A few people have admonished me for mentioning politics here. To some extent I agree, except about high level policy issues. Actually, I have talked about some of the proposals by a few outliers like Sanders and Warren.
My concerns are not about Democrats or Republicans, liberal or conservative, but the far extremes in those groups. Our growing divide, our inability to reach middle ground compromise, our blocking of solutions we desperately need because of ideology, even religion are destroying us from within.
In the last ten years or so one man is responsible for most of that and it’s getting worse by the day.
Isabel Sawhill, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote in an email that pessimism has become endemic in some quarters: “I find that many of my friends, relatives and colleagues are equally concerned about the future of the country. The worst part of this is that we feel quite helpless — unable to find ways to improve matters.”
That the leaders of one of our two major political parties “would support a corrupt, self-interested and deranged former president,” Sawhill continued, “is certainly part of the problem, but even more concerning is the fact that a majority of the public currently says they would vote for him in 2024.”
The biggest challenge, she wrote, “is what I have called the great misalignment between the institutions we have and those we need to deal with most of these problems.”
New York Times 1-10-24
On my birthday this year our democracy will be put to the test. What good can happen the day after the election?
If Biden wins we will be back to claims of fraud and who knows what else, perhaps violence. Division will be worse.
If Trump wins we enter a new era of a demagogue, greater division, short-term isolationist thinking, and naive economics from which we may never recover.
Most worrisome of all is the fact that Americans are being duped, manipulated and used by one man employing, quite skillfully, the same tactics used in Europe in the 1930s and they can’t see it.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
Al Lindquist…your post just highlights the enormity of our problem…Fox News tells the truck driver what he wants to hear, so the truck driver only listens to Fox News. And somehow this has convinced you that educated people have ruined the country and how we should entrust corrupt reality TV stars with no experience to run the country instead. Down with elites! This really sounds like the Cultural Revolution under Mao, more than anything else. And most of your “facts” are either false or oversimplifications. A simple google search would tell you that, so I don’t think you really care. Better to elect a strong authoritarian, it is worth giving up our democracy if he can stick it to the bourgeois with college degrees!
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Yes Al, you see you’re the problem. You’re such a knucklehead, truck driver, who doesn’t know how to think on your own. Your views aren’t valid. You’re too dumb to know you’re being used. Come join “G” and the rest of us “progressives”. We aren’t corrupted by fake news on Fox; we watch CNN and MSNBC all day instead. If you want real “facts”, watch “The View” for goodness sake.
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I love it! Anyone who does not watch Fox News is the enemy. Let’s go storm the capital again!
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You see folks, this right here is truly the crux of the matter. Mike and G are part of the far left wing. They get their “facts” only from CNN, MSNBC, and The NY Times. And they assume anyone who disagrees with them are uneducated buffoons who watch Fox News. The answer lies with the vast majority of us in the middle. We know Fox is biased conservative. We know the majority of MSM is biased liberal. We take it all in and make the best judgement we can on each issue. Mike and G think they know better than us, just like the idiots on the far right wing. Mike and G are so smart they know that, if your opinion differs from them, you must be uneducated or worse. As I’ve said, the rise of Trump is a result of (not the cause of) the divisiveness and inability to listen to the other side. G wonders what happened to moderate Republicans like McCain and Romney, without a hint of reflection on how left the Democratic Party has shifted. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic VP nominee 20 years ago, doesn’t even recognize his old party. Here’s a challenge for Mike, G, and Richard for that matter. The next time someone disagrees with you on some political issue, try real hard to not immediately jump to the now tired tropes like “must be a “MAGA”, “clearly brainwashed by Fox News”, etc. I know it seems crazy to you but 75 million Americans voted against Biden and they’re not all idiots.
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Again, blabbering along without facts–what are the “false facts”–just list a few.
Assume the worst and Trump is elected–how would we be giving up our democracy–just humor me with some simple facts–our democracy is working fine (see 2022 election)–court system has Mr. Trump for 90 indictments as just 2 examples–so give me examples of how you Mr. “G” would lose your democratic rights.
