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Just imagine how many books they would write if they had a damn president. And the first half of every state of the union will be about how hard BUDS was.

This is exactly what I would like to see. A conservative that can highlight all the BS going on, bring us together and articulate a vision for the future but do it in a professional, mature and presidential manner. The unfortunate reality is, the only type person that can highlight the BS, fight back and fight hard against the system, deep state, media, big tech, etc is a disruptor. That type of person would have all the character flaws that Trump has. It’s how a billionaire real estate tycoon from NYC who is a ego maniac got elected. He was the only one willing to walk into the room slinging elbows and throwing punches. It was hard to watch at times but again, that’s the only personality type that has the balls to do it. Anyone and everyone else just gets run over. Nobody had ever looked at Hillary Clinton and said “you’d be in jail” on national tv. She’d never been talked to like that in her entire life. Some squeaky clean conservative damn sure would never have done it.

Crenshaw is the only one listed who is able to, and regularly does articulate the underlying principals behind his ideology. His podcast is excellent, and he has a terrific personality/sense of humor. He's a war hero, and he has a "gimmick" that will grab the attention of the reality-TV voters (eye patch). I'd like to see him run with Tim Scott, or someone similarly aggressive in their conservatism while bringing some not-just-another-white-guy diversity into it. It would be pretty badass of we elected a SEAL as president.

Hard pass on Noem, Haley, and Crenshaw. DeSantis w/ Trump as VP or vice versa is probably the ticket for 2024.

I agree with most of this, including the very deep rooted issues in the GOP. However, this country is in desperate need of real leadership. Trump is no leader. As you highlighted, he is a fabulous disruptor, but I don't think he is ultimately what this country needs to actually turn the ship around. There has to be a conservative voice out there that can highlight all the BS that Trump called out, but also find a way to bring the American people together (or at least most of them) and then articulate a vision and future for the country. The tweets, brash personality, etc... can be entertaining, especially the times when he was right. But in the end it is tiring, grading, and at the very least, not professional. I voted for Trump twice as well, somewhat begrudgingly the second time, although he ultimately was the best candidate that was on the ballot. But, I will be voting in a primary for the first time in my life this next cycle in order to vote against him (if he runs). His personality is not what this country needs or what will actually set this country back on the right path again. I know we can do better than that as a country, and I would hope Republicans can do better than that as a party. Maybe someone like DeSantis, Crenshaw, Noem, or Haley can be the leader this country needs; time will tell.

Our inheritence taxes were designed with a pretty clear purpose. The founding fathers were terrified of enough familial wealth being accumulated to establish a landed gentry re-subjugating the United States to the whims of an Aristocracy. This is effectively what the Rockefellers did with their oil boom towns. I hate aristocracy. So I will always support some sort of inheritance tax.

Basically. I mean if you're so far left or right that anything the "other side" says is trash...you're probably part of the problem.

Saying people should immigrate legally according to the laws of the land they are attempting to join us racist.

Don’t bring those lies in here. Hadn’t you heard? Racism is purely an American creation and it’s solely perpetuated by white people. Edit: 69th page of this thread.

Your elitism is palpable dude. Sorry not sorry I called a spade a spade.

Do they tho? How many middle classers chose to be cheapos? Example, and this is a true story and if I am lying may the fighter gods banish me from having any shot at a pointy. During the 2016 run-up, I had two coworkers, adamant Trump supporters, Bernie and Hillary are socialists, going to destroy the country blah blah. That's FINE. BOTH of them needed tires for their cars, I was like "buy these Coopers they're made in the USA I got them for my car at a fair price". What do they BOTH do? "Give me the cheapest Shengzin whatever tire from Sears". Where were they made? China. Some people do it to themselves. Some people really don't have a choice and are barely scraping by, and yes those people I empathize for and the system needs to do better for them, but a lot of people do it to themselves. I don't care who you are, Walmart greeter, submarine engineer or a baseops F-35 super hero. If you complain we don't make anything here and manufacturing is in the gutter but than actively select to purchase the cheapest foreign stuff when there exists a domestically produced alternative? F*ck you. Rant off.

