Politics

[Tom Servo]

That account is great. Another good one recently:


Whether it’s a few members of Stephen Colbert‘s crew going into the Capitol Building to film a joke segment, or hundreds of Trump supporters going into the Capitol Building to hang Mike Pence, both sides have a trespassing problem.

[Crazed_Insanity]

“Parody. "Unevenly funny.:D" — Joyce Carol Oates. Blocked/muted by a majority of Atlantic writers.“

Yep, sounds like a Billi to me!

[FaultyMario]

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

The sweet, sweet wept of the Bourgeoisie.

[neanderthal]

That account is great. Another good one recently:

Oof. Sounds exactly like billi!!!!

And, agreed.

[neanderthal]

“Parody. "Unevenly funny.:D" — Joyce Carol Oates. Blocked/muted by a majority of Atlantic writers.“

Yep, sounds like a Billi to me!


Clearly it's gone way over your head. The two things are technically the same but the gravity of one versus the other is "YUUUUGE"

[neanderthal]

I've talked about AOC and Co hogging the spotlight but not doing anything substantive. But Lauren Underwood gets bills passed in both houses.

Here's a tweet saying exactly the same thing

https://twitter.com/NikkiNikkinow2/status/1536720670339616770?t=WWiO_4sWWW212p5Kt0D6tw&s=19

[Crazed_Insanity]

Dude, if Billi were to post those exact tweets in all seriousness…, you’d really be offended by that? Why? Shouldn’t you be laughing with or at Billi rather than be mad as hell at him?

I can understand the difference when a black person uses the N word vs me using the the same N word. However, we’re not talking about derogatory words here. If the same exact texts from different people can trigger different emotional responses, is it really entirely Billi’s fault? Maybe. So perhaps it’s best to use the ignore feature for your own sanity. :)

[Crazed_Insanity]

I've talked about AOC and Co hogging the spotlight but not doing anything substantive. But Lauren Underwood gets bills passed in both houses.

Here's a tweet saying exactly the same thing

https://twitter.com/NikkiNikkinow2/status/1536720670339616770?t=WWiO_4sWWW212p5Kt0D6tw&s=19

Popularity and productivity of congress has been declining over the years as political polarization rises. Blaming the progressive candidates for not doing much in congress is just disingenuous.

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2015/1/2/18089154/congressional-dysfunction

[neanderthal]

Popularity and productivity of congress has been declining over the years as political polarization rises. Blaming the progressive candidates for not doing much in congress is just disingenuous.

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2015/1/2/18089154/congressional-dysfunction

No, it's an honest fucking critique of their uselessness. All hype, no substance. Like everything you post.

[FaultyMario]

The sweet, sweet wept of the Bourgeoisie.

They crying because they can't stand to see a nobody rise to power, they crying because a woman won the election.

They be crying.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HNg43qvVzM

We be laughing, we be dancing, because she asked us to live with flavor.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Good for Columbia! :up:

However, I hope they didn't just pick/use her because of the color of her skin for political gains... it'd be nicer if she were elected PRESIDENT! A president who'd fight for the 'nobodies' of his/her nation would definitely be awesomer!

Also, I don't understand why DeSantis needs to care so much about Columbia election results. Don't we have enough to worry about in our own nation... or in your own state?

Just did some more googling... it appears this progressive VP elect is critical of US meddling with Columbia's elections: https://multipolarista.com/2022/05/17/us-meddling-colombia-election-francia-marquez/

Biden administration? Even with the Orange Admin gone? Biden also has nothing better to do and has time to meddle with Columbian elections?

I guess progressives are just too dangerous and not pragmatic enough. US obviously knows what we're doing?

Nah, I still maintain my stance that both parties are probably more similar than different with their actions... and both of these major parties are driving our nation to the ground with their establishment sponsored policies.

With that said, I'm still in support of Biden overall though. I gave him a LOT of credit for actually pulling out of Afghanistan. I just hope that he didn't pull out because he received advanced intel that Putin is going to make our military establishment complex even richer soon...

This new war is really getting annoying. I really think we should either just fight this WWIII and end Putin... or we should just let ukraine be taken over... rather than dragging it on indefinitely.

Wars do not need to be dragged on forever because we're pumping billions of tax dollars to keep it going. End it one way or another please!

[FaultyMario]

Good for Columbia!

:rolleyes:

[Crazed_Insanity]

:lol:

Oh com'on, same difference, but my bad for misspelling its name...:p But still good for them though.

[Tom Servo]

Saw even Fox News talking about how bad it looks for Trump after today's hearings, with one saying he might be facing criminal charges.

The stories from Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman are horrifying. Two people, just doing their civic duty, systematically harassed and threatened by the US president purely over his ego. Can you imagine what would have happened to them if Trump's schemes had succeeded?

[neanderthal]

No, it's an honest fucking critique of their uselessness. All hype, no substance. Like everything you post.

And, billi, aren't you the one who is always complaining about the Democrats ability to do anything?

How do you reconcile that with the do nothing caucus you so fervently love? They make noise and ... do nothing. Yet you love them.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That's only because I believe Dems are 'filibustering' the progressives and not really working with them.

So I dislike the dems the same way you dislike the GOP as they filibuster the dems every step of the way. You won't stop supporting the dems just because GOP are in the way, right? Similarly I won't stop supporting the progressives just because there's a bipartisan/establishment effort to block them.

Speaking of lacking substance, when we can’t raise min wage for average Americans and can’t give them affordable healthcare/education, we should just blame the dems for being all talk and no substance and then go support Trump?

Com’on, doesn’t work that way. Dems are not completely useless, similarly progressives are not completely useless. Billi is supposed to be the black and white extremist, not Neanderthal!

Before something substantial can be done, it’s okay to be a bit loud to grab some attention. My hope is that progressives will one day be in a position to actually do something.

Speaking of which, what have the dems done to ensure a victorious midterm?

I don’t need my political leaders to always win popularity contests, but I just don’t think either party is leading our nation to the right path.

I can’t say for sure Bernie will, but I’m willing to give him a chance. I also understand both parties will try hard to deny him the chance. US government doesn’t even want progressives to win in Colombia, let alone on US soil.

[MR2 Fan]

meanwhile, a GOP senator has been implicated in the false electors scheme, Ron Johnson from Wisconsin....I'd love to say it's possible that if he is forced out that a Dem could be elected but who the fuck knows

[FaultyMario]

It would if Biden could change the perception that he is decrepit.

[Tom Servo]

Which I will never understand when you had Trump wandering around, staring directly at the sun, almost eating shit on a ramp, and just throwing together random words into sentences that made no fucking sense.

I have had relatives with dementia, and they acted way more like Trump than Biden.

[FaultyMario]

Like I said, it's a problem of perception.

Trump is a confessed criminal, i mean, he was one before being president, yet two fifths of the U.S. love him.

[JoeW]

And they think their two fifths is really four fifths.

[Dicknose]

Im finding it funny that the "stop the steal" is from the people who tried to do the steal!
They did multiple efforts at changing the election result or stopping it from going through.

Unfortunately his die hard fans will still love him.
Read an interesting article that was basically - if you commit that much you can't accept being wrong so will just dig in deeper and possibly even act violently or corruptly to keep your world view alive. This applies to political assoc down to the public.
So a decent percentage of voters would still vote for him again as long as he maintains the lie. And we know that he would admit he is wrong. Doesn't matter if he knows and denies or just lives in his own little world - Trump will stick with it to the end.

He shouldn't be allowed to run a bbq

[Crazed_Insanity]

Made a new FB friend thru some SUV towing RV trailer group… gave me lots of pointers regarding how to safely tow… we also see eye to eye when it comes to Jesus, but this Philippino American is a clear supporter of Trump. So we often do not see eye to eye on politics. Still, kinda hard to tell him that he’s wrong for desiring the days of orange president when gas was around only half of what we have now.

Whatever your ideology, if you can improve the lives of average Americans, it should be easy for you to win elections.

But before an election can take place, you need to be accepted into the correct clubs in order to be nominated. For guys like Bernie, the club will do whatever it takes to derail your nomination.

I honestly believe if Bernie wins the WH or as progressives win more seats, something more substantial can be done and American voters should finally accept socialism as we’ve accepted social security…

Anyway, may just be dreaming…

[JoeW]

US Presidents don't dictate the price of fuel.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That is definitely true, but Americans often blames the president when economies go south anyways, right?

However, I can think of one way the president could make a difference: Putin's 'special operation' caused way more strains to the world's climate/economies... If Putin's orange puppet were still in power, maybe Ukrainians could avoid a war because NATO ended up dissolved?

Would that be better or worse? I don't know..., but world will certainly be different... and gas prices probably would still be cheaper than today.

Putin is definitely not a good guy, but US government doesn't really look after the interests of the rest of the world either. I do prefer Biden, but just saying Trump obviously could've given us a different world. Better or worse. Probably worse. But if it means cheaper gas, most americans would probably be okay with that?

BTW, WTF are you doing in the politics thread JoeW? :p

[Tom Servo]

Read an interesting article that was basically - if you commit that much you can't accept being wrong so will just dig in deeper and possibly even act violently or corruptly to keep your world view alive.

I kinda feel like we're all intimately familiar with this phenomenon.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I think it is human nature. From Trump to Putin to mass shooters to crusades... and even Billi.

However, I do believe Billi draws the line at acting violently and corruptly. Maybe that's only because Billi doesn't own fire power nor does he hold any actual power. I'd hope that I'd continue to act similarly even if I do own AR15s or have the power to launch nukes. If one truly believes in loving God and loving one another, hopefully that person should draw the line at violent and corrupt actions against others. Crusaders obviously believed that they needed to protect their Almighty God from being destroyed. If one commits to believe in a God who needs such protection, then obviously tragedies can happen.

I don't believe digging into certain beliefs is a major problem... if you're indeed a visionary, please don't give up your special world view. We just need to understand that violence and corruption can only accelerate in destroying yourself and your worldview. Of course for mass shooters, that's indeed what they wanted... However, if we all can just try to love one another a little bit more, who knows, maybe we could prevent them from wanting to seek revenge against the world?

[sandydandy]

https://youtu.be/c_dwPVKYdjE
https://youtu.be/c_dwPVKYdjE

Not sure, but I'm thinking this would be most relevant in this thread. Excellent podcast exploring the history of the stinky horse manure known as the Great Replacement. This channel is one of my absolute favorites on YouTube, as he looks at various conspiracy theories and attempts to debunk them all. His videos get absurdly low views (or listens) considering the top quality of his content. He's on Spotify as well. I highly recommend it. I've listened to almost all of the episodes.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Too long didn’t hear the whole thing…

I think we probably shouldn’t try to completely deny the replacement theory conspiracy. As was stated before, the more you try to fight against that, the more they’ll dig in and possibly become more violent. If something is not happening, it is not happening. Just as flat earthers can believe all they want and it won’t change the shape of the earth. Why waste resources fighting them?

White people(particularly the supremacists) legitimately could be afraid of being replaced because after all, they’ve tried to replace others lots of times throughout history.

Perhaps we can just remind them that they can take comfort in knowing that it’s not that easy to replace a race. They tried to wipe out Jews, and Jews are still around. It didn’t work. It’s also not possible for Jews or anyone else to turn around and wipe you out.

As for the rest of us, we probably also shouldn’t treat the white supremacists the same way they treat others. Otherwise, we are simply creating another ‘superior group’ of folks.

[Rare White Ape]

How good is the fucken ignore button?

Anyway, thanks for the video sandydandy. It's really informative and I might give the channel a go.

