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The main problem is if we do take down Trump, we're stuck with President Pence.

Brabants Dagblad and De Telegraaf.

No, no it's cool. As long as Trump is engaging in useless twitter wars, it keeps his thumbs away from the nuke buttons.

Or he nukes NYC because SNL hurts his feelings.

I hate this new conspiracy theory that Pence and Trump somehow planned this. It lets the media off the hook too easily, portraying them as manipulated victims rather than the pea-brained, scandal-chasing parasites they've become.

The media created Donald Trump. He didn't need to trick them into doing it, and frankly I doubt he's capable of thinking far enough ahead to do that (though Pence might be, but Pence wasn't a factor for the first half of the campaign.) They don't need to be "tricked" into covering only the most trivial parts of his political career; they've been intentionally doing that for the past year already. They didn't need Trump to "trick" them into treating Hillary's emails as the worst catastrophe since 9/11 while treating Trump's history of incompetence and racism with kid gloves. They continue to act like this is a reality show and we need to start holding them accountable for it.

Yeah, I suspect Trump is not nearly smart enough to have planned this. The thing is, this incident is worth paying attention to. Trumpie's gonna spend the next four (god willing) years coming down hard on dissenting speech.

It's a remarkable fact about Donald Trump that he seems to care an awful lot about what people think of him. He's personally responding to a comedian poking fun at him on late night TV, for example. That's a powerful thing, to be able to manipulate him that way. For what it is worth, Don's third rail is his businesses and wealth. Gentlemen, put on your waders and cast bait!

He's a textbook case of an extreme narcissistic personality disorder. He thinks everyone poorer or less powerful than him are scum, but he NEEDS that very same scum to love him unconditionally.

As we saw with the Gold Star parents, and Putin, he's very easy to manipulate. Criticize and he attacks. Praise him and he'll refuse to attack, because that invalidates the praise given.

Xeno: I don't think Trump/Pence -have to- plan this sort of thing, but I do think the GOP machinery and their masters have the precise sort of nous to let him off the chain at opportune times and stage manage it.

I mean when even the NYT posts the Hamilton non-story front page and the Trump U story beneath the fold, it's hard not to see that as some level of manipulative fuckery.

It's also worth not underestimating what a talent he has for grifting, much of which is shell-game-confidence-tricks and distraction. People constantly attacked his bankruptcies etc as signs that he was a poor businessman, that's true if you're an ethical sort, but his fans saw that as 'smart' rather than moral and this is why none of that sort of critique mattered ultimately.

This will be just like Berlusconi all over again IMHO, 'Teflon Donald' (as they'll no doubt start calling him at some point if they haven't already) will continue being constantly assailed by lurid stories of his thin-skinned ranting, unpresidential behaviour and impropriety, dropped at just the right time to avert eyes from the real story whether it be tax evasion, violating the constitution, taking kickbacks from foreign leaders, selling chemical agents to the saudis, abusing NSA spying apparatus etc etc etc. Whether this is the result of his manic profligacy or deep strategising won't make one bit of difference to the outcome.

It will be the con-game behavioural equivalent of the 'gish gallop' and the desperately hungry 24 hour American news cycle will eat it right up like they've been doing throughout his entire presidential campaign.

By the end of his term everyone will be asking 'how did he get away with it for so long?'.

100% agreed on holding the press accountable too though.

"You're only in there because the privileged assholes who run the Electoral College wanted another privileged asshole in the Oval Office."

The Electoral College hasn't even weighed in yet. Trump and Pence are in there because a hell of a lot of white people either prefer straight-up racism or are untroubled by it. Trump / Pence is not some trick pulled upon the voters, they're a mirror held up to the voters.

Are you actually trying to tell us Trump won neither the popular vote nor the Electoral votes?

If that's the case, then what the fuck are we worried about? He's not President-elect.

They're in there because of self centered protest voters (and voter suppression laws).

I blame the people who voted for Trump.

"Are you actually trying to tell us Trump won neither the popular vote nor the Electoral votes?"

No, I am saying that this ...

"You're only in there because the privileged assholes who run the Electoral College wanted another privileged asshole in the Oval Office."

... doesn't seem to hold up. Who exactly are these privileged assholes who run the Electoral College? Because they're not the ones who gave Trump (presumptive) Electoral College majorities; that honor goes to the public.

Republican gerrymandering should get a lot of credit too

Except the public picked Hillary...at least the ones who were able to and did vote.

The majority of voters chose Clinton. The Electoral College chose Trump.

I was saying "boo-ence."

Hey, it's not Trump's fault that it's okay to demean and harass minority college students on campus while they're trying to focus on their education and it's totally not okay to mock a homophobic White man.

That's just the way the world turned out.

Hey John, what are your thoughts on all the death threats and online harassment of Donald J Trump? Is this evidence that internet people are dangerous manchildren and the FBI needs to crack down heavily on free speech - which, let's be honest here, people are given way too much of these days? "The internet is the Wild West, needs to be civilized" and all that.

>>Hey John, what are your thoughts on all the death threats and online harassment of Donald J Trump?

Don't feed the troll.

Back in the 80s, I knew a guy who said something in a public place about how Reagan ought to be shot, and he was held for interrogation by the secret service for three days, and it fucked up his head so much that he literally had to be talked down from a ledge. Seriously, do not feed the fucking troll.

