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Republicans tried to destroy America on Jan 6 and you celebrate them.

To be fair, everyone is in a bubble to varying extents. I tend to think a lot of the focus and discussion on bubbles tends to be pointed at the left, of course (recall the Peggy Noonan excerpt shared a few weeks ago) but there absolutely are right-wing bubbles as well.... Either way, I get that the general lean of the board is what it is and that it's not the most diverse set of opinions out there, especially since November 2016. And yeah, we all need to do a little more to be civil in discussion (something I have really tried working on, especially in this new iteration of the board). I guess my question is, when someone comes onto this board and constantly just talks about how dumb everyone else is and how they don't like America and how they are willing to "sacrifice their country" all because they simply hold a different perspective, should it be that big of a surprise that they don't exactly win back a lot of respect in the process? As I keep saying, it's a two-way street... I'll talk with anyone, but after about the 80th time of being told how terrible and dumb you are and how you hate America because of your views, it starts seeming pretty pointless to engage.

I used to be a right wing, well libertarian I guess, troll around these parts and in my daily life back from 2009 when I first joined the old board through around 2013ish. I had many of the same talking points as posters like Archie and Cartman do today and folks like BallMich had several years back. I used to get into troll fights and arguments with Fife, Couga, MTU, G2, and others. Back in my libertarians days I was a collection of greatest hits talking points: from owning progressives and liberals, to government action = socialism, to socialism = scary, to Democrats and Obama are driving us towards socialism, to the private sector could do it better, to End the Fed, and on. When it snowed, I' be the first one out there to take a picture outside and post LOL @ Global Warming. I had read all the requisite right wing and libertarian books, websites and blogs at the time: Reason Magazine, National Review, Weekly Standard, Mises Institute, Cato, Heartland, etc. I had read every Milton Friedman book and watched every YouTube video ever that featured him. I had the Fox News and right wing talking points about the left down so pat I could recite them in my sleep. I remember fierce debates on this board about the GM and Chrysler bailouts. I remember fighting with MTU and G2 about Amtrak being a total failure in a thread I had created to show the world proof that Amtrak meant that government entities were all destined to fail, never mind the fact that Amtrak has failed because of stagnation and purposeful disinvestment in it as a rail system. I remember one time back in 2012ish I got into an argument with Fife over Barak Obama's and then Secretary of State Clinton's use of drones as a means to fight external and domestic terrorism and my single word response to Fife was to simply type "DROWNED" in all caps. I debated purely off emotion and made reactionary responses that fit my narrative and nothing more. Now, some may say I still do that (much respect to the Buddha), but I've tried to grow and mature beyond being that type of person here and in my daily life. I've tried to be thoughtful and willing to accept facts and research that live outside my personal narratives. When everything that happened with my dad happened in 2012 I gave the right win echo chamber a break and purposefully challenged myself to step outside the bubble and broaden my horizons. I forced myself to start watching different news channels, getting news and opinion from different online websites, reading different books and research. I still respect a guy like Ron Paul and still agree with many of his ideas on a range of issues. I don't worship him, nor do I worship any one particular ideology or politician, not even ole Bernie Sanders or EDub. Don't get me wrong, I think Sanders, Warren, and the like have the best ideas for building a better, fairer, equitable, and just society. I think their policy ideas and programs will do a lot more good in the lives of people like my dad and the average person out there. I think they will tackle the climate change crisis and income inequities in a meaningful way. But I don't worship them and I don't see them as infallible people. They make mistakes, get things wrong, and have warts just like the rest of us. I say all that to say this. Posters like Archie, Cartman, BallMich, and people like my own right-wing father, they are trapped in a bubble. One that is partially there own making and one that has been made by society, by a poor education system that doesn't teach critical thinking, one by a media ecosphere that has sowed misinformation and distrust into the fabric of our society. They have fallen victim to politicians who toy with their emotions and manipulate both their feelings and their intellect for their own gain. And when I say something like that, I don't say it to demean those posters as idiots, but I do wish to point out the problems that arise from cult-like worship over someone. I do wish to bring more substance to the arguments and not just news media talking points. I do wish for rebuttals of fact and substance, not talking points and character attacks. Bernie Sanders is not some scary socialist, manipulating the minds of leftwing people and Democrats for his own personal gain. He's not the lefts version of Donald Trump, in spite of the similarly rabid fan base that follows him around. Sure, he rails against the rich and inequities in society. But at days end, I think he's just an honest, open guy who believes that government has the tools and capabilities necessary to do the most good in people's lives, in line with a well balanced and regulated marketplace. I genuinely do not believe that Donald Trump cares about the life of the average person, I do believe Bernie Sanders does and to a lesser extent, Joe Biden does. I'll accept right wing and conservative opinions as best I can. What I won't accept though, are the naked and brazen attacks on our country and our democratic institutions. I won't accept our democratic values backsliding into authoritarianism and the loss of free, fair elections. I won't accept outright lies and baseless talking points to overtake the truth all to promote a baseless agenda. I won't tolerate racism, bigotry, sexism, and any number of phobias towards any group of people. I love this country. I love the freedoms we have. I would love not only to preserve those, but expand them to others and clean up our flawed system and all of its inequities and imperfections. For me, the personal growth I experienced over the last decade was the best thing that ever happened. Not only for me, but for those around me as well. I hope others can gain some level of introspection and experience the personal growth I did.

