Today in Trump

[El Kabong]

Ok so we're all in agreement that there are a lot of people in the world that do not follow good hygiene, even something as simple and common sense as washing your hands.

How does this relate to the colossal, monumental, incredibly jaw-dropping STUPIDITY of a comment uttered by a United States of America Senator in full view of the whole world?

If anything, I thought the response from the black woman in the hearing was incredibly restrained and civil, given the verbal shit bomb just dropped by the (cough) Senator.

I would've responded more to the tune of........

"I'm not sure that comment came across as you meant it... so I'll give you the chance to reconsider that thought and phrase it differently."

A couple things about this respectfully.

1. A point of clarification, he's an Ohio state Senator not a United States Senator.
2. He was quite inarticulate in his statement which yeah I can see how it could be taken as offensive.
3. Even the Huffington Post article ends with a quote from the guy: Huffman later attempted to clarify his comments, reported The Columbus Dispatch, saying he’d asked the question “in an unintentionally awkward way that was perceived as hurtful and was exactly the opposite of what I meant.”

“I was trying to focus on why COVID-19 affects people of color at a higher rate since we really do not know all the reasons,” he added.


I don't think it was his INTENTION to be hurtful and he did attempt to clarify. So yeah that's what I'd call a "gaffe"...I don't excuse him from being unintentionally hurtful, but I chalk it up to him just being oafish in his response.


The crux of his argument it seems to me was 'African-Americans are impacted at a higher rate by COVID19 than other populations, what are the causes for that?' We're not talking comorbidities and death, we're talking they catch the virus easier than other populations.' and instead of saying "is it because they don't wash their hands" he should have asked "Why is it that this population of our community is more prone to this virus than other groups? Is there something we as a government/community can help in mitigating this?"....to jump to specific reasons even if he's just spitballing (which I think is what he was doing) at the present time is like walking a tightrope without a net. People's nerves are frayed. They've got very short fuses. The world has been turned upside down for a lot of people and so that benefit of the doubt won't be given so freely at the present time.



But that's just my view on it.

[TitoFan]

Ok so we're all in agreement that there are a lot of people in the world that do not follow good hygiene, even something as simple and common sense as washing your hands.

How does this relate to the colossal, monumental, incredibly jaw-dropping STUPIDITY of a comment uttered by a United States of America Senator in full view of the whole world?

If anything, I thought the response from the black woman in the hearing was incredibly restrained and civil, given the verbal shit bomb just dropped by the (cough) Senator.

I would've responded more to the tune of........

"I'm not sure that comment came across as you meant it... so I'll give you the chance to reconsider that thought and phrase it differently."

A couple things about this respectfully.

1. A point of clarification, he's an Ohio state Senator not a United States Senator.
2. He was quite inarticulate in his statement which yeah I can see how it could be taken as offensive.
3. Even the Huffington Post article ends with a quote from the guy: Huffman later attempted to clarify his comments, reported The Columbus Dispatch, saying he’d asked the question “in an unintentionally awkward way that was perceived as hurtful and was exactly the opposite of what I meant.”

“I was trying to focus on why COVID-19 affects people of color at a higher rate since we really do not know all the reasons,” he added.


I don't think it was his INTENTION to be hurtful and he did attempt to clarify. So yeah that's what I'd call a "gaffe"...I don't excuse him from being unintentionally hurtful, but I chalk it up to him just being oafish in his response.


The crux of his argument it seems to me was 'African-Americans are impacted at a higher rate by COVID19 than other populations, what are the causes for that?' We're not talking comorbidities and death, we're talking they catch the virus easier than other populations.' and instead of saying "is it because they don't wash their hands" he should have asked "Why is it that this population of our community is more prone to this virus than other groups? Is there something we as a government/community can help in mitigating this?"....to jump to specific reasons even if he's just spitballing (which I think is what he was doing) at the present time is like walking a tightrope without a net. People's nerves are frayed. They've got very short fuses. The world has been turned upside down for a lot of people and so that benefit of the doubt won't be given so freely at the present time.



But that's just my view on it.

You're right Lyle, I stand corrected. He's an Ohio state senator. It's more accurate. I was just trying to convey the importance of his position in the U.S. government. He's still part of a Senate which forms part of the Congress of the United States.

I can appreciate your view that the guy was not trying to be intentionally hurtful or offensive, but........... let's face it. This guy is a Congressman. He's not some Joe Blow off the street. His words carry some weight. To have someone of his political stature utter such a Neanderthal-like sentence is like jumping into a time machine and going back a couple of centuries. Words are just words, I know..... but this guy's on national television...... speaking about a topic of paramount importance.

What makes it even more astounding is that the guy is actually an emergency room physician.

Makes you realize just how entrenched these racist thoughts are in today's society. Yes..... racist, Lyle. I know that's a bad word around here..... but we can't bury our collective heads in the sand. Facts are facts, and way too many people out there actually think in these terms. Thank God I wasn't born black in 50's United States, 'cause I'd probably be dead by now. I would've been one of those rebellious blacks who refuse to sit in the back of the bus, or be directed to another drinking water fountain (lest my lack of proper handwashing contaminate the water for the whites).

