Chit-Chat: The Feels

tearknee · December 14

7 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

LBJ had his own views.

“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”

― Lyndon B. Johnson

Sorry i should not have made the Goldwater joke but i was reading the trivia about Goldfinger and someone got pissed off when someone else tried to stick their nose in and told them that the character could be renamed "Goldprick" if they did not stop!

Dimity · December 14

14 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

LBJ had his own views.

“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”

― Lyndon B. Johnson

I always appreciate it when we're reminded that people like LBJ, RFK and JFK did some good in this world. Maybe their personal lives could be messy but at heart they were trying to make the world a better place. Maybe this is hitting close to home for me now with that idiot RFK Jr. crapping all over his father's memory.

peacheslatour · December 14

6 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I always appreciate it when we're reminded that people like LBJ, RFK and JFK did some good in this world. Maybe their personal lives could be messy but at heart they were trying to make the world a better place. Maybe this is hitting close to home for me now with that idiot RFK Jr. crapping all over his father's memory.

It really makes me angry too. I think RFK was the best of the bunch and we lost him way too soon. How this cretin can share a bloodline with him is like a sick joke.

tearknee · December 14

3 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

It really makes me angry too. I think RFK was the best of the bunch and we lost him way too soon. How this cretin can share a bloodline with him is like a sick joke.

On the other hand, we'd likely either have "Hey, hey JFK! How many kids..." or JFK gets involved somewhere other than Vietnam to prevent the Soviets being emboldened.

tres bien · December 14

Since November 6th I’ve only watched one hour of news a day and only Monday through Friday.

My show of choice is Kasie Hunt 4 - 5 am (CT) before I leave for the gym. I chose that in case there’s breaking news.

But JFC some of the stuff comes across the crawl is mind boggling. Although it shouldn’t be. Just this week there was the hey! Let’s get rid of the polio vaccine to Trump thinking he’s being coronated. He invited Xi who promptly turned him down and will send a delegation of his minions. But who won’t say no? Looking at you Trudeau 😡
This is going to get worse if for no other reason than he’s bat shit crazy and most of the republicans are weak (see Joni Ernst)

Somewhere deep down I really believe this isn’t going to last for 4 years. Cause, hope springs eternal 😏

Edited December 14 by tres bien

Wiendish Fitch · December 14

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

LBJ had his own views.

“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”

― Lyndon B. Johnson

LBJ was a creep and a jerk who made some major mistakes during his presidency, but when he was right, he was right.

33 minutes ago, tres bien said:

Somewhere deep down I really believe this isn’t going to last for 4 years. Cause, hope springs eternal 😏

I want a miracle so bad I can taste it. I have to believe something will happen.

Eri · December 14

Indeed, this incoming administration's "plans" are so dystopian - it makes you wonder just how much of it will actually happen. The average economic plan will take longer one term before we see the long term effects but I will say that there are some things that do give me a tiny bit of hope:

Firstly, that extremism within our military is very small so I can't see martial law being imposed federally (there's too much procedure and protocols for that to happen with Congress); I could see it happening with state and local police however - Trump has expressed a desire to "militarize" them for quite some time, or at least to provide them with greater authority to function as border patrol agents or to take a tougher stance on crime, a sentiment shared by some of his Republican counterparts in the more conservative states who hold strong views on this issue.

We've seen it happening already with:

-Texas example: Abbott signing into law that anyone to report someone who "looks" undocumented or authority figures who can stop anyone and ask them for "proof" of citizenship
-Florida example: DeSantis sending police to peoples' homes because they signed the citizens initiative ballot for the abortion amendment

Secondly, Trump could use a civics lesson. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prevents the military from getting involved in civilian law enforcement, which is a job for local, state, and federal agencies—not the armed forces.

This is why you typically only see the National Guard involved in disaster relief or similar efforts. The purpose of this law is to safeguard democracy and prevent military control over the civilian population. Exceptions to this can only happen in extreme cases, like national emergencies or insurrections, and even then, it requires clear legal approval from Congress.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/posse-comitatus-act-explained

Lastly, we now (sadly) have to rely on Congress to do their job and keep Trump in check when he imposes his "rule of law" over Capitol Hill. It remains to be seen whether they will choose to align with him or offer resistance, but their choices could indeed influence the House seats by 2026, which I believe will ultimately shift (given the limited voter turnout in midterm elections, it's a toss-up but I want to hope that the House will shift once again). I'm not holding my breath given the cowardice of these morally bankrupt individuals assuming they last the next two years.

