Peter Thiel is a fucking mess and, as a pansexual man, a point of semi-horror semi-pride that we've come so far that a man can chose to be an openly gay anti-gay policy wonk running a huge surveillance company that's been used to persecute homosexuals that's completely reliant on US defense spending while openly criticizing US taxation and advocating for a Libretarian society.
There isn't currently a widely accepted term for an Uncle Tom but for gay folks... so maybe we should just use the term Uncle Thiel in his honor.
It's not weird at all when you realize that to billionaires, instigating culture wars to distract from and prevent class wars is essential to maintaining bilionaire status.
When you have that much money, your sexuality is meaningless in comparison to your wealth. He can buy his way out of just about any problem, so what does he care if normal gay people are murdered in the street when there's* money to be made?
The Republican response to the cat-lady discourse is split between claiming that it’s unfair—the clip is three years old and has undoubtedly been pushed by Democrats who suspect it’s a turnoff to swing voters—and that it’s awesome.
And no suggestion from any conservatives that Vance's "discourse" is wrong.
Vance really was a horrible choice for a running mate. I've been wondering why Trump chose him, for many of the reasons this article outlines. But as with anything and everything Trump related, there is no coherent rationale. It all boils down to money, obedience, ego-stroking, and exploitation of the rubes.
I figure he went to Trump, told him he'd do whatever he was told, and he'd appeal to younger people. Trump probably cut him off and said you had me at" whatever you want"
All that's left as a recruiting pool are people who know nothing about Trump, people who are too dumb to realize they are disposable at the first convenience, and people who failed their way up into his orbit and have been so shielded from consequence that they can't conceive of something not working out in their favor.
this is what most people have the hardest time with. everyone needs to drop the assumption that anything ever needs to make sense to republicans. normal people, most people, need things to make sense. 100% not the case with republicans. when you have the capacity to replace actual reality with whatever bullshit fantasy reality trump happened to pull out of his ass just now, then everything that comprised your world before that moment goes away. there is no contradiction, no "cognitive dissonance."
like you said, it's about the money and the power. it seems like it should be more than that, but it's not
He chose Pence and Vance because their names have 5 letters just like his and they're symmetrical on campaign signs. I don't think there's any deeper logic. He doesn't care who it is as long as they're "loyal" and will help potentially steal an election.
Maybe the party let him choose Vance because they’re letting Trump sabotage himself because they see the writing on the wall, and think they just need to let this stupidity play out…? That, or they’ve well and truly given up on the Democratic process, and their plan A has become “just try to stage another coup”, so they went for the most virulent, crazy VP they could find.