This board is so much freaking better when we are roasting Republicans

[DemocratSinceBirth]

[rug]

1. Wingnuts roasting on an open fire . . . .

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. Metaphorically of course.

[MaggieD]

13. Your metaphorical post add-ons are the best!

LOL!

[Maru Kitteh]

49. OMG rug. SO RARELY does a thread win on the first reply but . . . .

You sir, have won the internet this holiday. Enjoy responsibly.

[Siwsan]

2. Could not agree more!

[JaneyVee]

3. Meanwhile, there's a "progressive alternative" website that...

Is still obsessed with Hillary and barely a peep about Trump. Sad!

[geek tragedy]

6. Batshit insanity and toxic narcissism aren't progressive

traits.

[spooky3]

9. Along with an unhealthy dose of misogyny

[Maru Kitteh]

50. + racism, + CT insanity, + love of all right-wing rhetoric

I only peek in once in a while to avoid serious injury. The stupid, it does burn.

[sheshe2]

51. I went there today.

I feel bad for Elizabeth Warren.

They said Dems are....@#$%^&*IOP)(*&^T%R$E#@#$%^&^%$#45@#$%^&*(*&^%$#$%^&*()(*&^%$%^&*(&^%$%^&*()(*&^%^&*()(*&^%$%^&*()_(*&^%^&*()_)(*&^%$%^&*()_(*&^%$%^&*()(*&^%$%^&*()(*&^%$%^&*()_+)(*&^%$%^&*()_(*&^%$%^&*()_)(*&^%$%^&*()_)(*&^%^&*()_+_)(*&^%$^&*()_)(*&^%$%^&*()_+)(*&^%^&*()_+)(*&^%$^&*()_+)(*&^%&*()_)(*&^%^&*()_+_)(*&^&*()_+_)(*&^%$^&*()_)(*

Oh, and Bernie is going to win.

[Maru Kitteh]

53. I'm going to wait and see who they pick for the Superbowl

And put a small fortune down on the other team.

[BobbyDrake]

17. +100! nt

[Dem2]

18. Amen

Also known as "just another election cycle" for the permanently outraged.

[SCantiGOP]

56. Amen and Alleluia

[Andy823]

10. Well

If we are thinking of the same site, some there do say they would vote for him over Hillary. I think their main goal from day one was to be the "anti Hillary" site, and I must admit their hate for her matches the hate from the right wing. Kind of makes one wonder.

[Hortensis]

29. Like Fox's Roger Ailes and Trump, the person who

started that site identified an unmet market and created a product to sell it.

But it's not just anti-Hillary motivation. There have always been a large number on the more radical left that loathes liberals and Democrats. The "anti-Democrats," and believe me, that is very much an anti-Democrat site.

We have the position nationally that they want but cannot achieve for themselves. Since they tend to be extremely intolerant, righteous, intellectually dishonest and contemptuous of and hostile toward liberalism and Democrats, their emotional expenditures there don't seem to leave either energy or time for looking farther right.

When their thoughts wander that way, it seems they believe they'd take charge and quickly whip the conservative half of the nation into order if only The Evil Democratz could be "purged," as some so hopefully put it.

[MaggieD]

12. Yeah, but that place is whack

Any actual progressive would be horrified at that place.

[sufrommich]

15. It's a PUMA forum. And just like Hillaryis44, Bernieis45 is filled

with sore loser conspiracies and vows to vote republican. It's oddly hilarious that it's a repeat of the 2008 PUMAS.

[glowing]

5. Sadly, the nation doesn't work when we are at such locked heads.

The "two-team" method of parties has now placed more persons outside of either two parties, and then in the GE, they are stuck with those two options. AND its all smoke an mirrors. It doesn't matter if its Dems or Republicans often times, its what the corporate donors want that ultimately is passed. Seriously, when Dems are in "power", they can't manage to pass anything because now we need an elusive 60 vote to pass anything, and God forbid they change that rule to make more sense for today's needs and with Republicans obstructing everything... We have serious problems with the way our govt is run. It isn't working, and money in politics has turned America into a complete Oligarchy.

