Donald John Trump: 2016 President-Elect

[Pixel]

36 minutes ago, Padma said:

Kellyanne Conway is such a disgusting excuse for a human being.   http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/11/kellyanne-conway-dodges-students-question-about-sexual-assault.html

I really don't know how she lives with herself. (Note to SNL: Stop trying to make her look like Tubby's moral compass. She's really his Joseph Goebbels.)

I don't know if the media is purposely picking horrible photos of her or if she truly is showing on her face the toll her association with Trump is taking. The first time I saw her or heard of her, I was watching Bill Maher, and it was just after she'd taken over the campaign.  What I saw on his show was an energetic, well put-together, attractive woman.  Today? She looks like someone who has started down the road to meth abuse.  Seriously. She looks like she's aged 10 years in the last several months.  This is not a commentary meant to be about shaming anyone's looks. I think she's basically an attractive woman - but lately she just looks like life is beating the shit out of her.  I guess this is the price of selling your soul.

Edited December 4, 2016 by Pixel

[onthebrink03]

Quote

"She went on to tell the 17-year-old, “Women are tired of the same argument and the same thing you are presenting to me right now.” She went on, “I’m glad that people looked at [those attacks] and said, ‘You know what? That’s an argument that will not create a single job in my community, not bring back a single of the 70,000 factories that have been closed, will not deter one member of ISIS from doing their bloodletting here or anywhere else in the world.’”

No Kellyanne, people are NOT tired of that argument.  Just because YOU don't mind working for a sexual predator and just because you don't seem to find sexual assault a heinous action doesn't mean that all the millions of men and women around the world agree with you.

And I think jobs can be created and the fight against ISIS can be addressed by someone other than an entitled asshole who admits to sexually assaulting women just because his fame, in his mind, seemingly allows it.  You don't need to lose your moral compass or set aside your values and ethics to elect a President.  

YOU Ms. Conway are a disgraceful human being and boy did you pick an equal to represent and support.  Birds of feather and all that...

Edited December 5, 2016 by onthebrink03

[Bookish Jen]

22 minutes ago, Pixel said:

I don't know if the media is purposely picking horrible photos of her or if she truly is showing on her face the toll her association with Trump is taking. The first time I saw her or heard of her, I was watching Bill Maher, and it was just after she'd taken over the campaign.  What I saw on his show was an energetic, well put-together, attractive woman.  Today? She looks like someone who has started down the road to meth abuse.  Seriously. She looks like she's aged 10 years in the last several months.  This is not a commentary meant to be about shaming anyone's looks. I think she's basically an attractive woman - but lately she just looks like life is beating the shit out of her.  I guess this is the price of selling your soul.

Simply put, she's getting the face she deserves.

[Duke Silver]

I wish nothing but the worst for all Trump enablers.

[KIMBERLYANN11]

4 hours ago, stillshimpy said:

 

This is a genuine question, taking as a given that you are not any of those things, how did you make peace with the fact that the candidates are?  They're on record with statements that are overtly racist, misogynistic, and that treat poverty as a crime.  I have to sit through being told that people who need help feeding their families should be drug-tested, told what they are allowed to buy like they are in some sort of scolding corner, where their time out is not being given the dignity of a human being.  Every week I volunteer for an organization that sponsors a food share program, English as a second language tutoring, etc. etc.  Those people are amongst the hardest workers I've ever met in my life, and to put that in context, my maternal grandfather was a Scottish coal miner, who was sent to work in the pits when he was 13, so I am  judging on a steep, steep curve.   Just pointing out that a lot of nasty assumptions about others are also being lobbed out by conservatives without anything resembling shame because I won't even repeat the things Republican candidates have said about people who need help. 

 

Kurt Vonnegut Jr wrote a novel, Mother Night, that I read as a teen and it stuck with me to this day.  Vonnegut states - and this is paraphrased - that you are what you pretend to be, so be careful what you pretend to be.  

The protagonist was an american broadcaster in Nazi Germany who had a broadcast aimed at converting americans to Naziism.  He was actually sending coded messages, through his speech, to the americans.  Once the war was over, of course, America disavowed any knowledge of his activities and he was considered a war criminal.  Upon self-reflection he realized that his broadcasts did give a huge amount of aid and comfort to the enemy so he was, essentially, a nazi.  

When you vote for people who run on a platform of hate, you legitimize their platform and views and what's worse, you give them agency to act upon them.  

You are what you pretend to be - so be careful what you pretend to be.

