@Garban My previous comment on this post aside for a moment, when you get the time (and if it's safe for me to do so, meaning I won't get accused of being creepy or lecturing etc) can I ask you a question regarding a particular topic? Be assured you're not on Candid Camera or anything like that, and that afterwards I won't go around making fun of you behind your back based on how you answer. Just wanted to know your honest take on that, and thought I'd ask you directly as opposed to assuming to know your position on the matter.

When it comes to American politics, for the past five or so decades now all we've been doing is trading one crooked moron for the next even more so crooked moron, and on and on it goes with no end in sight. In 2008 we elected a con artist for President. That wasn't bad enough though, as in 2016 we elected to President an egotistical con artist with a fake tan. Now, the most recent Presidential Election saw a senile gaffe-ridden con man get elected President. I agree with @TheInterlooper below, both major political parties are crooked beyond belief, and it's high time to stop pretending otherwise.

I take it you understand the difference between talking and or coming up with a plan(s), and then actually acting on said thoughts and plans, right? While I can agree with you that the Republican Party has no viable longterm solutions to the problems we face aside from defending certain constitutional rights, the Democratic Party hasn't done much of anything either to improve things in the country despite claiming to have all of these plans of action.

Let's start with healthcare. Other than the DP always talking about how healthcare is a fundamental right and every citizen should get access to it regardless if they could afford it or not, what exactly have they done in the nearly last two years to deliver on that promise? Short answer, not alot. Still too many Americans cannot afford visits to the local hospital or their prescription medications. Minority populations are still underserved. The cost of healthcare keeps going up. Obesity is still very much a concern, along with Covid. One bright spot, they managed to cap the price of Insulin for those on Medicare, but then again former President Trump also proposed similar legislation in the summer of 2020, so that idea is hardly exclusive to the Ds.

Let's look at the federal budget for a moment. Our country is presently $31 trillion in debt, and who pray tell do you suppose contributed to a large chunk of that sum? I know the RP contributed a sizable amount of said debt from their military industrial complex, the constant and needless wars they had gotten us into, but what about the rest? The DP aren't exactly known for being fiscally responsible, and spend taxpayer dollars worse than a drunken sailor on leave. According to Statista the US has given Ukraine over $55 billion in support, not even counting all the weaponry we had supplied to Ukraine. Now, I sympathize with the Ukrainian people's plight as much as you do, and would love nothing more than for the bloodthirsty tyrant Putin to just keel over dead, but where do we draw the line on handing out the taxpayer dollars to other countries, especially knowing that we could use alot of that money here to help better our own country? It's simply not a responsible take, and the Biden Admin wants to send them even more funding. It's noble to want to help others in need, but sometimes you need to focus first on yourself before you put yourself in position to help out others. Spend spend spend, that's all the DP knows how to do, all at our (the taxpayer) expense.- [statista.com]

How about violent crime/law enforcement. Just want to start by saying that I'm no ardent fan of the police, as they make mistakes like the rest of us, and wearing a badge does not grant extra privilege. That said, there does need to be some basic law and order in society, and I certainly respect those in LE who do their jobs as they should be doing. Wanting to all out defund police departments is too extreme, but that's precisely what the DP wants to do, most of them anyways. Not only do they want to defund all police, they also want to go easier on criminals, releasing them back into the public before serving their full term in prison, and such moves have proven to be bad and in some cases lethal. The Democrats have such a wonderful idea there... let's do away with policing and go easier on hardened criminals all in the name of what's humane, as nothing bad could happen with all of that right? Which brings me to the next point, gun related violence...

While I strongly believe that such violence is not as big of a concern as some believe it to be especially regarding the actual number of mass shooting incidents, such crime is indeed on the rise in major cities across the country... cities mostly controlled by Democrats (surprise surprise). Of course, instead of blaming their impotent policies for the rise in violent crime and gangs, Democrats always blame the gun for all of the ills in society. You can see where that got us, even more violent crime, and criminals who get to pick from known areas in which it is certain their potential victims will be unarmed. And the Democrats call that progress? Yeah freaking right.

An extension of the previous point, the matter of gun control legislation itself, is yet another pointless quest to pander to their constituency. So, you have a scenario in which a would be mass shooter circumvents the laws (let's say in this case background checks) and either steals or obtains weapons on the black market, commits a horrible crime, and what do the Democrats propose?? You guessed it, yet more "expanded" background checks that failed to do anything meaningful in the first place. Of course, another scenario there would be the shooter actually passing the background check, which isn't necessarily hard to get around if one could keep their true emotions in check, but of course we would still hear the same thing from Democrats, more background checks. More of the same tired bs that has failed time and time again.

How about racism and this "unity" that Biden keeps babbling on about? What exactly have the DP done to combat this issue, aside from talking big ideas? I certainly don't see anything that even remotely could qualify for unity in this country, and if anything the social divide keeps growing bigger by the day. Over the years I've been witness to forms of hate directed at fellow human beings, but over the last three or so years now I've witnessed a level of resentment and animosity among my fellow Americans the likes of which I couldn't even begin to imagine when I was a young adult. It really concerns me, small wonder why violent crime is on the rise, and the Democrats are contributing to that mess by stoking racial tensions and playing to the fears of specific minority populations. In other words, using unsuspecting people to push their own self-righteous agenda. That my friend is the working of people who are motivated by pure evil. Please note my restraint on economic inequality, as that (perceived) problem still very much exists and the only solution the DP keeps pushing is more social safety programs, which means all of our taxes go up even more while hardly anyone these days is getting a decent raise, and all of that horseshit equals even more people on Government assistance, people who for the most part have not much incentive to lift themselves up out of poverty.

