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[gamecock stock]

I would be interested in what you consider extreme about making America great again.

Jacque, America has always been great in my lifetime. And I think we are about the same age. I could go into detail to answer your question. But, what's the point? I have already mentioned the names of Republican politicians and conservative journalists who have disassociated themselves from Trump's party. At the top of my head Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, Liz Cheney, David French, Jennifer Rubin, John Kasich, Michael Steele, Charlie Sykes, etc. These are former Governors, Senators, Representatives, journalists, a former head of the national Republican party. They all belonged to the Republican party prior to Trump. Why have they disassociated themselves?

Ha.

But I agree on the DSA and 2028. 2032 is another matter entirely.

I read some random article (fwiw) about the youth swing to Trump due to frustration. Then they got behind Mamdami for the same reason.

Same group of voters, just flailing at this point due to frustration. These are the voters that concern me, because they'll see the DSA and say "why not?". Then we can get real unrecoverable damage done.

The fact is that BOTH parties are failing us. Most of these politicians, all they care about is getting re-elected. It's not going to change without serious reforms. It would be nice if there was a viable 3rd party. But I suspect that both parties work quietly together behind the scenes to stop that.

 

[gamecock stock]

Guys look at my response to Jacque. BOTH parties are failing us. We badly need reform or a viable 3rd party.

 

[Lurker123]

I have no idea why you included the idea of a "drag queen go kart race" into such a discussion.

First, I don't know why such a thing scares you so much. I think that sounds damn fun. Second, I don't know why right wingers immediately go to "drag queens" on everything as if their life is consumed with drag queen issues.

You literally just answered your own question with the bolded comment. Its brought up because, no matter how much you hate how Trump acts at events, its better then the half naked Trans activists that Biden paraded around the Whitehouse.

Not to mention making Easter Sunday a day of Trans Visibility.

And yes, we know you'd love an event like that.

But you posted another long rambling useless post about how you hate Trump. You realize your TDS doesnt need any further evidence. You've cemented that.

 

[DannyTree1]

Jacque, America has always been great in my lifetime. And I think we are about the same age. I could go into detail to answer your question. But, what's the point?

Could you imagine if Obama or any Democrat in the last 50 years would have had a slogan called "Make America Great Again?"

Even the hint that America wasn't always great and didn't need to be made great again would have caused conservatives and republicans to fill up the reflecting pool with vomit.

I can imagine the responses:

1) We don't need a politician to make America great. America is great because we are America.

2) The arrogance of any politician or government leader saying America needs to be great again is sickening and un-American. We need a smaller government, not a bigger, more powerful one.

3) It's a sick person that suggests America isn't great and hasn't always been great and needs to be rescued.

Trump said it and the same people were like "yeah, damn right"

I still remember Trump going on cable news and answering a question by saying America had done a lot of bad things- answering a question about Putin killing his political opponents. Trump couldn't bring himself to criticize Putin so he answered the question by throwing America under the bus.

His supporters were like "yeah, we've been really bad too so we can't talk about anyone else" - something that if they heard a Democrat or even some Republicans say would cause them to explode in anger.

 

[Lurker123]

Jacque, America has always been great in my lifetime. And I think we are about the same age. I could go into detail to answer your question. But, what's the point? I have already mentioned the names of Republican politicians and conservative journalists who have disassociated themselves from Trump's party. At the top of my head Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, Liz Cheney, David French, Jennifer Rubin, John Kasich, Michael Steele, Charlie Sykes, etc. These are former Governors, Senators, Representatives, journalists, a former head of the national Republican party. They all belonged to the Republican party prior to Trump. Why have they disassociated themselves?

The fact is that BOTH parties are failing us. Most of these politicians, all they care about is getting re-elected. It's not going to change without serious reforms. It would be nice if there was a viable 3rd party. But I suspect that both parties work quietly together behind the scenes to stop that.

I will say one thing Stock. Republicans are supposedly abandoning Trump, but a portion of his cabinet were Dems who felt their party abandoned them. A portion of his voters too.

I really think the divide falls more around globalism/nationalism than we admit. With that divide not falling neatly around political lines.

