KaiBear said:

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Realitybites said:

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We are not a strong country right now. Yes we have nukes and a large military. We also have a massive debt, inflation, lack of social cohesion, no control of our borders, out of control crime, failed education system... Rather than pretending to be strong through cosmetic gunboat diplomacy, we need to retrench and address those factors that weakened us as a nation. Continuing to pretend that this is 1985 is only going to result in us going off the cliff like Wile E. Coyote. We can start by closing all our military bases in the EU. Almost 100 years after the end of the second world war there is no excuse for us to be there.

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100% correct .

Unfortunately most Americans can't comprehend what our country was like in 1985.

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I don't disagree. I realize that without the U.S. there becomes a power vacuum and bad actors can emerge, but that does not mean U.S. taxpayers eternally subsidize Japanese and European military defense.

However, we're never going to get our house in order because no one will pursue entitlement reform. Part of the lingering damage of destroying institutional trust, is neither party trusts one another. Who would trust the party behind the Russia Hoax, covid lockdowns, vaccine disinformation, and using the Justice Department to target political enemies. Have to be able to trust and work together but that is largely gone never to return.

Jordan: Zero Arab troops will defend Gaza or West Bank pic.twitter.com/DpuZtR7FVf

— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) November 27, 2023

Trading this monster for an Israeli child or grandma...but Free Palestine or something.

Since the NYT version isn’t clear, the reason she is disfigured is that she blew up her car bomb early because she was confronted by an Israeli police officer (Moshe Chen, who was injured in the explosion and still has not fully recovered) before she could reach her target. pic.twitter.com/MsK3dqc3ry

— AG (@AGHamilton29) November 26, 2023

Harrison Bergeron said:

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KaiBear said:

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Realitybites said:

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We are not a strong country right now. Yes we have nukes and a large military. We also have a massive debt, inflation, lack of social cohesion, no control of our borders, out of control crime, failed education system... Rather than pretending to be strong through cosmetic gunboat diplomacy, we need to retrench and address those factors that weakened us as a nation. Continuing to pretend that this is 1985 is only going to result in us going off the cliff like Wile E. Coyote. We can start by closing all our military bases in the EU. Almost 100 years after the end of the second world war there is no excuse for us to be there.

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100% correct .

Unfortunately most Americans can't comprehend what our country was like in 1985.

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I don't disagree. I realize that without the U.S. there becomes a power vacuum and bad actors can emerge, but that does not mean U.S. taxpayers eternally subsidize Japanese and European military defense.

However, we're never going to get our house in order because no one will pursue entitlement reform. Part of the lingering damage of destroying institutional trust, is neither party trusts one another. Who would trust the party behind the Russia Hoax, covid lockdowns, vaccine disinformation, and using the Justice Department to target political enemies. Have to be able to trust and work together but that is largely gone never to return.

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I agree with you, but just calling out Dems is not going to go very far! GOP has to acknowledge what they can do or have done. Simply saying the Dems are bad and they need to change is not a strong negotiating stance.

There has to be agreement on what needs to be worked on together and what each side needs the other to give. If Dems won't budge on SS and Medicare, GOP needs to get Defense and Border. This one side takes all has to stop.

Entitlement changes are coming to be sure. But the last group of people a legitimate government should default against are citizens who have spent a lifetime paying into programs that government mandated by law. So first fix everything else...

Realitybites said:

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Entitlement changes are coming to be sure. But the last group of people a legitimate government should default against are citizens who have spent a lifetime paying into programs that government mandated by law. So first fix everything else...

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I really have no problem with SS and Medicare. I could give on those for the Border control and regulatory reform.

ATL Bear said:

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Harrison Bergeron said:

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KaiBear said:

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Realitybites said:

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We are not a strong country right now. Yes we have nukes and a large military. We also have a massive debt, inflation, lack of social cohesion, no control of our borders, out of control crime, failed education system... Rather than pretending to be strong through cosmetic gunboat diplomacy, we need to retrench and address those factors that weakened us as a nation. Continuing to pretend that this is 1985 is only going to result in us going off the cliff like Wile E. Coyote. We can start by closing all our military bases in the EU. Almost 100 years after the end of the second world war there is no excuse for us to be there.

