Biden Out of Race

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To be fair, the loss of slavery WAS economically devastating to the south, for a very long time.

The comparison to immigrant labor falls apart though when you realize the immigrants WANT to work for their current wages, and that there's a simple way to resolve the issue of illegal immigration to everyone's satisfaction and prosperity:

1) work visa program to screen, permit, and track the people who want to do honest work here
2) deport anyone who remains here illegally after the work visa program is in effect
3) prosecute people who hire illegal labor
Yea.

Sailing to another country to kidnap people and force them to work is a bit different than people traveling 1000s of miles here in order to find jobs
 
To be fair, the loss of slavery WAS economically devastating to the south, for a very long time.

The comparison to immigrant labor falls apart though when you realize the immigrants WANT to work for their current wages, and that there's a simple way to resolve the issue of illegal immigration to everyone's satisfaction and prosperity:

1) work visa program to screen, permit, and track the people who want to do honest work here
2) deport anyone who remains here illegally after the work visa program is in effect
3) prosecute people who hire illegal labor
Now that’s a debate I’d like to have. Was slavery itself the poison to the southern economy? It allowed them to not modernize because they became essentially a proto petrostate with agriculture instead of oil. But they didn’t develop anything else economically because of this. Maybe the weather and heat prevented industrialized cities down south though.
 
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Now that’s a debate I’d like to have. Was slavery itself the poison to the southern economy? It allowed them to not modernize because they became essentially a proto petrostate with agriculture instead of oil. But they didn’t develop anything else economically because of this. Maybe the weather and heat prevented industrialized cities down south though.
Sorta like the UAE today.
 
I have a feeling that ICE officers still needed probable cause under Obama’s admin. Here we have the current director of ICE saying that they DON’T need probable cause to detain someone, but sure, ya continue on with your whataboutisms.

https://www.reddit.com/r/law/s/ZVDRgmM100
ACLU will tell you otherwise. But as they are a defacto arm of the dem party, they just kept quiet.
 
I support DJT because he is our president and wish he has a successful presidency just as I would if KH won. Why would any American not support our elected president? I disapprove of many of his policies from Canada 51st to Greenland to Tariffs to his personality flaws.

But the election was DJT who was close to being unelectable or KH who has proven to be unelectable thus DJT won. He is our president, and not matter what, I want him to succeed. He will be president for another 3.5 years and then I hope both parties can move from the MAGA and crazy leftist platforms.

Looks like Vance gonna continue MAGA, lets see if dems have the guts to nominate a moderate. and not some AOC type.
I actually want AOC to gain steam. Just like Bernie sanders gained steam in 2016. Only for the elite dems to rig everything and undermine the people’s will to vote for who they want.

Just let nature take its course

The elite republicans tried to undermine trump in 2016 and failed. They really did. They finally let go and let the people choose him.

Who knows how the election of 2016 would have turned. Same with 2024

See how when the people of the Democratic Party chose Biden in 2020. He actually won.
 
I actually want AOC to gain steam. Just like Bernie sanders gained steam in 2016. Only for the elite dems to rig everything and undermine the people’s will to vote for who they want.

Just let nature take its course

The elite republicans tried to undermine trump in 2016 and failed. They really did. They finally let go and let the people choose him.

Who knows how the election of 2016 would have turned. Same with 2024

See how when the people of the Democratic Party chose Biden in 2020. He actually won.
Oh lord...not this nonsense again
 
I actually want AOC to gain steam. Just like Bernie sanders gained steam in 2016. Only for the elite dems to rig everything and undermine the people’s will to vote for who they want.

Just let nature take its course

The elite republicans tried to undermine trump in 2016 and failed. They really did. They finally let go and let the people choose him.

Who knows how the election of 2016 would have turned. Same with 2024

See how when the people of the Democratic Party chose Biden in 2020. He actually won.
I agree. Populists all around for once. Let the best candidate win the hearts and minds in an organic way
 
Oh lord...not this nonsense again
You let your common people vote.
What are you afraid of AOC? That she speaks the truth?

