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The Leopards Eating Faces and Unlubed Dildo of Consequences Thread


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Posted
21 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

That fraud is not in the park service or social security. It is in big contracts for big business and in the military-industrial complex. So fat chance any of that goes away.

But, as I have said, even if Elon Musk and DOGE did a great job and massively increased government efficiency while reducing waste and fraud at an almost platonic level...it will all be for nothing because it would be swallowed up in the tax cuts. The debt will continue to grow.

But of course they are actually currently making government very much less able to do its job and don't seem to be cutting much actual waste and fraud. 

There's also value to finding the exact "fraud" in question in preventing it in the future, none of which is happening now.   

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Posted
26 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

That fraud is not in the park service or social security. It is in big contracts for big business and in the military-industrial complex. So fat chance any of that goes away.

But, as I have said, even if Elon Musk and DOGE did a great job and massively increased government efficiency while reducing waste and fraud at an almost platonic level...it will all be for nothing because it would be swallowed up in the tax cuts. The debt will continue to grow.

But of course they are actually currently making government very much less able to do its job and don't seem to be cutting much actual waste and fraud. 

That's the entire ethos. Break shit to prove shit is broken.

I for one find it heartening that  W still probably has thousands of dead Veterans left to paint in his feeble attempt to assuage his guilt.

Then maybe he can start painting all the children he had murdered next. Pretty large rock to push bubba.

And Barry can chill knowing he "inherited" the problem.

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Posted
On 2/24/2025 at 4:22 PM, Sawbonz said:

You know, Paul was being sarcastic when he said to suffer fools gladly

Suffer them gladly, BUT always keep a shovel handy if they just won’t shut up.

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Posted
On 2/25/2025 at 9:08 AM, Gatorubet said:

if you follow that logic, then Reagan‘s sweep of 47 states would result in a 94% Republican Congress.     Or - maybe that event was just one election with a candidate weakened by massive inflation, the Iran hostage crisis, and a bunch of other issues that decided the presidency that year. 

IMG_4193.thumb.png.4ed7d7fe00e5e607b862919d6ac3cfff.png

Enough of the voting population in the various states liked Democrats that 47 senators were democrats the year of Reagan’s election.

Saying that because of a single presidential election 98% of the Congress should be GOP as a result of that election is mind numbingly stupid.   that goes for his display of Trump votes in two states to justify a claim that those states are gerrymandered.

It is just more false facts to support why the GOP does not want actual democracy.  Which is why they gerrymand, why they interfere in elections by making it hard for Democrats in Democratic voting areas to find a polling booth, why they want to introduce onerous restrictions on voting in general, because they know poor people have more difficulty proving the things they want, thereby diminishing democratic vote - and why they do things like pass bills that say you can’t give water to people standing in line in the hot sun to vote - because the GOP placed a reduced number of voting machines in that Democratic area to limit votes and make the weight in line so onerous that people give up. 

that is his team, and he won’t show up to admit any of that. 

 

Quote

if you follow that logic, then Reagan‘s sweep of 47 states would result in a 94% Republican Congress.    

That's not my position in any way.

If Maine votes 75-25 Democrat, then the people of Maine should get somewhere near 75-25 Democratic representation in Congress (and even their state legislation).

That election meant that most people in most states wanted Reagan to be POTUS.  Not that 94% of people in the US wanted him to be POTUS.  OR that 94% of the representation in Congress should be Republican.

Quote

Which is why they gerrymand,

As I've posted, the gerrymandering in New York and California is much worse than in any red state....

Posted
3 minutes ago, Ag with kids said:

If Maine votes 75-25 Democrat, then the people of Maine should get somewhere near 75-25 Democratic representation in Congress (and even their state legislation).

You’ve been begging the same question for 20 years: since local interests often (or usually, really) transcend national party alignment, WHY “should” the people of Maine’s congressional delegation be anything like their statewide vote in Federal elections?

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Posted

Lol, we're still doing the Blue states gerrymander just as bad? When I was in Georgia in 2020 when it flipped the GOP still controlled the House and Senate by like 10% more than Democrats. There aren't that many split ticket voters.

