter like James Holmes or Jared Loughner... you can't exactly track it. Abdulazeez didn't set off any warning flags with friends or family for being prepared to do anything like this.

But rounding up and/or expelling Muslims, or at least treating them all as suspects, reassures segments of society in ways that dealing thusly with everyone who shares Holms' or Loughner's nominal faith does not.

[heretic]

no, he tried to placate them, like most every politician does with minority voters

he should have engaged, but he was out of his comfort zone and retreated

EARN IT

“Black lives of course matter. But I have spent 50 years of my life fighting for civil rights and if you don’t want me to be here, that’s OK. I will answer your question but I’d like to speak for a couple of minutes, I was told…”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/07/18/sa...#ixzz3gLWsfWVc

What would you have considered non-placating?

[worstblogever]

But rounding up and/or expelling Muslims, or at least treating them all as suspects, reassures segments of society in ways that dealing thusly with everyone who shares Holms' or Loughner's nominal faith does not.

And that's a far scarier thought. Systematic discrimination.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

But rounding up and/or expelling Muslims, or at least treating them all as suspects, reassures segments of society in ways that dealing thusly with everyone who shares Holms' or Loughner's nominal faith does not.

And that's a far scarier thought. Systematic discrimination.

Those comments got me to thinking about the Japanese internment camps back in World War II. This will probably sound extreme, but who's to say some crackpot xenophobic Republican isn't dwelling on that idea to deal with Muslims?

[worstblogever]

Those comments got me to thinking about the Japanese internment camps back in World War II. This will probably sound extreme, but who's to say some crackpot xenophobic Republican isn't dwelling on that idea to deal with Muslims?

My money would be on someone like NY Rep. Peter King with something like that. Maybe Iowa Rep. Steve King, but he's too busy worrying about Mexicans to be as paranoid about Muslims.

[worstblogever]

An update on our original profile from a year ago on one of the co-authors of the 2012 GOP Platform, conservative historian/exposed fraud from Texas, David Barton:

That's right, an Evangelical Republican who teaches history from an alternative timeline that never existed was allowed to lead a group prayer at the 2012 Republican National Convention, and then go in and be one of the bigger influences upon writing the party platform. This, in spite of the fact that he wrote "The Jefferson Lies", a book that falsely claimed Thomas Jefferson intended America to be a Christian nation, and was such a load of bunk that less than three months after it was released, his publisher had it yanked from bookstores around the country. None of this has stopped the GOP Evangelicals from continuing to disseminate whatever falsehoods Barton writes amongst their members, when they should have lanced him like a boil from their ranks before he did further damage to their reputation the past few years of, y'know, rejecting facts. The conservative media has folks like Glenn Beck and the Family Research Council still proudly welcome David Barton as a guest, not just swallowing the tripe he serves up, but lying on his behalf and touting all the scholarly credentials he doesn't actually have.

How insane does David Barton continue to be? These are but some of the statements he has made in the past year, since he was originally given a CSGOPOTD profile:

• On August 5th, 2014, Barton falsely claims that military chaplains are being forced to perform same-sex marriages aginst their will.
• On August 25th, 2014, Barton was on the "WallBuilders" program with House Rep. Louis Gohmert and said that President Obama and Sec. of State John Kerry don't really want to fight terrorism because they support abortion rights.
• In September 2014, Barton says that the Founding Fathers wanted the Bible taught in schools to prevent another Inquisition.
• In October 2014, Barton claims that our Founding Fathers were opposed to the theory of evolution. Nevermind, of course, that the theory of evolution wasn't developed until decades after America was founded. Because if you believe David Barton's version of history, the theory of evolution has existed since 500 B.C.
• In November 2014, Barton, with Glenn Beck, says that the average American household on welfare gets $61,000 a year. That's greatly misrepresenting the actual data by including medical costs by the elderly on Medicaid.
• In January 2015, Barton claims the Bible forbids government debt, the estate tax, and the capital gains tax.
• In February 2015, Barton reflects on his time at Oral Roberts University, claiming he was on the record-setting men's basketball team that set scoring records in the 1972 and 1973 seasons. Barton's statement is a complete lie, as an Oral Roberts University trainer was interviewed by fact-checkers that Barton was never a member of the team. At best, he might have played intramural basketball on campus.
• On February 17th, 2015, Barton claims the Obama adminstration had aided the Muslim Brotherhood by providing them with top secret intelligence on the Israelis on seven different occasions.
• On February 19th, 2015, Barton says that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg briefly falling asleep during the State of the Union Address was an impeachable offense (it isn't).
• In March 2015, Barton claims that Bible passages from the Book of Romans make it clear that there can never be an AIDS vaccine. He repeats this claim a month later in April.
• On April 8th, 2015, Barton states that he was a translator when the Russian women's gymnastics team visited the United States in 1976, and that he had secretly worked to help sneak Bibles into the former Soviet Union. Barton somehow "forgot" a language he was fluent enough in to have served as a translator forty years ago, of course, and cannot speak it today.
• On April 9th, 2015, Barton predicts that the United States would collapse within 80 years unless they somehow restored "premarity purity and postmarital fidelity".
• On April 17th, 2015, Barton is on Glenn Beck again, and assures him that the government CAN outlaw homosexuality. There are some Supreme Court rulings that would strongly disagree with that.
• On April 28th, 2015, Barton tries re-writing the record on his book, "The Jefferson Lies", by claiming two "experts" with PHDs had validated it in a new book. He neglects to mention that the men who wrote that book have PHDs that are in philosophy and ministry (not history) who are also Dominionist kooks.
• Barton says on June 2nd, 2015 that LGBT activists are "evangelizing" public school students to recruit them into homosexuality.
• On June 9th, 2015, Barton claims that same sex marriage will force male and female athletes to share the same locker room.
• On June 24th, 2015, Barton is on with Glenn Beck, and warns that the Supreme Court's decision on same sex marriage will "legalize pedophilia and outlaw the Bible". (Hint: It won't be doing that.)
• On July 6th, 2015, Barton argues against the concept of retirement because it is a "Pagan concept" invented by the Babylonians. In case you're not seeing the logic in where he's going with this, remember, conservatives want to privatize or eliminate Social Security, which is set up to provide retirement... which Barton is angling to make Christians think is somehow against Biblical teachings, now.
• On July 14th, 2015, Barton asks that Christian voters not vote for anyone in the 2016 GOP Presidential Primary who does not vow to only appoint Supreme Court Justices who are determined to overturn the ruling on same sex marriage.

Yes, all that crazy happened in the past 12 months (and that's far from all of it).

I know, a lot of people might overlook David Barton because he does not hold, or intend to run for a political office, but the inexplicable levels of influence he holds in the Republican Party, being allowed to dictate policy in the party platform and the deranged philosophies and falsehoods he willfully spreads make him one of the most dangerous of individuals to the mental health of Republicans out there today.

[7thangel]

I don't know what else they were expecting of him. He just agreed with them, then tried to move on to his planned remarks, and they wouldn't let him.

Still, this does highlight one of my worries about Bernie Sanders... that outside of talking populist economic policy, he's not as comfortable.

nutroots, oops, i mean netroots isn't a place where you just do your usual stump speech. when asked about how you will deal with police brutality, the answer isn't jobs. when asked about how to deal with discrimination, redlining, etc, the answer isn't jobs. when asked about a pathway to citizenship, the answer isn't jobs. i can go on and on. you have to earn that vote, and earn it from the actual base of the dem party, fuck being comfortable. somehow o'malley handled it better afterwords, despite his fuck up, while the bern was awol and canceled an interview.