She runs. She either fails or gains steam

Everyone thought Desantis was better candidate than Nikki Haley. Yet Nikki Haley last longer than desantis.

Don’t ever count out an upstart candidate.
 
Just got to let him cook right? This is actually the only thing that will turn conservatives against this administration. Otherwise, no matter how many times they say they didn’t vote for Trump, they know he’s a dirtbag, at the end of the day, they’ll keep coming on this forum and defending Trump and his admin.


IMG_1015.jpeg
 
Sounds like Texas is getting what it voted for. Maybe they'll vote differently next time.
I know families directly affected who lost kids. Lets not politicize this tragedy. Your better than this.
 
I know families directly affected who lost kids. Let’s not politicize this tragedy. You’re better than this.
Yes let’s not politicize the almost def preventable tragedy when the prevention was politicized. Also, Sandy Hook would like a word. Seriously, dude, your “side” has absolutely NO moral high ground here.
 
One happened years ago and the other a week ago still looking for bodies. If you can't see this, then go ahead.
 
I know families directly affected who lost kids. Lets not politicize this tragedy. Your better than this.
Sounds like the same statement released after every mass shooting...

But yes, lets not politicize it...


Good thing maga didn't politicize those malibu fires...


 
You really do have to appreciate the toddler level certainty that some here have that they are correct and that any evidence to the contrary can be twisted to fit that reasoning. It must be incredible to have never moved past that level of cognitive and emotional development and live in a world where everything can be reduced to such simple terms.
 
Yes let’s not politicize the almost def preventable tragedy when the prevention was politicized. Also, Sandy Hook would like a word. Seriously, dude, your “side” has absolutely NO moral high ground here.
I’m anxious to be enlightened how this was preventable based on what’s happened in the past 8 months. I think you’re really reaching
 
I’m anxious to be enlightened how this was preventable based on what’s happened in the past 8 months. I think you’re really reaching

But even as Texas rescue crews raced to save lives, FEMA officials realized they needed Noem’s approval before sending those additional assets. Noem didn’t authorize FEMA’s deployment of Urban Search and Rescue teams until Monday, more than 72 hours after the flooding began, multiple sources told CNN.



Is any specific climate event preventable? No
Will climate change increase the frequency and severity of events? Absolutely
Will climate change denial slow down investment in climate mitigation strategies? Absolutely
Do budget cuts and doge affect disaster impact disaster relief efforts? Absolutely

Maga does like to fall back on these all or nothing arguments. As if anything is 100% preventable. Heck, why invest in police if crime isnt 100% preventable? Healthcare? Why, will it save 100% of people?

Cmon folks. We are smarter than that
 
You really do have to appreciate the toddler level certainty that some here have that they are correct and that any evidence to the contrary can be twisted to fit that reasoning. It must be incredible to have never moved past that level of cognitive and emotional development and live in a world where everything can be reduced to such simple terms.
I feel ur pain bro. That’s why democrats talk the talk. But don’t walk the walk. And complain about everything
 
But even as Texas rescue crews raced to save lives, FEMA officials realized they needed Noem’s approval before sending those additional assets. Noem didn’t authorize FEMA’s deployment of Urban Search and Rescue teams until Monday, more than 72 hours after the flooding began, multiple sources told CNN.



Is any specific climate event preventable? No
Will climate change increase the frequency and severity of events? Absolutely
Will climate change denial slow down investment in climate mitigation strategies? Absolutely
Do budget cuts and doge affect disaster impact disaster relief efforts? Absolutely

Maga does like to fall back on these all or nothing arguments. As if anything is 100% preventable. Heck, why invest in police if crime isnt 100% preventable? Healthcare? Why, will it save 100% of people?

Cmon folks. We are smarter than that
So “almost def preventable” was just a figure of speech.

Anyway let me know when some sort of investigation finds something about this.
 

Leopards... faces... etc...
That’s good. Trump immigration laws are working on white people also. Fair and balance. Not just Mexicans and Central Americans.

I dunno why anyone should complain. He did the crime. He needs to pay.

