Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

I saw a post on a Surly thread the other day I can't find now about how baseball games at Dallas Baptist University pause and everyone stands at attention at a certain time in the evening when Taps is played at the adjacent U.S. Cemetery to honor veterans buried there. It was a bit dusty when I watched it.

Then I became sad and despairing thinking how we are throwing away all that sacrifice for this orange piece of shit and his corrupt minions at all levels of government and his corporate counterparts. Our country has gotten through plenty of dark times and I try to remain optimistic we can get through this period, but it's more and more difficult. 

  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Like 1
Posted

I suggest that one should vote for good people and not for bad ones.

Trump supporters - all bad.

Dems who propped up Biden knowing he had issues - example of bad ones as well.  To me, not as bad as Trump supporters, but still bad. 

The closest these folks should be to elective office is podcasts.

Posted
16 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I’d like to not be expected to stand for god bless America during the 7th inning stretch anymore, like we didn’t do for over 100 years before 2001.  Actually is rather it not be played at all anymore during mlb games.  I see people taking off their caps and hand over heart as if it’s the fucking anthem. 

We sing take me out to the ballgame at the Disch. Like Americans. 

  • Hook 'Em 6
  • Like 1
Posted
21 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I’d like to not be expected to stand for god bless America during the 7th inning stretch anymore, like we didn’t do for over 100 years before 2001.  Actually is rather it not be played at all anymore during mlb games.  I see people taking off their caps and hand over heart as if it’s the fucking anthem. 


Well because it’s cultural. Baseball is cultural.

 

 

Posted
I suggest that one should vote for good people and not for bad ones.
Trump supporters - all bad.
Dems who propped up Biden knowing he had issues - example of bad ones as well.  To me, not as bad as Trump supporters, but still bad. 
The closest these folks should be to elective office is podcasts.

Many people propped up FDR knowing he had issues. Biden knew what was at stake and what was coming.
  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
36 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

My grandad is buried in that cemetery. He served in WWII and took part in the Battle of the Bulge and its aftermath. After the war ended he spent nearly a year on cleanup in Germany and Eastern France. Since he had an armorer’s rating one of his jobs was to destroy M1919’s by shooting them into river banks for hours until the barrels melted. They didn’t have much ear protection and he was hard of hearing for the rest of his life. 
He died in 2021 at 100, and we finally had the funeral about a year later. It was a small group- me and my kids, my dad and his wife, my aunt and her family, and a couple of friends. They led us to a little pavilion, we all said a few words, they played taps, and folded up the flag. Then the Officer In Charge presented the folded flag to my aunt and said, “On behalf of the president of the United States and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”

The last time my grandfather voted in a Federal election was when he voted for Joe Biden in 2020. It was the first time he had voted for a Democrat since Jimmy Carter in ‘76. He said that 2020 was the most important vote of his life, and maybe the most important thing he ever did for his country. 

Dang.

  • Like 1
Posted
59 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:


Many people propped up FDR knowing he had issues. Trump voters knew what was at stake and what was coming.

Fify.

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Rage+1 1
Posted

Good for you OP. I wish I could say the same. I consider myself a citizen of the world who happens to have been born in the U.S. I understand that this had given me some great opportunities, but I have zero loyalty to this country, especially considering where things stand now. I've had the chance to travel to many places in the world and imo that has given me a great perspective that is far greater than those who have not. For me there is much more than being a U.S. citizen and living here. By January our plan is to move to Spain and then travel as much as possible. Again, I'm somewhat envious that you feel the way you do, and I respect that. I do not. 

  • Hook 'Em 5
  • Like 4
Posted
2 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

My grandad is buried in that cemetery. He served in WWII and took part in the Battle of the Bulge and its aftermath. After the war ended he spent nearly a year on cleanup in Germany and Eastern France. Since he had an armorer’s rating one of his jobs was to destroy M1919’s by shooting them into river banks for hours until the barrels melted. They didn’t have much ear protection and he was hard of hearing for the rest of his life. 
He died in 2021 at 100, and we finally had the funeral about a year later. It was a small group- me and my kids, my dad and his wife, my aunt and her family, and a couple of friends. They led us to a little pavilion, we all said a few words, they played taps, and folded up the flag. Then the Officer In Charge presented the folded flag to my aunt and said, “On behalf of the president of the United States and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”

The last time my grandfather voted in a Federal election was when he voted for Joe Biden in 2020. It was the first time he had voted for a Democrat since Jimmy Carter in ‘76. He said that 2020 was the most important vote of his life, and maybe the most important thing he ever did for his country. 

Well, that's sobering.  And impressive.  Thanks for your service, Bozo's Granddad.

