Trump MAGAThread XI: Button, Button, Who's Got The Button?

[San Lumen]

I still don't think the silent majority is an effect that has a measurable effect on polls and outcomes.
If Trump is toxic and supporting him is bad, then people wouldn't support him. They wouldn't lie and support him anyway, that just doesn't make a whole lot of sense especially when Trump supporters are outspoken.

They also love to drink liberal tears, which was the intent of the post that started this conversation.

Also polls, including those in 2016, are still very reliable sources of information.

the polls were quite accurate in New Jersey, Virginia and the New York City mayoral election. In fact in Virginia they underestimated Northam's support.

[Corrian]

I've been missing you guys while I've been working Finally got a job and I don't know how to juggle life and this forum yet, so I've been absent in this thread recently.

[The Parkus Empire]

I still don't think the silent majority is an effect that has a measurable effect on polls and outcomes.
If Trump is toxic and supporting him is bad, then people wouldn't support him. They wouldn't lie and support him anyway, that just doesn't make a whole lot of sense especially when Trump supporters are outspoken.

They also love to drink liberal tears, which was the intent of the post that started this conversation.

Also polls, including those in 2016, are still very reliable sources of information.

I support Trump as it were, but I sure as shit am not outspoken about it since the guy is a vitriolic, obnoxious pervert.

[Vassenor]

So it seems the NRA is whining about all the people criticising them, calling it a "lynch mob".

Grow a backbone you goddamn snowflakes. The internet is not your safe space.

[Washington Resistance Army]

So it seems the NRA is whining about all the people criticising them, calling it a "lynch mob".

Grow a backbone you goddamn snowflakes. The internet is not your safe space.

This has nothing to do with Trump.

[Vassenor]

So let's roll with the fact he's decided that Veteran's Day is another holiday that's all about him rather than the people it's supposed to celebrate.

[Minoa]

There is only so much opinion polls can do, short of making it mandatory for everyone to answer said question, which itself would not only be not worth the cost to arrange such a poll (sic), but also a logistical nightmare.

[Vassenor]

Meanwhile teachers are coming out en masse against Trump's suggestion that they need to be armed.

[Ifreann]

Trump, who mysteriously developed bone spurs to get out of being drafted, calls the Parkland SRO a coward. Scot Peterson, 54, has resigned from the local sheriff's department and his home is reportedly under armed guard. But now that the President is kinda blaming him for this, I'm sure he'll be fine.

[Gravlen]

Since it was brought up earlier:

Correspondence between CNN and Colton Haab debunks the claim that CNN had scripted the town hall.

What Haab first suggested:

What Haab then wanted to add (submitted by his father):

Opening statement:
page 1
Ladies & gentlemen, lawmakers, fellow students, parents, teachers, faculty – last Wednesday will change our lives forever. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families of this horrific attack on our school. To me, it’s totally incomprehensible how this attacker was able to exit an Uber ride, walk into our freshman building and start shooting.
There’s been a lot of talk about Gun Control since this senseless attack. Many of my peers are in Tallahassee with lawmakers now – unfortunately yesterday did not go in the right direction for us.

I hope the much needed changes to Gun Laws can be made and implemented by the time the next generation (my kids) enters high school.
The way I see it- 3 main things have to happen:
1) Tighten up gun laws
2) Secure the school and make it safe
3) Defend the school

I BASED MY QUESTIONS TONIGHT ON #2 & # 3

Question 1)

The Number One responsibility of the Federal Government is: To keep Americans safe & secure.
We will be called back to school next week … How do we come back if Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is not safe?
Many of us students are afraid to go back until this school is safe & secure. Only 1 School Resource Officer cannot secure a 45 acre campus with multiple entry and exist points. So my 1st question is:
What is being done to drastically improve the security of the school?

Question 2)
page 2
There are armed security defending our President, Congressmen, court houses, IRS buildings, banks, jewelry stores, even the Smithsonian has guards with guns. Yet a gunman walked into our school’s freshman building with a rifle… and hero’s like Coach Fies ….unarmed… died trying to stop him. This is totally unacceptable.
Schools are defended with a sign that reads:
This is a gun free zone/it might as well also say:
(Call someone with a gun if there’s an emergency).
It is my opinion and the opinion of many – that this makes us an easy target for evil people to do their evil with little, if any resistance.

