A lot of liberals are criticizing the Democrats — you know, the minority party that doesn’t have a lot of power right now — for not getting everything they wanted in this government shut-down.
They don’t quite understand how politics work. You can’t always get everything you want.
The Democrats gave up nothing. They got CHIP funded like it needed to be funded. The government is back open. And they kept DACA from disappearing. Sure, it’s still on the table, but it’s not dead.
This is not a bad thing. People are now talking about it. We have another few weeks to build more support for keeping it (and, let’s face it, something like 80% of the public supports it).
Honestly, I’m kind of sick of the “Bernie Bot” mentality that if you’re not 100% in agreement with everything they want, you’re the enemy. I’m sick of the idea that compromise in order to move toward your goal is a bad thing.
Take Obamacare as an example. Was it everything we wanted? No, of course not (as I’ve said on this blog many times). But it’s still better than what we had, and we can move forward to make it even better.
There’s nothing wrong with getting half way up the hill, so long as you keep climbing. Instant gratification is something for children, not adults.
So yeah, do I wish the deal had included keeping DACA? Of course. But Jeez, it could have been killed today and it wasn’t. The Democrats kept the option open at a time when they, as the minority party, have little power.
This is a win, isn’t it?
The latest lie blames the Democrats for the government shutdown. This is despite the fact that the Republicans couldn’t even get enough votes from their own party to reach 50%.
Mind you, this isn’t just a talking point. In a completely unprecedented and childish move that is 100% away from “Presidential,” the White House has stopped answering the phone, and people who call get a message blaming the Democrats. I am not making this up.
Let’s recap. The GOP said “If you don’t either kill the Dreamer program or CHIP which provides health care to poor children, and if you don’t let us build the wall, we’re going to shut the government down.”
Or, to put it another way, “We have hostages. Do what we say and we will only kill one of them.”
The Dreamer Program (DACA, which stands for “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals”) is supported by 87% of all Americans, who clearly think it’s a pretty good idea. This allows innocent children who were brought here illegally by their parents to stay in this country if they do certain things (don’t get arrested, stay in school, join our military, etc.). It has been wildly successful. People like helping children. But, of course, the GOP hates it for some reason. (Hint: it helps brown people.)
CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) similarly provides support for kids who, through no fault of their own, are poor. It is supported by 75% of Americans because, come on, we’re nice people who think children deserve not to die. Once more, the GOP says “screw you” to what the vast majority of Americans want.
And then there’s the Wall that Trump promised Mexico would pay for. Now he wants us to pay for it. This is opposed by 63% of Americans as it has been since Trump first started spouting it on the campaign trail. Do you think the Republicans care what Americans want? (And why only a border wall with Mexico and not Canada? Hint: brown people again.)
The Democrats are standing up for what the vast majority of Americans want. Yet the GOP still claims it’s the Democrats’ fault.
The House came up with a compromise (because that’s what government is all about — compromising) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met with the president and worked out a deal. Trump, of course, then broke his promise to Schumer almost immediately and then blamed Schumer. “Negotiating with this White House is like negotiating with jello,” Schumer said.
Yet they still say it’s the Democrats’ fault.
You’d think a man who ran on the platform of being “the world’s greatest negotiator” would have been able to come to some sort of compromise, wouldn’t you? But of course, for that to happen, it would have meant that Trump would have told the truth.
And that’s just clearly not in his character.
I saw this on Facebook recently:
I suggested a few possibilities and asked people to name their own and had hundreds of replies. Some of these did not exactly follow the concept, and instead just used synonyms or otherwise changed a band’s name to make it funnier.
So let’s rebrand this. Instead, let’s call it “Band names: First drafts.” Here are my favorite suggestions in no particular order (except my entries first because it’s my blog):
Michael A. Ventrella:
Terri Lynn Coop:
Mary Bacon:
Gerald Blackwell:
David Gerrold:
Steve Vaughan:
Lauretta Nagel:
Beth Waggoner Patterson:
Douglas Waltman:
James Ryan:
Mickey Blake:
Farber Burny:
Drew Bittner:
Billy Flynn:
Jay Pennington:
Ken Warren:
Randy Eberle:
Ryk Spoor:
Savannah Luther:
John Herring:
Sharon Lyn Terrill:
Mark Davis:
Kevin Gould:
David Edward Martin:
Steven Morgenlender:
Chris Meadows:
Raymond Lawson:
Lee Hester:
Charles Rowe:
Michael Engler:
Jason Harris Vichinsky:
Manny Borges:
Rich Weiss:
I’ll be doing other “first draft” challenges on Facebook to later post here; I think this could be fun. Suggestions are welcome.
The reason I don’t want to limit emigration from shit-hole countries is because we are rapidly becoming one.
I’m shocked that anyone is shocked that Donald Trump called Haiti and other countries “shitholes.” The man has used language like this before, he’s said racist things before, he’s bragged about his sexual assaults, he’s called nazis good people — really, where have you all been?
But seriously, the cursing isn’t the issue. Fox News is trying once again to distract us from what is really being said by claiming that we’re all upset that the president cursed.
No, that’s not it.
“Shit-hole country” really means “I don’t want those black people coming here” and you know it.
It’s like when he talked about grabbing pussies and Fox news said “Oh, you’re all upset that he used the word ‘pussy.'” No, the bad word in that sentence is “grab.”
Let’s not get distracted by the words, and instead look at what the shithead really is saying.
One of the Sad Puppies — a group of butthurt snowflake selfish white male Trumpites who whine about things like the 1% of female leads in science fiction movies — has been barred from attending a major science fiction convention after he planned to take disruptive action at the convention, having done similar things in the past.
This is literally the Sad Puppies logo. They’re apparently sad because people get mad at them for being assholes to everyone else.
So of course, he’s claiming he’s being “discriminated against” because of his political views. These Sad Puppies, along with all the other whiny white males, KKK members, nazis, religious fundamentalists and Trump supporters, consistently complain that they’re being discriminated against because they’re no longer allowed to discriminate against others like they’ve always done.
Look, genius: A private organization has the right to deny entry to anyone they think will disrupt their group, including for political disruptions.
You have every right to hold whatever terrible political viewpoints you want. That is guaranteed to you under the Constitution. You don’t have the right to demand that anyone else provide you with a place or a forum for you to express those opinions, nor do you have the right to demand that someone let you into their group when they believe you don’t meet their standards. No shirt no shoes no service.
Discrimination is when you are being prevented from entering because of things you have no control over, such as your race or gender or place of origin. If you choose to be the kind of guy people can’t stand to be around and they say they don’t want you near them, that’s not discrimination. You chose to be that person.
As Frank Zappa said, “It’s okay to discriminate against assholes, because nobody was born an asshole.”
It’s always amazing to me how these people who always scream about how the “market” can solve all our problems whine and scream like babies when the market decides to do just that against them.
Edit: Friend of the Blog Jim C. Hines explains this particular person’s history in more detail on his blog
ventrellaquest.com 