This week the President said he has f-15's for domestic opponents and was flanked by the military while he gave a speech that usually proceed a purge of society by one faction over another. There is a sense of denial in many that this actually happening but just look around and think about what has been normalized. The establishment of widespread censorship regimes between the Fed and their corporate allies would normally have led to outrage and anger, now its a shrug of the shoulders moment. Well here is a thought for this Friday: The FBI or other law enforcement agencies are likely monitoring this sub stack and the comments here and taking notes accordingly. Substack and the infrastructure that supports it is most assuredly being looked at in case it needs to be curtailed and last but not least all of us who pay for any sub stack would likely have our private information subpoenaed without any knowledge of it occuring. That is the modern reality and when the crack down occurs here where will be the next outlet to discuss and speak? Will there be one?
All that was missing was a mustache and an outstretched arm. His supporters have taken off their jackets and exposed their brown shirts.
The definition of fascism includes a mutually beneficial relationship between big government and big business to the disadvantage of the little guy. This is exactly what the democrats have done. And there also needs to be a Dept of Propaganda. Check.
The root of the word fascism is an Italian word meaning ‘to bind together.’ The binding together of government, the media, corporations, universities and other institutions of society. That describes the Democratic Party and US institutions perfectly.
When I first saw a still image of the speech (I didn't watch it; don't have TV, just streaming), I thought someone had been monkeying around with photoshop. But no, it was actually real. Talk about "saying the quiet part out loud"!
I've seen a suggestion that the optics were meant to *appeal* to Republicans, since the Leftists making these decisions just *know* that Republicans are all Nazis at hearts.
I would rather believe that Leftists really ARE that stupid than that the Left has decided to openly embrace their fascism. I'm not at all confident of that, but it's a less horrifying alternative.
I’m still surprised anyone watched that dumpster fire.
My thanks for wasting valuable time on behalf of those of us who decided listening to Biden mumble and stumble and mutter just wasn’t worth the rise in blood pressure.
Wasn’t worth the rise in Blood pressure. But I got a sense we all fed up with Biden,Democrats,Big Tech Corporations etc, think Americans just want to go home. They want peace, stability, education, health care and decent place place to live. We have anything but, so yes I believe in making America great. Don’t think Biden wants that if he did he wouldn’t be so worried about President Trump whose philosophy has always been to MAGA!
Biden’s continuing hateful and divisive rants are straight out of the playbook authoritarians like Hitler, Stalin and Xi Jinping have used to cement absolute control over their populace - separate, marginalize, intimidate, incarcerate and eventually exterminate opponents. Labeling Donald Trump and Republicans who support him semi-fascists and declaring they “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our Republic” is only the start. While he hasn’t yet publicly referred to them as “rats” as Goebbels did to the Jews, it may be just a matter of time before he and his leftist allies in government and the media go full Nazi. His authoritarian bona fides are already well established. His politicized JustUs Department labeled moms and dads who dared protest the indoctrination of their children as domestic terrorists while refusing to prosecute mobs trying to intimidate Supreme Court Justices, even after an assassination attempt. He coerced Big Tech into silencing any speech he and minions like Fauci didn’t like so he could extend the Covid reign of terror and use mandates to crush the dreams of small business, school children and anyone refusing to be vaccinated. He embraced FBI leaders who collaborated with Facebook and other internet platforms into burying details of depravity and corruption contained in his son’s laptop to help swing the 2020 election and happily deployed them to stage an unprecedented raid on a former president and likely presidential opponent’s private residence.
Biden and his minions are everything they accuse Trump of being. The only question is will enough people vote to defeat them before it’s too late.
Amazing how Dems, liberals, leftists (whatever the name it all means the same at this point) cannot comprehend what is happening right before their very eyes. And since they can’t, or won’t acknowledge this, it means they’re in favor of what’s happening.
Yep. It sure is the comeback when you had nothing to say about Trump attacking individuals, ethnic groups, disabled people, other GOP, calling for companies to be boycotted and for people to be thrown in jail.
So, for you to get your panties in twist over "semi-fascist" shows what a disingenuous hypocritical fraud you are.....was that a direct enough answer for you?
You cannot justify bad behavior by saying but 'he did it too'. As my mother used to say, 'If <someone> jumped off a cliff would you do it too because they thought it was a good idea?'.
NOTHING justifys that pile of horse poo that Biden pumped out via his speech last night. If he'd had a military cap on he'd have pulled off a perfect Mussolini imitation with his backdrop and lighting and words he spoke against 'people who don't agree with him'
I've tried to debate leftists for years. You can't. What comprof did is what all left wing fanatics do and that is to divert by changing the subject and if that doesn't work, they will call you names.
The left is an intellectual vacuum. To be fair, right wing fanatics are just as bad.
A fanatic is a fanatic. You can't reason with them. History and facts mean nothing to them.
You cannot debate them. They get all fired up and angry and start yelling at you. Keep up the good work and poke them with a sharp stick. That alone is worth it. I like to visualize them getting purple in the face with rage and yelling cogent arguments like "You! You! You! Big stupid you!"
MAGA is a threat to our democracy? Beside those idiots on Jan 6, how many cities did the MAGA group burn down? I believe the real threat to our democracy is ANTIFA, BLM and the Democrat Party and their minions, mayors and governors, for supporting ANTIA and BLM and allowing them to burn down our cities.
When will the ever senile, Joe speak out against BLM and ANTIFA and call them what they really are, a bunch of Communists who actively want to destroy our democracy.
"Black Lives Matter was founded by community organizers. One of the three co-founders said in 2015 that she and another co-founder “are trained Marxists.”
ANTIFA - Are initials of "Antifaschistische Aktion was established by the Communist Party of Germany" in 1932. They were the street thugs of the Germany Communist Party and now they are the street thugs in the US.
How come the ever senile Joe and his Democrat/Socialist Party are not addressing BLM or ANTIFA? How come the obsequious press is not questioning the ever senile Joe and his party for not addressing them?
How long can we continue to post here before the ever senile joe and his henchmen call us terrorist and come and carry us away?
Jan 6 was nothing, a few people wandering the halls taking selfies, a few cops got shoved by yelling protesters. A protester shot dead by a cop for no reason. Another one pushed off a roof by a cop. The Democrats vastly exaggerated the importance and violence of the event for their own benefit. They knew that there were questions surrounding the 2020 elections, what with massive numbers of mailed ballots, unattended drop boxes, state election boards changing the rules at the last minute to alter the results, and so forth. They had to distract. It's unfortunate that Trump pulled that rookie move and held a rally in D.C. Half a million people came. It was inspiring. But it didn't change the election.
According to Joe, they have F15s with which to quell any rebellion, yet on 1/6, a disorganized throng of unarmed protesters nearly overthrew the republic.
A good example right now is Michigan. 750,000+ people signed a petition to put abortion rights on the ballot and to make the right to abortion part of the Michigan constitution. All this does is put it on the ballot for people to vote "yes" or "no"--it's not making the law. The Michigan Election Commission has decided they won't allow it on the ballot because they don't like the "word spacing on the petition." The rules say NOTHING about word spacing. This is an example of what they claim makes the petition "invalid."
Add to that the fact that, other than GWB's second term, Republicans have not won the majority vote in more than 40 years. It's only through partisan gerrymandering that they continue to hold as many positions as they do.
Another example, Virginia. Once a Democratic governor was elected, the legislature immediately votes to restrict the power of the governor.
All of these things are much more of a threat to democracy than a bunch of idiots storming the capitol or the downtown of a city, or even a Biden or Trump making a speech.
The MAGA crowd is trying to force their religious views on the entire country. For example, in Texas, every school must have a plaque that says "In God We Trust" but it can't be in Hebrew (or, god forbid, Arabic). And don't even get me started on the theft of Obama's Supreme Court seat.
State by state, district by district, Republicans are in the majority.
It’s only the big, dysfunctional cities that are strongly skewed to Democrat. These cities are, increasingly, warehouses for the poor and underachievers and criminals who depend on or prey on the public and contribute nothing of value.
Scott so far, my takeaway from your post is Rep evil, Dems good.
Well here's a little history for you. partisan gerrymandering is practiced by both parties but it seems to me from your post it is bad, no not bad, evil, only when the Reps do it. Apparently when Dems do it you ignore it.
This sort of crap started in the 18th century. Do I like this shit, no but it is a political fact of life and it began almost as soon as our country was born.
You saying that the crap that has been going on for over 200 years is a threat to our democracy. Do I think it is wrong, yes. Is it a threat to our democracy? No. Our democracy has been tolerating this stuff for over 200 years and it is still around.
The people who do this crap are politicians. Enough said.
Now a real threat to our democracy is PC, Woke, BLM and ANTIFA. (Democrats love them.) How come you and your Dem pals aren't upset about them. Here is another threat. Democrats calling school board protesters terrorist. These people are exercising their right under the 1st Amendment to peaceful protest.
The 1st Amendment is under attack from the PC, Work and now the US government. Apparently if you disagree with Dem you are now not only a racist but also a terrorist.
BTW these parents are protesting the teaching of CRT and gender identity. CRT is hard core racist brown smelly stuff. In CRT I am by virtue of my race, white, evil. That is pure racism. CRT is being vigorously defended by the Dems and here all of these years I thought you guys were against racism. Boy was I wrong.
CRT being taught in schools is just a made up talking point. None of the school age kids I know are being taught anything like this. Should they be taught about slavery? Of course--it was a large part of our history. Redlining in the 60s and 70s? Maybe at high school level in Social Studies.
How is the 1st Amendment under attack? Your very ability to post here shows otherwise.
I agree with you that both parties gerrymander.
No one is talking about school board meetings where parents speak their mind. They're talking about board members whose lives and families are physically threatened to the point they have to resign. The 1st Amendment doesn't allow you to threaten someone's life even if you do it online.
ANTIFA is a small fringe group like the Proud Boys and others. They don't represent the majority of left-leaning people anymore than the people who stormed the capitol represent right-leaning people.
The media likes to play up "red" and "blue" but when you look at most states, it's 60-40 one way or the other, meaning most people are somewhat in the middle. I'm fairly liberal in many areas but am conservative in others. I'll absolutely vote for a moderate Republican or moderate Dem but won't vote for a right-winger or hard-core left winger, which is, sadly, what our choices are becoming thanks to the primary system.
What I like about the Republican Party is fiscal restraint (well, at least on the local level--that's no longer true at the national level) and law and order (again, more local level than national). What I like about the Dems is equality and live-and-let-live vs. forcing religion on everyone ("my religion teaches life begins at conception therefore you will do what I say regardless of what your religion says").
Saying "Critical Race Theory is not being taught in K-12 schools," may be true on the narrow meaning of what is said. The problem is that K-12 curricula are being redesigned on the basis of CRT in ways which harm the social fabric of the country by reinforcing the racial divide it supposedly seeks to address and vilifying generally admirable historical figures for not having lived according to a tendentious conception of virtue that has only just been devised by a faction of what passes for the Left these days. The theory itself is not being taught -- better if it were, then it could be debated -- it's conclusions are being smuggled into lesson plans as if they were established facts, rather than the political judgements of a particular faction of our polity.
Methinks you need to broaden your exposure to other perspectives and get out of your NYTimes/WaPo/CNN/NPR bubble of denialism.
Antifa is not a tiny fringe group and they are NOTHING like the Proud Boys who are just a nonviolent group of mostly military veterans. Antifa are violent and dangerous and are seeking to topple capitalism and what they perceive as a corrupt system. Read Andy Ngo's "Unmasked" for starters, to get a highly accurate, first-hand report on these people, all his facts thoroughly backed up with reputable sources.
Regarding the ambivalent stance on wishing for more moderate Dems & Repubs... good luck with that. It turns out that ambivalence means electing do-nothings who go along to get along. The Democrats are anything but moderate; all 50 Senators voted in lockstep for Biden's deranged and extreme agenda, all of them voted to impeach Trump twice on baseless charges. Even Manchin caved to the trillion dollar scam they called "Inflation Reduction Act", counter to probably the vast majority of people in his very conservative state.
The Republicans are not united and their ideologies span from centrist/liberal (McCain, Romney, Collins et al) to Tea-Party Conservative (Cruz, et al). The Republicans better represent the American people.
I'm just glad Trump never talked crap about people, called for boycotts, attacked ethnic groups, tried to banned people from U.S, claimed people aren't U.S. citizens, or ever called for anyone to be arrested and jailed. That would be tacky.
These days, it's probably more accurate to call them the "Clickbait Press" since there really is no mainstream anymore, only a cabal of dominant propaganda spewers propped up and protected by the Left.
That said, Fox News has done a great job of clickbaiting all their articles. "This State Is Banning Abortions" and so forth. Breitbart is actually more journalistic, as is NY Post (also slightly clickbaity).
The NY Times is oh-so sophisticated lunatics. Really, finding the news these days is an exercise in reading many, many sources, eyewitness videos on Youtube, informed reader comments, etc.
Well, I stopped watching the TV news so I have to get my news somewhere. I didn't find him to be anti-Trump. It depended on what news outlet he was showing at the time. I stopped reading anything from The Atlantic, too far left. I filtered anything I thought was too partisan, left or right.
I’m of the mind to stand courageously and without fear. I am proud to be MAGA. I desperately want America to be great(in every sense of the word) but you can make a case for running silent. The left is clearly fascist with their powerful central Government entwined with large corporations, their control(mostly) of the media. The left is a threat to our country.
Let’s everyone get over Trump and move on. This loyalty is going to cost the Republicans BIGLEY. So here we are with a president who, really is so damn hapless, giving this kind of speech. And the Democrats are gaining because of this madness. I am so pissed.
So you would rather vote for a GOP swamp creature? Good luck with that.
That Trump is so continually maligned and persecuted by both the Donkeys and the Rhinos is proof he is indeed an existential threat to the Administrative State they have worked so hard to construct over the past century or so. He is the last, best hope we have in maintaining what little of America remains. We won't survive much longer on this path we're on.
The Republicans are definitely M.I.A. The question is: Is political America (either or other) capable of producing sound leadership and direction or is the system in its entirety so compromised by the WEF/CCP juggernaut " only its collapse will offer the people an opportunity for change.
Left, Democrats, Big Tech, Main Stream Media they all a threat never mind to our democracy, they are a threat to just the regular human being. They managed in 21/2 years to render us redundant. They closed our mom and pop stores they have destroyed our communities they have destroyed our children. Where to from here?
How odd...I clearly remember Democrats saying they intended to impeach Trump *months* before he actually became President. I remember Democrats' attempts to get electors to change their votes. And the "Illegitimate President" and "Not my President" choruses went on for *years.*
I didn't even vote for Trump in 2016, but the Democrats' behavior after his election convinced me that they'd all gone stark raving mad. And now that it has turned out that the first impeachment was based on false premises that rival Watergate in their level of corrupt dealings going right up to President Obama, I have zero trust in any Democrat, nor in the government agencies they have infiltrated with their unethical partisans.
Jan6 was a single day of rioting. Indeed, a few *hours* of rioting. It should not have happened. But after four years of outrages committed by Democrats, it's not surprising there were Trump fans who were upset enough to riot.
I was a Dem (moderate) and never voted for Trump (did not hate him, though). After watching how the Dems acted from 2017-2021, now every vote is to stop the left.
Yes. We have to have a coalition together to push back the current crop of the Democrats. We need them, though. Left and Right actually need one another for a functioning republic like ours to remain in balance. Right now, the monstrosity of the Leftist administrative state has GOT to be dismantled piece by piece.
The way to make this happen is to severely punish the Democrats at the polls, but this can’t happen as long as the Republican party is dominated by angry, scary zealots who only understand liberty when it supports their prejudices. I am a Democrat and I vote against leftists to push them away from the levers of power. I am doing my part. If you’re a Republican, do yours.
I did not vote in 2016, because I found both candidates repulsive. I did vote for Trump in 2020. While I still found him the same repulsive human being, I saw what the Democrats were capable of and found him to be the lesser of two evils. He should step back and allow the GOP to spread the wings and put younger people with fresh ideas at the helm. Right now, Republicans are in a total disarray, carry no positive message, and present no realistic clearly articulated program. Democrats are much better organized and united in their fight for power. True, they have media and Big Tech at their disposal, so it is easier. I just wish moderates in both parties could wake up and realize the danger. Yesterday's speech was very disturbing.
The Dems have always been more of a united front, but that smacks of lock step thought. And that lock step thought has moved farther and farther left and, frankly, crazy...cuckoo...nutty and dangerous. If you don't fall in line, you are absolutely maligned.
The problem with the GOP is, for example, McConnell, the age old Republican, who put up with Trump but was glad when he was gone so he could be the president in absentia. So either you were a never Trumper, an R who played the middle while Trump as POTUS but quietly seethed, or you saw the policies as great for America (despite Trump's personal inclinations/tweets. So you have a very divided GOP with a message that either mimics "MAGA" or tries to adopt MAGA without being identified as Trumpians. The "MAGA" agenda worked very, very well for four years.
I was chatting with a guy who did some boring for our fiber optics connections. I have no idea of his politics. He synthesized it this way, "I don't know what happened in the last two years. Everything was great before." THAT is what the GOP should be running on all day every day.
Very well stated, Celia. Benny Thompson, who chairs the Jan. 6 Show Trial, voted in January 2005 not to certify Ohio's vote for GW Bush, requiring the House to caucus before certifying the 2004 election results. In other words, he did exactly what Trump wanted Republicans to do Jan. 6, 2021, which Thompson now denounces as an attack on the Constitution.
Yes they were ready to riot. But who corralled them to the lawn to then break into the Congress? Who removed selective barricades and then herded them from the scaffolding with a megaphone? Who is Ray Epps? If you think the MAGA crowd is outraged now, when they find the answers to those questions I would not want to be an FBI agent.
The events of January 6 could have been stopped immediately had the Democrats wanted them to be shut down.
Instead, Pelosi dared/encouraged the mob to enter the Capitol by refusing to call out for additional security; in-part to allow the events to occur that have created the talking point that continues to this day. The presence of a couple of hundred DC Police, active military, or National Guardsmen in front of the Capitol would have stopped the "angry rioters" in their tracks. The Democrats knew up-front that stopping the crowd wouldn't have the same long term staying power in the media as the "insurrectionists" narrative has achieved.
But I think 1/6 is now coming to an end, the Democrats and the media have flogged it to death. It’s done, the problem going forward now is how to stop President Trump. The tactics to do that are also slipping away. The midterms are upon us. We have had the 1/6 commission, the raid on Mar a largo and now to top everything the most bizarre speech to come out of Brandon’s mouth in nearly 2 years. What next? There are 2 more years to go and President Trump has even started yet, what else can these lunatics think of ......
And don't forget that, before he was even inaugurated, many Dems were claiming he could be denied office because he was mentally unfit. That diagnosis came from a few leftist psychologists who'd watched him on TV. Oh, the agenda was clear from the start, but I don't think many people knew just how crazy Trump made them. It just goes on and on.
I was a never trumper. Yes, I was horrified by Jan6 when it happened. But I was also horrified at the months of protests in cities that caused so much destruction. Yet we were only allowed to state that those were peaceful protests and ignore any violence that broke out. Downtown areas in most cities have been mostly destroyed in the last few years, restaurants and small businesses fleeing shuttering. The ones still open having boarded windows. Jan 6 lasted 1 day not going on 2 years
Portland was a once beautiful city. I'll never visit that hell hole until major change occurs. LA, hell no! Same with Chicago and I used to live in the burbs. I was just in NYC in June and every corner there was ganja wafting thought the air, day and night and riding the subway was frightening. Kenosha WI where my son attends college has never come back and it was a working class city to begin with. It's an eFen disgrace.
It’s almost as if the Left is suffering from amnesia but I am not surprised. Look I still think Trump is an ass much of the time but I did support his policies. I never saw an elected president treated with such ugliness and nonsense as he faced and as you said it started well before he took office.
There is definitely something worrying the mob if they are preparing to hunt down 74 million MAGA supporters. One would think with the pressing issues we have at the moment, that Brandon would be making speeches to all concerned Americans about the state of our country, not trying deliberately to destroy America this is a crazy time we are in.
Let’s be clear here: no “party” tried to overcome an election. The loser, some members of Congress and a few hundred misguided people allowed their passions to overcome their sensibilities. And as we all know now, there was reason to be skeptical of various states’ procedures. Given where we are now, with a known plagiarist feathering his family’s nest from the Oval, driving our education system, our children, our military and our economy into a ditch, one can at least empathize with those passions while rejecting the actions that went with them.
But not really though. While the "riots and rampage" of 2020 were certainty horrible none of them came close to over turning 200 years of peaceful democratic transfer of power. Other people doing wrong is not a green light for you to do wrong.
But people died and were injured. Government buildings were torched. Minneapolis was destroyed. Unless your side acknowledges all that was unacceptable, people must be tried and punished, then no one on my side can take seriously your criticism of Jan6, which at the end of the day produced nothing. Democracy wasn’t threated. This is hyperbole. A woman was murdered by a cop and he was let off. But rioters have been sent to prison for 10 yrs.
If you can’t see the disproportion in all this, you are willfully blind.
why does everything have to be "my" side or "your side". Maybe both the summer 2020 riots and the attempted overturning of the election were both horrible. But call me crazy for being more alarmed that one party fought a peaceful transfer of power that has been going on since 1789.
The January riot did not "come close" to anything. The electors had already voted back in December. Unlike some countries, merely forcing their way into the Capitol building did not give the rioters any power over our government. Those who think that possession of the Capitol translates into "taking over the government" need some remedial civics lessons.
If the Democrat coup (an actual coup where the entire permanent government conspires) to overthrow the 2016 election had been successful, which it almost was, it would have been “peaceful”.
Being triggered by Viking Helmet Guy breaking windows is the realm of the unintelligent.
