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13 minutes ago, ComradeMaster said:

Don't worry, Team Green will come to the rescue, don't expect naught but a ****storm in any case though.  The Biden/Trump gang will never accept us.

LOL I can't say I would either. Compulsory collectivism is just not my thing. This is like saying to a man trapped in a burning building "Here, take this pistol. We're not going to save you but at least it will be quicker!" 

"While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before"

Thomas Sowell

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I came here to gloat and instead I'm hit by a "Gromnir DESTROYS Eldar" youtube moment again.  Actually, in all seriousness, I actually thought there were valid points, but I just can't take the time to do justice to them.

I did kind of come here to gloat a little bit, but not really.  More like joke, since I don't think it's good for the Republic to have the Democratic caucuses go so awry.  It's *probably* good for Republicans, but anything that adds to the chaos is generally bad for everyone at this point because it further erodes trust in our institutions.  At this point, it's kind of a mix of funny ha-ha humor and gallows humor.  No matter who ends up winning, this is really going to cause some grief, angst, and antipathy (if not outright hatred) within the Democratic party.

"Not for the sake of much time..."

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55 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

LOL I can't say I would either. Compulsory collectivism is just not my thing. This is like saying to a man trapped in a burning building "Here, take this pistol. We're not going to save you but at least it will be quicker!" 

I think you're being a little harsh on green politics, 'Green' is not 'Red', green is a passive secondary color,  Red is a primary aggressive color.  We aren't much different than libertarians the biggest difference is we focus more on the environment and offer a safety net, a green one.  As in, offer state sponsored but locally controlled conservation programs etc etc.

Ever since Ronald Reagan the American right has gone absolutely bonkers and this is why we have to get the ball rolling and soon.

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I usually play it pretty conservative, but I think that approval rating will suffice to put Trump back in office.  Usually, the conventional wisdom is that below water means you're in real danger.  Trump weirdness changes things up a little.

"Not for the sake of much time..."

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4 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

You can almost hear the tap tap tap sound of Happy Feet dancing on the floor from Putin and Kim... as I'm fairly sure both prefer a predictable and easy to manipulate president

 

(and yes, once you know his quirks, he's so predictable you can set your watch after him and gullible enough you point him in any direction of your choice once you pull his trigger)

 

Edit: Just appeal to his vanity and constant sense of insecurity.

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein

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5 hours ago, Raithe said:

As it always needs to be said:

 

84500608_10158169527465746_4344062500224

An addendum:

 

Quote
“Political philosophers have often pointed out that in wartime, the citizen, the male citizen at least, loses one of his most basic rights, his right to life; and this has been true ever since the French Revolution and the invention of conscription, now an almost universally accepted principle. But these same philosophers have rarely noted that the citizen in question simultaneously loses another right, one just as basic and perhaps even more vital for his conception of himself as a civilized human being: the right not to kill.”
 
-Jonathan Littell <<Les Bienveillantes>>
Quote

"The chancellor, the late chancellor, was only partly correct. He was obsolete. But so is the State, the entity he worshipped. Any state, entity, or ideology becomes obsolete when it stockpiles the wrong weapons: when it captures territories, but not minds; when it enslaves millions, but convinces nobody. When it is naked, yet puts on armor and calls it faith, while in the Eyes of God it has no faith at all. Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of Man...that state is obsolete."

-Rod Serling

 

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1 hour ago, Gorth said:

You can almost hear the tap tap tap sound of Happy Feet dancing on the floor from Putin and Kim... as I'm fairly sure both prefer a predictable and easy to manipulate president

What the center (team blue) doesn't understand is that this is an extremely dangerous and inaccurate viewpoint to have, all it does is give fuel to Trump's dangerous right wing reactionary and planet destroying policies when you cleave at the notion that Trump is an authoritarian Communist or something.

Meanwhile, actual authoritarian right wing regimes like Israel and Brazil, who are ardent Trump supporters, don't get any scrutiny at all from the media/elite whatsoever.

Why is that?  Explain this one to me.  I'm all for diplomacy and negotiations over "getting tough" on any country/regime but I find it very bizarre whom they target.

Edited by ComradeMaster
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6 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

Reminds me of the time our management sent out an email praising the fact our customers hate us less.   Well ok, that was last week.

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Why has elegance found so little following? Elegance has the disadvantage that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it. - Edsger Wybe Dijkstra

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Gotta own that I'm a Gorth fan, so that might be why I'm defending him even though I think he's ultimately wrong.  He's right in that Donald Trump is remarkably predictable in terms of his personality quirks.  He's got a pathological need to defend and his only defense is to attack.  It's one of the things that gets under my skin.  However, he's really tricky about that.  It doesn't mean he'll always attack the way you think or the cascade of events will favor the side that goads him.  If it were that easy, President Clinton would be irritating Speaker... Ryan? at the SotU tonight.  Some Republican Speaker, at any rate.  Nancy Pelosi would be hailed for bringing down Trump.  Schumer would be toasting his fellow Democrats at the dawn of a successful Senate conviction.  I'm actually somewhat convinced that Trump is a god of chaos.  We're all going to wake up in a Warhammer universe fighting for our lives against the minions of Khorne.