I watch Maher clips for entertainment on YouTube. The guy is a die hard liberal, and he's mentioned his vote is now up for grabs because of the DSA. Granted, he's Jewish, and the DSA is in bed with antisemitism and Islam.

In short, and in agreement with your other post, there are disgruntled people across the political spectrum. I would love those people to get together, and not just willy nilly throw their hands up and say "give the DSA a chance".

 

[DannyTree1]

Guys look at my response to Jacque. BOTH parties are failing us. We badly need reform or a viable 3rd party.

I guess so- but I hate political parties so much- detest them so as soon as another party comes along- I would detest them too.

I didn't vote in 2024- at all - or 2020, or 2016- for that reason.

 

[Lurker123]

Could you imagine if Obama or any Democrat in the last 50 years would have had a slogan called "Make America Great Again?"

Even the hint that America wasn't always great and didn't need to be made great again would have caused conservatives and republicans to fill up the reflecting pool with vomit.

I can imagine the responses:

1) We don't need a politician to make America great. America is great because we are America.

2) The arrogance of any politician or government leader saying America needs to be great again is sickening and un-American. We need a smaller government, not a bigger, more powerful one.

3) It's a sick person that suggests America isn't great and hasn't always been great and needs to be rescued.

Trump said it and the same people were like "yeah, damn right"

I still remember Trump going on cable news and answering a question by saying America had done a lot of bad things- answering a question about Putin killing his political opponents. Trump couldn't bring himself to criticize Putin so he answered the question by throwing America under the bus.

His supporters were like "yeah, we've been really bad too so we can't talk about anyone else" - something that if they heard a Democrat or even some Republicans say would cause them to explode in anger.

Well, when your previous talking points failed so embarrassingly, might as well just start making **** up. Right?

 

[Lurker123]

I guess so- but I hate political parties so much- detest them so as soon as another party comes along- I would detest them too.

I didn't vote in 2024- at all - or 2020, or 2016- for that reason.

Cute story. But no one believes you hate political parties when you're allowing one to tell you that men can get pregnant. And you're not only begrudgingly swallowing it, but joyfully carrying the flag and arguing for it.

 

[gamecock stock]

I will never understand why political parties can't compromise to solve problems for the good of the country. You will never get 100% of what you want. But getting something is better than nothing,

 

[gamecock stock]

The idiots in Washington should be working TOGETGER on the national debt problem. It reached $40 Trillion this week. It is a ticking time bomb. Rather than compromising, the boys and gals in DC are twiddling their thumbs. Unbelievable.

 

[I4CtheFuture]

My take:

First of all, there is only 1 poll that really matters and that is the NY Times Presidential Approval Rating. - I'm simply offering some perspective here: When Trump was elected the 2nd time, he was only at 42%. - Currently, he's at 38%. My point is that all this talk of his numbers falling off, cratering, etc, are largely overblown. (Of course) - The fact is the man has taken 24/7 shot after shot from the MSM...taken the very best body blows and at least 2 assassination attempts from the left, - got us in a war with Iran, and he's still only down 3-4% from when he was elected.

Shifting gears: It doesn't matter if we have a 2 party system or a 10 party system, or 9 SCOTUS justices, or 15 of them..... none of that matters without accountability to the law.

There is ZERO accountability in DC. - The sad fact is we're past the point of no return. TLDR; or do not want to do the research and follow the money..... Military industrial complex won. Long ago. In Dallas as a matter of fact, imho.

There are many, many, many (D)'s and (R)'s that absolutely, 100% belong in prison.

 

[Lurker123]

I will never understand why political parties can't compromise to solve problems for the good of the country. You will never get 100% of what you want. But getting something is better than nothing,

Couple different viewpoints.

They are actually working together. The fight is a show for tha masses.

Or, the idea of negative campaigning. It gained ground because it was effective. But it requires one upping for the next guy. After a time, you escalate to what we have now. (And the parties tend to like this. You dont have many people crossing over to vote for opposing parties if they are the devil)

How does a Dem compromise with "hitler" who is destroying our country and is an existential threat to democracy?