Also the Capitol “riot” did not come close to overturning 200 years of peaceful democratic transfer of power. Unless you think a guy in a stupid headdress is an actual threat instead of a dumbass.
I agree with you but if you think a 5 ft nothing woman that LARPed her way into getting shot and the Bison Shaman came anywhere close to overturning anything but an omelette we need to have a long conversation.
We have a difference of opinion. I am convinced that there was a tremendous amount of chicanery surrounding “the election”. I think it was perfectly legitimate to protest”peacefully “ a stolen election. Anyone that perpetrated violence on that day should be prosecuted(including state actors). We should all be concerned with election integrity. Every LEGAL vote should be counted.
The problem is you still have the sickness. There is zero evidence of anything being wrong with the election (please dont start linking or spitting out what you think is evidence).
Once the electors were certified, the election was *OVER.*
These convicted people? You got any links? And the number of fraudulent votes that these people were convicted on? How many each?
I'll go so far as to admit that WI looked pretty sketchy, but I haven't really investigated it thoroughly. I took Barr's words as fact ,that as of Jan 6, there was ZERO, zip, zilch, NADA. That's just me.
Again, the votes were certified mid-December. What was all that which went on after that, anyway? What purpose?
If someone asked you to have a "dialogue" about how 9/11 was an inside job would that be a serious conversation? Consider for a second how badly duped you would be right now if you were wrong. Just consider it.
There’s no evidence of 2016 fraud and you lot won’t give up the “resistance” nonsense either. It’s just what true believers do...act irrationally and do stupid stuff in the name of their side. Wear pink hats. Escalate things over and over. Impeach people several times for dumb stuff. Ignore the flaws of their own side. I’d say there is def a sickness.
Oh this is rich. "There is no evidence and don't show me any because I will deny it."
The fact that the Democratic Party works directly with Big Media to control public narratives and censor people is by itself a fundamental overhaul of democracy.
There is no evidence of what is usually called "vote fraud" (people voting twice, stuffing of ballot boxes, and the like) in sufficient quantity to have swung the election. There is however, the fact that a news story which could easily have swung the election to Trump had it been widely disseminated and seen as true -- the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop, showing corrupt dealings in Ukraine and China with 10% to "the big guy" -- was censored by tech giants at the behest of the FBI, who lied and said that it was "Russian disinformation", and the fact that many states conducted their elections in manners which violated the plain meaning of the statutes governing elections passed by their legislatures due to "emergency" decrees from a state court or a secretary of state's office, the provision of the U.S. Constitution that only the legislatures of the several states may specify how electors are to be selected notwithstanding.
When partisan passions cool, historians will put an asterisk on the 2020 result the same way 1876 gets one and some put one on 1960 (cf. Cook County, IL, vote fraud in the conventional sense).
"Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
bury the rag deep in your face, now is the time for your tears."
The point of the exercise, is to leave the victim confused, unmoored from reality, twisting in emotional space, not knowing what to believe. It creates high levels of fear, anxiety and a sense of powerlessness. It destroys the sense of personal agency and reduces the individual to childlike dependency on the perpetrator. Any rational protest by the victim is met with accusation ("..you fascist prick..") threats of abandonment, violence and hysteria. It is the classic tactic of malignant narcissism.
Look past the image and attempt at rationalization. Experience the energy. The body doesn't lie. Know the truth. Heal.
Or maybe it was one party that made that election undemocratic to begin with. Zuck dollars, absentee voting. 2000 Mules, suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop......
Nope but you might have to for bcasey, this person has no clue what went on. I would suggest it reads Rigged but then it’s like farting against thunder it wouldn’t understand the book.
I knew people in grad school who never actually accepted that Gore had lost. And yet Bush Derangement Syndrome, bizarre as it was at the time, was mild compared to TDS.
Wait a minute. Participation is not “trolling” There are a lot of passionate right-wing people in this section, but they don’t own it. Hard as it may be for you to imagine, people can express contrary opinions regularly just because they want to, without being organized to disturb the peace by doing so. Frankly, having a better variety of opinions in this comment section could only improve it. Right now, it’s out of whack.
Pretty familiar with it. But remember the GOP already gave up on 1/6 being a liberal inside job. I believe the current excuse is "just a tourist visit" . Try to keep up with the party line.
The Reichstag Fire was a violent attack on a government building by fringe actors which…….ADOLF HITLER………used to smear his political opponents and justify seizing power. So yeah.
After the stage was set by hanging chads and trying keep recounting Florida until Al Gore won until the SCOTUS pulled the plug on that charade, after which we had the "selected not elected" smear for W's whole presidency, and the whole "Russian collusion" attempt to delegitimize Trump's election, impeachment of specious charges of corrupt dealings with Ukraine (was that a misdirect, knowing Hunter B's involvement with Burisima would eventuall come out?), and Stacie Abrams modeling Trump's "stolen election" narrative at the state level, trying to overturn democratic election seems to be a bipartisan pastime.
My parish priest at the time was Fr. Chad Hatfield. He took the name when he converted from Anglicanism to Holy Orthodoxy in 1994, following St. John Maximovitch's advice that we Orthodox start venerating the saints the West had before the schism and choosing St. Chad because the English saint had had trouble with bishops even as the now Fr. Chad did when he was an Anglican.
Two more amusing facts: St. Chad is the patron saint of elections. And calling the little bits of cardboard punched out of punch cards "chads" is due to a mistake. A man named Chadless invented a keypunch machine that did not produce them (I'm not quite sure how it worked), and people back-constructed the name, by assuming the Chadless key-punch, was the chadless key-punch, so the little bits of cardboard must be called "chads".
That's amazing! Who knew? I'm a cradle Catholic and never heard of St. Chad! I had to look him up. To extend your point, he's the patron saint of "disputed elections". That's so hilarious! Thanks for the share....made my night.
Not quite. It's unfair to judge as "equally bad" those who, after being the victims of an injustice repeatedly over time, decide to try to play by the new rules.
If you really believe that these rioters could have overturned the election, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. If our form of government was on the precipice due to the breach of the Capitol, why after 18 months, and control of the legislative branch, have the Democrats not reformed or repealed the Electoral Count Act of 1887 that has the Vice President certify the votes? Lastly, if MAGA individuals are so dangerous to our country, why have the DCCC and other Democratic PAC's spent over $40 million in advertising to help certain MAGA candidates, so that their candidate will hopefully have an easier general election?
Surely you are referring to how the Democrats have tried to overthrow or overturn every Republican presidential victory in my life, right?
You're referring to the three years of mainstream lies sold as "bombshell revelations on Russia", whose entirely purpose was to undermine the USA government because Democrats weren't in control?
We can actually stuff the ballot dumpsters with 20 million extra ballots and win in 2024 and this person will be fine with it as long as there’s a peaceful ceremony on TV.
You’re dealing with a child. You have to understand the sophistication level of your fellow citizens.
Rigged for silent running, myself. Guerilla warfare rules in force: do not comply, don't let your left hand know what you're right hand is doing. Throw enough sand in the gears, and the Great Reset will grind to a halt.
Right-handed, guilty as charged. During my not-so-great golfing days, I used to line up 45 degrees to the left in order to hit the ball 45 degrees to the right. For me (and those I golfed with) golf was a pleasant stroll on a nice day interrupted by the need to strike the ball occasionally. We always tried to follow proper golfing etiquette so as not to be too much of an impediment to other golfers, including letting others play through from time to time and we played at times when there wasn't very many others on the course. We also used a "free kick" rule, a ball may be kicked away from any tree that impeded a proper golf swing, the logic being that the tree hadn't been there before, but had intentionally and unfairly positioned itself to impede a proper swing. Arguments over what (and what did not) constitute a "gimme" on the green - well, there weren't any. An official "gimmee" was only extended to another when his ball was within 15 nanometers of the cup, as that seemed commensurate with our golfing capabilities.
Probably more than you asked for, but... ain't golfing fun?
When everything else shuts down, you can always sit at your kitchen table and tell jokes about Biden or whoever comes to power next. Sort of like what the Soviet people had done for 70 years.
If you were the "Big Guy" and implicated by your own son, wouldn't you be afraid of what even a half-assed, semi-competent investigation would reveal????
"Paranoia strikes deep--into your life it will creep...starts when your always afraid--step out of line the man comes--and takes you away--stop children what's that sound--everybody look what's going down."
84,000 armed I.R.S./BigTech/surveillance state agents matching your social media posts with your bank account and personal finances will need to interview your employer and neighbors while raiding your wife's panty drawer. Even if you beat the charges you'll go broke in lawyers fee's taking the ride. (Hot stock tip: Krupp Steel/slave labor/ the prison industrial complex.)
The only way to deal with that wannabe Stasi and the clownish dwarf and blow dried buffoon who lead them is to stare them down and dare them to ignite the spark that will free America.
rob, your warmongering, and Bari, Suzy Weiss, and Nellie Bowles should condemn it; in fact, everyone who loves America should condemn this kind of speech; Biden didn’t say: “…he has f-15’s for domestic opponents …” Here’s what he actually said: “…if you think you need to have weapons to take on the government, you need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons, the point is that there has always been the ability to limit-rationally limit the type of weapon that can be owned, and who can own it.” Biden isn’t using threatening speech, but the Trump Maga’s like you, sure as hell are. If anyone wants to purge America, it’s the Magas. Not condemning this kind of rhetoric is giving approval for the destruction of America! Benjamin Franklin’s words were prophetic when he was asked, what kind of government have you given us? His reply: “A democracy, if you can keep it.”
Seriously? The president claims( while flanked by soldiers ) there is a massive domestic threat from his chief political foe and he has the military ability to crush it, and you think I am the warmonger ?
And what frightens Biden the most is that he knows deep down, that despite the treachery of the toadies who surround him, the rank and file in the military would never turn their weapons on their fellow Americans. Biden would find himself like the detested Ceausescu - after ordering his tanks to fire on civilians, their turrets slowly turned on him. And just like Biden, the detested dictator fled - only to be later captured to face justice.
rob, you think Pres. Biden is threatening to use the military and civilians, like Trump did in June 2020. But Donald Trump's ideologue are blind to hypocrisy!
“President Donald Trump on Monday declared himself the “president of law and order” and said he would mobilize every available federal force both “civilian and military” as he vowed to put an immediate end to violent protests that have swept the nation for days.”
rob, Donald Trump’s follower’s behavior on January 6 clearly indicates they could be a threat to our Republic! Biden didn’t say: “…massive domestic threat….” He said: “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.” you’re pissed off because he called you out. You infer that Biden will use the military to crush the MAGAs, but this is what really upset you: (Biden’s words) “We hear — you’ve heard it, more and more talk about violence as an acceptable political tool in this country. It’s not. It can never be an acceptable tool. So, I want to say this plain and simple: There is no place for political violence in America, period, none, ever.” You said: “…the President said he has f-15s for domestic opponents….” And when this happens, we all know that the MAGAs will lay down their arms and surrender! You’re amongst those on social media like Truth Social predicting imminent civil war. You’re trying to stir the blood of your fellow nationalist; you irrationally think it’s time to do what Thomas Jefferson said: The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. You and your ilk, who think they are Minuteman, are the ones, in reality, threatening the Republic.
rob, somewhere in your thought process, you believe your Neo, who took the red pill from Morpheus, but you must be colorblind because it’s apparent you took the blue pill and followed the white rabbit down the hole of paranoia and irrationality. Having a rational conversation with you is an impossibility and an act of futility!
The quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin (in response to the question: “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” was actually “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
“The United States is both a democracy and a republic. Democracies and republics are both forms of government in which supreme power resides in the citizens. The word republic refers specifically to a government in which those citizens elect representatives who govern according to the law. The word democracy can refer to this same kind of representational government, or it can refer instead to what is also called a direct democracy, in which the citizens themselves participate in the act of governing directly.”
So odd that they've, in the last few years, started using the word "Republic" in describing America - which has NEVER been common vernacular...until MAGAs
Why? It's equated with the Roman Empire...which had Ceasars, etc. They yearn for autocratic rule.
Sorry comprof. Wrong again. The Roman Republic preceded the Roman Empire. Caesars (learn to spell somtime too) were after the Republic. You are an uneducated buffoon.
Comprof, Here’s a quote from the Heritage Foundation: “America is a republic and not a pure democracy. The contemporary efforts to weaken our republican customs and institutions in the name of greater equality thus run against the efforts by America’s Founders to defend our country from the potential excesses of democratic majorities.”
America was around 87% white when the Heritage foundation came into existence in 1973. White folk, on a percentage basis, has declined by 26%. This means white people will soon no longer be the majority, merely a plurality. I think the reason the word republic has gained such currency is self-apparent, don’t you?
Yes, I agree. Can you send me the quote where Biden called all Republicans fascists? I told my friend that happened, now he is demanding proof. Can you help me out?
I stand corrected; Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Dr. Benjamin Franklin; what kind of government have you given us? “A republic, if you can keep it,” too. Powel immediately shoots back, “And why not keep it?”, Franklin responds, “Because the people, on tasting the dish, are always disposed to eat more of it than does them good.” The Republic is a representative democracy and, therefore, a democratic form of governance.
It certainly looks to me like the Biden admin is weaponizing the government to take on people who disagree with them.
I still think people are WAY WAY too over the top in their fear and loathing of Trump. You all have made him an all powerful, evil character from a Bond movie when in fact he is just a plain spoken, clever like a fox, asshole. BTW....his policies were always way more popular than he was. He was also right to call out our cheap NATO allies and to tell them they were screwing up by relying on Russia for their energy. Did you miss that Russia cut off Nordstream 1 today? Have you seen whats happening to the Europeans? So, Trump was right and Merkel was a sucker.
1. Trump was right about NATO (note the War in Ukraine)
2. He was right about China (Note Taiwan and all the Chinese espionage in the US)
3. He was right about European dependence on Russia. (See the skyrocketing electric and heating bills driving businesses to close in the UK and on the continent)
4. He was right on the border. We have a massive massive crisis down there with people from over 60 countries coming in and being let go.
5. He was right to resist the national shutdowns during COVID, particularly of schools.
6. Trump did not get us into any other wars, nor did Russia have the nerve to invade Ukraine while he was in office.
7. Trump was right about our being energy independent or have you not noticed the skyrocketing cost of gasoline, natural gas and electricity? ALL of which impacts the cost of everything else. OH...OH...but we can go with renewables. Yeah? Ask the Germans how that is working out for them. Look at CA doing stupid crap like ban gas powered cars while completely failing to take into account the energy grid. Its only 2022 and they are already having to do energy emergency procedures and ask people not to charge their EVs.
All Biden has given us is one disaster after another with the added benefit of a new military conflict. NOT ONE THING is not worse under Biden. NOT A ONE.
Talk about fascism. Fascism is the harnessing of the private sector to empower the government. Think all that censorship directed by the democrats, Biden and the FBI was not right out of the fascist playbook?
He whines about Jan 6th while he was cheering on riots all over the country, including those that attacked federal buildings such as in Portland. That went on for months resulted in innumerable deaths and injuries, but that was OK cuz it was their people. Complete hypocrisy.
And here you are, like a good little fascist, calling for ANOTHER site to censor what you do not want to hear. That is weak and cowardly.
I always find it amusing that certain people think their guns are keeping the American government at bay, as if their AR-15s can prevent a drone strike. Kinda like a little kid who thinks he's actually Superman.
Yes, clearly government firepower is superior to anything civilians can bring to bear. It should be, given the amount we spend on the Pentagon each year.
By the way, please explain again about the “insurrection” that was the greatest danger to “our democracy” since Pearl Harbor? Those crafty insurrectionists must have been hiding their fearsome weapons that almost overthrew our democracy. Ridiculous on its face.
No need to put "insurecction" in quotes. Mentioned nothing about Pearl Harbor, so don't know that is in reference to. That was a foreign country.
Jan 6th attackers were domestics who were armed. Firearms, included (as we have now found out due to court cases and plea bargains)
They invaded the Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the government in support of a dude who was a former game show host. What's her face got shot and killed - and rightly so.
Same for the guy who attacked FBI office, same thing. Excellent. Hope more decide to take up the mantle behind Trump in that manner.
In a different world, the Jan 6th attackers would have gotten a drone strike.
Your comment displays an incredible amount of military ignorance, legal ignorance and historical ignorance.
1. Any "insurgency" that were to arise here would not be a set piece battle between armies. It would look a lot like Iraq or Afghanistan. Our military is not designed, structured or equipped to fight an insurgency and win, few, if any, standing armies are. Hence the reason that any serious counterinsurgency effort has ALWAYS included political settlement as the expected outcome. It would very likely involve cutting off and disrupting the lifelines to the major, liberal cities. The Big Blue cities like NYC or LA or Chicago or Boston are all highly vulnerable to having their water, food and energy cut off. In fact, you could make the case that the entire North East is vulnerable with perhaps the exceptions of Maine and VT. California is incredibly vulnerable to water and power disruptions from outside the state. You may remember the great Northeast Blackout. Look at the major means of transportation of food, water and power to places like NYC. All very very vulnerable. Heck, you could cut off DC by blowing up one or two rail lines and a couple of overpasses. The infrastructure that supports these big blue centers is old, weak, a full of choke points and they have no means of providing those things for themselves. Apart from that, none of this stuff was ever built with the idea that it needed to be hardened against domestic attack. I speak as someone who actually spent years trying to convince our corporations and leaders at utilities and transportation to harden their systems and infrastructure after 9/11. It was deemed to be to expensive and inefficient to REALLY harden that infrastructure. Rural areas are far far less vulnerable. In general, they have more usable resources to produce power locally, produce food locally and have access to wells, rivers and groundwater. They also tend to have populations that are skilled at leveraging and repurposing those resources. In short, any insurgency based in red areas could hold out a lot longer than any major blue center. Why is that important? Its important because just as democracies have a hard time sustaining military action due to public support, you can be sure that blue state voters support for fighting a red insurgency would hit a wall when they are desperate for heat or A/C or for food or have no clean drinking water.
2. You would be silly to count on the military. First, the military and most of its veterans do not come from the Big Blue centers. They come from poor urban areas where kids need a way out or they come from red or reddish states with large rural areas. You do not get a lot of recruits from the upper middle class from the northeast or CA. In short, you get kids and officers who largely have either no invested interest in the lives of those in the Big Blue areas, the educated professional class OR who come from areas that would likely support any insurgency of the type you fear. Any insurgency would likely include a lot of veterans, probably with combat experience. Take a look at the makeup of a lot of the people at Jan 6th riot. LOT of veterans. They know how to fight off or deal with the very weapons, such as drones, that you mention because they have used them and know their weaknesses. Toss in the fact that the military is going to be massively short of personnel as it is. Since Biden took office recruitment has fallen off a cliff and the military is considering lowering standards and massive enlistment bonuses to try and up the numbers but so far no luck. Part of the problem is that a whole lot of those farm boys and urban kids are no longer enlisting. The other part is that so many kids are unfit physically for service. Do you see and army of suburban or urban kids stepping up? You think the parents in the professional classes are going to tolerate their children being drafted or even volunteering? They are soft and they are used to the idea that they can buy a military they do not have to participate in. The MINUTE that DC said it was gonna draft these kids the big blue centers would revolt and call no mas.
Now, to have a successful insurgency that would break the Big Blue Centers, you do not NEED to have artillery, or drones (though you can make them if you want and have the know how) or even machine guns or an AR. You just need to know your enemies weak points and exploit them. Bombs can be made from all kinds of readily available materials. (See the Maura Federal Building for example). BUT, that aside, you can be sure that were an insurgency to occur, that the Chinese and the Russians, probably the Iranians and a few others would start shipping weapons over the southern border to that insurgency. They may ship them directly through the ports. Back during the last ban on assault weapons CBP caught 4,000 Chinese made AK47s that came through the port of LA. CBP admitted at the time that they got lucky. They do not have the resources to check every container. How soon before you see the Chinese equivalent of a stinger popping up and taking out FBI helicopters? BTW.....while you are fighting off this insurgency, an insurgency that will be supported by foreign players, what bandwidth are you going to have to challenge those foreign players? NOTE: This is what we have done all over the globe for decades.
What good are aircraft carriers, B2 bombers, cruise missiles, or even an F15 going to do for you against an insurgency? Not much. Insurgents are not big targets and they blend in or operate in small units that can disperse quickly. Hence the reason that, in the end, we needed a boat load of infantry in Iraq and Afghanistan. You need to be able to go door to door and you need to be able to convince the populace of different areas to not support that insurgency. Where is all that infantry you would need come from?
Now we can come to the legal question. The military is barred from participating in domestic operations. For good reason. The only way you get past that is to either break the law or have something like a state declare that it is breaking away as in the 1860s. You would have to convince the military leadership that it had the legal authority to act and then convince them that they could do so and actually achieve the mission. The uproar from the states, from within the political establishment and probably from within the ranks would make them seriously hesitate. Never mind that they are geared to be outward looking and would see that were they to become involved that they would not be able to support any part of their global missions. The answer, as in the past, is to provide military grade weapons to the police and to the FBI. The FBI is not set up to be a military arm. It lacks the structure and organization to be a military and if it tried to become one, the actual military would freak out. No police force in the US is equipped to take on an insurgency, particularly one partially made up of experienced veterans. Never mind that a LOT of cops would probably be supportive, at least at some level, of said insurgency after how the left has gone after them so hard for the last 5 yrs.
