Politics in the Media

[potatoradio]

13 hours ago, NinjaPenguins said:

Do posters actually converse with one another? Do they just take turns posting whatever tickles their fancy at the moment without regard to what others are discussing? Is there a back and forth and ebb and flow?

I have ventured into the comments section of a few fascist sites and it's generally a ballpit of assorted, usual talking points. Usually goes: 

MURRCA WINS! Fucktard librulls!

Cry, librull, cry

HUSSEIN Obummer needs to *racist comment* 

Clinton is *gender slur*

Trump is king. No more freebie money for librulls and welfare queens.

F*ck global warming hoax. Drill, baby, drill. Palin is still a *gender slur*

MURRCA! YEAH!

I'm gonna get me some fresh hot Chik Fil A tomorrow and then go to hobby lobby with my confederate flag flying for FREEDOM. The *gay slur* can FOAD.

At least, that's what happened on the stories written by Faux News favorite bots like Ingraham or Hannity or Rushie Pooh. I've checked out Red State once in a while and can confirm the presence of racist, sexist, homophobes that can string entire sentences and arguments together, but not often. And if you read comments on stories from the few remaining RINO commentators like Eugene Robinson? Essentially screaming essays on why people like Robinson fail their purity test and are nothing more than librulls anyway.

So, it's kind of like, in your other example, when you try to sit a table with your friend of a friend of a friend's cousin and her whole gaggle of insufferable queafing magpies* and you try to listen and view them as fellow humans, but invariably the sound of their voices and stench of Schlitz and watermelon shooters and confusion has you slamming straight tequila, no lemon, no salt, and you wake up from the nightmare stinking and with a worm in your mouth. 

*with no disrespect meant to the actual birds, of course. 

Edited December 30, 2016 by potatoradio
Clarifying aim of venom

[Padma]

Just caught the tail end of the Rachel / KAC interview.  Rachel really asked some strong questions and pressed for answers--about the hedge fund and if Trump still had the $15-30 million in stock in Fannie Mae and had made money from his nominees announcement.... about Martha Raddatz NOT crying or saying what he attributed falsely to her on election night....about Peter Thiel suing Gawker into bankruptcy and Melania apparently using the same lawyer against a blogger with the same purpose.

Rachel asked succinctly, followed up (again and again) and tried to get answers.

As usual, KAC smiled and flattered ("You're brilliant") and ingratiated ("He told me to make that announcement on your show") and didn't give ONE. Straight. Answer. to Anything.

RM:  His business gives a way for foreign govts to funnel money to him. Will he divest?

KAC, eyes wide, incredulous: "Checking into a hotel room is money for him?  This is a brilliant businessman who isn't putting money in his pocket, Rachel. He is paying the salaries of so many workers..." blahblahblah.....She even managed to blabber talking points about how Americans were turned off by HRC's dishonesty and the foundation and pay to play.

RM: And....did he make stock money from Mnuchin's appt? 

KAC: "I don't have the details of that for you, but he's making everything comply with the law...many lawyers...night and day...blahblahblah." 

RM: Raddatz was maligned. Will he correct it? 

KAC: "We've taken care of that kind of thing in private. I can't tell you, but you'd be very happy." (A Trumpism!) 

RM, pushing: "He told this false thing about her in public, will he apologize in public so people don't keep believing it?"  "This man is brilliant and he has handled it very well, to everyone's satisfaction."

RM: "Gawker? Thiel? Melania? Lawsuits from the First Family?" 

KAC:  "Melania is a brilliant woman who is fighting back against false statements made against her. I think anyone would support her right to do that...blahdeblahdeblah..."

*****
She tried, but got nowhere.  This woman is impenetrable, prepared to say ANYTHING, to evade ANYTHING, to spin ANYTHING to make Trump "look great" (and say "so great, brilliant...")  Is there any point in doing this? It just gives them a talking point--- "We went on with liberal Rachel Maddow and did great!!!!"

[Pixel]

9 hours ago, NinjaPenguins said:

Have you ever gone out with a group of friends, and, like, a few of them are more like friends of friends? And there's one guy who can't really read a room and just sort of throws something into a conversation and then walks off to get a beer or something? Everyone's like, whoa, did you hear that? The guy comes back with his Milwaukee Best, and you all tell him what you thought of his statement, but he just laughs and moves onto a completely new thing? 

Guy: Fucking A, man, that new Bieber album is rocking my face off! Excuse me while I grab a beer. (He leaves. He returns)

Friends: Yeah, so, the reviews weren't that good. In fact, one of the songs was just Justin farting into a mic accompanied by an acoustic guitar. To each their own, we guess...

Guy: LOL! Lebron James sucks! Win a ring and get back to me, loser! 

Friends: Actually, dude, Lebron has won rings.

Guy: Hahaha. The sun rose in the west yesterday. Did you all see that shit?

Friends: (Deliver a detailed explanation of the sun-earth relationship, accompanied by cites from peer reviewed scientific journals)

Guy: Whoohoo. Read this copy of Weekly World News from 1995. BatBoy pimped Monica out to Bill Clinton. Excellent article.

 

Sometimes debating Orange supporters feels like that.

That's why I wish there was an ignore function in real life. It works really well here. I only have to see stuff  I don't want to when others respond to it.  

[NinjaPenguins]

Yes indeed. I wish someone had installed a mute button on my brother. His church and Facebook feed have transformed him into a toxic Pez dispenser of wingnut candies.

I had a dream, that one day people would stop pretending there is an alt-left. That one day men and women of all classes, creeds, and colors would no longer endure the strain of a false equivalence between a self-named clan of white nationalists and a label conservatives aggressively try to attach to liberals who irritate them. Then I woke up and realized that "I know you are but what am I" is considered the gold standard of tactics in republican debate circles.

Now humor. Humor is subjective. And while this isn't a scientific law or anything, I've noticed humor on the right tends to punch down and afflict the vulnerable. Mocking a disabled reporter, for instance. Not that the left is perfect by any means; there's some mean spirited jabs at the poor out there that come off as elitist. But look at people like Colbert and Bee who relentlessly mine the top of the political food chain for comedy gold. Humor laced with libtard, cuck, feminazi, and "jokes" about 2nd amendment "solutions" just isn't my jam, I guess. 

Edited December 30, 2016 by NinjaPenguins
Wurdz and grammer and speling

[Bookish Jen]

I once left a rather benign comment at a right wing on-line source and was met with several anti-Semitic and sexist insults. I was also told I should be raped.

[sistermagpie]

10 hours ago, Padma said:

She tried, but got nowhere.  This woman is impenetrable, prepared to say ANYTHING, to evade ANYTHING, to spin ANYTHING to make Trump "look great" (and say "so great, brilliant...")  Is there any point in doing this? It just gives them a talking point--- "We went on with liberal Rachel Maddow and did great!!!!"

Exactly. I don't get the point of it. The only reason I can see for wanting a surrogate on the show is to get clarification or answers about things and that's exactly what KAC is never going to give. It just gives her a chance to be all shrug-emoji about important issues and throw out the same kind of "we're looking into it" Trump does, in between looking for places to make anti-current administration speeches like her bullshit about how sad she was looking at pictures of children in Syria. (Not sad enough to allow refugees, I'm sure, but so so sad that this is all the fault of the bad decisions of our past secretaries of state.)

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

I have been reading a lot of good bye Sowell articles. I am really going to miss this man, especially his Random Thoughts columns. Here are some of his quotes, via TownHall:

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/christinerousselle/2016/12/27/12-fantastic-thomas-sowell-quotes-in-honor-of-his-retirement-n2263995

I hope he will continue to write books after his retirement. I have all of them and hope he does a farewell one.

Oh, hey Bourdain, my favorite liberal foodie. He has a voice to die for and can just mesmerize you when he does his voiceovers. I miss his shows also:

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2016/12/29/anthony-bourdain-snobby-liberals-hatred-for-red-state-america-caused-the-rise-of-trump-n2264590

LOL Twitchy and the WaPo:

http://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2016/12/08/embarrassing-wapost-forced-to-add-editors-note-to-its-big-fake-news-story/

Oh and the twitterverse is wondering about those Russian spies Obama decided to do something about:

http://twitchy.com/sd-3133/2016/12/29/why-did-obama-wait-until-now-to-punish-russia-for-hacks-hint-this-looks-bad/

I thought you conservatives didn't believe that Russia was behind it.

[sistermagpie]

2 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

I guess when you start out with Cut it out, it can only go down as far as being taken seriously:

Oh, you can totally go down from there! You can go to, "As president I'm ready to dismiss intelligence agencies for saying anything bad about the foreign dictator who's more useful to me than the people of my actual country. Don't worry, my followers will be totally cool about it. They think if it's good to me personally it will eventually be good or them somehow. Feel free to point and laugh about that. Meanwhile hey, all you other countries of the world! US intelligence agencies no longer have any power with the president! Open season!"

[Duke Silver]

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/814885050672148480

[parisprincess]

Quote

I guess when you start out with Cut it out, it can only go down as far as being taken seriously.

Kind of like when Trump was in the middle of an interview and was told something about his followers' bad behavior, and he looked into the camera, said 'stop it' and continued on with the interview? Of course most of his followers prefer the rallies where he incites them, but don't bother to watch a legitimate interview where he has to try to act as if he knows what he's talking about. At the rallies he doesn't have to act smart; he just has to insult, demean, threaten and mock people. That seems to work best for the people who hang on to his every word and have no critical thinking abilities.

[galaxygirl76]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

I thought you conservatives didn't believe that Russia was behind it.

The alt-left is behind it! Sad!! 

[Bookish Jen]

14 minutes ago, Duke Silver said:

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/814885050672148480

Fox News has admitted to reporting something wrong? Has Hell frozen over? Are pigs flying?

[Lantern7]

It might be an SNL stunt. We haven't seen Bobby Moynihan play the fat clueless F&F guy lately, have we?

[AntiBeeSpray]

24 minutes ago, Bookish Jen said:

Fox News has admitted to reporting something wrong? Has Hell frozen over? Are pigs flying?

Yep and they only tend to do that when people know that they are lying.

[NinjaPenguins]

I'm tired of all these twitchy links. When will conservative consumers of news move on to my ditchy.com site? I've planted a seed of information, and I need readers to fertilize it like nervous rhinos near a firing range who just finished a pan of Miralax muffins. My New Year's edition of Ditchy's Droppings is going to be keen, as the cool kids say.

• An intimate interview with former president George W. Bush. "I kinda thought histry was gonna sneak up on my presidenting and give it an atomic wedgie followed by a twitty twister. Then this Trump fella wins. Histry might short sheet my bed, but at least my undies won't be on my noggin'." Enjoy a tour of the Bush Art Gallery, featuring various perspectives on the ex-president's feet as he goes through his bathroom routine. 
• Learn the secrets of Trump's incredible virility, one of which is not a cocktail of cocaine, baby polar bear blood, and dollar store douche. Believe us. The proof is in the pudding as that mountain of gym socks next to his bed didn't crustify themselves! Also? Don't eat the pudding.
• All subscribers get unlimited access to Hillary's Hit List, a shocking catalogue of her many victims. Meet the waiter who was crushed when Secretary Clinton declined a refill of her raspberry iced tea and reel at the religious bigotry of the Clinton's pretending not to be home when those nice Mormon boys stopped by to share the truth. 
• Everyone says the right is sexist. Hah! New readers will receive our 2017 calendar, RepubliCAN You Handle the Sexy? Spoiler alert: you can't. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump put the sad in sadomasochism with a cutting edge, leather laden collage that will stoke your fire. Steve Bannon introduces us to his Grand Dragon and Paul Ryan goes Galt on his wardrobe. The right has never been so deliciously wrong! 
• Inauguration Day is going to be the star studded celebration of the year! Stars and studs to be named later. Bring the family and enjoy Eastern European female jello wrestling, Mike Pence's Scared Straight Haunted House, and the Battle of the Nickelback Cover Bands. Hit the souvenir stand and buy commemorative Trump family plates made in Taiwan. They're as great as they sound. For free tickets, call 1-800-SUCKERS and leave your name, bank account number, and complete credit card information. A Nigerian prince will get back to you.

Ditch Twitchy! Go Ditchy!

[callmebetty]

24 minutes ago, NinjaPenguins said:

I'm tired of all these twitchy links. When will conservative consumers of news move on to my ditchy.com site? I've planted a seed of information, and I need readers to fertilize it like nervous rhinos near a firing range who just finished a pan of Miralax muffins. My New Year's edition of Ditchy's Droppings is going to be keen, as the cool kids say.

• An intimate interview with former president George W. Bush. "I kinda thought histry was gonna sneak up on my presidenting and give it an atomic wedgie followed by a twitty twister. Then this Trump fella wins. Histry might short sheet my bed, but at least my undies won't be on my noggin'." Enjoy a tour of the Bush Art Gallery, featuring various perspectives on the ex-president's feet as he goes through his bathroom routine. 
• Learn the secrets of Trump's incredible virility, one of which is not a cocktail of cocaine, baby polar bear blood, and dollar store douche. Believe us. The proof is in the pudding as that mountain of gym socks next to his bed didn't crustify themselves! Also? Don't eat the pudding.
• All subscribers get unlimited access to Hillary's Hit List, a shocking catalogue of her many victims. Meet the waiter who was crushed when Secretary Clinton declined a refill of her raspberry iced tea and reel at the religious bigotry of the Clinton's pretending not to be home when those nice Mormon boys stopped by to share the truth. 
• Everyone says the right is sexist. Hah! New readers will receive our 2017 calendar, RepubliCAN You Handle the Sexy? Spoiler alert: you can't. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump put the sad in sadomasochism with a cutting edge, leather laden collage that will stoke your fire. Steve Bannon introduces us to his Grand Dragon and Paul Ryan goes Galt on his wardrobe. The right has never been so deliciously wrong! 
• Inauguration Day is going to be the star studded celebration of the year! Stars and studs to be named later. Bring the family and enjoy Eastern European female jello wrestling, Mike Pence's Scared Straight Haunted House, and the Battle of the Nickelback Cover Bands. Hit the souvenir stand and buy commemorative Trump family plates made in Taiwan. They're as great as they sound. For free tickets, call 1-800-SUCKERS and leave your name, bank account number, and complete credit card information. A Nigerian prince will get back to you.

Ditch Twitchy! Go Ditchy!

May I offer my comedic stylings to ditchy.com?

Jackoff Greygoose: " In my country,  we have great sale on election day. Buy one President,  get one Dictator free" What a Country!

[Ocean Chick]

Quote

Everyone says the right is sexist. Hah! New readers will receive our 2017 calendar, RepubliCAN You Handle the Sexy? Spoiler alert: you can't. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump put the sad in sadomasochism with a cutting edge, leather laden collage that will stoke your fire. Steve Bannon introduces us to his Grand Dragon and Paul Ryan goes Galt on his wardrobe. The right has never been so deliciously wrong! 

OMG!  You're on a roll.  I'm laughing so hard I have tears.  But this one was the best.  And by best, I mean so, SO terribly wrong.  LOL

[parisprincess]

You people are killing it today! NinjaPenguins, your new Ditchy.com musings are so much more fun than that silly Twichy.com garbage we're being bombarded with daily. Kudos to you and the others here who are brightening our days with humor in this gloomy, scary time.

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, AntiBeeSpray said:

Yep and they only tend to do that when people know that they are lying.

Daily retractions, then?

I remember either during the lead-up to or shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq (thanks to the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld axis of evil), a study revealed people who got their news from FOX News were hideously misinformed compared to people who got their news from other (actual news) sources.  Fact after fact they didn't believe to be true, lie after lie they did believe to be true.  These people were wandering around in some alternate universe, but fully convinced they were in the real world.  It was sobering.  And now, FOX News isn't even the half of it!  The proliferation of fake news sites on the internet, and the ease with which it is disseminated via social media -- it's truly frightening how impervious many people have become to reality. 

And how shitty a job our "real" media has been doing for so long now.  They switched from reporters to stenographers; instead of "President/Congressperson X said Y today, but as [insert facts here] shows, Y is not true, it's actually Z" we now have "President/Congressperson X said Y today, but Person From Other Party said it's Z."

[AntiBeeSpray]

Just now, Bastet said:

Daily retractions, then?

I remember either during the lead-up to or shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq (thanks to the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld axis of evil), a study revealed people who got their news from FOX News were hideously misinformed compared to people who got their news from other (actual news) sources.  Fact after fact they didn't believe to be true, lie after lie they did believe to be true.  These people were wandering around in some alternate universe, but fully convinced they were in the real world.  It was sobering.  And now, FOX News isn't even the half of it!  The proliferation of fake news sites on the internet, and the ease with which it is disseminated via social media -- it's truly frightening how impervious many people have become to reality. 

And how shitty a job our "real" media has been doing for so long now.  They switched from reporters to stenographers; instead of "President/Congressperson X said Y today, but as [insert facts here] shows, Y is not true, it's actually Z" we now have "President/Congressperson X said Y today, but Person From Other Party said it's Z."

Yep. I remember all of that during King George's reign. He never got held accountable during all of that.  Agreed. Investigative journalism needs to make a huge come back.

[parisprincess]

Trump is lauding Putin for putting off any retaliation. He said he knew Putin was smart. Oh yes, he is smart; much, much smarter than the orange one. Putin will compliment and stroke Trump's huge ego and before long he'll have our soon to be moron-in-chief dancing to the dictator's tune. Dance, puppet, dance!

[NewDigs]

19 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I remember either during the lead-up to or shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq (thanks to the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld axis of evil), a study revealed people who got their news from FOX News were hideously misinformed compared to people who got their news from other (actual news) sources.  Fact after fact they didn't believe to be true, lie after lie they did believe to be true. 

The Poynter org  and NPR both reported on a this survey taken in 2012:

People who watched no news scored higher on a current events quiz than people who watched FOX.

Quelle surprise.

[onthebrink03]

1 hour ago, Ocean Chick said:

OMG!  You're on a roll.  I'm laughing so hard I have tears.  But this one was the best.  And by best, I mean so, SO terribly wrong.  LOL

Oh I don't know.  This one is pretty terribly wrong as well:

Quote

Learn the secrets of Trump's incredible virility, one of which is not a cocktail of cocaine, baby polar bear blood, and dollar store douche. Believe us. The proof is in the pudding as that mountain of gym socks next to his bed didn't crustify themselves! Also? Don't eat the pudding.

You had tears?  Reading this, the laugh came so hard, so fast, catching me so completely off guard, I think I hurt something.  I had tears.  I had gasping for air.  I had light-headedness and strange lights whirring around me.  Thank God for Canadian health care.  I have a feeling the appropriate response should have been ewwwww, but sick puppy here so guffaws all around.  Damn Ninja, you're my kinda gal!

[NinjaPenguins]

I live to serve.

callmebetty, is Jerkoff Greygoose this century's Yakov Smirnoff? I like him.

[callmebetty]

1 hour ago, NinjaPenguins said:

I live to serve.

callmebetty, is Jerkoff Greygoose this century's Yakov Smirnoff? I like him.

Jerkoff is Jackoff's younger brother. Jerkoff goes around making puns and smashing objects.  Jackoff Greygoose is our USA bred Yakov.  Who knew he would ever be unearthed, not thinking we would ever need to defect from America.

"In America you grab pussy, but in Russia pussy grab you!" HAHA Snort.

[Duke Silver]

[Duke Silver]

https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/815018482676957184

[stormy]

That trump called putin smart after his response to President Obama's actions, is astounding. McCsin and Graham seem to be pushing back, I hope they don't back down.

The rest of the republicans? Swarmy.

[Queena]

21 hours ago, potatoradio said:

I have ventured into the comments section of a few fascist sites and it's generally a ballpit of assorted, usual talking points. Usually goes: 

MURRCA WINS! Fucktard librulls!

Cry, librull, cry

HUSSEIN Obummer needs to *racist comment* 

Clinton is *gender slur*

Trump is king. No more freebie money for librulls and welfare queens.

F*ck global warming hoax. Drill, baby, drill. Palin is still a *gender slur*

MURRCA! YEAH!

I'm gonna get me some fresh hot Chik Fil A tomorrow and then go to hobby lobby with my confederate flag flying for FREEDOM. The *gay slur* can FOAD.

At least, that's what happened on the stories written by Faux News favorite bots like Ingraham or Hannity or Rushie Pooh. I've checked out Red State once in a while and can confirm the presence of racist, sexist, homophobes that can string entire sentences and arguments together, but not often. And if you read comments on stories from the few remaining RINO commentators like Eugene Robinson? Essentially screaming essays on why people like Robinson fail their purity test and are nothing more than librulls anyway.

So, it's kind of like, in your other example, when you try to sit a table with your friend of a friend of a friend's cousin and her whole gaggle of insufferable queafing magpies* and you try to listen and view them as fellow humans, but invariably the sound of their voices and stench of Schlitz and watermelon shooters and confusion has you slamming straight tequila, no lemon, no salt, and you wake up from the nightmare stinking and with a worm in your mouth. 

*with no disrespect meant to the actual birds, of course. 

Eugene Robinson is a Republican? I had no idea all these years... 

[potatoradio]

42 minutes ago, Queena said:

Eugene Robinson is a Republican? I had no idea all these years... 

You're right - thanks for the correction. I had the impression that he was conservative because he was generally brought on to MSNBC panels when discussing Republicans, so I considered him, Wallace and Steele the more center to center right commentators. But, Robinson is liberal, according to the further digging I did.

