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But how could this happen? We were told repeatedly by supposedly sage people that only Trump could act like this towards women and all the Covid difficulties were down to that narcissistic, blowhard, populist liar Trump.
There must have been an evil Republican plot, backed by Steve Bannon, to take over Cuomo's mind to make him look bad.
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@victor-meldrew don't discount the Russians 😉
God knows there's no pleasure watching America descend further into a divorce, and for the people who thought Trump was the problem I hope some are now realising that they're all rotten, selfish, narcissistic blowhards.
The political class we see everyday are like superheroes in reverse - everyone of them have superhuman scumbag traits and Trump is just one among many.
Vic, if I may be so bold 🙂, have you read "Hate Inc." by Matt Taibbi?
I'm a bit through it and it explains the FUNDAMENTAL problem of US politics. It's the inside word, from a source with high credibility, of the news media industry and business. Fascinating and wholly depressing at the same time but nonetheless vital for navigating the modern world.
Basically we're being played to an amazingly infantile standard. It's all just Pro wrestling!
Best strategy is to form no sides, agree with nothing they say and call these politicians (terrible people) out as the employees they are. Don't befriend these fuckers🙂
Hate inc - worth a peruse
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@siam said in US Politics:
Best strategy is to form no sides, agree with nothing they say and call these politicians (terrible people) out as the employees they are. Don't befriend these fuckers
True. Much easier to stick hyperbolic labels on people rather than bother to check the facts and think.
Hate inc - worth a peruse
Thank. Will check it out.
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There’s a bit of rhetoric and bias in this but judging by the facts alone the prospects for democracy in the US look bleak.
How the country can place any claim to being an example of a free and democratic society is beyond me.
This will only invite a cohort of extremes from “the other side” to get established -
@crucial Liked the comment but not necessarily the article you linked. Many of the issues highlighted there are pretty selective and make no mention of the equivalent behavior from the Dems whenever they are in a position to get away with it. Sadly though I think you're largely correct, they have some front trying to lecture other states on democracy.
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@jc said in US Politics:
@crucial Liked the comment but not necessarily the article you linked. Many of the issues highlighted there are pretty selective and make no mention of the equivalent behavior from the Dems whenever they are in a position to get away with it. Sadly though I think you're largely correct, they have some front trying to lecture other states on democracy.
As I said, the article has a bias, but does lay out a very strong case in one direction of a destruction of democracy.
Would be very interested in reading a similar list in the other direction. Are Dems making it very difficult for GOP voters? -
@crucial Yep. Democrats in New Jersey.
They'll all do it if they can I reckon. The last thing they want is fairness. Outright theft is too risky, so load the dice instead.
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There is a lot more than gerrymandering going on, and when questioned in the Supreme Court recently, a Republican lawyer said the reason for wanting restrictions on out of precinct voting (i.e. voting at a different electorate or polling station in NZ terms) in Arizona were because they were at a competitive disadvantage.
Both sides are guilty of BS but Republicans are much worse for it.
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@crucial said in US Politics:
There’s a bit of rhetoric and bias in this but judging by the facts alone the prospects for democracy in the US look bleak.
The opening line of the article - Donald Trump has been defeated, but American democracy remains in peril - and the first paragraph pretty much sums up the problem with US politics today.
A partisan, fact-free media and a political party which thinks it, and only it, can understand and practice democracy and anyone who doesn't agree with them is deplorable, a Neanderthal and/or evil
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@victor-meldrew After giving it some thought I reckon that between the leftist intersectionalists’ insistence on there being no absolute truths and the right’s pushing of the “fake news” narrative a perfect storm has been created where liars prosper.
The media no longer seem to differentiate between fact and Op-Ed and a lot of the consumers can’t tell the difference anyway. Then the social media channels models are to blur the line between the two because it makes for more clicks. The end result is an end to curiosity. What’s the point in seeking out more data to inform your opinions if you are convinced that you already know the answers and everything you hear or read confirms that your opinion is fact?
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@jc or that anything that contradicts your position or the information you've used to base your opinion on is instantly suspect - and it's all down to AGENDAS and hidden TRUTHS. A sad state of affairs. On social media we see anecdotal personal opinions or 'lived experiences' frequently valued and trusted above a bunch of other content.
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@jc said in US Politics:
@victor-meldrew After giving it some thought I reckon that between the leftist intersectionalists’ insistence on there being no absolute truths and the right’s pushing of the “fake news” narrative a perfect storm has been created where liars prosper.
The media no longer seem to differentiate between fact and Op-Ed and a lot of the consumers can’t tell the difference anyway. Then the social media channels models are to blur the line between the two because it makes for more clicks. The end result is an end to curiosity. What’s the point in seeking out more data to inform your opinions if you are convinced that you already know the answers and everything you hear or read confirms that your opinion is fact?
In other words...
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@victor-meldrew much easier than trying to be objective about your own beliefs, or how much of your worldview is based on stuff you've never actually challenged or thought about in any depth.
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@paekakboyz said in US Politics:
@victor-meldrew much easier than trying to be objective about your own beliefs, or how much of your worldview is based on stuff you've never actually challenged or thought about in any depth.
It's almost a hate crime or group betrayal to test and/or challenge certain beliefs these days.
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@victor-meldrew one of the reasons I miss the Baron is his ability to make me question my stuff. Kind of like self development via sandpaper to your face!!
I guess if beliefs are truths then challenging anything means you must be attacking the very dna of that person. Let alone any kind of acknowledgement that beliefs can change over time.
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@paekakboyz said in US Politics:
@victor-meldrew one of the reasons I miss the Baron is his ability to make me question my stuff. Kind of like self development via sandpaper to your face!!
I guess if beliefs are truths then challenging anything means you must be attacking the very dna of that person. Let alone any kind of acknowledgement that beliefs can change over time.
Many Enlightenment thinkers thought challenging beliefs was the way to their becoming truths . Unlike today, they also thought differing beliefs should not only be tolerated, but celebrated.
We've gone backwards in many ways.
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@jc said in US Politics:
@victor-meldrew After giving it some thought I reckon that between the leftist intersectionalists’ insistence on there being no absolute truths and the right’s pushing of the “fake news” narrative a perfect storm has been created where liars prosper.
The media no longer seem to differentiate between fact and Op-Ed and a lot of the consumers can’t tell the difference anyway. Then the social media channels models are to blur the line between the two because it makes for more clicks. The end result is an end to curiosity. What’s the point in seeking out more data to inform your opinions if you are convinced that you already know the answers and everything you hear or read confirms that your opinion is fact?
Spot on. Again explained in Hate Inc by Taibbi. The mainstream media actually set out to unashamedly produce op eds in everything they do. Way too expensive to do actual investigative journalism.
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@paekakboyz said in US Politics:
I guess if beliefs are truths then challenging anything means you must be attacking the very dna of that person.
Agree. Attacking their ego. It can be a risky thing to do
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An all too true comment from Richard Dawkins on the state of US politics and wider social issues. Part of the article:
Strangely, when I have expressed hostility to woke nonsense, a significant reaction from American readers has been: ‘Well, people like you brought it on yourselves.’ Mystified, I dug deeper. Apparently the permissible spectrum of opinion is so all-or-none, so left-or-right, so yes-or-no that you can’t oppose both Trump and the loony left simultaneously. I’m now nursing an urgent worry: President Joe Biden needs to go out of his way to distance himself from this mental virus or he’ll play into the hands of the Trumpers in the 2022 and 2024 elections.
Full article: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/science-is-not-an-instrument-of-patriarchal-oppression
US Politics