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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Political Discussion Thread

MO said:
"And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: like, you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond; that you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values and to pass them onto the next generation, because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them."
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MT said:
"From a young age, my parents impressed on me, the values that you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond; that you do what you say and keep your promise. That you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son and we need to pass those lessons to the many generations that follow. Because want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength to your dreams and your willingness to work for them."
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Ahhh, it looks like that part was from the same speech to me. I think that some words were added or subtracted to be 'different' but I don't think it is different enough.
 
michaelskis said:
Ahhh, it looks like that part was from the same speech to me. I think that some words were added or subtracted to be 'different' but I don't think it is different enough.
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There ain't a professor on Earth that wouldn't nail the campaign's ass to the wall for plagiarism on that. I feel sorry for her--candidate family members should NEVER be put in that kind of position. And what's worse is that the campaign is allowing it to fester. The goal with any first spouse & family in these kinds of speeches is to protect them from political controversy. Just apologize for lifting a portion of the speech, and tack on a statement that there are certain evergreen stories that <wait for it> make America great, and it just so happens that her immigrant story from post-Soviet Czech Republic bares similarities to Obama's story (although I honestly think that is a bit of a stretch).

My favorite line was about Trump being loyal yada yada yada... coming from his 3rd wife. :r:

I think Trump's whole family has a very strange dynamic. There is something very weird there.
 
When will Trump come out and say that is was, in fact, Michelle Obama who stole the speech from Ms. Trump... :lmao::lmao::lmao:
 
Suburb Repairman said:
My favorite line was about Trump being loyal yada yada yada... coming from his 3rd wife. :r:
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The best line was definitely when she Rickrolled the entire convention.



I'm not entirely convinced the speech writer did not intentionally do all this. She can claim she wrote it all she wants, but we know better. She doesn't seem like a terrible person at all though, I feel kind of sorry for her. She's a fashion model, not a political expert.
 
AG74683 said:
The best line was definitely when she Rickrolled the entire convention.


I'm not entirely convinced the speech writer did not intentionally do all this. She can claim she wrote it all she wants, but we know better. She doesn't seem like a terrible person at all though, I feel kind of sorry for her. She's a fashion model, not a political expert.
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Yes I was listening in the car when she said that and it cracked me up!

That was my first thought also, that a speech writer snuck it in. But giving her the benefit of the doubt, if she did write the majority of her speech then she probably YouTube'd presidential nominees' wives speeches and pieces of Michelle Obama's speech stuck with her.
 
Her 1st lady charity cause will be to help stop plagiarism in schools and educate the country about the harm that plagiarism can cause.

It's either that or she'll just start a program for healthy foods for kids and maybe plant a garden at the white house.
 
dvdneal said:
It's either that or she'll just start a program for healthy foods for kids and maybe plant a garden at the white house.
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THAT WOULD END THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT! TACO SALAD ALL DAY, EVERYDAY!


---

I actually like Ms. Trump. I am somewhat confused as to what she sees in Mr. J. Trump, but she seems affable and kind. I can only think that she married for money or power, or something else, but maybe love was there too. I think her husband confuses me to no end, but I think she is nice enough.
 
Trump is a genius.


:-c





I know... I said it.





But think about it for a moment. We have been talking about him for how many months? Everyone was confident that the would never win the nomination but every time he did something stupid or a stunt, the media ate it up and we talked about it and his polling numbers went up and we won state after state after state. All of this is deliberate.

He is Sideshow Bob and America has become HIS 3 ring circus.



We as a nation are screwed.
 
michaelskis said:
Trump is a genius.

:-c

I know... I said it.

But think about it for a moment. We have been talking about him for how many months? Everyone was confident that the would never win the nomination but every time he did something stupid or a stunt, the media ate it up and we talked about it and his polling numbers went up and we won state after state after state. All of this is deliberate.

He is Sideshow Bob and America has become HIS 3 ring circus.

We as a nation are screwed.
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He's much smarter than people give him credit for. His campaign knows exactly what they are doing. The recycled speech was intentional to keep them in the spotlight for just a little longer. His campaign has been full of far too many week long scandals for it to be accidental. He dominates the news headlines far more than Hillary (even with the email thing). He's the spitting image of the typical American stereotype.
 
