ComradeKayAdams

Yes, I very much think the Palestine protestors have peaceful intentions!! Isolated incidents of violence from mentally disturbed people don’t define or negate an entire political/humanitarian movement. Would you like me to carefully review all the violent hate crimes, in the U.S. alone since 10/7/23, by self-avowed Zionists against Palestinian Americans?? Where were all you PPP sh!theads when, say, Joseph Czuba murdered Wadee Alfayoumi??!! I’m kind of relieved, though, to see Israel apologists FINALLY admitting that they want Trump to crack down on free speech. This is the natural impulse for those who can’t defend the indefensible: a certifiable GENOCIDE funded by the American taxpayer. But those who would like to try anyway with me should first understand that this conflict spatially extends beyond the Gaza Strip and temporally before 10/7/23. So before attempting to tango with La Commie Kay, you must first have a decent understanding of the West Bank settler encroachments and the New Yishuv of the pre-Nakba era. And so I’ll now patiently await among the verdant subforum foliage, like a political praying mantis, ready to rip some f*cking Zionist heads off after our disputatious embrace. Peace, -Kay

It’s technically not a definitional component of communism, either. Authoritarianism has historically accompanied communism** because of the difficulty in scaling communism up to fit a society any larger and more diverse than what you’d likely find on a hippie commune. Any system of governance that poorly models collective human behavior will devolve into extreme violence. Anarcho-capitalism is on the opposite side of that same communist coin. ** - While we’re being super technical here…I should note that the historical/practical instances of communism failed in coming close to matching the academic/theoretical definition of communism. Don’t get cute with me, Leh-nerd. You’re the one who called me a cat. Now you think of me more as someone who is youthful, adorable, persistent, brilliant, self-confident, and always able to declare victory. Hmmm…yes, let’s roll with Stewie! 1. You’re getting cute with me, Leh-nerd. YOU “overruled” ME. I was simply regurgitating the consensus thoughts of credible academic HISTORIANS. Therefore, YOU are overruling (i.e. disagreeing with) the HISTORIANS. Transitive property, bruh. 2. True. Direct government management has historically been far more common than worker cooperatives. 3. You’re very welcome! 4. I see where you’re going with this, but I will easily argue that modern American conservatives have far more overlap with historical fascists than do my democratic socialist comrades. Regarding your aborted Garfield remark: Let’s go ahead and “flesh it out” before we “flush it out.” Garfield is known for being lazy, fat, and a lover of lasagna. I am a workaholic, have a 19.3 BMI, and have been a 100% vegan for many years now. Diagnosis: FAIL.

Oh rest assured, 100% of the fear distribution is with the mousy prey. You have entered a lion’s den that is the history of political philosophy. This is well within my PURRRview. I FEEL I KNow a very significant amount on this topic. And my legendary posting stamina can render you CATatonic. I don’t KNEAD to massage your ego, either, as your predictable fate was of your own volition. So now hear ME OUt: 1. This is the consensus opinion of credible academic historians, based on all sorts of well-researched evidence. You’re overruling them?? 2. There are many versions of socialism, but all with one common denominator: workers owning the means of production. I reject your rejection. 3. Yes, branding, which is quite distinct from ACTUALLY BEING. 4. No, that was a reference to the fact that the Nazis quickly moved to crush all political opposition soon after taking control. Hitler offered no approach to socialism (see: point #2). He governed in accordance with fascism. I’m sure some of his early supporters who wanted socialism also liked his ultranationalism, calls for a strong centralized government, and hatred of Jews. None of that, however, are necessary features of socialism. Again…I know plenty of actual card-carrying DSA members. They all seem to be anti-nationalists, federalists, and humanists of some type. << Narrator: Kay carefully licks the backs of her hands, saunters over to a corner of her bedroom, curls up in a curious ball, and proceeds to sleep for the next eighteen hours. >>

Government ownership of a factory IS one form of “workers owning the means of production.” In this instance, the collective taxpayers/voters are the owners and the government handles the administrative affairs of the factory. I think you misinterpreted what I wrote: I NEVER denied the historical reality that far-left governments have imprisoned their political opponents. I merely stated that it wasn’t a defining feature of socialism, whereas it IS for fascism. By “defining feature,” I mean “a description that an academic political philosopher would use to help characterize the term.” I personally know lots of card-carrying DSA members, and none of them believe in throwing their political opponents in jail. I mean, sure…EXCEPT FOR THE HISTORICAL FACT that the actual Nazi politicians never saw themselves as socialists, never governed with the implementation of proper socialist policies, and actively fought against real German socialists. By the time the German citizens who supported the Nazis specifically for their socialist branding figured out what was going on, it was too late to dissent. Claiming the Nazis were “socialists” because it was in their party name is simply devoid of any critical historical analysis. It would be like evaluating contemporary American politics by simply stating Democrats must therefore be inherently more “democratic” than Republicans, or that Republicans must therefore be better promulgators of representative democracy than Democrats. These are all just names branded for whatever political expediency at the point of initial historical application. The era of Pax Kay-Leh-na, as established in the Papal Conclave thread, is now under great duress. Proceed with caution, Leh-nerd…

