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Post by history2b on May 18, 2022 14:40:53 GMT -8
Ultimately the restrictions under Trump saved 1.8 million lives eventhough he would've gladly expended them. Yes absolutely there's a deranged element of the R party that are anti vaxers anti maskers and would rather die to stick it to the Dems. Nothing can be done about these fools. Biden said he's a president for all not just Dems and it's still under his watch. Buck stops at the oval. otherwise he's no different than trump who didn't take responsibility for anything. And non vaxers are no longer the excuse or scapegoat when 40 pct of vaxed are dead. Now you have His handpicked CDC head Wallensky who's been a disaster from day 1 passing the buck to state and local governments on masking and mitigations. I mean seriously WTF?. "We urge local leaders to encourage the use of prevention strategies like masking in public indoor settings and increasing access to testing and to treatment,” the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said at a briefing of the White House pandemic response team." While they in the executive branch stand pat with no challenge to masking on public transportation decision by some trumpian judge in Florida. And now they're failing on securing funding for a vaccination drive in the fall about to bring 100 million infections by their own account. They can't even fund existing vaccines,so how will they find next gen vaccs research? That's an epic failure of leadership. Please no excuses. Thats the number 1 job of the president. Keep the public safe and take the tough decisions to do so. Not cower to the public's conviniences. And what about having the will to allow only vaccinated people on airplanes? They backed off that too. Pansy ass wimps are too afraid of the magats and thus won't do the right thing. They're afraid to infringe on people's "freedoms" so the pandemic prolongs. That's no great governance. Did fkin Bush the second care about public sentiment before taking the country to war in Iraq? Just lied about wmd and went ahead and enriched his pals. Did Reagan give a fuck when he blatantly corrupted on the Iran Contra affair? But Biden is too scared to use common sense measures of public safety due to his fear of the R party base. Many in his party will give him a pass but many won't. He's being stupid in trying to appease the other side and in the process is losing his own side. Worst part is despite his efforts to let covid rip to save the economy and to appease the other side, the economy is headed into a recession and the other side will never vote for him even if he turns into trump overnight. It's going to be disastrous for the Ds this mid term election. Can’t say I disagree with your criticisms of Biden and his admin and I agree we deserve better. But for the time being, we’re fucked. America is too caught up in control by the state propaganda apparatus with the delusion being they run around telling people to not be controlled by the state. Lol. Yeah George Orwell wrote about it 80 years ago.
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Post by history2b on May 18, 2022 14:45:01 GMT -8
And I recently heard a comic tell a joke about MAGA…
He was talking about the word n*gga and how he was going to refer to them with the hard R… Maggers!
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Post by samadams10 on May 18, 2022 17:39:09 GMT -8
Ultimately the restrictions under Trump saved 1.8 million lives eventhough he would've gladly expended them. Yes absolutely there's a deranged element of the R party that are anti vaxers anti maskers and would rather die to stick it to the Dems. Nothing can be done about these fools. Biden said he's a president for all not just Dems and it's still under his watch. Buck stops at the oval. otherwise he's no different than trump who didn't take responsibility for anything. And non vaxers are no longer the excuse or scapegoat when 40 pct of vaxed are dead. Now you have His handpicked CDC head Wallensky who's been a disaster from day 1 passing the buck to state and local governments on masking and mitigations. I mean seriously WTF?. "We urge local leaders to encourage the use of prevention strategies like masking in public indoor settings and increasing access to testing and to treatment,” the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said at a briefing of the White House pandemic response team." While they in the executive branch stand pat with no challenge to masking on public transportation decision by some trumpian judge in Florida. And now they're failing on securing funding for a vaccination drive in the fall about to bring 100 million infections by their own account. They can't even fund existing vaccines,so how will they find next gen vaccs research? That's an epic failure of leadership. Please no excuses. Thats the number 1 job of the president. Keep the public safe and take the tough decisions to do so. Not cower to the public's conviniences. And what about having the will to allow only vaccinated people on airplanes? They backed off that too. Pansy ass wimps are too afraid of the magats and thus won't do the right thing. They're afraid to infringe on people's "freedoms" so the pandemic prolongs. That's no great governance. Did fkin Bush the second care about public sentiment before taking the country to war in Iraq? Just lied about wmd and went ahead and enriched his pals. Did Reagan give a fuck when he blatantly corrupted on the Iran Contra affair? But Biden is too scared to use common sense measures of public safety due to his fear of the R party base. Many in his party will give him a pass but many won't. He's being stupid in trying to appease the other side and in the process is losing his own side. Worst part is despite his efforts to let covid rip to save the economy and to appease the other side, the economy is headed into a recession and the other side will never vote for him even if he turns into trump overnight. It's going to be disastrous for the Ds this mid term election. Can’t say I disagree with your criticisms of Biden and his admin and I agree we deserve better. But for the time being, we’re fucked. America is too caught up in control by the state propaganda apparatus with the delusion being they run around telling people to not be controlled by the state. Lol. Yeah George Orwell wrote about it 80 years ago. I'll agree with brother T here. Well said 2b. Truly sad and we live in Orwellian times for sure.
