2020 Political Chatter

[j44ke]

Simmons is getting suspended for violating terms of conduct re: sponsorship agreements regarding decorum and respect, and he did it with his Trek social media account and he was interacting with a cycling journalist. Add that he used a specific emoji that is not the default selection in a general context, he created the appearance of intent. And that’s enough to be a breach of conduct according to his race team. He’s obviously welcome to contest his suspension if he feels it is unjust.

Not smart to say the least.

[Clean39T]

This is the question that pains me when I think of any friends or relations who are inclined to vote for Trump: What does it say about you that you're prepared to vote for a racist? To me, it disqualifies him, and everything else pales in comparison. And don't tap dance around him being a racist: he started his campaign by calling Mexicans rapists, and there's plenty before and after.

Add casually referring to Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas during the debate a few days ago to that tally..

[Clean39T]

Simmons is getting suspended for violating terms of conduct re: sponsorship agreements regarding decorum and respect, and he did it with his Trek social media account and he was interacting with a cycling journalist. Add that he used a specific emoji that is not the default selection in a general context, he created the appearance of intent. And that’s enough to be a breach of conduct according to his race team. He’s obviously welcome to contest his suspension if he feels it is unjust.

Not smart to say the least.

This was posted in the comments section on CT:

I'm pretty sure no inanimate object in and of itself is racist, and you probably know that. Everything depends on context. And the context is not in Simmons favor this time. He started a personal dispute with Cory WIlliams when Williams brought up how racism has affected him. He went out of his way to select a dark-skinned emoji to dismiss a journalist.

Trek sells bikes and their sponsorship of the team is to further the company's goal. They are well within their rights to ask for more professionalism and care from a sponsored athlete.

I think that sums it up pretty well.

[choke]

I'll preface this by saying that it is often wiser to not say anything, particularly in this day and age. It seems to me that many people are just looking for an excuse to be offended and to direct their ire at someone. Quinn probably should have kept his fingers off of the keyboard, though I think that his punishment has been extreme. I had no idea that using an emoji that was a different color than my own skin automatically made me a evil racist and from comments that I have read elsewhere I am not the only one who didn't know.

Seems Quinn is still not getting that his "American values" don't line up with Trek-Segafredo's..... or those of most US citizens as represented by the polls and popular vote. Hint: racism, sexism, xenophobia, LGBQT-phobia, and anti-science/climate-denier, anti-reason, anti-intellectualism stances are NOT the values the majority of US citizens wish this country to embody or pursue. If he wants to ride for a team that promotes regressive MAGA values, maybe he can hit MyPillow up for a sponsorship instead.

If I'm reading this right, your position is that an employee should have the same political views as their employer. And that since the person's political views don't line up with the company's political views, then his values are automatically not the same as the "majority of citizens". Do you feel that a company should be able to fire an employee if that employee holds political views that are opposite of the management? Would that also apply if the employer's views were not in line with that of the "majority" and the employee was enlightened?

You can't have it both ways. Supporting tRump is supporting what MAGA stands for - even if you give lip-service to "standing against racism", your actions and other coded comments seem to show otherwise

.
I know that you love to use a broad brush but do you honestly believe that everyone who supports Trump is racist, sexist, xenophobic, etc.? How do you account for the fact that around 30% of Latinos support him? I can't ever recall agreeing with even 50% of a politician's positions, let alone 100%.

All that said, if he does some reading, soul-searching, etc., apologizes and sincerely changes, it would be great to have his talent in the pro-tour. Until then, TFS has made the right call to bench him

. Maybe they can send him to a re-education camp.

[theflashunc]

I'll preface this by saying that it is often wiser to not say anything, particularly in this day and age. It seems to me that many people are just looking for an excuse to be offended and to direct their ire at someone. Quinn probably should have kept his fingers off of the keyboard, though I think that his punishment has been extreme. I had no idea that using an emoji that was a different color than my own skin automatically made me a evil racist and from comments that I have read elsewhere I am not the only one who didn't know.


If I'm reading this right, your position is that an employee should have the same political views as their employer. And that since the person's political views don't line up with the company's political views, then his values are automatically not the same as the "majority of citizens". Do you feel that a company should be able to fire an employee if that employee holds political views that are opposite of the management? Would that also apply if the employer's views were not in line with that of the "majority" and the employee was enlightened?


.
I know that you love to use a broad brush but do you honestly believe that everyone who supports Trump is racist, sexist, xenophobic, etc.? How do you account for the fact that around 30% of Latinos support him? I can't ever recall agreeing with even 50% of a politician's positions, let alone 100%.

. Maybe they can send him to a re-education camp.

To crib James Baldwin here, it's about the support of policies and an agenda that further, in this case, a whole host of racism, xenophobia, misogyny, etc etc. Sure, an individual may not hold those views, but they are complicit in supporting an administration that traffics in those things every day. Is every Trump supporter racist? I don't know what each of them individually feel, I can only judge them on the policies of the administration they support and vote for. And what they vote for is closed borders, concentration camps of immigrants, demonizing minorities of all stripes. A President who cannot explicitly condemn white supremacy and gives comfort to Neo Nazis. And if they're "not racist," they sure do give comfort and support to a helluva lot of it in this day and age.

What you ask is an assumption I see no evidence of, based on the institution they support and want another 4 years of.

[Clean39T]

I'll preface this by saying that it is often wiser to not say anything, particularly in this day and age. It seems to me that many people are just looking for an excuse to be offended and to direct their ire at someone. Quinn probably should have kept his fingers off of the keyboard, though I think that his punishment has been extreme. I had no idea that using an emoji that was a different color than my own skin automatically made me a evil racist and from comments that I have read elsewhere I am not the only one who didn't know.


