General Current Events/Political Discussion

[Link | 2,738]

uh huh. Let’s hear it, bud. Opportunistic? What, you think he spoke out against police brutality to get a Nike endorsement deal? You think he’s not that great a player so he had to get attention another way? What? Edumacate me.

[Estil | 1,265]

On 5/3/2020 at 11:59 PM, Link said:

uh huh. Let’s hear it, bud. Opportunistic? What, you think he spoke out against police brutality to get a Nike endorsement deal? You think he’s not that great a player so he had to get attention another way? What? Edumacate me.

He only did it because he knew he'd be a media/celeb darling for doing so...he would've never made it as a real civil rights activist like the ones during the 60s or earlier.  As for The Artist Formerly Known As Bruce that whole coming out as TG should've been done at least a couple decades ago when it might have actually done some good.  I have far more respect for those who stand up for what is right even when it's not popular (and indeed, it might sometimes be at the risk of their livelihood or even their lives) instead of ones like Krapernick or TAFKAB who conveniently waited until they knew it was fashionable and popular among the media/celebs.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Estil

[spacepup | 2,412]

Estil - you don't know why he did it and your claims of knowing so are pure assumption and judgment without any factual basis.

To the comments on timing and "real" activisim - there are many different ways that people can advocate for civil rights or other matters, and it's not about comparing them anyway.  We shouldn't just compare people to MLK or other influential people in history, as if to somehow lessen their efforts. 

Whether people agree with his message or not, Kaepernick clearly had a wide impact and inspired a lot of conversation on the subject, involving many other people and sort of spearheading a movement.  

Not everyone has to praise him, or believe him, or claim him as a national hero - that's fine --- but to make blanket statements about his motivations and then belittle him by comparing to historical figures and timeframes, is completely unfair.

Advocacy and activism takes many forms and transpires in many ways.  Whether we think celebrities and sports stars are 'worthy' or not - their public support and audience can be used as a potential platform that can impact many people, for better or worse.

I don't want to get into any negativity or argument about the content behind his protests and whether we agree with it, because that wouldn't serve any purpose, but that part completely aside, he did face a lot of backlash, a lot of negative criticism, and a lot of hate, in response to his actions.  It wasn't all some glorious cakewalk to fame that was lined with roses and adoration.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64rPzPYZa34 - Trump ends press conference after heated exchange with reporters

What a fucking child!

[Californication | 1,490]

On 5/3/2020 at 9:59 PM, Link said:

uh huh. Let’s hear it, bud. Opportunistic? What, you think he spoke out against police brutality to get a Nike endorsement deal? You think he’s not that great a player so he had to get attention another way? What? Edumacate me.

If I can jump in for a second, I don't have a problem with what Kapernick did and it does look like he was black balled. 

That being said, as a forty niner fan who watched him destroy two Super Bowl runs, I think he is a shit quarter back and he probably ended up better off by protesting. 

It's hard for me to believe anyone could plan on what happened to him, the NFL's reaction, winning the cases, getting endorsements so I don't challenge his motivation. 

But like I said, I think he was a shit QB and ended up better off because him and his team were smart about the way they reacted to the situation.

[Gloves | 11,843]

18 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64rPzPYZa34 - Trump ends press conference after heated exchange with reporters

What a fucking child!

Firstly, absolutely childish of him to storm off, 100%. He can't handle THAT? Pathetic.

BUT! The sitting woman w/ the questions was baiting HARD. Her first question was reasonable at least, and his response was garbage, but for her to turn around and be like "Why would you ask ME specifically to ask China?" like he's making some thinly veiled racist comment towards her is so weak that she lost me immediately. Sister, he would have responded with "CHYNA!" no matter who was asking what question. 

Had he the wit to do so he should have knocked that down rather than running away as it's very likely the perfect spin now for heavy leftist news to pick apart. He handed it to them easy. 

