Yes, The Real The New Awesome Primary Thread

Someone unknowledgeable is exactly what you need. The people in the know are the problem. They know too much - and it ain't pretty.

Trump does not seem to know that there are many limitations on the power of the presidency. He seems to think it is a dictatorship and that everyone will obey his orders.Trump seems to think that he can demand the respect of other nations for himself and the U.S. He thinks that the rest of the world should automatically realize that the U.S. so special that that they will always sacrifice their own best interests so the U.S. can be great again.He visited my state of Oregon yesterday and all he seemed to know of our history was that most of the timber mills had shut down in the 80s. He thinks everyone has been sitting around in misery feeling sorry for themselves ever since. What he doesn't know is that Oregonians became alarmed that all of our old growth forests were being clearcut and that if something wasn't done they would soon be gone, so we stopped it. He says he will bring back the timber jobs. Oregon has moved on and there is no industrial infrastructure to go back to a timber-based economy.Trump's grasp of history is woefully lacking. Trump's ignorance of the issues that humanity faces and his refusal to consider that the people who have been studying those issues might be able to offer valuable guidance doesn't inspire my confidence.Many of the jobs he says he will bring back have been replaced with automation. In Oregon, most (80-90%) of the lumber mill jobs had been replaced by automation before the timber operators were stopped from cutting the last of our public forests.Whipping up the anger of people, with false promises to get elected, might not end well. Encouraging his followers to blame immigrants, blacks, Hispanics, scientists, federal workers, etc. for all the problems in our country will certainly not unite us to accomplish anything.Maybe you have not noticed, but Trump has never offered any actual plans to accomplish anything, just bluster that it will be fantastic. Every day he demonstrates in his speeches that he has no clue what he is talking about, but when he is called on it, he attacks his critics rather than acknowledging his errors. If a leader has no actual knowledge about the problems our nation faces, his solutions are likely to make things worse, don't you think?

I agree, but, please, not until after the election, say, Thanksgiving. We can have all the fun of the election and the reaction to it before we expire.

Not necessarily and I'm not sure that is a problem even if true. Maybe things need to get much worse before a consensus to try to fix things can be reached. Maybe what the US needs really is four to eight years of leadership from someone like il Donald and the no-nothing ignorance reigns Congress.After all, the world has survived two World Wars as well as numerous epidemics and world wide economic collapses; it will likely survive even this.Edited by jar, : fix sub-title

Indeed, Trump is a good representation of the Ugly American.

So, you think maybe we need to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get the message?Some of the things that are getting worse may reach a tipping point where no solution can reverse them and an irresponsible, ignorant leader could force us to a tipping point earlier and create new "deep shit problems" that will be difficult or impossible to address.If the economy, the infrastructure, the government is destroyed what good is a consensus going to do to fix things? That seems like a really risky, dangerous path. I don't think Trump or someone like him can provide leadership. Well, global wars and epidemics do briefly cut population, but the amount of suffering and destruction hardly seems an acceptable price. The worldwide economic depressions and recessions were bad but not complete collapses of society; money, food, and jobs were scarce but not completely gone. Agriculture still existed and was able to feed the survivors. We might not be so lucky without leadership who actually have knowledge beyond bluster.We have never had a serious epidemic since our society became globally interconnected. We have not faced a disease with a long incubation period, that spreads from human contact and that has a high lethality.I assume when you say "the world has survived" and "it will likely survive even this", you mean humanity, but what makes you think the biosphere, let alone humanity can survive climate change and an exploding human population? The threats to the whole planet have never been a part of a single thought in Trump's incredible brain.

That has happened many times before; consider Germany and Great Britain and France and Italy and Japan and China and Poland and so many other nations after WWII. Perhaps, but maybe non-leadership really is needed. I think humanity is likely to survive but you are right, we have never faced problems of this scale. And we need something that will get the majority of folks actively considering how to address such issues.Unfortunately, it really does seem that a very high pain threshold is needed to get folks attention.Also I am really not sure it is not time to seriously re draw the map of the US; maybe break it down into four or five smaller Nation States.

