Politics

[Sideshow]

Seriously?

Explain this "view of the world" that I have.

I'd love to hear your theory.

You have already explained that one too us and no one agreed so carry on!

 

[Frostbite]

You have already explained that one too us and no one agreed so carry on!

You mean you don't agree.

Put some Trump salve on your butthurt.

 

[steve white]

Run cattle for ag exemption? You’re better off paying the taxes.

You can get an ag exemption for five acres of land with bee hives on it.

 

[RLD]

If only there was a guy who said he wanted to Make America Great Again. I bet that would be a winning message.

So was “Hope and Change.”

But let’s be honest Trump ran on fear and still uses it as his primary political tool.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

If only there was a guy who said he wanted to Make America Great Again. I bet that would be a winning message.

And we shouldn’t forget the Democrat response to that…

https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2018/08/15/cuomo-america-was-never-that-great-560291

 

[Ray B]

My initial reaction to RLD's comment was to hit the dislike button, but then I noticed that it is from Canada- so its opinion isn't worth the effort to push the button.

 

[LivingTheDream]

So was “Hope and Change.”

But let’s be honest Trump ran on fear and still uses it as his primary political tool.

I wasn't talking about Obama, you already said he ran on a positive message, and there is no disagreement there.

But let's actually be honest about it and not focus on the noise.

I actually don't think he ran on fear, he was gruff and confrontational, but other than saying Hillary Clinton would be a disaster where was the fear? In 2016, it was more about build a wall (not exactly terrifying), energy independence (again not exactly terrifying), cutting taxes (not terrifying), he would be tough with Foreign leaders (not scary as an American) and reducing the deficit (well he didnt live up to that one).

On the contrary, repeatedly we were told Trump would ruin the economy, cause WW3, was a Russian agent and most of the people who supported him were a basket of deplorables.

To your point, I think the person with a more positive message won.

I would say Biden won in 2020 because he had a more positive message, it was all BS, but he was seen as a folksy grandpa, a caring dad, an adult in charge, etc.

2024 I can't really say, I do remember him getting shot and immediately getting up and going fight, fight, fight and thinking God Damn that's my president.

I had followed Kamala Harris's career and thought she was destined to be president, I had never seen a resume like hers since Obama...but then she spoke (2020 campaign), and I quickly realized she was a post turtle, and had essentially kind of failed up all the way to the VP. And even though she didnt talk much during her own campaign, I dont really remember her having a message, but again in all honesty, I didnt really listen much because I wasn't going to vote for her. If you have some insight on if she was more positive, then I am open to hearing it.

Now if you want to a positive message from the Democrats currently, listen to Abigail Spanberger (currently running for Governor in VA) where she says, "let your rage fuel you".

But think about the messaging and how things are now interpreted, the saying Make America Great Again (which was also used by Reagan in 1980) and referenced in your original post as MAGA, is now associated with fear or hate. Kind of interesting.

And then think about how intersting it is especially consider Trump was shot once, had another attempted assassination, and one of the leading Grass Roots organizers of the conservative moment was also assassinated. But I am sure all of those things are completely irrelevant given the democrats/left have a more positive hopefully message and are not preying on people's fear.

 

[RLD]

I wasn't talking about Obama, you already said he ran on a positive message, and there is no disagreement there.

But let's actually be honest about it and not focus on the noise.

I actually don't think he ran on fear, he was gruff and confrontational, but other than saying Hillary Clinton would be a disaster where was the fear? In 2016, it was more about build a wall (not exactly terrifying), energy independence (again not exactly terrifying), cutting taxes (not terrifying), he would be tough with Foreign leaders (not scary as an American) and reducing the deficit (well he didnt live up to that one).

On the contrary, repeatedly we were told Trump would ruin the economy, cause WW3, was a Russian agent and most of the people who supported him were a basket of deplorables.

To your point, I think the person with a more positive message won.

I would say Biden won in 2020 because he had a more positive message, it was all BS, but he was seen as a folksy grandpa, a caring dad, an adult in charge, etc.

2024 I can't really say, I do remember him getting shot and immediately getting up and going fight, fight, fight and thinking God Damn that's my president.

I had followed Kamala Harris's career and thought she was destined to be president, I had never seen a resume like hers since Obama...but then she spoke (2020 campaign), and I quickly realized she was a post turtle, and had essentially kind of failed up all the way to the VP. And even though she didnt talk much during her own campaign, I dont really remember her having a message, but again in all honesty, I didnt really listen much because I wasn't going to vote for her. If you have some insight on if she was more positive, then I am open to hearing it.

Now if you want to a positive message from the Democrats currently, listen to Abigail Spanberger (currently running for Governor in VA) where she says, "let your rage fuel you".

But think about the messaging and how things are now interpreted, the saying Make America Great Again (which was also used by Reagan in 1980) and referenced in your original post as MAGA, is now associated with fear or hate. Kind of interesting.

