1. Log in now to remove adverts - no adverts at all to registered members!

Off Topic Politics Thread

Discussion in 'Southampton' started by ChilcoSaint, Feb 23, 2016.

  1. Le Tissier's Laces

    Le Tissier's Laces Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    42,984
    Likes Received:
    48,895
    Fair enough.
     
    #52221
  2. St. Luigi Scrosoppi

    St. Luigi Scrosoppi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2011
    Messages:
    11,885
    Likes Received:
    8,286
    I can't remember where I got this from but thought it spot on:-

    President Trump wasn’t that bad, other than when he incited an insurrection against the government,
    Mismanaged a pandemic that killed over a million Americans,
    Called neo-Nazis “very fine people,”
    Separated children from their families,
    Lost those children in the bureaucracy,
    Tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could hold a photo op holding a Bible in front of a church,
    Tried to block all Muslims from entering the country,
    Got impeached,
    Got impeached again,
    Had the worst jobs record of any president in modern history,
    Pressured Ukraine to dig dirt on Joe Biden,
    Fired the FBI director for investigating his ties to Russia,
    Bragged about firing the FBI director on TV,
    Took Vladimir Putin’s word over the US intelligence community,
    Diverted military funding to build his wall,
    Caused the longest government shutdown in US history,
    Called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate,”
    Lied over 30,000 times,
    Banned transgender people from serving in the military,
    Ejected reporters from the White House briefing room who asked tough questions,
    Vetoed the defense funding bill because it renamed military bases named for Confederate soldiers,
    Refused to release his tax returns,
    Increased the national debt by nearly $8 trillion,
    Had three of the highest annual trade deficits in U.S. history,
    Called veterans and soldiers who died in combat losers and suckers,
    Coddled the leader of Saudi Arabia after he ordered the execution and dismembering of a US-based journalist,
    Refused to concede the 2020 election,
    Hired his unqualified daughter and son-in-law to work in the White House,
    Walked out of an interview with Lesley Stahl,
    Suggested that people should inject bleach into their bodies to fight COVID,
    Abandoned our allies the Kurds to Turkey,
    Pushed through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest but balked at helping working Americans,
    Incited anti-lockdown protestors in several states at the height of the pandemic,
    Withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords,
    Withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal,
    Withdrew the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed to block China’s advances,
    Insulted his own Cabinet members on Twitter,
    Pushed the leader of Montenegro out of the way during a photo op,
    Failed to reiterate US commitment to defending NATO allies,
    Called Haiti and African nations “****hole” countries,
    Called the city of Baltimore the “worst in the nation,”
    Claimed that he single handedly brought back the phrase “Merry Christmas” even though it hadn’t gone anywhere,
    Forced his Cabinet members to praise him publicly like some cult leader,
    Believed he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,
    Berated and belittled his hand-picked Attorney General when he recused himself from the Russia probe,
    Suggested the US should buy Greenland,
    Colluded with Mitch McConnell to push through federal judges and two Supreme Court justices, after supporting efforts to prevent his predecessor from appointing judges,
    Repeatedly called the media “enemies of the people,”
    Claimed that if we tested fewer people for COVID we’d have fewer cases,
    Violated the emoluments clause,
    Thought that Nambia was a country,
    Told Bob Woodward in private that the coronavirus was a big deal but then downplayed it in public,
    Called his exceedingly faithful vice president a “p---y” for following the Constitution,
    Nearly got us into a war with Iran after threatening them by tweet,
    Nominated a corrupt head of the EPA,
    Nominated a corrupt head of HHS,
    Nominated a corrupt head of the Interior Department,
    Nominated a corrupt head of the USDA,
    Praised dictators and authoritarians around the world while criticizing allies,
    Refused to allow the presidential transition to begin,
    Insulted war hero John McCain – even after his death,
    Spent an obscene amount of time playing golf after criticizing Barack Obama for playing (far less) golf while president,
    Falsely claimed that he won the 2016 popular vote,
    Called the Muslim mayor of London a “stone cold loser,”
    Falsely claimed that he turned down being Time’s Man of the Year,
    Considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller on several occasions,
    Mocked wearing face masks to guard against transmitting COVID,
    Locked Congress out of its constitutional duty to confirm Cabinet officials by hiring acting ones,
    Used a racist dog whistle by calling COVID the “China virus,”
    Hired and associated with numerous shady figures that were eventually convicted of federal offenses including his campaign manager and national security adviser,
    Pardoned several of his shady associates,
    Gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two congressman who amplified his bat **** crazy conspiracy theories,
    Got into telephone fight with the leader of Australia(!),
    Had a Secretary of State who called him a moron,
    Forced his press secretary to claim without merit that his was the largest inauguration crowd in history,
    Botched the COVID vaccine rollout,
    Tweeted so much dangerous propaganda that Twitter eventually banned him,
    Charged the Secret Service jacked-up rates at his properties,
    Constantly interrupted Joe Biden in their first presidential debate,
    Claimed that COVID would “magically” disappear,
    Called a U.S. Senator “Pocahontas,”
