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Post by AztecWilliam on Nov 30, 2020 14:41:25 GMT -8
Is it impossible that one can sincerely believe that DJT has been a deeply flawed POTUS, but not the modern Adolf Hitler that so many of the Left seen to believe? You keep bringing up evidence that, apparently, you think should make me admit to something to which I have already pretty much stipulated.
How many times do I have to declare that I have never supported Trump and sincerely believe that he is grossly flawed both in office and as an individual? At the same time, I am convinced that there are reasons beyond Russia that explain why he was elected. Rather than condemning the 73+ million people who voted for him as stupid, racist, and uneducated, may I suggest that there are serious issues which explain their votes.
How about the decline of the middle class? Or the hollowing out of so many communities located away from our coasts? Or the fact that large areas or our country have such a high cost of living that people cannot afford to live there and must drive insane distances to work? If they can find a job. Or the Opioid plague that has killed so many people, especially in communities left behind by the de-industrialization that we have suffered.
What ails this country is not that many millions of people voted for a man so hated by the "intellectual" classes. What ails this country are problems that go back decades. Here are some of the things that I think lead to our present situation, in no particular order.
A) I grew up in the late 40s and the 50s. The U.S. was absolutely the king of the hill in just about ever economic respect in those days. But, in part because of our wise policies (e.g., the Marshall Plan), most of the countries that had been devastated in WW II began to recover. We now face serious world competition.
B) The rise of computerized manufacturing has eliminated many, many jobs. I always thought that new machines and processes would result in whole new areas of economic activity. If the rise of the automobile put the buggy whip makers out of business, perhaps they could start making car upholstery. Now I'm not so sure. Here's just one segment of the economy in which jobs are at risk; trucking. Autonomous trucks are a ways off, but I see no reason to assume that they will not become a reality. It's going to be a challenge. It's going to mean many thousands of lost job opportunities.
C) The necessity for very advanced levels of education in so many of our jobs. Biden made some statement about retraining out of work truck drivers as computer programmers. This is delusional. I wrote a couple of books on programming years ago, so I have at least a bit of knowledge in this area. Trust me, I could not possibly write such a book today; the state of computer science is way beyond what I used to write those books. Sadly, way too many kids today do not want to study math. But Chinese, Japanese, and Indian students do.
I'm probably leaving out some crucial problems. So far, neither major party seems to have a clue about dealing with the issues I listed above. Trump will be gone. The problems, which he did not create, will not.
AzWm
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Post by AztecWilliam on Nov 30, 2020 14:45:42 GMT -8
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Post by AztecWilliam on Nov 30, 2020 14:59:31 GMT -8
The degree of hatred that is expressed in so many of the recent posts really does scare me. And it appears to be getting worse. Hope that is non-rambling enough. AzWm William, tell that to the Republican officials in Georgia whom trump called "enemy of the people". Their families are getting death threats. If just one gets murdered, will you still be in denial of the orange cancer?? What makes you think I approve of that statement? It was stupid and unacceptable, period. I have always objected to the use of the phrase "enemy of the people". How can I be in denial after all the criticisms of Trump that I have posted? I've never thought he was a good President. I believe that the pathological hatred aimed at Trump, even from before he was elected, is every bit as bad as anything Trump has done. What really bothers me is the thought that such hatred will become SOP with respect to any opposition candidate in the future. My greatest fear is that Trump's objectionable behavior will hasten the day when even more malign actors will be able to establish themselves as rulers of this country. AzWm
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Post by aztecryan on Nov 30, 2020 15:56:33 GMT -8
