They do seem to view themselves as "gods".

Their ONLY pursued reality is to see us in chains, with no family, no Church and no Freedom.

Watch not what they say...
...but rather what they do.

You may be correct.

If there's anything that I can say for people who want control it's this:
They are happy to say one thing and then do something twisted to change reality.

Some say that Pres. Trump is actually juicing up the spending to bankrupt the Federal Reserve. I don't know if that is even plausible because I'm no expert on the Fed. It's a nice dream to think he might be ending the Fed, reestablishing a gold standard or re-imagining our entire economic system. AND, if even the SLIGHTEST possibly that he may be eliminating the IRS exists, it should ensure EVERY taxpayer in this country throw their vote to Trump.

He does SEEM to be trying to bring the Constitution back into prominence with his hands-off approach regarding the states with the "pandemic" and riots. And with his trade/tariff policies.

If anyone can accomplish ending the Fed and the IRS, if that's his aim, it is Donald J. Trump. Look at how he's completely discredited the Democrat Party AND their ideology in 3.5 years.

California may even be in play with how much damage the left has done to themselves with Trump's help. So, NOT voting for Trump COULD be a very bad decision.

But, then again, I'm a dreamer AND an optimist. I see greatness under that "bullying" exterior of a man who happened to have studied "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu and had Norman Vincent Peale as his childhood pastor. shrug

Just my two cents. :-)

NOT Obama 2.0, teri-amborn, although that would be bad; but Marx 1, as all the plans from the Left are to socialize the country.

Welcome to Galt's Gulch. My part of Florida is as close to paradise as I have found. It looks like you are navigating the site just fine to me.

To jbrenner;
First of all my apologies for spelling Rearden's name wrong. My arthritic fingers tend to defy me on occasion.
I agree that Trump is spending a bit too much money lately but with Covid and all the political idiots in DC,what else can he do???
I'll stop there for tonight but will look forward to continuing this conversation.
Maybe you or other subscribers could perhaps offer me some advice as to how to more successfully navigate this site.
chriwatkins

Trump does share some of Rearden's characteristics, but is way too willing to grow government. Even though I am 53, my family is wealthy enough to retire. If Biden gets elected, I may just do that.

To jbrenner;
I watched the debate the other night and can certainly agree that it was indeed a disappointing cacophony essentially designed to be a media event for Fox as well as CNN, MSNBC and all the others.
After the event, instead of checking out Hannity's or any other's analysis, I fixed myself an 'adult beverage' and plugged in a DVD of Atlas Shrugged part three.
To make this short, I would ask would you prefer a feisty businessman like a Hank Reardon or a spineless politician like Wesley Mouch to run this country???
Granted, Trump is no John Galt let alone any kind of 'messiah' but consider the alternative!
If you go into the booth and vote for yourself, you'll likely not get elected and effectively waste your vote. But ask yourself this...who is closer to the ideals you believe in???
I await your response.

There is a great other option: Dr. Jo Jorgensen, Libertarian. She has said Ayn Rand is her best source for philosophical values. Vote for the best candidate, don't use the weird rationalization that her votes will throw the election to the wrong other candidate. Vote for the one who deserves it most. Start getting to know her more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDXsJ...

I'm afraid it's a symptom. I don't think there's a clear-cut list of causes, but I think a lot of it comes from a) too much federal gov't cost/intrusiveness, b) too much power in the executive branch, and c) loneliness.

Loneliness sounds weird. I got the idea from Senator Sasse's book. He says cable TV and Internet make it easy for people to replace time they would have spent with friends with watching politics. One reason this sounds true to me is that even though there is way more vitriol, the underlying issues are less decisive than in the past. People are madder for less reason.

The only approach is to treat the underlying problem. One part of the solution is the federal government doing less and people working together with their neighbors to get things done as Alexis de Tocqueville described. Electing the best president won't do that. Biden would be better, of course, because a) he's not a racist buffoon and b) he has said he wants to reduce executive branch power. B part of what all this is about. I will believe B when I see it; I'm happy even to hear it discussed.

I have really bought into the ewv view that change has to come from citizens taking the spirit of the Constitution to heart, i.e. the spirit of the people granting the government limited powers to ensure liberty. A Constitution plus good institutions are necessary but NOT sufficient to limit government intrusiveness.

When you are strong, look weak. Make sure Hunter Biden’s $3 1/2 million dollar check from the Moscow mayors wife is brought up. Round 1 a bunch of rope a dope coming soon.....Round 2 set him up like a bowling pin ..... Round 3 Knock him out.

I'm feeling ya. Gary was a complete lunatic. It made me think that there must be some kind of conspiracy to keep the Libertarian Party as some sort of loony fringe organization by pushing forward the real nutjobs.

