The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Politics & RKBA => Topic started by: Timothy on January 06, 2021, 11:07:17 AM
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So, who do we blame for the loss of the Republic?
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Blame the founders.
They based the whole thing on "Honest votes by informed voters".
We don't have either one.
#1 Voting should be in person on election day, at the appointed place, by verified tax paying citizens only.
Oh but that will disenfranchise the "poor".
Yep. Sure will.
It will put the Govt back in the hands of the people PAYING for it.
F%$k the poor people, look at their lives and ask yourself if you want them telling you how to run yours ?
#2 Do away with the Civil service system.
Go back to the patronage system so neither party can plant long term operatives with in the agencies .
#3 Apply "truth in advertising laws to political ads.
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Ya can’t punish dead folks Tom!
There is plenty of blame for both parties, regardless! I’m done... The country I swore to defend and protect is gone and I can no longer do anything about it!
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Note: The source for this transcription is the first printing of the Declaration of Independence, the broadside produced by John Dunlap on the night of July 4, 1776. Nearly every printed or manuscript edition of the Declaration of Independence has slight differences in punctuation, capitalization, and even wording. To find out more about the diverse textual tradition of the Declaration, check out our Which Version is This, and Why Does it Matter? resource.
WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.
He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.
Nor have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Signed by Order and in Behalf of the Congress,
JOHN HANCOCK, President.
Attest.
CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.
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That last paragraph of such a fine document is our current problem. We have no representation left in Congress or Washington DC that would be willing to put forth the effort to overthrow our current governmental mess!
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Permission to make an analogy!
Trump’s last 3 years, 11-1/2 months is akin to the 07 Super Bowl 42!
Three quarters and 13 minutes of good football but the only thing people remember is the Pats losing in the last two minutes to the Giants! A perfect season spoiled late in the game!
Don’t even want to comment on that dipstick McConnel!
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Here's the way I see it.
On here we are mostly old enough that they won't be our problem for that long .
Balance between bad habits and modern science 90ish.
See what the young ones do then give them lots of nastier ideas. ;D
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OK. What do we do now? I am trying to organize my local friends using sneaker net and masked emails. Our platforms, including this one, will soon be under attack. I don't like what is happening to this country any more than any of you do but I also do not know WHAT it will take to get the populace to understand that this last occurrence should be akin to the "shot heard around the world". What will it take, if anything, to motivate people into a coordinated resistance, civil disobedience, etc...? Like a lot of gentlemen here I am older and realistically not in shape to fight on the "Front line" but have the knowledge and some experience to help those that are.
What to do? What to do???? That is a question I need to find an answer for.
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I’m hoping I’m dead way before 90!
LOL
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I’m hoping I’m dead way before 90!
LOL
Me too but I still have a few years left! (I'm 65).... ;) ;) ;) ;)
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Me too but I still have a few years left! (I'm 65).... ;) ;) ;) ;)
64 in May... :)
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Organize among your" meat" friends and remember that the only real difference between the Boston tea party, and Timothy McViegh was timing.
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Organize among your" meat" friends and remember that the only real difference between the Boston tea party, and Timothy McViegh was timing.
I have made no friends in New England that I would take a bullet for in the 39 years I’ve lived here! Family yes, at least my wife, daughter and granddaughters!
My wife’s family are four of the stupidest people I personally have ever met!
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I have made no friends in New England that I would take a bullet for in the 39 years I’ve lived here!
Not to be to cynical but the question is more " how many could you get to take one for you ?" ;D
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Not to be to cynical but the question is more " how many could you get to take one for you ?" ;D
None, but then, a few might not run flailing their arms like 7 year old little girls!
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None, but then, a few might not run flailing their arms like 7 year old little girls!
It's a start. ;D
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"We’re f@#ked!"
Rob Pincus has posted in several forums that we must give up this defeatist belief. He writes how we must separate ourselves from any organization claiming this in their propaganda.
I agree!
We are only fucked if we let it happen. However, they haven't got us yet, and it is up to us to not let it happen.
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I served a country that no longer serves me!
f..k em...
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"We’re f@#ked!"
We are only fucked if we let it happen. However, they haven't got us yet, and it is up to us to not let it happen.