Any green card holder who’s an adult should know better. Most of the green card holders I know won’t even leave the country to go to India this summer. Their usual 3-4 weeks summer. Even if they don’t even have a conviction. They know better not to take any risk traveling

But the dude knows he got some minor crimes in the past. He should be detained.

And most Canadians i know have duo citizenship. He never got his duo citizenship. Especially those who live so close to the border.
 
That’s good. Trump immigration laws are working on white people also. Fair and balance. Not just Mexicans and Central Americans.

I dunno why anyone should complain. He did the crime. He needs to pay.

Any green card holder who’s an adult should know better. Most of the green card holders I know won’t even leave the country to go to India this summer. Their usual 3-4 weeks summer. Even if they don’t even have a conviction. They know better not to take any risk traveling

But the dude knows he got some minor crimes in the past. He should be detained.

And most Canadians i know have duo citizenship. He never got his duo citizenship. Especially those who live so close to the border.

"Good" in the sense that discretionary policies are being applied fairly brutally to white Trump supporters as well as everyone else? Sure, to some extent it's good that they bear some of the costs with these policies.

"Good" in the sense that it's "good policy" or "good for the nation"? No.
 
That’s good. Trump immigration laws are working on white people also. Fair and balance. Not just Mexicans and Central Americans.

I dunno why anyone should complain. He did the crime. He needs to pay.

Any green card holder who’s an adult should know better. Most of the green card holders I know won’t even leave the country to go to India this summer. Their usual 3-4 weeks summer. Even if they don’t even have a conviction. They know better not to take any risk traveling

But the dude knows he got some minor crimes in the past. He should be detained.

And most Canadians i know have duo citizenship. He never got his duo citizenship. Especially those who live so close to the border.
Always just think to yourself: “if I did this in the UK, would they just be cool with it?”
 

Leopards... faces... etc...


He’s been a green card holder since 1981. He should have gotten citizenship while a more immigration friendly administration was in charge. I have a Canadian Chinese friend who got citizenship in 2016 just in time to vote against Trump 1.0.
 
I know families directly affected who lost kids. Lets not politicize this tragedy. Your better than this.
It's a tragedy. No kids deserve to suffer or die.

And yet, throughout history, children have always suffered at the hands of their parents' bad decisions. Is there not a point at which we should point at those people and their bad decisions and make note of how they have harmed themselves and their children?

Surely you can see how votes for "smaller government" and Trumpian "swamp draining" that manifest as indiscriminate machete cuts to public services can turn around and bite the people who depend on those services.

This was predictable, and it was predicted.

Here's another prediction: We're coming up on hurricane season. A whole lot of people in the south who voted for Trump are going to find themselves needing FEMA, the National Weather Service, and other public services. I feel fortunate to live in an area that doesn't really get natural disasters, to be well-insured, and to have assets/cash/credit. I'm not at risk, but I didn't vote for this because I actually do give a **** about the people who are at risk.

So don't give me any of these handwringing demands for apolitical decorum in a political thread because you care so, so much. You voted for this.
 
Based on your comments, I am pretty sure you don’t know enough about the circumstances surrounding this tragedy to be commenting on this issue. You’re simply parroting what the hateful people on the left are putting out there.

Here is a post that is a much healthier approach to this tragedy than yours:

So Who’s to Blame?

Flash floods have always been part of life in the Texas Hill Country. We get those alerts on our phones - the kind that blare like Amber Alerts - nearly every time the skies darken. For most of us, it means avoiding low-water crossings, watching the rain gauge fill, and hoping maybe, just maybe, our thirsty lakes will drink their fill.

But this was different.

What came in the night wasn’t just rain, it was a reckoning. A violent, rising wall of water that didn’t knock, it broke down the doors.

Meteorologist Travis Herzog put it simply: flash floods are among the hardest weather events to predict. “No meteorologist could have told you with high confidence more than a few hours in advance that this much rain would fall in those exact locations,” he said. Even with double the normal staff at the monitoring station for our region, no model foresaw the worst, because what happened was beyond the worst-case scenario.

