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[Descan]

black male voters, leaving local ballot plantation owners worried about their crops.

hey look, racist statement implying black people have no autonomy and are merely 'crops' to be tended, AND an allusion to plantation slavery.

noice.rosen

[Trekkin]

Looks like it's main purpose is driving awareness.

I'm having trouble finding anything negative about this.

About the only thing I can think of is that, as Folly pointed out, the message is undercut somewhat by how quarrelsome Trump is, but that's obviously beyond anyone's control. Within the bounds of what the First Lady can actually do -- and if the President's power is mostly to persuade, the First Lady's is infinitely more so -- this seems as worthy a cause as any.

[Dunamisdeos]

Looks like it's main purpose is driving awareness.

I'm having trouble finding anything negative about this.

About the only thing I can think of is that, as Folly pointed out, the message is undercut somewhat by how quarrelsome Trump is, but that's obviously beyond anyone's control. Within the bounds of what the First Lady can actually do -- and if the President's power is mostly to persuade, the First Lady's is infinitely more so -- this seems as worthy a cause as any.

yeah I mean noone is saying "Bullying is a problem, also Trump is not a bully".

There's definitely some irony, but I'm glad someone in the White House is doing something that's just, y'kno.... good. Just overall a good thing, that's all. It's nice.

[WealthyRadish]

Personally I view these sorts of first lady pet projects as being in a similar vein as the obscenely wealthy giving to charity, as a sort of moral theater only put on in earnest because it would incalculably base to fail to do something of the sort in such a position. Doesn't diminish any actual good if it ever comes of it, but it still reeks of affectation.

[Kagus]

Well, I mean, she probably has a personal investment in the subject of helping victims of bullying.

Like, y'know?

[Folly]

'Be Best'.  If you're starting a campaign aimed at school children, one of the first steps should be making sure your title has proper grammar.

[Kagus]

Maybe it's in solidarity with kids bullied for speech impediments, such as a stutter?

"B-B-Be-Best"

[Max™]

Fuck those hard consonant stuttering bastards.

Imagine trying to start this sentence and feeling like your tongue is fighting your intentions and your throat has a wad of cotton in it. Attempt to understand the frustration of being silenced pre-emptively by a fucking soft vowel.

Effectively the way I was affected has been a drive to effect the development of a speech affect in which I apply what are functionally silent consonant sounds to the start of words if I absolutely can't find a way to phrase something differently.

Occassionally it even ruins humor, though having a good partner can save it. Once as the missus was heading downstairs I tried to do the Han Solo line prior to him being frozen, but the pause is painful...

'Wait... I love you.'

...and then she howled at me like a wookie.

[smjjames]

Wasn't a problem for the Mexican born republican running against Obama though, was it? I don't think that law is supposed to mean "was born in the US geographically speaking" but "was an American citizen by blood" (as opposed to an American citizen "by naturalisation").

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-drop_rule

I had read of that before (or rather about the exceptions Georgia or Virginia or whatever ended up putting in their system because having Indian ancestors were popular there - everyone was related to Pocahontas or something) but hadn't thought to put it in this context before. It's pretty much the exact thing I mean, still being the way Americans perceive races today.

Incidentally, this came up in 2016 for Ted "Soviet Canuckistanian" Cruz.

Oh, I thought it was a thing for McHollywoodface Mormonguy? Being born in Mexico on his father's property there or something?

I thought it was his dad that was born in Mexico, not Romney himself. And Cruz was a more legit case where it might actually be a problem, though he did have an American mom. McCain actually had it come up briefly because he was born on a naval base in Panama, but people decided that it was okay. It's going to be one of those edge cases that will end up challenging the constitution rather than an outright definetly not having been born or grew up in the US.

Wasn't McCain born in Panama? I did not hear anyone making a fuss about it when he ran.

He was born on a naval base, so, technically he was born on US soil. Also, both his parents are American who just happened to be abroad at a naval base.

