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Re: The political re-alignment of our time

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 3:38 pm
by Tortoise
Kbg wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 2:57 pm
I am beyond sick of start with a world view and then fit/reject facts within that view
I almost don't know where to find reliable facts anymore. My tentative assumption whenever I see "facts" presented anywhere that relate even the tiniest bit to politics is that the entity presenting those "facts" might be distorting what they're presenting, omitting other important and relevant facts, etc.

In other words, I don't think it's necessarily simple to "stick to the facts" in this Information Age. We can't even agree 100% on what the facts are.

Re: The political re-alignment of our time

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 3:43 pm
by Xan
Tortoise wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 3:38 pm
Kbg wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 2:57 pm
I am beyond sick of start with a world view and then fit/reject facts within that view
I almost don't know where to find reliable facts anymore. My tentative assumption whenever I see "facts" presented anywhere that relate even the tiniest bit to politics is that the entity presenting those "facts" might be distorting what they're presenting, omitting other important and relevant facts, etc.

In other words, I don't think it's necessarily simple to "stick to the facts" in this Information Age. We can't even agree 100% on what the facts are.
I've recently been impressed by the Bipartisan Policy Center but I don't really know much about them.

Re: The political re-alignment of our time

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 5:39 pm
by flyingpylon
What we refer to as “facts” are actually:

data + interpretation + persuasion

So attempting to base a discussion on “facts” is unlikely to be fruitful, and basing a discussion on raw data is highly impractical.

Re: The political re-alignment of our time

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:06 pm
by Kbg
Facts remain discernible, they really do you just have to know how to look for them.

Let’s run this real quick

Trump made a call to Ukraine

A whistleblower made a complaint about that call

Trump inquired about a Biden investigation during the phone call

These are facts. Both political parties acknowledge the above, there is no dispute about the above.

In this super basic outline this is where we depart from facts and begin the journey into spin.

If we had the time or inclination we could review public testimony and find where there are probable facts...the normal standard here is 2 or more people say the same thing about what happened in terms of what happened not their interpretations of what happened.

For example

The meeting started at 2pm

The meeting started at 215pm...fact the meeting started around 2pm

The president sounded ticked off

The president had a cordial conversation

Fact...the president had a conversation/tone of conversation unknown or disputed

Not saying the above is easy, but personally I usually don’t come to firm conclusions about anything I don’t feel I have a good handle on the facts.

So do I have a quasi opinion on the above, yes. But I fully believe I am at the end of the day uniformed and relying on mental heuristic shortcuts.

Re: The political re-alignment of our time

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:08 pm
by Kbg
Facts remain discernible, they really do you just have to know how to look for them.

Let’s run this real quick

Trump made a call to Ukraine

A whistleblower made a complaint about that call

Trump inquired about a Biden investigation during the phone call

These are facts. Both political parties acknowledge the above, there is no dispute about the above.

In this super basic outline this is where we depart from facts and begin the journey into spin.

If we had the time or inclination we could review public testimony and find where there are probable facts...the normal standard here is 2 or more people say the same thing about what happened in terms of what happened not their interpretations of what happened.

For example

The meeting started at 2pm

The meeting started at 215pm...fact the meeting started around 2pm

The president sounded ticked off

The president had a cordial conversation

Fact...the president had a conversation/tone of conversation unknown or disputed

Not saying the above is easy, but personally I usually don’t come to firm conclusions about anything I don’t feel I have a good handle on the facts.

So do I have a quasi opinion on the above, yes. But I fully concede I am at the end of the day uninformed and relying on mental heuristic shortcuts.

Re: The political re-alignment of our time

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 9:57 pm
by I Shrugged
The biggest problem here and in the US in general is that you all spend too much time and energy worrying about things you have no control over. It’s the opposite of why you like the PP.

Re: The political re-alignment of our time

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 10:53 pm
by Kbg
You nailed it...as an American I think we don’t have any really serious problems so we spin way too much on really stupid stuff.

Re: The political re-alignment of our time

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:01 pm
by WiseOne
Mountaineer wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 10:41 am
moda0306 wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 9:40 am
Maddy wrote:
Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:17 am
You know, when you announce that your entire family is on Medicaid while simultaneously posting about the joys of early retirement and the creative ways in which your considerable assets and talents are being invested, you sort of disqualify yourself from the soapbox when it comes to the question of how illegal border-crossing should be managed.
Ummm what? There is nothing illegal about using the tools for government gives us to be financial secure, safe, mobile, etc. Perhaps there is something immoral about using those tools, but I'm quite sure a glass house/stones analogy would probably be pertinent here.

