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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Political Discussion Thread

^^^Similar situation here. I try to stay away from the 'political conversation' at work (unless its someone I really trust & knows me well). Clear avoidance. I have had the cops go to houses & have them remove F Biden flags & signs because of the obscenity and only that (1 was within a block of 2 schools).

I understand the dynamics of this county and where alliances lie. It's disheartening to a degree but know there's not much I can do. My planning decisions and projects work to improve the town. In a previous town I always wore a tie & people just assumed I was very conservative (& I didn't correct them). I've been in the region for many years so I understand the deal - not that I like it entirely.
 
Hawkeye66 said:
I have a question for the group; How long do you think you can work in a place that is basically totally at odds with your personal beliefs? My position is non-partisan, and I do not advertise my beliefs. That goes with ICMA Code of Ethics. The day to day job is good. Politics on that level generally are not an issue. Yet, I know some of the councilors are big time conservative. I am no flaming liberal, probably around Biden on the spectrum, but to them I would be a communist. I bury it, but it's tough. At the end of this year my ethical minimum is over. I hoped to stay until my son graduates in 2025, but I am not sure I can. You see F Biden signs in yards here, etc
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Don't ask, don't tell about your personal politics.

If pushed just say that it doesn't matter in regards to your job.

Also, you may have to tamp down/not participate in any easily discoverable political processes/orgs/events.

The only 'political' sign I've ever put in my own yard was for the public library millage/levy. I feel pretty safe that the vast majority of people across the political spectrum are going to be on board with free information and education and if you're not I don't consider you a viable 'threat'.
 
This is my home state. I have 4 generations buried in the ground before me on both sides of my family. I am ready to abandon it. I do not want to leave my youngest son while he is under 18, so I have four more years here :(. I am not sure in the current environment I can keep hiding and pretending. Its hard to get motivated to try and help a group of people who have total disdain for you if they knew you.
 
Hawkeye66 said:
This is my home state. I have 4 generations buried in the ground before me on both sides of my family. I am ready to abandon it. I do not want to leave my youngest son while he is under 18, so I have four more years here :(. I am not sure in the current environment I can keep hiding and pretending. Its hard to get motivated to try and help a group of people who have total disdain for you if they knew you.
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For decades many people in my hometown and our close extended family members did not know my Dad's political leaning(s) (halfway between Biden and Bernie) and he had a semi-prominent position in the community as the 27 year Director of the County Library.

So, it can be done. But politics of 1970s-2000s is very different and much less fringe controlled as it is/appears to be now.
 
mendelman said:
Don't ask, don't tell about your personal politics.

If pushed just say that it doesn't matter in regards to your job.

Also, you may have to tamp down/not participate in any easily discoverable political processes/orgs/events.

The only 'political' sign I've ever put in my own yard was for the public library millage/levy. I feel pretty safe that the vast majority of people across the political spectrum are going to be on board with free information and education and if you're not I don't consider you a viable 'threat'.
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Speaking of libraries, did you read about what happened in Niles?
bookriot.com

Niles Public Library Being Destroyed from the Inside

The Niles-Maine Public Library in suburban Chicago is being destroyed from the inside by politically-conservative Board officials.
bookriot.com bookriot.com
 
jsk1983 said:
Speaking of libraries, did you read about what happened in Niles?
bookriot.com

Niles Public Library Being Destroyed from the Inside

The Niles-Maine Public Library in suburban Chicago is being destroyed from the inside by politically-conservative Board officials.
bookriot.com bookriot.com
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I had not seen that.

Public libraries are one of the few extremely cost effective public services in the US.

My parents (both district library directors at times in their lives) had to deal with such micro-management, but I don't think it was ever so bad as explicit destruction from within.
 
mendelman said:
Don't ask, don't tell about your personal politics.

If pushed just say that it doesn't matter in regards to your job.

Also, you may have to tamp down/not participate in any easily discoverable political processes/orgs/events.

The only 'political' sign I've ever put in my own yard was for the public library millage/levy. I feel pretty safe that the vast majority of people across the political spectrum are going to be on board with free information and education and if you're not I don't consider you a viable 'threat'.
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It's just hard to hold back. Everyone from the employees to council. There is one more liberal councilor, but I get sick of the comments which are just non stop.
 
