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Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, bluto said:

Not that I don’t love a good Rand Paul dragging but why is he singled out?

Because he's an "UGLY LOSER AND TOTAL WHACK JOB who calls himself a Doctor..." according to the President of the United States.

Edited by Bojack
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Posted
56 minutes ago, Bookman said:

Why are we giving free medical care to all these old people anyway? 

Seriously. They're just going to die anyway and that money will be wasted.

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Posted
59 minutes ago, Bookman said:

Why are we giving free medical care to all these old people anyway? They should be bagging my groceries damn it!

Exactly! And the poor kids don't need free lunch at school. They will be in the fields picking our food for pennies.

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Posted (edited)
18 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

 But you can’t remove politics from it. Somebody who would support causing this much suffering is not a good person.

They’re great people to you.

But they’re bad people.

It’s something we all have to deal with. My brother-in-law is a guy whose company I enjoy. He’s been good to me. But knowing his politics and listening to what he has to say about various out groups and the joy he takes in Trump hurting them—he’s a bad person.  And I very frankly don’t want to be around him.

I'm going to a July 4 party hosted by a Dem that will have many MAGAs present. In the past, nothing has been said about Trump. I'm feeling acquiescent just attending the same parties they do. I want to put a Mexican flag on our fence on the ranch road we live on to show Latinos some of us don't think they're dangerous criminals, but that would be too provocative according to my beloved. She's not a Trumpist. She sends more money, by far, than I do. 

Writing here and talking only among friends who agree begins to seem and feel cowardly. I give a piddling amount of money to groups that are more active, that feels like too little as well. Getting membership emails from GLAAD doesn't really make me feel like I'm part of the fight. They surely are; they're on the front line.

I'm struggling with this. My disapproval turns inward. 

Napoleon instructed all of his generals and marshalls that they must always march towards the sound of guns. I'm not really doing that. Makes me feel complicit in the coming defeat.

Edited by RomaVicta
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Posted
14 hours ago, mchookem said:

dad and sister are visiting this week. i am experiencing this firsthand, after X number of drinks some shit inevitably gets brought up.

it's...challenging. 😕

I chatted with my sister this week.  According to my sister, my brother and father watch the same videos we see, but they laugh and giggle at it.  Then they pray to Jesus at meal time.  

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Posted
27 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

Seriously. They're just going to die anyway and that money will be wasted.

We can trust the death committees to make the right decisions.

Posted
8 minutes ago, Nivek said:

I chatted with my sister this week.  According to my sister, my brother and father watch the same videos we see, but they laugh and giggle at it.  Then they pray to Jesus at meal time.  

Pic of sister not showing up....

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Posted (edited)
19 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

Which would suggest that the people you know are not, in fact, either smart or good.

 

19 hours ago, Red Five said:

Trust me, I think a lot about it. It sucks. Family I've known my entire life. Friends I've had since elementary school. To say this has complicated my relationships with these people would be a huge understatement.

But yeah, remove politics from the equation, and they're great people. 

I totally get this.  It's easy to dismiss Trumpkins as either stupid or evil, and I think that truly does account for more than half of them.

But I know several who are college educated and reasonably bright people, until the topic turns to politics, then they turn into barking seal Jesse Watters clones.  It's bizarre.  But otherwise, they do well at their jobs, raise good kids, rescue dogs, give money to charity, etc.  They seem to be good and bright people who just have blinders on when it comes to one topic.

So it appears to be possible, and maybe even common, for people to be at least semi-smart in most areas and still be gullible, and therefore to fall for Trump without being a racist or a moron.  This is deeply disturbing on many levels, and it doesn't bode well for this country getting out of this mess any time soon.

Edited by TexArcher
Posted
1 hour ago, Bookman said:

Why are we giving free medical care to all these old people anyway? They should be bagging my groceries damn it!

Brooks was here.

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Posted
19 minutes ago, Nivek said:

I chatted with my sister this week.  According to my sister, my brother and father watch the same videos we see, but they laugh and giggle at it.  Then they pray to Jesus at meal time.  

“And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’”

They should be thankful that St. Peter isn’t going to be waiting for them when they get to the other side.

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Posted

Being good at most jobs requires little more than a strong work ethic along with the base intellect to learn to perform one or two tasks at a reasonably high level.  Plenty of successful people are still gullible.

