Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

The revolution will be supervised.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

We do not need to pander to people who do not like what we stand for.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

All hail the time of the bunny!

Tick tock motherfuckers!

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

You are here: Home / Open Threads / I Love this Woman Open Thread

I Love this Woman Open Thread

by | 246 Comments

This post is in: 

Listing to this is very cathartic.  I’ve seen this in a couple of places, so it must be making the rounds.

She is raging against the lies and disinformation about FEMA and Helene.

And she does a damn good job of it.

And now another terrible storm.  Welcome to the new (terrifying) normal.

TikTok version here.

If anyone has a direct TikTok link or finds this on YouTube, let me know and I’ll add those links.

Reader Interactions

246Comments

  1. 1.

    Melancholy Jaques

    I agree with every word.

    Side question: Why do people record themselves sitting in their cars?

  5. 5.

    jonas

    @Melancholy Jaques: Probably so if there are small kids in the house within earshot in the house or on the back porch, she doesn’t become responsible for generating another foul-mouthed kid story like we saw in the other thread.

  6. 6.

    Belafon

    If you read through the replies you will get a good sense of moving onto the next thing:

    “You have to pay back the $750.”

    “No you don’t.”

    “Well, Ok, but if you look at this part of the clause for accepting FEMA money, it says that you need to make sure that any insurance money you receive deducts from the money FEMA is going to award you.”

  7. 7.

    Belafon

    @TaMara: All of that, and the best time to rant is when it’s fresh in your mind, which was probably stewing while you were in line somewhere.

  10. 10.

    dc

    It’s not Congress, it’s Republicans. It’s not politicians, it’s Republicans. I don’t appreciate the generic slap downs. It’s fucking Republicans, up and down the ladder of power.

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    I see that there are donations being added to the thermometers.

    There are Angel matches up to $100 per person for each of the 4 organizations, so you can add your donations to the comments here if you want to be matched.

  12. 12.

    Matt McIrvin

    @TaMara: I associate “guy in car” videos with political knuckleheads to such a degree that I automatically assumed it was some sort of baleful cultural signifier, but really, all of this makes sense. A car or truck may be the best place many people have to make a simple video of themselves talking.

  13. 13.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Chief Oshkosh: Someone mentioned the “FEMA is seizing land” one in an earlier thread. It was extravagantly grotesque, claiming that FEMA was going to leave the bodies of drowned people to rot in place when they seized the land. To the point that the obvious question “why would they do this?” came up, but of course if your mental model is that they do it for the evuls, that’s where you’ll go.

  18. 18.

    Ruckus

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    It always amazes me that so many people really can’t see their federal or state governments as being anything other than providing a jail cell and 3 shitty meals a day, and it really, really shouldn’t. I worked full time in a public facing job in professional sports and have stories that would make any sane person go “What the Fuck?” I got used to being on the listening side of them and as above my first thought was almost always “What the Fuck, are this many people completely insane?” And yes I knew and had a number of people I talked to regularly who were NOT insane, and yes some strangers as well, but the percentage that never actually asked questions was more than I would ever have imagined without the experience. I also worked for 4 years in a local city mental health office as a counselor, so yes, I have had a lot of experience talking to people that really, really needed to find even one iota of sanity/reality.

    Decades later it still actually surprises me some times.

  20. 20.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Matt McIrvin: See, “they” (the Deep State and the Jewy Jew Jews!) want that land because that’s where all the good lithium is. Literally mountains of it outside of Asheville! Mountains, I tells ya! They’ll own all the lithium sources and then force us all to buy electric cars that run on that lithium!!!

    I am not making this up, it is all over YT and other socials.

    These people really, deeply, profoundly believe in Bigfoot. They believe that Professional Wrestling is a real sport. They believe that NASCAR is fair-and-square. They believe that Donald Trump is a genius truth-teller.

