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Re: US Politics Thread
I have no problem with Priebus. Perfectly fine choice. I wouldn't call him out.
I do with Bannon. I can form my own opinions reading the stories on his website, which I do frequently. I am on web 10 hours a day, and I run into his stuff intentionally and unintentionally all day. You, too, can form your opinion about him by reading the material he promotes. It'll take more than a google search, so I hope you are willing to spend some time doing it. I'm not going to do that for you.
If the SPLC isn't acceptable. Is the Anti-Defamation League? Or the ACLU? What group that assesses Bannon's overall philosophy do you want to see? What would be deemed non-biased?
I heard on MSNBC that Bannon couldn't pass the security screening to be Chief Of Staff. That's good.
Re: US Politics Thread
misterID wrote:We have a system where millions of votes don't count. I live in TN, my vote for Hillary and Obama was meaningless. Is that fair? Had it been by popular vote my vote would've mattered. It's the reason more people don't vote. If you live in a predominantly red or blue state, why bother? I'm seriously thinking of going back to Florida where my vote will matter.
The electoral college exists for a reason. We are a collection of states. The big states would overrun the small states if it didn't exist. 3/4 of the states would have to sign off on getting rid of it. It's not going anywhere.
The electoral college exists because some of the framers of the constitution believed that only a certain percentage of white men had the intellect to elect public officials. That's outdated an unconstitutional.
Re: US Politics Thread
bigbri wrote:polluxlm wrote:Appointing Bannon as his right hand advisor goes a long way in confirming that this Presidency will not be business as usual.
This is true. We've never had an openly white nationalist, anti-Semitic top presidential adviser before. Be proud.
Can you qualify these claims? How do you know he's a white nationalist or anti-semitic. Fair warning, claims by a spouse in the middle of a heated divorce aren't the most trustworthy.
Not just an ex wife but coworkers at Breitbart, Ben Shapiro.
"ORIGINAL: On Wednesday, the Trump campaign shifted top campaign staff: the new CEO of the campaign is, predictably and hilariously, Steven K. Bannon, the current chairman of Breitbart News. I have a bit of experience with Bannon, given that I was the editor-at-large of Breitbart News for four years, and worked closely with Breitbart and Bannon.
Here’s what you need to know about Bannon, as well as new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway.
1. Steve Bannon Turned Breitbart Into Trump Pravda For His Own Personal Gain. Back in March, I quit Breitbart News when it became clear to me that they had decided that loyalty to Donald Trump outweighed loyalty to their own employees, helping Trump smear one of their own reporters, Michelle Fields, by essentially calling her a liar for saying that she had been grabbed by then-Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Here’s what I wrote at the time:
Andrew built his life and his career on one mission: fight the bullies. But Andrew’s life mission has been betrayed. Indeed, Breitbart News, under the chairmanship of Steve Bannon, has put a stake through the heart of Andrew’s legacy. In my opinion, Steve Bannon is a bully, and has sold out Andrew’s mission in order to back another bully, Donald Trump; he has shaped the company into Trump’s personal Pravda…the facts are undeniable: Breitbart News has become precisely the reverse of what Andrew would have wanted. Steve Bannon and those who follow his lead should be ashamed of themselves.
Not to say "I told you so," but I did tell you so.
2. Bannon Uses Celebrity Conservatives To Elevate His Personal Profile. Bannon began receiving conservative media attention for his documentary Generation Zero. And he began elevating his profile by latching onto Michele Bachmann with his documentary Fire From The Heartland. But he truly insinuated himself into the circles of conservative power by making a 2011 documentary about Sarah Palin, The Undefeated. His connection with Palin upped his brand in the movement significantly. He soon began appearing on Fox News with Sean Hannity fairly regularly, became personal friends with Hannity, and met Andrew Breitbart. He insinuated himself into Breitbart’s business by lending him office space, then made a documentary starring Breitbart, Occupy Unmasked. When Breitbart died, his business partner Larry Solov offered Bannon chairmanship of the company. Bannon then turned Breitbart into his personal domain, making himself a regularly bylined columnist (certainly rare for a major media company) and installing himself as a radio host on Breitbart Radio on Sirius XM. Finally, he used his role as Breitbart CEO to turn the outlet into Trump Pravda, creating a stepping stone to close connection with Trump. Breitbart publicly burned bridges with everyone to maintain its Trump loyalty. That was Bannon, a scorched-earth personal opportunist.
