Jaybate, what is your gut telling you with these pipe bombs?





  • @mayjay “These bombs are just a false flag trying to make us look bad” says the party who steals babies and puts them in cages.



  • @BShark The Donald said during the campaign that “the 2nd Amendment people” could make sure that Hillary would never appoint any Sup Ct justices if she were elected. But how could anyone interpret that as encouraging violence?



  • You could rewrite Billy Joel’s “We Didnt Start the Fire” complete with all the morally corrupt or incompetent stuff Trump and the Republicans have done in his first two years alone.



  • Someone beat me to it:



  • approxinfinity said:

    @DoubleDD that’s because the things that Fox News says are verifiably BS, and they’re so in bed with Trump they make Russian hookers look tame.

    I have what i believe is a very valid/fair question for you. Why is its that you watch Fox News so much that you know that as you put it…the things Fox News says are verifiable BS; only a person that watches that network a lot would be able to make that type of statement, don’t you think? If it is so bad, I would think you would avoid watching it altogether.

    To a resonable observer, the MSM is a lot more closely allied with Liberals/Democratic Party that Trump is with Fox. There are several hosts/analysts at Fox that are very anti-Trump starting withe Shepard Smiths and Juan Williams and even Chris Wallace is very anti Trump although not as overt as the others. Is there anyone at CNN or MSNBC or any of the networks that are equivalent?



  • BShark said:

    @mayjay “These bombs are just a false flag trying to make us look bad” says the party who steals babies and puts them in cages.

    And what party would that be who steal babies and puts them in cages? The children in cages is just fake news that never happened, the cages were used as props during a staged protest by illegal aliens…during the Obama administration…and were never used by ICE and yet protest leaders doubled down on it knowing that the the photos were fake.

    Let me ask you a question. What happens if in your way home with your kids, you or any American citizen are stopped by the police and arrested for cause, say you caused an accident, would your kids be allowed to go to the detention center with you? I think not. Social Services would be called and in the absence of the other parent they would be places in a different location, right? Illegal aliens come in knowing full well that they are breaking the law and bring their kids to prevent being deported on the spot knowing their kids will be taken as is the case in every other lawful arrest/detention. Why should illegal aliens that willfully break the law have more rights than an American citizen?

    BTW, the kids that are separated from their parent are not placed in cages but in facilities orders of magnitude better than any thing they have known and cost the American Taxpayers upwards of $30K per year.

    If you don’t want to be detained and separated from your kids then don’t come here illegally and expect special privileges. Millions of immigrants come into the country legally every year, why should law breakers that try to jump to the front of the line get special privileges?



  • @JayHawkFanToo this administration separated children with no means of reuniting them with their parents, and refused to acknowledge that this was a policy, thereby causing no update to the software or procedure to reunite. The inability to reunite is terrible; either a collosal f–k up, or a deliberately negligent and cruel act, in an effort to further dissuade undocumented immigrants.



  • @JayHawkFanToo I pay attention to Fox News more than I do CNN and MSNBC, because Fox News poses the greatest threat to our country at the moment. I think we know why.

    To a resonable observer, the MSM is a lot more closely allied with Liberals/Democratic Party that Trump is with Fox.

    Being more in league with the truth is not the same as being “closely allied wiht Liberals/Democratic Party”. Corrolation is not causation.

    There are several hosts/analysts at Fox that are very anti-Trump starting withe Shepard Smiths and Juan Williams and even Chris Wallace is very anti Trump although not as overt as the others. Is there anyone at CNN or MSNBC or any of the networks that are equivalent?

    I have never heard of the first two people. I wonder what their viewership numbers are. I do appreciate you calling out that there are a few hosts that are reasonable, and I promise you I will seek them out. Do you possibly have clips in mind that I should check out? No worries if not; would save me time. My biggest concern is those people that are in bed with Trump and have the biggest viewership (Hannity, ex), i.e. the people doing the most damage, and most exemplifying state run media.

    I keep thinking back to the binge watching of Jordan Peterson I did a few months back. He had some decent moments, but one thing that stuck out as flat wrong and damaging was his argument that conservatives are more moral people. Maybe this is true if you think that conservatives self-identify more as being absolute in their convictions, but the truth of the matter is that Donald Trump has shown how far conservative morals can slide, and have slid. This is not just a “he’s got moral issues but his policies are good with me” kind of thing. You can’t absolve yourself of his influence over you. He’s build a tower of rhetoric and lies around him that you have to buy into, and have bought into by taking Fox News seriously.

    His relationship with Fox News is undeniable, and once again, the things they say on Fox are verifiably BS. Just as importantly, the BS and hateful things that Trump says and his administration does that they do not report or explain away invalidates their credibility as a news source. They do enough to be seriously damaging to the grasp that the people of this country have on reality.



