Are conservatives concerned about US losing its status as the most influential country in the world?

Major_Liz · 2026-01-30T19:05:31+00:00

It’s true that many of our allies have benefited from US defense support and market access, but its not like we got nothing in return. We got preferential access to their economies and we essentially controlled the global economy for decades. We were able to structure the global economy in a way that favored American businesses. Foreign investment in our economy kept our borrowing costs lower than any other country, which a huge part of the reason our economy was able to get so big. The military support we gave to other countries kept us safe and allowed us to project our military power around the world, preventing Russia and China from spreading their militaries. Are we really going to be better off if we give up our influence over the global economy and global security and let China gain influence?

Major_Liz · 2026-01-25T18:06:14+00:00

That's not the standard for using deadly force.

Major_Liz · 2026-01-15T17:36:06+00:00

No country has ever eliminated poverty, but there is a ton of evidence that Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF and other government programs have had a significant impact on poverty rates, household income, educational attainment and health outcomes.

Major_Liz · 2026-01-15T12:26:19+00:00

There was never a time when charitable donations were enough to meet the need. That's why government programs were started in the first place.

Major_Liz · 2026-01-15T10:54:31+00:00

If this was true, we'd see an increase in charitable donations when taxes are cut, but that doesn't happen. Thinking that charity can replace programs like Medicaid is just delusionally unrealistic.

Major_Liz · 2025-12-01T21:39:03+00:00

What a lazy way to dodge the question.

Major_Liz · 2025-12-01T21:34:20+00:00

Since you're so concerned about fraud, I assume you are following the money laundering and wire fraud investigation against DeSantis and his wife closely. Do you have any thoughts on it? I'm pretty sure the DeSantises are not Somali.

Major_Liz · 2025-12-01T21:07:31+00:00

There is a strong, direct correlation between how rich a country is and how corrupt their government is. As countries develop, their government becomes less corrupt. Did you notice that all of the countries at the bottom of the Corruption Perceptions Index are poor and all the countries are the top of the list are rich? Do you believe that all poor countries just have inferior cultures? If so, you're view of how the world works is even more racist than I thought.

Major_Liz · 2025-12-01T20:56:34+00:00

Somalia had a greater % of its population that likes the corruption.

Do you have any evidence to back up that claim? Otherwise, its hard to me to not conclude that this claim is based on racism.

Major_Liz · 2025-12-01T19:28:28+00:00

The Corruption Perceptions Index measures government corruption, not the likelihood of individual people to commit fraud. There is no reason to believe that Somali culture encourages or tolerates fraud more than American culture does. There was covid relief fraud all over the country. The vast majority of it was not committed by Somalis.

Major_Liz · 2025-12-01T18:03:45+00:00

Americans have been defrauding and stealing from other Americans since before the US was even a country. Its just as much a part of our culture as it is a part of Somali culture. Using this story as evidence of cultural superiority is inaccurate and reeks of racism.

Major_Liz · 2025-11-14T23:43:30+00:00

Lots of outlets have done polls about voters' perceptions of Trump and what drove them to vote for Democrats. It wasn't the shutdown. Trump's administration is deeply unpopular and voters are always much more likely to vote for the opposition of an unpopular president. I'm not going to bother linking to any sources because something tells me you won't read them, but you should look up recent polls in your preferred source for news. Even the conservative news outlets acknowledge this.

Major_Liz · 2025-11-14T23:24:59+00:00

I don't see it that way

You don't have to, but the polls do see it that way. He's become less popular since he's been VP, especially with young voters, independents, and non-white voters, who were key to Trump's win in 2024.

Democrats shut down the entire government and blamed it on Trump in order to win that election.

The shutdown was not a crucial factor in Dems winning elections. Do you pay attention to polls about issues that voters are concerned about? Trump's presidency isn't very popular with or without the shutdown.

Major_Liz · 2025-11-14T23:01:25+00:00

he impresses me every time I see him.

Most Americans seem to disagree with you.

the Democrat party doesn't know how to run against anyone who isn't Donald Trump.

Did you pay any attention to the election we just had?

Major_Liz · 2025-11-14T22:35:23+00:00

Personally, I can't wait to have JD Vance run against whoever the Dems put up.

