General US Politics

[FrostyFireMage]

That isn't even the tip of the iceberg

Edited October 2, 2018 by FrostyFireMage

[Shoblongoo]

...this is that whole being able to apply critical thinking skills to consumption of news and information thing I was going on about earlier. Credible allegations from multiple women, a bar fight from 1985, and testimony now from a former college friend that Kavanaugh lied under oath before the Senate Judiciary committee when he testified about his partying and drinking habits from the time-period in question—he was a frequent partier and a sloppy, belligerent drunk who would become reckless and violent when he drank too much. But no. The real headline is that one of his accusers sued her former employer + was in a domestic dispute with her ex ?

Edited October 2, 2018 by Shoblongoo

[Tryhard]

Well, it could be true at the same time that Kavanaugh is guilty of multiple incidents and still this particular accuser is not credible. Avenatti talks about such lawsuits involving her not being relevant but Kavanaugh is rightly grilled over things that may or may not be seen as relevant as well (as when he perjured himself by lying about having no connections for him to get into Yale, among other things).

Kavanaugh's probably a scumbag, but I have almost zero faith about it actually resulting in anything. The best you could hope for is that he would lose his nomination for the Supreme Court like Roy Moore lost his election for senator.

That said, is that website like Glassdoor for people? Knowing the average credibility potential for Glassdoor reviews it's almost worth nothing (to give you an example, a manager of where I work got people to write positive reviews to boost the company's Glassdoor profile). In fact, it has a poorly credible reputation and some even label it a scam for collecting information or portraying false information.

Edited October 2, 2018 by Edgelord

[Dr. Tarrasque]

That website appears to be among those that claims to provide you a report on their criminal history and contact information if you pay up. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyLife

5 hours ago, XRay said:

Once it has been shown that they will immediately or did cause some sort of damage via injury, death, monetary loss, etc., then the law can get involved. If the damage is not physical or monetarily measurable, it is hard to charge them with an offense since there is no harm being done besides making people more "stupid," and making people more stupid is not physically harming them and they are not losing any money.

On the more benign side, flat earthers, horoscope people, and religious people are not harming anyone with their outlandish beliefs. On the other hand, vaccine deniers and similar quackery are harming people by causing physical illness or death, so they can be charged with harming people; and even if they are harming people, if they are indirectly harming people, it is hard to charge them too. For example, it is pretty easy to charge the parents for neglect if they refuse medical treatment for their child and they die as a result, but it is not so easy to charge people who influenced the parents that cause them to refuse medical help for their child.

That's where it gets tricky since attempts at trying to prevent may see no success. I wonder if perhaps platforms like Youtube should consider having a policy to push against potentially harmful conspiracy theories/gaslighting.

 

Things that don't harm others, such as the moon landing being faked, I have no problem with ignoring. It's just the crap that can lead people to act irrationally and violent (Sandy Hook harassment, pizzagate, the Satanic Rituals at day care centers conspiracy theory that was supposedly believed by 70% of Americans, etc).

Edited October 2, 2018 by Dr. Tarrasque

[FrostyFireMage]

I still don't think his career should be damaged by an accusation that's full of holes and little to no proof.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

27 minutes ago, FrostyFireMage said:

I still don't think his career should be damaged by an accusation that's full of holes and little to no proof.

At this point, it's not the accusation that's hurting Kavanaugh. It's Trump, the Republicans trying to push him through and Kavanaugh himself with his lies that are bringing more damage to the dude. Again, even before the accusations came out, he was proven to have committed perjury and revealed to be a very biased Republican operative, that should've been the part where the undecided Senators should've put the foot down and said "No, the United States Supreme Court should see no nominee that has committed perjury, we as a country can do better". If the accusations are found to be lies by the FBI, that only vindicates him and damages the Democrats' efforts and it is why lots of people argue that he should've called for the FBI investigation earlier instead of dodging the question. Him dodging the question is literally running away from vindication and tarnish to the Democrats before the midterms... as the Republican operative that he is, why would he want that?

