Want to Lower the Deficit? Raise Taxes

That's right. I said it. Not only let the Bush tax cuts expire, but increase marginal rates. Do I think we should also cut spending? Damn right. You can start by closing military bases in any country other than ours. To show I'm not a complete dickhead, I'll exempt Afghanistan and Iraq until we pull our troops out.

I suppose that puts me not only in the tiny minority, but also in the loony bin in some people's book. However, if Americans are serious about deficit reduction, taxes need to go up. And why not? The deficit exists because Americans like the things the federal government spends money on.

Washington D.C. is spending OUR money!!!!!

We've all heard this refrain shouted in one form or another by the Tea Party. We've also heard it from Republicans, Libertarians, and probably from disgruntled independents and even Democrats.  I imagine it's been said since the 16th Amendment passed. It goes over great with pissed off voters. And who better to demonize than the federal government? Especially when the shit talker is running for federal office?

Washington D.C. is spending OUR money!!!!!

It gives rise to a couple bullshit assumptions. First the "our money" one. The 16th Amendment empowered the federal government to levy and collect income taxes. Don't like it? Sponsor an amendment to repeal it.  Otherwise, fucking get over it.  Tax rates or progressive taxation are objects for reasonable debate, but matters for another day. There will always be people who dispute the government's authority to tax. On the practical level, the federal government would collapse deprived of income tax revenue. Like it or not, the government does the real heavy lifting in our society, performing unattractive, unprofitable tasks that are necessary to keep the country functioning.  At any rate, the Amendment is there, therefore the Constitutional authority is there.

Washington D.C. is spending OUR money!!!!!

The main assumption created by this phrase is that Washington D.C. is some alternate dimension netherworld occupied by aliens from Galgamek 9. Alright that's hyperbole. My point is, that the right and Tea Party love using phrases like "out of touch", "career politician", "beltway insider" etc. to paint our democratically elected officials as elitists breaking open the national piggy bank to raid the treasury for the fuck of it. When in truth, most of what legislators do is carry out the will of the voters, or at least get money or projects for their states or districts. Think about it, even if their vote is strictly along party lines, it's a safe bet that many of the people who elected them would support that legislation. Okay, I'm generalizing. Even I don't agree with everything the left supports. But it's still a probable for instance, that a democrat is going to favor cap and trade legislation, while a republican will likely support the ban on partial birth abortions (heck even I like that one).

During the debate over health insurance reform, Sean Hannity constantly referred to the package as "governing against the will of the people." This was in reference to public opinion that was slowly turning against the bill.  No it wasn't against the peoples' will Sean. It was against yours. One of the big planks Obama ran on was reforming the system. He was very clear about that, and it was part of the reason so many people voted for him. The polls Hannity referred to were conducted by credible sources. I don't dispute the results.

But I would point out that it took nearly a year of rancorous debate, conservative efforts in Congress to gut the bill, and Fox News' and AM hate radio's poisoning the airwaves to taint opinion of the package.  Some liberals, unhappy about the elimination of the public option, found themselves shoulder to shoulder with right wing fruit loops screaming about death panels.  In the beginning, there was more support for the effort, but as the debate drug on, opponents continued to sling mud, some liberals checked out angered by compromises required to move it along. The public got tired of hearing about it. And what do you know, opinion soured.

Sorry for the tangent, but it illustrates my point. The country elected Obama on his promise to do something about health care. And surprise surprise, here comes Congress with just such a fix. The same with the stimulus bill. Proposing and supporting these things doesn't make D.C. look out of touch, it shows them following through on their campaign promises.

I won't get into a tit-for-tat about who are good legislators and who aren't. Obviously some are better than others. If your senator or Congressperson is a corrupt shithead, vote them out. But don't vote them in and then act like they became puppets ala some Invasion of the Body Snatchers plot. You fucking put them there.

Washington D.C. is spending OUR money!!!!!

This brings me to my main point: the debt and deficit exist because American people like the things the government spends money on BUT don't want to pay for them.

In my mind, this point is essential. If Americans can understand we are responsible for the debt and deficit, it will be easier for us to take responsibility and pay the goddamn bill.

Here is a chart of US federal government spending for 2009.

