Politics

[PARA45]

1. "As government expands, liberty contracts."

So true!

 

[flatwater bill]

Here's a fun fact from Dennis Kucinich. I see that the former Congressman is now running for President. "Siince 9/11 useless wars initiated by the US have added $8 trillion to the National Debt. That is $97,000 for each family of 4." Most of you posting here don't know precisely how soaring National Debt affects you.....but you soon will.......................FWB

 

[Newboomer]

If the above Reagan humor wasn't enough, here are
"41 Enduring, Inspiring (and Funny) Quotes From Ronald Reagan 'The Great Communicator'" brought more than his love of jellybeans to the White House. He brought a mastery of communicating that has rarely been matched.

https://www.inc.com/sims-wyeth/41-enduring-inspiring-quotes-from-the-great-communicator-and-some-funny-ones-too.html

Great communicators have a way of capturing our imagination, triggering our participation, and making us see things in a new way–even if we don’t agree with it. These great speakers are also good at making us laugh. Ronald Reagan hit all of the bases. Relive and remember some of his greatest hits:

1. The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.
2. I want you to know that I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.
3. Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.
4. Man is not free unless government is limited.
5. It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?
6. Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.
7. Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.
8. They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong.
9. The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.
10. Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
11. As government expands, liberty contracts.
12. There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.
13. We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.
14. I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph, and there is purpose and worth to each and every life.
15. We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
16. Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
17. Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver 5 minutes longer.
18. Status quo, you know, is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in’.
19. Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don’t have that problem. My favorite...
20. A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.
21. Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.
22. We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free.
23. It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.
24. Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem. It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant. It’s just that they know so many things that aren’t so.
25. The federal government did not create the states; the states created the federal government.
26. America is too great for small dreams.
27. The future doesn’t belong to the light-hearted. It belongs to the brave.
28. When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.
29. Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.
30. To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last – but eat you he will.
31. Don’t be afraid to see what you see.
32. Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.
33. I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.
34. Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.
35. No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth!
36. Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.
37. A people free to choose will always choose peace.
38. Surround yourself with great people; delegate authority; get out of the way.
39. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
40. I’ve always believed that a lot of the trouble in the world would disappear if we were talking to each other instead of about each other.
41. Never let the things you can’t do stop you from doing what you can.

I'll add one more: "Self defense is not only our right; it is our duty."

 

[Newboomer]

Reagan was truly a master communicator. Trump is just a salesman.

And biden is the court jester.

 

[Altitude sickness]

IMHO, Reagan’s best accomplishment was regaining pride in the military. And it’s remained since.

That pride he instilled, is responsible for recruiting the best people possible.

Which can’t be overstated. We have too much power to not have the best people managing that destructive power.

 

[John Wasmuth]

And biden is the court jester.

More like just a lying piece of human trash….

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Hamas said Monday that it had accepted a Gaza cease-fire proposal from Egypt and Qatar, but details were not immediately available and it was not clear whether Israel had agreed to the terms.

Hamas says it accepts cease-fire proposal; US reviewing announcement: Live updates

The militant group said in a statement that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatar and Egypt of its acceptance of their proposal.

www.usatoday.com

 

[deewayne2003]

Hamas said Monday that it had accepted a Gaza cease-fire proposal from Egypt and Qatar, but details were not immediately available and it was not clear whether Israel had agreed to the terms.

Hamas says it accepts cease-fire proposal; US reviewing announcement: Live updates

The militant group said in a statement that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatar and Egypt of its acceptance of their proposal.

www.usatoday.com

I think we already know Israel’s answer to the proposed ceasefire.

Also ….anyone notice a dramatic decrease in news of the Ukraine conflict in the main stream media?

 

[Red Leg]

I think we already know Israel’s answer to the proposed ceasefire.

Also ….anyone notice a dramatic decrease in news of the Ukraine conflict in the main stream media?

It has largely been a stalemate since fall. Russia continues to throw away roughly a thousand troops and a 100+ armored vehicles a day. Ukraine has been forced on the defensive during most of that period because of the Freedom Caucus led and Trump inspired Republican cut-off of military support. With that flowing again, it will take time to reconstitute artillery and ADA munitions reserves which will offer Ukraine an opportunity to regain the initiative.

If you are genuinely interested in authoritative updates on the conflict, I would suggest you read the periodic ones provided by the Institute For the Study of War. It is chaired by GEN (Ret) Jack Keane. I have provided you the latest update (May 5) below.

Institute for the Study of War

The Russian military reportedly redeployed a battalion of the 76th Airborne (VDV) Division to Kursk Oblast as part of a larger ongoing Russian effort to gather an operationally significant force for a possible future Russian offensive operation against

www.understandingwar.org

Strieff at Red State, a thoroughly reliable right wing site for the more paranoid news consumers, does a superb, less academic, update every week. His latest.

Putin's War, Week 114. Russia Races Against Time As Ukraine Tries to Hold On

redstate.com

The usual suspects in the fourth estate realize the American people generally have the attention span of a two-year-old. I would assume coverage will pick up when something dramatic happens.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Hamas only made a move when the Rafah mobilisation began, and by every example we have they are just trying to play the Israelis once again.

 

[Saul]

From what I have read, it is not a legitimate offer, but rather the Egyptian proposal with the details crossed out and Hamas’ original demands written in instead. They “accepted” nothing, just playing the media.

