I expect simple behaviours here. Friendship, and love. Any advice should be from the perspective of the person asking, not the person giving! We have had to make new membership moderated to combat the huge number of spammers who register
So this is what a great president does first
Make no mistake, this man scares me here in the UK
Re: So this is what a great president does first
I thought that - but Snopes explains it: http://www.snopes.com/white-house-web-site-trump-changes/ More worrying is the slogan "America First". I wonder if he got it from here? [edited by moderator to display the image]
While Snopes may be correct it remains unnerving America First is perplexing and bizarre. I propose to treat that quietly for the moment. It does seem to have unpleasant roots. But some bastards hijacked the quadri-gamma in the 1930s, and that, unfortunately, stuck
I would worry less about the stuff that's disappeared from the White House web site and more about what has replaced it, although I do worry about what the Trump administration will be accomplishing behind the scenes -- Vice President Pence is certainly no friend to minorities of any sort, and Trump's Cabinet appointments are not encouraging. As an example of new White House web site content, the America First Energy Plan talks about tapping the shale oil and gas reserves, including those on public lands (e.g., National Parks and National Forests), and our beleagured coal industry to achieve energy independence. Not one word about renewable energy. If your home is within five meters of mean sea level for your part of the world, it might be a good idea to think about relocating uphill. Our new President is also eager to reverse the decline in American military might; we have far too few warships and military aircraft, it would seem. Not sure what plans he has for all the new hardware he thinks we need.
Creation of military hardware causes employment, paid for by money the USA does not have. In the broadest terms as a generalisation, this is what ruined the USSR. Fortunately it takes far longer than one, probably two presidential terms to deploy new military might. By that time the nation will be again almost bankrupt, but the rust belt will have recovered sufficiently to start to rust away again. There will be little money left and austerity, which could have eased, will start to be required again
I can't even imagine what it looks like from outside the country. I have no idea what your news says about him or American politics in general. I know the BBC America stuff is almost as slanted and biased against anything Trump as the American media is. Right now I am totally ashamed of the big press here. I can't call them mainstream anymore, because only the tightly pressed together masses of the major cities and urban centers even give a shit what CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, or the big news agencies have to say anymore. After ass kissing of anything leftist or liberal or 'Democratic party' for eight years, they've lost almost everything. Even the half-assed guys like Alex Jones get more traffic and more daily attention than any of the big four networks or the big ten news agencies. Breitbart is more popular than The New York TImes or the Wall Street Journal. WTF? When did that happen? Why? Holy shit. Everything Trump said he'd do when he was campaigning - he is doing. Not everything, some of it takes a hell of a long time, but he's doing most of it already. That alone is impressive from any party's president. Pence is my previous state governor, so I'm familiar with him. He's mostly pro NWO and globalist, and he didn't do a really good job here, but he wasn't a total dweeb and fascist, just a pro big-government cuck. I wasn't impressed when he was announced as Trump's running mate. I remember actually groaning out loud as I drove my car when I heard the announcement on the radio. I'm frankly perplexed and find it bizarre that you worry about "America first." WTF? He's the president of the United States. He should be putting America first. The Prime Minister and the Queen of England should be putting UK citizens first. The Chancellor of Germany should be putting German citizens first. If they all did, their countries and their people would be better off. Every nation's leaders should be putting their countries best interests first, right next to the best interests of their countrymen. And I'm pretty pissed the first and only example of America First posted is a century old KKK medallion. No wonder I don't drop by here as often any more. I almost want to say screw you. But who knows, maybe that's where he got it. I don't know. But I FUCKING DOUBT IT. If I were a whining, pissy, fascist leftist, I'd demand the closure of this entire website because a single post offended me and intruded on my safe space and made me feel bad. That's what they do, the fascists. Then they call the other side fascists. America first in all presidential decisions. America's best interests first. Americans first. That's what "America First" means. He's saying his job is to put America and Americans first. He's not quoting from a century old medallion. If he was in any way affiliated with the KKK, or what they stood for, or ever once told anyone he liked the KKK, the media would be playing it forever and forever and forever. Google Clinton and KKK and you'll see what a connection is, but the media has never brought that up. Instead, all it takes is a opinion piece in a mass media shit-rag to insinuate, and then we get KKK medallions thrown out as the reason Trump says "America First." I think it's about time an American president said that. That he would put America first, and Americans first. Any maybe before you 'wonder if he got it from this century old KKK medallion,' maybe you should listen to at least one entire speech from the man before you make up your mind that he's a secret KKK member and really wants to line up all the 'niggers and shoot them' while he hand-rapes all the Latino women and sells America to the Russians. Now nationalism is racist. Now patriotism is bigotry. Now waving the American flag IN AMERICA is oppressive, hate speech, and fascist. Now "America First" spoken by the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is 'worrysome,' 'perplexing,' and 'bizzare.' Know what a great president does first? Executes one of his campaign promises. I don't know if Trump is a great president, he's only had the job a month, and already the Democrats are literally burning down the college campuses while screaming that Trump is hate and that Trump is burning down the country. I mean, WTF moment of the century here! Trump is no hero, he is no God, unlike the comparison we had with Obama from the press and celebrities on a montly basis. He's no racist, he's no bigot, he's no secret KKK member, he's no fascist, he's no sexist, he's no communist, he is not a Russian spy. Jesus fucking Christ people. Get a fucking grip. I've seen all these and more in the American press. The big press, not the small sideliners or the wingnut fringes, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, AP, UPI, on and on and on. And Whoopie and cackle brigade and the rest of the Hollywood elite that shove their politics down the American collective throat. Know what? More people turn off award shows and the like when they go political than ever. Google it. And Whoopi shore before he adoring and clapping audience more than once that if Trump became president she would move out of the country. How many times? Promised her audience with her hand over her heart. Trump is president, she's still here. Go away. Oh, her diatribe that Trump's cabinet is the dirtiest ever. Not one of them has ever been investigated for a civil crime. Obama's cabinet. Google it. Dirty criminals and con artists. The press hid it as much as possible. Trump, not a one has been investigated for fraud or corruption or graft or blackmail or conversion or theft or even collusion. I haven't heard of any of them ever being in trouble with the law, and believe me, if any of them had been, we'd all have heard about it. Over and over and over and over and blown up out of proportion and amplified and twisted and distorted and repeated ad nauseum infinitum. At least he isn't hiring convicts. So far his appointments have been pretty good. Even DeVos isn't as bad as the media paints her, though I think she's not a very good choice. I can think of several far more qualified and fitting. She's got some hard lines on points that Trump has already slapped her down on, so he's obviously going to keep the reigns on her if she won't play right. I could do a huge screed right now, but I'll refrain. I've been lurking a lot lately so I don't want to go off in my first post in ages. And I went back and added to it, so it ended up too long anyway. One more thing... put America first Mister President!
