Political Roundtable Part XXIX

[Pointgod]

Yes I called you a boomer, grandpa. Go polish your walker, and quit whining.

I can't wait until the boomer generation goes away, so that the younger generation of leaders come in and actually make positive change for the world. Not the 90 year old corrupt wealthy scum like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden who thinks climate change can be fixed with half measured bull and wants to send feds after people for their college loans.

I thought personal attacks aren’t allowed on this board?

[dckingsfan]

Yes I called you a boomer, grandpa. Go polish your walker, and quit whining.

I can't wait until the boomer generation goes away, so that the younger generation of leaders come in and actually make positive change for the world. Not the 90 year old corrupt wealthy scum like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden who thinks climate change can be fixed with half measured bull and wants to send feds after people for their college loans.

I thought personal attacks aren’t allowed on this board?

And flat out misinformation... Well, if you don't have a valid argument ad hominem(s) and lies are the best way forward.

Probably why he is a huge Trump fan.

[doclinkin]

You said housewife, I said administrator, since her law degree took her into public policy, not constitutional scholarship. So sexist. SMH.

But yeah, I'm serious about the first Dem appt to the court being Barack. I think he'd do a great deal of good there. And since I'm fine with them packing the courts, you can float Michelle as a possibility for one of the next few spots if you like.

Meh, you might as well have said it - it sounded like you were poopooing her background. Twas all in the tone of your verbiagery. Anyway, in seriousness, I agree with you. Barack would be a brilliant choice.

I get what Doc's saying though. Barack has a stronger con law background and a better fit for the bench.
...
I think lifetime appointment to SCOTUS deters a lot of brilliant minds from taking the bench. You have to be a unique person to strive for that position, at its relatively low pay when you ostensibly have the brains to make more money, do less work, and enjoy your life with your family.

Whereas with Obama, out of Harvard Law he chose low paying jobs as a community organizer and teacher. Money has not been his drive. And at this point he has no chance at normalcy and obscurity anyway. As for the rest of his life, what else of consequence is he going to do? He will always be Barack Obama. Not every former president will be Jimmy Carter. I've been disappointed at how little Obama has done since entering private life. He pops up every now and again but does not truly use his profile and character and smarts to influence society, except in the least measures. On the bench however he would be in the nuts and bolts of democracy, and all he would have to do is listen and ask questions and offer his opinion where he could have an influence. The very thing he is best at, and what his presidency seemed to consist of. He's too young to ride off into the sunset and retire. I think he would truly enjoy even wrangling with conservative intellects on the bench, or giving deposition. He'd make a damn fine Chief Justice when his time rolled around.

[montestewart]

Am I the only one writing in PIF this November?

Old? White? Sure, why not? Him or Bob Dylan.

[Ruzious]

Yes I called you a boomer, grandpa. Go polish your walker, and quit whining.

I can't wait until the boomer generation goes away, so that the younger generation of leaders come in and actually make positive change for the world. Not the 90 year old corrupt wealthy scum like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden who thinks climate change can be fixed with half measured bull and wants to send feds after people for their college loans.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for why everything isn’t better
but idealism without realism and pragmatism has led to disappointment and
apathy, low young voter participation which in turn has led to conservative victories
and a lack of progress on things many of us are of similar minds about.
I agree with you that the dems have issues about which I think they can do
much better. Unfortunately, running on those issues would be unlikely to
result in victories where there would at least be a chance for progress.
There are way too many of our fellow citizens who won’t go there
and don’t want to be convinced otherwise. In the meantime you’re
sounding like you want to throw out the bath water when we have
a severe drought, the well is dry and there’s no power available to
get water by other means.

I’m curious. Besides complaining about the ills of dems I’m
wondering how you direct your energies to address the issues
you care about.

signed,

Gramps

Lol, he really needs new material - and I'm guessing he's no younger than we are - and probably looks older - not that it matters. He certainly doesn't talk like my younger relatives who are far left. They were and are big Sanders fans but are smart enough to understand why it's vital that Biden beats Trump - which quite frankly doesn't take a lot of smarts.

[Ruzious]

Yes I called you a boomer, grandpa. Go polish your walker, and quit whining.