I suspect if the “D” party wins democracy wins and if the “R” party wins authoritarianism is back just like 2017-2021–the jails filled with NY Times writers and the cast of the View–“G” and his family afraid to worship at their Temple/Synagogue/Church–and of course back to being forced to use the “proper pronouns” when addressing your college chemistry students.
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Yes, you are totally right, why do these maggots that don’t support MAGA think that Trump wouldn’t accept the results of future elections and transfer over power peacefully? It is not like he tried anything in 2020. People act like he incited a mob to sack the Capitol or something. Ludicrous I say.
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Like I said before, a good rule of thumb is that if your side is waving Nazi and Confederate flags around, you are probably not on the right side. I hate to see people like you who probably have good intentions being duped into supporting a movement that is so against our American values.
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Ask for a few facts and you get crickets from the critics. I guess I am not too surprised.
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That is the real issue Al. How to debate facts with someone who lives in a right wing info bubble. . Can’t trust the MSM or the government or scientists or academic elites, right ? So where to get the facts from? So no, your facts are not facts, they are talking points from right wing talk radio
Fact – Trump signed the agreement to pull out of Afghanistan.
Fact – Biden has always been against defunding the police.
Fact – there is no official policy to encourage homelessness. Homelessness is caused by a combination of substance abuse, NIMBY housing regulations, and mental health issues, not any policy by the Biden administration.
Fact – crime is down significantly in most U.S. cities
Fact – Biden did not encourage illegal immigration or support open borders. In fact, the GOP refuses to make a deal on immigration out of fear that a solution would hurt Trumps election chances.
Fact – No administration encouraged Putin to invade Ukraine. It has been his long term goal.
You are not a serious person or you would have realized this and focused on actual policy difference instead of culture war stuff. I would love to actually talk about how amending the asylum process or fixing zoning regulations to allow more housing to be built. But there are almost no policy proposals from MAGA. They didn’t even have a platform the last two elections. It is a personality cult.
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1. So what that he signed the agreement–the nuts and bolts belong to the commander-in chief. How it was done is the issue. Heck, Biden reversed almost all of the Trump initiatives as fast as he could. This one he screwed up royally and didn’t take any blame but blamed his predecessor. . See Bay of Pigs–JFK. See Reagan–240 Marines die in Lebanese bombing of barracks. How did you like all the equipment left behind–folks clinging to planes?
2. When NYC and other Democrat cities defunded the cops did Biden use the bully pulpit or call the mayors involved to let his feelings be known? Of course not why anger his left wing constituents. He is the leader of his party isn’t he? A most popular Democrat!
3. Where is the outrage from Biden or other prominent Democrats about the mess. In San Francisco the Chinese head of state visits and they move hundreds and hundreds of homeless. You are right as most of them have mental health issues. Are the MAGA folks arguing for the homeless to occupy your streets (well, not yours of course). The lefties are defending their rights to live in tents almost anywhere. They are “unhoused”.
4. Oh really crime is down in most cities? Where I live killings are up dramatically higher–car jackings are the norm–car thefts are beyond belief. When my wife drives to feed the homeless she actually wears her purse in the car in a special fashion. One can see pictures of the CVS that was cleaned out recently in local news reports. Black lady interviewed in her car recently said she loved the snow because crime is reduced. Walmart now locks up the underwear. Folks walked into a local CVS in my “hood” filled up black bags and left. No big deal. Jumping subway gates is an everyday thing. Well, if crime is down in most cities why are cities recruiting like heck for officers? San Francisco last week raised beginning salary to in excess of $100,000,. Maybe the lefties were right–less crime if they defunded the cops. James Carville called it the dumbest proposal he had ever heard.
5. Has Biden used the bully pulpit to push his immigration agenda? What is his agenda? When did he last talks about it? Have you forgotten 8th grade civics–the President proposes and Congress disposes. Only one bill that I know of has been passed and it is HR2–2nd bill passed by the House when Republicans took over–sits in the Senate waiting for Senate Majority Leader–good luck. Debate it–slice it up–whatever. Now the old guy is serious as the lefty mayors are experiencing what the southwest was experiencing. Meetings at the White House Tuesday and yesterday. The polls show illegal immigration is a major issue–coming to your city sooner than you think.
