Trump 2017: Year Zero

[Jinsai]

Um.... did you forget about this?




So are the rules basically: we can only talk about why Trump won if it's critical of republicans?


lol fuck that.

I'm not saying "this is why Trump won," I'm saying "this is why America lost." Having someone tell me "Here's why Trump won, y'all coastal elites don't get the rust belt" isn't helpful, mainly because I DO get the rust belt, and it's not hard to get, which is why Trump got it too. That sort of "lesson" doesn't help fix what went wrong here.

[Louie_Cypher]

again everyone was laughing until they stopped, again you have things like fox and Hanity, spouting things like wealth re-disputation which is fear thinking, " some black guy is going to come in the middle of the night raid your refrigerator eat all thier deli bought cold cuts dirink their top shelve liquor and screw their wives, rap culture has done nothing to change this but very rarely do is see a top CEO of color in the software industry or anywhere else is there white privilege yes there is I have never been denied a ride an apartment, followed around a store, or anything else here's a scary fact if your of color your a 10x's more likely to be arrested not questioned but hauled in on suspicion of drug possession, fact
-Louie

[allegro]

Well, if no longer having any Republican friends is "bad," G and I are now the baddest of the bad. We are usually pretty tolerant but we have decided that we have far too little time left on this planet (we're getting old) to bother with them, anymore. This isn't "pro-liberal" or "pro-Democrat" - it's zero tolerance for stupid. Not even gonna try. Maybe it's just a Midwest thing, but EVERY Republican we know thinks Obama "ruined this country" or "was the worst President in history" or "started racism." They're just racist, even if they're too stupid to realize it. There is ZERO logical evidence supporting those claims.

We visited a former coworker of mine, K, and their dog's stuffed monkey toy is named "Obama" and they laugh "hahaha." K's husband (a retired Chicago cop) had a heart attack and the EMS arrived and the EMS workers were all black; K said she had to run to remove the framed photo of Obama with Hitler, "hahaha" - meanwhile, those trained porch monkeys saved her husband's life.

And her Facebook page is filled with posts about the Pope, Jesus, the Catholic Church, being Irish, and share this if you love your grandchildren shit.

It's hard, because this woman has been like family for nearly 30 years. But it's too hard to overlook and I'm not gonna even try to change her views or tell her otherwise; useless. So I'm ghosting her.

[Swykk]

I was just going to say I don't have any right wing friends either, nor would I ever be able to date someone with such terrible views. Not to mention the utter stupidity involved (good call on that, @allegro ).

[Jinsai]

Well, if no longer having any Republican friends is "bad," G and I are now the baddest of the bad. We are usually pretty tolerant but we have decided that we have far too little time left on this planet (we're getting old) to bother with them, anymore. This isn't "pro-liberal" or "pro-Democrat" - it's zero tolerance for stupid. Not even gonna try. Maybe it's just a Midwest thing, but EVERY Republican we know thinks Obama "ruined this country" or "was the worst President in history" or "started racism." It's just racism, period. There is ZERO logical evidence supporting those claims.

We visited a former coworker of mine, K, and their dog's stuffed monkey toy is named "Obama" and they laugh "hahaha." K's husband (a retired Chicago cop) had a heart attack and the EMS arrived and the EMS workers were all black; K said she had to run to remove the framed photo of Obama with Hitler, "hahaha" - meanwhile, those trained porch monkeys saved her husband's life.

And her Facebook page is filled with posts about the Pope, Jesus, the Catholic Church, being Irish, and share this if you love your grandchildren shit.

It's hard, because this woman has been like family for nearly 30 years. But it's too hard to overlook and I'm not gonna even try to change her views or tell her otherwise; useless. So I'm ghosting her.

That's the thing about this "you guys don't get why Trump won, see, cuz you don't understand the people who voted for him." I have heard a lot of variations on the "here's why he won" lecture, but that one is just wildly ignorant. It supposes that there's this shielded environment that we liberals exist in that never interacts with "the other side" of America.

We coastal elites travel around and we work. We have the internet - we hear you talk. We watch and read the news and don't limit ourselves to Huffington Post.

