US Politics XXXVIII: "Patriots" vs Reality

[Headache in a Suitcase]

darn those democrats and their dislike for law enforcement

back the blue!

 

[mikal]

darn those democrats and their dislike for law enforcement

Damn, all of those violent Democrats there!

 

[mikal]

wooooooo man where do we even begin.

i don't think anyone here actually wants Biden to run again. but it's who we have. and when presented with the alternative? uh, yea. it's the best choice. by a country mile. so please save your "circle jerk" comments, and instead? how about you engage. like actually engage - not do drive by postings.

so yes - let's engage.

yes - biden has gaffes. lots of them. ones that make you question his mental acuity.
yes - biden is too old and should not be running for president.

the problem with you, as someone who is clearly a conservative voter, making that argument is this.

yes - trump has gaffes. lots of them. ones that make you question his mental acuity.
yes - trump is too old and should not be running for president.

we've had this thing of late in this country where if you question whether or not someone of a certain age should hold certain jobs everyone screams "AGEISM!!"

ageism is when you fire a 58 year old who is still perfectly capable of doing their job to hire a 28 year old instead. ageism is not questioning whether people long past the age of retirement should be running the country. it's absurd that either of these guys are running. it was absurd FOUR YEARS AGO that either of these guys were running. and that goes for bernie sanders, mcconnell, pelosi... they're ALL too old, on both sides of the aisle.

but making the argument that Biden is too old, but ignoring the clear fact that Trump is as well, is the peak of hypocrisy.

so - uh - yea. the whole "nobody can acknowledge it because we're too far up his ass" thing? aside from not being necessary in an actual conversation... how about you hold a mirror to that comment. i don't think we need a highlight real of Trump's gaffes and forgetful moments, but one can certainly be provided if needs be.

joe biden DOES actually have a stutter - and yes, he has had moments where the stutter shows his entire political career. just because he's also old now doesn't make that a lie. but it's definetly not the only reason why he's showing decline. he is. so is trump. so is pelosi. so is mcconnell. they're ALL too old.

your comments on newsome and other candidates aren't worth a discussion - as you seem to simply believe any democratic candidate sucks. i look at someone like Buttigieg and see how he performs on Fox News and i see someone who has appeal. could you point to a reason why he wouldn't? i can't think of one.

as for what old man biden has actually accomplished?

he soft landed the economy. COVID was/is as destabilizing an event as we've seen in our nation's history. it's absolutely up there with the housing crash of 2008. and yes - supply chain and inflation was a huge issue, and continues to be an issue. there's no denying that.

but the economy didn't crash.

and everyone predicted it. every financial analyst thought recession was inevitable. and it didn't happen.

our economy has recovered better than pretty much every other major economy around the globe. with joe biden in office.

supply chain and inflation is NOT the only cause of higher prices at the grocery store. there are fewer options, fewer small businesses or independent grocers. the consolidation of this industry to a small number of huge companies inevitably means that your local grocer is more concerned with profits and stock prices than they were 10-20-30 years ago.

trump spoke over and over again about infrastructure. how many friggin infrastructure weeks did we have under trump? did they ever pass anything? nope. not a thing.

joe biden did. and wouldn't you know? it's working. so well in fact that you regularly get shit like this...



this chucker voted against the bill she's now taking credit for. NOT because she didn't believe in it. she probably did. she probably WANTED to vote for it. but she didn't, because :gasp: that would give Biden a win and make Trump unhappy. and we can't make the supreme leader unhappy, can we? no we can not! so we will not vote in favor of the bipartisan border bill - because then Trumpykins has nothing to ramble about at his speeches!

anyhoo...

i've made no secret that i voted for Mitt Romney in 2012. I was, at one point, a registered republican. in 2015/2016 - i absolutely could have seen myself vote for a republican again.

but then Trump won the nomination - and, well - oh my god no.

see? it's not hard. you can do it. you can look at things objectively and say wow - this guy is as corrupt as it gets, is a complete and utter con man and has been his entire adult life, he lies for a living,

he has numerous sexual assault allegations hanging over him and, let's be real... people with numerous sexual assault allegations? yea - they typically committed some sort of sexual assault somewhere along the line. anyone can write off a one off accusation if you choose. it's rare, but false accusations do happen. dozens upon dozens of accusations? yeaaaa that's a hell of a lot of smoke to just write off. oh and, well, a court found him civilly liable for sexual assault. his ex wife accused him in her book. but i digress.

