***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[Air Champa]

I can remember when country music was about being antiwar and giving the man the middle finger.

Not sure how we went from that to "try that in a small town."

 

[mplsdunk]

They call it “bootlicker” country now.

At least the guys who like the proper stuff.

 

[jpzx]

DLF this has gotta tie you in knots

 

[Methodical Management]

It’s funny because I went to Law School too and it’s evident from this thread that there is enough cause of action for him to have the right to insult you.

I’m just saying…. It’s not like you haven’t been acting like a **** while trying to get your point across.

I understand the frustration, but no one has the right to insult other community members. You can disagree without being disrespectful.


There is something to be said for one's willingness to bear witness to atrocity at a time when much of the world has seemingly become inured to violence and displacement - especially when it impacts those who aren't White. Like mass shootings, tragedies like this one are too often treated as little more than background noise:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/13/american-killed-west-bank-israel-war/

Social media platforms have given ordinary people the ability to distribute at scale ground-level information (and misinformation) that has challenged, and sometimes directly contradicted, official accounts. The impulse to seek out citizen reporting, particularly in situations that otherwise receive inadequate media coverage, is understandable. Without it, it's difficult to imagine people like Derek Chauvin facing any type of accountability.

That said, it's important for everyone to understand how algorithmic social media platforms function, and to bear in mind that the enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend.

If you really think the White/Christian Nationalists who openly cheered as Trump stationed an American embassy in Jerusalem and encouraged Netanyahu to brazenly annex much of the West Bank as part of an ill-conceived "Peace Plan" are now suddenly sincere advocates for Palestinian liberation, I have a Substack subscription to sell you.

Rejecting mainstream media accounts/conventional wisdom out of hand is not the same thing as critical thinking.

Grifters are legion, and it's exasperating to see anyone - but especially those who are ostensibly motivated by a desire for peace and social justice - fall prey to their snares.


It is remarkable to me that there's no such thing as a "coincidence" to the "independent thinkers" of social media... except how every single Internet pipeline for disaffected men invariably seems to feed into the same sewer: promoting authoritarianism.

I can remember when country music was about being antiwar and giving the man the middle finger.

Not sure how we went from that to "try that in a small town."

Is country music ready to dissociate from the Confederate flag?

For decades, country stars have embraced the ‘rebel’ flag as a symbol of southern heritage and pride. But after Charleston, that seems destined to change

www.theguardian.com

 

[Air Champa]

Is country music ready to dissociate from the Confederate flag?

For decades, country stars have embraced the ‘rebel’ flag as a symbol of southern heritage and pride. But after Charleston, that seems destined to change

www.theguardian.com

Yeah, there was a genre. Some called it outlaw country. People like Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson comes to mind. You even had punk bands like the Dead Kennedys covering Take This Job and Shove it.

Obviously Hank Williams Jr is a giant d-bag. Just that pic makes me want to puke

 

[mplsdunk]

Shoutout to his son though, punk, hardcore and country.

Dude flys that flag but I never heard him say anything foul or racist. Heard him say he hates the klan and he just rocks it because he’s from TN, you know the typical thing people say. I’m sure he could give a f what anyone thinks. The man went on tour with gg allin so yeah…

 

[jpzx]

I prefer Jack Johnson for my laissez faire music. Where have all the good people gone?

 

[Belgium]

Also, what am I? Putin right hand man? I don’t care about him. He’s not president of my country. He can spend 80% of his gdp on weapons for all I care. Not everyone my politicians claim to be evil… are evil. Thats all I’m saying. Stop falling for the media and politicians views blindly

Is Netanyahu your president?

I thought you cared about civilian deaths so much? Those weapons are headed to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which has seen more than enough civilian casualties already. Generally by the Russians as they’re the on the offense invading a sovereign country, while Ukraine is fighting a defensive war inside their own borders.

So because Putin is viewed as evil by/in the US, you refuse to think for yourself and just mindlessly parrot whatever the opposite of the US view is? No more caring about civilian deaths, allegedly a core principle of yours?


