Donald is about to go through some things...
- Thread starter The Thriller
- Start date
Almost as funny as when Trump thought he had a chance and everyone laughed.
TheStormofWar
Well-Known Member
So dude got caught with his hands in the cookie jar and will probably have to pay a fine that will amount to pocket change for him, all the while political talking heads left and right are aping this for all its worth like it's the second coming of Lady Justice, World Champion or we're the worst Banana Republic to have ever existed.
And people wonder why I don't care about politics anymore.
And people wonder why I don't care about politics anymore.
Bucknutz
Well-Known Member
Step out of your echo chamber and do some basic research.
Soros donated $1 million a day after Bragg announced his campaign through a pac. The pac promised to spend $1 million on Bragg’s campaign. He got about half of it, due to an allegation from a unnamed woman.
How billionaire George Soros funded DA Alvin Bragg with $1million
Alvin Bragg received more than $1million in funding from the Color Of Change political action committee, which was funded by billionaire George Soros.
www.dailymail.co.uk
Yes just like your homophobic quotes on this forum: (for you onebrow)
“Whether we’re talking about fake money flooding our politics of Peter Thiel killing off the free speech of smaller media outlets with frivolous lawsuits.”
“This should be horrifying for any American who values freedom and our democracy. Peter Thiel, the billionaire funding his campaign”
“And then you have JD Vance, the millionaire venture capitalist and author who’s supported by billionaire Peter Thiel…”
This is the issue, you can’t read reality. Then asking the echo chamber to agree with you.
It’s not anti-Semitic, it’s a dumb talking point from the right. They just bitch about campaign money coming from a rich guy they don’t like. Exactly like you bitching about Peter Thiel because he is a rich guy that you don’t like funding the right.
Red
Well-Known Member
All this revisioning of history on the fly is like watching a sizable portion of our electorate descend into a type of madness. It’s like a giant sideshow of people completely detached from reality. And desperately trying to force feed they’re detached from reality narrative on the real world. I can’t call it a mass psychosis, but when people are so easily manipulated by a con man who tells them what they want to hear, and what he tells them is a form of the Big Lie, well, that tells me human nature can be a HUGE detriment to the persistence of functioning democracies over the long haul. All it took was a guy like Trump to unleash this nightmare.
I’m floundering for words, but, bottom line, this emergence of irrationality in the Western mind tells me our flaws as a species are to blame, and I have no idea how to solve it. How could I?
The political operatives supporting Trump, within the Republican Party, do so because they think their party cannot survive if they alienate the base. That’s just cynicism, expected of politicians. Cowardly, and typical political cynicism(the marketing of a president) toward human nature. It’s the base itself, and all those “lunatics” we see at Trump rallies, that represent, in part, an upwelling of irrationality in the Western mind, as does the irrational rejection of authority in science, medicine, all areas of human knowledge, that taken together simply does not bode well. All in league with a concerted war against modernity, in the form of our culture wars.
We are in a real bad place as a nation. And, damn, to myself, if looks like we are in trouble as a species as well, if we are intent to continue to elevate irrationality and irrational forces, to this extent.
Red
Well-Known Member
And he addressed me, and I do not live in an echo chamber. I am fully capable of using my own God given intelligence to evaluate the situation in the United States in 2023. And any point of view I express is the result of a great deal of time studying and thinking about our problems as a nation, and as a species of life, for that matter, since our flaws as a species are part of our problems IMHO.
I am not trapped within an echo chamber. In fact, I have said, for years, that the problem is conservatives and liberals view the world, and life, differently, our brains may even be wired for those differences. Liberals less fearful of change, conservatives more closely attuned to threats, these kind of differences may be inbuilt. And I have always been more than willing to try and bridge that divide, be it caused by psychological causes, genetic biological causes, whatever. From day one, I’ve understood that these two different schools of how to see the world were going to have to sit down and talk it out sooner or later. And you don’t do that from echo chambers.
Yes, I have a point of view, and yes I will defend it. But the fact that I cannot understand how anyone could have even fallen for such a con job as Trump pulled, tells me that there has to be something about such people that I actually NEED to understand. And I think that requires diving deep into human nature, and other things beneath the surface.
Exactly. To me this entire thing is ridiculous. Oh no a billionaire paid money to some politician he thinks will help further his interests! The horror! This has never happened before!!!Step out of your echo chamber and do some basic research.