 

[BSO Dave]

I always felt that even if Reagan was a marginal president, he was a generational leader

Marginal President?
By who's standard? Yours?

Trump is just a salesman.

You can tag Trump with many characterizations... Some fair, some unfair... However, you would be mistaken to confuse his often-hyperbolic rhetoric with deception and spin.... He is many things, but a bullshitter is not one of them...

He delivered more agenda items in his first 2 years than any other POTUS in modern times and did so with unprecedented opposition and interference from all sides. You may oppose his policies and agenda, but you cannot say he did not deliver, or at least make the effort to deliver, on a long list of items that he ran on...

Now on the other hand, Brandon is a salesman albeit a bad one... He has been a serial prevaricator throughout his entire adult life and political career. He was full of BS way before his cognitive decline, so you can't blame the bullshit that he spews on his dementia...

 

[flatwater bill]

@Saul Yes, President Trump is a salesman. And not a very "Presidential" man. But he is the only President during my long lifetime, that tried to do everything he said he would. .......FWB

 

[Saul]

Marginal President?
By who's standard? Yours?

Yes, though I am not the first to conclude that Reagan’s strength was not in his skill as chief executive, but rather in his skill as a communicator and leader.

It is also hardly a secret that I disagree with a large part of Reagan’s policies. That diminishes his standing in my eyes as a president, but does not affect my assessment of him as a leader.

You can tag Trump with many characterizations... Some fair, some unfair... However, you would be mistaken to confuse his often-hyperbolic rhetoric with deception and spin.... He is many things, but a bullshitter is not one of them...

He delivered more agenda items in his first 2 years than any other POTUS in modern times and did so with unprecedented opposition and interference from all sides. You may oppose his policies and agenda, but you cannot say he did not deliver, or at least make the effort to deliver, on a long list of items that he ran on...

Now on the other hand, Brandon is a salesman albeit a bad one... He has been a serial prevaricator throughout his entire adult life and political career. He was full of BS way before his cognitive decline, so you can't blame the bullshit that he spews on his dementia.

You and I are just going to have to disagree on this. When Trump was first elected, there is nothing I wanted more than to see him succeed. I was sorely disappointed, obviously you were not. And to be clear, I believe Trump has proven himself to be exactly what you claim here that he is not.

Conversely, it seems that President Biden has been successful at delivering on much of his agenda, some parts of which I like and others that I greatly dislike.

 

[Saul]

@Saul Yes, President Trump is a salesman. And not a very "Presidential" man. But he is the only President during my long lifetime, that tried to do everything he said he would. .......FWB

Fair enough. You and I have come to a different conclusion about his presidency, but I respect that you feel that he delivered, or at least attempted to deliver, on the policies that were most important to you.

 

[WAB]

Yes, though I am not the first to conclude that Reagan’s strength was not in his skill as chief executive, but rather in his skill as a communicator and leader.

It is also hardly a secret that I disagree with a large part of Reagan’s policies. That diminishes his standing in my eyes as a president, but does not affect my assessment of him as a leader.

You and I are just going to have to disagree on this. When Trump was first elected, there is nothing I wanted more than to see him succeed. I was sorely disappointed, obviously you were not. And to be clear, I believe Trump has proven himself to be exactly what you claim here that he is not.

Conversely, it seems that President Biden has been successful at delivering on much of his agenda, some parts of which I like and others that I greatly dislike.

IMO the greatest thing Reagan did was to make the world, not just Americans, believe in America again. He created pride of country among Americans, and respect for America across the globe.

 

[Saul]

IMO the greatest thing Reagan did was to make the world, not just Americans, believe in America again. He created pride of country among Americans, and respect for America across the globe.

Could not agree more. For all of my disagreements with him on policy, it is impossible to deny his love of America and he had a truly special ability to instill pride in American values around the world. That is what this world needs now more than ever.

 

[CoElkHunter]

It might just work if Russia got Crimea too, or half of it. Finland and Sweden were an immense victory for NATO, don't bee too greedy.

Russia should have to BUY Crimea if that’s part of a peace plan and Ukraine approves it.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Here's a fun fact from Dennis Kucinich. I see that the former Congressman is now running for President. "Siince 9/11 useless wars initiated by the US have added $8 trillion to the National Debt. That is $97,000 for each family of 4." Most of you posting here don't know precisely how soaring National Debt affects you.....but you soon will.......................FWB

Yeah, well there’s only two of us in my household. So the $48,500 will be identified as student loans and Brandon will pay it off. Problem solved. LOL

 

[mdwest]

I don’t have a problem with Muslims… and I have very personally been involved in fighting people in more than a few garden spots around the globe that happened to also be of Muslim faith…

What I have a problem with is radicals.. of any religious faith, or any political ilk, or any belief system that presents an all or nothing, my way is the only way, agree with me or suffer my (human) consequences, mindset..

I have every bit as much disdain for extremism in Christianity (and I am Christian) or Judaism, or Agnosticism for that matter as I have for Muslim extremists..

Truth be told I probably have more disdain for Christian extremism than the others, if for no other reason than I know Christs teachings (I’ve also got a pretty decent grip on the Koran and the Torah, but admit I don’t know the details of the various sects and subdivisions of other faiths like I know Christianity)…and I know the hatred and open disregard for others not of Christian faith is diametrically opposed to the what Christ called Christians to be..