A story about a pathetic man's downfall [34 Felony Convictions]

[immamac 42847]

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

I am in the conflict business, have been for a long time, and in my business I am far from alone in this observation: people have gotten fucking mean. They act like it’s ok to be mean. Many act like it’s actually a virtue, to be proud of. It’s exhausting and demoralizing for the rest of us. And it’s making it harder and harder to negotiate resolutions to disputes. Causing the other side to suffer is the point, the cruelty is the point. And every tactic is ok in furtherance of your cruelty. Lying? That’s winner talk there.

We’re in a bad place. And it’s getting worse, egged on by an entire side of the political spectrum. It’s fucking sick.

This has been my recent observation as well. There is no greater good or “enough for both of us” mentality anymore. Everyone wants theirs and if that means fucking everyone else over that’s okay, which is just an absurd stance. 

[Tuco 5076]

Since generation discussions aren’t going away, and it’s a Saturday night, I always like to point out that the “greatest generation “ was absolutely for staying on the sidelines as Nazis bombed London.
Maybe that’s a testament to restraint. But, more realistically, it just means generational differences are overstated.

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13585]

1 hour ago, Chopper said:

Just a reminder of Trump's views on search and seizure when he was in office. 

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-sheriff-asset-forfeiture-texas-234740

[TwiceHorn 31457]

32 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

I and the beloved went to the hill country today, out to Fredericksburg and back. Saw the usual signage. Trump campaign sign. Trump Promises Kept painted on a rusty box truck. The Democrats are Destroying our country. 

There was a pretty good outlaw country band playing at the Fredericksburg Market Days. One member had a Let's Go Brandon t-shirt. No tip from me. Leaving the little pavilion where the show was, I came face to face with an old guy (likely a more aged boomer than myself). We were in each other's way. I said excuse me while he just scowled as we moved shoulders and passed. Red MAGA hat.

I really don't like what has happened to this state where friendliness was once the standard. There was a great guy manning the burger booth. Old school smile and appreciation for the purchase. Some other nice people, too. It feels like that type is fading away. 

Trump has exposed what was built for decades by the hateful right. You now see individuals proudly displaying this awful legacy in the open. They're not just ditto head cultists on the radio. 

We've thought of retiring to the Hill Country. We still may, but I don't like the prospect of choosing between silence and confrontation with my neighbors over something so basic as what makes our republic a republic. 

None of this is new. It's just sickening to see disease spread.

Yeah, we have considered retiring to various ruralish areas.  I'm not sure we're totally cut out for it, regardless, but the strident politics of the rural folk are a big, big issue.

[High Plains Drifter 11049]

10 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

You succinctly describe the formula. Now multiply by 42 years. It's how you create a hate engine.

In my old truck (god, I loved that Toyota 4x4), FM went out on my radio. I was poor, so I listened to AM for years. I'd listen to Rush Limbaugh do that everytime I listened. The first time I caught it, he went down this road.

Somebody spiked trees to break lumberjack chainsaw. It's very dangerous, terrorism in fact.* > They're environmental wackos > They represent all tree huggers > Dems (liberal conspiracy) support environmentalist terrorists who want to kill lumberjacks > Dems support terrorism as part of their plan to destoy individuality, Amercanism, and you, you good person! 

Over and over and over. I didn't realize he was creating a cult until I read about the Ditto Heads and started hearing Limbaugh come up regularly in conversations; always spoken about as though we surely all agree. 

 

*I agree it's akin to terrorism although the intent was not to harm lumberjacks, just stop them. I'm not sure how I would stand if the culprits had warned the logging companies ahead of time. Certainly still criminal.

 

 

Typically, the spikes are driven into the tree high enough off the ground where they won't affect a lumberjack with a chainsaw. However, they could damage or destroy a mill saw (and potentially hurt or kill mill workers). Most (maybe all?) mills nowadays have metal detectors that scan the logs before they are cut in the mill.

Also, environmentalists who used to spike trees would label the tree as being spiked, so they would never be cut down.

No recorded instances of anybody being killed by a spiked tree in the US.

 

 

 

[The Original Greaser Bob 2831]

Granted, I live in a relatively Trump free world (real world as opposed to the internets).  But I'm not seeing any real difference in how people act with each other on an individual basis.  Am I likely to befriend a bald guy wearing a "Let's go Brandon" t-shirt at Love Field?  No, I'm not going to engage with that fucktard unless I have to. 

But actually going about and engaging in the world doing things you want to do?  I'm not seeing a huge difference.  Neither am I in terms of the labor and employment cases I deal with. 

