US Politics Thread |OT| THE DARKEST TIMELINE

[benjipwns]

Mandark,

Mickey Kaus "reviewed" Ann Coulter's new book on immigration: http://www.kausfiles.com/2015/07/28/coulters-challenge/

[Phoenix Dark]

Ah the inferior cultures argument. Have I mentioned my disdain for Colin Cowherd lately?

I also wasn't aware that conservatives are "winning" the immigration debate. But I am curious to see if immigration can be successfully tied to the populism sentiments that are rising, specifically in terms of wages and cheap labor. I heard Sanders talked about that recently but I haven't read his comments. It seems like anti immigration sentiments could increase if that argument came to the forefront.

[Kara]

The average American doesn't even have a passable familiarity with labor economics, it's hard to make DEY TOOK UR JERBS into an issue voters will turn out for when that's about as sophisticated as you can get with the issue.

Plus (and this is admittedly ) fungible red states have been exerting the same downward pressure on wages at a legislative level for years. I think at the end of the day GOP leadership would rather not run the risk of labor aristocracy's fatted calves making that connection too and rocking the bourgeois party boat full of blow and lickspittles after this epiphany.

[Steve Contra]

I wish the debates would come already so we get to hear Rubio and Jeb stumble when asked about immigration

God bless Donald Trump

[Barry Egan]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-nh-focus-group

"what do you think a Trump presidency would look like?"
"classy"

[Great Rumbler]

"He's just like one of us!"

[studyguy]

Trump is polling higher than Jeb in Florida now, surprising no one.

He did some CNN interview yesterday talking about mass deportation and letting "good ones" back in.

"We have a lot of bad dudes, as I said. We have a lot of really bad people here," Trump said. "I want to get the bad ones out...And by the way, they're never coming back."

Man these debates are going to be fucking delicious.

[Shadow Mod]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-nh-focus-group

"what do you think a Trump presidency would look like?"
"classy"

[brawndolicious]

One week to go. I think Trump is going to present himself as a conservative Paris Hilton; the frustrated masses who wish they could pretend to be smart and successful will love him.

As long as he doesn't have to answer any policy questions, he'll be golden (but not in the WH).

[Oblivion]

"I knew that he was a wealthy, successful man and I remember asking my mother if I could write him a letter to ask him how he made his money so that I could do it too,"

...Jessica, a data analyst, said.

[Steve Contra]

I was lured into reading a wsj editorial and arguing public works spending with 2 libertarians

[Mandark]

^ mods please move to struggle thread thanks

[Steve Contra]

Luckily my wife is going in on them hard 

Argue with experts brehs

[Kara]

Luckily my wife is going in on them hard 

The genderfluid dry pegging dystopia is already upon us.

[Steve Contra]

Luckily my wife is going in on them hard 

The genderfluid dry pegging dystopia is already upon us.

You didn't even have to ask the gender of the libertarians.  Be a part of a movement that's just loser white dudes.

[Shadow Mod]

Luckily my wife is going in on them hard 

The genderfluid dry pegging dystopia is already upon us.

You didn't even have to ask the gender of the libertarians.  Be a part of a movement that's just loser white dudes.

Markets regulate themselves. Every man is an island.

 

[I'm a Puppy!]

All of this brings up an important question. If a libertopian gets pegged does he scream "Ayn Rand!" as he cums?

[Shadow Mod]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mike-huckabee-troops-abortion_55bbc20ee4b06363d5a22323

Huckabee addressed abortion again at his next stop in Rockwell City, Iowa, where a reporter asked him whether stopping abortion would mean using federal troops or the FBI.

"We'll see if I get to be president," Huckabee said, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.

"All American citizens should be protected," he added.

 

[Joe Molotov]

Huckabee won't get to president, so we're not going to see.

[Phoenix Dark]

Huckabee won't get to president, so we're not going to see.

spoilers

[Barry Egan]

Huckabee's vision of America is somehow more demented than Trump's so far.  He's hinted at completely ignoring or dismantling the supreme court and now instituting martial law so that there are no abortions.  And I suppose incestuous child molesters would get off pretty easy as long as they are Christians.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Huckabee is running for a cabinet position and he knows it.

[Kara]

Huckabee is running for a cabinet position and he knows it.

An attorney general if I ever saw one.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

its weird, isn't it? 2008 Huckabee had pretty much the same dogmatic stances on social issues, but he was much smoother and less petulant/angry about it. Watching him speak back then I was quite impressed by his skill in presenting points that I in no way agreed with, but I did really like how he communicated them. His Fox Show was a relative model of civility as well, at least according to my limited exposure(I saw Bill frigging Mahr on Fox, it was a perfectly cordial interview that Bill seemed himself baffled to be having).

