It seems pretty obvious to me that certain people making reference to RS's mental state is just a convenient way of avoiding the more difficult task of actually arguing with the points he makes. Given that this thread clearly isn't a place for people to argue opposing political views I'd actually prefer it now if Robert and other dissenting voices withdrew from posting here altogether, just so I can observe what happens when an echo-chamber is allowed to reach peak purity, without distraction.

You don't think people have tried reasoning and arguing?

You can sit on the fence and point at everyone's misgivings all you want but you're ignoring the principal problem of the Trump administration-its based on telling lie after lie, half-truths after half-truths.
The two posters you've pointed out are guilty of allowing that and believing those lies. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that the left can spin too, but not on a scale we've seen with Trump and his cronies.

No one's making anyone read or post on here. That includes you. Just like I can with the depressing world of cancel culture, bat shit mental comments on twitter it's there to ignore if you want.

Indeed. What we really need is more of Bytor Peltor's idiotic memes and articles from spurious websites. If there's one thing this forum needs, it's more folk referencing the former president as "Barack Hussein Obama" on a regular basis. Nobody should call out this stuff just in case it turns into an echo chamber.

We must protect the sacred right of pro-gun, pro-patriotism, pro-fossil-fuel/anti-science, "In God We Trust" chat here on SY Gossip.

one can argue “points” without having to argue them with an apparent crazy (in my opinion) who seems more concerned with being a legend in his own mind (in my opinion) than with actual “points.”

maybe you can clarify these purported points without all the extraneous nonsense?

no?

anyway, i don’t know what sane person would make the honest case for right-wing populism in the modern world, but here is a capable writer differentiating between the right and the left varieties of the populist thing:

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/op...162814894.html

(it’s a bit dated but still makes perfect sense)

anyway, back to the (other) dotard...

Fighting alone
I’m a GOP governor. Why didn’t Trump help my state with coronavirus testing?

By Larry Hogan
JULY 16, 2020

Larry Hogan @GovLarryHogan Larry Hogan has been the governor of Maryland since 2015. This essay is adapted from his forthcoming book, “Still Standing: Surviving Cancer, Riots, a Global Pandemic, and the Toxic Politics That Divide America.”


too long for full copypasta, but here is the link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlo...p-coronavirus/

some choice quotes, however...

“This should not have been necessary. I’d watched as the president downplayed the outbreak’s severity and as the White House failed to issue public warnings, draw up a 50-state strategy, or dispatch medical gear or lifesaving ventilators from the national stockpile to American hospitals. Eventually, it was clear that waiting around for the president to run the nation’s response was hopeless; if we delayed any longer, we’d be condemning more of our citizens to suffering and death. So every governor went their own way, which is how the United States ended up with such a patchwork response. I did the best I could for Maryland. Here’s what we saw and heard from Washington along the way.”

[...]

“We have it totally under control,” Trump responded unhesitatingly. “It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” And off the president went for the next eight weeks. The rest of January and February were peppered with cheerful or sarcastic comments and tweets, minimizing the outbreak’s severity and the need for Americans to do much of anything.”

[...]

“ So many nationwide actions could have been taken in those early days but weren’t. While other countries were racing ahead with well-coordinated testing regimes, the Trump administration bungled the effort. The test used by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention early on was fraught with inaccuracies, and onerous regulations hindered the nation’s private labs. The resulting disorganization would delay mass testing for almost two months and leave the nation largely in the dark as the epidemic spread.”

[...]

“ But the president was all over the place. He avowed, falsely, that “anybody” could get a test, even as my fellow governors were desperately pleading for help on testing. Then he shifted from boasting to blame. “We inherited a very obsolete system” from the Obama administration, he claimed, conveniently ignoring the fact that his own CDC had designed the troubled U.S. testing system and that his own Food and Drug Administration had waited a full month before allowing U.S. hospital labs to develop their own tests. On March 25, the president was back to bragging again. “We now are doing more testing than anybody by far,” including South Korea, whose widespread testing program was being praised around the world. This was true in absolute numbers, since we are a much bigger country, but we’d tested far fewer per capita than the Koreans had — 1,048 tests per million people vs. South Korea’s 6,764 per million — and of course that was the only figure that mattered. During one White House briefing in late March, Trump said the issue had been dealt with. “I haven’t heard about testing for weeks,” the president insisted.

Really?”

