4 ms·

One more, somewhat important, detail that's also very telling about where the US administration is heading. Reuters and Associated Press were barred from Oval

One more, somewhat important, detail that's also very telling about where the US administration is heading. Reuters and Associated Press were barred from Oval Office during this meeting, but a Russian state news agency TASS reporter was allowed - into the Oval Office. Wake up America before it's too late.

rsyring 2y ago
There are plenty of us who are awake. But lots of the voting public wanted this man in office. And they are getting what they wanted, apparently, b/c he was clear about who he is and what he was going to do. We'll have at least two years of this. One can hope 2026 will see a massive tide turn in congress and the Senate and maybe Trump will be impeached. But, it doesn't seem likely, and even if it happened, they can't impeach his entire administration so not sure how much can really change until 2028.
- surfpel 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - dang 2y ago
    You posted this 24 times. That's abusive. Please stop now. Also, we ban accounts that cross into name-calling and personal attack, so please stop that too, regardless of how wrong others are or you feel they are. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
      Out of curiosity, why is posting the same link repeatedly abusive? This is a long discussion, and I can see some particular information being relevant in many different conversations that are taking place here. In a discussion with only a few comments it would be easy to scan the entire list of comments for interesting information. But I feel like in such a large discussion where everything is drowned out, sharing the same link repeatedly in different places (if relevant to each of those sub discussions) isn’t so bad?
      - pvg 2y ago
        Because repetition is boring and the goal is interesting conversation rather than ensuring you don’t miss an interesting link. The interesting links are supposed to be a side effect of you engaging in or simply reading an interesting conversation. Summary comments, LLM output and prepared linkathons are discouraged for similar reasons, if the parallel helps at all.
        surfpel 2y ago
        Frankly what's worse is seeing such a magnitude of evidence to the contrary of popular discourse, yet being entirely unable to help bring context into the fray. Instead, we get regurgitation of tired propaganda and heavily misleading narratives. If the world looks exceptionally confusing and chaotic, or if the world is fully of irrational boogeymen, that's just because you don't have the right perspective yet. The geopolitics community knows the situation well, and doesn't look at Trump as a big scary orange man. They look at Trump as another American elite, who's been elected during a chaotic time in American society. You can also look up Jeffery Sachs (social democrat) who speaks at length about these issues. I've mostly lost faith in the conversations on here. HN mostly is a competition about who can sound the most fancy. The actual content of the discussion has become tertiary. At this point, my only goal is to reach out to those who are open minded and haven't heard these other perspectives. To hell with internet points.
        pvg 2y ago
        Well, that's an argument and you certainly can and should make it in response to whoever you are hoping to convince somewhere in the thread. Pasting the same URL at people is not 'discourse' or conversation, it's sloganeering. You can't do that while also decrying "regurgitation".
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
        blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
        Do you have any examples of “Summary comments, LLM output and prepared linkathons”? I’m not sure what a prepared linkathon is at all, and I wonder if the other two are as bad as you suggest, and maybe seeing it would help.
- koonsolo 2y ago
  Slovaks also elected Fico, but they are also protesting like hell. A democratic leader is a leader to all, not only to his voter base. Where are your protests?
- l0t0b0r0s 2y ago
  > b/c he was clear about who he is and what he was going to do. This was a much needed change; because it was insane having a dementia patient as a president. I dont mean that hyperbolically; the democratic party was ready to have him serve another 4 years when he couldnt hold his train of thought on the debate stage. The democratic party needs to explain why his mental condition was swept under the rug at the expense of the American people.
paxys 2y ago
> Wake up America before it's too late. The time to wake up was 2016. It is already too late. 33% of Americans have their heads in the sand and are believing the establishment talking points and amplifying them. 33% know what is going on and are cheering it on. 33% don’t care either way. Hard to say which group is doing more damage to the country tbh.
- selykg 2y ago
  There are those of us that hate this but have no idea how they can help.
  - aparticulate 2y ago
    What specific problem are you looking to solve?
    - sigmarule 2y ago
      Presumably one of the issues being discussed here, such as mitigating the effects of Russia's wildly successful manipulation campaigns that have resulted in both US policy and cultural shifts in favor of Russian interests. To skip some steps in this comment chain, and at risk of being presumptuous, pick an option from this technically-exhaustive list: Do you believe that: 1. Russia has not engaged in misinformation-based influence campaigns targeting US citizens 2. Russia has engaged in such campaigns but to no tangible effect, and they therefore require no response 3. Russia's influence campaigns saw success, but not to the detriment of the US, and they therefore require no response 4. Russia's success harms US interests, but it would be hypocritical to actively respond given the US' past actions 5. Russia's success is tethered to cultural shifts, which are impermanent and therefore don't necessitate an active response 6. Russia's success can only be effectively countered by the gov't, so civilian attempts at helping are futile 7. None of the items above relate to the topic of discussion in this thread, i.e. this comment effectively strawman-ing 8. The above points are non-exhaustive I'm quite sure an intelligent person with an open mind can be convinced that each of the above points is false, save the last one.
sunjieming 2y ago
Just fyi - That reporter wasn't on the approved list and was removed once white house staff became aware of their presence.
- rsyring 2y ago
  Are you saying they got into the oval office accidentally? That seems really hard to believe.
- krashidov 2y ago
  this makes it even worse
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  "Russian state media wandered into the Oval Office without permission" really isn't a comforting explanation.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- blacksqr 2y ago
  This is what's know as "ass-covering."
- insane_dreamer 2y ago
  I know they said that, but, really? Since when does an unauthorized person get access to the Oval Office? That would be a huge fail by the Secret Service.
  - sunjieming 2y ago
    Yeah, it's definitely a head-scratcher. I wonder how often unapproved people make it in. Seems like a major security risk to have someone unapproved in the room with that many high-level government leaders from multiple countries. I'm wondering if they were given a pass by another approved news agency or something along those lines.
martinky24 2y ago
What exactly are you suggesting by "Wake up"? How can I actionably do something to "wake up"?
- righthand 2y ago
  Smell the coffee.
- beretguy 2y ago
  I think start participating in protests to begin with.
  - jbm 2y ago
    I remember when that was tried and ignored. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_Iraq_War I find this sort of suggestion to be 100% reminiscent from Ship of Fools, or to be slightly more charitable and work-safe, the protestors in the lemonade episode of Boondocks. The captain is nuts, Jasmine is almost a slave, and you're going to protest? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn-BXw_8RbI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn-BXw_8RbI
- bilbo0s 2y ago
  This. People abroad don't realize, the average American person is completely powerless. Yes, we may lament the troubles that the current administration is causing for our allies, (or, I guess, former allies) abroad, but there's next to nothing we can do about it. Again, buyer's remorse is all we can muster right now and it doesn't do anyone any good. At this point, we have no choice but to search for what positives we can work with that come out of the current administration, and just live with the consequences of the rest.
  - colechristensen 2y ago
    The second amendment was put in place very explicitly as the final check against a despotic overthrow of the Constitution. Realize we're at the very brink and prepare yourself for a revolution. And stop fooling yourself into thinking things can't be that bad.
aparticulate 2y ago
Going to bat for AP and Reuters, golly
- sigmarule 2y ago
  Out of curiosity, what sources of information do you trust more than AP and Reuters?
  - aparticulate 2y ago
    Primary sources.
surfpel 2y ago
[flagged]
HumblyTossed 2y ago
Someone needs to figure out how to deprogram MAGA voters.

