But then again, a lot of Trumpists have been subtly implying that I don't know what I'm talking about of late. I know I'm not a political scholar, but maybe I'm actually just really fucking pitifully stupid and nothing I say makes any sense.

nothing wrong with feeling like this, perfectly normal.

you cant blame yourself, you can only hope to cooperate peacefully with others in a democratic process because there's no good alternative. if they won't be reasonable and want to give in to their aggressive and violent instincts, which many people in the west are doing right now, then you aren't responsible. you did what you could

it's a tragedy




Do you guys ever say "look at the bright side"? It doesn't mean that everything is peachy (it never was, never will) it just means that whatever the shit going down you look at the fucking bright side. Which does not mean passive acceptance nor does it mean oblivion, it just means choosing survival over despair.

some of us prefer measured despair to mandatory positivity which is imo the cause of a lot of mental illness and suffering these days

False choice, symbols. People (myself included) need to work on acceptance of the situation. But things are about to get bad and it's reasonable to express the emotions this evokes. Yeah, the elections in the next few years should be a hoot. But things can suck til then. You sorta sound fake-zen. I'm not entirely buying your mellow tone. Defense mechanism?

why is it taking you so long though? i accepted it tuesday night, spent it sleepless, crashed on wednesday, slept 16 hours, woke up refreshed.

notice that i'm not asking you to suppress your emotions. im asking you to reconsider your choice of thought. which is: yes, this is reality now.

i don't understand daydreaming. i mean, what is is. thinking that it could be that way or it could have been that way is pointless. again, thoughts not emotions.

now if you want to analyze a new strategy for the future and consider "what ifs," sure, but that computational process doesn't require emotional involvement. might require a lot of dreaming though.


fact is we don't know what's going to happen. maybe things get great. maybe things go worse than we imagined. doesn't matter. of course there's fear and hope always pulling in each direction. i want neither.

what we need to survive is to look at what is actually in front of our eyes, our senses, our mental perceptions, and do what is best at that time.

the difference between life and a game of chess is that chess has hard rules (you play within the rules) whereas in life new rules can at all times be re/invented. so outcomes are not as predictable.

i'm not talking about changing the laws of physics by willpower (duh), i'm talking about looking for opportunities to advance our cause (your cause, his cause their cause) at every turn. that is all. do you want to deal, or do you want to get trapped in the fear/hope russian roulette of the mind.

the only reasonable choice (the one that preserves reason) is of course to deal. and the greater the danger, the greater the imperative to face it--and quickly.

if you find yourself in a burning building-- you don't sit down and bemoan your luck, do you? You look for an exit and get the fuck out. If the danger is real, anyway, you are forced to snap out of self-pity and deal with your emergency. So snap out of it and do something about your impending charred crust.

ETA: Defense mechanisms can be healthy. see: level IV: http://www.delawaretoday.com/Blogs/T...d-and-the-Bad/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_mechanisms

man, christie got fired quickly

also:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...mepage%2Fstory

ASTON, Pa. — Donald Trump, in softer tones than he normally uses, on Tuesday unveiled several policy proposals for lowering child-care costs that were crafted in part by his eldest daughter, Ivanka, including a plan to guarantee six weeks of paid maternity leave that marks a striking departure from GOP orthodoxy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...cy/?tid=pm_pop

^^ updated from a September article

prediction professor says trump will be impeached (to make room for pence)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-be-impeached/

It would be an efficient strategy for a unvoted-on Final Christian reassertion of Dominion.

you just reminded me of DS9!

anything can happen. the new cult of trump reminds me of peronismo in argentina. still today there's a party with his name there. his first wife became an object of worship and his second wife succeeded him-- so, st. melania of the poor, and president ivanka. but anyway, he could say fuck you i'm starting my own party right now. not sure 2-3 years from now when his popularity wears out that would be an option. but i mean, he could start picking supreme court candidates that are loyal to him, right now.

things are always shifting and the rules are open. unlike computer chess, the final result is not predetermined by the first move-- at least for our small minds in a hypercomplex world.

I have a very thoughtful (but sadly off the record) response to the question "How did we get here?" by a professor emeritus of Political Science and Sociology from a certain rainy PAC-12 university that I REALLY wish I could share with you guys.

In short, it touches on the Democrats' "party elites" appeal and the role of the "whites without college degrees" demographic in this election, as well as a tendency among liberals to jump the gun with overestimations of the power of minority votes. How are these disenfranchised, under-educated white working class voters supposed to respond to the almost joyful suggestion that minorities are becoming the majority (which they hear as "hey, you're gonna be powerless!") when they're already feeling victimized and forgotten?

You can imagine how this might breed hate.

Again, really wish I could share it.

the demographics that play into all this are all wrong! but someone has to be the scape goat right? pointing fingers at statistics that are totally out of place is wrong just like everyone else did in with polls.

"hey you, you feel leftout?...well guess what...yr to blame. dumb asshole!!"

you know what happened? people voted. sad but true.

the cultural war has been going on for some time now but it's boiling. has yet to boil over. that'll be later.

no. he seems to have the right mature attitude about all this. you did yr expressing through yr vote. I hope.

now, im tired of being yr daddy so go grow up.

heads up to Rob too. another in the best way, trying to make sense of all this.

I also like to add that im glad the racial tensions aren't that high where I live. I visited my friend joe tonight who was having a fish fry and we had a good talk over the outcome of the elections. said our peace and opinions/drank some beer, smoked some dank. then he sent me off with a big ol plate of fried fish and fries. we've all had enough of the yelling and screaming in each others face.

I read an article today, about how the non college educated whites are angry because there are less jobs for them. And talk of how machines in factories are replacing people. Which I don't doubt. But it made me think of my father, who in the 80's worked for Xerox, and in the 1990's even owned his small business building copier machines. Obama didn't take their jobs, technology did. The price of modern advancement. Just as my father doesn't repair copier machines anymore because they went obsolete. I can understand that frustration, but Trump isn't going to give those people jobs because many of those jobs don't exist.

I don't believe so much as the fact that these people that voted for Trump agreed with him or totally supported his ideals but, for the fact that they just didn't like Hillary. at all. she and they could not relate to each other. Hillary didn't speak for these people and it made Trump a mirage. nothing to do with hate or racism.

they saw two options. right or left. I would bet 50% of Trump voters are libertarian and do not even know it and that goes for most americans.

if the 'uneducated white person' ever felt downtrodden before then, they definitely feel that way now by the protests and the hate of the democracy system. denied their voice turned into a vote.

I've also read some sick weirdo untrue shit in this thread. there's trash in all races and you damn well fucking know that. not only is the country sad but this whole thread is sad.

poor Such spoke up but didn't survive but I did. I've read every bullshit thing I posted and still stand by it.

One Hundred Million People did not vote. That's what happened.
My assumption is that a large part of those thought that they didn't have to because Clinton would win it anyway.

Big mistake

(says one who hasn't voted in any recent elections ;) )

Voter turnout at 20-year low in 2016



I Don't understand this, how can the turnout be so low if there's a choice to vote AGAINST Trump.


Y'all should not be protesting against Trump, but against those that didn't vote. You should send all of them to Mexico or something, then build that giant wall