The Biden Presidency

bosskeano

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Bossman very rarely replies in threads like these, though, he's the drive-by comment kind of guy.
not necessarily a drive by comment guy if you look at my posts in other parts of this forum....i just tend to avoid the political stuff for the most part simply b/c it's is purely black and white for most people when it comes to politics and no grey area for a legit conversation that doesnt turn into some sort of childish arguing.

yes, i'm from the states and i'm not exactly a trump guy per say. What i'm sick of quite honestly is politicians from either side that don't have the countries interest and the people of this countries best interests at heart. Did i vote for Trump, yes...simply b/c i KNEW Biden would be a disaster for this country b/c he's old, easily influenced and quite honestly spent TOO long as a politician. This is a political game to these people about staying in power and influence as long as possible. I honestly liked that Trump was a business man first and came into this not needing money or influence, he had plenty of both already, but wanting to help make the economy strong again. He wasn't a politician.

Did i like him having access to Twitter...hell no, some of the shit he said was stupid and just caused negativity that quite honestly wasn't necessary. Just do the job that you were elected for and stay off of the BS fighting on social media. Do i think he got to be a bit more smug, yes. What i also think is that b/c he wasn't a politician it completely had an impact on foreign leaders not knowing how to handle him b/c he didn't play the political long term game and just told him how it is and how it would be.
 

Raoul

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I honestly liked that Trump was a business man first and came into this not needing money or influence, he had plenty of both already, but wanting to help make the economy strong again. He wasn't a politician.
But the reality ended up being that he had much less money than he boasted about and much of his wealth was accrued through shady means. He was basically a swindler who mastered the art of manipulating people to advance his personal interests; which he then applied to an easily led voting base in the political sphere. The result being a shrinking base of Republicans for future elections and a former President who will likely die in prison.
 
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WI_Red

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not necessarily a drive by comment guy if you look at my posts in other parts of this forum....i just tend to avoid the political stuff for the most part simply b/c it's is purely black and white for most people when it comes to politics and no grey area for a legit conversation that doesnt turn into some sort of childish arguing.

yes, i'm from the states and i'm not exactly a trump guy per say. What i'm sick of quite honestly is politicians from either side that don't have the countries interest and the people of this countries best interests at heart. Did i vote for Trump, yes...simply b/c i KNEW Biden would be a disaster for this country b/c he's old, easily influenced and quite honestly spent TOO long as a politician. This is a political game to these people about staying in power and influence as long as possible. I honestly liked that Trump was a business man first and came into this not needing money or influence, he had plenty of both already, but wanting to help make the economy strong again. He wasn't a politician.

Did i like him having access to Twitter...hell no, some of the shit he said was stupid and just caused negativity that quite honestly wasn't necessary. Just do the job that you were elected for and stay off of the BS fighting on social media. Do i think he got to be a bit more smug, yes. What i also think is that b/c he wasn't a politician it completely had an impact on foreign leaders not knowing how to handle him b/c he didn't play the political long term game and just told him how it is and how it would be.
There are some things, and with Trump it's actually the important things, that are black and white:

1. Did he lose the election?
2. Did he attempt to stay in power and undermine the will of the voters?
3. Is America a more divided country then it was in 2016?

Beyond that I would ask what policies and legislation, passed while Trump was president, you think were beneficial to America. This is not a gotcha question, I am legitimately curious. I have GOP family and friends, not really Trump/MAGA types, just historically Republican and I have a hard time getting an answer to this. For them it is mostly about "well he wasn't a Dem", or "The Dem's wouldn't let him do what he wanted", but never a firm answer on actual policy or legislation. It was more about what he wasn't (a Lib) then who he was or what he wanted to do to help Americans.
 

calodo2003

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not necessarily a drive by comment guy if you look at my posts in other parts of this forum....i just tend to avoid the political stuff for the most part simply b/c it's is purely black and white for most people when it comes to politics and no grey area for a legit conversation that doesnt turn into some sort of childish arguing.

yes, i'm from the states and i'm not exactly a trump guy per say. What i'm sick of quite honestly is politicians from either side that don't have the countries interest and the people of this countries best interests at heart. Did i vote for Trump, yes...simply b/c i KNEW Biden would be a disaster for this country b/c he's old, easily influenced and quite honestly spent TOO long as a politician. This is a political game to these people about staying in power and influence as long as possible. I honestly liked that Trump was a business man first and came into this not needing money or influence, he had plenty of both already, but wanting to help make the economy strong again. He wasn't a politician.

