tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post4804224275329665588..comments2024-03-18T17:09:55.964-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Fight the insanity & stupidity... as if you're sane and smartDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger189125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89310534404795713862017-08-16T14:28:58.739-07:002017-08-16T14:28:58.739-07:00@LarryHart, perhaps after onwards?
"You'...@LarryHart, perhaps after onwards?<br /><br />"You're saying conservatives have reached that level of frustration because we've ended slavery, allowed blacks to vote and sit in front of the bus, made it not the law's business if non-married adults to have sex?"<br /><br />Now you are moving the goalposts:<br /><br />I mentioned Rosa Parks as a liberal victory (along with those I mentioned that frustrate conservatives) that will remain in the history books, in contrast to Reagan tax cuts or bankruptcy reform, which I claim are mere blips. Your jab about conservatives being upset about the ending of slavery is totally outside my claim that the last 50 years have gone in the liberals favor, and is insulting to conservatives.<br /><br />I am all for laws about fornication being annulled or repealed, I am simply highlighting the conservative perspective.<br /><br />You are putting words in my mouth that were never there.Vikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74804254887159150222017-08-16T14:27:48.871-07:002017-08-16T14:27:48.871-07:00onward
onward
onward<br /><br />onward<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20670991921286417492017-08-16T14:27:36.417-07:002017-08-16T14:27:36.417-07:00Viking: you clearly do not understand the Jefferso...Viking: you clearly do not understand the Jefferson Rifle. The 2nd amendment is inherently the very weakest. A future court WIL interpret the “militia” prelude and that will be that. Read the JR article again.<br /><br />Locum would cite the dumbest trek episode ever.<br /><br />Viking you assert Fox exaggerated anecdotes. The statistics show that dems govern fairly well and goppers do not. Period. http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2014/06/so-do-outcomes-matter-more-than-rhetoric.html<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30532210216078488632017-08-16T14:14:16.104-07:002017-08-16T14:14:16.104-07:00Viking:
"Are you really saying that such thi...Viking:<br /><i><br />"Are you really saying that such things are so humiliating a defeat for conservatives (True Conservatives, I mean) that they finally have to upend the chessboard by supporting Trump?"<br /><br />Our republic has very few levers accessible by the voters, electing the president is indeed a very blunt tool. <br /></i><br /><br />You miss my point. The emphasis is not on "electing the president", but on "upsetting the chessboard." Like Brexit. A vote that means "I know this will probably make things worse, but I'm already so little invested in things working well that I don't fucking care!"<br /><br />You're saying conservatives have reached that level of frustration because we've ended slavery, allowed blacks to vote and sit in front of the bus, made it not the law's business if non-married adults to have sex?<br /><br />And they call <b>us</b> snowflakes?<br /><br />(Republicans are the true snowflakes, as they are white and cold, and if you get enough of them together, they'll shut down the public schools)<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70333730759418960332017-08-16T14:09:14.366-07:002017-08-16T14:09:14.366-07:00@ Viking - I'll turn one of your questions aro...@ Viking - I'll turn one of your questions around. How many Nazi's did *not* vote for Trump? How many white supremacists voted for HRC?<br /><br />The simple truth is conservatives now have even less excuse not to turn away from their destructive course. matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-15479656883191990392017-08-16T13:41:10.812-07:002017-08-16T13:41:10.812-07:00@LarryHart:
"Are you really saying that such...@LarryHart:<br /><br />"Are you really saying that such things are so humiliating a defeat for conservatives (True Conservatives, I mean) that they finally have to upend the chessboard by supporting Trump?"<br /><br />Our republic has very few levers accessible by the voters, electing the president is indeed a very blunt tool. I would be all for a Swiss style direct democracy.<br /><br />Will respond more later. Not my intention to move the goal post, I am offering the perspective of somebody outside the two major bubbles, but perhaps inside somewhat the lunatic libertarian bubble.Vikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89557809545369838732017-08-16T13:29:55.308-07:002017-08-16T13:29:55.308-07:00@Alfred Differ:
