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

[Mister Mets]

Amen. I like how George Stephanopoulos said ABC was probably making a mistake making them censor what he said this morning.

I totally agree. If viewers are offended by the word then they need to look at the man who said them. His supporters especially should have to explain to their kids why they agree with what he said or not.

Sugarcoating it is doing him a favor. Just be real. Electoral College voted for him so take the totality of what he says in reporting on him.

These weren't statements he made to the public, so that muddies the waters a bit.

Politician have been vulgar in the past when speaking off-microphone. I can guarantee Rahm Emanuel, Chicago mayor and former Obama Chief of Staff, has been profane.

And people didn't believe Hillary when she said there was a basket of deplorables on the Trump train. She was wrong about one thing. It's not a basket. There's probably a lot more than we care to admit....millions probably if we can extrapolate from some of the polls.

Hillary actually said that half of Trump supporters fit the basket of deplorables.

She never said it was a small group.

We are living in a volatile political environment. You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it.

Along that line, here are some things we do know...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatsp.../#404c08c314f3



https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...n_5332306.html

Why did you make three posts on Sam's Club/ CostCo less than ten minutes apart? It could have all been one post.

Sen. Lindsay Graham just put out his statement, he didn't deny Trump said Haiti and Africa were s***hole statements, and seemed to confirm what Durbin said, that he stood up to Trump.

Durbin played this very well.

He called Trump a liar, and then backed Graham into a corner by complimenting him for standing up to Trump.

Ms Daniels just made her twitter account private.
Anyone here among her 411k followers and wants to ask her if the tool sizes matches the tiny hands?

She issued a statement denying it.



It might just be that no one who hasn't been married to Trump is willing to admit to sleeping with him.

[The Question]

The President of the United States Is a Foul-Mouthed, Cowardly Punk


"Donald J. Trump is a punk. He runs his mouth constantly, but runs to hide behind others when he is called to account for his words. He can't defend himself, so he has Sarah Huckleberry Sanders do it for him in her whiny style.

Trump belittles and insults people, but only when they are not around to defend themselves. In person, his obsequious behavior towards others demonstrates his abject cowardice.

When confronted by a leader of a country which is generally considered an adversary, he smiles and kowtows to that leader. He never confronts adversaries. Instead, he attempts to mollify them to prevent any confrontation.

Instead of working on the many problems faced by our nation, he retreats to the golf course. He hides in his private quarters in the White House instead of working as most Presidents do.

He is afraid to appear in public unless the audience he addresses is hand-selected and represents his sycophantic "base." He does not stand before the press to speak, because he cannot answer their questions.

Our President is a stupid, cowardly punk. It is that simple."


A spot on assessment.

[PaulBullion]

These weren't statements he made to the public, so that muddies the waters a bit.

Politician have been vulgar in the past when speaking off-microphone. I can guarantee Rahm Emanuel, Chicago mayor and former Obama Chief of Staff, has been profane.

Hillary actually said that half of Trump supporters fit the basket of deplorables.

She never said it was a small group.



Why did you make three posts on Sam's Club/ CostCo less than ten minutes apart? It could have all been one post.

Durbin played this very well.

He called Trump a liar, and then backed Graham into a corner by complimenting him for standing up to Trump.

She issued a statement denying it.



It might just be that no one who hasn't been married to Trump is willing to admit to sleeping with him.

I am pretty sure that the Murdoch owned, right wing WSJ wouldn't have published the story without several sources or other evidence.

[kidfresh512]

These weren't statements he made to the public, so that muddies the waters a bit.

Politician have been vulgar in the past when speaking off-microphone. I can guarantee Rahm Emanuel, Chicago mayor and former Obama Chief of Staff, has been profane.

.

People keep trying to talk about people being upset about profanity. That is not it at all. I work in the oil industry I go to a drillship and an oil rig you will hear the most filthy, profane talk you could imagine while they are at sea for a month working with mostly guys.

