The Goat Pen

Speculation? Like you don't already know.

now....

'The situation is dire'; Salvation Army facing toy, donation shortage ahead of holidays
https://www.q13fox.com/news/the-situati ... f-holidays

I read some of the quotes from the handbook and they aren't as blatant as you are lead to believe, but in this attempt to get on the bandwagon of racism issues, it appears they are also victims of "be woke, go broke"

That dude laughing makes me think of IB watching a young pregnant Mexican woman fall down the steps.

Jungle Rat wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:50 am That dude laughing makes me think of IB watching a young pregnant Mexican woman fall down the steps.

I would laugh ONLY if it was you in utero

B

eCat wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 8:07 am

sardis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 14, 2021 6:46 pm There is definitely Trump fatigue that is creeping in Trump supporters. DeSantis is playing it smart, laying low, not saying anything positive or negative about him. Now that the texts are out, you'll see even the Hannity and Carlson will avoid Trump and move on. After 2022 elections he'll decide not to run because he knows there is a good possibility he'd lose the primary and that would be even more of a hit on his ego.

People like the idea of a president with a platform of Trump and the brashness it takes to get it done

They want that guy, but they don't want it packaged in Trump. If the GOP tries to push a Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney type guy to the front again, Trump will have an opening

Alot of people right now are hoping for a Trump/DeSantis ticket, but I don't think DeSantis would want to play that hand without at least running for President. I don't think the VP following Trump will have a chance, unless he seriously believes that Trump will get elected and then they invoke the 25th or he resigns in disgrace.

After the Jan 6 fallout, I think Trump is going to look around and see that most of the people that were backing him are shuffling their feet when he looks for support. He'll have a closed circle of people, a good number of them losing all their political clout for standing by him. At the moment though, its still a huge number of people out there that want Trump to run. He'll take their money, mount a half assed campaign and expect to be the leader in the field.

That's why I think DeSantis is important. People aren't going to get excited about a Ted Cruz or Niki Haley. They want a polished Trump.

There is a woman is who lives on my street, 30-something year old mom of 3 little kids, married a man more than 10 years older than her, huge Trump supporter. Like, if she left her husband, she would want to be wife #4 for Trump. She has all these flags off her house, Trump-this, Trump-that. She is constantly wearing a MAGA hat. She loves the man.

But she didn't care for Mitt Romney. And it's not because she didn't think he would make a bad President. And it's not because Mitt is LDS. It's something else.

So when I was stringing up my lights a couple weeks ago and she is out and about in her front yard, doing something similar (decorating for Christmas) and it was just her and I and she could be honest, I asked her point blank, why she loved Trump so much but Mitt Romney she was just wishy-washy? And she smiled at me, looked down at the ground, kept stringing her lights and said loud enough that I could hear

because Trump makes me feel good about wearing tube tops

This is when she went into this really strange monologue about how Mitt Romney, while a very nice man, a very good looking man that reminds her of her own father, while Mitt would make a very good President, she would feel ashamed to dress the way she does in front of him. Mitt might make her feel stupid. She doesn't feel shame for wearing tube tops with a President like Donald Trump. A president like Donald Trump, she can proudly be a woman, and it does not impact her femininity in anyway. She can dress frumpy. She can dress slutty. She can be anyway she wants to be and Trump would not judge her the way a father figure like Mitt Romney would.

She is a simple girl. She is not that bright. But she is a very good stay-at-home-mom who likes to dress like she is still 21 and she doesn't like people making her feel bad that sometimes her tube tops and her thong bikinis (that she can still wear in her mid 30s after three kids) make her look like a whore. In that sense, Trump adds something that Romney doesn't, understanding.

I call bullshit

C

Being honest here rat, I don't think my neighbor lady is that much of an outlier. I think she is the "rule" for women who enthusiastically voted for Trump, not the exception. She did vote for Romney but well, its just different. Trump makes her comfortable. Romney doesn't. I have no idea what she thinks of DeSantis.

"I read some of the quotes from the handbook and they aren't as blatant as you are lead to believe, but in this attempt to get on the bandwagon of racism issues, it appears they are also victims of "be woke, go broke""

Canceling the Salvation Army??

"because Trump makes me feel good about wearing tube tops"

I'll admit that it bugs me that this birdbrain's vote counts just as much as mine...

Don't worry he should be busy this weekend. Reddenbocker is coming to town for America Fest!

hedge wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 12:50 pm "because Trump makes me feel good about wearing tube tops"

I'll admit that it bugs me that this birdbrain's vote counts just as much as mine...

