Fareed (CNN): Threat to Democracy from the left

[ecogen]

Glad you don't vote here. 😉

So am I, that would mean living there.

 

[Moonbeam]

It is unsettling to know that a braindead zombie such as yourself, your vote counts for as much as mine. 🙁

The reason democracy works is because it promises everybody a voice in decision making. I think in November we will see the voices of the majority undergo some self correcting.

 

[SlowSpyder]

The reason democracy works is because it promises everybody a voice in decision making. I think in November we will see the voices of the majority undergo some self correcting.

If in November the Republicans do well, will that still be considered "self correction" by you?

 

[umbrella39]

Meatpuppet running interference for the OC... That's Greens' job!

Keep the socks coming losers... going to be hilarious watching you all go back in the sock drawer after November... See you back with your tail between your legs in 2 years Pft...

 

[SlowSpyder]

Meatpuppet running interference for the OC... That's Greens' job!

Keep the socks coming losers... going to be hilarious watching you all go back in the sock drawer after November... See you back with your tail between your legs in 2 years Pft...

This is just rah rah team stuff. No content per the usual with you.

 

[Starbuck1975]

You can, but again my original point is that for some reason we spend far more time discussing political correctness on college campuses that we do Trump's attacks on free speech when it should be precisely the opposite.

Citation needed. What are you using as the basis for this? Look at this forum. It’s all Trump threads all the time, and the moment someone has the audacity to post a thread about snowflake alarmism on the left, the waterboys come running to WhatabouTrump, thank the OP for his concern, play logical fallacy police and conclude their arguments by calling someone a moron or idiot. It’s such a laughably predictable playbook.

What doesn't compute? Conservatives are entirely fine with political correctness, they just want their dogma enforced.

I don’t think either side is very good at listening

The facts are the facts, no tribe owns them. You can go back throughout history and see that conservatives were just fine with suppressing the free speech of Islamists, communists, atheists, gays, etc. They never cared.

Radical Islam and Revolutionary Marxism certainly deserve censoring no matter how many Che Guevara posters you had up in your dorm room.

I don’t think anyone is silencing atheism, although there always seems to be an irrational debate over religion dogma versus traditions whenever we approach the holidays. The oppression of Starbucks cups and just how triggering a Jesus doll in a nativity scene can be to some people comes to mind.

The religious right does not have a very good history when it comed to gay rights.

 

[brycejones]

Climate change is a touchy subject. I know the left champions it, but I think it is far from settled science. Not that we can't impact our environment, but I think the damage done and the consequences are greatly overstated and these fluctuations have happened in the past. I see nothing wrong with what Trump has done here. But the bigger point is that this isn't a freedom of speech issue. You guys are moving goalposts and fighting something that wasn't ever the issue. Cool insults, really hurt, ouch... hope I'll be alright!

#neverlearn, #neverlisten, #neverunderstand, #alternativefactsFTW, #faithbasedscience, #wedontneednoedumcation, #smartypantspeoplecanttellmewhatisright, #mybeergutsaysotherwise

Hashtags of the modern conservative.

 

[Jaskalas]

What is it with "centrists"? Sounds to me they're glorified Republicans who are slightly less moronic than their hardline peers. Still, though, they are incredibly stupid as we can see quite clearly from our resident centrist's posts in this thread, Jackass Jaskalas.

Centrist? You are blind, or haven't been paying attention.

When trickle down fails the GOP, Blue Dog Democrats will stand as the new Conservatives. Bushies and them get along quite well. Me? I have no use for them - they'll compromise to produce trash like the ACA. They'll vote in favor of the same wars. In the end, they lack either the interest or the spine to stand up to Wall Street. Bipartisanship may be useful at getting "easy" things done, but the resulting policy is repugnant. A harmful theater to pretend a solution has been reached. It muddles the call for real change.

ACA is a fine example of that, though the Republicans protested, it was originally their idea and Mitt Romney was familiar with implementing similar policy. Yet Healthcare is still tied to a job, and still bankrupts people daily. People still avoid medical care as they simply cannot afford it. We are still failing our people. The compromise may have helped some, but it left behind the the vast majority.

$15 minimum wage will help some, but it will not stop income inequality. Automation is creeping up on us all. Labor itself is losing value, jobs and wages are shed along with it. But the centrists will fight tooth and nail for the remaining scraps, and claim it a victory. Many people will still languish as the working poor.

The path forward, I have explained.
So tell us, can you explain the shit you're selling here?

My take is, the world is not as black and white as you see it. What I protest in this thread are fascists. You may be surprised to learn they span the entire spectrum of economic and social policies. People who would use force and subjugate others to their will. To force change. Trump would love to force his policy. Just as his opponents would force a response. As they are now - through the suppression of political opposition. CNN's Fareed Zakaria resonates as he's touching upon a very serious problem in this country. Civil discourse is looking more like Civil unrest these days.

Trump fever will pass. We will flush him. But what will replace Trumpism, what will the next tide bring? Do not kid yourself if you think we could not have our own French Revolution. The Terror is not a positive model for change.

 

[Vic]

Watch the vid. Criticism is healthy and part of the dialogue needed for democracy to work. He’s not referring to criticism, he’s referring to actively trying to silence certain viewpoints.

While the Right are trying to obliterate the 14th amendment and equal protection of the laws, to bring back aristocracy and the practice of higher social classes criminally abusing lower classes, Ugly here wants us to believe that the greatest threat to democracy comes from the Left's efforts to criticize and object to what the Right is doing.. while they still can.

 

[Vic]

Just because someone has free speech doesn't mean others have to give them a microphone for that speech. They can say what they want, the government isn't going to stop them. Doesn't mean they can make others listen, and if you are out there yelling in public, others have just as much of a right to yell back at you.