If you're a republican, how do you compromise with a communist who wants to tear down the country and make it a 3rd world country?

I admit that I am curious as to the next presidential election. The R's are set, trying to tie any Dem candidate to the DSA. But I am wondering where the D's go? How do you escalate from what they've said about and done to Trump?

 

[gamecock stock]

Try

My take:

First of all, there is only 1 poll that really matters and that is the NY Times Presidential Approval Rating. - I'm simply offering some perspective here: When Trump was elected the 2nd time, he was only at 42%. - Currently, he's at 38%. My point is that all this talk of his numbers falling off, cratering, etc, are largely overblown. (Of course) - The fact is the man has taken 24/7 shot after shot from the MSM...taken the very best body blows and at least 2 assassination attempts from the left, - got us in a war with Iran, and he's still only down 3-4% from when he was elected.

Shifting gears: It doesn't matter if we have a 2 party system or a 10 party system, or 9 SCOTUS justices, or 15 of them..... none of that matters without accountability to the law.

There is ZERO accountability in DC. - The sad fact is we're past the point of no return. TLDR; or do not want to do the research and follow the money..... Military industrial complex won. Long ago. In Dallas as a matter of fact, imho.

There are many, many, many (D)'s and (R)'s that absolutely, 100% belong in prison.

Rather than going by one poll, it's better to go by multiple polls. Going by only one poll is never a guarantee of no polling errors nor bias. There is always going to be a poll that is an outlier. That's why it's unwise to go by only one poll. Nate Silver was spot on regarding the 2024 election. He got a multiple number of polls to come up with the averages.

January 21,2025
Trump approval 51.6%
Trump disapproval 40%
+11.6% above water

August 23, 2026
Trump approval 38.1%
Trump disapproval 58%
-19.9% underwater

Yes, Trump's numbers have cratered

If you don't want to believe the polls, just look at how Democrats and Republicans have performed in elections since November 2024. Elections are referendums on the President. Politico did the research and found that Democrats outperformed Harris by an average of 5 points. Harris lost the popular vote by just 1.5%. Politico analyzed 229 state and Federal elections. The Democratic candidates outperformed Harris in 193 of them. In a handful of special elections, they have pulled more than 20 points to the left. "This cycle, Politico says, Democrats have shifted races left in close to 85% of special elections". Politico went on to say that "The consistent progress for Democrats has come across red and blue districts". Politico went on to say that "Most were in districts where Trump beat Harris. In state legislative contests that overlapped with Congressional districts, the Democratic candidate outperformed Harris by double digits.

Most recently, last week, the Democratic candidate won a state House seat in Pennsylvania held by Republicans since 1999. Trump won that area by 18 points in 2024, The Democrats have flipped at least 12 seats since Trump returned to the White House.

This is NOT meant to make any predictions about the midterms. As they say in investing: past results are no guarantees of future results.

 

[Psycock]

Michelle Obama was the highest profile person I can remember that dissed America so openly. If you recall, she said she finally could feel proud of the country after Barack won. He could have been the great uniter but was not. Biden and subsequent Dems have taken the anti-American rhetoric to another level. Letting in millions of unvetted mostly males from other countries in basically an invasion has cost this country - and yes us taxpayers - billions of dollars. But a couple of years before that you couldn`t sniff getting into the county without your Covid card. Thank you Dr. Fauci, I mean, "the science." Lying SOB is the person primarily responsible for Covid getting out of the lab from his "gain of function" labwork, which sounds akin to what Dr. Frankenstein were doing. People were kicked out of the military, lost their jobs, mocked(Aaron Rodgers, DJokovic, etc.) but letting in 10-20 million people, who brought in God-knows how many undetected diseases, not to mention crime(not all of course but one rapist, one murderer let in was too many) and Dems/mainstream media mostly gave Biden-Harris-Mayorkis a pass. Disgraceful. Trump inherited a mess & bless him for trying to fix it. The Dems and a few RINOs won`t even pass the Save America Act - the only reasons to not support it are that you want illegals to be able to vote (they will be able to in some states that gave them drivers licenses), also it leads the door open for cheating. I think we know the real reasons unless you have your head buried in the sand or somewhere else. I haven`t lost a bit of faith in DJT. Iran is tougher than most people, including me, thought it would be but trying to fix that is better than what Obama & Biden tried to do, i.e. appease them. Inflation is still sticky but overall the economy is better that would is reported in the media. And Jim Cramer is also worried about the impact of the data center pushback - I think he knows a thing or two about what the economy and the country need - he does mention guidelines need to be there & I think that is a reasonable approach.

