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

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#261601: Nov 13th 2018 at 8:38:41 AM

I wouldn't even mind the narrative if it hadn't resulted in some really concerning attitudes.

I have the feeling that the US tends to overlook that France is a former colonial power, too. It's military is kind of legendary - and their nuclear weapons test were pretty thorough. It is not some insignificant mini-state you can brush aside whenever you want, even before you get to the role France plays within the European Union. And once you add Germany and the Benelux states into the picture, you do have a Power block you should never just ignore.

Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#261602: Nov 13th 2018 at 8:39:31 AM

Has this been brought up yet: Police Fatally Shoot Black Security Guard Who Detained Shooting Suspect.

Basically, someone tried to shoot up a bar. The bar's security actually managed to be a Good Guy with a Gun and stopped him! Huzzah! Aaaaaand then police showed up and shot the guy whose clothing said security.

Jesus.

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Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#261603: Nov 13th 2018 at 8:43:44 AM

I have the feeling that the US tends to overlook that France is a former colonial power, too. It's military is kind of legendary - and their nuclear weapons test were pretty thorough. It is not some insignificant mini-state you can brush aside whenever you want, even before you get to the role France plays within the European Union. And once you add Germany and the Benelux states into the picture, you do have a Power block you should never just ignore.

This I can completely agree with, the position that the French are just cheese-eating surrender monkeys is stupidly ahistorical and annoying.

Though I will point out that it's less of a product of WW 2 and more of the fact that France refused to back Bush in his merry adventures, hence why the whole "freedom fries" nonsense. That, in my opinion, is the real origin of the idiotic idea that France is perpetually martially incompetent.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#261604: Nov 13th 2018 at 8:45:28 AM

Wow, what a double-whammy that one is. It's yet another datapoint in the "Cops unjustly shoot black people for no good reason" box. At the same time, it's also a demonstrative example of an argument liberals have been making for ages: the Good Guy with the Gun is just going to wind up getting shot by police and/or other Good Guys with Guns for being a guy holding a gun during a mass shooting.

I mean, this guy was literally a security guard and that still didn't stop the cops from seeing him holding a gun and making a (predictably racist) gut instinct call.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Nov 13th 2018 at 9:49:56 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#261605: Nov 13th 2018 at 8:49:55 AM

[up] Yeah. And NRA hasn’t said a word because they’re basically white supremacists in camo instead of white robes.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#261606: Nov 13th 2018 at 8:52:13 AM

Yeah. And NRA hasn’t said a word because they’re basically white supremacists in camo instead of white robes.

Well said.

They were also busy telling doctors to "stay in your lane" for having the gall to complain about gun violence as a public health problem.

I really despise the NRA, they're a cancerous organization.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Nov 13th 2018 at 11:52:43 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Friendperson Since: May, 2018
#261607: Nov 13th 2018 at 8:54:30 AM

[up] They do a few good things, like holding safety courses, but they can be a barrier to getting the gun laws we have actually working in the country.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#261608: Nov 13th 2018 at 8:59:05 AM

They do a few good things, like holding safety courses, but they can be a barrier to getting the gun laws we have actually working in the country.

Anyone can offer safety courses, I will not credit them for that.

As an organization they're irredeemable.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Nov 13th 2018 at 11:59:18 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#261609: Nov 13th 2018 at 8:59:19 AM

[up][up] That is overstating their positive effect and dramatically understating their negative. Aside from how incredibly toxic they are to legislation, they're also incredibly culpable for the sheer level of gun fetishization this country has. They're not just dangerous to our government, but to our culture.

Edited by Larkmarn on Nov 13th 2018 at 12:00:24 PM

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TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#261610: Nov 13th 2018 at 9:05:25 AM

Any possible good they might do is an artifact from before. The NRA, like the rest of the Republican party, went batshit insane in the 60's. There was a time when the NRA was all about safe and regulated use of firearms. They lobbied in favor of gun restrictions and tried to teach people to be safe with their weapons.

But then the Civil Rights Act passed and white supremacists flooded out of the Democratic party and into conservative institutions. Much like the Republican party itself, the modern NRA is the product of decades of Confederate infestation at every level, poisoning the organization at its core.

It's a militant Nazi group now, dedicated to preserving white patriarchal power through violence and intimidation and backed by Russian funding. The NRA needs to go, plain and simple.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Nov 13th 2018 at 10:06:02 AM

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Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#261611: Nov 13th 2018 at 9:32:14 AM

So apparently these midterms were the most successful midterms for democrats since 1976. You know, the ones hot off the heels of Watergate and Nixon's resignation.

Cris_Meyers reluctant author, willing misanthrope from Chicagoland (Fifth Year at Tropey's) Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
reluctant author, willing misanthrope
#261613: Nov 13th 2018 at 10:42:23 AM

And the photographer claims it wasn't meant to be offensive.

Even if I were inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, how do you look at that picture and think anything other than "Nazi salute"?