As it shows, 62% of the federal budget is dedicated to defense, social security, medicare and medicaid (with another 5% to interest on our debt). That's over 2/3 of the budget.

The biggest and easiest target is defense. 2009 spending on defense was $782 billion, accounting for 23% of the budget. Good luck finding a Tea Partyer who is willing to admit that our defense spending is UNHOLY. We spend more on defense than the rest of the world put together. Even if we cut defense by 50% we're still WAY ahead of China and Russia combined (estimated $159 billion).

The idiocy in the debate over the New START treaty fleshes out my point. We've been working with the Soviets/Russians over the last 5 decades to pare down our respective nuclear arsenals. Ronald Reagan, the GOD of neoconservative thought lauded the possibility of world free from nuclear weapons.

The Soviet Union fell. But the talks on nuclear arms reductions continued. Now here we sit, with Russia slowly adjusting to a capitalist economy. They're not a threat, they want to sell the world crude oil and get in on capitalism.

Similarly China does not represent a credible threat. They're our greatest trade partner. Why in the fuck would they attack us? They need us to buy their stuff! The right cluelessly claims that they will take over our country to pay back their loans. Guess what right wing? Don't bet on it. China owns around 900 billion in US treasury bonds. Not chump change by anyone's calculation, but less than 10% of our total debt, and less than 1/4 of our debt that is owned outside the country. (look at Wall Street for the other $9 trillion)

At any rate, our military occupies a HUGE number on the country's balance sheet. And Republicans will be the last ones to cut the defense budget. So fuck it, the party of so called "fiscal conservatism" has no problem picking up the tab for the most expensive war machine in the history of the planet.

Next big target: Social Security.

FDR rolled SS out in 1935 in the midst of the Great Depression fearful that senior citizens, no longer able to work, would languish in poverty or worse in their remaining years. This was of course met with howls of socialism, gnashing teeth and a fuckload of law suits. At the time, the Four Horseman of the USSC were busy pissing all over New Deal Legislation. After Roosevelt shut them up with his court packing plan, Social Security was in the clear.

The program was (and is) a huge success by giving people enough income to survive on after they retire. Throughout its existence Social Security has enjoyed broad based bipartisan support. It's true conservatives have had their eye on it for awhile, but won't dare move due to the vicious backlash by voters if they mention making cuts. Conservatives are so beholden to their SS receiving voter base that GWB passed the popular (and unfunded) Medicare part D drug program. Seniors loved it and the deficit continued to grow.

But that was then, what about the current political climate? Fucking forget about it. Cut social security and you'll see an army of Rascals slowly rolling toward the Capitol carrying a million pissed off seniors. The Tea Party (whose membership is largely seniors) would go fucking berserk. And honestly, why shouldn't they? You're talking about people who paid into the system their whole working lives. Obviously I don't agree with the Tea Party on a lot of things, but give seniors their due.

Washington D.C. is spending OUR money!!!!!

 That brings us to the last of the three: Medicare and medicaid. Medicare was signed into law in 1965. Like Social Security before it, was greeted with much fanfare along with much gnashing of teeth, cries of socialism etc.. Leading the charge were Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Barry Goldwater and Bob Dole.

Reagan was particularly notable for this bit of conservative tripe "[I]f you don’t [stop Medicare] and I don’t do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free."

Damn, here we are 45 years later and somehow we're not Communist heathens. I guess jellybean boy wasn't right about everything (or anything but don't get me started).

At any rate, Medicare came into being and like Social Security was a huge success enjoying broad based bipartisan support. Also like Social Security, conservatives have had their eyes on getting rid of it. Again, no sane conservative would ever challenge it due to its popularity and success.  Again, the Tea Party would go Reagan-McNeil-in-the-Exorcist if conservatives tried to gut Medicare.

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So here we are at the end. We have a huge budget deficit and a lot of federal spending on programs that Americans like. We could eliminate or gut those programs. We could also properly fund them.

In a few days, we'll seat the 112th Congress, featuring a Republican controlled House. They've championed the "cut taxes and spending" movement, but have been frighteningly silent about where to make cuts. Why? Because they know the truth: we like our yummy socialist goodies so long as they're free.

Raising taxes seem like the only sane answer. We like the programs federal spending funds, we benefit from them.

Now it's time to belly up to the bar and PAY THE FUCKING TAB.

