Phoenix_person

If we're going to potentially send US citizens to this prison, as Trump himself has expressed desire to do, we need full transparency about the place we're sending them to. And yes, it's mostly a dumb photo op, kinda like when GOP politicians from places like Iowa go to Texas to take pictures with border patrol and call on Dems for better border security. And both parties seem to have very selective concern over the Uyghur genocide in China. It's the game of politics and selective outrage, and both parties play it. BTW, I've looked, and I can't find any documentation of Garcia's prior gang affiliation, aside from a single report from a dirty cop. The only gang ties anyone else has been able to make stem from the fact that he fled El Salvador to escape gang violence. He has no criminal record in either country. He was put through deportation proceedings in 2019 and was allowed to stay. So while it's true that he came here illegally, he was a legal resident for the last 6 years. The Trump administration admitted that he was erroneously detained and deported to a prison with a violent reputation, possibly filled with some of the very people he was fleeing in the first place. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/abrego-garcia-and-ms-13--what-do-we-know I don't like drug cartels or terrorists. I also don't like when people who preach about "rule of law" and "law and order" disappear people off the street and ship them to ruthless dictators to do the work we're too "noble" to do ourselves. It opens some very dangerous doors, and I doubt very much that it will stop with undocumented immigrants.

Agreed. I also believe that if we're going to send someone to a Central American death camp, we should be absolutely sure that they're actually guilty of what we're accusing them of. And it turns out I was likely wrong about due process not applying to non-citizens, according to the same Constitutional amendment that arguably should have prevented Trump from running a second time. Again, I agree. But again, we don't seem to be bothering to find out if these people are actually guilty of what we're accusing them of. And I don't know about you, but I'm not just going to take Trump's word for it. If we can justify ignoring the rule of law for non-citizens with legal status, how long before we're trying to justify doing so for citizens? Cool. Now imagine you're in your 20s and just started working on your 401k within the last 5 years. I don't think you'd be so confident in your nest egg. I didn't have a 401k until last year (not a lot of employers offer that in my former line of work, and I never had enough to justify trying to start my own). Let's just say I'm glad that the VA has my income sorted out for the forseeable future. You know I'm not one to make excuses for Democrats. Heck, I can't even fully blame Trump for the COVID crash. That would have happened with a Dem in office too.

The cuts at the VA were upsetting, but unsurprising. I'm also seeing a lot of frustration over widespread staff cuts at social security offices. Trump and Elon are playing a dangerous game by messing with the care and income of two of the GOP's most reliable demographics: veterans and seniors. And we haven't even seen yet what will happen to Medicaid under the Republican budget, but I imagine it will be hard to hit the goal of $800B+ in spending cuts without affecting Medicaid and SNAP, and some Republicans know it.

The fact that a Trump-friendly SCOTUS unanimously ordered his return to be facilitated, for starters. And we're not doing it because the president of El Salvador doesn't want to? I thought Trump was a master negotiator, art of the deal and all. And he's just going to cave to the dictator of a country the size of New Jersey? Trump is testing the limits of his power, and so far no one has done a very good job of stopping him. That may not concern you on your side of the fence, but it looks pretty terrifying from where I sit, especially given that Trump just yesterday floated the idea of extending deportations to legal US citizens. He wants to charge people with acts of terrorism for vandalizing cars, and his vindictiveness towards his political opponents has never been subtle. First they came for the illegal immigrants... Maybe I was just naive, but when I signed up to wear this country's uniform, I did so under the belief in American exceptionalism (I was 17, to be fair). We always prided ourselves on the fact that we are NOT North Korea, China, or Saudi Arabia and that even our allies couldn't match our civil liberties. I guess that's no longer the case. To be clear, I get the legal gist of what you're saying, and you're not wrong. My main issue isn't that non-citizen dissenters are being deported, it's that we're deporting a wide array of nondesirables to a place that supposedly makes Gitmo look like the Four Seasons. I don't think that's somethong we should be doing at all, but definitely not without due process. Yes, I know due process is for citizens (for now). But what we do with the least regarded of our residents speaks volumes about our values as a nation, and right now I'm deeply ashamed of where we are. But hey, at least the stock market has been stable and eggs are cheap again, right?

