Political Roundtable Part XXII

[dckingsfan]

yes - we need another party

[gtn130]

Yes TGW is the gatekeeper of all things progressive. Basically the Harry Potter sorting hat of who is a true and pure leftist

Why is it that nobody labels themselves a regressive? That'd be the perfect label for Trump, yes? Head of the Regressive Dysfunction Party - no relation to the musical group Malfunkshun - fronted by Andrew Wood, who was the inspiration of Temple of the Dog - which kind of spawned both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. And Pearl Jam was originallly called Mookie Blaylock. Call it the Mook Party - that works... maybe. Sorry for the edits - my PC keeps konking out in mid sentence.

I mean, Make America Great Again is pretty straightforward when it comes to signaling reactionary dipshittery. I think all Deplorables are very much on board with regressing to the 1950s

[dobrojim]

I mean, Make America Great Again is pretty straightforward when it comes to signaling reactionary ****. I think all Deplorables are very much on board with regressing to the 1850s

fixed

[stilldropin20]

^^^I simply or merely accept that we are all degenerates. I accept that we are all weird. I accept that we may all want to feel unique and different but really we all want to feel like we belong to something. And we all pretend to care more about others than we actually do because that is what we need to tell ourselves to feel a certain way about ourselves. Some of us need to tell ourselves "stuff" to make ourselves feel better significantly more than others.

I'm gonna tell you guys a story. And this is a good one. My grandfather never talked to a single soul about his time in WW2. Ever. I asked him what must have felt like daily because him and I watched old war movies together. I was probably the only one interested. He also never cried in my lifetime except one day. The day i graduated from bootcamp. He ended up a POW in WW2 for a couple years. When he was drafted he was 6'2" 220 pounds when he came home from the POW camp he weighed 75 pounds. He started out as a cook in the military because his English was weak. Once overseas, they figured out that my grandfather spoke german, italian, spanish and french fluently. He was no longer a cook.

As i told you guys, when i was 15 I went to live with my grandparents (after a brief stop with a local baseball coach who was "only trying to help" but was actually a pedophile and then my Aunt and Uncles who never liked my mom so neither my sister and I by extension) and I hadn't seen my mom in 18 months due to (being a crack head) I finally ended up where I always should have been. With the people who loved me immensely and unconditionally.

Now this one is important. I got lucky...My grandfather imparted some wisdom on me that no one hardly ever gets to learn and no one ever talks about. This was the only time he ever talked about WW2 and it was about his time in the POW camp. Growing up in Northern Italy and having parents who emigrated from the spanish-french border region to northern italy my grand father was quite different than most in his italian home town. His parents did well...owned a small inn...his brothers and sisters that stayed in Italy were lawyers and owned other small business owners. They lived far north and had businesses and land in austria as well. My grandfather never told me why he left all of that for the US. I never asked. But thinking back, It didn't make sense. But he did. So I am sitting there one day and him and I were preparing my motorcycle for long term storage in the basement for what would be a few years. A motorcycle that i purchased for myself. And he is teaching me how to take care of things, fill the gas tank, empty the carbs, fill the engine with oil. Be certain to drain it before i start the bike. Get the weight off of the tires. Cover it. Etc. Boot camp was over and I was leaving for my first assignment in New London, Ct and would not be back for 2 years. The bike would stay in the basement.

just finishing bootcamp military stuff was on my mind so I asked him, "how did you survive the prison camp." He paused. We kept working. A few minutes passed. And he said, still in mostly broken english so I will paraphrase for you guys, he said that he understood the German people. He knew that they valued hard work and wanted the prisoners to do the work. So he made sure that he was the first one to wake up every single morning and the last one to go to sleep. The second he woke up he grabbed a broom and begin sweeping and kept working all day long and made sure he was the last one to go to sleep and kept working all day long. He said the hardest part to surviving was mental. Internal. He said that those that wanted to keep going did. And those that were tired of it all sick of it all stopped working or slowed down their work ethic and the german know longer had a use for those that worked slow or gave them trouble. Keep in mind the germans were simultaneously starving everyone including my grandfather who was wasting away and was occasionally beaten and tortured to attempt to pump him for information. But he kept outworking everyone and the germans allowed him to stay alive. They gave him new jobs to do. His last job was cleaning the remains in the furnaces that the germans were using to incinerate the jewish people. Horrific. I know. imagine me SD20, 17 years old hearing this story at a time in the late 80's when no one was really talking about this and not really ready to hear it. No internet. No schindler's list. No information. Just first hand knowledge from an American POW that was there.

