CardinalBacker

You bring up a good point. I'm guilty of that myself. Racism is defined as the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another... and I honestly don't know many people of any shade who feel that way. My opinion is that racism is much, much less apparent now than in recent times.... but racial animosity is reaching levels that we haven't seen in a long time. Barriers people faced because of their skin color are just not what they were years ago. It's to the point that we have to try to find "implied" or "systemic" racism to point out because the good old fashioned variety is long gone. We point at rates of incarceration or lack of home ownership as somehow indicative of racism, when they are in fact much better indicators of criminal behavior and bad decision making. Both sides need to realize that they're being played against each other for political gain. And you're right... the rates of single parent households are going up on my side, too. That's probably what bugged me the most about the unrest over this past summer. So much of our nation rose up and demanded to do something about... but not about the real problem(s). It's not politically correct to talk about the senseless loss of 4-5000 young black lives each year, but we focus on the dozen or less annually that are killed by the hand of police and demand change. Our world is just mixed up. You have people that say the N-word all of the time, but feel as if others should be punished for saying it. It doesn't get any more hypocritical than that. If it's offensive, then it's offensive. Don't give me that "term of endearment" BS because every video of a black on black fight has that slur sprinkled throughout it-and their actions don't seem very endearing. If black people were bothered by that word, they'd stop saying it. Period. I refuse to pretend that the emperor has clothes.

I, too, have friends who have taught their kids that all whites are racist, even if they don't realize it. They use terms like "white privilege" to explain away their own failures as parents, ministers, teachers, leaders, and community voices. They also teach their kids that because bad things happened here decades ago, the entire country today is rotten and must be destroyed. They tell them that all of life's problems are the result of "racism" and "oppression," but never discuss personal accountability for one's own actions. That sort of indoctrination does not disappear in a generation or two. And sadly, that intention is not prevalent among the leftists in this country. Actually, history can be argued... things are open to interpretation and should be discussed, but the left thinks that their beliefs should be treated as history or as facts when they are nothing more opinions.

18 U.S. Code § 2102.Definitions (a) As used in this chapter, the term “riot” means a public disturbance involving (1) an act or acts of violence by one or more persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons, which act or acts shall constitute a clear and present danger of, or shall result in, damage or injury to the property of any other person or to the person of any other individual or (2) a threat or threats of the commission of an act or acts of violence by one or more persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons having, individually or collectively, the ability of immediate execution of such threat or threats, where the performance of the threatened act or acts of violence would constitute a clear and present danger of, or would result in, damage or injury to the property of any other person or to the person of any other individual. (b) As used in this chapter, the term “to incite a riot”, or “to organize, promote, encourage, participate in, or carry on a riot”, includes, but is not limited to, urging or instigating other persons to riot, but shall not be deemed to mean the mere oral or written (1) advocacy of ideas or (2) expression of belief, not involving advocacy of any act or acts of violence or assertion of the rightness of, or the right to commit, any such act or acts. (Added Pub. L. 90–284, title I, § 104(a), Apr. 11, 1968, 82 Stat. 76.) That's pretty straight forward stuff. (a.) Was there a riot? Yes. (b.) Did Trump organize, promote, encourage, participate in, or carry on a riot? Ummmmm.... I do believe he organized his rally, encouraged his supporters to go down there and fight like hell, and claimed he'd be right there participating with them. It's kind of like this... Did he know how far his supporters would take things? No. But did he send them down there to raise hell? Absolutely. That's textbook incitement.... at least in my opinion.

That's the thing... it should be hashed out in a trial, but the evidence won't matter, it's going to go along party lines. Ds will vote to convict whether they believe he actually incited the riot, and Rs will vote to acquit regardless of the facts presented. I think if he's tried federally on criminal charges we might see some sort of clearer indication of where culpability lies. My OPINION is that his actions did lead to what eventually happened. Back in 2000 I felt the same way about the endless recounts-like they'd lead to bigger problems. I'd been saying for a couple of months that if Trump didn't let go of his assertions, people would die, and that's exactly what happened. The real question for me is whether or not the trio of Rudy, Jr, and the Don encouraged people to go down and do what was done. I lean more towards his words encouraged/excited... but that's just me.

I'm not so sure... The Ds tend to do a better job of falling in line than the Rs.

More importantly the 2nd.

[Hidden Content] “(D) as part of the psychological evaluation, the licensed psychologist interviewed any spouse of the individual, any former spouse of the individual, and at least 2 other persons who are a member of the family of, or an associate of, the individual to further determine the state of the mental, emotional, and relational stability of the individual in relation to firearms. That's pulled directly from the text of the bill, pal.

The left planned the attack that the right actually did. Makes sense. Got it.

To expound, you mentioned "separate but equal," and I assume you know what you're talking about. Those ideas were made illegal in 1964, and it affected those places where inequalities still existed. And you're exactly right.... in practically every instance, desegregation meant that black schools were shuttered and nicer facilities were made available to ALL. But I don't believe that some black kid in the 1940s getting a used football helmet and the fact that his great grandson dropped out of school and got face tattoos in 2021 is attributable to oppression and racism. ESPECIALLY when Port Arthur ISD has the highest per capita spending in the state of Texas as of a few years ago. Those old arguments just don't hold water anymore.