[Hammerfestus | 3,891]

I saw an article on The Hill this morning that spun it exactly like that.  Now I think the man is a complete douche wagon but this was clearly not that.  It is really damaging media credibility and strengthening his talking points that they do these things so often.    As a person with thoughts it’s really troublesome that this sort of blatantly false spin resonates with enough people that it is the norm rather than the exception.  

[Link | 2,738]

13 hours ago, Gloves said:

like he's making some thinly veiled racist comment

Do you not think he does that constantly? 

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

The man is a disgrace to the office. Be a grown man and stop name calling and personally attacking people just because you think they are trying to get you. This in not how a respectable adult responds to conflict. He’s a giant man baby and I don’t understand how people can defend his immature behavior.

Also, the Federal government’s job is to protect the people of the United States. The coronavirus response should have been federally coordinated from the beginning. Instead, states had to scramble for themselves and certain states did a better job than others. Yes, states were not prepared for this, but he was dragging his feet and pointed fingers at governors. Again, this is not behavior of an adult, let alone a president.

Unfortunately, it looks like our options next fall will be to re-elect this disgrace or elect another old white guy whose dementia seems so apparent to me that I can’t believe his party supports him. Either is a disaster. I’m far from liberal, but the US needs the Democratic Party to step up and nominate a real presidential candidate. I’m tired of the clown show in Washington, and cable news has killed the watchability of any news other than my local news. Why does everyone need to be an obnoxious jerk?

[Gloves | 11,843]

7 hours ago, Link said:

Do you not think he does that constantly? 

I mostly mean directed at the woman specifically.

[spacepup | 2,412]

Yeah, I mean, to be totally fair - and yes, I absolutely think he's done and said a lot of racist and insensitive things - but in this particular case, I actually do believe he would have probably said that to anyone asking and it wasn't because of her appearance.  He is extremely defensive about any questioning about his or America's handling of this, and I think even the strong tone when he said "China" was just him being him.  However, I don't really know what was going through her head and being an Asian American in this country, if she legitimately felt it was targeted toward her, as I imagine she's encountered issues like that in the past or disparate treatment.  Who knows.

Having said that - bait or no bait - he needs to do a better job at handling these things.  Running off angry feels very immature, and I don't think it looks good on anyone involved.  Every time something like this happens, he has the incredible opportunity to handle situations with finesse and class in a way that would really help him - but his ego is too big and he just gets angry and defensive.  

He seems to dismiss virtually ALL legitimate questions as baseless attacks on him, and gets very defensive and even aggressive toward reporters, which is just bizarre behavior for a president.  He calls them nasty and illegitimate all the time, bashing their own reputations as well as the larger companies they work for.  But, I think his supporters eat that up and definitely feeds into the whole "fake news / horrible media" thing, so I guess it's working for him.

 

 

 

[Tulpa | 3,537]

35 minutes ago, spacepup said:

He seems to dismiss virtually ALL legitimate questions as baseless attacks on him, and gets very defensive and even aggressive toward reporters, which is just bizarre behavior for a president.  He calls them nasty and illegitimate all the time, bashing their own reputations as well as the larger companies they work for.  But, I think his supporters eat that up and definitely feeds into the whole "fake news / horrible media" thing, so I guess it's working for him.

 

I think that's my biggest problem with Trump and his supporters. That we're all supposed to shut up and let him do whatever and he knows what's best.

Um, no. If he's doing something that seems to be a misstep, someone needs to bring it up and he needs to be a big boy and address it.

I do like that when she confronted him, he called to another reporter, who turned out to be Kaitlan Collins from CNN. He doesn't like talking to CNN reporters, so he quickly tried to find someone else and said that she "didn't respond", even though she started asking her question immediately.

[Link | 2,738]

9 hours ago, Gloves said:

I mostly mean directed at the woman specifically.

:shrug:    It’s not like he’s never done that before. But I take the point he might have said the same thing to anyone.

[Gloves | 11,843]

2 hours ago, Link said:

:shrug:    It’s not like he’s never done that before. But I take the point he might have said the same thing to anyone.