If it makes you feel better, there's a neo-Nazi teen currently in custody for murdering his parents and possibly planning an assassination attempt against Trump. https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/west/2025/04/14/nikita-casap-case-timeline-of-alleged-homicide-trump-assassination/83082191007/ As for other neo-Nazis (and antisemitic lefties, for that matter) hate speech is considered protected speech. I don't like it either, but if the cops can't arrest the Klan when they do their hate marches, then they can't arrest anti-IDF protesters either. Free speech and all. At least that's what Elon said when he unbanned all the Twitter Nazis. And no, far-right extremists don't side with Muslims. Most of them would be happy to see both sides annihilated and Jerusalem claimed for Christianity. Don't worry, I won't be blaming the fringe if things turn violent, not while our government is threatening immigration lawyers, deporting people to an El Salvadorean hellhole without due process, and just today demonstrated an unwillingness to abide by a unanimous SCOTUS decision that the administration should facilitate the return of a Maryland man who was wrongly sent to El Salvador. You want to know why peoples' hearts are turning violent against this president? There's your answer. To many people on the left, what he's doing is nearly indistinguishable from the early days of the Third Reich. I haven't quite made that leap yet, but as you can see, I'm keeping a close eye on stories related to how the administration is dealing with perceived threats to its power. And it's not looking great. I see no antisemitism here, unless protesting against genocide is antisemitic. Antisemitism is often a shield used to protect the Israeli government from valid criticism. That's how I interpret the message in that photo, and I'm inclined to agree with it. Being against Israel isn't the same as being against the Jewish people any more than me being against religion is the same as being against the religious. Again, I acknowledge that there's rhetoric on my side that I'm personally not completely okay with, and I think a lot of college students in particular haven't thought out their stances very well. University activists are usually well-meaning, but often misguided. And they're usually the ones who end up on CNN, unfortunately. In the face of genocide, though, I don't see a problem with directing harsh criticism towards Israel, and the rhetoric of some college kids doesn't change that. Israel has a country, a strong military, and the means to turn the entire Gaza Strip into glass (which some might argue is their likely end goal). I don't like antisemitism any more than you do, I promise. I just like genocide considerably less. Israel doesn't get a pass because it happened to them 80 years ago. The Palestinian people deserve better lives than Hamas or the Israeli government can give them, and it breaks my heart to see their pain minimized because someone at an Ivy League university said something mean about Jewish people.

That's true, to an extent. In San Antonio for instance, no one likes working at bars or restaurants in the Stone Oak or Alamo Heights areas. People get pre-conceived notions of their clientele based on experience working in different areas, but a good server will still give you a chance to prove that you're the exception to the rule. And ultimately, a good server treats all customers well regardless of how much they think they may get as a tip. True story, when I moved back from St Paul after my recovery, the only furniture I got from my ex was the bed I bought myself before we were married. I went to Savers and bought a recliner, an ugly but very comfortable reclining sofa, and a desk to put the TV on for a TOTAL of about $30. I value practicality and utility, not aesthetic.

You seem to be drawing political correlation based on circustance, not data. I won't deny that there are fringe groups on my side who crossed the line to antisemitism, but it was swelling on the far right in a big way prior to 10/7. I don't imagine that's changed just because we have a new president. If you have something more than a wiki article linking the rise in antisemitism to leftists specifically and exclusively, I'd love to see it.

We use our regulars as an observation group. You learn who has money and who doesn't and how they like to spend it. It's also possible that servers get to know their regular customers fairly well. Servers that adjust their quality of service based on the customer's perceived financial status tend to not last long in the service industry, and the richer folks that tip well often tip VERY well (Gregg Popovich is notorious in San Antonio for leaving $1000 tips at low-key establishments).

