The Leopards Eating Faces and Unlubed Dildo of Consequences Thread

[Brew 3049]

23 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Biden: “Put Trump in a bullseye”

Days later someone shoots Trump

Surly Leftists: “Trump’s statements lead to violence”

 

The conversation was on disinformation and people eating up the misinformation that is fed to them. Bringing that into the discussion where it was said to put him in the bullseye of their campaign coming out of the debate isn’t misinformation, no matter how you want to argue context. It’s no different than any other war time reference used by either side. Interestingly enough, he also apologized for the use of the terminology which hasn’t happened on the other side of aisle. 

You could at least stay on track.

[Horn Dogg 3870]

Floridas football team is representative of Trump’s upcoming term.

[Frank Drebin 5654]

3 minutes ago, Horn Dog said:

 

 

 

[Brew 3049]

9 minutes ago, quigley said:

"She's a radical war hawk," Trump said of Cheney. "Let's put her with a rifle standing there, with nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let's see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-suggests-liz-cheney-should-face-firing-squad-her-foreign-policy-stance-2024-11-01/

If you read the whole thing, it’s clear he is saying that lawmakers shouldn’t be sending people to war when they aren’t willing to go be put in harm’s way.

[quigley 1557]

23 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Biden: “Put Trump in a bullseye”

Days later someone shoots Trump

Surly Leftists: “Trump’s statements lead to violence”

 

First, as has been pointed out, Biden was talking about moving the focus of the discourse back to Trump rather than to his leaving the race (reference below).

More importantly, you frequently use a rhetorical device know as "tu quoque." I don't know how to speak French or Latin so if I discuss this in conversation, I say "what-about-ism". It's a technique that's frequently used to avoid discussing weak positions.

I *wish* people, especially the lawyers here, would call you out on it because it hides 2 important facts:

1. you know your position is weak

2. you know your position is wrong

But people here let you slide. Biden apologized for his use of the word "bullseye." Did Trump apologize for any of his ridiculous claims? Trump's rhetoric was associated with increase hate speech and vandalism after his 2016 win. We're waiting for the repercussions of his stupid words just like we're waiting for his stupid policies.

I will call you out on your weak sauce rhetoric because it's boring. If you want to discuss things, man up and defend is dumb words.

 

 

According to Politico, Mr Biden had said on a private donor call: "I have one job, and that's to beat Donald Trump. I'm absolutely ceain I'm the best person to be able to do that. So, we're done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd1rzde0n4do

[Incredulity 11649]

1 minute ago, Brew said:

If you read the whole thing, it’s clear he is saying that lawmakers shouldn’t be sending people to war when they aren’t willing to go be put in harm’s way.

great, now do the full text of the, “Trump called Nazi’s fine people” bullshit.

[Incredulity 11649]

1 minute ago, quigley said:

First, as has been pointed out, Biden was talking about moving the focus of the discourse back to Trump rather than to his leaving the race (reference below).

More importantly, you frequently use a rhetorical device know as "tu quoque." I don't know how to speak French or Latin so if I discuss this in conversation, I say "what-about-ism". It's a technique that's frequently used to avoid discussing weak positions.

I *wish* people, especially the lawyers here, would call you out on it because it hides 2 important facts:

1. you know your position is weak

2. you know your position is wrong

But people here let you slide. Biden apologized for his use of the word "bullseye." Did Trump apologize for any of his ridiculous claims? Trump's rhetoric was associated with increase hate speech and vandalism after his 2016 win. We're waiting for the repercussions of his stupid words just like we're waiting for his stupid policies.

I will call you out on your weak sauce rhetoric because it's boring. If you want to discuss things, man up and defend is dumb words.

 

 

According to Politico, Mr Biden had said on a private donor call: "I have one job, and that's to beat Donald Trump. I'm absolutely ceain I'm the best person to be able to do that. So, we're done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd1rzde0n4do

Yes, yes I know its always nuance, subtext, and finely curated interpretation when a Democrat speaks.

