Thank you for writing that.

If nothing else, I can wear my shirts and that and have a visible fuck you when I go into the world. But I'm not looking for a fight I'm only 5 ft tall and very out of shape at 54 years old LOL

My area is pretty blue and believe me I would not step foot into Carson valley Nevada wearing a Kamala shirt because I know those trumpers live down there and those bastards are open carry and very scary

Maya Miller (RIP) is from the Washoe Valley between Carson City and Reno. Her son Eric (RIP also) was my roommate at a Bay Area boarding school in 68-69. The first time she came to visit, Maya took Eric and I to an anti-war rally at the Marina Green for soldiers in the brig for insubordination at the Presidio. The seed to why I am a lifelong Democrat. She was an awesome woman that every Democrat should know about.

https://nevadawomen.org/research-center/biographies-alphabetical/maya-miller/

And she was basically in my backyard...

I worked for the Tahoe daily Tribune in 1996 to '98, I wish I had known more about her I would have loved to have met her!

Last time saw Eric was visiting Orchard House in 94 or 95 where he was living with Maya.

Farther down the road, be in a position to help! Harder in 50's but it can be done.
Best.

Trump is exhibit #1 of evidence.

I am personally bewildered and at risk.

Never thought nor expected the USA to be perfect. We are experiencing bizzarro World.

I find it hard to fathom the utter stupidity of these folk

This person would even eliminate all the income based payment plans and force everyone to pay within 10 years. All the more money in the treasury to enable steeper tax cuts for the wealthy.

And that type is angry lunatics who've been heavily brainwashed by TV, radio, and internet propaganda. It doesn't matter if you have money or are poor. It doesn't matter if you're educated with a degree from Harvard, a degree from a community college, or no degree at all. All that matters is that you're angry and you speak the language. As long as you do that, you're in the club.

I literally KNOW educated folk who should know better

My dad's best friend from college is one such individual I know. One of the smartest guys I've ever met. He owns a biotech company that's publicly traded and in the 8 figure range. He has like 3 PH.ds. Yet he's super religious and utterly addicted to Fox News 24 hours a day and is a dyed in the wool Trump / MAGA supporter. I will never understand this type.

seriously

And we hate to say we told you so, but... we told you so.

I think it goes like this :

They are projecting their anger and disgust in life onto issues trump distorts and then throws out there via his rallies and speeches, tweets, etc.

Instead of dealing with anger with themselves, they upload it to hating the Dems, immigrants, transsexuals, etc. What is so reprehensible is that trump has capitalized on emotional dysfunction to gain power for himself.

Now, the rest of us find more direct ways to deal with the ugly emotions. We don’t hurt others in the process. An example: when I was younger and learning how to deal with anger, I read a magazine article that suggested beating up on a pillow with a foam rubber bat.

WTH, I thought. I’ve got an extra room, so I outfitted it with pillows and the bat. Whenever I was angry I would go to this room and kick pillows and beat them up with the bat. I would yell whatever came to mind.

Immediately I noticed how much better I felt.

If there is one thing trump is, he is unique because he hasn’t a single redeeming quality. That means he can exhibit the full gamut of ugly human emotions. This offers up a huge menu of negative emotion to anyone with the cowardice to claim those emotions as their own.

It’s an upside down world now.

This explains why well educated people like the people you describe fall right into trumpism. It is not a matter of brains. It is an issue with being able to handle emotions.

But also we've had the last 40-or-so years of adults growing up playing increasingly violent computer games. I think those violent games have had an effect of retarding maturity on a lot of American men, and maybe a few women too.

Our movies and TV shows are much more violent and murderous than I can remember watching in the 60's, 70's and early 80's. Combine these violent scenes and stories with lowered educational norms AND the inability of many men to deal with emotions ... it's a real powder keg.

He has done terrible psychological damage. For me the worst will always be the people he murdered with covid and that no one has had the courage to stop him. But having to live knowing he is again given free rein to try to destroy us all is horrific. Just having that psycho narcissistic blob existing and knowing how many support this sucks our energy away.

It's going to be a literal nightmare scenario. He'll be given a blank check to do whatever he wants. His wildest revenge fantasies for not being gifted the White House in 2020... all the shit he's put us through since then will be weaponized. Policy will be written nightly on Fox News as if it's state run TV. We are in very uncharted territory here. The bad guys won.

I warned this was going to happen here too.

You took the words right out of my heart and mind. And it is a form of ptsd, I have felt for a while now like America was an abusive spouse and we're trapped and have nothing to do about it and nobody's coming to our rescue. I don't know what the next years will bring I'm going to try and live my life as normal as I can. But I've always got plan B in the back of my mind because I don't trust any of those motherfuckers as far as I could throw them.

You speak for a lot of us here, I think.
I've been saying this myself.
I feel like I'm in a nightmare.

We relocated to PA in 2022 to be close to kids and grandkids after my husband retired. We had lived in the area before moving to NYS in 2001.

