Tucker Carlson Tonight

[Bookman 4640]

48 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Going on a huge coke bender is a great idea until you run out of coke, basically 

This is America. We have an endless supply of coke.

[atomheartbevo 89784]

8 minutes ago, Bookman said:

This is America. We have an endless supply of coke.

Not if they close the border.

[956 Worldwide 34749]

It’s really fun to talk about economic and fiscal policy but let’s remember that a wildly influential voice of a major political party is openly creating Kremlin propaganda. 
 

Cause that’s really the only thing that matters now, we are at a “should we be brownshirts or nah” level of choice and anyone who countenances or even winks at Tucker needs to be off the table regardless of their tax policy. 

[RomaVicta 30002]

1 hour ago, G650 said:

 

This is something I have discussed with people like 20 years ago, but Reaganomics did "work", insofar as they were what was needed at the time. I am still of that opinion today. The economy was sclerotic and the deficit spending was what unclogged it. The problem was it became a national addiction, like a sugar high, for the political class. If Bush hadn't done the whole read my lips thing, and congress worked to put taxes and structural reforms in place in the 90s, it would have worked pretty fucking well.

 

But instead we became hooked on tax cuts, wealth progressively migrated up, and here we are.

That seems to indicate Reagonomics didn't work.  "We" became hooked on tax cuts is amusing unless you forgot to add -althy to We-. The morons were convinced they would benefit. They didn't. They were sold the notion of the infallibility of capitalism and the market which became more about what we stood for than liberty and self-determination.

1 hour ago, Captainant said:

Going on a huge coke bender is a great idea until you run out of coke, basically 

Excellent metaphor.

20 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It’s really fun to talk about economic and fiscal policy but let’s remember that a wildly influential voice of a major political party is openly creating Kremlin propaganda. 
 

Cause that’s really the only thing that matters now, we are at a “should we be brownshirts or nah” level of choice and anyone who countenances or even winks at Tucker needs to be off the table regardless of their tax policy. 

You're right. I'm usually an advocate for keeping one's eye on the great picture, but I became distracted.

Climate. Traitors openly operating and supported within the republic. State and local government embracing tyranny.

It's a shocking time to be an American.

[G650 14276]

4 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

"We" became hooked on tax cuts is amusing unless you forgot to add -althy to We-.

If you don't think the middle class in this country got addicted to tax cuts like a fucking crack head then I don't know what to tell you.

[RomaVicta 30002]

1 hour ago, G650 said:

If you don't think the middle class in this country got addicted to tax cuts like a fucking crack head then I don't know what to tell you.

Yes, they loved their pennies while the big boys were getting c-notes. They also became addicted to the notion of tax cuts being good even if they didn't benefit much from them. 

Recall the campaign to get rid of the "death tax." The GOP made it all about the family farm which represented about 3% of those affected by the tax change. I would have been fine with a tax law cutting that group all the slack they need to hold onto their family farms. But we all know who were the primary beneficiaries of that initiative.

You had the hoi polloi parroting the wickedness of the death tax for farmers and themselves even though none of their estates would meet the amount necessary to be taxed at all.

This is part of the larger campaign to get people to hate their government and believe it could do nothing right. This strategy leads to privatization, and guess who benefits from that?

Respectfully, I think your view is too narrow when you look at these issues. This time in our history is the birth of MAGA and open sedition.

Edited September 26, 2023 by RomaVicta

[G650 14276]

1 minute ago, RomaVicta said:

Respectfully, I think you view is too narrow when you look at these issues.

 

Ha.

 

Look, I've always considered you one of the "unique" posters, and I don't mean that in a disparaging way. Your post is basically saying exactly what I'm saying, but you are considering it some profound insight which I clearly haven't considered. The only difference to what I said is you are completely ignoring the agency of the middle class in choosing these things.

[RomaVicta 30002]

1 minute ago, G650 said:

 

Ha.

 

Look, I've always considered you one of the "unique" posters, and I don't mean that in a disparaging way. Your post is basically saying exactly what I'm saying, but you are considering it some profound insight which I clearly haven't considered. The only difference to what I said is you are completely ignoring the agency of the middle class in choosing these things.

You don't know what I consider profound. 

Perhaps we are agreeing. I'll leave it at that.

