Can you be critical of your own side?

[Anomalism]

Just read through it…Bunch of fence sitters all hand wringing, trying to get others to self flagellate themselves….get bent.

We grow when we examine ourselves honestly and confess our humanity.

 

[j-mac]

I do and I have. Some stupidity from my side of the aisle:

--10 Commandments posted in school
--Enforcing the recitation of the Lord's Prayer in school
--All students in every school across the US are "indoctrinated" by teachers
--Live cameras in all public schools

I was in education so that's the profession I know best, and can easily spot stupidity from my side in this arena.

I went to Catholic schools, didn’t hurt me….

 

[j-mac]

We grow when we examine ourselves honestly and confess our humanity.

Yeah, ok buddy, have a Coke….lol

 

[SweetSue92]

I went to Catholic schools, didn’t hurt me….

Well of course. The 10 Commandments is God's Law for the people of God

 

[j-mac]

Well of course. The 10 Commandments is God's Law for the people of God

While I’m no longer a practicing Catholic, I think having God in the school was a positive…

 

[candycorn]

I’m not asking what you think about the people you oppose. That part’s easy. Anyone can point out flaws in their enemies. What I’m interested in is whether you can be just as honest about the people you support. Can you look at your own side and call out the weaknesses, the bad habits, the blind spots, the corruption, the parts you wish were better? Most people claim they care about truth, but only apply scrutiny to the outgroup. I want to see how many here can apply the same lens inward. Be specific. Be fair. No whataboutism, no switching targets. Just your side, your critique, your honesty.

I think liberals are out to lunch on energy options. Hopefully wind and solar will shoulder more and more of the load going forward but they aren’t there yet. Nuclear is. Any discussion of the topic is a non-starter.

It is risky and there needs to be enhanced regulation--I recommend that all plants are run by the US Navy. Its a win-win-win. We have like what 54 plants in the US. The Navy staffs the plants spawning not only water tight (pun intended) regulations without a profit motive so there is no cutting corners and ignoring safety but also a great training ground for future engineers. Customers get a dependable power supply that is much cleaner than coal or petroleum. And the utilities get out from under the onerous costs of managing plants and focus on what makes them money...marketing electricity.

As for scandals, Obama had straight up scandals. The IRS scandal was the definition of a scandal. There were policies in place. They were ignored. The VA scandal involved falsification of records. TTBOMK...nobody has been offcially reprimanded much less sent to the slammer which you’d think endangering veterans would require.

Both parties need to come together to get rid of the presidential pardon. The Democrats have zero room to complain about the laughable extent of the Trump pardons--Darryl Straweberry got pardoned the other day!!!!.

I could go on..

 

[Anomalism]

Yeah, ok buddy, have a Coke….lol

Best I can do is a RedBull.

 

[Anomalism]

I think liberals are out to lunch on energy options. Hopefully wind and solar will shoulder more and more of the load going forward but they aren’t there yet. Nuclear is. Any discussion of the topic is a non-starter.

It is risky and there needs to be enhanced regulation--I recommend that all plants are run by the US Navy. Its a win-win-win. We have like what 54 plants in the US. The Navy staffs the plants spawning not only water tight (pun intended) regulations without a profit motive so there is no cutting corners and ignoring safety but also a great training ground for future engineers. Customers get a dependable power supply that is much cleaner than coal or petroleum. And the utilities get out from under the onerous costs of managing plants and focus on what makes them money...marketing electricity.

As for scandals, Obama had straight up scandals. The IRS scandal was the definition of a scandal. There were policies in place. They were ignored. The VA scandal involved falsification of records. TTBOMK...nobody has been offcially reprimanded much less sent to the slammer which you’d think endangering veterans would require.

Both parties need to come together to get rid of the presidential pardon. The Democrats have zero room to complain about the laughable extent of the Trump pardons--Darryl Straweberry got pardoned the other day!!!!.

I could go on..

Some predictions are saying nuclear energy won't even be optional in the not so distant future because of the energy demands of AI.

They're talking about having entire plants dedicated just to powering these things.

 

[candycorn]

Excellent. Yeah, Trump has had some crazy, untenable ideas, like Greenland and Canada, but notice how these crazy ideas tend to be combed out of the agenda with time? Trump explores ideas, like the possibility of whether there was any way to take a virus killer after being infected (the famous Clorox bleach comments), then lets the viability of the ideas shake out over time and be tested.

Still, far, far better to have a guy like Trump who puts 110% into his job, and gets 95% of it right, than a guy like Joe Biden who put 15% into the job (which was 100% for him), and have 99.99999999% of it all wrong.

• Trump is like a grand slam hitter who occasionally tips the ball. They will still be talking about Trump a century from now.
• Can anyone name a single thing Biden ever did that was great and right? Folks quit talking about Biden before he even left office.

He stopped the Afghan war. Of course you will never, ever admit that it was a good move. Why? Because Biden did it.

 

[martybegan]

I’m not asking what you think about the people you oppose. That part’s easy. Anyone can point out flaws in their enemies. What I’m interested in is whether you can be just as honest about the people you support. Can you look at your own side and call out the weaknesses, the bad habits, the blind spots, the corruption, the parts you wish were better? Most people claim they care about truth, but only apply scrutiny to the outgroup. I want to see how many here can apply the same lens inward. Be specific. Be fair. No whataboutism, no switching targets. Just your side, your critique, your honesty.