PS is a pillar of what this place became at its best, and he could be leading a communist revolution with a trainload of illegal immigrants and still have more clout on this forum than you and your meandering, factless tirades against "The Left."
Moda, that’s rather harsh. I think we all benefit from others points of view, whether we agree with them or not. We all need ears to hear each other or we will become worse than those we oppose. My half cent.
I'd like to give a shout-out to Maddy's role as a respected "pillar of this place." Maddy has posted many, many times with thoughtful and well-informed views - and don't forget that unlike you, I, or many others here, she has a legal background and thus a better understanding of many issues than we have. I welcome her contributions to this forum even if I disagree with them sometimes (and I have). I think your attempt to demean her because you don't agree with her views is entirely un-called for and not in the spirit of this forum. Moda, I often disagree with your positions no matter how they're stated. Is this how you view me as well?

I'd seriously like to understand why you went after Maddy like that. Plus, realize that people have been banned from this forum for that type of behavior, so can we assume it won't be repeated?

Re: The political re-alignment of our time

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 2:08 pm
by moda0306
WiseOne wrote:
Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:01 pm
Mountaineer wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 10:41 am
moda0306 wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 9:40 am
Maddy wrote:
Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:17 am
You know, when you announce that your entire family is on Medicaid while simultaneously posting about the joys of early retirement and the creative ways in which your considerable assets and talents are being invested, you sort of disqualify yourself from the soapbox when it comes to the question of how illegal border-crossing should be managed.
Ummm what? There is nothing illegal about using the tools for government gives us to be financial secure, safe, mobile, etc. Perhaps there is something immoral about using those tools, but I'm quite sure a glass house/stones analogy would probably be pertinent here.

PS is a pillar of what this place became at its best, and he could be leading a communist revolution with a trainload of illegal immigrants and still have more clout on this forum than you and your meandering, factless tirades against "The Left."
Moda, that’s rather harsh. I think we all benefit from others points of view, whether we agree with them or not. We all need ears to hear each other or we will become worse than those we oppose. My half cent.
I'd like to give a shout-out to Maddy's role as a respected "pillar of this place." Maddy has posted many, many times with thoughtful and well-informed views - and don't forget that unlike you, I, or many others here, she has a legal background and thus a better understanding of many issues than we have. I welcome her contributions to this forum even if I disagree with them sometimes (and I have). I think your attempt to demean her because you don't agree with her views is entirely un-called for and not in the spirit of this forum. Moda, I often disagree with your positions no matter how they're stated. Is this how you view me as well?

I'd seriously like to understand why you went after Maddy like that. Plus, realize that people have been banned from this forum for that type of behavior, so can we assume it won't be repeated?
WiseOne,

I don't view you this way because you're usually polite, but as expected yes I disagree with you quite often, but as I've said that's not a strong source of my critique here. And I didn't "go after Maddy." My comments were purely about the nature of her posts, and not personal in any way, especially in the context of her insulting post to PS about his opinion not being valid because his kids are on Medicaid. There was some hyperbole, yes, but a far cry from what has ever gotten anyone banned here, unless we're including back when some liberal immigration dove poster got banned for when craig didn't like his style, so as I say that, perhaps there is some precedent to that and feel free to ban away if you think that me insulting Maddy's fact-tracking in her posts is more offensive than her making a very personal-related attack to PS, who was a pillar of this place, then do what y'all gotta do.

I guess we just disagree as to whether her posts have much insight at all, but it has nothing to do with "disagreeing" with her. If someone came on here espousing exactly my views in similar nonsensical ways, I'd find nothing positive about their presence.

We're literally in a zone where anyone who thinks Trump is off his rocker gets accused of having "Trump Derangement Syndrome" without a peep... Is that any different than telling someone they are partisan, don't make sense, or are full of it? Not really... and if that slightly more pointed language gets me banned then goodbye, and I dedicate my time here to PS and all the awesome debaters and informed commenters that are no longer present here, and the few that are.

Peace.