I sort of agree with the comments about Trump. You can't fault the man for doing what he said he would do before people voted for him. Actually, you should applaud him for that, because there aren't too many politicians who follow through on campaign promises. The problem lies with the system of democracy which is a vote for one person, a president, and where you can end up with someone elected for whom more people voted against than for. But leaving aside numbers for and against, the system just doesn't represent the people. If you have a roughly 50/50 split, or whatever the percentages, left, right, centre, the government should represent that diversity. Consequently, power should not be invested in one person, but in a representative government. In most cases you would end up with some sort of coalition, and extreme policies would be modified or thrown out. Democracy is the representation of the views and opinions of all the people and not a contest to win the race to power in order to impose the views of half the population over the other half. That situation is a recipe for disaster, civil unrest, and revolution.
Yes, Smokr dear. Now why not have a nice soothing nap, and sober up a bit? In the clear light of day, you might want to think about editing that piece down a bit. It's not exactly the kind of charitable and helpful writing style that young lurkers on here are going to find welcoming. In fact, it made even me feel rather uncomfortable: not what I hope for in "A Place of Safety".
Well, what it looks from here to be is alt right represented by Bannon having a substantial sway over your democratically elected president. That president seems to be truculent and combative. I can't argue with his having done what he said he would do, but he has also done what he said he would not do. The trans protections are one such. Restarting the nuclear arms race puts me and my family in danger. Mass deportations and refugee bans take me back to my father, who was a refugee from Nazi Germany. Banning parts of the legitimate press, whether you consider them to be mainstream or not, is a typical act of a fascist dictator. We could have many discussions about whether Breitbart is legitimate press or a far right propaganda machine without necessarily reaching a conclusion It also looks very much as if your democratically elected president is (a) out of his depth, (b) in some way beholden to Russia, (b) linked to some highly questionable business deals involving dirty money. People also argued that the Kennedy family were rooted in crime, with probable justification. You with notice that I am not concerned about party politics at all here. By no means all of your presidents have been squeaky clean, perhaps none of them, though no mud seems to have stuck to Obama. Nixon was one of your less palatable ones. I am not keen on any of our recent UK Prime Ministers, not since Harold MacMillan. Google is your friend here. UK party politics is quite awful, too. I doubt any nation comes out as truly ethical, with the possible exception of Bhutan. What concerns me is that I trusted the USA once, now I am terrified of it.
"NW wrote on Sat, 25 February 2017 10:44" Yes, Smokr dear. Now why not have a nice soothing nap, and sober up a bit? In the clear light of day, you might want to think about editing that piece down a bit. It's not exactly the kind of charitable and helpful writing style that young lurkers on here are going to find welcoming. In fact, it made even me feel rather uncomfortable: not what I hope for in "A Place of Safety". -- I think we should allow Smokr to express his feelings even so, NW. It is probably my fault for starting the thread in the first place. The piece is hostile, but not to the "global us", and he had a need to say this to us all, though I appreciate he did single you out 'somewhat' over the KKK motif. And yet were Trump's parents not at least KKK sympathisers? Perhaps he might turn it from rhetoric into calm logic, but would that truly achieve anything?
