The 2020 USA POTUS election politics, the civil war, and the world war (Part 1)

And more of the 'if you’re X, then you must Y or it’s “disturbing” '. God forbid anyone think for themselves, and not worry about fitting into neat little demographic blocks.

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He caught it from Biden. Recall:

You’re not really black if you’re not a Democrat.

What self-evident BS

Edit: was getting off track, I think there was some misunderstanding…

I might have to take that one back… :relaxed:

I didnt remotely imply my comment was in any way partisan. I’ve long said the problem goes both ways - and you’re just as guilty of it as anyone else.

I didn’t mean to imply it was wrong for someone to believe otherwise in the group. I should have said “surprising” instead of disturbing. Editing the original comment.

If I’m not allowed to find it “disturbing” given the historical context and current situation, am I allowed to find it “surprising”?

It conveys the same attitude. I think either way, you were clear that you are not expressing that you learned something new to consider (“surprising new information”), you’re expressing that you find her position rather unbelievable (you’re surprised anyone would think that).

Perhaps I’m wrong, and by all means tell me if I am. But I really dont think so.

Unexpected is not the same as unbelievable. I have no reason to doubt she believes in her position.

Similarly disturbing as originally used I meant to convey only that it didn’t seem to fit the norm (or seemed like an outlier) given the historical and current context. Lots of things don’t fit in well, that’s in no way a personal attack. Outliers also aren’t necessarily a bad thing, they’re often necessary and a good thing.

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Not “unlikely to be true”.

It’s “so great or extreme as to be difficult to believe; extraordinary.” As in, you never would’ve guess it. And while you accept that it is true, you cant imagine why.

Which… Is not a personal attack in any sort. I was hoping to gain insight as to how the view is internally consistent with the facts.
As usual, the only response was (paraphrased)“I love my President, who can do nothing wrong! nothing else matters. Dems R Bad!”

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That is equally unproductive, and can get tiresome as well… Cheerleading your cause is great, but not when you’re trying to discuss it.

(And I’ll give you “disturbing”. I took the definition of “causing anxiety; worrying” (or other similarly negative connotations), but it does also mean “interfering with [your] normal functioning”.)

People, young people especially, do many stupid or foolish things in the process of growing up, most of which don’t matter much. Perhaps they pay some price, social or otherwise at the time, and years later are long forgotten. This a good thing. Social media these days and the Internet never forgetting makes it much more risky to live a normal teenage life these days.

I’m sure the old guard of politicians for example are able to solidify their power against many challengers by digging up dirt on them online from their youth in a way that wasn’t possible against older people with a smaller online footprint.

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Imagine adding facial recognition and a record of every day’s locations into the mix (records kept indefinitely on everyone, thanks Patriot act renewers).

Hopefully we get bans on use/development of this tech.

Bans only slow things down, they don’t work 100%. But I have a few tips that don’t require bans in the privacy thread wiki :slight_smile:

I’m with you on this. Patty with her beliefs being half native makes as much sense as gay Republicans. But they do exist, I even know a couple. One of them happened to be a Jew. I lost my ability to speak for a few seconds when he came out as a Republican who voted for Dubya (this conversation took place over a decade ago). He immediately admitted about being a conundrum or an oxymoron or something like that, so I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry. He had his reasons and excuses. One of the smartest people I’ve met.

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A great many persons who embrace the Jewish faith vote Republican. However, many of these are Orthodox Jews who are targets of anti semitism by other persons from within their own faith . . . . at least nominally within. Sometimes I wonder.

My first college roommate happened to be an Orthodox Jew from Brooklyn. He and several friends celebrated Jewish holidays in our room I’m confident many reform Jews never had heard of. Orthodox Jews are very good people.

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The latest battle in our civil war has resulted in Baltimore’s Christopher Columbus statue being torn down and cast into the harbor:

AP: Jackasses tear down Columbus statue and cast it into harbor waters

Sorry, but I’m not feeling the connection of this act to the senseless murder of Mr. Floyd. These are, instead, anarchists seeking to use that murder as an excuse to upend and destroy the entirety of America, which they detest every bit as much as does the hierarchy in Iran . . . perhaps more.

We had better commence fighting back and, let me tell you, that will not happen in a Biden administration. Biden is with the anarchists!!