[AntiBeeSpray]

5 hours ago, KerleyQ said:

You know, my first thought was "oh, don't let this stop you from starting the family you want," but, then, I also fully understand your fear.  It's depressing that I've actually had the thought fairly recently (oh, approximately some time after 11/8) that it's a good thing that my teenage son is an insulin dependent diabetic who also has an autoimmune disorder that causes an arthritic like swelling and pain in his joints, because it makes it likely that he will have a valid medical reason to not be drafted.  I really hate that orange asshole for giving me a reason to ever think like that.  I support and respect our military, and, if a career in the military was something my son chose for himself, I'd be genuinely supportive of him and disappointed for him when his medical issues likely made it impossible for him to pursue a career in the military.  But, it would kill me to see him (and any of his friends, classmates, or cousins) ending up drafted to fight a war that started because Emperor Cheeto didn't like that a the leader of another country shook someone else's hand first, or because he stirred up a global shit storm by kissing the ass of the wrong foreign leader for his company's gain.  

Word. Just came across this. One thing I disagree with the White House on. No way would I ever serve. For one thing I'm lazy, for two I'm very near sighted and clumsy and three it's just not for me. Don't get me wrong, I respect those who serve, but I just wouldn't do well there. As for Drumpf, I dread what him and his cronies could do in this area.

Source: aol.com

If anyone can find more proof on it, that would be great just to make sure whether or not it's real or fake.

5 hours ago, Duke Silver said:

Yeah, the Koch brothers view America as a giant company town for Koch Industries, nothing more.  They're the head of the oligarchs....the Mercers have joined them, since they backed the right horse, Drumpf....albeit a little belatedly, which is more than the Kochs did, but the latter are benefitting anyway w/ appointment of their guys, Pompeo for CIA & Kobach as the architect of the "let's get rid of the brown folks" portion of the Drumpf menu.

A comfortably numb electorate drunk on the happiness of being "great again" in a Christian utopia where everyone is equal in their barely above poverty life (other than the select few, of course), is achievable with a country full of scared people, hammered for years to believe that learning new things is un-American.  Ho hum...as long as there are fewer brown people, gays & heathen non-Christians around, no level of poverty is too onerous, I guess.

Yep. And even they tend to back either side. Which ever side will help them. I do NOT trust them one iota.

And their family had Nazi ties.

A Time article about it.

[Stuffy]

There was a penny sales tax bill in Oklahoma up for vote because of the education crisis. It was trending positive with extremely high approval rates then the Koch brothers paid for attack ads completely filled with lies. People believe whatever they see, so it was defeated by a landslide.  One ad even said the money would go towards vouchers and private schools. The bill specified exactly what the money could be used on and that the state couldn't touch it.

Public education has been so underfunded that some schools went to four day school weeks. Teachers are fleeing the state because they can't afford to provide for their families on such a small salary. They had years to make a change, and we tried the sales tax because they refused to do anything.

Oklahoma is in debt by a billion dollars because Fallin refuses to tax oil, gas, or the wind industry. She also approved a tax cut even after she was begged not to. The cut was supposed to give people spending money and boost the economy. Yeah that didn't work. If Fallin's  chosen for interior, it'll be just as big a disaster as Bannon and the rest. She will let the oil industry do whatever they want without consequences. Just look at Oklahoma's earthquakes. 

Edited December 5, 2016 by Stuffy

[KerleyQ]

2 hours ago, Pixel said:

I don't know if the media is purposely picking horrible photos of her or if she truly is showing on her face the toll her association with Trump is taking. The first time I saw her or heard of her, I was watching Bill Maher, and it was just after she'd taken over the campaign.  What I saw on his show was an energetic, well put-together, attractive woman.  Today? She looks like someone who has started down the road to meth abuse.  Seriously. She looks like she's aged 10 years in the last several months.  This is not a commentary meant to be about shaming anyone's looks. I think she's basically an attractive woman - but lately she just looks like life is beating the shit out of her.  I guess this is the price of selling your soul.

I've noticed that too.  I feel like we're seeing the ugliness inside of her, the ugliness that is all too happy to carry Trump's rancid water, seeping out through her pores.  Maybe that's why Melania needs to keep getting plastic surgery?  To counter the effects of aligning herself with her disgusting husband? 

[ruby24]

I always think of the Dorian Gray effect.

[AntiBeeSpray]

2 hours ago, Bookish Jen said:

Simply put, she's getting the face she deserves.

That made me think of this.

[jhlipton]

8 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

[T]he new buzz word seems to be faux news to shut down anything someone doesn't want to read or hear.

Form what I've seen, "Faux Noise" usually refers to Rupert Murdoch's channel.  "Faux news" can also refer to sites now noted by Google and FaceBook as being inherently dishonest, whether intentionally like The Onion or not like InfoWars. 

4 hours ago, Constantinople said:

These days I believe moderate or Eisenhower Republicans are generally referred to as Democrats.

There are still one or two.  Lindsey Graham seems to be holding tight, and there's a Congressman named Flame or Flake or something like that that seems to be moderate.

[sistermagpie]

So it now appears that the phone call with Taiwan was planned months in advance and Trump was lying when he said it was just a congratulations call he answered.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-taiwan-phone-call-was-weeks-in-the-planning-say-people-who-were-involved/2016/12/04/f8be4b0c-ba4e-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?postshare=3611480902304781&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.580160cc6875#comments

KAC is I think quoted as saying everybody just needs to “calm down” which seems really representative of the administration’s attitude to the US people. Who the hell are they to question his majesty’s whims or his lies about what he’s doing? This isn’t Hillary Clinton we’re talking about! 

