We arm the world so why can't we arm ourselves?

by **Turtleneck** Tue May 24, 2016 1:35 pm

We supply arms to some repressive governments...but my individual freedom needs to be circumvented at home...?

The U.S. is responsible for nearly 33% of worldwide exports -- by far the top arms exporter on the planet -- but which countries does the U.S. sell the most weapons to?
Saudi Arabia was the top recipient of American-made arms from 2011-2015, followed closely by the United Arab Emirates, according to research compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which has been analyzing international arms transfers since 1968.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/24/politics/us-arms-sales-worldwide/index.html

by **xsanguine** Tue May 24, 2016 1:42 pm

You're too dangerous to be in the possession of small arms, Turtleneck.

When our chickens come home to roost at least you'll have butter knives to protect your wife from being raped to death by religious fanatics.

by **Turtleneck** Tue May 24, 2016 1:45 pm

Hey. I work out. My arms not small. They are not big. But they are not small. They are just right, X.

by **xsanguine** Tue May 24, 2016 1:55 pm

I've tried to use that excuse many times for other appendages... Never works out as intended.

by **Robert J Sakimano** Tue May 24, 2016 1:57 pm

xsanguine wrote:You're too dangerous to be in the possession of small arms, Turtleneck.

When our chickens come home to roost at least you'll have butter knives to protect your wife from being raped to death by religious fanatics.

why do I have to wait on the chickens to come home to roost when there is a chance that a little black thug armed with Skittles might walk through my neighborhood?

by **Turtleneck** Tue May 24, 2016 2:04 pm

It's not about the Skittles. Just like freedom of speech and assembly are inherent to any competitive democracy, is the right to bear arms not inherent to protecting from a government that one day decides to strip away our natural rights?

by **Travis of the Cosmos** Tue May 24, 2016 2:05 pm

the only way to stop a bad Saudi government with a gun is a good Saudi government with a gun.

by **xsanguine** Tue May 24, 2016 2:11 pm

Or just not have any means of defense and hope history is a mere mirage.

by **Robert J Sakimano** Tue May 24, 2016 2:28 pm

Turtleneck wrote:It's not about the Skittles. Just like freedom of speech and assembly are inherent to any competitive democracy, is the right to bear arms not inherent to protecting from a government that one day decides to strip away our natural rights?

when Obama comes for my guns and bible, I have a little surprise for him.

by **xsanguine** Tue May 24, 2016 2:31 pm

What if he forces you into business with a company and if not the punishment is paying him a fine?

by **Robert J Sakimano** Tue May 24, 2016 2:39 pm

xsanguine wrote:What if he forces you into business with a company and if not the punishment is paying him a fine?

I'd consult with the president of the East Lansing chapter of the Tea Party for the appropriate response.

of course, every time I try to get in touch with president of the local chapter of the Tea Party, he's either outside smoking, about to choke himself to death on pork rinds or at the local free clinic getting a rash looked at.

by **Turtleneck** Tue May 24, 2016 2:42 pm

Robert J Sakimano wrote:
Turtleneck wrote:It's not about the Skittles. Just like freedom of speech and assembly are inherent to any competitive democracy, is the right to bear arms not inherent to protecting from a government that one day decides to strip away our natural rights?
when Obama comes for my guns and bible, I have a little surprise for him.

Or when Trump goes on TV and puts the Constitution through the shredder and all his supporters say "that thing was overrated anyway."

by **Robert J Sakimano** Tue May 24, 2016 2:44 pm

Turtleneck wrote:
Robert J Sakimano wrote:when Obama comes for my guns and bible, I have a little surprise for him.

Or when Trump goes on TV and puts the Constitution through the shredder and all his supporters say "that thing was overrated anyway."

it is quite entertaining how morally ambivalent republicans have suddenly become.. We arm the world so why can't we arm ourselves? 502811600

by **xsanguine** Tue May 24, 2016 2:46 pm

Turtleneck wrote:
Robert J Sakimano wrote:when Obama comes for my guns and bible, I have a little surprise for him.