    They are the most fucked up idiots you will ever meet. On any given day, I’m envious of the amoral swarms of conmen who scam them. What a living – getting rich by making idiots even poorer. If only the Dems DID follow this model, it’d be a great way to get rid of the competition.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    Reddit comment

    A friend of my SIL went through this in the past year. She was going through a miscarriage but before understanding that went through her known doctors and at one point the ER. Either her doctors (including her OBGYN) refused to see her or she was turned away, being encouraged to rest at home with painkillers until the bleeding subsided. She’s a black woman. She finally got a hold of one of her other doctors who sympathized immediately and told her OBGYN she needed to be seen ASAP to be treated for miscarriage. She was finally able to get proper miscarriage care from that point on.

     

    Women in TX either need to vote blue or get the hell out before having kids there.

  24. 24.

    Tinare

    The conspiracy theory that kills me is the one that “they” are manipulating the weather and creating storms. Spread, of course, by people who deny climate change and that their habits have anything to do with it.

  26. 26.

    Belafon

    @Tinare: And that Democrats are using the hurricanes to make it so that they can get to the lithium, to…help mitigate the effects of the weather?

  28. 28.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Ruckus:

    It always amazes me that so many people really can’t see their federal or state governments as being anything other than providing a jail cell and 3 shitty meals a day, and it really, really shouldn’t.

    I’m not surprised.

    When I ran for public office about 15 years ago, I frequently ran into people who had absolutely no idea how their local (or state) government even worked or who was responsible for what … and I wasn’t the only one.

    I had a conversation once with our now current SoS who was then a state senator in which he told me he consistently had people asking him how he liked Washington DC.

  31. 31.

    Ruckus

    @dc:

    I believe that republicans have come to the conclusion that 50-100 yrs ago the world was a better place. As someone at the halfway stage between that 50-100 yrs ago timeframe I can very honestly and vigorously state that is bull and shit. The main differences are that communications is far, far better than it was then and can be easily be 2 ways, and we get to not only hear about but also see the situation. And then likely discuss it. I think part of the problem is that many people are very self centered and see everything as being the only person smack dab in the middle of it all. I call it believing that the world revolves around the stick they have stuck up their exhaust port. Some times that stick seems to be a telephone pole. Sometimes a very, very tall telephone pole…..

  34. 34.

    Suzanne

    @Ruckus:

    I believe that republicans have come to the conclusion that 50-100 yrs ago the world was a better place. 

    It probably was, for mediocre straight white dudes.

  35. 35.

    Ruckus

    @Nukular Biskits:

    I see I’m not the only one…….. And I’ve never run for public office.

    I was, as stated here before, a mental health counselor for 4 yrs. I came to the conclusion that many people had an acute need for a mental health counselor. I’d say about 1/2 of my clients. The other half needed to learn to see 2 sides to a story. Once they got the idea that their perspective wasn’t the only or always superior one, a lot of the rational for counseling melted away.

  37. 37.

    Betty Cracker

    Saw a clip featuring low-quality inflatable girlfriend Lara Trump (wife of Eric “Gums” Trump and RNC co-chair) lying about FEMA on CNN yesterday. She should be tied to a chair and forced to watch this TikTok on loop.

  39. 39.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Betty Cracker:

    Saw a clip featuring low-quality inflatable girlfriend Lara Trump (wife of Eric “Gums” Trump and RNC co-chair) lying about FEMA on CNN yesterday. She should be tied to a chair and forced to watch this TikTok on loop.

    While sitting on the beach in Tampa?

  40. 40.

    SatanicPanic

    @Chief Oshkosh: I’ll buy it that people believe Donald Trump is a truth-teller, but no one believes WWE is a real sport.

    Like, OK, maybe there’s some weirdos (and children) out there, but it hasn’t been the case that a notable part of the audience was fooled in decades at least.