3. Bannon Took At Least One Major Breitbart Investor For A Serious Ride. One of the main investors in Breitbart News is Robert Mercer. The Mercer family put millions of dollars into a Ted Cruz super PAC during this election cycle, even as Bannon manipulated Breitbart News into a Cruz-bashing Trump propaganda outlet. The spokesperson for the Mercer family was Kellyanne Conway, who has now been installed as Trump’s campaign manager. I have been reliably informed by sources associated with the pro-Cruz super PAC that for months, as Bannon was using Breitbart News to promote Trump, the Mercers were defending Bannon’s neutrality to other Cruz supporters worried about Breitbart’s dishonest coverage about Cruz.
4. Breitbart’s Staff Lusts After Trump Involvement. Long before the billionaire officially entered the presidential race, Bannon was close to him; in April 2014, the Trump offices described Bannon thusly: “MAJOR SUPPORTER OF MR. TRUMP.” The new team at Trump headquarters will undoubtedly include all the Breitbart staffers who openly lusted after power within the Trump campaign: Joel Pollak, the Breitbart lawyer who desperately wanted to be a Trump speechwriter, and wrote a disgusting hit piece about me personally when I left and accurately accused the website of becoming an adjunct to the campaign; Matthew Boyle, the pseudo-journalist who reportedly bragged about becoming Trump’s press secretary; Milo Yiannopoulos, the Trump-worshipping alt-right droog stooge. They’re all in with their Godking, now.
5. Under Bannon’s Leadership, Breitbart Openly Embraced The White Supremacist Alt-Right. Andrew Breitbart despised racism. Truly despised it. He used to brag regularly about helping to integrate his fraternity at Tulane University. He insisted that racial stories be treated with special care to avoid even the whiff of racism. With Bannon embracing Trump, all that changed. Now Breitbart has become the alt-right go-to website, with Yiannopoulos pushing white ethno-nationalism as a legitimate response to political correctness, and the comment section turning into a cesspool for white supremacist mememakers.
6. This Is Precisely The Sort of Corrupt Media Relationship Breitbart Used To Abhor. Andrew Breitbart used his memoir, Righteous Indignation, to target one thing above all else: what he called the Democrat-Media Complex. He hated the merger of the Democrats and the media, and particularly despised their lie of objectivity. Breitbart News never claimed to be objective. But until Trump won the nomination, leadership at Breitbart News maintained that they had not become a loudspeaker for Trumpism. That was obviously a lie, and one Breitbart would hate. HATE. Now, it’s clear that Breitbart News is indeed Bannon.com and Trumpbart News. That’s pathetic and disgusting.
7. Trump’s Campaign Strategy Could Be The Launch Of A New Media Outlet. Because Bannon’s ambitions extend to Steve Bannon, he’ll tell Trump he’s doing a fantastic job even if he isn’t. That’s how Bannon Svengalis political figures and investors – by investing them in his personal genius, then hollowing them out from the inside. There’s a reason Sarah Palin went from legitimate political figure to parody artist to Trump endorser, with Steve Bannon standing alongside her every step of the way. There’s a reason Breitbart News went from hard-charging news outlet to drooling Trump mouthpiece. Bannon emerges from all of this unscathed. So what’s next on his agenda? If Trump wins, he’s in a position of high power; if Trump loses, Bannon could head up a new media empire with Trump’s support and the involvement of new Trump supporter and ousted former Fox News head Roger Ailes. Look for Sean Hannity to be a part of any such endeavor.
8. Bannon Is A Legitimately Sinister Figure. Many former employees of Breitbart News are afraid of Steve Bannon. He is a vindictive, nasty figure, infamous for verbally abusing supposed friends and threatening enemies. Bannon is a smarter version of Trump: he’s an aggressive self-promoter who name-drops to heighten his profile and woo bigger names, and then uses those bigger names as stepping stools to his next destination. Trump may be his final destination. Or it may not. He will attempt to ruin anyone who impedes his unending ambition, and he will use anyone bigger than he is – for example, Donald Trump – to get where he wants to go. Bannon knows that in the game of thrones, you win or die. And he certainly doesn’t intend to die. He’ll kill everyone else before he goes.
