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

[Joker]

Trump just doubled-down on his comments that any NFL player who takes part in an anthem protest should be fired by he franchise owner, reiterating it on Twitter.

He's gonna keep kicking a hornet's nest.

So, they all do it, every single one of them, and nothing can happen.

Also, god that man is an asshole.

Simple yes or no: are all members of a given party personally responsible for what their party's elected officials choose to do once the latter are in office?

That's not a simple yes or now question, to be fair.

[aja_christopher]

The counterpoint is that the Democrats aren't perfect so there will always be an alternative party that will espouse a more conservative point of view and you are better off with like Mets there that will try to tailor it more to people who will do more to help you.

That's not at all a "counterpoint" to what I said -- I already pointed out that some Democrats (like Sheriff David Clarke) are just as responsible for said harassment and abuse, though the majority of said problems come from the Republican side of the political arena (Jeff Sessions, Joe Arpaio, Donald Trump, etc).

Again -- there's not much point in even discussing this issue, given the fact that this always plays out the same (deflection, excuses, misinterpretation, etc) when the issue of racial profiling comes up: nothing we "argue" on this board is going to change the fact that I was recently harassed by two cops under false pretenses (just as happened often when I attended USC) nor will it prevent it from happening in the future, despite all the "debate" or "sentiment" at hand.

For you this is a "debate" to be won or lost -- for me, it's a life placed at risk due to a police force who can abuse and even kill people of color with little or no consequence.

So enough with the "whitesplaining" -- I've got better things to do with my time than listen to such nonsense.

Edit: And with regards to the "tailoring": so-called "moderate" Republicans can't even keep a man like Trump from becoming the head of their party -- a man who openly advocated giving five wrongly accused black teenagers the death penalty despite their innocence -- so maybe you should focus on dealing with that aspect of said party before you go trying to tell me about how they can "help" out on the issues of profiling, harassment, and abuse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centra...y_Donald_Trump

[worstblogever]

Trump's dickery against NFL anthem protesters and the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors has not gone unnoticed...

The University of North Carolina's Men's Basketball team was also up for a White House visit, but are refusing to go.

[TheInvisibleMan]

just when you think the s**tshow can't get any worse

[worstblogever]

It's a winning issue for his base and he faces no repercussions for it. If anything when NFL ratings continue to slide he gets to be a jackass and take credit for it.

It was a winning issue for his base when only a small minority of players were doing it, and mostly the African American ones that his white nationalist base loathe for being black millionaires with an opinion.

The NFLPA, and even the Commissioner rejected his comments. The latter collectively speaks for the owners Trump called on to fire people.

Honestly, I think this may just all be that Trump's an asshole who's jealous that the NFL gets better ratings than him, and wants to be mentioned during the broadcasts. But he's going to be mentioned for being a racist asshole picking fights that he shouldn't be while, y'know, hurricanes and other national disasters are happening and North Korea is threatening to blow up half the world.

This isn't a winning issue for him. It's going to make the world of sport all be brave enough to speak up, and together, and tell him to get f***ed. And their fans are going to go with the gladiators, and not the emperor.

[TheInvisibleMan]

It's a winning issue for his base and he faces no repercussions for it. If anything when NFL ratings continue to slide he gets to be a jackass and take credit for it.

pretty much this

Billy Joe Peckerwood is fully erect seeing Orange Foolius "putting those rich darkies in their place" - an actual quote I saw on Twitter

[Joker]

just when you think the s**tshow can't get any worse

When did we ever think that??!

[worstblogever]

pretty much this

Billy Joe Peckerwood is fully erect seeing Orange Foolius "putting those rich darkies in their place" - an actual quote I saw on Twitter

How full of s*** is it that the same backwoods Alabama idjits that eat that up want their Confederate monuments, but get all pissed off when an African American won't respect the Union flag?

[TheInvisibleMan]

How full of s*** is it that the same backwoods Alabama idjits that eat that up want their Confederate monuments, but get all pissed off when an African American won't respect the Union flag?

EXTREMELY full of s**t

[Mister Mets]

I never claimed your views should be dismissed -- only that your "sentiment" does little good in preventing police officers from harassing me so long as you are voting for a party of candidates who do little to combat said harassment and abuse, and sometimes even encourage it.

And whether he's "my" President isn't the issue here -- the point I was making is that you support the party that elected him as their top representative.

I also made the point that you'd engage in the usual denial with regards to the issue of any personal responsibility for the actions of your chosen party; so with that said, it's probably best to leave it at that.

What specifically do you think I should admit personal responsibility for?

I strongly disagree since they're voting to let thousands of Americans die and to kick close to a million Taxpayers (Read: Dreamers) out of the country in just 2 pieces of major legislation. They can't answer their constituents with any honesty in the town halls as to how these are actually good things either, which is why so many are avoiding or canceling them.

It's arguable whether they got into politics in order to make the country a better place or not, but the vast majority of what they are actually voting for nowadays has no such excuses.

There are many different sides on controversial pieces of legislation.

