Campaign Shock Troops

[Winston OBoogie]

So F'ed.

If the pandemic alarm bells had gone off exactly 2 months later, I might have been trapped in Scotland.  That seems....pretty good!

Oh yeah?  What were your plans for Scotland?  Work, vacation,  both?

 

[emrr]

Sort of vacation.  Stateside organizer on an extended family heritage trip.  Would have been my 3rd visit.  Mostly outer Hebrides. 

 

[bluebird]

Some people are afraid of the world. I don't blame them. Some people are tired of being afraid and decide to accept and love the world, I don't blame them either...

 

[Winston OBoogie]

Sort of vacation.  Stateside organizer on an extended family heritage trip.  Would have been my 3rd visit.  Mostly outer Hebrides.

Very cool. It can get cold up there as I'm sure you know, but I've seriously thought about moving over the border to Scotland myself.
I hope you make it over again soon enough .  If I could swing it, I sure wouldn't mind coming up to meet ya, whiskey is on me

 

[emrr]

Very cool. It can get cold up there as I'm sure you know, but I've seriously thought about moving over the border to Scotland myself.
I hope you make it over again soon enough .  If I could swing it, I sure wouldn't mind coming up to meet ya, whiskey is on me

Hope we get to do that!    The climate suits me more than here.  We typically get colder, though a shorter period.    My biggest research laugh was looking at some Isla tourism info, with a feature on summer showing a woman in jeans and a sweater.   

ANYWAY, topic veer......Anyone who thinks this deployment of forces is legit has either lost track of or never understood the principles of American democracy.  Full stop.  Not that plenty of legally questionable sh*t hasn't gone down over the centuries. 

 

[CJ]

Portland was right out of the SS playbook.

Unmarked cars with camo freaks with no ID kidnapping people off the streets for protesting.

Trump use to read Meine Kamph every night you know that right?

he is all about Law and Order. Like most paranoid people with inferiority complexes.  pretty funny for a guy who has broken every law in the book.  the dimwit won't even turn over his taxes but he wants Law and Order. he has been impeached for treason but he wants Law and Order. typical racist punk-azz rich boy corrupt carpet headed thing that crawled out of the swamp to make our lives miserable so he can feed his ego. what a freak. flush the turd on november 3rd.

whats it gonna take to convince you rump supporters  unmarked cars kidnapping black people and having them gassed? chrst alive please wake the f up.

 

[gyraf]

..behave, CJ - people get upset..

 

[JohnRoberts]

whats it gonna take to convince you rump supporters  unmarked cars kidnapping black people and having them gassed? chrst alive please wake the f up.

Hint you aren't convincing anybody with that... please take a breath.

Put on your seatbelts, its still over 3 months to the election and this one looks like it will get even uglier, then it already is. 

JR

PS: That picture is perhaps funny to millions of people in one camp, but disgusting to millions others. Try to be civil. There are lots of similar partisan memes circulated by the other side, let's not open that pandora's box.

 

[JohnRoberts]

It can be argued it breaks rule #2

it is partisan humor, but only funny to one side

But then that would perhaps leave someone having to be paranoid with an inferiority complex to care

?

I believe we would have more civil discourse if we extended the rules prohibiting personal attacks to non-members, like celebrities and/or politicians, but that is not how the rules are written, and they are unlikely to change. Some forums completely prohibit any mention of politics or religion to avoid the headaches of moderating emotional, irrational arguments. Despite the occasional outlier I feel like thoughtful discussion of politics (not just repeating talking points) is healthy. When we stop talking all that remains is violence (some are already there).

I am proud about how polite and respectful most forum members here are. Keep up the good work.

JR 

 

[hodad]

Put on your seatbelts, its still over 3 months to the election and this one looks like it will get even uglier, then it already is. 

JR

Yes.  That much we can agree on.  There's somebody who could de-escalate it quickly, but he wants to do the exact opposite.  This is still about Trump's campaign, still a large and disconcerting step towards fascism and authoritarianism, still an abuse of power.  Trump is unwilling to say that he'd leave office if voted out in November.  While that may partially be campaign bluster,  that's a threat to the core of American democracy.  The peaceful transition of power has been respected for 200+ years now--when that goes, the whole thing is likely to start circling the drain. 

I'll say this for Trump:  he shows the least respect for traditions of governance, and even for the law, of any president in this country's history.  He is masterful at destroying things as well.  If you thought there was bloat and rot in the DC bureaucracy, well Trump's pretty much dismantled it for you.  I have yet to see that he has interest, inclination, or even the sketchiest plan to rebuild. 

EDIT:
A quote from somebody saying what I'd like to say, only better:
"I've never been one to say that because he is ignorant and incompetent, he hasn't done much harm. Clearly he has. But I have always felt that he exposed weaknesses in our system and frankly, our society, that are likely to be exploited by a future authoritarian who is more efficient and capable than he is.

I'm not finished with it, but it seems a worthy read for those who aren't too far gone. 
https://www.salon.com/2020/07/17/yes-trumps-in-deep-trouble--but-there-may-be-a-disturbing-method-to-his-madness/

 

[hodad]

it is partisan humor, but only funny to one side ?

