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On October 19 2017 13:43 LegalLord wrote:
To be fair, Trump probably was the easiest candidate to defeat. The opposition was just that weak.
Dont forget to get your Hillary Jabs in folks... Nevermind the rest of the discussion around the devolution of discourse that technically the most powerful man in the world (shudder) has brought about and that nearly half your country loved it or clearly didnt mind it.
+ Show Spoiler +Notice me Comrade Vladimir..!!
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On October 19 2017 13:43 LegalLord wrote:
To be fair, Trump probably was the easiest candidate to defeat. The opposition was just that weak.
Say it one more time for the people in the back. I don't think they heard the 2342179087 time you've said it since the election. Sing a new song.
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I certainly can't say I don't respect John McCain. What a magnificent answer to the question.
Lays out a Fox News reporter for a question that should be considered dumb, but probably isn't given the political climate.
+ Show Spoiler +
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We could all stand to sing a new song. One that, almost a year later, does not involve the same tired old actors as before, with the winner being a petty shithead about it, the loser trying her best to try to insinuate that the loss wasn't legitimate (with the allies of the time playing along), and a dearth of desire to break the chain of shitty discourse and even shittier governance.
But hey! If we can't do that, then two can play the shitty game of relitigating last November, or of failing to try to understand that what actually happened, happened for a reason. For one, as bad as Trump is, he isn't an outlier.
And yes, that starts with the same old story of electability and how an attempt to try to get the easiest candidate backfired, as the clown gained a populist momentum all his own.
Tiresome to talk about? Sure. But so is everything else surrounding this presidency, so oh well. It's relevant at any rate.
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On October 19 2017 13:43 LegalLord wrote:
To be fair, Trump probably was the easiest candidate to defeat. The opposition was just that weak.
You definitely have a point there too. I think their calculus really played into getting Trump the national media attention on immigration and jobs/trade so he looked like the guy who was madder than hell and ready to get the job done even if it meant high conflict with the swamp. I never thought he'd be a good guy to go to bat for all that, but my Republican colleagues outvoted people who thought like me (or more correctly, his opposition was greater than support but much more frayed into several candidates that refused to drop out to coalesce around one).
They certainly did not see a win that involved shoving their shit right back at them but more low-brow and with indiscriminate targeting. It backfired spectacularly on that front. Easier to defeat but more costly upon failure. That aspect is quite a good show.
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On October 19 2017 13:49 Rebs wrote:Show nested quote +On October 19 2017 13:43 LegalLord wrote:
To be fair, Trump probably was the easiest candidate to defeat. The opposition was just that weak. Dont forget to get your Hillary Jabs in folks... Nevermind the rest of the discussion around the devolution of discourse that technically the most powerful man in the world (shudder) has brought about and that nearly half your country loved it or clearly didnt mind it. + Show Spoiler +Notice me Comrade Vladimir..!!
"Please, please have no fun until I say the apocalypse is over. It's not funny. IT'S NOT FUNNY."
Yeah, you deserve the utmost derision for just hopping onto the bandwagon this late in the game. We'll pretend the world is bright and sunny if you're a good boy and vote Obama. The second you turn your backs on us and our next in line, it's all your fault you scum.
Literally, your attitude is a good part of the reason why you got Trump. He's absolutely the symptom to a problem you can't understand and won't address. And you go on and on about "The symptoms are getting worse! Stop smiling he's actually that bad and he's causing all this" when past warnings about the underlying disease went unheeded. We helped answer your pompous arrogance with a base right-wing populist bat, and instead of course correction you chose doubling down on elitism, identity politics, and tribalism. November 2016 could've been the start of introspection at why approximately half the country ended up hating your guts, but you chose your same ignorant answers for that one too. Enjoy the next three years.
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Twitter took 11 months to close a Russian troll account that claimed to speak for the Tennessee Republican Party even after that state's real GOP notified the social media company that the account was a fake.
The account, @TEN_GOP, was enormously popular, amassing at least 136,000 followers between its creation in November 2015 and when Twitter shut it down in August, according to a snapshot of the account captured by the Internet Archive just before the account was "permanently suspended."
Some of its tweets were deliberately outrageous, the archive shows, such as one in December 2016 that claimed that unarmed black men killed by police officers deserved their fate. It also trafficked in deliberate fake news, claiming just before it was shut down that a photo of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ NBA championship parade was actually a crowd waiting to hear Donald Trump speak.
