Political Posts

[cubsfan]

8 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

 

For context, I have a massive amount of respect for my granddad, and he voted for Trump. I'm not saying all Trump voters are evil—I'm saying they're ignorant.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a Trump supporter who really kept up with policy or had a deep understanding of Trump's character, history, worldview, or anything like that. A lot of them have reasonable concerns about the government—concerns I often agree with—but Trump is simply not a real solution for any of those problems. In fact, I believe that he massively worsens a lot of them. Some of his voters whom I'd likely respect—such as my granddad—think they're voting for the lesser of two evils, but I strongly believe they've got it backwards.

 

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?), they're going to figure it out.

 

Wow, you really are full of yourself and so naive. I'm actually a little surprised at your arrogance.

[gfp]

11 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

I don't think I've ever seen a Trump supporter who really kept up with policy or had a deep understanding of Trump's character, history, worldview, or anything like that.

 

I really don't care for the guy but I think you just need to meet more people if the above is true.  There are smart people with well reasoned opinions on all sides of the political spectrum - even some "democrats"!

[Blake Hampton]

1 minute ago, gfp said:

I really don't care for the guy but I think you just need to meet more people if the above is true.  There are smart people with well reasoned opinions on all sides of the political spectrum - even some "democrats"!

 

One of the largest concerns that I've repeatedly heard from intelligent, grounded individuals who support Trump is that the government is "too large" or "too involved." I completely understand why they're frustrated about this. Like I said, I share a lot of those same concerns.

 

However, one of the things I don't understand, is how you could've read anything about Trump preceding this election and thought that he would've been a good fit for that mold. Republicans like to talk about free trade, free markets, and smaller government, but everything we've seen so far is more Trump acting like a dictator than anything else.

I don't understand how they could think that way outside of just not keeping up with it, so I simply label it as ignorance.

[cubsfan]

3 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

 

One of the largest concerns that I've repeatedly heard from intelligent, grounded individuals who support Trump is that the government is "too large" or "too involved." I completely understand why they're frustrated about this. Like I said, I share a lot of those same concerns.

 

However, one of the things I don't understand, is how you could've read anything about Trump preceding this election and thought that he would've been a good fit for that mold. Republicans like to talk about free trade, free markets, and smaller government, but everything we've seen so far is more Trump acting like a dictator than anything else.

I don't understand how they could think that way outside of just not keeping up with it, so I simply label it as ignorance.

 

And of course, you'll likely refuse to explain the nonsense phrase "Acting like a dictator"

 

Acting within the constitution is more like it, with all it's checks and balances on the executive branch.

 

No one ever accused Biden of acting like a dictator, when in fact, he was using the powers invested in him to act like an idiot, until booted from office.

[LC]

https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-14/

[james22]

 

2 hours ago, Blake Hampton said:

I completely understand

 

No, you don't. 

 

At 23 there are things you can't.

[Red Lion]

33 minutes ago, james22 said:

 

 

No, you don't. 

 

At 23 there are things you can't.

23 with all the answers for thee and me

[Parsad]

16 hours ago, Blake Hampton said:

Facebook has fried the brain of the average American.

 

It's also sad that people are this desperate, and I don't even think it's that bad yet.

 

 

Let's not just blame Facebook.  It's media in general...extreme partisanship in the media...distrust of authority (be it left or right)...doubts about the integrity of leaders (be it left or right)...distrust of experts...lies by leaders (both sides)...leaders protecting their own (both sides)...etc.  A lot of reasons outside of just Facebook.  Cheers!

[Parsad]

9 hours ago, Malmqky said:

 

Things like decorum, basic courtesy, and respect have been more and more absent from US politics for a while now, and almost completely absent this last year or two.

 

It is disappointing. 

