The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

there aren't enough ways to describe just how fucked this "religious liberty" Executive Order is

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[pearlbeer]

Well. After the ACHA vote, I just got off the phone with my Representative's (McCaul D10TX) office. His staffer and I had a 'spirited' exchange for 17 minutes. 16 minutes of that was me fucking LOSING MY SHIT and screaming at the kid. Some of the more memorable quotes:

"Passing false information to a constituent on behalf of an elected official constitutes an ethics violation. Do I need to get your badge number?"
"Did he read the entire bill prior to the vote? Yes? How? It was released less than two hours prior to the vote. Is he a magical speed reader?"
"Does he know the CBO estimate on the impact to the insuranced rate? NO HE DOES NOT! THE CBO HAS NOT SCORED THE BILL. DONT LIE TO ME."
"Is he confident that this bill will have a positive impact on the budget? How? The CBO has not scored the bill. DONT LIE TO ME."
"Has he met in person in 2017 with a constituent who is not a large donor? You don't know? His schedule is a matter of public record. STOP FUCKING LYING TO ME."
"Are you proud to work on his staff? Why?"
"How can he claim to be a fiscal conservative, yet blindly vote for major bill without understanding the economic impact?"
"Rep. McCaul works for me. YOU work for me. This office is NOT representing the will of the majority of D10 voters. DO YOUR FUCKING JOB!"

Anyway....some poor lady was convicted for laughing during Jeff Sessions hearing. God knows what they have in store for me.

This vote was, at best, extraordinarily reckless. Hold your elected officials accountable. Make them OWN this.

[beantownbubba]

Reposted from FB:

Today is a really bad day. The AHCA vote in the House may get the most attention but it is maybe the 3rd or 4th worst thing to happen (or not) today.You see where all this is going don't you? "States' rights" is where it's at.

Support Trump's tax cuts but only if (a) you form your own personal LLC first and (b) the tax cuts are accompanied by a balanced budget. Cut all the offending programs, cut the useless and wasteful and inefficient cabinet departments right out. Just think: Rick Perry and Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos will cut themselves right out of their jobs, which alone is worth the exercise. Take the billions in taxes saved and re-create the best parts of what the feds do in your state (between the tax cuts and not having to subsidize certain states your state will likely be floating in money). What's that you say? People in AL and MS can't afford to subsidize health care and provide family planning, to fight environmental degradation, to provide pre-school and kindergarten (!) for all their kids, to provide unemployment insurance and job re-training for the front line victims of unrestrained capitalism, to regulate predatory financial institutions run amuck, to stem the tide of opioid addiction, mental health problems and bad teeth? Who will protect the first amendment and the disenfranchised in states where words no longer have meaning? Who will ensure the integrity of elections? How much bro country can the people of one state listen to in the absence of public radio? How will they be able to afford to drive their trucks that don't have to meet fuel efficiency standards? What roads will they drive them on w/out highway funds?

Those are the wrong questions. People in those states have made very clear that they don't want any of that stuff anyway. Why should the rest of us force them to take it?

And the best part is that states have constitutions too. Many of them have already been determined to protect black voters and to allow LGBT couples to marry, among other basic human rights.

STATES' RIGHTS! BALANCED BUDGET!! Get your bumper stickers now before they're all gone.

[beantownbubba]

Reposted from FB:

Today is a really bad day. The AHCA vote in the House may get the most attention but it is maybe the 3rd or 4th worst thing to happen (or not) today.You see where all this is going don't you? "States' rights" is where it's at.

Support Trump's tax cuts but only if (a) you form your own personal LLC first and (b) the tax cuts are accompanied by a balanced budget. Cut all the offending programs, cut the useless and wasteful and inefficient cabinet departments right out. Just think: Rick Perry and Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos will cut themselves right out of their jobs, which alone is worth the exercise. Take the billions in taxes saved and re-create the best parts of what the feds do in your state (between the tax cuts and not having to subsidize certain states your state will likely be floating in money). What's that you say? People in AL and MS can't afford to subsidize health care and provide family planning, to fight environmental degradation, to provide pre-school and kindergarten (!) for all their kids, to provide unemployment insurance and job re-training for the front line victims of unrestrained capitalism, to regulate predatory financial institutions run amuck, to stem the tide of opioid addiction, mental health problems and bad teeth? Who will protect the first amendment and the disenfranchised in states where words no longer have meaning? Who will ensure the integrity of elections? How much bro country can the people of one state listen to in the absence of public radio? How will they be able to afford to drive their trucks that don't have to meet fuel efficiency standards? What roads will they drive them on w/out highway funds?