I actually think that the bullshit has kind of run its course and people are actually taking more affirmative efforts to try to counter the hate.  Again, assuming you are making wise choices about the friends you keep an the communities you favor. 

 

[The Original Greaser Bob 2831]

14 minutes ago, immamac said:

This has been my recent observation as well. There is no greater good or “enough for both of us” mentality anymore. Everyone wants theirs and if that means fucking everyone else over that’s okay, which is just an absurd stance. 

Unprecedented charitable giving in 2020.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=42

https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/insights/how-covid-19-will-influence-giving-in-2021-and-beyond.html

 

[SizzleChest 8283]

I see more dweebs in InfoWars shirts than dipshits in MAGA hats.

[Brisketexan 105123]

Unprecedented charitable giving in 2020.
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=42
https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/insights/how-covid-19-will-influence-giving-in-2021-and-beyond.html
 

I believe that. Both can be true. We’re giving more, but merely rude and selfish people are now emboldened to be openly mean assholes, and they celebrate it.

[atomheartbevo 89659]

6 hours ago, Chooky said:

Something about this Donald Trump guy is beginning to rub me the wrong way. 

5 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

That something is his penis.

Not physically possible.  His stomach would get in the way.  

[The Original Greaser Bob 2831]

10 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Yeah, we have considered retiring to various ruralish areas.  I'm not sure we're totally cut out for it, regardless, but the strident politics of the rural folk are a big, big issue.

You'll be fine.  I recommend a safe space up near the ridge if the neighbors get especially prickly.

[Willfully Horn 8014]

27 minutes ago, The Original Greaser Bob said:

I actually think that the bullshit has kind of run its course and people are actually taking more affirmative efforts to try to counter the hate. 

 

This dude is doing his part

Edited August 21, 2022 by Willfully Horn
Props

[Biff Tannen 45681]

1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

Trump Promises Kept painted on a rusty box truck.

I'm convinced this is performance art.

[The Original Greaser Bob 2831]

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

I believe that. Both can be true. We’re giving more, but merely rude and selfish people are now emboldened to be openly mean assholes, and they celebrate it.

There's eight billion people in this world.  I have no doubts that your observations are correct, but there are plenty of nice people to go around. 

The irony of my "8 billion" comments is not lost on me.  People are assholes in airports more because we're being crowded than they are because of their politics.  We also see videos of assholes everyday, which adds to the perception of more asshole behavior. 

All I am saying is that in terms of real interaction in the real world, I'm not seeing what you guys are seeing. Many of you are younger and still give a shit about more shit than I do. 

Either that or Ryan Holiday and the Daily Stoic are having an effect on me.

[Biff Tannen 45681]

1 hour ago, immamac said:

This has been my recent observation as well. There is no greater good or “enough for both of us” mentality anymore. Everyone wants theirs and if that means fucking everyone else over that’s okay, which is just an absurd stance. 

Yep.  Zero sum is the only thought process anymore.  It's dumb.

[The Original Greaser Bob 2831]

You guys are making me feel like Pangloss.

 

[atomheartbevo 89659]

17 minutes ago, Tuco said:

Since generation discussions aren’t going away, and it’s a Saturday night, I always like to point out that the “greatest generation “ was absolutely for staying on the sidelines as Nazis bombed London.
Maybe that’s a testament to restraint. But, more realistically, it just means generational differences are overstated.

I’ve been doing a lot of genealogy research around the WWI and WWII generations lately, both my own family, but also freelancing on the side for others - the 1950 federal census was recently released which is a Big Fucking Deal for genealogists.  I’ve read a lot of accounts, journals, etc. from that time, read a lot of family stories.

Most of the WWII generation (born late 1910s into the 1920s) directly knew (friend/family friend/boss), knew of (dad or uncle of a friend or an in-law), or were related to somebody that had served in WWI.  

WWI left an incredibly deep impression on many Americans.  There were only about 4 million Americans who served in the Army (another 750,000 or so in the other services), and only around 75,000 gas casualties (I want to say it was under 2,000 died).  A total of around 115,000 deaths and 200,000 wounded.  

The gas attacks, the machine gun fire, the artillery, the trenches, just left a really indelible impression on those who served in combat, and those they talked to, as well as the civilian population (who read and heard the stories and saw photos and film). It really dominated the American news coverage during that time, and more than a few dads and uncles and fathers-in-laws and teachers would have been telling young men and women to stay the fuck out of European wars.

