Branch Trumpvidians

[fraurosena]

We call them the Branch Trumpvidians. Our posts about them are mostly scathing, scorching and sarcastic. We tend to look down upon them as ignorant fools and backwards idiots, who are crybabies when they find out that the presidunce isn't giving them what he promised. 

I am interested in these people mostly because the anthropological side of this all fascinates me. In essence the sociological  and psychological influences surrounding their decisions. Why did they vote for the Tangerine Toddler? Who are these people, why do they back him? Are they really all idiots and fools? 

Today, I found an article about this very subject, that I found quite enlightening. Maybe it will soften your views on them, maybe not. You're human after all...

“I just choose to not listen”: why Trump supporters are tuning out the scandals

Quote

If you’re looking for an explanation for why Trump’s support is so solid among his base — and why it will remain so stubbornly high — read this piece by the Associated Press, where the reporters asked Trump supporters how they’re handling the wave of scandals.

“I tuned it out,” Michele Velardi, a 44-year-old in Staten Island, told the AP of the recent news. “I didn’t want to be depressed. I don’t want to feel that he’s not doing what he said, so I just choose to not listen.”

This line is extremely revealing. It shows a psychological tendency we’re all susceptible to. That tendency is called “motivated ignorance,” and it’s an extremely powerful force in American politics. It’s also one of the keys to understanding why political discourse can be so irrational.

I believe @GreyhoundFan posted that very article by AP (although I'm not sure, it could have been someone else).

Quote

Here’s a simple truth: We find inconvenient political facts to be genuinely unpleasant. Psychologists theorize that’s because our partisan identities get mixed up with our personal identities — which would mean that an attack on our strongly held beliefs is an attack on the self.

“The brain’s primary responsibility is to take care of the body, to protect the body,” Jonas Kaplan, a psychologist at the University of Southern California, told me earlier this year. “The psychological self is the brain’s extension of that. When our self feels attacked, our [brain is] going to bring to bear the same defenses that it has for protecting the body.”

There are some illuminating test results illustrating this in the article itself.

Quote

Our brains are more interested in protecting our political groups than finding out the truth.

This “fundamental need for a shared reality with other people” all too often overshadows incentives to weigh evidence or to be objective when it comes to political discussions.

This is the dark truth that lies at the heart of all partisan politics. We automatically have an easier time remembering information that fits our worldviews. We’re simply quicker to recognize information that confirms what we already know, which makes us blind to facts that discount it. It’s the reason why, paradoxically, as we learn more about politics and politically charged issues, we tend to become more rigid in our thinking.

“People are using their reason to be socially competent actors,” Dan Kahan, a psychologist at Yale, told me earlier this year. Put another way: We have a lot of pressure to live up to our groups’ expectations. And the smarter we are, the more we put our brainpower to use for that end.

Critical thinking and reasoning skills evolved because they made it easier to cooperate in groups, Elizabeth Kolbert explains in a recent New Yorker piece. We’ve since adapted these skills to make breakthroughs in topics like science and math. But when pressed, we default to using our powers of mind to get along with our groups.

Are there idiots and fools among the Trumpvidians? Oh, yes, I believe there really are. But I'm also convinced that there are quite a few of them who are quite smart and intelligent, but have 'motivated ignorance'. 

Quote

This is a key point that many people miss when discussing the “fake news” or “filter bubble” problem in our online media ecosystems. Avoiding facts inconvenient to our worldview isn’t just some passive, unconscious habit we engage in. We do it because we find these facts to be unpleasant. And as long as this experience remains unpleasant, and easy to avoid, we’re just going to drift further and further apart.

These scandals seem likely to keep growing. And new ones may pop up. But know that it will take a lot for Trump’s supporters to abandon him. Why? They’re human.

I, for one, will look with new eyes at those 'repentant Trumpvidians' that I have disparaged in the past.

Because if they truly have changed their political views, it means that they are going against their own group. And that is an almighty hard thing to do...

 

[47of74]

Here's a Branch Trumpvidian who is still an asshole;

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-passenger-trump-hat-disrupts-united-shanghai-20170522-htmlstory.html

A passenger wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat got kicked off a United Airlines flight from Shanghai on Sunday after he became disruptive, officials said.

The unidentified passenger was boarding flight 87 at Shanghai Pudong International Airport when he refused to comply with the crew’s instructions, according to United spokesman Jonathan Guerin. When the passenger was asked to exit the Newark, N.J.-bound flight, he “became increasingly disruptive,” according to the spokesman.

