Relax, Everything is Going to be Okay!

[Nick87]

He ran in 1988 and 2008 and didn't even make it through the primary. The thing that helped in 2020 was the opponent.The choice was an old white guy or the orange guy that told people to drink bleach. Tough choice for the Boomers.

Ok, then explain 2024 to me. Doesn't all add up.

 

[Bonasababy]

Speaking of Uncle Joe, Sleepy Joe, or Crooked Joe

He did a disservice to the country and his party when he decided it was a good idea to run for a second term. At that point, it became apparent that he was in some combination, deluded about being the only politician from his party, up to the job, or became quite intoxicated with all that is being the president.

He ended his presidency badly. His debate performance was an emperor has no clothes moment. His eleventh hour departure from the race, left a political vacuum, that did not allow for a normal primary process, to select a nominee.

His pardons of his son and family are very shameful. He has given every future president, including Trump, a precedent to pardon anyone close to them, no matter what they may have done.


That still does not prove a link to them suppling the story to the times. That is just another of your assertions, without any proof.

Quite a bit of emperor with no clothes situation too. People saw his decline, no one or at least not enough told him it was time for someone else. Had that happened earlier things might be entirely different now. But then again people vote their pocketbook quite often...but someone that started earlier who could have established their own different from Joe identity had a chance IMO--if they were relatively moderate (which can be tall order to find and get approval of these days).

 

[Wildabeest]

His pardons of his son and family are very shameful. He has given every future president, including Trump, a precedent to pardon anyone close to them, no matter what they may have done.

I believe that precedent had already been set.

Who did Donald Trump pardon? What to know about Charles Kushner, Steve Bannon, other top allies

During his first term in office, Trump granted 144 pardons, which included distant family members, some of his closest allies and others.

www.usatoday.com

 

[BigHornRam]

Speaking of Uncle Joe, Sleepy Joe, or Crooked Joe

He did a disservice to the country and his party when he decided it was a good idea to run for a second term. At that point, it became apparent that he was in some combination, deluded about being the only politician from his party, up to the job, or became quite intoxicated with all that is being the president.

He ended his presidency badly. His debate performance was an emperor has no clothes moment. His eleventh hour departure from the race, left a political vacuum, that did not allow for a normal primary process, to select a nominee.

His pardons of his son and family are very shameful. He has given every future president, including Trump, a precedent to pardon anyone close to them, no matter what they may have done.


That still does not prove a link to them suppling the story to the times. That is just another of your assertions, without any proof.

By the way, didn't we have a steak dinner bet last year? I was going to let it go because it was a sucker bet, but since you are being so thick, I may have to reconsider.

 

[Irrelevant]

Always been that way or just recently ?

Pretty sharp drop here the last decade

 

[Nick87]

Pretty sharp drop here the last decade

You mean last 12 to 48 months?

 

[cgasner1]

Pretty sharp drop here the last decade

The fact that he ran in 1988 and again in 2020 shows everything wrong with the system.

 

[BigHornRam]

I believe that precedent had already been set.

Who did Donald Trump pardon? What to know about Charles Kushner, Steve Bannon, other top allies

During his first term in office, Trump granted 144 pardons, which included distant family members, some of his closest allies and others.

www.usatoday.com

Lobbying in the Ukraine has been a lucrative business by people in both parties. Very lucrative. Lot of gamesmanship and corruption.

Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists Cash for Donald Trump’s Campaign Chief (Published 2016)

An examination of the activities of Paul Manafort shows how he benefited from powerful interests that are now under scrutiny.

www.nytimes.com

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/449206-fbi-warned-early-and-often-that-manafort-file-might-be-fake-used-it-anyway/

 

[406dn]

An injection of humor, maybe.

Saw this earlier today.

It seems cause of the high cost of eggs has been solved. They have found a large number of chickens in the Congress.

 

[BigHornRam]

The fact that he ran in 1988 and again in 2020 shows everything wrong with the system.

Biden ran again in 2008, but flamed out early. For some reason, Obama selected Joe over Hillary as his VP. Ponder that one.

 

[cgasner1]

Biden ran again in 2008, but flamed out early. For some reason, Obama selected Joe over Hillary as his VP. Ponder that one.

He knew we where due for a presidential assassin and she wanted to be the First Lady president

 

[BigHornRam]

He knew we where due for a presidential assassin and she wanted to be the First Lady president

Are you saying Joe was Obama's anti-assanation insurance policy?

 

[cgasner1]

Are you saying Joe was Obama's anti-assanation insurance policy?

Im saying arkanside is a thing

 

[Forkyfinder]

Ok, then explain 2024 to me. Doesn't all add up.

 

[jimh406]

How did this thread get to past Presidential elections?

 

[BigHornRam]

How did this thread get to past Presidential elections?

Welcome to Hunt Talk.

 

[SAJ-99]

Ok, then explain 2024 to me. Doesn't all add up.

