Politics

[Mark A Ouellette]

I have been thinking about this for a while. Bare with me for I started as a humble farmboy, enlisted in the Marines, went to night school between deployments, and retired an officer with an MBA from a no-name university. That was followed by a quarter century consulting to the Federal Government.

Like a farmer, I still like to close personal deals verbally followed by a handshake. I look a man in the eyes to examine his heart and soul. Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis gave me that opportunity over a beer and conversation one Friday evening at the Twentynine Palms Officer’s Club. One of only two or three cold blooded killers that I ever met in the Marines. Something else I learned then, Mattis had my back as he did every gosh darn Marine on duty worldwide. Why the Marine spiel? Because as SECDEF, Mattis formally resigned from President Trump’s administration because Trump abandoned our allies. Mattis’s action told me volumes about Trump.

In the Marines we judge others by would we want them next to me in a firefight? That means when push comes to shove, can I rely on them to protect my life as I will theirs? Would they watch over my family when I deploy? I wouldn’t trust Trump or Biden for that matter in a firefight or most any other type of struggle. While I wouldn’t trust Trump, I bet he’ll do a much better job at most Presidential tasks than will Biden. Trump still lacks integrity. He can’t be trusted.

Do I trust Trump to withdraw funding from Ukraine. Nope, not on my life. Trump is a lot of things but he is far from that stupid. He’s just lying to his hardcore supporters because its what they want to hear. Trump gets off on his audience loving him.

If Trump gets elected, we can expect riots and other forms of civil disobedience to challenge even the best of Presidents. And Trump will not be one of them. I hope he can build bridges but I doubt that he will even try.

Can Trump get along with Congress? He blew it last time with a Republican House and Senate he couldn’t get anything done. Maybe the narcissistic 13-year-old spoiled Trump learned his lesson in getting defeated by Weekend at Biden’s walking stiff. Gosh I hope so.

Will I vote for Trump a third time? Between him and Biden, Trump is the lesser of evils by a long shot. I live in a swing state so my vote for Trump is a vote against Harris becoming President when Biden resigns for health reasons two years into his second term. Lord help us if that hyena takes over.

If Trump picks a good Vice President candidate, that will help his chances. DeSantis, Gabbard, or Haley for be my choices. Pompeo would be very good also but he in not in the national limelight.

If I were a resident of Red Texas or Blue California, I’d vote for Bobby Kennedy Jr. I watch a lot of his videos and he discusses problems that neither Bevis or Butthead seem to know anything about. I like Kennedy but I must vote against Biden. That means Trump. If it turns into a three-way race, well I like Kennedy.

About social economic levels of members of AH, this webpage https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-calculator/ shows on average where household incomes place them by percentage. It doesn’t however account for the cost of living where people live. My cost of living is much less than someone in New York City. A lot less.

A hunter at the 50% or 95% income level is not relevant to our discussions. We are here to discuss hunting Africa. If others can hunt bull elephant in Botswana and Tanzania but my budget restricts me to tuskless in Zimbabwe, we still both hunt elephant. I share facts about subjects I know well. I read many posts by those more knowledgeable than I about other subjects.

We have much more in common that not. Let’s find the good in others, swallow our pride and read others’ posts without always trying to out-post the next guy. Read, comprehend, consider their thoughts and maybe we will all realize that like most things, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

 

[Brent in Az]

The sham court case against the 6 alternate electors in Nevada has been dismissed.

The swamp can go pound sand.

 

[K-man]

I have noticed a few items almost all of us have in common on this thread
1) We all have an opinion! That is fantastic - it is one of the things most non-Americans would love to voice in public!

2) We feel free to voice said opinion anonymously on this forum without fear of the Gestapo - like police breaking down our doors one night.

3) We feel that everyone who has a differing opinion must be missing some piece of information that would change their point of view.

4)Finally, most feel that we must convince other's that ours is right, informed and complete by sharing that information, sometimes emphatically.

