Being mean on the internet? I don't care. Mutilating and sterilizing children? I care a LOT.
So this 66-year-old lifelong Democrat is now voting straight Republican, because the Republican Party is the only organized opposition to these heinous and barbaric practices.
I hate who I have to ally with on this, but IMO this is the most imporant issue in the US today. Nothing else matters more.
That is an extreme over-reaction. A Republican ascendancy all but assures the extinction of life on earth, including, eventually, us.
I find myself extremely discomfited to be in agreement with any conservative position, particularly one so on the leading edge as this "trans" shit. I would favor a federal law that prohibited any medical intervention in the name of gender for anyone short of full adulthood who decides to be "trans" or whatever; once they're adults they can screw up their bodies all they like.
But voting for crazy people, umm, no. BAD idea.
Whenever on a social network I see public figures like Elizabeth Warren with pronouns in their profiles I write and ask them to remove them because it's undignified. Anyone with "they/them" I block.
Your first 2 sentences are just slightly reactionary, don't you think? Just because you disagree with Republicans is no excuse to dehumanize them and attribute to them the traits of pure evil. Dehumanizing the opposition may feel good. But, it's not solution to keeping the country solvent. And politics often requires horsetrading and unpleasant alliances.
I would have died just as happily to secure the rights of the opposition as I would those I agree with while serving in the military. In fact, I would do so happily today if the need was required.
Lunatics and assholes thrive in both of those parties. I could no longer tell you how many times I've written in "No acceptable candidate" in protest of the choices we are given. The last Presidential election was a case in point. Megalomania vs. Dementia for "the leader of the free world." The rulers behind the curtain who really run things are laughing their ass of as the tell us to f ourselves while giving us absurd choices.
Biden demented? I've seen no signs of that. His mind does not wander.
My uncle died of Alzheimer's years before my father, his brother, and the last time my father visited him he asked if they were related.
My father was lucid even after his eyes had closed for the last time. Not everyone goes senile. Though I find myself worrying every time I have to grope for a word I haven't used in a while.
My maternal grandfather and my mother had Alzheimer's. About a year before my mother's passing when she lived with me, she said things like, "When I met you..." and my wife's Thai language TV had her asking about us being in China and how long would it take to get back to America. It is a heartbreaking disorder when it is your loved one, but in the POTUS it should rightfully be considered terrifying. In retirement I do things to exercise my brain in an effort to not go down that path.
I'm not a doctor but I've lived with the demented. I see what looks like it. Biden should be given a test for cognizance by a competent medical expert to put the question to rest. Actually, I think that should be a standard practice for all of our elderly politicians.
These are all over the place, except in the US press.
I don't mean for this to turn into a partisan political debate, but I do see what appears to me in my non-medical point of view a very disturbing and highly visible behavior on his part. I'd be equally troubled if it was a member of any political tribe.
I'm unfamiliar with that network. It would be ridiculous to insist that a man of Biden's age doesn't have his wandering moments but he is orders of magnitude sharper than the man he defeated in 2020.
Exactly. It could be a matter of ego, but I think I have fewer colossal wandering moments that either of them, but I'm not a sharp as I once was and am also unfit for the office of POTUS. That leads to my disdain for the logic of voting where, "He's not as bad as that other guy" as if that makes the less bad guy good.
I understand that best is the enemy of better, but I'd like to see all of the choices be better so we wouldn't have to make such dreadful choices and hurry home to take a shower after voting.
2020 was not an election that allowed us to hold out for someone closer to perfection. Trump was and is a grave threat and getting him out of the Oval Office was so urgent that I would have voted for a tadpole instead of him.
I don't think Biden should run again unless his deterioration ceases. I think he is capable enough now, but six more years is a lot at his age.
But then every election is promoted as the most important ever.
I doubt that Biden will run again, and I think that the Dems will allow his condition more visibility/acknowledgement to pave the way for a viable primary run against a sitting President if he does. As you wrote, six more years is a lot at his age.
As for Trump, I don't think he'll return to office. If they can't take him down in the courts, he will be assassinated. Especially if he gets to run against a weak Democrat. One way or another, he won't be back.
