Massassi Forums Logo

This is the static archive of the Massassi Forums. The forums are closed indefinitely. Thanks for all the memories!

You can also download Super Old Archived Message Boards from when Massassi first started.

"View" counts are as of the day the forums were archived, and will no longer increase.

ForumsDiscussion Forum → Inauguration Day, Inauguration Hooooooraaay!
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401
Inauguration Day, Inauguration Hooooooraaay!
2017-02-14, 12:40 PM #681
Originally posted by Reid:
So that really is a huge question, what purpose do most of the people on this Earth have? What can they be given? I don't think everyone can reasonable become an artist, or just skip around in meadows all day.

I mean, maybe the future can be local competitive events world-round? Or maybe teach everyone math and put them towards solving open problems.
Why can't everybody become an artist, or skip around in meadows all day? That's quite literally what our species evolved to do. I agree that it's not reasonable for everybody to find an audience for their work, but that's a concern for capitalists, and is neither necessary nor sufficient to be considered an artist.

Finding purpose in your life is your own responsibility. I just think you'll need a short "revolutionary period" where boring pointless office jobs are kept open, just to avoid the culture shock. Maybe we're already living in that period, though?

Quote:
Eh, you think this is an actual possibility? That people will starve to death because they're superfluous to economic development?
Yes. This already happens today.

Quote:
I think Marx did envision this; are we to look back to him? High unemployment leads to people revolting, sure, but if they're cared for will this still have an effect?

I mean, the truth is, the political and social systems of the world are at the foothills of a mountainous crisis. Our political climate is going to change. We may not have a solution for how that works, but it should bring us hope.

Huh. Well the average age of death is going down in rural America. Marked for death (economically) I suppose describes it.

I get the impression that you're suggesting the future holds some kind of utopian socialism.
I'm not interested in prognostication, I'm stating facts.

We aren't talking about a fast, night-and-day switch over to a fully automated, post-scarcity society. We're talking about a long, dragged-out transition period, during which we will continue to experience scarcity, and we'll still need people to work boring terrible jobs they hate, but also during which people are slowly edged out of the economy as the technologies to replace them are invented and implemented. It's easy to guess that socialism might work after this transition is over, but it's a mote harder to predict whether there will still be people alive to call themselves socialists by then.

I think we're deep into this transition period, though, and I also think the only thing that has prevented the world from descending into madness is the psychology of employers. It's well known that wages are sticky, and that employers do not lay off unnecessary workers until there is a pressing financial need to do so (this is why companies downsize, rather than slowly eliminating positions as they become unnecessary). Wage stagnation over the past 30 years, despite ever-increasing productivity, is strong evidence that we're already several decades into this transition.
2017-02-14, 1:26 PM #682
Originally posted by Eversor:
Damn, this again? Bernie lost the primaries. Get over it.

The fact that Russia interfered in the election wasn't a conclusion made by journalist based on publicly available information, or even on the basis of anonymous leaks. It was revealed by intelligence agencies in a declassified report. Numerous American intelligence organizations have stated they have reliable evidence that Russia interfered in the election and intended to help Trump win. They indicated that they couldn't share the evidence for their claims, because it would possibly reveal the means they used to acquire the evidence, and thus damage their intelligence gathering capabilities in the future. Glenn Greenwald's response to these arguments wasn't much more than "you can't trust the CIA and the NSA! They're proven liars!"

Healthy skepticism? Or perhaps ideologically motivated skepticism? It doesn't matter. At this point, even Trump, who has more reasons than anyone to deny Russian interference, has acknowledged it. I would say that if you're still agnostic on the subject, it's not skepticism so much as denial.


Yeah, I'm with Eversor. They know a lot about the Russian hacks. They used the Dutch Bits Of Freedom server, for example, which is a special server that guarantees 100% privacy on the internet.

As for the whole Flynn drama.. I find it unsettling that the White House apparently knew everything, but didn't think it was a problem until the press started digging. Incredible.

And yes, that Conway interview was brutal. I've seen her getting cornered in so many interviews now that I'm almost starting to pity her.
ORJ / My Level: ORJ Temple Tournament I
2017-02-14, 1:56 PM #683
Originally posted by ORJ_JoS:

As for the whole Flynn drama.. I find it unsettling that the White House apparently knew everything, but didn't think it was a problem until the press started digging. Incredible.


They say a fish rots from the head down, but apparently the White House is depending on scandals bubbling from the bottom up before they even move an inch on them.