I've only been telling you the same thing for 15 years.
You didn't listen when it could have made a difference.
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For what amounts to 50k in tooling one could produce everything but the barrel for an ar15s( and produce than rather quickly )With a basic lathe one could make a smooth bore with out too much trouble. Look what P A Luty did with hand tools and hardware store parts.
No mather what they do, free men and women with determination will still have the ability to be armed if they so choose to.
Hell if it was not for Luty's smg being full auto, I would actually think about building one. Just for shots and giggles. I just don't want the batfe up my butt.
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Hell if it was not for Luty's smg being full auto, I would actually think about building one.
If you added a trigger disconnect you would be OK.
It's perfectly legal for citizens to manufacture their own guns as long as it's not for resale.
You'd need to check details.
As for your main point, the technology came out of garages and work shops, it can go back there easy enough.
Which raises the question, "Where do the dumb asses think they'll get the guns they will need to enforce this stupidity ?"
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As for your main point, the technology came out of garages and work shops, it can go back there easy enough.
Which raises the question, "Where do the dumb asses think they'll get the guns they will need to enforce this stupidity ?"
From Fudd's?
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You know, the Fraudulent Joe☭Biden* people -- and their fellow travelers -- seem to have no clue as to how simple firearm technology is, and how easily someone with a basic set of tools (not a milling machine, nor a lathe), and basic skills can build a working firearm. One thing they definitely don't seem to realize is that a semiauto in a relatively low-pressure pistol cartridge is about the easiest thing to make, because lockup consists of a bolt/carrier of sufficient weight, with the recoil spring -- and maybe a hammer spring -- adding a little bit to the lockup, though the bolt weight is the overwheming factor.
Here's more than you ever wanted to know: Volume IV of The Machine Gun (https://archive.org/details/TheMachineGunVolume4ByGeorgeMChinn), by George M. Chinn, USMCR. The first section takes you through blowback actions in great detail. The whole set is available at archive.org. Download today! You never know when the Marxists will start purging Archive, Amazon, and even public libraries and local bookstores. I'm not kidding.
You wanna build 0% AR lowers? It isn't that hard. People have built AR lowers out of wood, machined plastic, 3D-printed plastic, bolted-together aluminum, and even welded sheet steel.
I've been toying with the AKM model: bend sheet metal into a "trough," like an AKM receiver. The front trunnion contains the pivot pin lugs, and the rear trunnion (of aluminum) has an opening for the takedown pin lug from the upper, as well as accepting the buffer tube. This can be threaded or can just be a hole with set screws around its circumference, that gently engage the threaded part of a buffer tube. Look at guns like the PPS-43 for a sheet metal magwell and mag catch. I suggest an AK pistol grip, as they're easier to attach than an AR grip.
The hard part is the bolt hold open catch, but that can be omitted. No detents anywhere: a cotter pin or similar arrangement for the takedown and pivot pins, and magnets on the side of the receiver form the stops for the safety/selector lever, as long as it's steel. You should use an ambi lever, as there's no detent to hold the safety in place. Non-walking pins are suggested for the hammer and trigger, as the thin lower walls don't offer the friction of a thicker aluminum receiver.
I'm certain it's doable, but I'm currently in a 0% AKM blowback pistol build, using 19 gauge (1mm) stainless as my receiver. I plan to chamber it in .32 ACP, with a Walther PP barrel I have, along with an AR fire control group. Think something like a Czech vz.61 Skorpion, but in semiauto, without the complicated bolt velocity reducer mechanism, and with a pistol buffer tube to contain the recoil system, and for "cheeking." Don't know for sure if it will work on the first iteration, but the path is often more rewarding than the destination!
Oh, and by the way, I take the quote below seriously. I believe that one of the ways we move homebuilt arms into "common usage" is by sharing the information with others. Ideas are like viruses: they spread from person to person.
Now let's go forth and make stuff!
* Not actually elected
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From Fudd's?
From the people who spent the last 40 years saying "No one needs an AR ?"
I can't WAIT to see their close order drill . ;D
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Bob. Aluminum isn't strong enough. The Receiver box doesn't need to contain any pressure, but it has to keep the parts that do in perfect alignment during violent movement.
