There is a certain elephant in the room, going unmentioned in Charlie's discussion, but everyone knows it's there: Fascism.
Rich Lowry: Fascist
Ron Desantis: Fascist
Ben Shapiro: Fascist
The Federalist: Fascists
These are all people who know better. They know their history. They know what Fascism is, and where it leads. But they've embraced Fascism, because as bad as Fascism was for everyone else, it was a pretty good deal if you were a Nazi. They're riding the Fascism train because they know if they win, they will be gods, and if they lose, there will be no consequences.
DeSantis and the Republicans have hurled a stone through Disney's window, and the individuals you mention are all in a hue and cry urging it be extended to an all out rampage against every corporation and business that does not hew to the party line.
The problem for them - the Nazis lost big time. The problem for us - that loss destroyed a lot of Germany and its people. I've asked this before - the Allies destroyed Nazi Germany. Who will destroy Nazi America for us?
Uummmm.... wth are you talking about? You think there are no young american nazis? are you kidding me? Have you looked at the GOP members of congress? Boebert, Green, Hawley, et al... you think they're boomers? All those Rumpers on 1/6... you think those were the elderly? No, my dear... those were millennials and Gen Xers. OW! My head hurts! SMH...You wanna see a boomer?: Al Franken, Bernie Sanders, Nancy Pelosi, etc etc. I know you want us all to hurry up and die, but how can we, when foolish youngsters are so bigoted and misinformed... Really, I despair.
Not all baby boomers are pro-autocrat anymore than all younger people are pro-democracy. Nick Fuentes, Ben Shapiro, Tucker Carlson, ad nauseam are relatively young. All my death would do (I am a so called Boomer) is be one less person fighting for democracy. Be careful of stereotypes.
Max, I’m a baby boomer and I hate Trump and his minions. I have many boomer friends and none of them support Agent Orange or his fascist spawn! I see no evidence that boomers are disproportionately supportive of the parties of snot flying pigs. Where are you coming from man?
So, first, I'm likewise a Boomer. No sweat. Your assertion about this demographic that touched off this little spat does not offend me personally, because while that is indeed one facet of my self identity, it's a relatively minor one. And even if it were more important to me than it is, I'm a fairly old tree with a lot of hard bark, and it would take more than this to raise my ire much. So, what I'll say here doesn't come from that.
But it may be of more importance to others, and I can see why some would be unhappy with the first sentence of your comment, because while you in fact did not say "all" Boomers, you in no way qualified your statement to indicate otherwise. And the specific use of the word "the" before the words "baby boomers" clearly denotes that the group that those words represent is to be considered as a whole, since as noted, you offered no qualification to indicate otherwise. And the natural follow-on to the meaning of your sentence is therefore that all baby boomers are "Nazi Americans", from which it may be surmised that you meant Trump supporters.
This may not be what you were trying to say, and from your subsequent comments I take you at your word that it wasn't. But it was, by common usage and understanding of our language, what you did in fact 'say' - however unintentionally - in a sentence that was overly broad for your purpose and included a cutting rhetorical comparison device (Nazi Americans). And that's the reason that you got the responses that you did. Including from me, the poor placement of which also led to a bit of a misunderstanding as to my specific meaning, a fact I apologized for and will now correct by noting I probably should have posted it under your original comment for clarity's sake.
You may well view this as nit picking, or see it as completely wrong. And if that's the case, that's fine. You asked me a question about my reply, you were entitled to one, and I've done my best to explain. I'll only add that it's helpful for all of us to sometimes remember that while our thoughts may be perfectly clear in our own minds, it's the words we use to express them that make them clear for others. Beyond that, I'd only ask that you re-read that sentence a couple of times, bearing in mind what I've said here, and perhaps you'll more clearly understand the point I've tried to make, both here and in my reply that you asked me about.
I'll try to answer that before the evening is out. Am responding at the moment so you'll know I got your reply and am not ignoring it. Just have a number of things that need to be seen to and it will take a little while. In the meantime, I'll offer some criticism of myself. This was probably not the right place in this conversation to insert that comment, at least not without a little modification, since it led you to think I was speaking specifically of your one reply to 'Old Man', and I wasn't. In doing so I made a mistake I see as similar to the one I think you made which started this whole angry little thread: not being as accurate in my language as I should have been, and I apologize for that. That you misunderstood me is my responsibility, not yours.
It's not just what is "implied," it's also what is "inferred" (Kamela Harris's confusion of the two verbs notwithstanding). I also "inferred" the entire baby boom generation from Mr. Max E's sentence, although I immediately concede that he may not have "implied" that meaning. His clarification above that he did not imply "ALL" helped me with my inference. In sum: both implications and inferences have "gotten us into this mess."
Be careful of demographics. At end of Nazi Germany, often the most fanatical fighters were Hitler Youth members, not the middle aged people who wanted the war to end.