Twitter, already under fire, along with Facebook, for being slow to recognize its role in Russian election meddling, declined to comment. A spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that the company does not comment on individual accounts.
@TEN_GOP gained enough support from the far right that when it was finally shut down, commentators like Reddit’s pro-Trump r/the_donald forum expressed outrage. Jack Posobiec, a pro-Trump internet activist who himself has more than 213,000 Twitter followers, questioned the action when Twitter temporarily suspended the account in July.
“Fascinating,” Posobiec told BuzzFeed News this week. “We have to learn more about their operations. It's been their tactic since the KGB in the '70s to turn Americans against one another.”
Posobiec, whose Twitter page identifies him as political director of a political action committee "dedicated to overhauling the GOP," has been a frequent and harsh critic of the various probes into Russian election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. In April, he released a video railing against the idea Russians had meddled in the election.
“The left and the mainstream media have repeated the same refrain: that Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump not because any fault of her own, but that Russia meddled with the US election somehow," he said in the video, before citing a CNN poll that said 58% of Americans didn't think Russia had changed vote totals.
After speaking to BuzzFeed News, Posobiec deleted his tweets that mentioned @TEN_GOP.
The @TEN_GOP account was one of many created by Russia's Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-linked “troll farm” that devoted hundreds of thousands of dollars and nearly 100 people specifically to influencing American political sentiment. The account was first identified this week in an investigation by Russia's RBC news outlet into the troll farm's efforts to influence US politics.
That investigation documented the lengths that Russia went to in its influence campaign, including paying unsuspecting Americans to undertake activities seemingly intended to increase polarization.
The @TEN_GOP account offered a lesson in how inflammatory tweets can be used to gain followers and influence. In contrast, the actual Tennessee GOP’s Twitter account, @tngop, has only 13,400 followers, despite being the Twitter voice of the state party since 2007.
The actual Tennessee Republican Party tried unsuccessfully for months to get Twitter to shut @TEN_GOP down.
“It was in no way affiliated with our office,” Candice Dawkins, the real Tennessee Republican Party's communications director, told BuzzFeed News. “It was very misleading.”
On three separate occasions — Sept. 17, 2016, March 1, 2017, and Aug. 14, 2017 — the Tennessee GOP reported the fake account to Twitter for impersonating it, according to email correspondence that Dawkins shared with BuzzFeed News.
According to screen shots captured by the Internet Archive, the fake account did switch its Twitter profile in February from “I love God, I Love my Country” to one that admitted it wasn’t an official account: “Unofficial Twitter of Tennessee Republicans. Covering breaking news, national politics, foreign policy and more. #MAGA #2A.”
It wasn’t until sometime between Aug. 18 and Aug. 25, 2017, that Twitter closed the account.
One snapshot of the account captured just before @TEN_GOP was shut down shows a pinned tweet that claimed that first lady Melania Trump had prayed at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, along with a shot at mainstream news media: “You won’t see this on CNN.”
CNN had covered her trip to Paris, including her stop at Notre Dame, though it didn’t mention her actually praying.
Source
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On the bright side, at least we won't hear much more boasting about how Twitter is "changing the world" by allowing revolutionary movements to organize.
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Hence my belief that Twitter, and Facebook only half ass remove bots and spam accounts due to the fact that if they went full force to remove such accounts their user numbers could trend as a result downwards which would be a death knell on the stock market.
Edit:
Also
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On October 19 2017 11:33 Liquid`Drone wrote:Watching the Sanders vs Cruz debate. Been very pleased so far. Despite being political polar opposites, they are friendly and on point. And honestly, I'm finding Cruz even somewhat likable. Highlight for me is when a guy from denmark asks Bernie an absolutely on point question (one that I felt Bernie had been skirting around in the past) about how a scandinavian system requires far higher taxation levels across the board - not just of the wealthy - than what the case is for the American system. And then Sanders takes the opportunity to ask him about the cost of various services offered by the danish government, paid for by these taxes. Was a challenging question which ended up as a perfect layup.  I'm also left feeling that this debate flies straight in the face of the idea that Trump is a symptom rather than a cause of a corrupted discourse - if Bernie and Ted Cruz can have a cordial discussion, then certainly other democrats and republicans could, too. I totally disagree with Ted Cruz, and while he's guilty of the occasional misrepresentation (as is Sanders of him), I have no issues with his style. I also think he's a highly skilled debater. Trump however, is fucking poison.
