SectionC3

We share the frustration with the lazy. I see it as a “thousand pound sisters” problem. I have a lot of contempt for that. No, you didn’t read it properly. He said natural born.

So a naturalized citizen who paid taxes doesn’t get the net? And what about kids, citizens or otherwise?.

It’s turning the same “pedo” stuff that MAGA has tossed around toward people like me (and, in real life, me) back toward MAGA. It’s a form of satire. If you can’t understand that, then I can’t help you,

Who is “they?” Also, BPS teachers are on the low end of public school pay scale. But I agree that those who want respect must earn it and that the fights, etc. have no place in school or anywhere else.

But Im a pedo or evil? This is exactly why the rhetoric has to be toned down on both sides. School choice (vouchers) isn’t a great solution because it threatens the integrity of the public school system. Same logic applies to rural America. We just agree to disagree there.

Nobody said anything along the lines of what you’re saying. The point is that kid on grape st deserves a good school, and good transportation to and from school, and maybe a meal or two to help concentrate at school, and a safe school, so he can have an equal shot. The same applies to Johnny Rural, and nobody has said (or acted, for that matter) differently. Get bad grades, or get a RAP record? Not my problem. But they all - grape st and rural America - deserve a fair shot.

So you agree that, to some extent, we have to level the field at least at an early stage to give that kid on Grape St. a fair shot. What he does with it is on him. Work apparently is slow these days. I couldn’t resist. Back to no more joking around now.

Agreed. Drugs, lazy, obese, hopelessness. It’s not a racial issue at all. As much white as anything else.

Then prove it. Where is all of this free stuff? And, while we’re at it, why do I subsidize the thousand pound sisters? We should prioritize those who are here (citizens and legals). Things are way too expensive (electricity and food), and nobody’s doing a damn thing about it. But we also can’t be angry about every dime - you about immigrant kids, me about the thousand pound sisters. Now, if it turns out that an inordinate amount of money is spent on free “this and that” for illegals, then im with you all day. But let’s see what the numbers say and take it from there. Offer rejected, to your likely chagrin. And again, you’re part of the problem when you paint so broadly.

This is precisely the type of broad based crap talk that has to end.

It’s not a level field. It just isn’t. Contrast education in BPS with education in Clarence. At some point the leveling has to stop - I had this conversation at length on law school, and there it obviously ends at the bar exam - but we are kidding ourselves if we think the kid on Grape St. starts out the same as the kid in Spaulding Lake.

We have to prioritize the people who were here first. Agreed. I think a lot of the immigration issue is fear mongering, though. How many and how much is the question. It’s probably not nearly the extent to which you think. on the flip side, I don’t want to hear about unemployment among low educated whites if we’re yanking people off of roofs and out of fields and deporting them. That part of the working class is going to have to do the jobs—-and eat the inflation — opened and caused by an immigration policy that avoids amnesty and that removes workers from our economy. that, I note, is different from border security. I am against a wall but 100% for a better managed border and a better managed immigration process.

I get where you’re coming from. It’s why people are pissed off and the working class voted against its own financial interest. All you’ve done is work. You’re not the problem. You’re the solution. You should be respected, and treated fairly. We gotta give people an equal shot in this country - I don’t think anyone disputes that. But we can’t unlevel the field or cure historical racism and sexism with more racism and more sexism. That is not the way.

Agreed. One of the things that pisses me off about young entitled (mostly white) people. I worked my ass off to get where I am. Scrimped, saved, invested, did the stuff nobody else wants to do. And when I see these slovenly entitled little ***** using mommy and daddy’s money for that house or this car and then blaming others for their “plight” it really rubs me the wrong way.