3. History should teach you to be highly highly cautious of thinking that a large central government can take out an insurgency with its military. Our OWN history shows that. We were the first to engage in asymmetric warfare against the Brits and it was highly successful at keeping the Brits back while we prepared a more traditional army. Vietnam. Iraq, Afghanistan. Look at what the Brits suffered in India. Look at what the Jews were able to do in Palestine against the Brits. History is packed with examples of insurgencies that have held off or defeated traditional standing armies. An insurgency does not need to win standing battles, it only has to survive and make the life of the government and its supporters miserable and terrifying for a long enough period of time. When NYC has gone without power for a month, when LA is out of water, when Boston cannot get food or fuel, when people living in Portland are unable to leave their homes safely because the cops are tied up trying to find insurgents and crime goes even higher, when professors at places like Yale or Brown or Harvard sit in faculty lounges wondering how one of their peers that was on MSNBC could be blown up in their car at home, many of those people will start throwing up their hands and looking for a way out via compromise of some sort.
Infrastructure could turned off and weaponzied in EVERY single state "Red" or "Blue" - Why are you so focused on "Blue" States suffering? "Red" states are getting wiped out, too. But you seem to have this fetish that Blue states will be wiped out, but Red states will fight back, survive and prosper. Lol.
So your AR-15 is pointless in keeping the government from getting "uppity." Good for protecting against other, everyday walking around Americans, though.
Hell, 65% of Americans can't even climb 2 flights of stairs, but you're gonna mount an insurgency? Wonder how long it'll take you to get your local HOA equipped, trained, and organized? How long will it take you to build and learn to fly F-15s? Are there major jungle or mountain regions in the U.S. that you can hide in?
No insurgency has ever held it's own against America WITHOUT military, financial and logistical help from ANOTHER COUNTRY. Who are you going to get help you? Germany? Australia? UK?
Our own history? Lol. Lost of other countries provided money, material, etc. to the U.S. during the Revolutionary War (France, Spain, Netherlands, etc.) Dummy.
Your long-ass answer displays a tremendous amount of ignorance across a breadth of areas. Yeah, dude go take on Delta Force, Seals Teams, MARSOC Marine Raiders, Air Force drones, Naval Warships, I'm sure you'll be victorious.
Well, I am speaking form experience. I am a combat veteran with degrees in Economics, Computer Science and Political Science.
I have worked for or with the DoD for over 25 yrs. My family comes from a long line of West Point grads going back to the Civil War. My friends include O6s and O7s, FBI agents (also family members). I have helped train army troops and have briefed various Sec Defs and Sec Army leadership. I have consulted on cyber security for the Pentagon and have consulted on physical and cyber security for at least a dozen CONUS and OCONUS military bases across the services.
I live in the National Capital region and include in my friends and acquaintances, congress critters, various Capital staffers and many senior bureaucrats across the Fed Civ and DoD spaces to include the Federal Reserve, SEC, FBI, and the IC.
AND...I am a long time student of military history.
The types of questions dealt with here have been part of our personal conversations for years. At first they were mere mental masturbation but over the last 5 or 6 yrs the question has taken on new meaning and have become less of just mental exorcises.
What I just gave you reflects the thinking of a large part of your national security establishment. There are no secrets in it and if you take the time to do the research you will find that a lot of what I said has already been expressed by various leaders in the space, the people who get paid to think about and research this stuff and game it out. I fear that what you are doing is listening to those who WANT to believe as you do, who believe in the happy path, or who believe that by convincing themselves and others that the happy path is true that they can make it believable enough that those who would create an insurgency would be discouraged from doing so. This is precisely the approach we used with our military for a very long time. Create a sense of invincibility such that you never have to prove it. But then you find that you really do.
Your last two paragraphs prove my point. You can be sure that the Chinese, the Russians, the Iranians, the North Koreans, Venezuelans, Cuba and others WOULD push resources over our border. Enough at least to keep the federal government tied down and unable to respond to anything overseas.
As I said, you would need to overcome legal and practical obstacles to employ any of the forces you listed and even then, what the hell is an aircraft carrier gonna hit? What targets would a destroyer launch missiles at? Thats the problem with fighting insurgencies. They do not fight as targets large enough for those weapons systems. They disappear into the population. They strike in small groups with targeted attacks looking to break your will, they do not try to hold large swaths of territory with tanks.
And, as I said, you can make the lives of people in big cities absolutely miserable and terrifying with surgical attacks. Rural areas just have more resiliency and the people who populate them are just better experienced at the fundamental skills needed to maintain life. A small town in rural Georgia will simply be able to provide the basics, power, food, water, far far better than a place like Newark with its highly complex infrastructure. The more complex it is, the easier it is to break and the harder it is to fix. You cannot hunt in Central Park. You cannot dig a well on Boston Common. There is no place to grow anything on the Miracle Mile. Your average IT manager in San Fran has no clue how to weld or fix a generator. Your average Deloitte accountant has no idea how to provide basic first aid, much less treat a sucking chest wound or set a broken leg or suture or cauterize a wound. A WHOLE lot of people in rural areas have those skills out of necessity. And who do you think has the greater physical stamina, the farm kid who has worked outside since they were 5 or the kid from Cambridge who went to prep school and played XBox every day after school? Who do you think can deal better with physical hardship, the kid who handled cattle in West Texas or the kid from Austin who went to day care and then to organized play dates and prep school, the pipe layer or coal miner or the liberal arts professor?
There is no "kid from West Texas" handling cattle, etc. Todays farms are mechanized/automated and run by large Agribusiness firms on the Fortune 500. The ones doing the labor are season migrant farm laborers.
Lived in Red State/rural areas 95% of my life -they are not a bunch of "Daniel Boones" and MacGyvers - pretty much hunt/fish, drink beer, complain about liberals and nonwhites and cheer on their football team. That's about it -they're not dealing with broken legs at home, or patching up sucking chest wounds. Lol. They going to the urgent care and/or hospital. Just like EVERYONE else.
So, I don't know where this "salt of the Earth, Rambo-in-waiting" nonsense came from. They're toast - just like all the "soft-handed, effeminate, weak-kneed, faint at the sight of blood" people in American cities.
They also have the highest rates of obesity and chronic illness, disability, etc. - which is why your coal miner most likely has COPD/Black Lung Disease and is dealing with chronic back pain and is addicted to Oxycontin. He's going to slow our chalk down. We're gonna have to leave him behind.
Not all faculty were in academia their entire lives, had other lives/experiences before that, so I can compete with any coal miner or pipe fitter....but it's really irrelevant...we're both getting killed.
How are China, Iran, etc. controlling the borders to supply your insurgency. Are they invading CA and the Atlantic states? The only borders left are Canada and Mexico. Are they invading them, too?
Whatever. Then that makes everything you said extra stupid. Especially the American Revolution stuff. So:
1. What other countries are helping/ setting up no-fly zones above Iowa?
2. How are you stopping infrastructure being cut off/weaponized/ stopped in the Red States when all of that can be done remotely and only one or two locations needs to be captured.
3. How are you organizing a national HOA resistance force of former auto mechanics and random office workers?
4. Where are getting your supplies and material?
5. How will you find cover from F-15s in that wide open, super flat region of middle America? How can you "blend into the population" when the population density in Red States/Middle America is low, as there is more land than people?
6. What geographic land (mountains, large rivers, etc.will provide a natural barrier for ground troops, tanks artillery?
So, who you claim to know is irrelevant. But, please, go pitch your idea that you and your poker buddies could be successful, with NO INTERNATIONAL INVOLEMENT/SUPPORT, in defeating the entire U.S. Military apparatus, if they brought all their forces and technology to bear.
Yeah they do. They had to do a pre-dawn raid of James O'Keefe's house because he has a diary written by a Biden family member that could prove embarrassing to Joe.
The visual choices somebody (or several somebodies) made for Biden's speech were...in a word, SCARY. The red light and soldiers at attention invoked a lot of images, none of them good. In addition to the most obvious comparison, I saw people recalling scenes from V for Vendetta and the First Order of the Star Wars sequels. My husband asked if there had been anyone singing, because it looked to him like it only needed a chorus of hyenas to be The Lion King.
Vultures and hyenas. They have gaslighted us out of our America. Be patient it’s definitely turning the midterms 2 months away, and please stop watching cable news and take no notice of polls
At times, it does seem like a Republican defeat can be snatched from what should be a victory. Comments from Trump which tear down other Republicans, promise amnesty for 1/6 rioters, or nasty comments on the looks of the women who served in the cabinet are not vote getters. The female cabinet members served the country well I.e. Title 9 reforms. No rioter & no one who swings at an officer of the law whether in Portland or DC should avoid punishment. McConnell comments seem like airing the dirty laundry, splitting the party, and fail to acknowledge that some of the goals of Trump’s admin happened because of McConnell’s maneuvering.
Compare and contrast with Kevin McCarthy's speech in vision along with words and tone. From arguing the are you better off after 2 years of all Democrat rule to listing the facts of what is wrong with current policy. Free of name calling, blaming, and hyperboles...a strong appeal to voters who want rational government.
I remember one Christmas Melania had red Christmas trees displayed in one of the rooms at the White House. Many in the mass media were hysterical and claimed that it symbolized the Handmaid’s Tail. “See, see....it’s proof that he wants to enslave women. Let’s go scream at the sky!”
They would have claimed the same thing if this had been Trump speaking with the red background. They probably would have claimed that the two marines proved that he was going to do it by force.
"...patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings--steal a little they throw you in jail--steal a lot they make you king--there's is only one step down from here Baby--it's called the Land of Permanent Bliss..Hey-What's a sweetheart like you doin' in a dump like this?..."
I gotta admit I never liked Facebook and rarely use it. Definitely don’t have it downloaded to my devices.
But yeah, the feds and a large media platforms conspiring doesn’t surprise me one iota. I only have so much outrage and I direct it at the most vile in my vicinity.
Facebook isn’t high on that list.
As for the hysterical cries of “fascism!” I recognize a long held dem tactic.
The irony of Biden saying that anyone else doesn’t follow the Constitution leaves me shaking my head.. This man has been leader (or empty dementia shell of a mannequin, teleprompter reader of those behind the curtain) of movements to curtail free speech, impose mandates on medical interventions on penalty of job loss, keep kids out of school, and not enforce laws regarding national borders and domestic crime. The democrat party has become that which they claim to hate. One wonders how such a campaign speech is allowed to occur by a sitting president with free airtime in the media? Oh, nevermind.
Not to mention packing the Supreme Court, pledging to overturn their rulings, banning the filibuster, eliminating the Electoral College, canceling student debt etc…. So much for “respecting the constitution”! I couldn’t believe my ears and eyes with that unbelievable speech. Yet KJP said his speech would be “uplifting”. No words.
I really enjoyed Biden’s speech about saving the soul of our democracy. His entire Presidency has been about restoring our nation’s soul. For him it is a labor of love.
Biden’s decision to become a candidate for the Presidency of the United States, according to Joe, and according to all Democrats, and according to David French, was made after Joe Biden saw the horrifying events of Charlottesville.
That’s when Joe Biden, and people with deep moral convictions, who demand decency, like David French, decided that Joe Biden had to save the soul of our nation. Joe Biden decided that very day. It was his duty as a patriot to save us. Joe Biden has made this precise claim, publicly, on numerous occasions………..
About one month after the events of Charlottesville, on September 21, 2017, Joe Biden and his wife, Sandwich Artist Jill Biden, were allocated keys to the DC office space they would share with Gongwen Dong of the Chinese Communist Party, who was their business partner in a joint venture with CCP-controlled energy company CEFC.
Dignity. Patriotism. Unity. Christianity. Decency. Humility. For these reasons we must stop the MAGA Republicans and restore the soul of our nation.
The who? I’ve never caught sight of one of them (kind of like Bigfoot IMO) but I’ve definitely seen the lunatics screaming chromosomes don’t exist, children belong to them not the kids’ parents, anyone who disagrees must be “re-educated,” etc.
In my hierarchy of risk Bigfoot is far below the likes of liberals.
Get a recipe for kale and sausage soup cooked in beef broth with chopped onions and garlic. Yum!
Do not make a kale smoothy. Only vegan Democrats do that but they only do that for show when their Democrat, vegan friends are around. When their friends leave, dump the smoothy and have steak with a beef consommé starter and a chopped chicken salad.
The surgeries on children are sobering in the extreme. Freakish behaviour by adults. The reckoning is proven to be suicides within a short period of years. Hysterectomies? The drs should be removed for practice for going along with this is minors. Their parents? There aren’t words.
And the legal profession is on track to the same disaster. My brother is a law professor heading toward his own retirement in a few years. God help us!
There is an article in a recent edition of The American Conservative showing a human forearm from which a section of skin has been surgically flayed off to construct something that is supposed to be a penis. There are no words…..
If you get a new kidney because yours has failed, they don’t take out the old one. They just wire up the new one wherever it fits. It is so strange to me that a hysterectomy is somehow even necessary - plenty of women get ablations or other sterilization surgeries. I can’t get my head around why this is a protocol. This is a serious question, not a jab.
The unhinged, militaristic, screaming obscenity of last night’s diatribe by the dubiously-elected President of the United States trumps (sorry, couldn’t help myself) anything else that happened this week. Anyone who isn’t frightened by what happened in Philadelphia last night isn’t paying attention.
Our government is headed in exactly the direction the President projects onto his opposition.
Legitimate checks and balances on the process of voting--practiced by many other civilized countries--are decried as racist. (How insulting is that to our fellow citizens of pigmented skin?)
A growing community of medical professionals, educators, mental health “experts” are treating a generation of children as lab rats.
Lascivious, depraved, mentally impaired people who can’t figure out the intended use of their genitals are allowed to present themselves before little children as objects of admiration.
Good teachers are leaving the profession in droves--or want to--because they are forced to recite or affirm oaths to the insanity of pronouns.
We are all being herded toward a “greener” economy without ever having the opportunity to vote on massive changes based on questionable science. No, I do NOT prefer strip mining of precious metals for EV batteries to fossil fuel-powered vehicles. And don’t even get me started in the ludicrous notion that petrochemicals can just magically be dropped from myriad other production processes.
People voted for Biden for a return to “normalcy.” Anyone who thinks what we have now is normal needs some serious therapy.
Interesting that there is no mention of entire Jon Stewart/Disney/Ukrainian Nazi fiasco that happened this week. It was by far most hilarious thing that happened in long time. Long story short, not only are we sending billion of $ to that corrupt country, but now we are even giving Ukrainian Nazis prizes in Disneyworld, by no other than Jon Stewart and US Department of Defense. I honestly thought this was some Babylon Bee or Onion article, but entire thing is on tape.
Here is article by Grayzone (i know they are far left but in this case they have some funny pictures of Ukrainian Nazis giving Nazi salutes in Disneyworld)
For a country that has "very little" Nazis they sure show up quite often. But no worries billion of Tax dollars are in safe hands in Ukraine, after all 10% is for the Big Guy.
We aren't sending money to the most corrupt nation in Eastern Europe, we are sending money to *the oligarchs* in the most corrupt nation in Eastern Europe. The concept of "The Ukraine" is just a pass through.
That was my thought as well. Admittedly, she sometimes blows things up to be bigger than they are. But for the most part, all she is doing is showing Leftists' own words to a broader audience than they intended.
And it’s not as if the people highlighted aren’t putting that content out for the world to see and one would assume, they want a lot of people to see it.
My favorite part about Rodent Joe Biden’s speech, aside from the background which was appropriately red, as I have been calling Democrats ‘Bloodthirsty Pagan Collectivists’ for 20 years, was the fact that I literally not figuratively got a push notification *during the speech* from my CNBC app that said the following:
“CDC clears reformulated COVID shots targeting omicron in time for school”
You are absolutely a fucking barbarian if you inject your child with these shots. You’re also retarded. You’re a barbtard. Anyways, I was really enjoying the speech, pulling my mask up between bites of Mac N Cheese. I was especially enjoying the part where he waddled out with his whore wife Sandwich Artist Jill Biden, but then he got to my favorite little flourish where he screamed “It’s who we are!!” for the 17,000th time.
There is no “we” here, Josef. Hire your goons to cut another confused young boy’s dick off while you’re at it, you pedophile daughter-molesting piece of shit. Whatever this decrepit cocksucker is, I am the opposite. “We” are not the same. There really isn’t a single person on earth I have less in common with than the individual who is currently at the top of the organization in charge of stealing half of my money and using it to buy votes from other similarly useless people who, history books being in short supply, are chasing utopia via force once again. Human scum.
You know how Democrats have intentionally and methodically been treating Republicans like Nazis for 50 years and they now totally control the permanent government and the Fortune 500 and the universities and the media?
Treating your opponent with decency is bad strategy empirically. This isn’t my opinion. Get it?
I agree with the former. I do *not* agree with the latter.
I know. Heresy. But, really: More than a moment of anger is just a distraction, even if there wasn't any worse results of it, which there are too many to name.
In all fairness, Paul Ryan led almost 40 republicans into retirement in 2018 providing a huge boost to dem control . It’s not like establishment types are great either
“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.” - uh huh... riiiiigggght. Typical tactic - claim your opponent is doing exactly what you are doing. Shall we look for examples?
1. Run away Inflation (to be fair, the GOP deserves blame here too - at least most will admit it). If/when the US dollar is no longer the world's reserve currency a lot of people will learn the hard way that there are actually constraints to spending.
2. Extremism: and what are the saintly identity politicians selling? gender affirming care, white supremacy/systemic racism - with a sidecar shot of defunding the police, and pushing for not only no limits on abortion - but in CA actually looking to pass a bill that seeks to ignore infanticide? (somebody has to follow up on that and see if it is at is seems to be), and my favorite - having taken over most public and private universities, taking these ideologies into K-12 classrooms with the "gingerbread person" and "The 1619 Project"
3. Um, I'd say 1 and 2 truly threaten our republic
But why stop there, Mr. Biden? "Biden went on: MAGA Republicans have made their choice...
4. They embrace anger - says the man screaming at the camera some time back about how modern voting is worse than Jim Crow and claiming that ANTIFA is "just and idea" - talk about revealing your cards....
5. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies. - says the man representing the post-modern, SJWs who erase boundaries and poison language specifically with the intent of sowing confusion and fear.
-- "Progressives" used to describe regressive policies, one example: to create "affinity groups separating whites, blacks, latinos"
-- "gender affirming," i.e. 'teaching' children with interests not stereotypical of their 'gender' that they are trans and should have mastectomies and hysterectomies, take hormones to avoid puberty, ya know easily reversible things.. oh, and don't you go telling the parents now (as high school's principle said "our second big mission is emotional support since 'come on you know that their are things your kids will not talk to you about, but they can come to us'
-- "loan forgiveness" = because using our taxes to support getting a college education is a sin, obviously
-- "right wing" = fascist since you know, the government directing big business, restricted speech, banning books, free education (promoting the state's morality over parents'), 'free' health care... proves George Orwell correct once more - "when the radical left comes they will likely call you the fascists"
A primary feature of fascism is a central government control of the economy through public-private partnerships. In WWII Germany's case, the government spoke and their puppets controlling industry and the economy acted as directed. For example, the head of the Krupp, the German arms manufacturer, was an enthusiastic follower of the Nazi government.
In our case, ideological alignment of MSM, Big Tech, and as importantly, Big Finance (Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street) via ESG activism, are delivering fascist outcomes. Obama got the ball rolling and now it is a boulder crushing anything or anyone it its path.
So, yeah - "The MAGA republicans, represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic."
Just substitute “Jews” for “MAGA Republicans” and ask yourself how it sounds now?
Vilifying a portion of a population is a precursor to justifying their oppression. A Jan 6 protestor just got a 10 yrs sentence. Meanwhile, Hunter doesn’t even get investigated.
Truth! I recall protests in college against the "female genital mutilation" occurring in Africa. Those same college classmates now are raising trans children.
Yep. It’s very clear to me what he’s doing. First his Christmas death wish speech for the unvaccinated now this. In light of the FBI raid … It’s like he wants to start WW3.
Hopefully Nellie has her feet up etc as the last few weeks of pregnancy are never that much fun in my experience.
And here is my TGIF foreign correspondent type offering about the UK:
This is Northumberland UK calling 2 9 22
Having had the UK August Bank Holiday weekend last weekend, the UK slowly stumbles towards the end of the silly season and resumption of normal news. But first…
Speaking of golf, the University of St Andrews in an effort to decolonise its curriculum has decided to apologise for golf being imposed on the rest of the world. Whether one objects to this imposition may depend on where your latest drive just landed or how much your other half enjoys the game. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/stop-paying-universities-teach-rubbish/
Speaking of poor academic ideas -- A major meta analysis of trigger warning data finds that they don’t work and only increase anxiety. https://osf.io/qav9m/
A landmark study shows 25% of UK children being brought up in lone parent households. Families of Asian descent most likely to be headed by a married couple. Black African and Black Caribbean families are 44 % and 57% lone parent households. In white families it is 22%. “The research shows for the first time that family provides a shield from life’s challenges . . . That is why the government needs to prioritise how they can put families at the heart of all of policy decisions.” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/decline-of-traditional-uk-family-revealed-in-de-souza-report-mfphw7vhl
After only mentioning ‘birthing people’ and not women the NSFT Mental Health team gave a rather novel apology. Word choice was apparently down to the number of characters twitter allows and to save space. Woman has five and birthing person 14. Perhaps the person composing the tweet in question was not very good at math. https://twitter.com/NSFTtweets/status/1564553811485761536
In the fight for the soul of the Society of Authors, John Boyne, the best selling author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas weighs in about Joanne Harris, the Society’s controversial chairperson, suffering from internet trolling and many other things. His latest, the long waited sequel to The Boy, All the Broken Places, comes out in the UK on 20September. “ “People often say what the trolls want is to destroy people’s careers, but I don’t think it is. I think they actually want you to die. I think they’ve grown up with video games, and their mentality is: ‘If I can get a kill, I can move on up to the next level.’ They’re people without any moral compass whatsoever, and I’m glad to be rid of them.”
