Republicans

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Aug 06, 2022 6:11 pm

Lol the unintended honesty about who these a-holes truly are.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Fri Aug 12, 2022 3:24 pm

A tale that has repeated itself for 7 years now. 7 YEARS!

So you want to be the Republican nominee for President in 2024. Best way is:

Goal 1: Get Trump Out of the Race
Goal 2: Get Trump fans to pick you as their new favorite. Only way to do this is to never say anything bad about Trump, to defend him when he is in political peril, say what he did was no big deal, or in fact was a great thing.

But part of Goal 2 is hoping that your non-Trump competitors DO NOT do Goal 2.

But guess what, They all do Goal 2. Every time. This in turn ruins Goal 1. Sorry, you will not be the Republican nominee for President in 2024.

Though if I was interested in finding the right time to announce my run for presidency and shiv the former president at the same time, this might be the perfect time. Go for it, you knuckleheads!

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Aug 14, 2022 10:05 pm

I feel like it's worse to have Trump because the chance of totally deranged and incompetent people putting the nation in peril is almost guaranteed, while maybe those odds are lower under one of the other mendacious and horrible alternates.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Aug 30, 2022 1:37 pm

I don't know why this amazes me because it's not like I expected something different or better, yet it still amazes me:
Republicans who once were breathing the fire and brimstone about abortion are now trying to back off and say well it's cool till a certain number of weeks... I'm okay with exceptions... Really we should just have pro-choice except with a limit.
Like are you kidding me right now? Are you freaking joking?

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Tue Aug 30, 2022 7:01 pm

Nah, it's not their issue. It was a surprise for them when it was overturned.

Their issue that they can win with is the economy. They need to stick to that.

Let Trump be Trump and worry about Mara Lago. That issue only attracts Republican attention.

"It's the economy, stupid" should be their mantra (Thanks Mr. Carville)

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Aug 31, 2022 1:42 am

I agree - if I were one of them I would be talking about inflation (which means also housing problems) and the student loan forgiveness. Democrats on the left just cannot message worth a damn. The whataboutism doesn't work when you're talking to people who also thought tax gifts to the wealthiest were even stupider, so... Good luck with that strategy.

I should clarify that in the abortion case, I mean these candidates in tight races with Ds who are now running away from it rather than touting their pro-life bonafides. But the Rs in the statehouse are pushing for more restrictions even as that happens. That's why the "are you kidding?" reaction. The stories of what is happening to real people now are sickening and only just beginning to accumulate. I'm terrified for my kids, honestly.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Fri Sep 02, 2022 2:43 pm

Unless we get a reasonable explanation, the classified folders with nothing in them will be the source of intrigue for a long time!

Also: were the empty folders part of the blanket oral declassification transubstantiation?

OK my try at a reasonable explanation:

They shredded the classified docs but kept the folders as souvenirs. It's sort of like turning a leaf into bookmark. Hey isn't this fun, outside it says highly classified information, inside it's the dinner menu for the Mar-a-Lago club house.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Sep 02, 2022 4:11 pm

The DOJ made two requests to have these documents returned, and were refused. That's a lot of time for these things to be in a largely unsecured area. There is no doubt that Russia, China, Iran and others have all worked hard to have operatives placed in Mar-A-Lago. So what are the chances that ALL of the information that was originally there is already compromised? I put it upwards of 99%.

I imagine that all of our intelligence organizations have been scrambling the last couple months to remove or protect overseas assets. I will not be surprised to find out that U.S. citizens and allies were captured and/or killed due to this breach of security.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Sep 03, 2022 9:56 am

There were some news stories last fall about an alarming uptick in reports of deaths of foreign nationals who had been cooperating with the US government. Like as soon as he got the documents to an unsecured place that they already had penetrated, it was no problem to get the info and then start acting on it during that summer.
Given what we know of the man I think it's obvious there are only three reasons he would keep information like that: it would incriminate him in some obvious way, it's something he felt comfortable selling off for a profit, or it relates to one of his personal petty grievances or ego boost trips.
My assumption is that he flushed down the toilet everything that was in the first category (a better way would be to blend it into your pet alligator's food, but whatever), and some of the things in category 2 might have been sold but others have been accessed freely by the steady stream of "visitors", and the last stuff is what they've actually got now.

bralbovsky · Post by **bralbovsky** » Wed Sep 07, 2022 10:23 pm

The contents of the empty folders are on the crown prince's desk in Saudi Arabia. jared has already collected the two Billion.