But have fun "roasting" away. It solves so very much in the real world. Hope you feel better for about 5 seconds as the "entitled class" sip their champagne and laugh at you.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. Last I checked

But have fun "roasting" away. It solves so very much in the real world. Hope you feel better for about 5 seconds as the "entitled class" sip their champagne and laugh at you.

Last I checked this is a board for Democrats:

Why we have this rule: Democratic Underground is an online community for politically liberal people who understand the importance of working together to elect more Democrats and fewer Republicans to all levels of American government, and as such we expect our members to support and vote for Democrats at election time.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice

and not a "everybody sucks" board where those that demur from that assessment are worth of derision. I believe such a site exists and I would be more than happy to share with you their web address if you are so inclined.

[glowing]

14. I have been literally saying things like this since 2004 when I joined. I think our Dem leaders

should represent us better. But they are are schmoozed by money. Money is ruining this country and this world. And I am a Democrat, I just refuse to beat up on people who haven't been enlightened enough or live in a regions that is "Republican", but literally say the same thing I do.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. There is no disputing big money plays a big role in politics.

However the Democratic party has given us

Medicare
Medicaid
Affordable Care Act
Social Security
Food Stamps
AFDC
WIC
Marriage equality
Unemployment Insurance

America would be a much less gentler place without us.

[glowing]

19. Marriage Equality was the Supreme Court.

The ACA, while better than nothing, was really just a Republican idea (Romney Care), with a few changes (straight from the Heritage Foundation). It's what Republicans wanted back when Hillary first took on the health care insurance issue in the 90's. Food Stamps (SNAP is being reduced and families are being harmed and no one says anything about it because there's a mental block on this idea from the 80's and into the 90's or a Welfare, Cadillac driving Queen, and that all recipients of Govt aid that are on the "poor" end of the shtick are lazy moochers, while the real Welfare Queens are the wealthy corporations that buy our govt officials).

AND the talk for years, and being fought against Dems now, is that social security and medicare need to be reduced. Mainly, because Wall St wants their hands on that big ole' pile of social security monies to gamble with.

We need a new direction because jobs are being replaced with machines/ robots and computers. We are already seeing this occur now. On our current economic model, we will eventually end up with 50% of people needed in a "work force". However, there are other means or ways we could "value" life, society, what a job looks like, how much time one must put into "working", etc.

[ismnotwasm]

20. If the ACA was a "Republican" idea

Why did the Republicans fight so hard to prevent it from being implemented?
Also,
I do think "Needing a new direction" because of advances in technology, is an interesting concept. If 50% of jobs are going to be wiped out, what new direction are you proposing?

[glowing]

23. First, the ACA is absolutely modeled after the Heritage Foundation think tank group.

Making Americans buy Health Insurance without a Public Option OR even better, just expanding Medicare to ALL US citizens and have the fees/ taxes based on one's income and a fee/ tax assessed for companies. (We actually all pay this now, however, it would increase if everyone was included and the cost of Health Insurance fees would go away if you were an American lucky enough to still have employee based health insurance). The reason why they "obstructed" the ACA was due to a little known meeting on the eve of the inauguration while the Obama's were dancing at their balls, Republicans decided to obstruct everything. So, they had to come up with really stupid reasons to refuse to pass their own damned ideas. Remember, back in 2009, if you are old enough, Obama literally ran on a rather Progressive platform, came to Washington DC with a ton of political capital and a +5% in winning totals. He could have chosen to push for the entire DNC platform, and actually receive it had he asked his Obama coalition to hound the heck out of congress. We also had huge totals of Dems in the House and Huge totals of Dems in the Senate (59 and 1 more with Franken on the way). That's an unbelievable mandate that he and his fellow Dems had going into 2009 when the country literally thought the Hope and Change we were going to get would be an FDR 2.0 (which was desperately needed)... Alas, instead, he hired Rahm Emmanuel, he made half of his cabinet Republicans (for bi-partisan show), and he said he wanted commitment on bills he passed to also be "bi-partisan". He didn't need them. Do you think if the Republicans held congress, 59 Senators, and the White House, they would ask the Democrats what they would like to do or to work with them in a bi-partisan manner? NOPE, they rammed shit through with Cheney breaking 50/50 ties for tax give-a-ways to the wealthy.

