# I pit America **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 6, 2024, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759 "2024-11-06T05:57:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/122 "2024-11-06T19:18:07Z")
We’re straight and white too, but living in an authoritarian regime takes a toll on people, for people like us, the toll is the weariness that comes with turning a blind eye to the suffering of others and the constant self loathing of the millions of compromises you’ll have to make to keep the target off your back and on other people. If you don’t give a shit about people who aren’t you, you’ll be able to run wild. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/123 "2024-11-06T19:23:50Z")
I keep thinking about your post. Same sex marriage only became legal in all states in 2015. So 9 years of a half-decent country that, on paper, treated its citizens as equals (I’m sure even that ruling left people out in other ways). ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/124 "2024-11-06T19:26:02Z")
My wife and I were talking on our walk and neither of us were shocked by Trump’s election, we had both expected it, but we were both saddened. My wife said, “I hate that I was right.” ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/125 "2024-11-06T19:26:58Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > … > > America has had bad times. Many times. We overcame. > I’m disappointed, dismayed, dumbfounded and dreading these next years. But I still have an ingrained feeling of being an American. The luckiness of that. People still want to come here. We still have lots to offer. > America is a big place, one man can’t tear it all down. > She’s sad tonight but she’ll bounce back. First off, Happy (or as happy as it can be) Birthday! I wish I could be as sanguine as you are about the future of the US. Yes, there have been crises before and it’s surmounted/survived them. The difference is that in the past the participants, whatever their flaws, were at heart (mostly) committed to the country’s institutions and norms; now, those coming to power have demonstrated in word and deed that they have no such commitment — indeed, they have demonstrated a commitment to tearing them down when they get in the way of their agenda. For myself, while I’m a foreign-born Irish citizen courtesy of my emigrant grandfather, as long as my daughters are here I am too. So I’ll stay and do what little I can to stave off or delay the ugliness which I fear is coming. It helps that we’re in the Soviet of Washington, which looks like it’s going to be a bright spot in the looming darkness — at least until that pesky Supremacy Clause barges in. One other thing that I thought I’d never say: in the soon future I’m going to take firearms training and purchase a handgun. Which I pray I’ll never have to use, but _semper paratus_. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/126 "2024-11-06T20:02:02Z")
Well, I’ll remind you the Civil War was fairly devisive. Thanks for birthday wishes. Did not get the gift I wanted.😕 ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/127 "2024-11-06T20:15:01Z")
I have a friend who’s an astronomy professor in Georgia (and, yes, he voted blue), and I’m going to see if his pull with the cosmos can arrange for a meteor strike. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/128 "2024-11-06T20:15:26Z")
Thank you for that blatant lie. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/129 "2024-11-06T20:39:58Z")
It is days like today that make me so glad we never had children. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/130 "2024-11-06T21:30:10Z")
n/m (misplaced response) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/131 "2024-11-06T21:34:56Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > If you don’t give a shit about people who aren’t you, you’ll be able to run wild. I hope this wasn’t directed at me. If it was, you are wrong. I even thought today that hey, we have a spare bedroom, if my gay co-worker feels threatened, they can stay with us. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/132 "2024-11-06T21:35:25Z")
I wish I could give it to you. Really. The Civil War (or, as it’s still referred to in parts of the South, the “War of Northern Aggression”) was indeed divisive. Literally. Which is why I added the (mostly) qualifier. I could probably have been more clear. But even then, when the war ended many of the Confederates lay down their misplaced allegiances with their arms and determined to be US citizens again (James Longstreet comes to mind, for which he was vilified in some quarters). Others, such as Nathan Bedford Forrest, did not. I’m not pretending everything was sweetness and light, but even though the South took a long time to deinstitutionalize racism (to the extent it has), there hasn’t been a significant use of arms against the US since. What I mainly had in mind was Watergate. When faced with a choice between his political instincts and the institution of the Presidency, Nixon — as smarmy a pol as ever drew breath — chose the latter (whether there had been an agreement with Ford is a debate that will probably never be resolved). I don’t know if you can imagine the Orange Peril _et.al._ doing the same — I can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/133 "2024-11-06T21:36:12Z")
