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Ah! At least an above average intelligent response...
I'm forever trying to feel my vote matters at all, and of course no matter who or what I vote for, the result is never the perfect end product I'm hoping for. There are "flies in the ointment" no matter which party we talk about. Always.
I've never voted for anyone who didn't disappoint me in one way or another, but despite all the good reasons to essentially give up, I still believe that if we don't vote, we simply abdicate our responsibility to others. I'm not willing to do that given what too many others seem wanting very contrary to what I want for America.
Accordingly, it is never a question of a perfect answer or candidate. Just better over worse. I do my best to promote better far as I'm concerned and to do that I don't see an alternative to choosing either democrat or republican given today's political reality.
Independents, undecideds and/or people who cast a protest vote or don't vote at all are either politically ignorant, politically agnostic or just don't care all that much if their vote is not part of ultimately deciding who wins and/or who loses.
Bottom line, the democrats in office is no pretty picture, but compared to the four years Trump was in office and then what happened when Trump lost his bid for re-election, the democrats look to be far more the better as compared to the alternative. I know there are Trump supporters who can't see it, but at least there are some in the GOP who seem able. Very recently even Dick Cheney who was also once upon a time a GOP darling. Small glimmers of light coming from a very dark space.
There IS no comparison. When President Trump was running things, this country was on an upward swing in every facet. Since Oatmeal and Kampala were installed every single thing that President Trump improved has been annihilated.
There is no argument. Other than of course ORANGE Man Bad!
There IS no comparison. When President Trump was running things, this country was on an upward swing in every facet. Since Oatmeal and Kampala were installed every single thing that President Trump improved has been annihilated.
There is no argument. Other than of course ORANGE Man Bad!
There is plenty argument, but your comment here is not an argument either way. Unless you somehow feel your comment is some kind of argument and Cheney's is not?
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know.”
This from a prominent Republican mind you. Not you or me, but if you do think highly of your comment as if it is some kind of argument, then I've got another one you're really going to like!
If insurrection is defined as "the act or an instance of revolting especially violently against civil or political authority or against an established government", then in decreasing order of "how close to actual insurrection was it", I'd order the most famous examples as follows:
CHAZ/CHOP
BLM
AntiFa
Jan 6
The reason for that order:
CHAZ/CHOP actually declared a new ruling authority, established boundaries within the sovereign territory of the Seattle and WA state governments, and enforced the boundaries with regulations and armed force.
BLM created vast swaths of destruction and vandalism to the tune of $billions in property loss. True believers in large numbers, given free pass by local authorities who essentially abdicated law enforcement duty in the face of political pressure.
AntiFa commits more acts of violence as percentage of population than does BLM, but given the way fewer members, who are mostly suburban white kids trying to co-opt a belief system to get outraged by, they generally do way less damage overall than true believers in larger numbers. Politicians also actually bust AntiFa, given that busting suburban white kids isn't politically damaging.
Jan 6 had no arms, broke a few windows and were granted access at various points by Capitol police. End of the day, they took selfies, made noise, and acted silly...just on what waaaayyyy too many Americans consider sacred ground (which it isn't). And of course, since it was MAGA loonies, tossing them into federal dungeons to rot was all the way cool and good for optics.
From any measure of violence, destruction, threat to the average American, etc...Jan 6 is at the bottom of any list. Top to bottom...they are all knuckleheads who are cool to whine, but have nowhere near the fortitude and belief to be actual revolutionaries. I give the CHAZ/CHOP folks the most props, because they actually grabbed land. Sure, for only a couple weeks, but they grabbed it and got badass defiant...until they needed food and their cell phones recharged. Jan 6 is small change next to that.
The dumbass partisans who treat their elected SERVANTS like demigods, upon whose realm we mere mortals dare not tread...do you freaking hear yourselves? The guy who wrote the Declaration of Independence also was famously quoted saying:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas Jefferson, letter to William S. Smith, 1787, in part
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.
Your government is your servant, not your ruler, not your deity, not your parents. They are elected to SERVE you.
DC is not sacred. No government building, land, holding, claim, etc is. That is because they are not divine beings. They are functionally retarded old people with really high charisma scores and a large bankroll somewhere behind them. You and I own DC as much as they do. More so actually because we pay for it and just let them live there.
They and you (general, all of you) have become way too convinced of their supreme, divine, godlike powers that they don't actually possess anywhere except within this insane set of myths and fairy tales. What's ironic is that if any hardcore partisan who worships at the altar of Leviathan's collective saw a religious person turning every aspect of their life over to their chosen deity with the same zeal, passion and fervent belief that they turn theirs over to their benevolent dictators, that partisan would think the religious person clinically insane. But the partisan does it 24/7. They worship and praise their deity. They supplicate themselves in hopes of their god bestowing favor, good harvest and fair weather upon them.
Again...do you "zomg, Jan 6 am teh end of teh republikz!!" people hear yourselves?
Why be the member of a political party at all as a voter?
You supported Biden and he appointed the ambassador to Japan....a guy caught helping cover up the police murder of a young black guy. How can I take your party seriously when it talks BLM and then does something like that? (As one example)
I see no point in voting party instead of individual.
If insurrection is defined as "the act or an instance of revolting especially violently against civil or political authority or against an established government", then in decreasing order of "how close to actual insurrection was it", I'd order the most famous examples as follows:
CHAZ/CHOP
BLM
AntiFa
Jan 6
The reason for that order:
CHAZ/CHOP actually declared a new ruling authority, established boundaries within the sovereign territory of the Seattle and WA state governments, and enforced the boundaries with regulations and armed force.
