Mr.TaterSalad

Ronald Reagan was also a noted racist. His conversation with Nixon bears this out.

What burns me is when someone who flies a confederate flag and gets angry when statues of Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee come down has the audacity to say to me as a progressive, left wing American that I am not patriotic. You don't get to fly the flag of successionist losers on one end and then tell me I am un-American and don't love my country on the other end. They are serious about it too and see no irony in what they say or do. It is completely lost on them. I don't love America to the point that I lose all sight of its racist, oppressive past. I sat around in 2016 underestimating the threat Trump posed to America. I voted for Hillary Clinton as a last minute decision and I'm thankful everyday I did. I also regret not recognizing the gravity of the situation and doing more to help get her elected in 2016. But I'll be damned if I don't love the freedom that democracy affords us all, free and fair elections, and the right to express myself freely. And I'll be damned if I watch the democracy we live in and the rights we all have to speak out with what we disagree with and vote freely go down the drain thanks to ignorance and an oppressive, cult like mentality..

If it were George Wallace running instead of Trump, MAGA would rally behind Wallace and his grievance brand of racial politics just as they have with Trump. Make America Great Again really means Make Power Structures of America Fall Under Total White Control Again. Sure, they'll vote for a John James, Tim Scott, Marco Rubio, or JC Watts when it suits their cause. But by and large, they are frustrated as white people that they don't control major power structures like they did and they see their white, Christian grip on America slipping. Make America Great Again runs along the same lines as Wallace's Stand Up For America. Wallace didn't want to integrate schools, Trump and his father didn't want to integrate his apartment units. Segregation, nonetheless.

I used to be a right wing, well libertarian I guess, troll around these parts and in my daily life back from 2009 when I first joined the old board through around 2013ish. I had many of the same talking points as posters like Archie and Cartman do today and folks like BallMich had several years back. I used to get into troll fights and arguments with Fife, Couga, MTU, G2, and others. Back in my libertarians days I was a collection of greatest hits talking points: from owning progressives and liberals, to government action = socialism, to socialism = scary, to Democrats and Obama are driving us towards socialism, to the private sector could do it better, to End the Fed, and on. When it snowed, I' be the first one out there to take a picture outside and post LOL @ Global Warming. I had read all the requisite right wing and libertarian books, websites and blogs at the time: Reason Magazine, National Review, Weekly Standard, Mises Institute, Cato, Heartland, etc. I had read every Milton Friedman book and watched every YouTube video ever that featured him. I had the Fox News and right wing talking points about the left down so pat I could recite them in my sleep. I remember fierce debates on this board about the GM and Chrysler bailouts. I remember fighting with MTU and G2 about Amtrak being a total failure in a thread I had created to show the world proof that Amtrak meant that government entities were all destined to fail, never mind the fact that Amtrak has failed because of stagnation and purposeful disinvestment in it as a rail system. I remember one time back in 2012ish I got into an argument with Fife over Barak Obama's and then Secretary of State Clinton's use of drones as a means to fight external and domestic terrorism and my single word response to Fife was to simply type "DROWNED" in all caps. I debated purely off emotion and made reactionary responses that fit my narrative and nothing more. Now, some may say I still do that (much respect to the Buddha), but I've tried to grow and mature beyond being that type of person here and in my daily life. I've tried to be thoughtful and willing to accept facts and research that live outside my personal narratives. When everything that happened with my dad happened in 2012 I gave the right win echo chamber a break and purposefully challenged myself to step outside the bubble and broaden my horizons. I forced myself to start watching different news channels, getting news and opinion from different online websites, reading different books and research. I still respect a guy like Ron Paul and still agree with many of his ideas on a range of issues. I don't worship him, nor do I worship any one particular ideology or politician, not even ole Bernie Sanders or EDub. Don't get me wrong, I think Sanders, Warren, and the like have the best ideas for building a better, fairer, equitable, and just society. I think their policy ideas and programs will do a lot more good in the lives of people like my dad and the average person out there. I think they will tackle the climate change crisis and income inequities in a meaningful way. But I don't worship them and I don't see them as infallible people. They make mistakes, get things wrong, and have warts just like the rest of us. I say all that to say this. Posters like Archie, Cartman, BallMich, and people like my own right-wing father, they are trapped in a bubble. One that is partially there own making and one that has been made by society, by a poor education system that doesn't teach critical thinking, one by a media ecosphere that has sowed misinformation and distrust into the fabric of our society. They have fallen victim to politicians who toy with their emotions and manipulate both their feelings and their intellect for their own gain. And when I say something like that, I don't say it to demean those posters as idiots, but I do wish to point out the problems that arise from cult-like worship over someone. I do wish to bring more substance to the arguments and not just news media talking points. I do wish for rebuttals of fact and substance, not talking points and character attacks. Bernie Sanders is not some scary socialist, manipulating the minds of leftwing people and Democrats for his own personal gain. He's not the lefts version of Donald Trump, in spite of the similarly rabid fan base that follows him around. Sure, he rails against the rich and inequities in society. But at days end, I think he's just an honest, open guy who believes that government has the tools and capabilities necessary to do the most good in people's lives, in line with a well balanced and regulated marketplace. I genuinely do not believe that Donald Trump cares about the life of the average person, I do believe Bernie Sanders does and to a lesser extent, Joe Biden does. I'll accept right wing and conservative opinions as best I can. What I won't accept though, are the naked and brazen attacks on our country and our democratic institutions. I won't accept our democratic values backsliding into authoritarianism and the loss of free, fair elections. I won't accept outright lies and baseless talking points to overtake the truth all to promote a baseless agenda. I won't tolerate racism, bigotry, sexism, and any number of phobias towards any group of people. I love this country. I love the freedoms we have. I would love not only to preserve those, but expand them to others and clean up our flawed system and all of its inequities and imperfections. For me, the personal growth I experienced over the last decade was the best thing that ever happened. Not only for me, but for those around me as well. I hope others can gain some level of introspection and experience the personal growth I did.

