American Politics 4.0 - Orangeyou Glad He’s Back?

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by SebC

No, but I do have the stomach to be part of the political arm of the movement and cheer the soldiers on from my couch.

You might want to brush up on your history. Once the thugs have taken out those at the top, the next group they go after is the bourgeois malcontents who preach revolution with the pen. Not only because they’re a threat (if they can whip up one revolution, they can whip up the next one), but because the thugs have always hated them too.

[SutterBrother]

No Comment.

“Thoughts and deductibles to the family,” read one comment underneath a video of the shooting posted online by CNN. “Unfortunately my condolences are out-of-network.”

Torrent of Hate for Health Insurance Industry Follows C.E.O.’s Killing

[2Stonedbirds]

Originally Posted by psyang

Hmm, I wonder if shooting a rich exec (and not children) is what will lead to meaningful gun control laws...

Right after blanket pardoning the presidents son on federal gun charges? Nah, they ain't tough on gun crime.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

Be careful that you don’t make too much money, or they are coming for you too!!

I'm far more warry of the threat of rich mother####ers and their actual actions today than I am of the spectre of a mob chasing them, so I think I'll be OK, and am in no danger of "making too much money".

This is just more the the fallacy that people don't want taxes or restrictions on rich people, because they are foolish enough to have that glimmer of hope that one day those rules might apply to them, too. Pro tip: Ahahahaha!

[Looch City]

I do wonder who the next target is.

Is there a list of ####ty CEOs out there? Or it's basically all of the above lol.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

The problem with "eat the rich" is where that rich line is in society. The billionaires definitely deserve to roast. Can't be a billionaire without massively ####in society. It's the only way. But when anarchy comes, a progressively smaller amount of the mob will start selecting where that arbitrary "rich" line was, and more people are going to the guillotine. Happens every time. Most of the time the people running the kangaroo courts get eaten by the mob eventually, too.

Gotta love the lack of self-awareness of university-educated white collar workers tapping away on MacBook Pros preaching revolution between ordering pad thai from DoorDash and binge-watching Succession.

“Wait - no, I meant those rich!”

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by 2Stonedbirds

Right after blanket pardoning the presidents son on federal gun charges? Nah, they ain't tough on gun crime.

Are you upset the rich and powerful play by different rules than the rest of us? Are you just discovering this? And this is the thing that made you upset? Boy, you better stay away from the news, or you might not be able to handle all the Affluenza you'd encounter. It's perhaps not the world you imagined out there.

[Looch City]

Um excuse me, don't assume my OS.

[2Stonedbirds]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Are you upset the rich and powerful play by different rules than the rest of us? Are you just discovering this? And this is the thing that made you upset? Boy, you better stay away from the news, or you might not be able to handle all the Affluenza you'd encounter. It's perhaps not the world you imagined out there.

Not upset at all.
Judging by your posts, I can leave that up to you.

[ResAlien]

You know maybe just maybe this is an isolated incident and not the uprising of the proletariat? I see Cliff is very concerned about that exact scenario so it's probably good if we assuage his fears. We can say it slowly for them: the streets will not run red with the blood of the rich (please see addendum 2a for economic indicators that will define the rich) nor will this lead to the mass shootings of C-suiters or a massive violent protest against the ruling economic class.

This may however be the finding out part of farting around for predatory businesses and the broken American health insurance industry. If the noble sacrifice of one CEO puts the fear of god into a few companies and helps bring costs under control I don’t see the harm.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

You might want to brush up on your history. Once the thugs have taken out those at the top, the next group they go after is the bourgeois malcontents who preach revolution with the pen. Not only because they’re a threat (if they can whip up one revolution, they can whip up the next one), but because the thugs have always hated them too.

I'll believe that history is still relevant when a Jan 6th insurrectionist assassinates Trump.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

You know maybe just maybe this is an isolated incident and not the uprising of the proletariat? I see Cliff is very concerned about that exact scenario so it's probably good if we assuage his fears. We can say it slowly for them: the streets will not run red with the blood of the rich (please see addendum 2a for economic indicators that will define the rich) nor will this lead to the mass shootings of C-suiters or a massive violent protest against the ruling economic class.

This may however be the finding out part of farting around for predatory businesses and the broken American health insurance industry. If the noble sacrifice of one CEO puts the fear of god into a few companies and helps bring costs under control I don’t see the harm.

Thompson's wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that he told her "there were some people that had been threatening him." She didn't have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/nyc-th...folo-1.7402064


Not just one. Some. If you are getting multiple death threats for the actions of your company, maybe that's a sign...


Not that I think there is going to be an outbreak of assassinations, but it does illustrate the scale of the problem may be a bit bigger than one aggrieved person.

[ResAlien]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/nyc-th...folo-1.7402064


Not just one. Some. If you are getting multiple death threats for the actions of your company, maybe that's a sign...


Not that I think there is going to be an outbreak of assassinations, but it does illustrate the scale of the problem may be a bit bigger than one aggrieved person.