I just don't like Trump as a person or his views in general, the way he conducts himself and talks to people is very hard to form any kind of respect towards him However, saying that, while i don't really understand how the american system works (i mean didn't way more people vote for Hilary? like millions more people?) but the fact is, he is the President of the united states now, so i don't agree with all these protests and attempts to kick him out of office, people should accept what has happened and come together and hopefully, something can be done to bring the country back together again I know people say he will ruin the country and to be honest, some of the things he says, support that, but what people forget and what the courts have proved with his immigrant policy thing he tried to force into effect, America isn't run by one person, he can't just make up laws and things like that, so while he may come up with some really awful ideas, those will quickly be shot down by congress/senate or the courts So yeah, i really think Trump was a poor choice as president, but then again, while i thought Hilary would probably be better at the job, she wasn't exactly a great choice either, so i really feel sorry for American's because i think they had two of the poorest candidates possible to choose from I would also like to say, that i don't really like seeing people posting on here and swearing and using caps to try and get their points across, i just don't think people need to be that aggressive and hostile, because when i see that kind of thing, it just distracts me from any valid and insightful points that they might be making, for me, i've always believed that if you have a point or opinion that is worthy enough to share, than you don't need to be aggressive or hostile while making it
Quote: timmy wrote on Sat, 25 February 2017 05:47Well, what it looks from here to be is alt right represented by Bannon having a substantial sway over your democratically elected president. That president seems to be truculent and combative. I can't argue with his having done what he said he would do, but he has also done what he said he would not do. The trans protections are one such. No protections were removed. Schools that don't need a trans bathroom will no not have their money taken away if they don't build one. That's about the only real difference. Any school that wants or needs one, will still be as able as before to have one. Restarting the nuclear arms race puts me and my family in danger. Hyperbole. Trump is talking tough. That's what you do when you want to lead a country. Do you want drill instructors that mollycoddle recruits? He is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. If he looks weak. like Obama did, he would get walked all over, like Obama did. He is walking tall and carrying a big stick. It was Obama who made it entirely possible for Iran to go nuclear with his 'treaty' instead of keeping the sanctions in place if they tried. Now they can go ahead and do what they want, and they inspect themselves! THEY INSPECT THEMSELVES! Not yelling, pointing that incredible unbelievable fact out clearly. Obama trusts Iran to inspect themselves for illicit uranium enrichment activities instead of the UN panel that complained that Iran was enriching uranium despite the fact they were not supposed to be. Thanks Obama. Trump talks like a leader and he gets called a Russian spy. Mass deportations and refugee bans take me back to my father, who was a refugee from Nazi Germany. Mass deportations of people here illegally. ILLEGALLY. I am not yelling, I am making that point very clear. IL-LEGAL. They snuck in. I don't want anyone sneaking in.ISIS wants to kill us by the truckload, like they do in Europe, and Obama wants to ignore the southern border and let anyone who wants come and go across it. And the deportations are of those who have committed crimes while here after sneaking in illegally. Good. They come here illegally, they commit crimes, our laws say they can't stay, the court tells them to leave, but they stay. Trump is saying, "No, our laws are clear, you broke them at least twice and were told to leave, you didn't, so now you are being removed." Good. The ban is temporary. Do you know that, or are you going with the unstated assumption by the press that it's permanent? It is a temporary measure while better vetting is done of the people coming here from those seven countries with no government and no records of who these people wanting to come here are. That is the big 'ban' Trump wanted. To keep those people on hold while we figure out who the hell they are and where the hell they really came from. Want to see why? Look at Paris, Berlin, London. Waves of migrants and waves of violence. Trump doesn't want that here too. He wants to stop people coming here who don't want to become American, they want to shit on the streets and rape kids and behead people. Look at the migrants in Europe. Look at the faces. Why are there so many men of fighting age? And why are they Muslim? And why do they vandalize and deface public spaces? They are not there to assimilate and live a better life, they are there to take lives. Not all, of course, but far too many. Trump throws down a temporary halt until we can vett these people, and the libtards call it a ban. And of course it's a Muslim ban. Not because of the religion standing, but because it's the hatefull factions of Islam that want to behead anyone who even types the name Mohammed, or draws him, or even says they don't follow Islam. Screw that. I'm also sick of being told that everyone in any other part of the world has a right to come to America in any way and at any time they want. No they don't. No one has any right to travel to another country. Has no one ever heard of immigration? Of VISAs? Of legal immigration? Of travel VISAs? Employment VISAs? Every country has had a border since the first two countries formed next to each other. It has never been legal to cross into Canada without going through customs at the border. That goes for Mexico too. Every country. But now we have libtards on television claiming Trump is the first person to ever prevent anyone who wants to coming into America. How fucking insane is that? Obama did the exact same thing more than once, but where was the outrage then? I bet not one of you know that Obama did it. Do you? Google it. Banning parts of the legitimate press, whether you consider them to be mainstream or not, is a typical act of a fascist dictator. We could have many discussions about whether Breitbart is legitimate press or a far right propaganda machine without necessarily reaching a conclusion He in no way banned any press. He no longer will allow these lying bastards to sit in on his press conferences and disrupt them. They can watch the conference along with the rest of us and continue making blatantly false statements all they want, but now they won't be able to disrupt. The presidential briefings are an invite only event. The president has always had the complete right and responsibility to invite who he chooses of the press. There is no 'right to attend' a presidential press briefing. Identification is issued by the White House at