  41. 41.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Waiting to see how the Villagers will sane wash this: Racist Felon Claims Migrants Have The Murder “Gene”

    Donald Trump revealed an unhinged eugenics theory Monday, claiming during a morning rant that some migrants have “bad genes” that make them predisposed to committing murder….

    “Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they’re now happily living in the United States. You know now a murder, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”

  42. 42.

    Ruckus

    @Suzanne:

    I’m sure glad I’m not – oh never mind…….

    OK now that that is out of the way, absolutely yes. As one who’s been around and paying attention for a long time I’ve also come to the conclusion that average and mediocre straight white dudes is the largest segment. But it’s only because there are more of them and some of them are in the entertainment/information industries.

  45. 45.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Ruckus:

    I consider myself fairly well informed but there’s no way to know about every issue, every city/count/state office/program/service/etc.

    But a lot of these people simply won’t even TRY to educate themselves as to how their government works.  Once they’ve got something in their heads, it’s next to impossible to dislodge it.

  48. 48.

    counterfactual

    @Sister Golden Bear: And that is sane-washing his comment. Wonkette has an article up. Hugh Hewitt asked Trump about MVP Harris plan to give a $25,000 tax break on new housing. Somehow Trump rambled around for less than two minutes to race baiting

  52. 52.

    Matt McIrvin

    @SatanicPanic: IIRC, a lot of pro wrestling fans have a fairly nuanced view of it: it’s a scripted entertainment, but the stunts are often genuinely athletically impressive and even (excessively) dangerous, so they object to the word “fake” for that reason. And the behind-the-scenes terminology has crept into the fandom.

  53. 53.

    Ken

    @Belafon:  And that Democrats are using the hurricanes to make it so that they can get to the lithium, to…help mitigate the effects of the weather?

    The weather mitigation isn’t their real goal. It’s forcing everyone to use electric cars and showers that dribble.

  54. 54.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Sister Golden Bear: Murdering migrants and the ungrateful Jews.

    @John_Hudson
    1h

    On Oct. 7, Trump tells Hugh Hewitt that Jews have been ungrateful to him: “Israel has to do one thing, they have to get smart about Trump because they don’t back me. I did more for Israel than anybody. I did more for the Jewish people than anybody — and it’s not reciprocal.”

  59. 59.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @SatanicPanic: If my kids were Eric and Don Jr. I don’t know if I’d be so smug about genes.

    If your kids were Eric and Don Jr., you’d be Donald Sr. and you’d be too stupid to be anything but secure in your smugness.

  60. 60.

    O. Felix Culpa

    This kind of shouty rage-farming does nothing for me, and I doubt it has any useful effect in changing people’s minds. I have stopped watching anyone who shouts their rage online,  no matter how justified (or satisfying to the lizard brain) it might seem. It’s like Fox for lefties, IMO.

  62. 62.

    KatKapCC

    @Sure Lurkalot: He says this constantly. He can fuck off, because just like always, around 75% of American Jews are gonna vote for the Democrat, because we are not stupid like he thinks we are.

  64. 64.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @WaterGirl: I donated $100 to each of the 6 buckets yesterday and noted it on the thread listed with the donation sidebar.

  65. 65.

    Gravenstone

    @Sister Golden Bear: As I noted on Reddit in a post about this, motherfucker knows that neither Harris nor Biden will turn away his call in the next week or so when he comes (once again) hat in hand to ask for Federal disaster relief.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    I don’t even have a purse (or ever had one…) and still think my shocked face must be in one somewhere…. Maybe it’s just oldfartitus, which either often closes the mind or opens the eyes, and we never know which it will be. Now wait, it can’t be oldfartitus I’ve been this way for decades.

  67. 67.

    dmsilev

    @KatKapCC: There’s really no room inside his head for thoughts other than “everyone should love me and give me all of their money”. It just baffles and confuses him when reality doesn’t cooperate.

  68. 68.

