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

[Tazirai]

Bernie has done plenty of things wrong, he's far too right wing. He hasn't said anything positive about the Castros or Chomsky in years, the bloody traitor.

Agreed.

That works both ways.

It does. Which is why I don't mention Hillary anymore. She's not relevant to the topic of Political Conversation except in terms of making the party lean middle.

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 doubt the Conservative smear machine will do anything worse than the Democratic one which is currently smearing Progressives al over. The Socialist moniker doesn't work as Socialists are winning races all around the country too.
Older voters might fall for the Russia/Commie. But the youth are coming of age and overwhelmingly support him. Those old Political tricks are good for low information or Older 50+ voters But The youth vote and people 50 and under don't care. I call myself a Democratic Socialist all the time. I do it publicly, I call myself an Atheist publicly, those old scare tactics don't work as they used to.

The Kids at Stoneman Douglas are proving that old tropes are easy to remove if you actually Try. It's not the Democratic Party leading the call on the NRA issues. It's Kids...
They overwhelmingly like Bernies Politics.

Yes the Deification can be a bit nauseating at times though. But it was the same with Barack. People saw hope in him, they see hope in Bernie. Which is why I volunteered for both peoples campaigns.

[Jack Dracula]

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

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

JBats sensed Democrats fired up and arguing over Bernie and came running with his can of gasoline.

[PaulBullion]

In more current news:

12 Photos Of Trump Boarding Air Force One On A Very Windy Day

[Tazirai]

Let's remember that Bernie represents a very, very white state. If he hired more people from DC, regardless of their race, there might have been some heat from his home state that he wasn't hiring his own.

Something that NEVER Happened. Symone Sanders was his Press Secretary, and there were lots of POC on his campaign trail.

[PaulBullion]

Something that NEVER Happened. Symone Sanders was his Press Secretary, and there were lots of POC on his campaign trail.

Yes. A national campaign where he knew people were watching.

I asked about his congressional staff. Nice deflection though.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I doubt the Conservative smear machine will do anything worse than the Democratic one which is currently smearing Progressives al over. The Socialist moniker doesn't work as Socialists are winning races all around the country too.
Older voters might fall for the Russia/Commie. But the youth are coming of age and overwhelmingly support him. Those old Political tricks are good for low information or Older 50+ voters But The youth vote and people 50 and under don't care. I call myself a Democratic Socialist all the time. I do it publicly, I call myself an Atheist publicly, those old scare tactics don't work as they used to.

Those scare tactics aren't being aimed at you, rather at the millions of brainless idiots (and not all of them old timers either) who gleefully cast their lot with a lunatic reality show host, and appear all too ready to rinse and repeat for the 2020 election. They'll readily fall for the socialist/commie scare nonsense cooked up by conservatives to smear Sanders, or any other nonsense fed them by those noxious pied pipers on Faux News.

Yes the Deification can be a bit nauseating at times though. But it was the same with Barack. People saw hope in him, they see hope in Bernie. Which is why I volunteered for both peoples campaigns.

For the record, I was cautious about Obama and never fully got on his hope train, mainly because he was going to have to get his agenda past obstructionist Republicans in Congress hellbent on derailing him from day one because they hated seeing a black man ascend to President. The fact Obama accomplished as much as he did was nothing short of miraculous. I don't see hope in anyone, least of all politicians.

[Dalak]

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.

I read the story, and the best it says is that being a nuclear waste dump would have brought them money that dried up afterwards. It didn't bring up how hard Bernie fought to prevent those citizens from having a legal voice in the proceedings, nor his dick move of telling off those people to their face (A step up from ignoring them in his office like so many nowadays). Just because something else prevented the waste site from happening doesn't absolve him of his responsibility for his actions. I voted for the man in the primary and if he somehow becomes the candidate for pres in 2020 I'll vote for him over Trump too, but I'd much rather someone not tarred by 2016 steps up with young blood and a belly full of fire.

Speaking of that: I haven't been paying attention, how is he doing in promoting others who can carry this whole movement on if for whatever reason he can't anymore? And by this I don't mean followers - I mean leaders.

[PaulBullion]

Kevin Williamson has been fired from The Atlantic. From Jeffrey Goldberg's letter to staff: "The language he used in this podcast—and in my conversations with him in recent days—made it clear that the original tweet did, in fact, represent his carefully considered views."

(from Twitter)

This is the second case this year already where a newspaper hired somebody "edgy" without first spending a couple of weeks going over their work to see just how hateful and deranged those edges are.

As problematic as twitter, facebook et al. are, they do allow the public to shine a light on hate mongers.

[PaulBullion]

Of course, in a few minutes the hot takes are gonna come in how the libruls "bullied" a guy and took away his 1st amendment rights just because he called for the execution of women who had abortions.