he has a history of fraud dating back decades - a lot of which was well known WELL Before 2015. the idea that he was some kind of real estate magnate was debunked WELL Before 2015. it simply wasn't true. the overwhelming majority of the things around the world with his name on it didn't/don't even belong to him. they were licensing deals. the idea of wealth (minus the reality). these are all easily verifiable. what's come out in these trials only proves what was already proven. everything about him is fake. everything.

he's responsible for the end of roe, while being someone who is single handedly responsible for quite a few abortions.

he regularly and purposefully uses language that nods to far right extremism and, yes, fascism and even nazism. this is not deniable. it simply isn't.

so yes - it is possible to lean right, look at this guy and say - ya know what? i'm not voting for that. it's a line too far. it's not right, i know it's not right, and it's more important to stand up against it than to just sports team this thing and go along with the flow.

trump and his enablers are actual threats to democracy. he's said as such. he tried to overturn an election he lost. i could hear the insurrection from my front stoop. the national guard marched down my street. two pipe bombs were placed within blocks of where my then 3 year old was in nursery school. this all actually happened. to not acknowledge it would be a grave sin.

but i do agree that if it's the main talking point it's probably not a winning one. which is a sad state of affairs for america, but it is what it is.

how about abortion? you know, the cause that has led to republicans losing over and over again since roe was overturned? can we run on that? is that a winning argument, when 80% of the country supports it? i'd like to think so. seems to be a lot of data there. alas.

our "side" does not support abolishing the police. saying that would be like me saying that everything the far right fringe supports YOU also support.

the "defund the police" movement was dumb. majorly dumb. and guess who never supported it? :gasp: joe biden. joe biden is a very moderate candidate. the type of democratic candidate that republicans used to be cool with. but nope - can't do that anymore. fox and sir orange won't allow it.

you are aware that the colorado supreme court case that would have removed trump from the ballot for being an insurrectionist (which they didn't say he wasn't, btw - they only said that congress has to decide it) was brought by a group of republicans, right? not democrats - republicans. they brought the case.

it would be great if you stuck around and engaged - not just drive by finger wagging. that's tiring for everyone. actual engagement and discussion of topics. hopefully you do.

Well written. Actually, in my opinion, the worst kind of MAGA is that one that tries to act like they're not all in, but they're still voting Trump because [insert complaint about Biden here]. Like you can't be only 80% in on a guy who has clearly stated that he plans on trying to become a dictator and has spoken Nazi rhetoric. You're either all in on that or not.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Well written. Actually, in my opinion, the worst kind of MAGA is that one that tries to act like they're not all in, but they're still voting Trump because [insert complaint about Biden here]. Like you can't be only 80% in on a guy who has clearly stated that he plans on trying to become a dictator and has spoken Nazi rhetoric. You're either all in on that or not.

this is it. this is absolutely it in a nut shell.

you can't be "well i don't like the racist, democracy threatening nazi stuff... but i'm still voting for him."

ain't no such thing as half way crooks.

 

[BEAL]

The economy is great because I'm using Doordash every day for lunch, and sometimes dinner cause I'm stuck in meetings / work. You're welcome America!!!

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I'm too busy trying to decide between an old man with alleged dementia and an insurrection inciter with 91 (is it still 91) criminal indictments who says Hitler did some good things, was found guilty of sexual assault in civil court and probably assaulted many women, is a pathological liar and narcissist, and wants to be a dictator and is a complete fraud (is that enough?) to join a circle jerk group text. He also wants to take even more autonomy away from women over our own bodies, who tf is he of all people to do that,? Probably paid for many abortions himself. Does that just to get votes, but it's hopefully going to bite him in the backside in November when women hopefully vote against him in huge numbers.

I'm not up Joe Biden's ass or anyone else's. In fact I hate what he is doing as far as funding Israel to do what they are doing to the Palestinian people who are innocent and not terrorists. That makes me very morally conflicted about voting for him. Have tried to start discussions about that here but it goes nowhere.

