2024 Presidential Election Thread - Let's keep the party going.

[South Austin 53232]

3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

You think the "affable, mediocre sexual performers who drive bland cars for Kamala" call is gonna drive that much of a crowd?

Brisket, where you go, I will follow.

[Aqua Buddha 14807]

5 minutes ago, TexEx15 said:

 

As someone who has a lifetime of child free living by choice, let me weigh into the fray here.  (FWIW, I'm 50 years old and have been married 17 years.  Neither of us wanted kids and want them even less for every day that goes by.  We also have dozens of friends just like us and we have wonderful lives.)

That being said, we're not offended by what he's saying.  We just think he's stupid.  It's like your 8 year old arguing with you.  Why get upset about it?  Everyone like me has ran across this guy dozens of times.  They're perfectly normal and then they have kids which makes them think they're on a higher plane of existence.  In reality, they're just the same person they were before but now just arrogant.  We hear all the same phrases like "you'll regret it one day," or "who will take care of you when you're old" or "you don't know what you're missing," blah, blah, blah.  The people with kids are always trying to convince the people without kids.  It's never the other way around.  It's like they're trying to convince themselves.

Having kids doesn't make Vance original or a deep thinker.  His views about it make him a walking cliche and it's one I've seen repeated over the years.

[Js1 87214]

4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

You already got your "white dudes for Kamala" moment.  You think the "affable, mediocre sexual performers who drive bland cars for Kamala" call is gonna drive that much of a crowd?

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

I want perspective from others outside the terminally online.  Since all I am is terminally online, I cannot.  How is this weird hitting with the wine moms? With the yoots?  

[royiv 9811]

11 minutes ago, Pancho said:

Sorry but Blacks are tired of listening to what trunp and the radical right keep saying about Black people. It’s demeaning, anti American, and we’re tired of always having to be the nice ones when we’re being attacked. 
 

Calling us DEI hires? Yeah I’m fine with a Black preacher fighting back in this case.

I hear you and definitely understand the sentiment. I just don’t fully agree with you. If churches want to mix religion and politics they can pay taxes. With more than 13k members and a campus larger than the Moody Center, your sister’s church has plenty of cash to pay property taxes.

[wildcat09 29595]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

New FL poll has Trump up 7 (49-42) with Rick Scott underperforming Trump (47-43) and both the abortion and weed amendments flying by (69-23 abortion and 64-31 weed)

She has some room to grow, especially with those weed/abortion numbers.

I don't know how effective it will be because there's always a ridiculous gap between votes on specific policies and votes on the politicians who support and oppose those policies, but she has an easy argument to make that their vote to protect abortion won't matter if Trump wins.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

1 minute ago, royiv said:

I hear you and definitely understand the sentiment. I just don’t fully agree with you. If churches want to mix religion and politics they can pay taxes. With more than 13k members and a campus larger than the Moody Center, your sister’s church has plenty of cash to pay property taxes.

systematic changes are wonderful the day after the election

[Zonahorn 8079]

 

[Tuco 5094]

2 minutes ago, royiv said:

I hear you and definitely understand the sentiment. I just don’t fully agree with you. If churches want to mix religion and politics they can pay taxes. With more than 13k members and a campus larger than the Moody Center, your sister’s church has plenty of cash to pay property taxes.

I think most people are cool with changing the system.  But fuck sticking to rules that don't exist.  Losing this election won't do shit to reduce the power of the churches in elections. 

[Zonahorn 8079]

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13739]

1 minute ago, Aqua Buddha said:

As someone who has a lifetime of child free living by choice, let me weigh into the fray here.  (FWIW, I'm 50 years old and have been married 17 years.  Neither of us wanted kids and want them even less for every day that goes by.  We also have dozens of friends just like us and we have wonderful lives.)

That being said, we're not offended by what he's saying.  We just think he's stupid.  It's like your 8 year old arguing with you.  Why get upset about it?  Everyone like me has ran across this guy dozens of times.  They're perfectly normal and then they have kids which makes them think they're on a higher plane of existence.  In reality, they're just the same person they were before but now just arrogant.  We hear all the same phrases like "you'll regret it one day," or "who will take care of you when you're old" or "you don't know what you're missing," blah, blah, blah.  The people with kids are always trying to convince the people without kids.  It's never the other way around.  It's like they're trying to convince themselves.

Having kids doesn't make Vance original or a deep thinker.  His views about it make him a walking cliche and it's one I've seen repeated over the years.

Vance appears to be following this stupid track that only parents should be able to lead since they have a stake in the future with their children. This tells me that he doesn't have any empathy for others.

