Official Current Affairs & Politics thread

[MrDollarBills]

You have been called racist because you voice support for outright racists, have admitted that you agree with their views, and when asked you avoided to denounce racist ideology in general. Now that you admit that you are "tolerant" of racism, it kind of makes sense.

Nonsense. Not everything is about race, I think you make it way too huge of a deal. Maybe in your world but not mine. I tolerate racism differently than you do. Rather than getting angry at people that give me bad vibes, I show them love and we end up coming together at the end. Because I side with people that oppose the left, that automatically makes me a racist? I guess this makes half of your country racists including many Black Americans who voted Republican.

You just don't get that one's political stance does not have to be related to how they feel about race relations and can have more to do with other important issues on the table including combatting the pussified behavior of the left. My views are to protect my son from growing up as a pussy, he's going to be a real man that respects my country's democratic process and take full responsibility for his actions.

If you can't see past black and white then I don't know what to tell you. I've already justified my logic which I didn't even need to go into that level of depth.

I don't need to denounce ****. I don't trust how the MSM continuously put a spin on things, especially CNN and will not get sucked into their dishonest reporting. Like I said, if you want the truth go ask Sarah Sanders (I believe that they never acknowledged him using that term). I don't work for Trump and I don't need to defend heresay.

I'll be taking a hiatus from this board, because clearly I cannot discuss anything political without it turning into a race issue and being labeled as a racist. It's pretty sad that you guys live with this state of mind.

Cheers.

Yes, toss out your intellectually dishonest spiel and then run away to your safe space. And you have the audacity to rant non stop about how pussy liberals are when your first instinct is to pick up your ball and run home the moment your views are called out for what they are. I'm sure your son will learn many things from you, hopefully this attitude and your "tolerance" for racism aren't among those things.

@ asking Sarah Sanders for the truth. Thanks for that one, I laughed out loud just now. anyway, i'll pick apart this:

Nonsense. Not everything is about race, I think you make it way too huge of a deal. Maybe in your world but not mine. I tolerate racism differently than you do. Rather than getting angry at people that give me bad vibes, I show them love and we end up coming together at the end. Because I side with people that oppose the left, that automatically makes me a racist? I guess this makes half of your country racists including many Black Americans who voted Republican.

This is hilarious. So if a Neo Nazi comes up to you and tells you that you're a *insert racial slur for Asians here* and people like you should be purged from this earth, your response is to "show them love"? You are clearly delusional. You kowtow to white supremacy, and this is a direct admission of it. Instead of standing up for yourself as a human being who shouldn't be dehumanized by racism, your choice is to appease racist scum and love them? Jesus christ almighty this is some sad stuff I'm reading here...it's like you believe because you're not full blown white, you're not worthy of their respect so you'll turn the other cheek in hopes that they'll think you're "one of the good ones". This is pussy behavior. You call "the left" pussies yet here you are, the biggest pussy of them all, who will tolerate someone being racist to you and will show them love instead of having a backbone and standing up against something that is 100% inexcusable and should not be tolerated.

Siding with people who align themselves or pander to white nationalists (like Milo, for example) and agreeing with their hateful ideology is going to open the door to people calling you the same thing that they are: racists. If you can't deal with that, maybe you need to toughen up a little bit. You bitch and moan about leftists and how they can't deal with anything but you've been carrying on like the very pussy that you don't want your son to grow up into. It's embarrassing, yet funny in a dark humor sort of way, to read this stuff. Listen snowflake...opposing liberals or having different political views from liberals doesn't make you racist or bad. it's your support of actual RACIST people and their views is what is getting you called racist. Stop trying to distort the argument.

And you really have this odd habit of spewing out random, untrue stuff and then you avoid answering for it when someone corrects you. Black Americans overwhelmingly voted for Hillary Clinton. You either need to learn how to stop lying, or get a better grasp onto American politics if you want to continue to discuss it. Also, the fact that you believe that the Democrats had something to do with FISA warrant taps, or that the FBI is some liberal organization out to undercut Trump, is a stunning admission of ignorance.

Anyway, have fun being "tolerant" of racism. God help you if you ever run across some hardcore white nationalist and trying that "i love you and tolerate your hatred of me because i'm not white" garbage.

[MrDollarBills]

Read on Twitter

Nearly midnight, and that's what is on his mind.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

^^he's scared. it's obvious now, after those indictments. he's **** ting in his depends thinking about what comes next.

he should be

[Kaiser30]

First of all, I'm from Europe, so I'm certainly not an expert on US politics but after being a regular lurker in this thread, I think it's finally time to write something myself.

