Republicans suck

[viscousmemories]

I keep seeing the headline "Ivanka Trump endorsing Goya may be an ethics violation" and thinking how adorable it is that anyone might think that observation has any significance to this country at this time.

[lisarea]

Pretty sure she just took an aptitude quiz and got "bean holder."

[SR71]

Say what you like, she's got some cracking good advice for the jobless. Find something new!

Ivanka tells 18 million out-of-work Americans: "Find something new!" / Boing Boing

While the limping United States suffers its highest unemployment rate of 11.1% since the Great Recession, with nearly 18 million people out of work, Ivanka Trump offers us some sage advice: "Find something new!"

Oh, right! Of course, why didn't anyone else think of that? And perhaps they can eat some cake while they're at it.

...or some...beans.

[fragment]

Originally Posted by viscousmemories

I keep seeing the headline "Ivanka Trump endorsing Goya may be an ethics violation".

It's a pleasant surprise that she appreciates great art.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

In just 15 days the total number of #COVID19 cases in Georgia is up 49%, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the state’s data visualization map of cases. The first map is July 2. The second is today. Do you see a 50% case increase? Can you spot how they’re hiding it? 1/ pic.twitter.com/wAgFRmtrPk

— Andisheh Nouraee (@andishehnouraee) July 17, 2020

[lisarea]

I thought that was going to be a lot harder to spot than it was.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I recall reading something years back about how smart people tend to forget how relatively dumb the majority of the populace is compared to them.

Also, I believe that a firehose of brain input creates a dumb simulator. A lot of smart, average, and dumb people will miss the numbers at the bottom entirely. I sure as hell did until I stared really hard.

[Corona688]

Originally Posted by Kamilah Hauptmann

In just 15 days the total number of #COVID19 cases in Georgia is up 49%, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the state’s data visualization map of cases. The first map is July 2. The second is today. Do you see a 50% case increase? Can you spot how they’re hiding it? 1/ pic.twitter.com/wAgFRmtrPk

— Andisheh Nouraee (@andishehnouraee) July 17, 2020

That took some analysis to realize how fucky it was. There's indications that the first graph was pretty fucky, too. The graph intervals are almost entirely random. Not even logarithmic, the intervals go DOWN, then up, probably bordering the very line between places showing up and not.

Notice how scarce 'none' has become in the second graph, and how high the first bucket goes.

[Ari]

Stupid tricks that are super useful... crossing your eyes.
Some ‘Find the difference’ games realize this and do things like mirror the image but if two things are similar enough next to each other crossing your eyes and getting them to lock at the new assumed distance will make all the changes flicker back and forth.

[fragment]

Looks like they have a pre-determined bucket size for each category and move the numbers to match - 3 red, 15 dark blue, etc...

[SR71]

It's easy to see side by side but would be easily missed separately on different days.

[Stephen Maturin]

We bitch about energy company welfare queenery here in Lolorado sometimes, but they REALLY know how to do it up right back in my old stompin' ground, Ohio.

Larry Householder, the GOP speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, and four of his cronies are under arrest for taking part in a pay-to-play scheme of gargantuan proportions. Ol' Larry got $60 million from FirstEnergy, some of its subsidiaries, and others (ALLEGEDLY). In exchange, the energy companies got a multi-billion dollar bailout for two trainwreck nuclear power plants and certain coal-related interests. The bailout consists of payments of public money straight from the state treasury as well as a monthly surcharge on every single monthly electric bill in the state. And if that weren't enough, the bailout gutted public funding for alternative energy.

One of the plants is Davis-Besse, located not far from where I used to live, which has a horrifying incident history.

The power companies have been trying to get something like this some time, but until Householder came along no politician was ruthless and crooked enough to shepherd this abomination through the state legislature.

The FBI's affidavit in support of the criminal complaint is a sight to see. Wouldn't be surprised to see many more legislators scooped up in this net, including some Dems.

The U.S. Attorney describes this as "likely the largest bribery scheme ever perpetrated against the state of Ohio." In a state where politics and bribery go together as naturally as inebriated hillbillies and explosives, that's saying a lot.

[viscousmemories]

Ok. Who made this? It's genius. pic.twitter.com/EkwG2RlDel

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) August 5, 2020

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Fuck it, this thrad.

No one can ever force you to be racist against your will except for Antifa. They can.

— John Q. Mind (@TankieSanders) August 3, 2020

[viscousmemories]

Actual text I received yesterday:

Are you registered to vote? We need your support in Georgia to keep fighting against the liberal agenda. Register now: magatxt.com/...

[Kevlar]

You know, I've been flip-flopping on The Lincoln Project. At first I was blown away by their candor, and then I saw the interview on Stephen Colbert and found out their founders were largely responsible for the modern douchebaggery of the Republican party. Maybe this is their attempt at redemption, but most likely it's an attempt to milk the current situation for fat stacks of scrilla.