Since the 2004 election, with the discontent brewing before that, a very large swath of the GOP, and, I imagine some centrist Democrats/Independents, have been unhappy with the sudden and ever-increasing growth in the size and scope of the federal government. The 2010 Tea Party movement was a direct result of that. The GOP did it's best to ignore/patronize/hijack the movement because it represented a threat to the good deal enjoyed by the Establishment class. Those "ugly" townhalls upset their merlot glasses. So what did the GOP do? It ran Democrat-lites like McCain in 2008 and Mr. Great Hair but can't fight Romney in 2012. Meanwhile, government growth and overreach marched on. Come 2016 and the slate was overly full of the same Establishment candidates. Trump, as a disruptor, beat 16 of those types of candidates. And the GOP did it's best to tamp him and his voters down. Obamacare still exists due to McCain, Murkowski, et al. Despite the very real and clear signals that the peasants were revolting. They ran during that election on specifically repealing Obamacare and when it came time, they supported it to stick it to Trump. Some profiles in courage fellas... With numerous other similar items unpassed or unrepealed because it would've been a win for Trump. Came 2020 and some unprecedented events and Trump still scored more votes than any other GOP candidate ever. I will leave off the voting shenanigans for another time. I So I'm not a fan of Trump the man, but of the idea he represents - mainly, a very large percentage of Americans are aghast at the size of the federal government, at the unbelievable overreach that is being tolerated and encouraged, and at the intentional fraying of the American societal fabric by that same Establishment group - is something that people want to rally around. Me? I want Trump to run again. To disrupt the same ol' GOP that they'll try to run again and get the serfs back on the turnip fields. And to absolutely piss people off to see that they aren't always the ones running the show for us peons. This inconvenient truth was demonstrated once and the amount of caterwailing and pushback by both parties was incredible. I look forward to it again. Or burn it all down. Barring Trump, then DeSantis.

Agreed dude, capitalism is the best we've got, no system is ever going to work perfectly, and not everybody gets to come in first, that's life. But look at you're argument "people would just move and find a new job". How many rust belt cities/coal towns keep voting people into office who "promise" to "bring our manufacturing and coal mining jobs back". Why don't they just move to CA and work for Tesla, or NY and build wind turbines in Albany, or service solar panels in Nevada? Is it people don't want to leave, home is home? Not a jab btw, but it seems a lot of times people don't want to move.

This is one of the most mind-boggling arguments that I see all the time from the left. Wealth is created. It is not static. Yes, the basis for wealth and the monetary systems we use to support it are fundamentally systems of exchanging labor. But that labor value is not fixed. When you look at the billionaire class, overwhelmingly they are represented by people who created fundamental changes in how labor functions, freeing up incredible amounts of labor to be dedicated into other pursuits. That is the creation of additional labor/wealth. They did not take it from anybody, and to say so is a fundamental misunderstanding of economics. Now, if you want to get into a conversation specifically about wealth transfer in the banking and finance system, I think there is a very strong argument there for criticizing the manipulation of financial instruments to move wealth from one person to another. But that's not where most of the billionaires come from, and it's not the argument being made by the most visible politicians/activists on the left. Jeff Bezos is worth billions because millions of people wanted to exchange their wealth for his services. He didn't trap 100,000 people in a warehouse and collect their labor. You want to know why so many conservatives view the Democratic party as an existential threat? Because anyone who thinks about the economy the way you described clearly would destroy it through sheer incompetence alone.

That's not addressing the point. The founders had slaves and decried slavery, so contractions abound. You'll notice there's nothing in the Constitution about forfeiting all property "to the society" after you die. You asked how it squared with the idea of "created equal," implying a connection, but there is none. I gave examples of other advantages you can be born with. Created equal means created with the same rights and freedoms, from the government, as anyone else. Whether you inherit $10 billion dollars or nothing at all, you have a right to due process, a right to association, free speech, etc. Our system is immensely successful precisely because the founders didn't incorporate personal opinions of fairness into the government's control. Limited government. You have a right to give your children whatever is yours. You have the same rights and freedoms as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos had to make fortunes. Inherited wealth is not particularly enduring, and most of the billionaires/millionaires in America are self-made. So your argument is an emotional one, not a practical one.

That’s it. But be careful. I know people who have done it and later regretted it. YMMV.

I’d rather use that then some of the things the uncreative types come up with. Unsolicited advice, but if you want to make an acronym for a callsign, don’t make up something that looks like an unpronounceable fix on an approach plate.

We can't solve the gang violence problem in any major U.S. city, but sure, let's go try to remake Afghanistan into a functioning country though we don't understand the language, culture, history, who is who, the centuries old feuds, etc. with a population who have an average IQ of 85 and most of whom probably have PTSD from the decades of war, UXOs, child rape, complete lack of safety culture, banditry, etc. FFS.

They fail the class and potentially get expelled for "racist behavior".