The difference is that I express my political views on my own time, not on a platform where I get paid. I don't talk politics at work at all because it's not appropriate. I don't discuss politics when I teach either, that is not what I'm paid to do nor do the people want to hear it.

If I watch Jimmy Kimmel, I do it for the comedy aspect. If I watch Lebron, I do it for the sports entertainment aspect. I've already quit watching football because I don't tune into NFL Sunday to hear leftist rants. Now I have to bear with Ernie Johnson going full ret@rd and giving his emotional spiel during NBA weekend? Please...

LeBron James is really really good at playing basketball. However, his basketball skills have led to him having a global influence and huge following. I'm incredibly proud of athletes who not only use their money for charity but all of their power to just do the right thing. LeBron is handing out scholarships left and right to kids who under normal circumstances wouldn't have the same opportunities in life. And he points out that you should respect everyone regardless of race. How can you criticize someone like that and tell him to stick to sports when he simply does the right thing?
To me, this is absolutely crazy. Having so many fans around the world and being aware of your social responsibility is something we should be proud of as fans of the game/the players. Players could indeed stick to playing basketball and counting all their millions while spending it on unnecessary luxury items. However, players acknowledge their privileged position and that there's something out there which is bigger than basketball.

I mean, huh, we are discussing basketball here as well, criticizing players, trades, etc. although none of us has spent any time playing/working in the NBA. Shall I stick to my job as well because I'm not qualified enough to talk some basketball?

Who sets the point where someone is "qualified enough" to talk politics? And at the same time, doesn't violate basic rights in a democracy?

The truth is that the left are a bunch of crybaby losers and whiners. The right have accepted Obama winning the election and quietly let him do his thing for 8 years. The left have been incessantly crying since the election and there is never one moment where they have sat back to let Trump do his job.

I've got nothing more to say on this matter. Peace out.

Again, I might not be the best to judge, so I'm just raising a question: If this would be the case, how come there's an entire sub on reddit ("TrumpCriticizesTrump") devoted to posting old tweets of Trump, publically criticizing Obama on Twitter for stuff which now fires back tremendously as he can't meet the standards set by himself either?

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

To me, that doesn't sound like "quietly let him do his thing for 8 years".

Watch on YouTube

Honest question to either side of the aisle, will one gun control law be passed before the midterms?

From my outside perspective, the obsession with guns is something I'll probably never understand. When I'm at an airport, I even feel uncomfortable when I see security staff with automatic guns. Although I'm fully aware that these people's job is to protect me in an emergency. But just for the fact it always reminds me of the possibility of a terrorist attack and that it shouldn't feel safe at all.
So how can one, after a school shooting, demand that instead of restricting gun access, every teacher should carry a gun in school. Is that seriously a world you would want to raise a child in? To me, children growing up with guns and always being reminded that the world they are living is not safe sounds horrible to me.

[MrDollarBills]

First of all, I'm from Europe, so I'm certainly not an expert on US politics but after being a regular lurker in this thread, I think it's finally time to write something myself.

The difference is that I express my political views on my own time, not on a platform where I get paid. I don't talk politics at work at all because it's not appropriate. I don't discuss politics when I teach either, that is not what I'm paid to do nor do the people want to hear it.

If I watch Jimmy Kimmel, I do it for the comedy aspect. If I watch Lebron, I do it for the sports entertainment aspect. I've already quit watching football because I don't tune into NFL Sunday to hear leftist rants. Now I have to bear with Ernie Johnson going full ret@rd and giving his emotional spiel during NBA weekend? Please...

LeBron James is really really good at playing basketball. However, his basketball skills have led to him having a global influence and huge following. I'm incredibly proud of athletes who not only use their money for charity but all of their power to just do the right thing. LeBron is handing out scholarships left and right to kids who under normal circumstances wouldn't have the same opportunities in life. And he points out that you should respect everyone regardless of race. How can you criticize someone like that and tell him to stick to sports when he simply does the right thing?
To me, this is absolutely crazy. Having so many fans around the world and being aware of your social responsibility is something we should be proud of as fans of the game/the players. Players could indeed stick to playing basketball and counting all their millions while spending it on unnecessary luxury items. However, players acknowledge their privileged position and that there's something out there which is bigger than basketball.

I mean, huh, we are discussing basketball here as well, criticizing players, trades, etc. although none of us has spent any time playing/working in the NBA. Shall I stick to my job as well because I'm not qualified enough to talk some basketball?

