The General US Politics Thread

You know what, as a pagetopper, forget it. Was referring to a post on the previous page

Placed in spoiler tags.

That got discussed briefing in the previous pages (but at that time Sanders hadn't made a statement about it so that part is news).

The key point is that it isn't a catering firm getting harassed, it the (spokespeople) for the Nevada Culinary Union. Said union is pretty influential as the catering industry in Nevada (read - Las Vegas) is fairly significant, and so who they endorse would receive a substantial increase to their chances of winning the Nevada Caucuses.

The optics here are pretty bad, because this is very much an example of the left eating their own: it's never a good look when one candidate's supporters are attacking a union, and a successful union at that. Even more when you consider said candidate places themselves as the most progressive candidate and so notionally should be fully behind the unions. That isn't good enough for those aforementioned supporters, thus further cementing the idea that the ideology espoused by these supporters is that of identifying with the candidate at the exclusion of all else and not one of a broader sense of progressive unity and solidarity.

Edited by singularityshot on Feb 14th 2020 at 5:16:52 AM

FYI - Harley Quinn says she voted Bernie in Birds of Prey.

We must promote this movie!

"Critics say that Bernie should denounce the support of a violent criminal as well as known associate of domestic terrorist Arthur Fleck, Sanders does not. Supporters argue he is reaching across the isle to disenfranchised Gothamite citizens."

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Feb 14th 2020 at 5:20:13 AM

>Harley Quinn says she voted Bernie in Birds of Prey.

sadly you can't count on the votes of fictional characters as their votes are invalid

I forgot the link to the Mary Sue site that this actually was an interesting question regarding whether she should have the right to vote.

https://www.themarysue.com/birds-of-preys-burning-question-how-was-harley-quinn-able-to-vote/#disqus_thread

My bad.

you could spin it that easily,as a mass murderer and associate of The Joker Harly would be an argument for not giving felons the vote

So maybe its not the best idea to say who she voted for as it provides people keen on disenfranchisement with ammo

Edited by Ultimatum on Feb 14th 2020 at 1:43:21 PM

Given that Klobuchar and Buttigieg between them had what, a little over 40% of the vote in NH, yes I think Sanders wouldn't have won if there was only one moderate candidate for them to rally around.

Ehhhh? There’s not distinct progressive/moderate lanes for a lot of voters, it’s about the candidate. A lot of Buttigieg and Klobuchar supporters also like Warren, and there’s Biden/Bernie overlap.

I dislike Bloomberg strongly with his racism and transphobia disgusting me but I don't have a hatred for him in the race. I think his massive expenditures will do a lot of good to fight the Republican propaganda machine and I hope he continues to because they have no such restrictures either morally or business-wise. The propaganda machine of the GOP needs to be fought tooth and nail.

Klobuchar I find to be slightly better than Bloomberg but I admit I think her as, "Like Kamala Harris except less qualified, charismatic, or deserving of the nomination." That's more sour grapes as I don't hold her Bad Boss tendencies against her. It seems like she wouldn't have received any of the complaints she did if she was a male politician.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Feb 14th 2020 at 5:56:47 AM

Abuse is bad no matter whether the abuser is male or female. Throwing things at subordinates, berating them, threatening to blacklist them ARE VERY BAD THINGS. Period.

It could cause chaos that could increase Trump's chance of winning, but it would in no way guarantee his victory. Not when he's worked so hard to alienate everyone outside of his base.

Politeness in Washington D.C. is not something that is respected. It is also something that is expected of women while ignored in male candidates. I think you have to shout twice as loud to be half as heard.

... Jesus Christ. Please re-read what you just said.

Edited by wisewillow on Feb 14th 2020 at 6:14:29 AM

I don't think that has anything to do with what's being discussed. Being assertive is one thing, throwing things at your assistants and yelling abuse at them is completely unacceptable. Would YOU want to work under Klobuchar knowing she does these things? I certainly wouldn't

Edited by Draghinazzo on Feb 14th 2020 at 10:15:17 AM

Also, many/most of the staff she’s abused are also women.

I've worked under many bosses that are complete assholes. Yelling like Hell's Kitchen was an expected part of the job.

Would I have preferred it not happen? Yes.

However, yelling and verbal tirades are a part of a lot of high intensity jobs.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Feb 14th 2020 at 6:21:59 AM

I don't think Charles is wrong, there is no way that Klobuchar is the only abusive figure in Washington and yet she has attention that they never have. Why? Because men are giving a pass for behavior that is seen as evil in women.

That said, just because double standards exist does not mean that the solution is to apply the shitty victimizing standard to both genders. We, as a society, should scrutinize the behavior of all figures, male or female.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 14th 2020 at 6:21:18 AM

...dude, you realize this is fucked up right? I really don't think being abusive to your subordinates to this degree should be something we have to argue is bad regardless of gender.

That doesn't make it acceptable workplace behavior. Normalizing abuse of subordinates only helps the upper management, and it's often due to delays, shorthandedness, or so on - that is, things caused by intentional underhiring, lack of PTO, making people come in sick, etc.

@Charles And I'll bet you don't want to work under them again.

Edited by Khudzlin on Feb 14th 2020 at 3:22:51 PM

Also, she’s had the worst staff turnover in the Senate for years. She’s called people who hired her former staffers to try to get them fired. She made a staffer shave her legs!

Character matters, and treating your subordinates like disposable garbage IS BAD.

I'm not saying its acceptable behavior. I'm asking whether its a scandal compared to the policies of other candidates and behavior. Whether it's a reason not to vote for her in the current political environment and state of the world.

Edit:

I stand corrected.

You're correct, I've changed my mind. That is above and beyond the level of acceptable behavior and should be held against her.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Feb 14th 2020 at 6:24:52 AM

I’d vote for a rotten turnip over Trump, but during the primary that behavior is absolutely disqualifying. And did you see the post a few pages back about her vicious “tough on crime” record?

Edit: I’m glad you changed your mind upon learning some of the specifics.

Klobuchar’s prosecutorial record is much, much worse than Harris’ record.

Edited by wisewillow on Feb 14th 2020 at 6:30:33 AM

Yes, it's why I didn't support Kamala Harris and irritates me that Kamala Harris got thrown out well before her.

As Kamala Harris is a much much better candidate despite similar flaws.

Someone is seriously trying to downplay workplace abuse here.

Un-fucking-believable.

The only part of that record that I actually approve of is the instances of cracking down on drunk drivers. I've very nearly lost family to drunk drivers (and to driving drunk themselves), and while the current prison climate is absolutely focused more on punishment than on rehabilitation, sometimes you just have to get people off the road.

Note: naturally, it's still unacceptable if the policies were racially enforced or so on.