Al-O-Meter
Well-Known Member
Emperor Biden announcing that all republicans are enemies of the state.
The Biden Administration and All Things Politics
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Emperor Biden announcing that all republicans are enemies of the state.
Direct democracy - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
This article lists 5 direct democracies (Early Athens, Switzerland, Denmark, the Crow nation, some small towns in New England and to a lesser degree some state intiatives). AFAICT, none ended in genocide (4 are still extant). Do you have even one example that did?
Lying @Al-O-Meter leaving out that Biden specifically said he was not referring to all Republicans.
Further, he continually references the people that he is discussing as "MAGA Republicans". Although, if you're MAGAite, that might have felt personal.
Red
Well-Known Member
I posted a copy of the president’s address, if you’d like to issue an accurate observation.
Al-O-Meter
Well-Known Member
The word he used right after your quote was "but...". In political-speak that means "ignore everything I just said". He then continued on to give the quote I posted. Sure, he doesn't see all republicans as MAGA republicans however he sees all republicans as enemies of the state and blames the distinct-from-all-republicans "MAGA republicans" for turning all republicans into enemies of the state.
Last night was not out of the blue. He has labeled a huge chunk of Americans as being no different than the enemy the government set about killing 70 years ago. He has on multiple occasions, including as recently as 2 days ago, told America that their guns will not protect them because he has F-15s at his command. No US President in the history of the country has ever delivered a more ominous, threatening-to-Americans speech than Biden did last night.
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Red
Well-Known Member
If one of our only two major political parties becomes dominated by an authoritarian demagogue and his MAGA cult of personality, then certainly that is a threat to our democracy. It’s about time Biden came right out and labeled the MAGA movement as the very real danger to our democracy that it represents. It’s about time. But MAGA does not have to be the future of the Republican Party, and “dominated, driven, and intimidated by Trump and MAGA Republicans” is not the same thing as saying every self-identifying Republican voter in the United States approves of the MAGA movement.
“There is no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to this country.”
I read that as follows: if one of our only two major political parties is being hijacked by a minority anti-democratic cult of personality, then that is a threat to our democracy in general. And it certainly is. The threat is that MAGA is dominating our traditional conservative political party. Even in that above quote from his speech, he speaks of both the Republican Party and MAGA Republicans. Dominated is not the same as 100% of Republican voters embrace MAGA.
But, let me agree with you, up to a point. If the Republican Party cannot, or will not, divest itself of the MAGA cult, then, yes, we have one of our two major political parties standing clearly as a threat to our democracy. And they are right now, since MAGA is not a third party movement. And here’s the thing: the fact that MAGA is dominating Republican rhetoric right now is not Joe Biden’s fault. Sure, they would say it is I guess. And they identify Democrats as the enemy of America anyway. But, really, this is something Republicans did to themselves, over a period of time, maybe going back to Gingrich.
He clearly appealed to more moderate Republicans and independents. But it was about time he spelled right out where the danger to American democracy lies: it lies with the MAGA movement, and it’s leader, Donald Trump. That does put it on Republicans to find some way to divest their party of that irrational-based, worthless cult, and clean their house.
And if you want to think, or say, that Biden declared war on half of America, go ahead. He did not, but since you would prefer to defend a party than defend democracy in America, well, go right ahead and interpret it in your own hyperbolic way.
MAGA infected your party. Do something about it, and stop blaming Biden for something for which you have only yourselfs to blame. All your 2016 candidates called Trump out and lambasted him. Then, they lost their spine. Well, find some backbone, damn it! MAGA is anti-democratic and anti-American. Some people will just defend the indefensible forever. I recognized what Trump represented the day he descended the escalator in Trump Tower in 2015. Instead of dealing with it, Republicans allowed MAGA to infect their party, and infect my country.
Stop blaming Democrats and Biden and do something about this diseased cult!!
Because you say so? In ordinary usage, it means that there is a contrast with what was said before, not that the prior sentence was nugatory.
Fever dreams.
Where in that speech does he label anyone the same thing as an enemy from 70 years ago? I'll wait.
Actually, he said:
However, it's true either way. A few semi-automatics aren't going to protect you from a military takeover. Our protection is based on the value the military culture place on the rule of law and the oaths to the Constitution.
Yes, I'm sure it felt personal for you MAGAites.
Al-O-Meter
Well-Known Member
It isn't my party but it is my country. As far as doing something about it, do you think perhaps voting Trump out of office and giving the democrats majorities in both the House and Senate as well as control over the DOJ alongside a weaponized FBI would be enough to keep the US President from standing atop a blood red stage, flanked by military apparatchik, while threatening a quarter of the US population? If you do then I have bad news for you.
