Drew - You AND I should be among the many standing up to this behavior from either party .I cannot definitively say we identify with different parties but I can say we both want our elected officials working for us equitably and without the Win At All Cost method that has become commonplace.
I didn't vote for either D or R in the last election and have come to realize that was a bad decision on my part because the tide was not moving away from the two part system - not ready for it.
This time around it is a moral vote for me. I will be voting my morals again within the current constraint of the two-party system. The fact of the matter is we cannot change the system by waiting for others to "not do" (in other words, not vote). I am paying particular attention to my LOCAL elections where I can more easily have an effect more so than the national election.
@tcowboy - I wish I shared your view that the US striking China would cause the US citizens to be up in arms. Witnessing how US citizens are being violent towards Asian-Americans and blaming the pandemic on them, in addition to our US-centric mindset as well as the man in the White House fomenting anger against China I fear our political structure will not face a backlash from the citizens for an incursion into China. We have not done a good job of doing so to date as evidenced by all of the places around the world we "bully".
@spender - you are correct that the Founders did not invent slavery. But you ignore that slavery in America was intentionally based upon “the mistakes “ other countries made with their systems of slavery. The US intentionally lowered the slave to owner ratio to minimize the potential for uprising as seen abroad. They made it so slaves could not speak to one another or help a hurt slave in the field so thy they could congregate and plan. They made laws that made it illegal and punishable by death if enslaved people could read or write. They had S. Carolina serve as a breeding state where they ,are the enslaved men rape the women to increase their “investments”. So again, the Founding Father’s did not invent slavery but they had a hand in making slavery in the US a much more cruel system than had ever been instituted prior, anywhere.
Truly amazing to watch the geopolitical chess game in play. The downside is how we will all be affected economically in the near-term.
Trump has displayed erratic behavior for DECADES as this is how he has run his personal businesses. He acted this way in the absence of Deep State characters so there is no obvious pressure from the DS. As far as Obama you must recall that the Republican Party's Mitch Mconnell publicly stated that the R party would block him at every turn - and they did. Also bear in mind the Republican party filed measures and made calls to impeach Obama. You are stating that the Dems are involved in high treason for "trying to depose" of Trump but this tactic was on full display against Obama during his presidency. BOTH political parties are guilty of the same behavior. The difference this time is that Trump has done illegal things hence trying to remove him is not a coup. What is happening is due to him and his inability to keep his mouth shut while trying to enrich himself at the expense of the US taxpayers.
It is indeed a shame that freedom of speech is being squashed in full view of the world yet people are blinded to it or don't want to see it. Malcolm X said that the two most dangerous things are willful ignorance and conscientious stupidity. Those two things are abundant in supply.
Trump would be well served if he formulated plans of action instead of his shooting from hip and tweet type of leading a nation. He sowed chaos in his business ventures and that has demonstrably not worked out well for him. Leading a country the same way is demonstrably leading to the same results as his business ventures. And like the numerous businesses and contractors he lied to and did not pay per contract(s), ex-US allies are now seeing they cannot trust this man as he does not keep his word and does not care who gets hurt with his form of "diplomacy".
@tween decks - your post is a perfect example of the clarity that comes with eliminating noise and BS. What you wrote is the bottom line and the one fact that matters.
The US and Western economy is a huge financial bubble.For arguments sake let's say China is an even bigger mess than the US. China has prepared by building on its infrastructure while de-dollarizing. When all the cards fall who will be in better shape? The fact is there are bubbles everywhere in the world economic but I cannot think of more than one country that will survive and thrive from day one of economic reset. Can you say China? Russia will survive and eventually thrive IMHO.
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Ruckus