Danny Dravot

Genuine question, and feel free to DM if you don't want to open this can of worms publicly- what do you think the looming global disaster of climate change is, exactly? What's going to happen and when? What are the implications? And moreover, what would you like to do about it? I'm not trying to pinhole you. Climate change really isn't an issue that I think about, but I hear about it in vague (to my ears, at least) terms all the time, and I'm sincerely curious what the exact fear is and what the desired solutions are.

This is a bit similar to the RINO smear on the right. Just glancing at Wikipedia like Beast, Tanden supports universal healthcare coverage but has questions about M4A. She supports a job guarantee, and opposes right to work laws and work-for-welfare requirements. I understand if you’re farther left than she is, but if you are, isn’t she at least a step in the right direction? Take what you can get and move the window as you can. Throwing a fit over her ascension to head OMB seems like shooting yourself in the foot. Thinking about my own stances, it’s not like we’re gonna plow the streets of Tehran with Abrams tanks anytime soon. I’d be dumb to make it an all-or-nothing deal. I’ll happily accept sanctions, covert operations (like the recent ones against Abdullah and Fahkrizadeh), and peace treaties that contribute to that regime’s containment and isolation, even if it’s not my absolute ideal.

Agreed. Tangential, but I saw an article bemoaning how Joe refused to give a position on the BLM-backed BREATHE Act. If you’re not familiar, it’s the sort of thing that keeps Greg up at night. It’d keep me up at night too, if it had any chance of EVER passing. It doesn’t. The text of the bill includes cutting the DOD budget in half. I don’t care if Loeffler and Perdue lose. I don’t care if Joe Manchin gets replaced by an Appalachian version of Lenin. Other proscriptions aside, which includes a bunch of criminal justice items and such, this will never happen. Ever. I really want @greg775 to understand this.

I appreciate your response and I’ve greatly appreciated our DMs, but I will never stop being amused by attacks on Neera Tanden and Cedric Richmond from the left. To each their own, I suppose. I do thoroughly disagree with Brie’s assertion that a majority of Americans want a wealth tax. But we’ve eaten that can of worms already in this thread. Side note- Richmond has a career 2.85 ERA in the Congressional Baseball Game. Perhaps an option for the back of the rotation?

So if church services met in a park and wore masks, you’d be cool with it? Not sure what the secrecy of the meeting has to do with it, though.

So reports are that Biden intends to nominate Neera Tanden to head the OMB. I thought she was the chief of Center for American Progress, but progressives are freaking out on Twitter. Can one of the local progs here help me understand what all the fuss is about?

I agree with much of what you’re saying, especially with the numbered list from your previous post. That being said, Trump is more of a populist than a conservative and some of the things that come out of his mouth sound like something I’d expect from Bernie. For instance, when he talked about soldiers loving him but not the generals because they just care about continuing the wars and giving money to defense contractors. Take out his trademark narcissism and that is a criticism you’d find in The Nation or similar.

I didn't really think much of it when people pointed out that no players bothered to tweet about the TLR hiring, but apparently him and Anderson have had a phone conversation now. Timmy says it was a good talk, but I'll leave you guys to read the undertones of his description. Seems like we brought a lot of tension into the clubhouse.

OK I agree with this 100%. Great post.

I totally agree. Politically, whether Hunter is a useless jackass or not is totally irrelevant except for the fact that it reflects positively on Joe Biden’s character for trying to be there as a father to a clearly troubled son. It was stupid to try to exploit those troubles to sink the guy.

OK, I think I've always been pretty fair here, but can we all accept that Hunter Biden is a fucking loser? I don't buy into all the Burisma stuff or the weird laptop store attempt at an October surprise, and I think Joe's obvious unconditional love for his son is touching/inspiring, but it is simply a fact that the dude got kicked out of the Navy for drug use. And it happened when he was 43, not when he was some immature kid. I'm increasingly excited about the Biden administration and not just an anti-Trump conservative who got on board because I hate Trump. I don't think Hunter's failures as a human being have any reflection on his dad. I support making fun of Trump's adult offspring, and I think HB deserves similar scorn. Luckily, I doubt he will have any role in the future administration.

I saw some things that I’ll never forget when I was down range (like finding what was left of a DUSTWUN) and I have friends who have much more serious PTSD than I do, to the extent that some of them permanently avoid fireworks shows. None of us have committed felonies as a result, though, so I’m relatively unsympathetic to veterans who do so and then attribute it to their traumatic experiences. They have besmirched themselves and their services. That being said, they should not be deported. Treat them as we would any other American criminals.

