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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.
#285901: Jul 28th 2019 at 6:38:52 AM

This announcement is even more ludicrous considering this (from the Military thread):

FBI Director: Majority of Domestic Terrorism Cases Tied to White Supremacy

FBI Director Christopher Wray noted that his agency has made around 100 “domestic terrorism-related arrests since October.” Any guesses on how many of those were connected to white supremacist ideology?

“I will say that a majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we’ve investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call white supremacist violence, but it does include other things as well,” Wray said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, the Hill reports.

According to Wray’s testimony, the arrests began in October, which marks fiscal 2019.

Here's The Hill article that is referenced in it, for reference:

FBI's Wray says most domestic terrorism arrests this year involve white supremacy

Edited by M84 on Jul 28th 2019 at 6:41:25 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#285902: Jul 28th 2019 at 7:01:22 AM

Criminalizing the political opposition is Fascism 101. First you start with the 'extreme' and then you slowly walk that down to everyone that opposes you.
How do we combat that slippery slope without making it look like we side with (what he considers) terrorists? The accusations write themselves: "The crazy left cares more about defending terrorists than decent, hard-working Americans!" It's the exact same technique used whenever treatment of illegal immigrants comes up: "The left cares more about ILLEGALS than about taking care of our own! Outrageous!"

Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#285903: Jul 28th 2019 at 7:10:20 AM

Emphasize the fact that White Supremacists are Terrorists. 'He's trying to make it illegal to fight terrorists' is a sentence that people will have a knee-jerk negative reaction to.

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#285904: Jul 28th 2019 at 7:21:51 AM

First you have to convince people that white supremacists are terrorists.

i'm tired, my friend
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#285905: Jul 28th 2019 at 7:23:07 AM

Switching gears a bit, it seems like the Sanders' campaign reached a deal a few days ago with their union over the workers' pay. The deal they got was a pay raise to $42,000 annual salary, full health premium coverage, and limiting their hours to 50 a week.

Sanders had better hope the union doesn't demand more based on Sanders' promises. Because they totally could, considering that Sanders hasn't only promised $15 minimum wage and health coverage.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#285906: Jul 28th 2019 at 8:39:06 AM

How do we combat that slippery slope without making it look like we side with (what he considers) terrorists? The accusations write themselves: "The crazy left cares more about defending terrorists than decent, hard-working Americans!" It's the exact same technique used whenever treatment of illegal immigrants comes up: "The left cares more about ILLEGALS than about taking care of our own! Outrageous!"

Why would we care to avoid siding with the people he considers terrorists? Trump is a white supremacist, they always consider anti-fascists and other racists to be terrorists. Avoiding to validate his claim gives the impression that it has any validity, which it obviously doesn't.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#285907: Jul 28th 2019 at 8:48:29 AM

Again, though, moderates aren't entirely convinced that "antifa" aren't as bad, or that white supremacists are even terrorists in the first place. We need to bring them around on these two points if we're going to convince them Trump is siding with terrorists.

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Jul 28th 2019 at 11:49:13 AM

i'm tired, my friend
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#285908: Jul 28th 2019 at 8:54:59 AM

Sure, I don't disagree with that.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
JBC31187 Since: Jan, 2015
#285911: Jul 28th 2019 at 5:03:53 PM

Trump is replacing the current Director of National Intelligence with one of his own.

Dan Coats will step down as the director of national intelligence on August 15, President Donald Trump announced Sunday in a tweet, a departure that marks the most recent chapter in Trump’s tense and puzzling relationship with the US intelligence community. Texas Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe, who aggressively questioned former special counsel Robert Mueller last week during Congressional hearings involving his report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, will be nominated by the President to replace Coats. “I would like to thank Dan for his great service to our Country,” Trump tweeted. “The Acting Director will be named shortly.”

Things will get worse before they get better.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#285912: Jul 28th 2019 at 5:08:13 PM

Weirdly, that ups my opinion of the Trumps.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#285913: Jul 28th 2019 at 5:09:30 PM

..how?

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
JBC31187 Since: Jan, 2015
#285914: Jul 28th 2019 at 5:10:14 PM

Really? From my understanding, Ratcliffe is a through-and-through Trumpist Republican, whereas Coates at least had a moderate concern about climate change and Russian interference.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#285915: Jul 28th 2019 at 5:11:26 PM

I think Charles is referring to the Canadian origins of the Trumps' wealth.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#285916: Jul 28th 2019 at 6:19:08 PM

It shows at least one Trump actually ran a business in hard conditions.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
DrDougsh Since: Jan, 2001
#285918: Jul 28th 2019 at 6:44:58 PM

[up][up] Honestly, my respect for people doesn't go up or down based on what their ancestors did.

tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#285919: Jul 28th 2019 at 6:52:38 PM

Quick overview of what that means for Ratcliffe's seat. Likely will stay Republican with an upcoming special election as the entire District spans all of northeastern Texas from north and east of Dallas proper to the borders of Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

Based on what I'm reading from Wikipedia, the District has not supported a Democratic president since 1964, the last Democrat to hold the seat was Ralph Hall who flipped to Republican in 2004 and then lost to Ratcliffe in 2014. There was also not a Democratic nominee in the District in 2014 or 2016 and both Romney and Trump won three-quarters of the District in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

Edited by tclittle on Jul 28th 2019 at 8:53:27 AM

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
RJ-19-CLOVIS-93 from New Zealand (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#285920: Jul 28th 2019 at 10:21:54 PM

@ megaeliz: Aren't brothels also how the Roarks got their power from in the start? I only say that because one of the weird things from the movie was that Powers Boothe as Senator Roark looked like Trump's dad.

Though I shouldn't really judge, I mean the term "hooker" comes from Fighting Joe

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#285921: Jul 29th 2019 at 6:10:29 AM

So... it's Monday and there's a fresh scandal. Trump repeatedly attacked Elijah Cummings and Baltimore. I refuse to become numb to this. This is shocking behavior from the president.

But guys, Cummings criticized the conditions in the border detention centers so Trump's perfectly justified in fighting back!

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#285922: Jul 29th 2019 at 6:14:18 AM

[up] Honest question; why do none of the Reporters ask "If you think (Democratic Controlled Area) is so bad, and you're the President who's 'Making America Great Again', why don't you do something about it?" It's such a simple question that I think any reporter should've asked by now, and I'm just surprised either no one's asked it, or it hasn't been asked this year (when he's really been going after Democratic places like California, Chicago and now Baltimore).

Of course the reason Trump isn't doing anything about it is because he can't get the Republicans to do anything and he needs to be able to harass others (especially minorities) and rally his base, but I just want to see what he would actually say to the Reporters that ask the question.

ACW from Arlington, VA (near Washington, D.C.) Since: Jul, 2009
#285923: Jul 29th 2019 at 6:18:29 AM

Okay, I follow the news, but I missed something: Why, exactly, did Trump call out Cummings and Baltimore? He CLEARLY doesn't care about them. Was it Cummings's criticism of the border stuff?

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#285924: Jul 29th 2019 at 6:20:56 AM

Was it Cummings's criticism of the border stuff?
Yes. Notably, the insulting tweets started coming after a segment on Fox & Friends about Baltimore's problems.

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#285925: Jul 29th 2019 at 6:37:25 AM

[up]x3 Non-Fox mainstream media seems to have this intense fear of being accused of "partisanship", so they won't call things out as nearly as they should. The Golden Mean Fallacy is God for a lot of them.

i'm tired, my friend

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