I can't imagine a less genuine person than Ted Cruz. He is a master of lying with the truth though. He's also a champion debater so he's got that going for him.
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On October 19 2017 14:57 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:Hence my belief that Twitter, and Facebook only half ass remove bots and spam accounts due to the fact that if they went full force to remove such accounts their user numbers could trend as a result downwards which would be a death knell on the stock market. Edit: Also https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/920701194665955330
Again, the Senate raked Holder over the coals for pulling this shit over a botched investigation into illegal fire arms. But Sessions is a special snowflake gets to mouth off at senators and whine when he omissions get called out.
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Don't worry guys, just the president accusing the FBI of committing treason with the Russians. But some posters here say Russia is brought up too much.
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Attacking the right to not self incriminate, attacking the FBI and the political opposition by accusing them of working with Russia. All in one tweet. Very American.
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On October 19 2017 14:28 Danglars wrote:Show nested quote +On October 19 2017 13:49 Rebs wrote:On October 19 2017 13:43 LegalLord wrote:
To be fair, Trump probably was the easiest candidate to defeat. The opposition was just that weak. Dont forget to get your Hillary Jabs in folks... Nevermind the rest of the discussion around the devolution of discourse that technically the most powerful man in the world (shudder) has brought about and that nearly half your country loved it or clearly didnt mind it. + Show Spoiler +Notice me Comrade Vladimir..!! "Please, please have no fun until I say the apocalypse is over. It's not funny. IT'S NOT FUNNY." Yeah, you deserve the utmost derision for just hopping onto the bandwagon this late in the game. We'll pretend the world is bright and sunny if you're a good boy and vote Obama. The second you turn your backs on us and our next in line, it's all your fault you scum. Literally, your attitude is a good part of the reason why you got Trump. He's absolutely the symptom to a problem you can't understand and won't address. And you go on and on about "The symptoms are getting worse! Stop smiling he's actually that bad and he's causing all this" when past warnings about the underlying disease went unheeded. We helped answer your pompous arrogance with a base right-wing populist bat, and instead of course correction you chose doubling down on elitism, identity politics, and tribalism. November 2016 could've been the start of introspection at why approximately half the country ended up hating your guts, but you chose your same ignorant answers for that one too. Enjoy the next three years.
Who did you vote for, and why?
And why should anyone care that you "hate their guts", for reasons you seem incapable of explaining? "They're tribalists", seems like the most unaware fucking ironic statement imaginable.
"Underlying disease"? Is this the part where you blame Birtherism on the Democrats? We created the racists that have overtaken the party, and you just had to vote for them, kind of thing?
How fucking strong is denial that people like yourself blame your own voting-habits on the "other"? I made you vote for Trump, right? Yeah, I'm the problem. Good to know. It couldn't be that your head is just full of right-wing bullshit and lies about Hillary and Obama, chanting "lock her up" and acting as if Obama was some sort of Trump-like monster when he was just an ordinary and rather decent President.
Has to be something else to this "underlying disease" that exonerates you. That's what's important here.
Please enlighten me as to how people like yourself need to be treated so you don't vote for authoritarians, racists, and fucking crazy people? Should I start by telling you you're not fucking pathetic?
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i mean he voted for trump to stick it to the liberals. he’s said as much dozens of times.
and it’s our fault, and we’re the tribalists. there’s no point in trying to use reason. he’s shrouded in deflections and absolved himself of all responsibility in favor of hypocrisy.
i mean trump’s the obvious choice given the behavior. it’s a parody of his own reality. very #firsttimeisawme
‘disease’ lol. coming from someone who defended with every breath the need to respect flag and country, brazenly calls it diseased. i guess only certain people need to respect this country. no surprise there either though. see above under ‘hypocrisy’
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It is the classic line he keeps saying, we should understand and empathize with people who support Trump, but he won’t extend the same empathy to people who hate Trump. Danglars is a one way street when it comes to understanding, holding everyone else to a standard he refuses to hold himself to.
