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Posted
On 12/11/2023 at 7:12 PM, sheeeit said:

 Haliburton obviously made a shit ton of money

 

but I do not believe, at all, that Haliburton getting the work played any role in the decision to invade. 

 

I think Cheney was an idealogue and truly thought he was helping the country. 

 

I don't think he actually did help the country

 

but he was not motivated, nor was Bush, by Haliburton profiteering off the war. 

 

When my little brain broke this down like this, i thought, "Not even Dick Cheney would believe this." 

Any time someone says a politician isnt/wasnt motivated by money, they're being naive or dishonest. Money may not always be the primary motivating factor, but to claim money is not a motivating factor in any and every US political maneuver or decision is ridiculous. 

This country is what it is because money is the motivating factor.

Ask yourself, "Disk Cheney thought he was helping the country.... Do what?" 

Posted
3 hours ago, Slacks said:

When my little brain broke this down like this, i thought, "Not even Dick Cheney would believe this." 

Any time someone says a politician isnt/wasnt motivated by money, they're being naive or dishonest. Money may not always be the primary motivating factor, but to claim money is not a motivating factor in any and every US political maneuver or decision is ridiculous. 

This country is what it is because money is the motivating factor.

Ask yourself, "Disk Cheney thought he was helping the country.... Do what?" 

The Project for a New American Century (PNAC) spelled it out in their statement of principles, to which Cheney was a signatory. 

Posted

You mean to tell me that a state having a moosetwit like Boebert in Congress has enough votes to bar donald JAIL trump from an election???  The mind boggles.  There may yet be hope for this country.

Posted (edited)

image.png.aacdc66c0a6add0da143bcc4f243fd5f.png

On 12/18/2023 at 2:45 PM, atomheartbevo said:

I know plenty who might actually vote for some other (R) in the primaries because they are tired of the drama and just want to go back to evil Republican shit without Trump putting a crosshair on them.

This is the problem - because he's a feeling, somebody else could come along who could not only tap into those feelings, but is competent enough to really wreck shit.

I still think for many it's not about Trump, it's about how he makes them feel, and in theory somebody else could come along and make them feel that way.  Thankfully, DeSantis is not capable of a lot of human emotions, like his human wife.

On 12/18/2023 at 2:49 PM, Chewbacca said:

Could someone tap into those feelings?  Sure, it's possible.  But nobody on the current horizon has that ability beyond Trump.  For as dumb as he is, he is truly gifted in that area.  Desantis really wanted to be that guy and he's just not.  Same for Cruz.

Trump has become the present embodiment of a feeling carefully cultivated and controlled by the GOP/Right.

Trump didn't do anything more than seize control of that feeling. He didn't create it. I've called it the hate engine.

The engine will remain when he goes. No one may run the engine so openly, maliciously, and traitorously has he does, but the engine is likely forever.

Edited by RomaVicta
original adjectives too milquetoast.
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Posted
10 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

image.png.aacdc66c0a6add0da143bcc4f243fd5f.png

Trump has become the present embodiment of a feeling carefully cultivated and controlled by the GOP/Right.

Trump didn't do anything more than seize control of that feeling. He didn't create it. I've called it the hate engine.

The engine will remain when he goes. No one may run the engine so openly, maliciously, and traitorously has he does, but the engine is likely forever.

Trump runs the hate engine so well because he is a part of it.

It's a giant inferiority complex of the unintelligent and poorly educated and Trump has it in spades.

It will be rare to find someone that has his level of exposure and "material success" that has such a glaring inferiority complex.  

Even short, weird meatball Ron can't touch it.  

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Posted
3 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

Trump didn't do anything more than seize control of that feeling. He didn't create it. I've called it the hate engine.

The engine will remain when he goes. No one may run the engine so openly, maliciously, and traitorously has he does, but the engine is likely forever.

2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

It will be rare to find someone that has his level of exposure and "material success" that has such a glaring inferiority complex.  

Even short, weird meatball Ron can't touch it.  

Abbott has had his own success, and has a huge inferiority complex (he's hit his glass ceiling and is not going to break it), but no charisma, unlike Trump.

And yeah, DeSantis (and Cruz) can't touch it.

Trump had years of perfecting his image on his reality TV show, and arguably going back to the days of the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" era (yes, I watched it).

