Walker88

Who are these communists and socialist left-wingers? Do you even know the meaning of the ideologies you mention? Doubtful. The Biden economy boomed. It was Darwinian Capitalism, admittedly, but it boomed. Those with marketable skills and talents saw their net worth soar and their services in constant demand, reflected in the longest stretch of unemployment being below 4% in 64 years. Those left behind by the modern tech economy did not fare as well, but they will do much worse when the resurrected Misters Smoot & Hawley implement their massive tariff plan. Sorry is you missed out. In the meantime, the DirFBI nominee, a believer in the QAnon drivel, stated he plans to go after former government officials (who committed no crime) as well as journalists and media personalities who did not buy into the stolen election lie. Now THAT^ is FASCISM by anyone's definition.

So as an adherent of QAnon, I guess little Kash believes Hillary and Tom Hanks, among others, are part of an international cabal that kidnaps, rapes, roasts and eats babies. And the basement of a basement-less pizza restaurant in DC is their base. 47 certainly does have access to 'the best people'. Sadly for the magas, it looks like alcohol abuse and violence against women just might put the breaks on the candidacy of Pete Hegseth, with Ron "Desanctimonious" (per 47's nickname) on deck.

Hey, I know of a woman who lied on her visa application and was granted an "Einstein Visa". In actuality, she was a softcore porn model who apparently was less than factual about her educational credentials. She married a loud mouth silver spoon baby, and later used chain migration to get her Slovenian parents into the US. No doubt you're in favor of deporting her and her Mom and 'keeping our borders secure'. Oh, and perhaps you missed it, but a very conservative Republican Senator put together the most comprehensive border security measure ever in a Bill he introduced, even getting major concessions from across the aisle. It would have resulted in, inter alia, the hiring of hundreds more Border Patrol Agents as well as shoring up existing fences and surveillance systems. A phone call from a certain Republican Presidential candidate to the Speaker of the House quashed the Bill and let the border remain an issue throughout the campaign. Rational people might begin to wonder if that candidate is actually sincere.

Yes, that is some next level groveling sycophancy, no doubt competing with Speaker Johnson and Sean Hannity climbing up 47's alimentary canal vying for that first bite of the Quarter Pounder. But as they say on Late Night Infomercial...But wait! There's more! Never one to dismiss a conspiracy theory because it's batsh!t crazy, Patel added to his child's book the acronym: WW1GWGA In other words, Patel is an adherent of QAnon. Kind of embarrassing to have a nominee as DirFBI who is 'woke' and 'awake' on Pizzagate and the other absurdities like that. I wonder what he'll do when---according to "Q"---JFK, Jr comes back and claims the Oval Office and Resolute Desk? Now THERE's some cognitive dissonance!

47 pardoned Manafort and Stone, both involved---according to the Republican-led SSCI, who issued a report on the Russia investigation---in active cooperation with Russia to subvert the 2016 election. 47 will absolutely pardon himself for stealing highly classified documents, as well as his various efforts to engage in a coup and retain power after losing the 2020 election. He cannot pardon himself for State charges, such as his bank fraud and insurance fraud felony convictions, nor can he pardon himself for State charges brought by Georgia to interfere in that State's 2020 election, but I suspect he will sick his stormtroopers on anyone in those States involved in his righteous prosecution (such as Fani Willis, Judge Merchan, Merchan's daughter, etc.). Oh, and he not only pardoned his son-in-law's criminal father just before leaving office, he has now named the convicted felon as Ambassador to France. But Joe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So if a combo of Antifa and BLM storm the Capitol on 5 Jan 2025, set up gallows to hang the little Speaker, beat 140 cops, break windows, defecate on the floor and rub it on the walls, and try to overturn the results of 5 November, can we expect 47 to issue blanket pardons to those 'innocent victims'?

No need to look inward. You simply are too deep in the cult or simply not smart enough to see the threat., likely both.

It seems cult members need a remedial lesson on the First Amendment to the US Constitution. So here it is: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. If you listen to Patel's recent interview with Bannon, you will see his plans are to violate virtually the entire Amendment. 47 wants him to go after: 1) Former officials who did their job 2) Journalists and media people who criticized 47 3) Anyone who did not back the 'stolen election' lie. You might also recall as 45, the clown ordered a violent clearing of peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park just so he could go hold a Christian Bible upside down for a photo op aimed at pandering to his Christian Nationalist fans. That violates free speech, peaceful assembly and separation of church and State.

Hate for those who would destroy what much better people than you or 47 or any of his cult built and defended over 250 years.

