***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[gry60]

Zero sympathy from my end. Hope they suffer so much that their descendants vow to be different.

There is something deeply ironic about the damage Trump is going to inflict on the voting block known as the "working class:"

For decades, they have supported those people who would point at poor urban neighborhoods and say "adapt yourself if you want to live," "you don't need a safety net because you are lazy," etc... with the assumption that they wouldn't be on the other end of that finger one day.

The "working class" was given special concessions in exchange for their vote supporting the billionaire's party and thought that their status was permanent and look at where they are now. They spat on the face of those offering them a way out of obsolescence and look at where they are now. With automation, the billionaires don't think much of the "working class" these days.

The same dynamic is observed with unions: police and firefighters unions are elevated while teachers and other public servant unions are destroyed through policy. What they don't realize is, if all those other unions are successfully dismantled, the capitalists will come after the PD/FD pay and equipment budgets too. There will be no need for effective public safety institutions since the wealthiest can afford private security, bunkers, and high walls and that is all that will matter.

 

[IATT]

 

[kdawg]

I know this is a few months old but I still like it:

 

[IATT]

 

[rolaholic]

 

[dreamer23]

 

[IATT]

 

[Mr.Guy]

Gelo Ball is prob smarter than Trump.

 

[Belgium]

Bruh
I was just watching our afternoon news broadcast and one of the segments was about Dutch journalists hitting Trump's US ambassador for The Netherlands with questions about his past statements about their country. The idiot who said that there were no go zones in The Netherlands and that politicians were being burned.
You probably remember that initial video of the first encounter beween a Dutch reporter and that new ambassador. Well here is the even more embarassing follow-up.
I can't seem to find it on US media outlets so this will have to do for now: (Questioning in English starts at 50 seconds)


Starting off with "Did you read the part about John Adams above the fireplace?"
Ambassador: I have.
Reporter: If you are truly honest and wise, will you take back your words about the burned politicians? Or at least name a burned politician


And it just goes downhill for the ambassador from there.

 

[trueprada]

 

[aepps20]

Bruh
I was just watching our afternoon news broadcast and one of the segments was about Dutch journalists hitting Trump's US ambassador for The Netherlands with questions about his past statements about their country. The idiot who said that there were no go zones in The Netherlands and that politicians were being burned.
You probably remember that initial video of the first encounter beween a Dutch reporter and that new ambassador. Well here is the even more embarassing follow-up.
I can't seem to find it on US media outlets so this will have to do for now: (Questioning in English starts at 50 seconds)


Starting off with "Did you read the part about John Adams above the fireplace?"
Ambassador: I have.
Reporter: If you are truly honest and wise, will you take back your words about the burned politicians? Or at least name a burned politician


And it just goes downhill for the ambassador from there.

I don't know what video everyone else was watching but the Ambassador handled those questions beautifully and was CLEARLY up on my scorecard going into the championship rounds.

 

[IATT]

 

[Belgium]

In light of the above press conference, perhaps it would now be accurate to say a politician did in fact get burned in The Netherlands.
The ambassador playing 45D whac-a-mole on da libbies

 

[stuntman mike]

I don't know what video everyone else was watching but the Ambassador handled those questions beautifully and was CLEARLY up on my scorecard going into the championship rounds.

 

[atlsfinest]

Can some of you older guys school me on the Hillary Clinton "super predators" thing?



Up until yesterday I always believed that Hillary Clinton called black men super predators because I've seen it reported on TV and in print. After watching the video she never says that all she says is "some gang members are 'super predators' who lack empathy", etc, etc. Nowhere does she ever explicitly say or allude to black men. Am I missing part of the speech?

I was a kid when these comments were made so I might lack context on the situation or time period at which these comments were made. I'm just surprised she's gotten so much grief for these comments for over 20 years.

 

[storm2006]

What are the short term implications of this?

 

[RustyShackleford]

Can some of you older guys school me on the Hillary Clinton "super predators" thing?



Up until yesterday I always believed that Hillary Clinton called black men super predators because I've seen it reported on TV and in print. After watching the video she never says that all she says is "some gang members are 'super predators' who lack empathy", etc, etc. Nowhere does she ever explicitly say or allude to black men. Am I missing part of the speech?

I was a kid when these comments were made so I might lack context on the situation or time period at which these comments were made. I'm just surprised she's gotten so much grief for these comments for over 20 years.