Harbaugh is gone it looks like and I don't know how to feel at this point. I am pissed that he has basically done to the University what Mark Dantonio did to State a few years back by bolting on National Signing Day. He's doing a disservice to all the kids that are coming in and committed to Michigan. He should have made his NFL intentions more clear and just told the University straight up he is not coming back. I'm also pissed that he finally delivers six years later on what we hired him to do from day one, but still feel grateful as a fan to have watched this past season unfold and happen. I doubted he could ever have accomplished and wanted him fired. Now, I might be getting my wish and he might be gone. If we get Luke Fickell after all of this, including the great season we had, I would feel happy in the end. Michigan should offer Fickell top 5 coaching money and see if he takes it. If not, you move onto other candidates and keep trying. Fickell should get a phone call and serious consideration though. He's the perfect fit!

Very fine people on both sides of the freeway I'm sure.

I remember back in my libertarian days when I was occasionally voting for Republican candidates that then Republican Congressman and candidate for Senate Pete Hoekstra came out with this racist TV ad during the Super Bowl in 2012. Even back in my Ron Paul days I thought this was wrong. But why do you think Hoekstra and all of his Republican consultants produced and aired an ad like this during the biggest ad buy spot of the year? Because it resonates with their base.

Yes, I read the Gallup survey you posted and I don't care what the average American thinks. I care what the average person who bothers to show up and vote thinks, because those are the people shaping the world we live in. Furthermore, Donald Trump supported a host of racist and xenophobic public policies as I have mentioned over and over again here, including against legal immigrants. If you voted for Trump then you voted for those subset of policies including the travel ban, immigration caps, refugee bans, Obama being a Kenyan, etc. You don't get to vote for someone as morally reprehensible as Trump has been on immigration policy, for legal or illegal immigration, and then claim "but I answered a Gallup poll once where I said I supported legal immigration." You don't get to hide behind that. By you I don't of course mean you personally, I mean the average Trump voter. Furthermore, I showed polling data that showed a majority of Republicans thought it was ok to ban people traveling or immigrating from Muslim-majority nations and you dismissed that offhand. I would argue that gives you a more accurate picture of the GOP and MAGA than a Gallup poll because the Politco polling focuses on likely GOP voters.

Right, they aren't calling in with love and warmth in their heart for legal immigration. And while CSpan callers are anecdotal, there is other polling in addition to the one I shared, that showcase Republican and MAGA hostility towards non-white, non-Christian legal immigrants. Again, why did they question Obama's citizenship? Why do they support caps on the number of immigrants who are allowed here legally?

59% of Republicans supported the Muslim travel ban according to Politico. Are you suggesting that isn't xenophobic and Islamophobic?