There are documents in other residences (at least there were until this fallout)

DT has in fact been a Russian asset since about 1987. I believe that's what we're eventually going to understand.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Tue Sep 13, 2022 7:43 pm

I would be relieved if Trump was indicted or received some conviction keeping him from running. The last thing that Joe wants to do is face DeSantis or another populist candidate after years of crippling inflation. It is my 2 cents that they want to tie the 2022 Rep candidates to Trump and then tie Trump to scandal...but not so much that he cannot run. I believe Joe would prefer to face a damaged Trump.

Fall polling usually swings back to Republicans because the mid-late summer numbers are off owing to vacations, etc. Sampling is not as easy and pollsters are not as picky when there is little to choose from.

I think the issues for (Rep candidates) should be
1) Economy
2) Border Security
3) Education Reform

I am prediction Red Senate and House with Rep gains in GA and PA.

...but I could be wrong.

I did not post this to aggravate anyone's politics, just posting my own

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Sep 14, 2022 9:23 pm

Mando wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 7:43 pm The last thing that Joe wants to do is face DeSantis or another populist candidate after years of crippling inflation. It is my 2 cents that they want to tie the 2022 Rep candidates to Trump and then tie Trump to scandal...but not so much that he cannot run. I believe Joe would prefer to face a damaged Trump.

Totally agree - DeSantis is more dangerous as an opponent imo - Trump is done persuading anyone new to vote for him and is obviously a raving nut at this point. DeSantis could be a comfortable choice for swing voters?

I think the issues for (Rep candidates) should be
1) Economy
2) Border Security
3) Education Reform

Totally agree with number one on the list - that's pretty much all they should be talking about all the time. Obviously I don't agree with their analysis of what is wrong but it's enough that there's a problem with how the average person is doing.

I just don't see the value of the other two - the border mainly bothers Republicans and it's an opening for the obvious: we never even did "build that wall" despite spending billions, so... Bad message. Schools, also not helping - making teachers (and nurses) the enemy is such a poor strategy, especially when abortion politics are a crisis, and all the crt/LGBT stuff is easily exposed as a lie and solidifies the image of the GOP as the party of bigotry. Not a good look. The people pushing that stuff aren't helping the party as a whole. Normal people are annoyed as hell when these yahoos show up to harass the school board. I know I am too, and I'm not even normal!

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Thu Sep 15, 2022 8:54 am

Ya. Our town is full of well-to-do so it leans republican, but the one guy who ran for school board on these topics got less than half of the vote of the winner (of three) with the least amount of votes. So at least here it matters little (or say matters to half of the half), but I admit I'm in an area where these are mostly upper class northern republicans whose focus is more on capitalism and otherwise have moderate social views.

As for the priorities of the other side, I'd guess for November it'll be

1. Economy
2. Right to Choose
3. Protecting the protected classes

The economy is something unlike all these that I dunno, I'd call a radio-friendly political topic. A "soft policial" topic? Say a topic that a morning drive radio show team might discuss without worries that it'll anger a certain percentage of the crowd, but since they're allowed to talk about it, it becomes more important than other topics.

Like no drive time host is going to bring up abortion. But a drive-time host for sure will bring up gas prices or the price of goods. And I think this matters a lot! Debatably whatever political party is aligned with these soft topics has a leg up, as it sounds to much like these are the topics that people care most about. Dunno if it's a self-fulfilling prophesy or a mirage (as abortion IS a big topic this mid-term), but something I've been thinking about.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Sep 23, 2022 10:17 am

The GOP has released it's House platform for the mid-terms:

Crack down on illegal immigration.

More money for law enforcement so we can get tough on crime again.

Upholding parents' rights (specifically their right to keep their children from knowing that gay and trans people exist and to protect them from any discussions about discrimination and/or oppression of any minority group)

Becoming energy independent by focusing on greater fossil fuel production and use.

Reduce inflation by... doing things (no real specifics).