Glenn Beck: The Crying Rodeo Clown

Where do I start? Glenn has the third highest rated syndicated radio talk show in the country along with a one hour show on Fox News. This combines for 20 hours of some of the looniest entertainment this side of a Warner Bros. cartoon.

I've been grappling with this post for a couple days. The main reason is I want to approach Beck from at least a somewhat original position. Pointing out that Beck is nuttier than a fruitcake is all well and good, but it's been done ad inifinitum and with more eloquence than I could ever muster at sites like Media Matters or The Huffinington Post.

Anyway, for the uninitiated, Glenn is a radio and television host. His t.v. show gets the most attention and to be fair, Glenn comes across much better on t.v.. On radio he sounds much like his conservative brethren with the exception that he often makes poor or offensive jokes then laughs his ass off. As a humorist, he's compared himself to Jon Stewart, but doesn't come close. Crafting good jokes just doesn't seem to be in the conservative bailiwick.

He doesn't have a set format. Sometimes he has guests, often it's just him. When he wants to appear serious or intelligent he wears glasses.  He seems to really only have two staples: the chalkboard and crying on screen. The chalkboard has become an icon for him. He uses it to draw flow charts to illustrate whatever conspiracy theory he's concocted this week. The chalkboard also lends credence to the notion that Beck is educating his audience. The crying? Maybe it's done for dramatic effect. Maybe he's mentally unstable. I don't know. A tear every now and then would convey passion better than turning on the waterworks seemingly on cue.

Like Michael Savage, Beck is not content to attack the left's policies. Beck isn't satisfied unless he's painting Obama as some subhuman monster, spat straight from Hell, bent on transforming the citizenry into Godless commies. Also like Savage, Glenn fancies himself a history wonk.

Glenn separates himself from the pack for a couple reasons. One is the conspiratorial nature of much of his shows, using his trusty chalkboard to show us the nefarious connections between people and organizations. Another is Glenn's obsession with philanthropist George Soros. He went so far as to devote a series of three shows to Soros. Among the bullshit Beck hurled was the gem that Soros, himself a Holocaust survivor, was actually a Nazi sympathizer. Oh my fucking God.

Beck considers Obama appointee Cass Sunstein "the most dangerous man in the country." He slandered another Obama official Van Jones so thoroughly, Jones stepped down (if it was me, I would've called a press conference and gave Glenn the finger).

But I'm getting ahead of myself, Beck's cause celebre was calling Obama a racist with a "deep seated hatred for white people".

Glenn is also distinguished for nearly having his own bodycount. It started with Glenn him shining his chalkboard on the Tides Foundation. They're an organization dedicated to socially progressive and philanthropic issues founded in the 1970's. Glenn started hammering them as part of his relentless attack on progressives, pointing out that *shock* *horror* George Soros had donated money to them.

Enter Byron Williams: an unhinged nutcase with a pile of guns. After Beck repeatedly attacked Tides on his show, Williams set out for San Francisco to kill Tides employees. Luckily he was stopped by police before getting to his target. Unfortunately he got out of his vehicle and started firing. Also unfortunately, his body armor prevented police bullets from saving us the cost of his trial and incarceration. 

I don't hold Beck responsible for Williams' actions, but he never would have heard of Tides had Beck not vilified them on his show.

So where does that leave us? We've got a guy who spouts more bullshit than a cattle ranch, connects his harebrained theories on a chalkboard and occasionally plays with puppets on air.

Michael Savage: America's Drunk Uncle

As promised, today I start a series on AM radio's favorite conservative voices. I'll start with Michael Savage (nee Weiner).

From a ratings perspective Savage is fourth in the country. But on the loony tunes meter, Michael is top of the pile. His rants are so hate filled and unhinged, not even Fox News will touch him.

Despite lacking Beck's and Hannity's base of Fox News viewing morons ready to open their wallets for any product they plug, Savage has been able to sell millions of books virtually single-handedly.  From strictly a marketing perspective that's quite an achievement. Even more so when you consider the caliber of garbage his books are filled with.

Like Beck, Savage is not content to simply portray Obama as a leftist/socialist/communist/anarchist/fascist out to do something diabolical to the country. In Savage's mind, Obama is a "pan Leninist" out to install himself as a lifetime dictator/demigod.  Obama also wants to destroy capitalism, cast the rich into the streets, and of course set up concentration camps for anyone who disagrees with him.