Boyne deleted his Twitter account in May this year, on the day that the paperback of The Echo Chamber, his satirical novel about social media (soon to be a television series) was published. Having endured endless death threats and people posting pictures of his Dublin home online, he says that he would not advise any writer in a similar position to look for help from the Society of Authors, the writers’ union, under its controversial current chair, Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat.
JK Rowling’s latest Robert Galbraith The Ink Black Heart hit the bookstores this week with a now-predictable denunciation in certain quarters of the internet. Rowling decided to take decisive action against false and slanderous rumours. The tweet thread by LA Times journalist Kathryn Brightbill has now been deleted as per the request. Brightbill has protected her twitter account. https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/bogus-tweet-posted-by-kebrightbill/
Liz Truss remains the overwhelming favourite to win the Conservative Leadership election. This Matt cartoon from earlier this week sums up the country’s mood: The good news is the Second World War is over, the bad news is the Conservative Leadership election isn’t. https://twitter.com/MattCartoonist/status/1563560900627697664
Latest rumour about Kemi Badenoch is that she will get Education. Although some want her to have DCMS (culture).
Yesterday was the final day of the current football transfer window (next opening in January), various deals were done. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the biggest deal and moved to Chelsea from Barcelona. Man U got Antony from Ajax. Whether they will make much of a difference remains to be seen. Manchester United are playing better (hard to play worse than at the beginning of the season though). https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/09/01/transfer-deadline-day-2022-live-latest-rumours-loans-signings/
Enjoy your Labor Day weekend – with hopefully barbeques, parties and lots of late summer sun.
As much as I'm on Rowling side in this TERF war, I have to say that I think her own books shaped a generation into believers in "my side can do no wrong." Harry Potter never became aware that some of his behavior in books 5 and 6 was very dark and arguably evil. But no, casting Unforgivable spells is "gallant," as long as you choose the correct target. She divided the world into Slytherins, who are deemed evil at age 11, and Gryffindors, who can erase their parents' memories without a twinge of guilt, as long as it's all done for some "greater good." The fact that many of her fans literally want to destroy her because she believes the "wrong" thing is, to some extent, because she shaped their young minds into seeing the world that way.
As a freedom of expression absolutist, I will respectfully disagree. She is not responsible for the actions of extremists, any more than Salman Rushdie is responsible for the fatwa which was issued against him. She did nothing to deserve it. Punishing an author for words simply because they gave offense to somebody’s feelings, beliefs, or political views renders the concept of freedom of expression devoid of all meaning
She has encountered a very coercive philosophy, the sort which cannot tolerate dissent and seeks to punish and force its philosophy through intimidation and fear. It is that coercive philosophy which is at fault and has no business in a democratic society. As Justice Brandeis pointed out in his 1927 judgement “order cannot be secured merely through fear of punishment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies, and that the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones.”
Because I believe in the right of dissent, I have no problems with people holding these sorts of totalitarian beliefs but I do not believe they should be anywhere near a seat of power because otherwise the free world stumbles down the route to totalitarianism.
I agree that without the right to dissent, we have entered a totalitarian nightmare. Nor did I intend to blame Rowling. I just find it ironic that the attitudes she instilled in the young readers of her fantasy world ended up being rather dangerous in the real world.
I think they have been manipulated by the people who developed and pushed this particular philosophy. They needed a scalp to ensure that the philosophy advanced.
The attitudes she tried to instil were fairly basic liberal attitudes about standing up to totalitarianism in whatever form it happens to take. In many ways, she is acting true to her ideals by standing up to totalitarianism -- you know the sort which says people can be fired if their beliefs don't accord with yours, that you have to parrot words and sayings which you don't believe in and you have to deny the evidence of your own eyes.
What is odd is how invested certain young people became in that world. The last book in the series was out 15 years ago. The merchandising still continues. I think John Boyne had it right that some of this comes from the gaming world.
Ultimately it comes from the people who organised and continue to organise this fatwa as it is sort of a holy war for them. I also have nothing but contempt for those in my industry who have enabled this sort of thing.
Voldemort and friends killed their opponents, Harry Potter and friends only disarmed theirs. I don't think the Potter books leave any confusion about good and evil.
Harry and co. never killed anyone. The other side certainly did. Even he and Malfoy saved each other. Can you imagine Trump and Biden doing the same? Lol
So Harry casting Cruciatus was "gallant"? If Snape had not been nearby, Draco would have bled out from Harry's attack on him. And yet Harry resents it when he gets (only!!!) detention for almost killing Draco.
Voldemort doesn't have to be "good" in order for Harry to be arguably evil. That is precisely the problem: by labeling Voldemort evil (which he was), anything Harry did, no matter how wrong, was automatically considered "good."
Thank you! That essay is very on-point. Somehow we have allowed our society to be taken over by a quasi-religious ideology that has had the same impact as Puritanism or the Inquisition. Free thought and free expression are no longer allowed in any spaces where those in control might hear your heresy.
As with every TGIF, so much to say. First, I never voted for Trump, either time, but holy crap the dumpster fire that is the Biden administration. I feel truly politically homeless these days. If the damn Reps could *please* get Trump out of the pic, I might have someone to vote for. Second, go ahead, call me a person with a vulva again, and let’s see what happens. Ain’t gonna be pretty! Finally, Americans are dying younger. Really? Given our crappy diets and obsession with streaming TV, is anyone actually surprised?!?
You are not homeless, come on over. Personally, 'republicans' have forsaken me as well. If you and I can agree that there is no more important issue than preserving the Bill of Rights then let's build on that. We might disagree on stuff... but that is normal and okay.
Trump isn't the problem, his republican and leftist opponents - the UniParty establishment - are. If Trump is approached as a professional he reciprocates. If he is attacked he reciprocates. Unfortunately, every institution in the country has attacked him constantly and the American People now have been entranced into this view of him.
Look at it this way... His wonderful efforts led to the greatest economy you have ever seen without 20 year wars. The UniParty can't have that so they attacked him mercilessly to all of our detriment.
I started reading the article, but it was just another propaganda piece. Comes from all sides.
And Trump? Sorry man. He had the character of slime mold and showed his true colors when he wouldn't turn power over after he lost. Even if he was the GREATEST PRESIDENT EVER, which wasn't the case, that one flaw mars him beyond repair.
"His wonderful efforts led to the greatest economy you have ever seen without 20 year wars"... lol cool story bro, but Trump had very little to do with the economy he inherited, an economy in about its 10th year of expansion since the 2008 crash, running at peak performance when he won in Nov 2016, for example unemployment at that point in time was already at 4% and falling with wages slowly rising. Funny thing is that according to Trump, the economy on November 5, 2016 was a "total disaster" but on November 7, 2016 was a "miracle". Economically, Trump made some bad decisions, such as passing an unnecessary stimulatory tax cut in 2017 that didn't make the slightest change in employment, GDP and wages, but did blow up the deficit some more. He also engaged in a foolish trade arbritage war against China that devasted midwestern agricultural markets (particularly soybeans) for about the next decade, requiring a $12B bailout to barely compensate. The trade wars are a direct cause as to why the supply chain issues folllowing COVID were exacerbated - let alone the steel tariffs that failed to re-open or buld a single new steel plant put manufacturing into an official recession by Q3 2019 *before COVID* due to the sharp increase in the price of raw steel.
Make no mistake that if Trump was re-elected in 2020, he would also be presiding over a (global) inflationary economy including high gas prices. Would have loved to hear about his "genius" then. Part of me wishes he would have so we could have put an end to this mythology around Trump's "genius" pre-COVID economy that pretty much like everything in his life, he just inherited, and if left to his own devices, would have turned into crap as he did with his father's inheritance. Instead, he gets to skate away with the excuse of "COVID" and his supporters can pretend that we lived in some TrumpTopia prior ; P
I've been lower profile commenting lately - had a family vacation (yay!) earlier in August andfeer work has been busy since, and sometimes I'm back to that "weariness" with debating and just prefer some low key lurking ;)
I like that, "TrumpTopia!" I'll borrow that, if You don't mind?
I generally agree with all, except part-a that about China. I have every reason to believe about the steel and the soybeans. And I regret that the tariffs seemed to be a knee-jerk reaction to some hair he got up his arse. He announced them (on Twitter, I believe) and *nobody* in the Gov saw it coming, from what I could tell. ICBW, 'course.
Thing is, up to that point, most people thought China was a great friend of the Global Village. (tm) They weren't. They aren't. And they never *will* be a "friend" of anybody but China. I consider them to be a necessary "evil." (Not evil, per se.)
Bear with me. There's a piece of gear that etches computer chips. There are, IIRC, a handful of companies in the world that make such equipment. The state-of-the-art is built by a company in the Netherlands, but I forget their name.
Anyhoo, one-a the *greatest* things Chump (oops, I meant Trump) did in his rein was to get that company to exclude China. Now China is trying to build up their chip industry more-or-less from scratch. (That is, by copying everything other people have invented.) They *may* be able to do that, with all the resources they have. But "Chump's" actions set them back a ways, and I'm grateful to him for that.
I dunno if that proves the old saying that "every dog has his day."
LOL of course everything I post is free public IP : P
Don't get me wrong - I do believe China needed to be, and still needs to be, "dealt with". Their theft of IP (not mine of course!), for one, their awful working conditions, their oppressive government, etc. And yes, we don't want an ascendant China taking over global trade and being the main player in developing economies to direct at their will. But I disagree Trump's "policies" towards China were either effective nor well informed. To counter China's domination requires more than a single sided set of tarriffs. We need global alliances to do so. The TPTA was an attempt at doing so - although I opposed it because it granted corporations waaaayyy too many rights and superceding of national regulations and laws. But the notion that we need alliances to counter China is sound. We just need those alliances to be based on intra-national sovereignty and workers rights at the same time.
BTW, it was Biden who passed the semi-conducture industrial investments :) Yes, it was Trump's tariffs that might have forced it, but those also produced the lamented supply chain problems with chip manafucture, as well as the costs.. Again, Trump may have been "right" in grabbing loosely at a problem, but the (typically) undisciplined manner he went about it didn't really end up doing much more than damaging domestic markets...
You obviously do not work in the real economy. Do you code, bro? He unleashed American energy, deregulated thousands of stupid regulations, and cut the corporate tax rate from 40% to 21%, buddy.
Duh... Gas was $1.82. Now? How is your energy bill, bro? Reality versus the Lightbringer's and now SleeepyCreepy Joes created world: they did the opposite of Trump.
Obama's U6 unemployment numbers were always high versus the U3.
Yah I do code and it's "sis" not bro, but OK. My company seems to think it's the "real economy", in any case my checks get cashed and my money works.
Trump didn't "unleash" squat. Fracking was at an all time high under his predecessor. Can you name any specific regulations that are proven to have a direct impact on energy and economic growth? I mean, if you understand the REAL ECONOMY, my dude, then you know regulatory changes can take years before you'll see an impact to the economy over.
Gas was $1.82 because the global economy was shut down and demand was at all time lows. Trump's "jeenius" though I guess lol. Energy companies have in part continued to keep prices high (while price per barrel has dropped for a while) in order to recoup those losses to their shareholders and shore up for another potential disaster that could also drop demand similarly.
Unemployment was at 4% and dropping by Nov 2016. This is just facts. It went down about another full point during Trump's term - on the same trajectory it was on before his election, pre-COVID.
The "one" piece here I'll agree on is the corporate tax cut, and that wasn't really "Trump" was it, versus Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and a long standing GOP policy regarding that predated Trump by decades. Given corporations pay nowhere near the paper rate to begin with, the paper rate was a farce and simply incentivized more tax dodging. Better to put it at a closer to reality rate that will be paid, and commensurate with most of our trading partners to boot (although still many large corps pay closer to an almost 0 rate, and some get a negative rate of return - given the large number of loopholes existing and added in the 2017 TCJA to ensure not a single corporation would pay the 25% rate either). But again, even here, the unemployment and hiring rates really didn't change much post-TCJA either. Most corporations used their savings to purchase their own stock in stock buy backs and reward investors. So claiming this was responsible for holding the same unemployment downward trajetory is also a bit of a loose claim - also considering that in the REAL ECONOMY stuff like capital investments in jobs and facilities are already most tax writeoffs and therefore are less impacted by tax cuts on future profits realized. Corporations - or most businesses - don't hire and expand because of tax cuts. They hire and expand to meet market demand where they see opportunities for growth. Sure, a little more cut of the profits in the pockets can work forwards into having more investment capital, but the relationship between profits/taxed profits/investment capital, is looser than you might imagine.
This week the President said he has f-15's for domestic opponents and was flanked by the military while he gave a speech that usually proceed a purge of society by one faction over another. There is a sense of denial in many that this actually happening but just look around and think about what has been normalized. The establishment of widespread censorship regimes between the Fed and their corporate allies would normally have led to outrage and anger, now its a shrug of the shoulders moment. Well here is a thought for this Friday: The FBI or other law enforcement agencies are likely monitoring this sub stack and the comments here and taking notes accordingly. Substack and the infrastructure that supports it is most assuredly being looked at in case it needs to be curtailed and last but not least all of us who pay for any sub stack would likely have our private information subpoenaed without any knowledge of it occuring. That is the modern reality and when the crack down occurs here where will be the next outlet to discuss and speak? Will there be one?
All that was missing was a mustache and an outstretched arm. His supporters have taken off their jackets and exposed their brown shirts.
The definition of fascism includes a mutually beneficial relationship between big government and big business to the disadvantage of the little guy. This is exactly what the democrats have done. And there also needs to be a Dept of Propaganda. Check.
The root of the word fascism is an Italian word meaning ‘to bind together.’ The binding together of government, the media, corporations, universities and other institutions of society. That describes the Democratic Party and US institutions perfectly.
“All within the state, and nothing outside the state” was the motto of Mussolini’s fascism.
Thanks.
OMG--that was exactly my first thought when I saw him against the red background!
When I first saw a still image of the speech (I didn't watch it; don't have TV, just streaming), I thought someone had been monkeying around with photoshop. But no, it was actually real. Talk about "saying the quiet part out loud"!
The photoshop actually went the other way; towards the end of the speech CNN put a filter on their cameras to make the red look purple.
Seriously?! I guess even his friends think he's overplayed his hand now.
I've seen a suggestion that the optics were meant to *appeal* to Republicans, since the Leftists making these decisions just *know* that Republicans are all Nazis at hearts.
I would rather believe that Leftists really ARE that stupid than that the Left has decided to openly embrace their fascism. I'm not at all confident of that, but it's a less horrifying alternative.
I’m still surprised anyone watched that dumpster fire.
My thanks for wasting valuable time on behalf of those of us who decided listening to Biden mumble and stumble and mutter just wasn’t worth the rise in blood pressure.
Wasn’t worth the rise in Blood pressure. But I got a sense we all fed up with Biden,Democrats,Big Tech Corporations etc, think Americans just want to go home. They want peace, stability, education, health care and decent place place to live. We have anything but, so yes I believe in making America great. Don’t think Biden wants that if he did he wouldn’t be so worried about President Trump whose philosophy has always been to MAGA!
He actually spoke pretty well. Must have been jacked up with Adderall or something.
Marie...double that...
With the two marines behind him crazy shit
Wait. Someone actually watched Biden's speech? Get a life.
Apparently, "Bowling for Dollars" wasn't on that night.
Biden’s continuing hateful and divisive rants are straight out of the playbook authoritarians like Hitler, Stalin and Xi Jinping have used to cement absolute control over their populace - separate, marginalize, intimidate, incarcerate and eventually exterminate opponents. Labeling Donald Trump and Republicans who support him semi-fascists and declaring they “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our Republic” is only the start. While he hasn’t yet publicly referred to them as “rats” as Goebbels did to the Jews, it may be just a matter of time before he and his leftist allies in government and the media go full Nazi. His authoritarian bona fides are already well established. His politicized JustUs Department labeled moms and dads who dared protest the indoctrination of their children as domestic terrorists while refusing to prosecute mobs trying to intimidate Supreme Court Justices, even after an assassination attempt. He coerced Big Tech into silencing any speech he and minions like Fauci didn’t like so he could extend the Covid reign of terror and use mandates to crush the dreams of small business, school children and anyone refusing to be vaccinated. He embraced FBI leaders who collaborated with Facebook and other internet platforms into burying details of depravity and corruption contained in his son’s laptop to help swing the 2020 election and happily deployed them to stage an unprecedented raid on a former president and likely presidential opponent’s private residence.
Biden and his minions are everything they accuse Trump of being. The only question is will enough people vote to defeat them before it’s too late.
Amazing how Dems, liberals, leftists (whatever the name it all means the same at this point) cannot comprehend what is happening right before their very eyes. And since they can’t, or won’t acknowledge this, it means they’re in favor of what’s happening.
Didn't Biden say, "Every Time I Blink It's Like A New Day."
Really? He said that?
What exactly is happening, Linda? Trump lost, despite having a 99% approval rating or something?
Did I even mention Trump? That’s always the comeback.
Yep. It sure is the comeback when you had nothing to say about Trump attacking individuals, ethnic groups, disabled people, other GOP, calling for companies to be boycotted and for people to be thrown in jail.
So, for you to get your panties in twist over "semi-fascist" shows what a disingenuous hypocritical fraud you are.....was that a direct enough answer for you?
Linda, he is doing what leftwing supporters do and that is changing the subject, misdirection. He will never give you a straight on topic answer.
You are wasting your time trying to have a logical debate.
Lol. How can you not be referring to the Trump years when you claim the downhill has been happening since 1/20/21, the day Trump's term ended.
Haven't they apprehended 100, 000 over the last 4 weeks?
Yep....wide open.
I like how Trump never said anything nasty/divisive/hateful about anyone or called for anyone to be locked up.
Someone took a shot at a Supreme Court justice?!
You cannot justify bad behavior by saying but 'he did it too'. As my mother used to say, 'If <someone> jumped off a cliff would you do it too because they thought it was a good idea?'.
NOTHING justifys that pile of horse poo that Biden pumped out via his speech last night. If he'd had a military cap on he'd have pulled off a perfect Mussolini imitation with his backdrop and lighting and words he spoke against 'people who don't agree with him'
I've tried to debate leftists for years. You can't. What comprof did is what all left wing fanatics do and that is to divert by changing the subject and if that doesn't work, they will call you names.
The left is an intellectual vacuum. To be fair, right wing fanatics are just as bad.
A fanatic is a fanatic. You can't reason with them. History and facts mean nothing to them.
You cannot debate them. They get all fired up and angry and start yelling at you. Keep up the good work and poke them with a sharp stick. That alone is worth it. I like to visualize them getting purple in the face with rage and yelling cogent arguments like "You! You! You! Big stupid you!"
There IS a department of propaganda - aka the mainstream media.
I hope one day, Conservatives will have media outlets (TV, radio, etc.)
If the cards are played right, maybe one day some of them will get into political office.
MAGA is a threat to our democracy? Beside those idiots on Jan 6, how many cities did the MAGA group burn down? I believe the real threat to our democracy is ANTIFA, BLM and the Democrat Party and their minions, mayors and governors, for supporting ANTIA and BLM and allowing them to burn down our cities.
When will the ever senile, Joe speak out against BLM and ANTIFA and call them what they really are, a bunch of Communists who actively want to destroy our democracy.
"Black Lives Matter was founded by community organizers. One of the three co-founders said in 2015 that she and another co-founder “are trained Marxists.”
ANTIFA - Are initials of "Antifaschistische Aktion was established by the Communist Party of Germany" in 1932. They were the street thugs of the Germany Communist Party and now they are the street thugs in the US.
How come the ever senile Joe and his Democrat/Socialist Party are not addressing BLM or ANTIFA? How come the obsequious press is not questioning the ever senile Joe and his party for not addressing them?
How long can we continue to post here before the ever senile joe and his henchmen call us terrorist and come and carry us away?
Jan 6 was nothing, a few people wandering the halls taking selfies, a few cops got shoved by yelling protesters. A protester shot dead by a cop for no reason. Another one pushed off a roof by a cop. The Democrats vastly exaggerated the importance and violence of the event for their own benefit. They knew that there were questions surrounding the 2020 elections, what with massive numbers of mailed ballots, unattended drop boxes, state election boards changing the rules at the last minute to alter the results, and so forth. They had to distract. It's unfortunate that Trump pulled that rookie move and held a rally in D.C. Half a million people came. It was inspiring. But it didn't change the election.
According to Joe, they have F15s with which to quell any rebellion, yet on 1/6, a disorganized throng of unarmed protesters nearly overthrew the republic.
And 70 million “ultra MAGA” followers of the Great MAGA King are the greatest threat to the Republic since its founding!
A good example right now is Michigan. 750,000+ people signed a petition to put abortion rights on the ballot and to make the right to abortion part of the Michigan constitution. All this does is put it on the ballot for people to vote "yes" or "no"--it's not making the law. The Michigan Election Commission has decided they won't allow it on the ballot because they don't like the "word spacing on the petition." The rules say NOTHING about word spacing. This is an example of what they claim makes the petition "invalid."
Add to that the fact that, other than GWB's second term, Republicans have not won the majority vote in more than 40 years. It's only through partisan gerrymandering that they continue to hold as many positions as they do.
Another example, Virginia. Once a Democratic governor was elected, the legislature immediately votes to restrict the power of the governor.
All of these things are much more of a threat to democracy than a bunch of idiots storming the capitol or the downtown of a city, or even a Biden or Trump making a speech.
The MAGA crowd is trying to force their religious views on the entire country. For example, in Texas, every school must have a plaque that says "In God We Trust" but it can't be in Hebrew (or, god forbid, Arabic). And don't even get me started on the theft of Obama's Supreme Court seat.
State by state, district by district, Republicans are in the majority.
It’s only the big, dysfunctional cities that are strongly skewed to Democrat. These cities are, increasingly, warehouses for the poor and underachievers and criminals who depend on or prey on the public and contribute nothing of value.
Scott so far, my takeaway from your post is Rep evil, Dems good.