In return, here's my go-to guy for conspiracy nutjobs with an Aussie focus. Tom Tanuki. He's been a self-proclaimed antifascist and defender of left-wing working class opposition for a long time. He has a deep knowledge of the topic that goes back a long way.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxnip1Sv-P0&t=5s&ab_channel=TomTanuki

[Crazed_Insanity]

How good is the fucken ignore button?

It is for sure a great feature for personal well being on Internet forums.

However, not very good in RL as groups of people continue to gravitate away from each other and begin to dehumanize one another. Worst case scenario would be those exceptionally outcasts and emotionally unbalanced living in a gun loving society becoming mass shooters to take revenge…

Anyway, to me it really makes no sense for people to talk politics and expect others to never offend them! :p white supremacists are definitely wrong, but I won’t ever ignore them. I’d continue to engage them until they ignore me. :D

[Tom Servo]

I've mostly been listening to the QAnon Anonymous podcast. It's pretty entertaining/informative, and introduced me to a lot of the people I follow on Twitter these days, like Mike Rothschild, Marc-Andre Argentino, Anna Merlan from Vice, Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny from NBC, and Hannah Gais from SPLC. All pretty good resources on that front.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Swervo, I know you probably won't read this post, but IMHO, wouldn't it be better to engage actual Qanon believers than to listen to anti-Qanon podcasters? That is an impressive list of folks providing us resources about something that most of us already know is bogus, right? They probably can give us lots of interesting historical details, but just not so sure if they would change any minds. Of course hopefully they'll win over people on the fence, but for those who have dug in their heels, actually engaging them as 'normal' human beings would probably be more effective at loosening their heels. Of course, we can't expect to convert them all, just as I don't believe I've converted anyone here! :p However, I guess I just don't believe a normal healthy society will never have any contrarian voices. We can't all possibly know everything. Every ideology has some truths in it and I think we all can learn something from one another. I disagree with a lot of you, but that doesn't mean I'm not learning and understanding other world views along the way. Anyway, I just thought if I want to actually learn something, I'd rather go to the source who's actually promoting it, rather than try to learn about something from someone against it.

[sandydandy]

How good is the fucken ignore button?

Anyway, thanks for the video sandydandy. It's really informative and I might give the channel a go.

In return, here's my go-to guy for conspiracy nutjobs with an Aussie focus. Tom Tanuki. He's been a self-proclaimed antifascist and defender of left-wing working class opposition for a long time. He has a deep knowledge of the topic that goes back a long way.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxnip1Sv-P0&t=5s&ab_channel=TomTanuki That's a excellent video!


wouldn't it be better to engage actual Qanon believers than to listen to anti-Qanon podcasters? :erm:

It would be better for actual QAnon believers to listen to anti-QAnon podcasts. They might learn something and be able to actually clean the shit out of their brains. They should also be made to watch Jimmy Kimmel, so they can laugh at themselves the way normal and sane people laugh at them.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Better, yes. However, Qanon believers probably wouldn't even listen to such podcast in the 1st place.

Comedians are different ball game. If you listen to a comedian and be seriously offended by his jokes, then chances are, you are probably taking things way too seriously and most likely don't have a very balanced world view.

Comedians' humor may untie the knot in some people's thinking, but if we just laugh at people, chances are, they will likely dig their heels deeper...

Take for example, if I want to learn about Islam or Hinduism, should I listen to a podcast from a Christian based organization?

If you already decided that the other group is stupid and deplorable, then naturally it'll be difficult to engage them let alone learn anything from them. Take mass shooters for example, Neanderthal thought I was stupid for wanting to understand the minds of an asshole mass shooter. I'll just have to agree to disagree with that. Chances are, these mass shooters probably were mostly ignored by their parents and their friends for whatever reasons. I still see them as human beings no matter what because their DNA certainly did not change them into a different species...

Anyway, point is, we have to treat everyone like human beings. Hillary probably would've won the WH if she never made that 'deplorable' comment... eventhough that was misconstrued. Nobody likes the holier than thou or better than you attitude. The exact reason why nobody likes white supremacists.

[sandydandy]

The whole point is there’s no desire to learn anything from them that we don’t already know. They are stupid and deplorable not because we call them that, but because of their own words and actions. There’s no point in engaging with people who have so blatantly disregarded objective truth. QAnoners, right wing parasites, antivaxxers, etc, etc. It’s gotten way past bringing everyone to the table and being friends and learning from one another. In America at least. Soon in Canada too. It’s really going to take something like an alien invasion to unite people.

[Tom Servo]

Heck, the vast majority of QAnon people are literally calling for the execution of people who disagree with them. It's a core tenet of the movement, "The Storm" is the mass arrest and execution of democrats.

I don't think sitting down and chatting with them is going to help a lot, there.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Anyway, I don't mean to fight you guys, our heels will simply dig deeper as we disagree... :p

All I'm saying is that Qanon is still not going away. I do believe most liberals believe as you guys do. Unfortunately no amount of fact checks or podcast is going to help turn them around at this stage.

Why do I insist on engaging them?

Because it worked for Christianity. I don't mean sending in a crusade to force people to submit or die. Apostle Paul and lots of missionaries in the past have engaged people to spread their gospel similarly. They don't just go into a tribe proclaiming to the deplorable villagers to repent and accept Jesus. They actually learned their culture/language and befriend them 1st. Only when they become friends, then they can see what Christians are good for. Yeah. Lots of missionaries died. Most of Jesus' apostles got executed too. But it did become one of the most popular religions of the world.

Treat people as people. Love them. Only then can you perhaps win some over. It's never too late to do that. Of course, not all of us can be missionaries, but we can start by engaging our family and friends around us...

[Rare White Ape]

I don't think sitting down and chatting with them is going to help a lot, there.

Better to vote accordingly and sideline them into oblivion.

Be smart about your voting. If it’s preferential you can vote for the good minor parties and let your preferences flow to the mainstream good party.

If it’s first past the post then just vote Democrat and stop wasting your time with the third option.

[Tom Servo]

Roe v. Wade is overturned.

[FaultyMario]

but her emails!

[FaultyMario]

Human rights and the United States judicial system, a what the fuck were you thinking approach to progressivity.

[FaultyMario]

Ginni's husband is on record saying he's already eyeing up LGBTQ+ protections to go after next.

I hope the Heart of Atlanta Motel is overturned next and solely applied to this parasitic nut job.

[Jason]

I wonder when the slide backwards will end.

[Crazed_Insanity]

In a way, Supreme Court didn't ban abortion, they simply returned the decision from federal level to state level. Perhaps the states can further return that decision down to the county, city, household... and ultimately to the individual level?

It'll just be unfortunate for poorer women in red states... :( Wonder if our current Supreme Court will also let states figure out whether to let slavery back in order to fight back inflation?

There has been an mass exodus from blue to red states, but now, there'll probably be a mass exodus of red states to blue states.

Maybe this will actually help make this nation more 'purple' and less blue and red? Hopefully dems will also be energized so that they won't lose so badly during the midterms and 2024... sigh...

[FaultyMario]

I wonder when the slide backwards will end.

Until you have 4 countries instead of 1.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I sincerely hope Mario is not a prophet...

[Tom Servo]

Ginni's husband is on record saying he's already eyeing up LGBTQ+ protections to go after next.

I hope the Heart of Atlanta Motel is overturned next and solely applied to this parasitic nut job.

I notice that he left out Loving from the cases he thinks should be overturned.

[Jason]

Until you have 4 countries instead of 1.

I am kind of wondering if this will happen in my lifetime.

[sandydandy]

America is a sad place.

[George]

Yes, and getting sadder every day.

Of local interest to me: There are protests planned for 6:00 PM at the state capitol building tonight, which is just a few blocks away from my office. There are still boarded-up windows all around, including the building right across the street from where I work, that have never been fixed since the George Floyd riots two years ago. I'll be getting the hell out of this city by 5:00. The mob will need a few hours to get liquored up and for darkness to set in before things get weird, I assume.

And the Colorado Avalanche is playing what could be the final game of the Stanley Cup in Denver tonight also - we're up 3 to 1 and just need one more victory. The game starts at 6:00 PM also and Ball Arena holds 18,000 fans. I wonder what will happen when they all spill out into the city after the game.

Don't want to minimize the importance of the SCOTUS decision with hockey talk, but I can't add anything about the escalating Republican tyranny that everyone isn't thinking already.

[MR2 Fan]

moving out of the U.S. is looking like a better and better option. I'm a straight white male with no wife or children, so I SHOULD feel fine here, but the sheer amount of insanity going on is really making me want to move. Mid-term elections could be very scary

[Leon]

Man, what the fuck is going on over there? Collective insanity?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Every one of those justices stated during their confirmation hearings that they will uphold RvW, it’s perfectly okay to lie during your job interviews?

Anyway, there’s talk of congress codifying abortion rights into law, but couldn’t Supreme Court just throw it out by declaring it unconstitutional?

I think the only way forward is probably impeach all 5 of the Justices who over turned the clock backwards…

Anyway, I’m not expert in law, may just be dreaming…

[FaultyMario]

Donnie McFuckface has already taken credit for it.

You guys are fucked.

[MR2 Fan]

n/m

[neanderthal]

Roe v. Wade is overturned.

We said over and over again that the Supreme Court was on the line in 2016.

[neanderthal]

In a way, Supreme Court didn't ban abortion, they simply returned the decision from federal level to state level. Perhaps the states can further return that decision down to the county, city, household... and ultimately to the individual level?

It'll just be unfortunate for poorer women in red states... :( Wonder if our current Supreme Court will also let states figure out whether to let slavery back in order to fight back inflation?

There has been an mass exodus from blue to red states, but now, there'll probably be a mass exodus of red states to blue states.

Maybe this will actually help make this nation more 'purple' and less blue and red? Hopefully dems will also be energized so that they won't lose so badly during the midterms and 2024... sigh...

Fuck you!! You and your ilk are responsible for this.

You that couldn't vote for Hillary Clinton and couldn't produce a single credible reason why. You sit this the fuck down because YOU are responsible for it.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah yeah… ok.

Just read an NPR article, looks like these justices spoke very much like lawyers and covered their asses during their hearings… so probably won’t be able to impeach them.

Hopefully this will finally energize the liberal base in them red states… if red states insist on getting redder… then perhaps Mario’s prophecy will come true and it’ll be the end of the United States.

I guess the planets aligned for a reason… we can definitely expect the worst, but I also want everyone to still remember to somehow hope for the best. As long as we are still breathing, there’s always hope! At least I don’t personally believe God is on the republicans’ side.

[Tom Servo]

Now that I've seen a non-spoilered quote, I guess I'm not shocked that Billi's reaction is to parrot the Fox News/Newsmax/Epoch Times take.

What I love is that in the very first stanza, he contradicted himself. How does one further the decision to the individual level if one removes the federal right to make that decision? That's maybe the most insane contradictory set of words I've read in my entire life.

You do not get to have an individual level decision if the state is allowed to make that decision for you. How do you not get that? The constitutional right to abortion was literally the individual level right. And no, I won't be reading your response unless someone chooses to quote it without a spoiler, you anti-choice nazi-sympathizer.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Neanderthal usually is pretty good with that, just accidentally slipped up that time… anyways, you must be right. I guess I must be an anti choice Nazi!

One small step for gun control and one giant slip for woman kind…

Like I said, if this doesn’t energize the liberals in red states, nothing else will. We don’t need more billis voting for Hillary, we need more liberal congressmen, particularly senators.

I think even trump, behind the scene, thought this went too far and could back fire.