Protect unborn children (again with no specifics, because every time they get specific they fight amongst themselves and lose ground).

Overhaul Medicare and Social Security. Really? Maybe I misunderstood the article.

Tellingly, the featured speakers were Newt Gingrich and Kellyanne Conway. They hope to take the best of the Contract with America and combine it with Trumpism. Conway says this can all work for them if they hammer the economy, and avoid the sticky stuff. She's probably right.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Sep 25, 2022 4:43 pm

Typical of the encounters:

A-hole couple has this LOUD exchange in the middle of the checkout line because the cashier (at least my age but probably older) has the audacity to be wearing a mask:

Woman: oh are we supposed to be wearing masks again?
Man: why?
Woman: (nods in the direction of the clerk)
Man: ohhhhh even BIDEN says the pandemic is over, hahahaa

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:21 pm

I had a similar exchange...

At work a co-worker was wearing a mask today and I asked, with actual concer, "Are we supposed to wear masks again?" to which he replied: "No, I tested positive for COVID, but the company policy lets me come to work as long as I am wearing a mask."

I am NOT comfortable with this.
I do not trust masks.
I do not trust the vaccines I do not trust my company
I do not trust my government either.

I got my shot 3X and I wore a mask when mandated and I still think they are worthless, BUT I think it is better to stay away from people when you are sick than to trust a mask when someone else's health is on the line.

I mean if you know you've got it, then be a decent person and stay away.

Rant over...wrong thread I know...

Masks and vax should not be a political thing. Politics ruins everything it touches.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:41 am

Amen to that. If I were, say, the king of north Korea or whatever, I would have encouraged us to fight a political fight about all of this. Evil genius from somewhere helped this along, surely.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:01 pm

I knew they loved Orban and Bolsonaro but even so I wasn't prepared for the wholesale embrace of Meloni in Italy. They're acting like she's a modern-day Phyllis Schlafly who will spend her time making the country's parent-teacher organizations stronger.
Then Lizzo touched a fancy flute and everybody lost their whole entire minds.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:15 pm

I am encouraged to see the new Italian PM speak about defending their faith, their country and their families. That is what people are supposed to do, right? Italy has been getting refugees for a long time and they do not want to lose their national identity because they are gracious enough to care for refugees. The American ideal of a "melting pot" is what they are after, but they can only absorb so many people who do not share their values before those people change Italy into their Italy. It is a common fear that people do not want to lose what they have. That is why there are locks on doors.
If you can change the demographics by immigration it makes the point itself. This has been seen all over our country and the world. Italians are fed up, that is all. The pendulum swings to the right. the next swing will be to the left. The same will happen here, but the wild swings to the far of either side will bring even greater swings in the opposite direction. Crazies gonna cray-cray.

While Lizzo certainly is an incredible talent, I myself am not a fan of her music only because my only exposure was her twerking. I did not want to see that and I reluctantly viewed some of her concert to see her play Madison's flute. Not offended, but I think there are probably a lot better flautists out there who would deserve a chance more. She is just more popular. That is the only reason it makes sense to me.

Locally Herschel Walker was accused of paying for an abortion.
*faint*
He said he didn't
I say was it illegal?
I don't see a scandal, I don't see a saint either...but...maybe a Senator for about 1 term unless he gets some polish on his image

So the pundits here have found that 27,000+ Republicans did not vote at all for a Presidential candidate...they are in the wish-state of saying, can't vote for a Democrat candidate and I won't vote for THAT Republican...so they are wishing upon a star...waiting for politics to deliver them the Paladin Politician of sorts.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:14 pm

The scandal is that Herschel Walker currently advocates for a total ban on abortion with no exceptions, however there is significant evidence that he has paid for at least one abortion in the past. Now that's at least 12 years ago, so it's possible that he has a change of heart, and if he were to explain that that would be one thing. However, the man has refused to acknowledge anything, and instead denies.

So he might be a hypocrite, but he's definitely a liar.

