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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#179151: Mar 22nd 2017 at 11:11:50 PM

[up] And while I've made my reservations about TPP clear in the past, I should point out that America's farmers stood to gain by the agreement opening up markets in Japan and other countries. That's pretty much gone now though.

Protectionism blows since it's honestly pretty shitty economics that is more or less pandering to xenophobes.

edited 22nd Mar '17 11:14:58 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#179152: Mar 23rd 2017 at 1:45:56 AM

Trump Just Hired an Ignorant Paranoiac Who Invented a Special Bow for the Apocalypse

He believes jihadists are working with Latin American leftists and that Russia is still secretly behind a global communist threat. He wants to make Puerto Rico the “Hong Kong of Latin America” and he parlayed a stint in the Georgia National Guard into an expertise in guerilla warfare. None of this, however, is his real claim to fame. Jon Perdue made a bow and arrow that doubles as a bug-out bag.

But y tho?

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#179153: Mar 23rd 2017 at 2:03:14 AM

[up] This last bit near the end of the article caught my eye:

This, in the end, is why Perdue’s assignment to the Treasury Department is so important. His position there is actually relatively modest — his pay grade is the upper-end of federal middle management. But he didn’t get the job because he knows what he’s doing — he doesn’t seem to have gotten a job that way in nearly 15 years. He got it the way he got all those other gigs — because he’s willing to carry water for intensely wrong, paranoid, imperialist politics. He’s gotten attention because it’s funny that he tried to sell a shitty bow and arrow survivalist gimmick on basic cable. He’s significant because he symbolizes the spirit of the times. Unqualified incompetence meets reactionary politics meets fear meets insults to legitimate public service.

The best(worst) part? He's not the worst and least qualified person in the current administration.

That would be the guy at the head of it.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Medinoc from France (Before Recorded History)
#179154: Mar 23rd 2017 at 2:09:45 AM

To add insult to insult, this "bow" doesn't look like it actually bows. Does it use an elastic instead of a bowstring?

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
Proglottid Since: Mar, 2010
#179155: Mar 23rd 2017 at 3:16:34 AM

Maybe Trump read that as someone who would actually bow to him

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#179156: Mar 23rd 2017 at 3:20:58 AM

What was the I.Q of the GOP again?

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#179157: Mar 23rd 2017 at 5:14:04 AM

Brainpower and intelligence are meaningless if you actively refuse to use it. As has been noted before, the GOP are masters of willful ignorance to the point where I'm wondering if it's doing brain damage. Because if you pretend to be something for too long, it becomes real. It's why sleeper agents have such a high defection rate.

Although I'm pretty sure that Louie Gohmert really is that stupid.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#179158: Mar 23rd 2017 at 5:26:39 AM

You could look at it in terms of evolutionary biology. Republican politics don't select for intelligence and integrity; quite the opposite. It's no accident that dumb people get elected on GOP tickets — the smart ones know better than to run for office. They work like Bannon, pulling the strings.

edited 23rd Mar '17 5:27:30 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#179159: Mar 23rd 2017 at 5:31:57 AM

[up] The ones with integrity and intelligence who stick with the GOP out of misplaced party loyalty don't usually get any further than say, a local office. Which helps immensely with the ground game:

"Well, my mayor is a Republican and he's a great guy! I don't know any decent Democrats though. Guess I'm voting for Trump!"

