Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)

[DShomshak]

The NYTimes podcast "The Daily" offers a brief guide to the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory used by white supremacist mass shooters... and those who inspire them, such as Tucker Carlson.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/podcasts/the-daily/buffalo-shooting-replacement-theory.html?action=click&module=audio-series-bar&region=header&pgtype=Article

 

Dean Shomshak

[Old Man]

4 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

The problem is that Cheney's been stamped as a wannabe Democrat for her "disloyalty" so anything she says is ignored by the Republican leadership.  They're doing everything they can to remove all influence, and will be aiming to unseat her in the primaries.  

Wake me up when Cheney actually votes with the Democrats on any substantive bill. 

[unclevlad]

Just now, Old Man said:

Wake me up when Cheney actually votes with the Democrats on any substantive bill. 

 True, to a rational person.  But not relevant to the Trumpists where slavish loyalty is the only bellwether.  You either have it, or you're The Enemy.

[Pariah]

On 5/14/2022 at 9:34 PM, Pariah said:

Tell me you've never seen Star Trek without telling me you've never seen Star Trek.

 

 

And now, the counterpoint:

 

Fox News Reporter Says Star Trek Has Never Been Woke Before, DS9 Writer Calls Him A Moron

 

The last paragraph of the article is classic:

 

Quote

For his part, Fox News' David Marcus does concede that Star Trek has always "delved into cultural and societal issues", and "reflect[ed] American and global foreign policy." He says that it's different this time, however, because now they're making it partisan by referencing the 2020 Capitol Riots, and bringing on Democrat Stacey Abrams for a guest role. I have no idea how this is any more political than the Bell Riots, explorations of homophobia, depictions of genocide, and showing freedom fighters in a positive light. I guess Marcus just isn't happy that he might be the one getting called out this time.

 

[Pariah]

Imagine my surprise.

 

Tucker Is Now Cool With Mocking Dan Crenshaw’s Missing Eye

[Starlord]

Turkey is threatening to block NATO membership for Sweden and Finland

[Lord Liaden]

41 minutes ago, Starlord said:

Turkey is threatening to block NATO membership for Sweden and Finland

 

Since Erdogan assured the Finnish president several weeks ago that Turkey had no objection to Finland's membership, I'm inclined to side with those who believe this is just him ratcheting up his bargaining position. He wants more action taken against Kurds living in Finland, whom he claims are "terrorists," and/or the restoration of American arms sales to Turkey.

[Old Man]

One of these days I'll have to figure out why Erdogan hates the Kurds so damn much.

[unclevlad]

2 hours ago, Pariah said:

Imagine my surprise.

 

Tucker Is Now Cool With Mocking Dan Crenshaw’s Missing Eye

 

 

Tucker is nothing if not consistent.  

[Lord Liaden]

1 hour ago, Old Man said:

One of these days I'll have to figure out why Erdogan hates the Kurds so damn much.

 

Honestly, that one's easy. Kurds in Turkey have long suffered systemic discrimination and past outright oppression by the majority ethnic Turks. Several states in the region, including Iraq, have sizeable Kurdish minorities, and many of them aspire to unite the areas where they predominate into an independent "Kurdistan." This would of course diminish the territory of Turkey and the other states, and create a new regional player to change the political balance.

 

Some Kurds have taken to more violent means to oppose the Turkish government. Many Kurds have emigrated to countries in Europe, particularly Sweden, and send money to their relatives in Turkey and their other home countries, often to support pro-independence groups. While some of that money may very well go to fund violence, Erdogan labels all Kurds opposing his regime as "terrorists" (very common designation by autocrats for their opponents these days), and those countries which have accepted Kurdish immigrants as harboring and supporting terrorists. Erdogan also accuses the Kurds as being among the factions who attempted a coup to overthrow him in 2016. Rightly or wrongly, that narrative suits his justification for instituting more dictatorial measures.

[DShomshak]

57 minutes ago, Old Man said:

One of these days I'll have to figure out why Erdogan hates the Kurds so damn much.

Sniped by LL, but I'll finish anyway.

 

Not really an expert, but IIRC the issues between Turkey and the Kurds go back to the abolition of the Ottoman Empire. On the one hand, Kemal Ataturk's crew wanted to create a nation-state: Turkey, as the country of the Turks. Except... the territory included a wide area inhabited by Kurds, who insist they are not Turks on the factually irrefutable grounds that they aren't. They speak a completely different language (though Kurdish has absorbed many loan words from Turkish); they've lived in more or less their current territory since at least 2000 BCE. So when the Turkish government declared that there was no such thing as Kurds, they were "Mountain Turks" and had to learn Turkish, some Kurds got upset enough they turned to violence.

 

As LL mentions, Kurds exist in various other countries as well, creating a fairly sizeable movement that wants to lop off parts of those countries to create their own country of Kurdistan.

 

Leaving aside the justice of Kurdish rebels' cause or methods, Erdogan has shown he cannot abide any sort of pluralistic compromise on, well, anything. A rational person might think, "Hey, if I can make nice with our Kurdish population and make them feel they have a stake in my government, I can use them to give my country influence in other countries with Kurdish minorities." But the mythological basis of nationalism does not permit such a pragmatic course.

 

Nationalism: It's just not been a good thing.

 

Dean Shomshak

[DShomshak]

Addendum: Turkish Kurdistan also happens to be the water-tower of the Middle East. It holds the headwaters of the Tigris, the Euphrates, and several other rivers. For both irrigation and hydropower, Turkey's central government is extremely reluctant to lose control of this region.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Pariah]

8 hours ago, unclevlad said:

Tucker is nothing if not consistent.  

 

Well, I agree with the first three words of that assessment. 

