Jenksismyhero

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 11:04 PM) Just imagine how much money you would have made if you put all your money into big banks, the defense industry, private prison/detention center contractors and Amazon on November 7th... Amazon's yet another interesting example, because the tech companies tend to be more "liberal/Democrat" (especially the West Coast-based ones) and the Amazon Go logistics automation program promises to wipe out thousands of jobs in various industries. Starting with cashiers, but eventually spilling over into other areas of job responsibility. Not only that, but most tech companies are on record as wanting to continue the influx of tech workers on H1B visas from places like China and India. So is that good or bad in Trump's mind? Amazon might be the most successful company in the US, if not the world, right now. Shouldn't that be celebrated/touted? What about Google/Uber/Apple autonomous/self-driving cars that will replace drivers? Banned for displacing more workers? http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/08/media/trum...e-ep/index.html Trump is going to attempt to stay on as EXEC Producer of Celebrity Apprentice. SIGH. That agreement, first reported by Variety and confirmed by sources at NBC and the Trump campaign, means the president will have an interest in a show aired by a media company that also reports on his presidency -- a major conflict of interest for the network. "The Apprentice," which Trump hosted for 14 seasons, was created by Mark Burnett and is owned and produced by MGM. The 15th season, hosted by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, will air on NBC starting January 2. NBC Entertainment, NBC News and MGM all did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the decision to keep Trump as an executive producer. It is unclear how much Trump will be paid per episode. And I guess we're just supposed to take his spokesperson's claims that he has sold all of his individual stocks (but not necessarily any hedge funds) at face value? And who needs that stupid Daily National Security Briefing stuff...I'll just let those great/brilliant/amazing generals that I'm bringing on board sort all of that foreign policy stuff out. Except for the times when I start WW III with China over twitter. Wait, so because he may or may not get a royalty check for a reality tv show that has never been political, there's now a conflict of interest between him and NBC/MSNBC news? Couldn't you have said the same thing the last 2 years? Has there been any indication that NBC/MSNBC has taken it easy on him?

“I guess the question I'm asked the most often is: "When you were sitting in that capsule listening to the count-down, how did you feel?" Well, the answer to that one is easy. I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million parts -- all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract.” ― John Glenn

I don't see how the support can get any worse than what it has been. The last 10 years for the most part has been ok attendance to start the year and then really poor attendance to end it. We have the worst tv ratings in the big leagues. And now a new generation of Chicago baseball fans will be Cubs fans, not Sox fans. Short term it's going to be rough, but hopefully there's a payoff in 2-3 seasons. And if the Cubs continue to do well, Hahn just has to point north and say "this is what we have to look forward to in the next few seasons."

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 11:10 AM) No, it's really not. Trump has shown signs of doing it. The evidence is the event in question, in which someone criticized him for lying, he responded by personally attacking an individual citizen, and that citizen is now receiving death threats. It's not about future-tense at this point, it's already happened. Do you think a union leader at the next business he decides to individually call out is more or less likely to speak up against Trump publicly now? Your response has been to say that Trump didn't explicitly call for violence or silencing his opponents, which wholly misses the point of how this chilling effect works. Don't tell me to f*** off for pointing out that you're deliberately ignoring that as it's been explained to you multiple times. And it's not me who's jumped to the Hitler comparisons, it's something you're doing so you can just waive away the argument without actually bothering to address it. Trump ran as an authoritarian. That's where his rhetoric and his campaign messaging was firmly grounded. He is now acting like an authoritarian. I expect that to only get worse when he takes office. I think it's dangerous to ignore the pretty standard playbook he's following and to make excuses for it. There's no need to rush to "OMG HITLER," but there's also no need to bury your head in the sand. The same union leader spoke out again today, publicly. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/08/i-stand-beh...eader-says.html So no, I'd say your fear/concern about the chilling effect of a reality star narcissist who has been responding to his critics on Twitter for years is utterly and completely unfounded. My Hitler comparison goes the to same extreme as your unrealistic fear about Trump and what he intends to do with his power as President. It's not burying my head in the sand. It's not ignoring the problems with Trump doing what he does as the public face of our country. But we also shouldn't jump to the extremes as you and others are doing since November 9th.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:55 AM) you're only reiterating that you don't even understand the mechanism at play here. Oh f*** off. You're pointing to how authoritarian regimes operate (a vocal leader that criticizes people and has some fervent supporters that will act accordingly) and then, without support, you jump to the conclusion that Trump is showing signs of doing that. All while ignoring the evidence to the contrary. Your point is the equivalent of, "hey, Trump's a vocal leader....Hitler was a vocal leader.....i'm not sayin' i'm just sayin'! Trump is become Hitler and you can't prove he won't be!"