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Post by samadams10 on May 18, 2022 17:39:35 GMT -8
And I recently heard a comic tell a joke about MAGA… He was talking about the word n*gga and how he was going to refer to them with the hard R… Maggers! 😂🤣🤣🤣
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Post by samadams10 on May 19, 2022 8:26:45 GMT -8
Not to belabor this. Just sharing some info.
"The Biden administration laid out a 100-page plan to get the U.S. through the remaining jags of the pandemic, and if Congress allocates $10 billion in funding, not the $22.5 billion requested, that plan will be scaled down, zeroing out the aid for other countries, reducing the government's ability to respond to new variants, and possibly rationing the next-generation vaccine to those most at risk of hospitalization and death, officials say."
Rationing would be horrible. Don't they control Congress Senate and white house until mid terms? Whats the problem? Unlimited money for wars and airline and big business bail outs but none for health?
"But $10 billion may be the most that there's any appetite for right now." About half the $10 billion would go toward paying Pfizer for 20 million doses of antiviral treatments purchased earlier this year, and the other $5 billion would be divided between investing in tests, treatments, and vaccines."
Kaching Pfizer.
" Novavax is reportedly bullish that the FDA will finally approve its U.S.-funded COVID-19 vaccine in June, adding to the U.S. options a traditional vaccine that is slowly gaining favor in the 28 countries where it is being used. Novavax has created "the type of vaccine Americans have been taking for years to protect against familiar scourges like influenza and shingles."
"Novovax's shot is proving effective, doesn't seem to have serious side effects or provoke strong reactions, and "some anti-abortion activists who refuse to take the mRNA vaccines because they were developed with cells lines derived from an aborted fetus would see it as an acceptable alternative," the Times says. "If made available, the Novavax vaccine might induce some of the millions of still-unvaccinated Americans to roll up their sleeves at last."
So why is Biden FDA dragging feet on novavax? It's approved and used in 28 countries. Skeptical minds want to know whether Pfizer lobby has something to do with this?
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Post by samadams10 on May 19, 2022 8:27:32 GMT -8
"Other researchers are working on a COVID-19 vaccine nasal spray, and "the barrier for a nasal spray booster may be lower for many people than for a needle shot," Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, an immunobiology professor at Yale School of Medicine, writes in The New York Times. A nasal vaccine would have other advantages, too, most notably preventing infections entirely by training the mucus layer inside the nose to "capture the virus before it even has a chance to attach to people's cells."
Shoud be the highest priority with immense funding.
