yjacket

For the record, I hope I'm not right on this either! Unfortunately, I have read a lot on this subject and studied it quite intensively. A sidenote, I actually became a hard-core libertarian through the study of economics and human action. But in case I'm am right, I protect myself in many different ways. In many ways, it is quite terrifying at how quickly everything could go south. FDR, without any prior warning, declared bank holidays. Argentina when they went through their collapse only allowed people to withdraw no more than 100/day. Greece had a bail-in (i.e. they just started slicing 0s off everyone's bank account). How many people in the US have more than 2k in their bank account? Of those that do, how many would be able to get access to it if banks were mandated to be closed for a week? How many people have anything else that they could quickly convert from one asset to another for emergency funds? If you don't have a backup plan for when the lights get turned out, you are living dangerously. Having a corrupt politician like Clinton come close to being elected can be frightening, but a huge amount of people saw that corruption coming. It's the unseen danger that is the worst. Just about all totalitarian regimes have started due to economics. The economic collapse almost always precedes the decent into tyranny. Have a backup plan and if there is a panic, just be sure to panic first.

Unfortunately, too many things are baked in the cake for Trump to do much about the debt and deficits. Conservatives hail Reagan, yet he continued massive deficits and spending. I'd simply be happy if Trump rolls back a ton of regulation, kills Obamacare and lowers taxes. And I say this as a libertarian. You've got something like 3 Trillion dollars just sitting at the Federal Reserve that commercial banks have just parked there. At some point, that money is going to get unleashed and when it does-look out-inflation nation. The only way to get rid of our deficits is to massively overall our monetary system and I don't expect that to happen under Trump. People complain about the debt and deficit; yet unfortunately they don't understand our monetary system. It literally must keep growing. If the deficit ever stops growing, the whole system implodes. It is designed that way. People don't realize, every single Federal Reserve Note in existence in a literal sense represents debt. We are debt slaves. No debt, the entire monetary system collapses. It is literally impossible to stop the monster that has been created. One of two things will happen-it is guaranteed (only a matter of time)-either we have a collapse 10x worse than 2008 where the debt is wiped out and all the sudden things the things that create debt (i.e. loans) become worthless or we have a massive explosion of inflation where the amount of money created cancels out the debt (i.e. the Federal Reserve ends up buying all the bad loans like the bank bailouts but on a much broader scale). You want to see things get real messed up, when the monetary system blows, it will get real interesting. When that happens, is anyone's guess and they can keep the game alive a lot longer than you think. You want to know how the system really works, read The Creature from Jekyll Island.

Bingo.

It's not authentic parenting, it's sham parenting. Look the whole point of being a parent is to raise an adult. To train a child in the way they should go in life, that includes teaching them to be good, kind, moral upstanding people. It includes teaching them to be self-reliant, independent, hard-working. It includes teaching them some hard lessons of life-b/c if they don't learn it from you they will learn it in the world. By doing what you suggest you are training a child to be a victim in life. Teaching a child that half the country hates them isn't authentic parenting, it's horrible parenting. 1st off, a child has no concept of "half the country", they will reinterpret that into "half the people I met hate me". Is that really the lesson you want to teach and train your child, that at least half the people they met in life "hate them". That automatically without even knowing me half the people I met hate me? You are ingraining hate, suspicion, and victim-hood into the child rather than Christlike love and independence. You are teaching a child to care more about what other people think about them rather than what they think about themselves and most importantly how God thinks of them. All I've got to say is good luck with that. I'm confident that at the end of the day, mine (if they make decent choices in life) will be much better prepared for life.

But this is exactly the wrong type of parenting. It promotes a victim mentality instead of an pro-active mentality. 1st off as a parent if you are telling a 10 year old that "half of America" hates you, Whiskey Tango . . . A child of 10 has absolutely no concept of "half of America", shoot most adults can't conceptualize that. In addition, it's not provable and most likely false. Do you really know that "half of America" hates you? Come on, that is hyperbole to the extreme. That is an example of instead of being an adult, being a child. Children conceptualize that everything is about them. And if as an adult you teach them that "half of America" hates them, you are teaching them that it is okay to continue to be a child into adulthood. I can flip that and teach my children that "half of America" hates them b/c they grew up Conservative. Give me a break. It's a logical fallacy. Regardless of their beliefs, they will find that if they treat others nicely, act like a decent human being, are a good neighbor that regardless of whether they are short, fat, black, LGBT, or whatever that people will like them. Sometimes it takes a little work to overcome natural biases, hey it's natural don't hate people b/c they are natural-prove them wrong. That is how you stop this idiotic victim mentality. This is what I dislike about the left, it has become an infantile mentality, where instead of learning how to be an adult, everyone must cater and feel "sorry" for them. Grow up.

