One party caters a little bit, the other is held hostage. Republicans couldn't get behind clapping for Democracy last night. For our system to function we need 2 parties committed to operating under the same rules, that's no longer the case. Acting like both parties are at fault or are equally to blame is a cheap copout or simply naivete.
the democrats are terribly uninspiring and generally beholden to corporate interests and self-preservation over all else but to put them in the same stratosphere as the modern republican party is way off the mark
So which is worse? BLM/Antifa destructive riots in numerous cities or Proud Boys led invasion of the Capital? An ultra egotist or a senile hand puppet? Difficult decisions for me.
lolwut? Republicans actually do cater to their most extreme elements, sometimes begrudgingly (hello Speaker McCarthy), while dems generally play the role of a bunch of centrist cowards who just need you vote a little harder this time so that they can actually start governing. ********, I wish dems actually catered to anything close to the extreme left, nationally or locally, only a few even bother to pay lip service to it. Give me a national dem pushing hard for UBI, single-payer healthcare, housing for all, defunding ICE, etc over this joke of a party that couldn’t do better than Obamacare when they had a ********ing supermajority. Also, the “major national problems” you listed, lol. Immigration! Oh no! People are fleeing the countries we’ve meddled with and coming to the place that’s put itself out to the world as the beacon of freedom where anyone can make it if you work hard enough - what a major national problem. Lol. Stg, I can’t go outside without being confronted by this MAJOR national problem, the other day I think I saw a Venezuelan on the Blue Line. What’s next?!? If only these politicians did something about this major problem. Both parties suck, but it’s not because they cater to their extremes.
Which is worse, mass protests against a history of violent discrimination that goes back to the founding of our country, or a bunch of insurrectionists trying to actually overthrow the government because a giant pissbaby lost an election? Yeah, tough one there.
substituting "BLM/antifa" for the Democrats and "Proud Boys" for the Republicans is either facile or lazy
Synopsis of recent postings ( including mine) - “ Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up!” Time to do something more productive, like wait months for the Fire to acquire a DP striker. Bye.
This is interesting. I am not going to name call or resort to vitriol, but I want to explore these comments. I am curious as to how, exactly, Democrats "cater the most extreme elements?" I do not see much talk about removing the standing military, banning all guns in private hands, massive "welfare" state, or even government paid Health Care for All, housing as a "right," 93% tax rates for the rich (which we had under Republican presidents), etc. Frankly, I am struggling to even identify the "extreme elements" of the Democratic Party. Sen. Bernie Sanders? Reps. Omar and Ocasio-Cortez? This is three years old, but it breaks down what 538 see as the "wings" of the Democratic Party. Frankly, none are really "extreme elements." https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-six-wings-of-the-democratic-party/ On the other hand, just look at Rick Scott's 2022 "Rescue America Plan" and you can see the catering to the extreme on the right by the Republicans, as official Republican policy statements. https://rescueamerica.com/12-point-plan/ Just consider Point 1 and Point 9: 1. We will inspire patriotism and stop teaching the revisionist history of the radical left; our kids will learn about the wisdom of the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the founding fathers. Public schools will focus on the 3 R’s, not indoctrinate children with critical race theory or any other political ideology. 9. Men and women are biologically different, “male and female He created them.” Modern technology has confirmed that abortion takes a human life. Facts are facts, the earth is round, the sun is hot, there are two genders, and abortion stops a beating heart. To say otherwise is to deny science. One IS indoctrination (not that this is essentially a bad thing) and ideology. Nine IS NOT dealing with facts or science, but an explicit reference to god. I won't bother discussing the rest, lest this already too long post turn into a term paper. Major 'national problems' such as crime? Crime is down significantly all over the nation. It is down 74% from 1993 to 2019, according to Pew Research. Yes, it is still too high and, yes, there are significant work to do, like addressing the root cause of most crime-poverty, health issues and lack of opportunity. You fall into exactly what the Pew Research study states as "How do Americans perceive crime in their country?" The perception (perpetuated by the media) is that crime is up, when it is way down. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/20/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/ Immigration? Sure, there is a problem with immigration, there is not enough of it. We need a comprehensive plan to encourage skilled labor immigration; unskilled legal immigration and, most importantly, humanly treat refugees from various parts of the world. Have an easy start by providing a path to citizenship for the millions who are here, are being productive (working hard, paying taxes, going to school, raising families, etc.) and just want what we all take for granted. Wasteful spending and Government corruption? I don't think you will find anyone one, on either side of the aisle, who disagrees about that. However, we have to define "wasteful" spending. I think a start would be limiting governmental spending overruns. As for government corruption, again, you would have to define it. I would start there by saying politicians cannot personally profit from the decisions they make or from their profession (i.e., no buying/selling stock based on the actions they are taking, no trips/ big ticket items from lobbyists, and no lobbying after their time of service has ended). Second, public funding, and only public funding, on elections. No PACs, no 'dark money,' no $1,000 a plate fundraising dinners, and no 'self-financing' of elections.