I personally would much rather see a sign that read:
“Please be aware that certain staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas are legally armed and may use whatever force necessary to protect our students”.

We students should not have to beg to be kept safe.

I ask you: are our students’ lives not as significant as court documents?
As tax returns? As cash money? As a diamond ring or a fine watch?
ARE our lives, our security & safety not as important as old dinosaur bones?
My 2nd question is:
What measures are being taken to defend our school from future attacks?
And how can we get select faculty trained and armed to give them a fighting chance, if GOD forbid, there is another attack?

Question 3)

page 3
There are over 450,000 unemployed Veterans living in the United States.
Many are able, willing & trainable and would find a real purpose in the job of keep our schools safe and defend our students & faculty against evil.
What steps can be taken to utilize our select retired military in this capacity?

Closing Statement: page 4
President Trump, Governor Scott, Senators Nelson, Rubio and Deutch, Sherriff Israel, Superintendent Runcie, Principle Thompson – I urge you, the student body urges you, our parents urge you: to secure our school.

We cannot wait for legislative Gun Law Changes to be approved and implemented. We are going to be called back to school next week. We need Action Now! We have attended way too many funerals this week.

We need to make MSD SAFE Now!

Secure all Broward schools, secure all Florida Schools and secure all schools across this Nation.
The Number One responsibility of the Federal Government is:

To keep Americans safe & secure.

We students should not have to beg to be kept safe.

Please secure our school from outside threats from evil people and give the right people the training & tools needed to defend our lives. It’s time for a change! Don’t let the 17 lives lost last week be just another statistic.
Is time to make MSD SAFE! MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN

# MSD STRONG

Thank you!

CNN response:

[Minoa]

Do you and Flutters have to keep with these ridiculous hyperbole about how this country is being destroyed by Republicans? People said the same about Obama and nothing happened, and you are just using the same useless scare-mongering tactics that the Republican party is some evil virus of Satan and that a massive blue wave is coming.

I've been keeping track of San Lumen's apocalypse scenarios. They go like this:

• Trump will get us into a nuclear war and kill us all
• Republicans will kill us all with climate change
• Republicans will kill all the bees and then kill us all

Trump’s language, and the mess that is the social media are partly responsible for why I feel like we will not make it to 2020 … every single day.*

*Partly because I feel that international politics is as delicate as the task of disarming an unexploded World War Two bomb.

[The Parkus Empire]

I am actually far less worried about Trump starting a war than I would be about Clinton. I also am not impressed with liberal willingness to export environmental damage to China--which has far less in the way of regulations than we do--via outsourcing and unrestricted free trade, which stacks the deck against environmentally friendly domestic production.

[Minoa]

I am actually far less worried about Trump starting a war than I would be about Clinton. I also am not impressed with liberal willingness to export environmental damage to China--which has far less in the way of regulations than we do--via outsourcing and unrestricted free trade, which stacks the deck against environmentally friendly domestic production.

As a centrist, there is no doubt that Trump’s war of words isn’t helpful, and is at best confusing people like me, at worst smashing my hopes for the future into pieces. I probably never said this before, but there are people like me who cannot detect sarcasm, especially when one is not aware of the context behind sarcastic statements.

[Neu Leonstein]

I am actually far less worried about Trump starting a war than I would be about Clinton.

That's probably true in the Middle East/Syria or Africa. On North Korea I'm less sure - the 'liberal interventionist' camp that Clinton subscribes to has mostly made its peace with not being able to bring the North Korean regime down by force. They're more reactive, thinking that they can stop or alleviate serious mass atrocities by force, and North Korea is more of a slow boil than a sudden humanitarian crisis.

Problem with Trump and his camp is that they are wired towards this sort of alpha-type behaviour, where they think that because they have the strongest guns, others owe them deference, and are really sensitive to anything that looks like this deference is not given (it's the old 'credibility' thing, except now on a personal as well as a foreign policy think tank level). And then you add a completely different approach to the value of non-American life, where suddenly risking the destruction of Seoul is acceptable collateral damage when it comes to strengthening perceived American interests. So in my view, that makes the Trump Administration more risky on North Korea than a Clinton Administration would have been.