Oh, I think broad psychological testing should be standard practice for all political candidates above the level of water commissioner, irrespective of age. That would spare us brain-damaged people like Herschel Walker and psychotics like Mastroianni. It would have kept Trump out of office.
I am not saying you're echoing right wing trolling about Biden but the fact that we get so much of it from Trump supporters when Trump is very clearly in advanced deterioration gets kind of irksome. Aside from speaking at a fourth grade level he shows clear signs of dementia and a lot of his word choices are very peculiar. What is a "perfect phone call?"
I don't watch television but I have seen a lot of short videos of Biden speaking and never seen anything that raised this alarm; he tripped a few times getting onto a plane but that's not likely to be for cognitive reasons.
Thinking more about this. As important as scientific understanding is now, and not only with Global Broiling, it is no longer acceptable to have scientifically illiterate people holding the reins of power. Everyone in both houses of Congress needs a basic understanding of the physical sciences and also needs to have a stranglehold on basic arithmetic; anyone who believes that cutting taxes increases revenue is unfit to rule on matters of finance.
This would mean having a curriculum for prospective candidates which those already educated could test out of, and it would spare us the daily emarrassment of Palins and Boeberts.
It doesn't matter if the voters think spaceships have steering wheels. There should be no option to vote for people who think they do.
I agree but it is politically impossible. As soon as it eliminated a minority it would be called racist and unacceptable. Should Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) be removed from office because he expressed worry that in a discussion regarding a planned military buildup on the island of Guam and said, "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize."
Quoting the late Fred Reed from memory, "If it will work, it is not politically possible. If it is politically possible, it won't work." One of the weaknesses of Democracy that prevents progress.
If he thinks an island will capsize and sink he needs to be replaced. That's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about.
Yes this will be seen as prejudicial against Republicans, but that isn't because it's biased, it's because Republicans believe, like so many in finance, that any knowledge not directly connected to making money is for menials.
Such people are no longer acceptable holding power.
Yeah, Democrats point to the flaws of Republicans and Republicans point to the flaws of Democrats. That is to be expected and we could replace the Ds & Rs with any opposing tribes.
The thing is, I am always disappointed when intelligent people that I respect decide something must be false because someone they don't like said it. Even "𝘥𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴" can speak truth. If something is false just because Trump said it, I want him to mention everything that is genuinely wrong with me to fix them. He could heal the sick and raise the dead like Jesus Christ. I've got a MAGA friend who often ends conversations with "We can agree to disagree" when I point out that he shouldn't assume that everything that "Dems and RINOs" say is a lie just because he doesn't like them.
It is the reason that I 𝘁𝗿𝘆 to avoid the extremes of political partisanship, but as soon as anyone mentions something about a tribe it is presumed to come from political partisanship. I admit that on 3rd rail issues the pull to partisanship is difficult to resist so I understand it in others. I'm as disappointed in myself as I am in others when I see it, and also when I wrongly assume it about others.
If both sides claim the other is lying, I'm going with the Democrats because while they are not angelic in their veracity they do tell the truth once in a blue moon. Republicans have no reservations about lying whatsoever.
"A Republican ascendancy all but assures the extinction of life on earth, including, eventually, us" is the extreme overreaction here.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Democrats are not serious about climate change. Serious is something that would actually significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption, like say a $5/gallon gas tax. Not happening.
And I submit that people who deny the sex binary are far greater science deniers than those who question complex climate modeling. And also much crazier.
Did I say the Democrats are vigorous in desire to address "climate change?" No, I didn't. But the Republicans are adamant about doing the worst they possibly can, defiantly increasing the burning of fossil fuels.
The gender/sex deniers don't wipe out wildlife. I think the "trans/non-binary" thing is the stupidest shit I've seen in my life but it's just foolishness.
I'm with you. I also hate the mésalliance but am leaning right when I vote (even though I am insanely pro reproductive rights - imagine the battle in MY head over that). But, it has to be done.
Well this is pretty damn icky if you ask me:
"At 14, doctors cut off her breasts and put her on testosterone"
https://gcnews.substack.com/p/friday-september-9-2022
Being mean on the internet? I don't care. Mutilating and sterilizing children? I care a LOT.