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Post by lakeshow on May 19, 2022 10:00:14 GMT -8
Not to belabor this. Just sharing some info. "The Biden administration laid out a 100-page plan to get the U.S. through the remaining jags of the pandemic, and if Congress allocates $10 billion in funding, not the $22.5 billion requested, that plan will be scaled down, zeroing out the aid for other countries, reducing the government's ability to respond to new variants, and possibly rationing the next-generation vaccine to those most at risk of hospitalization and death, officials say." Rationing would be horrible. Don't they control Congress Senate and white house until mid terms? Whats the problem? Unlimited money for wars and airline and big business bail outs but none for health? "But $10 billion may be the most that there's any appetite for right now." About half the $10 billion would go toward paying Pfizer for 20 million doses of antiviral treatments purchased earlier this year, and the other $5 billion would be divided between investing in tests, treatments, and vaccines." Kaching Pfizer. " Novavax is reportedly bullish that the FDA will finally approve its U.S.-funded COVID-19 vaccine in June, adding to the U.S. options a traditional vaccine that is slowly gaining favor in the 28 countries where it is being used. Novavax has created "the type of vaccine Americans have been taking for years to protect against familiar scourges like influenza and shingles." "Novovax's shot is proving effective, doesn't seem to have serious side effects or provoke strong reactions, and "some anti-abortion activists who refuse to take the mRNA vaccines because they were developed with cells lines derived from an aborted fetus would see it as an acceptable alternative," the Times says. "If made available, the Novavax vaccine might induce some of the millions of still-unvaccinated Americans to roll up their sleeves at last." So why is Biden FDA dragging feet on novavax? It's approved and used in 28 countries. Skeptical minds want to know whether Pfizer lobby has something to do with this? The Dems do have control of Congress but it's not that easy Sammy. They have a slight edge in the House and in the Senate they are actually tied 50-50 but Kamala Harris holds the tie breaker in case of a deadlock. There are also a couple conservative Democrat senators (Manchin and Senema) who are not afraid to vote against their party on issues they differ with Biden on. You also have Democrats who represent "purple" areas in the House that can swing red or blue come this November. This is where politics gets in the way of good policy. Incumbents are going to do everything to stay in power, regardless of party, but Democrats who are in the hot seat may not capitulate to the wishes of the administration for fear of losing their seat to a Republican. Now, if the Dems had a solid majority in both houses of Congress, things may be different, but when it is this close in several districts which it will be this November, all bets are off for those elected officials in swing districts because then it becomes about campaigning and getting behind legislation that is going to win as many votes as possible from their base and as many as they can from independents to get re-elected. Common sense and good policy be damned. I think this has been the crux of our recent disagreements though. My arguments have been largely driven by how it is. Your arguments are driven by what should be. And I completely respect that. I just would rather operate under realistic conditions given the current construction of how our democracy works. Otherwise, it would be frustration about government 24/7.
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Post by samadams10 on May 19, 2022 10:39:04 GMT -8
I get the limitations including Manchin and Sinema. This where the D party is failing. The Rs unite and band together and ruthlessly push their agenda through. The Ds sit around fragmented pointing fingers at each other and they absolutely deserve criticism for it. First, they're brand is so toxic esp in fly over country that they can barely win elections. They need to fix that. It's on Biden and his party. Can't sit around crying that that they don't cooperate.
Bottom line is get shit that matters done and to hell with the excuses. If you don't have a majority, then change your philosophy to win more votes. It's not happening though by trying to appease the anti vaxers and maskers on the other side.
Rs put through their agenda on judges, taxes, environment, cruel border policies, stoke racism and division, immigration etc aggressively under Trump. Fortunately they could not destroy Obamacare but woudve if Trump was reelected. Biden hasn't done shit except whine about Manchin and Sinema. Thats a fail. I thought his 40 yrs experience in politics would help him reach across the aisle in Congress? Thars what he campaigned on, isn't it?