If I'm reading this right, your position is that an employee should have the same political views as their employer. And that since the person's political views don't line up with the company's political views, then his values are automatically not the same as the "majority of citizens". Do you feel that a company should be able to fire an employee if that employee holds political views that are opposite of the management? Would that also apply if the employer's views were not in line with that of the "majority" and the employee was enlightened?


.
I know that you love to use a broad brush but do you honestly believe that everyone who supports Trump is racist, sexist, xenophobic, etc.? How do you account for the fact that around 30% of Latinos support him? I can't ever recall agreeing with even 50% of a politician's positions, let alone 100%.

Maybe they can send him to a re-education camp.

In reverse order...

Not a re-education camp - a diversity and inclusion training program to help him not be an insensitive jerk, and to encourage empathy and thinking before speaking (especially in public). Where I come from, those are American values we should all aspire to - and they are apolitical.

Yes, if someone supports tRump they support racism, sexism, xenophobia, etc. - and yes, it is possible to be part of a minority group and still be all of those things. Staying silent or looking the other way when abuse, hate, or intimidation is happening around you makes you an accomplice - it makes you an enabler. We aren't splitting hairs about how to fund education. We are talking about whether you side with a grifting white-supremacist or you don't. That's an on/off switch, not a fader.

Hate-speech is not a political view. "Racist" is not a protected class. If he had said "I think fracking is really not that bad and oil pipelines are important for national security", no one would be up in arms - they may disagree, and it may be off-brand for a company that is trying to promote healthy lifestyles and sustainability, but I doubt he'd have been benched for that.

I don't have any ire towards him - he's young and has plenty of time to grow and change. But it is what it is. He either learns from this experience, or he stays on the side of ignorance and hate, and likely doesn't get another pro contract with any team that cares about their public image.

Thank you for the reasoned dialogue and opportunity to expand on my previous post.

[JoB]

. Maybe they can send him to a re-education camp.

Ignoring your advice of better not saying anything most times (which is generally wise): It's hard for me to take you seriously when you're making concentration camp jokes. Disappointing to see this on a board that is generally a bright spot of intelligent discourse.

Cheers,

JoB

[Clean39T]

Unfortunately there are two choices right now in the country - side with the tRump administration, either through voting for him or not voting at all, or side with VP Biden. I know a number of life-long Republicans who have had enough and are voting Blue just to hit the reset button and clean house with the hopes of "their party" bringing in a moderate candidate in another four years.

[GrantM]

and then this...

-g

c19.jpeg

[Colinmclelland]

There is constantly a new “hold my beer” event...

[BBB]

A hoax, injecting bleach, it will just go away, 207,000 dead and now this. Vlad will be annoyed.

[mjbabcock]

Meh...only way to get people to stop talking about his taxes and his support of white supremacy.
Nice move DJT...nice move.

[GrantM]

Nice move DJT...nice move.

Not the time DJT wants another Rob Ford comparison... who pulled out of the race 1 month before the election with health issues.

-g

[Colinmclelland]

Came accross this on the web and it’s exactly how I see it...

Everytime I contact my friends outside the U.S, it blows my mind how the rest of the world just sees us as one big reality TV show. And they cant wait for the next episode of "Keeping up with the Americans". And now that Trump has COVID ratings just went parabolic. Keep it coming.

[jimcav]

oh that it can be a teachable moment. 'stand by' can become 'mask up'
Let's home the next zoom debate goes better and isn't hacked

seriously hoping all infected/affected by COVID-19 recover fully. I've been dealing with (comparatively minor) long haul heart issues and it was frustrating getting out of breath and have my HR shoot to 160 for what used to be easy level exertion.

[vertical_doug]

I actually think this just makes DJT more dangerous. He will certainly recover given the level of medical care around him, afterwards, he will consider himself an even more 'expert' on the disease and most likely downplay it further....flooding the communication channels with misinformation.

[Matthew Strongin]

I know that you love to use a broad brush but do you honestly believe that everyone who supports Trump is racist, sexist, xenophobic, etc.? How do you account for the fact that around 30% of Latinos support him? I can't ever recall agreeing with even 50% of a politician's positions, let alone 100%.

I was going to write a long response to this question about how to reconcile Latino support for Trump with the belief that Trump is a racist. Then I went looking for some data to make sure I didn't misrepresent anything and I came across this article:

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...en-ncna1240168

It sums up my observations as someone who has spent most of my life in a predominantly hispanic community quite well. The short version is that "Latino" is not a singular bloc, but a collection of people from very different countries with some very different points of view when it comes to certain political matters like immigration. And that many of the similarities across these groups align more to core GOP platform positions than those of the Democratic party. And the fact that racism is very common in many Latin American countries, so for many they see nothing wrong with what Trump says on matters of race and racism. Again, the article does a much better job laying this out than I can, but the important takeaway is that holding up Latino support for Trump as evidence against his racism doesn't hold water.

[guido]

Big question for me is how much interation was there this week between Pence and Hope Hicks...

[robin3mj]

Big question for me is how much interation was there this week between Pence and Hope Hicks...

Uh, unless Mother was chaperoning, zero.

[al415]

I can’t believe you guys are missing the point of this darkly genius move:

DJT has spent the last 6 weeks pre-dosing with lung-bleach. He infected himself intentionally to take out sleepy Joe Biden and knew the debate would be his best chance to save the Republic from all the pedophile-cannibal-Illuminati Libs.