EPTUS Politics Mega-thread - Page 5275
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Now that we have a new thread, in order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a complete and thorough read before posting! NOTE: When providing a source, please provide a very brief summary on what it's about and what purpose it adds to the discussion. The supporting statement should clearly explain why the subject is relevant and needs to be discussed. Please follow this rule especially for tweets. Your supporting statement should always come BEFORE you provide the source. If you have any questions, comments, concern, or feedback regarding the USPMT, then please use this thread: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/website-feedback/510156-us-politics-thread | ||
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ChristianS
United States3257 Posts
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EnDeR_
Spain2774 Posts
On September 26 2025 12:21 Introvert wrote: I would say it's more a hope born of necessity. For reasons both ideological and cultural it can be harder for people on the left to countenance people who disagree with them very strongly but that's part of why I think it will take some great national struggle or disaster to return our government to better functioning. Things will have to be placed aside, on both left and right. Could you explain a bit more about what you mean by "it's harder for people on the left to countenance people that disagree with them very strongly"? Anecdotally, the two times I've had a conversation with someone heavily pro-Trump, even mild disagreement was taken as a personal offense that could not be countenanced. Neither time was a pleasant conversation. Anecdotically, also, the couple times I've had a strong disagreement with someone who identifies as 'on the left', it was fairly amicable and we reached a point where we could understand where each of us was coming from. If you want to know, a specific example was about trans people on TV and how this was going to mess up his kids, another was about DEI implementation in the workplace. | ||
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Sent.
Poland9248 Posts
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KT_Elwood
Germany1090 Posts
On September 19 2025 18:35 KT_Elwood wrote: It's petty revenge. Donald Trump is not only deeply insincere, a draft dodger, a business fraud, a tax dodger, paying for sex probably with teenagers... but is also a petty HOA-Karen that will kill your dog with a lawn mower if you have forgotten her 23rd anniverary in the neighbourhood. And then claim the hispanic gardener did it to eat the dog. But with James Comey | ||
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Magic Powers
Austria4478 Posts
It's exactly as I said, Trump's administration can move as far right as they want, his supporters will never accept that his politics are far too extreme to be tolerable. They're not even trying to both-sides it anymore - they're putting blame squarely on "the left" for being "too extreme", while Trump is literally destroying America. Their support for this fascist is unquestioning and they'll stick it out until the very bitter end. The second Trump term is the second stage of a fascist takeover (removing opposition from powerful positions, silencing media and brutally persecuting minorities) and right-wingers are utterly blind to it. They're in complete denial, calling every criticism of this process "left-wing". They view themselves as moderates. As reasonable. The right-wing cult calls itself reasonable. The USA's 1933 is already here and 1938 is approaching. Right-wingers won't see it when it happens, and they'll still deny it after it's all over. | ||
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Phyanketto
United States601 Posts
On September 26 2025 16:48 Magic Powers wrote: Nothing Trump has done this year has faced criticism from any right-wingers around here. They didn't object when he originally and consistently rallied against Mexicans, they didn't object when he caused women to lose their abortion rights, they didn't object when he gave an overtly anti-LGBT speech in January in 2024. And they still don't say a peep about any of his orders this year. No criticism whatsoever, only playing defense, defense, defense. This is cult behavior. It's exactly as I said, Trump's administration can move as far right as they want, his supporters will never accept that his politics are far too extreme to be tolerable. They're not even trying to both-sides it anymore - they're putting blame squarely on "the left" for being "too extreme", while Trump is literally destroying America. Their support for this fascist is unquestioning and they'll stick it out until the very bitter end. The second Trump term is the second stage of a fascist takeover (removing opposition from powerful positions, silencing media and brutally persecuting minorities) and right-wingers are utterly blind to it. They're in complete denial, calling every criticism of this process "left-wing". They view themselves as moderates. As reasonable. The right-wing cult calls itself reasonable. The USA's 1933 is already here and 1938 is approaching. Right-wingers won't see it when it happens, and they'll still deny it after it's all over. There are really two types of maga loyalists. The unironic racist/white nationalist type who only gets their news online and whose banner issue is that during 2008-16 they feel like they didn't get to participate in victim culture, and