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[neurosisxeno]

she walked off while calling me a "n***** loving race traitor."

She sounds quite charming.

 

[Dominican Power]

I also got into a verbal altercation with a white supremacist (who may have been high on meth?) outside a Best Buy last night. My friends and I were leaving, and this woman was right outside the doors shouting every disgusting racial slur at people walking by and invoking Trump. Shit like "This is Trump's America, Mexicans get the fuck out! Hang the n*****s"

I told her to "SHUT THE FUCK UP," she started screaming at me, I screamed back. Best Buy employees came outside, my friend called the police, and she walked off while calling me a "n***** loving race traitor." The whole thing was pretty nuts.

I wouldn't advise you to start some shit with someone high on meth.

 

[KingK]

She sounds quite charming.

Like I said, heart of Trump country.

At least I'm moving to Indianapolis this summer.

I wouldn't advise you to start some shit with someone high on meth.

Yeah, I just kinda snapped. I kept a safe distance though, I wasn't right up in her face.

 

[AntraxSuicide]

Anecdotally, I've had a lot of success arguing with conservatives on climate policy when I simply ignore any of the moral questions or scientific evidence of climate change, and stick to economic points. Bring up the rapid decrease in price for renewable energy, its inevitability as the global power source of the future. Only question is if we'll be selling our domestic tech or importing from China. Mention the advantage of energy independence/no more foreign oil imports, potential to power your home almost entirely off the grid, etc.

I've been able to convince literally everyone I've talked to about this to support green energy policy. I think it's really a winning issue that dems should always be on the offensive with.

I've also had success with this but only by framing it antagonistically towards other countries. "If you wanna stick it to other countries, then the best way is to crank out so much green energy that we start selling it to everybody! Get us off of their oil and on our stuff!"

I'm assuming Dems wouldn't be dicks but at the individual level it seems to convince some folks.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

If feel like economics are what pushing the red states to go for renewables. Texas proves this.

Also parts of Texas will be under water if things continue as is.

I don't know if that's a big motivator... but it should be


If it all goes south, they're going to be fighting a war in my area for our giant pile of fresh water...

 

[Aaron Strife]

I mean the entire Republican Party is fucking tainted for life but at least Cassidy seems more concerned with healthcare than just with racking up a "win."

He's got to be kidding himself with that stuff about sticking to Trump's promise though. Trump pulled all of his promises straight out of his ass. And ACA is the best system for expanded coverage without going further left, which I'm guessing Cassidy doesn't want.

Anything Collins, Cassidy and Murkowski sign off on will be too moderate for Paul, Cruz and Lee, and vice-versa.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I feared that Bannon and Preibus were sent back home to concoct fuckery to counterattack the massive barrage of damning news like when Sessions recused himself, and that might be coming true. Real "make the liberals cry" flailing and try to realign attacks along party basis again.

Hopefully the oppo droppo is particularly nasty this week to take them off their game.

I mean the entire Republican Party is fucking tainted for life but at least Cassidy seems more concerned with healthcare than just with racking up a "win."

He's got to be kidding himself with that stuff about sticking to Trump's promise though. Trump pulled all of his promises straight out of his ass. And ACA is the best system for expanded coverage without going further left, which I'm guessing Cassidy doesn't want.

Anything Collins, Cassidy and Murkowski sign off on will be too moderate for Paul, Cruz and Lee, and vice-versa.

He probably either is kidding, or COYA by paying homage to one of the GOP's many security blankets (this one being, Trump does not lie on campaign promises and won't fail miserably to enact them). Either way it's harmful by giving that garbage credence.

And yeah, those papered over chasms between partymates ain't supporting the weight of anything heavier than attacks on phantom enemies. They do seem to be making plans for this inevitable failure though by choosing to crumble it. Their funerals, but others will join them though...

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

I think Bannon got sent home because Israel was like "nah, fuck that guy." Rinse went home because no one liked him

 

[Suikoguy]

Hopefully the oppo droppo is particularly nasty this week to take them off their game.

I keep expecting it to slow down, especially with Muller in charge of the big investigation.

But, Trump has pissed off so many people, who knows?

I think Bannon got sent home because Israel was like "nah, fuck that guy." Rinse went home because no one liked him

It's a shame they did not send Rince back to his Puzzlebox

 

[Lucky Forward]

I wouldn't advise you to start some shit with someone high on meth.

