tl;dr: The beginnings justify the ends. If you're a teenager thinking about becoming a murderer or rapist later in life, consider learning the trombone.
Similar experience. A homeless guy ambushed me at the drive thru asking for money to buy a burger. I told him I'd buy him a combo and he said no, only cash. I gave him the money because I honestly don't care how he spends it, but why ask for a burger at a Burger King of all places if you don't actually want a burger? Now I'm stuck pretending like I'm some gullible idiot to spare him his dignity when he could have just asked for money.
Also, the fact that 81% of people like their health insurance is meaningless out of context. What percentage of those surveyed actually had a hospital stay I wonder? Was it the other 19%? I thought I liked my health insurance until I realized that they could deny a claim. I didn't understand this because I'm young and healthy and haven't had to deal with the nightmare myself.
Wasn't jury nullification historically used to sanction hate crimes against minorities? I agree that it shouldn't be a banned topic, but I also understand how it could be a call to violence in certain contexts.
"And what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms."
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure."
Both quotes from Thomas Jefferson, which isn't to say that that it's true - only that our founders expected us to defend our liberties with violence if necessary.
I'm genuinely shocked by the public reaction to this murder. I feel naive for saying that, but it's true. I'm not surprised that people are feeling the way that they feel - I feel it too - but I didn't expect to see such open support for violence. Feels like it's only a matter of time before this happens again.
Nothing short of an electoral landslide in 2026 is going to save us from our current situation. For that to happen, we need the Democratic party to offer a clear and compelling contrast to Trump. If integrity ends up being a campaign issue - which seems likely given Trump's track record - then it helps if we can be the party of integrity. Biden's decision to pardon his son - even after saying that he wouldn't - undermines this. The next campaign hasn't even started yet and it's already taking on water. How is that not depressing? Turn on any conservative radio show and you'll hear how they're spinning this to cancel our every corrupt thing that Trump has ever done.
Democrats are pissed because all we had left after this election was our integrity. Biden can do what he wants honestly - he doesn't owe us anything - but this is still depressing.
But first I think he's going to pardon Hunter Biden. He'll get to look like he's rising above politics (despite Hunter not being a political figure) while painting Democrats as hypocrites for prosecuting their political rivals. Then he'll pardon anyone associated with January 6th, using the Biden pardon as cover. Then, once he's proven all the fascist rhetoric wrong, he'll seek his revenge.
You don't see the overlapping appeal? It's about authenticity - not policy. Bernie is as authentic as they come. If he's not running, the Libertarian party is a natural second choice - you have to be pretty sure of yourself to stand on a debate stage and argue for letting people die in the street. Trump had that same energy in this last campaign, so in hindsight I'm not surprised that he won over these people.
I get the impression that Harris plans to drag out the war in Ukraine with continued US support while Trump plans to end it quickly by withholding support. That's a consequential difference as far as I'm concerned. If Trump were in charge now I expect we'd already be at war with Iran. Remember when he had Soleimani killed in 2020? I don't think he'd be nearly as reluctant about supporting Israel if he were in charge. I agree that Taiwan is a powder keg, but I'm not sure what we should be doing differently there - curious what you're getting at there.
I think I'm just sensitive because I'm pro-choice but constantly get painted as heartless and uncaring by my pro-life family. Viable or not, I feel something for these unborn things, just like my family - the only difference is that I don't prioritize my feelings over the rights of other people, nor do I shy away from the fact that abortions can be necessary and merciful. I am an ally in this fight, but if you're dismissing the miracle of life as nothing more than a medical condition, you're not helping the cause - to some extent you're a liability to those of us trying to actually win people over.
I don't know why but "person" in quotations just rubs me the wrong way. I don't think we have to dismiss the value of an unborn life in order to support abortion - they're not mutually exclusive. In this case I would argue that there were two tragedies, one committed by "God" and the other by the state of Texas.
I do find it interesting that the "actual" employment rate was 7% higher in 2000 than it is now. I get that we have an older population now, and proportionally more retirees as a result, but isn't that relevant to our economic health? Rather than patting ourselves on the back for doing a good job despite an aging population, shouldn't we be talking about how to turn this trend around? Italy, Japan, and China are about a generation ahead of us on this issue, and they're totally freaking out - maybe we should too.
Private insurance used to offer flood insurance like 100 years ago, but to stay in business they had to raise premiums to a point where no one could realistically afford it (which is to say that living in a flood zone is not financially feasible for most people). The government had to step in with their own flood insurance program, which was tied to regulation intending to minimize the risk of flooding in at-risk zones so that premiums could remain affordable. Even these measures haven't been sufficient to keep the program from running out of money, and we've been subsidizing it with taxpayer bailouts to keep it afloat.
All this is to say that private insurance is literally incapable of insuring against flood damage, so you can't blame them for any of this. If you want to blame someone, blame Trump for rolling back standards that would have allowed FEMA to consider climate change in their risk models.
I'm torn. If our country ever goes back to normal, I'd love to be able to show my grandkids a Trump Bible 50 years from now. I like to think that they'd be shocked by the audacity of it - by the fact that a guy peddled something so blasphemous and still locked up the religious vote. But I know Trump is probably getting royalties on the sale, so I guess they'll just have to take my word for it.
Polled a few of my friends and 100% relate to this meme, so I sort of doubt it.