    Used his Twitter account to blast Nordstrom when it stopped selling Ivanka’s merchandise,
    Opened up millions of pristine federal lands to development and drilling,
    Got into a losing tariff war with China that forced US taxpayers to bail out farmers,
    Claimed that his losing tariff war was a win for the US,
    Ignored or didn’t even take part in daily intelligence briefings,
    Blew off honoring American war dead in France because it was raining,
    Redesigned Air Force One to look like the Trump Shuttle,
    Got played by Kim Jung Un and his “love letters,”
    Threatened to go after social media companies in clear violation of the Constitution,
    Botched the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico,
    Threw paper towels at Puerto Ricans when he finally visited them,
    Pressured the governor and secretary of state of Georgia to “find” him votes,
    Thought that the Virgin islands had a President,
    Drew on a map with a Sharpie to justify his inaccurate tweet that Alabama was threatened by a hurricane,
    Allowed White House staff to use personal email accounts for official businesses after blasting Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing,
    Rolled back regulations that protected the public from mercury and asbestos,
    Pushed regulators to waste time studying snake-oil remedies for COVID,
    Rolled back regulations that stopped coal companies from dumping waste into rivers,
    Held blatant campaign rallies at the White House,
    Tried to take away millions of Americans’ health insurance because the law was named for a Black man,
    Refused to attend his successors’ inauguration,
    Nominated the worst Education Secretary in history,
    Threatened judges who didn’t do what he wanted,
    Attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci,
    Promised that Mexico would pay for the wall (it didn’t),
    Allowed political hacks to overrule government scientists on major reports on climate change and other issues,
    Struggled navigating a ramp after claiming his opponent was feeble,
    Called an African-American Congresswoman “low IQ,”
    Threatened to withhold federal aid from states and cities with Democratic leaders,
    Went ahead with rallies filled with maskless supporters in the middle of a pandemic,
    Claimed that legitimate investigations of his wrongdoing were “witch hunts,”
    Seemed to demonstrate a belief that there were airports during the American Revolution,
    Demanded “total loyalty” from the FBI director,
    Praised a conspiracy theory that Democrats are Satanic ****philes,
    Completely gutted the Voice of America,
    Placed a political hack in charge of the Postal Service,
    Claimed without evidence that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower,
    Suggested that the US should allow more people from places like Norway into the country,
    Suggested that COVID wasn’t that bad because he recovered with the help of top government doctors and treatments not available to the public,
    Overturned energy conservation standards that even industry supported,
    Reduced the number of refugees the US accepts,
    Insulted various members of Congress and the media with infantile nicknames,
    Gave Rush Limbaugh a Presidential medal of Freedom at the State of the Union address,
    Named as head of federal personnel a 29-year old who’d previously been fired from the White House for allegations of financial improprieties,
    Eliminated the White House office of pandemic response,
    Used soldiers as campaign props,
    Fired any advisor who made the mistake of disagreeing with him,
    Demanded the Pentagon throw him a Soviet-style military parade,
    Hired a **** ton of white nationalists,
    Politicized the civil service,
    Did absolutely nothing after Russia hacked the U.S. government,
    Falsely said the Boy Scouts called him to say his bizarre Jamboree speech was the best speech ever given to the Scouts,
    Claimed that Black people would overrun the suburbs if Biden won,
    Insulted reporters of color,
    Insulted women reporters, insulted women reporters of color,
    Suggested he was fine with China’s oppression of the Uighurs,
    Attacked the Supreme Court when it ruled against him,
    Summoned Pennsylvania state legislative leaders to the White House, to pressure them to overturn the election,
    Spent countless hours every day watching Fox News,
    Refused to allow his administration to comply with Congressional subpoenas,
    Hired Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer,
    Tried to punish Amazon because the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wrote negative stories about him,
    Acted as if the Attorney General of the United States was his personal attorney,
    Attempted to get the federal government to defend him in a libel lawsuit from a women who accused him of sexual assault,
    Held private meetings with Vladimir Putin without staff present,
    Didn’t disclose his private meetings with Vladimir Putin so that the US had to find out via Russian media,
    Stopped holding press briefings for months at a time,
    “Ordered” US companies to leave China even though he has no such power,
    Led a political party that couldn’t even be bothered to draft a policy platform,
    Claimed preposterously that Article II of the Constitution gave him absolute powers,
    Tried to pressure the U.K. to hold the British Open at his golf course,
    Suggested that the government nuke hurricanes,
    Suggested that wind turbines cause cancer,
    Said that he had a special aptitude for science,
    Fired the head of election cyber security after he said that the 2020 election was secure,
    Blurted out classified information to Russian officials,
    Tried to force the G7 to hold their meeting at his failing golf resort in Florida,
    Fired the acting attorney general when she refused to go along with his unconstitutional Muslim travel ban,
    Hired Stephen Miller,
    Openly discussed national security issues in the dining room at Mar-a-Lago where everyone could hear them,
    Interfered with plans to relocate the FBI because a new development there might compete with his hotel,