Is it impossible that one can sincerely believe that DJT has been a deeply flawed POTUS, but not the modern Adolf Hitler that so many of the Left seen to believe? You keep bringing up evidence that, apparently, you think should make me admit to something to which I have already pretty much stipulated. How many times do I have to declare that I have never supported Trump and sincerely believe that he is grossly flawed both in office and as an individual? At the same time, I am convinced that there are reasons beyond Russia that explain why he was elected. Rather than condemning the 73+ million people who voted for him as stupid, racist, and uneducated, may I suggest that there are serious issues which explain their votes. How about the decline of the middle class? Or the hollowing out of so many communities located away from our coasts? Or the fact that large areas or our country have such a high cost of living that people cannot afford to live there and must drive insane distances to work? If they can find a job. Or the Opioid plague that has killed so many people, especially in communities left behind by the de-industrialization that we have suffered. What ails this country is not that many millions of people voted for a man so hated by the "intellectual" classes. What ails this country are problems that go back decades. Here are some of the things that I think lead to our present situation, in no particular order. A) I grew up in the late 40s and the 50s. The U.S. was absolutely the king of the hill in just about ever economic respect in those days. But, in part because of our wise policies (e.g., the Marshall Plan), most of the countries that had been devastated in WW II began to recover. We now face serious world competition. B) The rise of computerized manufacturing has eliminated many, many jobs. I always thought that new machines and processes would result in whole new areas of economic activity. If the rise of the automobile put the buggy whip makers out of business, perhaps they could start making car upholstery. Now I'm not so sure. Here's just one segment of the economy in which jobs are at risk; trucking. Autonomous trucks are a ways off, but I see no reason to assume that they will not become a reality. It's going to be a challenge. It's going to mean many thousands of lost job opportunities. C) The necessity for very advanced levels of education in so many of our jobs. Biden made some statement about retraining our of work truck drivers as computer programmers. This is delusional. I wrote a couple of books on programming years ago, so I have at least a bit of knowledge in this area. Trust me, I could not possibly write such a book today; the state of computer science is way beyond what I used to write those books. Sadly, way too many kids today do not want to study math. But Chinese, Japanese, and Indian students do. I'm probably leaving out some crucial problems. So far, neither major party seems to have a clue about dealing with the issues I listed above. Trump will be gone. The problems, which he did not create, will not. AzWm Is it impossible? No. Is it reasonable to conclude that if you think logically and ignore the arbitrary that you can come up with accurate historical parallels? Absolutely. There are many. You're getting caught up in specifics - We don't have total state control concentrated in one area and a dissolved chancellor's office, as an example. Yet both men use propaganda and fallacy to advance an agenda. Hitler's Reichstag Fire is Trump's Portland invasion with militiarized police : A manufactured crisis to justify authoritarian measures and exert control. No, it's not possible to just look at the laundry list of offenses and accept them as just actions of a poor president. There have been plenty of poor presidents, but we are talking about historic levels of corruption, impeachable offenses and wanton disregard for the Constitution. I have no idea what the rest of your ramblings have to do with Donald Trump and I'm definitely not interested in another hijacked topic. You are correct though when you say that this doesn't end with Trump. He has created lasting damage to democracy and the reputation of this country. Hopefully he will be prosecuted at the state level for his crimes, so America can start to heal afterwards.
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Post by aztecryan on Nov 30, 2020 15:59:25 GMT -8
William, tell that to the Republican officials in Georgia whom trump called "enemy of the people". Their families are getting death threats. If just one gets murdered, will you still be in denial of the orange cancer?? What makes you think I approve of that statement? It was stupid and unacceptable, period. I have always objected to the use of the phrase "enemy of the people". How can I be in denial after all the criticisms of Trump that I have posted? I've never thought he was a good President. I believe that the pathological hatred aimed at Trump, even from before he was elected, is every bit as bad as anything Trump has done. What really bothers me is the thought that such hatred will become SOP with respect to any opposition candidate in the future. My greatest fear is that Trump's objectionable behavior will hasten the day when even more malign actors will be able to establish themselves as rulers of this country. AzWm Criminal behavior. Not objectionable. Criminal.