"aw man. You were doing fine...@Alfred Differ:<br /><br />"aw man. You were doing fine until you went here. Trump does represent a blow back, but the progressives won't lead us to a Venezuelan future. Not even close. They make piss-poor socialists when it comes right down to it and they DON'T trust government as much as libertarians think. An American Progressive DOES have liberalism in their intellectual history along with a muddle of other things. "<br /><br />There is an ongoing meme that empty condos and houses should be confiscated and used to help the less fortunate. In local governments, I see thugs refusing to do maintenance with the regular budget, rather intentionally make schools and public facilities so bad that they can ram through a bond issuance that increases property taxes beyond the constitutional maximum 3% per year here in Oregon. We have a much better starting point than Venezuela, and deeper pockets, so as you mentioned before, we can do make more mistakes before we suffer, because we are richer. I do cringe when economic illiterates, that would fail your suggested financial savvy test, make it into city councils and legislatures where they can do damage way beyond their own family.<br /><br />You are more optimistic than me, as a physical sciences major, mental extrapolation is pretty automatic for me. I hope you are right.Vikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-55381286724444548872017-08-16T13:15:17.428-07:002017-08-16T13:15:17.428-07:00Viking:
I might be ridiculous. (Ok, I am sure I A...Viking:<br /><i><br />I might be ridiculous. (Ok, I am sure I AM ridiculous in your mind).<br /></i><br /><br />Not in the way you think. I'm not the caricature liberal that locumranch makes me out to be.<br /><br />The Second Amendment doesn't mention guns at all. It talks about the right to bear arms. If that means anyone can have any kind of gun, it also means anyone can have any kind of sword, bomb, or weaponized germ. The interpretation that all sorts of other weapons can be restricted but guns cannot is absurd. There's no separate verbiage about guns. None.<br /><br />If that's not exactly what you're saying, it's at least in the same ballpark.<br /><br />referring to an earlier post:<br /><i><br />I agree there are victories of the republican party, but I was really talking about conservative, not republican in terms of societal changes. Many of these republican victories are more oligarch giveaways to pharmaceutical companies (Medicare part B), feeding Halliburton, Lockheed and Boeing with useless illegal wars, agricultural subsidies to ADM etc. There is nothing conservative about these, but those were victories of the republican party.<br /></i><br /><br />Ok, but you're moving the goalposts then. My examples might not be victories for True Scotsmen...I mean conservatives, but they are not liberal victories either--certainly not something that conservatives should need to get back at liberals for by voting an Nazi-enabling idiot into the White House.<br /><br /><i><br />I also think these, and the things you mentioned will be forgotten by history books, but the changes in laws regulating human interaction that I mentioned are more significant on the conservative liberal scale. I might be insensitive (ok, I am definitively insensitive), but the things you mentioned as conservative victories I am cataloging as progressives crying the sky is falling for every tiny setback.<br /></i><br /><br />You're talking about things like ending slavery and equal rights for minorities. Are you really saying that such things are so humiliating a defeat for conservatives (True Conservatives, I mean) that they finally have to upend the chessboard by supporting Trump? Don't many of these progressive victories turn out to become conservative values once they stand the test of time?<br /><br />That's what I personally consider a progressive victory--not running roughshod over conservatives, but proving that a progressive solution really does work and having it ultimately accepted by the general public.<br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77715918848969030852017-08-16T13:01:23.520-07:002017-08-16T13:01:23.520-07:00It's like arguing with my elderly parents, try...<br /><br />It's like arguing with my elderly parents, trying to discuss the political ramifications of both Charlottesville and the growing Right & Left divide with those who FEEL that all those right-wing dominionists, racists, anti-abortionists, deporables & climate deniers should be silenced, imprisoned, shunned and expelled due to to their unredeemably despicable views, so much so that I have exhausted my verbiage & leave all further explanation to someone who has NEVER been at a loss for words no matter how bizarre the circumstances.<br /><br />I therefore give you Captain James T. Kirk, S2 E23, 'The Omega Glory' episode (and his words inexhaustible) as he lectures the Yangs that the sacred words of 'Eed plebnista' either apply to EVERYBODY (including the most deplorable) or they apply to NOBODY:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsRo-m9muFE<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6647576026419541672017-08-16T12:46:16.632-07:002017-08-16T12:46:16.632-07:00@LarryHart