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Post by history2b on May 19, 2022 11:10:03 GMT -8
I get the limitations including Manchin and Sinema. This where the D party is failing. The Rs unite and band together and ruthlessly push their agenda through. The Ds sit around fragmented pointing fingers at each other and they absolutely deserve criticism for it. First, they're brand is so toxic esp in fly over country that they can barely win elections. They need to fix that. It's on Biden and his party. Can't sit around crying that that they don't cooperate. Bottom line is get shit that matters done and to hell with the excuses. If you don't have a majority, then change your philosophy to win more votes. It's not happening though by trying to appease the anti vaxers and maskers on the other side. Rs put through their agenda on judges, taxes, environment, cruel border policies, stoke racism and division, immigration etc aggressively under Trump. Fortunately they could not destroy Obamacare but woudve if Trump was reelected. Biden hasn't done shit except whine about Manchin and Sinema. Thats a fail. I thought his 40 yrs experience in politics would help him reach across the aisle in Congress? Thars what he campaigned on, isn't it? I don’t think it’s that, it’s that Manchin and Sinema are already in the pockets of corporate donors. who ultimately are the ones who derail entire bills with a single “compromise” that’s really just the system corporate America has in place to control Congress. Legal bribery. Republicans have become more cult than party and while we can criticize the Dems for not being that way, it also means no criticizing Biden, everybody stays tight lipped, mirror party lines every time... Definitely would not be good for society to go there either. Biden is reaching across the aisle for support but the Republican party has abandoned parliamentary politics altogether. Nothing anyone, or any amount of experience can break that. At some point the blame needs to be the anti Democratic, shameless corporatist cult party and not the people who can’t convince them to break from their cult. China’s CCP officials have been spied on by US agencies and it was revealed they feared the US passing Biden’s BBB bill. They saw it as modernizing the United States well enough to pose a continued threat in the global economy well into the future. That’s Biden’s bill. But that bill was gutted by Republicans, strip this, cut that, make it a skeleton bill and handicap the country instead. China ended up laughing. I’ll be god damned if I blame anyone but Republicans for that.
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Post by lakeshow on May 19, 2022 11:35:03 GMT -8
I get the limitations including Manchin and Sinema. This where the D party is failing. The Rs unite and band together and ruthlessly push their agenda through. The Ds sit around fragmented pointing fingers at each other and they absolutely deserve criticism for it. First, they're brand is so toxic esp in fly over country that they can barely win elections. They need to fix that. It's on Biden and his party. Can't sit around crying that that they don't cooperate. Bottom line is get shit that matters done and to hell with the excuses. If you don't have a majority, then change your philosophy to win more votes. It's not happening though by trying to appease the anti vaxers and maskers on the other side. Rs put through their agenda on judges, taxes, environment, cruel border policies, stoke racism and division, immigration etc aggressively under Trump. Fortunately they could not destroy Obamacare but woudve if Trump was reelected. Biden hasn't done shit except whine about Manchin and Sinema. Thats a fail. I thought his 40 yrs experience in politics would help him reach across the aisle in Congress? Thars what he campaigned on, isn't it? Sammy, it's still not that simple brother. It's not just about Manchin and Sinema. This is politics and the game is chess, not checkers. These guys (on both sides of the aisle) as 2b said are in the pockets of big corporations and they are a slave to what they want. It is more than Biden and goes way deeper than even the Democratic Party. I can go on, but I think 2b summed it up pretty good so I'll just refer you to his post on the details. Again, you're arguing about what should be. But what should be, is not what the reality is and what it hasn't been for a long time. Further, you're going to be frustrated for a long time about many things that our elected officials should be fighting for. Whenever we get past Covid, your frustration will manifest itself with a different issue, but at its core your frustration is really about how government works in the United States of America.
