Hardkill

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Posts posted by Hardkill

  1. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    @actuallyenlightened That’s a big misconception.
     

    Actually taxing the rich and corporations to a very significant degree actually is better for the economy because it doesn’t just provide ample amount of money for the government to pay for government funded social programs (Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, Social Security retirement funds, public infrastructure, public education, necessary welfare, etc.) and government funded services (public schooling, military, police, FBI, CIA, fire fighters, etc.).
     

    Taxing the billionaire crime lord and corporate tyranny heavily is also crucial to maintain stability of the US economy for a number of reasons. One reason is that it provides much better levels of consumer spending by providing enough money for the middle class, working class, and lower class people in the country, with which is essential for keeping the economy from going into a recession/depression and significantly growing the economy. Another reason is that it reduces excessive capital that many rich people and big corporations may be encouraged to use for engaging in excessive speculation in the stock market. That also, extremely important for preventing another financial crisis or severe recession/depression from happening. An additional reason is that it actually encourages even more people to pursue entrepreneurship and start-ups by providing enough everyday people with enough capital to do so. Plus, tax raises on the rich and corporations are needed to reduce the federal deficit/national debt. One more reason is that it greatly reduces excessive economic inequality which reduces economic anxiety, resentment amongst the vast majority of Americans. If anxiety and resentment about the nation’s economy becomes too widespread, especially if it largely pertains to an overwhelming sentiment of economic injustice then the people will cause widespread catastrophic civil unrest throughout the whole country. Believe me, you do not want to see that happen. 
     

    Have you read up on the history of the Gilded Age or the history of the Great Depression? Did you also realize that one of the reasons that Trump got elected president in 2016 is because of the economic inequality which has been growing for decades made too many Americans vulnerable to being won over by an extreme right-wing populist racist demagogue such as Trump who gotten away with promoting hyper nationalism and authoritarianism. It’s just like the way Hitler convince the people of Germany to support Nazism and worldwide fascism largely because of extreme economic inequality that occurred all over Europe in addition to wanting revenge on the whole world for being fucked over by the rest of Europe during WW1.

  3. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    7 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

    I think RFK is trying to be more woke than Biden, since Biden is being framed as a neolib establishment corporatist centrist. Which he is.

    Biden is not woke. Which is why progressives hate him.

    Biden is actually turning about to be not nearly as much of a neolib establishment corporatist centrist as he used to be. In fact, he is becoming the most economic populist president since LBJ in the 1960s. He also has arguably become the most pro-union president since FDR. He is making a serious departure from the dominance of neoliberalism even more so than Obama did. His economic policies have drawn on the New Keynesian style economics, which is an upgrade from the older Keynesian style economics that dominated during the extended New Deal era.

     

  4. Posted

    11 hours ago, Davino said:

    Or maybe he will play the martyr, getting even more votes

    These types of people make problems their opportunities. Napoleon style

    Whether he wins or loses the trial, the game plane for both outcomes is already scripted and thought of. Millions of dollars are invested into campaign strategies for presidency in the USA.

    That's a misleading statement being made from the pollsters and pundits.

    Sure, it would further strengthen his support from vast majority of the Republican/conservative base, but former NIkki Hayley voters who makeup a significant amount of Republicans have said they will vote against Trump if he is convicted. Also, a significant portion of moderate an Independent will probably be even more turned off by Trump, while Democrats and liberals might be even more energized by realizing how much higher the stakes are for this election if or when they realize how much more dangerous and insane Trump is.

     

  7. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    At long last, Trump's very first criminal trial began today!

    This trial is the state-level Manhattan case involving Trump and Stormy Daniels, who allegedly covered up the 2016 election interference that Trump was involved. 

    The jury selection for the trial already started hours ago 

     

    This shouldn't have been called the "hush money" trial because this is not just about paying off a pornstar to keep quiet about Trump's sexual affair with her. The fact that this is mainly about Trump having been accused of having caused an election interference and then covered that up back in 2016 for his then presidential campaign is very serious.

  8. Posted

    1 hour ago, BlueOak said:

    More people should speak up more often. More voices should be heard and debated.

