New thread on freedom of speech.

[Yssup Rider]

Does freedom of speech trump libel and slander laws?

Does it trump the Ten Commandments?

Freedom of speech, like any other “God given right”, is something evil people will exploit to manipulate the good.

If you need excuses to justify your behavior, then there’s a good chance your behavior is unacceptable.

Keep making excuses for Trump and his gang. It speaks volumes of the morality of the right.

[chizzy]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Does freedom of speech trump libel and slander laws?

Does it trump the Ten Commandments?

Freedom of speech, like any other “God given right”, is something evil people will exploit to manipulate the good.

If you need excuses to justify your behavior, then there’s a good chance your behavior is unacceptable.

Keep making excuses for biden and his gang. It speaks volumes of the morality of the left.

This looks. Better now

[Smarty1]

In the US at least, yes, freedom of speech trumps libel and slander laws. Libel and slander are not crimes in the US, but rather civil torts. Freedom of speech certainly allows you to lie. If you do, and that lie causes damage to someone, you can be found liable in a lawsuit for slander or libel (depending on whether your lie was spoken or written). What cannot happen is that you are jailed or otherwise criminally punished for your lie.

There is a lot of confusion about what free speech actually entails. As the example of libel or slander shows, it certainly does not imply that one can say whatever they want without adverse consequence. It also does not mean that one cannot be censored, as those posting about certain topics on this site inevitably find out. It simply means you cannot be criminally prosecuted for speech or subject to government censorship. If you are okay with paying whatever civil damages are awarded, you are perfectly free to commit libel or slander.

[tommy156]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

If you need excuses to justify your behavior, then there’s a good chance your behavior is unacceptable.

Keep making excuses for Trump and his gang. It speaks volumes of the morality of the right.

Yep. But they lie to themselves all the time so they can keep making these excuses for dear leader.

Shit like calling themselves "the party of law and order" or "family values" or "fiscal responsibility", or that they "back the blue". These are all 100% bullshit lies they tell themselves so they can feel morally superior to Democrats while supporting one of the worst pieces of shit in human history.

[tommy156]

Originally Posted by chizzy

big hurrah to hang your hat on, still over double what it was when he took office and for three years we have dealt with inflation as high as 8%

and you celebrate as a victory its now 3.2?

wow that logic means you are so happy you paid 100 bucks for a bj in 2020 but the price went up to 500 for 3 years but now its only 250 and its a win win for you.. carry on

The last paragraph here. Your math is waaaaayy off. None of those numbers even came close to happening, and gas is now back down to about where it was when trump left office. I paid $3.29/gal yesterday.

Embarrassing to keep having these conversations.

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by tommy156

...gas is now back down to about where it was when trump left office. I paid $3.29/gal yesterday.

Embarrassing to keep having these conversations.

Yes, it certainly IS embarrassing.

The US national average gas price is NOT "back down to where it was when trump left office."

On Jan. 20, 2021 it was $2.38 a gallon. Currently it's $3.24.

That's 36% higher.

Look, I don't obsess over the fucking gas price. But I do get annoyed at the way you play fast & loose with the numbers.

Here's my data source proving you're wrong:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GASREGW

(And before you mention it - I will concede the meme I used in post #6 is over a year old and the data for inflation/gas prices are not fully up to date.)

[tommy156]

You have to look at the numbers before COVID hit, so I misspoke - obviously, the COVID year is going to be misleading because of simple supply and demand.

The national average gas price in January 2020 was $2.63. In July 2019, it was $2.92.

Therefore, gas prices are nearly the same today (30-40 cents higher) as they were when trump was in office.

Blaming Joe Biden for worldwide inflation is still fucking retarded, however, but I suppose it's a convenient cudgel for trumpies to latch onto.

[paintedbynumbers]

it's not just the gas. Look at candy at a supermarket or gas station. M&M's were like 50 cents a pack, now almost $2. A case of pop is almost double in price. A 20 oz coke that used to be roughly $1.10 is now over $2.