[...]

“ I could only shake my head at that. The federal government — a much bigger and better-funded institution, with tens of thousands of scientists and physicians in the civil service — wanted my help! Governors always do the hard work, make the tough decisions and take the political heat. But an undertaking as large as a national testing program required Washington’s help. We expected something more than constant heckling from the man who was supposed to be our leader.”

[...]

“ I thought we might get a congratulatory word from the president. Trump always had a taste for bold gestures — but, apparently, only for bold gestures he could claim. The president spent much of the following Monday’s White House briefing criticizing me and dismissing what we had done. “The governor from Maryland didn’t really understand” about testing, Trump grumbled. “The governor of Maryland could’ve called Mike Pence, could’ve saved a lot of money. . . . I don’t think he needed to go to South Korea. I think he needed to get a little knowledge.”

The president’s comments that day seemed to confuse test kits with testing labs, but whatever. It was a great day for Maryland.”

...

etc etc

Gotta love a president who finds the time in the middle of an epidemic to advertise some beans. Sure I read that he's not legally not allowed to do that. Nevermind, he's Trump and he can do what he wants right?

Yet 138k Americans dead from coronavirus. A number that could have been massively reduced if it wasn't for the incompetence of Trump and his supporters.

Don't think there's been a single thing trump has done that can be considered anywhere near perfect during the whole thing. And that's rich considering the mess the UK has gone through.

And your post implies that you're anywhere near the end of this. You really aren't. The republican anti-science viewpoint has put paid to the idea that this can be sorted out soon.

As someone who's experienced abortion first hand I find the Republican anti-abortion stance unbelievably stupid and intolerable beyond any basic reasoning, understanding, and comprehension.

Just file this lot under the Khchris, Atari, Tesla, Screaming skull, and Gast category and move swiftly on.

I'm off for my hydroxychloroquine shot and a few swigs O'foken bleach. Ciao

Trump says he'll be announcing "many exciting things" over the next 8 weeks, "things that nobody has even contemplated, thought about, thought possible," with"levels of detail" and "levels of thought that a lot of people believed very strongly we didn't have in this country"

Ooh! World peace, a cure for cancer, AND raising the dead? What could it be?!

Forgive me if I'm not expecting much though.

dammit i hate it when savage clone posts something good and then deletes it

he’ll just take credit for whatever good thing anybody else does

I don't care about Robert Schunk's political opinions. Or Bytor's. I'm only curious as to why they are the only two fighting the fight on a Sonic Youth forum, of all places. The energy etc.

The bigger mystery is what any of us are doing here almost 10 years after the band split up and even longer since this was really a worthwhile forum

In my case it's your posts. They always made me feel like a real woman.

Yea, I left shortly after Thurston and Kim announced their split and only came back because my curiosity to see what everyone's been up to was piqued after spam in my PM box bought me back here.

I'm starting to wonder why Chris Lawrence has left the lights on.

I keep hanging around because of a select few people. Although this isn't the only connection for a lot of them anymore.

This is my last remaining traditional forum that I visit, and it's an anchor to an internet past.

i like to play & listen to broken records ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Relax! I know I grabbed you off the street, but I’m just a criminal, not a federal agent!

Opinion by
Alexandra Petri
Columnist
July 17, 2020 at 5:22 p.m. EST

Hello, harmless passerby, and welcome to my unmarked van!

I know this is very creepy for you, but I want you to relax: I am just a criminal, doing this entirely on my own dime and my own time, and you can have recourse to law enforcement later! I know it would be terrifying if I were actually some sort of federal law enforcement, because then you would have no recourse, and, furthermore, you might feel that the country had taken a serious turn. But, no, America is still as great as it has ever been! I, personally, am a criminal monster who is constructing a sculpture out of mandibles to placate the Elk God, but America’s system of rights and constitutional protections is absolutely still fully intact. So, that’s good.

I have gotten a lot of feedback during my years of seizing people without warning and placing them into this van (do be sure to fill out the form, which is located on the seat next to you) and the No. 1 piece of feedback has been that people want to know that America’s system of rights remains in place. Congratulations, it does! Now you can focus on being scared of me, personally, an extra-legal, non-state actor who should definitely not be doing this and who deserves to be punished as the criminal I am.

