quigley

"She's a radical war hawk," Trump said of Cheney. "Let's put her with a rifle standing there, with nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let's see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-suggests-liz-cheney-should-face-firing-squad-her-foreign-policy-stance-2024-11-01/

1. Trump may not want a national abortion ban, but a significant group of his underlying are interested in it. Comstock Act will be discussed and there's a significant chance it's implemented. 2. He's literally talked about putting her in front of a firing squad.

If you have time, please expound on this, here or elsewhere. Is my hypothesis of changed "in group" wrong? RE: mississippi: same

I don't understand the text or context of this message.

Prentice Gautt integrated OU football in the 50s. There are several stories of his teammates sticking up for him. I don't know of stories saying teammate demanded segregation.

Umm, you're supporting my point. OU still had/has a lot of racism but was providing opportunity in the early 1970s. Switzer's success at that time was predicated on Texas football powers under-recruiting Black athletes in Texas. By the late 70s, Earl Campbell, et al were fueling the restoration of UT football to a nationally relevant program. Your point about Black athlete anxiety about going to the South is correct. There are several histories of the USC-Alabama game that describe this.

1960s: no Blacks in SEC / SWC 1970 and onward: Famously, they were getting paid to play in the SEC / SWC.

OU's a softball and gymnastics school now.

This isn't Stockholm Syndrome. It's a change in identity, a change in who athletes self-perception of their "in group." And it's not just Black American athletes. Famously, Neymar is a Bolsonaro supporter. It's similar to Black police officers who'll tell you they aren't black any more, their Blue. The in group for Black athletes is monied interests with status.

@Guadaloopy I 100% agree with you both. I also am very familiar to the VA system. To me, VA benefits should be given to all who served without means testing. We WANT to care for our vets because they cared for us. I used to be a great example of a unified health care system. That was back in the 1980s. The erosion begin in 1990s when we thought that one of the spoils of winning to Cold War was going to be no more wars so smaller military. Yeah, right. The VA has been in a death spiral since. Unable to hire because poor pay so vets don't come so smaller visit numbers justifying further cuts in services. This splashed onto the scene in 2013 and 2014 with tragic deaths due to delayed care. And the response with the Veterans Choice program which pumped more money into the program initially but also allowed veterans benefits to be used at non-VA facilities. John McCain spearheaded the Choice program as a stopgap, but because our politics is broken, it was obvious that this would accelerate the demise of the VA. Trump made it easier to go outside the VA for care in 2017, and his administration is going to kill the VA, which is bad. Veterans have special needs, and the VA had served those needs well. Another terrible decision for those who voted for the "face-eating leopards party" (FELP).

My Sooners are making it really easy to check out on football and basketball right now

We all need diversions. Watching sports is a harmless one, but not an additive one. Additive diversions build value into your life. If you watch sports with a community it can be additive, but not as much as playing sports with a group. I've backed off watching sports. I'm playing them more.

Non-Americans have long been perplexed by the American focus on sports. In the past, I used to say that sports was our tribalism. We had our fights between the lines on the field instead of in the streets. Now that some people view politics as entertainment, I wish that the opium of sports was enough.

A lot of "working class" people have 401k's with stock investments and feel good when they see stock indices rise. My phrase is designed to alert them to the fact that their future returns won't address their current short falls, with rhyme.

Yeah, GOP is great for the economy, if you measure it by Dow Jones and number of private jet flights. Democratic messaging needs to be CORPORATE WELFARE PAID FOR BY YOU --- 50,000 times per day, by every elected official and surrogate. When they say what about 401k, Dems say 401k ain't buying my eggs today and with inflation it ain't gonna be worth nothin anyway

The goal is to help the families who need the most help. The families who need the most help are the poorest, and thus frequently don't pay taxes. If you have an adult with disability, you likely making less money to begin with. Plus, stress of care is hard to measure and drains earning capacity. Why not give direct payment for care provided? This is already done by some states and works really well. Harris's plan would've given payment. I don't think Trump's plan, if his administration acts on it, will help the people who need it the most.

@Sawbonz Jumping into this conversation late. Problem with tax credits is that disability drains families' ability to earn so they don't make enough money to really benefit from tax breaks. If this has been covered, lo siento.

I have heard several people say that Trump is entertaining and they like that in their politics. Truth be told, his first presidency didn't do much because they were so incompetent. If they have a trifecta (pray no) + a compliant SCOTUS (which they do), it will be FAFO time.

The funny thing is that "identity politics" got us Joe Biden. I know one of the principles of a Democratic PAC. He openly stated they were supporting Biden because Dems needed an old White dude to beat the GOP old White dude. There was no one in that lane in 2020 other than Joe and Bernie. And Bernie ain't getting (or taking) PAC money. Biden's mistake was not stepping away after the MID-TERMS. He was clearly declining physically. He could've gone out on top. Harris would be president for 2 years. I think Harris would have done a better job on Gaza and promoting the good policies the Biden administration achieved.

One other thing that politics has become is entertainment. Having someone with comedic skills fits this environment really well.

Nah dude. We're constantly changing. Entropy around us and aging within. Are you going to get worse, more cynical and jaded? Or are you going to try to be a helper? Someone who can make things better? The goal is 1% better each day.

The next 18 months is when you show up in your community to prove that you're there help, not just get the vote.

You voted for Trump (I assume), a tremendous bullshitter. Because he's a bullshitter, does that mean everyone is a bullshitter? Do you constantly lie in your everyday life? The conversation I had was tremendously banal. What makes it seem embellished?

Two answers: 1. The media ecosystem has allowed revanchist bullying. @RabidM is right. There needs to be a counterbalance. 2. @linux is on the right track with his idea about Al Franken (but Al's washed sadly). The way to beat the bully is with humor. There are plenty of lefty comedians who are smart and sharp. We need to recruit one to run for congress in 2026 and president in 2028.

You do you dude. Golden rule first.