GhostofSparta

49 minutes ago, LadySkinsFan said:

You may want to edit or delete that last cartoon, as the profanity filter will not catch that f-bomb.

11 minutes ago, Veryoldschool said:

 

Why isn't the killing in Chicago irrelevant to a gun control discussion?  I am not an NRA type why isn't the killing in Chicago a point of discussion.  Strict gun control in place and progressives/liberals/Democrats have been running the city for generations why don't the deceased in Chicago matter?

Mostly because at this point it's nothing more than a verbal/written reflex.

"We should have more background checks" "Chicago!"

"We should find a way to screen the mentally disabled/disturbed" "Chicago!"

"We should make it harder for certain non-felony crimes to make it harder to get a gun" "Chicago!"

And Chicago isn't located in the heart of Alaska, where it'll take you days to get to another state via car. It's located within a days drive of about half a dozen states with much looser gun laws. It's akin to having a complete ban on buying guns in DC, and then saying it doesn't work when VA is right next door with much looser regulations.

That's why the cries of "But Chicago!" get tiring in these debates. It's not an island nation that can tightly control its borders through a handful of ports or something. It's a major city in close range of many states with innumerable ways in and out (ports, railroads, airports, roads, etc.). 

3 minutes ago, Springfield said:

Of course she brings up Chicago.  What a ****.

Is there a way we can create an equivalent to Godwin's Law involving this? In any gun debate the odds of a Republican/conservative bringing up Chicago becomes inevitable and means you've lost? 

18 hours ago, Mad Mike said:

Meanwhile 

August 2017 was second warmest on record

Second warmest? That means there was another that was warmer, so climate change is a hoax.

That's great news, because now we can go back to polluting the earth to our heart's content. Just like God wanted.

28 minutes ago, Gamebreaker said:

 

I was not there, and I'm sure I haven't seen every single image or video recorded from that weekend. But I'm skeptical that people who carried tiki torches and beat on protesters that Friday night, and stood by while Nazi salutes, flags, symbolism, and chants were going on the next day didn't agree with it. I have yet to see a single image or video of someone who supported that side showing any kind of disdain or confusion with what was going on. At the very least, calling the Nazis a small minority of the people on that side is a bit revisionist. 

28 minutes ago, The Evil Genius said:

 

I dunno Larry. The alt right is a made up term to give credence to those who don't mind walking side by side with the KKK and neo Nazis but hey..they aren't racists bigots too..

17 minutes ago, Burgold said:

Maybe... but they were there to give support for the Confederacy and chances are more than fifty-fifty that everyone marching in support of the Confederacy who link arms with KKK members, Nazis, and the like and don't run for the hills when they hear what's being said and who they are aligning with probably just has a bit more than a touch of hate and racism in them.

Not sure if this was already posted (since Charlottesville seems like 5 years ago at this point, my God...) but starting around 6:30 is a great "Devil's Advocate" type argument for how non-Klan/Nazi "fine persons" (term in the video) should have reacted that night.

Cut by the Browns this morning. Eligible to be signed at 4 PM. Got an NFL alert at about 4:15 that he was signing with the Steelers for basically the same amount the Browns wanted him to reduce his salary to. 

2 hours ago, Mr. Sinister said:

 

"Sometimes when you win, you really lose..."

 

- Rosie Perez

"Stop plagiarizing me!"
-King Pyrrhus of Epirus

On 8/15/2017 at 6:48 PM, visionary said:

 

I know this was like, 15 pages ago at this point, but I just want to complain once again. I will never forgive the Republican party for picking Trump over Kasich. You ****ing idiots that picked that man-child because you felt like throwing a giant temper tantrum. I hope he cuts all your "government assistance" (you know, what you call welfare when people you don't like use it) and makes your lives hell for the next 3 1/2 years.

And I sincerely want to thank @Destino for making sure certain posters behave themselves or steer clear of this thread. I know the mod job is mostly thankless but not letting this thread devolve like it was headed toward was a good decision, and I appreciate the decision.

1 hour ago, elkabong82 said:

Good. Tear down every last dedication to treasonous deserters. 

 

After all, why give participation trophies to losers?

40 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

I would also be in favor of replacing them all with statues of William Tecumseh Mother****ing Sherman.  So nobody forgets "our history" and all that.

29 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

Other, bigger statues.  Of William Tecumseh Sherman.