 

[DannyTree1]

I will never understand why political parties can't compromise to solve problems for the good of the country. You will never get 100% of what you want. But getting something is better than nothing,

I do not know. It's probably complicated.

My guess is that gerrymandering across the country has a role- that's gerrymandering by both parties- where the elected reps are picking their voters more than the voters are picking them. It's getting worse.

IN the recent SC Senate primary, Lindsey's sister got less than 4% of registered voters in South Carolina. Norman got less than 3%

That's all it took to make the run-off.

Now, that's a senate race and gerrymandering doesn't apply in that race

In the SC house primaries earlier this year, you had some current reps winning re-election by winning less than 4% of the registered vote in their districts- and many of them have no opposition in November.

All those politicians have to do in some cases is convince a few thousand or a few hundred people to support them and they can't lose. Why compromise if you have no incentive to ever do so?

 

[DannyTree1]

My take:

First of all, there is only 1 poll that really matters and that is the NY Times Presidential Approval Rating.

I've never heard anyone claim the only poll that matters is the NY Times approval rating poll- especially Trump supporters. I mean, it's almost laughable that any trump supporter would claim the Times poll is the only poll that matters.

Like Gamecock Stock, I think if any of them matter- it's the grouped polls that combine a number of polls into an average.

I don't think it's up for debate that Trump's approval has tanked. Even media friendly groups for Trump have admitted that. If it was just down a small bit, they wouldn't be talking like that. Whatever data they are looking at has them talking about how he needs to be focused on affordability to improve his numbers.

 

[DannyTree1]

Michelle Obama was the highest profile person I can remember that dissed America so openly. If you recall, she said she finally could feel proud of the country after Barack won.

I think Donald Trump, when he was President, saying America is not innocent when he refused to ridicule Putin in an interview and

In 2015, when he was running for president, he said America does a lot of killing too- in another interview where he refused to criticize Putin.

I think Trump saying "I like people that weren't captured" when talking about John McCain's service as a POW in Vietnam

are all worse than anything a first lady could say.

 

[DannyTree1]

The Dems and a few RINOs won`t even pass the Save America Act - the only reasons to not support it are that you want illegals to be able to vote (they will be able to in some states that gave them drivers licenses), also it leads the door open for cheating. I think we know the real reasons unless you have your head buried in the sand or somewhere else. I haven`t lost a bit of faith in DJT.

I disagree with most everything in what appears to be a talk radio or cable entertainment news screed. (Try some paragraphs- just a suggestion)

I am glad the SAVE act won't pass.

The federal government should stay the hell out of elections. States run elections, not the federal government. That's the way it should be- and is.

Having a driver's license doesn't mean one is registered to vote. I have no issue with every state requiring an ID but having any type of ID doesn't mean one is registered.

I don't think anyone thought you'd lost any faith in Trump. I don't think anyone thinks it would be possible for you to lose faith in Donald Trump. LOL That's the way it is with Trumpers.

On the other hand, one of our many differences- I don't have faith in any politician- and never would have faith in any politician. If I ever had faith in one, I would admit myself to a hospital for observation because if I didn't, my wife would. She knows how I feel about all of them.

 

[I4CtheFuture]

I disagree with most everything in what appears to be a talk radio or cable entertainment news screed. (Try some paragraphs- just a suggestion)

I am glad the SAVE act won't pass.

The federal government should stay the hell out of elections. States run elections, not the federal government. That's the way it should be- and is.

Having a driver's license doesn't mean one is registered to vote. I have no issue with every state requiring an ID but having any type of ID doesn't mean one is registered.