Feel free to think and research for yourself for once, it’s not hard.
Don’t worry, you’re not in Russia. Unlike in Russia, you won’t be imprisoned for up to 15 years and have all your assets seized for violating Putin’s law against criticizing any aspect of Russia’s military and its actions.

 

[Belgium]

Journalists first and most of all, fall under the First Amendment, which was designed for the media and reporters. No use in suing, they were reporting on it and editorializing. That would go nowhere.

Like you said, Fox reported on the content of an existing FBI report. That the source of the document is now charged with false statements to federal investigators doesn’t magically give Hunter any claim to a defamation lawsuit.
Any potential embellishment would just be covered by the ‘opinion-news defense’ or however you’d call it. Same defense Tucker Carlson and Rachel Maddow used to dismiss a defamation lawsuit.

Even in a case like Dominion vs Fox News, where Dominion obtained proof of the hosts privately saying the Dominion election rigging claims were crazy nonsense while constantly stating them as fact on air, Dominion still opted to agree to a settlement. They received close to $800 million from Fox, which didn’t have to admit fault as part of the settlement and simply acknowledged they broadcasted false statements. The latter was a ruling made by the judge earlier in the case.

It’s notoriously hard to win a defamation lawsuit against a public figure, let alone a journalist or news media corporation.

 

[gry60]

Exactly what happens when you arm their neighbors to the teeth and point rockets and constantly make threats at them.

This might be true in a world where entire nations are made up of puppets with absolutely no agency.

In the real world, many former Soviet nations did not find it beneficial to continue their relationship with Russia, and chose to look the other way (West). Some joined the EU, and others joined NATO. Russia didn't like it, and decided to maintain control of their neighbors by force, just like they did in Georgia and Chechnya.

If you tried to read a bit about how these alliances happen, you'd see that nations usually invite themselves, and member countries decide whether they let them in or not. That post above shows you're not really fact-checking whatever comes out of the Kremlin.

Not everyone my politicians claim to be evil… are evil. Thats all I’m saying.

I can tell you haven't seen many strongmen interviews. You're the one who fell for their charicatural representation in the media because you didn't think they could be charismatic. However, having charisma and being knowledgeable doesn't make someone good, ethical, or sincere.

Stop falling for the media and politicians views blindly

Sure, Mr Free Thinker:

Doesn't have a problem with wars fought on spurious motives (Ukraine is really Russia).

Doesn't care that Putin walked away from the treaty to reduce the US and Russian nuclear arsenals.

Doesn't care that Putin has supported doping programs for Russian athletes.

Doesn't care that Putin has betrayed the trust of European nations by making them think they could rely on Russian oil products.

None of these opinions against Putin could've been formed independently.

 

[IATT]

Country doesn’t sound “country” anymore anyways but they’ll still be mad when Beyoncé does it.

I saw someone mention it, but Nelly was country as hell from day 1 but don’t get the credit.. but they’ll credit those certain songs

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

New abortion bill would also restrict contraceptives, IUDs, and create an abortion database

"What this bill is attempting to do is maintain the bills the legislature has overwhelmingly passed over the past couple of years that got overturned by the Oklahoma Supreme Court by using their language," said Moore Republican Kevin West who authored the bill.

www.fox23.com

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

 

[mplsdunk]

Firemen speaking facts

 

[Mark Antony]

Yeah i've been hearing often recently that country and the Nashville culture wasn't racist and don't know where that came from. T-Pain here saying he stopped writing for country artists because of racism.

 

[mplsdunk]

I don't know why anyone would say that. I was just saying there was a few cool guys in a genre that mostly sucks.

I can only imagine the comments section on a t pain country song.

 

[Belgium]

I understand the frustration, but no one has the right to insult other community members. You can disagree without being disrespectful.


