Scooby will post most topics and comments as long as they are clean, pro LLNS or critical of LLNS, or pro-Biden. Any comment or link that may be considered anti-Biden is not posted. Maybe it is time for another blog that might discuss an impact UC/LLNL or LLNS current or former employees independent of political party alliance for the other ~half of the USA population.
7 comments:
Thanks for your contribution. On many occasions, I filtered out posts and comments that were full of lies. You must be the contributor of such, otherwise you wouldn't be bringing up the subject
I don't consider the blog republican, democrat or leaning towards any party.
However, I will make it clear, MAGAs are not tolerated.
I am interested in getting other readers' opinions.
Oh, poster? You are welcome to continue contributing.
However, I will make it clear, MAGAs are not tolerated.
Fair enough but what exactly is a MAGA?
Could I share all the same policies Trump supports but hate Trump, would that make me a MAGA? This is a serious question because
when I speak with some people they seem to have no real understanding of where Trump is at politically, where he aligns with moderates, conservatives, and liberals, what are is actual polices and so on. I have no issue with somebody saying they have a problem with MAGA, or Trump but I want to hear rational reasons that are (1) not just some emotional screed, (2) not a repeat of utterly wrong talking point from the media, or twitter, (3) some random insult. I want to see a definition of MAGA that is actually consistent.
Like it or not Trump is going to relevant for at least another year, and could be relevant for four more years so his opinion of nuclear weapons and hence the labs is going to come up.
Of course it is your blog and as such you can allow what can be posted or not, if people have a problem with that they are free to read something else, so I am not going to get up in arms about what you allow.
But I might as well get the ball rolling since Nov is not that far away.
(1) Will it be better for LLNL/LANL and NNSA if Trump or Biden is elected, what could change and so on.
(2) Would or could Trump allow for testing?
(3) Would thing in Ukraine/Ruissa and China/Taiwan get more dangerous, or less dangerous with Trump or Biden.
(4) Now for the crazy stuff, could Civil war or a real challenge to the nation in terms of states breaking off be an issue in Nov and what would that mean for the labs. You may think this is unlikely but it could be a close election again with both sides simply not conceding
What is a MAGA? We have to look at what he actually did accomplish (whether your opinion of these things is good or bad these are factual I think). Some of the highlights are as follows:
The most important foreign policy change was the trade war with China, and the recognition they posed a threat.
One major economic policy was a tax bill which lowered taxes primarily on the rich. This stimulated the economy through supply-side economics.
His response to the pandemic resulted in the mass production of safe and effective vaccines, and the development of effective antiviral drugs. There was ultimately a high vaccine uptake, and a successful control of the pandemic.
The economic response to the pandemic was in some ways ultimately successful. The US economy is now performing better than any other major economy in the world, with the stock market hitting new highs, low unemployment, and so on. Contrary to common belief we still have energy independence and export energy, high energy prices actually benefit our country. With abundant natural gas our chemical industry has prospered.
Trump's appointments to the supreme court ended Roe v. Wade, which some of his supporters view as his most significant accomplishment.
Obviously some of the major issues with Trump, were his very antagonist attitude, the habit of turning on people around him and firing them, the habits of blaming others, endlessly proclaiming his own greatness, using social media to put out nonsense, and so forth. The result was an inability to pass legislation, social unrest, and in my opinion being voted out of office.
Trump also seemingly had inflated ideas of expertise in areas where expert opinion already exists, for example some of the medical issues surrounding the pandemic. There was a lack of clear messaging that the vaccines were safe and effective, and about the relative effectiveness of various public health measures. There is evidence that Trump supporters in particular, who presumably were those most likely to follow his advice, suffered higher mortality perhaps as a result of this.
Trump's decision to leave Afghanistan was also very important, because polling indicates that Biden's approval ratings dropped very significantly when this actually took place, and have not recovered. Obviously there may be other factors involved in this, but it is something to consider.
Also obviously his Russia policies and policies in the Middle East have been consequential, as we now have the Ukraine war and Gaza war taking place. But we could also blame Biden for this, just as it is not clear whether to blame Biden or Trump for the problems related to the Afghan withdrawal.
Personally, I do find it hard to assess these various MAGA "accomplishments" but obviously also worth noting that he was impeached twice, and January 6th was a major event in his presidency, for which many people believe he should be disqualified from office. Part of the government's job is to "ensure domestic tranquility" and so forth, and it would seem that at the very least he deliberately and knowingly assembled and provoked an angry mob, having a premeditated plan to do so and people died as a result, deaths he was responsible for.
You pretend to objectively analyze what trump did but you failed miserably. Trump has not accomplished anything for the working people. He lied everyday. He encouraged violence, insulted veterans and war prisoners etc... You cannot shove that under the rug with fake objectivity. Period.
6:23 -- that relates to the points I was trying to make, I think. I mentioned he was voted out of office partly because of these issues, rather than an objective consideration of what he did (which you say does not matter to you and is not worth considering). By the way it is perfectly reasonable to cast a vote for any reasons that appeal to you. And certainly what he did was a mixed bag, I am not saying he is a better choice than Biden, you should think about that yourself.
Many working people did vote for him, and attend his rallies. The vaccine program was a success, and benefited the entire country, and he deserves credit for giving it the full backing of the government -- using the defense production act and his emergency powers to the fullest extent to expedite it within the serious constraints imposed by the other public health measures such as lockdowns. Even for those who chose not to receive the vaccines, it meant hospitals were less overloaded so they had access to better care, and they were less likely to become infected at any given time since there fewer cases around.
This actually was a significant achievement, perhaps the greatest of his presidency, ironically he has made little effort to claim credit for it, and many of his supporters think the vaccines possible harms outweigh the risks. In fact any conceivable risk-benefit analysis greatly favors receiving the vaccine, to the best of medical knowledge, it has been extensively documented in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine. The booster shots also of course, make this analysis even more favorable. It seems to be true for all age groups including pediatric in particular since long-covid syndromes can occur and these affect the brain and learning, also the greater herd immunity prevents the spread of the virus.
Yes, I agree that the overall response to the virus was bad, but a great number of deaths did occur during Biden's administration despite a more science-based approach, the availability of the vaccines and better drugs, so perhaps it was not as bad as it seemed. He did not fire Fauci or force reopening, and Pence handled things more seriously too.
4/02/2024 1:19 PM
Very well said and balanced. These are real reasons for an honest opinion on Trump. You even picked up on the whole Afghanistan argument. Personally I think leaving was the right idea and was going to be ugly no matter who was president so I am glad Trump pushed for this and it was unfair for Biden to take the blame, I think it would have gone down exactly the same if Trump was in, but you have to ask yourself what other plan was there stay another 20 years?. Overall excellent and rational assessment of what I would expect of an educated person who works or did work at LLNL.
4/02/2024 6:23 PM
Yep, this is exactly the mindless drivel that I often see. A short list of insults with no substance whatsoever. Just an emotional outburst of "Trump is mean". It is along the same lines as "Obama is a communists. Period" Very deep and well thought out.
Now perhaps you just troll making a point or having fun but far too often I have encountered this exact kind of arguments which is equivalent to an emotional outburst of child.
Last 2 commentators: You are a MAGAs trying to be objective but cannot detach from the Trump's destructive ideology
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