TLDR: A lot of Americans had good reasons for wanting to avoid another European war.  The fear of chemical weapons on a much larger scale was also present (and continues in the US military to this day).

[atomheartbevo 89659]

1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

Trump Promises Kept painted on a rusty box truck. 

21 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I'm convinced this is performance art.

I’ve seen that truck, and am 95% convinced it’s meant to fuck with Trumpkins, because it looks like it’s been rusted/fucked up for years, long before Trump was President, and somebody thought it’d be funny to paint that on the side.

[Pig Bellmont 8717]

Edit delete. 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Pig Bellmont

[Tuco 5076]

I’ve been doing a lot of genealogy research around the WWI and WWII generations lately, both my own..

Sure. But let’s keep I’m mind that the US was an extremely late entry in WW1. Whatever you can say about the American experience in WW1, you can say tenfold about any any other participant in WW2.
Also, my point is less about why the generation was the way the way they were, and more about how they have been misconstrued since.
FWIW, I was talking to an engineer today who recently left the workforce, and riffing on how I think we are running into a parallel with the “lost generation”, except coming out of COVID instead of WW1. We are in weird era that has yet to be defined.

[Macanudo 12977]

2 hours ago, Tuco said:

Since generation discussions aren’t going away, and it’s a Saturday night, I always like to point out that the “greatest generation “ was absolutely for staying on the sidelines as Nazis bombed London.
Maybe that’s a testament to restraint. But, more realistically, it just means generational differences are overstated.

Seeing how the Boomers turned out has long had me question how "great" their parents really were.

[Pig Bellmont 8717]

3 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

Seeing how the Boomers turned out has long had me question how "great" their parents really were.

Untreated PTSD probably didn’t help parenting much

[Captainant 27661]

8 minutes ago, Pig Bellmont said:

Untreated PTSD probably didn’t help parenting much

You mean beating your children for being children ISN'T a virtuous thing???

[Surly Bevo 24908]

1 hour ago, Macanudo said:

Seeing how the Boomers turned out has long had me question how "great" their parents really were.

They were great soldiers and riveters....builders of future generations through their parenting, probably not so much.  But experience and perception have an awful lot to do with that.  It's probably hard to be a good dad when your kid bumping into something and breaking it in the middle of the night wakes you up and makes you think that the Nazis or Japanese are about to fuck your shit up....etc etc.  

[Slacks 6819]

1 hour ago, Surly Bevo said:

They were great soldiers and riveters....builders of future generations through their parenting, probably not so much.  But experience and perception have an awful lot to do with that.  It's probably hard to be a good dad when your kid bumping into something and breaking it in the middle of the night wakes you up and makes you think that the Nazis or Japanese are about to fuck your shit up....etc etc.  

Hmmmmmmm....  

[AnTiM 1666]

This is what makes sense to me about why trump took those documents:

 

[Chad Fuck 17675]

HOW THE FUCK ARE WE ON THE VERGE OF THE COLLAPSE OF DEMOCRACY BECAUSE OF THE DUMBEST PEOPLE IN EXISTENCE??!??  HOW????????

I think you answered your own question there my friend.

Too. Many. Dumbs.

[Underdog 28623]

19 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

Can we skip to the Ashli Babbitt stage?

Shit that reminds me, need to start making plans to celebrate Ashli Babbit Day on 1/6. 

[The Original Greaser Bob 2831]

I think this is on point.  When my MIL was on her last legs, in a home, they had this dinner where a bunch of old dudes showed up.  These are folks who had lived through the depression, and when they were all very young, most had been involved in some new deal project or the war.  

The common experience to me is what made them have an esprit de corps and an empathy towards each other that I think some of prior posts were alluding to. 

The key to me isn't so much that people are expressing so much assholeness.  The key is that we are continuing to loss common experience of education and service. 

My plan to make every generation a good generation would be to:

a) make public schools truly competitive so that people weren't always trying to escape to private schools.  I actually went to a public high school that was all around just better than the parochial alternatives. 

b) more important, we do need two years of national service after high school.  You could fulfill it in lots of ways - military, park service, etc.  It would include classes on finance, budgeting, civics, all that sort of things that could go into making someone a good citizen.

It could very well suck but it would involve a common period of service to the nation or community.  But most important, it would be a common experience that would link people of diverse social strata.  That's not happening today.

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20397]

"You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? With spies and treason, right? We used to handle them a little differently than we do now."

----- Donald Trump, 2019

[AnTiM 1666]

1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

I think you answered your own question there my friend.