Who sets the point where someone is "qualified enough" to talk politics? And at the same time, doesn't violate basic rights in a democracy?

The truth is that the left are a bunch of crybaby losers and whiners. The right have accepted Obama winning the election and quietly let him do his thing for 8 years. The left have been incessantly crying since the election and there is never one moment where they have sat back to let Trump do his job.

I've got nothing more to say on this matter. Peace out.

Again, I might not be the best to judge, so I'm just raising a question: If this would be the case, how come there's an entire sub on reddit ("TrumpCriticizesTrump") devoted to posting old tweets of Trump, publically criticizing Obama on Twitter for stuff which now fires back tremendously as he can't meet the standards set by himself either?

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

To me, that doesn't sound like "quietly let him do his thing for 8 years".

Watch on YouTube

Honest question to either side of the aisle, will one gun control law be passed before the midterms?

From my outside perspective, the obsession with guns is something I'll probably never understand. When I'm at an airport, I even feel uncomfortable when I see security staff with automatic guns. Although I'm fully aware that these people's job is to protect me in an emergency. But just for the fact it always reminds me of the possibility of a terrorist attack and that it shouldn't feel safe at all.
So how can one, after a school shooting, demand that instead of restricting gun access, every teacher should carry a gun in school. Is that seriously a world you would want to raise a child in? To me, children growing up with guns and always being reminded that the world they are living is not safe sounds horrible to me.

^^most sane people agree with you. You have lunatics amplified by the NRA who would prefer that (white) americans be armed to the teeth for no good reason at all. I'm not anti 2nd amendment, but there's zero reason why assault rifles are in the hands of regular citizens or are being sold in stores in rural areas.

[MrDollarBills]

Former Trump aide Richard Gates 'to plead guilty to fraud and testify against Paul Manafort'

https://www.yahoo.com/news/former-trump-aide-richard-gates-104903814.html?.tsrc=jtc_news_index

A former aide to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has reportedly agreed to testify against its former chairman.

It is also thought that Richard Gates will also plead guilty to fraud-related charges.

When he presents a revised plea in a Washington DC federal court in the next few days, as well as making it clear that he will testify against Paul Manafort, according to the Los Angeles Times which first reported the story.

Both Mr Gates and Mr Manafort were charged in October by special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his ongoing investigation into whether Mr Trump's campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

They face charges including conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to defraud the United States and failure to register as foreign agents in connection with their political work for a pro-Russia party in Ukraine.

lol...and a another traitor flips. That makes 5 active cooperators. Who's next to be indicted?

[Rich Rane]

I almost respect Rubio for taking this townhall, but he didn't come out looking good at all.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

[MrDollarBills]

I almost respect Rubio for taking this townhall, but he didn't come out looking good at all.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

These clips will be played non stop come time for Rubio's seat to be challenged. He's done.

God I cannot wait til November. I will be slamming my finger down next to everyone in the D column so hard i might break the buttons.

[Prokorov]

I'm not trying to get in a back and forth cause I've already done that with coworkers and friends and i have no real inclination to keep banning my head against the wall. I will say a few things though, and most importantly this:

Complex problems are often not solved with single solutions.


If that were the case homelessness wouldn't be an issue. Poverty wouldn't be an issue. violence wouldn't be an issue. You dont solve these problems by rolling out 1 solution and calling it a day. Yet all I hear is people trying to poke holes in proposed solutions... "If you take the guns away you still have the pyschos" "if you invest in mental health those that fall through the cracks can still obtain a gun easily", This is just ignorance. Just because a solution cant solve the problem by itself doesnt mean it cant be an integral part of a multi-faceted plan to mitigate or end the problem.

And mitigating a problem this big is a worthy cause. Waiting for the solution that reduces gun deaths to 0 is a fools errand in a country with more guns then humans. So it shouldnt be a question of can we save all the lives, it should be can it save any lives? if it can... its worth looking in to.

That said:

1) Arming teaches is maybe the most idiotic Idea ive ever heard, a colossal waste of time and funding, and only INCREASES the chances that a gun gets in the wrong hands. Most of my school teachers were women, over the age of 50, and not in peak athletic shape. Forget the idea that they would be able to thwart an attack from someone with an assault weapon who has the element of planning and surprise on his side.... but how is Mrs. kervople and all 4'11" and 110 lbs of her going to stop some angry student from taking her gun from her and shooting someone?

We have THOUSANDS of schools now with detectors and checkpoints to make sure students arent bringing in guns... now were arming the teachers with guns in those schools? what happens when a kid wants that teachers gun?

