US General Elections 2020

Wow.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cant-stay-mick-mulvaney-resigns-141800434.html

At least we know some people have limits, whether it is conscience or self preservation.

I think there may be some resignations right before the term ends, so that Trump won't have time to put in somebody worse. He has a tendency to put in acting cabinet members to avoid the need for congressional approval.

{{ Guess Fox have finally washed their hands of trump going on their coverage, but the biggest give away? Their choice of photo to use from his rally yesterday. }}

yep I couldnt believe Fox News over the last two days, they have very much jettisoned him completely. It makes me laugh because sometimes they seem to be trying to pretend it didn't actually happen and have had a load of other stories rather than the obvious one. But kudos for finally cutting Trump loose, and kudos to Twitter, Youtube and Instagram for shutting him down.

I think Twitter would have loved to shut him down years ago, but as he was a public official they'd be over a barrel for political censorship.

{{ A good argument for why mainstream Hollywood probably shouldnt be allowed to make history films. So many things wrong at once about this image! }}

Even if the film got it right you think the Trumpsters would? I don't remember William Wallace cutting anyone's head off in the film.

just about sums up Trumpers.

Well.... it has taken 5 people dying but Trump has finally committed to transfer of power. It looked like a speech he didn't write himself, but it came from his mouth.

Interesting to see how his supporters take it and what he does over the next couple of weeks.

They'll say his traitorous aides used him as a sock puppet to make that last speech, and he will return like an avenging angel to wipe the nation free of their weak, filthy ilk.

BTW, what happened wednesday is a demonstration of why the Electoral system exists. An explanation is given on Fox News no less, with of course reference to the Federalist papers (it ALWAYS comes back to the Federalist papers).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/rep-crenshaw-slams-congressional-push-183515741.html

{{ Totally agree with Pie on this one, I dont think banning Trump permenantly from social media is a good move. }}

No, I disagree. Trump needed to be slapped down, shut up, and humiliated. It's not right to hogtie people; it doesn't lead to good government, but sometimes you just have to do it. I agree it would probably be better to shut him up for just one month, but there's no doubt he'd just be back at it. I don't think he'd be happy on some right-wing platform which the media would largely ignore. He wants a big stage, and Twitter, Facebook, etc took that away from him.

{{ A ban for a period of time- say two months so he is well out of office before he can come back. But I think out of sight out of mind just means it festers in the dark where you cant see it, and then comes back to bite you on the arse unexpectedly later. }}

it may. I think if twitter lets him back but keeps throwing him off he'll get slowly demoralized. He won't like the right-wing platforms because he'll know most people are ignoring it.

But I think if not let back on Twitter he's more likely to get demoralized than to keep fighting back. He doesn't have that long of an attention span. The festering will be with his followers, and I don't think letting him come on and off twitter will mollify them much. They will be the same amount of trouble regardless since they are stoking their own flames.

No, better to do the equivalent of taking him into the back yard and shooting him, which is what the social media platforms have done.

{{ Just popped by Fox News- and more than half of their main front page is all about twitter banning Trump, Republicans moving to other platforms, and attacks on free speech, and hit pieces on big-tech- its giving him a get out of jail free card by moving the focus from how he stoked up tensions and how his suporters attempted a coup to making the Republicans victims. }}

They've been playing the victim card for years in Hollywood and the media. This is nothing new.

I think he should be banned permanently because not all his supporters are reasonable people able to distinguish the subtleties and if they cant hear him on Twitter they may not go in search of him elsewhere. We have to shut down his tweets for the casual punter who just happens on Twitter and gets caught up in it, in particular the next generation. The young people should not be exposed to it on a mainstream platform because it legitimises his views. If its on twitter people are more likely to think its legit than if its on some obscure website.

That's a good point. It's sort of like you know when you are getting involved in heavy drugs because the atmosphere suddenly changes. Prudent people make a hasty exit.

Trump (via Twitter): WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED!

Twitter: Your account has been terminated.

The rapturous sweetness of it still makes me giggle.  Truly brightens my entire weekend.

I don't think his account should have been banned on any platform really. With big tech now controlling more narrative then mainstream media, I think it sets a dangerous precedent for the future and will enable more political censorship of which there is already a lot going on.

Also, I think it played right in to the hands of there very people who said that this was their goal all along. It embolden a whole lot of people who may have been on or over the fence given what happened a few days back and now legitimises their position. Their rights ARE being taken away and if it cam happen to the president then it certainly can happen to everyone else.

You don't have "rights" on private platforms. "Rights" only applies to government censorship. Twitter has you sign a set of rules about what can not be done on their platform, with the clear understanding of what will happen if those rules are violated.

If he wasn't president, Trump would have been shut down long ago. Twitter was very clear that they were making a special exception for him. But then he took things too far.

There are grey areas - many private businesses have been sued for discrimination. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I think stores that provide basic necessities like groceries and hardware must be non discriminatory. But restaurants often have signs posted that they can refuse service to anyone for any reason - and if you don't like it then let the market decide. I feel that bakeries should be able to refuse to make a wedding cake for someone - because their business is optional and can suffer mightily from the pushback if they are discriminatory.

I think everyone should have a right to internet service and email, but once you get to social media it becomes much murkier. Yet even if social media were classed as a commodity that everyone has a right to, your right to free speech does not allow you to shout "fire" in a movie theater when there is none, or to stir up crowds to commit violence. And this second one is where Twitter drew the line.

I think the problem is social media is bordering in the line of being a utility. Hundreds of millions of people use it and censorship at the will of individuals creates a massive political impact.

And most of these people, including Trump, did not directly incite violence. At no point did he advocate physical violence.

That aside, I still think it does the opposite of the intention by forcing those people in to their own echo chambers where they are rarely challenged and just become more entrenched in their ideas.

On a forum like forumshire there are rules and if you break the rules you get banned. If you incite violence, make overtly racist comments or peddle dangerous lies that person is rightly banned. Same with Twitter, it has a responsibility to young and vulnerable people and the incitement of sedition and violence is actually not an ambiguous area at all, nobody has the right to incite sedition, even someone who is the most powerful man on earth. The right to free speech is something quite different, free speech has consequences and responsibilities in a civilised society and the corruption of youth and the call to violent war and the deliberate twisting of truth which could lead to thousands of deaths is outside the realms of normal free speech. For example who would allow the members of IS to call for bloody jihad while standing on London bridge? someone may say they have free speech, but I beg to differ, I think there are limits and Trump went way past the limits.