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[Max™]

I'm glad you lot didn't make me have to Maxplain™ everything wrong with what you were all doing, btw.

"Coincidence" ... or Conspiracy?




(apologies if this has even been posted before but I'm not about to check the 100's of pages of the last two Ameripol threads)

That is damn weird, and I haven't seen it until just now.

In other news:


Bonus fun, after something was said by a guest on their show regarding UK attacks, Fox felt the need to clarify that they do not think internment camps are a good idea.

[RedKing]

"Coincidence" ... or Conspiracy?




(apologies if this has even been posted before but I'm not about to check the 100's of pages of the last two Ameripol threads)

CANNOT UNSEE. Or stop giggling.


So 45 continues to engage in a Twitter war with Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, for his attempts to calm and reassure the people of his city in a time of crisis.
It's heartening to know that in even of a disaster or attack in the US, we can look forward to this response from the Trump Administration.

[EnigmaticHat]

Oh god I forgot about that.  The military should show that clip in officer school.  "Be the exact opposite of that in every way."

Trump's diplomatic ignorance continues to embarrass us.  He's not just some asshole anymore, he's the US president.  Trying to use this to make a political point just comes across as kicking Londoners while they're down.  If THEY want to criticize their mayor that's their business but an outsider calling out the city government before the bodies have been buried is in poor taste.  On top of that, as a US official against gun control he has no legs to stand on here, this attack would have been much more lethal if the second part had been a mass shooting instead of a mass stabbing.

[Gizogin]

I really shouldn't be a surprise at this point, and yet I somehow continually find myself amazed at how our current president can mess up even the most basic of responsibilities.

So, a major attack has been carried out against the citizens of an allied nation. As the leader of a major world power, what do you do?
A) Publicly condemn the attacks and make a show of solidarity with the families and friends of the victims.
B) Remain silent.
C) Offer material support to the victims and/or their families in a time of hardship.
D) Insult the mayor of the city where the attacks took place, clumsily attempt to push your own confused political agenda, make bizarre remarks about the gun control debate, and blame the "MSM" when the previous comments are inevitably condemned by anyone with even a modicum of decency.

During the DNC last July, Khizr Khan gave a speech addressing Donald Trump, to which the then-candidate responded by insulting Khizr and his wife, Ghazala, and downplaying the service of their son, a deceased soldier. To quote John Oliver on that subject: "[...] we may be on the brink of electing such a damaged, sociopathic narcissist that the simple presidential duty of comforting the families of fallen soldiers may actually be beyond his capabilities. And I genuinely did not think that that was a part of the job that someone could be bad at."

[Playergamer]

well to be fair, i really don't see why people care so much about this. it's part and parcel of living in a major city isn't it.

[hector13]

Having to deal with a buffoon of a foreign leader?

[Playergamer]

Having to deal with a buffoon of a foreign leader?

part and parcel of living in a major city.

[Strife26]

Having to deal with a buffoon of a foreign leader?

part and parcel of living in a major city.

Part and parcel of democratic society, at least.

[sluissa]

Having to deal with a buffoon of a foreign leader?

part and parcel of living in a major city.

Part and parcel of democratic society, at least.

Part and parcel of living on this planet, at the moment.

[Frumple]

Yeah, I'unno, but pretty sure derision and whatnot from a major world leader to a city's mayor that soon after an attack is high on up there on the metaphorical "new" scale.

... honestly, I literally can't remember something like that. Maybe back during civil war times or something? Our earlier days politicians threw shit pretty hard.

In other news, trump has made his opening volley on infrastructure by calling for the privatisation of our air traffic controls. Not updating the FAA or investing money into it, but divesting government control to a third party that would pay for its operation with user fees. For those paying attention, that is, indeed, more or less the exact opposite of pushing for investment into infrastructure. Bonus points, signs point real hard to it quite possibly being deader on arrival than his budget plans.

The tone has been set, ladies and gents. Now we get to spend a few days finding out if it's going to hold.

E: Oh, and he apparently twitter-storm sabotaged the everloving hell out of his immigration ban appeal to the SCOTUS. So that's nice.

[Gizogin]

Playing up an attack to push a political agenda is definitely nothing new; look at the aftermath of any school shooting, for instance. I think the reason this particular incident seems like a heightening is a combination of the immediacy, the medium, and the blatant insults.

I actually read an analysis piece that floated the idea that Trump is torpedoing his own immigration ban on purpose. That way, he can blame the courts and not have to take any heat from his supporters when it inevitably fails. From anyone else, I'd nearly believe it, but nothing Trump has done so far has displayed anywhere near the level of subtlety required even for that.

Trump to privatize air traffic control. I know it was already mentioned, but here's a link to a news article about it. I'm opposed in principle to the privatization of regulation; it's always seemed to me like an "inmates running the asylum" situation.

An interesting note is that the change in air traffic control could worsen the "flyover country" problem. Note that the flyover states largely supported Trump. Note also the budget implications: the AHCA (according to the CBO) would reduce the deficit by $119b over ten years. This is pretty much the main selling point proponents of that bill have raised in its favor. Over that same period, privatizing air traffic would increase the deficit by $45b, undoing more than a third of the "savings" of the AHCA.

[smjjames]

If Trump really wanted to torpedo it and blame the courts, he could probably have dropped it when it started getting blocked, but as you've said and we've seen, Trump just doesn't do subtle.

@frumple: an US mayor getting flack from the president is one thing, but attacking the mayor of a foreign city is another. I don't recall either George W Bush or Obama ever doing that, not publicly anyway.

[MrRoboto75]

A businessman trying to privatize things.  Shocker.

[Frumple]

Over that same period, privatizing air traffic would increase the deficit by $45b, undoing more than a third of the "savings" of the AHCA.

Oh, more fun than that -- consider a moment his initial call for the government pay in on infrastructure is 200b, i.e. that 45b deficit aimed to enrich the private sector would be about a fourth of the total effort he's claimed intent to make. Just ponder on that for a mo'.

Though @smj, I don't recall any leader, at the absolute least of a major country, doing that. Pres would sometimes sling flak, sure, but the sort of flak they'd sling would not be of that nature, couched in that language, or with that timing and whatnot. It's just... not something a president has really done. Or just about any major leader. The immediacy and blatant insults are what does it.

[smjjames]

Well, if a mayor WAS getting flack, it would more likely have been privately rather than in public. Let alone relentlessly like the way Trump does.

On the privatization of air traffic controllers, I know there's some countries that already do it like Germany and Canada. While Germany is a whole bunch smaller than the US, Canada is equivalent as far as 'flyover territory' goes, namely, lots and lots of rural airports between the major hubs. So, I'm wondering how it works out for them, and other countries that do the same.