What happens when a fight breaks out and the teacher is scared? does that teacher fire their weapon?

what happens when a racist teacher with a gun gets pissed at some black kid? i mean if trained cops and officers of the law are shooting unarmed black kids and claiming they were "scared" what about some grade school teacher who has never held a weapon?

Is every teacher armed with a gun? who pays for it? is every teacher going to get gun training? who pays for it? is every teacher going to be psychologically evaluated? who pays for it? is every teacher going to get situation training? who pays for it?

2) The argument that stricter gun laws wont work is both irrelevant and riddiculous. we know from other countries, that at the very least, that stricter guns laws lead to less gun deaths. will this reduce gun death to 0? no. but as mentioned above if it helps its PART of the solution. We need strict gun laws and we need them to be NATIONAL. as we have seen in chicago tough gun laws in 1 state are irrelevant if you can cross state borders and buy a gun over the counter with no checks.

But the more important question is this. WHAT IS THE DOWNSIDE? All i hear is how it wont work, but what is the harm in trying to see if it does. there is some evidence it would. so whats the downside? that responsible people need to be inconvenienced to go through more hoops to obtain their guns? OH THE HORROR! imagine having to fill out form after form, get a pyschological check and training. oh man that would just be such a burden that id rather see kids die

Right now, you can go online, in ANY state and buy what is referred to as an 80% build. this is basically a gun that is completely assembled with the exception of its firing mechanism. since it has no trigger, its not considered a gun, requires no back round check and worst, does not need a serial number and cant be tracked. why is this necessary?!

The gap between gun deaths, of all demographics (suicides, accidentals, homocides, mass shootings) in the US is so far beyond those in other countries that it is unfathomable to thing that guns are not a (big) part of the problem.

they have mental health issues in canada
they have video games and violent movies in austrailia
they have bad parenting in sweeden
they have poverty in the netherlands

none of those countries have the shooting deaths we have. and none of them have more guns then citizens.

3) Mental health. I see this point out alot. yet i see ZERO solutions proposed. it is thrown out only as an excuse NOT to have stricter gun laws. it is NEVER mentioned along side solutions as to what can help us deal with the mentally ill. and that is why nothing ever happens....

the harsh truth is no one cares about the poor, the ill, and homeless. having worked and volunteered my entire life with the ederly and homeless i can tell you straight up that there are a lot of great people who care, but the majority doesnt. they either rationalize the issues or put themselves in a bubble. the face of homelessness is a crazy old druged man or some scammer who is begging to by alcohol....

thats not the reality. the reality is that 2 million children are homeless, the majority of homeless people are female, more then 1/3 are single parents, and 48% hold jobs.

like homeless the face of the mentally ill is a farce. and like homeless it gets 0 funding because social workers dont give kick backs. non profits dont generate money for politicians and the sick and homless dont vote.

so you have a system where government officials see nothing to gain, those suffereing cant vote them out, and the american public is shown a facade that the problem isnt that bad or the victims put them selves in those spots and they easily accept it so they can go on living their lives guilt free for not caring.

We need mental health solutions. we need to pour tax dollars into social services and health care. we need to stop overpercribing for everything. I dont want to hear 1 peep about "this is a mental health issue not a gun issue" if it doesnt come with a proposed mental health solution and a willingness to differ mass amounts of tax dollars towards the fields that deal with mental health.


... last i will say this. since the last 2 mass shootings, the ONLY law or policy changes on guns and mental health have been:

-the repeal of a law that would require those collection benefits for being mentally ill to be added to a list that requires they be subject to a background check to buy a weapon.

-the repeal of a law that allowed those without health insurance to get free access to mental health examinations.

We are going in the wrong direction. we need strong gun laws and we need to dump funding and power into the areas that deal with the poor and the ill.

unfortunetly those are 2 things that havent happened in my lifetime.

[TheNetsFan]

I almost respect Rubio for taking this townhall, but he didn't come out looking good at all.

It would have been a no-win situation for any Republican, and essentially was a pure ambush, but that was known going in. There was some good dialogue, but for the most part the town hall was set up to paint the NRA & Rs as villains. All questions are pre-screened & those asking them are prepped ahead of time. Nothing in these televised town halls is organic, and in my opinion the NRA money question should not have been allowed, as it was not at all constructive. There's so much more constructive policy dialogue that could have been had.

There were good points on both sides. Guns are not getting banned overnight. That hasn't changed regardless of which party controlled government, so to portray Trump & company as the face of the problem is wrong. Trump's vanity, combined with his NY Republican roots & somewhat distant past left leaning views, would have me not shocked at all if on his way out of office (not sure if it's 1st term or he plays party lines to try to get a second term) he gives a big middle finger to the extreme right & pushes through many of the progressive social beliefs he used to express.