felt blamed, and the other type is the older people who are so digitally illiterate they would send their money to indonesia in the form of gift cards. If you really want to see why they're like this, borrow your mom or dad's phone and check out their scroll. Their algorithms are showing them the most blatant disinfo and they lap it up because they have no idea what digital legitimacy looks like. If they get their extremist rhetoric with a coat of cable news paint, they'll believe fucking anything. On September 26 2025 15:03 ChristianS wrote: Okay, buddy. Never understood how everybody decided that Danglars was the bad faith one, honestly. But when they declare the opposition party a terrorist organization I’ll try to console myself that at least Mike Flynn is getting his retribution for being unfairly fired by *checks notes* Donald Trump for being an unregistered foreign advocate for Turkey or w/e. I appreciate the reference, even if it's a bit of a sad marker that nobody will know who you're talking about; that persiflage kitsch of yesteryear is considered high lit. | ||
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Gorsameth
Netherlands21961 Posts
On September 26 2025 07:30 Introvert wrote: Most people here won't need it but lets remind ourselves of Russiagate.I would say FBI offices are not partisan places, but then again I lived through Russiagate. From the Senate Intelligence committee report https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sites-default-files-documents-report-volume5.pdf Prior to joining the Trump Campaign in March 2016 and continuing throughout his time 6n the Campaign, Manafort directly and indirectly communicated with Kilimnik, Deripaska, and the pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine. On numerous occasions, Manafort sought to secretly share internal Campaign information with Kilimnik. Staff on the Trump Campaign sought advance notice about WikiLeaks releases, created messaging strategies to promote and share the materials in anticipation of and following thdr release, and encouraged further leaks. The Trump Campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort. The Committee found evidence suggesting that it was the 'intent of the Campaign · participants in the June 9, 2016 meeting, particularly Donald Trump Jr., to receive derogatory information that would be of benefit to the Campaign from a source known, at least by Trump Jr.,. to have connections to the Russian government. From the conclusion of the Mueller report www.justice.gov Because we determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment , we did not draw ultimate conclusions about the President's conduct. The evidence we obtained about the President's actions and intent presents difficult issues that would need to be resolved if we were making a traditional prosecutorial judgment. At the same time, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the Pres ident clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. Gee, almost sounds as if something actually happened and its a conclusion reached not by the FBI but by an independent investigator and the (at the time) Republican controlled senate intelligence committee. Despite Republican posters to this day trying to pretend that nothing happened, those with actual knowledge of the events very much disagree. Russiagate is real, it wasn't a political witchhunt. Russia very much interfered in the US election of 2016 and the Trump campaign very much encouraged it or actively participated in it. | ||
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Doublemint
Austria8643 Posts
On September 26 2025 18:52 Gorsameth wrote: Most people here won't need it but lets remind ourselves of Russiagate. From the Senate Intelligence committee report https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sites-default-files-documents-report-volume5.pdf From the conclusion of the Mueller report www.justice.gov Gee, almost sounds as if something actually happened and its a conclusion reached not by the FBI but by an independent investigator and the (at the time) Republican controlled senate intelligence committee. Despite Republican posters to this day trying to pretend that nothing happened, those with actual knowledge of the events very much disagree. Russiagate is real, it wasn't a political witchhunt. Russia very much interfered in the US election of 2016 and the Trump campaign very much encouraged it or actively participated in it. yup. funny how the DNC mails got leaked as they were hacked, yet the RNC ones were not. yes, at around the same time frame leading up to the election in 2016' the RNC also got hacked... despite Trump and his cronies claiming otherwise naturally. FBI Director James Comey tells Congress the same hackers who breached the DNC also penetrated the RNC's older email domains and state-level GOP targets. -wired from 2017 what a coincidence how that same FBI Director has now been indicted... sadly the likelihood facts are enough to convince anybody from the other side anymore are slim. the battle lines are drawn and one side profits from this development currently so there is no reason to stop. | ||
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Gorsameth
Netherlands21961 Posts
