Random Politics Thread

[The Cat]

Heh, I rememebr when Fox news demanded that the military and the troops be respected...What happened Fox? Y'all taking down the yellow ribbon over what now?

 

[The Cat]

 

[ceecee]

Supreme Court gives victory to transgender student who sued to use bathroom that corresponded to his gender identity - CNNPolitics

This was always about conservatives/the right/GOP and their march to remove the humanity and dignity of absolutely everyone except themselves.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Supreme Court gives victory to transgender student who sued to use bathroom that corresponded to his gender identity - CNNPolitics

Good.

My college had single gender bathrooms. It really wasn't that big of a deal.

 

[Totenkindly]

Supreme Court gives victory to transgender student who sued to use bathroom that corresponded to his gender identity - CNNPolitics

This was always about conservatives/the right/GOP and their march to remove the humanity and dignity of absolutely everyone except themselves.

Thank god.

And big kudos to Gavin for sticking it out through the ups and downs, in such a public fashion, despite all the crazies out there who have no doubt been harassing him all this time.

 

[The Cat]

 

[The Cat]

Danger Will Robinson...

 

[Grand Admiral Crunch]

Tucker Carlson: NSA is spying on this show | Fox News

"Tucker Carlson Tonight" host said Monday that the National Security Agency is "spying on him" and planned to leak his communications in efforts to cancel his show.

TUCKER CARLSON: It's not just political protesters the government is spying on, yesterday, we heard from a whistleblower within the US government who reached out to warn us that the NSA, the National Security Agency, is monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air.

…

Now, that's a shocking claim and ordinarily would be skeptical of it. It’s illegal for the NSA to spy on American citizens. It's a crime. It's not a third-world country. Things like that should not happen in America. But unfortunately, they do happen, and in this case, they did happen. The whistleblower who is in a position to know repeated back to us information about a story that we are working on that could have only come directly from my texts and emails. There's no other possible source for that information, period.
…
The NSA captured that information without our knowledge and did it for political reasons. The Biden administration is spying on us. We have confirmed that. This morning we filed an FOIA request of Freedom of Information Act request asking for all information that the NSA and other agencies have gathered about this show. We did it mostly as a formality. We've also contacted the press office at both NSA and the FBI. We don't expect to hear much back. That's the way that usually goes.

…

Only Congress can force transparency on the intelligence agencies and they should do that immediately. Spying on opposition journalists is incompatible with democracy. If they are doing it to us, and again, they are definitely doing it to us, they are almost certainly doing it to others. This is scary and we need to stop it right away.

Libertarians have long been concerned that government infrastructure would be turned on American citizens and used against us. Now, according to Tucker Carlson, who has shat on Libertarians for 15+ years, the government has turned on him. He had a libertarian on his show last night to talk to her about it. He called her "one of the last great civil libertarians." I feel like since his show has started, he's transforming into a Libertarian. Too bad he hates Libertarians. lol

 

[Kephalos]

Donald Rumsfeld (ἀνάξιος) died unpunished on Tuesday, June 29 2021. To paraphrase Mark Twain, it's a shame they allowed him to die a natural death.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Donald Rumsfeld (ἀνάξιος) died unpunished on Tuesday, June 29 2021. To paraphrase Mark Twain, it's a shame they allowed him to die a natural death.

I would have been content with jail. But we have to protect the respect for institutions and uphold social stability.

Anyway he was around during that period of "sane" "undivisive" (after all we came together as a nation!) conservatism we've heard so much about.

But anyway, this goes back to my point earlier today. If none of those people went to jail, why would anyone think that's going to happen to Trump?

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

I guess I shouldn't judge it because humans demonstrate over and over the need to be on a team, but I don't care for the thinking and behaviors that result. I had an altercation with a "Team Trump"ster. A very large, bald, wad of arrogance and patronization. I asked the store manager if it would be okay to teach the little children on a portable keyboard behind the store if the numbers get worse since most children are not vaccinated and I recently read that the Delta variant transmission take 5-10 seconds as opposed to the original Alpha taking 15 minutes. Team Trump started to reassure me that I need not struggle with such anxieties because, you see, he understands global pandemics and the sheer awesomeness of his presence should be enough for me to take his word as the final authority. I told him there is no issue with my anxiety regulation and that I hope for the best and plan for the worst. He went on about political control tactics and I said, "I don't trust politicians. I read science articles".

I don't think people should take my word on global pandemics. I don't think I have the answers. I wish people had more questions, but they always have the answers. Always answers. I kinda wish I had said, "When it comes to global pandemics I don't listen to politicians no matter how expensive their suits, and I don't listen to neighbors no matter their caliber of gun. I read research by virologists and epidemiologist from multiple countries, realizing there is money and politics that influence science as well, but no matter how flawed, it is the best data we have. Politicians don't know shit. Neither do neighbors."