The RW Rs are already targeting school kids with their propaganda as well as cutting back on real education. As an example, a couple of days ago, I was looking at statistics for small town schools in a red state to see what the population was in small rural communities (for a story). To get the school population, I wound up in state wide school stats. No names, but the area I was interested in went from passing state wide reading tests in the 80% range to 24% in 4 years (2014 to 2019 if I remember)! I'm talking really small rural school with roughly 68 in the high school senior class with great student-teacher ratios, like 6 to 1. And it wasn't an aberration. The same held for many of the rural schools listed. Kids in the big city schools with more students, including far more students per teacher, averaged over 50%. No wonder rural areas are declining with education like that! How can they function in the 21st century?
"No names, but the area I was interested in went from passing state wide reading tests in the 80% range to 24% in 4 years (2014 to 2019 if I remember)"
Have to be careful with that kind of figure; it can obscure as much as it illuminates. One of the local districts took a severe hit some time back because the pilot program for kids in alternative school and ESL program had to start giving kids the test. School districts can be remarkably good at playing with the data.
Agree in part. But this is a tiny rural school with a student population of @200 in high school in an area where the weekly paper is filled with all kinds of news about their neighbors like "Mr. & Mrs. X went to big city Y to visit their daughter Z" and rancher A killed 6 rattlesnakes in his yard and the school held a pot luck. The test results went back to 2000 and were pretty steady until the last decade or so. Also, it wasn't the only school that had such a drop. And these are state wide tests given to all schools for years with the state compiling the results.
The point is that these states are failing a good portion of their populations, the portion that is rural with few opportunities for its children, and few opportunities for new businesses, etc. Which seems to be areas that Trump and his ilk are doing well.
There was a steady decline - working from memory here - from 2000 on, but the most drastic decline was in those years and just before. The state was Oklahoma, if anyone's interesting in looking it up. The graphs they had with the stats were frankly shocking to look at. How could any reasonable group of parents accept those facts without doing something about them? Then again, how many parents even knew about them?
There is a certain elephant in the room, going unmentioned in Charlie's discussion, but everyone knows it's there: Fascism.
Rich Lowry: Fascist
Ron Desantis: Fascist
Ben Shapiro: Fascist
The Federalist: Fascists
These are all people who know better. They know their history. They know what Fascism is, and where it leads. But they've embraced Fascism, because as bad as Fascism was for everyone else, it was a pretty good deal if you were a Nazi. They're riding the Fascism train because they know if they win, they will be gods, and if they lose, there will be no consequences.
DeSantis and the Republicans have hurled a stone through Disney's window, and the individuals you mention are all in a hue and cry urging it be extended to an all out rampage against every corporation and business that does not hew to the party line.
Kristallnacht, anyone?
Whoops! Wrote my comment before reading yours. Thanks for naming names! You are exact on point.
The problem for them - the Nazis lost big time. The problem for us - that loss destroyed a lot of Germany and its people. I've asked this before - the Allies destroyed Nazi Germany. Who will destroy Nazi America for us?
Nobody is going to "destroy Nazi America" for us. We have to fight together against them to succeed.
Uummmm.... wth are you talking about? You think there are no young american nazis? are you kidding me? Have you looked at the GOP members of congress? Boebert, Green, Hawley, et al... you think they're boomers? All those Rumpers on 1/6... you think those were the elderly? No, my dear... those were millennials and Gen Xers. OW! My head hurts! SMH...You wanna see a boomer?: Al Franken, Bernie Sanders, Nancy Pelosi, etc etc. I know you want us all to hurry up and die, but how can we, when foolish youngsters are so bigoted and misinformed... Really, I despair.
Pelosi, Biden and Sanders are all Silent Generation, not Boomers.
👍🏼so even older. Yeah. Exactly.
There are very few Black, Native, or Asian Nazis
👍🏽
Have you ever posted anything nice or unifying? Because I've never seen it on here. But okay... you do you, buddy.
Not all baby boomers are pro-autocrat anymore than all younger people are pro-democracy. Nick Fuentes, Ben Shapiro, Tucker Carlson, ad nauseam are relatively young. All my death would do (I am a so called Boomer) is be one less person fighting for democracy. Be careful of stereotypes.
Look at the demographics. Trump won bigly with white people over 65
But not those with T/T (Teeth/Tatoo:) ratio of less than one.
Sent from my iPhone
Max, I’m a baby boomer and I hate Trump and his minions. I have many boomer friends and none of them support Agent Orange or his fascist spawn! I see no evidence that boomers are disproportionately supportive of the parties of snot flying pigs. Where are you coming from man?
Election results
Omg- I was born in 1944 but my wife was born in ‘48. Does that mean I’m ‘sleeping with the enemy’?
You're swinging a pretty broad and sharp axe here, friend. You may want to be a little more careful with it lest you cut yourself.
So, first, I'm likewise a Boomer. No sweat. Your assertion about this demographic that touched off this little spat does not offend me personally, because while that is indeed one facet of my self identity, it's a relatively minor one. And even if it were more important to me than it is, I'm a fairly old tree with a lot of hard bark, and it would take more than this to raise my ire much. So, what I'll say here doesn't come from that.
