Comments by "Alan Friesen" (@alanfriesen9837) on "CNN" channel.

Jack Shite Three daughters, two wives (one is an ex), physically nauseated by the thought of intimate contact with another man. So far I think Buttigieg is the best candidate I've seen and I would vote for him in a minute. If he's still in the running during my state's primary, assuming he doesn't do something that really pisses me off, he'll get my vote then. And while it's possible that Pete Buttigieg "has no idea how normal men think…", it's not because he's gay, it's because he's abnormally intelligent and freakishly accomplished for someone his age.
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We didn't have to have foes. We forced them, and are still forcing them, to stand up against us.
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Don't hold your breath.
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I think we should have four or five of 'em sitting on a long couch on stage and having a calm conversation about the needs and the future of the country. Do it in San Diego and call it Demi-Con. Ticket sales could be distributed equally to the campaign funds of the candidates that showed up.
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You guys aren't part of the solution; you're part of the problem.
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snoop alert That would be the consequence for choosing to use private health insurance.
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snoop alert You seriously think you can provide the services that government does without a hierarchical structure? You have to have chains of authority, planning, distributive networks, in short—bureaucracy. Without it you have chaos and most of your resources get lost in the mess.
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For starters, I'd have the government guarantee the pensions. I'd take this opportunity to discuss options for state medical coverage, see what kind of resistance they felt for a single-payer healthcare program and ask if they had a better idea. I think it's important to have a conversation about the reality that coal mining jobs will continue to disappear but also to try to brainstorm with them for ways for folks to make a good living without coal with an emphasis on comparably paid income streams. While I think that might come to naught, if they come to that conclusion with us instead of from us, it might be easier to swallow. Even so, those communities are still going to need economic support and at the same time they'll need to find a self-satisfactory justification for their existence. By the way it's not just Appalachia. We have the same issues in the timber towns here in Oregon.
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@richsackett3423 Remember how back in grade school conflicting emotions led us all to say mean things about the the girls we had a crush on?
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People don't trust anyone that's obviously smarter than themselves.
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@shakekr1750 The Packers defeated the Chiefs in the first Super Bowl.
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@adamchase8985 You know what they say, "Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company."
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@windbagjones2081 Democrats do more for inner-city blacks than Republicans by a long shot. They would do even more if they weren't hampered by Republican opposition, corruption (within the party and outside of it), and the practical limitations of reality. Whether or not they try to do enough (for inner-city blacks as well as for others) is a running debate within the party.
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@KnarfStein What level is that, pray tell?
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@larryholou I don't know that we shouldn't care about Ukraine and its people simply because they are far away, but I do think that we should recognize that they are a relatively small country in Russia's backyard and we should be trying to help them get along with and prosper from their overwhelming neighbor rather than using them as a tool to get under Russia's skin.
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@KnarfStein You think Russia wants the west to be a stagnant petrostate? I haven't been to Russia. Perhaps you have and you know better. But I'm not sure Russia is as stagnant a petrostate as you think. I know Russia has been modernizing and cleaning up its cities and towns over the last twenty years. That's not to say that Russia is any kind of paradise. Standards of living are lower on average in Russia than they are in western Europe. I think this combined with a more authoritarian governance that rotates around the personality of Putin keeps most Westerners from immigrating.
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I got an idea. Why don't we call it a Welcome Center. We could build a 2000-mile long campus with bathrooms, showers and laundry facilities where people trying to improve their lives could get a decent meal and get properly cleaned up and maybe get some decent medical and dental attention and where they could talk to a lawyer. They could then be properly informed about the importance of working for at least a minimum wage so that they're not undercutting American workers and how to report shady businesses that try to employ them for less. They could be encouraged to bring their families so that the money they make is spent in the U.S. instead of sent to other countries. Something like that might even cut into the human trafficking business across the border. Y'know, I might even support giving him $5billion for that.
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snoop alert You seem to have a good grip on how it would play out. It's definitely hard to vote with your feet when the service is a monopoly. However, with government you can fire the administrators at election time if you can find enough like-minded voters. I think I have a more favorable view of bureaucracy than you do. Bureaucracy is a tool for efficiency but it can be corrupted. The problems of bureaucracy that you listed above are just as likely to corrupt a corporation as they are a government. If there are government and corporate options than you can weigh the costs and benefits and choose which one is best for you. If there is only one option, whether it's corporate or government, then I guess you're stuck with it.
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Gooey 911 I guess it's started.
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I haven't noticed that. Perhaps what you think is clear, is in fact bullshit.
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@Lauren Kent You ask a lot of a true believer.
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