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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 5, 2020 4:50:49 GMT
Agree, Kimby -- beyond nauseating.
More power to you, Htmb, for having the stomach to watch that psycho gloat about how he is ruining the US. I guess it's history as much as the Reichstag fire and all that came after that was history. We are watching our country be destroyed live on tv. Poor Pelosi must have wanted to set the bastard's hair on fire.
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Post by htmb on Feb 5, 2020 4:58:54 GMT
When asked why she ripped up the speech, Pelosi said it was the more polite thing to do, versus how she really wanted to respond. Of course, now all the conservatives are absolutely appalled at HER behavior.
The whole speech was a partisan show. An appeal to his base. The big con man, working his tricks.
We’re in big trouble.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 5, 2020 5:11:50 GMT
Oh yes, the famous Republican double standard and twisted spin on everything will go to town on Pelosi's gesture. I think it just proved again how much of a lady she is and how much restraint she has.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 5, 2020 5:31:29 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 5, 2020 5:32:58 GMT
I'm not at all a fan of Biden, but his words here sum up the outrage of I feel over the orange buffoon's performance tonight: In one fell swoop, Trump delivered a speech worthy of the worst demagogue and turned his constitutional obligation to inform Congress about the state of our union into an episode of reality television. He even awarded our nation’s highest civilian honor, not to the real American hero in the gallery — one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen—but a conservative media personality who has done as much as Trump himself to divide our nation. It was a shameful display. source
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 5, 2020 5:40:19 GMT
Well, I thought the Tuskegee Airmen were in the military, so they would be eligible for the Congressional Medal of Honor, not the Congressional Medal of Freedom, no? Of course neither Biden nor Trump seem to worry about silly little details.
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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 5, 2020 10:01:34 GMT
Rush Limbaugh announced several days ago that he has advanced lung cancer. So depending on how that shakes out, the radio blowhard may not be clogging up the airwaves much longer.
I loathe Trump but was also not happy to see Pelosi's temper tantrum on live television. I've never been a fan and this didn't improve my opinion of her.
Keeps bringing me back to what the Obamas said... "they go low, we go high..." I guess NP forgot about that for a bit.
Also I've known that Trump would walk away from this impeachment as well. They don't call him "Teflon Don" for nothing. Not feeling super hopeful about the Dems at all right now, when you combine Pelosi with the debacle that is the Iowa caucus.
Signed, Cynical Gen Xer
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Post by Kimby on Feb 5, 2020 11:04:52 GMT
My review of the SOTU. It was a Realty TV showman’s version of the Oprah or Ellen shows, complete with gifts for members of the studio audience.
He was tossing out prizes, a scholarship for a little black girl, a medal for a talk radio hate monger, and a surprise returning husband for a military wife. I half expected an announcer to say “It’s a brand new car!”
Anyone else notice that “public schools” have now become “government schools”? He’s turning an American institution into what sounds like indoctrination camps. This was not by accident. If he “wins” a 2nd term, expect him and Betsy Devos to set to work dismantling our free public schools in favor of charter schools and religious schools, diverting tax dollars to advance “Christian “ indoctrination.
Dems better get cracking!
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Post by Kimby on Feb 5, 2020 11:55:27 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Feb 5, 2020 11:56:24 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Feb 5, 2020 12:19:17 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Feb 5, 2020 15:02:34 GMT
I'm living with the horror of "socialist" healthcare...
Yes, I can't imagine Speaker Pelosi wiping her arse with that, though I suspect she was tempted.
Is there a former Tuskegee Airman in Congress? Of course they should get one of those medals.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 5, 2020 17:26:53 GMT
It was a Realty TV showman’s version of the Oprah or Ellen shows, complete with gifts for members of the studio audience. He was tossing out prizes, a scholarship for a little black girl, a medal for a talk radio hate monger, and a surprise returning husband for a military wife. I half expected an announcer to say “It’s a brand new car!” Anyone else notice that “public schools” have now become “government schools”? He’s turning an American institution into what sounds like indoctrination camps. This was not by accident. If he “wins” a 2nd term, expect him and Betsy Devos to set to work dismantling our free public schools in favor of charter schools and religious schools, diverting tax dollars to advance “Christian “ indoctrination. Absolutely, Kimby -- brilliantly put! re: schools -- earlier this morning I commented to a friend that we perhaps can expect to see squadrons of schoolkids all in their little neckerchiefs the next time we visit our home country. I am demoralized and terrified by what is happening and at how each fresh outrage gets accepted. President takes the powers of Congress onto himself? Oh well. Children are put into cages? Yesterday's news. Fully one half of the legislative branch declare they do not care about the truth and will gleefully shit on the constitution? But the economy is so gooood -- he says so! LaGatta, the Tuskegee airman was in the audience at the state of the union address.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 5, 2020 17:51:43 GMT
LaGatta, the Tuskegee airman was in the audience at the state of the union address. He was the (great?) grandfather of the little boy that Trump says wants to join his Space Force when he gets older...
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 5, 2020 18:06:28 GMT
And wear the Star Trek pyjamas?
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 5, 2020 19:37:29 GMT
I see that Mitt Romney has decided to vote in favour of impeachment. That's an interesting development, albeit insufficient.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 5, 2020 20:09:18 GMT
Not really new news, though, as Romney has indicated in the last couple of weeks that he thought Trump had committed impeachable offenses. Romney also tried to convince the other Republican senators to allow witnesses to be heard.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 5, 2020 20:27:14 GMT
I see that Mitt Romney has decided to vote in favour of impeachment. That's an interesting development, albeit insufficient. Could he be positioning himself for another run at the White House if and when Trump implodes?
