KOJAMFš¤š¤š¤ (@kojamf.bsky.social) reposted
Breaking: TPOS is addressing the Nation, something, something I'm not dead... š¤·āāļø
Socially progressive. Atheist/Secular Humanist. Retired Engineer. B.S. Sociology, B.S. Physics. M.S. Systems Eng. https://unapologetics.org/
1,550 followers 400 following 4,204 posts
view profile on Bluesky KOJAMFš¤š¤š¤ (@kojamf.bsky.social) reposted
Breaking: TPOS is addressing the Nation, something, something I'm not dead... š¤·āāļø
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Yes, I hope the new Texas gerrymandering will backfire on them. To create 5 new red seats, they had to make some previously safe red districts more competitive. BTW, tho old map was already ridiculously gerrymandered. This is my district:
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Thatās OK. People have gotten pretty used to hearing the word āRepublicansā
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I left Twitter primarily because I got tired of spending time in a toxic cesspool. I accomplished nothing there other than raising my blood pressure.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
*American soil
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Murder, rape, incest, pedophilia, have taken place in every culture throughout history, therefore itās no big deal. Come to think of it, among MAGAs, rape and pedophilia (at least) apparently ARENāT a big deal.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Between screwing them on pay, putting them to work on trash pickup and mulching, and deploying them on soil to police American citizens, Iām just sure that National Guard retention and recruitment numbers are gonna be awesome.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
We now know that his plan was push millions of people off of Medicaid, and kill millions of others by denying them vaccines, gutting food safety registration enforcement, etc,
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Iām old enough to remember when Trump promised to unveil his healthcare plan in 2 weeks (8 years ago). A year ago, we learned that he had just a concept of a plan. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I understand. I donāt see it as being nice, though.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
And are you opposed to the practice of economic sanctions?
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
What do those 3 āwhataboutsā have to do with the claim that Clinton followed Reaganās economic policies
Blue World (@theblueworld.bsky.social) reposted
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
⦠Doing away with the EC would help a lot too, but that would require a Constitutional amendment, and I think the odds of such an amendment being passed and ratified are exceptionally small.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Mexico already had a handful of parties, so a new party had a better chance. And they have no EC. Their president is chosen by a plurality of popular votes What Iād really like to see is Ranked Choice voting. This would give alternative parties a fairer shake, and would eliminate the spoiler effect
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
ā¦odds are that the GOP would win a LOT more seats in Congress. The presidential election is the same. With just a couple of exceptions, each state has a winner (by plurality) take all allocation. So Republicans could potentially do a near sweep of the Electoral College if the Dem vote was split
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
That could work here, but only if the GOP also fractured into 2 or more parties (each with a sizable share of the old party). Most of our Congressional elections are decided by a plurality. Whoever gets the most votes wins. So if the democrats split roughly in half, ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Nature abhors a vacuum.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Yep, no one does spite like those āgood Christiansā running the Texas government.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
One would hope.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
A bit closer to home, though is a prediction by Kevin Hassett, now the Director of the National Economic Council under Trump. In October 1999, he predicted that the Dow would hit 36,000 by 2002. He was off by 19 years. Itās impossible to take these buffoons seriously.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
"While the crash only took place six months ago, I am convinced we have now passed the worst and with continued unity of effort we shall rapidly recover". Herbert Hoover, May 1930 His quote was paraphrased and us usually remembered as āProsperity is just around the cornerā
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Iāll never say never, only because it would depend on who he was running against. If the 2028 Democratic hopefuls consisted of him, Biden, RFK Jr, Sinema, Manchin, and Fetterman, Iād hold my nose and vote for him.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
š¤£š¤£
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I actually vacillated between those 2 choices, and settled on Texas only because I live there. And FWIW, I was born in Alberta. OMG - Maybe itās ME!
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Alberta is the Texas of Canada
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
āNever felt better in my lifeā. Gosh, have they put him on opioids?
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
So today we have: 1) āA tyrant is bad, unless heās our tyrant.ā 2) Much like in Israel where āNever Againā is a statement against genocide, unless Israel is the perpetrator.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
And the gun crowdās broad acceptance of and cooperation with Trumpās tyranny should forever lay to rest, the argument that āan armed populace is needed to protect us from a tyrannical government. Rather than resist, large numbers of them have joined ICE to aid in the tyranny.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
That depends. If itās a wall showing all the superintendents in history, Iād include him. Not to honor him, but to provide an honest/complete display of history. I would NOT in any way honor his service.
Khashoggi's Ghost (@urocklive1.bsky.social) reposted
Trump limits National Guard assignments to 29 days at a time to keep the called up service members from getting healthcare and housing benefits while on duty. And the NG troops are catching on. Stereotypical Trump. Don't give those losers and suckers an extra dime. www.rawstory.com/trump-infuri...