    Ruckus

    @SatanicPanic:

    That’s a big part of the entire picture, once you find out it is or isn’t the genes, it’s often too late. Sometimes way, way too late. In shitforbrains case it is generations too late.

  69. 69.

    dmsilev

    @Gravenstone: Let’s just hope that when he calls the White House looking for help, the first thing that happens is he gets a switchboard message telling him to push 2 for Spanish….

  71. 71.

    3Sice

    The electrical substations that got flooded have to be replaced. They are moving temporary substations into place, but that requires additional time and cost factors, plus high & wide road access.

  73. 73.

    TBone

    What this “shouty” shero IS DOING is combating disinformation in an easy, shareable way.  No, we will NOT tone it down because you’re uncomfortable.  But we’ll smile while shouting.

  76. 76.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @zhena gogolia: I like the ways in which both Tim and Kamala express disagreement: sometimes sternly, sometimes with humor,  often with blunt clarity.  But they don’t rant. Because it’s worse than unproductive: it’s corrosive.

  77. 77.

    Baud

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Not my thing either, but it works for some people. #NoOneSizeFitsAl

    ETA: I dislike it when people insist that every candidate must act like this to convey credibility.

  78. 78.

    Joe Falco

    @Ruckus: Excuse me, but I was assured that “guys like us, we had it made” was true and TV’s Archie Bunker wouldn’t lie to me about “those were the days”.

  81. 81.

    Baud

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Anything can go too far.

    The right also deploys false intellectualism, but I don’t think we should avoid being smart about things.

    The right abuses patriotism, but we should still care about the future of the USA.

  82. 82.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Matt McIrvin: No argument about that, Adlai. :)

    That said,  is there any evidence that rants add new voters? Or do they just make the already-convinced feel more righteous about themselves?

  83. 83.

    KatKapCC

    @O. Felix Culpa: In some situations, ranting is called for. There is vicious, dangerous, malicious disinfo being spread while people are suffering and dying. Wanting folks to be sweet about pushing back on it seems a little callous.

  84. 84.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud: Maybe we’re talking about different things.  I’m taking about the corrosive effect of rage-farming on political discourse in general and on one’s own psyche. I believe it’s unhealthy on the micro and macro levels, and should only be used in the rarest of circumstances.

  86. 86.

    Betty Cracker

    @O. Felix Culpa: Fox News creates havoc by riling people up with lies. This woman was telling the truth, albeit in a ranty way. Can you elaborate on why you think that’s “corrosive”? I can understand it not being everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m not seeing the harm in it.

    ETA — never mind; you addressed that at #84. I’m not sure I agree, but that’s okay…

  88. 88.

    JiveTurkin

    @Sister Golden Bear: “Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they’re now happily living in the United States. You know now a murder, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”

    I’m trying to recall another politician who spoke about bad genes.  Everyday he hits a new low.

  89. 89.

    KatKapCC

    @O. Felix Culpa: Well, how would YOU quantify that? Where is the line up to which you will accept justified anger, and where does it become “ranty” to you? If your first response to people who are suffering is “can you be nicer about it tho”, I think you need to readjust your priorities.

  91. 91.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @KatKapCC: Democrats have been tone policing themselves and especially their women my whole life. I don’t agree that her tone is inappropriate, but I’m not surprised to hear it said.

  92. 92.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @KatKapCC:  What is the goal or desired outcome,  and how is it best achieved? Most folks don’t respond well to being yelled at– and in fact typically dig in–so a speaker might consider other approaches if imparting information (being listened to and heard) and encouraging a change in behavior is the goal.

  93. 93.

    terraformer

    Damn – between this and last week’s complete smackdown of Tina Peters by that Judge in CO, I need a cigarette

    and I don’t smoke.

  96. 96.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @O. Felix Culpa: What is the goal or desired outcome,  and how is it best achieved? Most folks don’t respond well to being yelled at– and in fact typically dig in–so a speaker might consider other approaches if imparting information (being listened to and heard) and encouraging a change in behavior is the goal.

