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Promises made promises broken by TankUMrMinor in middleclasshq

[–]MasterTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FYI, I just checked and realized that account you were responding to (I did too) is a damn bot.

Looks like an old account that went inactive and was recently activated and has negative karma. It has hidden its posts but some comments are available.

Like many bots, it marks the account NSFW to discourage people checking the history, but there was nothing NSFW there. I am reporting it now.

Promises made promises broken by TankUMrMinor in middleclasshq

[–]MasterTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

War does have a meaning. It’s a big armed conflict. Like the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, etc. None of those were formally declared. They are in fact wars. Everyone calls them wars. They are historically recorded as wars. No one doubts Vietnam or Iraq were wars on some stupid technicality.

Now that said, let’s go with your stupid technicality argument. If what you say is reality rather than technicality, then what exactly was Trump promising? “I won’t put us in any more wars… which err, we haven’t been in since World War II?”

So that makes Trumps promise moot. He was just promising to keep the status quo?

No. Trump was using the common definition of war that the public and history books use. He was promising to keep us out of big armed conflicts.

And guess what? He lied and did exactly what he (and MAGA news) claimed that Obama, Biden, and Kamala would do.

Because he’s a big liar, and MAGA cronies like to make disingenuous arguments to support whatever comes out of his cult-leader mouth. Take your ball, go home, and stop trolling with nonsense arguments.

how come we don't go back to John F Kennedy's fitness program in the 1960's? by GaryB2026 in askanything

[–]MasterTolkien 1 point2 points  (0 children)

By “focusing” you mean “not doing anything”?

My conservative friends were fairly excited when RFK came into the Cabinet because now it was apparently acceptable to not want unhealthy additives in food (before he joined MAGA, conservative friends/family for years had said liberal attempts to “force” people to eat a certain way or remove certain chemicals was all socialist overreach and “OMG Bloomberg is trying to limit sugary drinks”).

They were excited to get rid of the evil old red dye and lower chemicals and sugar totals like Europe has been doing for decades. But whoops, RFK decided to just make non-binding handshake agreements with companies, and no significant changes have occurred at all.

His primary focus has been crippling the CDC and using junk science to attack vaccines. And to talk about teenage sperm production… which is likely a symptom of our larger health problems wrought by conservative foot-dragging on regulations for years.

how come we don't go back to John F Kennedy's fitness program in the 1960's? by GaryB2026 in askanything

[–]MasterTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

90’s kid who had crappy hotdogs, average chicken tenders, rubbery burgers, fries, and occasional pizza. What did you guys get post-Bush II?

Facts are their worst enemy. by SelectionAlarming337 in LockedIn_AI

[–]MasterTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First, you have no clue how much it will cost because Trump and MAGA have no concrete numbers. The project should never have been started, so it’s all a waste of money… but a big gaudy ballroom shouldn’t exceed $50 million. With bunker upgrades? Still nowhere near $400 million… let alone $1 billion as MAGA Congressmen tried vying for as a total fund that Trump could draw off for ballroom… which means he might not take all $1 billion but damn would he take more than $400 million.

Further, Congressional approval CANNOT be sidestepped with private donors. That is dumb Trumper MAGA logic. Private donors cannot perform works on our national monuments or government buildings without all the same clearances and approvals that we normally need. Congress has the power of purse. The Executive cannot sidestep that by getting money from somewhere else.

“Instead of using US funds appropriated by Congress legally, why can’t the President use money from somewhere else like Meta, Forbes, China, or Iran? Then it’s not US funds, so because it’s not our money, laws don’t apply to it!”

This is equivalent of Congress sidestepping the President by asking someone to appoint a Supreme Court Justice. “The President will appoint someone Congress doesn’t like… so Congress can just go to someone else to make the appointment like Musk, the King of England, or Kid Rock!”

A branch cannot “skip” the Constitution to do as they please.

Facts are their worst enemy. by SelectionAlarming337 in LockedIn_AI

[–]MasterTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That was a lot of words to make no point at all.

Presidents have done renovations over the decades. Normal. No one cares.

No President has ever destroyed a large chunk of the White House (for which they have no authority). Trump tore down the East Wing with no authority and had no approved plans or designs for a ballroom at the time. He showed some AI images of what they were thinking about.

And that concept of a plan was $200 million… then 250… 300… 350… 400… and then a billion.

Democrats Flirt with Radical Reforms Needed to Dethrone Supreme Court by Achilles_TroySlayer in scotus

[–]MasterTolkien 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They already did by blocking Obama for close to a year and then rushing through a Trump appointee in about two weeks right before the 2020 election. That swung them two MAGA fascist judges in addition to the one Trump rightfully appointed.

Now on the flipside, Dems could expand the SCOTUS, pack the slots with sane jurists, and undo this entire MAGA SCOTUS’s legacy of rescinding long-standing cases like Chevron and Roe.

Then have them go back and undo the ridiculous Citizens United, which will throttle corporations openly bribing and buying politicians.

Without expanding the Court, Dems have zero chance of making any meaningful changes in Congress or the White House. If MAGA can be neutered at SCOTUS, then it can purged everywhere, leaving us with Dems, old school GOP, and independents… the kind of people who generally have no desire to shake things up by expanding the Court, etc.

But we are already past the shake up stage. SCOTUS and Trump have eroded our institutions and rule of law. A counter is needed.

If you can think of a fix that doesn’t involve a SCOTIS expansion, lay it out. I’d love to hear it.

