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Nov 2023 Mod notice:


There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.

If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines before posting here.

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If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules when posting here.


In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.

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

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#139901: Sep 23rd 2016 at 2:57:46 PM

[up] That's not what I heard. He came in, bemoaned the lack of anyone in this thread supporting Trump, was about to start finding out why, than was seemingly banned as a troll. Perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn't, but unless there was something I didn't see, I don't really think this is necessarily warranted, certainly not without letting him say much beyond "hey I support Trump."

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:03:25 PM by CaptainCapsase

nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#139902: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:00:59 PM

It's not a blunder, except in as much as truth is not wanted in this election cycle. What happened to all the people accusing her of lying? She says something that is purely factual and they give her hell. Also, no. We do not need dissenting opinions if they parrot Trump support. Some things have no place in civilized debate and we will not pretend that they do
So it's okay when someone posts an anti-Trump vid, but it's "parroting" when someone posts an anti-Hillary vid? That's kind of going past the threshold of being partial and into polarized territory.

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#139903: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:01:30 PM

I miss all the fun stuff. <sadpanda>

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#139904: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:01:44 PM

Support for Trump is basically hate speech. Persuasion is outside the scope of this topic.

[up][up] We are not going to engage in the pretense that both sides have a point.

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:03:02 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#139905: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:02:31 PM

[up][up][up][up] and [up][up][up] I have to agree.

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:02:59 PM by LSBK

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#139906: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:03:40 PM

I mean like, supporting Trump is actually against the site rules for all the white supremacy and fascism and hate speech that comes with it.

Oh really when?
Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#139907: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:03:42 PM

<IT Hat On> If it's being investigated as an account security issue, you take precautions till they're confirmed/denied.

If, however, it's a behavior call, I don't agree taking preemptive action before he's taken enough rope to sabotage himself and actually break the rules..

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:05:26 PM by Elle

rmctagg09 The Wanderer from Brooklyn, NY (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
The Wanderer
#139908: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:05:01 PM

Like I said, I had to deal with the guy saying xenophobic bullshit last week since he's been part of my RP for months, he's not a troll, he really believes these things.

Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.
thatguythere47 Since: Jul, 2010
#139909: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:10:33 PM

I think there was a discussion about rottweiler where the term "ogre" was coined for someone who is completely sincere in their beliefs but their beliefs still fly in the face of site rules. If he had posted some xenophobic stuff previously that would fly against our don't be a dick rule. Still not in favor of banning someone before they've done something ban worthy (or are a troll)

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?
smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#139910: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:12:27 PM

There are two possibilities.

A) He's a troll, and doesn't believe what he's saying. Therefore, he gets banned for trolling.

B) He genuinely supports Trump, which means he's xenophobic, racist, and sexist, among other things. These are also against site rules, so he gets banned.

Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#139911: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:15:17 PM

Oh no not THIS conversation again...

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#139912: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:15:44 PM

[up][up]OR c: Such a person is the kind of Trump supporter who tries to rationalize away Trump's negative aspects and/or is part of the half(ish) of people who have other legitimate insecurities. (It doesn't sound like he was from Tagg's point of view but let's not forget they exist.)

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:17:54 PM by Elle

thatguythere47 Since: Jul, 2010
#139913: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:17:49 PM

@smoke: That's stepping dangerously close to thoughtpolicing. Dude seems to be an edgy teenager. Ban him from OTC till he grows up but from the e-stalking I've done he didn't seem to be disruptive in his RP stuff.

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:18:17 PM by thatguythere47

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#139914: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:18:06 PM

[up][up][up][up] Provided he refrains from expressing such views on this site in accordance with our rules, I personally think he should be free to stay. While I disagree strongly with the sort of people who go on about "the regressive left" and whatnot (though I am worried about the possibility of a burgeoning, authoritarian left), under no circumstances should people be banned for "thoughtcrime" if you want to prove those people wrong.

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:19:01 PM by CaptainCapsase

Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#139915: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:19:38 PM

I don't know if it's appropriate to ask, but what was the name/handle of the troper who posted and was thumped?

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#139916: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:20:55 PM

It really doe seem we're going away from "These negative traits very broadly apply to a great deal of Trump supporters" to "All Trump supporters are unquestionably evil". That's a dangerous thing to impose on such a large group of people...