You’re conflating “socialism” with “dirigisme.” The simple question regarding socialism is whether or not “the workers own the means of production.” You appear to be acknowledging that wealthy capitalists dominated the economic landscape of Nazi Germany, and that any collective bargaining was severely restricted under Nazi rule. So there’s your answer… Imprisoning one’s political opponents isn’t any defining feature of socialism. All types of governments throughout history have done this or not done this. It IS, however, a definitional component of far-right fascism. Reddogblitz is 100% correct. The “socialist” in “National Socialist German Workers’ Party” was rhetorical propaganda meant to appeal to the German proletariat in the earliest years of Nazism. Hitler and the Nazis then waged an all-out war with any and all left-leaning German political opponents.

Muppy (and Two Bills Drive): “Less is very often more.” Kay: “MORE is more!!!” William Shakespeare: “Brevity is the soul of wit, Commie Kay.” Kay: “Thou shalt shut thy filthy wh*re mouth, Zombie Bill.” No, but I hear y’all…I think the natural constraints of poetry are probably healthier for me. Prose is where I tend to let my spiked mohawk hair down and really lose control. Speaking of words… The Female Rocker Evaluation Committee should consider another dimension to our analyses: lyrics! My clear-cut favorite female rock lyricist has to be Regine Chassagne from Arcade Fire. She is a bona fide poet and is preternaturally soulful within a “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll” industry that typically treats the lyrics like an afterthought. If written properly, the lyrics are supposed to accentuate both the vocals and the instruments while driving you to very emotive places. “Haiti” and “Sprawl 2 (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” are a couple of my favorites, off the top of my head, among many others of Regine’s that do just that. Oh, and “In the Backseat” about her mother’s death…ugh…simple but powerful…she’s sooo good… P.S. I do ADORE your compliments, of course, but your cognitive insecurities shock and sadden me. Know that the concept of “intelligence” is highly nuanced and fluid. Comparisons of it are ultimately kind of pointless, anyway. Your apparent curiosity, humility, open-mindedness, and efforts to surround yourself with people whose knowledge and talents kindle you is what matters in this life. P.S.P.S. I unfortunately haven’t been able to spend much time lately enjoying NYC. Lots of work-related travel, plus the occasional out-of-town weekend hike or rock-climbing adventure. This month, however, I’ll be spending my weekends volunteering for Zohran Mamdani’s NYC mayoral campaign! Woohoo!! You DON’T mess with The Zohran! (P.S.)^3. Ugh…LOL…I just can’t help myself…as you know, I enjoy political subversion in the form of murderous literary imagery (or at least you do now, and to which PPP’s Leh-nerd can testify). So here’s a lyrical poem to commemorate my upcoming political canvassing efforts, with the rhythm set to “Abraham’s Daughter” by Arcade Fire (I’m sure the meter is out of whack, but whatevs…this is early morning online pro football message board subforum poetry, not The New Yorker): Andrew took Zohran’s hand And led him to Todt Hill, While Zohran’s canvasser hid and watched. She dared not breathe. She was so still. Just as an oligarch donor cheered for the slaughter, Zohran’s canvasser raised her voice. Then the oligarch asked Kay what her name was. Kay said, “I have none.” Then the oligarch asked, “How can this be?!” “ERIC ADAMS NEVER GAVE ME ONE.” And with Andrew’s wallet up, raised for the slaughter, Zohran’s canvasser raised her bow. “How darest you, voter, defy your next mayor!” “You better let young Zohran go.”

LOL…”spiked mohawk”…I love it, Muppy!! Methinks my political subforum irreverence, however, belies my true self. Punk and/or goth doesn’t quite fit my personality. The uniquely Commie Kay fashion aesthetic can best be described as such: “cosmopolitan hippy: an ethereal, iridescent fusion of stoic Manhattan professionalism met with impish Brooklyn bohemianism.” Or something. So I just finished perusing this thread. I’d like to add Meg White (White Stripes), Karen Orzolek (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Regine Chassagne (Arcade Fire), and Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) to the discussion. I also want to re-emphasize the awesomeness of Grace Slick, Kim Gordon, P.J. Harvey, and Dolores O’Riordan. And my official answer for my favorite rocker chick is Melissa Auf der Maur. Her pairing with Courtney Love for Hole** was absolutely SUBLIME. I once told my Dad (a huge Nirvana fan) that I think Hole was actually better than Nirvana. His immediate response was that I should be removed from the family will. While I did deserve that response, I think my point also stands that Hole is very underrated. I’ll definitely look through your OTW music posts this summer, Mups! It already looks like we have some overlap in interests. My own musical tastes are pretty eclectic and mood-based. I can listen to anything ranging from indie rock to hard rock to classic rock to pop to hip-hop. Best wishes to you and your musically gifted family members in all your artistic pursuits!! Remember to “at” me if the PPP MAGA boys give you any trouble this summer. Oh, you KNOW how I like to rage against that particular machine…<< baleful Tom Morello wah-wah pedal sounds >> ** - Not-so-fun fact: the bassist Melissa replaced was a native Buffalo girl who had died of a drug overdose.

Hey, Mup! Here’s a few more I’ll add to the master list: 1. Melissa Auf der Maur (bass guitarist, most notably from Hole) 2. Emily Haines (lead vocalist, Metric) 3. Siouxsie Sioux (lead vocalist, Siouxsie and the Banshees) Apologies if any of them have already been mentioned. I only skimmed through this thread. I had a brief “creative phase” in my life when I learned to play the bass guitar and wanted to sing in a rock band. It lasted about a year or two, until I realized I had no musical talent whatsoever. I still enjoy listening to all types of rock music, though!

Regarding the bolded: it’s so transparent and distasteful how MAGA’s manipulate class warfare rhetoric to feign populism. Their Sophie’s Choice presentation of “trade school money versus Harvard research money” is an obvious false dichotomy. One can easily fund both by, say, raising taxes on the wealthy and/or cutting military spending. And since the Trump administration is operating like the U.S. dollar is in no danger of ever losing its global reserve currency status, then running a budget deficit with a Keynesian stimulus package should also be on the table. MAGA, however, is all about the vibes of trolling! Sound public policy is too boring. Withholding STEM research funding at elite universities, as well as denying international researchers access to these research labs, does such enormous long-term damage to our economy and national security. I guess MAGA doesn’t realize how large a percentage of groundbreaking research is achieved in just a small handful of universities. Maybe they don’t understand how most fundamental STEM research can only be funded by big government and not by profit-prioritizing private corporations. Perhaps they don’t care how all the government pauses and general policy uncertainty diminish our international STEM reputation. But this is what happens when you replace policy wonks and eggheads in your administration with conservative media personalities. This is what happens when you 100% cater to a voting base whose only science lab experiences were growing meth in their basements and whose only “advanced degrees” are their subsequent periodontal assessments. To be clear: there is NO institutionalized anti-Semitism on any of the elite U.S. university campuses. None at all. Zionists are just upset because organized protests against apartheid, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide are condoned and increasing in momentum. It’s difficult to justify starving 2 million civilians for nearly 3 months and running, on top of murdering journalists at record numbers (200+ and counting) while sniping children and destroying 90% of all buildings in Gaza (including practically every hospital and school). As the evidence against Israel mounts and the hasbara propaganda fails, the only recourse for cowardly Zionists is to suppress free speech. My only problem with the campus protests is that their message is way too watered-down and acquiescent to the feelings of liberal Zionists. We are so far beyond the option of a two-state solution now… The Israeli objective all along was land theft for a Biblical Greater Israel, not rescuing hostages or self-defense against Hamas. Smotrich and Ben-Gvir don’t even bother to equivocate on these intentions, and the IDF and the violent West Bank settlers apparently follow suit with these directives. A recent PSU poll shows that 82% of Israeli citizens support the ethnic cleansing of Gaza (which is also Trump’s plan, by the way) and 47% support the outright genocide of Gazans, so to be clear: it is NOT just the far-right Israeli government that’s the problem! The only moral and practical resolution to this quagmire now is the one-state solution…i.e., the systematic dismantling of this degenerate Jewish ethnostate via international BDS policies. It’s what worked with South Africa in the 1980’s. One state, full and equal rights for all, with no preferences for ethnicity or religion. Syria and Lebanon should have their stolen land returned, too.

Yeah, pretty much. It’s a standard Pigovian tax that should stay within the purview of local and state government. It has cleared all reasonable environmental reviews. Early quality control reports in Manhattan are promising (though there are admittedly some parking logistical issues still to be sorted out just north of the congestion pricing district). Favorability poll numbers in the metro area are climbing. Similarly implemented programs in London and Singapore have been successful for quite a long time. Oh yeah…and the Biden administration already approved it! So on what grounds is the Trump administration planning to overturn it?? Working-class people from Jersey and Strong Island can use public transportation…just as the Pigovian tax intended! Residents still complaining should finally make do on their hollow threats and move to a red state. Everyone else will focus on pushing local government to do something useful with all this additional MTA revenue. On that to-do list, I recommend upgrading the public transportation infrastructure and planting more urban trees. Also: please vote Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday, June 24 (while leaving Andrew Cuomo completely off your top-5 ballot list). Dunno…you tell us. I suspect another opportunity to “own the libs” and nothing more.

Reaching these men is super easy: offer a candidate who connects with them on their economic anxieties. Have a policy platform centered on economic issues like universal health care, living wages, collective bargaining, the ACTUAL return of quality domestic manufacturing jobs, and defrayed costs for colleges and trade schools. The modern Democratic Party had a candidate once upon a time who did this. They called his ardent male supporters “Bernie Bros.” What happened to such a salable candidate?? Recall my previous post in this thread regarding Citizens United v. FEC… I see the attacks on Harvard as an extension of the aforementioned. If you don’t offer these people pragmatic solutions to their real-life problems, they’ll just turn to various alternative “policies” that amount to nothing more than “libtard-pwning” virtue-signaling. The Harvard situation also neatly ties in with my Alexis de Toqueville reference in that same previous post. Anti-intellectualism and xenophobia are deeply ingrained American traditions, and we’re seeing the practical damage done when MAGA’s formulate STEM research policies without understanding how modern STEM research operates. The Harvard anti-Semitism accusations, of course, are a continuation of these dullardly MAGA dullards dullarding about…Zionist propaganda is effective on people unable to distinguish between Hamas and Palestine, or to parse the nuanced etymology/phraseology of “intifada” and “from the river to the sea.”

Yup, I basically see Trumpism the same way: rebranded Reaganism and an inevitable consequence of late-stage neoliberalism. It’s always some new culture war topic that divides and conquers the American people when election season arrives: gay marriage, a war on Christmas, illegal immigrants, “dudes” wearing super cute dresses, etc… I figure this thread will quickly reach the conclusion that we are all given a binary presidential choice, and most of us are employing what we believe to be a “lesser of two evils” electoral strategy. It’s then a basic human psychological reflex to defend and justify our choices up to the point when reality can no longer be ignored. An important question worth exploring is “why” we ended up with these two particular choices in the first place: Trump versus Biden/Harris. The short answer: see “Citizens United v. FEC” (2010). The long answer: see “Democracy in America” (1840) by Alexis de Toqueville. My only caveat here with anything Toqueville is that he is widely credited as perceiving Americans to be fundamentally “good” people. I would strongly challenge that assertion at every step along the way in American history, well past 1840. A society worth saving never even considers denying universal human rights to undocumented immigrants, nor does it obsess over its collective 401(k) status as its government funds an active genocide in Gaza. Growing up against a post-9/11 political backdrop, it was readily apparent that fascism is simply imperialism turned inward. Call it “God’s divine will” or call it “karma,” but we Americans deserve Donald Trump and everything that is to unfold. On that note…um, happy Memorial Day?? FACT: PPP is a better place with Muppy involved.

LOL…that was only intended to be a remark on how DIFFERENT we are, not on my perceived superiority to you in any way. We really need to work on your self-esteem!! This is probably among my more critical functions as one of your split personalities. Another likely reason your forgotten childhood trauma led to my creation was to develop your political morality. In the coming weeks and months, let’s delve a bit deeper into the following issues: 1. Progressive taxation policies for returning stolen wealth back to the working class. 2. Universal health care. 3. American imperialism. 4. Zionism. 5. Capitalism’s role on ecosystem degradation. 6. Factory farming regulations. << NARRATOR: Kay puts down her Intro Psychology textbook, turns on Identity (2003) starring John Cusack, and remembers to log out from her Two Bills Drive account so that either Leh-nerd or Muppy can log into theirs. >>

To be clear: you CAN successfully implement top-down price control policies in certain limited situations (with “capping” or “flooring” preferred over “fixing”). Price gouging collusion in, say, the aftermath of a natural disaster is an example of a free market failure, and it is one such scenario during which the temporary use of price controls would be fine. Price setting is an emergent collective phenomenon, but it’s ultimately done by individual employers based on their anticipated operating profit margins. What Trump appears to be doing, however, is applying an economic band aid over the early stages of an economic gunshot wound. You can’t just “art-of-the-deal” micromanage your way out of international supply shock inflation LOL… As far as we know, at least, Walmart is intending to set prices based on legitimate prior knowledge of impending supply shocks.

Muppy, I’m just shocked that anyone would think Leh-nerd and I have similar writing styles! It’s also quite amusing to think of my alter ego from a dissociative identity disorder developing into Leh-nerd, of all people… Wow! I’m REALLY not a fan of these types of character assassinations. They’re tawdry attempts to invalidate political opinions here. Please contact a moderator or website administrator at Two Bills Drive and ask them to compare the IP addresses, IP address locations, and login histories of Leh-nerd and I. Then report back what you learn. You can do the same at BillsFans.com, by the way, because Leh-nerd and I are both members there. “Foxx” is the user name of the owner of that website. I’m not sure if Foxx personally knows Leh-nerd, but he knows my real-life identity and can verify that I am who I say that I am. CAN CONFIRM. See: Section 4-A, Kay’s formal apology outline.

My apology is sincere if your emotional hurt is sincere. Stop being such a poophead and just accept this heartfelt act of contrition!! Oh my God, Leh-nerd…we’re in the “Papal Conclave” thread of all places, dude…practice forgiveness! I’m arranging my apology in outline form because I know you like my posts that way. TOPIC: Kay’s Mea Culpa to Leh-nerd 1. Why Kay Shouldn’t Have Called Leh-nerd Fat: 1-A. It is self-evidently childish and mean-spirited. 1-B. It doesn’t respect the many natural differences among human body shapes. 1-C. it doesn’t account for challenging life circumstances and natural body changes that can influence one’s physical weight throughout one’s life. 1-D. It could trigger an eating disorder in Leh-nerd. 2. Kay’s Reactions to Leh-nerd’s Posts Were Wildly Emotional: 2-A. Causes: 2-A-1. Unmatched reciprocation: Kay doesn’t feel that the PPP denizens put in nearly the same level of effort and thought into their posts that she does, and she unfairly took this disappointment out on Leh-nerd. 2-A-2. Subpar MAGA reading comprehension: Kay’s fundamental frustrations go beyond reasonable left/right political disagreements and into the realm of discerning objective truths (logical, factual, scientific, economic, moral, etc.); regarding Leh-nerd in particular…some say** that Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” was actually a song about none other than PPP’s own Leh-nerd Skin-erd. 2-B. Solutions: 2-B-1. Strive for emotional detachment: Kay needs to compose dispassionate PPP posts with the strict objective of mentally organizing her own political thoughts; the responses are secondary and not to be expected. 2-B-2. Improve communication skills: Kay needs to work on her conversational brevity and maybe increase her use of visual aids (i.e. lighthearted internet memes). 3. Miscellaneous Apologies: 3-A. Calling Leh-nerd smelly. 3-B. Literary allusions to Leh-nerd’s murder. 3-B-1. Murder by cannibalization. 3-B-2. Murder by crossbow. 3-B-3. Murder by “large gun.” ** 3-C. That was me…I said that just now…the implication here being that Leh-nerd is a stupid dumb-dumb head. 4. Counterarguments: 4-A. Subforum hypocrisies: Leh-nerd is well-known at PPP for his jocular banter towards leftists, which oftentimes can be perceived as insult-laden. 4-B. Fat-shaming motivations: Hollywood actor and marginal rock star, Jared Leto, is Boomery like Leh-nerd and is still ridiculously attractive as ever because of his strict vegan diet (those doe eyes also help…and incidentally, in a thread-appropriate way, Leto kinda resembles Jesus!!). Also: see Brad Pitt (maybe vegan?), Milo Ventimiglia (maybe vegan?).

MAGA’s aren’t even thinking about the national debt whenever we’re in Trump Economy Stage “B.” Allow me to elucidate… Trump Economy Stage “A” = Tariffs go up, economy becomes anxious. Insists MAGA: “The manufacturing jobs are coming back! Tariffs will pay off most of the debt! Will we even need an income tax??” Trump Economy Stage “B” = Tariffs go down, economy stabilizes. Better trade deals to benefit Trump’s donors and friends. Exclaims MAGA: “Art of the deal, baby! Woo-hoo!” We generally oscillate between the two stages. I believe there’s a funny internet meme about this. Whoever is successfully riding these buy low/sell high waves is making a lot of money. The rollercoaster fun will eventually end, however, when international supply shocks kick in and stagflation features emerge.

That “global calm” you speak of is always a mirage, thanks to a corporate American media that rarely covers the asymmetrical power imposition of American imperialism. In other words: we rarely hear much about the collateral damage from U.S. drone strikes, the consequences of our sanctions and embargos on the citizens of other nations, and the attempted coups and regime changes throughout regions like the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. That concludes my general foreign policy diatribe…now getting back specifically to Trump… It’s kinda weird to give Trump credit for both the 2014 Crimea invasion and Russia’s 2022 Ukraine invasion not happening on his watch. The implication here is that Democrats are super weak, but Trump is super strong and super intimidating. If that’s the case, why is the Ukraine war still ongoing? Why do all leaked negotiation details tell of Ukraine’s significant resource concessions to the U.S., while the aggressor (Russia) is being asked to give up so little in terms of war reparations and conquered land?? Trump had FOUR whole years to withdraw from Afghanistan, but he didn’t because he has always been a puppet of the MIC. Trump had absolutely nothing to do with India/Pakistan. The chances of Trump successfully negotiating with Iran are extremely low. He was the one who pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018, so I doubt Iran has any remaining trust in him or in the United States (and we can’t blame them for that distrust). Israel/Palestine/Gaza…where to begin?! This is the mother of all complex peace deals, and the only realistic path to enduring success is with either a one-state or two-state solution (or three-state, if Gaza and the West Bank were to become separate nations). Israel, which has grown to become an extremely far-right society since the Second Intifada, is unfortunately steeped in genocidal mania right now. Only the U.S. can rein them in, but Trump is completely controlled by AIPAC and Zionist donors like Miriam Adelson. He continues speaking fondly of Gaza’s ethnic cleansing, continues ignoring the Leahy Laws by regularly sending munitions to the IDF, continues condoning settler violence in the West Bank, and continues doing absolutely nothing to stop the ongoing Gaza hunger crisis. Trump, in fact, did a lot during his first term that motivated the Hamas attack on 10/7/23: recognizing the annexation of the Golan Heights, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and disrespecting Palestine via exclusion in the Abraham Accords. Trump COULD radically change course, I suppose, if he cares about not destroying his presidential legacy… And I didn’t even get into the topic of Yemen…ugh… Anyone who is a student of pro football history, by the way, already knew that Donald Trump was a total fraud. See: history of the 1983-85 USFL. There’s even an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about it: “Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?”

