The All-Purpose Political Thread

[Allhallowsday]

If you want to talk McCarthyism, you could start with the bamster, who threw a guy in jail for making a video nobody'd heard of to cover up his Benghazi debacle, A president under whom cartoonists couldn't make some wisecrack about some zoo primate that had to be put down without a visit from the secret service, as it could somehow be twisted into some vague threat on the bamster's life in some very strange way. An administration under which his opponents really had to watch what they said, lest they be called all sorts of ridiculous names associated with racism.

You are talking about the "free press" "fake news", right? 

Compare that to the number of death threats & name calling Trump and his supporters have had to put up with daily since 2016. It's been my opinion from the very beginning that Trump's crass behavior is the byproduct of eight years of name calling as an argument.

That's an excuse for a lifetime of bad behavior; eh, "crass behavior"... I've lived in the Tri-State area my whole life and was aware of Trump's existence for DECADES.  He was always a crass publicity hound... and an infamous bankrupt.  Stories of nonpayment of bills and aisles of lawsuits become overwhelming. 

[LilCerberus]

If you want to talk McCarthyism, you could start with the bamster, who threw a guy in jail for making a video nobody'd heard of to cover up his Benghazi debacle, A president under whom cartoonists couldn't make some wisecrack about some zoo primate that had to be put down without a visit from the secret service, as it could somehow be twisted into some vague threat on the bamster's life in some very strange way. An administration under which his opponents really had to watch what they said, lest they be called all sorts of ridiculous names associated with racism.

You are talking about the "free press" "fake news", right?  

I guess you're not old enough to remember the press narratives on these incidents, Such as how even after Hamid Karzai insisted that wasn't the case, the press went looking for the actors, and kept talking about this video as though it was still the case, or how Members of Congress AND the Press kept parroting this false narrative about comparing the president to a monkey because he was black, and the threat to kill him was in poor taste, even though that wasn't what the jokes were about at all.

Compare that to the number of death threats & name calling Trump and his supporters have had to put up with daily since 2016. It's been my opinion from the very beginning that Trump's crass behavior is the byproduct of eight years of name calling as an argument.

That's an excuse for a lifetime of bad behavior; eh, "crass behavior"... I've lived in the Tri-State area my whole life and was aware of Trump's existence for DECADES.  He was always a crass publicity hound... and an infamous bankrupt.  Stories of nonpayment of bills and aisles of lawsuits become overwhelming.  

If you want to get into excuses, look a the saints & angels you're supporting.
As for me, I spent eight years in Texas, spent most of my life being told I'd never be good for anything other than unskilled labor by employment councilors, until a bunch of fat cats in suits on the hill started parroting "jobs Americans aren't willing to do", and found myself forced out of the only line of work I ever knew by criminals and bullies.

I'm tired of being polite about this, and I'm just plain sick of my leaders trying to be reasonable about this, when after twelve years in UNPAID leftist radio, I hafta sit & push the buttons as these people get louder, & more ignorant.

I voted for somebody who's going to be ballsy, outspoken & determined.

[Svengoolie 3]

The video that is being referred to, "innocence of Muslims" , did in fact cause violent riots in many islamic countries and despite denials by the right may have been a major cause of the attack on the beh ghazi embassy, which had diminished security forced due to the Republican created budget crisis known as the sequester.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocence_of_Muslims

The maker was arrested for violation of his parole which he was on for a conviction of bank fraud. Part of his parole was not to use the internet without approval from his parole officer which he did not get in order to use the net to make and distribute his film.

He also created a false alias to make the video under, which was a violation of his parole. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/us/maker-of-anti-islam-video-gets-prison-term.html Those are the reasons he went to prison.

[Svengoolie 3]

[Leah]

[Allhallowsday]

...
If you want to get into excuses, look a the saints & angels you're supporting.

I'm supporting?  I don't support saints or angels... in a figurative sense.  I am a fan of Saint Francis. 

As for me, I spent eight years in Texas, spent most of my life being told I'd never be good for anything other than unskilled labor by employment councilors, until a bunch of fat cats in suits on the hill started parroting "jobs Americans aren't willing to do", and found myself forced out of the only line of work I ever knew by criminals and bullies.

I'm tired of being polite about this, and I'm just plain sick of my leaders trying to be reasonable about this, when after twelve years in UNPAID leftist radio, I hafta sit & push the buttons as these people get louder, & more ignorant. 

I voted for somebody who's going to be ballsy, outspoken & determined.

I understand your last statement, but what are you on about?  I don't understand what you're tired of being polite about... "UNPAID leftist radio"?     Maybe you should work for Alex Jones...?  I think politics is bigger than anecdotal commentary or personal experience. 

[Rev. Powell]

Politics too often seems to be an emotional decision for people rather than a rational one.

People also have an unfortunate tendency to "choose sides" and then root for their "team" to score points against the other "team," like it was a ball game between heated rivals.

Your political views become part of your identity. People will defend their political "side" to irrational lengths, because a challenge to one's identity is a challenge to a deep part of the self. 

We would be better off with no political parties, and instead discuss each individual issue facing the citizens and how best to solve it. A utopian idea, I know.

[indianasmith]

That was the idea our founders originally embraced - and then they went on to create the first parties, anyway!!! LOL

[lester1/2jr]

meanwhile:

"Between Christmas 2017 and Christmas 2018, the US government added a staggering $1,370,760,684,441.54 to the national debt."

[Pacman000]

Sorry...

Suggests that targeted ads have helped people become less civil, since reactionary stories get more reactions. But Facebook's software doesn't know the stories are polarizing; it just knows they're getting shared more often. It's a computer! It has no concept of right, or wrong, of denotation or connotation, of context or motivation! All it has are numbers! It only delivers what we react to. To quote Pogo: "We have met the enemy, and he is us." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogo_(comic_strip)#%22We_have_met_the_enemy_and_he_is_us.%22

[Alex]

meanwhile:

"Between Christmas 2017 and Christmas 2018, the US government added a staggering $1,370,760,684,441.54 to the national debt."

Is it true that trump has said he doesn't care about the national debt as by the time it becomes unmanagable he won't be around to deal with it? Heard this from a few sources but nothing 100% official and I've not really being following the news quite as closely as I used to recently.

[Rev. Powell]

meanwhile:

"Between Christmas 2017 and Christmas 2018, the US government added a staggering $1,370,760,684,441.54 to the national debt."

Is it true that trump has said he doesn't care about the national debt as by the time it becomes unmanagable he won't be around to deal with it? Heard this from a few sources but nothing 100% official and I've not really being following the news quite as closely as I used to recently.

Reported by an anonymous source, so probably but not definitely.

He did brag he would erase the national debt in 8 years, and it's currently headed in the opposite direction.

[RCMerchant]

I've almost given up on watching the news. None of it's good. Just p**ses me off, or usually, just brings me down.
Trump's a crook.
And not even a good one! At least Nixon had the smarts not to brag about it in public.

[lester1/2jr]

most of our spending in the future will go towards interest on the debt

[Svengoolie 3]

I've almost given up on watching the news. None of it's good. Just p**ses me off, or usually, just brings me down.
Trump's a crook.
And not even a good one! At least Nixon had the smarts not to brag about it in public.

Here's some good news for you RC.  I laughed and smiled at it.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/big-game-hunter-shot-dead-11937664