Mark Davis

Water is wet, it's hard to fathom

Incredibly hard thing for his parents to do, but they did the right thing. Once the authorities are on you though and your freedom is at stake, it's funny how cooperative and forthcoming people can be. Robinson may as well not cooperate and stay quiet as his attorney advised, he's dead man walking either way.

You shouldn’t blame all conservative ideology for the death of people like the MN lawmaker but give a pass to the liberal one on the Kirk assassination. You are placing blame as you see it for your disagreement over Trump at the feet of all conservatives but wanting to disavow any responsibility for the radicals on the left from your ideology. It’s got to be one or the other and my belief is you can’t paint everyone with a broad brush. There are things I disagree with Trump on but by and large I do support his policies. I don’t know of anyone who celebrated the murder in MN but unfortunately I have seen a long time friend celebrate Kirk’s on my social media. It’s not an indictment of all, and I honestly think speaking on the day of his murder about disagreeing with Kirk was in poor taste. But there’s a huge difference in doing that and celebrating the murder. We’ve seen no shortage of that unfortunately.

Agreed. We have freedom of speech, from the government. Private companies have a right to do what they want, especially when it's statements that can harm your business.

I don't think anyone should lose their job for disagreeing with Charlie Kirk. Even if they make stupid/insensitive comments I'm not for canceling them, I just chalk that up for them showing how stupid they are. The line to me is when it goes beyond the insensitive and openly supporting murder and it's a public employee, perhaps a teacher influencing children. I wouldn't want anyone posting support for Dylan Robinson teaching my child anymore than I'd want someone teaching them who supported Dylan Roof. It shows at the very least a lack of morality, and perhaps a sign of mental illness their mentality has devolved to that state,

Sometimes the inside straight doesn't hit on the river, it's just a brick.

Thanks. It’s a thoughtful response. And I don’t have the right words to respond appropriately. I say that because while I don’t mean this personally to your explanation, but I view capitalism as at our core what our country is about. Advocating for or supporting an overthrow of that system is an evil and detrimental act in my mind. While I understand what you said about the new generation, success is not impossible. The playing field isn’t perfectly level, I don’t pretend it is. But it’s by far the best in the world and you have a much better chance of going from poor to wealthy under a capitalist system. It’s the one our forefathers gave/risked their lives for in war. It’s one worth preserving at any cost.

Well, we will never agree. In my mind, one is merely giving quarter to the other. Both are anti capitalist and a danger. I will leave you though with the point that while there has been outrage over this on the right, there are no riots. There are no campuses under siege, no students hiding in fear, buildings being vandalized. Those actions are pretty exclusively one side when they have outrage or don't get their way. And it's not people like you, it's those people who want to unravel our society. They don't want to live in it as it is today. When you have that mindset, violence is easy and it's justified. Obviously an assassination is the pinnacle of bad acts, but the others can also be reprehensible and shows the mentality of those involved.

I agree, the guy was left of Bernie Sanders and was a nutjob who shot Scalise. Like I said, I don't blame Bernie Sanders personally for that. I personally believe the numbers would add up showing where the bigger problem is, but it's like arguing over cancer or heart disease. As far as American socialists/Marxists/leftists, whatever you want to call them, I've seen enough on college campuses to realize we have a serious issue brewing. You may disagree, and I notice you are giving cover to them by trying to split hairs on what to call them. You and I disagree frequently, nowhere more so than here. This ideology is a serious problem and be careful of feeding a rabid dog from your hands, most of them would hate you for who you are. They are capable of hating you for both your identity and your beliefs. They would hate me for one, and you for the other.

So are you claiming that Marxism has not had a violent tint to it over time? I don’t know any of the three personally, none have enough power to call for something that extreme and hold their current office. It doesn’t mean historically that if those with similar beliefs gain enough power they can and have committed violent acts in support of it. I’m not going to blame Bernie Sanders directly, but you use him as an example. It was a Bernie supporter who shot Steve Scalise.

