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

[TheInvisibleMan]

funny route?

you mean working in adult films?

[numberthirty]

funny route?

you mean working in adult films?

"Funny Route" as in...

- Why is the particular type of film this woman was in even central enough to the issue that it requires being mentioned?
- Is it because the folks mentioning it want to focus on that a judgment they don't want a woman having an abortion to have to discuss is just fine to discuss if a woman might be sleeping with a married man or making a living in a certain way?
- If it is fine, how is that putting women in a better position to have a blanket "Say Of Their Own"?

Never mind that tossing in "Prostitution" happened and why it might have been thrown into the mix.

[numberthirty]

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

Don't put a box of Jellybeans on that one.

The closest thing I've seen to a source is someone who "Says" they got a phone call while it was happening.

[aja_christopher]

Maybe this will clear things up for some people.

------
"Trump’s defenders are willfully ignoring the broader context of his “shithole” comments"

"Conservatives want to know why Trump can’t refer to poor nations as “shithole countries.” Here’s an answer.

"Why can’t you call Haiti and African nations “shithole countries,” as President Donald Trump reportedly did? Isn’t the whole reason that people leave those countries and come to the US that those countries are, in fact, poor and crime-ridden?

That’s the argument that conservative pundits, such as Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren, are now pushing. Their case: These countries really are in a terrible state, so it doesn’t make sense to let their people into the US and act as a drain on American resources when the US can take people from wealthier nations. (This view of immigration as a drain on society is popular among Trump supporters, but, as Matt Yglesias has explained, the research shows immigration creates jobs, wealth, and growth overall.)

This framing may make Trump’s remarks more reasonable to some people, but it misses the point and broader context of what Trump said — context that makes it very clear that Trump’s remarks were built on bigotry.

First, the problem is not just that Trump called these countries bad; it’s that Trump suggested these countries’ people are all bad.

Read Trump’s reported comments, which he reportedly made during bipartisan talks about immigration reform in the context of Haiti and African nations: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?”

Trump is not just saying that Haiti and African countries are shitholes. He’s indicating that the (predominantly black) people from these countries are themselves bad — to the point that the US should not accept them as immigrants. (Though Trump has now denied making the comments on Haiti, but he has not denied disparaging African nations.)

Then consider Trump’s point of comparison. After he raised his question, Trump reportedly suggested that America should take more people from “countries like Norway.” This is his remark about African countries and Haiti in reverse, explicitly singling out predominantly white nations as favorable.

Characterizing not just a nation but its people as inherently bad is prejudice, pure and simple. This is so widely accepted that it’s actually illegal to discriminate against workers and tenants based on national origin under federal law.

But it’s even worse when that person singles out predominantly black countries, as Trump did.

If Trump’s real concern was getting the most skilled, productive immigrants, as his defenders suggest, then why would he write off entire nations and their populations?

A country in dire economic straits can still produce skilled workers, and immigration policy can, as it has attempted to do throughout US history, try to attract those skilled workers in particular. That Trump is going further and suggesting we shouldn’t take anyone from those countries indicates that his interests go much further than just barring the supposedly unskilled workers from these places...

Trump’s own staff gave away the game here. A White House official told CNN that, despite whatever the press thinks, the remarks will resonate with Trump’s base. The White House official drew a comparison to Trump’s attacks against NFL athletes, who have demonstrated against systemic racism in the US by kneeling and otherwise silently protesting during the national anthem.

https://twitter.com/CNNSitRoom/statu...86808621649921

The only connection between these two topics — the NFL protests and Trump’s “shithole” comments — is race. They have nothing to do with each other otherwise.

This is the White House acknowledging the racist element of Trump’s comments, and then saying that Trump’s supporters will like the remarks."

https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/...m-haiti-africa

[Tazirai]

Conservatives are evil people?

[Kevinroc]

TRUMP THINKS ONLY BLACK PEOPLE ARE ON WELFARE, BUT, REALLY, WHITE AMERICANS RECEIVE MOST BENEFITS

http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump..._medium=Social

President Donald Trump was apparently unaware that not all—in fact, the vast majority—of welfare beneficiaries are not black as recently as last March, according to a new report.

In the spring of 2017, the newly elected president met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. During that meeting, one of the members mentioned to Trump that welfare reform would be detrimental to her constituents— adding, “Not all of whom are black,” according to NBC News.

The president was incredulous. “Really? Then what are they?”

Trump is a racist. Trump is a racist. Trump is a racist.

[Tendrin]

Trump is a racist. Trump is a racist. Trump is a racist.

We're in the dumbest timeline.

[Malvolio]

I see a liberal bad regime as us being taxed so much that we are all hopelessly dependent on the government for setting prices, providing services, defense, and basically doing everything. All we do is eat, sleep, poop, and make little humans. But we can say whatever we want, as long as its tolerant of everything except the dominant race, religion, etc. We are all babies sucking at a big government boob, all living in cities, all living in apartment buildings and eating Pho or Poke, with big hipster beards.

And black people and women still don't have equality.

This has never been what liberalism is about. Oh, I'm sure that right wing radio hosts and schmoes on FOX News will tell you that that is what liberalism is about, but that's not what its about.

[Malvolio]

"Funny Route" as in...

- Why is the particular type of film this woman was in even central enough to the issue that it requires being mentioned?
- Is it because the folks mentioning it want to focus on that a judgment they don't want a woman having an abortion to have to discuss is just fine to discuss if a woman might be sleeping with a married man or making a living in a certain way?
- If it is fine, how is that putting women in a better position to have a blanket "Say Of Their Own"?

Never mind that tossing in "Prostitution" happened and why it might have been thrown into the mix.

This. When a feminist tells young women that "You can be anything you want," but with the unspoken understanding that "anything you want," should not include porn actress or Playboy Playmate, I find that feminist to be somewhat hypocritical.

[Scott Taylor]

This framing may make Trump’s remarks more reasonable to some people, but it misses the point and broader context of what Trump said — context that makes it very clear that Trump’s remarks were built on bigotry.

Yes they are. And no one should use that language to talk about other people groups, period. Its also alot more common to hear that kind of thinking than it should be in this day and age. Lots of work to do.

We're in the dumbest timeline.

Its ok, Booster Gold will be along any second now.

[PaulBullion]

In a world where a sizable portion of the press appear to be looking for a "Gotcha!", I can't figure out why someone has not asked him that yet.

Because Trump is one of the least accessible president in decades, yet for some reasons they media don't have "... days since his last press conference" tickers for him like they had for Hillary.

[PaulBullion]

"Funny Route" as in...

- Why is the particular type of film this woman was in even central enough to the issue that it requires being mentioned?

Because Franklin Graham and others still are marketing Trump as the most conservative Christian president ever.

Next question.

Oh, I am on a roll.

[PaulBullion]

Conservatives are evil people?

Neither Trump nor the GOP are truly still conservative in a sensible reading of the word. They are destructive more than anything. What are they conserving?

[PaulBullion]

The neo-nazi website Daily Stormer is celebrating Trump's racist comments on Haiti & Africa. They say his remarks "indicate Trump is more or less on the same page as us with regards to race and immigration." On the same page. As nazis. So there you have it.

https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/951941128387026945

[PaulBullion]

So, who thought Chris Matthews' rape joke about Hillary Clinton was funny?