There is something to be said for one's willingness to bear witness to atrocity at a time when much of the world has seemingly become inured to violence and displacement - especially when it impacts those who aren't White. Like mass shootings, tragedies like this one are too often treated as little more than background noise:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/13/american-killed-west-bank-israel-war/

Social media platforms have given ordinary people the ability to distribute at scale ground-level information (and misinformation) that has challenged, and sometimes directly contradicted, official accounts. The impulse to seek out citizen reporting, particularly in situations that otherwise receive inadequate media coverage, is understandable. Without it, it's difficult to imagine people like Derek Chauvin facing any type of accountability.

That said, it's important for everyone to understand how algorithmic social media platforms function, and to bear in mind that the enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend.

If you really think the White/Christian Nationalists who openly cheered as Trump stationed an American embassy in Jerusalem and encouraged Netanyahu to brazenly annex much of the West Bank as part of an ill-conceived "Peace Plan" are now suddenly sincere advocates for Palestinian liberation, I have a Substack subscription to sell you.

Rejecting mainstream media accounts/conventional wisdom out of hand is not the same thing as critical thinking.

Grifters are legion, and it's exasperating to see anyone - but especially those who are ostensibly motivated by a desire for peace and social justice - fall prey to their snares.


It is remarkable to me that there's no such thing as a "coincidence" to the "independent thinkers" of social media... except how every single Internet pipeline for disaffected men invariably seems to feed into the same sewer: promoting authoritarianism.

Is country music ready to dissociate from the Confederate flag?

For decades, country stars have embraced the ‘rebel’ flag as a symbol of southern heritage and pride. But after Charleston, that seems destined to change

www.theguardian.com

Regarding the lack of critical thinking, one has to look no further than the best example DLF has provided thus far.

Also, what am I? Putin right hand man? I don’t care about him. He’s not president of my country. He can spend 80% of his gdp on weapons for all I care. Not everyone my politicians claim to be evil… are evil. Thats all I’m saying. Stop falling for the media and politicians views blindly

Ironically this quote is completely devoid of any critical thinking from our resident self-proclaimed “free thinker.”

It’s just mindlessly following a flowchart.
If the US views x negatively -> Mindlessly parrot the opposite.
No critical thinking, no research, and a complete abandonment of his proclaimed principle of caring about civilian casualties.

This kind of mindless behavior tends to be a pattern amongst these ‘free thinker’ types.
They start off on the right track by applying healthy skepticism to mainstream media, seeking out different, independent, international, local media etc.
In many cases however, that start on the right track quickly goes off the rails into the deep end.

A healthy degree of skepticism should be applied to any media, not just mainstream media outlets. That fundamental part of consuming news is often neglected or abandoned entirely.

The further off the deep end they go, the more delusional and paradoxical this self-proclaimed ‘free thinker’ mentality becomes.
Instead of applying a healthy amount of skepticism, scrutiny and critical thinking, those principles are largely abandoned in favor of a mindless flowchart system.
Ironically this culminates in displaying the same lack of critical thinking they sought to distance themselves from.

I'd argue DLF is a rather extreme case of this but this pattern can often be observed in varying degrees, especially now regarding Palestine/Israel.
Instead of merely passively consuming news without critical thinking, DLF takes a much more radical approach.
Any reporting or views that come from a certain source (US mainstream media for example) or contradicts his views is immediately dismissed without further thought.
The more radical part is he then proceeds to mindlessly parrot whatever the opposite is, as seen in the Putin example.

Example of DLF's complete abandonment of critical thinking in the Putin example referred to earlier.
Green = Critical thinking approach
Red = No critical thinking was applied

 

[TooOlfForThisIsh]

Ken Burns did a great job indirectly arguing that country is at least partially an African-American art form. Banjos aren’t from Europe.

Throughout the genre’s history, there’s always been a mixture of embracing black artistry and black artists while also defending White supremacy. And, of course, views vary across the community.

In that sense, it really is the most American of music.

 

[IATT]

 

[aepps20]

osh kosh bosh probably somewhere looking like this

 

[osh kosh bosh]

osh kosh bosh probably somewhere looking like this

NOTHING BUT RESPECT FOR OUR COAL COUNTRY KING.

I told yall Joe just likes a attention, he'll mull a run for president get all the attention, but in the end, he wouldn't do that to us.

 

[IATT]