Again, I am just doing this for myself, with no color of law whatsoever! I heard on the news that there was a building here that had to be repainted with 47 coats of paint, and to me, that was a summons to come onto the street and start just seizing people at random and tossing them into this van. But, again, that is because my thinking is bad. I am in no way affiliated with any federal agency, not even of any kind! And, frankly, I shouldn’t be!

You can also guess that I’m not affiliated because this van is unmarked and I am wearing some sort of desert camo, which is not really suited for an urban environment. But that’s fine. I think it looks cool.

The governor has not asked for me to be here, and the mayor has not asked for me to be here, for two reasons: one, because they do not know about me, a private citizen; and, two, because if they did, I can guarantee they wouldn’t want Creepy Van Kidnap Bloke (my name needs work; please suggest alternatives on the form!) in their beautiful city one bit. But it doesn’t matter to me what they want.

I am here, because I want to serve and protect America’s men (statues) and women (courthouses). The way I see it, statues are more people than people, buildings are extra people, and fences are children. It is so much worse, to my mind, to attack a symbol than it is to harm a person, that if I ever saw someone burn a flag — there is literally nothing I would not feel justified in doing, and no one who would be safe from my van or my bone-based sculpture projects. Again, my brain is bad.

No, I will not tell you, beyond that, who I am and why I am doing this. But it isn’t disappointing that I won’t, because I am a criminal, operating outside the law. Sure, I believe that I am the embodiment of justice and that the president asked me to be here and help, but neither of those things are actually the case. My mind is very broken, and I anticipate that I will soon be arrested. I am just a simple monster-man, with no pretensions to being political.

Get excited for my jawbone shrine, we are almost there! And God Bless America!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...federal-agent/

Fox news actually calling out Trump on his bullshit.

Trump obviously doesn't handle it well.

Very droll but it is crazy what's going on with that. The outrage doesn't seem much considering.

This happens every day under dictatorships. I sure as fuck know - I lived 13 or so years under one. The U.S. is barely a partial democracy at this point.

I’ve never looked at it as “fighting the fight.” Just to recap, I wasn’t an active contributor to this thread during the election process or even after Trump won.

April 22, 2018 (page 195) is when I jumped in with a dissenting opinion:


The best thing I could say about Donald Trump then is the best thing I could say about him now......his last name isn’t Clinton!

I’ve been an active member of SYG since the old board. I have private messages dating back to 2006 and I’ve always contributed to Non-Sonic Sounds. But most importantly, I’ve never belittled or attacked anyone on a personal level simply because their opinion was different than mine!

Lastly, all apologies to anyone I may have angered or aggravated concerning political discussions.

Nothing about police 'becoming' the enemy if you're not a white guy.

Careful, Dotard's not dead yet... :mad:

4 things that could swing the 2020 race toward Trump

Don’t forget the 5th reason: Democrats allow Biden to exit his basement!

On the other hand... From The Guardian:

Donald Trump v Fox News Sunday: extraordinary moments from a wild interview

I can't even make a joke about it. Kinda feel sad for those who have to, because what are you gonna add; the joke's right there, punchlines everywhere. If this had been written as a comedy skit in "normal times" (like, say, back when Dan Quayle's stupidity was mocked), it would have been so off the charts it'd have been considered just too damn implausible and therefore not that funny. Which, come to think of it, it's not. Sad.

More: https://news.google.com/stories/CAAq...S&ceid=US%3Aen

It's a car crash and a half for sure. His comment when asked about the daily (covid) death toll being around 1,000, said: “It is what it is.” says it all. The guy doesn't give a shit about the massive amount of deaths and never has. Yet this is the guy people wanting leading them through it? Try as I might I'll never understand it.

I do.

CBS News: Joe Biden runs campaign from his basement

San Francisco Chronicle: Relax, Obama strategist tells Democrats: Joe Biden should stay in his basement

FOX News: Terry McAuliffe recorded saying Dems prefer Biden stay 'in the basement'

Joe Biden Says He is Locked in the Basement (VIDEO)

“Sleepy Joe Biden said Tuesday during an interview from his home in Delaware that he is locked in his basement.“

I'm not disputing the "basement" shit (metaphor for "staying home", which dotards everywhere should be doing, come on), although it's been exaggerated; the guy has already given good speeches on climate change and infrastructure. Eventually, yes, we'll see more of him, and despite Tom Friedman's wishes the debates will take place anyway without previous tax information disclosure and real-time fact-checking. (By the way, why aren't you, so worried about "fakeness" and posting links to prove your statements, demanding transparency?). And yes, Biden will make mistakes along the way, but most of them will be silly, inconsequential faux pas.

