Politics

[Russ16]

That’s what CNN keeps telling everyone (and, of course they do… it’s to be expected… they’re also who told us Biden was in great shape up until the day the Ds dropped him, and now every time someone brings up their lie, they say “let’s not focus on the past.. we’re here to talk about today and the future”)…

That’s not at all what I hear and see on a daily basis though..

No one was talking about buying a new home 12 months ago…. I know several now considering a move…

I hear people talking about how not only is gas the cheapest it’s been since the last Trump administration, but also how the typical summer and holiday spikes in price didn’t really happen this year…

I hear and see people that couldnt find jobs 3 years ago (or didn’t want to work) are now working…

And ALL Americans are impacted by the stock market whether they are investors or not… corporate health is absolutely the backbone of the economy.. it drives unemployment, it drives retail pricing, it drives wages, and a host of other things that both the middle class and the labor class absolutely “feel”… the recession in the late 2000’s was driven by the stock market.. the Great Depression was driven by the stock market, etc… a bad market costs the consumer greatly… a good market makes their lives easier, whether they are trying to buy a car, find a job, or even take a vacation..

Speaking of vacations… the cost of travel in the US is up 20% since 2020 (Thanks Uncle Joe!).. and yet in 2025 the frequency of vacation travel was up almost 15% over 2024… that is a very strong indicator of people having confidence in the economy…

People are impacted by the stock market but not all of them realize. In fact I would say that most don't realize it.

I don't know about where you live but where I am the discussion of prices is constant. I can afford my grocery bill but I'm shocked every time I go.

 

[steve white]

No one could have stated it more eloquently

 

[steve white]

I suspect the R ticket will be Vance/Rubio. There's a reason Vance seems like a lap dog - that's what the boss wants.

Reverse that and you might have a winning ticket, or better yet replace Vance with DeSantis?

 

[Foxi]

The topic of Greenland is causing quite a stir in Europe.
If I were DT, I would offer the few Greenlanders a good purchase price, a generous pension payment for the next three generations, and dual citizenship.
I don't think they would say no to that.
It would still be cheaper than destroying NATO.
Which is what Russia and China would be most happy about.

 

[sgt_zim]

No. The poster suggested that what she did was attempted murder. That requires intent. That's why they call it murder.

I have done police shooting cases (on the civil side), and I don't think this officer would be convicted at trial or even found civilly liable. However I also think that had this lady survived I don't think she would have been convicted of attempted murder either.

No idea what it would be called in MN, but here in Texas, she'd probably get indicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a much lower bar to get over than attempted murder. And likely get convicted of it.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

People are impacted by the stock market but not all of them realize. In fact I would say that most don't realize it.

I don't know about where you live but where I am the discussion of prices is constant. I can afford my grocery bill but I'm shocked every time I go.

I realize I don't represent the norm - my location that is - but food prices here have gone up during the past year and are higher by a fair margin than they have ever been since I have lived here (23 years).

 

[wesheltonj]

No idea what it would be called in MN, but here in Texas, she'd probably get indicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a much lower bar to get over than attempted murder. And likely get convicted of it.

Yes, but a big city jury would walk her. Small town she would max out.

 

[Tanks]

If I were DT, I would offer the few Greenlanders a good purchase price, a generous pension payment for the next three generations, and dual citizenship.

I would not recommend anyone that is not working in the USA and has a European passport to get a US citizenship. Tax obligations, and FBAR filings are not worth it.

 

[mdwest]

"but look at this thread… the overwhelming majority of Americans are somewhere between neutral and completely not giving a shit…"

I think you're largely right about the economy and everything else being a fart in church. But with all due respect, I do not believe that the fine folks on this thread represent the overwhelming majority of Americans. We are, IMHO and for a couple of reasons, very much a niche segment of society.

I agree with you about this forum and this thread..

but that doesnt change that most Americans fall in line between neutral and not giving a shit..

CNN will tell you "31-51% of Americans think ICE raids are making our cities less safe"...

Really????? 31-51% is a pretty big (and ridiculously stupid) range... Its a clear attempt to make it look like MAYBE more americans disapprove than approve..

How about reporting the reality... that 77% of registered republicans FULLY support how ICE has been utilized to date and find it largely favorable (the remaining 25% finding it favorable to being neutral), and only 19-28% of D's claim it is largely unfavorable, while the rest of D's find it somewhere between unfavorable and favorable..

The truth is most Americans support ICE in its current activities.. and really could care less about a radicalized extreme leftist that was purposefully interfering with ICE operations that got herself shot in the head..

Or lets look at DEI.. where CNN tells us their polling indicates that 35-45% of Americans favor an end to DEI...

Well.. everyone else reports very different numbers.. 85% of R's favor its absolute end.. 59% of independents favor its absolute end.. 15% of D's favor its absolute end.. and all of the remaining citizens are somewhere on the spectrum of significant reduction to some reduction..

The truth is most Americans want DEI to either subside or go the way of the dodo bird, regardless of their party affiliation..