 

[quigley 1557]

15 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Can you not read?  He’s saying she should pick up a rifle and go fight the wars her chicken hawk ass supports. 

@Brew

Are we okay with

"nine barrels shooting at her" ?

I gave you the whole quote. When do you, in your personal life, tell people to have guns trained on people?

Edited November 9 by quigley

[quigley 1557]

Just now, Incredulity said:

Yes, yes I know its always nuance, subtext, and finely curated interpretation when a Democrat speaks.

 

Deflect and distract.

When do you actually defend his words? Do actually support those words or can you admit they're wrong?

[Gil Bang 25907]

3 hours ago, Frank Drebin said:

I bet inflation went through the roof under Trump.

Toilet paper and lysol were quite expensive. 

[G650 14229]

12 minutes ago, Horn Dog said:

I do a lot of work for Horton, very Trumpy bunch.

[achooloco 1067]

41 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Biden: “Put Trump in a bullseye”

Days later someone shoots Trump

Surly Leftists: “Trump’s statements lead to violence”

 

 

13 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Lol.  No you’re not brainwashed one bit.

both his parents are elephants, his home address had a trump sign in front, and there is data out there that suggests you are  the political affiliation that your parents adhere to. So yeah... stay wrong. 

[gmr548 16576]

1 hour ago, mchookem said:

counterpoint: this game is doing wonders for my emotional state 😊🤘

Florida is fucking terrible. I'm glad to see Texas more or less doing what they should, but this is one of those nearly all downside games. Texas should dismantle them so it doesn't move the needle for me a ton, and if they hadn't, hoooo boy.

Come out and handle Arkansas - a (slightly) better team on the road - and I'll def be more excited.

[Brew 3049]

7 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

great, now do the full text of the, “Trump called Nazi’s fine people” bullshit.

I don’t think you really want to go through all of the stupid shit he has said one by one. It will not work out well for you. There are instances where it is spun, there are a lot more instances where he actually said the dumb shit that has been quoted just as it was said.

[Brew 3049]

6 minutes ago, quigley said:

@Brew

Are we okay with

"nine barrels shooting at her" ?

I gave you the whole quote. When do you, in your personal life, tell people to have guns trained on people?

You can’t cherry pick one portion of the quote from the entire message. You lose context. Saying that she should be in front of a firing squad is different than what he actually said. Right off the bat, you don’t get a gun if you’re in front of the firing squad. The the part of what he said is below.

Liz Cheney is “a deranged person,” the GOP nominee said, “but the reason she couldn’t stand me is that she always wanted to go to war with people. I don’t want to go to war. She wanted to go – she wanted to stay in Iraq. I took them out. I mean, if [it] were up to her, we’d, we’d be in 50 different countries. She’s a radical war hawk.”

He then said, “Let’s put her with a rifle, standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. Okay? Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face. You know they’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, ‘Oh, gee, well, let’s send, let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.”

[achooloco 1067]

1 minute ago, gmr548 said:

Florida is fucking terrible. I'm glad to see Texas more or less doing what they should, but this is one of those nearly all downside games. Texas should dismantle them so it doesn't move the needle for me a ton, and if they hadn't, hoooo boy.

Come out and handle Arkansas - a (slightly) better team on the road - and I'll def be more excited.

You know, I was looking at the odds for this week vs next and while my initial bias is very much aligned with yours, florida was ranked only one spot below arkansas. Now does the rivalry mojo come into play since the swc died almost 30 years ago? dunno. And yes I remember that last night game at fayettham. They might give us a better game but it really shouldn't be. They are closer to being as bad as florida than we are a rivalry to them. (sorry to football the CR)

[Brew 3049]

8 minutes ago, quigley said:

Deflect and distract.

When do you actually defend his words? Do actually support those words or can you admit they're wrong?

They can’t justify what he says, the company line is to deflect and distract so as not to compound/bring light to how far out on the limb he actually is. It’s a grade school mentality of dealing with things.

[DaysOff 7947]

LOL.  Don’t care.  

