The US Politics/Elections Thread 2.0

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

All this talk about Russia invading the Ukraine is annoying.

Either Russia should do it and let Europe worrying about it or just don't.

I know the US is shipping tons of weapons to the Ukraine incase Russia does attack them, so isn't this provoking Russia.

I'm just tired of Russia, China and Iran and North Korea trying to fuck with other nations. Why can't they just let things be peaceful for once?

Doesn't the world have enough issues with covid, inflation and global warming?

I think Putin wants all those nations that were once part of the USSR back again. Isn't this how Hitler started?

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

I hope whoever Biden picks as a Supreme Court justice is an open minded and modern person. We need to get all the states including Texas to keep the abortion laws and women's rights and LGBTQ rights too.

So tired of judges and others thinking like this is the 1940's again. 

You don't have to like changes but make them and move on. So sick and tired of all the bigots who hate everything they don't understand or like. Don't judge by beliefs judge by what's right for all people.

[downzy]

12 minutes ago, dontdamnmeuyi2015 said:

I know the US is shipping tons of weapons to the Ukraine incase Russia does attack them, so isn't this provoking Russia.

It's a response to a build up of Russian forces on the eastern border of Ukraine.  Russia could easily draw down its troop numbers and stop the sabre rattling and those weapons stop flowing to Ukraine.  Moreover, most of the weaponry is defensive in nature.  

[downzy]

Trump claiming he’ll pardon the Jan 6th protestors should he win in 2024.

Wait?  Why would Trump want to pardon members or Antifa?

[Basic_GnR_Fan]

On 1/26/2022 at 2:46 PM, downzy said:

It's a response to a build up of Russian forces on the eastern border of Ukraine.  Russia could easily draw down its troop numbers and stop the sabre rattling and those weapons stop flowing to Ukraine.  Moreover, most of the weaponry is defensive in nature.  

I actually feel for the Ruskies a little bit because they were promised way back when that NATO wouldn't be expanding. Well, it has and they don't want to be encircled by hostile powers. If you don't want the bear to rear his head, don't corner him.

[Basic_GnR_Fan]

19 hours ago, downzy said:

Trump claiming he’ll pardon the Jan 6th protestors should he win in 2024.

Wait?  Why would Trump want to pardon members or Antifa?

There are so many conspiracy theories in that crowd it's hard to keep them straight.

Although it would be hard to even take him seriously on this because, well, he actually was President and he didn't lift a finger to pardon any of those people on his way out. He instead pardoned rappers and criminals like Shalom Rubashkin.

[downzy]

49 minutes ago, Basic_GnR_Fan said:

I actually feel for the Ruskies a little bit because they were promised way back when that NATO wouldn't be expanding

I don't know that to be true.  They claim that this was promised, but I've never seen evidence of such.

[downzy]

Not a huge stretch for a party that largely celebrates confederate generals.

 

[SoulMonster]

Amazing. What the fuck, America.

[Coma16]

"Deadliest Attack" = 4 people....

[downzy]

2 hours ago, Coma16 said:

"Deadliest Attack" = 4 people....

1) It could have been way worse

2) Outside of the War of 1812, name an attack on the Capitol building that's been deadlier? 

3) Do you consider the violence legitimate political discourse?  

[downzy]

Good thing there was a “good guy with a gun!”

 

[downzy]

😂

 

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

Everyday CNN and Fox news opens with anyday now Russia will attack Ukraine.  Honestly, it's like we are goading Russia into attacking them.

It's obvious with all those Russian troops surrounding Ukraine that something will happen and it'll probably happen once Putin gets back to Russia after the Olympics.

I just wish the US would stay out of all this shit just for once. Who says the US has to get involved all the damn time?

17 hours ago, downzy said:

😂

 

God help us all! If this crazy  bastard gets to be President again, the whole world is fucked!

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

On 2/15/2022 at 10:24 PM, downzy said:

Good thing there was a “good guy with a gun!”

 

Yeah, I think this guy's gun must have been in his car since he didn't have it at the ATM machine. This is because Abbott says anyone in Texas can have a gun whether you know how to use one or not? Now this poor little girl is dead and I saw her dad on tv and it broke my heart and the gun who was robbed is not charged with murder. The ones who robbed him are still out there.

Road rage is up too. A man was killed recently due to road rage.  Honestly, living in Texas, you get to realize not many drivers know what the hell they are doing? Most don't go to driving schools, so their bad habits are passed down to their kids. And using their phones doesn't help either. 

Everyday it seems to get worse and worse. I have no faith in human nature anymore.

