Today's Environmentalists Are Really Luddites

[AccessBlaster]

We may, but even so, we ought to be able to agree that ours has become more and more so. Closer and closer.

The point isn't to say "he's not as bad as X", it's to ensure he doesn't get that bad by stopping the momentum if possible.

Revoking visas of people involved in pro-Gaza demonstrations, invoking lawfare against anyone who was his enemy on the silliest of charges (mortgage applications being the most popular currently), ignoring judicial orders (ICE mostly), overly admiring dictator leaders, declaring the press the enemy of the people, installing a litany of incredibly unqualified people to posts merely because they said things he liked to hear [Hegseth, and tons of judges], generally over-using executive powers, etc.

We ought to be able to agree there is too much going in that direction.

While I acknowledge the policy disputes, I fail to see the mass graves that typically accompany classic dictator or authoritarian regimes. I just don’t make the same connection to those regimes that you do.

 

[Isaac]

While I acknowledge the policy disputes, I fail to see the mass graves that typically accompany classic dictator or authoritarian regimes. I just don’t make the same connection to those regimes that you do.

But that's what I keep saying, he's not there yet I just don't like the momentum the direction it's going in.

And frankly, I disagree with your earlier comment, I think we actually think of authoritarian rulers as very much the same. We probably think of typical similar things between us when we think of an authoritarian ruler. Your devotion to Trump just doesn't allow you to see that he's moving in that direction

 

[Isaac]

And why do they persist in the LIE that they completely obliterated Iran's nuclear facilities in that last stride???

Like a million experts have totally debunked that

I've just never seen an administration say so many things everyday that aren't true. Literally everyday it's getting ridiculous

 

[AccessBlaster]

Your devotion to Trump just doesn't allow you to see that he's moving in that direction

I may be indifferent, but I assure you I am not devoted to DJT, and frankly, I find that claim weak.

 

[Isaac]

I may be indifferent, but I assure you I am not devoted to DJT, and frankly, I find that claim weak.

I find it strong because in the face of daily evidence to the contrary, you refuse to admit he moves in an authoritarian direction.
There are only a few possible reasons.
In my personal experience, people who struggle to ever admit Trump is wrong have a blind devotion to him - Pat was a great example.
If you know nobody's perfect, yet there is someone who you can't see anything they do as wrong, it's usually blind devotion

 

[The_Doc_Man]

The direction I see is that DJT is asking a totally legit question: Given the way the U.S. Constitution is written, who is in charge of the Executive Branch of government? So far, SCOTUS has favored DJT's interpretation, for the most part. So he passed one of the checks & balances (SCOTUS) on his accumulation of power... or perhaps, since SCOTUS sided with him, it is the REALIZATION of power (that was already there).

I see a lot of the issue is that folks don't recognize what powers the government truly has and DJT, by testing those limits, triggers some very emotional responses from folks who suddenly realize they've been backing the wrong team. There is a Biblical admonition regarding "whose ox is gored?" and the answer is "bureaucrats who thought THEY ran the country and so they could make the rules." Ask me if I care that their ox has been gored. DJT is exposing the bleeding that exposes some of the causes for the ballooning national debt AND in so doing, he exposes those who inflicted the wounds and now might have to fact the blame. If I were in that position, I'd howl too.

 

[Thales750]

I suspect we have a differing opinion as to what constitutes an authoritarian or dictator.

It was the 2nd Amendment folks (you know conservatives) back in the 80s with their "Slippery Slope" campaign funded by the NRA that warned us that gun confiscation was at the end of the road to compromise.

Well the slippery slope was to have an increase in unregistered guns in the hands of criminals, and young mentally ill people having access to military style weapons. And before you you down the path of me being a liberal gun confiscator, remember, I am a Texas Gun owner. We don't lump our values into one side or the other.

Germany fell to evil in the 1930s by ignoring the little steps.

 

[AccessBlaster]

When people make these wild-eyed accusations about political leaders, what they’re really saying is, ‘Someone take him out,’ because we equate him to ______________ fill in the blank.

 

[Isaac]

It was the 2nd Amendment folks (you know conservatives) back in the 80s with their "Slippery Slope" campaign funded by the NRA that warned us that gun confiscation was at the end of the road to compromise.

Well the slippery slope was to have an increase in unregistered guns in the hands of criminals, and young mentally ill people having access to military style weapons. And before you you down the path of me being a liberal gun confiscator, remember, I am a Texas Gun owner. We don't lump our values into one side or the other.

Germany fell to evil in the 1930s by ignoring the little steps.

Worse even (if that's possible) than gun violence in America is the steady stream of guns WE ALLOW going TO MEXICO, which singlehandedly has plunged the entire country into armed conflict and endangered ours.

We are horrible at this issue and need to get better - stop letting military-grade weapons go from the US to Mexico! If the cartels were disarmed by about 50%, they'd fail and the military there would finally get the upper hand.'

Anyone buying a gun in the USA needs to be fingerprinted and pass a mental health exam, and straw buying needs to be punished as a CLASS I Felony

 

[AccessBlaster]

30 million+ Americans are estimated to be on an SSRI medication (across all age groups). The package insert for Zoloft lists 'SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS' 23 times in their 30 page insert.

