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[Plinko]

I guess I'm a bit confused about the GOP motives.

Either A) They truly believe their economic policies will help lift up every person out of poverty

OR

B) Their secret hope is to further grow the divide between rich and poor, and eventually have a rich, ruling class and a poor, working class.

I don't necessarily see an in-between here. My problem with A) is that these people aren't dumb. They know statistics show that Kansas/decades of "Trickle Down Economics" did absolutely nothing positive for those in the lower income levels. If that's a true assumption, then B) is the real plan, and we're dealing with the most immoral, hateful people in the country.

Am I missing an in-between scenario here?

 

[Retromelon]

I play xbox like patriotic americans do corey

The s is one of the best looking consoles ever imo

 

[Wilsongt]

I guess I'm a bit confused about the GOP motives.

Either A) They truly believe their economic policies will help lift up every person out of poverty

OR

B) Their secret hope is to further grow the divide between rich and poor, and eventually have a rich, ruling class and a poor, working class.

I don't necessarily see an in-between here. My problem with A) is that these people aren't dumb. They know statistics show that Kansas/decades of "Trickle Down Economics" did absolutely nothing positive for those in the lower income levels. If that's a true assumption, then B) is the real plan, and we're dealing with the most immoral, hateful people in the country.

Am I missing an in-between scenario here?

Back to serfdom and fiefdom.

You can live in this house, but you pay 80% of your minimum wage payments to the owners. After taxes.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

There's a healthy dose of the self righteous in the GOP who believe, whether succeed or fail, the GOP has a mandate from God himself to rule. For them, the entire country could be burning, but it would be "God's plan" because they're so far down the hole, there's no help.

They really don't care what happens to the poor as long as they can discriminate against gay people and stop women from having abortions (except their own daughters, they can have abortions, because you have to keep up appearances).

So I guess that's an in between I guess?

 

[kirblar]

Probably because the term was used by looots of pundits (and people who decided their own thought processes to be a reflection of what pundits say) as a broad term to lazily generalize everyone who questioned Clinton as light sexists and closeted-racists. It was also used for delegitimization purposes of Bernie's movement and supporters, who we all know ended up being mostly young women.

What alternate reality are you living in?

 

[Wilsongt]

There's a healthy dose of the self righteous in the GOP who believe, whether succeed or fail, the GOP has a mandate from God himself to rule. For them, the entire country could be burning, but it would be "God's plan" because they're so far down the hole, there's no help.

They really don't care what happens to the poor as long as they can discriminate against gay people and stop women from having abortions (except their own daughters, they can have abortions, because you have to keep up appearances).

So I guess that's an in between I guess?

It's a shame they spit in the face of God by succumbing to the very vices that were punished in the bible

 

[BreezyLimbo]

It's a shame they spit in the face of God by succumbing to the very vices that were punished in the bible

thats because religion is a tool they use

 

[balladofwindfishes]

It's a shame they spit in the face of God by succumbing to the very vices that were punished in the bible

They would have been first in line to crucify Jesus. But hey, at least Barabbas didn't let harlots into his circle!

 

[Veritigo_X]

OOOH YEAH, gotta get back to it some time. My dude's probably been raided to hell and back by now. only played on launch day ;(

was quite the wise move, making it f2p. Wouldve probably sold like poop and barely hit 1k posts (at best) on gaming side, had it followed a traditional publishing model.

also best stamina bar ever. Wish there was a mushroom that made it explode if the opponent got pantsed during the debuff duration, tho. Would make for great peeveepee

I actually like the F2P mechanic, which is weird. I've been playing for around 10 hours and haven't found it to be unfair. Having the punishment for death being literal money makes things really interesting too. I've been enjoying the game enough that I'm willing to throw a few bucks their way when I find myself actually needing to.

 

[Crocodile]

Not that great tbh. Identity politics is a well established academic concept that is in no way an euphemism to civil rights. Class politics are in itself sort of "identitarian". Thank god Bernie Sanders never said anything was wrong about identity politics, like Bee poorly implied.

Probably because the term was used by looots of pundits (and people who decided their own thought processes to be a reflection of what pundits say) as a broad term to lazily generalize everyone who questioned Clinton as light sexists and closeted-racists. It was also used for delegitimization purposes of Bernie's movement and supporters, who we all know ended up being mostly young women.

