Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo — Page 668

DominicCobb said:

All my life my dad’s told me he’s half French (therefore I a quarter). A few months ago he took a DNA test. Turns out he’s not French at all.

Look at the bright side. You might be 1/4 conehead.

Puggo - Jar Jar’s Yoda said:

My grandmother for years said we were like 1/32 native american… something about her having a grandmother named “Hawk” or some such. Well, my sister just took a test and it turns out we have absolutely zero native american DNA. Apparently this is a common story.

Doesn’t mean you don’t have a Native ancestor that far back but at that point the amount inherited can be negligible/undetectable. And that grandmother’s grandmother might have only been half, making less likely to find. It’s even possible to have no DNA from an ancestor (which seems paradoxical). There is a lot of pride taken in the possibility of a Native ancestor.

Dom, I don’t think there is a DNA test that will reliably indicate a person to be French. The testing simply isn’t attuned to that. Some say it’s because France forbids collection of DNA info. Another explanation is that the DNA patterns essentially predate France. There is a lot of imprecision, especially when it comes to continental Europe.

DominicCobb said:

Mrebo said:

Puggo - Jar Jar’s Yoda said:

My grandmother for years said we were like 1/32 native american… something about her having a grandmother named “Hawk” or some such. Well, my sister just took a test and it turns out we have absolutely zero native american DNA. Apparently this is a common story.

Doesn’t mean you don’t have a Native ancestor that far back but at that point the amount inherited can be negligible/undetectable. And that grandmother’s grandmother might have only been half, making less likely to find. It’s even possible to have no DNA from an ancestor (which seems paradoxical). There is a lot of pride taken in the possibility of a Native ancestor.

So you’re saying even if Warren took the test and had no Native DNA, she still might have a Native ancestor? If that’s the case, why would she risk seeming wrong even if she isn’t?

And that’s one of the better scenarios. When you game this out, the opposition can have a line of attack prepped that works regardless of the test’s outcome. One such attack could be “DelayGate” – why did she hold off on getting a blood test for so long? Could she have detectable Syphilis antibodies from a previous infection? Is that why she did one of those “ancestry-only” tests instead of a full medical bloodwork analysis? Instead of “Pocahontas” she’s now called “Syphilitic Liz” and so on. Now just like Obama’s birth certificate, the media can go on about how Syphilis doesn’t make you crazy if you catch it early enough, and that Warren’s policy positions are unlikely affected by her medical history.

Mrebo said:

Dom, I don’t think there is a DNA test that will reliably indicate a person to be French. The testing simply isn’t attuned to that.

Well, if the test shows no European ancestry at all, you can safely check France off the list.

DominicCobb said:

Mrebo said:

Puggo - Jar Jar’s Yoda said:

My grandmother for years said we were like 1/32 native american… something about her having a grandmother named “Hawk” or some such. Well, my sister just took a test and it turns out we have absolutely zero native american DNA. Apparently this is a common story.

Doesn’t mean you don’t have a Native ancestor that far back but at that point the amount inherited can be negligible/undetectable. And that grandmother’s grandmother might have only been half, making less likely to find. It’s even possible to have no DNA from an ancestor (which seems paradoxical). There is a lot of pride taken in the possibility of a Native ancestor.

So you’re saying even if Warren took the test and had no Native DNA, she still might have a Native ancestor? If that’s the case, why would she risk seeming wrong even if she isn’t?

Exactly right. And what dahmage said. Might behoove her to give an apology for at least overselling/exploiting her possible heritage. She did embarrassing things in that regard. She doesn’t want this to persist as a symbol of an overall character of dishonesty. Some people will never let go of it but whatchya gonna do.

CatBus said:

DominicCobb said:

Mrebo said:

Puggo - Jar Jar’s Yoda said:

My grandmother for years said we were like 1/32 native american… something about her having a grandmother named “Hawk” or some such. Well, my sister just took a test and it turns out we have absolutely zero native american DNA. Apparently this is a common story.

Doesn’t mean you don’t have a Native ancestor that far back but at that point the amount inherited can be negligible/undetectable. And that grandmother’s grandmother might have only been half, making less likely to find. It’s even possible to have no DNA from an ancestor (which seems paradoxical). There is a lot of pride taken in the possibility of a Native ancestor.