the discretion of the President and his press secretary. It has always been that way. Period. Obama never so much as invited anyone who didn't parrot his line, and invited some press only once and never again, but there was no outcry or outrage against his decisions on that. Trump has allowed CNN and others to attend and disrupt long enough, and now he's said 'enough'. It also looks very much as if your democratically elected president is (a) out of his depth, (b) in some way beholden to Russia, (b) linked to some highly questionable business deals involving dirty money. (a) out of his depth Please describe how so. He's made business deals with every major company and country on the planet. More than once! He's already met most of the world leaders face to face. He's done business in their countries and with their politicians and business leaders. More than once! (b) in some way beholden to Russia - In what ways? Please describe how. There is no evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, only innuendo and opinions that are being irresponsibly thrown around. Lies, if you like. (b) linked to some highly questionable business deals involving dirty money - You mean C of course. LOL Typos suck. So do lies. How so? If so, we would have facts and charges galore being bandied about each and every day, over and over. There is no evidence, circumstantial or otherwise. If there were, we would have had them during the primary or the final election cycles. This is more innuendo and opinion being bandied about recklessly in a desperate effort to hurt the guy who's done nothing wrong except beat Hillary Clinton and take the government away from Obama's left behind cronies who are committing treason by leaking sensitive information. People also argued that the Kennedy family were rooted in crime, with probable justification. You with notice that I am not concerned about party politics at all here. By no means all of your presidents have been squeaky clean, perhaps none of them, though no mud seems to have stuck to Obama. Nixon was one of your less palatable ones. No mud stuck to Obama? Wow, I had no idea anyone here was so clueless on that socialist fascist pinko commie. I am not keen on any of our recent UK Prime Ministers, not since Harold MacMillan. Google is your friend here. UK party politics is quite awful, too. I doubt any nation comes out as truly ethical, with the possible exception of Bhutan. Politicians suck. Finally we get a president that isn't a politician, that has never been charged with a crime, who's never stolen money entrusted to him, who can profitably run multiple businesses within the law, and he's demonized and painted with every foul lie imaginable. He's not perfect, he probably has skeletons in his closet, but dear God in Heaven, he's so far from being a crooked Clinton that it's amazing he hasn't been assassinated yet. What concerns me is that I trusted the USA once, now I am terrified of it. -- What concerns me, is that you are suddenly frightened of a country that is finally being led by someone without a criminal background and who isn't a career politician, and you probably don't even know why you're terrified of it. Obama was raised by Frank Marshall Davis. An avowed and self-admitted communist and socialist. A real scumbag, too. Research him. He's scum. And this guy raised Obama. Obama says so in his autobiography. He also says the most beautiful thing he has ever heard is the morning call to Muslim prayer. Obama said that! Google it and watch him say it! You shoud have been terrified when Obama was in charge. I was. I'll tell you why you're terrified now. Because the press is telling you to be. Think about that. The press is telling you Trump is a Russian spy, a misogynist, a homophobe, a sexist, a racist, and a fascist. And many, many, many other things. Now, why would they tell you he is a Russian spy, a misogynist, a homophobe, a sexist, a racist, and a fascist? And many, many, many other things? And where is any kind of even slightly coincidental evidence of any of that? If he was, we would have video and audio and text proving it being thrown at us by the media day and night in print and online and on broadcasts. Even if there were a little something they could use, they would use it. There isn't. The one thing was a woman who claimed she was fondled by Trump years ago, who now says that isn't true and the press is overblowing it. She says so! And the one bad thing against Trump is the one bit of audio of him saying, "Grab her by the pussy!" Something every man has said in his lifetime between friends. Which is what this was, him and a buddy having what they thought was a private talk, and the only thing the press could pull out of that conversation was the line, "You should grab her by the pussy." Well la te da. You're terrified because you are swallowing the lies. If Trump ever turns out to be a Russian spy, or any of these insane things, fine, I'll accept that. But there is no evidence of any of it. Nothing. The only evidence is that he likes women. Well, anyone remember Bill Clinton? At least there aren't four women whom he's mauled filing claims against Trump. All Trump did was talk macho with a buddy about hot women. And even then, his comments are amazingly tame compared to what you hear between most of us on this very site.
"NW wrote on Sat, 25 February 2017 05:44" Yes, Smokr dear. Now why not have a nice soothing nap, and sober up a bit? In the clear light of day, you might want to think about editing that piece down a bit. It's not exactly the kind of charitable and helpful writing style that young lurkers on here are going to find welcoming. In fact, it made even me feel rather uncomfortable: not what I hope for in "A Place of Safety". -- If ideas are now considered unsafe, then maybe I should stop posting here entirely. When standing up for a president who's done absolutely nothing illegal or even wrong is considered uncharitable and unhelpful, then maybe we just coddle the young too much. Youth need to see that it's acceptable to stand up against what you know is wrong. They need to see that differing ideas are one thing, but shutting down someone simply because you don't agree is entirely another. I'm sick of sitting silently while liars get free reign and spread lies like a plague. Politics is an avoidable part of life. It doesn't matter if you ignore it or not, it still goes on. If you don't participate, you have no right to complain when things go all wonky. And right now, America is literally at war with itself. We have libtards claiming Trump is a fascist while they wear bellaclavas and hit people with truncheons because they have a differing opinion. WTF? Fascism is ruling by violence. Authoritarian nationalism. "You are a NAZI or you are a Jew collaborator" said the famous NAZI poster. The image was of a German soldier bashing the skull of an obvious Jewish man. That is Fascism. That is what these college kids are doing, and they are calling Trump a fascist as they do it. Fucking insanity. Oh, and you have to love the new Oxford definition of Fascism. Go ahead. Go to https://en.oxforddictionaries.com and search Fascism. Laugh your ass off, or cry. One or the other.
