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

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#249401: Jul 17th 2018 at 6:37:43 PM

Do we have to call Trump and Putin boyfriends?

Oh wow, I finally got a pagetopper. tongue

Edited by BearyScary on Jul 17th 2018 at 5:39:33 AM

Do not obey in advance.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#249402: Jul 17th 2018 at 6:39:42 PM

We shouldn't, the constant parade of "ha ha Trump and Putin are boyfriends/fuck" is super unfunny and worse blatantly homophobic. There are far better ways to denigrate them and their relationship without being (unintentionally) bigoted.

"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
TyeDyeWildebeest Unreasonably Quirky from Big Rock Candy Mountain Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: How does it feel to treat me like you do?
Unreasonably Quirky
#249404: Jul 17th 2018 at 6:44:47 PM

Can we joke about Trump wanting Senpai Putin to notice him?

No beer?! But if there's no beer, then there's no beef or beans!
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#249405: Jul 17th 2018 at 7:02:38 PM

[up][up][up] it's more for the irony, then anything else, since Putin would hate it.

And anyway, Randy Rainbow, who is decidedly openly Gay, made the joke for us.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 17th 2018 at 10:13:25 AM

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#249406: Jul 17th 2018 at 7:04:48 PM

I feel like "You treat this person like they were just girl/boyfriend husband/wife" is fairly evenly ingrained regardless of the genders or orientations of the people involved.

Edited by LSBK on Jul 17th 2018 at 9:05:13 AM

smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#249407: Jul 17th 2018 at 7:50:53 PM

The big issue here is that these are two people who have enacted horribly homophobic and transphobic laws and policies. Joking about them secretly being gay in spite of that is... not a great thing to do.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#249408: Jul 17th 2018 at 7:51:07 PM

Can we joke about Trump wanting Senpai Putin to notice him?

I think it'd be fine, it's an established meme that doesn't really have any homophobic undertones.

I feel like "You treat this person like they were just girl/boyfriend husband/wife" is fairly evenly ingrained regardless of the genders or orientations of the people involved.

Sure. But when we're talking about two guys the dynamic is rather different and IMO there's some fairly strong homophobic undercurrents, not that anyone who uses it is some kind of evil bigot but the jokes themselves are just problematic.

Maybe I'm being unduly biased due to my personal experiences but whenever I've seen hostile jokes about two guys being friendly with each other it's always in the context of using implied homosexuality to denigrate them.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Jul 17th 2018 at 10:55:41 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#249409: Jul 17th 2018 at 8:01:02 PM

[up] It helps that the terms used, being Japanese terms for Upper/Underclassmen (among others), does not inherently have romantic connotations.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jul 17th 2018 at 8:02:39 AM

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#249410: Jul 17th 2018 at 8:03:37 PM

[up][up]I mean, I'm not saying it can't be used homophobically. Just that it isn't inherently so, and I'd trust (most) people here not to use it that way.

But I have no real issue with not using the terminology, as I haven't been doing so anyway.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#249411: Jul 17th 2018 at 8:05:40 PM

I prefer calling Trump the Putin Puppet anyway when I'm not calling him Traitor Trump.

Edited by M84 on Jul 17th 2018 at 11:05:48 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#249412: Jul 17th 2018 at 8:06:31 PM

[up]"No puppet! No puppet! You're the puppet!"

tsstevens Reading tropes such as You Know What You Did from Reading tropes such as Righting Great Wrongs Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: She's holding a very large knife
Reading tropes such as You Know What You Did
#249413: Jul 17th 2018 at 8:19:58 PM

Why not just call it how it is? No matter how much you split hairs Putin is getting Trump to act as Russia's spy on America, work as an agent of influence. By definition that is treason. You cannot hang someone for being gay. You can hang them as a traitor and that is exactly what Trump is, a traitor.