On Melanias whole First Lady project, she oughta start with her husband as it's being incredibly hypocritical when, as Folly put it, he is the biggest bully in town.

[hector13]

Fuck those hard consonant stuttering bastards.

Imagine trying to start this sentence and feeling like your tongue is fighting your intentions and your throat has a wad of cotton in it. Attempt to understand the frustration of being silenced pre-emptively by a fucking soft vowel.

Effectively the way I was affected has been a drive to effect the development of a speech affect in which I apply what are functionally silent consonant sounds to the start of words if I absolutely can't find a way to phrase something differently.

Occassionally it even ruins humor, though having a good partner can save it. Once as the missus was heading downstairs I tried to do the Han Solo line prior to him being frozen, but the pause is painful...

'Wait... I love you.'

...and then she howled at me like a wookie.

Just to be that guy, that’s not Han’s line. Han’s line is “I know”, which is mirrored in the next movie when Alexis is sneaky and murdered some imperials on Endor.

[Reelya]

And yeah, that usage of African-American has always struck me as a bit odd... Like all black people are somehow from Africa and all Africans are black people.

Shorthand for sub-saharan Africans.

However, compare the term "Asian" then go look up the conceptual region known as "Asia" and you'll see it includes many places we wouldn't normally call the people "Asians". It's the same with "African". "African" and "Asian" as racial definitions don't line up 100% with the geographical definitions: they're the same word but they have different meanings in relation to different areas of study, different contexts. That's just how language works. Different fields of study develop their own internal rules for what the terminology means. So demographers and anthropologists developed their own definitions of "Asian" and "African" which are internally-consistent, and geographers developed their own definitions which are internally consistent, but don't have any real connection to how the terms are used in other fields. e.g. when geographers argue about whether a particular country should be defined as being in Asia or not, they don't go and talk to anthropologists to ensure that their definition lines up with the definitions of racial groupings, which also uses the word "Asian". Same words, completely different semantics.

[Trekkin]

On Melanias whole First Lady project, she oughta start with her husband as it's being incredibly hypocritical when, as Folly put it, he is the biggest bully in town.

What would you have her do, though? What pressures could she possibly apply that people Trump actually respects have not yet tried?

Even if we're extremely generous and say that Trump is cogent enough to be reasoned with or even just mentally there enough to be conditioned out of his present behaviors, Melania is not the person to do it.

[PTTG??]

It doesn't help that she's bizarrely incompetent at plagiarism.

It's like, I don't even begrudge her it; it's more bewildering than anything. Is this a cry for help? A self-sabotage? Maybe there's something encrypted in the small differences between her anti-bullying pamphlet at the 2014 one?

[Max™]

Just to be that guy, that’s not Han’s line. Han’s line is “I know”, which is mirrored in the next movie when Alexis is sneaky and murdered some imperials on Endor.

I know, I was expecting that as her reply, and then she howled at me like a wookie. "Arrrllll-rrrrlll-aarrrnnnngglllglglglgl" is all it takes to destroy my mind apparently.

[smjjames]

It doesn't help that she's bizarrely incompetent at plagiarism.

It's like, I don't even begrudge her it; it's more bewildering than anything. Is this a cry for help? A self-sabotage? Maybe there's something encrypted in the small differences between her anti-bullying pamphlet at the 2014 one?

How would she self sabotage with this? The name could use a workup for sure, 'be best' best what?

I don't see any plagarism with the general broad strokes idea she has.

Personally I view these sorts of first lady pet projects as being in a similar vein as the obscenely wealthy giving to charity, as a sort of moral theater only put on in earnest because it would incalculably base to fail to do something of the sort in such a position. Doesn't diminish any actual good if it ever comes of it, but it still reeks of affectation.

I seriously doubt Barbara Bush's own push with literacy reeked of affectation. I suppose it doesn't help that Melania IS filthy rich.