2020 Politics Thread - Enter At Your Own Risk - RULES IN OP

[Onions]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

What are the odds that Trump will fully cooperate with a probable investigation in regards to Russia and the bounty placed on our troops?

Wouldn’t ya think that this situation would be in the President’s daily intel briefing? Right?

Everything the media has said about Russia has been wrong. This is no exception.

[Onions]

Twitter has ruined this country.

[babyfaceposey]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

That’s not a typical response......unless you’re okay with being that term.

Maybe not in your bubble. I am proud to be white. Doesn't make me a racist.The lefts #@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@ is played out.

[DegaBama]

Originally Posted by Onions

Twitter has ruined this country.

It's scary, I'm seeing many, many people say that if you refuse a vaccine you shouldn't be allowed to work anymore. The fact anyone even believes that is scary.

[TheFrenzy]

Originally Posted by jdandns

See, Frenzy?
I told you no one clicks links.

No good deed goes unpunished.

We still need to try to do good. Otherwise we end up like Trump and the rest of Twitter.

[mike1498]

Originally Posted by DegaBama

It's scary, I'm seeing many, many people say that if you refuse a vaccine you shouldn't be allowed to work anymore. The fact anyone even believes that is scary.

If it's upper management why not? People were saying Kaep shouldn't be signed if he didn't follow team rules during the national anthem because of cooperate policy. Otherwise who care what someone thinks if they don't run that company.

[TheHeel]

Originally Posted by babyfaceposey

Maybe not in your bubble. I am proud to be white. Doesn't make me a racist.The lefts #@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@ is played out.

That’s cool. I am too.

The thing is context.

Good:
Statement: Are you proud to be white (or any other color)?
Reply: Yes, I am.

Bad:
Statement: YOU’RE A NAZI (or any other derogatory name)!
Reply: White Power!
A better reply: Why would you call me a Nazi? I support our President for <insert X>.

Context, my friend. Context.

[TheHeel]

Originally Posted by DegaBama

Saying white power is as racist as saying black power.

See above^^

[TheHeel]

Originally Posted by Onions

Everything the media has said about Russia has been wrong. This is no exception.

Here we go again. Pages 32-35 are always a good read so I highlighted that passage for the nonbelievers. Good thing I have this bookmarked. Presented is page 32 for your reading pleasure.

I am not formatting because the iPad is a PITA.

https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/...rt_Volume2.pdf

REPORT
OF THE
SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
UNITED STATES SENATE
ON
RUSSIAN ACTIVE MEASURE;S CAMPAIGNS AND INTERFERENCE
IN THE 2016 U.S. ELECTION
'
VOLUME 2: RUSSIA'S USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA WITH ADDITIONAL VIEWS

Page 32:

B. (U) IRA Operations Explicitly Targeting the 2016 U.S. Election
(U) AtthedirectionoftheKremlin,theIRAsoughttoinfluencethe2016U.S. presidential election by.harming Hillary Clinton's chances of success and supporting Donald.
133

Footnote:
133 (U) ODNI, "Assessing Russi.an Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections," Intelligenc:;e Community Ass~ssment (Declassified Version), January 6, 2017, https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_0l.pdf.; Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III, March 2019.

[pac213up]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

What are the odds that Trump will fully cooperate with a probable investigation in regards to Russia and the bounty placed on our troops?

Wouldn’t ya think that this situation would be in the President’s daily intel briefing? Right?

You would think so. And if not....why?

How long before GOP moves away from this clown?

[TheFrenzy]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

Here we go again. Pages 32-35 are always a good read so I highlighted that passage for the nonbelievers. Good thing I have this bookmarked. Presented is page 32 for your reading pleasure.

I am not formatting because the iPad is a PITA.

https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/...rt_Volume2.pdf

Findings from the report:

1. Russia's two top goals were to shake Americans' faith in democracy and harm Hillary Clinton. Support for Trump was secondary to these goals.

Page 4 - "Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections," that "Russia's, goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency." However, where the Intelligence Community assessed that the Russian government "aspired to help President-elect Trump's election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him," the Committee found that IRA social media activity was overtly and almost invariably supportive of then-candidate Trump, and to the detriment of Secretary Clinton's campaign.

2. The 2016 election was not even Russia's primary target. They had (and have) been far busier sowing discord regarding US social issues.

Page 5 - The Committee found that Russia's targeting of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was part of a broader, sophisticated, and ongoing information warfare campaign designed to sow discord in American politics and society. Moreover, the IRA conducted a vastly more complex and strategic assault on the United States than was initially understood. The IRA's actions in 2016 represent only the latest installment in an increasingly brazen interference by the Kremlin on the citizens and democratic institutions of the United States.

Page 6 - Analysis of the behavior of the IRA-associated social media accounts makes dear that while the Russian information warfare campaign exploited the context of the election and election-related issues in 2016, the preponderance of the operational focus, as reflected repeatedly in content, account names, and audiences targeted, was on socially divisive issues-such as race, immigration, and Second Amendment rights-in an attempt to pit Americans against one another and against their government.