Disgusted, but not surprised
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#179160: Mar 23rd 2017 at 6:32:23 AM

Fuck Perdue for no other reason than he's engaging in the same "the end is just around the corner! Repent!"/"Look at me somehow link this current event to end times prophecy!" bullshit that I've been hearing all my life, growing up in the church. Who knows what kind of psychological damage that doomsayer stuff has done to me.

edited 23rd Mar '17 6:37:37 AM by speedyboris

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#179161: Mar 23rd 2017 at 6:38:27 AM

[up] And of course he uses this shit to shill his stupid fucking bows.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#179162: Mar 23rd 2017 at 6:39:48 AM

Yes, well, any opportunity to profit via one's doomsaying, right? I mean, might as well go to the End Times with a hefty wad of cash, just in case there's some advantage to be gained on the other side, am I right? /sigh

edited 23rd Mar '17 6:40:02 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
FluffyMcChicken My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare from where the floating lights gleam Since: Jun, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
#179163: Mar 23rd 2017 at 6:58:07 AM

Crossed from the Terrorism Thread:

NYT: Donald Trump Jr. Criticizes London Mayor After Deadly Attack

It has become something of an online custom in the social media age to react to tragic news stories — like Wednesday’s attack in London — with well-meaning if sometimes rote messages like “thoughts and prayers.” But that does not appear to be Donald Trump Jr.’s style.

“You have to be kidding me?!” Mr. Trump said Wednesday afternoon on Twitter, as details of the episode — which left at least five dead and 40 injured — continued to unfold. The message continued, “Terror attacks are part of living in big city, says London Mayor Sadiq Khan.”

Mr. Trump, the oldest son of President Trump, was calling attention to an article from September in The Independent, a British newspaper, that described Mr. Khan’s reaction to a bombing then in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City.

Mr. Trump mischaracterized the London mayor’s remarks. Mr. Khan did not describe terrorism as “part of living in a big city,” as if bombings and shootings were an inescapable fact of life. He said that terrorism preparedness, including providing sufficient support to the police, was “part and parcel of living in a great global city.”

“That means being vigilant, having a police force that is in touch with communities; it means the security services being ready, but it also means exchanging ideas and best practice,” Mr. Khan said in a video interview published by The Evening Standard, another British paper. (For the record, Mr. Khan did say the victims of the Chelsea bombing were in his “thoughts and prayers.”)

“Nothing is more important to me than keeping Londoners safe,” Mr. Khan added. “I want to be reassured that every single agency and individual involved in protecting our city has the resources and expertise they need to respond in the event that London is attacked.”

Mr. Trump’s tweet was not well received by Britons, who were still learning details of the attack when he weighed in. On Twitter, Wes Streeting, a member of Parliament from the Labour Party, accused Mr. Trump of capitalizing on the attack in London and called him “a disgrace.”

Ciaran Jenkins, a correspondent for Britain’s Channel 4, asked the president’s son on Twitter if he thought his remarks were “helpful.”

“Did you even read the article before goading London’s Mayor during a live incident?” he wrote. He added, “Headline is based on very first sentence, which if you’d bothered to read it could apply to any major city in the world. Key word: ‘threat.’ ”

Mr. Trump declined to elaborate later on Wednesday. “I’m not going to comment on every tweet I send,” he said in an email.

Political violence in the United Kingdom is relatively rare. Decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland often spilled over, but there had not been a large-scale attack in Britain since 2005, when more than 50 people died in subway and bus attacks.

blkwhtrbbt The Dragon of the Eastern Sea from Doesn't take orders from Vladimir Putin Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Dragon of the Eastern Sea
#179164: Mar 23rd 2017 at 7:01:14 AM

Reading this thread makes me incredibly sad.

The state of affairs in this country right now is horrendous, and being reminded of it is kind of distracting while I'm at work. I've taken a looong break because of that, but I've decided it's also important to be up-to-date about these things.

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#179165: Mar 23rd 2017 at 7:04:31 AM

Trump will just pardon him. It is a waste of time going after any of his cronies while he's still sitting in the big kahuna chair.
Still worth charging people if they've actually committed crimes and making Trump defend them. Either criminals go to jail or Trump shows his true colors by shielding his criminal cronies from jail time. Win/win.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#179166: Mar 23rd 2017 at 7:58:48 AM

I'd be amazed if Trump pardoned him. The man has thrown his own family under the bus.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#179167: Mar 23rd 2017 at 8:04:56 AM

[up] Recently, or is this a reference to the time he supposedly altered his demented dying father's will to screw his late brother's kids and their families out of any money? Or the time he reneged on his promise to pay for his nephew's son's treatment for cerebral palsy when they decided to sue him in response for said supposed will alteration?

edited 23rd Mar '17 8:06:29 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#179168: Mar 23rd 2017 at 8:06:00 AM

Didn't he also deny help to a dying baby nephew?