Yet, when the average, somewhat intelligent person is told what Libertarianism is, it seems they almost always say, "Hey! That sounds like a great change for us. I'd vote for that!" Nope...instead they get a candidate who sticks his tongue out during interviews and screams at anybody who asks what should be done about illegal immigration. Dude must be smoking some fuzzy bud...

Interesting. I'm not familiar with her, nor have I followed the campaign at all. In my shrug I de-registered to vote. Next...registering my truck in another state... Anyway...Realize that if a politician opening credits Ayn Rand it's political suicide. The maniacs will latch on to that and be relentless. I agree she should have acknowledged credit. At the same time...maybe it was a dog whistle for Objectivists...

What I'd like to see would be something adhering to LD debate rules like the ones used in high school debate. Here's a quick breakdown with more (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln...

Opening Argument (For): 6 minutes
Cross-Examination: 3 minutes
Opening Argument/Rebuttal (Against): 7 minutes
Cross-Examination: 3 minutes
First Rebuttal (Against): 4 minutes
First Rebuttal (For): 6 minutes
Closing Rebuttal (Against): 3 minutes

Add to that a few minutes of prep time and you spend roughly 45 minutes on a single topic. There are no interruptions permitted by the opposition and cross-examination is limited to short answers. This format also completely eliminates a "moderator" - which we've seen to be nothing more than Democratic shills. Do two of these in a debate session for your 90 minutes - maybe with a slight break in between.

These would be some of the topics I would like to see debated in this fashion:

1. The United States should adopt the Green New Deal (Biden affirmative)
2. The United States should adopt the Paris Climate Accords (Biden affirmative)
3. The United States should lower its national debt (Trump affirmative)
4. The United States should enforce border crossing restrictions (Trump affirmative)
5. The United States should allow abortion to the point of birth (Biden affirmative)
6. The United States should increase taxes on the wealthy to pay for expanded social welfare programs (Biden affirmative)
7. The United States has a duty towards its citizens to protect life and property and its leaders should condemn rioting. (Trump affirmative)
8. The United States has a responsibility to spend foreign aid wisely and should audit families of Executive Office holders for conflicts of interest (Trump affirmative)
9. Given China's persistent fabrications regarding COVID, the United States should seek international trade injunctions against China pursuant to the Infectious Diseases Treaty (Trump affirmative)
10. The United States should provide a minimum basic income for its citizens (Biden affirmative)
11. The United States should provide government-run healthcare for its citizens (Biden affirmative)
12. The United States should provide free college educations for its citizens (Biden affirmative)
13. The United States should eliminate minimum wage controls (Trump affirmative)
14. The United States should stop collecting information on its citizens under the Patriot Act (Trump affirmative)
15. The United States owes descendants of slavery reparations (Biden affirmative)
16. The United States should eliminate government restrictions on energy production (Trump affirmative)

I'm sure everyone here can come up with others. Schedule four debates (I'd love eight) and at each debate each participant gets to select one topic (for a total of two).

That debate was a dumpster fire. Trump had several opportunities to put a fork in Joe and didn't pounce. I don't know what he's thinking. If I didn't think he'd fire me within the first month I'd volunteer to help him strategize. I'd have to do it hiding my identity behind a big covid mask...so be it. I see my country turning to ash soon if this crap keeps up...

An excellent parallel to today.

That was the most disgusting display of two two year olds acting up in a Walmart I have ever seen. I'd like to be Trump's handler for the next debate, unless Trump just doesn't take direction from anyone. I will still vote for him, he seems to be doing a good job as president, just not capable of doing a good job in open debate.

Thank you. Rand had America as her beacon of hope to escape to. Where are we all going to go???? The crisis stage of this methodical Marxist/Fascist implementation happened very quickly and most will trade rights for normalization and a perceived sense of "security" however false the reality may be.

Amen

vote for me...i represent the N.E.W. Party...Non-Essential Workers Party...lol

well then, in the words of the great Rosanne Rosanna Dana ... "never mind".

No...there's not another option, unless one wants to vote for the Socialist Party, the Green Party, The Worker's Party, or any of the dozen other choices that will be on the ballot.

The first debate was an absolute circus...I won't argue that. It was a total waste of 90+ minutes of my viewing time. My only hope is that Trump's team can reign him in, in time for the next debate. Just as in his first election...he ended up looking like the bully that he is. Unless he can at least attempt to look a bit more "Presidential"...he isn't going to sway ANY opinions.

Biden actually was coherent and appeared more mature in the debate...that's a BAD sign.

It is never too late to get that continuing education!

Oh, to be young again and to have jb as a mentor.