Generic 2018 U.S. Election Cycle Recycling Bin

New on NBC this fall: Civil War 2017. This Time It’s for Keeps ™

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HTML TRICK:   ™ = ™

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™ = ™

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This is probably good news, provided the case is deemed to have standing:

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I agree; if he doesn’t show his, then we shouldn’t pay ours.

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I’m paying alternative taxes.

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Popehat on punching Nazis. I gotta say I mostly agree.

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I don’t like it. Not because I disagree that this punch will be a net negative (which is impossible to prove from a single punch turned viral video), but because it dissolves from valid criticisms into ignoring the context of the situation in favor of something akin to mansplaining without a catchy term that I know of:

[quote=Popehat]All speech isn’t equivalent. Nazis are scum. They don’t support the social or legal norms in question and in fact support killing people based on skin color, religion, or disagreement. Saying they are scum, and that their speech is qualitatively different than other speech, and that they ought to be shunned and reviled, is not the same as punching or prosecuting them. It is a good thing to identify Nazis as scum and treat them – socially and rhetorically — accordingly.[/quote]Said Nazi was literally being nationally broadcast explaining how he was technically not a Nazi and that real Nazis hate someone like him. The social norms to shun and vilify had already failed, and not just failed but miserably failed since that video was only originally being used to piss off viewers and make money for the host.

[quote=Popehat]8. Challenging a Nazi to a fight is brave. Maybe. Given that many modern American Nazis are greasy, Boo Radley pale, pock-marked mamma’s boys, bravery will vary with individual circumstances. Same with charging into a crowd of Nazis. Informing a Nazi through traditional means that you are about to fight him, so he has time to assume a defensive stance, may be brave. Arguably it’s even brave to surprise-attack a Nazi and then stand around to get your ass kicked or get arrested and face the legal consequences of your actions, like a real protester. However, if you sucker-punch a Nazi with a nerve-stapled haircut and a cashmere coat while he gives an interview about the froggy pin on his lapel and then run away, you’re just a pussy.

  1. America has a certain number of people who are “not Nazis” but enjoy pretending to be Nazis, particularly online, for entertainment or attention. I do not concede that someone who helps normalize Nazism by pretending to be a Nazi for laughs is morally distinguishable from someone who sincerely promotes Nazism. That said, even if you think these people are to be punched, it would probably be better to leave it to their older brothers, linesmen on their high school’s football team, or the first girl they try to roofie. Also, bear in mind that you cannot deliver any beating as cruel as the one life is scheduled to administer them as a result of their social inadequacies and assorted personal failures.[/quote]This is WASPy bullshit. Fuck you and your noble use of force horseshit. It must be nice to joke about how easy you could kick a Nazi’s ass (because they are not manly enough to be real men), and then lecture a black man on how he should have 1) given any sort of personal information to a group of Nazis and 2) handed himself in to the police.

Seriously. Go fuck yourself if you think that a nationally recognized public figure is already getting what he deserves in the background because America knows how to take care of its own behind closed doors. You know that Richard Spencer is not a pasty poor troll living in his parent’s basement and who got beat up all through high school (and of course traditional small town virtuous violence is OK in this case), but still position the argument around a this fictitious person because it fits your 100% provably false story.

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I was on Twitter the day before inauguration day discussing the fact that only Neilsen-tracked households matter when determining whether anyone watched the event on TV when one of my acquaintances jumped in asking why it mattered what the ratings were. I responded with “ego-pummeling”, and they followed up with “what political purpose does it serve, though?”

Ego-pummeling is the political purpose. Making Cheeto Mussolini cry and send out his stooges to spread transparently absurd lies about the size of his penis crowd size is the absolute best way to keep him from turning his eye toward anything more destructive.

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Check the handshakes … (!!)

ETA: as others have said, Looks like the dude with the brass pole deliberately avoids Trump by holding the mace in his right hand and not slowing

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This moment might be a highlight of personal protest against Trump.

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Went back and re-played it a couple times.

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The prop bit is pretty typical of fancy cakes. They have a sheet cake in the back that they slice up and serve.

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I believe in nonviolence but also understand that it is a privilege to be nonviolent. I’m not one of those people who thinks that violence is never the answer, because sometimes it’s the only available option, and anything that can be considered an answer is a little much to hope for. I don’t think we’re there yet, and hopefully we won’t be soon, but it’s always a possibility.

By the way, this except from Popehat leads me to believe that the entire article is in bad faith:

 4. In embracing a norm that sucker-punching Nazis is acceptable, remember that you live in a nation of imbeciles that loves calling people Nazis. Also bear in mind that certain aspects of our culture — modern academic culture, for instance — encourages people to think that you’re a Nazi if you eat veal or disagree with them about the minimum wage.

There is no logic here. It is asinine. This isn’t about “modern academic culture”. There is nothing academic about this. Thinking that actual Nazis are actual Nazis isn’t some ivory-tower elitist academic concept, it’s calling things as they are. It’s not only an ad-hominem to talk about “modern academic culture” like we’re all liberal arts professors or spoiled trustafarian professional students, but it’s laughably false. I’m pretty damn far from either of those things, but I am someone who does not humor bigots.

Also, this isn’t about little political differences of opinion. It’s about actual white nationalism, ethnic cleansing, etc. The concepts of ethnic cleansing and white nationalism are so out there that you have to be an avowed white supremacist for them to even make sense.

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Yup. I know language is a weird confusing thing for some folks, but we’re not talking about normalizing punching a dude because he called you on your confusion over “its” and “it’s”. GRAMMAR NAZI! wallop

We’re talking about a guy getting clocked in the head who has literally led roomfuls of people in Hitler salutes and has advocated for ethnic cleansing. So yeah.

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Christ, what an asshole.

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The DoD just threw some serious shade on the Commander in Chief…

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