US Politics Mega-thread - Page 9901

On February 14 2018 17:58 Simberto wrote:


Yeah, but can you imagine that guy not going to Trump "Hey, i paid that pornstar you fucked 130k in hush money, can i get that money back?"

On February 14 2018 20:25 Biff The Understudy wrote:
Good thing that those christian conservatives elected and stand by a man who defends family values (it was always about bullyiing women anyway so they are good)

On a serious note I assume part of those peole is sincere, so what would it take them to abandon DT?

It is one thing—an infuriating thing, granted—to lose your job because of “the market.” When your factory shuts down because labor is cheaper overseas or when your magazine folds because luxury watch companies shifted their marketing budgets to Instagram influencers, you may rage and despair, but you also probably saw it coming, in industry-wide economic trends that were impossible to ignore. But when your livelihood is disrupted because of the whims of one powerful person—when the invisible hand is replaced by one very visible and shockingly capricious one—it is a much more bewildering experience. And it is one more journalists can expect to experience in the near future, as the economic power of the 0.01 percent increases and the revenue models underpinning traditional news-gathering shops break down.

Thanksgiving In My Family Is Always Tense Because I Read News Outlets Owned By Liberal Billionaires And My Uncle Reads News Outlets Owned By Conservative Billionaires

As much as I enjoy Thanksgiving, I can get pretty stressed out thinking about the charged political conversations that always seem to break out between my uncle and me. No matter which topic we broach, Thanksgiving dinner is usually pretty tense because I read news outlets owned by liberal billionaires while my uncle Robert reads news outlets owned by conservative billionaires.

Every year I try to be optimistic and tell myself that this Thanksgiving will be pleasant and cordial, but without fail, my uncle and I always end up butting heads over the political viewpoints of the billionaires who own the news that we read. Things always start off so pleasant—there’s family and great food and lots of laughs—but before I know it, my uncle and I are loudly and passionately recapitulating the political viewpoints of two different billionaires with such different ideologies that, ultimately, the rest of my family needs to step in before one of us storms away from dinner entirely.

I want to try to understand where my uncle is coming from, but the billionaires who run the media companies we patronize come from such different political worlds. The liberal worldview of the mega-rich moguls who own the media outlets where I get my news is completely incompatible with the conservative worldview of the mega-rich moguls who own the media outlets where my uncle gets his news. It’s come to the point where I dread Thanksgiving every year because I know as soon as he sees me, my uncle is going to start regurgitating the conservative viewpoints of the billionaire Mercer family that owns Breitbart News, and I’m going to have no choice but to counter him by regurgitating the liberal viewpoints of billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.

I really hate to get into a heated argument every single Thanksgiving, but it’s pretty hard to sit across the table from someone who gets his politics spoon-fed to him by insanely wealthy individuals who have viewpoints that the insanely wealthy individuals who spoon-feed me my politics would find absolutely abhorrent. At the end of the day, I think my uncle’s a good guy, and we’re still family, but that can be hard to remember sometimes when the billionaires who own the news we read are so bitterly opposed to one another.

Just once I wish my uncle would read a news outlet whose editorial goals were influenced by its massively wealthy liberal owner instead of poisoning his mind with the garbage churned out by news media dominated by massively wealthy conservatives. If he did, I think he’d start to see that there’s more to politics than the narrow-minded conservative viewpoints that Rupert Murdoch injects into Fox News. There’s also the narrow-minded liberal viewpoints that Michael Bloomberg injects into Businessweek.

Every Thanksgiving, the bitter arguments between my uncle and me serve as a grim reminder of just how divided our country’s billionaires have become. Sometimes it feels like the news outlets they own are reporting on two different realities and giving my uncle and me such polarized views of the world that we may never find common ground. Unfortunately, until my uncle finds it in his heart to give media unilaterally funded by left-leaning tycoons a chance, our Thanksgiving dinners are doomed to descend into bitter feuds over which billionaires truly know what’s right for the country.

On February 14 2018 20:25 Biff The Understudy wrote:
Good thing that those christian conservatives elected and stand by a man who defends family values (it was always about bullyiing women anyway so they are good)

On a serious note I assume part of those peole is sincere, so what would it take them to abandon DT?

On February 14 2018 22:59 Grumbels wrote:

There's probably some taboos that Trump can't cross to continue to enjoy the support of evangelicals. Not rape, which evangelicals don't seem to care about, but maybe pedophilia. Also, they would drop him the moment he would, say, promote programs that primarily help black people.

On February 14 2018 22:59 Grumbels wrote:

There's probably some taboos that Trump can't cross to continue to enjoy the support of evangelicals. Not rape, which evangelicals don't seem to care about, but maybe pedophilia. Also, they would drop him the moment he would, say, promote programs that primarily help black people.

On February 14 2018 20:25 Biff The Understudy wrote:
Good thing that those christian conservatives elected and stand by a man who defends family values (it was always about bullyiing women anyway so they are good)

On a serious note I assume part of those peole is sincere, so what would it take them to abandon DT?

On February 14 2018 20:59 Plansix wrote:
https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/963640113321398273

Apparently attorneys are not supposed to do what Trumps lawyer claimed he did, which only deepens my suspicion that it is a lie.

On February 14 2018 23:40 xDaunt wrote:

I doubt 1.8(e) applies here. There’s no pending or contemplated litigation.

At least one person is injured after an early morning vehicle collision and shooting at the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade.

Authorities have said the situation is under control and that “there’s no ongoing security or safety threat”. NSA garrison spokeswoman Cheryl Phillips said the injured person was transported to the hospital.

The shooting happened after a black SUV ran into a concrete barricade at the base, and police have arrested at least one male suspect, but it was not immediately clear if that man was the same person reported injured.

An image taken from a WRC-TV helicopter shows a police and fire department response outside one of the facility’s secure vehicle entry gates. WRC said bullet holes could be seen in the vehicle’s front window, and several air bags were deployed.

The Baltimore office of the FBI said it was aware of the incident and was sending agents to respond.

The White House said Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting and offered the following statement: “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has been affected. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.”

On February 14 2018 20:59 Plansix wrote:
https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/963640113321398273

Apparently attorneys are not supposed to do what Trumps lawyer claimed he did, which only deepens my suspicion that it is a lie.

On February 15 2018 00:12 Mohdoo wrote:


While I don't doubt Trump knew about all this, I think the fact still remains that I would do what Cohen claims to have done if I was in his position. It is a total no-brainer from his position. Not a lot of money to suppress a really spicy thing.

On February 15 2018 00:13 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:


Except it is back in the news, now more than ever.

On February 15 2018 00:12 Mohdoo wrote:


While I don't doubt Trump knew about all this, I think the fact still remains that I would do what Cohen claims to have done if I was in his position. It is a total no-brainer from his position. Not a lot of money to suppress a really spicy thing.

On February 15 2018 00:22 Plansix wrote:


There is no way he could do that and not tell Trump. Attorneys are not allowed to withhold that sort of information from their client and act independently. Now, if we want to argue that this guy is a pretty shady attorney who is willing bend or break the rules to keep his meal ticket happy, that is another discussion.

On February 14 2018 23:40 xDaunt wrote:

I doubt 1.8(e) applies here. There’s no pending or contemplated litigation.