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America - The Official Thread
- Thread starter ///M-Spec
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Lain
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- Yaywalter
The issue with "sorting out who is in need" is probably less to do with cost and more to do with the fact that it creates more opportunity for some people in need to potentially fall through the cracks, though certainly it'd probably also increase cost and reduce speed.
Besides, in the grand scheme of things, it's a pittance not really worth sweating over. If reducing the national debt was a real concern, the military's budget could be marginally reduced for few years to recoup the cost of the stimulus checks. Those who don't strictly need the money could probably still use it, so I think they should just chalk it up as a lucky break... wealth actually trickling down a bit for a change. And if they'd prefer to donate it so that truly desperate people can get even more help than the government's willing to give them, all the better.
- 30,012
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
Biden's ban on weddings seems to be retroactive as well, because my band just vanished and this broad is screaming at me to get out of her house but it's actually my house...tiny windows and all.
Anti-American propaganda!I hate to point this out, but that's our bombs in the song
Joey D
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To be serious, coming from Britain, where pomp & ceremony is a process finely honed over centuries, I always thought ceremonial occasions were a bit lacking in gravitas in the United States. But watching Carter being inaugurated, I remember thinking the dignity of the occasion comes from the fact that it expresses the WILL OF THE PEOPLE unencumbered by ideas of traditional rank. That's been the case at subsequent inaugurations also. That sense became a bit shaky after Gore/Bush & even shakier after Trump won election with a minority of the popular vote. The shenanigans leading up to & following this election have shaken the foundations of the world's most powerful democracy. Re-establishing credibility at home & abroad is going to be tough road for the new administration.
Scaff
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Just discovered that the 1776 report that Trump commissioned came out on MLK day (he commissioned it because he doesn't like the NYT's 1619 project), unsurprisingly it ends up defending quite a lot of rather objectionable elements of American history.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...nAzIuXsqMVxSTpqu-O4lzkqhutJHXsz-yjiA5Usc_1FWr
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...nAzIuXsqMVxSTpqu-O4lzkqhutJHXsz-yjiA5Usc_1FWr
- 4,712
- SoCal
- GTP_MooCow
If Brooks is a Republican, I believe his presence here is even more powerful And I love it that he wore his cowboy hat!
IMO, I dont think Garth saw that as just a simple request, or even just an honor.
iMHO, I truly believe Garth willfully and with purpose wanted to be there, which goes in stark contrast with his Refusal to do the same for trump 4 years ago...
I love it that there is a cowboy hat on the inauguration stage today during Biden's confirmation, for all those dumb trump supporters to see...
Unity starts here...
I hope that the Biden/Harris inauguration has made and restored this process to be more credible to you and for everyone...
For me it has...
This is what we should have gotten 4 years ago.
trump was never my president.
With everything great today, yet I believe the best was her:
Beautiful and Smart:
Amanda Gorman.
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Trump also appears to have, on his last day, rescinded an XO that he signed in 2017 banning former government workers from becoming lobbyists for a period of up to five years after their employment ends.
So I guess Ivanka and Jared, Eric, and DJTJ can now all become lobbyists.
So I guess Ivanka and Jared, Eric, and DJTJ can now all become lobbyists.
- 4,712
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When Orange Chicken Butt Hole (aka trump) has systematically tear up his notes to prevent any records of his (bad and illegitimate) presidency, I think It would be fair to just erase this 1776 report as well...
It has no value when it's all lies and truth twisting...
In a way, Slavery was an affirmative action in favors of slave owners...
So today's affirmative action is really fair game, IMHO.... But that's debatable for another thread...
Further evidence of their family name forever ending rotten corruptive ways...
that family name should be shamed forever...
What a stain on the US history
EDIT: is it possible for Biden to put that XO back in place, let orange chicken butt hole taste his own medicine? Or at least create the same one...