I can't wait until the boomer generation goes away, so that the younger generation of leaders come in and actually make positive change for the world. Not the 90 year old corrupt wealthy scum like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden who thinks climate change can be fixed with half measured bull and wants to send feds after people for their college loans.

I thought personal attacks aren’t allowed on this board?

No worries - he's called me a lot worse than that before.

[dckingsfan]

Yes I called you a boomer, grandpa. Go polish your walker, and quit whining.

I can't wait until the boomer generation goes away, so that the younger generation of leaders come in and actually make positive change for the world. Not the 90 year old corrupt wealthy scum like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden who thinks climate change can be fixed with half measured bull and wants to send feds after people for their college loans.

I thought personal attacks aren’t allowed on this board?

No worries - he's called me a lot worse than that before.

Are you still recovering

[Ruzious]

Btw, Biden's already come out in favor of forgiving college undergrad loans for people earning under $125,000 a year.

[montestewart]

Yes I called you a boomer, grandpa. Go polish your walker, and quit whining.

I can't wait until the boomer generation goes away, so that the younger generation of leaders come in and actually make positive change for the world. Not the 90 year old corrupt wealthy scum like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden who thinks climate change can be fixed with half measured bull and wants to send feds after people for their college loans.

Settle down and watch the name calling, my buddies TGW and pancakes (and anyone else I missed). Politics always busting a vein.

Plenty of "boomers" share your sentiments, TGW, and plenty of younger people do not. If you want to say Democrats have not done enough to help black people gain full equality, and tend to take the black vote for granted, many people share that view. If you assert that the Democratic party is no different than the Republican party regarding racial equality, plenty of those same people (me included) might have a hard time overlooking civil rights and voter rights legislation spearheaded by Democrats, Democrat-leaning SC rulings against discriminatory treatment under the law, and Republican courting of explicitly racist elements of the electorate. Just to name a few things.

I remember when I was younger, a more astute friend predicted, "Reagan in '80, Revolution in '84." Maybe that was just wish projection rationalizing the inevitable, but there of course was no revolution, and to me, the Reagan era was not a good era. To me the Trump era is horrible, so to me a doddering old and old-fashioned middle-of-the-road Democrat with a checkered past and numerous other flaws is far, far better than Trump. You can rationally justify making a choice like that in a swing state without deluding yourself as to what you are getting and how much further you have to go.

[montestewart]

Btw, Biden's already come out in favor of forgiving college undergrad loans for people earning under $125,000 a year.

Now watch people start structuring their pay packages to take advantage of that.

[dobrojim]

Lol, he really needs new material - and I'm guessing he's no younger than we are - and probably looks older - not that it matters. He certainly doesn't talk like my younger relatives who are far left. They were and are big Sanders fans but are smart enough to understand why it's vital that Biden beats Trump - which quite frankly doesn't take a lot of smarts.

We?

Maybe I underestimate (wrt age) some on the board. I guess I don't have a good feel for what your
age (Ruz) might be and that's a good thing. I'm definitely of the age that folks like
TGW like to besmirch with generalizations and the like. I do understand being pissed off,
very well in fact.

I've been pissed off since MLK and RFK were killed. Pissed off since Kent State.
Pissed off since Ford pardoned Nixon. Pissed off since Reagan became not only
elected but subsequently deified. Pissed off that Slick couldn't keep it zipped.
Pissed off that the SC installed Fratboy as POTUS. And yeah I'm pissed that
so many of my generation (boomers) either never shared the idealism of the 60s
or became disillusioned in the lack of progress. Didn't change my own beliefs though.

Does all that hint that I might have a few years on you Ruz? LOL.

PS - meant to start with this. Maybe the most encouraging news recently.
Bloomberg dropping a few million (pocket change for him) to pay off the
fines and fees that are today's poll taxes for FL ex-felons.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mike-bloomberg-raises-16-million-to-allow-former-felons-to-vote-in-florida/2020/09/21/6dda787e-fc5a-11ea-8d05-9beaaa91c71f_story.html

[Ruzious]

Btw, Biden's already come out in favor of forgiving college undergrad loans for people earning under $125,000 a year.

Now watch people start structuring their pay packages to take advantage of that.

I'll tell Biden to include 401k and 403(b) deferrals in the $125,000.