But it may be of more importance to others, and I can see why some would be unhappy with the first sentence of your comment, because while you in fact did not say "all" Boomers, you in no way qualified your statement to indicate otherwise. And the specific use of the word "the" before the words "baby boomers" clearly denotes that the group that those words represent is to be considered as a whole, since as noted, you offered no qualification to indicate otherwise. And the natural follow-on to the meaning of your sentence is therefore that all baby boomers are "Nazi Americans", from which it may be surmised that you meant Trump supporters.
This may not be what you were trying to say, and from your subsequent comments I take you at your word that it wasn't. But it was, by common usage and understanding of our language, what you did in fact 'say' - however unintentionally - in a sentence that was overly broad for your purpose and included a cutting rhetorical comparison device (Nazi Americans). And that's the reason that you got the responses that you did. Including from me, the poor placement of which also led to a bit of a misunderstanding as to my specific meaning, a fact I apologized for and will now correct by noting I probably should have posted it under your original comment for clarity's sake.
You may well view this as nit picking, or see it as completely wrong. And if that's the case, that's fine. You asked me a question about my reply, you were entitled to one, and I've done my best to explain. I'll only add that it's helpful for all of us to sometimes remember that while our thoughts may be perfectly clear in our own minds, it's the words we use to express them that make them clear for others. Beyond that, I'd only ask that you re-read that sentence a couple of times, bearing in mind what I've said here, and perhaps you'll more clearly understand the point I've tried to make, both here and in my reply that you asked me about.
I'll try to answer that before the evening is out. Am responding at the moment so you'll know I got your reply and am not ignoring it. Just have a number of things that need to be seen to and it will take a little while. In the meantime, I'll offer some criticism of myself. This was probably not the right place in this conversation to insert that comment, at least not without a little modification, since it led you to think I was speaking specifically of your one reply to 'Old Man', and I wasn't. In doing so I made a mistake I see as similar to the one I think you made which started this whole angry little thread: not being as accurate in my language as I should have been, and I apologize for that. That you misunderstood me is my responsibility, not yours.
You wrote "the death of the baby boomers will destroy Nazi Americans". That implies all. As to pearl clutching, it's not my thing.
Talk about clutching pearls! :)
It's not just what is "implied," it's also what is "inferred" (Kamela Harris's confusion of the two verbs notwithstanding). I also "inferred" the entire baby boom generation from Mr. Max E's sentence, although I immediately concede that he may not have "implied" that meaning. His clarification above that he did not imply "ALL" helped me with my inference. In sum: both implications and inferences have "gotten us into this mess."
Be careful of demographics. At end of Nazi Germany, often the most fanatical fighters were Hitler Youth members, not the middle aged people who wanted the war to end.
The RW Rs are already targeting school kids with their propaganda as well as cutting back on real education. As an example, a couple of days ago, I was looking at statistics for small town schools in a red state to see what the population was in small rural communities (for a story). To get the school population, I wound up in state wide school stats. No names, but the area I was interested in went from passing state wide reading tests in the 80% range to 24% in 4 years (2014 to 2019 if I remember)! I'm talking really small rural school with roughly 68 in the high school senior class with great student-teacher ratios, like 6 to 1. And it wasn't an aberration. The same held for many of the rural schools listed. Kids in the big city schools with more students, including far more students per teacher, averaged over 50%. No wonder rural areas are declining with education like that! How can they function in the 21st century?
"No names, but the area I was interested in went from passing state wide reading tests in the 80% range to 24% in 4 years (2014 to 2019 if I remember)"
Have to be careful with that kind of figure; it can obscure as much as it illuminates. One of the local districts took a severe hit some time back because the pilot program for kids in alternative school and ESL program had to start giving kids the test. School districts can be remarkably good at playing with the data.
Agree in part. But this is a tiny rural school with a student population of @200 in high school in an area where the weekly paper is filled with all kinds of news about their neighbors like "Mr. & Mrs. X went to big city Y to visit their daughter Z" and rancher A killed 6 rattlesnakes in his yard and the school held a pot luck. The test results went back to 2000 and were pretty steady until the last decade or so. Also, it wasn't the only school that had such a drop. And these are state wide tests given to all schools for years with the state compiling the results.
The point is that these states are failing a good portion of their populations, the portion that is rural with few opportunities for its children, and few opportunities for new businesses, etc. Which seems to be areas that Trump and his ilk are doing well.
I forgot to add that school funding also took the same precipitous decline during that exact time frame.
There was a steady decline - working from memory here - from 2000 on, but the most drastic decline was in those years and just before. The state was Oklahoma, if anyone's interesting in looking it up. The graphs they had with the stats were frankly shocking to look at. How could any reasonable group of parents accept those facts without doing something about them? Then again, how many parents even knew about them?
Demographics is NOT destiny. Look at the trends among blue collar PoC men - toward Republicans! This nonsense must stop!
A higher percentage Black men voted Reagan than Trump
Exactly. Playbook moves, one and all.
Does Ben Shapiro think he'll be safe?