OT: Our new first lady and first daughter.

[rgc7]

There is a cost to making things unstable. Thank you Obama/Hilary/Kerry

Kasich is weak, and the liberal choice on the 16 Which is why he was never in the running

I think that we were very fortunate that Trump showed just how weak all the Republicans were, and that in reality their was little difference between the two parties. Now I think that we may finally get a real shake up
in both houses and the whole country as well ! Finally, I think that we will get changes that will benefit the country as a whole ? Hope and Pray that Trump has great success ! I think that he may very well be one of our best Presidents ever if he lives up to his promises !

 

[Ara64]

I haven't been this excited about the possibilities ahead since Robert Kennedy and I was to young to vote. When I saw Mrs Trump in that blue dress it took me back to Jacqueline Kennedy. I felt six years old again. I wish the President much luck and close the biggest deal of your life. God bless the USA.

 

[perseverare]

Great or not great; the country could not continue to go the course the Dems were taking the country!
Freebies and giveaways will get the Dems repeatedly elected; they keep an entire segment of the population as dependents; like 'users' are to their drug dealers!
Sooner or later, those voters will catch on to that gambit!

The USA can no longer be the 'welfare state' for the world. Time to put our own house in order!
"...And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’'

The godless, pagans, deviant, self-serving, lazy, criminal and the like, cannot be let to continue to dominate and destroy this nation. God will judge this nation.

 

[perseverare]

Stephanie Dolce's sassy, raw, controversial, and to-the-point writing has captured the minds, hearts and even souls of millions worldwide. In a recent blog post, the femenist explains why she does not support the women's march in America...


This WOMAN does not support it. They call it a women's march but it's only for women who share the same thoughts and beliefs as they do. That means they are the women who believe X,Y and Z. Oh and hate Trump even though he hasn't done one thing yet. Way to be open. Way to be accepting. Way to NOT represent all women. I am all for equal pay with men, but marching and chanting isn't going to do a damn thing. In fact, it's going to do just the opposite. Trump won, get over it and also give him a chance. The Country needs UNITY not more DIVISION and all this does it keep us from getting together.

Let me share with you these thoughts they aren't mine, BUT they are exactly how I feel. ( Thank you to Brandi Goings Atkinson for the piece you wrote- and for doing the research that I was in the mist of doing.-) And if after you read them, just know that I will NOT be getting into any conversation with you on them. I just want you to THINK about it from a different point of view.

I am not a "disgrace to women" because I don't support the women's march. I do not feel I am a "second class citizen" because I am a woman. I do not feel my voice is "not heard" because I am a woman. I do not feel I am not provided opportunities in this life or in America because I am a woman. I do not feel that I "don't have control of my body or choices" because I am a woman. I do not feel like I am " not respected or undermined" because I am a woman. I AM a woman. I can make my own choices. I can speak and be heard. I can VOTE. I can work if I want. I control my body. I can defend myself. I can defend my family. There is nothing stopping me to do anything in this world but MYSELF. I do not blame my circumstances or problems on anything other than my own choices or even that sometimes in life, we don't always get what we want. I take responsibility for myself. I am a mother, a daughter, a wife, a sister, a friend. I am not held back in life but only by the walls I choose to not go over which is a personal choice. Quit blaming. Take responsibility. If you want to speak, do so. But do not expect for me, a woman, to take you seriously wearing a pink va-jay-jay hat on your head and screaming profanities and bashing men. If you have beliefs, and speak to me in a kind matter, I will listen. But do not expect for me to change my beliefs to suit yours. Respect goes both ways. If you want to impress me, especially in regards to women, then speak on the real injustices and tragedies that affect women in foreign countries that do not that the opportunity or means to have their voices heard. Saudi Arabia, women can't drive, no rights and must always be covered. China and India, infanticide of baby girls. Afghanistan, unequal education rights. Democratic Republic of Congo, where rapes are brutal and women are left to die, or HIV infected and left to care for children alone. Mali, where women can not escape the torture of genital mutilation. Pakistan, in tribal areas where women are gang raped to pay for men's crime. Guatemala, the impoverished female underclass of Guatemala faces domestic violence, rape and the second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. An epidemic of gruesome unsolved murders has left hundreds of women dead, some of their bodies left with hate messages. And that's just a few examples. So when women get together in AMERICA and whine they don't have equal rights and march in their clean clothes, after eating a hearty breakfast, it's like a vacation away that they have paid for to get there.