Did i like him having access to Twitter...hell no, some of the shit he said was stupid and just caused negativity that quite honestly wasn't necessary. Just do the job that you were elected for and stay off of the BS fighting on social media. Do i think he got to be a bit more smug, yes. What i also think is that b/c he wasn't a politician it completely had an impact on foreign leaders not knowing how to handle him b/c he didn't play the political long term game and just told him how it is and how it would be.
So how exactly has Biden been 'a disaster for this country?'
 

bosskeano

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So how exactly has Biden been 'a disaster for this country?'
how is he a disaster?? he's opened up the southern border and allowed 1000's of illegals to enter the country. we have no idea who they are, what they are bringing with them(legal or illegal) and all of that is a strain on the economy to support them. Look what is happening in San Francisco for example with the rise is in crime with looting, i mean blatant looting in broad daylight b/c there is no fear of prosecution. Its getting to be the same in NY City. I have friends in both cities that i speak with regularly and they both to a person say it has gotten out of control to where people are afraid to go out at night for fear of getting robbed and mugged.
Look at the gas prices, the food prices, the shortage of supplies.....look at the change in people 401k's and retirements. ALL of this has taken a major downturn since his arrival in office. FFS...do you honestly think Russia would have invaded Ukraine if Trump was the President? I don't think so simply b/c they don't know how we would react, with Biden they did b/c of his time as VP with Obama. Now, we are sending billions in aid to Ukraine when we have our own issues here in this country. Do i think we should have supported Ukraine, 100% and i'm glad he did but not to the extent and honestly it never should have gotten to that .

Covid worse than ever, inflation terrible, economy shrinking, foreign policy a mess, gun violence and crime in cities rising and awful, border crisis worse than ever, …. Nothing he has done well. Now watch the layoffs on 4th quarter of this year and 1st quarter of next year
 

Raoul

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how is he a disaster?? he's opened up the southern border and allowed 1000's of illegals to enter the country. we have no idea who they are, what they are bringing with them(legal or illegal) and all of that is a strain on the economy to support them. Look what is happening in San Francisco for example with the rise is in crime with looting, i mean blatant looting in broad daylight b/c there is no fear of prosecution. Its getting to be the same in NY City. I have friends in both cities that i speak with regularly and they both to a person say it has gotten out of control to where people are afraid to go out at night for fear of getting robbed and mugged.
Look at the gas prices, the food prices, the shortage of supplies.....look at the change in people 401k's and retirements. ALL of this has taken a major downturn since his arrival in office. FFS...do you honestly think Russia would have invaded Ukraine if Trump was the President? I don't think so simply b/c they don't know how we would react, with Biden they did b/c of his time as VP with Obama. Now, we are sending billions in aid to Ukraine when we have our own issues here in this country. Do i think we should have supported Ukraine, 100% and i'm glad he did but not to the extent and honestly it never should have gotten to that .