I cannot believe what we have come back to. So many MAGA...so many wealthy MAGA. I feel so lost, like I'm in an enemy camp. I can't even befriend my neighbors.

The shit he's done and gotten away with is mind boggling. The United States of America is a deeply racist country, and a certain religion (which I will not name), is fueling that racism. Trump, MAGop feeds off that racism like pigs to a trough.

the only place I'm adding people these days is bluesky - because folks are identifying themselves as non-fascists so I'm a little more trusting. I don't even trust a lot of my family anymore.

It’s a very painful time aside from the child rapist occupying the oval
office again.

Much obliged.

Thank you.

mentioned that horrible mocking of the reporter that torn right into me, and right then people were laughing, and that wasn't a good sign at all.

I believe when our rights continue to disappear, and it affects those who voted for him will deny that they ever did.

I live an an area that went 70+% trump. Fortunately, most are decent in day to day encounters. Don’t associate with them otherwise.

So of the people you see at the grocery store, assume most of the white people support him, a large chunk of Latino men as well. Fewer Latinas, and AA men. Your best bet at someone sane and honorable is the AA women.

Of course, the MAGA gear-wearing type is the only certain giveaway. Even the good Germans could be polite and friendly, right up to the point they're told to do something evil, then they'll Stepford their way through it

The rest didn’t care enough to vote.

My guess is the No Shows also skew 49%

You can only talk about the 59.6% of the population who voted. At the moment, about 49% of that 59.6% voted for trump.

That comes out to 31% of the total population.

What you are doing is putting in the 40% of the population that did not vote. You cannot tell how they would have voted.

Don’t make trump more powerful by misconstruing the facts, please!

It's a good feeling. No one in my immediate family voted for the asshole, which made for a great Thanksgiving.

I think that many good people have gone from tiredness to fatigue. It is as if we exist in a darker version of "Lord of the Flies." Many of us are surrounded by maga-types in everyday life. The sociopathic felon will re-claim the White House next month. It is normal to go to "worst case scenario" when serious threats arise. And the thing is, the next four years will bring about that worst case.

That doesn't mean we are helpless, for there are things we can do. Those who need to rest should rest. Those still active should be contacting their elected representatives to express opposition to the bags of shit dust that the felon wants to appointment. Use this forum to report on your contacts with elected officials, be they Democrats or republican. Encourage others to do the same.

... He's not really "real" to his supporters. He's a character from professional wrestling ... a cartoon character ... and this is all just TV to them. They're living a reality show. "Reality."

A friend once advised me to be careful driving because other motorists were looking through their windshields like it was a display and they were gaming. He told me, "you're not real to them."

I'm beginning to think that wasn't so far-fetched.

Of course.

In a kind of self defense, I decided last year to go out and learn who my neighbors were. I'd heard for years that this Florida community is Christian, so I took up a casual invitation to attend a bible study group, just to see if they're real or fake. What I've learned is that when or if they think about politics through the lens of christianity, it's complicated. Not for me, of course, but for them.

They can't spiritually discipline themselves from constantly thinking of God as backing the powerful and wealthy humans, even though they have read their bible and know better, that most of the Old and absolutely all of the New Testament say the opposite. They are believers who have to learn the hard way.

Then there are power and Mammon worshippers, whether they're amoral or moral, middle class or impoverished. They also have to learn the hard way, while they drag everyone else down 'til they hit bottom.

Both groups seem insufferable. I get it.
But as fellow Americans, we can't just slowly end up being like those we fight, those who "other" anyone not like them. Be always careful that as we fight who we see as monsters, that we don't become monsters ourselves. "A taste of their own medicine" mentality is a slippery slope mentality.

Cool, let me know when Dems start advocating destroying Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and NATO. Until then, meh. Nice posturing.

Call it nice posturing, if that's how you take it, but since I'm the poster, I tell you I write to caution that this party stay intentional in not being like them when we engage them. MLK's example strategy of non-violent resistance comes to mind, though it's not the only strategy; FDR's "I welcome their hatred" speech at Madison Square Garden also comes to mind. .

Question: what will Democrats start advocating?

I will never believe that he won.
He has cheated his way through his entire life.
He had a lot of help before to pull off J6 shenanigans, so I believe he had a lot of help this time too.
They had 4+ years to organize, plenty of money to pull it off & the motivation (can you say prison?)
to make sure he won.
Believe what you want, but I say they stole it & didn't leave fingerprints.

He was installed by Vlad after he watched W & Rove create their own reality like they said they would and did.

For me, it was also mocking the reporters disability. They have no shame in supporting someone who did that and so many other horrid things. They are/were our friends and neighbors.

hit the nail right smack on the head with this list.

for the first time in my LIFE I am ASHAMED OF AMERICA

I find myself reluctant to meet new people. I don’t want to find myself initially enjoying someone’s company and then finding out they are a Trumper/RWNJ. Instant deal breaker.