They should be making it more inconvenient to vote, not easier and easier. That way only the people who actually give a fuck will vote. Wanting everyone in the entire country to vote with two seconds of effort, or allowing them to vote by giving their proxies to someone else (ie ballot harvesting) is lunacy and leads to the complete failure of government because the only way win a majority is to either mislead and propagandize the masses or buy them all off. Everyone should have an equal right to vote with no means test or any kind of unequal access, but also everyone should, like have to do something annoying like be forced to sit quietly and do nothing for 45 minutes before they let you submit your vote or something like that.

LOL! I ain't sitting 45 minutes. I'm in and out in 5. Just like sex.

aTm wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:00 pm

hedge wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 12:50 pm "because Trump makes me feel good about wearing tube tops"

I'll admit that it bugs me that this birdbrain's vote counts just as much as mine...

They should be making it more inconvenient to vote, not easier and easier. That way only the people who actually give a fuck will vote. Wanting everyone in the entire country to vote with two seconds of effort, or allowing them to vote by giving their proxies to someone else (ie ballot harvesting) is lunacy and leads to the complete failure of government because the only way win a majority is to either mislead and propagandize the masses or buy them all off. Everyone should have an equal right to vote with no means test or any kind of unequal access, but also everyone should, like have to do something annoying like be forced to sit quietly and do nothing for 45 minutes before they let you submit your vote or something like that.

I am perfectly okay with no more "mail-in" ballots. I say you need to go to the polling place, to vote. But I don't get my way.

hedge wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 12:50 pm "because Trump makes me feel good about wearing tube tops"

I'll admit that it bugs me that this birdbrain's vote counts just as much as mine...

hedge, we both know that there are a LOT of birdbrains that vote for both republicans AND democrats. To take action and eliminate the "birdbrain" vote, well, I'm with you but you and I are in the minority here. We are talking millions and millions of voters hedge.

aTm wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:00 pm

hedge wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 12:50 pm "because Trump makes me feel good about wearing tube tops"

I'll admit that it bugs me that this birdbrain's vote counts just as much as mine...

They should be making it more inconvenient to vote, not easier and easier. That way only the people who actually give a fuck will vote. Wanting everyone in the entire country to vote with two seconds of effort, or allowing them to vote by giving their proxies to someone else (ie ballot harvesting) is lunacy and leads to the complete failure of government because the only way win a majority is to either mislead and propagandize the masses or buy them all off. Everyone should have an equal right to vote with no means test or any kind of unequal access, but also everyone should, like have to do something annoying like be forced to sit quietly and do nothing for 45 minutes before they let you submit your vote or something like that.

for that matter I never understood why they allowed a lever in the old voting machines that let you vote straight party ticket.

Congress just passed the most bloated, expensive defense spending bill since WW2 even adjusting for inflation. More than any of the 4 big wars since the 1940's or the cold war. It's heartwarming to see Republicans and Democrats come together to pour more of our tax money into the pockets of defense contractors. This is the only "bipartisan" issue in congress...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... ussia.html

hedge wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 3:30 pm Congress just passed the most bloated, expensive defense spending bill since WW2 even adjusting for inflation. More than any of the 4 big wars since the 1940's or the cold war. It's heartwarming to see Republicans and Democrats come together to pour more of our tax money into the pockets of defense contractors. This is the only "bipartisan" issue in congress...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... ussia.html

In 1961, military spending cost us 9% of our annual GDP, nine percent! $778 billion is just 3.3% of the expected 22 trillion dollar GDP in 2021. That is NOT what is breaking the bank hedge and you know it.

There are 3 things that are killing us financially, three things that were financially painless 50 years ago:

• Social Security
• Medicare
• Medicaid

That is like 70% of our budget. THAT is the problem.

I think 15 to 18% is military spending (and the real reasons for that is very expensive procurement AND we have more flag ranked officers today than we did in 1942 when our Army and Navy were more than 10 times the size.) With so many retired officers drawing lifetime pensions, that all hits our budget, all line items in military spending.

So SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, and Military spending is about 86 to 87% of all our government spending. Another 9% (or so) is interest on the debt. So now we are at 96% of ALL federal spending is just transfer payments to old people (either a check or medical reimbursements), military people, indigent people, and debt service.

That only leaves 4% for everything else. THIS is the only real part of the debt that is discretionary spending. I didn't make the rules hedge. And I didn't write the budget. I just know numbers and can break things down better than your link did. We can argue if you think we need quite so many flag ranked officers, that we can argue.

How much of our discretionary spending is military? And are you including DOD contractors in all this? If not you’re missing the mark by an even bigger margin.