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.
Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.
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
O'Reilly's been forced out of Fox News.
Fucking finally. Hopefully he doesn't just migrate somewhere else.
At the very least he's pulling the Dems left and I'd point to California being taken over by the Berniecrats.
I feel like you're lumping a lot of people with a small minority of Sanders supporters. As has been said, most Sanders supporters voted for Hillary.
What's the evidence that Sanders' base will only vote for Sanders?
Well, it's old, but Bill O'Reilly got fired, which shows that social pressure and disapproval can be an effective tool regarding diminishing the influence, however slightly, of the old and sexist white male. Or at the very least shows that such behavior is increasingly not OK in this modern society.
- shrug* I ain't got much else. Good news is going to be of smaller kind in the future, I think.
California was already pretty goddamn blue, so I'm not so sure that's actually a strong point in your favor. They were moving that way without Sanders, because that's current California culture. It's more accurate to say that Sanders is part of a current movement of certain parts of the country that's moving leftward, not that he's doing that all himself.
Also, going back to the whole "young people didn't actually vote" kind of... well, proves that he can't effectively bring votes to the Democrats, because the Democrats need those young voters and he didn't inspire them enough to vote for him in significant numbers to win the nomination. Again, the burden is on you to prove he can bring in voters.
edited 19th Apr '17 5:08:51 PM by AceofSpades
![]()
![]()
![]()
That's not really news at this point, even if it is cathartic. But whatever, I'll drink to it regardless.
edited 19th Apr '17 5:06:12 PM by KarkatTheDalek
Oh God! Natural light!O'Reilly being gone is lovely, though sadly unlikely to do a great deal of damage to FOX. They seem to have realized that one reactionary talking head is much the same as another reactionary talking head, and they can essentially replace him with someone else and just hand that person O'Reilly's script.
Basically, it's very personally satisfying—I'll be gloating about it for days to come—but I don't know if it will make a difference.
Chaffetz not seeking reelection is also great, though Utah being Utah the odds are good that whoever replaces him will be just as bad. I've heard Evan McMullin might seek the seat, which would potentially put another anti-Trump Republican in congress at least.
edited 19th Apr '17 5:09:33 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar
I'm hoping the next person to take his place isn't nearly as compelling to Fox's audience. Part of the reason O'Reilly is as effective as he is is because he's got a certain charisma that keeps people watching him. If the next person to replace him can't match that, well, maybe it'll lead to a little less interest in Fox generally.
@Kostya
A couple of quotes from that article I posted can be found here
. I can't access the rest, sadly, but IF Wanderer said they should be able to have it up sometime shortly.
See I think Carlson has the charisma of a dead fish, but his audience sadly doesn't share my opinion.
EDIT: And thanks. A friend of mine had shared the article with me in a format that was readable. I didn't realize until after I'd posted the link here that a paywall would go up with anyone else.
edited 19th Apr '17 5:19:17 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar
Random observation, but I had to read his book for summer reading once.
Is anyone watching the third resistance school tomorrow night at 7:00 PM eastern Time? I might if possible. It's called "How to Structure and Build Capacity for Action".
https://www.resistanceschool.com/session-three-1/
edited 19th Apr '17 5:16:00 PM by megaeliz
My sympathies to you. That can't have been pleasant reading.
Speaking of O'Reilly, lets all remember his various meltdowns and freak outs
.
edited 19th Apr '17 5:22:56 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar
Also it just seems like he's waffling more and more lately in his relationship with the Democrats. What good do his ideals and policies do the rest of us if he's not actually achieving anything that works towards those ideals and policies?
He's actively touring with the head of the DNC and helping Democrats out.
As Sanders spoke, Perez was a block away, meeting with party leaders who — like most Democratic leaders — had backed Hillary Clinton for president. Later that evening, they would take a stage and praise Sanders, who is not a Democrat, for reinvigorating their party. A chairman who defeated Sanders’s preferred candidate to run the DNC was now touring as his opening act.
Tom Perez is literally singing him praises and getting Sanders fans to sign up for the Democratic Party at these tours.
edited 19th Apr '17 5:23:47 PM by MadSkillz
Florida police arrested a ten year old autistic a while back
. Posting it here in order to ask—under what freaking law is this a thing that can happen, and who needs to get voted out or have their department examined in detail to make sure it doesn't happen again?
edited 19th Apr '17 5:34:37 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar
Where are you getting that idea from? Like seriously, the people who act like that are a Vocal Minority, and I suspect a great many of them disavowed Sanders after he conceded the primaries and endorsed Clinton instead of taking of Jill Stein's offer to run on the Green ticket.
edited 19th Apr '17 5:37:44 PM by CaptainCapsase
x4 It's the ultimate conclusion to zero tolerance policies.
edited 19th Apr '17 5:34:14 PM by rmctagg09
Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.Some of the people I follow on twitter are members of the Democratic Socialists of America and they were not pleased by Perez refusing to state that the "ruling class & billionaire class" are to blame for our problems. Also, a DSA candidate won a local board position in one of the municipalities where Ossoff was running. That is cool, but it seems from the DSA twitter that the organization/members were only involved in that local election and didn't take part in or donate to Ossoff's campaign (although admittedly they probably voted for him if eligible).
And there seems to be an undertone of framing the two elections as evidence that Democratic Socialists can win elections and Democrats cannot.
When the truth of course is that a majority of socialist candidates, lose.
The sad thing? Sanders knows this. That's why the guy he's backing in Omaha is a Blue Dog. And I have no problem with that—a Blue Dog is probably what you need to win in Nebraska. But he's pitching the guy as his kind of progressive and his fanbase seems to believe that.

Frankly, I don't historically dislike Cap and have no idea what's fueling this. I wasn't aware until recently that he and I apparently had a problem with each other, and would be more than happy to abandon this line of discussion.
In other news, a depressing number of articles online are trumpeting the Georgia Special Election going into a runoff as an enormous setback for the Democrats, which is just utter nonsense. Coming within a hairsbreadth of winning in a district where you have traditionally stood no chance is hardly a setback. It may not be accomplishing anything in a meaningful sense, but it's hardly the crushing defeat some are spinning it as. Good luck getting anyone to admit to that though.
Anybody got any positive news to share?
edited 19th Apr '17 5:04:34 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar