American Politics Thread: Orange is the new POTUS

[DuffMan]

I like how some are saying, Gianforte's assault on a reporter is just a result of Trumps war on the media and the rhetoric he spewed on the campaign trail against reporters. Pinning some of the blame on Trump is a great move.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

I like how some are saying, Gianforte's assault on a reporter is just a result of Trumps war on the media and the rhetoric he spewed on the campaign trail against reporters. Pinning some of the blame on Trump is a great move.

See, this is what a purely ideological response looks like. Thank you for the example.

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

So what does the GOP prefer happen tonight? A Gianforte loss is absolutely humiliating and the clearest indicator yet the GOP is steamrolling to electoral ruin in 2018...but a Gianforte win means they have to deal with the newest member of the caucus facing assault charges against a reporter, with seemingly all the evidence suggesting it is totally indefensible and indicative of a rage-a-holic likely to crumble under the pressure of DC. While I would imagine they'd still prefer to avoid the humiliation of losing, it's about as close to a lose-lose situation as there is.

I read as many as 2/3 of ballots have already been cast. He'll likely win, and it's going to be glorious to watch him in Washington. $10 to the first reporter that wears a helmet to an interview.

[photon]

Doesn't make it untrue. Weaponizing hate and disdain for the press has consequences.

I also think it won't have any great impact; if you don't support Trump then you find the assault reprehensible and you definitely still won't vote for the guy. If you support Trump you think it's great and the liberal media needs more of this violence and you'll still going to vote for the guy.

[photon]

There goes any hopes Carson had any empathy for people he's supposed to be helping.

Poverty is largely “a state of mind”, housing secretary Ben Carson has claimed, dismaying observers who had modest hopes for his tenure.

Carson, the neurosurgeon who heads the agency charged with helping low-income Americans gain access to affordable housing, told Sirius XM radio: “You take somebody who has the right mindset, you can take everything from them and put them on the street, and I guarantee in a little while they’ll be right back up there.”

He went on: “And you take somebody with the wrong mindset, you can give them everything in the world, they’ll work their way back down to the bottom.”

Poverty and homelessness experts were quick to condemn the remarks.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-state-of-mind

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

See, this is what a purely ideological response looks like. Thank you for the example.

wut? example of what?

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by photon

There goes any hopes Carson had any empathy for people he's supposed to be helping.

Trump has hired some real winners.

Check out this report on DeVos's lack of awareness and answering questions, with, "it should be up to the state/parents"

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politi...ZEA?li=AAggNb9

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by photon

Doesn't make it untrue. Weaponizing hate and disdain for the press has consequences.

Suggesting that this guy exploding in rage and attacking someone for shoving a tape recorder in his face was somehow driven by Trump's attitude towards the press is such a transparent attempt to stretch a story to paint your political adversary it's embarrassing.

Originally Posted by DuffMan

wut? example of what?

The fact that you care absolutely nothing for what the truth of the matter is, but only about how it can be used, intellectual honesty be damned, to make Trump look bad. As if he needs the help.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Suggesting that this guy exploding in rage and attacking someone for shoving a tape recorder in his face was somehow driven by Trump's attitude towards the press is such a transparent attempt to stretch a story to paint your political adversary it's embarrassing.

The fact that you care absolutely nothing for what the truth of the matter is, but only about how it can be used, intellectual honesty be damned, to make Trump look bad. As if he needs the help.

fact: Trump called the media the enemy.
fact: a Republican just physically attacked a member of the media.

fact: CHL says "for shoving a tape recorder in his face", a little dramatic there aren't you? or is it,,,,intellectual dishonesty on your part? hmm?

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Suggesting that this guy exploding in rage and attacking someone for shoving a tape recorder in his face was somehow driven by Trump's attitude towards the press

Reminds me of the other things Trump has incited.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...-violence.html

A federal judge has rejected President Donald Trump's free speech defense against a lawsuit accusing him of inciting violence against protesters at a campaign rally.

Trump's lawyers sought to dismiss the lawsuit by three protesters who say they were roughed up by his supporters at a March 2016 rally in Louisville. Trump's lawyers contend that when the candidate said "Get 'em out of here," he didn't intend for his supporters to use force.

Two women and a man say they were shoved and punched by audience members as Trump directed them from the podium. Much of it was captured on video and widely broadcast during the campaign, showing Trump pointing at the protesters and repeating "get them out."

Judge David J. Hale in Louisville ruled Friday that the suit against Trump, his campaign and three of his supporters can proceed.

Hale found ample facts supporting allegations that the protesters' injuries were a "direct and proximate result" of Trump's actions."It is plausible that Trump's direction to 'get 'em out of here' advocated the use of force," Hale wrote.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

You can't honestly think those two things are linked. Or maybe I'm just giving you far too much credit by attributing this to partisan dishonesty on your part...

I gather from the Fox account that the guy barged into a private interview, asked him a question, to which Gianforte said "I'll deal with you later". He asked again and was referred to a member of Gianforte's staff. He kept going and Gianforte blew up and attacked him.