Really? Dude is 82. Did you see him in the debate? Kind of same deal with Trump. It was a choice over which stage of dementia you wanted to vote for. Dems wanted to attract younger voters. Not enough to overcome the Boomers apparently. I find it amusing when people say Trump’s policy or Trump’s this or that. That dude isn’t calling the shots on anything but his golf game.

 

[Nick87]

Did you see him in the debate?

I did, saw him for years prior too. Couldn't mention any cognitive decline then though, or it was taboo. until we knew it was going to effect the election.

Trump’s policy or Trump’s this or that

Didn't say anything about Trump, but I'm glad we can't have this conversation without bringing him up.

 

[thebestusernamesaretaken]

Many of you are worried about our public lands in the wake of the workforce downsizing. Like you, I treasure our National Forests, National Parks and BLM lands. My heart truly goes out to those who lost their jobs. It's never easy. It happens regularly in the private sector, but it's rare to see government get smaller, so I understand the worry.

My name is Paul Barnard (spell the screen name backwards.) I live in Metairie LA for now. I just retired after working for the CG for almost 40 years. 20 active-duty and nearly 20 as a civilian. During that time I have partnered with a myriad of government agencies and have had a glimpse into how many operate. Let's just say that they share many similarities with the Coast Guard. I have to do a little drift to set the stage for what follows.

Early in my active duty career, it was normal for 2 of us to hop on a small boat and patrol 20-30 miles offshore. Our small boats back then didn't even have radar or GPS. Service wide, there were no major mishaps operating under such conditions. Government agencies tend to become more risk adverse over time. Standards today will find the small boats restricted to 10 miles offshore. The'll have a comprehensive compliment of safety equipment and electronics, and they'll likely have 4 people on board. They'll run 1/3 the SAR cases we did, they write far fewer BUIs, they'll write almost no federal fisheries tickets and they'll make far fewer law enforcement stops. All of this is verifiable. It's not opinion. Twice the people on the boats, less than half the production. I say that to say that agencies can review their SOPs to identify ways to achieve greater efficiency.

Beginning in about 2018 the Coast Guard started falling behind on recruiting. At our operational units, we were down 40%. To this date, we remain down about 25% on qualified personnel even though recruiting is back up to speed. The Coast Guard cut back on patrols and law enforcement activities. Some stations were closed and others had their personnel allowance formally reduced. Toss out the Covid induced spike in recreational boating deaths, and we saw a steady fall in the number of recreational boating deaths. 2023 was the lowest in decades. FWIW my program was Recreational Boating Safety. So despite the fact, that we had fewer people, engaging the public less frequently, deaths on the water went down substantially.

You may be wondering what the hell this has to do with our public lands. Well, there will be some bumps initially, but ultimately any government agency I have ever worked with could easily absorb a 10-20% loss in personnel without a degradation in service to the public. Through smarter and perhaps harder work, the mission will be accomplished. Many agencies spend an inordinate amount of time serving internal rather than external (public) customers. Bureaucratic crap that can and should be done away with. BS mandatory training. Ask and 90% of government employees would happily tell you that there are worthless employees in their unit. The same 90% will be able to tell you the people who have cake jobs in their agencies and they'll tell you that there are units or teams that could be done away with completely. It would be nice if the workforce reduction could have targeted such personnel, but as many of you know, it can be hard to fire even poor performing .gov employees. Unfortunately in order to downsize quickly, it had to be probationary employees who are often some of the most motivated.

Fearing change and fearing the unknown is normal. I have seen several RIFS in my career and have been furloughed. Good people who are good employees will always land on their feet. Don't panic, don't worry. A year or two from now, you'll see that things are back to or better than normal. I don't expect the Refuges, National Forests or National Parks that I visit too be impacted to any significant degree at all.

https://www.conference-board.org/topics/consumer-confidence

We are still transitioning

Pessimism about the future returned​

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® declined by 7.0 points in February to 98.3 (1985=100). The Present Situation Index—based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions—fell 3.4 points to 136.5. The Expectations Index—based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions— dropped 9.3 points to 72.9. For the first time since June 2024, the Expectations Index was below the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead. The cutoff date for preliminary results was February 19, 2025.

“In February, consumer confidence registered the largest monthly decline since August 2021,” said Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board. “This is the third consecutive month on month decline, bringing the Index to the bottom of the range that has prevailed since 2022. Of the five components of the Index, only consumers’ assessment of present business conditions improved, albeit slightly. Views of current labor market conditions weakened. Consumers became pessimistic about future business conditions and less optimistic about future income. Pessimism about future employment prospects worsened and reached a ten-month high.”

February’s fall in confidence was shared across all age groups but was deepest for consumers between 35 and 55 years old. The decline was also broad-based among income groups, with the only exceptions among households earning less than $15,000 a year and between $100,000–125,000.

 

[cgasner1]

I did, saw him for years prior too. Couldn't mention any cognitive decline then though, or it was taboo. until we knew it was going to effect the election.


Didn't say anything about Trump, but I'm glad we can't have this conversation without bringing him up.

The age argument is a very fair one but I didn’t get to pick either candidate