"Not for the sake of much time..."

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in iowa at least, buttigeg appears to be the moderate's choice instead o' biden.

...

the rolling stone article we recent linked had an impact 'pon us. we don't take the article as gospel (bad pun) but am recognizing how in spite o' fact we speak with hardcore catholics multiple times a week, am suspecting they is being restrained with a few o' their criticisms o' stuff californians in general is overwhelming accepting. 

an exchange from the article:

“As Christians, do you feel like you’re under attack in this country?” I ask.

“Yes,” my mom says adamantly.

“When did you start feeling that way?”

“The day that Obama put the rainbow colors in the White House was a sad day for America,” my aunt replies. “That was a slap in God’s face. Abortion was a slap in his face, and here we’ve killed 60 million babies since 1973. I believe we’re going to be judged. I believe we are being judged.”

now am recognizing the ladies in the article ain't the catholic women we see at the food bank, church or the school for homeless kids where we volunteer. a few o' our catholic grandma friends is... salty. have never questioned if we were getting honest from our catholic friends. article portion we quote is anecdotal representing views o' two women from alabama. even so, am suspecting our personal experience and dialogues has misled us 'bout how strong the religious right feels concerning issues other than abortion and the penumbral and elusive concept o' religious freedom. am beginning to believe Gromnir may not be aware o' the degree to which a large % o' americans is offended by "the rainbow colors." 

a month ago we woulda' beleived buttigeg being in a same-sex marriage were an extreme minor issue for all but an extreme small group o' voters who would never have voted for any democrat anyways. so what? am not so sure today. is easy to forget just how religious is a large % o' 2020 americans. is tougher to forget how such religious folks represent an even larger % o' reliable voters. how many moderate and even liberal christians is genuine offended by the rainbow colors?

am not a huge fan o' buttigeg, but such is 'cause we prefer booker and klobuchar as more experienced and capable moderates. may not be fair, but in spite o' booker no longer being in the race we still compare buttigeg to booker and find the mayor o' south bend wanting in most ways that matter. 

*shrug*

being moderate, for Gromnir, is honest the only thing other than military service which buttigeg brings to the table. if many christian voters, christian voters who is democrat and independent, see the devil hoisting the rainbow colors everytime they consider voting for buttigeg...

is not fair, but neither was the nightmare the press put geraldine ferraro through... or swift boating.

rainbow colors shouldn't be an issue and it will not be an issue for us personal. even so, we didn't think rainbow colors were a serious issue for a 2020 democrat party candidate for President. am no longer certain. 

HA! Good Fun!

"If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927)

"Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019)

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me waiting for iowa:

i-teamed-up-with-my-wife-to-make-life-si

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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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Must be weird for people to remember Iowa exists for this long.

Why has elegance found so little following? Elegance has the disadvantage that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it. - Edsger Wybe Dijkstra

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Fun fact: I can't name a single Iowan city.

Fun fact: Is Iowan even the correct adjective form of Iowa?

Fun fact: The previous fun fact wasn't a fun fact. We apologize for the error.

Edited by Bartimaeus
Quote

How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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1 minute ago, Bartimaeus said:

Fun fact: I can't name a single Iowan city.

Fun fact: Is Iowan even the correct adjective form of Iowan?

Fun fact: The previous fun fact wasn't a fun fact. We apologize for the error.

Sioux City. I spent a week there one night. :lol:

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"While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before"

Thomas Sowell

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The funny thing about all this fixation on the Democratic caucuses in Iowa is that it inevitably helps Trump.  He's got a lock on the state.  If he doesn't win Iowa, it will be a very early night.  It could have helped candidates, but it wasn't really going to help Democrats.  This probably helped Biden, since the numbers I've seen so far are surprisingly bad for the old codger.  I swear, this cycle is going to be insane.

"Not for the sake of much time..."

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I truly do not get why anyone would care who puts what where with whom in the bedroom. No one's business but the folks doing it. No one is asking anyone to bless it. Or approve of it. You can harbor any opinion of it you like. Certainly no one is compelled to participate in it. Just acknowledge it's not your business. Because it's not. 

No matter who you are there is someone out there doing something right now you don't like. And there is nothing you can or should do with it. I even bet somewhere someone is hoping for the Yankees to win another World Series. Mister if I can let THAT go you can handle Pete B's home life. 

"While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before"

Thomas Sowell

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1 hour ago, Guard Dog said:

Sioux City. I spent a week there one night. :lol:

did a fair 'mount o' fishing for channel cat near clinton. spent a 4th of july in clinton, one o' our favorite 4ths. can honest say we like iowa based on our clinton time.

job stuff had us visit iowa city and ames. wanted to catch a football game in both towns, but didn't happen.  can tell you more 'bout our hotel rooms than the respective cities.

have never been to des moines, but we learned name in school and am suspecting it is one o' the more common mispronounced state capitals... probable right behind pierre, sd.

drove through multiple towns and used restrooms and ate at roadside diners, but am doubting such counts.

enjoyed clinton a whole bunch. at least in the 80s it were a prototype midwestern town.