One theory I just heard told to a CNN reporter? President Trump may be staying up to date on scandals by watching television, implying that he may not have any established system in his office by which his staff informs him on recent developments. (And I am sad to say that now that this itself was pointed out on television, the probability that this will now actually happen just went way up.)

It's both beautiful and terrifying how corrupt, lying empty suits eventually implode their own organization under the most mild of perturbations. It's almost as if they can't distinguish between situations, depending on whether or not a lie will ultimately be merely convenient, or in fact disastrous for them, since they are so used to being duplicitous all of the time, and therefore literally haven't acquired the skill to tell the two cases apart.
2017-02-15, 9:47 AM #684
I just happened to see the Trump/Netanyahu press conference, and Trump says it's "unfair" what happened to Flynn, the "fake press" has treated him terribly, and it only happened because of (and he stressed this) "illegal leaks" that shouldn't have happened.

See, the problem is not that the national security advisor broke the law and turned out to be vulnerable to blackmail, no the problem is that it got leaked and that the press found out. It's the reddest herring!

Not only does the Trump administration seem like an amateurish mess, the way they try to spin these things is just jaw dropping. I remember the lies of the GW Bush administration, but this is like a whole new level of contempt for pretty much everything and everyone. I just can't wrap my head around it.

The problem is NOT that Flynn is beaing treated unfairly! JFC.

Also, when you hear Trump himself, it's a whole other story than Spicer saying in his press conference that Trump lost confidence in Flynn.
ORJ / My Level: ORJ Temple Tournament I
2017-02-15, 10:21 AM #685
Aaaaaand here come the reports about Trump aides being in close contact with Russian officials during the campaign.

"From the lead story in today's New York Times: “Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials. American law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the same time they were discovering evidence that Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee … The officials said the intercepted communications were not limited to Trump campaign officials, and included other associates of Mr. Trump. On the Russian side, the contacts also included members of the government outside of the intelligence services, they said…

“The call logs and intercepted communications are part of a larger trove of information that the F.B.I. is sifting through as it investigates the links between Mr. Trump’s associates and the Russian government, as well as the hacking of the D.N.C. … As part of its inquiry, the F.B.I. has obtained banking and travel records and conducted interviews…"


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/02/15/daily-202-it-s-bigger-than-flynn-new-russia-revelations-widen-trump-s-credibility-gap/58a3c5b9e9b69b1406c75cb4/
ORJ / My Level: ORJ Temple Tournament I
2017-02-15, 10:34 AM #686
Originally posted by ORJ_JoS:
See, the problem is not that the national security advisor broke the law and turned out to be vulnerable to blackmail, no the problem is that it got leaked and that the press found out. It's the reddest herring!


To be fair, that's more or less the same way the Democrats handled leaks.
Sorry for the lousy German
2017-02-15, 11:18 AM #687
Originally posted by Impi:
To be fair, that's more or less the same way the Democrats handled leaks.


Blaming the "fake media"?
ORJ / My Level: ORJ Temple Tournament I
2017-02-15, 11:39 AM #688
I've completely lost any interest in anything KA Conway has to "say". It's all just a transparent attempt to blather through the interview based on simple pattern matching against the questions without comprehension beyond what's needed to divert.

Fails the Turing test.
2017-02-15, 12:15 PM #689
Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
I've completely lost any interest in anything KA Conway has to "say".


Looks like lots of people have: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/kellyanne-conway-tv-media-trump-235022 , https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/15/morning-joe-has-blacklisted-kellyanne-conway-and-thats-not-all/?hpid=hp_hp-banner-main_morningjoe-fix-145pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.458e44633fb3
former entrepreneur
2017-02-15, 12:27 PM #690
The president really does seem to be losing his mind over the embarrassment of being forced to fire Flynn by the fake news media and those treasonous leakers.
2017-02-15, 12:28 PM #691
Originally posted by Impi:
To be fair, that's more or less the same way the Democrats handled leaks.


I'll bite again.

If Flynn was treated so unfairly, and it's all just a democrat plot because they lost the elections, then why not keep him on? Why the press conference by Spicer saying confidence was eroded? The contrast between these statements is stark.
ORJ / My Level: ORJ Temple Tournament I
2017-02-15, 12:38 PM #692
Originally posted by Eversor:
Damn, this again? Bernie lost the primaries. Get over it.


Nobody here has brought up Bernie but you.