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100% correct .

Unfortunately most Americans can't comprehend what our country was like in 1985.

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I don't disagree. I realize that without the U.S. there becomes a power vacuum and bad actors can emerge, but that does not mean U.S. taxpayers eternally subsidize Japanese and European military defense.

However, we're never going to get our house in order because no one will pursue entitlement reform. Part of the lingering damage of destroying institutional trust, is neither party trusts one another. Who would trust the party behind the Russia Hoax, covid lockdowns, vaccine disinformation, and using the Justice Department to target political enemies. Have to be able to trust and work together but that is largely gone never to return.

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It's fascinating. In 1985 our defense budget was $275 Billion. In 2022 it was about $750 Billion. A huge increase obviously until you consider that Social Security and Medicare spending was $285 Billion in 1985, and last year it was $1.9 Trillion. And that doesn't even include other forms of income and life subsidies including state and local ones, which would likely push it closer to $2.5-$3 Trillion, Yet some are convinced our weakness stems from the $50-100 Billion a year we spend on foreign bases, equipment, and military personnel, not the dependency culture we've fomented for decades using tax dollars.

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Agreed, but they do not have to be mutually exclusive. As I noted, there will never be entitlement reform until both parties put the country above party, and that can never happen without cooperation, and that can never happen without trust.

FLBear5630 said:

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Harrison Bergeron said:

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KaiBear said:

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Realitybites said:

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We are not a strong country right now. Yes we have nukes and a large military. We also have a massive debt, inflation, lack of social cohesion, no control of our borders, out of control crime, failed education system... Rather than pretending to be strong through cosmetic gunboat diplomacy, we need to retrench and address those factors that weakened us as a nation. Continuing to pretend that this is 1985 is only going to result in us going off the cliff like Wile E. Coyote. We can start by closing all our military bases in the EU. Almost 100 years after the end of the second world war there is no excuse for us to be there.

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100% correct .

Unfortunately most Americans can't comprehend what our country was like in 1985.

---

I don't disagree. I realize that without the U.S. there becomes a power vacuum and bad actors can emerge, but that does not mean U.S. taxpayers eternally subsidize Japanese and European military defense.

However, we're never going to get our house in order because no one will pursue entitlement reform. Part of the lingering damage of destroying institutional trust, is neither party trusts one another. Who would trust the party behind the Russia Hoax, covid lockdowns, vaccine disinformation, and using the Justice Department to target political enemies. Have to be able to trust and work together but that is largely gone never to return.

---

I agree with you, but just calling out Dems is not going to go very far! GOP has to acknowledge what they can do or have done. Simply saying the Dems are bad and they need to change is not a strong negotiating stance.

There has to be agreement on what needs to be worked on together and what each side needs the other to give. If Dems won't budge on SS and Medicare, GOP needs to get Defense and Border. This one side takes all has to stop.

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My point was not around policy positions but institutional trust. It is the constant undermining of protocol and polity (99% of the time from the Democrats) that cause distrust in the institutions. Things like:
- Changing long-standing rules and traditions
- Purely political big structural changes
- Weaponizing the IRS and justice system
- Political-based prosecutions
- Constant parroting of disinformation
- Overt and obvious double standards

Those completely erode institutional trust.

I have always been consistent. I respect policy disagreements and debate. What I cannot tolerate is the intentional disinformation, the overt double standards, and the means justifies the ends power plays.

Harrison Bergeron said:

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Along to constant theme and reality of Democrat projection ... for all those that say Trump is a narcissist ... is there a bigger one than Biden? His comments about the Jewish hostages exchanged for Arab terrorists he constantly uses first person pronouns and takes credit for everything.

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All 4 of our last Presidents have been extreme Narcissists.