1 hour ago, Hurlshot said:

 

Kind of strange that people who lived through the civil rights movement even bat an eye over rainbow flags.

we paid especial close attention to trump's state o' the union. beyond the predictable web of lies we anticipated, there were a whole lotta appeals to religious right. from pointless claims 'bout school prayer (school prayer he is talking 'bout is already legal everywhere) to abortion, were frequent appeals to religious right.

added: 

as mentioned already, am thinking we made a mistake. just as trump were clear making an appeal to minorities with many o' his speech promises and observations, the religious appeals is not limited to the far right. appeal to christian values (not necessarily our notion o' christian values) may appear to be an appeal to his base, but am suspecting we are failing to recognize how widespread is views we do not share. like gd and others, we cannot figure out why voters should be offended by rainbow colors, but it may be a mistake to ignore how many nevertheless is bothered by such even in 2020.

...

so what does hurl think 'bout those "failing government schools" from which children need be saved?

HA! Good Fun!

Edited by Gromnir
ps

"If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927)

"Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019)

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3 hours ago, ComradeMaster said:

Meanwhile, actual authoritarian right wing regimes like Israel and Brazil, who are ardent Trump supporters, don't get any scrutiny at all from the media/elite whatsoever.

Why is that?  Explain this one to me.  I'm all for diplomacy and negotiations over "getting tough" on any country/regime but I find it very bizarre whom they target.

Ask yourself, who owns the media? Especially the popular ones. Last time I checked Rupert Murdoch owned a **** load of the worst ones and is a rabid Trump supporter, hence a situation a bit like Berlusconi's grasp on power in Italy for a long time (he owned most of the media, hence, there was never really any "fair" election campaigning going on).

Something the Russians at least seems to be aware of, using bots and teams of dedicated "influencers" to manipulate popular opinions, if not outright writing their favourite on the ballots, then spreading out some wide nets trying to catch the stagglers and fence sitters to make them vote fodder for their preferred candidate.

3 hours ago, MedicineDan said:

Gotta own that I'm a Gorth fan, so that might be why I'm defending him even though I think he's ultimately wrong.  He's right in that Donald Trump is remarkably predictable in terms of his personality quirks.  He's got a pathological need to defend and his only defense is to attack.  It's one of the things that gets under my skin.  However, he's really tricky about that.  It doesn't mean he'll always attack the way you think or the cascade of events will favor the side that goads him.

Trump is your classical High School Bully. Full of insecurity and complexes, he reacts with the only thing he knows, violence. Whether physical or just verbally abusing people.

Similar to the teenage bully, he loves the adulation of the masses. Hence why once in a previous politics thread mentioned, he would have felt completely at home on the podium of the Nuremberg Rally.

Good thing for Poland that it's Greenland that is the next neighbour to the east... 😆

His vanity is alto the key to control him... if you're smart. Netanyahu, Kim, Putin etc. are smart. Khamenei, for all his flamboyant rhetoric is not smart. The former knows how to play on his vanity. I don't know all the domestic movers and shakers in the US, but wanna bet? There will also be a share of smart and not so smart people, those who plays Trump like a fiddle and those who ends up just being on the receiving end of his abuse.

 

Edit: @MedicineDan haha, thanks for the kind words mate, you've been missed for a long time ☺️

 

Edit2: I think it's safe to add Modi and Boris Johnson to the list of heads of state that Trump gets along with splendidly.

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein

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Russians again? xD Geez you people will never learn

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I'm the enemy, 'cause I like to think, I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech, and freedom of choice. I'm the kinda guy that likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder, "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecue ribs with the side-order of gravy fries?" I want high cholesterol! I wanna eat bacon, and butter, and buckets of cheese, okay?! I wanna smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in the non-smoking section! I wanna run naked through the street, with green Jell-O all over my body, reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly may feel the need to, okay, pal? I've SEEN the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing "I'm an Oscar Meyer Wiene"

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1 hour ago, Gorth said:

Trump is your classical High School Bully..

His vanity is alto the key to control him... if you're smart. Netanyahu, Kim, Putin etc. are smart. Khamenei, for all his flamboyant rhetoric is not smart.

Trouble is that you can't always control a bully by flattering them, end of the day they require someone to beat up, threaten or extort because... that's who they are.

The things that stop a bully are (1) the possibility that someone important will take exception or that the person will fight back effectively and (2) the possibility that picking on them will make you really unpopular. All of Xi, Putin and even Erdogan have (1), Kim has (1; China, nukes) and (2) since about the only people keen on fighting DPRK are Bolton types who'd probably advocate bombing the coronavirus. Certainly the Japanese and South Koreans would be appalled by war with the north. Khamenei on the other hand has neither, they may be friendly with Russia and China but not friendly enough and there would be a massive cheer squad (well, somewhat reduced after Saudi found out just how vulnerable they really are) for war of people who have Trump's ear.

Same situation with the Palestinians. There's no point Abbas flattering Trump because Trump will do what Jared and Bibi want and Abbas has nothing Trump wants except for the ability to give up. Trump's proposals to both Palestine and Iran are literal articles of surrender. There simply isn't any room for flattery to work.

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