I don't think anyone thought you'd lost any faith in Trump. I don't think anyone thinks it would be possible for you to lose faith in Donald Trump. LOL That's the way it is with Trumpers.

On the other hand, one of our many differences- I don't have faith in any politician- and never would have faith in any politician. If I ever had faith in one, I would admit myself to a hospital for observation because if I didn't, my wife would. She knows how I feel about all of them.

Would it matter if I told you that I don't particularly care for Trump but I voted for him because of SCOTUS. - He was a means to an end for me, and I'm thrilled with the results.

 

[Lurker123]

I think Donald Trump, when he was President, saying America is not innocent when he refused to ridicule Putin in an interview and

In 2015, when he was running for president, he said America does a lot of killing too- in another interview where he refused to criticize Putin.

I think Trump saying "I like people that weren't captured" when talking about John McCain's service as a POW in Vietnam

are all worse than anything a first lady could say.

Congratulations. I honestly did not think you could sink lower in my estimation.

You have proven me wrong.

 

[Lurker123]

I am glad the SAVE act won't pass.

Of course you are. It benefits your party to have as little control over elections as possible.

Having a driver's license doesn't mean one is registered to vote.

You really should look this stuff up. You dont come across well at all blabbering obvious falsehoods.

And as far as admitting yourself to a hospital? Saying that men can get pregnant should be reason enough for that.

 

[Lurker123]

Would it matter if I told you that I don't particularly care for Trump but I voted for him because of SCOTUS. - He was a means to an end for me, and I'm thrilled with the results.

Well that would ruin his current rant that anyone who supports Trump is 100% behind him and will never question him. We've had plenty of threads discussing just the opposite, but reality doesn't seem to have much impact on his posts.

So, he's wrong again and will move on to the next DNC talking point. Life as usual on this board.

 

[PrestonyteParrot]

Of course you are. It benefits your party to have as little control over elections as possible.



You really should look this stuff up. You dont come across well at all blabbering obvious falsehoods.

And as far as admitting yourself to a hospital? Saying that men can get pregnant should be reason enough for that.

 

[DannyTree1]

Would it matter if I told you that I don't particularly care for Trump but I voted for him because of SCOTUS. - He was a means to an end for me, and I'm thrilled with the results.

I don't know why it would matter either way.

I don't even know what "don't particularly care for" even means when someone supports almost every single thing anyone does- or like many elected Republicans do - refuse to say anything negative or in disagreement out of fear- even when they strongly disagree.

When I hear SCOTUS mentioned I do wonder if the people who say that will think the same thing when the next Democrat president takes advantage of many of those SCOTUS rulings that have greatly expanded presidential power. My guess is many of those folks will suddenly and miraculously have a problem with an "unrestrained executive" via SCOTUS rulings.

 

[Psycock]

If you are against the "Save America Act," which is what it means, that`s all I need to know. Sorry to see that you are in favor of very likely potential fraud and cheating in the most important thing an American citizen(well use to be only for us) can do. You do know some of the blue states give illegals a drivers license, don`t you. And some of the states are only requiring a drivers license to vote - no proof of citizenship. Gee what could go wrong with that. They found, what, 6,600 illegals registered to vote in New Jersey? Even if only a few vote(one of the favorite Dem talking points), a few can make the difference in an election. Guess you`re ok with some elections counting weeks, even months, to be decided. Somehow most states can get the decisions the same night. No fraud or abuse with extending out how long it takes, I`m sure. Amazing how many races seem to be basically decided when you go to bed then you wake up the next morning and somehow the other one pulled ahead and won. Can`t think of any cases when the Republicans did that, seems like it is always the Dems that end up somehow rallying to win.

 

[DannyTree1]

This is why Trump started the "socialist" crap. It's desperation. Our Founding Fathers purposively put states in charge of elections because they feared the executive becoming dictatorial (like King George). If the socialist trick does not work, I can see Trump calling a "national emergency", which will be a dangerous road to go down to. Trump needs to do what every President has done: run on his record and let the chips fall where they may.

yes- obviously.