Now to those who keep going around social media telling me that you are protecting my rights by the march:

Where were you protecting our rights when that poor helpless woman was raped behind a dumpster and the rapist served only 3 months?

Where were you protecting our right when the US Women's Team was fighting for EQUAL PAY?

Where were you protecting our rights when women soldiers fought to be in the front lines?

You were NO WHERE- You had so many opportunities to stand for women in the past 8 years, and did nothing.

So stop giving me the speech that you are "protecting my rights."

You can't protect women's rights when it's only convenient for you- you protect rights at EVERY moment you get- NO MATTER who is President. That's the true definition of being a feminist.

 

[perseverare]

http://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/1968/This-Woman-Explains-Why-She-Does-NOT-Support-The-Women-s-March

link for the above

 

[Telx1]

http://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/1968/This-Woman-Explains-Why-She-Does-NOT-Support-The-Women-s-March

link for the above

I'll be damned! Thought I would override my ignore setting on Perse and see what kind of perspective he would add when talking something other than ND football, and discovered a like minded post or two! Many many years ago I testified before the California Legislature on Welfare reform and our efforts to establish hard term limits for benefits in concert with an extensive employment training and placement program. My most ardent supporter was a radical liberal black Senator who believed Welfare was a narcotic deliberately given to Poor blacks by the white establishment in order to keep the black race economically inferior. He and I argued extensively over his view of the intent behind Welfare, but we were of a like mind as to the de facto result of systemic dependency and the multi-generational adverse consequences of same. Nearly thirty years later and the same cause and effect dynamic is at play on a much larger scale, and the unintended consequences of all these government benefit programs have created a HUGE population of dependents that vote Democratic, and a drain on our National budget that will in fact relegate us to a second tier country if we don't get this under control.

So, I find that Perse and I agree on this, as well as the great article he posted here about the Women's march on D.C. And elsewhere protesting All things Trump. Thanks for that!

 

[rgc7]

Pers,

Thank you for your most informative post and the reference that you posted !

 

[rgc7]

Just my personal observations on Welfare and other Government programs past and present that keep people dependent. As a young boy growing up during the great depression, we called it home
relieve which was designed to help people to Survive. Inspectors actually cam to check to make sure that
people were not cheating and were actually looking for employment.
When I started teaching in 1963, I taught in a suburban inter racial high school. Some of my top students
were black students. The school had very few discipline students.
I started at a very low salary, so I took all the extra work that I could get to support. Home instruction
was of offered to me for all students who were ill. When I visited Black students, their families were
Traditional two parent families.
in the late 1960's , I completed my Masters Degree in Counseling and took a job in an inner city school.
The school was 90 % black. During the riots the previous year, forced the school to actually bring in what
were types of " Community Organizers " roam the halls and guard the doors. No one entered the building
without showing a photo id issued to all of us.
As a counselor, I had access to all student records, and as I read through them, in the large majority
of cases, the File read " Father. Deceased " ? Very odd, since those " Deceased " fathers could not have been very old ?
Besides the single parent families, and the Welfare benefits that further acted to destroy the Black family,
the situation just continued down hill and the Welfare State became a fact of life.
As part of my job, I was required to visit home once a week. Since during the riots, a few white people
were murdered, it was not a very nice feeling driving into the neighborhood and walking into a tenement !
We now have an underclass, that is just about. completely dependent on Welfare, the black family
has been destroyed, Drugs and gangs kill and intimidate their neighbors, and the Democrats have a solid
voting block.
Time for change !

 

[Telx1]

Many examples beyond Welfare. In the 90's, one of the fastest growing benefit programs in the country was the SSI program, an offspring of Social Security that provides benefits to disabled adults unable to participate in the work force. The fastest growing category of recipients of these benefits was the drug addicted, which happened to be overwhelmingly white. So, we take a wonderful program intended to help the disabled who through no fault of their own are permanently disabled and judged unable to work, and turn this into a funding stream for self inflicted disabled adults to continue the behavior that renders them disabled. Unfortunately, fairly typical of Washington at work.

 

[stu4don]

There is a cost to making things unstable. Thank you Obama/Hilary/Kerry

Kasich is weak, and the liberal choice on the 16 Which is why he was never in the running

Lets see now... Facts are stubborn things when you only get them from Breit-ie and Put-ie and the Russian press...

911
Katrina rescue failure,
Iraq, Iraq, Iraq,
Not getting Osama Bin Laden,
Afghanistan
Banking Crisis and
The Greatest Recession since the Great Depression!!!!