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Sometimes it helps to see the same play from a different seat as it were. Here’s a long time Canadian policeman’s perspective on issues facing indigenous tribes in Canada.

With the help of a supportive teacher and various government programs, [a teenage mother] was able to complete school and get accepted to university. An arrangement was made whereby she would attend university down south while her parents, by now recovering alcoholics, looked after her children. Unfortunately, this potential success story would end in failure. Within a year, Grace’s parents had returned to drinking and she was forced to choose between withdrawing from school and returning to care for her children or losing them to foster care. She chose the former and the intergenerational cycle of defeat continued.

Activists invariably claim “racism” or a “lack of funding” are behind stories like these. But these are simplistic characterizations of complex problems. No fair-minded person wants to see a person like Grace fail. Indeed, recent years have seen a groundswell of public support demanding better outcomes for people like her. And Grace’s situation can hardly be attributed to a “lack of funding.” The financial and social supports were in place to help her achieve her goals. What undermined her were deep-rooted social pathologies that simply cannot be solved through corporate diversity programs, increased government funding, or vituperative Twitter campaigns that seek to defenestrate those who fail to stay current with the malleable tenets of the zeitgeist.

Current orthodoxy would ascribe Grace’s situation to “systemic” racism. As I watch media, activists, academics, and opportunistic politicians push each other aside to denounce the men and women who patrol our communities as pawns of a systemically racist institution, I have been struck by the passionate intensity of their accusations. As I write this, the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Brenda Lucki, is fighting for her professional survival after admitting publicly that she “struggled” with the definition of systemic racism. For me and many other officers these attacks are bewildering because Commissioner Lucki echoes sentiments many of us hold.

Systemic racism is a malleable concept. As praxis for the social justice movement, its obscurity is its strength because its existence does not have to be supported by specific evidence. In the current environment, systemic racism has become a pseudo-religious concept, an invisible yet malevolent force that torments the oppressed from within society’s institutions. As such, failure to declare sufficient fealty to efforts opposing it provide a ready cudgel with which the mob can denounce anyone who disputes the febrile excesses of social justice activism.

When anti-racism activists cite evidence of systemic racism, they invariably point to statistics that demonstrate marginalized people make up a disproportionate share of those involved adversely with the justice system. In Canada, this is reflected in the oft-cited statistic that Indigenous Canadians make up five percent of the population but now account for 30 percent of the federal inmate population, up significantly since the year 2000. Activists claim this proves that systemic racism not only exists, but is growing, and they identify “over-policing” as the root cause of this disparity. But are Indigenous communities really over-policed? Over the last 20 years there has been a massive increase in awareness of Indigenous issues in Canada. Police forces throughout the country now train officers in bias management, Indigenous history and other methodologies designed to foster critical thinking and social awareness… Amid this increased awareness is it logical to conclude that those who work within the justice system have become more racist ?

A closer examination of the facts would suggest otherwise. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, for instance, found that on-reserve Indigenous people in Canada are charged with fewer property offences than non-Indigenous people but more violent ones.1 This suggests that, if anything, officers are more lenientIt’s also notable that over a third of Indigenous men in federal prisons are serving sentences for sexual offences.2 These charges are by nature complaint-generated rather than resulting from discretionary policing practices. In reality, the underlying cause of high rates of Indigenous incarceration results from higher rates of criminality. That’s not a moral judgement. Toxic combinations of poverty, geographic isolation, family breakdown, and substance abuse underpin this pathology.

Yes, there’s room for police reform on both sides of the border, and I don’t think that’s controversial (although perhaps moreso than it should be given the would-be proponents are busy looting and burning and Occupying, actions far removed from any reform message). But to look at racial disparities in violent crime and put responsibility on “racism” rather the criminals is insane. Nobody forces you to murder or rape someone and the racial disparities are very high for these types of crimes.

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This weekend in Chicago…

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scripta woke up… :wink:

My beliefs don’t really have to make sense to you or Bend3r. Yes, an Biden’s believes, “you ain’t black , if you are a Republican”

Liberal Democrats believe in socialism, communism, radical political movements, or trying to overturn our government with violent behavior.

I cannot go along with this & it doesn’t make sense to me. :thinking:

Such a hateful lifestyle that you guys desire. (of course it’s my opinion)

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