[G650 14276]

1 minute ago, RomaVicta said:

You don't know what I consider profound. 

Perhaps we are agreeing. I'll leave it at that.

No, but I can imagine what it would be like.

 

[Biff Tannen 45717]

28 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Yes, they loved their pennies while the big boys were getting c-notes. They also became addicted to the notion of tax cuts being good even if they didn't benefit much from them. 

Recall the campaign to get rid of the "death tax." The GOP made it all about the family farm which represented about 3% of those affected by the tax change. I would have been fine with a tax law cutting that group all the slack they need to hold onto their family farms. But we all know who were the primary beneficiaries of that initiative.

You had the hoi polloi parroting the wickedness of the death tax for farmers and themselves even though none of their estates would meet the amount necessary to be taxed at all.

This is part of the larger campaign to get people to hate their government and believe it could do nothing right. This strategy leads to privatization, and guess who benefits from that?

Respectfully, I think your view is too narrow when you look at these issues. This time in our history is the birth of MAGA and open sedition.

I think the bottom line is that Republican politicians and wealthy elites view the way to the top as duping people and fucking them over instead of actually helping them. 

I have a theory that the main difference between "conservatives" and "liberals" is that conservatives fundamentally believe human beings are inherently bad, whereas liberals believe human beings are inherently good.

Therefore, everything to conservatives is about how to fuck over other people and get their money before those people do the same to them.  This is not a way to build a functioning society.

[956 Worldwide 34749]

4 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I think the bottom line is that Republican politicians and wealthy elites view the way to the top as duping people and fucking them over instead of actually helping them. 

I have a theory that the main difference between "conservatives" and "liberals" is that conservatives fundamentally believe human beings are inherently bad, whereas liberals believe human beings are inherently good.

Therefore, everything to conservatives is about how to fuck over other people and get their money before those people do the same to them.  This is not a way to build a functioning society.

Dave Barry said that Republicans know how to change your tire, but won’t stop because they’d be late to Ugly Pants Night at the Country Club.  Democrats would try to help but somehow set your car on fire. 

[jimmyjazz 46113]

I miss Dave Barry.  Does he publish any more?

[WhatTheBuck 28797]

1 hour ago, G650 said:

If you don't think the middle class in this country got addicted to tax cuts like a fucking crack head then I don't know what to tell you.

Tax cuts are all they can hope for when wages are stagnant. But when the vast bulk of the tax cuts favor the ultra wealthy, my tax cut doesn’t change the fact that my share of the tax burden has actually increased. How about instead of a tax cut you give me a big pay raise? Increase the taxes on the wealthy so they pay their fare share. Use the revenue to fix the highways and bridges, invest in clean energy so we can end our addiction to fossil fuels, fix the public education system to benefit everyone and stop diverting public dollars to fund private schools to benefit a few at the expense of the many. If we find ourselves with a budget surplus, use it to pay down the debt rather than for another tax giveaway benefitting the rich.

Take home pay is what matters. I had a friend who worked for JP Morgan Chase, somewhere below middle management. He loved whatever pittance of a tax cut he got from Trump. He mentioned once that his annual raise was limited to a max of 2%. After a quick Google search I told him I hoped he got the whole 2% because the cost of living went up 1.7% that year. Judging by the look on his face I gathered he might have fallen short of that 2%. I wonder how much Jamie Dimon’s compensation went up during the time my friend was employed there and how their tax burdens compared. What if my friend’s taxes had stayed the same but he got a 5% raise every year? I’ll bet he’d come out ahead, especially if it also means living in a community/country with better schools, better infrastructure, cleaner air and water, better public services, and a brighter future for the next generation(s).

[956 Worldwide 34749]

1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

I miss Dave Barry.  Does he publish any more?

 Don’t know. That quote dates back to the 90s and it’s not true anymore. Republicans would blame the flat tire on Jews and suggest you shoot it. 

[WhatTheBuck 28797]

13 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Dave Barry said that Republicans know how to change your tire, but won’t stop because they’d be late to Ugly Pants Night at the Country Club.  Democrats would try to help but somehow set your car on fire. 

 

[Brisketexan 105298]

2 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It’s really fun to talk about economic and fiscal policy but let’s remember that a wildly influential voice of a major political party is openly creating Kremlin propaganda. 