Originally posted by Eversor:
The fact that Russia interfered in the election wasn't a conclusion made by journalist based on publicly available information, or even on the basis of anonymous leaks. It was revealed by intelligence agencies in a declassified report.


I 100% believe Russia was meddling in the election, I'm disputing specific facts about it. It's become really easy for people to scaremonger about Russia when it's unwarranted. Yes it's big, and yes it's serious, but it's also important to remain specific and clear about what has happened.

Originally posted by Eversor:
Numerous American intelligence organizations have stated they have reliable evidence that Russia interfered in the election and intended to help Trump win. They indicated that they couldn't share the evidence for their claims, because it would possibly reveal the means they used to acquire the evidence, and thus damage their intelligence gathering capabilities in the future. Glenn Greenwald's response to these arguments wasn't much more than "you can't trust the CIA and the NSA! They're proven liars!"


Damn, this again? The lack of evidence is not evidence of evidence. It may very well be true they do have evidence they can't share. I find it plausible and probably true, but if you're going to blindly trust the ****ing CIA of all orgs then you're nuts.

Originally posted by Eversor:
Healthy skepticism? Or perhaps ideologically motivated skepticism? It doesn't matter. At this point, even Trump, who has more reasons than anyone to deny Russian interference, has acknowledged it. I would say that if you're still agnostic on the subject, it's not skepticism so much as denial.


I'm not denying Russian involvement. I'm saying people should be cautious and investigative before claiming **** about Russia. That may not be a problem on Massassi, but all over the internet and in real life people are saying crazy **** about Russia's involvement.

Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
IMO, the amount of skepticism you seem to have for people who would make charges against the administration of sundry funny business in Moscow isn't really called for, given the list of pirates that have staffed Trump's campaign and now his cabinet.

Characterizing their activities as a "conflict of interest" would be to put it dangerously mildly. The whole lot of them ought to be fired by Congress.


See above.

Originally posted by Eversor:
Maybe some misinformed Democratic voters who are prone to conspiracy theories believe this, but I haven't seen anything in, say, WashPo or NYT, or anything from a Democratic congressman suggesting that this happened.


It's not just "some Democratic voters", YouGov suggests it's about 50%. Of course not as bad the delusions Trump supporters believe, but apparently a huge amount of Democrats aren't solely sourcing their news from the more reputable sources. Even then, WaPo pushed a false story about Russians hacking into the power grid. Things aren't so bad now, but if you think there wasn't an illegitimate "ramping up" of the attempt to cast Russia as a threat, well that's false too.
2017-02-15, 12:49 PM #693
Quote:
all over the internet and in real life people are saying crazy **** about literally anything ever


FTFY
2017-02-15, 12:54 PM #694
Quote:
Damn, this again? The lack of evidence is not evidence of evidence. It may very well be true they do have evidence they can't share. I find it plausible and probably true, but if you're going to blindly trust the ****ing CIA of all orgs then you're nuts.


To say nothing of blind trust, I'll throw my lot in with the military establishment any day of the week over this lying, psychotic elected government, so long as they don't take Congress' duty to impeach into their own hands (if you know what I mean).

In the eyes of far left anarchists who see apologists for state power as privileged evil *****, I am well aware that this makes me a pariah.
2017-02-15, 1:05 PM #695
Quote:
I 100% believe Russia was meddling in the election, I'm disputing specific facts about it. It's become really easy for people to scaremonger about Russia when it's unwarranted. Yes it's big, and yes it's serious, but it's also important to remain specific and clear about what has happened.


As far as I'm concerned, these accusations can stay in the news cycle for all eternity, so long as
  1. the administration continues to go ape**** and spread lies in response to every single accusation
  2. said accusations have yet to be addressed by a credible and consistent narrative from the administration, including the necessary resignations and admissions, or else a full independent investigation by Congress having done everything it reasonably could do to force this


Any attempts to normalize the sad excuses the psychopaths in the White House are peddling to justify their behavior is just another false equivalency of the kind being emitted by conservative Trump apologists, and his Republican toadies in Congress.
2017-02-15, 1:08 PM #696
Spicer & Conway: the Ministry of Truth
ORJ / My Level: ORJ Temple Tournament I
2017-02-15, 1:12 PM #697
Originally posted by Eversor:


So I actually read quite a bit of the original, and I found it pretty fascinating. Not the part where they talk about the election, because that's pretty mundane, but their section about Russian propaganda efforts via RT is fascinating. For instance, they claim part of Russia's discontent operations involves:

Quote:
In an effort to highlight the alleged "lack of democracy" in the United States, RT broadcast, hosted, and advertised third-party candidate debates and ran reporting supportive of the political agenda of these candidates. The RT hosts asserted that the US two-party system does not represent the views of at least one-third of the population and is a "sham."