I think there is value in learning that you can have strong opinions without having to share them. But I guess the real question for me would boil down to whether I'm put in a position where I feel like I have to support agendas or initiatives that I ethically disagree with as part of my job. That's where I would personally draw the line. I've spent most of my career being at least slightly more liberal than the communities I've worked in. But I've also never felt that fundamentally I had to compromise my core beliefs in order to do my job. That's not to say that the Board never made decisions that I fundamentally disagreed with; just that those decisions were outside of my specific job functions to act upon. I think where that line ends up is really personal for each person, though, and I know that once I notice that sinking feeling as I drive in to work in the morning, it's time for me to consider what alternatives I might have.

It seems to be a really good time to be looking for planning jobs right now, at least where I am. There are a lot of openings and not a lot of qualified applicants. I certainly understand wanting to stay near your family, but it may be worth it to look around a little and see what opportunities may be available, especially if you're willing to extend your search area a little farther than you would have previously.
 
See pasted letter to local weekly, in a region so Rudy red that CRT is listed as a sign of mental imbalance.

CRT made simple


Critical review of the racial aspects of society's structure is not based on theory but on facts.

CRT by any other name is still a peculiar kind of rose with a repugnant odor instead of a refreshing fragrance, like one of those huge stinking cacti that clears all observers from whatever room it occupies. Its view casts a level gaze across the broad plain of history’s recorded course of events.

What historians have generously and kindly described as the "age of discovery" was actually a worldwide invasion and plundering by European powers of most of the rest of the planet

Those explorers' behavior, when met with "savages" they encountered abroad, created the cliche that the farther you take man from society the more savagely he behaves.

The sudden collapse and withdrawal of colonial hegemony in the 20th century left such sucking effects that the colonies’ people are pulled to this day to the doorsteps of perpetrating nations. Witness the throngs on boats, rafts, and caravans, the truck-trailer riders, the wetbacked swimmers, the cross desert crawlers, willing to risk lives to arrive at the thieves' own shores, on the takers’ doorsteps. Where is the welcome mat?

These people know where their resources went, they know where the mine bosses live, where the ivory traders and the oilmen dwell. They know where all the guns came from, no matter which side was killing.

The nations that plundered while they ruled, forced to face the injustice of that rule, made little to no effort to help in transition, from force of arms dominance to lark in the sky freedom. No structures of protection from predatory ventures.

Europe and America are beacons of a sort. They are magnets for the eventual reactions of their centuries-long belligerence. They are desirable coops for the flocks of chickens all coming to roost.
 
CRT is not about immigration. It’s about the horrors of slavery and that our nation’s start was inseparable from it.

This person’s take is the worse kind of horrible conflation and confusion.
 
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Hawkeye66 said:
I have a question for the group; How long do you think you can work in a place that is basically totally at odds with your personal beliefs? My position is non-partisan, and I do not advertise my beliefs. That goes with ICMA Code of Ethics. The day to day job is good. Politics on that level generally are not an issue. Yet, I know some of the councilors are big time conservative. I am no flaming liberal, probably around Biden on the spectrum, but to them I would be a communist. I bury it, but it's tough. At the end of this year my ethical minimum is over. I hoped to stay until my son graduates in 2025, but I am not sure I can. You see F Biden signs in yards here, etc
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Come drive around NW Iowa and Eastern Iowa will be refreshing! The Councilors here are pretty good about being nonpartisan though, and the new mayor once ran for state office as a "D" so it isnt bad day to day. Lots of Trump flags with some "let's go Brandon" signs mixed in around here. Fortunately I can compartmentalize politics. My politics lean toward Libertarian though so that helps.
 
Hawkeye66 said:
This is my home state. I have 4 generations buried in the ground before me on both sides of my family. I am ready to abandon it. I do not want to leave my youngest son while he is under 18, so I have four more years here :(. I am not sure in the current environment I can keep hiding and pretending. Its hard to get motivated to try and help a group of people who have total disdain for you if they knew you.
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My wife's relatives farm no more than 5-8 miles to your west. All Democrats or at least apolitical.
 
I'll just leave this here.

Renacci for OH gov_platform_2022.png
 
mendelman said:
I'll just leave this here.

View attachment 56280
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Renacci is the Slime of Humanity, just another Trump apologist and sycophant. He barely lost the Senate election against Brown in 2018, despite his relentless dirty campaigning, failure to disclose donations, outright lies about lobbying, and all his ties to dirty money and all the other poison politics that seep ever deeper into every Ohio election. It just shows how far the right Ohio becomes every election year.