And this embodies everything about why our country is going down the tubes. Parenting, or should I say that lack of it. The helicopter parent, the overenvolved parent, the parent that has to "protect" their child from everything to keep them "safe". This is why a generation after this crap started we now have "safe spaces" in colleges, because of crappy, wrong-headed parenting. Dude, your child is 10, their biggest concern should be about whether they get their homework done on time and who to play with at recess. Let them be a kid! In the process of being a kid they learn how to grow up. You teach them how to be an adult by setting the example, not by indulging in their childhood dramas and letting them figure it out for themselves.

Can I get an Amen! I refuse to be guilt-tripped into whatever crap the left wants me to believe that because I'm not [insert favorite social justice warrior xyz-privelege here] I just don't get it. Can I just say, people need to get over themselves. Yes, we are all born into different stations in life; I don't feel guilty b/c I was born in America vs. China. I feel grateful, blessed, honored, etc. but the last thing I feel is guilt. So whoever it is that wants me to feel "white" guilt or "white" privilege can just shove it. I got a solution for you, it's called taking pride in yourself, your culture and your upbringing. And that doesn't result in putting down of anyone, it doesn't require anyone to "understand" you. It's called growing up, being an adult and realizing that in life, unless they are your pastor/friend/family most people quite frankly couldn't give a rip about your problems. We are all just trying to make it in this life and we've all got our problems and part of being an adult is not burdening everyone else with one's problems. It's called manning up. This emotionally barraged social justice warrior/social Marxism crap has got to stop. Stop trying to make everyone else feel guilty b/c they don't "understand you".

Le sigh. This reaction I don't get. How does who has been elected President "invalid" your identity. Who I am, what I believe in etc. isn't tied to who is elected President . . .

At the national level yes, state level, not yet. I'm in a very red state, yet the establishment Rs are extremely corrupt (it is very bad). In general they are conservative, but they are more big government conservatives in the vein of Bush/McCain and I would love for them to all get thrown out of office. They hold a strangle-hold on any true limited government legislation getting passed. At the State level, the same 'ol corrupt crowd was re-elected-which I either voted against, voted Libertarian or didn't vote for them. They have done nothing but grow government to ever bigger levels and to take ever bigger control of people's lives.

If you mean no more conservative party in the sense of McCain and Bush, I say good riddance. We shall see what this new world brings . . .

Well that depends on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. I will say things got really, really interesting about 4 weeks ago. I believe that we came very, very close to losing the republic. I believe that with the Clinton Foundation, Clinton had established a network of individuals including major members of the news media, the DoJ, FBI, etc. that were in effect carrying out a soft coup attempt in the US. What changed? 2 things, I think wikileaks started alerting other high-powered individuals within the government that weren't part of this coup attempt about what was going on. I think some high powered people woke up to what was occurring right under their noses and started a major counter-coup attempt. I think there were former and current Generals and individuals inside the government who said enough-she ain't getting this. This was fought on social media and simply getting the word out. As much as I generally dislike Fox News, I think they were a major player in this counter-coup. The messaging after the 1st debate was very dark and it was amazing how many people's endorsement of Trump went completely underground. I think people started to get really worried if endorsing Trump might become dangerous in a Clinton administration. We slid down to cultural Marxism without even realizing what happened. But thanks to wikileaks and some very brave individuals who didn't cave to fear I think they fought enough to significantly damage Clinton to the point that it would be politically very hard for her coronation to go off without a hitch. Once that happened and the people in the know realized more and more how deadly, corrupt and dangerous Clinton was, I think it a 4 week sprint for the heart and soul of the country. But again that depends on how far down the rabbit hole one wants to go . . .

Unfortunately, Johnson became what I dislike about Republicrats in general. He tried to brand L as socially liberal and fiscally conservative (no, no and just no) and had Weld on the ticket who shilled for Hillary a couple of times. He was a much, much better candidate 4 years ago (had that Johnson showed up, I probably would have voted for him).

Probably the best view I've found from a libertarian perspective of the election. https://mises.org/library/jeff-deist-libertarian-view-election I think Jeff Deist does an excellent job at articulating where Johnson went wrong and what libertarianism needs to do at this junction.

