Anything Political

[loppylugs 8,429]

If he's lived here for 'many years' he can't think it's that bad.  Nobody is forcing us to stay.  

[benjamin1945 16,151]

Can't say ''I like Trump''.............but looking at the alternatives i hope he wins the Election,,,and obviously gets over,, along with his wife,, the 'Virus'

[Beekay 5,138]

But why does he have to look so arrogant?  According to himself, he's the best president ever, with all the wonders he has done, does he think he is a Messiah. 

[loppylugs 8,429]

In response to that BK.  I think I would say that is one of his faults.  I'm with Ben on this.  I don't think most of us here have really 'liked' him, but what was the alternative.

He came to power because he promised various changes that a lot of folks wanted. ie stopping illegal immigration.  To give him his due he tried, but was blocked by activist judges.  Today the problem is as bad as ever and makes those of us who went the legal route feel betrayed.  There were other similar situations.  Just about every night the liberal media tries to portray everything he does in a bad light.  Even this CV virus is pretty much portrayed as his fault.  He has made some wrong statements concerning it, but let's cut him some slack,  so has just about every other world leader.  We are dealing with something no one has all the answers for.

On social media some are now wishing him dead.  I despise such people.  I have known folks I didn't get along with, but I have never wished anyone dead.  Leaders come and go over time,  but hatred and bitterness never solved anything.

Sorry for longish post but I just get grieved about such things.

 

In summary it seems like most presidents, prime ministers in so called democracies have very little real power.  I would not want Mr. Trumps job for anything.  I wouldn't last five minutes.

[Beekay 5,138]

A very worthy opinion Loppy, I'm just surprised he's never had an assassination attempt against him. Unless I've missed something along the way.

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

Wearing my Mystic Moggie hat here. I think he'll be reelected and then knocked off. 2020. Year ending in zero. The Shawnee Curse! Oo-er. Stranger things have happened!

[loppylugs 8,429]

3 hours ago, Beekay said:

A very worthy opinion Loppy, I'm just surprised he's never had an assassination attempt against him. Unless I've missed something along the way.

Same here, BK.  There are probably some powerful people would want him gone.  That's no way to do politics.

[Beekay 5,138]

Not saying I condone it though Loppy. I just wish he would take that smug look off his kisser, like he's just invented the wheel. Wouldn't want to be in his position mind.

[DJ360 6,728]

Right.  I'll get it out of the way. I do not wish Trump dead.  I hope he recovers from the virus..assuming he has it.

 

However, it is beyond dispute that Trump has constantly made light of the virus. He even told a journalist to take a mask off. He has held numerous rallies and even more intimate events where mask wearing and social distancing were non existent.  He has consistently tried to play down the threat.  He is a Bona Fide idiot.

 

I am at a loss to understand how any intelligent and 'right thinking' person can possibly support him politically, or listen to the moronic drivel which he constantly utters.  Having conservative views is one tiing..Suporting an obvious lying racist/misogynist imbecile is another.  He is an utterly appalling human being...descended from a long line of less than honourable 'businessmen'.

 

Just two things (out of many, many failings) serve to show him up for the right wing cretin he really is:

 

1. He refuses to condemn assorted armed groups, such as the 'Proud Boys' and other Far Right/White Supremacist groups.  It's obvious why he does so.. It's because they are most obvious and vocal of the Far Right people who are sure to vote for him..whatever idiocy he enacts.

 

2. Rather than condemn and investigate the repeated killings of blacks at the hands of the police... he would rather use the resulting protests as a political weapon against Democrats.  He contantly ignores the cause.. but weaponises the effect.  Despicable.

 

The man is a truly dishonest and execrable specimen of humanity.  I'd sooner see an ageing and slightly infirm Biden in office..than a lying crook who actively supports anti-democratic/racist/fascist/white supremacist bully boys... and who himself is supported and manipulated by dark anti-democratic forces.

[DJ360 6,728]

5 hours ago, loppylugs said:

There are probably some powerful people would want him gone.

 

Dave, I'd suggest that there are far more powerful and influential people who want him to stay.  I'm pretty sure that it is the weak, the poor, the downtrodden and the disenfranchised who want him gone. Trump and his ilk have made sure that all of the focus is on themselves.. not on those who need an honest, progressive government.