Now that is what I call a big ole f-up! Historians are already saying one of the 3-4 worst presidencies in history. That was on Bush-Cheney! (Did Obama come in TrumpPutinie crying about how bad things were, boo-hoo, no! He just went about fixing them!)

Bill Clinton took office with 7.3% unemployment when he left it was 3.9%
Barack Obama took office with 7.8% by the time he left it was 4.6%

But you foxters will never know that. You listen to the Koch brothers and their boys who want to take all of your dolla$$$. All of it. And you let 'em. When was the last time a Republican administration resulted in JOBS, more jobs and less deficits?

Good luck with your Russian puppet.

 

[rgc7]

Many examples beyond Welfare. In the 90's, one of the fastest growing benefit programs in the country was the SSI program, an offspring of Social Security that provides benefits to disabled adults unable to participate in the work force. The fastest growing category of recipients of these benefits was the drug addicted, which happened to be overwhelmingly white. So, we take a wonderful program intended to help the disabled who through no fault of their own are permanently disabled and judged unable to work, and turn this into a funding stream for self inflicted disabled adults to continue the behavior that renders them disabled. Unfortunately, fairly typical of Washington at work.

Telx,

That is the major problems with well meaning Do Gooder programs, once passed and established,
Both dishonest people with the help of politicians, learn how to " Work the system " and the program
and the abuses grow and Grow and have Eternal Life !

Sorry for the typing errors, but either my computer or the message board is making it difficult to correct?

 

[ivan brunetti]

True love will shine through in the end...

 

[Telx1]

Lets see now... Facts are stubborn things when you only get them from Breit-ie and Put-ie and the Russian press...

911
Katrina rescue failure,
Iraq, Iraq, Iraq,
Not getting Osama Bin Laden,
Afghanistan
Banking Crisis and
The Greatest Recession since the Great Depression!!!!

Now that is what I call a big ole f-up! Historians are already saying one of the 3-4 worst presidencies in history. That was on Bush-Cheney! (Did Obama come in TrumpPutinie crying about how bad things were, boo-hoo, no! He just went about fixing them!)

Bill Clinton took office with 7.3% unemployment when he left it was 3.9%
Barack Obama took office with 7.8% by the time he left it was 4.6%

But you foxters will never know that. You listen to the Koch brothers and their boys who want to take all of your dolla$$$. All of it. And you let 'em. When was the last time a Republican administration resulted in JOBS, more jobs and less deficits?

Good luck with your Russian puppet.

Stu, you know where I stand with respect to Trump, assuming you've read this thread. Not a fan of "W" either. As to your facts, I think you're about half right. "W" was hardly to blame for 911, and most of the country and the world applauded his leadership during this horrific event. His poor communication skills, compared to Bill or Ron or Obama was a huge barrier in today's world of 24/7 TV coverage, but he still succeeded in uniting the country and gaining support here and abroad for Afghanistan.

I had many dealings with Louisiana government prior Katrina and will simply say they were the most corrupt and incompetent that I dealt with, and the vast majority of the problems with the Katrina response belong squarely at the feet of these corrupt local leaders. "W" blew it by not being a visible presence in the area sooner, and forcing FEMA down the throats of the Governor and Mayor. Shared blame.

Iraq was a total blunder and the costs are damn near immeasurable. What's missing in this assessment is the reality that most leaders given the same so-called facts, including Saddam's inexplicable refusal to allow inspectors in under the threat of war, would have arrived at the same conclusion and the same decision. That said, we have every right to expect an intellectually more demanding President and "W" ultimately owns a terrible decision and disastrous war that created so much instability in that region, and gift wrapped the immediate area to Iran and the Shiites.

Not getting OBL is hardly "W's" fault anymore than it is Obama's credit. Clinton is the one of the three that had the opportunity and squandered it.

Afghanistan and Iraq certainly require several hour back and forth discussion over good scotch as opposed to tinkering on the edges with this thread. I will only say that The invasion of Afghanistan was not a mistake; that invading Iraq was a mistake; and that Obama as the succeeding President made each worse.

Agree that "W" owns his share of the banking crisis, but it is disingenuous to pretend that the Liberals in Congress don't share this blame with the changes to Fannie and Freddy making it damn near mandatory to approve home loans with the expressed goal of having economically disadvantaged people share in the economic wonders of home ownership. Frankly, I think Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress at that time made a huge mistake breaking down the wall between banks and investment houses, and I think this enabled the abuse that led to the crisis.