Those are the wrong questions. People in those states have made very clear that they don't want any of that stuff anyway. Why should the rest of us force them to take it?

And the best part is that states have constitutions too. Many of them have already been determined to protect black voters and to allow LGBT couples to marry, among other basic human rights.

STATES' RIGHTS! BALANCED BUDGET!! Get your bumper stickers now before they're all gone.

[Cole Younger]

Historian Timothy Snyder: “It’s pretty much inevitable” that Trump will try to stage a coup and overthrow democracy

BE. FUCKING. VIGILANT.

I'm pretty well convinced that he's going to lose the 2020 election and refuse to leave office. The military will support him because years of mental programming and bunker mentality have them convinced that having "their" guy in office is more important than the structure of America.

That last sentence is not true.

[beantownbubba]

Historian Timothy Snyder: “It’s pretty much inevitable” that Trump will try to stage a coup and overthrow democracy

BE. FUCKING. VIGILANT.

I'm pretty well convinced that he's going to lose the 2020 election and refuse to leave office. The military will support him because years of mental programming and bunker mentality have them convinced that having "their" guy in office is more important than the structure of America.

That last sentence is not true.

Glad to see you say that, CY. That sentence didn't ring true to me when I first read it but I have no basis on which to form a meaningful opinion.

[John A Arkansawyer]

Historian Timothy Snyder: “It’s pretty much inevitable” that Trump will try to stage a coup and overthrow democracy

BE. FUCKING. VIGILANT.

I'm pretty well convinced that he's going to lose the 2020 election and refuse to leave office. The military will support him because years of mental programming and bunker mentality have them convinced that having "their" guy in office is more important than the structure of America.

That last sentence is not true.

I think it's mostly not true, but with these asterisks: I've got concerns about the officer corps of the Air Force. The fundamentalists have heavily targeted the academy in Colorado Springs for recruitment. Maybe some elements of the National Guard. And maybe given the right provocation or enough time.

The rest of it? Right now? Not really. But I plan to watch my back around sheriff's departments.

[brett27295]

That last sentence is not true.

I sure hope not. Though you did write it on the 47th anniversary of the killing of students by the National Guard at Kent State.

[Cole Younger]

That last sentence is not true.

I sure hope not. Though you did write it on the 47th anniversary of the killing of students by the National Guard at Kent State.

Yeah I know. The military is no different from any organization in that there are bad apples in the bunch. But the majority don't come close to Iowan's description. Marines, soldiers etc are citizens too and while discipline and following orders are part of everyday life most (most Marines anyway) have a very strong individualistic and rebellious streak. It is no small part of what has historically made our warriors so great. They are not the band from the parade scene at the end of Animal House.

I think this is true about most cops but I don't have the knowledge base to make any sort of declarative statements about that.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[pearlbeer]

Wow. 100% ONE HUNDRED PERCENT White.


Also please note - the people in this picture (all of them) are exempt from the AHCA.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Wow. 100% ONE HUNDRED PERCENT White.


Also please note - the people in this picture (all of them) are exempt from the AHCA.

Look at all the "preexisting conditions"

[pearlbeer]

Look at all the "preexisting conditions"

Victims of Rape and Domestic Violence are considered to have preexisting conditions under the AHCA.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Look at all the "preexisting conditions"

Victims of Rape and Domestic Violence are considered to have preexisting conditions under the AHCA.