So glad to see I'm not the only one who instantly had this reaction.

4 minutes ago, visionary said:

 

 

Who to believe. The guy at a Nazi rally, or my own eyes.

Man, that's a real Sophie's Choice there.

Man, there is a disturbing lack of coverage of this event on most of the right wing sites I still sometimes frequent. No deflection, no excusing, no contextualizing, no moral equivocating, nothing. Just....nothing. That's ****ing creepy.

So Ivanka gets it. Too bad he loves Bannon more than her or she might be able to talk to him.

Lots of pictures of these ****s all over the internet. Time to find out where they work and make those businesses let them know just how much continuing to employ these asshats will cost them financially. Maybe let whoever ends up prosecuting the driver's case that if they don't put terrorism on the table, then their job is on the line.

Sure, it's not as cathartic as a drone strike. But these people need to be re-marginalized ASAP.

5 hours ago, twa said:

Did you take advantage of your chance to vote for Kasich?

I did. Even though by the time the PA primary rolled around it was only Trump and Kasich left, with Kasich having no shot in hell of winning. Then, in the general, I voted against Trump. Because **** Trump. My (former? probably) party lost it's damn mind. They went so ****ing nuts over Obama (and what his 2 electoral wins represented  to poor, older whites) that they agreed that Trump was the "best" choice out of a field of like, 40 people. I don't give a **** that Trump only got like, 40% support in the primaries, he won the general. Enough Republicans changed their mind about him to elect him President of the ****ing United States. What the actual ****?

1 hour ago, Larry said:

Among Trump voters, the results were:

     North: 24%

     South: 38%

     Not sure:  38%

**** the Confederacy and any idiot that supports anything to do with them. Now, then, or ever. I'll admit my prejudice, if I see you with a Confederate flag (and you're not a collector or re-enactor), I assume you're dumb white trash. Judge me for that all you want, fair is fair, but that's what I think.

10 hours ago, youngchew said:

So the entrance to Hell has appeared.  

And it's in Baltimore. Who's shocked?

We really are trying to pull @Predicto back to us, aren't we?

30 minutes ago, Larry said:

Well, now there's a proposal to reduce the impact of global warning. 

 

Eliminate the the people from affected areas. 

Because that is definitely not the GOP master plan. Deny climate change, let the cities and coasts (you know, where Dems/Libs live) flood and kill them all, ensure GOP majority.

That would just be crazy talk. 

1 hour ago, twa said:

 

How many were clearly overstepping his authority?

 

Well I've got 12 for Clinton, 9 for Bush, and 3 for Obama. But I've been hoping to have somebody to compare numbers with for a while. What are your numbers?

Oh boy, here we go.

1. So, first of all, focus on the long-term over the short term. Yes, you're in charge NOW. Will you be in 4 years? 10? 25? You can only gerrymander your way to relevance on the national level for so long before it backfires. That was one hell of a ground game in 2010 to go from almost Filibuster-proof minority party to controlling Congress and most state houses. And with the 2010 census, that control has led to an impressive 7 year (so far) run of almost total control and the state (outside of the coasts) and national level. But 2010 was a mid-term year, which is always better for R's than D's due to older people (who lean R) turning out way more often in off-year elections when there's no big race. 2020 could be different. If the Trump backlash is bad enough, could it lead to another 2008 for the D's? If so, and they get a decent enough ground game going for local races (see the Democrat version of this thread for their weaknesses in that area), could they turn the 2020's into their decade of dominance? If so, how does a party that currently relies on an older, dwindling voter base plan to survive that decade to come back in 2030, keeping hoping that each AARP member suddenly registers R?

Figure out what the long-term message of the party needs to be. Something simple, basic, and broad. You know, something like "more personal freedom, more efficient government, more jobs that haven't been obsolete for 50 years, etc." But don't make it inflexible. Being anti-gay marriage may have worked in 2005. I don't see it working in 2025.

2. This past election has shown a big rift in the R party. Figure out what group/s are most important to pander to/represent, and be honest about it.

Is the future the Fiscal Conservatie/Libertarian wing of the party? Then start listening to them and tell the SoCons to shut up and fall in line. After all, who else are they going to vote for, the Democrats? Throw their vote away on a 3rd party and let the Democrats win?

