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[NoName999]

Trumper makes dumb, hateful FB joke about running over protesters. Is fired.

It started with a comment on Facebook for people looking to protest President Donald Trump's rally Tuesday in downtown Phoenix. Among many posts about where to meet up and what to bring to the "Protest Trump Downtown Phoenix" event, one appeared that wasn't like the others.

"You are all pathetic. Cant wait to drive through. 4x4 with push bumper will be sweet in this crowd. I named my lifted truck 'trumper,' " James Cobo wrote.

The comment seemed to reference an incident just 10 days before, when 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed after a car slammed into a group of protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.

People began taking screenshots of the post, researching the man who appeared to have posted it and contacting companies that could be his employer. Less than 24 hours later, an automotive-services store in Buckeye, a city about 40 miles west of downtown Phoenix, posted to Facebook condemning the threat and distancing itself from the man who posted it. James Cobo had been an employee of West Valley Tires Point S, but that tie was severed as of Wednesday.

"West Valley Tires Point S wants to publicly state we do not condone or support violence or prejudice in anyway shape or form. We were recently made aware of an employee that posted outrageous posts and videos that are in no way affiliated with the positive views, values and appreciation we have for people in our community and throughout the world. That person is no longer affiliated with West Valley Tires Point S."

"I'm being made into a horrible person over a joke that was just meant to ruffle some feathers," Cobo told The Republic on Wednesday night. "I admit it was a tasteless joke, but keyword here is it was a joke. If anybody was ever going to go and intentionally hurt people, why would they talk about it on social media publicly before doing it?"

Cobo stands by what he said, even after losing his job and receiving multiple death threats. He has since bought security cameras for his home.

"I never hurt anybody, nor did I have the intent to," Cobo said. "I never said I was actually going to hit anybody with a vehicle. They assumed it. Never would have thought it would be a big deal. I still can't figure out why I'm being called a racist. I've never even said anything racist."

He said he did intend to upset people.

"I was poking at them, trying to get a reaction like they do to the Trump supporters," Cobo said. "Just hurt feelings like they do to everybody that doesn't feel the same way they do about life."

He said his post was not referencing the violent incident that killed Heather Heyer, but he also didn't express sympathy for her.

"If you play in the road, you might get hit by a car. My parents taught me that when I was little," he said. "Now, her family has $225,000, because she played in the street, and people feel sorry for her family."

A GoFundMe page created to raise money for Heyer's family raised nearly $225,000, before it was closed.

He said he did not end up attending the rally but overall does not regret what he said.

"I don't care that I got fired. I already got another job," he said. "The only thing that upsets me about this situation is that adults are able to throw a tantrum and raise hell and get what they want by doing so. This is not how America is supposed to work."

 

[benicillin]

At the very least I'm getting some serious enjoyment from watching dumbasses feel empowered and then get smacked down for it.

Life is coming at a lot of people really fast these days.

 

[pigeon]

If we'd paid attention to the popularity ratings of Democratic politicians, there's good chances that Trump would not be president right now. There's at least a reasonable argument that Pence is the next favourite to be the Republican presidential nominee; I don't think this is something you should ignore.

The main reason we didn't pay attention was that we were paying attention to the popularity ratings of Republican politicians!

 

[Dominican Power]

You know the Trump administration is going to botch this hurricane.

 

[Teggy]

Trumper makes dumb, hateful FB joke about running over protesters. Is fired.

Holy crap, "play in the street" and the family got some money? What kind of brain damage does this guy have?

 

[Trouble]

Trumper makes dumb, hateful FB joke about running over protesters. Is fired.

Ahhh, the old "just rustling jimmies" defense.

 

[skullmuffins]

Trumper makes dumb, hateful FB joke about running over protesters. Is fired.

Whines about being made into a horrible person. A minute later confirms he's a horrible person.

 

[Hopfrog]

Ahhh, the old "just rustling jimmies" defense.

It has become so frighteningly commonplace recently, but it is still depressing to see how many people there are who have no political interest other than "pissing off" or trolling the other side.

Politics as tribalism/team sports, ugh.

