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Ogodei Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers from The front lines Since: Jan, 2011
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
#99151: Aug 20th 2015 at 8:28:28 PM

I mean, if the Republicans were given total control, yeah, but we've had some of the more extreme SC candidates stopped at the door, like Robert Bork.

And hell, even John Roberts found a soul, despite what he was appointed to do.

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#99152: Aug 20th 2015 at 8:34:19 PM

@Tomu: So in other words, Trump is playing from the European far-right playbook? Interesting.

BAFFU Since: Dec, 2012
#99153: Aug 20th 2015 at 8:35:06 PM

so he is a moderate republican?

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#99154: Aug 20th 2015 at 8:39:01 PM

I don't know if that was a joke or not, but no.

The far right often supports a welfare state, that doesn't make them moderates.

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#99155: Aug 20th 2015 at 8:40:04 PM

Not really.

It's more that he fills a role in the ideological matrix that wasn't fulfilled on the top level, but actually reflects a significant portion of the population.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#99156: Aug 20th 2015 at 8:40:22 PM

Trump is as far right as it gets thanks to his voter base. Doesn't matter what he personal views are now or in the past. His base is rabid, they choose his policies now.

Oh really when?
BAFFU Since: Dec, 2012
#99157: Aug 20th 2015 at 8:40:27 PM

the joke is that a moderate republican would be a far right politician in Europe.

[up] 46% of the population would vote for him in the general election.

You cant call 46% of the population fringe, or extreme.

You can call them stupid, fascist, xenophobic...

edited 20th Aug '15 8:41:38 PM by BAFFU

probablyinsane Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
#99158: Aug 20th 2015 at 8:43:55 PM

I am having (severe) issues with the term "moderate" being applied to Trump, even if it's technically true.

Then again, most of the headlines about him is about his anti-illegal migration stance so for all I know - he is "not crazy" on other issues.

I do know that he's got support from the conservative Filipino American sector. Not surprising really because Filipinos (due to the Philippines being in the middle of the ocean) are more likely to have to use the legal migration route. They tend to see illegal migrants as competition (who cheated) to get to the USA.

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.
BAFFU Since: Dec, 2012
#99159: Aug 20th 2015 at 8:45:04 PM

well Trump is a moderate Republican in the same way Trotsky was a moderate Bolshevik.

It all comes down to context.

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#99160: Aug 20th 2015 at 9:02:47 PM

He's not moderate.

At most he's "balanced" in the sense that a tug-of-war is balanced, in the sense that you can have one 300 pound guy on each side, but that doesn't mean they're not 300 lbs.

And the "balance" isn't between left/right, it's between racial issues and economic issues.

TotemicHero No longer a forum herald from the next level Since: Dec, 2009
No longer a forum herald
#99161: Aug 20th 2015 at 9:35:12 PM

I think we've reached the point where the U.S. "conservative" field is so fragmented that the simple left-right spectrum is a misleading oversimplification of what's happening (at best).

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#99162: Aug 21st 2015 at 1:37:46 AM

Trump as Tomu pointed out, basically fits the ideological matrix that the old Southern Democrats filled:

Xenophobic assholes, but very supporting of welfare and the like for those who belong to the "Mainstream" (i.e. White). The Southern Democrat block never vanished, it just willingly voted lockstep with the Republican Elites in a generalized "Fuck you" alliance.

All we're seeing is Trump driving a wedge between the "Southern Democrat" bloc and the "Republican/K Street Elite" blocs of the Republican Party.

edited 21st Aug '15 1:42:07 AM by PotatoesRock

BAFFU Since: Dec, 2012
#99163: Aug 21st 2015 at 3:10:34 AM

[up] Alright.

I can agree with that categorization (not that it matters but just wanted to put it out there).

edited 21st Aug '15 3:11:10 AM by BAFFU

PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#99164: Aug 21st 2015 at 3:18:19 AM

Thinking on it.

You know how so many keep going on about Silent Majority/Missing White Voters?

This is comically WHERE the missing white voters have been all this time.

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#99165: Aug 21st 2015 at 4:43:50 AM

Researchers declare that Google could be manipulating your opinion and controlling the upcoming election!

The world's most-used search engine is so powerful and national elections are so tight, that even a tiny tweak in Google's secret algorithm could swing the 2016 presidential election, according to Robert Epstein, senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology. In an op-ed on Politico.com, Epstein said that he and a team of researchers studied behavior in undecided voters who had been exposed to rigged search results. By displaying results that shone a more favorable light on a particular candidate the researchers could shift opinion towards that favored candidate. The study boosted a candidate's favorability rating by between 37% and 63% after just one 15-minute search session. The five double-blind, randomized studies included 4,500 undecided voters in the United States and India.