Covid worse than ever, inflation terrible, economy shrinking, foreign policy a mess, gun violence and crime in cities rising and awful, border crisis worse than ever, …. Nothing he has done well. Now watch the layoffs on 4th quarter of this year and 1st quarter of next year
Trump literally invited Russians into the oval office to boast about having fired his own FBI Director. Do you honestly think Putin was afraid of what Donald Trump might do if he invaded Ukraine ?
 

bosskeano

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There are some things, and with Trump it's actually the important things, that are black and white:

1. Did he lose the election? YES based on Voter totals
2. Did he attempt to stay in power and undermine the will of the voters? Has it been proven, NO
3. Is America a more divided country then it was in 2016? YES with no lack of flame throwing from the DEMS

Beyond that I would ask what policies and legislation, passed while Trump was president, you think were beneficial to America. This is not a gotcha question, I am legitimately curious. I have GOP family and friends, not really Trump/MAGA types, just historically Republican and I have a hard time getting an answer to this. For them it is mostly about "well he wasn't a Dem", or "The Dem's wouldn't let him do what he wanted", but never a firm answer on actual policy or legislation. It was more about what he wasn't (a Lib) then who he was or what he wanted to do to help Americans.
Simply put , the economy during the Trump admin was the best it had been in decades. The gap closed in the poverty levels between black americans and white americans. More small businesses were started and financially beneficial than ever.

Actual legislation and policies ....There was the Tax Act (i believe that was it) which lowered taxes for the middle class along with lowering the Corporation Tax Rates. Both were significant to stimulate the economy.
There was a TRADE policy that impacted our interaction with China which greatly benefited the economy and in particular the small business owners. Bare in mind, he only had what 3 actual years to make policy changes in a government that was split with one party holding Congress and Senate.
 

calodo2003

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how is he a disaster?? he's opened up the southern border and allowed 1000's of illegals to enter the country. we have no idea who they are, what they are bringing with them(legal or illegal) and all of that is a strain on the economy to support them. Look what is happening in San Francisco for example with the rise is in crime with looting, i mean blatant looting in broad daylight b/c there is no fear of prosecution. Its getting to be the same in NY City. I have friends in both cities that i speak with regularly and they both to a person say it has gotten out of control to where people are afraid to go out at night for fear of getting robbed and mugged.
Look at the gas prices, the food prices, the shortage of supplies.....look at the change in people 401k's and retirements. ALL of this has taken a major downturn since his arrival in office. FFS...do you honestly think Russia would have invaded Ukraine if Trump was the President? I don't think so simply b/c they don't know how we would react, with Biden they did b/c of his time as VP with Obama. Now, we are sending billions in aid to Ukraine when we have our own issues here in this country. Do i think we should have supported Ukraine, 100% and i'm glad he did but not to the extent and honestly it never should have gotten to that .

Covid worse than ever, inflation terrible, economy shrinking, foreign policy a mess, gun violence and crime in cities rising and awful, border crisis worse than ever, …. Nothing he has done well. Now watch the layoffs on 4th quarter of this year and 1st quarter of next year
Illegal immigration has been rising from a low during Obama's second term, but I do agree more could & should be done. Violence in the cities is a systemic issue throughout the country & falls squarely in Biden's lap, I agree, but hopefully the legislation passed will help eliminate some of the gun violence.

You can't be serious when discussing gas & food prices being a solely Biden issue. Do you not pay attention to the rest of the world? :lol: Trump would have done precisely feck all in Ukraine. Hilarious to think otherwise. Covid worse than ever? Another :lol: . How is foreign policy 'a mess?' We just added 315K jobs in August, right at expectation.

You have a link to these forecasted mass layoffs in Q4 & beyond? I'd be interested to read them.
 

bosskeano

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But the reality ended up being that he had much less money than he boasted about and much of his wealth was accrued through shady means. He was basically a swindler who mastered the art of manipulating people to advance his personal interests; which he then applied to an easily led voting base in the political sphere. The result being a shrinking base of Republicans for future elections and a former President who will likely die in prison.
it's obvious he has money just simply look at his real estate holdings...the dude isn't broke or hurting for money. All businessmen to an extent are swindlers and hustlers, it's just is is legal or not.

Hunter Biden says Hello
 

bosskeano

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Illegal immigration has been rising from a low during Obama's second term, but I do agree more could & should be done. Violence in the cities is a systemic issue throughout the country & falls squarely in Biden's lap, I agree, but hopefully the legislation passed will help eliminate some of the gun violence.