Is it the Christian/Social Conservative wing? Tell the libertarian branch to piss off. That what restroom people use and who puts what where in the privacy of their own bedroom is the hill that we're going to die on dammit. And we'll pay lip service to fiscal conservatism, unless we need to spend or waste money fighting tooth and nail for the SoCon agenda.

Hawks (neo-con, whatever) or isolationists? Pro big-business or pro little guy? Do we like and want to emulate power-hungry thugs like Vladimir Putin, or do we despise and want to curb people who abuse their power, like Obama?

Pick a side and support it. Loudly and proudly. Unless of course you're just a bunch of John Kerry flip-floppers.

Or just keep being the party of mostly white, middle class (or better), heterosexual Christians, and then pretend to care about everything and nothing all at once. I suppose you could keep doing that too.

3. Stop being hypocrites. If Obama was the devil for doing something, then Bush and Trump doing the same ****ing thing is bad. Stop giving a pass to your own side that you wouldn't give to the other side.

If nothing else, think about it practically. If you want to give Trump the power to do something, imagine if Hillary or Bernie or whoever gets elected in 2020. Does the thought of them with the same power fill you with existential dread and horror? Well guess what, it's really hard to take power away from the government once it's been granted. You're cool with Bush's executive orders because the Dems in congress are blocking him? Well guess what Obama's gonna do with a Rep-controlled congress?

4. **** the racists and the neo-nazis. If they want to vote R, whatever, you can't stop them. But don't pander to them. Ignore them, marginalize them, ban them from polite company, whatever. Treat them individually as people and try to save them from their horrid ideologies, but treat their ideas like the ****ing plague.

19 minutes ago, twa said:

 

Like the DMV? 

I know it's an old joke, but honestly the last 3 times I've gone into the DMV to renew my license I've been in and out in 15 minutes. If I could've gotten my rabies vaccine (bat in the house) in less than 3 hours, I would've preferred that.

Hey, you guys didn't forget about this thread, did you?

48 minutes ago, TheDoyler23 said:

DONGS..... Dongs everywhere. 

Is it any wonder that Buck loves the long ball?

3 hours ago, visionary said:

Ha ha ha ha!

 

 

Wait, hold up. Is that a typo, or is Reince celebrating a Touchback?

http://www.cracked.com/article_24558_giraffe-boxing-7-times-nature-went-off-rails.html

Quote

#7. The Fabulous, Cartwheeling Flic-Flac Spider

If spiders terrify you, you're not alone. Most of us agree they are horrifying, unsettling little poisonous things, and if you think differently we have bad news: When spiders can't smell fear in a human, they wait until they're asleep and crawl into their ears and mouth. Anyone not scared of spiders has at least 12 of them living and nesting inside their body at any time.

And while we're sharing fun facts about spiders, one of the most ferocious family of spiders is Sparassidae. They're known as Huntsman spiders and they're not only leaping, agile predators; they're pants-****tingly huge.

Geoffrey Dabb
"Let's make a bet. I can jump onto your face before you can make a fist. Go."

But every family has an embarrassing member and the black sheep of the Sparassidae clan is the flic-flac spider. It was discovered by Professor Dr. Ingo Rechenberg less than 10 years ago during a Moroccan desert jaunt, and it's ****ing stupid. The flic-flac somehow, after generations of hunting desert prey, adapted itself to travel by lunatic cartwheel.

Peter Jager/Ingo Rechenberg
Seriously.

Look at this ridiculous thing go. It's like it spends its whole life falling down the stairs. The flic-flac got its name from the gymnastics move it uses to travel (obviously). It can move up to 4.5 mph this way, which sounds like a brisk walk, but would scale to something like Mach 1 at human size. While other spiders worked out how to build enormous webs and pit traps, flic-flacs were somehow given the ability to always look like they're celebrating.

Peter Jager/Ingo Rechenberg
"She kissed me! She kissed me!!! Wheee!!! Oh god, oh god, I can't stop! Why can't I stop?! AIIIIEEEE!!!"

Oh, and they also build bizarrely unappealing tubes as nests. They construct them using their feelers and a specialized set of bristles and hold them together with spider silk. Think about what that means. It means not only did evolution create a cartwheeling spider, it created mortar tubes to launch those cartwheeling spiders. No, really. Think about what that means. Right now, this very second, you live in a world that naturally creates mortar tubes for launching cartwheeling spiders.

Ingo Rechenberg
Sleep well.