| Author | Message | ||
     Pwnzor |
I have long held that blaming others for our personal problems and situations is bad form at best and detrimental to one's self and those around them at worst. A coworker of mine, whom I thought was a friend until he showed me his true self - after I helped him get a better paying job in a place with roughly 30% decrease in the cost of living - posted the following rant on Facebook. His words are in blue, with my comments interspersed in red. Dear Donald Trump, Are you kidding me??? Repeal birthright citizenship???? - I have officially had enough of this lunacy and you may need to go if you can't find something actually positive to work on. He's right about this, the Constitution is clear - "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Maybe you can go to work for Amazon, they need more bit actors for their series "The Man in the High Castle"... if you don't know what that is, I am going to tell you like my parents always told me: LOOK IT UP. Even though I thought and still feel that Hillary's role and culpability in the Benghazi tragedy is reprehensible I should have voted for her lying ass instead of a man that spends his days trying to assault the very principles that this country was founded on, a man that is trying to eviscerate us of all the values and differences that have allowed us to rise to unprecedented levels of success as a nation. Unless I am mistaken our nation was founded on basic freedoms and the understanding that EVERYONE is entitled to certain fundamental liberties, at least until such time as they violate our laws and trust and show that they are not worthy of such freedoms and rights. "But its only for the children of those here illegally..." IDGAF. The child does not choose where to be born. I part ways here, I think some sort of amendment is in order. They're called "amendments" for a reason. Newsflash - we are all immigrants here, save the Native Americans, but that is another soapbox for another day. No, we're not all immigrants - this is the same logic that some blacks use to blame people for slavery Excuse me Mr POTUS - if you want to impress me how about fixing our retirement system, you know SO-SO Security...why is it that all of you up on Capitol Hill don't participate? Why is it that you have your own separate system (PERS) -? Why don't all of you pay into SO-SO Security like the rest of us? Oh, that's right, because you want to actually have a decent pension waiting for you when you retire, and you don't want to have to pay into it for 200 damned years just to get a check that doesn't amount to JACK SHIT. Explain that to ME Mr POTUS. This is not a problem created by the president. He can't fix everything at once, nor is this something that can be fixed quickly as it is a system long corrupted by those who came before him If that is too big and scary for you to attack, how about tackling the Student Loan CRISIS? As a nation our citizens now officially have more education-related debt than credit cards, car loans and personal loans COMBINED. $1.5 TRILLION... Add that that that 11-35% of the decrease in home ownership among 28-30 year olds between the years 2007 and 2015 was attributable to tuition hikes and greater debt and there goes the American Dream, certainly for me and I feel certain for millions of others as well. Some personal background here - this is not his only unpaid debt. He has MANY. And, nobody held a gun to his head to take that loan. He sought it out. And what he won't mention here is that he failed to complete his education Owning our own home has become a pipe dream now as we are in our 50's. Literally the ONLY thing my wife wants and I cannot give it to her. Again, results of not paying off outstanding debts. When you don't pay debts, creditors take action. Not much more I can say about that. We are resigned to paying exorbitant rents for shit hole living conditions and literally flushing our money down the toilet, receiving no benefit from it AT ALL. Please don't talk down to me either about having made poor financial decisions. So... pointing out obvious facts is somehow "talking down" to you... Educating myself was not a mistake and I refuse to even entertain the notion that it was. The mistake here was not finishing what you started, and then subsequently not paying back what you borrowed The loan certainly has crushed me financially but educating my mind was not an error. Putting knowledge in your mind does literally nothing for a prospective employer who is interested in seeing that you finish what you start, and have the piece of paper hanging on the wall to back it up. I have found in my experience that what some might call “poor financial decisions” are often actually “life decisions” that are incredibly difficult and basically lose-lose no matter what you do. If it was lose/lose, then why do it? Why? Do you play the lottery? If you see a gun with the barrel facing the wrong way, do you pull the trigger? It is easy to do nothing that might harm your credit rating; it is infinitely more difficult to make that same decision when it can bring harm to your family in some manner. Welcome to this thing we call life, sir. Donald Trump, I personally borrowed $16,500 in 1993 - to date I have paid back over $26,000 and YOUR Dept of Education claims I owe another $48K in INTEREST... What he's leaving out here is that he failed to make ANY payments for over 10 years after he failed to complete his education. If he had sent them literally ANY amount of money every single month, and had just communicated with the creditor, he wouldn't be in this mess. My credit has been destroyed because of this,; I cannot get a home loan so I pay more for rent that I would to own, getting your real estate cronies richer by the day MR POTUS. He seems to have a general misunderstanding about how credit works, so I'll just point out that student loans by themselves have little bearing on credit worthiness... it's the Debt to Income ratio. It's the OTHER money that he borrowed and ALSO did not pay back that is really the bigger problem here. My wife, Mr POTUS, has been