The August 2019 US Politics Thread is dumb (stupid}

any time I see “sneak peak” I pause to imagine the writer having a quiet orgasm in public about the topic, suppressing outward symptoms, and then immediately boasting about it

never noticed that mountaintop before, what a sneak peak

I suggest y'all read this thread.

The following thread builds on yesterday's.

1. I understand why it’s hard for normal people to believe that white evangelical Christians are sadists. Normal people have never been, as I was a long time ago, on the inside of that shadowy religious world.

— John Stoehr's Editorial Board (@johnastoehr) August 15, 2019

more great news about how great everything is in america
http://www.grubstreet.com/2019/08/trump-tariffs-european-cheese.html

(does libel even exist in the US anymore, srsly?)

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, August 15, 2019 6:51 PM (one hour ago)

Srsly, can someone answer this? Although tbf situation seems similar in the UK.

UK always made it easier to prove, i thought?

starting to think this Yang guy has what it takes to be President

https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-yang-calls-trump-fat-and-a-slob-2019-8

Yang concluded that Trump could probably beat him at "something that involved, like, trying to keep something on the ground and having really large body mass — like, if there was a hot-air balloon that was rising and you needed to try and keep it on the ground, he would be better than me at that, because he is so fat."

I mean how is that not a Clickhole quote

Omar and Tlaib would fall in the category of public figures, so --

History of Defamation and the First Amendment
In the landmark 1964 case of New York Times v. Sullivan, the U.S. Supreme Court held that certain defamatory statements were protected by the First Amendment. The case involved a newspaper article that said unflattering things about a public figure, a politician. The Court pointed to "a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open." The Court acknowledged that in public discussions -- especially about public figures like politicians -- mistakes can be made. If those mistakes are "honestly made," the Court said, they should be protected from defamation actions. The court made a rule that public officials could sue for statements made about their public conduct only if the statements were made with "actual malice."

"Actual malice" means that the person who made the statement knew it wasn't true, or didn't care whether it was true or not and was reckless with the truth -- for example, when someone has doubts about the truth of a statement but does not bother to check further before publishing it.

Later cases have built upon the New York Times rule, so that now the law balances the rules of defamation law with the interests of the First Amendment. The result is that whether defamation is actionable depends on what was said, who it was about, and whether it was a subject of public interest and thus protected by the First Amendment.

Private people who are defamed have more protection than public figures -- freedom of speech isn't as important when the statements don't involve an issue of public interest. A private person who is defamed can prevail without having to prove that the defamer acted with actual malice.

Actual malice seems pretty easy to establish in this case, idk

Trump himself has advocated for "tightening up" libel/slander laws, sadlol

"Your honour, my client demonstrably hates everyone who has ever lived, bar Vladimir Putin and Ivanka Trump. Thus, he cannot hold nor direct any individual animus, and this case must be dismissed as frivolous prima facie."

"In meetings, at dinners and in passing conversations, Mr. Trump has asked advisers whether the U.S. can acquire Greenland...and, according to two of the people, has asked his White House counsel to look into the idea" https://t.co/mpXoqLRQWr

— Aman Batheja (@amanbatheja) August 15, 2019

xp you joke but i'm sure that will absolutely be used as a legal defense if it hasn't already

it's already how his supporters justify him routinely going after PoC, "he insults everyone!", not exactly the best defense of the man

erik the red's canny marketing still paying dividends

lol

lol Greenland unbelievable

you joke but i'm sure that will absolutely be used as a legal defense if it hasn't already

I'm not convinced I was joking

the South Park defense

they all laughed at Seward and Alaska

now they're dying to get in

Tlaib gets to visit her grandma

I'd be cool with them buying Greenland and making it a white nationalist colony, but only for one winter, outside, and with no shelter or supplies. Airfare included.

No wonder he's hellbent on speeding up global warming.

Reality tv options on the battle for supremacy among white supremacists over the former Greenland might be interesting.
Don't people already live there though, so what happens to them and surely it would be cheating if existing shelter was allowed to be used.

They could rename it Whiteland.

The 50,000 or so living there already can watch the white supremacists freeze to death.

sorry I'm still back on Yang

wow lol wtf how is this real

"the President is too fat, vote for me instead" is not the political platform I find inspiring

"the President is too fat, vote for me instead" is not the political platform I find inspiring

Me either, but "Ha ha! Go get 'em, glibertarian asshole I'd never even consider voting for!" is a fun feeling, even if just for a moment.

"How fat is he!?!?!????!?"

"The president is so fat ... when he orders take out they just give him the keys to the restaurant."

"The president is so fat ... he had to get his gold-plated toilet in double-wide."

"The president is so fat ... they quickly hung a 'closed' sign on the Iowa State Fair when they heard he might be visiting. Thanks you everybody, you all have been great, I'm Andrew Yang, and I'm running for president."

good morning!

Me either, but "Ha ha! Go get 'em, glibertarian asshole I'd never even consider voting for!" is a fun feeling, even if just for a moment.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel this BUT STILL

The president is so fat...when he arrives the band plays "Hail to the Beef"

can we rename "I Love Everything" to "I Love Jay Leno"

PowerPoint! PowerPoint!

The president is so fat...when he arrives the band plays "Hail to the Beef"

ok this one is funny

Yang is an idiot, but I seriously believe that if someone treated Trump the way he treats others (making fun of his appearance, etc.) there is a 50-50 chance he cries on national television.

So I say, go for it Dems.

I can't see him crying, but I do see him getting really angry and doing a mock-Chinese voice

The president is so fat ... his tears smell like bologna.

he doesn't even have to get angry to do that though.

xpost

President Trump called the supporter he shamed for being overweight at last night's rally from aboard Air Force One and left him a voicemail, per WH official.

— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 16, 2019

sorry:

lmao

That voicemail was just him making piggy noises and giggling.

would looove to see some of the 1% pollers just spend their time trolling the ever loving shit out of him. too bad none of them are funny/ clever, Yang’s decent zing notwithstanding

remember when everyone made fun of North Korea for doing shit like this

.@SamSeder have you seen this from Trump's rally in PA? From this Facebook post: https://t.co/REJ39XtYWi pic.twitter.com/lYUUtDPTYC

— Chris Mielo (@chrismielo) August 16, 2019

i had a disturbingly realistic dream last night of running into Steve King at a loud busy bar and bullying him just short of the point of physically assaulting him. woke up before i got my hands around his neck.

maybe I should take a internet politics break

Is there another kind of politics?

LUNCH WILL NOT BE PROVIDED for September title.

Liz showing that "typical Democrat" side

Note the centering of Israel and what’s best for Israel. Feel free guys to stop doing this at any point. https://t.co/OPGRDI9yhe

— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) August 15, 2019

nah, that's a lame take

‘Fattest president since Taft’: Anthony Scaramucci’s Twitter account suspended after he calls out Trump https://t.co/LJma72MThG

— Raw Story (@RawStory) August 16, 2019

Trump's white supremacist bullshit is apparently fine but you can't call him fat

lmao @ this dumb website

#suspended4truth

as the mueller report made clear, you cannot suspend a sitting president on twitter