That was why the Soviets had to make milled AK's while they worked it out.
If you notice the AKM reciever has a lot more cross bracing than the original, as well as thicker metal.
As for "The Machine Gun" download it , the dead tree version is about $300/vol .
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Bob. Aluminum isn't strong enough. The Receiver box doesn't need to contain any pressure, but it has to keep the parts that do in perfect alignment during violent movement.
That was why the Soviets had to make milled AK's while they worked it out.
If you notice the AKM reciever has a lot more cross bracing than the original, as well as thicker metal.
As for "The Machine Gun" download it , the dead tree version is about $300/vol .
I'm sorry. I think I wasn't clear. The receiver for my little bitty AKM pistol project is stainless steel. It's really sturdy and resistant to flexing. The only aluminum would be the front and rear trunnions, but the receiver, bolt and barrel are steel. And of course, being blowback, the bolt won't have to lockup with the front trunnion. I think I've managed to design it so that the bolt/carrier doesn't "bottom out" in recoil, either.
I already downloaded all volumes of The Machine Gun, and I hope everyone here does the same. The problem with digital resources in "the cloud," is that someone can make them go away very easily, and I think that day is coming. Sniffin' Joe☭Biden* and his friends are attacking both the 1st and the 2nd Amendments. They not only want to take our guns, they don't want us talking about them or sharing files. I think they may also start memory holing some old movies that don't meet their 2021 standards for all kinds of things. Movies ranging from Gone with the Wind to Sands of Iwo Jima to Way of the Gun.
I'm saving important stuff to disks or printing it out. If something's in the cloud, you really don't own it in any real way.
Geez, with all the stuff that could be coming our way, maybe the theme song for 2021 should be "El Deguello." And that's coming from a Texan.
Thanks!
* Not really elected
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Not to spoil a good drift but...
McConnell blaming Trump for losing the Senate is laughable! Holding up those stimulus checks made all the difference in my opinion! I’m convinced he did it to spite Trump while underestimating the ability of the left to drag more dead folks to the polls!
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McConnell blaming Trump for losing the Senate is laughable! Holding up those stimulus checks made all the difference in my opinion! I’m convinced he did it to spite Trump while underestimating the ability of the left to drag more dead folks to the polls!
Nothin’ to disagree with, there, Timothy!
...and now we get dragged through another bogus impeachment vote! Yippee!
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I'm sorry. I think I wasn't clear. The receiver for my little bitty AKM pistol project is stainless steel. It's really sturdy and resistant to flexing. The only aluminum would be the front and rear trunnions, but the receiver, bolt and barrel are steel. And of course, being blowback, the bolt won't have to lockup with the front trunnion. I think I've managed to design it so that the bolt/carrier doesn't "bottom out" in recoil, either.
I already downloaded all volumes of The Machine Gun, and I hope everyone here does the same. The problem with digital resources in "the cloud," is that someone can make them go away very easily, and I think that day is coming. Sniffin' Joe☭Biden* and his friends are attacking both the 1st and the 2nd Amendments. They not only want to take our guns, they don't want us talking about them or sharing files. I think they may also start memory holing some old movies that don't meet their 2021 standards for all kinds of things. Movies ranging from Gone with the Wind to Sands of Iwo Jima to Way of the Gun.
I'm saving important stuff to disks or printing it out. If something's in the cloud, you really don't own it in any real way.
Geez, with all the stuff that could be coming our way, maybe the theme song for 2021 should be "El Deguello." And that's coming from a Texan.
Thanks!
* Not really elected
Lot to comment here. ;D
I miss understood. Stainless is an excellent choice, What finish are you thinking of. Powder coat would be tough and your choice of color, and works with nearly all alloys.
The bolt bottoming out is something that I've been thinking of with tubular/inline designs like the AR, or most SMG's.
Even in semi, with no "constant recoil" benefit it would still have to result in milder felt recoil .
Another option is to keep everything the same length, but increased diameter like the Hyde M-2 SMG.
Save to disc ? :(
That's one I need to start on.
And even with the Parler situation it hadn't crossed my mind. :-\
Sounds like Mariachi music .
I like Mariachi music.
I think proper people call it Spanish Classical, but consider the source. ;D
Not to spoil a good drift but...
