Let's keep this glorious quote at the top.

[woodchip]

And yet the House will now be controlled by republicans. And not all those Trump endorsed candidates lost. As to your assertion that nearly all Trumps endorsements lost, you really got to stop reading far left wishful opinion pieces :
https://ballotpedia.org/Endorsements_by ... Trump#2022

[Tunnelcat]

You'll notice from your own link that it was incumbents that won. Voting out an incumbant is far more difficult. However, nearly ALL the Trump-endorsed challengers lost, including that carpet bagger and sham TV doctor, Dr. Oz and a host of other Q Anon crazies.

[woodchip]

You know nothing John Snow

[Tunnelcat]

And you ignore the facts right in front of your face, even in the data YOU posted.

[woodchip]

whether incumbents or not, they were backed by Trump. Stop massaging the data to make Trump look bad. Try being as objective with Biden as he be lucky if he is not impeached and sent to jail along with his spawn of a son.

[Tunnelcat]

Face it woody. Trump's turd can no longer stay shined.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/06/us/p ... orgia.html

And we'll get even more juicy info once the public gets to see what he refused to release as a candidate. For every tax dodge Trump used to enrich himself, you, I and every regular American citizen had to pay more out of our tax bills to cover it.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/w ... ax-returns

[woodchip]

Well I and alot of other conservatives will be backing Desantis so maybe old Joe, his son and Trump can share a 8 x 10.

[Top Gun]

Yes woody, we know you're always willing to lick the boots of fascist scum.

[Tunnelcat]

Not just Fascist, but ChristoFascist scum.

[Darth Wang]

Well I and alot of other conservatives will be backing Desantis so maybe old Joe, his son and Trump can share a 8 x 10.

Great! Split the vote. You're doing our work for us.

[Ferno]

Did I just seriously see woody turn on trump? The same guy he supported no matter what just a few short years ago?

[woodchip]

Well I and alot of other conservatives will be backing Desantis so maybe old Joe, his son and Trump can share a 8 x 10.

Great! Split the vote. You're doing our work for us.

Too bad you don't know the voting process

[Krom]

And you're some kind of expert? Have you ever even actually worked at an election before?

[woodchip]

I guess even you Krom, don't understand the difference between the primaries and the general election or you would know Darth's comment is nonsensical.

[Krom]

Oh, you think that if DeShitis wins the primary that Trump will just roll over and not run anyway as an independent.

[Tunnelcat]

Unless Trump is indicted with a crime, he'll be out there fighting like hell against his new Republican nemesis, Ron DeSanctimonious. Just what we need. 2 turds leaving skid marks wherever they go.

[Spidey]

It's looking more and more like Trump may not be eligible to run again.

But if he does make it into the primary he will probably win, because all of those no more Trump people are not the majority of primary voters.

[Tunnelcat]

You're forgetting independents Spidey. Even if Trump were to win a primary, in the general, young and independent voters would not want vote for him. He's stale and corrupt. That leaves that crazy dedicated subset of Trump lovers to vote for him and they don't have the numbers. DeSantis is also pulling Christian voters away from Trump, so he's going to be toast.

[Spidey]

I didn't forget anything, I was only referring to the primaries.

[Tunnelcat]

I guess we'll see what fleshes out in 2024. I'm betting Trump's shine has worn off and DeSantis will become the new Messiah for the crazy Christian far right. Trump's problem now is that he's about as far from being a religious person as one can get and religion is now coming to the forefront with the Republicans renewed focus on their old culture warriorism.

What's funny is that they could run on law and order again and pick up more votes. With the rampant crime going on right now, you'd think they be jumping all over that for the win. I'm mean with the increases in car thefts, catalytic convertor thefts, homeless people stealing right and left and making whole sections of cities look like garbage dumps and the rampant organized wholesale thefts from major businesses like Home Depot, people are getting fed up. I mean, I went into Home Depot for electrical wire and found it locked behind a cage. The employee told me they had to do it because groups of people were coming in during evening hours, scooping armloads of spooled copper wire into grocery carts and just running out the door. WTF!