We give a lot of homage to the Constitution, unfortunately the type of government it set up died a long, long time ago. The Constitution set up a stronger Central government to tie the individual nations of the colonies together under a common framework. The original design of the Constitution was to be more in the model of a European Union of sorts rather than a single all powerful nation. It's why so many of the great men of the Revolution ended up being governors and state reps. Congressmen and the President was in many respects seen as mostly do-nothing. It provided for the common defense (so each individual nation didn't have to fund it's own defense) and a framework so states would not war with each other. The Federal Government was seen as a framework to resolve differences among the individual nations rather than reach down into the states and dictate policy to individuals. It's why originally the Bill of Rights was seen as only applying to the Federal Government, not to states. The form of government that was inspired by God died many moons ago. It died when states lost their status as mini-nations, when states lost the ability to appoint Senators, it died more when the size of the House of Representatives became static. The vast majority of our current problems would be eliminated if the House were allowed to grow in proportion to the population. GW's size was 30k population per Rep. Sorry, the Constitution died a long time ago-we don't have a Republic now, we have an Empire and an "elected" King. I just look forward to the day when Christ comes and sets up His Kingdom, 'cuz the US has had it's day in the sun, it was weighed and found wanting.

Maybe Trump is immoral, maybe he is a pied piper. But I'm completely down with this: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/trump-details-ethics-reform-p If he is also the devil like Hillary then well we are screwed no matter what.

That's a really good question. I've got no clue. I still have to believe that there is some bit of respect for the rule of law, constitutional freedoms and justice left that maybe?

Just for the record. I did vote for Rand Paul!!!

Exactly. Wake up and smell the coffee folks! We just had a release of the Church's response to the Committee on Civil Rights. Quite frankly . . .what the devil. . . is in that report? Church's are a veneer for discrimination? Really, you write that in an official government documentation? Then you get stories like the below? People know that offering a bribe (especially in government) is illegal. Why would an under-Secretary risk bribing an FBI officer over stupid e-mails? Risk going to jail literally over a blasted e-mail? That makes no sense, none, none whatsoever. I feel like I'm in lalalalal land. It shouldn't be #NeverTrump, it should be #StopTheTakeover. Folks, I am terrified. If I just step back, evaluate this from a 30,000 foot view and think, think. . . just think folks, the stuff we are seeing is the stuff of movies of downright really scary crap. Just add it up. What the heck is going on? Why would you promote Trump? Why would you use private e-mails servers to communicate back and forth with each other using pseudonyms? I need someone to walk me back from the ledge. 3 weeks and I can say it's all a bad, bad dream. Come on people, please I am begging you walk me back from the ledge here. I need it for my sanity.

Now we have FBI released documents the document a quid pro quo for reclassification of e-mails from an Undersecretary of State: In return for altering the classification, the possibility of additional slots for the FBI at missions overseas was discussed Why would you do that? To protect Hillary. So we can go on and on about Trump and his alleged sexual misconduct and how someone who sleeps around and has issues with women would be a horrible president. But quite frankly which is the greater evil . . .to grope women (which while evil, impacts only the individuals), or a having in place a systemic decision among multiple people to ensure that Hillary is president. When Hillary said why isn't she 50 points ahead, I think the real question is, why does she have 45% of the vote? Instead of #NeverTrump, people were focusing on the wrong side. It should be #NeverHillary.

It's not that I think he is good, it's that I think we are at a very pivotal moment in American History. Let's just think this through here. Trump politically is unknown. Say people are right and he'd be a pompous jerk and break laws. If you think we have a legitimate functioning government of laws, then if he does something illegal he will be prosecuted. 4 years go by you elect someone else, big deal. If we have a legitimate functioning government then there is no way he could execute something like the "night of the long knives"? Just freaking impossible. If we don't have a legitimate functioning government, then you are scared that he gets in there and executes a "night of the long knives" or something like that? If you are worried about him doing something like that, then you are already admitting we do not have a legitimate functioning rule of law government. Our system of government is set up such that if things are working properly no one man can literally destroy the country. There are checks and balances on the judges, the congress, etc. all to make sure that power is diffused so no one man/women can bring it's downfall. If you are already worried that we don't have a legitimate functioning government that will bring people to justice if they commit crimes (as you worried about Trump) then do you really want to take a chance on her? For Clinton, we know her crimes, she is corrupt, there is no doubt about this-the e-mails prove it you just have to read them. Is it possible that she isn't just corrupt but deadly? Do you really want to take that chance? If this is the case then you have to forget how we got here (forget Trump winning, etc. Cruz, etc.), and only deal with how we can possibly ensure that someone so crooked never touches the White House. Again for me, I'll take the chance of a Trump presidency to stop someone so evil. Maybe he isn't any better-but if he isn't and we have a legitimate functioning rule of law government he will be brought to justice.

