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I voted in a way that was against my self interest but which I thought was better for the country. I am now being laughed at and mocked by a bunch of online morons who probably aren't as well off as I am about how big daddy Trump is back and they love the taste of my tears. Excuse me for being a human and thinking "I tried my best bruh. Time for you to touch that hot stove and learn by experience. On you go."

Depends...did they vote for Trump?

No argument here

Had a fun run in today. Well not really fun. Sad. The interpreter I mentioned I was excited was going to vote called me. He voted Trump. Was rubbing my face in it. How he only supports winners, etc. So I let him go off until he says he is going to sponsor his Afghan parents to come to live with him. Um... I asked if he saw the statement about birthright citizenship. Nope. He says well at least they can come and visit. I asked what he thinks about a new Muslim ban. I am pretty sure Afghans will be added to any new list. Nope. He tells me he has to get a lot of work done on his truck (long haul trucker). I ask if he heard about tariffs and if he knew what components on his truck we made overseas. Nope. He says well at least the killing of Palestinians created by Biden will stop. I said if he knew it was Trump that moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem. Nope. He asked me to go to a gun show and help him pick something out since he is nervous in his neighborhood now (NE San Antonio, not Watts). I said nope. I hope he enjoys living under the Christian Taliban.

If they really want to make a large cut to LGBTQ+, they should get rid of the corps of cadets and the yell leaders.

Place holder for what will be a fun and active thread of the next few years . Wasn't planning to start this for a few months but we are already seeing a trickle of appetizers.

Thanks, @InkaUtexas for tagging me. I know I’ve dipped from this thread. This might be my last post in here. In early March 2022 I was in deep southeastern Poland. So deep that it wasn’t always really Poland. I was there with the grandmas and the kids with cats in their arms and the moms trying to carry all their luggage. I caught my first case of COVID in a World Central Kitchen outpost. I really haven’t left there and every day since has brought Ukraine to me. This is true: Ukraine is heading towards a loss in this war, whether faster or slower. I did not say that Russia will win, but Ukraine is heading for a loss. That is where the road heads. Ukraine is smaller, Russia is bigger, and Putin wants Ukraine to lose more than we want it to win. It’s a math equation now. I have never been more proud of being an American than I was in March 2022 but since the about the summer of 2023, all that has been whittled away down to nothing. 2022 was the purest test of whether America wanted to be America since 1941. We failed. Many of us don’t want to be America anymore, and many of those who want to be America are not brave enough to actually do it. I don’t know who makes me angrier, except maybe myself. The Poles and the Balts and the Czechs are better Americans than we are but they just don’t have enough. Sometimes only America can be America. This has consumed my life for almost 1000 days, and it will continue to consumer it until it ends one way or another. I’ll keep at it, but I can’t look at my Ukrainian friends in the eyes anymore and I can’t write about it anymore.

I presume a lot, if not most, Trump voters were focused on inflation. This thread will be epic, considering: 1. Trump caused the inflation in the first place with a massive stimulus bill with trillions of corporate direct giveaways of money. 2. Tariffs are one of the most anti-Republican ideas ever, and if he follows through, inflation will move up substantially. 3. He will ignore the national debt, which happens to be one of our most serious issues, which will of course cause inflation to move upward. That also goes against Republican ideals (eventhough they run up as bad or worse deficits than Democrats). 4. The Union people that voted for Trump will soon find out about Reagan-style union busting; If Boeing could have held out for a few months Trump would have figured out how to bust up that strike somehow. The Union people are probably the dumbest Trump voters, which is quite a badge of honor. 5. People complain about the cost of housing. A good part of that is the incredible concentration of wealth in the hands of the ultra-wealthy who are basically buying up real estate all over the country. Trump exacerbates that issue. He won't do anything about it. He also won't help young buyers, many of which were dumb enough to vote for him. 6. The Trump/Republican plans to stop pursuing anti-trust against the mega-cap tech companies will make inflation worse because they have unrestricted power to raise prices. In fact, the reduced regulation in general will increase inflation. But, you say, won't the improved corporate efficiency lead to lower prices? In a competitive market, yes. But we have too many companies with monopoly or oligopoly power. Just a few here for everyone to think about: cell phone bills, insurance, cloud services, etc. Now to be fair to any President, it's a tough problem to solve. Because you don't want to hamstring your US companies against global competitors. As a result, you need to have a coordinated strategy among countries to reign in monopolies and oligopolies. No one on the planet will work with Trump since they all believe he is a buffoon. So that isn't a strategy for them. 7. The deportations and stricter immigration limits will cause services costs to jump up substantially, further fueling inflation. Now, if he does a 180 degree turn and really cuts government spending, doesn't implement tariffs, doesn't restrict immigration too tightly, etc. then maybe the low inflation we have today will hold. And maybe even there could be some decent results overall. But he's driven by crowds liking him, not knowledge or ideals. And he's a complete moron who has full control over his entire party, so no one will be able to stop him from doing anything he wants. This is not a formula for success. There is a very good chance that in 4 years people are crushed by spiraling inflation, walking around in a daze wondering how it possibly could have gotten worse. Meanwhile wealth inequality will be even worse.

