This is probably my favorite meme of all time.

Bradskii said:

I didn't ignore. I read it. But I'm not sure that you have. It contains nothing about the US taking armed action against cartels. And I found this:

'This strategy temporarily became entangled in a dispute over policies adopted by the Peruvian and Colombian governments - with strong US encouragement - to shoot down
planes of suspected drug traffickers.

When Colombia announced in early 1994 that it too, like Peru, would adopt a shoot-down policy, some US officials in Washington became concerned that the policy would violate international law. After the US Justice Department ruled that "US officials who knowingly provide information that leads to the shooting down of civilian aircraft could be subject to criminal prosecution," DOD halted the sharing of "real-time" aircraft tracking information with Colombia and Peru in May
1994.'

Trump is not supplying information to allow others to illegally kill people. He's actually doing it himself.

My guess is that you didn't even know that information was in there.

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My guess is that you are wrong to assume stuff about me.

Bradskii said:

Other presidents used the military to train non Americans and supplied them with equipment and info (see quote in post above). That's not what you said, is it...

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Other presidents were weak in the war against narco terrorists cartels that are killing hundreds of thousands of Americans.

essentialsaltes said:

Trump tries to explain a U-turn — and conservatives are furious: ‘Out-of-touch to new levels’​

President Donald Trump is facing scrutiny after doubling down on his administration’s plan to allow hundreds of thousands of Chinese students to study at American universities.

[First announced in August (the OP)] criticism is again mounting, after Trump was pressed on whether the move should be viewed as a “pro-MAGA position” during an interview on Fox News released late Monday.

“MAGA was my idea. MAGA was nobody else’s idea. I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else.”

“We do have a lot of people coming in from China. We always have, China and other countries,” Trump said on “The Ingraham Angle.” “We also have a massive system of colleges and universities, and if we were to cut that in half, which perhaps makes some people happy, you would have half the colleges in the United States go out of business.”

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...that's quite the defense of C-H-I-N-A! (after "We'll have all the magnets we want in 2 years"

@12:20

MarkSB said:

Our president is on TV reminding everyone of what a bad leader he is.

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President Donald Trump is a far better leader than anyone in the Democratic Party.

Dan1988 said:

You have read lies, because the original scriptures are not in Greek at all. Greeks didn't exist when the OT was written. The only reason some of the NT was written in Greek was because Greek was a common language 2000 years ago, n
I notice you deny the bible doctrines of "election to salvation" and "Reprobation", (which the Lord Jesus taught), but you embrace the teachings of the heretics who reject what the Lord Jesus taught.

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Regarding the demonic dogma of "election unto salvation," Jesus taught no such thing. You have failed to realize to whom both Jesus and Paul were speaking when they were speaking of election. The election spoke of referred to those who would be spared from the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, a pivotal moment in the history of the Kingdom of God and the Covenant people of God. According to most Preterist writers I have read - and I tend to agree with them because of Matthew chapter 24 - the destruction of Jerusalem was the official end of the Old Covenant and the official beginning of the New Covenant or the new age, spoke of in Matthew 24:3

It is not "I" who am rejecting truth and embracing heresy. The particulars of Calvinism were not taught by any of the Early Fathers of the Church. That alone should make you stop and pause, but Calvinists reject most of the Fathers of the Church with the exception of Augustine and parts of his theology and soteriology which he completely screwed up

You can accuse God of being an evil monster, but God is not mocked, because every man will reap what he sows.

Apparently you have never heard of the teaching of Lex Talionis either, which simply means that the punishment fits the offence. Now tell me what offence deserves torture without end. I will say it again - the "god" of Calvinism is a monster - pure and simple!

Hans Blaster said:

There are some speculations about how the current epoch is initiated. Some like eternal inflation were random bits will stop inflating and form a new "universe" with that start as a big-bang-like event. Others have cyclical sequences of bangs or bangs and crunches. There are other models, but I don't care which one is true if any. An infinite past is not a problem.

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Speculative models are speculative models, not any sort of evidence. But infinite regress is an absurdity, for multiple reasons that basically boil down to the fact that everything drains away to nothing and that there is no way to get to the present moment.

Hans Blaster said:

Incorrect. Dependence on a person certainly is subjective when "subjective" and "objective" are properly understood. It is the literal discrimination between the two. Dependent on a person = subjective.

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Not quite, because grammatical objects don't really apply to God. God is more like a verb than a noun, not subject to such predication.

Hans Blaster said:

Is there not an eternity in your worldview? Is not your "source" eternal? An infinite past not to mention an infinite future of punishment?

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Eternal is terminal, it is the beginning and the end. Not an infinite regress, but a single, ultimate cause.