[neanderthal]

Trump openly said "I will only elect judges who will overturn Roe vs Wade" in 2016 but FUCKNUTS LIKE YOU said we were being alarmist.

FUCK RIGHT OFF. And when you get there, fuck off some more. And when you get there, keep fucking off.

You ... can take a seat on this. In fact, take all the seats, take all the goddamned seats in a giant empty stadium over this.

[neanderthal]

They're going after contraception, same sex marriage, and consensual sex between adults next (Obergefell, Griswold, and Lawrence.) They explicitly said so.

[2ndMoparMan]

I wonder if good ol Thomas will want to overturn Loving vs Virgina too.

[neanderthal]

I wonder if good ol Thomas will want to overturn Loving vs Virgina too.

He conveniently left that one out.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Trump openly said "I will only elect judges who will overturn Roe vs Wade" in 2016 but FUCKNUTS LIKE YOU said we were being alarmist.

FUCK RIGHT OFF. And when you get there, fuck off some more. And when you get there, keep fucking off.

You ... can take a seat on this. In fact, take all the seats, take all the goddamned seats in a giant empty stadium over this.

8 years of Obama vs 4 years of Trump, how many justices confirmed?

The problem liberals have is they don’t have a majority in congress. Even with 50 senators, 2 of them still act like conservatives!

Anyway, conservative justices sure picked a bad time to pick a fight. This midterm and 2024 should be an easy win for them if they just focus on the economy, but now, hopefully things can turn bluer…

https://apple.news/AbnbST4LiQ8WVgVA5wzXCFg

[neanderthal]

I guess you don't understand the nature of lifetime appointments either.
How many justices did President Obama have the opportunity to nominate to the Supreme Court?

And was the senate in the Democrats hands?

Actually, don't answer, being as you never know how to actually answer a question.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Obama definitely had less opportunity and more senate opposition even with longer term… there’s also no guarantee Hillary will get any of her nominees confirmed. You know Mitch.

Dems is suppose to lose big time this midterm, but maybe not because of this. Do red state folks really believe God would deny them only rights for women? Why boys can still choose guns and everyone can still choose the avoid vaccines? If that’s really what conservative women voters want, then so be it I guess. However, I have a hard time believing that is the case.

Hopefully we can end up with more liberal senators because of this. Without sufficient senators, dems can do nothing.

[Yw-slayer]

Karma. So good.

[2ndMoparMan]

https://twitter.com/JohnCornyn/status/1540689961040482306

Fuck. You.

[Yw-slayer]

Where is Ted Cruz? Shouldn't he be supporting these protesters, just like he claimed to do when he flew to Hong Kong in 2019? HMMM ONE WONDERS

[FaultyMario]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FWQ79rfXwAI5xAB.jpg

Imagine being a person who needs to get an abortion and you live in the RGV. You're 500 miles away from a safe clinic, which is in another country.

[Crazed_Insanity]

It's definitely still possible to travel 500 miles, but I'd rather imagine voters in red states change their lawmakers and the laws of their state to make Supreme Court's latest decision irrelevant.

Are we a real democracy or state lawmakers like CCP who can take away your rights and you can do nothing about it?

Now, if Texans are really happy living under Ted Cruz's rule, well, I can respect that and I'm glad my family didn't move there... and I hope people can afford to move out?

Bunch of companies moved in or planning to move into Texas because of less regulations... now their women employees will end up being more heavily regulated all of a sudden.

There must be some sort of political fallout come midterm election. It is so sad, that all 3 branches of our government now suffer super low approval rating because of partisan politics. Thanks to partisan politics, we can't make america great again, nor can we build anything back better. Politicians need to learn from Top Gun. It's a bit cheesy, but it was great back then. Decades later, Maverick built back even better!

Maybe the moral of the story is that we all need to learn from Maverick rather than counting on our nation's top institutions to be able to do the right things...

[2ndMoparMan]

Nah, what we need is the God Emperor of Mankind.

[FaultyMario]

red states lawmakers the laws [blah, blah, blah]



Hilary Fucking Clinton was out this year campaigning for pro lifer Henry Cuellar.

The party represents the interests of the rich, not of the people.

They can't let an up-and-coming progressive like Jessica Cisneros get in the way of business as fucking usual. They're perfectly comfortable with an old gofer like Cisneros, why change?

Why take money away from the warlords of the clan Raytheon? Why elect someone who's going to make it difficult for the House of Boeing?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Nah, what we need is the God Emperor of Mankind.

Yes, having Jesus around would be great. The thing about this prolife authoritarian is that he is also prochoice and would only be your God if you choose to want to….

[Crazed_Insanity]

Hilary Fucking Clinton was out this year campaigning for pro lifer Henry Cuellar.

The party represents the interests of the rich, not of the people.

They can't let an up-and-coming progressive like Jessica Cisneros get in the way of business as fucking usual. They're perfectly comfortable with an old gofer like Cisneros, why change?

Why take money away from the warlords of the clan Raytheon? Why elect someone who's going to make it difficult for the House of Boeing?

I really don’t care about Hillary.

Money is definitely influential.

The glimmer of hope is that Supreme Court didn’t ban abortion explicitly. Just cowardly shifted the responsibility to state governments. Our nation is a republic, each state should hopefully be more democratic. Red voters can vote to make their own choices. Hopefully this will finally loosen GOP’s grip on government? We’ll see.

It’d be scary if this somehow end up making them stronger. I am a Christian and will forever be one, but evangelicals need to understand how warped versions of Christianity could bring the world into the dark ages…

If this is really Gods will, we’d banned AR15s long ago to save more of our babies. Vaccine mandate would also be in place to save more lives.

This is obviously all politics.

[FaultyMario]

A red vote has never been "pro-life".

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FWRzByrUYAElJec.jpg


If this is really Gods will

Even me, a cafeteria catholic, understands the imperative in the "City of God" or "Two Kingdoms" Doctrine.

The Christian god does not meddle in earthly affairs.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Whether a red republican voter or a red chinese commie, I may not agree with them fully, but I do have hope that they will eventually figure out what's good for them and end up choosing wisely. The prodigal son will either just die off somewhere or return to his senses. If I am the one who's wrong, then in time, hopefully I can realize my mistake and repent and come to my senses.

If those conservative judges are really acting 'morally', they'd act to actively ban abortion to save babies. That is not what they did. They simply avoided and shifted the responsibility to state governments. That's pretty cowardly of them. They don't even have a courage to stand firmly on what they suppose to believe in. Half of our nation that's blue are still murdering babies left and right and they're doing nothing to stop that... (Now I hope Neanderthal won't quote this part of my post as if I'm really hoping for them to do that...)

Anyway, God has been meddling with earthly affairs the whole time. He even came to this world 2000 years ago. You can choose to eat in his cafeteria and believe he's bogus or absent if you want. I can clearly see God's glory as His gospel was being spread from Israel, to Europe and to America... my hope is China will be the next destination.

Freedom shall reign. Resistance if futile.

Of course humanity do also need to learn to be free responsibly by choosing things wisely. Freedom doesn't mean we can choose to do whatever we want without consequences... Freedom simply means we have choices. If you can only learn what's bad and evil by experiencing it, go for it. Of course hopefully you'll learn from the prodigal son to come back to your senses in time.

Although we do have separation of church and state, it is clear that our supposedly christian political leaders are leading our nation into the next dark ages.

However, history has demonstrated to us that light will eventually overcome darkness. There will always be struggles in our world, but good always triumph over evil.

[2ndMoparMan]

You clearly missed my joke.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Clearly I did not miss nor ignore your joke but expanded it further.

Seriously, even 2000 years ago, the conservative religious Pharisees were the ones ruining people’s lives with God’s laws and even felt justified to kill God’s Son using God’s laws.

The end result was that Israel was destroyed. America is facing similar danger IMHO.

[2ndMoparMan]

God doesn't real, bud.

[Dicknose]

However, history has demonstrated to us that light will eventually overcome darkness. There will always be struggles in our world, but good always triumph over evil.
Tell that to the people in North Korea... or the USA.

It might be a long term trend, but lots of people can suffer and die along the way.

[FaultyMario]

God has been meddling with earthly affairs the whole time.

Nope.

Dude, you're doing it wrong.

When I go to mass and drink the wine, I believe it is blood, and when I am given a thin wafer of sacramental bread I eat it with the utmost conviction that it has been transubstantiated into Christ's body and that by doing so I am renewing my covenant with him.

Does believing that cause me some sort of existential anxiety? Probably, but catholic doctrine is something I have accepted as part of myself.

In your case, if you call yourself a christian you have to believe that the spiritual "city" and the temporal realm are separated entities.

[Tom Servo]

Just based on that (again) non-spoilered quote, it sounds a hell of a lot like the QAnon "trust the plan", "it's all a movie", "enjoy the show." Plausible deniability. If it goes the way you want, it was a Deus Ex Machina guiding the machine. If it doesn't, well, that was also the Deus Ex Machina working in ways you don't understand.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Tell that to the people in North Korea... or the USA.

It might be a long term trend, but lots of people can suffer and die along the way.

The last dark ages certainly lasted a long time in human historical scale.

I don’t know what the future hold, I’m only seeing biblical and modern history repeating itself again and again.

Due to all the poor choices we’ve made, we will suffer. Forget about God the father, this is true even for Mother Nature! Climate change is due to our collective poor choices, right? We will all have to pay for it one way or another.., a lot of people might suffer and die along the way. Yeah, it’s sad and unfortunate. However, we can fight and change and fix things for the better. Often times good triumph over evil over a long period of time.

Sometimes Jesus can perform instant miracles, but those are probably exceptions rather than rule.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Nope.

Dude, you're doing it wrong.

When I go to mass and drink the wine, I believe it is blood, and when I am given a thin wafer of sacramental bread I eat it with the utmost conviction that it has been transubstantiated into Christ's body and that by doing so I am renewing my covenant with him.

Does believing that cause me some sort of existential anxiety? Probably, but catholic doctrine is something I have accepted as part of myself.

In your case, if you call yourself a christian you have to believe that the spiritual "city" and the temporal realm are separated entities.

Yeah? Okay… but why do you believe God is powerless to meddle with this world?

Why do you believe Jesus didn’t temporarily walked this earth 2000 years ago and meddled around in Israel?

The whole point of praying is to lobby God to do something. God may not always answer my prayers because He probably has better plans or I might not be praying in accordance to His will. Just like a dad won’t always spoiled his kid by saying yes all the time, but most dads probably have the kids best interests in heart. I do believe God has the best interests for all of us in His heart.

If God were a Republican, He’d probably lock us up forever in a hell called Eden and never let us out. If God were a dem, He’ll probably just wiped us all out already or just put all of us on ignore… and abandoned us because we’re so hatefully deplorable…

[Leon]

Or in fact. There is no god, and this is a case of a specific subset of a specific subset, forcing their beliefs into other people's lives and ability to live how they want to do ... because of a minority, of a minority.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That’s definitely possible, they are still in the wrong though.

Anyway, at least I personally believe the best way to possibly win a debate with a fellow Christian is by basing my arguments on the Bible. They still might not agree with me, but at least we are still brothers in Christ.

God is both prolife and prochoice according to the Bible. To go against the Bible is to assure your own destruction. Our conservative justices thought that they’re doing God’s will, but not according to my interpretation of the Bible.

[Yw-slayer]

Not sure why you guys even bother lol

[Leon]

That’s definitely possible, they are still in the wrong though.

Anyway, at least I personally believe the best way to possibly win a debate with a fellow Christian is by basing my arguments on the Bible. They still might not agree with me, but at least we are still brothers in Christ.