Well here's a little history for you. partisan gerrymandering is practiced by both parties but it seems to me from your post it is bad, no not bad, evil, only when the Reps do it. Apparently when Dems do it you ignore it.
This sort of crap started in the 18th century. Do I like this shit, no but it is a political fact of life and it began almost as soon as our country was born.
You saying that the crap that has been going on for over 200 years is a threat to our democracy. Do I think it is wrong, yes. Is it a threat to our democracy? No. Our democracy has been tolerating this stuff for over 200 years and it is still around.
The people who do this crap are politicians. Enough said.
Now a real threat to our democracy is PC, Woke, BLM and ANTIFA. (Democrats love them.) How come you and your Dem pals aren't upset about them. Here is another threat. Democrats calling school board protesters terrorist. These people are exercising their right under the 1st Amendment to peaceful protest.
The 1st Amendment is under attack from the PC, Work and now the US government. Apparently if you disagree with Dem you are now not only a racist but also a terrorist.
BTW these parents are protesting the teaching of CRT and gender identity. CRT is hard core racist brown smelly stuff. In CRT I am by virtue of my race, white, evil. That is pure racism. CRT is being vigorously defended by the Dems and here all of these years I thought you guys were against racism. Boy was I wrong.
https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/2021/october/biden-attorney-general-deploys-fbi-after-school-board-assoc-compares-parent-protests-to-domestic-terrorism
CRT being taught in schools is just a made up talking point. None of the school age kids I know are being taught anything like this. Should they be taught about slavery? Of course--it was a large part of our history. Redlining in the 60s and 70s? Maybe at high school level in Social Studies.
How is the 1st Amendment under attack? Your very ability to post here shows otherwise.
I agree with you that both parties gerrymander.
No one is talking about school board meetings where parents speak their mind. They're talking about board members whose lives and families are physically threatened to the point they have to resign. The 1st Amendment doesn't allow you to threaten someone's life even if you do it online.
ANTIFA is a small fringe group like the Proud Boys and others. They don't represent the majority of left-leaning people anymore than the people who stormed the capitol represent right-leaning people.
The media likes to play up "red" and "blue" but when you look at most states, it's 60-40 one way or the other, meaning most people are somewhat in the middle. I'm fairly liberal in many areas but am conservative in others. I'll absolutely vote for a moderate Republican or moderate Dem but won't vote for a right-winger or hard-core left winger, which is, sadly, what our choices are becoming thanks to the primary system.
What I like about the Republican Party is fiscal restraint (well, at least on the local level--that's no longer true at the national level) and law and order (again, more local level than national). What I like about the Dems is equality and live-and-let-live vs. forcing religion on everyone ("my religion teaches life begins at conception therefore you will do what I say regardless of what your religion says").
Saying "Critical Race Theory is not being taught in K-12 schools," may be true on the narrow meaning of what is said. The problem is that K-12 curricula are being redesigned on the basis of CRT in ways which harm the social fabric of the country by reinforcing the racial divide it supposedly seeks to address and vilifying generally admirable historical figures for not having lived according to a tendentious conception of virtue that has only just been devised by a faction of what passes for the Left these days. The theory itself is not being taught -- better if it were, then it could be debated -- it's conclusions are being smuggled into lesson plans as if they were established facts, rather than the political judgements of a particular faction of our polity.
"CRT being taught in schools is just a made up talking point." Really?:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/yes-critical-race-theory-is-being-taught-in-public-schools
https://nypost.com/2021/02/05/website-tracks-where-critical-race-theory-taught-at-us-schools/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/tunedin/watch-black-father-blast-critical-race-theory-at-board-meeting-in-viral-video/vi-AALcguo?category=foryou
How about gender affirmation:
https://nypost.com/2022/05/14/kiel-wisconsin-school-charges-kids-for-using-wrong-pronouns/
So, BLM and ANTIFA are just a bunch of harmless nut cases?:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/09/report-2020-antifa-blm-led-riots-injured-more-police-officers-caused-more-damage-and-resulted-in-more-arrests-than-the-capitol-riot/
This is how Democrats handle the burning cities. This idiot is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, must make the Dems proud.
https://nypost.com/2020/07/27/jerry-nadler-calls-violence-from-antifa-in-portland-a-myth/
https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-democrat-jerry-nadler-violent-antifa-riots-in-portland-are-a-myth
Methinks you need to broaden your exposure to other perspectives and get out of your NYTimes/WaPo/CNN/NPR bubble of denialism.
Antifa is not a tiny fringe group and they are NOTHING like the Proud Boys who are just a nonviolent group of mostly military veterans. Antifa are violent and dangerous and are seeking to topple capitalism and what they perceive as a corrupt system. Read Andy Ngo's "Unmasked" for starters, to get a highly accurate, first-hand report on these people, all his facts thoroughly backed up with reputable sources.
Regarding the ambivalent stance on wishing for more moderate Dems & Repubs... good luck with that. It turns out that ambivalence means electing do-nothings who go along to get along. The Democrats are anything but moderate; all 50 Senators voted in lockstep for Biden's deranged and extreme agenda, all of them voted to impeach Trump twice on baseless charges. Even Manchin caved to the trillion dollar scam they called "Inflation Reduction Act", counter to probably the vast majority of people in his very conservative state.
The Republicans are not united and their ideologies span from centrist/liberal (McCain, Romney, Collins et al) to Tea-Party Conservative (Cruz, et al). The Republicans better represent the American people.
The Bee has it covered (sorry if this was already linked in the comments)
https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-condemns-fascism-in-speech-while-also-debuting-attractive-new-mustache
They're having a field day:
https://babylonbee.com/news/france-surrenders-to-biden
I'm just glad Trump never talked crap about people, called for boycotts, attacked ethnic groups, tried to banned people from U.S, claimed people aren't U.S. citizens, or ever called for anyone to be arrested and jailed. That would be tacky.
Trump is the real threat. We should try communism.
Yeah...people have been claiming the U.S. is going "Commie" since the 1950s
Get a new songbook.
I just want to know where all those missing documents went.
communism is fake because people talked about it previously
Trump never "talked crap" about half the country.
Uh, yes he did. "Liberal Hoax" "Democrat criminals," etc.
Biden talked about "MAGA Republicans." That's not half the country.
Just read the Babylon Bee piece on exactly that…Biden sports stylish moustache…
https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-condemns-fascism-in-speech-while-also-debuting-attractive-new-mustache
It looks good on him. Sieg heil baby!
Thanks. Went looking for it, but I’m guessing the media complex was hiding it from me.
They already have a Dept of Propaganda. It's called the mainstream press.
These days, it's probably more accurate to call them the "Clickbait Press" since there really is no mainstream anymore, only a cabal of dominant propaganda spewers propped up and protected by the Left.
That said, Fox News has done a great job of clickbaiting all their articles. "This State Is Banning Abortions" and so forth. Breitbart is actually more journalistic, as is NY Post (also slightly clickbaity).
The NY Times is oh-so sophisticated lunatics. Really, finding the news these days is an exercise in reading many, many sources, eyewitness videos on Youtube, informed reader comments, etc.
Try the Drudge Report. I find it to be an eclectic news outlet. It has stories from "Man Bites Dog" to hard news from both sides.
His readership collapsed after he went full anti-Trump. I used to read his front page every day, but haven’t been back in 5 years now.
Well, I stopped watching the TV news so I have to get my news somewhere. I didn't find him to be anti-Trump. It depended on what news outlet he was showing at the time. I stopped reading anything from The Atlantic, too far left. I filtered anything I thought was too partisan, left or right.
I thought of Hades.
Yeah, I saw "gates of hell" comparisons circulating too.
LOL!!!!!
I’m of the mind to stand courageously and without fear. I am proud to be MAGA. I desperately want America to be great(in every sense of the word) but you can make a case for running silent. The left is clearly fascist with their powerful central Government entwined with large corporations, their control(mostly) of the media. The left is a threat to our country.
Let’s everyone get over Trump and move on. This loyalty is going to cost the Republicans BIGLEY. So here we are with a president who, really is so damn hapless, giving this kind of speech. And the Democrats are gaining because of this madness. I am so pissed.
I’m not really a Trump fan. Voted for him because I KNOW Clinton is a fraud and crook but not really on the Trump bandwagon.
Now, after watching the last six years? Still not on the Trump bandwagon but will vote for him over anyone associated with the Democrats.
DeSantis, ‘24!
I’d go for that!
Ditto - Marie !
same
So you would rather vote for a GOP swamp creature? Good luck with that.
That Trump is so continually maligned and persecuted by both the Donkeys and the Rhinos is proof he is indeed an existential threat to the Administrative State they have worked so hard to construct over the past century or so. He is the last, best hope we have in maintaining what little of America remains. We won't survive much longer on this path we're on.
There’s alway Liz:-)
The Republicans are definitely M.I.A. The question is: Is political America (either or other) capable of producing sound leadership and direction or is the system in its entirety so compromised by the WEF/CCP juggernaut " only its collapse will offer the people an opportunity for change.
Yeah, they do look poised to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
I think the turtle would rather stay minority leader than actually have to do something.
Most definitely the latter.
Good people know not to run for office; their families, their livelihoods, their friends all will be destroyed by the Mob.
Left, Democrats, Big Tech, Main Stream Media they all a threat never mind to our democracy, they are a threat to just the regular human being. They managed in 21/2 years to render us redundant. They closed our mom and pop stores they have destroyed our communities they have destroyed our children. Where to from here?
I've never been a huge fan, but I will vote against democrats in every election.
The Leftists are a threat to the WORLD.
But only one party rejected and tried to overturn a democratic election.
How odd...I clearly remember Democrats saying they intended to impeach Trump *months* before he actually became President. I remember Democrats' attempts to get electors to change their votes. And the "Illegitimate President" and "Not my President" choruses went on for *years.*
I didn't even vote for Trump in 2016, but the Democrats' behavior after his election convinced me that they'd all gone stark raving mad. And now that it has turned out that the first impeachment was based on false premises that rival Watergate in their level of corrupt dealings going right up to President Obama, I have zero trust in any Democrat, nor in the government agencies they have infiltrated with their unethical partisans.
Jan6 was a single day of rioting. Indeed, a few *hours* of rioting. It should not have happened. But after four years of outrages committed by Democrats, it's not surprising there were Trump fans who were upset enough to riot.
I was a Dem (moderate) and never voted for Trump (did not hate him, though). After watching how the Dems acted from 2017-2021, now every vote is to stop the left.
Yes. We have to have a coalition together to push back the current crop of the Democrats. We need them, though. Left and Right actually need one another for a functioning republic like ours to remain in balance. Right now, the monstrosity of the Leftist administrative state has GOT to be dismantled piece by piece.
The way to make this happen is to severely punish the Democrats at the polls, but this can’t happen as long as the Republican party is dominated by angry, scary zealots who only understand liberty when it supports their prejudices. I am a Democrat and I vote against leftists to push them away from the levers of power. I am doing my part. If you’re a Republican, do yours.
I did not vote in 2016, because I found both candidates repulsive. I did vote for Trump in 2020. While I still found him the same repulsive human being, I saw what the Democrats were capable of and found him to be the lesser of two evils. He should step back and allow the GOP to spread the wings and put younger people with fresh ideas at the helm. Right now, Republicans are in a total disarray, carry no positive message, and present no realistic clearly articulated program. Democrats are much better organized and united in their fight for power. True, they have media and Big Tech at their disposal, so it is easier. I just wish moderates in both parties could wake up and realize the danger. Yesterday's speech was very disturbing.
The Dems have always been more of a united front, but that smacks of lock step thought. And that lock step thought has moved farther and farther left and, frankly, crazy...cuckoo...nutty and dangerous. If you don't fall in line, you are absolutely maligned.
The problem with the GOP is, for example, McConnell, the age old Republican, who put up with Trump but was glad when he was gone so he could be the president in absentia. So either you were a never Trumper, an R who played the middle while Trump as POTUS but quietly seethed, or you saw the policies as great for America (despite Trump's personal inclinations/tweets. So you have a very divided GOP with a message that either mimics "MAGA" or tries to adopt MAGA without being identified as Trumpians. The "MAGA" agenda worked very, very well for four years.
I was chatting with a guy who did some boring for our fiber optics connections. I have no idea of his politics. He synthesized it this way, "I don't know what happened in the last two years. Everything was great before." THAT is what the GOP should be running on all day every day.
"Organized"? Democrats? You must be joking.
Very well stated, Celia. Benny Thompson, who chairs the Jan. 6 Show Trial, voted in January 2005 not to certify Ohio's vote for GW Bush, requiring the House to caucus before certifying the 2004 election results. In other words, he did exactly what Trump wanted Republicans to do Jan. 6, 2021, which Thompson now denounces as an attack on the Constitution.
It's only "wrong" when Trump does it.
Yes they were ready to riot. But who corralled them to the lawn to then break into the Congress? Who removed selective barricades and then herded them from the scaffolding with a megaphone? Who is Ray Epps? If you think the MAGA crowd is outraged now, when they find the answers to those questions I would not want to be an FBI agent.
The events of January 6 could have been stopped immediately had the Democrats wanted them to be shut down.
Instead, Pelosi dared/encouraged the mob to enter the Capitol by refusing to call out for additional security; in-part to allow the events to occur that have created the talking point that continues to this day. The presence of a couple of hundred DC Police, active military, or National Guardsmen in front of the Capitol would have stopped the "angry rioters" in their tracks. The Democrats knew up-front that stopping the crowd wouldn't have the same long term staying power in the media as the "insurrectionists" narrative has achieved.
But I think 1/6 is now coming to an end, the Democrats and the media have flogged it to death. It’s done, the problem going forward now is how to stop President Trump. The tactics to do that are also slipping away. The midterms are upon us. We have had the 1/6 commission, the raid on Mar a largo and now to top everything the most bizarre speech to come out of Brandon’s mouth in nearly 2 years. What next? There are 2 more years to go and President Trump has even started yet, what else can these lunatics think of ......
YES. GIRL.
And don't forget that, before he was even inaugurated, many Dems were claiming he could be denied office because he was mentally unfit. That diagnosis came from a few leftist psychologists who'd watched him on TV. Oh, the agenda was clear from the start, but I don't think many people knew just how crazy Trump made them. It just goes on and on.
I was a never trumper. Yes, I was horrified by Jan6 when it happened. But I was also horrified at the months of protests in cities that caused so much destruction. Yet we were only allowed to state that those were peaceful protests and ignore any violence that broke out. Downtown areas in most cities have been mostly destroyed in the last few years, restaurants and small businesses fleeing shuttering. The ones still open having boarded windows. Jan 6 lasted 1 day not going on 2 years
Portland was a once beautiful city. I'll never visit that hell hole until major change occurs. LA, hell no! Same with Chicago and I used to live in the burbs. I was just in NYC in June and every corner there was ganja wafting thought the air, day and night and riding the subway was frightening. Kenosha WI where my son attends college has never come back and it was a working class city to begin with. It's an eFen disgrace.
It’s almost as if the Left is suffering from amnesia but I am not surprised. Look I still think Trump is an ass much of the time but I did support his policies. I never saw an elected president treated with such ugliness and nonsense as he faced and as you said it started well before he took office.
There is definitely something worrying the mob if they are preparing to hunt down 74 million MAGA supporters. One would think with the pressing issues we have at the moment, that Brandon would be making speeches to all concerned Americans about the state of our country, not trying deliberately to destroy America this is a crazy time we are in.
Celia bcasey another TDS person.
Let’s be clear here: no “party” tried to overcome an election. The loser, some members of Congress and a few hundred misguided people allowed their passions to overcome their sensibilities. And as we all know now, there was reason to be skeptical of various states’ procedures. Given where we are now, with a known plagiarist feathering his family’s nest from the Oval, driving our education system, our children, our military and our economy into a ditch, one can at least empathize with those passions while rejecting the actions that went with them.
Well said, as always.
Which election are you referring to, 2016 or 2020?
Coming on the heels of the riots and rampage of 2020, encouraged and excused by democrats, the events at the Capitol were amateurish.
But not really though. While the "riots and rampage" of 2020 were certainty horrible none of them came close to over turning 200 years of peaceful democratic transfer of power. Other people doing wrong is not a green light for you to do wrong.
But people died and were injured. Government buildings were torched. Minneapolis was destroyed. Unless your side acknowledges all that was unacceptable, people must be tried and punished, then no one on my side can take seriously your criticism of Jan6, which at the end of the day produced nothing. Democracy wasn’t threated. This is hyperbole. A woman was murdered by a cop and he was let off. But rioters have been sent to prison for 10 yrs.
If you can’t see the disproportion in all this, you are willfully blind.
why does everything have to be "my" side or "your side". Maybe both the summer 2020 riots and the attempted overturning of the election were both horrible. But call me crazy for being more alarmed that one party fought a peaceful transfer of power that has been going on since 1789.
The January riot did not "come close" to anything. The electors had already voted back in December. Unlike some countries, merely forcing their way into the Capitol building did not give the rioters any power over our government. Those who think that possession of the Capitol translates into "taking over the government" need some remedial civics lessons.
Yeah, if a bunch of rag tags can “take over the government” unarmed, we are in deeper doo-doo than even I imagine.
So I guess Trump's calling for that rally on the exact date of Jan 6 was a *coincidence?*
Gimme a break, Celia.
Good observation. The electors had already spoken.
The insurrectionist did delay the certification of the electoral college by Congress!
If the Democrat coup (an actual coup where the entire permanent government conspires) to overthrow the 2016 election had been successful, which it almost was, it would have been “peaceful”.
Being triggered by Viking Helmet Guy breaking windows is the realm of the unintelligent.
Why is/are the left so afraid to have Any opposing views on their Jan 6th committee. Where is my main man Epps? ...faceless .
Also the Capitol “riot” did not come close to overturning 200 years of peaceful democratic transfer of power. Unless you think a guy in a stupid headdress is an actual threat instead of a dumbass.
I agree with you but if you think a 5 ft nothing woman that LARPed her way into getting shot and the Bison Shaman came anywhere close to overturning anything but an omelette we need to have a long conversation.
Agreed!
https://euphoricrecall.substack.com/p/stop-sensationalizing-the-capitol
That's what's so scary. That Trump thought they'd do any *good?* He was unhinged, by Your own words.
We have a difference of opinion. I am convinced that there was a tremendous amount of chicanery surrounding “the election”. I think it was perfectly legitimate to protest”peacefully “ a stolen election. Anyone that perpetrated violence on that day should be prosecuted(including state actors). We should all be concerned with election integrity. Every LEGAL vote should be counted.
The problem is you still have the sickness. There is zero evidence of anything being wrong with the election (please dont start linking or spitting out what you think is evidence).
Oh? But people have confessed to voter fraud and been convicted. I would call that “some evidence”
Two things:
Once the electors were certified, the election was *OVER.*
These convicted people? You got any links? And the number of fraudulent votes that these people were convicted on? How many each?
I'll go so far as to admit that WI looked pretty sketchy, but I haven't really investigated it thoroughly. I took Barr's words as fact ,that as of Jan 6, there was ZERO, zip, zilch, NADA. That's just me.
Again, the votes were certified mid-December. What was all that which went on after that, anyway? What purpose?
Sounds like you don’t want a dialogue, which is fine. I doubt either of us will change. I wish you well.
If someone asked you to have a "dialogue" about how 9/11 was an inside job would that be a serious conversation? Consider for a second how badly duped you would be right now if you were wrong. Just consider it.
There’s no evidence of 2016 fraud and you lot won’t give up the “resistance” nonsense either. It’s just what true believers do...act irrationally and do stupid stuff in the name of their side. Wear pink hats. Escalate things over and over. Impeach people several times for dumb stuff. Ignore the flaws of their own side. I’d say there is def a sickness.
Oh this is rich. "There is no evidence and don't show me any because I will deny it."
The fact that the Democratic Party works directly with Big Media to control public narratives and censor people is by itself a fundamental overhaul of democracy.
There is no evidence of what is usually called "vote fraud" (people voting twice, stuffing of ballot boxes, and the like) in sufficient quantity to have swung the election. There is however, the fact that a news story which could easily have swung the election to Trump had it been widely disseminated and seen as true -- the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop, showing corrupt dealings in Ukraine and China with 10% to "the big guy" -- was censored by tech giants at the behest of the FBI, who lied and said that it was "Russian disinformation", and the fact that many states conducted their elections in manners which violated the plain meaning of the statutes governing elections passed by their legislatures due to "emergency" decrees from a state court or a secretary of state's office, the provision of the U.S. Constitution that only the legislatures of the several states may specify how electors are to be selected notwithstanding.
When partisan passions cool, historians will put an asterisk on the 2020 result the same way 1876 gets one and some put one on 1960 (cf. Cook County, IL, vote fraud in the conventional sense).
Yes there is. Go to Heritage.org/voterfraud
"Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
bury the rag deep in your face, now is the time for your tears."
The point of the exercise, is to leave the victim confused, unmoored from reality, twisting in emotional space, not knowing what to believe. It creates high levels of fear, anxiety and a sense of powerlessness. It destroys the sense of personal agency and reduces the individual to childlike dependency on the perpetrator. Any rational protest by the victim is met with accusation ("..you fascist prick..") threats of abandonment, violence and hysteria. It is the classic tactic of malignant narcissism.
Look past the image and attempt at rationalization. Experience the energy. The body doesn't lie. Know the truth. Heal.
Or maybe it was one party that made that election undemocratic to begin with. Zuck dollars, absentee voting. 2000 Mules, suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop......
Need I go on?
Yes but the transfer wasn’t peaceful so we need communism.
Nope but you might have to for bcasey, this person has no clue what went on. I would suggest it reads Rigged but then it’s like farting against thunder it wouldn’t understand the book.
