Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)

[megaplayboy]

Just an FYI:

 

 

Mike Godwin @sfmnemonic·6h

 

By all means, compare these shitheads to Nazis. Again and again. I'm with you.

 

 

 

______________

 

The above tweet is by the creator of Godwin's law.

[Old Man]

They must be disappointed.  I mean, you march around in public wearing swastika armbands, flying Nazi flags, throwing Nazi salutes, shouting "blood and soil", and you still don't count as a Nazi?  That's a hard title to earn!  What's a guy gotta do? 

[megaplayboy]

They must be disappointed.  I mean, you march around in public wearing swastika armbands, flying Nazi flags, throwing Nazi salutes, shouting "blood and soil", and you still don't count as a Nazi?  That's a hard title to earn!  What's a guy gotta do? 

Join the NSDAP between 1920 and 1945?  Just a guess.

[wcw43921]

NK Missiles Possibly A "Hoax"

[Old Man]

Tiki torch manufacturer condemns neo-Nazis more strongly than Trump

[Lord Liaden]

Tiki torch manufacturer condemns neo-Nazis more strongly than Trump

 

As John Oliver said: "Because nothing says 'white nationalist' quite like faux-Polynesian kitsch."

[Xavier Onassiss]

Has anyone else noticed how many states and municipalities have made announcements in the last couple of days that they're going to remove Confederate statues?

 

It's like the whole country is saying Enough is enough!

[Michael Hopcroft]

And on Facebook I ran into posters decrying the removal of one such statue is a demonstration, as if it was one of the worst things that could possibly happen. This from people who openly cheered when the statues of Saddam Hussein that were everywhere in Baghdad were taken down by jubilant mobs.

 

I also frequently see commenters on Facebook claiming that nobody is really opposed to Trump and that the "Antifa" demonstrators and movement were creations of George Soros' money. Since the opposite of Anti remains Pro, I can't help but think of these people as "Profa"

 

I get sickened by these comments very quickly. Why would anyone be pro-fascist? Didn't we have a war about this? And didn't the Fascists lose and lose big?

 

This poses a serious question for me. I am for the most part powerless to influence events. If this country continues the path it is on, there isn't a lot I personally can do about it. After the events of last weekend, that really bothers me. I can't really do anything that would make much of a direct impact as an individual voter in a blue state that would not back the President anyway. Nothing I say or write is likely to have much of an impact. I really wish it would. But it won't. I feel terrible about that.

[Cancer]

This

[megaplayboy]

Not sure how many more days like this I can take.  Getting close to the point where I can no longer rationally discuss the Trump campaign.  At this rate in a few weeks I'll just be screaming continuously.  

[Old Man]

I'm told that to truly understand Trump's press conference today, you must watch the video.  I can't do it at work, and honestly I'm not sure if I can risk the last remaining shreds of sanity I still possess.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Charlottesville appears to be the first true test of Trump's presidency, and it looks like he would have to reach up substantially to garner a mere "failing" grade.

 

I have got to stay away from certain corners of Facebook. Some people still seem to find some sort of moral equivalency between vandalism (tearing down a statue that will eventually be removed anyway) and murder (driving a car into a crowd of people you disagree with). 

[Pariah]

I heard this segment on NPR on the way home from school today:

 

NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Mark Lilla, author of the book, The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics, which looks at the failure of American liberalism over the past two generations.

 

It's about eight minutes long, and definitely worth a listen. One segment I thought was particularly interesting went something like this:

 

"Let's say you're canvassing in Missouri or Mississippi, and you come up to a door and you say, 'I'm from the Democratic party, and I'd like you to vote for us. But first, I have some tickets to give you. Here's a ticket for your [white] privilege, a ticket for being a racist, and a ticket for being homophobic. Hope to see you on Tuesday!' "

 

Interesting observation from a self-proclaimed liberal, I thought. I wonder if the local library has a copy of the book yet.

 

Edit: The book only came out today. It'll probably be a month before the library has it available.

[Old Man]

A couple of the other boards I frequent have started dead-serious threads about fleeing the U.S. before the racial purge/second Civil War.  People are terrified after Charlottesville, and I can't blame them.

