agentsquirrel

agentsquirrel, 2 months ago

Every year since 1999 has been declared the year of the Linux desktop. My grandmother still does not use Linux.

agentsquirrel, 2 months ago

No, she passed away awhile ago.

agentsquirrel, 2 months ago

since when do you require a “foothold in the region?”

Since oil and cars.

agentsquirrel, 2 months ago

And even worse, after voting against impeachment, GOP majority leader McConnell stated Trump was responsible for 1/6.

agentsquirrel, 3 months ago

But I highly doubt that Democrats are going to sit this one out.

I sense there are a lot of young progressives screaming about “genocide” in Gaza who are going to sit it out, not able to grasp the big picture.

agentsquirrel, 3 months ago

It’s questionable whether what is happening in Gaza is genocide from a legal perspective. Regardless, being concerned with Gaza but sitting out this election and not voting is asinine. Biden may not being doing enough to help stop the humanitarian crisis and him in office may not save any lives in Gaza, but I can guarantee Trump in office will get more people killed. Trump will happily use US military resources to flatten Gaza, and brag about it. Claims that Biden is facilitating or supporting genocide in Gaza ultimately benefits Trump and will doom the Gazan Palestinians if Trump gets in office.

agentsquirrel, 3 months ago

I’m not a legal expert and I doubt you are as well, but if you search the 'net there are plenty of articles from respectable news sources covering debates and discussions over whether it’s legally genocide or not. I’m not going to debate it with you; I’ll leave it up to those who are qualified to determine if it is truly genocide, and pursue war crimes charges as necessary. I never said it was morally correct what Israel is doing. The morality or lack thereof of their actions is separate from the legal definition of genocide. Furthermore, and quite ironically, the 1988 Hamas Charter specifically states as a goal to obliterate Israel in language that rhymes with genocide. While it certainly doesn’t justify what Israel is doing right now, Hamas would be doing the same to Israel right now if it was within their capabilities. Israel could have taken over Gaza long ago, if it really wanted to do it. What’s going on right now in Gaza is the result of Hamas launching an offensive with no strategic or worthy goals, against an enemy they knew they had no chance of winning against. It’s a pretty good assumption that some portion of the cries of genocide are the result of foreign propaganda to both garner support for Hamas and the continuing disruption and outside influence of US politics.

agentsquirrel, 3 months ago

The “legal definition”, if for some reason it doesn’t apply, is just an excuse to avoid confronting the atrocities we are complicit in committing. If the “legal definition” isn’t met, then it’s simply wrong. Some court case isn’t what determines whether it’s “truly genocide”, it’s that Israel, with our support, is and has been trying for decades to eradicate an entire people and culture.

I don’t think proving actual genocide is a prerequisite or requirement for bringing war crimes charges and holding people accountable. For example, if in war a military unit/leader/solider executes a group of unarmed civilians, it can be pursued as a war crime as it’s intentionally targeting and harming civilians, but executing one group of civilians in this fashion isn’t genocide, even if they were a specific race, religious sect, etc. Undoubtedly if there was a pattern of this occurring and there was provable support from leadership, it would be considered genocide. Genocide, like other terms like suicide, homicide, germicide, etc., has a specific meaning. Morality is much more subjective, and hence I’d call Israel’s action quite immoral. Israel may indeed want to eradicate Gaza as a territory or political unit, however that doesn’t mean it’s genocide. Otherwise we could call Russia’s desire to eradicate or annex Ukraine genocide. And after I write all this, I realize I’m debating the meaning of genocide. But I digress.

a pretty good assumption that some portion of the cries of genocide are the result of foreign propaganda to both garner support for Hamas and the continuing disruption and outside influence of US politics.

I do agree with this, and it’s really unfortunate. But yeah, if I was Hamas I would use the fact that Gazans are being genocided to drum up support too, it’s a pretty good argument. To avoid creating a situation where Hamas looks like the good guys, I think the best thing to do would be to, you know, stop murdering Palestinian children.