[Spidey]

But the public is being gaslighted that crime is only a Republican myth.

[woodchip]

Oh, you think that if DeShitis wins the primary that Trump will just roll over and not run anyway as an independent.

No, you are correct,he could opt to run as a independent. And why do you hate DeSantis already? If he was a Dem. You'd love him.

[Krom]

If DeSantis was a democrat? LMAO. What The ★■◆● Are You Smoking? Literally impossible to even imagine.

[Tunnelcat]

But the public is being gaslighted that crime is only a Republican myth.

Well. Let's see. 1% of the U.S. population has schizophrenia. 20% of our homeless population have that disease and live on the streets without treatment. Who was it that signed a law stopping the practice of institutionalizing mentally ill people? Why, it was Ronald Reagan and his signing of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act in 1967. Sure, mental institutions were cruel dumping grounds, but are the streets a better place for them NOW, where they steal and assault people? And no surprise, today I'm now hearing wispers of forcing these people into some sort of treatment against their will, because the problem has become so noticeable and pervasive.

Now, I'll grant you that liberal politicians are trying to sweep our crime problem under the rug to cover for all their actions against the police during the Floyd protests. But it's gotten so bad by now that no amount of gaslighting Republicans is going to hide the problem, of which lefties had a hand in creating during the defund the police nonsense. The pandemic also played a big part in creating this mess, but it's quickly being forgotten as time passes. So the crime problem remains and it WILL start biting the Dems in the ass come next election time because people are noticing and looking for solutions. Now if Republicans can step out of their crazy Trump/Q Anon/stop the steal love session, dump the culture wars and forget Hunter Biden because he's not worth crap, they might actually win an election based on reality.

[Darth Wang]

Well I and alot of other conservatives will be backing Desantis so maybe old Joe, his son and Trump can share a 8 x 10.

Great! Split the vote. You're doing our work for us.

Too bad you don't know the voting process

I suppose it would be too much to ask for you to express a complete, coherent thought.

[Darth Wang]

I didn't forget anything, I was only referring to the primaries.

Remember the "Bernie Bros" in 2016 who refused to vote or even made protest votes for Trump after Hillary won the primaries?

Do you really think the much more unhinged MAGA Qultists won't vote independent or just not vote at all if their messiah doesn't win the Republican primaries? They already believe the elections in 2020 and 2022 were stolen, so they think their votes don't even count.

[woodchip]

Well I and alot of other conservatives will be backing Desantis so maybe old Joe, his son and Trump can share a 8 x 10.

Great! Split the vote. You're doing our work for us.

Too bad you don't know the voting process

I suppose it would be too much to ask for you to express a complete, coherent thought.

Too bad you don't know the voting process. Oh by the way " Qultists" is spelled Cultist. Helps if you also know to spell.

[Darth Wang]

Well I and alot of other conservatives will be backing Desantis so maybe old Joe, his son and Trump can share a 8 x 10.

Great! Split the vote. You're doing our work for us.

Too bad you don't know the voting process

I suppose it would be too much to ask for you to express a complete, coherent thought.

Too bad you don't know the voting process. Oh by the way " Qultists" is spelled Cultist. Helps if you also know to spell.

It's short for "QAnon Cultists". I thought that would have been obvious, but I guess you need everything spelled out. If you think they will vote for anyone but their Dear Leader, you're delusional. But we knew that already. They're the right-wing version of the Bernie Bros, but even more unhinged.

[vision]

But the public is being gaslighted that crime is only a Republican myth.

Now, I'll grant you that liberal politicians are trying to sweep our crime problem under the rug...