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- 30,012
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- TexRex72
BobK
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Does anybody have a working to this document? A bit of googling turns up a few links that return 404's, one of which is https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-conte...nts-Advisory-1776-Commission-Final-Report.pdf
- 13,179
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It's just a crudely drawn picture of a
penis
I didn't want to go to work today. I wanted to stay home, watch TV and revel in the fact I can be proud to be an American again. And that Amanda Gorman. She was spell-binding. So much beauty in her words, her heart and her voice. I have genuine hope for the future knowing she's a part of it.
- 30,012
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
I get the sense that the 1776 Commission was just one elaborate, years'-long dogwhistle.
An ordinary organ just hangin' there
Will the sight of a male member
give us rabies or distemper?
Tell me,
what's so bad about a penis that's bare?"
"What's so bad about a penis?
An ordinary organ just hangin' there
Will the sight of a male member
give us rabies or distemper?
Tell me,
what's so bad about a penis that's bare?"
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- 11,912
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- 21,000
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Want to know what might be sadder?
Most Americans couldn't tell you where Liberia is (either on a map OR even what continent it's on). As we all know now, the state of American Geography today is in Tabasco.
- 30,012
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
Right?
Thing is...I do know where Liberia is.
It was a brain fart and if it really bothered me that much, I wouldn't have said anything. I thought it was hilarious and I don't hesitate to laugh at myself.
Keef
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Am I the only one bothered that a couple of these lines are in a dark shade of gray rather than black?
There were a couple of these things I'm going to have to research that I've never heard about. What group of Liberians are they speaking of, is there some sort of refugee group that was being targeted?
The student loan moratorium has literally saved me...$4,000. That's money that I can now put toward a new certification to get a better job and advance my career. That's way more helpful to the economy than paying back debt and interest to a corporation that profits billions of dollars per year. Allowing people to build careers and contribute for 30, 40, 50 years of their life, rather than sucking them from debt, wow what an idea.
Also I actually forgot that we left the WHO, that's how insane an idea that was.
This report literally came out yesterday or so...did they actually remove the Commission's work already? Wow, that was fast.
@CTznOfTime Biden's speech was nice but Amanda Gorman's poetry stole the show. Every word she spoke was the real truth. What a performance.
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- 11,912
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Right?
Thing is...I do know where Liberia is.
It was a brain fart and if it really bothered me that much, I wouldn't have said anything. I thought it was hilarious and I don't hesitate to laugh at myself.
Yeah..what you said! Yeah...totally yeah I know exactly where Liberia is. Of course I do!!!
- 30,012
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
- 6,076
- Simcoeace
I agree - what a stunning young woman. Such a powerful response to the ugliness of the Trump era.
Danoff
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I need a moment to reflect.
It has been a difficult time to live in America. The past year (2020, and the beginning of January 2021) is the darkest I remember in this country. And, amazingly, a lot of that had nothing to do with the pandemic. I never would have thought that this country would turn on democracy itself, I didn't dream that there were so many authoritarians here, ready to take us down the path of so many of the awful regimes of history.
Our republic has been tested in the most thorough way. Our president turned against us, turned against the entire institution of the United States and everything it represented - toward power and control. Even during the civil war, the United States President (unlike the President of the Confederacy) understood and represented the moral foundation that the country was predicated on.
The president that we have endured for the last 4 years understood none of that. His actions are readily recognizable in the worst examples of authority around the world and throughout history. What he brought to the US was not fundamentally American in nature, but it was human in nature, authoritarian in nature - something that mankind has known far longer than human rights. What we've been struggling with in this country is an old problem. It's a familiar problem. It's one that many countries have struggled with, and some have climbed out of (sometimes at great cost). But what has shocked me is that despite how deeply that particular problem strikes against the most cherished principles of our country, it still festered and grew. What Trump brought to America was an Anti-American in control of much of America, and we saw that play out as clearly as we could on the steps of the Capitol.