So you were also around for the Gore lawsuits? Yeah the dems tried like hell to overturn an election. Was eerily infuriating wasn’t it?
And when the Supreme court lawfully ruled against Gore what did he do? Please finish your own thought.
Been a while but I remember protests and dems on TV screaming “illegitimate president!” and “election fraud!” and “corrupt Supreme Court!”
Wow, now that I think about it, it was a lot like the weeks after the 2016 election.
I knew people in grad school who never actually accepted that Gore had lost. And yet Bush Derangement Syndrome, bizarre as it was at the time, was mild compared to TDS.
Marie...ba ba ba Bingo. thanks
So it actually got to the Supreme Court? Weird. It’s almost like…….
The Democrats have done that in virtually every election they’ve lost this century.
JD...oh yes...they must use the Hymen Method for cover.
Oh jeez my bad I fell for it too. This account bcasey004 is trolling.
I don’t mean that in the way that people often mean ‘trolling’ where they call anything they disagree with “trolling”.
I mean actual trolling. Just read their other comments. It is a troll account.
Yeah I have probably fallen for it to
Wait a minute. Participation is not “trolling” There are a lot of passionate right-wing people in this section, but they don’t own it. Hard as it may be for you to imagine, people can express contrary opinions regularly just because they want to, without being organized to disturb the peace by doing so. Frankly, having a better variety of opinions in this comment section could only improve it. Right now, it’s out of whack.
Google "Reichstag fire" and get back to us.
Pretty familiar with it. But remember the GOP already gave up on 1/6 being a liberal inside job. I believe the current excuse is "just a tourist visit" . Try to keep up with the party line.
The Reichstag Fire was a violent attack on a government building by fringe actors which…….ADOLF HITLER………used to smear his political opponents and justify seizing power. So yeah.
Ignore bcasey004.
A DNC bot.
Nothing more.
$17/hr
Help is available for what you have. The dems spent 2017-2021 trying to overthrow Nov 2016.
Just ask Hillary
After the stage was set by hanging chads and trying keep recounting Florida until Al Gore won until the SCOTUS pulled the plug on that charade, after which we had the "selected not elected" smear for W's whole presidency, and the whole "Russian collusion" attempt to delegitimize Trump's election, impeachment of specious charges of corrupt dealings with Ukraine (was that a misdirect, knowing Hunter B's involvement with Burisima would eventuall come out?), and Stacie Abrams modeling Trump's "stolen election" narrative at the state level, trying to overturn democratic election seems to be a bipartisan pastime.
Believe it or not but I worked with a guy named Chad at the time. Poor guy!
My parish priest at the time was Fr. Chad Hatfield. He took the name when he converted from Anglicanism to Holy Orthodoxy in 1994, following St. John Maximovitch's advice that we Orthodox start venerating the saints the West had before the schism and choosing St. Chad because the English saint had had trouble with bishops even as the now Fr. Chad did when he was an Anglican.
Two more amusing facts: St. Chad is the patron saint of elections. And calling the little bits of cardboard punched out of punch cards "chads" is due to a mistake. A man named Chadless invented a keypunch machine that did not produce them (I'm not quite sure how it worked), and people back-constructed the name, by assuming the Chadless key-punch, was the chadless key-punch, so the little bits of cardboard must be called "chads".
That's amazing! Who knew? I'm a cradle Catholic and never heard of St. Chad! I had to look him up. To extend your point, he's the patron saint of "disputed elections". That's so hilarious! Thanks for the share....made my night.
Not quite. It's unfair to judge as "equally bad" those who, after being the victims of an injustice repeatedly over time, decide to try to play by the new rules.
If you really believe that these rioters could have overturned the election, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. If our form of government was on the precipice due to the breach of the Capitol, why after 18 months, and control of the legislative branch, have the Democrats not reformed or repealed the Electoral Count Act of 1887 that has the Vice President certify the votes? Lastly, if MAGA individuals are so dangerous to our country, why have the DCCC and other Democratic PAC's spent over $40 million in advertising to help certain MAGA candidates, so that their candidate will hopefully have an easier general election?
bcasey004, your turn! I dare you try to refute AdamNJ!
Are you talking about the 2000 election?
Surely you are referring to how the Democrats have tried to overthrow or overturn every Republican presidential victory in my life, right?
You're referring to the three years of mainstream lies sold as "bombshell revelations on Russia", whose entirely purpose was to undermine the USA government because Democrats weren't in control?
You're in total denial, bcasey
"democratic election" is in the eye of the beholder. Unless, of course, you are Al Gore or Hillary Clinton or Stacey Abrams.
We can actually stuff the ballot dumpsters with 20 million extra ballots and win in 2024 and this person will be fine with it as long as there’s a peaceful ceremony on TV.
You’re dealing with a child. You have to understand the sophistication level of your fellow citizens.
Rigged for silent running, myself. Guerilla warfare rules in force: do not comply, don't let your left hand know what you're right hand is doing. Throw enough sand in the gears, and the Great Reset will grind to a halt.
Massive non-compliance.
In golfing terms, the left is hitting a hook. The boxing analogy is much more ominous: watch for the left hook.
Right-handed, guilty as charged. During my not-so-great golfing days, I used to line up 45 degrees to the left in order to hit the ball 45 degrees to the right. For me (and those I golfed with) golf was a pleasant stroll on a nice day interrupted by the need to strike the ball occasionally. We always tried to follow proper golfing etiquette so as not to be too much of an impediment to other golfers, including letting others play through from time to time and we played at times when there wasn't very many others on the course. We also used a "free kick" rule, a ball may be kicked away from any tree that impeded a proper golf swing, the logic being that the tree hadn't been there before, but had intentionally and unfairly positioned itself to impede a proper swing. Arguments over what (and what did not) constitute a "gimme" on the green - well, there weren't any. An official "gimmee" was only extended to another when his ball was within 15 nanometers of the cup, as that seemed commensurate with our golfing capabilities.
Probably more than you asked for, but... ain't golfing fun?
When everything else shuts down, you can always sit at your kitchen table and tell jokes about Biden or whoever comes to power next. Sort of like what the Soviet people had done for 70 years.
It’s pretty bad for sure.
I for one think Biden’s rhetoric is way over the line.
The Saul Alinsky tactics will get more brazen as we get close to the Nov election.
The funny part is that we were chased out of Afghanistan by--wait for it--
People with rifles.
Well not funny ha ha but funny ironic.
He is losing his mind. He really is.
I think he is terrified of what a republican congress will turn up in investigations.
If you were the "Big Guy" and implicated by your own son, wouldn't you be afraid of what even a half-assed, semi-competent investigation would reveal????
yep
So is the FBI, which is why they raided Mar-A-Lago. No doubt Trump declassified FBI stuff that they went looking for.
Wrung...indeed, they are shaking
Sounds kind of like fascism?
"Paranoia strikes deep--into your life it will creep...starts when your always afraid--step out of line the man comes--and takes you away--stop children what's that sound--everybody look what's going down."
84,000 armed I.R.S./BigTech/surveillance state agents matching your social media posts with your bank account and personal finances will need to interview your employer and neighbors while raiding your wife's panty drawer. Even if you beat the charges you'll go broke in lawyers fee's taking the ride. (Hot stock tip: Krupp Steel/slave labor/ the prison industrial complex.)
Nah--just kidding. LOL
Hot stock tip: Don't steal classified material.
The only way to deal with that wannabe Stasi and the clownish dwarf and blow dried buffoon who lead them is to stare them down and dare them to ignite the spark that will free America.
Posted like a true Patriot Bruce, your post is inspirational!
rob, your warmongering, and Bari, Suzy Weiss, and Nellie Bowles should condemn it; in fact, everyone who loves America should condemn this kind of speech; Biden didn’t say: “…he has f-15’s for domestic opponents …” Here’s what he actually said: “…if you think you need to have weapons to take on the government, you need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons, the point is that there has always been the ability to limit-rationally limit the type of weapon that can be owned, and who can own it.” Biden isn’t using threatening speech, but the Trump Maga’s like you, sure as hell are. If anyone wants to purge America, it’s the Magas. Not condemning this kind of rhetoric is giving approval for the destruction of America! Benjamin Franklin’s words were prophetic when he was asked, what kind of government have you given us? His reply: “A democracy, if you can keep it.”
Seriously? The president claims( while flanked by soldiers ) there is a massive domestic threat from his chief political foe and he has the military ability to crush it, and you think I am the warmonger ?
And what frightens Biden the most is that he knows deep down, that despite the treachery of the toadies who surround him, the rank and file in the military would never turn their weapons on their fellow Americans. Biden would find himself like the detested Ceausescu - after ordering his tanks to fire on civilians, their turrets slowly turned on him. And just like Biden, the detested dictator fled - only to be later captured to face justice.
Ceausescu and his wife were walking to a helicopter and both were shot buy his own bodyguards.
Maybe he'll turn the military on people and tear gas them so he can take a photo op by a church?
that never actually happened, you do know that right?
rob, you think Pres. Biden is threatening to use the military and civilians, like Trump did in June 2020. But Donald Trump's ideologue are blind to hypocrisy!
“President Donald Trump on Monday declared himself the “president of law and order” and said he would mobilize every available federal force both “civilian and military” as he vowed to put an immediate end to violent protests that have swept the nation for days.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/01/trump-slams-governors-as-weak-crackdown-on-protests-294023
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=trump+gassed+protestors+to+take+picture+by+sait+andrews+chirch&qpvt=trump+gassed+protestors+to+take+picture+by+sait+andrews+chirch&FORM=VDRE
A new tool appears. Also without a name.
Nothing changes.
rob, Donald Trump’s follower’s behavior on January 6 clearly indicates they could be a threat to our Republic! Biden didn’t say: “…massive domestic threat….” He said: “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.” you’re pissed off because he called you out. You infer that Biden will use the military to crush the MAGAs, but this is what really upset you: (Biden’s words) “We hear — you’ve heard it, more and more talk about violence as an acceptable political tool in this country. It’s not. It can never be an acceptable tool. So, I want to say this plain and simple: There is no place for political violence in America, period, none, ever.” You said: “…the President said he has f-15s for domestic opponents….” And when this happens, we all know that the MAGAs will lay down their arms and surrender! You’re amongst those on social media like Truth Social predicting imminent civil war. You’re trying to stir the blood of your fellow nationalist; you irrationally think it’s time to do what Thomas Jefferson said: The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. You and your ilk, who think they are Minuteman, are the ones, in reality, threatening the Republic.
"A hit dog will holler."
Funny thing is, Trump will abandon their dumbasses just like he did the Jan. 6th attackers.
Delusional
Good thing Trump never gave a speech flanked by soldiers, amirite?
rob, somewhere in your thought process, you believe your Neo, who took the red pill from Morpheus, but you must be colorblind because it’s apparent you took the blue pill and followed the white rabbit down the hole of paranoia and irrationality. Having a rational conversation with you is an impossibility and an act of futility!
what did I say that isn't true?
Just me waxes poetic bullshit....like incessantly!
The quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin (in response to the question: “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” was actually “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
There's a difference.
Yeah the conflation of “democracy” and “republic” drives me a little batty.
Maria, apparently you need a civics lesson.
“The United States is both a democracy and a republic. Democracies and republics are both forms of government in which supreme power resides in the citizens. The word republic refers specifically to a government in which those citizens elect representatives who govern according to the law. The word democracy can refer to this same kind of representational government, or it can refer instead to what is also called a direct democracy, in which the citizens themselves participate in the act of governing directly.”
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy
So odd that they've, in the last few years, started using the word "Republic" in describing America - which has NEVER been common vernacular...until MAGAs
Why? It's equated with the Roman Empire...which had Ceasars, etc. They yearn for autocratic rule.
Sorry comprof. Wrong again. The Roman Republic preceded the Roman Empire. Caesars (learn to spell somtime too) were after the Republic. You are an uneducated buffoon.
Comprof, Here’s a quote from the Heritage Foundation: “America is a republic and not a pure democracy. The contemporary efforts to weaken our republican customs and institutions in the name of greater equality thus run against the efforts by America’s Founders to defend our country from the potential excesses of democratic majorities.”
America was around 87% white when the Heritage foundation came into existence in 1973. White folk, on a percentage basis, has declined by 26%. This means white people will soon no longer be the majority, merely a plurality. I think the reason the word republic has gained such currency is self-apparent, don’t you?
https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/report/america-republic-not-democracy
We should just let MAGA rule. Letting people vote is overrated. Real American patriots know this.
Because accurately quoting is so fascist! 🙄
You may actually be a communications professor with that level of integrity.
Also it's not "Communications" - it is "Communication"
Yes, I agree. Can you send me the quote where Biden called all Republicans fascists? I told my friend that happened, now he is demanding proof. Can you help me out?
I know. That's why we should worship Trump and let him lead us.
I stand corrected; Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Dr. Benjamin Franklin; what kind of government have you given us? “A republic, if you can keep it,” too. Powel immediately shoots back, “And why not keep it?”, Franklin responds, “Because the people, on tasting the dish, are always disposed to eat more of it than does them good.” The Republic is a representative democracy and, therefore, a democratic form of governance.
I have to disagree with you. At least to a point.
It certainly looks to me like the Biden admin is weaponizing the government to take on people who disagree with them.
I still think people are WAY WAY too over the top in their fear and loathing of Trump. You all have made him an all powerful, evil character from a Bond movie when in fact he is just a plain spoken, clever like a fox, asshole. BTW....his policies were always way more popular than he was. He was also right to call out our cheap NATO allies and to tell them they were screwing up by relying on Russia for their energy. Did you miss that Russia cut off Nordstream 1 today? Have you seen whats happening to the Europeans? So, Trump was right and Merkel was a sucker.
1. Trump was right about NATO (note the War in Ukraine)
2. He was right about China (Note Taiwan and all the Chinese espionage in the US)
3. He was right about European dependence on Russia. (See the skyrocketing electric and heating bills driving businesses to close in the UK and on the continent)
4. He was right on the border. We have a massive massive crisis down there with people from over 60 countries coming in and being let go.
5. He was right to resist the national shutdowns during COVID, particularly of schools.
6. Trump did not get us into any other wars, nor did Russia have the nerve to invade Ukraine while he was in office.
7. Trump was right about our being energy independent or have you not noticed the skyrocketing cost of gasoline, natural gas and electricity? ALL of which impacts the cost of everything else. OH...OH...but we can go with renewables. Yeah? Ask the Germans how that is working out for them. Look at CA doing stupid crap like ban gas powered cars while completely failing to take into account the energy grid. Its only 2022 and they are already having to do energy emergency procedures and ask people not to charge their EVs.
All Biden has given us is one disaster after another with the added benefit of a new military conflict. NOT ONE THING is not worse under Biden. NOT A ONE.
Talk about fascism. Fascism is the harnessing of the private sector to empower the government. Think all that censorship directed by the democrats, Biden and the FBI was not right out of the fascist playbook?
He whines about Jan 6th while he was cheering on riots all over the country, including those that attacked federal buildings such as in Portland. That went on for months resulted in innumerable deaths and injuries, but that was OK cuz it was their people. Complete hypocrisy.
And here you are, like a good little fascist, calling for ANOTHER site to censor what you do not want to hear. That is weak and cowardly.
Good thing Trump never called for people to be arrested and locked up. That would be tacky.
Wrung, you followed the white rabbit down the hole of delusion; hopefully, you find your way out someday.
Real men don’t make threats. Biden is a corrupt pervert. His days are certainly numbered.
I always find it amusing that certain people think their guns are keeping the American government at bay, as if their AR-15s can prevent a drone strike. Kinda like a little kid who thinks he's actually Superman.
The Taliban say hi.
Lol. You think the U.S. left because of some pick-up trucks and AK-47s?
https://iai.tv/articles/the-real-reason-for-leaving-afghanistan-auid-1860
Yes, clearly government firepower is superior to anything civilians can bring to bear. It should be, given the amount we spend on the Pentagon each year.
By the way, please explain again about the “insurrection” that was the greatest danger to “our democracy” since Pearl Harbor? Those crafty insurrectionists must have been hiding their fearsome weapons that almost overthrew our democracy. Ridiculous on its face.
No need to put "insurecction" in quotes. Mentioned nothing about Pearl Harbor, so don't know that is in reference to. That was a foreign country.
Jan 6th attackers were domestics who were armed. Firearms, included (as we have now found out due to court cases and plea bargains)
They invaded the Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the government in support of a dude who was a former game show host. What's her face got shot and killed - and rightly so.
Same for the guy who attacked FBI office, same thing. Excellent. Hope more decide to take up the mantle behind Trump in that manner.
In a different world, the Jan 6th attackers would have gotten a drone strike.
I will not post a response to this. I will just let your comments be a monument to your type of mindset.
Yes, please do! MAGA criminals can suffer consequences, too. Not special, little, white snowflakes who can threaten others without consequences.
Your comment displays an incredible amount of military ignorance, legal ignorance and historical ignorance.
1. Any "insurgency" that were to arise here would not be a set piece battle between armies. It would look a lot like Iraq or Afghanistan. Our military is not designed, structured or equipped to fight an insurgency and win, few, if any, standing armies are. Hence the reason that any serious counterinsurgency effort has ALWAYS included political settlement as the expected outcome. It would very likely involve cutting off and disrupting the lifelines to the major, liberal cities. The Big Blue cities like NYC or LA or Chicago or Boston are all highly vulnerable to having their water, food and energy cut off. In fact, you could make the case that the entire North East is vulnerable with perhaps the exceptions of Maine and VT. California is incredibly vulnerable to water and power disruptions from outside the state. You may remember the great Northeast Blackout. Look at the major means of transportation of food, water and power to places like NYC. All very very vulnerable. Heck, you could cut off DC by blowing up one or two rail lines and a couple of overpasses. The infrastructure that supports these big blue centers is old, weak, a full of choke points and they have no means of providing those things for themselves. Apart from that, none of this stuff was ever built with the idea that it needed to be hardened against domestic attack. I speak as someone who actually spent years trying to convince our corporations and leaders at utilities and transportation to harden their systems and infrastructure after 9/11. It was deemed to be to expensive and inefficient to REALLY harden that infrastructure. Rural areas are far far less vulnerable. In general, they have more usable resources to produce power locally, produce food locally and have access to wells, rivers and groundwater. They also tend to have populations that are skilled at leveraging and repurposing those resources. In short, any insurgency based in red areas could hold out a lot longer than any major blue center. Why is that important? Its important because just as democracies have a hard time sustaining military action due to public support, you can be sure that blue state voters support for fighting a red insurgency would hit a wall when they are desperate for heat or A/C or for food or have no clean drinking water.
2. You would be silly to count on the military. First, the military and most of its veterans do not come from the Big Blue centers. They come from poor urban areas where kids need a way out or they come from red or reddish states with large rural areas. You do not get a lot of recruits from the upper middle class from the northeast or CA. In short, you get kids and officers who largely have either no invested interest in the lives of those in the Big Blue areas, the educated professional class OR who come from areas that would likely support any insurgency of the type you fear. Any insurgency would likely include a lot of veterans, probably with combat experience. Take a look at the makeup of a lot of the people at Jan 6th riot. LOT of veterans. They know how to fight off or deal with the very weapons, such as drones, that you mention because they have used them and know their weaknesses. Toss in the fact that the military is going to be massively short of personnel as it is. Since Biden took office recruitment has fallen off a cliff and the military is considering lowering standards and massive enlistment bonuses to try and up the numbers but so far no luck. Part of the problem is that a whole lot of those farm boys and urban kids are no longer enlisting. The other part is that so many kids are unfit physically for service. Do you see and army of suburban or urban kids stepping up? You think the parents in the professional classes are going to tolerate their children being drafted or even volunteering? They are soft and they are used to the idea that they can buy a military they do not have to participate in. The MINUTE that DC said it was gonna draft these kids the big blue centers would revolt and call no mas.
Now, to have a successful insurgency that would break the Big Blue Centers, you do not NEED to have artillery, or drones (though you can make them if you want and have the know how) or even machine guns or an AR. You just need to know your enemies weak points and exploit them. Bombs can be made from all kinds of readily available materials. (See the Maura Federal Building for example). BUT, that aside, you can be sure that were an insurgency to occur, that the Chinese and the Russians, probably the Iranians and a few others would start shipping weapons over the southern border to that insurgency. They may ship them directly through the ports. Back during the last ban on assault weapons CBP caught 4,000 Chinese made AK47s that came through the port of LA. CBP admitted at the time that they got lucky. They do not have the resources to check every container. How soon before you see the Chinese equivalent of a stinger popping up and taking out FBI helicopters? BTW.....while you are fighting off this insurgency, an insurgency that will be supported by foreign players, what bandwidth are you going to have to challenge those foreign players? NOTE: This is what we have done all over the globe for decades.
What good are aircraft carriers, B2 bombers, cruise missiles, or even an F15 going to do for you against an insurgency? Not much. Insurgents are not big targets and they blend in or operate in small units that can disperse quickly. Hence the reason that, in the end, we needed a boat load of infantry in Iraq and Afghanistan. You need to be able to go door to door and you need to be able to convince the populace of different areas to not support that insurgency. Where is all that infantry you would need come from?
Now we can come to the legal question. The military is barred from participating in domestic operations. For good reason. The only way you get past that is to either break the law or have something like a state declare that it is breaking away as in the 1860s. You would have to convince the military leadership that it had the legal authority to act and then convince them that they could do so and actually achieve the mission. The uproar from the states, from within the political establishment and probably from within the ranks would make them seriously hesitate. Never mind that they are geared to be outward looking and would see that were they to become involved that they would not be able to support any part of their global missions. The answer, as in the past, is to provide military grade weapons to the police and to the FBI. The FBI is not set up to be a military arm. It lacks the structure and organization to be a military and if it tried to become one, the actual military would freak out. No police force in the US is equipped to take on an insurgency, particularly one partially made up of experienced veterans. Never mind that a LOT of cops would probably be supportive, at least at some level, of said insurgency after how the left has gone after them so hard for the last 5 yrs.
