Chit-Chat: The Feels

[tearknee]

When people are frightened, and they are angry they are not that willing to show restraint.

Which is why the begging for diplomacy etc. after 9/11 actually made things much worse than they needed to be.

[bluegirl147]

6 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

I personally had no problem speaking my mind and if anyone felt intimidated I'm sorry they felt that way but I don't let people intimidate me like that.

You are a white woman.  People not white have a different reality.

7 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

And when the country is under a real attack I don't think it's hard to understand saying things like "you're with us or against us", although that may be a poor choice of words open to interpretation.

His exact quote was if you aren't with us you are with the terrorists.  It was things like that that definitely contributed to the polarization we  have in this country. 

 

[tearknee]

Everyone rightly complains about W. getting the whitewash now that DJT happened but i personally remember that Bush 41 was just as bad:

[Yeah No]

1 minute ago, Palimelon said:

NYC is not America.

I was talking about NYC because I am a New Yorker and was in NYC a lot after 9/11 and have many friends down there as well. That was my experience. Plus it wasn't my imagination that pretty much all the national news outlets wrote and presented pieces on how Americans came together in spite of their differences, so I'm sure it wasn't just a passing thing in NYC nor my limited experience either.

I feel like some people are determined to see and pick apart our differences and find instances to support those differences, but this is just part of the problem. Most people didn't do that after 9/11 including the news people. In fact, just the opposite. I think the people looking for division and differences today and want to rewrite history to do it need to look in the mirror because they're only perpetuating the problem that's being used against them. We need to stop being our own worst enemies and stop finding reasons to hate and blame everyone. It's what's taking us down.

[Palimelon]

Quote

but they grew up watching WWE and UFC fighters.  They like tough guys. Doesn't matter Trump isn't actually a tough guy but he plays one on TV.

Didn't Trump show up on WWE at some point too?

[bluegirl147]

1 minute ago, Palimelon said:

Didn't Trump show up on WWE at some point too?

Yes he did.  And why he is so buddy buddy with the McMahons.

[Palimelon]

Quote

I was talking about NYC because I am a New Yorker and was in NYC a lot after 9/11 and have many friends down there as well. That was my experience. Plus it wasn't my imagination that pretty much all the national news outlets wrote and presented pieces on how Americans came together in spite of their differences, so I'm sure it wasn't just a passing thing in NYC nor my limited experience either.

Yes, and that's YOUR experience. Not everyone in other parts of the US (hell not even everyone in NYC even) at the time shared that same experience.

Quote

Most people didn't do that after 9/11 including the news people.

Yeah, that lasted for like a week maximum. Again, other people who don't fit a certain mold experienced things differently at that time.

Edited 5 hours ago by Palimelon

[Dimity]

8 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

They like tough guys. Doesn't matter Trump isn't actually a tough guy but he plays one on TV.

He's a coward.  He got a doctor to lie for him so he could avoid fighting in Vietnam.  Which wouldn't be an issue for me if he had protested against the war.  But he was a chickenhawk.  He has zero respect for the military or anyone who serves.  But sure, he's a tough guy 🙄.

[partofme]

6 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Plus it wasn't my imagination that pretty much all the national news outlets wrote and presented pieces on how Americans came together in spite of their differences, so I'm sure it wasn't just a passing thing in NYC nor my limited experience either.

The media fell in line post 9/11 and stopped being critical of Bush.   This was not a good thing, criticism of that administration, and there was a lot to be critical of, wasn’t accepted in the mainstream media.  Just look at the Dixie Chicks and how they got blackballed for speaking the truth about Bush.  You talk about how wonderful everything was in NYC post 9/11 , but I lived there, you just visited, there was a lot of fear, things were not good. 

Edited 5 hours ago by partofme

[tearknee]

2 minutes ago, Dimity said:

He's a coward.  He got a doctor to lie for him so he could avoid fighting in Vietnam.  Which wouldn't be an issue for me if he had protested against the war.  But he was a chickenhawk.  He has zero respect for the military or anyone who serves.  But sure, he's a tough guy 🙄.

Joe Biden = asthma. Michael Bloomberg = "flat feet". Al Gore junior = driving a desk in Saigon (although i will admit that that last one was the Trickster's doing as he didn't want any reflected glory for Al Gore senior who was then a Senator for TN.

Getting out of Vietnam was non-partisan.

[Yeah No]

3 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

You are a white woman.  People not white have a different reality.

His exact quote was if you aren't with us you are with the terrorists.  It was things like that that definitely contributed to the polarization we  have in this country. 

Perhaps but New York has been called "the great equalizer" for a reason. I pick my battles but I have been outspoken even when it might not be received so well. And many Black people in NY are equally as outspoken, I can assure you of that. Unless you are from NYC and have lived there for any length of time I think you are out of your depth attempting to tell me what my experience is or has been there. I grew up in a very racially integrated environment. I wonder just how many people here can say that they grew up with 50% or more non-white kids in their school and people of all faiths, colors and religions in their neighborhoods and apartment buildings. So unless you come from this kind of background I don't believe you can speak to my experience and know more than I do about it. In my life I have often been the ONLY white person in a room, a store or an office. So I know what it's like to have to worry about what I say lest it be taken the "wrong way" and I don't need anyone telling me I'm somehow more privileged than anyone else about it under those circumstances.

And I don't think calling for being against terrorists is what's causing polarization. When we are united against a REAL, TANGIBLE evil that's OK or what was WWII all about? Being polarized but united against an outside evil is OK. It's when we are polarized against ourselves as Americans first and foremost that's the problem.

[Ancaster]

 

10 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I just wanted to add that in retrospect I regretted not voting for Hillary given what we got and endured instead, but I at least feel better knowing it didn't change the outcome of the election because she still won my state. And at least I didn't give in and vote for Trump just because I didn't like Hillary that much. Nope, I would never do that even though I don't like not voting in any election and that was the only presidential election I sat out.

If I didn't vote because I didn't like the candidates then I might as well go live on the moon.  At least I like the man up there.

[tearknee]

1 minute ago, Ancaster said:

 

If I didn't vote because I didn't like the candidates then I might as well go live on the moon.  At least I like the man up there.

Nice to meet you, Dorothy Jane Torkelson! ;)

[Yeah No]

8 minutes ago, Palimelon said:

Yes, and that's YOUR experience. Not everyone in other parts of the US (hell not even everyone in NYC even) at the time shared that same experience.

Yeah, that lasted for like a week maximum. Again, other people who don't fit a certain mold experienced things differently at that time.

Again, this was being reported by just about every news outlet so it wasn't "just my experience". There are always people determined to find differences and grievances and not see the bigger picture but most people at the time did see how we united after 9/11 for a brief moment and put differences aside. And it was temporary although it lasted for more than a week. I cited it as an example of how this could happen back in the day but not now. My point is being completely lost here but it is an important one because Americans need to find common ground, not just gang up on each other over differences. I'm beginning to think it's too far gone now. But they shouldn't blame the person calling for us to find common ground instead of grinding axes. Grinding axes doesn't solve anything, it only perpetuates the problem.

[Enigma X]

12 minutes ago, Dimity said:

He's a coward.  He got a doctor to lie for him so he could avoid fighting in Vietnam.  Which wouldn't be an issue for me if he had protested against the war.  But he was a chickenhawk.  He has zero respect for the military or anyone who serves.  But sure, he's a tough guy 🙄.

Exactly. For me, it isn't that he didn't serve due to being against war but that he didn't serve due to being rich and is also uncaring for those who did serve while scared!

[Palimelon]

Quote

I wonder just how many people here can say that they grew up with 50% or more non-white kids in their school and people of all faiths, colors and religions in their neighborhoods and apartment buildings.

I did.

Also it kind of feels like we are veering into "But I have Black friends!" territory.

Quote

Again, this was being reported by just about every news outlet so it wasn't "just my experience". There are always people determined to find differences and grievances and not see the bigger picture but most people at the time did see how we united after 9/11 for a brief moment and put differences aside. And it was temporary although it lasted for more than a week. I cited it as an example of how this could happen back in the day but not now. My point is being completely lost here but it is an important one because Americans need to find common ground, not just gang up on each other over differences. I'm beginning to think it's too far gone now. But they shouldn't blame the person calling for us to find common ground instead of grinding axes. Grinding axes doesn't solve anything, it only perpetuates the problem.