But it is funny to see comfortable rich country club Republicans rant about narcissistic Trump while forgetting God-complex Bush (he literally believed his Methodist butt had been set aside by God to remake the middle east and Islamic central asia into something like New York via force of arms)

And for liberals to rant about Trump while not looking at Obama and Biden...both men have levels of extreme narcissism as high if not higher than Trump.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2020/12/barack-obama-the-real-narcissist-president/

Obama was the same. Biden learned well.

It's a gigantic Ponzi scheme.

Americans Trusted Their Government and Instantly Regretted It.

I assume this list is "we pay more for more stuff" and not "these guys actually have a competent army"

Looking at Global Firepower's 2023 ranking of military power:

Pakistan more powerful than France.
Algeria more than Canada.
Both Egypt and Iran more than Israel.
Vietnam more than Taiwan.
Thailand more than Germany.
Ethiopia more than Denmark.https://t.co/83AMsXXvhs

— i/o (@eyeslasho) November 27, 2023

Redbrickbear said:

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I assume this list is "we pay more for more stuff" and not "these guys actually have a competent army"

Looking at Global Firepower's 2023 ranking of military power:

Pakistan more powerful than France.
Algeria more than Canada.
Both Egypt and Iran more than Israel.
Vietnam more than Taiwan.
Thailand more than Germany.
Ethiopia more than Denmark.https://t.co/83AMsXXvhs

— i/o (@eyeslasho) November 27, 2023

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Already knew Eypty and Iran were more powerful than Israel. The day US support withers the Jews are dead.


The big surprise is how Thailand is more powerful than Germany. European decadence has certainly taken its toll.

Someday soon Mexico ( or at least the drug cartels ) will be 'reclaiming' the US southwest.

Texas, New Mexico, California , and Arizona are going to have a new flag within the next 75 years.

ron.reagan said:

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RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

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ron.reagan said:

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I don't think the US can take out Hezbollah without taking out Iran.

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Never gonna happen. China Joe does not want to offend or hurt Iran's feelings. I am sure he is on Iran's payroll like everybody else. Joe has his marching orders.

The man has no backbone, no heart, no balls. He has turned us into the laughingstock of the world.

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I didn't say it was going to happen...

And it's not like Iran shot our military base wounding 100+ soldiers and he did nothing about it.

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73 attacks on American installations, Ronnie, on your President's watch. 73. And he has done nothing. Hope your President grows some nuts really soon or we may be in serious trouble. He seems most interested in placating militant Palestinian protesters in our own country than firmly supporting Israel.

KaiBear said:

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Redbrickbear said:

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I assume this list is "we pay more for more stuff" and not "these guys actually have a competent army"

Looking at Global Firepower's 2023 ranking of military power:

Pakistan more powerful than France.
Algeria more than Canada.
Both Egypt and Iran more than Israel.
Vietnam more than Taiwan.
Thailand more than Germany.
Ethiopia more than Denmark.https://t.co/83AMsXXvhs

— i/o (@eyeslasho) November 27, 2023

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Already knew Eypty and Iran were more powerful than Israel. The day US support withers the Jews are dead.


The big surprise is how Thailand is more powerful than Germany. European decadence has certainly taken its toll.
.

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Anyone who thinks Thailand could beat Germany in a war is smoking some powerful stuff.

Same if people think non-nuclear power and extremely corrupt Egypt could beat Israel.

Algeria can spend more than Canada for the next 100 years and would still lose a war because they suck at maintaining effective fighting forces, lack good organization and professionalism, and have low IQ scores

ATL Bear said:

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whiterock said:

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power matters only where one can project it. and there's only one power can actually do that beyond their own region.....

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Yep. Germany's military without the U.S. is definitely weaker than Thailand's. It's our Nukes, our bombers and our bases and support equipment that gives Germany its strength, even moreso than Israel. But some love Krauts, the ironic purveyors of the two most recent world wars, more than the Jews. What a time we live in.

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Old Blood and Guts has entered the chat:

What is wrong with some of you people?