Completely agree on the last line. It’s an interesting point in the context of this dialogue. I listened to what Kirk said about trans mass shootings before he was murdered. I agree with his point that there are too many trans mass shooters. One is too many, and there are more than one. I also understand why that point pisses some people off because it lacks the nuance that trans people probably are not over represented as mass shooters and can be taken to paint that group with a broad brush (as overrepresented mass shooters). This is not to say that the absence of nuance in any way justifies this heinous violence. I just … noticed it as sort of emblematic of why people don’t listen to each other and why we have this struggle with reasonable dialogue in this country today. We all have to listen better and respect each other more.

At this point it’s responsible journalism. Do we know whether the person who commuted this murder actually believes those things, or whether the murderer is trying to mislead? I acknowledge that the former is likelier. But it’s fair to wait on the characterization until more is known.

Yeah I agree. This was no rookie. It was a well-planned operation. I hope the person is caught and brought to swift justice. Let them rot in prison for the rest of their natural life. I have no idea how big the blue sky thing is. This website is the extent of my social media involvement. My point remains - there’s jerks on both sides. I agree it’s sad. And it has to stop or this country is going to fracture.

How big is the segment? One can say the same thing about J6. A segment of the population that votes right supported that. So how about this - we all tone it down and stop painting with a broad brush. We either use this heinous act as an inflection point to all be better, or we let it amplify the vitriol and deepen the divides. The choice is ours.

So what if it is? At this point it’s one actor. We have to stop projecting the actions or words of one bad actor (a gross understatement in the instance of this heinous crime) to an entire group.

It’s true. They do. As do democrats. We all have to be better and own what we’ve all done to get to this point. Nobody is without fault.

I disagree. And I also submit that the Twitter post is misleading at best. Here, on this board alone, we’ve seen calls to “round up Democrats” and support for “lock her up.” As far as the political violence piece goes, not only are there no numbers in that post, but I dare say that a large percentage of Republicans support J6, which was probably the worst political violence, not in terms of life and death, but in terms of potential consequence, in any of our lifetimes. We also have these BS “alligator” and “corn” camps that a mass of Republicans undoubtedly support. So this isn’t a “one side is more wrong than the other deal.” Somebody just has to nut up and acknowledge that we’re all wrong, that the degree of wrong at this point is immaterial, and that we have to figure out how to disagree respectfully and cordially again without the vitriol and hyperbole and performative outrage and victimization. We’ve got a good thing going and we Shouldn’t let hurt feelings and largely inconsequential BS mess it up. Again, who is “they?”

So that makes it right to shield a child sex ring? Give me a break. More nonsense vitriol that is unhelpful to this country.

The same problem exists on both sides. Want to call me a pedo because I’m a Democrat, or evil, or a commie, or someone who hates my country, or someone who now should be rounded up, or whatever else it is that is thrown around here and in my real life? I’m going to give you a hard time, and I’m probably not going to want to hang around you. I don’t blame you in the least for how you feel. I get it. If it makes you feel better, while I often disagree with your opinion, I generally respect it. The shoe here is in the left foot, and we all have to be better. It’s time to tone it down, respect others, and simply agree to disagree without all of the vitriol. Who is “you?” A single actor? Or a representative of a large group? Again, comments like yours are part of the problem. Simply not true. Show your cards and give an example.

Nothing I say is hateful. I don't suffer fools, that's for sure, and I give people like you a hard time when you say stupid things like you have this morning. But I am not hateful. And on the "judges" issue, you remain completely wrong.

This comment is part of the problem. Not only is it factually wrong, it’s incendiary. You want to know what a big part of the problem is, from someone who does this every day? Lazy Republican judges taking care of their own. They don’t have to work to get in upstate. They don’t read the law. And the people who practice in front of them are typically Republicans. (Take a look at why the assigned counsel program is going to get trashed in Erie County. It’s because one of the biggest Trumpers I know churned junk files and hit the taxpayers for about half a million this year.). They do their buddies favors to help the practices and to protest the bail laws they don’t like. Of course there are lousy democratic judges in the cities. But to say this is primarily a democratic problem is wrong all the way around.