That guy has soured pretty hard over time, or maybe the charm points he gained in exchange for losing weight were spent over time.

[Human Snorenado]

He never had to compete with Trump for attention before. That's really all it is.

[Oblivion]

He never had to compete with Trump for attention before. That's really all it is.

Huckabee's been a theocratic shithead long before Trump entered the freakshow.

[VomKriege]

All of this brings up an important question. If a libertopian gets pegged does he scream "Ayn Rand!" as he cums?

More like "Fountainhead !"

[Phoenix Dark]

Huckabee isn't the only person who has lurched in the far right during the Obama years. His presidency has been met with a level of pure hatred and seething that has forced many republican politicians to become more bombastic and emotional.

In the aftermath of the 2012 election there seemed to some level of admission on the part of republicans that the extremism wasn't good. We got the "GOP autopsy" which called for immigration reform, Bobby Jindal implored republicans to stop being "the stupid party," Sean Hannity suddenly came out for immigration reform, etc. But as expected, the ideas formulated by the party in New York and Washington were out of step with republicans elsewhere. They still hate Obama, they still think he has destroyed the country, etc. And they rode that extremism to more 2014 gains, and now the base seems to be demanding they ride that wave again for 2016.

Trump's populist appeal seems to be rooted in the realization that for all the talk of Obama being the weakest, worst president ever...he has enacted much of his agenda, and republicans in congress have failed to stop him. Republican voters are mad, and they want someone who can "win" for them. I've always wondered...what's the appeal of guys like Cruz, Rubio, and Paul for president? They haven't beaten Obama - in fact they've been beaten by him time and time again. And it'll happen again in a few weeks with the government shutdown fight over Planned Parenthood. Trump gets to talk about all the things he'd do, how he'd accomplish xyz, and he has convinced a lot of people. Ultimately I think Scott Walker will be able to pick up that mantle once Trump fizzles out. Walker has actually accomplished shit that republicans want to see done. They want someone who has beaten and humiliated liberals, and Walker is that guy IMO. Even though his electoral victories are pretty weak (hasn't won any races during a general election November).

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

You got some good points there, Trump is in fact a credible Washington outsider. I think his viciousness can be appealing if you're the kind of person who also holds such regressive views (so he's got the shithead vote). But that can't be just the whole story, damn near the entire GOP field is nearly on the same page as him politically.

Anyways, Trump may be a transparently terrible, ego-fueled know nothing, but the most important thing about him is that he's honest about it. Its easy to think that he's fully believes in every half-formed, mean-spirited thing he says. While Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal (and so on) would have difficulty being sincere if called upon to prove that they are in fact not-lizard people. Paradoxically, the guy who's the most full of bullshit, and has the least substantial politics (has Trump made any specific policy plans of his be known) can seem the most genuine when he's stationed next to people who are already nakedly appealing to your own base instinct. Trump is only in this for himself, and people are responding to that.

[VomKriege]

Huckabee isn't the only person who has lurched in the far right during the Obama years...

And all that because he happens to have black skin... (?) That's not all there is to the story but I guess Republicans are reaping what they sow for pandering to birthers and the Tea Party. This race to the fringe is not the answer, and I think current Western democracies will need a serious overhaul in the coming years.

[team filler]

#TRUMPDAGOD2016

[Kara]

I hope Trump uses that Skype prank call to Scott Walker where someone pretended to be a Koch.

[Phoenix Dark]

Trump 

is he wrong tho

[Phoenix Dark]

no social experiments in the military huh? why does that sound familiar...oh wait, it's the exact same thing that was said about integrating the military. Which seems like a far larger "social experiment" than letting whatever miniscule amount of transgender people who want to join the military join it.

[Freyj]

The words sex and gender being thrown around in that conversation with seemingly no understanding of a difference between the two.

Not that that's surprising.

[Kara]

I wonder if the military's health insurance covers Viagra.

I bet it does.

[brawndolicious]

Serious question: Is it likely that hormone therapy would affect combat ability? I'm sure you can still be very physically fit but the US military does have restrictions on certain positions where having sight/hearing etc disabilities disqualifies you (such as not being able to be a rifleman). If the hormones, or lack of access to them in a combat situation, makes a transgender person riskier than a cisgender, then it would probably make sense to restrict what kind of military job they can have (ie: can't be a grunt).

In any case, the majority of military jobs are probably far from combat. And I have my doubts that men who are comfortable being around just other dudes 24 hours will feel their sexual identity threatened because somebody in their barracks has different chromosomes or has a boyfriend.