  • Like 1
Posted

SBB, I am glad you kicked this off. I want to feel good about the nation where I live and its role in the past, present and future of the species and this planet. Right now I’m getting ready to go to work and try to generate some revenue to stay solvent for my dear wife and daughter so they won’t be helpless and lost when I croak in a few years. My take is, the United States as a nation has been slipping since overcommitting in Vietnam out of paranoia vs communism, then kept making bad decisions tinkering in the business of other nations around the world. I liked the way things went in the 90s, then we overdid it (again) in Kuwait, then later in Iraq and Afghanistan. On a parallel track was a decline in the basic quality of education and intelligence of Americans leading to “shock and awe,” Rush Phlegmball, Fox Hate World, and Trumpatollah. America doesn’t have to save the world but it needs to acknowledge there are other viable cultures and nations who, together with our help, can create a better place for all of our descendants. My parents got married on Memorial Day in 1938. They raised three children.  My father served in the Army Air Corps and taught navigation (4F for the shooting war - badly set broken arm). My mother’s two brothers fought in snd survived WW2 (Navy) and Korea (Army). I salute them all. And I refuse to give up or abandon hope.

  • Hook 'Em 5
  • Like 2
Posted

It isn't wrong to identify our shortcomings or mistakes, but some a y'all waller in em.  You love the wrong things more than the right things.

Hellova way to go through life.

  • Fuck You 1
Posted
11 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Listening to the Dodgers/Mets game, they played “God Bless America.”  I love this country.  I just don’t love the version being presented to us, and the world, now.  But I desperately want this to be a brief dark period in our history.  Not a tipping point from which there is no return.  I have to believe sanity has a place in our future.  I recently watched the Bin Laden documentary on Netflix and while W had his flaws, he seems like fucking Lincoln when compared to Trump.  The infection the orange goon has unleashed on our country is more poisonous than any that has ever occurred in our nation’s history.  He has sown division, hate, racism, chaos, anger and madness.  And that has been his strategy.  But is it ever going to return to some semblance of reason?  For my sanity, I pray it will.  I love this country too much to just give up.

I'm at this stage.I Dont Morgan Freeman GIF

Our country is way too full of shitbags for me to care anymore.  We deserve every bit of misery we'll get.  Fuck around and find out. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Rage+1 1
Posted

News flash , humans are flawed, and their institutions  as well. We’re   all lucky to have been born in America and be typing on our computers / phones and not assembling them . Enjoy your Memorial Day off, some people are working. I’ll put my flag up today for my own reasons, it’s not a political statement to put out the flag. 

Posted
1 hour ago, immamac said:

The soul of America is foul and rotten. Healing your soul is much harder than anything else and I don't think it'll be possible without revolution or significant trauma. 

We are headed straight for revolution, I just hope it's a bloodless revolution. 

Once/if a leader finally emerges. That's all it takes, but everyone doing this:

Blaming Spider-Man GIF

Posted
13 hours ago, Zepol87 said:

You going to ucla regional? I’m thinking of hitting a game never been before

Maybe.  Let me know if you do.

Posted
1 minute ago, Sbbruin said:

This is essentially the thrust of this thread.  “Patriot” is a co-opted term for Magats. I’m a patriot.  But that term means something different.  Fuck them for making me feel bad for being a patriot.

Fuck them for not being able to or caring to differentiate between the notions of patriotism and nationalism. You can be a patriot without becoming a fucking nationalist.

  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Like 1
  • Rage+1 1
Posted

The United States of America has always been imperfect, more imperfect than many of us ever realized because of our upbringing within the country. We've always been fed our view of the world, instead of other's view of us.  But, most of the time the U.S. has eventually done the right thing, and that made the country respected enough around the world to become the world leader.  But all of that progress and reputation is under attack by politicians and a President who have foregotten what made this country successful. The old saying that a reputation is built over years (or 200+ years), but torn down way faster is very applicable to the current situation. What makes it even more gut-wrenching is that 40-47% of the country either doesn't understand this, or doesn't care. 

It's embarrassing travelling internationally right now. It's sometimes embarassing being from Texas right now. But, I remain hopeful that intelligent, charismatic, un-indoctrinated leaders will gain back control of our government institutions and insert integrity, honesty, critical-thinking, level-headedness, and morality back into these institutions. I don't believe it is as simple as Republicans/Trump bad, Democrats good. We have problems in both parties. And there are good people in those parties, although I have to admit that right now finding any in the Republican party is very difficult. If there are any, they're cowering from the orange moron makes them currently invisible. Similarly, we have few Democratic leaders making an impact. But, eventually I'm hopeful new blood will emerge and salvage this mess, in concert with major initiatives to expose and lessen the effectiveness of disinformation, which is really the root cause of the problem right now.