God is both prolife and prochoice according to the Bible. To go against the Bible is to assure your own destruction. Our conservative justices thought that they’re doing God’s will, but not according to my interpretation of the Bible.

Again, this is 100% based on your faith & belief, and 0% based on any measurable evidence.

I could swap the word god for the word Yoda, and the word Bible from your quote.

All of what you say is based on your personal opinion. There are no facts. Which is okay, if you keep your opinion and your feelings to how you live your life. The problem is, when you apply those opinions and feelings to how other people want to live their lives.

[Leon]

Not sure why you guys even bother lol

Because the religious right has offended me utterly with this latest antic, so I can't continue to bottle my feelings.

Even if this is falling on tone deaf ears.

[Yw-slayer]

Save the time and energy, man, particularly when you don't even live in the same country (I assume you're referring to Roe v Wade? IDK) and when he's so far gone that it doesn't matter at all.

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah the religion thread is bopping off again and I really can't be fucked with any of that. Endless debates again and again because one person can't keep their toxic shit bottled.

Best to smell the roses, eat the rich, and fight for the rights of everyone below you who should be equal with you <3

[Rare White Ape]

Oh yeah, and punch some nazis.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Again, this is 100% based on your faith & belief, and 0% based on any measurable evidence.

I could swap the word god for the word Yoda, and the word Bible from your quote.

All of what you say is based on your personal opinion. There are no facts. Which is okay, if you keep your opinion and your feelings to how you live your life. The problem is, when you apply those opinions and feelings to how other people want to live their lives.

I agree 100% with what you're saying.

Just want you to know that not all Christians are onboard on this.

US Supreme Court was simply playing politics in God's name. At least that's my opinion based on my interpretation of the bible. I will definitely continue to engage my fellow brothers and sisters of Christ about this issue.

[FaultyMario]

Oh yeah, and punch some nazis.

Jah, mon! Down with Babylon.

[21Kid]

I've talked about AOC and Co hogging the spotlight but not doing anything substantive. But Lauren Underwood gets bills passed in both houses.

Here's a tweet saying exactly the same thing

https://twitter.com/NikkiNikkinow2/status/1536720670339616770?t=WWiO_4sWWW212p5Kt0D6tw&s=19

No, it's an honest fucking critique of their uselessness. All hype, no substance. Like everything you post.

And, billi, aren't you the one who is always complaining about the Democrats ability to do anything?

How do you reconcile that with the do nothing caucus you so fervently love? They make noise and ... do nothing. Yet you love them.

What exactly do you count as a bill? Because it looks AOC has sponsored 31 bills. Unless I'm reading it wrong. Granted it may not be as many as others. But, it's not exactly zero. It looks like 11 of them have become law. So I don't know why people are saying she does nothing. Maybe I am reading it wrong. https://www.congress.gov/search?q=%7B%22source%22%3A%22legislation%22%2C%22 house-sponsor%22%3A%22Ocasio-Cortez%2C+Alexandria+%5BD-NY%5D%22%7D

"In the U.S. Congress, a sponsor is a senator or representative - or even a delegate from a U.S. territory - who introduces a bill or an amendment to a bill. Occasionally, a committee is identified as the sponsor of a bill, but this is rare."

[21Kid]

I kinda feel like we're all intimately familiar with this phenomenon.

*clap*

[21Kid]

Just based on that (again) non-spoilered quote, it sounds a hell of a lot like the QAnon "trust the plan", "it's all a movie", "enjoy the show." Plausible deniability. If it goes the way you want, it was a Deus Ex Machina guiding the machine. If it doesn't, well, that was also the Deus Ex Machina working in ways you don't understand.

That's why I blocked Billi. It's exactly like trying to argue with a QAnon believer.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Dude, you probably blocked me before there was even QAnon! :p

Anyway, I really don't want people to suffer from heart attacks by reading my stupid posts. So in that respect, it's good to put me on ignore for your own health.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Okay, enough about religion.

I'm praying and hoping for a 3rd party in America made up of comedians! Seriously, Al Frankan has proven that they can do the job. Comedians are also keen observers... often the 1st ones to see that the emperor has no cloths! They also pay attention to the crowd, the people... because they want to capture people's laughs and attention. They're not interested in please Netflix or whatever other corporations...

I'd really have no reservations to vote for folks like Jon Stewart or Dave Chapelle or Trevor Noah into political leadership positions.

I understand everyone is pretty upset due to the latest news... It's really amazing Trevor Noah is able to keep people laughing at our dysfunctional government...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BptGmN1LQJs

[2ndMoparMan]

How on earth the Cheeto isn't in prison I have no idea. Holy shit these hearings.

[Tom Servo]

Yeah, they are definitely something. I was reading reactions on Twitter but watched the last segment of it. Fucking hell.

[Crazed_Insanity]

How on earth the Cheeto isn't in prison I have no idea. Holy shit these hearings.

Because from impeachments to these hearings, they're just way too partisan. Makes it look like a reality show.

So far, both parties came out as losers. Approval rating of all branches of our government, regardless of which party, just continues to plummet.

Those folks in DC have lost sight of what's really important. One has to be a diehard extremist to actually think his/her political leader is doing a great job at this point.

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/3538415-trump-and-democrats-are-both-losers-so-far-in-jan-6-hearings/

[FaultyMario]

So a guy who tried to assault a member of the secret service had access to doomsday weapons?

#PeaceOfMind

[FaultyMario]

Does anyone expect his approval numbers to take a hit?

[JSGeneral]

Does anyone expect his approval numbers to take a hit?

Probably with the Ketchup lobby.

[Tom Servo]

Probably with the Ketchup lobby.

Lol, well played

[Rare White Ape]

If this was a bad action flick I’d be wheezing with laughter :lol:

Quote:
Trump grabbed steering wheel of presidential limo, Hutchinson says

Donald Trump was so furious that the Secret Service and White House lawyers were planning to return him to the White House rather than allow him to go to the Capitol on January 6 that he tried to grab the steering wheel from the back seat of the presidential limo, Cassidy Hutchinson testified at the hearing.

Ms Hutchinson, who served as an aide for Mark Meadows who was Mr Trump's chief of staff, said when he got into the limo, nicknamed "the Beast", he had a very angry response when he was told he wasn't going to the Capitol where supporters were marching.

The president had just finished his speech at the Ellipse outside the White House where he encouraged supporters to march on the Capitol when he got into the limo, Reuters reports.

[Rare White Ape]

I mean, the shades of “But I wanna go to McDonald’s!” are intense

[Tom Servo]

Today was both intense and hilarious on that front. Like, if he wasn't getting so close to absolutely destroying America, this would be incredibly funny.

[Yw-slayer]

Time to re-post this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesusland_map lollllllllllllllllllllllll

[neanderthal]

What exactly do you count as a bill? Because it looks AOC has sponsored 31 bills. Unless I'm reading it wrong. Granted it may not be as many as others. But, it's not exactly zero. It looks like 11 of them have become law. So I don't know why people are saying she does nothing. Maybe I am reading it wrong. https://www.congress.gov/search?q=%7B%22source%22%3A%22legislation%22%2C%22 house-sponsor%22%3A%22Ocasio-Cortez%2C+Alexandria+%5BD-NY%5D%22%7D

"In the U.S. Congress, a sponsor is a senator or representative - or even a delegate from a U.S. territory - who introduces a bill or an amendment to a bill. Occasionally, a committee is identified as the sponsor of a bill, but this is rare."

What I mean by that is; she wrote the bill, got cosponsors, the bill was taken up by the sub committee, and passed, the bill was then taken up in the house, and passed, then taken up in the senate, and passed, then signed into law by the president.


On that page you linked, I don't see a single bill that passed except for one that passed by a voice vote. However I don't see where it passed the senate, or became law. I see a bunch of amendments, most of which "failed in the yeas or nays" and a bunch of others that were submitted but failed.

Here is the link on the same site for Lauren Underwood's achievements. https://www.congress.gov/member/lauren-underwood/U000040 I believe they've both been in the congress since 2019.

Here (https://www.congress.gov/member/alexandria-ocasio-cortez/O000172?q=%7B"bill-status"%3A"law"%7D) is the page for AOC, showing the bills she has written or cosponsored that became law.
24 of them. Many of which are renaming post offices. None of which she appears to have actually wrote.

I prefer using govtrack.

Govtrack page for AOC. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/alexandria_ocasio_cortez/412804)

Govtrack page for Lauren Underwood. (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/lauren_underwood/412776)

I hope that satisfies your curiosity about my methodology.

[neanderthal]

Many people go through the Congress and don't pass any bills. That's the sad truth. But to be so overtly out there and vocal and not ... actually achieving anything?!?!?!? (the metric i'm using is passing bills. I'm criticising the all talk, no action faction.) :smh: Shades of Bernie. To quote someone (HRC?) "no one likes him." Being a congressperson that gets bills passed means getting along with your fellow congress critters, well enough to have their ear when you want to suggest something or write law (bills.) Because those compatriots need to cosponsor, then vote for, said bills.

Bernie. Abrasive. Mouthy. Achieved a lot of nothing.
AOC. Abrasive. Mouthy. Going a long way to achieving a lot of nothing.

To quote Al Franken "In the Senate I think I liked Ted Cruz the most, and I hate him."

[Crazed_Insanity]

Whatever metric you use, dems have done way too little and way too late.

GOP is fucking ridiculous that’s a given, but dems really have little or no response except to recite poems and do the hide your head in the sand yoga poses…

Oh yeah, let’s not forget to blame Bernie, AOC and Billi for doing nothing. Dems are just so amazingly productive. :rolleyes:

Bernie and AOC should be assets rather than enemies of the liberals. Blaming the GOP and progressives won’t help you win elections. If you really don’t want to work with abrasive progressives, then get the job done! Then surely we’ll all shut the fuck up and vote for you!

Now at the moment, we all have to vote for dems because it’s no longer about lesser evil, but actually fighting evil. Hope you’re happier now?

[sandydandy]

I saw clips of that woman testifying yesterday and it’s some crazy shit. The word “devastating” is being thrown around by various media outlets to describe Trump. Still…I don’t think anything will happen to him. Someone somewhere somehow will get paid off and Trump will escape justice yet again just like the impeachments, and he will be your next President in 2024. The system is so corrupt that you can’t trust it.

I hope I’m wrong.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I fear you might not be wrong... :(

I pray that this hearing or whatever other future legal proceedings will finally bring down Trump in a legal lawful manner without any hint of partisan politics. I hope they get Clarence Thomas's wife too and then hopefully he can also resign his post in shame being married to this 'criminal' wife.

I'm going to assume you guys won't have any problem with such prayer, right?

America cannot keep on going in THAT direction...

Oh I hope God will answer this prayer...

Of course I also pray that dems will begin to pay more attention to the will of the people than the will of corporations. Let the Republicans worry about the welfare of the corporations. One party to take care of the corporations should be enough. We don't need both parties looking out for them.

[2ndMoparMan]

rich and white, ain't jack shit happening

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/secret-agents-prepared-testify-trump-125704694.html

"Secret Service agents are willing to testify that former President Donald Trump did not try to lunge at them or take control of the vehicle to direct the car to the Capitol as agents were driving on January 6, 2021, CBS News and NBC News reported."

At least it's not reported by FOX.

Is this hearing actually more like Netflix's "drive to survive"? Very dramatic, but not actually what really happened?

Politicians are playing both sides as fools and want us to hate each other so that we'll keep on voting them as less of the 2 evils.

They're fucking both evil.

