Death

A sure sign that the MAGA ants are responding to me kicking their mound. But I'm gleefully burning them with my magnifying glass.

Or MAGA tyranny, but it's being weaponized to do just that. Just because a Democrat gets elected president and you disagree with his policies doesn't make it a tyranny. We never were close to tyranny the past four years. But we're rapidly getting there now.

Hate speech. Unbridled anger. Uncompromising. Intolerance. Unrealistic expectations. This isn't going to turn out the way you want it to. We need less of this mentality in this country.

That's exactly what I'm talking about, and that's dangerous as hell and boldly underscores why I started this thread. We need a strong two-party system of checks, balances, mutual respect and compromise. That's what our founding fathers intended.

Not toward the right. Toward the MAGA mentality that resulted in Jan. 6, calls for civil war, a misinformation epidemic, an ugly hatred toward anything to the right of itself and a convicted felon getting elected president with an agenda to turn our country into something where democracy dies. I've stated all the positions considered conservative. But the Republicans whom I admire get dismissed with the RINO label because they're not MAGA enough. I don't agree with white evangelical nationalism dominating our country in so many ways.

It's out to four pages and provides me a place to post my Trump thoughts and commentate on the proceedings without having to choose where to post in the Trump thread diarrhea that sees more squirts with every passing day. And I have genuine concerns that I've supported with historical facts and oberservations about the current proceedings. The reckless abandonment of civility, common sense, proceed-with-caution and thoughtfulness is alarming in this political climate, particularly when MAGA was calling for civil war if it didn't get what it wanted in the election.

I agree on a lot of this, including transgender overreach, and I know transgender people who are tired of it as well and just want to live their lives without all the noise. I'm for smaller government, lower taxes, oil and gas, a mighty military, supporting businesses, clamping down on illegal immigration and a lot of conservative things. I'm a bit more liberal on social issues, but "overreach" is a great word to apply here. I'm for a strong two-party system of checks and balances, one that people on both sides have to work together to come up with solutions, and that to me is how a democracy works. I don't viciously hate on conservatives and don't respect those who do; I'm concerned with how MAGA viciously hates on Democrats. It has reached an unhealthy level. Sure, there are lefties with an unhealthy dislike for the right, but they're not running the country right now. The Republican Party has evolved into MAGA. I have concerns, and no one in this thread has done anything to assuage that. It's been all tired platitudes and vicious responses. Not helping.

It's actually easier to converse with him than it is Voltaire, who goes straight to Defcon 1 about this time of night every night, just like JustinCharge used to do, although the latter was more entertaining.

More childish name-calling. Useless.

It's autocracy and tyranny. Not sure what the vocabulary disconnect here, but here you are wildly lashing out and throwing your usual haymakers of hissy-fit nastiness. I've laid out the moments in history that led to dictatorships, autocracy, oligarchy and other forms of government in which power is heavily centered in one place and abuses occur, and I've noted the steps that the current administration is taking, ones that led to those aforementioned undesirable forms of government. The similarities are terrifying, but I've never asserted that the end game is the same as it was for Nazi Germany. I haven't made the leap to concentration camps and extermination. This is looking more like a potential Hungary than a Nazi Germany, but similar playbooks were used to get to where they are, and there is plenty of evidence that Trump and MAGA is using that playbook. It is undeniable that Trump has shown admiration for leadership in Hungary and Russia. It is what it is.

It is called for, considering his knee-jerk vicious and nasty rhetoric toward me when I in a most civil way respond to his acerbic comments, and then I reach a point at which I respond in kind. And his admitting that he reported me when he got his panties in a wad. I've been very kind, generous and respectful to the man, yet he's like that scorpion in the story about the frog and scorpion crossing the river. He's welcome to dial back his nastiness and have a reasonable conversation, and I'll do the same. Otherwise I'm inclined to just ignore him moving forward.

His denial, dismissal of Dr. Fauci and qualified health officials and claim that COVID would magically disappear in a matter of months cost many lives as people let down their guard and believed in him, when all he cared about was winning re-election that this pesky COVID thing threatened to derail. With Moderna awarded almost $600 million to fast track a vaccine, you can bet the public isn't being told the truth, and Trump doesn't want this mucking up his relentless bowling ball of change.

Unable to hold your own intellectually, you resort to fabricating information, parroting misinformation and using childish platitudes and elementary-school-level insults. But that's OK. I'll just hunker down and win the day with withering facts, intelligence and substance.

What is impaired about my vocabulary? Sure, I make typos here and there, but otherwise my vocabulary game is solid. But I'd rather talk about the real issues here, that we're rapidly becoming more like Hungary, Russia and China, where you'd be more comfortable. This isn't going to play out the way that you had hoped if real Americans step forward in the name of preserving democracy.

OK, I deleted that. Let the serious discussion continue.

It is. What are you going to say if and when what I say might be coming actually arrives?

Trump stacked the Supreme Court, has censored health organizations set up to conduct research and educate and warn the public, has threatened to shut down media entities that disagree with him, such as ABC, surrounded himself with billionaires and unqualified toadies and cronies, vowed vengeance upon his opponents and done myriad things that democracy-hating communist crybabies like you try to project onto the left. You don't want a two-party system and a government with checks and balances.

And not just eggs - milk, cheese, beef and poultry. Couple that with the tariffs and deportation of illegals upon which the agriculture industry heavily depends, and you have the perfect storm for the kind of inflation that will make the last round pale in comparison.

Not surprising coming from someone who spent so many years supporting communism and an oppressive regime. It's like you have the Stockholm Syndrome and only feel comfortable living in such a place.

Yeah, Trump but not Obama, because it would not allow someone to run for a third time if they've served two consecutive terms. That's legislative dooshery at its finest.

Perfect time to shut down communication coming out of health organizations.

I've pointed out three things: 1.) Trump is following a similar playbook that Hitler used to push Germany into a dictatorship. 2.) Trump is following a similar playbook that was used to destroy democracy in Hungary. 3.) We're moving toward a second Gilded Age in this country, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I've never said anything about us heading into another world war or concentration camps and exterminating people. The similarities can't be denied. Autocracy. Dictatorship. Oligarchy. I've detailed how we get there and pointed to the wheels in motion to speed this along. It is up to Americans and those who cherish our democracy to stand up to wanna-be tyranny.

This never gets old, particularly when the adults are speaking.

Are they still coming in astounding numbers? I thought that the crossings slowed in 2024 and that Trump was president now and working to stop the crossings and throw out the illegals. When have we "imported" Central and South Americans? The importation of which I'm aware is foreign tech workers, which is something Musk and Trump want. Do you support importing those cultures? How would you feel if they moved into your neighborhood after the Trump administration imported them?