    Abandoned Iraqi refugees who’d helped the U.S. during the war,
    Tried to get Russia back into the G7,
    Held a COVID super spreader event in the Rose Garden,
    Seemed to believe that Frederick Douglass is still alive,
    Lost 60 election fraud cases in court including before judges he had nominated,
    Falsely claimed that factories were reopening when they weren’t,
    Shamelessly exploited terror attacks in Europe to justify his anti-immigrant policies,
    Still hasn’t come up with a healthcare plan,
    Still hasn’t come up with an infrastructure plan despite repeated “Infrastructure Weeks,”
    Forced Secret Service agents to drive him around Walter Reed while contagious with COVID,
    Told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,”
    Screwed up the Census wording,
    Withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization in the middle of a pandemic,
    Did so few of his duties that his press staff were forced to state on his daily schedule: “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings,”
    Allowed his staff to repeatedly violate the Hatch Act,
    Seemed not to know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican,
    Stood before sacred CIA wall of heroes and bragged about his election win,
    Constantly claimed he was treated worse than any president, (which presumably includes four that were assassinated, and his predecessor whose legitimacy and birthplace were challenged by a racist reality TV show star named Donald Trump),
    Claimed Andrew Jackson could’ve stopped the Civil War even though he died 16 years before it happened,
    Said that any opinion poll showing him behind was fake,
    Claimed that other countries laughed at us before he became president when several world leaders were literally laughing at him,
    Claimed that the military was out of ammunition before he became President,
    Created a commission to whitewash American history,
    Retweeted anti-Islam videos from one of the most racist people in Britain,
    Claimed ludicrously that the Pulse nightclub shooting wouldn’t have happened if someone there had a gun even though there was an armed security guard there,
    Hired a senior staffer who cited the non-existent "Bowling Green Massacre" as a reason to ban Muslims,
    Had a press secretary who claimed that Nazi Germany never used chemical weapons even though every sane human being knows they used gas to kill millions of Jews and others,
    Bilked the Secret Service for higher than market rates when they had to stay at Trump properties,
    Apparently sold pardons on his way out of the White House,
    Stripped protective status from 59,000 Haitians,
    Falsely claimed Biden wanted to de-fund the police,
    Said that the head of the CDC didn’t know what he was talking about,
    Tried to rescind protection from DREAMers,
    Gave himself an A+ for his handling of the pandemic,
    Tried to start a boycott of Goodyear tires due to an Internet hoax,
    Said U.S. rates of COVID would be lower if you didn’t count blue states,
    Deported U.S. veterans who served their country but were undocumented,
    Claimed he did more for African Americans than any president since Lincoln,
    Touted a “super-duper” secret “hydrosonic” missile, which may or may not be a new “hypersonic” missile, or may not exist at all,
    Retweeted a gif calling Biden a ****phile,
    Forced through security clearances for his family,
    Suggested that police officers should rough up suspects,
    Suggested that Biden was on performance-enhancing drugs,
    Tried to stop transgender students from being able to use school bathrooms in line with their gender identification,
    Suggested the US not accept COVID patients from a cruise ship because it would make US numbers look higher,
    Nominated a climate change skeptic to chair the committee advising the White House on environmental policy,
    Retweeted a video doctored to look like Biden had played a song called “**** tha Police” at a campaign event,
    Hugged a disturbingly large number of U.S. flags,
    Accused Democrats of “treason” for not applauding his State of the Union address,
    Claimed that the FBI failed to capture the Parkland school shooter,
    because they were “spending too much time” on Russia,
    Mocked the testimony of Dr Christine Blasey Ford when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault,
    Obsessed over low-flow toilets,
    Ordered the re-release of more COVID vaccines when there weren’t any to release,
    Called for the construction of a bizarre garden of heroes with statutes of famous dead Americans as well as at least one Canadian (Alex Trebek),
    Hijacked Washington’s July 4th celebrations to give a partisan speech,
    Took advice from the MyPillow guy,
    Claimed that migrants seeking a better life in the US were dangerous caravans of drug dealers and rapists,
    Said nothing when Vladimir Putin poisoned a leading opposition figure,
    Never seemed to heed the advice of his wife’s “Be Best” campaign,
    Falsely claimed that mail-in voting is fraudulent, though he, (himself), votes by mail,
    Announced a precipitous withdrawal of troops from Syria which not only handed Russia and ISIS a win but also prompted his defense secretary to resign in protest,
    Insulted the leader of Canada,
    Insulted the leader of France,
    Insulted the leader of Britain,
    Insulted the leader of Germany,
    Insulted the leader of Sweden (Sweden!!),
    Falsely claimed credit for getting NATO members to increase their share of dues,
    Blew off two Asia summits even though they were held virtually,
    Continued lying about spending lots of time at Ground Zero with 9/11 responders,
    Said that the Japanese would sit back and watch their “Sony televisions” if the US were ever attacked,
    Left a NATO summit early in a huff,
    Stared directly into an eclipse even though everyone over the age of 5 knows not to do that,
    Called himself a very stable genius despite significant evidence to the contrary,
    Refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and kept his promise,
    and a whole bunch of other things I can’t remember at the moment.
     