 

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Posted
5 hours ago, AnTiM said:

You mean to tell me that a state having a moosetwit like Boebert in Congress has enough votes to bar donald JAIL trump from an election???  The mind boggles.  There may yet be hope for this country.

Yeah, our rural idiots are just as dumb as anyone's.  But I think she's toast this go-round.  She's getting a primary challenge and her Democrat challenger (the same one she beat by ~500 votes in 2022) has out fundraised her something like 4 to 1.

Posted
5 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

image.png.aacdc66c0a6add0da143bcc4f243fd5f.png

Trump has become the present embodiment of a feeling carefully cultivated and controlled by the GOP/Right.

Trump didn't do anything more than seize control of that feeling. He didn't create it. I've called it the hate engine.

The engine will remain when he goes. No one may run the engine so openly, maliciously, and traitorously has he does, but the engine is likely forever.

No argument that he just harnessed the feelings.  What I'm saying is nobody else can harness it like he can.  Cruz tried.  Desantis tried.  They failed.  He's the idiot whisperer.

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Posted
6 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

image.png.aacdc66c0a6add0da143bcc4f243fd5f.png

Trump has become the present embodiment of a feeling carefully cultivated and controlled by the GOP/Right.

Trump didn't do anything more than seize control of that feeling. He didn't create it. I've called it the hate engine.

The engine will remain when he goes.

 

No one may run the engine so openly, maliciously, and traitorously has he does, but the engine is likely forever.

Except they who realize that is they way it must be run. Hate stayed hidden until it became acceptable. 

When the hated mention the chickens coming home to roost, they get vilified for the mention, as if they are the ones perpetuating hate. 

Now, the chickens are doing their damndest and those who could have done the most to tame the hate engine (by dashing it instead of ignoring it) are trying to understand how to get control and get back to hidden hate. 

It's likely too late.  Contingency plans (fight or leave) are probably going to be initiated in our lifetime. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

No argument that he just harnessed the feelings.  What I'm saying is nobody else can harness it like he can.  Cruz tried.  Desantis tried.  They failed.  He's the idiot whisperer.

Stealing this. 

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Posted
Except they who realize that is they way it must be run. Hate stayed hidden until it became acceptable. 
When the hated mention the chickens coming home to roost, they get vilified for the mention, as if they are the ones perpetuating hate. 
Now, the chickens are doing their damndest and those who could have done the most to tame the hate engine (by dashing it instead of ignoring it) are trying to understand how to get control and get back to hidden hate. 
It's likely too late.  Contingency plans (fight or leave) are probably going to be initiated in our lifetime. 

Let me understand, you got the hen, the chicken and the rooster. The rooster goes with the chicken. So, who's having sex with the hen?
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Posted
14 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:


itll eat him up 

Yeah, but I don't care about his ego or feelings. I don't even care about Trump, per se. I don't think he is a threat. He is entertainment at best. There is a threat, but it's bigger than him. 

He recognizes an opportunity. The opportunity is the threat. 

Y'all better recognize. 

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Posted
6 hours ago, Slacks said:

Yeah, but I don't care about his ego or feelings. I don't even care about Trump, per se. I don't think he is a threat. He is entertainment at best. There is a threat, but it's bigger than him. 

He recognizes an opportunity. The opportunity is the threat. 

Y'all better recognize. 

The threat is the same one it has always been; half the population is below average intelligence.

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Posted
50 minutes ago, AnTiM said:

The threat is the same one it has always been; half the population is below average intelligence.

This. The Threat is dumb Americans that somehow happen to all be white and “Christian” that mostly live in the south. Yes, there is a small contingent of Latinos that naturally lean towards authoritarian machismo rulers. 

Posted (edited)
On 12/20/2023 at 6:18 AM, TwiceHorn said:

Trump runs the hate engine so well because he is a part of it.

It's a giant inferiority complex of the unintelligent and poorly educated and Trump has it in spades.

It will be rare to find someone that has his level of exposure and "material success" that has such a glaring inferiority complex.  

Even short, weird meatball Ron can't touch it.  

I agree with much of this. Trump is extraordinarily suited to revving that engine up. I have trouble knowing who could replace him at that level. I think that's perhaps a failure of my imagination than much of an indicator that no person (to the degree the orange malignancy is a person) can come close.

The hate engine is permanent. The hate inclination has always been there. Who knows? I believe it goes back to having to believe persons of color are inferior in order to justify brutally enslaving your fellow man. The engine was carefully constructed by cynical men looking for gain at almost any cost. We've now seen a villain running it who has dropped the almost part.