Many good points were brought up for school safety. Perhaps none more so than fewer entrances/checkpoints. People should not be able to enter a school building without getting buzzed or badging in. Teachers should not be armed, but having an armed security guard at schools may not be the worst idea.

As far as gun control goes, there should be waiting periods, psychological evaluations & much more thorough background checks. Only the most pristine of records should be able to buy a gun, and juvenile records should not be sealed. Hell, force every gun owner to undergo psychological evals every year. Crazy will crazy however. If crazy wants to do something heinous, they'll do it whether it's with a gun or not. Guns are definitely too easy, but crazy won't stop if it's not easy. We can make it harder to get & restrict types of guns, but that will only lessen the impact of violence (e.g. 4 dead vs 17) not prevent it. Prevention needs to include preventing potential perpetrators from entering schools, and being proactive in identifying perpetrators before anything happens. Put people on watchlists & treat them like parolees (although that has all the making for more distrust & anger towards law enforcement). There's no-fly lists, sex-offender lists, etc. Make one for those that have engaged or threatened violence, and monitor the hell out of them.

[TheNetsFan]

Complex problems are often not solved with single solutions.

I could not agree more, and any incremental improvement is a good thing. When I heard the one dismissive comment that stated that one comment was only the first step in a 5k, I'm screaming this to myself. Move forward a step at a time, and forget trying to solve everything overnight. Take a step today, another tomorrow & another next week. The more amenable people are to gradual change and compromise, the better they will work together in the future.

[Prokorov]

I almost respect Rubio for taking this townhall, but he didn't come out looking good at all.

It would have been a no-win situation for any Republican, and essentially was a pure ambush, but that was known going in. There was some good dialogue, but for the most part the town hall was set up to paint the NRA & Rs as villains. All questions are pre-screened & those asking them are prepped ahead of time. Nothing in these televised town halls is organic, and in my opinion the NRA money question should not have been allowed, as it was not at all constructive. There's so much more constructive policy dialogue that could have been had.

While the questions may all have been screened, its not like these were some eoborate hand crafted questions. they were the questions everyone is asking. why cant we have tougher gun laws, what are you going to do about it?

i think the NRA question HAS to be asked. how can we expect those in power and law makers to act without bias when one side is donating tons of money to them and the other side isnt? and that doesnt just go for gun laws, thats across the board. maybe rubio will act without bias, but it is certainly eassier to when that money isnt in your pocket.

we already know for a fact that the comcast money he got 100% influenced his position on net nuetrality, given he practiaclly didnt know what it was.

Many good points were brought up for school safety. Perhaps none more so than fewer entrances/checkpoints. People should not be able to enter a school building without getting buzzed or badging in. Teachers should not be armed, but having an armed security guard at schools may not be the worst idea.

many of these mass shooting the shooters didnt enter the building, but drew people outside via fire alarms (which i believe did happen in this florida shooting?) not that more security is a bad idea, i think it is and it is cheap/easily implented and worth doing.... . but i dont think that makes a huge difference given the circumstances of these shootings like the most recent (florida and vegas). Armed gaurds may help. to me thats more the facade of safety which can be good as well. are you getting enough to cover the entire school for every school in the country? who pays for it? to me that money is better spent going into social services, not another TSA type facade.

As far as gun control goes, there should be waiting periods, psychological evaluations & much more thorough background checks. Only the most pristine of records should be able to buy a gun, and juvenile records should not be sealed. Hell, force every gun owner to undergo psychological evals every year. Crazy will crazy however. If crazy wants to do something heinous, they'll do it whether it's with a gun or not. Guns are definitely too easy, but crazy won't stop if it's not easy. We can make it harder to get & restrict types of guns, but that will only lessen the impact of violence (e.g. 4 dead vs 17) not prevent it. Prevention needs to include preventing potential perpetrators from entering schools, and being proactive in identifying perpetrators before anything happens. Put people on watchlists & treat them like parolees (although that has all the making for more distrust & anger towards law enforcement). There's no-fly lists, sex-offender lists, etc. Make one for those that have engaged or threatened violence, and monitor the hell out of them.

there is no prevention. there will always be people who fall through the cracks and get weapons illegally. we need to concentrate on going 17 to 4. things we can realistically achieve. the social/medical/homeless situation is so broken and underfunded it would take decades to come close to correcting. we need to start now... but thats a process that likely takes more then our lifetimes to turn around. and the second it improves, history has shown. those funds get defered.

