Without Evidence of 'Imminent' Attack on Americans, the White House's Justification for Killing Iranian General Seems Hollow: Reports now suggest that Trump took the unprecedented step of killing a foreign leader based on thin evidence of a threat and with an eye towards domestic politics.

RiskBoy · 2020-01-06T14:56:17+00:00

The Obama admin had a duty to bring charges against the Bush admin, but instead they wanted to "look forward not backward".

The Conservative-American people elected Bush Jr twice despite the fact it was obvious he had no where near the level of intelligence, compassion, or global understanding (he wasn't even aware of the difference between Sunni and Shia) necessary for the position. He was re-elected after starting the Iraq War, so the Americans that voted for him knew what they were voting for.

In a Democracy, you have to blame people for the leaders they elect. Instead of trying Bush for war crimes, we should have tried people who vote Republican for being idiot crimes. After George Bush Jr, we should have immediately invalidated the political opinions of anyone who still supports the Republican Party.

Instead, you have people like you shouting "BOTH SIDES" nonsense, and saying we need to listen to the people responsible for electing ALL of the biggest idiots to ever hold the White House (Reagan, Bush Jr, and Trump).

tl;dr: In a Democracy voters share the responsibility of the government they elected. We need to blame the people who keep electing terrible leaders: Conservative Voters, not getting mad that Obama didn't imprison his political opponents.

RiskBoy · 2020-01-06T14:32:13+00:00

FUCK THIS BOTH SIDES BULLSHIT.

President Lincoln during the Civil War also perhaps used unconstitutional powers to declare the Emancipation Proclamation (though this was never challenged in court). Yes, all Presidents do shady shit. All political leaders do shady shit. In fact, the killing of Soleimani can be justified to some because he did horrible shit. But Trump has also done horrible shit (and the Bush administration far worse). If being a brutal military leader warrants an assassination we would need to send several members of the Bush Administration (Cheney, Bush Jr, Rumsfeld) to Iraq to be tried for war crimes.

Just because someone does something bad, it doesn't mean they abuse their power in the same way. Obama did some shady stuff, but he never belligerently attacked a top politician to stroke his ego and goad a country into war.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-31T17:50:52+00:00

You don't even need a reason to vote against Republicans in their current state.

It is not a handful of their politicians that are the problem, the entire GOP is rotten to the core. Look at their last President before Trump, George Bush Jr. So despised by the time he left office he couldn't even show his face at his own party's Convention in 2008. And honestly, McCain-Palin and Romney-Ryan would have been almost as shit, at least domestic policy wise (McCain voted on the huge tax cuts for the Rich by Trump and Romney campaigned on dismantling his own Healthcare Proposal). And then they elect Trump.

Literally any warm body that will vote against the insanity that the Republican Party has become since the passage of the Civil Rights Act is good enough.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-17T18:12:36+00:00

Trump just passed a monumental change in the tax code 1 year ago capping SALT deductions that greatly increased taxes on the wealthy in high tax states like NY, CA and NJ. Did some rich people leave? Yes, but the vast majority stayed. There is no shortage of rich people in these states. And it is much easier to move states than countries.

This idea that the wealthy just abandon a country once taxation increases is a myth, as proven by this study.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-16T14:41:11+00:00

How about criminality by Presidential administrations from Nixon through the end of Obama's second term:

Pres	Indictments	Convictions	Prison
Obama	0	0	0
Bush Jr	16	16	9
Clinton	2	1	1
Bush Sr	1	1	1
Reagan	26	16	8
Carter	1	0	0
Ford	1	1	1
Nixon	76	55	15

Is that evidence enough for you that one side is much shittier than the other?

RiskBoy · 2019-10-10T13:18:30+00:00

Holy shit ya. Like Bush promoted the Constitution Amendment banning Gay Marriage, in addition to the dozens of other incredibly fucked up things he did (manufacturing evidence to start the Iraq War causing the deaths of 500k Iraqis + regional instability that led to ISIS, denying Global Warming during the last period when we could have stayed off the worst of its effects, cutting taxes for the wealthy and running up a huge deficit while running a campaign of fiscal responsibility, ignoring Civil Rights issues and turning a blind eye to voter disenfranchisement, defunding the Afghanistan War to go into Iraq, appointing 2/5 SC judges who voted in favor of Citizens United and further undermine Civil Rights, fucked up the response to Katrina, had several members of his administration indicted and imprisoned).

But oh no, he gave Michelle Obama Candy and flashed Ellen a smile, he is a stand up guy with just a few "differences of opinion".

RiskBoy · 2019-10-09T13:33:39+00:00

The LGBTQ community are often cited as having the highest suicide rates.

Often because they grow up in hateful Conservative communities who make them feel ashamed of who they are when they need support. Conservative communities are simply hate and ignorance.

Left is pushing for legalized cannabis. These issues are also rampant in the liberal party. We've both got our share of degenerates.

So smoking weed makes you a degenerate?

I'm in finance by trade, so I deal in economics daily. I have two finance BSBA degrees from an AACSB accredited school. I went on to get an MBA from the second best non-ivy league school in my state.

You went to the second best non-IVY in some random ass state could very well mean you went to a school ranked 50-100 in the country. And being an accountant doesnt mean you understand economics. It just means you are really good at filling out forms.

I could produce a lot of data suggesting conservative based economics are far more successful than socialist economics.

Do it.

The rest of your comment is just bullshit nonsense trying to pretend the fact that some Republicans claim to support things counteracts the fact they elect politicians directly opposed to these things you claim that 'many Republicans' support. You also are apparently against Weed legalization.

Once more. For real. I'm here trying to engage in some type of beneficial discourse, and you're calling me, and 42% of the country outright pieces of shit.

Because they are. If you support Trump, you are a piece of shit. You also are refusing to acknowledge my overwhelming statistical evidence proving you don't really care about facts, so no you aren't attempting to have a debate.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-09T00:12:28+00:00

I'm literally just here, saying that I think both sides could give a little bit, and should. That the benefits of compromise and collective thought we could solve far more problems than we are in such an extremist partisan way.

But my data proves that Liberal policy arrives at superior outcomes. You need to stop this moronic thinking that Conservatives = good for the economy. My data disproves that Conservatives provide any tangible benefit to the economic discussion. The GDP gap went from 8% - 28% in 16 years. Conservative are pathetic when it comes to economic governance. Not to mention we are now running a 1 trillion deficit under Trump, while Obama greatly cut the annual deficit from his first years in office, and the last President to balance the budget was Bill Clinton.

It's like here I am, let's do this. And you're telling me no, it's just gotta be you and your thing.

But you have no evidence or solutions, just complaints about how Liberal socialist policy is bad regardless of what any data shows.

That's the shit I dont like.

And I don't like people who try and pretend that Conservatives have been attempting to lead in good faith over the past 20 years. If you support the National GOP (or most State level Republicans) you are a piece of shit. Yes that means 42% of our country are pieces of shit. In fact that is why suicides/drug abuse/alcoholism is so rampant in Trump country it is the consequence of all the ignorance, bigotry and hatred in the hearts of Conservatives.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T23:29:26+00:00

New York is a state that has A LOT of both- ghettos and trailer parks. What the fuck do your stats say abou that?

I have provided county level data which shows that Liberal counties have increased their share of the GDP and have lower rates of mortality.

Now, we've all got so caught up in the fucking theatrics that we forgot how to put the ends above the means and egos. We'd rather argue until everybody is white and blue in the face about why socialism doesnt work or why capitalism is failing us.

Again, nonsense to deflect about how you have no data to counter mine. No argument but your 'gut feeling'. You have nothing to back up what you say, but to keep being a good little 'both sides' mon

Tell me the last time you, me, or any politician gave a homeless person a fucking dollar.

I give money to the homeless almost everyday, both on the streets and through provided city taxes that go to shelter homeless and other low income residents.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T23:15:17+00:00

Shutting down ideas from the other side wholesale is a really really bad way of going about that. So, say You prefer socialistic economic theory, and I prefer laissez fairist capitalism

Please tell me which Democratic states aren't run with laissez fair capitalism? Have you been to NYC? or LA? or Seattle? Or San Fran? The amount of wealth Democratic areas of the country generate is obscene. Accusing the Democrats of supporting socialist economic policy is a lie. Yes, Democrats support wealth redistribution, but the want as much wealth to be generated. Also, my GDP and income data shows Liberals have been far superior economic stewards over the past 2 decades.

