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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Political Discussion Thread

HomerJ said:
True, and yet the craziest part of US elections nowadays is how few voters actually tip the scales due to the electoral college structure.

As the lesser known candidate in general, I think there was far more at risk for Harris than Trump. In that context I think it was clear her team got the outcome they wanted while the Trump team missed a chance to shift the narrative against her. I suspect that’s going to be the last debate of the election.

I also can’t watch debates, they stress me out so I just wait to hear about the highlights
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I watched a few minutes at a time. I'm solidly behind Harris but I thought should could have done so much better on the reproductive rights question at the start- she through out "scenarios" when these things have actually played out and she could have named names of women that have actually been affected by the clamp down on reproductive rights in conservative states.

As soon as The Former Guy opens his mouth I need to mute the TV. I just can't.
 
Doohickie said:
As soon as The Former Guy opens his mouth I need to mute the TV. I just can't.
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I did not watch the debates solely for this reason. I lost my remote in the move to my new house two years ago and would have had to get up and change the channel each time Trump spoke. I would probably would have walked more than half a mile from doing this.

I am too cheap to buy a new TV and can't figure out how to use those universal remotes. Sooner or later I'm going to have break down and get a new set I guess. It's been a frustrating two years not being able to mute that insidious SOB time he speaks. His voice is absolutely disgusting.
 
Super Amputee Cat said:
I did not watch the debates solely for this reason. I lost my remote in the move to my new house two years ago and would have had to get up and change the channel each time Trump spoke. I would probably would have walked more than half a mile from doing this.

I am too cheap to buy a new TV and can't figure out how to use those universal remotes. Sooner or later I'm going to have break down and get a new set I guess. It's been a frustrating two years not being able to mute that insidious SOB time he speaks. His voice is absolutely disgusting.
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I'd assume you can buy a replacement remote on Ebay, not sure how much or anything.
 
Super Amputee Cat said:
I did not watch the debates solely for this reason. I lost my remote in the move to my new house two years ago and would have had to get up and change the channel each time Trump spoke. I would probably would have walked more than half a mile from doing this.

I am too cheap to buy a new TV and can't figure out how to use those universal remotes. Sooner or later I'm going to have break down and get a new set I guess. It's been a frustrating two years not being able to mute that insidious SOB time he speaks. His voice is absolutely disgusting.
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Or, you can do what I do: I have a sound bar under my TV and yes it came with a remote. I checked, there are a lot for about $100 and up, but Walmart has one for under $40.
 
In fairness, a large portion of his Hillbilly Elegy book is a lie as well, so there's a well-established pattern for the country club hillbilly cosplayer.
 
tRump's quote about the Haitian immigrants in Ohio. It's weird.


“We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio, large deportations. We’re going to get these people out. We’re bringing them back to Venezuela,” he said. It’s unclear if he meant to say Venezuela.
 
Two attempts on Trump this summer? I know a lot of people don't like him (myself included), but why not show your displeasure by voting for someone else in November?

Jim

Suburb Repairman said:
In fairness, a large portion of his Hillbilly Elegy book is a lie as well, so there's a well-established pattern for the country club hillbilly cosplayer.
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I glanced through the book at a bookstore a couple of weeks ago. Didn't jump out at me as something I need to add to my ever-growing TBR.

Jim
 
Doohickie said:
Or, you can do what I do: I have a sound bar under my TV and yes it came with a remote. I checked, there are a lot for about $100 and up, but Walmart has one for under $40.
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A sound bar was the one purchase I made during the new fake holiday known as "Amazon Prime Day". We picked up a Yamaha soundbar with a subwoofer for like $40 (regular price was close to $200 at most retailers). I know next to nothing about electronics and audio/visual stuff in particular, but it took about 10 minutes to set it up, the remote works flawlessly, and it improved the sound by quite a bit.
 
jumbach said:
I glanced through the book at a bookstore a couple of weeks ago. Didn't jump out at me as something I need to add to my ever-growing TBR.

Jim
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I actually encourage people to read it, just to understand his largely fabricated narrative and the way he looks down his nose at Appalachia in a way that I think is uglier than how some scholarly/journalistic work does. Just go to your library for it versus giving him any royalty from a book store. Pair it up with Ronald Eller's Uneven Ground (a bit dry, but stronger on historical accuracy) and Elizabeth Catte's What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia (which is a true counterpoint to Vance).

I kinda got into the topic after a university course that discussed the TVA with a focus on its impact to human/cultural geography.
 