Yeah, I just kinda snapped. I kept a safe distance though, I wasn't right up in her face.

Confronting racists sounds good in principle, but...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Two men were stabbed and killed in Portland on Friday after they tried to intervene while a man shouted racial slurs at two women, one of whom was wearing a hijab, police said.

 

[CrimzonSamurai]

Confronting racists sounds good in principle, but...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Two men were stabbed and killed in Portland on Friday after they tried to intervene while a man shouted racial slurs at two women, one of whom was wearing a hijab, police said.

A valuable lesson to always expect violence or just initiate violence yourself when dealing with that type of scum.

 

[exmachina64]

This is what I've always felt - that the only conservative argument against Green Energy, Renewables, etc. - economics - is bullshit. I don't know exactly what prominent Dems are arguing on this subject but this should always be part of the broader argument. Conservatives have literally no good points on this issue.

Democrats have used economics as an argument before, but Republicans generally refused to listen. If it required an infrastructure investment, Republicans said the government couldn't afford it or shouldn't be in the business of doing that. When the price was too high, Republicans argued that renewables weren't competitive -- that trying to make them more competitive would raise the price of energy for everyone and that we needed to focus on fossil fuels in the meantime.

Even if you convince Republicans that renewable energy is good, you still have to influence Republican politicians to support it.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

I mean the entire Republican Party is fucking tainted for life but at least Cassidy seems more concerned with healthcare than just with racking up a "win."

He's got to be kidding himself with that stuff about sticking to Trump's promise though. Trump pulled all of his promises straight out of his ass. And ACA is the best system for expanded coverage without going further left, which I'm guessing Cassidy doesn't want.

Anything Collins, Cassidy and Murkowski sign off on will be too moderate for Paul, Cruz and Lee, and vice-versa.

I'm skeptical because this was the logic for why it couldn't pass the house and then it did but we'll see.

 

[Spoiled Milk]

This is what I've always felt - that the only conservative argument against Green Energy, Renewables, etc. - economics - is bullshit. I don't know exactly what prominent Dems are arguing on this subject but this should always be part of the broader argument. Conservatives have literally no good points on this issue.

Just let the market do as it may. The solar energy market is already employing more people than gas and oil combined in the US. The floodgates have already opened. There is no way to stop it except protectionism. But protectionism doesn't last long when dollars are at stake.

 

[Aaron Strife]

I'm skeptical because this was the logic for why it couldn't pass the house and then it did but we'll see.

What would come out of the Senate though is likely a completely different bill than what would come out of the House.

I won't be too surprised if Collins, Murkowski et al sink their future career prospects to pass this travesty of a bill, but ultimately I think they'll just stall the legislation until it dies. That CBO score probably would have killed the House vote, the GOP leadership rushing to pass anything was highly unusual.

 

[TheLaughingStock]

Hope the rest of the world comes together and does everything they can to damage the US. I hate advocating for accelerationism but we don't have time to play fucking games with climate change.

The only thing that can save the world now is the planet being able to cope better than we currently assume alongside major technological innovations with our backs against the wall. People will have to relocate because of flooding, governments will become politically unstable, there will be massive amounts of refugees and we may already be in a mass extinction event as we speak. Sanctions against the US or anyone really won't change that.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

What would come out of the Senate though is likely a completely different bill than what would come out of the House.

I won't be too surprised if Collins, Murkowski et al sink their future career prospects to pass this travesty of a bill, but ultimately I think they'll just stall the legislation until it dies. That CBO score probably would have killed the House vote.

I don't think Murkowski or Collins are all that worried to be honest. Collins doesn't have to worry about the Medicaid expansion issues thanks to LePage and also is the second most popular senator in the country after Sanders iirc, and Murkowski is so beloved she won a write-in campaign. The House members in swing districts that voted for it are much more at risk for being punished than any senators other than Flake and Heller, and since voter memories are short I don't think any of them should have to worry about 2020. It's not a guarantee but I don't think that the "moderate" senators have any more incentive to not pass a monstrous bill than the "moderate" representatives, and even if they water it down a bit to say "hey we moderated it" I imagine it will still be horrifying.

