RockLobster

Already been covered - no need to beat that dead horse further.

Agreed - there are cases where states should be making their own call. And in some cases, we need leadership from the federal government, too. That's when the White House needs to step in and take a role of leadership and responsibility.

Oh tsk-tsk. You're on an anonymous message board - conflict is the very nature of this beast. If you have thin skin, maybe wear a thicker apron. (Re: "If you can't take the heat...")

That's simply not true. As I said in my last post: Let's start here - my posts don't say "everyone I disagree with is an idiot". Some did, and I'll choose more carefully going forward. Some did not at all - I was actually being encouraging and supportive. I've been both positive and negative in my recent postings. I'd like to boost my positive postings to as near 100% as I'm able to. (Something Brother Morris had done so well before he passed.)

It was neither completely polite nor completely conciliatory. It was a clear and legitimate post that you responded to with a twisted mess of a nonsensical post. As far as I saw, nobody "threw a fit". That's a weird thing for the author of the twisted mess to claim. Let's jump to the end. You made a post with poor perspective, maybe just accept it and we'll all move on. Or not - you be you.

Not projection at all. That was an incredibly lazy and inaccurate post by you. I was commenting on another poster's capability to be a better poster (which I believed then, and still do, to be true.) IMO, that particular poster seems to have the potential to provide contributions here. Who am I to judge? I'm nobody to judge. I'm not a judge. But I am expressing my opinion. (I get to do that.) I'm interacting with other posters and sharing my opinions as is how discussion groups work. Mspart - get off your high horse. Engage in the conversation like a participant or don't. Either way, nobody needs you to judge me or anyone else here.

No problem. I appreciate your reply. I'm heartened to see that we can still be civil. Thanks SH.

Some reality here and some silliness: The 1st reality is that Presidents don't do any "nitty-gritty" and haven't in quite a long time. Yep. The 2nd reality is that what you think "we associate with being president" is going to vary wildly. Based on personal experience, I believe most people know that they are only distantly involved with nitty-gritty. Based on what I see from both main stream and social media, it appears many don't know or understand that. "You're voting for the people they bring with them"... meh, not necessarily true, but not necessarily false. We should all be extremely careful to not oversimplify this one. It's truly complicated. Don't jump to conclusions here. The rest of your post is silliness.

Let's review this more closely with a more seasoned perspective: Yes - jobs which were created by Biden, yes it's true. And he should get that very credit. Yes - it was a result of opening the economy. Which, again, Biden did exactly that. You claim "you were fighting to keep closed as long as possible"... I don't know who you are referring to as "you" - but no, don't look at me. I agree the fight against Covid was at odds with economic growth, but that's pandemics for you. They are evil sons of bitches. It was not about "as long as possible" - it was "as long as it improves the situation" That last part about: By your logic you'd have to give trump credit if he closed the economy completely for no reason and opened it again. No - that is completely illogical. That comment is 100% logically incoherent. That being said, it may make sense to you. Which is just fine by me. You be you.

Not trying to make a big deal of this - but this what is called "punting" in politics. Not taking action, not taking leadership, avoiding anything that could hurt you politically and instead passing it on to someone else (aka "Passing the buck.") President Harry S. Truman is well known for his famous "the buck stops here" sign on his desk in the Oval Office. He wasn't one to hide from leadership or responsibility. As President he was respected by the people, and quite well respected even after his tenure. On January 10, 2019, 19 days into a federal government shutdown, a reporter asked President Donald Trump if "the buck stops with you over this shutdown." Trump responded with "The buck stops with everybody." In 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden said in his statement regarding his affirmation of the Afghanistan withdrawal, "The buck stops with me." Again, not trying to make a big deal of it - but history is chock full of useful information.

Technically speaking, you're wrong. Opening jobs back up are exactly as it sounds - more jobs. Debating who shall take the blame for the lost jobs to begin with is an entirely different matter. The first can be counted, the second can be debated for decades. I'm sure you understand that, right?

Yes - YOU were the one discussing that exact post. Why are you trying to hide it? I'll include it here for your reference. Scroll back up and confirm if you need to. You were 100% discussing it. Which is why I responded to your comments. If there's a "schtick" here - it's your choice to not be truthful. Maybe on purpose, maybe you just forgot. I know you can be a better poster. Best to ditch the schtick.

Don't miss the part where I said "That was my mistake" It wasn't a technique, it was a mistake. We all make them from time to time. This time, I made it. If you want me to say more, then - yes - owning your mistakes is important if you are interested in being a good poster.

Ooops. My mistake. It was JimmyBT who said they love when people use hateful terms. Not Scouts Honor (Sorry SH - my apologies) It's been a long night, had to respond to a couple dozen critics in a couple hours. The critics being angry and ruthless doesn't make it any easier. They aren't all bad, they just seem to be.

Got it, Chief. The ratio is close to 1-to-1 when you consider the ad-hominem posts that are coming at me to start with. But - no matter - I can adjust toward your guidelines. We're all here to share ideas. And we can't do that without some level of comprimise.

No fresh start - you are still the one who said: "I love when someone uses a hateful term..." That's just not something anyone should love. It's the polar opposite. [EDIT: And per the 'helping or hurting democrats' topic of the thread... that question is too general to really apply to what's happening. It's always going to be a yes & no answer. We'd need a better question than that to address answering it specifically.]

You've made no legitimate points in any subject on this thread since I joined it. You've contributed no content at all. Not a single pertinent post (read back to confirm.) ... Back to the thread at hand, Le duke made a very good post about folks being against folks "plastering my favorite verses from the Quran on the classroom walls." You twisted it around into some weird 100% argument that he never made using the excuse of "nuance." The radical right in the US doesn't seem to be capable of accepting Islam. Even though it is projected to surpass Christianity in numbers in the relatively near future. Perhaps that is part of why they are radically opposed.

This assessment appears to fit you just as well as it fits me.

I dunno... why can't you?

Mspart, that is a legitimately terrible post. "Any leftist ... in their DNA" as if they are all the same is not a kind or respectful thing to post. Thankfully, I'm not a leftist so it doesn't apply to me. But be nice. It's pretty easy, and it is usually welcomed by all. Being mean to leftists is similar to being mean to rightists. It's not welcomed well and accomplishes nothing.

Maybe read back and think with an open mind. I don't have all the answers, nor do you. But maybe there's middle ground somewhere in reconsidering. It's worth a shot.

Part (2): Yikes! Oh, no. Nope. Never. Conspiracy theories do not rise to the level of serious conversation for me. It's 34 felony counts and that's a done deal. (I'm not against further conversation, I'm just against anything having to do with more BS conspiracy theories.)

Part (1): Let's take this in parts, because it is considerably lengthy and better to address smaller pieces. As I had said, I wasn't focusing on details because I assumed folks here here already knew them. That is true. Your claim that I was trying to validate a false premise is incorrect. Ummm.. We're not in a court of law, we're just in a silly little internet wrestling site. And, bud, sexual-assault or sexual-abuse both equal bad juju. If your point hinges on specific types of sexual predation being better or worse... than that's your thing. I wouldn't want to be the guy that tries to justify that.

Yes, I do. (Thanks for the legitimate question - it was the 1st one, and hopefully our discussion will continue to improve.)

This one is so simple. Nobody. Absolutely nobody. Was in favor of trying to lockdown the country "forever." That would obviously be unsustainable and bad for everyone regardless of political stance. If you claim someone wants to lockdown the country forever, your claim is obviously incorrect. Because logic. This wasn't a personal attack, but a check on a post that fails the test of logic. If that's a bad thing - I'm not sure what the heck you are advocating for.