the biggest systemic issue i can see is that there is a facade that things arent as bad as they are when it comes to poverty and mental health and people can go on living their bubbles and when it comes time to fund those things we hear stuff like "if i have to take a drug test to work they should pass a drug test to get welfare" or "he is just begging so he can go buy whiskey, i didnt have much and i worked hard to get where i am" or "why should my money go to pay someone elses medical bills"

that entire misrespresentation and thinking needs to be changed. and no one is really motivated to change it

[MrDollarBills]

I'm not trying to get in a back and forth cause I've already done that with coworkers and friends and i have no real inclination to keep banning my head against the wall. I will say a few things though, and most importantly this:

Complex problems are often not solved with single solutions.


If that were the case homelessness wouldn't be an issue. Poverty wouldn't be an issue. violence wouldn't be an issue. You dont solve these problems by rolling out 1 solution and calling it a day. Yet all I hear is people trying to poke holes in proposed solutions... "If you take the guns away you still have the pyschos" "if you invest in mental health those that fall through the cracks can still obtain a gun easily", This is just ignorance. Just because a solution cant solve the problem by itself doesnt mean it cant be an integral part of a multi-faceted plan to mitigate or end the problem.

And mitigating a problem this big is a worthy cause. Waiting for the solution that reduces gun deaths to 0 is a fools errand in a country with more guns then humans. So it shouldnt be a question of can we save all the lives, it should be can it save any lives? if it can... its worth looking in to.

That said:

1) Arming teaches is maybe the most idiotic Idea ive ever heard, a colossal waste of time and funding, and only INCREASES the chances that a gun gets in the wrong hands. Most of my school teachers were women, over the age of 50, and not in peak athletic shape. Forget the idea that they would be able to thwart an attack from someone with an assault weapon who has the element of planning and surprise on his side.... but how is Mrs. kervople and all 4'11" and 110 lbs of her going to stop some angry student from taking her gun from her and shooting someone?

We have THOUSANDS of schools now with detectors and checkpoints to make sure students arent bringing in guns... now were arming the teachers with guns in those schools? what happens when a kid wants that teachers gun?

What happens when a fight breaks out and the teacher is scared? does that teacher fire their weapon?

what happens when a racist teacher with a gun gets pissed at some black kid? i mean if trained cops and officers of the law are shooting unarmed black kids and claiming they were "scared" what about some grade school teacher who has never held a weapon?

Is every teacher armed with a gun? who pays for it? is every teacher going to get gun training? who pays for it? is every teacher going to be psychologically evaluated? who pays for it? is every teacher going to get situation training? who pays for it?

2) The argument that stricter gun laws wont work is both irrelevant and riddiculous. we know from other countries, that at the very least, that stricter guns laws lead to less gun deaths. will this reduce gun death to 0? no. but as mentioned above if it helps its PART of the solution. We need strict gun laws and we need them to be NATIONAL. as we have seen in chicago tough gun laws in 1 state are irrelevant if you can cross state borders and buy a gun over the counter with no checks.

But the more important question is this. WHAT IS THE DOWNSIDE? All i hear is how it wont work, but what is the harm in trying to see if it does. there is some evidence it would. so whats the downside? that responsible people need to be inconvenienced to go through more hoops to obtain their guns? OH THE HORROR! imagine having to fill out form after form, get a pyschological check and training. oh man that would just be such a burden that id rather see kids die

Right now, you can go online, in ANY state and buy what is referred to as an 80% build. this is basically a gun that is completely assembled with the exception of its firing mechanism. since it has no trigger, its not considered a gun, requires no back round check and worst, does not need a serial number and cant be tracked. why is this necessary?!

The gap between gun deaths, of all demographics (suicides, accidentals, homocides, mass shootings) in the US is so far beyond those in other countries that it is unfathomable to thing that guns are not a (big) part of the problem.

they have mental health issues in canada
they have video games and violent movies in austrailia
they have bad parenting in sweeden
they have poverty in the netherlands

none of those countries have the shooting deaths we have. and none of them have more guns then citizens.