A) Identity politics does factually include more than Civil Rights but if you read and see how most people, on the left or the right, use the term than it becomes very clear what they actually mean.

B) You can be/could have been critical of Clinton and not be a sexist or racist. However, many people failed that bar both on GAF and online. I saw first hand many minority journalists get shit on all over Twitter. This was a reoccurring pattern. This group was a minority but it existed and I have no idea why reasonable Sanders supporters get ants in their pants over this fact. It's like if you were Italian but got pissed every time someone shit talk the Italian Mob. Unless you're part of the Italian Mob why are you getting mad? It doesn't apply to you.

 

[Plinko]

It's a shame they spit in the face of God by succumbing to the very vices that were punished in the bible

thats because religion is a tool they use

They would have been first in line to crucify Jesus. But hey, at least Barabbas didn't let harlots into his circle!

And this is why it bothers me when people state that all Christians are far-right nutjobs. We're not all like that. GOP is a bunch of hypocrites using the Bible as a boogeyman to scare voters.

 

[Wilsongt]

And this is why it bothers me when people state that all Christians are far-right nutjobs. We're not all like that. GOP is a bunch of hypocrites using the Bible as a boogeyman to scare voters.

I know not all Christians are like that. However, Christianity has unfortunately been taken over by a very vocal, fucked up minority. Like Islam.

 

[kirblar]

The issue is that "Christian" = "Evangelical". Coded language. If you're not one, you'll usually say "I'm Catholic/Presbyterian/etc."

 

[Coriolanus]

And this is why it bothers me when people state that all Christians are far-right nutjobs. We're not all like that. GOP is a bunch of hypocrites using the Bible as a boogeyman to scare voters.

Well, good news, you're in for a coupla metric tons of that condescension for the next 4 to 8 years

I play xbox like patriotic americans do corey

The s is one of the best looking consoles ever imo

y u support gross data collecting but u no support free traed fam? ;(

 

[Crocodile]

And this is why it bothers me when people state that all Christians are far-right nutjobs. We're not all like that. GOP is a bunch of hypocrites using the Bible as a boogeyman to scare voters.

The fact that nobody at GOP debates or events ever screams "we shouldn't discriminate against people not like us and we should take care of the poor because that's literally what Jesus did!" grinds my gears to no end. The existence of the Modern Republican Party and the way White Evangelicals vote continue to erode my faith in organized religion

 

[balladofwindfishes]

The issue is that "Christian" = "Evangelical". Coded language. If you're not one, you'll usually say "I'm Catholic/Presbyterian/etc."

Yep

I'd never call myself Christian. That has a different meaning than calling myself Catholic.

 

[thepotatoman]

I guess I'm a bit confused about the GOP motives.

Either A) They truly believe their economic policies will help lift up every person out of poverty

OR

B) Their secret hope is to further grow the divide between rich and poor, and eventually have a rich, ruling class and a poor, working class.

I don't necessarily see an in-between here. My problem with A) is that these people aren't dumb. They know statistics show that Kansas/decades of "Trickle Down Economics" did absolutely nothing positive for those in the lower income levels. If that's a true assumption, then B) is the real plan, and we're dealing with the most immoral, hateful people in the country.

Am I missing an in-between scenario here?

It's more that they're smart enough to find ways to explain away evidence that go against their world views.

There's a certain amount of guilt that tends to come inherently from having lots of wealth. But that guilt goes away if you see poor people as being just too lazy to be rich, and if you can see yourself as a saviour for going out and spending money or having any employees working for you at all. When you start thinking of things like that, it's easy to believe that giving rich people more money is the answer to society's problems.

At that point, the long term vision isn't exactly to create a huge income/wealth devide. Their utopia is one where people who have shitty lives are forced to into making a better life for themselves, while rich people are free to be the economic saviours that they see themselves as, not through force, but through contracts between willing participants that benifit both parties.

The thing they're ignorent of is the power dynamics at play that create class divides, which at extremes makes those willing contracts be functionally the same as slavery, and creates situations where it's practically impossible to make a better life for yourself if you start off poor. But again, that ignorence is often more a dynamic of self preservation than it is outright stupidity.

