HeloDude

So why didn’t the conservatives/GOP change the filibuster rules in the recent past to get bills passed on a simple majority vote?

You originally said, “Surely she wouldn’t be allowed to break the tie in the Senate to appoint herself.” So if you’re asking about what is allowed vs not allowed wrt appointing/confirming a Supreme Court justice, then you are bringing up what is Constitutional and what is not. Now if you want to discuss your opinion on whether or not that situation would be good for the county, etc then that’s fine, but that has nothing to do with “not being allowed”.

Conflict of interest has nothing to do with something being Constitutional or not.

Why not?

If Biden nominates Harris to SCOTUS and she is confirmed, then the VP position is vacant, and Biden’s nominee for a new VP needs to be confirmed by both the House and the Senate. But…the Senate would then be 50-50 split, with no tie breaker. So If the GOP wanted to, the VP position would go unfilled and no legislation could get through the Senate without at least 1 GOP Senator signing off. So without some major concessions to the GOP, they’d be back at gridlock (which I’m personally a fan of). BL: Harris is staying where she’s at for the time being

I thought they had green energy? What’s the problem? Is Germany Making Too Much Renewable Energy? https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/10/is-germany-making-too-much-renewable-energy/

There’s a lot of money to be made (defense spending) with the situation in Ukraine, and military aid/action doesn’t offend certain groups back home when it comes to politics/support to the left. Back home in the US, there’s not a lot of money for defense contractors to be made with increasing border security (though there is money to be made on border walls, UAVs, etc), but having secure borders equates to “racist policies” and is overall not good politics for the left. Also worth mentioning that many businesses love illegal immigration for the cheap labor, hence why many on the right don’t truly want it either. So like most everything when it comes to American politics—money and power, both on the right and the left.

You’re welcome lol https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.urbandictionary.com/define.php%3fterm=2%2F10&amp=true https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/210-would-not-bang

2/10

As expected, Germany is not on board with “severe sanctions” if/when Putin invades Ukraine. It’s not surprising…Germany is in bed with Russia when it comes to energy (why doesn’t Germany just build more windmills?). Germany urges 'prudence' in potential sanctions against Russia over Ukraine https://www.reuters.com/world/germany-urges-prudence-potential-sanctions-against-russia-over-ukraine-2022-01-23/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0LMXkakNmnSba1OhnrStAU8dTWLrxG2LMB2USUHMSYWsBXCp95Z3SQocc But let’s be honest here, if China invaded Taiwan, do you really think the US would support “severe sanctions” against a huge trading partner? Would you support removing China from “international finance organizations”? We’re more in bed with China than Hef was with all of girlfriends. I was asked by a friend on New Years for a big 2022 prediction, and I predicted that either China will invade Taiwan or Russia will invade Ukraine (again)…time will tell.

It’s starting… State Dept. Tells Families of Embassy Workers in Ukraine to Leave Starting Monday: Report https://www.nationalreview.com/news/state-dept-tells-families-of-embassy-workers-in-ukraine-to-leave-starting-monday-report/

I saw a few, unless I’m missing something?

What’s funny is that it seems socialist-type politicians in the US (like Bernie Sanders) agree with libertarian-type politicians (like Rand Paul) that we spend way too much money on military spending (we truly should stop calling “defense”). Now what they want to do with that “left over” spending is very different. It also baffles me that people can say that in hindsight the invasions/wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were badly ran and perhaps even a mistake all together…but then are eager to fight Russia just to help out Ukraine.

All comes down to achieving your objectives. If you can achieve your objectives without completely destroying your enemy, then why expend the time and resources to go all out war? The problem is that we don’t usually have clear/measurable objectives or they don’t make sense…or even worse, we don’t follow a strategy that’s in line with achieving those objectives. Biden’s own party wouldn’t even support him getting us involved with kinetic military action against Russia to support Ukraine. And with an unpopular President, he can’t afford to lose any of his base. Oh, and Putin know this, too.

Sure. But that’s not how our political elite run things. They love a good war/military involvement, whether it’s small (Iraq 2.5/ISIS or Libya) or not so small (Iraq/Afghanistan invasion and occupation). It’s beyond time to pull out of NATO…which doesn’t mean that you still can’t have positive relationships with other countries when it suits our interests and provide aid when we want to. But let’s be honest, NATO gets is power/authority from the US…not because Iceland or Slovenia is a member. And yet we’re obligated to defend these countries if attacked, who clearly aren’t concerned with protecting themselves. About 10+ years ago I had dinner with a buddy whose wife’s sister was married to an attorney from Iceland. We were chatting about militaries and he said that Iceland didn’t need much of a military because NATO would always defend them. Look at how much Iceland spends wrt their military obligation to NATO, and then tell me who is the fool? NATO might have made sense when there was the Warsaw Pact…but now, not so much.