    That way people would feel listened to, and not suppressed. 

    *Here, for example, the practical reality of running for the president was shown, and it was only shown because Cenk did that.

     

    Here are the qualifications for being able to participate in debates and receive maximum media coverage for presidential primaries:

    https://ballotpedia.org/Republican_presidential_primary_debates,_2024

    It's the same for the Democratic primaries

     

    These are the qualifications for being able to participate in presidential general election debates and receive maximum media coverage:

    Candidates must meet the constitutional requirements to be president.

    Candidates must be on the ballot in enough states to be able to win the 270 electoral votes necessary to be elected president.

    Candidates must be supported by 15 percent of the electorate, as determined by the average of five national public opinion polls conducted by organizations selected by the CPD.

  10. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    56 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    One of the reasons dictators like to appear strong and virile is because when a leader appears feeble, like Biden, he is torn apart, like a wounded gazelle by a pack of hyenas.

    Dictators usually mask the great amount of insecurity they have about themselves and how long they can hold on to power and influence.

    Besides, Trump would be the most incompetent dictator ever if actually got to rule as a true authoritarian. He'd be like a fat old version of Joffrey.

    Trump has the blond hair, blue eyes, and wealth of a Lannister. He also is insane, stupid, cowardly, and was raised incredibly spoiled like Joffrey. He has never had the great temperance, impressive intellect, bravery, and solid work ethic of either Tyrion or Tywin Lannister.

  11. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    3 hours ago, Raze said:

    Like I said, you can’t blame them for not getting off the ground when the media wouldn’t cover them and the primary was basically cancelled. If that happened in the republican primary in 2016 Trump would have gone nowhere.

    The main point is about who can win. Biden is way too old and is losing. If they nominated Dean I doubt they’d lose a single democratic voter but they’d probably gain enough with independents who otherwise think Bidens age is non negotiable to secure a victory.

    Actually, I think that a lot of the mainstream, a lot of the progressive media, and of course the entire right-wing media have all been unfair with the way they've been criticizing Biden for over 3 years. He's been criticized either for being too far to the left or not being left-wing or a lot of times gets falsely portrayed as being just as bad as Trump. That's a big reason why Biden has been down in the polls and in approval ratings.

    This fractured media environment we've been living in will be the death of us all.

  12. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

    Because there was no serious challenger.

    If a primary were held all that would happen is Biden would win but now there would video footage of progressives attacking Biden which Trump would use against Biden in the general to drive a wedge between liberals and leftists.

    The only progressive popular enough to bear Biden is Bernie, but even he can't win a primary and he didn't even try to run.

    4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

    Primaries are never run on incumbant Presidents. This is nothing new. The party rallies behind the incumbant because a party must be united to win the general.

    There was no serious challenger!

    Who was gonna beat both Biden and Trump? No one rose to the occassion except RFK Jr, and he will not beat either of them in the general. Maybe he gets 10-20% tops. What good does this do? Why even waste time thinking about it?

    The Repubs ran a primary even though it was obviously a giant waste of time and money because Trump was the clear top guy on the right. Why should the Dems do the same dog and pony show?

    A lively primary can happen in 2028.

     

    Exactly!

     

     

  14. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    11 hours ago, Raze said:

    Because it’s objectively a poor strategy in the current situation. What happens if he has a even more major age issue on the campaign trail? What happens if Israel escalates and even more Muslims and Arabs boycott him? Why should we accept democrats making the only thing standing in the way of another Trump term be such a flimsy proposition. It’s insane. 

    12 hours ago, Raze said:

    Like I said, you can’t blame them for not getting off the ground when the media wouldn’t cover them and the primary was basically cancelled. If that happened in the republican primary in 2016 Trump would have gone nowhere.

    The main point is about who can win. Biden is way too old and is losing. If they nominated Dean I doubt they’d lose a single democratic voter but they’d probably gain enough with independents who otherwise think Bidens age is non negotiable to secure a victory.

