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Democrat Debate 7 [CNN] But...the electorate refused to change

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Machina

Banned
I've been watching the debate right now, and Bernie is going all in on Climate Change. He really doesn't mind distancing himself from the Democrats, does he. He is the living image of a DINO. I would be amazed if a Trump campaign ad doesn't go with "Don't elect a DINOsaur"
 

effzee

Member
i have no idea who these two people are and i dont think the american people do either.

also lol at O'Malley, but sadly hes the most recognizable democrat at the moment besides Bernie.

Didn't Obama come out of nowhere with his speech at the 2004 convention? From relative unknown to possible candidate thanks to his speech?

8 years is a long time. Many leaders can emerge.

Doesn't she support it? I thought the controversy had to do with her defending a family member's bigotry or something of the sort.

Besides that she is also very divisive, anti-Obama when it comes to terrorists, terrorism, and her stances on Muslims.

Listen to her talk about the ME and Muslims in general and you'd think you are listening to a Republican on Fox News.
 

boiled goose

good with gravy
There's a simple solution to that: Clinton either nominates Bernie to be her Vice President or she sends Bernie straight to SCOTUS. Either or will win over Bernie's base, coupled with their very real concern that Trump might actually become President, which btw I cannot even fucking believe I am saying is possible.

Bernie to the Supreme Court?? He is not even a lawyer. What are you on?

People saying bernie and obama to Supreme Court court dont really understand who gets made justice. You need to be a strong legal mind with tons of experience in law.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Bernie to the Supreme Court?? He is not even a lawyer. What are you on?

People saying bernie and obama to Supreme Court court dont really understand who gets made justice. You need to be a strong legal mind with tons of experience in law.

To be fair at least with Obama he does have a law background even if it wasn't his ultimate career.
 
Bernie to the Supreme Court?? He is not even a lawyer. What are you on?

People saying bernie and obama to Supreme Court court dont really understand who gets made justice. You need to be a strong legal mind with tons of experience in law.

You don't need that to become a justice. There is no requirement to be a lawyer or have experience in law.

Honestly, I would rather have someone who knows nothing about the law but has a good conscience and good common sense.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Honestly, I would rather have someone who knows nothing about the law but has a good conscience and good common sense.

That would make for a terrible justice if they had only those qualities alone. They need intimate knowledge of the law, this isn't a game position. Law can be incredibly labyrinthine and we don't need someone setting legal precedents the whole country must follow when they don't know the first damned thing about it.
 

TyrantII

Member
Every single US President has* believed in 'fairy tales'.

Every. Single. One.

Claimed they believed.

Plenty have not. But it's rule number 1 in politics, ahead of shaking hands and kissing babies.

Untill its not. And then you'll see the flood breaking through the break wall.
 
Every single US President has believed in 'fairy tales'.

Every. Single. One.

Because they have to. The US isn't going to elect an Atheist president any time soon.

You see it with Trump for example, whose pretty clearly an Atheist or at least Agnostic, trying to pretend he's religious and has always been.
 
i have no idea who these two people are and i dont think the american people do either.

also lol at O'Malley, but sadly hes the most recognizable democrat at the moment besides Bernie.
Okay but not many people know random democrats either. The next race could be in 8 years, plenty of time to get experience/hype, the dems are a lot better off than the GOP right now I'd say.

O Malley is recognizable as he is in part due to the fact that he did run
 
Always fascinates me when people call those who are religious as believing in fairly tales. I mean, I'm an athiest as well but man, that's such a pathetic attitude to have.
 

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Claimed they believed.

Plenty have not. But it's rule number 1 in politics, ahead of shaking hands and kissing babies.

Untill its not. And then you'll see the flood breaking through the break wall.

Yep. Some people don't get it though.
 
There's a simple solution to that: Clinton either nominates Bernie to be her Vice President or she sends Bernie straight to SCOTUS. Either or will win over Bernie's base, coupled with their very real concern that Trump might actually become President, which btw I cannot even fucking believe I am saying is possible.

Every decision Bernie writes would involve income inequality.
 

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
I didn't watch the debate, but can somebody explain to me why "Excuse me, I'm talking" is apparently some sort of headline?
 

Amir0x

Banned
I didn't watch the debate, but can somebody explain to me why "Excuse me, I'm talking" is apparently some sort of headline?

