I am so tired of this question, because anyone who is paying attention and isn’t deliberately deceiving themselves knows the answer is nothing.
He is Kim Jong Il, and the 37ish percent of Americans who stand by him are the brainwashed people of North Korea who are suffering because of him, and worship him, anyway.
His fans – his cultists – will never turn on him, and it’s time to stop treating this small number of people like they are rational people, acting on good faith. They are racists, they are authoritarians, they are slavish followers of his cult of personality.
And they are barely 4 in 10 people, so maybe instead of being so fucking focused on them, focus on the nearly 7 in 10 people who are disgusted by him, want him out of office, and are willing to do something about it.
American Evangelical Christians used to be the most likely to drop their support for a candidate if he showed moral failing.
A survey that the BBC reported on last night (19th August 2018) shows that they are now the least likely to drop a candidate if he shows moral failing. This is entirely in response to and caused by Trump.
They give no fucks about what he does, all they care about is what he lets them do, which is threaten trans children, deny gay people their civil rights, harass immigrants, turn women back into property and murder black people.
Don’t work on changing their minds, they’re a lost cause. Get others out to vote. And then abolish the electoral college.
“I’m a gun owner. I have two pistols, a rifle, a shotgun…and a (now-expired) concealed carry permit. I’ve been shooting since I was a kid. I also support every single gun control measure out there. Why? Well, because of a number of logical reasons:
1. I go to gun shows, and I’ve witnessed more illegal cash sales than I can count. People bring guns to sell to dealers at the show and end up selling them to buyers in the parking lot who are willing to pay cash. No background check, no bill of sale, no formal transfer of ownership. Yes, this is happening, people! It is a regular occurrence and illegal in many states.
2. Every time I go to the gun range, I witness someone doing something extremely dangerous with a gun. I’ve been swept more than 20 times — this means someone has unintentionally pointed a gun at me. I’ve seen the wrong ammo used (ask my husband about the time he almost lost an eye). I’ve watched people shooting guns that they lack experience with or ones that they can’t handle (take, for example, a child or a smaller adult shooting a Desert Eagle semiautomatic handgun), causing kickback that can injure them and cause them to flail their loaded gun in all directions. I’ve seen guns jam, and people continue to fire them to “clear the jam.” I’ve seen people continue to fire when the range is “cold.” All of these people consider themselves “responsible” gun owners. Nope. And these aren’t exceptions to the rule — every single time I go to the range, I see someone doing something reckless and potentially deadly.
3. I’ve seen people handle guns when they are drunk, tired, hungover, or angry. I would never think of doing these things. It is irresponsible, and again, potentially deadly.
4. A friend of my college boyfriend pointed a loaded gun in my face because he wanted to show me how cool his new toy was. I dropped to the ground. He forgot it was loaded. He’s a high-ranking officer in the U.S. Navy.
5. The class you take to get a concealed carry permit in North Carolina is easy to pass. You sit through a two-day class, take a simple written test, get a background check and fingerprints through the sheriff’s office, and basically just have to prove that you can hit the broad side of a barn. That’s it.
6. The “hero mentality” is misguided and dangerous. Unless you have combat training, the “good guy/gal with a gun” is more likely to kill another civilian or get mistaken by cops as the shooter. I’m a decent shot with a pistol. I’m a great shot with my rifle. But in a life or death situation, where people are literally being murdered in front of me, it’s completely unrealistic to think that, even with all my training, I could do anything but add to the chaos.
