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What aspects of the party platform was he excited about? That's where you should start.
A lot of bullshit has been peddled to the American people by the two major parties. It's just a matter of figuring out what part of the bullshit excites him. Then carefully expose the truths in a neutral manner. Deal in specifics, not emotion. If he can only express emotional reasons, point that out as well and ask for factual reasons.
The point I was trying to make is that I am so opposed to what the democrats have done for the last four years that any supporter of the current democrat ticket would completely alienate me, even my best friend.
The point I was trying to make is that I am so opposed to what the democrats have done for the last four years that any supporter of the current democrat ticket would completely alienate me, even my best friend.
Re-phrasing Six's question somewhat:
Can you give specific examples of things which democrats have done over the past four years which you find so abhorrent as to be worth ending a friendship over?
It would be interesting, furthermore to know whether he supports these specific things, or is merely revved up about party rhetoric in general.
"The point I was trying to make is that I am so opposed to what the democrats have done for the last four years that any supporter of the current democrat ticket would completely alienate me, even Joe Perez".
I split my time among two politically-very-different regions in the US. I know of a handful of friendships ended over recent political disagreements, and it's almost always the Trumper who gets dumped by an overly-emotional blue donkey. In CA, if you say Trump, you get persecuted. In the Deep South if you say Biden, they just chuckle sympathetically.
"The point I was trying to make is that I am so opposed to what the democrats have done for the last four years that any supporter of the current democrat ticket would completely alienate me, even Joe Perez".
So, what are some specific examples of things which the democrats have done for the last four years which you would hypothetically find objectionable?
I'm not arguing against you (even though I am a liberal shill), I'm encouraging you to articulate specific, clearly-definable concepts.
Examples:
1: "The DNC and its cronies bullied the winner of the democratic primary election into resigning, thus tossing out the will of the people because they didn't like the polling numbers, and substituted someone who had never appeared on a primary ballot as a candidate for President."
2:" A democrat-led bill was railroaded through congress, which says (whatever the bill says), and that's something I believe is unconstitutional and bad."
I'm dealing with other things right now (Verizon), but here are a couple whilst I'm on hold. I do like your inputs.
Although I know this transgender bullshit has been around for a while, not until Biden was selected for office did we get inundated with wokeness, pronouns, DEI, sexualizing of children, etc. Look at Biden's original and existing cabinet as examples. To me, all that stuff is related.
The weaponization of the DOJ and the two tier justice system.
The war on fossil fuels. Prosperity is all about cheap energy. If diesel is cheap, farming and ranching are cheap(er), getting those products to market or processing is cheaper, so food is cheaper, so my money goes further.
Climate change nonsense hysteria. No climate catastrophe prediction made in my lifetime has come true. Not one. It's all complete bullshit.
BTW, I would never let politics get in the way of a relationship I deem valuable. In the end, if you do this, you are doing exactly what the politicians want. I wouldn't even try to change someone's mind. I'd simply tell them to never discuss politics with me because basically we'd be wasting our time as opposed to talking about things that would actually enrich our lives.
I believe The O'Bomber set the wheels in motion for this globalist, progressive takeover of America. The Hildebeast was supposed to continue the gradual descent into dystopia, but they fucked up royally and didn't cheat quite enough. Trump got elected and set them back a few years, but, more importantly, Trump reawakened in the people the memory of how good things could be. Biden was installed and they are going at breakneck speed to recapture the lost momentum and timeline from Hitlery's defeat.
IMHO, one of two things are happening. Either Harris/Walz are sacrificial souls and the globalists will thwart the next Trump administration efforts using the deep state govies already in place, OR, Tampon Tim was picked as being one of the worst human beings in the world to be Scamala's sidekick, and we're going to be told they received 98% of the popular vote, so **** off MAGA.
BTW, I would never let politics get in the way of a relationship I deem valuable.
Prior to 2020 I would have agreed with you. However, using my best friend as a hypothetical example, if he told me what his pronouns were, or that he took his granddaughter to drag queen story hour, I don't know how I could just brush that aside. This isn't the difference between being for or against the Viet Nam war.
There's evil afoot. They're not just opinions. They have permeated the rules of society such that a person could be censured/prosecuted for, for example, using the wrong pronouns, or not believing a man in a dress is actually a woman. It's politics now.