On all this we can agree. I don’t want innocent civilians killed, either. I take issue with the term genocide and the way it’s being used, especially in the context of the US supposedly “promoting or supporting” genocide. That’s simply not true. It’s a complicated landscape and as we’ve been discussing this I see there is a ceasefire being pursued diplomatically by the Biden administration. I think the way the term genocide is being used here and elsewhere cheapens it and compromises the severity and seriousness of the term.

agentsquirrel, 3 months ago

Regardless of Fetterman’s ideology or any stated or perceived shift, he’s a pragmatist and straight-shooter above everything else. He was that way long before the stroke. The fact that a lifetime grifter and department store rapist with 91 felony indictment counts has a good chance of winning the election is absurd. A bag of rocks running against Trump should win. Biden and the Democrats are in a very weak position, but it’s clear that Biden is the chosen candidate. It makes no sense at this point to have Democrats amplifying GOP talking points, unless they’re in any position of power with the DNC to change what is inevitable right now with the Democratic nomination.

I’m in PA and I doubt his progressiveness got him elected. Anyone with a D after their name carries Philly and Pittsburgh by default. Fetterman’s no nonsense approach and the fact that the working class can relate to him got votes in Pennsyltuckey, a segment the Democrats have been losing over the years. Democrats should be in a lab right now trying to figure out how to clone Fetterman.

I’m sure I’ll be labeled a Fetterman fan boy, but I’m a 50-something 30+ year Democrat that has seen Democrats do a really good job at losing elections and letting the GOP walk all over them. Fetterman no doubt has a cult-like following, but the DNC powers that be should be examining why that is.

agentsquirrel, 3 months ago

Self criticism is the only thing keeping Democrats from becoming a clone of the GOP.

Well, it also helps the Democrats don’t have a criminal insurrectionist leading the party.

Anyone telling me I can’t participate in discourse involving totally valid criticisms about any politician can go kick rocks.

You can do whatever you want. What TV channels are interviewing you this week?

Also, how is discussing his drastic turn towards conservative politics “amplifying GOP talking points”?

I’m referring to what Fetterman was criticizing, not what the OP or others here discuss about Fetterman or Biden.

Ahh yeah, America surely needs more brain damages politicians advocating for genocide…

Oh, Gaza. Right. I am so sick of hearing about “genocide”. It’s BS. Despite what Israel has done over the decades, Hamas is responsible for this. They launched an offensive that had no clear objectives (like autonomy) other than killing Israelis, and specifically civilians. Now that they’re getting their ass handed to them, which was inevitable, losing a poorly-conceived offensive is coined “genocide”. Hamas thanks you.

50-something 30+ year Democrat that has seen Democrats do a really good job at losing elections and letting the GOP walk all over them.

Maybe because your generations idea of a progressive is John Fetterman? Maybe because Democrats have just become the GOP from the 90s, and thats not typically what actual progressives want?

John Fetterman beat two other well-pedigreed Democratic Senate nomination candidates, won an election over a very publicly popular GOP candidate, and took the seat of Republican Pat Toomey. While this is one data point that you cite, it doesn’t support that “my generation’s” idea of progressive is losing elections. If a lack of “sufficiently progressive” candidates is losing elections for Democrats due to progressives not voting for Democrats, those progressives are shooting themselves in the foot as the only what to get more left-leaning Democrats is to actually win elections.

agentsquirrel, 3 months ago

if you don’t want him to take all your money, you need to stop dealing with him.

Not gonna happen. The GOP is what we call in poker “pot committed.”

agentsquirrel, 3 months ago

It’s called having eligibility criteria, and it’s a fact of life everywhere. You wouldn’t want a five year old driving a car or drinking alcohol, and the law addresses this. Insurrectionists are disqualified in the Constitution, plain and simple. At least Trump doesn’t have to worry about being disqualified for being a rapist or bad businessman as the Constitution is silent on both of those items.

agentsquirrel, 3 months ago

If a state wanted, it could just decide to let the state legislature pick the electors and not hold a popular vote at all.

