I totally agree. However, from this side of the 49th, I don’t see any meaningful discussion taking place or even any desire, particularly on the part of the left, to enter into one. Phony impeachments don’t hack it.
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I’ve maintained that there are a couple of ‘levels’ of discussion here.
Level 1 - I’ll call it ‘micro’ not because it is small, but because it deals with the multitude of issues that everyone beings up - taxes, gays, guns, violence, jobs, immigration. All of those and more are of course important.
Level 2 - Macro - has to do with the conditions under which we can discuss the micro issues freely and openly. IOW a Free Society.
Level 2 is at huge risk imo. The Left (not liberals, necessarily) are in fact trying to fundamentally rob us of our freedoms (speech, bearing arms, impeachment) and change America, and they point to micro issues as the reason they are upset.
I find that not to be true. We do not have to give up a free country in order to solve problems - and we cannot solve all of them, let’s be realistic.
Solving micro issues by ruining the society that makes it possible to freely discuss those issues is insanity.
Trump is keeping us free. Obama tried to ruin that, imo, and Hillary - OMG - and ANY of the front-runners in the Dem party - while they talk about the micro issues, their solutions are are utterly to the detriment of the American people as a whole.
Since macro is the level I’m concerned about until after the election, and those on the left are not willing to dialogue about Trump (will not respond to repeated calls to show good faith and fairness by acknowledging that he has done some great things for America, and that he is in fact keeping or trying to keep his promises - that WE voted on - there is no dialogue possible. Again, IMO.
Eventually the Left will ‘win’ - entropy is the basic universal law after all - but I think we should try to hold off on that as long as possible.
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A tad pessimistic, Dave, but probably true. Sorry guys, I likely won’t be around when it happens. I feel sadness for my numerous offspring who will still be around when it does. My hope is that the Lord will be there for them. I am sure He will. As the Heidelberg catechism puts it, and as my children were taught and will hopefully remember:
What is your only comfort in life and death?
That I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head;
Indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.
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…
Should conservatives be allowed to speak on college campuses
Should conservatives be discriminated against for wanting to teach at public colleges
Should children be free from drag queens doing story hour
Should children be given puberty blockers
Should npr and the bbc too - be funded publicly when they are full of bias
Should an old man be free to walk in public without being almost killed by Antifa - and the cops told to Stand Down and watch - as in Portland?
Should Andy Ngo be free to walk without Antifa beating him senseless
Should law-abiding citizens be allowed to protect their families with legal firearms
Should the 60 million dead infants have been allowed to live
Should children be free to hear the true history of the US, and not the biased history of the Leftists
Should people be allowed to find their own health care
Should we really - pay ‘reparations’ to the great granchildren of slaves and Native Americans
Should we allow uncontrolled immigration, free healthcare to illegal immigrants, free education to the same , at taxpayer expense, and at the expense of our culture
Should we dissolve the Salvation Army and put Chick-Fil-A out of business while we do
I could go on and on - but I know we hate lists - listing Leftist stupidity (at best).
Should we make the entire nation ‘green’ at a cost of 60 billion dollars - actually much much more
Should we take money from well-off people to fund those that will not work
Should we handicap the military by forcing them to take Trans people?
Should we penalize those who will not use the ‘pronouns’ a Trans person demands? Alter our language and the attendant morality for that purpose
Should we allow Google to sway the elections
etc etc…
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One example of needing real debate on our profound foreign policy challenges is the fallout of supporting Iraq and desperately needing to kill the vicious threat Suleimani represented to our efforts. Besides uniting divided Iranians behind unpopular leaders, the fallout of Bush entering Iraq (that Trump correctly criticized) is that it tends to further drive Shiite Iraq into an even more firm alliance with our own central opponent, Iran.
(Oh, that we could have do-overs about bringing down Iraq’s evil leader)
The “left” won in some places but were overthrown like the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries and Brazil and Bolivia and soon Venezuela so it is not inevitable.
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You’re right. I’m too pessimistic by nature.
Dave and Steve (along with other, Trump fans here):
If you look at this YouTube video, they show some middle-aged and older men. And they are on golf carts, motorcycles, etc. - with their Trumpy Bear. So I got to know. Did you guys order your Trumpy Bear? 
