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Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

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Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#851

Post by tptacek »

killedbydeath wrote: post #494
tptacek wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Words mean things. McCarthyism was a movement that questioned the citizenship of people who supported socialism, and which demanded of the citizenry that they root out, report, and maintain blacklists of people who weren't stalwart supporters of that effort. McCarthyism had the force of a government behind it. What you're seeing here isn't an organized movement to find and punish Thiel-supporters. It's people lamenti…

We should value tolerance towards minority (in our circles) opinions. Unless you believe half of the country are bigots, you would conclude many people who voted for Trump did so reluctantly and despite all the stupid things he said, and not thanks to them. They prioritized his economic policies or felt Clinton is too indebted to the current establishment to be able to change anything. I know some people who did that…

This comment isn't responsive to mine. The comment I replied to actually used the word "McCarthyism", inappropriately.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#852

Post by tptacek »

bbctol wrote: post #849
tptacek wrote: post #800

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree entirely with McArdle on this. At this point, I would be extremely reassured by an administration that is "wrong within normal parameters". That's not what we're likely to get. We've gotten the following trial balloons for appointments: * John Bolton or Newt Gingrich for State * Larry Kudlow or Steven Mnuchin for Treasury * Joe Arpaio for DHS * Steve Bannon for Chief Of Staff * Chris Christie or Rudy Giuliani…

It's such an insane thing to have to hope for, but the best case scenario is that Trump is... George W. Bush. That he'll be impolite, but not undiplomatic. That he'll start one, maybe two wars, and keep them non-nuclear. That we'll see a declining market economy, not an authoritarian state. I oppose Paul Ryan on nearly every economic ideal, but I have to hope he pushes his agenda through, as opposed to... Alex Jones?…

The Democratic party did not have a right to the 2016 election. We knew the bench was thin coming into this cycle, and that the GOP bench was particularly strong. I do not mind that the administration is changing party hands. I mind it going to a febrile pumpkin. You know who else has this problem? Much of the Republican party.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#853

Post by [deleted] »

StreamBright wrote: post #577
gone35 wrote: post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump is the most 'free' President in modern history. He 'owes' the least, to the fewest people. How do you know? Have you actually operationalized it with a quantifiable measure? Can you actually back up your claim with actual, verifiable data? No? Then get the fuck out .

This is not really acceptable style on HN. This information is known based on the campaign contributions. http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2016-presidential... http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/09/trump-spent-about-half-of-wha... https://www.wired.com/2016/09/clinton-trump-get-campaign-fun... http://fortune.com/2016/08/22/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-f... http://www.fec.gov/disclosurep/pnational.do https://www.op…

[deleted]

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#854

Post by mch82 »

masondixon wrote: post #789
frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #730

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yep. But this is what made everyone miss what was happening. What is it that you think was happening?

Trump was going to win the election.

For what reason? Because 26% of voters felt bullied?

How about the 42% that stayed home and didn't vote?

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#855

Post by mrgordon »

late2part wrote: post #706
mrgordon wrote: post #647

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keep in mind that Thiel sued Gawker to stop freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Trump doesn't care and will appoint Thiel to a major position in his administration anyway. Trump also repeatedly sued (or threatened to sue) newspapers who published factual stories about him as well as women who he sexually abused. This is a chilling precedent for free speech: if you are rich enough, then you can just sue to sil…

It's my perception part of Thiel's motivation was to stop Gawker from outing closet homosexuals. And the freedom of speech you so vigorously protect was to reveal details of a B-List celebrities sexual activities. Where is the moral courage on that? Yes Freedom of Speech is paramount among our rights, but it's not inviolately absolute. The Gawker guys were scum but that's not why they lost their lawsuit. They lost th…

Yes Thiel had a vendetta against Gawker so he funded an unrelated lawsuit against them and used his billions to shut them down. The vendetta stemmed from the fact that the gay founder of Gawker found it horrifying that Thiel would hide his homosexuality when he should be a role model for other homosexuals that you can be gay and still be a rich and powerful VC. Whether or not you agree with Denton on that point, secretly funding unrelated lawsuits against small publications and shutting them down doesn't feel too morally courageous either. There are ways to get a sex tape removed from the Internet that don't involve permanently silencing an entire team of journalists by outspending them in lawsuits.

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#856

Post by Chris2048 »

mch82 wrote: post #648
masondixon wrote: post #636

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We would never try to ban any use of language. Its more like advice. We say: "Stop calling everything racist and sexist that is not racist or sexist because you are missing the real underlying issues. We want everyone to be happy just like you do, but we think your method is flawed." Then we win the election because you missed the point. This is why you will find such exuberant Trump supporters. There are many tears…

Muslims often say: "Stop calling all of us terrorists and stop saying Islam encourages terrorism because you are missing the real underlying issues. We want everyone to be happy just like you do, but we think your understanding of terrorism is flawed." Can you recognize the parallel between your statement and the one I've paraphrased above?

