Was the Super Bowl Too Politicized, Is Trump Losing His Sh*t & Is Betsy DeVos Toast? [Reason Podcast]

Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Matt Welch discuss news, politics, and culture.

Nick Gillespie | 2.6.2017 5:30 PM

:15 :15

Was the Super Bowl Too Politicized, Is Trump Losing His Sh*t & Is Betsy DeVos Toast? [Reason Podcast]

Tom Brady has played in a record seven Super Bowls, won a record five — Jeffrey Beall, Wikimedia

Super Bowl LI between the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots was a stunner of a game, the first Super Bowl to be decided in overtime.

But the playing on the field was hardly the only topic of conversation. Conspiracy nut Alex Jones prophesied that performer Lady Gaga would perform a satanic ritual during her half-time show while others complained that pro-immigration TV commercials from Anheuser-Busch and 84 Lumber were spoiling the pleasure of seeing millionaires beat each other for the Vince Lombardi trophy. In the end, Lady Gaga didn't spill any blood or summon any demons, though she did jump off the roof of Houston's NRG stadium in a remarkable entrance. After the Patriots staged an unparalleled comeback, it was the alt-right that politicized the effort, with the vile Richard Spencer tweeting an image of QB Tom Brady kissing his supermodel wife and announcing, "For the White race, it's never over." That the official pre-game show honored Black History Month by saluting football Hall of Famers who had graduated from historically black colleges and universities doubtless enraged Pepe the frog fans all over the planet.

Reason Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward, Editor at Large Matt Welch, and I talk about all this plus Donald Trump's second week on the job as president of the United States. Trump spent part of last week attacking the "so-called judge" who issued a temporary stay against his refugee and immigration ban and just minutes before the Super Bowl he caused a stir by responding to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly charge that Russia's Vladimir Putin is a killer by saying, "You think our country is so innocent?"

We discuss all that, plus the increasingly tight confirmation votes slated for Trump's picks for Secretary of Education and Attorney General in the newest Reason Podcast.

Produced by Mark McDaniel.

Click below to listen to the conversation—or subscribe to our podcast at iTunes and never miss an episode.

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Hugh Akston 8 years ago

I didn't watch the game. Did anyone high-five Brady this time or his left-hanging streak still unbroken?
1. Mongo 8 years ago
  
  Atlanta choked harder than Virginia Postrel on a first date.
  1. kovofohaf 8 years ago
    
    My last month paycheck was for 11000 dollars... All i did was simple online work from comfort at home for 3-4 hours/day that I got from this agency I discovered over the internet and they paid me for it 95 bucks every hour... This is what I do
    
    =========================== http://www.4dayjobs.com
straffinrun 8 years ago

Best of All Time!

Choose one and only one:
a. Halftime show
b. Quarterback performance
c. White people
d. Putin
1. TheZenomeProject 8 years ago
  
  b. I have no humor 😛
  1. IceTrey 8 years ago
    
    You mean Ryan because Brady sucked for 3 quarters?
2. Hyperion 8 years ago
  
  Can't choose only one. But c and d are definitely appropriate here. It could be that after the Patriots, the whitest team in all of foozball, invoked their white privilege that allowed Edleman to catch an uncatchable ball, the Trumputin released it's secret mind control beam against the Falcons. It's well known that Trump wanted the Patriots to win and that Tom Brady is a Trumpkin. Coincidence? I think not!
3. Juice 8 years ago
  
  Can't be b. because Brady choked the whole first half. His passing was atrocious.
  1. AlmightyJB 8 years ago
    
    Yeah, wouldn't call it best game QB performance, but definitely best come back QB performance.
  2. Tom Bombadil 8 years ago
    
    His receivers dropping easy passes made it look worse than it was.
4. Episteme 8 years ago
  
  e. PUPPY BOWL!!!
  1. Episteme 8 years ago
    
    #TeamFluff
    1. Sir Digby Chicken Caesar 8 years ago
      
      Damn straight, Team Fluff! Set that record, you fuzzballs.
Winston 8 years ago

So is the Libertarian Moment over? Gillespie and Welch predicted it back in 2008. Is Trump part of the Libertarian Moment? Will the Dems turn libertarian and win in 2020?
1. TheZenomeProject 8 years ago
  
  Trump is a libertarian moment in all of the wrong ways, which can't be used for social signaling. He is the end of the libertarian moment in the ways in which it is valuable to social signaling. In other words, still a wash.
2. The Grinch 8 years ago
  
  It'll always be right around the corner but we'll never get there.
3. John Titor 8 years ago
  
  Goddammit who let Winston out of Room 101?
  1. Winston 8 years ago
    
    Aren't you the card-carrying Liberal? Or is that Pan?
    1. John Titor 8 years ago
      
      That's me. God forbid anyone actually try and affect the system from within, stealth libertarian is so lame. Whining on internet forums is a much more effective technique.
      1. Winston 8 years ago
        
        stealth libertarian is so lame.
        
        Didn't Matt Welch call Obama that?
        
        God forbid anyone actually try and affect the system from within
        
        Serious question: How have your efforts gone? Any fellow libertarianish Liberals you have converted? Also do they agree that Mulroney needs to be rehabilitated for NAFTA since they opposed it at the time?
        
        John Titor 8 years ago
        
        Didn't Matt Welch call Obama that?
        
        And that's relevant because...? Oh wait, it's not.
        
        Serious answer: Once they elected Trudeau to the leadership I managed to convince about a couple dozen people that he's a moron, mostly by quoting his book. The lefties voted NDP instead, the more libertarianish were part of the 500% increase in LP votes, if they were in an area with a candidate running. In terms of converting I mainly focused on the people there to just legalize weed, most of them have been convinced that taxing it is a stupid idea (but they were already halfway there due to the 'already smokes weed' thing). I didn't vote for Trudeau. The 'classical liberal' school of the Liberal Party is slim but it's better than working with incompetent Tories.
        
        Less serious answer: Losers whine about stuff on H&R, winners go home and fuck the prom queen.
        
        Winston 8 years ago
        
        The 'classical liberal' school of the Liberal Party is slim
        
        Are they any party officials, MPs or Cabinet ministers you would say are part of this school?
        
        John Titor 8 years ago
        
        Martha Hall Findlay wasn't perfect, but she was a step in the right direction.
        
        The youth are the future, infect them and you'll at least have party in-fighting with the social justice crowd.
        
        Winston 8 years ago
        
        Martha Hall Findlay wasn't perfect, but she was a step in the right direction
        
        So about as alive as the Grover Cleveland Democrats?
        
        Anyway best of luck. You're going to need it.
        
        Winston 8 years ago
        
        And that's relevant because...? Oh wait, it's not.
        
        Reminded me of this:
        
        http://reason.com/archives/201.....-libertari
        
        Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago
        
        John, please contact me.
        
        Winston 8 years ago
        
        Also John Titor you have morecsense than Cytotoxic, though that means little, who was convinced that Turdeau Jr. was going to be a budget-cutting non-Green energy guy because of Harper sucking and the 90s.
        
        John Titor 8 years ago
        
        Cytotoxic was an aspy who didn't know how normal people function and had to pat himself on the back for his claims, despite being constantly wrong. Of course I have more sense than him. The party doesn't own me, I'm using it, and Laurier approves.
        
        Cdr Lytton 8 years ago
        
        Less serious answer: Losers whine about stuff on H&R, winners go home and fuck the prom queen and then post their whine on H&R afterwards.
4. Hugh Akston 8 years ago
  
  Serious etiquette question: when you use Winston's mom as a urinal, how much are you expected to tip? I tossed her a Sacajawea last time, but that felt like kind of a lot.
5. Hyperion 8 years ago
  
  There's about as much chance of Democrats turning libertarian as there is of the Chicoms turning libertarian. Actually, there's more chance of the Chicoms turning libertarian.
  1. Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
    
    I knew a libertarian turned chicom
    1. Winston 8 years ago
      
      Is on Mises.org?
      1. Winston 8 years ago
        
        Is *he* on Mises.org?
        
        Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
        
        Forgive me if I don't understand your humour.
        
        Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
        
        Forgive me if I don't understand your humour.
      2. Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
        
        No he teaches at the university of Utah. Li Minq he was a Milton friedmanite who was sent to a reeducation camp in China, came out in favor of marxisim.
        
        Who's the guy in Mises?
        
        Winston 8 years ago
        
        I was joking.
6. Ted S. 8 years ago
  
  Will Reason ever have an RSS feed for their podcast?
  
  I don't have Itunes or Google Play, and have to download the podcast rather than stream it due to bandwidth caps. (Basically I have unlimited bandwidth overnight so I need to download everything first thing in the morning.)
7. Juice 8 years ago
  
  So is the Libertarian Moment over?
  
  California is talking semi-seriously about withholding federal payments and secession, so maybe it's just getting started.
  1. Winston 8 years ago
    
    California is talking semi-seriously about withholding federal payments and secession, so maybe it's just getting started.
    
    California secession and that leading to libertopia California sounds far more plausible than whatever Gillespie and Welch have been spouting for the last 8 years.
  2. ant1sthenes 8 years ago
    
    I don't know that California leaving would cause a libertarian moment in the US, though it wouldn't hurt.
    1. Viking1865 8 years ago
      
      I think it would actually. California leaving would essentially kill the national Democratic Party as we know it. Nature abhors a vacuum, and you would have to fill that vacuum some way.
      1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
        
        A National Bocialist Party?
8. GILMORE? 8 years ago
  
  can you not stay gone?
Palin's Buttplug 8 years ago

Conspiracy nut Alex Jones

You left out "and Trump adviser".
Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago

Call me a nut but I'm not so sure Alex Jones is a nut anymore.

He's out there for sure but then again, he's not worse than the POS of mainstream media; and at least he's entertaining.
1. The Grinch 8 years ago
  
  He's pretty interesting. Check out the Joe Rogan YouTube interview with Jones from last week if you're so inclined. He's about a third news, a third conspiracy, and a third PT Barnum from what I can tell.
  1. Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago
    
    I watched it. It was a lot of fun. He's not crazy.
    