And then think about how intersting it is especially consider Trump was shot once, had another attempted assassination, and one of the leading Grass Roots organizers of the conservative moment was also assassinated. But I am sure all of those things are completely irrelevant given the democrats/left have a more positive hopefully message and are not preying on people's fear.

I think Hillary was a joke without a coherent policy. I remember sitting beside my wife on the coach watching one of the Hillary-Trump debates and saying to her "There is over 300 million of them and this is the best two they can find?". It was a complete lack of candidates with any character. A failure of a critical system.

But you are being a little selective on Trump's messaging. Building the wall (which the Mexicans were never going to pay for) was based on all of his "murders and rapists and mental patients" approach. It was fear based and driven.

The whole idea behind the second "A" in MAGA is that America had somehow fallen and needed to be restored. A negative message.

I will concede that he was not as negative the first time out than he is in his second term. He has gone totally negative and dishonest now. It was not as bad the first time around. "I am your retribution." It doesn't get any darker than that.

He even tries to bully SCOTUS with suggesting the world will go to shit if they rule against him. It's bad and not getting better. All we can do now is hope someone learns from this mess and it gets better.

 

[spike.t]

He never said he’s going to wipe his ass after taking a shit either, so whats your point?

You’re mad about the world and see Trump as your existential threat….. as I said, perpetual victim complex.

It’s ok, the bad orange man isn’t hiding under your bed.

I fkn wish he was hiding under his bed.....

 

[mdwest]

I think Hillary was a joke without a coherent policy. I remember sitting beside my wife on the coach watching one of the Hillary-Trump debates and saying to her "There is over 300 million of them and this is the best two they can find?". It was a complete lack of candidates with any character. A failure of a critical system.

But you are being a little selective on Trump's messaging. Building the wall (which the Mexicans were never going to pay for) was based on all of his "murders and rapists and mental patients" approach. It was fear based and driven.

The whole idea behind the second "A" in MAGA is that America had somehow fallen and needed to be restored. A negative message.

I will concede that he was not as negative the first time out than he is in his second term. He has gone totally negative and dishonest now. It was not as bad the first time around. "I am your retribution." It doesn't get any darker than that.

He even tries to bully SCOTUS with suggesting the world will go to shit if they rule against him. It's bad and not getting better. All we can do now is hope someone learns from this mess and it gets better.

I agree with much of your post.. for example, for the last several elections I’ve been left baffled at the end of the primaries, when we are down to 2 candidates, by the fact that now with 340m people, and over 150m of them eligible to actually run for POTUS, this is the best we can do????

I will however offer that I think you’re wrong about Trump appealing to fear…

What he is doing is appealing to anger…

Americans are pissed off about criminals coming across the borders in droves (mothers of small children that suck down tens of thousands of dollars in tax dollars and don’t contribute to the economy piss people off too… it’s not just the criminals.. but the criminals get people fired up a lot faster than the others that break our laws to come here do)..

Americans are pissed off about how far the transgender thing has gone.. no one fears some dude ruining women’s sports.. but it does make them mad as hell…

They’re pissed off about the fentanyl problem and watching the government do nothing about it… they’re not afraid of some Venezuelan doper robbing them in the middle of the night.. they’re pissed off that were spending billions upon billions dealing with the symptoms while DC has sat back for years refusing to deal with the disease…

And they were particularly pissed off about the economy this past time around.. like or hate Trump, there’s no denying the economy boomed compared to what was going on during Obamas terms… he was gone from office less than a year and everyone’s 401k took a massive nose dive, the price of fuel doubled in some states, etc etc… they weren’t living in fear of another Great Depression… they were pissed off that just a couple of years prior their fairly low risk retirement accounts were making 12-15%.. and now they were lucky to be breaking even.. all the while the D’s were raving about how great the economy was…

I sincerely don’t know anyone that was living in fear..

But I know a lot of people that were insanely angry, frustrated, and tired of all of the horse shit being fed to them by the left..

To include “Biden is sharp as a tack!”

The D’s became the party of overt and intentional liars… without any positive performance to back up anything they lied about…

Which is why today, even though Trump is twice as aggressive as he was the first time around, and certainly has done his share of exaggerating and lying.. you don’t see R’s on the hill abandoning him and you don’t hear people (other than leftists) bitching about mean tweets…

Americans by in large now accept that he’s an asshole… but as long as that asshole keeps performing.. they’re cool with it..

 

[Frostbite]

My initial reaction to RLD's comment was to hit the dislike button, but then I noticed that it is from Canada- so its opinion isn't worth the effort to push the button.

And that's a great indication..........

That you are out of touch with reality.

Canada is the best friend we have left in the world.

 

[Flipper Dude]

Oh Johnny, I apologize. I forgot you were there. You may go now.

 

[PARA45]

I think the only person lying on this forum is you... and you're lying to yourself with self imposed moral superiority, it's ok though - I'm not hear to hurt you, I'm hear to help!