Cause that’s really the only thing that matters now, we are at a “should we be brownshirts or nah” level of choice and anyone who countenances or even winks at Tucker needs to be off the table regardless of their tax policy. 

This.  I'd love to talk tax policy, how roads should be funded, new port initiatives, all kinds of good old fashioned policy wonk stuff.

That is all on the back burner while we deal with "the entire GQP is a fucking 5th column in our country that wants to overthrow the Republic and join the Authoritarian Club."  That's it.  That's the only issue that matters.

It's like the classic order of triage for pilots on an aircraft in crisis.  First, you aviate (fly the goddamned plane and keep it from crashing).  THEN, you navigate.  THEN you communicate.  Right now....our sole task as Americans is "aviate."  Just keep the damned plane from crashing.  Once we do that, then we can figure out where we want to fly to.

[Pato del Muerto 52577]

12 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I miss Dave Barry.  Does he publish any more?

 

10 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

 Don’t know. That quote dates back to the 90s and it’s not true anymore. Republicans would blame the flat tire on Jews and suggest you shoot it. 

I thought he had died, but when I went to look not only is he alive, he published a new book earlier this year. 

[Neonmoon 38130]

4 hours ago, G650 said:

 

This is something I have discussed with people like 20 years ago, but Reaganomics did "work", insofar as they were what was needed at the time. I am still of that opinion today. The economy was sclerotic and the deficit spending was what unclogged it. The problem was it became a national addiction, like a sugar high, for the political class. If Bush hadn't done the whole read my lips thing, and congress worked to put taxes and structural reforms in place in the 90s, it would have worked pretty fucking well.

 

But instead we became hooked on tax cuts, wealth progressively migrated up, and here we are.

Are you defining "Reaganomics" as deficit spending? 

 

[jimmyjazz 46113]

22 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Tax cuts are all they can hope for when wages are stagnant. But when the vast bulk of the tax cuts favor the ultra wealthy, my tax cut doesn’t change the fact that my share of the tax burden has actually increased.

The average American saw "cash for clunkers" and other random $500 handouts as a big deal.  That kinda tells the story, doesn't it?

[G650 14276]

3 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Are you defining "Reaganomics" as deficit spending? 

 

No that was just a component.

[956 Worldwide 34749]

On 9/22/2023 at 7:07 PM, safe sex said:

Гленн Грінвальд imo

You wrote in Ukrainian tho! 
 

Гленн Гринвальд

[Red Five 40884]

46 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

 

I thought he had died, but when I went to look not only is he alive, he published a new book earlier this year. 

I was also pretty sure he had died. Mandela Effect, IMO.

Edit: I bet we're thinking of the guy who played him on tv. Harry Anderson.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Red Five

[safe sex 11746]

48 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

You wrote in Ukrainian tho! 
 

Гленн Гринвальд

Lmao I don't know the differences between Ukrainian and Russian spellings of names

No disrespect intended to Ukraine ofc!

[Biff Tannen 45717]

When you people write in cyrillic, are we expected to use google translate or something?  What's the point?

[safe sex 11746]

[elfenix 34331]

 
This is something I have discussed with people like 20 years ago, but Reaganomics did "work", insofar as they were what was needed at the time. I am still of that opinion today. The economy was sclerotic and the deficit spending was what unclogged it. The problem was it became a national addiction, like a sugar high, for the political class. If Bush hadn't done the whole read my lips thing, and congress worked to put taxes and structural reforms in place in the 90s, it would have worked pretty fucking well.
 
But instead we became hooked on tax cuts, wealth progressively migrated up, and here we are.

Or, and hear me out, between the monetary policy act, Paul volcker, the continued fall in the real price of oil from its peak in ~78, the Japanese bubble era stuffing all its cash into the US, allowed the government to facilitate a massive transfer of wealth from the bottom to the very tip top

[G650 14276]

1 minute ago, elfenix said:

5 hours ago, G650 said:

 
This is something I have discussed with people like 20 years ago, but Reaganomics did "work", insofar as they were what was needed at the time. I am still of that opinion today. The economy was sclerotic and the deficit spending was what unclogged it. The problem was it became a national addiction, like a sugar high, for the political class. If Bush hadn't done the whole read my lips thing, and congress worked to put taxes and structural reforms in place in the 90s, it would have worked pretty fucking well.
 
