nsplayr

Cool, I’ll buy that, there is a distinction there. I am pretty confident a ton of Christians don’t think premarital sex or homosexual sex are actually sinful, but I can’t say for certain it’s a majority.

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/views-about-same-sex-marriage#views-about-same-sex-marriage 57% of Catholics, 57% of mainline Protestants, and 54% of orthodox Christians in the US say when asked that they support same sex marriage so…do with that what you will! I don’t think your assertion is true. I will counter by claiming that 99.9% of Pastafarians are pro same sex marriage, and this cannot be so easily disproven. 0.1% allowances because every group has that one asshole. 🤷‍♂️ Ye do what ye wish with yer sexy parts mateys!

We Pastafarians are a peace & piracy loving people who accept all of the FSM’s people. May his noodly appendage touch you all, Ramen.

Also relevant, it wasn’t their tongues that the priests were asking little boys to suck! 🍆😅

If there are crimes committed by Dems (or anyone) within the jurisdiction of a DA or AG that represents you, by all means, write to them and encourage them to apply the law and bring charges! If they don’t or won’t for political reasons, work to vote them out at the next opportunity. What should NOT happen is direct political retribution, or different justice applied on different places based solely on party (or race, or gender, or whatever). Equal justice under the law for everyone is the goal that we have yet to achieve - work to get there rather than explicitly calling for the opposite like some have done here.

This is false. If you commit crimes, no matter who you are, you should face appropriate justice. Jaywalking, come the F on. Any of the other stuff I’ve talked about recently, yea, if you do crimes you should face the justice system regardless of who you are or who you vote for. If you think the law has been applied unevenly in the past, you are right! I agree with you! So let’s apply it correctly now.

Democracy and keeping our institutions strong is a choice. And you’re actively choosing to do otherwise it seems. Again, it’s not the (few) Dems or more liberal people here on this forum calling for a civil war, saying “there will be retribution,” saying democracy is dead, etc. At least not me that I remember. Recently it’s very, very frequently been the GOP/right/whatever folks. You do know it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy to say “democracy is dead” and then kill it on purpose when you win the next election, right? Same goes for “government is bad.” Damndest thing, that comes true when the party that believes that takes power and then deliberately runs things poorly! How about, and this might sound crazy, we *not* do that? Just spitballing here… Stop calling for a civil war, stop saying democracy is dead, stop choosing retribution and revenge fantasies rather than keeping our country strong. Many of us are currently serving and it’s frankly shameful to want to tear down the very government you are a part of and trash the institutions and values we should be protecting. The country is imperfect, copy. Work to perfect it then! Same message BTW for the radical leftists who are stridently opposed to the American system of government and our way of life. F them and F anyone on any side who wants to burn it all down and start again; that does not turn out well.

I agree that the NYC case here against trump is weak and likely should not have been brought even if he likely did commit the crimes in question. It will unfortunately tamp down seriousness of the GA election interference case in particular, which I think is extremely persuasive. He’s on tape very directly doing the crime in question! No one is above the law, but you also probably should not bring cases that in other circumstances would be settled out of court with fines.

It's fairly similar, although Clinton's case didn't involve any money or campaign finance or business laws. But both are bad! Getting your dick sucked in the Oval Office (while married) and then blatantly lying about it is bad! As much as we all love a solid BJ now and again lol. Bill was impeached for his crime, which is the appropriate legal process for a sitting President. Glad we seem to agree. The appropriate legal process for a former President is just the regular ole' legal system, because "former President" is not a public office. Citizen Trump should face the same consequences as anyone else, no more, no less. And yea, boning a porn star (while married), and then secretly paying her (and others) hush money to cover it up while running for President is bad. Not like murdering school kids bad, but morally bad and potentially illegal depending on how you do it (I'm not a lawyer). John Edwards and Newt Gingrich, who are in the same-ish realm in terms of what they did, are also bad and no one should vote for or trust liars who cheat on their wives.

People who do crimes should face justice and be arraigned, tried and convicted as necessary. Anyone and everyone. This goes for murdering little children at school, shooting a rival gang member, running over protesters with you car, looting during a riot, being an insurrectionist & storming the seat of government, being a member of Congress who unjustly profits off their positions, or being a former Presidents who seemingly broke quite a few laws in numerous and colorful ways. No one is above the law.