  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, Colonel Sanders said:

Anytime I see someone displaying the American flag now, particularly on a vehicle, I just assume they are a cunt. i would like to go back to the time when that filled me with pride. 

It's become an in-your-face gesture in the way a pointed Merry Christmas has also become. They excel at seizing harmless words and gestures and weaponizing them. Liberal. Environmentalist. Feminist. Woke. Democrat. Social justice advocate. They should merely be names of movements or whatever type of group, not objects of hatred simply as words. These hateful tactics are not accidental, of course.

 

14 hours ago, Mo Horn said:

Good for you OP. I wish I could say the same. I consider myself a citizen of the world who happens to have been born in the U.S. I understand that this had given me some great opportunities, but I have zero loyalty to this country, especially considering where things stand now. I've had the chance to travel to many places in the world and imo that has given me a great perspective that is far greater than those who have not. For me there is much more than being a U.S. citizen and living here. By January our plan is to move to Spain and then travel as much as possible. Again, I'm somewhat envious that you feel the way you do, and I respect that. I do not. 

 Well said. I share much the same sentiment. I never really liked the word "proud" of being American or Texan. I started saying "pleased" instead.

Like others here, I liked knowing that as a nation and as groups of citizens, we did a lot of good things. It helped to balance out the horrible things we've done although I begin to doubt the good acts have nearly the weight of their opposite. But all powerful nations smash things and steal things. Not all of them show up if there is a disaster or bother to use its might to protect an ally.

Our dual nature was extremely evident in Central and South America. Our government is training death squads in Georgia and propping up Caudillos while private citizens (largely Christian) were building churches, hospitals, and offering very valuable aid.

I don't see much of that now. Trump makes it a policy to erase it. All I'm left with are our blunders and abominations. They will mount in the coming months. I'm neither pleased nor proud to be an American. I have nothing to point to to justify either feeling. We're somebody new.

I am proud to be part of the opposition with my other friends and friends here. The nation is not void of good pieces.

I'm in a state of resigned lament. I'd be delighted and surprised if this country became embraceable again. I feel ya, @Sbbruin

Edited by RomaVicta
  • Hook 'Em 6
  • Like 1
Posted
34 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Fuck them for not being able to or caring to differentiate between the notions of patriotism and nationalism. You can be a patriot without becoming a fucking nationalist.

I hadn't thought my NFL metaphor (We don't how or who plays, just make me feel like a winner!) for what drives voters as nationalism. Of course, that's what it is. I guess I think of nationalism as influencing foreign affairs. Seems pretty dumb now. Thanks.

Posted
1 hour ago, Sbbruin said:

This is essentially the thrust of this thread.  “Patriot” is a co-opted term for Magats. I’m a patriot.  But that term means something different.  Fuck them for making me feel bad for being a patriot.

I'm flying my flag today.  In honor of those who sacrificed.

  • Hook 'Em 3
Posted (edited)

I'm going to London in a couple of months with my son (his first overseas trip).  I used to spend a month there many summers as a kid at my grandparents' house. Any time I brought up I was American or from Texas, every local's eyes lit up. They'd ask if I had a horse or a ranch (thanks to Dallas and the Ewings) and people had reverence for our country and state. I was always proud to mention it.  

Now we'll understandably be met with this anytime I bring up where we're from: 

giphy.gif

Edited by Hank Kingsley
  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
Just now, mdmost said:

This. Very much this. My wife has had a really hard time lately because of how bleak it has gotten. I've tried to encourage our family to be the change we want to see. We are so very lucky to have what we have and there's so much suffering out there. It's up to us to make things better. We can't always worry about what's happening at the macro level that we have no control over other than our one vote. We can help the people who are at the miles long food line on Garland Road near our house that we see twice a month. We can take time to clean up White Rock Lake that we love. We can try to help the homeless, who there will only be more and more of since everyone is pushed to the brink. We can be kind even to those who may not deserve it. 

Now, the 2nd half of our post. I don't know if I agree with that. We're a nation founded on violence. We've used it throughout our history. We've had hate throughout our history. Native Americans, slaves, immigrants, people who "didn't belong here". This is nothing new. At least we're not committing wholesale genocide of these people now. We do it in other ways now like cycles of violence, poverty, drug addiction, hopelessness. But again, that's why it is up to us to help when we can. 

As a nation, maybe. As Americans? No.