On September 26 2025 19:39 Doublemint wrote: I don't expect people who have lived in denial for a decade to suddenly see the light. But that doesn't mean we have to stop correcting them with facts every time they lie.yup. funny how the DNC mails got leaked as they were hacked, yet the RNC ones were not. yes, at around the same time frame leading up to the election in 2016' the RNC also got hacked... despite Trump and his cronies claiming otherwise naturally. FBI Director James Comey tells Congress the same hackers who breached the DNC also penetrated the RNC's older email domains and state-level GOP targets. -wired from 2017 what a coincidence how that same FBI Director has now been indicted... sadly the likelihood facts are enough to convince anybody from the other side anymore are slim. the battle lines are drawn and one side profits from this development currently so there is no reason to stop. | ||
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Velr
Switzerland10811 Posts
On September 26 2025 16:29 Sent. wrote: Lefties think conservative views on stuff like immigration, abortion or lgbt issues are oppressive and evil. Conservatives think lefties are overly permissive or naive and it's only their leaders who are evil. That's how I see it at least. Is that why the whole conservative hate machine is reliant on 5 follower twitter accounts and such? | ||
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Doublemint
Austria8643 Posts
U.S. to impose 100% tariff on branded, patented drugs unless firms build plants locally, Trump says President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. will impose a 100% tariff on “any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product” entering the country from Oct. 1. The measure will not apply to companies building drug manufacturing plants in the U.S., Trump said. He added that the exemption covers projects where construction has started, including sites that have broken ground or are under construction. “There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Branded or patented pharmaceutical products are drugs sold under trade names and protected by patents or other intellectual property, which block generic competition until those protections expire. Trump has said tariffs will incentivize drug companies to move manufacturing operations to the U.S. That is an effort that Eli Lilly , Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie and others are already pursuing at a time when domestic drug manufacturing has shrunk dramatically over the last few decades. CNBC reached out to major drugmakers for comment on the tariffs but did not receive an immediate response. Risks to the drug supply chain In 2024, U.S. imports of pharmaceuticals nearly tripled to around $213 billion from a decade earlier, according to data from the United Nations Comtrade Database. The Trump administration in April initiated a so-called Section 232 investigation into pharmaceutical products, which allows the Secretary of Commerce to examine the impact of imports on national security. The president similarly used that power to impose tariffs on other goods, such as cars and aluminum. The tariffs deal a long-awaited blow to pharmaceutical companies, many of which have pushed back and warned that the levies could drive up costs, deter investments in the U.S. and disrupt the drug supply chain, ultimately putting patients at risk. In public comments to the government in May, Eli Lilly said tariffs will “deprive manufacturers of necessary capital to both innovate and invest in reshoring” since they will redirect capital to cushion the impact of the levies. That was among the hundreds of comments released by the Department of Commerce in late May in relation to its 232 investigation into the pharmaceutical industry. Some health policy experts also say the move could disrupt the drug supply chain at the expense of U.S. patients, driving up costs for certain treatments or even exacerbating the medication shortages plaguing the nation. Drugmakers often rely on a global network of manufacturing sites for different steps of the production process. There “is the potential for higher prescription drug prices in an environment where we’re already pushing very hard to try to get those prices down,” Leigh Purvis, prescription drug policy principal in AARP’s Public Policy Institute, told CNBC before the tariff announcement. She added that there are “a lot of generic drugs specifically that could potentially have to make decisions between being unprofitable and pulling from the market entirely.” the main question of course on everyone's mind - is the 100% tariff before or after the 1000%+ price reduction on drugs Trump most definitely achieved? | ||
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oBlade
United States5770 Posts
On September 26 2025 16:48 Magic Powers wrote: Nothing Trump has done this year has faced criticism from any right-wingers around here. They didn't object when he originally and consistently rallied against Mexicans, they didn't object when he caused women to lose their abortion rights, they didn't object when he gave an overtly anti-LGBT speech in January in 2024. And they still don't say a peep about any of his orders this year. No criticism whatsoever, only playing defense, defense, defense. This is cult behavior. It's exactly as I said, Trump's administration can move as far right as they want, his supporters will never accept that his politics are far too extreme to be tolerable. They're not even trying to both-sides it anymore - they're putting blame squarely on "the left" for being "too extreme", while Trump is literally destroying America. Their support for this fascist is unquestioning and they'll stick it out until the very bitter end. The second Trump term is the second stage of a fascist takeover (removing opposition from powerful positions, silencing media and brutally persecuting minorities) and right-wingers are utterly blind to it. They're in complete denial, calling every criticism of this process "left-wing". They view themselves as moderates. As reasonable. The right-wing cult calls itself reasonable. The USA's 1933 is already here and 1938 is approaching. Right-wingers won't see it when it happens, and they'll still deny it after it's all over. Jesus we're still only at 1933? I thought the beginning would have been 2015 at least if not 2011 or 2000. Didn't Hitler die in 1945? I mean just imagine the same person being president from 1933 to 1945. That would be the literal definition of a dictator. | ||