  • It was a joke, for effect. I didn’t mean ACTUAL cages.

    Anyway, I have seen some videos where ICE has arrested ACTUAL US CITIZENS just because they were Mexican/speaking Spanish, that pisses me off.



  • @approxinfinity

    I don’t know what to make of your answer. You say you watch Fox News and yet you don’t know who Shepard Smith is and he has been with Fox News since its inception in 1996 and is the channel’s chief news anchor and managing editor of the breaking news division. Smith is the former host of Fox News’ evening newscast, The Fox Report with Shepard Smith, and Studio B. In 2013, Shepard Smith Reporting replaced Studio B. He is extreme anti Trump. Juan Williams, formerly of of NPR and PBS, has been with Fox for several year now since he was fired by NPR/PBS and he is a regular panel member on the. Sunday Fox show with Chris Wallace and several other show shows and extremely liberal and rabidly anti Trump. This is the equivalent of saying you follow KU basketball closely and yet don’t know who Kurtis Townsend or Norm Roberts are.

    As far as BS, look at how many times recently CNN had to retract flat out lies it published. How about NBC that withheld exculpatory evidence during the Kavanaugh saga? You are quick to indicate Fox publishes lies but I have not seen where you have shown any and you have not mentioned the actual lies published by the MSM.

    A friend of mine, former Assistant City Enginner for the City of Hutchinson (I did send his name to @Crimsonandblue12 at one time to see if she knew him) and a very liberal democrat was staying at my house and, much like you, kept saying he did not watch Fox News because it was all lies. I asked him how he knew that since he did not watch Fox and his answer was…everybody knows Fox lies and is extreme right. I suggested that instead of listening to others he should see it for himself and watch Fox News for one week and form his own opinion. He did and at the end of the week he had changes his mind. He said that every show he watched that had guests, there always were guest from both sides and with differing opinions. He was actually very surprised by this because it was not what he expected, but again, a lot of the criticism of Fox News is by people that don’t even watch it.



  • JayHawkFanToo said:

    I don’t know what to make of your answer. You say you watch Fox News and yet you don’t know who Shepard Smith is and he has been with Fox News since its inception in 1996 and is the channel’s chief news anchor and managing editor of the breaking news division. Smith is the former host of Fox News’ evening newscast, The Fox Report with Shepard Smith, and Studio B. In 2013, Shepard Smith Reporting replaced Studio B. He is extreme anti Trump. Juan Williams, formerly of of NPR and PBS, has been with Fox for several year now since he was fired by NPR/PBS and he is a regular panel member on the. Sunday Fox show with Chris Wallace and several other show shows and extremely liberal and rabidly anti Trump. This is the equivalent of saying you follow KU basketball closely and yet don’t know who Kurtis Townsend or Norm Roberts are.

    This is a major stretch. I never claimed to be a fan of Fox News. I was very explicit in saying that my attention to Fox News centers around the shows that do the most damage, specifically Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, who are the #2 and #3 rated hosts in 2018, whereas Shepard Smith is #19.

    I have seen countless utter horsesh-- clips from these two clowns (Carlson and Hannity) and I’m certain how I feel about them. I don’t dispute that there should likely be less detestable people on Fox; I told you I’d watch Smith or Williams. Was there any particular coverage that you think was well done and unbiased that I should look up? Are they tearing Trump a new a-hole for wanting to change the Constitution via executive order?



  • @JayHawkFanToo

    So here’s what Shepard Smith said about the caravan:

    “There is no invasion. No one is coming to get you. There’s nothing at all to worry about.”

    And yes, regarding the executive order conversation on birthright citizenship he was critical of Trump.

    That makes me wonder, do you yourself watch Shepard Smith?

    Did you, back in 2013 when he was the #3 trusted anchor on TV, before Fox decided to move him to the 3pm slot?

    Is it any surprise that I know who the 8, 9, and 10 pm slot anchors are?

    Why do you think Fox moved Smith to the 3pm slot and filled the 8, 9, and 10 pm slots with Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham?



  • @approxinfinity

    I see what the issue is. You are lumping together the news division with the opinion shows. Shepard Smith has always been and still is part of the news group and not the opinion group like Hannity and Carlson are. He is now in the top news time slot which is in the afternoon while the top time slots for opinionix are in the evening. Smith is now so biased against Trump that he has lost credibility and viewership and he is making the news more like opinion which is not what the news division is or should be about, i.e. report the news not make the news.

