quote:

He also talks about his faith in Vice President JD Vance

JD has been saying some eye brow raising things recently about the war. I wonder if he is miffed because Trump got into this and appointed JD to try to negotiate a way out of it which has proven to be futile? He blames Israel for botching up the MOU and cease fire. Maybe he don't like the Joos? I've been losing confidence in him for awhile now.

quote:

Vice President JD Vance needs to get his head out of the conspiratorial “rabbit holes” he says he loves to explore and drop the bizarro line he just pitched to Joe Rogan that the Israelis blew up the Iran peace deal because they want “to keep the war going on indefinitely.”

Link

Starting to look more and more that JD is just another Pence. Maybe he never really changed his spots. Is JD going to be the nominee in Tucker Carlson's new political party? Political suicide.

quote:

The state senator––that would be Mr. Vance––loathed President Trump and spared no invective to describe him as “America’s Hitler” and “Unfit for our nation’s highest office,” and “Trump is cultural heroin,” and “I’m a Never Trump guy…”

But the conservative commentator––that would be Tucker Carlson––touted POTUS 45 relentlessly and was quite excited by the prospect of 45 becoming 47.

That difference notwithstanding, Mr. Vance started making frequent appearances on Fox News with Tucker Carlson Tonight. According to Matt Gertz at Media Matters for America, “Carlson did more than provide Vance with a massive platform…On the air, he vouched for Vance to his audience, lavishing him with praise and declaring his personal admiration.”

By 2018–2020, Carlson had become Vance’s primary Fox interviewer, hosting 15 of his 17 Fox appearances during that period.

Interesting read.
Link

It’s Time to Save America

^^^^^^^^

If anyone watches this, can you please post a brief summary. I am not too lazy to watch it myself, I just want to give that jerk any more clicks than possible. TIA.

Tucker Carlson said any successor to America's faltering political system should begin with a shared understanding of what the country "should be," which he distilled into 10 points.

1. Fair: The same rules should apply to presidents, federal agents and elites such as Jeffrey Epstein, whose impunity Carlson cast as emblematic of an "Epstein class" enriching itself through a corrupt system.
2. Sovereign: Carlson claimed Israel pushed the U.S. into the Iran war through "bribery or threat or both," while describing foreign lobbying, corporate control of government and high-interest debt as forms of "slavery."
3. Productive: America should rebuild farming, manufacturing and craftsmanship while rejecting an economy dominated by finance, real estate speculation, surveillance systems and weapons.
4. Beautiful: Carlson alleged that urban planners deliberately "uglified" American cities, and portrayed brutalist architecture, graffiti, public drug use and violent crime as deliberate attacks on the public.
5. Healthy: Carlson embraced RFK Jr.'s food agenda, called for universal sobriety and said widespread use of drugs such as Xanax, Adderall and SSRIs had left Americans "half-addled."
6. Honest: Government officials should be punished for lying to citizens, and most classified records — including on the JFK assassination and 9/11 — should be opened.
7. Optimistic: Carlson argued that having children is a biological imperative and the foundation of long-term thinking, while blaming aging and childless elites for policies that disregard future generations.
8. Wise: Schools should teach how the physical world actually works and what he called unchanging facts about human nature — including innate differences between men and women — rather than credentials, screens and technological fads.
9. Decent: The U.S. should apologize and pay restitution for killing noncombatants, reverse Trump's "Department of War" rebrand and stop funding allies that commit what Carlson called genocide, citing Israel.
10. United: Carlson called for halting immigration until the effects of AI become clearer, ending benefits for undocumented immigrants and making English the sole language of federal documents and ballots.

So, Chellim, those points mostly sound pretty good. Do you agree with Carlson?

How about that Alexander Dugin is a "philosopher" we should listen to?

Please clarify. Sorry I haven't read previous pages of this thread. If already clarified, please ignore.

FWIW, the last post from the OP was 4 months ago (April 7th).

I did read through the previous 8 pages; I think I have a better idea of where people stand.

As for me, I continue to think we have no realistic alternative but to support President Trump in the Iran war. I am convinced that the timing was forced on us by Iran's build-up of its missile capability and continued aggression against Israel, which would be fatal for Israel if successful.
Although Carlson says a lot of things I agree with, his attitude that Russia should be our model, and that Israel is the problem in the Middle East, is diametrically opposed to mine.

quote:

Do you agree with Carlson?

I agree with his conclusion that our country and our political system is not working as intended. Our government exists to benefit primarily the self interested people running it, exempts itself from much of what it imposes on the rest of us, has become completely reliant on debt, etc. Debt is destructive.

I also agree that we should not be giving foreign aid to influence the world. We should not be involved in foreign wars (including both Iran and Ukraine) unless war is sold to the American people and declared by Congress. We should not be involved in regime change. We should either withdraw from Europe or greatly scale back.

We have been at war since 9/11 2001, coming up on 25 years. My daughter was in grade school when 9/11 happened. She was filled with patriotism and inspired enough to go to the United States Naval Academy and has served as an intel officer. She has seen enough to sour on the actions and lies told to the American people by our government.

Yet no war has ever been declared by Congress. Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress holds the exclusive power to declare war. I voted for Donald Trump (3x) largely because he campaigned against further involvement in foreign wars. I believe the American people are war fatigued.

I do not think we need a 3rd party. I think that would be largely unproductive. I have been a Republican my entire life, including party governance positions at both the County and State level. But I'm not sure the Republican party still represents me or my values. It will have to get back to being the party of small government. I will vote in the future for whoever promises to cut the size and scope of the federal government, balance the budget, and return much of the power to the States.