Bannon’s ascension is the predictable consummation of a romance he ardently pursued. I joked with friends months ago that by the end of the campaign, Steve Bannon would be running Trump’s campaign from a bunker. That’s now reality. Every nightmare for actual conservatives has come true in this campaign. Why not this one, too?"
Steve Bannon Is A Former Goldman Sachs Investment Banker
Though his unkempt and bare-knuckles style might not suggest it, Steve Bannon began his career as part of the Wall Street establishment, as a banker at the firm whose name became synonymous with the financial industry corruption and arrogance that led to the 2008 crash — though Bannon left the firm in 1990 to start his own smaller Wall Street firm.
While at Goldman Sachs during the 1980s, according to a profile by Bloomberg News, Bannon became part of that decade’s boom in corporate “hostile takeovers,” working mainly in defense of companies which had been targeted by corporate raiders like Michael Milken. That decade also had its own major financial crash, also spurred by the often illegal activities of investment bankers.
But Bannon was also part of several major takeovers himself, including one deal involving a company known as Bain Capital, spearheaded by a rising executive named Mitt Romney.
Bannon’s Hiring Was Seen As A Victory For White Supremacists — By White Supremacists
According to a report in the online Daily Beast news magazine, numerous racist organizations are celebrating the elevation of Steve Bannon to Trump campaign boss, because Breitbart News, they say, has long been sympathetic to their white supremacist cause, sometimes known as the “Alt-Right.”
“Latterly, Breitbart emerged as a nationalist site and done great stuff on immigration in particular,” Peter Brimelow, of the white supremacist site VDARE, told The Daily Beast, adding that he met personally with Bannon in July and the two “exchanged pleasantries about each other’s work,” according to the report.
“Breitbart has elective affinities with the Alt Right, and the Alt Right has clearly influenced Breitbart,” added Richard Spencer, head of the white supremacist National Policy Institute. “In this way, Breitbart has acted as a ‘gateway’ to Alt Right ideas and writers.”
Former Breitbart writer Ben Shapiro also says that “under Bannon’s leadership, breitbart openly embraced the white supremacist Alt-Right.”
Steve Bannon supposedly took a leave of absence from his post at the head of Breitbart News to run the Donald Trump campaign, but will return to the company the day after the election, according to a statement from the site.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/3428291/who-is … HE42elu.99
Re: US Politics Thread
SARAH POSNERAUG. 22, 2016 5:00 AM
Stephen Bannon, Trump's new campaign director Gage Skidmore/Flickr and Danny Moloshok/AP
Last week, when Donald Trump tapped the chairman of Breitbart Media to lead his campaign, he wasn't simply turning to a trusted ally and veteran propagandist. By bringing on Stephen Bannon, Trump was signaling a wholehearted embrace of the "alt-right," a once-motley assemblage of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, ethno-nationalistic provocateurs who have coalesced behind Trump and curried the GOP nominee's favor on social media. In short, Trump has embraced the core readership of Breitbart News.
"We're the platform for the alt-right," Bannon told me proudly when I interviewed him at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July. Though disavowed by every other major conservative news outlet, the alt-right has been Bannon's target audience ever since he took over Breitbart News from its late founder, Andrew Breitbart, four years ago. Under Bannon's leadership, the site has plunged into the fever swamps of conservatism, cheering white nationalist groups as an "eclectic mix of renegades," accusing President Barack Obama of importing "more hating Muslims," and waging an incessant war against the purveyors of "political correctness."
in 2011, Bannon said in a radio interview that he thought progressives don't like conservative women because they aren't "a bunch of dykes," and because they are "pro-family," according to BuzzFeed:
"That’s why there are some unintended consequences of the women’s liberation movement. That, in fact, the women that would lead this country would be pro-family, they would have husbands, they would love their children. They wouldn’t be a bunch of dykes that came from the Seven Sisters schools up in New England. That drives the left insane and that’s why they hate these women."
