Really?  How has that worked out so far?[/b]

How has that worked out? Pretty darn good so far.

Really?  So you're cool with the direction of the Country in the last 15 years or so?  Ha!

Presumably we both work for corporations whom it is to our benefit they succeed.

Speak for yourself.  But I understand the need for a corporation to succeed.  I'm not anti-capitalist.  I'm anti-government bribery.

The three things that connects us are a place to live, computers and motorcycles; only one of which is a necessity. You and I live better than the vast majority of the world. Out of 7.5 billion, this is a guess, but we live better than 5.5 billion, maybe 6.5 billion. Not sure. We live in a nation that is, at least these use to be the numbers I assume they're still close, 3% of the population but 25% of the world's GDP.

So it's worked out pretty well.

Again, speak for yourself.  Have you ever lived in an oligarchy?

This last presidential election cycle, a 3rd party candidate (Trump) was forced onto the Republican party and won the nomination.

LOL - "3rd party"??  No, sorry, he was a reality TV star who's ego is roughly the size of Montana.  But that's a point for another thread.

On the Democratic side, if they hadn't changed the rules, their own outside candidate, (Sanders) would likely had been the candidate against their preferred candidate, Hilary. And he would have won in a walk against our current president - but again, that's another thread.

No.  Because by giving a massive amount of money to a campaign, it unfairly tilts the scale in favor of the corporation.  
The corporation has massive amounts of money BECAUSE you and I gave it to them. We have voice our approval.

LOL - ok web.  If you don't see the flaw in your logic, then you should keep giving your money to all the big box stores and never shop at a mom and pop ever again.

Not true. Mom and Pop stores win business because they offer what big box stores can't. The point is I CHOOSE which to buy from and when I choose Menards over the local hardware store, that sends a message.

So let me get this straight, if the local store has a pipe fitting you need for $10 and the big box has it for $8, you'd go to the big box over the local?  Corporations have items that are loss leaders and buy in huge volume  - that's what gets people in.  That's how they put the mom and pops out of business. Yes, that does send a message.

Money in politics is NOT our biggest threat to democracy. It's partisan news outlets.

How has that worked out? Pretty darn good so far.

Really?  So you're cool with the direction of the Country in the last 15 years or so?  Ha!

Why not? What’s gone so drastically wrong?

Well, look at the partisanship in the media - both broadcast and social.  We've got to the point of electing a man with zero public service and zero political experience.  Yeah, I get that he's an outsider, but look at what just happened yesterday.  All his security briefings told him to not congratulate putin - what did he do?  He congratulated him...

Presumably we both work for corporations whom it is to our benefit they succeed.

Speak for yourself.  
How is it not to your benefit for your company to succeed?

I never said that.  As I said, I'm not anti-capitalism.  There are ways for a company to succeed outside of bribing our politicians.

This last presidential election cycle, a 3rd party candidate (Trump) was forced onto the Republican party and won the nomination.

LOL - "3rd party"??  No, sorry, he was a reality TV star who's ego is roughly the size of Montana.  But that's a point for another thread.

You can laugh out loud all you want and use that as an excuse to dodge, but Trump was essentially a 3rd party candidate.

See my comment above.  His only qualification was that he was an outsider.  Not sure about you, but I want someone with experience beyond being a reality TV star.

The Republican Party bosses did not want him. They were forced to accept him because Republican voters rejected their preferred candidates, mostly Jeb Bush.

You don’t really mean what you’re saying nor do you follow that philosophy.

Yeah, I do.  Who are you to tell me otherwise?

You may think you do and on occasional all of us pay more from a Mom and Pop for various reasons,  but when shopping for commodity items or technical items that you have a comfortable level of knowledge with, price becomes the most important component.  

No doubt.  "People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand."

Trump is delivering the leadership so far that I and many others find acceptable.

You are without question in the minority on that.

He told the Paris Climate Agreement people to take a hike.
Not popular, just a grandstand.
He told the Arabs we'll move our embassy to Jerusalem. Don't like it; too bad.
Also not popular, just bebe's wish.
He stood up to race baiters and said the obvious which is violence occurs on both sides of the race issue.
No, he said there were good people on both sides.  There are no good nazis/ne-cons.
He said more gun laws aren't the only solution.
LOL - he also said "Take the guns first, go through due process second."
He said illegal immigration is harming this country.
That is only true to a degree.  Just ask any farmer.
He said immigration from countries with little or no passport control and a history of violence is not right for this nation.
That's obvious and there is a process in place to vet that.
and many, many other examples.

Now, you may not like any of that. You may disagree with it. It might make you sick to your stomach.
But there's no way you can say Trump is not showing leadership.

WebsterMark wrote on 03/21/18 at 09:03:24:


No, it doesn't - not all the time.  

The reason I bring up pipe fittings is that I recently had to make a small plumbing fix at my house.  In my experience, I know that Ace is going to be more expensive, but the people who work there are helpful and knowledgeable and it's local.  The guy that owns/operates it, lives 2 miles away from me.  Home Depot, Lowes or Menards can't give me that kind of service (although Menards sometimes comes close).  But I would rather pay a little more for a random fix here or there than give that money to a big box.

I'm not saying I never use the big box.  You have to for larger projects.  But when guys like bernie marcus start blathering on about how great our president is - guys like me will seek out alternatives even more frequently.