Currently reading up My Rule Fu Is Stronger than Yours
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#249414: Jul 17th 2018 at 8:23:21 PM

Actually he's not a traitor in the legal sense, the Founders in their infinite wisdom decided to make a very specific and stupidly limited legal definition of treason. IIRC it only applies to making war on the US or helping someone who's at war with the US.

But yes he's a traitor in a proper definition.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Jul 17th 2018 at 11:29:32 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#249415: Jul 17th 2018 at 8:54:37 PM

While not guilty of direct treason, you can certainly list a large number of crimes Trump is guilty of from taking bribes to espionage. He is a Russian puppet and a small t traitor.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
TroperOnAStickV2 Call me Stick from Redneck country Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
Call me Stick
#249416: Jul 17th 2018 at 9:04:08 PM

The big issue here is that these are two people who have enacted horribly homophobic and transphobic laws and policies. Joking about them secretly being gay in spite of that is... not a great thing to do.

That actually makes it a better angle to mock them from. Accuse them of reactionary tendencies in the Freudian sense/mock them over something they hate.

Of course, I'm a fan of Crosses the Line Twice humour.

Hopefully I'll feel confident to change my avatar off this scumbag soon. Apologies to any scumbags I insulted.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#249417: Jul 17th 2018 at 9:10:10 PM

That actually makes it a better angle to mock them from. Accuse them of reactionary tendencies in the Freudian sense/mock them over something they hate.
And yet by acting as if it's something worth being mocked over you're playing right into their hands, the entire goal should be making it so being gay is exactly as uninteresting as being straight. This I think goes directly against that, using homophobia as a weapon seems rather... counter-productive.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Matues Since: Sep, 2011
#249418: Jul 17th 2018 at 9:10:26 PM

I mean, sure it’s mockery, but what is the method of mockery? How are they being mocked? This is meant to be shameful for them, so what element of it is mean to denigrate?

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#249419: Jul 17th 2018 at 9:14:06 PM

I prefer Putin Puppet both for the alliteration and because it's probably a more accurate description of their relationship.

Disgusted, but not surprised
TroperOnAStickV2 Call me Stick from Redneck country Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
Call me Stick
#249420: Jul 17th 2018 at 9:15:46 PM

All their homophobic bluster is covering up their real feelings. When you think about it, given what they've expressed it should theoretically be possible to just treat their supposed "bromance" as a fact, not actually denigrating them over it, and that would still piss them off.

Trump at least, Putin seems to have thicker skin but that's probably Damned by Faint Praise.

Edited by TroperOnAStickV2 on Jul 17th 2018 at 12:29:12 PM

Hopefully I'll feel confident to change my avatar off this scumbag soon. Apologies to any scumbags I insulted.
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#249421: Jul 17th 2018 at 10:09:17 PM

[up]

It's easy to be thick skinned, when you can have people killed.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#249422: Jul 18th 2018 at 1:00:25 AM

Another point hopefully in favor of Democrats and anti-Trumpers:

Polling indicates the general public, including independents, (especially independents even) view Republicans as more corrupt than Democrats, are angry with the behavior of Trump's cabinet members and other officials, and want Congress to do more to hold the President accountable. Furthermore, the Republican tax plan is also seen as corrupt and self-serving

    The public perception of corruption 
Fifty-four percent of voters across 48 Republican-held congressional districts said Republicans are “more corrupt” than Democrats, compared with 46 percent who said Democrats are “more corrupt.”

According to the online survey of 1,200 registered voters, conducted July 2-5, an even higher number of independents hold Republicans responsible for corruption: 60 percent.

Those are welcome numbers to Democrats who have struggled to find their messaging in the run-up to the midterms. In May, the party signaled an effort to tap the “culture of corruption” theme that proved an effective mantra in 2006, when GOP Capitol Hill scandals helped Democrats regain control of the House and Senate.

“The fact that you have these recurring Cabinet scandals, the fact that it keeps happening over and over again, it registers,” said Jesse Lee, spokesman for the Center for American Progress, a progressive policy group behind the poll. “People understand it’s been taken to a new level. There’s no check on it anymore. Trump isn’t pushing back on Congress to keep it under control. Congress isn’t pushing back on Trump.”