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Post by samadams10 on May 19, 2022 11:54:39 GMT -8
I get the limitations including Manchin and Sinema. This where the D party is failing. The Rs unite and band together and ruthlessly push their agenda through. The Ds sit around fragmented pointing fingers at each other and they absolutely deserve criticism for it. First, they're brand is so toxic esp in fly over country that they can barely win elections. They need to fix that. It's on Biden and his party. Can't sit around crying that that they don't cooperate. Bottom line is get shit that matters done and to hell with the excuses. If you don't have a majority, then change your philosophy to win more votes. It's not happening though by trying to appease the anti vaxers and maskers on the other side. Rs put through their agenda on judges, taxes, environment, cruel border policies, stoke racism and division, immigration etc aggressively under Trump. Fortunately they could not destroy Obamacare but woudve if Trump was reelected. Biden hasn't done shit except whine about Manchin and Sinema. Thats a fail. I thought his 40 yrs experience in politics would help him reach across the aisle in Congress? Thars what he campaigned on, isn't it? Sammy, it's still not that simple brother. It's not just about Manchin and Sinema. This is politics and the game is chess, not checkers. These guys (on both sides of the aisle) as 2b said are in the pockets of big corporations and they are a slave to what they want. It is more than Biden and goes way deeper than even the Democratic Party. I can go on, but I think 2b summed it up pretty good so I'll just refer you to his post on the details. Again, you're arguing about what should be. But what should be, is not what the reality is and what it hasn't been for a long time. Further, you're going to be frustrated for a long time about many things that our elected officials should be fighting for. Whenever we get past Covid, your frustration will manifest itself with a different issue, but at its core your frustration is really about how government works in the United States of America. I honestly couldn't care less about other issues. But on Covid, a pandemic of a lifetime, I'm not interested in any excuses. There should be a united effort just like there was post 9/11. This dude was elected in part due to his promises of science. That hasn't happened. Lost my vote. Even it means sitting it out is a victory for the crazy side.
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Post by samadams10 on May 19, 2022 11:56:19 GMT -8
I get the limitations including Manchin and Sinema. This where the D party is failing. The Rs unite and band together and ruthlessly push their agenda through. The Ds sit around fragmented pointing fingers at each other and they absolutely deserve criticism for it. First, they're brand is so toxic esp in fly over country that they can barely win elections. They need to fix that. It's on Biden and his party. Can't sit around crying that that they don't cooperate. Bottom line is get shit that matters done and to hell with the excuses. If you don't have a majority, then change your philosophy to win more votes. It's not happening though by trying to appease the anti vaxers and maskers on the other side. Rs put through their agenda on judges, taxes, environment, cruel border policies, stoke racism and division, immigration etc aggressively under Trump. Fortunately they could not destroy Obamacare but woudve if Trump was reelected. Biden hasn't done shit except whine about Manchin and Sinema. Thats a fail. I thought his 40 yrs experience in politics would help him reach across the aisle in Congress? Thars what he campaigned on, isn't it? I don’t think it’s that, it’s that Manchin and Sinema are already in the pockets of corporate donors. who ultimately are the ones who derail entire bills with a single “compromise” that’s really just the system corporate America has in place to control Congress. Legal bribery. Republicans have become more cult than party and while we can criticize the Dems for not being that way, it also means no criticizing Biden, everybody stays tight lipped, mirror party lines every time... Definitely would not be good for society to go there either. Biden is reaching across the aisle for support but the Republican party has abandoned parliamentary politics altogether. Nothing anyone, or any amount of experience can break that. At some point the blame needs to be the anti Democratic, shameless corporatist cult party and not the people who can’t convince them to break from their cult. China’s CCP officials have been spied on by US agencies and it was revealed they feared the US passing Biden’s BBB bill. They saw it as modernizing the United States well enough to pose a continued threat in the global economy well into the future. That’s Biden’s bill. But that bill was gutted by Republicans, strip this, cut that, make it a skeleton bill and handicap the country instead. China ended up laughing. I’ll be god damned if I blame anyone but Republicans for that. We can blame the Rs till the cows come home for everything. End result is the same. Blame doesn't solve anything.