"What about gun control (lack of)?...@LarryHart<br />"What about gun control (lack of)? That's a pretty big conservative victory in the social realm. And Stand Your Ground laws. And the end of the fairness doctrine. The gutting of the Voting Rights Act."<br /><br />I am a libertarian. I might be ridiculous. (Ok, I am sure I AM ridiculous in your mind). The natural interpretation of second amendment is that private individuals and corporations can have exactly the same military weapons as national armies. That was the case in 1776. The navy had cannons, and so did private trading ships. If the second amendment does not instill fear in government, it is already gutted beyond its initial intention. Staying within SF and libertarian-ism, in the book Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. there was an Inuit with a private H-bomb, wired to detonate if his heart beats ever stopped. The most likely response given the technological development in weapons is to get rid of the second amendment, and given my correct interpretation of the constitution, this would not be a conservative/liberal point of contention anymore, as both parties would agree that nobody except the army they control should have nukes or 16" cannons. To me, the second amendment debate is a lot like the joke about the "hooker" who would do it for a million, but not for $50, the left and right are just bickering about the details, while pretending we still have a second amendment. The "Jefferson Rifle" counts under the same pretense.Vikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32061223418088713342017-08-16T12:26:24.268-07:002017-08-16T12:26:24.268-07:00@LarryHart
You made many points.
"Reagan ta...@LarryHart<br /><br />You made many points.<br /><br />"Reagan tax cuts? Bush tax cuts? War in Iraq? The end of welfare as we know it? Bankruptcy protection erosion? Citizens United?<br /><br />That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are plenty more conservative victories to crow about. And that's before the Neil Gorsuch appointment to the Supreme Court. Had God not saved us from Scalia, the court was about to find that "whole number of persons" meant white Christian Republicans."<br /><br />I agree there are victories of the republican party, but I was really talking about conservative, not republican in terms of societal changes. Many of these republican victories are more oligarch giveaways to pharmaceutical companies (Medicare part B), feeding Halliburton, Lockheed and Boeing with useless illegal wars, agricultural subsidies to ADM etc. There is nothing conservative about these, but those were victories of the republican party. <br /><br />I also think these, and the things you mentioned will be forgotten by history books, but the changes in laws regulating human interaction that I mentioned are more significant on the conservative liberal scale. I might be insensitive (ok, I am definitively insensitive), but the things you mentioned as conservative victories I am cataloging as progressives crying the sky is falling for every tiny setback.<br /><br />I realize that on the individual level, if you managed to get $120K in non dis-chargeable student debt from a worthless college for a worthless degree, this is a personal catastrophe. But it is nothing a historian will care about. Rosa Parks, MLK and the litigant in Roe v. Wade, on the other hand, will stay in the history books probably as long as USA exists.Vikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54252351695578918432017-08-16T12:15:05.417-07:002017-08-16T12:15:05.417-07:00Viking:
Out of 83 types of benefits, immigrants c...Viking:<br /><i><br />Out of 83 types of benefits, immigrants can receive any of 81 types without fear of deportation, based on established practice. The two disallowed benefits are SS Disability Income and food stamps (SNAP).<br /></i><br /><br />I'm not sure that counts as a liberal victory. Certainly not the type of thing anyone is claiming credit for and rubbing in someone else's face.<br /><br />What about gun control (lack of)? That's a pretty big conservative victory in the social realm. And Stand Your Ground laws. And the end of the fairness doctrine. The gutting of the Voting Rights Act.<br /><br />You're going to have to do more to convince me that liberals have been winning so much we're getting tired of winning.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80727428773271211772017-08-16T11:49:28.088-07:002017-08-16T11:49:28.088-07:00@donzelion | Our anti-romantic hyper-rational rant...@donzelion | <i>Our anti-romantic hyper-rational rants give him a focus that Faux & Friends do not.</i><br /><br />Yah. That makes some sense. I love the imagery for mouse-based, munchkin warrior too. 8)<br /><br />He's missing us in the evenings, though. Many of us are far less rational after the sun goes down. When the dark of night is partially illuminated by the flickering campfire, we are all romantics.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60989188770888068072017-08-16T11:38:51.104-07:002017-08-16T11:38:51.104-07:00@Viking | It's more like throwing the TV out t...@Viking | It's more like throwing the TV out the window. 8)<br /><br /><br /><i>all the negative coverage of Trump backfired</i><br /><br />I think that is quite likely to be true. Clinton's campaign screwed up in its own ways too, but from where I sit, it looks like the media that supported her had no real feel for what was going on in the public.<br /><br /><i>Obviously it is OK to lie on the form that says you are financially secure when immigrating.</i><br /><br />Welcome to America. Some of us don't think we should be asking questions like that of people who work up the courage to come here. It might not be that it is okay to lie. It might be that some of us don't want to know.<br /><br /><i>abortion</i><br /><br />Yah. Technically it is a State issue... until one violates a woman's liberty which makes it an amendment #14 issue, thus a federal issue. I think the Court made an error when deciding Roe v Wade by making it a privacy issue. It is really about liberty. Without the ERA, they decided it on privacy, but we don't really need the ERA today to see some restrictions on abortion as a liberty problem.<br /><br /><i>slowing the inevitable march towards being more like Venezuela and Brazil.</i><br /><br />aw man. You were doing fine until you went here. Trump does represent a blow back, but the progressives won't lead us to a Venezuelan future. Not even close. They make piss-poor socialists when it comes right down to it and they DON'T trust government as much as libertarians think. An American Progressive DOES have liberalism in their intellectual history along with a muddle of other things.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-12882891277502161302017-08-16T11:36:54.352-07:002017-08-16T11:36:54.352-07:00Viking:
Admit it, there is an old adage, "No...Viking:<br /><i><br />Admit it, there is an old adage, "No news is bad news", all the negative coverage of Trump backfired, in the absence of WaPo, HuffPo, NYT, Trump might very well have lost.<br /></i><br /><br />I'm not going to say that's the opposite thing (though it might be), but that's a different thing from covering a violent Nazi rally. I'm in agreement with you that the news media shamelessly gave Trump all kinds of free publicity, normalized him, and allowed him to frame his message to viewers. You don't have to limit the list to partisan outlets. Remember "Trump may be bad for the country and the world, but he's great for CBS." I hope whoever said that understands how wrong he was (at least in the long term).<br /><br />You seem to be polarizing everything into liberal or conservative. In that view, showing Nazis for the evil that they are is "liberal", and only makes conservatives double down on supporting Nazis against the liberals, just to get back at them. I hope that is not the case--that a good number of conservatives recoil in horror at what they're being associated with.<br /><br />If this was WWII and we were discussing newsreels showing the Nazi march across Europe, would you consider that a liberal attack on conservatives which deserved to have blowback? I hope to hell not.<br /><br /><i><br />How many Nazis do you assert voted Republican?<br /></i><br /><br />I'm not exactly sure what you're driving at, but I think that's the wrong question. The important question is "How many Republicans are ok with empowering Nazis in exchange for their votes?" Up until now, I'd have said "Most of them." Maybe that's changing now. If so, the coverage helped effect that change.<br /><br /><i><br />The liberals have won all major societal battles the last 50 years<br /></i><br /><br />Reagan tax cuts? Bush tax cuts? War in Iraq? The end of welfare as we know it? Bankruptcy protection erosion? Citizens United?<br /><br />That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are plenty more conservative victories to crow about. And that's before the Neil Gorsuch appointment to the Supreme Court. Had God not saved us from Scalia, the court was about to find that "whole number of persons" meant white Christian Republicans.