6. If Putin (a thug) smells weakness he will exploit it. Biden is not feared and he has all kinds of cognitive issues. Heck, he didn’t know for a week his Defense Secretary was missing in action and the world is on fire in Ukraine and Gaza. Putin’s long term goal you say? Well, why go when he went? First with Obama into Crimea (we sent them food rations) and then with Biden. Why wait for Biden when his buddy was in the White House and I guess the U.S. would have acceded to his invasion.
Gee, I didn’t know that crime–immigration–Putin is “culture war”. Glad to hear the Democrats will not make an issue out of abortion–“don’t say gay”–book banning–and “from the river to the sea”.
But at least you had facts–better than the blabbering. Culture issues are what we hear from Biden–Maga this and Maga that–when does he run on the economy–immigration–the cities lower crime rates–his overseas accomplishments–his green New Deal.
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“What is the downside for humoring him for this little bit of time? No one seriously thinks the results will change,” the official said. “He went golfing this weekend. It’s not like he’s plotting how to prevent Joe Biden from taking power on Jan. 20. He’s tweeting about filing some lawsuits, those lawsuits will fail, then he’ll tweet some more about how the election was stolen, and then he’ll leave.”
Anonymous senior Republican official.
Trump and a handful of others should have been in prison three years ago.
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This is comedy gold! He just wants what is best for America. They go back and forth between minimizing Jan 6th or saying that it was actually Antifa. They can’t reconcile their Thin Blue Line flags with the fact that they movement killed police officers and is made up of many open white supremacists and Nazi militia members. FFS, if you don’t trust the media, and don’t know how who to trust, then just don’t join the side with the Nazis. That is a good rule of thumb!
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Facts my friend–only one person killed on January 6–Ashlee Babbitt from San Diego–the other numbers you hear are pure fantasy–only other officer close was the gentleman who died of a stroke later that night or the next day at home–DC coroner ruled it a “natural death”–CNN erroneously reported he was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher– one woman died from a drug overdose on the south sidewalk–another died of a heart attack on the east walk/steps.
Ever gone to or watched (through the flames) a Black Lives Rally? You will see Antifa–Socialist Workers flags–and now Palestinian flags–just one of the things that go along with movements.
I assume if you were marching or protesting the Palestinian issue you would consider those folks pro-Hamas with and being in sympathy with those who kidnapped-raped–murdered over 2,000 Jews.
I’m just following your illogical logic.
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We do indeed need new middle of the road blood on both sides. It shouldn’t be so hard, but the extremists have taken control of both parties, so I won’t hold my breath.
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Go back to pre-Reagan the eighties were the big economic and sociological deflection point.
My wife says they’ll never put Trump in jail. I hope she’s wrong.
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If he was found guilty and jailed, it would be the best outcome for the country. But unfortunately I don’t think it is possible with all the MAGA judges corrupting the process. I think our only hope is that enough decent Americans come together and say enough, and defeat him at the polls. This would be his four straight election loss, so conceivably would finally end his particular role in MAGA, though something even worse could be coming like Ramaswamy
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If he goes to jail where will Secret Service stay as he gets life long 24-hour protection.
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Right now MAGA is the existential threat but that same rabid populism could be channeled into a far left demagogue in a few years as well. Trump exposed the flaws of our political system – which had always depended too much on norms rather than laws. I hope we can take steps to fix it before someone smarter but equally less principled comes along.
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What type of threat do they pose? Give some examples of MAGA threats they pose. Will we be forced to abandon gas stoves in new home construction? Will they force people by a date certain to buy E-vehicles? Will they require folks who borrow money for their college education to repay it? Just what threats should I be worried about?