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Posted
20 minutes ago, Ag with kids said:

As I've posted, the gerrymandering in New York and California is much worse than in any red state....

You posted it, but you decided to ignore evidence contrary to your claim.   As long as you never look at the scoreboard you win every game!

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Posted
On 2/24/2025 at 9:30 PM, hornmpa96 said:

I hate speaking for Ag with Kids but generally speaking most people view the effectiveness of a gerrymander as the delta between who wins House elections as compared to how a state votes on a statewide basis. That’s why he is pointing to the discrepancy between statewide totals and representation in the house.

Clearly individual candidates matter as well.

Interestingly, I learned tonight that California has a somewhat independent commission drawing house districts. New York has something similar.

The comparison to Texas is poor because the Texas Rs have effectively reached the limits of their ability to further gerrymander house seats. After the 2020 census, they had to give numerous safe seats to the Democratic Party to keep the majority of R incumbents safe.

Both California and New York have several competitive seats.

Correct.

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Posted
On 2/25/2025 at 10:46 AM, TwiceHorn said:

Yes, it's fitting apportionment to a predetermined outcome when the outcome doesn't necessarily correlate to the actual preferences of the electorate.

It's less common these days, because of gerrymandering among other things, but there are or have been states with governors and legislatures of different party than the state's voting for President.

Further, should it be how they vote for Pres?  Governor?  Senator?

Apportionment needs to be pretty much purely geographic/demographic.  End of story.

I didn't say anything about electoral votes fwiw.

On 2/25/2025 at 10:38 AM, Ghost of NMAS said:

I didn't suggest anything other than that you were misrepresenting @Ag with kids's position, but feel free to continue to rant

You were correct in your assessment.

Thank you.

Posted
34 minutes ago, Ag with kids said:

As I've posted, the gerrymandering in New York and California is much worse than in any red state....

So? Gerrymandering is still bad. And just worse today since you can use computers to gerrymander with shocking precision. I have heard that some states do things a bit better, like maybe Pennsylvania. Supposedly, but I don't live in Pennsylvania and don't know if that is true. Just what I heard. 

And frankly I don't even know the value of single member districts anyway. My representative is a do-nothing waste of space who just votes with his party. There is nothing specific you get from him you wouldn't get from another member of his party from Florida or Oregon or wherever. Nothing he does that specifically represents my part of Texas. We might as well just assign the representatives proportionally. But I don't know. Maybe some reps actually do pretend to care about the specific needs of their district and are not just party hacks.

Posted
31 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

You’ve been begging the same question for 20 years: since local interests often (or usually, really) transcend national party alignment, WHY “should” the people of Maine’s congressional delegation be anything like their statewide vote in Federal elections?

I'm not begging a question no matter how many times you repeat it.

 

The federal house delegation should match the state electorate.  The state house delegation should match the state electorate.  The local political delegation should match the local electorate.

I've said multiple times that the gerrymandered districts are stupid.  I don't like them.

But people living in majority Democratic areas should have political representation that is majority Democratic.  And people living in majority Republican areas should have political representation that is majority Republican.

This should not be this difficult to understand.

 

So for YOU, WHY would the Maine congressional delegation be significantly different than how the state citizens voted?

Posted
15 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

So? Gerrymandering is still bad. And just worse today since you can use computers to gerrymander with shocking precision. I have heard that some states do things a bit better, like maybe Pennsylvania. Supposedly, but I don't live in Pennsylvania and don't know if that is true. Just what I heard. 

And frankly I don't even know the value of single member districts anyway. My representative is a do-nothing waste of space who just votes with his party. There is nothing specific you get from him you wouldn't get from another member of his party from Florida or Oregon or wherever. Nothing he does that specifically represents my part of Texas. We might as well just assign the representatives proportionally. But I don't know. Maybe some reps actually do pretend to care about the specific needs of their district and are not just party hacks.

Yes.  I've said that multiple times on this thread.

But, don't try to pretend that it's Republicans that are only doing it.  Both parties have.

Of course, some gerrymandering is actually being required by law.  Some states have to have majority minority (Yes, that sounds stupid when you read it) districts.  The only way to accomplish that is to gerrymander.  I disagree with this.

Posted
13 minutes ago, GenXer said:

So much finding out in Dearborn.

What say you, Faye? Are the leopards feasting on your face? Why yes. Yes they are.
 

trumpgaza.thumb.gif.de68281fcf37cd1430e7386797d08b20.gif

 

 

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You want a reconciliatory statement?

Best I can do is:

Eat shit, Faye.

Reconciliatory statement.  Bahahaha.

Faye really had no fucking clue who she was voting for.

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Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, Ag with kids said:

But, don't try to pretend that it's Republicans that are only doing it.

NOBODY IS DOING THAT, FUCK

Edited by safe sex
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Posted
13 minutes ago, Ag with kids said:

Yes.  I've said that multiple times on this thread.

But, don't try to pretend that it's Republicans that are only doing it.  Both parties have.

Of course, some gerrymandering is actually being required by law.  Some states have to have majority minority (Yes, that sounds stupid when you read it) districts.  The only way to accomplish that is to gerrymander.  I disagree with this.

What's interesting, if you look at "majority minority" districts, they generally aren't very contorted, the way a lot of Texas districts are.  None of em look like this:

texas_-35th-photo-u1?auto=format&q=60&fi

Such districts tend to pose a limitation on other gerrymandering, rather than being an end unto themselves.

Because, this America, man, we keep the minorities in their place, so it's real easy to draw a "majority minority" district.

 

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Posted
2 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

that leopard better bring a couple of friends 

Q: How do you eat a herd of hefty arab americans for trump?

A: One bite at a time.

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Posted
21 hours ago, Parliament said:

*Begun the font wars have.

And come on.  Posting as plain text is not hard.  Do better.

And clicking the little lightbulb icon up top is even easier. Come on, do better. 

Posted (edited)

I’ve been busy with work, so catching up, but has anyone addressed the bearded belly dancers in the Trump golden Gaza video? 

Edited by Covri
Posted
I’ve been busy with work, so catching up, but has anyone addressed the bearded belly dancers in the Trump golden Gaza video? 

The Golden Trump statue bothered me more…

—You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them

And I’m not even in the American (anti)Christian cult…
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Posted

The Golden Trump statue bothered me more…

—You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them

And I’m not even in the American (anti)Christian cult…

This, I want to see the evangelicals explain this one. I used to be part of all that shit. Very curious to see how people I know still in that shit react.
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Posted
1 minute ago, 1978horn said:


This, I want to see the evangelicals explain this one. I used to be part of all that shit. Very curious to see how people I know still in that shit react.

No need, really. Many American Christians  don't even give that verse a second thought. The Oscar may have provoked comment because of the ebil Hollywood controlled by godless libs or of late, the heresy that is the NFL Super Bowl trophy, but a golden Trump blinds any and all to hypocrisy as they are the true believers.

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Posted
10 minutes ago, 1978horn said:


This, I want to see the evangelicals explain this one. I used to be part of all that shit. Very curious to see how people I know still in that shit react.

Same i’ll never go back. But to be able to listen in on their convos would be gold Jerry!

Posted
7 minutes ago, Horn Dog said:

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The real welfare queens.  Thoughts and Prayers bitches!

There aren't any jobs in West Virginia.  How about they fucking move to where the jobs are?

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Posted (edited)
10 hours ago, Ag with kids said:

So for YOU, WHY would the Maine congressional delegation be significantly different than how the state citizens voted?

I already answered that- because “local interests often (or usually, really) transcend national party alignment.” People who live in the same community of interest generally agree on the major local economic and social issues, irrespective of their views on national political issues. 

For example, most voters in the Big Country, regardless of party, agree that orphaned oil wells are a problem. 

Different elections, different electorates. 

10 hours ago, Ag with kids said:

 

The federal house delegation should match the state electorate.  The state house delegation should match the state electorate.  The local political delegation should match the local electorate.

This is precisely the question you leave begging. Why should it match when the issues faced by the nation or state as a whole do not encompass or reflect the interests of local communities in their interactions with the rest of the state and nation?

That’s the question you’ve been refusing to respond to for 20 years. “Why should they match?” In response,  you just continue chanting your mantra, “they should match.”