Politco: Poll: 6 in 10 GOP voters back Trump's Muslim ban A majority of the Republican base and Republican voters, 59% supported a Muslim travel ban. If you don't support people of the Muslim faith coming to this country legally or obtaining legal status then you don't get to claim you support legal immigration, no matter how you answer the Gallup questions.

My point is that you cast the average Republican voter as being supportive of legal immigration, when they are not. They are supportive of legal immigration for white people and some Republican-leaning Hispanics from Cuba and Venezuela. They voted for Trump and the racist, xenophobic policies he tried implementing as President. They did so without making a distinction either. It wasn't as if a majority of the Republican base was going around saying the Muslim travel ban or immigration caps or English as the official language or Obama wasn't a citizen was bad. To the contrary, a majority of his base supported those things.

Of course I am fixated on MAGA people. Donald Trump won 74,223,369 votes in 2020. He won 14,015,993 votes in the 2016 Republic Primary. These are not a fringe group or movement in America, they represent damn near half of the American electorate. I have routinely referenced xenophobic policies they support like the Muslim travel ban, immigration caps, ending birthright citizenship, walling off the border, English as the official language, the Birther movement against Obama and you just ignore all of that. The last President of the United States thought that the previous President of the United States was a Kenyan-born Muslim and an illegitimate citizen and President of the Untied States. A majority of his base agreed with him. A 2016 NBC News poll found that 72 percent of registered Republican voters hold doubts about the president's citizenship. According to the poll, eight in 10 Democrats agree that Obama was born in the U.S. Only 27 percent of Republicans agree with that statement; 41 percent disagree. How is that not racist and xenophobic against not only Obama, but African immigrants?

You aren't arguing with what I wrote. Muslim travel and immigration ban, caps on immigration, the border wall, ending birthright citizenship, keeping Syrian refugees out and not allowing them a pathway to citizenship, English as the official language. None of that is supporting legal immigration, no matter how many Gallup polls you produce. That is based out of phobias, fears, and ignorance that people have of non-white, non-Christian people immigrants. If I poll 10 of my neighbors and 8 out of 10 think shoplifting is morally wrong, but 6 of the 8 have shoplifting on their record or will end up shoplifting in the future, then my poll is meaningless. It's the same thing with the immigration debate, the actions don't match the words. The policies supported by Trump and his supporters doesn't back up what the Gallup poll says.

Quotes about immigration from Presidents of the United States . . . “Nearly all Americans have ancestors who braved the oceans – liberty-loving risk takers in search of an ideal – the largest voluntary migrations in recorded history… Immigration is not just a link to America’s past; it’s also a bridge to America’s future.” - George H.W. Bush “The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources–because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and peoples.” - Lyndon Johnson "They all have aids." - Donald Trump (Trump said in the oval office about Haitian immigrants)

Do you really believe in your heart that Trump and a large majority of people in the MAGA movement that support him are are not racist or xenophobic? Do you really believe that some Gallup poll proves this? They supported a travel ban from Muslim-majority nations. They supported hard caps on legal immigration. They supported keeping Syrian and other refugees out. They supported ending birthright citizenship. They supported making English the official language. Why do you think that is? Anyone can tell Gallup or any polling firm whatever they want. If you vote for Trump and mirror his rhetoric, then you don't support immigration, legal or undocumented/illegal. Trump during the 2016 campaign on immigration . . .

You can show me all the polling data you like. Policy action matters more than some poll question from Gallup. Also, from your poll 66% believe it should be decreased. Decreasing immigration doesn't sound very supportive of immigration. And what type of voter, what partisan affiliation of voter do you think should be decreased? You know the answer to that question. MAGA and the Republicans. When MAGA had powered the facts are . . . 1. They and the President implemented a ban on people coming and traveling to America from several Muslim-majority countries. 2. They and the President worked on walling America off with a giant border wall and militarizing the border by sending troops down to the Southern Border. 3. They and the President supported capping the number of refugees we would take from Syria and other parts of the world. 4 They and the President supported making English the national language and routinely criticize people who don't speak English. 5. They spent a decade telling us Barak Obama was a Kenyan-born Muslim who was an illegal citizen and illegitimate President. Guess who funded and spearheaded the Birther Movement, Donald Trump, the President of the United States. These are tangible, real life policy goals of the MAGA movement and President Donald Trump. They want to regale you with stories of how their white ancestors came here to this country but want to cut off the same opportunity to others. Running around and supporting a President who was cosplaying as George Wallace isn't supporting immigration, no matter how many Gallup polls you can produce. It's stone cold xenophobia and racism and the policies they supported and rhetoric they used bared this out, not any conjecture or opining on my part.