1726516718933.png


I don't know if I should laugh or cry.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
A sound bar was the one purchase I made during the new fake holiday known as "Amazon Prime Day". We picked up a Yamaha soundbar with a subwoofer for like $40 (regular price was close to $200 at most retailers). I know next to nothing about electronics and audio/visual stuff in particular, but it took about 10 minutes to set it up, the remote works flawlessly, and it improved the sound by quite a bit.
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We got a great soundbar at Big!Lots a whie back for about that $40. It's been working flawlessly for five years or so. We may add the surround speakers for behind the couch, but those would only come into play on movie night, or Canucks games. (But I don't get super into hockey until after the NFL season ends.)

Jim
 
JNA said:
Is it a good or bad thing that I have not read Hillbilly Elegy ?
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Tough call. I would say read it, but find a used copy somewhere so he doesn't benefit from that buy. Or better yet, get it at the library.

I read it years ago, and at the time I thought some parts were well written, especially early in the book. As but as I read on, I thought he kind of came off as a pretentious douchebag and the book became boring. This J. D. Vance has only come into a sharper focus since he was elected Senator and especially since becoming Trump's piss boy.

I really could not relate to any of the characters in the book, like his mom and grandparents. They all seemed like gun-toting crazies, prone to violence and only able to settle matters with guns. Only since 2016 did I realize that ignorance, violence and intimidation was pretty much baked into that way of life.

Having said that I do not wish to read it again.
 
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So according to Trump & his followers I must be NO GOOD because I am
grandchild of immigrants;
have no biological children of my own;
like cats but don't eat them;
did not vote for him;
must be woke because I know how to read and have a advanced degree;
laugh at his geographic ignorance;
don't admire the autocrats that he does;
and list goes on...
 
That whole thing going down in Ohio about the incorrect statements by Trump and Vancey-poo about the immigrants eating the pets reminded me of a sequel released by a certain Michigander who makes documentary films…

Allow me to introduce you to Pets or Meat, the 1992 follow-up to Roger and Me, by Michael Moore. No immigrants were part of this, though this is a memorable review quote, “…if you're disturbed by the graphic scene of a snake crushing the life out of a rabbit, you should be more upset, the director is saying not too subtly, by the constricted lives of out-of-work, under-served human beings.”

I know there are many out there in the world that detest Michigan’s own Michael Moore, but you’ve got to hand it to him. At least he has the balls to face the pets, unlike that spineless Yalie with hairless nuts from “A, o, oh way to go Ohio.” (Apologies to Christine Hynde.)

en.wikipedia.org

Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
JNA said:
So according to Trump & his followers I must be NO GOOD because I am
grandchild of immigrants;
have no biological children of my own;
like cats but don't eat them;
did not vote for him;
must be woke because I know how to read and have a advanced degree;
laugh at his geographic ignorance;
don't admire the autocrats that he does;
and list goes on...
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Nothing wrong with your list.
 
Wannaplan? said:
That whole thing going down in Ohio about the incorrect statements by Trump and Vancey-poo about the immigrants eating the pets reminded me of a sequel released by a certain Michigander who makes documentary films…

Allow me to introduce you to Pets or Meat, the 1992 follow-up to Roger and Me, by Michael Moore. No immigrants were part of this, though this is a memorable review quote, “…if you're disturbed by the graphic scene of a snake crushing the life out of a rabbit, you should be more upset, the director is saying not too subtly, by the constricted lives of out-of-work, under-served human beings.”

I know there are many out there in the world that detest Michigan’s own Michael Moore, but you’ve got to hand it to him. At least he has the balls to face the pets, unlike that spineless Yalie with hairless nuts from “A, o, oh way to go Ohio.” (Apologies to Christine Hynde.)

en.wikipedia.org

Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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I think Moore is a good filmmaker. Lots of people don't. Fahrenheit 911 is very well done.
 
fringe said:
Fahrenheit 911 is very well done.
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I agree, but I think it has lost some of it's luster because of Trump. It's hard to hate on Bush now after almost a decade of exposure to Trump's insidious blather. Of course, I realize that the Bush Presidency did ultimately pave the way for the Trump presidency but there was no way that anyone could have predicted this in 2004.
 
Wannaplan? said:
He was a detestable president, and with, maybe, the exception of Colin Powell, he surrounded himself with nasty SOBs.
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That's exactly what I was thinking in the mid-2000s to late 2000s, but Trump changed all that forever and for all time. I think Trump in the most disgusting piece shit that ever existed: Hopefully he will go down as the most hated person in the history of the world.