[specious_reasons]

Originally Posted by Kevlar

You know, I've been flip-flopping on The Lincoln Project. At first I was blown away by their candor, and then I saw the interview on Stephen Colbert and found out their founders were largely responsible for the modern douchebaggery of the Republican party. Maybe this is their attempt at redemption, but most likely it's an attempt to milk the current situation for fat stacks of scrilla.

These guys are some of the worst people in the Republican party whose only redeeming feature is their dislike of Trump.

The Lincoln Project is primarily about unseating Trump, with the hopes that they can get back their GOP. A secondary objective is to make the Democratic party safe for "moderate" Republicans if they burn their bridges.

The Lincoln Project is trying to move the country further to the right, no doubt about it. I'm perfectly happy to see them slam Trump, but don't expect me to aid them in any way.

[JoeP]

I think what we're saying here is, Republicans suck. Some of them in distinctly different ways, but still sucky ways. Right?

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

.@TheRickWilson, do you stand by your hateful past or are you a changed man now that you are running @ProjectLincoln? https://t.co/rLpXRgfDyP

— Vic Berger IV (@VicBergerIV) July 9, 2020

Yiiiikes. pic.twitter.com/I6QMLTvXmI

— Vic Berger IV (@VicBergerIV) July 10, 2020

[specious_reasons]

There's a "non-partisan" position down ticket on yesterday's primary for the Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The current incumbent is - fine. My general policy on voting is,
1. not Republican
2. not a complete idiot
3. If I have a choice of acceptable candidates, I will choose a woman or person of color over a white man.

There were six people running, the three top candidates all looked like reasonable people from their candidate profiles and one was a woman - seems like she could be a decent choice.

Luckily, I did a bit more research. Even though the position is "non-partisan," the contenders were everything but. I don't know the incumbent's party, but the other two candidates had huge right-wing red flags. It was subtly hidden in the voter information packet, but when I went to their sites, they had only Republican endorsements. The last straw was the claim our state's sex-ed program has "a policy that teaches sexual positions to 4th graders!" This is propaganda from a right-wing group who is opposed to sex-ed in schools.

Voted for the incumbent, because the other two were stealth right-wing Republicans. When I pointed this out to Mrs. Reasons, she said, "oops" - she voted for the woman on the ballot, tricked by her otherwise normal sounding experience.

[viscousmemories]

Yeah, no respect for the Lincoln Project people but absolutely love their anti-Trump content because they know exactly where to hit him. There's definitely some risk of low-information people believing the enemy of their enemy is their friend, but as long as the bulk of their output is attack ads (which it seems to be) I'm behind them.

[lisarea]

Yes to that. We know who they are, and this is not the time to focus on that. That bunch has always been great at getting their message across. And right now, it's the right message. So stopped clocks, strange bedfellows they are, it's good to have them on our side on this particular issue. Attacking them now is counterproductive.

There is nobody better qualified to speak to the audience we need swayed right now, and they're doing an awesome job. I don't have any illusions about what kind of people they are, or plans to be friends with them after this job is done. They're temporary allies right now, so right now is not the time to drag on them.

We have opposed them before, and we'll oppose them after. People just now discovering who they are are not telling most of us anything new.

The reason most of us aren't bringing it up is that it is counterproductive and irrelevant to the current situation. They're doing good work on this. Let them. Give them some credit and positive reinforcement, and maybe some of them will come around, or soften their views somewhat at least. Hell, maybe they believe what they're saying now.

They're not running for office. Nobody's going to vote for them.

[Stephen Maturin]

Originally Posted by Kevlar

Maybe this is their attempt at redemption, but most likely it's an attempt to milk the current situation for fat stacks of scrilla.

The people who run LP are toilet bugs, but the enemy of my enemy is my temporary ally of convenience. Besides, anyone who describes Kushner as "Secretary of Failure" and a "pampered princeling [who] never met a problem he couldn't fuck up" is probably not irredeemably evil.

[lisarea]

I've always thought of him as more of a venal little flibbertigibbet, but that's good too.

And that brings up a really important point that I was just thinking about the other day. In any normal race, attack ads are kind of the end game. They're something candidates themselves should distance themselves from so they can sound reasonable and focus on the issues. But I can't even imagine that right now. This is such an end game already that attack ads are the only reasonable response. And for now, on this issue, the people who've mastered the art of attack are on the right side. Democrats aren't great at that, progressives might be even worse. We need the nasty, dirty conservatives right now.

[specious_reasons]

Originally Posted by lisarea

Yes to that. We know who they are, and this is not the time to focus on that. That bunch has always been great at getting their message across. And right now, it's the right message. So stopped clocks, strange bedfellows they are, it's good to have them on our side on this particular issue. Attacking them now is counterproductive.

I think the main problem are the liberal talking heads in the MSM that think the Lincoln Project is a "come to Jesus" moment for these conservatives. The LP members are perfectly happy to be influencers on these shows.