Makes me wonder if China could, if annoyed, do something against Trump himself rather than the country if he owes them money. I guess that’s what conflicts of interest are for.

[Toomuchsoap]

4 hours ago, KIMBERLYANN11 said:

Kurt Vonnegut Jr wrote a novel, Mother Night, that I read as a teen and it stuck with me to this day.  Vonnegut states - and this is paraphrased - that you are what you pretend to be, so be careful what you pretend to be.  

The protagonist was an american broadcaster in Nazi Germany who had a broadcast aimed at converting americans to Naziism.  He was actually sending coded messages, through his speech, to the americans.  Once the war was over, of course, America disavowed any knowledge of his activities and he was considered a war criminal.  Upon self-reflection he realized that his broadcasts did give a huge amount of aid and comfort to the enemy so he was, essentially, a nazi.  

When you vote for people who run on a platform of hate, you legitimize their platform and views and what's worse, you give them agency to act upon them.  

You are what you pretend to be - so be careful what you pretend to be.

We are with whom we surround ourselves and whom we choose as our leaders. There is nothing more or less that defines us. We are that.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Toomuchsoap

[Pixel]

On 12/4/2016 at 10:35 PM, Toomuchsoap said:

We are whom we surround ourselves with and whom we choose as our leaders. There is nothing more or less that defines us. We are that.

I did not choose him, and I have systematically defriended anyone on my FB that I found supported him. I am not and will never be defined by him. 

[hoosier80]

Watching the History Channel, which is actually airing a program about history, the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.  

Astounding information about President Roosevelt, how he was determined to "walk" to the podium on the floor of Congress to give his address the day after the attack.  He basically swung around his legs, like the similar movement someone does on parallel bars as he was completely paralyzed below the waist. He leaned on his son, but make it look not like he had a death grip on him, and had a cane in the other hand.  He didn't want to be wheeled in as he thought that would be a sign of weakness; the entire floor burst into applause and writers said he had such a look of determination on his face.  He couldn't even put his own trousers on by himself; he had to be dressed.  He made some mistakes, but overall he lead with courage and determination, which was even more compounded by his horrible health.  He had a sinus infection the day he was to make the speech, and there were no antibiotics.  You would never have known it.  As I'm watching, I just think of him vs Tubby.  Tubby wouldn't know what to do, Tubby would have postponed the speech if he had a hangnail.

 I didn't realize how precarious the position of the U.S. was at the time of the attack.  

And with his address to Congress, his people wanted him to do a rah rah long speech, but he kept it real, no rah rah, speech was under 7 minutes, but said it all.  He knew it was not going to be easy and didn't sugar coat it (he also didn't get into details how badly the US Fleet was damaged or he could've had mass panic on his hands - plus don't say that with  your enemies listening).  But it was no BS.

Roosevelt had to deal with solidifying the relationship with Churchill, then they both later allied with Stalin.  They realized he was a tyrant, but it was the enemy of my enemy is my ally - at least for defeating Hitler.  They had to be careful in dealing with Stalin - again, thinking of Tubby.  Tubby would just give the store away, but first line his pockets.

Roosevelt came from old money, but there was never a question of his loyalty to the US nor was he doing it for financial gain.  Then there's Tubby.....

Tubby would be tweeting, finger pointing with his short little fingers, doing rallies, blustering away.  

[Padma]

Quote

I did not choose him, and I have systematically defriended anyone on my FB that I found supported him. I am not and will never be defined by him.

ITA. We didn't vote for him. We're defined more by the values, intelligence and civility of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, by Barack and Michelle Obama, and by Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi. Those are people I support.

I am not defined by Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, David Duke, KAC, Corey Lewandowski and Tubby just because the mathematics of the Constitution (for now) says that he "won".

re: KAC's deteriorating looks. There was a day or two when KAC looked refreshed and pretty again--right after the election. Maybe Tubby was so stunned by winning that he was taking a break and didn't need her for a few days. It was very soon afterwards, though, when she was back lying shamelessly again in every interview, saying hateful things about the Clinton campaign and generally being rude and ungracious just like the boss.  She looked like hell again pretty fast.

I think of the Picture of Dorian Gray, too.  And not with an ounce of sympathy. She makes a fortune from her polling company. She doesn't need to sell her soul to Tubby.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Padma

[backformore]

6 hours ago, AntiBeeSpray said:

Word. Just came across this. One thing I disagree with the White House on. No way would I ever serve. For one thing I'm lazy, for two I'm very near sighted and clumsy and three it's just not for me. Don't get me wrong, I respect those who serve, but I just wouldn't do well there. As for Drumpf, I dread what him and his cronies could do in this area.