Bingo, There are really good people in government, but it's like the pot boiling. First one thing happens, then another, then another. A little corruption here, a little there. People inherently understand it is there but think well someone should stop them-they don't. Okay well if the people in charge didn't get stopped then that means what they did is okay. People get used to it and then it becomes accepted. It's a slow process (but can happen very, very quickly too). Those involved in it get more and more brazen in an attempt to keep control and power. Then boom in 5-10 years you look back and you think, what the heck has happened? How did we get here? Traveler, for the 1st time in my life I am actually really worried that it is getting close. There is some really weird stuff going on over the last 10 months. Stuff that makes me thing the line "The Revolution will not be Televised" is real. Rich Seth, Shawn Lucas. (oh and believe me the Rs are not innocent either). There is enough in the e-mails from what I've read (the vast majority are innocuous but the others they lay out a very nasty pattern and I'm talking crazy crap), that I think there is a high likelihood that Scalia was assassinated (and I have stayed away previously from conspiracy websites about that thing thinking "yeah right, come on that is just ludicrious. . . ."). Either the e-mail leaks are fake and put out by some entity (which the things I've read have a long enough track record and multiple layers that seem to track that it is hard to spoof it or fake it) or we are in for a massive crap storm. I honest to goodness hope I am wrong.

There is a problem with both parties (they are in bed together). But folks, I am really worried, more worried than my entire life that if Hillary gets in, it will be no kidding the end of the Republic. I have never in my life talked like this or thought like this about an election (and I've been around for plenty). Quite frankly, if I have the choice between the end of the Republic and someone who has stolen kisses and who may sexual assault women. I will 100% take the sexual predator over the end of the Republic every day of the week. Guys, I have not come to this conclusion based upon news media, upon conspiracy websites, pro-Trump websites, etc. While I have defended Trump in the past, I have said I would vote Johnson (up until recently). Please stop with the partisan politics for just a few minutes-leave it out and think! There is some very weird crap going on, stuff that if we as Americans saw it going on in say Chile you'd immediately know what is going on. . . .it's so obvious with a corrupt government. Based upon what I have personally read in the wikileaks e-mails (again not from conspiracy websites). I think if Hillary is elected, we will see an end to the Republic. I think this is a no kidding watershed moment in US history. Take out Trump, take out R/D (yes they are both in bed together), but do we as a nation want to continue as an independent Republic or not? I used to think the people on the news media saying this were just simply saying it to promote Trump this election cycle . . .no now I think it is absolutely real. This election isn't Trump vs. Clinton, this election is one for all the marbles. This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republic. Heaven above, I pray that I am really seriously wrong on this. If you will notice, I did not really start posting like this up until the past week (until I started reading the e-mails, most are innocuous, but several make you go what the .. .???). Quite frankly, I think there is a likelihood that if she is elected in my lifetime (and probably in the not to distant future) and time frame we will see the United States join a European Union like organization but for North America. If Trump is elected will it still happen maybe . . .heck if I know, but I am willing to take that chance. Maybe McMullin (even though I think he is in bed too) is the answer. I don't know . . .all I know is from what I've read, heaven help us if she is elected.

Exactly my point. Yes he seems ticked off (and that is a good thing), but we have documented proof of individuals being extremely duplicitous (the media mainly at this point) saying they are writing something only to give the impression that they are for Bernie and will then switch at a moments drop. So yes, it's not a smoking gun, but it is very curious. But start adding up all the curious stuff. But the bottom line is Hillary was never going to be prosecuted. Now maybe some people are okay with this. But I am telling you, I know for a fact what she did was illegal (anyone who has held a security clearance in the last 15 years easily knows they would go to jail for this). If the whole thing was just for show, for the appearance that we are doing something about it but we are really going to let her get off. To what lengths will these people go. We know of corruption, we know of disregarding laws, would they honest to goodness murder? Are we as a nation okay with that??