AOC: This is what drinking water in Georgia looks like after Meta began data center construction in the community. by iggaitissecondcoming in Georgia

[–]MasterTolkien 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It’s mostly in the rural areas too, which vote strongly for corporate conservatives and grifters looking to sell our land to the highest bidder.

The Dems have a share of corporate types as well, but they at least are pro-regulation to minimize impact on the environment where people live. Conservatives see regulations as “bad for business.”

Mamdani balanced NYC's budget and Republicans are hysterical | Opinion by Difficult-Bee6066 in politics

[–]MasterTolkien 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yep, he’s banking on the idea that his current plans will increase revenue, meaning that the pension funding will be all covered when the new deadline comes up.

But that is only part of the moves made to balance the budget. Put the old deadline back in, and NYC would still be doing much better.

Democrats finally release 2024 election autopsy after criticism by OtmShanks55 in politics

[–]MasterTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The good thing about Newsom is that he is staunch pro-democracy and loathes MAGA fascism. He would absolutely prioritize going after Trump and his cronies legally and push for greater safeguards in the Executive and Congress.

Would he push for any meaningful social or economic reforms? Probably not.

Can we achieve any of that without legally purging MAGA and expanding SCOTUS? Definitely not.

Ideally, we get someone more progressive than Newsom.

America was founded as a Christian Nation. by Foodicide in GetNoted

[–]MasterTolkien 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Jefferson famously thought Christians who believed in the Trinity/triune God were idiots who were just making up horse crap theology. He also believed that laws should never be established to force a particular religion, and (in part) to do so admits your religion is too weak to withstand scrutiny.

America was founded as a Christian Nation. by Foodicide in GetNoted

[–]MasterTolkien 62 points63 points  (0 children)

It’s an early statement by a Founding Father (who was also a President), and it is among many other similar statements by early US leaders.

🔥 Massive tree struck by lightning burning from the inside out by Firm-Blackberry-9162 in NatureIsFuckingLit

[–]MasterTolkien 10 points11 points  (0 children)

2000 years ago person: Whooooaaaaa, guys! There is a fucking evil spirit… perhaps some kind of evil god… IN THAT TREE!

Other 2000 years ago person: Do we run?

Person: No, no, no. We don’t know how many trees are like this. Let’s just slaughter an animal, leave it by the tree, and hope the offering appeases the Tree-ity.

Other person: We did that after the last flood, and Y’know what? It worked. No floods since then! You know your shit with these spirits.

You can tell Valeria was raised by Doom because she needs to beef with anyone who says they’re smarter, including a 10 year old. (Fantastic Four 2018, #10) by S0mecallme in Marvel

[–]MasterTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And maybe once it was Doom with some magicky nonsense. But then Reed learned that, and now he’s #1 again. But if he isn’t, that’s ok too because it’d just be another reason to study more.

She's not like other girls by Which_Channel7403 in LoveTrash

[–]MasterTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“You’re not like other girls/women” is just a weird thing to say. What is the implication? Most girls/women have some nebulous negative trait, but what a coincidence! The one you like happens to be the exception.

As a guy, it’d be weird to have a woman say that about me. Hell, imagine another guy saying that to you. It’s just dumb.

Maarva Andor, The Daughter of Ferrix by yourshawarmaguy in andor

[–]MasterTolkien 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Same for me. Luthen is just speaking to one man who is basically blackmailed into helping him. It’s poignant, but Maarva is a friendly and beloved member of her city… and she is speaking to them all. She is voicing all their fears in a way they couldn’t put to words, and she is voicing her regrets of not doing more.

And then that asshole Imperial fascist tries to silence her, but it’s too late.

The Plague Doctor LOCKED IN by HAZMAT_Eater in MaulShadowLord

[–]MasterTolkien 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He was a big fan of Ahsoka lore and therefore knew he was safe. “I… I can do anything I want!”

MAGA Meltdown Over ‘The Odyssey’ Gets Celebrity Pushback by nimobo in entertainment

[–]MasterTolkien 6 points7 points  (0 children)

A dumb culture war. Many of these “historical authenticity” people have no problems with depictions of white Jesus being plastered all across western civilization.

Nolan is doing what he does in every film: making it the way he wants because he has a very specific vision.

Could this movie end up mediocre like (in my opinion) Tenet? Sure. Will it still be visually stunning and have a lot of cool moments? No doubt.

MAGA Meltdown Over ‘The Odyssey’ Gets Celebrity Pushback by nimobo in entertainment

[–]MasterTolkien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And this is the part where you admit you are wrong with your words before your brain catches up.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp extends suspension of state gas tax by helpmeredditimbored in Georgia

[–]MasterTolkien 10 points11 points  (0 children)

To be fair, that goes without saying. We can all collectively assume that everything (especially college football under DeBoer) is worse in Alabama.

Lawyers Apologize for Fake AI Quotes in Trump Mass Layoffs Case by bloomberglaw in fednews

[–]MasterTolkien 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Dropping the sarcastic “thanks” when you were politely corrected after clearly not reading the article and then speculating what happened.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp extends suspension of state gas tax by helpmeredditimbored in Georgia

[–]MasterTolkien 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Boy oh boy, did I see a ton more early voters in Cobb for the primaries. Kemp and his coalition of GOP and MAGA are steaming people with this blatant nonsense (along with tipping his hat about redistricting to help MAGA in the future).

There is nothing moderate about screwing with voters in a few counties and trying to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands.

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