The funny thing is people like Archie calling this board a “socialist oasis”. I’m old enough to remember how this place slanted to the right pre Trump. A lot of those conservatives like Romad are just sane and conservatives without a party. Others I feel like have moved more to the left (Oblong and especially Tater) in that time. But I felt like this was always a reasonable place, and I really have felt like I’ve learned a lot in the over 15 years I’ve followed this political board.

This board is literally beyond hope for legit political discussions that honestly evaluate and criticize the left and right. TDS and “Righteous Holier Than Thou Ds” mind poisoning has infected those who formerly viewed the world more objectively. The best you and other who are not bound to a political party can do is report the crazy shit and policies the left takes part of to offer some semblance of balance.

nah....it's chili. It's a smorgasbord of flavor. speaking of chili..... I really wish I liked beans. I've tried them and just can't stand the texture. I miss out on so much. This is a good week for Chili. Wish I had thought of that.

the part where they called him an embarrassment to baseball because of lies al stump wrote in a book?

You're right in that the anti-American action of the Republicans belie their empty words.

So if all individuals in a country are burdened with a chant that occurred within said country by a small proportion of it's population, does that mean Archie is also burdened with every chant that's been said in this country by a small proportion of it's population? Just wondering if this is yet another Trumper double standard. Ok I lied, I'm not wondering at all.

Other communities have noticed this effect too, that after Jim Adduci leaves there is only enough business for about half of the strip clubs.

oh, so like chief of staff? or chief executive? commander in chief? when I call you and/or eswieg and/or Archie chief?

I don't think he's a troll either. My main issue is that you really don't get much of a response when you try to engage in good faith there. Points just get ignored and instead you get a bunch of "Old Man Bad" (see what I did there?) and "Democrats Bad" and "people on the board hate America" and stuff like that. It's a shame really.... you can want to engage in good faith with people of opposing views, but that's a two way street.... and it never really seems constructive with some folks.

This Ignore option is not really working all that well because I see a constant stream of quotes from this person. And it's almost all poisonous. IMO.

Bullshit. Bullshit. That's Today's Republicans. Bullshit. It was the Lying POTUS who was impeached, twice, once for attempting to overthrow our Democracy. Pure bullshit. Pure bullshit. Pure bullshit. Or were you thinking of Trump licking Putin's boots on a daily basis? Pure bullshit. Absolute projection. Republican legislatures all over the country have decided to throw out their states votes and just elect whomever they want by fiat. This is a straight up LIE. You have got to be fucking kidding me. I have no f'ing respect whatsoever for this tripe. And I'll stop here because the rest of what I want to say will get me permanently banned on this site.

These are all either flat out lies or pure projection. It’s Tucker Carlson Mad Libs. Who’s the uninformed ones?

Every year for the last four years we get a turkey from Popeyes. It's phenomenal and we willingly have Thanksgiving lunch/dinner for a couple of days after. Whatever is left over after that is put in a crockpot with northern beans, salsa and shredded cheese. Then that gets eaten for a few days. This last Thanksgiving I bought an extra turkey so we can do it all over again soon!

