The Trump Presidency

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Ocoka said:
I've met some pretty opinionated people in my life but I've never met an actual Nazi or a committed member of the American Communist Party.
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One of my US History professors was a staunch communist. In her "Welcome To My Class" briefing, she described her political leanings as such, "I start with socialism and move well to the left from there." She never said if she was a member, but it would not surprise me.
 
racing_kitty said:
One of my US History professors was a staunch communist. In her "Welcome To My Class" briefing, she described her political leanings as such, "I start with socialism and move well to the left from there." She never said if she was a member, but it would not surprise me.
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At least you knew what you were dealing with. That's something. It's the sneaky ones that bear watching.

Let me amend my previous statement. I never met a Communist I wasn't legally authorized to open fire on. ;-)
 
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racing_kitty said:
One of my US History professors was a staunch communist. In her "Welcome To My Class" briefing, she described her political leanings as such, "I start with socialism and move well to the left from there." She never said if she was a member, but it would not surprise me.
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I usually pay attention to about 20-30% of what people say and the rest is based upon what they do! Their actions speak way more than their words. People are "what they do" versus "what they say." If you could have spent a couple of hours with her outside of the classroom undoubtedly you would have known whether she truly walked the talk.
 
Agoge said:
I usually pay attention to about 20-30% of what people say and the rest is based upon what they do! Their actions speak way more than their words. People are "what they do" versus "what they say." If you could have spent a couple of hours with her outside of the classroom undoubtedly you would have known whether she truly walked the talk.
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I've found something a little different. In my experience, if someone claims an identity (vs. an achievement) or a belief set, my going-in position is that I take them at their word.

I would not want to spend any time in or out of a classroom with someone who touted their political beliefs in such a manner.
 
Marauder06 said:
I've found something a little different. In my experience, if someone claims an identity (vs. an achievement) or a belief set, my going-in position is that I take them at their word.

I would not want to spend any time in or out of a classroom with someone who touted their political beliefs in such a manner.
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I am mostly speaking from my 30 years as a criminal investigator. After conducting thousands of interviews, what people say and what people do are more often than not -- different. Especially when I get into their personal space where I see and learn things that the general public and their friends don't know about them.

With that said...I do understand what you are saying and can certainly agree with it, but I generally follow my rule when dealing with people as a whole.

As to wanting to spend time with someone diametrically opposed to my beliefs...nah...I wouldn't want to either.
 
Ocoka said:
I've met some pretty opinionated people in my life but I've never met an actual Nazi or a committed member of the American Communist Party.
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I know people who have been in the Klan (maybe they still are, I don't know). But here's a story:

Years ago, 1997ish, I was a paramedic in a mostly rural county here in NC (Chatham County for context). We get called for "chest pain," dispatch tells us go to "n" mailbox and look for a guy on a 4-wheeler; he would lead us to the patient. My partner was a black guy, a huge, body-building, 230-pound/no body fat, blacker than the ace of spades black guy.

So we get to the mailbox, see our contact, follow him down a dirt road...turns into a dirt fire road...turns into barely a path. Limbs and branches scraping the side of the ambulance. We get to a clearing, there are about 100 guys dressed in cammo, several 55-gallon drums with fires. We pull up, I get out, my partner is standing fast. "You coming?" I ask. He said take a look around, he isn't going anywhere. Every last swinging dick was white, and every head was shorn, and there were several Nazi flags, Confederate battle flags, and some anti-black/anti-Jew signage. Ahh, I got it.

Get to the patient, do my thing, big ol' bubba, so I need my partner's help getting him into the bus....300-pound patient, stretcher, monitor, O2, all now about 400 pounds. My partner very reluctantly gets out. Everyone of course sees him, no one says a word, they are all "yes, sir" and "no, sir." For my first (and thus only) Nazi/skinheads, they were very polite. We get the patient loaded, head to the hospital, maybe 45 minutes away.

Making small talk I asked something like, "you fellas having a pig-pickin'?" No, he said, they were having a rally. He was very honest. After talking with him, he was very blunt. Didn't like Jews, didn't like black folks. Didn't want to hurt them though (physically), just didn't want them in positions of political/economic power. We get to the ED, my partner helps unload, the guy is very respectful, thanks both of us.

My partner and I talked about it afterward on the ride back. It was very bizarre, very surreal. Our first experience with something like that, we conjured up scenes of violence and threats to my partner. It was as if the guys happened to be CPAs and librarians they were so chill. It was very, very odd.
 