But I'm not going to not vote or vote for someone else or leave it blank. Bernie Sanders strongly disagrees about Biden's actions re Israel and is still endorsing him.Because Bernie sees the CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER that Trump poses to this country.

By the way one of my jobs is in an assisted living community, there are people there in their 90's who have jumped out of planes to skydive when they turned 90, who have served this country in wars, and some of them are mentally as sharp as a tack. Who carry on spite of dealing with serious medical problems.I learn many things from them and have great discussions with them, and they inspire me. We can all learn from "old people".

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

you forgot that the insurrection inciter with 91 criminal indictments also has alleged dementia.

 

[DaveC]

Copying the following from the political tangent that occurred over in EYKIW and pasting it here. Just because this is so astoundingly absurd.



You're fucking kidding, right? You think these are just momentary memory lapses from age? Minor misremembering?

He said he crossed the Maryland bridge by train. The bridge has never been equipped with train tracks.
He claimed he travelled 17,000 miles with Xi Jinping when he was VP. Not true.
He referred to John McCain as "my predecessor."
He said he went to Delaware State when he went to the University of Delaware.
He said he "recently" met with the French President who died almost 30 years ago.
He said he taught four years at the University of Pennsylvania. He's never taught one day there.
He said his son died in Iraq. He didn't.

I could go on, but there's no point because you're all so far up his ass. The average person might take two or three seconds to recall what they had for dinner last night, for example. Happens to all of us. Not a big deal. But to think that's the same as what is happening to Biden? Anyone who thinks that is as fucking delusional as he is.

Why you all didn't dump him and Harris in favor of someone like Newsom is beyond me. He's certainly a giant asshole and has destroyed California more than it already was, but he can at least play the role of a somewhat serious candidate- unlike Biden, Harris, Buttigieg, Warren, or pretty much anyone from the 2020 shit-show of candidates.

I'm not a fan of Trump. In 2016, of the 17 Republicans running, he was probably my 15th favorite- only because of my severe dislike of Santorum and Huckabee. This time, he was again near the bottom of my preferences. I would have gladly taken most of the other candidates. But it is what it is. I can say, though, that nothing short of death will prevent me from voting for him. And that's the mistake your side is making. You think that everyone who is voting for Trump is some MAGA-hat-wearing, Trump flag-flying, "Trump is Jesus" weirdo. (There were lots of nutjobs who thought Obama was practically Jesus, too, if you'll recall). No. There are millions of people who don't like either, but will be voting for Trump because the current guy is such a fucking disaster. But if you all want to keep your head in the sand and talk your make-believe about how "Trump doesn't have the numbers to win" or something, please be my guest. If you want to mock peoples' concerns about the high price of groceries, be my guest. Have you seen Biden's terrible numbers? Have you seen the shift among Hispanics and African-Americans in the polls? Not a winning strategy.

Also, as I've said before- PLEASE keep running on the "threat to democracy" bullshit. Because nobody is buying it. It's your side that wants to pack the Supreme Court to 15 people when you don't get your way. It's your side that equates speech they don't like with violence. It's your side that advocates abolishing the police. It's your side that condones arson, looting, and property destruction if that's what it takes to right some perceived wrong. It's your side that wants to kick your political opponents off the ballot. And it's your side that is already laying out a plan for how to not certify a potential Trump victory. (All of this, of course, in the spare time you have in between your tireless advocacy for mutilating children). So fucking spare me about "destroying our country".

But whatever. The five or six regular posters that are left here can carry on with your little circle jerk of how awesome Biden is. You all might as well shut this forum down and just turn this into a group text at this point.

cool story. enjoy that feeling of voting for a perpetual loser, and remember us well when you watch him lose yet again.

 

[Irvine511]

this was going to be the only part that i have any energy to respond to. how anyone can look at the state of the US and say it's worse than it was in 2020 is delusional. you may not like certain things, and of course there are problems, but to think that Joe Biden has suddenly turned the US into some kind of dumpster fire and therefore there's no other choice but to vote for Trump is as dumb as the "Joe is personally genociding Palestinian toddlers therefore I'm going to not vote" crowd.