Too. Many. Dumbs.

That and the fact that people hardly talk to one another any more, just walk around with a phone or music player blasting in their ears.  I am one of those who does not even know the names of my next door neighbors.

[tx 3 putt 76935]

2 hours ago, AnTiM said:

This is what makes sense to me about why trump took those documents:

 

he nails it 

[Gatorubet 30235]

13 hours ago, Willfully Horn said:

 

This dude is doing his part

I own that hat.  It gets comments from Maggots.   I laugh. 

[Eastwood 4394]

14 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

I am in the conflict business, have been for a long time, and in my business I am far from alone in this observation: people have gotten fucking mean. They act like it’s ok to be mean. Many act like it’s actually a virtue, to be proud of. It’s exhausting and demoralizing for the rest of us. And it’s making it harder and harder to negotiate resolutions to disputes. Causing the other side to suffer is the point, the cruelty is the point. And every tactic is ok in furtherance of your cruelty. Lying? That’s winner talk there.

We’re in a bad place. And it’s getting worse, egged on by an entire side of the political spectrum. It’s fucking sick.

It's the same in the transactional world. Getting a deal done is the bare minimum. It isn't a win unless you've extracted a pound of flesh, cause as much heartache for the other side, gaslight the terms of the deal, straight lie about the facts surrounding the deal, make as many last second changes as possible, and then close the deal. Did they get an extra dollar or two for all that effort? Nope. But it was still a huge win because you got to bill for being an asshole.

Edited August 21, 2022 by Eastwood

[WhatTheBuck 28779]

17 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

I own that hat.  It gets comments from Maggots.   I laugh. 

Kind of reminds me of this:

[safe sex 11722]

Federal Appeals Court Halts Graham Testimony Before Atlanta Grand Jury

Quote

By Richard Fausset

ATLANTA — A federal appeals court temporarily blocked Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, on Sunday from testifying in the investigation into efforts by President Donald J. Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. The appeals court instructed a lower court to determine whether Mr. Graham should be exempt from answering certain kinds of questions, given his status as a federal lawmaker.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit gives a temporary reprieve to Mr. Graham, who has been fighting prosecutors’ efforts to bring him before a special grand jury. After a protracted bout of legal sparring, Mr. Graham, at the end of last week, appeared to have failed in his efforts to remain above the matter and had been expected to testify behind closed doors on Tuesday in a downtown Atlanta courthouse.

Mr. Graham has argued, among other things, that he should be exempt from testifying under the U.S. Constitution’s speech and debate clause, which prohibits asking lawmakers about their legitimate legislative functions. The appeals court laid out further steps on Sunday that must be taken before Mr. Graham gives any testimony.

 

First, the court ruled, a Federal District Court must determine whether Mr. Graham is “entitled to a partial quashal or modification of the subpoena to appear before the special purpose grand jury” based on the speech and debate clause issue. After that, the appeals court said, it will take up the issue “for further consideration.”

 

Lawyers for Mr. Graham have said that he was informed by Fulton County prosecutors that he was a witness, not a target, in the case.

Even so, prosecutors want Mr. Graham’s testimony for a number of reasons. Among them are two phone calls that he made just after the 2020 election to Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, in which Mr. Graham inquired about ways to help Mr. Trump by invalidating certain mail-in votes.

They also want him to answer other questions about what they have called “the multistate, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.” Prosecutors have said in court documents that they expect Mr. Graham’s testimony “to reveal additional sources of information” related to their investigation.

JFC

Edited August 21, 2022 by trauma babe

[TwiceHorn 31457]

1 minute ago, trauma babe said:

Federal Appeals Court Halts Graham Testimony Before Atlanta Grand Jury

JFC

Not an unequivocal win for Graham.  According to the district court, the only argument presented by Graham was to quash the entire subpoena, which means throw it out entirely.  Because he didn't ask for a more limited modification or "quashal" of the subpoena, the district court declined to consider whether that was appropriate.

The court of appeals merely says that the district court has to consider a modification of the subpoena, too.  

That means, in all likelihood, that Graham will testify before the grand jury, maybe even as originally scheduled.  But the district court does have to consider whether some topics of questioning should be circumscribed.  And, I think the answer to that is going to be, lil Lindsey ladybugs is going to have to testify to the grand jury.  He's going to be able to refuse to answer questions based on the Speech and Debate Clause and any other applicable privileges and then some court is going to have to evaluate whether those privileges apply to the actual questions asked.