    This doesn’t seem like an effort to persuade.  This is communicating righteous anger. If anyone not already on the same page she is watches this and takes her advice, great. But this seems to be for the unsure or the people who know better but aren’t especially outspoken.

    She’s an anger translator for those who need one.  I have one already, by the way, Christopher Titus.

  98. 98.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @terraformer: Damn – between this and last week’s complete smackdown of Tina Peters by that Judge in CO, I need a cigarette

    and I don’t smoke.

    If you don’t already smoke, weed smells far less offensive or you can settle for chewing on a pen cap.

  100. 100.

    prostratedragon

    @trollhattan:  Those two things are part of the same spiel. He’s whipping his mob in the direction he wants them to go. It doesn’t have to make sense as long as the two trigger words are there

  101. 101.

    Ruckus

    @dmsilev:

    I’m not sure there is enough room in that addled old farts brain for those 2 rather insecure thoughts, at least not any longer. I think he only has room for “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww…” That’s a sound not an actual word. From what I’ve heard he really isn’t forming actual words any longer. It’s just the opposite of baby talk, I call it old fart talk. Both are about the same level of him understanding. Anything.

    As one not a lot younger than him and living in a seniors apartment complex, +55 to rent, the oldest I know is 99, and she is more cognizant than he is. Also a far better human being than him. Of course I can imagine there are murder’s who are better human beings than he is.

  102. 102.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Weird set of lawn signs spotted on the dog walk yesterday:

    Sign #1: (White letters, green background)

    MAKE AMERICA

    HEALTHY AGAIN

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr

    OK that might plausibly be a real sign the RFK Jr campaign issued when there was an RFK Jr campaign.

    Sign #2 (Dark Democratic blue background)

    TRUMP (white letters)

    VANCE (red letters, low contrast with background, barely visible)

    KENNEDY (white letters)

    Unite America!

    2024

    That can’t be real, can it?

    Sign #3, my favorite. Pink background, black lettering.

    HIS SIGN

    NOT MINE

    This one I believe. Somebody who wants to still be able to talk to the neighbors.

  106. 106.

    Belafon

    @O. Felix Culpa: Yes, and there are times for being nice, times for being stern but reserved, and times to get angry.

    Her yelling isn’t going to cause people to die, but it’s a justified reaction to the lies that are going to get people killed.

  109. 109.

    Ruckus

    @SatanicPanic:

    Where do you think he learned everything from? His siblings seem to be rather normal humans. Yes normalcy in humans is a wide range, but humans like shitforbrains never learn anything good, which is why I give him that moniker.

  110. 110.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Betty Cracker: Good point about lies vs. delivering truth.  I also think our side is also unfortunately prone to vicarious rage rushes, which in moderation might be OK,  but overall is unhealthy and unproductive.

  113. 113.

    Nukular Biskits

    @The Audacity of Krope:

    If you don’t already smoke, weed smells far less offensive or you can settle for chewing on a pen cap.

    I am no fan of tobacco smoke but I have to disagree on this one.  Weed smells like dead skunk to me.

    But, to each his/her own, I guess.

    Which reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine who is about 15 years older:  He says the stuff they grew up smoking didn’t smell anything like what’s being smoked today.  Higher THC levels, perhaps?

  116. 116.

    Harrison Wesley

    I think we’re about ready for the ultimate MAGA theory of relativity: we’ve got the hurricane, the lithium, already had the sharks and electric batteries and cancer-producing windmills….anything missing here?

  117. 117.

    BC in Illinois

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Weed smells like dead skunk to me.

    But, to each his/her own, I guess.

    This discussion brings back memories of the early ’70s. My mother said something about how she “didn’t even know what marijuana smelled like.” My brother (then in college) and I (then in the Navy) tried to describe it. “Well, it’s kind of hard to describe . . .”

    I don’t remember what kind of comparisons we came up with.