One of Bannon's particularly questionable decisions was giving a prominent platform to writer Milo Yiannopoulos, a self-described white nationalist, who, according to The Washington Post, was permanently banned from Twitter for an onslaught of racist abuse targeted at Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones. Some of Yiannopoulos' most absurd stories? In 2015 he penned an article called, "Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy," in which he argued, according to Snopes, that "your birth control injection will add on pounds that will prevent the injection you really want — of man meat." Then, according to The Hill, there was the more recent article, written about Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, which he titled, “Bill Kristol: Republican spoiler, renegade Jew."
Some have argued, of course, that Yiannopoulos, not Bannon, should be the only criticized for these pieces (and, uh, to be clear, he totally should), but according to Vanity Fair, Bannon was behind Yiannopoulos all the way, and told the magazine, “did you hear about Milo? It’s great.”
And that's not counting that he was accused of abusing his wife and not wanting his daughters going to a school that was predominantly Jewish.
- Randall Flagg
- Rep: 139
Re: US Politics Thread
So in two posts, your claim that Bannon is a racist is that a reporter from Mother Jones (you conveniently left out the link, but I try to stay informed on these issues) claims he stated affiliation with the alt right. No audio, no video. Just the claims of a hyper partisan reporter for one of the most liberal media groups in the world.
That passes the smell test?
You're upset that a media personality cozied up to trump. Not that the head of the DNC leaked Hillary debate questions or that Clinton's team had control over releases from The NY Times.
And let's talk about the "alt right." It's not something I'm familiar with or even claim to fully understand. But if the links from Bri are also evidence of alt right racism, then I'm incredibly skeptical about claims of racism.
BLM uses a black power fist as their icon. The thousands of twitter comments advocating Trump be assassinated or "fuck all white people" are far more disturbing than citing figures on black on black crime.
I'm open to hearing how these guys are racist, but so far all I've seen are unqualified claims from folks who think citing crime reports is tantamount to systemic racism.
Re: US Politics Thread
So in two posts, your claim that Bannon is a racist is that a reporter from Mother Jones (you conveniently left out the link, but I try to stay informed on these issues) claims he stated affiliation with the alt right. No audio, no video. Just the claims of a hyper partisan reporter for one of the most liberal media groups in the world.
That passes the smell test?
You're upset that a media personality cozied up to trump. Not that the head of the DNC leaked Hillary debate questions or that Clinton's team had control over releases from The NY Times.
And let's talk about the "alt right." It's not something I'm familiar with or even claim to fully understand. But if the links from Bri are also evidence of alt right racism, then I'm incredibly skeptical about claims of racism.
BLM uses a black power fist as their icon. The thousands of twitter commebts advocating Trump be assasinated or "fuck all white people" are far more disturbing than citing figures on black on black crime.
I'm open to hearing how these guys are racist, but so far all I've seen are unqualified claims from folks who think citing crime reports is tantamount to systemic racism.
My cut and paste is wonky as is the auto correct on my device but I made sure to get the reporters name in there.yes, Mother Jones, so what?
You asked for links, I gave them to you, if you want everything on camera to make it legitimate now, fine, we'll just have to settle on Don being a sexual predator, because it was caught on tape. And apparently anything in print is now a lie or can't be substantiated. Okay. It was just republicans who worked with him and resigned over his racist behavior, but okay. He called feminists dykes, had his news outlet call Bill fucking Kristol a renegade Jew, that only straight white males should be in charge of diversity. This was under his leadership. Alt Right is a form of White Nationalism. I quoted White Nationalists who support Bannon and who Bannon has met with. I have no clue what this nonsense about me being upset over the media being cozy withTrump came from. Uh, no it wasn't right if anyone gave Hillary answers to questions.... And Breitbart is a place for racists and White Nationalists and now has a high ranking position in the white house... Yeah, I totally see how those two things are connected.
I mean, you have a weird obsession over race and black people. No one hired anyone from BLM to be in their presidential cabinet, that wasn't even in the same atmosphere of what we were talking about, so why your mind went there is friggin weird.
Re: US Politics Thread
But if the links from Bri are also evidence of alt right racism, then I'm incredibly skeptical about claims of racism.