    I never said you were a fan of Fox, actually it is quite the contrary; however you did indicate that you watch it closely but your lack of knowledge of its line up would indicate the opposite and once you start citing numbers it indicates more of a Google search than actual hands on…or perhaps eyes on…experience. Just my observation.



  • So those of you that enjoy CNN and are left leaning. Can you please explain to me how this is not a racist statement…

    “We have to stop demonizing people and realize the biggest terror threat in this country is white men, MOST of them radicalized to the right” Don Lemon

    Imagine if a white person said that on Fox News. The left wants to sit around and blame the Fox News and Trump supporters for riling up the country, and then sit around and let this bullshit air.



  • It’s racist.



  • I wonder if anyone on here enjoys CNN. I agree it’s racist.



  • JayHawkFanToo said:

    @approxinfinity

    I see what the issue is. You are lumping together the news division with the opinion shows. Shepard Smith has always been and still is part of the news group and not the opinion group like Hannity and Carlson are. He is now in the top news time slot which is in the afternoon while the top time slots for opinionix are in the evening. Smith is now so biased against Trump that he has lost credibility and viewership and he is making the news more like opinion which is not what the news division is or should be about, i.e. report the news not make the news.

    I never said you were a fan of Fox, actually it is quite the contrary; however you did indicate that you watch it closely but your lack of knowledge of its line up would indicate the opposite and once you start citing numbers it indicates more of a Google search than actual hands on…or perhaps eyes on…experience. Just my observation.

    So if I understand you correctly, you’re making a distinction between news (Smith) and opinion (Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham) on Fox, and then saying that the news (Smith) is in fact biased. So, can I infer that the answer to my question is that no, you in fact do not watch Smith? It seems to me that distinguishing him as the “top news time slot” is meaningless/disingenuous, because the top slots PERIOD are in the evening, and you and many other Fox viewers, are not interested in the news (and also in many cases working at the time the news slot is running), and only consume the opinions.

    Is that right?



  • Lemon is an asshat.


  • Banned

    Speaking of Lemon

    Now that’s some fair and truthful reporting.



  • @DoubleDD Yep, we were agreeing with Woodrow for calling that crap out. It’s racist and isn’t okay.



  • @Woodrow I think reasonable people, regardless of political beliefs, will not have a problem with Don Lemon taking a permanent hike.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/10/31/cnn-host-don-lemon-said-white-men-are-biggest-terror-threat-this-country/?utm_term=.abfc75030446

    One can only hope that this one trips him up.



  • I mentioned that the first time in a long time I watched CNN was the Hurricane Coverage to laugh how bad it was. I was struck by how disingenuous and disengaged Don Lemon was, trying to force feed people their own stories in order to check off some dramatic checkboxes like “but your pets can’t go with you right! Huh. And you ma’am you’re staying because you’re an EMT and you want to stay to help these dog owners. Huh. Truly you are amazing. Huh.” Quite apparent that he’s full of sh–. So yeah @Woodrow I completely agree. He should be canned not only for being a racist but because he sucks at reporting, at least from what I saw.



  • @approxinfinity

    This is exactly what I am saying. News is part of the day time programming and the evening/night programming is primarily opinion. I watch the cable news networks only occasionally and I get my information from other sources. Ever since Rupert Murdoch’s kid took over Fox, the channel has become considerably less conservative, particularly day time programming. Evening programming is way too profitable to mess with so that portion has stayed conservative although O’Reilly is now gone. Other liberal leaning daytime hosts like Megan Kelly was very successful in her daytime slot but once she moved to the opinion time she was so anti Trump that lost audienc but the MSM networks came calling and she moved on…and got fired…

    The Fox that you talk about is the way it was many moons ago but not what it is now, this why a lot of conservatives have quit watching Fox. Google Shepard Smith and you will see the number of stories wandering why he is still with the network and the answer is because it is the new direction of the network. Again, Shepard Smith is to Fox what Wolf Blitzer is to CNN.



  • The following is an excerpt picked up from one the many reports…

    Being the paragon of political-correctness and queen of virtue-signaling opportunism, Hillary Clinton sat down with Recode’s Kara Swisher this weekend to answer questions about just how evil and awful conservative opponents have been in the last few months.

    The conversation began normally, with Clinton hypocritically toeing the progressive line of identity politics by explaining how each of the groups are different but can be managed by the same liberal movement:

    "What’s often called political correctness is politeness,” Clinton said.

    “It’s not being rude and insulting to people. It’s respecting the diversity that we have in our society,” she said.

    “The Democratic Party is a much more diverse political party, attracting people who are African-American, Latino, LGBT, whatever the reason why people feel more comfortable where they are taken in, where they are included as part of a political movement or party."