Hey there's Teresa May, cramming a red hot poker up Boris' butt.

I see no difference between "Foreigners who don't like us" and the modern GOP. Neither group likes America. They don't get a pass for being on this soil or winning the birth lottery. Character matters.

speaking of Cobb... when is Ken Burns going to do another inning to retract his stuff on Cobb?

Why is everyone playing Archie’s game? I’m kind of surprised you’re all not recognizing the obvious.

I'm willing to bet I talked with more Muslims in the last week (since I was in Chicago for 3 days I have to extend it) than Archie has in his entire life. But go ahead man.... tell me what they are like.

You literally support people attempting to overthrow the American government.

Yikes. You said the quiet, xenophobic part out loud.

This makes me both happy and angry all at the same time.

I wonder when Germany will ban Americans because some people in Florida were flying swastikas? Also, none of the countries on Trump's banned list had terrorists involved in 9/11. The countries that did have 9/11 terrorists, were all countries Trump had business dealings with and were, surprise, not on the banned list.

Yep. Republicans tried to overthrow the government and Archie defends and celebrates them. Shows a particularly selective love of America seemingly based on the characteristics of the people hating America. If only we could determine what characteristic....... hmmmmmmmmmm

Sounds like a Trump rally to me. Let's deportbthem

#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Detroit Red Wings on 2022-01-31: #LGRW https://t.co/6MS0JVVwvU

why, I oughtta...

You aren't arguing with what I wrote. Muslim travel and immigration ban, caps on immigration, the border wall, ending birthright citizenship, keeping Syrian refugees out and not allowing them a pathway to citizenship, English as the official language. None of that is supporting legal immigration, no matter how many Gallup polls you produce. That is based out of phobias, fears, and ignorance that people have of non-white, non-Christian people immigrants. If I poll 10 of my neighbors and 8 out of 10 think shoplifting is morally wrong, but 6 of the 8 have shoplifting on their record or will end up shoplifting in the future, then my poll is meaningless. It's the same thing with the immigration debate, the actions don't match the words. The policies supported by Trump and his supporters doesn't back up what the Gallup poll says.

I find the distinction between legal and illegal immigration a marketing tour de force by the GOP since most of the immigrants that got this country off the ground came before there were any immigration laws at all - they just showed up - so they are no different than all the people that Americans today are so happy to label as different because they are 'illegal' when the only real difference is that they are little browner than the people who come from Western Europe that we decided had more right to that 'legal' marketing label. Guaranteed if we were being inundated by British Boris Johnson refugees without green cards no-one would care a whit.

Like in Apollo 13 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin go to sit with Jim Lovell’s mom in the nursing home during the flight. “Are you boys in the space program too?”

lol. no. yeah, michigan needs to save money so it will go cheap on a head coach while msu and psu pay $9 million per year. sometimes i wonder how you view michigan's athletic department. remember when they made harbaugh the 2nd or 3rd highest paid coach? a covid blip in revenues isnt going to slow michigan down. if harbaugh leaves its because he wants to go back to the nfl, not because michigan had some magical line they wont cross to pay a football coach.

This is something https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/31/ukraine-russia-putin-nato/ Hey, that's only half true!

He looked like he was playing Joss Ackland playing a Russian ambassador.!

I can't do anything about spineless GOP. I also think a lot of them are. They need backbone to stand up to the dems. The rest of that list is the fault of the dems especially racial division, terrorism, problems with foriegn countries and drug cartels. Dems are up to their necks in it or make it worse.

Absolutely, definitely the greatest threat, I mean, after: Trump The backboneless GOP Political instability due to class structures Political instability due to racial division Facebook / Social Media Monopolies Terrorism China / Foreign countries Drug Cartels Weather People that choose cats over dogs ....

As expected

i dont think any of this sucks at all. im glad stafford got to a super bowl and i hope he wins it.

For those of us who ever spent time in the business BOOGER!!

So Dr. Johnny Fever joins Herb Tarlek and Mr. Carlson in the great radio station in the sky. I hope the turkeys fly up there.

To summarize: being nothing more than just one component among many in a revenue stream is a real boner shrinker.