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Walls, isolationism, tariffs that raise prices in US and decrease our ability to compete because of retaliation, abdication of world leadership, a president who acts like he is running his own company, injection of religious beliefs into government, a naive and inaccurate notion of health care in America, a simplistic denial of global issues we face and a naive belief of the rights of the individual in a complex society as you allude to. The extreme right overestimates the abilities of the individual and the extreme left underestimates them and ignores individual responsibility.
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Your points are well taken–as you might surmise those that will vote for him see other issues that are more important to them and many of them involve individual freedoms.Recently saw an NPR headline from years back where Pres. Obama apologizes for IRS going after conservatives–remember Lois Lerner? The scope and range of big government scares many folks and that will soon come to a head in the Chevron decision. Some choice we have in ’24!
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While I’m not a member of the Tea Party, and while I would never vote for Trump (not the last two times, and not in 2024 either, primary or general) and while I would never vote for Biden (not in 1988, not in 2008 (primary or general), not in 2020 and not in 2024), I don’t think the thrust of the Tea Party was “unrealistic”.
In 2011, then House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), who would soon be primaried, responded to Tea Party demands to reduce spending and was quoted as saying, with a bill that reduced spending $100B from then-President Obama’s proposed budget:
“At a time when unemployment is too high and economic growth is elusive in part because of the uncertainty created by our skyrocketing debt, this legislation will mark the largest spending cut in modern history and will help restore confidence so that people can get back to work. These are not easy cuts, but we are finally doing what every other American has to do in their households and their businesses, and that’s to begin a path of living within our means,” he said.
At that point, the National Debt was about $14 Trillion, and, in the first two years of the Obama Administration, we had added nearly $3 Trillion to the National Debt.
What is so “unrealistic” about wanting the federal government to stop spending like a drunken sailor, effectively burdening our children, grandchildren, those too young to vote and generations yet unborn?
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I think what undercuts your argument is that the biggest deficits have been run up by the Republican administrations (Bush, Trump), while the most serious attempts to address the budget have been during Democratic administrations. For example now, Biden has a clear policy proposal to reduce the deficit while Trump wants to expand the deficit and likely increase inflation. So anyone really interested in cutting the deficit as a high priority could vote for MAGA. Would I love to see a centrist Republican run on a platform to actually address the deficit? Absolutely. But it is not going to happen in my lifetime.
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I agree that Bush II added to our long term debt, when he bought votes in 2003 with the Medicare Modernization Act, Part D, Rx coverage for seniors. The only reason the vote wasn’t more bipartisan in favor was because Democrats wanted to spend even more than Bush and the Republicans!
However, Bush II was a piker when it comes to running deficits – increasing the national debt less than $5 Trillion from $5.7 trillion to $10.6 Trillion over 8 years. President Obama once called Bush II unpatriotic for his deficit spending.
https://www.commentary.org/peter-wehner/obama-2008-bush-debt-unpatriotic/
And then, President Obama and the two idiots who followed him, increased the national debt from ~$10.6 Trillion when Bush left office to $34+ Trillion over the past 15 years! That’s Obama, Trump and Biden. Not Bush II.
And, without change, we are spending ~$2Trillion more than we are taking in each year, we are well on our way to $50+ Trillion in National Debt by the end of the current 10 year budget cycle!
So, no, recent history suggests Democrats like massive deficit spending even more than Republicans.
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1. Covid debt was global, not just in the U.S.
2. When you’re in over your head, increase taxes. On (almost) all Americans.
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Mr Quinn, I wish you would write about the Leftist media. Biden and his kid can do no wrong. Trump can do no right. People see this!
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Left, right they all mislead and propagandize, it’s politics and always has been. I follow all the far left leaders on Twitter, I get e-mail looking for donations by the Biden campaign. I try and verify or refute statements by both left and right and evaluate their comments. NOTHING I HAVE EVER READ comes close to the lack of civility, the name calling and bullying, the outright lies and xenophobic overtones that come from Trump, nothing. I never voted for a Democrat in my 60 years of voting, I belong to no party and I consider myself conservative. Trump is a danger to our basic government structure.