Health care is getting increasingly expensive, and an increased government role is going to increase the government's spending on it (there comes a point when spending money to save lives just isn't worth the tradeoff). There are plenty on both sides who think that the current system isn't working out, which is one reason a lot of Democrats are proposing to go with a single payer system that is going to be much more expensive. Studies also suggest that much of the spending isn't getting the effects we want.

There are multiple perspectives on the dreamers. There are some arguments that the definition is a bit vague, and provides incentives for people to exaggerate their academic interests in order to stay in the country. There are some who think it's okay to let the dreamers stay, but there should get some policy concessions from Democrats as a tradeoff, or that we should get a clear unambiguous immigration policy done for the entire nation rather than focusing on a subgroup.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

That's not at all a "counterpoint" to what I said -- I already pointed out that some Democrats (like Sheriff David Clarke) are just as responsible for said harassment and abuse, though the majority of said problems come from the Republican side of the political arena (Jeff Sessions, Joe Arpaio, Donald Trump, etc).

Again -- there's not much point in even discussing this issue, given the fact that this always plays out the same (deflection, excuses, misinterpretation, etc) when the issue of racial profiling comes up: nothing we "argue" on this board is going to change the fact that I was recently harassed by two cops under false pretenses (just as happened often when I attended USC) nor will it prevent it from happening in the future, despite all the "debate" or "sentiment" at hand.

For you this is a "debate" to be won or lost -- for me, it's a life placed at risk due to a police force who can abuse and even kill people of color with little or no consequence.

So enough with the "whitesplaining" -- I've got better things to do with my time than listen to such nonsense.

Edit: And with regards to the "tailoring": so-called "moderate" Republicans can't even keep a man like Trump from becoming the head of their party -- a man who openly advocated giving five wrongly accused black teenagers the death penalty despite their innocence -- so maybe you should focus on dealing with that aspect of said party before you go trying to tell me about how they can "help" out on the issues of profiling, harassment, and abuse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centra...y_Donald_Trump

No it is a debate to be one and lost because no matter the stakes that's the only way it's going to be solved. Like anything else. So unless you are planning on running out and raiding police stations to steal all their guns and weapons or just go on a cop killing spree, both of which will not end well, this has to be solved using the systems we have in place. Namely political debate and policy creation.

If you have some other solution I'd love to hear it.

[worstblogever]

My argument of why it's not a winning strategy...

Trump is calling for white NFL fans to get their panties in a wad like a bunch of Broflakes, and if the African American players have a peaceful protest, to walk out of games they're attending, on hundred dollar tickets. He wants them to talk out on the NFL. Not over how the league has handled CTE, or domestic abuse by players,

He's thinking white nationalist dickery is going to win out over the most popular sport in our country. What gets obsessed about every Sunday, Monday, and Thursday at minimum. And with the NBA involved, that's the third most-popular sport, as well.

In places without an NFL team like Alabama, sure, that's a winning strategy maybe. But nationally? You done f***ed up, Donnie.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

It was a winning issue for his base when only a small minority of players were doing it, and mostly the African American ones that his white nationalist base loathe for being black millionaires with an opinion.

The NFLPA, and even the Commissioner rejected his comments. The latter collectively speaks for the owners Trump called on to fire people.

Honestly, I think this may just all be that Trump's an asshole who's jealous that the NFL gets better ratings than him, and wants to be mentioned during the broadcasts. But he's going to be mentioned for being a racist asshole picking fights that he shouldn't be while, y'know, hurricanes and other national disasters are happening and North Korea is threatening to blow up half the world.

This isn't a winning issue for him. It's going to make the world of sport all be brave enough to speak up, and together, and tell him to get f***ed. And their fans are going to go with the gladiators, and not the emperor.

That's wishful thinking. I can't see anyone changing their mind. The players getting upset about it are the ones you'd expect, the players saying nothing are the one's you expect, the NFLPA released a "we will fight for the rights of our players" memo, the commissioner didn't even mention Trump and just tried to promote the NFL and said it was unfortunate to diminish all the good they do. The fans who are cool with the protesting probably don't like Trump. The fans who hate the protesting probably love Trump. He just riles up his base and offends people he doesn't care about.

[TheInvisibleMan]

Ive turned off the NFL as of a couple years ago

I may watch the SB and 2-3 games a year now if that, but that was largely due to the NFLs handling of the Ray Rice situation

[The Darknight Detective]

That's wishful thinking. I can't see anyone changing their mind. The players getting upset about it are the ones you'd expect, the players saying nothing are the one's you expect, the NFLPA released a "we will fight for the rights of our players" memo, the commissioner didn't even mention Trump and just tried to promote the NFL and said it was unfortunate to diminish all the good they do. The fans who are cool with the protesting probably don't like Trump. The fans who hate the protesting probably love Trump. He just riles up his base and offends people he doesn't care about.

If NFL ratings and TV audience keep sliding down, however, don't be surprised if the Commissioner and the union come to an opposite meeting of the minds regarding the protests. If that's the case, Trump will trumpet his part in all of this.