7. The NRA is a terrorist organization. Yup, I said it. I used to be a member because they gave discounts on shooting-range time. I quit after one year because I couldn’t stomach the thought that my money was funding them. Their magazine and mailers are filled with propaganda about people coming to take my guns when there is absolutely zero evidence at all to suggest that is ever going to happen. Their recent ads make me sick and ashamed that I ever supported them. 8. The home protection argument makes sense to me on some level. I had a friend who was killed during a home invasion, so I get it. But an AK-47 (and other assault weapons) is not an ideal weapon for personal defense, and it serves no purpose for “home protection.” It was designed for military use. A a 12-gauge shotgun is a better, more realistic choice for home defense. I’ve never seen any peer-reviewed study/expert/article anywhere that can refute this. Bottom line: Assault-style weapons should never be in the hands of civilians. Period. And going back to point No. 7, in a home-protection or self-defense situation, you’re still more likely to injure yourself or have your own gun used against you. These are my thoughts on the subject as an experienced, licensed, and trained gun owner. I’m already a member of the Brady Campaign, Everytown for Gun Safety, and will be joining Moms Demand Action. I find it impossible to understand why other gun owners like myself don’t support these groups. They aren’t trying to take away my guns; they are trying to inject some freaking common sense into the equation — something we desperately need and that every gun owner should support.“
if you cannot argue these points you cant oppose gun control
the number one beef i have with people who flip out about gun control laws is they immediately say ‘responsible law abiding gun owners like me’ as being unjustly held accountable- well then you should have no trouble with laws you are already complying with, either you are responsible or not
its like if i as a parent am upset with new laws that require me to feed my children, bathe them, and not beat them- and then justify my anger in that ‘im a good parent’ well if i was a good parent i wouldnt be upset with a law saying they will check i feed my damned kids just like gun laws that just check you are competent enough to be trusted with the insta-death boomstick so many drunk hillbillies wave around like a little girl waving a plastic fairy wand
This, so perfectly this. The gun control laws we want are ones that just reinforce the ones that already exist. We want to ban guns whose only use is to cut human beings in half with multiple bullets, and nothing that is actually used for personal defense, small-arms military use, and hunting. NO ONE SANE needs a a submachine gun to goddamn HUNT. If you disagree with that–if you truly, completely, to the deepest parts of your being, believe that the only way you can bag that eight-point buck is with an AK-47…then you are a BAD HUNTER and you are PART OF THE PROBLEM.
I’m not defending her or anything but honestly, what do you expect? She’s a mainstream American politician. She might be better than most but if any politician at this point ran on a platform of not deporting anyone then they’d instantly be seen as too radical and “idealistic” by the media and the general public. I mean it took us a very long time before most people got on board with the idea that having a health care system similar to basically every other first world country wasn’t too radical.
The context for this was that a 95-year old Nazi war-crime suspect who happened to live in the district for which she is running for Congress was finally deported (he was actually ordered to be deported 2004 but no country would accept him until now, when Germany finally agreed), and the GOP attacked her for it, and then when she clarified that yes, she still wants to abolish ICE but some deportation will be necessary, like the deportation of Nazis suspected of being war criminals, the left attacked her for that, because that makes her a cop.
Why do ya’ll look for a reason not to support people?
“Now there’s this about cynicism, Sergeant. It’s the universe’s most supine moral position. Real comfortable. If there’s nothing that can be done, then you’re not a shit for not doing it, and you can lie there and stink yourself in perfect peace.”
Quotes aside, I really… really kind of feel the need to remind people of a few pieces of perspective:
I don’t particularly care about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She’s nowhere near my neck of the woods and it’s unlikely I’ll ever run across her on a voting ballot, nor that her positions will have much effect on where I live. That’s really not the point.
What IS the point is that the reason the Democratic party, specifically, and American left, generally, are flopping around like worms cut in half for the last two years while an increasingly hostile fascist force occupies our offices of government is because every time, every time, every goddamn time anyone raises their head an inch above the crowd and begins to look even slightly like they might become some sort of the leader for the Left, this. Shit. Happens.
The smear machine will stop at nothing, they’ll go back twenty years or five thousand miles or pull one sentence out of War and Peace to present out of context or just flat out make shit up to present the would-be leader as a Failure and a Sellout and a Traitor To The Cause. And every one of y’all that goes along with it and declares that people like Ocasio-Cortez or Kamala Harris or whatever is “cancelled,” every one of you is part of the problem.
I don’t know whether the OP is a genuine leftist purity zealot or a Russian dissent monger, but either way, they’re doing the Right’s work for them.
uhhhh no offense but think about what you say to kids because like… when I was a kid all I heard was my friends saying “no one wants to hear you sing shut up” until fifth grade I was singing under my breath “we will rock you” by KISS because I had one of those toothtunes toothbrushes that played it and my teacher stopped me and was like… do that again. And I thought I was in trouble because no one wanted to hear me sing so I didn’t at first but she kinda coaxed me into it and once I sang it she was like “that’s good! That’s actually really good, sorry, I’m a little surprised! Wow!” And it literally changed my whole life I immediately ran off to try and join the talent show (I was too late) and I did honor choir and joined choir in 6th grade and here I am now, doing a bachelors in music education with an emphasis in voice, and looking at doing my masters in musical theater performance. I owe literally everything to the fact that my 5th grade math/homeroom teacher stopped me and made me sing a little for her and took that time to tell me that I was good at it. That was a 2 minute interaction that I doubt she even remembers but it literally changed my entire life.
tl;dr: the things you say can have the most profound effect on a kids life. Think about what you’re saying the next time you tell a kid something. You never know if that 30 second interaction is going to affect their life forever, so why not make it a good one, huh?