Now, they should be taken for what I just said they will be. My preferred definition of intelligence is the ability to make fine distinctions. But we're not dealing with an electorate that makes fine distinctions, are we, PELTOR. We're dealing with a bunch that doesn't even make undiscriminating distinctions; it's a mass that equals blatant lies, ineptitude, corruption, racism, misogyny, authoritarian disregard for the rule of law (and we could go on and on) with "but her emails".

You go ahead and believe in magical tax cuts and the babyjeezus and all the things the Reagan-Thatcher axis of evil embraced when they declared war on the have-nots; their brand of savage, unregulated capitalism is encroached around the world anyway. But if you LIKE TRUMP, the person, you can go fuck a goat.

Just read this New York Times report (via The Hill):

Ryan warned Trump was losing key voters in Wisconsin, other states: NYT

So much for fake polls. The fuck does Paul Ryan care, anyway? He's a retired mook politician: he got what he wanted -the megatonic corporate tax cuts- by enabling a 25th Amendment president every step of the way, and then fucked off. Stay away, asshole.

You make it sound as if it’s going to come down to his taxes vs. her emails. Guess what, there is no way we will ever truly know. Sure, Donald’s taxes could eventually surface to the light of day, but it doesn’t look like it will happen before the first Tuesday in November. Donald very well could be proven a tax fraud and if so, he was able to do so during the Obama & Bush Administration’s. But they never caught or prosecuted him for such evasions, so that’s on them! (guess what, they didn’t care)

One thing is for sure, Donald’s tax’s do exist! President Barack Obama didn’t give anyone immunity to destroy Donald’s taxes the way he gave Hillary Clinton’s attorney immunity to destroy 33 THOUSAND emails......yet you believe it’s a mass of our ignorant population that disregards the “rule of law.”

If Barack, Hillary and sleepy Joe were the ones upholding the “rules of law,” why would emails need to be deleted?

one is crazy the other one is stupid (in my opinion). you tell me which one is which (in your opinion).

You truly don’t understand!

Trump did exactly what the voters wanted him to do, he saved them from another Clinton presidency! Trump was beholding to no one, he had never held a political office......what are the odds?

The voters weren’t looking for a savior!

h8kurdt makes it sound as if Hillary or Sleepy Joe would have this pandemic whipped if they were the ones calling the shots and this simply isn’t true. Pandemic’s are hard on the population, especially the elderly!

Tough decisions are being made and the end of July is looming! The end of July is when many will stop receiving their $600 stipend per week from the federal government and the question becomes......what happens then?

Also, all of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money will soon be running out. Companies will no longer be paid to keep employees employed even though they can no longer afford to keep them.

14 trillion dollars has been pumped into our economy over the past five months. No one wants to appear heartless just before an election, so President Trump is seeking an additional trillion dollars while Nancy Pelosi wants another THREE TRILLION.

Be it the end of this month or the end of the year, the government handouts will run out and financially speaking things will get very bad!!!

A depression greater than the 1920’s is looming and this November the voters will be deciding who leads us out of it!!!

There are a lot of people who didn’t like Trump in 2016, but they voted for him! The question come November 2020......how many will blame Trump for a world wide pandemic?

That is the dumbest thing I've read in my life. If I shoot you in the face and the authorities don't care, it's on them, not on me, I get away with it and your life/death is worthless?

ETA: Don't you have ANY sense of justice?

Are you implying Donald Trump didn’t pay taxes in the years leading up to his Presidency? Do you think Donald Trump paid someone under the table as to avoid paying his fair share of taxes?

What exactly is it that you are implying?

You see, I believe Donald Trump paid his taxes. I believe the George Bush and Barack Obama IRS had alarms in place to catch tax frauds. As I stated above, it’s apparent Donald Trump’s taxes haven’t set off said alarms in the past.

Lastly, I understand presidents aren’t required to make their taxes available!

Could Trump’s taxes reveal he isn’t as wealthy as he states, could it reveal he uses every loophole that may appear questionable —ABSOLUTELY— I believe this is more about embarrassing President Trump and he very well may deserve it......but if he wasn’t President, no one would care!



CRICKETS!!!