    And that pedophilia ring thing he brings up is scary shit.
    1. Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago
      
      He's hyper because he has all this shit in his head. I'm sure some of it has totally accurate and makes him appear nuts. Rogan pulling him back on point was hilarious.
      1. The Grinch 8 years ago
        
        He's pretty manic but Rohan did a good job of keeping him out of the weeds. I don't know how much of that stuff he actually believes but it is interesting to see the way his mind ties things together.
    2. Viking1865 8 years ago
      
      And that pedophilia ring thing he brings up is scary shit.
      
      Yup.
      1. Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago
        
        Did you see the actual leaked emails?
        
        Amazingly disturbing.
        
        Viking1865 8 years ago
        
        Yeah I'm not totally sold that Hillary Clinton was swirling a vodka tonic on the rocks while she watched Bill rape a child sex slave on Epstein's island, but when they talk about "pizza" they sure as hell are not talking about actual pizza. Which is scary, because in other emails the Clinton cabal casually discusses cashing checks from foreign governments and other unethical or illegal practices. So what the fuck are they talking about that they need to use codewords?
        
        Like, holy shit I know they're venal and corrupt, but I really don't want to believe that this particular conspiracy theory is true.
        
        Charles Easterly 8 years ago
        
        Rufus and Viking,
        
        Have you seen evidentiary material that you believe will bear the scrutiny of H&R commentators who are not supporters of whatever Republican President who happens to be in office?
        
        If so, would you mind providing links?
        
        Viking1865 8 years ago
        
        https://voat.co/v/pizzagate/1497611
        
        That's the big megathread. Again, there's nothing definitive, nothing concrete. It's all very circumstantial and based on social media mining, outre tastes in art and culture, and emails from Wikileaks which can be difficult to parse, but IMO there's an awful lot of coincidences.
        
        Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago
        
        Charles, what Viking posted is pretty much it.
        
        We don't claim anything but it's awfully bizarre. I share Viking's thoughts about hoping it's not real but, really, my inner-cynical side wouldn't be surprised at all if true.
        
        sssbobbyr 8 years ago
        
        True story, down here at the marina, when talking with the charter and commercial fisherman over the radio we tell them we are having "pizza for dinner" when marine fisheries or fish and wildlife agents are in the harbor.
        
        John Titor 8 years ago
        
        Yo Rufus,
        
        I sent a message to the email in your username.
    3. Suthenboy 8 years ago
      
      I tried to look that up. I have never actually listened to Jones before. I couldn't really make heads or tails of it and reading the comments on info wars is...well, lets just say I don't know anything now I didn't know before.
  2. Password: pode$ta 8 years ago
    
    Check out the Joe Rogan YouTube interview with Jones from last week if you're so inclined.
    
    Uhhhh 3:43? Anyone care to broad-stroke this for me re: pedophilia ring?
    1. The Grinch 8 years ago
      
      There is a roughly 20 minute subclip pulled from the interview on YT. It's a rehash of the Pizzagate stuff.
  3. Juice 8 years ago
    
    He was a LOT more entertaining during the Bush years. When Obama took office, his show and his shtick took a turn in a less entertaining direction, so I stopped watching/listening altogether.
  4. Butts Wagner 8 years ago
    
    The most watched Joe Rogan Podcast youtube video ever and not on the iTunes list of top podcasts for the week.
2. GSL in E 8 years ago
  
  In a media universe where CNN is trying to convince me that Vladimir Putin is directing an army of omnipotent super-hackers who control the Western media and the outcomes of elections all over the world, how far out of the mainstream is Alex Jones, really?
  1. AlexInCT 8 years ago
    
    ^^^ THIS ^^^
    
    I don't know much about Jones, but with the way the supposed media has been behaving, I can't see him being much worse..
3. Jahgro 8 years ago
  
  If you don't think Alex Jones is a nut, then you're pretty far gone yourself.
  
  It's like saying TYT are saviors of the media. What a fucking joke.
Winston 8 years ago

Who should the LP nominate in 2020? Sanders/Stein McCain/Graham or endorse the Democratic ticket?
1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.) 8 years ago
  
  It's Still Her Turn.
  1. Rich 8 years ago
    
    "Her" is now Chelsea.
    1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.) 8 years ago
      
      I don't think anyone would buy Chelsea right off the turnip truck. Even Chelsea has to be greased through several political appointments and carefully selected Senate Districts before anyone would vote for Her.
  2. The Grinch 8 years ago
    
    If they give her enough Adderall and Aricept I'd imagine she'll be good enough for one more run.
2. SIV 8 years ago
  
  I got a feelin' it's going to be McMuffin for LP 2020. Didn't a bunch of #NeverTrump cucks and CFR-types formally join the LP after Trump's nomination? They'll mob the convention and run someone even worse than Johnson/Weld.
  1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.) 8 years ago
    
    More like McCuckin'... amirite?
  2. The Grinch 8 years ago
    
    Way too bomb happy but who knows with the way things are going?
  3. Somalian Road Corporation 8 years ago
    
    From Badnarik (whose campaign I volunteered for), to Barr, Johnson, Johnson... and then McMuffin? Oh good lord. Yes, that's exactly what the LP needs, somebody who spends all their time on Twitter social signaling trying to be liked by the left while proclaiming themselves more libertarian than thou.
    
    Wait, that sounds suspiciously familiar...
  4. Hyperion 8 years ago
    
    Wait, isn't McMuffin that conserotard from Mormonland?
    1. Winston 8 years ago
      
      Let's be honest once you become a "pragmatic Libertarian" the jump to Republican isn't very far.
    2. SIV 8 years ago
      
      CFR-CIA-Mormon-Goldman Sachs
      
      McMuffin has all the New World Order Globalist merit badges. He's just a lackey though.
  5. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
    
    Since the conclusion of 2016 is gonna be "we need someone fucking nuts", if MacAfee runs, he's a shoo-in.
    1. The Grinch 8 years ago
      
      He'd be a good one if he's still alive. The guy's older than he looks.
    2. Viking1865 8 years ago
      
      The disaster of Johnson/Weld and the election of Trump should show the LP the way forward. You will never be able to "out Presidential" the Democrat, because the entire media, acadmic, and cultural establishment drumbeats a constant roar of approval for the Democrat. No Democratic candidate for President has ever been unqualified, unintelligent, or unfit to serve. Not one. They rigged the fucking debates by giving Clinton the questions ahead of time.
      
      The LP needs a bomb thrower, a someone who is able to do what Trump did and play the establishment and the media (but I repeat myself) for fools. Trying to politely beg for a podium at one of the debates is not the answer.
      
      Like for me, it was the 2012 GOP debates, and they were talking about the war. All the candidates were waving the flag, pounding their chests, and Ron Paul tried to make his point about non-interventionism, and one of the other guys (I think it was Newt) said something disparaging about his patriotism. Paul was a perfect gentlemen, refused to stoop to that guys level. But he should have. He should have said "Listen here you fat fuck, you can question my ideas or my policies, but don't ever question my patriotism. I'm the only man on this stage who's ever served my country in uniform." But he didn't. He's a decent, honorable human being, and he lost.
      1. Winston 8 years ago
        
        Also for supposed "pragmatists" Johnson and Weld were pretty fucking dumb. Who exactly were they trying to appeal to with their defenses of Hillary? BernieBots? Who would only vote for Johnson if they also hated Hillary. Or the Never Trumpers? Who would only vote for Johnson if they hated Hillary too.
        
        If their "pragmatic" goal was to only stop Trump then we already had that option: Hillary.
        
        And for supposed "pragmatists" couldn't you at least have a Veep that supports the ticket?
        
        Viking1865 8 years ago
        
        For me especially one of the biggest things I have to do in explaining libertarian ideology to people is getting them to understand that "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" does not mean "Rockefeller Republican." So what does the LP do? Put a fucking Rockefeller Republican as the VP.
        
        Party is a fucking joke.
        
        Winston 8 years ago
        
        The thing that gets me is that is the LP is trying to portray itself as moderate when being fiscally conservative is actually quite extreme to the left these days.
        
        The whole problem with the "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" line is that it is an appeal to a non-existent 1960s-1970s past when the Republicans were (supposedly) fiscally conservative and the Democrats were (supposedly) civil libertarians so the LP would be the best of both worlds.
        
        Viking1865 8 years ago
        
        It's the old issue though: no one is going to honestly run on a Libertopia platform, win, and enact it. If someone could win on a Libertopia platform, we wouldn't need someone to do it. So it's going to be a moderate, going to be a compromise candidate, etc. I get that, but holy shit they wandered so far off the plot this year.
        
        Winston 8 years ago
        
        I get that, but holy shit they wandered so far off the plot this year.
        
        True, I mean Weld and the gushing over Hillary? Those guys do know that "pragmatism" requires getting people to vote for you?
        
        Also Libertarians have generally been pretty shitty pragmatists. Diluting libertarian principles in favor of getting something libertarianish in return is what they want but doing the second part is very difficult.
        
        Also there is the fact that this requires people who are actually libertarian to hide they true views in order to win elections which can very easily to non-libertarians turning the LP into a non-libertarian party.
        
        Then there's the whole part about how the Establishment has a lot to lose from the libertarians (i.e. money and power) so they have every reason to oppose libertarianism every step of the way which will make libertarian pragmatism difficult.
        
        afk05 8 years ago
        
        The current political shitshow could be a great thing for the libertarian party. I think more and more moderate people from both the right and the left will start to realize that their parties have been hijacked by the extremes, and gravitate to libertarianism. I know many conservatives who are at least moderately liberal, and same goes for dems being moderately conservative, especially fiscally and on single issues versus an entire platform. If the libertarians could stop all of the infighting and insults of those new to the party, this could be the opportunity to truly create a real third party that has the chance to truly change government, and not just by one or a few elected politicians.
        
        My personal belief is that the L party should really reach out to both party members who are becoming disenfranchised, and realizing that even by giving the middle finger to Washington and voting for Trump because they wanted change, that he is not the change they wanted, and will likely do more harm than good, particularly to our economy. There are so many moderates who feel truly lost between all of the utter nonsense of both sides going on right now, and this is the absolute perfect opportunity to attract them to Libertarianism. I think far more people would join the party than they or we realize.
        
