☭POLITICS☭: Election Season Hell

[solidsnake]

Jul 7, 2018 12:01:48 GMT -5 @acroyals said:

The Qatar stuff is the weird part.

But honestly, muchacho was RNC finance for a long time, steps down then comes back in 2017, gets 1.8 billion in contracts, and for what?

Taking the fall for a botched million dollar NDA abortion? Stormy only got $130k but all of this being true only really proves one thing.

Trump sucks at making deals.

While he derives no small amount of pleasure from screwing people over, it seems he’s never been very hands on with any of his dealings, always delegating shit out to flunkies, who in turn take advantage of his general stupidity and ego.

[crawlingcosmichorror]

Jul 7, 2018 10:13:09 GMT -5 squalid queen said:

serious question: how do y'all deal with the like, crushing hopelessness of the world we're living in right now?? i find it hard to think about stuff for more than like 5 minutes without feeling like i should just lay in bed until i die. i recognize that a lot of this administration's strategy is about trying to overwhelm us with nonstop horror until we turn completely numb and unable to resist in any way, but also it's kinda working bc resistance already feels futile and impossible 

I listen to Archgoat, work out and think about killing Christian pigs. I also drink a lot more now. Picked up and dropped a sweet speed habit last summer. Weirdly quit smoking somehow.

[Deleted]

I'm up to 90/10 on Broidy now. Looking at his history and all this Qatar business with Trump and Kushner?

It's unbelievable how crony and corrupt they are.

[solidsnake]

Jul 7, 2018 15:38:29 GMT -5 @acroyals said:

I'm up to 90/10 on Broidy now. Looking at his history and all this Qatar business with Trump and Kushner?

It's unbelievable how crony and corrupt they are.

It seems passé to even acknowledge it at this point, but Trump is only matched in his insincerity by those who support him. Drain the swamp didn’t mean shit. Corrupt Hillary didn’t mean shit. It’s all resentment completely unmoored from policy considerations or even ideology. It’s just the politics of grievance and whatever talking point immediately supports that grievance, regardless of coherence. 

[Deleted]

Jul 7, 2018 15:48:23 GMT -5 solidsnake said:

Jul 7, 2018 15:38:29 GMT -5 @acroyals said:

I'm up to 90/10 on Broidy now. Looking at his history and all this Qatar business with Trump and Kushner?

It's unbelievable how crony and corrupt they are.

It seems passé to even acknowledge it at this point, but Trump is only matched in his insincerity by those who support him. Drain the swamp didn’t mean shit. Corrupt Hillary didn’t mean shit. It’s all resentment completely unmoored from policy considerations or even ideology. It’s just the politics of grievance and whatever talking point immediately supports that grievance, regardless of coherence. 

Yeah, that Vox article from 2016 I posted on last page pretty much summed it up. They are completely nuts.

[Deleted]

Guess the Department of Agriculture is looking to tap into some bailout funds to help farmers because of the trade war.

socialismmmm

[solidsnake]

Jul 7, 2018 16:01:55 GMT -5 @acroyals said:

Guess the Department of Agriculture is looking to tap into some bailout funds to help farmers because of the trade war.

socialismmmm

Always told myself, “yeah, I could vote republican given the circumstance.” Like a Hillary Clinton vs. a Jon Huntsman. But no, fuck that. Not now. Not gonna vote for white identity freak out culture, nationalism, anti-free market idiocy, hatred of expertise, and permanent culture war.

[roofies]

Jul 7, 2018 10:13:09 GMT -5 squalid queen said:

serious question: how do y'all deal with the like, crushing hopelessness of the world we're living in right now?? i find it hard to think about stuff for more than like 5 minutes without feeling like i should just lay in bed until i die. i recognize that a lot of this administration's strategy is about trying to overwhelm us with nonstop horror until we turn completely numb and unable to resist in any way, but also it's kinda working bc resistance already feels futile and impossible 

The administration has no strategy other than what Trump laid out in his campaign promises. So maybe start by
not seeing him as some calculated fascist like people make him out to be. All this shit isn't new or surprising. It'll be over in three years, hopefully. So spend the next three years making sure this doesn't happen again. It isn't any worse now than it was 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, it's just that people choose to think it is. It just worse in different ways. 

[Deleted]

Probably shouldn't let it effect you that much. Join a community group or something to make life better.

[Deleted]

Jul 7, 2018 16:10:57 GMT -5 roofies said:

Jul 7, 2018 10:13:09 GMT -5 squalid queen said:

serious question: how do y'all deal with the like, crushing hopelessness of the world we're living in right now?? i find it hard to think about stuff for more than like 5 minutes without feeling like i should just lay in bed until i die. i recognize that a lot of this administration's strategy is about trying to overwhelm us with nonstop horror until we turn completely numb and unable to resist in any way, but also it's kinda working bc resistance already feels futile and impossible 

The administration has no strategy other than what Trump laid out in his campaign promises. So maybe start by
not seeing him as some calculated fascist like people make him out to be. All this shit isn't new or surprising. It'll be over in three years, hopefully. So spend the next three years making sure this doesn't happen again. It isn't any worse now than it was 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, it's just that people choose to think it is. It just worse in different ways. 