I guess it sorta sounded a little contentious during that moment or something, but it's probably being blown up because the Democratic Nomination process is essentially over and we already know the winner and so all this is just formalities and we need something to talk about that is even slightly spicy ;P
 
Always fascinates me when people call those who are religious as believing in fairly tales. I mean, I'm an athiest as well but man, that's such a pathetic attitude to have.
Indeed. I think there's a disconnect between how people react to atheists/agnostics in practice and how they respond to what they envision atheist/agnostics to be--the latter being the type who makes it a point to say "Sky wizard" and fairy tales.

The broad reaction to Sanders' likely atheism has been a collective shrug. I think, especially in the Democratic Party, that must people don't really care as long as they don't feel like you're looking down on them.
 
All I got from your post is that you think you have some incredible skills of psychoanalysis...

I mean we're talking about vibes now?

And that's enough to make you think of Wizard Hitler.
I said I'm not someone deep into politics. And I largely have not been paying attention but when the TV was on the debate last night, that was the vibe, yes, the fucking vibe, I was getting from her. This "Wizard Hitler" shit is you twisting around what I'm saying and I was only saying one thing. I'm gonna bother to look into this further.
 

Steel

Banned
Always fascinates me when people call those who are religious as believing in fairly tales. I mean, I'm an athiest as well but man, that's such a pathetic attitude to have.

I mean, I honestly believe that religion is a mass delusion, but pissing on them for that is just wrong. If it gives people motivation to keep doing what they do, why should anyone judge.

Though I cringe at the fact that religion is so entrenched in politics. If an Atheist were to run, people would vote against them thinking that it's their religious duty to do so.
 
Always fascinates me when people call those who are religious as believing in fairly tales. I mean, I'm an athiest as well but man, that's such a pathetic attitude to have.

A pathetic attitude? You're aware of other atheists? Heard them speak, listened to their music, read their books, etc? Calling out theism as 'fairly tales' is prevalent in atheist thinking, if not ubiquitous. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be antagonistically critical of theists in the appropriate context (e.g. religion in politics). Discrediting theism is inherent to atheism, if not essential.
 
Always fascinates me when people call those who are religious as believing in fairly tales. I mean, I'm an athiest as well but man, that's such a pathetic attitude to have.
I used to be really religious and unless a person is behaving dogmatically or their style of living is directly affecting you, I don't think it is fair to treat or judge them this way.
 
Bernie has bad optics when he waves around his hands.

I understand that comes from his passion but often at time he takes too much physical space in his hands invade the other person's space making him look like want to out-Alpha the other

even on Bill Maher's show, he nearly pokes people's faces out when sitting on the panel because his hands are allover the place
 

Amir0x

Banned
No. It's not. Just live your life, it won't change reality and religion is pretty damn important to some people.

Depends. Religion has very real negative impact in many elements of society, and so to some being antagonistic toward its influence can net a positive result.

The question is whether it is the best strategy for this, who knows. But certainly religion deserves no sacred position, and if you're making claims about the Universe, then prepare to get aggressively called out on it. Otherwise, the faithful need to keep it to themselves and don't dare try to pollute the rest of the world with those beliefs (especially in pushing social norms via the lens of religious morality, or insertion into politics).
 

PBY

Banned
Depends. Religion has very real negative impact in many elements of society, and so to some being antagonistic toward its influence can net a positive result.

The question is whether it is the best strategy for this, who knows. But certainly religion deserves no sacred position, and if you're making claims about the Universe, then prepare to get aggressively called out on it. Otherwise, the faithful need to keep it to themselves and don't dare try to pollute the rest of the world with those beliefs (especially in pushing social norms via the lens of religious morality, or insertion into politics).

Still think this is too harsh re: religion, even though generally I agree with your ideas.
 

Knoxcore

Member
I like Bernie but I always felt "off" about him. Tonight cemented it. He is so condescending. It was really off putting. He really lacks the temperament and patience to be President. As usual, he gains points on passion but his one-issue trumpeting certainly wouldn't get him my vote in the primary.
 

Steel

Banned
Depends. Religion has very real negative impact in many elements of society, and so to some being antagonistic toward its influence can net a positive result.

The question is whether it is the best strategy for this, who knows. But certainly religion deserves no sacred position, and if you're making claims about the Universe, then prepare to get aggressively called out on it. Otherwise, keep it to yourself and don't you dare try to pollute the rest of the world with those beliefs.

To be clear, I'm an atheist. I agree, to an extent. Someone like Cruz thinking religion should be law or those that are pro life due to religion etc. are obviously wrong. But religious people are perfectly capable of calling out other religious people for flawed beliefs based on religion.

But as bad as religion has been throughout history, it has had very real positive impact in many aspects of society even if it has stifled a lot of things.
 