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#261614: Nov 13th 2018 at 10:43:23 AM

Unless this is a still image of them doing a rendition of Dur Fuhrer's Face, its offensive.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#261615: Nov 13th 2018 at 10:53:42 AM

[up][up]The original tweet even said "we even got the black kid to do it". He knew full well what he was doing and what it looked like.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#261616: Nov 13th 2018 at 11:26:50 AM

[up]And one kid is doing another white nationalist hand sign. And that one kid in the back who didn't throw up a racist salute was apparently bullied.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Cris_Meyers reluctant author, willing misanthrope from Chicagoland (Fifth Year at Tropey's) Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
reluctant author, willing misanthrope
#261617: Nov 13th 2018 at 11:29:41 AM

I've been here a month, maybe two, and already M84's signature of Disgusted but not Surprised is becoming my new tagline...

Edited by Cris_Meyers on Nov 13th 2018 at 1:31:38 PM

Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#261618: Nov 13th 2018 at 11:38:29 AM

[up][up]I mean, to be fair, this could have happened without the photographer knowing, and it was about him I was responding to. But, yeah, the photographer knew what he was doing, and so did the kids.

CommanderAce Commander Thor from Planet Earth, United States Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Commander Thor
#261619: Nov 13th 2018 at 11:40:05 AM

Regarding politics, a thing I'm interested in knowing about is the general vibe of people who refer to themselves as socialists, leftists and/or communists. I'm well aware of how there are left-leaning people who dislike the Democratic Party for justifiable reasons and how liberal is often used as a No True Scotsman term for leftist ideology. However, the thing I see a lot of considering the political climate is the flavor of left-leaning politics that are hell bent on hating Democrats with similar fervor to the Republicans, albeit replace the socialism complaints with "you're just a nicer fascist" or "capitalists who ruin communism's good name". I bring this up because I ironically got caught in this rabbit hole when I noticed some people that Jonathan Mc Intosh (Who I follow for the Pop Culture Detective) was retweeting and the sort of things they were saying. Obviously I can't really knock communism and socialism considering the conservative government in charge and know of the US's involvement in disastrous anti-communism campaigns and the culpability of institutions such as the FBI, CIA and police in racist actions, but I what I'm really seeking is some pointers in what left-leaning/socialist crowds are worth compromising with and what I should stay away from.

Power of Thor!
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#261620: Nov 13th 2018 at 11:44:45 AM

One rule of thumb I have is: anyone who tries to criticize the Dems for "focusing too much on identity politics" is basically saying "I don't care about civil rights for minorities, I only care about my own economic situation", and they can be disregarded.

CommanderAce Commander Thor from Planet Earth, United States Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Commander Thor
#261621: Nov 13th 2018 at 11:55:40 AM

That's not something I really see in my travels from left leaning groups and I've come to accept that position as a right wing position, what I see a lot of is left leaning people mocking people for wanting to vote Democrat because the candidates don't fit a perfect socialist view, treating Democrats as "Republicans but outwardly nice" or equivalent or lionization of communism and Fidel Castro and Cuba in particular (One of the worst was calling Fidel Castro a light for the world and Cuba the shining nation for the world. I know Cuba gets demonized by conservatives and has great healthcare, education and LGBT progress in recent years, but a shining light?). If anything, a lot of these types I run into just throw out fascist against anyone who disagrees with them and basically treat anyone who is not a communist or socialist as being the worst people on the planet or CIA stooges. I've also found a few that think ANTIFA is amazing and openly identify as radical leftists, but as I don't know much about them, I can't judge them other than a lot I've met are amazingly hostile and belligerent.

Edited by CommanderAce on Nov 13th 2018 at 12:56:59 PM

Power of Thor!
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#261622: Nov 13th 2018 at 12:13:43 PM

Oh, you've met the tankies.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#261623: Nov 13th 2018 at 12:17:14 PM

The problem is that the Democratic party itself is split in different groups and said groups don't even know how to define themselves. In, politicians are using words like "Social Democrat", "Democratic Socialist" and "Socialism" as if they are interchangeable, which in turn leads to confusion. Add in that "liberal" can mean liberal in a social sense (which is a good thing) but also liberal or worse, neoliberal in an economic sense.

All this makes it difficult to actual use those terms to describe anything or anyone.

One thing is clear, though, a LOT of people who talk about "socialism" have the Nordic and middle-European countries in mind. None of them are actually "Socialist" in the more narrow sense, though. So what they are actually meaning is "well, this concept of a Social Economy seems to work great, maybe we should copy this".

And the answer to it is: Yes, it is not perfect , but you totally should copy it. It actually pays off to think more long term economically speaking.

CommanderAce Commander Thor from Planet Earth, United States Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Commander Thor
#261624: Nov 13th 2018 at 12:19:24 PM

Tankies? That's a term I haven't heard before. Enlighten me on them.

Power of Thor!
DeathorCake Since: Mar, 2016
#261625: Nov 13th 2018 at 12:21:30 PM

[up]x4

Quite a few American "socialists" I've run into are essentially European-style social democrats with a political cosplay outfit on in terms of actual platform. They appear to have more or less won the minor Democratic civil war post-2016, but quite a lot don't seem to have realised this yet. Hence rhetoric directed towards the current Democratic mainstream as if Pelosi and Schumer are running on the '08 compromise strategy or even the '92 "total capitulation" strategy.

[up]

IIRC it was originally an insult directed towards the Communist Party of Great Britain after they supported the Soviet invasion of Hungary (with tanks). Nowadays it's a catchall for Stalin/Mao/pick your dictator here apologists.

Edited by DeathorCake on Nov 13th 2018 at 8:25:01 PM


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