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Mole

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  1. Family values and protecting our children, supposedly conservative values: My 7-year-old loves learning about presidents. He can tell you info about most presidents — their party, when they were elected, who they beat, something interesting about their presidency, etc. He wanted to watch the debate and I had to tell him that it wasn’t appropriate for children since that guy would likely say terrible things — which he did. Anything involving the former president should be rated NC-17.
  2. A case study that is probably not largely applicable to a broader population: My family had lunch with a young Black college student of mine the other day. His family situation isn’t great. His local Southern Baptist Church took an interest in him years ago and has been highly supportive of him. Many of the people he loves and respects the most are Southern Baptists — and they have been great to him. Their care and investment in him will change his life and the lives of his descendants. Their actions have been admirable and represent the best of humanity. Because of that environment, his mindset is to answer life questions by seeking out the biblical answer. This is his first election and he has been asking trusted older people for their opinions. Most of what he has heard is that the “biblical” answer centers around opposition to abortion. He’s not homophobic nor drawn in by the Trump fake machismo. He’s a thoughtful, intelligent kid trying his best to make good choices. He told us at lunch that he’s unsure but is leaning towards Trump because that is the “biblical” answer. His teenage and early adult life has treated the Trump madness as something normal. Like all of us, we’re products of our environment. I try to keep politics out of my teaching to the extent possible, but this was a good chance outside of the teaching environment to challenge his conception of biblical voting while speaking in his biblical terms. I pointed to the book of James and the discussion of Godly wisdom being pure, impartial, sincere, open to reason, and full of mercy and good fruit. I also pointed to clear and explicit commands about treatment of foreigners, widows, and orphans. Rather than detour down the complexities and unintended (?) consequences of anti-abortion laws, I pointed out that while it’s possible to make a reasonable implicit case for the pro-life position using biblical principles, there are very explicit biblical commands concerning how we treat one another and how we deal with marginalized groups. I think his inclination would be to vote Kamala if not for the influence of those people he looks up to. My hope is that I was able to give him space to see that even using his standards, the answer is still pretty clearly Kamala. I understand that for many on this board, even granting the premise of “biblical” voting sounds horrifying, but our personal value largely define how we vote and it’s often possible to show someone a better way using their own values. We left that conversation with him expressing the strangeness that a convicted felon could be elected. My wife brought up the rape issue. I’m not sure how he’ll vote; there’s a lot of baggage pulling him to Trump but I think he also knows it isn’t the right thing to do.
  3. Somewhere in this thread, the question of still holding conservative values came up. Here are defining conservative values that I grew up with: The character of our elected officials is by far the most important criteria for selection. If they are not honest or trusted to put the country’s best interests first, they are not qualified. Most Trump supporters I’ve run across openly admit to his clear lack of character. Core value abandoned. Another conservative value is protecting the family. I have to hide the demented things the former president says from my son to protect my family from these deranged values. His words and actions are not healthy in the home; they harm the family, so the former president has to be censored by a concerned parent. Character and protecting the family were conservative values until conservatives abandoned their core values. I didn’t change, you fake conservatives did.
  4. Early voting profiling check in from semi rural Georgia. I encountered 4 other voter this morning: a grizzled, beaten down white gut with a confederate flag for his front license plate, a 40-something Black women dressed for some office job, and a FBC-looking couple decked out in UGA gear. Extrapolating this data to the entire state…
  5. Every MAGA text gets a response full of bible verses rebuking MAGA, a call to repentance, a Gospel presentation, and a reminder that Harris/Walz is the Christian choice. Those texts are probably never read, but it makes me feel good and in the event that someone reads it, I’m probably speaking their language.
  6. Ruralish Georgia sign/ad check-in: way fewer Trump signs than 2020 and more Harris/Walz signs than Biden/Harris in 2020; my only TV watching is streaming Longhorn games, so I can’t tell what’s on TV, but almost every YouTube video has a Harris ad with some bearded, working-class-looking white dude talking about taxes and how he’s not “rich as hell.” I saw a Harris/Walz social security billboard today as well. There’s very little Trump stuff, although I did get a GOTV text today. I vote in republican primaries against maga so that may be the source of the text. I’m hopeful for GA. Early voting starts Tuesday. I’ll try to stop by before work.
  7. Oklahoma sucks Venables, Switzer, and Stoops Oklahoma Sucks
  8. I think it’s a good time to remind these “policies not person” people that we don’t live in a direct democracy; we have real people who are elected to represent us. Their character matters more so than a specific policy. Remember, it’s a “republic, not a democracy.” Nevermind that if your values and policies lead you to this degeneracy, your values and policies are rotten to the core.
  9. I’m currently displaced by Helene. The family that we’re staying with has small children and two young kittens. One of the kids has a hard time saying the “k” sound and replaced it with a “t” sound. So instead of “I want to snuggle with the kitties,” he says, well you get the idea. He really likes those kitties and talks and asks about them constantly. That’s all I have to add.