That last one is where this thread goes awry. The sad thing is when that mentality spills over into other threads
Not that this is supposed to "fix" anything, just my observations. Have a great weekend!!

 

[NE 7x57]

I am middle class, I've spent a great deal of time in my life getting my hands dirty with manual labor. I definitely don't fit the "elite" status in anyone's definition of the word. And to put it politely, I find Trump unappealing. Call it TDS or whatever, but in the past two elections I voted AGAINST the Democrats because that was the only sane choice. I'll probably do the same this time but I won't delude myself into thinking that I voted for some savior of the common man. I will be casting a vote AGAINST a demented old fool and his even less qualified vice president and FOR an aging, narcissistic billionaire, with a tenuous grasp on foreign policy and an unrealistic vision of his own intelligence. This is evidently the best this country can do. I weep for my grandchildren.

 

[Red Leg]

LOL. I can't wait to hear the rationalizations from the Trump loyalists. Frankly, I think it might be an interesting idea.

Donald Trump proposes handing out green cards to millions of migrants

"I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," Trump said.

www.newsweek.com

And of course Bannon, who aspires to be Trump's Trump is not happy.

x.com

x.com

 

[Happy Myles]

I am middle class, I've spent a great deal of time in my life getting my hands dirty with manual labor. I definitely don't fit the "elite" status in anyone's definition of the word. And to put it politely, I find Trump unappealing. Call it TDS or whatever, but in the past two elections I voted AGAINST the Democrats because that was the only sane choice. I'll probably do the same this time but I won't delude myself into thinking that I voted for some savior of the common man. I will be casting a vote AGAINST a demented old fool and his even less qualified vice president and FOR an aging, narcissistic billionaire, with a tenuous grasp on foreign policy and an unrealistic vision of his own intelligence. This is evidently the best this country can do. I weep for my grandchildren.

 

[wesheltonj]

I have noticed a few items almost all of us have in common on this thread . . .2) We feel free to voice said opinion anonymously on this forum without fear of the Gestapo - like police breaking down our doors one night. . .

I would not count on that.

 

[Saul]

For those who say that they are going to vote for Trump as a vote against Biden, is there a Democrat who could get your vote if they were the candidate instead of Biden?

 

[wesheltonj]

For those who say that they are going to vote for Trump as a vote against Biden, is there a Democrat who could get your vote if they were the candidate instead of Biden?

Sam Nunn.

 

[LivingTheDream]

LOL. I can't wait to hear the rationalizations from the Trump loyalists. Frankly, I think it might be an interesting idea.

Donald Trump proposes handing out green cards to millions of migrants

"I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," Trump said.

www.newsweek.com

And of course Bannon, who aspires to be Trump's Trump is not happy.

x.com

x.com

I actually think it is a good idea but I also like the Dream Act. I would also say if there was a way to serve in the military or some other form of public service for 5 years, that would be a good idea as well. Getting young people who care about this country and actually want to be here is a good thing.

Should also point out, he said Green Card, which doesn't give them citizenship but does provide a path. I dont have a problem with a path to citizenship over time.

 

[Brent in Az]

Is there a Democrat I would vote for?

I would rather have bamboo spikes shoved under my fingernails.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

For those who say that they are going to vote for Trump as a vote against Biden, is there a Democrat who could get your vote if they were the candidate instead of Biden?

I can't think of any. The biggest negative for me of the Democrats is they are slaves to the whacky politics of their party leaders, i.e. open borders, George Soros funded District Attorneys who won't prosecute criminals, gun control regardless of the facts, allowing anfita to riot and take control of urban areas, reparations to blacks, college loan debt cancellation, anti-hunting including banning importation of African trophies, allowing children to change their sex without parental consent, and embracing every whacky idea weirdos have because not to do so would be racist. Did I miss any?