 

Yup!  Watching the President berate an NBC reporter for asking a question and then rip into him in front of everyone with the glee of a schoolyard bully was just so wearisome and disappointing.  His people support this type of behavior as long as their mandate is achieved.  Yet if their neighbor spoke to one of their family members like that, they certainly wouldn't be entertained and would knock the block off the fucker!  Cheers! 

[Parsad]

9 hours ago, cubsfan said:

 

And that is so true. Back in the McCain & Romney days, when both were extremely civil and utterly qualified and competent politicians - they would cower in fear of being called racists day after day by the Obama crowd.

 

Unfortunately, their decision to play by the civil Marquis of Queensberry rules were unsuccessful.

They kept their dignity, while losing the elections.

 

The reason the Democrats, media, and RINOs absolutely hate Trump - is because he gives it right back to them, exposing their blatant hypocrisy and despicable tactics. And he's assembled a cabinet that is absolutely unafraid of their name calling, and fights back viciously. 

 

Such is the state of American politics today. It's not changing any time soon. 

 

So hold your nose and cast your votes.

 

Exactly what did Canada, Greenland and Denmark do?  You will justify anything.  Would you sell out your family for him?  If Trump went after your family for some reason...say your kid was a journalist or worked for Harvard or disagreed with his politics...would you be ok with him being fired...or worse?  Cheers!

[Parsad]

8 hours ago, james22 said:

Tit-for-tat is the only proven approach to limit bad behavior in repetitive interactions.

 

That's kind of why I wish that NBC reporter would have told Trump to "just go fuck himself!" after that tongue lashing.  Even if it cost me my job as a reporter.  Somebody needs to embarrass this asshole!  That's when he shuts up and in his little mind starts planning how he's going to get back at someone!  Cheers!

[Parsad]

3 hours ago, james22 said:

 

 

No, you don't. 

 

At 23 there are things you can't.

 

2 hours ago, Red Lion said:

23 with all the answers for thee and me

 

Not sure it's fair to discount what he has to say because of his age.  There a lot of things that 40, 50 and 60 year olds forget about life as they age as well. 

 

My 10 year old nephew teaches me a lot of things about life that I had left behind or put aside as I aged and focused on life.  He doesn't really have this sense of pessimism or self-righteousness that all of us show by our posts on this message board. 

 

There's a lot younger people can learn from their elders and a lot older people can learn from those younger than them!  Cheers!

[RichardGibbons]

50 minutes ago, Parsad said:

Not sure it's fair to discount what he has to say because of his age.  There a lot of things that 40, 50 and 60 year olds forget about life as they age as well. 

 

Yep. When people start saying, "you don't know anything because you're young", it's basically equivalent to any other ad hominen attack. Generally, it's used by people who are unable to defend their position using reason.

 

If one wants to bring age into such arguments and still come off as reasonable, it needs to be in the form of, "because you're young, you likely didn't live through the history of X, and therefore may be drawing the wrong conclusions."

 

It is funny how much age is discounted on this forum, particularly considering historically, many breakthroughs are made by young people. Heck, even Einstein said, "A person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so."

 

The other really fascinating thing on this forum is how little Trump's actions are actually defended by his supporters. Like, most defences are of the form, "Trump did X, but Biden did Y", which isn't actually a defence of anyone's actions, but roughly equivalent to "the Oilers are great, because the Stars suck."

 

It would be nice to have a leader who was generally doing good things, things that supporters could actually argue are good.

Edited May 24, 2025 by RichardGibbons

[Parsad]

10 hours ago, Hektor said:

A peak into the Crypto Dinner gala!

 

https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/05/23/trump-memecoin-dinner-nicholas-pinto-bad-food/

 

Social media influencer who attended Trump’s memecoin dinner says he got a ‘Walmart steak’—and no access to the President

 

I hate to say it, but the guy sounds like a total "twat".  He seems to be just as "sketchy" as the descriptor he used for the rest of the attendees.  Not one favorable comment about Trump...seems as though many of Trump's supporters are behind him to see only their personal interests furthered, and if they aren't, they become critical pretty fast!  Cheers!