And to be clear: I definitely think that lying to your (potential) constituents, especially in the face of real evidence (receipt from the clinic plus matching check and get well card from the same time period, both with Walker's signature) absolutely SHOULD be a scandal, even though recent years have made it seem like just part of doing business.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:27 pm

There was an interesting article in the Post about this Walker/abortion issue. It pointed out that republicans don't care if someone is honest or a hypocrite. They care about which candidate will be obligated to vote against abortion rights in the future. Warnocke is prochoice. Walker isn't. They'll vote for Walker. Integrity doesn't matter.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:43 pm

Yeah, I know. Friend of mine just passed away recently. He was the most devoutly Christian friend I've ever had and was just a truly good human being. I thought I had some sort of gotcha in walking him through how horrible Trump was. But he already knew. He lamented that Trump was such a terrible person who regularly committed grievous acts and was likely only running for office to enrich himself and his friends. He knew all that and said he had to vote for him anyway, because Trump was guaranteed to install the correct justices and judges, and that was the most important thing to his own worldview. Convincing him of the harm that would come as the result of a Trump presidency was an impossible task. He could not imagine that it could be bad enough to outweigh the "good" that would result.

We didn't talk politics much after that.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 7:45 am

I only want to point out that supporting Mussolini's God country family schtick is not the gift to Italy that it might seem unless you actually want Mussolini back. When you look at the specific policies they/she as leader would like to enact in order to God country and family it up, it's a horror show.

The fact is that we need more people - Italy in particular has a very low birth rate and needs more people. They don't want the people who are volunteering. They want more Italian people because they have an ethnic and racial preference. If you actually embrace your immigrant population then by the next generation they get absorbed into the culture, but that's not what they're doing. The sane, non-racist, peaceful solution to this would be to embrace and support immigrants becoming successfully integrated to the society. The fascist racist solution is to do whatever it takes to get those Italian women to pump out more babies. Also to make an example of the violence you'll do against your gay people because gay people aren't pumping out fascist babies. Nothing good comes with any of it.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 8:08 am

I'm sure people like Herschel Walker would happily vote to make the pill illegal and then pay for whatever abortions they ended up needing for a mistress as a result. Why do people not see this inconsistency? If you believe in protecting life then protect life!

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 8:48 am

Here's the conundrum I get with abortion, as someone who was once pro-life and now pro-choice

If a woman is happily pregnant and a different malicious person purposely does something with the goal kill their fetus... that's bad. That person, especially if the baby is at or close to viability, should be in jail. Maybe... just maybe, I'd be fine if they were charged with murder.

It's very easy for someone who is pro-life to go, well if that's murder than if the woman decides it, than that's murder to.

It's very easy for someone who is pro-choice to go, well it all goes back to what the woman wants. The bad guy went against the wishes of her, he abused her body, he ruined her future. Same could be said to those who mandate she keep an unwanted or risky fetus.

But it's the clearest jumping off point to IMO seeing what the other side sees. Each view in its own way makes perfect sense, morally clear.

But you are all right, these evangelicals see these men as means to an end. It doesn't even matter if Trump or Walker even had a change of heart, all that matters is that they will enact their preferred policies on election, and there's no evidence that Walker's past will suddenly prove that he won't toe-the-line on anti-abortion votes. In fact he may be more likely just to prove his bonafides.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Oct 12, 2022 6:54 am

Oh no, our local republicans are mad at the libs for wanting them to water lawns less in October, even though twas only other busybody Republicans who complained about the watering. Libs silent on watering but knowing those dirty libs I'm sure they want to come in and rip your actual lawn sprinklers out.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Mon Oct 17, 2022 2:07 pm

GOP: "Listen to me, trust me"
Dems: "Listen to me, trust me"
3rd Party: "Those guys, they're all liars, just trying to take advantage of you, truth is you should have a healthy skepticism about both parties. See, I get you, listen to me, trust me."

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Oct 22, 2022 6:04 pm

A while ago some guys came to my kids' school to hand stuff out on the sidewalks. I don't know precisely which portions are public or private, but I do know it was directly in front of the school in the most inconvenient possible location that snarled up traffic as people either tried to avoid hitting them/the kids or stopped to take whatever they were giving out, preventing egress from the parking lots. I had no idea what was going on except that it was a Very Poor Idea, and it was pretty clear they weren't from the school, so why weren't the useless guys who drive a golf cart around during dismissal telling these people to move along?