Proud Boys invasion of the Capitol, but a factor of about 10,000,000 at least, for reasons explained above by @harrylee773 . Please see my immediate past post. YOU are the one stating “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up!” as I demonstrated. Especially as your mind concerns "Crime" and the Invasion of the Capitol. Admittedly, I wrote my long post about an hour ago, right after your post, but I had to drop my partner off at work and head to my office, so there were a series of posts in between that address many of my points.
Well, we DO need a replacement for Duran. You are still 19 years old, right? However, based on our current play and recent history with highly paid strikers, a "nose for the goal" is precisely the wrong criterion to be signed. Ezra won't have any of that!
I have had a few nights of drinking with him were Bunge was "practicing cheerfully!" Could have been the alcohol, though.
I thought the Fire were past the era of “practicing cheerfully”, cheap and absentee ownership, Shady shaking up the MLS world with his knowledge of MLS rules, and winning achievements like wooden spoons and obtaining large amounts of “You suck” GAM. When does the season start? Where are the goals coming from?
[QUOTE="schroncar, post: 41171990, Definitely not a racist.[/QUOTE] Please, please, please dear "white" people, get past saying/thinking "I'm not racist". We born into a society that had racism baked into over one hundred years before it stopped being a British colony. None of us are capable of not having some level of jacked up reasoning because we have been swimming in it our entire lives. Being racist is not a binary, you are or you're not thing. Work to lose thinking of the issue in that way. I was born into a society with deep, jacked up issues concerning race and it has influenced me. you and every last Euro-American in negative ways. "White" people made this mess, (NO not us, we just inherited it) and only "White" people can "fix" it. It's a white illness, passed down through the collective family, that makes everyone around us sick. Take for granted you have some, hopefully small, level of jacked-up-ness and work to figure out what you can do to lessen it, and explain this to others. As soon as someone says/thinks "I'm not racist" they automatically lay out of being proactive to do anything about it because, well, they are feeling that it is not their problem and those jacked up people over there need to fix themselves. Deciding where to draw the line on whether something/one is racist is as subjective an exercise as there is. Just take for granted you have work to do and hold those around you to account at the same level you hold yourself to. The very thought of "I'm not racist" serves only to prop up the illness. I am now climbing off of my soapbox.
White people seem to have a hard time with the fact that they can be not racist but still do or say something that is racist. When we say “I’m not racist” we’re trying to defend our belief systems and actions without having to address them or their repercussions.
To steal a line from the book Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life by Barbara J. Fields and Karen E. Fields that has stuck with me ever since I read it years ago “racism does not require a racist”. I wish more of the defensive “I’m not racist” white people took more time to understand that than they do talking about how not racist they are.
Is anyone in Chicago actually stupid enough to think we need a mayor willing to put more cops on the streets?