The *OFFICIAL* Russia Is About To Invade Ukraine Thread

[TheGoldStandard]

Many people need to belong to something that makes them feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves, even if that thing is unreasonable.

For decades, religion filled that void in this country, but now that religious beliefs are fading at a rapid pace, people are finding other things, and politics seems to be at the top of the list (it has become a religion to many). It becomes part of their being, and passion and that sense of belonging deeply overshadows the ability to put reason first. It seems to happen on both sides of the aisle, causing any disagreement to turn to fear and hate, as a few posters here have fallen victim to (while pointing at the other side as being wrong without having the ability to see their own blinders). This leads to name calling and labeling to try and win an argument (rather foolish tactic) rather than actually seeing there are more than one reasonable viewpoint, even if you disagree with someone's stance.

Many people blame religions for many atrocities throughout history, which is partially true. However, it isn't the religion itself, but the almost unreasonable need to be a part of something that zaps people's ability to think critically. A pandemic that has isolated people for years will amplify that need in many.

A two party system in that environment will lead to issues being seen as left or right, with no inbetween. If we don't dilute the power from the GOP and Democratic parties, I anticipate that divide will grow even further.

 

[Deleted member 365]

Many people need to belong to something that makes them feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves, even if that thing is unreasonable.

For decades, religion filled that void in this country, but now that religious beliefs are fading at a rapid pace, people are finding other things, and politics seems to be at the top of the list (it has become a religion to many). It becomes part of their being, and passion and that sense of belonging deeply overshadows the ability to put reason first. It seems to happen on both sides of the aisle, causing any disagreement to turn to fear and hate, as a few posters here have fallen victim to (while pointing at the other side as being wrong without having the ability to see their own blinders). This leads to name calling and labeling to try and win an argument (rather foolish tactic) rather than actually seeing there are more than one reasonable viewpoint, even if you disagree with someone's stance.

Many people blame religions for many atrocities throughout history, which is partially true. However, it isn't the religion itself, but the almost unreasonable need to be a part of something that zaps people's ability to think critically. A pandemic that has isolated people for years will amplify that need in many.

A two party system in that environment will lead to issues being seen as left or right, with no inbetween. If we don't dilute the power from the GOP and Democratic parties, I anticipate that divide will grow even further.

You won’t be able to dilute the power of two parties without serious structural change to how we elect the legislative and executive branches. We aren’t a parliamentary system. We’re designed to only support two major political parties as opposed to a parliamentary system where multiple political parties are competitive.

Structural change would probably have to include abolishing the EC and basing the election of House Representatives on proportional voting. You’d probably have to do something with campaign finance reform, abolishing super pacs, limiting donations, and allowing for publicity funded elections. Most of these changes will require amendments to the constitution. So good luck with that. I don’t think you could get 2/3rds of congress to agree that the sky is blue or 3/4ths of state legislatures to agree we breathe oxygen.

 

[Deleted member 365]

You can hate all the 1940ish Nazis, and not just Hitler, right? Not just bin Laden, but all of Al-Qaeda? The Thriller has ben clear in the past there are many Republicans that he respects, but he dislikes the pro-Trump Republicans.

The Thriller goes overboard sometimes. So do criticisms of The Thriller. sometimes.

You all were alive and saw the past 5 years, right? You all saw the TWO impeachments, right? And what a joke Republicans made of it… both times. Right? While I strongly believe there needs to be a conservative party in America, I don’t think it’s a stretch to claim that today’s GOP isn’t it. My solution is to inflict devastating electoral pain for two more cycles on them. Not because I get joy out of seeing Republicans lose. But because I think the more they lose over the next few years, the faster they’ll realize that their current form isn’t the future.

McConnell: In 'total coordination' with White House for impeachment trial

During an interview on Fox News, McConnell said "There will be no difference between the president's position and our position as to how to handle this."

www.usatoday.com

It’s pretty standard political knowledge that it takes 3 cycles (6 years) to often change a political party. Unfortunately, 2020 had mixed results for Republicans. I’d like to see them struggle to regain power in 2022. I think they might jolt them back onto the road to moderation. If not 2022, then 2024.