Well, they were lucky to have help rebuilding and with huge deliveries of food.A world with 7.4 billion people, a global war when a dozen or so nations have large nuclear arsenals may preclude recovery and may be the events that actually destroy the biosphere. I don't know how to answer this, except to note that non-leadership didn't work out so well in Somalia. And then we can expel the people we don't like.....all the assholes are deported to Mississippi.

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[jar]
Also I am really not sure it is not time to seriously re draw the map of the US; maybe break it down into four or five smaller Nation States.

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There was just a (November 2015?) Bloomberg Business article that showed quality academic studies demonstrating that the decision of the U.K., Ireland, and Denmark to join the (precursor to the) EU in the 1970s resulting in a higher GDP of 25%, 50%, and 25% respectively for the nations.The (already implemented) reintroduction of (crippling)border checkpoints in the 28 EU states might throw the world into depression before long.However, on the other hand.The neo-cons might have much less military might to stir up the Middle East with 1/5 the GDP (5 different nations will hopefully disagree on foreign adventures) to work with at any given time.

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[Tanypteryx]
And then we can expel the people we don't like.....all the assholes are deported to Mississippi.

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An interesting state.Obama lost by 130,000 votes, in 2012, out of a state with 3 million people (55% to 44%).Blacks used to be 57% of the population (and still nearly half in the 1930s), but were stuck at around 35% since 1970. They were run out before they got voting rights (mid 60s). Had the black population increased with the nation from 1970 to 1016 then it would be about 45% black today, but is just 37% (perhaps 38% if you count mixed people that are part black) today.Young males - not just blacks - leave this state like crazy.The Hispanic population is hardly growing in this dead zone state. Finally reached about 3.2% in 2010-11 I think.State was 58% white in the last census (down from around 60-61% in 2000).As of (May?) of 2013 (based on numbers released May of 2015), whites were down to about 56%to 56.5% I think.Best to flood Mississippi with non-"assholes". (I assume you don't include blacks or liberals in your "ass-hole" assessment) Like the way liberals target-flooded Vermont in the 1970s. Vermont voted for more GOP presidential candidates than any other state till the 1992 trend started. Sanders election (1990) was the first time a congresscritter was elected that was a Democrat (well he was a member of their caucus after his swearing in in Jan 1991).I have made endless attempts to try to get blacks to return there, but none are interested. I get lectures about how redneckish their fellow blacks are in the south. Many blacks say they are scared to go to a restaurant in black southern towns. One (who wears winter caps all the time) told me that he was in a small Georgian (black)town with his wife and children, and when he went in, everyone in the restaurant stopped eating and stared at him. He got scared and ran to his car, telling his wife that they need to get out. Many have told me similar stories.Mississippi might be state where the CIA doesn't want economic investment, because a growing state would make it a Democratic-voting state (despite blacks being very conservative - even 36% voted in 2000 or 1998 to keep the confederate flag up) and possibly anti-war liberals might get elected. It would be like 60% non-white by now if it had growth like Texas or Florida.Robert Welch (of the John Birch Society), in the 1950s, said that the civil rights movement was a Soviet plot to make the south into (something like) a "Soviet negro-republic".

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[Percy]
My prediction: Donald Trump and the Republican Party will make nice before the convention, though there will be many individual Republicans who refuse to have anything to do with him.

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He just said he doesn't want the party united. He won't compromise with the neo-cons.Ted Cruz was a fake who picked the hawk Fiorina for his running mate.Trump is genuine in his anti neo-con views.

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Locally in my own state of New Hampshire Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte says she will not be attending the convention. I like Kelly most of the time - a fair number of her votes seem sensible rather than political, but get a load of this piece of verbiage from a recent statement:

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As she’s said from the beginning, Kelly plans to support the nominee. As a candidate herself, she hasn’t and isn’t planning to endorse anyone this cycle, said Liz Johnson, communications director for Kelly for New Hampshire.
Johnson said the senator is not endorsing Trump.

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Ayotte supports but does not endorse Donald Trump? Uh, okay.

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Many Republicans currently touching Trump with ten foot poles will get much closer as the election approaches, but probably not Ayotte. She's in a tight contest with current Democratic governor Maggie Hassan.