Yes, on the surface you are right, the popular talking point that Hillary Clinton went on national TV and called black children super predators is not true. That myth gets repeated so often it is now accepted as fact. Hell, tons of dudes on NT believe that is exactly what happened and even Kaep does too. And she did apologize for using the term “super predator”

But, her comments are offensive and racist if you look at the context within they were made.

The term super predator was being used by criminologist to make the argument that poor kids that live in urban areas have a deposition to commit crime, be involved in gang activity and these children are beyond saving. Now due to segregation, we know “kids in urban areas” means black and Latino kids.

So now think hat that argument implies

Young children, as young as 12, who are failed by the system at nearly every step of the way are not worth being rehabilitated or helped in anyway. We send these kids to ****ty schools, let police harass them, let drugs and illegal guns flood their communities, use BS marijuana laws to economically disadvantage them (and their parents), then when they turn to gangs for some sort of security we label worthless and beyond saving.

Listen there were tons of people complicit for tough on crime laws, not just conservatives but progressives, centrist, liberals, and they were very popular in the black community. But this super predator rheotropic was used to even argue that when we send these kids in jail we should not even try to help them become better people. Don’t have education programs in jail because it is a waste, three strike laws are good become if don’t they will just commit more crime, not furlough because “hey, do we want more Willie Hortons out there”, and tons more BS

And Hillary Clinton knew that argument, she knew what super predatory implied because we had just come off the Crime Bill debate. She knew members of her own party were against using this term, because it was implicitly racist, yet her used it any. And she used to brush aside the question of if these kids should be rehabilitated too. She basically says, lock them up and worry about them later.

She has apologized for her comments and now sincerely seemed serious about helping minority communities.

But yeah, some dudes too lazy to make a policy reason to not vote for Hillary, stretched the truth about her actions, and pushed a false narrative. This I have a problem with

However, others returned the same energy she put out in the world, that no matter how much you do to make up for your mistakes, you are irredeemable. This I understand

 

[getback]

 

[dreamer23]

 

[RustyShackleford]

Was about to post the exact same stories.

Those fools put out then pay increase news to kill the noise from the closing down stores without warning.

 

[iamdef]

Apparently to get that $1k bonus you'd have to be with the company for 20 years
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/11/wal...wage-give-employees-bonus-after-tax-bill.html

The bonuses will be determined by an employee's length of service. Those workers with more than 20 years of experience will qualify to receive the full $1,000. However, workers with less than two years of experience will receive $200, a Walmart spokesman told CNBC.

Employees with 15 to 19 years of service at Walmart will receive $750, while those with 10 to 14 years of work there will receive a $400 bonus, he said. Five to nine years of experience merits a $300 bonus, while two to four years of service will result in a payout of $250.

 

[joe cool23]

Getting a WaPo notification that quotes the president saying “***hole countries” uncensored...

What a time

 

[Belgium]

Getting a WaPo notification that quotes the president saying “***hole countries” uncensored...

What a time

Got the same alert as well. Jesus christ this buffoon never ceases to amaze me.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...1ac729add94_story.html?utm_term=.eafea7190cbf
Trump attacks protections for immigrants from ‘****hole’ countries in Oval Office meeting

President Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers Thursday in the Oval Office when they floated restoring protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal, according to two people briefed on the meeting.

“Why are we having all these people from ****hole countries come here?” Trump said, according to these people, referring to African countries and Haiti. He then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries like Norway, whose prime minister he met yesterday.

The comments left lawmakers taken aback, according to people familiar with their reactions. Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) proposed cutting the visa lottery program by 50 percent and then prioritizing countries already in the system, a White House official said.

A White House spokesman declined to offer an immediate comment on Trump’s remarks.

Outlining a potential bipartisan deal, the lawmakers discussed restoring protections for countries that have been removed from the temporary protected status program while adding $1.5 billion for a border wall and making changes to the visa lottery system.


The administration announced earlier this week that it was removing the protection for El Salvador.

Trump had seemed amenable to a deal earlier in the day during phone calls, aides said, but shifted his position in the meeting and did not seem interested.

Graham and Durbin thought they would be meeting with Trump alone and were surprised to find immigration hard-liners such as Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), at the meeting. The meeting was impromptu and came after phone calls this morning, Capitol Hill aides said.

After the meeting, Marc Short, Trump’s legislative aide, said the White House was nowhere near a bipartisan deal on immigration.

“We still think we can get there,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the White House press briefing.

 

[dreamer23]

he's out here claiming we have jets that are only in call of duty...

 

[flyeed]

What are people's thoughts on Jimmy Dore? I haven't really checked his stuff but know someone who swears by him