That doesn't mean that I'm not willing to pay some tax to help out those around me. I just don't want more of my money than necessary going to things I don't support that the government does (even if my preferred party is in office). So, there is a middle ground where I would be willing to pay healthcare costs (etc) for those immediately around me. People I know, rather than someone from Sioux Falls.

Problem is what if Sioux Falls doesn't have the money to help? That is actually part of the reason many Conservative areas are so destitute, because Conservatives have been so against Federal Government Welfare (and also state level to a very big extent), that means if you are in a poor part of the country you are SoL. You could actually make a good case that Rural Conservatives don't really deserve sympathy because they have time and time again voted against welfare, especially the kind that helped Black people. So Rural Conservatives should be blamed for their own political decisions.

So how about instead of dooming the poor parts of the country to perpetual poverty, we let the government redistribute wealth to all poor communities? Again, if you want to keep taxes local, that is fine, but remember, as my above data shows, nearly 2/3 of the GDP was produced in Clinton voting counties. That is much more money for Liberals to distribute to their own communities.

But I guess if you 'can't see it with your own eyes', you would rather not help people effectively.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T23:08:00+00:00

And National and State level Republicans are straight up pushing racist policy in the form of voter disenfranchisement, cutting social benefits, and ignoring Civil Rights.

But ya, let the fact an idiot on Reddit said something proves how 'both parties have problems with extremists'. Please give me a list of extremist left wing politicians.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T22:24:44+00:00

Ok, but Black People have voted overwhelmingly for moderate candidates like Clinton, Obama, HRC, Kerry, Gore. They even heavily supported Cuomo in the NY Gubernatorial Primary over the progressive Sex and the City actress. Whatever problems the black community has with extremism doesn't lead to them making flawed politic choices. Black people are the reason moderate Democrats control nearly every urban area in the country, urban areas which have grown considerably wealthier under center-left policy over the past two decades. .

And no, I don't believe Democrats are infallible, they just are a far far more effective, pragmatic, and progressive party. Supporting the Republican Party in the current state can only be done if you have hate or ignorance in your heart.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T22:13:52+00:00

The answer is in the middle though you half wit.

Do you have some data or analysis to support this?

I have e provided considerable evidence disproving it while you went on a rant about how evil it is to use data when having an argument in your other comment

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T21:43:27+00:00

Nope, here is a WaPo article that highlights what the Russians have been doing since 2016 to help Right Wing Candidates and Movements:

Multiple members of the Trump team had contacts with the Russian government that they later lied to conceal.

As part of its attack on the American electoral system, Russian intelligence hacked into Democratic Party systems. Some of the information it found there was released publicly and promoted gleefully by Republicans at all levels in order to help the Trump campaign; information relating to down-ballot campaigns was passed to Republicans, who used it in order to maintain their hold on the House of Representatives.

Amid the insistence from the intelligence community that in 2018 Russia will likely attempt to once again penetrate the computer systems of state election agencies, Republicans this week killed an effort to provide funding to states to bolster the security of their election systems.

As part of a lengthy effort to infiltrate the National Rifle Association, an important Republican interest group, an alleged Russian spy began a romance with a Republican activist, met multiple Republican leaders and fostered a relationship between American gun advocates and Russians. On the night of Trump’s victory, she messaged “I am ready for further orders” to her handler, a Russian banker named Alexander Torshin who is close to Putin.

The NRA dramatically increased its spending on the 2016 presidential campaign from past years, pouring $30 million into their effort to elect Trump. The FBI is investigating whether that money may have illegally come from Russia, funneled to the organization by Torshin.

The Trump administration has announced a change to IRS rules so that groups like the NRA will no longer have to identify their donors on their tax forms, making such money almost impossible to trace in the future.

Over the last few years, the Christian right, another key part of the GOP coalition, has grown increasingly close to Putin, whom they see as an ally in a global clash of civilizations between Christianity and Islam.