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Post by AztecWilliam on Dec 1, 2020 12:57:38 GMT -8
Is it impossible that one can sincerely believe that DJT has been a deeply flawed POTUS, but not the modern Adolf Hitler that so many of the Left seen to believe? You keep bringing up evidence that, apparently, you think should make me admit to something to which I have already pretty much stipulated. How many times do I have to declare that I have never supported Trump and sincerely believe that he is grossly flawed both in office and as an individual? At the same time, I am convinced that there are reasons beyond Russia that explain why he was elected. Rather than condemning the 73+ million people who voted for him as stupid, racist, and uneducated, may I suggest that there are serious issues which explain their votes. How about the decline of the middle class? Or the hollowing out of so many communities located away from our coasts? Or the fact that large areas or our country have such a high cost of living that people cannot afford to live there and must drive insane distances to work? If they can find a job. Or the Opioid plague that has killed so many people, especially in communities left behind by the de-industrialization that we have suffered. What ails this country is not that many millions of people voted for a man so hated by the "intellectual" classes. What ails this country are problems that go back decades. Here are some of the things that I think lead to our present situation, in no particular order. A) I grew up in the late 40s and the 50s. The U.S. was absolutely the king of the hill in just about ever economic respect in those days. But, in part because of our wise policies (e.g., the Marshall Plan), most of the countries that had been devastated in WW II began to recover. We now face serious world competition. B) The rise of computerized manufacturing has eliminated many, many jobs. I always thought that new machines and processes would result in whole new areas of economic activity. If the rise of the automobile put the buggy whip makers out of business, perhaps they could start making car upholstery. Now I'm not so sure. Here's just one segment of the economy in which jobs are at risk; trucking. Autonomous trucks are a ways off, but I see no reason to assume that they will not become a reality. It's going to be a challenge. It's going to mean many thousands of lost job opportunities. C) The necessity for very advanced levels of education in so many of our jobs. Biden made some statement about retraining our of work truck drivers as computer programmers. This is delusional. I wrote a couple of books on programming years ago, so I have at least a bit of knowledge in this area. Trust me, I could not possibly write such a book today; the state of computer science is way beyond what I used to write those books. Sadly, way too many kids today do not want to study math. But Chinese, Japanese, and Indian students do. I'm probably leaving out some crucial problems. So far, neither major party seems to have a clue about dealing with the issues I listed above. Trump will be gone. The problems, which he did not create, will not. AzWm Is it impossible? No. Is it reasonable to conclude that if you think logically and ignore the arbitrary that you can come up with accurate historical parallels? Absolutely. There are many. You're getting caught up in specifics - We don't have total state control concentrated in one area and a dissolved chancellor's office, as an example. Yet both men use propaganda and fallacy to advance an agenda. Hitler's Reichstag Fire is Trump's Portland invasion with militiarized police : A manufactured crisis to justify authoritarian measures and exert control. No, it's not possible to just look at the laundry list of offenses and accept them as just actions of a poor president. There have been plenty of poor presidents, but we are talking about historic levels of corruption, impeachable offenses and wanton disregard for the Constitution. I have no idea what the rest of your ramblings have to do with Donald Trump and I'm definitely not interested in another hijacked topic. You are correct though when you say that this doesn't end with Trump. He has created lasting damage to democracy and the reputation of this country. Hopefully he will be prosecuted at the state level for his crimes, so America can start to heal afterwards. You are missing my point. You seem to be totally obsessed with attacking Donald Trump. My point is that there are reasons why he was nominated and elected. Those reasons cannot be explained simply by saying that those who voted for him are stupid and evil. The origins of the problems that I listed earlier, and no doubt one could cite others, go back far before Trump became a political personality. I'm not sure why that fact is not obvious. I hope that Joe Biden can solve, or at least begin to solve, those problems. I am sure he would like to solve them. I do not see Biden as a horrible person defective in personality and hell bent on ruining this country. Or, to put it another way, I don't look at him as you look at Trump. (Don't misunderstand. He may be a nice guy --- good for him --- , but I am not, and never have been, impressed with his intellect or his ideas. Anyone who thinks we can eliminate the use of fossil fuels in 15 years is not in touch with reality.) I am not totally obsessed with Donald Trump. In other words, I am not like the Left, who see DJT as a cancer on the nation. Nor do I see him as the only one who can solve our problems, which his staunchest supporters believe. I am simply an American who sees serious problems that neither party has done much, if anything, so solve. As for President Joe Biden, I put forth a challenge. I am assuming that you will agree with this. Right now something like 90% or more of our pharmaceuticals come from China. That would not be so bad if we were dependent on Belgium or Chile, but China is certainly not our friend. I suggest that we set a 5-10 year goal to establish enough home-grown manufacturing of pharmaceuticals to reduce our reliance on China to perhaps 60% or 70%. Even more U.S.-based sources would be ideal, but cut down the amount we need by about a third would be significant. Do you think that such will be a goal of the new administration? AzWm