Savage readily parrots each and every right wing talking point as gospel truth. He never discusses the possibility that maybe the charge is embellished, distorted or complete bullshit. But he goes further. After the Deep Water Horizon exploded and sunk, Savage floated the hilarious theory that the rig was, in fact, sunk by a North Korean sub patrolling the Gulf. This in addition to regularly questioning Obama's faith and citizenship. But again with Savage, this is just par for the course.

Savage is also one of the angriest, most caustic radio hosts in the country. Everything sucks to him. Of course, if I was an arch conservative, educated at Berkeley, and living in San Francisco, I'd be pissed off all the time too. The guy is surrounded by everything he hates: gays, liberals, foreigners, etc.. No wonder he is a seething cauldron of rage.

In a departure from his right wing radio brethren, Savage is prodigiously educated, possessing a BA in sociology, Masters' in ethnobotany and anthropology and finally a Ph.D. in nutrional ethnomedicine. This background makes his fact-free on air rants even more puzzling.  In an even weirder turn, Savage spent parts of life associating with people such as Timothy Leary and beat poet Allen Ginsberg.  I don't mean to spend so much time on his life, but it defies logic that someone with Savage's education and liberal life experience could become such a miserable conservative.

When not "educating" us on the non-existent parallels between Obama and the rise of Nazism, Savage rails against illegal immigrants, Muslims and gays or informs his listeners as to how uninformed, poorly educated or stupid they are. Why callers continue to reverently refer to him as "Dr. Savage" is beyond me.

His rants against Muslims are particularly ugly. For instance, on today's edition of his show, he pointed out how historically Muslims would desecrate their fallen opponents by dismembering them in attempt to paint them all as murderous savages. Savage went on to condemn President Clinton's 1995  bombing of Serbian positions as political payback to foreign Heads of State including Javier Solana of Spain. He failed to mention Serbian shelling of Sarajevo which provoked the bombing, or surprise surprise Serbian ethnic cleansing of Muslims.  On the December 17th edition of his show, he linked the growing Muslim presence in London to increased rates of tuberculosis in that city.

Savage doesn't let illegal immigrants off the hook. In his mind, they are a blight on the US population despite he himself being the son of immigrants. He blames them for damn near every problem in California. To Savage, they are nothing more than purveyors of crime, disease and drugs bent on draining the state of every social service dollar they can, all the while ignoring the significant contributions illegals make to local economies by purchasing lodging, food, clothing and other essentials. Multiculturalism is a four letter word to Michael. Apparently, the whole "melting pot" thing ended once his family hit Ellis Island and fuck everyone else.

Michael also hates gays. He's had quite a time attacking the Don't Ask Don't Tell debate, despite the overwhelming consensus of the public and the military (with the notable exception the Marine Commandant) that it should be repealed. There has been a lot of online speculation about the source for Savage's gay bashing. The theory is that Michael had impure relations with Allen Ginsberg and loathed himself for it. It's plausible enough, yet I don't believe it, especially not without corroboration. I've heard there is a Savage autobiography out there confirming this, though conveniently it's out of print and can't be found.

Sorry, Savage may be many things but I don't think he's a latent homosexual.

Finally, Michael hates non Christians. This is kind of an offshoot of the Muslim thing, but I think it deserves special attention due to Savage's stultifying hypocrisy on the subject. He claims not to really be of any faith, yet regularly reads scripture on air, claims to know more about it than actual Christians, and viciously attacks anyone not a Jew or a Christian. In the plus column, he has on occasion spoken favorably of Buddhist philosophy (though for my money his interpretation of Buddhism is a little off).

To round it out, Savage also regularly derides women and pretty much any other non white, non Christian, non American demographic.

Shut down the government republicans. I DARE YOU.

Sorry about the dearth of new posts. Started a new job this week that has me away from the computer most of the day.

I've been working on a big post about serious approaches to reducing the deficit (yes it's about raising income tax rates) but it's not quite finished and I want it to be awesome for the all of 2 readers I get a day (thank you I love you guys and gals!).

In the spirit of Christmas, next week I'll be shining my tiny but revealing spotlight on AM radio's most popular right wing voices. It'll be fun if nothing else.