 

[Plinko]

The issue is that "Christian" = "Evangelical". Coded language. If you're not one, you'll usually say "I'm Catholic/Presbyterian/etc."

This is my major issue. Christian means following the teachings and words of Jesus. The republicans do pretty much the opposite.

 

[pigeon]

Yep

I'd never call myself Christian. That has a different meaning than calling myself Catholic.

I actually think we should take Christian back. The evangelical platform is un-Christian. Why should they own the word?

 

[Plinko]

I actually think we should take Christian back. The evangelical platform is un-Christian. Why should they own the word?

THIS. I will never stop calling myself Christian. I will, however, never use the word "evangelical" because of what the GOP has done to the word and its associations.

Also, in LOL news:

Mehdi Hasan Verified account
‏@mehdirhasan

BREAKING: State Department source tells me Trump considering disgraced ex-Fox News boss Roger Ailes for Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy

 

[Wilsongt]

Energy Dept basically said fuck you to Trump and won't release names.

 

[geomon]

FBI Sued for Records on Agency’s Role in Trump Victory

The FBI is in violation of the Freedom of Information Act. Investigative journalist Jason Leopold and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) PhD candidate/Harvard Klein Center for Internet & Society research affiliate, Ryan Shapiro, filed a lawsuit this morning against the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The suit is over the FBI’s failure to comply with Shapiro and Leopold’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records on the FBI’s role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Jason Leopold is an award-winning Senior Investigative Reporter at Vice News, specializing in counterterrorism and human rights. Leopold has been called a “FOIA Terrorist” by federal employees for his aggressive use of the Freedom of Information Act, which includes successfully suing the FBI to force changes to Bureau FOIA practices.

hmmm

 

[RustyNails]

I actually like the F2P mechanic, which is weird. I've been playing for around 10 hours and haven't found it to be unfair. Having the punishment for death being literal money makes things really interesting too. I've been enjoying the game enough that I'm willing to throw a few bucks their way when I find myself actually needing to.

Trade your ingame coins for Death Metal. You will rack up lots of coins in game and many go to waste because of the 40k level cap. Might as well spend them on DM and make it up.

 

[whyamihere]

‏@mmurraypolitics
@maggieNYT @GlennThrush @politico The lesson many Ds and Rs learned from '16: Never apologize, never disclose, and always fight back (versus press)

‏@maggieNYT
@mmurraypolitics @GlennThrush @politico yes - thought Clintons have held onto portions of those lessons for longer than 2016

Get over it, Maggie.

 

[Veritigo_X]

Trade your ingame coins for Death Metal. You will rack up lots of coins in game and many go to waste because of the 40k level cap. Might as well spend them on DM and make it up.

Wait, you can trade coins for Death Metals? Awesome. I'll have to dig around the menus some more to find that. I thought you can only trade Death Metals for coins (who the hell would do this?).

Btw, you can later upgrade your bank to well beyond 40k. I'm at 70k now. Not that it really matters now that I'm getting raided all the damn time... I just spend all my shit before I log off now. Can't steal what I don't have!

 

[studyguy]

THIS. I will never stop calling myself Christian. I will, however, never use the word "evangelical" because of what the GOP has done to the word and its associations.

Also, in LOL news:

Just a white house full of pussy grabbing

 

[Pixieking]

Get over it, Maggie.

Reminds me - still need to cancel my NYT sub. Gonna miss their Arts and Performance reviews, but it makes me depressed I'm not in NY to go see stuff, so... No loss?

 

[Kid Heart]

THIS. I will never stop calling myself Christian. I will, however, never use the word "evangelical" because of what the GOP has done to the word and its associations.

Also, in LOL news:

Somehow, despite people like Tillerson, Carson, and Perry being picked for cabinet positions, each day Trump still manages to amaze me with his awful choices.

Also, I really hate some of the people I've seen online telling liberals to "get over it." If you want to stick your head in the sand and ignore the awfulness happening each day, fine, I can't stop you, but don't whine at me just cause I refuse to pretend this is somehow normal.

Energy Dept basically said fuck you to Trump and won't release names.

Awesome. I really need some good news amid all the dread.

 

[Pixieking]

It's more that they're smart enough to find ways to explain away evidence that go against their world views.

