Ragitsu

W started a war under false pretenses and openly supported a program of torture and indefinite incarceration without trial.  These are war crimes for which he has been convicted in international court.
 
For what it's worth, I agree with Ragitsu that W still holds the WPE title belt, but only because I never considered Trump a legitimate POTUS.

Also dumbass Walter Mitty fantasy gear.
 
I'm very familiar with the product. I've put plenty of people in them. Civilians have no need of them, because civilians shouldn't be taking prisoners. Anyone wasting money on them for prepping instead of buying more useful gear has some weird ideas rattling around in their head.

No, that's nutjob militia gear.

There is no equivalency between the Black Lives Matter movement and a bunch of "patriots" rushing into the Capitol building threatening to kill members of Congress and the executive branch.  Anyone who feels that there is, I want them to publicly say so and stand behind their words.  

"The Two Towers" audio book, narrated by Robert Inglis

This is something we should address. If every honest debate runs the risk of being demonized/unfairly characterized because the at least initially opposing participant is strongly ignorant and/or gullible (and likely already manipulated by someone higher up the economic ladder with a vested interest in maintaining a preexisting social disparity), then I consider that a poor state of affairs. We will not grow as a species so long as snap-judgements are seen as perfectly acceptable substitutes for rational thinking in relaxed settings.
 
Also, humility is a virtue that has been sorely neglected. "I don't know.", " I will have to look into that." and "I'd like to revisit this discussion later." should not be intrinsically linked to weakness.

That’s fantastic, I love the sentiment he closes with and the personal story (and the fact he actually brandishes the sword from Conan). I didn’t care for him as our governor, but that’s good stuff right there.

Hermit, I firmly believe there are substantial numbers of moderate conservatives in America, and responsible Republicans. However, they've been conspicuous by their absence on the public stage for a long time. In the GOP they were either muzzled or driven out. In the general populace they were apparently willing to tolerate the abuses by Trump and Trumpists in exchange for token nods to conservative policies.
 
It's not enough to say that both sides need to come to the table. The Left has been pushed away from the table too many times. It's now incumbent on leaders on the Right to convince the Left that they're prepared for genuine dialogue, consensus, and compromise.

I get that. However, conservative elements are in control of the country and have been for a long time with the obvious negative consequences.. And they don't tend towards centrist idealism. If anything, they tend to prod centrists towards more extreme conservatism by their rhetoric. 

With respect, I don't think "we don't want minorities or gays in America" is a "legitimate concern"...as but one example. Treating them as such leads to "appeasement" and we all know how that turns out. The progressive elements in this country bend over backwards to try to come to an understanding with the conservative elements and they just take advantage of that kindness while being as inflexible as ever. They haven't thrown out even a single olive branch while the progressive side has offered up entire damn forests. As a progressive, I feel like I'm talking to people in a soundproof room. How can we talk about legitimate concerns when conservatives aren't even willing to sit down at the table? And the implication is that it is somehow progressives' fault for Trump because we're "not listening"? Nonsense. The conservative oligarchy that runs America created Trump. That same oligarchy that cares only about wealth and power and manipulates Americans into fighting against their own best interests. Americans ate up Trump's rhetoric because the nation is at heart still living in the 18th century.

The soil of our national discourse is saturated...choked...with misinformation that allows the weed of ignorance to flourish; it is prolific and supremely difficult to extirpate. I imagine we will require at least two generations of concerted effort in filtering out the impurities and planting the seeds of education before the landscape begins to reject this aberrant growth. Of course, no real improvements can be made as long as politicians profiting off of that ugly crop keep chopping down every sapling they come across.

Nice work, Dumas.
 
West Virginia lawmaker Derrick Evans faces federal charges in Capitol siege
 
Maybe the WV House of Delegates will hold his seat until his sentence is up...

"Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting."
 
Finally.