I've been seeing this "Obama really running the show" stuff a lot more lately. The sudden uptick seems to conveniently coincide with Trump repeatedly confusing Obama and Biden. Sort of a, "no, our guy isn't befuddled and losing it. He's just pulling the curtain back. But your guy...."
Well, it looks a lot like both of the guys are pretty lost out there. They're old and tired, and making old and tired mistakes. But if the carefully curated public appearances look that bad, what is getting past them? And who is handling what gets past them. It is a fair question. It turned out it was a whole lot getting past Reagan his 2nd term, and he didn't look as befuddled as either of these two.
I would counter that the exact same could be said about the Biden crime family.
I'm not interested in what-about-ism here. That's why I deleted a whole bunch of this thread. I'd just say that the credible court-admitted evidence surely doesn't point that direction. If we're trying to cut to facts and not spin, that's as close to a fact as we can get.
Agreed, but I would further suggest that there are NO "facts" any more. "Facts" as they are now called, are 100% open to interpretation and spin. What you might consider a fact, I simply don't see, and visa-versa.
This is a really big problem. There is no information source above reproach, anymore. Even "first-hand" evidence such as quotes and video can be and readily is faked. (For illustration purposes, of course. [eyeroll])
With AI and other technologies where they are, there is nothing to stand in the way of profits from the mighty hate impression. You hardly even need people to write this crap anymore.
How do we stop misinformation when we have no source for information? And how do we vet information when we have no one we can agree to trust?
Don't give up on the conversation though. Though it might get heated, it's still a valuable tool for helping to understand different viewpoints.
Is that what is being accomplished, though? I may give a few more parts the benefit of the doubt.
So let's see where we do agree on things and go from there?
1) America is fucked.
2) ...
Yeah. We agree on 1. What else is left to agree on? I might put forward :
2) If there is any chance of us coming together, I think we need a trustworthy independent information source.
Circling back:
a) Closed borders
b) Energy independence
c) Taking a more leading stance in world politics (such as demanding NATO members pay their agreed upon share).
d) No unnecessary wars, and American lives not being placed in harms way..
I debated if I should skip/delete this, but against my judgement, I'll answer.
a) If having a true border line is a fundamental issue, I get this one.
b) I'd say Trump is on the wrong side of this one. We need the renewables he wants to cut. And we need the elephant no one wants to address. If we want actual energy independence, we need nuclear. I do appreciate neither party wants nuclear, but if you truly want energy... Its the only way you're getting it. "Drill, baby drill!" is only going to {bleep} us over more. Even if you don't believe the climate change (which there is pretty damning evidence in favor of) you're still creating tons of problems from heavy metals, fucked up water tables from fracking, and loads of other things.
c) and d) I'd argue Trump has demonstrably made more unstable.
What is it about the Democrats -- aside from "They're not Trump" do you support?
Well. I asked you. I'm not sure it's the right question for me to have asked, anymore. But turnabout is fair play, and I'll answer.
And that answer is honestly, very little. I think the Democrats are on the right side of the issue on women's rights, birth control, and healthcare. I was impressed Biden showed up for the UAW. Granted, it was a publicity thing, but still, it's that much more support than any former president has ever given organized labor.
But yeah, most of it is that they're not Trump. The Democrats are currently still the garden variety of terrible we've endured for decades. While I do truly believe that Trumpism is an immediate problem that could be destabilizing to the US and all of our allies. Throughout history, countries that have turned sharply inward and focused on a cult of personality like Trump have not fared well. Trump himself has said he wants his re-election to be a vengeance tour. I have absolutely no reason to believe he won't make it one, at the expense of all of us. He has already demonstrated he has no problem with hurting US interests in his own. He has no reason not to continue that.
I'm quite without party. I looked back over my presidential voting history.
I have voted Republican once. (2000, George W Bush 1st term) His trigger-happy nonsense pushed me out of the party back then.
I have voted Independent 5 times. (1992, 1996, 2004, 2012, 2016)
I voted Democrat twice. (2008 Obama 1st, 2020 Biden 1st) And the absolute only reason I voted for Biden was Trump was way more disastrous than I expected him to be, and I wanted to make sure he was out. Otherwise it would have been another vote for Independent. I have no problem with voting to show my disgust. The point isn't to vote for a winner. The point is to make your voice heard. Hell, I voted "Democrat/Uncommitted" in the Michigan primary a couple weeks ago. Which sounds like the dumbest vote ever, except it was the only way to register discontent with the choices in front of me.
I deleted the rest. I don't think there's anything to be gained going there. I'm still not convinced there is anything of value in this entire reply for that matter, but I spent a while typing it. Might as well hit post.
