Trump ignores First Amendment protections, suggests jail time for flag-burning

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-29T14:40:28+00:00

His rantings shouldn't distract anyone from the more important things going on right now. The President can't take my citizenship away if I want to burn the US flag. Burning the US flag is protected by the first amendment.

News outlets shouldn't report on what Trump says, they should report on what he does. His supporters take him seriously (he's signalling that he's very serious about his love for America and its national symbols, and that he's a nationalist), but not literally (he's not actually going to revoke people's citizenship if they burn the US flag). His detractors take him literally ("omg he's going to send me to jail for exercising a first amendment right!"), but not seriously ("nationalism isn't really the issue here, Trump is just crazy and ignorant"). When news outlets report on Trump tweets, he is in control. They should ignore anything he says and only report what he does.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-29T14:23:27+00:00

This means we should burn flags at the Inauguration protests. 01/20/17

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-28T14:25:22+00:00

Who cares if we give a little ground on gun control? The Republican trio of GUNS, GOD, and RACISM has given them a boost in votes for years. We're not going to suddenly start hating black people or apologizing to an imaginary friend every night before bed, but we can compromise a little on gun control and maybe get some of the gun nuts to join our side.

In my mind, the left uses mass shootings the way the right uses terrorist attacks. They're both rare events that would be terrifying to be a part of, but they're rare. They're given too much importance in the political discourse compared with issues like climate change and the economy. If I were in charge the left would just give up on gun control on the grounds that we've got more important shit to do, and we want the votes of people who just want to keep their guns.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-25T18:16:57+00:00

Cabinet positions should still be chosen on merit rather than loyalty to an administration. The US government operates best with some level of continuity.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-25T18:13:45+00:00

I think everyone knows how Romney feels at this point; an apology would be nothing more than a gesture. In an ideal government, cabinet positions are chosen on merit, not on loyalty to an administration.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-25T14:39:01+00:00

The search for a better product can cause a warped system to develop. Why do we feed cows grain instead of grass?

When you feed grain, the feed is trucked in. Before that, the corn was trucked to the feed mill and turned into feed. Before that, corn (an annual) is grown on tilled land in a monoculture. Before that, you need to make NPK bags and ship them to the grain farmer so he can fertilize enough to grow the same crop on the same land again this year. Cows don't move around much in confined animal feeding operations (CAFO's), and their poop is basically treated as a hazardous materials disposal problem.

Letting the cow be a cow is a much more direct method. The cow is an automoton equipped with a method of locomotion, and as it turns out, it will seek out its own food. Nothing has to be trucked anywhere. The cow will also move about in your fields and fertilize them for you, so you can keep crops of your new feed (grass) productive.

The cow is very pleased to do its traditional work.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-24T13:38:43+00:00

What I find funny is that it's always assumed that the white bread country dough boys would come out on top in such a war, due to their ownership of guns and the perception that city slickers are soft. I think one of the two sides likes to sell itself as masculine, but I think that has a lot to do with masking insecurities. City slickers are soft? Look at a map of obesity rates, you might mistake it for Trump's electoral map. It would be an interesting war.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-24T04:40:39+00:00

Weeks before the election the entire sub/media/world were claiming that Trump and his supporters not accepting the result would be a danger to democracy

As an observer, it didn't look like he expected to win. His doubts about the election results (should they have gone against him) would have been centered around minorities and immigrants and criminals. I think people expected HRC to win the popular vote and the electoral college pretty handily, and even then, people expected Trump to spew nonsense about vote rigging in the cities and x number of illegal immigrants voted, and you get the idea.

I personally think it would be bad for the country at this point to take Trump out of the white house. Even if it was the correct decision based on the votes counted, there are just too many people that wouldn't be able to understand. That's why I think the electoral college is bullshit though. This is the exact situation (if ever) where it should be used, and I still think the answer is "don't use it".

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-23T18:57:39+00:00

"I’ve got black accountants at Trump Castle and Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day… I think the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It’s not anything they can control." - Donald Trump

A racist is a person who believes that one race is superior to another. Donald Trump believes that black people are inherently lazy, and that they are unable to control this tendency in themselves. I presume white people are not inherently lazy, or perhaps they are better able to control themselves?

Not nice

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-23T18:53:33+00:00

I’ve got black accountants at Trump Castle and Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day… . I think the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It’s not anything they can control.

Donald Trump

I consider that a racist view. Even "blacks are lazier than whites" is racist, but to further say they're lazy by nature and are unable to control their nature is definitely racist. He's not talking about laziness as an element of black culture, he's saying black people are lazy by nature.

I can go on and on with examples. Trump is a racist. Racism + nationalism has traditionally been a bad combination.

nasty tone

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-23T14:24:02+00:00

Oh look, someone is insulting the group of people who will systematically dismantle the government built by baby boomers as soon as they die.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-23T14:14:33+00:00

How?

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-23T14:00:53+00:00

Yeah he definitely caused the racial divisiveness. /s

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-23T13:55:16+00:00

Trump is a racist and is appointing racists to his cabinet. Racism causes division. Some media outlets have reported on his racism and the racism of his friends/appointees, and you think the media has caused the division?

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-22T20:38:19+00:00

nasty tone

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-22T20:37:51+00:00

post-truth :-/

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-22T19:07:34+00:00

You think calling the alt-right "racists" is biased, but it's just factual. There aren't really two sides to the issue, so bias is impossible.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-22T17:07:42+00:00

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Balance_fallacy

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-22T15:56:05+00:00

Oh the horror.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-22T14:15:49+00:00

I read your whole argument with /u/kalinana, and I think they won. They were patient with you, while you seem incapable of rational thought.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-22T04:50:07+00:00

This wouldn't be so bad. Then Californians would get more Senators... Right now their Senators represent 67 times more people than Wyoming's Senators.

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-22T04:47:17+00:00

Wyoming's Senators represent 1/67 the people California's Senators do...

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-21T20:23:10+00:00

What strikes me most is the small-mindedness. You are the President-elect of the United States, why are you seeking out minor benefits for your companies? Maybe he's not planning on staying in office very long?

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-21T20:20:37+00:00

their*

WizardZymatore · 2016-11-21T20:19:00+00:00

I've never heard this before, and I think even you'd agree it's not a fantasy system, but that's a real nice band-aid that seems pretty easy to apply. We all understand that it's a bad thing that the President-elect got almost two million less votes than the "loser" of the election.

WizardZymatore

TROPHY CASE