We could use a man like Calvin Coolidge again.

Coolidge faced three big tasks: to recover the integrity of the Presidency that had been tainted by the Teapot Dome Scandal during Harding’s term, to increase American prosperity, and to pay down the national debt that had accumulated during World War I.

During his term in office he slashed spending and vetoed 50 bills. That veto total is truly remarkable when it is remembered that Coolidge’s Republican party controlled Congress each year during his term. Why he vetoed these pieces of legislation can be summed up in this quotation:

Of course, a good many proposals are made by people that have very excellent things that they would like to have the Government do, but they come from people that have no responsibility for providing ways and means by which their proposals can be carried out. I don’t think in all my experience, which has been very large with people that come before me in and out of Government with proposals for spending money, I have ever had any proposal from anyone as to what could be done to save any money. Sometimes linked with the proposal for an immediate large expenditure is the suggestion that it ultimately will result in a saving. I think that is about the extent of the outside assistance I have had in that direction.

Coolidge reduced the national debt from 22.3 billion to 16.9 billion. This was at a time when total revenue for the government was approximately four billion a year. He accomplished this while reducing taxes three times during his administration. By the ending of his term only the richest 2% of Americans paid any federal income tax.

He cut Federal spending to the bone. For Coolidge this was not just a fiscal matter, but a moral matter:

I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical form.

During his term in office the American people enjoyed a wave of prosperity unprecedented in either American history or the history of the World. However, Coolidge did not view prosperity as an end in itself:

Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.

Contrary to the spirit abroad in this country today, Coolidge was quite clear that people could not look to government to better their lives:

The people cannot look to legislation generally for success. Industry, thrift, character, are not conferred by act or resolve. Government cannot relieve from toil. It can provide no substitute for the rewards of service. It can, of course, care for the defective and recognize distinguished merit. The normal must care for themselves. Self-government means self-support.

The Ku Klux Klan, at the height of its power, was a force to be reckoned with during Coolidge’s term, and Coolidge made it clear where he stood. Addressing the Holy Name Society in Washington, Coolidge said:

Something in all human beings makes them want to do the right thing. Not that this desire always prevails; oftentimes it is overcome and they turn towards evil. But some power is always calling them back. Ever there comes a resistance to wrongdoing. When bad conditions begin to accumulate, when forces of darkness become prevalent, always they are ultimately doomed to fail as the better angels of our nature are roused to resistance.

https://the-american-catholic....lvin-coolidge-again/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chellim1,

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
Although Carlson says a lot of things I agree with, his attitude that Russia should be our model, and that Israel is the problem in the Middle East, is diametrically opposed to mine.

His supportive comments in regards to Islam is fucking bizarre- he actually stated that some societies under Sharia Law are more "advanced" than western societies, also continually poo pooing the notion that radical Islam inserting itself into portions of America, that it is "overblown".

Yes, there are many things I agree with Carlson, but I could say the same also with Mitt Romney, Bill Maher, or even Susan Collins, doesn't mean that I respect them. Earlier this year, Trump commented that he was receiving multiple calls from Carlson on his personal cell phone, and refused to answer, he's done. And I am so done with Tucker, he's a deadhead to me.

One unfortunately common logical fallacy is the notion that because we agree with one or even many of a person’s positions about anything that we must therefore agree with all of their positions about everything.

To ask, “Do you agree with Mr. X,” is meaningless without specifying exactly what one is referring to. Adolf Hitler owned a dog that he was evidently fond of,* so would he approve of torturing puppies? Probably not, and I would agree with that position. Does that mean I agree with all of his policies and ideas? Of course not.

I can object to misrepresenting a particular position of someone like Joe Biden without, as I was accused, being an apologist for the man, and that’s an important fact to understand about anyone.

* Up until it was time to confirm that a cyanide capsule would do its intended job.

quote:

One unfortunately common logical fallacy is the notion that because we agree with one or even many of a person’s positions about anything that we must therefore agree with all of their positions about everything.

To ask, “Do you agree with Mr. X,” is meaningless without specifying exactly what one is referring to.

Yes, thank you.
I don't agree with anyone all the time. Not any commentator, not the President, and not even my wife.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
I don't agree with anyone all the time.

I don’t agree with myself all the time.

Although I sometimes say that as a sort-of joke, the fact is that I continually think about and evaluate many of my beliefs, and as a consequence I’ve changed them and my opinions countless times. I don’t have much respect for anyone who says he has never changed his opinion about anything.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
I don't agree with anyone all the time. Not any commentator, not the President, and not even my wife.

You seem desperate to make a point, going so far as stating the obvious.

^^^ WTF. I'll just stay out of your forum.

chellim1, don't leave!

(Edited to sound less whiney, more assertive.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RichardC,

This is related to this exchange I had with chellim the other day; hence, my comment that he seemed to be going out if his way to make a point.

If I'm mistaken, I'll apologize, but saying that you don't agree with President Trump on everything implies that some of us do, and in doing so, pledge allegiance to him blindly, and I resent that.

chellim is welcome here, as are his contributions to the discussion, and but for this one point, along with disagreements in the past on certain aspects of COVID policy, I recall no particular friction. I'm certain my comments the other day stung, and I should have left it alone today, but...

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
^^^ WTF. I'll just stay out of your forum.

As has been said in the past. This ain't no train station.