You haven't seen smug condescension yet. Check back in on this thread in 6 months.

Maudies hitting on all cylinders…

I've pretty much decided I won't be a bleeding-heart liberal anymore -- I'll be a black-hearted one. If you support liberal democracy, equal rights, the Golden Rule, pluralism, and hold an inclusive live-and-live outlook, you're generally an ally and okay in my book. I will work with you on any differences. If you're actively opposed to those broad principles (especially those who crave a fucking monarchy in America) and affirmatively voted for the hate machine, you are indeed my political enemy. I'll relish any and all blowback you receive -- no matter how harsh -- because you fucking deserve it. Hate begets hate, and my black heart no longer has any brotherly love for you. My only concession to kindness will be toward those who are too stupid to understand what's what and will take that into account on a case-by-case basis.

And you want a king, but you'll settle for a dictator instead. You're illiberal (in the classical sense), reject the Enlightenment, and oppose the fundamental principles of American democracy. You're anything BUT making America great again. You're anti-American.

Well yeah, but he had the best surname ever.

Adding toppings to fries makes them worse, not better. Toppings should be added on the side, to prevent compromising the structural integrity/crispiness of the fry. the same concept applies to those godawful piles of “noach” that ladle heaps of toppings on the upper layer with no even distribution thru the layers of tortilla chips. i appreciate the differences of opinion on this matter, while also recognizing that you should be put into camps if you ruin fries.

Which of those do you doubt he has said? You are one of the morons who says “he never said that” while video plays of him saying exactly “that” aren’t you?

I’m here for the LOL’s. I tried to help people with my votes, but you can’t help people that won’t help themselves. Fuck everyone that voted for Trump.

This is long but I need to vent and haven’t had time until now. This thread seems as good as any. I grew up in rural Texas in a Christian conservative home. I don’t remember my family ever being very political, but I’m sure my parents were Republican and I personally voted for GWB twice, just by default. I thought that’s what good Texans were supposed to do. I did not vote in the ‘08, ‘12, or ‘16 elections because I was becoming more apathetic about politics, believing it didn’t actually matter for me who was in power. I’m a weirdo who liked Bush and liked Obama. I voted libertarian in ‘20 as a protest vote against the 2 party system. I definitely wanted Trump to lose by that point, but I felt like the EC rendered my Texan vote pointless, so may as well burn it on a 3rd party candidate. I hate the 2 party system and am envious of countries that have multiple candidates and ranked choice voting. I agree with the idea that the U.S. has a beta version of democracy that unfortunately never got upgraded, and now we’re like an iPhone 3 that physically cannot receive upgrades ever again. For 10+ years, I considered myself politically moderate, socially liberal, fiscally conservative. Despite my upbringing in the church, I supported and sympathized with LGBTQ groups, shifted more and more towards pro-choice, legalization of weed, etc. I also drifted farther from the church to the point of being completely disenfranchised and there was freedom in that. Maybe I was slightly left of center for a while, but for the past ~5 years, I feel like the far right has become more and more extreme, so the new “center” is significantly skewed from the historical center. That puts me farther on the left than I’ve ever been, not necessarily because I agree with every Democrat policy, but because I strongly disagree with many Republican policies. I voted down ballot D this cycle because I’m pissed off and genuinely concerned about Republican agendas. I also think Trump is morally reprehensible and unfit to be president I have a very hard time understanding how any halfway decent human being could vote for him. He sexually assaulted at least one woman that we know of and likely many more. Like, what the fuck America? We don’t even need to get into January 6 or hush money or classified documents. I wish like hell the GOP would’ve nominated Ron Desantis because at least then we could focus on policy differences and not have to accept that a rapist is in the Oval Office and many people are celebrating it. I was obviously disappointed in the outcome of the election, but bad things happen in life and we have to pick ourselves up and hope for a better future. A majority of our voting population wanted this. My knee jerk reaction was to hate everyone who voted for this, but that would involve turning my back on many people who are close family and friends. That’s a dark and lonely road, and to the conservatives in my life, it would paint me as an asshole who took his ball and went home, rather than maintaining those relationships and hoping to be an advocate or a voice of reason for my beliefs. After some reflection, when you remove the radicalized MAGA types from the equation, I think millions of people voted for Trump because of money. Pure and simple - money. I think rich people chose him because they believe he will protect their money and social status. I think poor people chose him because they are struggling to buy basic necessities let alone ever buy a house, and they view Harris as an extension of Biden, who has failed them in their eyes. Perhaps we don’t have millions of people who think it’s okay to elect a rapist, but we have millions of people who don’t think the American dream is working for them under the current status quo, and they felt it was their only choice. I disagree with that, but maybe that’s a luxury that I could vote on the basis of moral principals and not worry about feeding my family. I hope that many of Trump’s more outlandish promises were merely theatrics and don’t actually come to pass. I know that’s naive and all signs point the other direction, but I can’t throw in the towel. I want to continue living here and I want my young child to live a good and full life, so I have to hope that we as a society figure this thing out. A lot can happen in 4 years, but hopefully nothing becomes so irreparably broken that we can’t fix it down the road. I’ll do my part to be a good neighbor and friend and member of my community. I’ll vote again in 2 years and 4 years. I have a personal commitment to provide my daughter a good life above all else, and there may come a point at which a move is ultimately the only remaining option, but we aren’t there yet and I’m clinging to hope that things can still improve.

