Voter concerns vs. media concerns...quite revealing

[SaltyTiger 7,764]

1 hour ago, icanthearyou said:

 

It isn't really an either/or situation.  We have to address both.  We have drifted far too close to fascism,,, again.  The danger of unfettered capitalism.

When did we start drifting?

[SaltyTiger 7,764]

1 hour ago, wcware said:

I’m just going to say what I think I saw happen using just my common sense and no research. It looked like a bunch of idiots marched to the Capitol not really knowing what they were going to do when they got there. When they got there, they meet no resistance and were let into the building. Why? Why weren’t they all shot if they were going to overthrow the government. They should have been if that was their intention. It looked like they were allowed to do what they did, so that the other side could use it as political ammunition later on. I can’t stand either side. 2 wings of the same bird all putting on a theater instead of protecting and leading this country. Shame on everyone. I’m sure everyone will tell me how stupid I am but that is what my simple mind saw. The show continues on today.

Congratulations on your personal battle and landing with “common sense”. Great hopes for your future. Post here more and often.

[BizTiger 242]

3 hours ago, SaltyTiger said:

Perhaps it is more important to you and maybe me. Not much of anything trumps economic concerns of people struggling.

I just love how everybody's in a $400k household during an election season and scared of the Big Bad Democrat Tax on rich folks, now all of a sudden everybody's "struggling" when gas prices double. Which one is it?

[SaltyTiger 7,764]

3 minutes ago, BizTiger said:

I just love how everybody's in a $400k household during an election season and scared of the Big Bad Democrat Tax on rich folks, now all of a sudden everybody's "struggling" when gas prices double. Which one is it?

What are you saying?

[BizTiger 242]

4 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

What are you saying?

I'm saying that many people use "tax increases" as a reason to be anti-Democrat, when they aren't even close to the targeted tax bracket.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

Who the bloody hell was talking about tax increases? Pretty much every gotdamned thing that a family needs on a daily basis is increasing in cost at a rate that is outstripping any sort of ability of a paycheck to keep up. (y/y is year to year change).

Let's hamstring our own ability to produce and refine oil, though, and go beg the Saudis to send us more...🤢

 

[wdefromtx 3,159]

The fact that people here think that the 1/6 hearing is the most important thing on peoples minds right now is……well . 

[SaltyTiger 7,764]

36 minutes ago, wdefromtx said:

The fact that people here think that the 1/6 hearing is the most important thing on peoples minds right now is……well . 

Do you feel we have drifted far too close to fascism? 

[wdefromtx 3,159]

10 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

Do you feel we have drifted far too close to fascism? 

We haven’t drifted anywhere except the abyss of a government that really doesn’t give a damn about the working class. 

[AUFAN78 3,890]

12 hours ago, icanthearyou said:

Could there be any motive to preserve democracy? 

Has one party, by deed, shown us their answer to a dysfunctional government, to take over by force and, install THEIR leader?  To defy democracy?

Is democracy important?

[homersapien 11,354]

On 6/10/2022 at 9:06 PM, wdefromtx said:

The fact that people here think that the 1/6 hearing is the most important thing on peoples minds right now is……well . 

So you're OK with letting 1-6  happen again in 2024, only bigger and more effectively?

I've also got a lot on my plate in terms of problems but that doesn't mean I think we'll have a better future by abandoning the rule of law and founding democratic principles that actually make our system work - like the peaceful transition of power.

If you don't understand that then you need to direct the to the mirror. 

The economy will recover, our democratic system may not.  After all, it ultimately depends on entirely on trust and respect for the rule of law.

It's amazing to me how so many millions of Americans are willing to throw it all away for a crooked huckster.  Many of them continue to send him small donations which go right into his pocket.  It's pathetic.

Edited June 22, 2022 by homersapien

[wdefromtx 3,159]

3 hours ago, homersapien said:

So you're OK with letting 1-6 it happen again in 2024, only bigger and more effectively?

I've also got a lot on my plate in terms of problems but that doesn't mean I think we'll have a better future by abandoning the rule of law and founding democratic principles that actually make our system work - like the peaceful transition of power.

If you don't understand that then you need to direct the to the mirror.  The economy will recover, our democratic system may not.  After all, it ultimately depends on entirely on trust and respect for the rule of law.

I have more faith in how our government is set up than you apparently. The idiots that stormed the capital should be prosecuted for trespassing, destruction of government property, etc. 

But the 1/6 hearings don’t even crack my top 5 concerns…

I, like most middle class Americans with families are more concerned with keeping up with the rising cost of everything, the economy crashing, etc. 