If Trump calls for a national emergency, that will make it easy for the next Democrat president to call for one over some issue and cite the "Trump precedent"

Trump has never had any personal or professional restraint. He pushes and pushes but never has figured out that what he pushes- others will use the same gameplan to push backwards. It always swings back the other direction.

 

[DannyTree1]

If you are against the "Save America Act," which is what it means, that`s all I need to know. Sorry to see that you are in favor of very likely potential fraud and cheating in the most important thing an American citizen(well use to be only for us) can do. Guess you`re ok with some elections counting weeks, even months, to be decided.

Somehow most states can get the decisions the same night. No fraud or abuse with extending out how long it takes, I`m sure. Amazing how many races seem to be basically decided when you go to bed then you wake up the next morning and somehow the other one pulled ahead and won. Can`t think of any cases when the Republicans did that, seems like it is always the Dems that end up somehow rallying to win.

Being against the "Save" act doesn't mean one is for fraud. That is illogical. There are republicans against it too and they aren't for fraud either.

We've never had the "save" act before. Are you saying Trump won because of fraud? He's not a legitimate president? No republicans are legitimate winners in Congress? None of them won their seats with a Save Act in place. There are republicans in Congress that won in states that do not have voter ID. Are you saying they won via fraud?

if you are convinced that cheating is rampant and the 'save" act will fix all of that, I can't debate illogical thoughts like that. It's a waste of time to talk about it.

I am for them taking as long as they need to get an accurate result. If that takes a week or more, I am fine with that - perfectly fine. If it takes more than a month, I would be supporting that county or precinct to reform their system so it doesn't take over a month but I would never put the federal government in charge of it.

Some states get results the same night because they have different procedures. That's fine. States run elections and can run them as they see fit. I have no issue with that.

Elections aren't decided when you go to bed and when you wake up someone else won. In those cases, the elections weren't decided. We don't base election results on when people go to bed. That would be stupid.

In some states, it takes longer to count some areas than others. When a larger city has as many voting precincts as the entire state of South Carolina, those results aren't going to come in as fast as some other places. That's common sense.

That you can't think of any is irrelevant. We don't operate on what you can remember. That wouldn't work too well.

I can think of two right off the bat. I am sure there are many, many more, especially at the state and local level.

Republican Jim Justice (West Virginia) – Going into the night, Justice was trailing in his bid to replace retiring Sen. Joe Manchin. However, by the next morning he was declared the winner.

Republican Bernie Moreno (Ohio) – Moreno was trailing Sen. Sherrod Brown in the Ohio Senate race late at night on election night only to be declared the winner the next morning.

 

[Tngamecock]

It's tough, and for good reason, to get intelligent and competent people to sign up for a job when many in the public have an anti-law enforcement attitude along with an unbalanced judicial system who think this stance will not impact them personally, until it does! Laws were written to be enforced and if you don't like them, work to have them changed, but don't just ignore them.

You mean you won’t do that job for 40k per year. Hard to believe we’re not lining up for the abuse from the criminal, public and judiciary

 

[Lurker123]

Well that would ruin his current rant that anyone who supports Trump is 100% behind him and will never question him. We've had plenty of threads discussing just the opposite, but reality doesn't seem to have much impact on his posts.

So, he's wrong again and will move on to the next DNC talking point. Life as usual on this board.

Well, I was wrong. He can be told something in clear print, ignore it, and still assign a false opinion to someone so that he has something to cry about.

 

[Lurker123]

yes- obviously.

If Trump calls for a national emergency, that will make it easy for the next Democrat president to call for one over some issue and cite the "Trump precedent"

You really started following politics after Trump took office, didn't you?

It would do you good to do a little research and look into the 40+ presidents we've had before Trump.

I'll give you a hint, calling something a national emergency is not new. Precedent setting has been happening for about 250 years with our government.

These may be new concepts to you, but not to people with memories longer than the Trump administration.

 

[Lurker123]

The federal government should stay the hell out of elections.

Forgot this gem. The federal govt is already involved in elections and already has laws about participation. Arguing that you dont want the federal govt involved shows you are actually unaware of what is going on.

You would know this if you bothered to do any research other than following your party's talking points.

