That will be an interesting claim with the House, Senate and Presidential administration completely controlled by conservatives.
A part of me looks forward to this, particularly with regard to economics (on foreign policy and social issues I am quite sure we are fucked.) The ball is in conservatives’ court, it’s time to test run these supposedly superior policies and see where we land.
Hopefully, we manage that with the least amount of hatefulness and fearmongering possible.
It may be a while before I can read “OMG” without thinking that. Thanks for the chuckle. I need one after reading all this.
At least Bricker’s not mocking the pain of half the country because someone hurt his feelings 4 years ago. He’s pedantic, like most lawyers, but I’ve never seen him behave in an intentionally mean way.
The idea of delighting in someone else’s tears is fucking sick. The only time I ever felt anything like that was for that police officer crying after he was convicted of raping like 20 women, including teenage girls, that he specifically targeted for their powerlessness. That’s the kind of shit that warrants that level of vitriol.
The OP fails to consider that some of us have damned good reasons for our grief. Mine is at seeing half the country throw sexual assault survivors under the bus, because blaming the victim and minimizing abhorrent behavior is easier than admitting you’re voting for a self-described sexual predator. If people had said, ‘‘This behavior is totally not okay’’ but I am still casting that vote because XYZ outweighs the potential consequences to victims, whatever. But nobody even bothered saying that. Instead it’s the media’s fault, it’s the victim’s fault for never coming forward sooner, women are liars, it’s not really sexual assault and the hundred other excuses and rationalizations I heard from my own family when it was about my abuse. It’s fucking sickening. If you mock me for being upset by half the country adopting the same attitudes that personally destroyed my life when I was 17 years old, you are an asshole.
Maybe not. My wife and mother in law are scared shit less of Pence. On the off-chance that my wife does get pregnant, there is a great chance (75%) that it would be entopic according to her doctor and we would need to have an abortion to save her life. They are convinced he will stand in the way of her choice on that, like it’s even a choice. If we are at a place that can refuse the proceedure (like happened to a lady I knew in Texas) she would have to have a total hysterectomy. She’s only 27 and that’s a scary prospect.
Fucking first world problems.
Dude, it’s an omgafakeblackguytroll gloating thread. I wouldn’t tale it too seriously. Or literally.
Pence. An altogether different kind of terror.
What are the rules here? If the president elect passed away before inauguration would Pence be next in line? Or would the RNC or Congress name someone? Don’t know how that works and don’t want to google it at work.
You know Bricker voted for Hillary, right? He’s not gloating in that thread. He’s calling somebody out for saying something stupid.
Nailed it in one.
I love it when the thread is over by post #3 and the rest is just commentary. 
I’n pretty sure he’s gloating. The fact that there are four smileys in his OP (which as far as I know, is more smileys than he typically uses in a year) is a big tell. I realize they are almost certainly unintentional, with a colon-bracket, i.e. : ) being rendered by the board as :), but I can picture him viewing the post after posting it, realizing the mistake, and deciding to let it stand.
The disingenuous claim that he wants “accountability”, when by any rational measure he has no leverage to demand it nor any plausible expectation of getting it, seals it for me.
There are plenty of people with perfectly good lives that voted for that asshole. They like that he’s a racist misogynic sociopath. THEY LIKE the razors in the burrito.
I’m playing the world’s smallest violin right now.
The histrionics-- the meltdown-- is much better than anything I could have every imagined. I keep bringing it up, but need I remind you of 2012? Liberals everywhere were delighting in the pain us conservatives felt as the idiot in chief was given the greenlight to continue to destroy this country. Now the shoe’s on the other damn foot where the guy you loathe has won, and you guys are having the biggest damn meltdown I’ve ever seen! Haha, yes. I’m reveling in it. It’s made even better by the extreme exaggerations and the refusal to acknowledge the real reasons you lost (no, it’s not because of racism or because Hispanics are sexist and won’t vote for a woman president, both things said on this board).
But, hey, to the victor go the spoils and I’m absolutely ELATED about a Trump presidency! For the first time in at least 6 out 7 years, I feel good about the direction of our country.
Y’all should buck up. Everything will be okay
ETA: What do you think about Juanita Broaddrick?
Absolutely. Already the “media” and their “pollsters” and their “experts” are saying they were surprised and blindsided and … fucking bullshit.
This is a “thing” they created and enabled.
Don’t hold your breath. Going by recent past history, you will be a damn stinking traitor who should get out if you question ANYthing. Just like during the “W” years.
This quote shows that you are missing the most important aspects of this election.