I'm of the opinion that his writings on whether or not a president can be INVESTIGATED while in office and other pieces on the executive branch should be enough to bar him from being on the Supreme Court. The Roe v Wade controversy was just the cherry on top and his entitled behavior, rising accusations and Republicans hiding away the documentation on him are an overabundance of whipped cream.

Remember: Ford requested confidentiality on her letter to Feinstein and it was when Kavanaugh made it to the short list. Kavanaugh was confronted on his previous perjury in 2004 and 2006 BEFORE these allegations came out so if either Kavanaugh took a step back and withdrew during that confrontation or if the Republicans weren't trying to rush him in and voted no like they should be doing, Ford's allegation would still be sitting on Feinstein and this circus wouldn't be happening. Lastly, Mitch McConnel warned Trump about confirming Kavanaugh, this isn't about putting a man deserving of the position onto that post, it's about putting a Republican and Corporate biased operative on the Supreme Court. Trump just happened to be too stupid to operate as the puppet the Republicans him want him to be and picked one of the worst options for the time frame he had because Kavanaugh is the most self-serving option Trump saw.

Edited October 2, 2018 by Dr. Tarrasque

[Shoblongoo]

3 hours ago, Dr. Tarrasque said:

At this point, it's not the accusation that's hurting Kavanaugh. It's Trump, the Republicans trying to push him through and Kavanaugh himself with his lies that are bringing more damage to the dude. 

Bingo.

3 hours ago, FrostyFireMage said:

I still don't think his career should be damaged by an accusation that's full of holes and little to no proof.

If he perjured himself before Congress he should not only be rejected from sitting on the Supreme Court, he should lose his federal judgeship and be banned from the practice of law. In some professions lying under-oath may not be a huge deal.  In the profession of law, that's disqualifying. 

Like if I'm ever up for a judgeship. And I get called to this line of questioning. I'm answering honestly:

"I frequently attended house parties in college and law school. I drank heavily. I drank when I was under the age of 21.  I witnessed others drinking heavily and drinking under the age of 21. I was also a regular, recreational user of cannabis. I never lost consciousness or memory as a result of intoxication. I never became violent or aggressive towards women. I never put myself or anyone else in any unsafe situations. I do not believe this line of questioning is pertinent to my good character and legal qualifications, but for candor's sake I  will answer to the best of my recollection any further questions you have on this matter." 

I'm not going to lie and say I like beer. I still like beer. But I can categorically say I was never a big partier when I was younger. I was too busy playing Fire Emblem and studying to get into a good law school; I just never got into that kind of scene.

  ...partially because I'd know as a practitioner of law,  I have a professional and ethical duty to tell the truth.

...partially because I've got nothing to be ashamed of and nothing I'm trying to hide.

...partially because I know that if I did lie to try and slide through the confirmation process and deny that I partied hard, there's a million people who can come out of the woodwork to credibly say "Yes you did you fucking liar. We use to chug whiskey and rip bong hits together all the time."    

...partially because I know that if I lose credibility by lying about something as minor as my college drinking habits, then I have no credibility left to defend myself if someone falsely accuses me of doing something horrific like--say--holding down a 15 year old girl and attempting to rape her.  
_______

Thats the problem with Kavanaugh. Hes been caught lying now enough times about that time in his life and trying to portray himself in a false light that the longer this drags on, the less credibility his denials have.

 

Edited October 2, 2018 by Shoblongoo

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Here's another example for why this situation is so stupid:

 

 

Kavanaugh: Multiple allegations, no investigation into them has cleared his name yet. SUPREME COURT CONFIRMATION NOW. 

Central Park Five: Cleared with DNA evidence and paid in a settlement. GUILTY AND SHOULD BE EXECUTED.

Fuck Trump, Fuck Mitch McConnel, Fuck Fox News, Fuck Breitbart, Fuck the Alt-right, Fuck anyone still defending Trump.

Edited October 2, 2018 by Dr. Tarrasque

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Now THIS is a bombshell

And this is amusing.