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On October 19 2017 22:08 Leporello wrote:Show nested quote +On October 19 2017 14:28 Danglars wrote:On October 19 2017 13:49 Rebs wrote:On October 19 2017 13:43 LegalLord wrote:
To be fair, Trump probably was the easiest candidate to defeat. The opposition was just that weak. Dont forget to get your Hillary Jabs in folks... Nevermind the rest of the discussion around the devolution of discourse that technically the most powerful man in the world (shudder) has brought about and that nearly half your country loved it or clearly didnt mind it. + Show Spoiler +Notice me Comrade Vladimir..!! "Please, please have no fun until I say the apocalypse is over. It's not funny. IT'S NOT FUNNY." Yeah, you deserve the utmost derision for just hopping onto the bandwagon this late in the game. We'll pretend the world is bright and sunny if you're a good boy and vote Obama. The second you turn your backs on us and our next in line, it's all your fault you scum. Literally, your attitude is a good part of the reason why you got Trump. He's absolutely the symptom to a problem you can't understand and won't address. And you go on and on about "The symptoms are getting worse! Stop smiling he's actually that bad and he's causing all this" when past warnings about the underlying disease went unheeded. We helped answer your pompous arrogance with a base right-wing populist bat, and instead of course correction you chose doubling down on elitism, identity politics, and tribalism. November 2016 could've been the start of introspection at why approximately half the country ended up hating your guts, but you chose your same ignorant answers for that one too. Enjoy the next three years. Who did you vote for, and why? And why should anyone care that you "hate their guts", for reasons you seem incapable of explaining? "They're tribalists", seems like the most unaware fucking ironic statement imaginable. "Underlying disease"? Is this the part where you blame Birtherism on the Democrats? We created the racists that have overtaken the party, and you just had to vote for them, kind of thing? How fucking strong is denial that people like yourself blame your own voting-habits on the "other"? I made you vote for Trump, right? Yeah, I'm the problem. Good to know. It couldn't be that your head is just full of right-wing bullshit and lies about Hillary and Obama, chanting "lock her up" and acting as if Obama was some sort of Trump-like monster when he was just an ordinary and rather decent President. Has to be something else to this "underlying disease" that exonerates you. That's what's important here. Please enlighten me as to how people like yourself need to be treated so you don't vote for authoritarians, racists, and fucking crazy people? Should I start by telling you you're not fucking pathetic?
The big step should've been not sending Clinton to the stage. She's the queen of blaming the 'other,' whites that don't conform to her viewpoints, and offering no real alternative to Trump in the election. You want to show you're willing to lead the country and not just coasts and metros? That's square one. Tell people that they have a voice in America if they're not women and minorities.
It hasn't been enough years removed from hearing that your opposition to Obama's policies were rooted in racism. That your premiums and deductibles doubled, but Obamacare is working just great, and you can afford it anyways. Walking Iran down the path to nuclear weapons was the best compromise possible, so shut up and enjoy it. Free speech was for others; your hate speech isn't protected. A man that explicitly says he's protesting the flag because it stands for all these cruel things America perpetrates gets a free makeover and a nice gaslighting rework. The list goes on and on, and the tribalism is exactly as I noted: we won't observe a goddamn thing as long as you do your duty and vote Obama. But don't you dare move off that reservation, or it's all your fault. Thanks. Goodbye.
You wonder why people here--the token conservatives--get tired of explaining and re-explaining when you've got to throw out Birthers and 'everything you accuse of us you have it worse' to justify past behavior. You won't accept the reasoning, you won't have the decency to examine the political discourse from the other side's view, so the choices rapidly narrow. You've made your bed, now sleep in it. I don't really care if all the left-wing "bullshit and lies" will still populate your head four years from now. It'll help the 2020 election, but obviously things will have to get a whole lot worse before you start examining your underlying assumptions.
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United States43181 Posts
Clinton is a Republican in all but name. She's a neo-liberal, a product of the post-Reagan consensus. It's not about the politics, no more than it was when Obama gave you the Heritage Foundation's Romneycare, it's about identity politics and the diminishing status of the white Christian male in American politics. Trump mobilized the fragile ego of the racists and sexists and turned them into a coherent voting identity.
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If everybody shied away from Obamacare reform, much less repeal, the same cowardice will pervade pushing for tax reform.
Who paid for it and was it used to justify FISA surveillance (as anonymously leaked to CNN regarding Carter Page). Thankfully, congressional investigations proceed on the wiretapping and unmasking. The leaking of unmasked documents pertaining to Michael Flynn was and is a federal crime.
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EPT