3) Mental health. I see this point out alot. yet i see ZERO solutions proposed. it is thrown out only as an excuse NOT to have stricter gun laws. it is NEVER mentioned along side solutions as to what can help us deal with the mentally ill. and that is why nothing ever happens....

the harsh truth is no one cares about the poor, the ill, and homeless. having worked and volunteered my entire life with the ederly and homeless i can tell you straight up that there are a lot of great people who care, but the majority doesnt. they either rationalize the issues or put themselves in a bubble. the face of homelessness is a crazy old druged man or some scammer who is begging to by alcohol....

thats not the reality. the reality is that 2 million children are homeless, the majority of homeless people are female, more then 1/3 are single parents, and 48% hold jobs.

like homeless the face of the mentally ill is a farce. and like homeless it gets 0 funding because social workers dont give kick backs. non profits dont generate money for politicians and the sick and homless dont vote.

so you have a system where government officials see nothing to gain, those suffereing cant vote them out, and the american public is shown a facade that the problem isnt that bad or the victims put them selves in those spots and they easily accept it so they can go on living their lives guilt free for not caring.

We need mental health solutions. we need to pour tax dollars into social services and health care. we need to stop overpercribing for everything. I dont want to hear 1 peep about "this is a mental health issue not a gun issue" if it doesnt come with a proposed mental health solution and a willingness to differ mass amounts of tax dollars towards the fields that deal with mental health.


... last i will say this. since the last 2 mass shootings, the ONLY law or policy changes on guns and mental health have been:

-the repeal of a law that would require those collection benefits for being mentally ill to be added to a list that requires they be subject to a background check to buy a weapon.

-the repeal of a law that allowed those without health insurance to get free access to mental health examinations.

We are going in the wrong direction. we need strong gun laws and we need to dump funding and power into the areas that deal with the poor and the ill.

unfortunetly those are 2 things that havent happened in my lifetime.

Amen sir.

We can hope that if Democrats regain control, they will have momentum to slap legitimate national policies on the books. The only problem is, the orange **** bag won't sign it since the NRA owns him too, so any meaningful legislation is at least two years away

There isn't any reasonable argument anyone can make as to why any american should have access to an automatic assault rifle or a submachine gun. Those aren't necessary for hunting or home protection. if you can't hunt or protect your home with a hunting rifle or a hand gun you have no business owning a gun, period.

I'm glad that the kids are speaking out and are being mobilized over this nationwide.

The GOP is committing political suicide. Between tying their anchor to Trump, their attempts at destroying obamacare, their tax bill, and now standing in front of the NRA after a mass shooting, they are begging to be massacred at the polls and with another generation of voters set to check in (we hope...voter apathy is killing this country) they are doomed.

[MrDollarBills]

There were good points on both sides. Guns are not getting banned overnight. That hasn't changed regardless of which party controlled government, so to portray Trump & company as the face of the problem is wrong. Trump's vanity, combined with his NY Republican roots & somewhat distant past left leaning views, would have me not shocked at all if on his way out of office (not sure if it's 1st term or he plays party lines to try to get a second term) he gives a big middle finger to the extreme right & pushes through many of the progressive social beliefs he used to express.

I thought this as well, as much as I hate Trump, blaming him for a mass shooting is over the top (although Trump rolled back an Obama-era regulation that required the SSA to send records of people receiving benefits for mental illness for inclusion in the background check system) but the GOP, who is flooded with NRA dollars, is definitely standing in the way of meaningful legislation being passed and always have been. So I understand why people are painting them as the villains here.

Also...one thing I realize about Trump...he has no ideology. It's whatever works for him at that present time. Back in 2000 he was calling for an assault rifle ban but dropped that in order to pander to the extreme right which is his base. I would be shocked if he turns on that base now at a point where they are all that he has left.

[Rich Rane]

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[MrDollarBills]

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Goddamn Mueller isn't playing. Gates is going to cop to a plea in exchange for incriminating Manafort. This means that he's going to force Manafort to flip on Trump or he'll die in prison. i don't even see how even if Manafort cooperates he doesn't lose a significant chunk of what's left of his life in jail, these are some pretty serious crimes.

I hope Donald has an enjoyable 2 hours sleep before he wakes up and starts rage tweeting tomorrow.

[bud29]

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Goddamn Mueller isn't playing. Gates is going to cop to a plea in exchange for incriminating Manafort. This means that he's going to force Manafort to flip on Trump or he'll die in prison. i don't even see how even if Manafort cooperates he doesn't lose a significant chunk of what's left of his life in jail, these are some pretty serious crimes.

I hope Donald has an enjoyable 2 hours sleep before he wakes up and starts rage tweeting tomorrow.

Today's indictment is an indication that Gates' plea deal went up in flames. Got a ton of **** thrown at him and I believe he parted ways with his (second set of) attorneys. I'm not sure what his long game is, he's 46 and these are pretty serious charges that could ensure he spends the rest of his life - a relatively long time - in prison.