Tears? Big boys don't cry. We leave that to the Crybaby-in-Chief, your bloated, lying, corrupt, convicted felon and treasonous messiah. Fat bloated old men, like the average cult member, have been whining for 4 years, unable to accept the 2020 loss. You have no concept of real patriotism or the actual ideals upon which the US was founded. Best you lay low and stay out of the way, like all the cult cowards and clowns.

Perhaps you missed his recent interview with Bannon, where he says he is going after former officials, journalists and media personalities who refused to accept the 'stolen election' lie. It is fascism, pure and simple.

In a true fascist weaponization of the Justice Dept, DirFBI nominee Kash Patel, the author of children's books and a crypto-schlepper, has a hit list of people he intends to investigate and prosecute, per direction of his overlord 47. The list is called "Government Gangsters" and just happens to have people on it who said bad things about the Whining Crybaby-in-Chief. The list can be read here: https://www.newsweek.com/kash-patel-list-officials-targeted-fbi-doj-trump-1994417 Should this happen, the gloves of true patriots will come off. Those of us who took the oath, and took it seriously, remember the part about "all enemies, foreign and domestic". We were given authority to take out foreign terrorists who posed a threat to the US. The oath stands. Nobody voted for fascism, or if they did, they are enemies of the State and deserve no quarter. Anywhere. The fastest way to start a real civil war would be for lackey Patel to begin going after innocent people. Darkness is descending on the United States, and the next few years are going to be worse than anything the country has experienced in its 250 years. I doubt it will survive as 50 States. I know what side I will be on, and it won't be the fascists'.

That is either an over the top troll, or you are batsh!t crazy. Invited? When I'm 'invited' somewhere, I tend to refrain from bear spraying the police or beating them with flags and poles. Also, I have a habit of walking into a door held open by security or the dwelling owner. I don't smash windows to gain access to places to which I'm invited. If folks smashed windows and beat your wife trying to enter your house---and you are a Second Amendment kind of guy---you would A) take your gun and shoot them, especially if they had erected gallows on your lawn and threatened to hang your wife, or B) serve them camomile tea and biscotti ? Anyone who entered the Capitol should have been gunned down as the terrorist scum they are. They should NOT be pardoned under any circumstances.

I think it's a fad that had its day, and is now in decline, except among certain other demographics like obese old expats. On those occasions where I have mistaken an agogo for a museum, and thus wandered inadvertently inside, I have noticed fewer tatted women as of late, and in conversation have been told by many women that they never intend to tatt up. That leads me to believe it's winter for the tatt fad. Coming soon: clean skin will be all the rage. Tatts limit job opportunities, should these women ever wish to take a massive cut in pay and move on. The colored ink has recently been linked to cancer, too, and any tatt can cause autoimmune disorders, especially Lupus. Is a dying fad worth that? When I walk by tatt parlors with windows, the folks I tend to see on the couch getting stuck tend to be older foreign males. I cannot remember the last time I passed a shop and saw a Thai woman getting inked. I've also noticed a few clinics advertising laser tatt removal, and plenty of people sitting inside waiting for their appointment. Sadly, I don't think those full back tatts come off. Your skin is your personal canvas, and folks are free to put whatever graffiti they want on their one body, but I have never seen anyone who would not look better absent the tatts. Lots of guys in my gym spend hours getting pumped, but the results are lost under the noise of arm, leg, back and neck ink. Perhaps I'll engage in some more 'research' at an agogo and observe the percentages of tatted vs clean.

If I stole even one classified document, despite having had a TS/SCI clearance, I would be in jail pending a trial, no matter how long I delayed it, and after conviction likely get a dozen years in jail. 45 stole hundreds of TS, SCI, SAP, Codeword, HCS, SITK and RD docs and kept them in his wedding planning facility where anyone ponying up $200K---including Chinese MSS agents---can join. Pssst! Wanna buy some secrets?

I'm trying to think of something appropriate to say regarding this pardon and its effect.....Ah, I found something on this very site: Drink Deep, my brothers, of the delicious tears of the maga cult! Pardons are traditionally abused as a President prepares to go out the door. Clinton pardoned Marc Rich. Rudy tried to arrange tributes (payoffs) for Friends of 45. 45 also pardoned guys who helped orchestrate the 2016 campaign cooperation with Russia (Stone and Manafort, and for those who will scream "wichhunt!":, go read the Republican-written SSCI report on Russiagate). 47 says he will pardon terrorists who tried to overthrow US democracy. As 45 he pardoned a truly vile person, and just named the same miscreant as US Ambassador to France.