Anyway, we ended up getting a watered down stimulus package that didn't go far enough in recovering Main St. We got banksters taking money from tax payers with absolutely no push to help continue liquidation for Main St. AND we were hemorrhaging jobs (700,000/ month). They wanted to make Obama a 1 term President, so damn the country and what might be good for it, they refused to work with him and used the filibuster rule like a club. (In the past, filibuster was reserved for really crazy, bad shit), it became an all the time item. Their bs lead straight to the rise of the Tea Party (which was an astro-turf movement sponsored by the Koke Bro's), and they took over the House 2 yrs later. AND because people didn't get tangible Hope and Change or improvements they gave Dems the mandate for, they didn't bother showing up to support the mid-terms.

As far as society goes, we must turn to a more egalitarian society. Certain tangibles MUST be a guarantee for ALL of earth's population: clean air, clean water, safe housing, access to nutritious food, and access to health care. People should be sharing the work. Technology should enhance all of our lives. We need to change NOW to renewable energies. AND we need a free society where people can move about much more easily. Countries are lines on a map that humans drew. We need more access to one another so we can share one another as the human species. I'm not sure if this is achieved by creating a certain amount of "living fees" given by govt for every man, woman, and child to live and "extra" is just the extra? It's awful hard to transition into a society that focuses on happiness and equality and trying to regulate fairly without becoming some spawn that ends up looking like USA and Russia spawned a baby country.... I do know that people not working or utilizing their skills (and we don't do that enough in this country, we have McDonald's workers that should be singing or writing poetry), but without work and mobility and the ability to feel satisfied in basic human needs, we will probably self-destruct into some sort of Mad Max type of living.

[ismnotwasm]

31. First, How do you reconcile all that with a global economy?

A global economy is not going away, nor do I want it to. I am not a nationalist, and I want to see world-wide improvement in standard of living, not just the US. Which means we have to have trade agreements. Not pushing the TPP here, or even particularly want to discuss it, but we do need them.

And putting aside the origins of the ACA, as well as the logistics of pushing a public option through congress, let me say Public option is just one way to obtain universal healthcare--which I'm sure we will agree, is the actual goal. As far as details, if we had universal healthcare tomorrow, we would NOT have enough providers to care for the poplace. Not enough nurses--my field, not enough physicians, not enough radiologists, none of it. And the devil is, as they say in the details. I would like to see an expanded and improved ACA, one that lowers premiums for the middle class without cutting quality. Simultaneously, we need to provide incentives for workers to enter the healthcare field, rather than leave it as is happening in areas--at this point in time, NOT one that can be replaced by robots on most cases.

Living fees, do you think this would reduce productivity or encourage it?

[glowing]

40. First, I said on a global scale, all humans should enjoy these freedoms/ rights as

a living entity. I don't believe it's achieved by closing borders. Again, those are imaginary lines drawn on maps to contain people on a globe we should all be sharing with one another. Ability to travel and experience one another also makes it harder to engage in warfare because meeting other people, seeing other cultural heritage, experiencing love and laughter with one another make it harder to agree to shoot or bomb one another.

2nd. Every American, as per the ACA, was President Obama's stamp on an idea that NO person should go without swing a Dr because of the size of their wallet. And while we may need expanded health care providers, we shouldn't tell some people to die or go without care just because they are poor. And if we provided free college/ tech training, we could get some of these young idol people into these jobs. 50% of under young Afeican Americans do not have jobs, 35% for Hispanic, and 25% for white. We are vastly underutilizing our youth. But other major sectors will be eliminated with machine and robotics and computers...
So, we should embrace the ability to have more "free time" to make ourselves happy, spend with our families, go on vacation, see the world.

[ismnotwasm]

44. So

Yes, borders suck, but it's what we got and I don't see them going away in my lifetime.