rsyring 2y ago

There are plenty of us who are awake. But lots of the voting public wanted this man in office. And they are getting what they wanted, apparently, b/c he was clear about who he is and what he was going to do. We'll have at least two years of this. One can hope 2026 will see a massive tide turn in congress and the Senate and maybe Trump will be impeached. But, it doesn't seem likely, and even if it happened, they can't impeach his entire administration so not sure how much can really change until 2028.

surfpel 2y ago
[flagged]
- dang 2y ago
  You posted this 24 times. That's abusive. Please stop now. Also, we ban accounts that cross into name-calling and personal attack, so please stop that too, regardless of how wrong others are or you feel they are. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
    Out of curiosity, why is posting the same link repeatedly abusive? This is a long discussion, and I can see some particular information being relevant in many different conversations that are taking place here. In a discussion with only a few comments it would be easy to scan the entire list of comments for interesting information. But I feel like in such a large discussion where everything is drowned out, sharing the same link repeatedly in different places (if relevant to each of those sub discussions) isn’t so bad?
    - pvg 2y ago
      Because repetition is boring and the goal is interesting conversation rather than ensuring you don’t miss an interesting link. The interesting links are supposed to be a side effect of you engaging in or simply reading an interesting conversation. Summary comments, LLM output and prepared linkathons are discouraged for similar reasons, if the parallel helps at all.
      - surfpel 2y ago
        Frankly what's worse is seeing such a magnitude of evidence to the contrary of popular discourse, yet being entirely unable to help bring context into the fray. Instead, we get regurgitation of tired propaganda and heavily misleading narratives. If the world looks exceptionally confusing and chaotic, or if the world is fully of irrational boogeymen, that's just because you don't have the right perspective yet. The geopolitics community knows the situation well, and doesn't look at Trump as a big scary orange man. They look at Trump as another American elite, who's been elected during a chaotic time in American society. You can also look up Jeffery Sachs (social democrat) who speaks at length about these issues. I've mostly lost faith in the conversations on here. HN mostly is a competition about who can sound the most fancy. The actual content of the discussion has become tertiary. At this point, my only goal is to reach out to those who are open minded and haven't heard these other perspectives. To hell with internet points.
        pvg 2y ago
        Well, that's an argument and you certainly can and should make it in response to whoever you are hoping to convince somewhere in the thread. Pasting the same URL at people is not 'discourse' or conversation, it's sloganeering. You can't do that while also decrying "regurgitation".
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
        Do you have any examples of “Summary comments, LLM output and prepared linkathons”? I’m not sure what a prepared linkathon is at all, and I wonder if the other two are as bad as you suggest, and maybe seeing it would help.
koonsolo 2y ago
Slovaks also elected Fico, but they are also protesting like hell. A democratic leader is a leader to all, not only to his voter base. Where are your protests?
l0t0b0r0s 2y ago
> b/c he was clear about who he is and what he was going to do. This was a much needed change; because it was insane having a dementia patient as a president. I dont mean that hyperbolically; the democratic party was ready to have him serve another 4 years when he couldnt hold his train of thought on the debate stage. The democratic party needs to explain why his mental condition was swept under the rug at the expense of the American people.