The search for a bigger pool of center to center right conservatives continues, I suppose...

[Medicine Crow]

What a peach of a guy!!!

Donald J. Trump
(@realDonaldTrump)

Glad to see that @RondaRousey lost her championship fight last night. Was soundly beaten - not a nice person!

Nov 16, 2015 · Twitter

[backformore]

On 12/30/2016 at 7:31 PM, Duke Silver said:

You know, the thing that slays me is that during the campaign, Trump claimed he DIDN"T KNOW Putin!!!!   Even though there was video of him praising him from years ago, and saying that he had met him.   BUt NOW - he knows him again!  How do his supporters ignore this shit?

[stormy]

I don't even know how to understand this man's ignorance. I won't even try.

But in historical perspective, I wondered, what if joker had been in charge on December 7, 1941? 

[NutMeg]

These few sentences really summarise what has puzzled me the most about Trump's supporters since the election:

"Their man was headed to the White House! And yet here they were, glued to cable news, looking for reasons to get themselves outraged and red-faced about the un-greatness of America all over again. Even in victory they were angry. They had what amounted to a need for that particular emotion, and it seemed to lead them to scour the media for whatever might trigger it."

Source: http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/donald-trump-michael-lewis-the-new-american-board-game

Another surprising thing I discovered during this election and its aftermath is that non traditional media went more in depth that the traditional one: Teen Vogue had great articles (I learned about them here, thank you guys, because I would never have expected it), Vanity Fair has a lot of great articles, which combine snark and relevant info (my people - I got to respect their strong reporting  skills/in depth articles after the 2008 financial crisis), and with Newsweek they seem the most honest in their reporting.

I travel a lot and have one foot in Asia and one in Europe for the moment, but I've always read a combo of The New York Times which has disappointed me recently as it's increasingly embracing Trump as a normal president, the Guardian, left and right leaning French newspapers, Asian newspapers in te country I'm in (South China Morning Post, Strait Times, etc.). I plan to read WaPo more, but so far, surprisingly (or not), the most candid news report I've found is in Asia's newspapers (granted, they have a lot of syndicated articles, but they sem to choose well), followed by UK, as far as daily newspapers go.

Thanks to this thread, I've also discovered The Nation and Mother Jones, which I'll definitely keep    reading - thank you!

[fishcakes]

From about 90 minutes ago:

I don't understand how any sane, adult person can look at the words and actions of the emotionally stunted babyman who's about to become our next president and not feel fear and loathing if they didn't vote for him or deep regret and shame if they did.

Edited December 31, 2016 by fishcakes

[PatsyandEddie]

Canadian news showed this then played President Obama's videotaped inspiring message. drumpf might as well have tweeted "Neener neener!" He's an embarrassment. 

[NinjaPenguins]

When using an adjective to describe something related to the Democratic party, the proper word is "democratic." It is not "democrat." Democrat is used by Republicans because it emphasizes "rat." It's a sophisticated propaganda technique. For second graders.

54 minutes ago, NutMeg said:

"Their man was headed to the White House! And yet here they were, glued to cable news, looking for reasons to get themselves outraged and red-faced about the un-greatness of America all over again. Even in victory they were angry. They had what amounted to a need for that particular emotion, and it seemed to lead them to scour the media for whatever might trigger it."

This puzzles me too. They got their Fuck the Liberals out of their systems. Liberals and many others from across the political spectrum are devastated, but apparently not devastated enough to satisfy their need for our misery. I know studies say conservatives and liberals tend to be wired differently. I know I didn't run around with a wine glass after Obama's two victories in order to capture the drinkable tears of defeated Republicans. 

I read a post upthread calling Obama a spiteful man for retaliating against a foreign autocrat who interfered in our elections. You know, the man who graciously suppressed his gag reflex as he gave Orange a tour of the White House while the rest of us were looking up architectural plans for nuclear fallout shelters. I mean, I suppose Russia just wants to be our friend, but they're sitting way too close to us on the couch. Then they're pulling the Yawning Arm Stretch maneuver and stroking our hair. And we're like "Back off, Russia. It's not like that!" So Russia gets all pouty but mumbles out this long apology and while we're listening to that, Julian Assange roofies our Diet Dr. Pepper. We swear Russia is copping a feel as we doze off. We wake up and our bra is on backwards and some Oompa Loompa is putting gold leaf on all our shit and Poland and Ukraine have been invaded. 