    #52222
  3. Mostlymadeofwater

    Mostlymadeofwater Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2014
    Messages:
    527
    Likes Received:
    522
    You've said this a couple of times now (and I haven't read the pages after this one so it may be answered - sorry if so). If we pick a few countries, say UK, France, Spain and Germany - what sources do each of us get our energy from? What's the proportion of each source? If they are fossil fuels, where do those fuels come from? How much energy is imported from Russia as generated power?
     
    #52223
  4. Ian Thumwood

    Ian Thumwood Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2011
    Messages:
    3,744
    Likes Received:
    3,416
    I am sure that American bureaucracy is inefficient and maybe out of control in circumstances. But the DOGE actions are like George Osborne on steroids. What I think will happen is that services will decline and the people will turn against the government.

    What no one seems to be challenging Musk about is that the government has been in office a little over a month and the investigations had found savings worth billions. I work with cost control and these kinds of figures simply lack credibility unless they only represent a small percentage of an astronomical figure.

    If there are such savings, what kind of services are left ?As far as being a financial genius , Musk is a loose cannon.
     
    #52224
    MIsaints and ......loading...... like this.
  5. ......loading......

    ......loading...... 25 undefeated

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2012
    Messages:
    12,753
    Likes Received:
    13,260
    Hardly any of the actual receipts are available and the website states sales of assets as cost cutting… so not sure what that means.
     
    #52225
  6. Osvaldorama

    Osvaldorama Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2011
    Messages:
    14,799
    Likes Received:
    14,157
    Yawn. All you’ve done here is prove me correct.

    In what was a successful first presidency, all of the above weaponised propaganda was used to try and stir up as much trouble as possible.

    The level of vitriol aimed at him far exceeds anyone else on the planet. Because he is upsetting the established order.
     
    #52226

  7. Ian Thumwood

    Ian Thumwood Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2011
    Messages:
    3,744
    Likes Received:
    3,416
    No. It is because Trump is an orange Idi Amin
     
    #52227
    ChilcoSaint and tiggermaster like this.
  8. SAINTOSPREY

    SAINTOSPREY Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2019
    Messages:
    4,288
    Likes Received:
    3,338
    Can't tell whether you are just on the wind up or plain stupid?
     