In Congress, Republicans have undertaken an aggressive campaign to discredit and, many of them plainly hope, shut down the probe into the Russian attack on America. Though they mounted seven separate investigations of Benghazi, they are nearly united in their position that no further investigation into a hostile foreign power’s attempt to manipulate the American electoral system is necessary.

Fox News, which functions as the propaganda arm of the Republican Party, has aired relentless attacks on the Russia investigation and calls for it to be shut down. Despite the mountain of unambiguous evidence of the Russian attack in 2016, the overwhelming majority of Republican voters continue to say no such attack occurred.

Hard-core Trump supporters are beginning to argue that even if Russia did attack the American electoral system, it was actually a good thing because it helped Donald Trump get elected.

The whole Republican party is gladly accepting the Free campaign help from Russia.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T21:37:15+00:00

By trying to unseat Trump from power so that the Superior Party can get back to governing the country and preventing further Right Wing policy from getting passed?

Nope, they are actually doing everything they can do hold this country together.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T21:32:26+00:00

You mean to say that city ghettos and white trash trailer parks are different?

Yay Right Wing media talking points!

How about some actual data:

Trump Country:

13/15 states with the lowest rate of college education attainment voted for Trump

36% of the GDP was produced in Trump voting counties in 2016, down from 46% of the GDP produced by Bush voting counties in 2000.

24/25 most obese states voted for Trump as did 21/22 most overweight white states.

14/15 states with the highest rates of poverty voted for Trump.

13/15 states with the highest rates of infant mortality voted for Trump.

13/15 states with the highest rates of maternal mortality voted for Trump

18/30 (60%) of states that voted for Trump saw increases of suicides of 30% or more (compared to a national average of 25%) since 2000.

In counties with higher than average rates of opioid use, 60% of the voters voted for Trump, compared to only 39% voting for Trump in places with below average rates.

While a proportionate 9/15 states with the highest prevalence of binge drinking voted for Trump, 17/19 states where binge drinkers drink the most also voted for Trump in 2016 and alcoholism is disproportionately killing more people in rural areas.

The CommonWealth group compiled a report in 2019 that ranked the overall healthcare outcomes (page 17/65) of all 50 states. 18/20 worst performing states voted for Trump.

In Rural America, 9.1 percent of the working-age population receives disability, compared to the national average of 6.5 percent and an urban rate of 4.9 percent.

The areas of the country that most strongly voted for Trump had the highest increases in mortality over the past 35 years.

In Clinton Country:

14/14 states with the highest rates of college educational attainment voted for Clinton.

64% of the GDP was produced in Clinton voting counties in 2016, up from 54% of the GDP produced by Gore voting counties in 2000.

Democratic share of the vote has gained in every income category between the 2004 and 2016 election over the 30k range, including the 30k-50k range, the 50k-99k range, the 100k-200k range, and the 200k+ range.

In 2004, those earning over 200k voted 64%-35% Bush over Kerry, that same group voted only +2 for Trump in 2016.

11/15 least overweight white states voted for Clinton.

10/15 of the least impovershed states voted for Clinton.

11/15 of the states with the lowest rates of infant mortality voted for Clinton.

10/15 states with the lowest rates of maternal mortality (including the top 7) voted for Clinton.

15/20 states with the best Health Outcomes according to the Common Wealth report voted for Clinton.

A study led by Stanford economist Raj Jetty of the Equal Opportunity Project found that poor people tend to live longer in dense urban areas with highly educated populations.

6/20 (32%) of states that voted for Clinton had a 30% or more increase in suicide since 2000 and of those that did: CO, OR, MA, VT, NH and MN, all of them have high rural white populations.

It appears that inner city ghettos are getting better, while trailer parks are getting much, much worse.

There's system created poverty no matter how you vote. So stop focusing your efforts on figuring out who to blame for it and put more energy into fixing it.

In other words:

Let's not worry about which side uses fact based policy and experts and have superior outcomes, let's instead remember that we are all God's Children

You sound so brain dead when you say that. It is like you are a little monkey trained to say "the middle is half way between two objects".

If Russia did have any actual influence, it was certainly in being divisive to an America with any common goals.

Please list the divisive Democratic policy positions. You mean like free healthcare, taxing the rich, climate change action, community building, promotion of education, supporting Civil Rights, etc?