The media which others on here have pointed out seemed to all follow the same playbook. Yes, people were united after 9/11 for a brief moment, but it was just that, a brief moment. It didn't last long. Grinding axes doesn't solve anything, true, but neither does looking at the past with only rose colored glasses.

Also, there are people actually pointing out how they were in the same situation as you are and experienced it differently. Just saying.

Edited 5 hours ago by Palimelon

[Yeah No]

13 minutes ago, partofme said:

The media fell in line post 9/11 and stopped being critical of Bush.   This was not a good thing, criticism of that administration, and there was a lot to be critical of, wasn’t accepted in the mainstream media.  Just look at the Dixie Chicks and how they got blackballed for speaking the truth about Bush.  You talk about how wonderful everything was in NYC post 9/11 , but I lived there, you just visited, there was a lot of fear, things were not good. 

I didn't just visit, I stayed with my Dad for weeks afterward and I was never out of touch with NYC for a very long time beforehand. I had only been away from NYC for less than a decade when that happened. I resent that you think I would be that out of touch with my own home town when I lived so close to it that I was there several days a week for almost a year because my mother was sick for several months and then died right before 9/11 and was out of work and visiting her. Then my Dad needed the support so I stayed with him. And I was never out of touch with my friends nor their points of view on this. And my friends were not all "privileged white people" either. So many assumptions here....

[tearknee]

3 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

Exactly. For me, it isn't that he didn't serve due to being against war but that he didn't serve due to being rich and is also uncaring for those who did serve while scared!

*nods soberly*

Being opposed to war on personal principle is one thing. It is quite a different thing to support the war but think that someone else should fight it for you.

[Yeah No]

3 minutes ago, Palimelon said:

I did.

The media which others on here have pointed out seemed to all follow the same playbook. Yes, people were united after 9/11 for a brief moment, but it was just that, a brief moment. It didn't last long. Grinding axes doesn't solve anything, true, but neither does looking at the past with only rose colored glasses.

Also, there are people actually pointing out how they were in the same situation as you are and experienced it differently. Just saying.

I'm not looking through rose colored glasses! I made that point as an example of what is possible. If we could only do that again and make it stick. I even acknowledged when I said it that it was for a brief moment and if only we could do it again. Sheesh. Again, so many assumptions. I feel like you're just looking for reasons to find something wrong with what I said. I am saying we need to come together. That is my biggest point but all people can see is one nit they can pick apart to nullify it. Not fair.

[Palimelon]

Quote

I made that point as an example of what is possible.

Ok but no need to be dismissive when others are offering a counterpoint to that example.

Quote

I feel like you're just looking for reasons to find something wrong with what I said

I only find something wrong when I think someone is saying something wrong. Or something I disagree with. Same as others have done with me on here. Which is all fair.

If anything, it feels like you want to say whatever you want to say without ever being challenged on it by anybody else.

[bluegirl147]

11 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

And I don't think calling for being against terrorists is what's causing polarization.

Bush saying that started the whole if you don't like it you can leave, the whole if you don't support what Bush is doing you are against America.  If you are against the war you are against the troops. Bush and the Republicans hijacked patriotism and turned into jingoism. And it has carried through to this day. Although now we have Trump who doesn't give a fuck about our troops.

10 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

But they shouldn't blame the person calling for us to find common ground instead of grinding axes.

You know what common ground is to Trump and his followers? Do what I fucking say or else.  There is no common ground with them.

11 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Grinding axes doesn't solve anything, it only perpetuates the problem.

You mean like wanting to punish people who didn't agree you won the election in 2020?  Threatening to punish you if you don't back my cabinet nominees?  Trump has been grinding axes for decades.

 

[partofme]

12 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Unless you are from NYC and have lived there for any length of time I think you are out of your depth attempting to tell me what my experience is or has been there. I grew up in a very racially integrated environment. I wonder just how many people here can say that they grew up with 50% or more non-white kids in their school and people of all faiths, colors and religions in their neighborhood 

I was born in Manhattan and grew up in the suburbs and went to schools that were at least 50% non-white.  I also lived in Manhattan since I graduated college in 1995 until I got priced out in 2023.  I’m not trying to invalidate your experience, I jjust tthink you see a lot of things with rose colored glasses, which isn’t bad, I just don’t agree that it’s how it was. 