I only agree to vote left now because the left is currently severely out of balance... not because of any love I have for them.

[neanderthal]

We may have lost our sixth amendment rights too

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3541102-scotus-just-quietly-slashed-your-sixth-amendment-rights/

We were strident about the supreme court being at stake, but billi fuknuts and his fellow idiots had a point to prove or something

[neanderthal]

Whatever metric you use, dems have done way too little and way too late.

GOP is fucking ridiculous that’s a given, but dems really have little or no response except to recite poems and do the hide your head in the sand yoga poses…

Oh yeah, let’s not forget to blame Bernie, AOC and Billi for doing nothing. Dems are just so amazingly productive. :rolleyes:

Bernie and AOC should be assets rather than enemies of the liberals. Blaming the GOP and progressives won’t help you win elections. If you really don’t want to work with abrasive progressives, then get the job done! Then surely we’ll all shut the fuck up and vote for you!

Now at the moment, we all have to vote for dems because it’s no longer about lesser evil, but actually fighting evil. Hope you’re happier now?

We're blaming the people getting in the way of what we are trying to do and achieve. Yes, that includes you "progressives."

Wait, I spelled fauxgressives wrong.

[Crazed_Insanity]

If you want to play the blame game, I can play too. I'd totally blame Hillary for all this. I fully agree with the author of the opinion piece below regarding Hillary.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/guest-column-hillary-clinton-ruth-160135400.html

OTOH, I'm not sure I'd want to blame RBG for staying on her job. There's no guarantee that Obama could successfully nominate anybody because surely GOP will block his nomination every step of the way. She was simply doing her job.

Hillary simply wanted to have that job too much. Yeah, it's her turn in line... Obama already cut in line for 8 years..., but democracy isn't about who's turn is it. Why are you compelling? Why should people vote for you? Being a woman and it's your turn are not compelling reasons. Any stupid reason could trump those reasons.

I'm pretty sure Bernie could've defeated Trump back in 2016 and 2020. Of course, obviously we don't need Bernie in 2020. With Bernie in charge, we probably could've also handled the pandemic a lot better. Pretty much all democratic socialists around the world took much better care of its citizens.

[FaultyMario]

We may have lost our sixth amendment rights too

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3541102-scotus-just-quietly-slashed-your-sixth-amendment-rights/

We were strident about the supreme court being at stake, but billi fuknuts and his fellow idiots had a point to prove or something

Mmm dude, a court ruling is framed in the context of its time. It is, in essence, an interpretation of the law.

If you want to point to an idiot, make sure your finger is in the direction of congress.

If you're putting the responsibility of RvW being repealed on voters from non-swing states, you might as well blame RBG for not retiring, or Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) for not believing Anita Hill.

But IMHO it is part of the political system of the United States: a conservative system by design and a rigged game, of course. Giving SC justices appointments for life is a way to ensure a conservative composition of the institution. Why not 25 years? the usual amount of time in a "generation". Why not 12 years? triple the time of a presidential term. The answer lies in the elites, they really, really do not like things to change.

[sandydandy]

prayer You know the bad guys are praying too, right? Clearly “God”, if he/she exists, is in their camp.

[Dicknose]

But IMHO it is part of the political system of the United States: a conservative system by design and a rigged game, of course. Giving SC justices appointments for life is a way to ensure a conservative composition of the institution. Why not 25 years? the usual amount of time in a "generation". Why not 12 years? triple the time of a presidential term. The answer lies in the elites, they really, really do not like things to change.

Was discussing this the other day and looked up the ages of the recent appointments... the three Trump appointments are currently 50, 54, 57 years old. The latest by Biden is due to join tomorrow... she is 51 and is replacing a retiring 83 year old. Would not be surprised if she is still there in 2052, maybe even 2060.

[Jason]

One of the big goals by conservative think tanks was to place younger justices in SCOTUS, and they certainly accomplished that

Today’s SCOTUS news, they’re limiting the ability of the EPA to regulate certain emissions.

And Congress won’t be able to do anything about it, because it’s a 50/50 tie in the Senate, and the filibuster exists. Whole system is fucked for anyone who wants to see the US progress as a nation.

[Crazed_Insanity]

This is why I'm hoping this latest overturning of RvW will help turn some red states to become more purple... at least so that we have 62 liberal senators. The extra 2 will be the extra buffer for fake liberals like Manchin and Sinema. Actually, perhaps best case scenario is that we have additional 12 fake liberal senators? ;) Hope not.

Anyway, if after this midterm, dems continue to lose more control of congress, then I guess we're screwed.

[FaultyMario]

Remember Melilla. Remember San Antonio.




https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FWZnIdKXoAMLgF7.jpg

[Crazed_Insanity]

That's indeed tragic. I did not realize Trump built a wall there in Europe as well.

[FaultyMario]

You idiot.

[neanderthal]

Mmm dude, a court ruling is framed in the context of its time. It is, in essence, an interpretation of the law.

If you want to point to an idiot, make sure your finger is in the direction of congress.

If you're putting the responsibility of RvW being repealed on voters from non-swing states, you might as well blame RBG for not retiring, or Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) for not believing Anita Hill.

But IMHO it is part of the political system of the United States: a conservative system by design and a rigged game, of course. Giving SC justices appointments for life is a way to ensure a conservative composition of the institution. Why not 25 years? the usual amount of time in a "generation". Why not 12 years? triple the time of a presidential term. The answer lies in the elites, they really, really do not like things to change.

I'm placing the RvW reversal squarely on the morons who fell for Republican propaganda in 2016. And voted accordingly. Especially the moron that continues to say that she was untrustworthy or whatever horseshit it is on that day, but can never actually explicitly state exactly what it was that made her ... "untrustworthy"

There is no one, NO ONE, in US history who has been more qualified and prepared to be a sitting US President than Hillary Clinton in 2008 and 2016. NO ONE! First lady of Arkansas. First lady. Senator. Secretary of State. etc etc etc. Her achievements and accolades were and still are superb.

And she was up against a literal fucking turd of a human.

Hindsight is 20 fucking 20. If you want to go all the way to blaming RBG or Joe Biden in 1981, you may as well blame Eve for eating the apple. RBG had a lifetime appointment. She could retire when she chose. I'm not blaming someone for being where they were supposed to be. A case could be made for blaming Genghis bloody Khan if we're going to start blaming people where there literally wasn't a direct cause and effect. fuknuts was amplifying the bullshit the whole time.

[neanderthal]

You idiot.

You're being kind, aren't you?!!? :lol:

hes a nincomfuckingtwit!

[neanderthal]

And Beau talks about "useful idiots..."


https://youtu.be/HWzvEPIwoLI

[Crazed_Insanity]

RBG had a lifetime appointment. She could retire when she chose. I'm not blaming someone for being where they were supposed to be.

At least I agree with Neanderthal on this point. RBG did her job. I don’t think we can blame people for not quitting earlier. Sure, there might be good reasons for her to retire early, but there’s really no guarantee that Obama could really put a Justice in there.

In retrospect, I think Obama made an error having lunch with RBG trying to hint her off her bench. That conversation should’ve been initiated by somebody else. Such political meeting probably needed to happen in more secret/private setting rather than in the WH.

Anyway, Obama probably ended up learning and mastered the art of persuasion and successfully convinced people in private to gang up on Bernice sanders so that he can’t win the primary…

Obama has really been a disappointment for me. He really should’ve stayed on as senator and just let Hillary win… and then he can step in as the more charismatic antiestablishment Progressive to beat out Bernie and Trump.

With a White House bing blue for 16 years, there’s good chance Supreme Court would be bluer too.

Anyway, not trying to blame Obama, but I just felt that he let me down. I expected so many great things from him.

Not willing to give Snowden a fair and public trial is probably one of the most disappointing thing that he’s done. But then again, maybe Obama has to protect such US secret…, otherwise he might end up like JFK?

Just saying the Obama I voted for did not really show up in WH for 8 years. He looked and sounded good though! :up:

[FaultyMario]

Both of you guys need to get better at skimming thru the posts.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I know you’re not blaming RBG, just want to focus on what Neanderthal and I agree with. :p

[Tom Servo]

Another solid contender from



Whether it's conservatives forcing ten year-old rape victims to bring their pregnancies to terms, or liberals forcing podcasters to stop using the n-word, both sides have a problem with respecting the wishes of others.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Do you guys really believe the folks who want free speech are only interested in using the N word in their speech?

Do you guys really believe Peterson’s tweet was hateful and worth banning? Actually, of course you guys believe he’s a hateful person because you guys have already made that clear.

Bible is also probably a very hateful book that needed to be banned, right?

Founding fathers who owned slaves all needed to be cancelled because they’re obviously bunch of hateful racist assholes?

I really don’t believe this is a viable path forward for liberals. San Franciscans don’t even want to go that left, let alone the rest of America.

https://apple.news/Aot5OT6QlSribYY_aVCXGVw

Of course, Trump’s path is also NOT a viable path forward for America. Supreme Court has also been going off the deep end in the other direction.

Anyway, it’s clear nobody on either side likes Billi, but am I really the only one going crazy? ;)

[Jason]

Another solid contender from

What in tarnation

[neanderthal]

Do you guys really believe the folks who want free speech are only interested in using the N word in their speech?

Do you guys really believe Peterson’s tweet was hateful and worth banning? Actually, of course you guys believe he’s a hateful person because you guys have already made that clear.

Bible is also probably a very hateful book that needed to be banned, right?

Founding fathers who owned slaves all needed to be cancelled because they’re obviously bunch of hateful racist assholes?

I really don’t believe this is a viable path forward for liberals. San Franciscans don’t even want to go that left, let alone the rest of America.

https://apple.news/Aot5OT6QlSribYY_aVCXGVw

Of course, Trump’s path is also NOT a viable path forward for America. Supreme Court has also been going off the deep end in the other direction.

Anyway, it’s clear nobody on either side likes Billi, but am I really the only one going crazy? ;)

We believe know you are the king of both sides ism here. So yes, you desperately want to say the n word. And you've said it multiple times.

[neanderthal]

What in tarnation

Just showing billi what his both sides ism looks like to those of us with fully developed brains.

It would be comical if it wasn't horrific.

[neanderthal]

You know the bad guys are praying too, right? Clearly “God”, if he/she exists, is in their camp.

It's always interesting in the context of sports; members of both sides ardently praying for victory.

[Crazed_Insanity]

We believe know you are the king of both sides ism here. So yes, you desperately want to say the n word. And you've said it multiple times.

Why would you think that? Makes it easier to dehumanize me?

How is that so different than people who actually uses the N word to dehumanize black people?

Left often claim to not tolerate those who are intolerant. Justifying hate due to hate from the other side.

What have I done to you to justify such hate?

[Crazed_Insanity]

It's always interesting in the context of sports; members of both sides ardently praying for victory.

Obviously only one side could win, but then again a game could tie?

Anyway, do you guys really believe any parents who said no to their kids are bad parents? Good parents need to be good genies to their kids and say yes to all requests?

[Tom Servo]

A fun thing is that mass shootings have been so common we don't even post in the gun control thread anymore.

[2ndMoparMan]

And that is truly, truly fucked.

[Yw-slayer]

So it's a Fun Fact that could be evolved into a ProTip?

[MR2 Fan]

Happy Independence day to the, erm, 20 or 30th best country in the world

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yes, happy birthday America!

It unfortunate words like freedom and patriot are hijacked by racists… making land of the free and home of the brave sound like home of bunch of deplorable assholes…

Yeah, mass shooting in America and bombs exploding in Ukraine are no longer news worthy nowadays, but hopefully we’ll be able to work things out so that America, Ukraine and our school kids will be able to have many many more birthdays…

[Tom Servo]

It feels very on point that we have had two mass shootings today.