I like former Senator Manchin of West Virginia but, now he is independent. That reminds me of when Bill Clinton lied to Congress about diddling Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. The ONLY democrat to publicly admonish Clinton was Senator Lieberman. "Shame on you Mr. President" he said in the Senate. Heck even democrat Senator Robert Byrd, in office from January 3, 1959 – June 28, 2010, in 1998 didn't say squat about Clinton's bad behavior. Yeah, I liked the late Senator Lieberman but then he became an independent.

Recently Senator Fetterman recently broke the wokeness line but he, well he isn't Presidential material.

PS: President Kennedy's politics of the early 1960's are those of the republican party today.

 

[CJW]

LOL. I can't wait to hear the rationalizations from the Trump loyalists. Frankly, I think it might be an interesting idea.

Donald Trump proposes handing out green cards to millions of migrants

"I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," Trump said.

www.newsweek.com

And of course Bannon, who aspires to be Trump's Trump is not happy.

x.com

x.com

Aren't those the kind of immigrants we should be aiming to keep? It isn't automatic citizenship anyway. That said we need drastic changes on who we let into the country in any status. Chinese who is just going to head back to China after graduation? No admittance. So on that I would disagree with him.

 

[Tbitty]

For those who say that they are going to vote for Trump as a vote against Biden, is there a Democrat who could get your vote if they were the candidate instead of Biden?

I'm extremely unlikely to ever vote for a Democrat, but there are definitively far better options than Brandon to get the moderate vote or Republicans who are disgusted by Trump and his antics.

I despise the way our current system is set up, as it clearly is a complete failure to have Trump Vs Biden as our presidential candidates for 2024. To echo many here, is this really the best we can come up with? Neither one deserves to be even remotely considered for being on the ballot.

Nonetheless, that's how it is and it's unlikely to change before November. Even though I have little reason to vote Trump, it is obvious to me that Biden is fully incompetent and I believe it will be disastrous for him to get another term. Therefore, I will vote Trump without a single doubt that he is the better choice of the two.

While I don't quite fit your criteria exaclty (I am not voting Trump just as a vote against Biden), I'm a close adjacent. I'm sure there are many moderates that could run as a Dem and check enough of my preference boxes to get my vote. Alas, I think the days of the Dem party finding and presenting those people as their candidate are long gone. They've moved way too far left and cater to the woke sh*theads to likely ever get a vote from me.

I stand firmly in the camp that the system has to change, or we are forever doomed to choose "the lesser of two evils," which by definition is still chosing an evil.

 

[CJW]

For those who say that they are going to vote for Trump as a vote against Biden, is there a Democrat who could get your vote if they were the candidate instead of Biden?

I would say that the vast majority here are not voting for Trump as a vote against Biden. They're voting for Trump as a vote for conservative policies. Big difference. Maybe I'm wrong but even those who will be holding their noses while voting Trump and hoping for a better R candidate, would probably never vote for a modern Democrat.

Current Democrat? Can't think of one. Maybe someone will bring up a good one. Way too much nonsense baked into that cake nowadays to even take the risk.

 

[CJW]

@Saul. How about you? You seem an entrenched Democrat. Is there an R you would vote for with Biden being the D nominee? Would you have voted for Desantis? What D would you rather see get the nomination, if any.

 

[CJW]

Sam Nunn.

Anyone who isn't firmly in their 8th decade?

 

[Red Leg]

Anyone who isn't firmly in their 8th decade?

Nunn, regrettably, died in 97 ushering the way for the few remaining blue dog democrats.

 

[CJW]

Nunn, regrettably, died in 97 ushering the way for the few remaining blue dog democrats.

Oh. What I looked up quick said he was 85.

 

[wesheltonj]

Nunn, regrettably, died in 97 ushering the way for the few remaining blue dog democrats.

I thought he was still alive. If he’s dead, then there is no D that I would vote for. By the way I would never vote for his daughter for anything. The fruit fell very far away from the tree.