    “And I don’t think it’s politically correct to say we value that. And I don’t want to go around insulting people. I don’t want to paint with a broad brush every immigrant is this, every African-American is that, every, you know, other person with different religious beliefs or whatever - that’s childish."

    Childish, indeed. Insulting, indeed.

    Just 30 seconds later, as Swisher asked:

    "what do you think of Cory Booker… saying ‘kick them in the shins,’ essentially…” incorrectly recalling Eric Holder’s recent comments.

    Which Clinton quickly corrected:

    “Well that was Eric Holder…"

    Adding, rather extraordinarily,

    "Yeah, I know they all look alike,” Clinton joked, triggering howls of laughter from the apparently mind-numbed audience.

    Sorry Hillary, we don’t think they look anything alike? Or did u mean all black people?

    0_1541096703128_upload-57fa8ead-f629-4da8-a212-3b2c4e348de1 https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/2018-10-29_13-32-00.jpg?itok=FxrZhpr8

    Finally, we have one question - what would have happened if Trump said it?



  • JayHawkFanToo said:

    Just 30 seconds later, as Swisher asked:

    "what do you think of Cory Booker… saying ‘kick them in the shins,’ essentially…” incorrectly recalling Eric Holder’s recent comments.

    Which Clinton quickly corrected:

    “Well that was Eric Holder…"

    Adding, rather extraordinarily,

    "Yeah, I know they all look alike,” Clinton joked, triggering howls of laughter from the apparently mind-numbed audience.

    Sorry Hillary, we don’t think they look anything alike? Or did u mean all black people?

    I think you’re missing the point here. She’s joking about the meme that white people can’t tell black people apart. Which is callous, maybe even racist toward white people, but it’s pretty clear she does not in fact think that all black people look alike.

    She does have a habit of running her mouth in ways that provide soundbyte fodder for the conservative hit media. Nice work, Hillary!



  • @approxinfinity

    Seriously? That’s what you are going with?

    That was a racist statement any way you look at it. Had Trump said it he would be crucified. The liberal double standard never ceases to amaze me.



  • @JayHawkFanToo I did not disagree that it was a stupid, possibly racist statement. Trump would never say something like that, because he doesn’t have a firm enough grasp of current memes that didn’t originate out of his own mouth, so your postulation is too hypothetical.



  • @JayHawkFanToo Regarding Shep Smith, I’m getting the sense that he’s kind of an idiot? Sure, he attacks Trump, but probably poorly? Maybe I’m wrong.

    You should try John Oliver. You’d love him.



  • …and no signs of jaybate recently…



  • @Blown I know! Hoping he’s well and comes back fired up for basketball season.



  • approxinfinity said:

    @Blown I know! Hoping he’s well and comes back fired up for basketball season.

    I’ve given him a hard time, but I do hope he is okay.



  • @DoubleDD

    Apparently you don’t understand irony and sarcasm.

    A lot of people have said that various “other” groups should be banned or subjected to more scrutiny because of incidents, be it a Muslim ban, or the “Papers please” thing in Arizona, or police stopping minority males, etc. And in each case, the argument is that this additional scrutiny is not racist, but is based on things like safety and a threat to the public.

    But when that additional scrutiny is pointed at a group that is not traditionally marginalized, then there is outcry about reverse racism. Now, I am not saying that you personally have done the former. I cannot remember you ever doing that. But it has been done, and it has been done by others on this very board. I don’t think we need a “white guy” ban, but I also don’t think we need a Muslim ban, or Papers please or to follow young minority males.

    But it is funny that a lot of people that are upset about Don Lemon uttering those words also cheered when then Candidate Trump talked about banning Muslims.

    We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…



  • approxinfinity said:

    JayHawkFanToo said:

    Just 30 seconds later, as Swisher asked:

    "what do you think of Cory Booker… saying ‘kick them in the shins,’ essentially…” incorrectly recalling Eric Holder’s recent comments.

    Which Clinton quickly corrected:

    “Well that was Eric Holder…"

    Adding, rather extraordinarily,

    "Yeah, I know they all look alike,” Clinton joked, triggering howls of laughter from the apparently mind-numbed audience.

    Sorry Hillary, we don’t think they look anything alike? Or did u mean all black people?

    I think you’re missing the point here. She’s joking about the meme that white people can’t tell black people apart. Which is callous, maybe even racist toward white people, but it’s pretty clear she does not in fact think that all black people look alike.

    She does have a habit of running her mouth in ways that provide soundbyte fodder for the conservative hit media. Nice work, Hillary!