    I thought a lot about that too, just like many Americans have of course. However, Harry Truman in 1948 was predicted by every pollster to lose the presidential election to then Republican nominee, Thomas Dewey, because of his lack of charisma or appeal and age. Yet to the surprise everyone, he won and brought coattails for his party by having his party win back control of both chambers of Congress. Biden is actually lot like Truman in personality type and competence.

    Dewey_Defeats_Truman.jpg

     

    Actual Results of the 1948 presidential election:

     

    Nominee                         Harry S. Truman            Thomas E. Dewey             Strom Thurmond

    Party                                   Democratic                      Republican                           Dixiecrat

    Running mate                 Alben W. Barkley            Earl Warren                    Fielding L. Wright

    Electoral vote                            303                                 189                                        39

    States carried                             28                                   16                                          4

    Popular vote                        24,178,347                    21,991,292                          1,176,023

    Percentage                              49.6%                              45.1%                                    2.4%

     

    Why Truman won according to Professor Lichtman's 13 keys system

    Key 1: Party Mandate - After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than after the previous midterm elections.

                     False

     

    Key 2: No Primary Contest - This key is true if the incumbent party nominee wins at least two-thirds of the total delegate vote on the first ballot at the nominating convention.

                     True

     

    Key 3: Incumbent Seeking Re-election - The incumbent party candidate is the sitting president.

                      True
     

    Key 4: No Third Party - A third party is a political party other than the Democratic or Republican Party. This key is false if a third party candidate is likely to win 5% or more of the popular vote.

                      False                 

     

    Key 5: Strong Short-Term Economy - The economy is not in recession during the election campaign.

                      True


    Key 6: Strong Long-Term Economy - Real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms.

                       False

     

    Key 7: Major Policy Change - The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy. This key is true if the incumbent president redirects the course of government or enacts a major policy change that has broad effects on the country's commerce, welfare, or outlook. It does not matter whether the change is popular with the public, nor does it matter what ideological mold it was cast from.

     

                        True

     

    Key 8: No Social Unrest - There is no sustained social unrest during the term. This key is false if there is widespread violent unrest that is either sustained or leaves critical issues unresolved by the time of the election campaign, which makes the voters worry that the fabric of the nation is coming apart.

     

                         True
     

    Key 9: No Scandal - The incumbent administration is untainted by major scandal.

     

                          True

     

    Key 10: No Foreign/Military Failure - The incumbent administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs.

     

                          False                      
     

    Key 11: Major Foreign/Military Success - The incumbent administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs.
     

                         True    

     

    Key 12: Charismatic Incumbent - The incumbent party candidate is charismatic or a national hero.

                    

                        False

     

    Key 13: Uncharismatic Challenger - The challenging party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero.

     

                        True

     

    When the party in power loses 6 or more keys, then the incumbent party loses the White House to the opposite party. Truman and the Democrats lost 5 keys. Therefore, he and his party got to keep the presidency.

     

    According to wikipedia: 

    Journalist Samuel Lubell found in his post-1948 survey of voters that Truman, not Dewey, seemed the safer, more conservative candidate to the "new middle class" that had developed over the previous 20 years. He wrote that "to an appreciable part of the electorate, the Democrats had replaced the Republicans as the party of prosperity" during and after the war. Lubell quoted a man who, when asked why he did not vote Republican after moving to the suburbs, answered "I own a nice home, have a new car and am much better off than my parents were. I've been a Democrat all my life. Why should I change?" Dewey's promise of a "great house cleaning" in Washington worried an Iowa minister who wanted to retain farm subsidies for parishioners; worried about the consequences of another depression, he voted Democratic for the first time in his church's history. Truman received a record number of Catholic votes, exceeding even the Catholic support of Al Smith in 1928, in part because Wallace drew leftists away from the Democrats.[82]

    Another reason for Dewey's surprise defeat was his complacent, distant approach to the campaign, and his failure to respond to Truman's attacks. Journalist Jules Abels wrote that "the election was not thrown away by indifference or lack of effort. Preparation and more preparation had always been the distinguishing characteristic of Dewey and his team throughout his career...The truth is that Dewey's campaign was the result not of careless, but too careful and painstaking, calculation. The Dewey campaign was frozen into inertia not because it had been underthought, but because it had been overthought."[83]