You can't be serious when discussing gas & food prices being a solely Biden issue. Do you not pay attention to the rest of the world? :lol: Trump would have done precisely feck all in Ukraine. Hilarious to think otherwise. Covid worse than ever? Another :lol: . How is foreign policy 'a mess?' We just added 315K jobs in August, right at expectation.

You have a link to these forecasted mass layoffs in Q4 & beyond? I'd be interested to read them.
400,000 people in the U.S. died under Trump, more than 600,000 have died since under Biden.

How is foreign policy 'a mess?' We just added 315K jobs in August, right at expectation.
. That would be domestically not foreign. Domestically we are in a recession and given the sheer volume of jobs lost during COVID, being able to add back jobs shouldn't be too difficult.
 

calodo2003

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Simply put , the economy during the Trump admin was the best it had been in decades. The gap closed in the poverty levels between black americans and white americans. More small businesses were started and financially beneficial than ever.

Actual legislation and policies ....There was the Tax Act (i believe that was it) which lowered taxes for the middle class along with lowering the Corporation Tax Rates. Both were significant to stimulate the economy.
There was a TRADE policy that impacted our interaction with China which greatly benefited the economy and in particular the small business owners. Bare in mind, he only had what 3 actual years to make policy changes in a government that was split with one party holding Congress and Senate.
Just to take your first point...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/09/05/trump-obama-economy/

And your last point...

Republicans controlled Congress from 2017 to 2019.
 

calodo2003

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400,000 people in the U.S. died under Trump, more than 600,000 have died since under Biden.

. That would be domestically not foreign. Domestically we are in a recession and given the sheer volume of jobs lost during COVID, being able to add back jobs shouldn't be too difficult.
And how much longer has Biden been in office than the time frame of Covid under Trump? I'm not a math whiz, but if you extrapolate out Trump's numbers for the extra months, it would put them much closer together.

Well, you are at once blaming Biden for Covid deaths but not giving him credit for job growth? That's convenient.

So, Biden is solely at fault for the inflation we are experiencing? No other external forces? Interesting.
 

Raoul

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it's obvious he has money just simply look at his real estate holdings...the dude isn't broke or hurting for money. All businessmen to an extent are swindlers and hustlers, it's just is is legal or not.

Hunter Biden says Hello
If true, then why is he constantly fundraising from middle class folks and using the RNC to pay his legal bills ?
 

WI_Red

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400,000 people in the U.S. died under Trump, more than 600,000 have died since under Biden.
I am answering your earlier post, but I needed to address this first. This is a terrible interpretation of the data for multiple reasons:

1. By it's very nature deaths will increase over time as the virus spreads in a population, so early death tolls will be lower than those that follow.
2. Changes in COVID policy did not happen overnight when Biden entered office, they would have taken months to bring online.
3. The 2 main thrusts of policy changes by the Biden admin - mask mandates and vaccine rollouts had a dramatic effect on reducing COVID deaths. Currently, the death rate of unvaccinated people is around 6X higher than vaccinated.
4. The virus itself is now no longer an epidemic, the virus is now endemic to society which means daily, and repeated, exposure to the virus is a reality for all Americans. The follow on to this is that people will continue to die from COVID, but the protection provided by the vaccines will suppress death rates in the vaccinated population.

I will give Trump this, his implementation of Operation Warp Speed partially (Pfizer took no OWS money but Moderna did) facilitated one of the greatest biomedical achievements in history. He should rightly be given accolades for this and it is hilariously absurd that he gets booed by the MAGA crowd when he brings it up because of all the anti-science bullshit he spouted.
 

