mtutiger

Doesn't even get into the fact that the 35,000 employees, branch offices all over the US, and deals in all manner of crime (most of which doesn't involve politics, let alone Trump or his personal grievances). With how thin Patel's resume is and the fact that he's clearly only being nominated because he's a crony, not sure why anyone should have any confidence there. But hey, he's endorsed by a grown-ass man who goes by the handle of catturd lol

Good luck with that majority ranging from 1-3 votes! lol

Wonder what they got?

I don't agree with McHenry on much politically, but the dude knows his **** in terms of how Congress works.

Congress is a coequal branch of government.... an election was held concurrently with the Presidential election, and the GOP's "mandate" was *checks notes* 3 votes. So, sounds like Newtie (and Johnson and Trump) and whoever need to deal with that reality and stop complaining.

Welcome to the 119th Congress! One ballot in, and Mike Johnson fails to secure the gavel.

I was having a discussion recently with someone about civic participation.... like, even 20-30 years ago, there were more people who got involved in groups like the Lions Club, Kiwanis, Rotary, Elks or other civic groups than today. In lesser numbers do we go out and join bowling or softball leagues these days. In the macro, as we have become more connected to the "outside world", curated by these apps, we've increasingly outsourced our time interacting with others to interactions over screens. And we are more and more walling ourselves off to the lives that our sitting right in front of us. I suspect that it in the macro, it makes us collectively less charitable, more suspicious of others and, on the whole, less happy. And I think it's a factor in where we are sitting today with respect to our culture.

Really noticeable how they've been blamed the past couple of days from terrorist incidents committed by actual American citizens and military vets.

The challenge for Tork is that the team and organization raised the bar in 2024.... whether it was purely a heater or whether it the run was a true testament to the talent they had on the roster, they made the playoffs. And because they made the playoffs, the goals going into 2025 are simply different than they were going into 2024. I think he has talent and that they shouldn't necessarily trade him (and they don't have to right now), but the Tigers situation is different to the point that they cannot just carry guys if they aren't going to produce on the MLB roster. I think he can (and probably will) make it back at some point, but he's going to have to truly earn it, the team isn't just going to give it away....

This isn't why I believe that.

I'm aware.

Most Americans (like 80+%) aren't on Twitter and are generally not engaged politically using Facebook or other apps. And I don't think that it is a veneer of social interaction in day to day life, its that people tend to like and care about people in their communities and that are living right in front of them. It's easier to hate what you don't see and can't interact with directly

If you can't trust a grown-ass man who goes by "Catturd", who can ya trust? LOL

Ol' Mikey knows a thing or two about "creating a fake, phony narrative" lol

My interpretation is that Rugg is trying to use the messenger (ie. Insurance Company CEO) to tarnish the message (which tends to run counter to his brand). Gotta think about it in terms of the UnitedHealth CEO being gunned down recently - it's an easy target to go after if they are transmitting an otherwise benign statement about trying to find the common good and shared humanity in others, despite our differences (political, cultural or otherwise). The problem is that even a blind squirrel can find a nut... there absolutely are people who enjoy being fed rage all the time on the internet and allow it to seep into how they view people in their day to day lives. And yes, that's bad for society (although probably fine for rage peddlers like Rugg getting clicks)...

Serious "Black Knight from Monty Python" energy going on here...

I mean, an insurance company CEO is probably the worst possible messenger for any sort of commentary, but it seems pretty clear that social media (and the bifurcation of media more generally) feeds an addiction to anger and divisiveness in society. I personally don't see a lot of it offline... Both at work (which leans slightly conservative) and the town that I live in (Trump 60-40ish), people mostly get along and respect one another face to face at least. But social media media meme-culture and ****posting is all about sowing disunity (and grifting off of it). And it works. Collin Rugg is a pretty good poster child for it... And to be fair, there is a bipartisan element to it as well.

Dont forget all the blaming everything and everyone else that will happen whenever things don't go as intended.

Apparently Tom Homan was on the teevee earlier (on Fox) blaming open borders for this Las Vegas incident.... which seems odd given that the perp was a US Citizen (and Trump supporter) living in Colorado. Another confused member of the incoming administration. Maybe he needs a cognitive test too?

Just shameless lying...

2020 is such a terrible election to use as a baseline for turnout as well given the environment that it took place in.... people were more tuned into the news and primed to vote than in 2024 because many were stuck at home watching the news. People were less engaged this time around, not a huge surprise that there was less turnout.

Oh, I get it, trust me....

Voters really dislike inflation and took their anger out on Biden/Harris? Both in terms of some level of vote switching and a less motivated electorate? It really isn't that hard to understand, not everything is a conspiracy.

It's definitely a challenge to get a straight answer off of anything that is remotely challenging, that's for sure.

Uhh, we can have debates about the efficacy of Harris' campaign (that horse has been flogged to death at this point), but given Biden's standing and unpopularity relative to hers in the polls, it seems very likely he would have received less votes than Harris ultimately did. And the party would likely have not gained a seat in the House and done worse in the Senate as well.