Month: July 2016

 
From driftglass:

Probably.

Because once Donald Trump ascends to the Peacock Throne there will be no need for carping losers like me to carp any longer about the outsized and toxic influence of well-heeled parasites like Mr. David Brooks of New York Times.

After all, Mr. Trump has promised to immediately wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will pass away.

So we’ve got that going for us.

And then, on the Second Glorious Day of his 1000 Episode Reich, he has solemnly promised to loosen enough libel laws and appoint enough mob lawyers to his People’s Revolutionary Supreme Court to silence his America-hating critics for good and all.

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From Vincent at A wayfarer’s notes:

I find that’s there’s nothing more noble and authentic than to respond to the moment. At any rate, that’s what this here-and-now moment tells me. On a different occasion I may ruefully reflect that spontaneity can lead to ill-considered action, which in turn can lead to regret. This is even reflected in English law, albeit one resulting from a EU directive, not likely to be repealed as a result of Brexit. It’s commonly known as a “cooling-off period”.

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From Rippa at The Intersection of Madness and Reality:

It’s been a few weeks since Philando Castile was shot and killed. Philando was shot and killed by officer Jeronimo Yanez, after a traffic stop. Not much has been said about the case in media circles of late. My guess is that the targeted shootings of police officers, in recent weeks, is to be blamed.

This is unfortunate, but understandable. With eight police officers shot and killed, in separate incidents, in two weeks, police officers feel like they’re walking targets. As such, less of a focus on the unfortunate circumstance of being a person of color killed by the cops. While seemingly unfair, it makes sense. After all, unlike everyday civilians, cops are not targeted daily for execution. Even so, as hyper-vigilant as cops might be, they are less likely to be killed by civilians in encounters.

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From PZ Myers at Pharyngula:

In a remarkable feat of unlogic, a Christian reveals the evidence that atheism has been defeated. I include his argument below, but I haven’t copied over his links, all of which are to his own blog, or to that paragon of trustworthy truthiness, Conservapædia, so just take his backing support as given.

1. Most atheists are men.

Yes, this seems to be true. Point, Christian!

However, I don’t see how this shows that atheism is weak or has failed. Many of us do take this as a sign that we have biases that we need to correct, but as you’ll see, that’s not why this guy has a problem.

I would also point out that most priests are men. Which means…?

2. Feminist women conquered atheism.

Uh, what? He’s just announced that atheism has a male majority. How does it follow that feminist women have “conquered” atheism? What does it even mean to say a set of ideas has been “conquered”?

Unfortunately, this is one of his claims that lacks a supporting link, even to Conservapædia

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From Iron Knee Political Irony:

I must admit that I wasn’t paying too much attention to the VP selection contest, and so when Clinton announced Tim Kaine as her VP pick, I didn’t know much about him. I know that people say he’s boring, or that he is too moderate. So I took some time today to investigate.

I might get some flak for this, but I have to say I like him and I think he is a very good choice. He is strongly principled without being an ideologue. He’s certainly an extremely likable person and wins the contest of the candidate with whom you would most like to have a beer, or even stretch it out to a long interesting dinner. He’s much more comfortable with himself while speaking than Clinton, which is good. He has humor and humility. I just feel like I can trust him, which is more than I can say for most politicians.

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From Green Eagle:

Real treason? Not the phony kind that Republicans are always raving about, but real, Reagan style treason? I guess it depends about what counts as an enemy when the Constitution talks about adhering to our enemies, giving them aid and comfort.

So, here is what we know today: Trump has committed himself to abandoning the United States’ long standing treaty obligations to defend NATO countries against attack by Russia, and in return, the Russian dictator has had his people hack into Democratic party e-mails and release embarrassing information, right before the Democratic convention.

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From Jonathan Bernstein at BloombergView:

Hillary Clinton’s choice of first-term Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate is probably the strongest she could have made, at least from what we know of him so far.

As with Mike Pence on the Republican side, it’s unlikely anyone will challenge his readiness to be president, given his experience in Congress and as a former governor.

Some liberals have spoken against Kaine, but he has been a mainstream liberal in the Senate

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From Tommy Christopher at the Daily Banter:

There’s a lot of bullshit going around about the DNC email leak. Ever since Wikileaks dumped the latest batch of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee on Friday, the political media has been joining Bernie Sanders and his supporters in breathlessly reporting that these emails say things that they clearly do not, including but not limited to the lie that the DNC was plotting to attack Bernie Sanders over his religion.

The most pervasively misleading thing that’s been reported, though, is that these emails confirm that the DNC was biased against Bernie from the start, and favored Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary process.

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From libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara at Principled Perspectives:

A day after New Jersey Star-Ledger columnist Mark Di Ionno reported how Donald Trump’s and Bernie Sanders’ support springs from the same cultural roots (Sanders success sign of middle class revolt—see my last post), the Star-Ledger argued, after Sanders’ nomination chances died, that Trump cannot satisfy Sanders voters’ need for change. In urging Sanders supporters not to switch to Trump, the Star-Ledger writes that Donald Trump:

wants to expand his base by adding millions of voters who believe in using government to solve real problems that affect us all.

And that has been at the heart of Bernie Sanders’ appeal throughout the campaign. For nearly a year, he has built a movement based on bringing as many people as possible into the circle of opportunity, and only a strong, progressive government does that.

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From Capt. Fogg at Human Voices:

Another shooting incident at a Munich shopping center. 5 people stabbed on a train in Bavaria a few days ago. Terrorist attacks are almost a daily thing in Europe and far, far worse in the Middle East.

But it’s because they have stronger leaders, right? Russia has had some big ones but that’s because Putin is lawnorder tough and Army Strong, right? It’s because Obama is weak and probably a sympathizer and Hillary would be even weaker as the “facts” about Benghazi show. That’s right the Republicans are lawnorder tough and always protect us — right?

Oops, I mentioned facts – mea culpa. I should have known better. But I can’t help myself. I can’t control it —

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