[Dimity]

1 minute ago, bluegirl147 said:

You know what common ground is to Trump and his followers? Do what I fucking say or else.  There is no common ground with them.

Exactly.  I mean I understand why some want to believe we can have a meeting of minds and a meet halfway kind of thing, but with Trump and the MAGAs that's not going to happen.  He will burn the country down before he's done and his loyal crew will be cheering him on.

[Yeah No]

Just now, partofme said:

I was born in Manhattan and grew up in the suburbs and went to schools that were at least 50% non-white.  I also lived in Manhattan since I graduated college in 1995 until I got priced out in 2023.  I’m not trying to invalidate your experience, I jjust tthink you see a lot of things with rose colored glasses, which isn’t bad, I just don’t agree that it’s how it was. 

I grew up in the Bronx. We were poorer than many people in our neighborhood and my mother worked full time at a time before other mothers did. I did not grow up in privilege or in the suburbs, we couldn't afford to move there. And to me unless it was Washington Hts. or Inwood I would consider being able to live in Manhattan a privilege. Yet another place we couldn't afford to live and I couldn't afford as an adult. It's why I left NYC.

And if I have rose colored glasses a lot of people did back then only I don't see it that way. I think we were preferring to look at our commonality and not find fault with each other over differences. If you think that's wearing "rose colored glasses", I feel sorry that you're that pessimistic about America. I will never lose my faith in this place or in Americans because some have lost their way. I don't think most of them are irredeemable. And I think that people that do might as well leave this place and learn to appreciate it more because I'm sure that once they find out how life is in other countries, they'll be fighting to get back into this place.

 

 

[bluegirl147]

6 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

I am saying we need to come together.

Biden tried that.  Harris offered that.  And millions of voters said no.   The differences we (meaning the two parties, or two different belief systems) have are not easy to overcome.  We have people wanting to deport every brown person they see.  We have people wanting to force women to carry non viable fetuses till it kills them because life of the mother isn't as important as the non viable fetuses.  We have people wanting to prevent transgender people from getting the health care. Speaking of health care we have people wanting to make it AOK to make denying coverage for preexisting conditions again.  We have people wanting to make same sex marriage (and if you listen to Clarence Thomas interracial marriage) illegal again.

When you have people arguing over all that you lose sight of that most people agree on affordable health care is needed (they just argue over how to pay for it).  Paid family leave is needed (they just argue over how to pay for it).  Social Security needs fixed and available to those who are and will be collecting it (they just argue over how to pay for it).  We do need a better immigration policy.  But there are politicians who would rather use our differences to stoke the divisions so nobody will notice when said politicians are lining their own pockets while our pockets are being emptied.

[Yeah No]

11 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

You know what common ground is to Trump and his followers? Do what I fucking say or else.  There is no common ground with them.

Ummm....That actually IS their common ground! Very effective, too. Not what I would condone of course.

12 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

You mean like wanting to punish people who didn't agree you won the election in 2020?  Threatening to punish you if you don't back my cabinet nominees?  Trump has been grinding axes for decades.

Yes, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about. We don't want to be as bad as the other side with the axe grinding. I personally feel we should be focusing on the positives. Call upon people to do the right thing, don't engage in blame games or feed into people's grievances. It doesn't work for Democrats. We have to be above that crap.

2 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

Biden tried that.  Harris offered that.  And millions of voters said no.   The differences we (meaning the two parties, or two different belief systems) have are not easy to overcome.  We have people wanting to deport every brown person they see.  We have people wanting to force women to carry non viable fetuses till it kills them because life of the mother isn't as important as the non viable fetuses.  We have people wanting to prevent transgender people from getting the health care. Speaking of health care we have people wanting to make it AOK to make denying coverage for preexisting conditions again.  We have people wanting to make same sex marriage (and if you listen to Clarence Thomas interracial marriage) illegal again.