[Mephistopheles]

Love my Trump supporter friends/family/women on average WAY more than the liberals that I know.

 

Not even close.

 

Even if I consider some (not all) of them as part of a cult. 

[james22]

4 hours ago, Parsad said:

Not sure it's fair to discount what he has to say because of his age.

 

Sure it is.

 

Firstly (definitionally):

 

3 hours ago, RichardGibbons said:

"because you're young, you likely didn't live through the history of X, and therefore may be drawing the wrong conclusions."

 

Secondly, it's the lack of any demonstrated ability to draw correct conclusions, whatever the age. 

 

Virgins, 23 or 40, cannot give sex advice.

 

They haven't earned the right.

 

[Spekulatius]

What do people think about UAE AI / NVDA chip deal. Seems to me bribery - UAE gave Trump a jet nd los some investment in his crypto venture and in exchange they get access to ~1M NVDA chips for which they don’t seem a use for, except reselling them to the highest bidder - supposedly China.

https://carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2025/05/ai-chip-trump-gulf-uae-saudi-security-risk-good-deal?lang=en

 

Is there really another explanation? UAE is not tech powerhouse and even I’d they build some datacenters they don’t have use for this quantity of chips.

 

I don’t know what these export controlled chips are worth, but reselling them at a 30% markup makes them likely a huge amount. Of money even after deducting the above as an expense.

Edited May 24, 2025 by Spekulatius

[cwericb]

1 hour ago, james22 said:

 

Sure it is.

 

Firstly (definitionally):

 

 

Secondly, it's the lack of any demonstrated ability to draw correct conclusions, whatever the age. 

 

Virgins, 23 or 40, cannot give sex advice.

 

They haven't earned the right.

 

 

Really? Just because he is young doesn't mean he is wrong. You feel he is wrong primarily because he doesn't agree with your own views.

 

I am one of the older guys here and I agree with much of what Blake Hampton says.

 

And, according to your theories, I am probably more right than you as I am likely older and more experienced than you.

[Gregmal]

LOL this is kinda wild. While I agree age isn’t a qualifier or disqualifier, at some point there’s enough overlap to draw some conclusion. 
 

Again, I totally relate. I started my business very young and along the way ran into so many egotistical “I’m superior because I’m older folks”. But I also had to put up the results to warrant my swagger. The difference between LeBron and a beer league guy at the park whom runs his mouth is that LeBron makes the shots. 
 

So as it relates to the above, just to provide some context;

 

-people whom were in the market since 2006 are complacent,

 

-the bottoms from recent general market volatility were “just the beginning”,

 

-Buffett should not be questioned,

 

-the inflation call that is now bordering on being in perpetuity 

 

-the oil is a must own because of inflation and Buffett 

 

- @gfp and anyone else buying bonds is an idiot

 

-Fairfax is untouchable because it owns way too much duration, duration being defined as anything longer than 2 years

 

- @james22 and anyone who owns crypto are bubbles breathing greater fools

 

Amongst other things….

 

This in the face of many, many members here whom have taken the time to generously share their experience and stories and even relate on many fronts to the interesting dilemma of being young and smart in the market where things might not appear to make perfect sense to you. Actually let me rephrase that last sentence. Being young and smart in a market that’s euphoric and everyone’s dancing til the music stops and you’re certain you’ve got it all figured out because everyone else is dumb. 

Edited May 24, 2025 by Gregmal

[73 Reds]

13 hours ago, Blake Hampton said:

 

For context, I have a massive amount of respect for my granddad, and he voted for Trump. I'm not saying all Trump voters are evil—I'm saying they're ignorant.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a Trump supporter who really kept up with policy or had a deep understanding of Trump's character, history, worldview, or anything like that. A lot of them have reasonable concerns about the government—concerns I often agree with—but Trump is simply not a real solution for any of those problems. In fact, I believe that he massively worsens a lot of them. Some of his voters whom I'd likely respect—such as my granddad—think they're voting for the lesser of two evils, but I strongly believe they've got it backwards.