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#179169: Mar 23rd 2017 at 8:09:40 AM

[up] That would be his nephew Fred III's son, correct.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Lightysnake Since: May, 2010
#179170: Mar 23rd 2017 at 8:14:44 AM

here's the thing. If you're holding your breath, waiting for a solid knockout punch on Trump that'll send him tumbling out of office, dragging his people, cabinet, ideology and movement with him? You might as well just pass out right now because you're gonna be seriously oxygen starved.

You win little victories, chip away, take Trump's people down and don't let up. Any misconduct? Center in. Illegality? Expose it and fight to punish it. Every victory you deny him adds up. He's already incredibly unpopular for a freshman President, and the more his championed causes fail, the worse it gets for me. Which means in 2018, we can tar and feather every damn member of the GOP on the ballot as the Party of Trump and, who knows, with a concentrated effort, throw Cruz, Heller and Flake out of office and take the Senate back, along with the House and as many state offices and governorships as we can.

But what I'm saying? Trump is President, and this is very, very, very unlikely to change for the next four years. This is the status quo and we're in for the long haul. Victory isn't going to be ignoring the tertiary issues like, say, Nunes, and hoping that we get a silver bullet. It's going to be a long, protracted and difficult fight. Trumpcare/Ryancare is one field of that. Nunes is another. Trump himself is a big one.

Fight every front and chip away as much as we can. Every crony we go after is another period of bad publicity for Trump, and the more he gets of those, the more unpopular he gets, and the more chances for him to shove his foot into his mouth on national TV go on.

edited 23rd Mar '17 8:15:47 AM by Lightysnake

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#179171: Mar 23rd 2017 at 8:23:50 AM

Not that we should overlook impeachment if the opportunity came alon. But your right- its a multiprong war.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Lightysnake Since: May, 2010
#179172: Mar 23rd 2017 at 8:28:12 AM

Oh, of course not if it actually comes up.

But when you keep winning the little things? They pile up, and it makes Trump tripping up much more way more likely. Even if some of these people skate off or Trump pardons them hammer in how utterly improper that is or "The Implication".

The Republicans used this to make a devoted public servant into a corrupt plutocrat. Return the favor. Except we don't have to reach nearly as far.

edited 23rd Mar '17 8:29:44 AM by Lightysnake

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#179173: Mar 23rd 2017 at 8:28:57 AM

Democrats are going to filibuster Trump's Supreme Court pick.

Lightysnake Since: May, 2010
#179174: Mar 23rd 2017 at 8:33:29 AM

As the Senate Judiciary Committee was hearing from witnesses for and against Judge Neil Gorsuch, his Supreme Court nomination was delivered a critical blow: Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would join with other Democrats in filibustering Gorsuch — a move that would require at least 60 senators to vote to end debate on the nomination.

Republicans have vowed to change Senate procedures if Democrats do so to quickly confirm Gorsuch — but Schumer suggested they should focus instead on Trump’s nominee.

“If this nominee cannot earn 60 votes — a bar met by each of President Obama’s nominees, and George Bush’s last two nominees — the answer isn’t to change the rules. It’s to change the nominee,” he said.

Gorsuch “was unable to sufficiently convince me that he’d be an independent check” on Trump, Schumer said in a Senate floor speech.

I think my greatest fear Chuck Schumer wasn't a wartime consiglierie...but damn if the man hasn't made some stands lately.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#179175: Mar 23rd 2017 at 8:34:58 AM

Probably won't work, though, unless they can dig out something spectacularly incriminating about Gorsuch.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

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