I agree with you that things were HORRIBLE 155 years ago. They didn't get a lot better after the Civil War, either. You had decent progress after '64, or so I've read. I know for a fact that things have gotten a lot better in the short 40 years that I can recall. I'd dare say that black people have more opportunities and benefits afforded to them than any other race here in America right now. If they do not choose to take advantage of those opportunities because they'd rather talk about the "old days," I really don't know how to respond... They'll NEVER advance as a group because of the victimhood mentality perpetrated by the left. Does systemic racism exist... possibly.... Maybe even probably. And it accounts for about 2% of the problems faced by the black community today. Focusing solely on "racism" and "oppression" won't solve a thing for the community, because the problems that AREN'T rooted in racism are still gonna be there. You mentioned Silsbee.... so I'll ask this. With all of your talk about "how blacks couldn't own property for 300 years," why are the historically black communities in Silsbee (and any other older city I can think of) littered with abandoned homes? Drive through Silsbee, West of 96, South of MLK and north of 327. It's some decent houses, a lot of falling down houses, and tons of old homeplaces. You can see the same thing on the other side of town, too. If racism prevented blacks from owning property as you suggest, then how did all of those black-owned properties end up abandoned? It's EVERYWHERE, and racism didn't cause them to fail to maintain their residences, pay their taxes, or bother to have properly executed wills probated. There are tons of problems faced by that community... but racism is the lazy answer.

If i'm not mistaken, it's a part of the federal firearms act that filed by Sheila Jackson Lee. That would make it a federal issue.

Chuck E. Cheese's.

Not just that, but they definitely want to talk to your ex-wife. "To acquire a license, gun owners would have be 21 years old, pass a background check, complete a training course, obtain insurance, and undergo a psychological evaluation. "Military-style" weapons would require an additional training course and license. The proposed psychological evaluation would have to be conducted by a licensed psychologist and require them to interview the spouse, former spouses, and least two other family members or associates of the person applying. Licenses would be automatically denied if the applicant had ever been hospitalized with a "mental illness, disturbance, or diagnosis," including depression, suicidal ideation, or addiction." [Hidden Content]

That "term of endearment" be flying all over the place. Still Whitey's fault, btw.

I'll give you a hint.... one of them prides itself on not being able to read, right, or speak the King's English because then they'd be "actin' white" .... but then cries because of their "educational gaps."

Lol.... Which country are you talking about? Because it's not the United States of America. Your spew about property ownership is an outright lie. "being denied the right to learn" did exist.... for SOME slaves prior to 1865. And it has nothing to do with a 21% dropout rate in Port Arthur right now... You're right... we ignore the past at our peril. But you refuse to admit that some of us in that community STILL don't value education but you point at "racism" as the reason for the lack of academic success. Trust me, there are people of all colors who don't get educated and never achieve their potential. It's just more prevalent in some communities.

But I'll bet you a dollar that every one of those tweets came from people who voted for Biden, lol.

How bad does one have to be to lose to Biden?

I don’t have a problem with that type of display. Everyone should be proud of who they are and where they came from, as well as being proud to be American. You should should be proud to be black, brown, white, Southern, Texan, Baptist, queer, or whatever. That’s my biggest problem with the BLM movement (besides the looting and violence)... it’s not about uplifting or recognizing black people or their attributes-its about “exposing” perceived slights and imagined insults. Its main focus is on vilifying white people. It’s so convenient to blame 4 or 5 generations of horrible personal decisions on someone else. If you make a decision to move into Section 8 housing because it’s free or mostly free, then your kids do the same, then their kids do... it’s kinda silly to point out a lack of home ownership as proof of systemic racism. There are thousands of abandoned homes in urban areas that were left because their former occupants would rather live for free in government housing... because that doesn’t require any personal investment of time or money. It must be nice to just ignore violent crime statistics and just point at rates of incarceration as “proof” of racism in the criminal justice system.

Do you mean the Mary Fanning that wrote all of these articles? [Hidden Content] She’s a fiction writer, my man. Her bread and butter is merchandising conspiracy theories. And it looks like you’ve bought in.

I opened the video but didn’t get too far into it. Mike Lindell was at the White House the weekend of 1/2/21 trying to convince Trump to declare martial law. No offense, but the guy’s first priority was seeing Trump remain in power regardless of facts or evidence. I don’t listen to people on either side who have an obvious bent in their respective direction. That guy was probably more emphatic about Trump winning than Trump himself.

Just curious... which stand do you disagree with?

I don't recall anybody losing their job over using that "b" word. Have you ever seen kid hit their brother over and over and finally get hit back, then come crying and wailing "he HIT me!!!" That's black people and the "n" word. I think the thing that annoys me the most about this particular situation is that we've heard for years that we (whitey) don't understand that it's a term of endearment among blacks, but the worst epithet possible when used against black people. Even if you're racist enough to believe that, that's not the case here. This guy was literally using it as a term of endearment to a non-black, but it's still racist according to the thought police. Nobody should be using it, period.

I just know that we all have an “expiration” date... that point at which our abilities start to suffer. For most of us it’s in our mid/late sixties. I have had several coworkers retire and they honestly just slow down and become less effective as they age. It unfortunate, but real. In Texas you can’t run for a judgeship after 72... I think that’s more than fair.

That's the problem... there are two different ways to interpret what happened. You opinion is worth as much as mine. Trump had a rally and told all of the attendees to go down there and "fight like you've never fought before," then they went down, attacked our capitol and halted a legal election that Trump had just lost. That much is an undisputable fact. The only question is whether or not Trump telling them to go down there and do x, y, and z actually led to them going down there and doing x, y, and z. I know you can't recognize the peril in what happened or the lives lost. But it's kinda like Hitler arguing that he was blameless for the holocaust because he didn't actually close the gas chamber doors himself. If people don't do what Trump asks them to, then why did he spend the last year and half asking all of his people to go vote, since according to you they don't listen to what he says?