Now it all makes sense: they are a religious group handing out Bibles, which we all know is something more kids need to be handed by strangers on the sidewalk so that the already hideous traffic jam during dismissal can be made into a true nightmare. It gets better though: at our school, nobody knew what was going on except those who were handed the Bibles - most people avoided this in the zeal to exit, which they were prevented from doing, and afterward it remained unclear why. HOWEVER, at the latest school they visited, the kids were apparently younger and parents more concerned to observe random strange guys coming up to their kids on the sidewalk, so the truth of the situation came to light quickly.

The neighborhood is now having a controversy: Is it better to put Bibles in the hands of the children even if it means having strangers approach them without their parents' permission, Or is it better to let the parents determine when this is okay? No one is talking about my issue: whether we're going to hand things out or not, why do we have to do it in the middle of the peak traffic moment of the day in the middle of the exit lane?

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 8:01 pm

SO, the new ad for the incumbent senator just came out...

He walks into a family's dining room carrying the Thanksgiving turkey and say, "Unless you want me interrupting your Thanksgiving you better make sure that there is no run-off. Remember GA requires that a candidate must receive 50% +1 votes to win.

I mean, he is right....but...

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Thu Oct 27, 2022 10:18 am

Imagine loving an Kanye's music so much you feel obligated to defend all his actions. Must be exhausting.

Cult of personality is everywhere, and is uh... a bit unhealthy.

Get into sports, people, channel our tribalism for mostly harmless means.

I didn't think I would but I may in a future election pull a Kyle, and change my affiliation to GOP, so I can make sure the candidates interested in bipartisanship and democracy get through. Or just in general, affiliate with the party whom the saner candidate needs votes.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Oct 27, 2022 11:21 am

poorpete wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 10:18 amI didn't think I would but I may in a future election pull a Kyle, and change my affiliation to GOP, so I can make sure the candidates interested in bipartisanship and democracy get through. Or just in general, affiliate with the party whom the saner candidate needs votes.

Living in a deep red state, it makes the most sense to me.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Oct 27, 2022 11:07 pm

It's helpful for primaries so I know a lot of people who do this, but in this household we cannot go there. The Kanye stuff is bizarre. Drake is Jewish btw. Just putting that out there.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Sat Oct 29, 2022 7:05 pm

Kyrie Irving now joining in on the antisemitism, further complicating my sports-as-the-safest-tribe theory.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Nov 09, 2022 10:40 am

The elections were interesting. Well we don't know yet what will happen in Congress, it certainly wasn't much worse than expected and there were some bright spots.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Nov 09, 2022 11:25 am

Phoebe wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 10:40 amI know that genetically it is a possibility that two people with seemingly blue eyes can produce a brown-eyed child but it's a novelty, perhaps especially when the guy who is supposed to be her father was ruled out by a genetic test. Was a payoff involved or does she have some other father who might physically resemble her in some slight way? But this is how it almost always is with the far right nutters, when you start scratching into things.

What's this about?

Post by **Mike** » Wed Nov 09, 2022 12:12 pm

I am also curious. Google is no help to me here.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Nov 09, 2022 6:22 pm

She and her mother claim that her father is a non-famous pro wrestler, except that he was ruled out as her father by a DNA test. One weird wrinkle in favor of her story is that the woman who had conducted that area's paternity tests was later convicted for being bribed to change one, but they never took up the offer for a free retest.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Nov 10, 2022 5:15 am

I mean... and I say this with all love and respect for you... that sounds a little like what the liberal equivalent of Qanon. Its salacious and delicious rumor that attacks character, but is really just conspiracy.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Nov 10, 2022 6:20 pm

I do realize it sounds that way. One handy test to explain why it's not is to consider a common problem with conspiracy thinking: if your wacky theory were true, what other beliefs would also have to be true? Do we think all of the world's best medical experts are involved in a kind of groupthink confusion about the efficacy of vaccines such that they're willing to inflict terrible dangers on their own children and other people's children? I won't belabor the point but you have to believe many other crazed things if you think vaccines are spooky in some way.
But what else that seems false would you be required to believe, if you think that for some weird reason Lauren Boebert and her mother are lying about who Lauren's dad is?
My default belief is "DNA test is more trustworthy than Boebert or her mom" and that seems, well, a safe starting point.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Nov 11, 2022 3:07 am