Ugh…you are probably correct: I shouldn’t be trivializing the dangerous precedent it sets to violate the Constitution without penalty, nor should I expect Trump to competently negotiate such a complex peace deal.

Sup, Mup?! Yes, long time no speak! This is the first that I’m hearing about your health scare! Please feel free to keep in touch with me on it, if you’d like, by PM or by any other way. Obviously, you have my best wishes and prayers! Any strong thoughts on the 2025 schedule?? FYI: my parents back home are working on tickets for weeks 17 (Eagles) and 18 (Jets). I may also attend the week 2 Jets game in Jersey. Let me know if you’ll happen to be in Buffalo or NYC during those times and would like to meet up! I’ve been lurking around these parts, both here and at BillsFans.com. I’ll post and write, on occasion, if the inspiration happens to strike at that moment. I’m looking forward to the summer and hope you are too! The warming weather, in fact, is inspiring in me a variation of a famous poem from Harry Chapin: There are so many summer fashion options nouveau: Floral cut-out dresses for weekend fun. With Yasmin Wijnaldum struts and a catwalk glower, Slay resplendent blazer dresses of threads well-spun. Fair enough, Leh-nerd. But don’t think you can completely get out of this one, with your disarmingly sanguine offerings of such wonderfully mellifluous poetry…which incidentally evoked a particular childhood summer redolence while frolicking in an upstate New York meadow of yore. < heavy sniffles > I am prepared to offer you ONE sincere apology and ONE forum concession. But in return, I want you to think about how YOUR posting habits contributed to the breakdown in our PPP conversations. To quote ComradeKayAdams: “There are so many MAGA’s in front of my crossbow. Too many MAGA’s, so I’ll switch to a large gun. I see Leh-nerd and I see him cower. With those chubby legs, let’s hope he can run!” Fear can be a powerful motivator for self-improvement, Leh-nerd. I patiently await your mea culpa.

I’m afraid to say this, but I think I stand with the MAGA cultists on this one specific issue… No doubt, this is a flagrant example of government bribery and is unconstitutional. However, what is fundamentally the difference between this bribe and the AIPAC bribes (i.e. large campaign donations) that the rest of our country’s politicians routinely accept?? I’m thinking more pragmatically and cynically, with starving Gazans and Israeli hostages in mind. By accepting Qatar’s airplane gift, the hope is that Trump can be persuaded to directly negotiate with Hamas (thereby circumventing Netanyahu) and arrange a ceasefire peace deal that would include immediate food aid and the full release of hostages. Negotiating with terrorists may not lead to anything, either, but we know now that Israel has ZERO intentions of ending the current siege in Gaza. Their full intentions are to steal the land in Gaza, steal land in the West Bank, break the will of Palestinians, and fatigue the region to the point that nearby Arab countries finally relent and agree to accept Palestinian refugees.

That’s fine. What some consider “tedious,” others might characterize as “comprehensive.” But whatever. There is no moral quandary with eating plants because they don’t have central nervous systems. I distinctly remember explaining this to you in the past. What “hypocrisy” with my goods and services?! Are you still ranting about that Juicy Couture perfume set, gifted to me from my grandma, which I kept for sentimental reasons?! You remain the only person on the planet who would consider that to be an example of my ethical hypocrisy. Are you perhaps seeking an apology from me for calling you fat and alluding to your murder and subsequent cannibalization? NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Sorry, not sorry. Two reasons why: 1. I am an alum, of sorts, from the Anonymous for the Voiceless “school” of vegan activism. Our methods are aggressive and controversial, but also highly persuasive and impactful. My priority is the defense of animal life, not tiptoeing around the feelings of MAGA “f*ck your feelings, bruh!” types. The Tree of Compassion must be nourished, from time to time, with the tears of abashedly corpulent MAGA omnivores. And so may their rivulets of insecurity coalesce around their crow’s feet and nasolabial folds**, grow to form a Biblical deluge, and spring forth new heights of ethical decency! 2. You have repeatedly and consistently undermined my attempts at meaningful debate in this political subforum, on issues you know are especially important to me (anthropogenic climate change, American imperialism, macroeconomics, etc.), because you have chosen conversational damnation among the following possible paths: 2-1. Agreeing with me and/or giving me a positive emoticon rep point (you never choose this path). 2-2. Disagreeing with me by carefully explaining WHY I’m wrong on the particular topic (you haven’t done this in a very long time). 2-3. Blatantly ignoring my post when we BOTH know you have something you want to say on it (you do this sometimes). 2-4. Deflecting with non sequiturs, jokes, whataboutisms, and specific remarks criticizing Bernie Sanders (your raison d’etre, I’d say, at this point). Be better, Leh-nerd. ** Note: 100% whole-food plant-based diets are excellent for preventing skin damage, due to the volume and array of phytonutrients present in fruits and vegetables (and minus all the free radical cellular damage that comes with animal product digestion).