"Smokr wrote on Sun, 26 February 2017 00:25" Oh, and you have to love the new Oxford definition of Fascism. Go ahead. Go to https://en.oxforddictionaries.com and search Fascism. Laugh your ass off, or cry. One or the other. It's not clear to me that the current OED definition of fascism is significantly different from definitions elsewhere. What, precisely, is it about their definition that exercises you so? If you want a longer or more focused discussion, the Wikipedia article goes on for pages, but the OED is a dictionary, not an encyclopedia. (It's right there in the name, after all.) If you study the history of fascist governments (and there have been more than a few), not all have ruled primarily through violence; violence is commonly associated with fascism, but it is not a defining characteristic. As for your assertions that rumors of the President's ties to Russia, business conflicts of interest, and other alleged failings are just that -- rumors, with no supporting evidence at all: If things continue as they have, we'll never know, will we? So far every attempt to get Congress to investigate those allegations has been defeated by the Republican majority. The President hasn't been investigated and found to be innocent of these alleged failings; the party that nominated him will not allow him to be investigated. He is the only President in modern times to refuse to release his tax returns, despite his promises to do so. It is entirely possible that Donald Trump is quite fit to serve as President, and it would be fairly easy for him to establish that fact. A Congressional investigation would ultimately be controlled by the Republican majority, so it's not like he would be subjecting himself to a hostile tribunal. So why doesn't he just say to Congress, "Investigate and get it over with, so we can get down to business without all these distractions"?
My problem with the Oxford definition is that the inclusion of the words 'right-wing' clearly denoting a left-wing bias. Fascism is neither really left or right and can be considered one or the other or even both. But not to Oxford. Only right-wingers can be fascists. The reason there have been no investigations is that you have to bring evidence or standing to begin an investigation. You can't just say something and demand an investigation, or congress would do nothing but investigate. The rules require evidence and substantiation. I won't use caps... there is no evidence or substantiation to bring standing to place any request for an investigation committee to be form, let alone any investigation. Period. If there were, there would be speeches for an investigatory committee in the Senate or House with evidence to justify it. They can't provide any facts or evidence, so they can't even get a vote to form a committee to begin an investigation - because their cries of crimes are based on hate an not any kind or type of fact or evidence. Geee, imagine that. It's just all rhetoric and lies and innuendo, and it gets passed around so often that people forget the fact that they aren't facts. I've lived that in school. Some of you have. I was called a faggot for no reason other than I wasn't in the popular cliques. No one had a clue I really was, but that's beside the fact they called me a faggot over and over in front of the other kids, laughing and pushing, and I had no evidence of absence to offer even if I wasn't really gay. You can't prove a negative. Trump can't prove he's not a Russian spy because he's not a Russian spy. He can't prove he's not a racist because he's not a racist. If he was a Russian spy or a racist, the world would be constantly inundated with even the weakest evidence. Instead, we're inundated with rumor and innuendo and lies. I think all elected officials from city to county to state to federal level should disclose their taxes in the year they first run for office and for every year they are in office BY LAW. But since there is no law, if he doesn't want to show his taxes, he doesn't have to. Though I wish he would. I can tell you one thing with absolute certainty... if he cheated so much as a dollar on his taxes the IRS would already have hauled him into court in as public a manner as possible many months ago, the instant the Democratic party became worried that Trump might have a chance.
And that will be all for tonight. Doctor Who is on, State of Decay, a Tom Baker, and best of all, an Adric episode!!! Good night! And if I've pissed anyone off, jump in when you feel like it. Spirited debate is the life-blood of liberty.
P.S. Let this be a debate on the topic at hand. "So this is what a great president does first" It was the same thing that happened on Inauguration Day since .gov went online. The outgoing admin removed their stuff to /Archive/expresident's name" and the incoming admin started up with a fresh, empty site. Except when Obama got his second term, because that Inauguration Day the site remained the same and only changed a little. So, basically, nothing new or unusual happened. So what's the point of asking why it happened this time just like it's always happened between administrations? And why did the media, who of anyone should know all this, went and made a big deal about it? And even pointed out certain 'terms' that were 'removed' when EVERYTHING was removed? I mean, WTF? Lie, distraction, innuendo (LGBT and the other 'term' hinting those 'terms' were particularly removed when EVERYTHING was removed)
P.P.S. Sorry I'm so verbose. I should find a story to work on. But I'm fired up about my country's predicament. I'm a centrist. I like some Dem things and I like some Repub things. I'm a bit liberal and I'm a bit conservative. I like some of the Libertarian view too, but it's too constricting overall. The conservatives and the Republicans both hate the Department of Education, a Democrat/Liberal crowning jewel. Constitutionally it shouldn't exist, but it could so long as it's advisory only and had no powers to make any laws or regulations. But it does exist, and it makes not only regulations but laws de facto. It rules the schools run by the states through financial blackmail. I want a federal Department of Education, but I want one that can't dictate or spend or allot. It should be an advisory board of maybe twelve or maybe one per state, elected from the school boards and faculties of the states. It should coordinate and advise, and cost less than a small school to run. But it's a massive money sink and exerts total control over every school in the nation. Yes, even the private schools. Yes, even home schooling. It costs about $70,000,000,000 a year and was formed in 1979. The preceding offices were tiny and advisory and powerless and started about 1860. And kids learned Latin and Classic Literatures and Greek and other languages and math and the history of the greatest nation on Earth and were smart enough to build that nation to even greater status. That was then... sigh And lastly, I was never a Trump supporter. The guy I wanted wouldn't run, and he's doing a job that needs done right now anyway and shouldn't be distracted by running for president. YouTube and search Trey Gowdy. Of those who ran, party not considered, I wanted Paul.