The same goes for Vance versus Chaney. In fact, I disliked Chaney more than Bush back in the day. But that is ancient history now. Vance is soooo much worse and Chaney has done himself a solid by stating the we will vote for Harris. In many ways, Vance is worse than Trump because he is a hypocritical, two-faced, flip-flopping douche, whereas everyone knows that Trump was always toxic: A malignant narcissist and a criminal. He really hasn't wavered, but had just steadily got more insane. Trump has always been Trump, now just older, more prone to violence, and full of evil intent.

Hopefully Vance will go down in flames in November and will feel eternal shame and humiliation for aligning with Trump. Unfortunately, even if Trump does lose, Vance will still be senator in Ohio, so I will have to put up with that egomaniacal gasbag for another 4 years either way..
 
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Have to brag a little on an event pulled off in deep red land today. Our local region Democrats (six counties plus UGA) hosted several local speakers and candidates, topped off by rousing speeches from GA senator John Ossoff, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, and former Congressman Gabby Giffords.
 

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Wannaplan? said:
I hear that a lot. I don’t understand that at all. He was a detestable president, and with, maybe, the exception of Colin Powell, he surrounded himself with nasty SOBs.
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We often talk about Bush as governor down here versus Bush as president being two pretty different people. Bush's flaw is that he trusts people too much and that he lacks a good instinct on the intentions. I think 9/11 especially flipped a switch for him, as he was more interested/comfortable in domestic and economic issues before that happened. Like he had good intentions, but the people he surrounded himself often had bad intentions and he was in so far over his head that he couldn't fix it. For example, Cheney was WAAAAAAYYYYYY too visible/active as a VP when you compare it to the typical use of the position, and that was because Bush was out of his depth on the foreign policy topics.

A great example comes from Bush's assessment of Putin in 2001... "I looked into his eyes and I saw a soul. I trusted him." That encapsulates Bush perfectly in why he was so problematic as President. Bush was a great retail campaigner, but trusted the wrong people. The real problem is that he thought he was good at reading people.

The nostalgia for Bush is because the GOP became a full shitshow shortly after, and the "Bush the Artist" makes him seem warm and grandfatherly. I have nothing to base it on, but I'm pretty convinced his trip into art is therapy responding to regret over some of his choices/actions. Just watching their family interactions with the Obamas I think indicates that Bush likely expressed a lot of regrets/cautionary tales to Obama, who walked into the Oval Office with a similar strength in domestic policy and perceived weakness in foreign policy.
 
Suburb Repairman said:
We often talk about Bush as governor down here versus Bush as president being two pretty different people. Bush's flaw is that he trusts people too much and that he lacks a good instinct on the intentions. I think 9/11 especially flipped a switch for him, as he was more interested/comfortable in domestic and economic issues before that happened. Like he had good intentions, but the people he surrounded himself often had bad intentions and he was in so far over his head that he couldn't fix it. For example, Cheney was WAAAAAAYYYYYY too visible/active as a VP when you compare it to the typical use of the position, and that was because Bush was out of his depth on the foreign policy topics.

A great example comes from Bush's assessment of Putin in 2001... "I looked into his eyes and I saw a soul. I trusted him." That encapsulates Bush perfectly in why he was so problematic as President. Bush was a great retail campaigner, but trusted the wrong people. The real problem is that he thought he was good at reading people.
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And now Dick Chaney is voting for Harris... what a world we live in...

www.bbc.com

Former Vice-President Dick Cheney to vote for Kamala Harris

The lifelong Republican said Trump had "tried to steal the last election using lies and violence".
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Suburb Repairman said:
The real problem is that he thought he was good at reading people.
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No. The real problem is that the American people voted for him twice*.

(*Yes, I know Bush v Gore happened. But here we are, going back to the innovator using SCOTUS, and Trump is the copycat. One of the main reasons why America should never forget (heh) the horrors wrought by W Bush.)
 
Suburb Repairman said:
We often talk about Bush as governor down here versus Bush as president being two pretty different people. Bush's flaw is that he trusts people too much and that he lacks a good instinct on the intentions.