WI_Red

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how is he a disaster?? he's opened up the southern border and allowed 1000's of illegals to enter the country. we have no idea who they are, what they are bringing with them(legal or illegal) and all of that is a strain on the economy to support them. Look what is happening in San Francisco for example with the rise is in crime with looting, i mean blatant looting in broad daylight b/c there is no fear of prosecution. Its getting to be the same in NY City. I have friends in both cities that i speak with regularly and they both to a person say it has gotten out of control to where people are afraid to go out at night for fear of getting robbed and mugged.
Look at the gas prices, the food prices, the shortage of supplies.....look at the change in people 401k's and retirements. ALL of this has taken a major downturn since his arrival in office. FFS...do you honestly think Russia would have invaded Ukraine if Trump was the President? I don't think so simply b/c they don't know how we would react, with Biden they did b/c of his time as VP with Obama. Now, we are sending billions in aid to Ukraine when we have our own issues here in this country. Do i think we should have supported Ukraine, 100% and i'm glad he did but not to the extent and honestly it never should have gotten to that .

Covid worse than ever, inflation terrible, economy shrinking, foreign policy a mess, gun violence and crime in cities rising and awful, border crisis worse than ever, …. Nothing he has done well. Now watch the layoffs on 4th quarter of this year and 1st quarter of next year
- Opened up Southern border....what? I am looking at all of the executive orders and can't see that one. Can you point me to where he opened it up, because other than shutting down the wall construction he has been kinda meh on this, even extending Title 42.
- Gas/food prices/shortages - The entire world is in a energy crisis due to the invasion of Ukraine and other economic factors, and supply chain issues have had a dramatic effect on raw material and finished good supply's. The problem with your criticism is that these are worldwide issues. The entire globe is facing inflation, gas price increases vs. 2 years ago.
-Ukraine - :lol: , you honestly think Russia would not have invaded? JFC, had Trump won a second term he would have likely pulled us out of NATO and offered Ukraine zero support if for no other reason than as retribution against Zelinsky.
-COVID - addressed in a previous post
- Inflation sucks, I'll give you that, but again it is a worldwide phenomenon.
- Foreign Policy is at a far better place than under Trump.
- Gun violence is an absolute mess, a mess brought to us by the NRA and GOP and their slavish devotion to the "most important" amendment in the constitution.
 

Stactix

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it's obvious he has money just simply look at his real estate holdings...the dude isn't broke or hurting for money. All businessmen to an extent are swindlers and hustlers, it's just is is legal or not.

Hunter Biden says Hello

And yet he's constantly asking for money, no bank bar deutchse bank would lend him money? Funny that bank is pretty tight with the Russians then ey?

You mention Hunter Biden but conviently forget that Trump still used his businesses while he was president and a considerable portion of business was conducted at Mar alago.. (Hope you're enjoying the FBI drama )

Then you forget to mention that half of his family had fecking senior positions in his administration.

You mention that Russia wouldn't of invaded Ukraine if Trump was president? America probably wouldn't be in Nato now if Trump remained president. He even said that he liked what Putin was doing with Ukraine, really smart.
I honestly haven't a clue what basis you make that off. Literally zero clue.
 

maniak

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I love it when people pretend to be impartial and then check all the cliché boxes in the book.

Hunter Biden says Hello
 

WI_Red

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And yet he's constantly asking for money, no bank bar deutchse bank would lend him money? Funny that bank is pretty tight with the Russians then ey?

You mention Hunter Biden but conviently forget that Trump still used his businesses while he was president and a considerable portion of business was conducted at Mar alago.. (Hope you're enjoying the FBI drama )

Then you forget to mention that half of his family had fecking senior positions in his administration.

You mention that Russia wouldn't of invaded Ukraine if Trump was president? America probably wouldn't be in Nato now if Trump remained president. He even said that he liked what Putin was doing with Ukraine, really smart.
I honestly haven't a clue what basis you make that off. Literally zero clue.
The common refrain I have heard from people making this argument, and I think the one made by @bosskeano above, is that Trump was so unpredictable he put other leaders off balance. I have never understood this position as, in my view, Trump was completely predicable in all his foreign policy positions. All you needed to do was determine which option: 1) made him look good or stroked his ego (N. Korea), 2) Made people he doesn't like look bad (NATO, pretty much anything to do with Europe), 3) Would benefit his "friends" (Kurds, Uyghurs, etc.)
 

nimic

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And I'm all out of bubblegum.
Simply put , the economy during the Trump admin was the best it had been in decades. The gap closed in the poverty levels between black americans and white americans. More small businesses were started and financially beneficial than ever.