Soros donated $1 million a day after Bragg announced his campaign through a pac. The pac promised to spend $1 million on Bragg’s campaign. He got about half of it, due to an allegation from a unnamed woman.
How billionaire George Soros funded DA Alvin Bragg with $1million
Alvin Bragg received more than $1million in funding from the Color Of Change political action committee, which was funded by billionaire George Soros.www.dailymail.co.uk
Yes just like your homophobic quotes on this forum: (for you onebrow)
“Whether we’re talking about fake money flooding our politics of Peter Thiel killing off the free speech of smaller media outlets with frivolous lawsuits.”
“This should be horrifying for any American who values freedom and our democracy. Peter Thiel, the billionaire funding his campaign”
“And then you have JD Vance, the millionaire venture capitalist and author who’s supported by billionaire Peter Thiel…”
This is the issue, you can’t read reality. Then asking the echo chamber to agree with you.
It’s not anti-Semitic, it’s a dumb talking point from the right. They just bitch about campaign money coming from a rich guy they don’t like. Exactly like you bitching about Peter Thiel because he is a rich guy that you don’t like funding the right.
It is literally what billionaires do. Why do we think the SC is stacked enough to overturn a 60 year old precedent? Why do we still have lobbying allowed to pay off politicians to further the interest of businesses over the general populace? This has been going on since time immemorial, but of course outrage only ensues when one politician being paid by one guy is paid to get mad that another politician being paid off by a different guy makes a big stink of some issue, regardless of the issue. Only now the billionaires have become so powerful they have no reason to hide anything any more. We just turn a blind eye as long as our guy "wins". People truly are such sheep. And politics is simply corrupt. In other breaking news, water is wet and wind blows your hair around.
The thing that conveniently gets ignored is the real facts of the issue. Did they do something illegal? If the answer is yes then the backer of the prosecutor should not matter one whit. Same with any other issue, this **** happens all the time to deflect when one politiician or another doesn't like the outcome of a particular issue, so they go full ad hominem. I am beginning to think that is the only debate tactic any of them ever learned. Hey and why not, it is highly effective to deflect from any of the really heinous **** they are doing, and allows the public to blissfully think they "won" and stuck that guy "in his place", which keeps us from holding them, you know, actually accountable so they can continue to line their pockets from the public coffers and under-the-table shenanigans. As long as Joe Schmo can get his morning $25 starbucks order and get his fill of confirmation-bias from twitter while sitting blissfully NOT working at his desk, then go about his day smug in the idea that he backed the winning horse, well he just doesn't give a **** who is really behind that curtain. We are so prosperous as a people that we prefer to be in ignorance so we don't have to think beyond what stupid **** we are doing next weekend, all while at least pretending to care and send out own snarky twits of outrage to the echo chamber, as buck so aptly put it.
This is all nothing new, but America does seem to have raised it to a new level of an art form. At least we aren't as blatant about it as China and Russia, but the damage is real nonetheless. We just gussy it up and get gaslit into believing it is what we actually wanted all along.
But as long as we all have a 65" TV and the newest smart phone and can watch basketball whenever we want while we eat endless amounts of fast food, we are fat and lazy and happy and don't give a **** who is leading us to slaughter.
I think it will literally take something the level of a true civil war to wake anyone up or for anything to really ever change. Maybe it's what we need.
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I honestly do not believe that if we fail as a species, it is any great loss. Other than not wanting people to suffer needlessly, although maybe we deserve it, as many species as we have done the same thing to, both carelessly and wantonly. In the end the world will keep spinning, regardless of what the flat earth morons believe, and eventually the sun will explode and turn this little ball of water into a cinder. And no one in the entire universe, if there is anyone else, will give a ****. Everything is, in the end, beyond our own very subjective relationships and attachments, ultimately meaningless anyway. Even the religious people think that this world is something between a test, that we get a do-over on after we die, or we just have to say jesus saved me as we die to get into heaven, so in the end their efforts to inject meaning into this life just reinforces the meaninglessness of it all anyway.
Sorry, I should stop posting today. I am in a particularly nihilistic mood right now. I don't wish harm on anyone, but if a meteor hit the planet and everyone died instantly, why would it matter in the slightest?