3. History should teach you to be highly highly cautious of thinking that a large central government can take out an insurgency with its military. Our OWN history shows that. We were the first to engage in asymmetric warfare against the Brits and it was highly successful at keeping the Brits back while we prepared a more traditional army. Vietnam. Iraq, Afghanistan. Look at what the Brits suffered in India. Look at what the Jews were able to do in Palestine against the Brits. History is packed with examples of insurgencies that have held off or defeated traditional standing armies. An insurgency does not need to win standing battles, it only has to survive and make the life of the government and its supporters miserable and terrifying for a long enough period of time. When NYC has gone without power for a month, when LA is out of water, when Boston cannot get food or fuel, when people living in Portland are unable to leave their homes safely because the cops are tied up trying to find insurgents and crime goes even higher, when professors at places like Yale or Brown or Harvard sit in faculty lounges wondering how one of their peers that was on MSNBC could be blown up in their car at home, many of those people will start throwing up their hands and looking for a way out via compromise of some sort.
Infrastructure could turned off and weaponzied in EVERY single state "Red" or "Blue" - Why are you so focused on "Blue" States suffering? "Red" states are getting wiped out, too. But you seem to have this fetish that Blue states will be wiped out, but Red states will fight back, survive and prosper. Lol.
So your AR-15 is pointless in keeping the government from getting "uppity." Good for protecting against other, everyday walking around Americans, though.
Hell, 65% of Americans can't even climb 2 flights of stairs, but you're gonna mount an insurgency? Wonder how long it'll take you to get your local HOA equipped, trained, and organized? How long will it take you to build and learn to fly F-15s? Are there major jungle or mountain regions in the U.S. that you can hide in?
No insurgency has ever held it's own against America WITHOUT military, financial and logistical help from ANOTHER COUNTRY. Who are you going to get help you? Germany? Australia? UK?
Our own history? Lol. Lost of other countries provided money, material, etc. to the U.S. during the Revolutionary War (France, Spain, Netherlands, etc.) Dummy.
Your long-ass answer displays a tremendous amount of ignorance across a breadth of areas. Yeah, dude go take on Delta Force, Seals Teams, MARSOC Marine Raiders, Air Force drones, Naval Warships, I'm sure you'll be victorious.
Well, I am speaking form experience. I am a combat veteran with degrees in Economics, Computer Science and Political Science.
I have worked for or with the DoD for over 25 yrs. My family comes from a long line of West Point grads going back to the Civil War. My friends include O6s and O7s, FBI agents (also family members). I have helped train army troops and have briefed various Sec Defs and Sec Army leadership. I have consulted on cyber security for the Pentagon and have consulted on physical and cyber security for at least a dozen CONUS and OCONUS military bases across the services.
I live in the National Capital region and include in my friends and acquaintances, congress critters, various Capital staffers and many senior bureaucrats across the Fed Civ and DoD spaces to include the Federal Reserve, SEC, FBI, and the IC.
AND...I am a long time student of military history.
The types of questions dealt with here have been part of our personal conversations for years. At first they were mere mental masturbation but over the last 5 or 6 yrs the question has taken on new meaning and have become less of just mental exorcises.
What I just gave you reflects the thinking of a large part of your national security establishment. There are no secrets in it and if you take the time to do the research you will find that a lot of what I said has already been expressed by various leaders in the space, the people who get paid to think about and research this stuff and game it out. I fear that what you are doing is listening to those who WANT to believe as you do, who believe in the happy path, or who believe that by convincing themselves and others that the happy path is true that they can make it believable enough that those who would create an insurgency would be discouraged from doing so. This is precisely the approach we used with our military for a very long time. Create a sense of invincibility such that you never have to prove it. But then you find that you really do.
Your last two paragraphs prove my point. You can be sure that the Chinese, the Russians, the Iranians, the North Koreans, Venezuelans, Cuba and others WOULD push resources over our border. Enough at least to keep the federal government tied down and unable to respond to anything overseas.
As I said, you would need to overcome legal and practical obstacles to employ any of the forces you listed and even then, what the hell is an aircraft carrier gonna hit? What targets would a destroyer launch missiles at? Thats the problem with fighting insurgencies. They do not fight as targets large enough for those weapons systems. They disappear into the population. They strike in small groups with targeted attacks looking to break your will, they do not try to hold large swaths of territory with tanks.
And, as I said, you can make the lives of people in big cities absolutely miserable and terrifying with surgical attacks. Rural areas just have more resiliency and the people who populate them are just better experienced at the fundamental skills needed to maintain life. A small town in rural Georgia will simply be able to provide the basics, power, food, water, far far better than a place like Newark with its highly complex infrastructure. The more complex it is, the easier it is to break and the harder it is to fix. You cannot hunt in Central Park. You cannot dig a well on Boston Common. There is no place to grow anything on the Miracle Mile. Your average IT manager in San Fran has no clue how to weld or fix a generator. Your average Deloitte accountant has no idea how to provide basic first aid, much less treat a sucking chest wound or set a broken leg or suture or cauterize a wound. A WHOLE lot of people in rural areas have those skills out of necessity. And who do you think has the greater physical stamina, the farm kid who has worked outside since they were 5 or the kid from Cambridge who went to prep school and played XBox every day after school? Who do you think can deal better with physical hardship, the kid who handled cattle in West Texas or the kid from Austin who went to day care and then to organized play dates and prep school, the pipe layer or coal miner or the liberal arts professor?
There is no "kid from West Texas" handling cattle, etc. Todays farms are mechanized/automated and run by large Agribusiness firms on the Fortune 500. The ones doing the labor are season migrant farm laborers.
Lived in Red State/rural areas 95% of my life -they are not a bunch of "Daniel Boones" and MacGyvers - pretty much hunt/fish, drink beer, complain about liberals and nonwhites and cheer on their football team. That's about it -they're not dealing with broken legs at home, or patching up sucking chest wounds. Lol. They going to the urgent care and/or hospital. Just like EVERYONE else.
So, I don't know where this "salt of the Earth, Rambo-in-waiting" nonsense came from. They're toast - just like all the "soft-handed, effeminate, weak-kneed, faint at the sight of blood" people in American cities.
They also have the highest rates of obesity and chronic illness, disability, etc. - which is why your coal miner most likely has COPD/Black Lung Disease and is dealing with chronic back pain and is addicted to Oxycontin. He's going to slow our chalk down. We're gonna have to leave him behind.
Not all faculty were in academia their entire lives, had other lives/experiences before that, so I can compete with any coal miner or pipe fitter....but it's really irrelevant...we're both getting killed.
How are China, Iran, etc. controlling the borders to supply your insurgency. Are they invading CA and the Atlantic states? The only borders left are Canada and Mexico. Are they invading them, too?
Whatever. Then that makes everything you said extra stupid. Especially the American Revolution stuff. So:
1. What other countries are helping/ setting up no-fly zones above Iowa?
2. How are you stopping infrastructure being cut off/weaponized/ stopped in the Red States when all of that can be done remotely and only one or two locations needs to be captured.
3. How are you organizing a national HOA resistance force of former auto mechanics and random office workers?
4. Where are getting your supplies and material?
5. How will you find cover from F-15s in that wide open, super flat region of middle America? How can you "blend into the population" when the population density in Red States/Middle America is low, as there is more land than people?
6. What geographic land (mountains, large rivers, etc.will provide a natural barrier for ground troops, tanks artillery?
So, who you claim to know is irrelevant. But, please, go pitch your idea that you and your poker buddies could be successful, with NO INTERNATIONAL INVOLEMENT/SUPPORT, in defeating the entire U.S. Military apparatus, if they brought all their forces and technology to bear.
Silly little man
OMG!!! YOU JUST CALLED ALL MEN SILLY!!!
... did I do that right?
Nope. But you confirmed that you're retarded.
Kinda like the same retards, like you, who think Biden called all GOP "semi-fascists" Lol.
MAGAs attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Kamala Harris called for the release of arrested antifa members who savaged American cities.
At least one of whom committed murder after being bailed out.
She didn’t call for their release. She bailed them out of jail and one of them then killed someone.
Is that better?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/harris-protesters-bail/
Oh so the video of her face where she says the thing with her face……..is a fake video??
OMG fact check.
There is no video of Harris calling for rioters to be released.
If you saw one, it probably was a deep fake.
Please provide a link to said video so that we can all enjoy.
Not a video, but here you go (includes Harris' tweet soliciting donations to the Minnesota Freedom Fund)
https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-world/kamala-harris-backed-bail-fund-helped-incarcerated-man-now-charged-with-murder-go-free
🤡🤡🤡🤡
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/harris-protesters-bail/
Oh holy shit you found somebody who is lying about it? Daaaaaamn!!!
😂😂😂
The left burnt dozens of cities, injured thousands of officers and attacked the White House
But it’s the MAGA supporters we have to hunt down Rob all 74 million of them. I wonder how Brandon proposes to do that
Really? The WH was attacked?
Yes....dozens of American cities....all burned to the ground....so sad.
Do we have a list of these "dozens" of cities that were destroyed?
So trump was rushed to the bunker because of a mostly peaceful protest?
Trump said he was not rushed to any bunker. So, who is the liar? Him or the media?
BlueAnon rampaged across the country burning, looting, and murdering.
A mob of protesters were allowed to enter the capital by failed security.
"Attacked", what a load. I was in DC that day since I work there. Been to the Capital many times.
The melodrama is astounding.
And then they bashed my steering wheel to death with a Russian fire extinguisher.
Yeah they do. They had to do a pre-dawn raid of James O'Keefe's house because he has a diary written by a Biden family member that could prove embarrassing to Joe.
The NSA is recording everything. They supposedly are not supposed to be looking at everything........
Store: yes
Analyze: not until provoked
We know they do because of Snowden. I question the "they are not supposed to" part as well.
That's probably more true than we suspect. I hope so.
The visual choices somebody (or several somebodies) made for Biden's speech were...in a word, SCARY. The red light and soldiers at attention invoked a lot of images, none of them good. In addition to the most obvious comparison, I saw people recalling scenes from V for Vendetta and the First Order of the Star Wars sequels. My husband asked if there had been anyone singing, because it looked to him like it only needed a chorus of hyenas to be The Lion King.
Vultures and hyenas. They have gaslighted us out of our America. Be patient it’s definitely turning the midterms 2 months away, and please stop watching cable news and take no notice of polls
At times, it does seem like a Republican defeat can be snatched from what should be a victory. Comments from Trump which tear down other Republicans, promise amnesty for 1/6 rioters, or nasty comments on the looks of the women who served in the cabinet are not vote getters. The female cabinet members served the country well I.e. Title 9 reforms. No rioter & no one who swings at an officer of the law whether in Portland or DC should avoid punishment. McConnell comments seem like airing the dirty laundry, splitting the party, and fail to acknowledge that some of the goals of Trump’s admin happened because of McConnell’s maneuvering.
Compare and contrast with Kevin McCarthy's speech in vision along with words and tone. From arguing the are you better off after 2 years of all Democrat rule to listing the facts of what is wrong with current policy. Free of name calling, blaming, and hyperboles...a strong appeal to voters who want rational government.
First Order was my first thought. I assumed the pic was photoshopped. I still can't believe it's real.
My husband made the V comparison. He also said it looked like a screenshot from Doom.
I remember one Christmas Melania had red Christmas trees displayed in one of the rooms at the White House. Many in the mass media were hysterical and claimed that it symbolized the Handmaid’s Tail. “See, see....it’s proof that he wants to enslave women. Let’s go scream at the sky!”
They would have claimed the same thing if this had been Trump speaking with the red background. They probably would have claimed that the two marines proved that he was going to do it by force.
*Tale. :-D. I have a very funny image in my head now, though.
Oh my gosh. I didn’t catch that...I’ll leave it for fun 😅😅😅
"...patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings--steal a little they throw you in jail--steal a lot they make you king--there's is only one step down from here Baby--it's called the Land of Permanent Bliss..Hey-What's a sweetheart like you doin' in a dump like this?..."
We civil libertarians ARE raging over the Facebook censorship scandal. But no one else seems to be. The apathy is astonishing.
Did you really believe that Democrats believe in the rule of law?
Their mantra is "by any means necessary."
The Soviet state they are creating is ample proof.
I gotta admit I never liked Facebook and rarely use it. Definitely don’t have it downloaded to my devices.
But yeah, the feds and a large media platforms conspiring doesn’t surprise me one iota. I only have so much outrage and I direct it at the most vile in my vicinity.
Facebook isn’t high on that list.
As for the hysterical cries of “fascism!” I recognize a long held dem tactic.
Honestly—I am HORRIFIED at that. Biden should lose the next election on that alone.
The irony of Biden saying that anyone else doesn’t follow the Constitution leaves me shaking my head.. This man has been leader (or empty dementia shell of a mannequin, teleprompter reader of those behind the curtain) of movements to curtail free speech, impose mandates on medical interventions on penalty of job loss, keep kids out of school, and not enforce laws regarding national borders and domestic crime. The democrat party has become that which they claim to hate. One wonders how such a campaign speech is allowed to occur by a sitting president with free airtime in the media? Oh, nevermind.
Not to mention packing the Supreme Court, pledging to overturn their rulings, banning the filibuster, eliminating the Electoral College, canceling student debt etc…. So much for “respecting the constitution”! I couldn’t believe my ears and eyes with that unbelievable speech. Yet KJP said his speech would be “uplifting”. No words.
All that is absolutely TRUE!! Now what?
I really enjoyed Biden’s speech about saving the soul of our democracy. His entire Presidency has been about restoring our nation’s soul. For him it is a labor of love.
Biden’s decision to become a candidate for the Presidency of the United States, according to Joe, and according to all Democrats, and according to David French, was made after Joe Biden saw the horrifying events of Charlottesville.
That’s when Joe Biden, and people with deep moral convictions, who demand decency, like David French, decided that Joe Biden had to save the soul of our nation. Joe Biden decided that very day. It was his duty as a patriot to save us. Joe Biden has made this precise claim, publicly, on numerous occasions………..
About one month after the events of Charlottesville, on September 21, 2017, Joe Biden and his wife, Sandwich Artist Jill Biden, were allocated keys to the DC office space they would share with Gongwen Dong of the Chinese Communist Party, who was their business partner in a joint venture with CCP-controlled energy company CEFC.
Dignity. Patriotism. Unity. Christianity. Decency. Humility. For these reasons we must stop the MAGA Republicans and restore the soul of our nation.
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/hunter-biden-email-requested-d-c-office-keys-for-father-chinese-business-partner/
Does no one remember Biden running for the dem nomination and being chased out after details of plagiarism were made?
Yes but the Proud Boys………
The who? I’ve never caught sight of one of them (kind of like Bigfoot IMO) but I’ve definitely seen the lunatics screaming chromosomes don’t exist, children belong to them not the kids’ parents, anyone who disagrees must be “re-educated,” etc.
In my hierarchy of risk Bigfoot is far below the likes of liberals.
That’s what a Proud Boy would say!!!
Ahhh I get it. The circular logic canard!
Must have too much blood in my caffeine system.
Much respect to “Shart Master esq” who just liked this comment.
😂😂
It's what progressives scare their children with, in an effort to get them to finish their organic kale.
(Oh, I kid, I kid.)
Thank God I was never forced to eat kale. 🤢
Get a recipe for kale and sausage soup cooked in beef broth with chopped onions and garlic. Yum!
Do not make a kale smoothy. Only vegan Democrats do that but they only do that for show when their Democrat, vegan friends are around. When their friends leave, dump the smoothy and have steak with a beef consommé starter and a chopped chicken salad.
Yep, it was in Charlottsville, he sprang into action, the moment Trump called Nazi's 'good people'.
Oh wait, Trump never said that did he? So Joe was lying? I'm so surprised.
The surgeries on children are sobering in the extreme. Freakish behaviour by adults. The reckoning is proven to be suicides within a short period of years. Hysterectomies? The drs should be removed for practice for going along with this is minors. Their parents? There aren’t words.
The “Doctors” should be tried and convicted for felony child abuse
I agree. It’s the saddest thing. Jaw dropping contrast to the oath they’ve taken.
What happened to first do no harm? Madjack, you have to be wondering what happened to your profession. It's insane.
So very disappointing. The health care “system” is already a mess now this.
And the legal profession is on track to the same disaster. My brother is a law professor heading toward his own retirement in a few years. God help us!
There is an article in a recent edition of The American Conservative showing a human forearm from which a section of skin has been surgically flayed off to construct something that is supposed to be a penis. There are no words…..
Does this mean, every time you get sexually aroused your arm gets stiff? How does it work? Send video.
If you get a new kidney because yours has failed, they don’t take out the old one. They just wire up the new one wherever it fits. It is so strange to me that a hysterectomy is somehow even necessary - plenty of women get ablations or other sterilization surgeries. I can’t get my head around why this is a protocol. This is a serious question, not a jab.
The unhinged, militaristic, screaming obscenity of last night’s diatribe by the dubiously-elected President of the United States trumps (sorry, couldn’t help myself) anything else that happened this week. Anyone who isn’t frightened by what happened in Philadelphia last night isn’t paying attention.
Our government is headed in exactly the direction the President projects onto his opposition.
Legitimate checks and balances on the process of voting--practiced by many other civilized countries--are decried as racist. (How insulting is that to our fellow citizens of pigmented skin?)
A growing community of medical professionals, educators, mental health “experts” are treating a generation of children as lab rats.
Lascivious, depraved, mentally impaired people who can’t figure out the intended use of their genitals are allowed to present themselves before little children as objects of admiration.
Good teachers are leaving the profession in droves--or want to--because they are forced to recite or affirm oaths to the insanity of pronouns.
We are all being herded toward a “greener” economy without ever having the opportunity to vote on massive changes based on questionable science. No, I do NOT prefer strip mining of precious metals for EV batteries to fossil fuel-powered vehicles. And don’t even get me started in the ludicrous notion that petrochemicals can just magically be dropped from myriad other production processes.
People voted for Biden for a return to “normalcy.” Anyone who thinks what we have now is normal needs some serious therapy.
Nicely done, Lady in the lake - glad you can swim!
Click on the three little dots just right of "Collapse" and you can edit your post.
TY
Interesting that there is no mention of entire Jon Stewart/Disney/Ukrainian Nazi fiasco that happened this week. It was by far most hilarious thing that happened in long time. Long story short, not only are we sending billion of $ to that corrupt country, but now we are even giving Ukrainian Nazis prizes in Disneyworld, by no other than Jon Stewart and US Department of Defense. I honestly thought this was some Babylon Bee or Onion article, but entire thing is on tape.
Here is video from The Hill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zoB_6c0cag
Here is article by Grayzone (i know they are far left but in this case they have some funny pictures of Ukrainian Nazis giving Nazi salutes in Disneyworld)
https://thegrayzone.com/2022/08/31/jon-stewart-pentagon-ukrainian-nazi-disney/
For a country that has "very little" Nazis they sure show up quite often. But no worries billion of Tax dollars are in safe hands in Ukraine, after all 10% is for the Big Guy.
The Oath Keepers are the real threat to democracy.
Also a threat to democracy: nobody knowing wtf anyone is talking about when they say “democracy”.
(it means communism when Democrats say it)
So strange, given Jon is Jewish - how on earth does that work?
For some American Jews, the democrat party is their religion, not Judaism.
We aren't sending money to the most corrupt nation in Eastern Europe, we are sending money to *the oligarchs* in the most corrupt nation in Eastern Europe. The concept of "The Ukraine" is just a pass through.
It’s Disneyworld. What were you expecting?
That's craaaaazzzzyyyy!
Portland cannot catch a break?!?!
They made their own breaks. They are not victims.
Libs of TikTok: plucking low hanging fruit from a rotten tree.
That was my thought as well. Admittedly, she sometimes blows things up to be bigger than they are. But for the most part, all she is doing is showing Leftists' own words to a broader audience than they intended.
And it’s not as if the people highlighted aren’t putting that content out for the world to see and one would assume, they want a lot of people to see it.
They do. They just don't want people who disagree with them to see it.
It’s immoral to complain about people highlighting evidence of things that left-wing figureheads say don’t exist.
My favorite part about Rodent Joe Biden’s speech, aside from the background which was appropriately red, as I have been calling Democrats ‘Bloodthirsty Pagan Collectivists’ for 20 years, was the fact that I literally not figuratively got a push notification *during the speech* from my CNBC app that said the following:
“CDC clears reformulated COVID shots targeting omicron in time for school”
You are absolutely a fucking barbarian if you inject your child with these shots. You’re also retarded. You’re a barbtard. Anyways, I was really enjoying the speech, pulling my mask up between bites of Mac N Cheese. I was especially enjoying the part where he waddled out with his whore wife Sandwich Artist Jill Biden, but then he got to my favorite little flourish where he screamed “It’s who we are!!” for the 17,000th time.
There is no “we” here, Josef. Hire your goons to cut another confused young boy’s dick off while you’re at it, you pedophile daughter-molesting piece of shit. Whatever this decrepit cocksucker is, I am the opposite. “We” are not the same. There really isn’t a single person on earth I have less in common with than the individual who is currently at the top of the organization in charge of stealing half of my money and using it to buy votes from other similarly useless people who, history books being in short supply, are chasing utopia via force once again. Human scum.
Tone it down, please. I'm angry about these topics too, but civility matters. We need to woo not war cry.
Uh huh.
You know how Democrats have intentionally and methodically been treating Republicans like Nazis for 50 years and they now totally control the permanent government and the Fortune 500 and the universities and the media?
Treating your opponent with decency is bad strategy empirically. This isn’t my opinion. Get it?
I think there room for all voices here. Anger has its place.
