Before being fired, Comey told Congress that Russian probe targets didn't include Trump

[goodwithagun]

@mystery-ak I have to say that after all of the negative posts on this thread about your site and its members, you have been incredibly calm and levelheaded. I give you so much credit for that. If you were you know who over at you know where, the members posting on this thread would have been purged. While I disagree with them, I am quite pleased that you do not have that purging policy. I admire you for defending their right to post what they do.

[corbe]

"Oversensitivity", my a%%!

You've got a lot of nerve.

The point/topic of conversation is the overpowering stench of Trump hate that permeates the forum...and the degree in quality of the criticism.

It's gotten to the point that .....well, @corbe think of that quote about "...good men standing and doing nothing".

So, I'm just adding my two cents.

@anubias and @DiogenesLamp and @Frank Cannon  gave me a figurative 'slap'....and here I am.     ^-^

   I believe @DCPatriot that the witty posts/images that some Briefers share (Guilty, again) is what may be getting under your skin, levity as well as brevity is a beautiful thing and there always is the Ignore button, use it, it will save you your sanity. I don't Ignore anyone and I don't want anyone to leave, all of you are an asset to this community.

[Smokin Joe]

I'll tell you what absolutely befuddles me.   Sometimes I see a "turd thrower"  putting forth what I consider a very reasonable argument and with which I occasionally agree.   


It is as if there is a Jekyll and Hyde effect going on.   It is like experiencing the ravings of a lunatic who suddenly becomes a rational and perceptive person. 


I think there is some of that in all of  us.   I know I have my lunatic episodes.  :0

Well, we all give in to that urge on occasion to burp out some remnant bile from the Primaries, and the urge to revel in schadenfreude. There were a lot of hard feelings over how Cruz supporters were treated elsewhere, and thin skin happened on both sides. Every now and then, even now, something hits a sore spot.

Perhaps due to that, we end up unleashing on each other the vitriol that should be reserved for the real offenders, the politicians and the media.

We're all human, and thus capable of being either raving lunatics or rational and perceptive, regardless of how we perceive ourselves or others perceive us. Nature of the beast.

[Frank Cannon]

Well, Frank, get in there and pick it apart. We all know you're up to the task. Give reasons, attack the sources (story not posters) and shred it if it is crap with facts.
Put it up on the forum for the world to read and yank the legs out from under the BS.
You're plenty sharp enough to do that--and @anubias, you, too.
Do the whole forum, the country, and the world a service, and demolish the pretense with facts.

That's all fine and I stick my nose in when I can, but here's the problem. At least once I would like to have everybody on the same side of a GD issue for once. Even when we have a majority of posters here agreeing on some political news, we have some block head roll in and inject some bullshit about the President even if the topic has nothing to do with him.

If we are all Conservatives/Libertarians on this site, there are some core things we all believe. At least once I would like to see harmony on one friggin issue.

[mystery-ak]

That's all fine and I stick my nose in when I can, but here's the problem. At least once I would like to have everybody on the same side of a GD issue for once. Even when we have a majority of posters here agreeing on some political news, we have some block head roll in and inject some bullshit about the President even if the topic has nothing to do with him.

If we are all Conservatives/Libertarians on this site, there are some core things we all believe. At least once I would like to see harmony on one friggin issue.

Utopia...never gonna happen with Repubs..that's why there are so many factions in the Repub Party....

[DiogenesLamp]

Whoa there. I don't do "fake but accurate"--after all I thought that was what started this. So how about a link?

I wasn't looking for a link for that post you thought was interesting,  but I found this one.   Will it do? 

"Now the cult wants to compare this self-loving pervert to the founding of the country."   

[DiogenesLamp]

Well, we all give in to that urge on occasion to burp out some remnant bile from the Primaries, and the urge to revel in schadenfreude. There were a lot of hard feelings over how Cruz supporters were treated elsewhere, and thin skin happened on both sides. Every now and then, even now, something hits a sore spot.

Perhaps due to that, we end up unleashing on each other the vitriol that should be reserved for the real offenders, the politicians and the media.

We're all human, and thus capable of being either raving lunatics or rational and perceptive, regardless of how we perceive ourselves or others perceive us. Nature of the beast.

I must say,  my experience over at the other site woke me up a great deal.   I used to believe that conservatives were rational,  no nonsense,  straightforward people who didn't devolve into emotional screeching like the Liberals.   