A Google spokeswoman said that the company's algorithm is designed to provide "relevant answers," and rigging them to favor one view over another "would undermine the people's trust in our results and company." Epstein said Google's response was "meaningless." "How does providing 'relevant answers' to election-related questions rule out the possibility of favoring one candidate over another in search rankings? Epstein wrote in his op-ed. "Google's statement seems far short of a blanket denial that it ever puts its finger on the scales."

The research suggested that swinging an election was "well within Google's control," considering that President Obama won the 2012 election by just 3.9% and the 2016 polling is similarly too close to call. Though Epstein falls short of saying that Google would rig an election, he points to historical precedent suggesting that Google wouldn't be alone if it tried. Epstein pointed to Western Union's attempt to swing the 1876 presidential election towards its favored candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes. The election was the closest in U.S. history, and Western Union used its telegraph network monopoly and exclusive carriage contract with the Associated Press to ensure that only positive stories about Hayes made it on the wire. Hayes ultimately won by a hair.

On average, Google adjusts its algorithm more than once a day. Epstein said it's possible that even if the Alphabet triumvirate of Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt didn't get directly involved in tipping the scales on an election, a rogue employee could tweak the code without the leaders' knowledge. "Google could easily be flipping elections worldwide as you read this," Epstein said.

wild mass guess Let's all hope that Google employees like Bernie Sanders. [/wmg] And not Donald Trump.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#99166: Aug 21st 2015 at 5:24:41 AM

[up]Tech firms are overwhelmingly liberal in their composition.

But if they were to choose between Hilary and Bernie, I think they'd go with Bernie. After all, the Democrats did soil their reputation with the Silicon Valley after the SOPA and PIPA fiasco due to movie and music industry lobbies clashing directly with the tech sector.

Inter arma enim silent leges
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#99167: Aug 21st 2015 at 7:59:53 AM

A Google spokeswoman said that the company's algorithm is designed to provide "relevant answers," and rigging them to favor one view over another "would undermine the people's trust in our results and company." Epstein said Google's response was "meaningless." "How does providing 'relevant answers' to election-related questions rule out the possibility of favoring one candidate over another in search rankings? Epstein wrote in his op-ed. "Google's statement seems far short of a blanket denial that it ever puts its finger on the scales."

Calling it "meaningless" just sounds to me as if he had just thrown a tantrum right then and there and screamed "NUH HUH!"

I imagine bright plastic toys flying about and landing on fluffy plushies as limbs flail them about while a snot, drool and tear-coated scrunched up face grumpily cries out that he is not tired and totally does not need a nap.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#99168: Aug 21st 2015 at 8:15:10 AM

How goes that swing compare to say a newspaper or TV network painting a candidate in a favourable light? Also haven't Google's results been previously shown to reinforce what is already believed by a person?

That's before we get into the methodology involved, how were the results skewed? What kind of searches were being made? How often were the skewed resulted realised to be skewed?

Plus I'd like to know what the changes required to skew results are, They say a tiny tweak but as the code is secret how do they even know that? Isn't it likely that Google has systems in place to prevent individuals rigging search results?

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#99169: Aug 21st 2015 at 8:18:11 AM

[up] Honestly, before even checking his methodology, I would check his diaper, see if that needs a change. Might explain the rage.

Relevant: "If Google was a guy"

Remember when Google was used to justify an invasion?

edited 21st Aug '15 8:19:39 AM by Aszur

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#99170: Aug 21st 2015 at 10:41:23 AM

@99194: The call was coming from inside the house (of representatives) the whole time!!!

So yeah. The missing white voters? Those are the people already voting Republican.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#99171: Aug 21st 2015 at 11:09:42 AM

Oh yeah and sorry to return to an old subject but. Thecockold thing? It is still something that refers mostly to cheating. But in the U.S, it seems to have a different meaning because of its meaning there.

At least according to this

But this is yet another example of the dang u.s appropriating a perfectly well established english word. GG, ya damn yanks. GG.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#99172: Aug 21st 2015 at 11:40:16 AM

[up][up]Are you from the future? (noticing the message you're replying to)

edited 21st Aug '15 11:40:26 AM by BonsaiForest

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#99173: Aug 21st 2015 at 12:00:50 PM

That joke will be HILLARIOUS when you guys see what post 99194 is.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#99174: Aug 21st 2015 at 12:02:40 PM

Only if the phone number is 8675309

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#99175: Aug 21st 2015 at 12:03:35 PM

That's the second time in as many days someone has made that reference to me.


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