Hans Blaster said:

An infinite past is not a problem.

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Especially if time didn't start until the BB. But I vote cyclical.

Valletta said:

A federal judge has ordered the release of hundreds of individuals arrested in Illinois as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, known as "Operation Midway Blitz."

Judge Orders Release Of Hundreds Arrested During Immigration Raids | WBZ NewsRadio 1030

The judge's ruling highlights the unlawful tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the crackdown.

wbznewsradio.iheart.com

Another activist judge trying to usurp power from the Executive Branch.

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Last I checked, the decision of whom should remain in custody fall well into the activities of a judge.

Always in His Presence said:

Nearly eight years earlier, on April 2, 2011, Epstein described Trump in an email to Maxwell​

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That's Ghislaine "I wish her well" Maxwell.

Always in His Presence said:

who is serving a 20-year prison sentence​

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Now in a minimum security facility, not available to sex offenders generally.

I don’t think He meant dogs, but it’s arguable.

Chesterton said:

Miracle achieved. It has generated as much interest in my mind as Cracker Barrel going "woke".

(Cracker Barrel - what a racist name.)

Login to view embedded media

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Yes I do recall you taking a considerable interest in the Cracker Barrel thread

I like the blue on black look. What the groups you are getting?

Dan1988 said:

I notice you reject what the Lord Jesus taught, but you embrace the heretics who deny the doctrine of hell, (which Jesus taught).
I notice you deny the bible doctrines of "election to salvation" and "Reprobation", (which the Lord Jesus taught), but you embrace the teachings of the heretics who reject what the Lord Jesus taught.

You can accuse God of being an evil monster, but God is not mocked, because every man will reap what he sows.

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Ah, of course. The ol' "You deny Jesus' teachings!" and "Are you calling God a monster?! *gasp* " strawman arguments from the eternal torment proponents.

Say, what did Jesus teach about what happens to souls who end up in "hell" (the original word was Gehenna in the gospel verses, if my understanding is correct, but hey, why not just throw the term hell over it instead in the King James translation and get those masses in the pews automatically thinking about a Dante's Inferno-esque place of endless suffering, instead, right?), anyways? Ah, yes; He used the term destroy in Matthew 10:28.

And no, you aren't going to convince me that "destroy doesn't mean what you annihilationists think it means", so please don't bother. The point is, we have good reason to believe Jesus taught something differently concerning hell/Gehenna/second death than eternal conscious torment proponents do, so no one is outright rejecting anything that came out of Jesus' mouth. It's just the hell proponents wanting to assert that anyone who disagrees with them on that particular theological subject are denying Christ and His teachings; a nice and simple auto-shutdown tactic that will get anyone merely questioning the Scriptural legitimacy of eternal torment in hell to immediately shut up and question no further, because they've all but been plainly told that they go against God Himself if they do so.

Light of the East said:

Now tell me that Jesus would ever sanction the eternal torture of people. Stand at the Cross and say that.

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I tell you one thing, starting about 11 years ago after wondering and searching on this matter, I no longer can do that. Quite frankly I instead worry that I would be committing a great sin of insulting God and maligning His character by willingly going back to believing in the eternal torment and immortal souls doctrine just because it's the most fearful interpretation of the fate of unbelievers, when I have been shown that it just doesn't have sufficient basis in Sctipture from a plainer reading (and without the sheer presupposition that all human souls were created immortal).

And I just can't see anymore that Jesus, the Slaughtered Lamb, Who went to the cross and endured at least six hours of intense suffering and humiliation for the sake of us idiotic, and sometimes downright wicked, human sinners - while teaching us The Golden Rule, to love our neighbors and our enemies, to forgive seventy times seven, etc. - is also intent on burning His enemies alive forever. It just doesn't compute, I'm sorry.

The DOW broke 48,000!

62% of Americans invest (directly or indirectly) in the stock market. So there you are!

Judge Cummings' ruling highlights the unlawful tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the crackdown. ICE agents often conducted "collateral arrests" without warrants, a practice deemed illegal by the court.

wing2000 said:

...and looking forward to the Republican plan to replace the ACA....it's only been 10 years....

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Republicans don't have a federal replacement and don't want to have one. The danger is that Obamacare gets voted down as part of BBB 2026, leaving folks to depend on state and other group programs.

Aldebaran said:

Are you saying it's ok to withhold ALL funding for federal workers and SNAP recipients and hold them hostage for Obamacare subsidies? That not very good prioritizing!

Maybe in the mid-terms coming up, they can sell the idea of withholding food in favor of government subsidies for a healthcare plan that has failed. Maybe the SNAP recipients will have forgotten how hungry they were by then and will vote for the same people to represent them in the Senate.