Well, if men have to register, then I guess women should too.  For men, it is required that they register when they turn 18- even though we don't currently have a draft.

The thing is - women won't be drafted.   SImple reason - if you are female and your number gets called, if you don't want to serve - just get pregnant.

Kelly ann Conway HAS changed in appearance since I first became aware of her.   I wonder if Trump calls or texts her all hours of the night, she looks like she needs a good night's sleep.  If  she dyed half her hair black, though, she resembles: 

Edited December 5, 2016 by backformore
edited because dyed and died seem like the same words when I drink tequila.

[ruby24]

10 hours ago, sleekandchic said:

But, my husband and I have definitely decided not to start our family in 2017, as we planned.  I feel mournful.  He's a few years younger than I, but I'm 33, and ready for a child. Won't do it now, can't do it.  Too much uncertainty.  Trump is a powder keg.  For now, I'll devote myself to my clients, niece and nephews.  My elderly great-grans and grans. What hath Trump wrought?  For me, fear and trepidation. But I'll never stop voting, and @Lunata, neither will you. :)

 

I'm with you on this. I wanted to have a baby sometime in the next few years and now I just can't do it. My child will NOT be born when a monster is the president of my country. I won't bring a baby into this world until that evil scumbag is gone and I can feel less than apocalyptic about the future.

I wish I felt certain that day will come again.

[Jediknight]

6 hours ago, Stuffy said:

There was a penny sales tax bill in Oklahoma up for vote because of the education crisis. It was trending positive with extremely high approval rates then the Koch brothers paid for attack ads completely filled with lies. People believe whatever they see, so it was defeated by a landslide.  One ad even said the money would go towards vouchers and private schools. The bill specified exactly what the money could be used on and that the state couldn't touch it.

Public education has been so underfunded that some schools went to four day school weeks. Teachers are fleeing the state because they can't afford to provide for their families on such a small salary. They had years to make a change, and we tried the sales tax because they refused to do anything.

Oklahoma is in debt by a billion dollars because Fallin refuses to tax oil, gas, or the wind industry. She also approved a tax cut even after she was begged not to. The cut was supposed to give people spending money and boost the economy. Yeah that didn't work. If Fallin's  chosen for interior, it'll be just as big a disaster as Bannon and the rest. She will let the oil industry do whatever they want without consequences. Just look at Oklahoma's earthquakes. 

It's the same way in Kansas.  All the good that Kathleen Sebelius did as Governor of the state, has went in the crapper thanks to Sam Brownback.  And Brownback and Kobach are Trump's buddies, he wants to use Brownback's financial plan for the United States, that plan crashed and burned in Kansas and now our economy is crap.  Sebelius had turned everything around before Brownback, and here's something else Sebelius won big in reelection and she's a Democrat.  We had a big surplus thanks to her and Parkinson (who took over after Sebelius joined Obama's cabinet), but Brownback has turned it into a big deficit.

So yeah, the middle of the country voted for the people who tanked our economy because somehow they'll be able to turn it around on a national level.

[windsprints]

We'll all be asking this question by the evening of 1/20/2017:

 

[Stuffy]

In Oklahoma they can't even find a decent democrat to run for governor because they know they'll lose to straight party voting. It's how we ended up with a dentist for supt. of schools. At least she never made it out of the primary for a second term. The lady trump chose for education secretary reminds me of the dentist. It's going to be a disaster. 

[BBDi]

15 hours ago, Cupid Stunt said:

Because Numbers Are Hard

The lack of transparency and accountability are very desirable and will facilitate the great looting that is about to take place, but I suspect there is another reason why they won’t submit a budget.

They don’t have anyone or any staff that know how to do it. They never thought they would win. They never thought about these things. And Trump Republicans aren’t numbers people. Their reactionary radicals who think a Facebook meme is a thinkpiece. They don’t know how government works, they don’t understand budgets, budgeting, and the legislative process. They just want to shut down departments of government they disagree with, sell off the carcass and redirect the money to their supporters and their benefit, and shit on the people that disagree with that plan.

What we are going to see is an administration completely disengaged from actual governance, while within the Republican House and Senate individual fiefdoms will handle the money grab. In the chaos, criminals find and create opportunities. In 20 years if we are still around, we may begin to get a full accounting of how Trump drove the country into financial ruin and how we ended up with the top 1% owning 99.99% of everything while we have two trillion annual deficits but are still all starving.

But that’s if the media hasn’t been banned by then.

Very well said. I can't imagine them putting together a coherent budget or any other plan, and the new administration will use every excuse to drag it out. The chaos they are generating will provide the ultimate cover for every bad actor. 

[stillshimpy]

I'm very fond of the book Mother Night.  The line is "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."  I used that line a lot in this election.  

This election did more to change how I viewed the people around me than any other election before it.  In fact, I didn't think politics had the power to change my belief in the basic goodness of people.  I always thought that people would surprise you in a good way if you gave them a chance.   That the bad stuff just gets more press but that given an opportunity, people would prove that they were evolving and getting better. 