There's a certain amount of guilt that tends to come inherently from having lots of wealth. But that guilt goes away if you see poor people as being just too lazy to be rich, and if you can see yourself as a saviour for going out and spending money or having any employees working for you at all. When you start thinking of things like that, it's easy to believe that giving rich people more money is the answer to society's problems.

At that point, the long term vision isn't exactly to create a huge income/wealth devide. Their utopia is one where people who have shitty lives are forced to into making a better life for themselves, while rich people are free to be the economic saviours that they see themselves as, not through force, but through contracts between willing participants that benifit both parties.

The thing they're ignorent of is the power dynamics at play that create class divides, which at extremes makes those willing contracts be functionally the same as slavery, and creates situations where it's practically impossible to make a better life for yourself if you start off poor. But again, that ignorence is often more a dynamic of self preservation than it is outright stupidity.

Oddly relevant - just saw this on my Twitter TL: The age of entitlement: how wealth breeds narcissism

The reason, it turns out, is that even thoughts of being wealthy can create a feeling of increased entitlement — you start to feel superior to everyone else and thus more deserving: something at the centre of narcissism. They found this was true of people who were, in real life, better off. Wealthier people were more likely to agree with statements like "I honestly feel I’m just more deserving than other people" and place themselves higher on a self-assessed "class ladder" that indicated increasing levels of income, education and job prestige.

(Feel somewhat dirty for linking The Guardian, though. It's a shade of what it was under Rusbridger)

Unrelated, but don't wanna double-post:

Nate Cohn ‏@Nate_Cohn 7m7 minutes ago

Georgia electorate, vote history:
2016: White 61%, Black 27.6%, Hisp/Asian/Other 4.8%, Unknown 6.6%
2012: W 61.4%, B 29.9%, HAO 3.2%, U 5.5%

https://twitter.com/Nate_Cohn/status/808757350303678464

African American down but Hispanic/Asian/Other up. Not sure how to feel about this.

Not sure you can necessarily say it was "down," until we can see the raw vote totals.

True this.

 

[Sirpopopop]

Not sure you can necessarily say it was "down," until we can see the raw vote totals.

 

[RustyNails]

NYT about to break a major Russia Hax story soon.

 

[pigeon]

Reminds me - still need to cancel my NYT sub. Gonna miss their Arts and Performance reviews, but it makes me depressed I'm not in NY to go see stuff, so... No loss?

Yeah, I pulled the trigger on that a couple weeks ago and don't regret it.

If they step it up, I'll come back.

 

[Mirand]

Yeah, I pulled the trigger on that a couple weeks ago and don't regret it.

If they step it up, I'll come back.

I'm giving my money to WaPo at the moment.

 

[Incognito]

also let my NYtimes lapse. just flying solo with FT.

 

[kirblar]

I really hope they're looking hard at Manafort. If there's a smoking gun, it'll be him.

 

[RustyNails]

I'm giving my money to WaPo at the moment.

Well, your money is going to Chris Chilizza then. Basically towards Hillary Emails news alert.

 

[whyamihere]

Well, your money is going to Chris Chilizza then. Basically towards Hillary Emails news alert.

This is my problem with WaPo.

 

[Wilsongt]

Lol. I just saw a anti-Hillary article which basically ended with "you deserve it for not voting Bernie".

I think that will remain the biggest butthurt moment of 2016.

 

[pigeon]

Well, your money is going to Chris Chilizza then. Basically towards Hillary Emails news alert.

Ultimately both NYT and WaPo are balances between good reporting and assholes. I just think the ratio is too low at NYT right now. Given that they explicitly committed to representing Trump voters better, I think it's worth cutting them loose.

Cilizza is terrible, but he's not writing puff pieces about Richard Spencer.

 

[Dominican Power]

Dana Rohrabacher is fucking insane.

 

[RustyNails]

NYT article on Russia Hack is out. Too big and detailed but contains lots of new details.

The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S.

 

[Black Mamba]

NYT article on Russia Hack is out. Too big and detailed but contains lots of new details.

The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S.

This article is depressing.