We're aware that there's a lot of people out there who get the news from Trump's twitter feed, Fox, and Breitbart exclusively. We know what info wars is. We know what REAL fake news is.

We're not jumping at shadows and calling everything racist. We know what you really mean when you say #AllLivesMatter, and we heard you say it. We saw Richard Spencer lead a crowd of white supremacists to "hail Trump, hail our people" after the election.

A lot of us went to college, and we know they aren't recruitment camps for leftist socialist extremism, and we know why you accuse our higher education institutions of being that.

We know you're sick of the vague concept of Washington elites, and we also understand why you were duped into voting for a clown who should have the word "elite" tattooed on his fucking forehead.

...and we know that a lot of his ardent supporters, who cheerfully adopted the tag "deplorable" as a mark of honor, are misogynists. And, sure, there's a bunch of female voters in the Trump camp who come from the Phyllis Schlafly school of feminism. You don't have to look very hard to find them...



At this point, I'm sick of that lecture, because the person giving that lecture is almost always so willfully ignorant of their own hypocrisy regarding "staying informed" that it locks them into knee-jerk rejection of a counter argument. Hearing a Trump supporter lecture me about "see, this is why Trump won and you just don't get it," is like having a drunk tell you "see, this is why you don't understand why your friend was killed by a drunk driver... you're out of touch with alcoholics."

We understand these people, we are aware of them. We "get where they're coming from."
At this point, the only republicans that I am "friends" with are related by blood.

[allegro]

I have a few caveats to the "No Republicans" rule: My half-brother is pro-choice with gay friends but he's a 2nd Amendment gun hobbyist (he voted for Kasich); and my Boss is a racist Republican Jew so he's a weird anomaly (his wife is totally left-wing civil rights Femocrat) and my Boss HATES Trump. I can't get rid of these two.

[Swykk]

Oh, I interact with people at work who obviously lean right and I keep it professional but those people would never be friends of mine. My grandparents are trademark hypochristians who I only have to interact with during holidays and of course, there are arguments.
Unfortunately, you can't cut right wingers out of life entirely but I can keep them at a distance. I don't have the sympathy @Jinsai speaks of. I wish I did but they are the reason we're so fucked, the fucked up news keeps rolling in daily, and I can't forgive them. At least not yet. Maybe I'll get there. I'm pretty quick to forgive (though not so much forget) as long as apologies are made/regret is expressed. To be continued, I guess.

[Jinsai]

I have a few caveats to the "No Republicans" rule: My half-brother is pro-choice with gay friends but he's a 2nd Amendment gun hobbyist (he voted for Kasich); and my Boss is a racist Republican Jew so he's a weird anomaly (his wife is totally left-wing civil rights Femocrat) and my Boss HATES Trump. I can't get rid of these two.

The gun nut appeal... forgot to mention that one. My brother is a libertarian who LOVES guns. They are his favorite thing. Guns and cars... so he's kind of an anti-environmentalist too, because he thinks these emissions regulations are neutering his other favorite hobby. He's not a stupid person, but he is kind of an asshole, and he's definitely an asshole if you try to suggest anything regarding gun control.

I guess he also likes money, and so he wants his taxes to go down.

That is it. Full stop. He does not care about anything else. So he supports the Republican agenda. He's on their team. He wants them to "win," because that means nobody's going to try to take his guns, raise his taxes, or impose new environmental regulations that detract from his hobbies.

So he was anti-Trump at first, because he thought that Trump was the only candidate who could lose to Hillary.
On election night, he posted on Facebook "DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!?!?!"

It is mind-numbing and frustrating as fuck to hear Trump's fans ironically tell me I don't understand why he won. With regards to the things that Trump means now that he's impossibly actually become president... he's a political wet-dream to a lot of the fair weather fans in the GOP base. They're applauding and saying "pinch me, I must be dreaming."