Renacci is a dirty lobbyist and dirty politician. You'd have to reach into the deepest depths of Hell to find someone more relentlessly evil and ,more unspeakably corrupt than Renacci (OK, maybe there's that teabagger John Mandel). To those in Ohio who think that the 2018 campaign was dirty, this will be exponentially worse.
 
Let's begin by teaching our kids the history of corrupt politicians in the US. Then we won't have to teach them to be woke. They'll become woke on your corruption all on their own.
 
mendelman said:
CRT is not about immigration. It’s about the horrors of slavery and that our nation’s start was inseparable from it.

This person’s take is the worse kind of horrible conflation and confusion.
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CRT is also about systemic racism as expressed by society's structure. Including the recent revelations about Catholic residential schools for indigenous children in Canada.
 
Mistah Kurtz' last words were, after feverish breathy blasts of "the horror, the horror!", "exterminate all the brutes!"
 
WSU MUP Student said:
It's always weird to see a radio host/anchor since they often look absolutely nothing like what I imagine.
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Whenever I meet a colleague from another office (or a client) that I've been on frequent calls with prior to meeting in person, I generally get some version of "I thought you'd be bigger."



(I'm six feet tall if I actually stand up straight, with a very deep voice and a ridiculous southern drawl - apparently I'm expected to roll into a room being six feet-five with rock-star long hair and a leather trench coat - yeah...sorry to disappoint you...).
 
Bubba said:
Whenever I meet a colleague from another office (or a client) that I've been on frequent calls with prior to meeting in person, I generally get some version of "I thought you'd be bigger."



(I'm six feet tall if I actually stand up straight, with a very deep voice and a ridiculous southern drawl - apparently I'm expected to roll into a room being six feet-five with rock-star long hair and a leather trench coat - yeah...sorry to disappoint you...).
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So basically, you're supposed to be Sam Elliot.
 
My reforms: This should not be partisan

1) No gifts to government officials over $2.99
2) No stock or securities trading while in office (Goes into blind trust while in office)
3) No Gerrymandering
4) End Citizen's United. Limit individuals to $1,000, Ban PACs)
5) Term Limits (12 years in the House, 18 in the Senate)
 
MD Planner said:
SCOTUS strikes down the large employer vaccine mandate. Not really surprising I guess.
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Slippery slope for the abolition of OSHA?

Just sayin' as could be construed as undercutting the fundamental enabling purpose of OSHA, unless SCOTUS hyper-focused the decision.
 
Hawkeye66 said:
1) No gifts to government officials over $2.99
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Whenever our gift law comes up, I have to tell the story of the gift limit in Illinois in the early 90's.

The gift limit was $60.

Here is a list of random items that were priced at $59:

Top box seats for Cubs and Sox

Premium seats for the Bears

Premium seats for Bulls

Premium seats for the Blackhawks

Guest greens fees at most Chicagoland county clubs.
 
TOFB said:
Whenever our gift law comes up, I have to tell the story of the gift limit in Illinois in the early 90's.

The gift limit was $60.

Here is a list of random items that were priced at $59:

Top box seats for Cubs and Sox

Premium seats for the Bears

Premium seats for Bulls

Premium seats for the Blackhawks

Guest greens fees at most Chicagoland county clubs.
Click to expand...
What are the actual values of things like premium seats at a Cubs or Bulls game?
 
My recollection is that all these prices were $59.00. Remember in the early 90's there were very few suites at any of the venues.

Different ball game altogether now (pardon the pun). I suspect, at least for politicians, the rules have been tossed out the window..
 
Bubba said:
It is from Cool Hand Luke - Walking Boss Godfrey, aka "The Man With No Eyes", played by the late Morgan Woodward.
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My guess pegs it from the scene after Lucas Jackson emerged from his extended stay in the box with his "mine rite".

Lucas runs and fetches a snake that "the man" picks off with his rifle, and holds it up by its tail.

The scene is just before Lucas runs to hijack a dump truck to make his final escape.
 
While the rest of us suffer, the .01% keep getting richer, richer and richer.

Wealth of 10 richest men doubled in pandemic as 99% of incomes dropped

From the article...