3. Once again, Russian "support" for Trump was typically the byproduct of their attacks on the forerunners. Their goal was to remove anti-Russia candidates early on and then to taint the eventual winner's presidency as much as possible. [Again, Trump was always the longshot and Kremlin activity focused on the likely winners]

Page 6 - The Committee found that the IRA targeted not only Hillary Clinton, but also Republican candidates during the presidential primaries. For example, Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were targeted and denigrated, as was Jeb Bush. As Clint Watts, a former FBI Agent and expert in social media weaponization, testified to the Committee, "Russia's media outlets and covert trolls sought to sideline opponents on both sides of the political spectrum with adversarial views towards the Kremlin." IRA operators sought"to impact primaries for both major parties and "may have helped sink the hopes of candidates more hostile to Russian interests long before the field narrowed."

4. African Americans were by far exposed to more Russian propaganda than any other demographic. This propaganda was designed to stoke racial fears and animosities—specifically towards police.

Page 6-7 - The Committee found that no single group of Americans was targeted by IRA information operatives more than African-Americans. By far, race and related issues were the preferred target of the information warfare campaign designed to divide the country in 2016. Evidence of the IRA's overwhelming operational emphasis on race is evident in the IRA's Facebook advertisement content (over 66 percent contained a term related to) and targeting (locational targeting was principally aimed at African-Americans in key metropolitan areas with), its Facebook pages (one of the IRA's top- performing pages, "Blacktivist," generated 11.2 million engagements with Facebook users), its Instagram content (five of the top 10 Instagram accounts were focused on African-American issues and audiences), its Twitter content (heavily focused on hot- button issues with racial undertones, such as the NFL kneeling protests), and its YouTube activity (96 percent of the IRA's YouTube content was targeted at racial issues and police· brutality).

5. Russian propagandists were even able to manipulate African Americans into engaging in "offline activities" to further Russian goals. They also requested and received promotional materials for Trump rallies from the Trump campaign on occasion.

The Committee found that the IRA coopted unwitting Americans to engage in- .offline activities in furtherance of their objectives. The IRA's online influence operations were not constrained to the unilateral dissemination of content in the virtual realm,and its operatives were not just focused on inciting anger and provoking division on the internet. Instead, the IRA also persuaded Americans to deepen their engagement with IRA operatives. For example, the IRA targeted African-Americans over social media and attempted and succeeded in .some cases to influence their targets to sign petitions, share personal information, and teach self-defense training courses.18 In addition, posing as U.S. political activists, the IRA requested-and in some cases obtained-assistance from the Trump Campaign in procuring materials for rallies and in promoting and organizing the rallies.

6. Russian activities did not cease with the 2016 election BUT HAVE CONTINUED TO INCREASED.

The Committee found that IRA activity on social media did not cease, but rather increased after Election Day 2016. The data reveal increases in IRA activity across multiple social media platforms, post-Election Day 2016: Instagram activity increased 238 percent, Facebook increased 59 percent, Twitter increased 52 percent, and YouTube citations went up by 84 percent21 As John Kelly noted: "After election day, the Russian government stepped on the gas. Accounts operated by the IRA troll farm became more active after the election, confirming again that the assault on our democratic process is. much bigger than the attack on a single election.',

[ballhawkdawk]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

That’s not a typical response......unless you’re okay with being that term.

What’s an appropriate response?

[DegaBama]

Originally Posted by mike1498

If it's upper management why not? People were saying Kaep shouldn't be signed if he didn't follow team rules during the national anthem because of cooperate policy. Otherwise who care what someone thinks if they don't run that company.

And then he won millions of dollars for being blacked ball out of the sport.

Itll be the same thing, except not millions of dollars

[rman112]

I really wanna post the Chappelle White Power clip.

[TheFrenzy]

To circle back to one of the KEY misunderstandings of the past four years:

Yes, Russia “supported” Trump. But they also “support” BLM.

Why? Because in reality Russia actually “support” either of them—it only supports American chaos.

And we’ve allowed ourselves to get so wrapped up in the fact that Trump actually won that hindsight is clouding our vision. We completely forget that the 2016 election was a fluke. Clinton didn’t think Trump was going to win. Nate Silver and every other pollster didn’t think Trump was going to win. Heck, Trump himself didn’t think he was going to win! (His expression when it was announced was close to horror) So Moscow sure as hell didn’t think he was going to win.

It’s all spelled out in the report. At the start they attacked anyone who was openly anti-Russia and boosted everyone else. Then they focused on the likely winners like Clinton, Cruz, Rubio, and Bush. They attacked attacked attacked and tried to boost their opponents. Not because they actually thought a long shot like Trump or Bernie was going to win, but because they wanted whoever among the favorites did win to come out of the election battered and with half the country pissed off at them.

