US Politics

[do or die]

As Trump has claimed - he actually could shoot someone in Times Square, and his wide-eyed, deluded, and bigoted base would support it.    OK, but what is the excuse for so called "moderates" in the Republican party, to continue to  defend the indefensible, while aiding and abetting this madness?   Other that of course, using Don Trump, to help push their agendas through.

Wait! Paul Ryan has finally weighed in..........saying Trump's comments were "unhelpful."    Way to step up to the plate, there.......

Lack of morals on one end.....and moral cowardliness, on the other.

Edited January 12, 2018 by do or die

[Atomic]

1 hour ago, Mark F said:

If he mentioned El Salvador, it is a horrible place, same with Honduras, largely due to USA financing, supporting, and propping up genocidal dicatatorial regimes.

from my college years, I remember the slogan 

" US.... out of El Salvador".

same throughout any place in central, and South America. 

chance he knows that is zero.

Ever been to Central America?  Pretty ignorant to call them all "horrible places."  I suggest you take a trip through some of those countries and see if your mind changes.

[SPuDS]

20 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

For most people, an innocent slip of the tongue. For Trump, hilarious. 

 

*insert facepalm*

 

the president of the united states everyone.   can't even get the most advanced warfighter in their inventory right.

[The Unknown Poster]

Unbelievable. Imagining being willing to lie for Trump

 

[The Unknown Poster]

 

[Atomic]

On one hand that's unbelievably racist, on the other hand, a Korean-looking woman would undoubtedly be received better by NK than a woman of another race.

So it's a tug-of-war between being politically correct and diplomatically shrewd.  Ideological vs. practical.

[The Unknown Poster]

1 minute ago, Atomic said:

On one hand that's unbelievably racist, on the other hand, a Korean-looking woman would undoubtedly be received better by NK than a woman of another race.

So it's a tug-of-war between being politically correct and diplomatically shrewd.  Ideological vs. practical.

Did you describe Donald Trump as diplomatically shrewd? 

[The Unknown Poster]

Uh oh donald!

 

[Atomic]

2 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Did you describe Donald Trump as diplomatically shrewd? 

Not at all.  But assigning a Korean woman to conduct relations with North Korea would be.  A Korean man, even better.

[The Unknown Poster]

3 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Not at all.  But assigning a Korean woman to conduct relations with North Korea would be.  A Korean man, even better.

Hmmm...qualified person even better still.

[Atomic]

1 minute ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Hmmm...qualified person even better still.

implying qualified Korean men don't exist?

[The Unknown Poster]

1 minute ago, Atomic said:

implying qualified Korean men don't exist?

Implying that being an American of Korean ethnicity should not be the deciding factor in major international negotiations.  In the context of the story, the woman in question was born in New York and was an intelligence analyst, not a diplomat.  

[Atomic]

Showing preference to hiring people based on belonging to a visible minority or other marginalized group is pretty standard practice these days.

[The Unknown Poster]

9 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Showing preference to hiring people based on belonging to a visible minority or other marginalized group is pretty standard practice these days.

We're not really debating this are we?  I assumed you were making a joke with your initial reply.  lol

[Atomic]

30 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

We're not really debating this are we?  I assumed you were making a joke with your initial reply.  lol

No we are not, just killing time.  Sorry all, carry on.

[Mark F]

4 hours ago, Atomic said:

Ever been to Central America?  Pretty ignorant to call them all "horrible places."  I suggest you take a trip through some of those countries and see if your mind changes.

ignorant? Don't think so.

I've been to Mexico, I drove a car from Mexico city to Acapulco;  I saw many citizens without refrigeration, without any electricity, meat hanging out in the open, covered with flies, that was their food. Dead animals lying rotting on roadsides, cause nobody cared enough to do anything about it.

people living in little shanties with dirt floors. washing their clothes in a stream.  I saw these things.This is, for instance,  in places just over the hill from the expensive resorts for Canadians and Americans. Where no ordinary Mexican could ever hope to stay.

last week something like ten people's head's chopped off and stuck up in public near Los Cabos. 26 thousand murders last year in Mexico.

And Mexico, is a destination for work, for people from Central America, cause they are actually worse off in parts of Central America.

There mass murders of Indians, whole villages slaughtered, by government forces, (supported by the USA) not that long ago. No justice for them.

It's a daily struggle for millions, just to get enough to eat. We, in North America, could help to change this, but just look on those places as sources of cheap goods cheap labour, and winter vacations.

I could go on and on, but I won't bother.

So no, it's not ignorant to say that.  

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2018 by Mark F

[Atomic]

1 hour ago, Mark F said:

ignorant? Don't think so.

I've been to Mexico, I drove a car from Mexico city to Acapulco;  I saw many citizens without refrigeration, without any electricity, meat hanging out in the open, covered with flies, that was their food. Dead animals lying rotting on roadsides, cause nobody cared enough to do anything about it.

people living in little shanties with dirt floors. washing their clothes in a stream.  I saw these things.This is, for instance,  in places just over the hill from the expensive resorts for Canadians and Americans. Where no ordinary Mexican could ever hope to stay.

last week something like ten people's head's chopped off and stuck up in public near Los Cabos. 26 thousand murders last year in Mexico.

And Mexico, is a destination for work, for people from Central America, cause they are actually worse off in parts of Central America.

There mass murders of Indians, whole villages slaughtered, by government forces, (supported by the USA) not that long ago. No justice for them.

It's a daily struggle for millions, just to get enough to eat. We, in North America, could help to change this, but just look on those places as sources of cheap goods cheap labour, and winter vacations.

I could go on and on, but I won't bother.

So no, it's not ignorant to say that.  