So this 66-year-old lifelong Democrat is now voting straight Republican, because the Republican Party is the only organized opposition to these heinous and barbaric practices.
I hate who I have to ally with on this, but IMO this is the most imporant issue in the US today. Nothing else matters more.
That is an extreme over-reaction. A Republican ascendancy all but assures the extinction of life on earth, including, eventually, us.
I find myself extremely discomfited to be in agreement with any conservative position, particularly one so on the leading edge as this "trans" shit. I would favor a federal law that prohibited any medical intervention in the name of gender for anyone short of full adulthood who decides to be "trans" or whatever; once they're adults they can screw up their bodies all they like.
But voting for crazy people, umm, no. BAD idea.
Whenever on a social network I see public figures like Elizabeth Warren with pronouns in their profiles I write and ask them to remove them because it's undignified. Anyone with "they/them" I block.
Your first 2 sentences are just slightly reactionary, don't you think? Just because you disagree with Republicans is no excuse to dehumanize them and attribute to them the traits of pure evil. Dehumanizing the opposition may feel good. But, it's not solution to keeping the country solvent. And politics often requires horsetrading and unpleasant alliances.
I would have died just as happily to secure the rights of the opposition as I would those I agree with while serving in the military. In fact, I would do so happily today if the need was required.
Lunatics and assholes thrive in both of those parties. I could no longer tell you how many times I've written in "No acceptable candidate" in protest of the choices we are given. The last Presidential election was a case in point. Megalomania vs. Dementia for "the leader of the free world." The rulers behind the curtain who really run things are laughing their ass of as the tell us to f ourselves while giving us absurd choices.
Biden demented? I've seen no signs of that. His mind does not wander.
My uncle died of Alzheimer's years before my father, his brother, and the last time my father visited him he asked if they were related.
My father was lucid even after his eyes had closed for the last time. Not everyone goes senile. Though I find myself worrying every time I have to grope for a word I haven't used in a while.
My maternal grandfather and my mother had Alzheimer's. About a year before my mother's passing when she lived with me, she said things like, "When I met you..." and my wife's Thai language TV had her asking about us being in China and how long would it take to get back to America. It is a heartbreaking disorder when it is your loved one, but in the POTUS it should rightfully be considered terrifying. In retirement I do things to exercise my brain in an effort to not go down that path.
I'm not a doctor but I've lived with the demented. I see what looks like it. Biden should be given a test for cognizance by a competent medical expert to put the question to rest. Actually, I think that should be a standard practice for all of our elderly politicians.
These are all over the place, except in the US press.
https://youtu.be/P0AoyNdZ-RY
https://youtu.be/PL3fY67ldR0
I don't mean for this to turn into a partisan political debate, but I do see what appears to me in my non-medical point of view a very disturbing and highly visible behavior on his part. I'd be equally troubled if it was a member of any political tribe.
I'm unfamiliar with that network. It would be ridiculous to insist that a man of Biden's age doesn't have his wandering moments but he is orders of magnitude sharper than the man he defeated in 2020.
Exactly. It could be a matter of ego, but I think I have fewer colossal wandering moments that either of them, but I'm not a sharp as I once was and am also unfit for the office of POTUS. That leads to my disdain for the logic of voting where, "He's not as bad as that other guy" as if that makes the less bad guy good.
I understand that best is the enemy of better, but I'd like to see all of the choices be better so we wouldn't have to make such dreadful choices and hurry home to take a shower after voting.
2020 was not an election that allowed us to hold out for someone closer to perfection. Trump was and is a grave threat and getting him out of the Oval Office was so urgent that I would have voted for a tadpole instead of him.
I don't think Biden should run again unless his deterioration ceases. I think he is capable enough now, but six more years is a lot at his age.
But then every election is promoted as the most important ever.
I doubt that Biden will run again, and I think that the Dems will allow his condition more visibility/acknowledgement to pave the way for a viable primary run against a sitting President if he does. As you wrote, six more years is a lot at his age.