The idea that our nation could survive an enemy holding the highest possible office, the office with the most concentrated power, was one that did concern the founders of the country. It concerned Washington as he took office. But these last 4 years, and especially this last year have seen the first real test of our checks and balances against a would-be tyrant elected to the highest position. We all knew one day it might happen, and it did.
Trump exposed weaknesses everywhere. He exposed double-fault scenarios where checks and balances failed because too many people were willing to conspire against the nation. He exposed deep weaknesses in our electoral college system, not just in how it tallies votes, but in the basic procedures. But we also saw a lot of resiliency in the US system. Our courts held the line despite Trump's attempt at corrupting them. Congress held the line... just barely. Even the vice presidency resisted the most extreme of the corruption.
For the first time in the history of the nation we did not have a peaceful transition of power. I know that we can claim that we did, but the capitol riots, and Trump's absence, make it clear that this is not what happened. That's a black mark on our history, but I still think we have every reason to be grateful that the US political system did its job sufficiently to get us to today - where at least a transfer of power did occur, where democracy did prevail, and where we no longer have that president who was the enemy of the state.
It has been a difficult time to live in America. The past year (2020, and the beginning of January 2021) is the darkest I remember in this country. And, amazingly, a lot of that had nothing to do with the pandemic. I never would have thought that this country would turn on democracy itself, I didn't dream that there were so many authoritarians here, ready to take us down the path of so many of the awful regimes of history.
Our republic has been tested in the most thorough way. Our president turned against us, turned against the entire institution of the United States and everything it represented - toward power and control. Even during the civil war, the United States President (unlike the President of the Confederacy) understood and represented the moral foundation that the country was predicated on.
The president that we have endured for the last 4 years understood none of that. His actions are readily recognizable in the worst examples of authority around the world and throughout history. What he brought to the US was not fundamentally American in nature, but it was human in nature, authoritarian in nature - something that mankind has known far longer than human rights. What we've been struggling with in this country is an old problem. It's a familiar problem. It's one that many countries have struggled with, and some have climbed out of (sometimes at great cost). But what has shocked me is that despite how deeply that particular problem strikes against the most cherished principles of our country, it still festered and grew. What Trump brought to America was an Anti-American in control of much of America, and we saw that play out as clearly as we could on the steps of the Capitol.
The idea that our nation could survive an enemy holding the highest possible office, the office with the most concentrated power, was one that did concern the founders of the country. It concerned Washington as he took office. But these last 4 years, and especially this last year have seen the first real test of our checks and balances against a would-be tyrant elected to the highest position. We all knew one day it might happen, and it did.
Trump exposed weaknesses everywhere. He exposed double-fault scenarios where checks and balances failed because too many people were willing to conspire against the nation. He exposed deep weaknesses in our electoral college system, not just in how it tallies votes, but in the basic procedures. But we also saw a lot of resiliency in the US system. Our courts held the line despite Trump's attempt at corrupting them. Congress held the line... just barely. Even the vice presidency resisted the most extreme of the corruption.
For the first time in the history of the nation we did not have a peaceful transition of power. I know that we can claim that we did, but the capitol riots, and Trump's absence, make it clear that this is not what happened. That's a black mark on our history, but I still think we have every reason to be grateful that the US political system did its job sufficiently to get us to today - where at least a transfer of power did occur, where democracy did prevail, and where we no longer have that president who was the enemy of the state.
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UKMikey
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I can only imagine it's been ripped up like the former president's many memos.
Try the Wayback Machine.
http://web.archive.org/web/20210120...nts-Advisory-1776-Commission-Final-Report.pdf
Corsa
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- United States
Bill Pullmans Independence Day speech, as in the most powerful speech ever given on film?
Look I don’t subscribe to any party or man but I thought his voice today had no weight, depth or presence.
It sounded, forgive me struggling for a word... Stale.
No where near as sleep inducing as Mitch McConnell, but Biden needs a little more passion, presence.
Nonetheless, left or right I hope everyone finds health and happiness this year. I know I will as finally the media can take a nap and chill out.