“For safety and security reasons, local law enforcement was called to assist and the customer eventually left the aircraft on his own accord,” Guerin said.

Because of the disruption the passengers had to get off the plane – which eventually had to make an unscheduled stop in San Francisco to get a new crew.

[47of74]

More Branch Trumpvidians in action....

kgw.com/news/local/fbi-portland-police-investigating-racist-threat-targeting-multicultural-festival/447107914

Quote

The organizers of a decades-old multicultural festival in Northeast Portland are working with city and federal authorities after receiving a racist, threatening letter Wednesday.

The letter, written in all caps and laced with hateful rhetoric and spelling errors, begins: “TO ALL N***** LOVERS AND N******! PRESIDENT TRUMT HAS ISSUED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER TO KILL ALL N******!!!”

KGW did not alter the spelling of the president’s name. 

The letter was delivered to the Northeast Neighborhood Coalition office on Northeast 7th Avenue, the same office listed as the address for Good in the Hood, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit set up to put on the organization’s namesake annual multicultural festival. The festival traditionally features a parade, local music, food and educational opportunities. 

 

[fraurosena]

9 hours ago, 47of74 said:

More Branch Trumpvidians in action....

kgw.com/news/local/fbi-portland-police-investigating-racist-threat-targeting-multicultural-festival/447107914

 

When I read your quote, my first thought was: this is the prank of a child. Then I read the article itself and the whole letter. Nope, not a childish prank. This is really a scary, crazy, misguided and very obviously uneducated idiot, who most probably has guns galore in his posession. What a truly frightening thing...

[sawasdee]

When they write the history books, they will write of the TT's self enrichment, his lack of ethics, his laughably inept government. (And hopefully, his impeachment, and his imprisonment for money laundering.)

But I think the overriding judgment will be that he set race relations back 50 years, and made racism socially acceptable again.

And that's why everyone who can must fight this dangerous orange buffoon, at the ballot box, and out canvassing, getting out the vote, registering voters - everything you can.

[VixenToast]

2 hours ago, sawasdee said:

When they write the history books, they will write of the TT's self enrichment, his lack of ethics, his laughably inept government. (And hopefully, his impeachment, and his imprisonment for money laundering.)

But I think the overriding judgment will be that he set race relations back 50 years, and made racism socially acceptable again.

And that's why everyone who can must fight this dangerous orange buffoon, at the ballot box, and out canvassing, getting out the vote, registering voters - everything you can.

I can't  wait to see what history has to say about this in 10, 20, 30, 40 years down the line. My Daddy always said something along the lines of, "You're witnessing history Margaret. You are always witnessing history." Well, Daddy, I'm watching and Im taking it all in and history will NOT be kind to the Trumpian Monstrocity that is our government. I just wish he was here so he could be in disbelief too.

People will look back at this time, and I only hope that they don't think that we were all like that.

[Zola]

How very correct your father was, @VixenToast. At all times history is being made, but this is beyond daily history. This is the stuff of legend. I have looked at my husband many times since Trump took office and said, "We are watching history happen. What we're seeing happen now will one day be in history books." 

When people look back, they will know by the damning evidence of our outrage and our resistance that we were not all like that. They will know by our success in rising up together to stand for that which is right and just that we did not all condone Trump and his policies. They will know that not all Americans cared for "America First" but that they cared for the whole population of Earth and for Earth itself more than they cared for just themselves by the way we continue being green (despite an adminstration bent on denying science to take us back to an era where they can get rich or richer by blatantly abusing our Earth.)

And I hope that one day people will know that the United States (and the planet Earth) can withstand the machinations of a would-be tyrant who was exposed as unfit to govern and thrown out of office before completing his first term. 

Unfortunately, they will also know how many of our people that charlatan was able to convince to support him, how deeply divided our nation became in what appears to be want for the best of our nation, and how those things affected the rest of the nations with whom we share our planet.

I'd be more excited about watching all of this happen if I weren't so disturbed by it all.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Some Trump supporters want a holy war"

Spoiler

On Saturday, anti-Muslim activists held a number of sparsely attended protests across the United States. The ostensible reason for the demonstrations was opposition to Islamic law, or sharia, a cause that animates the lobbying organization that called the marches. But critics of that group, which has close ties to the Donald Trump campaign, argue that its anti-sharia posturing is a smokescreen for much broader hostility toward Muslims — a charge that can be similarly leveled at President Trump's administration.

In various U.S. cities, the anti-sharia marches were confronted by a far larger number of counterprotesters, including Jewish groups that mobilized in solidarity with Muslims and people who described themselves as antifascists. In a few places, the two sides engaged in brief clashes that were broken up by police.