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Sermokala
United States14048 Posts
On September 26 2025 21:55 oBlade wrote: Jesus we're still only at 1933? I thought the beginning would have been 2015 at least if not 2011 or 2000. Didn't Hitler die in 1945? I mean just imagine the same person being president from 1933 to 1945. That would be the literal definition of a dictator. Hitler first consolidated his power in 1933. Thats generally pointed to as the point of no return for nazi germany. The literal definition of a dictator would be unquestioned authoritarian control over the state. I don't know if you were trying to compare hitler to FDR or if thats an honest mistake but yikes if it isn't. | ||
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Introvert
United States4866 Posts
On September 26 2025 15:03 ChristianS wrote: Okay, buddy. Never understood how everybody decided that Danglars was the bad faith one, honestly. But when they declare the opposition party a terrorist organization I’ll try to console myself that at least Mike Flynn is getting his retribution for being unfairly fired by *checks notes* Donald Trump for being an unregistered foreign advocate for Turkey or w/e. We were discussing something else, I made a single comment which you decided to make the main topic, ans then you made the least charitable version what you responded to. I'm not the dishonest one here. I hate talking about Russiagate but as I said a different understanding of it would do some people wonders for knowing how we got here. On September 26 2025 16:19 EnDeR_ wrote: Could you explain a bit more about what you mean by "it's harder for people on the left to countenance people that disagree with them very strongly"? Anecdotally, the two times I've had a conversation with someone heavily pro-Trump, even mild disagreement was taken as a personal offense that could not be countenanced. Neither time was a pleasant conversation. Anecdotically, also, the couple times I've had a strong disagreement with someone who identifies as 'on the left', it was fairly amicable and we reached a point where we could understand where each of us was coming from. If you want to know, a specific example was about trans people on TV and how this was going to mess up his kids, another was about DEI implementation in the workplace. Sent hit the nail on the head. In less rancourous times there was a saying, iirc penned by commentator Charles Krauthammer that "Conservatives think liberals are wrong, liberals think Conservatives are evil." I think this is mostly true (keep on mind we are saying "liberal" in the American sense of the word). For the criticism that the right is very "moralistic" i think surely that criticism (if you would even call it that) applies to the left at least as much. There is also the cultural dimension as well. American popular culture and academia has become so insular and increasingly left-wing that it's far easier, from what i can tell, for someone on the left to hear almost nothing from someone they disagree with than the opposite. It’s surely true on campus, and I and many others could attest to that personally. I'm sure it's not quite so overwhelming in a more conservative state, but any conservative who has ever attended college or seen a single thing a famous actor has said or read a news story in a legacy newspaper has had to read and interact with people they disagree with. Some Trumpers are incredibly annoying though, yes. On September 26 2025 18:52 Gorsameth wrote: Most people here won't need it but lets remind ourselves of Russiagate. From the Senate Intelligence committee report https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sites-default-files-documents-report-volume5.pdf From the conclusion of the Mueller report www.justice.gov Gee, almost sounds as if something actually happened and its a conclusion reached not by the FBI but by an independent investigator and the (at the time) Republican controlled senate intelligence committee. Despite Republican posters to this day trying to pretend that nothing happened, those with actual knowledge of the events very much disagree. Russiagate is real, it wasn't a political witchhunt. Russia very much interfered in the US election of 2016 and the Trump campaign very much encouraged it or actively participated in it. Yes. Polling data! The memes are why Hillary lost WI, not because she didn't show up there! And we already knew about Wikileaks, Trump literally went on stage and asked lol. Like i said, untoward behavior, hardly the crime of the century. And yet it was used for all those things I listed to ChristianS. | ||
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LightSpectra
United States1887 Posts
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oBlade
United States5770 Posts