And now Trump is saying that Obama used a couple of Deval Patrick’s speeches and posted video to his FB page of them.
 
AG74683 said:
Regardless of the outcome of this election, keep an eye on Donald Trump Jr.
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My wife said the same thing. She's more interested in the shit show than I am.

My sincere hope is that The Don loses by a landslide and the GOP decides to fix their party after this mess is over rather than forgetting about it for another four years..
 
dvdneal said:
My wife said the same thing. She's more interested in the shit show than I am.

My sincere hope is that The Don loses by a landslide and the GOP decides to fix their party after this mess is over rather than forgetting about it for another four years..
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Even in the event Trump loses, I'm concerned for the future of the GOP and by association the country as a whole. I know that sounds a little strange coming from me, but this election cycle has opened my eyes to some frightening things occurring with the state of our democracy. I now appreciate the importance of having good opposition candidates. The people of this country need to hear a cogent debate concerning policies on issues. My fear is the NEXT Presidential campaign cycle will find the GOP primaries dominated by the Next Loudest Moron - why not, it's now a proven formula. That's not good for the country.
 
Maister said:
Even in the event Trump loses, I'm concerned for the future of the GOP and by association the country as a whole. I know that sounds a little strange coming from me, but this election cycle has opened my eyes to some frightening things occurring with the state of our democracy. I now appreciate the importance of having good opposition candidates. The people of this country need to hear a cogent debate concerning policies on issues. My fear is the NEXT Presidential campaign cycle will find the GOP primaries dominated by the Next Loudest Moron - why not, it's now a proven formula. That's not good for the country.
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Unfortunately I agree. The GOP learned nothing from the the 2012 autopsy and actually went the complete opposite direction. I wonder how long they can survive with the direction they are taking. My guess is 8 years, as a majority of their voting base will be dead. Younger GOP members are much more libertarian than socially conservative, which would help the GOP out tremendously.

My guess is that we get another autopsy and the GOP will get another rope. They will either use it to get out of the hole, or kill themselves. The rise of the libertarians is eminent if the GOP base picks to go more crazy.
 
Suburb Repairman said:
Probably should. He looks creepy. :p

I actually think he'll run for office in the next two years. I'll put my money on Mayor of NYC.
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dvdneal said:
My wife said the same thing. She's more interested in the shit show than I am.

My sincere hope is that The Don loses by a landslide and the GOP decides to fix their party after this mess is over rather than forgetting about it for another four years..
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Everyone should be watching at least the highlight speeches for the RNC. It's pretty entertaining overall. Trump's entry to introduce his wife was one of the most over the top theatrical things I've ever seen. It was crazy.

Donald Jr's speech was actually *shudder* good. It was the first speech from any Trump supporter that was more than just rhetoric and empty promises. He had some policy thrown in there which was something different. You could tell this is a new thing for him, but there's no bigger stage to launch a political career as a member of the GOP than the RNC. If he can distance himself from Trump's angry approach, he might stand a good chance at winning some larger elections.

Frankly, I don't think Hillary can beat Trump, even with the current polling numbers. I think the majority of Sanders supporters won't back her, and a large portion will cast votes towards Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. I believe we will see something similar to the 1992 election where Perot took votes from both sides and skewed the standard voting lines, but with a different outcome. I fully expect Johnson to get the polling numbers necessary to participate in the debates.
 
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I am not too sure that Trump loses, I have seen support from people that I would never have expected. I believe that his "outsider" status make folks put blinders on to all of the crazy that goes with it. I hope it's not the case, but we very well could have a president Trump.
 
If it's close into October the Clinton Money Machine will just kick it into overdrive. Trump may have some money but the Clintons can raise money like no other. I'd bet the totals won't even be close when all is said and done.
 
MD Planner said:
If it's close into October the Clinton Money Machine will just kick it into overdrive. Trump may have some money but the Clintons can raise money like no other. I'd bet the totals won't even be close when all is said and done.
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This.