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Post by lagatta on Feb 5, 2020 20:52:10 GMT
No, I don't think so. Little as I dislike Mormonism (or any fundamentalist religion) they do have ideas about morality.
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Post by whatagain on Feb 6, 2020 13:12:10 GMT
I think that is the whole point. Senators just proved they have no morality and no ethics and no self thinking. The boss is the boss and everybody gets in the rank and obeys. But then why do we need senators? Are they just yes men who follow the orders given by the upper echelon ? Shame on them. Useless people. They should work for mobutu like presidents in a banana republic. Oh that is what they do.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 6, 2020 18:03:21 GMT
I see that Mitt Romney has decided to vote in favour of impeachment. That's an interesting development, albeit insufficient. Could he be positioning himself for another run at the White House if and when Trump implodes? If Romney were to run as an Independent, Trump COULD NOT WIN! Whether Romney or a Democrat wins won’t matter as much as getting Trump gone! And then he can be charged with all his crimes, and if we’re lucky, die in prison.
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Post by patricklondon on Feb 8, 2020 6:17:43 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Feb 8, 2020 10:45:19 GMT
Tropical Trump Jair Bolsonaro has posted a video of himself watching the North American version rant. I am NOT watching that. In the meantime, a record summer temp of 18.3c in "Argentine Antarctica", the part due south of Tierra del Fuego (that chilly place is as Chilean as it is Argentine).
Going back to bed for a bit. Still dark here at 5.44.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 8, 2020 17:16:36 GMT
Was there ever any doubt that the 21st century dictator that somehow the US has not only allowed into office, but who is also being enabled at the highest levels would exact revenge? The lowlife, unqualified-for--pretty-much-anything, petty little bastard has a long history of hateful and pointless vendettas against those who thwart, oppose, or appear to get better press than he does. He of course has also fired Sonderland, yet another of his hand-picked people who didn't stand by their man in the way that bully baby demands. This is an opinion piece, but definitely worth reading for the way it lays out the creation, development, and now dismantlement of the National Security Council: Col. Vindman and the Trumpification of the National Security CouncilAnd here is some more evidence of how the country is being made over in the image our dictator has chosen: MAGA War on Architectural Diversity
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 8, 2020 18:11:31 GMT
For every horror that is decided, I can see in my mind the multitude of people who approve of punishing the wicked, crushing the dissenters, reversing evil law and returning to traditional architecture, to use your example.
Education is the principal problem in my opinion. Very few people seem to have received proper information about civics and history, among other things. This has been replaced by the self-service internet where you can feed your basest instincts and feel validated.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 8, 2020 20:12:31 GMT
Well, I can't disagree with you, although I don't know if it's so much lack of education/information that is the problem as it is lack of critical thinking and plain old curiosity. Those two things point at a terrifying mental laziness which can lead to negative self-validation, as you point out. I mean, we all went to school and were exposed to the history and civics that touch on the decisions we make as adult voters. But generally what you get is an overview, some of what you retain long enough to pass the test or because it has a funny name like The Whiskey Rebellion, the details of which have long since escaped us. Ironically, the internet is one of the best & easiest sources of solid information, as it's fairly easy now to separate out factual sites from the rest of the crap. But hey, why look up what is meant by impeachment as defined by the constitution, when you can just read some loony's take on it, right? Example of the good internet: Yesterday I realized that, despite having heard of him my whole life, I had no idea why Andrew Johnson was impeached, so looked it up. (I was prompted to do so by coming across an article online about how the fate of Jefferson Davis & Johnson's impeachment trial were intertwined. Here, if anyone cares.) Thanks to Wikipedia, it was quite easy to get a great deal of solid information in one place, much of it eye-opening (11 counts of impeachment!) and with lots of parallels to current events (Johnson was quite the sonofabitch). That's my viewpoint, that of a standard mid-century American with fairly standard education, which I why I think that if I'm able to ferret out some facts for myself, others should be able to do the same. What is truly scary are all those people with exceptional educations and years of legal experience and even honors who can so zealously pervert everything that could make America great.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 8, 2020 20:44:38 GMT
Hence the reference to "basest instincts." People prefer to believe lies that validate those rather than finding out unpleasant real information.
And one of the missions of schools should be to teach critical thinking. French schools (but not all of them) have just begun teaching how to question and verify everything that the internet says.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 8, 2020 21:47:37 GMT
Well, I believe that is a little too broad. Not all people prefer to believe those lies of validation. Obviously, as proven by the very existence of the Fox presentations & right-wing swill from around the globe, it is true to a large extent. But there are also large numbers of people who simply believe what they thought they heard or what "everyone says" or flat don't know because they think current events are boring &/or over their heads. Also, emotionalism is apparently far more compelling than reason, so whatever the hue & cry is of the moment will sweep some good, but tragically unquestioning people along with it.
And yes, of course the schools should teach critical thinking, supposing there are people in the system capable of doing so. I guess it's the hope of writers, film makers etc. that they will positively penetrate the skulls of adults and that those adults will pass on good old fashioned mother wit to children.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 11, 2020 1:24:40 GMT
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Post by htmb on Feb 11, 2020 1:28:39 GMT
That’s a nice little glimmer of hope to cling to...
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