On 2/1/2022 at 11:27 AM, downzy said:

I don't know that to be true.  They claim that this was promised, but I've never seen evidence of such.

Putin wants all the countries back so Russia can be the USSR again. That's what this is all about. He's like Hitler. They get one country and then go for the world. You can't deal with crazy bastards like this. His ego is HUGE and he does't like to be told what to do or lose.

It's like if things get quiet some moron has to start a war to make their lives more exciting. More deaths to come.

[downzy]

I wouldn’t worry if I were Trump or his kids.  They have such a stellar history of always telling the truth. What could go wrong?

 

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

CNN had an interview with the Ukraine President.  He didn't seem worried about Russia at all. Hope it goes well for them.

Was watching Bill Mahr last night and just like I figured Ukraine was part of the USSR and according to Putin, most of the people who live there are Russian so he feels they should go back to Russia.  Honestly, why can't Putin just leave these people alone? Why must there always be someone fucker who has to mess with things and start wars.

You know eventually China will attack Taiwan and here we go again. China told Britain once Hong Kong was given back to them, Hong Kong can keep all their democracy that they have lived with for years. Well, we see how they lied about that. I honestly don't know why the free world lets countries like Russia and China pull this shit all the time? WE have those awesome weapons that can just end them, so why not threaten them with them? Oh I know innocent lives would be lost, but the way China treats their people I think many of them would rather die than live the way they do? 

What kind of people are these to treat their own citizens like this and not feel one bit of guilt?  Will never understand it at all.

[downzy]

Those living in Michigan might want to stock up…

 

[Gibson87]

On 2/19/2022 at 4:07 PM, downzy said:

Those living in Michigan might want to stock up…

 

I can't understand why the government (or in this case the people running for AG) find it acceptable to try and dictate what consenting adults do behind closed doors. Fucking aggravating.

[downzy]

Amazing…

The candidate posted this to their Twitter feed without understanding that the edited part is intended to be satire:

 

[Sweersa]

On 12/9/2021 at 10:27 AM, downzy said:

$778 Billion for the US Military in the next fiscal year...

Just dumb.  The hollowing out of America continues.

I wonder how much of that goes to the US military bases that are all over the world. 

America can't afford it, but somehow it does. It will come to a head anyways, I think. 

16 hours ago, Gibson87 said:

I can't understand why the government (or in this case the people running for AG) find it acceptable to try and dictate what consenting adults do behind closed doors. Fucking aggravating.

Are they referring to plan B and condoms, stuff like that? I'd be in some serious trouble without those. 

[downzy]

27 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

I wonder how much of that goes to the US military bases that are all over the world. 

Not sure, but it's likely a lot.

I do know that R&D and procurement represents 35 percent of the overall military budget, so about $275 billion per year on everything from boots and uniforms to stealth fighters and missiles. 

To put things in perspective, the entire US military budget in the mid to late 1990s was less than what the US now spends on R&D and procurement.  

Also something interesting to note: Iran's military budget is almost half that of Canada's.  

Saudi Arabia spends almost the same amount on their military as does Russia. 

[Sweersa]

10 minutes ago, downzy said:

Not sure, but it's likely a lot.

I do know that R&D and procurement represents 35 percent of the overall military budget, so about $275 billion per year on everything from boots and uniforms to stealth fighters and missiles. 

To put things in perspective, the entire US military budget in the mid to late 1990s was less than what the US now spends on R&D and procurement.  

Also something interesting to note: Iran's military budget is almost half that of Canada's.  

Saudi Arabia spends almost the same amount on their military as does Russia. 

Inflation since the mid to late 1990s would account for a bit of that, I'd imagine.

I would guess most other nation's military budget is based on defense, where as the US tries to police the world. I'm not sure what the state of the world would be if the US closed all or most of its foreign bases and ended all or most foreign aid, but I'd imagine some of the nations hosting those bases don't mind the comfort of having the US military there, not to mention the positive economic impact of having a base there as well. It seems the US never really pulls out of any area it fights in, or occupies, with some exceptions, even recent ones.

But still, America is not financially in a position to maintain something like that. A nation (US) with a navy larger than the next 7 (or so) largest naval forces combined, that's insanity to me. 

I wouldn't fear a mainland invasion of the US even if we had 10% of our current armed forces. Americans alone would be a pain in the ass (myself included) enough to deal with by a foreign power.

In Star Wars, the New Republic (formerly the Rebel Alliance) reduced their forces to 10% of what it was a year or so after the Empire was defeated, and took on a more defensive roll, whilst encouraging increased local planetary defenses. Of course, if anyone has seen the Disney sequel trilogy, that ended up being a bad idea, but it's an apples to oranges comparison.