Trust me- in a vacuum, I’d continue calling myself conservative. It’s what I have always been. But I’ve long turned up my nose at people who seemed to lack a stiff upper lip and aimed their politics more at helping themselves rather than their country. I’d have considered a lot of those people to be of the left and I’d piss off a lot of posters if I started elaborating on where I saw them. Now, however, I’m seeing them clearly all over my fucking “team” too. Not thrilled about it. I appreciate you sharing your backstory and I hope my “originally undocumented” comment didn’t bug you. I was just trying to summarize your situation as well as I understood it. Also, WRT the draft, I like the sentiment but disagree. It would decrease the quality of soldiers in general, IMO.

@Balta1701 “In a red zone, while a synagogue or church may not admit more than 10 persons, businesses categorized as “essential” may admit as many people as they wish. And the list of “essential” businesses includes things such as acupuncture facilities, camp grounds, garages, as well as many whose services are not limited to those that can be regarded as es- sential, such as all plants manufacturing chemicals and mi- croelectronics and all transportation facilities. See New York State, Empire State Development, Guidance for De- termining Whether a Business Enterprise is Subject to a Workforce Reduction Under Recent Executive Orders, https://esd.ny.gov/guidance-executive-order-2026. The disparate treatment is even more striking in an orange zone. While attendance at houses of worship is limited to 25 per- sons, even non-essential businesses may decide for them- selves how many persons to admit.” I can’t quite square this description from the actual decision with what you sent me, but I don’t imagine SCOTUS would lie about factual details of a case...

Thanks. I didn’t read the entire opinion and I don’t live anywhere near NY. If that’s the case, then yes, I disagree.

I saw a summary of this injunction as banning authorities from requiring fewer people in a church than they would in a restaurant and from treating the right to protest as more important than the right to worship. I’m all for restrictions but they have to treat everyone equally. Do you see a reason why this shouldn’t be the case?

Path to citizenship for childhood arrivals and other meritorious cases (like anyone willing to serve in military). Deportation for undocumented people who commit crimes unrelated to their immigration status. No wall (I’ve driven Rte 9 into Columbus NM, we don’t need a wall). Increased funding for Border Patrol to pay for more agents (create jobs), vehicles and sensors. Use those elements to drive traffic towards official ports of entry and encourage expeditiously processed yet vetted legal immigration. Heavy fines for companies that employ undocumented immigrants. I see politicians on the left talk about improving technology at ports of entry; I’ve spent time working in support of Border Patrol and that’s really not necessary. They’ve got state of the art x-ray machines, dogs, scanners and so on that they run everything through. If they’re paying attention and you’re crossing with drugs, they’ll catch you. Problem is, they’re often not paying attention because it’s two guys who sit in an office and watch 8,000 vehicles come through a day. Part of the reason me and my soldiers were down there was to augment this. Of course, that mission funding ended, so increase the actual organization’s funding and get some extra eyes in there to help out and keep that shit out of our country (it is correctly pointed out that most contraband enters through vehicular POEs). Last thing, there’s no reason for the inhumanity of the Trump administration. Under Obama, we were slapping monitors on undocumented crossers out in the Sonoran desert and telling them to show up to court weeks later in a city they’ve never been to before and then never hearing from them again. So Trump comes up with zero tolerance which results in two disasters: family separation and “children in cages”. We need to find a way to quench that flow so that we don’t solve the DACA issue today and host the same conversation again decades in the future with a new crop of arrivals. I’m not entirely sure how to do that, but we need to place our role as a world leader well above our fear of “OMG there’s too many brown people here!” Anyways, dinner’s almost here. Happy to answer other questions later.

I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. Neither of us know what he does to serve his community or his country. Maybe he does; maybe he doesn’t. Saying he’d die for her is a bit much if he’s not a vet, and especially if he’s not willing to wear a mask. As a lifelong conservative, I’m not a fan of hedonism and the rejection of duty by many when it comes to any sort of pandemic responsibility is absolutely a form of it. A world populated entirely by Trumpers is a world where nobody storms the beaches of Normandy. I went to Afghanistan because it needed to be done, not because it was fun (although it was, at times). Regarding your father, I’m glad he was able to get here and provide so much to this country. I still believe we have the right and the obligation to secure our borders so that the future journeys of people like your father can have prompt, vetted, humane, and legal entry into this country. I went to basic training with an undocumented immigrant; as far as I’m concerned, that’s automatic citizenship. I do think it’s a little much to generalize the contributions of people based on their race or SES or documentation status. You came from an originally undocumented family which sacrificed a lot; I came from an upper middle class family which sacrificed a lot. Some undocumented people come here, drop out of school, and live permanently on the fringes of society, offering little. Some people from my situation do the same. Some from both groups turn to crime. Some become loudmouth radio hosts whose bark is worse than their bite. Trump’s wrong to act like migrating Guatemalans represent a massive crime wave, and people on the left are wrong to suggest that immigrants are more American than native born ones. Some? Sure. Not all.

