leh-nerd skin-erd

Not everyone wants to find common ground, Ten. We can all agree on that as well.

We’re probably on opposite sides here, but criss cross IS confusing. He’s either not or not not supporting impeachment. Rest assured we’ll both likely lose.

Not only that, but Mitch thinks that by (allegedly ) not publicly supporting the (alleged) impeachment while pushing forward with the (actual) impeachment, he saves the republican party. Criss Cross Bobby, Criss frigging cross.

I think we agree on the harshness of the response. I saw a lady bleed out from a neck wound, I’ve seen stories of rioters being rounded up from various places across the country, and I see the label “domestic terrorism” bandied about fairly often. I don’t think these people are getting the “set em free” deal that seems pretty popular these days when imagery or children of a lesser god are involved. Dead seems significant to me.

We’ll have to disagree on some of that, at least insofar as i think you are drawing false comparisons. I think when rioters are allowed and/or encouraged to destroy or “occupy”, or when orders are given to stand down for extended periods of time, it contributes to a feeling of chaotic anarchy for many people. It becomes normalized. I’m not an anarchist, never was, so they could set up Chop zones in every major city from here to Philadelphia and you’re not going to find me storming the Capitol and climbing through smashed out windows. They could burn down police stations, destroy Starbucks and burn down a shopping mall and it’s not going to compel me to do what those a##holes did in either place. I’m pro law and order, pro mind my business, pro people. However, when anarchy reigns supreme, anarchy follows. I’d certainly suggest peaceful protestors protesting peacefully have zero/nothing/nada/zilch in common Capitol rioters, but the anarchists over the summer are opposite sides of the same coin.

We agree that insurrection and storming the Capitol are crimes against the country. The perpertrators should be dealt with harshly, and as I see individuals arrested daily, I think that is occurring. You have your thoughts on Trump, I have mine. The common ground can be the recognition that we disagree, or we can forgo the common ground entirely and agree that’s for the best.

Noted. The one guy always thinks the other other guy is telling a lie. Besides, are you suggesting that people should not be allowed to protest peacefully simply because you don’t support Stop the Steal?

I waded slowly for a reason--this is a common ground thread. Whether we agree or not, the reality is that others are not so blessed, and the point is that they see this last year as an assault on this nebulous concept of freedom. When you factor in that many people are cynical about what it exactly means to defeat the virus, it's a recipe for misunderstanding and passionate disagreement. We can agree that there are many, many things the government made mistakes on with respect to COVID. On my best day, I recognize the absolutely massive challenge with trying to get all these moving parts figured out. On my worst, I feel much differently about all the people pulling the strings. Finally, I agree on your last point--the assault on freedom crowd (left, right or middle) has been around a long time. Pretty much across the board, there are certainly reasons for each segment to believe they are the victim.

Agree on this, though the state(s) government often suffer from the same bloat and overreach as the feds. Agreed. I'm with you mostly here. As a business owner myself I can't imagine treating any customer poorly, or denying service to someone in need of my assistance. I struggle when we get to issues like mandatory contraceptive coverage as in the Little Sisters of the Poor case. Agreed. Agred. Agreed. Agreed. Protest to vote, stop the steal, March to End Racism...all good. Violence, breeching the Capitol, destruction of personal property, all sides of the same coin. So on this one, I am wading in slowly. My humble suggestion on this point is that many, many folks upset or willing to peacefully protest may no longer have jobs to go to, and I've said all along that this issue divides us--it's incredibly easy, relatively speaking, to weather the COVID storm when you get paid. People can hunker down perpetually when they can pay their bills, meet their obligations and wait things out. We have millions of citizens in that category, including every elected official protected by law enforcement last week. Unfortunately, we have tens of millions of people not in this position nearly a year into the crisis. How long would you be willing to lock down if you had nothing? How long would you have been willing to lock down if you had nothing, you were 35 years old and the primary breadwinner for your spouse and family?