Cartoon by Morten Morland, copied from [Bado’s blog](https://bado-badosblog.blogspot.com/2024/11/this-cartoon-sums-it-up.html): [![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs6iZ_8USERNqqDlrMUrp70p9595Nhww3sh5XzPUJ5i1hGYlTrQ9_AgM1f3fJunPpDta-qNO9n06T7de8duqj1_AAUa1Qw9-SvsU-sE1A65_pfERVyva2b7hmWOkTH-lTyw8w-tlBwrUsZ1YhYewv81H4euF4WP6FH3L-AG2wdAMCiEJS22kdfViODB8HC/s1152/GbqELWhWIAMUYtg.jpeg) ](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs6iZ_8USERNqqDlrMUrp70p9595Nhww3sh5XzPUJ5i1hGYlTrQ9_AgM1f3fJunPpDta-qNO9n06T7de8duqj1_AAUa1Qw9-SvsU-sE1A65_pfERVyva2b7hmWOkTH-lTyw8w-tlBwrUsZ1YhYewv81H4euF4WP6FH3L-AG2wdAMCiEJS22kdfViODB8HC/s1152/GbqELWhWIAMUYtg.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/134 "2024-11-06T22:13:42Z")
I don’t know if I’m overreacting or not, but I’m damn well petrified. I have a grandson who is brown. He was left at a hospital when he was born and we were lucky enough to be the family who adopted him. He is almost 11 now and I cherish him and I don’t know if I need to be worried or not. My stupid fucking neighbor just said to my face that the only reason Harris got any job was because she sucked dick. I think the whole street heard me yell FUCK YOU! I asked him if he thought I sucked dick to get all of my jobs. I was so pissed. He scurried his racist ass inside. I hate it here. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/135 "2024-11-06T23:04:07Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That won’t do all the suffering and dead people any good. The majority of the population is on the right wing’s hit list, what does it matter what borders their corpses are surrounded by? _…for the good of all of us, except the ones who are dead…_ > [@mnemosyne](#): > > Same sex marriage only became legal in all states in 2015. And now SSM couples are putting in place power of attorney agreements etc to retain as many rights as possible if it goes away again. > [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > My stupid fucking neighbor just said to my face that the only reason Harris got any job was because she sucked dick. I think the whole street heard me yell FUCK YOU! I asked him if he thought I sucked dick to get all of my jobs. I was so pissed. He scurried his racist ass inside. Maybe that’s how he got **his** job. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/136 "2024-11-06T23:04:44Z")
Fuck this country. I talked to my nieces this morning and gave them advice on what blue states are safe for women (at least until a federal ban on abortion, contraception or no fault divorce passes), and we had a conversation on what foreign nations they could move to. They deserve better than to live in this misogynistic shithole. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/137 "2024-11-06T23:17:26Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > And don’t forget that the bigots, especially in certain states in a southeasterly portion, will never ever forgive the Democratic Party for putting a Black man into the White House. Those bigots are still mad about the civil war. They were voting democratic until the 1960s to spite the republicans because the republicans supported ending slavery and civil rights in the 19th century. Then LBJ passed the civil rights act and southern whites mostly became republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/138 "2024-11-06T23:17:49Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > My stupid fucking neighbor just said to my face that the only reason Harris got any job was because she sucked dick. I think the whole street heard me yell FUCK YOU! I asked him if he thought I sucked dick to get all of my jobs. I was so pissed. He scurried his racist ass inside. > > I hate it here. I think the racist ass’ remark was more sexist than racist. Probably both, but more sexist. But then again, they’ve said the same about Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/139 "2024-11-06T23:20:10Z")
I was on the bus just a little bit ago and I overheard someone say “Donald Trump’s gonna be president. What do you think of that?” I responded “FUCK TRUMP, that’s what I think.” He didn’t say anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/140 "2024-11-06T23:21:41Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > I’ll just say what I said elsewhere, because I don’t know how else to say it: > > The United States, having suspended its descent into Hell, chose last night to go the rest of the way. > > He told you what he was going to do. You decided you wanted it. So now we are at the end of this great experiment, its flaws exposed and exploited by an authoritarian lunatic and his personality cult. > > When the lunacy starts, remember that you had a choice, and the choice was stark. This wasn’t a question of a few minor policy differences. I used to wonder how the Germans ever let Hitler into power. After yesterday, I don’t wonder anymore. > > So this is the end. We survived a civil war but failed to kill the ethos that caused it, and it took 160 years but they finally finished the job. Good luck, we deserve everything that is coming to us. And to the rest of the world, I’m sorry. Apparently this IS who we are. The shitty part is that Only about 1/5 of Americans voted for this monster. We have 335 million people and about 71 million voted for Trump. Kids can’t vote, and a lot of adults don’t care about voting, and a lot of adults voted for Harris. But it sucks that 4/5 of us are held hostage to the 1/5 who are ok with rape, treason, pedophilia, incompetence, misogyny ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759/141 "2024-11-06T23:24:00Z")
Yes, you’re right. But he’s also a racist. I’ve called him a stupid racist bastard before and he just laughs at me. He didn’t laugh at me today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-america/1009759.md?page=8)