[Louie_Cypher]

fuck I think veiled racism is some of the worst, playing base as a short white boy in an all black band, was a real eye opener, did so of the guy have dreadlocks, yes, but we were straight edge for the most part, but the stereo-types projected and the names I was personally called. were insane
-Louie

[Sarah K]

@allegro have you seen this? Trump wants to privatize air traffic controllers? I would be interested to hear what your husband thinks!

http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...ontrol-reports

[allegro]

@allegro have you seen this? Trump wants to privatize air traffic controllers? I would be interested to hear what your husband thinks!

http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...ontrol-reports

Yeah, Rep Shuster from PA has been pushing this for years and it keeps getting pushed away or ignored by the House; it's actually his brainchild, not Trump's, but Shuster has been bending Trump's ear. Shyster is a total asshole whose gf has been named to the proposed private ATC board. And the current NATCA (ATC Union) President and Vice President approved privatization, met with Shuster, without asking the rank and file, most of whom are totally against it (and the others are too scared to bitch or are confused). There are monetary kickbacks suspected to those who are pushing it. It's not likely to pass because most of Congress hates it.

Shuster's plan gives literally billions of dollars of taxpayer-paid air traffic control facilities and equipment to a board of private corporations, and puts air security in the hands of that private board. Anybody who saw what ATCs had to handle on Sept 11 (including coordinating with government fighter jets) understands that putting this under private control means more fees to passengers to pay for it and far less safety. It's worth noting that Canada's system is private (NAV Canada) and they had to file for Bankruptcy protection in 2003. And they have way way way less air traffic than us.

The whole reason why NextGen has taken so long to implement is because REPUBLICANS in Congress keep cutting the FAA budget. Then they whine that NextGen is taking too long.

Trump BACKING this might be a good thing; everything he touches turns to shit.

The NATCA President told controllers, "it's better to be at the table than on the table," but the union brass only cares about themselves and keeping their cushy jobs where they don't have to work any planes. Meanwhile, privatization has been an issue since the 80s. Shuster thinks he's so smart, yawn.

I love this comment on the above link:

"Yeah, because what could possibly go wrong with having air traffic control being controlled by the same people that came up with airlines overbooking and passenger removal policies!"

(My husband has been a Supervisor at a tower facility for over a year, and has mandatory retirement coming up in under 4 months; July marks his 35th year with the FAA.)

[Haysey_Draws]

OK, firstly, after him using the London Bridge attack to further his Ban...fuck off you fucking hateful cunt!

Second, it feels to me that he has very few real friends. His wife clearly isn't fond of him and i doubt he'll be winning any father of the year awards. Point is when it all starts to fall apart, and it will eventually, all his "friends" around him in the WH will be lining up to stab him in the back to further their own careers. It'll be a complete cluster fuck, but i will enjoy seeing him get picked apart by his own kind. Fuck him.

[Kodiak33]

@allegro that must be a super stressful job that your hubby has...

[Dra508]

(My husband has been a Supervisor at a tower facility for over a year, and has mandatory retirement coming up in under 4 months; July marks his 35th year with the FAA.)

Retirement can't come soon enough eh?

[botley]

NSA report confirms: "Russian government hackers[...] focused on parts of the [American electoral] system directly connected to the voter registration process". A successful attack would make it harder for people to vote, at the attacker's discretion, or even alter votes via malicious interception of the counting machines. It's looking more and more likely to me that either one or both of these things got Trump into office.

[Jinsai]

Where's Glenn Greenwald on this one...

[botley]

And what a great job he did too, protecting their anonymous source — likely the hapless young woman immediately arrested by the FBI.

[allegro]

it's that arrogance / elitism ...

It's neither; this election caused more polarization than I've ever witnessed or experienced in the nearly 40 years I've been voting. The last nearly 20 years of a polarized Congress that refuses to even consider negotiating has led to this, and Trump was the final straw. These Republicans keep citing Reagan but even Reagan was a negotiater. He's rolling in his grave.

Look at these comments by Paul Ryan:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/paul-rya...n-health-care/

[allegro]

no matter how you rationalize it, you are still justifying non association with people over nothing more than a political party. And you are ok with people who are PROUD of this exclusion to the point they will cheer political speakers for expressing this pride.

Yeah welcome to the 60s.

Things were hostile then, and it's getting even worse, now. "Us" vs. "them" with no possible reconciliation.