Just a side note, a F2M trans friend of mine who lives in a military town doesn't date servicemen anymore because a lot of them want a gf who's hyper feminine to match their sort of machoness. I wouldn't say that's being progressive but it's something to think about.

[Joe Molotov]

I wonder if the military's health insurance covers Viagra.

I bet it does.

You gotta keep your hate boner fully erect at all times, like General Huckabee.

[Kara]

The IDF has something of a soft ban on women serving front line duty, but that was because of the reactions of men to women casualties (insert "you'll want to protect her" joke here) and not because women's physiological differences were material to combat effectiveness. The existence of differences is not in and of itself material.

[VomKriege]

AFAIK, very few armies actually accepted the idea of women in (ground) frontline positions so far, though we are probably getting there for most western countries in the near future (A lot of countries will field woman in any other position, apart for some blanket bans like submarines). As Vularai said, even Israel is not there despite having formed a female light infantry unit. Material differences could maybe exist in things like brute strengh for heavy duty military package and such but is mostly marginal it seems as far as it goes for regular troops.

[Phoenix Dark]

I misread "armies" for "animes" and sat here puzzled, unable to respond.

[Shadow Mod]

I misread "armies" for "animes" and sat here puzzled, unable to respond.

That's a sign you've been interneting for too long. Time for a break bruh.

[Great Rumbler]

Trump + 80's nostalgia:

A 25-year-old documentary on Donald Trump that the real estate mogul reportedly tried to quash at the time of its filming now has been revived in light of his presidential bid.

"Trump: What's The Deal?" was bankrolled by businessman Leonard Stern, who owned various New York media properties at the time, including the alternative weekly newspaper The Village Voice. It was conceived by the late producer Ned Schnurman as part of a series called "Famous Americans," according to a 1989 New York Magazine cover story on the project.

"What's The Deal?" ultimately failed to reach an audience for a number of reasons: Trump reportedly tried to derail the project, Stern refused to infuse more cash into its production after a certain point, and no TV stations ever agreed to air it, according to the New York Magazine story. The New York Times reported that in 1991, over Stern's objections, Schnurman did end up screening the 90-minute finished product to an audience of 800 people in Bridgehampton, New York.

The unauthorized documentary since had been kept under wraps until it was posted for free online last week. What's striking about watching "What's The Deal?" today -- and learning its backstory -- is that so much of what kept The Donald in the headlines in the late '80s still rings true going into the 2016 election.

http://trumpthemovie.com/watch/

[studyguy]

http://gawker.com/call-donald-trumps-cell-phone-and-ask-him-about-his-imp-1720472577

Holy fuck
 

What is Gawker doing?

[Phoenix Dark]

please please please be the prologue to a "see, when we post the personal information of a straight white man no one complains" article.

the fuckery

[studyguy]

Pretty sure Trump did the same thing to another governor or something didn't he? It was a woman, no?
Gonna have Obama on speeddial by the end of the year brehs
 

[Phoenix Dark]

from the Iran deal senate hearing

Cruz: Gen. Soleimani, the head of the al-Quds forces, has more blood of American service members on his hands than any living terrorist. Under this agreement, the sanctions under Gen. Soleimani are lifted. Now, Secretary Kerry said to the families of those men and women who gave their lives, who were killed by Gen. Soleimani, we should apologize. …

Kerry: Sir, I never said the word apology. I never mentioned apologize. I said we should thank them for their extraordinary service. I never said the word apologize. Please, don’t distort my words.

Cruz: Secretary Kerry, it is duly noted you don’t apologize to the family members of the service members who were murdered by the Iranian military.

Kerry: That’s not what I said, senator. [I said] I thank them for their extraordinary service and I would remind them that the United States of America will never take the sanctions off Qasem Soleimani.

Cruz: Sir, I just want to clarity. Do you apologize or not?

wow

[studyguy]

Dude is a piece of shit breh.

“If you look at satellite data for the last 18 years, there’s been zero recorded warming,” Cruz said in California’s Orange County. “The satellite says it ain’t happening.”

Instead, Cruz said, government researchers are reverse engineering data sets to falsify changes in the climate. “They’re cooking the books. They’re actually adjusting the numbers,” Cruz said. “Enron used to do their books the same way.”

Cruz said scientists four decades ago were studying “global cooling, a global ice age was coming,” and they were as wrong as those who now say the earth is warming.

“Senator, you’re not saying global warming isn’t real?” interrupted his interviewer, Politico’s Mike Allen.

