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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
I saw an article claiming that Trump has Alzheimer's. It's all hearsay.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"@ Silas also costs of living are significantly higher in NYC and the Bay area, and these areas tend to vote Democrat so naturally their regional concerns are a party priority. Plus what politician in their right mind would say no to "giving the American people a raise."
I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.Quite a lot, but nothing about getting rid of the Second Amendment. Though frankly I'd be surprised if it survives the century. It's supporters are older, whiter ,and rural, not the type of people who vote Democrat. And since the Republicans have run themselves into the ground that means the Democrats have free reign to do basically whatever the fuck they want in the medium to long term.
I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.She's talked about gun control for a while, but never going so far as repealing the second amendment. She's in favor of more background checks, fixing the loopholes in the current ones, and banning the sale of certain types of guns. Considering the fact that even quite a few republicans are getting on board with gun control measures after Pulse, Trump is being ridiculous in saying we shouldn't have any restrictions.
Edit: oh good lord. When asked about his plans for the military, Trump's response was, practically word for word "I'm gonna build up out military, because it's so badly depleted. It's so depleted, so I'm gonna build it up. It's never been this badly depleted, our military, so I'm gonna build it up. There's nothing we can really do about that, but I'm gonna build it up. We need a big military, it's never been this badly depleted, so I'm gonna build it up. There's nothing we can really do about it, but I'm gonna build it up, and for half the cost. That's called negotiation."
edited 9th Aug '16 7:26:08 PM by smokeycut
Trump needs to construct a narrative of gross mismanagement. Part of that is tearing down the military by saying it's a shambles. I'm actually glad he's saying this, because then Democrats can just say, "OUR MILITARY IS A NATIONAL TREASURE! <hand over heart> <solemn gaze of patriotic zeal>" and instantly, we're the party of standing up for our troops, without actually having to anything or say anything of substance.
So we should align the Dem platform to be veteran-friendly. Pour funding into keeping the military properly supplied and veterans well cared for. It's a good opportunity that should be seriously pursued.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
No state in history has regarded their veterans as anything more than a liability to be disposed of (one way or the other once they no longer serve the state's ambitions. The story of the common soldier is that of a Tragic Villain, in many ways.
edited 9th Aug '16 8:32:47 PM by CaptainCapsase
The goal of what efforts are made to aid veterans is to prevent soldiers from rebelling the state in contexts (or time periods) where they can't simply be killed en masse or forcibly resettled far, far away from one another. Plus occassionally to undo the economic damage that conscripting ~10% of your population inflicts.
States are not altruistic. Quite the opposite in fact.
edited 9th Aug '16 8:46:42 PM by CaptainCapsase
And again you're going into the very much overly cynical view of the world and governments. It gets hard to discuss things with you seriously like that.
In any case, no, it's not one hundred percent governments seeing veterans as a liability. For one thing, several of our politicians have been veterans (and ARE) with close personal ties and interest in seeing their fellow soldiers treated well after their service, as well as being from military families with the same interests. This view of the government completely ignores that little fact. For another, considering that respect for military service is deeply ingrained in several places in America (no use in pretending it's universal) the idea that they should be treated well is also deeply ingrained and part of the reason that issues with the VA are shocking is that it goes against that idea.
Not everything the government does is fueled purely by one hundred percent cynicism, and your claims that it does is getting tiresome. To the point of it being useless to talk to you. Also, ours is not a conscript army currently, it's entirely volunteer. That little tidbit is kind of not useful in our current reality.
edited 9th Aug '16 8:56:59 PM by AceofSpades

Everybody makes weird faces if you record them at the right time.