I think any warm blooded American should want this. Do you really think the authoritarianism from the right is healthy for a democracy? Demagoguing immigrants? Purposely separating children from parents at the border to discourage further immigration/asylum seeking? Gassing peaceful protesters? Attacking science and doctors; calling for Fauci to go to jail? Restricting women’s rights and attempts to get rid of the ACA without a replacement so millions lose their coverage? Voter suppression? Attacking trans children? Providing Christian churches rights that others don’t have? Stuffing Kavanaugh down our throats despite being credibly accused of sexual assault? Lying about election rigging and indulging in conspiracy? Cheering on Putin? You guys want more of this, really?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/17/layer-cake-misinformation-dishonesty-pro-russia-apologism/

Analysis: Donald Trump calling Vladimir Putin a 'genius' was no mistake

On Wednesday, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham insisted that former President Donald Trump had made a "mistake" when he referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "genius" for his invasion of Ukraine.

www.cnn.com

Wanting Republicans to fail right now isn’t just a policy issue for me, it’s a pro democracy issue. They’re not a normal conservative party. They’re an authoritarian party hoping to upend our democracy to establish an illiberal democracy based on Christian nationalism.

 

[Deleted member 365]

It’s weird to me that those who bitch about Covid restrictions never dare talk about how the former guy ****ed up the Covid response. It’s a tell. Their precious little worldview must be preserved. They can’t allow themselves to question or criticize dear leader. They attack responsible politicians working with health officials rather than attack their boy who denied Covid publicly but told Bob Woodward the truth because he was worried about his approval ratings.

What Trump said about Covid-19 in private versus what he said in public

Trump’s public remarks about the coronavirus were very different from what he told a journalist one-on-one.

www.vox.com

As David Frum once said something that has stayed with me. I’ll summarize it because I don’t remember his exact quote: you have a friend who’s being exploited. You tell the friend they’re being exploited and they become angry at you. Eventually, they learn that you were telling the truth. But rather than being angry at the swindler and forgiving you, they forgive the swindler and remain angry at you. Why? Because they just can’t admit that you were right.

That’s the way I see a lot of you Trumpers. You can’t allow yourselves to question or criticize the guy you defended endlessly for four years. Sunk cost mentality. So even though he ****ed up majorly with Covid, even telling people to shove flashlights up their asses and injecting disinfectants, you’ll remain angry at the politicians and health care officials acting responsible rather than attack the guy who hurt our Covid response and economy the most. Covid was always going to be tough. Any president would struggle against it. But it’s pretty obvious we had the worst person at the worst time to handle that crisis. But you can’t allow yourselves to see that truth because mentally you’re too weak. Emotionally you’ve sunk too much investment into defending him. Spiritually, you lack virtue. No decent person could still support that horrible human being.

 

[Al-O-Meter]

While I may not agree with his hating all Republicans, there's a big difference between being a Republican and being Jewish or black. Can you guess what it is?

It is all hate gandalfe. The Thriller lumps people he's never met into a group and hates them. Then he works by posting content to demonize all the people in the group so other people will join in on the hate. You see what he does. I see what he does. Some moron put The Thriller in the position of doing this to other people's children in a classroom. If David Duke had been a teacher, how well do you think he would have treated the black kids in his charge?

Maybe you don't think it is as bad because The Thriller's group hate isn't based on an immutable characteristic or has immediate parallels to some historical atrocity but at its core it is the exact same tribalism, in-group, out-group animosity that people have killed one another over for longer than there has been history. Earlier in this thread it was mentioned that politics taken to religious extremes are a problem. The Thriller is a high priest in that religion.

 

[fishonjazz]

It is all hate gandalfe. The Thriller lumps people he's never met into a group and hates them. Then he works by posting content to demonize all the people in the group so other people will join in on the hate. You see what he does. I see what he does. Some moron put The Thriller in the position of doing this to other people's children in a classroom. If David Duke had been a teacher, how well do you think he would have treated the black kids in his charge?

