Merkins 2016 - Page 2

lostsheep · 11-15-2014, 08:15 PM

Sigh.

Smellyoldgit · 12-16-2014, 11:59 AM

Oh lordy fuck - do we have a serious bidder from deep within the bowels of the Dynasty from Hell?

Quote:

Jeb Bush, brother to former US President George W Bush, has announced he himself is looking into running for president in 2016.

Whilst his IQ is surely at least three times that of the terminally retarded Dubya, would he really be able to off-load the baggage of the previous rethuglican, warmongering banker's mates? Or is this opening the door a bit further for Lady Clinton ....

Davin · 12-16-2014, 02:19 PM

I don't think this country is ready for a president named Jeb.

Smellyoldgit · 12-16-2014, 02:33 PM

Let's hope I don't have to come back & quote you on this!

lostsheep · 12-16-2014, 11:28 PM

In my paranoid pessimist view, Jeb will run against Hillary in a hilarious dog and pony show down. The public will be strongly polarized with these two candidates, which is great for the media biz, and for the parties to keep sucking money from donors, rich and poor alike. People will come out to vote and it will look like an honest to goodness democracy...but that will be a lie.

Kate · 12-17-2014, 08:32 AM

ghoulslime · 12-17-2014, 08:46 PM

Quote:

lostsheep wrote

In my paranoid pessimist view, Jeb will run against Hillary in a hilarious dog and pony show down. The public will be strongly polarized with these two candidates, which is great for the media biz, and for the parties to keep sucking money from donors, rich and poor alike. People will come out to vote and it will look like an honest to goodness democracy...but that will be a lie.

Yep! That is pretty much the size of it, sister! I think a realistic goal is to simply accept that the world is broken way beyond our ability to fix in the remaining time allotted to our mortal existence, and try to find a small facet of our world where we can find some semblance of happiness. Find that which makes you happy, and pursue the hell out of it, because that's pretty much all we get out of life.

lostsheep · 01-12-2015, 09:48 PM

Quote:

ghoulslime wrote

Yep! That is pretty much the size of it, sister! I think a realistic goal is to simply accept that the world is broken way beyond our ability to fix in the remaining time allotted to our mortal existence, and try to find a small facet of our world where we can find some semblance of happiness. Find that which makes you happy, and pursue the hell out of it, because that's pretty much all we get out of life.

Very wise advice, Ghoulie!!!!

However I am in need of some serious pic me up after viewing a video of a man apparently sodimized by a tazer to death by a group of police in a jail in LA. I will be shocked if they are ever brought to trial, let alone convicted.

Kinich Ahau · 01-12-2015, 10:49 PM

That's disgusting, we've had our share of taser deaths here in oz, nothing as bizarre as that, still we've had a few cases of already subdued suspects being tazered 20\30 times. You get the feeling that any sadistic cops out there think it is a toy designed for their pleasure.

Sinfidel · 01-12-2015, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Kinich Ahau wrote

That's disgusting, we've had our share of taser deaths here in oz, nothing as bizarre as that, still we've had a few cases of already subdued suspects being tazered 20\30 times. You get the feeling that any sadistic cops out there think it is a toy designed for their pleasure.

Tasers were ostensibly to provide a means of subduing a troublemaker without resorting to a fatal shooting. Tasering lost that PR image when police repeatedly tasered a man in a Vancouver Airport until he died. He was, IIRC, a Polish immigrant, confused and frustrated in a strange airport, unable to find those supposed to meet him,, and unable to find anyone who spoke his language and who could help him, finally lost it, and expressed his frustration and anger.
Since then, police here apparently keep tasers locked in the desk drawer of supervisors as an interesting high tech gadget, so that the boys on the beat, like bear, moose and deer hunters, can enjoy that awesome power of taking a life by conventional firearms.
There has been more than one incident where an individual with mental problems has been isolated on a transit vehicle, where you would think some tear gas, or simply the waiting game, or a taser would provide a non-lethal solution, but no, the execution by firearm strategy is employed. It isn't every day that you get to kill someone with the full backing of he law.
The latest case was a teenager who, it would seem, possibly attended some function where he perhaps got into bad drugs,(no mention of that in the autopsy) and began threatening other passengers on a streetcar with a tiny pen knife, all of whom evacuated, leaving him alone on the car. Police then shot him multple times, AFTER which he was tasered, seemingly a one fingered salute saying, "see, we TRIED tasering him!"
The cop who shot him has the highly unusual experience of facing a murder charge, but one suspects this is to placate public outrage, which will die down as "justice" takes its usual much delayed course, after which said cop will no doubt be exonerated.

lostsheep · 01-14-2015, 01:02 PM

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the seemingly unending accounts of police abuse and murder of civilians in the country, and worse failure to prosecute or at least remove these offenders from police forces. Yet few seem to share my fears.

Davin · 01-14-2015, 01:06 PM

That is very frustrating. One would think that the amount of people the police kill would be one statistic that the police would have to maintain... I guess I'm just stupid.

lostsheep · 01-14-2015, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Davin wrote

That is very frustrating. One would think that the amount of people the police kill would be one statistic that the police would have to maintain... I guess I'm just stupid.

The vast majority of my friends and acquaintances feel that the victims did something that caused the police to act this way, brought it on themselves, that is. I guess until it starts happening to middle class whites they won't care, but by then it will be too late. It angers me that people can't see that police should never treat anyone this way, no matter how they behave. And how do people continually excuse the shootings and death by tasers of unarmed, outmanned individuals?

Davin · 01-14-2015, 01:47 PM

Yeah, victim blaming. I've seen that a lot. "Of course he wanted to be shot, look at how he was dressed!" "You should always respect the police, even if they are always being assholes to you."

I don't see how they can think that death is an appropriate response to "having an attitude."

The police should have some new recruitment posters:
"Do you want to bully people?
Do you want to rob people?
Do you want to shoot people?
Do you want to commit crimes and get away with it?

Become a cop!"

clambake · 01-15-2015, 11:10 AM

Quote:

lostsheep wrote

The vast majority of my friends and acquaintances feel that the victims did something that caused the police to act this way, brought it on themselves, that is.

My entire family definitely leaned that way when the subject (all too briefly) came up over the holidays. I think pert of the reason the subject got derailed was due to my heated reaction to the contrary. Sadly even my mother, who spent decades working with local government and HUD and should know better went along with it. It was disheartening, I thought they were better than that, I never felt quite that estranged from them before that moment. *sigh*

P.S. I should note that overall my immediate and extended family is generally liberal and in favor of social safety nets and such so it's not all bad. The problem is they are "liberal cat-licks" with all the contradictory wtf that goes with that train wreck. The good part is they have always been anti-Republican.