I'm pretty used to being wrong about things.  It happens pretty regularly and I always taught my son that the world doesn't end if you admit you were wrong, and you learn something new when you do.    I'm pretty comfortable with being wrong, or at least I was.  I didn't think I'd ever be this wrong about the basic nature of the world.  

The policies Trump campaigned on -- treating Islamic Americans like enemies, deporting people who primarily work harder than any other group, branding any Other as lesser, treating women like grab-bags  -- it's so against everything I've ever believed and it's been a huge challenge not to just give the fuck up.  

Edited December 5, 2016 by stillshimpy

[KerleyQ]

What happened to Ben Carson saying he wouldn't take a cabinet position because he doesn't have the experience?  Now he's going to be in charged of HUD, when he's been vocally against basically everything they do?  The Emperor really is using "do you want to destroy this department?" as his main criteria for appointing people to his administration, isn't he?  Again, media, how are you not on this?  How is there not someone screaming "have you all noticed that he only appoints people who want to destroy the departments he's appointing them to?"  But, you know, the media needs to focus on his immature rants against SNL, so they can't be bothered to cover this stuff.  

And, at some point yesterday, he decided to start a Twitter war with China.  I've seen WAY less about that from the media than the meaningless "look what wacky thing he said today" stuff they cover.  It's all one big reality show.  

[Chicken Wing]

5 minutes ago, KerleyQ said:

What happened to Ben Carson saying he wouldn't take a cabinet position because he doesn't have the experience?  Now he's going to be in charged of HUD, when he's been vocally against basically everything they do?  The Emperor really is using "do you want to destroy this department?" as his main criteria for appointing people to his administration, isn't he?  Again, media, how are you not on this?  How is there not someone screaming "have you all noticed that he only appoints people who want to destroy the departments he's appointing them to?"  But, you know, the media needs to focus on his immature rants against SNL, so they can't be bothered to cover this stuff.  

And, at some point yesterday, he decided to start a Twitter war with China.  I've seen WAY less about that from the media than the meaningless "look what wacky thing he said today" stuff they cover.  It's all one big reality show.  

At this point the media are in a no-win situation with Dump. If they actually pay attention to the overtly despicable and disturbing things he's doing, they get accused of liberal bias. If they give attention to the nonsensical things he does in a presumed effort to distract from the despicable and disturbing things, and even point out that that's why he's doing them, they get accused of liberal bias. Basically, we're increasingly speeding toward a land where the media cannot be trusted, there is no such things as facts and everything might as well be true if it sounds good enough. Within the next four years we are shaping up to become the stupidest nation in the free world. Can't wait.

[KerleyQ]

Just now, Chicken Wing said:

At this point the media are in a no-win situation with Dump. If they actually pay attention to the overtly despicable and disturbing things he's doing, they get accused of liberal bias. If they give attention to the nonsensical things he does in a presumed effort to distract from the despicable and disturbing things, and even point out that that's why he's doing them, they get accused of liberal bias. Basically, we're increasingly speeding toward a land where the media cannot be trusted, there is no such things as facts and everything might as well be true if it sounds good enough. Within the next four years we are shaping up to become the stupidest nation in the free world. Can't wait.

The thing is, though, the media should say "screw that," and report the real news.  We can't function with a press that is afraid they'll be criticized for reporting the news.  Fewer than 20 percent of the citizens of this country voted for Orange-Glo.  Yes, they're loud and obnoxious, but they're the minority.  (Oh, the irony of their "silent majority" self assigned label.)  The media cannot allow them to shout them down and shame them into silence.  As that old quote goes - "news is printing something someone doesn't want you to print.  Anything else is PR."  

[Chicken Wing]

11 minutes ago, KerleyQ said:

The thing is, though, the media should say "screw that," and report the real news.  We can't function with a press that is afraid they'll be criticized for reporting the news. 

They do, though, and they still get criticized by those wackos who are inherently biased against anything they (the MSM) have to say just because they're the ones who said it and/or who only want to hear subjective truths -- facts that line up with their purview or tell them what they want to hear. Anything else shall be treated with suspicion if not outright dismissed. The media can't win -- if their primary objective is to convey facts and information to the public for the purpose of educating and enlightening them, they can't win even when they do their job as long as people choose to be skeptical of the source due to their own bias and refuse to allow themselves to be educated or enlightened if they don't like what they're being told. I don't know what the media can do to help their own case, at this point. They can't make people pay attention to reality. As the saying goes, you can't fix stupid. The onus, if you will, is on the purveyors and instigators of this "post-truth" reality so many people seem to be immersed in. They are the ones encouraging the distrust, questioning the existence of "truth" as an objective concept, feeding into an environment of propaganda. As long as they keep saying that it's okay, even acceptable, to not believe what you're being told even in the face of irrefutable evidence, people will go on living in their ignorance bubbles.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Chicken Wing

[Lunata]

I'm not sure if I should be posting this story here or on the Hillary Clinton forum but I chose this one because it relates directly to his choice of National Security Director, General Michael Flynn.