Well, thanks for the clarification on the white supremacy thing--it's awesome that you don't think your old pal Len and his folks aren't card carrying Klansmen. If it matters, I want you to know I don't think you were out burning police stations and assaulting people in the streets this summer. That said--thanks for the reply. I asked, you answered and I appreciate it. I'll do my best to summarize the most common reason(s) the many folks I know supported Trump initially, and why he gained such incredible momentum before COVID devastated the world. I'm not going to bore you with details, I'm not all that interested in back and forth about it was all Barrack and Biden, I'm just telling you what I know. Many, many Trump voters in 2016 were reluctant at best. Most republican politicians were not Trump supporters when he was elected. He was pretty much out there on an island, and the 95% figure came later on as he delivered on his promises. The outsider effect was an important consideration and certainly played a factor in him getting elected. The reality is that many mainstream R voters had gotten tired of lip service from established politicians, and those who becamse known as "Never Trumpers". Trump's personna played a part in that, especially on the heels of two horribly bad R candidates in the 135 year old John McCain, and Mitt Romney who looked like he could be president in a movie. Trump's default response was "F Y", and it was music to our ears especially after Gentleman Mitt got his ass handed to him because he was born without a *****. The main reasons imo, apologies to Virg, but in no particular order: 1. Obiden represented apologies, globalism, big government as the savior, and a thumb in the eye of law enforcement. Trump represented American exceptionalism, the notion that our country carried far too much of the internationalism burden for far too long, and the inherent desire to be proud of who we are. 2. A commitment to supporting job creation for all Americans. We believed he was better positioned to create an atmosphere that was pro-growth. Maybe that ties into the outsider thing, maybe that's because he was a business owner dealing with often generous regulation that snuffs jobs as they sleep, or maybe it was just some hope to drag us out of the malaise of the Obama years. One of the fundamental reasons 95% of the R population supported the guy is that we like to work, and we damn sure like to eat. 3. Tax policy. Paying tax is a patriotic duty, excessive taxation is not. Most R voters I know believe in keeping more of what they earn, and finding the delicate balance between funding programs and getting hammered into submission, and believe DJT did very well in this regard. 4. Border security--most prominent candidates have waxed nationalistically about the souther border for decades, yet precious little has been done about it. I believe there is no plan to accomplish anything at all, and absent Trump, the Schumers and McConnells of the world would have postured about disagreement and gone on with business as usual. Trump appeared committed to try and deal with it. Speaking only from my perspective, I've noted the extraordinary number or times 'the media' or other politicians have tried to hang the missteps of other admins on Trump, and how his attempts at establishing orderly control at the border were widely mocked. That doesn't surprise most R voters who came to support him in this regard. 5. Judges. You're correct about McConnell's commitment to appointing judges, that was a very important part of the Trump admin and widely supported. The good fortune, politically speaking, of having RBG die prior to the election cannot be understated. She was, and is a towering figure in the American political landscape, an amazing women of substance but in the end, her legacy is impacted by hubris. We'll see how that helps/hurts the R voter as time goes on. As for the integrity of the Senate, please, spare me. From here out, it will be interesting to see what President Elect Groper, Chuck and Nancy push forward with.

What beef put you in the box, Holmes? Did ya get buzzed in the yard?

I agree. You know, in the talkies, Michael Corleone was crooked, everyone knew it, and he didn’t give a crap either. 🤔

Actually I think this explanation makes it worse than a willful stubbornness to overturn a bad but understandable in the moment call. It’s more of a “F it, we’ll do whatever we want” approach, where everyone in the nation can look at the play frame by frame and realize the rules are irrelevant.

I was telling my wife (who came perilously close to being banished from the viewing room when she remarked it appeared over when we had a two score lead in the 4th) that one of the cool things about the NFL is the magical last minute play that determines the outcome. The Allen to Digs TD against Az was an example, alas it was replaced by the Hopkins Hail Mary. The play by Poyer was an incredible, heady play that should be recognized in this category. He was robbed.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the flow of the game is impacted by calls made correctly on the field. It allows the d to reset and slows the game down.

2BD INJURY REPORT: Leh-nerd Skin-erd Arrhythmia Probable House Knee Questionable

This is an excellent point relative to the atrocious review of the fumble. The Bills have two amazing plays to keep a very important drive alive in a playoff game. In both cases, the officials on the field correctly rule the play a completed pass. There most certainly must be a sense of “wtf” on the part of the Colts d, certainly is a sense of excitement and momentum for Buffalo and Indy is on its heels but cannot challenge. So...naturally it makes sense for league officials hundreds of mikes away to pause the game, twice, take several minutes, allow the Colts to take a breath, twice, and regroup because maybe the guys on the field missed it, or perhaps the could see something to change the dynamic of the game. It’s maddening, just as we’re asked to believe that a slow motion replay on a high def camera didn’t reveal the exact moment when the hand made contact with the player.

I was that cute boy in class the girls all gossiped about. I hated being objectified, but I’m here to tell you it all worked out. I peaked in May of my eighth grade. May 11 as I recall.

Correct. Redundant, but correct.

It happens here as well, and I didn’t support a ban at either location, so there’s that. I think history is clear that those lobbying for suppression of information are generally not the most truthworthy of souls, but everybody has their supporters. Let Twitter screen out all that sh$t you don’t need to know. So you say.

I think it’s pretty commonly accepted practice in civilized society that when you disagree with someone, you tell them to shut the &$&@ up and silence them. It’s not discriminatory if you don’t like them. -Twitter 2020

It doesn't matter here, Deek. The pitchforks are paid for, they can't return the tar, and somebody has to answer.

Seriously. My bad on the Biden race speech, I missed that part. My apologies. All I can say in response to your thoughts on Biden's comments are 'sheesh'. We live in different worlds, I'm not sure how much deader you can get then dead. Anyway, I appreciate the reply.