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Post by history2b on May 19, 2022 12:03:17 GMT -8
I don’t think it’s that, it’s that Manchin and Sinema are already in the pockets of corporate donors. who ultimately are the ones who derail entire bills with a single “compromise” that’s really just the system corporate America has in place to control Congress. Legal bribery. Republicans have become more cult than party and while we can criticize the Dems for not being that way, it also means no criticizing Biden, everybody stays tight lipped, mirror party lines every time... Definitely would not be good for society to go there either. Biden is reaching across the aisle for support but the Republican party has abandoned parliamentary politics altogether. Nothing anyone, or any amount of experience can break that. At some point the blame needs to be the anti Democratic, shameless corporatist cult party and not the people who can’t convince them to break from their cult. China’s CCP officials have been spied on by US agencies and it was revealed they feared the US passing Biden’s BBB bill. They saw it as modernizing the United States well enough to pose a continued threat in the global economy well into the future. That’s Biden’s bill. But that bill was gutted by Republicans, strip this, cut that, make it a skeleton bill and handicap the country instead. China ended up laughing. I’ll be god damned if I blame anyone but Republicans for that. We can blame the Rs till the cows come home for everything. End result is the same. Blame doesn't solve anything. I’m not saying it solves the problem simply by saying it. But so long as that party can deflect from accountability and large swaths of people simply shrug at their sabotaging of all our lives, that also will not change anything. I only seek to point out truth, offer solutions and help people do the same. Dems have sold us out to corporations as well, so when we come across them, weed them out. Simena, Manchin, get the them the fuck out. When attempts are made to do just that pay attention to the local politics involved, it’s fascinating. People in those districts become the most misinformed people of all. Largely because we legalized corporate bribery of elections and they simply out spend opponents, flood the voters with confusing messages and keep their corrupt Senator or House Rep in place. Seen it happen 100 times over the last couple decades. In a parallel sense, there are people in Russia who hate Putin and want him out. But there also large swaths of Russians who gave up on caring, hate all the divisive politics and blame both sides. And Putin stays.
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Post by samadams10 on May 19, 2022 12:16:13 GMT -8
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Post by samadams10 on May 19, 2022 12:17:04 GMT -8
The virus is about to shut him down with a crushing defeat.
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Post by lakeshow on May 19, 2022 12:18:18 GMT -8
Sammy, it's still not that simple brother. It's not just about Manchin and Sinema. This is politics and the game is chess, not checkers. These guys (on both sides of the aisle) as 2b said are in the pockets of big corporations and they are a slave to what they want. It is more than Biden and goes way deeper than even the Democratic Party. I can go on, but I think 2b summed it up pretty good so I'll just refer you to his post on the details. Again, you're arguing about what should be. But what should be, is not what the reality is and what it hasn't been for a long time. Further, you're going to be frustrated for a long time about many things that our elected officials should be fighting for. Whenever we get past Covid, your frustration will manifest itself with a different issue, but at its core your frustration is really about how government works in the United States of America. I honestly couldn't care less about other issues. But on Covid, a pandemic of a lifetime, I'm not interested in any excuses. There should be a united effort just like there was post 9/11. This dude was elected in part due to his promises of science. That hasn't happened. Lost my vote. Even it means sitting it out is a victory for the crazy side. Right now you don't care because we're still not out of this pandemic. But there will come a point when we get past it and there will be another major issue/catastrophe that will need to be dealt with. And by the way, please don't be fooled by the notion that we were a united front after 9/11 either. Politics and corporate profit was at its best during that time. It's the reason why we ended up going to Iraq shortly after Afghanistan killing thousands of innocent people for weapons of mass destruction the Bush Administration didn't find. And for no other reason than money! And I'm not saying or suggesting just sit back and do nothing about it. I'm just saying you have to also recognize the REALITY of how the game is played. You don't like who is in office, then you get off your behind and do your best to get them out of office by electing the person who you think best serves the interest of the people.
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Post by samadams10 on May 19, 2022 12:36:56 GMT -8
I honestly couldn't care less about other issues. But on Covid, a pandemic of a lifetime, I'm not interested in any excuses. There should be a united effort just like there was post 9/11. This dude was elected in part due to his promises of science. That hasn't happened. Lost my vote. Even it means sitting it out is a victory for the crazy side. Right now you don't care because we're still not out of this pandemic. But there will come a point when we get past it and there will be another major issue/catastrophe that will need to be dealt with. And by the way, please don't be fooled by the notion that we were a united front after 9/11 either. Politics and corporate profit was at its best during that time. It's the reason why we ended up going to Iraq shortly after Afghanistan killing thousands of innocent people for weapons of mass destruction the Bush Administration didn't find. And for no other reason than money! And I'm not saying or suggesting just sit back and do nothing about it. I'm just saying you have to also recognize the REALITY of how the game is played. You don't like who is in office, then you get off your behind and do your best to get them out of office by electing the person who you think best serves the interest of the people. Iraq yes but not Afghanistan. When it was the foreign enemy that was the uniting factor with racism playing a hand. But an invisible virus and a domestic white terrorist don't elicit a similar response. I agree with the corporate infiltration and money talks in politics. I think citizens united created a disaster.