Unfortunately, even fuckbags like Lindsey Graham have some rights.

[safe sex 11722]

I guess I'm frustrated that this shit hasn't already been dealt with? Why wasn't all this considered in prior cases? It seems like a pretty surface-level issue with the case, judging by how you've spoken about it.

Edited August 21, 2022 by trauma babe

[Player 4575]

Because he didn’t ask for partial modification in the alternative, it seems like the court should have just said “tough shit - that’s a waiver.”

[ChuckNorrisActionJeans 2669]

Yep. I guess if you're a trumper, courts will make your argument for you. 

His claimed exception is bullshit anyway and all this does is add to interminable delays, playing right into their tiny hands.

[Neonmoon 38129]

29 minutes ago, trauma babe said:

I guess I'm frustrated that this shit hasn't already been dealt with? Why wasn't all this considered in prior cases? It seems like a pretty surface-level issue with the case, judging by how you've spoken about it.

Here is why you’re frustrated 

The legal system isn’t made to punish the rich. It’s made to punish the poor. If you’re rich, you can hire the best lawyers in the world and have them sandbag the process with mountains of paperwork in a battle of attrition. And it works. Why? The public isn’t rich. They can’t afford millions in attorney fees, spending years and years burning money they don’t have with no tangible results. Rich people know this. In the end, the public will just settle for something way less, if anything, just to get a W on the board and end the money burn. 

Donald Trump has been doing this for years. 

[Pato del Muerto 52493]

So what part of his job is calling someone not in his constituency with intent to change a state election?  Georgia didn’t elect him and elections aren’t federal purview. 

[TwiceHorn 31457]

1 hour ago, trauma babe said:

I guess I'm frustrated that this shit hasn't already been dealt with? Why wasn't all this considered in prior cases? It seems like a pretty surface-level issue with the case, judging by how you've spoken about it.

It's frustrating, yes.  Because you actually give a shit about the outcome and we all know lil Linds has things to hide.  But this is kind of the norm in litigation, where no one gives a shit except the parties to it.

And what prior cases?  Lil Linds is a Senator, as such, he has different privileges from a nobody like Giuliani, or from the Executive or an executive officer.

Edited August 21, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[Brisketexan 105123]

1 hour ago, Eastwood said:

It's the same in the transactional world. Getting a deal done is the bare minimum. It isn't a win unless you've extracted a pound of flesh, cause as much heartache for the other side, gaslight the terms of the deal, straight lie about the facts surrounding the deal, make as many last second changes as possible, and then close the deal. Did they get an extra dollar or two for all that effort? Nope. But it was still a huge win because you got to bill for being an asshole.

Bingo.

And there is no better example of this than DOTUS himself.  Look at what he calls "the Art of the Deal" -- it's shit like agreeing to a contract with a cabinet installer, then when he's done $500k worth of work, stiffing him, using his cash-poor position as leverage to make him agree to take a lesser amount.  The Trump-worshippers call this a huge win, see how brilliant he is?  Nevermind that 1) that has no fucking honor or integrity or respect for the rule of law and contract and 2) shits on any notion of being a member of a larger community where we all benefit from dealing honestly and fairly with each other -- it's just fucking short-sighted.  You aren't going to get good bids for future work when you treat all of your contractors that way.

I have dealt with fights in that field.  The smart players realize that in a community (say, a city like Austin), you are going to have the same contractors and subs putting in bids on future contracts, because there are only so many who are qualified to work on big projects.  If you burn one, you burn a bridge....because even competitors talk.  "Be careful bidding on that Jackhole Inc. project -- he'll stiff you.  Get paid up front, or don't take the job."

Our entire system -- social, business, and political  -- depends on a baseline of good faith and integrity.  When that goes away, it ALL falls apart.  Don't fuck people over.  Don't be a dick.  We are ALL (including you) better off for it in the long run.  But nope, it's all "me me me" and "now now now" and no thought about the bigger repercussions for everyone including you.

It's a complete breakdown.....and half of our society fucking CHEERS IT ON AS "WINNING."  It's suicidal.

[TwiceHorn 31457]

43 minutes ago, ChuckNorrisActionJeans said:

Yep. I guess if you're a trumper, courts will make your argument for you. 

His claimed exception is bullshit anyway and all this does is add to interminable delays, playing right into their tiny hands.

It is mostly bullshit, but I submit that the only way you can cut through that bullshit is to make him sit for questions and see what his answers are and what privileges he asserts and address them on that basis.  Doing it in the abstract is a waste of everyone's time.

