^i believe it was to contest the thing i said right before it

Quote :

"Staying out of foreign entanglements is not isolationism [Edited on April 7, 2017 at 1:21 PM. Reason : And you can cool believe Rand wouldn't have us involved in Syria]"

i·so·la·tion·ism
?is?'laSH??niz?m/Submit
noun
a policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups, especially the political affairs of other countries.

Yes it is.

As for Rand, I'm simply saying that people thought the same exact thing about Trump - that he wouldn't get involved in this shit. They thought the same exact thing about Bush - that he wouldn't get involved in this shit. They thought the same exact thing about Obama - that he would pull us out of this shit.

Once you're in that office and you realize what it takes to keep the world moving forward, I'm pretty sure they all would make similar, if not the same, decisions.

Quote :

"Donald J. Trump?Verified account @realDonaldTrump Follow More The President must get Congressional approval before attacking Syria-big mistake if he does not! RETWEETS 31,107 LIKES 18,678 4:02 PM - 30 Aug 2013 2,070 replies 31,107 retweets 18,678 likes Reply 2.1K Retweet 31K Like 19K"

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/04/07/trump-tweets-about-syria/100154318/

[Edited on April 7, 2017 at 7:20 PM. Reason : A]

4/7/2017 7:16:28 PM

more widely accepted definition:

Quote :

"A policy or doctrine of trying to isolate one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, and generally attempting to make one's economy entirely self-reliant; seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement, both diplomatically and economically, while remaining in a state of peace by avoiding foreign entanglements and responsibilities."

4/7/2017 9:06:05 PM

Quote :

"declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements"

Quote :

"while remaining in a state of peace by avoiding foreign entanglements and responsibilities.""

Quote :

"i·so·la·tion·ism ?is?'laSH??niz?m/Submit noun a policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups, especially the political affairs of other countries."

4/7/2017 9:16:48 PM

I was just trying to point out that Rand, thus far, has bI always took him for an isolationist.

4/7/2017 9:17:38 PM

I was just trying to point out that Rand, thus far, has bI always took him for an isolationist.

4/7/2017 9:17:38 PM

whatever. i'd rather be labeled an isolationist than to piss away blood and coin playing world police.

[Edited on April 7, 2017 at 9:29 PM. Reason : god forbid folks mind their own damn business]

4/7/2017 9:28:03 PM

World doesn't work like that, sorry. Read human history and study human psychology. Wish it did, but it doesn't.

4/7/2017 9:33:15 PM

okie dokie i'll just take your word for it. let's bomb some brown folks.

4/7/2017 9:36:35 PM

You don't and shouldn't have to take my word for it.

Quote :

"Read human history and study human psychology."

[Edited on April 7, 2017 at 9:39 PM. Reason : a]

4/7/2017 9:39:07 PM

could you point me to some reading on the subject? something that would point out the folly of avoiding foreign entanglements?

4/7/2017 9:47:50 PM

It doesn't make sense for us to dump so much money into the military and not police the world. If we're going to be isolationist, we need to scale back the military... a lot. In WWII the gov had to nationalize everything to sustain the war effort. Being isolationist means going back to this possibility and having a draft again.

Trump ran on a platform of expanding the military, why anyone ever believed he wouldn't be using it all over the place is beyond me.

4/8/2017 12:22:49 AM

Quote :

"It doesn't make sense for us to dump so much money into the military and not police the world"

That logic is all kinds of fucked.

4/8/2017 12:28:28 AM

How so? I can't see a scenario where we have our approximate level of military spending, and we never send them outside the borders. This would be immoral actually. To uniquely have the ability to stop some tragedy, and just shrug our soldiers. This would be a very unstable diplomatic situation. When we have a vastly disproportionate amount of the worlds wealth, the world would very rightfully expect us to help out however and whenever we can.

4/8/2017 12:41:05 AM

Quote :

"SHRUG OUR SOLDIERS"

4/8/2017 7:33:44 AM

Quote :

"How so? I can't see a scenario where we have our approximate level of military spending, and we never send them outside the borders. This would be immoral actually. To uniquely have the ability to stop some tragedy, and just shrug our soldiers. This would be a very unstable diplomatic situation. When we have a vastly disproportionate amount of the worlds wealth, the world would very rightfully expect us to help out however and whenever we can."

Where have you been the last few decades? That is precisely what we do. We shrug our soldiers if we don't have economic or strategic interests involved every single time.

4/9/2017 10:58:50 AM

We've got military bases and operations everywhere. Trumpists want to maintain this apparatus but have them do nothing, which doesn't make sense.

---------

KT McFarland, former Fox News contributor who became deputy national security advisor is out, McMaster now in control https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/politics/articles/2017-04-09/mcfarland-to-exit-white-house-as-mcmaster-consolidates-power

McMaster is far more qualified than mcfarland but I'm not sure what McMasters temperament with. This has trump surrounding himself with a lot of miltaristic people, possibly the most militaristic presidency since Eisenhower.

4/9/2017 12:09:16 PM

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/sessions-orders-justice-dept-to-end-forensic-science-commission-suspend-review-policy/2017/04/10/2dada0ca-1c96-11e7-9887-1a5314b56a08_story.html?utm_term=.c4795df1ce41

so this is pretty awful

4/11/2017 1:04:18 AM

Holocaust Centers

4/11/2017 3:17:19 PM

Spicey at it again.

Hitler and the Nazis never used chemical weapons guys.

Especially not at Holocaust Centers!

4/11/2017 3:52:02 PM

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-betsy-devos-student-loan-protections-20170411-story.html

Not much talk about this, but it's pretty fucked up.

4/12/2017 12:20:06 PM

God forbid the tax payers don't subsidize people that can't afford college trying to afford it. God forbid

4/12/2017 12:45:49 PM

Yes, with all of our nation's problems re: "outsourcing our jobs to Mexico and China", it's best to make college LESS affordable to people who need it the most, and then while we're at it, let's make sure they aren't protected if for whatever reason (illness, accident, bad economy/lack of decent jobs, etc) they can't pay back their exorbitant student loan debt ASAP.

You're seriously the worst and you should die in a fire.

4/12/2017 3:26:45 PM

Let's just make foreign goods super fucking expensive rather than improve our work force.

Great idea!!

4/12/2017 7:01:49 PM

The thing is, not everyone is cut out for a four year degree or college- it's certainly not for everyone and it's nowhere close to guaranteeing everyone a job prospect after graduation, regardless of one's major. But the way this country looks at education as if it's some sort of luxury or privilege that should only benefit people who can "afford it" is sick. People need to learn skills and trades too, so I really don't get why we aren't doing more to teach people how to actually do shit that can earn them money.

[Edited on April 12, 2017 at 9:08 PM. Reason : .]

4/12/2017 9:08:26 PM

Bc it makes people like JCE butt hurt.

4/12/2017 9:15:53 PM

People still haven't come around to the idea that a four year degree is nearly the equivalent of a HS diploma from 50 years ago.

What makes me sick though is how student tuition keeps rising, and I firmly believe that it keeps rising because schools know they'll get suckers to get loans to pay for it.

4/12/2017 9:22:05 PM

That may be some of it, but you shouldn't discount the fact that state funding of universities has dropped precipitously over the last ~3 decades
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/state-colleges-receive-the-same-amount-of-funding-from-tuition-as-from-state-governments-2017-03-24

4/12/2017 9:55:22 PM

Maybe a few people took all the money and everyone is getting screwed

4/12/2017 10:23:54 PM

Our whole model of education is fucked, beginning at k-12. We definitely need to pay teachers better, but we also need to make sure they're highly qualified and competent, and get rid of the rampant mistrust between students/parents/teachers/administrators where everyone is pointing the finger. Finland runs circles around the US when it comes to teacher training AND keeping costs relatively low, while also doing better than everyone else when it comes to tests scores.

People like JCE are part of the problem and they all just need to die miserable deaths.

4/12/2017 11:14:32 PM

Well, measurement is part of our problem. And yes I'm complaining and don't have a viable solution. It is very difficult to measure the success rate of a teacher when you go by test scores alone, and we all no that here in the US, we have a huge hard-on for standardized testing. I'm sure there's a large industry/lobby behind why we like standardized testing so much.

But how do you measure the worth of a teacher? Sure, the A-A+ kids are going to do well no matter who's up front, just like in college, the smart kids will find a way to be successful even with horrible teachers and professors. But what about the average to below average kids? How does a teacher take those students and make them a better learner? How do you measure this? If a teacher takes a kid who gets no support at home, and gets them from a 35 average to a 62 average, well, that kid still failed, but...look at the improvement. But to the bean counters and the test graders, both the teacher and the student here has failed.