When you have people arguing over all that you lose sight of that most people agree on affordable health care is needed (they just argue over how to pay for it).  Paid family leave is needed (they just argue over how to pay for it).  Social Security needs fixed and available to those who are and will be collecting it (they just argue over how to pay for it).  We do need a better immigration policy.  But there are politicians who would rather use our differences to stoke the divisions so nobody will notice when said politicians are lining their own pockets while our pockets are being emptied.

I'm talking about getting Democrats to come together. It's bad enough we are working against all of the above coming from the other side of the spectrum who are also trying to steal away from our ranks, but to be at each others' throats won't accomplish that unification, that's my point. I think if we can find a way to get Democrats to come together we won't be losing them and they'll be focused on the bigger picture and the positives. It's the only way we're going to win. 

[Yeah No]

18 minutes ago, Palimelon said:

Ok but no need to be dismissive when others are offering a counterpoint to that example.

I only find something wrong when I think someone is saying something wrong. Or something I disagree with. Same as others have done with me on here. Which is all fair.

If anything, it feels like you want to say whatever you want to say without ever being challenged on it by anybody else.

I have no problem with being challenged if it's done in a fair way but I felt like assumptions were being made about me and my experiences, positions and opinions that were unfair and not true. And it felt like disrespect, that's what I was reacting to.

[bluegirl147]

4 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

I think if we can find a way to get Democrats to come together we won't be losing them and they'll be focused on the bigger picture and the positives. It's the only way we're going to win. 

If you can figure out a way to bring Democrats together then you deserve a gold star.  

I think there should be four parties.  Left, Center Left, Center Right, Right.

I don't agree with everything Democrats believe in.  I sure don't believe in what Republicans want.

If there were four parties candidates would have to work harder to get someone's vote.  Sure you would still have extremist candidates but a less extreme candidate would probably be welcomed by most voters.

[Yeah No]

1 minute ago, bluegirl147 said:

If you can figure out a way to bring Democrats together then you deserve a gold star.  

I think there should be four parties.  Left, Center Left, Center Right, Right.

I don't agree with everything Democrats believe in.  I sure don't believe in what Republicans want.

If there were four parties candidates would have to work harder to get someone's vote.  Sure you would still have extremist candidates but a less extreme candidate would probably be welcomed by most voters.

I don't have any answers about how to bring Dems. together but I have suggested a four party solution to friends. I am still considering it as a solution. I'm not sure it would work but it's worth considering. 

[bluegirl147]

The problem is both parties are being defined by their extremes.  If we still have a democracy after Trump things need to change.

[Is Everyone Gone]

So the Dept of Education secretary nominee has her own sex abuse scandal. At this point I've lost account of who has a sex abuse scandal in his cabinet.

Only the best people ...

[bluegirl147]

3 minutes ago, Is Everyone Gone said:

So the Dept of Education secretary nominee has her own sex abuse scandal. At this point I've lost account of who has a sex abuse scandal in his cabinet.

Only the best people ...

The cynic in me thinks he is purposely choosing people with sex scandals for two reasons. One birds of a feather and two they won't judge him for his sex scandals.

[Enigma X]

34 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

The cynic in me thinks he is purposely choosing people with sex scandals for two reasons. One birds of a feather and two they won't judge him for his sex scandals.

I vote the former because I don't think he has enough self-awareness to care about what others think, especially since Americans voted him into office when they knew he was a sexual predator anyway.

Edited 4 hours ago by Enigma X

[Dimity]

I think it's just his way of sneering at women.  He's telling us exactly what he thinks of us and he's telling us just what his promise of "protection" actually means.  Just another day, just another lie, just another blow against decency and morality.

[bluegirl147]

6 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I think it's just his way of sneering at women.  He's telling us exactly what he thinks of us and he's telling us just what his promise of "protection" actually means.  Just another day, just another lie, just another blow against decency and morality.

I remember seeing women at his rallies wearing shirts that said grab me by my (you know).  I will never understand his appeal.

