I can't believe this is even up for discussion on HN.
Corruption is bad, period. There's no "someone else did it" get-out-of-jail card.
Also, why didn't we hear all these accusations of corruption against Obama during this presidency? I heard tons about Benghazi, and Fast and Furious, both of which were epic screw-ups that deserved a strong response, but nothing about this supposed corruption. I find it hard to believe that the GOP Congress was willing to let a little corruption go during the Obama presidency.
The level of brazen corruption this administration has been getting away with is absolutely staggering. At least when Nixon did it people had the decency to be upset. There's not even a pretense of integrity any more; this is the new normal.
Hah, I personally don't really believe this. There are so many things in US politics that are obviously corrupt (e.g. NSA and RSI deleting files before congress hearings). None of them generated a backlash significant enough to change anything.
There is less political corruption in the US than people think. Everything is so scrutinized these days, especially compared to the rest of the world. White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu's travel expenses scandal was a big deal at the time, and this was in 1992 (before social media) and the amount of $ was pretty small. I think insider trading is possible concern though, although that too has gotten considerable scrutiny in the media.
If you can't see that some kind of fuckery went on here, I feel sorry for you. In this incident we publicly witnessed a major Federal case that stood a good chance of bringing down a lot of corrupt people end up nowhere. This is not just some grand coincidence. It can't possibly happen that conveniently for the the powerful people involved. Nobody is that lucky, nobody.
What this shows us is that the US is rotten to the core. If we don't get off our asses and fix this 3rd World bullshit, your standard of living is headed in only one direction--down. Because if the people in charge of us can do something so blatant and get away with it, then what other bold moves will they decide they can get away with? Mass murder? "Oh, it was an industrial accident, nothing to see here, move along."
To my mind, the tell about how corrupt this incident was is that the media immediately got their narrative straight and began the propaganda campaign to malign and discredit anyone who asks questions. "Nothing to see here, move along." Total bs. Infuriating incompetence (on purpose) on the part of the Federal Government.
I'll tell you another truth and I know this first hand because I used to live in NY State and was involved with local government: The crooks figured out they could get elected there and do as they please. I personally witnessed it. I saw how a mayor was also a "made man" and ran both sides of the table for years. It's sickening the corruption that goes on there. I'm sad to say I was also lightly involved in it because I didn't know what was going on right away.
This seems both overly-cynical and a case of whataboutism - "most if not all politicians are corrupt" [citation needed]. There's also a difference between "bombshells" which usually relate to moral lapses and regrettable life choices, and actual corruption which is a crime typically investigated by the FBI.
"John C. Doerfer (R), the appointed Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission by President Eisenhower, spent a week-long Florida vacation in 1960 on the yacht owned by his friend George B. Storer, president of Storer Broadcasting; as a result, he was accused of conflict of interest and forced to resign."
Please just stop. Have we really become so blindly partisan as a nation that we complain about uneven distribution of evidence of corruption rather than the corruption itself? Ponder that for a moment, please.
It's funny how each time a scandal comes out in America, it's treated as if it's new and separate. The truth is that there is one solid pattern in every single American scandal, and that is corruption.
America is built on corruption, and is corrupt from head to toe.
Yes I am against corruption regardless of which party engages in it. Trump is as corrupt as they come, the only way he knows how to run anything is like a mob boss who expects loyalty above all.
But we're commenting on a story about moderation of online forums, not corruption of politicians. I don't find the emails especially incriminating, and I honestly find Joe Biden to be a pretty admirable person, not especially corrupt as politicians go. But I will never forget the way that the media and platforms like Twitter used their power to bury a story that turned out to be true. I believe they did so because it was inconvenient to their own personal biases and their investment in seeing Biden elected. I was invested in seeing Biden elected too! But our highest commitment must be to the truth. I have a deep distrust of people who would suppress true facts, especially when so many false or misleading narratives are circulated all the time.
As a great example of this, my comment that you replied to is currently rated at -1. It directly answers your question, it is not rude or impolite, and it is unquestionably true. And yet at least two people disliked it enough that they wanted to bury it. I don't know why those two people had that reaction, but that is exactly the behavior that I feel so distrustful of.
Contrast the Biden Laptop story with the Steele Dossier. That story was repeated endlessly in the media, with far more numerous and salacious accusations, which turned out to be almost totally discredited. Now I find Trump to be a repugnant figure, but the double standard here is infuriating to me. The truth should matter above all.
That was during the Nixon administration... as far as I understand it, he threw out the entire "political science" playbook, and corruption was allowed to thrive unchecked.
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