Neither does god.

Because he isn't real.

Keep on being shitty. It doesn't matter. Because nothing matters.

[Dnaguy 11916]

Blue has wiggle in the open field. I wish he wouldn’t fumble though. 
 

 

Whoops.

Sorry to football the CR

Edited November 9 by Dnaguy

[Incredulity 11649]

6 minutes ago, Brew said:

I don’t think you really want to go through all of the stupid shit he has said one by one. It will not work out well for you. There are instances where it is spun, there are a lot more instances where he actually said the dumb shit that has been quoted just as it was said.

I didn’t ask you to go one by one.

surrender on the “nazis are fine people” bullshit noted

[gmr548 16576]

2 minutes ago, achooloco said:

You know, I was looking at the odds for this week vs next and while my initial bias is very much aligned with yours, florida was ranked only one spot below arkansas. Now does the rivalry mojo come into play since the swc died almost 30 years ago? dunno. And yes I remember that last night game at fayettham. They might give us a better game but it really shouldn't be. They are closer to being as bad as florida than we are a rivalry to them. (sorry to football the CR)

Road games are hard, yes the rivalry is a factor (although both of those are somewhat mitigated at 11am), Arkansas isn't on their QB3 (whatever the spread analytics did to quantify this I promise you it wasn't enough), and Texas isn'tcoing off a bye while Arkansas is.

If Texas is up 42-0 on Arkansas they've made actual progress.

[quigley 1557]

1 minute ago, Brew said:

You can’t cherry pick one portion of the quote from the entire message. You lose context. Saying that she should be in front of a firing squad is different than what he actually said. Right off the bat, you don’t get a gun if you’re in front of the firing squad. The the part of what he said is below.

 

Liz Cheney is “a deranged person,” the GOP nominee said, “but the reason she couldn’t stand me is that she always wanted to go to war with people. I don’t want to go to war. She wanted to go – she wanted to stay in Iraq. I took them out. I mean, if [it] were up to her, we’d, we’d be in 50 different countries. She’s a radical war hawk.”

He then said, “Let’s put her with a rifle, standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. Okay? Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face. You know they’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, ‘Oh, gee, well, let’s send, let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.”

Cool. You didn't answer the question.

When do you, in your personal life, tell people to have guns trained on people? If my child did that, they would be corrected. Adults don't use those words.

I understand your point about Trumps words being mischaracterized. But his speaks is ripe for mischaracterization because it's so meandering and disjointed.

Trump is evoking violence against a political rival. Why Cheney should be subjected to violence is besides the point. "Nine barrels," to me, means firing squad. Maybe I watched too many Hogans Heroes or something.

[Brew 3049]

5 minutes ago, quigley said:

Cool. You didn't answer the question.

When do you, in your personal life, tell people to have guns trained on people? If my child did that, they would be corrected. Adults don't use those words.

I understand your point about Trumps words being mischaracterized. But his speaks is ripe for mischaracterization because it's so meandering and disjointed.

Trump is evoking violence against a political rival. Why Cheney should be subjected to violence is besides the point. "Nine barrels," to me, means firing squad. Maybe I watched too many Hogans Heroes or something.

I can easily agree that his quote is a problem and it’s not a line of thought that normal people would take, but stretching it to “he wants her in front of a firing squad” based strictly on what he said is a bridge too far. There are plenty of people that would agree that politicians often take individual lives for granted in other countries wars while they sit behind their desks which is really the point he was making. Hell, it was a premise of the Democratic Party for some time.

[quigley 1557]

5 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

I didn’t ask you to go one by one.

surrender on the “nazis are fine people” bullshit noted

So this is another elementary rhetorical technique called the Strawman Argument. Trump didn't say Nazis are fine people. I assume you know that. He said "you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides."

Trump's words that day were SO BAD that this is one of the few times he's actually given something like an apology. If you want to die on this hill, bless your heart.

https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116973/documents/HHRG-118-ED00-20240417-SD006.pdf

[Serak The Preparer 3431]

3 minutes ago, quigley said:

So this is another elementary rhetorical technique called the Strawman Argument. Trump didn't say Nazis are fine people. I assume you know that. He said "you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides."