The political left needing entertainers/the Hollywood elite to tell the common folk how great left wing politicians are…strange, I’ve never seen that done before.

An all out war with Russia for invading Ukraine?! That’s a good one!

Define “strong military support”? One of the reasons Putin is emboldened is because when he last invaded Ukraine, very little was done in response. If European countries want to fight Russia militarily, then they should go for it…I seriously doubt they will, and Putin knows this. As for the US, I definitely don’t support military action against Russia…we need to give the war thing a rest for a while unless we’re actually attacked. Sanctions? Sure, I guess? But Germany wants their fossil fuels from Russia, so how strong will the sanctions be? So no, I don’t think Russia invading is a good thing, but let Europe do something about it. But as a direct question back to you: Do you actually think European nations will go to war with Russia if the US is not involved? Do you think you can militarily drive Russia out of Ukraine without attacking Russia itself? Putin has the upper hand in this whole thing…and after our horrible pull out from Afghanistan and Biden’s terrible press conference on Wednesday, Putin is even more emboldened. I am hopeful that this somehow gets resolved with Putin invading, but unlike Obama, I’m don’t think hope is a useful strategy.

Finally some good news! Looks like there’s very little support for large military action against Russia if/when they invade Ukraine (again). https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/fewer-than-1-in-6-americans-want-us-soldiers-in-any-ukraine-russia-war-poll/ar-AAT0EBu As I’ve said in the past, Putin is not going to be dissuaded if he plans to invade—it’s his for the taking if he wants to expend the resources to do so since I would see very little (if any) military response from NATO/European nations. In other news, we recently bought my son the book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” (he loves it by the way).

Fair enough…so you pick and choose what’s acceptable when it comes to others and their personal risk decisions when those decisions could result in people requiring hospitalization or death, when those decisions effect other people directly or indirectly, drive up medical costs, etc. Just think…if no one did drugs or had unprotected sex (if not attempting to procreate), we could probably come close to eradicating all STDs, especially HIV, not to mention all the welfare costs associated with those unwanted children, or the medical costs associated with abortions. I also wonder how much medical resources could be redirected after HIV is no longer a problem. Condoms…people who don’t wear one (or have consensual sex with a partner not wearing one) are so selfish.

I’m pretty sure that the more injured a motorcyclist becomes after an accident the more likely they are to require more hospital care if the initial impact is not fatal. This means that the person requiring hospital care (that might be in short supply) is putting an undue strain on our medical system…unless this argument only goes towards the unvaccinated? If you’re going to use the argument that my actions wrt not wearing a mask/not getting a shot can affect the well being of others (ie taking up a hospital bed after getting covid) then the same argument can be used for not taking proper care when riding a motorcycle…or hell, even riding one at all considering how less safe they are compared to automobiles. I appreciate that you’re not for mandates, but to your point, everything we do in life comes down to risk vs rewards, and you can make the argument that many of our decisions can have a negative impact on someone else. So where’s the line? Just think, if all those who want others to get a shot/wear a mask (and insult those who don’t)…if those same original people felt that strongly about people having unprotected sex. The odds of you contracting a disease or having an unwanted pregnancy would be near zero. I mean, is it too much to ask others to utilize a condom during intercourse? Good talk.

I wonder why the government doesn’t require motorcycle riders to wear a helmet and propped PPE? Or perhaps, why not ban them all together?

“Always”? Really? I’m raising the BS flag here—the medical community that the far left loves to quote has pretty much been all about vaccines and masks and typically says little about natural immunity, especially if someone who has had covid doesn’t want to get the shot and/or wear a mask. The DoD doesn’t care if you’ve had a documented case of covid, you’re still getting the shot whether you like it or not. That being said, I don’t feel bad for those facing discharges for refusing to get the shot (after all, it is the military and we do what we’re told)…but let’s not pretend then that those members who have had covid are somehow less protected than those who have gotten a shot 9 months ago. Edited to add: Yes, you said that the narrative has been horseshit…but yet how many pro-vaccine and mask people have been saying that if you don’t want the vaccine and/or wear a mask that you’re “selfish and anti-science”? If Fauci and the other “medical experts” want to start over by admitting to the American people how they’ve been wrong several times, why they were wrong, and publicly say how others have been right (see above), then perhaps they could regain some credibility. But they won’t.

I’ve been a big fan of the Gemstones since it was first released, but the first 2 episodes of season 2 were just ok. Fortunately episode 3 was more in line with the type of humor in season 1.

So this “voting rights” bill…who exactly (that is legally able to do so) can’t vote in elections? And what is keeping them from being able to vote?