 

[Piscis]

I heard Trump refer to the military when he was asked about bonds. I don't think anyone had any idea what he was talking about, including him. Very odd statement.

I agree. His statement made no sense at all.

 

[I4CtheFuture]

I don't know why it would matter either way.

I don't even know what "don't particularly care for" even means when someone supports almost every single thing anyone does- or like many elected Republicans do - refuse to say anything negative or in disagreement out of fear- even when they strongly disagree.

When I hear SCOTUS mentioned I do wonder if the people who say that will think the same thing when the next Democrat president takes advantage of many of those SCOTUS rulings that have greatly expanded presidential power. My guess is many of those folks will suddenly and miraculously have a problem with an "unrestrained executive" via SCOTUS rulings.

We'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully, we'll never have another democrat as POTUS.

But in the meantime, RE: SCOTUS - Whatever liberals want = automatic "No." - and I'm quite happy with the current arrangement.

Sneak peak for what's coming from SCOTUS: - AR-15's will be ruled perfectly legal in every state, city, and municipality. - Inanimate objects are not dangerous. - Laws of physics. Common sense. Reality.

 

[atl-cock]

Yes, but Trump has taken it to the extreme, significantly more than any predecessor. I think that attacks that one side or another is "socialist" really needs to stop. Social Security and Medicare are "socialist" programs. Do we want to get rid of them? I don't think either side wants to (though there are some nut cases who will answer in the affirmative). We have had socialism in this country longer than I have been alive. But I guarantee you there will be ads this Fall making socialist accusations. Then the other side will counter making socialist accusations. Lets be honest, Trump started with the socialist accusations. He needs to stop. If he doesn't, there will be counter accusations. What should be focused on is what will make the lives of people better. I learned a long time ago that the number one priority of people when going to the voting booth is their pocketbooks/wallets.

If we were to discontinue Social Security, it would have to be done gradually. Not that I am advocating a discontinuance, just stating my opinion on the best way to discontinue it.

 

[atl-cock]

I`m all for as many bodycams as law enforcement can obtain. And to say Trump started any dialogue about socialisists/socialism is laughable. The man trying to do so much for this country - going strong at 80 yrs. old when he didn`t need the job - being called a "dictator," "Fascist," on and on while they would love to have one-party rule, no checks and balances(just listen to them wanting to make the Supreme Court packed so they would always vote one way), etc. A lot of the left admits to embracing socialism/communism, which has led to death, famine, poverty despite the shiny prizes they lie about will happen. Can you say "Democratic Socialists of America," which are really socialists that are supposedly Democrats. And now Schumer, etc., are embracing El Sayed, who hates America, Jews, etc. What a freaking joke! They call it their "Big Tent," which is a load of crap. They are so power hungry they will sell their souls to the devil if it means retaining power. Enjoy the freedoms you have now because if the Dems ever get control of the House, Senate and Presidency it will be all over for freedom in this country as we know it. Exaggeration? Just look at some of the countries in Europe headed that way(that`s what happens when you let anyone in your country that wants to come - many want to change the country they go to, instead of adopting the host country`s culture) and the past failures of socialism/communism in Cuba, Venezuela, China, Russia, etc. These leftists are so insane some of them recently celebrated Fidel Castro`s 100th birthday and said Marco Rubio was guilty of genocide there. I guess if you can believe America deserved 9/11, that Israel deserved 10/7, that Charlie Kirk deserved to die and that Luigi Mangione is some type of hero then you can believe anything.

I agree with you re: bodycams. But Trump is power hungry and displays an oversized ego.

My independent stand is of moderation. I disapprove of extremism from both left and right. America did not deserve 9/11, Israel did not deserve 10/07, and even though I did not hold both Charlie Kirk and George Floyd in anything close to high regard, neither deserved to die.

 

[atl-cock]

I would be interested in what you consider extreme about making America great again.

The Trump regime has done just the opposite. How is picking a fight with Canada over tariffs making America great?