I was surprised this wasn’t raised as a counterargument by the Colorado attorney when the “one state could determine who’s elected” argument was made. (If it was, I missed it.) The justices are worried that states (let’s just say it: “red states”) could make up some frivolous reason to keep someone off the ballot and disqualify them, but the brutal reality is that they could do it already by screwing with the electors. (Hell, Trump and his co-conspirators tried sending fake electors from some states.) Setting a precedent allowing states to use Section 3 of the 14th Amendment just give states another way to accomplish this. “Oh, Biden tripped walking up to a podium? That’s insurrection!”

What’s really sad/outrageous is that Trump and the GOP have so terribly warped and perverted the political norms in this country that we have to even consider the possibility of states fabricating frivolous reasons to keep someone off the ballot. We can’t keep a 91 felon count indicted insurrectionist, fraudster, and rapist from getting elected and destroying democracy because his friends may avenge him by abusing and misapplying the law in the future. This really sucks.

agentsquirrel, 3 months ago

The only question now is if Trump will pardon this loyal foot soldier. ( /s )

agentsquirrel, 4 months ago

How many Americans died to covid due to trump’s pride and ignorance??

I’d say at least several hundred thousand, all dying while thinking they were "owning the ‘libtards’ ".

agentsquirrel, 6 months ago

Israel is not the party that stormed a festival and ruthlessly executed civilians and took civilians as hostages. It’s easy to play this game. The fact is Hamas is the bigger asshole at the moment, much bigger. They launched an attack with no clear objectives other than killing Israelis. If they had lined up on the border of Gaza and said they were declaring independence, creating a sovereign state to end years of ongoing Israeli brutality, and requested international support to build the governance and infrastructure to support it this would be a totally different discussion.

agentsquirrel, 6 months ago

Here’s the part you’re not getting: Hamas didn’t launch the attack to end their colonization. Show me some clear, obtainable objectives from Hamas in this attack that will benefit Gaza and the Palestinians instead of just taunting liberals and I’ll be all ears.

agentsquirrel, 6 months ago

Again, Hamas is not doing anything to address or end the colonization. Nothing. I’ll get on your side for a moment and for the sake of discussion I’ll agree Israel has done very bad things to Palestinians over decades. Pile on whatever you want on top of this to make Israel out to be worse than Satan or whatever. Then answer the question, what positive outcome will there be to the Hamas attack? You’ve failed to identify anything. Your entire line of argument here is an irrelevant “because colonization” and a bunch of labeling and ad hominem attacks on anyone who disagrees with you.

agentsquirrel, 6 months ago

Positive for whom? You?

I said previously “Show me some clear, obtainable objectives from Hamas in this attack that will benefit Gaza and the Palestinians”. How many times need I ask?

Your lack of an answer is the answer. Thank you.

agentsquirrel, 6 months ago

Never. Engaging in a campaign doesn’t absolve someone of facing justice in a timely manner for crimes they committed. Considering Trump’s alleged crimes strike at the heart of the duties of a president, delaying his trials due to a campaign would be like delaying the trial of an accused child molester because they are too busy opening a new day care center.

agentsquirrel, 7 months ago

Or get a bandsaw, some large clamps, glue, and some good hardwoods.

agentsquirrel, 7 months ago

I’m not a Republican and I don’t agree with Pence on anything, but he could have gained traction if he actually grew a spine and got the GOP back on the tracks by standing up against Trump and taking a conservative morals and values tact. He simply didn’t, and politically he got exactly what he deserved. This is the problem with every other conservative Christian candidate. At the end of the day their Christian values are just worthless drivel.

agentsquirrel, 7 months ago

Avoid private equity as well. PE is equally shitty.

agentsquirrel, 7 months ago

Or is so perfect and omniscient and yet creates a race of beings so flawed that it needs to be wiped out by flood and have his son sent later to be executed by them to forgive them for being so bad.

agentsquirrel, 7 months ago

This is the paradox of the Republican party, though. When they’re losing is when they’re winning. It’s a nihilistic apocalyptic group that thrives on the fears of people, much like a terrorist organization. Despite everything pointing to them being a diminishing minority, they’re able to control or paralyze much of federal and state governments, and they’re going to continue to do this for decades to come.