Posted

I’ve long found forced displays of patriotism annoying. The words “pledge of allegiance” is creepy, very Big Brotherish. It’s by pure chance that I happened to be born within the US borders. It’s not an accomplishment or reason to have personal pride. I’d like to not be so embarrassed by this country and its voters but again it’s largely out of my control. I do take some pride on a local level because it’s more of a choice where I chose to live and I have tangibly contributed to some of the good things happening in my city. It’s still somewhat arbitrary and it’s not a big deal to me but city pride makes far more sense to me than country.

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Like 2
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

The United States of America has always been imperfect, more imperfect than many of us ever realized because of our upbringing within the country. We've always been fed our view of the world, instead of other's view of us.  But, most of the time the U.S. has eventually done the right thing, and that made the country respected enough around the world to become the world leader.  But all of that progress and reputation is under attack by politicians and a President who have foregotten what made this country successful. The old saying that a reputation is built over years (or 200+ years), but torn down way faster is very applicable to the current situation. What makes it even more gut-wrenching is that 40-47% of the country either doesn't understand this, or doesn't care. 

It's embarrassing travelling internationally right now. It's sometimes embarassing being from Texas right now. But, I remain hopeful that intelligent, charismatic, un-indoctrinated leaders will gain back control of our government institutions and insert integrity, honesty, critical-thinking, level-headedness, and morality back into these institutions. I don't believe it is as simple as Republicans/Trump bad, Democrats good. We have problems in both parties. And there are good people in those parties, although I have to admit that right now finding any in the Republican party is very difficult. If there are any, they're cowering from the orange moron makes them currently invisible. Similarly, we have few Democratic leaders making an impact. But, eventually I'm hopeful new blood will emerge and salvage this mess, in concert with major initiatives to expose and lessen the effectiveness of disinformation, which is really the root cause of the problem right now.

Went to breakfast the other morning and a vet with a walker started talking to me while we were waiting to be seated.  He asked where we were from and we said Texas and he said "so sorry to hear." We laughed and said that's why we're now in Maryland.   

Edited by Mdhorn
  • Haha 6
Posted
14 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I’ve long found forced displays of patriotism annoying. The words “pledge of allegiance” is creepy, very Big Brotherish. It’s by pure chance that I happened to be born within the US borders. It’s not an accomplishment or reason to have personal pride. I’d like to not be so embarrassed by this country and its voters but again it’s largely out of my control. I do take some pride on a local level because it’s more of a choice where I chose to live and I have tangibly contributed to some of the good things happening in my city. It’s still somewhat arbitrary and it’s not a big deal to me but city pride makes far more sense to me than country.

I'm proud to be an American but it's just the luck of the draw.  I could've just as easily, probably more so even, been born in India or China, and lived a life at the whims of their government.  Instead, I was born American, white with all my fingers and toes, in a lower middle class family with both parents in 1970.  That was a pretty good draw.  

  • Hook 'Em 4
Posted
52 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

I'm going to London in a couple of months with my son (his first overseas trip).  I used to spend a month there many summers as a kid at my grandparents' house. Any time I brought up I was American or from Texas, every local's eyes lit up. They'd ask if I had a horse or a ranch (thanks to Dallas and the Ewings) and people had reverence for our country and state. I was always proud to mention it.  

Now we'll understandably be met with this anytime I bring up where we're from: 

giphy.gif


 

image.jpeg.206b9b2c65e5ed8db890f7711fe6e425.jpeg

 

I suggest practicing this guy’s accent and mannerisms until you get them down pat. No one will even ask where you’re from 

  • Haha 3
Posted
1 hour ago, Hank Kingsley said:

I'm going to London in a couple of months with my son (his first overseas trip).  I used to spend a month there many summers as a kid at my grandparents' house. Any time I brought up I was American or from Texas, every local's eyes lit up. They'd ask if I had a horse or a ranch (thanks to Dallas and the Ewings) and people had reverence for our country and state. I was always proud to mention it.  

Now we'll understandably be met with this anytime I bring up where we're from: 

giphy.gif

Ever been asked if you eat kippers for breakfast? 

  • Haha 1
Posted

Check out the Netflix doc “What the hell happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears? Filmed in 1969 or 70, the setting was very interesting.  The State Dept essentially forced them to play behind the Iron Curtain.  In Romania, they practically brought thd house down.  Thousands were chanting “USA! USA!” in fucking Bucharest at hearing tight American jazz and rock with horns and a Canadian singer. It’s worth a look, and made me proud. They returned to a bunch of sourpuss reviews accusing them of being sellouts to Nixon. You can’t please everyone, so you What, Rick? gotta please yourself.  Be kind, help those less fortunate, and aspire to happiness.  ☮️♥️☘️🇺🇸

  • Hook 'Em 3


×
×
  • Create New...