Actual legislation and policies ....There was the Tax Act (i believe that was it) which lowered taxes for the middle class along with lowering the Corporation Tax Rates. Both were significant to stimulate the economy.
There was a TRADE policy that impacted our interaction with China which greatly benefited the economy and in particular the small business owners. Bare in mind, he only had what 3 actual years to make policy changes in a government that was split with one party holding Congress and Senate.
What do you mean "based on voter totals"? Is there any way in which he didn't lose the election?

FFS...do you honestly think Russia would have invaded Ukraine if Trump was the President?
Deary me :lol:
 

RedDevilQuebecois

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The common refrain I have heard from people making this argument, and I think the one made by @bosskeano above, is that Trump was so unpredictable he put other leaders off balance. I have never understood this position as, in my view, Trump was completely predicable in all his foreign policy positions. All you needed to do was determine which option: 1) made him look good or stroked his ego (N. Korea), 2) Made people he doesn't like look bad (NATO, pretty much anything to do with Europe), 3) Would benefit his "friends" (Kurds, Uyghurs, etc.)
Pretty much. He fecked allies over for the sake of protecting his ego rather than carry on the continuity of US foreign policy. The fact that Kurds and Uyghurs have been abandoned by that POS leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth to this day.

He was given a Ferrari only to drive it like a truck, into a wall.
 

UnrelatedPsuedo

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not necessarily a drive by comment guy if you look at my posts in other parts of this forum....i just tend to avoid the political stuff for the most part simply b/c it's is purely black and white for most people when it comes to politics and no grey area for a legit conversation that doesnt turn into some sort of childish arguing.

yes, i'm from the states and i'm not exactly a trump guy per say. What i'm sick of quite honestly is politicians from either side that don't have the countries interest and the people of this countries best interests at heart. Did i vote for Trump, yes...simply b/c i KNEW Biden would be a disaster for this country b/c he's old, easily influenced and quite honestly spent TOO long as a politician. This is a political game to these people about staying in power and influence as long as possible. I honestly liked that Trump was a business man first and came into this not needing money or influence, he had plenty of both already, but wanting to help make the economy strong again. He wasn't a politician.

Did i like him having access to Twitter...hell no, some of the shit he said was stupid and just caused negativity that quite honestly wasn't necessary. Just do the job that you were elected for and stay off of the BS fighting on social media. Do i think he got to be a bit more smug, yes. What i also think is that b/c he wasn't a politician it completely had an impact on foreign leaders not knowing how to handle him b/c he didn't play the political long term game and just told him how it is and how it would be.
One question and one question only.

Do you now accept that you were wrong?

Because you were 100% wrong. Start to finish. Unequivocally and without even a second to pause for a justifying response.

You’re not still defending a bad choice are you? Because that’s just insane. You were manipulated, lied to, sold an alternative reality and I can support your vote based on that. But if you still support your vote, and blame other people for how your erroneous insane vote manifested… that’s really worrying. Every single thing you apply to politicians, applies to Trump by several orders of magnitude. It’s scary if you don’t now see that. He’s not even a businessman. He’s a tv show host. He’s not a success. He’s a failure that has the debt Tiger by the tail and has learned how to spin. He’s not admirable in any aspect of his character, demeanour, attitude or personality. Anyone that would trade their life for his, is certifiably insane.
 

RedDevilQuebecois

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Very rich to even write on Twitter when MAGA Republicans include the vast majority of if not all antisemites and Nazis living in the US.
 