        SIV 8 years ago
        
        ^Things CUCKS Say^
        
        Viking1865 8 years ago
        
        That's a nice idea, but it always runs into the big sticking point: those mushy moderates are mushy moderates because they have no coherent ideology, principles, or intellectual lodestone. So many people say "Well I'm a libertarian except for ________" and then fill the blank in with all manner of statist things.
        
        afk05 8 years ago
        
        That is not true. Nobody agrees with every single platform of a party, and those that I have seen that are new to the libertarian party seem to agree with most of the platform, and may just disagree with one or two issues (something along the lines of some vs no regulations at all, for example). You would be hard-pressed to find people of any party who agree with every party platform, and it seems that even within the libertarian party, there are those that are more anarchist, tea party and others that all seem to have found a common party. How does the party plan on actually ever becoming an actual third party contender or have a chance at winning elections if it refuses to be inclusive of anyone?
      2. Winston 8 years ago
        
        You will never be able to "out Presidential" the Democrat, because the entire media, acadmic, and cultural establishment drumbeats a constant roar of approval for the Democrat. No Democratic candidate for President has ever been unqualified, unintelligent, or unfit to serve. Not one.
        
        This is a big flaw of the Fabianistic Cocktail Parties/Cosmotarian "We aren't' racist redneck bible-thumpers!" strategy since the "media, acadmic, and cultural establishment" hates libertarianism, especially its economic and limited government ideals. I mean budget cuts will cause black people to starve which is racist and fascist and you know what ought to be done to racist fascists...
        
        And in this election we only got a small taste of the anti-libertarian attacks....
        
        Viking1865 8 years ago
        
        Right, and the fact that is somehow controversial to some is mind boggling to me. Maybe they've never been in DC. I lived there for a year. Every single human being in the District of Columbia, from the President to the lowest panhandler, depends on the machine continuing. Every. Single. One. The belief of the Reason staff that they can convince these people is endearing, but incredibly naive. You're trying to tell pirates that they really shouldn't be boarding other ships and stealing their stuff. You're trying to tell scorpions not to sting.
        
        SIV 8 years ago
        
        The only hope for reason at this point is if they close up the D.C. shop and move back to L.A.
  6. Episteme 8 years ago
    
    To be fair, both my brother and I went from being Marco Rubio supporters to voting for Johnson in November, so stranger things have happened!
    1. SIV 8 years ago
      
      How many people can you fit in a Chinook?
3. Hyperion 8 years ago
  
  I'm for dancing naked fat guy next time around.
Hyperion 8 years ago

The Superbowl was won by the Patriots invoking their white privilege in the 2nd half of the second half. Therefore, the NFL are racists, sexists, xenophobes, and Islamaphobes. Did I leave out any phobes there?
1. Carl_b 8 years ago
  
  Duh, homophobes.
  1. Hyperion 8 years ago
    
    Damn, I've got to get up to speed on my phobes.
2. Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago
  
  Them and the Packers. Whitest white privileged teams.
  
  The Patriots. I can but tip my hat to them.
3. Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting 8 years ago
  
  #WhitePeopleStillNotTiredofWinning
TheZenomeProject 8 years ago

The Super Bowl was overall much less political than it could've been, but can someone explain to me why advertisers are still actively trying to alienate half of the voting population? I get AirBNB since their customer base is basically an echo chamber, but what about the lumber company or Budweiser? They keep shooting themselves in the foot.
1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.) 8 years ago
  
  If AirBNB needs to ingratiate itself to anyone, it would be Democrats and Progressives. They're the ones trying to shut it down.
  1. Marty Feldman's Eyes 8 years ago
    
    Yeah, showing that the commerce of having strangers in your home promotes acceptance was a message the left needs to hear.
    1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.) 8 years ago
      
      Taxed and regulated strangers, to be sure.
2. SIV 8 years ago
  
  Budweiser didn't run a political commercial. No one opposes German-immigration in the 19th century now. That's literally, HOW WE GOT TRUMP.
  1. Libertymike 8 years ago
    
    SIV, what do you think of all of the German 48ers that came to America with their love of central government?
    1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
      
      Germans in American Revolution.
      Poles in American Revolution (Part 2, Part 3).
      
      I agree, shoulda kept them out!
      1. SIV 8 years ago
        
        Obama made Pulaski a citizen. I'll have to remember that when I'm trying to think of the very few right and good things in his legacy.
  2. Fairbanks 8 years ago
    
    Agreed.
3. Viking1865 8 years ago
  
  what about the lumber company
  
  They might have seriously hurt themselves. Do they really think the people who buy lots of lumber are progs? I get Starbucks and Airbnb virtue signaling furiously, but companies trying to sell things like lumber, guns, power tools, workboots, etc. should think very very long and hard about what political messages they want to spread.
4. Viking1865 8 years ago
  
  what about the lumber company
  
  They might have seriously hurt themselves. Do they really think the people who buy lots of lumber are progs? I get Starbucks and Airbnb virtue signaling furiously, but companies trying to sell things like lumber, guns, power tools, workboots, etc. should think very very long and hard about what political messages they want to spread.
  1. Texasmotiv 8 years ago
    
    The workmen that use 84 lumber are almost exclusively Mexican. It fits for me.
    1. Viking1865 8 years ago
      
      The workmen don't buy the lumber, their bosses do.
5. DenverJ 8 years ago
  
  Because, marketing folks tend to be costal progressives. They just assume everyone thinks like them, and that the blue collar enjoyment providers need to prove that they don't share Trumpian sympathies.
6. DesigNate 8 years ago
  
  Budweiser commercial was fine. He immigrated here legally and worked his ass off to make something of himself. That's like American Dream 101 and I really don't get the hate for this commercial.
  1. Fairbanks 8 years ago
    
    Me neither.
  2. SIV 8 years ago
    
    I don't think there was any hate at all.
  3. Lurk Diggler 8 years ago
    
    In this political climate it's going to be seen as equivalent to the people that support middle eastern immigration by saying "we're all immigrants". And I think that's a pretty fair assessment of the message.
    
    I don't get why anyone would touch a hot political issue. Seems like there's more to lose than win, but I'm no expert on commercials.
7. mr simple 8 years ago
  
  Don't forget the poor dad who has to tell his daughter that she will likely make 98% of what a man would make in the same job. And that they forgot to take home her soap box racer.
Winston 8 years ago

So between the alt-right, the Communists and military dictatorship which regime is less worse to libertarians? I'm worried that the US will eventually be in that position.
1. TheZenomeProject 8 years ago
  
  Alt-right, and it's an easy choice; there's at least a sliver of a chance that an ethnostate can be pseudo-libertarian without the open borders. The rest are antithetical to any form of power besides statism.
2. TheZenomeProject 8 years ago
  
  I'll put it this way: an ideal alt-right society is like Japan. Homogeneous population, ridiculously restrictive immigration, and socially conservative (and sometimes repressive), but also economically and technologically wealthy and relatively good living standards.
  1. Hugh Akston 8 years ago
    
    Decades of stagnation, declining fertility, aging population, soaring suicide rate.
    1. TheZenomeProject 8 years ago
      
      Yes, that too. It's not great, but I'd take Japan over a commie dictatorship or military junta. Low bar.
    2. Viking1865 8 years ago
      
      >soaring suicide rate.
      
      Read an interesting theory that one of the reasons the suicide rate in Japan is so high is that the cops there will classify a death they can't solve as a suicide, preserving the low murder rate stats.
      1. straffinrun 8 years ago
        
        I'd like to see a link to that. Don't doubt someone has written that, but I highly doubt it's true.
        
        Viking1865 8 years ago
        
        http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ne.....JkLTFMrJaQ
        
        straffinrun 8 years ago
        
        Thx. I'll check it out on my break.
      2. Volren 8 years ago
        
        "Stabbed twenty-six times, mostly from behind."
        "Any leads?"
        "None."
        "Suicide. Let's go for sushi."
      3. ant1sthenes 8 years ago
        
        "Murder was in fact a fairly uncommon event in Ankh-Morpork, but there were a lot of suicides. Walking in the night-time alleyways of The Shades was suicide. Asking for a short in a dwarf bar was suicide. Saying 'Got rocks in your head?' to a troll was suicide. You could commit suicide very easily, if you weren't careful."
    3. straffinrun 8 years ago
      
      Decades of stagnation-BOJ is mainly responsible.
      Low fertility and aging society- redistribution, hyper regulation and women entering the workforce mainly responsible.
      Not sure how any of those are alt right positions.
  2. Calidissident 8 years ago
    
    I think Japan, even aside from not being white, is still pretty far from alt-right territory. I think you're underestimating the authoritarianism of the alt-right.
    
    Out of that list, military dictatorship is probably the least bad option, but it depends on the military dictator. Overall, any of them are bad enough that I would try to leave if it was too late to stop them from taking over.
    1. John Titor 8 years ago
      
      Alt-right is pretty (ironically) diverse in how they want to organize their white ethnostate. Some want a very restrictive monarchy, others a constitutional one, some want a republic, some are outright fascists, etc. The alt-right is more a collection of different political, cultural and social views that share a white nationalist theme. Jared Taylor himself actually views Japan very favourably (he did grow up there after all, and thinks Asians are superior to whites).
      1. SIV 8 years ago
        
        The hard core racialists are actually a small part of what is encompassed by "alt-right".
        
        John Titor 8 years ago
        
        Yes I keep hearing that and I'm skeptical after reading Radix and Vdare. Perhaps people hold a different definition of 'hard core racialist' than I do, or are using the term 'alt-right' too broadly. I don't consider Milo to be alt-right, but people keep repeating that.
  3. straffinrun 8 years ago
    
    Japan is a shame based society. Good luck recreating that in the US.
    1. Charles Easterly 8 years ago
      
      I concur with both of your statements.
    2. The Last American Hero 8 years ago
      
      How much shame does a country have when they're peddling panties in the vending machines?
      1. Charles Easterly 8 years ago
        
        Cultures have different social norms from one another, as I am sure you accept as a true.
        
        Your question reminded me of a quote from a movie:
        You are defeated, but you have no shame.
        You are stubborn, but have no pride.
        You endure, but you have no courage.
      2. ???? 8 years ago
        
        I've lived in Japan for eight years now and have never seen such a vending machine. They are not a common thing here, and if they are they are likely relegated to only the seediest areas, which exist in any culture throughout the world.
        