[Yw-slayer]

Oh, I thought it was just one?

[Rare White Ape]

I thought it was only one as well. I heard about that one from my usual source of mass shooting news: Facebook groups.

But I looked up some stats (https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/07/04/us-mass-shootings-hover-near-record-breaking-levels/?sh=70757f525f62), and one source says that there have been 306 for the year up until last Sunday. We're halfway through the year so it's basically following the average of roughly between 1 and 2 per day since the year began. Shrug...

But if you look at mass-shootings-per-gun stats, it's actually quite low:

There have been 8.8 million guns sold in the USA this year, so the rate of mass shootings per gun is <0.000001% for guns sold this year.

For total guns owned by civilians in the USA, Wikipedia says there are 393 million, so that rate drops to a whopping <0.00000001%.

It is unknown at this point whether a firearm has been used for more than one mass shooting.

So tiny, that I wouldn't even worry about it.

[MR2 Fan]

One outside of Chicago during parade, two police officers shot and wounded in Philadelphia during fireworks show, plus a shooting scare in downtown Orlando that turned out to be a false alarm.....because people on-edge with lots of flashing and booming noises won't cause anyone to possibly think shooting.

[FaultyMario]

One outside of Chicago during parade...


Wasn't that one in a predominantly Jewish area?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yep.

It's really unbelievable that America seems to have endless supplies of these mini-Hitlers and mini-Putins and semi-automatic weapons around.

I wonder if the latest gun bill signed by Biden could've helped in this case?

[Tom Servo]

Wasn't that one in a predominantly Jewish area?

It was indeed.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I want to shift gear a bit to a different kind of craziness...

I have a corner house and this is the 1st July 4th at my new neighborhood. Last night, it appeared that I was truly cornered by my 2 crazy next door neighbors. One white family and the other black family. These 2 families must've been having an fireworks race in the past? Suffice to say that the amount of explosions could rival what we saw from Disneyland! Granted, not as pretty and musical as Disneyland, but still, scared the crap out of our cats at home. This morning..., I can see bunch of cardboard "shrapnel" in my backyard... and I think I can still smell the smoke too!

However, kids loved it though. White kids, black kids... and even my asian kid, all super excited to celebrate this nation's birthday!

I hope this is a glimpse of the future for my kid. I hope these kids will also someday be able to truly make this nation great again, or somehow build it back better! :)

[Crazed_Insanity]

Okay, back to reality a bit. I found this story rather interesting... apparently highland park already has an assault weapon ban back in 2013. Some asshole challenged that ban and the case went all the way up to supreme court, but the high court dismissed it and let the ban stand. However, at the time supreme asshole Clarence Thomas dissented... saying overwhelming majority of assault weapon owners are responsible gun owners...

https://news.yahoo.com/justice-clarence-thomas-once-opposed-155225322.html

Okay, whatever. So it is clear Clarence Thomas is an asshole and he will likely lead the court to become more asshole-ish in the future. However, that also raised a question of how the heck that guy legally obtained his 'banned' rifle?

Probably similar to carrying out an abortion in another state?

Perhaps it is time to dissolve the Federal Government and let us just be Individual States of America?

Federal Government can become like EU or NATO? If they're useless, States could opt out. If Federal Government can help us defend against invasions from Canada or Mexico, then perhaps they can join the union for such protection. ;)

[MR2 Fan]

I haven't paid much attention to UK politics lately but seems some major crap is going down there too...anyone want to give us the basics?

[Rare White Ape]

As far as I can tell it’s the usual right-wing nut-jobbery of incompetence and barely-hidden corruption while they strip the finding from public services, with an icing sugar coating of sexual misconduct among so-called Christian conservative MPs and/or their employees, all the while failing to be held to account by the usual characters at the top of the media castle.

About the only thing above-board that I know of recently was that the Conservatives had a leadership spill in which the Prime Minister survived the vote, despite him having a very low approval rating in the public eye.

[neanderthal]

https://twitter.com/EricMGarcia/status/1544366538228113410?t=aoQSfEIgNMQ0UNAUSvbwvQ&s=19

Disability advocate saying right now they are disuading the disability community from filling legal cases because this current spent court could gut the ADA.

2016 STRIKES AGAIN!! I wish somebody would've said something.

"But her emails!!!!" right billi?!?!

[Crazed_Insanity]

Right...

Anyway, it is indeed sad that people are afraid to take things up to the supreme court because we're now afraid of it destroying previous legal precedents... So sorry everyone. I had no idea I'm so powerful. Sigh... :(

If only Obama stayed a senator so that Hillary could be the president earlier... before she had the chance to write emails or to carry all those other political baggages...

[sandydandy]

It's always interesting in the context of sports; members of both sides ardently praying for victory. I’ve noticed that too. It’s ridiculous.


Obviously only one side could win, but then again a game could tie?

Anyway, do you guys really believe any parents who said no to their kids are bad parents? Good parents need to be good genies to their kids and say yes to all requests? *sigh*

I think the point is that “God” is irrelevant. Take him/her/it out of the equation and nothing changes. The game still continues on to the same conclusion.

[Yw-slayer]

I haven't paid much attention to UK politics lately but seems some major crap is going down there too...anyone want to give us the basics?

The usual achievements of a "Christian founded" liberal democracy, which of course Billi celebrates while vilifying everything else as being evil etc.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I’ve noticed that too. It’s ridiculous.

*sigh*

I think the point is that “God” is irrelevant. Take him/her/it out of the equation and nothing changes. The game still continues on to the same conclusion.

I respectfully disagree. My hypothesis is that the West, including Canada, probably had a lot of help from Jesus. Of course I could be wrong. You don’t have to believe the same if you don’t want to. I just find it hard to believe that Chinese and Indians with our sheer number and long history, turned out so far behind the West.

As for Mexico, I wonder if Mario’s faith is typical? Since he was taught that Jesus won’t intervene much in this world… anyway, this is why I end up choosing Protestant Christianity rather than Catholicism.

Anyway, I also want to be clear to YW that I don’t believe Christians are always right and everyone else’s are villains. Clearly Christian’s have launched crusades, the church has also became corrupt enough to lead Europe into the dark ages for a while… so I don’t just go with the Christian herd or the Pope, I try to follow Jesus himself.

Anyway, most of us are into car racing, isn’t it remarkable that racers such as Senna, Hamilton, even Schumacher, was an atheist turned catholic, were crazy enough to believe prayers matter and God is not irrelevant?

Do you really want to tell them that they are crazy or stupid for believing in God? Well, I’m sure you could, but pretty sure they’ll respectfully agree to disagree with you. ;)

Of course you might ask why God let some of them die so young or be stuck in comas…, well, I’m not God so I can’t really answer that, but all I can say is that everyone dies in this life anyways. Jesus himself supposedly only lived to 33. Point of following Jesus is to help us live our lives to the fullest!

[Rare White Ape]

The usual achievements of a "Christian founded" liberal democracy, which of course Billi celebrates while vilifying everything else as being evil etc.

A Christian conservative liberal democracy, which allows government staffers to blow hot loads on desks in parliament* while also allowing companies to strip native people in poor countries of natural resources so that the West can get a leg up over the rest of the world.



*This was in Australia but it probably happens in the UK too.

[sandydandy]

I respectfully disagree. My hypothesis is that the West, including Canada, probably had a lot of help from Jesus. Of course I could be wrong. You don’t have to believe the same if you don’t want to. I just find it hard to believe that Chinese and Indians with our sheer number and long history, turned out so far behind the West.

As for Mexico, I wonder if Mario’s faith is typical? Since he was taught that Jesus won’t intervene much in this world… anyway, this is why I end up choosing Protestant Christianity rather than Catholicism.

Anyway, I also want to be clear to YW that I don’t believe Christians are always right and everyone else’s are villains. Clearly Christian’s have launched crusades, the church has also became corrupt enough to lead Europe into the dark ages for a while… so I don’t just go with the Christian herd or the Pope, I try to follow Jesus himself.

Anyway, most of us are into car racing, isn’t it remarkable that racers such as Senna, Hamilton, even Schumacher, was an atheist turned catholic, were crazy enough to believe prayers matter and God is not irrelevant?

Do you really want to tell them that they are crazy or stupid for believing in God? Well, I’m sure you could, but pretty sure they’ll respectfully agree to disagree with you. ;)

Of course you might ask why God let some of them die so young or be stuck in comas…, well, I’m not God so I can’t really answer that, but all I can say is that everyone dies in this life anyways. Jesus himself supposedly only lived to 33. Point of following Jesus is to help us live our lives to the fullest! You’re a grown man, right?

An adult?

[Crazed_Insanity]

You’re a grown man, right?

An adult?

Is it really that hard to figure out if I’m old enough to vote? ;)

[sandydandy]

It was a rhetorical question...more a (sad) commentary on the simplemindedness created by your belief system.

Plus your other general double talkin' jive, which is nothing new. :|

[Crazed_Insanity]

Never claimed that I have anything new.

I did not create my own belief system. It was based off of the Bible. The entire western civilization is based off of the Bible. Quite sad how things turned out, huh? It's possible that the West could've ended up even greater without the simple mindedness of the Bible. However, I really don't believe USA with so few Americans can become what it is today without its influence. China and India probably should dominate the world by their sheer number of people.

Anyway, it's okay to agree to disagree. You don't have to feel sad for me. :p

It is kinda sad that most Christians cannot try to just agree to disagree so they try to change laws to force others who disagree with them into doing what they think is right... likewise, people on the left also couldn't respectfully agree to disagree and would agree to censoring and cancelling people who they disagree with. I guess it's just human nature that we can't respectfully agree to disagree? Those who disagree with us must be sinful, deplorable, dumb, sub-humans that need to be put out of sight out of mind?

[neanderthal]

Man. If only people were paying attention when we warned that the supreme court was at stake.

https://youtu.be/ANrBplbZsFM

Watch it for yourself. I won't even tell you what it's all about.

But it's where we find ourselves.

[Crazed_Insanity]

It is unfortunate Trump dictatorship lives on thru the supreme court.

I'm all for impeaching some of them Justices or adding more seats to rebalance the court.

However, 1st thing 1st, hopefully dems will win more congressional, particularly senate seats. Dem was going to lose the midterms. Hopefully the court has inadvertently boosted dem's chances in november.

Will the folks at red states really want the high court taking America all the way to the right? Hope not.

[Yw-slayer]

Does this dude have nothing better to do than write screeds that no-one reads?

[Crazed_Insanity]

I guess the writing about current affairs is more therapy for self? It's probably better less people get too annoyed by it. :)

I'm still counting on you to make China free again! Doesn't have to be democracy if you have a better way. As long as chinese people get to be free somehow. May the Lord be with you!

[FaultyMario]

So, that boy from Eton really imploded, huh?

[Crazed_Insanity]

If only our Trump can implode in similar fashion, but at least he's out of the WH for now.

Now we can only wish for our supreme court to implode.

[FaultyMario]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FXDe-fWX0AIhQZ9.jpg

[Rare White Ape]

Does this dude have nothing better to do than write screeds that no-one reads?

All I see is out-of-context replies :lol:

[Tom Servo]

All I see is out-of-context replies :lol:

It's been remarkably refreshing. I see the same themes are being rehashed (black & white reasoning, conspiratorial thinking to avoid having to confront reality, etc) but I just get to see them in little snippets.

