Massdriver

I agree there were missed opportunities, but it was extremely entertaining to see these characters together again after so long. I have my nitpicks too. Where the fuck has Ghost been? Why has he been sidelined for so damn long? I'm with you on wanting more Bran, with Jaime and Tyrion. I think the bottom line is there are too many characters and only so much screen time. Because of that, and how well many of the interactions did play out, I am more forgiving than you. My issue with Dany/Jon romance is more related to my general dislike or neutrality to Dany. I like Jon, but Jon never learns and is dumb like his uncle. I guess I never expected much from either of them. When did Dany ever have a good romance?

Sansa at a minimum will survive to run the Stark show up north. Arya will likely live a little longer so we get to see her assassinate more people in the final 3 episodes. There's too much there to lose either of them. No on the Theon/Sansa thing. Theon, Beric, Jorrah are most certainly dead. Other side characters are up for grabs such as Greyworm. Ghost is also dead which makes little difference since they hardly even show him! I've been really annoyed they cut him from the show, and the little we got to see him was in the background yesterday. Jaime and his little brother will live. Jaime's dynamic with her sister isn't over. I think Brienne may survive because of this, but there is a chance she's also gone.

I'm not going to spend the time to read the report, but from skimming various articles about it, it seems that there was plenty of evidence that Trump attempted to obstruct. There is no good evidence that there was collusion with Russia, even though Trump and the Russians seemed to wink at each other as they worked towards a common goal. Mueller wasn't going to try to go outside the normal scope of a special investigation and attempt some sort of indictment of a sitting president, so he left it to Congress to act on the evidence he gathered. Why didn't the summary state that there was solid evidence that Trump obstructed instead of saying that they can't say he didn't? It seems like everyone is saying it's in the details.

New builds or hardware. Otherwise I don't unless I'm having issues.

@Greatoneshere, I respect @b_m_b_m_b_m and many others I debate with here, but I disagree with his very first statement about not having a responsibility to the global south. We have a responsibility to people everywhere in the world as humans and as a rich nation, just as the rich class in this country have an obligation to the poor citizens here. We are rich here, nearly all of us by world standards. Our duties to others do not magically disappear whenever an imaginary line is crossed. We should trade with peaceful nations and we should open our borders up to peaceful people throughout the world through mutually beneficial border agreements. These two things should go without saying since it actually benefits everyone here too. Many of the jobs lost throughout the 2000s and before were not because of trade. Technological progress in manufacturing alone is a huge factor in the secular decline of manufacturing jobs in America. We are quick to blame our trading partners, but even if we erected trade barriers and forced factories to be built here, robots would do most of the work. Those jobs are gone. The truth is the jobs are gone and politicians should have the guts to admit what economists universally say. Free trade is a net gain for both nations trading. They should then tell people what they will do to help the small portion of people negatively impacted. Standing against trade hurts the least fortunate globally and hurts consumers throughout the United States. Since Democrats are proposing so many social insurance programs, they are in the best position to tout the benefits of trade while offering help to those negatively impacted by it. Just a friendly reminder, the Nordic countries that Bernie used to mention in his 2016 campaign as shining beacons embrace free trade. Advocating protectionism is not the way to go.

Isn’t Weld pro-choice on abortion? He loses to Trump on that alone.

You said Bernie or Warren are the way to go if we want to help as many people as possible, not that they are sincere or authentic. I don’t doubt Bernie believes he’s doing the right thing. Being wrong on trade is a big deal though and he’s wrong. He can’t be the person to help people if he wants to restrict trade with other nations. Why is TPP bad and NAFTA isn’t? They’re both good overall. No trade agreement would ever be perfect. And Bernie disagrees on NAFTA . https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/sanders-statement-on-nafta-replacement- He thinks NAFTA is bad and the replacement is bad. He doesn’t believe in trading with poor countries. He never has and never will. He would hurt the global poor.