Trump's words that day were SO BAD that this is one of the few times he's actually given something like an apology. If you want to die on this hill, bless your heart.

https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116973/documents/HHRG-118-ED00-20240417-SD006.pdf

Also the group that he was referring to was just a group of nazis. There was no other side there. Trump's biggest superpower is he can spew random words and his supporters will just decide what he means. @Incredulityis totally lapping up the false narrative that Trump didn't call some nazis very fine people. If I rob a bank then later say I didn't rob a bank, it doesn't mean I'm not going to trial for robbery.

[Brew 3049]

17 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

I didn’t ask you to go one by one.

surrender on the “nazis are fine people” bullshit noted

I’m actually trying really hard here to find your point, but I can’t. You clearly aren’t reading along or wanting to discuss the difference between actual things that are  said by the individual and can be quoted versus those that are people saying this is what he will do or thinks. We’re back to distract and deflect rather than actually discussing the level of misinformation Trump himself has injected into the narrative.

[Biff Tannen 45663]

42 minutes ago, achooloco said:

 

both his parents are elephants, his home address had a trump sign in front, and there is data out there that suggests you are  the political affiliation that your parents adhere to. So yeah... stay wrong. 

I could selectively quote a bbc article and be disingenuous, like dipshit @Incredulity always is, but I won’t. There is SOME doubt as to his political affiliation, only due to him apparently donating $15 to ActBlue at some point, but all other signs point to the Right. 
 

Quote

Max Smith, who took an American history course with Crooks, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that his former classmate "definitely was conservative".

Mr Smith recalled a mock debate in which they both took part, saying: "The majority of the class were on the liberal side, but Tom, no matter what, always stood his ground on the conservative side.

Quote

State voter records show that he was a registered Republican. He also donated $15 to liberal campaign group ActBlue in 2021, according to an election donation filing and news reports.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gw58wv4e9o.amp

Edited November 9 by Biff Tannen
Link because we don’t bullshit like the Rs

[Biff Tannen 45663]

26 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

I didn’t ask you to go one by one.

surrender on the “nazis are fine people” bullshit noted

I fully surrender on the Liz Cheney thing because it’s clearly not what he meant. The Nazis comment, however, is clear as day. 

[quigley 1557]

21 minutes ago, Brew said:

I can easily agree that his quote is a problem and it’s not a line of thought that normal people would take, but stretching it to “he wants her in front of a firing squad” based strictly on what he said is a bridge too far. There are plenty of people that would agree that politicians often take individual lives for granted in other countries wars while they sit behind their desks which is really the point he was making. Hell, it was a premise of the Democratic Party for some time.

@Biff Tannen  - I don't surrender on the Cheney comment. @Incredulity is wrong. Watch the clip on Fox below.

Trump clearly creates a scene with violence towards a rival.

So 3 points:

1. Why is it that "the quote is a problem and not a line of thought for normal people"? Shouldn't we expect more from people who have a platform and the power to actually implement a firing squad?

2. Trump is a performer unlike most politicians. His words are spoken, not written so their effect and context changes because of speaking style. If you haven't seen the clip, it's worth looking at for context (below, starts at about 40 seconds).

There's a pause between "Let’s put her with a rifle, standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. Okay? Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face."                                      Then comes "You know they’re all war hawks..."

The performance is worse than the words on the page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvPIQSom0UI

3. Now that he's in power. I'm going to stop listening to Trump's words. This is because now he has the power to do things. When he was out of power words were his weapons. Now he has like real weapons. That's what I'm going to be focused on.