Travel is expensive--it would be an interesting program to start though-- travel for all youth not just for ones with parents who can afford it. I agree we should have very broad cultural education, possibly increased exchange student programs, whatever it take to bring about a better global understanding. Humans are not so different one from the other

Do we have studies showing where the most jobs are needed besides the tech industry? Healthcare is a big employer, but not everyone can--or would want to, do it. A medical degree is very expensive yes, but it takes a habit of study and dedication to get through it-residency itself is a kind of hell run, (many doctors are saying today they would not pursue medicine if they had to do it over--but that's another story) nursing school is little better and only because it's a lot shorter and for a young adult with a family it requires incredible focus.


With the free college idea--how do we guide young people into of the type of careers that will benefit society? I can tell you in nursing, you can get grants easier if you want to pursue your practitioners license in Psych for instance. There is a shortage. That what I meant by incentive. If we offer free college with the end result desired being a career from said education, I believe what the education is in has to be managed to a certain degree.

I also believe we should be managing primary and secondary education better, much better than we are, because it's tough to succeed in collage if you don't have the basics. There will always be ones who will not do very well in collage.

Your idea for free time is a very interesting one one often pursued in one form or another in science-fiction, with varying results depending on the author. Depending mostly on whether one is an optimist or a pessimist

[Lord Magus]

59. The Heritage Foundation plan was individual mandate & nothing else.

No coverage for preexisting conditions, no Medicaid expansion, no elimination of lifetime coverage limits, no imposition of minimum coverage requirements, no letting college-age adults stay on their parent's insurance, no mandate that insurance companies limit overhead to under 20% of revenue. The Heritage assholes just wanted a requirement that Americans buy insurance, without placing any new regulations on the insurance companies at all.

[glowing]

60. I understand. The model was tweaked a bit to be

Somewhat helpful for people needing insurance and didn't need to be denied the moment they actually needed it. It's probably more like Romney Care.

Many states did not expand Medicaid thanks to the Supreme Court
BS.

Now, we see some major insurers deciding to pull out completely. We see in other cases that these individual plans aren't very user friendly in trying to find a Dr or in-network needs.

All would have been so much easier had we just gone to a Medicare for All model. Then we could begin to actually regulate the medical profession, regulate costs, regulate Big Pharma.

[Lord Magus]

61. "Tweaked a bit"?

The individual mandate is just one of many elements to the ACA. You act as if it's pretty much the entire law aside from a few other minor things added in. BTW there's one other thing the Heritage proposal didn't have that the ACA does: subsidies for low-income Americans to actually buy the insurance.

[glowing]

62. But for the main part, this plan was Republican ideas.

Democrats used to fight for Medicare for All. I think this is the reason there was no real resolve in th 90's. Republicans were at individual buys for private insurance, mandated (sort of like we do for car insurance). democrats wanted the full Monty on having Medicare expanded for everyone. I guess, we ended up with HMO's.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. My goal is to see everybody have access to quality health care, regardless of ability to pay.

I don't care what they call it.

It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice.

Deng Xiaoping

[Warren DeMontague]

36. What New Direction- That's the $64,000 question, right there.

And it's a topic futurists have been warning about/hoping for/predicting since the 70s or earlier.

However, structurally our political and social systems seem fairly inadequate to address it. My hunch is that we will end up somewhere between the utopian "bountiful leisure rewards of technology are shared by all of society in forms such as a guaranteed income" and "techno-dystopia of walled off elites versus starving masses". But nevertheless these are big, real questions which we would do well to begin to try and formulate policy around.

[ismnotwasm]

45. You ever read Tad Williams "Otherland" series?

It's a fun Sci-fi with elements of cyberpunk and fantasy, what is cool about it, is at the start of every chapter there is a "press release"--as the books go along you slowly realize it is set in a techno-dystopia with almost no way out.

[Warren DeMontague]

46. It sounds vaguely familiar, but no-- thanks for the heads up!

I did the whole William Gibson thing years ago, but lately I just haven't had the head (or time, maybe) for fiction. I ran out and read George RR Martin after the first season of GoT but I can't even remember the last fiction I've read beyond that.

I will check it out.

[ismnotwasm]

47. Blech--can't stand George--I know, I know-- I'm going to hell.

I DID tackle "Gravity's Rainbow"--Not cyberpunk or even Sci-fiof course, felt like I was on acid for days after that endeavor.