McConnell blaming Trump for losing the Senate is laughable! Holding up those stimulus checks made all the difference in my opinion! I’m convinced he did it to spite Trump while underestimating the ability of the left to drag more dead folks to the polls!
^ This.
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I miss understood. Stainless is an excellent choice, What finish are you thinking of. Powder coat would be tough and your choice of color, and works with nearly all alloys.
Save to disc ? :(
That's one I need to start on.
And even with the Parler situation it hadn't crossed my mind. :-\
Sounds like Mariachi music .
I like Mariachi music.
I think proper people call it Spanish Classical, but consider the source. ;D
No problemo: I appreciate your words of caution when you thought I was making an aluminum AKM receiver. I'm still deciding on a finish, but powder coat is a good choice!
Re: saving to disk, they're deleting "unacceptable" stuff everywhere, and the goal posts keep moving. If I find something good, I try to save it for myself, because I now assume it could be gone tomorrow.
Re: El Deguello, here's what Wikipedia had to say:
The Degüello (Spanish: El toque a degüello) is a bugle call, notable in the US for its use as a march by Mexican Army buglers during the 1836 Siege and Battle of the Alamo[1] to signal that the defenders of the garrison would receive no quarter by the attacking Mexican Army under General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The Degüello was introduced to the Americas by the Spanish armies and was later adopted by the patriot armies fighting against them during the Spanish American wars of independence. It was also widely used by Simon Bolivar's armies, notably during the Battle of Junin[2] and the Battle of Ayacucho.[3]
"Degüello" is a Spanish noun from the verb "degollar", to describe the action of throat-cutting. More figuratively, it means "give no quarter."[1] It "signifies the act of beheading or throat-cutting and in Spanish history became associated with the battle music, which, in different versions, meant complete destruction of the enemy without mercy."[4] It is similar to the war cry "¡A degüello!" used by Cuban rebels in the 19th century to launch mounted charges against the Spanish infantry.
Keep your powder dry!
DB
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Son of a gun !
I remember John Wayne saying it meant "No Quarter" in "The Alamo".
I thought it was Hollywood bs.
The ONE thing they did get right ;D
I still don't believe Jim Bridger had a Nock Volley gun though.
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Not to spoil a good drift but...
McConnell blaming Trump for losing the Senate is laughable! Holding up those stimulus checks made all the difference in my opinion! I’m convinced he did it to spite Trump while underestimating the ability of the left to drag more dead folks to the polls!
Not completely true Timothy. McConnell didn't hold up the checks. He lost the information war. Remember, the media loves the Left and hates the Right. The Senate was the first to take Pres. DJT's plan to put $1,200 checks out to everyone, and to continue the unemployment bonus checks at $300 per week. They did this a couple months ago. Pelosi and Schumer said "NO!" They wanted a full Bill, not a piece by piece, so that they could get all of their pork in it.
McConnell, and his crew, did not push this through strong enough. Every time aid and hurting was brought up they should have had their simple couple page Bill in hand and said "Here is $1200 per person and $300 per week unemployment bonus that the Democrats refuse to authorize." "A package of immediate help that will be added to as we work through each item, if they would just authorize the Bill."
I have said it before: While the conservatives were taking science, history and math classes, the liberals were taking speech, drama and debate. They are slick Snake Oil Salesmen that can spin anything, and they are masters at it.
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But McConnell knew Pelosi would never pass anything while Trump was president!
A last ditch effort may have helped! Loefler and Perdue were doing OK till Atlanta and August came in...don’t know much about Atlanta but Augusta is a poor city with the exception of Augusta National area... Spent lots of time at Vogtle years back!
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Not completely true Timothy. McConnell didn't hold up the checks. He lost the information war. Remember, the media loves the Left and hates the Right. The Senate was the first to take Pres. DJT's plan to put $1,200 checks out to everyone, and to continue the unemployment bonus checks at $300 per week. They did this a couple months ago. Pelosi and Schumer said "NO!" They wanted a full Bill, not a piece by piece, so that they could get all of their pork in it.