        What I'm saying is that you shouldn't judge a culture by it's pornography or by its seediest elements. I'm pretty sure most Japanese people would find panty vending machines to be weird.
        
        As Charles said, there are different social norms. Its not as weird here as everyone thinks.
        
        John Titor 8 years ago
        
        I'm pretty sure a lot of people imagine all of urban Japan to be a mix of Akihabara and Kabukicho.
        
        Cdr Lytton 8 years ago
        
        No panty vending machines, but I did see a barely legal girls spank mag laying on top (not in) a trash can in the middle of Odakyu department store. It was on one of the women's clothing floors too, not down on the train or transit floors.
        
        Kevin Sorbos Manful Locks 8 years ago
        
        The only weird vending machines I've seen are the BOSS ones where Tommy Lee Jones stares at you with barely restrained disdain.
    3. Heroic Mulatto 8 years ago
      
      In cultural anthropology, a shame society, ... is a society in which the primary device for gaining control over children and maintaining social order is the inculcation of shame and the complementary threat of ostracism.
      
      I hate to break it to you, but what do you think political correctness is?
  4. afk05 8 years ago
    
    I thought that libertarians were generally socially more left-leaning and want the government out of their lives? Japan seems like a social experiment, albeit the opposite of communism. Extremes of either side are never good.
    1. Viking1865 8 years ago
      
      Japan is not the opposite of communism lol.
  5. Episteme 8 years ago
    
    Virgins hiding in their parents' apartments?
3. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
  
  Hmmm....
  
  Franco, Castro or Pinochet? Welp, one that listened to Milton Friendman has my vote when Death Is Not An Option.
  1. Calidissident 8 years ago
    
    I don't know if Franco's regime was racist enough to be the closest example from history of what the alt-right would support.
    1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
      
      Good point, he had no problems unleashing Moroccans on the civilian population of Spain.
      
      Shit, I'm trying not to Godwin this...
      
      Franjo Tudjman?
      
      Ataturk? But he didn't so much separate ethnicities, as just declare "everyone's a Turk now".
      1. Winston 8 years ago
        
        Franjo Tudjman
        
        That reminds me of how back when I was a kid all I heard about Yugoslavia was how bad the Serbs and Milosevic were and now that Milosevic is gone people say "wait a minute Tudjman was not such a nice guy either". And now I know where the Rockwellians get their kneejerk apologia for dictators from.
BakedPenguin 8 years ago

I came really close to bailing on the game when it looked like the Falcons would roll. Glad I hung in there.
1. Hyperion 8 years ago
  
  Same here. I thought it was probably over at halftime and definitely thought it was over at 28-0. A while after I was calculating in my head the probability of New England even getting back in it and decided that was really low. But I watched the entire thing, glad I did as well.
2. Zunalter 8 years ago
  
  Yes, I was at a friend's house and most of the other people had bailed and I had this moment of, "Should I leave, since I know essentially how this game is going to end?"
3. Libertymike 8 years ago
  
  So were Fox advertisers.
4. Juice 8 years ago
  
  Well, seeing as how I hate both teams, I had to watch the game to realize which team I hate more. It's the Patriots. When they were down 28-0 it made me feel all warm inside. The fact that the Falcons were winning the superbowl didn't matter as much. So I figured out that even though I hate the Falcons, I hate the Patriots more.
Winston 8 years ago

Did anyone notice that article linked by Jesse a few weeks ago where Daniel Ellsberg stated that the Media supported him in the lawsuits over the Pentagon Papers because they lost their privileges under Nixon?

This reveals a big problem with the Libertarian Moment in that the Deep State, the contractors, the people on the Dole, academia, the Media have everything to lose under libertarianism (even the mildest of reforms) and nothing to gain so they will attack these efforts with everything they have. I mean Gary Johnson said he wanted to eliminate the Department of Education. Imagine the response to that if he won and tried to do that...
1. Libertymike 8 years ago
  
  Taco stands all over Taos would be turned over and burned.
2. Paloma 8 years ago
  
  Plus I really hope the Senate confirms Betsy DeVos.
Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago

These half-time shows are sooooo over rated.

Except Petty.

And The Who because The Who. They shoulda done Tommy and freak everyone out.
1. Rich 8 years ago
  
  *** glances around ***
  
  I liked Prince's guitar work.
2. The Last American Hero 8 years ago
  
  There were a couple nice things to enjoy during the Katy Perry show.
  
  And any halftime show where Slash comes up out of the stage can't possibly be a bad thing.
Sandusky's Kids 8 years ago

I live in Atlanta and I had friends shrieking about how Trump rigged the NFL. I just thought Kyle Shanahan was a jackass.
1. Gojira 8 years ago
  
  RUN...THE...FUCKING...BALL...KYLE.
  
  There should be a plane trailing this banner circling his house until he leaves for SF.
2. Hyperion 8 years ago
  
  Kyle Shanahan is a jackass. Also, not even surprised at all that people would blame the Falcon's loss on Trump. Your friends probably also believe that Putin caused Hillary to lose.
  1. Libertymike 8 years ago
    
    As for Putin, wouldn't he have had more motivation to cause the Falcons to win seeing that he has already pilfered one of Kraft's rings and that the odds are better that he would be better able to keep Arthur Blank's ring had the Falcons prevailed?
  2. Sandusky's Kids 8 years ago
    
    Yes. I support the Patriots big league. I can't stand Atlanta teams. They've choked my entire life. Why would I watch that?
    1. Libertymike 8 years ago
      
      You dirty bird...
  3. Ted S. 8 years ago
    
    On the Packer forum I frequent, one of the fans was going nuts because of Trump's support for the Patriots. It would have been funny if it weren't so tedious. Especially because the guy thought that those of us who found it tedious must necessarily have been rooting for the Patriots.
    1. Viking1865 8 years ago
      
      One of the great joys of Reddits NFL board is the biweekly free talk threads, in which there is furious virtue signaling about the evils of the Drumpf.
      1. Walter Peck 8 years ago
        
        furious virtue signaling about the evils of the Drumpf
        
        Are you sure you were on Reddit? You could have been reading a Shika Dalmia article.
Marty Feldman's Eyes 8 years ago

with the vile Richard Spencer tweeting an image of QB Tom Brady kissing his supermodel wife and announcing, "For the White race, it's never over."

What do the kids say nowadays, "smhd"? As if there already weren't 100 reasons to think Trump was terrible, the fact Spencer hasn't been fired him for tweeting shit like this is just running up the score.
1. Marty Feldman's Eyes 8 years ago
  
  hasn't been fired him for tweeting shit like this
  1. Winston 8 years ago
    
    Fired by whom? Or Sarc?
  2. The Grinch 8 years ago
    
    Fired by who?
    1. The Fusionist 8 years ago
      
      I suspect MFE is being sarcastic.
      1. Marty Feldman's Eyes 8 years ago
        
        I thought my correction was clear but just to make it clearer, my intention was to say that I think it's yet another indictment of Trump that Spencer isn't fired for that and the other one about the mosque in Quebec.
        
        Winston 8 years ago
        
        Um how is Spencer a Trump employee? He supports Trump but I can't find anything to say he works for Trump in any capacity. Are you confusing him with Bannon?
        
        The Grinch 8 years ago
        
        Definitely not an employee.
        
        Marty Feldman's Eyes 8 years ago
        
        Are you confusing him with Bannon?
        
        Sorry, he's been in the news so much connected with Trump's shit that I thought he was in one of the usual crony-advisor type positions. My bad. Please ignore all my posts in this thread. I'm letting the 24/7 bullshit get to me.
Sandusky's Kids 8 years ago

Also ATL's D got GASSED. That's why they ultimately lost.
1. Juice 8 years ago
  
  That's pretty much it. Plus a series of miracles and some blind refs.
2. IceTrey 8 years ago
  
  They lost because they threw the ball on the Pat's 20 with 3 minutes left.
  1. Juice 8 years ago
    
    True.
esteve7 8 years ago

OT: I'm sure feminists would march for her, except we all that the 'group of 10-15 teen boys' are probably in a lower privilege group'

(Imagine if it was 10-15 white boys)
1. Hyperion 8 years ago
  
  The one that pushed her should probably be facing an attempted murder charge. Quite a bit more serious than petty theft.
Sandusky's Kids 8 years ago

I'm new here. But the comment section on this site has really helped me realize how progs cry over the slightest issues.
1. Basketball Uber Alles, Jr. 8 years ago
  
  Great screen name.
2. Crusty Juggler - #2 8 years ago
  
  Please send nudes, noob. Thanks.
  1. Sandusky's Kids 8 years ago
    
    I'd be happy to.
  2. Libertymike 8 years ago
    
    Coach got railroaded.
3. Hugh Akston 8 years ago
  
  crying prog
  1. Sandusky's Kids 8 years ago
    
    Make Pepe Pure Again. I love the Boy's Club comics.
4. Password: pode$ta 8 years ago
  
  You got here just a few days too late unfortunately.
  
  A lot of the best commenters have left recently.
  1. The Fusionist 8 years ago
    
    Yeah, the only commenters left are the dumb ones...hey, wait a minute...
    1. Password: pode$ta 8 years ago
      
      Ouch.
5. Butts Wagner 8 years ago
  
  Everyone in this thread is disappointing
Derpetologist 8 years ago

confused Australian beetles have sex with beer bottles

More surprising, Gwynne and Rentz found one beetle hanging onto his bottle even while "a number of ants" were busy biting "the soft portions of his everted genitalia" ? and still he stuck to his business.

Crusty has a new spirit animal.
josh 8 years ago

and now we begin the post-game festivities....

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/06/.....d=34172945
1. Zunalter 8 years ago
  
  Delicious, delicious tears.
2. GILMORE? 8 years ago
  
  Beats wearing political-statement-socks or something. I think non-participation is a far more respectable form of freedom of association.
3. Kevin Sorbos Manful Locks 8 years ago
  
  Remember when Tim Thomas was pilloried for not going to see Barry after the B's won the cup?
Pan Zagloba 8 years ago

Relax about a higher loonie, but let's avoid a global currency war

"Trump devaluation claims raise fears of global currency war," blared the London Financial Times. "Trump's currency war against Germany could destroy the EU," said Foreign Policy.