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I agree, Trump is a danger. So is the leftist-wove media reporting only one side.
That’s also dangerous!
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The left extreme has some way out ideas, some out of control spending ideas, but I can find nothing that comes close to Trump and what he is doing. In the past I have posted about things said by Sanders, Warren and others on the far left, but nothing compares. I have looked but cannot find credible examples of Biden being a crook and yet Trump always calls him Crooked Biden. I have repeatedly followed up on headlines and article from the far right media and the extent it is inaccurate and inflammatory is scary. I would be happy to review any articles that do the same from the left. MY CONCERN is not even the far right, it is about the individual, the one person trying to change the country in his vision.
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Perhaps you should look at VP Joe Biden getting prosecuter in Ukraine fired, then bragging about it, and Junior being put on the Board of Directors for a gas company the next week. What the hell does a coke head know about gas?
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Dick. Clearly why people are ignoring your comments lately is your lack of a balanced view. 100 percent of your attempts to panic your readers is leveled against Trump but you completely ignore how the democrats lead by Biden try to vilify almost 50 percent of the population. You have become almost laughable when it comes to your double standard panic. I for one have tuned you out. So this will be my last comment on your blog has it went from factual to a joke
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Nothing Biden and friends have done comes close to Trumps words and actions, not even by a bit. I don’t care a hoot about Biden or any other politician. I don’t support anyone. Tell us how Biden has vilified anyone.
Trump is a danger to everyone plain and simple. As I have said before, don’t accept my view, look at his words on TruthSocial. Look at the postings by his supporters for their tone, almost cult like adoration. Consider his comments about immigrants tainting our blood. Look at the actions and strategies employed in Europe in the 1930s and compare them.
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Richard,
I share your fears completely and I know many others who feel the same. Problem is those who believe otherwise can’t see it. To a great extent I believe the issue is the likes of the idiots on Fox who spew the ideas put forth in the comments by some of those above. The folks on the extreme right have said they want to see the country fail what more do you want to hear yet Fox will harken back to the same issues and those who listen blindly follow. The only hope is there are enough of us who want to see a middle ground to save our country. While Bden may not be the best and yes he is old but at least he abides by the constitution and is a man of morals. Unlike Trump he will not subterfuge the country to feed his own ego. We can’t go the way of Trump or our democracy is finished.
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Very well said! Maybe you don’t like Biden, but if he wins, you get to vote in the next election. But if MAGA wins, you might not ever get that again. So I will always vote against the candidate who wants to destroy our democracy, and hope in the future we can get back to actually choosing between candidates based on policy proposals, vice existential risk.
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Trump is smart in that he recognized the well of discontent in this country and he tapped it for support of a political campaign. He did not cause the divide and it won’t heal over after he’s retired. It is not a matter of Democrat\Republican. That is just one way the division is expressed. If you didn’t recognize this, you live a sheltered life. No disrespect, just saying.
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You are absolutely right to see MAGA as an existential threat to our country and way of life. I served in our military for 30 years fighting terrorist and extremists overseas and it is so shocking to see this same level of extremism here, where we should know better. I don’t think anyone expected that one of the biggest effects of the internet would be a large portion of the population choosing to blindly lock themselves into their own self imposed propaganda bubbles. And I served inside the Trump administration and it was much worse than you can imagine, so I have first hand experience with this. It was a near miss the first time because they were so incompetent and had a few responsable adults in the cabinet but this second time there will be no safety rails. They have no real policy objectives except staying in power and prosecuting any opposition to the Great Leader that God has anointed. What a bunch of crazies.
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Who was duped by the Russian collusion hoax? Who was duped by the Hunter Biden laptop story? Did you really believe 51 of our nation’s brightest that Hunter’s situation looked like Russian disinformation? The sad part of both the above was the lack of digging by the press to uncover whether there was merit to either of these stories.