I genuinely believe, with a much fear and hate as you are harboring, if the government started killing Americans but told you they were fascists, enemies of the state, MAGA whatever, that you'd cheer it while exclaiming that someone had to do something to stop the threat they posed. If that speech was a thing you cheered then I don't think a pile of dead American bodies would give you even 5 seconds of pause if your side told you they were all bad.
You told me earlier that it interested you to learn about what caused people to fall for fascist leaders. Go ask a mirror.
fishonjazz
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MAGA loves some good old fear mongering. I was just discussing the IRS hiring a bunch of agents with a MAGA dude on facebook and he was certain that they were going to audit him. I asked him if he had ever been audited before and he said no. He is super duper scared of audits now though lol. Meanwhile, I remain unafraid of the IRS just like every other point in my life.
Bucknutz
Well-Known Member
Do you know what the Dow Jones was the day Biden was sworn in?
$31,188.38
What is it today?
$31,318.14
In 20 months it raised $129.76
It peaked at $36,952.65.
Nasdaq:
Then - $13,457.25
Now - $11,630.86
Loss of $1826.39
S&P:
Then - $3851.85
Now - $3924.26
Up - $72.41
So most peoples 401k has been higher but it has dropped over the last year:
“The average 401k balance dropped to $103,800 in the quarter, down 20% from a year ago when it was $129,300 and 15% from Q1 2022, when it was $121,700.”
Add inflation in:
Thanks to Inflation, Gen Z and Millennials Will Now Need $3M in Retirement Savings To Live Comfortably
It has long been a rule of thumb to have $1 million saved for a comfortable retirement; but, thanks to inflation, the youngest generation of workers likely will need three times as much. According to...
With inflation 401k’s are worth even less.
The reality of the economy:
Personal Debt
Americans are piling up credit card debt as they struggle to keep up with the high cost of living
Americans are piling up credit card debt as they struggle to keep up with the high cost of living.
amp.cnn.com
Rent
Report: Some Cities See Rent Hike By 30 Percent Or More
Zumper released its National Rent Income report, which shows that more than half of the cities they looked at saw double-digit rises in rental prices.
www.fatherly.com
Disposable Income
This is exactly how much less money Americans are now saving just since last year
The personal savings rate has continued to decline since the start of the pandemic. Here’s how to save more.
www.marketwatch.com
CC interest rates
Credit Card Interest Rates Hit Highest Level in More Than 25 Years
The average is now almost 18% and it’s likely to move higher soon.
www.bloomberg.com
Home prices
1 in 5 home sellers are now dropping their asking price as the housing market cools
The average home sold for less than its list price for the first time in more than 17 months during the four-week period ended Aug. 28, according to Redfin.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
It’s pretty funny to see some people brag about how the bill of rights protects the minority from the majority when so often throughout American history the majority and/or the richest and most powerful have abused the most vulnerable. For most of the nation’s first 100-150 years, the Bill of Rights was looked at as protecting states not people from being effected by the federal government. Which was fine because that meant that white land owning males would have their interests protected. Some of the worst human rights abuses this country has ever seen have been the result of the system the founding fathers set up empowering the rich and powerful to exploit the minority and most vulnerable. Whether we’re talking about slavery, native Americans, immigrants, racial and sexual minorities, poor and/or single women, etc.
Even today in 2022 we see how the rich and powerful exploit our aged constitution. Whether we’re talking about fake money flooding our politics of Peter Thiel killing off the free speech of smaller media outlets with frivolous lawsuits. Whether it’s Trump’s clumsy attempts to stop immigration and exploit white grievance or MAGAs attempts to establish a white nationalist government. And do we even need to dig into the racial and sexist history of our judicial system (amendments 4-8)? Do we want to talk about what privacy we have in 2022 (4th amendment) or what cruel and unusual mean (8th)?
I definitely think our system could use an overhaul.
www.theatlantic.com
Even today in 2022 we see how the rich and powerful exploit our aged constitution. Whether we’re talking about fake money flooding our politics of Peter Thiel killing off the free speech of smaller media outlets with frivolous lawsuits. Whether it’s Trump’s clumsy attempts to stop immigration and exploit white grievance or MAGAs attempts to establish a white nationalist government. And do we even need to dig into the racial and sexist history of our judicial system (amendments 4-8)? Do we want to talk about what privacy we have in 2022 (4th amendment) or what cruel and unusual mean (8th)?
I definitely think our system could use an overhaul.
- Why have we stopped at 435 representatives?