People have been fired from high-profile jobs for less than that. You may or may not remember Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder who was fired from CBS Sports in the late '80s for comments he made about black athletes and relating those to the days of slavery.

Yes..... the comments were VERY unfortunate. Surely there will be more than just a few nodding heads across the country saying, "Yeah that's right.... I knew there had to be a reason."

BTW, I've been against this "COVID-race" business since the very beginning. Why must everything be about race?

Unlike this TIC dude, I fully believe COVID exists. But I'm not so sure we're going down the right path (or even a wise one) by tying race to the damn virus.

You come in contact with it....... you get sick (or not)....... you die (or not).

Simple as. Not race involved. It's like trying to pick an orange from an apple orchard.

[El Kabong]

I'm glad we're still able to have a discussion TitoFan.

People can be ignorant and that ignorance can be hurtful to others. People can say "ignorance is no excuse" which I find kind of odd. It's like if all your life you've played Checkers and all of a sudden I challenge you to a game of Chess it would be foolish of me to expect you to know how the pieces move without explanation and that learning process (of a GAME) can take years to master. I don't assume ill intent of the guy, I think INTENT matters. I think "Cancel Culture" which is allowing for exactly 0 errors in judgement purposeful or accidental is an extremely negative thing. I believe in the power of love, redemption, and understanding over "hey, this guy was inarticulate in his speech, he needs to go!"....how is this person ever to A) Have a LEARNING experience like he could be provided here OR B ) Be expected to contribute ANYTHING to society in any way because he's going to be so fearful of misspeaking that it paralyzes him?

It's not against the law, it's not against the rules, it's not a bad thing to speak freely. It's not a bad thing to misspeak. To place SO much focus and SO much pressure on that limits the chance that we as fellow citizens have meaningful dialogue which educates, enlightens, and brings us together rather than alienates us. He's not alone in misspeaking, and it can happen to ANYONE. He's not alone in being inarticulate, it can happen to ANYONE. If you think this comment alone is enough to have him removed from office then that's your view and I understand it....I don't think it's so bad as to base 100% of a vote on that. I think it's a great opportunity for him to learn and to think a bit harder before speaking.

As for people being fired & Jimmy The Greek and all that....I'm vehemently opposed to 'cancel culture' I see it as part and parcel of Marxist Critical Theory Iconoclasm in which there are ONLY wrong answers and only punishment. People grow when you allow them the opportunity. Should he be fired? Recalled? I'm sure it's up to his constituents, but people have said far worse and depending on which side of the debate they are on it's accepted or allowed. Fair is fair and I attempt to be down the middle, I'll allow for the farthest Left comments and the farthest Right comments, I'd like open debate and understanding but that's hard to come by these days, hell I'm called all sorts of names for holding such a position. People should be allowed to speak freely, there shouldn't be cancel mobs lining up to ruin lives or kick people out of schools etc....we should allow room for growth, room for redemption, room for acceptance back into the fold of humanity else we will end up whittling ourselves down to where individuals won't trust or love each other and that would be a horrible place to be.

Are there deliberate frothing at the mouth racists out there in the world today? Absolutely! I don't think they are represented in any great number.....but that's my opinion, maybe I'm being naively optimistic about that, but I'd rather feel that way than be so cynical that I refuse my fellow human their right to free expression even if they misspeak horribly.


The reason they were discussing race in terms of the COVID virus was because it was overwhelmingly impacting 1 race over others....was my takeaway from the discussion in question. I typically joke around that: "The world could end tomorrow and the headlines and top stories would all read 'World Ends: Women & Minorities hardest hit' " because of how the corporate newsmedia discusses things. It was my understanding that in this specific instance the crux of the issue was "Why is COVID impacting African_Americans more than other portions of the population" ergo the State Senator's gaffed response. He was attempting to suss out why that was the case.

I don't have the all the answers in regards to these things. I feel like the guy fucked up, he knows he fucked up, he'd probably be better off with an opportunity to learn from this rather than be completely ended by it.

[NoSavingByTheBell]

The social climate in this country right now is like a live electrical wire sparking.

Any public statements really need to be proofread and thought out carefully if you are going in front of a microphone and you are a senator whether it is a state senator or whatever

It is appalling given this extremely frazzled psychological and emotional climate that we have right now with the double whammy of coronavirus and George Floyd, that someone of such high visibility speaking in front of thousands if not millions, would not be able to stop himself in the middle of that ridiculous and hurtful sentence, you know it doesn't take much to catch yourself in the middle of a sentence and say well let me rephrase this or make a quick pivot out of the potential disaster by restating it or something

Which leads one to sort of leaning towards the conclusion, that perhaps these things are slipping out of the mouths of people who subconsciously hold racist views, and that is why they can literally complete full sentences in front of millions of people without batting an eyelash. They simply are not aware of how entrenched these views and stereotypes are in their own minds

Guarantee if nobody had called him out on it he would not be correcting what he said the following day. Gee, how convenient

[El Kabong]

The social climate in this country right now is like a live electrical wire sparking.

