Monday Open Thread

20
  by: Colorado Pols November 28, 2021 at 10:48 PM MST

“Beware of the man who does not return your blow: he neither forgives you nor allows you to forgive yourself.”

–George Bernard Shaw

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20 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

  1. Voyageur says:
    November 28, 2021 at 10:51 PM MST

    This space for rent.

    Preference given to dumbass proclamations urging people to eat more butter brickel.
    Contact uncledave@coloradopals.com

  2. davebarnes says:
    November 28, 2021 at 11:40 PM MST

    November 29, 1864 – American Indian Wars: Sand Creek massacre: Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington massacre  at least 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants inside Colorado Territory.

    • Duke Cox says:
      November 29, 2021 at 6:11 AM MST

      A more accurate description of "noncombatants" is "women, children, and old men."

       

      • MichaelBowman says:
        November 29, 2021 at 7:40 AM MST

        "Until the lion learns how to write every story will glorify the hunter"

      • Conserv. Head Banger says:
        November 29, 2021 at 7:56 AM MST

        To this day, the Cheyenne and Arapaho annually honor the memory of Lt. Silas Soule, who refused Chivington's order to have Soule's men fire on the women, children, and old men.

      • MichaelBowman says:
        November 29, 2021 at 8:04 AM MST

        This comment, and the discussion yesterday on housing prompts me to talk about an experience I had yesterday Duke (I wish you’d been with me).  I was headed back and called an Uber for the 30 minute ride to the Nashville airport. When the driver arrived (after navigating through the security gate and winding road through the woods) he greeted me cheerfully and we loaded my bags.  His first question was “how many families live in that home?” (this is a home that would make any American capitalist proud)  I responded “one”, that only two people lived there now that their children were grown, and that it was just one of four homes they own.   

        I asked him where he was from, to which he replied Afghanistan.  He was an interpreter for our US intelligence in the war and after being identified by the Taliban he and his family were relocated here about two years ago, first to Seattle, then Houston, then Nashville.  He was a gentle, kind man. I asked him what it was like to be an Afghan in Nashville, to which he replied very hard.  He has four small children and they are amongst only 200 Afghans who live in the Nashville area. Finding work was hard; Uber was paying the bills for now and home ownership wasn’t probably in his future.  

        I’m not beating up on my friends and their four houses.  This is old east coast money and at least they’re taxpaying Dems who don’t think Brandon is destroying our country.  But it was hard to miss the contrast of the man who risked his life for our intelligence in a failed war that costs us trillions, pulling up in front of this house that enjoys all of the fruits of being an American, knowing all-too-well that basic American ideals like home ownership are likely out of his grasp.  

        What I don’t understand (or am willing to accept) that stories like these have to be either-or; capitalism unchecked is nothing more than a chokehold on the American dream.  

        • The realist says:
          November 29, 2021 at 8:24 AM MST

          When stories like this no longer bring tears to my eyes I'll know I've morphed into a Republican (not gonna happen).

          Are there articles written about the decline of upward mobility in the US as it relates to immigrants? This one shows the decline for those born here but I wonder what charts would look like for immigrants. I guess first we'd need to distinguish between the Einsteins like Melania, and the other immigrants . . . 

          • MichaelBowman says:
            November 29, 2021 at 10:24 AM MST

            He wasn’t bitter (yet) but clearly the notion of the American dream, as we self-promote ourselves around the globe, has some chinks in its armor.
             

            Upward mobility is becoming ever-elusive. 

        • JohnInDenver says:
          November 29, 2021 at 9:06 AM MST

          Acquaintances of mine were expecting the arrival of a family from Afghanistan this past weekend.  Something happened and I got an update that said there would be a two week to two month delay in the arrival. 

          Two things I don't understand: 

           * why would a family and the local supporters be jerked around like that?  The locals, after months of preparation, were informed less than 48 hours ahead of the expected arrival.  And

           * why would former employees, now in the care of the government, be dropped into an amalgam of situations to support building a life here?

          Arriving Afghans are connected to resettlement agencies and community partners for initial resettlement assistance. DOS is leading this effort in close coordination with more than 200 local resettlement affiliates around the country. The local affiliates conduct extensive engagement with local communities to develop resources and support. 

          Through the Afghan Placement and Assistance Program (APA), individuals are placed in communities across the country to begin rebuilding their lives. As with traditional resettlement processes, placement of individuals considers U.S.-based family and friends, housing availability, community capacity, and the needs and characteristics of each case.

        • kwtree says:
          November 29, 2021 at 9:51 AM MST

          It’s the unchecked part that has to go. If we’re going to be a multiracial capitalist democracy, there have to be some restraints, regulations, limits, checks, infringements- all those words the GOP hates- on capitalism.

          Social good must come first. Profit can still be made, just not as much for as few. Housing is a basic human need and right. Capitalism must be checked to make housing affordable.

          • MichaelBowman says:
            November 29, 2021 at 10:20 AM MST

            Make America Great Again? Maybe go back to the days when corporations were required to make their case for social good before they could form? 

          • JohnInDenver says:
            November 29, 2021 at 1:07 PM MST

            Heck, I'm even willing to have companies make profits … as long as they pay a minimum of 15% federal tax on ANY pre-tax profit.  Stop the subsidies unless there is a clear benefit to those in the lower economic half of the population. Stop the endless "we'll pay later" schemes.

        • Powerful Pear says:
          November 30, 2021 at 4:43 AM MST

          In reality it is not either or. Your friend, has been blessed and is an outlier on the bell curve. If you make policy on outliers you will have an society of envy, which is how the Democratic Party sells their hate your neighbor because he has more than you and must have cheated to get it.

          Did your friends cheat to get where they are or did they work hard and make wise choices?

  3. Dano says:
    November 29, 2021 at 8:33 AM MST

    Had a rude awakening this morning. I got a call telling me Andrew Romanoff had died last night.

    After I was able to remove my heart from my throat, I realized they were talking about PRINCE Andrew Romanoff, a 98-year-old man who was a grandnephew of Tsar Nicholas II.

    A moment when my lives as a writer about royalty, and a political activist briefly clashed!

  4. MichaelBowman says:
    November 29, 2021 at 10:56 AM MST

    Because when you’re a demented, delusional, diapered, washed-up reality tv star everything is viewed through a ratings prism.  
     

    We don't "debate" lies, birtherism or racism. 
     

    To quote a Wray local, “*uck you and that Shetland pony you rode in to town”

    Trump Challenges ‘Heads of Various Papers’ to Televised Debate on ‘Big Lie’: ‘Ratings Bonanza’

     

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