Gun violence is probably just a side effect coincidence.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Anyone buying a gun in the USA needs to be fingerprinted and pass a mental health exam, and straw buying needs to be punished as a CLASS I Felony

"The right of the people to keep and to bear arms shall not be infringed." Isaac, you are advocating against a basic right that was one of the sticking points in passing the constitution. The convention records of deliberations made it clear that the bill of rights - that included the 2nd amendment - was crucial to obtaining an agreement that led to ratification of the constitution. This is the amendment that PREVENTS tyrants from gaining absolute power. The problem is the chowderheads who use it to attack people with whom they don't agree. But that is not grounds for negating the 2nd amendment any more than disagreeing with a political candidate is grounds for repealing freedom of speech. Nor is commission of a heinous crime (with or without a gun) grounds for curtailment of the right to due process. Nor is the clamor of citizens to find the perpetrator of a heinous crime grounds for limiting the right against self-incrimination. Think long and hard about the parallels. The Bill of Rights was there for a purpose, to protect against the ills of King George III's governmental overreach. We learned by example why we needed those rights to be enumerated and fully protected.

 

[Isaac]

"The right of the people to keep and to bear arms shall not be infringed." Isaac, you are advocating against a basic right that was one of the sticking points in passing the constitution. The convention records of deliberations made it clear that the bill of rights - that included the 2nd amendment - was crucial to obtaining an agreement that led to ratification of the constitution. This is the amendment that PREVENTS tyrants from gaining absolute power. The problem is the chowderheads who use it to attack people with whom they don't agree. But that is not grounds for negating the 2nd amendment any more than disagreeing with a political candidate is grounds for repealing freedom of speech. Nor is commission of a heinous crime (with or without a gun) grounds for curtailment of the right to due process. Nor is the clamor of citizens to find the perpetrator of a heinous crime grounds for limiting the right against self-incrimination. Think long and hard about the parallels. The Bill of Rights was there for a purpose, to protect against the ills of King George III's governmental overreach. We learned by example why we needed those rights to be enumerated and fully protected.

The situation of gun violence in this country has been beyond emergency-level for a long time. We need to cut back on the proliferation of guns in the wrong hands. I think we've long since "learned by example" what happens when the right is protected in a way that has too few guardrails. We've gotten too used to mass shootings - numb to how terrible and ridiculous it is

 

[Isaac]

30 million+ Americans are estimated to be on an SSRI medication (across all age groups). The package insert for Zoloft lists 'SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS' 23 times in their 30 page insert.

Gun violence is probably just a side effect coincidence.

Hence the mental health check.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Out of respect, Isaac, I will merely state that my original comments stand. Using an excuse of social exigency is just another way to undermine the U.S. Constitution. The liberals of the USA will surely swoon over you.

There IS a way to make changes. It is called "constitutional amendment." Get the law changed in the proper way or recognize that a gun never killed anyone if a person wasn't holding or building a booby trap with it. The problem is a people problem but it is also a federal rights problem. Where there is a clash, Congress has to act.

 

[Isaac]

Other countries just laugh at us, and it would be laughable if it weren't so tragic. We can let people keep and bear arms without doing it in an unlimited, self-harming way - there's a million ways to let people keep and bear arms without letting them build an arsenal, have armor piercing rounds, straw purchase, etc.

Both can be true at the same time

 

[RonPaii]

Other countries just laugh at us, and it would be laughable if it weren't so tragic. We can let people keep and bear arms without doing it in an unlimited, self-harming way - there's a million ways to let people keep and bear arms without letting them build an arsenal, have armor piercing rounds, straw purchase, etc.

Both can be true at the same time

Most shooting in the US are by suicides or people legally prohibited from possessing firearm.
Straw purchases are illegal in the US.
Armor piercing hand gun rounds are illegal in the US and rifle rounds are mostly illegal depending on the construction and how AP is defined.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Other countries just laugh at us

And yet we had literally MILLIONS of people who entered illegally, many more trying to get in, and those who ARE in are fighting like Hell to STAY in. Yep, laughing.

 

[Isaac]

And yet we had literally MILLIONS of people who entered illegally, many more trying to get in, and those who ARE in are fighting like Hell to STAY in. Yep, laughing.

That's called geographic proximity. They'll generally go to wherever is the most accessible to them. Most Africans are headed to Spain, France Italy or Greece.

I highly doubt they take "gun violence" into account when trying to get to America - they just want the higher standard of living.

 

[Isaac]

And yet we had literally MILLIONS of people who entered illegally, many more trying to get in, and those who ARE in are fighting like Hell to STAY in. Yep, laughing.

That argument is like the weakest ever against "say no wrong about the USA, because people are trying to get in". Conservatives' use of it is nauseatingly familiar. When every argument fails, just remind that since millions are entering, it must be a perfect place and so don't say anything bad about it. Truly a juvenile approach.

Oh, yeah, that means we're perfect and have no problems - Doc, you're smarter than that and can come up with something far stronger, actually you already did

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Doc, you're smarter than that and can come up with something far stronger

For you to recognize that, YOU should be able to see that your liberal viewpoint is shining through.

I cannot stress enough that this nation was founded on self-sufficient people who were generally law-abiding, and it will collapse on welfare-dependent people who don't give a damn about anyone else but themselves. What was John F. Kennedy's message? "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

Society, because it is overloaded with dependents (lawful or otherwise), is unable to manage the number of miscreants who walk the streets. Some of the liberal strongholds have reached the point where corporations want to move out, businesses close up in indigent neighborhoods, and homeless public defecation in the streets has been witnessed.

Because the Progressive Liberals want to progress to the point that NOBODY has any money. Gas in California is edging over $7/gallon. Fast food joints are closing because of the exorbitant minimum wage mandated there. Just look to the USA far west. Try to keep your gorge down when doing so. If I sound repetitious, it is because you don't seem to get the message. If I don't respond as often, it is because I am losing hope for this country and am perhaps a bit disheartened.