Might be for the best Mr. Internet Tough guy. I think I've engaged with you in pretty good faith, but for whatever reason you got hostile and started calling names 🤷‍♂️ If you want to use the quote function and debate about something I've said, feel free. If you want to ask specific questions, go for it. But probably leave out the part where you call folks simpletons, rubes, unpatriotic, etc. if you actually want a back-and-forth. OTOH if you just want to have a karate fight on the beach or whatever...lol ok good luck with that. Edit to add: Honestly that sounds pretty fun now that I say it like that 🥷🏖️

Am I involved in this conversation at all? Super confused by tagging me here. @FourFans do you have any idea what my beliefs on this topic are? Do I attend church regularly with my family? Do I think that religious groups on the whole are a positive influence on society? What are my views on loneliness, social connection, or the importance of unifying goals and values to a group? Why don’t you go ahead and tell me Mr. Smart Guy, because you’re such a fucking wise student of history and I am but a smooth-brain simpleton 😂

First mistake right there haha! Most TV news gives you brain worms very fast.

@Biff_T dude NGL you have a weird and consistent obsession with trans people and their issues. Has someone who is trans hurt you in some way or what are we talking about? You have brought this up in damn near every post recently even when seemingly unrelated things are being discussed just prior, and it’s strange. I’m legit not trying to bash you but I don’t understand this aspect of your posts.

Yet many “extremists MAGA republicans” lost winnable senate and House races in the midterms. Seems like it was more believable in that direction this time around! The same line that doesn’t have any impact on Susan Collins works pretty well against Hershel Walker for instance. Calling Biden an extremist won’t work and it’s not the best line of attack Republicans could use against him. But by all means…please try if you’re ok with losing again.

I'm not ignorant about Democratic Party politics or policy, I'm not sure why you would believe that. There is some batshit crazy stuff on the left, yep, congrats on identifying that! I will again point out that the only people talking about (wishcasting?) a civil war are those on the right. WTF is with y'all and all this civil war talk, seriously? I'd like our country to continue on for many more prosperous, harmonious years as a multi-party, multi-racial capitalist democracy that's the leader of the free world - feel free to join me in that. DiAngelo sucks and I strongly dislike her entire worldview. Kendi is a somewhat radical academic, but hey, it's a free country. Have you read any of his work? I can see from his point of view why he believes what he believes, even if I don't necessarily agree. Same with Crenshaw, although I'm even less familiar with her or her work. I don't find any of the above have a particularly strong influence over Joe Biden or even a connection in almost any way to his administration. I promise you that conservatives think about and worry about things like CRT 1,000x more than your average normie Democratic voter does. I don't particularly think about or care about that stuff at all. Economic growth, national defense, clean energy transition, healthcare costs & effectiveness...those are the big drivers for my vote. How sure of this statement are you? And I'm not even including people like Steve Bannon or Sebastian Gorka, who have both said some absolutely batshit crazy stuff and affiliate frequently with the most far-right radicals out there. They both were appointed to very high-level White House positions in the Trump admin. Look, I'm willing to agree in general that Trump isn't necessarily responsible for or in agreement with everyone crazy right-wing person, but I think it's fair to say the same for Biden and every person on the left you hate. Is that not fair? Amy Klobuchar is a close ally of Biden and his administration, and somewhat famously dropped out of the 2020 Presidential primary and endorsed Biden as a way to consolidate mainstream Dem support behind him and to block Bernie from winning. If you like her and her policies, there's really no reason why you should think Biden and his admin are the devil. She spoke at his inauguration! Ro Khanna is very progressive, more than me by far, and was a big Bernie endorser in 2020...I'm surprised you like him and then also think Biden is super radical left or whatever. BL: you seem to have some very interesting political views!

Whether you believe it or not, people like Joe Biden are the mainstream of the party and have been for a while. More liberal in many ways than in the past, even Clinton 90s past, but parties change and evolve all the time. More conservative in other ways than, say, FDR or LBJ. The GOP has certainly changed quite a bit in my lifetime, especially in the last ~10 years from Romney/Ryan 2012 to MAGA & Trump today. There’s a very broad swath of ideology between those two camps just within the Republican Party! There is a large part of the Dem party to the left of Biden, like Bernie et al, and there are some to the right like Manchin, Eric Adams, etc. It also varies by issue and region and there’s not a smooth alignment of ideology or policy along any one axis as I’m sure you know. You don’t have to like it or agree with current admin policies, but calling Biden a radical is not a winning strategy and not believable to the American public. In fact, it’s such a bad strategy that I really hope all my Republicans friends go for it full bore!

🤷‍♂️ not really. The ask was for reasons why I support the Biden admin, not what my critiques were. Hell, I even provided a few of those free of charge! Look, there are tons of conservative opinions around here to choose from in several different flavors...if folks want a thread to confirm their beliefs about how Biden sucks, they've largely come to the right place! I'm happy to provide a liberal critique of the Biden admin if folks want to hear that, but you have to understand it's going to be milder because A) I disagree with the premise of many conservative critiques and, B) I think the pluses are far outweighing the minusus, which is why I would vote for Biden again in 2024 if he runs or for another mainstream Dem if they run on a similar policy platform. There's absolutely no "anything to retain power;" that was the previous guy. I would not, for instance, storm the Capitol building to try to stop the certification of the Presidential vote, and I would strongly condemn any Dem or liberal or whomever who called for anything even approaching that. If Biden loses in 2024 or decides not to run, so be it. Let's make the best of what's next, whether it's a successor Dem admin or a new GOP one. Yep, I like him a lot! I was ready to vote for him in the TN primary last time around and even went to his rally downtown, but he dropped out literally two days before Super Tuesday and endorsed Biden, so I voted for Biden. It was actually incredible and surprising coordinated consolidation around Biden to block Bernie, and overall that made sense to me and earned my primary vote. Klobuchar was my second choice, but she was in the same exact boat as Mayor Pete.