 

[Aaron Strife]

"I was just making a joke, like they always do. Leftists threaten to kill Trump supporters all the time!"

Funny because a friend of mine and I a few months ago were ripping on people who share those dumb "If I see protesters in the street I'll keep driving" memes on FB and twitter and such and were like "Yeah, like you'd REALLY just murder all these people." As it turns out...

 

[Prof. Bathtub]

Good thing mainstream conservative media like Fox condemns running over protestors and doesn't write articles calling for it, right?

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Ahhh, the old "just rustling jimmies" defense.

"I wanted to kill some people, I even wrote it out, but it was just a prank brah."

 

[Dan]

Trumper makes dumb, hateful FB joke about running over protesters. Is fired.

"If you play in the road, you might get hit by a car. My parents taught me that when I was little," he said. "Now, her family has $225,000, because she played in the street, and people feel sorry for her family."

Yooooooooo...

Speechless.

 

[IggyChooChoo]

Good thing mainstream conservative media like Fox condemns running over protestors and doesn't write articles calling for it, right?

About a year ago, the once-influential right-wing blogger Instapundit almost got fired from the UT law school over tweeting "Run. Them. Down." about some BLM protesters on a highway. Shame he wasn't canned.

 

[VendettaRed07]

So when do you think Joe Kennedy is going to make a grab for a higher office?

When there is one available probably

Both senate seats, no

Governors mansion, Charlie baker is too popular rn

 

[Box of Kittens]

Gallup at 34/60. No change from yesterday. That's now 5 days at 60 disapprove or above in August (compared to one total January-July).

 

[Diablos]

Shit be bonkers.

We are doomed etc.

Seriously this is the darkest timeline

 

[benicillin]

Gallup at 34/60. No change from yesterday. That's now 5 days at 60 disapprove or above in August (compared to one total January-July).

I've believed for a while that the first natural disaster would get him under 30. I guess we'll see after this weekend.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Yooooooooo...

Speechless.

Party

of

s o c i o p a t h s

 

[Doc Holliday]

We are doomed etc.

Seriously this is the darkest timeline

Looks bad, but there’s plenty of time till 2018 elections. Who knows Trump will do before them.

 

[Box of Kittens]

Also, with the usual caveats in place about causation, out of six days Trump has been at 60 disapprove or above in Gallup, four have been post-Charlottesville.

 

[Wilsongt]

Trump and the GOP makes politics not fun anymore.

 

[BoogieWoogie]

Christ, Trump is going to fuck up Harvey so bad.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

i wonder if they prefer running over people because mass shootings would cause the liberal lame stream media to ask uncomfortable questions about gun rights.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Trump is going to say something bad about the Liberals in Texas and how they deserve Harvey.

We are doomed etc.

Seriously this is the darkest timeline

Thanks for the update.

 

[Aaron Strife]

We are doomed etc.

Seriously this is the darkest timeline

Accept Kasich-Hickenlooper as your Lord and Savior (respectively).

 

[Diablos]

Accept Kasich-Hickenlooper as your Lord and Savior (respectively).

I would vote for the ticket if it were viable

Big if

Like with everything favorable for sanity post '16

 

[Aaron Strife]

I would vote for the ticket if it were viable

Big if

Like with everything favorable for sanity post '16

I would not. Fuck that. I would vote for the actual Democrat.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

i wonder if they prefer running over people because mass shootings would cause the liberal lame stream media to ask uncomfortable questions about gun rights.

They don't get the irony that it's the same tactic that "radical islamic terrorists" have been using lately.

I could've sworn OT had a BLM protest thread some time ago where some fuckboys were defending the idea of running through crowds.

 

[kirblar]

I would not. Fuck that. I would vote for the actual Democrat.

Seriously.

 

[Y2Kev]

I would vote for the ticket if it were viable

Big if

Like with everything favorable for sanity post '16

Why? What do they stand for that you agree with?

 

[BoogieWoogie]

So when do you guys think Steven Miller runs for President?

 

[Kusagari]

I would vote for the ticket if it were viable

Big if

Like with everything favorable for sanity post '16

You want Kasich appointing justices across the country and to the Supreme Court?

Fuck that.