JR

Unless it's funny to your side, I don't know that it's funny to anybody.  It's sick and it's sad, but it's only a slightly exaggerated (and that's giving Trump the benefit of the doubt) version of who Trump has revealed himself, through words and deeds, to be.  The reason memes like this circulate is that many Republicans still don't seem to get it.  Not only did they vote for him the first after hearing his own words describing his predatory, criminal sexual actions, but they continue to support him.  If people continue to support such a vile human being, other people are going to be there to remind them just how vile he is.  That's just what's going to happen when you elect a sexual predator to the highest office in the land.

 

[JohnRoberts]

This is funny to some...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtqGh_qZgEc

more like a documentary

That pic is arguably against the rules and making light of the women and men that have experienced just what it implies. I know too many personally.

yes you have already made that argument. Ironically perhaps being so partisan buys it some wiggle room since disappearing it would surely be perceived as partisan. 

But whatever... Like I said, it's just graffiti here ...

It is mild compared to what I fear is to come... but I do not invite more.

The triggered are already spouting off but hopefully that will release some of their internal pressure.

JR

 

[hodad]

The triggered are already spouting off but hopefully that will release some of their internal pressure.

JR

You wingers need to give it a rest with your "triggered" and ""cancel culture" and "snowflakes" nonsense.  "Triggered" is somebody so put out by donning a mask that he pulls a gun on someone or punches a grocery store employee.  "Snowflake" is someone so delicate and precious they can't go another week without a haircut.  "Cancel culture" is people who want to deny the fact that the Confederacy was fighting to continue slavery.  Or the nutjobs who want to pretend that school shootings aren't real and are just staged by anti-gun activists.

Seriously.  It's weak, it's sad, and it's tired.

 

[JohnRoberts]

You wingers need to give it a rest with your "triggered" and ""cancel culture" and "snowflakes" nonsense.  "Triggered" is somebody so put out by donning a mask that he pulls a gun on someone or punches a grocery store employee.  "Snowflake" is someone so delicate and precious they can't go another week without a haircut.  "Cancel culture" is people who want to deny the fact that the Confederacy was fighting to continue slavery.  Or the nutjobs who want to pretend that school shootings aren't real and are just staged by anti-gun activists.

Seriously.  It's weak, it's sad, and it's tired.

you are flirting right at the edge of breaking forum rules with pejorative name calling ("wingers"), so again please stop trolling me. 

JR

 

[emrr]

So....we need a vigorous Federal response to local protests, but not to a pandemic?  'Cause....Freedom? 

 

[Spiritworks]

Some people are afraid of the world. I don't blame them. Some people are tired of being afraid and decide to accept and love the world, I don't blame them either...

Love this, so true.

 

[L´Andratté]

This mess of a thread makes me sick. Goodbye to decency.

Hate is in the air in a lot of places. US is only exemplary in the amount of attention it draws.

The road to facism is paved with hypocritical righteousness. Law and order, my ass.

Power. Domination. Conservation of unbalance.

Cheer the violence, it will come knocking on your door sooner than you expect.

Ah, and one thing, it´s so awfully small hearted and minded.

 

[L´Andratté]

Why bother with the facts, when you FEEL you are right.
It´s all communist fake news anyways
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/20/us/portland-protests-navy-christopher-david.html

 

[Winston OBoogie]

Why bother with the facts, when you FEEL you are right.
It´s all communist fake news anyways
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/20/us/portland-protests-navy-christopher-david.html

I posted about this story further back in the thread.  It particularly upset me. 

I'd hoped some of the supporters on here of the federal intervention in Portland would give their thoughts on this, as well as on the shooting in the head of a protestor that happened on July 11th. 

These scenes remind me of the shameful acts by the British during the death throes of the empire. 

* Edited for grammar.

 

[Matador]

def right_response(original_post):
  response = []
  # Discredit source of information.
  if any(x in original_post for x in ["CNN", "MSNBC", "Huffington Post", "WaPo", "NYTimes"]):
    response.add("Please, why should I look at those left-leaning biased sources?")

  # Conditionally format the response to the argument depending on the timeframe of the argument.
  try:
      argument = extract_argument(original_post)
      if (is_during_obama_administration(argument)):
        response.add("Obama was seriously overstepping his power and crapping all over the constitution!")
      elif (is_during_trump_administration(argument)):
        response.add("What else was Trump supposed to do?  He's keeping us safe!")
  except RidiculousArgumentException:
    response.add("The name calling is getting out of control!")

  # Remove citations from original post to prevent them being accidentally quoted later.
  if (is_left(original_post.author) or supported_hillary(original_post.author)):
    original_post = discard_citations(original_post)

  # Find analogous events from 1992 to 2000, and 2008 to 2016.  Make sure we cache those to prevent
  # unnecessary fetches from OAN and Fox News.
  events = extract_events(original_post)
  mirror_events = find_events_during(events, ["Obama", "Clinton"])
  for dem_event in mirror_events:
    response.add("Come on {a}, what about {e}?  Where was the outrage in {y}?".format(a= original_post.author,
        e = dem_event, y=random_selection("1994", "2010"))