Google AI definition of sociopath (term Vance has called childless people.)

Quote

Sociopath is an informal term for someone with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), a chronic mental health condition that can involve a pattern of antisocial behaviors and attitudes. People with ASPD may lack empathy, disregard right and wrong, and ignore the rights and feelings of others. They may also be impulsive, arrogant, and manipulative, and may not feel remorse for their actions. Some people with ASPD may not realize their behavior is wrong, while others may simply not care.

 

 

 

[Zonahorn 8079]

 

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

3 minutes ago, Zonahorn said:

 

I always get the impression that Lankford is a decent person.  He's nice and sort of repulsed by the POSs he represents.  Yet he somehow convinced them to elevate him.

[TexPx 2337]

 

He was so good on TDS last night. If he ever runs for anything I will vote for him twice.

[Huckleberry 34701]

10 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

As someone who has a lifetime of child free living by choice, let me weigh into the fray here.  (FWIW, I'm 50 years old and have been married 17 years.  Neither of us wanted kids and want them even less for every day that goes by.  We also have dozens of friends just like us and we have wonderful lives.)

That being said, we're not offended by what he's saying.  We just think he's stupid.  It's like your 8 year old arguing with you.  Why get upset about it?  Everyone like me has ran across this guy dozens of times.  They're perfectly normal and then they have kids which makes them think they're on a higher plane of existence.  In reality, they're just the same person they were before but now just arrogant.  We hear all the same phrases like "you'll regret it one day," or "who will take care of you when you're old" or "you don't know what you're missing," blah, blah, blah.  The people with kids are always trying to convince the people without kids.  It's never the other way around.  It's like they're trying to convince themselves.

Having kids doesn't make Vance original or a deep thinker.  His views about it make him a walking cliche and it's one I've seen repeated over the years.

Setting aside that both groups try to convince themselves that their path is best, which is normal human group psychology, does it actually strike you as interesting that the with kids group tries to convince the without kids group to join them but not vice versa? 

"You should have kids" seems like a pretty obviously more reasonable and socially acceptable thing to say than "you should murder your children."

[Underdog 29201]

33 minutes ago, Left Coast said:

Gays for Harris? Or is that just a given?

(with a few exceptions of course)

 

You left out Tim Scott. 

[Aqua Buddha 14807]

1 minute ago, Huckleberry said:

Setting aside that both groups try to convince themselves that their path is best, which is normal human group psychology, does it actually strike you as interesting that the with kids group tries to convince the without kids group to join them but not vice versa? 

"You should have kids" seems like a pretty obviously more reasonable and socially acceptable thing to say than "you should murder your children."

"You'll regret not having kids" should be pushed back with "do you regret having them?"

There are plenty of people that regret having kids.  They just never say so publicly.  

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

2 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Setting aside that both groups try to convince themselves that their path is best, which is normal human group psychology, does it actually strike you as interesting that the with kids group tries to convince the without kids group to join them but not vice versa? 

"You should have kids" seems like a pretty obviously more reasonable and socially acceptable thing to say than "you should murder your children."

Well, that post took a sudden turn.

[The Dog 44862]

Dear Democrats: Many Americans (myself included) will be voting Democrat for the first time in our lives this November. We’re not doing this because we agree with Democrats on policy; we’re doing it because we understand the need to stop Trump from destroying our Constitution. If you see us non-Democrat Kamala supporters on Twitter espousing beliefs you disagree with, like on taxes or guns or whatever, try to let it go. Don’t be jerks. Don’t disparage and argue, expecting us to toe the Democrat line, because we won’t. We’re not Democrats. Being hostile to us will backfire and endanger our alliance. We’ve made common cause with you in this election because our democracy faces an existential threat. We agree Trump is dangerous and we want to work with you to defeat him. Let’s be grateful for this mutual cooperation. We can go back to arguing and being opponents after November. Until then, we have a country to save.

[WBT 20989]

4 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Setting aside that both groups try to convince themselves that their path is best, which is normal human group psychology, does it actually strike you as interesting that the with kids group tries to convince the without kids group to join them but not vice versa? 

"You should have kids" seems like a pretty obviously more reasonable and socially acceptable thing to say than "you should murder your children."

Sounds like something a dirty breeder would say

[Zonahorn 8079]

 

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13629]

17 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

As someone who has a lifetime of child free living by choice, let me weigh into the fray here.  (FWIW, I'm 50 years old and have been married 17 years.  Neither of us wanted kids and want them even less for every day that goes by.  We also have dozens of friends just like us and we have wonderful lives.)