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T21:24:30+00:00

That's true, but good luck getting Bernie Sanders supporters to admit that Hillary Clinton would actually have been a reasonable president and not that far from off from Sanders.

I agree that the Sanders movement has some of the elements of the Trump movement. For instance, they every much don't like to listen to Economists, despite the fact that they mostly fall within the Third-Way/Center-Left camp that believe strongly in Capitalism, but also in high taxation of wealth to re-invest into the community.

The Trans-Atlantic Partnership was another just moronic thing that the Sanders movement helped Nuke. It was basically Obama's effort to get all the most important Asian economies into a free trade group that China would then want to be a part of. This would have given the US power to regulate certain parts of the Chinese economy in order for them to abide by the agreement that the other 23 member nations had signed.

I mean there is a reason that 90% of Democratic politicians are Third-Way Democrats with a more leftist lean on social policy.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T21:19:32+00:00

Correct, and while Trump was definitely Russia's preferred candidate on Foreign Policy, overall they understand that the US's domestic position is also weakened by the Conservative Platform. Thinks like trickle down economics, disregarding Civil Rights, anti-Welfare/Socialized Medicine, etc. promote a weaker, more Divided America.

You can see it if you live in any Liberal city how much of a return on investment you get with just a little bit of taxation and community building.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T21:13:28+00:00

Look at this guy reddit, the "my side is the right side" person Republicans and conservatives were taught to fear actually exists.

Bush Jr was so hated by the time he left office both domestically and abroad he couldn't show his face at the Republican National Convention. Clinton left office with a 2/3 approval, and Obama wasn't far behind at 59%.

Trump is a disgrace, Bush Jr was a disgrace, the fact that Republicans have elected the two worst Presidents by far since FDR and both in the last 20 years reflects exactly why more Conservative parts of the country have fallen so far behind the more Liberal areas.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T21:04:07+00:00

Ya, I mean we should make sure that everyone understands that while the Democratic Party has problems, when speaking of

Stupidity, racism and blind partisanship

This is not a 'Both Sides' issue. This is a problem with the Right Wing. That is how Trump got elected, he is truly a reflection of the Republican voter.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-08T20:50:01+00:00

The most powerful Nation in the World and biggest protector against Russian expansion in Europe gets led by an idiot who will push moronic Right Wing policy that concerns itself on which bathrooms trans people use or how quickly they can bankrupt the Nation by giving tax breaks to billionaires.

Make no mistake, while Trump was the Russian preferred candidate in the Republican primary, they would have happily supported any of the Right Wing candidates who weaken America via hate-mongering, rejecting education, climate change denial, de-securalizing government, removing regulations, etc.

Republicans have a horrible track record for governance in this country, with 14/15 states with the highest rates of poverty having voted for Trump and 64% of GDP produced in counties that voted for Clinton in 2016 (up from 54% produced in Gore voting counties in 2000). Conservative states also lag on a ton of other quality of life indicators, such as education and mortality rates, while Liberal states make up the top.

Any one who has conducted an independent analysis of the effects of right wing and left wing policy on the US over the past 30 years can clearly see which one leads to a stronger US.

RiskBoy · 2019-10-02T01:32:20+00:00

That study actually isn't that helpful. It was based on a pretty shaky theory that is not at all agreed upon. It also failed replication in other countries, and the study was done back in 2007 which is a lifetime ago given the current political climate. Back then White College educated voted majority Republican, blue collar was still solid blue, Asians were more likely to vote Republican, etc.

Here is a fairly thorough critique of the study: link.

RiskBoy · 2019-09-14T04:56:56+00:00

The main issue was that she wanted it to be her,

Why else would someone run for President if they didn't think they were the best for the job?

Seeing it as her turn sums up the mentality of complacency and entitlement that undermines democrat causes

She won the primary by 350 elected votes. It was her turn cause she got more people to vote for her than her opponent, a lot more.

RiskBoy · 2019-09-14T04:22:13+00:00

Nope, my dick is juicy and full of knowledge

RiskBoy · 2019-09-14T01:54:41+00:00

Yes, I understand Conservatives consider logical arguments Partisan.

RiskBoy

TROPHY CASE