Tell yourself whatever you like, that the trade deals he opposes are ‘bad’. Sounds like Trump saying it’s a bad deal and believing him without evidence. NAFTA is bad, everything is bad. It’s bullshit. Economists disagree because the evidence shows trade is a net win for all the parties in general, but we need social spending to deal with any disruption it causes . Bernie is against any reasonable deal with poor countries because he thinks it hurts American workers. He doesn’t care about poor people throughout the world enough to help them. He is a nationalist. Your statement that Bernie would help as many people as possible just isn’t true.

I’m not defending the status quo completely. We need better policies. I’m attacking democratic socialism. Providing healthcare to the poor and middle class and redistributing more is fine. I think the way to address the ultra wealthy using their wealth to control the state is an enforced estate tax. Say any amount over 20 million is taxed at 85%, but cut slack under that for farming families and small businesses. I would be fine with that. Estate taxes are easier to enforce relative to an annual wealth tax because it’s too many assets to value and for the irs to keep up with every year.

That’s true for many poor countries, but not all of them. However it doesn’t follow that wealth is bad. Every nation on earth could be wealthy. It isn’t a zero sum game.

You said it was good short hand. Wealth is good is good short hand.

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-trump-tariffs Sanders has also called the Trans-Pacific Partnership a "disastrous trade agreement" that "follows in the footsteps of other unfettered free trade agreements" that have "forced American workers to compete against desperate and low-wage labor around the world." and here: https://progressive.org/dispatches/look-record-bernie-sanders-2011-denounces-free-trade-pacts/ He consistently opposes trade deals with poor countries even though trade has lifted millions of the global poor out of poverty.

It’s not true. It’s absurd. There are plenty of unethical rich people, but it doesn’t follow that wealth itself is bad. Have you ever spent a meaningful amount of time in a developing nation? This whole notion that wealth is bad has been tested and the results are in. I strongly prefer being in rich countries where there are a lot of millionaires and a lot of wealth. How do you help the poor with redistribution if you don’t have wealth to tax?

You must have done some poor research if you concluded that restricting trade to poor countries would help as many people as possible. That's going to hurt the poor throughout the world. Bernie doesn’t care because he’s a nationalist underneath it all and so are many of you.

I always know who the good candidates are by listening to the Bernie and Warren supporters.

I expect to leave the theater thinking that it was ok or a "pretty good movie" and start obsessing over all the missed opportunities. It's not that the new SW movies are bad, it's just that they aren't really all that great either. That's the truth from someone that thought he "loved" the Star Wars universe, but I'm starting to think I just really love the OT and some of the games based around the OT. @CitizenVectron is right that they missed an opportunity to have Rey use a double sided saber. She was adept at using a stick in ep 7. This is so disappointing to me.

Bernie Sanders says he does not support open borders

Bad news

https://www.thirdway.org/memo/why-free-college-could-increase-inequality

I only ask because that's what Bernie likes to call himself, and that's one of the main distinctions between him and the others running. He likes the label and they don't. He liked to compliment left wing authoritarians like Castro in the 80s sort of like Trump does with strong men on the right today. He is on record for nationalizing major industries in the 70s, the others aren't. I wonder what it all really means. Perhaps it means that even after everyone has a decent standard of living, climate change is addressed, and everyone has healthcare, a socialist such as Bernie will keep going even if there is no evidence to suggest that going further would make society better.

It's too late Creepy Joe! More seriously, he's going to have to do better than that and I don't see how he can make up for it. As others have pointed out, I don't see how he survives since the Democrats made Franken the standard for unacceptable. He will likely have more allegations surface, and his campaign just gets off to the wrong kind of start. There are PLENTY of other Democrats running that aren't over 75 years old and are very qualified. Biden should step out.

Are you a democratic socialist?

Cory Booker and Kristen Gillibrand are not serious candidates right now from a dollars or polling standpoint. The only case you have is on Harris, but she still isn't doing nearly as well as Bernie on all the metrics. Bernie is the frontrunner and his ideas are much bolder than many others. Also, why does everyone give Bernie a pass on his tax returns? https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-tax-returns-2019-4 He released his 2014 return and left the rest out. Why does he always say he'll release them and then he doesn't?

They were easy on him. Now he's the frontrunner so the media has an obligation to be critical of him. They should have been far more critical of Trump during the primaries and not given him the spotlight so much for free.