The Real timschochet

Looks like a peace agreement has been agreed to: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-says-it-handed-over-list-israelis-palestinians-swap-deal-2025-10-08/ Lots of things could go wrong but it sure sounds good. And credit must be given to Donald Trump: if this goes through it’s his greatest achievement IMO.

Of course. “This is what I voted for.” They voted for thugs and a police state. Let’s be very clear because this is bigger than Trump: these people (MAGA types) have been calling for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants for at least 30 years now. But there is no way to do it without a police state and giving thugs power to beat up innocent people. Some of us have pointed this out for decades now but most politicians knew it anyhow. Thats why guys like Bush and all the rest paid lip service to this issue but never actually tried to do anything about it. Trump is trying to do something about it so here we are: thugs and a police state.

How can anyone defend this?

Given the utter incompetence of his appointments so far, how can anyone not fear for the safety of our country with this news?

I think that if you’re going to make the claim that most politicians in Washington are corrupt (actually you wrote 99.9%) you ought to be able to back it up. It’s not just a cynical comment, it’s an asinine one, which I would expect from a third rate left wing college professor.

Back it up.

Mayor Brandon Johnson: “This is not the first time Trump has tried to unjustly jail a black man. I’m not going anywhere.”

Southern California 12 months a year is better than either.

Even for you this is an idiotic comparison. Damn somehow, every day in this forum, you find a way to exceed yourself. It’s really quite impressive.

OK. If you say so.

Downtown vacancy is a huge problem in every major city and Portland is no exception. But it’s not caused by homelessness, or crime, or protests, or liberal policies, or undocumented immigrants. If it was caused by any of those things, you would have seen a steady decline over the last 20 years or even longer. But the decline only really began in 2020. The cause is Covid-19 teaching Americans that they don’t need to pay for high price office space when they can be just as efficient working at home in most cases. We were forced to learn this but once we did, companies balked at returning to the tall buildings in downtown they once occupied. Why pay for 10,000-20,000 square feet when you can get by with 1000-2000? Hence the empty skyscrapers. Hence the downtown retail merchants, who lived off the customers from those skyscrapers, struggling to survive. Hence the retail vacancies. And they’re not coming back.

Sounds like a Clippers fan discussing the Lakers.

James Comey is more popular than ever. This is not a burden for him, it’s a triumph. Talk shows, paid speaking engagements, probably a book. When this is over he’s going to sue the government, and win, millions of dollars which you and I will be paying him. What lesson is being taught here? Where is this reckoning you speak of?

Complete and utter bullsh!t. You guys love to throw around false claims like this: “99.9% of everyone who works in the government is corrupt.” It’s crap. It always has been. Trump is corrupt. Homan is corrupt ($50,000 payout, WTF?). Some Democrats are corrupt, some Republicans. Most people aren’t. Most politicians aren’t. And I don’t believe any of the folks that Trump is currently charging with corruption are guilty of anything.

I honestly don’t believe this is meant to distract. I think Trump is insisting on this, wanting his enemies arrested, and the DOJ going along with it knowing how bogus it is. Leticia is next.

I’ve been to Florida twice. Both times in August and September. No thanks.

You need a pop star who is a Minnesota Vikings fan. And the only one that I can think of is…Lizzo. Good luck with that.

1. He’s enforcing the law unfairly and I believe illegally. I hold what he’s doing as immoral and un-American. Yes these laws need to be changed. In the meantime we should not enforce them unjustly. 2. The 10 million figure is a conservative talking point based on estimates of border encounters during the Biden years. Realistically the number is around half that. Even so it was problematic, but I don’t blame Biden for relaxing the draconian methods that Trump attempted during his first term. I would have done the same. The bigger question is why so many people chose to come here and what we can do to stabilize the economies of countries south of us. This is a vital issue that both Democrats and Republicans continue to ignore. 3. In every large group of people there are some bad ones. I am not minimizing their crimes by suggesting that (a) they are not representative of the whole and (b) we should not base our policies on the whole based on the actions of a few.

And they were right to do so. And they’re right not to support Republicans now. These constant charges of hypocrisy are not only boring and annoying, they’re idiotic because circumstances change.

Your bigotry is usually a little more subtle. Had too much coffee this morning?

Them I don’t understand your question or what point you’re trying to make. Care to elaborate?

I read the same article from Fox News. Next time you should provide the link. A lot of different things can be true at the same time. Crime in any large downtown city is always going to be a concern. There will always be local merchants who look positively at any increased police presence, and that makes sense from their perspective. It still doesn’t make it right from a larger perspective, especially when we combine it with Trump’s stated goals and the immoral activity that ICE agents are already engaged in.

I’m glad you think I have the right of it but you should know that I disagree with about 99% of what you wrote here. Just because I doubt Trump is capable of the long term planning that @Fnord and others suspect of him of in regards to this latest national guard business doesn’t mean I’m ok with what’s he’s doing. I’m not. It’s awful, immoral, un-American. Poor destitute hard working undocumented people are not criminals. They should not be treated this way, made to live in fear. This is not who we’re supposed to be. The rest of your post is, IMO, irrational. Your imagined view of liberals is pretty dark and doesn’t at all match reality.

They weren’t. I am not a Christian (Donald Trump’s professed religion) but even I know that good works are not the path to salvation for Christians. That path demands acceptance of Jesus Christ as one’s personal savior.

Violent protest in Portland…with pastries and pajamas: https://www.oregonlive.com/galleries/GWASRZFPIBGHPA3TGCS74R2HNQ/ Oh the horror. Call in the National Guard!