Edited November 9 by quigley

[achooloco 1067]

14 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I could selectively quote a bbc article and be disingenuous, like dipshit @Incredulity always is, but I won’t. There is SOME doubt as to his political affiliation, only due to him apparently donating $15 to ActBlue at some point, but all other signs point to the Right. 
 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gw58wv4e9o.amp

And thats fair. And yet the "truth" that the shooter was a result of dem outrage and dotard vile constant insults is ... abhorrent and egregiously wrong (look those up magats following along). Thanks for the additional info. I will honestly keep that in mind when responding to those that currently have the will of the people.

Edited November 9 by achooloco
spelling is hard. Go horns!

[Hank Kingsley 20903]

2 hours ago, quigley said:

"She's a radical war hawk," Trump said of Cheney. "Let's put her with a rifle standing there, with nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let's see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-suggests-liz-cheney-should-face-firing-squad-her-foreign-policy-stance-2024-11-01/

JFC, I can't believe this shit still has legs. The bolded makes it very clear he's talking about her going to fight in a war. 

I understand it's hard to watch the right get away with fucking everything, but keep your sanity. 

 

[ChiTownDoc 21140]

2 hours ago, Horn Dog said:

 

 

Rogan is not the hero we need, but he’s sure af the one we deserve. 

[ChiTownDoc 21140]

1 hour ago, Serak The Preparer said:

If I rob a bank then later say I didn't rob a bank, it doesn't mean I'm not going to trial for robbery.

But you may still be a fine person. 🤤

[hayden_horn 11362]

5 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

JFC, I can't believe this shit still has legs. The bolded makes it very clear he's talking about her going to fight in a war. 

I understand it's hard to watch the right get away with fucking everything, but keep your sanity. 

 

it's driven me crazy from the jump

He says and does so many evil things, and this is the one you focus on? 

fuck his campaign must have been ecstatic

[Hank Kingsley 20903]

Nothing Trump says hurts him. It's been proven over and over and over. But people twist in knots over every goddamn thing. 

Move on from dissecting the rhetoric. It doesn't work. Focus on the tangible results or lack thereof. 

[Anastasis 23458]

10 hours ago, quigley said:

The goal is to help the families who need the most help. The families who need the most help are the poorest, and thus frequently don't pay taxes. If you have an adult with disability, you likely making less money to begin with. Plus, stress of care is hard to measure and drains earning capacity.

Why not give direct payment for care provided?  This is already done by some states and works really well. Harris's plan would've given payment.

I don't think Trump's plan, if his administration acts on it, will help the people who need it the most.

We probably have very different ways of articulating the goals. I’d be happy to dig into the public policy particulars, but it’s probably best for a separate thread or for the promises thread at this point. 

[bad_teammate 13185]

6 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Nothing Trump says hurts him. It's been proven over and over and over. But people twist in knots over every goddamn thing. 

Move on from dissecting the rhetoric. It doesn't work. Focus on the tangible results or lack thereof. 

This, also, does not matter and will not hurt him.

Edited November 9 by bad_teammate

[David Dennison 18844]

6 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

This, also, does not matter and will not hurt him.

It might not with the MAGA base. It might with the voters who swung the election.

[Hank Kingsley 20903]

1 minute ago, bad_teammate said:

This, also, does not matter and will not hurt him.

Maybe. 

But my point is you have to keep is simple and be disciplined when dealing with Trumpism. Says something evil or stupid? Just call him a dumb motherfucker every time. Don't equate his supporters with him. It's all bait. 

If we ever can convince people that he is a shitty President, it will be through focusing on actual failures while keeping half of American voters' names out of it. 

 

[David Dennison 18844]

1 minute ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Maybe. 

But my point is you have to keep is simple and be disciplined when dealing with Trumpism. Says something evil or stupid? Just call him a dumb motherfucker every time. Don't equate his supporters with him. It's all bait. 

If we ever can convince people that he is a shitty President, it will be through focusing on actual failures while keeping half of American voters' names out of it. 

People already know he's a shitty president. It's a big reason why he lost in 2020.