[roofies]

That meme is at least 3 years old now.

[Deleted]

I have no idea what you've been reading.

[lobsterdog]

Jul 7, 2018 16:10:57 GMT -5 roofies said:

Jul 7, 2018 10:13:09 GMT -5 squalid queen said:

serious question: how do y'all deal with the like, crushing hopelessness of the world we're living in right now?? i find it hard to think about stuff for more than like 5 minutes without feeling like i should just lay in bed until i die. i recognize that a lot of this administration's strategy is about trying to overwhelm us with nonstop horror until we turn completely numb and unable to resist in any way, but also it's kinda working bc resistance already feels futile and impossible 

The administration has no strategy other than what Trump laid out in his campaign promises. So maybe start by
not seeing him as some calculated fascist like people make him out to be. All this shit isn't new or surprising. It'll be over in three years, hopefully. So spend the next three years making sure this doesn't happen again. It isn't any worse now than it was 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, it's just that people choose to think it is. It just worse in different ways. 

Except it won't be because the Supreme Court is set up for the utter ruination of the nation for the next 35 years. And I don't think anyone really cares that Trump isn't some calculated Machiavellian type, some people he's surrounded himself with ARE. Others, like Pruitt, knew it was a con from the word go and just smashed and grabbed what they could before they got forced out. God only knows the type of damage that monster will have wrought over the environment long after this tire fire of a presidency ends. 

While Trump's bloviating and throwing red meat to his oinking and hooting swine fanbase, the real evil shit is being arranged by other elements of the administration. 

[roofies]

Jul 7, 2018 17:03:41 GMT -5 lobsterdog said:

Jul 7, 2018 16:10:57 GMT -5 roofies said:

The administration has no strategy other than what Trump laid out in his campaign promises. So maybe start by
not seeing him as some calculated fascist like people make him out to be. All this shit isn't new or surprising. It'll be over in three years, hopefully. So spend the next three years making sure this doesn't happen again. It isn't any worse now than it was 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, it's just that people choose to think it is. It just worse in different ways. 

Except it won't be because the Supreme Court is set up for the utter ruination of the nation for the next 35 years. And I don't think anyone really cares that Trump isn't some calculated Machiavellian type, some people he's surrounded himself with ARE. Others, like Pruitt, knew it was a con from the word go and just smashed and grabbed what they could before they got forced out. God only knows the type of damage that monster will have wrought over the environment long after this tire fire of a presidency ends. 

While Trump's bloviating and throwing red meat to his oinking and hooting swine fanbase, the real evil shit is being arranged by other elements of the administration. 

People said that about trumps original staff picks, and that systematically destroyed itself pretty much.


You survived the neo-con generation. You'll survive this iteration of stupidity. Dont worry. 

[Deleted]

David Cay Johnston wrote a book on exactly that.

The longer term problems have been wildly exacerbated and the international order needed to have any chance of a solution is dissolving rapidly.

Remember all those adults in the administration who were supposed to keep Trump in check? They're all gone. Tillerson had no idea Kushner was even going to Saudi Arabia or talking to Qatar's billionaires for real estate deals via WhatsApp... They all left... McMaster is gone too.

Who is in his ear? People like Lighthizer who sees China as a mortal enemy. Those tariffs just wen't into effect last night. We're at the beginning stages of a trade war with them and we're fucking over our allies in Europe as they're losing their countries to far right nationalists.

Our institutions have been slowly decaying for a few decades now but it's now based on strangling them to death or handing them over to private interests. You don't fix that over an election cycle and it's wildly ignorant and irresponsible to down play how serious the implications are.

[roofies]

I guess I come off as downplaying. But we're on a path to collapse eventually. Its just a matter of time. Sit back and watch it. Maybe once North Korea starts developing there will be opportunities to get a cool job over there. Look at the bright side.

[Deleted]

The most simple way to express what's on the table is here. You can continue reading by clicking on the different parts and well worth your time.

zeihan.com/this-is-how-the-world-ends-part-i/

[𝖒𝖊𝖔𝖜𝖋𝖚𝖓𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓]

I moved here a month ago. This is so frustrating

www.kansascity.com/apinion/opn-columns-blogs/melinda-henneberger/article214349564.html

[Deleted]

Jul 7, 2018 18:08:07 GMT -5 𝖒𝖊𝖔𝖜𝖋𝖚𝖓𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 said:

I moved here a month ago. This is so frustrating

www.kansascity.com/apinion/opn-columns-blogs/melinda-henneberger/article214349564.html

Trump is fantastic at exploiting psychological vulnerabilities in relation to language. Not because he's a genius but the whole "he talks like regular people" thing that people latch on to is true.