UGH. I came here for the Bills schedule release talk, but here we go… To be clear: 16 weeks is the lowest theoretical limit at which scientists think auditory sensing can begin, and 12 weeks is the absolute lowest at which general sentience can begin. ~90% of all performed abortions fall within the first 12 weeks, ~95% fall within the first 16 weeks, and the remaining ~5% are mostly comprised of special situations related to the mother’s or baby’s health (as opposed to the “YOLO…like, whatevs!” kind). If accepting 15 weeks as a legal abortion limit makes me a “sick baby-murdering lib,” then polling data on this topic indicates A LOT of centrists, independents, conservatives, Christians, and Catholics to be at least equally as “sick.” Also, a very clear distinction needs to be made between what someone may personally believe and what that person is willing to legally impose on others. If you want to talk about “sick” beliefs, let’s talk about the following: forcing a woman (or child!) to give birth to her rapist’s baby, removing the social safety net for unprepared mothers forced to give birth, and systematically starving children in an ongoing genocide/ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Strange how we choose to demarcate our empathic and punitive thoughts, no?? It’s almost as if concern for the fetus/unborn baby/child isn’t quite the morally compelling force that we assume?? What evolutionary biology and anthropology (and economics!) tell us is that female fecundity is a highly valued “resource” and is subject to “market regulations” like any other economic good or service. Those who seek to regulate are seeking to adjust a supply/demand curve. I’ll leave my dear readers to ponder all the motives, but in my opinion, the socioeconomic decay of late-stage neoliberalism and the rise of Christian nationalism are correlated. My male peers are struggling in this bullsh!t economy, but they are misdirecting their economic consternations and insecurities. Oh my God…this thread is so tedious…more so than my own posts. Call me when someone is ready to talk about animal rights and the Catholic Church…or Leh-nerd’s unethical diet…