[Anastasis 23458]

24 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

it's driven me crazy from the jump

He says and does so many evil things, and this is the one you focus on? 

fuck his campaign must have been ecstatic

I still find it hilarious that the Kamala campaign thought that engaging Liz and dick fn Cheney was the play. Sometimes the enemy of your enemy is not a friend and they are just an empty soul neocon. problem for them is that it is very hard to tell the establishment dems and the neocons apart these days. Enjoy Trump you neocon clowns. Fucking Cheneys, brilliant. 
 

 

Edited November 9 by Anastasis

[David Dennison 18844]

2 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

I still find it hilarious that the Kamala campaign thought that engaging Liz and dick fn Cheney was the play. Sometimes the enemy of your enemy is not a friend and they are just an empty soul neocon. problem for them is that it is very hard to tell the establishment dems and the neocons apart these days. Enjoy Trump you neocon clowns. Fucking Cheneys, brilliant. 

The magnitude of stupidity in that decision cannot be overstated.

[Xminus6 790]

6 hours ago, Incredulity said:

come on,  there is a very high likelihood “AntifaPuddin’Pop” runs an extremely successful general contracting business.

Being her own boss leaves a lot of time for arson, rioting and general mayhem.

She didn’t say she was a GC. She said she partners with GCs. So she might run an interior design business or work for a lumber yard. You know, the kind of people who would have to hike prices due to possible tariffs.

Edited November 9 by Xminus6

[Anastasis 23458]

1 minute ago, Xminus6 said:

She didn’t say she was a GC. She said she partners with GCs. So she might run an interior design business or work for a lumber yard. You know, the kind of people who would have to hike prices due to possible tariffs.

Antifapuddinpop. lol. 

[Xminus6 790]

3 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Antifapuddinpop. lol. 

I don’t really GAF about that poster. But there are plenty of women out there running businesses that partner with GCs regardless of their Xitter username.

[Anastasis 23458]

1 minute ago, Xminus6 said:

I don’t really GAF about that poster. But there are plenty of women out there running businesses that partner with GCs regardless of their Xitter username.

There’s lots of people out there on social media that can say and parrot lots of things. Doesn’t mean that we have to repeat all of them here. 

[Slacks 6819]

8 hours ago, ChiTownDoc said:

They’re also not totally wrong.  If somehow Trump actually knew they supported him, they would be safe.  Of course that’s the rub…

He knows. Billions of dollars are telling him how to maneuver.

[bad_teammate 13185]

20 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

People already know he's a shitty president. It's a big reason why he lost in 2020.

Right.

What we can do is make ourselves attractive to voters on our own terms and not simply by building up how bad Trump is. First of all because it doesn't work, and second of all because Trump is now a lame duck and won't even be running in 2028.

18 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

I still find it hilarious that the Kamala campaign thought that engaging Liz and dick fn Cheney was the play.

I'm stunned. I didn't know until yesterday this was a thing they did. All the neocon shit aside... why? What was the point? Is there a contingent of voters out there who care about Liz Cheney? WHO EVEN KNOWS WHO LIZ CHENEY IS!?!?

No Joe Rogan, though. Nope. Not tens of millions of persuadable dudebros who fucking looooved Bernard and would pat themselves on the back for listening to a whole 3 hours of Kamala awkwardly laughing or whatever it is she did on the trail.

 

[Sawbonz 27534]

19 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

There’s lots of people out there on social media that can say and parrot lots of things. Doesn’t mean that we have to repeat all of them here. 

Are you positing that COG are not going to increase bigly if Trump enacts tariffs? And if so what precedent are you citing to support that assertion?

 

[Hank Kingsley 20903]

4 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

No Joe Rogan, though. Nope. Not tens of millions of persuadable dudebros who fucking looooved Bernard and would pat themselves on the back for listening to a whole 3 hours of Kamala awkwardly laughing or whatever it is she did on the trail.

These guys were not persuadable in this election IMO. Maybe they will be in the future. 

I don't think going on Rogan would have changed anything for Kamala on Election Day. Dems went with old school campaigning and it was too late to make a difference.  BUT I do agree future candidates 100% need to do these long form podcast interviews moving forward.