What you just wrote was exactly my experience down to the reason and the response.

Whenever I find out a family member or friend ever voted for Trump I picture him mocking that reporter and wonder what kind of person thinks that's OK. I want to ask people, So mocking the disabled is OK with you? On the playground, did you side with the bullies, because that's what you're doing now? If your kid was made fun of by the bully did you tell your kid to suck it up and deal with it? Do or did YOU make fun of disabled people on the playground, 'cause I think ya did.

I hope no Democrats attend the coronation oops I meant inauguration.

But I've been brought up short a few times. I was at a movie event in the outer suburbs of Atlanta sometime around 2012, and this much older white guy was sitting near us. He just...LOOKED Republican, y'know? So many people in that area were, back then. We happened to be walking out to the parking lot later and saw him getting into a Prius with the entire back bumper papered with Obama and liberal stickers. It was even more of an Obama-mobile than any of ours.

In recent years, I've gotten interested in a particular dog breed, and some of the most prominent members of the community...LOOK Republican, down to the hairstyles. (Yeah, it's a stereotype.) Everything about their appearance and demographic screams Republican. But they're not. Some of the most passionate progressives I've ever met, and woe be unto any MAGA devotee who wanders into those groups.

This whole situation is so ISOLATING. I try not to assume (it's hard sometimes) that someone's MAGA just because they fit the age/race/etc profile. The last thing I want to do is deny community and connection to a fellow traveler who may be feeling as isolated as I am.

and a guy is walking around with a Trump hat were not supposed to be wearing political merch...he is one of those loud mouthed I did everything guy. Now post election he is still wearing the hat but is more open about calling another member a (Nig----) because he doesn't like the way he is doing things. He isn't hiding things now. We have a very blended family there now, modern times. I've been there 50 yrs so I'm waiting for one of these young guys to crack him in the mouth. He will slip up MAGA always do.

If I wasn't serious, I wouldn't have fucking typed it.

Capiche?

Seems like a deflection.

My feelings for Bush were intense, but different.

Why the straw man argument?

So maybe instead of addressing me, and my OP, which has nothing to do with Bush, you should start your own OP about your view on this when you have enough posts to start your own OP.

How’s your day going so far?

Right with you. That mocking of the reporter has been my bottom line for years. That should have been the end of him.

I take solace in the FAFO that we're about to witness from the Leopards Eating Faces voters. Yeah, that's shitty but the stupidity has broken me.

Thank you for the thread.

Since this election, I’ve felt no desire to talk to most people I see. I live in a deep red area, so there is no point. Winning is all that mattered to them. Most of them are trumpers so the conversation wouldn’t be civil. They are about to find out that you can lose even when you win.

It gives them a platform with a megaphone.

Myself very much included.

We know there are hard chunks of the population that are going to vote the same way in every election. I just don’t get how he drew ANYONE in let alone didn’t bleed off former supporters.

I agree. In spite of not condoning any of his ideologies and thinking he is reprehensible in every way; I would never vote for anyone who mocks people with disabilities.

It's really hard to see them as intelligent, responsible people anymore.

Who has a joint condition.



I have 2 separate male MAGAt cousins in my family who both ridiculed Joe Biden after the debate on social media.


Joe Biden has been open about his lifelong speech stutter/stammer publicly and has stated that he has this condition since he was a young child.

I took it personally when both of my male cousins ridiculed Joe since my daughter had a speech impediment when she was a toddler.

My daughter spent 3 or 4 years in speech therapy in a public school system. I'm extremely grateful for the school and the speech therapist who helped my daughter. She still has issues with certain pronunciations and letters.

Remember, Donald Trump has a family member who needed lifelong care and he literally mentioned that the family member should just die or would be better off dead.

I don't remember the words that this sick fuck used verbatim but this was his own family member.

I unfriended both of my cousins for a variety of reasons but mainly for ridiculing someone with a speech handicap.

They both grew up in "Christian" homes and apparently Jesus said to ridicule those with handicaps in their creepy and twisted bible.

yet still I feel this,
and I feel for y'all in red states

But I always knew it could happen to a population. I studied Nazi Germany for two semesters in college so I learned what people can support. By 1936 a legit 90% of Germans supported Hitler despite all the terrible things he had already done and his hateful rhetoric. And years later, those same people lived on in Germany, the vast majority denying they ever supported him.

On Thanksgiving, I could barely stand to look at them. It's so disappointing.
I'm in New York, but where I live is pretty trumpy - lots of cars with massive flags. Makes me want to cry.

also known as President Trump Stress Disorder.

I find it invigorating to plot the many ways I can resist, beginning this very day.
Who and how and what I can support down the line.
Am I willing to pursue what’s left of my life playing the defeated hang-dog? Fuck no. I was a teenager between 1961and 1967, and I’ve always loved the 1943 poster…
Last Great Act Of Defiance… it’s suited me at different times in my life. Perhaps now once more.