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I'm with you 100% on this. Even if someone is up to it, we're not part of the future, we're part of the past. Wendy P.

Zelensky probably wasn't willing to pay for a whore to suck his dick. Respect is earned or given, NOT demanded. If you have to demand it, it's not respect. Wendy P.

Two of my sisters-in-law are immigrants; the first one was during the late 80's when it was easier -- she just married an American and came up. The second one married my other brother in 2003 in Brazil. They had a child after a few years, then he was offered a transfer with his company to the US (he's an engineer). So he comes up and tries to arrange for her to come up; their daughter was about 3 months old at the time. It took 8 months for her to get a permanent visa. She'd been here before on a tourist visa, before and after after married (they "tightened that up"). Even with help from his company (GM, you may have heard of it), it took the full round of interviews, along with a separate trip to Japan, where she'd lived for a number of years in the 80's, to make sure she didn't have a criminal record there. She'd been assured she didn't have to go to Japan -- it'd been more than 8 years. But at the last interview, my brother and SIL said that the agent smugly said "oh, I've determined you have to go." They made damn good and sure NOT to fly through the US, just to make sure she wasn't accused of violating the "don't enter the US" order during that time. It was egregious enough that GM was happy to fly the two of them via anywhere else, just to make sure. Their senator was unable to help. It's a minefield that money helps; notoriety helps, and the rules are arcane and deliberately difficult. Smug assholes think that's a good thing. So when he took a new job in Brazil, they delayed until she could get her US citizenship, just so that he wouldn't miss another kid's first steps, first smile, first tooth. She votes now. I'm an American. I'm as American as every right-winger out there. I have a Palestinian immigrant in my family (married to my cousin -- he's been a citizen since the 50's or the 60's, and still can't fly without hassle -- and I know skydivers who think that's a good thing). I have Brazilian immigrants in my family. I don't think I'm unique. If there is a "conservative resurgence," and an inability to elect people who support a variety of people in the future, it'll be because the bad guys have won. Because you can't build a wall around your life and expect it to be real -- it's a walled-off life, incomplete. Just like the American people without immigration. Wendy P.

When you consider the objections Trump (and his minions) raised to Obama taking a couple of vacations in Hawaii, it’s some pretty breathtaking sycophancy. Wendy P.

Thoughts and prayers. Wendy P.

Hillary Clinton has all of that. But she's poisoned. She was Secretary of State in wartime; she was a respected senator who did work with both sides of the aisle, etc. You're looking for a governor who's also a veteran (preferably wartime) in a state that's not just a lock for one party or the other. The Vietnam era vets are generally too old. A Pew Research study showed that only 14% of candidates for governor in 2022 were veterans (as compared with 16% of the Senate, and 21% of the House). That's way down from when nearly every politician was male and a WW2 or Korea vet. Serving has become more something that people who don't have tons of resources do more than rich people, and it takes money and connections to run for office. But Wes Moore (who I know you favored) is on that list; I'm not sure he wants it, and you have to REALLY want to be president. Wendy P. Wendy P.

Frying pan

Is it her party, her gender, her color, or her cackle that makes her worse? I'm asking because she's not actively vindictive, so that eliminates a whole lot of comparisons to Trump. If Trump's going to be such a fiscal conservative, how come he wasn't in his last term -- especially during the first two years when he had control of the House and the Senate. Don't forget that he didn't have a Senate minority leader whose stated goal was to block every.single.thing that was proposed. If you'll recall, there was an actual bipartisan bill to address immigration AND the budget in 2013; it wasn't pretty, but it passed the Senate, but the Republican-controlled House, of course, refused to vote on it. Just as they refused to vote on a Supreme Court justice when Scalia died in February. Sorry, but the Republican playbook of the last 25-30 years appears to be "my way or fuck you." I don't really think that's governing, it's poisoning the well. Wendy P.

They do good work. We went to the Antarctic on one. During the pandemic, and they had everything planned well. Wendy P.

Oh well, if Tesla said it, it must be true Wendy P.

Thanks for your perspective, David. Wendy P.

Not identity, ideology. They need to be able to say “this piece of SDP or SRP” is BS. They need to be able to back that up. If nothing else, virtually every American thinks they’re an independent thinker. That’s what they identify with. Many people are willing to back someone with what they see as backbone. Trump is an aberration; the machine that’s enabling him is a construction and a plan. Attack it Wendy P.

That’s the key. Whoever it is, they need to be willing to break with both Republican and Democratic orthodoxy. Wendy P.

Likewise. I was a LSS Black Belt; it’s a huge number of useful tools. But like everything else, too many of the new BB’s drank the koolaid, and tried to black belt every.single.issue. People who have some real input really do react better to change. Not the kind of input you give to toddlers (do you want the green socks or the red socks?), but useful stuff Wendy P.

The larger and more mature the organization, the more people there are who learn to work the system. And people are naturally resistant to change — they generally get ahead by working the system. So they’re fine with others having to change and lose, but only as long as they can protect themselves (that ox-goring thing). And the people who have the most to lose in an organization are often management — that’s why it’s always the line workers who are cut. You can always make someone else’s job “more efficient,” but god forbid someone should say you’re not doing your max Wendy P.

Ropes

Virtually every right wing poster I’ve met is nice in person. Including the one in SC. Às is the case for the left wing ones. The web brings out the worst in most. Wendy P.

I’m basing it on personal experience. What are you basing your statement on? Wendy P.

One can but hope. The “go fast and break things” works better when it’s new development, and not stuff that millions depend on. Wendy P.

Well, I know a decent number of refugees in the US who have been very productive members of society. Maybe here? Wendy P.

It’s what they were called. Good luck finding the people who were on it. You might try the SOS or JOS group on Facebook, too. Wendy P.

Remember, when the president or his minions do it, it’s not against the law. Wendy P.

Makes sense. If I’d been on it, I’d be all over that Wendy P.

Dude, nearly everyone here is an expert in their field. That it may not be your field doesn’t really mean it doesn’t matter. After all, a plumber is just a grunt until you need one, and if your posting stream is full of using “plumber” as a pejorative you might find them not giving you top priority. Wendy P.

Your use of the word narrative vs information, and your willingness to derive a world view from personal accounts (an even more limited source than media by its very nature) speak volumes. You, along with others your age, do not, in fact, know everything. Im not saying I do, just that looking at stuff that doesn’t pander, and that doesn’t rely on individual narratives vs data collection, seems to respect the concept that I acknowledge that some of what I don’t know is important. Wendy P.