I don’t know how you define demagogue but if you opposed the Democrats voting bill named after John Lewis you were referred to as a “Jim Crow reincarnate”–complain about the sieve of a border and you are a bigot. Laugh at the president’s view that the biggest problem facing this country is white supremacy and you are a racist–how many white supremacists were involved in weekend shootings in D.C., Chicago, Detroit, Newark, and Philly and on and on?
Our democracy is in fine shape and has become nothing more than a tactic used by one side to frighten voters.
“On January 6th our president said that when the capitol was stormed “we nearly lost America–lost it all”. Oh, a rabble’s four hour tantrum which briefly delayed the certification of the 2020 election, nearly did what four years of Confederate military campaigning could not do?” George Will–1/17/2024
I agree with brother Quinn who wants Trump to shut up and go away–but thee are a lot of folks floating around spreading lies and manipulating folks if they can. Unfortunately this has been going on for many decades.
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Good lord, Richard. I thought you were smarter than this. Trump is a product of the division sowed in this country prior to his arrival on the scene. It didn’t start with him. I don’t care for the man but if you think solving the Trump issue will make the country better, you are blind to the circumstances which brought him to power in the first place.
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You are right, the issue is not Trump, it is MAGA. Trump just stumbled into it at the right historical time, when Republicans had already lost their minds in the Fox News information bubble, e.g. the Tea Party etc. That won’t go away when Trump dies. It is not like the MAGA folks are going back to the days of McCain or Romney. In fact, the Republican Party has become rabidly populist and it will be interesting to see where it goes with the obvious fault line between its increasingly working class ranks and the continued stated goals of cutting taxes for the wealthy and gutting social programs that these poorer, less educated voters rely on more and more.
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Yes, the tea party with its unrealistic economic and budget views came first and the Republicans Party is out of control, but that has accelerated since 2015. After that it has and is about Trump, but clearly what damage has been done will take a long time to reverse. Biden was a poor choice for the Democrats because of age and him being lambasted by Republicans for years. We need new middle of the road blood on both sides.
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I love and laugh of all this MAGA talk. No facts just rambling but the wealthy who have all sorts of plans for the working class. Let’s see if we can put this in perspective.
Did MAGA working class folks:
1. Decide that the college educated could pass on a large % of their debt to the working class? That was the role of Congress according to Biden/ Pelosi until they did it. Court said NO!
2.. Defund the police/ re-imagine policing–boy did that work well especially in the inner cities where all the liberals had fled from when they decided their kids would not share classrooms with black and brown kids. Busing for them and not for us suburban types.
3. Encourage folks to live on the streets creating a living hell in many cities. How many times did they go to court to argue folks can live anywhere they want? Court case right now as Supreme Ct. will decide if cities can regulate whether people can live. on the sidewalk in front of your house. Now, not your house of course but some working class bigot.
4. Made a major mess and possibly encouraged Putin to invade with the Afghan withdrawal disaster.
5. Told Putin a small invasion might be acceptable. Hey, wasn’t the orange haired guy Putin’s buddy? Wonder why Putin waited for slow Joe to take over before invading?
6. Encourage millions to cross illegally only to be called racists and bigots if they complained. But major media outlets (the Dems allies) didn’t cover it until late last year but now it has become major campaign issue.
7. Believe the illegals are a net plus for our country? Sure they are until they show up in NJ–NYC–Detroit–the Vineyard and then their net + workers get kicked out of the supposed sanctuary venues. Who are the bigots now? Stay in Texas– Florida–and AZ and get the heck out of Edison, NJ–Newark–NYC–Detroit–Chicago the lefties say.
8. Install VP Harris as the point person on illegals? Now, that woman is incredibly effective and so well thought of. In 2020 she was the first to drop out of the Dem’s primary–called Biden a racist for hanging with Klansman Byrd and other known Democratic racist Senators and had about 1% support before leaving. A black woman dissed by the party elite–must be a racist group of folks. But what a job she has done on the border–the one time she went.
Oh well you MAGA folks are just such trouble makers so sit down and shut up–and definitely don’t mention drag queens in elementary school libraries. We elites know what’s best for you–look at all the good we have done since slow Joe and our crowd have taken over.
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