BLM created vast swaths of destruction and vandalism to the tune of $billions in property loss. True believers in large numbers, given free pass by local authorities who essentially abdicated law enforcement duty in the face of political pressure.
AntiFa commits more acts of violence as percentage of population than does BLM, but given the way fewer members, who are mostly suburban white kids trying to co-opt a belief system to get outraged by, they generally do way less damage overall than true believers in larger numbers. Politicians also actually bust AntiFa, given that busting suburban white kids isn't politically damaging.
Jan 6 had no arms, broke a few windows and were granted access at various points by Capitol police. End of the day, they took selfies, made noise, and acted silly...just on what waaaayyyy too many Americans consider sacred ground (which it isn't). And of course, since it was MAGA loonies, tossing them into federal dungeons to rot was all the way cool and good for optics.
From any measure of violence, destruction, threat to the average American, etc...Jan 6 is at the bottom of any list. Top to bottom...they are all knuckleheads who are cool to whine, but have nowhere near the fortitude and belief to be actual revolutionaries. I give the CHAZ/CHOP folks the most props, because they actually grabbed land. Sure, for only a couple weeks, but they grabbed it and got badass defiant...until they needed food and their cell phones recharged. Jan 6 is small change next to that.
The dumbass partisans who treat their elected SERVANTS like demigods, upon whose realm we mere mortals dare not tread...do you freaking hear yourselves? The guy who wrote the Declaration of Independence also was famously quoted saying:
Your government is your servant, not your ruler, not your deity, not your parents. They are elected to SERVE you.
DC is not sacred. No government building, land, holding, claim, etc is. That is because they are not divine beings. They are functionally retarded old people with really high charisma scores and a large bankroll somewhere behind them. You and I own DC as much as they do. More so actually because we pay for it and just let them live there.
They and you (general, all of you) have become way too convinced of their supreme, divine, godlike powers that they don't actually possess anywhere except within this insane set of myths and fairy tales. What's ironic is that if any hardcore partisan who worships at the altar of Leviathan's collective saw a religious person turning every aspect of their life over to their chosen deity with the same zeal, passion and fervent belief that they turn theirs over to their benevolent dictators, that partisan would think the religious person clinically insane. But the partisan does it 24/7. They worship and praise their deity. They supplicate themselves in hopes of their god bestowing favor, good harvest and fair weather upon them.
Again...do you "zomg, Jan 6 am teh end of teh republikz!!" people hear yourselves?
Well put... i don't think i could have said it better myself!
Great. By always and forever considering government my enemy, not my friend, I get to be free of the need of them. The people in DC don't concern me much at all. Who the Tyrant in Chief is doesn't mean anything to my life whatsoever. The faceless bureaucracy that none of us elect, yet who hold all the real power...they are the real enemy, and Sun Tzu tells us how to navigate that with sound tactics:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sun Tzu, "Art of War"
If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him."
Government is the enemy. A vast, overwhelming behemoth of an enemy. Therefore, my goal is to understand that enemy, prepare for them, and evade them to the greatest extent possible. Voting for who runs the enemy? That's like poking my head over the wall to visually see where the snipers are. You live a lot longer by never putting your melon into their crosshairs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LearnMe
While I can certainly appreciate and sympathize with your sentiments and all the reasons we are inevitably disappointed with politics, I am quite confident that voting per the direction that seems better rather than worse is more productive than doing anything else. Let alone not voting. You want to leave the broken system for others to manage? Your choice, but that's not my choice, because I've never been one to just throw up my hands in frustration when things don't work the way I want them too. Thank goodness there are people who do vote and whatever else they can do for the sake of making progress instead of going backwards, because as bad as it is, it could be a lot worse. Can get a lot worse.
Just have a look at all the countries where voting is not an option...
It will get worse, no matter what you do or I don't do. All governments, everywhere and always, evolve towards tyranny. Ours certainly has, and done so uninterrupted, inexorably and predictably. It will get worse because it must. This takes me back to Sun Tzu. I already know who the enemy is and how they will evolve. Therefore, I learn, comprehend, prepare and evade.
Also, this is not throwing my hands up in frustration. It is exercising one of the few absolute rights I have left - choice. They cannot make me choose, or even "choose to choose." They cannot make me sanction their violence against me. They cannot make me agree that it is OK that they harm me with their gazillion or so daily, petty tyrannies. They can still do all of those things to me, but they simply cannot force me to consent to it.
They will harm you and me equally. Only difference between us is that you consented to that harm, and I did not. Neither of us will change what they are and will eventually become. I will just be able to say they never got me onboard or received my implicit permission.
But if your vote makes you think you effected change onto that which is immutable and inevitable, hey, live the dream, man. I know for a fact my vote will not and cannot change what government will become, nor what harm they will cause. History is such a wonderful guide to the future.
Die-hard (R), Mary Matalin switched from Republican to Independent a few years ago. There are more than just 2 classifications of parties.
Indeed...statists come in endless variety.
At the base level, there are only two real political distinctions - statist or non-statist.
You either believe that someone else holding a higher claim on your life, liberty and property is morally and logically correct (statist), or you do not (non-statist).
If you are in that former group, yeah, there are a bazillion variations concerning how someone holding that higher claim on your life, liberty and property should operate re: your subjugation. The latter group has only one variety.
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