Edited by Bozo_Casanova
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Posted

Well Ryleigh, I hate to say it but wait until they ban hormonal birth control which is one of the ways in which to keep endometriosis under control. You will have company in the unable to conceive for health reasons category. But Viagra for the boys is still available!

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Posted
13 hours ago, Born to Run said:

She gonna be Jocelyn her schedule around looking for a jobby job

Episode 1 Slow Clap GIF by One Chicago
 

Nat Geo Jungle GIF by National Geographic TV
jaguar, but still…

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Posted
25 minutes ago, Horn Dog said:

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  Reveal hidden contents

BALDWIN, Mich. — Ryleigh Cooper exhaled as she slid onto the couch after nine hours of work for the U.S. Forest Service, still covered in the blue paint she used to mark trees for local loggers. Then she got the text.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” her union leader wrote.

It was the second Thursday in February, and a historic White House purge aimed at federal workers like Cooper was sweeping the country. But the headlines felt far away from her life in rural Michigan. She figured her job, with paychecks totaling about $40,000 a year, would be safe from the cost-cutting campaign led by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.

Besides, motherhood was her most pressing concern. Cooper, 24, and her husband were trying to get pregnant, but the doctor said that IVF might be their best chance. Trump had promised to make it free. That is what she thought about in the voting booth.

Now she was staring at her phone, learning that probationary workers in the Forest Service were the next to be fired by his administration. Cooper would likely be one of them, her union head told her.

Her eyes watered. She knew it wasn’t personal. Every day brought new rumors of cuts, and her performance evaluation from last fall found her “fully successful” — the highest possible score. She reminded herself that she had done everything right: graduated college with a 3.5 GPA, finished her first semester of work toward a master’s degree in forestry with a 4.0, rescued two dogs and two cats from the local shelter, chosen a man who held her on the shower floor when she found out she had endometriosis, a condition that can lead to infertility, and told her, “It’s okay, there is more than one way to be a parent.”

She thought about the Facebook posts she had seen a few days earlier.

“It’s February 3,” her grandmother posted, “and we’re going in the right direction.”

“Any government employee who is afraid of transparency,” wrote the man who taught her AP government class in high school, “is a criminal!”

Cooper knew the people in her life meant well, but she wanted her future to be different from theirs. She had grown up watching her family struggle as her mother lost one job, then another, then another. She was just a few months shy of her graduate degree and close to a promotion that could nearly double her salary. Even $50,000 or $60,000 a year, she thought, could help get her a house a few counties over, with better schools.

 

For now, she and her husband lived in Baldwin, a village of about 1,000 people where the high school track is made of cracked cement and weeds. They had purchased their home because it was cheap, less than $150,000, and close to their families, who could help with child care.

It takes three minutes to drive past Baldwin’s one post office, one bar, and one bowling alley, which also serves pancakes and omelets for breakfast. The median household income is about $23,000, according to the most recent American Community Survey, making it among the poorest towns in Michigan. In the winter, locals ice fish from shanties warmed by propane heaters and drive snowmobiles to bars. In the summer, they drive lawn mowers to gas stations, though Cooper said she would never do that.

Most people in Baldwin like President Donald Trump; more than 62 percent in Lake County, which includes the town, voted for him in November and in 2020. But people don’t talk about it. Politics here, at least until recently, felt removed from everyday worries.

Now it was in her living room, as she turned to her husband and burst into tears. “I think I’m getting fired,” she said.

Getting fired meant she would no longer have health insurance, including the 12 weeks of paid maternity leave that was a guaranteed benefit of her federal service. Also gone would be the promotion that would allow her to plan for the kids she so badly wanted to have.

She wondered if Trump was going to break his promise to make IVF free, and if it would even matter if he did.

Her husband sat beside her and squeezed her hand, still processing. Together they had been counting. Sixteen days until they could try again. Twenty eight until she could take her next test.

After she was sexually assaulted at 16, Cooper had sworn she would never be caught unprepared. But here she was. Betrayed by her body, which would not cooperate. Betrayed by her family, who supported firing federal workers like her. And, perhaps most painfully, betrayed by herself.

Cooper did not want to think about what happened three months prior but her mind went there anyway. To the voting booth in Baldwin’s town hall, where she filled out every part of the ballot before turning to the box that said “Presidential.” She recalled staring at it for 15 minutes.