I have been disabused of that notion.   We've got plenty of irrational  (and even downright crazy)  in our own ranks.     I now believe it is simply a universal characteristic of humans.   


That really bummed me out.   I thought we were the sane ones.   Oh sure,  I thought there was an occasional kook in our ranks,  but from what I saw,  there are a LOT of kooks in our ranks.   Perfectly rational on one hand,  and frothing at the mouth with hatred on the other hand.   


There was someone over there with whom i've had a cordial interaction for six years or so.  We had been allies on all sorts of issues.   Suddenly when Trump turned his politicking against Cruz,   venom I never suspected came out.    I defended Cruz and I took on all comers.   

This person still seems to have bile against me just for defending Cruz against Trump's and his mindless followers  accusations of lying.   



(Note,  not all of Trump's long term followers were mindless,   but there were plenty of them that were.)   

[Smokin Joe]

I wasn't looking for a link for that post you thought was interesting,  but I found this one.   Will it do? 

"Now the cult wants to compare this self-loving pervert to the founding of the country."

Nah, that's a few levels short of the "idiot Nazi fascist goosestepping bootlickers, worship your orange God" level.

You did make your point, but I think there is ample hyperbole on both sides without making it more inflammatory than it is. Besides, no one has to self identify with an alleged "cult" that doesn't exist, do they?

Unfortunately, this sort of thing pokes at hot buttons on both ends of the spectrum, and the general quality of discussion is degraded by it, or completely derailed. It reads like an episode of Crossfire or one of those "debates" on Fox where everyone starts trying to talk over everyone else and it just comes out as noise.
 
Some people like Trump a lot. Some don't like Trump, a lot.  Regardless, I think we have plenty to discuss about his current actions and policies without gouging eyes, biting ears, hitting low, or getting dirty in the clinches.

That said, most here are members of or recently left the Republican Party, where the Circular Firing Squad was developed and refined to an art form. Some of that is just natural here, but let's stick to paintball and water balloons, and not rush to the crew-served weapons.

[Smokin Joe]

I must say,  my experience over at the other site woke me up a great deal.   I used to believe that conservatives were rational,  no nonsense,  straightforward people who didn't devolve into emotional screeching like the Liberals.   


I have been disabused of that notion.   We've got plenty of irrational  (and even downright crazy)  in our own ranks.     I now believe it is simply a universal characteristic of humans.   


That really bummed me out.   I thought we were the sane ones.   Oh sure,  I thought there was an occasional kook in our ranks,  but from what I saw,  there are a LOT of kooks in our ranks.   Perfectly rational on one hand,  and frothing at the mouth with hatred on the other hand.   


There was someone over there with whom i've had a cordial interaction for six years or so.  We had been allies on all sorts of issues.   Suddenly when Trump turned his politicking against Cruz,   venom I never suspected came out.    I defended Cruz and I took on all comers.   

This person still seems to have bile against me just for defending Cruz against Trump's and his mindless followers  accusations of lying.   



(Note,  not all of Trump's long term followers were mindless,   but there were plenty of them that were.)

Oh, we are the sane ones. (Scary, ain't it? )
We all have those things which tend to tick us off. The trick is to not let anyone know what those are, but that is a learning process, where we have to figure it out and then not react.
We all lost 'FRiends" over there, whether they were caught behind the lines or they suddenly acted like they had been infected with the pathogen from 28 Days After.
I thought, in principle we were all pretty much united. What a long, strange trip that has been, a true voyage of discovery, and in many ways, a disappointment that the numbers of people profoundly and devoutly standing on principle could shift so suddenly, like a school of fish changing direction. Live and learn. We knew we didn't all agree on everything, but the opportunity to find the disagreements among the similar visions for the Republic is only complicated by egregious provocation, and the fine points of discussion get lost in ensuing squabbles.

There are plenty of good minds here, from a large geographic area and varied backgrounds. Perhaps, if we can figure out how to resolve those issues without the extraneous backbiting  we can solve a problem or two.

[DiogenesLamp]

We all lost 'FRiends" over there, whether they were caught behind the lines or they suddenly acted like they had been infected with the pathogen from 28 Days After.
I thought, in principle we were all pretty much united. What a long, strange trip that has been, a true voyage of discovery, and in many ways, a disappointment that the numbers of people profoundly and devoutly standing on principle could shift so suddenly, like a school of fish changing direction.

