Reaching Out Across the Aisle

[TexasRed]

I have to go to work here in a few minutes, but I intend to respond to this thread after work, that being said keep this thread clean and civil, we need more actual conversations like this, no more knee jerk reactions that achieve nothing. If you're going to debate do so according to the rules of proper debate.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Aye aye, Captain. Still working on my statement. It's harder than I thought it would be.

[TexasRed]

Alright here's my reply.

Biden: I absolutely despise him, he and his old cronies are directly responsible for helping to bring about what's known as the "Three strikes" system. My family, being almost universally poor, poorly educated, and generally forgotten by the middle class society, and millions more poor people of all ethnicites, but with a hard focus on extremely poor Blacks and poor whites have suffered massively outsizes effects because of these bills. My uncle walked into a gas station 35 years ago to rob the place. When the owner handed over the money all she had was 38$. He handed the money back to her and told her to keep her money. This was his third theft, the other two were equally small, and he's still in prison.

Harris: She literally built her career on putting innocent people in jail and then doing everything in her power to keep them there in order to save her reputation. She is an African American Woman who was willingly and actively participating in an unjust system that is actively destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands, or hell, millions, and has disproportionately affected African Americans

Why would I vote for either of them? Why? Simply because Orange Man Bad? Well I didn't vote for Trump either but not because I had any great disagreement with a lot of his policies, I voted a third party write in for Gabbard, because for the first time I heard someone calling out this policy in public, and that's despite the fact that I disagree with some of her policies.

I voted against Trump because as a Texan I take personal offense at the way he talks about women, at his vulgarity, at his uncouthness, at his refusal to act like a decent human being.

Trump's accusations about NATO where correct.., but he could have been a bit more diplomatic about it.

I support hammering China and allying with India, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and I support rapprochement with Russia because it makes eminently good strategic, and geopolitical sense.

I supported leaving the TTP flapping in the wind because of the massive legal leverage it would have given corporations over countries.

I supported leaving the Paris Climate Agreement because it was obvious form the start that it was as useless as the paper it was printed on. Not one single country that signed it has actually met it's requirements, and only 16 or 17 of 180+ countries that signed have actually set legal plans to meet the standards. Also there was a total lack of willingness to include alternatives like industrial carbon capture and storage or expanding the use of nuclear power via the adoption of newer more modern micro reactor systems into the agreement.
The entire thing was built on propagating solar, wind, and other types of utopian renewable energy options, which if you actually spend hundreds of hours a month going over figures and data points like myself you quickly realize that solar and wind power are not, and will never be viable alternatives to natural gas or goal.

In fact Germany has actually increased it's carbon output since signing, and is also the nation responsible for the single largest renewable energy boondoggle in human history. They built the largest solar power infrastructure in the world in central Europe where, to quote Peter Zeihan, the fricken sun doesn't shine!

I welcomed his support and signing of bills to finally start the process of ending the drug war.

I welcomed his support of numerous bipartisan bills helping Native Americans and bills giving states more powers to help fight sex trafficking.

He signed bills dramatically increasing the funding to historically black schools and colleges.

Lastly and most importantly to me personally he help push through the bipartisan the First Step Act
Which as it's name suggest is the first step in the process of ridding us of these damnable "three strikes" laws.

Now let's talk about the run of the mill "conservative issues" That Nevix brought up.

Abortion: I personally despise it and find it both barbaric and immoral, but I also find that forcing a woman to have a child that was forced upon her, or forcing a young girl who out of ignorance or thoughtless action due to poor sex-ed finds herself pregnant to go through with an action that will likely destroy any chance of a complete education or of ever going to college to be equally immoral.
Justice is not always moral, and until the day arrives where medical technology finds a safe and relatively inexpensive alternative I will hold my nose and remain pro-choice.

Gun Rights: I agree with Nevix here at pretty much all levels, however, I do support better implementation of back ground checks.

Here's a nearly complete list of mostly beneficial executive orders, bills, and signed policies that came about as a result of bipartisan efforts that were actively encouraged and in numerous cases directly promoted by trump during his Administration.

So now you're wondering why I voted against him? Well you got me, I'm one of those who greatly disliked the man but supported a great many of his policy decisions, but not in a thousand years could I betray my morals and vote for the man who helped write the laws that so damaged my own family.