My biggest concern right now is helping people on the losing side understand that people on the winning side are not living in a fantasy world. They are living in a reality, a reality of shit that they’ve endured for close to 20 years now. They’ve watched the richer get richer, the outcasts get embraced and foreigners welcomed. And while that was happening, they’ve been ignored, regarded with disdain and contempt, and had their money taken in taxes to give to people who, in their view, don’t need the money (the wealthy) or don’t want to/have to work for the money (the welfare myth, immigrants, etc.).
Any economic gains seen by this country are not being seen by the vast majority of it’s population.
And never discount how much of this goes to people feeling powerless. Powerless to stop the bank bailout, powerless to stop gay marriage, powerless to stop jobs leaving the country, powerless to stop the scourge of texting (:p), etc.
One of the few ways that Americans still believe they can exercise some power, some control over their lives is at the ballot box, and they decided to do just that.
Excoriating them and demonizing them will not win them over to your side, Bryan. It will not.
You are dismissing 50% of the country. Everywhere you go, half the people voted for Trump. Half. At work, 1 out of every 2 people voted for Trump. At the grocery store, same thing. At the bar, at the bowling alley, at your kid’s Little League game… 50% voted for Trump.
50% think things are shitty enough that they really couldn’t get much shittier, and if they do, so what?
If you want to understand what happened in this election, start by talking to and listening to people who voted for Trump.
Listen. Understand. Empathize.
I am a proud union member. I love my Union; I love my local. Many of my Brothers & Sisters are some of the finest professionals and people I have known in my life. Some are less professional and not such great people. But you know what? We need those people too. We need those people because there’s strength in numbers. So calling them idiots on the job site or trying to take their membership away because their views on something differ from mine would be stupid; we need to bring people into our fold, not make our fold more exclusive.
Democracy requires numbers. Remember your goal. If your goal is to win elections, the way to do that is to find out what the people want and/or need and then help them get it. If your goal is to lose elections, alienating people and building a bigger mental wall against them is surely the way to go.
What is your goal?
Good post, NB.
I’m starting to realize that I’m not, really. I get that many Americans feel disaffected and abandoned and whatnot, and it is perfectly legitimate to try to address their concerns, but when they go ahead and elect a pure-fantasy candidate like Trump who might make them feel good because he’s willing to tell them comforting blarney, I can only conclude that many of those Americans are actively disinterested in pursuing promising ideas that could improve their lives, as well as reassuring themselves that industrial and manufacturing jobs can magically reappear if only they got the right man in charge.
To me, you sound like you’re contradicting yourself. You want to claim that they’re not in a fantasy world, then go on to describe their fantasies of persecution.
Oh, I have no illusions of that. I think at best the one stuck in their mindset will gradually die off while the smarter ones elevate themselves through education. If any of them who want to know what can replace Obamacare want to ask me about my experiences with single-payer, i.e. take an effort to express curiosity about real-world approaches instead of Trump’s vague promises, I’ll be happy to describe them.
If they’d rather blow the system up and hope for the best… well, good luck to you all, but if it doesn’t work, you have no excuse for expecting different results the next time you give it a shot.
And I will, to and with any member of your disaffected 50% who is inquisitive enough to ask for ideas and suggestions and how a willingness to discuss them instead of concluding there are none to be found so burn it all.
Me, personally? To amuse myself and practice my writing skills. I’m not American, my personal stake in this is somewhat lower than most of the members of this board.
This hasn’t happened during Obama’s reign… I mean, presidency?
Put that in your pipe and smoke it OMG a black asshole.
Kids taunting other kids because of their race. I’ll bet you have no experience or opinion on this right?
Bo, I have a question… I agree with your proposal in general, as that’s typically how I try to conduct my life; to understand where others are coming from so we have common ground. In my area, I know only a handful of other democrats, so for at least the past four years since I’ve been back, I’ve hoped to bridge a gap between liberals and conservatives and show them that we’re not all baby killing demons hellbent on socialism.
However, when we discuss the things you mention, they don’t talk about the lack of jobs (undoubtedly because they’re doing just fine, but you get the idea) or why immigration hurts the USA, or if abortion comes up and how they feel it’s completely unacceptable in any case, the conversation doesn’t run to exceptions or alternatives, but how it shouldn’t be used as birth control (statistics or real world anecdotes be damned) or that women shouldn’t be so promiscuous. And to echo what a few others have said, the people I know that feel this way really aren’t the ones affected by these situations or policies in the first place.
So, if you’re already respectful, and you do listen, what is your advice if there is no actual information to work with beyond anger and epithets? I’d love to help in whatever way I can, even if it’s only living by example, but thus far, all I’m pretty much left with is trying to escape the vitriol, and flying below the radar. Any guidance here would be appreciated.