    Other possible factors for Truman's victory included his aggressive, populist campaign style; broad public approval of Truman's foreign policy, notably the Berlin Airlift of that year; and widespread dissatisfaction with the institution Truman labeled as the "do-nothing, good-for-nothing 80th Republican Congress." In addition, after suffering a relatively severe recession in 1946 and 1947 (in which real GDP dropped by 12% and inflation went over 15%), the economy began recovering throughout 1948. The year 1948 was a banner year for the Democrats, as they not only retained the presidency but also recaptured both houses of Congress. It was also an unprecedented fifth consecutive presidential victory for the party, thus continuing what remains the only winning streak of more than two presidential elections by the Democratic Party since the Civil War. Since 1948, there has been only one streak of three consecutive presidential victories by any party (in that case, by the Republicans).

     

    Biden and the Democrats are only down 2 keys, including keys 1 and 12. So much would have to go wrong for him to lose to Trump. Plus, we'll what happens with the Trump trials, including one starting next week, and see how that will affect Trump and his party's chances of winning in 2024.

    As for the polls, Biden has been surging lately in the polls. Plus:

     

    Moreover, Biden has been campaigning a lot more than Trump has been over the past month and a half. Also, like Truman, Biden is campaigning aggressively as an economic populist and calling out the Republican lead US House as the "do-nothing, good-for-nothing" Republican controlled House, which is absolutely true! As a matter of fact, because of Mike Johnson and the MAGA Republican representatives, the 118th Congress (the current Congress), has become literally the most dysfunctional and most unproductive Congress ever in US History!

  15. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    29 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    They can't catch a break because they don't want a break, they want to dominate and take the land at any cost.

    Since they have military superiority it is to their advanage to engage in war, theft, and domination. Domination favors those who have strength.

    So, it's both because they've been constantly threatened by all of the surrounding Arab countries and because they want to keep taking over more territory for themselves as much as they can.

  16. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    26 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    Of course. Because those campaigns could end up reelecting Trump.

    Leftists are so wrapped up in idealism and virtue signaling that they could end up advancing the far right agenda.

    If Trump wins, how many Supreme Court judges will he elect this time around? And how much of Christian fundamentalist lunatics will they be?

    The Progressive left is so smart they're stupid.

    Oh God! It will be the end of our democracy and freedoms if Trump and MAGA win the 2024 elections.

    I also really can't stand progressives like Cenk, Ana, Krystal, and Kyle who say stupid fucking shit like "establishment Dems always bungle it up" or "If the Democrats lose then of course they are going to blame the progressives and the Left for it, instead taking personal responsibility for losing...." or "Democratic leadership has telling every Democrat to shut up and vote for Biden and the Democratic establishment!" 

    I absolutely cannot Jill Stein and Cornel West and other like them who also say fucking dumb shit like "The Democrats have abandoned their base. They have no one to blame but themselves for these so called spoiled elections" or "No one owes the Democrats anything when they've always let the party down"

    Or RFK jr. saying that he can make an argument on how Biden is an even bigger threat to democracy than Trump because of his "censorship policies."

    What's even more crazy is how TYT and Secular Talk have been saying how Bernie, AOC, and every other progressive in Congress have all been co-opted by the Democratic establishment and sold their constituents out. There's something really wrong with Cenk and Ana. They've have really gone off the wall. Kyle and Krystal are also being irresponsible to some extent with what they've been saying to their viewers.

    All of these 3 party candidates are unbelievably delusional and incredibly selfish. They are mentally ill.

  17. Posted

    10 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    Because a deep peace was reached after WW2 in Europe which was only broken by Putin 2 years ago.

    Israel's situation is different. They cannot reach a deep peace because they are squatting on land which does not belong to them.

    Hmm...So, it's because Israel has never really been able to catch a break or a good safe period of peace to have a chance to recover and restructure their society in a more liberal/progressive manner in some what like Europe and all of the other westernized nations out there in the world were or have been able to before. Is my understanding of that correct?