The demonstrations were coordinated by ACT for America, an organization designated as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks right-wing extremism in the United States. Its leaders, as my colleagues reported, “have labeled Islam a 'cancer,' propagated theories of a secret plot by Muslims, Democrats, communists and the media to destroy the country from within, and sponsored lectures on how to monitor and oppose U.S. mosques.”

Never mind that there's no vast Muslim American conspiracy to impose sharia law. Never mind that there's no vast Muslim American conspiracy to take over institutions of power in Washington. Never mind that Muslim Americans form one of the most economically successful and well-educated communities in the United States.

False claims about the Muslim peril abounded among those who attended the rallies. “There’s rampant rape happening because of Syrian immigrants, and we have to stop that from coming to America,” Joseph Weidknecht, a 25-year-old construction worker who attended a march in Austin, said to my colleagues.

ACT for America's founder, Brigitte Gabriel, “has said that she is anti-sharia, not anti-Muslim, a point that a number of the group’s speakers repeated Saturday,” wrote The Washington Post's Abigail Hauslohner, who covered an ACT for America protest in New York City that was dwarfed by its opponents. “But Gabriel also has said that all practicing Muslims adhere to sharia, and speakers on Saturday made sweeping statements about Islam as an enemy of the state.”

Such rhetoric is, of course, familiar to those who paid attention to Trump's election campaign. As a candidate, Trump fear-mongered over the threat posed by Muslim refugees, urged blanket monitoring of mosques and even once declared that “Islam hates us.” He repeatedly inveighed against “radical Islam,” but critics suggested he was actually demonizing an entire faith with more than a billion adherents.

Trump's ousted national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is listed as a member of ACT for America's board of advisers. Gabriel reportedly also went to the White House for a meeting with Trump's team in March.

Since taking office, Trump has somewhat moderated his message. Although he initially called for a ban on all Muslim arrivals to the United States, his so-far-unsuccessful executive orders apply only to certain Muslim-majority countries, as well as Syrian refugees. He also has wooed various Muslim-majority nations, including Saudi Arabia, whose foreign policy priorities in the Middle East have been wholeheartedly embraced by the White House. But while Trump may change his tune out of expedience, many of his allies and supporters, like the few who marched on Saturday, seem more committed.

“In New York, a dozen members of Identity Evropa, which seeks a whites-only state, came to support the ACT rally, wearing tucked-in dress shirts, sunglasses and slicked-down side-parts,” wrote Hauslohner. “In Harrisburg, Pa., a group that has claimed credit for white nationalist posters on college campuses said they wanted Muslims out of the United States entirely.”

Such extremism does not reflect the policies or beliefs of most Americans on the right. But it has found alarming encouragement from the occupants of the White House and certain hard line GOP politicians. Last week, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) wrote on Facebook that “all of Christendom … is at war with Islamic horror” and that the only solution is to “kill them all.”

The belief in a kind of clash of civilizations seems to hover around the Trump administration — a polarizing message that would never have been propagated by previous administrations, whether Democratic or Republican. Consider, for example, the declarations of White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, which I cited in an earlier report on how some Trump supporters are obsessed with the Crusades.

“If you look back at the long history of the Judeo-Christian West struggle against Islam, I believe that our forefathers kept their stance, and I think they did the right thing,”  said Bannon at a meeting of European conservatives in 2014. He spoke of “a global war against Islamic fascism” and invoked two famous medieval battles in which largely Christian forces in Europe repulsed Muslim armies. “I think they kept it out of the world, whether it was at Vienna, or Tours, or other places. … It bequeathed to us the great institution that is the church of the West,” he said.

In the fever swamp of the alt-right — an online world of ultranationalists, white supremacists and Islamophobes — memes proliferate showing Trump as a holy warrior of Christendom.

The Latin phrase “Deus Vult” — “it is the will of God” or “God wills it,” supposedly uttered by Pope Urban II in 1095 when he launched the First Crusade — has become a popular hashtag among the alt-right. The irony here, of course, is how they mimic the worldview professed by Islamist militants, who cloak their violence in appeals to a mythic past and a glorious civilizational struggle.

In both cases, any understanding of the real history would undermine their misguided zeal. But given Trump's various misreadings of the past, it's no surprise that his supporters exult in fictions about the enemy — and exhibit some of the worst instincts of the very people they seek to defeat.