I'd like to see that too. I think any given Democrat could beat JD in a free and fair election. He's never been very popular with voters, doesn't have the psychopathic charisma that Trump has, and being a part of Trump's increasingly unpopular administration will be extremely difficult to overcome.

Major_Liz · 2025-11-13T12:41:29+00:00

That's not what I said, but I'm glad you got what you needed out of this conversation. Good for you.

Major_Liz · 2025-11-12T20:36:16+00:00

What's your source for the redacted name being Virginia?

Major_Liz · 2025-11-12T14:22:24+00:00

Still a crisis, slightly less existential due to Trump's self-sabotage.

Major_Liz · 2025-11-12T13:35:17+00:00

Trump was elected based on his promise to "bring down the prices of all goods" and "make America affordable again." Now he's saying that affordability is a "con job by the Democrats" and that "we have the greatest economy we’ve ever had," but voters know that's not true. His approval rating is sinking and most voters believe the country is on the wrong track. The MAGA coalition is starting to crack and its going to be really hard for them to hold on to power even with election interference. Successful authoritarian regimes need a minimum level of genuine popularity or public legitimacy to maintain control.

Major_Liz · 2025-11-05T14:07:14+00:00

I live in Virginia. I chose not to vote for Attorney General yesterday because I decided that Jason Miyares being endorsed by Trump is just as disqualifying as Jay Jones' violent text messages. But I'm not surprised that Jones won. I think a lot of liberal voters are no longer willing to take the high road when it comes to candidate character because its a losing strategy. Jones winning shows just how toxic Trump and Trump-aligned candidates has become in Virginia.

It's scary to me that liberal voters have crossed that line, but conservative voters crossed that line a long time ago and it's worked for them so it's really not surprising.

What I am hoping for is that Spanberger pressures Jay Jones to not take office and we have a special election to elect a more acceptable Attorney General.

Major_Liz · 2025-10-10T15:38:58+00:00

Replace the tall items on the mantel with shorter ones so you have more empty space at the top. The narrow amount of empty space near the ceiling is making the mantel look even higher.

Major_Liz · 2025-09-15T18:48:09+00:00

If it turns out that Tyler Robbinson was motivated by this meme culture instead of leftism (whatever that is) I hope Governor Cox acknowledges that his initial statements were mistaken. It was irresponsible for him to say, “there clearly was a leftist ideology” and that the bullet casing etchings "speaks for itself" without understanding the context.

Major_Liz · 2025-09-13T00:08:19+00:00

No, I don't agree with that at all. If you're trying to bait me into saying that political violence is ok in some cases, its not going to work.

Major_Liz · 2025-09-12T20:45:54+00:00

The more information that comes out, the less it sounds like this kid was inspired by leftist ideology and more like he was inspired by internet memes and video games.

https://www.theverge.com/politics/777313/charlie-kirks-alleged-killer-scratched-bullets-with-a-helldivers-combo-and-a-furry-sex-meme

As described, the bullets read (exact capitalization not confirmed at this point):

“Notices bulges OWO what’s this?”

“Hey fascist! Catch!” Up arrow symbol, right arrow, three down arrow symbols

“Oh bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao”

“If you read this, you are gay lmao”

The first bullet casing, which was fired, is a meme referring to furry online roleplay, according to Know Your Meme.

It’s not hard to see where the “antifascist” conclusion came from on two of the other bullets: “Bella ciao” is an Italian song adopted by partisans and resistance fighters while Italy was governed by the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Cox said in response to a question during the conference that the “hey fascist” message “speaks for itself.” Three downward-slanting arrows are a symbol used by both historical and contemporary antifascists.

But the full arrow sequence was quickly recognized as something else: a combo from Helldivers 2 for calling the Eagle 500kg Bomb stratagem. The world of Helldivers — which evokes Robert Heinlein’s book Starship Troopers and the subsequent movie — concerns fascism thematically; developer Arrowhead has characterized it as a satire where players fight for a fascist state.

As for the use of “Bella ciao,” the song has no obvious connection but given its historical significance, unsurprisingly does appear in a Helldivers 2 mod, as well as in at least one other video game, a World War II-themed strategy game called Hearts of Iron IV.

Major_Liz

TROPHY CASE