[Jinsai]

... oh he's just off somewhere being the co-founder and editor of the news org who broke the story. It's The Intercept dude.

Wait... dude... did you think I was bringing him up NOT KNOWING THAT?

[Jinsai]

Welp. If you all are super fine with people who speak for your political party proudly proclaiming they have no friends of the opposing party, it's that arrogance that will continue to harm you. You'll continue to create people who want nothing more than to punish you for your own elitism. It's exactly the rant Michael Moore went on before the election.

Thanks for that wisdom, my libertarian guru fountain of horse shit.

[Jinsai]

Being a whistle blower is a dangerous game.

In this case, I dunno... did the public need to know it now?

Probabaly not... but it's still fucking fascinating.

[botley]

Man. Fuck the intercept for multiple reasons. That's disappointing.

I'm curious what the Russians were going after these "voter rolls" for. Especially mere days before the election. Would it be to break voter registration for certain people, preventing them from casting a vote? I'm confused as to what impact could be achieved if the phishing were successful.

Aaaaand finally the penny drops.

Don't you think this was combined with a massive operation to find groups of likely Clinton voters via their online presence, and fuck with their Election Day process?

[allegro]

Re: The Intercept: Yes, sloppy. Wikileaks has been just as sloppy.

Re: Winner: Deliberate civil and legal disobedience as protest and to spark investigation to see what NSA knows. (Also, why are they still using fucking dot matrix printers?)

Re: Russia info in leak: I read it as if Russia was closely monitoring voter data relative to the Electoral College and not the popular vote; the article says they were focusing on certain states and voter data (as well as strategies?); the Russians know how our Electoral College system works.

Russia tampering with Electoral College votes makes a hell of a lot more sense to me than Trump's winning the EC vote, because I STILL can't believe this stupid fuck is President.

[Jinsai]

I was just watching the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life," and I feel like I just got punched in the gut...

It's like Rod Serling saw this coming.

[Art Vandelay]

Re: The Intercept: Yes, sloppy. Wikileaks has been just as sloppy.

Re: Winner: Deliberate civil and legal disobedience as protest and to spark investigation to see what NSA knows. (Also, why are they still using fucking dot matrix printers?)

Re: Russia info in leak: I read it as if Russia was closely monitoring voter data relative to the Electoral College and not the popular vote; the article says they were focusing on certain states and voter data (as well as strategies?); the Russians know how our Electoral College system works.

Russia tampering with Electoral College votes makes a hell of a lot more sense to me than Trump's winning the EC vote, because I STILL can't believe this stupid fuck is President.

I agree with everything you said, the only reason I quoted you was because I was laughing at your member stats specifically Location: Covfefe. Allow me to reiterate " I STILL can't believe this stupid fuck is president" as well. Every day I am embarrassed by this tweeting narcissistic outhouse of a man baby, that says the stupidest shit that is unimaginable, and it makes me feel like I need to apologize to every country in the world for the actions and words that come out of this fucking idiots mouth, even though I didn't vote for this fucking moron.

[allegro]

Oh the printout contained secret microdots, it was not dot matrix.

1) I did that in the 70s (microdot)

2) Teeny undetected identity dots on printouts: That's creepy and really cool.

[allegro]

Those Trump sons should stfu; they are really fucking arrogant and ignorant.

[allegro]

"Reality Winner" outing info re the Russians attempt at interfering with a Presidential election with a Reality Show guy.

It just doesn't get any better.

This is interesting:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-hack-nsa-leak

Reality Winner speaks Farsi, Pashto and and Dari.

The other Reality Winner that comes to mind: LOL LOL LOL

[allegro]

More on the microdots. I remember when it was a big thing back in 2005 when EFF deciphered some of the codes. It sucks that it seem to have not received as much as attention as I thought it did. It started as an anti-forgery mechanism. Gotta keep our money safe!

The next time you try to print a black & white doc and your printer is all "but i cant print ANYTHING because the color cartridge is empty!"

OH MY GOD that fucking happens all the time, it's why I only use my laser printers (I have three printers on the network); the only time I print off the color inkjet is if the fax prints out a report from that printer or if I print photos.