Not really, no, sorry 🍻

Nuclear power is great and we should build way, way more! Never should have stopped building. Put a small modular reactor on every mil base and near every major city. Also if/when we figure out fusion it’s game over for everything else and we can usher in a future of incredible energy abundance. In the meantime, and because the HOA prohibits nuclear reactors on neighborhood lots, have solar on my roof and it’s awesome!

I mean…disagree. One former president and his legal troubles shall pass, and we’ll all move on. Actual shit-shows and national tragedies depicted for reference.

Inflation seemed to have peaked in June 2022 at 9.1%, the IRA was passed in August 2022, now the latest data from February 2023 it’s at 6% and continuing to trend down. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf 😂 This is all said in jest. The IRA had little to do with inflation and was named by San. Joe Manchin. In exchange for his vote, I would have let him name or whatever he wanted! It is a clean energy and healthcare costs law, and a good one at that IMHO.

You too buddy 😂🍺

For specifics on why I support the Biden admin in general: Passed the Inflation Reduction Act Massive investments into clean energy, including tax credits and point-of-sale rebates on things like EVs, solar & battery systems, induction stoves, heat pumps, etc. Strongly incentivizes clean energy manufacturing and mining to take place in the US or allied nations Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, capping out-of-pocket prescription prices for seniors on Medicare, driving down insulin prices for everyone, strengthening ACA subsidies which make those plans more affordable, etc. Passed the CHIPS & Science Act - bipartisan accomplishment Onshores critical semiconductor manufacturing & greatly boosts R&D and workforce training, strengthening national security and long-term lessening the impact of a China-Taiwan conflict Passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act - bipartisan accomplishment Big investments into mental health services and some modest gun safety measures like red flag laws and enhancing background checks to keep guns out of the hands of folks who probably shouldn't have them Supporting Ukraine in their effort to repel the Russian invasion - bipartisan accomplishment Hobbling the conventional military forces of one of our biggest geopolitical foes for pennies on the dollar. Zero american military lives lost (RIP to that one MQ-9 haha) Uniting Europe against Putin and his aggressive, expansionist ambitions, adding new valuable allies to NATO, punishing Russia economically for Putin's bad behavior, and replacing Russia as Europe's biggest source of energy Those are my top 4 on policy at least. Additionally: Appointing a younger liberal SCOTUS justice to replace a retiring liberal was good if you are liberally-minded...we have messed this one up before. The American Rescue Plan was expensive and probably contributed some to the high inflation last summer, but I think it also helped us come out the back end better than anywhere else in the world - we're stronger & have better growth and less inflation than Europe or Japan/ROK/Aus/NZ/etc. TBH also just basic stuff like not tweeting insane shit all the time, not pissing off all of our allies constantly, not doing crimes like trying to overturn an election, etc. - I appreciate that in a President! Biden also led his party to a very strong mid-term showing compared to what happens historically during a President's first midterm. Dems gained a seat in the Senate and only lost a handful of House seats when the norm is getting blasted (see Obama 2010 and Trump 2018 as examples). I appreciate winning so we can do more of the above in the future. I don't worship Biden or think he's perfect. As I've said before, he's about 15-30 years older than I would like, picking Harris as VP was a mistake in hindsight because she is not a viable successor, and I don't agree with everything he's ever said or done (90s crime bill, wanting to partition Iraq, opposing the bin Laden raid, etc.). BUT, he's an effective incumbent who has help sheppard through a lot of things I support, so he's got my vote if he is going to run again in 2024. If there's a Dem primary, I'd love to support someone like Buttigieg, Polis, Klobuchar, Shapiro, Warnock, Whitmer, Beshear, Kelley, Pritzker etc. in roughly that order. I'm not a conservative, but if the GOP ran someone like Larry Hogan or Phil Scott I'd be open to hearing their pitch, and I appreciate the need for a reasonable party in opposition to the one I usually support. States with long-standing one-party rule don't tend to be run as well as those with real political competition IMHO.

Ok you recovered from the rapid descent here and if this is truly how you feel, I'm willing to engage. Just keep in mind if you call people cowards and an unpatriotic useful idiots, they are not likely to engage with you in good faith!