U.S. concern about currency manipulation is nothing new. What's new is that the outspoken president and his unconventional trade adviser Peter Navarro have broken a diplomatic taboo and made the accusations aloud.
'Like a bunch of dummies'

"They play the money market, they play the devaluation market, while we sit here like a bunch of dummies," said Trump in an off-the-cuff remark while meeting with pharmaceutical bosses last week.

Damn, I missed that! But at least Canadian dollar is recovering...to 77 cents US. *sob*
1. Zunalter 8 years ago
  
  the extra 23 cents of purchasing power is funneled into free canadian healthcare, so you should be all set.
2. BakedPenguin 8 years ago
  
  Jaysus. I went to Canadia in 2012, and it was basically 1:1. Enjoy Zoolander's Venezuedia
  1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
    
    Hey, hey!
    
    Venezuela doesn't want to shut down its oil production. I mean, it is shutting down, but not by government's intent.
3. Ted S. 8 years ago
  
  Damn, I missed that! But at least Canadian dollar is recovering...to 77 cents US. *sob*
  
  Canada is the woman to the US's man.
  1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
    
    *looks at Trump, looks at PM Zoolander*
    
    Oooh....Justin is so getting grabbed.
    
    Relevant DM of the Rings.
    1. Episteme 8 years ago
      
      Darths & Droids is better.
      1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
        
        I like it more, but let's give credit to the man who inspired it 10+ years ago.
        
        His writing on video games is the best out there, by far. His magnum opus on Mass Effect (hint - not just last 20 minutes of ME3) is awesome.
4. Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago
  
  I canceled my FP subscription. It got stupid.
straffinrun 8 years ago

Maxine Waters is warning that Putin is expanding into Korea.
1. Raven Nation 8 years ago
  
  Hmm, that seems somewhat unlikely given that the PRC is a DPRK backer.
Pan Zagloba 8 years ago

For those who missed it, World of Tanks Superbowl ads.

They use a Sherman (pintle-mounted .50 cal) so it's 100% MURICA!
1. SIV 8 years ago
  
  Like I said earlier: most memorable ads. Doing fake ads that are disrupted by your product/logo/message makes every other ad seem like it's yours, "where's the tank" ? everyone's thinking.
The Fusionist 8 years ago

Fascists are everywhere - thank God the antifascists are there to practice self-defense
1. Password: pode$ta 8 years ago
  
  Robby said they are acting in self-defense. Don't try to fool me with your fake news!
  
  He also told me that when Milo supporters practice self-defense, they're being violent. Because they're fascists, duh.
2. GILMORE? 8 years ago
  
  "Can we please stop calling them "Anti-Fascists"? Just call them communist-rioters"
  
  - which is actually entirely logical given their and the media's insistence on labeling everyone they disagree with a "White Nationalist"
  1. Winston 8 years ago
    
    Not to mention all those Communist Fronts who called themselves "anti-fascist" back in the 1930s-1940s.
The Fusionist 8 years ago

Rolling Stone ponders the Berkeley riots...on the one hand, there were riots, on the other hand, Trump sucks
Derpetologist 8 years ago

That team blue fight club? They call themselves Knights for Socialism. Please read this for a better write-up than what Robby wrote.

Scott Benton, a UCF College Republican, told Campus Reform that he considers the impulse toward violence to be a natural consequence of the intellectual indefensibility of leftists beliefs, saying, "If you can't hang with someone on a debate stage, then you resort to other means to try and justify your cause."
1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
  
  "Ladies: The Commander in thief is a sexual predator and rapist," the description warns. "He has normalised sexual assault and it is expected that sexual violence against women is going to skyrocket in the next 12 months. Please join us! There will be other women there for you to spar against!"
  
  This is self-defense. South Park-style!
  1. Viking1865 8 years ago
    
    "Ladies: The Commander in thief is a sexual predator and rapist,"
    
    That talking point would be a lot punchier if it wasn't being pushed by the Clintons.
  2. ant1sthenes 8 years ago
    
    I was thinking Bobby Hill, but to each his own.
    1. Episteme 8 years ago
      
      "That's my purse! I don't know you!"
  3. Volren 8 years ago
    
    Uh wouldn't it make more sense to make them spar against men in that case?
    1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
      
      Dammit, they are trying to set up some socially acceptable foxy boxing and you have to go spoil it!
2. Zunalter 8 years ago
  
  If you can't hang with someone on a debate stage, then you resort to other means to try and justify your cause.
  
  I am snapping my fingers so hard right now.
  1. Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
    
    Took a moment, by m but then I got it.
3. John Titor 8 years ago
  
  Knights for Socialism
  
  Well, at least they're admitting to the Marxists' fetishization of feudalism.
  1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
    
    Dialectica Vult?
    1. Ted S. 8 years ago
      
      Anybody else think the "Deus Vult" people are as silly as the people shrieking "Molon labe" in a previous iteration?
      1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
        
        No.
      2. John Titor 8 years ago
        
        That sounds like Saracen talk to me.
        
        Page, fetch me my longsword.
  2. Episteme 8 years ago
    
    Jokes on them. My Knights of Columbus council has beer and hoagies!
4. GILMORE? 8 years ago
  
  a local amateur boxer was on hand to teach basic hand-to-hand combat techniques at the self-defense clinic, in order to help the socialist students better protect themselves from potential hate crimes
  
  they actually say, "Pre-emptive self-defense" without a hint of irony.
  1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
    
    While images of Brock's bloody face, and clips of other Yiannopoulos fans being assaulted with flag poles, bike locks, and pepper spray, did ensure that the radical minority of aggressive protesters dominated the news coverage, accounts of his own behavior prior to the attack suggest that Brock might have come to campus looking for trouble.
    
    That seems clear from two video clips of Brock taunting peaceful student protesters early in the evening, recorded by a reporter for the Berkeley student newspaper, Malini Ramaiyer.
    
    Left gotta left. Fucker was asking for it, and since antifa aren't pro-US, side with them.
5. Volren 8 years ago
  
  Sounds like someone is asking to be defended against.
The Fusionist 8 years ago

Free Speech, Not Hate Speech

"Yiannopoulos does not deserve to be granted the platform of a university campus to espouse his hateful beliefs. Institutions of higher education pride themselves on generating new knowledge and challenging old beliefs for the purposes of advancing our understanding of the world. Furthermore, these institutions are built on the principle of evidence-based research. In contrast, Yiannopoulos appears to challenge others' beliefs simply for the sake of being a contrarian, and he does so with little tenability for his claims. Yiannopoulos is little more than a racist, sexist, and anti-semite who encourages hate and fear rather than intellectual thought.

"There is strong precedent for believing that Yiannopoulos poses a tangible threat to the safety and well-being of university students....

"Members of Harvard should think twice before inviting speakers such as Yiannopoulos to our campus. Granting these figures a platform at our universities only serves to further legitimize their untenable, hateful claims and poses a threat to fellow classmates. Milo Yiannopoulos and other members of the alt-right have no place on college campuses. Harvard College's mission statement "seeks to identify and to remove restraints on students' full participation"; the identification and prevention of hate speech is critical in this mission."
1. Zunalter 8 years ago
  
  I was about 83% sure they were going to throw a "homophobe" in there as well.
2. The Grinch 8 years ago
  
  Fair Harvard my ass. That was one of the least self-aware, stupidest things I've ever read.
3. Password: pode$ta 8 years ago
  
  Furthermore, these institutions are built on the principle of evidence-based research. In contrast, Yiannopoulos appears to challenge others' beliefs simply for the sake of being a contrarian, and he does so with little tenability for his claims.
  
  God dammit. That blew the circuitry in my non-sequitur detector. Now I need a new one.
  
  Yiannopoulos is little more than a racist, sexist, and anti-semite who encourages hate and fear rather than intellectual thought.
  
  He's a gay Jew who talks constantly about sucking various-shades-of-brown cock. Anyone using the term 'intellectual thought' has never had an original thought. I'd bitch about my irony detector being broken, but that ship sailed...
4. SIV 8 years ago
  
  Radley Balko can say all that in less than 140 characters
Derpetologist 8 years ago

CBS poll: Two-thirds of Democrats say Islam and Christianity are equally violent

Almost seven out 10 Democrats believe Islam "encourages violence? about the same as other religions," according to a new CBS poll.

The trusting attitude towards Islam is revealed in the February 2017 poll follows 17 tumultuous years of attacks against Americans motivated or shaped by Islamic ideology throughout the United States?from the 9/11 atrocity to the Pulse nightclub attack in Florida committed by an observant, orthodox Muslim man from a Muslim family.

Merely one-in-seven Democrats believe that Islam is more violent than other religions, such as Christianity, Mormonism, Judaism, and Buddhism. One-in-ten Democrats believe that Islam is less violent that other religions, according to the poll of 1,019 adults, which was taken Feb. 1 and Feb. 2.

In contrast, Republicans have a far colder view of Islam. Sixty-three percent of Republicans view Islam as aggressive compared to other religions, and only two percent view Islam as more pacific than other faiths.
1. The Fusionist 8 years ago
  
  I suspect that many of these poll responses are about "refusing to help the other side's narrative."
  
  So if a pollster reaches a Democrat and asks about Islamic vs. Christian violence, of course the Democrat will say they're equally bad, because focusing on Islamic violence is like saying "Trump is awesome and I'm so glad he's President!"
  1. JayU 8 years ago
    
    But who the fuck are the 10% that said it's less violent? Did they poll 1,000 imams?
    1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
      
      College students?
    2. Tom Bombadil 8 years ago
      
      10% will believe anything that is repeated, a la, "Religion of Peace".
  2. John Titor 8 years ago
    
    Are you in favour of bringing back National Service?
2. The Last American Hero 8 years ago
  
  So, they are consistent with Obama, who couldn't say the word Islam without saying the word Crusades.
3. Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
  
  You know those Mormons are so violent, one almostst ran me over on his bike.
  1. Tom Bombadil 8 years ago
    
    Don't get me started on those goddamn Jainists.
  2. SIV 8 years ago
    
    Mountain-bike Meadow Massacre
  3. JeremyR 8 years ago
    
    The thing is, at one time they were very violent. The first Sherlock Holmes story actually deals with Mormons being murderous polygamists. (So do a number of Zane Grey novels)
    
    But in face of all the criticism they got, did they double down on the violence? No, they realized they needed to reform themselves.
    