[unclevlad]

Madison Cawthorn, the North Carolina Republican congressman who managed to alienate...well, almost everyone...lost in his primary today.  

[assault]

36 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

Madison Cawthorn, the North Carolina Republican congressman who managed to alienate...well, almost everyone...lost in his primary today.  

Pity. He seemed like a nice chap./s

[Iuz the Evil]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/14/europe/sweden-finland-nato-next-steps-intl/index.html
 

So that’s official, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine massively strengthened NATO on their northern border (if approved, which I expect will eventually happen). Article 5 just took on a whole new significance.

 

On the other hand, this is quite the legacy achievement. Even the Soviet Union didn’t overcome the historic neutrality of those states. Impressive work by Putin in that respect…

[Pariah]

7 hours ago, unclevlad said:

Madison Cawthorn, the North Carolina Republican congressman who managed to alienate...well, almost everyone...lost in his primary today.  

 

[Pariah]

8 hours ago, unclevlad said:

Madison Cawthorn, the North Carolina Republican congressman who managed to alienate...well, almost everyone...lost in his primary today.  

 

In similar news out West:

 

Midterm updates: Idaho Gov. Little defeats Trump-backed foe

[Pariah]

Dr. Jorge A. Caballero: "Everyone should have a short list of people you just don't f*** with. Also, Liz Cheney should be on everyone's list."

 

Rep. Madison Cawthorn's Childish Taunt At Rep. Liz Cheney Comes Back To Haunt Him

[Pariah]

 

Attached text: "Slava Ukraini Hey Putin, you big dumb idiot. If you’re killing people in Ukraine because you are afraid of NATO then you really f***ed up. You are the monster that reminded people why NATO was created."

[csyphrett]

On 5/18/2022 at 1:01 AM, unclevlad said:

Madison Cawthorn, the North Carolina Republican congressman who managed to alienate...well, almost everyone...lost in his primary today.  

But Budd won for the senate seat he was going for. Hopefully he will lose his election

CES 

[wcw43921]

I swear by Allah, Buddha, Cthulhu and The Flying Spaghetti Monster--this is a real book.

[unclevlad]

Hey, it's never too early to begin the indoctrination.  

 

It is unfortunately a VERY real book...and #19 on Amazon.  Not in its category...overall.

 

Reviews are, as you might expect, almost completely split...5 stars or 1 star, for 96% of em.

 

We know that truth has no significance;  only keeping the waters churning.  And not just today;  the Republican strategy has never been about just today.

[Sociotard]

On 5/18/2022 at 7:40 AM, Pariah said:

 

In similar news out West:

 

Midterm updates: Idaho Gov. Little defeats Trump-backed foe

I registered as Republican just so I could vote in the primary. Originally because Ammon Bundy was running (before messing up and having to be independent). But, McGeachin was a piece of work.

 

I was disappointed that Raúl Labrador won Attorney General.

1. As your next Attorney General I will be the aggressive, relentless leader that Idaho needs. I will defend Idaho’s sovereignty and fight unconstitutional mandates. I will keep our elections fair and honest. I will defend and expand our 2A rights. I will ensure we are the most pro-life state in the Union. I will fight to reinstate President Trump’s border security policies. I will fight the radicals that are trying to force CRT and transgender ideology on our children. And I will fight Big Tech’s social credit scores and their anti-conservative and anti-American censorship. Idaho needs an Attorney General who will be the people’s lawyer, rather than a tool for the bureaucracy and special interests. I will defend every Idahoan’s individual liberties; fight back against the Biden administration’s failed policies; and ensure the people of Idaho have a voice in the Attorney General’s office. I will bring needed reforms to the office. Idaho’s incumbent Attorney General has been in office for twenty-years. He’s been employed by the government for over thirty-years. No wonder he sees his job as defending the government and the bureaucracy, not you. I will change that starting day one.
2. Idaho needs an Attorney General who understands that government exists to ensure that the rights of the citizens are secured and protected. During the pandemic, I fought for the rights of Idahoans to keep their jobs and pursue their livelihoods, to meet with their families, and to continue practicing their religion freely. I fought for Idahoans’ medical freedom and against unconstitutional mandates. I will continue to do so as Idaho’s next Attorney General. In contrast, during the pandemic, the current Attorney General interpreted Idaho’s statutes as granting the chief executive the power to declare a state of emergency for over 750 days despite Idaho law limiting emergency authority to sixty days. That decision closed schools in Idaho, closed businesses and churches, and it affected every single person in Idaho dramatically. It was wrong and will not happen again if I am your Attorney General.
3. The great battles for the soul of our nation are taking place in our courthouses. All across America, strong Republican Attorneys General are pushing back against the Radical Left and their agenda to “fundamentally transform” our nation. Except in Idaho, where our Attorney General is absent from these fights. The incumbent Attorney General of Idaho did not fight for election integrity and instead stood with radical Democrat lawyers. The incumbent Attorney General did not defend Idaho’s pro-girl sports bill, instead saying that biological men had a constitutional right to compete on girls’ sports teams and use women’s locker rooms. Also, the incumbent Attorney General joined with Democrats to support some of Biden’s radical nominees to run the Department of Justice. Finally, he failed to join the lawsuit filed by the other Republican Attorneys General demanding the Biden DOJ either explain or rescind their memo asking to surveil parents for expressing their opinions at school board meetings and other forums. Maybe this is why he has received donations from former Democrat Attorneys General and the praise of the radical Attorney General from the State of Washington.

[Pariah]

8 hours ago, wcw43921 said:

I swear by Allah, Buddha, Cthulhu and The Flying Spaghetti Monster--this is a real book.

 

I feel like I've lost IQ points just from looking at this.