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Cake day: July 9th, 2023

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  • I’m not following what point you’re trying to make here.

    Kamala Harris’ team is going to make known any and all Republicans who support her in an effort to try and convince Independents and Republicans who don’t like Trump to get out on Election Day and vote for her, particularly in swing states. That’s just smart politicking to try and beat Trump.

    I would guess the average Democratic voter hates Dick Cheney but understands that when people as awful as Liz or Dick Cheney actually endorse Harris publicly, it is a clear indication just how dangerousTrump and MAGA really are.

    Ona daily basis, Trump and Vance make no attempt to hide their hatred of women, drag queens, gays, lwsnians, immigrants, people of color, etc. While Harris and the Dems defend those groups publicly, legally and politically.

    Whether the Left is perfect or not is not the point. MAGA would like to see Chappel Roan censored, disempowered, and possibly imprisoned.

    I’m not calling Chapell a centrist, I’m saying she being foolish and failing to exercise her influence. She couldn’t instead say “I don’t disagree with Harris on A, B, C, but I support her candidacy because of basic human rights, and here’s what I would like her to commit to”.

    Instead, she’s failing to help her fans understand what’s at stake here, and they may sit on the sidelines come election day


  • I don’t see how the full quote really changes anything.

    I fully agree with her position that folks she be informed and engaged in their local politics.

    Fully agree with her that people should use critical thinking skills.

    But saying both sides have the same amount of problems is a ridiculous false equivalency, and directly threatens the very people she supports. One side is going to make life a living hell (if not outright cause deaths - see: abortion rights for an example) for LGTBQ+ people, for women, and for people of color. There’s no “both sides” argument here.

    She’s within her right to call out the Left for specific issues she disagrees on, but she loses credibility for effectively saying one side is not better than the other in all the areas I’ve described


  • Without getting too deep into the intracacies, as a liberal, my thoughts are:

    1. I would certainly prefer the jobs stay in the US

    2. I don’t know that Trump - assuming he were to win the election - can impose such tariffs based on USMCA. Like, I literally an bit an expert in that trade agreement, but there may be restrictions

    3. Tariffs don’t generally work like Trump claims they do. The consumer ultimately pays them almost every time. In this case, I don’t know enough about tractor manufacturing, but there would have to be a viable alternative company manufacturing in the US for this proposed tariff to work as Trump seemingly intends.

    4. Where tariffs can be really effective is in newer industries where there is limited competition and a tariff can directly level the playing field between a nascent US company and a foreign company where they have either a significant competitive lead or where that foreign company is getting incentovized by their government. Think the earlier days of solar panels or wind power, where the US could have helped prevent China from taking a huge lead in those industries and positioned US companies as the leaders. Tariffs work best when you have 2 major players and you can price one of them out early (in particular, before the manufacturing equipment and skilled labor have already left).

    There’s a lot of variables at play. I just don’t see it being as simple as it’s portrayed





  • What in the sam hell are you trying to communicate with this word salad?

    But if you want to talk politics and healthcare, there’s one party that’s made any real effort at improvement in the last 2 decades, and it’s the Democrats. The Republicans try to gut the system at every opportunity.

    There are plenty of Democrats in Congress that would like to continue to improve healthcare, but the Dems don’t have the numbers - particularly in the House - to pass further reform.



  • Interestingly, orthopedic market analysts are simultaneously warning of potential headwinds in the number of orthopedic surgeries due to the anticipated growth in the use of Ozempic and similar drugs. These weight-loss drugs will reduce the stress on joints such as hips, knees, and vertebrae, delaying, and in some cases eliminating, the need for orthopedic surgery.

    Of course, there are many factors at play including the aging population, the rate of increase of prescriptions, whether insurers eventually cover the use of such drugs, and the manufacturers’ ability to keep up with the demand.