The atmosphere defied the forecasts. The storms exceeded even the worst projections of the computer models both in coverage and amounts of heavy rain. Still, the National Weather Service issued warnings as the event unfolded in real time. A flood watch went out at 12:41 a.m., forecasting up to seven inches of rain. Then, at 4:03 a.m., a flash flood emergency: Evacuate immediately. Seek higher ground.

But by then, in places like Kerrville, Hunt, Center Point, Streeter, and Ingram, tiny towns tucked in the folds of the Hill Country, it was already too late.

The Guadalupe River rose 34 feet in two hours.

Imagine that. Thirty-four feet. In darkness. While people slept. In homes tucked far from cell service, on land where neighbors are separated by acres, not fences. The water came with rage. A half foot higher every minute. Carrying trees, metal, cars, walls. It tore buildings from their foundations. It erased entire RV parks. It killed.

And now, more than 100 people are gone.

So who’s to blame?

That question has begun to echo across social media, in hushed conversations, in angry ones. People want someone to point at. Someone to hold responsible for the unbearable weight of loss. But I urge you to pause.

Because I remember a flood like this. Ten years ago, when my own hometown of Wimberley was ravaged in the night by another flash flood. Entire families swept away. Homes ripped off their slabs. Our beloved Blanco River turning into a monster.

And back then, we didn’t ask who was to blame.
We cried. We prayed. We showed up.

We linked arms - strangers, neighbors, friends. We searched the riverbanks. We rescued pets from crumbling homes. We passed out hot meals, clean water and diapers. We took in the displaced, fed the volunteers, wrapped the grieving in blankets. We were #WimberleyStrong, not because we looked for someone to blame, but because we looked for someone to help.

That’s the choice in front of you now.

You can rage. Or you can reach out.

You can look for fault lines, or you can look for someone to help.

This flood was no one’s fault. It was a freak convergence of nature’s fury - unpredictable, unstoppable, and unforgiving. But what happens next is in our control. That’s where our power lies.

So go. Volunteer with search crews combing the riverbanks. Give to organizations that are on the ground: The Community Foundation of the Hill Country, Mercy Chefs, The Cajun Navy, Team Rubicon, Austin Pets Alive. Cook meals. Hold hands. Open your wallet. Open your heart.

Tell your children you love them. Tell your neighbors you’re here. Tell the broken they are not alone.

Tragedy has come. That part is done. What we do now - who we are now - that’s the story still being written.

Let it be one of grace. Of grit. Of fierce love in the face of grief.

Let it be the kind of story that proves: the Hill Country may flood, but it does not fall.

Say what you will about Texas - but when the rivers rise, so do we.
Not with blame. Not with bitterness.
But with boots on the ground, arms around strangers, and hearts wide open.
That’s the Texas I know. And that’s the America I believe in.

Authored by Bex Hale
 
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How many of you disable amber alerts and other alerts? Only alert that can’t be disabled is presidential alerts.

I disable my alerts. Obviously many of those kids are too young to have cell phones are age 8-10.

But considering one of the texted their parents at age 330am. Some were awake but helpless to make a run for it.

I lived through a major Sept hurricane at overnight camp when I was 9. (Was actually a school sponsored camp). Very scary. But hurricanes you have ample warning we were all put on a bus driving through the rain at 10pm at night with trees falling down

These kids had no chance with the floods at 330am.
 
Based on your comments, I am pretty sure you don’t know enough about the circumstances surrounding this tragedy to be commenting on this issue. You’re simply parroting what the hateful people on the left are putting out there.

Here is a post that is a much healthier approach to this tragedy than yours:

So Who’s to Blame?

Flash floods have always been part of life in the Texas Hill Country. We get those alerts on our phones - the kind that blare like Amber Alerts - nearly every time the skies darken. For most of us, it means avoiding low-water crossings, watching the rain gauge fill, and hoping maybe, just maybe, our thirsty lakes will drink their fill.

But this was different.

What came in the night wasn’t just rain, it was a reckoning. A violent, rising wall of water that didn’t knock, it broke down the doors.

Meteorologist Travis Herzog put it simply: flash floods are among the hardest weather events to predict. “No meteorologist could have told you with high confidence more than a few hours in advance that this much rain would fall in those exact locations,” he said. Even with double the normal staff at the monitoring station for our region, no model foresaw the worst, because what happened was beyond the worst-case scenario.