[Mister Mets]

Of course, in a few minutes the hot takes are gonna come in how the libruls "bullied" a guy and took away his 1st amendment rights just because he called for the execution of women who had abortions.

I don't think it's a hot take matter, since there are sincere good-faith opinions on multiple sides (people who disagree with Williamson on most issues and think he was a poor fit for the Atlantic, people who agree with Williamson on most issues and think he's good fit for the Atlantic, people who disagree with Williamson on most issues and think he's a good fit for the Atlantic.) Hot takes are done in bad faith.

It's more about what ideas should be considered so beyond the pale that there must be professional repercussions to voicing them, and whether the belief that abortion should be treated as a serious crime falls into category.

You're the Bernie expert... Do you have a ballpark figure on the amount of black staffers Bernie hired in his many years in DC? I mean, he marched with Dr King and the job was in a very diverse city, so there certainly must be... at least... one?

Congressional staffers are rarely hired from just the Washington DC area, so DC being a diverse city doesn't quite mean anything. Staffers come from all over.

[Kevinroc]

I doubt the Conservative smear machine will do anything worse than the Democratic one which is currently smearing Progressives al over. The Socialist moniker doesn't work as Socialists are winning races all around the country too.
Older voters might fall for the Russia/Commie. But the youth are coming of age and overwhelmingly support him. Those old Political tricks are good for low information or Older 50+ voters But The youth vote and people 50 and under don't care. I call myself a Democratic Socialist all the time. I do it publicly, I call myself an Atheist publicly, those old scare tactics don't work as they used to.

The Kids at Stoneman Douglas are proving that old tropes are easy to remove if you actually Try. It's not the Democratic Party leading the call on the NRA issues. It's Kids...
They overwhelmingly like Bernies Politics.

Yes the Deification can be a bit nauseating at times though. But it was the same with Barack. People saw hope in him, they see hope in Bernie. Which is why I volunteered for both peoples campaigns.

It's the Deification that gets old. We don't need a Sanders Defense Force to rush in to defend him at the drop of a hat. He can do wrong, and he has done wrong. Just as anyone else can do wrong and has done wrong.

All that being said, I would have no problems voting for Sanders should he be the nominee in 2020. But I think of him as another politician (albeit one with views that line up with my own in many ways. But not all ways. No politician is going to be 1:1 with my own political views).

[PaulBullion]

I don't think it's a hot take matter, since there are sincere good-faith opinions on multiple sides (people who disagree with Williamson on most issues and think he was a poor fit for the Atlantic, people who agree with Williamson on most issues and think he's good fit for the Atlantic, people who disagree with Williamson on most issues and think he's a good fit for the Atlantic.) Hot takes are done in bad faith.

It's more about what ideas should be considered so beyond the pale that there must be professional repercussions to voicing them, and whether the belief that abortion should be treated as a serious crime falls into category.

"Treating abortion as a serious crime" is bad enough, but you're still sugar coating that he wanted women who had an abortion killed. Killed dead. Killed dead until they were no longer alive. Do you get that?

[Tazirai]

RIGHT-WING MEDIA LOOK AT PARKLAND STUDENT ACTIVISTS AND SEE A REASON TO GUT PUBLIC EDUCATION


Conservatives have no idea how to deal with these Kids. None! They want to attack and vilify them as evil so badly. But the Country sees through the BS. I'm proud of these kids.

WITNESSING WITH HORROR a parade of articulate and smart teenagers speaking confidently about the role of intersectionality in the social movement they ignited, conservative leaders have seized on the explosion of activism launched by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students to make the case that so-called government schools — or traditional public schools — are a fundamental threat to their vision of the country. David Hogg and Emma González are all the evidence they need.

“The radical progressive agenda is now basic propaganda in our public school system,” said Mark Levin, a prominent right-wing radio host on his show in March. “These government schools have become propaganda mills. Whether it’s genitalia assignment, bathrooms, and gyms; whether it’s the school lunch program that’s even politicized … radical environmentalism is advanced, capitalism is trashed.”

[Kevinroc]

"Treating abortion as a serious crime" is bad enough, but you're still sugar coating that he wanted women who had an abortion killed. Killed dead. Killed dead until they were no longer alive. Do you get that?

https://twitter.com/owillis/status/981962656335659008

the kevin williamson thing is a two-fer. it exposes once again how the mainstream media bends over backwards for repugnant conservatism and it also gives conservatives another chance to play-act at being victims of the big liberal machine.

[Mister Mets]

"Treating abortion as a serious crime" is bad enough, but you're still sugar coating that he wanted women who had an abortion killed. Killed dead. Killed dead until they were no longer alive. Do you get that?

That is a potential criminal penalty for serious crimes.