Warning -- do not look at the memes in the article while eating or drinking. The horse in the first picture looks like he's thinking, "just shoot me now." Also, gee, what a surprise to see Flynn's name mixed up with this. (end sarcasm font)

[GrumpyGran]

2 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

The Latin phrase “Deus Vult” — “it is the will of God” or “God wills it,” supposedly uttered by Pope Urban II in 1095 when he launched the First Crusade — has become a popular hashtag among the alt-right. The irony here, of course, is how they mimic the worldview professed by Islamist militants, who cloak their violence in appeals to a mythic past and a glorious civilizational struggle.

This alone shows how ignorantly manipulative these people are.

[fraurosena]

Oopsie.

Coal Miners Who Voted for Trump Are Now Terrified to Lose Obamacare

Spoiler

CNN recently told the story of miners and miners’ widows in eastern Kentucky. They all share three things in common:

 

• They are all affected by black lung, either directly or indirectly.
• The all voted for Donald Trump.
• They all now fear what is going to happen if Trump follows through on his promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare).

All of the voters CNN speaks to said they were inclined to vote for Trump despite their fears, because he said he was going to bring coal-mining jobs back. And now that he won, and they have had time to process his message, they are afraid.

Whether the good people of rural, southern Appalachia knew it or not, many of them have reaped the benefits the ACA has provided them. This doesn’t just include insurance coverage where perhaps there had been no possibility before. No, those in coal country benefited another way, through easier access to substantial benefits for victims of black lung, a disease caused by the build-up of coal dust over years and years of exposure. Those with black lung suffer greatly from inflammation and fibrosis of the lungs. A diagnosis generally marks the end of a career and the beginning of a steady decline in health.

According to the US Department of Labor, the ACA restores benefits and entitlements to both victims and survivors of black lung:

The first amendment mandates a presumption of total disability or death caused by pneumoconiosis for coal miners who worked for at least 15 years in underground (or comparable surface) mining and who suffer or suffered from a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The second amendment provides automatic entitlement for eligible survivors of miners who were themselves entitled to receive benefits as a result of a lifetime claim.

The re-instated amendments are 30 United States Code 921(c)(4) and 30 U.S.C. 932(l); and they are contained in Section 1556 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and apply to claims filed after Jan. 1, 2005, that are pending on or after March 23, 2010.

The final rule addresses the automatic entitlement of certain survivors and the 15-year entitlement presumption as it applies to miners’ and their survivors’ claims. In addition, the rule eliminates several unnecessary or obsolete provisions in accordance with Executive Order 13563.

Stat News also tell the stories of black lung survivors who talk about just how impossible it was to receive benefits, ” ‘You couldn’t ever win back then,’ said Sue Toler, a coal miner’s widow in Huntsville, Tenn., of claims for black lung benefits. ‘It didn’t matter what kind of evidence you had.’ “ Phil Smith, a spokesperson for the United Coal Workers of America said it was “almost impossible... The vast majority of people were denied benefits. People would take these cases through the black lung court system and they would be denied because the companies could sow the shadow of a seed of a doubt.”

Stat News goes on to explain how the ACA changed things:

The Affordable Care Act changed that. Under “Miscellaneous Provisions” is a small section sponsored by a self-proclaimed “child of the Appalachian coalfields,” the late West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert Byrd.

The Byrd Amendments shifted the burden of proof from the miners onto the mining companies. If a miner has spent 15 years or more underground and can prove respiratory disability, then it is presumed to be black lung related to mine work, unless the company can prove otherwise.

“Often the person whose job it is to do the convincing loses,” said Evan Smith, a lawyer for the nonprofit Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, who represents many miners affected by black lung. That change had a significant impact: In 2009, 19 percent of claims for black lung benefits were successful; in 2015, that percentage had jumped to 28.

And now, faced with the reality of Trump’s dangerous campaign rhetoric, at times at odds with itself, the coal miners of Appalachia are left wondering, “who really has my back?”

I think we all know who doesn’t. And unfortunately – in four years whether or not Trump scammed the hell out of them isn’t going to matter…

 

[GrumpyGran]

20 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Oopsie.

Coal Miners Who Voted for Trump Are Now Terrified to Lose Obamacare

  Reveal hidden contents

CNN recently told the story of miners and miners’ widows in eastern Kentucky. They all share three things in common:

 

• They are all affected by black lung, either directly or indirectly.
• The all voted for Donald Trump.
• They all now fear what is going to happen if Trump follows through on his promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare).

All of the voters CNN speaks to said they were inclined to vote for Trump despite their fears, because he said he was going to bring coal-mining jobs back. And now that he won, and they have had time to process his message, they are afraid.