Incidentally, I'm not necessarily in favor of Mike Pence being harassed at the theater, if that's what actually happened. Mostly, though, I'm amazed that the alt right and it's allies, who made FUCK YOUR FEELINGS into a T shirt slogan, are turning into such delicate little snowflakes upon gaining power.

Hey Homer, what are your thoughts on Steven Universe?

Yeah, I don't like feel bad for Pence or anything, but he got booed publicly at what is essentially a private event. Like if I had to make a stop in Eastern (Trump Country) Oregon at an Arby's wearing a Hillary shirt, getting gloated upon : right now I'm not a Democrat, right now I'm choking down a Smokehouse Turkey and tried up curly fries that look like ancient toenails.

It's not "a troll" to ask you for your opinion on a matter which you have spoken up about, repeatedly and very strongly, in the past. I am curious as to whether your thoughts on cyber-bullying, "death threats", and internet freedom in general have changed, and if so, why?

My theory: your views HAVE changed. They have changed because, now, people whom you perceive as 'enemies' are in a position of authority, and for obvious reasons, you do not want *them* to have the power to silence *you*.

It is my theory that you were never actually concerned about the principles underlying censorship policies; rather, you thought that you had a way of "scoring points" against a hated rival, and that is where your concern ended. Remove the Machiavellian self-interest from censorship policies, and suddenly, top-down policing against online harassment doesn't sound like such a great idea! This is quite obvious given that, still two solid months from the start of our glorious Trump presidency, you and a great many other people are beginning to passionately argue the other side - and forgive me for gloating here, John, but "I told ya so."

When I say "Don't feed the troll". I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about Trump.

My position doesn't change here, but I have different reasons, because its a different situation. Trump isn't vulnerable like the typical target of harassment, but there's a whole lot of different reasons not to pull this shit, It plays into his hands. It's potentially self-destructive.

>>It is my theory that you were never actually concerned about the principles underlying censorship policies;

Homer knows my position, this is for the lurkers.

You're right. I'm not interested in censorship, I'm interested in editing. Censorship is when someone uses political power to control your publication Editing is when everyone controls their own publication .

Censorship from without usually aims to create uniform standards. Editing from within creates a diversity of standards, because everybody sets their own standards. Safe spaces and dangerous spaces, a space for everybody.

This is an established legal principle, enshrined in the constitution as freedom of the press. It's the way it is. I have the right to disable comments on my video, and the proof of that is that I have the right to disable comments on my video.

Since someone else asked me this today, I thought I would go ahead and mention that it is completely irrelevant that there are death threats against the orange jizzstain who accidentally won an election. Because EVERY president-elect gets a ton of death threats. Every time, no matter who it is. That's why we have this thing called the Secret Service. He'll be fine.

I'm more concerned with the many, many more death threats being made by Trump supporters against minorities and activists. None of those people have a government agency watching their backs.

Most of the play is just them saying "Alexander Hamilton" over and over. Also the play is about a foreigner who wanted to regulate the economy what made Pence think he would enjoy that?

For the life of me I can't see why it's so popular.. I haven't seen it but it might as well be about Benjamin Harrison. Put in anachronistic hip hop? That's not new: modern Shakespeare companies have been doing it since rap's transition to mainstream (white) acceptance sometime in the mid-80s. But here we are.. stuck with an otherwise shitty soundtrack that falls into that "showtune" routine, something that plagues most BIG musicals, but doesn't effect the genre as a whole (see Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hair..) I dunno.. I guess if you get to brag about selling your firstborn into homoerotic servitude for tickets back in the 2nd balcony, then it was all worth while.

People who never otherwise would mention the subject (theatre) will tell me about this play and going to see it. I had no idea until recently just how expensive the tickets were: you'd think they were running a brothel. From what I can tell it's mostly well off white liberals trying to buy some ethnic bonafides. Like the "its a small world" ride at disney land but Washington raps and breakdances. And you feel good because you can connect with the Coloreds. Hamilton! Hamilton! Break it down...

I heard a bunch of the songs on some horrible Jeffrey Brown vehicle, and they were well crafted and professional to be sure, but unmemorable. I couldn't pick one out of a police lineup. I feel bad being hard on the thing, a lot of talented people were involved and any success in the theatre I would applaud. But what I saw of it just left me flat.

>>> I haven't seen it but it might as well be about Benjamin Harrison. Put in anachronistic hip hop? That's not new: modern Shakespeare companies have been doing it since rap's transition to mainstream (white) acceptance sometime in the mid-80s.

What if it's good? That would be new.

I've never heard anything from Hamilton, but I've seen unrelated rapping by Lin-Manuel Miranda a couple of times, and I think he's kind of wonderful.

You can listen to the whole soundtrack on Youtube, and formulate your own opinion. I guess listen to it and imagine some fly moves, complete with lines like, and I quote,

"I'm John Lawrence in the place to be,
2 pints of Sam Adams and I'm working on three,.."

pass-a-dena for Zest.

heeheehee

Cockoholism is no laughing matter.

He still deludes himself into thinking he can just go to a musical, you know, to test himself and his newfound resolve:

"just one musical, where's the harm?"

before he knows it he's been on grindr for a week, methed out of his gourd and back in the sex swing, begging to be called piggy with a gloved, crisco-covered hand punching his sigmoid colon.

The bathtub full of the piss and cum of strangers stares at him accusingly.