Yo. Crime rates have been falling for the last 3 decades. Only violent crime is up recently, only slightly, and this is a very small percentage of overall crime.

https://usafacts.org/state-of-the-union ... bigpicture

[Tunnelcat]

What I'm seeing right now is a result of the pandemic, a burgeoning homeless population and yes, whether you like it or not, the defund the police movement. Our small town is having problems hiring police officers. As a result, they don't respond to most calls unless it's a major car accident, assault or murder. Burglaries and prowlers they rarely investigate. I know because my neighbors in town complain about it on Nextdoor. Porch piracy is waaay out of control. If you don't retrieve in a package right after it's delivered, it'll be gone before you know it, even in front of a camera. Portland is bad as well, they can't get anyone to work as a police officer there and they're short personnel as well. The police now have a bad reputation and no one wants to be one, let alone end up in jail when they shoot someone in the line of duty, justified or not. I'm willing to bet you'll find that's a problem in most major cities right now too. Homeless tents are all over next to the freeways here like blighted trash dumps, although Portland and Salem has been moving them elsewhere to be someone else's problem I guess. Heaven forbid the tourists see the mess. There are even homeless campers in most vacant lots or in dilapidated RV's on the streets HERE. They beg outside the grocery stores and people stop and give them change, encouraging the practice. Hell, some of these people make more money begging and stealing than actually working at a job. I saw that situation all the way to Bellingham, WA the one time I drove up there. All these people are desperate and they WILL steal to survive and the entire West Coast is blighted with the problem. I drove to the east side of Portland a week ago and the graffiti was EVERYWHERE and it looked indiscernible from an East L.A. gang neighborhood. No one is even trying to keep these urban pests in check, let alone paint it over once they spray their tags. It's showing up here in my suburban neighborhood, on electrical cabinets and fences. Downtown, it's all over the alley walls. Again, a small town.

As I pointed out earlier, thefts from big box stores has skyrocketed and become endemic. The Big Box stores just tell their employees to let these thieves run out the door with merchandise because they don't want anyone hurt. Guess who pays? Us, the consumer. Well, ★■◆● it. I'm tired of paying for these freeloader thieves' illegal income. Hire armed guards and lock the doors so people can't leave without showing a receipt. Catalytic convertor theft is off the charts as well. They just broke up a huge convertor theft ring working out of an expensive rental home in tony Lake Oswego of all places. Many of these thieves are armed and will shoot at you if you confront them. I read reports of people complaining in my neighborhood that perps were creeping around their homes at night looking for valuables or trying to break in. Even the drivers in this state are nuts. They run red lights, speed through school zones, cut you off aggressively and pass just for you following the speed limit and pedestrian deaths in crosswalks have gone way up. There's been a definite change since Covid. People have gone batshit crazy ever since the lock-downs and it shows with far more aggressive behaviors and more petty crime. No vision, it's BAD, statistics be damned.

[vision]

What I'm seeing right now ...

You can stop right there. Your personal anecdotes are no match for mountains of national data. Also, almost no police were defunded and where they were there is no increase in crime. Find some stats that show otherwise if you think differently.

[Darth Wang]

Maybe there's just something wrong with the specific area you live in, because where I live on the East coast, none of that stuff happens (except for the homeless beggars, but they don't beg right outside the grocery stores).

[Tunnelcat]

What I'm seeing right now ...

You can stop right there. Your personal anecdotes are no match for mountains of national data. Also, almost no police were defunded and where they were there is no increase in crime. Find some stats that show otherwise if you think differently.

I didn't say police departments were defunded. I said there's now a problem with retaining and hiring new officers SINCE all those protests happened, partly because there's now a stigma attached to being a police officer. This is on top of all the job turmoil and mass retirements that happened during the Covid Pandemic. It's a problem all over the country even now. Even my little college town is short police officers.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-poli ... d=65643752

https://www.police1.com/police-recruiti ... rne6ccNfB/

And obviously neither of you live on the West Coast or in the Southwest, or you'd see the problem every day, everywhere. We've got large and trash filled homeless camps right next to Home Depot on ODOT land here. So ★■◆● all the crime statistics, WE'VE got a BIG crime problem HERE on the west side of the country, most of it driven by homelessness.

https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm ... 051e519385

Portland, OR.







Seattle, WA.



Phoenix, AZ.

