My VP picks in order of preference

[D-train]

Love the JD Vance selection. Bold move. He was once one of Trump's harshest critics.

[D-train]

This is awesome.

Screenshot 2024-07-15 6.03.36 PM.png (37.07 KiB) Viewed 20624 times

[gil]

I won the contest. Any else pick him??

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9400&start=10#p298669

*raises hand* Right below you on the page you linked to. (I didn't like the movie all that much by the way, especially compared to the book.)

Hard to watch drug addict movies but from HIllbilly to the White House is quite a story.

It sure is.

[Walla Walla Dawg II]

JD FTW!

Rust Belt Delivery System.

FTW??
What that means for me....
Fuck The Wife

What does it mean for you.

"For the win"

Trump certainly not moving toward the center with the choice of Vance.

Has anyone else read "hillbilly Elegy"? I read it when it first came out, and probably should try to get my hands on it again. Great story of overcoming family disfunction (including his mother's addictions) and, as Vance described it, cultural disfunction, to succeed in education and business. And now politics. His "Mamaw" (maternal grandmother) is one of the most memorable non-fiction characters I've ever run across.

Honestly, I identify with Vance in the sense that he became a "coastal elite" (as I have been accused of being), but just look at where he (and I) came from, and you don't see many advantages, just a lot of hard work and some very good fortune.

Do you truly believe that as a country we are ONLY a little left of middle? If you truly believe that, you are much more of a leftist than I thought.

[gil]

FTW??
What that means for me....
Fuck The Wife

What does it mean for you.

"For the win"

Trump certainly not moving toward the center with the choice of Vance.

Has anyone else read "hillbilly Elegy"? I read it when it first came out, and probably should try to get my hands on it again. Great story of overcoming family disfunction (including his mother's addictions) and, as Vance described it, cultural disfunction, to succeed in education and business. And now politics. His "Mamaw" (maternal grandmother) is one of the most memorable non-fiction characters I've ever run across.

Honestly, I identify with Vance in the sense that he became a "coastal elite" (as I have been accused of being), but just look at where he (and I) came from, and you don't see many advantages, just a lot of hard work and some very good fortune.

Do you truly believe that as a country we are ONLY a little left of middle? If you truly believe that, you are much more of a leftist than I thought.

Good question. I think we have over representation at both ends. I don't know where the middle is, but I know it's not Antifa and I know it's not MAGA. Sometimes it seems that the distribution is more like a dumbbell than a bell curve. I'm stuck here someone on the handle of the dumbbell.

[bpj]

Not a fan of Vance.

Even if he's a Trump supporter now, just means he had terrible judgment to begin with when he was a Never-Trumper. Can't trust those people imo.

No surprise, Trump has always been terrible at picking the people he surrounds himself with.

[maoling]

No clue who Vance really was, his story or anything associated with his meteoric rise through politics. So, I am reading up on him and this whole Horatio Alger story of his as presented.

This is a shrewd move. Congrats to you guys who picked him in yet another contest I lost lol. I would immediately call for an open forum town hall VP debate with the vacuous laughing hyena Kamala, who has been blowing her way to the top and has no real qualifications beyond that.

[D-train]

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/el ... ent-report

[Walla Walla Dawg II]

"For the win"

Trump certainly not moving toward the center with the choice of Vance.

Has anyone else read "hillbilly Elegy"? I read it when it first came out, and probably should try to get my hands on it again. Great story of overcoming family disfunction (including his mother's addictions) and, as Vance described it, cultural disfunction, to succeed in education and business. And now politics. His "Mamaw" (maternal grandmother) is one of the most memorable non-fiction characters I've ever run across.

Honestly, I identify with Vance in the sense that he became a "coastal elite" (as I have been accused of being), but just look at where he (and I) came from, and you don't see many advantages, just a lot of hard work and some very good fortune.

Do you truly believe that as a country we are ONLY a little left of middle? If you truly believe that, you are much more of a leftist than I thought.

Good question. I think we have over representation at both ends. I don't know where the middle is, but I know it's not Antifa and I know it's not MAGA. Sometimes it seems that the distribution is more like a dumbbell than a bell curve. I'm stuck here someone on the handle of the dumbbell.