Whether the good people of rural, southern Appalachia knew it or not, many of them have reaped the benefits the ACA has provided them. This doesn’t just include insurance coverage where perhaps there had been no possibility before. No, those in coal country benefited another way, through easier access to substantial benefits for victims of black lung, a disease caused by the build-up of coal dust over years and years of exposure. Those with black lung suffer greatly from inflammation and fibrosis of the lungs. A diagnosis generally marks the end of a career and the beginning of a steady decline in health.

According to the US Department of Labor, the ACA restores benefits and entitlements to both victims and survivors of black lung:

The first amendment mandates a presumption of total disability or death caused by pneumoconiosis for coal miners who worked for at least 15 years in underground (or comparable surface) mining and who suffer or suffered from a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The second amendment provides automatic entitlement for eligible survivors of miners who were themselves entitled to receive benefits as a result of a lifetime claim.

The re-instated amendments are 30 United States Code 921(c)(4) and 30 U.S.C. 932(l); and they are contained in Section 1556 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and apply to claims filed after Jan. 1, 2005, that are pending on or after March 23, 2010.

The final rule addresses the automatic entitlement of certain survivors and the 15-year entitlement presumption as it applies to miners’ and their survivors’ claims. In addition, the rule eliminates several unnecessary or obsolete provisions in accordance with Executive Order 13563.

Stat News also tell the stories of black lung survivors who talk about just how impossible it was to receive benefits, ” ‘You couldn’t ever win back then,’ said Sue Toler, a coal miner’s widow in Huntsville, Tenn., of claims for black lung benefits. ‘It didn’t matter what kind of evidence you had.’ “ Phil Smith, a spokesperson for the United Coal Workers of America said it was “almost impossible... The vast majority of people were denied benefits. People would take these cases through the black lung court system and they would be denied because the companies could sow the shadow of a seed of a doubt.”

Stat News goes on to explain how the ACA changed things:

The Affordable Care Act changed that. Under “Miscellaneous Provisions” is a small section sponsored by a self-proclaimed “child of the Appalachian coalfields,” the late West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert Byrd.

The Byrd Amendments shifted the burden of proof from the miners onto the mining companies. If a miner has spent 15 years or more underground and can prove respiratory disability, then it is presumed to be black lung related to mine work, unless the company can prove otherwise.

“Often the person whose job it is to do the convincing loses,” said Evan Smith, a lawyer for the nonprofit Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, who represents many miners affected by black lung. That change had a significant impact: In 2009, 19 percent of claims for black lung benefits were successful; in 2015, that percentage had jumped to 28.

And now, faced with the reality of Trump’s dangerous campaign rhetoric, at times at odds with itself, the coal miners of Appalachia are left wondering, “who really has my back?”

I think we all know who doesn’t. And unfortunately – in four years whether or not Trump scammed the hell out of them isn’t going to matter…

 

GRRRR. I feel bad for anyone who needs a job and can't find one, but these people....

Coal mining jobs are NOT coming back. They're NOT. And if you haven't noticed, they're BAD for you.

I have a hard time feeling sorry for people who are willfully ignorant and aggressively vote against their own best interest.

[CTRLZero]

Bye bye, health care

A couple of local counties (Washington state) have just received news that thousands will have no access to health care.  This is happening nationwide, of course, and I think people are going to get desperate.  Here's a short quote from the article (bolding mine):
 

Quote

 

“You have to hope that you don’t get sick if you live in those two counties and you have to buy your own health insurance,” said State Insurance Commissioner Mark Kreidler.

“That means even if you are receiving a subsidy or buying it through the exchange, they don’t offer anything,” he said. “Even if you are paying all of the cost for yourself in the individual market, there is nothing offered in your county to cover you. That’s an unfortunate situation, we haven’t seen it before.”

 

Between lack of medical staff due to immigration/visa restrictions affecting rural counties, and lack of insurance...what a terrible situation.

Next up:  who is going to pick our crops this year? 

[Childless]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

Oopsie.

Coal Miners Who Voted for Trump Are Now Terrified to Lose Obamacare

  Reveal hidden contents

CNN recently told the story of miners and miners’ widows in eastern Kentucky. They all share three things in common:

 

• They are all affected by black lung, either directly or indirectly.
• The all voted for Donald Trump.
• They all now fear what is going to happen if Trump follows through on his promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare).

All of the voters CNN speaks to said they were inclined to vote for Trump despite their fears, because he said he was going to bring coal-mining jobs back. And now that he won, and they have had time to process his message, they are afraid.