That's not what people are outraged at. And its a false little narrative I have seen used on Fox News today glancing at how they are covering this. No one is having the vapors because the president is cursing. They are talking about how he represents us, how he FEELS about people that come from these "**** house" countries. That they are worth less than Norwegians. And anyone that is ignoring the clear racist vehemence there is just kidding themselves. "Why do we need more Haitians??" If he is TRULY interested in merit like his defenders are saying....why are you asking that question? Because we know what he really means. That's why.

So what if "regular people" talk like that at bars as some on Fox have said. Guess what those "regular people if they are saying racist jokes might be racist. The difference is they are representing their own selves. Trump represents all of America even though most of the voting populace wishes he didn't. He shouldn't be "regular". He's supposed to be a "stable genius" why would you intentionally piss off these countries these governments even if you think they are "lesser"? What does it get America? But, more enemies?

It is completely legitimate to report how the president talks about us, about other nations. And use the language he uses don't "help" him by prettying it up.

[Mister Mets]

I do not think this has ever existed in the history of humanity.

Rightwing fascist regimes are a dime a dozen though.

There have been bad left-wing regimes.

In a shocking Shymalanian twist, James Demore's assertion that Google has created an environment hostile to white male conservatives, is basically bullshit.

Oddly enough, James Demore's lawsuit hadn't mentioned in this thread.

His accusations ranged from ridiculous to troubling, suggesting that people can be fired or threatened for having the wrong views.

1. ‘Living as a Plural Being’
In a section claiming Google tries to “stifle” conservative parenting styles, the suit reads: “Google furnishes a large number of internal mailing lists catering to employees with alternative lifestyles, including furries, polygamy, transgenderism, and plurality, for the purpose of discussing sexual topics. The only lifestyle that seems to not be openly discussed on Google’s internal forums is traditional heterosexual monogamy.”

A footnote next to the word “plurality” adds: “For instance, an employee who sexually identifies as ‘a yellow-scaled wingless dragonkin’ and ‘an expansive ornate building’ presented a talk entitled ‘Living as a Plural Being’ at an internal company event.”

The suit also includes a screenshot of the presentation on “living as a plural being” when the presenter is discussing how to address coworkers with multiple identities. Examples of “not okay” etiquette listed include “addressing any one headmate in particular; we’re all listening!”

3. ‘Bias busting’
Damore recounts attending “voluntary” diversity training because Google employees stressed attendance as necessary if he were to advance in the company.

8. ‘I will hurt you’
Damore’s memo prompted another employee to post this quote: “I’m a queer-ass nonbinary trans person that is fucking sick and tired of being told to open a dialogue with people who want me dead. We are at a point where the dialogue we need to be having with these people is ‘if you keep talking about this ****, i will hurt you.”

11. ‘You’re being blacklisted…at companies outside Google’
Google manager Adam Fletcher wrote in 2015 he would never hire conservatives he deemed hold hostile views. “I will never, ever hire/transfer you onto my team,” he wrote. “Ever. I don’t care if you are perfect fit or technically excellent or whatever. I will actively not work with you, even to the point where your team or product is impacted by this decision. I’ll communicate why to your manager if it comes up.”

“You’re being blacklisted by people at companies outside of Google,” he added. “You might not have been aware of this, but people know, people talk. There are always social consequences.”

14. ‘Throw away that bad apple with no regrets’
The suit says Google manager Jay Gengelbach discussed blacklisting an intern whose views proved intransigent, despite the efforts of Google employees to bring him around to their views. “I was there at the lunch were said intern said the things he did,” Googler Matthew Seidl replied on the thread. “A number of people there did try to esquire as to what he was basing his belief on and give counter examples. They didn’t really take.”

Another Googler chimed in, “Throw that bad apple away with no regrets.”

The Gizmodo piece doesn't really contradict it, mainly suggesting that some of the time people within Google wanted to suggest that views shouldn't be tolerated, the discussion was shut down.

It doesn't suggest that Damore made up the comments he attributes to others.

[PaulBullion]

There have been bad left-wing regimes.

No ****, Sherlock. Not what the conversation was about, though.