A pathetic attitude? You're aware of other atheists? Heard them speak, listened to their music, read their books, etc? Calling out theism as 'fairly tales' is prevalent in atheist thinking, if not ubiquitous. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be antagonistically critical of theists in the appropriate context (e.g. religion in politics). Discrediting theism is inherent to atheism, if not essential.

No, it's not.

I stopped calling myself an atheist because of people like you. I do not believe in a God either, but it's not my mission to rid the world of their belief system. It's no one's.

Belief gives people motivation and hope. Sometimes it gives people a reason to live. How can you strip someone of that?

It does no good to anyone to constantly shit on the beliefs of others.
 

Lenardo

Banned
if not for hilary's "superdelegate" count, it WOULD be a close race.

even split those and bernie would be ~200 delegates behind, instead of 600, but alas.

between trump and bernie that one would be hard, 50/50 either way, i like bernie but leary of what he wants to do. not crazy for trump but...

between trump and hillary..i'd vote for trump because, i dislike hillary more than i dislike trump.

if trump not there and hillary there, my vote goes to the best candidate not named hillary clinton.
 

Gold_Loot

Member
To be clear, I'm an atheist. I agree, to an extent. Someone like Cruz thinking religion should be law or those that are pro life due to religion etc. are obviously wrong. But religious people are perfectly capable of calling out other religious people for flawed beliefs based on religion.

But as bad as religion has been throughout history, it has had very real positive impact in many aspects of society even if it has stifled a lot of things.
Good point for sure. As a Christian ( although a little twisted myself ) I can't stand anyone with a holier than thou attitude, or people that pat themselves on their backs because they thought they "preached" something to somebody that had zero interest in hearing anything from the get go.

"Above all, my commandment to you is to love one another" ... Something alot of religious people tend to forget sadly.
 
No. It's not. Just live your life, it won't change reality and religion is pretty damn important to some people.

No, it's not.

I stopped calling myself an atheist because of people like you. I do not believe in a God either, but it's not my mission to rid the world of their belief system. It's no one's.

Belief gives people motivation and hope. Sometimes it gives people a reason to live. How can you strip someone of that?

It does no good to anyone to constantly shit on the beliefs of others.

That's not what I said. I don't think it's right to be antagonistic with a theist when there's no good reason to, but atheism is not a position to take when you're not even comfortable with confronting the cause of that position.
 

Future

Member
A pathetic attitude? You're aware of other atheists? Heard them speak, listened to their music, read their books, etc? Calling out theism as 'fairly tales' is prevalent in atheist thinking, if not ubiquitous. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be antagonistically critical of theists in the appropriate context (e.g. religion in politics). Discrediting theism is inherent to atheism, if not essential.

Wrong. This is similar to theists who think it's their calling to tell other theists how wrong they are or atheists that they are morally delinquent. Believe what you want.... But being an asshole about it is pure choice and common to both theists and atheists
 

DedValve

Banned
if not for hilary's "superdelegate" count, it WOULD be a close race.

even split those and bernie would be ~200 delegates behind, instead of 600, but alas.

between trump and bernie that one would be hard, 50/50 either way, i like bernie but leary of what he wants to do. not crazy for trump but...

between trump and hillary..i'd vote for trump because, i dislike hillary more than i dislike trump.

if trump not there and hillary there, my vote goes to the best candidate not named hillary clinton.

You'd vote for Trump over Hillary because....you dislike Hillary more?

Ok, thats valid. On what stances do you stand by with Trump? What are some of the positions you agree with him? Do you feel he will help make America "great again"? If so, what do you believe that will entail and how will he do it better than Hillary?
 

Steel

Banned
That's not what I said. I don't think it's right to be antagonistic with a theist when there's no good reason to, but atheism is not a position to take when you're not even comfortable with confronting the cause of that position.

If someone brings up the subject to me directly and asks my opinion of it, I'll tell them why I don't have a single iota of belief in religion. I'm comfortable with that.

But, let me put it this way, if you ran into a 6 year old kid with an imaginary friend, would you emphatically tell them that their imaginary friend isn't real and that they need to grow up? No, that'd be needlessly cruel and a douche move.
 
That's not what I said. I don't think it's right to be antagonistic with a theist when there's no good reason to, but atheism is not a position to take when you're not even comfortable with confronting the cause of that position.

I don't necessarily disagree but the cause of that position doesn't always require you to be antagonistic towards thiests, nor even participate in a debate or discussion with them unless they prompt it.

I've done plenty of debates as an athiest with people who are religious when they invite me to. I don't recall ever having to play the fairy tale card.

Perhaps it's because I was religious at one point and realize how crazy that sounds when played against you. Perhaps not.
 