Whether the good people of rural, southern Appalachia knew it or not, many of them have reaped the benefits the ACA has provided them. This doesn’t just include insurance coverage where perhaps there had been no possibility before. No, those in coal country benefited another way, through easier access to substantial benefits for victims of black lung, a disease caused by the build-up of coal dust over years and years of exposure. Those with black lung suffer greatly from inflammation and fibrosis of the lungs. A diagnosis generally marks the end of a career and the beginning of a steady decline in health.

According to the US Department of Labor, the ACA restores benefits and entitlements to both victims and survivors of black lung:

The first amendment mandates a presumption of total disability or death caused by pneumoconiosis for coal miners who worked for at least 15 years in underground (or comparable surface) mining and who suffer or suffered from a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The second amendment provides automatic entitlement for eligible survivors of miners who were themselves entitled to receive benefits as a result of a lifetime claim.

The re-instated amendments are 30 United States Code 921(c)(4) and 30 U.S.C. 932(l); and they are contained in Section 1556 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and apply to claims filed after Jan. 1, 2005, that are pending on or after March 23, 2010.

The final rule addresses the automatic entitlement of certain survivors and the 15-year entitlement presumption as it applies to miners’ and their survivors’ claims. In addition, the rule eliminates several unnecessary or obsolete provisions in accordance with Executive Order 13563.

Stat News also tell the stories of black lung survivors who talk about just how impossible it was to receive benefits, ” ‘You couldn’t ever win back then,’ said Sue Toler, a coal miner’s widow in Huntsville, Tenn., of claims for black lung benefits. ‘It didn’t matter what kind of evidence you had.’ “ Phil Smith, a spokesperson for the United Coal Workers of America said it was “almost impossible... The vast majority of people were denied benefits. People would take these cases through the black lung court system and they would be denied because the companies could sow the shadow of a seed of a doubt.”

Stat News goes on to explain how the ACA changed things:

The Affordable Care Act changed that. Under “Miscellaneous Provisions” is a small section sponsored by a self-proclaimed “child of the Appalachian coalfields,” the late West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert Byrd.

The Byrd Amendments shifted the burden of proof from the miners onto the mining companies. If a miner has spent 15 years or more underground and can prove respiratory disability, then it is presumed to be black lung related to mine work, unless the company can prove otherwise.

“Often the person whose job it is to do the convincing loses,” said Evan Smith, a lawyer for the nonprofit Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, who represents many miners affected by black lung. That change had a significant impact: In 2009, 19 percent of claims for black lung benefits were successful; in 2015, that percentage had jumped to 28.

And now, faced with the reality of Trump’s dangerous campaign rhetoric, at times at odds with itself, the coal miners of Appalachia are left wondering, “who really has my back?”

I think we all know who doesn’t. And unfortunately – in four years whether or not Trump scammed the hell out of them isn’t going to matter…

 

I don't get it.  Trump campaigned on getting rid of the ACA.  It was on his campaign website.  He brought it up at every rally and every debate.  Literally every Republican Congress person salivated at the opportunity to demolish it (hell, they voted several times to repeal it).  This platform item was pretty hard to miss.  How did they not see this coming?  I have zero sympathy for these people.  They are either incredibly stupid or incredibly naive.  Either way, they did it to themselves.  Chalk this one up to the "votes matter" lesson.  Maybe they'll be wiser next time.

[fraurosena]

11 minutes ago, Childless said:

I don't get it.  Trump campaigned on getting rid of the ACA.  It was on his campaign website.  He brought it up at every rally and every debate.  Literally every Republican Congress person salivated at the opportunity to demolish it (hell, they voted several times to repeal it).  This platform item was pretty hard to miss.  How did they not see this coming?  I have zero sympathy for these people.  They are either incredibly stupid or incredibly naive.  Either way, they did it to themselves.  Chalk this one up to the "votes matter" lesson.  Maybe they'll be wiser next time.

To be honest, I think they were naive, and believing TT would bring back jobs made them hopeful. Obamacare was ebil, remember, and not the same thing as the ACA. At least, that is what a lot of people thought. Plus, they thought the repugs would repeal it, and replace it with something decent.

So in a sense, they really were scammed.

[GrumpyGran]

I think all they heard was "I'm going to get rid of Obama..." And these fools refused to believe that the sudden upgrade in their health care had anything to do with the ACA/Obamacare. Until now. Surprise!