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:44 AM) Regardless of whether Trump is doing it intentionally or not, that's the effect it has. If you see another of his critics have their lives disrupted, you will be less likely to speak out publicly. You haven't explained why it wouldn't have that effect beyond insisting that it wouldn't. Says you, without any proof. I don't have to prove it's not going to happen that way when it's your unsupported theory.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:42 AM) You're asking me to prove a negative. As evidence, I'll direct you, once again, to the history of how authoritarian regimes operate. You seem like you won't buy anything short of a document stating "I, Donald J. Trump, wish my followers to physically harm and silence my critics" notarized and signed by Trump with a complimentary letter from critics saying "We are now silenced and won't respond," so there's not much point in continuing this discussion. It's not a negative. You're saying his actions curb speech or will curb speech. Where is the proof of that? Criticism has INCREASED post-election, not decreased. And no, I'm not expecting anything explicit. But you don't have anything more than a guy using twitter to say "nu uh! you're stupid too! and you're bad at your job!" That's so far from actual, legitimate calls for his supporters to attack and suppress speech.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:29 AM) I don't think it even needs to go that far though. The fact that this guy has received threats should be enough to make Trump step back and put away the phone. Trump probably doesn't intend for his supporters to attack this guy over social media, but that's the impact of his actions. If Trump doesn't see that, that reflects poorly on him. If he does see that and continues to call out individuals who disagree with him via social media, then that's probably worse. Hey, I totally agree. There are two arguments here though: (1) Trump doing this just shows what a terrible President he will be and reflects poorly on his decision making, his own understanding of his role and influence, and his life priorities - protecting himself or governing. I totally agree with all of that. (2) Responding to a critic knowing that his supporters will attack the person on social media means he's wielding his power to curb speech, to alter future criticism, all in a move to obtain more power and authority. That is the argument I think is conspiracy level nonsense.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:32 AM) It was entirely predictable that Trump calling out this individual would mean that his supporters harass him. Will you keep making this same excuse the next several dozen times it happens? Not every authoritarian was Hitler, but we have had many authoritarians follow a similar script of silencing critics to what Trump is doing now. My proof is how this plays out with many other authoritarians and authoritarian regimes around the world. And, prior to a month ago, he was still largely seen as a completely unfit and ridiculous if awful clown who would soon stop being the focus of the media. He's now going to be the President of the United States for the next four to eight years and has set about confirming all of the worst impressions of him daily since he won the election. Ok, so you have none. That's what I thought. When you have some actual evidence of speech being frozen because of the fear of backlash from Trump, then we can talk about whether he's an authoritarian or beginning down that path.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:29 AM) I don't think it even needs to go that far though. The fact that this guy has received threats should be enough to make Trump step back and put away the phone. Trump probably doesn't intend for his supporters to attack this guy over social media, but that's the impact of his actions. If Trump doesn't see that, that reflects poorly on him. If he does see that and continues to call out individuals who disagree with him via social media, then that's probably worse. Didn't Trump and his supporters get death threats over the internet during the campaign? Shouldn't Clinton and her team have done the same thing, put away their phones? Where was the outcry that she was starting her own authoritarian regime? At some point we just have to accept there are morons in the world. And those morons are given anonymous platforms on the internet to say stupid s***. That doesn't mean the person they support is becoming a dictator or showing signs of wanting to be one. That's just conspiracy theory nonsense.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:20 AM) Trump being this vocal about any form of criticism makes future criticism less likely or at least softer and possibly anonymous out of fear of retribution which lessens checks on his power. I'm going to say it again until it sinks in, this is how authoritarians work. Unless you like authoritarians, this behavior should be very concerning. Where is your proof of this? He's been doing this crap for 2 years and criticism of him has INCREASED, not decreased.