[Spidey]

For this issue the proper metric isn't if this or that type of crime is rising or falling...the proper metric is...there is too much crime.

[Krom]

Or more accurately, some Republican said "DEMOCRATS CRIMINALS BLARGH" in a campaign ad so it must be true despite all evidence to the contrary.

And then as soon as the election was over they fucked off to go looking for hunter biden dick picks.

[woodchip]

So lets see, crime in Dem run cities:

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/11/04/ ... ort-shows/

As to visions proclamation of no defunded pd's:

At least 13 U.S. cities have cut funding from police department budgets or decreased officer numbers with several more in the process amid a national reckoning over systemic racism and police brutality, according to a Forbes tally.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcev ... 8c21b29e3f

Vision would like us to believe all is ok yet he/she/it provides no data. I wonder how store owners would respond to that.

[Spidey]

Well I know the murder rate here in Philly has not been seen since the 80s...but I guess you could call that an anecdote if you wish.

[vision]

And obviously neither of you live on the West Coast or in the Southwest, or you'd see the problem every day, everywhere.

Newsflash: I lived in San Diego for the past 15 years and only moved back to Chicago several months ago. I had to deal with mentally ill people waking me up with screaming in the middle of the night, the fights, the excrement everywhere. That doesn't change the facts about crime. If you have a local problem solve it locally, but don't try to extrapolate your experience to OMG THE US IS FAILING.

...there is too much crime.

So, an arbitrary amount? Please be more specific and realistic.

So lets see, crime in Dem run cities:

Links points to a conservative propaganda site run by the Heritage Foundation. Try again.

At least 13 U.S. cities have cut funding from police department budgets or decreased officer numbers with several more in the process amid a national reckoning over systemic racism and police brutality, according to a Forbes tally.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcev ... 8c21b29e3f

Stats please, you haven't rebutted my claim, only linked to a three year old article that actually supports my claim that barely anyone defunded the police. Try again.

[Tunnelcat]

And obviously neither of you live on the West Coast or in the Southwest, or you'd see the problem every day, everywhere.

Newsflash: I lived in San Diego for the past 15 years and only moved back to Chicago several months ago. I had to deal with mentally ill people waking me up with screaming in the middle of the night, the fights, the excrement everywhere. That doesn't change the facts about crime. If you have a local problem solve it locally, but don't try to extrapolate your experience to OMG THE US IS FAILING.

Crime rates depend on the area they are reported from and ours are a horrible outlier to the U.S. crimes rates. To give you an idea about how much people here are fed up, our usually solid blue state is starting to shows shades of purple in the cities. Oregon almost elected a Republican governor. If it hadn't been for the abortion issue, she might have won. Compassion is waning and only goes so far to solve the problem. Business is hurting because people don't want to go into areas filled with mentally ill people who scare away or assault customers. Residents want to pick up and leave if some homeless camp suddenly plops itself down in the vacant lot next to their homes, because theft skyrockets. If their homes don't sell, they soon become invaded by squatters who trash them or even burn them down. Downtown and the east side of Portland looks like a gang war zone. A lot of businesses are still shuttered since the protests. The problem has gotten so bad that even died in the wool Dem voters are looking away from the homeless coddling Democratic leadership in search of answers. All it would take are some sane Republicans with sane ideas to knock the Dems off their leadership pedestals. In fact, New York City is proposing that mentally ill homeless people be involuntarily institutionalized. I'm even hearing whispers of that here.

[Spidey]

"So, an arbitrary amount? Please be more specific and realistic."

When the two local 7-elevens and my local bank branch close due to crime and a gas station owner has resorted to hiring an armed guard and people are leaving the hatches on their SUVs open to try to avoid broken windows and millions of packages are stolen by porch pirates...too much is not an arbitrary amount.

Saying crime is less this year than last year, is like saying there are less cockroaches in my house than last year and no guarantee that there won't be more cockroaches next year.

Arbitrary...lol, one murder is too much. What the hell do you consider an acceptable amount?