Auspol February 2017 - Choo choose your candidates wisely..

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Auspol February 2017 - Choo choose your candidates wisely..

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Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

open24hours posted:

This reads like fanfiction, but still, lol.

Given how Trump has publicly treated NATO / European allies it sounds entirely plausible to me.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2017 01:48

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 11:33

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

ewe2 posted:

Americans are loving stupid. All that noise and BS about freedom and they choose a demagogue who'll poo poo on the rights of 50% of the planet just because he can.

The SCOTUS pick puts Democrats in a bind because while they can certainly contest it (under the arcane rules of cloture), he's likely to be a Scalia replacement (actually considered to the RIGHT of Scalia), and maybe pick another battle or risk the Republicans going nuclear again, tearing up the rules and just flat-out ignoring the Democrats from now on. And there's roughly 5 Democrats in red states, but a whole bunch more who are extremely blue and will want to fight it just so they have a shot at the nomination down the road. But all this pales against a lunatic with enablers who is doing 5 crazy things a day.

Opposing the SCOTUS pick is going to be difficult for them because unlike most of Trump's cabinet he's clearly qualified on paper and doesn't have any obvious red flags (so far). He's the kinda of judge that literally any Republican president in 2017 might pick.

Which means Trump had very little to do with it outside of just listening to Sessions.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2017 07:20

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

Daily Mail saying he founded a political club called Fascism Forever! When he was in school. He also chose the 'the illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional etc.' Kissinger quote for his yearbook. Pretty big red flags.

It's why I said "so far".

I'm waiting until someone other than the Daily Mail picks up on it though.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2017 07:26

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

I really hope they do oppose him but given how they've caved on loving crazy poo poo like Carson or DeVos I don't hold much hope. It's difficult for them because they're way too tied to the idea of looking respectable and sensible and bipartisan.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2017 08:42

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Solemn Sloth posted:

If the democrats can't manage to win back congress with two years of trump under their belt they should just log off and walk into the ocean.

The Senate is an uphill battle because it's the people who were re-elected alongside Obama's win in 2012, and the House is gerrymandered to hell.

On the other hand Trump is a hell of a target to run against.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2017 08:53

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Solemn Sloth posted:

Yeah I recognise it's a uphill battle but seriously, if not now, when?

I'm just pessimistic about this.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2017 09:02

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Education is a service industry you can "export".

E: This is obviously different to sending industries offshore.

Doctor Spaceman fucked around with this message at 12:59 on Feb 2, 2017

# ¿ Feb 2, 2017 12:47

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

So the WH Press Secretary thinks we are lead by Prime Minister Trum(p)bull.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2017 23:21

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

norp posted:

how do they think a 2% flat tax will pay for anything? That's less than the Medicare budget.

They think that the government will have to spend less on things. If you're paying a public servant 100k but they're giving 25k back in tax, why not just give them 75k tax free? Congrats, you just reduced the size of government by 25k.

I had a look at their 1998 version of the proposal and it has some hilariously huge errors, like getting the amount public sector remuneration costs the government wrong by tens of billions.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2017 03:20

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

https://twitter.com/GhostWhoVotes/status/828201794740162561

https://twitter.com/GhostWhoVotes/status/828201292753362944

# ¿ Feb 5, 2017 14:36

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Short of another DD (and I can't see anyone choosing to go down that road again soon) Bernardi's going to be around for at least another 5 years, so there's plenty of time for him to get into awkward cross-bench negotiations with his former colleges.

# ¿ Feb 6, 2017 02:44

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

https://twitter.com/vesselskirt/status/828394685907374080

# ¿ Feb 6, 2017 03:11

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

https://twitter.com/Tim_Beshara/status/828385251516772352

# ¿ Feb 6, 2017 08:00

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Comstar posted:

What? I don't get it.

wear the white women at

# ¿ Feb 6, 2017 09:34

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

ewe2 posted:

Ok, so Daisy Cousens is funnier than Rowan Dean. Should I be worried?

There are deaf mutes who are funnier than Rowan Dean, it's not a high bar to clear.

# ¿ Feb 6, 2017 13:35

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

Why don't labor call a vote on it?

Someone will, at some point. The last parliament had half a dozen private member's bills on the matter.

# ¿ Feb 6, 2017 15:55

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

https://twitter.com/murpharoo/status/828700511876419585

# ¿ Feb 6, 2017 22:13

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

AgentF posted:

This is loving outrageous. When a major newspaper runs a front page like this, its bias should be screamingly obvious for all to see and remember forever. The outrage that someone would leave the beloved LNP, literally photoshopping him as a rat (the Slipper treatment) and blasting him with a quoted-but-unsourced "unscrupulous and disloyal" that probably came from the editor than an actual source.

It's sourced later in the article

quote:

Assistant Minister to the Treasurer Michael Sukkar, a senior member of the party�s Right faction and a friend of Mr Bernardi, said any defection would be �unscrupulous and disloyal�.