In the meantime, to tide you guys over, I issue a challenge to our brave, patriotic (lol) republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C.: shut our government down. Filibuster the omnibus spending bill along with any stopgap measures the democrats might try to pass.

I say this to make a point. I don't actually think any of those right wing paper tigers has the balls to try to pull  this off (though republicans get a lot of mileage out of threatening it). It's too bad that the democrats, like sad live-in hostages, fall for it every time.

Just to make sure we're on the same page, the omnibus spending bill funds the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Assholes like Rush, Hannity and Beck would have their listeners believe the omnibus was some once yearly excuse to pillage the treasury and run the deficit up, just for the fuck of it. That Washington D.C. was run by a bunch of mentally ill spend-thrifts burning through money because the voices in their head told them to.

Guess what my conservative dead-enders? It's a bunch of BULLSHIT. You know why the government is so fucking BIG? Oh I'm sure it has nothing to do with stationing American military in over 150 countries (not all on bases), at immense cost to the tax payer. It also has nothing to do (sarcasm intended) with the previous republican President creating an utterly unneeded and completely redundant bureaucracy with the Department of Homeland Security.

Despite President Obama being responsible for NONE of that, the right tars him as an enabler of "big" government. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Because he oversaw the TARP program he DIDN'T sign into law? Because he had the guts and the vision to help get health insurance reform get passed? Or was it because he helped spearhead the effort to FINALLY reign in Wall Street so they can't royally ass-rape us again?

Again, republicans check your facts. TARP was a HUGE success: taxpayers got their money back without destroying the personal or commercial credit markets. Health insurance reform wasn't some government takeover of health care. That one was such a whopper, Politifact.com crowned it their "Lie of the Year." The Consumer Protection agency created by the Wall Street reform bill can only help by assisting Americans who were preyed upon by rapacious credit card mills.

So again, republicans, man up, put your vote where your mouth is: shut the federal government down. See how long your vaunted military protects you when they stop getting paid.

P.S. In a bit of Congressional absurdist comedy, Michele Bachmann is named to the House Intelligence Committee. Her most recent gaffe was declaring that the estate tax was "unconstitutional". An embarrassment to yours truly, her previous occupation was as a tax lawyer.

P.P.S. Watching Fox News makes you dumber or at least more misinformed.

I Love Bernie Sanders

He's a leftist after my own heart.  At the ripe old age of 69, he's got more hutzpuh then the entire Democratic Caucus put together.

For those wondering if I've lost my mind Senator Bernie Sanders pointed out what a ROTTEN deal the bipartisan tax deal really is, and he did it with an old school, actual filibuster.

Bernie rocks for a lot of reasons, not the least of which, he's not afraid to embrace the socialist label, and by being an independent, he isn't beholden to any political party. Guy can say whatever the fuck he wants and the only ones he's responsible to are the voters, LIKE IT SHOULD BE. 

Unlike the Democrats, Sanders isn't afraid to point out the OBSCENE concentration of wealth in the United States. He isn't afraid to trumpet that the wealthy, regardless of tax rates, have gotten such a large share of the nation's money, that they rival their ancestors from the goddamn fucking GUILDED AGE.

What's next? Steerage on Carnival cruises?

As far as socialism is concerned for this radical (for anyone who actually reads me ((thanks by the way))), I'm not a fan of the government controlling means of production. Too much power in too few hands. But I do have to call BULL-FUCKING-SHIT on the right's idiot vision of socialism which paints everyone as mindless worker bees.

True economic socialism allows the worker to set his own salary based on his level of production. Can you believe it? A true meritocracy? Where a person is actually worth the wealth they create? Instead of sending the cash upstairs to pay some asshole executive for doing nothing?

Compromise or Capitulation?

I didn't want to write about this.  It reeks to high heaven and pisses me off, but here is my rant about the future of the Bush tax cuts:

Democrats want tax cuts for the rich to expire and aren't afraid to threaten middle class tax cuts to do it.

Republicans want tax cuts for the rich to continue and aren't afraid to threaten middle class tax cuts to do it.

Then there is the 98% of the country in middle with both sides pointing guns at us.

In his speech Tuesday, Obama accused the right of holding the middle class hostage to protect millionaires and billionaires. Of course he was right.  But what he didn't say was that the Democrats were more or less pulling the same shit, willing to fuck the middle class just to stick it to the wealthy. I get it that the left's tough stance was a game of chicken to force the Republicans into choosing which tax bracket they like more, but still. 

Personally, I'm in favor of pitching them all, bringing the estate tax back and putting capital gains tax rates back where they were during the Clinton years.  If you're serious about reducing the deficit, the BEST thing to do is increase your revenue stream while stopping the credit card shopping sprees.

But I'm in the minority, my idea is not workable since it would be political suicide.  So, cue up the smoke filled back room. Both sides go in bitching and moaning, both sides come out smiling. 

We get a bill that would extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone for two years, a 13 month extension of unemployment, and the estate tax is off the table.  On the plus side, the long term unemployed don't starve to death or get hurled into the street.  On the down, the rich got EVERYTHING they wanted.

We get tossed a few scraps (did anyone think middle class tax cuts were ever really in danger?) and the rich continue to get obscenely richer. This plans sucks for two reasons: 1) The Dems gave away far more than they got and; 2) This plan increases spending while taking in even less! 

Obama compounded this folly by chastising his base again for not understanding what was going on. Not to point out the obvious, but that is dumbshit politics. You do not piss on the people who got you elected. C'mon guy, take that anger and direct it where it needs to be: at Republicans. They're kicking your ass in DC, and doing a FAR better job of getting their message out. Is it possible the reason we don't get it is because the left's messaging machine sucks? For example, most people don't realize just how many bills are being filibustered by Republicans, how many nominations are being held up in committee.

Why not send Gibbs out every day to remind the American public just what obstructionist dickholes the right is actually being?

I know I know, someone is going to point out that compromise is how government works, that this plan is ACTUALLY the result of bipartisanship. But...for fuck's sake. C'mon Dems grow a pair. Just because you don't want to destroy every country that doesn't kiss our ass on a regular basis, doesn't mean that you have act like a bunch of whiny pussies.  

Even though I'm not happy about it, I'll call the deal a compromise. Maybe in two years, Congress will pull their head out of their ass, look at the polls, and do the right thing about top tax rates.

But don't bet on it.

What's up People

Like the title infers I'll be blabbing about American politics.

The landscape has become a cesspool of shrill right wing gibberish. The left needs to find its voice and make its presence felt, instead of being bitchslapped by cries of "Socialist" "Communist" etc.. The non Fox News media needs to do a better job of pointing out lies when they're spoken. In a perfect world it wouldn't be necessary but Fox has decided they just don't give a fuck about journalistic ethics. 

The left can't close ranks.  Health insurance reform would have been a done deal except for infighting and concessions made to legislators like Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson.  I'm no fan of the right, but they know how to work together to get shit done.  Say what you will about Bush, but his administration and the Republican controlled Congress got their programs through. Cheney comes off like Palpatine with the Dems playing the part of the whiny rebels.

Even as the minority, they continued to dominate the discussion. They carved out every concession from Democratic legislation (e.g. tax cut package in the stimulus bill), voted against it anyway, then spit in the Dem's face and giving them a hearty "Fuck You".

The left wing needs to counter this, especially with the House now under Republican control. Progressives need more voices like Nancy Pelosi who, love her or hate her, got the job done by getting the squabbling brats in the Democratic caucus to get along.  The election had the Dems running like scared women letting  Sean Hannity write the narrative. "Democrats can't run on the stimulus, they can't run on Obamacare (fucking hate that expression)." Really? Why not? The stimulus DID create jobs. It would've created more if it wasn't 1/3 tax cuts.

We have in Barack Obama an ambitious visionary. Unfortunately, his calm, cerebral demeanor has been used by the right to brand him as weak, effete, and ineffectual. Politics is a full contact sport, and public perception matters. Obama looks like a kid who just got sucker punched by a bully and walked away.  He's also a victim of his own vision. His hand gets slapped every time he reaches across the aisle. Yet he continues to do it when a more pragmatic person would've flipped Republicans the bird.  Getting things done in DC doesn't require a nuanced approach, it demands smash-mouth politics.

Comments are welcome.  I don't mind swearing, but no name calling, trolls or personal attacks.