Best Of

@Amos_Umwhat said:
I've watched bits and pieces of the D convention. Mostly just hoo-rah yay us boo him balloon juice.

I can't think of a thing any of the speakers I saw that had any substance for me. However, unfortunately, actually recognizing real problems and seeking satisfactory solutions doesn't get the average voter excited. Nearly our entire population seems to be more attuned to pep-rally chanting, clever turn of phrase, and if you bring up any of the real problems we're facing you're accused of being derogatory to America. Pretty frustrating. These things seem to apply to both sides.

I guess I'd rather have Ross Perot's charts and figures and statistics. True, his plan was to put a stop to the loopholes and inconsistencies that made him rich, and that's seen as hypocritical by some, but he seemed to have a grip on reality. Perhaps not, I'm no expert, but his approach worked for me.

Still kind of like what I've seen and heard of Tim Walz, Kamala, not so much. I have serious doubts concerning her ability to govern.

I'd feel a lot better about Trump if he'd stop making comments that can be translated as "I'd like to be dictator".

I'd feel a lot better about the Democrats if their number one rallying call wasn't "Hey, abortion is great!" Yes, there are circumstances where I believe it should be prescribed, or at least made an option, but hey, if you really believe in a right to choose, choose not to expose yourself to pregnancy. For those who didn't have a choice, abortion should be an option, and only the insane insist that a woman be forced to carry a dead fetus. But, on the whole, it's not a thing to "celebrate".

How long will we be led by the lunatic fringes of the Left and the Right? Where are our moderates, bipartisan compromise, you know, the stuff that made our country great in the first place?

I may simply be delusional. Idealistic.

Meanwhile, memes like the one I posted above and many others are probably the greatest influence for most people.

This kind of thing ^^^ seems far more influential for most than boring stuff like Ross Perot's charts and figures. Innuendo, snark, false "facts", ridicule, and a determination that "the other sides ideas" not be embraced even if it's the very thing your party claims to stand for, that's what is running our government.

How long can we hold up under this onslaught of hate and ignorance from all sides?

Rant over. Feel free to disagree, especially if you have viable solutions to offer. I'm at a loss.

https://www.ncregister.com/news/tim-walz-born-alive-abortion

The bill Walz signed led to sharp debate last year in the state Legislature, which is narrowly controlled by the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, which is the state affiliate of the national Democratic Party.

Walz emphasized his support for abortion during his first (successful) run for governor in 2018. During a speech at his state party convention in June of that year, he ticked off a list of progressive stances he took as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, during a time when Nancy Pelosi was the U.S. House leader of the Democrats.

The abortion debate will continue well after we have left this planet. The "Old men telling women what to do with their bodies", "Don't tell me I can't own guns but I'll tell you what to do with your body....", "When does life begin....", "The Bible says..... But I don't believe in your God...." . These arguments will rage on for a very long time.

Good luck pulling someone/anyone out of their cement shoes stance on this topic. I think both parties know that there are sheep out there and they know they are the wolves. All they need to do is get a flock together and then pounce.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/3132638/trump-women-reproductive-rights-rhetorical-shift/

Former President Donald Trump played a much different tone than previously on the topic of abortion and women’s rights, saying his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights.”

Nothing is getting fixed without getting big money out of politics, and that’s not happening without a revolution of some kind, if at all. I enjoy discussing politics in terms of “what do you think about this issue”, but I pretty firmly believe things can’t actually be fixed without starting over.

C'mon Steve. Follow the money...

Hey, look what I found!

Thought this was interesting. Have they done this at previous DNC's? Pretty dismal turnout...😒

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/aug/22/planned-parenthood-bus-outside-dnc-sees-eight-abor/

The Planned Parenthood mobile clinic stationed near the Democratic National Convention provided abortion pills to eight patients and performed nine vasectomies during its highly publicized two-day stint in Chicago.

An early report said the mobile health unit planned to see 25 abortion patients, but Planned Parenthood Great Rivers said that was just the number of appointments it could have taken.

“The 25 you refer to was the approximate number of available patient slots,” the Planned Parenthood affiliate told The Washington Times in a Wednesday email. “We served 9 vasectomy and 8 medication abortion patients between the two days.”

@peter4jc said:
The Democrats, seeing polls that say inflation is one of their biggest weaknesses in the voters' opinions, have shifted their messaging to blaming corporate greed.

Now, I'm certain corporate greed exists, as they are nothing more than manifestations of the human condition. What I don't understand is why corporations have waited until now to ramp up this greediness and cause the inflation they're being blamed for. Why didn't they do it 5 years ago? Or, is this nothing more than the Democrats playing hide the sausage with us?

At my job I've seen the markings of it, and I feel we've been objectively better than most. Before Covid we had 140k employees across the US and were reporting about 2B a year profit. Covid hit, and they way product moved through the supply chains just changed. A lot more direct to consumer, a lot less middle men. In 2021 we had 4.2B profit. Immediately following the US started to shift into recession, but every business plans to grow, so our forecast goals were set to 4.3B. Last year we were at 3.2B, with only 100k employees. Objectively it was a phenomenal year if you disregard the 2 years of the pandemic as outliers. But.... Since we we're so far below budget we are cutting every support department we have down to nothing to try to make up the difference.

During the pandemic a lot of companies saw record profits due to government "loans" that were since forgiven, and a more direct supply chain. For companies that directly produce and sell products, they will have set their future budgets based on those same profits. When everything begins to return to normal, the easiest way to push for the budget is to increase prices. If only one or two companies were doing this is would be immediately apparent to everyone what was happening, but it's occurring across the board.

I don't believe that there was a single person at any company that is intentional inflating things due to greed, but it is a direct result of the inflated budgets that everyone ended up with due to the bizarre circumstances from the last few years.

Except colleges... That sh*t is pure greed...