paxys 2y ago

> Wake up America before it's too late. The time to wake up was 2016. It is already too late. 33% of Americans have their heads in the sand and are believing the establishment talking points and amplifying them. 33% know what is going on and are cheering it on. 33% don’t care either way. Hard to say which group is doing more damage to the country tbh.

selykg 2y ago
There are those of us that hate this but have no idea how they can help.
- aparticulate 2y ago
  What specific problem are you looking to solve?
  - sigmarule 2y ago
    Presumably one of the issues being discussed here, such as mitigating the effects of Russia's wildly successful manipulation campaigns that have resulted in both US policy and cultural shifts in favor of Russian interests. To skip some steps in this comment chain, and at risk of being presumptuous, pick an option from this technically-exhaustive list: Do you believe that: 1. Russia has not engaged in misinformation-based influence campaigns targeting US citizens 2. Russia has engaged in such campaigns but to no tangible effect, and they therefore require no response 3. Russia's influence campaigns saw success, but not to the detriment of the US, and they therefore require no response 4. Russia's success harms US interests, but it would be hypocritical to actively respond given the US' past actions 5. Russia's success is tethered to cultural shifts, which are impermanent and therefore don't necessitate an active response 6. Russia's success can only be effectively countered by the gov't, so civilian attempts at helping are futile 7. None of the items above relate to the topic of discussion in this thread, i.e. this comment effectively strawman-ing 8. The above points are non-exhaustive I'm quite sure an intelligent person with an open mind can be convinced that each of the above points is false, save the last one.

sunjieming 2y ago

Just fyi - That reporter wasn't on the approved list and was removed once white house staff became aware of their presence.

rsyring 2y ago
Are you saying they got into the oval office accidentally? That seems really hard to believe.
krashidov 2y ago
this makes it even worse
ceejayoz 2y ago
"Russian state media wandered into the Oval Office without permission" really isn't a comforting explanation.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
blacksqr 2y ago
This is what's know as "ass-covering."
insane_dreamer 2y ago
I know they said that, but, really? Since when does an unauthorized person get access to the Oval Office? That would be a huge fail by the Secret Service.
- sunjieming 2y ago
  Yeah, it's definitely a head-scratcher. I wonder how often unapproved people make it in. Seems like a major security risk to have someone unapproved in the room with that many high-level government leaders from multiple countries. I'm wondering if they were given a pass by another approved news agency or something along those lines.

martinky24 2y ago

What exactly are you suggesting by "Wake up"? How can I actionably do something to "wake up"?

righthand 2y ago
Smell the coffee.
beretguy 2y ago
I think start participating in protests to begin with.
- jbm 2y ago
  I remember when that was tried and ignored. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_Iraq_War I find this sort of suggestion to be 100% reminiscent from Ship of Fools, or to be slightly more charitable and work-safe, the protestors in the lemonade episode of Boondocks. The captain is nuts, Jasmine is almost a slave, and you're going to protest? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn-BXw_8RbI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn-BXw_8RbI
bilbo0s 2y ago
This. People abroad don't realize, the average American person is completely powerless. Yes, we may lament the troubles that the current administration is causing for our allies, (or, I guess, former allies) abroad, but there's next to nothing we can do about it. Again, buyer's remorse is all we can muster right now and it doesn't do anyone any good. At this point, we have no choice but to search for what positives we can work with that come out of the current administration, and just live with the consequences of the rest.
- colechristensen 2y ago
  The second amendment was put in place very explicitly as the final check against a despotic overthrow of the Constitution. Realize we're at the very brink and prepare yourself for a revolution. And stop fooling yourself into thinking things can't be that bad.

aparticulate 2y ago

Going to bat for AP and Reuters, golly

sigmarule 2y ago
Out of curiosity, what sources of information do you trust more than AP and Reuters?
- aparticulate 2y ago
  Primary sources.

surfpel 2y ago

[flagged]

HumblyTossed 2y ago

Someone needs to figure out how to deprogram MAGA voters.