She did not want to vote for Trump. Cooper hated what he said about women and hated how he treated them. Her family always said the women who accused the president of sexual assault had either made it up or deserved it. Cooper heard them and kept her own experience a secret, thinking that they might feel the same way about her.

She voted for Joe Biden in 2020, her first time casting a ballot in a presidential election. But life felt more complicated these days. Her mortgage was too expensive, groceries were nearly $400 a month, and one single cycle of IVF could cost more than 10 percent of her annual household income.

Trump, at a campaign stop an hour and a half south of her, had promised to make IVF free. She knew that from a video clip she saw on TikTok. And she had believed him.

She also believed him when he said that Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for the next Republican administration that suggested mass cuts to the federal workforce, was not his plan.

So Cooper filled in the bubble next to his name, thinking of the daughter she wanted. She planned to name her Charlotte.

The days after she got the text passed quickly. A call from the district ranger, who is in charge of the Forest Service in Baldwin, telling her to pack up her things. A box of printed performance reviews and tree identification books and a framed picture from her wedding last fall under a willow tree. A text from her co-worker who brought candy to refill the jar at her desk but arrived to find it, and her, gone.

Four days after Trump fired her, Cooper was in bed with her husband. She picked up her phone and saw the news.

There was a new executive order to expand access to IVF. She read the White House fact sheet, which talked about Trump’s request for policy recommendations to reduce costs of the service.

But it still wasn’t free, and she was out of a job and out of a plan.

“Delivering on promises for American families,” read the White House’s announcement.

“That’s bulls---”, she recalled thinking, and put down her phone.

 

If only there was an easy and accessible way for people to check a well-known person’s credibility. One can dream.

Eat shit, cooper

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I already answered that- because “local interests often (or usually, really) transcend national party alignment.” People who live in the same community of interest generally agree on the major local economic and social issues, irrespective of their views on national political issues. 

For example, most voters in the Big Country, regardless of party, agree that orphaned oil wells are a problem. 

Different elections, different electorates. 

This is precisely the question you leave begging. Why should it match when the issues faced by the nation or state as a whole do not encompass or reflect the interests of local communities in their interactions with the rest of the state and nation?

That’s the question you’ve been refusing to respond to for 20 years. “Why should they match?” In response,  you just continue chanting your mantra, “they should match.”

I presume the founding fathers considered a parliamentary system with the head of the executive picked by the representatives of the people. I also presume that in their wisdom they felt the executive should be independent from the legislative branch for the reasons that include the ones you have mentioned.
 

Sounds like ag with kids would be more comfortable moving to Canada or the UK. or maybe he is happy with minority rule and understands gerrymandering is the best way to get it.

Edited by Sawbonz
Posted
50 minutes ago, Horn Dog said:

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IMG_9512.gif.2773885fb334e2b73a52ad16f5c07aee.gif

 

  Reveal hidden contents

BALDWIN, Mich. — Ryleigh Cooper exhaled as she slid onto the couch after nine hours of work for the U.S. Forest Service, still covered in the blue paint she used to mark trees for local loggers. Then she got the text.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” her union leader wrote.

It was the second Thursday in February, and a historic White House purge aimed at federal workers like Cooper was sweeping the country. But the headlines felt far away from her life in rural Michigan. She figured her job, with paychecks totaling about $40,000 a year, would be safe from the cost-cutting campaign led by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.

Besides, motherhood was her most pressing concern. Cooper, 24, and her husband were trying to get pregnant, but the doctor said that IVF might be their best chance. Trump had promised to make it free. That is what she thought about in the voting booth.

Now she was staring at her phone, learning that probationary workers in the Forest Service were the next to be fired by his administration. Cooper would likely be one of them, her union head told her.

Her eyes watered. She knew it wasn’t personal. Every day brought new rumors of cuts, and her performance evaluation from last fall found her “fully successful” — the highest possible score. She reminded herself that she had done everything right: graduated college with a 3.5 GPA, finished her first semester of work toward a master’s degree in forestry with a 4.0, rescued two dogs and two cats from the local shelter, chosen a man who held her on the shower floor when she found out she had endometriosis, a condition that can lead to infertility, and told her, “It’s okay, there is more than one way to be a parent.”

