Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team • Hacker News Board

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#431

Post by Jtsummers » Fri, Nov 11, 2016, 5:22 AM UTC

vivekd wrote: post #421

Jtsummers wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Seems a bit strong to tell someone what they can and can't say. 2) He didn't get half the country to vote for him. It looks like around 55-60% of voters turned out this year (the whole tally isn't calculated yet). Of those, he got less than 50% (as Clinton got more votes than him). So at best he seems to have gotten around 30% of the voters to vote for him. Not everyone is a voter (age, other disqualifying factors…

I agree with gnarbarian. Being an extremist is defined as being far outside the norm. Even with a low voter count, it seems irrational to suggest that the majority of the people who voted in this election are people with views far outside the norm in America and the majority with ordinary views just didn't go to the polls. If someone can convince the large majority of voters in a country to pick them, I think it's a…

Google - define:extremist

  a person who holds extreme or fanatical political or
  religious views, especially one who resorts to or advocates
  extreme action.

Nothing about this requires they not be the majority or even a very significant minority. It just requires they hold extreme views.

Nothing about this requires viewing them only through a local and not a global lens, either.

And just because people voted for Trump doesn't mean they agree with all or even any of his positions. (Anecdata) I've spent the last several days speaking with numerous people who voted for him despite disagreement on many of his policy positions, strictly because they were voting against Clinton.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#432

Post by tsomctl » Fri, Nov 11, 2016, 5:23 AM UTC

edblarney wrote: post #299

threeseed wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just nonsense. Trump never provided his tax returns for scrutiny so unlike Hillary we don't know who exactly he is beholden to. What we know from his son, sources and leaks is that Russian ogligarchs with ties to Putin do hold significant amounts of his company's debt. It is this type of "pay to play" that is far, far beyond anything that has ever been seen before.

Personal finances are another issue altogether. He is audited every single year, and there is very deep scrutiny of his personal finances. There are many in the IRS who would love to find something wrong. It's the political favours and support that mattes. I will say this: the laws concerning 'conflict of interest' are very weak in the US for the office of the Pres. It's possible that a Malaysian leader could buy fav…

> Anyhow - as of today, he owes almost nothing politically.

Really? The German bank that has lent Trump millions of dollars has a $14 billion fine to the justice department. https://theintercept.com/2016/11/10/trump-presidency-could-b...

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#433

Post by FireBeyond » Fri, Nov 11, 2016, 5:23 AM UTC

generic_user wrote: post #232

knz wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and yet, 99% of you are frothing at the mouth over a man who said bad words 18 years ago. There are multiple reports and videos of crowds at his rallies chanting "Kill the bitch, "Hang the bitch", and "Lock her up". Trump knew this and condoned the behaviour. He has actively singled out members of the "corrupt media". I can respect political differences but this is not normal behaviour for a healthy democracy. It's…

The DNC was caught red handed funding political operatives to organise and fund protests at trump events that started the violent riots that unfolded. There is numerous videos of Trump supporters being assaulted by Democratic thugs. And at this very moment protest organised by MoveOn.org are smashing windows and starting fires in Oakland, LA, NY and other Democrat controlled cities. I do not see any healthy democrati…

Undercover fomenting discord is entirely unacceptable and should be.

But let's not pretend that was solely the domain of the DNC.

Trump has stood in front of a camera and called for his supporters to beat people up at his rallies. He's said that people should be punched "right in the face". He's offered to pay legal fees for people charged with assault for attacking protestors.

Also "caught" red handed. Except he was openly advocating for it.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#434

Post by oldmanjay » Fri, Nov 11, 2016, 5:26 AM UTC

xbmcuser wrote: post #338

reflexive wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> From all accounts he simply doesn't have the intellectual stamina Can you elaborate on what accounts these are? The only estimate I've seen of his intelligence was based the school he graduated from.

Simple example Obama thinks single payer health care would be the best thing. But to that they would have to almost destroy a trillion dollar industry and millions will loose jobs. So has to move with smaller steps. Trump thinks Illegal immigrants from Mexico are taking American jobs. So he just ships them all back and closes the border(builds the wall) in one go. I don't think he will consider the fact that would de…

Take a look sometime at the executive compensation that Obama's "smaller steps" provided for the insurance industry. They're definitely not lobbying against Obamacare.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#435

Post by fooey » Fri, Nov 11, 2016, 5:26 AM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #426

edblarney wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Lots of individuals who Trump "owes" through either money or support they provided to him; pure cronyism." Trump is the most 'free' President in modern history. He 'owes' the least, to the fewest people. This is one thing even the center-left press were talking about. As for Thiel - $1M might seem like a lot - but Trump doesn't really 'owe' Thiel anything, because Thiel doesn't have direct future influence etc., and…