[Wizardspride]

Read on Twitter

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Read on Twitter

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[Wizardspride]

Read on Twitter

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[pancakes3]

there's this insidious myth that republicans are somehow better for black voters because there were and are racist dems when the pattern of legislation and leadership shows that on average, the democrats enact policies in favor of equality and advancing black rights much more so than republicans.

historically: desegregation of the military, desegregation in brown v board (8 of the 9 justices were dem nominated justices), civil rights act, etc. were all under dem leadership.

anecdotally: promoting black officers in the military, naming african americans to positions of leadership and power (cabinet, federal court, supreme court, attorney general), etc. all occur first, and more frequently under dem leadership.

culturally: yes, there were dixiecrats, and yes, there were and continue to be racists but as a whole, african americans trust the federal government moreso than their state governments, who like to pull bullspit like this, and on a whole, nationally, dems are working for the common, collective, racial whole:

Read on Twitter

and just in general, don't be a dumb f*ck about the nuances of effective leadership and their respective effectiveness. yeah there's a lot to criticize the democratic party for. but to be a reductionist assh*le about it by making statements saying dems haven't done anything for black people is ignorant, and bullspit.

[Pointgod]

there's this insidious myth that republicans are somehow better for black voters because there were and are racist dems when the pattern of legislation and leadership shows that on average, the democrats enact policies in favor of equality and advancing black rights much more so than republicans.

historically: desegregation of the military, desegregation in brown v board (8 of the 9 justices were dem nominated justices), civil rights act, etc. were all under dem leadership.

anecdotally: promoting black officers in the military, naming african americans to positions of leadership and power (cabinet, federal court, supreme court, attorney general), etc. all occur first, and more frequently under dem leadership.

culturally: yes, there were dixiecrats, and yes, there were and continue to be racists but as a whole, african americans trust the federal government moreso than their state governments, who like to pull bullspit like this, and on a whole, nationally, dems are working for the common, collective, racial whole:

Read on Twitter

and just in general, don't be a dumb f*ck about the nuances of effective leadership and their respective effectiveness. yeah there's a lot to criticize the democratic party for. but to be a reductionist assh*le about it by making statements saying dems haven't done anything for black people is ignorant, and bullspit.

Not only is it insidious it’s purposely hurtful and meant to depress the Democratic vote. It’s actually pretty gross because not only does it purposely misinform, it leaves out a lot of context and there’s never an analysis of why Republicans would be better. Anyone that pushes this talking point should be dismissed and given the side eye because they are only trying to divide.

[Pointgod]

This is the stance every Democrat should take. Make this **** painful and poisonous. Demagogue the **** out of it, talk about GOP death panels, go extreme as possible people will die with this Supreme Court nomination. If Republicans want to burn everything down, then lock them in the house and make them burn too.

Read on Twitter

[Wizardspride]

Read on Twitter

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[Ruzious]

Read on Twitter

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At least the morons in the stands are wearing masks - for the most part. They really never progressed past the 1950's - when America was their ideal, and there was no such thing as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

[Zonkerbl]

As far as Republicans being worse than Democrats - despite having the full advantage of living in the United States and having access to all the institutions that make this country great, blacks haven't been able to catch up to whites in terms of income or wealth. That has to do with institutional racism like the War on Drugs, which the Dems embraced wholeheartedly. Yes it's better to not be beaten up and lynched, but it's like choosing between getting your face punched and getting sat on by a 400 lb gorilla. The latter is somewhat preferable but... I mean, are you really better off rewarding the Dems for patting themselves on the back for not setting crosses on fire but still supporting the institutional racism that keeps blacks cordoned off in a separate and unequal economy?

The only way to really start fixing institutional racism is to first address the criminal justice system, and the only way to fix that is through near abolition of the industrial prison complex and associated institutional mechanisms, which includes the police. Biden's refusal to endorse defunding the police makes me think he just doesn't get it and at his age maybe he never will. And his refusal to endorse legalizing marijuana, the prohibition of which is enforced in a flagrantly racist way, doesn't fill me with confidence either.

You know how I complain that passing minimum wage laws only after the market wage has risen above the minimum wage is complete hypocritical horsecrap? I feel that way about a lot of these marginal little things that Democrats have done to pay lip service to civil rights, while ignoring the policy changes that would actually make a difference.