A nurse I worked with back before ACA was implemented would go on and on about how horrible it was and then in the next breath talk about how excited she was that she could put her lazy adult sons on her health insurance now.

[47of74]

2 hours ago, Childless said:

I don't get it.  Trump campaigned on getting rid of the ACA.  It was on his campaign website.  He brought it up at every rally and every debate.  Literally every Republican Congress person salivated at the opportunity to demolish it (hell, they voted several times to repeal it).  This platform item was pretty hard to miss.  How did they not see this coming?  I have zero sympathy for these people.  They are either incredibly stupid or incredibly naive.  Either way, they did it to themselves.  Chalk this one up to the "votes matter" lesson.  Maybe they'll be wiser next time.

“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:31) 

I'm sorry, but I doubt very much that they'll be wiser next time.  Branch Trumpvidians will be just as stubborn then, if not more so.   Even if Jesus Christ came back and said don't vote for Agent Orange or someone like him they'd still vote for Agent Orange or one of his clones.

 

[47of74]

Branch Trumpvidians are finding out that being a fornicate face supporter can definitely affect their love lives;

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article158183454.html

Quote

In the treacherous, amusing and sometimes rewarding world of online dating, Donald Trump has become the newest way to find – or reject – a romantic match.

“His presidency has created this new deal-breaker,” said Laurie Davis Edwards, a relationship coach and founder of the website eflirtexpert.com.

 

[47of74]

NPR tweeted out the Declaration of Independence.  That led to Branch Trumpvidian snowflakes being triggered.

 

Quote

National Public Radio tweeted out the Declaration of Independence on Tuesday to mark the July Fourth holiday, but not everyone understood what it was doing. 

Some supporters of President Donald Trump didn’t recognize one of the nation’s founding documents and accused the broadcaster of inciting violence and even revolution. 

Many of those comments have since been deleted and at least one user deleted an entire Twitter account. 

Jesus Fornicating Christ.  Every time I think Branch Trumpvidians cannot possibly be any dumber they prove me wrong.

[Audrey2]

56 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

NPR tweeted out the Declaration of Independence.  That led to Branch Trumpvidian snowflakes being triggered.

 

Jesus Fornicating Christ.  Every time I think Branch Trumpvidians cannot possibly be any dumber they prove me wrong.

The Branch Trumpvidians pride themselves on only owning and believing in the Bible and the Constitution. No one said anything about the Declaration of Independence. That's a phony liberal document*.

*Except in Arizona, where state law dictates that students recite part of it each day.

[Childless]

1 hour ago, 47of74 said:

NPR tweeted out the Declaration of Independence.  That led to Branch Trumpvidian snowflakes being triggered.

 

Jesus Fornicating Christ.  Every time I think Branch Trumpvidians cannot possibly be any dumber they prove me wrong.

This is what happens when you eschew education.  Whether or not you feel educational institutions are liberal, it pays to be knowledgeable so at the very least you don't look like a fool.

[GreyhoundFan]

These people are freaking insane: "The Reddit user behind Trump’s CNN meme apologized. But #CNNBlackmail is the story taking hold."

Spoiler

The Reddit user said he never intended his anti-CNN meme — you know, the one tweeted by President Trump in which the now-president beats up CNN in a wrestling match — to become a call for violence against journalists.

“I am not the person that the media portrays me to be in real life,” user HanA‑‑‑‑‑‑Solo wrote in an apology, posted to the popular pro-Trump r/The_Donald subreddit  Tuesday. “I was trolling and posting things to get a reaction … and never meant any of the hateful things I said in those posts.

The apology, which has since been deleted along with the user’s entire Reddit account, ended with a call for peace: “This is one individual that you will not see posting hurtful or hateful things in jest online. This is my last post from this account and I wanted to do it on a positive note and hopefully it will heal the controversy that this all caused.”

It didn’t.  

#CNNBlackmail was the top trending Twitter topic  Wednesday morning, thanks to the efforts of a furious Trump Internet, who had concluded that HanA‑‑‑‑‑‑Solo’s apology was forced by a “threat” from CNN. Their evidence? A story CNN itself published, detailing its attempts to contact and identify the anonymous Reddit user ahead of their apology, whose offensive posting history suddenly became part of a national news story.

The part of the article that infuriated the Trump Internet — and people on both sides of the political spectrum, who questioned the ethical standards of the network’s decision — had to do with how CNN described its reasoning for not identifying the Redditor by name. Reporter Andrew Kaczynski wrote that CNN had spoken with the person behind the account, and would not identify the user because “he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology,” who had promised not to continue flooding the Internet with offensive memes.