I mean, to me by far the most likely outcome on North Korea at this point is that there will be a nuclear-armed North Korea capable of hitting US mainland cities with ICBMs, and the US and North Korea will work out a detente on that good old MAD basis. The key question is how we get from an old equilibrium, where the US could destroy North Korea without risking their own skin, to the new one without someone doing something dumb in the meantime. To be clear, I think the probability of a blow-up is quite low. But I think it's higher under Trump than it would have been under Clinton.

[The Parkus Empire]

I am actually far less worried about Trump starting a war than I would be about Clinton.

That's probably true in the Middle East/Syria or Africa. On North Korea I'm less sure - the 'liberal interventionist' camp that Clinton subscribes to has mostly made its peace with not being able to bring the North Korean regime down by force. They're more reactive, thinking that they can stop or alleviate serious mass atrocities by force, and North Korea is more of a slow boil than a sudden humanitarian crisis.

Problem with Trump and his camp is that they are wired towards this sort of alpha-type behaviour, where they think that because they have the strongest guns, others owe them deference, and are really sensitive to anything that looks like this deference is not given (it's the old 'credibility' thing, except now on a personal as well as a foreign policy think tank level). And then you add a completely different approach to the value of non-American life, where suddenly risking the destruction of Seoul is acceptable collateral damage when it comes to strengthening perceived American interests. So in my view, that makes the Trump Administration more risky on North Korea than a Clinton Administration would have been.

I mean, to me by far the most likely outcome on North Korea at this point is that there will be a nuclear-armed North Korea capable of hitting US mainland cities with ICBMs, and the US and North Korea will work out a detente on that good old MAD basis. The key question is how we get from an old equilibrium, where the US could destroy North Korea without risking their own skin, to the new one without someone doing something dumb in the meantime. To be clear, I think the probability of a blow-up is quite low. But I think it's higher under Trump than it would have been under Clinton.

North Korea is irrelevant to us and everyone else except South Korea

[Shofercia]

Since it was brought up earlier:

Correspondence between CNN and Colton Haab debunks the claim that CNN had scripted the town hall.

What Haab first suggested:
(Image)

What Haab then wanted to add (submitted by his father):

Opening statement:
page 1
Ladies & gentlemen, lawmakers, fellow students, parents, teachers, faculty – last Wednesday will change our lives forever. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families of this horrific attack on our school. To me, it’s totally incomprehensible how this attacker was able to exit an Uber ride, walk into our freshman building and start shooting.
There’s been a lot of talk about Gun Control since this senseless attack. Many of my peers are in Tallahassee with lawmakers now – unfortunately yesterday did not go in the right direction for us.

I hope the much needed changes to Gun Laws can be made and implemented by the time the next generation (my kids) enters high school.
The way I see it- 3 main things have to happen:
1) Tighten up gun laws
2) Secure the school and make it safe
3) Defend the school

I BASED MY QUESTIONS TONIGHT ON #2 & # 3

Question 1)

The Number One responsibility of the Federal Government is: To keep Americans safe & secure.
We will be called back to school next week … How do we come back if Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is not safe?
Many of us students are afraid to go back until this school is safe & secure. Only 1 School Resource Officer cannot secure a 45 acre campus with multiple entry and exist points. So my 1st question is:
What is being done to drastically improve the security of the school?

Question 2)
page 2
There are armed security defending our President, Congressmen, court houses, IRS buildings, banks, jewelry stores, even the Smithsonian has guards with guns. Yet a gunman walked into our school’s freshman building with a rifle… and hero’s like Coach Fies ….unarmed… died trying to stop him. This is totally unacceptable.
Schools are defended with a sign that reads:
This is a gun free zone/it might as well also say:
(Call someone with a gun if there’s an emergency).
It is my opinion and the opinion of many – that this makes us an easy target for evil people to do their evil with little, if any resistance.

I personally would much rather see a sign that read:
“Please be aware that certain staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas are legally armed and may use whatever force necessary to protect our students”.

We students should not have to beg to be kept safe.

I ask you: are our students’ lives not as significant as court documents?
As tax returns? As cash money? As a diamond ring or a fine watch?
ARE our lives, our security & safety not as important as old dinosaur bones?
My 2nd question is:
What measures are being taken to defend our school from future attacks?
And how can we get select faculty trained and armed to give them a fighting chance, if GOD forbid, there is another attack?

Question 3)

page 3
There are over 450,000 unemployed Veterans living in the United States.
Many are able, willing & trainable and would find a real purpose in the job of keep our schools safe and defend our students & faculty against evil.
What steps can be taken to utilize our select retired military in this capacity?

