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JuanValdez
Last Activity:
Mar 18, 2024 at 8:05 PM
Joined:
Feb 14, 1999
Messages:
34,039
Likes Received:
13,370
Location:
Houston, TX

JuanValdez

Contributing Member, from Houston, TX

JuanValdez was last seen:
Mar 18, 2024 at 8:05 PM
    1. mdrowe00
      mdrowe00
      ...clock's still broken, my friend. But I guess you take your victories where ever you can get them...mdrowe00
      1. JuanValdez likes this.
    2. mdrowe00
      mdrowe00
      ...also couldn't hurt to do something about the Patriot Act. It's had some of its more "controversial" provisions expire or struck down judicially, and seeing as how we REALLY need to overhaul not just constitutional precedents wrt federal elections , but cyber-defense as a nation, might not be a better time to take a look at it...mdrowe00
    3. mdrowe00
      mdrowe00
      ...the hand-wringing over the way Robert Mueller has handled this investigation has been off-base. He was charged with finding evidence of federal election collusion with a foreign government. That was always going to be difficult to establish with de facto oligarchies involved. I don't think Americans deserved a silver bullet answer to this. This is what we've voted (or not voted) for. --mdrowe00
    4. mdrowe00
      mdrowe00
      ...lot of this is why I don't get into a lot of back-and-forth with certain people here. Basically, this is the logic of the broken clock: sure, it's got the time right twice a day, but that's got nothing to do with the clock...and nobody should bother setting up a schedule by it. Kudos. --mdrowe00
      1. JuanValdez
        JuanValdez
        I kinda know pgab in real life, so I always like to argue with him when he gives me the chance. :)
        Apr 10, 2019
    5. mdrowe00
      mdrowe00
      ...like the nuance of this debate between you and Mathloom. While business (or more broadly, monetary) influence has been a staple of our democracy, ultimately government serves a wholly different purpose than capitalism. Sooner we get that settled, the sooner we may be on the track to good governance. --mdrowe00
      1. JuanValdez
        JuanValdez
        I feel like I'm staking out a position that is radical for being moderate. It's pretty easy to score points on the left or the right by taking shots at the status quo. It's very hard to win arguing that the status quo isn't perfect but good enough. I don't expect anyone will be backing me on this one.
        Jan 14, 2019
        mdrowe00 likes this.
      2. mdrowe00
        mdrowe00
        I think more people would back you than you realize, but as with most things, it will take time and widespread adverse affects to get people talking about this more maturely. Aiding and/or abetting racism or nationalism (which is supposedly universally scorned) doesn't help either. Usually in process, it's "first things first". --mdrowe00
        Jan 15, 2019
    6. theimpossibles1
      theimpossibles1
      Respect for liking my don't honk at me thread. We both know that a large percentage of posters know exactly where I am coming from but once the public mood of the thread turned against me, everyone was too cowardly to say how they really feel.

      Stay righteous my friend.
    7. mdrowe00
      mdrowe00
      ...I have to admit, I am loathe to put anyone on "ignore"--even though I don't respond to certain posters at all. I find that ignoring people (in any fashion) is counterproductive--out-of-site, out-of-mind--and I don't think in some instances that that is wise...but I believe you're right in this instance. Consider this "RocketsLegend" ignored. --mdrowe00
      1. JuanValdez likes this.
    8. mdrowe00
      mdrowe00
      ....something about the perfect being the enemy of the good comes to mind with some of these "counter" arguments by some of these people...and I'm not even sure anymore people know what "perfect" means in this context. --mdrowe00
    9. mdrowe00
      mdrowe00
      ...I've got a few things about this country's "War on Drugs", and how that got started "legally" I'd LOVE for you to check out if you get time...or better yet, just GOOGLE some stuff. This internet stuff does have its uses. --mdrowe00
      1. JuanValdez
        JuanValdez
        Always reading, so happy to check out anything you want to share.
        Feb 5, 2018
    10. mdrowe00
      mdrowe00
      ...sometimes, it does matter who holds a public office. Institutions are man-made constructions, and cannot be divorced, in and of themselves, from the people occupying them. The person in public office is at once facilitator, arbiter and dispensator. Callous disregard for the role of our legal institutions in some shallow demonstration of power or mandate undermines the entire concept of our democracy. --mdrowe00
    11. mdrowe00
      mdrowe00
      ...and this line of thinking tracks along with the whole "states rights" arguments proffered about the nation's reconciliation of chattel slavery. We generally don't speak of our society in terms of it being constructed or engineered to a specific purpose and/or end. You'd think we all would have at least figured out that much by now... --mdrowe00
    12. don grahamleone
      don grahamleone
      Perfect profile picture.
    13. Major Malcontent
      Major Malcontent
      It's funny but I was just watching some clip the other day where a talking head was saying our poor aren't really poor because almost all of them have refrigerators and microwaves. Sad but true.
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