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Post by aztecryan on Dec 1, 2020 16:11:47 GMT -8
Is it impossible? No. Is it reasonable to conclude that if you think logically and ignore the arbitrary that you can come up with accurate historical parallels? Absolutely. There are many. You're getting caught up in specifics - We don't have total state control concentrated in one area and a dissolved chancellor's office, as an example. Yet both men use propaganda and fallacy to advance an agenda. Hitler's Reichstag Fire is Trump's Portland invasion with militiarized police : A manufactured crisis to justify authoritarian measures and exert control. No, it's not possible to just look at the laundry list of offenses and accept them as just actions of a poor president. There have been plenty of poor presidents, but we are talking about historic levels of corruption, impeachable offenses and wanton disregard for the Constitution. I have no idea what the rest of your ramblings have to do with Donald Trump and I'm definitely not interested in another hijacked topic. You are correct though when you say that this doesn't end with Trump. He has created lasting damage to democracy and the reputation of this country. Hopefully he will be prosecuted at the state level for his crimes, so America can start to heal afterwards. You are missing my point. You seem to be totally obsessed with attacking Donald Trump. My point is that there are reasons why he was nominated and elected. Those reasons cannot be explained simply by saying that those who voted for him are stupid and evil. The origins of the problems that I listed earlier, and no doubt one could cite others, go back far before Trump became a political personality. I'm not sure why that fact is not obvious. I hope that Joe Biden can solve, or at least begin to solve, those problems. I am sure he would like to solve them. I do not see Biden as a horrible person defective in personality and hell bent on ruining this country. Or, to put it another way, I don't look at him as you look at Trump. (Don't misunderstand. He may be a nice guy --- good for him --- , but I am not, and never have been, impressed with his intellect or his ideas. Anyone who thinks we can eliminate the use of fossil fuels in 15 years is not in touch with reality.) I am not totally obsessed with Donald Trump. In other words, I am not like the Left, who see DJT as a cancer on the nation. Nor do I see him as the only one who can solve our problems, which his staunchest supporters believe. I am simply an American who sees serious problems that neither party has done much, if anything, so solve. As for President Joe Biden, I put forth a challenge. I am assuming that you will agree with this. Right now something like 90% or more of our pharmaceuticals come from China. That would not be so bad if we were dependent on Belgium or Chile, but China is certainly not our friend. I suggest that we set a 5-10 year goal to establish enough home-grown manufacturing of pharmaceuticals to reduce our reliance on China to perhaps 60% or 70%. Even more U.S.-based sources would be ideal, but cut down the amount we need by about a third would be significant. Do you think that such will be a goal of the new administration? AzWm Why Trump was nominated and elected and what happened during his term are two separate principles. They aren't connected. I'm glad you don't hold Joe Biden in negative esteem. Joe Biden's not a malignant narcissist. Joe Biden didn't hold superspreader events which directly led to the deaths of attendees. They aren't alike in any fashion. I'm not obsessed with Donald Trump, I factually back up my disdain and want him held accountable for his actions. I would like the enablers to be held accountable, too.
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Post by AztecWilliam on Dec 1, 2020 17:31:10 GMT -8
You are missing my point. You seem to be totally obsessed with attacking Donald Trump. My point is that there are reasons why he was nominated and elected. Those reasons cannot be explained simply by saying that those who voted for him are stupid and evil. The origins of the problems that I listed earlier, and no doubt one could cite others, go back far before Trump became a political personality. I'm not sure why that fact is not obvious. I hope that Joe Biden can solve, or at least begin to solve, those problems. I am sure he would like to solve them. I do not see Biden as a horrible person defective in personality and hell bent on ruining this country. Or, to put it another way, I don't look at him as you look at Trump. (Don't misunderstand. He may be a nice guy --- good for him --- , but I am not, and never have been, impressed with his intellect or his ideas. Anyone who thinks we can eliminate the use of fossil fuels in 15 years is not in touch with reality.) I am not totally obsessed with Donald Trump. In other words, I am not like the Left, who see DJT as a cancer on the nation. Nor do I see him as the only one who can solve our problems, which his staunchest supporters believe. I am simply an American who sees serious problems that neither party has done much, if anything, so solve. As for President Joe Biden, I put forth a challenge. I am assuming that you will agree with this. Right now something like 90% or more of our pharmaceuticals come from China. That would not be so bad if we were dependent on Belgium or Chile, but China is certainly not our friend. I suggest that we set a 5-10 year goal to establish enough home-grown manufacturing of pharmaceuticals to reduce our reliance on China to perhaps 60% or 70%. Even more U.S.