Ok, here is the burning to the ground clip you so much love to quote....

He's speaking figuratively, by burning to the ground he means that its a shit hole that is only getting worse.

Does there really need to be flames and smoke?..... or is the massive drug overdoses, criminal gangs and "protestors" attacking federal agents meet the burden of a shit show situation?

Seriously, when you hear someone say "it's a dumpster fire" do you actually believe there is a trash cart burning????

So we'll both agree that Portland is not literally burning - That is a fact.

It's just filled with illegal aliens that need to be deported and no amount of leftist propaganda or masked paint throwing anarchists are going to stop the feds from deporting them.

I mean if your being so webster dictionary literal about "burning to the ground", then what about the "summer of love".....?

Minneapolis

Portland

Seattle

San Francisco

All bastions of the ideals of leftist ideology and all of them soundly agree with your view of the world.

 

[Frostbite]

This morning NPR News said that the government report says inflation is down.

I said, "Government report? What? Wait a minute."

NPR used to be reliable. Now I suspect they're running scared.

Scared of Trump.........and we know he can't be trusted to tell the truth.

So.........what's the true story?

This:

Inflation is up. Your "Government" lied. As usual.

• Prices are still rising. The annual U.S. inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 3.0% for the 12-month period ending in September 2025.
• The speed of price increases has slowed dramatically from its 2022 peak. At that time, inflation was near a 40-year high of over 9%. Prices are still going up, just not as quickly as they were at the peak.
• Recently, it has edged up slightly. The September annual rate of 3.0% was slightly higher than the 2.9% recorded in August. This small increase contributed to the mixed signals in recent news.
• Goods prices are rising, impacted by new tariffs. Experts attribute some of the recent increases in clothing, furniture, and appliances to new tariffs.

So.........the FACT is that prices are still rising.

We who buy groceries KNOW THAT anyway.

Now we also know that NPR will assist our government in pushing its lies.

 

[Brent in Az]

My initial reaction to RLD's comment was to hit the dislike button, but then I noticed that it is from Canada- so its opinion isn't worth the effort to push the button.

Frostbite and RLD are one in the same. Oxygen thieves.

 

[Frostbite]

Thanks for the clip showing Trump lying.

Although we don't need proof when he lies constantly.

 

[fourfive8]

Frostbite and RLD are one in the same. Oxygen thieves.

Tag team

 

[Frostbite]

I will however offer that I think you’re wrong about Trump appealing to fear…
What he is doing is appealing to anger…

You just have a poor understanding of fear and anger.

Fear is the mind-killer..........famous quote from "Dune."

The quote suggests that fear is not just an emotion but a destructive force that can paralyze one's ability to think clearly and act decisively.

Fear is what triggers anger and violence.

What is the fear Trump uses to manipulate his admittedly primitive followers?

Fear of the "other".........anyone different.

It's not just xenophobia.

It's beyond xenophobia........it's basically a deep fear of anyone who is not a white male, right wing American.

Fear activates the primitive parts of the brain........and primitive people have more and stronger primitive areas of the brain.

Look at the people who attacked the Capitol.

Climbing like monkeys and totally out of control.

That's what Trump's special kind of fear can bring.

Fear:

• Fight or flight response:
  Fear activates the primitive parts of the brain, triggering an immediate and often impulsive physical reaction to what is perceived as a threat. This can cause a person to lash out without conscious thought.
  
  
• Self-defense:
  Intense fear can escalate into a desperate need for self-preservation, causing individuals to act violently in what they perceive as self-defense.
  
  
• Root cause of anger:
  Many experts believe that anger is often a secondary emotion rooted in fear. Feelings of inadequacy, fear of rejection, or powerlessness can manifest as anger and lead to aggressive outbursts.
  
  
• Underlying psychological fears:
  Deep-seated fears of failure, loss of control, or not being "enough" can drive harmful behaviors as individuals attempt to self-protect in irrational ways.
  
  
• Escalation in conflict:
  On a larger scale, fear of losing identity, being persecuted, or facing extinction can fuel intractable conflicts and violence between groups.

So..........I hope that helps.

 

[Aaron N]

America’s beef producers call bullshit.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/22/trump-ranchers-beef-tariffs-argentina.html

Ask the soybean producers how they feel about it all as well

 

[Frostbite]

Ask the soybean producers how they feel about it all as well

It's a LOT more serious with soybeans.

Argentina really doesn't supply much beef so they can't impact prices much.

I heard a beef expert on NPR a few days ago and he did not seem at all worried.

Soybean growers are running out of storage space and have to spend money on building new storage or storing in less than ideal conditions that risk losing beans to rot and mold.

And most don't really have the money to spend.

Iowa soybean farmers face growing storage challenges amid halted China trade deals

President Donald Trump has acknowledged the situation, and is set to meet with the Chinese president in the coming weeks.

www.weareiowa.com