On Monday, February 13, 2017 at 3:05:42 PM UTC-5, wrote:

You are NOT entitled to your opinion. You ARE entitled to your informed opinion. NO ONE is entitled to be ignorant.

For the record, all your glib little bits and phrases are kinda-sorta stupid and hollow when viewed - I am a born-again liberal who has built a great many things, from aircraft and nuclear parts carrying my signature that kept *you* alive, to structural designs for historic renovations that are now 'in the book' and included in NFPA, UL, BOMA, UBC and other standards and codes, and much more - things that actually affect lives. What have you done?

A conservative was once defined as someone with something to conserve.
The alternate definition is A liberal who has been mugged.

But, it has become clear to me that conservatives, in essence, are individuals deadly fearful of change at any level that *might* threaten their lives..

tRump is anything but a conservative. tRump is an opportunist looking after himself, no more. He wears the conservative mask as it suits his purpose.

The general levels of ignorance demonstrated by conservatives is pretty wretched, frightening and nauseating, all at once. Now, here is a rant I have used in the past.

This country has a long and illustrious history of electing corrupt, ignorant, stupid or simply inept politicians to high office, starting all the way back with Ulysses S. Grant, Warren Harding, Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, G.W. Bush, to name just a few. Donald Trump is at home in that crowd at any of several levels.

We get exactly the government we deserve, as we vote them in time after time after time, and every part and piece of our government devolves back to those elected "representatives" as by deliberate choice or by neglect, they permit all those parts and pieces to continue.

Keep in mind that the Average American:

Does not have a college education, including an Associate Degree (60%).
Does not have a passport (64%).
Speaks one language €“ badly (74%).
Has never traveled voluntarily more than 200 miles from his/her birthplace (57%).
Has never visited a foreign country, not even Mexico or Canada (71%).
Cannot name the Speaker of the House, even today (82%)
Cannot name the three branches of government (64%)
Cannot read at a college level (83%)
Cannot read for content (54%).
60% of American Households do not buy any book in a year.
Does not believe in Evolution (42% creationism, 32% evolution, 26% no opinion).
Only 71.2% of eligible voters are registered.
Only 57.9% of registered voters voted in 2012.
Meaning that the average American eligible to vote does not vote (only 41.5% net). Not much changed in early statistics for 2016, although the change was to greater participation (48%). The Average American still does not vote.

And you think that our government is anything other than exactly what we deserve, doing exactly what we should expect it to do based on what we tell it (and allow) it to do?

This has not one damned thing to do with party, democrat, republican, libertarian, communist, green, whatever. It has to do with massive, systemic and deliberate neglect, and industrial-grade stupidity mixed equally with mil.Spec. ignorance.

Like some few Americans, I have lived and worked as a civilian in another culture vastly different from here - and I have seen how Americans are perceived in other parts of the world. You might be surprised how easily it is for other cultures to separate Americans (whom they largely respect and admire) from American Culture (continuous amazement, mixed with a varying amounts of jealousy and horror) and the American Government (poorly understood, largely disliked - much as here). Would that Americans had the same ability to separate the individual and sub-group from the various other parts and pieces of the entirety in other cultures and regions.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA