We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
If you were a visitor from a distant solar system come to our nation or even a time traveler from our own nineteenth century, I submit you would be perplexed. This Trump person (being?) doesn't seem to be all that different from many leaders who have come before him. I mean, what has he done exactly? Enforced some immigration laws that were enacted by the Congress over several administrations? Tried to fix a mediocre healthcare plan with another plan that may or may not be as mediocre? Called for a tax reduction similar to those enacted by previous Republican and Democratic administrations? Cut back on some regulations that became overly burdensome? Called for a temporary halt to immigration from a half-dozen countries his predecessor had already cited as dangerous hotbeds of terrorism? Shot off a few dozen cruise missiles at the airfield of a dictator who was gassing his own people, but didn't harm a single person in the process?
“I thought I was a Tahitian Eskimo Mexican until I sent in my DNA test kit, and boy was I flummoxed when the results came back! I’m really Croatian with a mix of sub-Saharan! I guess I’ll be turning in my furry hat!”
If my political history serves me, people in mental health found serious diagnoses for Nixon, Reagan, and Bush 2, but none for Johnson, Clinton, Obama, or Hillary. Is there a pattern here?
Instead of name-calling, I'd like to see some thoughtful policy critiques but I won't hold my breath. Trump Derangement Syndrome (DSM 5006.09) strikes again. We must be kind to the sufferers.
The media's "angry, ignorant mouth-breather" stereotype of the Trump voter is no more than Lefty media spin. Since they do not talk to Trump voters, they will never report the reality. While working class white voters, male and female, might have given Trump his electoral edge, clearly large numbers of all sorts of demographics preferred him over Hillary. I did, and I do not think I am a knuckle-dragger.
Megan McArdle has a half-decent piece, Trump Voters Want Respect. Here’s How to Give It to Them, but it falls into the same stereotyping: sophisticated, educated elites vs. ignorant, feckless plebs referred to as "them." It is condescending and inaccurate.
If Megan wishes to contact me, I would be happy to introduce her to a goodly number of sophisticated, highly educated New York elites who were Trump voters - some enthused, some in the (political) closet, and some holding their noses but ok with it given the alternative.
A summary below of the hour of calisthenic circuits we did this morning (it's different every Friday) while we had the classical music station on pretty loud. The workout contained intense cardio bursts, explosive movements, agility work, and overall athleticism while igniting pretty much every muscle at some point. The endurance part comes in because for an hour your heart never has a chance to drop to a walking rate and you never stop moving hard except for the 1-minute breathing opportunities. Trainer uses a stopwatch to limit that.
A quick reminder that calis, like sports, are not really for strength-building, and strength is just one component of fitness. As fun as it sounds, after an hour you are ready for a nap. Such are the crazy burdens of having a white collar job in the First World.
A 3 min elliptical warm-up, then 4 band walks also as warm-up, then...
She intervenes in popular visual media like reality television to interrogate how time moves and for whom to catalog desire and identification as taxonomy and type. Her preferred gender pronouns are she/her.
Going on campus to harass Charles Murray is not changing minds and it is not intended to change minds. It’s just something to do in order to show off to friends. Its bored children coloring on the walls, even though they know mom with be pissed. Since mom is not going to give them up for adoption over it, the act is just pointless, risk-free theater.
Preaching (ie Teaching) seems over-emphasized. I think people go to be part of a community which is body of Christ. Jesus clubs. When teaching becomes performance, I turn off.
"People stay up at nights thinking of what next to put on the racist list. Next it will be mayonnaise for glorying whiteness…"
There is so little racism in this great country -that "they" have to hijack the English language and invent new definitions for "racism" -in order to have something to point at and say "see?".