IMO there's a difference is the old school liberalism and the Marxist leftist fringe that exists today. It's taken hold, specifically amongst younger folks on the left. Their views are anti capitalist much more so than for instance the posters here that are viewed on the left. Marxism is much more violent, it's not about coexisting or accepting a difference of opinion. I'm afraid that's what we are seeing on college campuses today. It's not exclusively a young person issue but it's much more prevalent in polling. I had a friend who posted some really vile stuff on social media today about this. I knew he and I disagreed on many political things, but he was out there justifying it, talking about how bad of a person Kirk was. The man is nearing 60 if he isn't there already, I've known him for over 30 years. All joking aside, I think he's let this political rhetoric impact his mental health. I think some of these things are in that realm as well.

The ridiculous comparisons of those who support the Trump administration or its policies as Nazis and fascists justifies this in the minds of many. That may be the triggering event but normalizing political violence is extremely destabilizing. It’s not a 100% one side issue, but the idea that white supremacists are the most dangerous people in our country is laughable. We have a group, particularly of younger people, who have a socialist lean and view capitalism as evil. The root of the problem is there.

He won reelection last week as well. Woodfin isn't nearly as bad as some of the recent mayors. Policy wise I don't agree with him on almost anything. But he's not had the corruption issues that have plagued the city and he's a younger guy, not part of the old establishment.

I thought you proposed them coming to "red" Birmingham. You got me to agree. What's the issue?

Well, there was a Republican mayor pretty recently. What were you doing in 1975?

I'm all for them coming to "red" Birmingham. Crime is bad in the city and is a problem. Those of us around not committing crime would see improvement from that. Although, Mayor Siebels went out of office in 1975 when I was 1 year old, he has one hell of a reach from the grave to keep the city red.

You're equating our National Guard to the Gestapo?

It's not a lot more difficult than XX and XY chromosomes. I know you passed biology at some point and understood basic genetics. If you don't accept that anymore as factual then it's a fruitless conversation. Your analogy to gay marriage is off to me because I don't think the opposition to gay marriage in large came from people believing gay people were mentally ill. There were a vocal minority of that opposition who thought that. But growing up in a conservative town, I knew very few people who thought that. It had more to do with religious views about marriage. I look at the trans issue no differently than the poor soul I saw riding a bicycle in the wrong direction along one of the busiest highways in our state yesterday. He was out there at dusk with people slamming on their brakes to keep from hitting and killing him. The guy was talking to himself as I passed. I didn't hate the man, I felt pity and hope he finds help. I don't hate someone who thinks they are a woman if they are a man, but I do think they need help. I do think it's harmful for us to hide from what has always been basic biology and genetics because an ideology tells you to do so. If you allow someone to keep believing in fantasies and delusions, depression is bound to follow because they aren't living in reality and eventually reality always slaps you in the face.

There is a larger gun violence problem, it sometimes overlaps with mental health issues. So sometimes it's appropriate to discuss that overlap.

If you're fine with admitting that trans people need mental help then I'm ok with voting for funding it. My belief on it doesn't have anything to do with Donald Trump.

I simply am not shocked when a mentally ill person commits an act that it would take a level of mental illness to take. Who are you wanting euthanized? Are you ok or do you need help?

The gun control argument is fair to debate, but I know what a man is and what a woman is. It's like that old saying not all fingers are thumbs but all thumbs are fingers. Not every person with mental illness is trans, but every trans person has some sort of mental issue. Choose not to believe it if you want to, and I know you won't because ideologically the left can't admit there's a problem. But it's a large part of why the Dems are losing elections in recent years. If they do retake the House, which they should, they may mistakenly believe that they can keep up this kooky ideological stuff. But the trend is going away from this nonsense. These people need help, they need people telling them the sky isn't purple, it's blue. When you allow delusions to continue, you're aiding and abetting the problem.

The first step in getting help is admitting there is a problem

The best solution is treating mental illness. The problem is we can't agree that a man who thinks he is a woman has a mental problem to begin with.

It's why you'll never hear a quantitative or numerical answer of the "How much is enough?" when you ask those who complain about what the rich should be paying to support these programs. The numbers never add up. If they give you numbers and what levels to apply it to, they never make up for the social program side of it. They can only take more and more and unless they are checked, inflation will spiral to insane levels. Never mind that those who would be saddled with the rates needed to pay for this stuff will leave en masse. On a macro level inflating constantly is the only way to keep it going.