What’s the alternative? I want to protest, but if I miss work then I might lose my job, which would cost me my health insurance and likely my house. I want to get back on social media and show people where I stand, but these MAGA people are rabid and will come after me for it. I’m ready to step up, but not while Trump has half the country behind him. I’m waiting for a numbers advantage. His approval rating is tanking, and once it gets low enough, I think people like me will be more willing to take bigger risks. Until then, we’re doing what we can while keeping our heads down.

"They say, ‘Evil prevails when good men fail to act.’ What they ought to say is, ‘Evil prevails.’

Bleak quote from Lord of War that has stuck with me. Reminds me of Sophie Scholl.

Trump just wants peace. He wants the killing to stop. And he wants to cut life-saving aid to impoverished countries. And Medicaid.

I wonder if Taiwan is mulling over a peaceful reunification with China as a result of this mess. Their independence depends in large part on US support, but with Trump at the helm they’re likely to face extortion when they need it most.

Harris’s approach presumably would have been a continuation of Biden’s, waging an economic war of attrition against Russia for as long as Ukraine was willing to hold their ground. The whole endgame here, under the Biden/Harris strategy, was going to come down to which side blinked first. Putin must have gambled that he’d win if Trump won, which is exactly what’s playing out now. If Harris won, it’d be a continued stalemate, which of course benefits the western coalition - not Russia.

I don’t think he’s sending them there to torture them, but to minimize how much money is spent on their care (which in itself is torture I suppose). Migrant children held in US territory are entitled to education and pediatric care - not sure that applies if they’re in Cuba. Extremely fucked up either way.

Polled a few of my friends and 100% relate to this meme, so I sort of doubt it.

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.

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.

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.

Trump should just come clean and admit that he plans to betray Ukraine.

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 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.

A lot of people are doing work that can be automated in part by AI, and there’s a good chance that they’ll lose their jobs in the next few years if they can’t figure out how to incorporate it into their workflow. Some people are indeed out of the workforce or in industries that are safe from AI, but that doesn’t invalidate the hype for the rest of us.

This is like saying that automobiles are overhyped because they can’t drive themselves. When I code up a new algorithm at work, I’m spending an hour or two whiteboarding my ideas, then the rest of the day coding it up. AI can’t design the algorithm for me, but if I can describe it in English, it can do the tedious work of writing the code. If you’re just using AI as a Google replacement, you’re missing the bigger picture.