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George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

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Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm really confused by how impeachment works in the U.S. Impeachment requires a crime. Lying isn't usually a crime, and as best I can tell hasn't been one any of the times Trump has done it (.. yet?). It also hasn't been a crime any of the times Obama has done it. Failure to give up business interests is breaking precedent and confounding ethicists, but also doesn't seem to be illegal. When we come up with somethin…

Do people really want him to get impeached and convicted, with Pence being the successor? Seems like a terrible idea...

Pence has successfully kept it more or less between lanes for the ~17 years he's been a career politician. The guy might have snakes in his head but part of me would rather risk that than what is, to all appearances, an unhinged budding fascist surrounded by sycophants. YMMV.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Failure to give up his business interests is an impeachable offense. He literally does not meet the requirements set forth in the Constitution. He isn't being impeached because his party controls both houses.

> He literally does not meet the requirements set forth in the Constitution. You need to be more specific. If you mean the emoluments clause, I think it's more accurate to say that it's hard to verify whether he meets "the requirements set forth in the Constitution." If you know of an instance of his business accepting a gift from a "king, prince or foreign state" since he's assumed office , then he's actually in vio…

While they would prefer Pence, their base is still enamored with Trump. The legislators are scared, and don't want to endanger their reelection until he is no longer popular.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#83
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole point of lying is to blur the lines between truth and lies so people believe nothing.

HyperNormalisation2016 Going to share that thing until I'm blue in the mouth. That documentary mentions that Surkov[0] uses this tactic, confusing the public about what is true and untrue. I have to say, whether people on the right believe this or not, this has been at least subconsciously adapted as one of their tactics. When there is no truth or lie, then whatever you want is true, which makes you ripe for manipula…

Adam Curtis bingo!

https://twitter.com/chrisapplegate/status/787751065315840000...

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Failure to give up his business interests is an impeachable offense. He literally does not meet the requirements set forth in the Constitution. He isn't being impeached because his party controls both houses.

I think they are just taking their sweet time with it because he is well enough aligned with their agenda. The second a big enough scandal comes up, away we go.

I think you have it backwards. The second he is no longer aligned with their agenda, they will clutch their pearls, blow up one of the existing scandals, and away we go.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#86

This is amazing. The womens marches over the weekend and these seem to be an indicator of a very sudden awakening.

Why would a march be more significant than the votes of 62 million people?

I agree that an awakening is overdue given that for instance, America’s child poverty levels are worse than in any developed country anywhere, including Greece and only Slovakia, Chile, Mexico and Turkey have worse infant mortality rates. Median adult wealth is 27th out of 27 high-income countries; internet speed and access is 16th out of 34 countries and for people living below the poverty line - US is 36th out of 162 countries, behind Morocco and Albania.

However the US does score a first in its prison population. It comes #1 out of 224 countries. Only China comes close.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm really confused by how impeachment works in the U.S. Impeachment requires a crime. Lying isn't usually a crime, and as best I can tell hasn't been one any of the times Trump has done it (.. yet?). It also hasn't been a crime any of the times Obama has done it. Failure to give up business interests is breaking precedent and confounding ethicists, but also doesn't seem to be illegal. When we come up with somethin…

Do people really want him to get impeached and convicted, with Pence being the successor? Seems like a terrible idea...

I've heard people say this on a number of occasions. Let me say why I'm not so worried about it. The thing that makes Trump different from almost any other politician I've seen is the control he has over his followers. They don't care if he lies or if any unpleasant fact about him comes to light. They're just transfixed by the guy. I don't believe that Pence or any other current politician has the same power or the same ability to do this. I imagine that, if Pence did have to assume office for some reason, he would just come off to Trump supporters as seeming like a typical politician. He wouldn't be able to drum up the same kind of enthusiasm.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#88
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "alternative facts" I think people are taking this and running at breakneck speed without stopping to look at what they actually mean by this. After watching the first few press conferences and Kelly Anne's interviews where she said that, it seems clear to me they weren't trying to say there were more people physically at the inauguration in their "alternative facts" but what they are referring to specifically is t…

https://youtu.be/pa9YUDNHobE

FYI, NSFW

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#89
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has anyone actually done an unbiased comparison? I've seen the picture but there are plenty of possible explanations for that. And people seem to be reading far to much into it in any case.

> people seem to be reading far to much into it in any case Executive orders, cabinet appointments and apparently agency gag orders left right and centre with more, plus SCOTUS nominees, to come. But all my Facebook feed talks about is rain and lawn coverings.

Really? My facebook feed is a nonstop stream of political organization, grass-roots advocacy, media takedowns of the day's latest outrage, and the odd picture of someone's dog.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#90
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with a hat you can knit at home? It's an effective symbol.

I and a lot of other progressives take issue with it because it is trans-exclusionary and continues the long tradition of mainstream feminist demonstrations or expressions being explicitly for a white, cisgendered audience. I think OP was being mysoginistic and wasn't thinking this, but there is criticism on the left of the symbol as well. That said, now is not the time to start infighting with people just starting t…

The hats were meant more as a symbol of feminine solidarity and to reclaim the word pussy though right? It's not trying to be anatomically correct, and afaict doesn't inheriently exclude trans people any more than it excludes progressive mens issues or the black lives matters movement. I am honestly asking from a position of near total ignorance.

edit: Is it just that it's more a missed opportunity to pick a more inclusive symbol?

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