On September 26 2025 22:05 Sermokala wrote: Hitler first consolidated his power in 1933. Thats generally pointed to as the point of no return for nazi germany. The literal definition of a dictator would be unquestioned authoritarian control over the state. I don't know if you were trying to compare hitler to FDR or if thats an honest mistake but yikes if it isn't. Absolutely not, that kind of comparison would be way over the line. On September 26 2025 23:11 Sermokala wrote: I was going to say Ike won first in 1933 and died in 1945. That'd be an interesting mistake. | ||
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Sermokala
United States14048 Posts
Conservatives have long decried academia and the arts. I don't know what result you would expect than for conservatives to not be represented in the arts and academia. How many conservatives do you know that talk about "worthless degrees" and make jokes about unemployed liberal arts majors? You can't tell a generation of kids that going to college is a scam and that they should "go into the trades" and then act surprised when the people who believe in the things you believe listen to you and actually do it. You end up with a teamsters union that once controlled the nation being hollowed out by non union operators and NAFTA making mexican trucking so much more competitive. Its crazy work to characterize modern conservatives' opinions on liberals as thinking that they're "wrong" and not evil. I don't know why you would think killing babies is wrong and not evil. I don't know why you would think transgendering the kids as wrong and not evil. I don't know why you would call the language used about immigration to be that its wrong and not evil. How you would call assassinations wrong and not evil. How you would consider the totaly not jewish conspiracy of george soros to be wrong and not evil. | ||
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Magic Powers
Austria4478 Posts
Trump advises to "fight like hell" to not take Tylenol. Don't do it, it's gonna make your child autistic. Bruh. So, how does this make sense, ya'll. Can any of you right-wingers explain this to me? Could you play your Trump defense card one more time, please? I wanna understand the thought process, the consistency, the rationale. https://www.factcheck.org/2025/09/trump-administrations-problematic-claims-on-tylenol-and-autism/ Remember right-wingers touted HCQ as the miracle cure for Covid. Now they argue that Tylenol - considered far more harmless than HCQ - causes autism. Interesting. Very interesting. | ||
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Phyanketto
United States601 Posts
… “The Affirmative Litigation Section will represent the United States by filing lawsuits against states, municipalities, and private entities that interfere with or obstruct federal policies, ensuring nationwide compliance with the U.S. Constitution and federal law.” … “The new Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch will strengthen the Civil Division’s ability to advance the Department’s enforcement priorities, including protecting women and children from pharmaceutical companies, health care providers, and medical associations profiting off of false and misleading claims related to so-called gender transition , and ending sanctuary jurisdiction laws, policies, and practices that impede federal immigration enforcement and make Americans less safe in their communities.” https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-creates-new-civil-division-enforcement-affirmative-litigation-branch So what does this mean for trans people? Basically that means they're going to be attempting to sue any company or Healthcare network that provides gender-affirming care to trans people, which will essentially make it not profitable to do so, and disincentivize practitioners from offering the care even if it's all out-of-pocket for the patient. On the one hand, it's bad, on the other, there's a chance for state and federal judges to lay down some pretty robust precedent regarding legality of GAC and its medical necessity, especially because the Republicans don't really have any medical data that will hold up or be persuasive in court. The admin all well and good about parroting talking points, but when it comes to substantive legal argument they basically have bupkis. Such cases are also possible to be dismissed pre-trial because of the abject and unambiguous political agenda at play, and the complete abandonment of supposed DOJ neutrality. Unless they can find loyalist judges in every state and every federal circuit, idk if this is actually able to achieve much without a looooot of judicial pushback. Hence why the trump admin has been so keep to bypass the legislative branch with EO's which *also* keep getting shut down All this to say that the companies and doctors still probably won't risk it, and will likely comply in advance. | ||
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Sadist
United States7291 Posts
People who grow up conservative are usually some of the most insular people you will run into. They either grew up in the church which has major in group out group dynamics OR they grew up in a lily white town and never encountered people different themselves until later in life, but by then their view point is mostly solidified. Its LIBERALS who are generally exposed to more people and viewpoints throughout life. Not conservatives. What in the absolute George Orwell 1984 double speak is going on in this thread. What the fuck. | ||
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