[SaturdayGT 719]

On 6/9/2022 at 11:30 AM, icanthearyou said:

What the media reports is of little consequence.  Unless, we believe that they are "educating" us.

The problem is not the media.  The problem is the blurred (erased) line between information and entertainment, news and propaganda.

 

The media has educated more than probably any of us know...we live in a time...more than any other time in American history, where we need to question every friggin thing....I feel th BS to truth ratio is skewed horribly. ...I cant say for what percent,  but I think we are in scarier times than many know.....what was the saying?..we may feel we know a lot, but what may know is simply untrue. ..just a bunch of false facts to fit an agenda....this isn't something I've just come up with either....I know a former CIA agent who couldn't go into details,  but lots of us are BS smart...the real truth is probably way beyond us....

[icanthearyou 4,462]

2 minutes ago, SaturdayGT said:

The media has educated more than probably any of us know...we live in a time...more than any other time in American history, where we need to question every friggin thing....I feel th BS to truth ratio is skewed horribly. ...I cant say for what percent,  but I think we are in scarier times than many know.....what was the saying?..we may feel we know a lot, but what may know is simply untrue. ..just a bunch of false facts to fit an agenda....this isn't something I've just come up with either....I know a former CIA agent who couldn't go into details,  but lots of us are BS smart...the real truth is probably way beyond us....

Agree, although I would not use the word "educated".  If you take all you know to be true, that is true,,, then, subtract all you know to be true which is actually false,,, the number of "truths" may be negative.  Net negative intelligence.

We have many people who will believe lies even when they see/hear those lies contradicted.  Many cannot separate the emotional mind from the rational mind.

 

[AU9377 4,914]

On 6/8/2022 at 5:25 PM, SLAG-91 said:

The "unwashed masses" being primarily concerned about things very close to home (economy, safety, education), and the bloviating media being overly concerned about wedge issues...disappointing, but unsurprising. The wedge issues pay their freight.

It shouldn't be a surprise to the legacy media that more than a few folks really don't have much use for them. Any of them. They, along with many of our congress critters, really don't give a peanut-laden poop about us.

To quote a former Fox "News" political editor, fired after he decided to call Arizona for Biden,  his experience showed him "how much television — the perceptions of events of television as entertainment, news as entertainment, and treating it like a sport — had really damaged the capacity of Americans to be good citizens in a republic because they confused the TV show with the real thing." 

Fox was more concerned about making their viewers happy than about reporting facts.

[AU9377 4,914]

On 6/12/2022 at 6:46 PM, wdefromtx said:

I have more faith in how our government is set up than you apparently. The idiots that stormed the capital should be prosecuted for trespassing, destruction of government property, etc. 

But the 1/6 hearings don’t even crack my top 5 concerns…

I, like most middle class Americans with families are more concerned with keeping up with the rising cost of everything, the economy crashing, etc. 

In other words, give me cheaper gas and make sure that prices for things that make life easier don't continue to rise and you can do whatever you want in Washington D.C.?

That is the view of many.  We just have to be careful and not cut our nose off to spite our face.

[icanthearyou 4,462]

48 minutes ago, AU9377 said:

To quote a former Fox "News" political editor, fired after he decided to call Arizona for Biden,  his experience showed him "how much television — the perceptions of events of television as entertainment, news as entertainment, and treating it like a sport — had really damaged the capacity of Americans to be good citizens in a republic because they confused the TV show with the real thing." 

Fox was more concerned about making their viewers happy than about reporting facts.

Fox is the voice of fascism.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

Just now, AU9377 said:

In other words, give me cheaper gas and make sure that prices for things that make life easier don't continue to rise and you can do whatever you want in Washington D.C.?

That is the view of many.  We just have to be careful and not cut our nose off to spite our face.

Whoever these mysterious "many" are that think you can "do whatever you want in Washington D.C.", I don't think they're on here. Anyone who thinks that nothing should happen to any of the LARPing morons at the Capitol is just as stupid as someone who thinks that the shirtless buffalo shaman dude and his merry band of idiots were on the verge of becoming the leaders of the free world.

And yes, people vote with their pocketbooks. Maslow's hierarchy...if you can't take care of the basics, anything higher up the ladder doesn't really mean s***. Satisfied people don't move the media interest needle, though. That's boring.

The media thinks all of these identity politics issues are important because that's what generates clicks and keeps the outrage meter pegged at maximum. It's utterly exhausting, but it keeps THEIR bills paid.

