Even though I think the world would be FAR better off without religion I in no way advocate any purging of people that "believe" in that crap. But I would also like to not have asshat politicians (mostly Republican in the USA) trying to push their BS religious agenda's in govt, what happened to separation of church and state.... In God We Trust should be removed from anything govt related and any legislation better not have stuff in it because "it goes against my religion".

A fools paradise, The ultimate "boy that cried wolf" BS.

This has been going on since the 70's Teh sky is falling.

Now last 30 years kids have been told this farce and like kid do they believe all this BS. Some become senators / politicians and continue to cry wolf.

in another 50 years from now all will be fine, just like it is now.

*lies

There is a complete disconnect with people who view Politicians like they view religion. This is a scary phenomena.

I'm starting to see the strange and twisted reality of these people. I don't understand it, but I see it. They vote against their own interests as they worship. Completely blinded.

If they want to vote for a party, sure, do so with informed minds, but I don't think they even understand. They vote blindly for their representatives, like they vote for their deities.

... And that's a chilling thought.

The Constitution stands the test of time.

Democrats / Republican / politicians fails the people. That why people need to engage and vote.

I know many Americans have a tendency to put cops on a pedestal, politicians and media outlets talk about how "dangerous" policing is and how they have to do a tough job under constant threat of violence while completely ignoring that part of the threat of violence comes because of police misbehaviour. It's also not a very dangerous job. Statistically, being a gardener is more dangerous than being a cop. You don't see gardeners stabbing random black shrubs with shovels and quoting the dangers of their profession to justify it do you?

Most of the problem of out-of-control policing is because they're held up as holy warriors, haloed in glittering samite, when they're just people, and many of them are BAD people.

The whole hero cop myth just needs to die, but it won't because Americans, by and large, are cowards. Afraid of the shadows, afraid of black men, afraid of foreigners, muslims, anything or anybody "different". You think you NEED cops to be tough, rugged heroes to save you from the things that go bump in the night. You NEED cops to be brutal and without remorse, killing at the slightest provocation because they're "just doing their jobs". Otherwise every street corner would have a mugger ready to rob you blind.

Truth is, the vast majority of Americans have been the victim of a crime. They probably didn't even know it, and you can be sure the cops never investigated. Wage theft in America amounts to far more than all other criminal activity combined. It's intentional and ongoing. Until the Walton family is in chains the cops will never truly be in your corner. They are a tool of people like the Waltons. Their job is not to protect you, it's to protect the status quo. If protecting you helps maintain that status quo, then that's what they'll do. If not.... well, ask Willie McCoy about that.

There are a few problems with that, and they all end up at the same issue, lobbying.
Police unions are incredibly powerful lobbyists and do lobby against the public's interests, and they use the threat of striking, leaving the public with zero law enforcement, to squash any attempt to regulate them.....and when that fails, the sheriffs and chiefs often just ignore the new laws, like they did about making discipline records public in CA, they just said "nope" and refused to release them, many departments held bonfires where they burned these records to ensure they would never, under any circumstances, become public knowledge....still today, even long after the law went into effect Jan. 1st and has been upheld in courts, the A.G. just outright refused again to follow state law and release these public records. Pretty damn hard to establish an effective oversight body when police have the ability to erase all information they wish by any means with no repercussions.

Second, the prison guard union is the best funded, most powerful private/union lobbying group in America, and they do actually write laws for representatives to present. It's clearly in their best interest to force the desperate to be criminals, it's their bread and butter. They fight to expand minimum sentencing, incarcerate 14 year olds as adults for life, continue and expand the failed drug war, oppose any rescinding of criminal laws, have tried to reinstate debtor's prisons, criminalized multiple civil crimes, etc....incarceration is their business, and business is good.

So while I agree, there are numerous better systems that serve everyone much better with less money , less incarceration, and less recidivism, until we revamp our political system to make it illegal to bribe politicians (and make no mistake, it's perfectly legal to bribe them with campaign donations or promises of massive support), there is no way in hell it's going to improve and a near certainty it will continue to get worse because there's money to be made by locking people up.