<br /><br /><i><br />What has happened the last years, is liberals mocking conservatives and rubbing their faces in the liberal victories,<br /></i><br /><br />You're not seriously saying that conservatives don't do end-zone dances over their victories, are you? Both W and Trump won (if you call it that) by the slimmest of margins, and then proceeded to govern as if they had an overwhelming mandate for the most radical elements of their party's agenda. The same with Illinois current Republican governor.<br /><br />To me (and I'm sure you feel differently), what you're saying is that liberal victories are illegitimate, and therefore offensive on their face. The very fact of a liberal win is enough to make conservatives apoplectic and rightfully so. If they overreact in defense of conservatism, that's no vice. Victories by conservatives, the rightful rulers of America, are simply the world working as God intended, and so only a whiny liberal would be upset by them.<br /><br />As I stated above, I'm not entirely in disagreement with you. It's probably bad form for liberals to rub anyone's nose in their defeat. I'd rather be magnanimous in victory, especially since the goal is to run the country well and help people, not to defeat them. Running roughshod over the losers is a right-wing game. But exposing Nazis for the vileness they represent shouldn't be a partisan issue in America. If it is, then what does that tell you about Republicans?<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39562147553551170632017-08-16T11:17:13.522-07:002017-08-16T11:17:13.522-07:00To clarify this:
"On the other hand, an audi...To clarify this:<br /><br />"On the other hand, an audit of the practice of this rule revealed that among 83 types of welfare benefits, only receiving 2 of them would trigger deportation proceedings. Obviously it is OK to lie on the form that says you are financially secure when immigrating."<br /><br />I realized an alternate interpretation is that somebody who receives one form of benefits is fine, but someone receiving 2 forms is in trouble.<br /><br />Out of 83 types of benefits, immigrants can receive any of 81 types without fear of deportation, based on established practice. The two disallowed benefits are SS Disability Income and food stamps (SNAP).<br /><br />https://www.yahoo.com/news/ap-fact-check-no-trump-order-deport-welfare-204357727--politics.html<br /><br />https://aspe.hhs.gov/basic-report/summary-immigrant-eligibility-restrictions-under-current-lawVikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85702080443786640372017-08-16T11:01:50.762-07:002017-08-16T11:01:50.762-07:00Sorry, the "Preview" reset my "Viki...Sorry, the "Preview" reset my "Viking" identity, the 11:00am post is mine.Vikingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-24897434489039712292017-08-16T11:00:21.778-07:002017-08-16T11:00:21.778-07:00Alfred Differ: "Time to go home and see it fo...Alfred Differ: "Time to go home and see it for myself. Maybe tomorrow I get to buy a new TV. " That's a cryptic remark. My first mental image is Alfred getting so agitated that he throws the beer bottle through the TV screen. But that contradicts my impression of Alfred.<br /><br />@LarryHart:<br />"Viking is wrong in his assertion that this filth would slink away if the news media would only refuse to shine light on them. The mainstream Republican party has tacitly benefited from courting the Nazi vote while obfuscating that fact as much as possible to their non-deplorable voters. "<br /><br />How many Nazis do you assert voted Republican? And how are Republican voters subdivided between non-deplorable, deplorable and irredeemable(=nazi?)? Don't worry about my feelings, I have not voted Republican since year 2000, and I look at both establishment party as corrupt thieves, and through our foreign policy, murderers.<br /><br />Are you questioning why there is radio silence from the good doctor (adult conservative), and the recent new poster young theoretical physicist author dude (intelligent literate libertarian)?<br /><br />It is very clear to me that the victory of Donald Trump was a coin toss based on the tiny margin of victory, and you are refusing to consider the possibility that your "lets rub their face in it" attitude brought out a small number of extra votes by Republicans looking down on immoral DJT and were not planning to vote, but are tired of getting their faces rubbed in stories that are clearly biased, when observed by anyone outside the echo chamber.<br /><br />Admit it, there is an old adage, "No news is bad news", all the negative coverage of Trump backfired, in the absence of WaPo, HuffPo, NYT, Trump might very well have lost.