[homersapien 11,354]

2 hours ago, AU9377 said:

In other words, give me cheaper gas and make sure that prices for things that make life easier don't continue to rise and you can do whatever you want in Washington D.C.?

That is the view of many.  We just have to be careful and not cut our nose off to spite our face.

I am starting to think we are going to allow Putin to win in Ukraine for that very reason.

Gas prices have way more to do with Putin - and the oil companies - than any Biden policy. 

But MAGAs totally believe Biden is directly responsible, simply because that's what they want to believe and they are too full of hate to reason it through.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

3 hours ago, AU9377 said:

In other words, give me cheaper gas and make sure that prices for things that make life easier don't continue to rise and you can do whatever you want in Washington D.C.?

That is the view of many.  We just have to be careful and not cut our nose off to spite our face.

Nice way of spinning things. I was never worried about our democracy, it will prevail. Whatever they decide needs to happen because of 1/6, let it happen. But, I don't lose sleep at night worrying that Trump was ever going to pull it off or that it will happen in the future. 

However, I am more concerned with inflation and how high is it going to go and impact my family. 

[jj3jordan 2,040]

1 hour ago, homersapien said:

I am starting to think we are going to allow Putin to win in Ukraine for that very reason.

Gas prices have way more to do with Putin - and the oil companies - than any Biden policy. 

But MAGAs totally believe Biden is directly responsible, simply because that's what they want to believe and they are too full of hate to reason it through.

Wasn’t Trump was directly responsible for pretty much everything that happened while he was president? (Except for good things that was Obama coattails). Pretty sure that was the philosophy of the left from ‘16-‘20.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

Kinda surprised monkeypox isn't among the media's top concerns...🙄

[AU9377 4,914]

On 6/14/2022 at 2:40 PM, wdefromtx said:

Nice way of spinning things. I was never worried about our democracy, it will prevail. Whatever they decide needs to happen because of 1/6, let it happen. But, I don't lose sleep at night worrying that Trump was ever going to pull it off or that it will happen in the future. 

However, I am more concerned with inflation and how high is it going to go and impact my family. 

Elections are always about the economy, as Hillary Clinton pointed out in 1992.    As educated people, we should be able to discuss the causes of record gas prices and inflation without resorting to simply acting as though there are magic levers in the White House that can be manipulated to control either.  Was George W. Bush responsible for the greed that drove the mortgage loan crisis at the end of his second term?  No, but he was President when it all came crashing down.

What did Biden do that Trump would not have done had he won re-election that caused inflation to soar and gas prices to get to where they are?  There is nothing that can be precisely identified, because there is nothing.  Trump was in favor of more stimulus, he stated that multiple times.  After all, it was during his term that corporate taxes were slashed and a temporary tax cut for individuals was passed.  Those cuts infused much more money into the economy than any stimulus payment given to individuals during Covid.  What happens when money is infused and interest is at record lows?  Inflation happens.  Add to that supply chain issues that resulted from Covid and our dependence on Chinese manufacturing and the result is super inflation.

American consumers can do their part to bring down prices, but we are a spoiled bunch that appears to be willing and able to pay whatever the cost rather than do without any luxury we are accustomed to having.   For example, the cost of steak wouldn't be near what it is if there was product being thrown out due to people being unwilling to pay the price asked.  There are many other examples.

The housing market has produced wealth for people at unprecedented levels.  Housing prices won't sustain themselves and can only be sustained if money is cheap to borrow and banks are willing to make loans to borrowers that are on the fringes of being able to afford the payments.  In other words, if you have sold a home and realized a massive profit on the sale, you can thank the government for making that possible.

Parts of our economy are much more inter related than most people realize.  So many have this vision of America as an example of capitalism working.  It is anything but that.  Instead, it is an example of what must be done in order to maintain capitalism and the hybrid economy that is created.

[DKW 86 7,411]

On 6/14/2022 at 9:53 AM, AU9377 said:

In other words, give me cheaper gas and make sure that prices for things that make life easier don't continue to rise and you can do whatever you want in Washington D.C.?

That is the view of many.  We just have to be careful and not cut our nose off to spite our face.

I think what he really said was far more: Don’t ask me to pay attention to what are ethereal things when I am trying to just keep a roof over my and my family’s head, food on the table and have a little fun in an otherwise dreadful life. 

[icanthearyou 4,462]

45 minutes ago, DKW 86 said:

I think what he really said was far more: Don’t ask me to pay attention to what are ethereal things when I am trying to just keep a roof over my and my family’s head, food on the table and have a little fun in an otherwise dreadful life. 

Wow.  What can I do to help.