Wait, you said how someone could vote for Dems would wreck your relationship with that person. That's a different story as to mutilating children and such and I doubt that I could hold a relationship with someone like that regardless of their political leaning. But that is the exact thing politicians want is for you to believe that everyone is polarized and believes everything their party platform is pushing. The politicians want you to believe there is no middle ground. This is not the case and you know that. But the extreme ends of the spectrum are what make noise and are what make headlines. Which is sad that people get sucked in to these tricks.
Personally I live in a major Dem populated city. Yet I don't see most of any of the things everyone is freaking out about. I see normal everyday people living a normal everyday life and mostly being courteous to others. Are there exception, yes. Do I see them as the end of the world, no.
The war on fossil fuels. Prosperity is all about cheap energy. If diesel is cheap, farming and ranching are cheap(er), getting those products to market or processing is cheaper, so food is cheaper, so my money goes further.
Climate change nonsense hysteria. No climate catastrophe prediction made in my lifetime has come true. Not one. It's all complete bullshit.
Ok, that's a great example. We all know that the democrat party in general, and the Biden administration in particular, has done a lot to hinder the production of cheap energy in the US, massively limit fossil fuel extraction, etc.
Except... that's not actually true. It's the complete opposite of true.
1: The US currently produces more crude oil than any other country. (source)
2: Crude oil production in the US is presently at its highest level ever. 13.4 million barrels last week. That's a record. (source)
3: The US has been producing more oil than ever, and also more than any other country, for six straight years. (source)
See, Trump wants you to believe that the Dems are eliminating cheap energy and will wreck the economy.
And the Dems want you to believe that they are making meaningful progress at reducing fossil fuel consumption.
And neither of these things are true. They merely sound good, and make people feel the way they want to feel about "their" party and the "other" party.
This is what I'm talking about. Both parties have got you convinced that the Dems are scaling back oil production, when in fact US oil production has been on a continuous growth trajectory since 2021.
Both the Dems and the MAGAs have convinced you that a fiction is reality.
I'm going to answer these in reverse-order, because the second question is easier.
Originally Posted by poormxdad
Why is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at its lowest in something like 40 years?
Because the US started drawing-down supplies in late 2020 in response to the near-total shutdown of all production globally, and then really amped up the release during 2022 as global energy prices skyrocketed in reaction to the invasion of Ukraine by The USSR Russia.
Ok, now the one with the longer answer...
Originally Posted by poormxdad
But Joe, why aren't energy prices falling in the US?
1: They are.
Energy prices are notoriously volatile, as most fossil fuels are sold on the basis of futures contracts, not in response to actual, real-time conditions.
That having been said, the spot-price of heating oil (a good representative barometer of all petroleum products) is presently $2.20 / gallon. Adjusted for inflation, that's exactly the same as it was 20 years ago. (source)
Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted gasoline prices are lower today than throughout most of the period of 2005 - 2015, and in fact only a few cents higher today than it was in the mid 1950s.
The reckless fiscal policy implemented by the Trump administration in March 2020, and then doubled-down-upon by the Biden administration throughout 2021, has resulted in very high inflation, aka the devaluation of the dollar. The annual inflation rate for 2022 was roughly 8% year-over-year, the highest it has been since 1981. (source)
As such, everything became more expensive between 2020 - 2024, in real terms.
3:
Petroleum is a fungible commodity, traded on a global market.
Just as US oil production has risen steadily over the past several years, so have US oil exports.
This massive increase in exporting is good for the balance of trade, as well as for the value of the dollar relative to oil-importing countries.
Of course, we could artificially cause the domestic retail price of petroleum products to fall by banning (or massively taxing) petroleum exports. But, of course, we all know what happens when the government decides to interfere with commerce.
You're saying inflation is keeping energy prices high. Looking at the graphs, I can make a generalized statement that what the Biden regime did to the fossil fuels industry in their first couple of years caused inflation.
Irregardfull, whatever they're doing isn't helping me or my family. Everything about my life was better under Trump. Everything.
You're saying inflation is keeping energy prices high. Looking at the graphs, I can make a generalized statement that what the Biden regime did to the fossil fuels industry in their first couple of years caused inflation.
No, I'm saying that:
1: Inflation did happen, largely as a result of the "print money, then print more money" knee-jerk reaction to the general economic problems caused by the "Stay at home for two weeks. Then two more. Then..." policies put in place by many states during 2020.
2: The price of "energy," (which I am interpreting to mean petroleum) spiked early in the pandemic in response to the almost total cessation of production worldwide, and then fell back to fairly normal levels over the course of the following two years.
What, in your opinion, did the Biden administration do to the fossil fuels industry in their first couple of years?
08-11-2024, 09:17 AM
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