he will tell them it’s all Kamala’s fault and they will believe him.

As for cheese fries, the best in my book are Snuffers. I got introduced to them when I dated a SMU girl in college. The cheese fries at the OG snuffers on Greenville were amazing. They’re still the best.

I look at stupid, bigoted people with smug condescension. Guilty as charged. The pain you feel must be immeasurable and your only balm is the ending of democracy. Fair trade, eh?

FIFY Of all the Treaties and Agreements and Contracts and Deals that have been broken since the dawn of man, this one is very close to the top of my list. The US and Russia and Ukraine agreeing that Ukraine would give up its Nuclear Weapons in exchange for a peaceful existence, backed up by the US and Russia. Give up you weapons ... and FUCK YOU. Why would anybody trust the US Government for anything? The Vietnam War & Watergate created a huge distrust between the American people (me) and our government. The US capitulating to Russia and ignoring their Crimes against Humanity will accelerate and magnify the distrust of the world and the US. The US isolationist dream that allowed Hitler to run amok over Europe has come full circle, only now the US cannot simply flip a switch and take what it wants from other countries, unless we choose to be Russia 2.0. Yes we can isolate ourselves, but the US is not self sufficient and needs what the rest of the world has. That isolationist behavior will come at an unforeseen cost. Well said 956, as we have come to expect. Not just to 956, but to so many of you. There is not any one issue that really affected my thoughts on the election more than Ukraine. Almost 1% of America agreed with me. Other than a quick glance at pre-market economic activity and the "news", this board is the first thing I read. Joe Biden's first words on Ukraine soil, "How are the kids?", was a high point for me. Unfortunately, it has been a long slide downhill since then. I feel like I need to apologize for being an American. So sad. I want #3, but would accept #2. FAFO. Foreign Policy was deemed the most important issue by ~ 2% of the electorate. Growing up on an an Air Force Brat on SAC bases tend to give one an alternate view of reality, but it is my reality. My father was a jet engine mechanic, in the Philippines in the early 60's and in Taiwan and Andrews AFB during the Vietnam War. Foreign policy issues were kind of a big deal for us. Call me a 2 %'er. China's shenanigans in the South China Seas gave been going on for ~20 years. The Middle East has always been a powder keg, but now Israel and Iran are playing and smoking and using the keg for a table. The world is in turmoil, and a lot of the Americans that work thinks they are entitled to work from home, 30 hours a week, and retire before they are 40. They have access to all the information in the world, and they just don't care about anything other than their own little idealistic lives. I don't think they will ever take a hard look at anything.

Placeholder for what happens to the Dearborn Caucus...