Sorry. That escalated rather quickly.

Edited December 31, 2016 by NinjaPenguins
Words are hard, man

[SoSueMe]

5 minutes ago, NinjaPenguins said:

When using an adjective to describe something related to the Democratic party, the proper word is "democratic." It is not "democrat." Democrat is used by Republicans because it emphasizes "rat." It's a sophisticated propaganda technique. For second graders.

This puzzles me too. They got their Fuck the Liberals out of their systems. Liberals and many others from across the political spectrum are devastated, but apparently not devastated enough to satisfy their need for our misery. I know studies say conservatives and liberals tend to be wired differently. I know I didn't run around with a wine glass after Obama's two victories in order to capture the drinkable tears of defeated Republicans. 

I read a post upthread calling Obama a spiteful man for retaliating against a foreign autocrat who interfered in our elections. You know, the man who graciously suppressed his gag reflex as he gave Orange a tour of the White House while the rest of us were looking up architectural plans for nuclear fallout shelters. I mean, I suppose Russia just wants to be our friend, but they're sitting way too close to us on the couch. Then they're pulling the Yawning Arm Stretch maneuver and stroking our hair. And we're like "Back off, Russia. It's not like that!" So Russia gets all pouty but mumbles out this long apology and while we're listening to that, Julian Assange roofies our Diet Dr. Pepper. We swear Russia is copping a feel as we doze off. We wake up and our bra is on backwards and some Oompa Loompa is putting gold leaf on all our shit and Poland and Ukraine have been invaded. 

Sorry. That escalated rather quickly.

This post is perfection. ^^^^^^

[candall]

Oh, NinjaPenguins!  I know it's rude to take up space just to say that I agree with SoSueMe, but--BWAHAHA--I have little tears in the corners of my eyes from laughing.  That hasn't been happening a lot lately.  Thanks!

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, NinjaPenguins said:

I read a post upthread calling Obama a spiteful man for retaliating against a foreign autocrat who interfered in our elections.

I think the "protect his legacy" is also another one of those projection things. It implies that Obama's jut in it for himself and his own ego (a charge associated with Trump for obvious reasons) even though in this case the "legacy" being referred to is in many ways the legacy shared by every single president since George Washington--the one where the USA is its own sovereign nation and people who invite foreign leaders to manipulate it like a puppet are traitors.

I mean, Trump is quite transparently putting things that are advantageous to himself personally first. He's the one who personally benefits by protecting Putin at the expense of the democratic process, the intelligence community, the humiliation of the US.

[sistermagpie]

9 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

To find it mentioned in various places that people are  moving away from their regular mainstream media outlets (NYT, liberal cable tv, the old school networks) and moving towards other options to get their news, information, insights, etc., (Teen Vogue, Vanity and some others were mentioned) it feels as if slowly the cracks are getting bigger and the liberal, left leaning (read DNC) hold on the narrative is truly diminishing.

I think you're conflating two different things, though. The Right's claim that the "mainstream media" shouldn't hold the narrative is often about rejecting facts in favor of a preconceived narrative with a specific political agenda. (Hence polls that clearly showed that, for instance, watching Fox News made you less informed about facts of the world than watching no news at all.) People have praise Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Newsweek and WaPo (those last two especially being very much old school mainstream news media) because they feel they're more factual. So basically while yes people have obviously been moving away from the way they got their news back in the 70s for a while now, people are not praising Newsweek for the same kind of reporting people praise Breitbart. The praise for Newsweek is praise for old-fashioned, investigative old-school, well-sourced reporting, not a rejection of it.

[NinjaPenguins]

Hillary did not buy Bernie a house to make him go away. 

There are still Bernie and Hillary factions duking it out all over the internet, it's true. I was a staunch Sanders supporter during the primary and was very happy to vote Clinton in the general. People still litigating the primaries are wasting their time. Hillary won't be president. Bernie won't be president. There's a more important fight ahead and all hands are welcome on deck, from Clinton and Sanders to fuckin' Lindsey Graham. But faux concern about our internal debates from people not actually willing to engage with actual democrats is always welcome.

[izabella]

2 hours ago, PatsyandEddie said:

Canadian news showed this then played President Obama's videotaped inspiring message. drumpf might as well have tweeted "Neener neener!" He's an embarrassment. 