That being said, we're not offended by what he's saying.  We just think he's stupid.  It's like your 8 year old arguing with you.  Why get upset about it?  Everyone like me has ran across this guy dozens of times.  They're perfectly normal and then they have kids which makes them think they're on a higher plane of existence.  In reality, they're just the same person they were before but now just arrogant.  We hear all the same phrases like "you'll regret it one day," or "who will take care of you when you're old" or "you don't know what you're missing," blah, blah, blah.  The people with kids are always trying to convince the people without kids.  It's never the other way around.  It's like they're trying to convince themselves.

Having kids doesn't make Vance original or a deep thinker.  His views about it make him a walking cliche and it's one I've seen repeated over the years.

 

[The Dog 44862]

 

[RomaVicta 30606]

9 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

They were suspended for evading suspension?  

It's the world we live in. Sad.

['stache 22145]

My 6 year old son beat me at Super Mario Monopoly Jr last night and gloated for the next several hours until he finally passed the fuck out. Team Childless by Choice (woulda coulda shoulda). Im also happy to hear that Kamala will allow abortion post birth, can we make it 24th trimester?

Edited July 30 by 'stache

[G650 14447]

4 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

There are plenty of people that regret having kids.  They just never say so publicly.  

I'm not sure I would say plenty. There are certainly some, but I would say it's pretty few. The affinity you will have for your child is basically impossible to relate to someone else, it just has to be experienced to be truly understood.

 

That said, this is in no way saying people should all have kids. I firmly believe it has to be the most serious decision of your life and everyone needs to consider it extremely deeply before committing to it. If you aren't prepared to give up some of yourself for it, then absolutely don't do it, as you are doing a disservice to yourself, your kid, and the planet.

 

I also believe there are way too many fucking humans already, so there's that too.

[Aqua Buddha 14807]

6 minutes ago, The Dog said:

 

What the fuck is he eating?  A small hot dog and a huge plate of french fries?  That's ass.

[texasdago 7771]

2 hours ago, locodos said:

Thatssaa war crime!

Yes, I'm feeling very triggered by that "recipe".

 

[royiv 9811]

Childless by choice here checking-in. I’ve had plenty of friends tell me that they would make a different choice if they could go back. It usually starts with “I love my kids more than anything, but…” I also have friends who can’t imagine not having their kids in their lives. My wife and I are lucky in that we don’t have any friends or family that question or second guess (at least to our faces) our decision to not have kids. 

[Aqua Buddha 14807]

6 minutes ago, G650 said:

I'm not sure I would say plenty. There are certainly some, but I would say it's pretty few. The affinity you will have for your child is basically impossible to relate to someone else, it just has to be experienced to be truly understood.

 

That said, this is in no way saying people should all have kids. I firmly believe it has to be the most serious decision of your life and everyone needs to consider it extremely deeply before committing to it. If you aren't prepared to give up some of yourself for it, then absolutely don't do it, as you are doing a disservice to yourself, your kid, and the planet.

 

I also believe there are way too many fucking humans already, so there's that too.

On your last sentence, that is where these people expose themselves.

On one hand, they say we (America) need a higher birth rate for maintenance.  (They may not be wrong, BTW.)  Then, they'll tell you that we need to curb immigration.  "America is full!"  That's them telling you that they only want a certain type of children.  

[Huckleberry 34701]

11 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

"You'll regret not having kids" should be pushed back with "do you regret having them?"

There are plenty of people that regret having kids.  They just never say so publicly.  

Oh they say it quite frequently, actually, those that do regret it and if you're close enough friends. But again, group psychology. They will admit it to others with kids looking for someone to open up to. They won't nearly as often admit it to those without kids. 

There are plenty on both groups who regret their life decisions. That's because life is hard. I don't take it personally when someone who has chosen a different path tries to tell me how wonderful it is. They're usually doing so for one of two reasons, either they have truly found joy and are trying to share it, in which case they're being kind, or they are struggling and trying to reassure themselves, in which case they need support. And yes sometimes they can be annoying and persistent and need to be told to back off, but most of them aren't trying to be rude. People just lack the ability to think about how they're affecting someone else until they're told. 

[CooterBrown 18289]

1 minute ago, royiv said:

Childless by choice here checking-in. I’ve had plenty of friends tell me that they would make a different choice if they could go back. It usually starts with “I love my kids more than anything, but…” I also have friends who can’t imagine not having their kids in their lives. My wife and I are lucky in that we don’t have any friends or family that question or second guess (at least to our faces) our decision to not have kids. 

In a sociology class I took in the 90s, there was stat that something like 70% of parents would not have kids again if they weren't guaranteed their exact same kids.  100% said they wouldn't have them again if you did guarantee them the exact same kids.

 

[locodos 5592]

Just now, Aqua Buddha said:

On your last sentence, that is where these people expose themselves.

On one hand, they say we (America) need a higher birth rate for maintenance.  (They may not be wrong, BTW.)  Then, they'll tell you that we need to curb immigration.  "America is full!"  That's them telling you that they only want a certain type of children.  

This^  1,000,000 times this

[Bozo_Casanova 26874]

16 minutes ago, The Dog said:

Dear Democrats: Many Americans (myself included) will be voting Democrat for the first time in our lives this November. We’re not doing this because we agree with Democrats on policy; we’re doing it because we understand the need to stop Trump from destroying our Constitution. If you see us non-Democrat Kamala supporters on Twitter espousing beliefs you disagree with, like on taxes or guns or whatever, try to let it go. Don’t be jerks. Don’t disparage and argue, expecting us to toe the Democrat line, because we won’t. We’re not Democrats. Being hostile to us will backfire and endanger our alliance. We’ve made common cause with you in this election because our democracy faces an existential threat. We agree Trump is dangerous and we want to work with you to defeat him. Let’s be grateful for this mutual cooperation. We can go back to arguing and being opponents after November. Until then, we have a country to save.

I’m fine with this. Honestly the biggest mistake Democrats made in the 2000’s was alienating rural Democrats by requiring them to memorize and recite a urban coastal catechism preoccupied with coastal, big-city issues rather than focusing on representing their communities.

[Js1 87214]

1 minute ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I’m fine with this. Honestly the biggest mistake Democrats made in the 2000’s was alienating rural Democrats by requiring them to memorize and recite an urban coastal catechism preoccupied with coastal, big-city issues rather than focusing on representing their communities.

You have to let the Testers and Sherrod Browns and Peltolas and Jared Goldens do their own things. There’s a good way to do it and a shit way to do it (cough, Allred, cough)

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

i often ask the parents of those my kids beat in sports if they regret having children.

[aggie08 21839]

Kids are great if you truly want that life. And it is a vastly different life, for better and worse. I love my kids. There's no way I can go back. But I absolutely could envision a full and happy life without kids had I never had them. To each their own.

But kids sure as shit aren't an accomplishment or a sign of intelligence, social standing, or whatever the fuck. You don't get a cookie for getting one past the goalie. Billions of losers have done the same.

[Bozo_Casanova 26874]

3 minutes ago, Js1 said:

You have to let the Testers and Sherrod Browns and Peltolas and Jared Goldens do their own things. There’s a good way to do it and a shit way to do it (cough, Allred, cough)

You sound like a bitter left-wing elitist who doesn’t give Republicans credit for bipartisan border solutions and eats crunchy name brand peanut butter.

Edited July 30 by Bozo_Casanova

[Dahobbs 18337]

1 minute ago, aggie08 said:

You don't get a cookie for getting one past the goalie. 

I've been misled. 

[Huckleberry 34701]

2 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I’m fine with this. Honestly the biggest mistake Democrats made in the 2000’s was alienating rural Democrats by requiring them to memorize and recite a urban coastal catechism preoccupied with coastal, big-city issues rather than focusing on representing their communities.

Yes it's fine, but it avoids the reality that decades of the policies they think are good is what led their party to where it is now. Announcing that it took the glaring and unrepentant shittiness of Donald Trump AFTER his time in office to realize that the Republican Party didn't actually stand for true conservative (i.e., classic liberalism) ideals isn't nearly as worthy of the self-congratulatory tweet as he thinks it is. 

[randomhorn 2245]

26 minutes ago, The Dog said:

Dear Democrats: Many Americans (myself included) will be voting Democrat for the first time in our lives this November. We’re not doing this because we agree with Democrats on policy; we’re doing it because we understand the need to stop Trump from destroying our Constitution. If you see us non-Democrat Kamala supporters on Twitter espousing beliefs you disagree with, like on taxes or guns or whatever, try to let it go. Don’t be jerks. Don’t disparage and argue, expecting us to toe the Democrat line, because we won’t. We’re not Democrats. Being hostile to us will backfire and endanger our alliance. We’ve made common cause with you in this election because our democracy faces an existential threat. We agree Trump is dangerous and we want to work with you to defeat him. Let’s be grateful for this mutual cooperation. We can go back to arguing and being opponents after November. Until then, we have a country to save.