Biden has been in charge of a country that is objectively better than it was when he took over, and Biden is also objectively more pro-Palestinian than Trump.

you can say "we should be in better shape" or that "Biden should end all military aid to Israel" and I'd respect those opinions, and I fully respect "uncommitted" (in a primary), but elections are one-to-one comparisons.

 

[Irvine511]

(All of this, of course, in the spare time you have in between your tireless advocacy for mutilating children).

wait, wait, wait. i will respond to this.

who is mutilating children? where? please tell me more. i haven't heard about this.

 

[mikal]

wait, wait, wait. i will respond to this.

who is mutilating children? where? please tell me more. i haven't heard about this.

We all are. And we’re doing it with books!

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

you forgot that the insurrection inciter with 91 criminal indictments also has alleged dementia.

That's a lie, ever hear of person woman man camera tv? And Nikki Haley does look exactly like Nancy Pelosi.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I would like President Biden to stop saying he speaks privately to Netanyahu about Israel's actions while refusing to call him out publicly. And continuing to give him billions of dollars and whatever else they're giving him.

I am not an anti Semite nor do I support terrorists nor do I not care about what Hamas did on October 7th-that sort of whataboutism Israel can do no wrong attitude has to stop.That attitude about Israel from the US and other countries has made Netanyahu think he can do whatever he wants. And obviously that's what he's been doing.

The World Central Kitchen doesn't give a flying fig about any of that-they just want to feed hungry people. And they risked their lives in Gaza and lost some of their fellow volunteers. And left because of that.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

And I'm assuming "tireless advocacy for mutilating children" is a reference to transgender issues?

If that isn't straight out of the Fox opinion show scare tactics paranoid deflection playbook I don't know what is. Reminds me of the ultra maga guy who thinks drag shows and drag queens kill more people than guns do. Something tells me his nightly viewing routine involves Fox.

And it's beyond belief to me to see anyone vote for Trump because Biden is allegedly such a "fucking disaster".

Trump was a fucking disaster as a President, and he is as a human being as well. But do go on.

 

[mikal]

And I'm assuming "tireless advocacy for mutilating children" is a reference to transgender issues?

If that isn't straight out of the Fox opinion show scare tactics paranoid deflection playbook I don't know what is. Reminds me of the ultra maga guy who thinks drag shows and drag queens kill more people than guns do. Something tells me his nightly viewing routine involves Fox.

And it's beyond belief to me to see anyone vote for Trump because Biden is allegedly such a "fucking disaster".

Trump was a fucking disaster as a President, and he is as a human being as well. But do go on.

We don't really know because this appears to be another drive by closet MAGA post and we're all just circle jerking our pathetic little liberal group.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Happy Eclipse Day

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

he is the only one
staring at the sun
he's also deaf and dumb
staring at the sun
i'm not the only one
who hopes that he goes blind

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

All kinds of this crap going around too. Of course Queen of Crap Marge would be saying it. Something tells me that she has some repenting to do.

The Hill.com

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Sunday defended an earlier statement saying Monday’s eclipse and Friday’s New York-area earthquake were signs from God telling people to repent.

After two days of backlash, Greene addressed a community note that was added to provide context to her original post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. She said that while eclipses are predictable, they still are created by God and can be signs for those who believe.

“Many have mocked and scoffed at this post and even put community notes,” Greene said in Sunday morning’s post on X.

“Jesus talked about that in Luke 12:54-56,” Green continued. “Yes eclipses are predictable and earthquakes happen and we know when comets are passing by, however God created all of these things and uses them to be signs for those of us who believe.”

 

[Hewson]

Should I be worried that my lunch cost $6.66 today?
(Really did happen)

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Should I be worried that my lunch cost $6.66 today?
(Really did happen)

Throw ketchup against the wall three times, eat a hamberder for dinner, and buy a life-size cardboard cutout of Marge Taylor Greene. That will reverse the curse, it's the only way we can all survive.

 

[Hewson]

Do I have to buy another cut out of MTG, or will one from my current collection suffice?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

All kinds of this crap going around too. Of course Queen of Crap Marge would be saying it. Something tells me that she has some repenting to do.