 

[Aaron Strife]

I don't think Murkowski or Collins are all that worried to be honest. Collins doesn't have to worry about the Medicaid expansion issues thanks to LePage and also is the second most popular senator in the country after Sanders iirc, and Murkowski is so beloved she won a write-in campaign. The House members in swing districts that voted for it are much more at risk for being punished than any senators other than Flake and Heller, and since voter memories are short I don't think any of them should have to worry about 2020. It's not a guarantee but I don't think that the "moderate" senators have any more incentive to not pass a monstrous bill than the "moderate" representatives, and even if they water it down a bit to say "hey we moderated it" I imagine it will still be horrifying.

Eh I mean if people are like literally dying from Trumpcare I suspect this issue would have legs in 2020

Obamacare was still hurting senators in 2014 because of website bullshit

Probably not 2022

 

[Hellwarden]

Putting aside how I disagree, I feel like the general idea and the image Nile chose are perhaps somewhat at odds with each other.

 

[B-Dubs]

Putting aside how I disagree, I feel like the general idea and the image Nile chose are perhaps somewhat at odds with each other.

Odds are he didn't pick the photo, editorial did.

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

The only thing that can save the world now is the planet being able to cope better than we currently assume alongside major technological innovations with our backs against the wall. People will have to relocate because of flooding, governments will become politically unstable, there will be massive amounts of refugees and we may already be in a mass extinction event as we speak. Sanctions against the US or anyone really won't change that.

We can leave republicans in the areas that will be flooded. They don't believe in climate change after all.

And since they don't believe in welfare and want small government, no emergency help either.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

Next Dem Pres needs to run a moonshot/ Manhattan Project in renewable energy. US sitting on our hands while China/Europe leapfrog in technology could be devastating to long term US power.

 

[RustyNails]

Putting aside how I disagree, I feel like the general idea and the image Nile chose are perhaps somewhat at odds with each other.

Nile Gardiner is a British conservative commentator, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, and a former aide to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

But of course.

 

[FyreWulff]

Next Dem Pres needs to run a moonshot/ Manhattan Project in renewable energy. US sitting on our hands while China/Europe leapfrog in technology could be devastating to long term US power.

if you think about it china is fucking genius. If they rush to go solar and renewable first, that means they'll have the factory tooling and everything set up for the materials and parts needed and nobody will be able to compete on them for price. They'll have cleaner air AND profit off the industry.

People forget that ignoring it means someone else is just going to make money off it.

 

[B-Dubs]

if you think about it china is fucking genius. If they rush to go solar and renewable first, that means they'll have the factory tooling and everything set up for the materials and parts needed and nobody will be able to compete on them for price. They'll have cleaner air AND profit off the industry.

People forget that ignoring it means someone else is just going to make money off it.

They desperately need the cleaner air though, what's going on in Hong Kong is not sustainable for too long a period of time.

 

[FyreWulff]

They desperately need the cleaner air though, what's going on in Hong Kong is not sustainable for too long a period of time.

yep, they have an actual visible need.

people forget that in the US, cities used to have dark smog and all the buildings near the city center were always super dark from the pollution soot. Once the problem was "fixed" by going to cleaner methods people fucking forgot what you used to have to live in, so now they get away with pretending it's not real.

daytime photo of Pittsburgh. In 1950s.

 

[Pixieking]

Trump mulls staff shake-up in effort to contain escalating Russia crisis

So, remember how Obama and Hillary were all "Trump needs to be a unifying force for America"? I... Don't think he's going to do that. Ever.

That includes proposals for more travel and campaign-style rallies nationwide so that Trump can speak directly to his supporters, as well as changes in the pace and nature of news briefings, probably including a diminished role for embattled White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

Aides say they think Trump’s agenda will be boosted by making more targeted appearances around the country to tout it.

And several advisers are pushing Trump to do more of the campaign-style rallies like the one he had planned in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday night. It has been postponed but will be rescheduled soon, Trump’s campaign committee said.

Being outside of Washington among his supporters, particularly in a state he won last year, energizes Trump and provides a way for him to communicate without the filter of the media, his advisers say.

Basically, sounds like he's going to retrench into his base (his base, mind you, not the GOP's wider base). And with the Press Room changes and "war on media" that he's been pushing, he's going to be able to fine-tune a message to his supporters, and blame any contradictions on "liberal media" or "the establishment".

