# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 216
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4600 "2025-04-03T22:12:27Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > > > Why the vagueness? Who are “these people” she needs to repudiate? Do you know any of their names? What are these unpopular positions that “they” are pushing? > > Still waiting for an answer to this simple and straightforward question. Illiberal progressives - people like Briahna Joy Gray. As opposed to Liberal progressives, like AOC. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4601 "2025-04-03T22:12:59Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Is the difference between these things and something like “Trump wants to make women into property and take away their vote” or “Trump wants to gas migrants and trans people” really that hard to figure out? The thread continues to wait with bated breath for any cite of a Democratic politician saying anything remotely like the quoted bits here. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4602 "2025-04-03T22:14:46Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Illiberal progressives - people like Briahna Joy Gray. As opposed to Liberal progressives, like AOC. OK, there’s an answer! Now all I have to do is Google that person who I’ve never heard of and maybe I’ll be able to figure out what you’re on about. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4603 "2025-04-03T22:15:21Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > > [@Babale](#): > > > > \*I’m not talking about strategy, I’m talking about facts (and, I suppose, supposition based on those facts) – the facts are that there are relatively prominent Democrats and Democratic supporters who are pretty damn close to the police should be abolished > > Yes, this is true. Did you think it wasn’t? Yeah, I would dispute that statement if a right winger made it on this board. You wouldn’t? I would challenge what is meant by “police abolition”, and I would challenge who is considered a “prominent” Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4604 "2025-04-03T22:16:48Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > OK, there’s an answer! Now all I have to do is Google that person who I’ve never heard of and maybe I’ll be able to figure out what you’re on about. If you’ve got more than two brain cells, and you rub them together _real_ hard, you might even be able to deduce from context one of the specific policies I think Kamala should distance herself from. Here, I’ll help: > [@Babale](#): > > the police should be abolished By the way, I am super jealous of you for not having heard of her. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4605 "2025-04-03T22:19:41Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Now all I have to do is Google that person who I’ve never heard of and maybe I’ll be able to figure out what you’re on about. **YOU’VE NEVER HEAD OF HER?!?!??!?!** 😲 She’s a nobody who was on a YouTube channel for _The Hill_ for a year and a half before being fired for criticizing Israel. And before that, she was press secretary for the Bernie Sanders campaign back in 2020. > **[Briahna Joy Gray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briahna_Joy_Gray)** > > Briahna Joy Gray (born August 15, 1985) is an American political commentator, lawyer, and political consultant. After writing for The Intercept in 2018 she started her political career as the National Press Secretary for the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign. She was the co-host of The Hill's web program Rising from September 2022 to June 7, 2024, when she was fired for criticizing Israel. She is the host of the Bad Faith podcast. > Briahna Joy Gray was born on August 15, 1985, in Washi... She was fired and effectively deplatformed a couple of months before Kamala Harris was even nominated for the race, but details, details. I mean, she practically runs the Democratic Party I assume. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4606 "2025-04-03T22:23:35Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Is the difference between these things and something like “Trump wants to make women into property and take away their vote” or “Trump wants to gas migrants and trans people” really that hard to figure out? Still waiting for an example of the Democratic Party putting out messaging like this. No hurry. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4607 "2025-04-03T22:24:28Z")
Good news! Kamala has already taken your advice, five years ago! > In a June 2020 interview with the [The New York Times](https:// > “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris do not support defunding the police, and it is a lie to suggest otherwise,” Sabrina Singh, Harris’ press secretary, [told PolitiFact in October 2020](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/oct/08/mike-pence/ad-watch-kamala-harris-doesnt-want-defund-dismantl/). This could be just the boost the Harris campaign has been looking for! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4608 "2025-04-03T22:30:38Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > > > Now all I have to do is Google that person who I’ve never heard of and maybe I’ll be able to figure out what you’re on about. > > **YOU’VE NEVER HEAD OF HER?!?!??!?!** > > 😲 > > She’s a nobody who was on a YouTube channel for _The Hill_ for a year and a half before being fired for criticizing Israel. I had never heard of her. In her case, “criticizing Israel” meant telling an audience that Israel shouldn’t exist, and after being jeered, telling the moderator “This is the most Islamophobic, racist audience I’ve ever seen. It’s disgusting. I hope someone drops a bomb on this entire building.” More good stuff in that Wikipedia article, but you can already tell she’s a real sweetie. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4609 "2025-04-03T22:32:21Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Still waiting for an example of the Democratic Party putting out messaging like this. I didn’t say that the Democratic party put out messages like that. > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Good news! Kamala has already taken your advice, five years ago! > > > In a June 2020 interview with the [The New York Times](https:// > > “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris do not support defunding the police, and it is a lie to suggest otherwise,” Sabrina Singh, Harris’ press secretary, [told PolitiFact in October 2020](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/oct/08/mike-pence/ad-watch-kamala-harris-doesnt-want-defund-dismantl/). Here’s Bill Clinton’s strong, clear repudiation of extremism: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xtSifopiL1g/maxresdefault.jpg "Bill Clinton's Sister Souljah moment - JUNE 13, 1992") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtSifopiL1g) Maybe you can see why having _the vice presidential candidate’s press secretary_ issue a dry statement like “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris do not support defunding the police, and it is a lie to suggest otherwise” is less effective than what Clinton did. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4610 "2025-04-03T22:34:37Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Maybe you can see why having _the vice presidential candidate’s press secretary_ issue a dry statement like “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris do not support defunding the police, and it is a lie to suggest otherwise” is less effective than what Clinton did. Actually, let me rephrase that, because I’d genuinely like to ask: do you or do you not see the difference between Clinton’s statement in his speech, and the quote Biden had Kamala’s press secretary issue? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4611 "2025-04-03T22:34:43Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > In her case, “criticizing Israel” meant telling an audience that Israel shouldn’t exist, and after being jeered, telling the moderator “This is the most Islamophobic, racist audience I’ve ever seen. It’s disgusting. I hope someone drops a bomb on this entire building.” Yeah, not surprised she was fired, and it definitely seemed warranted. But there would be no need to repudiate a fringe person who had already been deplatformed and had no power. The Democratic Party definitely has its share of extremists. The difference between it and the Republican Party is that the Democrats marginalize them rather than having them lead the party. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4612 "2025-04-03T22:35:58Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > None of the Trump supporters I know are like that, though. They’re a lot like conservatives have always been, and they just don’t take the things we say about Trump seriously. Sure. And probably nothing Dems could say would have convinced them, because Trump didn’t do most of the things he said he would in his first term. I wasn’t exactly thrilled when he was elected, but it’s still been a _lot_ worse than I expected. There’s currently a lot of fools in denial, defending Trump, but I think that is going to get increasingly difficult given his nutso economic policies and Elon carelessly shredding the government. Hopefully Trump’s failures here will disempower the more extreme elements on the right again. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4613 "2025-04-03T22:36:30Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > She was fired and effectively deplatformed a couple of months before Kamala Harris was even nominated for the race, but details, details. > > I mean, she practically runs the Democratic Party I assume. Maybe you missed my point? I’m not saying she runs the Democratic party; I’m comparing her to Nick Fuentes, who - in case you didn’t notice - does not run the Republican party. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > In her case, “criticizing Israel” meant telling an audience that Israel shouldn’t exist, and after being jeered, telling the moderator “This is the most Islamophobic, racist audience I’ve ever seen. It’s disgusting. I hope someone drops a bomb on this entire building.” > > More good stuff in that Wikipedia article, but you can already tell she’s a real sweetie. Yeah, she’s basically a mirror image of Fuentes. Equally odious from the opposite direction. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4614 "2025-04-03T22:40:51Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Maybe you missed my point? I’m not saying she runs the Democratic party; I’m comparing her to Nick Fuentes, who - in case you didn’t notice - does not run the Republican party. Okay. But again, she’s a nobody. She doesn’t have any influence. It’s a bad comparison. Just look at this guy’s article and tell me they’re equivalent. > **[Nick Fuentes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Fuentes)** > > Nicholas Joseph Fuentes (born August 18, 1998) is an American far-right political pundit, activist, and live streamer who promotes white supremacist, misogynistic, and antisemitic views. Fuentes has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories against Jews and called for a "holy war" against them, and has denied the Holocaust. He has been described as a neo-Nazi by various sources. Fuentes identifies as a member of the incel movement, a supporter of authoritarianism, an integra Collaborating with... There’s a reason why nobody heard of her. They may both be repugnant, but one is constantly in the media, recently had his platform returned on Twitter/X/whatever with support from Musk. I mean, last year the Anti-Defamation League put out a statement to condemn. The other is nobody. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4615 "2025-04-03T22:41:50Z")
White people have an almost fetishistic response to Clinton’s scolding of Sista Souljah It was brilliant politics. 30+ years later and they’re still getting chubbies from it. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4616 "2025-04-03T22:47:27Z")
Yeah, might want to consider how that and the fucking crime bill are viewed by Black Americans today. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4617 "2025-04-03T22:48:45Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I didn’t say that the Democratic party put out messages like that. But I thought the reason Dems lost was because they were pushing unsupportable “trans genocide” and “women as property” narratives? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4618 "2025-04-03T22:53:45Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Just look at this guy’s article and tell me they’re equivalent. Yeah, I’m trying to find the Republican politician he was a high ranking staffer for, but I can’t. Can you help me out? How about the prominent right wing newspaper he wrote for? All I can find is his streaming career. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4619 "2025-04-03T22:54:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > But I thought the reason Dems lost was because they were pushing unsupportable > “trans genocide” and “women as property” narratives? Interesting! Not sure where you got that idea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=215) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=217)