The Hill.com

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Sunday defended an earlier statement saying Monday’s eclipse and Friday’s New York-area earthquake were signs from God telling people to repent.

After two days of backlash, Greene addressed a community note that was added to provide context to her original post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. She said that while eclipses are predictable, they still are created by God and can be signs for those who believe.

“Many have mocked and scoffed at this post and even put community notes,” Greene said in Sunday morning’s post on X.

“Jesus talked about that in Luke 12:54-56,” Green continued. “Yes eclipses are predictable and earthquakes happen and we know when comets are passing by, however God created all of these things and uses them to be signs for those of us who believe.”

let's assume for one second that she's right. she's not, she's bat shit crazy. but let's entertain her for a second.

let's take a look at the epicenter of the earthquake - circled here in green.

maybe you're on to something, marge. maybe you are.

 

[Irvine511]

And I'm assuming "tireless advocacy for mutilating children" is a reference to transgender issues?

how could it be? top or bottom surgery for anyone under 18 is vanishingly rare, far more rare than other gender-affirming surgeries like breast implants or nose jobs. certainly puberty blockers are an issue, but talking about something complex doesn't allow you to frame an issue as "mutilating children." he must be talking about something else? male circumcision?

so confused! i can't imagine this poster would write something that's intentionally misleading, sensationalistic right wing boilerplate without having done the research.

 

[BEAL]

Did people think this way before the internet? I have to believe so, but the bullshit spreads so fast now that it's like a super virus. You're infected and transformed into...I don't even know the word for it. Simpleton ?

I remember back in the 80s, and maybe a bit in the early 90s about Satanism. The devil made me do it. Satanists are taking over our children's minds. Rock n Roll is the Devil's music!! But it felt like a majority of people who'd hear this on the newscast or read about it would mostly dismiss it as moronic.

I think we as a country have become too comfortable and bored with life (thanks Biden!) that many of us crave some sort of boogeyman. There needs to be something to fight against, or we might have to accept that the world is becoming a better place.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Trump started the whole boogeyman thing, that's one way he got into the WH. Fear is used to manipulate-fear of crime, fear of everyone who is not like you, fear of anything and everything. Fear of losing your white male supremacy.

Alleged supremacy that is, believed supremacy. Torch carrying the (insert minority here) will not replace us.

 

[mikal]

6 days until Trump’s first trial starts. We’ve been told over and over that it wouldn’t happen before the election, but here we go. Georgia shouldn’t be that much longer after Manhattan concludes. Enjoy the ride folks!

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Did people think this way before the internet? I have to believe so, but the bullshit spreads so fast now that it's like a super virus. You're infected and transformed into...I don't even know the word for it. Simpleton ?

I remember back in the 80s, and maybe a bit in the early 90s about Satanism. The devil made me do it. Satanists are taking over our children's minds. Rock n Roll is the Devil's music!! But it felt like a majority of people who'd hear this on the newscast or read about it would mostly dismiss it as moronic.

I think we as a country have become too comfortable and bored with life (thanks Biden!) that many of us crave some sort of boogeyman. There needs to be something to fight against, or we might have to accept that the world is becoming a better place.

of course they did.

how do you think germany just went along with hitler?

america had a lot of issues with the far right during those days. they just left that part of charles lindberg's past out of our history books when we were growing up.

the internet merely makes it easier and faster, but people looked to blame unseen boogeymen for their issues for as long as human history can record.

 

[womanfish]

I think the difference is that our bullshit in the 80's was homegrown. Satanists, video games warping young minds, and all that. Now it's mainlined bullshit straight from Russia and China.
You ever find it odd that there's this extreme uproar from mostly younger people about Israel/Gaza nearly weeks after Israel started it's counter attack? Where were these people when Syria was getting obliterated? How about Myanmar or Sudan?
It's because TikTok was flooded with Russian trolls to spread anti-Israeli messaging, and anti-Biden messaging to again interfere with elections.
Believe me, my 12 year old suddenly being an "expert" on middle east foreign relations is not by chance.

While we used to have older, religious people with their kooky theories about Satan and new fangled technology, we now have every person with social media, with it being used as a targeted weapon to destabilize our society.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]