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The Democrats can now negotiate the subsidies with Republicans and put a bill before the Senate for a vote. If subsidies are as popular and essential as Democrats think, there should be no problem getting a dozen Republicans to vote for continuation of the level of subsidies.

If Democrats are wrong, they can close the government down again in January if they wish and make the election a referendum on subsidies. Does anyone believe that this strategy will work in January?

NOTE
The BBB passed in July made sure that federal entitlement checks would still go out. Federal employees who didn't get paid would be guaranteed their checks after the shutdown was over. Republicans mistakenly didn't include SNAP (food stamps). This has been corrected in the current bill. Republicans are ready for the next shutdown, especially after allowing a Senate vote on subsidies.

I would note that problem at the airport has ZERO to do with employees not being able to pay for gas or childcare. Folks who make $150K a year (before overtime) can work out how to borrow enough to cover a couple of paychecks. One problem was that not enough airport employees were declared "essential". Another is that we simply don't have enough air traffic controllers. We need many more. There were few delays. The airlines simply canceled flights and asked folks to check on flights before driving to the airports. There will be lost of delays when there is bad weather, without a shutdown.

I also need a new high speed train line from Redlands to Vegas. Just 20 billion more dollars and I can go build it for us. Just spend it.

rambot said:

Lol. It's SOOOOOO hard to take conservatives seriously about fiscal responsibility when I read news articles and threads like this.

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I always said I was in favor of fiscal irresponsibility. Spend, baby spend..!

...But on America only. And to be even more precise, the American middle-class. Not the poor.

...and looking forward to the Republican plan to replace the ACA....it's only been 10 years....

Always in His Presence said:

Obama and Democrats initially avoided the term, preferring "Affordable Care Act," but by 2012, Obama embraced it to neutralize the criticism, saying, "You want to call it Obamacare? That's okay, because I do care.

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The policy should be called Romneycare to give the credit or fault where it belongs.

Aldebaran said:

They were the brave ones. May they be protected from the wrath of the extremists (which seem to be about all but those 8) in the rest of the Senate who just gave us the longest federal shutdown in our 250 year history.

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brave I suppose
None will be on the ballot in 2026. They have a long time to mend bridges.

If your husband is not Christian, you cannot expect him to act like one. Ungodly people act differently. Sadly, you may have wait your whole life.

GoldenBoy89 said:

I don’t see either party working towards bridging the divide but maybe after enough establishment candidates on each side lose enough elections the party leadership will start to realize they don’t have the support they thought they had.

That’s my hope.

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???
I guess I don't understand.

REPUBLICANS
Almost every establishment office holder has been booted out In the last couple of decades, especially since Trump was first elected. How has this affected the leadership of the Republican Party. Are you saying that they will now see that realize that they don't have the support that they had before they kicked them all out.

I don't see it that way at all.

Trump and his MAGA team have almost absolute control of the party. There is no meaningful opposition within the party. As has it has been since the beginning, Trump has absolute control of the MAGA base come election time/

And what have the Republicans learned in recent elections.

1) In presidential elections, they have enough vote to win. They thought they won three times. Of course, they have only won two, In the last election, Trump won 100% of the swing states.

2) The Republicans have majorities in both the Senate and the House. Anyone running that they don't like, they remove through the primary process. OF COURSE, they are likely to lose the House in the off-elections. This is almost always the case. They are very likely to keep the Senate, a major win for so unpopular a president.

3) Anyone trying to get elected as a Republican will need Trump support. so all the candidates witll be MAGA.
================
DEMOCRATS

1) The Democrats think they have the support of a majority of Americans and stand for them on the issues important to them. As long as this is the case, the Democrats have little chance to win a national election.

2) On a national basis, Democrats have also kicked out almost all their establishment moderates, leaving the far left and left to dominate what's left. Democrats do NOT have the basis to get a majority of electoral votes. Most Democrats think that they could win a national election in 2028 and no major steps need to be taken to rid itself of LOSING cultural issues and what step it needs learn to appeal to non-college degree voters

3) Democrats don't know what they stand for. There are a few who do, and a few governors who could lead. Of course, they will have almost no chance to win in the 2028 Democratic primaries.

BOTTOM LINE
There is a long time until 2028. There is little reason to believe that the Democratic Party of 2028 will have a ghost of a chance of winning the presidency unless we are in a recession. The Senate and House are always possible. The presidency is another matter. Some issues that Democrats need to get right
AFFORDABILITY
SAFETY IN OUR STREETS
CONTROL OF OUR BORDERS
REDUCTION IS DRUG TRAFFIC
and all the cultural issues such as sexual identity is schools and trans rights in our schools and on our sports teams