Originally Posted by jayboat

Oooooh, tough guy in the house. You might be in a cult.

Originally Posted by larslindroth

Launching from a site of a massacre of Native Americans certainly seems fitting of a parade for a President who violated The Black Hills with his unwanted presence

on the 4th of July during his Presidency. If this was a 'Poker Run' I think this Trump card, (image below), would have been fitting for a sexual assaulter of women, tax

fraudster and multiple financial crimes felon. The Trumpster says he wants to do away with The Constitution, well that won't fly in Our United States of America,

The Land of The Free.

Originally Posted by larslindroth

Most of us here where I live are still Republicans. Betty Cook was one of those extremely educated Ladies who carried the Democratic Party's banner with pride. She volunteered

and supported both J.F.K.'s and Robert Kennedy's campaigns with money, because in those days the working class had a very tough time in the U.S. By the time the '80s came

around life was good in California, and most Californians were happy with Reagan unless they were refugees from Central America. I came to the South West; Scottsdale, AZ,

and Newport Beach during the Reagan years. Reagan had a heart and knew the importance of keeping The U.S. informed of who was with us, the free world, and who was

against us. He kept this country united even though he was hard on workers who wanted to keep their unions.

I liked Reagan and I liked George W. Bush. I despised Carter, the Clintons, and pretty much every Democratic Party politician since then. My favorite politician was the

late John McCain. He was not "A loser and sucker", he was an American hero. I served during the 'Cold War', I know who the enemy of the Free World is. China, Russia,

Iran, North Korea, and a couple of Arab States are it right now. We first-generation European Americans know what Fascism leads to. We also know what Communism is.

Fascism caused WWII. WWII caused Communism to flourish in the wrong places. There's no Americans who want Communism or Socialism, not in the Democratic Party

either. Most working-class and middle-class Americans have felt their standard of living get worse in the last 30 years. Taxes are high and overall there's constant open or

hidden inflation depending on how one looks at it. The folks making less than $100,000 a year and the once-so-thriving mom-and-pop business owners are overregulated

and taxed way too hard.

For years after WWII most wealthy Americans and their corporations paid a fair amount of taxes, now the wealthiest and their companies pay zero taxes.

Wealthy Leona Helmsley said it best when she was found guilty of tax crimes in the '80s; "only little people pay taxes".


There are several problems that I see as a threat to the America Reagan represented when I came here and chose to be an American and a Libertarian Republican;

1. Politicians that deny the results of Our free and fair elections.

2. Politicians that mix Religion and politics.

3. Politicians that rake in lobbying money.

4. Politicians that don't want to lower the taxes on small businesses, the working and middle-class folks.

5. Politicians who are against the Second Amendment, and simply just don't want universal background checks and a ban on assault rifles.

6. Politicians that don't support our active Military and Our Veterans to the maximum.

7. Politicians that question the hard work of Our Homeland Security Agencies.

8. Politicians that don't have Indigenous American blood, and do not do their best to support the Native Americans' daily struggles.

9. Politicians who never had a regular job before getting into politics.

10. Politicians who don't understand geopolitics 101. There are still several countries and organizations that don't want Our best.


P.S. All immigrants came to The U.S. to get away from authoritarian regimes or just to dream big and work hard. We have a big country,

on OSO We All love boating because it gives us a sense of freedom and the boating community knows that We all are boaters first,

help each other on the water, as neighbors do at our homes. In most other countries there are 8-10 major political parties. Since there's

mainly two in The U.S. it's easy to get excited and shout us and them. My wish is that Americans in general understand that the cyber

security threats we're under by Russia, China, and Iran are meant to divide us and make us weak. These threats are much more serious

than who happens to be Our next President, as long as the next President is aware of how dangerous these threats are. We cannot

distrust each other anymore, we cannot afford it. In Europe, we had to live with the divide-and-conquer tactics since Napoleon. It's time

to realize that We are Americans first, and We are the boaters of The UNITED States of America. D.S.

This is where it should end by me, but since there are requests for when Donald Trump started to say he wants to do away with

The Constitution, especially pointing out the parts he doesn't care for about how to elect Representatively in Our Democracy, I include

this article from December 2022. Even one of his most fervent political supporters, Senator Cruz of Texas, was a little perplexed but said

it was probably just a slip of the tongue. Unfortunately, Trump has kept this rhetoric up and often says it at his rallies. So for almost 2 years

this has often been part of his public speeches. The Constitution is the bedrock of the American Political System, its checks and balances.

That's why Libertarian Republicans, like myself, and Conservative Republicans, are voting against Trump, and his like. We want a POTUS

that serve We The People, not the other way around.

Article from 2022: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/12...-constitution/

On another comment; California is soon the 4th largest economy in the world, and Our total budget deficit is $150 billion and change, not

$1.6 trillion, like the Hoover Institution, often like to falsely claim. We have large infrastructure expenditures due to water, roads, electricity

needs. 25% of the goods heading to the rest of the United States are coming through Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor for example, and

most of us shop in person at Walmart too, we don't send a chauffeur.

Originally Posted by 36Tango

Lars, thanks for the well thought out response. I agree that Trump may not be the best choice, BUT he is the best choice between the two that are running. We do not get to choose the best person, just between the two running (there is no chance of a third party winning)

I have always said that if we had a big room where we could fit everybody in the country in, we could solve 80% of the challenges that face us fairly quick. The remaking 20% would need to be ironed out with diplomacy.

I really hope that the candidate that supports strong borders, getting out of wars/conflicts, and has a plan to sell oil to decrease deficit wins. I also hope like hell that the next time around both teams can be more moderate.