The Frankish Reich

When you say rights are from God, you obviously are referring to the Judeo-Christian(-Muslim) god. And so that god gave Americans (and only Americans?) certain rights such as the right to a jury trial in a civil matter? The right against the quartering of soldiers in time of peace? The god whose son schooled us as follows: You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. Doesn't sound like a god who wants you to shoot 'em rather than handing over your shirt.

a/k/a everyone with a 401k

Well, this may explain the intense bitterness and hatred of America

It's a god-given right! God didn't say anything about giving you the right to self-defense unless you've recently smoked crack. Maybe that was in one of those apocryphal books excluded from the standard Bible.

tl;dr The economy is doing great!

Right. Accept the win, move on. But of course that's not what they want to do. They are scared that their "But Hunter!" distraction will go away as a campaign issue.

"God-given right" is what I referred to.

Which would, indeed, be the definition of "corroborated." We learned something this morning. You're welcome.

Corroborated? 🙄

🙄

With all due respect: you have no idea what you're talking about. The security clearance/background check process is intensive. The form itself asks you to disclose things that most people consider completely private. You have to allow them to access your tax records, you have to disclose any illegal drug use in the last 7 years (it used to be in your lifetime), you have to disclose any treatment/therapy for psychological/mental health. And of course for IC jobs, you may need to take a polygraph (junk science in my opinion, but it's still there). Yes, if there is information that you were involved or even present at some kind of major disruption/riot, BLM or January 6 or whatever, you should expect to be questioned intensively about that. In short: You have no idea what you're talking about.

Some very strong pro-Trump arguments here, neatly summarized by Matt Yglesias:

Is it shocking that someone who (according to the interviewer's notes shown in this thread) "planned" to attend a riot is questioned about his intentions? You're asking for a security clearance. You are not entitled to it. I've had them. They ask you a lot of questions about perfectly legal activity that may nonetheless render you unsuitable for handling classified information.

I won't even ask ...

P for Perv

smut, pure smut I say. Glorifying lesbianism as a lifestyle choice. https://nypost.com/2016/07/30/melania-trump-like-youve-never-seen-her-before/

It wasn't this month, and it was about Greenwald showing no apparent appreciation for the people and the party that actually made his marriage a legal one. It is obvious to me that he is so obsessed with the Edward Snowden thing that he's lost his judgement.

Hey, all our other special status days honor the good, the bad, and the ugly alike.

Seems ultra reliable. Big if true!

Hey, you can wear whatever you want! Or don't want.

And in my jurisdiction, driving with expired tags. Or no plates at all. And shoplifting from Target. And smoking fentanyl in plain view. And playing Fast and Furious by racing down my street at 2:00 a.m. And porch pirating packages. "File an online police report"

Hey, Jimmy's parents: stop using your kid to try to troll his Catholic school. Here's Jimmy carry a "Make SBS Great Again" campaign sign. With matching MSBSGA hat. We all know what this is about - a parent trying to inject Trumpism into a middle school event. https://nypost.com/2024/05/22/lifestyle/california-parents-demand-principal-be-fired-for-humiliating-son-censoring-speech/

Here I was thinking that Jesus sought out the downtrodden.

I'm confused. I know the NY Times is Marxist propaganda, and I tried to get my local school to make the right-wing freedom-loving NY Post an alternative, but Moms for Liberty says the NY Post violates the last principle? https://nypost.com/2016/07/30/melania-trump-like-youve-never-seen-her-before/

Here's journalist Glenn Greenwald just 11 short years ago, right after the Windsor decision dragged a large part of America into the modern age. It may be a good time to remember that it is only a decade ago that same-sex marriage was illegal in the United States, and was even decried by many as some kind of abomination. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/26/gay-marriage-supreme-court-defeatism It really is a bit shocking how quickly gay marriage transformed from being a fringe, politically toxic position just a few years ago to a virtual piety that must be affirmed in decent company. Whenever I write or speak about any of the issues on which I focus, I always emphasize that a posture of defeatism - which is a form of learned impotence: a belief that meaningful change is impossible - is misguided. This demonstrates why that is true: even the most ossified biases and entrenched institutional injustices can be subverted - if the necessary passion and will are summoned and the right strategies found. Still, this is a momentous change in both public opinion and law that affects - and improves - the lives of millions of people (DOMA is what prevents me, and thousands of other gay Americans, from living in the US with my spouse, while the legal and social stigma of officially sanctioned inequality is, by itself, devastating for gay children). The discrimination has been rooted in centuries of intense social and religious indoctrination. That this is now being uprooted is a testament to how core political liberties - free speech and free associational rights - can enable all forms of political change. That same type of rapid and previously unthinkable change is visible with other unjust laws: oppressive drug prohibition being the leading example. But one can easily find all sorts of examples from American history and the recent history of other countries which reflect the same truth: radical, positive, and relatively fast political change is always possible, no matter how formidable the obstacles seem. And Greenwald was right. The Supreme Court showed us that the basic respect for human, individual rights that underpins the Constitution sometimes allows the Court to nudge people in the direction of justice and righteousness. And the project didn't end there: respect for the rights of other gender and sexual minorities needed to follow, and we are slowly but surely getting there. It is easy to laugh about "Pride" Month - what, a whole month? If you were born that way, what's to be proud of; it's not an achievement, it's merely a status. But it's really not so hard to understand. We may be proud that by an accident of birth we are Irish-American, African American, Native American, etc. -- all groups that faced the scourge of discrimination that now come proudly forward to say this is who I am, and this is who we are as Americans. So yes. Take a moment and honor social progress. Take all month if that's what you need.