Bucknutz
Well-Known Member
Trump is no different than any other “con job
“, grifter, get rich scheme or sales pitch. It’s a cocktail of persuasion, confidence and mixed with human nature.
Dumb people or smart people can be persuaded. Here is a book that talks about this more.
A few points from the book about persuasion:
Reciprocity – We feel obligated to give back to those who first give to us. When someone does us a favor we want to return the favor in some way and silly as it may sound. You look at J6 and you can see that many people wanted to stick up for Trump because he stood up for them. (Their thought process)
View: https://youtu.be/qjHGZAzlIbU
Liking – People like to do business with people they like, especially those who are similar to them.
View: https://youtu.be/iXZ_ZmFKdgY
Unity – Unity says it’s easier for us to say Yes to people who are of us; those with whom we have a shared identity. This is why talking about a National Divorce is a crazy and terrible idea. There would be divorce after divorce until we were dissolved.
View: https://youtu.be/RU_IJB0jGBo
Consensus – We feel more comfortable doing what everyone else is doing or doing whatever people just like us are doing.
View: https://youtu.be/QppC_JIQ_0Y
Authority – People tend to trust those who are viewed as experts. This reminds me of a Chappelle clip.
View: https://youtu.be/nWfQCDaAa6s
https://youtu.be/T2z8App14bs
Scarcity – People want more of what they cannot have or something that’s hard to come by. There is only 1 Trump. Here is a clip from Bill Maher about this:
What Liberals Don't Understand About Ultra-MAGA Voters | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
Josh Tyrangiel and John McWhorter join Bill Maher to discuss the loyalty of Trump's base and why fake news feels good.
youtu.be
All these techniques are not just used in Politics but in Business, Relationships or Religion.
One Brow
Well-Known Member
Color of Change has revenues of over $10M/year. Is all of that Soros? (Hint: not even close). Why does Soros get singled out, as opposed to any of the other major donors?Step out of your echo chamber and do some basic research.
Soros donated $1 million a day after Bragg announced his campaign through a pac. The pac promised to spend $1 million on Bragg’s campaign. He got about half of it, due to an allegation from a unnamed woman.
How billionaire George Soros funded DA Alvin Bragg with $1million
Alvin Bragg received more than $1million in funding from the Color Of Change political action committee, which was funded by billionaire George Soros.www.dailymail.co.uk
It's complex, and not entirely on the conscious level. Notions like "sneaky Jews running things" have been baked into our culture for centuries, and even while consciously rejecting this notion, it has an unconscious appeal that leads us into easily believing in it.
Everyone loves to rail against a boogeyman. Soros is a politically useful boogeyman, as long as it riles up the voting base.Color of Change has revenues of over $10M/year. Is all of that Soros? (Hint: not even close). Why does Soros get singled out, as opposed to any of the other major donors?
It's complex, and not entirely on the conscious level. Notions like "sneaky Jews running things" have been baked into our culture for centuries, and even while consciously rejecting this notion, it has an unconscious appeal that leads us into easily believing in it.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
Okay, I appreciate the invitation. Will you do the same?
Did you bother to read the article you linked carefully? Did you not see some of these slanted phrases?
Furthermore, have you seen Mr. Oliveira's writing history? I suggest you look it up. Remember, we're searching for truth, not confirmation bias aka an echo chamber.
I took your advice and did some research. A more balanced approach would probably be this article:
Free article:
Summarized, Soros made a donation to a PAC that supports Democrats. But Soros hasn't had contact with Bragg and none of the donations were earmarked for Bragg's campaign. His losing opponent spent over 3x as much in the campaign so I'm not sure if money was the real issue here. Like always, I bring the receipts:
Tali Farhadian Weinstein, Alvin Bragg Lead Fundraising in Manhattan District Attorney Race
The two boast the biggest campaign war chests heading into the final month of the race, giving them a potential advantage over a crowded field of contenders.
www.wsj.com
I genuinely don't get this reference. Was this a jab at @One Brow? Are you insinuating that he's homophobic? Why? Or are you talking about me? I'm not homophobic. I don't like Peter Thiel because he supports illiberal causes and tries to get sociopaths like this elected. Did you see this ad?
View: https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/1591465462420090887?s=20
Please pick your lane here. I either dislike the far right donors like the Mercers, Thiels, and Kochs or I dislike homosexual people. It really can't be both here. So get your next ad hominem attack on me straight this time.
riiiiight.