No, it's not.

I stopped calling myself an atheist because of people like you. I do not believe in a God either, but it's not my mission to rid the world of their belief system. It's no one's.

Belief gives people motivation and hope. Sometimes it gives people a reason to live. How can you strip someone of that?

It does no good to anyone to constantly shit on the beliefs of others.

Correct. Religion was created in the first place to give people a reason to hope and believe while their lives were miserable. That is still correct today.

IMO, religion and government should not co-attempt to be tied together as much as certain candidates intend. A true believer should not be attempting to use government as a cudgel to get others to follow their belief system. It's actually fascinating to see Cruz rail against government and then attempt to use the government to change things based on his belief system.

Anyway, religion in itself has done a lot of good. Many of the things pushed by religions make society better as a whole. Religion in general pushes for stable families, raise your children correctly, good education for all, taking care of the needy/sick and treat others the way you would want to be treated. Aren't those what everyone is striving for?

The only issue is that at times the message can get muddled. Gay marriage is opposed because its an affront to God's definition of marriage as a man and a woman. Churches have the right to not perform gay marriages and they will continue to have that ability. However, why should they have the right to say that the state can't call this a marriage? Its rather odd. Also, due to the whole sperm and egg thing these couples can't have children so they are apt to adopt and raise children who would be worse off in their current situation. Isn't that the chuch's ultimate goal?

/rant
 

Future

Member
I don't necessarily disagree but the cause of that position doesn't always require you to be antagonistic towards thiests, nor even participate in a debate or discussion with them unless they prompt it.

I've done plenty of debates as an athiest with people who are religious when they invite me to. I don't recall ever having to play the fairy tale card.

Perhaps it's because I was religious at one point and realize how crazy that sounds when played against you. Perhaps not.

It's just insulting rhetoric. People, for better or for worse, use religion as a morality compass, social get togethers, weekly activities, discipline, etc. What type of intelligent discourse are you looking to have when you chalk all that up to believing in fairy tales right to their face?

I'm like you.... Have religious family members. And I've been on the side of being insulted because I didn't believe. So hearing people that don't believe be just as insulting strikes the same chord and makes me not want to be theist or atheist some how.

Maybe dontgiveashit-eist
 
Okay, I see who I'm dealing with now. If you want to use one video where she said one thing (in reference to people in drug cartels) that she's since apologized for, I can't discuss this with you.

This is a strange reaction.

On one hand, you have her devoting her entire adult life to fighting for equality for African Americans, for the underprivileged, and for the oppressed, as an advocate and a lawyer. And on the other, she once said we need to bring super predators to heel.

It's quite a bit more than that one racist quote. The Clintons - and Hillary was an active advocate for the administration, impressively changing the nature of what a First Lady can do - have a horrible record when it comes to the treatment of the black community:

Bill Clinton presided over the largest increase in federal and state prison inmates of any president in American history.

...

Clinton championed the idea of a federal “three strikes” law in his 1994 State of the Union address and, months later, signed a $30 billion crime bill that created dozens of new federal capital crimes, mandated life sentences for some three-time offenders, and authorized more than $16 billion for state prison grants and the expansion of police forces. The legislation was hailed by mainstream-media outlets as a victory for the Democrats, who “were able to wrest the crime issue from the Republicans and make it their own.”

When Clinton left office in 2001, the United States had the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Human Rights Watch reported that in seven states, African Americans constituted 80 to 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison, even though they were no more likely than whites to use or sell illegal drugs. Prison admissions for drug offenses reached a level in 2000 for African Americans more than 26 times the level in 1983. All of the presidents since 1980 have contributed to mass incarceration, but as Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson recently observed, “President Clinton’s tenure was the worst.”

Also, you missed the racial significance of that quote:

Some might argue that it’s unfair to judge Hillary Clinton for the policies her husband championed years ago. But Hillary wasn’t picking out china while she was first lady. She bravely broke the mold and redefined that job in ways no woman ever had before. She not only campaigned for Bill; she also wielded power and significant influence once he was elected, lobbying for legislation and other measures. That record, and her statements from that era, should be scrutinized. In her support for the 1994 crime bill, for example, she used racially coded rhetoric to cast black children as animals. “They are not just gangs of kids anymore,” she said. “They are often the kinds of kids that are called ‘super-predators.’ No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.”

You can't wriggle out of using racist dog whistles that dehumanize African American children by saying 'oops, my bad'. The Clintons, while appealing to African Americans, also knew their success was dependent on bringing back working class whites, and they were willing to stoke the fires of racial resentment to do it. These actions had real consequences. Not just in terms of policy, but in setting the tone for how law enforcement and criminal justice is handled in America.