The nostalgia for Bush is because the GOP became a full shitshow shortly after, and the "Bush the Artist" makes him seem warm and grandfatherly. I have nothing to base it on, but I'm pretty convinced his trip into art is therapy responding to regret over some of his choices/actions. Just watching their family interactions with the Obamas I think indicates that Bush likely expressed a lot of regrets/cautionary tales to Obama, who walked into the Oval Office with a similar strength in domestic policy and perceived weakness in foreign policy.
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I think that is a fair critique. The reflections of Bush today shows someone that made many, many mistakes, but out of shortsightedness or bad facts rather than out of malice. I do not think Bush was trying to be a bad person, and I think the post-presidency relationship he has fostered with the Obamas show the bi-partisanship and empathy he has for the presidency. It does not mean he was a good president, and I think if 9/11 didn't happen, and the ensuing war into Afganistan then Iraq never happened, he would have a very different legacy. Time has a way of changing perception, and more importantly, the insane direction of the GOP that occurred with the growth of the tea-party and now MAGA, also shifts the perception.
 
Don't forget where modern transformation of that party really started to change direction. It was after Reagan. The Gingrich "Contract for America" which demonized Clinton actions & policies, then ultimately lead to W., Cheney & Rumsfeld, then the Tea Party during Obama's tenure.

It's also interesting that the R's were clutching their pearls because of Clinton's intern fun versus the ignored issues with tRump. Hypocrisy? This has been a long-term transition...but I digress.
 
Planit said:
Don't forget where modern transformation of that party really started to change direction. It was after Reagan. The Gingrich "Contract for America" which demonized Clinton actions & policies, then ultimately lead to W., Cheney & Rumsfeld, then the Tea Party during Obama's tenure.

It's also interesting that the R's were clutching their pearls because of Clinton's intern fun versus the ignored issues with tRump. Hypocrisy? This has been a long-term transition...but I digress.
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I would agree the seeds of the transformation started with the Contract for America. But where it really took off is when 9/11 and the war on terror resulted in a GOP that was no longer fiscally conservative. This is where W went wrong. He fully let the military-industrial complex (and the CIA) take over our country.
 
btrage said:
I would agree the seeds of the transformation started with the Contract for America. But where it really took off is when 9/11 and the war on terror resulted in a GOP that was no longer fiscally conservative. This is where W went wrong. He fully let the military-industrial complex (and the CIA) take over our country.
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Cheney's company KBR made boatloads of money in Iraq.
The military would not let soldiers do their own laundry. That was picked up by KBR, who was paid $125 a bag for laundry.
 
Planit said:
Don't forget where modern transformation of that party really started to change direction. It was after Reagan. The Gingrich "Contract for America" which demonized Clinton actions & policies, then ultimately lead to W., Cheney & Rumsfeld, then the Tea Party during Obama's tenure.

It's also interesting that the R's were clutching their pearls because of Clinton's intern fun versus the ignored issues with tRump. Hypocrisy? This has been a long-term transition...but I digress.
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When I lived in SC, I went to see Gingrich speak (for extra credit, 2004). I remember him standing at the front of the House and punching that stupid card.

The talk itself was fascinating because he did discuss the long run up to the GOP winning congress in the midterms in 1994. I personally think he’s a tool but there’s no denying a lot of bipartisan legislation was passed during those years.
 
kjel said:
When I lived in SC, I went to see Gingrich speak (for extra credit, 2004). I remember him standing at the front of the House and punching that stupid card.

The talk itself was fascinating because he did discuss the long run up to the GOP winning congress in the midterms in 1994. I personally think he’s a tool but there’s no denying a lot of bipartisan legislation was passed during those years.
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And together with Clinton were able to pass balanced budgets. What a novel idea.
 
True and I have asked some of my R friends "What was so bad about the 90's?"
Good economy? Balanced budget? Growth? IDK.
 
Clinton's biggest sin was not the blue dress stain but the repeal of Glass-Steagall, which brought us the banking collapse of fall '08.
It passed at 11:30 pm on his next to last day in office. It was his last signature at work.
 
Feels like we are trending towards some religious shit. Okay, I’m game:

“I think if Donald Trump and JD Vance met Jesus today, they would ridicule him as a single, childless hippie.”

x.com

x.com x.com
 
NC Mark Robinson :down:

The mass exodus from Robinson’s campaign over the weekend, which included the exit of his campaign manager and finance director, could be related to Robinson’s decision to try to cover things up.

in the process of retaining aggressive legal counsel to investigate who did this and how; we will leave no stone unturned, and will use every legal means to hold CNN and whomever else is involved accountable.”
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https://newrepublic.com/post/186263/mark-robinson-new-twist-scandal-staff (There’s a Weird New Twist in the Mark Robinson Scandal)

What a piece of ?
 
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