 

[Blader]

Would an independent Kasich/Hickenlooper ticket potentially steal away Ohio and/or Colorado in the general? Probably not but interesting to think about.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Seriously.

Like I sympathize with the "lesser of two evils" argument to some degree, but voting in a general election between two Republicans? I'd probably skip the top of the ballot.

Fortunately MN doesn't have jungle primaries or anything like that, I don't think I've ever voted in a partisan, unopposed election. Even in unwinnable races (Erik Paulsen... ugh) there's always been a token Democrat running.

 

[Diablos]

Why? What do they stand for that you agree with?

I appreciate the bipartisan effort on healthcare and a willingness to admit that yes, automation is killing jobs and some will never come back but something still needs to be done about it for people who won't be able to find work.

I also think legit bipartisanship in this depressing era of politics would be refreshing, do you not?

Dems will be my first choice, and by viable for the Kasich/Hickenlooper ticket I mean 2020 would be even more of a shitshow and the country would come to a logical conclusion that a unity ticket might be the only sound choice. Big if. Not likely either. I'm not necessarily pledging my support for the ticket

 

[Aaron Strife]

Would an independent Kasich/Hickenlooper ticket potentially steal away Ohio and/or Colorado in the general? Probably not but interesting to think about.

Stealing away Ohio would hurt the Republicans more than the Democrats. Vice-versa for Colorado, although I don't think they'd go for it.

The flaw in their brilliant plan is that the VP slot is meaningless for most people. They would recognize a vote for Kasich-Hickenlooper as a vote for a moderately better Republican administration.

 

[Pyrokai]

Shit be bonkers.

How reliable is this? Like.......FiveThirtyEight still has this that says Dems are slightly more in favor to win. Which do I believe?

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-generic-ballot-polls/?ex_cid=rrpromo

 

[B-Dubs]

How reliable is this? Like.......FiveThirtyEight still has this that says Dems are slightly more in favor to win. Which do I believe?

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-generic-ballot-polls/?ex_cid=rrpromo

No, they're both right. The gerrymandering has made it so Dems need to win like +55% of the total vote to win back the House while the GOP only need just over 45% to maintain control.

 

[Aaron Strife]

How reliable is this? Like.......FiveThirtyEight still has this that says Dems are slightly more in favor to win. Which do I believe?

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-generic-ballot-polls/?ex_cid=rrpromo

The graph cartoon_soldier posted is a seat-by-seat breakdown. The 538 chart is of what's called the generic congressional ballot, a question asked in national polls about whether you'd like to see Democrats or Republicans control the House after the next elections.

The challenge for Democrats is that Republicans were in charge of the redistricting process in many key states post-2010, which resulted in some brutal gerrymanders making it much harder for us to actually pull off a majority. In 2012, Democrats actually won more votes than Republicans, but Republicans still had a wide advantage in number of seats because of this.

435 races with barely any polling (especially this far out) is really hard to handicap, too, and these races tend to break late. In 2006 most pundits dismissed the possibility of Democrats flipping the House until like, October.

 

[NeoXChaos]

How reliable is this? Like.......FiveThirtyEight still has this that says Dems are slightly more in favor to win. Which do I believe?

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-generic-ballot-polls/?ex_cid=rrpromo

No, they're both right. The gerrymandering has made it so Dems need to win like +55% of the total vote to win back the House while the GOP only need just over 45% to maintain control.

Yes. Stephen Wolf mentioned this in his feed some months back about the Michigan House and Senate being the same mess but on the state level.

https://twitter.com/politicswolf/status/760539117218328576

 

[Aaron Strife]

Yes. Stephen Wolf mentioned this in his feed some months back about the Michigan House and Senate being the same mess but on the state level.

https://twitter.com/politicswolf/status/760539117218328576

I mean let's just analyze this for a second.

Democrats winning the popular vote by 2 points in 2014 yielded the same result as Democrats losing the popular vote by 8 points in 2010 under the old map.

But yeah Dave Wasserman the problem is that us Dumbocrats self-segregate, yup, that's it.

Looking at the 2012 results, it might take like a 10-point win to flip the Michigan House. That's pretty miserable.

