Trump

[jakee 1,553]

57 minutes ago, dogyks said:

Germany had its Communists, we have Democrats.  Both have zero benefit and unlimited negatives.

Zero benefit? So you think Trump being batshit crazy is just fine. You think his appeasement of Putin is just fine. You think his random trade wars are just fine. Nothing positive in avoiding those things.
 

And yet you can’t describe what any of those supposed dem negatives are.

[dogyks 9]

55 minutes ago, BIGUN said:

Can we not do the R's are Nazis and Dems are communist crap. Let's stick to discussing policies. Please.

It would be nice if this forum was devoid of snark and abuse.

If the Democrats had a game plan that offered to balance the budget/pay off the debt and take a minimalism approach to government as a servant, rather than master, you'd have my attention. Pumping endless cash into DEI initiatives is not a viable approach.

I know the stance of many in this forum is that the debt either doesn't matter or is no big deal, but I beg to differ.  A quick review of basic arithmetic and history shows that we are way fucked, regardless of who's to blame ("We have met the enemy, and they are us." - Pogo Possum).

Trump and Musk are something short of my favorite people, but they are the only ones in a position to do anything - and appear to be taking a crack at it.

The fact that Musk is dealing with the particulars is a somewhat good sign. We need to cut spending in a big way in short order, and he's probably one of the few people capable of putting together a viable game plan.

Any politician willing to compromise would be unable to pull off a turnaround.  Trump doesn't understand compromise, but he's like a bull in china shop.  If he doesn't vaporize the goddamned planet, we may be able to pull out of the nosedive in the meantime.

Neither Biden nor Harris have any redeeming qualities, beyond not being Trump.  Trump's appeal is putting DEI/woke insanity to death and addressing the disaster that is our economy.  That's pretty much it - he is otherwise quite awful.

The comparison to post Weimar Germany is legitimate - given the two options Germany came out way ahead of Russia in the long run.  The losses in combat were less, and Stalin killed more of his own people than anyone in history except Chairman Mao.

This nonsense about annexing Canada and Greenland is concerning, and I can think of no sane rationale for suggesting it.

The bottom line is that, even if we're doomed, we're better off than with Harris at the helm of the sinking ship.

[normiss 835]

1 hour ago, dogyks said:

It would be nice if this forum was devoid of snark and abuse.

If the Democrats had a game plan that offered to balance the budget/pay off the debt and take a minimalism approach to government as a servant, rather than master, you'd have my attention. Pumping endless cash into DEI initiatives is not a viable approach.

I know the stance of many in this forum is that the debt either doesn't matter or is no big deal, but I beg to differ.  A quick review of basic arithmetic and history shows that we are way fucked, regardless of who's to blame ("We have met the enemy, and they are us." - Pogo Possum).

Trump and Musk are something short of my favorite people, but they are the only ones in a position to do anything - and appear to be taking a crack at it.

The fact that Musk is dealing with the particulars is a somewhat good sign. We need to cut spending in a big way in short order, and he's probably one of the few people capable of putting together a viable game plan.

Any politician willing to compromise would be unable to pull off a turnaround.  Trump doesn't understand compromise, but he's like a bull in china shop.  If he doesn't vaporize the goddamned planet, we may be able to pull out of the nosedive in the meantime.

Neither Biden nor Harris have any redeeming qualities, beyond not being Trump.  Trump's appeal is putting DEI/woke insanity to death and addressing the disaster that is our economy.  That's pretty much it - he is otherwise quite awful.

The comparison to post Weimar Germany is legitimate - given the two options Germany came out way ahead of Russia in the long run.  The losses in combat were less, and Stalin killed more of his own people than anyone in history except Chairman Mao.

This nonsense about annexing Canada and Greenland is concerning, and I can think of no sane rationale for suggesting it.

The bottom line is that, even if we're doomed, we're better off than with Harris at the helm of the sinking ship.

Complete bullshit.

[dogyks 9]

7 minutes ago, normiss said:

Complete bullshit.

An elegant rebuttal indeed.

[normiss 835]

11 minutes ago, dogyks said:

An elegant rebuttal indeed.

Given that every single statement is just that, seems it's a perfect summation.

 

[jakee 1,553]

2 hours ago, dogyks said:

It would be nice if this forum was devoid of snark and abuse.

If the Democrats had a game plan that offered to balance the budget/pay off the debt and take a minimalism approach to government as a servant, rather than master, you'd have my attention. Pumping endless cash into DEI initiatives is not a viable approach.

It would be nice if this forum was devoid of liars. No one is pumping endless cash into DEI initiatives. That is a lie.

This demonstrates that as well as being an incredibly shallow thinker you are fundamentally unserious about addressing the issues you profess to care about. All you're really after is an excuse to cheerlead Trump and Musks performative cruelty and owning the libs. The rest is just the flimsiest of cover.

