Random political thought thread.

[The Cat]

Happiness?

Happiness Happyness what ever that may be, but alas in this case, that's only a prestige. The thing I'm talking about is sometimes hard to hear and can leave you feeling on a lone road like a deer. Other's will tell you it's something they hold dear, and dispite this sentiment there's often this thing they fear; cause he's the rub this thing aint white or black, and once it comes, there aint no going back.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Don't worry folks...It's all part of the show.

Yeah, it is all a show, until some tanks actually roll over the borders. But you already know that part.

 

[The Cat]

Yeah, it is all a show, until some tanks actually roll over the borders. But you already know that part.

The Madness of Kings is deadly and contagious. And all the foresight in the world means little in a world of deaf men who only claim they can't hear and blind men who only pretend not to see.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Trump is killing the idea that ‘all politics is local.’ The GOP primary proves it.


Kinda ironic when you think about it.

 

[The Cat]

It's not quite like Rayaaiiiiiiiiiin on your wedding day, but it'll play.

 

[ceecee]

Well that profound analysis sure convinced me.

Your lack of basic humanity - comparing humans to animals - is something you are going to have to recognize and change in yourself.

 

[SensEye]

Your lack of basic humanity - comparing humans to animals - is something you are going to have to recognize and change in yourself.

Well at least in that comment, I can see your misunderstanding. Human beings are in fact mammals, as such, comparing them metabolically (in this instance for the purposes of euthanasia*) seems perfectly reasonable to me. You are free to disagree but I don't think I'm the one being unreasonable here.

*Let's not get into the semantics of whether applying the death penalty is technically euthanasia, let's just stick with the Oxford dictionary definition: put (a living being, especially a dog or cat) to death humanely.

My point, which you seem to have overlooked, is that nobody uses a strange and exotic method such as nitrogen gas asphyxiation to either euthanize and animal or as a method of medically assisted suicide. How it came to pass that it was considered a good method for death penalty cases is baffling to me.

 

[ceecee]

Well at least in that comment, I can see your misunderstanding. Human beings are in fact mammals, as such, comparing them metabolically (in this instance for the purposes of euthanasia*) seems perfectly reasonable to me. You are free to disagree but I don't think I'm the one being unreasonable here.

*Let's not get into the semantics of whether applying the death penalty is technically euthanasia, let's just stick with the Oxford dictionary definition: put (a living being, especially a dog or cat) to death humanely.

My point, which you seem to have overlooked, is that nobody uses a strange and exotic method such as nitrogen gas asphyxiation to either euthanize and animal or as a method of medically assisted suicide. How it came to pass that it was considered a good method for death penalty cases is baffling to me.

The issue is that you don't view basic humanity as something you should afford every other human. Your views on the death penalty (which you don't have to worry about in your country) and say, immigrants and refugees, are identical. The views you express here are right wing/conservative. The fundamental distinction between conservatism and liberalism is the former’s commitment to moral inequality. Conservatives are simply more comfortable with the idea that people are unequal, and so should be treated unequally.

Incidentally, none of this is a political view. Conservatives allow human and civil rights to be politicized because they frequently share the feeling (not the facts) that too many privileges and too high a status has been granted to the unworthy; their success owed a lot to an ability to convince citizens that too many people—immigrants, women, minorities—had cut in line and obtained benefits and government mandated advantages that they did not deserve.

This isn't a semantic argument. You are a white conservative man, your views align perfectly with other conservatives - you post them here regularly - and your anger comes from what the conservative pundits and politicians tell you to be angry at. And they'll keep you angry until they come up with the next thing they'll tell you to be angry about. Apparently that's....Taylor Swift.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

 

[The Cat]

Good on you son.

 

[ceecee]

Justin Mohn wrote book about Democrats and satanic cult

The man who allegedly killed his father and posted a video of him holding his decapitated head on YouTube is a self-published author.

www.newsweek.com

Compare and contrast stories.

Pennsylvania man arrested after father found beheaded inside home

A man was arrested Tuesday night after his father was discovered beheaded inside a bathroom in a home in Levittown, Pennsylvania, according to police.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Justin Mohn wrote book about Democrats and satanic cult

The man who allegedly killed his father and posted a video of him holding his decapitated head on YouTube is a self-published author.

www.newsweek.com

Compare and contrast stories.

Pennsylvania man arrested after father found beheaded inside home

A man was arrested Tuesday night after his father was discovered beheaded inside a bathroom in a home in Levittown, Pennsylvania, according to police.

www.foxnews.com

The Fox News article covers the story in a lot less detail, and doesn't mention the political aspect.

 

[The Cat]

Justin Mohn wrote book about Democrats and satanic cult

The man who allegedly killed his father and posted a video of him holding his decapitated head on YouTube is a self-published author.

www.newsweek.com

Compare and contrast stories.