1. Campaign contributions violation
2. Obstruction of Justice
3. Money Laundering for Russia
4. Tax Evasion/Fraud
5. Charity Fraud
6. Collusion with Russia on the 2016 election
7. Conflicts of interest (emoluments clause)

[Etrurian emperor]

21 minutes ago, Dr. Tarrasque said:

Now THIS is a bombshell

And this is amusing.

1. Campaign contributions violation
2. Obstruction of Justice
3. Money Laundering for Russia
4. Tax Evasion/Fraud
5. Charity Fraud
6. Collusion with Russia on the 2016 election
7. Conflicts of interest (emoluments clause)

I don't think it really is a bombshell. That Trump is corrupt and got a giant head start thanks to daddy is something that was already common knowledge. 

And it also discounts why people voted for him. I don't think any hardly Trumpian genuinely voted for him because they think he's a genius businessmen. They voted for Trump because he was politically incorrect and against the establishment, or because they voted Republican no matter who was on the ballet. 

[FrostyFireMage]

Black Mirror and The Simpsons predicted 2018 America years in advance

[Shoblongoo]

3 hours ago, Dr. Tarrasque said:

Now THIS is a bombshell

And this is amusing.

1. Campaign contributions violation
2. Obstruction of Justice
3. Money Laundering for Russia
4. Tax Evasion/Fraud
5. Charity Fraud
6. Collusion with Russia on the 2016 election
7. Conflicts of interest (emoluments clause)

Sure would be a convenient time to have a justice on The Court who thinks presidents can’t be criminally prosecuted. 

Edited October 2, 2018 by Shoblongoo

[XRay]

54 minutes ago, Shoblongoo said:

Sure would be a convenient time to have a justice on The Court who thinks Republican presidents can’t be criminally prosecuted. 

Fixed that for you. If the president is Democratic, I bet he will find some way to make it okay to prosecute the president.

[Johann]

13 hours ago, FrostyFireMage said:

I still don't think his career should be damaged by an accusation that's full of holes and little to no proof.

Dude is doing all the real damage to himself-- his own testimony is full of efforts to dodge or deflect the line of questioning, and in some cases outright lie. Keep in mind, also, that it's extremely hard to definitively prove or disprove something like this happened when it was private and several decades ago.

If we expect hard proof (including eye witness accounts) for every sexual assault, then the vast majority of perpetrators will effortlessly get away with it. These hearings are not a criminal case, so there's no requirement to determine that it happened exactly as described. That he's lying, being difficult and evasive in his responses, and shifting the tone to this being purely a political attack is enough to show that he's in no way fit to serve as judge for anything, let alone the Supreme Court.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

So if someone likes group sex, they cannot be raped or claim knowledge of others being raped? What?

[Shoblongoo]

23 hours ago, Dr. Tarrasque said:

Here's another example for why this situation is so stupid:

Kavanaugh: Multiple allegations, no investigation into them has cleared his name yet. SUPREME COURT CONFIRMATION NOW. 

Central Park Five: Cleared with DNA evidence and paid in a settlement. GUILTY AND SHOULD BE EXECUTED.

 

Trump being a racist lying crook isn't breaking any new ground here, but I think this goes to a broader point in exposing the greater bigotry and hypocrisy in the GOP platform. Shows that they don't really believe what they say they believe and that their policy rational isn't what they purport it to be when we get into the weeds on issues like--say--criminal justice reform.

...go figure this one out...

[Republicans]: "Persons convicted of felony offenses as teenagers (i.e. mostly drug offenses) lose their right to vote.  Have to disclose the conviction on job applications. And can be denied employment and housing and public services on the basis of their criminal status. We support these policies because we're the party of Law & Order. Democrats oppose this because they don't respect our laws and don't believe in personal accountability"  

[Also Republicans]: "Even if Kavanaugh did these things--so what? He was a teenager. He was so young. It was so long ago. Should that really be something that follows him around for the rest of his life and disqualifies him as a professional man? No one actually believes that's fair or reasonable, right?" 