My grand father paused. mid story. Grabbed my arm and stared deep into my soul and said the words i will never forget, "Always the same!! Men on top, children on bottom, women in between." It took me a while, years to understand what he was saying. See, the germans had employed weird and deranged doctors to oversee their extermination efforts. For a while they were incinerating humans and doing so in groups. Sometimes all men. Sometimes families. The flames came from the bottom of the incinerators and there was a viewing glass to observe people being burned alive. My grandfather's job at that point was to clean out the bottom of the incinerators. And the germans also killed americans, french, and russians POWs in the same manner as the jewish people. Often, they purposefully burned families together. Usually they started with a slow burn. To observe human reaction to the heat as it intensified. As my grandfather cleaned up the incinerators...it was always the same. Even with families. The children were on bottom closest to the flames, the female remains on top of them and men on top. Every single time.

So you guys can tell yourselves whatever you want to tell yourselves to make yourselves feel however you want to feel about yourselves and I aint trying to stop you nor rain on your self aggrandizing parade. I'm just saying that we are all just trying to survive and we all put our own self interests first. Every single one you. Every single time.

But that is only part of the lesson here. The next words out of my grandfathers mouth were, "and through all of that, i never gave up. I never stopped believing in humanity." See...no matter what anybody says, they will always put their own self interest first. Even over their own children. Now if you can help yourself and your wife and children at the same time, you will. You will share your food and your shelter so long as you are getting something out of it. But in that ultimate honest moment of truth? You will save yourself. Every single time.

And there is nothing wrong with that. You cant love anybody else until you learn how to love yourself. And all love is born of self love. That's just how it works. So you guys can continue to tell yourselves and each other whatever you need so you feel better about yourself but I've got millions of years of evolution on my side.

[verbal8]

I mean, Make America Great Again is pretty straightforward when it comes to signaling reactionary ****. I think all Deplorables are very much on board with regressing to the 1850s

fixed

It explains the love of the Confederacy

[Jamaaliver]

Hey, remember when 45 predicted America's allies and other world leaders would respect us again?

Ummm....

Trump boasts of America's might, draws headshakes at UN

President Donald Trump delivered a sharp rebuke of multinational authority at the United Nations on Tuesday, drawing headshakes and even laughter from fellow world leaders as he boasted of America's economic and military might.

Speaking in triumphal terms...he crowed that in "less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country."

Rather than applaud or indicate they were impressed, the audience began to chuckle and some broke into outright laughter. Trump appeared briefly flustered before joking that it was not the reaction he expected but "that's all right."

The moment only reinforced Trump's isolation among allies and foes alike, as his nationalistic policies have created rifts with erstwhile partners and cast doubt in some circles about the reliability of American commitments around the world. The laughter in the first moments of the address evoked a campaign line Trump frequently deployed against his predecessor Barack Obama — who embraced international engagement — suggesting that due to weak American leadership, "the world is laughing at us."

Associated Press

Spoiler:

So, President Trump is to the UN what STD is to Real GM Forums?

Trump's denunciation of globalism drew murmurs from the room that stands as the very embodiment of the notion. "As far as America is concerned, the ICC has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority," he said. The U.S. is boycotting the Human Rights Council, arguing it overlooks abuses by some and serves as a venue for anti-American and anti-Israeli action.

[Wizardspride]

[Ruzious]

SD, people really did know about WWII and the Holocaust before the internet and Schindler's List. It's crazy if you really didn't learn about it in school. If you're ever in DC and want to learn more, check out the Holocaust Museum. In particular, check out the parts where people risked their lives to save others. One thing that pisses me off is when people make jokes about the French being cowards, because there were many French individuals that protected Jewish familes - risking their own lives - during WW2. And true stories such as Schindler's List and Diary of Ann Frank show some of the heroics from that time. I think your cynisism is true of some, and I know it's dead wrong for others.

[Ruzious]

Hey, remember when 45 predicted America's allies and other world leaders would respect us again?

Ummm....

Trump boasts of America's might, draws headshakes at UN

President Donald Trump delivered a sharp rebuke of multinational authority at the United Nations on Tuesday, drawing headshakes and even laughter from fellow world leaders as he boasted of America's economic and military might.

Speaking in triumphal terms...he crowed that in "less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country."

Rather than applaud or indicate they were impressed, the audience began to chuckle and some broke into outright laughter. Trump appeared briefly flustered before joking that it was not the reaction he expected but "that's all right."

The moment only reinforced Trump's isolation among allies and foes alike, as his nationalistic policies have created rifts with erstwhile partners and cast doubt in some circles about the reliability of American commitments around the world. The laughter in the first moments of the address evoked a campaign line Trump frequently deployed against his predecessor Barack Obama — who embraced international engagement — suggesting that due to weak American leadership, "the world is laughing at us."