  10. Checking in from Georgia: this is the first cell service I’ve had since late Thursday night. I’m glad the horns won, but from the threads on the football board, we’re either ok or terrible? We braved the down trees and power lines and 1-lane roads Friday evening to find a better place to stay. We’ve been through many hurricanes and this is the first one that was genuinely scary as it passed over us. It moved inland so fast that it didn’t lose much power. My town is in bad shape and we’re pretty far inland. No power and water with varying timelines as to when it’ll come back. I’ve heard reports that there might be undrinkable water as of late last night. Some towns are looking at 30+ days possibly.
  11. I’ve been sitting on a hot take for a while about how overrated Euler was; how we have way more advanced math these days; how he would just be average these days at some middling directional school; and how asinine it was to name a Houston-based professional football team after an overrated math nerd. Is this the right thread or should I go to the ugly shoe thread? Also, calling my shot, Trump loses GA. We’ve rejected his movement every time since 2016 and like elsewhere, flag enthusiasm is WAY down.
  12. There is certainly a highly distorted view of strength and courage running rampant through our dead and rotting culture, but we all watched a woman stand up to and make a fool out of the big scary avatar of all of our worst traits while so many terrified men are desperately inventing new fears to fear; maybe it’s way past time to drop gendered insults regarding toughness and courage and find new ways to insult these trembling weaklings.
  13. I can’t place it, but I’m pretty sure “laminated women on a bulleting board” is a line in a Bruce Springsteen song.
  14. As you come into Cincinnati, keep an eye on the left for the giant Jesus statue that looks like a butter sculpture. The locals lovingly call it “Big Butter Jesus.” The connected church is called Church of the Solid Rock. Their last giant Jesus statue was NOT solid rock but rather styrofoam and burned down when it was struck by lightning. After an act of God destroyed the giant statue, I guess they decided to try again in butter form. After you try the original Skyline in Cincinnati, be sure to hit up the Kentucky Welcome Center on 71 for maps, coffee, and to deal with your diarrhea. In Louisville, the Steak ‘n Shake on Hurstborne is always a good show. Enjoy it, because you’ll be waiting for about an hour for sloppy burgers and of course shakes. I’d follow that up with the Great American Cookie for desert at the Mall of St. Matthews — an easy drive from Steak ‘n Shake. If you’re feeling adventurous, visit the University of Louisville and the surrounding neighborhoods. I can PM a map of where various friends and family were mugged or shot at. Enjoy your trip!
  15. Conservative values as demonstrated in the current era: 1. Outrageous over-the-top dishonesty 2. Blasphemy in the name of Jesus 3. Tacky flag desecration 4. A love of violence 5. Ineptly climbing walls and fences in an attempt at something that is totally not religious terrorism.
  16. That guy obviously doesn’t belong in decent society, but from the comfort of my couch, “fuck that baby” is hilarious and perfectly delivered.
  17. I teach at a college that has a pretty large athletic population. It’s very far down the pecking order from a place like Texas, so most of the students don’t openly harbor professional aspirations; they’ve just found a way to finance their education and keep playing their sport. Generally they’re not entitled and decent to talk with; there are some general traits for each sport. My favorite are the wrestlers. It’s like taking a bunch of surfers who spent the summer working at a funeral home and shooting them up with horse tranquilizers. They’re probably just hungry. Regarding baseball as the “thinking man’s game,” there’s plenty of strategy and a certain kind of thinking in any sport played at a high level. I always figured that baseball got that moniker due to it being a quite a bit whiter than the big three sports at the top level. At least prior to NBA rules changes regarding the draft, MLB was clearly the least educated of the big three major league sports, yet culturally it was and still is considered the thinking game over the other two. I can’t imagine why.
  18. Here’s the solution:
  19. Nothing of consequence, but I noticed a quirk in how Pete speaks. I don’t watch a ton of talking political heads, but I watched the Pete clip and have seen a one or two others recently and notice that he rarely/never says Kamala Harris’ name; he’ll say the awkward “her and Tim Walz” and of course he’ll contemptuously say Trump’s name over and over, but the only time I heard Kamala Harris’ name in the CNN interview was “Harris/Walz” one time. Maybe I missed another, but the point remains. Im not sure if it’s just a Pete quirk or something else, but it caught my ear.
  20. I don’t think he wins GA. Statewide races have consistently rejected MAGA since 2016. MAGA has largely lost in republican primaries to those pretending to be reasonable republicans and when MAGA makes it to the general election (see Herschel), it loses.
  21. On 1/6/21 I realized that garbage in garbage out applies with him and that hearing him speak is harmful; for evidence, see what’s become of many of our previously normal parents. Since that day, I turn off or down anything where he speaks, so I haven’t heard more than one word in 4 years with one exception: I did listen to Jon Stewart’s bit on the Gettysburg Wow Address.
  22. Regarding the attacks on Waltz’s’s’ services and my perspective as a veteran: it makes me angry that republicans would lie to denigrate any veteran’s service. It’s just about the most anti-veteran, unpatriotic, and unAmerican thing I could imagine. It’s not surprising coming from a movement with no moral compass, but it still is anger inducing.
  23. This election has a Sorry ma, I forgot to take out the trash vibe to me.
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