Will he appoint Mr Smoot or Mr Hawley as US Trade Rep? Trade wars worked so well in the 1930s, right? What did Teddy Roosevelt NOT say? Speak loudly but carry a small (nickname for Richard)? During the 2016 campaign, he said (on CNBC Squawk Box) that he would consider defaulting on US Treasuries owned by foreigners. Hopefully he doesn't mouth off like that again, as foreign governments still own 25% of all US Treasury debt, and are required buyers in UST auctions. Absent them and rates soar. What's that I smell????? Tariffs to juice inflation and higher rates to squelch growth. Stagflation? All of his faux bully talk---tariffs, NATO, etc.--- suggests he thinks it's still September 1945, and the rest of the world is in shambles, while the US is relatively untouched by the just-ended war. The ongoing US global dominance is a function of two things primarily: rule of law and robust and massive capital markets. I have no doubt 47 can do egregious harm to both. A guy who can bankrupt 5 casinos, where folks line up to lose money to you, is probably not competent enough to deftly maneuver on the global stage.

The really stable genius is in actuality the Poster Child for the Dunning-Kreuger Effect and the Downing Effect. He thinks he knows more than Jefferson and Madison, David Ricardo and Adam Smith. Toss in the dozens of times he has stated, "Nobody knows more about [XXX] than me", and the clown is a disaster waiting to happen. The only thing left for rational people is just to embrace the schadenfreude to come.

Yea, economic growth that dwarfed what he oversaw as 45, plus a 64 year record of months with UE under 4%...oh, and GDP growth 3 times higher than other G7 nations since 2020...such sabotage! The guy so incompetent he failed 5 times in a business where people line up to hand you their money (casinos) is not going to improve on the Biden Economic Boom, nor is there anything he can do for the folks the modern tech economy left behind due to lack of marketable skills and talents. If you failed to boost your wealth during Biden's 4 years, there is something wrong or unnecessary with what you bring to the economy. That is simply a fact, and the fault lies within, not with Biden or Dems. It isn't going to get any easier under 47 or with the continued introduction of AI. Those who can, do; those who can't, voted for 47.

The President-elect clearly does not like the very first thing Madison and Jefferson put into the US Constitution, which just happens to be called the First Amendment. He does not like Freedom of Speech, absolutely does not like Freedom of the Press, and neither does he like the Right to Peaceful Assembly nor Freedom of Religion. He posted and spoke of ABC and CBS having their licenses to broadcast revoked, he said he does not want journalists to be free from revealing sources. He has made threats against journalists and TV Talking Heads who criticized him. You might also recall that he ordered stormtroopers to use violence and gas to break up a 100% peaceful protest in Lafayette Park, just so he could go hold a Christian Bible upside down in front of a Christian church as a photo op. Just in that act alone he showed his disdain for parts of the First Amendment (Peaceful Assembly and Religious Freedom). Only fools would think that performance art had any meaning to him other than pandering to the Christian Nationalists, with a shout out to fascists. His cult will come in and diss this, perhaps fabricating some 'alternative facts' or maybe try to play the whataboutism game, but as usual, they will be dead wrong and they're heads full of fever swamp vapors, altering whatever rational judgement they might ever have had, if indeed any of them ever did or ever understood the ideals upon which the United States was based.

I have a rough idea what “American Exceptionalism” means to those who use the term, but I also think exceptional isn’t clearly defined. To some extent. America is an acquired taste. I do think the original goal of the Founders is exceptional, and what they intended the country to work toward is now taken for granted by the majority of people around the world, which is that everyone is equal by law and has unalienable rights simply by virtue of existing. Madison and Jefferson borrowed from Locke, Rousseau, Descartes and others, and they also seemed to know the Founders were flawed men, so they set up a flexible and dynamic system that could and would adjust as social mores changed. Thus, what started out as rights primarily for white male landowners developed over time to include both genders and all ethnicities, and became independent of wealth. That foundation drew in people seeking more freedom and a chance to become whatever their skills, talents and ambition could make them. I do think it was, and remains, easier for anybody to rise to the top of society in the US, regardless of place, manner or circumstances of birth, than anywhere else in the world. That belief makes for greater efficiency, as brilliance is not held back because of wealth or lack thereof, of family connections, of ethnicity or belief system, or gender. It is hardly a surprise, given that view plus a sizeable population, that the US regularly leads in invention, discovery, Nobel Prizes, etc. Whether this continues or not is a matter open to speculation and discussion. The trend toward excessive nationalistic views, often falling along racial lines, and the current political system that attacks what the Founders specifically established, threatens everything the US became. Tossing out the Constitution (for the Bible, per some elected officials), changing the 1st Amendment as 47 has said he would like, and the Supreme Court recently obviating equality under the law by determining a President is virtually a monarch, do not bode well for continued exceptionalism, but rather a decline into mediocrity or worse. The Constitution and the system of checks and balances, where three branches of government share power, have worked pretty well for 250 years, but it is all at risk right now. Of course there are other matters that detract from anything approaching exceptional, if that term is to be defined positively. High rates of violence and high rates of incarceration are hardly positive. The qini coefficient is pretty high, but not even as high as Thailand. Lack of understanding basic civics and what the actual founding principles of the country are---which even the Supreme Court seems to have forgotten---add to the risk it can all fall apart. America was late to toss out slavery, too. On the other hand, the US is probably the reason Colonialism and Imperialism died. For example the US could have simply taken over all Middle East oil fields, playing like everyone in history from Alexander to Genghis Khan to the British Empire, but it didn't do it. Having the power to do virtually anything it wanted---especially right after WWII---and NOT doing what it easily could have done, is rather exceptional. The country always has been a work in progress, with periods of time things became better and moved toward the goal of total equality under the law, and periods where the country fell off trend. It is falling off trend now, and its survival is by no means assured. Personally, I do not think it survives the next four years as a single, united unit, but breaks down in a combination of social upheaval and perhaps even a number of States seceding, a la 1860, albeit this time for freedom, not to oppress on the basis of skin color.