[worstblogever]

I am pretty sure that the Murdoch owned, right wing WSJ wouldn't have published the story without several sources or other evidence.

Or that a story accusing Trump of something, that can immediately be hand-waved away wouldn't be a convenient way to stop talking about him being screamingly racist about a whole continent.

[Kevinroc]

I'm expecting a day when some people try to brush off Trump's racism by bringing up Woodrow Wilson or somebody like that.

[Carabas]

There have been bad left-wing regimes.

And did they look even a little bit like what Scott described?

[aja_christopher]

People keep trying to talk about people being upset about profanity. That is not it at all.

Mets is trying to make this about profanity when this is about blatantly racist comments made by his Republican commander-in-chief.

The waters aren't "muddy" here -- they are crystal clear.

[Mister Mets]

I am pretty sure that the Murdoch owned, right wing WSJ wouldn't have published the story without several sources or other evidence.

I'm pretty sure he said it, and that it's well-vetted (aside from the slight argument about whether he said "**** hole" or "**** house" which is a distinction without a difference.)

There's a big deal about the media reporting what he said, often without censoring it, and I'm just noting that there are plenty of other cases in which it could be done.

No ****, Sherlock. Not what the conversation was about, though.

That's very clear from "Rightwing fascist regimes are a dime a dozen though."

People keep trying to talk about people being upset about profanity. That is not it at all. I work in the oil industry I go to a drillship and an oil rig you will hear the most filthy, profane talk you could imagine while they are at sea for a month working with mostly guys.

That's not what people are outraged at. And its a false little narrative I have seen used on Fox News today glancing at how they are covering this. No one is having the vapors because the president is cursing. They are talking about how he represents us, how he FEELS about people that come from these "**** house" countries. That they are worth less than Norwegians. And anyone that is ignoring the clear racist vehemence there is just kidding themselves. "Why do we need more Haitians??" If he is TRULY interested in merit like his defenders are saying....why are you asking that question? Because we know what he really means. That's why.

So what if "regular people" talk like that at bars as some on Fox have said. Guess what those "regular people if they are saying racist jokes might be racist. The difference is they are representing their own selves. Trump represents all of America even though most of the voting populace wishes he didn't. He shouldn't be "regular". He's supposed to be a "stable genius" why would you intentionally piss off these countries these governments even if you think they are "lesser"? What does it get America? But, more enemies?

It is completely legitimate to report how the president talks about us, about other nations. And use the language he uses don't "help" him by prettying it up.

There is merit in asking whether Trump's objection is racist.

It is a bit hypocritical for anyone in the media to claim that statements Trump made to American lawmakers are pissing off other governments, when they're the ones increasing other governments' awareness of what Trump said.

[Ragged Maw]

To paint a better picture, the worst left-wing dystopia I can imagine based on current trends is simply an ultra passive-aggressive one. One where it’s less about shooting or imprisoning people and more about putting their name on some black book that becomes universally popular and accessible on information networks across the state, if not the country, pretty much crippling their livelihood (which could eventually lead to death) via the most indirect means possible, so those doing the branding can more easily avoid personal guilt, let alone blame. And based on Demolition Man, that may or may not lead to said branded moving into the sewers to start an underground society of their own.

[ed2962]

Wrong movie. Try Demolition Man.

It's been a long time since I've seen it, but I liked Demolition Man.

I also think that Dennis Leary of that era could have made a good movie Hawkeye.

[Carabas]

That's very clear from "Rightwing fascist regimes are a dime a dozen though."

Leftwing ones exist; there's a lot more of the other kind though. Both sides yada yada yada...

[PaulBullion]

I'm pretty sure he said it, and that it's well-vetted (aside from the slight argument about whether he said "**** hole" or "**** house" which is a distinction without a difference.)

There's a big deal about the media reporting what he said, often without censoring it, and I'm just noting that there are plenty of other cases in which it could be done.

The WSJ reported about his lawyer paying off Stormy Daniels, not the shithole thing.

You seem a little lost today. Nap time?