Quote

Neither Biden nor Harris have any redeeming qualities, beyond not being Trump.  Trump's appeal is putting DEI/woke insanity to death and addressing the disaster that is our economy.  That's pretty much it - he is otherwise quite awful.

Again we come back to the fact that you have supposedly studied logic? If Trump is awful at everything except the economy and DEI (lol yeah right, but whatever) then that's a huge amount of stuff he is uniquely awful at. Therefore 'not being Trump' actually encompasses a plethora of redeeming qualities, you're just hoping we won't notice that's what you actually think.

3 hours ago, dogyks said:

The bottom line is that, even if we're doomed, we're better off than with Harris at the helm of the sinking ship.

A statement for which you have just provided zero supporting rationale. No, the vague rambling about the Weimar republic doesn't count, and no-one is particularly impressed that you know what that is.

[thelivo 7]

3 hours ago, dogyks said:

Trump's appeal is putting DEI/woke insanity to death and addressing the disaster that is our economy.

Really. 

Given that the first of those "appeals" is thinly veiled bigotry manufactured to make people like you feel better, and your economy is currently nosediving because of trump's policies after Biden had it recovering quite nicely, you've got nothing.

Edited March 12 by thelivo

[dogyks 9]

27 minutes ago, thelivo said:

Really. 

Given that the first of those "appeals" is thinly veiled bigotry manufactured to make people like you feel better, and your economy is currently nosediving because of trump's policies after Biden had it recovering quite nicely, you've got nothing.

Long term survival often entails short term pain.  Pigging out on the seed corn is a poor excuse for "recovery."

DEI/woke is bigotry that would shame a Grand Wizard of you swapped out the identities.  Stick to Equality, Merit and Integrity and you'll be fine.

[JoeWeber 2,790]

4 minutes ago, dogyks said:

Long term survival often entails short term pain.  Pigging out on the seed corn is a poor excuse for "recovery."

DEI/woke is bigotry that would shame a Grand Wizard of you swapped out the identities.  Stick to Equality, Merit and Integrity and you'll be fine.

The argument being made is that given our history DEI is a pathway to Equality, Merit and Integrity. Sure it's messy but outside of white suburbia there are a few otherwise nice but pointy hat wearing folks who need a solid framework jammed down their throats to quit being assholes. 

[dogyks 9]

5 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

The argument being made is that given our history DEI is a pathway to Equality, Merit and Integrity. Sure it's messy but outside of white suburbia there are a few otherwise nice but pointy hat wearing folks who need a solid framework jammed down their throats to quit being assholes. 

That's all well and good, but equality is where nobody gets a pass.

I'll be damned if I kneel before somone's 'victimhood.'

[GeorgiaDon 377]

I'll be damned if I kneel before your color line.

[dogyks 9]

4 minutes ago, GeorgiaDon said:

I'll be damned if I kneel before your color line.

Which is?

[JoeWeber 2,790]

1 minute ago, dogyks said:

That's all well and good, but equality is where nobody gets a pass.

I'll be damned if I kneel before somone's 'victimhood.'

And you'd be right in every situation where their advancement above you was unequal. The issue is, as there will never be a system that applies fairness in all situations, does this DEI idea actually cause more unfair kneeling than can be accepted against the balance of increased fairness it promises. If it's felt that any are too many and that's that then we need to either harden up or try something else because the old way of trusting each other to apply societal benefits on a fair and equal basis simply wasn't working. 

[jakee 1,553]

32 minutes ago, dogyks said:

DEI/woke is bigotry that would shame a Grand Wizard of you swapped out the identities. 

Everyone knows that you know that’s bullshit. You’re just saying it for the racism value.

[jakee 1,553]

18 minutes ago, dogyks said:

I'll be damned if I kneel before somone's 'victimhood.'

Then why keep demanding that everyone kneels before yours?

[dogyks 9]

Even if inequality is a problem, DEI is anything but a solution.  It is institutionalized inequality implemented by charlatans.

I abhor racism and sexism, and DEI elevates these to an art form.

[JerryBaumchen 1,415]

32 minutes ago, dogyks said:

Long term survival often entails short term pain.  Pigging out on the seed corn is a poor excuse for "recovery."

DEI/woke is bigotry that would shame a Grand Wizard of you swapped out the identities.  Stick to Equality, Merit and Integrity and you'll be fine.

Hi dogyks,

Re:  Long term survival often entails short term pain.

If it were only that.  As I have posted before; I agreed with some of what Ronald Reagan tried to do.  IMO his problem [ and today's ] is that he tried to change 40 yrs of social engineering in four yrs.  Not really possible; the economy simply cannot take it.

Re:  DEI/woke is bigotry

You are allowed to have opinions.  This one is not a fact.

Re:  Stick to Equality, Merit and Integrity

I agree.  If only Trump were doing so I doubt that there would be so many people against what he is doing.

Jerry Baumchen

[JoeWeber 2,790]

4 minutes ago, dogyks said:

Even if inequality is a problem, DEI is anything but a solution.  It is institutionalized inequality implemented by charlatans.