Also, the article has some interesting gems, like:

As Trump has participated in meetings with world leaders in recent days, senior aides — including Bannon, Kushner and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus — have met in the White House to discuss a potential reshuffle.

and

Underscoring the uncertainty of what lies ahead, some Trump associates said there have been conversations about dispatching Priebus to serve as ambassador to Greece — his mother is of Greek descent — as a face-saving way to remove him from the White House. A White House spokeswoman strongly denied that possibility Saturday.

 

[Ogodei]

Next Dem Pres needs to run a moonshot/ Manhattan Project in renewable energy. US sitting on our hands while China/Europe leapfrog in technology could be devastating to long term US power.

That's the big thing. Quitting the Paris Accords is a US vs the World moment, and that's a contest we can no longer win (i mean, we could never really win, but we had a lot of clout coming off of the Cold War win). The world will move on without us and then we'll see what it's like to be shut out for the first time since World War I.

It makes me wonder if the Superpower system that's endured since the days of Columbus is coming to an end, to be replaced by a system of further global integration and cooperation (not one world government or anything like that, but that the liberal school of international relations will come to predominate).

 

[B-Dubs]

yep, they have an actual visible need.

people forget that in the US, cities used to have dark smog and all the buildings near the city center were always super dark from the pollution soot. Once the problem was "fixed" by going to cleaner methods people fucking forgot what you used to have to live in, so now they get away with pretending it's not real.

daytime photo of Pittsburgh. In 1950s.

The US was pretty bad back in the day, but China's got that problem now and more. I still remember that story before the Olympics they hosted when they were cleaning a lake and every time they got to one end the rest of the lake was polluted again.

 

[Suikoguy]

The US was pretty bad back in the day, but China's got that problem now and more. I still remember that story before the Olympics they hosted when they were cleaning a lake and every time they got to one end the rest of the lake was polluted again.

It's really kinda sad, instead of learning from what other countries went through, with older technology, they just did not give a single fuck.

 

[B-Dubs]

It's really kinda sad, instead of learning from what other countries went through, with older technology, they just did not give a single fuck.

Green tech wasn't what it is now when China was industrializing, so they went with what worked. These days there's no excuse though, which just makes Trump look even worse.

 

[Suikoguy]

Green tech wasn't what it is now when China was industrializing, so they went with what worked. These days there's no excuse though, which just makes Trump look even worse.

I would think there were quite a few advancements since the 1950s.
I can't state with certainty, but my guess is they just used whatever was cheapest.
Putting in smokestack scrubbers and the like costs money.

Edit: I should suffix this by saying China has turned the corner and is accelerating towards the right direction.
It just sucks we have to geoengineer now. Although, the degree of geoengineering will lessen the more we reduce emissions now.
Hopefully China can help with that.

 

[excelsiorlef]

what no, voting doesn't matter at all and certainly isn't worth humiliating your daughter for

Lol voting doesn't matter at all?

What bloody nonsense is this?

 

[Suikoguy]

Lol voting doesn't matter at all?

What bloody nonsense is this?

There has been a ton of nonsense today.
My favorite: The electoral college favors the Democrats.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Lol voting doesn't matter at all?

What bloody nonsense is this?

I mean, her vote assuredly did not matter. If nothing in the universe changed except her voting because she knew she'd be totally ashamed of herself for not doing so if Trump won, Trump would still win.

Voting is good and people should do it and I do it but she shouldn't be publicly shamed for not doing it.

 

[excelsiorlef]

There has been a ton of nonsense today.
My favorite: The electoral college favors the Democrats.

It's like the word Clinton is some sort of hypnotic trigger to lose your fucking mind and enter some bullshit alternate reality.

 

[excelsiorlef]

I mean, her vote assuredly did not matter. If nothing in the universe changed except her voting because she knew she'd be totally ashamed of herself for not doing so if Trump won, Trump would still win.

Voting is good and people should do it and I do it but she shouldn't be publicly shamed for not doing it.

But like that's not what you ya know said at all...

And really in the end it's better to encourage voting than fall back on your meh whatever rhetoric.

 

[Suikoguy]

But like that's not what you ya know said at all...

And really in the end it's better to encourage voting than fall back on your meh whatever rhetoric.