Criticism of the IDF and Israeli government isn't antisemitism, and that's most of what I see on my side of the fence. I also see plenty of left-leaning Jewish Americans speaking out against Netanyahu and the IDF. The group of lefty organizers I affiliate with has rabbis, imams, and pastors working side-by-side. Sometimes literally.

I have frequently seen people near poverty part with small amounts of money to help people whom they felt had a greater need for it. And anyone in the service industry will tell you that poor people always tip better than wealthier folks. A lot of poor people understand that community doesn't have monetary value, and so they aren't above parting with a few dollars for the good of their community when they can spare a bit.

The guitar industry is the same way, but they DO sue. Fender and Gibson have been suing each other for decades, and they'll both sue anyone whose Strat or Les Paul clone gets a little too popular (with mixed results; PRS had to stop making their LP-style single-cut for a year, but then won an appeal). You hear "pre-lawsuit" quite a bit when talking about vintage guitars.

If bullets aren't the answer to corporate excess (I fully agree) but taxing people into net worths with 9 digits instead of 10 or 11 is tyranny, then what's the best way to get poor people off of government subsidies? The idea that corporations will invest tax breaks into domestic labor instead of stock buybacks is shaky at best. That's always been the theory, but how well has it worked out in practice? I ask these questions because the people who favor guns and guillotines are getting louder, and I don't want them to have their way any more than you do. But I don't see a way of avoiding that outcome without some concessions being made by those with the most wealth to part with. And again, the states that see the highest rates of SNAP and MEDICAID spending generally aren't the ones run by Dems.

As a nation, I think we took several steps back when we started slashing taxes for the wealthy in the 80s (a precedent Trump was elected specifically to continue). I think undoing that harm may not be fully possible without significant additional economic hardship, and whenever economic hardship rolls around, it's always the poor who hurt the most. I'm far from an expert on liberal economics, but I think the general idea is to try to undo past harm by squeezing from the top for once. If you look at the dependency on federal revenue of worker-friendly blue states compared to more business-friendly red states, it paints an interesting picture. A map showing the disbursement of SNAP and Medicaid funds will look similar, which would suggest that maybe federal taxes are subsidizing poor labor practices in red states. Actually, we can drop the "maybe". Bernie created a government commission to find out what the cost of low wages is to the American taxpayer. https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/walmart-mcdonalds-largest-employers-snap-medicaid-recipients

As I keep having to remind you, I am not a Democrat, and America's mainstream left wing is one of the most conservative left wing parties in the world. I'm sure I could find several from Trump's first term. When it comes to economic matters, I listen to economists, not politicians. A lot of economists, even some of the more conservative ones, are saying that Trump's tariffs are ill-conceived and will bring a recession if he doesn't back off of them. Trump's own rhetoric backs that idea, with him repeatedly promising that the end result will justify short-term economic pain. https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-says-americans-could-feel-pain-trade-war-with-mexico-canada-china-2025-02-02/ I know several Trump voters who expected more immediate economic relief from the inflation-driven price hikes under Biden. I'm not sure how patient they're going to be if he hasn't delivered by the time midterms roll around.

I disagree with Bernie here, for the reason I named above. Tariffs can only protect domestic industries that are 100% reliant on domestic logistical support, and those are rare these days.

Re: automotive tariffs, it's important to keep in mind that most "American-made" cars are assembled in the US, but various parts of the car will come from other countries, including Mexico and Canada. Domestic manufacturing relies heavily on international commerce, in the auto industry and many others as well. That's not exactly something Trump (or anyone else) can change overnight, or even in 4 years. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2025/03/29/made-in-america-cars-impacted-by-tariffs/82690031007/

Would you want to give two senators to a state with half the population of Green Bay, Wisconsin?