Closing Statement: page 4
President Trump, Governor Scott, Senators Nelson, Rubio and Deutch, Sherriff Israel, Superintendent Runcie, Principle Thompson – I urge you, the student body urges you, our parents urge you: to secure our school.

We cannot wait for legislative Gun Law Changes to be approved and implemented. We are going to be called back to school next week. We need Action Now! We have attended way too many funerals this week.

We need to make MSD SAFE Now!

Secure all Broward schools, secure all Florida Schools and secure all schools across this Nation.
The Number One responsibility of the Federal Government is:

To keep Americans safe & secure.

We students should not have to beg to be kept safe.

Please secure our school from outside threats from evil people and give the right people the training & tools needed to defend our lives. It’s time for a change! Don’t let the 17 lives lost last week be just another statistic.
Is time to make MSD SAFE! MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN

# MSD STRONG

Thank you!

CNN response:
(Image)

CNN technically didn't script the interview, but it's still low quality "journalism" on their part. Colton Haab's email, copied from your post:



In said email, Haab's biggest question, which takes all of 10 seconds to read, (if not less,) talks about Veterans. He mentions that there were 453,000 unemployed Veterans living in the US in 2016, and he's wondering if they can be employed and armed to protect schools across the nation. Since Haab is a JROTC member, this is probably a crucial issue for him.

Here is CNN's response, copied from your post:



You'll note that it completely omits the question about Veterans, because apparently spending even 10 seconds on a question that can help US Veterans and help keep schools safe is clearly not a priority for CNN. Since he's a JROTC member, I can certainly understand why Colton decided to boycott the event. So let's see here, Colton wanted to ask four questions; all four would've taken less than a minute to ask. Here they are:

1. What actions can we as students and parents, expect to be done to protect us from evil and harm while attending school?

2. Have we thought about having a class for teachers who are willing to be armed trained to carry on campus?

3. As of 2016, there are 453,000 unemployed veterans living in the US. Has there been any talk about retired military veterans who are willing and able to be trained and armed to protect schools across the nation?

4. Has there been any talk about making Douglas a single entry school, limiting the movement in and out of the 45 archar campus?

CNN simply cherry picked one of the questions; did they let Colton make the decision as to which question he wanted to ask? I'm certainly not seeing that in the rebuttal. Ironically the title said Re: Colton Haab's questions for tonight, which could've conveyed the thought to Colton that he got to ask more than one question. So yes, technically CNN didn't script the questions; they allegedly asked Colton to submit a series of questions, and then picked their favorite one, threw their arms in the air, and claimed that time constraints prevent him from asking other questions.

There's a lesson there for the students. When CNN contacts you about a town hall, asking about questions, submit your favorite question, twice, and word it a bit differently. That way CNN's weasel approach will fail as much as their ratings already do. Oh, and speaking of CNN, Jimmy Wales says "hi"

https://twitter.com/jimmy_wales/status/ ... 1487410183

CNN should be ashamed. This is not journalism this is abuse.

That's in response to CNN's ambush interview with an old lady over her posts on Facebook... Even Jimmy Wales thought that they should be ashamed.

[Valrifell]

There is only so much opinion polls can do, short of making it mandatory for everyone to answer said question, which itself would not only be not worth the cost to arrange such a poll (sic), but also a logistical nightmare.

That's not even necessary, since it's already been proven that after a certain point, a certain sample size is basically the national mood with a narrow margin of error.

[Gravlen]

Since it was brought up earlier:

Correspondence between CNN and Colton Haab debunks the claim that CNN had scripted the town hall.

What Haab first suggested:
(Image)

What Haab then wanted to add (submitted by his father):

Opening statement:
page 1
Ladies & gentlemen, lawmakers, fellow students, parents, teachers, faculty – last Wednesday will change our lives forever. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families of this horrific attack on our school. To me, it’s totally incomprehensible how this attacker was able to exit an Uber ride, walk into our freshman building and start shooting.
There’s been a lot of talk about Gun Control since this senseless attack. Many of my peers are in Tallahassee with lawmakers now – unfortunately yesterday did not go in the right direction for us.