Maybe you don't think it is as bad because The Thriller's group hate isn't based on an immutable characteristic or has immediate parallels to some historical atrocity but at its core it is the exact same tribalism, in-group, out-group animosity that people have killed one another over for longer than there has been history. Earlier in this thread it was mentioned that politics taken to religious extremes are a problem. The Thriller is a high priest in that religion.

The problem with this example is that if david duke was a teacher and wanted to hate black students it would be easy for him to identify the students that he wanted to hate.
If thriller as a teacher wanted to hate his republican students how would he identify those students?

 

[gandalfe]

It is all hate gandalfe. The Thriller lumps people he's never met into a group and hates them. Then he works by posting content to demonize all the people in the group so other people will join in on the hate. You see what he does. I see what he does. Some moron put The Thriller in the position of doing this to other people's children in a classroom. If David Duke had been a teacher, how well do you think he would have treated the black kids in his charge?

Maybe you don't think it is as bad because The Thriller's group hate isn't based on an immutable characteristic or has immediate parallels to some historical atrocity but at its core it is the exact same tribalism, in-group, out-group animosity that people have killed one another over for longer than there has been history. Earlier in this thread it was mentioned that politics taken to religious extremes are a problem. The Thriller is a high priest in that religion.

So, you think that hating fascists is the same as hating blacks?

 

[Gameface]

So, you think that hating fascists is the same as hating blacks?

It hurts his feelings when he finds out people don't like him.

 

[Deleted member 365]

The problem with this example is that if david duke was a teacher and wanted to hate black students it would be easy for him to identify the students that he wanted to hate.
If thriller as a teacher wanted to hate his republican students how would he identify those students?

So republicans/Trumpers are black children in this scenario? And I’m David Duke? Trumpers are the persecuted? Again??? The incessant grievance is just LOL! It’s almost like their religious belief is to always be the persecuted. Whether they’re persecuted by globalists (Jews), immigrant workers, Dr Fauci, and now those who don’t want a return of the authoritarianism of a loser like Trump or Putin.

I’m no longer a teacher either. For several years I’ve worked from professor and now work in administration at a local university. It’s been a long journey, involving a lot of long days working by day and doing school at night. Those concerned with the state of education should become teachers. There’s a massive teacher shortage for a reason. I’d gladly like to see those who bitch about educators today come and join the profession. Give people like me competition! I’m sure you’ll have a much greater appreciation for education and educators if you do this.

One thing that’s been consistent in my experience here in Utah is that religious white conservatives are definitely not persecuted. Republicans in Utah run the show. Comparing them to black children is pretty damn insulting when you think about it for a few seconds.

 

[Deleted member 365]

So, you think that hating fascists is the same as hating blacks?

Ding ding ding! Gandalfe thought about Al’s absurd statement. It’s pretty damn insulting when you think about it for more than 3 seconds. Then again, no one will ever accuse Al of overthinking anything.

 

[Al-O-Meter]

So, you think that hating fascists is the same as hating blacks?

Yes.

I think people on this board have a weird obsession with the amount of melanin in a person's skin. To me it is no different from eye color or hair color or height. I've also met people much better than myself who belong to nearly every school of thought. I've met horrible human beings and they too come from everywhere. Hating a group of people you've never met on account of belonging to a social collective is why the word 'bigot' has such a negative connotation. To me, bigotry is bigotry and I don't have a special class of bigotry set aside for black people because that in and of itself is another bigotry to me. I think people should be seen as people. I don't feel like it is that hard of a concept but sadly it seems exceedingly rare these days.

 

[Deleted member 365]

The problem with this example is that if david duke was a teacher and wanted to hate black students it would be easy for him to identify the students that he wanted to hate.
If thriller as a teacher wanted to hate his republican students how would he identify those students?

Also, educators don’t know the political affiliation of students nor do we ask. Through discussion you might be able to get a perception of their beliefs. But any good educator knows how to challenge their students (that’s what education is) while also respecting them as human beings.

Many have recently have expressed anxiety at having their dim views of American history being challenged. Sorry, but that’s education. Educators isn’t about making you feel good by providing you with reassuring propaganda. Education is always supposed to be challenging. Whether it’s math, language arts, history, trade like welding or electrical work or service education such as hospitality. If you don’t want to be challenged in education then your perception of what education should be is probably warped.