Political Opinion

The Lobby
2620

I see so many of the people I grew up with, posting really sad things on Facebook, that I find to be really hateful. Things like ‘why don’t they all leave this country and go back where they belong’ etc. When we use terms like ‘radical Muslim’ or whatever, aren’t we really just trying to insult other people who are peaceful.

If we’re going to use those terms, then I don’t understand why we shouldn’t use terms like radical Christian terror to describe those who commit violent acts domestically “in the name” of Christianity. I’m not a Christian, but can see that at it’s core, it’s a religion of peace. I wouldn’t want to insult the overwhelming majority of Christians by linking the words together. I realize that some will find passages from the Quran, and try to prove that at it’s core Islam is not a peaceful religion, but I don’t think that’s true. Most Muslims, Christians, Jews, Atheists, etc, care about family and decency. I live in the north eastern US, which is often associated with progressive mindedness, and I see so many people becoming outwardly anti-Muslim. This is what the terrorists want.

Why is it so important that certain phrases are used, and if we are going to use them, then shouldn’t we be consistent?

2621

Hello, Brian

It’s quite apparent that my post triggered your post.

You wouldn’t be here on this thread, at this particular time, if my post hadn’t upset you.

If you have a problem with what I posted, you can confront me directly. You don’t need to create surrogates — “people I grew up with, posting really sad things on Facebook”.

Perhaps you should compile a list of violent acts committed “in the name” of Christianity. I’ll compile a list of violent acts committed “in the name” of Islam. And then, we can compare lists.

I think it will be obvious that conflating [I]rampant Islamic terrorism[/I] with [I]almost-nonexistent Christian terrorism[/I] is ridiculous on its face.

You’re implying that you have read the Quran. If that is true, then you know that the Quran is full of hate, is full of intolerance for any belief other than strict Islam, and that it not only permits — not only encourages — but demands that Muslims brutalize any and all “non-believers”. There’s your religion of peace.

Now you’re lumping Jews and Atheists into your faulty comparison.

I guess you’d better make lists of violent acts committed “in the name” of Judaism, and “in the name” of Atheism, as well. It shouldn’t take long — all three of your lists will be extremely short.

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After Obama’s pathetic speech on television on Sunday evening — in which he spent more time giving cover to Muslim terrorists, than to laying out a credible plan for defeating this menace — David French posted THIS ARTICLE in [I]National Review Online.[/I] His article addresses the mindset shared by Obama and many other liberals, such as yourself.

I’m sure that Obama will not read it. I hope that you will.

Here are two excerpts:

Simply put, America’s leaders actively deceive the American people about the sheer scale of Muslim hatred and commitment to jihad. Rather than tell us the truth, the Obama administration and the media aristocracy constantly lecture Americans about discrimination, apparently believing that only their scolding keeps the great redneck masses at bay.

Islam has a problem. It is Muslims’ responsibility to reform their own faith. It is America’s responsibility to defend itself and its citizens. Neither goal is advanced by telling convenient, politically correct lies. After 14 years of war, can we finally tell the truth?

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2622

Hey Clint,

All of your posts whether trading related or politically minded, come from a place of intelligence and good research. I disagree with you politically, but I try to learn from your posts, even if I do disagree.

My reference to Facebook was literal, and I was referring to several friends I grew up with, who post meme’s I find disturbing and really sad to be honest. I saw your post, I do disagree with you, but it was really several factors that made me want to post. I can disagree with you and respect you at the same time.

I have not read the Quran, but have read excerpts from it. I can see how people might take issue with aspects of Islam, but I also think that a majority of Muslims practice it peacefully. I think they find beauty in the concept of total submission to what they believe is g*d’s will and I believe most of them are peaceful. I’ve read the five pillars of Islam, and they are loosely similar to concepts in Christianity and Judaism.

I think people do bad things and are often mislead into doing bad things in the name of religion. I do recognize there are Muslims who are turning to violent extremism, but I think there are people in Iraq who were not terrorists, who lost loved ones as a result of George W Bush making a decision that seems in my view, to have made the world much less safe. I think radicalization occurs in different forms and I think there are similarities in how this happens and who this happens to.

I can’t convey in a way that anyone would take seriously on a currency trading forum how much 9/11 has affected my life, and I was incredibly lucky that morning. I was across the street getting ready to walk towards the north tower and cut through the under ground mall when the first plane hit. The south tower ripped a hole in my building when it collapsed, but after the second plane hit, I decided to walk up to mid-town as it was apparent something evil was taking place. For many of the years that followed I worked in lower Manhattan, and every time the subway would come to a stop and they announced that something was being cleared off the tracks, you could see fear in peoples (of all religions) faces. In 2003, the power grid failed in the northeast, and I again had to walk up to mid-town feeling certain at the time that something terror related was taking place.