But instead we became hooked on tax cuts, wealth progressively migrated up, and here we are.

Or, and hear me out, between the monetary policy act, Paul volcker, the continued fall in the real price of oil from its peak in ~78, the Japanese bubble era stuffing all its cash into the US, allowed the government to facilitate a massive transfer of wealth from the bottom to the very tip top

 

You can thank Newt Gingrich, Bill Clinton and W for that a lot more than Ronald effin Reagan.

[Longhorn_Fan68 33891]

4 hours ago, G650 said:

If you don't think the middle class in this country got addicted to tax cuts like a fucking crack head then I don't know what to tell you.

what middle class?

[G650 14276]

<gestures at millions of suburbs and Lexus dealerships spread across the width of America>

[Judge Roybeanbag 11820]

2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

The average American saw "cash for clunkers" and other random $500 handouts as a big deal.  That kinda tells the story, doesn't it?

Thanks Obama!

[Longhorn_Fan68 33891]

11 minutes ago, G650 said:

<gestures at millions of suburbs and Lexus dealerships spread across the width of America>

lol, that's an exceptionally naive take. I mean, I was being facetious so i assume you are too. The upper and lower classes have both grown in the last few decades with the middle disappearing into one of those two categories. There is little in the current trends that point to anything changing anytime soon, but maybe a second Biden term will start to correct that. But the missing middle is still a real problem.

[G650 14276]

2 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

But the missing middle is still a real problem.

Eh, we may disagree here depending on which part of the middle you are referring to.

 

But it is true that the distribution has changed quite a bit. There are still three very distinct strata however.

[956 Worldwide 34749]

3 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

When you people write in cyrillic, are we expected to use google translate or something?  What's the point?

I find it somewhat humorous to exaggerate Tucker Carlson’s affinity for Russian propaganda by writing his name in Cyrillic.  It’s a bad joke but it’s the one I have. 

[safe sex 11746]

Користуватися Google не складно

[956 Worldwide 34749]

Такер Карлсон will talk to Alex Jones about 9/11.

[wildcat09 29377]

Incredible. The Knowledge Fight episodes will be must listens.

[kevwun 15865]

Things are going very well for Tucker.  Maybe he can get a public access show next.

[Aqua Buddha 14607]

1 minute ago, kevwun said:

Things are going very well for Tucker.  Maybe he can get a public access show next.

"bUt aLl the vIEws!!!!"

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

Msnbc this morning saying Melania is pushing for Tucker to be Trump's VP. 

[kevwun 15865]

Lol, she hasn't talked to Trump in months I bet.

[Degenerate Gardner 4085]

14 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Things are going very well for Tucker.  Maybe he can get a public access show next.

It will never measure up to Ask Lydia Live.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13523]

17 minutes ago, SmokeyTheBear said:

Msnbc this morning saying Melania is pushing for Tucker to be Trump's VP. 

hey why not. Pence was selected in '16 because he looked the part and Trump was told that it would give his campaign more credibility in the eyes of some voters. None of that is important for Trump in 2024. Trump has his ~45% voters baked in, so he needs someone to work to convince others that Biden shouldn't get their vote. Tucker might be good for that. 

I don't see how Tucker would make Trump's campaign or vote total worse. The question is if Tucker could hurt Biden more than another VP candidate.

[atomheartbevo 89784]

4 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

hey why not. Pence was selected in '16 because he looked the part and Trump was told that it would give his campaign more credibility in the eyes of some voters. None of that is important for Trump in 2024. Trump has his ~45% voters baked in, so he needs someone to work to convince others that Biden shouldn't get their vote. Tucker might be good for that. 

I don't see how Tucker would make Trump's campaign or vote total worse. The question is if Tucker could hurt Biden more than another VP candidate.

The problem is that Tucker is a loser - kicked off of Fox News like a dog, and he's hanging on twitter, which Trump hates.

[TexArcher 38045]

37 minutes ago, SmokeyTheBear said:

Msnbc this morning saying Melania is pushing for Tucker to be Trump's VP. 

Like Trump would listen to a woman with a brain a third the size of his (it's science).

[Steamboat1874 4086]

40 minutes ago, SmokeyTheBear said:

Msnbc this morning saying Melania is pushing for Tucker to be Trump's VP. 