> stop saying Islam encourages terrorism

Any time I've seen a Muslim actually talk about the issue, and explain how Islam doesn't encourage terrorism, they are evasive, or outright deceptive. Show me a legitimate attempt to explain the "real underlying issues" that is neither of these things (and not just representative of a fringe group e.g heavily westernized Muslims).

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#857

Post by [deleted] »

masondixon wrote: post #639
joshvm wrote: post #616

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can argue that a lot of people (Democrats included) didn't want to vote for Clinton either . By that argument you're justifying both candidates' character flaws by saying "Well, you know the other person is just as bad as my choice, so that makes it OK".

I wasn't agreeing with the claims against Trump. I think they are wrong. I was commenting on the fact that you can find arguments for all those claims for Clinton. Which cancels out the argument - and requires each claim to be taken by itself without supporting evidence and reasoned arguments. The libs got to use to not having to back up their claims through a confirmation bias from their echo chamber.

[deleted]

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#858

Post by rootlocus »

masondixon wrote: post #639
joshvm wrote: post #616

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can argue that a lot of people (Democrats included) didn't want to vote for Clinton either . By that argument you're justifying both candidates' character flaws by saying "Well, you know the other person is just as bad as my choice, so that makes it OK".

I wasn't agreeing with the claims against Trump. I think they are wrong. I was commenting on the fact that you can find arguments for all those claims for Clinton. Which cancels out the argument - and requires each claim to be taken by itself without supporting evidence and reasoned arguments. The libs got to use to not having to back up their claims through a confirmation bias from their echo chamber.

> I wasn't agreeing with the claims against Trump.

What claims aren't you agreeing with? That he's a liar? That he's arrogant? That he's a misogynist?

> The libs got to use to not having to back up their claims through a confirmation bias from their echo chamber.

Oh, you want libs to back up their claims? Have you seriously not seen Trump talk? OK, here goes:

Liar: [1] Just one out of hundreds of examples. Just look at PolitiFact.

Arrogant: [2] He considers his "tremendous success" a sacrifice comparable to a fallen soldier.

Misogynst: [3] Saying to a reporter: "You wouldn't have your job if you weren't beautiful. It's very sad isn't it?"

Disgusting: [2]

Every link shows him saying everything. They're not claims, it's not text, it's recorded videos of him talking.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xpqD_SXy34

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_8dSiQBXog

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6FkCjIlAdM

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#859

Post by tptacek »

edblarney wrote: post #643
sangnoir wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They are here in violation of the law. Serious question: which law?

"The illegal entry of non-nationals into the United States is a misdemeanor according to the Immigration and Nationality Act, which prohibits non-nationals from entering or attempting to enter the United States at any time or place which has not been designated by an immigration officer, and also prohibits non-nationals from eluding inspection by immigration officers" Even though it's nice to know the specifics, real…

A nation will not exist in the 21st century unless its demographics support its citizenry. Our population is aging, with insufficient service sector workers just to provide labor for the next generation of retirees, let alone fund their public pensions.

There's a term for the 21st Century nations in Europe that are especially good at enforcing their own borders: "demographic crisis".

Re: Peter Thiel To Join Trump Transition Team

#860

Post by throwawayf98765 »

prairiedogg wrote: post #617
masondixon wrote: post #591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> how anyone could feel comfortable with him as commander in chief I understand what you are saying here. He struggles to speak eloquently, and does not have a statesman-like persona. He is no traditional president. But look at the last 15 years of foreign policy from "statesmen". We had two wars, Obama missed seeing the rise of ISIS, Syria is a humanitarian nightmare, we had a huge financial crash, and terrorism is…

Hi masondixon! > But look at the last 15 years of foreign policy from "statesmen". We had two wars, Obama missed seeing the rise of ISIS, Syria is a humanitarian nightmare, we had a huge financial crash, and terrorism is on the rise. So is your argument that "statesmen" have failed to avoid crisis, therefore someone who is not a "statesman" will be able to better avoid crisis? Would it be fair then to say that becaus…

As a leftist living outside of America. The thing is that some of us see these "statesmen" as the origin of the crisis.

As a leftist, I wouldn't want someone like Hillary's personal friend plunging my country into chaos and give power to a guy who would make Trump seem like Mother Theresa just because the people choose to elect an actual left wing candidate. I know this wasn't a relevant question to americans, not even to the "tolerant" and "progressive" Clinton supporters.

So yeah, personally, I could be wrong, but I'll take a bet with the one that at least doesn't seem like a statesman.

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