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Posted
4 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

So it appears to be possible, and maybe even common, for people to be at least semi-smart in most areas and still be gullible, and therefore to fall for Trump without being a racist or a moron.  

If You Say So Wow GIF by Identity

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Posted
7 minutes ago, C-Man said:

American Pride Slips to New Low

Pride among Democrats tumbles, while independents also hit new low, more than offsetting increase among Republicans

https://news.gallup.com/poll/692150/american-pride-slips-new-low.aspx

Dem "proud to be an American" has plummeted since 2016, while Indies are more of a slow erosion, but they're getting to the same place.

The table showing party affiliation by age cohort is really telling.

Posted
50 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Being good at most jobs requires little more than a strong work ethic along with the base intellect to learn to perform one or two tasks at a reasonably high level.  Plenty of successful people are still gullible.

I’m not sure about that. If you are - say - successful enough to be a millionaire business owner and entrepreneur, starting a my pillow business should make you immune to that sort of nonsense.

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Posted
2 hours ago, pacman said:

Exactly! And the poor kids don't need free lunch at school. They will be in the fields picking our food for pennies.

Why do we force kids to attend unfunded public schools where they are likely to get shot and they cannot bring their own firearms to defend themselves? Kids should have the option to work so they can make money for themselves and start investing.

Posted
2 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Tolerance of racism makes you a complicit racist. 

I tend to agree, but I think some of them don't even understand that blatantly racist things are happening.  As insane as that sounds, someone who comes home and watches Fox News exclusively isn't seeing the same world that we're seeing.

I'm not trying to make excuses for these folks, mind you.  I just think it's an oversimplification to believe that all Trumpkins are stupid or racist.  Most of them are.  But not all.  Some are just gullible, and the difference between gullible and stupid might be subtle, but it's probably important.

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Posted
15 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

I tend to agree, but I think some of them don't even understand that blatantly racist things are happening.  As insane as that sounds, someone who comes home and watches Fox News exclusively isn't seeing the same world that we're seeing.

I'm not trying to make excuses for these folks, mind you.  I just think it's an oversimplification to believe that all Trumpkins are stupid or racist.  Most of them are.  But not all.  Some are just gullible, and the difference between gullible and stupid might be subtle, but it's probably important.

Not trying to make excuses for these folks and then proceeds to make excuses for these folks.

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Posted
2 minutes ago, royiv said:

Not trying to make excuses for these folks and then proceeds to make excuses for these folks.

I didn’t read it as an excuse, more of an observation. It’s ridiculous, but if they don’t expose themselves to the real world, stupid and gullible may be more apt. 

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Posted
2 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I didn’t read it as an excuse, more of an observation. It’s ridiculous, but if they don’t expose themselves to the real world, stupid and gullible may be more apt. 

That’s giving people way too much credit. We’re a decade in on this movement at this point. If you’re still on board, you’re a racist. Stupid and gullible, too? Sure, but let’s not allow people to make excuses for what their beliefs stand for.

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Posted
3 minutes ago, royiv said:

Not trying to make excuses for these folks and then proceeds to make excuses for these folks.

Look, I've said for years that anybody still in this guy's camp is either stupid or evil.

I'm coming to realize that *for some of them* it may be a little more nuanced than that.  I know these people well enough to know that they're not closet racists and they're not stupid.  So how did they get taken in anyway?  Seems like a question worth figuring out, that's all.

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Posted
1 minute ago, TexArcher said:

Look, I've said for years that anybody still in this guy's camp is either stupid or evil.

I'm coming to realize that *for some of them* it may be a little more nuanced than that.  I know these people well enough to know that they're not closet racists and they're not stupid.  So how did they get taken in anyway?  Seems like a question worth figuring out, that's all.

Are these the "pocketbook" Republicans?

Posted
1 minute ago, TexArcher said:

Look, I've said for years that anybody still in this guy's camp is either stupid or evil.

I'm coming to realize that *for some of them* it may be a little more nuanced than that.  I know these people well enough to know that they're not closet racists and they're not stupid.  So how did they get taken in anyway?  Seems like a question worth figuring out, that's all.