She thought about the Facebook posts she had seen a few days earlier.

“It’s February 3,” her grandmother posted, “and we’re going in the right direction.”

“Any government employee who is afraid of transparency,” wrote the man who taught her AP government class in high school, “is a criminal!”

Cooper knew the people in her life meant well, but she wanted her future to be different from theirs. She had grown up watching her family struggle as her mother lost one job, then another, then another. She was just a few months shy of her graduate degree and close to a promotion that could nearly double her salary. Even $50,000 or $60,000 a year, she thought, could help get her a house a few counties over, with better schools.

 

For now, she and her husband lived in Baldwin, a village of about 1,000 people where the high school track is made of cracked cement and weeds. They had purchased their home because it was cheap, less than $150,000, and close to their families, who could help with child care.

It takes three minutes to drive past Baldwin’s one post office, one bar, and one bowling alley, which also serves pancakes and omelets for breakfast. The median household income is about $23,000, according to the most recent American Community Survey, making it among the poorest towns in Michigan. In the winter, locals ice fish from shanties warmed by propane heaters and drive snowmobiles to bars. In the summer, they drive lawn mowers to gas stations, though Cooper said she would never do that.

Most people in Baldwin like President Donald Trump; more than 62 percent in Lake County, which includes the town, voted for him in November and in 2020. But people don’t talk about it. Politics here, at least until recently, felt removed from everyday worries.

Now it was in her living room, as she turned to her husband and burst into tears. “I think I’m getting fired,” she said.

Getting fired meant she would no longer have health insurance, including the 12 weeks of paid maternity leave that was a guaranteed benefit of her federal service. Also gone would be the promotion that would allow her to plan for the kids she so badly wanted to have.

She wondered if Trump was going to break his promise to make IVF free, and if it would even matter if he did.

Her husband sat beside her and squeezed her hand, still processing. Together they had been counting. Sixteen days until they could try again. Twenty eight until she could take her next test.

After she was sexually assaulted at 16, Cooper had sworn she would never be caught unprepared. But here she was. Betrayed by her body, which would not cooperate. Betrayed by her family, who supported firing federal workers like her. And, perhaps most painfully, betrayed by herself.

Cooper did not want to think about what happened three months prior but her mind went there anyway. To the voting booth in Baldwin’s town hall, where she filled out every part of the ballot before turning to the box that said “Presidential.” She recalled staring at it for 15 minutes.

She did not want to vote for Trump. Cooper hated what he said about women and hated how he treated them. Her family always said the women who accused the president of sexual assault had either made it up or deserved it. Cooper heard them and kept her own experience a secret, thinking that they might feel the same way about her.

She voted for Joe Biden in 2020, her first time casting a ballot in a presidential election. But life felt more complicated these days. Her mortgage was too expensive, groceries were nearly $400 a month, and one single cycle of IVF could cost more than 10 percent of her annual household income.

Trump, at a campaign stop an hour and a half south of her, had promised to make IVF free. She knew that from a video clip she saw on TikTok. And she had believed him.

She also believed him when he said that Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for the next Republican administration that suggested mass cuts to the federal workforce, was not his plan.

So Cooper filled in the bubble next to his name, thinking of the daughter she wanted. She planned to name her Charlotte.

The days after she got the text passed quickly. A call from the district ranger, who is in charge of the Forest Service in Baldwin, telling her to pack up her things. A box of printed performance reviews and tree identification books and a framed picture from her wedding last fall under a willow tree. A text from her co-worker who brought candy to refill the jar at her desk but arrived to find it, and her, gone.

Four days after Trump fired her, Cooper was in bed with her husband. She picked up her phone and saw the news.

There was a new executive order to expand access to IVF. She read the White House fact sheet, which talked about Trump’s request for policy recommendations to reduce costs of the service.

But it still wasn’t free, and she was out of a job and out of a plan.

“Delivering on promises for American families,” read the White House’s announcement.

“That’s bulls---”, she recalled thinking, and put down her phone.

 

Really surprised that Jeff Bezos let this one get published.

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