...its almost like that whole mandatory loss of voting rights and prospective employment penalty has absolutely nothing to do with fairness or personal accountability or law & order. And is just a thinly veiled pretext to keep targeted communities poor and disenfranchised.   

Oh--and remember how dead-set these same GOP leaders were against laws permitting transgendered persons to use bathrooms that match their gender identity.

Not because they hate gay people and the legal strides they've made it recent decades and think we should be stripping away their legal protections + putting them back in the closet--what an ignorant thing to say; how dare we suggest that their true motive is just crass, naked bigotry.

Its because of sexual assault. Sexual assault is a deep and pervasive problem and our women need to be protected from "perverts," and doing this should be a top priority of lawmakers. 

lololololololol--yeah--okay.

You're nondiscriminatory rational is you care so goddamn much about sexual assaults. Sure.
_______

Guess we can expect every Republican saying poor life choices in high school and college shouldn't be held against a middle-aged man to support full restoration of voting rights + employment without prejudice as to criminal history for every ex-con in the America who did cocaine back in the 1980s. 

Right???



  

Edited October 3, 2018 by Shoblongoo

[Tryhard]

https://www.vox.com/2018/10/1/17921966/usmca-nafta-agreement-trump-canada

Mr. Protectionism with a new free trade deal upgrading NAFTA. Bravo. I don't necessarily disagree with the changes, but they aren't a renegotiation to the sole benefit of the US. It's hard to say that it would turn around "the worst trade deal perhaps ever made", Trump's own words about NAFTA prior. One of the more prevalent things he could/did hound Hillary on supporting, too.

Whatever you think about free trade agreements, I think it's safe to say that his base has been vocal about being protectionist. And as the article mentioned, some aspects were borrowed from the TPP, which Trump got praise for "killing".

Sell them shit and call it diamonds.

Edited October 4, 2018 by Edgelord

[Dr. Tarrasque]

... Isn't it literally just NAFTA, with a different name and Canada being forced to give the US more access to its dairy market?

[Phoenix Wright]

sounds like it lol.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Looks like he is getting through, Collins in favor it looks like. Despite each side taking totally opposite views on the FBI report.

Edited October 4, 2018 by Interdimensional Observer

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Yeah, I'm guessing he will be confirmed but until that is a done deal, the man is still scared as the opposition to this nomination continues to grow.

Slight good news. Of course, right-wing loons are crying foul while ignoring that left-leaning "sources" of similar nature such as "Occupy Democrats" get the same treatment.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Dr. Tarrasque

[Phoenix Wright]

a bit speculative, but alarming if the future turns out the way it's hinted at in the article. not alarming because of any results; all the results that are likely to happen haven't changed (dems are slated to take the house, gop the senate, not to mention repub congress + pres means gop scotus nomination will go through), but because it seems to be identity politics are only getting worse. we're listening to each other less, getting angry at each other more. i hope we can find a way out of this garbage political landscape--it's not healthy for us as a people.

this judge, for example, has absolutely no business in a supreme court anywhere. i don't understand what his qualifications are compared to others--i don't understand his appeal. in each test, he's been pretty lackluster: won't give straightforward answers to straightforward questions, poor temperament, no outstanding qualities to note. not to mention the assault accusations coupled with a joke of an fbi investigation.

the gop can ok this guy simply because and people eat it the fuck up. it's frightening.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Phoenix Wright

[Etrurian emperor]

5 hours ago, Phoenix Wright said:

this judge, for example, has absolutely no business in a supreme court anywhere. i don't understand what his qualifications are compared to others--i don't understand his appeal.

He doesn't believe the obviously corrupt Republican president should be able to get prosecuted. That's his qualification and that's his appeal. Perhaps its also a deliberate signal to the left and to woman that they shouldn't get to uppity even in the #metoo era.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Etrurian emperor

[Tryhard]

Kavanaugh will be confirmed. The GOP don't give a fuck, probably even if he was a confirmed rapist.

The only reason that Roy Moore didn't get his reign was because it was up to voters.

[UNLEASH IT]

Collins and Manchin voted yes. Pack it up lads