How's about the issue with illegal immigration? Things may have been bad in that department during the Trump years, but it's nothing in comparison to the mess that Biden has turned it into. There's projected to be well over two million illegal immigrants entering our country this year alone, and to date since Biden took office there have been nearly five million total illegals who entered the country minus any sort of screening process for criminals. As if our job market wasn't already tight as it is, something like that complicates things all the more. The border crisis is so screwed up, that even left-leaning Politico did a story on that.- [politico.com]

Now we get to climate change. Aside from pushing more regulations and bans on our very way of life, what else have the DP done to effectively tackle that issue? Again, aside from the previously mentioned regulations/bans, they haven't done a damn thing that would semi-permanently improve living conditions. My bad, forgot to mention they have and continue to promote renewable energy sources, which given credit where it's due is promising technology (some of it anyways). Only problem there is, renewable technology has to be innovated more and improved upon first before we fully rely on it to power society, as in its current stage is not yet fully reliable. When one does not have a viable backup plan in place, it is generally not wise to make any drastic changes where the results would be unpredictable. Yet, that is exactly what the Biden Administration has done to us, cutting-off the pipelines and in the process once again making us dependent upon foreign oil to sustain our society, and look at what that's got us? A huge pain at the pumps, but that's okay though... keep telling yourselves it's all for the better of society, no matter how much others have to suffer and risk falling into debt or poverty over, it's all for the best. Biden can take his "gas" talk and shove it up his ass. Those of us out there who can still think for themselves and who live in reality are bound to take offense over Biden's blatant lies and poor policies. Speaking of poverty, unemployment is still too high, but what do Democrats care about that, so long as they got their way and axed the pipelines killing many job positions in the process while having no backup plan to find employment for those who had lost their jobs. Guess that move was supposed to be some sort of deep progress too, right?

Has the public school system improved any? That's a big no, just look to cities like Chicago and Philadelphia to see shining examples of colossal failure where that's concerned. The violent crime rates in such cities have spiked sharply over the last three years, and things appear to only be getting worse. High school drop out rates are also climbing steadily, and what's the DP's solution to all of that... why give the schools more funding of course, even though such would largely benefit the teachers while doing nothing to actually help the kids who drop out. Since Democrats are big on dreaming up new authoritarian laws, how's about a law making it a requirement for anyone under age eighteen to remain in school with no dropping out option? That might be a reasonable start, keep them in school, as just letting them drop out pretty much equates to giving up on them, and I see today's high school drop out become tomorrow's next desperate criminal, a criminal who may use deadly weapons to carry-out his criminal deeds.

Are we any safer from domestic terrorists today? Do you remember Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021? Of course you do right? Assuming that is you've been keeping up with current events. An estimated $7 billion in military hardware was left behind in Afghanistan, and guess who benefitted from that fiasco? You guessed it, the terrorist regimes in that country benefitted from yet another poor policy from Biden, and yet another blow to the taxpayers whose hard earned dollars funded that equipment and hardware. You're a former Military man, how does all of that sit with you I wonder? Are you still going to sit there and tell me Biden has our best interest in mind? Don't even get me started on the situation in Ukraine, which I strongly believe would never have happened on Trump's watch. Putin made the move he did when he did based on who was running things at the time in our country, and don't kid yourself Putin is well aware of the fact that Biden now is nothing more than an over-glorified meat puppet who is too senile to be of any real concern to Putin's evil plans.

Let's look at infrastructure for a moment now. Has anything improved in that department. From the looks of it... nope, from the roads to the bridges to public transportation not a single thing has improved, not even a little bit. Particularly concerning is the decrepit state that many bridges across the country are in, no longer safe to be in continuous daily use. Our taxes keep going up though, which begs the question where in the hell is all of that money going to??

Last but not least, what exactly has the Biden Administration done to preserve reproductive rights, again, aside from talking about the issue? I sure haven't observed any measurable progress where that's concerned, and if anything even more anti-abortion legislation has been proposed with some of that being passed at the state level (in certain states that is). Although at this point I think the battle for bodily autonomy must now be fought at the state level, with pro rights activists doing whatever they can to organize social support networks. I've been doing just that, even if it means potentially becoming a target by certain state governments. What have you done to help out where that's concerned, other than casting a vote for crooked thieves who aren't really in it to help preserve your individual rights?

All that said, I imagine it must be painful to hear that your vote is still going to someone crooked and whom don't really care about defending our civil rights, but someone here has to be a witness to reality, if there be any real hope of turning things around in this country for the better. I'd recommend spending some more time reading about your hero George Carlin (my hero too), who certainly didn't trust any politician nowadays and who knew full well that a vote for either political extreme was just another vote for the same old same old political game. I know, it's that stubborn streak, right? Just can't admit that maybe just maybe the other guy may have a valid point, a point that perhaps warrants deeper consideration. Lastly, instead of copping out and deflecting when someone takes the time out of their busy day to engage you in open dialogue, maybe try to find sources that would back up your views instead of suggesting their commentary is a mere tirade or lecture, simply because you had disagreed with what was said. I'll let the remark about me being creepy slide, as I did rib you on the hillbilly stuff, and one good turn deserves another, eh? I'm skeptical you are here for conversation, based on some of what I've seen anyways, seems like it's all about mingling with only those who agree with your take on life. If you believe I am mistaken about that, then prove me wrong, I am always open-minded to being proven wrong, and to the best of my memory I've yet to ignore any comments you made on any of my posts that of which you had disagreed with.

I checked even though I was sure I was registered. I'm not looking forward to the emails I'm going to get. Fortunately they let me check without putting in my phone number.