The reality is that we need opposing views. We need people questioning the government. We need people viewing this from different vantage points, but not like it's a football game where there is a binary framing of every notion and there are two babies in bath water, and you are supposed to decide which one to throw out. And no, it isn't equivalent, but social reasoning is so repulsive to me. I have to just accept it because there is a reason football exists as it does. Humans want to belong to the team and hate the other, they want the arrogance and indulgence of social reasoning. I think it is going be humanity's undoing though. I think it kills us, need or no.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

The reality is that we need opposing views. We need people questioning the government. We need people viewing this from different vantage points, but not like it's a football game where there is a binary framing of every notion and there are two babies in bath water, and you are supposed to decide which one to throw out. And no, it isn't equivalent, but social reasoning is so repulsive to me. I have to just accept it because there is a reason football exists as it does. Humans want to belong to the team and hate the other, they want the arrogance and indulgence of social reasoning. I think it is going be humanity's undoing though. I think it kills us, need or no.

The thing I hate the most is suddenly deciding that the bad thing the guy you didn't vote for was doing is actually good because the guy you voted for is doing it.

See, for instance, the people who are horrified at the way the Trump administration went after whistleblowers, but defend Obama's actions towards Edward Snowden (the program he revealed was illegal, by the way).

Also see Biden on immigration policy.

Look folks, I don't know how to make things better, but I'm pretty sure looking the other way on these problems when one party does them isn't the answer. What is that supposed to accomplish?

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

The thing I hate the most is suddenly deciding that the bad thing the guy you didn't vote for was doing is actually good because the guy you voted for is doing it.

See, for instance, the people who are horrified at the way the Trump administration went after whistleblowers, but defend Obama's actions towards Edward Snowden (the program he revealed was illegal, by the way).

Also see Biden on immigration policy.

Look folks, I don't know how to make things better, but I'm pretty sure looking the other way on these problems when one party does them isn't the answer. What is that supposed to accomplish?

At various points in my life I felt a little hopeful about this politician or that, but am generally horrified whenever I get more information. And I'm definitely NOT constructing one of those "it's all equally bad" fallacies to condone Trump, whom I hate with a livid repulsion, but life is about continual disillusionment - different contexts, different degrees of it, but always it comes back to that.

A global pandemic is a very complex event that even the epidemiologists and virologists are struggling to understand and predict. People respond to insecurity with certitude. It's why everyone knows "what's really going on". No, they don't know. I don't know. It doesn't matter how many science articles I read. I still do not definitively understand the pandemic. Same is true for everyone else to varying degrees of the training and intelligence. Is it really so hard to admit that?

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

At various points in my life I felt a little hopeful about this politician or that, but am generally horrified whenever I get more information. And I'm definitely NOT constructing one of those "it's all equally bad" fallacies to condone Trump, whom I hate with a livid repulsion, but life is about continual disillusionment - different contexts, different degrees of it, but always it comes back to that.

A global pandemic is a very complex event that even the epidemiologists and virologists are struggling to understand and predict. People respond to insecurity with certitude. It's why everyone knows "what's really going on". No, they don't know. I don't know. It doesn't matter how many science articles I read. I still do not definitively understand the pandemic. Same is true for everyone else to varying degrees of the training and intelligence. Is it really so hard to admit that?

My stance is that they aren't all the same, but we definitely deserve better than the shit we keep getting. I don't see how we get better if we deny we're getting shit.

I talked with a woman over Zoom who studies coronaviruses (she likes me but has no time for dating, if you're wondering) and talking to her I realized that I knew even less about it than I thought.

 

[Totenkindly]

Report: Grand jury returns criminal indictments against Trump Organization, its CFO

 

[ceecee]

Report: Grand jury returns criminal indictments against Trump Organization, its CFO

But it won't be Trump or his kids. How could anyone work for him for 5 minutes and not know they'd eventually be a human sacrifice for that pile of shit.

 

[Kephalos]

Great minds think alike: Verschärfte Vernehmung, sharpened/intensified/enhanced interrogation.

Between 1942 and 1945, Bruns used the method of "verschärfte Vernehmung" on 11 Norwegian citizens. This method involved the use of various implements of torture, cold baths and blows and kicks in the face and all over the body. Most of the prisoners suffered for a considerable time from the injuries received during those interrogations.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Great minds think alike: Verschärfte Vernehmung, sharpened/intensified/enhanced interrogation.

Apparently torture is considered sane in US political discourse, even two decades later. Centrists: "The GOP needs to get back to sane conservatism!" Uh, you guys remember that the pre-Trump GOP thought torture was awesome, right? Why am I supposed to be pining for that?

 

[Virtual ghost]

Infighting in Europe and US threatens global tax deal

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a new born baby it just happens every day

I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black

Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facin' up when your whole world is black