"Quote:" What concerns me, is that you are suddenly frightened of a country that is finally being led by someone without a criminal background and who isn't a career politician, and you probably don't even know why you're terrified of it. No. I am frightened of that leader who appears not to have a stain on his character, not of your country which is simply going through a dark period. I am frightened because my father and his family had to flee their homeland and escaped the Holocaust because of another leader without a stain on his character, one who exhibits very similar tendencies. I am aware of Godwin's Law. In December 2015, Godwin commented on the Nazi and fascist comparisons being made by several articles on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying that "If you're thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler when you talk about Trump. Or any other politician." I am thoughtful about it. I show real awareness of history. I see Adolf Hitler in Trump. Fortunately for the world today, much as it pains me to appear to praise Hitler, a person who ought never to receive the smallest praise, he was a better orator and leader than Trump will ever be. Thus there is more hope.
Quote: Smokr wrote on Sun, 26 February 2017 05:13 "Quote:" timmy wrote on Sat, 25 February 2017 05:47Well, what it looks from here to be is alt right represented by Bannon having a substantial sway over your democratically elected president. That president seems to be truculent and combative. I can't argue with his having done what he said he would do, but he has also done what he said he would not do. The trans protections are one such. No protections were removed. Schools that don't need a trans bathroom will no not have their money taken away if they don't build one. That's about the only real difference. Any school that wants or needs one, will still be as able as before to have one. Restarting the nuclear arms race puts me and my family in danger. Hyperbole. Trump is talking tough. That's what you do when you want to lead a country. Do you want drill instructors that mollycoddle recruits? He is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. If he looks weak. like Obama did, he would get walked all over, like Obama did. He is walking tall and carrying a big stick. It was Obama who made it entirely possible for Iran to go nuclear with his 'treaty' instead of keeping the sanctions in place if they tried. Now they can go ahead and do what they want, and they inspect themselves! THEY INSPECT THEMSELVES! Not yelling, pointing that incredible unbelievable fact out clearly. Obama trusts Iran to inspect themselves for illicit uranium enrichment activities instead of the UN panel that complained that Iran was enriching uranium despite the fact they were not supposed to be. Thanks Obama. Trump talks like a leader and he gets called a Russian spy. Mass deportations and refugee bans take me back to my father, who was a refugee from Nazi Germany. Mass deportations of people here illegally. ILLEGALLY. I am not yelling, I am making that point very clear. IL-LEGAL. They snuck in. I don't want anyone sneaking in.ISIS wants to kill us by the truckload, like they do in Europe, and Obama wants to ignore the southern border and let anyone who wants come and go across it. And the deportations are of those who have committed crimes while here after sneaking in illegally. Good. They come here illegally, they commit crimes, our laws say they can't stay, the court tells them to leave, but they stay. Trump is saying, "No, our laws are clear, you broke them at least twice and were told to leave, you didn't, so now you are being removed." Good. The ban is temporary. Do you know that, or are you going with the unstated assumption by the press that it's permanent? It is a temporary measure while better vetting is done of the people coming here from those seven countries with no government and no records of who these people wanting to come here are. That is the big 'ban' Trump wanted. To keep those people on hold while we figure out who the hell they are and where the hell they really came from. Want to see why? Look at Paris, Berlin, London. Waves of migrants and waves of violence. Trump doesn't want that here too. He wants to stop people coming here who don't want to become American, they want to shit on the streets and rape kids and behead people. Look at the migrants in Europe. Look at the faces. Why are there so many men of fighting age? And why are they Muslim? And why do they vandalize and deface public spaces? They are not there to assimilate and live a better life, they are there to take lives. Not all, of course, but far too many. Trump throws down a temporary halt until we can vett these people, and the I have used a deprecated word in order to indicate a person of different political persuasion from me who might be termed 'liberal' by others not knowing their political persuasions call it a ban. And of course it's a Muslim ban. Not because of the religion standing, but because it's the hatefull factions of Islam that want to behead anyone who even types the name Mohammed, or draws him, or even says they don't follow Islam. Screw that. I'm also sick of being told that everyone in any other part of the world has a right to come to America in any way and at any time they want. No they don't. No one has any right to travel to another country. Has no one ever heard of immigration? Of VISAs? Of legal immigration? Of travel VISAs? Employment VISAs? Every country has had a border since the first two countries formed next to each other. It has never been legal to cross into Canada without going through customs at the border. That goes for Mexico too. Every country. But now we have I have used a deprecated word in order to indicate a person of different political persuasion from me who might be termed 'liberal' by others not knowing their political persuasions on television claiming Trump is the first person to ever prevent anyone who wants to coming into America. How fucking insane is that? Obama did the exact same thing more than once, but where was the outrage then? I bet not one of you know that Obama did it. Do you? Google it. Banning parts of the legitimate press, whether you consider them to be mainstream or not, is a typical act of a fascist dictator. We could have many discussions about whether Breitbart is legitimate press or a far right propaganda machine without necessarily reaching a conclusion He in no way banned any press. He no longer will allow these lying bastards to sit in on his press conferences and disrupt them. They can watch the conference along with the rest of us and continue making blatantly false statements all they want, but now they won't be able to disrupt. The presidential briefings are an invite only