So, you are telling me that I should not consider the fears of a Black man or a gay person? Are you telling me they are being irrational? 40% of the votes of a party ignore court rulings, and thousands participated in an action intended to reverse the 2020 Presidential election. How are we in a rational and civilized democracy? This country has a history of rounding up and also deporting people who are legally here (if you lived in California, Arizona, New Mexico, or Texas, you would experience reports about this on a regular basis). Trump has said he would like to expand rounding up and deporting. And Trump has also said he only wants people in his administration who will - to paraphrase - do what he wants.
Exactly. And Republicans no longer support a rational and civilized democracy. I mean, January 6, for one example, and their likely nominee has already explicitly stated his intention to be a dictator for one day - which is one day more than a party that supports a rational and civilized democracy would tolerate.
And let's not forget the "civilized and rational" GOP in West Virginia, which just this month is considering draconian bills to take away various LGBT+ rights:
I will admit that it’s hard to conceive of the West Coast passing laws similar to those (prop 8 notwithstanding), I agree that living in a country where you don’t feel accepted is stressful. If you have the means to leave, for your own mental and physical health, then Godspeed. If one of my kids ends up being trans, I wouldn’t hesitate to move to a friendlier state. But I also feel compelled to stay and help fight the good fight, especially since I’m not at risk.
I have a cousin who is gay and she rarely talks to her mom, and I don't think at all to her dad, because they are evangelicals. She grew up in southern Indiana, formatively, and has moved to a far more comfortable area.
And then there was Illinois Republican politician hopeful Alan Keyes, who disowned (what a patriarchal term that is!) his daughter when she came out, given his support for family values and all.
Of course you could describe thousands of examples of troglodytes trying to legislate the world back to the stone age. What you can't reasonably describe is how describing yourself as gay on Big Soccer is going to put you in real danger. There's legitimate fears and then there's silly catastrophizing.
I don't recall saying that. You might want to go back and do some re-reading. My leaving the country if the Orange One wins has nothing to do with my posting on Big Soccer.
Gives me an excuse to post this! http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2005/10/lunch-discussions-145-crazification.html "John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% approval. I feel much less like Kevin McCarthy screaming in traffic. But I wonder what his base is -- Tyrone: 27%. John: ... you said that immmediately, and with some authority. Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That's crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population."
Found the interview... https://europeanconservative.com/ar...ple-for-a-change-an-interview-with-j-d-vance/ Vance's water-carrying for Peter Thiel is making Lindsay Graham look like Daniel Ellsberg. By the way, here's my favorite... Dreher: The valorization of victimhood is one of the main problems with American public life, because victimhood is a source of power? Do you see this breaking? Can politics play a role in breaking it? Vance (R: Thiel): I think culturally, it’s much less powerful now than it was five years ago. People are not as willing to accept the framing of “I’m a victim, therefore, you should listen to me and defer to me.” We’ve already gotten sick of being told that we should listen to somebody not because they have a smart idea, but because they have a certain identity. So it has already broken a little bit. One of the ways that public policy should address this is that we should promote excellence, and we should reward excellence. And yeah, you’ve got to cover for the people who are down on their luck. But the sole focus of public policy should not be addressing unfairness. Fundamentally, if you want to address some issues of fairness, one of the most important things you can do is empower the truly gifted. These guys aren't paying attention to Trump Rallies. Or more likely, are doing so without a shred of self awareness and/or human dignity
Not sure where to put this but of good news NEWStudents at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine react to Dr. Ruth Gottesman’s announcement that starting in August the medical school is tuition free. Also, students who paid their tuition this semester will be receiving a reimbursement. https://t.co/lYrh4tDhmK pic.twitter.com/XDDaosAZOk— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) February 27, 2024 One of my brothers good friends and now a family friend graduated from there. He couldn't believe it. This is the kind of good news we need.
This is amazing. Also amazing that this money is going to this school and not some Ivy or something that already has billions in its endowment. It really annoys me when big donations are made to schools that don't really need it, but smaller, more local schools that need donations are ignored. Those are the places where those dollars will really make a difference.
Given that he started splashing around in the deep end of the crazy pool around 2017, 2018, AND given that somewhere between then and now he got it into his head that moving to Hungary would be a great idea . . . maybe not super ironic at this point. I wonder if the break-up of his marriage precipitated his becoming a crackpot, or if it was his becoming a crackpot that broke up his marriage.
Slightly changing the topic, I wonder if anyone has studied whether or not Trumpism has measurably increased divorces. I doubt I ever could have married someone susceptible to becoming a Trump fan, but if my wife was a Trump fan, I doubt I could stay married to someone with those kinds of values.
I suspect his journey down the cray hole was mostly financially inspired. There isn't much of a market for the stuff he used to write anymore
I've seen some friends in the last few years go through divorce. Some have said it sucks but they're looking forward, others are going the Kirk Van Houten route (I sleep in a racing car, do you?) and then there's the few that just aren't handling it well and blaming woke/gay culture. It wouldn't surprise me if he turned out a crackpot on account of that. Though Jitty has a point too.