 

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?), they're going to figure it out.

Blake, it is comments like this that cause some people to dismiss you due to your youth.  Rather than stereotype or classify Trump voters as "ignorant", why not consider that POTUS elections are binary and my guess is the vast majority of voters selected the best of two rather poor choices.  Or, many (myself included) ignored the personalities altogether and voted for those policies I prefer.  You can criticize an individual all you want but when you categorically deem all Trump voters as ignorant it doesn't reflect well on you.  

[Blake Hampton]

28 minutes ago, Gregmal said:

So as it relates to the above, just to provide some context;

 

- a lot of people whom were in the market since 2006 are extremely complacent

 

- the bottoms from recent general market volatility are likely “just the beginning”

 

- Buffett should almost certainly not be questioned

 

- the inflation call that is now bordering on being in perpetuity 

 

- that oil is a must own because of growing demand, structural weakening supply, inflation, and Buffett 

 

- @gfp and anyone else buying bonds doesn't understand the risks they're taking

 

- Fairfax is not my favorite because it owns way too much fixed income

 

- @james22 and anyone who owns crypto are bubbles breathing greater fools

 

Amongst other things….

 

I added some minor tweaks.

 

Otherwise, well said.

 

Edited May 24, 2025 by Blake Hampton

[Hektor]

5 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

I hate to say it, but the guy sounds like a total "twat".  He seems to be just as "sketchy" as the descriptor he used for the rest of the attendees.  Not one favorable comment about Trump...seems as though many of Trump's supporters are behind him to see only their personal interests furthered, and if they aren't, they become critical pretty fast!  Cheers!

Looks like not everyone who attended is disappointed 

 

https://www.wsj.com/video/inside-trumps-controversial-memecoin-dinner/0BE64208-0C79-457D-8143-345C6DA200DD.html

[Libs]

15 hours ago, gfp said:

 

I had you pegged for a Harry Browne / Ron Paul guy!  I guess republican is as close as you get these days

Ha, yes GFP you probably remember my handle 'libertarians2000' from the old Yahoo Finance board. I got tired of throwing my vote away. What a wild ride it's been since then!

BTW it dawns on me how young you must have been back then....mid- 20's I'm guessing. You've been good at this game for a long time!

[james22]

1 hour ago, cwericb said:

Just because he is young doesn't mean he is wrong.

 

No, it means it doesn't matter if he's right or wrong.

 

If he happened to be right it'd be only by chance.

 

1 hour ago, cwericb said:

You feel he is wrong primarily because he doesn't agree with your own views.

 

Nope. I'm annoyed by the certainty without experience and demonstrated ability, not the position.

 

A young conservative would be equally unsufferable.

 

Arrogance in a prodigy one puts up with as expected, because in their inexperience they've known nothing but success.

 

If you've not known success though, you've no reason to be arrogant and no one need suffer fools.

 

1 hour ago, cwericb said:

I am one of the older guys here and I agree with much of what Blake Hampton says.

 

You've earned the right.

 

1 hour ago, cwericb said:

And, according to your theories, I am probably more right than you as I am likely older and more experienced than you.

 

No, there's some minimal experience and demonstrated ability required to earn a viewpoint, but after that it's not conforming.

 

There's fantastically bright and accomplished people on both ends of the political spectrum.

 

There may be no old and bold pilots, but the consequences of illogical political views aren't so self-correcting.

[Red Lion]

10 hours ago, RichardGibbons said:

Yep. When people start saying, "you don't know anything because you're young", it's basically equivalent to any other ad hominen attack. Generally, it's used by people who are unable to defend their position using reason.

Both of these responses are completely devoid of context. The absolute self confidence that anyone with an opposing viewpoint is wrong and an idiot is very much a hallmark of youth.