The Match Cut 2017 Political Thread (or: The Lord of the Leaks: The Trump Towers)

[Wryan]

Y'all: http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...sexual-assault

[Dead & Messed Up]

You figure he's trying to get at the fact that less developed civilizations improve overall standard of living (including criminal activity) by making use of available natural resources in a global market? That's a common supporting argument of fossil fuel proponents, and it plays up the emotions by framing fossil fuels as a moral goodness.

Or maybe he's just a doof who shouldn't have the job he has.

[Spinal]

Do you think Washington would be better or worse if they lower the voting age to 15 and cap it at 70?

The same.

I think the problem is the money and corruption. Not the voters.

[D_Davis]

https://www.apnews.com/dea73efc01594...um=AP_Politics

[Skitch]

I don't understand why Trump and his supporters say that this Russia stuff is a farce when during the campaign, during a debate on national television, I watched him ask Russia to hack Hillary's emails.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I don't understand why Trump and his supporters say that this Russia stuff is a farce when during the campaign, during a debate on national television, I watched him ask Russia to hack Hillary's emails.

Say it enough times, loudly, and people believe it.

[number8]

Pretty notable election day yesterday turned out to be! Lots of wins that deserve to be highlighted, but I think this one was the funniest on a headline level:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-polit...-2017-election

[Wryan]

"One brought a box of macaroni and cheese and told Carman to 'cook his own damn dinner.'"

I hope she threw it in his general direction.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Alabama presumptive senator Roy Moore allegedly molested a 14-year-old when he was 30 (this would've been around 1977, I think - ooh, around Star Wars).

I doubt it will make a difference in the race, unless he really falls on his ass in trying to defend or deflect.

[D_Davis]

He's already on Breitbart and they're trying to play it off like it was no big deal.

This is the GOP now. His base will love him more for it, and he will still win.

[number8]

This rapist piece of shit. https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/545738/

[Wryan]

Oh dear lord. So that new Trump court nominee who is staggeringly unfit and didn't disclose he's married to a White House lawyer and is considered unqualified by the ABA....is one of our authors. And in the worst possible way: https://www.thedailybeast.com/before...ok&via=desktop

Yup, that's our Haunted series of books--a separate imprint but still part of the company. Sigh. Wonderful. They are generally terrible and badly written, the authors are often nutballs, and the content is usually the equivalent of the National Enquirer. And the books sell very well, btw, because of course they do. I've always felt them to be a bit of an embarrassment. Another brush with fame was when Kathy Bates extolled one of our sorta-Haunted books about Madame Delphine LaLaurie re: the New Orleans American Horror Story season. I edited that one, too. It wasn't too bad. Not sure how scholarly its findings were, though. Was more about the shock value and all that.

EDIT: Our publicist, my friend and a fellow history major, is thrilled. She thinks we can "use this."

[number8]

There are still publicists who actually believe that there's no bad publicity?

[Ivan Drago]

In other news, the FCC votes to kill net neutrality next month. I hope you guys liked Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, because their death is inevitable.

It's only a matter of time before Disney buys them, too.

[D_Davis]

[Irish]

In other news, the FCC votes to kill net neutrality next month. I hope you guys liked Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, because their death is inevitable.

It's only a matter of time before Disney buys them, too.

This won't happen.

The Fearsome Five (Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft) are large enough to brook any fees that the telecoms levy against them. Hulu is owned by a group of corporate monoliths. Reed Hastings could literally burn bags of cash on the front lawn of Netflix's corporate headquarters and Wall Street would call the action "bold" and "visionary."

But dismantling net neutrality will mean less innovation and less competition. Costs will be way too high for any given startup to compete with the established players. Which means our media will get more homogeneous than it already is---small media and niche streaming will disappear---and the net will continue to look more and more like shitty basic cable.

(Also, your ISP will be able to insert ads into any unencrypted content that's sent you, including emails, track your movements, and sell your info to whomever they want.)

(And naturally, you'll probably be paying more for worse service. Any costs applied to the 5 tech giants will, one way or another, be passed onto you.)

[Irish]

The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to allow a single company to own a newspaper and television and radio stations in the same town, reversing a decades-old rule aimed at preventing any individual or company from having too much power over local coverage.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/b...-local-tv.html

JFC, Ajit Pai is such an immense asshole.

[number8]

[MadMan]

The same.

I think the problem is the money and corruption. Not the voters.

I kind of agree. Not sure why the Supreme Court keeps thinking money is free speech.

[Dukefrukem]

Welcome back Madman

[MadMan]

Thanks. If I leave again I will come up with a better goodbye post. That last one sucked.

[Dukefrukem]

Why did you leave in the first place?

[Scar]

Thanks. If I leave again I will come up with a better goodbye post. That last one sucked.

Goodbye posts are the hallmark of people who always come back.

[Ivan Drago]

Guys, if net neutrality is repealed and this site is one that the FCC decides to block, I'd like to say that I've really cherished my time with you all since making the transition over here from RT. It's been a good 14-15 years being a part of this community, and I will dearly miss all of you.

[number8]

Nah, man. What's gonna happen is that all the popular sites will cost you a shitload of money to access, while the basic plan only gives you access to niche boards like this one. If anything there will be a surge of new users! When no one can access instagram anymore, they're gonna have to past the time talking about Justice League brunches.