Robert Reich & Bill O'Reilly Made My Day

[Ben Kenobi]

Mike H:

So you think it's bull**** that many Imams do, actually preach Jihad against America? Really?

You'd think after London it would wake you up.

[MikeH]

Learn to read and/or understand. I think it's bull**** to suggest that extremist/terrorist Muslims are real muslims but extremist/terrorist Christians aren't real Christians.

Either both are or both aren't you can't pick and choose.

OTOH "Show me a Christian preacher who believes in a Jihad against America" Might be the most incredible straw man ever posted to this site! Which is some achievement.

[Traianvs]

Yes, that's right, promoting home ownership is just a big conspiracy to bust unions!

Nobody ever mentioned the word 'conspiracy'. There has been, contrary to other countries, a consistent policy of trying to get people own a home they couldn't afford. And politicians have been advocating it for a long time, so it figures there must be a reason for that. People don't do that for the heck of it...

Eh, don't renters have a similar deterrent? Or people who eat food for that matter?

Uhm, no? If you own a house, then you've got a lot more at stake. Kind of obvious I'd say.

[Aeson]

OTOH "Show me a Christian preacher who believes in a Jihad against America" Might be the most incredible straw man ever posted to this site! Which is some achievement.

If your wording were what we're going with, it'd be easy to find many of them. Ben's wording though is an awesome strawman

[Sava]

The blame falls on poorly regulated (in the US) mortgage market and the idiots who assessed the risks of those sub-prime mortgages. Then the idiots who built overly complex financial instruments based on those idiotic mortgages. The idiots buying the sub-prime mortgages from the idiot banks following idiotic regulations is really just one aspect of the problem.

Idiots? They stole a lot of land via foreclosures. They stole a lot of money via the bailouts. They consolidated their power by destroying their competition in the private sector.

This financial "crisis" was not the result of a foolish endeavor.

It is a continuing criminal enterprise.

The outcome of the debt issue is already decided. It's interesting to watch the political theater each night on the news. What will Boehner do next? Will Obama cave? NEXT ON CNN! OR FOX! OR MSNBC

after the commercial break

but first... be sure to buy an ipad

tomorrow, the imminent destruction of the American financial system!

*cue dramatic music

I just wish the female reporters had bigger tits

[Asher]

Idiots? They stole a lot of land via foreclosures. They stole a lot of money via the bailouts. They consolidated their power by destroying their competition in the private sector.

This financial "crisis" was not the result of a foolish endeavor.

It is a continuing criminal enterprise.

I had a lot of friends at Lehman who were suddenly left jobless, pensionless, and lost the vast majority of their savings (via company stock options, which is how bonuses tended to be distributed) overnight. I think people like Dick Fuld were criminal, but the fact that a few guys at the top exploited the foolishness of both the government and the people as a whole doesn't mean it's not a result of a foolish endeavor.

[giblets]

How do you steal land via foreclosure? Also, how is it stealing when the government offers to lend money to banks?

[Sava]

I had a lot of friends at Lehman who were suddenly left jobless, pensionless, and lost the vast majority of their savings (via company stock options, which is how bonuses tended to be distributed) overnight. I think people like Dick Fuld were criminal, but the fact that a few guys at the top exploited the foolishness of both the government and the people as a whole doesn't mean it's not a result of a foolish endeavor.

Finance is a scum industry. Mob bosses dispose of expendable underlings. It seems wise to avoid that line of work.

I suppose it is a matter of perspective. I have much experience... exploiting vulnerabilities... though, such is not necessary to recognize this particular scam. I tend to have two reactions... utter contempt and sincere admiration.

555 people. Congress, a President, and a Supreme Court. Of that group, how many need to be foolish, greedy, or vulnerable in some way in order to be manipulated into supporting financial reforms favorable to what big finance firms wanted to do?

It's not a giant conspiracy. People just need to vote "yes" or "no" on certain things. It's like hacking an electronic device. You just need to flip a few switches.

If you look at the trajectory of American history since the end of WW2 through the height of the Cold War up until the fall of the Berlin Wall... I'm just surprised it took so long to get to this point.

[Sava]

How do you steal land via foreclosure? Also, how is it stealing when the government offers to lend money to banks?

A progression of sales from individual to individual until finally people who cannot afford the properties reach the end of the chain. They get kicked out. Bank takes ownership. Small banks fail. Properties on a mass scale across the country are consolidated into a single entity.

Government (people) lends money to banks at 0%. Bank lends to people at higher rates (up to 30%... max APR of credit cards).

In a democracy (or representative democracy), "government" is just a word for "the things we do together". So if we pool all of our money and then give it to someone for free but then they give it back to us and then we pay it back to them at a higher rate... that is a positive feedback system that essentially does not stop.

It isn't meant to. It's a system of dependency.

And then, create the idea of moral obligation. The bank gives money to you! You must give it to them or you are a bad person! And better yet, enforce this moral obligation with the power of the government. The government has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. If you don't give the bank back the money that it gave you (at a higher rate) which came from the public (at no rate), then you will be removed from your residence by force... ultimately... deadly force.

[Ben Kenobi]

Learn to read and/or understand. I think it's bull**** to suggest that extremist/terrorist Muslims are real muslims but extremist/terrorist Christians aren't real Christians.

Which I never said.

OTOH "Show me a Christian preacher who believes in a Jihad against America" Might be the most incredible straw man ever posted to this site! Which is some achievement.

That's holding one standard for both across the board.

[Sava]

That Florida preacher with the Monty Python name believes in Jihad against America. Why else would he do something that provokes violent radical extremists?

Though, I'm not sure if I would consider him a legitimate Christian. Also, "preacher" is a heathen protestant term. Proper Christians can only be Orthodox. And Orthodox Christians have priests. Only cracker ass hillbilly cousin ****ing meth addicts have preachers. And it's every denomination. The least offensive are the Lutherans. They are like Scientology without the star power.

And that palace in Rome is a club for pedophiles... their leader and everyone who claims to worship him. Those heretics are going to hell where Satan is going to molest them with his firestick. The Anglican church is a tad bit better. But it's the spawn of a King who just wanted to be rid of his wife. There's nothing Holy about that.

Did I get everybody?

Oh, Unitarians and all that other hippie faith garbage. Yeah, no. Go play the bongos in hell you pot smoking dipsticks. Jesus doesn't love you.

And the Muslims and Jews? Who cares? Give them guns and let them kill each other.

But we can let the non-offensive white ones hang around. Their daughters are sluts.

[Guynemer]

Is it wrong I haven't read a word of what Sava posted, and just stared at this avatar, hypotized?

[Sava]

Is it wrong I haven't read a word of what Sava posted, and just stared at this avatar, hypotized?

oh, if you want hypnotized... just wait... imma make a new one

[Guynemer]

Imma wait in rapt anticipation.

[Aeson]

Last edited by Sava; Today at 05:25. Reason: needed to offend everybody

You missed quite a few...