Yeah, but I guess I don't understand why it matters other than to drag someone's family as a personal attack on a politician. There's plenty of really good reasons to criticize Boebert. This just seems yucky.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Nov 11, 2022 11:32 am

I get why you're saying this but it's not intended as a criticism. The story is a lot weirder. It turns out there's a guy named Sam Ticer who died in 2011 after decades of claiming to be the wrestler, Stan Lane (the one who was alleged to be Boebert's father but then ruled out by the DNA test).
This fact only came to light when they published Ticer's history as Stan Lane in his obituary, and somehow it came to the attention of people who knew the real guy who was still among the living. If I were a conspiracy theorist I would probably observe the Ticers actually do look like Boebert, but I think that's a pure coincidence. It's just funny. The whole thing is wild: who falsely pretends to be a minor league pro wrestler? Apparently a very long list of people! It's a whole thing, where multiple people have perpetuated the hoax that they had a life as a barely-famous pro wrestler. Life is strange.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Nov 13, 2022 5:01 pm

There are guys who replaced Rush Limbaugh called something like buck and dunk ... I don't know. Anyway, they were having a terrific little show where they tried to puzzle out how to fix the R party's current difficulties, and they made the reasonable and wise observation that it's probably not smart to tell your people to refrain from voting! If you insist that the only legitimate voting happens on the day of the election and that early voting is corrupt, you're setting yourself up for a situation where turnout is lower because a predictable number of people can't make it on the day of the election. They should have voted early. I have zero sympathy because all the people complaining about Trump's loss are perfectly happy to vote early themselves, and perfectly happy for their own party members to vote early. They just don't like it when Democrats do it. So sorry it came to bite them on the butt... But the best part of the segment was not this realization... Maybe we should encourage our people to vote whenever they can do it... But was the profound insight that Democrats are going to continue voting just like they are today. Then what?!
They said the Democrats will continue with their "shenanigans" like increasing turnout and encouraging early voting!
Gosh darn turn out shenanigans! We can't have these people actually turning out to vote!
That would mean that they were registering their preference and having their voice heard and they don't agree with us!
Those shenanigans need to stop.
All of this without a trace of irony.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Nov 22, 2022 1:19 pm

As covid numbers rise the people are really full of excitement: a new talking point can be used to fight the authoritarian left Democrats who want to force our kids into masks at gunpoint and send us to reeducation education camps if we refuse vaccination.
The mask obsession is so upsetting to them! The whole medical profession is operating under the delusion that masks are useful in some way!
Can you believe that there are people recommending you wear a mask in crowded public spaces again?! "They're coming for you and they're going to demand that you submit!"
Nothing like the tyranny of the recommendation.
Because when it's just a recommendation, some people want to virtue signal and feel Superior to others, as if wearing a mask means that they're smarter.
And that's the real tyranny, when someone feels like they're smarter than the rest of the d*******.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Tue Nov 22, 2022 1:57 pm

Wear a mask in public spaces? Tyranny
Get tested? Tyranny
Stay home when you're showing symptoms? Tyranny
Get boosted? Tyranny

How convenient tyranny is, how much it's always the opposite of selfishness. Sorta like how giving to the poor is socialism. Thinking of others is wokeism. Common sense controls on military weapon use? Tyranny. Don't tread on us? No, don't tread on me.

... I know I'm lucky. When I woke up the Wednesday after election day and checked the news for the first time in a day, my main check was to make sure we still had a democratic governor. After that assurance, all other good news was a bonus.

As much as I'd ugh prefer the Florida governor over the other guy if it came to that choice, I would not look forward to his health policy picks.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:28 am

Yep, it will be interesting to see what happens because it's pretty clear that Democrats would love a rematch with Trump, and it's not so clear Biden could defeat DeSantis. It's particularly unfortunate that Biden is constantly attacked for being cognitively weak, when I'm sure it's quite the opposite and he's been speaking the same way he always does for decades now. But when you attach all of that drum beat to someone in their 80s with white hair, all the expected biases kick in and surprisingly many Democrats don't support him either. Never mind the fact that he's incredibly effective and pragmatic... Democrats never lose an opportunity to harm themselves, but I think Republicans are starting to see that Trump is dragging the whole party down when they could have been winning. The only question is whether his base remains loyal. Some Republicans I know would much prefer if Trump exited stage left and let someone better take over, but I would say even more of them genuinely think Trump is unfairly victimized and has the special sauce necessary to fix everything, even now. I cannot fathom why anybody would think this but they genuinely do.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:51 am

Trump is running for the nomination. Therefore, he either gets it or not.