Trump may be closing the gap in some national polls, but thankfully the Electoral College ≠ national polls.
 
giff57 said:
I am not too sure that Trump loses, I have seen support from people that I would never have expected. I believe that his "outsider" status make folks put blinders on to all of the crazy that goes with it. I hope it's not the case, but we very well could have a president Trump.
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MD Planner said:
If it's close into October the Clinton Money Machine will just kick it into overdrive. Trump may have some money but the Clintons can raise money like no other. I'd bet the totals won't even be close when all is said and done.
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WSU MUP Student said:
This.

Trump may be closing the gap in some national polls, but thankfully the Electoral College ≠ national polls.
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I personally think that Hillary will win big with the electoral college, but by narrow margins in the popular vote.

I would love to see 3rd party candidates get higher percentages of the total votes neither side get more than 50% of the popular vote. I think that there could even be a chance that Gary Johnson could possibly win New Mexico, especially if things get nasty close to the election and there are a bunch of October surprises.

In terms of the future of the GOP... I don't know what will happen. However, I really pray that Bernie and Trump have opened the eyes of both parties to show them how pissed people are about politics as usual. If by some crazy chain of events Trump beats the Clinton Machine, we will see substantial restructuring of both parties within 4 years.
 
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That is complete insanity. It's hilarious, but also kind of terrifying.
 
Trump loses in 2016 and you'll see the RNC run back to the evangelical conservative mess that brought them The Donald. Ted Cruz has been quiet behind the scenes and he'll make a run in 2020, along with the likes of Walker, Pence, Kasich, and the others. What they don't get is that although there's a lot of 'CONSERVATIVE' out there, those are the guys that couldn't even win with in their own party primary. Even as unpopular as President Obama has been, Mittens Romney couldn't win.

Who's the only national level politician that is elected "at-large?" It's the president. All senators and representatives are voted in by districts, which have been gerrymandered to keep a party in play (both Rs & Ds do it). I think that's more reflective of the national perspective than most anything else.
 
taNnPcO.jpg
 
I am looking forward to seeing the response from the DNC speeches. You know darn well all of the speech writers for Clibton are in full panic mode right now.



On a side note, sounds like more civilians were killed in US air strikes in Syria. There has to be a better way...
 
I learned this morning that one of my neighbors is an extremist. As I was leaving to drive to work, one of my neighbors asked if that was my Yukon, to which I inquisitively replied that it was. They then started yelling at me because I have an American Flag sticker on the lower left corner of my back windows. It took me a few seconds to realize that this was really happening. He went into a race filled tirade talking about how his people (he is black) are targeted by the police that wear that same flag on their uniform. About 45 seconds into it I explained that 1) it is the flag of our nation 2) I hope that with active communication things will get better between all people in the US, and 3) If he is offended by seeing the flag, don't look at the back of my truck because it is going to stay right there.


Sad thing is I have tried a few times to strike up a friendly neighbor conversation with him in the past, just to get to know my neighbors, but he has always been very stand-off-ish. Now I understand that he does not want to associate with me because I am white.

The hispanic guy who lives below me was loading his truck up and heard the conversation and told the guy to go "F%#@" himself because despite the problems, it is still the greatest country in the world.




Have I mentioned before that I am looking forward to moving out of the apartment?
 
I had a good experience with a city police officer the other day -

I had a flat tire, he stopped to see if I was ok, I told him that I had called AAA 45 min earlier and thanked him.
1/2 hr later he stopped by again, seeing that AAA had not shown help, helped me change the tire because my jack was rusted and not working.

Thank you.
 
michaelskis said:
I learned this morning that one of my neighbors is an extremist. As I was leaving to drive to work, one of my neighbors asked if that was my Yukon, to which I inquisitively replied that it was. They then started yelling at me because I have an American Flag sticker on the lower left corner of my back windows. It took me a few seconds to realize that this was really happening. He went into a race filled tirade talking about how his people (he is black) are targeted by the police that wear that same flag on their uniform. About 45 seconds into it I explained that 1) it is the flag of our nation 2) I hope that with active communication things will get better between all people in the US, and 3) If he is offended by seeing the flag, don't look at the back of my truck because it is going to stay right there.