There's some speculation that Trump promised him a pardon, but that would only clear him of federal charges and Mueller crafted these indictments pretty carefully so that state AGs can still go after him. Gates is either a total idiot, or the people he's doing all this fraud for are a lot scarier than a jail cell.

I think it's a little bit of a blow to the investigation, as Manafort/Gates are fairly crucial in uncovering the entire Trump/Russia story IMO. They're dirty as hell, and in bed with some dangerous, important people. Gates flipping could've led to Manafort cracking as well. We'll see - pretty much everything Mueller has made public so far has been surface deep, hinting at some deeper, more sinister plots going on. He could have some pretty damning info in his back pocket already.

[MrDollarBills]

Read on Twitter

Goddamn Mueller isn't playing. Gates is going to cop to a plea in exchange for incriminating Manafort. This means that he's going to force Manafort to flip on Trump or he'll die in prison. i don't even see how even if Manafort cooperates he doesn't lose a significant chunk of what's left of his life in jail, these are some pretty serious crimes.

I hope Donald has an enjoyable 2 hours sleep before he wakes up and starts rage tweeting tomorrow.

Today's indictment is an indication that Gates' plea deal went up in flames. Got a ton of **** thrown at him and I believe he parted ways with his (second set of) attorneys. I'm not sure what his long game is, he's 46 and these are pretty serious charges that could ensure he spends the rest of his life - a relatively long time - in prison.

There's some speculation that Trump promised him a pardon, but that would only clear him of federal charges and Mueller crafted these indictments pretty carefully so that state AGs can still go after him. Gates is either a total idiot, or the people he's doing all this fraud for are a lot scarier than a jail cell.

I think it's a little bit of a blow to the investigation, as Manafort/Gates are fairly crucial in uncovering the entire Trump/Russia story IMO. They're dirty as hell, and in bed with some dangerous, important people. Gates flipping could've led to Manafort cracking as well. We'll see - pretty much everything Mueller has made public so far has been surface deep, hinting at some deeper, more sinister plots going on. He could have some pretty damning info in his back pocket already.

That's what I'm thinking too. There's a legit chance that these guys may prefer prison to the alternative of what happens if they start ratting. All of this stuff is steeped in the world of the Russian mob and some legitimate killers.

I think Mueller knows a ton of damaging stuff and is laying the groundwork carefully. I also think that Manafort/Gates aren't the only avenue of information towards implicating Trump. There are multiple crimes being investigated, not just conspiracy to defraud the united states.

honestly, as horrible as all of this is, its also fascinating to watch unfold. when the real truth comes out I bet it will be worse than anyone imagines.

[MrDollarBills]

well, this clears up any confusion.

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Gates said to hell with dying in jail Manafort has a tough decision to make. Also, reading into it more, a lot more people than just Gates and Manafort are being implicated here...Manafort's daughter is among other whose name pops up in this which means she could be in some serious trouble if her dad decides he'd rather die in jail over snitching. Mueller is doing to these guys like how they handled The Gambino mob put the squeeze on family members and make these dudes choose...that's how he got Michael Flynn to flip.

Like I said, despite how perilous this stuff is for the country, it's pretty damn fascinating.

[shakendfries]

well, this clears up any confusion.

Read on Twitter

Gates said to hell with dying in jail Manafort has a tough decision to make. Also, reading into it more, a lot more people than just Gates and Manafort are being implicated here...Manafort's daughter is among other whose name pops up in this which means she could be in some serious trouble if her dad decides he'd rather die in jail over snitching. Mueller is doing to these guys like how they handled The Gambino mob put the squeeze on family members and make these dudes choose...that's how he got Michael Flynn to flip.

Like I said, despite how perilous this stuff is for the country, it's pretty damn fascinating.

This entire presidency is seemingly devolving into a wild house of cards drama


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[MrDollarBills]

well, this clears up any confusion.

Read on Twitter

Gates said to hell with dying in jail Manafort has a tough decision to make. Also, reading into it more, a lot more people than just Gates and Manafort are being implicated here...Manafort's daughter is among other whose name pops up in this which means she could be in some serious trouble if her dad decides he'd rather die in jail over snitching. Mueller is doing to these guys like how they handled The Gambino mob put the squeeze on family members and make these dudes choose...that's how he got Michael Flynn to flip.

Like I said, despite how perilous this stuff is for the country, it's pretty damn fascinating.

This entire presidency is seemingly devolving into a wild house of cards drama


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

literally. every other day its madness.