I really don't have a clue how Thiel can endorse a Trump / Pence ticket. Pence advocates "conversion therapy".
Edit: I realize Thiel does not "agree with every plank in [his] party’s platform" -- I'm guessing he loves the tax cuts he will gain of course (so I suppose I do have a clue how he can support the ticket after all). Unfortunately that's also going to throw our country deeper into debt.
Maybe he understands that neither the President nor the Vice President has any authority over "conversion therapy", and finds their positions (or their competencies, or whatever) on the things that they will have authority over as being preferable to Hillary Clinton?
I doubt it's anything so pedestrian as tax cuts; Thiel has been quite vocal about his disdain for the democratic system and his desire to see the US run as a quasi-private fiefdom led by a strongman CEO. Since it's hard to find a national-level politician who would support an effort to effectively shred the Constitution, Trump might be his best bet to promulgate his thesis. Thiel is, if nothing else, the kind of guy who plays the long game with his obsessions.
You could argue that having a presence at the RNC as an openly gay, wealthy and successful person could make a strong counter against the prevailing GOP beliefs on sexuality
I thougt that Thiel's speech was very good, making a good point that Trump is more likely keep us out of stupid military conflicts and has some decent economic ideas.
That said, the idea of Trump or Clinton being president scares me a bit. Usually I more or less like both candidates running for president, but in this election both candidates concern me.
I'm not sure which way to read this statement. Is he saying Republicans shouldn't waste time with bathroom bills or that Democrats are wasting time by arguing against them?
I interpreted it as both, actually. It seems quite clear that his point (whether you agree with it or not) was that it is a distraction that take time way from (what he sees as) more important issues.
The way I heard it was essentially: both. With this sort of issue, it's usually some advocacy group of the Left that gets the ball rolling with policy (not legislation, usually some regulatory, rule making, or court thing) and then the Right feels the need to react as it's advocacy groups see fit. In the meantime, more critical, if perhaps boring, problems are ignored. Sure, to those for whom this is their world there is nothing more critical, but on the whole it is a side show.
I think Thiel is correct on this point. And I do think it was remarkable that he got such a warm reception on his statement about being Gay and not agreeing with all the platform planks; and that Trump's statement on Orlando was so warmly received.
Having said that, for me jury is out. Personally, this election feels not unlike how I'd feel about be given a choice between killing a puppy, killing a kitten, or just walking away leaving them both to starve. There is no option that won't make me sick, and even just not voting leaves you with the taste that this time you should have done something productive to stop one or the other from getting in.
Yes, There are many that want to argue about whether Bruce... err... Cate Jenner using the Womens' bathroom is some sort of epic battle for civilization, meanwhile we've doubled our national debt, the % of people working is the lowest its been in 40 years, and the world is so destabilized we have refugee crises across multiple continents. Honestly, if you aren't in the 1% who wants four more years of this?
Bathroom bills are the highest expression of the modern US right wing: freedom and liberty for me, but not for you. Endless forgiveness and acceptance for me, Old Testament fire and brimstone for you. Religious freedom from things that are offensive to me, belittling as "PC police run mad" whenever something offends you. A nation built on the backs of immigrants like me, which now has to keep out all the immigrants like you.
Lest you think I joke, this is literally what Donald Trump espouses: Mike Pence, his running mate, gets to make mistakes and be forgiven. Hillary Clinton makes mistakes? LOCK HER UP! LOCK HER UP! LOCK HER UP!
"Hillary jeopardizes the security of an entire nation by leaking top secret information to our enemies and then denying everything under oath before getting caught by the FBI".
Let me know if that made it clearer, just here to help. Thanks!
The president makes judgement calls not the VP. If you have bad judgement as the president you have no hope. Plus the opposition's job is to disagree with the government when they are wrong.
Jon Stewart (paraphrased) pointed out "These guys say 'why are blacks so sensitive [about issues]', 'why are muslims so sensitive [about issues]' .... but god forbid you say 'happy holidays' instead of 'merry christmas', because then it's fucking war"
Well, Garry Kasparov who I thought Peter was "friends" with has some really great tweets on how this election is like 1920's when people
said Hitler's racism was just an entertainment ploy to fool the masses into his real... more politically savvy agenda.
[+] [-] robotkilla|9 years ago|reply
Edit: I realize Thiel does not "agree with every plank in [his] party’s platform" -- I'm guessing he loves the tax cuts he will gain of course (so I suppose I do have a clue how he can support the ticket after all). Unfortunately that's also going to throw our country deeper into debt.
[+] [-] Turing_Machine|9 years ago|reply
Just a thought.
[+] [-] HillRat|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brian-armstrong|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mark_l_watson|9 years ago|reply
That said, the idea of Trump or Clinton being president scares me a bit. Usually I more or less like both candidates running for president, but in this election both candidates concern me.
[+] [-] brian-armstrong|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Turing_Machine|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sbuttgereit|9 years ago|reply
I think Thiel is correct on this point. And I do think it was remarkable that he got such a warm reception on his statement about being Gay and not agreeing with all the platform planks; and that Trump's statement on Orlando was so warmly received.
Having said that, for me jury is out. Personally, this election feels not unlike how I'd feel about be given a choice between killing a puppy, killing a kitten, or just walking away leaving them both to starve. There is no option that won't make me sick, and even just not voting leaves you with the taste that this time you should have done something productive to stop one or the other from getting in.
[+] [-] shimon_e|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pjscott|9 years ago|reply
This is what an attempt to change a party's rhetoric from the inside looks like. Kind of fun to watch, really.
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] sndean|9 years ago|reply
Not sure why he wouldn't take the chance to endorse a third party candidate when both of the main parties have extremely disliked candidates [0].
[0] http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-distaste-for-b...
[+] [-] elgabogringo|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 650REDHAIR|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ubernostrum|9 years ago|reply
Lest you think I joke, this is literally what Donald Trump espouses: Mike Pence, his running mate, gets to make mistakes and be forgiven. Hillary Clinton makes mistakes? LOCK HER UP! LOCK HER UP! LOCK HER UP!
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/28809...
And by endorsing that mess, Thiel basically forfeits any moral high ground he might think he holds.
[+] [-] siliconviking|9 years ago|reply
"Hillary makes mistakes"
was probably meant to read
"Hillary jeopardizes the security of an entire nation by leaking top secret information to our enemies and then denying everything under oath before getting caught by the FBI".
Let me know if that made it clearer, just here to help. Thanks!
[+] [-] shimon_e|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] vacri|9 years ago|reply
Can't recall the exact point he said it, but it's always interesting to hear him speak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da5VYSPsoE0
[+] [-] jrcii|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] jsprogrammer|9 years ago|reply
Also, where can we get stats on the flag count?
[+] [-] JayHost|9 years ago|reply
New York Times 1922: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cn6vn_SW8AIsuZc.jpg
Garry on possitive correlation words vs policy. Strength, Power, Greatness https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cn8BwA5WEAAbp10.jpg
It's frightening. We grew up saying things like "If I lived in Germany I would not be evil like those guys"
Well here is Peter Thiel, Investor of Facebook, Investor in Hulk Hogan's lawsuit, and now investor in the end
of the United States of America as we knew it.
We will look back at a later date and say, "Back in 2016, America was pretty great"