Abizzz

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My drive by comment for the day:

At least we've reached a stage where trumpites are ashamed enough not say that they are trumpites in a place like this :)
 

Ted Lasso

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Based on history does this end in anything besides a civil war or revolution type event?

Both parties are led by geriatric sycophants whose ultimate motive is simply to maintain an elite wealthy class where it is. Once their traditional political theater format has been broken what's next?
 

KirkDuyt

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I'm not a Trump guy, but I voted for him, think he did an amazing job as president, deserves a lot of respect for not doing it for the money. Also, Hunter Biden!

But I'm definitely not a Trump guy.

I do understand the urge to troll the CE forum. Everyone devours the bait as if it's their last meal :lol:
 

neverdie

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Let’s Stop Pretending America Is a Functioning Democracy
Chris Hedges said:
Anti-politics masquerades as politics. No sooner does one money-drenched election cycle end, the next one begins, perpetuating what Wolin callspolitics without politics.” These elections do not permit citizens to participate in power. The public is allowed to voice opinions to scripted questions, which are repackaged by publicists, pollsters, political consultants and advertisers and fed back to them. Few races, including only 14 percent of congressional districts, are considered competitive. Politicians do not campaign on substantial issues but on skillfully manufactured political personalities and emotionally charged culture wars.
The acceleration of deindustrialization by the 1970s, as I write in America, The Farewell Tour, created a crisis that forced the ruling elites to devise a new political paradigm, as Stuart Hall explains in Policing the Crisis. Trumpeted by a compliant media, this paradigm shifted its focus from the common good to race, crime and law and order. It told those undergoing profound economic and political change that their suffering stemmed not from rampant militarism and corporate greed but from a threat to national integrity. The old consensus that buttressed New Deal programs and the welfare state was attacked as enabling criminal Black youth, “welfare queens” and other alleged social parasites. This opened the door to a faux populism, begun by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, which supposedly championed family values, traditional morality, individual autonomy, law and order, the Christian faith and the return to a mythical past, at least for white Americans. The Democratic Party, especially under Bill Clinton, moved steadily to the right until it became largely indistinguishable from the establishment Republican Party to which it is now allied. Donald Trump, and the 74 million people who voted for him in 2020, were the result.

The militarists, who have created a state within a state and who plunge us into one military debacle after another, consuming half of all discretionary spending, are omnipotent. The corporations and billionaires, which orchestrated a virtual tax boycott and gutted regulation and oversight, are omnipotent. The industrialists who wrote trade deals to profit from unemployment and underemployment of U.S. workers and sweatshop labor overseas are omnipotent. The insurance and pharmaceutical industries that run the healthcare system, whose primary concern is profit not health and who are responsible for 16 percent of the worldwide reported deaths from COVID-19 although we are less than 5 percent of the global population, are omnipotent. The intelligence agencies that carry out wholesale surveillance of the public are omnipotent. The courts that reinterpret laws to strip them of their original meaning to ensure corporate control and excuse corporate crimes, are omnipotent. The courts gave us Citizens United, for example, which permits unlimited corporate financing of elections by claiming it upholds the right to petition the government and is a form of free speech.

Politics is spectacle, a tawdry carnival act where the constant jockeying for power by the ruling class dominates the news cycles, as if politics were a race to the Superbowl. The real business of ruling is hidden, carried out by corporate lobbyists who write the legislation, banks that loot the Treasury, the war industry and an oligarchy that determines who gets elected and who does not. It is impossible to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs, the fossil fuel industry or Raytheon, no matter which party is in office.

The moment any segment of the population, left or right, refuses to participate in this illusion, the face of inverted totalitarianism resembles the face of classical totalitarianism, as Julian Assange is experiencing.