If he gets it, I don't favor his chances of becoming president again, but as always, there's no guarantees.

If he doesn't get it, he might go independent or he might not, but either way, he will spend all his energy on tearing down the GOP nominee and the Republican party. Even if he doesn't run on a third party ticket, he will still divide the vote. Again, no guarantees though.

So all this means that I think odds are favorable for Dema to keep the White House, but win or lose, Trump is going to continue doing damage to what's left of democracy in this nation.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:17 am

Yep. That seems about right. If they would let someone like, say, my dad or my father in law set the whole agenda for their party, they would be a reasonable set of adults doing reasonable things that you might actually want. But that's because these guys are real conservatives who think government should spend as little money as possible, be extremely cautious about any kind of grand scale government program solution to any problem, seek such solutions in the private sector first, invest heavily in the military, keep the drugs illegal, and use the nudging power of the state in favor of the economic viability of the nuclear family. But they just do not care about gay people living their lives, you know? None of those social issues motivate them as voters. They care about their retirement fund. And they make the common sense empirical observation that kids do better when their parents are married and stay married. So they're socially conservative in that sense, but for factual reasons rather than emotional ones. My dad can rattle off for you all the statistics about couples that live together versus get married without living together: how the former are more likely to break up and have economic problems and have kids without being married and then break up while the kids are young... all of that. If Democrats were smart they might consider speaking to those issues, considering that I believe a third of all mothers are now single mothers? And a large number of the rest will end up being single mothers at some point. This is not to say single mothers or fathers can't do a terrific job of raising kids; the point is that it puts economic pressure on them and puts the children into economic disadvantage that is difficult to overcome and has society wide effects when it's at this level of frequency. It just cost more to run two households, period, and somebody is left (not) holding the bag.

Post by **Mike** » Thu Nov 24, 2022 11:07 pm

Phoebe wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:17 am these guys are real conservatives who think government should spend as little money as possible, be extremely cautious about any kind of grand scale government program solution to any problem, seek such solutions in the private sector first, invest heavily in the military, keep the drugs illegal, and use the nudging power of the state in favor of the economic viability of the nuclear family. But they just do not care about gay people living their lives, you know? None of those social issues motivate them as voters. They care about their retirement fund.

Yeah, fiscally conservative, socially liberal. They want all the policies that let the advantaged keep getting richer, while they avoid all the bigoted wedge issues that get poor people to ignore their own interests and actually vote for them.

Somewhere around 2016, I read a fascinating article about this. They did a survey to see where the American electorate fell on a graph of liberal vs conservative with fiscal on one axis and social on the other. Republicans would be generally conservative on both scales and Democrats would lean liberal on both. Both of those groups were about even with something like 27% in the GOP corner and 28% for the Dems. Then in the Libertarian corner (socially liberal, fiscally conservative) was a surprising (to me) 14%. And if you've been mathing, then the final result is becoming obvious: fiscally liberal but socially conservative makes up the plurality of voters with just over 30%. That Populist corner of people who want the government to pay for all sorts of stuff but only if they think it benefits them. And they're also probably a little bigoted. The analysis in 2016/2017 was that this was the demographic Trump catered to so well before he had an actual track record, because he was Daddy Warbucks promising everyone the moon while also giving them targets to hate and permission to do so.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Tue Jan 03, 2023 2:43 pm

The vote for house speaker is not playing out well for McCarthy right now.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Tue Jan 03, 2023 9:02 pm

its nice to learn all the weird rules of gov't...such as ANYONE can be elected the Speaker of the House of Reps...even me. You do not have to be an elected official.

"The Constitution is silent on that question, saying simply, "The House of Representatives shall chuse (sic) their Speaker and other Officers.""

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congre ... se-n441926