Oh I know I just wanted to pick on Cliff a little bit, he's doing his thing where he's making up fantastical Bolshevik revolution plotlines in order to try and talk down to the "keyboard revolutionaries" he's scared to address directly. It's a cowardly passive strategy to try and dismiss legitimate criticism of the current environment as a revolutionary call to arms. Classic liberal stuff yknow

[Mazrim]

A friend of mine had to deal with subsidiary of United Healthcare over a few years. They conveniently decided his medication was "out-of-coverage" when the price for said medication jumped after a necessary change to avoid symptoms from another brand/type. The labyrinth of contacts and systems he had to navigate to even get answers for that change took months to deal with, and by the end they were claiming that too much time had passed to contest the denial of coverage. He had to start rationing his medication, which lead to visits to the hospital. Once they started denying most of his hospital visit charges, he was in a really bad way. He couldn't hold his job due to his health, and had to survive on the charity of friends and family. He's on better footing now, and with a different provider, but that is sadly an all too common story.

He didn't choose to get sick and develop a chronic issue - he was healthy and athletic before this all happened. He barely used his benefits before this! US health insurance companies are some of the worst on this planet and I can't feel any sadness about this news.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'm far more warry of the threat of rich mother####ers and their actual actions today than I am of the spectre of a mob chasing them, so I think I'll be OK, and am in no danger of "making too much money".

This is just more the the fallacy that people don't want taxes or restrictions on rich people, because they are foolish enough to have that glimmer of hope that one day those rules might apply to them, too. Pro tip: Ahahahaha!

Who are these rich people you speak of?

What is the income level for you?

What about assets?

Is it a combination of assets and income? Surely you have this all figured out in order to make such blanket statements.

I need to know if I’m safe.

[ResAlien]

Don’t worry Canadian upper middle class you’re safe for now

[Doctorfever]

Edgy. I like it!

Well, mostly like being safe.

[Fuzz]

Again, if you have to ask, you don't, and won't ever have enough to be concerned.

[ResAlien]

It's just a stupid argument or conversation to have with you. Clearly fuzz is referring to those running these predatory businesses, upper echelons of government etc, but you and your ilk like to try and muddy the waters by demanding some sort of explicit means testing to define who "rich" is. It's unserious in a thread that's already so unserious that it's actually impressive.

[activeStick]

Biden's team are looking into additional pardons for others, including Liz Cheny, Adam Schiff and Anthony Fauci. This should go well!

https://www.politico.com/news/magazi...rdons-00192610

The deliberations touch on pardoning those currently in office, elected and appointed, as well as former officials who’ve angered Trump and his loyalists.

Those who could face exposure include such members of Congress’ Jan. 6 Committee as Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. Trump has previously said Cheney “should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!” Also mentioned by Biden’s aides for a pardon is Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who became a lightning rod for criticism from the right during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The West Wing deliberations have been organized by White House counsel Ed Siskel but include a range of other aides, including chief of staff Jeff Zients. The president himself, who was intensely focused on his son’s pardon, has not been brought into the broader pardon discussions yet, according to people familiar with the deliberations.

Also, Politico's head of news examines Biden's decision to pardon his son and what he thinks this means for the future of America's justice system.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazi...ardon-00192113

President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter almost looks like a fiendish prank on Washington — a Sunday night ambush designed to embarrass and shock.

That was presumably not Biden’s aim. But however unintentionally, the pardon is a kind of sabotage.

It is a rich gift to those who want to blow up the justice system as we know it, and who claim the government is a self-dealing club for hypocritical elites. It is a promise-breaking act that subjects Biden’s allies to yet another humiliation in a year packed with Biden-inflicted injuries.


The decision comes at a moment when the capital is girding for an assault on federal law enforcement institutions led by President-elect Donald Trump and his appointees.

“The reason we are here is because Trump and his Republican allies effectively — and successfully — pressured Joe Biden’s own Justice Department to prosecute his son,” Khardori wrote.

Yet when he came into office, Biden claimed he wanted to restore the Justice Department’s independence and took highly visible steps to place it outside his own control. It is why he appointed a sober former judge, Merrick Garland, as attorney general, rather than a legally accomplished Democratic politician like Deval Patrick or Doug Jones. It is why he left in place the U.S. attorney in Delaware, David Weiss, who was investigating Hunter Biden.

It is also why Biden and his aides told the American people, over and over and over, that a pardon for Hunter Biden was off the table.

These are steps Biden did not need to take if he did not want to let the justice system do its work.

Instead, countless hours of work and public dollars have gone toward securing indictments and verdicts that the president voided by fiat on a cold December evening.

As I had mentioned earlier, I believe every father would do the same for their son if they could. I also believe this mass pardoning chicanery was taken to the extreme by Trump in 2020. But I also believe that America is in for some interesting times going forward due to Trump's actions and now Biden's, that will make this a new norm for all outgoing Presidents.