stricken with Multiple Sclerosis and is unable to work. She's had this condition for a very long time, and was misdiagnosed as having Bell's Palsy before moving here. She was literally fine until the exact date and time when her new doctor told her she had MS. Overnight, she suddenly could not see straight, could not walk without assistance, could no longer drive. Several times after the new diagnosis, while visiting my home, my security cameras caught her dancing around the kitchen to the music while nobody was looking. OK, she's got lesions that indicate MS, but they are not new, and this is just being dramatic for drama's sake. She also cannot get SSI, disability or unemployment because YOUR government officials tell her she hasn't worked enough in the last 5 years to have the "necessary work credits" to qualify for any type of assistance. Well, NO, she hasn't worked, she is ill and unable to... So we struggle and barely get by. I don't know what to say about this. I personally know several people who receive substantial SSI checks monthly and have NEVER worked a single day in their lives. Not sure what the problem is here, as I don't understand how the system is set up. Maybe I should have sold drugs or gotten involved in trafficking them; that money seems to be plentiful and easily obtained. I am being facetious of course, I would not and could not ever do something as sinister as that which directly preys on other people. This is a direct shot at me. I guess I never should have confided in him about my past. He's constantly bitter that he feels he has been "passed over" for promotions at my company - never mind the fact that he CONSTANTLY f**ks up and is lucky to still have a job after I had to literally break up what almost became a fist fight between him and one of my contractors right here in my office, in front of my new female trainee I wish our elected officials were of the same mindset; not the case though as the all are in it for the stacks and stacks of money. Donald Trump donates his salary every quarter. While it's true that a lot of politicians are corrupt, Donald's got his own meal ticket and does not take our money. So, to use a poker analogy, here I sit, f**ked for high and can't go low. What to do? Well Mr POTUS, you claim to be all about making it better for the working man... wanna help me and those like me? Pay closer attention, sir... he's doing that - starting by helping those who actually did things the right way and have honored their debts. He'll get to you after he's done helping those of us to take care of business. What say you? Forgive my student loan as you have already received the original loan amount and $10k in interest? Your loan came from a private company. Are you suggesting that private companies be nationalized? That's communism, sir. As a veteran of our armed forced, I would expect you to continue to uphold your oath to defend our constitution from all threats foreign and domestic. Help my wife get the financial assistance she deserves? Again, not sure what the problem is here... Help ME get a home loan so I can finally buy a home for our family to call their own? I helped you by getting you a better job with better medical insurance and higher pay. Your pay went up at least 25% although you deny it, claiming you made more money at the place we both used to work... if that's the case, WHY did you come here? Sounds like another lose/lose situation. Another in a long line of bad decisions I guess. Nah, just keep working on the hate-monger agenda. This is just more of your rhetoric based on victim mentality... you voted for Obama twice by your own admission... need I say more? Rant Complete (for now) I worked with this guy for a couple of years before I left California and moved to Georgia. My knowledge of him was limited to what I saw in the office, and that he's an Army veteran. My observations of him led me to the conclusion that he was organized, quick on the phones, dealt with drivers well, and... Army veteran. I'm always going to try and help out a vet. I maintained contact with him when I moved to Georgia just through text messages and started to hint that I could use some help out here... and he expressed interest. So he got himself a plane ticket and I introduced him to the owner of my company. When he first came here, I moved 2 of my kids into a single bedroom so that he could have a place to stay. He lived with us for almost 3 months before he got an apartment. I kept asking him, "why not get a house, for the rent you're paying, you can OWN a place." Of course, he did not want to divulge the fact that his financial situation was a complete disaster. Fast forward through all the crap that has happened since then, and to say the least I often find myself wishing that I had never gone through all this trouble of trying to help somebody without really knowing the whole scenario. The victim mentality is so pervasive that he actually blames ME for the problems he has caused himself since moving here. He blames the president for the problems caused by those who held office before him. He blames others in general for his own bad decisions, malfeasance, and all around general misconduct in life. He's a miserable human being, and I feel like all I can do now is pray for him. Now, my rant is over. I'm not responding to him on Facebook. Because of him, I have learned several valuable lessons. | ||
| Ratbuell |