The 10 richest men in the world doubled their fortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report published Monday by advocacy group Oxfam said, highlighting how the global health crisis has deepened the divide between the haves and have-nots as well as the need for policy intervention to address these "deadly" inequities.

While the wealth of the world's 10 richest men more than doubled -- increasing from approximately $700 billion to $1.5 trillion between March 2020 and November 2021 -- the incomes of approximately 99% of people around the globe fell during that time, and more than 160 million people have been forced into poverty, the Oxfam report added.
 
(Ever get the feeling you're back to training dogs?)
NO, BOYS, NO!! If you want to turn a democracy into a dictatorship, you can NOT start quibbling this early in the game!!
Who Is King of Florida? Tensions Rise Between Trump and a Former Acolyte
-The New York Times, 1/16/2022​
Gov. Ron DeSantis, a man Mr. Trump believes he put on the map, has been acting far less like an acolyte and more like a future competitor, Mr. Trump complains. With his stock rising fast in the party, the governor has conspicuously refrained from saying he would stand aside if Mr. Trump runs for the Republican nomination for president in 2024.
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Even if I'm not from the US, he drives me crazy... so I was worried that he survived his second impeachment. I hope he doesn't win another term.
 
He still has a lot of support among certain sectors of the population. I think one challenge is that Trump is very energizing to his supporters and Biden is kind of... not. Trump supporters will be excited to come out and support him, and depending on who runs for the Democrats (especially assuming there's a good chance its Biden), people may be less excited to show up for him.

I appreciate the lack of drama around the Biden presidency, but it doesn't really instill excitement to re-elect him, which is often a challenge.
 
I think we are in a world of "vote the least painful candidate". That has happened for a couple elections now. D's have no person who is exciting and can get the fractured left pulled back together.

The R's have no one who can stand on two feet or have any policy. Look at DeSantis who is slightly pushing back on Trump and he is being attacked like crazy by R's who, for all intents and purposes, should support the living hell out of him.
 
Hink said:
I think we are in a world of "vote the least painful candidate". That has happened for a couple elections now. D's have no person who is exciting and can get the fractured left pulled back together.

The R's have no one who can stand on two feet or have any policy. Look at DeSantis who is slightly pushing back on Trump and he is being attacked like crazy by R's who, for all intents and purposes, should support the living hell out of him.
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DeSantis is far more of a worry. He has 'government' smarts and can manipulate the system better than just being a loud mouth bully.
 
Planit said:
DeSantis is far more of a worry. He has 'government' smarts and can manipulate the system better than just being a loud mouth bully.
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In the end, the R's have a number of power hungry candidates... to me though, they do not have a candidate that actually is electable yet. Trump lost because of his lack of policy positions, and general dislike of him as a person.

DeSantis is the same. His unlikeables are through the roof. The R's don't really have a candidate that checks the boxes for the middle class, non-woke independent, which the R's need to win overall. I am not certain DeSantis could win Florida in a general election.

Maybe Nikki Hailey? Maybe Tim Scott? I mean all three of those (whom are likely the best chance the R's have), have major weaknesses with the middle. I still think there is a pretty strong group in the US that is just disgusted by Trump and those who empowered him. That is why DeSantis is starting to push back. He wants to be able to say he is an independent thinker and not bound to Trump. That is going to be the talking point for 2024 for sure. How much is that election still about Trump?

The D's have no one that excites the country. Biden may run, but that would be a catastrophic mistake akin to allowing Hillary to be the standard bearer. He is too old. Harris is most certainly not the person they thought she might become, and would also probably make a terrible top choice. The rest of the stable is pretty thin in terms of likeability, skill, and ability to get the woke-left, and center-left to be on the same page. Maybe Pete Buttigieg, as he checks most boxes, but he just isn't quite supported enough by the solid D. I don't see any of the activist wing of the D's have a chance, but I am sure Warren, Abrams, etc. will all run.

I'm just going to enjoy no presidential politics for another year. ;)
 
Hink said:
The R's don't really have a candidate that checks the boxes for the middle class, non-woke independent, which the R's need to win overall.
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I know that there are plenty that would like to think that getting someone more moderate is the key to success, I certainly would as well, but I think our tribalism in national politics is going to keep the divide and further push candidates that way. DeSantis is already standing up to Trump by going more to the right rather than the middle, and the typical right-wing propaganda news, such as Fox and OAN pundits are pushing and rewarding that narrative.
 
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