You 'winners' can cash in your celestial credits upon expiration and claim your eternal reward. What men and women choose to do is not my business. I guess that's just my view. I also know that 50-100 years from now, neither the players nor their critics will be above ground, so none of what folks do or refrain from doing out of some personal moral code means diddly squat. Some people will have had happy memories or earned a little dosh, while curmudgeons and the morality police would have been properly outraged and could pat themselves on the back for their ethical superiority. Everybody wins. You'll feel better about yourself if you can feel negative about someone else. Back home, if I asked a woman to a dinner date, I would invariably pay the tab. Does that make her a hooker and me a loser? And if after dinner, we went to my place or hers, and engaged in a little intimacy, does THAT make her a hooker? If I pay the meal tab, but not extra for the intimacy, I guess that's okay. If I send her flowers or chocolates tomorrow, is that whore-ifying? If she schtupps me because she's horny, rather than doing it for cash to feed her family, she's a good girl, right? Horny sex is okay, but compensated sex is wrong, correct? I'm just guessing here, but since you seem to know the rules, perhaps you will offer righteous judgement.

I think she's an enormous benefit to national security. Putin and Russia will know absolutely everything about the capabilities of its adversaries as well as any clandestine penetration any adversary might have of Putin's inner circle or military. Oh, did you mean US National Security? Whoops! My bad.

If your greatest pleasure in life is 'drinking liberal tears', then you have a truly meaningless, sorry-arse life and would do yourself and the species a favor by climbing in the box. Or maybe just grow up, if that isn't too much to ask. Most of us 'libs' hoped for the best, hoped the career criminal would finally pay a price for his miserable life, and hoped the country would survive. We lost. We accept that, unlike 45 and his cult in 2020. Democracy, with all its inherent faults, prevailed. Those of us with alternatives have moved on, and will always find something on this planet to relish and enjoy.

I find the same percentage of appealing and attractive women today as I ever have, maybe even more. On the other hand, I find men infinitely less appealing---and I'm talking as friends and acquaintances, as I'm 100% hetero and happy with my traditional pronouns. The NYU Biz professor and entrepreneur Scott Galloway---who is a stat jockey---says that in the US in 2008, 8% of men reached age 30 as virgins, while today almost 33% reach age 30 as virgins. I think I understand why. They have no game, think being a 'man' is dominating women and 'keeping them in their place', are likely insecure, and think having 'game' is saying, "Yo, look at my Call of Duty score." Guys on this site are forever disparaging women, Western women in particular, claiming they are money grubbing, not feminine, and all fat. Well, the expats I see in Thailand are hardly lookers, nor do many seem as if they had successful careers. Fat and tatted, thinking women owe them something, and with meager funds hardly screams 'a catch'. So the only option they have is pay for play, and even there the average agogo woman makes more money than the typical retired expat. Women have done much better educationally and financially over the last decade, especially in the West and in Japan. They are looking for at least an equal, in terms of education and career success. It's getting more difficult for them to find someone who matches their own success. For the men who are educated, fit, and financially successful, it's never been better. A larger pool of interesting women is chasing a smaller pool of equal or more accomplished men. I don't know what flighty means, except maybe women who run screaming from guys who think they are owed something simply because they are male. Guys who are not succeeding with women have only one person to blame: the guy in the bathroom mirror.