Or when Trump goes on TV and puts the Constitution through the shredder and all his supporters say "that thing was overrated anyway."

Pretty sure George W. Bush started that trend.

At least we know, no matter who wins in Nov, our next president will have had ties to the mob. We haven't had that since Bill in the 90's. Should be fun.

by **Robert J Sakimano** Tue May 24, 2016 2:58 pm

xsanguine wrote:
Turtleneck wrote:

Or when Trump goes on TV and puts the Constitution through the shredder and all his supporters say "that thing was overrated anyway."

Pretty sure George W. Bush started that trend.

At least we know, no matter who wins in Nov, our next president will have had ties to the mob. We haven't had that since Bill in the 90's. Should be fun.

that's kinda where I'm.. I mean, I don't wanna see the end of the world, necessarily, but at long as it's happening, you might as well have a positive attitude about it.

by **Turtleneck** Tue May 24, 2016 3:05 pm

xsanguine wrote:
Turtleneck wrote:

Or when Trump goes on TV and puts the Constitution through the shredder and all his supporters say "that thing was overrated anyway."

Pretty sure George W. Bush started that trend.

At least we know, no matter who wins in Nov, our next president will have had ties to the mob. We haven't had that since Bill in the 90's. Should be fun.

It started before Bush.

https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Alien.html

The point about Trump is that for the past 7.5 years many of his supporters were crying about big government taking away our liberties and turning the US into a police state. Now they suddenly back an authoritarian candidate? It's quite contradictory.

by **xsanguine** Tue May 24, 2016 3:26 pm

Turtleneck wrote:
xsanguine wrote:

Pretty sure George W. Bush started that trend.

At least we know, no matter who wins in Nov, our next president will have had ties to the mob. We haven't had that since Bill in the 90's. Should be fun.

It started before Bush.

https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Alien.html

The point about Trump is that for the past 7.5 years many of his supporters were crying about big government taking away our liberties and turning the US into a police state. Now they suddenly back an authoritarian candidate? It's quite contradictory.

Agreed. Everyone feels like they HAVE to participate... And there's no such thing as a small government politician so people feel vindicated in what they feel are the lesser of two evils. It's that way on both sides. No one is excited about Hillary Clinton but they're going to come out and vote for her regardless.

What a shit show.

by **Watch Out Pylon!** Tue May 24, 2016 4:51 pm

I for one live in constant fear of an ISIS invasion. It's quite crippling.

by **xsanguine** Tue May 24, 2016 5:51 pm

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:I for one live in constant fear of an ISIS invasion. It's quite crippling.

Do you think it's unrealistic to assume the US will not be invaded and will not be conquered at some point in the future?

by **Turtleneck** Tue May 24, 2016 6:04 pm

xsanguine wrote:
Watch Out Pylon! wrote:I for one live in constant fear of an ISIS invasion. It's quite crippling.

Do you think it's unrealistic to assume the US will not be invaded and will not be conquered at some point in the future?

If those lazy Brits have managed to avoid invasion for close to 1,000 years, we can do it, too. So I vote highly unlikely in my lifetime. Possible? Yes. But it is also possible I start dating Jennifer Lawrence soon.

by **Watch Out Pylon!** Tue May 24, 2016 7:13 pm

xsanguine wrote:
Watch Out Pylon! wrote:I for one live in constant fear of an ISIS invasion. It's quite crippling.

Do you think it's unrealistic to assume the US will not be invaded and will not be conquered at some point in the future?

How far out are we talking? 50 years? No way. After that I'll be dead so whatever.

by **xsanguine** Tue May 24, 2016 9:17 pm

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:
xsanguine wrote:

Do you think it's unrealistic to assume the US will not be invaded and will not be conquered at some point in the future?

How far out are we talking? 50 years? No way. After that I'll be dead so whatever.