[Anela]

I called to thank my rep, last night, because she changed her mind on a vote regarding the government being able to remove funding from non-profits. I didn’t like it, anyway, because of who it was initially targeting, but it was a big worry with trump being in charge soon.  
 

https://sykes.house.gov/media/press-releases/sykes-votes-against-expanding-power-to-strip-nonprofits-of-tax-exempt-status-for-political-gain

Edited 4 hours ago by Anela

[Dimity]

8 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

I remember seeing women at his rallies wearing shirts that said grab me by my (you know).  I will never understand his appeal.

There were also people at his rallies wearing adult diapers over their clothes and bandages on their ear.  The stupidity runs deep.

Edited 4 hours ago by Dimity

[Palimelon]

There are people buying Bibles from him. That is like buying a vegan cookbook from Hannibal Lecter (his favorite actor!).

[Avaleigh]

12 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I just can't get over my good friend voting for Trump. I know her as well as my own family and she has historically never been any of those things on the list (racist, homophobic, misogynistic) and she would vehemently defend herself on that, but people are being brainwashed and falling victim to fear tactics to make them forget about what this creep really stands for and who supports him. And they will make every excuse for him and even not believe that he is "that bad". Even that they will blame on Democrats!

I give up with her and people like her. I could engage in a little "Socratic method" with her but I don't want to start an argument. She is still saying the nicest things about Harris and is now even bashing Trump again. But the fact of her voting for him still remains and she will not admit she made any mistake. It's complete insanity, but I think this is what you get when people are brainwashed and stoked with fear about one or two issues.

You have my sympathies. I'm in a similar situation with two friends. (I also have another friend who always votes Republican, so no surprise there, but we've been friends since we were itty bitty. We just don't talk politics in any meaningful way.) 

My friend with the baby, even though I didn't agree with her choice, I could basically understand where she was coming from. Plus, we don't often talk about politics anyway, so it's not like anything really changed. 

With my other friend it's a complete WTF WTH happened to you sort of feeling. We've been friends since high school. We always voted the same way and always freely shared our political opinions. This girl drove people to the polls in '04,  thought GWB was a disaster, and helped raise money for Obama in his first campaign. Something with the pandemic though really did a number on her, and I think it definitely played a role in her changing. She didn't want to wear a mask, she'd broken up with her boyfriend, she was pissed that so many restaurants were closed, and she felt super isolated during COVID.

I was out of the state for five years and didn't come back until 2022 and by that point the damage had been done. She was saying stuff like how she felt forced to get the vaccine, that she regretted it, and was worried by BS conspiracy theories she'd read online. She had her car broken into and she started dating a guy who leans right wing. There were other factors too of course, but all of the above was just a recipe for a huge political shift from the last person I would have expected it from. The other crazy thing is that she's still very pro choice but she now sees that as a minor issue in comparison to the stuff that she now cares about. In this case, for me personally, it's been harder to maintain a friendship because I feel like our values are not aligned anymore.

Trump and the MAGA fanbase have done a number on me. This whole clusterfuck of a situation has had a devastating impact on my family and my husband's family. My father in law and his girlfriend are Trump supporters. My husband, brother in law and sister in law aren't, but all of their cousins are save one. My brother in law cut off his aunts because of how far they've gone down the MAGA hole. We still have a relationship with them because we don't talk politics, but that upsets my BIL and SIL because they feel we basically should have sided with them. My mother and stepfather, I feel, were spiritually abducted by MAGA and it's something I still find hard to accept. I just can't deal with the idea that this is a forever thing with them even though it's eight years and counting. My mom and her only sibling don't even speak anymore because of politics. They literally haven't spoken in almost five years even though they were incredibly close and live near each other. Whenever they're at a family gathering they avoid each other or try to time their arrivals separately. It's been awful and it's unlikely to get better any time soon. 

[Dimity]

4 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

It's been awful and it's unlikely to get better any time soon. 

The hard shift to the right is scary.  In my extended family, down through the years, we were mostly liberal but there were NDP supporters and conservatives as well and politics just wasn't something that was going to cause hurt feelings and people cutting others out of their lives. 

But that's changing now.  I have cousins who went bananas during the pandemic and didn't just embrace conservatism they went hard core conspiracy theory.  It's like they joined some crazy cult.  At least they don't proselytize but they are no longer welcome at family gatherings that's for sure.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Would it be okay if I posted a few of the pictures I took from last night?

