Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

from the say-what dept

This week, our first place winner on the insightful side Stephen T. Stone breaking down Trump's astonishing demand that his government should take a cut of a TikTok sale:

He asked for a bribe. He literally asked for whatever company buys TikTok (if that happens) to pay hi—I mean, the Treasury a substantial amount of money from the sale in exchange for the right to buy TikTok in the first place. All the other shit is important, yes, but let’s not ignore the sitting president of the United States asking an American business for a bribe. Because even with the past four years of what-the-fuckery, this is somehow a new low even for Donald Trump.

In second place, it's That One Guy talking about the ongoing nightmare of qualified immunity for cops:

This? This is why you get protests.

Even when they highlight the many ways the deck is stacked in favor of police and the numerous injustices inflicted by the police against the public they are still bound by the idiots in the US supreme court who've never seen a cop they didn't like, that has got to really annoy the hell out of the judge.

With rulings like this it's hardly surprising that people have gotten so pissed off with the system and have lost any belief that maybe asking the police to pretty-please stop violating the rights and lives of those around them will work and have instead taken to the street to demand real changes be made, because when even a judge entirely sympathetic to the victim has to admit that the system has tied their hands such that they can do nothing it's pretty clear that business as usual benefits and protects only those in power.

For editor's choice on the insightful side, we start with Eldakka offering up a simpler summary of Trump's TikTok demand:

Trump to Microsoft: "That's a nice deal you've got going on there. Shame if something were to happen to it"

Next, it's Michael Long with a guess about what could happen next:

Of course, the idiot doesn't realize that all China needs to do is take his precedent and use it to force Google, Facebook, et al, to sell their Chinese business operations to Chinese companies.

Over on the funny side, our first place winner is an anonymous commenter with an excellent response to the suggestion that content moderation at scale is easy "if you try to block obscene, lewd, or violent speech, instead of opinions":

What about the obscene, lewd, and violent opinions?

In second place, it's John Roddy responding to the withdrawal of FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly's renomination because he suggested Trump's Section 230 executive order is unconstitutional:

Xzibit A

So the Trump administration just censored someone for no reason other than having a conservative viewpoint about an order that they claimed was specifically to prevent others from censoring anyone for no reason other than having a conservative viewpoint?

For editor's choice on the funny side, we've got a pair of short, clever replies to other comments. First, it's Not THAT AC responding to the question of what it would take to declare Trump braindead:

A brain, for a start.

And finally, it's an anonymous commenter speculating about another commenter's allusion to "some place I wouldn't want to be":

Earth 2020?

That's all for this week, folks!

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  1. icon
    ECA (profile), 9 Aug 2020 @ 12:54pm

    Tiktoc

    I find it interesting for a few reasons. we are acting about as bad as China. For a nation that declares itself Open minded, we seem to be closing doors. WE OWE China allot of money for the wars we have had. And I dont think this is the way to Fight it. This Idea of Closing the USA to Imports is going to COST, someone allot of money. YOu and I, are going to pay for this, IF' the USA restricts Business to USA only. The Corps will need to lower wages at the TOP. And that ISNT an easy thing to do. Qualified Immunity? How many of these people at the top, Judges, and Gov. Have EVER been out there in real life. Do you think the cops/police/FBI/CIA have a list that says... "DONT NOT STOP, THIS CAR"?? Or is it just a TAG on the licence plate that tells them, that if they interfere with this person they WONT have a job. Common sense. The Constitution, and Equal treatment of Everyone. Right of women and races, no matter what.. Its all going out the window, by those on top. Most of the rest of us dont have problems with any of it. Its the idea of thinking, Not just outside the box. ITS SUPPOSED TO BE THE LAW.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    David, 9 Aug 2020 @ 4:06pm

    Re: Tiktoc

    Do you think the cops/police/FBI/CIA have a list that says... "DONT NOT STOP, THIS CAR"?? Or is it just a TAG on the licence plate that tells them, that if they interfere with this person they WONT have a job.

    It's more the price tag of the car, but mostly the skin color of the driver.

    I think I read somewhere about the mayor of San Jose (or somewhere in that ballpark) being given the full search treatment and the police mouthing off about immigrants, and him stating that his family has been living for longer in San Jose than people of European descent.

    Which was amusing, to say the least. But as long as nobody gets more than a few choice words for heckling non-whites, there is no reason to stop.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    ECA (profile), 10 Aug 2020 @ 8:25am

    Re: Re: Tiktoc

    I love the emigrant jokes..
    WE are what we eat.
    Colonialism was Fun to watch as Sailors run around the world declaring Land as THEIR OWN. Bring in the priests, and tell everyone, 'we are right you are wrong', believe us or we kill you in the name of our god. Then we treat them as slaves, even tho they are now Christians.
    Love that EU white man attitude.
    How about persons thinking that the Pilgrims, were All Christians? And some have this idea they were the First colonialists..(not a chance)
    (bad saying) we have White washed so much of history, it hard to beleave most of it anymore. And Tons of it was created by the corps/religion, so they could sell you Christmas..

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Not THAT AC, 10 Aug 2020 @ 10:37am

    bookends

    Cool - I now have both a comment of the week and a hidden by the community (as a real AC) to my name. My sense of the community humour standard must be getting better tuned :)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2020 @ 2:07am

    Re: bookends

    Don't injure yourself patting that back of yours.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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