Being able to articulate what the scientific method is, and unambiguously, unfailingly supporting it across the board should be a litmus test for politicians.
Today, I expect >1/2 don't even know what a litmus test is.

If you can't pass a 7th grade biology class, can't tell an ion from a prion, or can't tell the difference between verified scientific fact and religious dogma, that should disqualify you from any form of leadership, from the pta to the presidency. Ruling from dogmatic ignorance is always a recipe for disaster.

"go to western sydney, blah blah whatabout whatabout whatabout waaaahhhh" yawn..... been there, done that.

Are there some Muslims who aren't great people? Sure. Same way as there are some awful white people. But if I tarred them all with the same brush, I'd be as ignorant as senator wankstain.

And he's racist as fuck.

So if you want to learn how a left wing politician speaks with compassion, empathy and eloquence, I suggest you read NZ PM Jacinda Ardern's speech.

"We cannot know your grief, but we can walk with you at every stage. We can. And we will, surround you with aroha (love), manaakitanga(support) and all that makes us, us. Our hearts are heavy but our spirit is strong."

"Naeem Rashid, originally from Pakistan, died after rushing at the terrorist and trying to wrestle the gun from him. He lost his life trying to save those who were worshipping alongside him.

Abdul Aziz, originally from Afghanistan, confronted and faced down the armed terrorist after grabbing the nearest thing to hand – a simple eftpos machine. He risked his life and no doubt saved many with his selfless bravery."

And if you want to read how she speaks with resolve...

"A 28-year-old man – an Australian citizen – has been charged with one count of murder. Other charges will follow. He will face the full force of the law in New Zealand. The families of the fallen will have justice.

He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety.

And that is why you will never hear me mention his name.

He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist.

But he will, when I speak, be nameless."

I will waste no more time on your pathetic racist arse.

Not for lack of effort by the righties who tried to break the boys neck 3-1.

Senator Fuck face was violent, not The Walrus. He punched over a moist tap, an expression of free speech, then his muscle goons really got violent.

The senator erased his condemnation by following it with the word "however". We all understand how that works. He was saying Muslims are evil, and their existence naturally leads to right wing terrorists, who aren't to blame.
Right wing people have already radicalized each other into full blown racists and aren't slowing on that front.

He was not attempting civil discourse, he was attempting racist scapegoating and victim blaming of the highest order....not a discourse at all but a diatribe.

Plenty of civil politicians have brushed off an egging, not him....not today's right.

He was explaining why, when peaceful law abiding Muslim refugees are violently attacked by right wing terrorists, unprovoked, it's the Muslims' fault.

That's paraphrasing his other speeches, I don't think he finished this one, making it hard to quote him....and I hope he never finishes another.

From his official Twitter post-: “As always, left-wing politicians and the media will rush to claim that the causes of today’s shootings lie with gun laws or those who hold nationalist views but this is all cliched nonsense.
The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration programme which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place.
Let's be clear, while Muslims were the victims today, usually they are the perpetrators."

I'm actually pleased at how difficult it has proven to find his hate speech quoted. It's nice that news outlets have finally understood that, by repeating it ad nauseam, they are spreading it.

In this "political environment", when everything is "political", it's really soothing to hear someone talk about something they knows a great deal about and, almost more importantly, admit when they don't know something that we wouldn't expect them to know.

Jesus, when's the last time I heard a politician say, "I don't know" rather than "I don't recall"?

Very few thanks to the NRA (the gun manufacturer's lobby) paying and blackmailing politicians into not enacting regulations on purchasing, carrying, or using them.

Yes, those politicians who let themselves be bought are a problem....but clearly so are the ones paying them off (bribing) like the NRA and Trump himself.

How many of those gun crimes involved improperly obtained weapons?


Malleable elected politicians who line their pockets instead of enacting true gun reforms are the bigger problem, not the NRA.

No sir.
He is saying Trump is cleaning up Washington, removing corruption.
I'm saying he's more corrupt than any other politician ever and has made things exponentially worse.

All I see we agree on is that there is corruption in congress, but even then we don't agree on what level of corruption or by who.

We absolutely don't agree on Trump's corruption (or lack thereof).