event. The president has always had the complete right and responsibility to invite who he chooses of the press. There is no 'right to attend' a presidential press briefing. Identification is issued by the White House at the discretion of the President and his press secretary. It has always been that way. Period. Obama never so much as invited anyone who didn't parrot his line, and invited some press only once and never again, but there was no outcry or outrage against his decisions on that. Trump has allowed CNN and others to attend and disrupt long enough, and now he's said 'enough'. It also looks very much as if your democratically elected president is (a) out of his depth, (b) in some way beholden to Russia, (b) linked to some highly questionable business deals involving dirty money. (a) out of his depth Please describe how so. He's made business deals with every major company and country on the planet. More than once! He's already met most of the world leaders face to face. He's done business in their countries and with their politicians and business leaders. More than once! (b) in some way beholden to Russia - In what ways? Please describe how. There is no evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, only innuendo and opinions that are being irresponsibly thrown around. Lies, if you like. (b) linked to some highly questionable business deals involving dirty money - You mean C of course. LOL Typos suck. So do lies. How so? If so, we would have facts and charges galore being bandied about each and every day, over and over. There is no evidence, circumstantial or otherwise. If there were, we would have had them during the primary or the final election cycles. This is more innuendo and opinion being bandied about recklessly in a desperate effort to hurt the guy who's done nothing wrong except beat Hillary Clinton and take the government away from Obama's left behind cronies who are committing treason by leaking sensitive information. People also argued that the Kennedy family were rooted in crime, with probable justification. You with notice that I am not concerned about party politics at all here. By no means all of your presidents have been squeaky clean, perhaps none of them, though no mud seems to have stuck to Obama. Nixon was one of your less palatable ones. No mud stuck to Obama? Wow, I had no idea anyone here was so clueless on that socialist fascist pinko commie. I am not keen on any of our recent UK Prime Ministers, not since Harold MacMillan. Google is your friend here. UK party politics is quite awful, too. I doubt any nation comes out as truly ethical, with the possible exception of Bhutan. Politicians suck. Finally we get a president that isn't a politician, that has never been charged with a crime, who's never stolen money entrusted to him, who can profitably run multiple businesses within the law, and he's demonized and painted with every foul lie imaginable. He's not perfect, he probably has skeletons in his closet, but dear God in Heaven, he's so far from being a crooked Clinton that it's amazing he hasn't been assassinated yet. What concerns me is that I trusted the USA once, now I am terrified of it. -- What concerns me, is that you are suddenly frightened of a country that is finally being led by someone without a criminal background and who isn't a career politician, and you probably don't even know why you're terrified of it. Obama was raised by Frank Marshall Davis. An avowed and self-admitted communist and socialist. A real scumbag, too. Research him. He's scum. And this guy raised Obama. Obama says so in his autobiography. He also says the most beautiful thing he has ever heard is the morning call to Muslim prayer. Obama said that! Google it and watch him say it! You shoud have been terrified when Obama was in charge. I was. I'll tell you why you're terrified now. Because the press is telling you to be. Think about that. The press is telling you Trump is a Russian spy, a misogynist, a homophobe, a sexist, a racist, and a fascist. And many, many, many other things. Now, why would they tell you he is a Russian spy, a misogynist, a homophobe, a sexist, a racist, and a fascist? And many, many, many other things? And where is any kind of even slightly coincidental evidence of any of that? If he was, we would have video and audio and text proving it being thrown at us by the media day and night in print and online and on broadcasts. Even if there were a little something they could use, they would use it. There isn't. The one thing was a woman who claimed she was fondled by Trump years ago, who now says that isn't true and the press is overblowing it. She says so! And the one bad thing against Trump is the one bit of audio of him saying, "Grab her by the pussy!" Something every man has said in his lifetime between friends. Which is what this was, him and a buddy having what they thought was a private talk, and the only thing the press could pull out of that conversation was the line, "You should grab her by the pussy." Well la te da. You're terrified because you are swallowing the lies. If Trump ever turns out to be a Russian spy, or any of these insane things, fine, I'll accept that. But there is no evidence of any of it. Nothing. The only evidence is that he likes women. Well, anyone remember Bill Clinton? At least there aren't four women whom he's mauled filing claims against Trump. All Trump did was talk macho with a buddy about hot women. And even then, his comments are amazingly tame compared to what you hear between most of us on this very site. -- I think you defend Trump too much, i know you didn't vote for him and wasn't your choice, but you're pretty much brushing all criticism of him aside and saying everything negative said about him is false and that's just not true, there are so many interviews, where we can both here and see his lies and true personality and that's why i don't like him, i'm not talking about what papers write about him, because less face it, the papers/media will do everything they can to twist facts and stories, they're about as trustworrthy as your average politician But back to Trrump, throughout his campaign he pretty much changed his views and opinions almost weekly, depending on who he was speaking to and he would say some outrages things and then at the next rally or whatever they're called, either flat out deny he said it or express the opposite of what he had said and he did this a lot, at least the ones that i saw Things that i struggle to accept for him as a person 1) he actively researched the tax laws to the extent, that he figured out how to avoid paying any tax, now while not illegal, in my opinion it make me question his morales, especially as a big part of his campaign focused on looking after the little people/working class (i