As I said, I've never worked any place where qualifications would be a deal-breaker. The thing is, DEI specifically was never strictly about hiring practices, that was affirmative action. The latter was a precursor to the former. DEI sought to ensure that hiring practices were fair and that the people who were hired were treated fairly and set up for success. As you said, it wasn't a perfect system in practice. But in a country that still has some very racist pockets and that is trying to erase an entire demographic of 2M+ people (the trans community), I think there's still a need for DEI. You may not agree with trans people being trans, but I would hope that you can agree that being trans shouldn't be a barrier in obtaining or keeping a job that the person is fully qualified for. DEI exists to protect the most vulnerable among us, which might be why people from privilege struggle to see its value. I guess I'm just not seeing the reasoning behind axing DEI altogether instead of trying to reform it. I think both sides of the aisle get overly stuck in "all or nothing" thinking sometimes, and it's giving some of us whiplash.

You should ask Minneapolis leftists what they think of Tim Walz. Some of the answers may surprise you. My impression of the Dem response to George Floyd was that they wanted solidarity and justice without violence. There were far more cities (like mine) with peaceful protests led/attended by local political figures than there were ones that saw violence, and I never saw any Dems condoning or encouraging the violent protests. I've seen elected Republicans push hateful WRT-fueled views. Yes, the photo above is cringe-worthy. I wouldn't call it hateful, personally. Pandering, absolutely. And maybe that's all the Gab folks were doing. Personally, I don't trust people who pander to racists and nazis. Can you be more specific? Cringe-worthy, to say the least. But I don't know that I'd compare it to people pandering to literal Nazis. This place isn't hateful or a cesspool, but it does stress me out sometimes. 😅

I'll concede your point on this one. I'm not going back for screengrabs, and it's been over 3 years since I've been active there. I was there to stir the pot. The politicians I saw there were not. That much was clear to me. If you want more than that, feel free to swim in the cesspool yourself. As for me, I'm perfectly capable of observing when political figures are overly welcome in nazi spaces and when they are not. I don't expect you to take my word for it, but that's going to be all you get from me. I turned my back on that particular online activity for a reason. That place is vile, hateful, and not worth my time. But I know what I observed there. Sometimes you have to get in the mud to see the dirt. I'm done playing in mud.

This might be a tomato tomahto thing, but I'm curious what you would call it. Reaganomics was about more than tax cuts, sure, but the tax cuts were a crucial part of it.

I'm not sure that I quite understand what you're asking. If I've ever found myself spread thin at work in the past, it's been because of a lack of qualified employees and completely unrelated to DEI. This was highlighted during COVID when a lot of service industry workers left the industry altogether. People burn out easily in that line of work when there isn't a global pandemic. The restaurant I worked at ended up hiring virtually anyone who'd ever worked a summer job at McDonald's. It was messy, but restaurant work often is. At my most recent job at the now-shuttered Spectrum call center in town, *I* was the DEI hire. I had no prior experience or qualifications for that job, they were clearly trying to fill a quota for veteran hiring. To their credit, they had an excellent training program, and I think I could have done well there. I ended up leaving because the promise of a schedule more favorable to seeing my son ended up being fruitless, and it turns out I would have been laid off anyway. FWIW though, that was culturally one of the best workplaces I've been in, lots of terrific people from a very wide range of backgrounds. I just wish the hours had been more favorable. It's hard to justify less time with my son for a job when I already get $4k/mo from the VA. Keep in mind, I've never worked a job where a college degree was required (because I don't have one). A lot of the work I've done in the past can be taught to virtually anyone with a GED and a decent head on their shoulders. As I said, work shortages in my workplaces were usually related to lack of applicants.

Also, now that I think about it, one of the elected officials over there on Gab is none other than Trump's favorite frat boy, Matt Gaetz. Those fringe extremists were a sealed ethics report away from having an AG in their pocket.

You don't think internet Nazis have day jobs? And as I said, the reason Gab had my attention at all is because it had attracted elected officials and Trump chums like Roger Stone. If your congressman or state senator was hanging out in Nazi cesspools, I assume you'd have thoughts on that, correct?