    #52228
  9. LincolnSaint

    LincolnSaint Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2011
    Messages:
    3,457
    Likes Received:
    6,959

    The difference with legacy media though is at least there is some sort of accountability with the written press (especially in GB) Some random anonymous account on twitter can say what the **** they like with absolutely no come back at all.

    I read a wide scope of tweets from across the spectrum, however a lot of the right/far right accounts with 10s of thousands of followers are nothing but lies and propaganda, especially the "British" ones. The sheer amount of outright lies from these accounts are staggering

    I appreciate what you are saying regarding legacy media because there hasn't been any decent investigative journalism since the expenses scandal (I really miss Roger Cooke as well) but you know which way news is being spun depending on the paper before you've even bought it. The average shop steward is buying The Mirror because it fits in with their political outlook not because it's seen as more honest

    Daily mail= Everything gives you cancer. Look! More immigrants
    Guardian= absolutely everything is the police's fault
    Mirror- Everything is thatchers fault, but let's spend 5 pages talking about Coronation Street
    Telegraph- half decent journalism with a right wing spin, lots of adverts for Boden
    Sun- Everything is labours fault apart from when we back them
    Sunday Sport- Who cares, look at these tits!

    It's no different with tweets, except that tweets get people frothing at the mouth with absolutely no attempt at verifying the information they're parsing. It snowballs and before you know it 50 odd thousand people have bought into the lie. A sometimes dangerous lies at that
     
    #52229
  10. saintrichie123

    saintrichie123 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2011
    Messages:
    32,145
    Likes Received:
    37,327
    Both
    IMG_6458.jpeg
     
    #52230
  11. Le Tissier's Laces

    Le Tissier's Laces Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    42,984
    Likes Received:
    48,895
    Or 219m people in Musk’s case.
     
    #52231
  12. ......loading......

    ......loading...... 25 undefeated

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2012
    Messages:
    12,753
    Likes Received:
    13,260
    The idea that newspapers and television are less reliable than… some twat in his bedroom with a microphone… is frankly laughable.
     
    #52232
  13. Osvaldorama

    Osvaldorama Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2011
    Messages:
    14,799
    Likes Received:
    14,157
    Depends who you follow though. You have access to some of the brightest minds, in real time if you use it well. And you’re not at the whims of the owners biases.

    I think it’s a much better and more honest experience if you follow the right people.

    I understand some of the outcry but in my opinion having somewhere uncensored that people can discuss things without censorship is actually healthy for society overall.

    Governments and bureaucrats will obviously hate it and push back, but it gives true accountability in a way that was never previously possible
     
    #52233
  14. Le Tissier's Laces

    Le Tissier's Laces Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    42,984
    Likes Received:
    48,895
    Hmm…I think you and I have very different definitions of what accountability means.
     
    #52234
  15. ......loading......

    ......loading...... 25 undefeated

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2012
    Messages:
    12,753
    Likes Received:
    13,260
    With the X model of free speech, where lying and racial abuse are absolutely fine, I cannot see any way in which selecting commentators from a pool of ‘experts’ you agree with will help you have any balance in your life.
     
    #52235
  16. Osvaldorama

    Osvaldorama Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2011
    Messages:
    14,799
    Likes Received:
    14,157
    IMG_3093.jpeg


    I would like some accountability for this, for starters
     
    #52236
  17. ......loading......

    ......loading...... 25 undefeated

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2012
    Messages:
    12,753
    Likes Received:
    13,260
    Accountability for the headline? For the story? For the EU? For Russia?

    What are you going on about? What has the newspaper done here that it has no accountability for?

    I am genuinely confused. You have posted a “legacy media” story as proof that X holds people to account?
     
    #52237
  18. Archers Road

    Archers Road Urban Spaceman

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2011
    Messages:
    56,704
    Likes Received:
    63,462

    The brightest minds are unlikely to be on X, and if they are they are probably taking a break from being bright
     
    #52238
  19. Le Tissier's Laces

    Le Tissier's Laces Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    42,984
    Likes Received:
    48,895
    Absolutely. Strangely enough very many of them write pieces in newspapers.
     
    #52239
  20. Le Tissier's Laces

    Le Tissier's Laces Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    42,984
    Likes Received:
    48,895
    Err…what Loading said.
     
    #52240

Share This Page