    See @DoubleDD, @JayHawkFanToo is illustrating why the conclusion Candace Owen draws (or the opinion of the special interest groups that pay her) is faulty. Hypersensitivity is not a conservative or liberal thing. It is a symptom of the digital age age.



  • @justanotherfan I was going to try to explain that, but after so many fruitless tries in this thread previously I gave up and chose drinking instead. Lemon’s comment would have been more easily understood had he used a couple simple explanatory words. Instead of saying “most terorist attacks in the US have been committed by white males” he said “white males are terrorists” leading to the misunderstanding that he was talking about all white males. His tying it to the idea of a ban made his point clear to anyone not primed by Hannity to whine about all the blame they think gets tossed their way.

    Many people make that mistake of reversing order when talking about subsets of larger groups. I hate imprecise speech. English teachers used to really slam people for not getting this right, but I don’t know if anyone pays attention. They certainly don’t to the “neither…nor” or “not only…but also” rules.



  • @mayjay, I was fortunate to have had English/grammar teachers (and my Mom) who not only taught, but required the use of precise speech. I, too, hate imprecise speech and poor or incorrect grammar. I’m with you all the way on that, my friend!



  • I only care about punctuation when the meaning is uncertain without it. I was an English major two decades ago, but now some grammatically correct syntax feels stuffy. I see you used “I, too,” @bcjayhawk. To me, the commas there feel unnecessary, even if grammatically correct. Who has time for superfluous commas in the 2010s? I’d never pause twice when talking to someone and saying that sentence out loud, so why create the two pauses via commas there? Nothing seems lost without them.

    Just my opinion. 🙂



  • @approxinfinity The advantages of following rules are twofold. First, the writer doesn’t have to make ad hoc decisions every time–just know and follow the rule. Easy as pie. Second, the writer by not making decisions about when to follow rules can ensure the greatest chance that the intent of the writer in the passage will be understood by the reader provided everyone uses the common rules.

    Put together, those considerations mean that you don’t have to figure out all possible misinterpretations by picking and choosing when to be “correct.”

    If you can always guarantee proper interpretations of your meaning, good on you! But furthering the notion that everyone can be so perfect is pretty short-sighted.



  • @mayjay In this sentence I would definitely enforce extra commas, so that the natural pauses are evident to the reader.

    Second, the writer by not making decisions about when to follow rules can ensure the greatest chance that the intent of the writer in the passage will be understood by the reader provided everyone uses the common rules.

    This should read: Second, the writer[,] by not making decisions about when to follow rules[,] can ensure the greatest chance that the intent of the writer [of] the passage will be understood by the reader[,] provided everyone uses the common rules.

    Is there a word for someone who cares only how the sentence sounds when spoken aloud? I tried to google potential word candidates but only found sexual fetishes, ex “auralist”. Anyway, I’d be in that group. Sorry I’m trolling you man 🙂 I find it fun to nitpick people’s grammar when they bring up a preference for proper grammar. It’s just an obligatory trolling. I hope you guys understand!

    I think your logic is pretty sound, for what it’s worth 🙂 But I intend to be an “auralist” none-the-less.



  • @approxinfinity I definitely added more to that sentence and should have had more commas. Hoist on me own petard! Edit: “in” is the proper word for it is used with the writer’s “intent . . . in” the passage.

    As for how sentence meaning can change depending on how it sounds, here is an example (though not of punctuation) of a sentence in a criminal trial transcript:

    “I never said she killed him.”

    What meaning did you glean? Now, reread it six times, each time particularly stressing a different word.

    Punctuation can be played with, too. But more importantly, if you think commas are only to make sentences sound good and can be deleted by personal preference, they certainly can be added willy nilly, too. Remember the rabbit who eats, shoots, and leaves?


  • Banned

    justanotherfan said:

    @DoubleDD

    Apparently you don’t understand irony and sarcasm.

    A lot of people have said that various “other” groups should be banned or subjected to more scrutiny because of incidents, be it a Muslim ban, or the “Papers please” thing in Arizona, or police stopping minority males, etc. And in each case, the argument is that this additional scrutiny is not racist, but is based on things like safety and a threat to the public.

    But when that additional scrutiny is pointed at a group that is not traditionally marginalized, then there is outcry about reverse racism. Now, I am not saying that you personally have done the former. I cannot remember you ever doing that. But it has been done, and it has been done by others on this very board. I don’t think we need a “white guy” ban, but I also don’t think we need a Muslim ban, or Papers please or to follow young minority males.

    But it is funny that a lot of people that are upset about Don Lemon uttering those words also cheered when then Candidate Trump talked about banning Muslims.

    We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…

    OH so you think there should be a white man ban? And you’re not a racist? What do you want? equality or privilege?



  • Reading is hard.