[downzy]

17 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

Inflation since the mid to late 1990s would account for a bit of that, I'd imagine.

To some extent.  Inflation has been pretty tame up until recently.  $250 billion in 1999 would be about $368 billon in 2020. 

17 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

I'm not sure what the state of the world would be if the US closed all or most of its foreign bases and ended all or most foreign aid, but I'd imagine some of the nations hosting those bases don't mind the comfort of having the US military there, not to mention the positive economic impact of having a base there as well.

There are strong economic and security reasons why nations like Germany, Korea, Japan, and others like having US bases present.  The idea that US military expansionism is forced upon the world is half baked.

17 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

But still, America is not financially in a position to maintain something like that. A nation (US) with a navy larger than the next 7 (or so) largest naval forces combined, that's insanity to me

It's a product of the military buildup from WW2, the Cold War mindset, and also domestic politics.  The US military is one of the largest government funded jobs program in the history of mankind.  Politicians have a lot of interest in ensuring weapons programs that keep their many of their constituents employed remain funded.  One can chart the expansion of many southern US cities and states to the growth of the military industrial complex.  The sun belt maps on quite well to the US military gun belt.

17 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

I wouldn't fear a mainland invasion of the US even if we had 10% of our current armed forces.

Nobody is ever going to invade the US.  Look how hard it was for the US to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, countries a fraction of the size, far less resourced, far less potent militarily.

And nobody is going to fuck with a country as nuclear capable as the US.  Even if China or Russia were somehow able to knock off line the ICBMs currently held in states like Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming, they'd still have to contend with nuclear armed submarines and an air-force ready to launch nukes at a moment's notice.  It's never going to happen unless the US falls apart on its own (which doesn't look like a bad bet at present).

17 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

In Star Wars, the New Republic (formerly the Rebel Alliance) reduced their forces to 10% of what it was a year or so after the Empire was defeated, and took on a more defensive roll, whilst encouraging increased local planetary defenses. Of course, if anyone has seen the Disney sequel trilogy, that ended up being a bad idea, but it's an apples to oranges comparison.

I don't think the US needs to reduce its military budget to 10 percent.  But it definitely needs an overhaul considering the domestic needs that ails the country.  Keep bases in South Korea, Germany, Japan, Australia to thwart Chinese and Russian expansion.  A decent sized navy and air force (with more investment in drones, less on multi-billion dollar jet planes that seem obsolete even before they're launched), backed up by a highly-trained but nimble military.  Future wars will be first fought on the virtual battle field than the actual battlefield.  China knocking out US military communications renders much the US's military defences useless (and vice versa).   

[Sweersa]

52 minutes ago, downzy said:

To some extent.  Inflation has been pretty tame up until recently.  $250 billion in 1999 would be about $368 billon in 2020. 

There are strong economic and security reasons why nations like Germany, Korea, Japan, and others like having US bases present.  The idea that US military expansionism is forced upon the world is half baked.

It's a product of the military buildup from WW2, the Cold War mindset, and also domestic politics.  The US military is one of the largest government funded jobs program in the history of mankind.  Politicians have a lot of interest in ensuring weapons programs that keep their many of their constituents employed remain funded.  One can chart the expansion of many southern US cities and states to the growth of the military industrial complex.  The sun belt maps on quite well to the US military gun belt.

Nobody is ever going to invade the US.  Look how hard it was for the US to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, countries a fraction of the size, far less resourced, far less potent militarily.

And nobody is going to fuck with a country as nuclear capable as the US.  Even if China or Russia were somehow able to knock off line the ICBMs currently held in states like Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming, they'd still have to contend with nuclear armed submarines and an air-force ready to launch nukes at a moment's notice.  It's never going to happen unless the US falls apart on its own (which doesn't look like a bad bet at present).

I don't think the US needs to reduce its military budget to 10 percent.  But it definitely needs an overhaul considering the domestic needs that ails the country.  Keep bases in South Korea, Germany, Japan, Australia to thwart Chinese and Russian expansion.  A decent sized navy and air force (with more investment in drones, less on multi-billion dollar jet planes that seem obsolete even before they're launched), backed up by a highly-trained but nimble military.  Future wars will be first fought on the virtual battle field than the actual battlefield.  China knocking out US military communications renders much the US's military defences useless (and vice versa).   

The US government as a whole, is way too big, so much to where there's a lot of overlap, especially with three letter "alphabet soup agencies" getting into their own turf wars. Like you said, of course they are interested in self preservation and growth of the machine. 

If they can't come to a sense to reduce the size of themselves, it will probably work itself out naturally in time.