The corruption framing today takes a different shape than in 2006, when it largely revolved around the behavior of Republican members of Congress. Now, the focus is on Trump Cabinet members who resigned under an ethics cloud, including former Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

The current messaging also looks to portray the GOP tax plan as riddled with loopholes and benefiting only the wealthy. That’s the same plan Republicans are holding up in their reelection campaigns as a major achievement.

Lee pointed to the poll’s 4-point Democratic lead on the generic ballot as a notable shift from the last two cycles, where he said Republicans led in the same districts by an average of 14 points.

The internet-based study showed voters had a high-level of familiarity with Trump’s Cabinet and showed particular frustration when asked about pols spending “taxpayer money on perks for themselves” or when they “make policies that help their big campaign donors.”

A majority of voters (56 percent) said congressional Republicans are not doing enough oversight of the Trump administration — a number that’s even higher among independents (57 percent).

The polling suggests that the Republican tax cuts — and loopholes tapped by some of the same members who voted for the plan — may be an area ripe for exploitation.

Of those surveyed, 75 percent responded that it was “serious” or “very serious” that 53 Republicans in Congress would “get an average tax cut of over $200,000 each from a single loophole they added to the tax bill at the last minute.”

Since the article talks about the Republican tax plan, here's a reminder from a recent What The Fuck Just Happened Today article:

Since the Republican tax plan was passed six months ago, most companies have actually lowered wages by about 1% (a bigger drop when paired with inflation) while spending billions on stock buybacks and attempts to raise stock prices

    Too bad nobody knew this would happen 
Six months after the Tax Cut and Jobs Act became law, there's still little evidence that the average job holder is feeling the benefit.

 Worker pay in the second quarter dropped nearly one percent below its first-quarter level, according to the Pay Scale Index, one measure of worker pay. When accounting for inflation, the drop is even steeper. Year-over-year, rising prices have eaten up still-modest pay gains for many workers, with the result that real wages fell 1.4 percent from the prior year, according to Pay Scale. The drop was broad, with 80 percent of industries and two-thirds of metro areas affected.

 "Now, economic confidence has been good, we're in a strong economy, GDP is growing, but the question has been, where's the paycheck?" said Katie Bardaro, vice president of data analytics at Pay Scale.

The answer is, largely, in the companies' coffers. Businesses are spending nearly $700 billion on repurchasing their own stock so far this year, according to research from Trim Tabs. Corporations set a record in Q2, announcing $433 billion worth of buybacks — nearly doubling the previous record, which was set in Q1.

 When a company buys back some of its outstanding shares, the effect is usually to boost the value of the rest of its stock, sometimes making the company appear more valuable on paper. Because many senior executives are paid in company shares, buybacks temporarily boost their pay (as well as other shareholders' portfolios), sometimes at the expense of investments in infrastructure or workers.

 The popularity of stock buybacks in the wake of the corporate tax cuts has drawn lawmakers' attention. A group of senators wrote to the SEC late last month, asking the agency to review the rules around buybacks. "The explosion of stock buybacks has funneled corporate profits to wealthy shareholders and corporate executives instead of workers and long-term investments that spur sustained economic growth," they wrote.

 The money that has trickled down to workers this year hasn't been permanent, Pay Scale found. "One of the things we saw is firms are leaning more toward giving bonuses rather than straight pay increases," said Bardaro. "It's flashy, it makes you feel good, but it then doesn't stick around and compound year over year."

Some minor election news:

On primary night, Republican Representative Martha Roby, who had criticized Trump in 2016 following the Access Hollywood tape, was forced into a runoff. This was viewed as a blow to any Republicans who didn't strictly toe the line set by Trump and back him at every turn. In the actual runoff vote, however, Roby crushed her opponent, getting around 2/3 of the vote. It's worth noting however that the Republican establishment did convince Trump to endorse Roby

Rep. Martha Roby, a four-term Republican who criticized President Donald Trump in 2016, swept her primary runoff in Alabama’s second congressional district on Tuesday, defeating Democrat-turned-Republican Bobby Bright.