It's not much but it's something😕

Edited December 14 by Eri

PRgal · December 14

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

It really makes me angry too. I think RFK was the best of the bunch and we lost him way too soon. How this cretin can share a bloodline with him is like a sick joke.

Rebels will be rebels. And TBH, it could be the trauma of losing a parent while so young. But still, didn't HE benefit from a polio vaccine? Why would he want to revoke something HE benefited from?

Eri · December 14

4 minutes ago, PRgal said:

But still, didn't HE benefit from a polio vaccine? Why would he want to revoke something HE benefited from?

I'd say because it's always "rules for thee but not for me" with these type of folks the moment they gain power of any kind.

peacheslatour · December 14

7 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Rebels will be rebels. And TBH, it could be the trauma of losing a parent while so young. But still, didn't HE benefit from a polio vaccine? Why would he want to revoke something HE benefited from?

His people think vaccines are an unnecessary waste of money and they think they cause autism.

Wiendish Fitch · December 14

3 minutes ago, Eri said:

I'd say because it's always "rules for thee but not for me" with these type of folks the moment they gain power of any kind.

It's like people who rail against the evils college teach... even though they themselves are college educated (9 times out of 10 at an ivy league school).

Dimity · December 14

9 minutes ago, PRgal said:

But still, didn't HE benefit from a polio vaccine? Why would he want to revoke something HE benefited from?

You could say this about every single adult anti-vaxxer out there. Very few of them had anti-vaxxers parents. This is a relatively new idiocy.

Wiendish Fitch · December 14

Just now, Dimity said:

This is a relatively new idiocy.

And we can't fucking afford NEW idiocies, because we're still trying to get over OLD idiocies!

Calvada · December 14

22 hours ago, Dimity said:

So apparently one of the lawyers advising RFK Jr as he vets prospective health officials is a man who has been trying to get the FDA to revoke approval for the polio vaccine. Congratulations Trump voters as you help turn the clock back to the first half of the 20th century when polio epidemics killed or paralyzed millions of people. Good job.

My mother must be rolling over in her grave. She once told me how it felt when shortly after giving birth to her second child, it was announced that there was an effective polio vaccine. She said the relief she felt was indescribable. People have no idea how terrified parents were of polio. I bet most people 55 and older know of someone who had polio. For me, it was a neighbor on the street where I grew up, who was confined to a wheelchair due to polio as a young man. He died of post polio syndrome about 30 years after being stricken. My mother would also be horrified by people who don't vaccinate their children against measles, mumps, etc. Born in the 1920's, she knew people who were affected lifetime by these diseases. People think they are mild childhood diseases that cause a couple days of discomfort. However some people suffer long-term consequences. For example, measles can cause vision loss (as it did for a first cousin of my mom's) and it can weaken the immune system, making people more vulnerable to other illnesses ranging from ear infections to pneumonia.

This is what historian Kevin M. Kruse posted on Bluesky: "The Trump crowd wants to kill FDIC, install tariffs *and* bring back polio? I guess all this time the magical past of American Greatness they’ve been aiming for has been the banner year of 1930. Can’t wait for the soup lines! Wheee!"

Dimity · December 14

2 minutes ago, tres bien said:

This week I read that he wants to send millions of people he plans to deport to places like Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos. 🤣🤣🤣

I know this word and Trump don't go together but I gotta ask what is the logic behind this?

kittykat · December 14

52 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

LBJ was a creep and a jerk who made some major mistakes during his presidency, but when he was right, he was right.

I agree but you can also say the same thing about FDR and he's usually ranked in the top tier of presidents. My controversial opinion is that I'm not sure if the Civil Rights Act gets pushed as hard as it does if JFK has lived since LBJ was a staunch pusher of domestic policy over JFKs emphasis on foreign policy.

bluegirl147 · December 14

20 hours ago, Annber03 said:

9 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I know this word and Trump don't go together but I gotta ask what is the logic behind this?

I think he is trying to make it seem like deportation won't be so bad. That the deportees will go to the tropics. Lay on the beach and drink some Pina colodas. You know it will be good for them. Like it was when Africans were brought here.