  18. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    11 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    Obviously. But there IS a path for him spoiling it for Biden.

    That's what the lunatic lady in the video outlined. Watch the video again.

    That's why I highlighted this situation.

    No, I've known about that for a while now. I already saw the video of that radical right-wing freak lady and what she said. 

    The Democratic party has now been trying as hard as they can to take down RFK Jr, Jill Stein, and Cornel West like they already did successfully with that ridiculous No Labels third party presidential bid.

  19. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    10 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    For sure the Dem establishment plays dirty. They don't want someone like RFK Jr to co-opt the party in the same way Trump co-opted the Repub party.

    But the Dem establishment hasn't really done anything out of the ordinary in terms of cheating or corruption. You even said before that it's all just part of the business as usual kind of politics that has gone on for over two centuries in the US. More over there's no path to RFK jr. winning the presidency and there never was for him.

    He has a never been a serious, pragmatic candidate with a wide enough appeal. He's way too fringe in his stances and rhetoric. Not to mention that the way he comes off in term of his personality is too strange for most Americans.

  20. Posted

    2 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    America and Canada have never been attacked by anyone in the last century. The only exception is 9/11, and that just proves my point. You saw how America regressed after 9/11.

    Pearl Harbor is the other exception but the US was already preparing to enter the war.

    But America regressed temporarily 9/11 for some years until we got Obama, who arguably became the first black president and the first liberal Democratic president in policy since LBJ in the 1960s. Even still, Obama still had US troops continue fighting in the Middle East to keep fighting the "war on terror."

    Also, what about the fact that western, central, northern, and southern European countries were decimated in WW1 and WW2 in the worst ways possible and yet they eventually bounced back years later and continued to become much more liberal/progressive than before?

  21. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    6 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    He is courting the right because his people are brainwashed anti-establishment anti-vaxxers.

    There is a superficial similarity between the anti-vax left and right. They both hate the establishment. So in their minds Biden is the greatest evil because he represents the establishment. But in this kind of simple-minded anti-mainstreamism, something foolish could happen, like reelecting Trump.

    Anti-vaxers, for the most part, are not very intelligent people. Their political sense is bad. So they make grave mistakes like helping Trump win.

    Cenk and Ana have also said that part of why this is happening with RFK Jr. is because the Democratic establishment and Biden did not allow a fair kind of democratic process for the 2024 Democratic primaries that would have allowed any other potential Democratic candidate who wished to challenge and debate Biden on many pressing issues pertaining to our country.

     

     

  22. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    4 minutes ago, Raze said:

    Jill Stein and Cornell West combined are probably a bigger threat since they’ll mostly take him from. RFK seems to be relatively even.

    Yeah, they are problematic too, particularly Jill Stein, who actually not only spoiled the 2016 election but also was funded by right-wing megadonors who supported Trump in 2016.

    RFK jr. has also been funded by radical right-wing megadonors, including Tim Mellon and other billionaire Trump supporters, who want to help spoil the 2024 election.

  23. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    9 minutes ago, Raze said:

    Then why is RFK courting the right with his anti-Ukraine and Covid opinions, which he is most known for? At this point he takes more votes from trump than Biden.

    Yeah, that was the initial thought, but the Kennedy name, his populist and anti-establishment environmental policies, some of his economic populist views, anti-war stances, etc. has given a serious cause for concern for Biden and the Democrats.

    However, RFK jr. has not offered any substantive policies or ideas or even a coherent credible vision to address any of these issues for the country.

  24. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    33 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    It's not a lie. Israel is attacked with rockets regularly, and with terror attacks like in Oct.

    You can argue about Israel's guilt in all that, but that they are under attack is a fact. And regardless of someone's guilt in the big picture, if you violently attack them then they will regress in their liberalism.

    But America, Canada, and European have already had a history of having been involved in many of the deadliest and bloodiest wars in the history of mankind. Yet, despite all of these wars, they have continued to become increasingly liberal/progressive significantly. 

    I mean why didn't the US regress in their liberalism during the Civil War, WW1, WW2, Cold War, or after 9/11 and the war on terror in the middle east?