“Pizzagate” is the name for the bizarre conspiracy theory claiming that associates of Hillary Clinton ran a child sex-trafficking ring out of D.C.’s Comet Ping Pong. Those claims are entirely without basis, but that didn’t stop a North Carolina man from walking into Comet Ping Ping with a weapon demanding answers. General Flynn's son tweeted out his continued support for the conspiracy that spawned the attack. The false story was retweeted over 1,100 times. One man in Washington, D.C. took this seriously and decided he would go into this pizza restaurant with a loaded gun and 'self-investigate' the story himself.

We have to understand how people are not using any critical thinking and will believe fake news and even fake tweets. They believe it without question or investigating the facts. This is how Trump won in the first place. But the most disturbing thing is the statement made by a man who said that the family photos of his children were taken from Facebook and used in several conspiracy theory online articles claiming that these were the victims of a child sex trafficking. He was stunned to see the photos of his own children as they played, watched TV, etc. And his children aren't the only ones whose images are stolen off the internet and used in this manner by other websites specifically to instill fear and foster conspiracy theories.

This country has lost it's collective mind.

[Chicken Wing]

Quote

 

I'm not sure if I should be posting this story here or on the Hillary Clinton forum but I chose this one because it relates directly to his choice of National Security Director, General Michael Flynn.

“Pizzagate” is the name for the bizarre conspiracy theory claiming that associates of Hillary Clinton ran a child sex-trafficking ring out of D.C.’s Comet Ping Pong. Those claims are entirely without basis, but that didn’t stop a North Carolina man from walking into Comet Ping Ping with a weapon demanding answers. General Flynn's son tweeted out his continued support for the conspiracy that spawned the attack. The false story was retweeted over 1,100 times. One man in Washington, D.C. took this seriously and decided he would go into this pizza restaurant with a loaded gun and 'self-investigate' the story himself.

 

If the election of Dump wasn't enough of a cautionary tale in the dangers of proliferating false information, this is another one. And another example of how "truth" is just another word in the English language. Michael Flynn's own son tweeted this today:

Quote

Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it’ll remain a story.

Yes, we now live in a world where any statement, any conspiracy theory, any rumor, any pile of nonsense spouted by any idiot in the world shall be accepted as truth or possible truth or might as well be a truth until someone can prove that it isn't true. That age where unfounded accusations were given no credence in fact until proven to be so? Yeah, that burden has now shifted. It's now up to everyone else to prove that something is false. Theoretical ideas and fantasy propositions are now the truth in our post-truth world.

[Lunata]

THEN there's THIS!  There are multiple articles online claiming that this gunman was an ACTOR!! So what they're trying to tell us is that the Republicans were behind this controversy to intentionally make Major Flynn's son look like he was spreading fake stories. BUT...this and ALL the other claims that this shooter is an actor comes from websites like Reddit, WordPress, Zerohedge and Wolftimes....ALL crazy conspiracy theory websites!  So they're trying to disprove a fake story with another fake story!  My head hurts, I need Tylenol.  Unfuckingbelievable.

And Donald Trump and this China situation.... really I'm just going to lay down in a big ashtray and wait for the nuclear devastation. Anyone care to join me?

Edited December 5, 2016 by Lunata

[callmebetty]

8 minutes ago, Chicken Wing said:

If the election of Dump wasn't enough of a cautionary tale in the dangers of proliferating false information, this is another one. And another example of how "truth" is just another word in the English language. Michael Flynn's own son tweeted this today:

Yes, we now live in a world where any statement, any conspiracy theory, any rumor, any pile of nonsense spouted by any idiot in the world shall be accepted as truth or possible truth or might as well be a truth until someone can prove that it isn't true. That age where unfounded accusations were given no credence in fact until proven to be so? Yeah, that burden has now shifted. It's now up to everyone else to prove that something is false. Theoretical ideas and fantasy propositions are now the truth in our post-truth world.

But if people won't believe that actual facts how do you disprove something is false?

If the media is a bunch of middle schoolers afraid of being labeled biased because they report the facts then what do you do?

Where are all the collective majority voices calling all the bullshit bullshit? It can't be just Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow and a few select others it has to be people all different types of people fucking Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg types down to the fast food worker who say nope I was educated with facts and

THE DAMN SKY IS FUCKING BLUE!!!!

[Chicken Wing]

In my first year journalism class in college, I mistakenly typed "Major" instead of "Mayor" in my weekly class article and got an automatic 50-point fact error deduction. I think I'll bask in that once-unpleasant memory and comfort myself that, at least once upon a time, people actually cared about the importance of facts.

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But if people won't believe that actual facts how do you disprove something is false?