I know, it's disgusting

wonder if they consider erectile dysfunction to be a preexisting condition?*



*=rhetorical question

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[Flea]

Here's the Before & After shot:

[beantownbubba]

But...but...but...think about what these folks are celebrating. I don't mean substantively; let's bend over backwards and say that reasonable people can disagree about the value of the bill. They're celebrating that their 30 vote majority managed to squeeze through a 4 vote victory in one half of the legislature on something they've been pledging to do for 7 years and it took them 3+ months and multiple attempts to do it w/out any guarantee that any much less all of it will ever become law (even though their party controls the other half of the legislature and the presidency as well). Now we're supposed to believe that this represents both a "major" victory and "proof" that the Republicans can govern. I don't understand it. Well, of course i understand it in the context of the current environment. BUT IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE IN ANY REAL WORLD I'VE EVER LIVED IN AND I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN THIS ALTERNATIVE REALITY. Why is this not seen for what it is: childishness and immaturity at a level rarely seen in the world headquarters of immature behavior by politicians? That's only partly rhetorical. I know why the Repubs are spinning it the way they are; i don't know why the supposedly adult world is going along w/ it.

[Iowan]

Historian Timothy Snyder: “It’s pretty much inevitable” that Trump will try to stage a coup and overthrow democracy

BE. FUCKING. VIGILANT.

I'm pretty well convinced that he's going to lose the 2020 election and refuse to leave office. The military will support him because years of mental programming and bunker mentality have them convinced that having "their" guy in office is more important than the structure of America.

That last sentence is not true.

I hope you're right. You'd know better than me. Of my military friends, I'd put 60% in the camp that are politically tribalistic to the point where they'd support their side even if they were doing something so wholly antithetical to America.

Shit, at this point Id put 60% of the country in this camp.

[John A Arkansawyer]

I'm pretty well convinced that he's going to lose the 2020 election and refuse to leave office. The military will support him because years of mental programming and bunker mentality have them convinced that having "their" guy in office is more important than the structure of America.

That last sentence is not true.

I hope you're right. You'd know better than me. Of my military friends, I'd put 60% in the camp that are politically tribalistic to the point where they'd support their side even if they were doing something so wholly antithetical to America.

Shit, at this point Id put 60% of the country in this camp.

Closer to 90%, or so it seems to me, though I know it's not true. I felt this coming last spring. It's what I tried to write about and get to the surface of my mind as I was in Jackson that April killing time before the DBT show. And in just the last few days, I've been watching an internal fight--come to think of it, I've seen two of these recently--among people theoretically on the same side, good people ripping each others' hearts out.

If that's how people on the same side are acting toward each other, then how will they act toward people with whom they are in actual conflict?

[Zip City]

But...but...but...think about what these folks are celebrating. I don't mean substantively; let's bend over backwards and say that reasonable people can disagree about the value of the bill. They're celebrating that their 30 vote majority managed to squeeze through a 4 vote victory in one half of the legislature on something they've been pledging to do for 7 years and it took them 3+ months and multiple attempts to do it w/out any guarantee that any much less all of it will ever become law (even though their party controls the other half of the legislature and the presidency as well). Now we're supposed to believe that this represents both a "major" victory and "proof" that the Republicans can govern. I don't understand it. Well, of course i understand it in the context of the current environment. BUT IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE IN ANY REAL WORLD I'VE EVER LIVED IN AND I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN THIS ALTERNATIVE REALITY. Why is this not seen for what it is: childishness and immaturity at a level rarely seen in the world headquarters of immature behavior by politicians? That's only partly rhetorical. I know why the Repubs are spinning it the way they are; i don't know why the supposedly adult world is going along w/ it.

What are the odds that Trump thinks that the bill is now a law? Or is he so overly concerned with "winning" that it doesn't matter that this is just one step in a bigger process?

[John A Arkansawyer]

But...but...but...think about what these folks are celebrating. I don't mean substantively; let's bend over backwards and say that reasonable people can disagree about the value of the bill. They're celebrating that their 30 vote majority managed to squeeze through a 4 vote victory in one half of the legislature on something they've been pledging to do for 7 years and it took them 3+ months and multiple attempts to do it w/out any guarantee that any much less all of it will ever become law (even though their party controls the other half of the legislature and the presidency as well). Now we're supposed to believe that this represents both a "major" victory and "proof" that the Republicans can govern. I don't understand it. Well, of course i understand it in the context of the current environment. BUT IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE IN ANY REAL WORLD I'VE EVER LIVED IN AND I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN THIS ALTERNATIVE REALITY. Why is this not seen for what it is: childishness and immaturity at a level rarely seen in the world headquarters of immature behavior by politicians? That's only partly rhetorical. I know why the Repubs are spinning it the way they are; i don't know why the supposedly adult world is going along w/ it.