He's become something of a god to many. 

What happens when he is gone? He has shown the way. He's removed many obstacles by proving many of them rely on some shred of decency, integrity, or patriotism. He's generated interest and hope among the worst people in America. The field of those who will attempt absolute power has grown. That I don't know their names doesn't matter, IMHO.

I've written before that I think it will take another outsider to replace him. This isn't about politics. In fact, it's actively anti-politics, so politicians need not apply. But they're out there. I think RFK Jr. is in a strong position to take the lead. I don't think he is as villainous as Trump, but he's a fucking loon who shouldn't even be in the conversation...just like Donald Trump.

Again, it's the electorate that will keep the hope hate alive. Somebody will assume the reins again.

Edited by RomaVicta
Forgot to strike out hope.
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Posted

Mr. President, sir, these tears are out of gratitude for all you've done for this country. Pardon the hair on my powerful, manly arms. I bring a message from Ivanka, sir. She says she is at last ready and will meet you in that blue barrel. She knows it's kind of kinky, sir, but she says that you will see why when you touch her silky skin.

 

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, AnTiM said:

The threat is the same one it has always been; half the population is below average intelligence.

It all comes back to that booger of a question that bedevils most of the policy choices confronting America (everywhere else too).  What the hell do you do with the morons?

The lower half of the normal distribution of populations is not all morons, by any stretch.  But they have shown a tendency to refuse to engage higher-order thinking when it is comfortable not to do so.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Posted
48 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

It all comes back to that booger of a question that bedevils most of the policy choices confronting America (everywhere else too).  What the hell do you do with the morons?

The lower half of the normal distribution of populations is not all morons, by any stretch.  But they have shown a tendency to refuse to engage higher-order thinking when it is comfortable not to do so.

In my experience, most morons are actually smart people but they're too fucking lazy to turn on their brains or they were never taught critical thinking. It's a skill and a mental muscle to not be a moron, not a measure of intelligence 

Posted
1 hour ago, Captainant said:

In my experience, most morons are actually smart people but they're too fucking lazy to turn on their brains or they were never taught critical thinking. It's a skill and a mental muscle to not be a moron, not a measure of intelligence 

Ant, there are lots of studies that show how people think. There are a lot of people who are conservative, who naturally feel comfortable looking at simple, easy dichotomies, like good versus evil, right versus wrong, Jesus versus all things not Jesus, evil Lib versus family values.  

In my jury selection I always identify those in the military, law-enforcement and engineering as more likely to be within that box.    Essentially, they feel uncomfortable with nuance and complexity, and their feeling of “right” or “correct” involves a distilling of complex issues into simple choices - or a natural reluctance to support a degree of uncertainty on important topics.

For many engineers, it is a impossible to accept the fact that a plaintiff who is only 50.1% more likely to win has proven to that engineer mind that they should win. That makes some sense, as engineers who require precise math for safety are not going to be comfortable with a 49% variance from what they deemed to be the correct specification.

Their orange God with his six grade vocabulary makes everything a simple choice for MAGAs.   A Middle East peace between the various nations and all the different religious sects is difficult. Saying “bomb the sand n*ggers until the desert is glass” in response to any middle east crisis is something simple and binary that they are more comfortable with. That sort of choice absolutely resonates with them. I do not think you can remove it through education for many. 


Has anyone seen a party voting breakdown study by profession?

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Posted
On 12/18/2023 at 11:32 AM, Red Five said:

What kills me is that I have people in my life who will vote for Trump. Virtually all of my close family. They will vote for him if he is convicted on 91 counts. They will vote for him if he says during a rally that he plans on nuking San Francisco, because fuck that place. They will vote for him if he promises to get us into World War 3. They will vote for him if he promises to end democracy and rule as a dictator until the day he dies. 

