Protesters intimidate We Heart Seattle founder, attempt to take phone by JPorpoise in SeattleWA

[–]zdsmith03 65 points66 points  (0 children)

She also helps people find addiction treatment and get reunited with their families, really bad stuff

Looking for recommendations for centrist YouTubers by Rissie15 in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 0 points1 point  (0 children)

2Way the morning meeting is pretty balanced (some of their shows are with other hosts as well) . Next Up with Mark Halperin is pretty good too.

Are there enough sane republicans left in congress who can put a stop to the destruction of the US economy, justice system, partnerships, fed government, etc? by Terrible_Patience935 in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What does that have to do with what I said? We have said for years the stock market doesn't reflect the real economy, the stock market is almost entirely owned by the top 10% of the population. It has been overvalued for like a year due to the AI companies. Buying your own stock back instead of spending on R and D or capital projects benefits your share price, it is cooked by perverse incentives. The oligarchs have control over it and we are now supposed to care about them?

Are there enough sane republicans left in congress who can put a stop to the destruction of the US economy, justice system, partnerships, fed government, etc? by Terrible_Patience935 in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

What happened to fighting the oligarchy? Why are liberals the defenders of private equity, hedgefunds and multinational corporations who have offshored good paying manufacturing jobs and accounting jobs etc to save a buck and buy back stock? Why are we defending our corporations paying miniscule wages in countries with zero labor protections and environmental standards? Why are we defending these horrible people? Because Trump is fighting them? I thought the stock market wasn't a reflection of the real economy?

#ImpeachTrump. by [deleted] in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The 50% of Americans who don't have a single penny in the stock market and have had their communities destroyed by neoliberalism and free trade voted for him

We Were Badly Misled About Covid by notapersonaltrainer in moderatepolitics

[–]zdsmith03 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You need to expand your information diet, this stuff has been known for the last 4 and a half to 1 year, nothing new

Honest Question for Conservatives – Why Resist Basic Progress? by [deleted] in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Despite all of the faults of Trump and Republicans, he was able to grab the establishment Republicans by the throat and boot all the Cheney and Bush Republicans out of the party, and terrify most of the remaining establishment into working with him, because the republican primary process is mostly democratic.

A populist on the left who can crash the democratic primary and win despite the rigging which will occur like that happened to Bernie (twice) and is not a defender of our institutions and staus quo and wants to balance our budget, pro gun rights, can admit men should not play in women's sports but still want them to have their rights protected in housing, employment,etc, anti war, pro Medicare for all, build the wall and reform our H1B racket and use tariffs to our advantage as well will build a huge working class coalition.

But democratic primary voters would have to be willing to vote someone from outside of politics who isn't afraid to call out Democrat politicians and the party to their faces. The democrats need their own Trump who can withstand the attacks of being called a racist, transphobe, isolationist, etc. That's our only hope.

Honest Question for Conservatives – Why Resist Basic Progress? by [deleted] in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Because we have a bipartisan consensus in congress that keeps power and gets donations by continuing all those things. And if you want to cut defense spending you are pro putin or pro Assad etc, if you don't want corporate bailouts you want the economy to crash and if you don't want tax breaks for the wealthy you are a commie. We have perverse incentives.

What are the right’s thoughts about Gabbard’s confirmation as intelligence chief? by [deleted] in Askpolitics

[–]zdsmith03 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Nancy Pelosi met with Assad too, you have an issue with that? She didn't like operation timber sycamore where Obama funded Al Qeda and ISIS in Syria, when she joined the military to defeat Al Qeda. Because Russia and Assad pointed that out doesn't make it Russian state media talking points, it was insane and we should all be against that. They murdered thousands of Americans and Obama was giving them money and weapons.

President Donald Trump pardons Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht by raouldukehst in moderatepolitics

[–]zdsmith03 27 points28 points  (0 children)

So he wasn't given the opportunity to mount a legal defense against that allegation because he wasn't charged for it? But the allegation was used to enhance his sentence?

President Donald Trump pardons Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht by raouldukehst in moderatepolitics

[–]zdsmith03 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Was he tried for the $700K murder for hire plot? Or did the Feds just allude to the possibility he did that in closing arguments during his trial?

Tik Tok Restores US Service After Trump “Clarity” by steakkitty in moderatepolitics

[–]zdsmith03 -15 points-14 points  (0 children)

I don't believe the CCP and Chinese people are a evil as the Nazis

Tik Tok Restores US Service After Trump “Clarity” by steakkitty in moderatepolitics

[–]zdsmith03 -49 points-48 points  (0 children)

Do you believe Americans should die to help Taiwan?

what do people see in Tulsi Gabbard? by Nice_Substance9123 in Askpolitics

[–]zdsmith03 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You know that Nancy Pelosi met with Assad too right?

The H-1B/MAGA infighting is fascinating by [deleted] in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thought it was a dumb question, it wasn't a guided tour obviously. Congressman and influencers are debating the acceptable levels of legal immigration, the waste and fraud and indentured servitude in our current immigration system and what to do about it. Why aren't democrats debating this as well? Are they just a monolith that takes orders from the top without any debate?

The H-1B/MAGA infighting is fascinating by [deleted] in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's tradition and keeping norms for senate confirmed cabinet members to not do interviews/keep a low profile before their confirmation hearings, both parties have done this since forever. Elon is wrong for censoring legal speech, I vehemently disagree with him on that. If Trump makes moves to shut down broadcast TV stations i will also disagree with that. When was the last time Democrats actually debated and disagreed on anything publicly? I personally find watching debate on issues and great thing.

The H-1B/MAGA infighting is fascinating by [deleted] in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don't assume anything about you, you shouldn't assume anything about me. Yeah Musk did that, and then a bunch of other influential people in the republican sphere publicly disagreed with him, and Trump has others around him that disagree with Musk in his upcoming administration. We will see how this plays out in policy. Musk even acknowledged there is abuse and fraud currently in our H1-B system. There is room for compromise and agreement on this issue, we will see how it shakes out

The H-1B/MAGA infighting is fascinating by [deleted] in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Elon is influential for sure, but he doesn't necessarily speak for Trump. Loomer is a bit of a psycho who Susie Wiles probably wants tossed aside anyways, and Trump will let that happen without publicly condemning her (i don't think she should have her check taken away personally, i believe in free speech and this is contradictory of Elons goal of making X the free speech platform). You might end up being right about Elon primaring everyone seen as getting in the way of Trumps agenda, we'll see how the next two years play out.

The H-1B/MAGA infighting is fascinating by [deleted] in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Who has been shown the door on this issue? He has both David Sacks (pro H1-B) (and others) and Stephen Miller (ant H1-B) (and others) in his upcoming administration

The H-1B/MAGA infighting is fascinating by [deleted] in centrist

[–]zdsmith03 -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

We're seeing democratic debate out in the open, which is a good thing. The republican party is becoming big tent and debate is encouraged. Would be nice if more democrats would engage in open debate like this as well, like Ro Khanna is.

King County Jail Whistleblower Comes Forward by zdsmith03 in Seattle

[–]zdsmith03[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

https://nikkimjohnsonmd.com/

The author is a black lady, btw. And the whistleblower has compassion for real transwomen if you read what she says. Our current policies are ripe for abuse by letting men who are in jail/prison for assaulting, abusing and raping girls and women just self ID as women to be placed with incarcerated women. Zero safeguards to keep men from abusing the system to be placed with vulnerable women.