mtutiger

I saw a FB thread from an acquaintance of mine after the first matchup talking about how exciting it was and drawing parallels to the 1980 Olympics... and the entire time I was staring at the thread I was wondering whether they were oblivious to the fact that in the this parallel, our nation is the one playing the role of the USSR (as the aggressor nation). Really try to hard to compartmentalize sports and politics and all, but it was really hard to be anything more than ambivalent to how this game would turn out tbh. Which really sucks.

Trump's tariffs raise alarms for Illinois farm industry If they were getting "good results", you wouldn't have orgs like the Illinois Farm Bureau (probably the only bastion of GOP power in an otherwise blue state) speaking out on the record warning against his policies, would we?

You sure about that?

State Media

Yeah, Sargent has a POV but is a lot more self aware of it than most from his crowd.

We're currently being led by a guy whose favorite past time is name calling. And a guy *you* voted for. So please spare us your high minded talk about civilized debate and decorum... It's a load of horse****

Ewsieg is about the closest thing to a moderate independent type voter this forum has... He leans more right than left if anything. If you're a conservative political movement and are disparaging someone like him, that's... Not great. Particularly in off year or midterm type elections, and particularly when Trump himself isn't on the ballot

This is a rhetorical question, right?

I realize you agree with me when I say it, but if the expectation isn't for politicians or the appointees to make people people's lives better or to make them safer, what is the point exactly? Absent that, that just makes a person a nihilist

Will reiterate what I said previously about Patel.... the FBI's purview extends far beyond whatever grievances 47 holds at any given time. And every indication I have seen suggests that Patel will mostly be focused on 47's grievances above anything else. So I do not see how his appointment and confirmation makes any of our lives better or makes us safer.

It's textbook "sunk cost fallacy"... it's hard to admit when you're wrong.

In theory at least, a lot of this can still be fixed, but the one thing we'll never get back is our credibility. EDIT: I remember during the campaign, a French diplomat said the following: Now, we can argue whether Europe has done enough for their own collective security (certainly a fair debate), but there's a price to the United States for alienating our friends as well and pushing them away. And that quote is a big reason why they will never trust again.... even if we eventually kick Trump and Trumpism to the curb in the future, who's to say that we won't snap back to where we are at today? We just aren't a reliable partner anymore.

There were legitimate moments of embarrassments during his first term, but there was enough of a presence of adults within his administration then that kept things at a simmer. At various points you had guys like Jim Mattis, Mark Esper, Steve Mnuchin, Gary Cohn, Rex Tillerson, even Mike Pompeo (who I cannot stand).... not perfect people, not people I agree with on policy, but institutionalists who understand the world order that America created post-WW2 and why it is important. Those people are long gone from this administration... and the "institutionalists" that do exist in this new administration (ie. Marco Rubio most notably) are eunuchs who are happy to see their credibility used to launder terrible and capitulating policy. Presidencies have come and gone, including some I've liked and some I haven't (including Trump I)... but this is definitely the first time I've felt ashamed to be an American. And we've earned every bit of ire that the Canadians, Ukrainians, or other of our allies will throw at us.

This is beside the point, but aren't jokes supposed to actually be funny? Honest to God, I see this excuse for Trump whenever he says and does crazy **** all the time, but as a matter of comedy, in almost every case it's lame and unfunny as hell.

Thread:

I made a tangential argument to someone I work with recently on this point.... part of why I don't think Trumpism truly is "conservatism" is because of the first part of that word... "conserve". These guys aren't looking to "conserve" anything as a counterbalance toward more progressive views.... they are looking to destroy. And there's absolutely no guarantee that whatever fills the vacuum of what they destroy will be any good to the average person.

The *official* White House Twitter account. Your hard earned tax dollars at work... *checks notes* spreading creepy propaganda

Jesse's friend should get in line with the rest of those impacted

Life changes have caused us to choose to drive more in general, but we have shifted our plans from flying to driving for one of our trips this year. Not totally because of this (prices were a bigger consideration), but it wasn't helpful in our decisionmaking process.

Ties back into the conversation about AI yesterday honestly...

Fighting Alzheimer's is now woke apparently