It's a pushy and aggressive move from a reporter, which is nothing out of the ordinary for political reporters, who have to be pushy and occasionally dickish in order to get quotes. That's their job, and it's part and parcel of being a politician to have to deal with that behaviour. It's no excuse for what Gianforte did, that goes without saying, but it's also pretty easy to see how this whole thing progressed based on the eyewitness accounts. It's not motivated by some broader animus towards reporters, it's just a guy getting progressively more annoyed and then ultimately losing his sh**. It is not the first time in human history that that sort of thing has happened.

Trying to create a narrative to link this to Trump is just groan-worthy political opportunism of the most transparent variety. It's the sort of thing that makes people see the political process as phony.

[the_only_turek_fan]

Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate

Frontline had a show on Tuesday Night entitled "Bannon's War," which goes into some detail about Steve Bannon's background and a few others who are now advisors to Trump.

It is worth a watch if you are interested in learning a bit more about him and his racist friends.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/bannons-war/

PBS Frontline is the world leader in documentary film making. They are the best.

[the_only_turek_fan]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

So what does the GOP prefer happen tonight? A Gianforte loss is absolutely humiliating and the clearest indicator yet the GOP is steamrolling to electoral ruin in 2018...but a Gianforte win means they have to deal with the newest member of the caucus facing assault charges against a reporter, with seemingly all the evidence suggesting it is totally indefensible and indicative of a rage-a-holic likely to crumble under the pressure of DC. While I would imagine they'd still prefer to avoid the humiliation of losing, it's about as close to a lose-lose situation as there is.

You honestly think the Dems can take back the house?

The 2018 Senate map looks bad for them too.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

You can't honestly think those two things are linked. Or maybe I'm just giving you far too much credit by attributing this to partisan dishonesty on your part...

I gather from the Fox account that the guy barged into a private interview, asked him a question, to which Gianforte said "I'll deal with you later". He asked again and was referred to a member of Gianforte's staff. He kept going and Gianforte blew up and attacked him.

lolz.

[photon]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Suggesting that this guy exploding in rage and attacking someone for shoving a tape recorder in his face was somehow driven by Trump's attitude towards the press is such a transparent attempt to stretch a story to paint your political adversary it's embarrassing.

But I don't think it's necessarily wrong.

It's like a hockey team's success; it's complex and due to a great number of factors, but each factor contributes. Getting a different goalie doesn't mean every win or loss is 100% attributable to the new goalie, but relatively small difference in their performance, over time, will contribute to the team's performance.

It's not like this guy thought "Trump's president now I can do what I want", but Trump's authoritarian rhetoric and weaponized hate of the press does foster an environment where people don't have quite the same amount of inhibitions and more such actions result across the population.

Similar argument with racism.

I don't have a large sample size to prove incidents against the media have increased but there's been enough republican actions against the media recently it certainly feels like it.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Photon

I don't have a large sample size to prove incidents against the media have increased but there's been enough republican actions against the media recently it certainly feels like it.

What do you mean by "incidents"? If we were talking about an "incident" of media criticism and the de-legitimization of the press as a GOP political strategy, sure, it's definitely increased. But this is a guy who flipped out at someone who was annoying him. Suggesting it's part of some grand design to increase anti-press animosity is ludicrous. Some people just can't keep their temper in check.

[troutman]

Gianforte had a grudge with this reporter to begin with. He linked Gianforte to shady business in Russia.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

What do you mean by "incidents"? If we were talking about an "incident" of media criticism and the de-legitimization of the press as a GOP political strategy, sure, it's definitely increased. But this is a guy who flipped out at someone who was annoying him. Suggesting it's part of some grand design to increase anti-press animosity is ludicrous. Some people just can't keep their temper in check.

It's not about design, no one is suggesting it's a conscious strategy. There's a reasonable suggestion that this is a natural next step in the hostility "Trumpism" has started. It advocates dehuminization of the actual reporters, not just "the press". Think back to the way the press were pointed at, threatened and "handled" at Trump rallies. Then this guy in a moment of heat feels justified to do this because there awful press deserve it after all these evil things they've done

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

What do you mean by "incidents"? If we were talking about an "incident" of media criticism and the de-legitimization of the press as a GOP political strategy, sure, it's definitely increased. But this is a guy who flipped out at someone who was annoying him. Suggesting it's part of some grand design to increase anti-press animosity is ludicrous. Some people just can't keep their temper in check.

who said that?

[photon]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

What do you mean by "incidents"? If we were talking about an "incident" of media criticism and the de-legitimization of the press as a GOP political strategy, sure, it's definitely increased. But this is a guy who flipped out at someone who was annoying him. Suggesting it's part of some grand design to increase anti-press animosity is ludicrous. Some people just can't keep their temper in check.

There was this one, the one where a congressman gave a reporter the finger, the one where a reporter was arrested for asking a question, there were a few others I can't recall right now.

I'm not suggesting it's part of some grand design to increase anti-press animosity. It's not design, it's a response.

As I said in may last post, the anti-press animosity will decrease people's inhibitions, where 9 times out of 10 the journalist doesn't get body-slammed, in an environment where their circle is telling them that the press is the enemy, now 8 times out of ten the journalist doesn't get body-slammed.