The only thing I want to contribute is perspective on the birthright issue. If you are born to non-resident parents, you are "subject to the jurisdiction" of their home nation. Brit couple comes to the states for vacation, she goes into labor and births early, the kid is a BRIT, because the parents are "subject to the jurisdiction" of the British Empire (or whatever they call themselves this week). When you are a citizen, you are "subject to the jurisdiction" of your HOME nation. If you visit the US on a temporary basis - work visa, student visa, whatever - you are TEMPORARILY subject to applicable rules for living in the USA: gun laws, liquor laws, speed limits. But you are NOT a citizen - you are still subject to the jurisdiction of your home nation, of which you are a legal citizen. Put a more malicious slant on it - central american woman comes across the border illegally, knowing full well she's about to birth. Does it for the sole reason of "making" her kid a US citizen. SHE is "subject to the jurisdiction" of Mexico, or Argentina, or wherever...therefore, so shall be her child, regardless of the longitude/latitude of birth. It requires some delving into the use of the English language when they wrote the Constitution, but it's pretty clear - "subject to the jurisdiction of", in those days (and as a basis for our nation's government) meant "you are a subject of X country, and their ruler". And sentence structure doesn't imply that someone born here IS subject to our jurisdiction; it's an either/or sentence. In today's vernacular, it would be more akin to "IF a person is born or naturalized here, AND is subject to our jurisdiction". Leaves the door open for the very purposeful distinction that NOT all persons born on our soil, are subject to our jurisdiction. Nor are they all citizens. And...today's crisis is exactly why they wrote it that way. They of ALL people, understood the sovreignty of a Nation. Sorry to hear about your friend, but the important part is - you're learning from it. Hopefully he can do the same...eventually. | ||
| Strokizator |
No good deed goes unpunished Funny how he borrowed money for school during Clinton's inaugural year yet blames Trump for his own failings. His whole rant is his demand for free stuff that he deserves from the govt. | ||
| Tq_freak |
Is this Dudes name Don by any chance? I ask jokingly because it sounds almost identical to a situation that happened to me and a "friend" of mine. We have since parted ways. I totally understand were your coming from Pwnzor | ||
| Ducbsa |
The wife’s SS woes, if real, are because of legislation, not Trump’s evil dictates. | ||
| Ourdee |
He Left California (double entendre). Cali is still stuck in his mind. If I moved to Ga. I would fill myself with it. Soak the place and mind set in. He needs to get his mind right. Just like an addict, He has to want to change. Prayers and distance would also be my suggestion. You have already given drink, warmth, and food. I'll listen if you need an ear and will tell you when you start whining. I hear ya. | ||
| Crusty |
I admit to being a little harsh on people who won't accept the blame for their own situation. Still, my advice is: If you're looking for Sympathy, it's in the dictionary. Between shit and syphilis. | ||
| Sifo |
That guy sounds pretty nutty. He's blaming the current POTUS for things that happened, many of his own volition, many years before this administration. Sounds like classic TDS. It's just a bit more scary when you see it in person. On the issue of birthright citizenship, I've heard good arguments both ways on that. Bottom line, I can see where it can be done, either with executive order, or simple legislation. Either will no doubt be challenged in court. That is how things are set up to work. My understanding is that this has never been brought before the court in the past, so I see the final outcome as kind of a crap shoot. If this were to fail in court, then it can certainly be done with a new amendment. That is a big hurdle, but certainly possible. There is no reason at all that a country HAS to have birthright citizenship. Ratbuell, it's funny you use a Britt for your hypothetical situation. I became very close friends with a Britt couple who were here on work visas. They had a family while here. I'm actually their first-born's godfather. Under the current application of our laws, their kids have dual citizenship until they become adults. As an adult, they have to choose either British or US citizenship. The details of how this works can vary depending on what country you are from. It depends some on the agreements the US has with each country, and not all countries allow for dual citizenship. I find it very interesting watching Progressives over this matter, especially those who really follow what is taught in higher education. They teach that whites were an invading population into North America. Hard to argue that to be false, but they seem to put the blame on the US. The blame really belongs to the British, Spanish, and French for the most part. What we are now seeing on our Southern border is no less an invasion that when European ships were landing on the East coast. That's water under the bridge of history, but this current invasion is not. They are not coming here to become Americans any more than Europeans came here to be come Indians. | ||
| Ratbuell |
They are not coming here to become Americans any more than Europeans came here to be come Indians. Did them marching under their own flag, and burning the US flag, give that one away to you? I give you credit for figuring that out - if only the "educated masses" working at CNN, NYT, WaPo, et al, were that smart... | ||
| Sifo |
Did them marching under their own flag, and burning the US flag, give that one away to you? I would call that a tell. | ||
| Teeps |
Just the fact that he lives in so many peoples' heads rent free is highlarious[sic]. There was a meme on fakebook with the caption that read: We lived through obama; you'll live through Trump. Just as we all will live though what ever comes out of the next election... | ||
| Ratbuell |
Just get out and VOTE next week! I suspect the blue wave will be a mere trickle (shoulda shook it a couple more times!), and hope that the coverage of GOP participation and dedication is as underestimated as it was back in '16. I hope we squash 'em. Maybe THEN, they'll shut up. Or at least learn to play ball because we will have demonstrated that '16 wasn't just a fluke. | ||
| Teeps |
That's the problem Rat. They won't shut up or play ball because for once they are not creating more problems for them to fix; that never get fixed and only get worse. | ||
| H0gwash |
Lotsa people want their local and federal government to be their personal concierge. | ||
| Ebutch |
I'm with President Trump 100%.  |