BLM uses a black power fist as their icon. The thousands of twitter comments advocating Trump be assassinated or "fuck all white people" are far more disturbing than citing figures on black on black crime.
I'm open to hearing how these guys are racist, but so far all I've seen are unqualified claims from folks who think citing crime reports is tantamount to systemic racism.
I was afraid this would happen. It's not the individual claims in those stories, but the language used, the reasoning behind the stories, the philosophy of refuting black arguments, the dismissiveness to anything placing blame on whites, etc. It's less about the specifics and more about the agenda. I guess it's the proverbial trees vs. forest. I explained that in a secondary post.
Whatever, carry on.
- Randall Flagg
- Rep: 139
Re: US Politics Thread
You don't see a problem with the only claim that Bannon is a racist is that a reporter from Mother Jones (an outlet Bannon would be aware of, mind you) claims he told her he was affiliated with the Alt Right. So I'm going to break it down for you (and by you I mean the reader, not MisterID).
1.) You and millions of others call Bannon a racist
I ask for evidence:
2.) An article from Mother Jones (an organization that is by no means considered objective and respected in the industry - it's on par with infowars or Breitbart) written by a reporter for Mother Jones claims that Bannon told her he helped make Breitbart part of the "alt right."
I ask for evidence to what "alt right" means and why they're racist
3.) A bunch of opinion pieces that is no objective way come across as racist. CITING STATISTICS TO DISCREDIT THE FALSE CLAIMS OF BLACK LIVES MATTER DOES NOT EQUAL RACISM. DISAGREEING WITH SOMEONE DOESN'T MAKE THEM A RACIST.
You get up in arms that someone from Breitbart (a media figure) is now on Trump's team. (My assumption is you don't agree that someone from a heavily conservative news source should be on his team, if that's not correct, please correct me. But if you're going to claim it's because he's a racist, please refer to #1 above)
4.) I reference how The New York Times (media) and the head of the DNC (CNN contributor -Media) secretly sent articles and other confidential information to HRC for approval, establishing a strong media bias and connection to Clinton.
----
So here's what I'm saying. You need to qualify your claims that Bannon is a racist. if you want to make an intelligent and informed argument to support your claim, I just have you the guide.
You're attempting to do this by connecting him to the "alt right."
1.) What is the "alt right"?
2.) How do you define racism?
3.) Is the Alt right racist?
4.) Why is the alt racist?
5.) How is Bannon connected to the alt right?
Extra Credit:
6.) Were/are all the things you lamented about above present in current minority activist groups that you've ignored or hand waived?
7.) If it's okay to make a domestic terrorist an adviser, where is the cut off on what is appropriate?
- Randall Flagg
- Rep: 139
Re: US Politics Thread
Randall Flagg wrote:But if the links from Bri are also evidence of alt right racism, then I'm incredibly skeptical about claims of racism.
BLM uses a black power fist as their icon. The thousands of twitter comments advocating Trump be assassinated or "fuck all white people" are far more disturbing than citing figures on black on black crime.
I'm open to hearing how these guys are racist, but so far all I've seen are unqualified claims from folks who think citing crime reports is tantamount to systemic racism.
I was afraid this would happen. It's not the individual claims in those stories, but the language used, the reasoning behind the stories, the philosophy of refuting black arguments, the dismissiveness to anything placing blame on whites, etc. It's less about the specifics and more about the agenda. I guess it's the proverbial trees vs. forest. I explained that in a secondary post.
Whatever, carry on.
Did you ever consider that BLM may be misleading? When did you align yourself with their beliefs? What research have you done to support their claims? Is it possible that they're misleading and inaccurate in what they say? What does BLM mean to you? Why are 4% of deaths worth 100% of national attention, but any discussion of the other 96% is met with racism. Talk about seeing the trees through the forest. You're focused on 4 fucking trees and ignoring the other 96.
Re: US Politics Thread
I almost didn't post the Mother Jones report specifically because you would blow it off, but they spoke directly with Gannon, it was his quote. But you're ignoring Ben Shapiro, who worked at Breithart and quit because of Bannon. But you latched on to Mother Jones...