I hope the much needed changes to Gun Laws can be made and implemented by the time the next generation (my kids) enters high school.
The way I see it- 3 main things have to happen:
1) Tighten up gun laws
2) Secure the school and make it safe
3) Defend the school

I BASED MY QUESTIONS TONIGHT ON #2 & # 3

Question 1)

The Number One responsibility of the Federal Government is: To keep Americans safe & secure.
We will be called back to school next week … How do we come back if Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is not safe?
Many of us students are afraid to go back until this school is safe & secure. Only 1 School Resource Officer cannot secure a 45 acre campus with multiple entry and exist points. So my 1st question is:
What is being done to drastically improve the security of the school?

Question 2)
page 2
There are armed security defending our President, Congressmen, court houses, IRS buildings, banks, jewelry stores, even the Smithsonian has guards with guns. Yet a gunman walked into our school’s freshman building with a rifle… and hero’s like Coach Fies ….unarmed… died trying to stop him. This is totally unacceptable.
Schools are defended with a sign that reads:
This is a gun free zone/it might as well also say:
(Call someone with a gun if there’s an emergency).
It is my opinion and the opinion of many – that this makes us an easy target for evil people to do their evil with little, if any resistance.

I personally would much rather see a sign that read:
“Please be aware that certain staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas are legally armed and may use whatever force necessary to protect our students”.

We students should not have to beg to be kept safe.

I ask you: are our students’ lives not as significant as court documents?
As tax returns? As cash money? As a diamond ring or a fine watch?
ARE our lives, our security & safety not as important as old dinosaur bones?
My 2nd question is:
What measures are being taken to defend our school from future attacks?
And how can we get select faculty trained and armed to give them a fighting chance, if GOD forbid, there is another attack?

Question 3)

page 3
There are over 450,000 unemployed Veterans living in the United States.
Many are able, willing & trainable and would find a real purpose in the job of keep our schools safe and defend our students & faculty against evil.
What steps can be taken to utilize our select retired military in this capacity?

Closing Statement: page 4
President Trump, Governor Scott, Senators Nelson, Rubio and Deutch, Sherriff Israel, Superintendent Runcie, Principle Thompson – I urge you, the student body urges you, our parents urge you: to secure our school.

We cannot wait for legislative Gun Law Changes to be approved and implemented. We are going to be called back to school next week. We need Action Now! We have attended way too many funerals this week.

We need to make MSD SAFE Now!

Secure all Broward schools, secure all Florida Schools and secure all schools across this Nation.
The Number One responsibility of the Federal Government is:

To keep Americans safe & secure.

We students should not have to beg to be kept safe.

Please secure our school from outside threats from evil people and give the right people the training & tools needed to defend our lives. It’s time for a change! Don’t let the 17 lives lost last week be just another statistic.
Is time to make MSD SAFE! MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN

# MSD STRONG

Thank you!

CNN response:
(Image)

CNN technically didn't script the interview

Yup. And that's the relevant bit.

Did CNN provide him with scripted questions? Is his claim that "They had taken what I had wrote and what I had briefed on and talked about, and they actually wrote the question for me" true?

His suggested question was
2. Have we thought about having a class for teachers who are willing to be armed trained to carry on campus?

CNN suggested
"Senator Nelson, if Coach Feis had had his firearm in school that da, I believe that he could have most likely stopped the thread. Have we thought about having a class for teachers who are willing to be armed trained to carry on campus?"

The questions are identical. His claim is a lie.

The fact that CNN wouldn't have let him ask all the questions he wanted to doesn't matter. I agree with Erik Wemple of the WP on this:

An alternative interpretation: It seems perfectly thorough and professional. Look at what happened here:

A top CNN producer — Stevenson — took the initiative to contact Haab, who had gotten on the network’s radar via previous interviews, including one with “Fox & Friends.” “If Coach [Aaron] Feis had had his firearm in school that day, I believe that he could most likely have stopped the threat,” said Haab.
Stevenson asked Haab what he’d like to address at the town hall, and what questions he wished to pose to politicians.
In an email offering four questions, Haab had included this: “Have we thought about having a class for teachers who are willing to be armed trained to carry on campus?” According to a CNN source, Stevenson discussed the whole thing with Haab in a phone call. CNN’s plan was to have Haab preface that question with the observation he’d already made on “Fox & Friends,” such that Haab would face Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) with these words:

Senator Nelson, if Coach Feis had had his firearm in school that day, I believe that he could have most likely stopped the threat. Have we thought about having a class for teachers who are willing to be armed trained to carry on campus?