That is an awesomely apt analogy. 

Live and learn. We knew we didn't all agree on everything, but the opportunity to find the disagreements among the similar visions for the Republic is only complicated by egregious provocation, and the fine points of discussion get lost in ensuing squabbles.

There are plenty of good minds here, from a large geographic area and varied backgrounds. Perhaps, if we can figure out how to resolve those issues without the extraneous backbiting  we can solve a problem or two.

I would like to think we could initiate a kernel of consensus that might germinate into something worthwhile,   but I can't help but think about that person's tagline  (I forget who)  that says something like "arguing on the internet really accomplishes nothing."    but better phrased than I managed. 


Sometimes it feels as if we have an illusion of accomplishing something by these internet discussions. 

[DCPatriot]

I would like to think we could initiate a kernel of consensus that might germinate into something worthwhile,   but I can't help but think about that person's tagline  (I forget who)  that says something like "arguing on the internet really accomplishes nothing."    but better phrased than I managed. 


Sometimes it feels as if we have an illusion of accomplishing something by these internet discussions.

I too, loved the 'swarming' analogy by @Smokin Joe

It was particularly shocking to me, because more than a few here ...we've been together since Elian and Schiavo.  And The Lady with the Blue Dress, too.

Suddenly people who I cherished were either 'infected'....or hiding under a blanket.   Or refusing to take a stand at all.

[Smokin Joe]

I would like to think we could initiate a kernel of consensus that might germinate into something worthwhile,   but I can't help but think about that person's tagline  (I forget who)  that says something like "arguing on the internet really accomplishes nothing."    but better phrased than I managed. 


Sometimes it feels as if we have an illusion of accomplishing something by these internet discussions.

It was particularly shocking to me, because more than a few here ...we've been together since Elian and Schiavo.  And The Lady with the Blue Dress, too.

Suddenly people who I cherished were either 'infected'....or hiding under a blanket.   Or refusing to take a stand at all.

We have had moments when we disagree, yet I think we can all come together on this.

I do think discussions on the internet have potential to accomplish something.

I recall days when someone would post a particularly apt or well crafted phrase and within a week those same words would appear on national news or in columns out there with far wider readership than we have here. If we plant a seed in the mind of someone somewhere who has that media access, our ideas can go viral, whether or not we personally get the credit. Credit would be nice, but the real point, the thing that drives us to express an idea is the idea itself.
 
It is a question of what we want to focus on.

We can spend our days nit-picking the differences, running with the herd (which doesn't make for being leaders in thought so much as just more herd), or we can put our mutual creative talents to work finding solutions to real problems that just might work, developing concepts that stand a scintilla of a chance of influencing policy writ far larger than these words on this webpage.

That means there will be disagreement, there may be rancor, there will be strongly held opinions, for such are the workings in the primordial crucible from which both well-refined and brilliant thought and absolute mental slag emerge--but both come from the same pot.

 

[truth_seeker]

I would like to think we could initiate a kernel of consensus that might germinate into something worthwhile,   

May I suggest the kernel could be:

"It is sure great to be on the winning side, perfect candidate or not. So now let us try to influence him to do more of the things we want."

The site already has "GOP" in the name, and Reagan's picture. That kernel fits right in.

I was prepared from day one of the primary season to support that "kernel" no matter who prevailed, from the Republicans.

[Smokin Joe]

May I suggest the kernel could be:

"It is sure great to be on the winning side, perfect candidate or not. So now let us try to influence him to do more of the things we want."

The site already has "GOP" in the name, and Reagan's picture. That kernel fits right in.

I was prepared from day one of the primary season to support that "kernel" no matter who prevailed, from the Republicans.

LOL! Well, that didn't last long.
I'd prefer principles over personalities, myself.
I'd take a kernel over a 'colonel'. (It's enough to make a guy homonymophobic.)

People screw up.
Principles stay the same; people can be urged to comply with those.
I'll support Trump (or whoever) when they're right, but gig 'em when they're wrong, based on principle.

As for the GOP standing on principle, I'm still waiting for the ACA to be repealed, like they voted to do before, said they would do if they had the Congress and the White House, but somehow can't seem to get done with all the resources they said they'd need. The Party seems to be falling short on principle when it's time to get things done.

But what do I know, I'm a Conservative first, and the GOP has been headed left since Goldwater lost.