You don't understand what MAGA is. It seems your definition is what the MSM has convinced you it is.

MAGA is not that 3-toothed hillbilly at the rally what was flipping off the sky behind him (as President Trump was getting loaded in the car).
MAGA is a movement that wants smaller government.
MAGA is a movement that wants government to stay the fuck out of their business.
MAGA is a movement that wants RESPONSIBLE government spending.
MAGA is a movement that likes that government make an even playing filed, not an even outcome.
MAGA is a movement that believes there is a difference between men and women.

Although the MSM doesn't want you to believe it, there was a huge difference between Jan 6 and the Antifa riots.... if you can't see that, I can't help.

By now, if you believe that MAGA is some extreme right-winged movement, I can't help you other than saying, please take account of what the media has been saying for 8 years, and how much was true.

[gil]

Do you truly believe that as a country we are ONLY a little left of middle? If you truly believe that, you are much more of a leftist than I thought.

Good question. I think we have over representation at both ends. I don't know where the middle is, but I know it's not Antifa and I know it's not MAGA. Sometimes it seems that the distribution is more like a dumbbell than a bell curve. I'm stuck here someone on the handle of the dumbbell.

You don't understand what MAGA is. It seems your definition is what the MSM has convinced you it is.

MAGA is not that 3-toothed hillbilly at the rally what was flipping off the sky behind him (as President Trump was getting loaded in the car).
MAGA is a movement that wants smaller government.
MAGA is a movement that wants government to stay the fuck out of their business.
MAGA is a movement that wants RESPONSIBLE government spending.
MAGA is a movement that likes that government make an even playing filed, not an even outcome.
MAGA is a movement that believes there is a difference between men and women.

Although the MSM doesn't want you to believe it, there was a huge difference between Jan 6 and the Antifa riots.... if you can't see that, I can't help.

By now, if you believe that MAGA is some extreme right-winged movement, I can't help you other than saying, please take account of what the media has been saying for 8 years, and how much was true.

I agree in principle with each of the 5 things you listed, but does that make me MAGA? I don't think so because [1] "the devil is in the details" regarding some of the things (especially government stay the fuck out of my business) and [2] there are things you did NOT list that I consider central to MAGA and I disagree with - and why I think it's extreme right wing.

How about government stay the fuck out of my business? Sounds good, unless your business involves harming me or my family. The Libertarian philosophy is that people should be free to do what they want unless an act harms others, right? Perfect IMO. But what about when harm is caused? Say you live upstream from me and you are dumping toxic crap on your property or in a stream we share, and that toxic crap poisons my drinking water. I might ask you nicely to stop doing that and for you to pay for a new well for my property, but what if you refuse? I definitely want the government to get the fuck IN your business. Government should be limited, but protecting people is one of the essential functions.

You didn’t mention a few things I think of when I think of MAGA:
1. Ending support for Ukraine and pulling away from NATO. MAGA doesn’t want to support other countries … except apparently Israel.

2. Strict restrictions on abortion.

3. Few restrictions on assault weapons.

4. Tariffs. I’m a free trade person. I try to buy American, but if I can get a better product made somewhere else, I will do it. (And having tariffs is the opposite of “get the government out of my business”, isn’t it?)

5. Not accepting that Biden won in 2020.

6. Being hypocritical about law and order and supporting law enforcement. Young black men have to toe the line and say “yes sir” and deserve what they get if they don't, but the rich and powerful are the victims of political persecution. Law enforcement (the Capitol police, the FBI) who go against MAGA are demonized.

7. General demonization of people who share different opinions. The opposite of trying to understand and find areas of agreement. Just throw out the insults: hates America, intentionally opening the borders, is mentally ill. Any woman in a powerful position who has opposite political opinions gets labeled a bitch, a ho, a cunt.

Obviously, feel free to disagree that these are part of MAGA (I realize #7 is style rather than substance). But this why I consider MAGA to be extreme, not in the center. As I said, your points sound reasonable but to me are not the whole story.