Hooray for BBC World News this morning for reporting on Obama's inspiring message, Putin's "inspiring" message to his people, and made no mention of Trumputin's crap tweet inspiring only his ego.  I'll bet the "no mention of Trumputin" gets under his skin way more because that means the brat is getting no attention.

[Lantern7]

3 hours ago, fishcakes said:

From about 90 minutes ago:

I don't understand how any sane, adult person can look at the words and actions of the emotionally stunted babyman who's about to become our next president and not feel fear and loathing if they didn't vote for him or deep regret and shame if they did.

Hate this motherfucker. Hate this motherfucker so much. And I'm certain the "J" stands for "Judas," not "John." Also, "Trumputin" is damn near perfect. Like he's the Manchurian President that knows he's a double agent, and doesn't seem affected that he's going to screw us all. If there is such a thing as God, the Bible would burst into flames the instant that thing (sorry, Ben Grimm) touches it.

[DollEyes]

Last media-based tweets of the year:

First, Joy Reid:

Quote

A POTUS-to-be cheerleading Russia against American news media even after the sitting U.S. president imposes sanctions? Thoughts, historians?

Next, Matthew Dowd:

Quote

Loyalty should not be 1st to person or party, should be to the truth & values, like compassion, tolerance, integrity and our Constitution.

Next, Lawrence O'Donnell:

Quote

Knowledge is (no longer) power.

Last but never least, Charles M. Blow:

Quote

If it gets any worse I'm going to need a spaceship & instructions from Matt Damon on how to grow those feces potatoes on Mars.

[candall]

I bought an online subscription to the NYT to be supportive, which I'm now going to supplement with (hardcopy) Mother Jones and Newsweek.  I'm overdue for those anyway--but woof, Teen Vogue is a stretch for this household, where one oldish woman wears a lot of tees insulated with animal shed.  It's good, though; I'm happy to see young people being addressed and informed.  High five, Teen Vogue, good job.

 

I have a new two-month complimentary subscription to Sirius in my car and that's pretty interesting.  The "Patriot" station is Limbaugh-level hardcore conservative, of course, but "Progressive,"--I think-- is correspondingly extreme.  (I haven't sussed out the flavor of the "POTUS" channel yet.) 

NPR, BBC and MSNBC are old pals, but I'm enjoying the political news from the many Canadian talk shows, which have no other pathway to my world.

 

(Off-topic, but you really let me down on the Christmas carol channel, SiriusXM.  You know there have been a few seasonal melodies since Burl Ives, right?)

[SoSueMe]

I was just watching CNN a minute ago. Ben Ferguson and the reporter from Teen Vogue (kudos to her, BTW, wish I remembered her name) were being interviewed. It struck me that somewhere along the way, Ferguson must have been drinking the Trump koolaid. During the campaign he did not seem to be such a fan. Very few GOPers are willing to stand up against him now, terribly depressing.

Edited December 31, 2016 by SoSueMe

[NinjaPenguins]

Hillary did not buy Bernie Sanders a house. Or a boat. Or a cheeseburger. And he didn't go away. He hit the campaign trail for Hillary. Someone had to lose the primary and it was Bernie and he didn't go away.

Trump cannot rope a dope Putin. The only dope he'll rope is himself. Putin is playing a symphony by Beethoven while Trump belches the alphabet after a burrito. Orange can only find Russia on a map if Reince and Bannon pin a naked lady pic over Moscow. 

Shit. The Soros connections have been revealed. Everyone, do not cash your Soros checks until the Ides of March. You know why.

[Padma]

1 hour ago, stewedsquash said:

What was the reason for Hillary buying Bernie a $600,000 house, if not so he would go away? I always thought it was so he would go away (and when he didn't her head exploded) but if there is another reason I am open to it.

Source? (twitchy.com doesn't count.)

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, stewedsquash said:

 Trump and Putin are just biding their time, doing what is best for each of their countries.

Yes, what's best for Putin's country is to have a malleable US president he can manipulate and who's surrounded by friends of Russia.

What's best for the US, apparently, is to have our intelligence community publicly undermined (which is going to affect things down to the street level) and to cover up for people spying on us when it benefits Donald Trump. Yup, sounds about right.

Trump doesn't bide his time and he's barely watching anything, remember?

I feel like Kevin Spacey at the end of Se7en: "Oh really? So, what were you doing? Biding your time? Toying with me? Allowing five innocent people to die until you felt like springing your trap?"

Edited December 31, 2016 by sistermagpie