So you’re saying even if Warren took the test and had no Native DNA, she still might have a Native ancestor? If that’s the case, why would she risk seeming wrong even if she isn’t?

And that’s one of the better scenarios. When you game this out, the opposition can have a line of attack prepped that works regardless of the test’s outcome. One such attack could be “DelayGate” – why did she hold off on getting a blood test for so long? Could she have detectable Syphilis antibodies from a previous infection? Is that why she did one of those “ancestry-only” tests instead of a full medical bloodwork analysis? Instead of “Pocahontas” she’s now called “Syphilitic Liz” and so on. Now just like Obama’s birth certificate, the media can go on about how Syphilis doesn’t make you crazy if you catch it early enough, and that Warren’s policy positions are unlikely affected by her medical history.

I like how I’m giving campaign advice for Warren and you’re giving advice for the other side 🤣

DominicCobb said:

Mrebo said:

Dom, I don’t think there is a DNA test that will reliably indicate a person to be French. The testing simply isn’t attuned to that. Some say it’s because France forbids collection of DNA info. Another explanation is that the DNA patterns essentially predate France. There is a lot of imprecision, especially when it comes to continental Europe.

Thanks for the support. But I must say it wasn’t like 50% of my dad’s DNA wasn’t accounted for, it just turns out he’s actually half British. So yes, forget continental Europe.

You’re right of course he may not actually be. I can trace my Frenchy ancestors back hundreds of years with a couple U.K. people way back, but I’m 20% between U.K. and Ireland. Lots of mixing around.

DominicCobb said:

Mrebo said:

DominicCobb said:

Mrebo said:

Puggo - Jar Jar’s Yoda said:

My grandmother for years said we were like 1/32 native american… something about her having a grandmother named “Hawk” or some such. Well, my sister just took a test and it turns out we have absolutely zero native american DNA. Apparently this is a common story.

Doesn’t mean you don’t have a Native ancestor that far back but at that point the amount inherited can be negligible/undetectable. And that grandmother’s grandmother might have only been half, making less likely to find. It’s even possible to have no DNA from an ancestor (which seems paradoxical). There is a lot of pride taken in the possibility of a Native ancestor.

So you’re saying even if Warren took the test and had no Native DNA, she still might have a Native ancestor? If that’s the case, why would she risk seeming wrong even if she isn’t?

Exactly right. And what dahmage said. Might behoove her to give an apology for at least overselling/exploiting her possible heritage. She did embarrassing things in that regard. She doesn’t want this to persist as a symbol of an overall character of dishonesty. Some people will never let go of it but whatchya gonna do.

It just seems like a weird situation. She put down that she was part Cherokee decades ago. It was only brought up again recently because of her political opponents. When it was, she explained how her parents always told her she was part Native. So what is she supposed to do now? What is she supposed to apologize for? Wouldn’t saying sorry imply that she lied? Even if she did lie, it’d be silly to admit as much. This is a situation where it’s very easy to believe that her parents told her this.

As Catbus noted, there’s basically no way to escape a 'ghazi like this.

I basically agree. Obama had the skill and/or media assistance to escape all kinds of traps. Warren doesn’t have the same magic. I think she tried to do so in her recent speech but she obviously fell way short. The real problem is that this could remain a symbol of her overall character and be used against her when she calls out others. She could apologize for the cookbook incident and for overstating her heritage.

Hope it’s clear this isn’t a big deal for me. I just think there’s something she could do to improve, however slightly, her image.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/12/us/texas-austin-blasts/index.html

Hope anyone in Austin is staying safe. Sick people in this world.

Warbler said:

Well the left leaning bias is on full display here. I have no doubt if a major Republican politician claimed to be part Native American and didn’t look anything like a Native American, people in here would be saying take a DNA test or fess up.

I don’t know if people in here would be saying that but I’m pretty sure there would be plenty of mocking.

On the topic of bias and arguments, this article on “progressive hostility” looks compelling. I’ve only read a little of it but I’ve heard similar complaints from people I know.