The argument, I forget which poster made it, that driving up the margins still has a positive effect is a good one. Voting always matters, and frankly you have no excuse in any no-excuse absentee states, since it's so damn easy to vote.

 

[excelsiorlef]

The argument, I forget which poster made it, that driving up the margins still has a positive effect is a good one. Voting always matters, and frankly you have no excuse in any no-excuse absentee states, since it's so damn easy to vote.

It's also hella ridiculous to be all for the revolution candidate on one hand and dismissing voting as meaningless on the other

 

[Pixieking]

I mean, her vote assuredly did not matter. If nothing in the universe changed except her voting because she knew she'd be totally ashamed of herself for not doing so if Trump won, Trump would still win.

Voting is good and people should do it and I do it but she shouldn't be publicly shamed for not doing it.

And the problem with this is that, if everyone believes that their vote doesn't matter (like this woman did), then you have a large number of voters who, en masse, could change things.

There needs to be more pressure on people to think not as individuals, but as a society of like-minded people who want the world to change, and can enact that change through voting.

 

[thepotatoman]

There has been a ton of nonsense today.
My favorite: The electoral college favors the Democrats.

It did under Obama. Electoral college got screwed because while Republicans elected someone specifically trying to appeal to the rust belt, as speculated from the moment Trump won, democrats elected someone that specifically does not appeal to the rust belt, and then decided to not even try there because there was too much trust in the polls.

Rust belt + virginia should have been an iron wall.

 

[B-Dubs]

It did under Obama. Electoral college got screwed because while Republicans elected someone specifically trying to appeal to the rust belt, as speculated from the moment Trump won, democrats elected someone that specifically does not appeal to the rust belt, and then decided to not even try there because there was too much trust in the polls.

Rust belt + virginia should have been an iron wall.

There's also the voter suppression stuff that was going on.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

And the problem with this is that, if everyone believes that their vote doesn't matter (like this woman did), then you have a large number of voters who, en masse, could change things.

There needs to be more pressure on people to think not as individuals, but as a society of like-minded people who want the world to change, and can enact that change through voting.

I definitely agree with this! I think our turnout problems need to be fixed with systemic change, not individual ones, which is why I object to trying to humiliate a woman for not voting.

 

[thepotatoman]

There's also the voter suppression stuff that was going on.

That too.

That one guy's promise that voter ID laws would hand Pennsylvania to the republicans for 2012 was just 4 years too soon.

 

[Pixieking]

I definitely agree with this! I think our turnout problems need to be fixed with systemic change, not individual ones, which is why I object to trying to humiliate a woman for not voting.

The hard part is effecting this systemic change. If we could guarantee that the lessons would be learned - and they'd vote D - I would be all for humiliating anyone and everyone who didn't vote in 2016, nationwide. I just don't think it would work in the Dems favour.

 

[The Technomancer]

Dems need to go hard on voter suppression. Harder then they have so far.

 

[PKrockin]

The population of the country favors Democrats.

 

[thepotatoman]

Dems need to go hard on voter suppression. Harder then they have so far.

Hard how? It's not the best political message to run on. It might help raise minority turnout some by people being pissed their vote is being suppressed, but overall polls show they'd be better off ignoring suppression and instead promoting election day holiday, move election day to weekend, or vote by mail.

Can't really do much else about it unless they win local elections or court cases.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Hard how? It's not the best political message to run on. It might help raise minority turnout some by people being pissed their vote is being suppressed, but overall they'd be better off ignoring suppression and just promoting election day holiday, move election day to weekend, or vote by mail.

Can't really do much else about it unless they win local elections or court cases.

I think he means going at it policy wise, which would mean just overturning them when you take back state houses or win some Secretaries of State over.

The biggest problem is that voter ID is super popular with every group, including minorities, so a better policy is just getting AVR passed when you take a state government over and free national IDs issued by mail I think.

 

[B-Dubs]

I think he means going at it policy wise, which would mean just overturning them when you take back state houses or win some Secretaries of State over.

The biggest problem is that voter ID is super popular with every group, including minorities, so a better policy is just getting AVR passed when you take a state government over and free national IDs issued by mail I think.

I mean, the policies are generally struck down pretty quickly as voter ID as implemented by the GOP pretty clearly constitutes a poll tax. The issue is they get put up in the first place.