Sad thing is I have tried a few times to strike up a friendly neighbor conversation with him in the past, just to get to know my neighbors, but he has always been very stand-off-ish. Now I understand that he does not want to associate with me because I am white.

The hispanic guy who lives below me was loading his truck up and heard the conversation and told the guy to go "F%#@" himself because despite the problems, it is still the greatest country in the world.




Have I mentioned before that I am looking forward to moving out of the apartment?
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You must just give off some kind of I'm a cop vibe. You should grow the beard back and go undercover. :lmao:
 
dvdneal said:
You must just give off some kind of I'm a cop vibe. You should grow the beard back and go undercover. :lmao:
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The beard is back.



On an unrelated note, it sounds like there was civilians, including children that were killed in US lead airstrikes in Syria. (BBC Report)
What needs to happen so that this will not happen again? Has this administration gotten so low that it would not make sure that innocent lives, including children, would not be targeted?
 
michaelskis said:
The beard is back.



On an unrelated note, it sounds like there was civilians, including children that were killed in US lead airstrikes in Syria. (BBC Report)
What needs to happen so that this will not happen again? Has this administration gotten so low that it would not make sure that innocent lives, including children, would not be targeted?
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If a GOP administration was doing the same thing, would you still be so outraged?
 
The Terminator said:
If a GOP administration was doing the same thing, would you still be so outraged?
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[massive sarcasm]No. I would be sending them letters thanking them for killing foreign children and asking them to progress towards genocide of entire populations. :r: [/massive sarcasm]





Over the past 8 years, I have studied the founding of this county and moved from a right leaning conservative to someone who does not fit into any of the political parties other than saying I am an American. I have no love for the GOP or the Democrats.

The closest that I come to is a pro-life/libertarian/constitutionalist/environmentalist who believes in local government, historic preservation, decreased federal power and involvement, and personal responsibility.
 
michaelskis said:
decreased federal power and involvement, and personal responsibility.
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That's our biggest problem. We have severely increased federal power and involvement because the vast majority of the country no longer believe in personal responsibility.We no longer work for what we get, we simply sit around and take welfare checks. The thing is, if welfare dried up overnight, people who receive it wouldn't miraculously go out and find jobs and becoming contributing members of society once again, they'd just end up on the streets because we are no longer conditioned to work hard.

This is really hard to say...but I actually respect Ted Cruz for refusing to endorse Trump. Good for him.
 
michaelskis said:
OK... this is just getting stupid. Cop shoots caretaker of autistic man playing in the street with toy truck

I really hope that there is a body cam or dash cam to show as evidence to convict the police officer quickly (unless there is evidence otherwise), but based on the details so far, it does not look good for the cop.

#AllLivesMatter
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"So far, attorney Hilton Napoleon II said, video of the shooting itself hasn't surfaced"

Something here doesn't add up with this particular one. I mean the dude is clearly lying down with his hands up,and then the next video shows him handcuffed. There's no video of the actual shooting which makes no sense. Why would they suddenly stop filming even though there are two videos, one before and one after?
 
AG74683 said:
we are no longer conditioned to work hard.
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I think this is Horatio Alger bullshit. Most of us are working harder than ever and income is not keeping up with productivity gains or the cost of living. What there is, however, is a growing underclass of individuals in this country who are "discouraged workers/U-6 unemployed" per the BLS definition of the term - the unemployed who may never end up working again. As roboticization of manual labor positions moves forward, expect more of this, as well as continued social unrest as our society continues to pull itself apart as a result of the centripetal forces of economic globalization, income inequality, and demographic change.

I expect something a little more nuanced and analytical out of planner types than "people aren't working hard enough". Come on.
 
MacheteJames said:
I think this is Horatio Alger bullshit. Most of us are working harder than ever and income is not keeping up with productivity gains or the cost of living. What there is, however, is a growing underclass of individuals in this country who are "discouraged workers/U-6 unemployed" per the BLS definition of the term - the unemployed who may never end up working again. As roboticization of manual labor positions moves forward, expect more of this, as well as continued social unrest as our society continues to pull itself apart as a result of the centripetal forces of economic globalization, income inequality, and demographic change.