The atmosphere defied the forecasts. The storms exceeded even the worst projections of the computer models both in coverage and amounts of heavy rain. Still, the National Weather Service issued warnings as the event unfolded in real time. A flood watch went out at 12:41 a.m., forecasting up to seven inches of rain. Then, at 4:03 a.m., a flash flood emergency: Evacuate immediately. Seek higher ground.

But by then, in places like Kerrville, Hunt, Center Point, Streeter, and Ingram, tiny towns tucked in the folds of the Hill Country, it was already too late.

The Guadalupe River rose 34 feet in two hours.

Imagine that. Thirty-four feet. In darkness. While people slept. In homes tucked far from cell service, on land where neighbors are separated by acres, not fences. The water came with rage. A half foot higher every minute. Carrying trees, metal, cars, walls. It tore buildings from their foundations. It erased entire RV parks. It killed.

And now, more than 100 people are gone.

So who’s to blame?

That question has begun to echo across social media, in hushed conversations, in angry ones. People want someone to point at. Someone to hold responsible for the unbearable weight of loss. But I urge you to pause.

Because I remember a flood like this. Ten years ago, when my own hometown of Wimberley was ravaged in the night by another flash flood. Entire families swept away. Homes ripped off their slabs. Our beloved Blanco River turning into a monster.

And back then, we didn’t ask who was to blame.
We cried. We prayed. We showed up.

We linked arms - strangers, neighbors, friends. We searched the riverbanks. We rescued pets from crumbling homes. We passed out hot meals, clean water and diapers. We took in the displaced, fed the volunteers, wrapped the grieving in blankets. We were #WimberleyStrong, not because we looked for someone to blame, but because we looked for someone to help.

That’s the choice in front of you now.

You can rage. Or you can reach out.

You can look for fault lines, or you can look for someone to help.

This flood was no one’s fault. It was a freak convergence of nature’s fury - unpredictable, unstoppable, and unforgiving. But what happens next is in our control. That’s where our power lies.

So go. Volunteer with search crews combing the riverbanks. Give to organizations that are on the ground: The Community Foundation of the Hill Country, Mercy Chefs, The Cajun Navy, Team Rubicon, Austin Pets Alive. Cook meals. Hold hands. Open your wallet. Open your heart.

Tell your children you love them. Tell your neighbors you’re here. Tell the broken they are not alone.

Tragedy has come. That part is done. What we do now - who we are now - that’s the story still being written.

Let it be one of grace. Of grit. Of fierce love in the face of grief.

Let it be the kind of story that proves: the Hill Country may flood, but it does not fall.

Say what you will about Texas - but when the rivers rise, so do we.
Not with blame. Not with bitterness.
But with boots on the ground, arms around strangers, and hearts wide open.
That’s the Texas I know. And that’s the America I believe in.

Authored by Bex Hale

Wow a call for compassion and grace. Maybe we can change our path as a country and make it universal.
 
Based on your comments, I am pretty sure you don’t know enough about the circumstances surrounding this tragedy to be commenting on this issue. You’re simply parroting what the hateful people on the left are putting out there.

Here is a post that is a much healthier approach to this tragedy than yours:

So Who’s to Blame?

Flash floods have always been part of life in the Texas Hill Country. We get those alerts on our phones - the kind that blare like Amber Alerts - nearly every time the skies darken. For most of us, it means avoiding low-water crossings, watching the rain gauge fill, and hoping maybe, just maybe, our thirsty lakes will drink their fill.

But this was different.

What came in the night wasn’t just rain, it was a reckoning. A violent, rising wall of water that didn’t knock, it broke down the doors.

Meteorologist Travis Herzog put it simply: flash floods are among the hardest weather events to predict. “No meteorologist could have told you with high confidence more than a few hours in advance that this much rain would fall in those exact locations,” he said. Even with double the normal staff at the monitoring station for our region, no model foresaw the worst, because what happened was beyond the worst-case scenario.

The atmosphere defied the forecasts. The storms exceeded even the worst projections of the computer models both in coverage and amounts of heavy rain. Still, the National Weather Service issued warnings as the event unfolded in real time. A flood watch went out at 12:41 a.m., forecasting up to seven inches of rain. Then, at 4:03 a.m., a flash flood emergency: Evacuate immediately. Seek higher ground.

But by then, in places like Kerrville, Hunt, Center Point, Streeter, and Ingram, tiny towns tucked in the folds of the Hill Country, it was already too late.

The Guadalupe River rose 34 feet in two hours.

Imagine that. Thirty-four feet. In darkness. While people slept. In homes tucked far from cell service, on land where neighbors are separated by acres, not fences. The water came with rage. A half foot higher every minute. Carrying trees, metal, cars, walls. It tore buildings from their foundations. It erased entire RV parks. It killed.

And now, more than 100 people are gone.

So who’s to blame?

That question has begun to echo across social media, in hushed conversations, in angry ones. People want someone to point at. Someone to hold responsible for the unbearable weight of loss. But I urge you to pause.

Because I remember a flood like this. Ten years ago, when my own hometown of Wimberley was ravaged in the night by another flash flood. Entire families swept away. Homes ripped off their slabs. Our beloved Blanco River turning into a monster.

And back then, we didn’t ask who was to blame.
We cried. We prayed. We showed up.

We linked arms - strangers, neighbors, friends. We searched the riverbanks. We rescued pets from crumbling homes. We passed out hot meals, clean water and diapers. We took in the displaced, fed the volunteers, wrapped the grieving in blankets. We were #WimberleyStrong, not because we looked for someone to blame, but because we looked for someone to help.

That’s the choice in front of you now.

You can rage. Or you can reach out.

You can look for fault lines, or you can look for someone to help.

This flood was no one’s fault. It was a freak convergence of nature’s fury - unpredictable, unstoppable, and unforgiving. But what happens next is in our control. That’s where our power lies.

So go. Volunteer with search crews combing the riverbanks. Give to organizations that are on the ground: The Community Foundation of the Hill Country, Mercy Chefs, The Cajun Navy, Team Rubicon, Austin Pets Alive. Cook meals. Hold hands. Open your wallet. Open your heart.

Tell your children you love them. Tell your neighbors you’re here. Tell the broken they are not alone.

Tragedy has come. That part is done. What we do now - who we are now - that’s the story still being written.

Let it be one of grace. Of grit. Of fierce love in the face of grief.

Let it be the kind of story that proves: the Hill Country may flood, but it does not fall.

Say what you will about Texas - but when the rivers rise, so do we.
Not with blame. Not with bitterness.
But with boots on the ground, arms around strangers, and hearts wide open.
That’s the Texas I know. And that’s the America I believe in.

Authored by Bex Hale

I want to believe you weren't one of the posters here after the Malibu fires commenting on the failed state of California, so I'll just assume that is the case and not go back and check.

In the spirit of Making America Great, it does seem like there are some things local, state and Federal officials can work on to mitigate events like this in the future:

"Kerr County officials knew for a decade that a better flood warning system would serve the local community well, meeting minutes obtained by the Texas Tribune show, but one was not in place when last week’s floods hit the state for several reasons."

"One reason: Texas state officials repeatedly rejected requests from Kerry County to pay for such a warning system, estimated to cost about $1 million, and turned away the county’s applications at least three times between 2017 and 2024 for various reasons, the New York Times reported."

"Another: Local officials also failed to act when they were given $10 million under the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act money in 2021 and, instead of using it on storm-related infrastructure as the grant encouraged, allocated it to other public safety projects, county employee raises and a new walking path, according to the Texas Tribune."

"Kerr County’s own voters are getting blamed, as well, by local officials who say there was little public support for a system: “Generally everybody’s for doing something until it gets down to the details of paying for it," Harvey Hilderbran, the former state representative from Kerr County, told the Tribune."

"Trump’s FEMA also blamed: Sources inside FEMA told CNN and the New York Times that new policies put in place by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem delayed the deployment of search and rescue crews by 72 hours, delayed a request from the state for aerial imagery and have led to longer wait times at a federally staffed disaster call center."