View: https://twitter.com/ADL/status/1471195179117809664?s=20
If you don't see the OBVIOUS anti-semitism on full display by the top hosts on the top cable news channel in America, then I encourage you to step outside of your echo chamber and do some research. Crack open a history book and read up on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
Yeah, you are in a nihilistic mood today and probably should take a break. I definitely don’t want a meteor to wipe us out today. Lol
I think downplaying this as mere "partisan politics" does our country a disservice. If Trump committed a crime then he needs to be held accountable. True, it might not be the biggest crime he's committed. I think he should've been hammered a long time ago for Jan 6 and for trying to steal the election in Georgia. But if this is the starting pt then so be it. If Bragg is the lone prosecutor with the courage to enforce the law right now, then that's great. We need more prosecutors who'll put politics aside and enforce the law. For far too long Trump has been given a pass because of partisan politics.
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leftyjace
Well-Known Member
How is it that Trump’s infidelity, the very thing that caused all this stuff in the first place, is glossed over? Don’t get me wrong, I know that he’s human - but do you really want someone who cheats on his wife multiple times and then is even remotely or tangentially involved in a hush money situation elected as President of the United States?
Boggles my mind how people can just gloss over that.
Boggles my mind how people can just gloss over that.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
The dead giveaway right now is that if members of the right wanted an off-ramp for Trump and an onramp to DeSantis, THIS would be it. But they don't want it.
True, I think there's a significant portion of Republicans who are fearful of the base. They are afraid of speaking out because it might cost them a primary. They know Trump is corrupt and horrible but they know that even if they speak in support of DeSantis right now, they'll be fried.
But I also think that there's a significant number of Trump supporters and Republicans who've gone too far to turn back now. Trump gave them permission to act their worst selves and still continue to enjoy that. There's something liberating about dedicating yourself to a lost cause; whether it be towards slavery and Jim Crow or to flying your plane into a ship and killing off millions of Jews. Eric Hoffer, The True Believer offers some keen insights. A bored class of people will be attracted to an authoritarian. He always tickles their id and provides them with both the freedom from consequences for doing their worst and providing them with a structure to do their worst. This isn't limited to just world leaders, look at cults too. Cults always have their main leader and then strongmen who get off on being their worst. Sadly, I think many on the right fall into this category... They like what Trump does and how he makes them feel.
DeSantis, Pence, Haley, etc although more competent, just don't seem to have that kind of effect on people.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
See my post 1,215 on this. Because logically, you’re right about this. If you value honesty and fidelity then how can you excuse this?
Trump gives permission freedom to think and act their worst. People empowered by this don't think negatively that Trump is blackmailing the president of Ukraine, pledging allegiance to Jan 6ers, or paying off porn stars that he's slept with. If anything, it's empowering because he's as rotten as they fantasize. There's power in being free to act your worst.
Eh, Clinton got elected twice. No way in hell Monica was the first or only. And he lied under oath about it. Americans don't seem to give two ***** about straight up morality in their president.
fishonjazz
Well-Known Member
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I mean trump university, fraudulent charities, grab em by the *****, and his total lack of experience/qualifications should have been way more than enough to get people to not vote for him. That is if the voters are sane.
We are coming to find that so many in the GOP are not sane though. Trump said he could shoot someone in 5th avenue and not lose any supporters. He knew his people were mindless sheep and literally called them sheep with that statement.
So what did the sheep do? Followed the shepherd wherever he led them of course
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
Clinton was re-elected on 1996 but it didn’t become publicly known that he was having an affair with Lewinksy until 1998. I think time and context matter here. Had Clinton run for re-election in 1998, he might not have been re-elected because of the Lewinsky affair. Trump was elected despite the access Hollywood “grab em by the *****” tape and faced no real accountability until now over Stormy.
It’s not like Stormy was Trump’s only transgression. Comparing the two, Trump to Clinton, is again, just dumb both sidesizingism that helps no one. I think one could argue that Trump’s evangelical “family values” coalition has demonstrated an incredible amount of hypocrisy. They harped from 1998-2016 about the importance of values. Why did that suddenly change?
gandalfe
Well-Known Member
Given that the most obviously, traditionally, moral president we've had in 50 years lost his reelection campaign, you're absolutely right.