“I’m saying that data and facts don’t support it,” Cruz said to applause from 450 donors to the political network organized by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch.

[Shadow Mod]

http://mic.com/articles/123231/ryan-bombergers-trying-to-make-abortion-a-black-lives-matter-issue

Bomberger has gained a degree of national prominence by putting his advertising chops to use with websites and billboards that speak directly to black communities about abortion. He has helped put up billboards in New York and Georgia alleging that "the most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb."

Bomberger has latched onto the right-wing furor surrounding videos purporting to unveil Planned Parenthood's alleged sale of fetal tissue for medical research by tweeting out an image of a blood-stained drain sink accompanied by the text, "How can we rise when we flush our future down the drain?" The image takes direct aim at civil rights organizations like the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus for "actively partner[ing] with the nation's largest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood." The message ends with the hashtags #PPsellsbabyparts, #BlackLiversMatter (a conservative take on the alleged organ sales) and #AllLivesMatter.

...

[Great Rumbler]

from the Iran deal senate hearing

Cruz: Gen. Soleimani, the head of the al-Quds forces, has more blood of American service members on his hands than any living terrorist. Under this agreement, the sanctions under Gen. Soleimani are lifted. Now, Secretary Kerry said to the families of those men and women who gave their lives, who were killed by Gen. Soleimani, we should apologize. …

Kerry: Sir, I never said the word apology. I never mentioned apologize. I said we should thank them for their extraordinary service. I never said the word apologize. Please, don’t distort my words.

Cruz: Secretary Kerry, it is duly noted you don’t apologize to the family members of the service members who were murdered by the Iranian military.

Kerry: That’s not what I said, senator. [I said] I thank them for their extraordinary service and I would remind them that the United States of America will never take the sanctions off Qasem Soleimani.

Cruz: Sir, I just want to clarity. Do you apologize or not?

wow

Kerry should ask Cruz how many medals he got for serving in the armed forces.

[Joe Molotov]

from the Iran deal senate hearing

Cruz: Gen. Soleimani, the head of the al-Quds forces, has more blood of American service members on his hands than any living terrorist. Under this agreement, the sanctions under Gen. Soleimani are lifted. Now, Secretary Kerry said to the families of those men and women who gave their lives, who were killed by Gen. Soleimani, we should apologize. …

Kerry: Sir, I never said the word apology. I never mentioned apologize. I said we should thank them for their extraordinary service. I never said the word apologize. Please, don’t distort my words.

Cruz: Secretary Kerry, it is duly noted you don’t apologize to the family members of the service members who were murdered by the Iranian military.

Kerry: That’s not what I said, senator. [I said] I thank them for their extraordinary service and I would remind them that the United States of America will never take the sanctions off Qasem Soleimani.

Cruz: Sir, I just want to clarity. Do you apologize or not?

wow

Kerry should ask Cruz how many medals he got for serving in the armed forces.

Kerry has thrown away more medals than Cruz will ever get. 

[Shadow Mod]

http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf/2015/08/louisiana_terminates_its_medic.html

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals is terminating its Medicaid provider contract with Planned Parenthood, Gov. Bobby Jindal's office announced Monday (Aug. 3).

Planned Parenthood doesn't provide abortions in Louisiana, but does offer family planning services, cervical exams and gynecology services to women in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Fuckin' a.

[Phoenix Dark]

fuck innocent people over to run for president brehs

The PP story is ugly to me and I'd support a decent investigation...but at the same time it's clear conservatives are purposely confusing the issue of aborted tissue being donated for research (which is legal) and being sold for profit.

[Human Snorenado]

fuck innocent people over to run for president brehs

The PP story is ugly to me and I'd support a decent investigation...but at the same time it's clear conservatives are purposely confusing the issue of aborted tissue being donated for research (which is legal) and being sold for profit.

The unedited videos show the PP officials repeatedly stating that they don't sell the tissue for profit. Investigation done, there you go.

This is just another dirty trick the media isn't gonna call anyone on.

[Phoenix Dark]

oh for real? woooow

[Shadow Mod]

Acorn bullshit all over again dude.

[Great Rumbler]

It's all tricks pulled from the James O'Keefe playbook

[brawndolicious]

So you're saying they don't have to put a markup on the fetuses because Planned Parenthood is totally socialist and will drive for-profit abortion clinics out of business?

[Kara]

If Planned Parenthood could sell fetal material maybe they wouldn't have to panhandle in front of your local state and national legislatures.

[Joe Molotov]

It's all tricks pulled from the James O'Keefe playbook

No one was dressed up as a pimp and/or Osama bin Laden, so they missed the best tricks.