We could go on and on and on with all of the big ticket debatable items..

The country as a whole is pivoting back to the center-right... it doesnt matter if you talk to a texan, a tennessean, or someone from Ohio or Kansas or Louisiana.. the only thing different is how hard of a pivot is taking place..

The only question is can the country maintain the momentum? or will the R and the centrists get lazy?

While minorities still largely vote D.. the truth is more vote R now than they ever have in the US.. While Gen Y and Z both are more liberal than conservative, Gen Y is demonstratively more conservative than Gen Y (and the youth in this country have always been more liberal than older generations)..

About the only place the left is maintaining its status is with white middle aged females..

But.. again.. conservatives are known for being lazy when times are good..

Everything is in the R's favor right now.. but that in no way ensures the mid terms or even a future after that.. Whether or not anyone shows up at the polls in November is going to be the question.. who they are going to vote for if they bother to show up isnt a question at all..

 

[Tanks]

Everything is in the R's favor right now.. but that in no way ensures the mid terms or even a future after that.. Whether or not anyone shows up at the polls in November is going to be the question.. who they are going to vote for if they bother to show up isnt a question at all..

I would disagree looking at various election results in 2025. Yes, Rs will still carry red districts, but the swing districts favor Dems in my view at this time.

 

[Tanks]

Called it...

Armed Kurdish fighters try to breach Iran border as regional threat grows amid protests: reports

Turkey's intelligence agency, MIT, warned Iran's Revolutionary Guard about Kurdish fighters trying to cross the Iran-Iraq border during ongoing government crackdowns.

www.foxnews.com

 

[RLD]

No idea what it would be called in MN, but here in Texas, she'd probably get indicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a much lower bar to get over than attempted murder. And likely get convicted of it.

While I could see that charge, I would bet they would offer her an "obstruct" charge and be happy with it in the end.

 

[mdwest]

People are impacted by the stock market but not all of them realize. In fact I would say that most don't realize it.

I don't know about where you live but where I am the discussion of prices is constant. I can afford my grocery bill but I'm shocked every time I go.

youre in DC metro.. one of the highest cost of living cities in the country.. and one of the most liberal cities in the country.. the discussions going on there vs whats going on in Kansas City, St Louis, Boise, Tampa, or Atlanta are going to be very different....

I agree that the typical guy working for an hourly wage at the corner gas station has no clue whats happening on wall street, and will tell you he doesnt care..

but.. he absolutely does care.. he just doesnt know it...

whether or not he has a job next week is influenced by it.. whether or not his company can give him a pay raise next week is influenced by it.. whether or not rents go up or down is influenced by it, etc..etc..

As a result market performance is a HUGE indicator of American happiness with the economy...

When unemployment in the US hit 7.9% in Dec 2008, the majority of the people finding themselves unemployed likely didnt have robust 401Ks, and almost certainly didnt have stock portfolios being managed by Fidelity..

The fact that the stock market collapsed 38% in 2008 however was 100% the cause for almost every one of those people finding themselves unemployed and completely dissatisfied with the economy and with their elected officials..

 

[mdwest]

I would disagree looking at various election results in 2025. Yes, Rs will still carry red districts, but the swing districts favor Dems in my view at this time.

We are largely saying the same thing I believe, just in a different way...

R's are still R's and D's are still D's.. nothing dramatic has happened to change that.. and the country is pretty evenly divided..

The difference is after 4 years of Biden, R's were highly motivated to turn out at the polls, and D's werent nearly as motivitated even though they knew they'd be getting Trump back as a result of it..

Fast forward to today... R's still have the numbers they had 12 months ago.. if anything it looks like R numbers continue to slowly increase while D numbers across the country continue to slowly decrease..

But R's are lazy fuckers as a rule once they get what they want...

I am reasonably confident that D's will show up in numbers in November.. and I seriously question whether R's will..

 

[sgt_zim]

While I could see that charge, I would bet they would offer her an "obstruct" charge and be happy with it in the end.

Still quite a lot of conservative dems in Texas. If they got a jury full of Karens, they might let her off. Folks around here are pretty sensitive to illegal immigration and support for law enforcement is pretty broad.

Last time we had any serious mass public disturbance in Houston was around 1967 or 1968.

 

[mdwest]

I would not recommend anyone that is not working in the USA and has a European passport to get a US citizenship. Tax obligations, and FBAR filings are not worth it.

assuming Greenland actually wanted to join the US, there are a whole lot of barriers that would make things very challenging for them to obtain statehood...

The first is that there are only +/- 56K Greenlanders..

The NW Ordinance of 1787 requires 60K minimum "free inhabitants" to be considered by Congress for statehood..

IF (and I think this is a hypothetical debate only.. I dont see Greenland becoming part of the US under any circumstances) Greenland were to decide it wanted to leave Denmark and join the US, its best course of action (IMO) would be to join as an unincorporated territory, much like Puerto Rico and Guam (and others).. the people get citizenship, but avoid most federal taxation, while obtaining protection and most of the benefits of statehood, without actual representation in congress or the senate (although they get a non voting delegate in the House)..