I will always read the things I see you post on this forum, and while I am proud of my political beliefs, there is no shortage of respect or appreciation for your posts. I know I didn’t answer everything you raised (or that I raised), but I’m trying to get a testing project done so I can refine my trading. I am not against any religion at it’s core, where it is about tolerance. I am against the distortion (as I see it) of religion to justify violent acts, and to motivate people who are lost to commit horrible acts.

I did read the article you posted. There is a lot of anti-Semitism in the Muslim world. I think it relates to a few different things. Very often, people draw a distinction between Judaism and Zionism. I’m not justifying any hate, but to some people, the issue they have is not the practice of the Jewish religion, but the political / geographic aspect relating to Israel. Obviously, I don’t support their views, but I do make a point of trying to understand the thought process of those I disagree with.

2623

The respect is mutual, Brian.

You and I have always debated, and disagreed, respectfully — publicly on this forum, and privately away from the forum. And I intend for that high level of respect to continue.

Thanks for your reply.

2624

So Trump is proposing to shutdown the Internet.

2625

He’s going to shut down much more than that.

2626

Obama Plans to Collect Companies’ Salary Data

It’s none of your damn business, Obama.

Just butt out.

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2627

Everyone but me had the restraint not to type 'He will build a bigger better Death Star, and make the Rebels pay for it. We’re gonna destroy so many planets, you’re gonna get tired of destroying planets" which as I typed, I realized seemed a little too close to the actual proposed Trump policies.

2628

Why You Should Be Furious
Over Hillary Clinton’s Email Scandal

Why you should be furious over Hillary Clinton’s email scandal / The Week

We need to run this lying b*tch out of the American political system.
She’s worse than useless. She’s a criminal. And she’s dangerous.

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2629

The old socialist curmudgeon Bernie Sanders
hands Hillary Clinton a humiliating defeat.

Clinton - 39% … Sanders - 60%

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2630

Nanny Bloomberg
is threatening to launch
a third-party campaign for
president

I’m going to turn this entire country into a
SMOKE-FREE,
SUGAR-FREE, SALT-FREE,
GUN-FREE ZONE !

You betcha.

Maybe he’ll call his new party

THE NANNY PARTY

Run, Nanny, Run !

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2631

I can’t stand that man, just who does he thinks he is !!!

2632

Lindsey Graham represents the [I][B]Republicrat[/B][/I] faction of the Ruling Class in Washington.*

In this “year of the insurgent”, Lindsey Graham is not a happy camper.

But, Lindsey Graham, [I]the politician,[/I] seems to have potential as [I]an entertainer[/I] — as the following clip demonstrates — and he seems to enjoy doing stand-up comedy, and using the occasion to twist the knife.

On the other hand, Donald Trump, [I]the entertainer,[/I] seems to have potential as [I]a politician[/I] — and he seems to enjoy imagining himself as president.

Here’s a crazy idea:

Let’s take Graham out of politics, and put him on t.v.

And let’s take Trump off t.v., and put him — [I]where? in the White House?[/I]

Man, I don’t know. That’s a pretty scary proposition. We’d better think long and hard about that.

Anyway, here’s a portion of Lindsey Graham’s “roast” of the Republican Party.

*Three factions make up the Ruling Class: The DemoCrats, the RepubliCrats, and the MediaCrats.

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2633

An open letter from Humans of New York. 2M likes and counting. :slight_smile:

Humans of New York

An Open Letter to Donald Trump:

Mr. Trump,

I try my hardest not to be political. I’ve refused to interview several of your fellow candidates. I didn’t want to risk any personal goodwill by appearing to take sides in a contentious election. I thought: ‘Maybe the timing is not right.’ But I realize now that there is no correct time to oppose violence and prejudice. The time is always now. Because along with millions of Americans, I’ve come to realize that opposing you is no longer a political decision. It is a moral one.

I’ve watched you retweet racist images. I’ve watched you retweet racist lies. I’ve watched you take 48 hours to disavow white supremacy. I’ve watched you joyfully encourage violence, and promise to ‘pay the legal fees’ of those who commit violence on your behalf. I’ve watched you advocate the use of torture and the murder of terrorists’ families. I’ve watched you gleefully tell stories of executing Muslims with bullets dipped in pig blood. I’ve watched you compare refugees to ‘snakes,’ and claim that ‘Islam hates us.’

I am a journalist, Mr. Trump. And over the last two years I have conducted extensive interviews with hundreds of Muslims, chosen at random, on the streets of Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan. I’ve also interviewed hundreds of Syrian and Iraqi refugees across seven different countries. And I can confirm— the hateful one is you.

Those of us who have been paying attention will not allow you to rebrand yourself. You are not a ‘unifier.’ You are not ‘presidential.’ You are not a ‘victim’ of the very anger that you’ve joyfully enflamed for months. You are a man who has encouraged prejudice and violence in the pursuit of personal power. And though your words will no doubt change over the next few months, you will always remain who you are.

Sincerely,
Brandon Stanton

2634

[U]Call it the Ruling Class — Call it the Establishment[/U]

Whatever you call it, it’s the fat-cats in the upper echelons of government and finance,
who have created a new feudal system, in which they are the overlords, and we are the peasants.

The Ruling Class doesn’t care about you.
The Ruling Class cares only about themselves.

The Ruling Class doesn’t care about what’s best for America.
The Ruling Class cares only about what’s best for the Ruling Class.

An article you should read — America to Establishment: Who the hell are you people? | McClatchy DC

Here are some excerpts from the McClatchy article—

What is the establishment? Nationally, eight in 10 people told a McClatchy-Morning Consult poll this month it includes members of Congress. Similar numbers cited the Democratic and Republican parties, political donors, Wall Street bankers and the mainstream media.

Access is this group’s common currency. Wall Street spends millions to open doors to the top levels of the government that regulates it. Politicos bend over to get access to the money that keeps them in office. The media cut deals to get access to decision makers needed to feed ratings and circulation, even if sometimes at the cost of objectivity.

Corporate and other interests retained 11,465 registered lobbyists last year, spending $3.2 billion, roughly the same amount the United States pledged to poor countries to cope with global warming. To voters, the big money is emblematic of an impenetrable system they have no chance of influencing, let alone understanding.

It’s all part of a shadowy system that … seems open and approachable only to the well-entrenched and well-heeled.

Once elected to the Congress, for example, members basically have lifetime employment regardless of elections. In 2014, for example, 95 percent of the members of the House of Representatives won re-election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

It’s an incestuous system, voters say, that’s hard to crack.

Sharpen your pitchforks, and fire up your torches.
The time has come to OVERTHROW THE RULING CLASS.

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2635

Muslim barbariansattack
Pakistani Christians celebrating Easter

72 killed, 341 injured

CNN Video and Article

•

[B]Over the past 30 days *, Muslim barbarians have launched 147 attacks in 25 countries.[/B]

Here is their body-count
1,165 people killed
3,221 people injured

Here is the list

[B]*[/B] Figures as of March 27, 2016. — Note that this list is updated every time there is another Muslim attack.

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2636

Donald Trump
for
Apprentice
2016

We certify that this photo of Donald Trump has not been
photoshopped or retouched in any way, shape, manner, or form.
[U]The Republican National Committee[/U]
(signed)

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2637

.
This country has the stupidest electorate of any democracy, or representative republic, in the world.

And a majority of that electorate have put into place the dysfunctional government they deserve.

The electorate in this country consists of two groups:

• Those who vote — [I]A majority of them deserve Obama[/I] and all the harm he has done to this country

— because they voted for him. Twice.

• Those who don’t vote — [I]100% of them deserve Obama[/I] and all the harm he has done to this country

— because they wouldn’t get off their lazy asses, go to the polls, and vote for a better candidate.

Altogether, a vast majority of the electorate in this country deserve every day of the 8 years of Obama.

They deserve to live in communities overrun by millions of illegal immigrants. They deserve ObamaCare.

They deserve the out-of-control Obama bureaucracy. They deserve the bankrupt Obama economy.

And they deserve the contempt of their children and grandchildren, for saddling future generations with $9,000,000,000,000 of Obama debt, that those generations will never be able to pay off.

Obama will leave office in a few months.

But, the damage he has done to this country will persist for a generation.

Enjoy your “fundamentally transformed” America, people. — It’s exactly what you deserve.

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2638

I feel exactly the same , when this man got to be our president the first time , i said thank God is a 4 year term . The 4 years were up and he got re elected !!! I said now we are in real trouble and i was in denial that we the voters could be sooo stupid. The only thing i can say is , that never voted for this community organizer and he wasn’t even good at that job smh.

2639

Try to guess who said this —

“Despite being a celebrity outside the United States,
Clinton, the former first lady and secretary of state,
simply neither excites nor galvanizes her base.”

Answer: China’s official Xinhua News Agency, commenting on American politics after Trump’s primary victory in Indiana.
China says Trump could beat Hillary in the general election, if he toned down his “explosive rhetoric”.
Article — As Trump becomes presumptive nominee, China urges objectivity

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