He keeps drilling ideas into their heads and no matter what, it's true and he must be right. You can't expect people to understand international trade and there are legitimate problems but none of this solves anything...

These people already have the necessary enemies when things get worse for them.

I can't imagine anyone reading this and thinking "Yeah, he's our guy!" but that cult doesn't seem to be swayed.

[lobsterdog]

Jul 7, 2018 17:43:15 GMT -5 roofies said:

Jul 7, 2018 17:03:41 GMT -5 lobsterdog said:

Except it won't be because the Supreme Court is set up for the utter ruination of the nation for the next 35 years. And I don't think anyone really cares that Trump isn't some calculated Machiavellian type, some people he's surrounded himself with ARE. Others, like Pruitt, knew it was a con from the word go and just smashed and grabbed what they could before they got forced out. God only knows the type of damage that monster will have wrought over the environment long after this tire fire of a presidency ends. 

While Trump's bloviating and throwing red meat to his oinking and hooting swine fanbase, the real evil shit is being arranged by other elements of the administration. 

People said that about trumps original staff picks, and that systematically destroyed itself pretty much.


You survived the neo-con generation. You'll survive this iteration of stupidity. Dont worry. 

First of all, no. 

Second of all, sure I might survive this administration because I am a straight white male who grew up lower middle class. But I'm also a socialist and I'm not so stupid that I don't realize that when these oinking sweat hog fascists who love Trump are done exterminating immigrants, black people and Jews that they are coming for ME next. 

The Niemoller poem starts with the socialists for a reason. The Nazi at Charlottesville killed a female socialist. It's not alarmist to be concerned about the continuing rise of a violent far-right death cult. 

[Deleted]

Lobster Dog, and all his beautiful hyperbole, is 100% spot on with this.

You don't start a political movement debasing dialog in support of active targeting of enemies and come out alright. Not once, not ever.

Especially not when a sizeable portion of the country has put their last hope in a known con man who will not make their lives better.

[Deleted]

That poem is important because it shows how fragmented opposition destroys itself. It's beautiful and concise. I posted this earlier but please tell me this isn't a fucking warning.

"...Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don't want to act, or even talk, alone; you don't want to 'go out of your way to make trouble.' Why not?-Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.

Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, 'everyone' is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Titaly there would be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, 'It's not so bad' or 'You're seeing things' or 'You're an alarmist.'

And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can't prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have....

But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That's the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked-if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in '43 had come immediately after the 'German Firm' stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in '33. But of course this isn't the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying 'Jewish swine,' collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in-your nation, your people-is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves; when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way."

[roofies]

Jul 7, 2018 19:38:06 GMT -5 lobsterdog said:

Jul 7, 2018 17:43:15 GMT -5 roofies said:

People said that about trumps original staff picks, and that systematically destroyed itself pretty much.


You survived the neo-con generation. You'll survive this iteration of stupidity. Dont worry. 

First of all, no. 

Second of all, sure I might survive this administration because I am a straight white male who grew up lower middle class. But I'm also a socialist and I'm not so stupid that I don't realize that when these oinking sweat hog fascists who love Trump are done exterminating immigrants, black people and Jews that they are coming for ME next. 

The Niemoller poem starts with the socialists for a reason. The Nazi at Charlottesville killed a female socialist. It's not alarmist to be concerned about the continuing rise of a violent far-right death cult. 

You better be arming yourself if you ACTUALLY believe the shit you do. Nazis are out there, but I just do not think they are in greater numbers now than 10-20 years ago. Its just now everyone calls anything resembling the right "nazis". If people do that in order to prove a point that Nazis are on the rise, then Nazis are not on the rise. But like I said, it's crazy to believe we are on the verge of a fascist takeover, and all you're doing is re-posting memes on facebook. If I truly believed that shit, based on actual evidence, and saw an actual genocide (or the beginnings of one) taking place, I would jump at the opportunity to ram a car bomb into the homeland security building, or at LEAST assassinate a few Nazis. Maybe that's hyperbole. Hopefully the FBI doesn't come after me.

[lobsterdog]

You wouldn't do anything because you like what is happening because you are a far right reactionary troll.

[tandoori jones]

not really sure how you can paint the ICE roundups and child camps as anything other than the beginnings of mass genocide.

[solidsnake]

Well, now I know why I avoid the politics thread on the B9.

[Deleted]

Yikes

[Porch Honky]

Jul 8, 2018 9:40:06 GMT -5 tandoori jones said:

not really sure how you can paint the ICE roundups and child camps as anything other than the beginnings of mass genocide.

[Deleted]

[lobsterdog]

but sure its only the north korean populace thats brainwashed to worship dear leader.