<br /><br />If we look at the hosts relentless mentioning of Dennis Hastert, it is an obvious gay shaming with plausible deniability, and also an attempt at "shame by association", meaning republicans are associated with a pervert.<br /><br />The liberals have won all major societal battles the last 50 years:<br /><br />1. Nearly all laws restricting voluntary behaviors are stricken from code or never used. This includes laws against same gender relations, laws against fornication, financial penalties from infidelity (no cause divorce).<br /><br />2. Welfare benefits are on an upward slope. When I immigrated, I was told that if I received any welfare payments for the first 5 years, that would result in my deportation. That is the law. On the other hand, an audit of the practice of this rule revealed that among 83 types of welfare benefits, only receiving 2 of them would trigger deportation proceedings. Obviously it is OK to lie on the form that says you are financially secure when immigrating.<br /><br />3. Roe vs. Wade. As a libertarian, I believe everyone owns their body, so I don't have a moral issue with status quo, but strictly speaking, this is a states right issue, by the constitution, probably abortion would be allowed in all blue states, and disallowed in many red states.<br /><br />What has happened the last years, is liberals mocking conservatives and rubbing their faces in the liberal victories, not only do they have to watch what they consider immoral behavior that used to be illegal, they also have to finance it, like ACA forcing all health plans to cover abortion and birth control, the trans gender bathroom irrelevancy, gay marriage, which is really only a form of economic warfare through the tax code, like ACA. Trump was a push back and blow back, but in my view, only a temporary sideways step, slowing the inevitable march towards being more like Venezuela and Brazil.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-55028115541144706042017-08-16T08:11:03.291-07:002017-08-16T08:11:03.291-07:00appropos nothing political, but it made me think o...appropos nothing political, but it made me think of a question...<br /><br />From today's www.electoral-vote.com :<br /><i><br />Actually, Mooch may not technically belong in the sequence, since he was never actually sworn in. He's the Trump administration version of Stephen, who was elected Pope but died of a stroke three days later, and so was not consecrated. For 1,200 years, the Catholic Church has had trouble deciding if he counts as a Pope or not.<br /></i><br /><br />I never heard that story before, but it made me wonder. History buffs all know that William Henry Harrison died after 31 days as president, but at least he was inaugurated first. We've never had a candidate elected president who then dies before the inauguration, but I suppose eventually it will happen. Is that a constitutional crisis, or is there an orderly procedure as to what happens in that case?<br /><br />The most reasonable expectation is that the VP-elect would be sworn in and then immediately be "promoted" to the presidency, but I'm not at all clear that the rules actually provide for that outcome, or any other outcome for that matter.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52419650831490669222017-08-16T07:22:51.612-07:002017-08-16T07:22:51.612-07:00Dr Brin:
But this has a lining. Every southern co...Dr Brin:<br /><i><br />But this has a lining. Every southern college town is roiling with modernist rage against this resurrected treason. The Union is awakening to the monster that has tried to kill America 8 times.<br /></i><br /><br />It is also now painfully obvious that Confederate symbols are not about reverence for the memory of the genteel antebellum south. They're about in-your-face forcefully reminding "other" people that they'd better keep to their place or else have deadly force used against them, and that white privilege not only exists, but should be codified into explicit law.<br /><br />I don't even care any more whether the protesters qualify as racists. The fact is that they're terrorists. They're not only willing to kill those who make them angry by having different values, they think nothing of doing so. Their response to a brutal attack by one of their own resulting in death is that the victim had no value in their value system, and so her death is a positive boon. And it sickens me that the Justice Department of the United States of America is doing everything it can to declare that their existential fight against terrorism is <b>only</b> about Islam and has nothing at all to do with White Christianist Terrorism (tm).<br /><br />Viking is wrong in his assertion that this filth would slink away if the news media would only refuse to shine light on them. The mainstream Republican party has tacitly benefited from courting the Nazi vote while obfuscating that fact as much as possible to their non-deplorable voters. Thanks to the coverage of Charlottesville, Republicans now have to oppose Naziism or be outed as collaborators. It is obvious now that there is no third choice.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36500512509801414162017-08-16T07:11:22.617-07:002017-08-16T07:11:22.617-07:00donzelion,