 

On 12/18/2023 at 11:56 AM, DaysOff said:


Then they are bad people. I'm not talking about 2016 or 2020, but if you're still voting for any R in 2024, you're a bad person; there's no other way to paint it. My own mother is one. Rage watching FNC was we speak. "It's just on in the background. I'm not really paying attention. "

so i had a thought on my bro text group that i thought I'd share with yall.

i think it's stagnation largely for a generation who missed the world changing as it passed them by. trump represents a safe time that makes sense to them. but it wasn't safe except mostly for them from a financial standpoint. they could work hard and get an education and a house and with for the same company and actually retire and shit. most of them are retired now.

they are the marks. they always have been and they can't admit it to themselves. trickle down doesn't work but they somehow got theirs so their use case must be universally true. they've been convinced to vote against their own self interests because they can and it's easy. 

these are the people who couldn't program their goddamn vcr clocks in the 80s and they haven't done much to better themselves in the intervening decades. 

i really think there's something to the vcr clock thing. a lack of curiosity that results in entrenched stagnation

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Posted
On 12/18/2023 at 4:49 PM, Goofyboy said:

They won’t round up anyone. This country runs on illegal labor.

stick with me here but what if their plan is to make that illegal labor....legal?

lol. but arbeit macht frei and shit. 

Posted
29 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

stick with me here but what if their plan is to make that illegal labor....legal?

lol. but arbeit macht frei and shit. 

Back around 2006, George W, McCain, Teddy Kennedy, Rick Perry and others were trying to get a guest worker program going at the state and national levels.  That was some fun political discussion on the internet.  

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Posted
3 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Those civil engineering numbers, that’s driven by aggy isn’t it?

Click on the Fossil Fuels one to get a taste of the Petroleum Engineers.

Posted
1 hour ago, Gatorubet said:

Ant, there are lots of studies that show how people think. There are a lot of people who are conservative, who naturally feel comfortable looking at simple, easy dichotomies, like good versus evil, right versus wrong, Jesus versus all things not Jesus, evil Lib versus family values.  

In my jury selection I always identify those in the military, law-enforcement and engineering as more likely to be within that box.    Essentially, they feel uncomfortable with nuance and complexity, and their feeling of “right” or “correct” involves a distilling of complex issues into simple choices - or a natural reluctance to support a degree of uncertainty on important topics.

For many engineers, it is a impossible to accept the fact that a plaintiff who is only 50.1% more likely to win has proven to that engineer mind that they should win. That makes some sense, as engineers who require precise math for safety are not going to be comfortable with a 49% variance from what they deemed to be the correct specification.

Their orange God with his six grade vocabulary makes everything a simple choice for MAGAs.   A Middle East peace between the various nations and all the different religious sects is difficult. Saying “bomb the sand n*ggers until the desert is glass” in response to any middle east crisis is something simple and binary that they are more comfortable with. That sort of choice absolutely resonates with them. I do not think you can remove it through education for many. 

Well put.  Humanity has always had this spectrum of people, and it served us well because once we started agriculture, literacy, civilization, and cities-we needed this division of labor.  But it stayed largely out of politics.  It informed our faith (I grow crops so must pray to the sky people for water) or monarchies (I smelt iron for the crown's armies).  Then democracy comes along and changes it a bit, but not drastically.  Up until just a few decades ago, it is was not only not strange, but rather commonplace to encounter nuanced thinking in all walks of American life.  People had fewer information sources, so while they digested the same stuff on the whole---they had to supplant their own thinking on to it, from which to draw reasonable conclusions.  You had an actively go to a library or read a book or chat up an expert in a field if you wanted to know more about it.  And invariably, your intellectual curiosity forced your brain to rewire to onboard the new information and subsequent conclusions.  Information was available, but you still had to work a little bit to get it.  As was the case for centuries.  Now, as Pete Holmes says, "In this digital age?  Now, we know everything.  But we're not a lick smarter for it."  Organized religion isn't exactly new.  I attribute the paradigm shift primarily to two things:  1)  Lack of critical thinking skills being emphasized in schools/shitty education overall & 2) While both horribly, horribly flawed...both of our main political parties took a divergence in the recent past.  Both are filled with plenty of stupid people.  But one decided to try to enable those people to improve themselves and the other one decided to celebrate stupidity as a virtue and assure people that they were completely fine---everybody else was the problem.  as posted before, that is a potent drug high to kick.  There is no rehab for that.  Once that rush gets in your veins, no amount of information or facts or moral compassing is gonna walk that back.  Not even my re-education camps will save those people.  It makes dopamine pale in placebo fashion.

7 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Click on the Fossil Fuels one to get a taste of the Petroleum Engineers.

Not gonna kink shame you at the holidays, but I imagine they taste like burnt asshole.  

Posted
15 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Not gonna kink shame you at the holidays, but I imagine they taste like burnt asshole.  

At least I didn't say, "Get a load of the Petroleum Engineers."



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