That's exactly it and exactly why arguing with these people is another no-win situation. You say that there is no evidence to support that X or Y actually happened, they say that there is no evidence that it didn't happen, and now there's no getting through to them because you can't prove that something doesn't exist. You can't prove a negative. It's not enough to say there's no proof that X or Y is real. You have to provide actual proof that it in fact is not real. You can't. That's why none of these people can be reasoned with and why I hope to God none of these people ever get called to serve on a jury. I fear for their ability to understand that "reasonable doubt" does not mean "at the exclusion of any theoretical possibility in the knowable universe."

Edited December 5, 2016 by Chicken Wing

[random chance]

It's like "the Emperor has no clothes" except when someone points it out, the crowd beats the crap out of them.

[NewDigs]

8 minutes ago, Lunata said:

 

And Donald Trump and this China situation.... really I'm just going to lay down in a big ashtray and wait for the nuclear devastation. Anyone care to join me?

Will there be adult beverages? Maybe I'll start smoking again. 

[PatsyandEddie]

Is Drumpf trying to get North America incinerated by taunting China on Twitter? More proof that the man is an idiot! 

[Lunata]

I'm trying to figure out Donald Trump's angle by antagonizing China this way. Either he's incredibly ignorant of the potential dangers associated with poking China. OR, China knows that he's a fucktard and just might be crazy enough to stand toe-to-toe with them and do battle with nuclear weapons and back down? Does a man hold a stick and poke a bear if he's afraid the bear will attack back or that he's confident it won't?

[AntiBeeSpray]

9 hours ago, backformore said:

Well, if men have to register, then I guess women should too.  For men, it is required that they register when they turn 18- even though we don't currently have a draft.

The thing is - women won't be drafted.   SImple reason - if you are female and your number gets called, if you don't want to serve - just get pregnant.

Kelly ann Conway HAS changed in appearance since I first became aware of her.   I wonder if Drumpf calls or texts her all hours of the night, she looks like she needs a good night's sleep.  If  she dyed half her hair black, though, she resembles: 

Thing is, some women have NO interest in getting pregnant. I'm one of them. So to use that as an excuse, won't always work. So it would have to come down to other reasons to not serve for some out there.

[sistermagpie]

Yeah, more and more I feel like we have to start by just ignoring anybody who isn’t interested in the truth because what’s the point of doing otherwise? They’re going to continue to glom onto anything that reaffirms their bias, whether it’s Hillary the pedophile or textbooks that need to talk about how it was better to be a slave than a poor white person before the Civil War.

 

These guys vote at the local level and are vigilant about making sure schools don’t teach critical thinking. They want schools to teach what they believe and then stop. They teach believing lies early in life—if a science class is all about how scientists are just fake know-it-alls whose knowledge is no better than your ignorance, or teaching gobbledygook as science so that you can pretend Intelligent Design is credible, you’re not learning science.

But if there’s no point talking to those people, just focus on the many many people who do want truth in the news. All the people who subscribed to better publications after the election to show they supported it. Don’t play into the people who are never going to have respect for you as a news source as long as you’re not their propaganda machine.

I know that won’t fix the problem, but at least it’s a place to start. Having to drag an ignorant population along like dead weight is bad, but not as bad as trying to beat them at their own game. You can’t prove you’re honest by being honest with them.

[AntiBeeSpray]

1 hour ago, Chicken Wing said:

They do, though, and they still get criticized by those wackos who are inherently biased against anything they (the MSM) have to say just because they're the ones who said it and/or who only want to hear subjective truths -- facts that line up with their purview or tell them what they want to hear. Anything else shall be treated with suspicion if not outright dismissed. The media can't win -- if their primary objective is to convey facts and information to the public for the purpose of educating and enlightening them, they can't win even when they do their job as long as people choose to be skeptical of the source due to their own bias and refuse to allow themselves to be educated or enlightened if they don't like what they're being told. I don't know what the media can do to help their own case, at this point. They can't make people pay attention to reality. As the saying goes, you can't fix stupid. The onus, if you will, is on the purveyors and instigators of this "post-truth" reality so many people seem to be immersed in. They are the ones encouraging the distrust, questioning the existence of "truth" as an objective concept, feeding into an environment of propaganda. As long as they keep saying that it's okay, even acceptable, to not believe what you're being told even in the face of irrefutable evidence, people will go on living in their ignorance bubbles.

^ This. That's in part why I don't even bother talking to Drumpf supporters for the most part. It's not worth hitting my head against the wall, so to speak.

[AntiBeeSpray]

3 hours ago, windsprints said:

We'll all be asking this question by the evening of 1/20/2017:

 

Irony is a you know what. We've all been wondering about that in regards to you, Drumpf.

[PatsyandEddie]

Lunata, the whole world knows he's a fucktard. I think China will give him just enough rope. 

[mythoughtis]

You only have to look at Illinois to know what will happen if Trump doesn't submit a budget. Rauners been governor  almost two years, and there's been no budget passed since he took office. 

 

Also, I gather Ivanka and her husband are moving to Washington. So we can disrupt 3 kids lives rather than disrupting 1.