Steve Bannon. Sebastian Gorka. Julie K...donzelion,<br /><br />Steve Bannon. Sebastian Gorka. Julie Kirchner. Katharine Gorka. Stephen Miller. These are just some of the people that Trump has working for him in our government that have ties to White Supremacists or similar. I'd invite anyone who cares to spend some time googling these people to see who they have associations with and the things they have done or participated in both in the past and since going to work for Trump.<br /><br />I think "a bit of political power" is quite accurate. Are we in danger of Third Reich 2.0? Fuck no. Is this embarrassing as hell? Yes! Can these people cause trouble with their bit of political power? Yes, they can. They have already. They have affected legislation, they have affected management of government departments and programs, they have affected Trump's Executive Orders.<br /><br />How big of a mess will we have to endure? How long will it take to clean up? I don't know. Hopefully we clean this up real quick. But, look at the epic mess the Bush Jr. administration left us with. Even after 8 years with a Democrat in office we've made but little progress in cleaning that mess up.<br /><br />Probably the worse that could happen is that we pay no attention to these people and they or their ilk quietly become a standard fixture in our government steadily working to create opportunities to screw shit up their way. A steady nuisance that inhibits forward progress.Darrell Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14054311762477388637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-2564937443432801382017-08-16T03:19:57.433-07:002017-08-16T03:19:57.433-07:00Does California have paper tape voting machines? H...Does California have paper tape voting machines? Have officials ever reminded people to check the printout as they vote? Do they audit the vote?Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-18371605032515871322017-08-15T22:49:03.557-07:002017-08-15T22:49:03.557-07:00Eeep! Locum’s mexican history is a melange of sol...Eeep! Locum’s mexican history is a melange of solid truthful gruel and poison-laced chunks of glass and lies.<br /><br />re cell- peer to peer, I’ve yammered about this for decades. All we need to gain huge resilience is P2P TEXTING! Voice isn’t even necessary for the central benefit of robustness.<br /><br />I would be willing to give them Robert E. Lee. He was a damned traitor who hurt his country. But he represented the one noble trait of the Confederacy, its stunning martial virtues of courage and innovative ferocity on the battlefield. Indeed, poor southerners still volunteer for military service more than anyone else. Stonewall was a real bastard and NB Forrest was a spectacular one, but in the context of an actual battlefield, I’d let them be represented. <br /><br />But this has a lining. Every southern college town is roiling with modernist rage against this resurrected treason. The Union is awakening to the monster that has tried to kill America 8 times.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10548853490734588292017-08-15T21:17:33.412-07:002017-08-15T21:17:33.412-07:00Alfred: using Locum's currently favored analog...Alfred: using Locum's currently favored analogy of the Mexican civil war, with 1.3 to 2m deaths in a population of 15-17m.... scaling up to our current population would make for an even more extreme comparison. <br /><br />But like most mouse-based munchkin warriors, Locum doesn't really want that. He doesn't really know what he wants. Just to feel....something. Our anti-romantic hyper-rational rants give him a focus that Faux & Friends do noy.donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-28063952847633494782017-08-15T18:58:17.314-07:002017-08-15T18:58:17.314-07:00@locumranch | We can always rebel against those su...@locumranch | <i>We can always rebel against those suckers when the time comes, after they've finished eliminating each other.</i><br /><br />One of those little rebellions caused 750K deaths in this nation of about 31 million. Scaled up to our current population, that would feel a bit like 9.7M deaths.<br /><br />Is that what you want? Do you think it is baked in?<br />Do you even think that is a good idea?Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.com