- Why should Wyoming and California have the same amount of Senators? Why should Dakota be two states?
- How does having a bicameral Congress help anything?
- How is the electoral college helping anything? I’d love to know. Seems like it’s a ticking time bomb ready to go off. Only a handful of states matter and literally millions of red votes in CA and blue votes in TX are wasted every presidential election. Wouldn’t it make sense to force a candidate or party to actually care about these voters?
- Why are four year terms so untouchable? Would it be better for a president to serve six years and not be permitted to run for re-election? That way he/she might have to focus on doing the job rather than getting re-elected. What are the pros/cons of this?
- How does the filibuster help anything? Nearly all of Biden’s legislative victories have been accomplished through reconciliation, which bypass the filibuster.
- Why should we remain at 9 Supreme Court justices? It has been higher in the past. Why shouldn’t there be term limits? Why shouldn’t they be banned from accepting gifts from lobbyists (someone should Google where Scalia died)? Why couldn’t we have a system where there are X amount active and several others on the bench who can step in and decide?
- How’s gerrymandering helping anything? We can’t have computers draw fair districts?
- We can’t ban Congresspeople from serving as lobbyists for a certain amount of time?
- We can’t ban Congresspeople from playing on the stock exchange while potentially having the responsibility to regulate it?
- Why shouldn’t we revisit judicial review periodically to see how it’s serving the living?
- Why shouldn’t we revisit “rights” periodically? We are the ones who are alive today and must live in this country, not dudes who died 200+ years ago. Free speech and gun rights clearly don’t mean the same thing in 2022 as it did in 1787.
- It’s interesting to me that so much frustration from both sides of the political divide can be attributed to a system that isn’t serving the needs of the 21st century.
- Perhaps the issue isn’t so much political parties and candidates but the actual system that is causing so much frustration?
The Constitutional Flaw That’s Killing American Democracy
The Constitution doesn’t have to be something we merely inherit; it could be something we can change ourselves—starting with rewriting the too-stringent rules for making such changes.
www.theatlantic.com
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Al-O-Meter
Well-Known Member
That you don't know the answers to these very simple questions is why I find it so appalling that you are allowed to teach other people's children. There is history behind the reasons each and every point on your list is the way it is. At least I'll give you credit for admitting your ignorance.
gandalfe
Well-Known Member
The fact that you have never taken a class where someone utilizes the Socratic method would be distressing if I actually cared what you think. I decided to look at what you said, and it reminded me of why I have you blocked.
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The Thriller
Well-Known Member
Perfect post. He confirms everyday what many of us have been accusing him of being for months. Some introspection would be helpful. But he lacks the self-awareness, honesty, and character to do so. Sadly, he’s just Not worth engaging at all. He cares too much about settling his petty grievances. At this point, he’s become the new Jazzyfresh and Dutch of this board. Ignored by most and only periodically engaged by a few posters who like showing off how ignorant he is.
I also understand that no great overhaul of our constitution is likely to happen anytime soon. But I do think these discussions are worth having. Millions of Americans remain frustrated by a system that is perhaps (too) beholden to its past rather than adjusting to meet the needs of its citizens. Philosophically, is this really the best we can do? Just because we’re the world’s oldest democracy doesn’t mean we’re the most effective or will remain a democracy in our lifetimes.
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gandalfe
Well-Known Member
I bet he's googling "Socratic method" right now and will claim he's known what it is all along, much better than I do, obviously.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
Al-O-Meter
Well-Known Member
If you think that is the Socratic method then it is you who doesn't know what the Socratic method is. The Thriller wasn't being instructional in why those things are as they are. He was using a frame of being arbitrarily decided to tear them down.
As far as peeking past your block, don't. At least with The Thriller, I'm only dismayed by his having exposure to kids due to the intellectual garbage he puts in their heads. You I put in a different category. It is unfortunate your kid got you as a father. It is best for the board if you don't reply to my posts.
For a long time, I treated you like a person who wanted to reason. Then, recently, you lied about the contents of material that I linked to, as if I hadn't this stuff or wouldn't respond. You seem to be the exact poster The Thriller always accused you of being, and all of my efforts at discussion and reasoning have made no difference.
I do not regret a single second of those efforts. I want to be the person that assume every poster has good intention and wants to understand the world better, who engages assuming good faith and intentions. It's lead to mutually antagonistic, yet productive, conversations with posters like Bucknutz, JazzSpazz, RandyForRubio, colton, and other consrvatives who I respect even while disagreeing with them.
By contrast, you apparently be the person who just said that post above. You only get pity.