�Cory was elected six months ago on the Liberal party ticket for the six-year term in Parliament,� he said.

�I don�t believe Cory could now be so unscrupulous and disloyal as to leave the party that has provided him with his seat in the Senate.�

# ¿ Feb 6, 2017 22:19

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Bernardi's going to announce his vanity project in the Senate in a few minutes (they're just going through some admin stuff).

It's on :twentyfour:

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 02:32

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Graic Gabtar posted:

It would be funny if he wasn't granted leave to address The Senate.

The administrivia is dragging tbh.

Yeah (to both).

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 02:40

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Cirofren posted:

Is Bernardi actually the man of integrity this paints him as? It fits with his stated reason for leaving but I really have trouble believing anyone calling homosexuality a slippery slope into bestiality is doing anything other than pandering. Have I got it wrong and this guy actually believes in democracy and is just a tosser about some issues?

He truly and deeply believes all the abominable poo poo he says.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 04:55

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

He's insanely self-centred and also fairly stupid, which leads him to be obsessed with ideological purity and to think he can be a leader for a movement that doesn't really exist.

The Monthly posted:

Cory is deluded,� says a Liberal Party colleague. �He is one of the least effective or important members of the parliamentary team. Cory is a person without any intellect, without any base, and he should really never have risen above the position of branch president. His right-wing macho-man act is just his way of looking as though he stands for something.�

quote:

Sinead, with whom [Cory] has two sons, aged ten and 12, says they have the perfect marriage because they�re �both in love with the same man�. �Cory obviously has this huge belief in himself � If you didn�t love a guy who was so in love with himself you�d have a lot of trouble living with Cory. Life � I don�t think he�d mind me saying this � it�s all about Cory. I am all about Cory, and he is all about Cory, so it makes it easy.�

quote:

Some of his moderate colleagues are caustic about Bernardi�s role in undermining Turnbull and others on the small �l� side. One colleague calls him �disloyal and treacherous�, while another says he spends more time attacking those in his own party than the others. Some colleagues privately blame him for circulating a �poo poo sheet� before the 2007 election implying that an unnamed Coalition minister was gay. Bernardi categorically denies he had anything to do with it, adding he�s a �convenient scapegoat for those on the Left�. He has maintained a poisonous feud with fellow South Australian Christopher Pyne, who signed him up to their local branch in the 1980s before they acrimoniously fell out.

He was sacked from the front bench by Malcolm Turnbull in 2009, after writing on his blog that the �wannabe� MP who had recruited him had told him during a golf game that he only ran as a Liberal because he lived in a Liberal seat. Bernardi refused Turnbull�s demand that he apologise to Pyne, and remains unrepentant today. �Why would I apologise for [writing] something that is true?

quote:

For a man who espouses �compassion, acceptance and personal integrity�, to quote his website, there�s also a pitiless quality to Bernardi. He calls asylum-seekers �welfare squatters� and condemned the government for flying survivors of the Christmas Island refugee boat disaster to Sydney to attend their loved ones� funerals.

�There�s plenty of Australians who miss out on going to funerals too because they can�t afford it,� he says, unmoved by the fact that the mourners included young children who had lost both parents. �It�s tragic,� he adds, stone-faced. The same steely tone is employed when he talks about the elder brother he hasn�t spoken to for a decade, although they see each other at the park when their sons play sport together. He won�t say why they fell out. When I ask if it saddens him, he replies: �You�re gonna say I�m cruel and heartless but no, it doesn�t � It�s just one of those things. I�m estranged from my brother. Big deal.�

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 05:07

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

tithin posted:

Did he do it? Or is he still sitting on the pot?

He's done it.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 05:20

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Frogfingers posted:

Bizarre that he likens himself to Trump when he clearly is just Australia's Ted Cruz. We already had a Trump, his name was Abbott and he was checked and now we're done with that poo poo. We've moved onto Australia's ~~Gob~~ Jeb: ~~Tumbles~~ Turnbull.

Palmer was our Trump, not Abbott.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 05:34

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

The Before Times posted:

absolutely. as far as I could tell, his supporters were very alt-right in their views and very anti-establishment.

Exactly. Trump's success comes down to getting a lot of free media attention and to being seen as being a political outsider. Palmer had those qualities, Abbott never did.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 05:58

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Seemlar posted:

Pretty funny that Bolt can't handle even the slightest pushback at all, though.

Not an empty quote.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 06:24

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Aurubin posted:

Is the Australian government always this fractious? I caught a bit of it with Rudd and then full force with Abbott/Turnbull but I figured those were anomalous.

The period since Rudd is the messiest it's been since the 70s/early 80s, in terms of internal government stability I think.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 06:36

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

You Am I posted:

Oh, I forgot the "Joh for PM" that completely derailed the Federal Liberals/Nationals and destroyed any chance of them winning the 1987 Federal election

National heroes.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 08:21

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

The PM is only meant to live at Kirribilli House when they are visiting Sydney.

Except Howard wanted house on the harbour so he moved in permanently.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2017 00:55

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Trump loves Russia, some of the old warhawks in the party don't though.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2017 22:46

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

thatfatkid posted:

Wow One Nation actually expressing a sensible opinion while the ALP guy acts like a child. What a time to be alive...

What sensible opinion was that?

# ¿ Feb 10, 2017 08:12

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

thatfatkid posted:

Not acting like a child and name calling the leader of one of the most powerful nations in the world?

She was civil, not sensible.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2017 08:20

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

thatfatkid posted:

So what exactly is the issue with what Hanson said about Putin? Or is it just Hanson said something therefore we must be outraged?

"Let he who has not invaded a country and shot down a passenger plane cast the first stone" is kinda dumb.

E: As is saying "sure Putin's done some things I disagree with but he's standing up for his country".

# ¿ Feb 10, 2017 08:25

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

thatfatkid posted:

So it's not the content of what was said, but who said it.

No, it was the content, specifically downplaying and handwaving away Putin's crimes.

thatfatkid posted:

So how exactly is Hanson wrong in saying that Putin is a strong leader that stands up for and does what's in the best interest of his nation?

Well he doesn't, for one.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2017 08:40

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

thatfatkid posted:

So Putin personally shot down a passenger jet because Russia discriminates against homosexuals?

quote:

What?

# ¿ Feb 10, 2017 08:46

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

thatfatkid posted:

She's obviously talking about Russia's interest's on the globabl geo-political scale, not domestically.

Hmm, yes, obviously.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2017 09:07

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Guess the author

quote:

Defenders of free speech have a special responsibility to drat cartoonist Larry Pickering for his despicable slurs of gays and Muslims.

And shame on all the conservatives and libertarians who did not howl him down when he said that while "I can't stand Muslims ... they are not all bad [because] they do chuck pillow-biters off buildings".

I am talking particularly about the Australian Liberty Alliance's Kiralee Smith, who was at the Q Society meeting last night where Pickering spoke after donating a picture of a woman in a niqab being raped by her son-law.

Why didn't Smith throw the foul picture in Pickering's face? Refuse to accept the money that was raised in auctioning it off for her legal expenses?

But, sadly, I am also distressed that my Sky News colleague Ross Cameron, the former Liberal MP, did not make a stand, either.

He spoke at the same Sydney meeting on the subject of free speech, and not only failed to condemn Pickering but said he admired him.

In his defence, though, Cameron spoke before Pickering did, and says he was out of the room when it was Pickerng's turn to comment. He has since criticised Pickering on Sky News.

But Cameron in his own speech cracked his own "jokes" about the "Sydney Morning Homosexual", adding: "The NSW division of the Liberal Party is basically a gay club. I don't mind that they are gay, I just wish, like Hadrian, they would build a wall."

He has apologised for those comments, insisting he meant nothing homophobic, although his crack about a wall struck me as very unpleasant indeed.

There will be some deeply misguided advocates of free speech - or confused told-you-so Leftists - who will say that condemning Pickering went exactly against what Cameron was there at the meeting to advocate and which I, too, also wish: free speech.

Didn't Cameron warn the crowd of exactly what I am doing now, telling them that too often debate is shut down by people who say "the person who doesn't agree with me is a bad, evil, bigoted, redneck, racist xenophobe".

Well, here is me saying Pickering's comments were indeed bad, bigoted, racist, xenophobic - and homophobic, too. And that any self-respecting audience should have booed him off the stage.

This is not at all a contradiction of my stand against laws limiting our free speech - laws that are absurdly restrictive and misused the shut down debate on the new racism.

No. The argument free speech crusaders make is that the public can be trusted to decide for themselves what may be said and what crosses the line.

Bad speech, we say, will be driven out by good speech, and there is no need to call the cops, the judges and the whole activist class, so keen to supress views they themselkves do not like. Trust the public. Trust their goodness.

But we conservatives especially must show how this works. When a Pickering speaks so fouly, we must say so. We must condemn. We must with our good speech drat the bad.

To fail in this is to give the cops-calling Left their excuse to say we've been exposed: that what we we really seek is not the freedom to speak but the freedom to vilify, free of even the restraint of any goodness.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2017 11:59

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

I think the Coalition deal in WA is less formal / strict than in other states (especially Queensland, obviously).

This kind of poo poo is why I get annoyed when everyone just calls them then LNP.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2017 04:26

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Jonah Galtberg posted:

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Bernardi has no original ideas and is just copying Andrew Bolt in this instance.

# ¿ Feb 14, 2017 05:13

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 11:33

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

open24hours posted:

If they do raise taxes it'll be the GST or something at least as regressive.

Requires way too much negotiation, they're still scared from the last time the idea was floated.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2017 06:14

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Auspol February 2017 - Choo choose your candidates wisely..

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