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Take it easy bro.

Politician A - entered politics as with an average American net worth, retired from "public service" with a net worth in the top .5% and everyone in his family in the top 1%. Politician B - entered politics with a net worth in the billions, left office with less money than he entered.

You asked if I feel better, if my views have changed, whether this is doing anything for me. Ridiculous questions aimed at dismissing rather than engaging. I'll answer anyway. No, my views haven’t changed. Neither have yours. I figured that out early. I’m not writing for you. I’m writing for the quiet majority on this board; the guys who value a clean debrief and are reading both sides without posting. They notice who brings data and who brings “probably for the best.” You’re capable of substance when you feel like it. But you didn’t touch the NIH numbers. You didn’t address the SAVE Act data. Not a word on China passing us in R&D or a trillion dollars in clean energy investment while we repeal every incentive we have. Instead you asked if I’m “happy” and compared me to a wife who needs to calm down. That’s not a debrief, it's an attempt at dismissing it as though you somehow are above the fray. Here’s what I think the lurkers actually see when they read your posts: red lines that move. You set them in 2016. Every time one gets crossed, you don’t re-evaluate the person crossing them; you redraw the line. You said it yourself: “another example of why Trump is worth the insanity.” Read that back. You’re conceding the insanity and arguing the tradeoff is worth it. So where’s the line you won’t move? What would actually be too far? Because if there isn’t one, then the cost-benefit framework you’re presenting isn’t analysis; it’s loyalty with a spreadsheet. And you’d never accept that framework from the other side. You talk about merit. Look at the cabinet. The SECDEF had zero defense leadership experience. The AG’s primary qualification was loyalty on television. The intelligence community picks were chosen for alignment, not expertise. If “merit” means “agrees with the boss,” that’s not meritocracy; it’s patronage with better branding. The people on this board who’ve spent careers watching what happens when loyalty replaces competence in leadership positions know exactly what that produces. ViperMan showed what happens when someone actually engages. He came in swinging, I came back with numbers, he came back with substance. We found common ground on multiple issues, and anyone who read it walked away better informed. That’s what this forum used to produce. I’m not interested in another round of rhetorical exits and concerned-tone deflections. Your methodology is built so you can’t be wrong; if the data challenges you, you redefine the question; if someone pushes back, you suggest they’re emotional. That’s a closed loop, and further debate inside it is a waste of bandwidth. The data of the last eighteen months speaks for itself for anyone willing to look at it without a pre-determined conclusion. I’ll leave it to the people reading this to decide which side of this exchange was running a clean debrief, and which side consistently (at least as of late) refuses to engage.

OK... The University of Florida Gators have been one of the most successful programs in college football, with three national championships, a top‑25 all‑time winning percentage, and more than 770 wins. The Florida Gators have compiled an all‑time record of 771–454–40, reflecting a .625 winning percentage, placing them among the top programs in college football history. Florida has also spent 648 weeks ranked in the Associated Press poll, one of the highest totals in the nation. Florida has three claimed national championships: 1996 2006 2008 They also have two unclaimed titles (1984, 1985). Florida has also won: 8 Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2006, 2008) 15 SEC East division titles (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2020) Florida has appeared in 47 bowl games. It has also produced: 3 Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) 34 Consensus All‑Americans 381 NFL draft picks The University of Florida Gators are one of the most successful programs in college football, with elite national success, consistent conference dominance, and a long track record of producing top‑tier players and coaches. Their achievements since 1990 place them firmly among the sport’s modern blue‑blood programs.

Unlike the “the big guy” Trump was rich before entering politics

the "10% for the big guy" whiners on here are strangely quiet about this 🤔

It's been 486 pages, bud. How many times do we need to repeat ourselves? Seriously though; why spend time on an Internet stranger who already has an unbendable view of the issues and labels anyone who disagrees an "apologist" or worse? Do you feel better? Are you happier? What's this conversation doing for you? Have your views changed? Do you feel that comparing Trump to Hitler has shifted the political winds back in a direction you consider an improvement? If you think it's time to "go back to lurking" then you're probably right. Which is all I said.