Abusive men pave the way for lazy men to get wives and girlfirends.
Lemme clarify, how many times have you heard your overworked female friends and relatives say “Yeah, Jerry drinks beer every evening after work while I cook dinner and clean up after everyone and does the bare minimum to help me raise the kids but he’s such a nice guy. He’s never beat me in my life. I couldn’t ask for a better guy in my life.”
Like no, Sally, your husband is a common stone among turds and you know it.
I try to explain this conceptually to people as a thing that happens not saying that this is good but it’s a thing that happens.
This is what male privilege is and how all men benefit from it.
This is why you are not exempt from statements about “all men” even if you are overall good.
You benefit from the bar constantly being lowered by systemic issues within the gender.
The expectations on you are always lower than they should because “at least you’re not X”.
That…is the best response I’ve seen to the “not all men” thing. Thank you.
I kinda hate it when people dig up offensive jokes or whatever from 10 something years ago from someone and somehow that ends up being more important than the person they are today and the ways they’ve improved and educated themselves over time. (Not to mention that in the past when it came to a lot of offensive humor and social issues times and the general opinion/available widespread information were very different.) That’s just actively telling everyone that no matter what, change doesn’t matter. Why improve yourself you’re always going to be the person you were in the past and we can and will hunt you down for it.
What kind of message is that? As if we’ve all been so woke and flawless in our entire existence.
By all means hold people accountable for causing harm and call them out to explain themselves or apologise if needed but why would we keep attacking those who’ve obviously grown, apologised and learned and pretend like that doesn’t matter one bit in the grand scheme of things and then punish them for it forever. I’m just so confused by that attitude.
There’s something intensely unhealthy going on when parents discourage age-appropriate independence. A 13 year old should probably be allowed to go see a film with their friends most of the time. A 16 year old should probably be allowed to drive/ride a bus/bike to a friend’s house most of the time. An 18 year old should probably be allowed to travel overnight with their friends most of the time. A 20+ year old should be allowed to come and go as they please, with some common-sense “Let’s talk this ‘move to Finland’ plan of your over before you follow through on it” exceptions.
Parents should want their children to enjoy going out and doing things on their own and with their friends. They should be delighted that their child wants to have a life of their own. A rich, fulfilling life outside the home and distinct from parents and family is important, and parents should want their child to have that.
Today on “I think a white person wrote this”
Umm…No. this isn’t a “white person” issue. I’m Black & EVERYTHING she just described in the post is 100% relevant. We gotta stop writing off discussions about unhealthy & overly strict parenting as “white people shit”. It’s so old and tired. 😒
Parents need to give children space to discover who they are and give them certain independence because one day they’ll be on their own, and they need to know how to solve issues and move through life. Overprotection is as damaging to a child as neglecting them.
The reason most millennials don’t make a scene when an establishment doesn’t treat them right is because we function more on positive reinforcement than negative reinforcement. For Boomers, they can make a scene because they know negative reinforcement gets them what they want; they want to PUNISH these establishments or workers, but Millennial purchasing patterns are very different.
Growing up in the computer age, we’ve become masterful at filtering junk information, and that includes advertising. It doesn’t matter how much a politician or restaurant or whatever memes, we’ll find them funny, but we’re still not going to shop there or give them our money of we dislike them. The way brands become successful with Millennials is actually just word of mouth.
So when an establishment treats us poorly, we don’t make a scene. We simply never go back and don’t tell our friends about it. Conversely, places that treat us well we immediately go tell others about.
The simplest ways to get Millennials to support your business is to give them good economic value for what you sell (Boomers can think we’re irresponsible, but we’re actually quite thrifty), you have to treat us with dignity, but ALSO, you have to treat your WORKERS with dignity. Unlike Boomers who get off on laughing at someone working at McDonald’s, we’ve all had to work shitty, underpaying jobs and we don’t like when we go to an establishment and see workers mistreated and poorly paid, because WE’VE BEEN THERE, and we don’t want to contribute to that gross abuse of the working class.
These rich CEOs can complain that Millennials have “no brand loyalty” or that we’re “killing XYZ industry,” but the truth is that selling to us consistently requires ethical business practices that most of these companies are unwilling to partake in.
people say “if you don’t lower your standards, you’re gonna end up spending your whole life alone!” like being a healthy, happy, financially independent single adult is actually worse than being stuck in an abusive and/or emotionally unfulfilling relationship with someone who isn’t willing/able to meet your needs. like no offense, but I think I’m gonna choose to be happy rather than throwing myself into a relationship just for the sake of being in a relationship.
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