But, he wrote, “CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.”

Like many online controversies of this era, it’s difficult to explain exactly what’s going on here in one smooth narrative. The ethical question of whether a news outlet should withhold the identity of a private citizen who posted extremely offensive things online on the apparent condition that they behave better in the future is one that resonated well beyond the bubble of the Trump Internet. But the meme that Trump supporters have picked up and spread is a mix of fact and fiction, of genuinely outraged conservatives and the gleeful meme-literate arsonists who just like to see the Internet burn with fury.

The media has often struggled to cover Trump’s online supporters, whose skepticism of mainstream publications has evolved into a total rejection of the idea that places like CNN are even trying to report the truth. At the head of that rejection is the president himself, who regularly tweets that news outlets he doesn’t like are “fake news.” Media ethics experts who look at CNN’s article on all this might discuss it in the context of a long and tricky media discussion about outing anonymous, racist Internet trolls. On the Trump Internet, however, the subtext of the meme is that “blackmailing” sources is a normal part of mainstream journalistic practice. The difference is, they believe, that someone finally got caught.

... <a bunch of tweets from BTs writing that CNN is blackmailing the user>

Overnight, the r/The_Donald board that once hosted HanA‑‑‑‑‑‑Solo’s apology and plea for peace was filled up with even more anti-CNN memes, and posts calling for a full-on war against the network. The Trump-supporting Redditors picked up an idea from 4chan’s /pol/ board, organizing mass calls and tweet-storms to a long list of companies, demanding they stop advertising on CNN. The story soon spread to Trump-friendly publications like Gateway Pundit and Infowars. It was the front page of Drudge:

...

The CNN reporter tweeted Tuesday that the line about withholding the troll’s identity is being “misinterpreted.”

...

Meanwhile, a tantalizing but extremely unconfirmed detail began to attach itself to the meme. Was HanA‑‑‑‑‑‑Solo a 15-year-old kid, as many posts on the #CNNBlackmail hashtag repeat as fact? Even though CNN, and screenshots of HanA‑‑‑‑‑‑Solo’s own Reddit history seem to contradict this, indicating that the user is significantly older, the notion that CNN had just threatened to dox a minor was extremely shareable among Trump supporters, including one of the president’s own sons:

... <and, of course, Donnie Junior just HAD to weigh in>

Others called for a very personal form of revenge against CNN, and Kaczynski specifically. A link to a pastebin page that appeared to contain the personal identifying information of Kaczynski, some of his family members and his colleagues circulated on 4chan Wednesday morning. And the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website called for even more. A popular post called for CNN employees to quit their jobs and denounce the network, or face consequences if they didn’t:

“We are going to track down your parents.
We are going to track down your siblings.
We are going to track down your spouses.
We are going to track down your children. Because hey, that’s what you guys get to do, right? We’re going to see how you like it when our reporters are hunting down your children.” 

It’s a particularly threatening version of an inversion that is common on the Internet today: keep reporting on the Trump Internet, and the Trump Internet will decide it’s “reporting” on you. And many mainstream outlets are still struggling to contend with it.

Oh lovely, you think CNN blackmailed someone, so you threaten CNN employees' children. Yeah, that makes sense. <end sarcasm>

[ADoyle90815]

Just when I thought the Branch Tumpvidians couldn't get any dumber, they freak out about the Declaration of Independence. It just shows that with the vilification of public education, Idiocracy has become our reality.

[mamallama]

I know it's buzzfeed but I still believe it.  A Trump supporter defaced a school playground with "left wing" phrases to show everyone how ebil the lefties are.

 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/left-is-best?utm_term=.rdEVQM8nq#.scE5VYwEy

[Childless]

10 minutes ago, mamallama said:

I know it's buzzfeed but I still believe it.  A Trump supporter defaced a school playground with "left wing" phrases to show everyone how ebil the lefties are.

 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/left-is-best?utm_term=.rdEVQM8nq#.scE5VYwEy

One of the things he supposedly wrote was "left is best".  Who the hell actually says that?  We're adults, not junior high school students.

[onekidanddone]

On 7/5/2017 at 0:32 PM, 47of74 said:

NPR tweeted out the Declaration of Independence.  That led to Branch Trumpvidian snowflakes being triggered.

 

Jesus Fornicating Christ.  Every time I think Branch Trumpvidians cannot possibly be any dumber they prove me wrong.

We know the founding fathers were flawed, owned slaves and were not perfect, that being said I never knew they were anti-American. To quote Trump "Who Knew"?