it was 2 years ago but I got perma banned for saying some trump’s cult members are mouth breathing rednecks. Or at least I think that was the case all I was told was my account was banned for violating the “rules”. I appealed by asking what rules I violated - the canned response was “we reviewed your appeal and are holding up our ban of your account.”

Haven’t been back to the site since and don’t miss it.

Ex-spouse: (on the phone with parents) My ex-wife has invited us over for beef wellington.

Ex-spouse’s parents: Hasn’t she tried to kill you like four times before? Why would you accept this invitation?

Ex-spouse: well her beef wellington is to die for!

Ex-spouse’s parents: Well that’s good enough for us, were in see you a 6

What are the realistic potential outcomes of everything going on?

Not sure. I don’t think anyone really is.

Part of the reason that there are not big protest yet is that many many people that do disagree with the administration have/had been looking towards the Democratic party to fight back. But that isn’t happening which is adding to the shock and awe of things. Truly Americans don’t really know what to do and without a large organizing presence to help drive a big push back there really isn’t anything being done.

I do hope that someone steps up soon and starts to organize a push back. Haven’t seen it yet.

There are a lot of European keyboard warriors that don’t seem to know much about America (other than social media) that keep trying to call out Americans for not “protesting right.”

It shows that they have no clue about the size of the country or the fact that the shock and awe that started this administration knocked everyone on their heels and only now are we starting to mobilize.

I can see a “feel good” headline

80 Year old woman still hustling - you can’t slow down this granny!

Really you are ahead of the curve which is great!

I do think all the Democrats, should take more opportunities to visit their states to make people aware of what’s going on, what they’re doing in Congress to try to stop the worst stuff happening, and what ordinary people can do to push back as well. I think members should also boost each others message because probably pages like AOC’s have a lot more viewers from a district than their own district’s House Rep.

Good they are doing some legislative opposition, but you’re right they need to be doing more to push back outside of congress.

I’ve wondered if the they started buying ads on mobile games with a quick few lines to tell people what they have done or what the republicans are doing would work?

you by-pass large media, you get a younger audience and it gets a message out there quickly.

The biggest mistake the voters made was thinking that their representative is in office to help improve their lives. In reality it was to improve their own stock portfolio, if they accidentally did something for the constituents that’s just icing on the cake.

I think we are talking about leadership at different points of time.

The leader that America needs right now is someone to articulate and draw people together behind the idea of “Throwing the bums out” and in that context there is a large coalition of people that agree with that sentiment.

What happens after the bums are gone is where the in-fighting and purity tests start to take hold. But having the opportunity to argue about whether Leader A’s policy of taxing the billionaires at 90% vs. Leader B’s policy of 70% tax rate on them would be a welcomed change.

I completely agree that we can’t blindly blame this on election fraud, that is a form of denial. Which I will admit is part of my Tinfoil hat rant above.

But if there are credible sources that are stating they have doubts about the legitimacy of the results there should be an investigation. Note, this isn’t really about this past election, I know of no evidence that shows fraud only slight rumblings from “unknown sources” which isn’t legitimate to me.

My concern is that the Stop the Steal movement, that was using weak or even made up evidence to support their cause has made future allegations less likely to be taken seriously.

trump isn’t a strong leader, he’s a very accomplished con artist.

He allows people to project their vision of who he is on him.

You say I’m christian? Sure I’ll pretend I am

You say I’m anti abortion? Sure I’ll pretend that I am

You say I’m for the little guy? Sure, I’ll pretend that I care about them

You say I’m anti-vax? Sure, I’ll tell you that I am

You say I’m the second coming of Christ? Okay, I’m good with you thinking that about me

You say I’m a strong patriot? Sure, I’ll hug the flag and say the words you need me to say

He is everything to everyone of his supporters because he never tells them that they are wrong about who he is.

A strong leader is someone that has strong convictions and articulates them in a way that resonates with the population. They are not people that waffle in their ideals, you either like their stance or you don’t. Smart ones will adjust their ideas over time but they do this from a strong ideological foundation. Some are genuinely good people like MLK, jr. others are more despotic. What America needs is one or two genuinely good strong leaders.

we voted for this

<Tinfoil hat>

Did we? There are some suspicions of voter fraud in some swing states and it sure as hell isn’t below musk to attempt something like that.

Yet, I think that the past MAGA crazies screaming about “election fraud” and “stop the steal” has poisoned the well for legitimate future calls for investigating potential fraud in elections. On top of that it also makes people that question the results sound like the crazies of the past.

It could explain why trump is allowing so much power to musk.

</Tinfoil hat>

Source: I have no source. It’s all feels over reals and a partial lack of acceptance that so many American people are that dumb.

I don’t know if it’s really selfish more people are a part of a system that is bigger than them that forces them into situations that have a negative impact on CO2 levels

Working a job that has low pay which probably force people to housing that is further from their work place, in America most cities don’t have a great public transportation infrastructure nor do they have alternative commuting options like protected bike lanes. This forces people to have to drive more.

The Return to Office bullshit has forced more cars on the road that were not there 4 years ago which is impacting CO2 levels

These are just 2 of many different things that the system has created that have put people in situations that make slowing CO2 levels more difficult.

True.

One conservative acquaintance voted for trump to bring Jesus to the country and to stop abortion.

Another voted for trump because they worship money and believe that another trump administration will help him get richer.

Yes I do.

If app A has an icon that when touched does a specific thing, and app B has the exact same icon that does the exact same thing there is nothing new to learn. The learning curve is flat.

If you are arguing about the ethical and legal aspect of one app using the exact same UI as another that is a different conversation and a good one to have.

well the the learning curve for new users is flat and adoption of the app will be more acceptable to more people.

I think it’s a smart idea - they can always make changes to the UI in time as the platform gets more people.

OP isn’t wrong and neither are you. Democrats didn’t show up, republicans did that is why Harris lost.

But Harris lost because of everything you wrote as well.

It is a mental disease

Yes. As a completely uneducated non-certified internet therapist I’d say that disease is fear. I really believe that those people that strive for more and more do so to try to fix a fear of not having enough. Or a fear of not being enough. Instead of actually trying to recognize the this fear and controlling it, they just do the one thing that can temporarily make them less fearful and that is make more, control more.

My feeling, and I’ve posted about before, is that the progressive wing doesn’t have a leader that inspires people to take action. Bernie and AOC are pretty much the only two that have any national recognition but they are playing the game from inside. I truly believe that for the progressive side to actually make inroads and to have the power to hold the right-wing and corporate democrats accountable they need a very intelligent brash leader. Some one that can fire up the base and get people to want to do more than vent some steam online.

But until that person comes into reality, the progressives will just be a bunch of squawking angry individuals blowing steam off online and being continually ignored by the rest of the political spectrum and the national media.

I’m still pissed we as citizenry didn’t stand up and demand what we deserve

This will only happen if there is someone that the progressive democrats can get behind. Someone like Bernie but younger and more angry. Someone that will call out the bullshit and do it in a way that will get the attention of the big media corporations. I hate to say it but a progressive trump, but smarter (which shouldn’t be difficult) and genuinely out to better the lives of the American citizens. And I genuinely hope that this unicorn exists.