@Balcones As requested, here is a start on sourcing before I go back to my day job - #9 and #18 were the only 2 of the first 19 that I couldn't find a good source with a quote or video from DJT. I'll try to finish the rest later but needless to say, thus far, that list of 93 looks accurate: BUDGET & TAXES: 1. No taxes on tips. https://apnews.com/article/trump-taxes-social-security-overtime-tariffs-989016ef41dc1533b05d1871d69c03ff 2. Interest on car loans will be tax deductible. https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/10/politics/donald-trump-tax-relief/index.html 3. No taxes on Social Security payments. https://apnews.com/article/trump-taxes-social-security-overtime-tariffs-989016ef41dc1533b05d1871d69c03ff 4. No taxes on any overtime income. https://apnews.com/article/trump-taxes-social-security-overtime-tariffs-989016ef41dc1533b05d1871d69c03ff 5. Across the board income tax cut for every taxpayer. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-trump-tax-cuts-election-2024-what-to-know/ 6. Make previous Trump tax cuts permanent. https://apnews.com/article/trump-taxes-social-security-overtime-tariffs-989016ef41dc1533b05d1871d69c03ff 7. Cut the corporate tax rate. https://apnews.com/article/trump-taxes-social-security-overtime-tariffs-989016ef41dc1533b05d1871d69c03ff 8. No cuts in benefits or changes in Social Security retirement age. https://www.newsweek.com/what-donald-trump-win-means-social-security-funding-crisis-no-cuts-pledge-1978310 9. The federal budget will be cut by 33%. 10. Tax credits for home caregivers who are family members. https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/28/politics/family-caregivers-trump-tax-credit/index.html 11. Repeal the Impound Control Act of 1974, which will prohibits a president from withholding funding approved by Congress in their budget that he disagrees with. https://rollcall.com/2023/06/20/trump-says-hell-restore-presidential-impoundment-authority/ https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/07/politics/donald-trump-government-what-matters/index.html 12. Interest rates on credit cards will be capped at 10%. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-wants-cap-credit-card-095900487.html IMMIGRATION: 13. All migrants, including those with pending asylum claims, will be taken into custody and deported immediately by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Should be changed to: “All undocumented migrants” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-plan-deport-immigrants-cost/ 14. Birthright citizenship will be ended by executive order. All persons who were born in the US to migrant parents will have their citizenship revoked and will be deported immediately. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-trump-would-crack-down-immigration-second-term-2023-11-14/ 15. Border will be closed with no migrants entering the US by moving thousands of US troops from overseas to be stationed on the southern border. https://www.donaldjtrump.com/news/19ec173c-2315-47da-98bc-265c29631d36 16. Border wall across southern US and Mexico will be completed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFPMzknVYLY 17. All releases into the US of asylum seekers will be ended and Remain in Mexico policy reinstated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ3nsQx1-wg 18. Increase criminal penalties for illegal entry. 19. Reinstitute travel ban. https://time.com/7022828/trump-travel-ban-refugees-gaza/

From the Soho Grand Hotel in NYC for my older daughter's surprise engagement tonight!!!!! She has no idea that 40 people are flying in for the party. And who was hanging out in front of the hotel? None other than Dave Chapelle, haha!! Happiest day ever! FIGHT!!!!! F

It wasn't me, I swear.

Dude. That’s a cheetah.

And don’t you be getting on Grindr asking for help either

Multiple overlapping threads on Cloak Room.

Well, it is difficult. When you see people approaching you with giant pustules all over their faces and a feather duster jammed up their asses - all because a politician told them it would be good to do this - it is hard to pretend not to notice, let alone refuse to comment on the pustules and the feather dusters. But please, continue to turn around and shake your feather duster at us.

Not white. Parents come from less than nothing and I’ve worked my ass for what I got. I Just support democracy and the will of the people. Telling them I fucking told you so is just a nice cherry on top.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/08/world/video/notre-dame-bells-ring-ldn-digvid

They are bringing it on themselves. Tough shit.

This is exactly the type of honest and self-reflective post that makes me frequent Surly.

Hahahaha

Reddit has a thread dedicated to Leopards eating their faces. It will be a good source of material.

Oldie but lots more to come! Undocumented husband of Indiana Trump supporter deported to Mexico https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/05/us/undocumented-husband-deported/index.html

good thread. man. that list is really something. no wonder he won.

From my kitchen chalkboard where I’m ready to watch our Horns chomp down on some Gators! FIGHT!

Yes, you sure are.

So paternalistic of you

Wordle 1,238 3/6 ⬛🟨⬛🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🙂 Daily Quordle 1019 7️⃣6️⃣ 4️⃣5️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ 🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨🟨⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟨 🟩⬜🟨🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #516 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 #Worldle #1022 (08.11.2024) 1/6 (100%) 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉 https://worldle.teuteuf.fr back to back perfectos on worldle. not gonna lie, i love geography but i have a shit ton to learn, so i am legit hyped about this feat.

Wordle 1,238 3/6 ⬛⬛🟩⬛🟨 ⬛🟩🟩🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Rough start but got there. Connections Puzzle #516 🟪🟪🟩🟩 🟦🟨🟨🟨 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1019 4️⃣8️⃣ 5️⃣6️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩🟨🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 🟩⬜🟩⬜🟨 ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