Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[CGVT]

Obama doesn't care if anyone hates him. He just does whatever he wants, then flies out to California, and yuks it up with Jimmy Kimmel.

While Michelle and his daughters take their 200th trip to Hawaii ... on our dime.

Really?

Has done anything that other presidents have not done? Has he taken more vacations? Has his family?

Here. I'll answer the vacation question for you.

[froot loops]

Yeah Hawaii is ery expensive if you are buying tickets, the cost is negligible if you are using Air Force One the difference between Crawford or Honolulu is negligible.

[entropy]

Both parties leverage hate and fear for votes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[WingsFan]

So is Al Sharpton a racist?


Obamas best buddy....been at the White House every week for dinner for 7+years. Obama has flamed the racist card so many times he brought us Trump

[Dr. Strangelove]

Al Sharpton is so disreputable that FoxNews has him on tv daily to offer up his thoughts.

[CGVT]

Lots of talking points posted tonight.

[Jeff Buchanan]

And I''ll add another ......

My view of what’s missing in attempts here to characterize Trump supporters as angry whites pissed off about supporting affirmative action for minorities, and I use that term in its widest application, is recognition that there are real institutional obstacles to achieving the American Dream and we all know what that means so, don’t mince words here with me.

I don’t completely disagree with the underlying case that David French of NR makes when he suggests the disadvantaged ought to get off their assess and take responsibility for their lot in life instead of casting dispersions and blaming everyone but themselves. However, it misses an impactful reality: institutional obstacles to advancement.

It is a glaring error in any rational argument that attempts to characterize Trump’s campaign rhetoric as appealing, to fail to recognize the many social, political and economic obstacles to upward mobility/advancement are present in America. Trump’s rhetoric may be appealing but that it is an indictment of his supporters and those that think his ascendancy to the Republican presidential nomination is a foregone conclusion. We ought to be pointing that out rather than accepting it as a means which furthers his Presidential ambitions.

SCOTUS Justice Sandra Day O'Connor eliminated one huge obstacle to minority educational advancement by arguing FOR race-conscious admissions policies in the Supreme Court's 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger decision. Seen as the court's swing vote on the affirmative-action issue, she ended up siding with its liberal wing in a 5-to-4 ruling holding that race-conscious admissions policies are constitutional because they serve the compelling state interest of promoting diversity and its associated educational benefits. This wasn’t any narrowly defined decision. It has broad application with regard to the obstacles for advancement I speak of.

WRT and IMO, institutional obstacles to education imposed on an underclass of Americans is the tip of the iceberg. Millions of unemployed or underemployed blacks, whites, Hispanics and all manner of immigrants, becoming increasingly larger since 2003, want to work. The US economy is chock full of companies that would rather raise share prices than expand production and labor, buy back their own stock and then pay CEOs outrageous amounts of money to do that. That sort of bull-shit is at baseline behind wage stagnation and the failure to expand employment in the US economy. It is a kind of institutional obstacle facing the unemployed who some seem to deride here.

A just society works hard to remove the institutional obstacles to advancement that I speak of. American society has failed in this regard. I don’t for a minute think that open borders and opportunity are mutually exclusive as Hanni appears to be suggesting. It is simply a matter of spending priorities. That the US builds $3 billion aircraft carriers (The Ford Class carriers) instead of spending that money on rebuilding infrastructure, for example, and creating jobs in the process suggests that Government priorities are seriously misplaced. That sound tax policy that incentivizes economic growth and job creation seems to have eluded policy makers is equally condemnatory.

Donald Trump as US President, is not by any means going to help remove obstacles; he is going to make those obstacles worse. That there seems to be some sort of resignation here and elsewhere that he is going to, by default, become the Republican Presidential nominee is as disturbing to me as the thought of him actually becoming the President.

[CGVT]

It is simply a matter of spending priorities

Exactly

[lineygoblue]

CGVT .. does your graph include the times that Barak and Michelle have taken separate vacations, using Air Force 1 and the backup plane for Air Force 1?

I particularly loved the trip where Mr Prez took AF1 out to LA to yuk it up with Jimmy Kimmel (hence, my comment) then Michelle followed about a day afterward to the same place, on the backup AF1 and appeared on "Ellen".

Good times. Love those presidential perks.

[CGVT]

That was a presidential vacation graph.

But, really. How much of the tax payer's dime do you think has been spent on this? Enough to really make it an issue. More than other administrations have spent?

Or is it just another excuse to hate Obama?

[The Oracle]

Another excuse to hate Obama for $800 please Alex.

[drok]

"$800"

Isn't that the cost of one of those extra flights?

[Wild Hoss]

Its the cost for checking the air pressure of the landing gear on the F35.

[CGVT]

[ame]https://youtu.be/bsHUPqhAGrk[/ame]

[lineygoblue]

Or is it just another excuse to hate Obama?

To me, "hate" is a very strong word. I know that nobody will accept this answer, but its the truth anyway. I honestly don't hate anyone, including Barak Obama and his family.

I do happen to think he's the most self serving President in US history. He's obstinate and stubborn, and refuses to entertain any notion on US policy from anyone who has dared to oppose him. In his world, there is no room for an honorable opposition, because he considers anyone who opposes him to be dishonorable, racist, homophobic, hypocritical, and more.

But, that's just me. And as Mr. Oracle has duly noted, I've lost my mind ... :-P