6 minutes ago, kittykat said:

I agree but you can also say the same thing about FDR and he's usually ranked in the top tier of presidents. My controversial opinion is that I'm not sure if the Civil Rights Act gets pushed as hard as it does if JFK has lived since LBJ was a staunch pusher of domestic policy over JFKs emphasis on foreign policy.

It's true. JFK wasn't as interested in civil rights as he was "stopping communism". Which I never really believed was why we were in Vietnam.

LBJ knew passing the civil rights legislation would cost Democrats for at least generation in the South and he wasn't wrong.

Edited December 14 by bluegirl147

Eri · December 14

40 minutes ago, Calvada said:

This is what historian Kevin M. Kruse posted on Bluesky: "The Trump crowd wants to kill FDIC, install tariffs *and* bring back polio? I guess all this time the magical past of American Greatness they’ve been aiming for has been the banner year of 1930. Can’t wait for the soup lines! Wheee!"

Broke: No Child Left Behind

Woke: No Child Left Alive

😔

Edited December 14 by Eri

Absolom · December 14

1 hour ago, tres bien said:

Trump thinking he’s being coronated.

He doesn't realize that would be crowned?

Dimity · December 14

So ABC has agreed to give 15 million to Trumps presidential library to settle a lawsuit. I can only imagine the contents of THAT library!.

Anela · December 14

10 minutes ago, Dimity said:

So ABC has agreed to give 15 million to Trumps presidential library to settle a lawsuit. I can only imagine the contents of THAT library!.

wtf? They interviewed Kamala, that’s all they did.

i feel like I woke up in the upside-down. Lindy Li is another political person, who was all for Kamala, and now she’s sucking up on Fox News.

Bookworm 1979 · December 14

2 hours ago, tres bien said:

But who won’t say no? Looking at you Trudeau 😡

Alberta's premier Danielle Smith is going (or, at least, is going to be in the area ad will be watching it on someone's TV). She thinks Trump is going to be her best friend. I hate this province. And I hate that the rest of Canada thinks PP is going to be a better choice than Trudeau. We'll be no better than the USA if that jackass gets elected.

Edited December 14 by Bookworm 1979

Calvada · December 14

22 minutes ago, kittykat said:

I agree but you can also say the same thing about FDR and he's usually ranked in the top tier of presidents. My controversial opinion is that I'm not sure if the Civil Rights Act gets pushed as hard as it does if JFK has lived since LBJ was a staunch pusher of domestic policy over JFKs emphasis on foreign policy.

IMO that's not controversial, it's factual. LBJ used the murder of JFK to make passage of the Civil Rights Act a priority. In his first address to Congress less than a week after the assassination, Johnson said there could be no greater honor in JFK's memory. Kennedy had been a incrementalist in terms of civil rights, taking very slow and small steps. LBJ used the assassination as a way of putting a foot on the gas, so to speak, as he used Selma to urge passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

peacheslatour · December 14

12 minutes ago, Anela said:

wtf? They interviewed Kamala, that’s all they did.

i feel like I woke up in the upside-down. Lindy Li is another political person, who was all for Kamala, and now she’s sucking up on Fox News.

It was about calling him a rapist when he's only a sexual assaulter.

24 minutes ago, Dimity said:

So ABC has agreed to give 15 million to Trumps presidential library to settle a lawsuit. I can only imagine the contents of THAT library!.

He can sit in it and read all of his book. Illustrated with pictures of him, of course.

Annber03 · December 14

2 hours ago, tres bien said:

This is going to get worse if for no other reason than he’s bat shit crazy and most of the republicans are weak (see Joni Ernst)

Ugh, Joni Ernst. Between her and our governor Kim Reynolds I truly can't decide who's the dumber of the two. It's like they looked at Sarah Palin being her dumb self and went, "Hold my beer." And then on top of htat we've got ol' Grassley who's well past his sell-by date.

Make Iowa Sane Again. Please?

annzeepark914 · December 14

Is it true that intelligence folks had to draw pictures for their briefings with him? That's what some former staff said. I wonder if they were just exaggerating.

tres bien · December 14

4 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Ugh, Joni Ernst. Between her and our governor Kim Reynolds I truly can't decide who's the dumber of the two. It's like they looked at Sarah Palin being her dumb self and went, "Hold my beer." And then on top of htat we've got ol' Grassley who's well past his sell-by date.

Make Iowa Sane Again. Please?

I know 🙁 I live in MN and don’t want to step a toe in Iowa or either of the Dakotas

Edited December 14 by tres bien

Anela · December 14

21 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

It was about calling him a rapist when he's only a sexual assaulter.

I doubt that he put it that way, though. The judge did say that it was rape. I thought.

Annber03 · December 14

4 minutes ago, tres bien said:

I know 🙁 I live in MN and don’t want to step a toe in Iowa or either of the Dakotas

I have been to Minnesota many times over the years and have always loved visiting that state. I would be totally fine with moving there if the opportunity ever presented itself for me to do so. This would just be another reason to want to do so.

I've also lived in South Dakota, and while that was about 15 years or so ago, even then...yeah, I'm not too surprised that that state is as conservative as it is.

peacheslatour · December 14

10 minutes ago, Anela said:

I doubt that he put it that way, though. The judge did say that it was rape. I thought.

Sorta?

“The only issue on which the jury did not find in Ms Carroll’s favour was whether she proved that Mr Trump ‘raped’ her within the narrow, technical meaning of that term in the New York penal law.

Is what the judge wrote anyway.

annzeepark914 · December 14

30 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

It was about calling him a rapist when he's only a sexual assaulter.

He can sit in it and read all of his book. Illustrated with pictures of him, of course.

I'm really surprised that Stephanopolous was using the word "rape" when the jury used the words "sexually assaulted". You'd think George would know to be extra careful when talking about such a litigious guy.

Lantern7 · December 14

I just want someone to get behind a mic and say the stuff that most of us have been thinking. Essentially, "Fuck Trump, fuck his lackeys, fuck his kids, etc." Just friggin' go off on the bastard. Really, we're probably not going to rid ourselves of the incoming oppression via democracy. Why play by the rules anymore.

Edited December 14 by Lantern7

tearknee · December 14

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

Ugh, Joni Ernst. Between her and our governor Kim Reynolds I truly can't decide who's the dumber of the two. It's like they looked at Sarah Palin being her dumb self and went, "Hold my beer." And then on top of htat we've got ol' Grassley who's well past his sell-by date.

Make Iowa Sane Again. Please?

We could use a man like Herbert Hoover again?

bluegirl147 · December 14

And that is what really pisses me off. Biden and Democrats in general are going to get blamed for whatever hellscape awaits us with a second Trump term.

tearknee · December 14

On my list of "fictional characters that should be president instead of 45":

Dimity · December 15

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

As if Joe had not done that, Stinky would have been all restrained and level headed about who he pardons. That was never gonna happen no matter what Biden did.

Jeeze, he's been talking about his revenge tour for months, if not years. He is unstable and he's a vindictive bastard. But of course if he does do something that his base may finally disagree with (god knows what that could be) they'll be blaming Biden, Kamala or the tooth fairy. Anyone but Trump and themselves.

peacheslatour · December 15

1 hour ago, tearknee said:

On my list of "fictional characters that should be president instead of 45":

Here's mine.

bluegirl147 · December 15

I'm reading this new book titled Ask Not. The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed.

How did I not know RFK Jr's second wife killed herself? After her husband repeatedly cheated on her and gaslit her that she was the problem in their marriage. No wonder Trump likes him.

peacheslatour · December 15

41 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

I'm reading this new book titled Ask Not. The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed.

How did I not know RFK Jr's second wife killed herself? After her husband repeatedly cheated on her and gaslit her that she was the problem in their marriage. No wonder Trump likes him.

Oh, I'm so disappointed. Why couldn't the men in that family keep it in their pants?

Annber03 · December 15

My mom's talked about how my grandma (her mom), who was a Republican, didn't like JFK because of all the rumors of his affairs. But she would've voted for RFK.

My mom also said she would NOT have liked Trump at all.

fairffaxx · December 15

10 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”

― Barry Goldwater of all people.

I'm a socialist & a pacifist, but I do love Barry Goldwater. He was an honest man who loved the American Indian & despised Nixon, which I appreciated. Had I been old enough to vote against him when he ran for Pres, I would have, but I've always admired him (& he was dropdead gorgeous, by the way).

annzeepark914 · December 15

2 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

I'm reading this new book titled Ask Not. The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed.

How did I not know RFK Jr's second wife killed herself? After her husband repeatedly cheated on her and gaslit her that she was the problem in their marriage. No wonder Trump likes him.