OK, enough said here by me. Complicated stuff for sure, but the facts are not at all so one sided, and one doesn't have to listen to Fox to be aware of these! Throwing out the UI rate to laud Obama's economic accomplishments ignores the real metrics that matter, and by those measures, he was mediocre at best, excepting his leadership in dealing with the crisis he did inherit.

 

[rgc7]

Stu, you know where I stand with respect to Trump, assuming you've read this thread. Not a fan of "W" either. As to your facts, I think you're about half right. "W" was hardly to blame for 911, and most of the country and the world applauded his leadership during this horrific event. His poor communication skills, compared to Bill or Ron or Obama was a huge barrier in today's world of 24/7 TV coverage, but he still succeeded in uniting the country and gaining support here and abroad for Afghanistan.

I had many dealings with Louisiana government prior Katrina and will simply say they were the most corrupt and incompetent that I dealt with, and the vast majority of the problems with the Katrina response belong squarely at the feet of these corrupt local leaders. "W" blew it by not being a visible presence in the area sooner, and forcing FEMA down the throats of the Governor and Mayor. Shared blame.

Iraq was a total blunder and the costs are damn near immeasurable. What's missing in this assessment is the reality that most leaders given the same so-called facts, including Saddam's inexplicable refusal to allow inspectors in under the threat of war, would have arrived at the same conclusion and the same decision. That said, we have every right to expect an intellectually more demanding President and "W" ultimately owns a terrible decision and disastrous war that created so much instability in that region, and gift wrapped the immediate area to Iran and the Shiites.

Not getting OBL is hardly "W's" fault anymore than it is Obama's credit. Clinton is the one of the three that had the opportunity and squandered it.

Afghanistan and Iraq certainly require several hour back and forth discussion over good scotch as opposed to tinkering on the edges with this thread. I will only say that The invasion of Afghanistan was not a mistake; that invading Iraq was a mistake; and that Obama as the succeeding President made each worse.

Agree that "W" owns his share of the banking crisis, but it is disingenuous to pretend that the Liberals in Congress don't share this blame with the changes to Fannie and Freddy making it damn near mandatory to approve home loans with the expressed goal of having economically disadvantaged people share in the economic wonders of home ownership. Frankly, I think Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress at that time made a huge mistake breaking down the wall between banks and investment houses, and I think this enabled the abuse that led to the crisis.

OK, enough said here by me. Complicated stuff for sure, but the facts are not at all so one sided, and one doesn't have to listen to Fox to be aware of these! Throwing out the UI rate to laud Obama's economic accomplishments ignores the real metrics that matter, and by those measures, he was mediocre at best, excepting his leadership in dealing with the crisis he did inherit.

Telx,
Great well thought out right on the money post.

 

[twalsh]

I had many dealings with Louisiana government prior Katrina and will simply say they were the most corrupt and incompetent that I dealt with, and the vast majority of the problems with the Katrina response belong squarely at the feet of these corrupt local leaders. "W" blew it by not being a visible presence in the area sooner, and forcing FEMA down the throats of the Governor and Mayor. Shared blame.

One only needs to look at how Alabama and Mississippi handled their Katrina situation to see where the problems were in Louisiana. They were Louisiana problems, not federal level problems. Bush was just a convenient scapegoat for the failures of the Ray Nagins of the world, and the anxious-to-dump-on-W national media bought right into the sham.

Bush most definitely should have made a personal appearance faster than he did, but that wasn't the response problem at all. That was just window dressing.

 

[IrishHerb]

Stu, you know where I stand with respect to Trump, assuming you've read this thread. Not a fan of "W" either. As to your facts, I think you're about half right. "W" was hardly to blame for 911, and most of the country and the world applauded his leadership during this horrific event. His poor communication skills, compared to Bill or Ron or Obama was a huge barrier in today's world of 24/7 TV coverage, but he still succeeded in uniting the country and gaining support here and abroad for Afghanistan.

I had many dealings with Louisiana government prior Katrina and will simply say they were the most corrupt and incompetent that I dealt with, and the vast majority of the problems with the Katrina response belong squarely at the feet of these corrupt local leaders. "W" blew it by not being a visible presence in the area sooner, and forcing FEMA down the throats of the Governor and Mayor. Shared blame.