Just Joan (@justjoan.bsky.social) reposted
The most accurate description of Felon 47 I have heard yet! #ProudBlue #ResistanceUnited
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Heās a great candidate if you only care about how he looks on TV, and his ability/willingness to perform for the crowds. His recent trolling of Trump is useful at the moment, but heād be pretty far down on my list of people Iād like to see at the top of the ticket.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Republicans have abandoned all principles and replaced them with unquestioning loyalty to Trump. If Dems donāt stand by their principles, whatās the point?
Nick Reeves #FBPE #NAFO (@nickreeves.bsky.social) reposted
Jill Stein serving Putin in elections and peddling his propaganda lies. She's a fascist tool, not a Green.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Maybe SHE canāt see them, but HER brain wasnāt taken over by a parasite. Maybe worms CAN detect them, and passed on that ability to him. ⦠or, maybe he was never very smart, and his cognition was further impaired by heroine use and brain worms.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Iām giving odds that the background on this story will change significantly within the next week or 2.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Hereās a suggestion, Sean⦠instead of leaving NY, stop being such a lying douchebag asshole.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
So has Larry gone senile too?
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
The toddler was starting to act unruly, so they placated him by telling him heās the train engineer today.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
This is what happens when the people who own politicians are also the people who own newspapers.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Whatās with the gray hat? Did they tell him heās a train engineer?
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
BTW, I know this is a bit unrealistic. If his orangenessā picture was put on a carton, it would be an OJ carton, not a milk carton.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Ok -the subject line wasnāt included in your pictures, so I missed that. I get your point.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
?? No they didnāt. For starters, Clinton increased the tax rates on wealth individuals and corporations. Reaganās foreign policy was all about āpeace through strengthā. Clinton relied more heavily on diplomacy, trade agreements, etc.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
??? It specifically explained the reason for the fundraising.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I sincerely doubt that she agreed 100% with Bidenās polices. So I honestly donāt know what parts of her platform were authentic. And I donāt think Iām alone in that. I think that hurt her.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
But ⦠the one major error I saw was that they (the Biden camp and the HARRIS team) created a tightrope for her to walk, which prevented her from saying ANYTHING that was inconsistent with Bidenās positions and record. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
We obviously disagree on that. First, they werenāt just courting moderate republicans. They were courting millions of independents. 2nd - well, weāve already had ample debate about the Harris messaging. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
???
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I was disappointed at the outset that Biden ran for a 2nd term. I thought then that he was too old. I donāt agree with your other points.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I honestly donāt know how much propping up there was initially. I do think that they propped him up as the campaign continued, even after it became clear that he wasnāt up to it. I think it was a case of extreme shortsightedness (not a good leadership quality) ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
So my hope/prediction is that some young, dynamic leaders will move to the forefront, by capturing a huge public following. Eventually the current Dem leadership will realize that no one is following them, but I think theyāll be slow to accept it.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Iām generally an optimist, so Iām hopeful that these times will help forge some strong (probably young) effective leaders and that others will heed the adage to either lead, follow, or get out of the way. Iām sure the latter part wonāt come easily, though. Many are too stuck in the old order. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
We live in an unprecedented era, and only a few of them seem to be coming anywhere close to meeting the moment. They may not be able to lead the government, but they COULD lead the caucus, the party, and anyone else who would follow the right leaders. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I agree. Now that weāre in this situation, and Dem power is so limited, most just donāt know what to do. Even though the GOP has shredded the rule book, far too many Dems are still trying play by the old rules. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Thatās a good assumption if he promises to end a war in 1 day, or release his healthcare plan in 2 weeks. Itās proven to be a very bad assumption when he promises to inflict harm on others (because being a spiteful, vindictive prick is his nature) or to do something epically stupid like his tariffs
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
The only explanation I can come up with is that Trump has said and done so many outlandish things, that people naively assume he wonāt REALLY do what he promised. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Hell, weāve even seen MAGAs who were shocked and angry that their immigrant spouse was deported, even though it was a cornerstone of his campaign. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
ā¦weaponizing the Justice Dept, tax cuts for billionaires, continuing to be a puppet for Putin I could go on, but the point is that Dems correctly predicted what Trump 2.0 would look like. People just didnāt want to believe it. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
And all those warnings have either already come to pass, or are in the works: Mass deportations (Make America White Again), attacks on due process, armed troops in our cities, tariffs, decimation of the NIH, CDC, etc, attacks on LGBTQ rights, womenās rights, etc, ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
But thatās not all they did. Countless people, including Harris warned specifically about what Trump would do, some of it based on his own words, some based on past behavior, some from Project 2025, and some based on the folks he was surrounding himself with (Miller, Musk, Kennedyā¦). ā¦
MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) reposted
He wonāt let the press anywhere near him. This is getting weirder and weirder.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