As for Trump, I don't think he'll return to office. If they can't take him down in the courts, he will be assassinated. Especially if he gets to run against a weak Democrat. One way or another, he won't be back.
Oh, I think broad psychological testing should be standard practice for all political candidates above the level of water commissioner, irrespective of age. That would spare us brain-damaged people like Herschel Walker and psychotics like Mastroianni. It would have kept Trump out of office.
I am not saying you're echoing right wing trolling about Biden but the fact that we get so much of it from Trump supporters when Trump is very clearly in advanced deterioration gets kind of irksome. Aside from speaking at a fourth grade level he shows clear signs of dementia and a lot of his word choices are very peculiar. What is a "perfect phone call?"
I don't watch television but I have seen a lot of short videos of Biden speaking and never seen anything that raised this alarm; he tripped a few times getting onto a plane but that's not likely to be for cognitive reasons.
Thinking more about this. As important as scientific understanding is now, and not only with Global Broiling, it is no longer acceptable to have scientifically illiterate people holding the reins of power. Everyone in both houses of Congress needs a basic understanding of the physical sciences and also needs to have a stranglehold on basic arithmetic; anyone who believes that cutting taxes increases revenue is unfit to rule on matters of finance.
This would mean having a curriculum for prospective candidates which those already educated could test out of, and it would spare us the daily emarrassment of Palins and Boeberts.
It doesn't matter if the voters think spaceships have steering wheels. There should be no option to vote for people who think they do.
I agree but it is politically impossible. As soon as it eliminated a minority it would be called racist and unacceptable. Should Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) be removed from office because he expressed worry that in a discussion regarding a planned military buildup on the island of Guam and said, "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize."
Quoting the late Fred Reed from memory, "If it will work, it is not politically possible. If it is politically possible, it won't work." One of the weaknesses of Democracy that prevents progress.
If he thinks an island will capsize and sink he needs to be replaced. That's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about.
Yes this will be seen as prejudicial against Republicans, but that isn't because it's biased, it's because Republicans believe, like so many in finance, that any knowledge not directly connected to making money is for menials.
Such people are no longer acceptable holding power.
"𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘨𝘦."
A good idea that I agree with.
"𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦"
Yeah, Democrats point to the flaws of Republicans and Republicans point to the flaws of Democrats. That is to be expected and we could replace the Ds & Rs with any opposing tribes.
The thing is, I am always disappointed when intelligent people that I respect decide something must be false because someone they don't like said it. Even "𝘥𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴" can speak truth. If something is false just because Trump said it, I want him to mention everything that is genuinely wrong with me to fix them. He could heal the sick and raise the dead like Jesus Christ. I've got a MAGA friend who often ends conversations with "We can agree to disagree" when I point out that he shouldn't assume that everything that "Dems and RINOs" say is a lie just because he doesn't like them.
It is the reason that I 𝘁𝗿𝘆 to avoid the extremes of political partisanship, but as soon as anyone mentions something about a tribe it is presumed to come from political partisanship. I admit that on 3rd rail issues the pull to partisanship is difficult to resist so I understand it in others. I'm as disappointed in myself as I am in others when I see it, and also when I wrongly assume it about others.
If both sides claim the other is lying, I'm going with the Democrats because while they are not angelic in their veracity they do tell the truth once in a blue moon. Republicans have no reservations about lying whatsoever.
"A Republican ascendancy all but assures the extinction of life on earth, including, eventually, us" is the extreme overreaction here.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Democrats are not serious about climate change. Serious is something that would actually significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption, like say a $5/gallon gas tax. Not happening.
And I submit that people who deny the sex binary are far greater science deniers than those who question complex climate modeling. And also much crazier.
Did I say the Democrats are vigorous in desire to address "climate change?" No, I didn't. But the Republicans are adamant about doing the worst they possibly can, defiantly increasing the burning of fossil fuels.
The gender/sex deniers don't wipe out wildlife. I think the "trans/non-binary" thing is the stupidest shit I've seen in my life but it's just foolishness.
I'm with you. I also hate the mésalliance but am leaning right when I vote (even though I am insanely pro reproductive rights - imagine the battle in MY head over that). But, it has to be done.