-based sources would be ideal, but cut down the amount we need by about a third would be significant. Do you think that such will be a goal of the new administration? AzWm Why Trump was nominated and elected and what happened during his term are two separate principles. They aren't connected. I'm glad you don't hold Joe Biden in negative esteem. Joe Biden's not a malignant narcissist. Joe Biden didn't hold superspreader events which directly led to the deaths of attendees. They aren't alike in any fashion. I'm not obsessed with Donald Trump, I factually back up my disdain and want him held accountable for his actions. I would like the enablers to be held accountable, too. As I tried to make clear, why Trump was elected is an important subject that should be explored. It wasn't just some weird roll of the dice. Neither party has been successful in addressing the problems I listed earlier. Here's the really bad thing. Our number one problem (there are certainly other ones) is that China has serious plans, not just to overtake us, but deal us a blow serious enough so that we will end up like the current UK. As I am sure you know, Britain was by far the most powerful nation on Earth up until 1914. They have been in a non-stop decline ever since. But, unlike Britain in the 20th Century, we do not have a friendly super power eager to help us weather the storm. And just how do you want to hold Trump's "enablers" accountable? Should they be imprisoned? Or maybe black-listed so that they cannot get new jobs above the level of fast food workers? As for Trump, should Congress pass a law denying Trump the same pension that all other Presidents have been given? Again, you are playing with fire with such ideas. AzWm
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Post by aztecryan on Dec 1, 2020 17:49:25 GMT -8
Why Trump was nominated and elected and what happened during his term are two separate principles. They aren't connected. I'm glad you don't hold Joe Biden in negative esteem. Joe Biden's not a malignant narcissist. Joe Biden didn't hold superspreader events which directly led to the deaths of attendees. They aren't alike in any fashion. I'm not obsessed with Donald Trump, I factually back up my disdain and want him held accountable for his actions. I would like the enablers to be held accountable, too. As I tried to make clear, why Trump was elected is an important subject that should be explored. It wasn't just some weird roll of the dice. Neither party has been successful in addressing the problems I listed earlier. Here's the really bad thing. Our number one problem (there are certainly other ones) is that China has serious plans, not just to overtake us, but deal us a blow serious enough so that we will end up like the current UK. As I am sure you know, Britain was by far the most powerful nation on Earth up until 1914. They have been in a non-stop decline ever since. But, unlike Britain in the 20th Century, we do not have a friendly super power eager to help us weather the storm. And just how do you want to hold Trump's "enablers" accountable? Should they be imprisoned? Or maybe black-listed so that they cannot get new jobs above the level of fast food workers? As for Trump, should Congress pass a law denying Trump the same pension that all other Presidents have been given? Again, you are playing with fire with such ideas. AzWm He should be prosecuted. As for his enablers, they should be voted out of office, but we know that won't happen. There's not much that can be done for them, but that's fine. The head of the snake is now cut off, so that's a start. Investigations now can begin, like the bribery for pardons scheme that's unfolding. New York can get to work on Trump's indictment as well. At a minimum, a run for president in 2024 should be a no-go. The astounding levels of corruption need to be exposed and the public needs the truth, instead of the fool's gold.
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Post by uwphoto on Dec 1, 2020 17:49:28 GMT -8
Why Trump was nominated and elected and what happened during his term are two separate principles. They aren't connected. I'm glad you don't hold Joe Biden in negative esteem. Joe Biden's not a malignant narcissist. Joe Biden didn't hold superspreader events which directly led to the deaths of attendees. They aren't alike in any fashion. I'm not obsessed with Donald Trump, I factually back up my disdain and want him held accountable for his actions. I would like the enablers to be held accountable, too. As I tried to make clear, why Trump was elected is an important subject that should be explored. It wasn't just some weird roll of the dice. Neither party has been successful in addressing the problems I listed earlier. Here's the really bad thing. Our number one problem (there are certainly other ones) is that China has serious plans, not just to overtake us, but deal us a blow serious enough so that we will end up like the current UK. As I am sure you know, Britain was by far the most powerful nation on Earth up until 1914. They have been in a non-stop decline ever since. But, unlike Britain in the 20th Century, we do not have a friendly super power eager to help us weather the storm. And just how do you want to hold Trump's "enablers" accountable? Should they be imprisoned? Or maybe black-listed so that they cannot get new jobs above the level of fast food workers? As for Trump, should Congress pass a law denying Trump the same pension that all other Presidents have been given? Again, you are playing with fire with such ideas. AzWm William, we will be child's play for China at this point. They are homogeneous, we are a mess. Trump and the Republicans are normalizing QAnon and other insane conspiracy groups for God's sake!! Know why? Because they have gained so much power that they are afraid of them. Have you seen the movie Idiocracy??
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