At the end of the day all Russia cares about was that Americans elected a president that they hated, distrusted, and opposed.

And they did it.

[TheFrenzy]

I know it was a wall of text, but honestly points 4 & 6 in my post above are the most relevant for right now.

[ballhawkdawk]

Originally Posted by jdandns

I linked to the story about Trump retweeting the racist video much earlier today and not one of the usual suspects showed up to white-knight for him then.

See, Frenzy?
I told you no one clicks links.

People lose interest when you continuously cry wolf. Most of what gets negatively posted about Trump is easily dismissed.

Just yesterday you said Trump has never done anything about Russia and posted a weak list of “Trump said” and “Trump thought” which was rebutted with a list of 50+ actions taken against Russia. And then you had to cut the grass and we all moved on.

The recent hot one was “what about the bounty... why didn’t Trump do anything???” NeedChapmans posted a source starting Trump never received this intel. And then it’s met with “LOL of course not. He can’t figure out a juice box and was busy golfing.” Okay?

The endless demand for an opinion every time Trump farts is pointless. When your sole goal is to criticize, it’s easy to navigate your way through any rebuttals with sarcasm, dismissals, assumptions, and “gotta go... yard work.” I’ve been hearing about Trump being investigated for one thing or another since he got into office. He’s still there. We can assume that it’s all nonsense, or else he’d have been removed from office by now, or we can assume there’s some big conspiracy to keep him as president. For as terrible as this man is (allegedly), he’s still there, with an entire political party and the media 100% against him. This is the best they’ve got?

[ballhawkdawk]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

That’s cool. I am too.

The thing is context.

Good:
Statement: Are you proud to be white (or any other color)?
Reply: Yes, I am.

Bad:
Statement: YOU’RE A NAZI (or any other derogatory name)!
Reply: White Power!
A better reply: Why would you call me a Nazi? I support our President for <insert X>.

Context, my friend. Context.

I honestly couldn't make out the man in the golf cart being called a nazi. All I hear is noise as his wife yells "Trump Trump Trump" over and over, and then he busts out the "White power! White power!" Maybe I missed it. I think I heard a "nazi" thrown in at the end of the clip. Quite a sad display all around. It amazes me how people so emotionally attach themselves to a person they don't even know, as if the president is their own personal Jesus.

Re-tweeting it, if you're Trump, was beyond retarded. He can't be ignorant to the fact that a good % of the American population thinks he's a racist.

Regardless, the suggested response of, "Why would you call me a nazi?" is weak. Calling someone a nazi in the first place is meant to trigger a response. So assuming the "nazi" comment came first, what better way to disarm the person calling you a nazi than to play along and dismiss them? That little golf cart rally/protest wasn't some sort of meaningful discussion. They were trolling each other. Like you said... context.

[XFile42]

When is slow Joe going to get dragged out for a debate? Why does he not have a VP yet? Cant find the right woman of color to take over 1 month in. Where is this dude at?

[Boo]

Originally Posted by XFile42

When is slow Joe going to get dragged out for a debate? Why does he not have a VP yet? Cant find the right woman of color to take over 1 month in. Where is this dude at?

Doesn't matter really. I've seen rumors in the past two weeks that Trump really doesn't want a second term, that's why he's going full(er) R on covid, DACA, etc. Going scorched Earth. I wish we'd have another viable candidate, they are both terrible.

[hairysasquatch]

Originally Posted by Boo

Doesn't matter really. I've seen rumors in the past two weeks that Trump really doesn't want a second term, that's why he's going full(er) R on covid, DACA, etc. Going scorched Earth. I wish we'd have another viable candidate, they are both terrible.

I am beginning to think he wants out, too.

[spuds1961]

Originally Posted by hairysasquatch

I am beginning to think he wants out, too.

I don’t blame him, who really would want to be President with all that is going on right now. I would take my money and go into hiding somewhere.

[mike1498]

Originally Posted by DegaBama

And then he won millions of dollars for being blacked ball out of the sport.

Itll be the same thing, except not millions of dollars

The point is be consistent with your argument. I don't care about the actual outcome but you either believe that your employer can enforce things like required vaccinations or dress code or they can't. Personally I don't see why not since you choose to work for them not the other way around. I understand the argument better for public schools where it's the government forcing you rather than a private entity.

[jk1937]

Originally Posted by Boo

Doesn't matter really. I've seen rumors in the past two weeks that Trump really doesn't want a second term, that's why he's going full(er) R on covid, DACA, etc. Going scorched Earth. I wish we'd have another viable candidate, they are both terrible.

it is almost like hes doing everything possible other than dropping an n-bomb on live tv to not get elected and keep pissing people off. i just hope he goes out like a scorned lover and spill all sorts of secrets. alien's are real, this is who shot jfk, etc. but i got to believe they never really told him any big secrets like this.

[pac213up]

Originally Posted by hairysasquatch

I am beginning to think he wants out, too.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tru...sible-drop-out