This right here is the truth.  It’s easy to say they are all racists just like it’s easy to say all democrats are woke or whatever.  If we all take a step back we would see that the truth is in the gray areas of this.  The manipulation of the population of this country by the media (Fox News and social media like Facebook), and the way the algorithms work to make sure people just see their bubble of news has affected non racist, intelligent people in a way we may not be happy to admit happened.  I think the left gets this also but from maybe MSNBC or other media outlets that distort the world for them (not as bad as the right does but it is there).  Many of the people of this country have lost the ability for critical thinking and that is what makes them so gullible to these news sites/social media sites.  What is strange is many have the ability for critical thought in other aspects of their life, like their work, but lose it once they view the world outside through the lens of a Fox New broadcast.

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Posted




That’s giving people way too much credit. We’re a decade in on this movement at this point. If you’re still on board, you’re a racist. Stupid and gullible, too? Sure, but let’s not allow people to make excuses for what their beliefs stand for.


This is what does it for me. I point to Jan 6th as the biggest watershed moment. I mean, how could anybody vote for him after that? AND... there are hundreds of smaller moments that should have doomed the movement forever. It didn't happen, and it didn't happen because these people we want to see as decent and smart just are not. They are either gullible to the point of stupidity or apathetic to the point of being horrible.

Any attempt we make at trying to explain their choices is us just hoping that they could be good people because we care about them more than they care about us. Chances are they are going to let us down.
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Posted
1 minute ago, tchookem said:



 

 


This is what does it for me. I point to Jan 6th as the biggest watershed moment. I mean, how could anybody vote for him after that? AND... there are hundreds of smaller moments that should have doomed the movement forever. It didn't happen, and it didn't happen because these people we want to see as decent and smart just are not. They are either gullible to the point of stupidity or apathetic to the point of being horrible.

Any attempt we make at trying to explain their choices is us just hoping that they could be good people because we care about them more than they care about us. Chances are they are going to let us down.

 

that's why the focus needs to be those who didn't vote, not trying to change the minds of those who did. most of those people are beyond saving. focus on those who we can bring around.

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Posted
that's why the focus needs to be those who didn't vote, not trying to change the minds of those who did. most of those people are beyond saving. focus on those who we can bring around.
My son's friend voted for Trump... much to the heartbreak of his mother. When he told her she said she couldn't finish their conversation and hung up the phone crying. When they spoke again he gave some bullshit excuse about the economy, but the real reason was that he's 18 (so 14 when Jan 6th happened), plays college baseball so he's been surrounded by MAGA bros his whole life.

I like to think he still has a chance, but then again I just got through accusing other people of projecting. I hope my hope isn't wasted.
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Posted
4 minutes ago, softlynow said:

We focus on the racism bit, but young men (and some not so young) reacting to the attack on their god-given right to be superior to women is a major factor as well.

Equality is triggering, in all its forms.

This is where I think social media has fucked us the most. I can’t imagine growing up trying to socialize and date chicks with so much of that time spent online.  What a cesspool. 

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Posted
3 minutes ago, softlynow said:

We focus on the racism bit, but young men (and some not so young) reacting to the attack on their god-given right to be superior to women is a major factor as well.

Equality is triggering, in all its forms.

What I find interesting about this in particular is that it's not new. I'm nearly 40 and by the time I was in high school women were largely competitive with men in school and most jobs. The exception that held out the longest was at the executive level.  Me Too really scared the shit out of executives, particularly media executives, and they manufactured a backlash that has pushed us back 50+ years, all so they can grope women at the office. 

Posted
1 hour ago, TexArcher said:

I tend to agree, but I think some of them don't even understand that blatantly racist things are happening.  As insane as that sounds, someone who comes home and watches Fox News exclusively isn't seeing the same world that we're seeing.

I'm not trying to make excuses for these folks, mind you.  I just think it's an oversimplification to believe that all Trumpkins are stupid or racist.  Most of them are.  But not all.  Some are just gullible, and the difference between gullible and stupid might be subtle, but it's probably important.

There is a distinction between stupid and gullible the first time you fall for something. After the eleventy millionth time, gullible has left the chat.

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Posted
5 minutes ago, Pancho said:

image.png.fc22c40d620f6f063d3a1b2d78e2313a.png

It's almost cliche to say at this point, but it really is remarkable how the Republicans seem to be governing with no concern towards electoral ramifications.

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