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:25:34 PM by LSBK

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#139918: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:25:19 PM

[up] Someone should've reported him back then in that case, and he should've received a well deserved suspension for violating site rules.

nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#139919: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:27:56 PM

@smokeycut

I was a relatively decent case of C) in which I proposed that he'd be a good bulwark against the TPP, and while I was met with odd looks, I wasn't (quite) thrown under the bus. Granted, I doubted more and more that even that was worth the likelihood of Trump mucking up - like - just about everything else. But still, if I (mostly) wasn't treated like a Thing (John Carpenter) in disguise, then maybe some of the dissent isn't as scary as you think it is.

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:29:30 PM by nervmeister

thatguythere47 Since: Jul, 2010
#139920: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:30:22 PM

that's some old school racism right thar. And super nerdy racism too. Ranking languages is the third most nerdy/racist combo you can do right next to making disparaging comments about muslims in klingon and creating a RL dnd setup where jews get poison weakness.

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?
Bat178 Since: May, 2011
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#139922: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:39:21 PM

I just went back and watched Trump's RNC acceptance speech again on a whim. For all the buffoonery and 7th grade-level vocabulary that usually characterizes Trump, every so often he's actually somewhat eloquent, and when that's the case, goddamn is he scary.

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:39:36 PM by CaptainCapsase

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#139923: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:41:23 PM

[up] Any particular bits you're referring too?

Oh God! Natural light!
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#139924: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:43:19 PM

Changing gears, I wonder if this was a factor in getting Cruz to support Trump:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-idUSKCN11T1SV

     Trump names Cruz ally Mike Lee as possible Supreme Court justice 
Donald Trump on Friday named U.S. Senator Mike Lee as a potential Supreme Court nominee, turning to an ally of former rival Ted Cruz in an apparent gesture to conservative Republicans who have been wary of the Republican presidential candidate.

Lee was included on a new list of 21 potential Supreme Court justices that Trump would consider for the high court if he is elected over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election.

"This list is definitive and I will choose only from it in picking future justices of the United States Supreme Court," Trump said in a statement.

The announcement came out on a day in which neither candidate had a public event and were preparing for Monday's first presidential debate.

The list Trump announced included 10 new names and 11 conservative jurists from a list the New York businessman had announced in May. Lee's brother, Thomas Lee, an associate justice of the Utah Supreme Court, was on the initial list and remains on Trump's expanded list.

Trump's listing of Mike Lee amounted to a gesture to U.S. Senator Cruz of Texas, a conservative who fought Trump fiercely as a rival for the Republican presidential nomination and who has refused to endorse Trump.

Trump's bombastic style and proposals breaking with some conservative orthodoxies such as support for free trade agreements have sparked unease among traditional conservative Republicans.

Mike Lee, in a statement, said he appreciated being considered.

"Right now I'm focused on my job in the Senate, where I'm in a good position to defend the Constitution by fighting against government overreach. Both lists that I've seen from the Trump campaign are fantastic.

"While my brother and I might disagree as to which list is better, they're both great," he quipped.

The death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia on Feb. 13 left the court with a four-to-four tie between right-leaning and left-leaning justices.

Democratic President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, but the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has refused to consider confirming him.

Trump said his list was based on who would follow constitutional principles on the high court. The possibility of Republicans ceding control of the court to the Democrats has been one of his main rallying cries at campaign events.

Others on Trump's list include Keith Blackwell, a justice on the Supreme Court of Georgia; Charles Canady, a Florida Supreme Court justice; Neil Gorsuch, a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, and Edward Mansfield, an Iowa Supreme Court justice.

Other names included Federico Moreno, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida; Margaret Ryan, a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; Amul Thapar, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Timothy Tymkovich, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit; and Robert Young, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:43:32 PM by sgamer82

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#139925: Sep 23rd 2016 at 3:45:19 PM

@Cap: Going back and re-reading the Stoics might be better for your sanity. :P

I'm of the opinion that the correlation between Bannon being hired to manage him and Trump's poll performance isn't accidental. Guy knows how to manage and manipulate a message.

edited 23rd Sep '16 3:46:39 PM by Elle


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