April 9 Open Thread: I Hate That Not-Real Guy
You know those insufferable people on Twitter who drive you crazy by tweeting you links about Bernie or Hillary or whichever candidate you hate? There’s a two-to-one chance they’re bots. Pew Research did the spadework on this, going through over a million accounts, and found two-thirds of those who tweeted links were not actual people. It’s not confined to politics, either — some of the hottest accounts on Instagram belong to non-existent “people” who are actually digital creations.
By this time next week, your news feed will be overflowing with stories about James Comey’s tell-all book, set for release next Tuesday. Trump aides are hoping that having him out of the country will keep a lid on his temper. Good luck with that.
Mark Zuckerberg’s trial by fire begins in Congressional hearings tomorrow, and insiders say he should wear an asbestos suit. With public sentiment running against the company, lots of politicians won’t pass up the opportunity to grandstand against the world’s richest twerp.
Here’s a dog-bites-man story: The less real news people were exposed to, the more likely they were to vote for Trump.
Rumors that Paul Ryan’s days as Speaker of the House are numbered have been around for a while, but Politico reports that the race between Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise to replace Ryan are heating up. It’s notable that neither potential replacement is known as an intellectual giant, because you’d have to be masochistic or stupid to want the job.
Finally, if you wondered what SJWs would do once all the pro sports teams stopped using racist mascots, that’s easy: They’re moving on to purging the college ranks of symbols of white supremacy, which is why the Community College of Philadelphia is ditching “Colonial Phil.” Those who recall the kerfuffle over the Conrad mascot from a couple of years ago can gear up for calls to get rid of William Penn’s “Colonial” mascot in the not-too-distant future.
Republicans, desperate for an issue to run on in the mid-terms, have used all their brainpower to come up with their best shot: Elect Republicans, or Democrats will impeach Trump. Kos treats this as something to crow about, but for me it shows the folly of staking out positions with an eye toward not riling up the GOP.
I’ve been listening to mainstream Democrats talk for months about not using the I-word because it would fuel Republican resistance, and to talk instead about Democratic plans for governing. That’s a fucking joke. First of all, the Democrats have no plan for governing, and second, as this story illustrates, if Democrats don’t say it Republicans will simply pretend they did, and their bubble-entrapped followers won’t know the difference.
This is the same “thinking” behind ditching Nancy Pelosi — that her status as a symbol drags the party down. People who advocate this are in effect saying that whatever Republicans think is more important than what Democrats do. It’s defensive, self-defeating and, ultimately, incredibly stupid. Not all the morons vote R.
Remember last week, when Facebook admitted that “fake news” reached 87 million users, not 50 million? Yeah, forget they said that. When he’s under oath before Congress, Zuckerberg plans to admit the number was more like 126 million.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/zuckerberg-planned-testimony
@A “Elect Republicans, or Democrats will impeach Trump.”
This is so stupid… and so easily countered.
Why doesn’t someone just point out that without 2/3 of the Senate, the Democrats won’t have the ability to convict Trump.
Perhaps you never noticed, but math is not a GOP-voter strong suit.
You don’t need math. They do understand all and none.
Just say that the Democrats couldn’t do this, even if they won EVERY race.
See, this is my problem with such thinking: We clearly DON’T know how they think, or what they understand.
My point is that they already know people want Trump impeached, whether Democrats say that or not. Nothing we say for or against matters, because they’ll never hear it inside their bubble. They’ll only hear what their propagandists tell them. Setting our course by their imagined reaction is a fool’s game.
But some would be reached.
The Dems should counter such impeachment propaganda, with plain honest talk.
“This isn’t on the table. We won’t have the numbers, even if we win big.”
Everyone doesn’t need to get it, just a handful on the right is enough…
“This isn’t on the table. We won’t have the numbers, even if we win big.”
Jesus that’s stupid. I’ve solved (what should nto be a thorny questions) for the Democrats months ago.
“In the United States nobody is above the law. If the President is charged with some crime, I’m sure Congress will do its constitutional duty, as it always has, without regard to party.”
For fuck sake – this isn’t difficult.
Also … in 2018, anyone who says:
“Democrats shouldn’t do _____”X”______, because Republicans would ___”Y”_____. ”
is a blithering idiot.
@jason: Yet they insist on calling themselves the practical ones. It pains me to say it, but Kos is among the worst.
@j “If the President is charged with some crime,…”
But the rabid right is claiming that the Dems would impeach Trump even without any evidence of a real crime.
It’s the old “You need to get out ‘n vote ’cause it’s so unfair!”
And THAT can be countered…
The William Penn Colonials might not be the only team to come under fire for its nickname. Here are some more.
Minnesota Vikings, Mount Pleasant Green Knights, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: All emblematic of white male violence.
Virginia Cavaliers: Talk about your white male privilege!
Nebraska Cornhuskers: Normalizes rednecks who might beTrump voters.
Virginia Tech Hokies. A castrated turkey. Do eunuchs have a group yet?
New England Patriots: They have a William Penn problem.
Chicago Bulls: Why are there no Cows? And if there were, vegetarian outrage..
Buffalo Bills: Only men are named Bill.
Delaware Blue Hens: Gender confusion.
All those Wildcats, Bears and Bulldogs: Speciesist.
“It’s the old “You need to get out ‘n vote ’cause it’s so unfair!”
And THAT can be countered”
No, that’s precisely what can’t be countered. The folks who crave victimhood are not going to listen. And the people you claim are swayable already know what you insist we have to waste time and effort telling them.
My point is IGNORE THE REPUBLICANS. Stop engaging in “strategic thinking.” Your lot of Democrats is really, really bad at it, and the record proves it.
Besides, they are already using this “Must Support Dear Leader” strategy and it’s not working, so I don’t want them to stop using it.
Notre Dame: Drunken Brawling Irish Stereotype
Right? Wrong. At a time when the drunken brawling Irish couldn’t even get into get into many top colleges, they came up with that mascot. So the rule needs to be, you can use a stereotype of your own group but not someone else’s .
“My point is IGNORE THE REPUBLICANS. Stop engaging in “strategic thinking.” Your lot of Democrats is really, really bad at it, and the record proves it.”
So true.
There are so many Catholic universities in this country because the WASP schools didn’t want their children around Irish, Poles, Italians and other Papist trash.