Blueskye in this instance, I do believe Ms. Taggart, but is stealing a kiss sexual assault?? She even mentions in the video that she mostly forgot about it b/c far worse has happened to her. This is hardly the smoking gun. Is it inappropriate, yes, but they guy didn't french her or grab her rear or chest, etc. Is it possible he has sexually assaulted women, yeah absolutely but we are all being played. I don't like Trump. Maybe he is a Thug and a pervert. But I am telling you, the more that I read directly from the wikileaks e-mails (this isn't some weird conspiracy website crap); the more that I am convinced that there is something very, very serious going on at the highest levels of government. All you need to do is go to DNC leaks on Reddit and start pouring through them. There is some very serious corruption. One e-mail doesn't do it, but if you read enough of them a pattern emerges (and this isn't a confirmation bias pattern, it is simply piecing together the story). Things like the Clinton's giving speeches and being paid 250k by Goldman Sachs. Then you read that the Clinton Foundation rents office building space from Goldman Sachs. Does the CF pay Goldman Sachs for office space and then Goldman Sachs pays Clinton for speeches (that sounds an awful lot like money laundering). Things like Qatar giving Bill Clinton a 1 million dollar birthday gift? Then reading that Qatar and Saudia Arabia are covertly funding ISIS. Things like "Friends of Bill" getting preferential treatment to companies who are vying for State Department funds to rebuild Haiti. Or an e-mail from Huma that talks about "bundlers" that list multiple generations of financial "bundlers" that include all the big names in the Democratic network. Which you want to know why Trump is a horrible candidate . . .it doesn't have to do with the sexual crap; it has to do with the fact that he does not have the Financial Backing network, he doesn't have a network of "bundlers" to help him. E-mails where she talks about "open borders" and a "hemispheric market", like downright crazy crap that almost implies a North American Union. I know, I know Trump loses b/c of the stupid "sexual pervert" crap. But my heaven's while everyone is focused on the emotional, banel, inconsequential aspects, they are missing the boat on the absolute level of evil and corruption. And folks, this isn't conspiracy crap-just read the blasted e-mails. I have voted 3rd party all my life except for 1 Presidential election. I have always been of the opinion that when people say "this is the most important election" they are full of crap. I will be voting for Trump-not b/c he is a moral person but b/c dang it, I've read the blasted leaked e-mails between the power elites. This isn't something that has been filtered down to me by some opinion writer or whatnot. I'm getting things directly from the source. For the first time in my life, I am legitimately genuinely afraid that if Hillary wins this election that it will be a watershed moment in American History. I am talking the absolute end of the Republic as we know it. I have never in my life felt that "this" election is the election that it ends-except for now. If she wins, I think it will literal be like 2nd world countries, where you vote but you instinctively know your vote doesn't really matter b/c it's already been decided. Folks, if you can have enough political pull and power to get the DOJ and the FBI to clear her of any criminal wrongdoing (and I'm telling you anyone who has worked in the intelligence business knows she should be in jail-b/c they most certainly would be), there is no end to the amount of political pull you can have as President. If she is elected Pres. you will see (you already see it), really, really weird crap happen. That if we as Americans saw it happen in Russia or in Chile, we'd all know it was politically orchestrated-we are talking political lies, stealing and yes even possibly murder. If you want to look into the soul of these people all you need to do is understand that the day of the mass murders in San Bernadino-John Podesta (Clinton's Campaign Chairman) was e-mailed a tweet by Christopher Hayes who announced that Sayeed Farouk was the shooter. He responded back: "Better if a guy named Sayeed Farouk was reporting that a guy named Christopher Hayes was the shooter." Who says that the day of a horrible mass shooting? They are pure evil. Trump may be a bad guy-but these folks are evil. But go ahead focus on the stupidity of alleged sexual assault while our Republic is being sold down the river.

No but if Trump's sister is adjudicating a court case that Trump is involved in then should should absolutely step aside. No but a friendly relationship has the potential to taint the decision making process, it's why people with integrity and honor recuse themselves from situations with potential conflicts of interest. Are you telling me that you see no potential conflict of interest when the Judge of one of the most important/newsworthy cases co-teaches a business class with the high-powered Chairman of the woman under investigation? And co-teaches that class during the course of the investigation? Blueskye2. I think you are a good person, I think most people are. I honestly believe most people do not understand or are unwilling to see the level of corruption going on at the highest levels of government.