Contrary to the belief that Clinton "devoted her entire adult life to fighting for equality for African Americans", the Clinton era was actually a terrible time for African Americans:

An oft-repeated myth about the Clinton administration is that although it was overly tough on crime back in the 1990s, at least its policies were good for the economy and for black unemployment rates. The truth is more troubling. As unemployment rates sank to historically low levels for white Americans in the 1990s, the jobless rate among black men in their 20s who didn’t have a college degree rose to its highest level ever. This increase in joblessness was propelled by the skyrocketing incarceration rate.

And beyond criminal justice initiatives, Hillary lobbied for other policies that disproportionately impacted African Americans:

To make matters worse, the federal safety net for poor families was torn to shreds by the Clinton administration in its effort to “end welfare as we know it.” In his 1996 State of the Union address, given during his re-election campaign, Clinton declared that “the era of big government is over” and immediately sought to prove it by dismantling the federal welfare system known as Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC). The welfare-reform legislation that he signed—which Hillary Clinton ardently supported then and characterized as a success as recently as 2008—replaced the federal safety net with a block grant to the states, imposed a five-year lifetime limit on welfare assistance, added work requirements, barred undocumented immigrants from licensed professions, and slashed overall public welfare funding by $54 billion (some was later restored).

These policies, which were sold with racist dog whistles, fundamentally changed the social safety net:

Despite claims that radical changes in crime and welfare policy were driven by a desire to end big government and save taxpayer dollars, the reality is that the Clinton administration didn’t reduce the amount of money devoted to the management of the urban poor; it changed what the funds would be used for. Billions of dollars were slashed from public-housing and child-welfare budgets and transferred to the mass-incarceration machine. By 1996, the penal budget was twice the amount that had been allocated to food stamps. During Clinton’s tenure, funding for public housing was slashed by $17 billion (a reduction of 61 percent), while funding for corrections was boosted by $19 billion (an increase of 171 percent), according to sociologist Loïc Wacquant “effectively making the construction of prisons the nation’s main housing program for the urban poor.”

Bill Clinton championed discriminatory laws against formerly incarcerated people that have kept millions of Americans locked in a cycle of poverty and desperation. The Clinton administration eliminated Pell grants for prisoners seeking higher education to prepare for their release, supported laws denying federal financial aid to students with drug convictions, and signed legislation imposing a lifetime ban on welfare and food stamps for anyone convicted of a felony drug offense—an exceptionally harsh provision given the racially biased drug war that was raging in inner cities.

The Clinton administration didn't just get "tough on crime", they made it much harder for felons to pull themselves out of poverty and improve their lives.

Perhaps most alarming, Clinton also made it easier for public-housing agencies to deny shelter to anyone with any sort of criminal history (even an arrest without conviction) and championed the “one strike and you’re out” initiative, which meant that families could be evicted from public housing because one member (or a guest) had committed even a minor offense. People released from prison with no money, no job, and nowhere to go could no longer return home to their loved ones living in federally assisted housing without placing the entire family at risk of eviction. Purging “the criminal element” from public housing played well on the evening news, but no provisions were made for people and families as they were forced out on the street. By the end of Clinton’s presidency, more than half of working-age African-American men in many large urban areas were saddled with criminal records and subject to legalized discrimination in employment, housing, access to education, and basic public benefits—relegated to a permanent second-class status eerily reminiscent of Jim Crow.

It is difficult to overstate the damage that’s been done. Generations have been lost to the prison system; countless families have been torn apart or rendered homeless; and a school-to-prison pipeline has been born that shuttles young people from their decrepit, underfunded schools to brand-new high-tech prisons.

http://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-does-not-deserve-black-peoples-votes/

We're not talking about a couple of misstatements here. We're talking about an epidemic of human misery on a massive scale - the decimation of an entire community. As a person of color, I find it extremely troubling that neither Bill or Hillary have been called to account for what they did during those eight years. As I said before, this isn't an issue of, 'well who are you going to vote for?' It's about being clear on what the record actually is.
 
Wrong. This is similar to theists who think it's their calling to tell other theists how wrong they are or atheists that they are morally delinquent. Believe what you want.... But being an asshole about it is pure choice and common to both theists and atheists

Again, context. I'm not saying it's right to be confrontational when it's not appropriate, but we're in an increasingly complex society that is still basing it's course on a belief system that is increasingly at odds with that society's development.

Life requires us to be assholes sometimes. It sucks, I hate confrontation too.
 
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