Associated Press

Spoiler:

So, President Trump is to the UN what STD is to Real GM Forums?

Trump's denunciation of globalism drew murmurs from the room that stands as the very embodiment of the notion. "As far as America is concerned, the ICC has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority," he said. The U.S. is boycotting the Human Rights Council, arguing it overlooks abuses by some and serves as a venue for anti-American and anti-Israeli action.

I feel like we're regressed 50 plus years in so many ways in the last 2 years.

[Jamaaliver]

I feel like we're regressed 50 plus years in so many ways in the last 2 years.

I look fORWARD to 30 YEARS FROM now WHEN I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO MY GRANDKIDS how/why we were so easliy manipulated by Russians on social media and elected a madman to the presidency as a result.

[verbal8]

I feel like we're regressed 50 plus years in so many ways in the last 2 years.

I look fORWARD to 30 YEARS FROM now WHEN I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO MY GRANDKIDS how/why we were so easliy manipulated by Russians on social media and elected a madman to the presidency as a result.

I am saving SD20s posts for that purpose.

[gtn130]

I feel like we're regressed 50 plus years in so many ways in the last 2 years.

I look fORWARD to 30 YEARS FROM now WHEN I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO MY GRANDKIDS how/why we were so easliy manipulated by Russians on social media and elected a madman to the presidency as a result.

I am saving SD20s posts for that purpose.

I actually print out every SD20 post and immediately light it on fire

[Wizardspride]

Read on Twitter

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[Ruzious]

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And it's no surprise that these kinds of things happen when you dishonor previous agreements and act like an international arsehole. When you treat everyone like an enemy, how do you expect them to treat you? The sad thing is the mindset that everyone has to be treated like an enemy (except Russia). It's so unnecessary and so damaging - for now and for the future.

[Pointgod]

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Wow Putie put goes against Trump. After all those times of him whispering sweet nothings in his ears. Sad.

[Pointgod]

^^^I simply or merely accept that we are all degenerates. I accept that we are all weird. I accept that we may all want to feel unique and different but really we all want to feel like we belong to something. And we all pretend to care more about others than we actually do because that is what we need to tell ourselves to feel a certain way about ourselves. Some of us need to tell ourselves "stuff" to make ourselves feel better significantly more than others.

I'm gonna tell you guys a story. And this is a good one. My grandfather never talked to a single soul about his time in WW2. Ever. I asked him what must have felt like daily because him and I watched old war movies together. I was probably the only one interested. He also never cried in my lifetime except one day. The day i graduated from bootcamp. He ended up a POW in WW2 for a couple years. When he was drafted he was 6'2" 220 pounds when he came home from the POW camp he weighed 75 pounds. He started out as a cook in the military because his English was weak. Once overseas, they figured out that my grandfather spoke german, italian, spanish and french fluently. He was no longer a cook.

As i told you guys, when i was 15 I went to live with my grandparents (after a brief stop with a local baseball coach who was "only trying to help" but was actually a pedophile and then my Aunt and Uncles who never liked my mom so neither my sister and I by extension) and I hadn't seen my mom in 18 months due to (being a crack head) I finally ended up where I always should have been. With the people who loved me immensely and unconditionally.

Now this one is important. I got lucky...My grandfather imparted some wisdom on me that no one hardly ever gets to learn and no one ever talks about. This was the only time he ever talked about WW2 and it was about his time in the POW camp. Growing up in Northern Italy and having parents who emigrated from the spanish-french border region to northern italy my grand father was quite different than most in his italian home town. His parents did well...owned a small inn...his brothers and sisters that stayed in Italy were lawyers and owned other small business owners. They lived far north and had businesses and land in austria as well. My grandfather never told me why he left all of that for the US. I never asked. But thinking back, It didn't make sense. But he did. So I am sitting there one day and him and I were preparing my motorcycle for long term storage in the basement for what would be a few years. A motorcycle that i purchased for myself. And he is teaching me how to take care of things, fill the gas tank, empty the carbs, fill the engine with oil. Be certain to drain it before i start the bike. Get the weight off of the tires. Cover it. Etc. Boot camp was over and I was leaving for my first assignment in New London, Ct and would not be back for 2 years. The bike would stay in the basement.