I know of one teacher with a classroom where nearly 50% of the students do not speak English. And AFAIK, there's no ESL support there, I'm not sure why but it sure seems like it would be needed. So how in the world could that teacher ever be considered successful if you're looking at test scores?

4/13/2017 7:25:25 AM

Changing how public schools are funded is a start.

4/13/2017 7:46:37 AM

How so?

If you're talking about just throwing more money at schools, that isn't going to work.

4/13/2017 8:34:07 AM

^^ Most states are looking at growth rather than achievement now. That's why I was so blown away that DeVos couldn't answer Franken's question about it.

4/13/2017 9:33:35 AM

From my understanding public school are funding mostly by local property taxes.

4/13/2017 10:29:54 AM

I'm completely ignorant on this issue but isn't a school choice idea that public taxes go to subsidize private and even religious schools? And doesn't this only those who are better off and punish the poorest among us?

[Edited on April 13, 2017 at 11:48 AM. Reason : This a vague response to the guy who was railing against subsidizing college]

4/13/2017 11:47:59 AM

I'm not against subsidizing college, but I just want to make sure it is done the right way, and that the middle class doesn't get shafted like they do with nearly every other subsidy.

4/13/2017 12:04:59 PM

The middle class used to get all kinds of great stuff from the government.

Then the 70's and 80's happened.

4/13/2017 12:08:31 PM

I mean, my daughter is surrounded by kids whose parents get help with daycare costs, and it's a good daycare. I fully expect to fund 100% of her college tuition unless she gets some great sports or academic based scholarships. I'm priced out of just about every tax break with the exception of mortgage interest.

And it isn't like we're living high on the hog. We're just eeking out an average middle class American existence, and I'm ok with that, it is just frustrating seeing poor planning being rewarded. That's the Republican in me thinking. I see anecdotal evidence of poor planning all around me. In my family, at my daughter's daycare, etc.

4/13/2017 12:20:53 PM

Do you want a hand out or do you want the hand out taken away from the people you assume are getting one?

And would the day care have enough clients to stay open if people with hand outs suddenly could no longer afford it?

4/13/2017 12:30:13 PM

There's a waiting list, even for families who already have one child in their classrooms.

Mostly I just want the assistance to go to people who really need it, not to people like my family who are just mooching off of the system. People in wheelchairs have had to wait longer than they did to get disability. It's just awful.

4/13/2017 12:34:28 PM

What percentage of assistance is going to people who don't really need it, and what is the acceptable percentage?

4/13/2017 1:08:54 PM

I doubt we'll ever know that figure.

4/13/2017 1:12:42 PM

Bc it's totally arbitrary.

4/13/2017 2:37:25 PM

Trump's CIA director is absolutely unloading on WikiLeaks right now. Interesting given Trump's praise over last summer.

4/13/2017 3:36:56 PM

Quote :

"we have a huge hard-on for standardized testing"

too bad we suck at it. Finland barely tests students at all and yet they somehow crush everyone else when it comes to standardized testing. If you're curious, do some quick Googling about the "Finland Phenomenon". It's a relatively homogenous country that compares realistically with the state of Minnesota, yet they have a completely different approach to teaching, which began shortly after WWII. Overall, it's way less testing and more collaborative learning for students; critical thinking is integrated in ALL courses; technology, music, art, and physical education are also highly integrated into ALL coursework; becoming a teacher is much, much more difficult and the process is highly selective and teachers have a huge network of support and collaboration amongst each other. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

The education system in the US is broken and based on an outdated model from about 100 years ago. DeVos is only going to make it worse by trying to treat it like a business and "cut the fat".

[Edited on April 13, 2017 at 3:48 PM. Reason : .]

4/13/2017 3:47:01 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/13/politics/trump-russia-british-intelligence/index.html

4/13/2017 6:45:56 PM

https://twitter.com/andrewnbcnews/status/854352842840256512

Oh ffs

4/18/2017 11:28:09 AM

the DOJ calling the NYPD soft on crime

just absurd

4/21/2017 3:17:38 PM

Well they ain't using the SWAT team to kick in pothead's doors no more. WE GOT TO HET THA BAD GUYS, LAW AND ORDER, BROKEN WINDOWS, etc etc etc

4/21/2017 3:45:54 PM

https://twitter.com/mmurraypolitics/status/856564069742116864

FFS. Reagan still not done fucking us I guess.

4/24/2017 1:48:14 PM