 

 

 

Absolutely they have struggles.  But they also get by and many live very happy lives there and would be offended to hear you call it a horrible place.  I have spent months in Central America, both vacationing and volunteering.  I've seen how brutal it can be and I've also seen how beautiful it can be.  I never came away feeling that they were horrible countries.  I guess I'm just not the type to look down my nose and call them shitholes.

Tour the roughest area of Winnipeg followed up by a visit to some Northern reserves and your opinion of Manitoba might be that it is a horrible place.  It doesn't make it true.

[Mark F]

27 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Absolutely they have struggles

I don't look down my nose at the average citizen there, I feel pity for them. 

There's no good reason why they shouldn't have decent lives.  Enough Food, clothing, education, a decent dwelling, freedom from violence.

They are Innocent victims of five hundred years of brutality.

Not saying there's nothing good there, but whatever there is, is created by the people for themselves, with no help from anyone in power. The rulers, I look down my nose at them. 

and good for you for actually doing something to  help.

Edited January 13, 2018 by Mark F

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

8 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

You have to read this interview to believe it 

 

Omg... this would be comedic gold if it wasn't the most powerful man in the free world. 

[SpeedFlex27]

7 hours ago, do or die said:

As Trump has claimed - he actually could shoot someone in Times Square, and his wide-eyed, deluded, and bigoted base would support it.    OK, but what is the excuse for so called "moderates" in the Republican party, to continue to  defend the indefensible, while aiding and abetting this madness?   Other that of course, using Don Trump, to help push their agendas through.

Wait! Paul Ryan has finally weighed in..........saying Trump's comments were "unhelpful."    Way to step up to the plate, there.......

Lack of morals on one end.....and moral cowardliness, on the other.

What a disappointment Ryan is. A couple of years ago, I thought he'd have made a great President but no more.  He & the rest of the GOP are spineless cowards. They could do something yet they don't. 

[The Unknown Poster]

I think it’s timing. Polling and circumstance show the GOP at risk of losing pretty badly in the midterms this year. So they are all scared to death of adding any negativity. If they come out and condemn trump or create the sense of strife, they think it will make it worse. 

However, once the mid terms are over, especially if the dems clean up, I think you’ll see the republicans begin to turn on trump and each other. 

[HardCoreBlue]

1 hour ago, The Unknown Poster said:

I think it’s timing. Polling and circumstance show the GOP at risk of losing pretty badly in the midterms this year. So they are all scared to death of adding any negativity. If they come out and condemn trump or create the sense of strife, they think it will make it worse. 

However, once the mid terms are over, especially if the dems clean up, I think you’ll see the republicans begin to turn on trump and each other. 

If true, wow because that only plays to his dwindling base.

Logically (and I know logic doesn't always work in certain scenarios), condemning remarks  that have been largely condemned by a population would be a good strategy to garner the needed votes and would trump (ba doom phish) any sense this would cause among his most ardent voters i.e., oh oh he's causing strife in a party by calling out our leader. 

[Fatty Liver]

On 1/12/2018 at 3:09 PM, Mark F said:

ignorant? Don't think so.

I've been to Mexico, I drove a car from Mexico city to Acapulco;  I saw many citizens without refrigeration, without any electricity, meat hanging out in the open, covered with flies, that was their food. Dead animals lying rotting on roadsides, cause nobody cared enough to do anything about it.

people living in little shanties with dirt floors. washing their clothes in a stream.  I saw these things.This is, for instance,  in places just over the hill from the expensive resorts for Canadians and Americans. Where no ordinary Mexican could ever hope to stay.

last week something like ten people's head's chopped off and stuck up in public near Los Cabos. 26 thousand murders last year in Mexico.

And Mexico, is a destination for work, for people from Central America, cause they are actually worse off in parts of Central America.

There mass murders of Indians, whole villages slaughtered, by government forces, (supported by the USA) not that long ago. No justice for them.

It's a daily struggle for millions, just to get enough to eat. We, in North America, could help to change this, but just look on those places as sources of cheap goods cheap labour, and winter vacations.

I could go on and on, but I won't bother.

So no, it's not ignorant to say that.  

 

 

 

Everything you said is true to an extent but I will add that for the most part they enjoy much richer social and family lives than most N. Americans, perhaps because they have little else, lower expectations and are not addicted to electronic technology or our manic productivity goals.  I spent a month in Bolivia with a class mate in the 90's who was financially set well above the mean but had plenty of family and friends who were not and they shared common characteristics, misery was not one of them that I ever picked up on. 

It didn't matter what day of the week it was and whether they had to work the next day or not, every night was dedicated to socializing (not just drinking) in some form or other and a night sitting on the couch surfing the tube in off-mode was never considered reasonable entertainment, no matter how exhausted I was.  They absolutely have more fun than we do and after that trip I couldn't help but think our society is the one to be pitied for programming it's citizens to perform like worker-bot automotons striving for unachievable goals in the delusion that they will somehow bring us more success, more possessions and with them greater happiness.  The movie "About Schmidt" with Jack Nicholson summarizes this futility a lot better than I can.........sopped as I am I think I might be channeling Buddha.

[do or die]

One of the big differences I have found, in traveling to many other countries, particularly in the "3rd world".........is that the societies are much more communal, with emphasis on the family unit.   This is vital in countries with no social services, as we know it.     NA and Europe,  gravitate more towards the rights and well being of the individual......and his/her place in the material world.....

[Mark H.]

7 hours ago, do or die said:

One of the big differences I have found, in traveling to many other countries, particularly in the "3rd world".........is that the societies are much more communal, with emphasis on the family unit.   This is vital in countries with no social services, as we know it.     NA and Europe,  gravitate more towards the rights and well being of the individual......and his/her place in the material world.....

And moving away from the communal model is viewed as progress. I can tell you that sustaining a communal culture in North America is an enormous challenge. Acculturation to the host society is a powerful magnet.