Well, you've done it again. Masterfully avoided saying anything of substance. It's so odd how you've built this self-image where you think you always hold the high ground without saying anything real. I've watched you do this in here, and other apologists seem to flock around you doing the same thing, patting each other on the back, accusing anyone not acting as an apologist for this administration of falling prey emotions, ignoring obvious facts, etc. All while you ignore facts and spin things in a way to placate your own egos and support your narrative. I guess time will tell...

My wife doesn't get irrationally upset about other people having commonplace opinions on issues that are almost completely beyond her ability to influence outside of an occasional selection in a voting booth. But if she started talking about politics like this, then yeah I'd suggest she take a breath and maybe give the Internet a timeout for a while.

Google AI says POTUS has a 6.5 billion net worth with estimated 2.1 billion liquid, put in $500 million and call a few friends and save this company

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spirit-airlines-could-shut-down-as-soon-as-saturday/

You're one of those people who tells his wife to calm down aren't you...

Given how many Navy ships have caught fire the last couple of months the CNO might want to push out an MFR on the proper use of fire extinguishers….

The War ZoneAir Force Wants To Axe Its E-11A BACN Communications JetsThe Air Force wants space-based systems to take over from the E-11A in providing critical data fusion and communications relay capabilities. The Air Force wants space-based systems to take over from t

No need for a Navy thread but tribalism is alive and well in the Navy as well. A giant FU to aviators from the CNO.

Just to stoke the hate fires a little...

Pish posh...try the gunship, turned sideways looking through a HUD with NVGs for 4,000 hours...

Did I miss the memo, was Thursday failure to feed day? New AR and my trusty M-1 Garand both had issues. If you look closely the AR tried to feed two rounds...usually a mag issue. The Garand was the big surprise to me. Had my nephews down from Mass, first time shooting an AR...typical liberal brainwashing leading up to said event..."I hear it kicks really bad...terrifying weapon." .69 seconds after emptying the first mag - "this is awesome, I want one!"

Likely, but still.

Mission Accomplished! AP NewsTrump administration says its war in Iran has been 'termi...The Trump administration is arguing that the war in Iran has already ended because of the ceasefire that began in early April.Or uhhh terminated?

Gerrymandering is bad—period. Neither side should be doing it. But let’s not pretend this is some new revelation. The reality is the cat’s out of the bag, and now it’s a full-on fight because no one wants to unilaterally disarm. Packing the court? Also bad. Undermines the credibility of the judiciary and turns it into just another political tool. Yet we’re watching one side openly push for it when they don’t like the current makeup. Killing the filibuster? Same story. It exists to force consensus and protect against raw majority rule. But again, one side is eager to toss it aside the moment it becomes inconvenient. And making Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico states—not based on some sudden principle, but because it shifts the balance of power in the Senate? That’s not about representation, that’s about leverage. Call it what you want, but changing the rules of the game to lock in power is a dangerous path. History is full of examples of how that ends, and none of them are good.

Agreed on the type thing, they're going to have to put you through training either way, I don't see having a type as much of a help. As far as the degree thing, that may be a thing at Giant, but a degree is still very much a strong delineator at my air line. I can only recall flying with one guy who didn't have a degree and he was a flow. It would be interesting to see how many were hired without degrees though. Besides a the Guard babies, most pilots will have the airline mins after a 10 year commitment. Doubtful that this type of flying would make much of a difference.

They weren't being divided by ideology, which you would know if you actually read the opinion. That would have included white people and Asians, and excluded some black people who aren't "Black Rights Activists." They were specifically drawing the maps based on skin color. Zero effort was spent filtering for ideology. The fact you are trying to equate skin color with an ideology is wild.

And just to be clear, I believe that all gerrymandering is bad, but cherry picking what we call bad and ignoring it where it is beneficial is literally just more gerrymandering. Either get rid of district maps being drawn by election commissions and just split the US into amorphous blobs fairly distributed mathematically. Or just go by popular vote. If New England is 40% republican, give them 40% of the seats. Give Texas 40% dem seats. Give California 40% republican seats. Sounds good to me and much more fair than what happens now. On top of that, give third parties a chance to gain representation.

Do you actually think Black Rights are not a political ideology by definition? A political ideology is not just Democratic and Republican. You not agreeing with that as an ideology or wanting to not over represent it is a different argument, but there’s no question that in 1965 and now, it’s a legitimate political sect. Just like white rights/supremacists.