    By constantly apologizing for Islam's violence, they are preventing it from being reformed.
    1. Winston 8 years ago
      
      They also banned polygamy in order for Utah to be admitted. And the Republicans who wrote the 14th Amendment were quite big fans of monogamous heterosexual marriage...
    2. Winston 8 years ago
      
      (So do a number of Zane Grey novels)
      
      +3 Riders of the Purple Sage
    3. Viking1865 8 years ago
      
      The thing is, at one time they were very violent.
      
      Eh, they were the victim of mob violence and pogroms, so they moved all the way out to Utah to get away from all that, and start their own community. Then years later they became the whipping boy for the Republican Party, which vowed to eradicate the twin barbarisms of slavery and polygamy. The Democrats, frantic to defend popular sovereignty, acquiesced to this moral panic, and sent a new governor out to Utah with 2500 troops.
      
      So from the Mormon perspective, they're all the way out in the middle of nowhere, not bothering anyone, and here comes the same government which thought it was just fine to murder our children in Missouri, and now they're coming with thousands of troops.
      
      As Brigham Young said: "I love the government and the Constitution of the United States, but I do not love the damned rascals that administer the government."
    4. The Fusionist 8 years ago
      
      "The first Sherlock Holmes story actually deals with Mormons being murderous polygamists."
      
      Thanks for the spoiler alert, jerk. 🙁
    5. Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
      
      I too get all my information on other religious from works of fiction.
      
      (Disclosure, I'm a Mormon)
    6. Chip Your Pets 8 years ago
      
      They got less violent for the same reason Christians in general got less violent: they got wealthy and fat.
      
      Run a comparison of Christian Europe and the Islamic world in the early middle ages, and tell me which religion is more violent.
      
      The Joker was right. When the chips are down, people will eat each other.
      1. JagerIV 8 years ago
        
        Islamic world, by far. The Islamic world was the one busy with constant war, expansion, and enslaving millions of people, and then killing 100,000s of thousands when those slaves got tired of being worked to death.
        
        And all this was glorified and encouraged by the religion. Meanwhile, early Christianity had arguments about whether a soldier/legionary could get into heaven at all, knights were constantly chastised for their poor behavior and had to do various things to repent for their sins of violence. This chastisement often went up to the kings and emperors: one emperor was forced to issue an apology and blanket pardon when a bishop condemned him for putting a rebellious city to the sword.
4. Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago
  
  And that in a nutshell, to me, the key as to why the Democrats are toast.
5. Episteme 8 years ago
  
  Do Muslim services have an actual "Sign of Peace" in the middle of them? Asking for a friend...
6. Chip Your Pets 8 years ago
  
  Well, in purely numeric terms, it would take centuries for Muslim countries and organizations to catch up with Christian countries and organizations in the historical murder department. Given our sloppy drone attacks and air strikes, the gap may actually still be widening, not closing.
Winston 8 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salami_tactics

Rakosi claimed he destroyed the non-Communist parties by "cutting them off like slices of salami."[2] By portraying his opponents as fascists (or at the very least fascist sympathizers), he was able to get the opposition to slice off its right wing, then its centrists, then the more courageous left wingers, until only those fellow travelers willing to collaborate with the Communists remained in power.

And we can't forget how the Eastern European Communist regimes were officially "multi-party coalitions" all of people who supported Communist. And I'm sure many of them felt Stalin was preferable to Hitler...
1. commodious rebrands 8 years ago
  
  Salami tactics. I remember one of you reprobates mentioned never having seen the series, and this is just one of many reasons why you should.
2. Derpetologist 8 years ago
  
  The book Not a Shot Fired explains this as well.
commodious rebrands 8 years ago

Whoever set up us the bomb the Steam community, I sent you a friend request.
1. Raven Nation 8 years ago
  
  I'm blind: I couldn't find the request button.
  
  Hmm, does one need to be a Steam member to get that?
  1. Sir Digby Chicken Caesar 8 years ago
    
    Well, since it's being brought up here, I want in on the Steam invitation, too.
    
    So, hurry up and invite me, dammit!!
    1. Sir Digby Chicken Caesar 8 years ago
      
      OK, disregard, as I got an invite.
Password: pode$ta 8 years ago

McInnes's take on the NYU... thing...
1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
  
  So vile. So loathsome.
2. John Titor 8 years ago
  
  Holy shit, 5:22 afterward is hilarious.
  1. GILMORE? 8 years ago
    
    Seconded. I would say "after 4:50".
3. Ted S. 8 years ago
  
  Can't people do print blogs any more? It would be so much easier to read the comments than to sit through a video.
  1. GILMORE? 8 years ago
    
    I still subscribe (via RSS) to McInnes blog @ taki. I haven't read it in about a year. he's actually a pretty funny writer. Its hard to believe that the early years of Vice was actually far more like "him" than it was like Shane Smith (which is what it is now)
Winston 8 years ago

Oh and speaking of fascists it seems pretty clear that one the main reasons (drink!) that Mussolini and Hitler came to power was that they were able to claim that they were the only ones willing to stand up to Communist thugs. So yes the possibility of rampant political violence is quite frightening...
1. Lee wishes he made the list... 8 years ago
  
  This. Over and over. Collectivists engaging in violence against each other is not a good thing for anyone. Whoever wins, we all lose.
PapayaSF 8 years ago

Bwahahaha!
Winston 8 years ago

So alliances. The big problem with libertarians allying with other groups is that they do not have the numbers, organization, clout or thuggishness to manipulate the situation to their benefit.

For example could a bunch of libertarians ally with the anti-Trump left to oppose his emigration order and create a crypto-libertarian front group that would promote libertarianish immigration, criminal justice, healthcare and regulatory reform?
1. american socialist 8 years ago
  
  I don't understand this whole team up with left thing (who ya fighting exactly?). Lefties will dump libertarians as soon as they get power.
  
  Their one consistent principle is they should have power
  1. Winston 8 years ago
    
    Allying with the Anti-Trump left will work out as well as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
    1. Libertymike 8 years ago
      
      Oh yeah, easy for you to say because you didn't live in Warsaw.
      1. Winston 8 years ago
        
        Worked Well for Stalin in the end. Also he made another alliance of convenience with Churchill and Roosevelt which then lead to the Cold War....
Derpetologist 8 years ago

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert and UCB alum, says he will no longer donate.
1. Password: pode$ta 8 years ago
  
  I wonder how long it is before Adams comes out as a partisan (if only a partisan for Team Trump).
  
  He says (frequently in hilarious ways) that he's not partisan but just supports one side or the other for 'personal safety' or 'persuasion.' But he only attacks one side. The way he does it suggests that he's pretty much chosen a side, but wants to keep a thin veneer of non-partisanship for purely rhetorical/defensive purposes, which fits perfectly with his whole persona.
  1. Password: pode$ta 8 years ago
    
    To finish that open-ended thought, him coming out as a partisan would potentially massively boost/shift his career, something he talks about all the time. It's just a question of timing.
  2. The Fusionist 8 years ago
    
    "shy Trump supporter"
2. Juice 8 years ago
  
  #Hitler
3. Episteme 8 years ago
  
  To be fair, as a Berkeley alum, I also don't donate. But that's mostly because because I'm poor and unemployed.
sssbobbyr 8 years ago

Ok, I am there. Can any one share where the new place is for the libertarians to go.
1. AlmightyJB 8 years ago
  
  Does it matter? Really?
  1. sssbobbyr 8 years ago
    
    Been a lurker rarely comment for about 12 years. I have begun looking back at what truly interested me about the commentariat from way back then and feel like the frog in the pot. Something has changed and I didn't really notice. Maybe it is just feeling guilty from all the schadenfreud lately.
    1. AlmightyJB 8 years ago
      
      I get that. Seems like a weird transitional thing going on. Be interesting to see where it goes.
2. SIV 8 years ago
  
  Barricade the comments and fight the fascist globalist editors.
3. Episteme 8 years ago
  
  To hell?
Derpetologist 8 years ago

SNL attempts comedy; result is as funny is a burning orphanage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZOF9q5fzfs

The audience cheering for Mugabe was a nice bit of bathos.
1. The Fusionist 8 years ago
  
  "SNL attempts comedy"
  
  I thought they'd stopped doing that. Too risky.
  1. AlmightyJB 8 years ago
    
    What do you mean stopped. The whole SNL was funny back in the day is a huge myth. It was never funny. Some of the cast like Belushi, Ackroyd, and Murphy were funny but most of their skits on that show sucked. You might get one or two funny skits in 90 minutes. Lot's of good musicians though.
    1. Ted S. 8 years ago
      
      Apostrophe abuse is even worse than anything the server squirrels do.
    2. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
      
      I dunno, a while back I watched Best of John Belushi SNL and Best of Dan Akroyd SNL and the skits were pretty funny. Some ran on a bit long and some clearly depended on running gags, but were overall funny.
      
      Then I watched Best of Christopher Walken SNL and I was embarrassed for everyone. Certainly not Walken's fault, unless it was the way he effortlessly outclassed the whole cast whatever he was in. Only sketches that were remotely funny were The Continental, which is a one-note gag but, because it's a monologue, he pulls it off.
      1. The Fusionist 8 years ago
        
        How do they keep that program on the air for so many decades? Do they have pictures of the studio executives in flagrante delicto with farm animals? Or wearing MAGA hats?
      2. mr simple 8 years ago
        
        Sure best of the heavyweights are going to be funny. But that's their best sketches. They showed the episode with Carrie Fisher right after she died and it was pretty painful overall.
2. Derpetologist 8 years ago
  
  *as funny as
3. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
  
  The uploader has not made this video available in your country.
  
  Canada wins again!
  1. BakedPenguin 8 years ago
    
    I got fiddy cents for a loony. Win that, Canadia boy. Also, this.
    1. BakedPenguin 8 years ago
      
      Although you're right about not having to ever see SNL. Trailer Park Boys at it's worst is a vast improvement.
      1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
        
        Serious talk, TPB is downright subversive by Canadian standards.
        