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, Enigma X said:

Exactly. For me, it isn't that he didn't serve due to being against war but that he didn't serve due to being rich and is also uncaring for those who did serve while scared!

In an unearthed interview from 1997, Donald Trump claimed he was a "brave soldier" for avoiding STDs during his single years in the late '90s.

"It's amazing, I can't even believe it. I've been so lucky in terms of that whole world, it is a dangerous world out there. It's like Vietnam, sort of. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave solider," Trump said in the interview when Howard Stern asked how he handled making sure he wasn't contracting STDs from the women he was sleeping with.

The business-mogul-turned-politician elaborated on the fact in the interview, calling women's vaginas "potential landmines" and saying "there's some real danger there."

From People Magazine

[Palimelon]

"And to think they made a movie about that deadbeat Gandhi, when there's a story like this that hasn't been told."

-Dorothy Z.

Coming this fall, to an Oscar viewing party near you: Saving Donald's Privates.

Edited 3 hours ago by Palimelon

[Anela]

My dad rarely sees his family, because he only gets one day off, most weeks, and he’s generally getting me out of here, to get to the store, on that day off.  I only ever see them at funerals.  I’m wondering if I should tell him to go and see one group of them, on thanksgiving, and he can drop me off somewhere for a few hours.  Then we can have our own little dinner at home, later on.  

Edited 3 hours ago by Anela

[peacheslatour]

14 minutes ago, Dimity said:

The hard shift to the right is scary.  In my extended family, down through the years, we were mostly liberal but there were NDP supporters and conservatives as well and politics just wasn't something that was going to cause hurt feelings and people cutting others out of their lives. 

But that's changing now.  I have cousins who went bananas during the pandemic and didn't just embrace conservatism they went hard core conspiracy theory.  It's like they joined some crazy cult.  At least they don't proselytize but they are no longer welcome at family gatherings that's for sure.

[bluegirl147]

23 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

Something with the pandemic though really did a number on her, and I think it definitely played a role in her changing

I mentioned before I also had a friend who took a hard right during the pandemic. She had been mostly non political before Covid but she was an atheist and pro choice and the B part of LGBTQ so left leaning.  Her anti vax stance caused me to drift away from her and then earlier this year I see her posting pro Trump memes. 

26 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

Trump and the MAGA fanbase have done a number on me.

They have done a number on so many families.  It's not just a difference in political views.  It goes so much deeper than that.  I'm not sure those rifts can ever be healed.

19 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

In an unearthed interview from 1997, Donald Trump claimed he was a "brave soldier" for avoiding STDs during his single years in the late '90s.

"It's amazing, I can't even believe it. I've been so lucky in terms of that whole world, it is a dangerous world out there. It's like Vietnam, sort of. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave solider," Trump said in the interview when Howard Stern asked how he handled making sure he wasn't contracting STDs from the women he was sleeping with.

The business-mogul-turned-politician elaborated on the fact in the interview, calling women's vaginas "potential landmines" and saying "there's some real danger there."

From People Magazine

And yet he considers the soldiers who actually did fight losers for dying.

 

[tearknee]

There are people buying Bibles from him. That is like buying a vegan cookbook from Hannibal Lecter (his favorite actor!).

Favorite Person. He thought (thinks?) Lecter is real.

The Harris campaign should have got Englund, Dourif, McCormack, Fuhrman, Grace et al to do a "Psychotic Killers for Donald Trump" spoof PSA.

[Palimelon]

Actors are persons too.

Granted, Trump is crazy either way...

Edited 3 hours ago by Palimelon

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, tearknee said:

*nods soberly*

Being opposed to war on personal principle is one thing. It is quite a different thing to support the war but think that someone else should fight it for you.

I've often though if you want to prevent or end wars. Force the rich and politicans to send themselves or their children to war. They would find a way end war so fast if they actually had to risk their own lives or their kids. 

[Ancaster]

Just now, andromeda331 said:

I've often though if you want to prevent or end wars. Force the rich and politicans to send themselves or their children to war. They would find a way end war so fast if they actually had to risk their own lives or their kids. 

Remember that old bumper sticker, "If men could get pregnant, you'd be able to get an abortion at Walmart"?