So I voted a write-in for president, and voted for local candidates that I knew also supported these same policies. One happened to be a Democrat, most of the others happened to be Republican.

I intend to add more and will respond to questions later, I have to sleep now, but I certainly want everyone to get involved in this discussion if they're willing. With Trump likely on his way out barring any major last minute changes in the vote counts I think a bit more "Reaching out across the Aisle" is certainly called for. Remember keep it civil.

[unknownsample]

Let me just say, in the wake of this...
It's on the conservatives to reach out to people on the left. Every single sanctimonious think piece about accepting political differences and building bridges and bipartisanship has been asking us on the left to be more accepting of conservatives and reach out to them. It's a two-way street, buddy. YOU guys can go and make an effort to communicate with and understand US for a change.

This is very true and it's amazing how we haven't seen any think pieces calling for conservatives to do that. The sense of victimhood the modern US right is unbelievable and would make for an interesting psychological study.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Kamala Harris was the DA when the innocent man was tried but she wasn't involved in the case directly.

[Nevix]

Okay, Nevix. I've read your post. Before I respond directly to it I want to make a similar post of my own, outlining my values and priorities. After that I would like to hear a little more about how your religion informs your politics, if you'd be up for that.

I would be up for that, and I welcome further conversation in this thread.

Though I might be a little slow to respond further. My job is entering the hectic holiday rush days, and I don't always have energy or time to spare.

[Jonathan101]

Kamala Harris was the DA when the innocent man was tried but she wasn't involved in the case directly.

She was aware of the case though and sat in court for both the conviction and the sentencing, with the man saying that at one point she looked at his eyes and smirked at him.

Seems like she fostered a very "tough on crime" culture in her office and there were several other cases where it and the police were accused of wrongful convictions and frame ups and she always fought them rather than taking them seriously.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Kamala Harris was the DA when the innocent man was tried but she wasn't involved in the case directly.

She was aware of the case though and sat in court for both the conviction and the sentencing, with the man saying that at one point she looked at his eyes and smirked at him.

Seems like she fostered a very "tough on crime" culture in her office and there were several other cases where it and the police were accused of wrongful convictions and frame ups and she always fought them rather than taking them seriously.

Not incredibly damming though. He endorsed her for president under the same condition that I said.

And those are vague indications of corruption or administrative incompetence.

[Jonathan101]

Kamala Harris was the DA when the innocent man was tried but she wasn't involved in the case directly.

She was aware of the case though and sat in court for both the conviction and the sentencing, with the man saying that at one point she looked at his eyes and smirked at him.

Seems like she fostered a very "tough on crime" culture in her office and there were several other cases where it and the police were accused of wrongful convictions and frame ups and she always fought them rather than taking them seriously.

Not incredibly damming though. He endorsed her for president under the same condition that I said.

And those are vague indications of corruption or administrative incompetence.

They don't really indicate either corruption nor incompetence.

They better indicate either realpolitik or crypto-conservatism, or perhaps just plain old opportunistic careerism.

The real issue is, if she doesn't have the support of the Democratic base, she will be a weak candidate in 2024 and another Republican President (or even Trump again if he campaigns properly or Harris makes mistakes between now and then) might take the White House.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Kamala Harris was the DA when the innocent man was tried but she wasn't involved in the case directly.

She was aware of the case though and sat in court for both the conviction and the sentencing, with the man saying that at one point she looked at his eyes and smirked at him.

Seems like she fostered a very "tough on crime" culture in her office and there were several other cases where it and the police were accused of wrongful convictions and frame ups and she always fought them rather than taking them seriously.

Not incredibly damming though. He endorsed her for president under the same condition that I said.

And those are vague indications of corruption or administrative incompetence.

They don't really indicate either corruption nor incompetence.

They better indicate either realpolitik or crypto-conservatism, or perhaps just plain old opportunistic careerism.

The real issue is, if she doesn't have the support of the Democratic base, she will be a weak candidate in 2024 and another Republican President (or even Trump again if he campaigns properly or Harris makes mistakes between now and then) might take the White House.

Yeah that's what it all comes down to for 2024 I see you on that.

I feel that she's going to have to rely on a good amount of accountability, if she does anything real specific as VP that is. She'll mostly have to answer to Biden's administration's effort and her participation in an upcoming campaign. She seems like a person that can weave that web of administrative resourcefulness.