This is it in a nutshell. To the Right: free speech means that everyone else has to listen quietly while they speak.

 

[realibrad]

This is it in a nutshell. To the Right: free speech means that everyone else has to listen quietly while they speak.

Are you in favor of people trying to shut down speakers at events that happen on a college campus? I can show you many examples of people that, instead of not going to something, try and get it shut down so nobody can listen. Its one thing to take yourself out, its another to try and prevent others from getting in.

 

[Moonbeam]

If in November the Republicans do well, will that still be considered "self correction" by you?

No, but it will come eventually. There not a shadow of a doubt that Republicans have become delusional, and you are a perfect example.

 

[Vic]

Trump is using the power of government to stop people from speaking and having an opinion? Sorry, but I think you have Trump mixed up with the average liberal today. Go watch how snowflake lefties act if a conservative wants to speak at a college, as an example. How many neighborhoods were burned down by conservatives when Obama won? How many were burned down by leftists when Trump won? The left is sick today.

None.

 

[Vic]

Are you in favor of people trying to shut down speakers at events that happen on a college campus? I can show you many examples of people that, instead of not going to something, try and get it shut down so nobody can listen. Its one thing to take yourself out, its another to try and prevent others from getting in.

Of course, I'm not in favor of that. Nice straw man. However, protesting such speakers is not shutting down free speech. It is counterspeech, which is also free speech.
And BTW, I am opposed to any and all violent demonstrations and protests, howevet it is freaking asinine to claim all the violence at those events comes from the Left. Especially when the Right openly brags about going armed with the intent to start fights (ie UW shooting, Unite the Right, Patriot Prayer, etc).

 

[SlowSpyder]

None.

Wrong.

 

[fskimospy]

Wrong.

There’s a distinct lack of any neighborhoods being burned down in your link. Nice job owning yourself.

 

[mect]

Yep, the left in a few instances (particularly on college campuses) goes overboard and doesn't permit others to present their views and perspectives. In addition, their over sensitivity to microaggressions has led to a culture where its often difficult for people to interact authentically for fear of offending through the most benign statements. Its important to keep the magnitude of the problem in perspective though.

 

[SlowSpyder]

There’s a distinct lack of any neighborhoods being burned down in your link. Nice job owning yourself.

It was a figure of speech, doofus. If you scroll through that link, there are many leftists getting arrested for the tantrum they threw for not getting their way and many acts of violence and property destruction... which is what the figure of speech means. I hope you can connect the dots here, I've put them pretty close together for ya.

 

[Vic]

Wrong.

Burning a pinata of Trump or setting a trashbin on fire is not the same as burning down a whole neighborhood.

Stop believing the BS the right wing media is selling. I recall a year or so ago when the right wing media was telling everyone that Portland, OR was burning. I live and work in Portland and none of that was actually happening, except for police beating up peaceful protestors (including an elderly woman), and a member of right wing group called slitting 3 throats on the light rail.

 

[Vic]

It was a figure of speech, doofus. If you scroll through that link, there are many leftists getting arrested for the tantrum they threw for not getting their way and many acts of violence and property destruction... which is what the figure of speech means. I hope you can connect the dots here, I've put them pretty close together for ya.

So when you get called out on lying you resort to namecalling? Typical.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Burning a pinata of Trump or setting a trashbin on fire is not the same as burning down a whole neighborhood.

Stop believing the BS the right wing media is selling. I recall a year or so ago when the right wing media was telling everyone that Portland, OR was burning. I live and work in Portland and none of that was actually happening, except for police beating up peaceful protestors (including an elderly woman), and a member of right wing group called slitting 3 throats on the light rail.

If you look through the link there were people being arrested for vandalism and destruction of property during their protests for having hot gotten their way in our long standing democratic process. I didn't mean literally a neighborhood on a city block was burned to the ground... just parts of it by angry fascist leftists.

 

[fskimospy]

It was a figure of speech, doofus. If you scroll through that link, there are many leftists getting arrested for the tantrum they threw for not getting their way and many acts of violence and property destruction... which is what the figure of speech means. I hope you can connect the dots here, I've put them pretty close together for ya.

Oh okay, so when you said burning the neighborhood down you meant a couple people getting arrested.

Man, that figure of speech is doing some heavy, heavy lifting.

 

[Vic]

If you look through the link there were people being arrested for vandalism and destruction of property during their protests for having hot gotten their way in our long standing democratic process. I didn't mean literally a neighborhood on a city block was burned to the ground... just parts of it by angry fascist leftists.

Yeah, because all that is liberalism are guilty of the actions of a tiny few, right?
We know what you're doing here, guy. You're trying to frame it that, because of a few bad actors, all liberals are violent and therefore should be silenced. Meanwhile, your ilk are the ones shooting people on college campuses (UW), running protestors over (Charlottesville), or slitting their throats for speaking up (Portland).
And how many has the left killed? 0.

 

[Moonbeam]

If you look through the link there were people being arrested for vandalism and destruction of property during their protests for having hot gotten their way in our long standing democratic process. I didn't mean literally a neighborhood on a city block was burned to the ground... just parts of it by angry fascist leftists.

The exaggerated focus on fear producing events is a well known part of the conservative brain defect. You should try to get out and take walks in nature or meditate. This constant stimulation by adrenaline is not only toxic to your health but addictive.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Oh okay, so when you said burning the neighborhood down you meant a couple people getting arrested.

Man, that figure of speech is doing some heavy, heavy lifting.

Yea, rioting, shutting down routes of travel like express ways, vandalizing, violence, and property crimes across the country by the left is a perfectly rational response to not getting your way in a well establish, long held democratic vote. The entire point was, how much of this happened when Obama won, how often did the right do the same when they didn't get their way? That was the original point of the comment before you moved the goal posts.