I've long thought that a lot of foreign aid and other payouts were popular because the receiving gov't or .org probably made a sizeable deposit to a "re-election fund" or would invite key lawmakers to "consult" or "give a speech" at wildly inflated rates. It worked for the Clinton Crime Family.
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I have said it before: While the conservatives were taking science, history and math classes, the liberals were taking speech, drama and debate. They are slick Snake Oil Salesmen that can spin anything, and they are masters at it.
Which is exactly why I spent the last 12 years telling you to adopt their tactics or lose.
Well, You didn't sink to their level and now you control nothing while you sit back and allow the only good guy in DC to be hounded out of town.
Ain't you proud of all that Reason, and Compromise now ?
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But McConnell knew Pelosi would never pass anything while Trump was president!
A last ditch effort may have helped! Loefler and Perdue were doing OK till Atlanta and August came in...don’t know much about Atlanta but Augusta is a poor city with the exception of Augusta National area... Spent lots of time at Vogtle years back!
The blue crew is invading all the bigger cities.
Atlanta metro has been blue for decades along with the Macon/Bibb Co metro area. Columbus and Savannah are there and now the sickness has spread outside the Albany area to several surrounding counties making up a blue stronghold.
Anywhere there's a four-year college or university. For example thanks to VSU and transplants, Valdosta/Lowndes County (southernmost county on I-75) went blue for the PotUS election this time.
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I have worked all over the us. Atlanta was one of the worst when it came to lazy union workers. I mean they did everything exactly on time, and would take 8 hours to finish thier qouta. Even if it was less than an hours worth of work. I watched a guy stop painting a wall 4" short because it was exactly 5 pm. He was using an airless, it was less than 10 seconds to finish. No joke.
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Portsmouth Navy yard is like that.
Based on the people I have worked with I would not hire anyone with that in their resume'.
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I am all for fair wages and benefits. But, I am also for a reward system. Unions do not allow for rewards. They are the ultimate of Communism.
My first experience with a union shop was a grocery job when I was 14. My first regular job. I was used to working in other settings that were about getting the job done. I lasted two months at that grocery store before I went to a mom&pop shop where I did the job, got paid well for it, and as I gained efficiency I gained in responsibility and opportunity for both learning and earning.
Trying to discuss this in appropriate high school and college classes is a challenge at best. All public K-12 are union, and few teachers are willing to discuss the harm union can cause when abused. Public universities are a combination of union and non-union, with profs. and instructors being non-union, but having more of the union mindset.
TAB's description of the painters is something along the lines I have heard. And there is the one about drywallers: Their contracts (union and non-union) are so much per sheet. Full Sheet! Talk about waste! First, they do not use drops for anything. You need an 8" x 2' piece, you don't go to that 2'x8' piece you just cut off! You go cut it off a full sheet. Also, when done with a house in a sub-division, where you are going door to door down the street, you don't leave any sheets behind that will be counted for return (removed from your used and paid count), and you don't carry them next door to use there - You cut them all in half and toss them in the roll-off.
I will tell anyone that there was a time that this nation needed the unions. And, there are still some places where they are a benefit. However, the time for extensive union influence is long past, and it is actually becoming a drain on our nation.
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Well, to reverse the situation described in the thread title, what can we do?
I think the first is to start getting involved locally with the people who run things. Has any of us attended a city council or school board meeting in the last year, or even a home owners' association meeting? Those are the places where we can have influence. Many elections are decided by relatively small numbers, so if we get involved, we might get some of the useless people out and get some people in who will respond to constituents.
Am I wrong? I'm guilty of not going to meetings. It's a pain, but I can see it's something I need to be doing.
One of the 2020 DemocRAT presidential candidates was a local politician: Julian Castro (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Castro). He and his twin brother, Joaquim, combine the attributes of arrogance and incompetence and were raised as communists by their mother (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_Castro), a died-in-the-wool Marxist. He was a terrible mayor and would have been a horrible President, and he's young, so he'll almost certainly run again. Some focused work on his opponent's campaign might have kept him from rising as high as he did.
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No kids in school, no HOA.
I don't go to city council meetings, but mostly because I don't need to.
I have a friend who is deeply involved in city affairs.
But more importantly, he grew up with these people and can give me the back ground information that the media never get.
I stay informed, but at 2nd hand with context.