[SportWagon]

So, in the United States of America, in response to a bogus complaint that one election was stolen, certain entities are conspiring to show how to properly steal an election for themselves?

[Tom Servo]

Pretty much. Also, you can thank one of the more prominent QAnon promotors for this, the guy who goes by "Juan O'Savin" (a terrible wordplay on "one-oh-seven", which in itself is "007" only with a 1 and a 7, which is 17, which Q is the 17th letter) has been doing a ton of work getting Q supporters to run for secretary of state positions and other positions that can effect elections.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Interesting.

Apparently a lot of word & number plays..., however so far the Q movement has failed miserably or just not very effective. Well, maybe they achieved some success at the supreme court.

As stupid as some of the Americans are, I want to believe majority of the Americans are smarter than that. Otherwise Trump should've won the WH again.

[SportWagon]

He did not win the popular vote either time.

[Rare White Ape]

Hello British government, are you OK?

[neanderthal]

Hello British government, are you OK?

Yikes.

It's nice to not be the one living in a country with a batshit government.

[FaultyMario]

The Economist has illustrated an article deriding Chile's new constitution (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Convention_(Chile)) with this:

https://www.economist.com/img/b/834/469/90/media-assets/image/20220709_LDD004.jpg

The empire does not know that it does not know.

[Crazed_Insanity]

He did not win the popular vote either time.

He should never have won either times too! Anyway, I’d be more worried if trump managed to win the popular vote. That’s when America is truly in trouble.

Of course like I said, our Supreme Court is in trouble now. Amazingly, Thomas and Alito were not appointed by Trump.

Hope another Anita Hill will come forward.

I never thought our constitution would be turning into TP thanks to our Supreme Court. :|

[neanderthal]

I never thought :|


Yes, we know.


And every day you demonstrate that you're still not thinking. We're painful aware.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I just think different! :p

Thanks for twisting my thoughts out of context! :p

[Rare White Ape]

Yikes.

It's nice to not be the one living in a country with a batshit government.

You and 300 million others.

The UK has had problems since David Cameron was elected. He was at least halfway competent, but the slide started from there, and he allowed the genesis of the nonsense that is Brexit by allowing the fringe right to take a foothold, which is inexcusable.

Australia started to lose footing in 2013.

The USA stepped on its own dick in 2016.

What's the commonality here?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Globalization and then the pandemic.

Reasons why nations all over the world decided to shut their borders.

[MR2 Fan]

Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe shot and killed by a homemade weapon of some kind :smh: Attacker didn't flee and was caught immediately. I wonder if we'll find out the true motive...odd for someone no longer in power.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That was unbelievable. World has truly gone nuts. :(

[FaultyMario]

someone no longer in power.

You sure about that?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Do you know the motive? Haven’t heard it from articles that I read… anyway, as a ‘former’ PM, naturally we assume he no longer has actual power…

[FaultyMario]

anyway, as a ‘former’ PM, naturally we assume he no longer has actual power…

Does Obama hold no power? Are Theresa May and David Cameron Outcasts?


Do you know the motive?

Last time I was having a beer with Tetsuya he didn't mention anything, sorry, can't help you there. He was a little absent minded, though.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Anyway, suffice to say it was a huge surprise for everyone, including the security folks there. Japan hasn’t seen such assassination for 90 years or so…

[MR2 Fan]

You sure about that?

not with the title "Prime Minister" at least

[FaultyMario]

don't know what i meant to say there.

anyway. poor fucker, was doing work for his limping party, which seems to be the case for conservatives everywhere, ironically he's now a martyr and conservatives will totally benefit from his death.

Alanis should add a new verse to that song

[Yw-slayer]

An old, man...

[Tom Servo]

Elon Musk has filed to terminate his agreement to buy Twitter, because apparently a bad-faith dispute over how many users are bots is more important than restoring freedom of speech.

[FaultyMario]

[pretends to be shocked]

[Rare White Ape]

I hope the Twitter board decides to go through with court action and forces the sale to go through!

Do the opposite of whatever Musk wants :p

[Tom Servo]

I would not be totally opposed to that.

[Crazed_Insanity]

If he doesn’t want to pay the premium now that market is tanking and Tesla factories are burning too much money…, then he should pay the billion $ for walking away. Nobody asked him to buy Twitter in the 1st place.

I am a big fan of Elon for giving birth to fancy EVs and rockets, but not really a big fan of him having twins with his employee or being an absent father for his children. His personal life is really not something I want to emulate.

As for these business deals, I really don’t understand these things too much. All I know is that if you make an offer to buy something and then back out, you’ll suffer some credibility and it probably won’t be beneficial to your credit. If you have poor credit, your businesses will likely suffer. I hope this won’t be the beginning of the end for Elon. I don’t care about Tesla as much, but I don’t want to see SpaceX fail.

Anyway, nobody’s perfect. He’s apparently moving toward the right, that’s why you guys hate him?

One thing that confuses me is why Biden pretended Tesla doesn’t exist. There seems to be some sort the political rift and i don’t quite understand what caused it.

[Rikadyn]

don't know what i meant to say there.

anyway. poor fucker, was doing work for his limping party, which seems to be the case for conservatives everywhere, ironically he's now a martyr and conservatives will totally benefit from his death.

Alanis should add a new verse to that song

I wouldn't call the LDP(funny how liberal parties tend to be right-wing ain't it?) is a limping party.

Plus the leading reason for the attack was because the guy believed that Abe had ties to a different branch of the cult that the guy followed.

I for one, don't give a shit that an ultranationalist got got. Only annoying thing is that the ultranationalists are going to try and blame minorities, but that is just par for the course

[FaultyMario]

Win by blaming the powerless, yup, that seems to be the game.

[sandydandy]

Musk sold Tesla shares around $1000-$1100 to buy Twitter. Now he’ll buy them back at a 25% discount. Smart guy.

That was probably the plan the entire time.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I wouldn't call the LDP(funny how liberal parties tend to be right-wing ain't it?) is a limping party.

Plus the leading reason for the attack was because the guy believed that Abe had ties to a different branch of the cult that the guy followed.

I for one, don't give a shit that an ultranationalist got got. Only annoying thing is that the ultranationalists are going to try and blame minorities, but that is just par for the course

Not very familiar with Japanese politics, but yeah, the party name is indeed very confusing to me. Sounded like a liberal party, but actually conservative.

Anyway, I guess this is the trend, people just can’t respectfully agree to disagree nowadays.
When people with opposing ideology got shot, we couldn’t care much and some might even cheer.

I do hope such trend could reverse soon.

All for know is that Abe had been a friend to Taiwan. Donated vaccines and supported Taiwan’s economy when China start to sanction Taiwan. This is really weird because Taiwan currently has a really liberal progressive government, but this progressive government loves Abe and Trump probably because they were antiChina.

Anyway, perhaps I wouldn’t shed a tear if an authoritarian like Putin were assassinated, but just wish people can respect the democratic process.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Musk sold Tesla shares around $1000-$1100 to buy Twitter. Now he’ll buy them back at a 25% discount. Smart guy.

That was probably the plan the entire time.

Government should be the biggest winner because of all the capital gains tax Musk will have to pay.

If after all the taxes and billion $ penalties, Musk could still manage some profit, then yeah, that was a smart move financially, but probably will hurt his ‘credit’ quite a bit. Credibility is important in the business world.

Also, Conservatives don’t really like EVs and thought Tesla were milking the EV subsidies. He now failed to unban Trump on Twitter… liberals also are beginning to hate him more and more… I’m kinda worry that he may end up like Billi… hated by both sides! At least I don’t have to sell anything to either side, but for a business person, not sure how that will go for him…

[Tom Servo]

Trump calls Elon Musk "another bullshit artist" at a rally in Alaska.

This should be entertaining.

[Rare White Ape]

Oh right! Trump was perhaps expecting his Twitter account to be reinstated. I forgot about that.

Now he is salty.

I put salt on my chips. Mmmmm, salt :)

Edit: I watched a clip of the speech. He used it to spruik his own social media outlet. Is that allowed at a campaign rally for the primaries?

[FaultyMario]

Edit: I watched a clip of the speech. He used it to spruik his own social media outlet. Is that allowed at a campaign rally for the primaries?

They guy got scot-free after he ordered an angry mob to murder his second in command and you worry about him grifting?

[Tom Servo]

Edit: I watched a clip of the speech. He used it to spruik his own social media outlet. Is that allowed at a campaign rally for the primaries?

I'm guessing that since he hasn't actually announced candidacy, he can pretty much do whatever he pleases.

[SportWagon]

Trump calls Elon Musk "another bullshit artist" at a rally in Alaska.

This should be entertaining.Another bullshit artist? That is, one in addition to the speaker?

[Crazed_Insanity]

:lol:

Anyway, back to real politics:
Overturning RvW could definitely help dems in battle ground states!

https://apple.news/ALGSG7D0ZQnWBBfNQhszSug

Dem was sure to lose big during the midterm, if dems could win congress back, Supreme Court really did dems a favor. Fingers crossed….

[George]

I realize that the introduction of a bill is not the same thing as a law being passed, but I just gotta ask what the hell is wrong with Republicans these days?!

It's like they go out of their way to be evil at every opportunity.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/a-north-carolina-bill-would-ban-free-public-ev-chargers-unless-they-offer-free-gas-too


A North Carolina Bill Would Ban Free Public EV Chargers Unless They Offer Free Gas Too
The Republican bill also allocates $50,000 to destroy existing chargers that aren’t in compliance.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, need to ban religious and non-profit orgs as well. They do not compete equitably compared to good old hard working corporations!

If you dare volunteering for free, we will pay good money to destroy you if you fail to comply!

Equality is a great goal, but often times political extremism can warp it so out of shape... :smh:

[Tom Servo]

For all the claims of "virtue signaling" from the far right, there's a lot of that in bill introductions. Things they know will never survive legal challenges, but then they can just blame that on the communist judges.

Kinda like that "you can't film the cops" law in Arizona.

Admittedly, I'm not as convinced now that they can't survive legal challenges given the makeup of SCOTUS, what with at least two confirmed perjurers on it at this point.

[neanderthal]

Here's the tweet with Hillary stating that Trump's election could result in him appointing 4 supreme court justices, and the progressives all saying she's using scare tactics.

https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1546597739663966208?t=7GZhguGQpgTDgnZmKEANBg&s=19

But her emails, am I right?

And none of these fuckers would ever admit they were bamboozled.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That scary tweet from Hillary was from 2015!!!

I thought it’s Neanderthal who kept on crying over spilt milk. Why are those people still whining about Hillary who didn’t even nominate any justices?

Anyway, dems or progressives, we need to stop living in the past. How do we move forward from here and now after we win the midterm. Are we going to keep up the in fighting and using various stupid tactics… or are we actually going to build things back better?

[neanderthal]

I long said the Republicans were coming for social security.

https://twitter.com/TheDemocrats/status/1547292280410841089?t=QMXNit8Xt_u8F0j5CyBbow&s=19

[Crazed_Insanity]

Thanks to high inflation, social security checks will probably rise very rapidly as well! That will probably put additional strain on government's budget. So it's understandable that they want to cut it or 'reform' it. However, surely they don't want to publicize it and risk pissing off the seniors.

You know it is kinda interesting that minimum wage is not tied to inflation, but social security is. That probably means older people have more power than younger lower wage earners.

Republicans can feel free to do whatever else they need to do to help ensure dems will win the midterm.

[George]

I long said the Republicans were coming for social security.

I first heard about Roth IRAs*, I thought, nah, that'll never work. Some future congress will tax Roth withdrawals, even though the initial earnings were already taxed. I didn't think it would be the Republicans specifically, just the government in general back then.