If you are not wakeful, anyone can push the button in you and you will burst in anger or suppressed irritation. Old patterns of negative emotions surface only if you have not yet given enough priority to practice of mindfulness and meditation with all earnestness to calm your inner world. Bodhi
My wife is my Trumpy bear!
This is from today’s Patheos’ Catholic newsletter.
Were they outraged over Obama’s numerous drone strikes on terrorists or was that done more secretly so it was acceptable?
They seem sympathetic toward Iran’s need for revenge because Trump struck “first” but Iran proxies had just struck at our Diplomatic embassy compound and could have caused another Bengazi. Also Iran shot down out drone and attacked ships in the Gulf recently and attacked Saudi oil fields through their proxies. No mention of these preceding events?? Why not?
Are they not aware of it? Was it OK? Or is it another opportunity to bash Trump for the 1000th time?
No doubt the Dems will want to impeach Trump for this too! Why not?
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I think it’s all about Trump. Obama had hundreds more drone attacks, Bush had more than Trump also - it’s all political.
Iran does not need an excuse to retaliate - they are the world center of terrorism, for cryin’ out loud, and this guy was at the center of that. Good riddance. Maybe now we can get out of Iraq.
This article and Dr. Eric Reitan explain why looking to military solutions in the Middle East is so frustrating, as well as Jesus’ reasoning that the way of the sword often shoots us in the foot.
" “It was America that has started the war. Therefore, they should accept appropriate reactions to their actions,” Iran said. “The only thing that can end this period of war is for the Americans to receive a blow that is equal to the blow they have inflicted. Afterward they should not seek a new cycle.”
In other words, Iran sees the killing of Soleimani as an act of unprovoked aggression–an act of war–against Iran that demands a proportional response, which they intend to inflict on US military targets to “balance” the scales. From their standpoint, that retaliatory strike would end it. And they announce here that they don’t want war even as they prepare to strike.
But of course the US will not treat any such strike as the end of it, but as an attack that demands a response. And so they will strike back. And Iran will see that as a new act of US aggression that demands a response.
Unless one side or both find a way to break away from this script, the result will then drive an escalating spiral of violence, culminating in a major war that, given Iran’s military and its alliances, has the potential to be far more costly than any war the US has fought in my lifetime. So the question is, Will we find a way to shake off that script? Will one side provide the other with a face-saving way to take de-escalating steps? Or will either listen to a third party that might do the same?
Did Reitan just stroll out of his cave that he must live in. I would list Iran’s terrorist actions prior to this but I can’t spare a few hours so suffice it to say that there comes a time when a pre-emptive action is in reality a defensive action and it was our “intelligence” that proposed this to Trump, the same intelligence the Dems claimed is virtually infallible when Trump does not follow them.
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You appear confused and miss Reitan’s whole argument. He’s not defending the Iranian’s view at all!
As always, Scott Jennings is gold in explaining why conservatives still support Trump.
POMPEO: Boy, it’s really something to hear the vice-president from the previous administration be critical of this administration’s policy of Iran. We’re having to clean up their mess, George. We’ll do everything required under the law to bring us into compliance with all the relevant constitutional legal provisions with respect to our duties to the legislative branch.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Does that mean you’ll seek new authorizations or no?
POMPEO: We have all the authority we need to do what we’ve done to date. We will continue to do things appropriately, lawfully, and constitutionally. George, we’ve been consistent about that. There’s no reason to expect we’d do anything different going forward.
Wallace asked, “Is the president pulling us out of endless wars in the Middle East, or with his action this week, did he take a big step back in?”
Pompeo said, “Endless wars are the direct result of weakness, and President Trump will never let that happen. We are going to get our facilities as hardened as we can possibly get them to defend against what Iran may potentially do, but make no mistake, America’s mission is to have our footprint in the Middle East reduced while still keeping America safe. Safe from rogue regimes like the Islamic Republic of Iran and from terrorist activity broadly throughout the region.”
Wallace asked. “So is it fair to say that while the big strategy is to pull the U.S. out of endless wars, at least in the short term, there could be more of a commitment?”
Pompeo said, “The Obama Administration created an enormous risk to the American people in Iran. This administration is working to reduce that risk.”
Only time will tell if killing one of Iran’s very evil leaders leads to more security. Initial indications that Iran will now develop a nuclear weapon and that Iraq will expel our forces, suggests how messy are the decisions we face in making the Middle East safer.