She just wants him around so she can bang him.

[Restless Native 315]

I don't think VP-candidate Tucker would add or subtract a single vote. Trump cultists are already Tucker cultists, and vice-versa.

[Red Five 40884]

The same people who voted for Dotard before will do it again. We need for everyone who voted for Biden to vote for Biden again, otherwise it's President Dotard, convicted felon.

[A-Tex Devil 2462]

2 hours ago, Red Five said:

The same people who voted for Dotard before will do it again. We need for everyone who voted for Biden to vote for Biden again, otherwise it's President Dotard, convicted felon.

I think (hope) there is a group of conservatives that sat 2020 out that maybe starting to see, a little late, the real danger Trump can be.    My Dad is one of them.  He is a life long Kemp/Bush republican that has never voted democrat.  He claims, and I trust him, that he voted for Trump in 2016 because "team" and trust in checks and balances, and left the president slot blank in 2020. 

I had this dialogue last night:

Me: "You know, no one has asked Trump if he understands that if he wins, he can't run for reelection in 2028.  Do you think he understands/cares?"  [BY THE WAY - SOMEONE NEEDS TO DO THIS.]

Him: "Nope.  I think he plans to continue to be president." 

Me: "So you'll vote for Biden given that's fucking crazy?"

Him: "I am hopeful he won't be the nominee."

Me: "C'mon."

Him: "If he is the nominee, I'll vote for Biden."

Me: "Then you are voting for Biden?:

Him: "If Trump is the GOP nominee, yes."

If there are about 50K-75K people like this across the right geographies, I am hopeful. 

[Bodhi 1124]

4 hours ago, A-Tex Devil said:

I think (hope) there is a group of conservatives that sat 2020 out that maybe starting to see, a little late, the real danger Trump can be.    My Dad is one of them.  He is a life long Kemp/Bush republican that has never voted democrat.  He claims, and I trust him, that he voted for Trump in 2016 because "team" and trust in checks and balances, and left the president slot blank in 2020. 

I had this dialogue last night:

Me: "You know, no one has asked Trump if he understands that if he wins, he can't run for reelection in 2028.  Do you think he understands/cares?"  [BY THE WAY - SOMEONE NEEDS TO DO THIS.]

Him: "Nope.  I think he plans to continue to be president." 

Me: "So you'll vote for Biden given that's fucking crazy?"

Him: "I am hopeful he won't be the nominee."

Me: "C'mon."

Him: "If he is the nominee, I'll vote for Biden."

Me: "Then you are voting for Biden?:

Him: "If Trump is the GOP nominee, yes."

If there are about 50K-75K people like this across the right geographies, I am hopeful. 

Sounds exactly like my dad.  I have no doubt despite what he says, my dad will vote for Trump again.  Wish I had your optimism, I just don't. 

Nothing Trump has done will dissuade a large percentage of our population from voting for him.  Every single person that voted never Trump in 2020 better turn out again or this country will be run by a regarded hate-filled Dictator.  

Edited December 7, 2023 by Bodhi

[YGIFS 19452]

I think the play is still suppressing Trump voters in a few states to the tune of a couple million.  They hate Biden but not that passionately, just what they've been spoonfed by Fox and family.  If just a couple million think,, "Meh, enough with this Trump bullshit.  I don't like Biden, but I'm not gonna bother anymore...we gotta move on and direct our hatred elsewhere."  Just a tiny bump in apathy to get 2-5 million to stay home on Election Day and Biden's got made in the shade.  Y'all can "Rock the Vote" or "Turnout the Base" or "Youth Vote" canvas until you're blue in the face.  And yes, most of Trump's loyalists will get out, and most GOP'ers will still just go straight ticket and not really even give a shit about top of the ticket.  It's that middle 25mm that voted Trump even though they knew they shouldn't in 2020.  You get a few million of that middle third to just sit it out (mainly the ones in states without competitive Senate or Governor races which is actually a lot of states for the GOP this cycle/class), and Trump's toast.  Trying to see which of the two parties can turn out the most voters is futile for Biden's chances.  just beat the message home to that middle "I don't like Trump but he's better for me than Biden" 25mm in a few states that staying home is the best choice in 2024 and it's all over with.  A contest of ideas or results or character is a fool's errand.