During the primary in June, Roby received 39 percent of the vote, while Bright received about 28 percent. Since neither of them met the 50-percent threshold needed to secure the nomination, both were sent to a runoff.

Following the primary, Roby seemed on shaky ground after Bright repeatedly hammered comments she made in 2016 slamming Trump as an “unacceptable” candidate for president in the wake of the infamous Access Hollywood tape.

After some reported cajoling from House Republican leaders Kevin Mc Carthy and Paul Ryan, Trump ultimately endorsed Roby despite her past snub. Many Alabama Republicans saw his support as important for her victory. (She maintains that she has “no regrets” about her critiques of Trump, however.)

Both the White House and Kremlin left part of the Helsinki press conference off the official record. It was the part where Putin said in response to a reporter's question that he wanted Trump to win the 2016 election so that the US and Russia could "normalize relations again" (Honest translation: normal relations means let Putin get away with all the shit he and Russia have done and hopefully do away with the Magnitsky Act)

Other random notes:

MGM is trying to dodge any potential they could be deemed at fault for the Las Vegas mass shooting, and is suing victims of the shootings in an attempt to block their lawsuits

A black real estate agent put up an advertisement with her picture in front of an empty home she was selling. A local white woman spray painted the home with "Hail Trump" and "N-ggers keep out". The agent notes this is far from the first time it's happened

Tucker Carlson of Fox NEws made yet another obvious backing of White Supremacy on his show, by saying that Mexico did more to interfere with elections than Russia because they "pack our electorate"

For reaction to President Trump’s poorly received summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Fox News’s “The Five” on Monday turned to the network’s Tucker Carlson, still on the ground in Helsinki.

Host Greg Gutfeld complained about the response to the summit, claiming that the media blamed Putin for Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016 and was demanding a “pound of flesh.”

“I’m not a shrink so I don’t fully understand it,” Carlson replied. “I don’t think Russia is our close friend or anything like that. I think of course they’re trying to interfere in our affairs. They have for a long time. Many countries do, some more successfully than Russia.”

“Like Mexico, which is routinely interfering in our elections by packing our electorate,” he continued, with laughter in the background. “So those are all concerns. I just don’t understand why we need to believe that Russia is the primary issue of American political life.”

Here's yet another rock for American democracy to crash upon in the future if major changes are not made: Some predictions of population movement within the US predict that by 2040, about half of Americans will live in just 8 states. According to these models, 35 states will add up to have just about 30% of the population. If this comes to pass, what happens when that 30% of the population elects 70% of the Senators? (Especially when that 30% is significantly older, not to mention more white, rural, and religious than the rest of the country is projected to be by that time.)

Personally speaking, while I know this won't be popular with a number of forum goers or most people from small states, this is part of the reason why I'm becoming more and more of a fan of a unicameral legislature with the number of representatives being based on population only.

Edited by TheWanderer on Jul 18th 2018 at 4:57:59 AM

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#249423: Jul 18th 2018 at 1:24:31 AM

[up]

In a statement to CNN, MGM Resorts called the shooting "the despicable act of one evil individual" and said its lawsuits, filed Friday in US District Courts for Nevada and Central California, are intended to benefit the victims and help them heal.

So they're suing the victims of a mass shooting to help them? That's what they're claiming.

That is some serious chutzpah right there.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Bur from Flyover Country (Living Relic) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#249424: Jul 18th 2018 at 4:42:15 AM

The movie theater in the Aurora shooting did the same thing. If I remember right, it has something to do with the victims' insurance refusing to pay medical bills unless they sue someone "responsible", and the "responsible" party has to sue in return so they don't get saddled with all the bills.

Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#249425: Jul 18th 2018 at 4:52:11 AM

So basically sue for a nominal amount just to get the ball rolling?

"Yup. That tasted purple."

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