And, I think it varies some by circuit, but in ordinary civil discovery, even if the only objection lodged is to the entire question, the court must take up the issue of whether the entire question (interrogatory, document request) is objectionable, or only part of it, and whether a partial response is required.  Which is fairly analogous to this.

The rules are a little less clear as pertains to subpoenas.

[Bozo_Casanova 26451]

15 hours ago, The Original Greaser Bob said:

Unprecedented charitable giving in 2020.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=42

https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/insights/how-covid-19-will-influence-giving-in-2021-and-beyond.html

 

We’ve made it easier for people to do nice things, and I think that’s great, because mostly people are pretty nice. 

15 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

I believe that. Both can be true. We’re giving more, but merely rude and selfish people are now emboldened to be openly mean assholes, and they celebrate it.

Well, that’s the thing- I don’t intend to embolden them. This behavior has been normalized, as these people we are talking about are experiencing something like unanimity because those of us who don’t agree with them decide to be invisible. I don’t wear my politics on my head or sleeve and I’m not a sign guy. But I’m not going to be invisible either, and I don’t intend to countenance public incivility.

Edited August 21, 2022 by Bozo_Casanova

[The Original Greaser Bob 2831]

22 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

and I don’t intend to countenance public incivility.

And while we're at it, I am against dawdling service as well.

[RomaVicta 29907]

15 hours ago, The Original Greaser Bob said:

There's eight billion people in this world.  I have no doubts that your observations are correct, but there are plenty of nice people to go around. 

The irony of my "8 billion" comments is not lost on me.  People are assholes in airports more because we're being crowded than they are because of their politics.  We also see videos of assholes everyday, which adds to the perception of more asshole behavior. 

All I am saying is that in terms of real interaction in the real world, I'm not seeing what you guys are seeing. Many of you are younger and still give a shit about more shit than I do. 

Either that or Ryan Holiday and the Daily Stoic are having an effect on me.

I think we'll retire to where you live. 

I don't think we're saying everyone is bad. We are observing what we're observing in Texas. The traffic wave for someone letting you in or pulling onto a solid shoulder to make it easier for someone to pass were quite common 40 years ago in Texas.  People move in and change things, but I think there is a change in Texans as well. Not all of them, of course.

[RomaVicta 29907]

15 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

I’ve been doing a lot of genealogy research around the WWI and WWII generations lately, both my own family, but also freelancing on the side for others - the 1950 federal census was recently released which is a Big Fucking Deal for genealogists.  I’ve read a lot of accounts, journals, etc. from that time, read a lot of family stories.

Most of the WWII generation (born late 1910s into the 1920s) directly knew (friend/family friend/boss), knew of (dad or uncle of a friend or an in-law), or were related to somebody that had served in WWI.  

WWI left an incredibly deep impression on many Americans.  There were only about 4 million Americans who served in the Army (another 750,000 or so in the other services), and only around 75,000 gas casualties (I want to say it was under 2,000 died).  A total of around 115,000 deaths and 200,000 wounded.  

The gas attacks, the machine gun fire, the artillery, the trenches, just left a really indelible impression on those who served in combat, and those they talked to, as well as the civilian population (who read and heard the stories and saw photos and film). It really dominated the American news coverage during that time, and more than a few dads and uncles and fathers-in-laws and teachers would have been telling young men and women to stay the fuck out of European wars.

TLDR: A lot of Americans had good reasons for wanting to avoid another European war.  The fear of chemical weapons on a much larger scale was also present (and continues in the US military to this day).

Good post. I'm not sure that the US should have felt obliged to enter the European war. We were attacked by Japan.  Germany declared war on the US, so there you go. It's pretty surprising how much more effort we put into defeating Germany than Japan. Roosevelt wanted to enter the war against Germany. 

In hindsight, our efforts were a spectacular success and left us the only industrialized country with no war damage. We ended destroying two brutal, murderous regimes. It was one of the rare instances where you can say good won over evil in black and white terms. Respect to the people of that generation who made the sacrifices. Just as the WWI generation described by AtomHeartBevo, the WWII generation was shaped by their times. We all are.

Then we got rich. Then we thought sending our boys overseas was the answer to pretty much anything we couldn't handle through covert actions to overthrow foreign governments who didn't bow to American corporate greed. That generation, like other generations, did some awful shit. It was a white man's world period.

[TexPx 2323]

And while we're at it, I am against dawdling service as well.

“We are vain and we are blind
I hate people when they're not polite”

Talking Heads