Devildoc said:
I know people who have been in the Klan (maybe they still are, I don't know). But here's a story:

Years ago, 1997ish, I was a paramedic in a mostly rural county here in NC (Chatham County for context). We get called for "chest pain," dispatch tells us go to "n" mailbox and look for a guy on a 4-wheeler; he would lead us to the patient. My partner was a black guy, a huge, body-building, 230-pound/no body fat, blacker than the ace of spades black guy.

So we get to the mailbox, see our contact, follow him down a dirt road...turns into a dirt fire road...turns into barely a path. Limbs and branches scraping the side of the ambulance. We get to a clearing, there are about 100 guys dressed in cammo, several 55-gallon drums with fires. We pull up, I get out, my partner is standing fast. "You coming?" I ask. He said take a look around, he isn't going anywhere. Every last swinging dick was white, and every head was shorn, and there were several Nazi flags, Confederate battle flags, and some anti-black/anti-Jew signage. Ahh, I got it.

Get to the patient, do my thing, big ol' bubba, so I need my partner's help getting him into the bus....300-pound patient, stretcher, monitor, O2, all now about 400 pounds. My partner very reluctantly gets out. Everyone of course sees him, no one says a word, they are all "yes, sir" and "no, sir." For my first (and thus only) Nazi/skinheads, they were very polite. We get the patient loaded, head to the hospital, maybe 45 minutes away.

Making small talk I asked something like, "you fellas having a pig-pickin'?" No, he said, they were having a rally. He was very honest. After talking with him, he was very blunt. Didn't like Jews, didn't like black folks. Didn't want to hurt them though (physically), just didn't want them in positions of political/economic power. We get to the ED, my partner helps unload, the guy is very respectful, thanks both of us.

My partner and I talked about it afterward on the ride back. It was very bizarre, very surreal. Our first experience with something like that, we conjured up scenes of violence and threats to my partner. It was as if the guys happened to be CPAs and librarians they were so chill. It was very, very odd.
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Wow.

I guess when a Nazi/Klan guy thinks he might die, race issues don't seem that fucking important anymore.
 
Not so much, there is a difference between an extremist and a violent extremist. It is a point of difference I have outlined previously elsewhere here.
As you illustrate, there are white extremists in your country which seems to be a given and they are entitled to their view in a multiparty democracy. I'm in a minority here and no fan of the current POTUS, but the left ( which I refer to as the Herbal Tea Party) are more militant and more aggressive than the right extremists. It is no more true in your country than it is in mine, the difference is that the extreme right know they are outsiders & the extreme left think they hold all the cards and occupy the moral high ground, no matter how aggressive they are. As noted, I'm not a fan of Trump but not only has his point about left wing violence been shouted down globally, it has been totally vilified. It is the reverse of "Paris vaute une messe" dictum and is a defining moment of his presidency as big business has deserted him due to his stance.
 
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Does the President have any friends left?! I ask that kind of seriously. There is a saying that "compromise is for politicians". To a great extent that is true. How can the President possibly expect to move any agenda forward (regardless of what the agenda is or what we feel about it) if he has no one on his side?

My frustration at the ineptness/incompetence of the Republicans in Congress to move any meaningful agenda has just about reached capacity as well. Never underestimate their ability to pass away a perfectly good opportunity.

We're quickly approaching a year since the election and there has been nothing meaningful to show for the change.
 
I think it's the other way around, I think he's putting people in place that are more in-line with his NY Democrat sensibilities and that all of these idiots he had within his administration were matters of political patronage to the base.
 
Blizzard said:
My frustration at the ineptness/incompetence of the Republicans in Congress to move any meaningful agenda has just about reached capacity as well.
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ThunderHorse said:
I think it's the other way around, I think he's putting people in place that are more in-line with his NY Democrat sensibilities and that all of these idiots he had within his administration were matters of political patronage to the base.
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Embrace the healing power of "And," gentlemen. Life is easier that way.

The current Republican Party is only as conservative as that walkway to the ballot booth. They're damned good at being the loyal opposition, and are fucked if they know how to stick to their constituents' wishes outside of campaign season (which seems to never end, making them nuisance animals like coyotes and feral hogs).

Trump may be a shrewd businessman of dubious success, but he's got more time in with a D after his name, and was really fucking chummy with Felonia von Pantsuit and her pervert husband until he had the unmitigated gall to win this election (after running how many times?). A leopard doesn't change his spots. Of course patronage was a factor.
 
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