Not saying he hasn't, nor that he wouldn't, just that she REALLY wanted that to be the case. She jumped all over it.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

41 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Not saying he hasn't, nor that he wouldn't, just that she REALLY wanted that to be the case. She jumped all over it.

She definitely seemed over-eager to call him out.

[Californication | 1,490]

Is it just me or does it seem like there are a lot of youngerish, relatively attractive women at the white house briefings.

[spacepup | 2,412]

Something that really troubles me about this entire situation recently, is that the white house released official guidelines for re-opening, and then IMMEDIATELY after, the president very publicly and openly criticized lockdowns and encouraged states to re-open faster, despite the guidelines they literally just released.  It's a very confusing and frankly, dangerous, message to the country and to citizens.

I also find the public rebuking of our nation's top and well-respected scientists and researchers to be very troubling.  Of course Dr. Fauci is not the god of all things, and he never claimed to be, but he has the experience and resume to back up his opinions about public health and safety, so for people (and not just people, but government leaders) to completely discount him or disagree with him, just because they don't like what he has to say, is also troubling.  Fauci said himself, that he's not speaking about matters of economy, or practicality, he's only trying to give advice based on studying the virus and having a number one focus on safety and protecting human lives.  If our leaders want to balance that information with economic and social concerns, that may be fair, but the federal government right now is sending very mixed and confusing messages about this pandemic --- no wonder some people are getting behind crazy conspiracy theories about this entire thing being a hoax (which is a ridiculous notion in itself).

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,018]

10 hours ago, Californication said:

Is it just me or does it seem like there are a lot of youngerish, relatively attractive women at the white house briefings. 

As opposed too...? Oldish ugly hags? Lol to be youngish and relatively attractive is the criteria for being in the media I thought.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

11 hours ago, arch_8ngel said:

She definitely seemed over-eager to call him out.

I mean, I would be too considering his history of racist comments.

[Tulpa | 3,537]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/05/14/politics/mitch-mcconnell-obama-coronavirus-pandemic/index.html

[Californication | 1,490]

12 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

As opposed too...? Oldish ugly hags? Lol to be youngish and relatively attractive is the criteria for being in the media I thought.

When I picture the media or "journalists," I think of 50/50 men v. women mostly in their 40's and 50's with a sprinking of people in their 30's. This seemed like 80% women mostly attractive in their mid to late 30's.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

1 hour ago, Tulpa said:

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/05/14/politics/mitch-mcconnell-obama-coronavirus-pandemic/index.html

The height of irony. 
 

McConnell saying Obama was “classless” and should keep his mouth shut (on a private call) while Trump screams insults like a pathetic orange toddler on twitter.  Im surprised he even claimed he was wrong. 
 

Kentuckians deserve better. 

[Link | 2,738]

15 hours ago, spacepup said:

It's a very confusing and frankly, dangerous, message to the country and to citizens.

The previous governor here, who ran on a platform of being a good business man, just literally said it’s not possible to keep everyone safe, therefore we should reopen asap. (During his own term he was only too happy to play reckless with the economy, refusing payment for most general state services, resulting in shutdowns as well as high interest fees in the meantime.)

[Link | 2,738]

2 hours ago, Tulpa said:

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/05/14/politics/mitch-mcconnell-obama-coronavirus-pandemic/index.html

This... is like... telling your girlfriend you can’t satisfy her in bed, because her last boyfriend couldn’t, when he actually gave her multiple orgasms daily and also was a great cook and washed the dishes. 

And then you say “as to whether or not the sex was good and who's the critic and all the rest, I don't have any observation about that because I don't know enough about the details of that to comment on it in any detail."

I’m sure it’s just fake news though.

Also. His statement about only every hundred years. WTF

[Californication | 1,490]

Anyone see the video of Trump talking about how he takes Hydroxichloroquine to prevent getting Corona Virus this morning.

What a dick. Is someone dying because of gross negligence manslaughter? This really does sound like some spectrum of murder.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Californication