QUOTE (Ezio Auditore @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:18 AM) It's part and parcel though. It's the same issue. Not really. One concerns his attempt to quiet his critics and become Hitler 2.0 (SS just come out and say it). The other concerns his propensity to put his reality star narcissism over national security/governance.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:09 AM) Yes, but he has a cult of personality and he knows how his supporters have responding to any of his critics, especially ones he names himself, before. That is the whole point that you keep missing--he doesn't need to explicitly call for violence or for anyone to shut his critics up. All he has to do is drop that garbage out there, his supporters will do what they do, and then people will give him all sorts of plausible deniability cover. You're free to argue that you don't think Trump will go down the authoritarian path or that something will prevent him from going down it, but you can't deny that this is how authoritarians work in the real world. There are far too many examples. Go check out the story about the Philippines I posted earlier--plenty of extrajudicial mobs doing the killing along with the police, and Trump has said he has no problem with this while reiterating his racist anti-immigrant platform: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/d...s-a7460801.html You're taking a huge leap in logic though that criticizing someone publicly means you're secretly telling your followers to lynch him. Apparently Clinton is responsible for that bombing at a Trump campaign office because she was so anti-Trump and instilled fear in her followers that a Trump Presidency would destroy the country.

QUOTE (Ezio Auditore @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:15 AM) Really he shouldn't, that level of think-skinnedness is a really bad look on a president. There's other things he ought to be worried about (put your goddamn phone down and go to some intelligence briefings for f***'s sake, for starters) That is 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 times more worrisome to me than Trump being vocal about the criticism he receives.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:01 AM) Calling out individual citizens? That's unheard of. Sure it is, but we've never had a President use social media platforms like Trump before.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 10:01 AM) A President directly responding to a single private citizen criticizing him via a massive national platform is miles beyond inappropriate. He isn't explicitly advocating violence, but he has to know how his supporters (and internet lynch mobs in general) will react. And that reaction benefits him if the next person thinks twice before publicly speaking out against him because he can wield enormous power to ruin their lives directly and indirectly and is a petty, thin-skinned baby. I agree it was inappropriate for a President to do. I agree he's a petty, thin-skinned baby. These tweets, however, are not anything close to advocating violence or suggesting to his followers that they shut him, and others like him, up.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 09:58 AM) This includes the soon-to-be President of the United States. This is how you silence critics. This is how authoritarianism takes hold. Wait, so a President can never respond to criticism? And he's advocating violence?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 09:55 AM) Do you disagree that having the soon-to-be President calling you out individually on a national platform because you dared to criticize him and then receiving death threats has a chilling effect on criticizing Trump? I dunno, you don't seem concerned. People in this thread don't seem concerned. People in the media don't seem concerned. You're going to an extreme that isn't reasonable.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 09:54 AM) No big surprise that you picked that part of his post to pick apart and no comment on the dude getting death threats towards him and his children. No response is necessary. Everyone agrees that it's wrong except for the few assholes doing it.

QUOTE (Ezio Auditore @ Dec 8, 2016 -> 09:26 AM) I bought the Ezio Collection for Xbox One (surprise! I really like Assassin's Creed and Ezio in particular!) even though I already played and finished all 3 of those games... then I saw Assassin's Creed Liberation on sale in the Playstation Store so I went ahead and downloaded that too. So that's twice now I've gotten the same game on both consoles just because I really liked it the first time (Arkham Knight being the other). But I still gotta at least attempt to make progress in the Witcher 3, Watch Dogs 2, and so on. Such is life for an employed adult gamer. I've had this sitting on my PS4 for a solid 8 months. Every time I pop it in it dawns on me what a time commitment it will be to enjoy it and I scare myself away. With 2 kids, one being a newborn, I'm basically stuck playing sports games or single player games that I can pop in and out of whenever I get 30-45 minutes.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 7, 2016 -> 09:22 PM) The local Union president for the Indiana Carrier workers dared to criticize trump for misrepresenting the situation today. The president elect took to Twitter to publicly and directly insult the man. That man is now receiving death threats. This is how authoritarianism takes hold. Silence all critics, make it clear that anyone who speaks up will face retribution. Oh yeah, NO one has criticized Trump and lived to tell about it. GMAFB.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 7, 2016 -> 02:09 PM) Up to S3E3 on TWD. Pretty good How did you last through season 2? That show is the worst.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Dec 7, 2016 -> 05:00 PM) He is actually Ken Williams He is advocating for a plan that has failed for 10 years straight (and 10 years before that).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 7, 2016 -> 04:57 PM) You'll be used to it soon enough. I'm still not sure why you don't think this is a GOOD thing. They NEED to suck for a couple of seasons to get good players. That's how this game works. We're not going to outspend the contenders in payroll.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Dec 7, 2016 -> 04:56 PM) Yes, we have. We have a plan and Rick Hahn is clearly in charge. Both of the club's biggest problems solved. Also, the Duck Dynasty club is dead. Third biggest problem. +1