Why exactly am I meant to be comforted by the fact that the craven opportunists --- the lowest of the low of the Republican party, discredited outsiders like Newt Gingrich and John Bolton --- are getting the most important positions in the United States government for kowtowing to Trump? There are important thinkers in the Republican Party. People with ideas and a moral core, people who have given years of service to…

America didn't elect a technocrat. We elected a bigmouth reality TV star. Should probably think of the Trump cabinet as something more like a Breitbart sitcom than a functional administration.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#436

Post by wildengineer » Fri, Nov 11, 2016, 5:27 AM UTC

tempestn wrote: post #176

noobermin wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never said people on the left don't do it. Yes, Obama did it too. The point is Trump isn't what he appears to be, in fact he appears very similar to Obama in the sense that he convinced many people there would be change for the better but all evidence points to that he will just perpetuate the system which he rallied against (which Obama did too).

Legitimate question: what could Obama have done better? Being Canadian I didn't take as close an interest as I would have in my own government, but it seemed from my perspective like he was doing everything he could to bring about change. The problem appeared to be that he had a very different idea of what that change should be than the Republican Congress, and short of utterly capitulating, I'm not sure how you unil…

IMO the ACA was an overreach that cost him the congress in 2010 and possibly Clinton's presidency. That political capital would have been better spent on getting higher taxes at the top and fixing social security.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#437

Post by judahmeek » Fri, Nov 11, 2016, 5:27 AM UTC

pryce wrote: post #366

edblarney wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Peter Thiel wrote a book called The Diversity Myth where he said that race mixing would destroy white culture" This is a lie, and it's exactly the kind of lie that Thiel is trying to call out as insufferable oppression on campus and in intellectual discussion. Having lived in very 'multicultural' places, and fairly homogeneous places, it's clear to me that there are both advantages and disadvantages to each - and to…

You're entitled to your personal preferences in where/how you like to live, but none of that changes the facts that: 1. Peter Thiel indeed wrote a book called 'the Diversity Myth' and 2. that book claims that multiculturalism exists to destroy white culture If you're going to argue that the above claim is a "lie", you are obliged to show where that lie is. Your only plausible avenue (as I can see it) is to somehow ob…

> 2. that book claims that multiculturalism exists to destroy white culture

> If you're going to argue that the above claim is a "lie", you are obliged to show where that lie is.

If you're going to claim that Thiel's book states that multiculturalism exists to destroy white culture, then aren't you obliged by your own logic to show proof of your claim?

I don't have a horse in this race, but it's irritating to see you make a claim and then say that any contradictor is required to show proof when you haven't actually done so yourself.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#438

Post by heartbreak » Fri, Nov 11, 2016, 5:27 AM UTC

deelowe wrote: post #152

joshmn wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a conflict of interest in each of his secretary picks, too. It's disgusting. I don't write often, or even blog, but I felt the need to vent on some of the issues of the picks here: https://medium.com/@joshbrody_36224/dear-president-elect-tru...

Did you scrutinize Obama's picks just as heavily? http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-14/most-important-wiki...

Why should that matter?

I'm not the OP, but I was 16 when Obama formed his administration, and I was uninvolved in politics at the time. Does that disqualify me from tracking and critiquing the Trump Administration?

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#439

Post by kordless » Fri, Nov 11, 2016, 5:28 AM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #330

gnarbarian wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't call trump an extremist when half the country voted for him.

Yes, you can. Your rebuttal doesn't even hold together logically. Extremism isn't defined by lack of popular support. Our entire system of government was designed in part out of a fear of the extremism of the massed public.

We do like our roads and cars here.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#440

Post by Mathnerd314 » Fri, Nov 11, 2016, 5:30 AM UTC

Rapzid wrote: post #278

edblarney wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Lots of individuals who Trump "owes" through either money or support they provided to him; pure cronyism." Trump is the most 'free' President in modern history. He 'owes' the least, to the fewest people. This is one thing even the center-left press were talking about. As for Thiel - $1M might seem like a lot - but Trump doesn't really 'owe' Thiel anything, because Thiel doesn't have direct future influence etc., and…

> He'll give them to those that 'stuck by him' i.e. Guliani etc. and scorn on the old Bush guard. "owes" man. In quotes because he doesn't have any fiscal or otherwise legal obligation to pay them back. If he largely surrounds himself with those few who supported him(opportunistically dare I say?) then it's a huge red flag in my book he isn't really going for the best advisors. I'd like to see at least a couple old d…

My guess is that most of them will be "wildcards", people that have no political experience / ties whatsoever and were chosen because they were experts or at least moderately successful in their chosen field.

Thiel kind of fits that profile, ignoring his recent antics.