MAGA and many Republicans does not love the immigration story. They love the story of how their white ancestors came to America. Brown and blacked skinned immigrants and those non-Christian folks coming here legally are met with disdain on the right and in the MAGA movement. The this "THIS IS AMERICA, WE SPEAK ENGLISH AND ONE NATION UNDER GOD" MAGA crowd wants a walled-off, Soviet style border to anyone that isn't white. They want only white, Christian, God fearing people to be allowed in and people seeking to vote Republican from Cuba and Venezuela. Even then, they tell them to speak English because that's what we do in America. They want Muslims and people from Muslim-majority nations kept out of the country. What do you think all of those baseless Fox News, OAN, Newsmax, and Brietbart Caravan stories were all about? I remember in 2019 when Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was first elected I went to her swearing in ceremony at River Rouge high school and the MAGA folks were out there (I remember there being about 20-25 people) decrying her election. I went out and chatted with some of the protestors and got the following general statements from the 5-6 people I talked with. First, Rashida is not an American citizen. Never mind the fact that Rashida and her siblings is a natural born citizen and born to parents who had themselves legal citizenship in America. Second, a Muslim shouldn't be elected to Congress and has no right serving in government. Three, how come she didn't have an American flag on stage and had a Palestinian one instead. Actually, she did have one on stage, I was in the auditorium, I know she did, I have the photographic proof that she did. Four, she swore in on the Quran and not the Bible. I remember her doing that, and so what that she did. One lady told me her and her husband wipe their ass with copies of the Quran when they use the bathroom. This same lady told me that she is of Ukrainian heritage but you don't see her wearing a pro-Ukrainian shirt or publicizing that she's Ukrainian-American. I remember in 2018 when Donald Trump said he prefers to be called a Nationalist. Trump was met with cheers and support on the right for referring to himself as a Nationalist. I remember in 2017 when President Trump was met with adoration by the right for his Muslim travel ban. I remember in 2009 when the MAGA and Tea Party crowd were out in force declaring that President Obama was Kenyan-born person and was not a citizen of the United States and thus an illegitimate President. This is who MAGA is and this is what they want. Denying that is denying reality. Take one look at the policies on immigration they have supported over the past decade or more. Take a look at the news stories and opinion pieces they run.

We do need more legal immigrants here and we need to give those who are undocumented a fair pathway to citizenship. The trouble is, we have a significant number of people in one political party, the Republicans, running around trying to wall off the borders like a Soviet blockade and telling everyone "THIS IS AMERICA. WE SPEAK ENGLISH HERE. LEARN OR LEAVE." It's hard to pass real immigration reform as it is given the corporate influence for cheap labor over our immigration system. When you add in a bunch of doddering clowns using it as a culture war, that complicates things further politically.

I think Adams is going where Rodgers goes. If he stays in Green Bay I think Adams stays. If he goes to Denver, Adams signs there. I wouldn't sign Adams to a big deal given that he's about to be on the wrong side of 30 and we aren't quite ready to win now.

Covid 19 cases are higher in counties that went for Trump. Rates of morbid obesity, high blood pressure, and heart disease are higher in states that vote Republican. So speaking of diseased people, take a look at your party and the people who vote Republican. It's almost as if there is a correlation between poverty and poor health. And what are most southern states, impoverished and full of people in poor health.

Boris Johnson had a SECOND PARTY it looks like during the Covid lockdown in the UK. His party, the Tories, are doing something Trump's never does, they are criticizing and skewering their own Prime Minister.

I hope Holmes is smart with our cap space this year. We won't be a playoff team next year, so there is no need to blow through all the Cap Space we have. We will have Flowers coming off the books in a year I believe as well, so that will free up more cap space for the 2023 off season.

Congratulations Matt Stafford on finally getting to a Super Bowl! Well deserved!

Who the did independent voters in Virginia think they were voting for in Youngkin? How many times do people have to learn that you can't run government like a business and that private sector experience often times translates poorly into running a service-based, non-profit, public sector entity?