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--Percy

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Ayotte is a complete neo-con. This is why Trump is so cool.Trump is loosing badly to Hillary based on polls right now, but if he improves 5% in just 3 states (Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina)m then he is only trailing Hillary 285-253 in the Electoral College. Then that leaves the states where he needs to do 10% better (than present polls have him against Hillary) which naturally includes Virginia and Colorado (the typical "finish line" states) but also Iowa and New Hampshire. New York Times has a recent article and details.The last 2 states have a lot of anti-war Republicans. And same with Democrats..

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Monday, May 9

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Race/Topic

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New Hampshire: Trump vs. Clinton Dartmouth Clinton 34, Trump 29 Clinton +5
New Hampshire: Trump vs. Sanders Dartmouth Sanders 49, Trump 28 Sanders +21

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New Hampshire Senate - Ayotte vs. Hassan Dartmouth Ayotte 37, Hassan 35 Ayotte +2

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realclearpolitics.com

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Looks like New Hampshire is a 5 point race now.A NYT article ( days ago)said Trump trailed Clinton by less than 10.Here is the national general election Trump verses Clinton page.realclearpolitics.comClinton up 6.5% on average. Nationwide.In (diverse) North Carolina, Sanders leads Trump 55% to 37% while Clinton holds a (short lived IMO) 49% to 40% lead.So much for AzPaul and his claim of Clinton being stronger in states with diversity.Edited by LamarkNewAge, : No reason given.Edited by LamarkNewAge, : No reason given.

I kind of picked Mississippi from the group of poor states that seem to come out near the bottom of rankings in things like education and health care, plus they have that slimeball former senator Trent Lott.From what I have seen the red states that want to dump the rest of us in a breakup into separate countries, would be the big losers since they now benefit by getting more federal funding than they pay in federal taxes.I have been to Mississippi and Alabama, in fact to all the SE, and there are places that are as bad to live in as the third world countries I have visited. Their local governments, legislatures, and members of Congress should all be ashamed of themselves because they are directly responsible for the utter failure to serve their citizens.

Such as his support for torture, war crimes, and increased military spending? Sounds pretty neo-con to me.

Turns out Hillary's a UFO nut. In today's New York Times: Hillary Clinton Gives U.F.O. Buffs Hope She Will Open the X-Files. Eye-opening excerpts:

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Mrs. Clinton has vowed that barring any threats to national security, she would open up government files on the subject, a shift from President Obama, who typically dismisses the topic as a joke. Her position has elated U.F.O. enthusiasts, who have declared Mrs. Clinton the first E.T. candidate.
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She has said in recent interviews that as president she would release information about Area 51, the remote Air Force base in Nevada believed by some to be a secret hub where the government stores classified information about aliens and U.F.O.s.

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In a radio interview last month, she said, I want to open the files as much as we can. Asked if she believed in U.F.O.s, Mrs. Clinton said, I don’t know. I want to see what the information shows. But, she added, There’s enough stories out there that I don’t think everybody is just sitting in their kitchen making them up.

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Throughout history there have been claimed sightings of the favorite denizen of then popular culture. Today it's UFO's, in the past it's been dragons, angels, ghosts, witches, whatever. We've studied our own solar system well enough to know that Earth is it when it comes to intelligent life, and possibly any life at all. The imponderable vastness of the universe means that even if there were other life out there, it could never get here. E.T. ain't here, he ain't ever been here, he ain't ever gonna be here.

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In fact, Mrs. Clinton had been briefed. She was prepped by her campaign chairman, John D. Podesta, who is not only a well-respected Washington hand, having served as a top adviser to Mr. Obama and President Bill Clinton, but is also a crusader for disclosure of government information on unexplained phenomena that could prove the existence of intelligent life outside Earth.

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The time to pull back the curtain on the topic is long overdue, Mr. Podesta wrote in his foreword for the 2010 book UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record by Leslie Kean, an investigative journalist.

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The same government that can't keep anything secret has been hiding aliens for over half a century? I don't think so. This is conspiracy theory nuttiness.--Percy