*Roth IRA = workers contribute after-tax dollars from their paychecks to an Individual Retirement Account and then can start withdrawing their money after age 59 1/2 tax-free.

[Jason]

Here's the tweet with Hillary stating that Trump's election could result in him appointing 4 supreme court justices, and the progressives all saying she's using scare tactics.

https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1546597739663966208?t=7GZhguGQpgTDgnZmKEANBg&s=19

But her emails, am I right?

And none of these fuckers would ever admit they were bamboozled.

That “progressive” stopped posting in January of 2021, hm

[neanderthal]

That “progressive” stopped posting in January of 2021, hm

<strokes chin conspiriatorally> Hmmm indeed. Legions and legions of them.

[Jason]

I do truly hope we get a more clear look at the significant amount of destabilization efforts implemented in the US and UK over the last decade or so some day

The amount of bad faith arguments out there just doesn’t seem natural

[Yw-slayer]

I be just chilling and lolling at Billi and stuff.

[FaultyMario]

destabilization efforts implemented in the US and UK over the last decade or so

https://i.imgflip.com/673p9b.jpg



“That’s not the way Donald Trump does things. It’s rambling from one half-vast idea to another plan that falls through and another comes up.”

His host, Jake Tapper, said: “One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup.”

Bolton said: “I disagree with that, as somebody who has helped plan coups d’etat, not here, but you know, other places. It takes a lot of work and that’s not what [Trump] did. It was just stumbling around from one idea to another.

[FaultyMario]

I mean, from Spain to Bolivia to Ecuador to Mexico, we know how groups funded by the U.S. Department of State have worked to advance narratives of "danger" and "treason" against legitimate actors defying the local elites.

As a token of my appreciation:

An expose by the Spanish outlet Crónica Libre on July 9 has created an uproar in Spain by exposing a plot by media, police, and big business to malign Pablo Iglesias, a leader of the left-wing party Podemos. The expose reveals that media and police have purposefully disseminated ‘fake’ information, which accused Pablo Iglesias of being irregularly financed by the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro. (https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/07/13/plot-by-media-police-and-capital-to-malign-pablo-iglesias-exposed-in-spain/)

[Crazed_Insanity]

I think when an authoritarian reaches to the similar level as Hitler or Putin, it can be way more problematic for the rest of the world. Because essentially it's kinda like a 'civil war' of the West. If freedom wins, it should be good for the rest of the world. If dicktator wins, then it'll likely spell trouble for the rest of the world too. Of course today, 3rd option is thermal nuclear war which could obliterate the world with no clear winner. Literally taking the world into another dark age II... 1st time around it was Pope playing God. This time around it's our politicians, or perhaps the powers that financed our politicians playing God...

For WWII, had Hitler won, there's no way Germany and Japan can remain friendly.

For WWIII, if Putin wins, there's no way Russia and China will remain friendly.

US was fighting authoritarian fascists on the right. Now, it appears US will be fighting authoritarian communists(?) on the left?

Anyway, hopefully we'll just have a Cold War II, rather than a Hot War III.

[Tom Servo]

I do truly hope we get a more clear look at the significant amount of destabilization efforts implemented in the US and UK over the last decade or so some day

The amount of bad faith arguments out there just doesn’t seem natural

Just one of those littler examples - Heidi Ganahl is a Republican running for governor of Colorado. She recently featured this picture:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FXue4DNVQAArlMR?format=jpg&name=large

The woman in the foreground on the left, holding a "Democrats for Heidi" sign, was a far-right Republican state senate candidate in 2020 in Colorado, Lynn Gerber. She is still a registered Republican. She signed pledges to FEC United, a far-right group that holds rallies full of election conspiracy theorists.

It reminds me a lot of those "walk away" people who all claimed to be dyed in the wool democrats who then switched to Trump.

[Yw-slayer]

I mean, from Spain to Bolivia to Ecuador to Mexico, we know how groups funded by the U.S. Department of State have worked to advance narratives of "danger" and "treason" against legitimate actors defying the local elites.

As a token of my appreciation:

An expose by the Spanish outlet Crónica Libre on July 9 has created an uproar in Spain by exposing a plot by media, police, and big business to malign Pablo Iglesias, a leader of the left-wing party Podemos. The expose reveals that media and police have purposefully disseminated ‘fake’ information, which accused Pablo Iglesias of being irregularly financed by the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro. (https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/07/13/plot-by-media-police-and-capital-to-malign-pablo-iglesias-exposed-in-spain/)

No-one should be surprised. Yet morons will lap up all sorts of bullshit peddled by the mainstream English-language press.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I can only speak for myself..., I walked away... or stayed away from both parties in 2016.

Sorry, gonna have to both side this issue again...

It'd really be much simpler to have republicans campaign for republicans and dems campaign for dems.

However, it seems we just cannot stay that simple. Democrats have actually funded far right candidates during primaries hoping to be able to defeat them crazies easily in general election. This strategy has worked in the past, but I think it's beginning to back fire.

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/1106256047/why-democrats-are-paying-for-ads-supporting-republican-primary-candidates

Donald Trump may very well had also been 'funded' by the dems and they figured Hillary should be able to easily defeat such a bozo. While I voted for neither, even I thought Hillary should be able to easily kick Trump's butt...

I wish these political parties could just spend the time and resources creating better candidates on their side so that voters could simply vote for the better candidate... rather than trying to create monsters on the other side and then try to sell people their lesser evil candidates.

[sandydandy]

So that oversized cockroach Steve Bannon is in the news a lot these days trying to overthrow the GOP and replace it with something worse, (if that was even possible). Is that something for normal Americans to worry about?

[Tom Servo]

Could be. He's been pretty effective at moving the discourse and getting away with it. I know way too many people that watch his stupid channel/Youtube.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I’m probably not viewed as ‘normal’ American, but it’s not like there’s anything to be gained by worrying about that cockroach. I have no control over them parties. Not GOP nor DNC.

I wish there’s a way we ‘average’ Americans can have control over that.

[sandydandy]

Could be. He's been pretty effective at moving the discourse and getting away with it. I know way too many people that watch his stupid channel/Youtube. I thought YouTube was weeding out this type of hateful and false content. It makes me want to puke.

[Tom Servo]

That's possible. I know he's got some sort of livestreaming platform somewhere, it may not be on Youtube. Some of the other regulars at one of my favorite restaurant are really into his "America's War Room" thing, which I assumed was on Youtube.

[Crazed_Insanity]

That Joe Manchin is making Biden into a Bernie, right Neanderthal? He's making sure Biden gets nothing done before the midterm.

Bernie is not a democrat, but is more inline with the democrats..., do we really need Joe Manchin in the democratic party? So what if a senator claims to be in your party but would never go along with you?

West Virginians must really love Joe Manchin to vote for a 'democrat'?

If West Virginians are looking for a real democrat, Joe Manchin is their only option?

Anyway, I really think it's time to kick Manchin out of the party. It's pointless to have a majority in name only. Give WV voters an opportunity to vote for a real democrat!

[Crazed_Insanity]

In retrospect, maybe Trump wasn't as much of a Putin puppet that I thought he is...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50875935

If he is truly a Putin puppet, he should be all for that gas pipeline, right? Don't get me wrong, I don't want him becoming president again, but just saying if he were also able to successfully disband NATO, Ukraine proxy war probably won't ever happen. Anyway, I really just cannot believe they're still fighting over there.

Either we risk WWIII to help stop this war... or we should just let Ukraine be taken over rather than flattened. Right now the only beneficiaries are the US defense contractors. They get to make profits and also get to test out their weapon systems by dragging this on for as long as possible.

I'm seriously beginning to think Biden was only able to pull out of Afghanistan because 'they' knew Ukraine would be able to give 'them' a better forever proxy war. I hope I'm wrong.

[neanderthal]

"Sitting with someone you don't see eye to eye with used to be regarded as a fine thing. Let's get back to that." billis favorite, Andrew Yang, defending his speaking at conferences with Nazis.

Me, I think fascists and Nazis should be shunned.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Andrew used to be my favorite, but his mayoral run disappointed me with his political pandering… so I’m back to Bernie.

Still, I do agree with what he said there.

You cannot shun people you disagree with away. Just as you cannot shun alcohol, drugs, guns, abortions away.

Whether you believe in the Force and Carl Jung, you can’t just shun the dark side or your shadow away. Gotta deal with it by facing it.

[Tom Servo]

I wish I could remember who I heard saying this, but he was saying that we should think of this whole thing less as a marketplace of ideas, and more like a pot luck. People bring their dishes over, and yeah, some might not be for you, but you get why other people like them and that's fine. You might even get into debates over various points about dishes, like how this one could have used more seasoning or this one was too lemony. But then your nazi neighbor shows up with a plate just covered in dogshit. You don't have to try it to know that he can fuck right off with his plate of dogshit.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I personally like a market more than a potluck. In a market, if something I like ran out, I can ask the market to order more. At a potluck, if something ran out, I'm out of luck. ;)

The concept of survival of the fittest works best in a market place. If there's a market for dogshit or whatever shit because farmers need fertilizer, so be it. If you're selling something nobody wants and end up out of business, then so be it.

Market's purpose is to fill the needs of the customers.

Now, if our community is filled with customers with warped minds... like they're addicted to drugs, porn... want to mass shoot others... want to blow others up along with self... want to join the Nazi and cleanse the world...

I really don't think market place has the capability to fix any of those issues. This marketplace... or 'free speech' discussion can perhaps shine a light on this problem... and the it'll be up to the government/community/ourselves to somehow intervene and try to fix this root cause... On an individual level, a person has to admit that he needs help and then on the community level, there better be enough support to help people to NOT want to live under the influence, to having suicidal destructive thoughts or to rule the world by wiping away people they don't like...

Our world is currently just too messed up. From climate to cultural changes... things are heating up.

[FaultyMario]

Josh Hawley running. (https://twitter.com/The_Mal_Gallery/status/1550289866411634689?s=20&t=Uf9FIh0iZMS3t8f27RHSwQ)

To different incidental music.

[Crazed_Insanity]

You can run for your life, but you’ll never run away with my FREEDOM!!!!

[FaultyMario]

Was recently reading an article about Hugh Thompson Jr., quite the contrast with Donnie, huh?

Anyway, i hope the Congressional committee can pass a resolution or verdict before trump croaks, that petty tyrant doesn't deserve a State funeral.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I don't like Trump, but like I've said before... at least he never dragged US into any costly wars. Other 'dicktators' around the world were also afraid of him because Trump is stupid and unpredictable just like them! ;)

Whereas more 'traditional' presidents, they'll tend to befriend other asshole dictators and bend over backwards for them. Take for example Biden's latest visit and fist bump and begging the Saudi "murderours dicktator" for more oil. Saudis are actually buying Russia oil to help Putin out, why does Biden think they will help us?

Of course I still like Biden more, but just saying Trump wasn't all bad. I seriously believe if Trump won another term, at least there won't be a war in Ukraine and our gas prices probably would still be low, but of course we'll surely experience some other fuck ups.

Anyway whoever legitimately won that office deserves a state funeral. Actually I don't really care what kind of funeral people get. I just hope nobody will ever illegitimately win that office.

With overturned RvW and Biden now out of the spotlight due to Covid, I'm hoping this means dems will actually be able to bounce back better during the coming midterms. Also, hopefully after their big wins, they'll be able to actually do something, making Manchin irrelevant, and win over the hearts of American people and be able to win elections because people can trust them. Fingers crossed... or that's my prayer for America.