US Politics December 2018: ~very legal and very cool~

if the dunning-kruger epidemic / prion disease that produced this id monster doesn't get us all first and he's crowned king on easter, that is

xpost

Lmao dude is so used to surrounding himself with sycophants and getting literally no pushback that he got thoroughly owned by Chuck Schumer

Does that @funder dude actually know anything? I feel like everything I see from him is thinly sourced “Trump is losing it” posts, and apparently he’s part of the Draft Biden movement?

whenever i wonder how this dude has gotten away with being such a total asshole into his 70s, i remember all the suckers in junior high who wanted to be friends with the bullies and now vote republican come hell or (literally soon enough) high water

A House GOP member who lost reelection said Trump's performance on Tuesday "was unbelievable. I literally couldn't believe a president of the United States was acting that crazy." When asked why he didn't come out publicly with his criticism, the soon-to-be-ex-lawmaker deadpanned "Hey, I gotta work, don't I?"

actually no, you don't gotta work, you can just gtfo of town now

https://static.politico.com/dims4/default/5f89653/2147483647/resize/1160x/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2F35%2F44%2F4b7fdbd0417fb0112514b894a2ca%2F181211-paulryan-politico.jpg

^Proof that yeah, Trump does beat dogs.

that tie, with that coat

In an effort to understand how Google search algorithms work, a Democratic congresswoman asked the tech company’s chief executive a simple question: “If you Google the word ‘idiot' under images, a picture of Donald Trump comes up. How would that happen? How does search work so that that would occur?”

In the middle of a congressional hearing ostensibly about privacy and data collection, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) apparently performed that search from the dais. As it turns out, the image results for “idiot” reveals a page of mostly Trump photos.

Google chief executive sund4r Pichai, who was testifying Tuesday morning before the House Judiciary Committee, tried to explain to the roomful of mostly tech novices how the algorithms take into account some 200 factors — such as relevance, popularity, how others are using the search term — to determine how to best match a query with results.

“So it’s not some little man sitting behind the curtain figuring out what we’re going to show the user. It’s basically a compilation of what users are generating, and trying to sort through that information?” Zofgren asked, facetiously.

Whole article is kinda funny, kinda sad:

Lofgren was reacting to Republicans' allegations that Google employees manipulate results for political reasons. The hearing mostly revealed lawmakers' rudimentary understanding of how the Internet works and provided a platform for them to complain about unfavorable search results.

In one exchange, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) asked Pichai whether he had ever directed an employee to manipulate search results. Pichai explained that it’s not possible for one person, or even a group of people, to do that because there are so many steps in the process.

But Smith did not accept that explanation, telling Pichai: “Let me just say, I disagree. I think humans can manipulate the process. It is a human process at its base.”

Republicans on the panel couldn’t get past the myth that some person(s) inside Google couldn’t arbitrarily change search algorithms for political gain.

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) complained that when he googled the Republican health-care bill or the GOP tax cuts the first several pages listed negative articles. “How do you explain this apparent bias on Google’s part against conservative points of view, against conservative policies? Is it just the algorithm, or is there more happening there?” Chabot asked.

Yeah, how do you explain it?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/11/congresswoman-google-ceo-why-when-i-search-idiot-do-i-get-pictures-trump/?utm_term=.fa433879fce5

Trump's entire adult life has basically been:

·Walks down obstacle-free sidewalk, veers off and breaks his foot kicking a hydrant for no clear reason, screams at hydrant and sues someone.
·Eats bucket of KFC, snaps a leg bone in half and jams it in his left eye for no clear reason, screams at chicken bone and sues someone.
·Watches hour upon hour of Fox News, gnaws through the power cord for no clear reason and sustains third-degree burns to his face and neck, screams at Shep Smith and sues someone.

lol'ing at it being obvious that the ONLY thing he knows about being a bill on capital hill is that the house and senate both need to approve and you need 60 senate votes. so he just constantly refers to that so he can pretend he's on the same level as long-time congresspeople. I knew stuff too! I'm smart! Not dumb like everyone says!

my friend adam invented googlebombing 17 years ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20010608035250/uber.nu/2001/04/06/

I mean, no bleeding heart for Google, but I can't imagine how outrageously frustrating and hopeless it would be to explain how a search engine works to a panel of clueless olds trying to nail you, jfc

I mean, for chrissakes, those Google eggheads didn't even bother to explain how a search travels through the series of tubes. What kind of 'expert' doesn't at least mention the tubes?

he can't really be that much of a dipshit. it has to be an act, right?

found the key to qualmsley mindset

Really love that Lamar Smith quote. Trying to imagine him explaining at length some congressional procedural minutia just to have a know-nothing blowhard say, 'nah, doesn't sound right to me.'

But Chabot wasn’t having it. He told Pichai that conservatives believe Google is “picking winners and losers in political discourse.”

