My Dad got the long knives out tonight...

[Ripley]

He is retired from the Federal Government (NASA), doing okay. But only because he invested in some land and stocks.

He let me know my future is completely FUCKED and that my retirement plans will never be enough to compensate for the mutha-fuckin bastids in the White House running this country into the shit hole. China owns our ass and I should not buy one more freaking stock of American banking, finance, oil or commodities!

Holey fuckin mole! My Dad used to be a Republican and is now so Anti-Bush he could be called a Bushwacker!

We're doomed.

Or then again, it could be just the fact that we never got along and he's messing with my head.

[FreedomAngel82]

1. Maybe he's getting it

since it's effecting him or something. :shrug:

[rox63]

2. I know several Repugs who despise *

The only way he could have won the election was if it was rigged. So many people of all political persuasions hate him.

[CoffeeCat]

10. I agree, but what about the polls?

I agree with you that most Americans hate *.

Obviously, * has his supporters, but not enough to win that election.

I often meet Republicans who are very unhappy with *. Fiscal conservatives are livid and many moderate Republicans have distanced themselves.

I agree that many hate *. However, why are the polls still showing his favorables around 49 percent?

Are the polls rigged too?

[tsuki]

14. Yes, the exit polls were, and they are supposed to be the most

reliable.

[leesa]

22. Are they corporate polls?

[lostnfound]

26. Nice. Concise. nt

[BamaBecky]

3. Thank the lucky stars that your Dad has eyes to see and ears that hear n/t

[kanrok]

4. Invest in China

Ishares offer an investment vehicle there. It's not as bad as your dad might think. The stock market is still a good investment when done intelligently. Read "The Intelligent Investor". It is timeless.

[Ripley]

6. Actually my Dad reads the Scot trader daily...

He watches his stocks almost daily and is making some.

He's trying to get me to start trading, but I don't have the time or inclination. He is pissed I have some money in mutual funds that I don't know exactly what they are doing...

He's right to an extent. But WHO HAS THE TIME to monitor their mutual funds daily?

[kanrok]

9. You don't have to monitor them every day

But once a month at minimum. It's fascinating to see money work for itself. It takes awhile, but it definitely does pay off. I highly recommend "The Intelligent Investor" Ask your dad about it. I'll bet he knows about it, and the concepts it details.

[Ripley]

12. Okay, thanks.

I haven't heard him mention that, but he gets a few different trader info things. He is really, REALLY into it. I have no desire to do it, but feel I may have to...

[Enquiringkitty]

19. Well...learn to speak the language because our trade deficit is dragging

down in the world economy and you are sending your money to them...Bush needs to send you a "thank you" note.

[kanrok]

20. Please explain

I don't know much about the political ramifications of my investments. I'm willing to learn though. I never consider the moral implications of my investments. I am concerned about providing for my family.

[Enquiringkitty]

25. The debt we have in our country...our economic deficit effects

our buying power and the value of the American dollar on the world market. The dollar drops due to the country's deficit and we can't buy or pay for as much as we could when the deficit was low and the dollar was high. If we sell goods or invest on stock from another country, our dollar isn't worth as much so we must buy more to equal out to what their money is worth in the world market...their goods are worth more and our country can afford less. Investing in their stocks pump up their stock which by comparison is even higher that the dollar on the world market. You will make money for your family because their country is better off than ours and every stock of theirs purchased by us will make the difference between the two of us grow bigger.

Our economic Deficit at home must lower to make our dollar stronger on the world market then our dollar will come closer in value to theirs....our lumber, that they need, will be worth about the same as their steel, that we need. Now our lumber is worth less than their steel so we must send more lumber to get the amount of steel we need....we send out more goods to get less back.

[sandnsea]

29. Voila', the Ownership Society

Which is another reason Bush wants our SS in the stock market. Every American will have all money in overseas stocks and won't care how much other people are exploited because we'll be raking in the dough without even having to work for it.

[Aviation Pro]

5. Agree...

...with your father.

China owns our ass and I should not buy one more freaking stock of American banking, finance, oil or commodities!

I've taken it one step further, until January 2009 I will buy no big ticket items, I will only spend money on living expenses and I will no longer support this administration through consumption.

The only way to get these bastards attention is to hit them in the wallet.

[Fovea]

7. le moment

of existential nausea. Tell him to get a MD's permit to light up, and for a blessed while the nausea might pass. And while the medical mj might at least let him keep dinner down, for more long lasting relief, I suggest he go carry a sign and scream at a few freakin bastids.

The kind of crisis that occurs when you realize that you have struggled half your life to build the perfect quagmire can kill. The only thing you can do is reshape your life to match your beliefs a bit better, and spread the word. You were there, and he told you.

[Ripley]

16. Not sure what you mean.

I don't think my dad struggled to build a perfect quagmire. He worked to provide a roof over my head.

Here's the long-knives story....we basically dislike each other but my mother keeps telling each of us we are exactly alike. my family is the complete definition of dysfunctional, yet we can still functionally say happy birthday and hey! did you lose a lot of money in that last oil crisis? and survive. We do best at distance.

[Fovea]

30. No one sets out to build the awful world they see

when they finally lift their head up from the
grindstone and see the system you have been turning the crank of, in its breathtaking, jaw-slacking chaotic form.

You see the world you live in, the state you paid taxes into, the family you share blood with, and for a moment, you accept
your place in them, and the attendant nausea.