        Not only do they have shitloads of pistols (restricted weapon), they don't do welfare and refuse to use the health care system. I lost my shit when they demanded to just fucking pay in cash instead of presenting the care card (or whatever their equivalent is called).
        
        BakedPenguin 8 years ago
        
        Damn Maritimers. Halifax privilege.
        
        BakedPenguin 8 years ago
        
        Shit - sqrrls ate my add'l post.
        
        I wondered about the whole guns thing on TPB, and a similar show from Aus called Housos. (TPB with an Oz accent - they even call their community Sunnyvale.)
The Fusionist 8 years ago

Democrat Congresswoman Calls the Berkeley Riot 'A Beautiful Sight'
1. Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
  
  She's black, so you're a racist.
2. Winston 8 years ago
  
  Future Reason contributor?
AlmightyJB 8 years ago

I think it was Belichek that performed the Satanic Ritual during the halftime show.
AlmightyJB 8 years ago

Was this Spencer tweet common knowledge.? Seems like the only time I ever hear about the dbag is in articles here. If a racist talks and no one reports on it does he even exist?
1. Shinin' Pete 8 years ago
  
  Apparently he manages to irritate the Reason staff. If Richard Spencer didn't exist, we'd have to invent him.
american socialist 8 years ago

I thought super bowl was ok for most part except for the dishonest and self righteous audi commercial
Winston 8 years ago

So what happened to all those women that Trump molested? Have we heard anymore from them? Is the MSM shameless enough to throw these women under the bus because Trump won or was it nonsense on stilts? I mean ignoring something like that, especially if true, doesn't strike me as their typical MO for Republican scandals.
1. AlmightyJB 8 years ago
  
  I especially felt bad for the one he raped on a commercial flight in first class while sitting directly across from other passengers. No justice I tell ya.
2. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
  
  They all got gay converted by VP Pence.
  1. AlmightyJB 8 years ago
    
    Mike Pence will make a woman gay in hearbeat for sure.
  2. Episteme 8 years ago
    
    Pence's reverse-gay dancing will make a lady straight for Trump!
AlmightyJB 8 years ago

The only politicization I saw was in the media spin afterward. As is typical.
1. DenverJ 8 years ago
  
  What? Really? Trump interfering so that the whitest team in the NFL beats a team from the Old Confederacy? Seriously? It's like, politics everywhere up in here!
PapayaSF 8 years ago

What "racial equity" can do to a school district. It turns out that excusing and making it difficult to punish bad behavior actually increases bad behavior! Who'd a thunk it?
1. Brochettaward 8 years ago
  
  They learned that...lack of punctuality [is a] black cultural trait and that what may seem to be defiant student behavior is, in fact, just a culturally conditioned expression of "enthusiasm."
  
  Nothing needs to be said.
2. Brochettaward 8 years ago
  
  I've had to deal with a number of progs who cite these bullshit studies. The social sciences really are a bad fucking joke. But more importantly, there's no better argument than the one presented in this article for gutting the Department of Education. Just fucking end it.
  
  In 2014, a groundbreaking study in the Journal of Criminal Justice by J. P. Wright and others discredited both these claims. The study utilized the largest sample of school-aged children in the nation. Unlike almost all previous studies, it controlled for individual differences in student behavior over time. Using this rigorous methodology, the authors concluded that teacher bias plays no role in the racial-equity suspension gap, which, they determined, is "completely accounted for by a measure of the prior problem behavior of the student." Racial differentials in suspension rates, they found, appeared to be "a function of differences in problem behaviors that emerge early in life, that remain relatively stable over time, and that materialize in the classroom."...The authors point out that, while a number of earlier studies have suggested pervasive teacher bias as a factor in the racial-equity discipline gap, "some scholars and activists" show "clear motivations" to present the discipline gap as a civil rights issue, "with all the corresponding threats of litigation by the federal government."
Winston 8 years ago

I've compared Reason to Der Morgen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Morgen

Der Morgen was the central organ of the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany

You know one of those parties in East Germany's anti-fascist "coalition" government.

With Robby and Dalmia Reason is already filled with fellow travelers.
IceTrey 8 years ago

Gaga was political she sang "This Land is Your Land" and "Bad Romance" is one huge Satanic ritual.
GILMORE? 8 years ago

Nick should let someone else do "hosting" the podcasts, and just provide commentary. He's just not good at it. He sounds like he's reading from set of corporate-meeting-minutes.

Kmele is good @ it w/ the 5th column. He sounds interested and prods the others to talk. Nick sounds like a substitute teacher.
1. Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker 8 years ago
  
  Nick's nose whistles too.
GILMORE? 8 years ago

AB-InBev, despite being Hq'd in Belgium, Nick (et al)... is really best thought of as a Brazilian company.

AmBev (brazilian) took over InBev (belgian) and then took over AB ('murcan) in order to get the 50% of Modelo (Mexican) that they really wanted.
1. Ted S. 8 years ago
  
  It's all beer. Get back to me when they start selling good alcohol.
  1. GILMORE? 8 years ago
    
    It's all beer.
    
    Even that is debatable.
    
    I was actually posting that because during the podcast they were confused about the current American-ness status of Budweiser. Nick seemed to want to go with "belgian"
dajjal 8 years ago

AGAIN ANOTHER STORY FAILING TO COVER TERRIST ATTACKS REASON SUCKS IM LEAVING AND NOT COMING BACK
1. Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
  
  Please do
dajjal 8 years ago

OK IM BACK NEXT STORY BETTER BE ON TERRIST ATTACKS OR IM LEAVING 4 REALZ
dajjal 8 years ago

REASON WRITERS LOVE VIOLENCE WERE FIGHTIN N DYIN FOR THEIR SINS
1. Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
  
  Your just mad that you made yourself look stupid.
  1. Sevo 8 years ago
    
    It's a continuing process; stupid's on that cretin like stink's on shit.
  2. John Titor 8 years ago
    
    I think you're new, so I'll explain this for the millionth time...
    
    Don't feed dajjal or AddictionMyth. They're some idiot who comes on here to scream for attention non-stop. Either that, or they're mentally unbalanced.
    
    Regardless, engaging them is not healthy for any of the parties involved. Let them shriek into an empty room.
    1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
      
      At this point I want to believe that's Big Robby's or ENB's id, unleashed on retards in the comments.
    2. Tyler.C shikha loves violence 8 years ago
      
      Yeah, i'm kinda new, but even i know better then talking to those guys. Sometimes i just can't resist though. Like to make them feel stupid about themselves...
      1. Sevo 8 years ago
        
        If they don't know it before you point it out, they're not gonna learn from that.
GILMORE? 8 years ago

1) Nick = "Lady Gaga is proof of the libertarian moment"

2) "why are we freaking out about refugees?" he asks rhetorically, and proceeds to re-hash his silly "Zero fatal attacks"

"Because of what's happening in Europe" Matt manages to actually note, but then quickly says, "...its totally not the same thing"

Sure, but the fact its not the same thing doesn't matter as far as explaining why people are freaking out about it.

And no, Matt, there hasn't really been any big change in how the US thinks about refugees over the years.

what the US has done/hasn't done as far as taking in refugees over the years has always been pretty selective and self-serving. And its never been remotely indiscriminate, which is the fake ideal people are pretending is necessary.
1. Winston 8 years ago
  
  I love how Matt is saying that the refugees are causing trouble in Europe when before only racist redneck socon nativist alt-righters would dare suggest such a thing.
  1. Brochettaward 8 years ago
    
    Reason simply stopped covering it when it became evident that it harmed their narrative. The only story on refugees in Europe in some time was the bullshit about their being no rise in crime.
2. american socialist 8 years ago
  
  Yea using the fatalities is dishonest. And you look at risk going forward...not necessarily in past
  
  Trump should have done better rollout and took care of green card and immigrant visas
dajjal 8 years ago

WERE KILLIN 4 U LIB IDIOTS Y DON U APPRECIATE US
Suthenboy 8 years ago

"...others complained that pro-immigration TV commercials from Anheuser-Busch and 84 Lumber were spoiling the pleasure of seeing millionaires beat each other for the Vince Lombardi trophy."

I am not sure how to take that but this comes to mind:

Interesting comment earlier today: (paraphrased) The constant virtue signaling and Trump bashing tells us who these people really fear and it isnt Trump.

If being kicked out of the clique is what they fear then they have never really had to face fear.
1. american socialist 8 years ago
  
  Good point
  1. Suthenboy 8 years ago
    
    I cant take credit. I don't remember who made that comment or even if it was here at Reason. It was a Reason regular but I cant remember who.
dajjal 8 years ago

ITS A WAR N PEOPLE DIE N THAT INCLUDES OLD LADIES N LITTLE KIDS GET USE 2 IT
dajjal 8 years ago

TERRISTS GONNA KILL U ALL IF U DON BELIEVE IT U DON NO FEAR
1. dajjal 8 years ago
  
  N IM GONNA STAND BACK HERE N WATCH N LAFF LOLLLLLOLLLL
GILMORE? 8 years ago

*i am not conspiratorial

that said...

the next time anyone watches CNN clips on Youtube, listen to see what words experience sound-drop-outs / glitches

I know, it sounds tinfoil-hat shit. but over the last 2 weeks i've watched like 6 things and in almost every single one of them, there were 'drop-outs' in very specific parts of people's commentary. Glenn Greenwald being the most 'glitched'. I know, i know. But it just seemed way too coincidental.

completely different examples which both still make me laugh
1. Suthenboy 8 years ago
  
  It's not coincidental and you aren't nuts. I was where they were busted the other day editing Ari Fleisher's interview to completely reverse what the man meant to say. CNN has been busted doing this a number of times. Hell, they got busted colluding with the Hillary campaign essentially acting as an arm of her campaign. Apparently they do that shit all the time but they damned sure take umbrage with anyone who calls them out as liars. They do the same creative editing that The Daily Show and Katy Couric engage in. Apparently that is acceptable practice with their ilk.
  
  We have had at least one lefty troll here (Tony?) admit that truth means nothing, serving the narrative everything.
dajjal 8 years ago

MEDIA LYIN TO U MASIPUSATIN UR BRAIN WAKE UP SHEOPLE !!!11!!!!!11!!
Viking1865 8 years ago

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/.....er-leaked/

ATF official sends his resume to Chris Cox and Wayne LaPierre.
Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago

Gavin is onto something. At some point you just have to sigh and hit back - physically.