Pennsylvania man arrested after father found beheaded inside home

A man was arrested Tuesday night after his father was discovered beheaded inside a bathroom in a home in Levittown, Pennsylvania, according to police.

www.foxnews.com

What worries me is how many people are going to completely miss the point because they think it'll never be their problem. Yeah it's never anyone's problem, right up until it is. We've got an awful lot of broken tools and weapons lying around just waiting to be picked up and programmed. What floors me is they're gonna find some way to make this about this guy being a crazy fanatic and the fact that he's just a dumb animal set on someone at the behest of another. This guy is gonna stand trial. Folks are gonna yell throw the book at him. He's an animal they'll say. Crazy. Deserves everything he gets. They'll become just a little more afraid of their neighbor, more cynical at this world we live in. Feel a little more helpless and a lot more hopeless. We put a dumb animal behind bars while the people who trained the dog to attack will pretend like they havent been betting on dog fights and laugh at how the dogs think they're people. And the cycle continues just a little bit more tragic than it was before.

No one will remember a single bad day or hectic moment where they've ever been anything but a perfect paragon of enlighted future people. Evolved, advanced "civilized" whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean in dystopia. It's such a long con it doesnt even need to put effort into pretending anymore. All this shit does is keep us afraid of our neighbor and distracted while the greed of human beings who can't recognize other human beings unless its in a mirror.

 

[SensEye]

The issue is that you don't view basic humanity as something you should afford every other human. Your views on the death penalty (which you don't have to worry about in your country) and say, immigrants and refugees, are identical. The views you express here are right wing/conservative. The fundamental distinction between conservatism and liberalism is the former’s commitment to moral inequality. Conservatives are simply more comfortable with the idea that people are unequal, and so should be treated unequally.

You've grossly oversimplified, but you have the gist of it right. I hold right of center political views on a number of topics. I am certainly no bleeding heart either. I do view basic humanity as something afforded to all human beings, but the devil is in the details of what one considers "basic". However, my political views vary from left to right on depending on the subject. Sure I am on the right regarding strict immigration regulation, and a firm justice system. OTOH, on subject such as socialized healthcare and abortion rights I hold views generally considered on the left. Those are just examples, mainly to demonstrate my views vary based on each issue depending on what I consider the most rational and reasonable position for both my well being and society over all.

You are a typical left wing social liberal, dare I say "woke", and you post your views here regularly as well. You suffer from the typical arrogance of the left, in that you feel your views are correct and virtuous, and anybody who disagrees with you is therefore incorrect and a bad person. I recognize your view as simply a different way of looking at things. Your views are a bit dogmatic and not logical in many instances from my viewpoint, but I don't consider you bad for holding them.

 

[Virtual ghost]

NATO chief: I’m not worried that Trump will pull out of the alliance

Judge for yourself.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

You've grossly oversimplified, but you have the gist of it right. I hold right of center political views on a number of topics. I am certainly no bleeding heart either. I do view basic humanity as something afforded to all human beings, but the devil is in the details of what one considers "basic". However, my political views vary from left to right on depending on the subject. Sure I am on the right regarding strict immigration regulation, and a firm justice system. OTOH, on subject such as socialized healthcare and abortion rights I hold views generally considered on the left. Those are just examples, mainly to demonstrate my views vary based on each issue depending on what I consider the most rational and reasonable position for both my well being and society over all.

You are a typical left wing social liberal, dare I say "woke", and you post your views here regularly as well. You suffer from the typical arrogance of the left, in that you feel your views are correct and virtuous, and anybody who disagrees with you is therefore incorrect and a bad person. I recognize your view as simply a different way of looking at things. Your views are a bit dogmatic and not logical in many instances from my viewpoint, but I don't consider you bad for holding them.

I'm compelled to ask: what exactly is rational about the death penalty? It seems to me that it's usually motivated by the perception that "these people don't deserve to live", which almost always has very emotional arguments underlying it.

 

[Virtual ghost]

This could be the shortest presidential primary ever

Just stating the obvious.

 

[The Cat]

In for a penny in for a pound, when lots of money's involved, there's no common sense to be found.​

 

[The Cat]

Do not be one here or there, do not be one anywhere.​

 

[SensEye]

I'm compelled to ask: what exactly is rational about the death penalty? It seems to me that it's usually motivated by the perception that "these people don't deserve to live", which almost always has very emotional arguments underlying it.

I would say they don't actually deserve to live (whereas I feel their innocent victims did). Regardless of that, they certainly do not deserve the resources required from society to warehouse them in prison for the rest of their life, nor the resources to attempt to rehabilitate them (which is probably impossible for deviants who have committed death penalty level crimes).

Conversely, what is the rational to keep them alive and warehoused until a natural death? It's either based on some religious principle (i.e. only god can decide) or some misguided sense of guilt that one might hold if they support the death penalty. The first argument I don't consider rational and the second is purely emotional.