[DJ360 6,728]

Joni Mitchell summed up the decline of America.. from World Leader and Defender of Democracy.. to World Bully.. over 50 years ago..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7YQLMH7wL4&feature=youtu.be

 

 

•  

The Fiddle And The Drum

by Joni Mitchell

And so once again
My dear Johnny my dear friend
And so once again you are fightin' us all
And when I ask you why
You raise your sticks and cry, and I fall
Oh, my friend
How did you come
To trade the fiddle for the drum

You say I have turned
Like the enemies you've earned
But I can remember
All the good things you are
And so I ask you please
Can I help you find the peace and the star
Oh, my friend
What time is this
To trade the handshake for the fist

And so once again
Oh, America my friend
And so once again
You are fighting us all
And when we ask you why
You raise your sticks and cry and we fall
Oh, my friend
How did you come
To trade the fiddle for the drum

You say we have turned
Like the enemies you've earned
But we can remember
All the good things you are
And so we ask you please
Can we help you find the peace and the star
Oh my friend
We have all come
To fear the beating of your drum

© 1969; Siquomb Publishing Company

Tweet

Footnotes to Fiddle And The Drum

 

Joni introduced the song this way on July 7, 1969 at the Mississippi River Festival:

"Ever since I heard that song [she had just finished singing 'Get Together' by Dino Valenti], I wanted to say something too. And because I'm a Canadian living in this country, I love this country (applause)... I do, no need to applaud for that it's really true. I enjoy all of the privileges of it and also when I go to Europe I'm treated like an American abroad which isn't so groovy. At first I used to say "oh but I'm Canadian" and flash my maple leaf at people. Then I said "no, no, no"... people are people and, well, I always get my foot in my mouth whenever I try to introduce this song because I always feel apologetic for the fact that I'm not a very political person because Canadians, of course, aren't very political, you know, they're always having sort of intramural sports up there - canoe races from one province to the other and things like that. And flag choosings and (laughter)...

[Oztalgian 3,278]

3 hours ago, DJ360 said:

I'm pretty sure that it is the weak, the poor, the downtrodden and the disenfranchised who want him gone.

Remember, Joseph Stalin once said "People who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."

I am not for one moment suggesting that the voice of the American people will be interfered with or am I?

[Brew 5,411]

11 hours ago, Oztalgian said:

Remember, Joseph Stalin once said "People who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."

I am not for one moment suggesting that the voice of the American people will be interfered with or am I?

 

With reference to the US voting system Stalin was partly right. Clinton won around 4 million more votes than Trump and previously five other candidates have won the popular vote but not the presidency.

They said goodbye to democracy when they created the electoral college system.

 

I'm not saying our system is much better. People talk of voting for Johnson or Corbyn or whoever is party leader and think that's how it works but it isn't, their names do not appear on the ballot paper. We vote for a local representative with a single vote and only remotely influence who becomes party leader.

[trogg 2,016]

1 hour ago, Brew said:

We vote for a local representative with a single vote and only remotely influence who becomes party leader.

The local MP also has only a remote influence on Party policy and Government actions. They will also toe the governments line when told how to vote even when it is against there local electorates wishes and interests. The system we have has many flaws but I cannot think of a better one at the present time. 

[loppylugs 8,429]

19 hours ago, DJ360 said:

 Trump and his ilk have made sure that all of the focus is on themselves.. not on those who need an honest, progressive government.

Thanks for your couple of responses, Col.   I decided to sleep on it last night.

I'm not going to quote them and argue them line by line.  I don't think that would be productive for us or other readers of this thread.  I'm sure you know that I am not a Trump fan.

Neither am I denying some of your points.  I rarely watch tv anymore especially the news so don't tend to hear some of the wilder stuff.

I felt sorry re some of your other ideas though.  Eg.  "i'm at a loss to understand how any intelligent, right thinking person could support him. "  I know several well educated, Phds etc, of my aquaintance who voted for him.  If you lived here you would find that in many cases they were really voting against the alternative.

I could go on but tht's enough.

 

I quoted the latter part of your recent quote, because in my 75 years in three countries I have yet to see what I would call "An honest, progressive government."  The promises have always been great but after they have bribed me with my own money it's back to business as usual and blame the leader it's all nis fault.

 

That's the main reason I refrain from commenting on the leaders of other countries.  I don't live there!  Further to that I am dependant upon how the media paints them rather than how their actions affect me personally.

[DJ360 6,728]

@ Loppy.

Just on the idea of discussing leaders of other countries.  I think that since Trump.. and to some extent a wider consensus, like to see POTUS as the de facto 'leader of the free World', and that America certainly likes to feel free to act almost anywhere in the World with impunity, then we have the right to at least express an opinion on our self appointed 'leader'.

