Guest Posted September 25, 2017 Share Posted September 25, 2017 11 minutes ago, BigJag said: How has this become "WE". Trump is going off on one all by himself. Oh absolutely. My post above yours, if that's what you were referring to, was making a general point about international affairs. Certainly not trying to stand shoulder to shoulder with Trumpelthinskin on North Korea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted September 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted September 25, 2017 2 minutes ago, Uncle Zeb said: Trumpelthinskin Oh, I'm using that from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BigJag Posted September 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted September 25, 2017 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: The whole thing around Trump going after NFL players refusing to stand for the national anthem is pissing me off no end, too. It's not just that the President of the United States is still banging on about TV ratings, it's not just that he (like so many of his followers, and so many who'll yell "FREEDOM OFÂ SPEECH~!" as their first line of defence when called out on their bullshit) don't understand that the rights, freedoms and liberties their country allegedly stands for include the right not to blindly salute the flag, it's not just that the US's flag fetishism is only ever a hop, skip and a jump from totalitarianism anyway, it's not even that Trump will call a protesting black NFL player a "son of a bitch" while declaring that white supremacists and actual Nazis are "very good people", it's that it's become all about Trump. When Kaepernick first took the knee and refused to stand for the anthem, it was in protest at the oppression of people of colour in the United States. Now, all the coverage would have you believe it's in protest against the Trump presidency. It's not just that Trump is (actively or passively) a supporter and promoter of the white supremacist cause, he's also made himself the perfect scapegoat for more moderate Republicans and white guilt Liberals alike. America has always been too reluctant, or too afraid, to confront its own history - and now, so long as they can point to Donald Trump as if he's the problem, and all this started with him, it means they don't have to talk about the ongoing legacy of slavery, about entrenched inequality, about police brutality, about institutional racism, they can just act like this all started with Trump, and it'll all go away with Trump. But unless people deal with the underlying issues that would even allow the likes of Donald Trump to get anywhere near the presidency, nothing will ever change, things will only get worse. Treating Donald Trump like a freak anomaly, or like he's the whole problem on his own, is ignorant at best, dangerous at worst. NASCAR legend Richard Petty's team have threatened to fire any of it's drivers/staff who do not stand for the National anthem. With the roots of NASCAR being in the south this type of stupidity is to be expected. BomberPat's point about Kapernick is spot on. Trump has managed to make it about him. Is he playing us? In relation to his battle with sports. He has managed to get the NHL champions to attend the Whitehouse. I think it was an NBA player who said that he wouldn't go to meet trump that raised his ire the other day. In some part, it is why he has attacked the NFL players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted September 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted September 25, 2017 4 minutes ago, BigJag said: Trump has managed to make it about him. Is he playing us? That was kind of my first thought - if I were conspiracy-minded, I'd say that Trump, or someone pulling the strings behind him, manages to take all these contentious issues and make them about Trump and nothing else, allowing all the other ugliness to carry on unacknowledged. But I don't think Trump is smart enough, and I think his cabinet is too shambolic to be capable of anything resembling conspiracy. I think Trump's just a raging egotist who can't help but make everything about him, doesn't know how to approach anything any differently, and is, one way or another, such a dominant personality that the media more or less play right into his hands - even when criticising him, he's still the centre of attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted September 25, 2017 Share Posted September 25, 2017 10 minutes ago, BigJag said: I think it was an NBA player who said that he wouldn't go to meet trump that raised his ire the other day. Yep, Steph Curry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BigJag Posted September 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted September 25, 2017 They have sneaked out a few bills overnight. Another attempt at a Muslim ban and I think the other is for alterations to the medical system. Therefore the bluff and bluster of the previous week could have been a smokescreen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted September 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted September 25, 2017 They could be on to the ultimate political tool. Most governments need to wait for an incident to bury bad news. Trump can essentially blather on about anything, create controversy and let them try and pass whatever they want under the radar. I'm not giving them enough credit to say that's what they're doing at the minute but if Trump ever figured out he could do it, it'd be up there with the moment Skynet went sentient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted September 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted September 25, 2017 16 minutes ago, BigJag said: They have sneaked out a few bills overnight. Another attempt at a Muslim ban and I think the other is for alterations to the medical system. Therefore the bluff and bluster of the previous week could have been a smokescreen. These were both always going to happen, though — the healthcare bill is a rehash of the one that was going to fail in the senate (if it got a vote at all), and really must pass by September 30th, or they're done with getting rid of the ACA. The Muslim ban is an altered/expanded set of nations, with all new spiteful digs at North Korea and Venezuela, and Chad, which I don't know much about. I'd say the smokescreen is more likely to be ginning up outrage that might dull the impact of any investigation leaks — already came out that Jared Kushner was using personal email for government business, which would be nothing if they weren't still beating the "LOCK HER UP!" drum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BigJag Posted September 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted September 25, 2017 He's also been very quiet on providing help to the US areas that have recently suffered at the hands of nature. Absolute disgraceful example of a president. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted September 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted September 25, 2017 There's going to be some horrible shit revealed about Puerto Rico as the communication lines come back up — there are going to have to be airlifts, which is really going to play well to people who don't realize Puerto Ricans are citizens. Possibly including the President. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted September 25, 2017 Moderators Share Posted September 25, 2017 Are they 'proper' citizens though, or do they get shafted like Hawaiians and Samoans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted September 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted September 25, 2017 24 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said: Are they 'proper' citizens though, or do they get shafted like Hawaiians and Samoans? They're probably even more shafted - at least Hawaii is a state with representatives and senators in Congress. Puerto Rico is more an overseas territory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoote Posted September 25, 2017 Share Posted September 25, 2017 Quote Puerto Ricans became citizens of the United States as a result of the passage of the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917. Since this law was the result of Congressional legislation, and not the result of an amendment to the United States Constitution, the current U.S. citizenship of Puerto Ricans can be revoked by Congress, Taken from Wiki, they are full citizens in a similar way that Channel Islanders are British citizens, but that last bit about revoking by Congress is interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted September 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted September 25, 2017 1 hour ago, Chest Rockwell said: Are they 'proper' citizens though, or do they get shafted like Hawaiians and Samoans? They are proper citizens but the US just let it all go to shit. It's been fucked for a while. Last year it was 70billion in debt and had a 45% unemployment rate and because it's classed as a territory, rather than a state, it has no representation and is screwed over on legal loopholes ( many of which specifically reference 'state' in their wording) The only thing it had going for it was tax breaks, which the US government got rid of about 10 years ago meaning that businesses that had been lured there for the tax relief upped and left. It's going to be crazy seeing how bad it's got over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 (edited) On 25/09/2017 at 4:22 PM, BigJag said: Trump has managed to make it about him. Is he playing us? I think he's playing everyone to a certain extent. It's blatantly obvious that his intention in running for the Presidency wasn't to actually win, and that winning was as much a surprise to him as it was to the rest of the world. I've long seen it said that his number one aim with all of this was the creation of some sort of Trump Media network corporation that would take over from the rotting FOX News network, and that would provide a platform for the right of American politics the likes of which we've never seen before. Guys like him don't usually crave political power, and there's a reason for that. They prefer to coerce and persuade from the background rather than be the actual decision maker who has to deal with the shit when it angers the people. A media network would provide him and his family with the ability to influence American politics for decades after his run as "President" is over. Edited September 28, 2017 by David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts