Most surprising thing from Trump era.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3861]

The boiling frog analogy works real well here because storming the capitol actually wasn’t all that shocking to me at the time because it was the end of 4 years of ever increasing insanity. It didn’t really get more than a disappointed head shake out of me.  But now that I’m provided with even a mere two weeks of perspective and look back, it’s clearly historical. 

[Thatguy 8505]

14 hours ago, BradInATX said:

Most surprising to me was how over four years the "religious" right actually convinced themselves that Trump was a godly and reverent person. I figured they'd understand that he's not, but he would pass conservative policy, and they'd find a way to bridge that mental gap.

Nope. A majority of them actually think he's a religious man. The bible-in-hand photo op was pure theater of the absurd. His attempts to appear religious were so cynical and half-assed. He didn't even try. It's like he knew that just holding up a Bible in a picture was all the mental cover Republicans needed.




 

 

10 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Yep. The evangelicals sold out their country for 30 pieces of silver....and they did it by extending credit....to a known deadbeat, who still owes em those 30 pieces.....I’m sure they’re coming any day now.

  I went to school with these two brothers. One a year older than me, and the other a year younger. They were big time Christians, and their mom was a teacher at our school. Back then she was a petite little thing, and all the kids wanted a piece. We spent a lot of time at their house as we all played ball together. Over time I started noticing one of our other friends spending a lot of time off to the side with her. Making runs to the store. Her taking him home. It was pretty clear something was going on. We were pretty close so he came clean to me about it, but I am no snitch so I never spoke of it for years. Sure as shit as soon as the kid hit 18 she divorces her husband and they run off and get married(obviously it did not last).

   Fast forward to this year. The older brother went off to the Navy and came back liberal, as it happens a lot when you see the world. He is now a teacher. Younger brother is a hardcore Trumper, as is mom. Younger brother is on FB swinging his dick around for all the world to see. I get tired of his bs and engage him. Mom chimes in as well. We get on the subject of riots and criminals, and black abiding by the law. I dm him and remind him who are they to judge someone on petty crimes when his mom literally was fucking an underage student, and not only did we all know about it, but she then married the dude as soon as he walked the stage. He launches into a racial tirade, and then both of them delete me from their list.

  Bottom line, I learned a long time ago that people who claim to be righteous are often times the ugliest people you know. So knowing that fact, is it really that big of a surprise that they gravitated toward someone just as ugly? After all, birds of a feather flock together.

[Brisketexan 104628]

10 minutes ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

The boiling frog analogy works real well here because storming the capitol actually wasn’t all that shocking to me at the time because it was the end of 4 years of ever increasing insanity. It didn’t really get more than a disappointed head shake out of me.  But now that I’m provided with even a mere two weeks of perspective and look back, it’s clearly historical. 

The admin normalized lies, cruelty, and batshittery.

You could pick any one week of this admin, at random, at at least three things happened or were said that would be administration-defining scandals for any other president, of any party.  For the Trump admin....that same series of events was just a "regular Tuesday."

That's the poison that we've ingested. Well, that and the right-wing batshittery fueled by batshit news outlets.  The hate engine of lies is already ginned up against the Biden admin - I've already seen circulated lists of the awful things he's already done (in less than 72 hours), most of which is either false, misstated, or based on false premises.  The GOP discovered standards again!  They just only apply them to Dems, and even then, fucking lie about them.  Same as it ever was.

The GOP is not a political party operating in good faith.  It is a fascist propaganda movement with a violent terrorist wing.  And again, I say that as someone who used to regularly vote for GOP candidates.

[Js1 85112]

9 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

I’m surprised there are people who are still surprised a HUGE portion of the country votes with 1a) the pocketbooks of the 1% 1b) their religious beliefs.   

fify.

These voters don't vote with THEIR pocketbooks in mind, but that of the uber wealthy class's pocketbook.  If they actually voted with their own pocketbooks in mind, they'd vote for the party that wants to raise taxes on the uber-rich to pay for more services that benefit the working and middle class; $15 minimum wage; healthcare that is affordable; and an actual booming economy with rising wages, not just an enriched class of 401k holders and stock brokers. 

They keep voting for the party that: cuts government services that they need; restricts access to basic healthcare services; leaves the economy in the toilet every time they get voted out, usually destroying home prices and wages; etc.

[wildcat09 29258]

6 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

 

  I went to school with these two brothers. One a year older than me, and the other a year younger. They were big time Christians, and their mom was a teacher at our school. Back then she was a petite little thing, and all the kids wanted a piece. We spent a lot of time at their house as we all played ball together. Over time I started noticing one of our other friends spending a lot of time off to the side with her. Making runs to the store. Her taking him home. It was pretty clear something was going on. We were pretty close so he came clean to me about it, but I am no snitch so I never spoke of it for years. Sure as shit as soon as the kid hit 18 she divorces her husband and they run off and get married(obviously it did not last).

   Fast forward to this year. The older brother went off to the Navy and came back liberal, as it happens a lot when you see the world. He is now a teacher. Younger brother is a hardcore Trumper, as is mom. Younger brother is on FB swinging his dick around for all the world to see. I get tired of his bs and engage him. Mom chimes in as well. We get on the subject of riots and criminals, and black abiding by the law. I dm him and remind him who are they to judge someone on petty crimes when his mom literally was fucking an underage student, and not only did we all know about it, but she then married the dude as soon as he walked the stage. He launches into a racial tirade, and then both of them delete me from their list.

  Bottom line, I learned a long time ago that people who claim to be righteous are often times the ugliest people you know. So knowing that fact, is it really that big of a surprise that they gravitated toward someone just as ugly? After all, birds of a feather flock together.

The loudest talkers are the biggest hypocrites. 

[Brisketexan 104628]

3 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

Bottom line, I learned a long time ago that people who claim to be righteous are often times the ugliest people you know. So knowing that fact, is it really that big of a surprise that they gravitated toward someone just as ugly? After all, birds of a feather flock together.

BINGO.

The more loudly someone proclaims their "faith," and orthodoxy, and shoves it in your face at every opportunity......RUN.

The more steadily they LIVE their faith, by their deeds, then the more you can trust that their faith is genuine.

 

Christianity isn't a script that you read aloud so that you can show everyone how well you can shout certain words.  It's a map that you follow.  And if it doesn't take you to some uncomfortable places, you're not following the map.

American "Christians" largely are not Christian at all.  Christianity is something they use as a sword and a shield to justify their closely held beliefs.  In short, they have it all bassackwards.  Like people of many faiths often do.  We have a serious fundamentalist fascist problem -- the rational muslims of the world are looking at our concern and saying "no shit, Sherlock -- welcome to our world."

[Thatguy 8505]

10 hours ago, mchookem said:

it's been said...but the re-emergence in 'polite society' of the kind of racism we saw in bygone eras, that i, a white woman married to a black man, assumed no longer actually existed beyond the ignorant backwoods of places like Vidor, TX and Shithole, MS...the 'rebirth' if you will of an overt, out-in-the-open, violent racism...THAT was a shocker for me.

 

  I was talking to a friend and comparing notes. This last year I noticed that whenever I would say hello to someone and they wouldn't respond, or open a door for someone and get no thank you, they were almost always wearing something that would associate them with being a Trumper. A blue lives matter mask. Trump something. A gator. An American flag something. Trump made it fashionable to be an asshole to minorities again. However, thank goodness for masks. Because they made it easier to identify who they are. Lol

[NameAlreadyInUse 5106]

The thing that surprised me most was that he managed to do even worse than I imagined he would do when I first saw that stupid escalator ride to his announcement. 

It was a parade of dumb, stupid and hamhandedness from that very first appearance right up until he got on the plane to leave forever.  I mean I expected a bunch of the stupidness to happen but I figured there would at least be some adults in the room that would at least try to corral him.  But no, I got to watch our president side with a foreign country against the interests of the US, I got to watch him needlessly kill hundreds of thousands of people with his inaction during a worldwide health crisis,  I marveled at his ability to shit on our allies and buddy up to despots and dictators, and of course I got to watch him lie about everything from whether or not it was raining during his inauguration (it was, he said it wasn't), to whether or not he supported white supremacists (he said no, he was lying) and who could forget the time he sharpied over a hurricane map to show Alabama in the cone of doom just so he could claim he wasn't wrong when he incorrectly said Alabama was in the cone of doom.  I mean, the list of lies from tiny to immense could fill up a book, and I guess I expected that, but I didn't expect it to be as never ending and as damaging as it ended up being.  

 

[Biff Tannen 45499]

55 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

I did expect him to get us into a war, especially once his popularity waned.  That we didn’t was pretty much the only pleasant surprise of his presidency.

As it went on, I realized he was never going to go the war route.  He's a coward when it comes down to it.  Not that war is some measure of bravado, but he wouldn't want the responsibility that comes with it.

[wildcat09 29258]

2 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

As it went on, I realized he was never going to go the war route.  He's a coward when it comes down to it.  Not that war is some measure of bravado, but he wouldn't want the responsibility that comes with it.

He still very nearly bumbled his way into war with Iran out of his own stupidity. Covid may be the only thing that prevented it.

[Js1 85112]

4 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

As it went on, I realized he was never going to go the war route.  He's a coward when it comes down to it.  Not that war is some measure of bravado, but he wouldn't want the responsibility that comes with it.

This.  He didn't have the balls to actually face the American people, Congress and the troops to rationalize a war to their faces.  All bark, no bite.  

[High Plains Drifter 10978]

21 hours ago, Constant said:

I don’t know where it falls on the spectrum of surprises, but his argument here always stuck with me. Willing to shutdown the entire Federal government in order to get what he wanted. Pence sitting there like a buttplug on the nightstand not saying a single word. 
 

edit: His petulance is on full display. 

 

 

nancy and chuck rope-a-doped that stupid mother fucker right into taking credit for shutting down the government.

 

 

 

 

[Brisketexan 104628]

31 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

As it went on, I realized he was never going to go the war route.  He's a coward when it comes down to it.  Not that war is some measure of bravado, but he wouldn't want the responsibility that comes with it.

 

26 minutes ago, Js1 said:

This.  He didn't have the balls to actually face the American people, Congress and the troops to rationalize a war to their faces.  All bark, no bite.  

These.  Maybe that's something that surprised me.  How big of a coward he really was.  I mean, I knew he had the cowardice of the ignorant and narcissistic, but I didn't realize how complete it was.  He has zero appetite for actual, real-deal confrontation.  He like the trappings of office, and the big talk....but he is utterly and completely spineless.

Anyone who has made really hard decisions knows that feeling -- the resolve, wrapped in regret, that weighs on you.  Trump can't handle that.  Any of it.

[Fletch 5799]

Nothing he did on the campaign trail shocked me cause he’s him. But like my brother said, Election Day 2016 was like watching 9/11 as you realized Biff Tannen won the election. Then I checked out over the holidays cause the campaigns were just fucking brutal. Then the Inauguration Day shit happened. That was my first “oh holy shit!!! We’re so fucking fucked” moment 

[RPM 26230]

3 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

This is a good example of eroding norms and how "salami-slicing" works.  I really believe if you had a list of many of these things and you told Republican voters in November 2016, look, if you elect this guy here's some things he'll do, 100 percent:

- Throw paper towels at hurricane victims

- Doctor a weather map with a sharpie and show it to everyone on TV

- Shove a foreign leader to get a better photo-op

- Have a Twitter flame war with a pron star (and lose)

That would have swung the vote just enough.  It probably would have worked in primary season.  But once the show was on, and we were living it, people had no choice than to admit they made a terrible decision (we don't like to do that as humans) or just keep dunking that turd in chrome (we prefer to do this rather than admit we were wrong). 

And so there we are.  And that's just the dumb shit that never hurt anyone. 

I had a talk with my BIL 2016 on election day. He told me he voted for Hillary as a joke and I took him serious telling him I was proud of him for voting for sanity. He probed me for what I meant and I spelled out how Trump was a failed businessman, had declared bankruptcy multiple times including a casino (a fucking casino!), Nevada wouldn't give him a gambling license, his wife was a Russian whore and he was a pure conman running multiple scams. If he was elected I genuinely feared for the country if a war or pandemic broke out. Luckily the former didn't happen, but they tried.

[fattyflattie 4636]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

These voters don't vote with THEIR pocketbooks in mind, but that of the uber wealthy class's pocketbook.  If they actually voted with their own pocketbooks in mind, they'd vote for the party that wants to raise taxes on the uber-rich to pay for more services that benefit the working and middle class; $15 minimum wage; healthcare that is affordable; and an actual booming economy with rising wages, not just an enriched class of 401k holders and stock brokers. 

They can be both.  I can assure you the 150/hr consultants on Keystone care a whole lot about the job they just lost.  Much more than they gaf about the people above them getting rich, or the fry cook McD’s having a living wage.  IE: voting with their pocketbook.  Certain industries do better under certain parties, the stake holders vote with their pocketbook. 

[hayden_horn 11360]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

BINGO.

The more loudly someone proclaims their "faith," and orthodoxy, and shoves it in your face at every opportunity......RUN.

The more steadily they LIVE their faith, by their deeds, then the more you can trust that their faith is genuine.

 

Christianity isn't a script that you read aloud so that you can show everyone how well you can shout certain words.  It's a map that you follow.  And if it doesn't take you to some uncomfortable places, you're not following the map.

American "Christians" largely are not Christian at all.  Christianity is something they use as a sword and a shield to justify their closely held beliefs.  In short, they have it all bassackwards.  Like people of many faiths often do.  We have a serious fundamentalist fascist problem -- the rational muslims of the world are looking at our concern and saying "no shit, Sherlock -- welcome to our world."

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

i mean, straight from the man.

[Macanudo 12928]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

BINGO.

The more loudly someone proclaims their "faith," and orthodoxy, and shoves it in your face at every opportunity......RUN.

The more steadily they LIVE their faith, by their deeds, then the more you can trust that their faith is genuine.

 

Christianity isn't a script that you read aloud so that you can show everyone how well you can shout certain words.  It's a map that you follow.  And if it doesn't take you to some uncomfortable places, you're not following the map.

American "Christians" largely are not Christian at all.  Christianity is something they use as a sword and a shield to justify their closely held beliefs.  In short, they have it all bassackwards.  Like people of many faiths often do.  We have a serious fundamentalist fascist problem -- the rational muslims of the world are looking at our concern and saying "no shit, Sherlock -- welcome to our world."

In the Princess Bride when the Man in Black is climbing up the Cliffs of Insanity, Inigo offers to help him to the stop by giving him his word as a Spaniard.   The Man in Black replies "No good.   I've known too many Spaniards."

That pretty much sums up how I feel about Christians who loudly profess their "faith."    I just don't trust them.

[WhatTheBuck 28713]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

American "Christians" largely are not Christian at all.  Christianity is something they use as a sword and a shield to justify their closely held beliefs.

Given that two of the most influential people in establishing the religion as something more than an insignificant Jewish cult were Roman soldiers, should that come as much of a surprise?

“Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war.” There’s always been a militaristic bent to Christianity. Or at least since the 4th Century BCE. 

[Ojo Rojo 1906]

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but I think it's funny that the acts he was impeached on the first time haven't even made anyone's list that I've read.  (You know, where he attempted to coerce a foreign leader by withholding military aid, while they were in armed conflict with our No. 1 enemy I might add, in exchange for political favors.) Shows just how much crazy shit happened.

Craziest thing at the time:  That he got a single vote in 2016.  I'm choosing this because all other things flowed from it.  None of this crazy shit happens if he doesn't get elected.  I remember thinking at the time that we were going to see the most unpopular presidential candidate in history (Trump) lose in a landslide to the second most unpopular candidate in history (Hillary).  I really thought that was what was going to happen. I just thought there was no way Americans would vote for a reality TV star as president. Trump was too transparent; so obviously unfit for the job that I thought even stupid people couldn't possibly vote for him.  I vastly overestimated the American people.

Craziest thing:  That after four years of an embarrassing, horrifying dumpster fire shit show where Trump absolutely showed his ass on a daily basis, over 70 MILLION people still voted for him.  No single event in my lifetime has caused me to utterly lose faith in humanity more than this.

There is a bright side.  At least we didn't have an actual gifted political leader at this moment in time to harness all of the racist, fascist tendencies that were ripe in America for some real bad shit to go down.  We are actually fortunate that the person available to seize that moment was a retarded egomaniac.

 

[WhatTheBuck 28713]

30 minutes ago, Ojo Rojo said:

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but I think it's funny that the acts he was impeached on the first time haven't even made anyone's list that I've read.  (You know, where he attempted to coerce a foreign leader by withholding military aid, while they were in armed conflict with our No. 1 enemy I might add, in exchange for political favors.) Shows just how much crazy shit happened.

Craziest thing at the time:  That he got a single vote in 2016.  I'm choosing this because all other things flowed from it.  None of this crazy shit happens if he doesn't get elected.  I remember thinking at the time that we were going to see the most unpopular presidential candidate in history (Trump) lose in a landslide to the second most unpopular candidate in history (Hillary).  I really thought that was what was going to happen. I just thought there was no way Americans would vote for a reality TV star as president. Trump was too transparent; so obviously unfit for the job that I thought even stupid people couldn't possibly vote for him.  I vastly overestimated the American people.

Craziest thing:  That after four years of an embarrassing, horrifying dumpster fire shit show where Trump absolutely showed his ass on a daily basis, over 70 MILLION people still voted for him.  No single event in my lifetime has caused me to utterly lose faith in humanity more than this.

There is a bright side.  At least we didn't have an actual gifted political leader at this moment in time to harness all of the racist, fascist tendencies that were ripe in America for some real bad shit to go down.  We are actually fortunate that the person available to seize that moment was a retarded egomaniac.

 

I mentioned Russian collusion. That’s been a theme throughout his presidency. The extortion of the Ukrainian President who was trying to escape from the control of the Kremlin was just more of the same. As was Helsinki. As was ignoring Russian bounties on US soldiers. As was ignoring Russian hacking in every way, shape, and form. As is the Cyber Security bill that’s been sitting on Moscow Mitch’s desk gathering dust for the last couple of years. 

[InkaUtexas 25523]

one to not be forgotten. The pardons for the Blackwater murders. 

[DonkeyCigars 144]

3 hours ago, Js1 said:

fify.

These voters don't vote with THEIR pocketbooks in mind, but that of the uber wealthy class's pocketbook.  If they actually voted with their own pocketbooks in mind, they'd vote for the party that wants to raise taxes on the uber-rich to pay for more services that benefit the working and middle class; $15 minimum wage; healthcare that is affordable; and an actual booming economy with rising wages, not just an enriched class of 401k holders and stock brokers. 

They keep voting for the party that: cuts government services that they need; restricts access to basic healthcare services; leaves the economy in the toilet every time they get voted out, usually destroying home prices and wages; etc.

If you’ll allow me a nit, I think the argument that folks are misinformed or ignorant and that’s why they “vote against their interests” is too short sighted and a lot of the times misses the mark. In the times it misses, I think what a lot of folks don’t understand is just because you aren’t 1% yet, doesn’t mean you are not incentivized to vote like a 1%. If you have a reasonable path and road map and career track and academic pedigree or opportunities or whatever to get there, it behooves you to be aspirational and vote for the Great Green Valley so it’s there for you when you get there. 

On the other hand if you are marginalized, been given up on by society, don’t have opportunities that are foreseeable, etc. it makes sense to vote in other ways.

It’s a classic case of would you rather have a higher floor because you have a glass ceiling or would you rather have the opportunity to bet on yourself with an uncapped ceiling but also a lower floor.

And idealism would say “we should have the American Dream for everyone!” And I agree, but the reality is not everyone can be winning at once. We can only grow the pie so big and so fast and we’ve exploded in population.

[WhatTheBuck 28713]

Remember that first cabinet meeting?

 

[High Plains Drifter 10978]

1 hour ago, Ojo Rojo said:

 

Craziest thing:  That after four years of an embarrassing, horrifying dumpster fire shit show where Trump absolutely showed his ass on a daily basis, over 70 MILLION people still voted for him.  No single event in my lifetime has caused me to utterly lose faith in humanity more than this.

 

 

 

 

This is my selection also. Simply unbelievable that seemingly otherwise smart, decent people (including my own mother and sister) would vote for him a second time.

 

 

[wildcat09 29258]

2 minutes ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

 

This is my selection also. Simply unbelievable that seemingly otherwise smart, decent people (including my own mother and sister) would vote for him a second time.

 

 

I've got some unfortunate news for you about your mother and sister.

[High Plains Drifter 10978]

 

I did say "seemingly"

 

 

[Underdog 28457]

During any and all PCs where someone would step up to the podium and just gush over this asshole without fail, like it was demanded(likely) or expected of, "Thank you, Mr. President, without your great leadership in this very important time for our country..." Fucking nauseating. 

[956 Worldwide 34444]

39 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Remember that first cabinet meeting?

 

American juche. Right wingers complain about the press but here was a moment where they were so pliable.  They should have walked out of the room and announced that nothing of substance was discussed at the cabinet meeting.

[aggie08 21434]

41 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

I've got some unfortunate news for you about your mother and sister.

Meh. It's too easy to put everyone who voted for Trump in the dumb or selfish box. I have an aunt and uncle who are crazy smart, successful, and kind who voted for Trump. They're retired, and one trains horses to work as therapy animals for people with Down Syndrome and brings their golden retrievers to retirement homes multiple times a week (pre-COVID, obviously) to meet the residents; the other uses his law degree (one of his 7 degrees) to offer free counsel to separated families. They never talk about the charities that they donate to, but I'm sure it's extensive. Anyway, it's a hell of a lot more than I do to benefit society and assist others.

But they're religious (though not in your face about it) and, when they do watch news, it's Fox. They think Trump is a clown, but he more closely supports their interests (at least pretends to), sideshows and all. Just goes to show how difficult it is for even good people to stray from their party of choice, even when the dude that they're casting a vote for is a jackass. The opposition being so eager to lump you in as a racist probably doesn't make many people want to change to their "side" either. I haven't talked to them since Jan 6, but I sure as fuck hope that that was enough for them to put aside partisan politics and decide, "Ya know, maybe the country is better off not being run by a moron."

Edited January 22, 2021 by aggie08

[DonkeyCigars 144]

11 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Meh. It's too easy to put everyone who voted for Trump in the dumb or selfish box. I have an aunt and uncle who are crazy smart, successful, and kind who voted for Trump. They're retired, and one trains horses to work as therapy animals for people with Down Syndrome and brings their golden retrievers to retirement homes multiple times a week (pre-COVID, obviously) to meet the residents; the other uses his law degree (one of his 7 degrees) to offer free counsel to separated families. They never talk about the charities that they donate to, but I'm sure it's extensive. Anyway, it's a hell of a lot more than I do to benefit society and assist others.

But they're religious (though not in your face about it) and, when they do watch news, it's Fox. They think Trump is a clown, but he more closely supports their interests (at least pretends to), sideshows and all. Just goes to show how difficult it is for even good people to stray from their party of choice, even when the dude that they're casting a vote for is a jackass. The opposition being so eager to lump you in as a racist probably doesn't make many people want to change to their "side" either. I haven't talked to them since Jan 6, but I sure as fuck hope that that was enough for them to put aside partisan politics and decide, "Ya know, maybe the country is better off not being run by a moron."

Sounds like good peoples.

[G650 14107]

On 1/21/2021 at 1:47 PM, Brisketexan said:

None of it.

The correct answer. I wasn't even surprised by 1/6.

[Chewbacca 7730]

10 hours ago, AnTiM said:

Craziest thing to me was listening to all the crazy shit he accused the Clinton campaign of doing, then watching him do basically the same exact crazy shit he accused them of when he lost.  He is the definition of two-faced.

He was doing everything he claimed others were doing.  Projection at its finest.

[wildcat09 29258]

20 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Meh. It's too easy to put everyone who voted for Trump in the dumb or selfish box. I have an aunt and uncle who are crazy smart, successful, and kind who voted for Trump. They're retired, and one trains horses to work as therapy animals for people with Down Syndrome and brings their golden retrievers to retirement homes multiple times a week (pre-COVID, obviously) to meet the residents; the other uses his law degree (one of his 7 degrees) to offer free counsel to separated families. They never talk about the charities that they donate to, but I'm sure it's extensive. Anyway, it's a hell of a lot more than I do to benefit society and assist others.

But they're religious (though not in your face about it) and, when they do watch news, it's Fox. They think Trump is a clown, but he more closely supports their interests (at least pretends to), sideshows and all. Just goes to show how difficult it is for even good people to stray from their party of choice, even when the dude that they're casting a vote for is a jackass. The opposition being so eager to lump you in as a racist probably doesn't make many people want to change to their "side" either. I haven't talked to them since Jan 6, but I sure as fuck hope that that was enough for them to put aside partisan politics and decide, "Ya know, maybe the country is better off not being run by a moron."

Plenty of nice and charitable people throughout history actively supported genocidal regimes.

I get the impulse to not want to immediately label all of these people evil. Hell, I don't want to either. But our reluctance to do so has enabled actual evil. There are way too many nice people who vote for and actively support evil in numerous ways because we're too scared to tell them that's actually what they're doing.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

I didn’t see the Diet Coke button in the resolute desk coming. Not surprising but hilarious. 

[Satchel 6908]

15 hours ago, F250 said:

Yeah, that’s hard to beat.

[wildcat09 29258]

Someone mentioned Vidor upthread and it made me think of one of the very few shocking-but-in-a-good-way things that happened during the Trump era: Vidor had a BLM rally. That blew my mind. Hell, it still blows my mind.

[Mole 4320]

2 hours ago, Macanudo said:

In the Princess Bride when the Man in Black is climbing up the Cliffs of Insanity, Inigo offers to help him to the stop by giving him his word as a Spaniard.   The Man in Black replies "No good.   I've known too many Spaniards."

That pretty much sums up how I feel about Christians who loudly profess their "faith."    I just don't trust them.

Large portions of the non-evangelical population (Christians and non-Christians) accurately see the religious right as self-righteous, cruel, selfish, and dishonest people. This should be heartbreaking for a group allegedly trying to win souls for Christ. Instead, it’s worn as a badge of honor under the guise of persecution.

I understand leaders cynically using faith to acquire wealth and power, but the rank and file evangelical believer trading the Gospel for this other belief, and thereby poisoning the true message of the Gospel in our culture, is another thing entirely. Donald Trump, the supposed Christian leader and pro-faith president, has done more to advance the cause of atheism in America than all notable atheist thinkers and writers combined.

I was also surprised by how much competent leadership matters. Even recent bad presidents have a certain stability of competency. It can often feel like who is president doesn’t matter in our day to day lives, and then you have 400,000 dead and a terrorist attack on the Capitol.

[Brandywine 1313]

I also realized how poor a job his parents did raising him and what a morally and mentally damaged human being he is. And to top it off he's doing the exact same thing to his own children. 

[TwiceHorn 31283]

17 minutes ago, Brandywine said:

I also realized how poor a job his parents did raising him and what a morally and mentally damaged human being he is. And to top it off he's doing the exact same thing to his own children. 

Yeah.  He was apparently raised by wolves.

[F250 28691]

58 minutes ago, Satchel said:

Yeah, that’s hard to beat.

Yeah, nothing tops tens of millions of people actually voting to continue the Trump era.

"As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly

 

[fakebusiness 129]

You can make an argument he did more for black men than Obama, Bush, or Clinton (which isn't saying much). Even a few Dems admitted there was a plan to stall the First Step Act until after the election because they didn't want Trump to receive credit for helping minorities. That isn't a conspiracy theory, that actually happened. 

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

For most administrations (all other really), this thread could have been started following the results of the election.

But for DJT, we would dare not start such a thing due to the inevitable nonsense that would take place right up to the bitter end.

[Ojo Rojo 1906]

2 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Remember that first cabinet meeting?

 

Excruciating to watch.  I can only do like 20 seconds or so.  Let's all go around the room and introduce ourselves?  This isn't some small group at a fucking sales convention, this is your fucking cabinet!!!  You hand-picked these people, imbecile!  I think he did this because he didn't know who most of the people were or what their position was. All of the non-turds in the room had to have all been just dying inside.  I wish I could hear Rex Tillerson's internal dialogue.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3861]

2 minutes ago, Ojo Rojo said:

I wish I could hear Rex Tillerson's internal dialogue.

I remember thinking “that’s cool“ when I heard Rex Tillerson was nominated to be secretary of state. An outsider perspective that might actually be interesting in some way. An actually competent person.  Of course that means he’d be reviled by Trump within weeks.  

[fakebusiness 129]

You could argue he did more for black Americans than Obama, Bush, or Clinton (which isn't saying much). Dems have admitted that there was a plan to stall the First Step Act until after the election because they didn't want Trump to get credit for helping minorities. 

Also, he deported less people than Obama and he did not start a new war.  All pretty surprising. 

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3861]

Zero point zero.  If you were going for “the most surprising thing is people turn off their brains to try to justify his record after the abortion we saw”, no that isn’t surprising at all. We watched half the country do that nonstop for four years.  

[aggie08 21434]

35 minutes ago, fakebusiness said:

You can make an argument he did more for black men than Obama, Bush, or Clinton (which isn't saying much). Even a few Dems admitted there was a plan to stall the First Step Act until after the election because they didn't want Trump to receive credit for helping minorities. That isn't a conspiracy theory, that actually happened. 

 

8 minutes ago, fakebusiness said:

You could argue he did more for black Americans than Obama, Bush, or Clinton (which isn't saying much). Dems have admitted that there was a plan to stall the First Step Act until after the election because they didn't want Trump to get credit for helping minorities. 

Also, he deported less people than Obama and he did not start a new war.  All pretty surprising. 

Tell it again.

[Js1 85112]

Yes, he helped the black community so much, they died at disproportionally higher rates than whites due to COVID-19 while he did nothing at all. 

Fozz sock? 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Js1

[fakebusiness 129]

2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Yes, he helped the black community so much, they died at disproportionally higher rates than whites due to COVID-19 while he did nothing at all. 

Fozz sock? 

I hate Trump as much or more than you do so I don't know why you're telling me sucks.