just finishing bootcamp military stuff was on my mind so I asked him, "how did you survive the prison camp." He paused. We kept working. A few minutes passed. And he said, still in mostly broken english so I will paraphrase for you guys, he said that he understood the German people. He knew that they valued hard work and wanted the prisoners to do the work. So he made sure that he was the first one to wake up every single morning and the last one to go to sleep. The second he woke up he grabbed a broom and begin sweeping and kept working all day long and made sure he was the last one to go to sleep and kept working all day long. He said the hardest part to surviving was mental. Internal. He said that those that wanted to keep going did. And those that were tired of it all sick of it all stopped working or slowed down their work ethic and the german know longer had a use for those that worked slow or gave them trouble. Keep in mind the germans were simultaneously starving everyone including my grandfather who was wasting away and was occasionally beaten and tortured to attempt to pump him for information. But he kept outworking everyone and the germans allowed him to stay alive. They gave him new jobs to do. His last job was cleaning the remains in the furnaces that the germans were using to incinerate the jewish people. Horrific. I know. imagine me SD20, 17 years old hearing this story at a time in the late 80's when no one was really talking about this and not really ready to hear it. No internet. No schindler's list. No information. Just first hand knowledge from an American POW that was there.

My grand father paused. mid story. Grabbed my arm and stared deep into my soul and said the words i will never forget, "Always the same!! Men on top, children on bottom, women in between." It took me a while, years to understand what he was saying. See, the germans had employed weird and deranged doctors to oversee their extermination efforts. For a while they were incinerating humans and doing so in groups. Sometimes all men. Sometimes families. The flames came from the bottom of the incinerators and there was a viewing glass to observe people being burned alive. My grandfather's job at that point was to clean out the bottom of the incinerators. And the germans also killed americans, french, and russians POWs in the same manner as the jewish people. Often, they purposefully burned families together. Usually they started with a slow burn. To observe human reaction to the heat as it intensified. As my grandfather cleaned up the incinerators...it was always the same. Even with families. The children were on bottom closest to the flames, the female remains on top of them and men on top. Every single time.

So you guys can tell yourselves whatever you want to tell yourselves to make yourselves feel however you want to feel about yourselves and I aint trying to stop you nor rain on your self aggrandizing parade. I'm just saying that we are all just trying to survive and we all put our own self interests first. Every single one you. Every single time.

But that is only part of the lesson here. The next words out of my grandfathers mouth were, "and through all of that, i never gave up. I never stopped believing in humanity." See...no matter what anybody says, they will always put their own self interest first. Even over their own children. Now if you can help yourself and your wife and children at the same time, you will. You will share your food and your shelter so long as you are getting something out of it. But in that ultimate honest moment of truth? You will save yourself. Every single time.

And there is nothing wrong with that. You cant love anybody else until you learn how to love yourself. And all love is born of self love. That's just how it works. So you guys can continue to tell yourselves and each other whatever you need so you feel better about yourself but I've got millions of years of evolution on my side.

And that little boy grew up to be Ted Cruz....

[closg00]

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And it's no surprise that these kinds of things happen when you dishonor previous agreements and act like an international arsehole. When you treat everyone like an enemy, how do you expect them to treat you? The sad thing is the mindset that everyone has to be treated like an enemy (except Russia). It's so unnecessary and so damaging - for now and for the future.

They are like "F this crazy Dude, we'll go around him and his stupidity

[Pointgod]

Oh and as for my mom working her butt off. Yeah she did. She also had societal support. I know plenty of people who work their butt off but don't get hired for the job, so they work their butt off hustling whatever opportunities are available to them. Even the kid slinging crack, economists show they work harder and for less per hour than a McDonalds manager. They working. Steady working. They just don't see the other opportunities available to them. Because who shows them. Who teaches them.

It is useful I guess not to show them life could be different. So popular culture and media cast them in the role of villain. Who benefits? (What are we down to now, 4 media corporations that own all the radio stations? 2 or 3 companies that own your cable TV?) basically say: if you are black or brown you can be an athlete or a gangster or a rap artists. Because it is useful for budgets that we have a criminal underclass. And skin color determines who gets nominated to play that role. I went to the same inner city schools, as a minority white kid, I just was surrounded by educated people, and my vocabulary meant that school administrators treated me different than the black kid who was just as smart. Even when we were both skipping class together. He'd get detention, I'd talk and walk. Even with black school administrators. Privilege is self-fulfilling. Why Affirmative Action exists. People tend to hire people who look like them or talk like them. So it is useful to seed organizations with bright and hardworking people that are counter to that bias.

I dunno. I got two sons with brown skin. The asian one gets offered jobs all the time. The other is smart thoughtful hardworking and hits that wall of bias all the time.

Anyway. I guess I'm done with this thread for a while again. Even thinking about how divided we are from common sense depresses me.

Keep posting man. The country isn't as divided as your believe. The majority of the country supports progressive policies, even some Republicans. It just requires Democrats to turn up during elections to move the country in the right direction.

[stilldropin20]

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[Wizardspride]

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