According to the CNN source, Glenn Haab, the boy’s father, intervened toward the end of the process, insisting that Colton Haab present some “background” thoughts to precede his question at the town hall. “We are not actors nor do we read from a script,” wrote Glenn Haab in an email to Stevenson. “The short background before each question is extremely relevant to each question. “I[f] you want Colton only to read this one short question – we are not the right people for your town hall meeting.”

Years ago, the proto-Erik Wemple Blog covered municipal politics in the District of Columbia. A critical part of the assignment was attending community events and debates in which organizers would place a microphone in an aisle and invite attendees to step up and ask a question. Perhaps the most commonly repeated refrain from such events came from the moderator: “Sir, could you please get to your question?”

Indeed: When they’re given the floor, people tend to filibuster. And when they’re not filibustering, they’re repeating the same question asked by the person before them. Or they’re asking about something entirely foreign from the topic at hand. This isn’t to criticize such folks, who are almost invariably well-meaning, engaged citizens.

Yet CNN is a television outlet. It had two hours to pull off its town hall. That it worked with a high-school student to winnow his thoughts into one simple and powerful question for a Democratic senator sounds like the inverse of a scandal, despite the Tucker Carlson-informed thoughts of this country’s president.

While a a representative of the Haab family declined to speak on the record, it is interesting that they later released what seems to be doctored e-mails to support their points:

The Haabs also appeared to provide doctored emails to media outlets to back up the claim that CNN scripted the questions, Business Insider reported. CNN's version of the email showed that the producer wrote she wanted the student to stick to a question "that he submitted," but that phrase was omitted in the version released by the family.

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/375401-cnn-releases-emails-to-push-back-on-claim-about-scripted-town-hall-question

So yes, technically CNN didn't script the questions; they allegedly asked Colton to submit a series of questions, and then picked their favorite one, threw their arms in the air, and claimed that time constraints prevent him from asking other questions.

The one hour 46 minute runtime of the event suggests they were correct about that assessment.

I snipped the rest of your "Hey, look behind you! A two-headed monkey!" attempt.

[Shofercia]

CNN technically didn't script the interview

Yup. And that's the relevant bit.

So if you think that's the relevant bit, and I technically agreed with you on what you thought was the relevant bit, why the lengthy post? Do you typically provide lengthy posts on issues where NSGers are in technical agreement, before accusing your fellow posters of two-headed monkey attempts? For me, it's not quite that simple, and if it was that simple, you probably wouldn't have felt the desperate need to defend CNN with yet another lengthy post.

Did CNN provide him with scripted questions? Is his claim that "They had taken what I had wrote and what I had briefed on and talked about, and they actually wrote the question for me" true?

His suggested question was
2. Have we thought about having a class for teachers who are willing to be armed trained to carry on campus?

CNN suggested
"Senator Nelson, if Coach Feis had had his firearm in school that da, I believe that he could have most likely stopped the thread. Have we thought about having a class for teachers who are willing to be armed trained to carry on campus?"

The questions are identical. His claim is a lie.

The fact that CNN wouldn't have let him ask all the questions he wanted to doesn't matter. I agree with Erik Wemple of the WP on this:

An alternative interpretation: It seems perfectly thorough and professional. Look at what happened here:

A top CNN producer — Stevenson — took the initiative to contact Haab, who had gotten on the network’s radar via previous interviews, including one with “Fox & Friends.” “If Coach [Aaron] Feis had had his firearm in school that day, I believe that he could most likely have stopped the threat,” said Haab.
Stevenson asked Haab what he’d like to address at the town hall, and what questions he wished to pose to politicians.
In an email offering four questions, Haab had included this: “Have we thought about having a class for teachers who are willing to be armed trained to carry on campus?” According to a CNN source, Stevenson discussed the whole thing with Haab in a phone call. CNN’s plan was to have Haab preface that question with the observation he’d already made on “Fox & Friends,” such that Haab would face Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) with these words:

Senator Nelson, if Coach Feis had had his firearm in school that day, I believe that he could have most likely stopped the threat. Have we thought about having a class for teachers who are willing to be armed trained to carry on campus?