Any public statements really need to be proofread and thought out carefully if you are going in front of a microphone and you are a senator whether it is a state senator or whatever

It is appalling given this extremely frazzled psychological and emotional climate that we have right now with the double whammy of coronavirus and George Floyd, that someone of such high visibility speaking in front of thousands if not millions, would not be able to stop himself in the middle of that ridiculous and hurtful sentence, you know it doesn't take much to catch yourself in the middle of a sentence and say well let me rephrase this or make a quick pivot out of the potential disaster by restating it or something

Which leads one to sort of leaning towards the conclusion, that perhaps these things are slipping out of the mouths of people who subconsciously hold racist views, and that is why they can literally complete full sentences in front of millions of people without batting an eyelash. They simply are not aware of how entrenched these views and stereotypes are in their own minds

Guarantee if nobody had called him out on it he would not be correcting what he said the following day. Gee, how convenient

Then what a glorious thing it is to have Joe Biden running right?

[NoSavingByTheBell]

No Way Joe makes it to November. No way. Prediction: he bows out as nobly as he can in August, willingly or not. Easy to say his doctor advised him, etc. He's just too old at 78 to even begin the Presidency. Age doesn't always matter, but Joe is an OLD 78. Not his fault or anything, as everybody wishes they were 19 years old again, but just common sense tells you that to make it through the summer when the stress of his campaign starts really building up and he has to do some kind of rallies, and then the presidential debates in October...... Something just tells you that he will need a lot of Geritol and vitamin B12 to get through it

[NoSavingByTheBell]

Just watch that 9 second clip.

I can't believe he said that. and he said that right on the heels of his last statement which was "if you don't vote for me then you are not black".

[El Kabong]

Just watch that 9 second clip.

I can't believe he said that. and he said that right on the heels of his last statement which was "if you don't vote for me then you are not black".

Which of COURSE an old white man who has been in politics for over 4 decades is able to freely do without ANY backlash at all.


He told Black voters Mitt Romney was going to "put y'all back in chains"......but oh it's Uncle Joe Biden, good old Joe right? Right?

[NoSavingByTheBell]

Just watch that 9 second clip.

I can't believe he said that. and he said that right on the heels of his last statement which was "if you don't vote for me then you are not black".

Which of COURSE an old white man who has been in politics for over 4 decades is able to freely do without ANY backlash at all.


He told Black voters Mitt Romney was going to "put y'all back in chains"......but oh it's Uncle Joe Biden, good old Joe right? Right?

I don't think he'll be getting away with any of that. If he does make it to the election I bet he only gets 50% of whatever he thinks he's going to get right now of the black vote.

[El Kabong]

I don't think he'll be getting away with any of that. If he does make it to the election I bet he only gets 50% of whatever he thinks he's going to get right now of the black vote.

So far not only has he gotten away with it the corporate media has tripped over themselves to help explain away his gaffes.

[NoSavingByTheBell]

I don't think he'll be getting away with any of that. If he does make it to the election I bet he only gets 50% of whatever he thinks he's going to get right now of the black vote.

So far not only has he gotten away with it the corporate media has tripped over themselves to help explain away his gaffes.

True but he will not get away with it where it counts ultimately ..... and that is at The ballot box

[NoSavingByTheBell]

By the way can anyone fill me in on who else is running for president in November besides Trump and Biden?

[El Kabong]

By the way can anyone fill me in on who else is running for president in November besides Trump and Biden?

Joe Walsh HAD been running. He isn't going to make it on many ballots due to nobody knowing who he is or what he stands for. Jacob Hornberger looks to be the Libertarian candidate, don't know much about him. Howie Hawkins the Green Party presumptive nominee. Don Blankenship the Constitution Party nominee, and I don't know much about him either.

I too believe Biden will be replaced. I think Hillary will run again. I believe Biden is the placeholder for the time being in order to allow HRC to rest and relax (she tired out last go round) and they also would like to astroturf support for her, build a fake story like giving a professional wrestler a big push. If Biden has some sort of something happen to him and he gets people to rally around HRC, "Do it for me, Hillary " yeah that might galvanize SOME people but I feel super cynical just floating that hypothesis....I still think it'll happen though too much riding on this for HRC not to be involved.

[NoSavingByTheBell]

I am vacillating between thinking that HRC will be running and that on the other hand she will not want to risk being a three-time loser because then she could never ever live that down especially after how she lost in 2016, which hurt her badly enough

What if they bring out Michelle Obama? And vice President Barack Obama. Actually that's what I think they are going to do it just came to me right now as I am typing this

I believe I am the first person in the world to come up with that possible ticket. Yeah that's what they'll do they will run Michelle as president and Barack as vice president

They will make that announcement on August 1st or maybe July 4th for the patriotic effect of it

[NoSavingByTheBell]

Remember folks you heard it from me first right here on June 12th 2020

Obama and Obama will be the ticket