may have the wrong words here, sorry if i do) which is all fine, but these people that he is fighting for, are people on low income, who work all sorts of hours and struggle to make a living, yet they still pay their taxes, how can you really say you're a man of the people, if you went above and beyond to avoid paying taxes, even if you did it within the law, he even said on one of those presidential debates, i think it was the 3rd one, but it might have been the second, when Hilary was talking about him avoiding tax, he made an off the cuff remark, that was basically "Because I'm smart" now that could have just been one of those moments where you're just saying something to be petty, we all do it in debates/arguments, but when you're running for president and on national tv and being watched around the world, i don't think you should be making that kind of remark, because what i took from that, is him saying he didn't pay tax, because he is smart, which implies those that do pay tax are stupid, that's what it sounded like to me, even if i don't think that was his intention, it still came across like that He talked about foreign imports and how they've crippled the USA industry, yet he used a hell of a lot of foreign imports over the past few decades, most notably chinese steel, so to hear him being so against it and how he thinks it's wrong that foreign imports are being used, is beyond hypocritical in my opinion and I'm pretty sure, if he never ran for president, he would still be using those imports over home grown supplies He talks about immigrants nad jobs, yet like all big businesses, he has took advantage of the cheaper wages of immigrants over american workers, because from a business PoV, you have to be cost effective and hiring cheaper labor is good business, as long as they can actually do the work, so again, while he talks big about this, it's only because he was running for president, so i really don't trust what he says when it comes to things like that The fact he was a very, very close friend to the Clinton's before he ran for president, is another thing not to forget, this man invited them to his wedding only a few years earlier and the way he turned on them (whether they're horrible people or not and they are definitely not good people) shows what he will do to achieve his goals, he also talked a lot about the Clinton foundation (even if i have no real idea what that actually is) and from what i heard from him in rallies and interviews, he pretty much condemned it and made it out ot be something negative, yet before he ran for president, he had invested quite a lot of money into it, going well into the millions, so again like above, it makes you question his credibility, when he can just change his opinion just to suit whatever his goal is at any given time I also don't like what he has been caught saying either, even though a lot of what the media has foused on was a long time ago, he still said it and he hasn't really shown any remorse for those things, sure he's said sorry and stuff, but none of those seemed sincere, not to me anyway and the main two i will mention, are the grabbing the pussy one, which you mentioned yourself, for me, that was disgusting, but okay, it was a long time ago, but for me, why it is a big deal, is his reaction to it, he never really showed remorse, he did a lot of "I'm sorry" "i respect woman" "no one respects woman more than i do" "It was lockeer room banter" not once did i hear him say this and think he meant it, those were throwaway apologies, especially the locker room banter remark, i've been in plenty of locker rooms (can anyone say that and not be paranoid about it sounding dirty? lol) and yeah, there are your typical guy talk, but the stuff Donald said and even though the sound wasn't great, you could tell that he not only meant what he was saying, but also that he had done it, of course i could be wrong, very wrong, but what i took from it, it really did sound like he had done it several times and that it wasn't just banter The second one is where he is walking down some stairs in one of his casino's and some girl scouts are going in the other direction, now the picture and sound aren't the best in the clip that was shown, but you can hear what he says and the way he says it, but i just want to make it clear, i don't think he is a paedophile or has any attraction to children, this isn't about that, it's just about how innappropriate his comment was and also the fact he doesn't realise how innappropriate it is... and while i can't remember it word for word, it went something like "Wow, look at her, just look at her, it's just crazy to think in 8-10 years, i'm going to be dating her" like i said not word for word, but without finding the video (which is lazy of me i guess) i can't remember word for word, but the point is, i find it very disturbing that any adult would look at a child and even think about how they could be dating them in a few years time, especially when the child is around 10-12 years old, i just find that more than a little creepy, but again, i do want to point out that the video was poor quality and when it's poor quality, you can misunderstand it and the context could be lost, although i struggle to see what context could justify that sentence, it's possible Also the sheer amount of false information he used throughout his compaign and even when he was corrects and his claims were proven to be false, he still used them and repeated them in his raliies and it did make me laugh the other week, when he accused the media of fake news, because while he was right, it was the pot calling the kettle hot (or whatever version of that saying you grew up with) i mean if you're going to call people up on something, at least pick something that you don't do yourself So yeah, there are many other things, but i won't go into it too deep because at the end of the day Trump is president, it's what America voted and it's done, so while i don't like the man and i really believe he can't be trusted (he may not be a politician, but trust me, that doesn't make him any better than a politician) i think people just need to get on with it, congress/senate and the courts will keep him from doing anything stupid and yeah, he says some controvesial things and stuff and he really needs to stop using twitter like he does to take little pot shots at people, but he is the president and despite what i said above, i think he will do some good things, not saying he is going to be a great president, but i think he will do some things that will have a positive impact on america It will definitely be interesting in 4 years time, to see this topic again and see if peoples opinions have changed or whether we were right or wrong about him, well for me it will be interesting anyway