Because as we all know, supporting third-party candidates is un-American, and as well all know it's super un-American to believe Americans are disenfranchised and American democracy is super great and it's un-American to dislike it.

Oh wait, none of this is true or organic, is it? The only dissatisfaction people have is due to RT and Russian propaganda.

Quote:
RT's criticism of the US election was the latest facet of its broader and longer-standing anti-US messaging likely aimed at undermining viewers' trust in US democratic procedures and undercutting US criticism of Russia's political system.


Let's look at some of the specifics!

Quote:
RT's reports often characterize the United States as a "surveillance state" and allege widespread infringements of civil liberties, police brutality, and drone use (RT, 24, 28 October, 1-10 November).


Definitely un-American to describe the U.S. as a surveillance state, and un-American to claims there are any infringements of civil liberties, and definitely un-American to claim our police do anything wrong.

I know now what you're thinking. "Reid, how can you defend RT? That makes you un-American!" I'm not defending RT and it clearly is a propaganda effort. Yet, RT is capable of using the truth as propaganda because they're the only ones saying the things people want to hear. It works because the grievances aren't acknowledged. But the point isn't about RT, it never was about RT, the point is you should be looking at the perspective of U.S. intelligence. They basically believe that Americans don't have legitimate grievances, and **** like Occupy Wall Street is literally the result of Russian propaganda efforts.

Let that sink in, because this is how you get a more true (not Trump's comical) fascism forming. "Any line against the party line is the line of the enemy".

And no, American reporting on Occupy Wall Street was almost universally hostile. Even the conservative NY Times (one of the best U.S. publications IMO) published a lovely op-ed critical of Occupy Wall Street by saying:

Quote:
First, Gandhi would reject the division between the 99 percent and the 1 percent. Gandhi did not believe in enemies: he worked on the premise that solutions emerged only from cooperation. This truth is often lost in discussions of his political tactics of noncooperation and civil disobedience. Noncooperation is best understood as an invitation to cooperate. “We are the 100 percent” may not make for a dramatic slogan, but from Gandhi’s perspective, it is the only way to achieve true and lasting change in society.


Wow, so Occupy Wall Street co-opted Gandhi falsely because Gandhi didn't believe in class war?? Not really. Gandhi opposed class war because he interpreted it as a literally violent class war. He thought the ideal future would be classless, akin to Marx's vision in the Manifesto. I.E., Occupy Wall Street's use of Gandhi to promote non-violent class war was exactly not what Gandhi was criticizing. Good job NY Times.

In contrast, RT offered support for OWS. So when the report laments,

Quote:
According to market research company Nielsen, RT had the most rapid growth (40 percent) among all international news channels in the United States over the past year (2012). Its audience in New York tripled and in Washington DC grew by 60%


It's probably because all of the "left" liberal journals were basically all criticizing OWS whereas RT was the only source supporting it. Is it really a mystery? You can't have your cake and eat it too, U.S. intelligence.
2017-02-15, 1:14 PM #698
Can we nitpick about the US intelligence service after the impeachment proceedings, maybe? We all know they are a bunch of bad hombres who have disposed democratically elected governments, created the unibomber, etc.
2017-02-15, 1:18 PM #699
Originally posted by Reid:
The lack of evidence is not evidence of evidence.


That wasn't my argument. My argument is an appeal to authority.

Originally posted by Reid:
I 100% believe Russia was meddling in the election,


You're just walking back what you said. I'll quote you again:

Quote:
So does that mean nothing happened? I don't know. I mean, Russia does do something, but there's healthy room for skepticism.


Hardly sounds like 100% belief to me.

Originally posted by Reid:
It may very well be true they do have evidence they can't share. I find it plausible and probably true, but if you're going to blindly trust the ****ing CIA of all orgs then you're nuts.


Yep, it would be crazy to blindly trust the CIA. But, as I said, now that Donald Trump -- who has more reason than anyone else to deny it -- has himself acknowledged Russian interference, one can assume that the evidence available to those with security clearance is likely quite compelling.

Quote:
I'm not denying Russian involvement. I'm saying people should be cautious and investigative before claiming **** about Russia. That may not be a problem on Massassi, but all over the internet and in real life people are saying crazy **** about Russia's involvement.