OH MY GOD…trannies and wh*res, wh*res and trannies…it is unreal how fixated you guys here are on the two topics of abortion and transgender rights, to the exclusion of so many other important ones like those that I had already mentioned in my previous post! How curious, indeed, it is to see the topics that might stir the most titillation rise to the fore of your conscience! I’ll return to abortion and transgender rights in a second, but first… Your conspicuous failure to acknowledge the genocide in Gaza I find most unconscionable. As soon as the first Gazan hospital was “oopsied” out of existence, you guys should have started to realize that Israel’s response to 10/7/23 was about so much more than hostages or self-defense. Read up on the 1948 Nakba, Israeli apartheid practices since 1967, Israel’s history of bad-faith negotiations since the First Intifada, the ongoing settler colonial violence in the West Bank, and the full details in South Africa’s ICJ report to figure it all out. Anyone who still can’t distinguish between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, or between Hamas support and Palestine support, needs to do more learning and less opining. 19 months into this genocide, both Netanyahu and Trump have replaced the ethnic cleansing dog whistles with foghorns. Take a public moral stance. That’s what Jesus would do. I admittedly have a patchwork understanding of the Bible. I’m genuinely curious to know which specific Biblical passages you all are using to formulate your stances on abortion and transgender rights? I’m sure they’re all super vague, however, and literarily crafted in a way that leaves them open to all sorts of biased interpretations reflecting more one’s personal bigotries than the decrees of God/Jesus… My opinion on abortion is rooted in science and sprinkled with practicality and respect for fellow women. I’m fine with a sentience standard for conferring personhood onto a fetus/unborn baby. France has the best abortion policy, so I would prefer we plagiarize theirs (limit of 15 weeks, constitutional protection, full list of exceptions to be adjudicated by health professionals and not law/order ones). The Catholic Church’s position against abortion in cases of rape is a big initial reason why I chose to quit the Church…something about two wrongs not making a right…ugh… My opinion on transgender rights is also rooted in science and sprinkled with respect for fellow humans who happen to be born a bit differently. Just as we have human sexual dimorphism with chromosomes and reproductive equipment, we know of the same with the morphology and functioning of the human brain. So you can think of the brain as a gender-determining organ just like you do the sexual reproductive organs, and all of these can be incongruent with each other at birth. I’m fine with transgender children fully transitioning, provided they have parental approval and sufficient levels of prior therapy. I’m friends with a few members of the transgender community. According to them, they knew they were different at extremely early points in their lives. OH MY GOD, LEH-NERD!! What makes you think Jesus in 2025 would be apolitical?? And why do you think Jesus would find Bernie to be such a malevolent force on humanity, one presumably far worse than Trump?! Your BOUNDLESS intransigence with me, no doubt, must be some kind of psychological defense mechanism worth exploring. Oh, and my imaginary dialogue? It’s just a posting technique I sometimes use to make my naturally haughty didacticism appear more invitingly dialectical. Do observe… You: “Hi, my name is Leh-nerd Skin-erd. I am a big fat smelly omnivore who enjoys meeting his daily protein requirements by slitting the throats of innocent defenseless animals. I probably hate Kay so much because I can never defeat her in a political debate. Her mastery of public policy is so superior and her posting content so substantive that I have to resort to a barrage of politician hypocrisy whataboutisms and other such non sequitur deflections. Kay is an egotistical know-it-all with an insufferably long-winded writing style.” PPP Subforum: “Woah!! Bruh…why do you hate Kay this much?? We happen to think she’s a great poster with lots of useful insight into the far-left political movement.” BillsFans.com Community: “May we briefly and randomly interject? We find her writings on Buffalo Bills history to be equally quite insightful.” PPP Subforum: “Yeah, and wouldn’t YOU have a bit of an inflated sense of self after so many of your friends keep telling you that you remind them of Hollywood star, Renee Zellweger??” You: “LOL…that’s not exactly advancing your argument, bruh…” PPP Subforum: “Woah!! Oh em gee, you’re such a shallow f*cking misogynist, Leh-nerd…on Mother’s Day, no less! No, we mean the young/pre-cosmetic surgery version of Renee…and minus the Bridget Jones movies when she had to put on a lot of weight for the role.” BillsFans.com Community: “Which kinda brings this conversation full circle, so to speak, since perhaps your underlying hatred towards Kay is due to the fact that you resent how her commitment to a 100% whole-food plant-based diet allows her to rather effortlessly maintain a ~19.3 BMI?“ PPP Subforum: “Indeed. And at that low a BMI, you can greatly expand your sartorial repertoire.” BillsFans.com Community: “Yup. All kinds of crop top options, too, which in the winter makes your fashion ridiculously chic and bad*ss. Certainly more chic than some musty, faded, overstretched Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt in which the imprinted lyrical “free bird” could operate as both a physical metaphor for Leh-nerd’s YOLO Dad bod torso and a conceptual metaphor for his dietary intransigence with Kay.” You: “Arrgh! Leh-nerd MAD! Leh-nerd FAT. Leh-nerd SAD. Blah blah blah FAIR SHARE! Blah blah blah HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR IT ALL, KAY?! Blah blah blah BUT WHAT ABOUT JOE BIDEN?! Blah blah blah…!” < belches > < burps > << NARRATOR: In a fit of defeat-induced rage, Leh-nerd maniacally logs out of his Two Bills Drive account and storms off into the horizon. Hours later, a marauding cadre of misfit cannibals pick up a fatigued hitchhiking Leh-nerd off the side of a highway. In a terribly ironic twist of fate, they murder poor Leh-nerd and both literally AND figuratively cook him. This then gives the cannibals an idea to start a dietary protein business called “Soylent Leh-n.” Soylent Leh-n quickly becomes a huge success. The cannibals become powerful corporate oligarchs and exploit their hired labor as LITERAL consumption goods. There is no happy ending to this story, unfortunately, because STUPID Leh-nerd Skin-erd voted for the STUPID corporate deregulatory practices of STUPID Donald Trump. >> P.S. Just playin’ with ya, Leh-nerd. Have a great Mother’s Day! And remember: veggie chips, not paint chips!

Some in media circles already are, though, which was my point. I’m referring strictly to their ECONOMIC politics, of course, and nothing else. Specifically: standard progressive protectionism versus Trump’s current tariff policies. You and I may find the conflation absurd, but the average American doesn’t follow politics nearly as closely as we do. Corporate establishment propaganda can be disturbingly effective on such people. Do you understand now? Or do you want me to clarify my thoughts? I was basically providing commentary on political strategy and on how the word “socialism” is being misconstrued for the purposes of propaganda. To elaborate a bit further, think of American politics as divided into 4 factions: far-left populist progressives who tend to vote for Democrats, centrist establishment neoliberals who also tend to vote for Democrats, MAGA dullards, and libertarians who tend to vote for Republicans. As Trump’s economy collapses and Bernie’s “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” surges in popularity, the other two factions (neoliberals and libertarians) seek to fill the power void by associating both populist factions (MAGA dullards and Bernie progs) with the unpopular economy. Progressives should NOT rely on an emergent economic depression to counter the propaganda. They need to figure out how to communicate effectively with the American people. Even though I’m (apparently) not the best consultant on such matters, I’ll still recommend a simple visual display of two superimposed plots: one showing American worker productivity since the early Reagan administration, and another showing inflation-adjusted wage growth in that same time span. The observed difference in slope is the labor exploitation of the American Neoliberal Era. In theory, market socialism would eliminate the difference in slope. In practice, progressive taxation policies (as guided by professional economists) can suffice.