Keef
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I obviously didn't live during the 30s or WW2, or the cold war era, but I find it pretty stunning that although Nazism and *Marxism-Leninism were extremely powerful forces in the world, and did manage to overwhelm several nations, and did actually exist in an organized fashion in the US, these ideologies never seemed to have a chance of truly taking hold here. But Trumpism did.
Nazism and Marxism-Leninism were so antithetical to [white] American values that the chances they would spread seemed pretty low. They didn't make any sense, they actually felt wrong from a logical and emotional standpoint. A dash of propaganda helped to keep them at bay of course, but I feel like they would've faded away on their own. But Trumpism, man, that stuff is wild. It sort of bypasses [white] American "values" and actually prays on emotional realities: We value inclusion but have an emotional and real history of segregation, we value liberty but have emotional and real history of denying it to certain groups in order to ensure it for others, we value justice but the emotional and real history is that we've applied it in unfair ways.
An example is how when I was a kid my parents told me that Miamisburg doesn't like black people, so naturally any time I saw a black person in Miamisburg I immediately thought, "What are they doing here?" That's pretty ****ed up, but that's the real values of a lot of [white] Americans no matter what is written on a piece of paper or what they say before the flag. These ideologies are burned into the back of [white] Americans' minds, no longer allowed to expose themselves as society evolves, but the thoughts still pass through from time to time, and Trumpism targeted those thoughts so precisely that it emboldened tens of millions of [white] Americans to stop hiding them and bring them to the forefront. Not just to think those thoughts in passing, but to say them out loud and act on them like it's the 1950s, or 1850s for that matter.
Half the globe was once dominated by communism, stripped people of their human rights, stripped them of their property, stripped them of wealth, education, freedom, everything, but it never sat right here. Apparently we were too absorbed by our hatred of otherness to let it creep in, and somehow Trump managed to fan that flame into 74,000,000 votes. Pure insanity. This will go down as one of the darkest eras in American history. My friends' kids will read about this in middle school ten or twelve years from now assuming their schools can afford new history books by then.
*Apparently describing variations of communist ideology is like speaking German, you just slap another descriptor on the back and suddenly it makes sense.
Nazism and Marxism-Leninism were so antithetical to [white] American values that the chances they would spread seemed pretty low. They didn't make any sense, they actually felt wrong from a logical and emotional standpoint. A dash of propaganda helped to keep them at bay of course, but I feel like they would've faded away on their own. But Trumpism, man, that stuff is wild. It sort of bypasses [white] American "values" and actually prays on emotional realities: We value inclusion but have an emotional and real history of segregation, we value liberty but have emotional and real history of denying it to certain groups in order to ensure it for others, we value justice but the emotional and real history is that we've applied it in unfair ways.
An example is how when I was a kid my parents told me that Miamisburg doesn't like black people, so naturally any time I saw a black person in Miamisburg I immediately thought, "What are they doing here?" That's pretty ****ed up, but that's the real values of a lot of [white] Americans no matter what is written on a piece of paper or what they say before the flag. These ideologies are burned into the back of [white] Americans' minds, no longer allowed to expose themselves as society evolves, but the thoughts still pass through from time to time, and Trumpism targeted those thoughts so precisely that it emboldened tens of millions of [white] Americans to stop hiding them and bring them to the forefront. Not just to think those thoughts in passing, but to say them out loud and act on them like it's the 1950s, or 1850s for that matter.
Half the globe was once dominated by communism, stripped people of their human rights, stripped them of their property, stripped them of wealth, education, freedom, everything, but it never sat right here. Apparently we were too absorbed by our hatred of otherness to let it creep in, and somehow Trump managed to fan that flame into 74,000,000 votes. Pure insanity. This will go down as one of the darkest eras in American history. My friends' kids will read about this in middle school ten or twelve years from now assuming their schools can afford new history books by then.
*Apparently describing variations of communist ideology is like speaking German, you just slap another descriptor on the back and suddenly it makes sense.
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