We like to think our way of life is rock solid and bullet proof but bad situations can develop very quickly, sometimes from within. Yes, chances are we'll all never see that day but that day is going to come at some point whether it's in 15, 150 years, or 500 years. The only consistency to expect is change.

by **xsanguine** Tue May 24, 2016 9:19 pm

Turtleneck wrote:
xsanguine wrote:

Do you think it's unrealistic to assume the US will not be invaded and will not be conquered at some point in the future?

If those lazy Brits have managed to avoid invasion for close to 1,000 years, we can do it, too. So I vote highly unlikely in my lifetime. Possible? Yes. But it is also possible I start dating Jennifer Lawrence soon.

True, but for many of those years warfare hadn't changed much. The way nations fight wars has changed more in the last 100 years than it had the previous 2,000 years. Perhaps we'll be the next rare anomaly like Britain, but chances are we won't be.

by **Watch Out Pylon!** Tue May 24, 2016 10:58 pm

xsanguine wrote:
Watch Out Pylon! wrote:

How far out are we talking? 50 years? No way. After that I'll be dead so whatever.

We like to think our way of life is rock solid and bullet proof but bad situations can develop very quickly, sometimes from within. Yes, chances are we'll all never see that day but that day is going to come at some point whether it's in 15, 150 years, or 500 years. The only consistency to expect is change.

Nah. Not even Trump as president will cause us to be invaded in the next 50 years. No way, no how. The closest military might compared to ours is China and we're not going to war with them any time soon.

And thinking that we'll be attacked by our own military is just silly time fear mongering.

by **xsanguine** Tue May 24, 2016 11:09 pm

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:
xsanguine wrote:

We like to think our way of life is rock solid and bullet proof but bad situations can develop very quickly, sometimes from within. Yes, chances are we'll all never see that day but that day is going to come at some point whether it's in 15, 150 years, or 500 years. The only consistency to expect is change.

Nah. Not even Trump as president will cause us to be invaded in the next 50 years. No way, no how. The closest military might compared to ours is China and we're not going to war with them any time soon.

And thinking that we'll be attacked by our own military is just silly time fear mongering.

Stranger things have happened, Pylon.

I forget why we're debating this but in any case I enjoy it.

by **Watch Out Pylon!** Wed May 25, 2016 12:07 am

xsanguine wrote:
Watch Out Pylon! wrote:

Nah. Not even Trump as president will cause us to be invaded in the next 50 years. No way, no how. The closest military might compared to ours is China and we're not going to war with them any time soon.

And thinking that we'll be attacked by our own military is just silly time fear mongering.

Stranger things have happened, Pylon.

I forget why we're debating this but in any case I enjoy it.

Stranger things have happened with governments that were totalitarian in nature. You can argue that we're living in an oligarchy but even if that is the case there are still too many checks and balances in place to worry about being attacked from within.

by **Robert J Sakimano** Wed May 25, 2016 7:57 am

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:I for one live in constant fear of an ISIS invasion. It's quite crippling.

clearly you have yet to succumb to the mainstream media/Donald Trump fear, paranoia and hysteria.

they're coming.. and they're coming for you.

by **Turtleneck** Wed May 25, 2016 11:47 am

The Daily Show asked NRA members if they support gun control — to surprising results
http://www.vox.com/2016/5/25/11767402/nra-guns-daily-show

by **Robert J Sakimano** Wed May 25, 2016 12:11 pm

Turtleneck wrote:The Daily Show asked NRA members if they support gun control — to surprising results
http://www.vox.com/2016/5/25/11767402/nra-guns-daily-show

paranoid gun-totin' knuckle-draggin' rednecks are funny... that said, there were a couple of refreshing moments in the clip.

by **Turtleneck** Mon May 30, 2016 11:22 am

Anyway...it is kind of ironic that Trump is claiming to be an ardent defender of the 2nd Amendment. I think the 2nd Amendment exists because of fears the framers had about people like Trump.

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