I'm more of the school of thought that says if you don't feed the nuts on your own side, Owens, Carlson, Fuentes, they will eventually just run out of gas.

Especially when they are just voices without any real political or governmental power.

 

[candycorn]

Some predictions are saying nuclear energy won't even be optional in the not so distant future because of the energy demands of AI.

They're talking about having entire plants dedicated just to powering these things.

Nuke plants put out more KW than either coal or natural gas.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I’m not asking what you think about the people you oppose. That part’s easy. Anyone can point out flaws in their enemies. What I’m interested in is whether you can be just as honest about the people you support. Can you look at your own side and call out the weaknesses, the bad habits, the blind spots, the corruption, the parts you wish were better? Most people claim they care about truth, but only apply scrutiny to the outgroup. I want to see how many here can apply the same lens inward. Be specific. Be fair. No whataboutism, no switching targets. Just your side, your critique, your honesty.

I do it often, which is a normal reality for most conservatives.
Liberal? Hell no they don't. Ever. No matter what.

 

[Bitterhook]

Do you know how many times I had to punch myself in the face to get to where I am? I didn’t get this perspective by sitting on the sidelines. I got it by destroying my own illusions, not someone else’s. It’s harder to confront your own bias than it is to cheer for a team. That’s the mess I’ve been cleaning up. And it’s not painless.

That's cool, and I was not being accusatory in a sense that you have not engaged in introspection and found a desperate divide between what you believe and feel compelled to support. I was commenting on how futile apathy can be, and how doing nothing is never a better answer. It might be easier for me because any party or political philosophy I could wholeheartedly support with a purist approach was pretty much gone about 200 years before I was born, and they weren't even perfect.

It does take effort and often failure, even continued failure to strap back up and do whatever you can, but confronting and understanding your, or our, problems doesn't make them go away. Don't stop thinking of a plan, start thinking of a different and possibly better plan.

The comment about punching yourself in the face is just identifying the fact that punching yourself in the face still doesn't solve the problem. You might have punched yourself in the face long enough to quit, and perhaps it's time to start kicking yourself in the ass and keep trying within the confines of your capabilities and options, because doing nothing isn't accomplishing anything either.

If you truly know what you are saying and expressing, start looking for the faults in that and get to work. You don't have to move mountains, but one person can make a difference. It's possible that you are already ahead of the curve, now use that momentum.

 

[j-mac]

Best I can do is a RedBull.

Not good for ya…

 

[Independent thinker]

I’m not asking what you think about the people you oppose. That part’s easy. Anyone can point out flaws in their enemies. What I’m interested in is whether you can be just as honest about the people you support. Can you look at your own side and call out the weaknesses, the bad habits, the blind spots, the corruption, the parts you wish were better? Most people claim they care about truth, but only apply scrutiny to the outgroup. I want to see how many here can apply the same lens inward. Be specific. Be fair. No whataboutism, no switching targets. Just your side, your critique, your honesty.

It's hard for me because every time I disagreed with Trump over something the left would pile on me, thinking that I was ripe for conversion therapy, thinking that now I have seen the light. After a while it got very old so I just don't criticize Trump much anymore because I'm sick and tired of the left thinking they can win me over to their woke and TDS nonsense just because of something negative I said about Trump. When their TDS nonsense is over with I will probably return to criticizing both sides as there is plenty to criticize on both sides.

 

[Hellokitty]

Why does me not supporting either side mean I have no dog? I still care about the nation.

If you truly cared you would take the time to vote. No candidate for elected office is going to be perfect or check off all your boxes.
And in some elections maybe you skip a race or 2, but someone who doesn't vote at all but what to question other people on party politics...GTFOH!!!

 

[candycorn]

You’ll see nobody on the right will hold their side accountable. Its pure cowardice. Who cares if the other side “piles” on you? It’s a message board. Grow a pair.

 

[Bitterhook]

I'm more of the school of thought that says if you don't feed the nuts on your own side, Owens, Carlson, Fuentes, they will eventually just run out of gas.

Especially when they are just voices without any real political or governmental power.

I am of the school of thought, that until we as the people start figuring out how to talk to each other, without being so defensive about everything, it's all pretty much a useless cause, and won't provide us with anything other than what we have.

Real political and governmental power isn't the answer when that is how everything is being facilitated. The people need to figure out how to start seizing some of that power back, but you are correct that chasing 'the nuts' or pursuing little more than the 'dirty laundry' isn't the answer either.

I think that any coalition that will ever manage to break or significantly weaken the stranglehold the establishment has on the nation, will come from the people. President Trump managed to get some Republicans to step up and buck the system, but that is starting to fade, as people see the failures, and think that one person or one group of people have all the answers.

If Owens, Carlson and Fuentes get people to start talking to each other, and people start looking forward instead of simply trying to defend themselves and their ideology, then maybe, just maybe, we can get somewhere. The answer isn't going to come from the establishment or the people with power, until it's the people that get their power back.

 

[Bitterhook]

You’ll see nobody on the right will hold their side accountable. Its pure cowardice. Who cares if the other side “piles” on you? It’s a message board. Grow a pair.

If that's all you have to offer, then that's a whole lot of nothing but the same old shit. So, how about you take that useless crap and go pound sand or try to come up with something better or more productive?

Unless of course you are perfectly satisfied with the pile of shit you are sitting in.

 

[Hellokitty]

I don’t actually belong to either party. I don’t have a side to defend.

"I don't belong to any party" is your tribe. You just don't want to be critical of your own choices.