[DJ360 6,728]

7 hours ago, trogg said:

The system we have has many flaws but I cannot think of a better one at the present time. 

 

I broadly agree Mick.  We have chosen to operate a system of Representative Democracy and in that we have to accept the distortions that can result. If I recall correctly.. the 1974 UK  general election showed up some really anomalous results in terms of voter share v MPs elected.  Of course this is the main reason for calls for Proportional Representation, with wich I have some sympathy. But again. PR has different forms and different advantages and disadvantages.

 

Personally, I'm less worried by that, than the way in which Parliament has been singled out for attack ever since Brexit.  A flawed referendum led, by it's poor and simplistic design... to a political stand -off. In that stand off, Parliament was falsely portrayed as anti democratic.. when in fact Parliament.. not an individual government, politician, or even the Law is the true repository of our Democracy.

Many minds in the UK have been poisoned against Parliament, by the worst of the Brexiteers.  Johnson and Cummings are still plotting against Parliament.

 

It is very worrying.

[DJ360 6,728]

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VucczIg98Gw

 

 

 

 

 

[loppylugs 8,429]

Can't fault you on the leader of the free world, Col.  I think the USA has been pretty much that since the end of WW II.  We thought we'd 'ad it with the Cuban missile crisis in 62. Glad cool heads prevailed.  Mr. Trump could certainly use some better manners, to know when to shut up, and some general lessons in statesmanship.

[Oztalgian 3,278]

6 hours ago, loppylugs said:

That's the main reason I refrain from commenting on the leaders of other countries.  I don't live there!  Further to that I am dependant upon how the media paints them rather than how their actions affect me personally.

Well said Loppy, from afar and sometimes from within we only see what the media chooses to show us and that inevitably comes with its own bias, either that of who owns the media outlet or that of the producers and presenters.

From the land down under I would say that if the Democratic Party had been able to come up with viable alternative the result would have been a foregone conclusion but as it is, to me it looks like 50/50 and all that that is likely to bring from the Trump camp.

As for the political situation in the UK it reminds me of this quotation 

"We the willing, led by the unqualified, doing the unnecessary for the ungrateful.

Here in Australia, tomorrow we will have a Conservative/Liberal government that will produce a budget that will be more left of centre than any produced by the Labor side of politics in many decades.

We do live in a strange world at the moment.

[radfordred 6,284]

On 5/19/2020 at 1:10 AM, DJ360 said:

Track & Trace

 

Now the above is supposedly now working, anyone downloaded it? 

[philmayfield 6,116]

Yes, I’ve downloaded it but as I never go anywhere and all my stuff is delivered by Amazon and Morrison’s it won’t make a lot of difference!

[MargieH 7,599]

Yes, I’ve downloaded it as well

[DJ360 6,728]

5 hours ago, radfordred said:

 

Now the above is supposedly now working, anyone downloaded it? 

 

I don't know how much this is tied in with Dido Harding (Tory Peer)'s National Test and Trace Programme...which is a mostly Private Sector Cash Cow,  not necessarily linked to an App...and the new App, which is billed as 'NHS Covid-19'.

 

Eitherway.. I have done my civic duty by downloading the app.  But.. it only works if you have Blue Tooth switched on.. which is fair enough.. except I'm not having my BluTooth on all the time, because it opens my phone to hacking and in any case I'm not going anywhere.  I will try to remember to switch Bluetooth on if I go anywhere... and see what happens.

[Oztalgian 3,278]

I hope you have better luck with the Covid app than we have had.

Here the Federal government released the "Covidsafe" app last April it cost AU$2.5 million (1.4 million quid). The government will not release how much it has spent advertising it. To date it appears to have been downloaded by around 7 million out of a total of 18 million mobile phone users in Australia. The department that runs the app has refused to give information on how successful it has been in tracing contacts that have not been reached by normal methods. My guess is that it is not many otherwise they would be telling us. NSW has indicated that data from the app has been accessed only 33 times, it identified 14 close contacts that had not been discovered by normal tracking methods. It also found a previously unrecognised exposure date that resulted in notifying 544 people and discovered 2 covid cases. Victoria has downloaded data from the app over 1000 times and is yet to find any close contacts that had not been identified by other means.

Australians are rightfully wary of giving any private information to government due to well founded security concerns and this has undoubtedly reduced the number of downloads. All in all I guess 3 out of 10 for trying. We have only 1 covid case in our state and that is a returned traveller in quarantine in a medi-hotel.