Right now I'm back to author's like Brian Greene and Michio Katu so I can pretend to understand Quantum Physics...

[Warren DeMontague]

48. Ha- yeah, I'm just a sucker for a good yarn, at least if it grabs me.

Particularly one with so many threads and so much detail.

I could see not being particularly impressed with the writing, but I'm just like DAMMIT, I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!

Now, I never had any patience for Tolkien- for me it was like trying to read the Bible; or as my late old man put it, back in the days before nerds were cool... "Bored of the rings"

Pynchon, I'm impressed. I tried. I've got Gravity's Rainbow on my bookshelf in the "books I put up there to appear well-read but that I've never actually made it through" section, (right next to James Joyce). I got halfway through Infinite Jest and gave up, which I guess is pretty typical.

I'm not half as smart as I like to pretend I am, I think. I do like Brian Greene and Michio Kaku too, those sorts of science books. Of course the people who understand quantum physics will be the first to tell you that no one understands quantum physics.

I've been on a political/history thing lately- I'm in the middle of The Devil's Chessboard by David Talbot. Creepy (as a book about Allen Dulles is wont to be) and a bit depressing, but interesting. I think someone on DU brought it up, that was why I checked it out.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. Four of the five SCOTUS yes votes on Obergefell v. Hodges were Democratic appointees.

[glowing]

55. Are you sure, I thought one was a Republican appointee... However, the lawyers for marriage equality

were a "tag team" of Democratic and Republican personas. AND that was very cool.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

57. Breyer, Kagan, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kennedy voted for marriage equality.

Kennedy was the only Republican to vote for it.

Alito, Roberts, Thomas and Scalia all voted against it. They are all Republican appointees.

[Katashi_itto]

26. And every shit trade deal thats come along.

[Iliyah]

28. To add, sick leave & maternty leave, grievance time off, Unions . . . .

[glowing]

54. To be fair, only a certain % of the population actually gets to participate in any of those items

If you work for a small company, I think less than 50 people, sick leave and maternity leave are not a guaranteed right, and certainly, most of the time, those jobs are minimum wage jobs, so the ability for a worker to actually take sick time or more than 2 weeks off for maternity leave, is a luxury. Unions are also not a guaranteed right for workers to join, especially in these "right to work" states. Essentially, you can be fired for no real reason at all.

[MisterP]

52. right, they roast the GOP, but not its policies

[Lord Magus]

58. This is really NOT the place for Naderite nonsense about Dems & Repugs being the same. -nt-

[DemonGoddess]

8. K&R!

[MaggieD]

11. I'm cautiously optimistic

That it will remain low on bashing Democrats and high on uniting and holding up Democrats! Like the good old days. That would be so nice!

[AgingAmerican]

22. As long as 25% of the OPs are still attacking former primary opponents

There will be internecine fighting.

[Warren DeMontague]

37. I think a lot of people don't know what to do with themselves under the new rules.

There is a sort of delicious irony to it in many cases, because I think they expected something different.

[mcar]

24. It is indeed

[longship]

27. Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what is was to roast in the depths of the Sloar!

I'll can tell you!

Sorry! Hope I got it right this time.

[Vattel]

30. No, then it tends to be a boring echo chamber

[840high]

32. yes

[auntpurl]

33. Agreed!

[Warren DeMontague]

34. Yeah, certainly better than when people are obsessively talking about other people on DU.

Some people really miss meta. I mean REALLY miss it.

[calimary]

35. Indeed. The common enemy we all face.

It's not each other. It's Trump and the GOP.

[Warren DeMontague]

38. Congratulations- you found the world's most unappetizing looking rotisserie chicken.

Seriously, that looks like some shit out of Eraserhead. Yuk.

[coco77]

41. Exactly...

[Gothmog]

39. Agreed

[insta8er]

42. Weird, I primarily see how Bernie and his followers are being roasted on this board.

Neo liberals, zealots, fundamentalists..those are just a couple of things that we have been called in several threads that are "trending" on this board.

[Scurrilous]

43. K & R