 

[Russ16]

youre in DC metro.. one of the highest cost of living cities in the country.. and one of the most liberal cities in the country.. the discussions going on there vs whats going on in Kansas City, St Louis, Boise, Tampa, or Atlanta are going to be very different....

I agree that the typical guy working for an hourly wage at the corner gas station has no clue whats happening on wall street, and will tell you he doesnt care..

but.. he absolutely does care.. he just doesnt know it...

whether or not he has a job next week is influenced by it.. whether or not his company can give him a pay raise next week is influenced by it.. whether or not rents go up or down is influenced by it, etc..etc..

As a result market performance is a HUGE indicator of American happiness with the economy...

When unemployment in the US hit 7.9% in Dec 2008, the majority of the people finding themselves unemployed likely didnt have robust 401Ks, and almost certainly didnt have stock portfolios being managed by Fidelity..

The fact that the stock market collapsed 38% in 2008 however was 100% the cause for almost every one of those people finding themselves unemployed and completely dissatisfied with the economy and with their elected officials..

My neighborhood isn’t very liberal.

And two weeks with my parents in rural Texas didn’t make me feel any better food prices.

I’m not arguing with most of what you’re saying. Just pointing out that people’s perception of the economy has more to do with their day to day costs than larger but more important economic forces.

 

[wesheltonj]

. . . join the US, its best course of action (IMO) would be to join as an unincorporated territory, much like Puerto Rico and Guam (and others).. the people get citizenship, but avoid most federal taxation, while obtaining protection and most of the benefits of statehood, without actual representation in congress or the senate (although they get a non voting delegate in the House)..

I think that's exactly what will happen. Now, Alberta and its neighbor to the east will be states. I think Quebec secession will be the driver that sends the most of western Canada into the USA.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/quebec-premier-francois-legault-is-resigning-says-la-presse-newspaper-2026-01-14/

 

[mdwest]

I think that's exactly what will happen. Now, Alberta and its neighbor to the east will be states. I think Quebec secession will be the driver that sends the most of western Canada into the USA.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/quebec-premier-francois-legault-is-resigning-says-la-presse-newspaper-2026-01-14/

Holy crap! I had no idea that the separatist party in Quebec had any real momentum at all, much less a chance at taking the premier's seat..

I hope a few of our Canadian friends here will weigh in and advise what they think will come of all of this, what the long game looks like, etc..

I dont have a clue what the majority of western Canadians would really think about the possibility of becoming the 51st state(s) if that ever became any sort of a reality, but I'd imagine the US would very much welcome them with open arms.. values are similar.. and there are all of the natural resources that would be available, etc.. which would both bolster the national economy, and also boost the local economy (no longer competing with US oil for example, or the US egg market, etc.. but instead working alongside)...

I think Ontario and Quebec would be a very different story.. even if they wanted to join the US (I cant imagine that the majority of those populations would), there would be a huge food fight in our congress and senate... the population density in those provinces could tilt politics in the US to the hard left to a point of non-recoverability.. despite the natural resources, industry, etc that would come into the economy and potentially boost each side.. I dont see a R government touching either of those provinces with a 10 foot pole.. it would be political suicide..

Again, I dont think ANY of this has any chance of ever coming to fruition.. Canadians (or at least every Canadian I have ever met) are proud to be Canadians... I think they'd much prefer to get their own government in order and fix everything thats broken (or die trying) than to become "Americans"..

but I am super curious what would happen if Quebec ever actually tried to leave... or if Quebec actually leaving is any sort of a real possibility or not.

 

[RLD]

I think that's exactly what will happen. Now, Alberta and its neighbor to the east will be states. I think Quebec secession will be the driver that sends the most of western Canada into the USA.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/quebec-premier-francois-legault-is-resigning-says-la-presse-newspaper-2026-01-14/

I don't know how closely you follow Canadian politics but just because the PQ could form the next provincial government doesn't remotely mean that they will likely separate.

You may know there have been two failed referendums in Quebec in the past and current polls on that issue are worse now then they were in those two losing efforts.

Quebec sovereignty polls | 338Canada

338canada.com

On top of that the legal barriers to Que separating are close to insurmountable. While it is difficult to give an exact number, a huge amount of the territory of Quebec is treaty or unceded indigenous lands. It could well be more than 90% including almost all of the land they use to generate power. And those nations are simply not interested in joining an independent Quebec, primarily because, true or not, Quebecers are perceived as being very racist towards native Canadians.

And don't even get me started on the constitutional issues involved.

I would bet a lot of money that Canada will remain essentially intact for the rest of my lifetime at least.

Edit: And for those who don't know we have a federal "separatist" party the Bloc Quebecois, or BQ, who are usually the third or fourth party and really just advocate for Quebec to get special treatment and more money, although they theoretically are in favour of independence. They feel that the Clarity Act prevents separation and seek to repeal it.