 

[atl-cock]

Our views are so different so it's hard to discuss with someone

I see Trump as a self serving, serial liar. I always have, even before he was in politics. I think a little of that has to do with his inability to be humble about anything and make himself the center of attention at most anything he does. I also see him as a mostly mean-spirited person in many respects- one that seeks to damage other people that don't agree with him if he can.

I think if Trump was just someone you knew like a coworker or neighbor and acted like he does with the arrogance and turning even solemn events into political speeches with insults thrown in, the people that say they like him would hate his guts and avoid him.

That's not to say everything he does is bad. Even some of the worst politicians do the right thing sometimes. I felt that way about Bill Clinton. I couldn't stand him- never voted for him, made fun of him often- but even I admitted he did some things right. The Indy car event is not a bad thing. I'm not interested in it and haven't paid it any attention but it's not a bad thing.

The 250 celebrations would have taken place no matter who was president- and they would have been much less focused on who the President is, compared to these events with Trump involved. After all, Congress created a committee - a bipartisan one that was approved by Congress to lead the 250 events- and Trump largely sidelined it in favor of his own group that was more about him.

No other president, republican or democrat, would have been on stage trying to get his/her picture taken with the winning World Cup team when it was time for the team picture like Trump did. (Span ended up editing Trump out of their official picture because he wouldn't leave the stage). Anyone else would have realized that wasn't proper and it was the team's time to shine with their team, not with a politician horning in. But that's Trump. He always has to make it about himself.

I have no idea why you included the idea of a "drag queen go kart race" into such a discussion.

First, I don't know why such a thing scares you so much. I think that sounds damn fun. Second, I don't know why right wingers immediately go to "drag queens" on everything as if their life is consumed with drag queen issues. But I admit, that would be fun. (FWIW- I am close with 2 trans people- and none of us have ever attended a drag queen anything- but maybe we should- LOL).

As an independent, I do not object to Trump because of his political party affiliation. I object to his arrogance. And yes, he's done a few good things, e.g., his support of Israel, our only true ally in the Middle East. But how much of that is tied to Netanyahu?

 

[atl-cock]

Jacque, America has always been great in my lifetime. And I think we are about the same age. I could go into detail to answer your question. But, what's the point? I have already mentioned the names of Republican politicians and conservative journalists who have disassociated themselves from Trump's party. At the top of my head Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, Liz Cheney, David French, Jennifer Rubin, John Kasich, Michael Steele, Charlie Sykes, etc. These are former Governors, Senators, Representatives, journalists, a former head of the national Republican party. They all belonged to the Republican party prior to Trump. Why have they disassociated themselves?

The fact is that BOTH parties are failing us. Most of these politicians, all they care about is getting re-elected. It's not going to change without serious reforms. It would be nice if there was a viable 3rd party. But I suspect that both parties work quietly together behind the scenes to stop that.

In principle, I like the approach of the Libertarian party. But it would take an educated, responsible citizenry for that to work, and we are far from that.

 

[I4CtheFuture]

The Trump regime has done just the opposite. How is picking a fight with Canada over tariffs making America great?

Your first sentence is an opinion, not fact.

SCOTUS is the real hero here, destroying long standing liberal "cornerstones of policy," one ruling at a time. Dems suffered another defeat at SCOTUS just yesterday.

It is wonderfully fascinating to me that liberals will say, no, scream.... "No one is above the law!" (Except for them of course when they don't like a ruling on the law) - When a ruling doesn't go the lefts way, they'll just burn your city down, rip statues and artwork down that THEY DISAGREE WITH (literal Fascism, btw.....see it?? - I'm betting you don't)

Extremism all the time is not good, but every now and then, just like with petulant children that won't listen, or obey, a little extremism is necessary to keep things centered in the end.

What we're experiencing now is a good dose of liberals learning what the word "No" means. By force if necessary. Liberals don't like that, so they cry about everything. Oh well.

 

[atl-cock]

Forgot this gem. The federal govt is already involved in elections and already has laws about participation. Arguing that you dont want the federal govt involved shows you are actually unaware of what is going on.

You would know this if you bothered to do any research other than following your party's talking points.

Other than Constitutional Amendments, the Feds do need to stay out and not interfere with elections.