I abhor racism and sexism, and DEI elevates these to an art form.

Of course it's institutionalized: asking pretty please don't lynch the colorful college students didn't work. Seems to me that if unqualified folks were constantly being unfairly elevated in private business the system would self correct. In our public institutions, just like the world around, we're fucked. 

[jakee 1,553]

13 minutes ago, dogyks said:

Even if inequality is a problem, DEI is anything but a solution.  It is institutionalized inequality implemented by charlatans.

I abhor racism and sexism, and DEI elevates these to an art form.

You know that's not true. You're just using it as an excuse to say something staggeringly racist with a fig leaf of deniability. To whit:

KKK Wizard: Burns someone alive for being black or consorting with black people.

DEI person: Says you can't discard applications from black people without giving them the same consideration as others.

Winsor: You DEI pricks should be more like the KKK!

[dogyks 9]

45 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

Of course it's institutionalized: asking pretty please don't lynch the colorful college students didn't work. Seems to me that if unqualified folks were constantly being unfairly elevated in private business the system would self correct. In our public institutions, just like the world around, we're fucked. 

Okay, we agree that racism & sexisim suck.  My problem is with the idea that 'good' racism & sexism can fix 'bad' racism & sexism.

I have had the opportunity to live and work in environments where the only thing that mattered was ability and Integrity, so getting me to go along with the raw bullshit that is DEI is a tough sell.

[jakee 1,553]

17 minutes ago, dogyks said:

Okay, we agree that racism & sexisim suck. 

All available evidence says you don't.

18 minutes ago, dogyks said:

 

I have had the opportunity to live and work in environments where the only thing that mattered was ability and Integrity, 

You've never worked in that environment.

[olofscience 489]

2 hours ago, dogyks said:

Long term survival often entails short term pain.  Pigging out on the seed corn is a poor excuse for "recovery."

They said this about Brexit too - "teething issues" they called them. It's now been 5 years.

 

So let's check back on this in a few years, you'll probably be blaming someone else by then.

[GeorgiaDon 377]

1 hour ago, dogyks said:

Which is?

For example, the color line that is terminating every female or non-white person from senior levels of command in the US military, and replacing them with white males.

MAGA begs the question: when you say "make America great again", when exactly do you want to return to?  When was America "great"?  What year do you have in mind?  1950?  1925?  1850?

It certainly seems that for a large number of MAGA devotees that was a time when women and minorities knew their place, which was far from any position of leadership.  When even being able to vote was a bridge too far.  When medicine consisted of leeching and cod liver oil, not vaccines or any science-based elitist crap.  Maybe back when real leaders like Andrew Jackson (who Trump so admires) were willing to force the Cherokee off their land, to die on the Trail of Tears on their way to some God-forsaken patch of semi-desert in Oklahoma.  Except of course when that land turned out to have a lot of oil, that had to get taken from them too.  When, exactly, was America "great" in the eyes of MAGA?  What is the destination?  Because as you go back, and you don't have to go back far, it might look better for white males but it sucked for everyone else.  That's what all this anti-DEI bullshit is about, a desire to return to the past when all those "other people" knew their proper place.

[kallend 2,094]

2 hours ago, dogyks said:

Long term survival often entails short term pain.  Pigging out on the seed corn is a poor excuse for "recovery."

 

Reagan railed against the debt 45 years ago.  Perot used much the same arguments as you, as did Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rand Paul (among others).  Sky did NOT fall, however.

We've been in debt continuously for 189 years without dire consequences.  Just what is the time frame you consider long term?

[JerryBaumchen 1,415]

31 minutes ago, GeorgiaDon said:

For example, the color line that is terminating every female or non-white person from senior levels of command in the US military, and replacing them with white males.

MAGA begs the question: when you say "make America great again", when exactly do you want to return to?  When was America "great"?  What year do you have in mind?  1950?  1925?  1850?

It certainly seems that for a large number of MAGA devotees that was a time when women and minorities knew their place, which was far from any position of leadership.  When even being able to vote was a bridge too far.  When medicine consisted of leeching and cod liver oil, not vaccines or any science-based elitist crap.  Maybe back when real leaders like Andrew Jackson (who Trump so admires) were willing to force the Cherokee off their land, to die on the Trail of Tears on their way to some God-forsaken patch of semi-desert in Oklahoma.  Except of course when that land turned out to have a lot of oil, that had to get taken from them too.  When, exactly, was America "great" in the eyes of MAGA?  What is the destination?  Because as you go back, and you don't have to go back far, it might look better for white males but it sucked for everyone else.  That's what all this anti-DEI bullshit is about, a desire to return to the past when all those "other people" knew their proper place.

Hi Don,

+ 100%.

Whenever I ask anyone who wants to take this country 'back to where it was,' just where do you want to take it; I usually get a response such as, 'You know . . . '

In reality, they have not a clue as to 'where they want to take it back' to.

They just don't like things as they are now.

Jerry Baumchen