Increasingly it's being revealed that the Russians did do crazy ****. But yeah, again, you're walking you argument back, because that's nothing like what you actually said in your first post.

Originally posted by Reid:
It's not just "some Democratic voters", YouGov suggests it's about 50%. Of course not as bad the delusions Trump supporters believe, but apparently a huge amount of Democrats aren't solely sourcing their news from the more reputable sources.


Yep, just as I said. Why would I disagree?
former entrepreneur
2017-02-15, 1:20 PM #700
I get all my information from fake news like the NYT and CNN, so I must simply have Trump derangement syndrome.

Can't you guys see we're being ****ing gaslighted?? All this confusion and infighitng is distracting us from the person who is creating it.

The media is doing a fantastic job, in my opinion.
2017-02-15, 1:28 PM #701
I'd be more skeptical about Trump's alleged connections to Russia if he hadn't spent the last decade greasing Russian palms, and bragging about how much business he does with Russian oligarchs.

Like, that stuff really happened. I actually have no idea why the media downplayed that **** during the election. Trump 100% has a strong personal profit motive to eliminate the sanctions that are affecting Putin's rich friends.
2017-02-15, 1:29 PM #702
Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
I get all my information from fake news like the NYT and CNN, so I must simply have Trump derangement syndrome.

Can't you guys see we're being ****ing gaslighted?? All this confusion and infighitng is distracting us from the person who is creating it.

The media is doing a fantastic job, in my opinion.


I'm not quite sure what you're implying by this. Trump has no allies in America. This Russia thing has the capacity to have him removed from office.

Originally posted by Eversor:
That wasn't my argument. My argument is an appeal to authority.

You're just walking back what you said. I'll quote you again:

Hardly sounds like 100% belief to me.

Yep, it would be crazy to blindly trust the CIA. But, as I said, now that Donald Trump -- who has more reason than anyone else to deny it -- has himself acknowledged Russian interference, one can assume that the evidence available to those with security clearance is likely quite compelling.

Increasingly it's being revealed that the Russians did do crazy ****. But yeah, again, you're walking you argument back, because that's nothing like what you actually said in your first post.

Yep, just as I said. Why would I disagree?


I'll agree that my first post sounded misleading. So, uh, other than that, do you have a point to make?
2017-02-15, 1:31 PM #703
Quote:
I'm not quite sure what you're implying by this.


Oh nothing much, just an exasperated throwaway remark to put a cherry on the top of my anti-Trump rage.

Quote:
rump has no allies in America. This Russia thing has the capacity to have him removed from office.


Good.
2017-02-15, 1:31 PM #704
Originally posted by Reid:
I'll agree that my first post sounded misleading. So, uh, other than that, do you have a point to make?


Yep.
former entrepreneur
2017-02-15, 1:34 PM #705
Originally posted by Reid:
I'm not quite sure what you're implying by this. Trump has no allies in America. This Russia thing has the capacity to have him removed from office.


Well, yeah, treason will do that.
2017-02-15, 1:37 PM #706
TLC: Treasonous Lying **** in Chief.
2017-02-15, 1:38 PM #707
Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
As far as I'm concerned, these accusations can stay in the news cycle for all eternity, so long as
  1. the administration continues to go ape**** and spread lies in response to every single accusation
  2. said accusations have yet to be addressed by a credible and consistent narrative from the administration, including the necessary resignations and admissions, or else a full independent investigation by Congress having done everything it reasonably could do to force this


Any attempts to normalize the sad excuses the psychopaths in the White House are peddling to justify their behavior is just another false equivalency of the kind being emitted by conservative Trump apologists, and his Republican toadies in Congress.

I don't see why anyone reasonable would support Trump. He's not likable. There's clear corruption on an absurd level. The recent NY Times article is incredibly damning.

Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
To say nothing of blind trust, I'll throw my lot in with the military establishment any day of the week over this lying, psychotic elected government, so long as they don't take Congress' duty to impeach into their own hands (if you know what I mean).

In the eyes of far left anarchists who see apologists for state power as privileged evil *****, I am well aware that this makes me a pariah.


If the Russian military was actually a threat to the U.S. in any capacity, it would be an actual concern. Short of anything nuclear, the U.S. has such a strong global dominance that it's silly to worry about Putin. Unless you live in Eastern Europe, in which case you're rightful to be concerned.

Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
Can we nitpick about the US intelligence service after the impeachment proceedings, maybe? We all know they are a bunch of bad hombres who have disposed democratically elected governments, created the unibomber, etc.


Is there going to be an impeachment?
2017-02-15, 1:39 PM #708
Not yet, but one can hope the Republicans will get tired of being humiliated.
2017-02-15, 1:41 PM #709
Originally posted by Eversor:
Yep.


Okay, so we seem to be largely in agreement about Russia. What do you think this implies? Do you think there's any evidence of a U.S. Intelligence power grab embedded in the legitimate concern over Russia?
2017-02-15, 1:41 PM #710
Originally posted by Reid:
If the Russian military was actually a threat to the U.S. in any capacity, it would be an actual concern. Short of anything nuclear, the U.S. has such a strong global dominance that it's silly to worry about Putin.


lol
2017-02-15, 1:42 PM #711
Originally posted by Reid:
If the Russian military was actually a threat to the U.S. in any capacity, it would be an actual concern. Short of anything nuclear, the U.S. has such a strong global dominance that it's silly to worry about Putin. Unless you live in Eastern Europe, in which case you're rightful to be concerned.


The administration has enormous potential to cause long term damage to the civil service and military establishment if honest bureaucrats doing their work get in the way of his machinations, and he decides to install a bunch of stooges. Just look at the whole NSC debacle for starters.
2017-02-15, 1:50 PM #712
Originally posted by Reid:
If the Russian military was actually a threat to the U.S. in any capacity, it would be an actual concern. Short of anything nuclear, the U.S. has such a strong global dominance that it's silly to worry about Putin.


Wait, I thought you said that you "100% believe Russia was meddling in the election"? But somehow the US's military strength makes it immune to any non-nuclear threats from Putin? Wah?
former entrepreneur
2017-02-15, 1:52 PM #713
Originally posted by Reid:
Okay, so we seem to be largely in agreement about Russia. What do you think this implies? Do you think there's any evidence of a U.S. Intelligence power grab embedded in the legitimate concern over Russia?


No, I definitely don't think that. Doesn't seem like we agree on much. Pretty funny suggestion coming from an avowed stickler on evidence, though.
former entrepreneur
2017-02-15, 1:53 PM #714
The US's invincibility is propaganda, but more knowledgeable people than you have made this mistake, so you shouldn't feel too bad about it.

I've read stuff from wargames nerds, who concluded that it would take the combined military of the entire rest of the planet to successfully invade and hold the United States. That, of course, assumes that you're interested in holding the United States, versus just crippling it, and that the people who lived there had unlimited endurance for warfare. You don't need a full-scale invasion in order to effectively defeat an enemy.

Here's a great talk from DEFCON about how a very small number of skilled people can topple a government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_pYBkW7qgI
2017-02-15, 1:53 PM #715
Putin probably thought he was getting a good deal in Trump by helping a fellow strongman come to power.

Now that he's finding out what he's gotten after all is in fact an incompetent buffoon who can't even control his own country, well we all know what happens to incompetent SPECTRE stooges when Blofeld loses his patience with them.
2017-02-15, 1:54 PM #716
Originally posted by Eversor:
Wait, I thought you said that you "100% believe Russia was meddling in the election"? But somehow the US's military strength makes it immune to any threats from Putin? Wah?


The only situation in which he would realistically live under Putin's control is if the two countries went to war and Russia won, so I was implying the choice is an imagined one. Yes, clearly living under the American government is superior to living under Putin.

And no, even though it appears Trump's administration is probably controlled by Russians, I don't think it's going to amount to an ending blow to American supremacy. I imagine a pretty impactful blow to American supremacy, but nothing that would tilt the scales in favor of Russia.
2017-02-15, 1:57 PM #717
An impactful blow, like, say, electing an "America First" president, who views the world as a series of real estate transactions and is looking to enrich himself?
2017-02-15, 2:03 PM #718
I honestly think that 80% of the US's political problems around defense and intelligence are caused by idiot politicians who get into power, discover that the "US = invincible" propaganda is false, panic, and spend spend spend trying to make it true. And the other 20% are caused by idiot politicians who don't even understand that much.
2017-02-15, 2:06 PM #719
Well you know, we need to prove to Jesus that America is a Shining City on a Hill by flexing our military might by knocking down petty dictators with $3T wars....
2017-02-15, 2:07 PM #720
shiny piece of glass in a crater

see y`all in hell, `cause I for one am going to the rapture!
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401

↑ Up to the top!