I agree with the former. I do *not* agree with the latter.
I know. Heresy. But, really: More than a moment of anger is just a distraction, even if there wasn't any worse results of it, which there are too many to name.
It's the downside of the MAGA crowd. They're RINOs.
They don't care who controls congress, as long as TRUMP WINS!! (May be a problem there, as some-a his hand-picked candidates aren't doing so hot.)
In all fairness, Paul Ryan led almost 40 republicans into retirement in 2018 providing a huge boost to dem control . It’s not like establishment types are great either
I wasn't paying attention back then. So I wonder *why* they retired. Or were they more-or-less driven out?
Either way, the establishment types are the Republicans. It's the MAGA crowd who are the RINOs, for the reason I stated.
Tell us how you really feel. Don't hold back. Not expressing yourself will only give you a headache. I know it does me.
A nice Bordeaux always helps me chill out or does it exacerbate the problem? I can never tell.
Kevin Durant, this is pure poetry, and I concur 100%.
“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.” - uh huh... riiiiigggght. Typical tactic - claim your opponent is doing exactly what you are doing. Shall we look for examples?
1. Run away Inflation (to be fair, the GOP deserves blame here too - at least most will admit it). If/when the US dollar is no longer the world's reserve currency a lot of people will learn the hard way that there are actually constraints to spending.
2. Extremism: and what are the saintly identity politicians selling? gender affirming care, white supremacy/systemic racism - with a sidecar shot of defunding the police, and pushing for not only no limits on abortion - but in CA actually looking to pass a bill that seeks to ignore infanticide? (somebody has to follow up on that and see if it is at is seems to be), and my favorite - having taken over most public and private universities, taking these ideologies into K-12 classrooms with the "gingerbread person" and "The 1619 Project"
3. Um, I'd say 1 and 2 truly threaten our republic
But why stop there, Mr. Biden? "Biden went on: MAGA Republicans have made their choice...
4. They embrace anger - says the man screaming at the camera some time back about how modern voting is worse than Jim Crow and claiming that ANTIFA is "just and idea" - talk about revealing your cards....
5. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies. - says the man representing the post-modern, SJWs who erase boundaries and poison language specifically with the intent of sowing confusion and fear.
-- "Progressives" used to describe regressive policies, one example: to create "affinity groups separating whites, blacks, latinos"
-- "gender affirming," i.e. 'teaching' children with interests not stereotypical of their 'gender' that they are trans and should have mastectomies and hysterectomies, take hormones to avoid puberty, ya know easily reversible things.. oh, and don't you go telling the parents now (as high school's principle said "our second big mission is emotional support since 'come on you know that their are things your kids will not talk to you about, but they can come to us'
-- "loan forgiveness" = because using our taxes to support getting a college education is a sin, obviously
-- "right wing" = fascist since you know, the government directing big business, restricted speech, banning books, free education (promoting the state's morality over parents'), 'free' health care... proves George Orwell correct once more - "when the radical left comes they will likely call you the fascists"
A primary feature of fascism is a central government control of the economy through public-private partnerships. In WWII Germany's case, the government spoke and their puppets controlling industry and the economy acted as directed. For example, the head of the Krupp, the German arms manufacturer, was an enthusiastic follower of the Nazi government.
In our case, ideological alignment of MSM, Big Tech, and as importantly, Big Finance (Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street) via ESG activism, are delivering fascist outcomes. Obama got the ball rolling and now it is a boulder crushing anything or anyone it its path.
So, yeah - "The MAGA republicans, represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic."
Just substitute “Jews” for “MAGA Republicans” and ask yourself how it sounds now?
Vilifying a portion of a population is a precursor to justifying their oppression. A Jan 6 protestor just got a 10 yrs sentence. Meanwhile, Hunter doesn’t even get investigated.
Ewwww - that was a chilling thought experiment.
Terrible.
But it’s ok to vilify MAGA.
It’s right out of Alinsky, isolate yourself opponent.
Oops isolate YOUR opponent, sorry.
Funny how language works: What was once called "Female Genital Mutilation" is now called "Gender Affirming Care."
Truth! I recall protests in college against the "female genital mutilation" occurring in Africa. Those same college classmates now are raising trans children.
Mind-boggling.
Re: Biden speech in Philly
“… it’s a really scary ratcheting up of emotions and pyrotechnics that will, no doubt, exacerbate the already polarized electorate.”
Which pretty much nutshells the strategy and intent of the speech going in.
They don't call it projection for nothing. Freud meets Marx.
yeah, The Lady in the lake hits that nail right on the head above.
Yep. It’s very clear to me what he’s doing. First his Christmas death wish speech for the unvaccinated now this. In light of the FBI raid … It’s like he wants to start WW3.
Great round up, Meghan Daum. I really enjoyed it.
Hopefully Nellie has her feet up etc as the last few weeks of pregnancy are never that much fun in my experience.
And here is my TGIF foreign correspondent type offering about the UK:
This is Northumberland UK calling 2 9 22
Having had the UK August Bank Holiday weekend last weekend, the UK slowly stumbles towards the end of the silly season and resumption of normal news. But first…
It’s fore poorer as golfers cause damage to listed wedding venue. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/golfers-mis-hitting-balls-into-grade-i-listed-wedding-venue-cost-council-20k-tx5r8vdqz
Speaking of golf, the University of St Andrews in an effort to decolonise its curriculum has decided to apologise for golf being imposed on the rest of the world. Whether one objects to this imposition may depend on where your latest drive just landed or how much your other half enjoys the game. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/stop-paying-universities-teach-rubbish/
Speaking of poor academic ideas -- A major meta analysis of trigger warning data finds that they don’t work and only increase anxiety. https://osf.io/qav9m/
A landmark study shows 25% of UK children being brought up in lone parent households. Families of Asian descent most likely to be headed by a married couple. Black African and Black Caribbean families are 44 % and 57% lone parent households. In white families it is 22%. “The research shows for the first time that family provides a shield from life’s challenges . . . That is why the government needs to prioritise how they can put families at the heart of all of policy decisions.” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/decline-of-traditional-uk-family-revealed-in-de-souza-report-mfphw7vhl
Snooker engulfed in transgender issues after transwoman who did nothing as a male player wins a tournament. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/snooker/2022/08/31/snooker-engulfed-transgender-row-former-world-no-1-calls-jamie/?li_source=LI&li_medium=li-recommendation-widget
After only mentioning ‘birthing people’ and not women the NSFT Mental Health team gave a rather novel apology. Word choice was apparently down to the number of characters twitter allows and to save space. Woman has five and birthing person 14. Perhaps the person composing the tweet in question was not very good at math. https://twitter.com/NSFTtweets/status/1564553811485761536
In the fight for the soul of the Society of Authors, John Boyne, the best selling author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas weighs in about Joanne Harris, the Society’s controversial chairperson, suffering from internet trolling and many other things. His latest, the long waited sequel to The Boy, All the Broken Places, comes out in the UK on 20September. “ “People often say what the trolls want is to destroy people’s careers, but I don’t think it is. I think they actually want you to die. I think they’ve grown up with video games, and their mentality is: ‘If I can get a kill, I can move on up to the next level.’ They’re people without any moral compass whatsoever, and I’m glad to be rid of them.”
Boyne deleted his Twitter account in May this year, on the day that the paperback of The Echo Chamber, his satirical novel about social media (soon to be a television series) was published. Having endured endless death threats and people posting pictures of his Dublin home online, he says that he would not advise any writer in a similar position to look for help from the Society of Authors, the writers’ union, under its controversial current chair, Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat.
“The way she speaks about and treats other writers online – it suggests to me somebody who does not like writers very much. I feel some sympathy for her because I think she’s addicted to Twitter and addicted to publicity – I think she makes David Beckham look like Greta Garbo.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/john-boyne-interview-say-trolls-want-destroy-career-think-want/
JK Rowling’s latest Robert Galbraith The Ink Black Heart hit the bookstores this week with a now-predictable denunciation in certain quarters of the internet. Rowling decided to take decisive action against false and slanderous rumours. The tweet thread by LA Times journalist Kathryn Brightbill has now been deleted as per the request. Brightbill has protected her twitter account. https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/bogus-tweet-posted-by-kebrightbill/
https://unherd.com/2022/09/j-k-rowling-sees-through-her-enemies/ is about Rowling’s book whose main victim also had trouble with internet trolls.
Who did tell Meghan Markle about the Mandela comparison with her wedding? Several South African creatives involved in the Lion King Project have different recollections to the Duchess. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/09/01/meghan-markle-lion-king-composer-lebo-m-nelson-mandela/
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex may be in London next week, but the Queen is determined to remain in Balmoral. Again recollections as to the precise reason for remaining in Scotland may differ. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/08/31/queen-host-prime-minister-boris-johnson-balmoral/
Liz Truss remains the overwhelming favourite to win the Conservative Leadership election. This Matt cartoon from earlier this week sums up the country’s mood: The good news is the Second World War is over, the bad news is the Conservative Leadership election isn’t. https://twitter.com/MattCartoonist/status/1563560900627697664
Latest rumour about Kemi Badenoch is that she will get Education. Although some want her to have DCMS (culture).
Yesterday was the final day of the current football transfer window (next opening in January), various deals were done. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the biggest deal and moved to Chelsea from Barcelona. Man U got Antony from Ajax. Whether they will make much of a difference remains to be seen. Manchester United are playing better (hard to play worse than at the beginning of the season though). https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/09/01/transfer-deadline-day-2022-live-latest-rumours-loans-signings/
Enjoy your Labor Day weekend – with hopefully barbeques, parties and lots of late summer sun.
As much as I'm on Rowling side in this TERF war, I have to say that I think her own books shaped a generation into believers in "my side can do no wrong." Harry Potter never became aware that some of his behavior in books 5 and 6 was very dark and arguably evil. But no, casting Unforgivable spells is "gallant," as long as you choose the correct target. She divided the world into Slytherins, who are deemed evil at age 11, and Gryffindors, who can erase their parents' memories without a twinge of guilt, as long as it's all done for some "greater good." The fact that many of her fans literally want to destroy her because she believes the "wrong" thing is, to some extent, because she shaped their young minds into seeing the world that way.
As a freedom of expression absolutist, I will respectfully disagree. She is not responsible for the actions of extremists, any more than Salman Rushdie is responsible for the fatwa which was issued against him. She did nothing to deserve it. Punishing an author for words simply because they gave offense to somebody’s feelings, beliefs, or political views renders the concept of freedom of expression devoid of all meaning
She has encountered a very coercive philosophy, the sort which cannot tolerate dissent and seeks to punish and force its philosophy through intimidation and fear. It is that coercive philosophy which is at fault and has no business in a democratic society. As Justice Brandeis pointed out in his 1927 judgement “order cannot be secured merely through fear of punishment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies, and that the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones.”
Because I believe in the right of dissent, I have no problems with people holding these sorts of totalitarian beliefs but I do not believe they should be anywhere near a seat of power because otherwise the free world stumbles down the route to totalitarianism.
I agree that without the right to dissent, we have entered a totalitarian nightmare. Nor did I intend to blame Rowling. I just find it ironic that the attitudes she instilled in the young readers of her fantasy world ended up being rather dangerous in the real world.
I think they have been manipulated by the people who developed and pushed this particular philosophy. They needed a scalp to ensure that the philosophy advanced.
The attitudes she tried to instil were fairly basic liberal attitudes about standing up to totalitarianism in whatever form it happens to take. In many ways, she is acting true to her ideals by standing up to totalitarianism -- you know the sort which says people can be fired if their beliefs don't accord with yours, that you have to parrot words and sayings which you don't believe in and you have to deny the evidence of your own eyes.
What is odd is how invested certain young people became in that world. The last book in the series was out 15 years ago. The merchandising still continues. I think John Boyne had it right that some of this comes from the gaming world.
Ultimately it comes from the people who organised and continue to organise this fatwa as it is sort of a holy war for them. I also have nothing but contempt for those in my industry who have enabled this sort of thing.
I doubt JK invented good v evil mentality or our side can do no wrong. Seems that’s been around a lot longer than HP!
She didn't invent it. But she instilled protagonist-centered morality into a generation of readers.
Never knew this, Celia. Fantasy was never my genre, I ignored JK’s work.
Voldemort and friends killed their opponents, Harry Potter and friends only disarmed theirs. I don't think the Potter books leave any confusion about good and evil.
Harry and co. never killed anyone. The other side certainly did. Even he and Malfoy saved each other. Can you imagine Trump and Biden doing the same? Lol
So Harry casting Cruciatus was "gallant"? If Snape had not been nearby, Draco would have bled out from Harry's attack on him. And yet Harry resents it when he gets (only!!!) detention for almost killing Draco.
Voldemort doesn't have to be "good" in order for Harry to be arguably evil. That is precisely the problem: by labeling Voldemort evil (which he was), anything Harry did, no matter how wrong, was automatically considered "good."
A friend who works in the publishing industry just published this about the state of the industry in UK https://thethingthatshouldnotbesaid.substack.com/p/theres-something-rotten-in-the-state
Thank you! That essay is very on-point. Somehow we have allowed our society to be taken over by a quasi-religious ideology that has had the same impact as Puritanism or the Inquisition. Free thought and free expression are no longer allowed in any spaces where those in control might hear your heresy.
Excellent UK roundup - thanks for posting it!
As with every TGIF, so much to say. First, I never voted for Trump, either time, but holy crap the dumpster fire that is the Biden administration. I feel truly politically homeless these days. If the damn Reps could *please* get Trump out of the pic, I might have someone to vote for. Second, go ahead, call me a person with a vulva again, and let’s see what happens. Ain’t gonna be pretty! Finally, Americans are dying younger. Really? Given our crappy diets and obsession with streaming TV, is anyone actually surprised?!?
Let's hope for President DeSantis!
You are not homeless, come on over. Personally, 'republicans' have forsaken me as well. If you and I can agree that there is no more important issue than preserving the Bill of Rights then let's build on that. We might disagree on stuff... but that is normal and okay.
Come over to where? Reps are screwed because Trump won’t fade away and Dems are so far left of regular working folks. What’s left?
Trump isn't the problem, his republican and leftist opponents - the UniParty establishment - are. If Trump is approached as a professional he reciprocates. If he is attacked he reciprocates. Unfortunately, every institution in the country has attacked him constantly and the American People now have been entranced into this view of him.
This is the real man: https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2016/08/19/the-day-i-went-head-to-head-with-donald-trump/#624a2a035570
Look at it this way... His wonderful efforts led to the greatest economy you have ever seen without 20 year wars. The UniParty can't have that so they attacked him mercilessly to all of our detriment.
I started reading the article, but it was just another propaganda piece. Comes from all sides.
And Trump? Sorry man. He had the character of slime mold and showed his true colors when he wouldn't turn power over after he lost. Even if he was the GREATEST PRESIDENT EVER, which wasn't the case, that one flaw mars him beyond repair.
Jt, agree and will go further. I'm not interested in any man who announces himself as a "pussy grabber". Nope, sorry, not gonna happen.
Oh, grow up. Barack said bring a knife to gun fight for g-dsakes. The UniParty hates you just as much as me. Trump favors us based on actions.
Keep reading the mainstream media, pal.
You keep forgetting, pal.
I don't pay attention to Media. Mainstream nor Social.
You?
"His wonderful efforts led to the greatest economy you have ever seen without 20 year wars"... lol cool story bro, but Trump had very little to do with the economy he inherited, an economy in about its 10th year of expansion since the 2008 crash, running at peak performance when he won in Nov 2016, for example unemployment at that point in time was already at 4% and falling with wages slowly rising. Funny thing is that according to Trump, the economy on November 5, 2016 was a "total disaster" but on November 7, 2016 was a "miracle". Economically, Trump made some bad decisions, such as passing an unnecessary stimulatory tax cut in 2017 that didn't make the slightest change in employment, GDP and wages, but did blow up the deficit some more. He also engaged in a foolish trade arbritage war against China that devasted midwestern agricultural markets (particularly soybeans) for about the next decade, requiring a $12B bailout to barely compensate. The trade wars are a direct cause as to why the supply chain issues folllowing COVID were exacerbated - let alone the steel tariffs that failed to re-open or buld a single new steel plant put manufacturing into an official recession by Q3 2019 *before COVID* due to the sharp increase in the price of raw steel.
Make no mistake that if Trump was re-elected in 2020, he would also be presiding over a (global) inflationary economy including high gas prices. Would have loved to hear about his "genius" then. Part of me wishes he would have so we could have put an end to this mythology around Trump's "genius" pre-COVID economy that pretty much like everything in his life, he just inherited, and if left to his own devices, would have turned into crap as he did with his father's inheritance. Instead, he gets to skate away with the excuse of "COVID" and his supporters can pretend that we lived in some TrumpTopia prior ; P
On reading what I wrote (which I don't always do), I didn't emphasize enough how much I agreed with what You "said," Ma'am.
TY again.
And thank you (and same :) )
I've been lower profile commenting lately - had a family vacation (yay!) earlier in August andfeer work has been busy since, and sometimes I'm back to that "weariness" with debating and just prefer some low key lurking ;)
Hope you're enjoying a good Labor Day weekend!
Welcome back, Ma'am. TY for writing.
I like that, "TrumpTopia!" I'll borrow that, if You don't mind?
I generally agree with all, except part-a that about China. I have every reason to believe about the steel and the soybeans. And I regret that the tariffs seemed to be a knee-jerk reaction to some hair he got up his arse. He announced them (on Twitter, I believe) and *nobody* in the Gov saw it coming, from what I could tell. ICBW, 'course.
Thing is, up to that point, most people thought China was a great friend of the Global Village. (tm) They weren't. They aren't. And they never *will* be a "friend" of anybody but China. I consider them to be a necessary "evil." (Not evil, per se.)
Bear with me. There's a piece of gear that etches computer chips. There are, IIRC, a handful of companies in the world that make such equipment. The state-of-the-art is built by a company in the Netherlands, but I forget their name.
Anyhoo, one-a the *greatest* things Chump (oops, I meant Trump) did in his rein was to get that company to exclude China. Now China is trying to build up their chip industry more-or-less from scratch. (That is, by copying everything other people have invented.) They *may* be able to do that, with all the resources they have. But "Chump's" actions set them back a ways, and I'm grateful to him for that.
I dunno if that proves the old saying that "every dog has his day."
TY again. :-)
LOL of course everything I post is free public IP : P
Don't get me wrong - I do believe China needed to be, and still needs to be, "dealt with". Their theft of IP (not mine of course!), for one, their awful working conditions, their oppressive government, etc. And yes, we don't want an ascendant China taking over global trade and being the main player in developing economies to direct at their will. But I disagree Trump's "policies" towards China were either effective nor well informed. To counter China's domination requires more than a single sided set of tarriffs. We need global alliances to do so. The TPTA was an attempt at doing so - although I opposed it because it granted corporations waaaayyy too many rights and superceding of national regulations and laws. But the notion that we need alliances to counter China is sound. We just need those alliances to be based on intra-national sovereignty and workers rights at the same time.
BTW, it was Biden who passed the semi-conducture industrial investments :) Yes, it was Trump's tariffs that might have forced it, but those also produced the lamented supply chain problems with chip manafucture, as well as the costs.. Again, Trump may have been "right" in grabbing loosely at a problem, but the (typically) undisciplined manner he went about it didn't really end up doing much more than damaging domestic markets...
You obviously do not work in the real economy. Do you code, bro? He unleashed American energy, deregulated thousands of stupid regulations, and cut the corporate tax rate from 40% to 21%, buddy.
Duh... Gas was $1.82. Now? How is your energy bill, bro? Reality versus the Lightbringer's and now SleeepyCreepy Joes created world: they did the opposite of Trump.
Obama's U6 unemployment numbers were always high versus the U3.
Yah I do code and it's "sis" not bro, but OK. My company seems to think it's the "real economy", in any case my checks get cashed and my money works.
Trump didn't "unleash" squat. Fracking was at an all time high under his predecessor. Can you name any specific regulations that are proven to have a direct impact on energy and economic growth? I mean, if you understand the REAL ECONOMY, my dude, then you know regulatory changes can take years before you'll see an impact to the economy over.
Gas was $1.82 because the global economy was shut down and demand was at all time lows. Trump's "jeenius" though I guess lol. Energy companies have in part continued to keep prices high (while price per barrel has dropped for a while) in order to recoup those losses to their shareholders and shore up for another potential disaster that could also drop demand similarly.
Unemployment was at 4% and dropping by Nov 2016. This is just facts. It went down about another full point during Trump's term - on the same trajectory it was on before his election, pre-COVID.
The "one" piece here I'll agree on is the corporate tax cut, and that wasn't really "Trump" was it, versus Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and a long standing GOP policy regarding that predated Trump by decades. Given corporations pay nowhere near the paper rate to begin with, the paper rate was a farce and simply incentivized more tax dodging. Better to put it at a closer to reality rate that will be paid, and commensurate with most of our trading partners to boot (although still many large corps pay closer to an almost 0 rate, and some get a negative rate of return - given the large number of loopholes existing and added in the 2017 TCJA to ensure not a single corporation would pay the 25% rate either). But again, even here, the unemployment and hiring rates really didn't change much post-TCJA either. Most corporations used their savings to purchase their own stock in stock buy backs and reward investors. So claiming this was responsible for holding the same unemployment downward trajetory is also a bit of a loose claim - also considering that in the REAL ECONOMY stuff like capital investments in jobs and facilities are already most tax writeoffs and therefore are less impacted by tax cuts on future profits realized. Corporations - or most businesses - don't hire and expand because of tax cuts. They hire and expand to meet market demand where they see opportunities for growth. Sure, a little more cut of the profits in the pockets can work forwards into having more investment capital, but the relationship between profits/taxed profits/investment capital, is looser than you might imagine.