Redbrickbear said:

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KaiBear said:

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Redbrickbear said:

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I assume this list is "we pay more for more stuff" and not "these guys actually have a competent army"

Looking at Global Firepower's 2023 ranking of military power:

Pakistan more powerful than France.
Algeria more than Canada.
Both Egypt and Iran more than Israel.
Vietnam more than Taiwan.
Thailand more than Germany.
Ethiopia more than Denmark.https://t.co/83AMsXXvhs

— i/o (@eyeslasho) November 27, 2023

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Already knew Eypty and Iran were more powerful than Israel. The day US support withers the Jews are dead.


The big surprise is how Thailand is more powerful than Germany. European decadence has certainly taken its toll.
.

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Algeria can spend more than Canada for the next 100 years and would still lose a war because they suck at maintaining effective fighting forces, lack good organization and professionalism, and have low IQ scores

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Spend some time in Quebec if you wish to experience some really 'special' IQ scores.

Cruz: Joe Biden has been the most anti-Israel president the United States has ever had… He's surrounded by radical anti-Israel activists pic.twitter.com/frFX8S5s8U

— Acyn (@Acyn) November 28, 2023

ATL Bear said:

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Realitybites said:

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Entitlement changes are coming to be sure. But the last group of people a legitimate government should default against are citizens who have spent a lifetime paying into programs that government mandated by law. So first fix everything else...

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The amount paid in, even accounting for a modest IRR, and the amount paid out for most Americans is an upside down mess. No one is contributing to their SS payout, they're paying for current benefits. And don't get me started on the Medicare math.

The thing that needs to be fixed is to stop relying on Uncle Sam for your retirement.

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I have never relied on Uncle Sam or tax deferred retirement accounts for my retirement. I would be perfectly willing to surrender my claim to all future social security benefits IF they stopped taxing me for them today. Think they will make that deal? Of course not. So don't try and steal what I have paid and continue to pay for while there is one red cent left in the budget for Ukraine, Israel, USAID, and a number of other projects that only benefit government-Americans.

Redbrickbear said:

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Algeria can spend more than Canada for the next 100 years and would still lose a war because they suck at maintaining effective fighting forces, lack good organization and professionalism, and have low IQ scores

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I can( speak specifically about Algeria, but head to head on a conventional battlefield most moderate sized middle eastern militaries (Iran, Egypt, formerly Iraq, throw Turkey in there for good measure) would 100% smoke the Canadian Forces of 2023 and it wouldn't be close.

Realitybites said:

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Redbrickbear said:

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Algeria can spend more than Canada for the next 100 years and would still lose a war because they suck at maintaining effective fighting forces, lack good organization and professionalism, and have low IQ scores

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I can( speak specifically about Algeria, but head to head on a conventional battlefield most moderate sized middle eastern militaries (Iran, Egypt, formerly Iraq, throw Turkey in there for good measure) would 100% smoke the Canadian Forces of 2023 and it wouldn't be close.

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Canada's forces are not designed for independent action. They are designed for home defense and NATO integration, which would require the US as providing the backbone of the force capabilities in firepower, air support, logistics, comms, Intel and sea power.

As a Company or even maybe a Battalion level force and individual skills, Canadians are very good. As good as anyone. As an Army, they are not in that league or designed to be in it. They just don't have the "infrastructure" to support Corps or Army actions.

An Israeli intelligence agent wrote 3 reports warning of Hamas training for an attack on kibbutzim near the Gazan border. She even speculated the date correctly. Her warnings were mocked by senior intel officers, but she kept insisting it was serious:https://t.co/SYRauvdckB pic.twitter.com/XkKYM0LfIW

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 28, 2023

Amazing how anti-Jewish the regressive left is across the world. It always has been but weird to see it out of the closet.

Harrison Bergeron said:

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Amazing how anti-Jewish the regressive left is across the world. It always has been but weird to see it out of the closet.

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They just needed about 80 years so that their hatred could be fashionable again. The memory of its consequences having faded.

The only way to fixed social security with a band aid is to remove the cap on taxable income. Lower the tax rate by gradually using scale.