Our corporate overlords and militarists prefer the decorum of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. But they worked closely with Donald Trump and are willing to do so again. What they will not allow are reformers such as Bernie Sanders, who might challenge, however tepidly, their obscene accumulation of wealth and power. This inability to reform, to restore democratic participation and address social inequality, means the inevitable death of the republic. Biden and the Democrats rail against the cultish Republican Party and their threat to democracy, but they too are the problem.
full article https://scheerpost.com/2022/09/05/c...retending-america-is-a-functioning-democracy/
 

KirkDuyt

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Great article. Especially the fact that politics is more a popularity contest or "race to the superbowl" is something that echo's through democracies around the world. We have it far less bad regarding social services and the gap between rich and poor here, but here too, politicians are far more invested in their image and making sure people vote for them than they are in actually bringing about positive change.
 

neverdie

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The US has a ruling class and Americans must stand up to it
Bernie Sanders said:
Let’s be clear. The most important economic and political issues facing this country are the extraordinary levels of income and wealth inequality, the rapidly growing concentration of ownership, the long-term decline of the American middle class and the evolution of this country into oligarchy.

We know how important these issues are because our ruling class works overtime to prevent them from being seriously discussed. They are barely mentioned in the halls of Congress, where most members are dependent on the campaign contributions of the wealthy and their Super Pacs. They are not much discussed in the corporate media, in which a handful of conglomerates determine what we see, hear and discuss.

So what’s going on?

We now have more income and wealth inequality than at any time in the last hundred years. In the year 2022, three multibillionaires own more wealth than the bottom half of American society – 160 million Americans. Today, 45% of all new income goes to the top 1%, and CEOs of large corporations make a record-breaking 350 times what their workers earn.

Meanwhile, as the very rich become much richer, working families continue to struggle. Unbelievably, despite huge increases in worker productivity, wages (accounting for real inflation) are lower today than they were almost 50 years ago. When I was a kid growing up, most families were able to be supported by one breadwinner. Now an overwhelming majority of households need two paychecks to survive.

Today, half of our people live paycheck to paycheck and millions struggle on starvation wages. Despite a lifetime of work, half of older Americans have no savings and no idea how they will ever be able to retire with dignity, while 55% of seniors are trying to survive on an income of less than $25,000 a year.

Since 1975, there has been a massive redistribution of wealth in America that has gone in exactly the wrong direction. Over the past 47 years, according to the Rand Corporation, $50tn in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90% of American society to the top 1%, primarily because a growing percentage of corporate profits has been flowing into the stock portfolios of the wealthy and the powerful.

During this terrible pandemic, when thousands of essential workers died doing their jobs, some 700 billionaires in America became nearly $2tn richer. Today, while the working class falls further behind, multibillionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson are off taking joyrides on rocket ships to outer space, buying $500m super-yachts and living in mansions with 25 bathrooms.

Disgracefully, we now have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any developed nation on Earth and millions of kids, disproportionately Black and brown, face food insecurity. While psychologists tell us that the first four years are the most important for human development, our childcare system is largely dysfunctional – with an inadequate number of slots, outrageously high costs and pathetically low wages for staff. We remain the only major country without paid family and medical leave.
full article https://www.theguardian.com/comment...uling-class-and-americans-must-stand-up-to-it

of course it isn't just america. we are living in an era of neo-feudalism. past time for feudal revolt imo. bear in mind that the rand corporation is to socialism what karl marx is to capitalism. the evidence continues to build and build, as if the case weren't already clear, and yet where's the action? there is some action taking place. i see debt solidarity groups, labor activists, and union support at near all time highs even if participation still lags behind, not unrelated to union busting activities carried out by feudal overlords and supported by government.

so many states now have underclasses. and these underclasses often comprise 50% of an entire nation. this is absurd. you don't need to aspire to marxist revolution to know that things need to change and wealth must be redistributed. this could go in any of a dozen ce threads but as it's sanders i'll put it here. i would suggest it's time to move beyond party politics and obsessions with personality cults, those you both love and love to hate, and move into some actual action. otherwise, what is the proximate point of all this?
 

R'hllor

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Declared pandemic as over, guess many, covid included didnt get that memo.