The GOP solution is SO much better. āLetās cut funding for mental health and give weapons to the mentally ill. And if that still doesnāt solve it, weāll provide generous amounts of thoughts and prayers for the victims and their loved ones. Checkmate, libs!!!ā
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I do know that Kristiās face would melt off her skull without a fuck-ton of regular intervention by plastic surgeons
Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social) reposted
Why do you appreciate unions? Iāll start: Weekends off Paid vacations Work breaks Sick leave Paid holidays No child labor Safer working conditions Health care and retirement benefits
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Meanwhile the same states openly defy ACTUAL voting laws in the Voting Rights Act.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Nor does it give the president the authority to control how states run their elections. Of course the difference is that while blue states will ignore the act, if any red states donāt already do this, theyāll rush to implement an invalid order, because ⦠heil to the fuhrer and all that. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Al Franken resigned because of a relatively tame (though very inappropriate) joke. Trump is a known rapist and pedophile, yet still has the unwavering support of Congressional Republicans and the MAGA masses. And Republican judges from lower levels to SCOTUS have protected him.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I donāt think itās possible to entirely eliminate corruption. But itās especially hard when the corrupt are defended, enabled, etc by party leaders, their peers, the electorate, and the courts. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Yeah, well⦠Iāve issued an executive order for Trump to go fuck himself.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
As luck would have it, summer doesnāt end for 3 weeks. So youād better hurry
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
So Musk either hires unqualified people or theyāre intentionally obstructing investigations. The former makes you look incompetent. The latter can cost the company billions of $$ when (not if) crash victims sue them for withholding critical safety information.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Yeah, and I signed an executive order this morning that Trump now reports to me. Therefore everyone should immediately ignore all Trump decisions until theyāve checked with me.
jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) reposted
not just that he has no constitutional authority, there isn't even any particular legal or institutional mechanism by which the president can make anyone treat this as anything other than a weird advisory opinion.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
My only wish is that all those responsible for gutting the CDC, destroying our research programs, etc be the first to suffer the consequences.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Yeah, yāall have been so sweet with me.š But thatās different, right?
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
You apparently did the same. While you showed up at the polls, you apparently chose to use your vote to make a useless statement, by voting for a candidate who had no chance of winning. You COULD have used it to actually influence the outcome of the election, but chose not to. You wasted your vote.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
And I HAVE listened to their concerns. And every time Iāve had this discussion, it was NEVER a problem with messaging. They understood Harrisā message just fine. The problem was that they were unwilling to choose the lesser of 2 evils. And as a result, we got the FAR greater of 2 evils. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Oh great - putting words in my mouth again I said that their conclusion is stupid, not that THEY were. You know that smart people can also do stupid things, right? And I NEVER said the people were undesirable, nor do I believe it for a moment. As Iāve said before, I think we agree on most issues.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I didnāt ask for assumptions. I asked for your opinion. The only assumption I made is that you had some basis for all your arguments that blame Harris for insufficient outreach.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
So you voted 3rd party?
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Iām not asking for any more respect than what we ought to afford others in general. As Iāve said multiple times in this discussion, my arguments should succeed or fail on their own merits.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I think youāre inferring something thatās not there. I personally like to look at peopleās bios to get some sense of the personās background. I think many others do the same. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
But from what Iāve observed, that wasnāt the case. Iāve heard lots of non-voters say they stayed home because of the argument that āthere was no difference between the 2 candidatesā. Iāve already said how stupid I think that conclusion was.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Yes, that WAS my argument. There was ample information readily available on both candidatesā positions and policies. If voters didnāt get Harrisā and Trumpās messages, they were just being lazy. ā¦
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
What are you talking about??? When did I do that?
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Well, weāre communicating, which is good. But if the sole objective is to change othersā minds, clearly neither of us is being effective. And you didnāt answer my question.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
No, Iād say I think you made a poor choice, given your political beliefsā¦. That you voted against your own self interests and those of many groups you care about. I would never say she was entitled to anyoneās votes.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
Assuming (with some risk) that you were one of them, Do you think that 1/3 of the electorate just didnāt understand her positions as well as you did?
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
I didnāt say they shouldnāt try harder, I just reject the bullshit position that 1/3 of the electorate shouldnāt try harder. At least some of you DID understand Harrisā message and platform, but voted for her even though you had major problems with some of her policies.
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
As for your quoted post, a bunch of people whoāve been fruitlessly arguing with me think that itās stupid for me to fruitlessly argue either them. Did I get that right?
Richard (@richpr.bsky.social) reply parent
⦠and Iāll point out AGAIN that this whole battle was in response to my argument that even if one doesnāt like either candidate, they should still vote, choosing the lesser of two evils. Apparently nearly everyone who has been arguing with me agrees with that. That seems pretty fucking stupid.