What are the odds that Trump thinks that the bill is now a law? Or is he so overly concerned with "winning" that it doesn't matter that this is just one step in a bigger process?

Does it matter? Can we do anything about what's in his head? Two links in reverse order from how I would normally present them:

Berkeley author George Lakoff says, ‘Don’t underestimate Trump’

George Lakoff, retired UC Berkeley professor and author of Don’t Think of an Elephant, is one of a very few people in Berkeley who does not underestimate Donald Trump. “Trump is not stupid,” he tells anyone who will listen. “He is a super salesman, and he knows how to change your brain and use it to his advantage.”

In fact, Lakoff predicted a year ago that Trump would win with 47% of the vote. (The actual total was 46%.) Lakoff even told Hillary Clinton’s campaign and PAC staffers how to counteract Trump’s message. But they couldn’t hear him.

As far back as 2006, Lakoff saw the writing on the wall. “A dark cloud of authoritarianism looms over the nation,” he wrote in his book Thinking Points, A Progressive’s Handbook. ”Radical conservatives have taken over the reins of government and have been controlling the terms of the political debate for many years.” The progressives couldn’t hear him, either.

Lakoff’s message is simple, but it is couched in the language of cognitive linguistics and neuroscience. The problem is that political candidates rely on pollsters and PR people, not linguists or neuroscientists. So when Lakoff repeatedly says that “voters don’t vote their self-interest, they vote their values,” progressive politicians continually ignore him. His ideas don’t fit in with their worldview, so they can’t hear him.

And now that I've plunged you into despair, or at least tried to, let me offer you some DBT to pull you back up:

How to Stay Sane if Trump is Driving You Insane: Advice From a Therapist

How to Stay Sane if Trump is Driving You Insane: Advice From a Therapist

“I feel like I’ve lost faith in humanity, in our country, in myself,” a client told me recently. “Is this depression, or is this the election?”

“Good question,” I replied. The truth is, individual psychology is hugely influenced by political realities. Many of us feel insane right now because our world is not sane. Current events are very much at odds with our natural optimism, and our belief in human goodness and progress.

What made us so optimistic in the first place? Our nation was founded on idealistic, positive principles: human worth and dignity, the inevitability of progress, and the goodness of the human collective. Alex de Tocqueville in the early 19th century described Americans’ remarkable optimism with interest. As an article in the Atlantic described in 2015, Americans have maintained our unusually sunny outlook even through our darkest hours. If we have a national ideology, it could be encapsulated in Obama’s farewell address, with the assertion, “I truly believe we are going to be okay.”

From such elevated hope has come a long, hard fall. We find ourselves in a darkening political climate in which corruption, hatred, exclusion, and paranoia are prominent. Many are experiencing despair and anxiety like never before, judging by the increase in calls to suicide and crisis hotlines, and anecdotal reports from therapists. A national trauma, just like a personal one, is as disorienting as it is terrifying. It makes us question everything we thought we knew. Two questions must be answered in order to heal:

1. How can we integrate this crisis into our understanding of the world?
   What do we do now?

Our anxious minds are caught in the dissonance between our belief in progress and our current political hellscape. We must understand that the belief in human progress is a myth, with historical and religious context, and it is no longer serving us. Its roots trace back to Enlightenment philosophy, whose major thinkers believed civilization would progress toward perfection if humans were free to use their reason.

[Cole Younger]

I should probably just let this die and I feel like I'm going to sound like a much bigger jackass than I'm intending but I feel compelled.

Iowan I'm curious as to how you know that. Did these folks you are referencing say that? Did they say they are politically tribalistic to the point that they will do whatever they think is in the interest of their side even if it is wholly antithetical to America? That seems awfully hard to imagine. Did they tell you they would be willing to turn on their own and serve as instruments of oppression in the interest of "their side" if it came down to it? If so that is about as close to being shocked as I've come in a long time. What branch of service are these people a part of? I'm guessing since you said it was 60% of the service members that you know it must cut across all or most branches. If so I find that even harder to imagine. People willing to die for their countrymen just aren't often willing to kill or harm them if it serves their political interests.