They're bullies and aren't interested in civil discourse. In the process, the more we turned the other cheek the more they got in your face. It's what rats do.

So I think the 'old time hockey' axiom applies here. Go John Ferguson or Stan Jonathan or Chris Nilan or Bob Probert or Jay Miller or Joey Kocur or whatever ON THEIR MOTHERFUCKEN ASSES.
1. The Fusionist 8 years ago
  
  If you mean "exercise one's legal right of self-defense to repel physical attacks," then I'd agree.
  
  I don't know if the hockey example is limited to self-defense.
2. Rufus The Monocled 8 years ago
  
  I DID IT TO SHOW OFF AND APPEAL TO THE HOCKEY NUTS HERE.
dajjal 8 years ago

JUS TRY IT U VIOLENCE LOVIN PEACENIK LIBS WELL SHOW U VIOLENCE
The Fusionist 8 years ago

It's official - History (or at least the professional association of historians) is against Trump
1. Rich 8 years ago
  
  AHA!
  1. The Fusionist 8 years ago
    
    Yeah, dumbest acronym ever, other than the Fraternal Order of Police.
  2. Winston 8 years ago
    
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914
    
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de2rBeWNgFo
Hihndication 8 years ago

Congrats on not feeding the troll today.
JayU 8 years ago

So I just read that the 84 Lumber commercial wasn't meant to be pro-immigration and that they actually support the wall.

What a bunch of morons. Nobody could've taken that out of that commercial.
1. Suthenboy 8 years ago
  
  The dunces made a U-turn because it suddenly occurred to them that they were cutting off their nose. Wall building requires a lot of lumber...
  
  They got their signaling in, now lets see if they get any contracts.
  1. Chip Your Pets 8 years ago
    
    The border wall is going to be made of wood now? That doesn't seem like a good idea.
    
    Sounds more like they are trying to backtrack now that they've pissed off Middle America which provides a huge chunk of their business, if not most of it.
    1. Suthenboy 8 years ago
      
      "The wall is going to be made of wood now?"
      
      Have you ever built anything? I am not being ugly, but even a concrete structure requires large amounts of lumber.
2. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
  
  I propose that the message of commercial was "We'll sell weapons to both sides of Culture War. Because we like money, and also child labor."
  1. John Titor 8 years ago
    
    Well, that's how you get libertarian support at least.
3. Chip Your Pets 8 years ago
  
  No shit. Even if that was the producer's idea, a single focus group test would have shown that there were going to be problems. I can't possibly believe that they didn't focus group such an expensive commercial before airing.
  
  In an attempt to allay criticism from conservatives, the company's owner is saying she voted for Trump and supports the wall. Oops. Now leftists are calling for a boycott on them.
  
  She really is clueless.
Rich 8 years ago

Transgender murderer moved from women's prison 'after having sex with female inmates'

'The women want sex and Paris is the only person who can give it to them.'

This modern world!
1. Suthenboy 8 years ago
  
  Who could have seen that coming?
  1. Suthenboy 8 years ago
    
    A perfect pun wasted on you people.
2. Juice 8 years ago
  
  okie dokie
3. Rich 8 years ago
  
  Some of the comments here are downright disgusting! I am ashamed to admit that you are humans! Do the world a favour and kill yourselves! Get rid of your ignorance!!
  1. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
    
    Stop stalking Robby!
4. The Fusionist 8 years ago
  
  So counterintuitive.
5. Pan Zagloba 8 years ago
  
  Does Scotland not have Netflix?
6. GILMORE? 8 years ago
  
  'The women want sex and Paris is the only person who can give it to them,' a source told
  
  I'm guessing (s)he won't be any less-popular in the men's wing.
7. JayU 8 years ago
  
  How do you only get 18 years for torturing and killing a person?
  
  That should be a life sentence without parole.
  1. Heroic Mulatto 8 years ago
    
    Maybe the victim was an asshole.
    1. GILMORE? 8 years ago
      
      Well, to be fair, they had a good reason!
      
      it was an argument over a bag of potato chips
      
      *technically 'chips' in UK english is french fries, and actual potato chips are 'crisps'. but this is scotland, which means all bets are off and it could very well mean anything.
Crusty Juggler - #2 8 years ago

President Donald John Trump's twitter feed is something else.
Winston 8 years ago

So people were talking about Soccer and promotion and relegation. From what I can gather it seems promotion and relegation was created by accident.

The top pro soccer clubs in England created the Football League in 1888. The Bottom Four teams were required to be re-elected and this was usually a formality. In 1889 a rival league was formed call the Football Alliance. In 1892 the two leagues merged and most of the Alliance teams were placed in a Second Division. The Top Teams in the Second Division and the bottom teams in the First Division would play games to determine who would be promoted and relegated. However when two teams rigged one of these games in 1898 this promotion and relegation was made automatic the next season. By the 1950s the Football League had Four Divisions all with promotion and relegation between them and the bottom four teams in Fourth Division requiring re-election.

In the 1980s the system of re-election of the bottom teams, which was usually a formality was eliminated in favor of promotion and relegation with a lower league. However these teams are required to meet certain financial and stadia requirements. Eventually the entire English soccer system was arranged so that in theory the lowest ranked team can reach the Premier League (formed by the Division One Football League teams in 1992).
Winston 8 years ago

By the way "Soccer" is in fact an English term referring to how it is the sport played by the Football Association.
Winston 8 years ago

However American and Canadian sports leagues developed differently because of the cost of travel. And in the days before TV you made your money at your stadiums so you really needed people to come to the games in order to pay the cost of those railroad trips. And you needed teams willing to spend the money to take those trips. For example in the very first National League season the New York and Philadelphia teams refused to make a trip the Midwest and were expelled.

By the 1950s thanks to airplanes transcontinental trips were a lot easier so sports leagues began to expand outside of the Northeast. Population shifts also meant more fans for those new teams.

And teams moving is nothing new but the rise of taxpayer funded stadiums has exacerbated this tendency. And until the Cleveland Browns moving to Baltimore there weren't enough fans to cause trouble when these moves did happen...
BakedPenguin 8 years ago

For no reason: To LA H&R-pees: Still in Hollywood
SIV 8 years ago

Feelin' So Good
SIV 8 years ago

The Chesterfield Kings
Richard Speck
SIV 8 years ago

Suicide

Cheree
PapayaSF 8 years ago

Is David Brock's Super PAC Engaged In A Fraudulent Payroll Scheme?
SIV 8 years ago

Charlie Pickett & The Eggs

Phantom Train

context
SIV 8 years ago

Cutty Ranks

Undertaker
1. GILMORE? 8 years ago
  
  You got me with that one.
  
  I love those 90s dancehall tracks that sound like they were produced w/ a casio keyboard but have unbelievably catchy vocal hooks.
  1. Butts Wagner 8 years ago
    
    GILMORE's Friday
    1. Butts Wagner 8 years ago
      
      More realistic
      1. GILMORE? 8 years ago
        
        no, both of those were way outside my happy-place
        
        Butts Wagner 8 years ago
        
        ouch
        
        GILMORE? 8 years ago
        
        that was interesting.
Chip Your Pets 8 years ago

Surprise, surprise. Reason (along with the MSM) is falsely labeling the list as a "list of terror attacks which [the White House] believes didn't get enough press coverage", when it was intended as a plain list of terror attacks -- most of which indeed didn't get any coverage in US media.

From that famously right-wing news outlet, the Washington Post:

The list, which includes domestic and overseas incidents, starts in September 2014. It includes some very heavily covered news events, including last year's attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and the series of attacks in Paris in 2015.

But the White House asserted that most of incidents on the list were under-covered by Western media sources...

Later Monday, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said that "the real point here is that these terrorists attacks are so pervasive at this point that they do not spark the wall-to-wall coverage they once did."

"If you look back just a few years ago, any one of these attacks would have been ubiquitous in every news outlet, and now they're happening so often ? at a rate of more than once every two weeks, according to the list we sent around ? that networks are not devoting to each of them the same level of coverage they once did," she said.
1. GILMORE? 8 years ago
  
  a "list of terror attacks which [the White House] believes didn't get enough press coverage"
  
  the headlines i've seen (i admit i haven't read many stories) suggested that Trump et al were saying that the MSM were HIDING/Ignoring terror attacks that had previously happened
  
  e.g.
  Trump claims media are ignoring terrorism - USA Today
  InfoWars is behind President Trump's idea that the media is covering up terrorist attacks - WaPo
  Trump's unsupported claim that terrorist acts ignored by media - Trib
  
  Notable - the NYT actually goes 'softer' and doesn't try to make 'ignored/hiding/covering up' claims, and just goes with "play down" (minimize)
  
  Trump Says Journalists 'Have Their Reasons' to Play Down Terror Threat
  
  something i've noted more than once before: NYT decides to play it 'straight(er)' than WaPo
  1. one true athena 8 years ago
    
    Local news here, at least, said very primly that they did too cover the attacks quite thoroughly thankyouverymuch. Which granted, this is Los Angeles, so they did cover San Bernardino quite a bit more than I imagine media outside the area did, just like I would think Orlando had more coverage locally than we got here, which tended more to the "local gay community shows solidarity with Orlando" after the first day or two. But my point is, they understood Trump's complaint to be amount of coverage, not concealing attacks. So I don't know if that's due to White House correction by that point, or they were just smarter about figuring out what he was trying to say, but at least they translated that much of it.
  2. PapayaSF 8 years ago
    
    Is this Trump playing 4D chess?
    
    1. Claim media doesn't cover terror attacks.
    
    2. Media responds by listing all their terror attack coverage.
    
    3. Public thinks: "Huh, maybe that travel ban is a good idea...."
    1. GILMORE? 8 years ago
      
      i think when its trump, its technically 'checkers', and yes, they're probably doing his job for him.
kovofohaf 8 years ago

My last month paycheck was for 11000 dollars... All i did was simple online work from comfort at home for 3-4 hours/day that I got from this agency I discovered over the internet and they paid me for it 95 bucks every hour... This is what I do

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Alan Vanneman 8 years ago

This was as about exciting as a Reason Podcast. Oh wait.

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