 

[tedrotheredro]

The low-key approach of the F.B.I. meant that Russian hackers could roam freely through the committee’s network for nearly seven months before top D.N.C. officials were alerted to the attack and hired cyberexperts to protect their systems. In the meantime, the hackers moved on to targets outside the D.N.C., including Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman, John D. Podesta, whose private email account was hacked months later.

So on top of all the Comey bullshit and not speaking out against Russia before the election, the FBI also haphazardly informed the DNC about the hack via help line message. If they had informed the DNC properly, it could have prevented the Podesta hack.

The movie about this one day is gonna be great.

NY Times link for new page

 

[B-Dubs]

This article is depressing.

You aren't kidding. This whole thing was a shitshow from almost everyone involved and so many people got played like goddamned fiddles...

 

[Renji_11]

The issue is that "Christian" = "Evangelical". Coded language. If you're not one, you'll usually say "I'm Catholic/Presbyterian/etc."

Well that may be true for most white people but at least in the south black people also just say Christian.

 

[Wilsongt]

So on top of all the Comey bullshit and not speaking out against Russia before the election, the FBI also haphazardly informed the DNC about the hack via help line message. If they had informed the DNC properly, it could have prevented the Podesta hack.

The movie about this one day is gonna be great.

NY Times link for new page

If we survive long enough for a movie to get made. All it takes is for someone to insult President Shitforbrains and off go the nukes!

Edit:

Fucking what?

CHRISBOSWELL VIA GETTY IMAGES
Oklahoma may require public restrooms in restaurants, hospitals, public schools, hotels and nursing homes to post signs with anti-abortion sentiments as part of a drive against the procedure.

The state’s board of health was due to discuss Tuesday regulations that would force any restrooms in buildings regulated by the Oklahoma Health Department to carry signs that state:

There are many public and private agencies willing and able to help you carry your child to term and assist you and your child after your child is born, whether you choose to keep your child or to place him or her for adoption. The State of Oklahoma strongly urges you to contact them if you are pregnant.
The stipulation could cost affected businesses and organizations an estimated $2.3 million and would require them to put up the signs by January 2018, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Anti-abortion group Oklahomans for Life pushed for the June passage of the bill containing the sign provision. Known as the “Humanity of the Unborn Child Act,” the legislation requires the state to work toward “achieving an abortion-free society” through information material, public service announcements and other media.

Also, LOL @ helping the baby once it's born.

 

[LostMyNarbles]

So baffling how Republican's can be anti-abortion, but once the baby is born and mom is stuck a single mother trying to make ends meat they are like "Nope you are on your own".

 

[Vixdean]

So baffling how Republican's can be anti-abortion, but once the baby is born and mom is stuck a single mother trying to make ends meat they are like "Nope you are on your own".

Well most of them end up in the Republican's version of welfare: the military.

 

[Brawndo Addict]

NYT article on Russia Hack is out. Too big and detailed but contains lots of new details.

The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S.

This is a fantastic article and I strongly recommend that people read the whole thing when you have some time. There was a ton of work put into it and it gets into geopolitical issues in the second half so it's not just a rehash of how the hacks happened on a technical or personal level.

As for the actual story that is being told, it's equal parts horrifying and infuriating. Incompetent government security experts are par for the course but apparently the FBI has no protocols in place to verify their identity and prove they're not a prank/scam call. The DNC and FBI offices were literally a half mile apart and no one on either side thought to just fucking walk over in person to talk about this shit.

The article also completely cements my opinion that Obama royally fucked everything up by not openly and officially condemning the Russians. What's the point of a show of strength if it's completely covert? I forgot he had a press conference about the North Korea hack and that we threw some additional sanctions their way too.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

This is a fantastic article and I strongly recommend that people read the whole thing when you have some time. There was a ton of work put into it and it gets into geopolitical issues in the second half so it's not just a rehash of how the hacks happened on a technical or personal level.

As for the actual story that is being told, it's equal parts horrifying and infuriating. Incompetent government security experts are par for the course but apparently the FBI has no protocols in place to verify their identity and prove they're not a prank/scam call. The DNC and FBI offices were literally a half mile apart and no one on either side thought to just fucking walk over in person to talk about this shit.

The article also completely cements my opinion that Obama royally fucked everything up by not openly and officially condemning the Russians.

Part of the reason Obama/WH didn't do that is everybody thought Clinton had it in the bag.