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Post by samadams10 on May 19, 2022 19:22:18 GMT -8
Likewise last Friday, a group of health officers from the Bay Area issued a rare joint statement strongly recommending — but not requiring — residents to once again wear face coverings indoors.
Ultimate in political cowardice. 👆
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Post by lakeshow on May 19, 2022 19:43:14 GMT -8
Right now you don't care because we're still not out of this pandemic. But there will come a point when we get past it and there will be another major issue/catastrophe that will need to be dealt with. And by the way, please don't be fooled by the notion that we were a united front after 9/11 either. Politics and corporate profit was at its best during that time. It's the reason why we ended up going to Iraq shortly after Afghanistan killing thousands of innocent people for weapons of mass destruction the Bush Administration didn't find. And for no other reason than money! And I'm not saying or suggesting just sit back and do nothing about it. I'm just saying you have to also recognize the REALITY of how the game is played. You don't like who is in office, then you get off your behind and do your best to get them out of office by electing the person who you think best serves the interest of the people. Iraq yes but not Afghanistan. When it was the foreign enemy that was the uniting factor with racism playing a hand. But an invisible virus and a domestic white terrorist don't elicit a similar response. I agree with the corporate infiltration and money talks in politics. I think citizens united created a disaster. But remember, war and profit go hand in hand regardless of the reason. While Afghanistan may have been justified to many Americans, the politicians and corporate sector used "the war on terror" as justification for further U.S. influence in a region known for its rich natural resources which in this case was oil. And that was enough to expand and prolong a war into another foreign country in the name of "national security" for a little over a decade. By the time Americans caught on to the fact that that war was a fraud, it was too late. The damage was done, thousands of lives were lost, and it created ISIS.
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hackashaq
::| Basketball Guru |::
Posts: 3,292
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Post by hackashaq on May 19, 2022 20:45:51 GMT -8
$40 billion in military aid just approved isn’t going to Raytheon et. al. for free. Although I do not question the importance of that aid, I don’t think the military contractors and industries are suffering because of war in the Ukraine.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq II were a huge boondoggle and the ones who truly profited were the Halliburton’s of the world (of which Dick Cheney was the top executive…go figure). Trump’s friend Erik Prince, brother of Betsy Devos, made out like gangbusters too (you can’t write this sh*t up).
Little do people also know, but these “wars on terrorism” completely changed military procurement, planning, strategy, etc for all the wrong reasons. From billion dollar cruisers designed for land combat (where you can’t even use the guns anymore because of no ammo), submarines built for shallow water fights near the shore instead of optimized for the deep sea, Littoral Combat Ships that are completely useless (so much so that the Navy is retiring ships barely 3 years old), light transport vehicles built for IEDs (which we left in droves in Afghanistan for the Taliban to now use), and personnel force structure, these were all designed to fight the “war on terror” and are minimally useful and/or are vulnerable in a pier-to-pier fight like against Russian and China. This was trillions of dollars spent for an oil war.
Meanwhile China and Russia were developing hypersonic missiles to destroy high value targets and long range air defense systems to neutralize US air power.
These military procurements lined the pockets of defense contractors and they are getting even more money now that the threat has now shifted back to superpower conflicts.
Such a waste. The cost of 10 LCS ships could have but a significant dent in poverty in the US, homelessness, drug treatment, and food programs. Now our strategic shift will be used to justify even more trillions to be spent in defense.
It’s funny how certain conservatives are so focused of getting rid of abortion rights, but couldn’t give a damn about the life of the children and mothers born on this world. They are more focused on better ways of killing people.
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