 

[B-Dubs]

I mean let's just analyze this for a second.

Democrats winning the popular vote by 2 points in 2014 yielded the same result as Democrats losing the popular vote by 8 points in 2010.

But yeah Dave Wasserman the problem is that us Dumbocrats self-segregate, yup, that's it.

He's not entirely wrong, it is an issue, but yea, he's ignoring the elephant in the room.

 

[Aaron Strife]

He's not entirely wrong, it is an issue, but yea, he's ignoring the elephant in the room.

I said this yesterday, but it's the difference between "Democrats have a geographical disadvantage so they need to beat the popular vote by 2 points" and "Democrats need to win the generic ballot by 13 points to get a bare majority." It's a fucking obscene demand of one party over the other.

Btw this is why the Republicans want to split up the electoral vote by Congressional districts, in case anyone was wondering anytime that bullshit pops up. They want to gerrymander the fucking presidency too.

Like check this out:

In 2012, Ds won the popular vote but Rs kept control in legislative chambers across MI, NC, NH, NY, OH, PA, WA, & WI

That is utterly disgusting. NY and WA aren't even fucking swing states (although I know both have turncoat Democrats ruining everything).

 

[whyamihere]

You can pretty easily make a non-partisan map similar to California and Arizona that leads to maps that resemble the popular vote. Stephen Wolf made one that held up in 2012 AND 2016!

 

[Pyrokai]

No, they're both right. The gerrymandering has made it so Dems need to win like +55% of the total vote to win back the House while the GOP only need just over 45% to maintain control.

The graph cartoon_soldier posted is a seat-by-seat breakdown. The 538 chart is of what's called the generic congressional ballot, a question asked in national polls about whether you'd like to see Democrats or Republicans control the House after the next elections.

The challenge for Democrats is that Republicans were in charge of the redistricting process in many key states post-2010, which resulted in some brutal gerrymanders making it much harder for us to actually pull off a majority. In 2012, Democrats actually won more votes than Republicans, but Republicans still had a wide advantage in number of seats because of this.

435 races with barely any polling (especially this far out) is really hard to handicap, too, and these races tend to break late. In 2006 most pundits dismissed the possibility of Democrats flipping the House until like, October.

Ah, right. Gerrymandering.

So...this Supreme Court case that's supposed to be heard in November in regards to Wisconsin's redistricting........if they rule that partisan gerrymandering is illegal (and thus changing politics in a huge way), is there the possibility that these states will have to redraw their lines before 2018?

And didn't SCOTUS tell North Carolina it had to do redraw its lines as well by upholding a lower court ruling or something? I'm aware of these things happening but not the results or orders from them.

If SCOTUS stands on the right side of history and makes these states redraw before 2018....that's one way we can fix the darkest timeline....

 

[balladofwindfishes]

It's so close to 2021, the SC would likely just require the next redraw use whatever rules they set in place. They're not going to upend districts 8 months before the election.

 

[Pyrokai]

It's so close to 2021, the SC would likely just require the next redraw use whatever rules they set in place. They're not going to upend districts 8 months before the election.

They would if the believed in justice! 🇺🇸

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

If the SC doesnt make gerrymandering illegal then the democrats need to be fucking ruthless with it, i wouldnt be opposed to supressing conservative votes either. Gotta fight fire with fire.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

They would if the believed in justice! 🇺🇸

They believe in justice, but they also believe in not completely upending the election process in the middle of an election. It would be chaos.

There's no way the districts are redrawn for 2018 if the SC decides partisan districts are unconstitutional, probably not even 2020.

 

[Emerson]

i wonder if they prefer running over people because mass shootings would cause the liberal lame stream media to ask uncomfortable questions about gun rights.

As I said in another thread:

Conservatives get off on this because it plays directly into their conception of conservatives as hard working and liberals as unemployed whiners.

Whenever they see mention of something like this, they imagine a crowd of unemployed hippies blocking the road as the good conservative is just trying to get to work. "If they surrounded my car I'd run them over too! I've got shit to do, unlike them!" they say. I've witnessed this play out in person many times.

Of course, that's not at all what happened this weekend. But these people are morons.