 

Anyway, a distilled version of the fleeing advice is:

 

- Updated passports for the entire family

- Go bag

- Cash (i.e. paper money, not a checking account)

- Bank account in target country (Canada will be best for most people)

- Important documents, including birth certificates and Social Security cards

 

Lastly, the answer to "When will I know if it's time to leave?" is "You won't until it's too late."

[megaplayboy]

#*@% that.  Make them leave the country.  

[Michael Hopcroft]

I hope it does not reach the point where the borders are closed in both directions -- nobody comes in, nobody gets out. Or if an American administration tells other countries that Americans who had left must be extradited back.

[Pattern Ghost]

I'm going to stay for the jousting:

 

 

But seriously, how delusional are these people? This pic is from the NC fracas. It'd have been comical if not for the other disturbing imagery of the whack job driving his car through a crowd.

[Burrito Boy]

Charlottesville appears to be the first true test of Trump's presidency, and it looks like he would have to reach up substantially to garner a mere "failing" grade.

 

I have got to stay away from certain corners of Facebook. Some people still seem to find some sort of moral equivalency between vandalism (tearing down a statue that will eventually be removed anyway) and murder (driving a car into a crowd of people you disagree with).

I personally haven't seen people finding equivalency between vandalism and murder. What I have seen is people laughing about the vandalism and condoning it, as if committing more crimes is the right answer to the first crime. That mentality is as absurd as the one that equates murder with vandalism. However, both are crimes and both should be punished.

 

And I can't help wondering how long it will take until people progress from destroying statues they don't like to burning books they don't like.

[Lord Liaden]

What I have seen is many people trying to sell equivalency between people who publicly advocate racism, and those who oppose it. The actions of whatever fraction of either side in this latest incident actually stooped to vandalism or violence, doesn't justify or excuse the attitude and purpose behind the rallying white nationalists.

[Sociotard]

At least Trump did specifically speak out against the White supremacists. He should have done it better earlier, but he did it, and he did it well enough to upset the racists themselves. That is always pleasing to me.

[Burrito Boy]

What I have seen is many people trying to sell equivalency between people who publicly advocate racism, and those who oppose it. The actions of whatever fraction of either side in this latest incident actually stooped to vandalism or violence, doesn't justify or excuse the attitude and purpose behind the rallying white nationalists.

Trying to say advocating racism and opposing it are equivalent is insane. But, sadly, I'm not surprised there are people who feel that way.

[Pattern Ghost]

At least Trump did specifically speak out against the White supremacists. He should have done it better earlier, but he did it, and he did it well enough to upset the racists themselves. That is always pleasing to me.

 

He upset them so much that they thanked him for his comments after the press conference. Guess they didn't stay mad for long (or they're just mad at the speech writer who penned the denouncement from the other day).

[Tech priest support]

I swear america has reached a point where you have the KKK and neonazis on one side screaming "We want all non whites exterminated! We want all non heterosexuals exterminated!" And you have POC and LGBT people on the other saying "We what equal rights! We want equal justice!"

 

And in the middle you have utter morons saying "Can't we compromise? Can't we respect each others rights and views?"

 

People in America need to face some ugly facts. You can't compromise with groups who want to exterminate tens of millions of people. You can't meet people who want a dictatorship half way.

 

It doesn't take "two to make a fight" no matter what ignorant adults tell kids. It takes two sides to make peace. If one side insists on getting their way violently, the other side fights, or is crushed.

 

Neville Chamberlain compromised with fascists. He respected their views. Didn't work out too well, did it?

[Lord Liaden]

At least Trump did specifically speak out against the White supremacists. He should have done it better earlier, but he did it, and he did it well enough to upset the racists themselves. That is always pleasing to me.

 

And then at his news conference the next day he went off-script and completely negated that statement, returning to his previous position that both of the opposing demonstrating parties were at fault.

 

I noted new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly standing with his face toward the floor while Trump went on his latest tirade.

 

To this point I tended to think that Trump pandering to white supremacists was mostly political calculation. Hearing his spontaneous remarks today, he's starting to convince me that's what he really believes.

[megaplayboy]

Comparing Antifa and Nazis is like comparing soccer hooligans and the Russian mafia. Both are guilty of bad behavior, even serious assault, but one is guilty of far worse, and their goals are far more sinister.