I’m constantly amazed at how genial you are while constantly getting shit on. So props to you for that. I’m a war veteran and I don’t find your comment offensive, really. There are lots of ways to serve this country. Douglas MacArthur, Sal Giunta, Rosa Parks, Victoria Soto, John Lewis, John McCain, etc...all served America in unique ways and many gave their lives for it, so I wouldn’t deny them such sentiment. Find the way for YOU to best serve her and run with it. I actually agree with your sentiment on Trump, although perhaps more adamantly so. Hate the person, like some of the policies/actions. Often, I even dislike the motivation for said actions, though. For instance, effective border control is good and necessary, but it needs to be humane. Losing 500 parents while retaining their children is unacceptable. Lobbing tear gas at crowds charging a port of entry is an unfortunately necessary tactic to disperse those crowds and restore order. But witnesses like Miles Taylor report that Trump actively likes the harm it does to people in those crowds. That’s just cruelty for cruelty’s sake. We can achieve the goal without debasing ourselves.

Somebody help me out. I get that Snell had an incredible 2018. I get that his K numbers are insane. He’s also had a rising FIP each of the last two years (which is about as far as I go into adv metrics on pitchers). He doesn’t throw that many innings either. Topped out at 180 IP- averaged less than five per start this year. As far as I’m concerned, Vaughn is EASILY off the table. I’m less of a Kopech fan, and usually open to trading prospects, but I’d pull him off the table too. I’d be OK with a Dunning package but the Rays wouldn’t accept it. What do people see in Snell to approach this differently?

In this thread, I’ve openly supported the Iraq War and denied that Stacey Abrams was cheated in 2018. I agree with pretty much nobody here (go Sox!), but with one character/intellect deficient exception, I’ve been received well enough.

Looks like Tony Blinken is gonna run State. Consider me a fan. If he goes there and Flournoy becomes SecDef, Sanders can have Labor for all I care.

They were BLM protestors who kicked open a gate and entered a private neighborhood. I've already said my piece on the McCloskeys, but these protestors were also out of line. We've got plenty of public places to protest in this country; if you break stuff and show up at people's houses, you're an asshole.

Calling the police is just one element, though. I'm not anti-gun and I'm certainly not anti-self/home defense. I have a concealed carry permit in a red state and I almost always keep a locked and loaded .45 in my glove box. Stupid home defense is not something I support. Coming out on your patio and aiming rifles at people in the street is just stupid. It's not legal and it's not tactically wise. A key part of self defense is not provoking the other person. I can't be raging all over the highway and then shoot someone who seems to threaten me. You can't push a guy in a bar fight and shoot him when he punches you. You can't stand outside and point guns at people you don't like. Those people broke a gate and were trespassing. So...call. The. Cops. They weren't threatening the McCloskeys until the McCloskeys tacitly encouraged them to do so. If the McCloskeys stayed in their house and plugged the guy who was stupid enough to break through their front door, and then plugged anyone who tried to come to that guy's defense, I'd support them 150 fucking percent. But they didn't do that- they came outside and started a confrontation. Also, if, say, one of the McCloskeys was standing out front and the protesters came up and were threatening them, actually threatening them, and refused requests to leave, some level of self defense would perhaps be justified. I'm not asking anyone to cower inside their homes but you CANNOT start the armed confrontation.

Yes, I remember them. They should have called the police, locked the doors, and armed themselves INSIDE the home. The door actually gets kicked open, start laying down lead and blow them all to hell. Not familiar with MO law, but in my state, they would have been totally in the clear following those guidelines. Standing on the porch, flagging each other with their muzzles, they look stupid and open themselves up to legal trouble. And sure, protesters should stay out of your yard (and away from people’s homes in general). So fire up the security cams and call the cops. Let them handle it. You can’t shoot someone for traipsing through your roses so you shouldn’t threaten to do it either. Side note, since you want to buy a gun, you should never just brandish at anyone. The moment you pull a gun on me thinking it makes you look tough is the moment I justifiably shoot you in the face. You will NOT see my firearm until I’ve cleared myself to start pulling the trigger. So don’t do that shit. And regarding the St Louis couple, they made this error and gave a decent amount of protection to anyone in that crowd who wanted to shoot back. The McCloskeys were all sorts of fucked up.