A pizza and wings $40 which again, double what it had been.

When it comes to the Economy Trump had it managed far better. I don't ever remember it being as bad as it's been under Joe.

[paintedbynumbers]

Biden may not be a direct cause of inflation or the sole cause I should say, but, he did give all of that free money for people to sit home on their asses. What good did that do? To this day restaurants and small businesses are having trouble finding quality workers. SO many people want to work from home now that it's inflated the cost of food in many restaurants. Hand out Joe didn't help the economy in doing that he hurt it and he made people lazy.

[tommy156]

Prices will be coming back down, to mirror inflation. There's always a lag with these things. The prices being bandied about here are from the 8-9% inflation days. Two or three months from now, they will be lower.

[tommy156]

Originally Posted by paintedbynumbers

When it comes to the Economy Trump had it managed far better. I don't ever remember it being as bad as it's been under Joe.

And Obama had it managed better than trump (who just came in and started taking credit for the masterful job Obama did in the wake of Bush).

I'm old enough to remember when trump started bragging about "his" economy while we were still very much in Obama's final fiscal year. Of course his bragging worked on trump's dumb fuck knuckle draggers, but the basics of how the economy works paints a different picture.

[tommy156]

Originally Posted by paintedbynumbers

Biden may not be a direct cause of inflation or the sole cause I should say, but, he did give all of that free money for people to sit home on their asses.

The government handouts started in the summer of 2020 under trump. And again, the lag made it look like it was all Joe's "fault". trump also exploded the debt by $7 trillion over his 4 years. This was very much a team effort, but again, Joe takes all the blame.

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by tommy156

You do realize inflation is affecting everyone everywhere, right? In every country on earth? It's not just an American thing. At one point not too long ago, for example, Haiti was seeing 40% inflation.

Just so we're clear, it's a global issue. Anyone who blames Joe Biden for worldwide inflation is truly not playing with a full deck....

It's embarrassing to keep having these same conversations with people who have no idea what they're talking about.

I'm embarrassed for YOU, tommy.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe you ever studied economics at a college or graduate level, did you?

Your dismissal of Biden's ownership of inflation is incredibly flippant, superficial and ignorant.

Inflation is BOTH "a global issue" and a domestic (home grown) issue. If it was entirely global, there would be no differences in inflation rates around the globe, right? Why do think inflation is so much higher in Haiti (your example) and lower in the countries chizzy mentioned? It's because different countries pursue different economic policies! And those policies are chosen and implemented by the powers-that-be in each country!

Here is a partial list of the government policy tools affecting the economy in general and inflation in particular:

Fiscal policy (tax & spend)
Monetary policy (interest rates)
Trade and tariff policy
Energy policy
Regulatory policies
Exchange rate policy
Etc.

I could go on, but it would be embarrassing for you. Literally hundreds of policy decisions made by the federal government directly impact our rate of inflation. Some raise it, others lower it.

Anyone who shrugs inflation off as "a global issue" and fails to hold the Biden administration responsible for the impact of its own policy decisions on the rate at which the purchasing power of the US dollar is eroding is truly not playing with a full deck.

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by tommy156

Prices will be coming back down, to mirror inflation. There's always a lag with these things. The prices being bandied about here are from the 8-9% inflation days. Two or three months from now, they will be lower.

Wrong. Lower inflation doesn't mean prices will come down. It just means they will be going up more slowly.

[chizzy]

Originally Posted by tommy156

The last paragraph here. Your math is waaaaayy off. None of those numbers even came close to happening, and gas is now back down to about where it was when trump left office. I paid $3.29/gal yesterday.

Embarrassing to keep having these conversations.

It's embarrassing to you that you either cannot read or just totally dismiss what I wrote in the reply. As I said the bj thing was an example of higher prices, not calculated to suggest an inflation rate. Honestly tommy, u should quite while ur behind