"Texas officials initially tried to put fault on the National Weather Service early on in the flood recovery efforts, claiming the agency did not properly convey the storm's threat, but experts have since said the warnings issued were as timely and accurate as could have been expected."

"However: Some former NWS officials told the Times that while the warnings may have been up to par, cuts to the NWS and early retirement incentives doled out under President Donald Trump led to staffing shortages in the central Texas office that may have impacted the NWS’ ability to communicate with local authorities in the hours after the warnings were issued."


I dunno, maybe Forbes and the Texas Tribune are part of "the hateful people on the left" now. But who knows, maybe changing all of these wouldn't have saved any lives.
 
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It's a tragedy. No kids deserve to suffer or die.

And yet, throughout history, children have always suffered at the hands of their parents' bad decisions. Is there not a point at which we should point at those people and their bad decisions and make note of how they have harmed themselves and their children?

Surely you can see how votes for "smaller government" and Trumpian "swamp draining" that manifest as indiscriminate machete cuts to public services can turn around and bite the people who depend on those services.

This was predictable, and it was predicted.

Here's another prediction: We're coming up on hurricane season. A whole lot of people in the south who voted for Trump are going to find themselves needing FEMA, the National Weather Service, and other public services. I feel fortunate to live in an area that doesn't really get natural disasters, to be well-insured, and to have assets/cash/credit. I'm not at risk, but I didn't vote for this because I actually do give a **** about the people who are at risk.

So don't give me any of these handwringing demands for apolitical decorum in a political thread because you care so, so much. You voted for this.


Are there any areas that aren’t at climate risk? Did anybody expect Asheville to flood after Helene.
 
Kinda funny how the guilty just always seem to return to the scene of the crime…View attachment 406516
“I've known Jeff for 15 years - terrific guy,”Trump had told New York Magazine back in 2002. “He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side“

Yes this is a real quote
 
"Francisco Erwin Galicia, the 18-year-old Dallas-born U.S. citizen detained by border officials, is speaking out about the conditions inside the facility where he was wrongfully held for more than three weeks. Galicia said conditions were so bad, he considered self-deporting just to get out — even though he has a birth certificate proving he's American-born.

During the 23 days he was in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, Galicia was not allowed to shower, he told The Dallas Morning News, which first reported his story.

The teen said he lost 26 pounds during his time in the immigrant detention center, and said officers didn't provide him with enough food. He was crammed into an overcrowded holding area with 60 other men. They slept on the floor with aluminum-foil blankets — some even had to sleep in the bathroom area, he said.

Some of the men were very sick and were bitten by ticks, but were afraid to ask for a doctor because CBP officers told them their stay would start over if they did, Galicia said.

"It was inhumane how they treated us. It got to the point where I was ready to sign a deportation paper just to not be suffering there anymore. I just needed to get out of there," he told the newspaper. "It's one thing to see these conditions on TV and in the news. It's another to go through them."

Galicia's brother Marlon, who was born in Mexico and is not a U.S. citizen, decided to agree to deportation after two days in the facility.

The brothers were not allowed to make phone calls while being detained. Marlon was deported to Mexico, but Galicia stayed until he was moved into ICE custody, where he was finally allowed to call his mother.

His lawyer, Claudia Galan, brought necessary documentation, including his birth certificate, to border officials, but they continued to hold him. She told the newspaper it appears he was detained due to conflicting information on a visa his mother had used for him as a child. Finally, on Tuesday, Galan announced Galicia had been released."

 
"Francisco Erwin Galicia, the 18-year-old Dallas-born U.S. citizen detained by border officials, is speaking out about the conditions inside the facility where he was wrongfully held for more than three weeks. Galicia said conditions were so bad, he considered self-deporting just to get out — even though he has a birth certificate proving he's American-born.

During the 23 days he was in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, Galicia was not allowed to shower, he told The Dallas Morning News, which first reported his story.

The teen said he lost 26 pounds during his time in the immigrant detention center, and said officers didn't provide him with enough food. He was crammed into an overcrowded holding area with 60 other men. They slept on the floor with aluminum-foil blankets — some even had to sleep in the bathroom area, he said.

Some of the men were very sick and were bitten by ticks, but were afraid to ask for a doctor because CBP officers told them their stay would start over if they did, Galicia said.

"It was inhumane how they treated us. It got to the point where I was ready to sign a deportation paper just to not be suffering there anymore. I just needed to get out of there," he told the newspaper. "It's one thing to see these conditions on TV and in the news. It's another to go through them."

Galicia's brother Marlon, who was born in Mexico and is not a U.S. citizen, decided to agree to deportation after two days in the facility.

The brothers were not allowed to make phone calls while being detained. Marlon was deported to Mexico, but Galicia stayed until he was moved into ICE custody, where he was finally allowed to call his mother.

His lawyer, Claudia Galan, brought necessary documentation, including his birth certificate, to border officials, but they continued to hold him. She told the newspaper it appears he was detained due to conflicting information on a visa his mother had used for him as a child. Finally, on Tuesday, Galan announced Galicia had been released."


A little 5 year old “news” to start the day I see!

Fun story, the guy was basically carrying forged documents saying he was born in Mexico.

Ask yourself, if he was in the UK, would this have flown just fine, or would he have been in Scotland Yard under heavy suspicion as a threat?
 
A little 5 year old “news” to start the day I see!

Fun story, the guy was basically carrying forged documents saying he was born in Mexico.

Ask yourself, if he was in the UK, would this have flown just fine, or would he have been in Scotland Yard under heavy suspicion as a threat?
Yeah your first paragraph is really all this needed in this. This isn't current information so while terrible, also meh.
 
A little 5 year old “news” to start the day I see!

Fun story, the guy was basically carrying forged documents saying he was born in Mexico.

Ask yourself, if he was in the UK, would this have flown just fine, or would he have been in Scotland Yard under heavy suspicion as a threat?

I didn't realize it was 5 years old. How embarrassing. The social media post I saw earlier where I got it from has since been deleted, looks like they were fooled too.

I don't know why you think we should aspire to be the UK though.
 
I didn't realize it was 5 years old. How embarrassing.

I don't know why you think we should aspire to be the UK though.

I talk about other countries in this context to argue the point about the USA descending into fascism in some unique way, while in reality there’s a worldwide backlash against migration
 
I talk about other countries in this context to argue the point about the USA descending into fascism in some unique way, while in reality there’s a worldwide backlash against migration

A "worldwide backlash" against immigration can still be fascistic. It's also not all or nothing, a descent into fascism can be gradual or abrupt. Democratic backsliding among many countries is widely reported, hopefully the trends can be reversed.
 
A "worldwide backlash" against immigration can still be fascistic. It's also not all or nothing, a descent into fascism can be gradual or abrupt. Democratic backsliding among many countries is widely reported, hopefully the trends can be reversed.

I don’t think it’s a particularly useful way to describe what we see happening in the world. Fascism was a response to a particular set of circumstances that aren’t really relevant to today.

A fine example is the whining about ICE as the “American gestapo”

Set aside illegal immigrants for a second and consider actual powerful people in the USA. Are they under threat from ICE? How about any other Trump created police entity?

Zohran Mamdani and is an actual communist and he feels perfectly safe criticizing the trump government currently.

I can cite dozens of actions by historic fascist police forces that involved direct violence against religious institutions, kidnapping of government officials, dissolution of political parties or other organizations, and generally provoked fear of speaking out in the populace.

I think it’s completely ahistorical to call what we see in the modern world fascism when every western democratic country still has multiple thriving political parties that are multi faceted and try to broaden their tents by catering to all kinds of special interest groups.

Like the actual first thing that happens in fascism is elimination or suppression of the political opposition. I don’t hear democratic, libertarian, democratic socialist, or centrist talking heads getting quieter these days so I remain unconcerned.

Like what are all the people crying about this going to do when democrats retake the House of Representatives and completely stop the government? Or how about the 2028 presidential election, what happens if democrats win? Are we still fascist then?
 
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