It makes you ask really difficult questions about how and when you do the right thing, or don't...

I consider it the backside of the mid lie crisis. More like start of late life crisis.

[jedr]

8. did he vote for W?

notice that the repughs didn't do the nasty little things that would hurt those in their base till the second term ... gays, farmers, retiree's, just the start of people who though that W was such a great guy, finding out too late

[Ripley]

11. NO HE DID NOT VOTE FOR W - either time.

He is trying to tell me his life story I think.

He chose to work for the government as an aeronautical engineer instead of private sector because he thought the contract would ensure his retirement for him and his wife. Guess what? It did at the time my Dad did that. Retired in 1989.

But he is a guy who keeps up with this and is telling his children that the world is very, very, very, VERY different than it was 40 years ago.

The government gone bad. He knows it from the inside.

[Liberty Belle]

13. Get him started calling/writing his Congressional reps.

It's more likely to influence Republican legislators' votes if they hear from REPUBLICAN voters who are angry and fed up.

Get him the phone numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses etc. and provide him with a couple of key issues each week. This is how to make a difference and stop these bad bills from getting through.

[jedr]

15. glad to hear that:

yes it is a very different world as the necons have their way...I remember in 2000 driving along thinking how good everything was.. I had a good job ..so did my kids...raises coming every 6 mos. great bennies...now we go to work with little security... no raises.. bennies shrinking...sounds like your getting good advice...keep talking

[blogbear]

17. No We Are NOT Doomed UNLESS..

We Resign Ourselves To Be Doomed..Only When We Through Throwing In The Towel And Conceding To Defeat Is That So! We Could Have Been Defeated Sooooo Many Times Over The Years With That Defeatist Attitude! We Need To Rekindle Our National Spirit, Pay Our Debts To One Another, And Meet Our Obligations To One Another! If One Thing Doesn't Work Then Dammit We Will Try Something Else..We Will Study Our History, Learn, Strive, And Achieve! That Is NOT Impossible because IT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE!!!!!

[Donailin]

23. It's cyclical.

http://www.bullnotbull.com/bull/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[seabeyond]

18. he's messing with my head. lol lo lol

80's we thought japan was going to own our ass. a couple years ago saudi arabia,. just saying will have to see. i havent given up on us yet, and i figure if we watch where trend and money is we will be able to survive, as will our kids

[Enquiringkitty]

21. Saudi Arabia only owns the banks...and the energy...and half owners of

major corporations....and a good chunk of real estate in major cities like New York.....but NO!...we thought they owned us in the 80s....NO! they were just buying in the 80s....they literally own us now....China holds our wallet.

[Bake]

24. Obviously, I don't know you or your dad, BUT may I make a suggestion?

Make an effort to reach out and talk to him. Or better, LISTEN to him. You don't have to agree. Just LISTEN. Maybe he'll return the favor and listen to you. Maybe not. But I promise it's worth the effort.

At least this one episode indicates that your dad has some sense. He apparently has not swalled the whole pitcher of Kool-Aid.

Try talking/listening to him.

Bake

[shadowknows69]

27. No, we're doomed.

Make your peace with your father, and probably anyone else you care about. Time grows short.

[Blue_In_AK]

28. My dad worked for NASA, too

back in the Apollo glory days. He was a lifelong democrat, and although I miss him (he passed away 11 years ago), I'm glad he's not alive to see what's happened to this country.

[FourStarDemocrat]

31. My own mother, never political before, hates Bush as much as I do

My mom has been a Democrat all her life, but voted for Reagan, then back to the Dems (she thoughtReagan was charming) and was never particularly partisan. However, with George W Bush, she tells me that everything the man does makes her furious, she hates how he got us into Iraq, she hates all of his policies, thinks he's the worst liar she's ever seen in her lifetime in office (she's in her 70's). If she ws younger and stronger, she'd be at every protest.

My dad worked on Wall Street throughout he career and has been completely apolitical. However, he too thinks that Bush and his administration are reactionary nutjobs. My father has never gone to the polls though- he's too lazy, procrastinates and "can't be bothered". I tried all I could last year to get him to register, to no effect. Fortunately, he lives in NY so it didn't make much of a difference.

[Sugarbleus]

32. 70 yr old mom...

Bless her heart!

This reminds me of something that happened when I was in the grocery parking lot a week ago.

I was sitting in my van with daughter getting ready to go inside. I have a: BUSH Bringing Fascism into the Twenty-First Century sticker on my van. An elderly woman in the next car was putting away her basket, walking back and forth behind my vehicle.

I told my daughter to watch out, I thought the woman was going to bawl me out. Well, she came around to passenger side and leaned into window to say SHE LOVED MY STICKER! lol I said "Whew, I though you were gonna yell at me". She said she couldn't STAND W and she couldn't STAND his dad either!

This woman was a youthful 83 years old, a former Navy Nurse, married to a former naval officer. She used to live in San Diego. It was really nice chatting with her. I told her we 'youngins' (not really young here but..) were giving it our best shot in terms of kicking Bush's ass outta there. She was really ticked off over our soldiers and the lying that got them into that mess.

Ya never know who all HATES BUSH... :evilgrin:

[FourStarDemocrat]

33. Great story!

Enjoyed reading it. I too would have thought that she was ready to yell when she came up to you. :)

[Sugarbleus]

34. =o). n/t

[dbt]

35. Kick.

:hi: Ripley!