“There’s a lot of people that think what I’m saying here is happening,” Chabot said. “And I think it’s happening.”

lol tell them to post on the web about it then maybe you'll see how this works

"A lot of people are saying..." seems to be the untouchable rhetorical maneuver of the era

'a lot of rubrics are measuring how a lot of people are saying…'

At the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Google CEO sund4r Pichai was asked some difficult questions. None was more difficult than Iowa Congressman Steve King's, however, whose question was literally impossible to answer.

King said that his seven-year-old granddaughter was playing a game on her phone before an election — most likely King's November 2018 re-election bid — and was shown a picture of the congressman that included some not-so-flattering language.

"I'm going to say into the record what kind of language was used around that picture of her grandfather," he said.

Then, holding up his Apple device, King asked Pichai, "How does that show up on a seven year-olds-iPhone who's playing a kids game."

To which the Google CEO answered, "Congressman, iPhone is made by a different company."

The Democratic staff table erupted in laughter at Pichai's reply, according to Business Insider's Joe Perticone who attended Tuesday's hearing.

King backtracked and said, "It might have been an Android. It's just… it was a hand-me-down of some kind."

Later in the hearing, Rep. Ted Lieu (CA) told the Iowa congressman that if he wanted "positive search results, do positive things." King has repeatedly found himself in hot water over his insensitive racial comments.

lmao dude is so used to surrounding himself with sycophants and getting literally no pushback that he got thoroughly owned by Chuck Schumer

― frogbs, Tuesday, December 11, 2018

imagine the president is so stupid that Chuck Schumer owns you

it's easy if you try

go easy on my man shoomz

Michael Flynn, ladies and gentlemen

good god pic.twitter.com/FdiGBNLKtu

— Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic) December 12, 2018

what on earth did he think was happening? pic.twitter.com/dwGSVbUxUh

— Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic) December 12, 2018

that is startling. to me at least.

Countdown to trump saying if you ask someone if they’re a cop they have to tell you

many people are saying

that doesn't sound great for the fbi honestly

Nah, it's hilarious. Thus.

Flynn's lawyer's wounded innocence -- or at least pretense to it -- that law enforcement would lead their poor client into peril by not warning him of danger or calling his attention to inconsistencies so he could correct them is a CLASSIC of the genre.

— ThankYouForNotSmockingHat (@Popehat) December 12, 2018

yeah, if flynn is down to citing the fact that he wasn't warned about lying before lying, he's in deep shit

we already saw his sentencing recommendation

iirc, treesh, by that time Flynn was under investigation for crimes involving national security and the FISA court had issued warrants against him.

xpost Worth remembering there's a lot of other stuff that both he and his idiot kid that was rumored they could have been charged with. And possibly has been held in reserve.

I’m blown away how many think I’m an “international kidnapping spy”.

Twitter is truly making people dumber but thanks for the laughs 😂..#TuesdayThoughts

— Michael Flynn Jr⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@mflynnJR) December 11, 2018

https://www.twitter.com/MikeElk/status/1072713493042880512

better than the poem roy moore would have written, probably

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/12/ocasio-cortez-compromise-jayapal-pocan-green-new-deal/

This model for how the New Green Deal is accumulating support—through a collaboration between an energetic new elected official, outside activist support, and incumbent savvy—is something Jayapal says the CPC will likely lean on again as it tries to advance its progressive agenda next year. “[Ocasio-Cortez] has the most unbelievable following and can make stuff happen really quickly,” Jayapal says. “To me, I think about it as different talents that people bring.”

Jayapal and Pocan tell Mother Jones that they expect a few more of their Democratic colleagues to sign on this week, as the Sunrise Movement continues to pressure Democratic leaders to commit to a select committee before they leave Washington for the holidays. While Pelosi, who is expected to become the Speaker of the House next year, has not yet committed to creating the select committee, Jayapal says she’s spoken with her at length about the subject and notes she’d be surprised if it doesn’t come together.

Go team!

Is there any way for Congress to undo these China tariffs? I don't think they are well liked by either party. It just seems like something Trump imposed on everyone for no discernible reason, and it would cause widespread relief if they stopped.

What happened to the FBI people who were fired over the last year. Is McCabe going to get his pension back? Serve out his last 2 days honourably etc

& what of Strzok? Setting crowdfunding records, anything newer?

Anyone who gives one cent to that crowdfunding campaign is a complete idiot, my god

good morning!

What's the haps on the craps?

trump has not taken a shit since october 2011 iirc

he sure shat himself yesterday tho amirite ayooo

so about that flynn defense team sentencing filing, casting aspersions on mccabe and strzok while requesting no jail time

The presence of Strzok is pretty much all the Trump/Fox crowd needs to throw out the whole investigation. But legally I'm not sure the defense of "I never would have incriminated myself if I'd known they weren't on my side" seems flimsy. It's basically the old "Jeez I didn't know he was a narc." Except obv in this case he knew they were FBI agents.

Iirc it's not fair/legal if you don't announce "ready or not, here I come!" first. Would have also accepted "I'm going to get you!"