I guess the country and constitution are secondary to their feelings 

[LTbear 4215]

17 minutes ago, G650 said:

I'm not sure I would say plenty. There are certainly some, but I would say it's pretty few. The affinity you will have for your child is basically impossible to relate to someone else, it just has to be experienced to be truly understood.

 

These aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. I personally know quite a few people who have kids, love them with all their heart and would die for them, but can separate from that emotion the fact that they hate being parents and, if they could somehow do so without hurting their kids, would go back in time and never become parents. 

And there's thousands and thousands of regretful parents on Reddit. Society just shins admitting those things. 

[Goredho 17662]

26 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

There are plenty of people that regret having kids.  They just never say so publicly.  

And then there’s this guy…

[Js1 87214]

8 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

You sound like a bitter left-wing elitist who doesn’t give Republicans credit for bipartisan border solutions and eats crunchy name brand peanut butter.

crunchy??

[G650 14447]

6 minutes ago, LTbear said:

These aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. I personally know quite a few people who have kids, love them with all their heart and would die for them, but can separate from that emotion the fact that they hate being parents and, if they could somehow do so without hurting their kids, would go back in time and never become parents. 

And there's thousands and thousands of regretful parents on Reddit. Society just shins admitting those things. 

Well, they are mutually exclusive is the thing, which you have detailed in the last sentence of that paragraph. They can regret things the missed or had to do, but that is a different concept. If you love the kid, you don't regret being a parent, because that is wishing the kid away, you regret the sacrifice, which is a meaningful distinction.

 

Please don't reference fucking Reddit when having discussions regarding anything that takes the slightest modicum of social intelligence btw. Those maladjusted losers make the Vance's of the world look positively normal as fuck.

 

ETA: I just want to reiterate I don't advocate almost anyone having kids. It always gets distilled into binary strawman shit it seems.

Edited July 30 by G650

[Aqua Buddha 14807]

10 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I’m fine with this. Honestly the biggest mistake Democrats made in the 2000’s was alienating rural Democrats by requiring them to memorize and recite a urban coastal catechism preoccupied with coastal, big-city issues rather than focusing on representing their communities.

I agree and that's why I'm warming up to Walz, especially the more I hear him talk.  He brings those economic issues front and center.  "Call me what you want but I just want to feed some kids."

[HOOKEM4 5177]

28 minutes ago, The Dog said:

 

The fact this fuckstain cannot be seen/photographed on or near anything even remotely resembling a couch ever again is hilarious. 

[Js1 87214]

2 minutes ago, G650 said:

Those maladjusted losers make the Vance's of the world look positively normal as fuck.

[mchookem 16775]

51 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

As someone who has a lifetime of child free living by choice, let me weigh into the fray here.  (FWIW, I'm 50 years old and have been married 17 years.  Neither of us wanted kids and want them even less for every day that goes by.  We also have dozens of friends just like us and we have wonderful lives.)

That being said, we're not offended by what he's saying.  We just think he's stupid.  It's like your 8 year old arguing with you.  Why get upset about it?  Everyone like me has ran across this guy dozens of times.  They're perfectly normal and then they have kids which makes them think they're on a higher plane of existence.  In reality, they're just the same person they were before but now just arrogant.  We hear all the same phrases like "you'll regret it one day," or "who will take care of you when you're old" or "you don't know what you're missing," blah, blah, blah.  The people with kids are always trying to convince the people without kids.  It's never the other way around.  It's like they're trying to convince themselves.

Having kids doesn't make Vance original or a deep thinker.  His views about it make him a walking cliche and it's one I've seen repeated over the years.

preach. i've said it here before... having children is a special experience for the parent. but there's nothing exceptional about it... it's literally been done billions and billions of times. congratulations. 😐

[SydneyCarton 49512]

1 hour ago, TexEx15 said:

 

Lol, look at this pudgy motherfucker:



All black hoodie, and eye liner put on so think Alice Cooper is raising an eyebrow. Would anyone be shocked if he scratches his face in this video and we saw that all his fingernails were painted black? Listen, I get being a teenager can be hard. Teens are cruel, their bodies are jam packed with hormones, and they're trying to figure out who they are while trying to survive a savage social environment, all while dealing with grades and parents and blah blah blah. So if some kids go goth, and listen to a fuck ton of morrissey and the cure, well, ok man. But what I don't need is that motherfucker being vice president and helping to shape policy while wrestling with his closeted sexuality and throbbing self-loathing.