Azalin

What's your #@$&ing problem?

I wish I could agree with you. The way I see it is that what's happening nowadays is similar to the beginnings of what happened in Germany in the 1920's. You have a strong, ultra-leftist element (that is thankfully a small minority thus far) - see antifa and the like - that continues to use violence to forward their agenda. The angry, socialist left doesn't give a crap about how well the economy is doing. All they need to do is say that in a good economy, people may be well off, but those at the top are reaping the wealth created by the working class in a disproportionate fashion. That's been their mantra for generations, and that will not change. Today's militant left are NOT liberals. They're anything but liberal. They need to go away, and the sooner, the better.

Contemptible. Despicable. This crap has to be stopped.

You're concerned with trade wars, tariffs, and deficit reduction yet you support a living wage?

You were an ultra-right winger as a teen? I'd be interested to hear what caused you to change so much. I've changed and grown over the years myself, but I started as a little red-flag waving commie, eventually moving to the center and then on to a more classical liberal/libertarian bent.

I don't think so. The democrats as a party are falling apart. An increasingly radical element within the party are driving away more moderately inclined dems, and by all appearances the party leadership is moving with the radicals. Members of the #walkaway movement may not necessarily be inclined to join the republicans, but they're sure as hell not going to support the party that's leaving them behind. Also, do not make the mistake of thinking that Trump has a positive influence on the classic, conservative Republican. Those people make up the bulk of the "never Trumpers" - they do not, and most will not, support Trump. Most Republicans who post here neither supported him for president nor voted for him. Any who did did so strictly to vote no against Hillary. Much of Trump's support comes from the working class, many of whom are moderate or Blue Dog Democrats; people like those who also supported Regan by crossing party lines to vote back in 1980. Trump's opposition needs nothing so serious as a Justice nomination to rile themselves into a frenzy. They actively look for something new to freak out over every single &%$#ing day. That's why they're so ridiculously unhinged and losing members left & right. They're doing everything they can to write themselves off into irrelevancy, and they don't even realize it. And with regard to your 2nd sentence, this November's mid term election isn't anywhere nearly as consequential as the 2016 election was. Not even close.

I know exactly what you mean. Another that comes to mind is Sam Nunn. Too bad the dems gave up on that kind of philosophy. I might still be one if they hadn't. Is this for anyone specifically, or to the board in general? In case of the latter, yes, I vote.

I've been fascinated by the mechanics of government, especially at the federal level, since the Carter administration. The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the functions of the three branches and the balance of power between them - all of that is still a major preoccupation of mine, and will always be fascinating to me. But there are politics and there are politics. In my opinion, too few people pay any attention to the mechanics of government and instead focus on the us vs them, team sports version of politics. Unfortunately, this kind of politics makes up the bulk of what we as a society consider to be politics. The best thing that people could do is shut the hell up, turn off the TV, and go read a book. They'd be far better off for it.

Dammit, I just got home. Oh well, I'm headed back out - not a lot of UK themed bars in town, but I've got 26 minutes left to find one.

You had shared that sad time in your life with me a few years ago, and I haven't forgotten it. Trying to deal with that, especially with a young child to consider, is still something I believe to be beyond my ability to adequately handle. I admire that kind of strength.

We probably do put too much emphasis on keeping our loved ones biologically alive, but my point was that the guy lured his wife out to the garage where he shot her to death. I've lost a family member to Alzheimer's. It's terrible to watch someone you love waste away to the point where they can't eat, clean themselves, or any of the rest of the dignities we enjoy as individuals. I'm not saying that people should have to suffer any of that, and for the record, I am not opposed to assisted suicide to end a life that has no promise for anything other than suffering. I am saying that guy shooting his wife to death , especially in a scenario where he had to surprise her to do so, does not sound like a compassionate way to end someone's life, rather a convenient method of getting rid of her before difficult decisions had to be made.

Going strictly on what it says in the article, she was apparently cognizant enough to understand him, to see what he wanted, and to obey his request to come to the garage. That he used a gun sure makes it sound as if she had no idea it was coming. Is that compassion? It doesn't sound much like it to me.

I'm beginning to think that it would be an excellent idea to start an initiative to save American history by proactively moving statues & memorials of heroes from both civil war era and the American revolution to museums for safekeeping.

Meh - how much worse can it possibly smell over there? I agree completely. My original response wasn't aimed at getting an explanation out of you, but rather a rhetorical response (or at least what sounded like one) to the redundancy of the Ayatollah's threat: Not only will we kill you, we will jail you as well.

Their English is fine as far as I can see. Koko78 said the same above that I did: " So they're going to kill the "saboteurs", and then them let them sit in prison for 20 years? " There's a "gist" to that?

I just now caught that - capital punishment AND up to 20 years in jail? How in hell does that work?

" He was one of the greatest and most influential science fiction writers alive (until yesterday), and now is one of the best dead ones." RIP

During a recent interview, Senator Lee was asked how he felt about his brother (Utah Supreme Court Justice Thomas Lee) being considered for the job as well. The Senator said that he thought it'd be fun putting his brother up for questioning before the committee.

Just eliminate any department that also exists on the state or local level.

Holy crap - I just checked and there's absolutely no evidence of McLean Stevenson being involved in time travel at all. If he didn't have the ability to change time, then there would be proof that he didn't. I can only imagine where he won't show up next.

Honestly, Tiberius isn't anywhere near as stupid as people accuse him of being. He's not here to discuss anything. He's not here to debate anything. He's a troll. The fact is that he's good at it. He has somewhere around 60-70 percent of the regulars here replying to a litany of ridiculous posts that a lobotomized chicken could recognize as trolling. I see most of what he posts, despite that I've had his shite blocked for more than two years, thanks to everyone and their damned brothers quoting his miserable ass all the time. Unfortunately, people still engage him. That's what's led to the subsequent dialogues with idiots like peace out, ladexter, hardtruth, etc. They see that people will actually try to engage tiberius, so they know they can jump on the troll wagon and have a little fun themselves. For whatever reason, people respond. I'll never understand why. If you want to have a discussion with people who actually lean to the left, talk to Doc Brown. Or GoBills808. Or even Greg - he may be a champion for ridding the government of corruption, but he's NOT a classic conservative, and his values (sorry DR - I don't mean to speak for you. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) are somewhere between liberal and libertarian. My point is that there are legitimate left-leaning voices here to engage without tangling with the troll brigade.

He called you "Troll"! He could give $#^%-talk lessons to antifa, for crying out loud.