Iraq was a total blunder and the costs are damn near immeasurable. What's missing in this assessment is the reality that most leaders given the same so-called facts, including Saddam's inexplicable refusal to allow inspectors in under the threat of war, would have arrived at the same conclusion and the same decision. That said, we have every right to expect an intellectually more demanding President and "W" ultimately owns a terrible decision and disastrous war that created so much instability in that region, and gift wrapped the immediate area to Iran and the Shiites.

Not getting OBL is hardly "W's" fault anymore than it is Obama's credit. Clinton is the one of the three that had the opportunity and squandered it.

Afghanistan and Iraq certainly require several hour back and forth discussion over good scotch as opposed to tinkering on the edges with this thread. I will only say that The invasion of Afghanistan was not a mistake; that invading Iraq was a mistake; and that Obama as the succeeding President made each worse.

Agree that "W" owns his share of the banking crisis, but it is disingenuous to pretend that the Liberals in Congress don't share this blame with the changes to Fannie and Freddy making it damn near mandatory to approve home loans with the expressed goal of having economically disadvantaged people share in the economic wonders of home ownership. Frankly, I think Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress at that time made a huge mistake breaking down the wall between banks and investment houses, and I think this enabled the abuse that led to the crisis.

OK, enough said here by me. Complicated stuff for sure, but the facts are not at all so one sided, and one doesn't have to listen to Fox to be aware of these! Throwing out the UI rate to laud Obama's economic accomplishments ignores the real metrics that matter, and by those measures, he was mediocre at best, excepting his leadership in dealing with the crisis he did inherit.

Well thought out post Telx1. Thanks.

 

[stu4don]

Nicely said, Telx1 -- I always enjoy your posts. Appreciate the tone (sorry for mine, I'm from NY originally and I just don't like this guy, sorry, I've had dealings, and I don't like being gamed). But what you did is what we need to do these days. Talk to each other with respect and listen. Me? I'm a electric car driving, ND loving, solar panel having, women's rights believing, tax the rich (me included, not 1% rich but doing okay) liberal from LA (by way of Long Island.) I really feel many of the problems of this country relate to the destruction of unions and of the middle class by multinational corporations and the top 1% who are bankrupting our kids' future (jobs wise/environment wise)... But hey, my 401K is doing okay, so maybe I share some blame, maybe we all do? Maybe if we can find a way to work together (didn't see much of that during the last presidency, but we can hope, right?)

 

[Telx1]

Nicely said, Telx1 -- I always enjoy your posts. Appreciate the tone (sorry for mine, I'm from NY originally and I just don't like this guy, sorry, I've had dealings, and I don't like being gamed). But what you did is what we need to do these days. Talk to each other with respect and listen. Me? I'm a electric car driving, ND loving, solar panel having, women's rights believing, tax the rich (me included, not 1% rich but doing okay) liberal from LA (by way of Long Island.) I really feel many of the problems of this country relate to the destruction of unions and of the middle class by multinational corporations and the top 1% who are bankrupting our kids' future (jobs wise/environment wise)... But hey, my 401K is doing okay, so maybe I share some blame, maybe we all do? Maybe if we can find a way to work together (didn't see much of that during the last presidency, but we can hope, right?)

Stu...and I drive a hybrid, installed solar panels on my roof, support women rights as equal to men's but draw the line at late birth abortions, lower the tax for all and reduce the size and role of the Federal government, return policy decisions back to State and local government, ND loving, conservative by California standards, kind of guy. Much in common, and yet a totally different view of the role of our Federal government. Having been an executive in both the public and private sectors, I have too much first hand experience with well intentioned liberals creating new or expanding existing programs that nearly always fail to meet expectations, and nearly always with unintended adverse consequences. Much prefer the power and efficiency of the private sector with government policy encouraging behavior that addresses social and economic good citizenship. For example, I'm all for tax incentives for companies to repatriate the trillions banked offshore, but would love to see tax free repatriation for companies that invest 30% of these monies into inner city economic development. That said, I also have first hand experience with greedy unethical business practices that have no moral conscience beyond worshipping at the altar of the almighty bottom line. My dislike for Trump the person aside, I do think his pragmatic problem solving orientation presents a real opportunity for bi-partisan efforts, only if he can create enough public support to force the extremes of both party's to soften their ideological litmus tests in exchange for making a real difference. We have a whole generation of young adults who have never seen bi-partisan problem solving carried out with respect for each other across aisles. I share your hope, but the American people are going to have to become more involved and better informed, and our recent history suggests this ain't happening. Thanks for your post and thoughtful words, and yes...we can hope!