Edited December 5, 2016 by mythoughtis

[Jediknight]

21 minutes ago, Lunata said:

I'm trying to figure out Donald Trump's angle by antagonizing China this way. Either he's incredibly ignorant of the potential dangers associated with poking China. OR, China knows that he's a fucktard and just might be crazy enough to stand toe-to-toe with them and do battle with nuclear weapons and back down? Does a man hold a stick and poke a bear if he's afraid the bear will attack back or that he's confident it won't?

I'm hoping Obama's contacted them to try to smooth things over, and I'm hoping the GOP has called them and said "Don't worry, he won't last long.  He's going to get impeached quickly."  While there are people who don't like Obama (I think history is going to rightfully remember him as a fantastic President), he's well liked around the world, so there's no doubt he can smooth things over and buy some more time.  I wouldn't be surprised if some world leaders have asked him "Is there some way you can stick around for 4 more years?"

We've been spoiled the last over 200 years by having Presidents that took the high road and acted Presidential.  W was a terrible President, and his lack of paying attention to security briefings let 9/11 happen (hey Trump, you might want to pay attention to them), but he didn't throw a fit at the smallest joke, and he actually practiced diplomacy.

[fishcakes]

29 minutes ago, AntiBeeSpray said:

Thing is, some women have NO interest in getting pregnant. I'm one of them. So to use that as an excuse, won't always work. So it would have to come down to other reasons to not serve for some out there.

"My bone spurs! They is givin' me pains!"

[AntiBeeSpray]

3 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

"My bone spurs! They is givin' me pains!"

"My bad back makes it impossible to do any real athletic activity."

[Chicken Wing]

"Not to worry, though, as my diseased brain and black soul will not stop me from destroying the country!"

[stillshimpy]

"Not to worry, though, as my diseased brain and black soul will not stop me from destroying the country!"

More proof of the post-factual world.  Rumors being spread like they are fact.  

Come now, you know better! 

That man has no soul. 

[potatoradio]

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Here's Pencey trying to clean up the latest shitpile from Tubby (you know, that China thing? The thing that could get us ALL NUKED?):

Pence replied: “Well, it’s his right to express his opinion as president-elect of the United States. I think one of the things that’s refreshing about our president-elect and one of the reasons why I think he made such an incredible connection with people all across this country is because he tells you what’s on his mind.”

Ahem. Pence. Dear. 

Tubby is refreshing, eh? He has this incredible connection, does he? 

Yes, I can smell the stench of that refreshment clear across the globe, thank you. Also, I'm pretty sure most serial killers will tell you they have connections with their victims - they know exactly how they like to kill and how they like to bury. It's incredible, really. 

Honestly, Tubby needs an entire army of shit scrubbers to follow behind him, shovels and lies and deviations and "but Hillary" and "but Obama" excuses on their backs. It's pathetic. 

They are never going to convince the majority of voters that the sky is green. 

The only refreshing thing about Tubby's administration is that it will end and I'm motivated to do everything I can to resist and throw his arse out on his ear in four years. Assuming, again, we don't get nuked in the name of building a Trump hotel first. 

I'm bitterly disappointed now, more than angry, that so many people were fooled and are convinced that the sky is green. I really thought more people valued their ability to think for themselves and that they'd take as much pride in seeing Tubby for what he is as they did for (supposedly) seeing HRC as the devil, but...nope. That's just embarrassing, really.

[MulletorHater]

17 hours ago, Pixel said:

I don't know if the media is purposely picking horrible photos of her or if she truly is showing on her face the toll her association with Trump is taking. The first time I saw her or heard of her, I was watching Bill Maher, and it was just after she'd taken over the campaign.  What I saw on his show was an energetic, well put-together, attractive woman.  Today? She looks like someone who has started down the road to meth abuse.  Seriously. She looks like she's aged 10 years in the last several months.  This is not a commentary meant to be about shaming anyone's looks. I think she's basically an attractive woman - but lately she just looks like life is beating the shit out of her.  I guess this is the price of selling your soul.

I said weeks ago, when discussing the Crypt Mistress, that some people get the faces they actually deserve.  There comes a point when the ugliness of a person's soul can no longer be hidden and it manifests itself in numerous ways.  That ugliness has to have somewhere to go, and in KAC's case, it shows on her face.

Given the contortions she admits that she has to go through to keep the tangerine toddler focused, I'm not surprised.  No sympathy from me for her or any of Drumpf's other surrogates.  They chose to put themselves in that position in exchange for being in the future führer's inner circle.

[SoSueMe]

30 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

You only have to look at Illinois to know what will happen if Trump doesn't submit a budget. Rauners been governor  almost two years, and there's been no budget passed since he took office. 

 

Also, I gather Ivanka and her husband are moving to Washington. So we can disrupt 3 kids lives rather than disrupting 1.

It lends a little credence to the rumors,....or Melania will use any excuse to keep some distance between herself and the orange one.