According to the CNN source, Glenn Haab, the boy’s father, intervened toward the end of the process, insisting that Colton Haab present some “background” thoughts to precede his question at the town hall. “We are not actors nor do we read from a script,” wrote Glenn Haab in an email to Stevenson. “The short background before each question is extremely relevant to each question. “I[f] you want Colton only to read this one short question – we are not the right people for your town hall meeting.”

Years ago, the proto-Erik Wemple Blog covered municipal politics in the District of Columbia. A critical part of the assignment was attending community events and debates in which organizers would place a microphone in an aisle and invite attendees to step up and ask a question. Perhaps the most commonly repeated refrain from such events came from the moderator: “Sir, could you please get to your question?”

Indeed: When they’re given the floor, people tend to filibuster. And when they’re not filibustering, they’re repeating the same question asked by the person before them. Or they’re asking about something entirely foreign from the topic at hand. This isn’t to criticize such folks, who are almost invariably well-meaning, engaged citizens.

Yet CNN is a television outlet. It had two hours to pull off its town hall. That it worked with a high-school student to winnow his thoughts into one simple and powerful question for a Democratic senator sounds like the inverse of a scandal, despite the Tucker Carlson-informed thoughts of this country’s president.

While a a representative of the Haab family declined to speak on the record, it is interesting that they later released what seems to be doctored e-mails to support their points:

The Haabs also appeared to provide doctored emails to media outlets to back up the claim that CNN scripted the questions, Business Insider reported. CNN's version of the email showed that the producer wrote she wanted the student to stick to a question "that he submitted," but that phrase was omitted in the version released by the family.

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/375401-cnn-releases-emails-to-push-back-on-claim-about-scripted-town-hall-question

Once again Gravlen, you made a lengthy post and completely missed my point. Did I say that Colton Haab was a saint? Did I say that he didn't lie? No. Did I say that the Haabs never doctored a single email? Nope.

My point, which you heroically omitted, was that CNN allegedly asked Colton Haab to provide a series of questions, and then picked one of them. The title, which anyone emailing anyone else can change, had the word "questions" not "question" and the word "questions" is actually a plural of the word "question" implying more than one. Ergo, he submitted four questions, and they picked one of them. They didn't, (at least from what you've shown,) actually let him make that choice.

If I am to be invited to participate in a show, and I am asked to submit a set of questions, which I submit in good faith, I too would be upset if the producer says "you can only ask the question that you submitted, if I like it!"

The one hour 46 minute runtime of the event suggests they were correct about that assessment.

I snipped the rest of your "Hey, look behind you! A two-headed monkey!" attempt.

How dare they raise issues regarding US Veterans and school safety during something that has a runtime of 1 hour and 46 minutes? That's just too much for CNN, and, apparently Gravlen. I'm also wondering why they couldn't spare an additional 30 seconds for Colton Haab, or why they couldn't let Colton Haab pick the question he wanted to ask, but apparently, according to Gravlen's completely unsourced opinion, the 106 minute run time clearly meant that Colton Haab wasn't going to get 30 more seconds to ask about uniting Veterans and teens, and making American Schools safer, while providing Veterans with jobs, because that just doesn't fit into the 106 minute run time, according to, apparently CNN and Gravlen.

[Ifreann]

What's this about two-headed monkeys?

[Gravlen]

Yup. And that's the relevant bit.

So if you think that's the relevant bit, and I technically agreed with you on what you thought was the relevant bit, why the lengthy post? Do you typically provide lengthy posts on issues where NSGers are in technical agreement, before accusing your fellow posters of two-headed monkey attempts?

Yes, especially when said posters say "I technically agree with you, but look over there!!"

[Gravlen]

What's this about two-headed monkeys?

It's a misprint. It's supposed to be Three-headed monkey.

It's a classic.

[Jerzylvania]

What's this about two-headed monkeys?

Look behind you.

[Petrasylvania]

So it seems the NRA is whining about all the people criticising them, calling it a "lynch mob".

Grow a backbone you goddamn snowflakes. The internet is not your safe space.

Gee, all those Preciouss and they can't withstand a barrage of verbal and written criticism. Guess guns can't protect from everything.

[Jerzylvania]

So it seems the NRA is whining about all the people criticising them, calling it a "lynch mob".

Grow a backbone you goddamn snowflakes. The internet is not your safe space.

Gee, all those Preciouss and they can't withstand a barrage of verbal and written criticism. Guess guns can't protect from everything.

I have always believed the number of guns a person has is inversely proportional to the sum of their fears.