What did these people say that leads you to believe this? And how big of a sample size are we talking about here?

I'm very skeptical of their being enough people who feel that way that one person knows a lot of them.

[John A Arkansawyer]

I should probably just let this die and I feel like I'm going to sound like a much bigger jackass than I'm intending but I feel compelled.

You are not being a jackass. You are asking the sort of fundamental questions about what we know, what we can know, and why we think we know it that are so seldom discussed at the times they most need to be understood. We are living inside an artificial world designed to leave us into real consequences. Go right ahead and ask those questions. I'm doing the same in my little garden.

[Iowan]

I should probably just let this die and I feel like I'm going to sound like a much bigger jackass than I'm intending but I feel compelled.

Iowan I'm curious as to how you know that. Did these folks you are referencing say that? Did they say they are politically tribalistic to the point that they will do whatever they think is in the interest of their side even if it is wholly antithetical to America? That seems awfully hard to imagine. Did they tell you they would be willing to turn on their own and serve as instruments of oppression in the interest of "their side" if it came down to it? If so that is about as close to being shocked as I've come in a long time. What branch of service are these people a part of? I'm guessing since you said it was 60% of the service members that you know it must cut across all or most branches. If so I find that even harder to imagine. People willing to die for their countrymen just aren't often willing to kill or harm them if it serves their political interests.

What did these people say that leads you to believe this? And how big of a sample size are we talking about here?

I'm very skeptical of their being enough people who feel that way that one person knows a lot of them.

I'm admittedly extrapolating from general statements. It comes off like they view people who don't agree with them as worth protecting. Conservative America is real America, and those fucking liberals should get out.

Keep in mind I'm looking at from the view that most people have gotten this way. My team is more important than anything.

I've just gotten really depressed and cynical about the level of tribalism these days and have no faith in any group of people to do anything other support their team. It's not intended as a specific shot at the military as much as a comment on everything

[phungi]

One of the greatest political rant essays in modern time:

A quorum of motherfuckers

[Flea]

I should probably just let this die and I feel like I'm going to sound like a much bigger jackass than I'm intending but I feel compelled.

You are not being a jackass. You are asking the sort of fundamental questions about what we know, what we can know, and why we think we know it that are so seldom discussed at the times they most need to be understood. We are living inside an artificial world designed to leave us into real consequences. Go right ahead and ask those questions. I'm doing the same in my little garden.

I'm personally tired of asking questions and scrutinizing rationales, particularly since it seems half of my fellow citizens think all is just peachy. If we're going down the shitter, I'm going with a smile on my face, a Terrapin in my left hand, and a bigass Bob Marley joint in my right. End Of The World Party, anyone?

[John A Arkansawyer]

I'm personally tired of asking questions and scrutinizing rationales, particularly since it seems half of my fellow citizens think all is just peachy. If we're going down the shitter, I'm going with a smile on my face, a Terrapin in my left hand, and a bigass Bob Marley joint in my right. End Of The World Party, anyone?

I take it you've seen Miracle Mile.

[John A Arkansawyer]

Keep in mind I'm looking at from the view that most people have gotten this way. My team is more important than anything.

I've just gotten really depressed and cynical about the level of tribalism these days and have no faith in any group of people to do anything other support their team. It's not intended as a specific shot at the military as much as a comment on everything

I see the same thing, too. The divisions are real. The people feeling them are sincere.

I also see that a lot of it comes from anonymous and pseudonymous sources. We live in a manufactured world and it is called the Internet. It's a terrain on which people are fighting. The primary weapon is lying and deception and spin calculated to hurt you and degrade your capability to act. Fuck that shit and fuck those liars, all of them, even the ones on my side. Fuck them all by not letting them do it to you.

[LBRod]

Fuck that shit and fuck those liars, all of them, even the ones on my side. Fuck them all by not letting them do it to you.

So much this.