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Google, in Post-Obama Era, Aggressively Woos Republicans

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Re: Google, in Post-Obama Era, Aggressively Woos Republicans

#91

Post by rak00n »

dgfgfdagasdfgfa wrote: post #13
r00fus wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're blaming tech giants for the rise in inequality, authoritarianism and intolerance? It's like blaming Apple or Spotify that your favorite artists aren't as good as they used to be. Fine, be happy the veil is off (tech giants are corporations and when push comes to shove are about money), but honestly you need to look at the petroleum industry, security & prison industrial complexes and their bought politicians t…

> Fine, be happy the veil is off (tech giants are corporations and when push comes to shove are about money), but honestly you need to look at the petroleum industry, security & prison industrial complexes and their bought politicians to see the worst. I must admit, the difference is hard for me to see. Though the tech companies may not be getting rich directly off the backs of the poor, they are just as destructive…

Google actually banned payday loan ads from their network [1]. I couldn't take your anger seriously after reading that line.

[1] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/...

Re: Google, in Post-Obama Era, Aggressively Woos Republicans

#92

Post by 551199 »

tomcam wrote: post #86
wmeredith wrote: post #4

Gross. I thought a Google in bed with the Obama administration was unsettling. One in bed with the GOP and Trump is terrifying. Google has the keys to the muslim registry, and every other kind of registry you could imagine in every country it operates.

Citation for the Muslim registry?

It's the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System that was set in place in the wake of 9/11. Basically Obama dismantled it to make Trump look bad since he now has to reinstate it and liberals & press cry wolf.

Guardian: Registry used to track Arabs and Muslims dismantled by Obama administration https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/22/nseers-arab-...

Re: Google, in Post-Obama Era, Aggressively Woos Republicans

#94

Post by tluyben2 »

city41 wrote: post #72
Crito wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doing it for profit is hardly a better excuse than following orders. Should we not hold it against Trump that he ran casinos which preyed on the intellectually and financially disadvantaged?

If we hold Trump responsible for that, then don't we hold cigarette companies responsible for lung cancer? Weapons companies for murders? BitTorrent for piracy? Soda and fast food companies for obesity and diabetes? Where does it end?

Sadly, humans in general seem to need that kind of policing as they just cannot help themselves.

Re: Google, in Post-Obama Era, Aggressively Woos Republicans

#95

Post by protomyth »

anigbrowl wrote: post #83
protomyth wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

does as you suggest and order them to not say or do anything that might anger Trump. Could you clue me in on where I said that? If you mean my doodle comment, then that's really not about Trump per se, its more about lack of attention to things his base cares about and might lead to problem.

I would advice Google to have a small talk with their doodle team to not rock the boat this year certainly comes off as 'keep your head down' even though you may not have intended it that way. I mean, what sort of things do you think they should avoid that might rock the boat?

Avoid? No, it not avoidance that stirs the pot, it has been what holidays they don't acknowledge.

Re: Google, in Post-Obama Era, Aggressively Woos Republicans

#96

Post by general_ai »

I can't believe they're stupid enough to think that Trump is a Republican. He's neither. Both parties shat all over him during his entire campaign, so he owes them not just nothing, but less than nothing, hence the promise to institute the congressional term limits and anti-lobbying laws. And as everyone discovered over the last week (much to everyone's surprise), Trump is the first politician in history that will actually fulfill his campaign promises. There are a lot of really old geezers in Congress, especially on the Republican side, which won't like term limits one bit, so it'll require some negotiating skill to shove it down their throats. I hope Trump actually manages to pull this off in a way that's not easy to undo for president Michelle Obama in 2024.

Re: Google, in Post-Obama Era, Aggressively Woos Republicans

#97

Post by pavlov »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #81
pavlov wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump's proposal is a five-year ban on becoming a registered lobbyist after leaving a government job. This sounds good on paper -- but the more likely reality is that it will simply lead to lobbying becoming more covert, as former government employees working on behalf of corporations won't register as lobbyists. It's also hard to believe that the Trump administration would do much to rein in backroom deals, consider…

> This sounds good on paper -- but the more likely reality is that it will simply lead to lobbying becoming more covert, as former government employees working on behalf of corporations won't register as lobbyists. And then they'll be breaking the law. Pushing the practice underground will make it less effective and less common. The appearance of propriety goes a long way toward convincing people that there isn't eno…

Pushing the practice underground will make it less effective and less common.

That's also the logic of the "war on drugs". It may or may not work in this case -- I don't know -- but it will definitely make lobbying less documented and regulated.

What are the sanctions for undocumented lobbyists going to be? How will they be enforced, when the Trump administration is so strongly biased against transparency everywhere else?

Trump brags about exploiting loopholes: he said he would be smart to not pay any taxes (while not actually answering the question of whether he does). Applying that mindset to lobbying will lead to a situation where corporations pretend not to be doing it, the administration pretends not to see it -- and one campaign promise is delivered.

His tax returns matter as the very minimum expected gesture in transparency. At present Americans have no idea what the President owns and how he makes money (or maybe he doesn't -- in which case he would have a strong incentive to use his office to prop up the failing parts of his business empire). It's hard to believe this situation exists in a Western democracy in 2017.

Re: Google, in Post-Obama Era, Aggressively Woos Republicans

#98

Post by protomyth »

tomcam wrote: post #85
protomyth wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Olive branch to Romney? He dragged him through the press like a trained dog. He said some nice things about the Clintons, but I haven't seen a lot of bridge building or olive branches. I'm more than willing to give him a chance, and I really want him to do well, but I don't think he suffers opponents gladly.

What about the day-long meeting he had with Romney?

I did not see Romney on the list of Appointees. It was a nice show with a lot of backchannel negative comments to the conservative press by Trump's staff.

Re: Google, in Post-Obama Era, Aggressively Woos Republicans

#99

Post by protomyth »

tomcam wrote: post #84
protomyth wrote: post #3

This is probably going to be a hard problem for a lot of companies. Spending quite a lot of money on Democrats and little on Republicans looked like a good strategy given the polling, but now they have to deal with a office holder that is not the least concerned with building bridges and has a bit of vengeful streak. Not to mention all the contacts they have built up in the permanent staff might not be there as long…

Please tell me how President Obama attempted to build bridges with Republicans.

I'm pretty sure I didn't mention President Obama in my comment, so why ask me that question? Are you probing for what party I support and trying to draw some equivalence?

Re: Google, in Post-Obama Era, Aggressively Woos Republicans

#100

Post by dexen »

tyingq wrote: post #28
rudolf0 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt Google or any other SV corporation would ever agree to help with a Muslim registry. Even if somehow the top leadership of such a company were to agree (which I doubt), you'd see defections, sabotage, and heavy leaks almost immediately.

Julian Assange's story about his encounter with Google leadership was fairly chilling. Even taking him with a (big) grain of salt... https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/

Fascinating read, thank you for the link!
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