I expect something a little more nuanced and analytical out of planner types than "people aren't working hard enough". Come on.
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I didn't really mean you. Mostly my own generation or younger otherwise known as the "entitled generation".
 
MacheteJames said:
I think this is Horatio Alger bullshit. Most of us are working harder than ever and income is not keeping up with productivity gains or the cost of living. What there is, however, is a growing underclass of individuals in this country who are "discouraged workers/U-6 unemployed" per the BLS definition of the term - the unemployed who may never end up working again. As roboticization of manual labor positions moves forward, expect more of this, as well as continued social unrest as our society continues to pull itself apart as a result of the centripetal forces of economic globalization, income inequality, and demographic change.

I expect something a little more nuanced and analytical out of planner types than "people aren't working hard enough". Come on.
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I think when it comes to the middle class, you are 100% correct in your assessment, I know I work harder for longer hours than ever before and many of my friends do the same. But there is an entitlement problem in the US that is realizing that if they work part time or get paid under the table, they make more from government assistance than they would if they held down a regular job.

Do you have any suggestions on how to correct the situation?
 
I read a good quote about Ted Cruz and his unwillingness to endorse Trump. "This made me respect Ted Cruz 4 times more than I used to. Too bad 4 times 0 is still 0".
 
The best and worst movie presidents of all time
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/...-movie-presidents-all-time-fandango/87288544/

Most respected movie presidents

1. Harrison Ford (President James Marshall), Air Force One
2. Morgan Freeman (President Tom Beck), Deep Impact
3. Michael Douglas (President Andrew Shepherd), The American President
4. Bill Pullman (President Thomas J. Whitmore), Independence Day
5. Jamie Foxx (President James Sawyer), White House Down
6. Robin Williams (President Tom Dobbs), Man of the Year
7. Kevin Kline (presidential stand-in Dave Kovic), Dave
8. James Earl Jones (President Douglass Dilman), The Man - I remember reading the book first
9. Sela Ward (President Elizabeth Lanford),Independence Day: Resurgence
10. Michael Keaton (President John Mackenzie), First Daughter

Most feared movie presidents
4. Peter Sellers (President Merkin Muffley), Dr. Strangelove
 
A gay billionaire Republican just bashed McCrory's coveted HB2 bill at the RNC while endorsing Donald Trump, and actually got a standing ovation for it. I'm pretty sure I've seen everything now...wow.

The GOP seems to be far more unified than the media makes out...
 
AG74683 said:
A gay billionaire Republican just bashed McCrory's coveted HB2 bill at the RNC while endorsing Donald Trump, and actually got a standing ovation for it. I'm pretty sure I've seen everything now...wow.

The GOP seems to be far more unified than the media makes out...
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I think that this daughters introduction speech last night was very impressive. I would like to see the numbers regarding people that he has hired to become color blind and gender nutrial. I think she might actually be right.

On a side note, I think that at least 2 Trump kids will have a future in politics.
 
michaelskis said:
I think that this daughters introduction speech last night was very impressive. I would like to see the numbers regarding people that he has hired to become color blind and gender nutrial. I think she might actually be right.

On a side note, I think that at least 2 Trump kids will have a future in politics.
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I want to see if the story she told about him pulling those stories out of the paper and calling those people in is actually a true deal. Her speech was good, but it seemed to echo A LOT of Hillary's campaign platform, particularly wage gap and female equality. I'm not entirely convinced that she has seperated herself from the Democratic party like Donald has. By far, the most impressive of his kids was Donald Jr. I was very impressed with him and will be interested to see where he goes. All his children did a good job considering none have ever really been on a stage this big. Some of their snarky comments aside, he seems to have a solid family and has honestly appeared to raise those kids right.

He has definitely toned down his rhetoric. I thought his speech was solid, but he's still lacking on any real semblance of policy. I hope he's holding out on any actual policy notes to force Clinton to personal attacks rather than policy and make her look petty, but I'm not certain he really has anything there. It all appears that he's just going to "pick the right people" which I suppose might be a step in the right direction rather than appointing well connected folks to cabinet positions they are otherwise unqualified for.
 
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