    I do remember Mom not being pleased that we would even be able to answer the question.

  118. 118.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud: Point taken.  And,  rage sets off an unhealthy chemical response in the body, individually and collectively.  Anger can be motivating, for example as a response to injustice,  but it needs to be managed judiciously, otherwise it becomes harmful to both subject and object.

    Snark can be annoying,  but it’s less visceral.

  121. 121.

    Jeffro

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: LOL

    I can’t imagine being married to a trump or RFK Jr supporter…just seems like a deal-breaker on so many levels.

    A truly principled, reality-based conservative?  That I could see.  But a trumpie?  No way

  122. 122.

    rikyrah

    Mother Jones (@MotherJones) posted at 4:00 PM on Sun, Oct 06, 2024:
    These extremely online young Christian men want to end the 19th Amendment, restore public flogging, and make America white again.

    And they’re connected to JD Vance. Meet the “TheoBros.” t.co/fhKniHcTC1 t.co/3n89xKbKDh
    (x.com/MotherJones/status/1843033616961421641?s=03)

    PragmaticObotsUnite (@PragObots) posted at 0:28 PM on Mon, Oct 07, 2024:
    Trump is these TheoBros’ conduit. The objective is for Trump to win and then replace him with Vance.
    (x.com/PragObots/status/1843342729583177830?s=03)

  123. 123.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @KatKapCC: @Geminid:

    With the “ungrateful” and “not reciprocal” is the implicit trope about how Jews are not loyal Americans, their loyalty is to Israel. Just ginning up a bit of antisemitic hate here, nothing to see, right?

    A friend posted this on social media. This happened close to where I went to high school.

    stljewishlight.org/news/news-local/masked-men-wave-nazi-flags-over-town-and-country-overpass/

    During her conversation with the men, Dean asked why they were wearing masks despite openly promoting their hateful ideology. One of the men explained that they feared being recognized and losing their jobs.

    “We have families to support,” he said, adding that being publicly tied to the group’s activities could cost them their livelihoods. “We can’t afford to be ‘canceled’ for what we believe in.”

    Dean pointed out the irony in their fear of job loss while spreading hate and intolerance, responding, “You’re promoting division and hatred, but you’re afraid of facing consequences for it?”

    The men didn’t respond directly, instead doubling down on their rhetoric, insisting they were exercising their right to free speech.

  124. 124.

    Jeffro

    @Nukular Biskits:

    @BC in Illinois:

    both weed and tobacco stink to high heaven, imho.  I haven’t smoked cigarettes in 20+ years and the smell just gets more offensive to me with time.  Weed seems to be getting less stinkier than it was a decade ago (maybe people are buying better-quality pot in this EXCELLENT Biden economy?   Maybe I’m just getting more used to the smell since it’s basically everywhere now?) but it’s still pretty bad.

    Bring on the edibles, I say!  LOL

  126. 126.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Belafon: Yeesh….

    @Nukular Biskits: Fair enough and more stink might but doesn’t always mean higher THC levels. The powerful stuff usually manages a bit of stench but stench alone doesn’t guarantee potency. 

    It’s a true tragedy when you find some with a strong odor that tricks you into thinking it will be good…

  127. 127.

    Raoul Paste

    @Baud: Oh, that is so good.  The whole thing is so reminiscent of the car that Homer Simpson designed.  What a maroon

  134. 134.

    Geminid

    @Nukular Biskits: There is a famous strain of weed named “Schuyler Skunk.” Schuyler is the soapstone mill town where Earl Hamner Jr.grew up. He went on to LA and made his boyhood home the setting for The Waltons, but some of the folks who stuck around became skilled cannabis growers in the 1970s. There was a creative synergy between the locals and the back-to-the-land hippies moving to Nelson County back then.

    Schuyler Skunk had a distinctive fragrance, but other strong homegrown strains were generally called “skunk weed.”

  135. 135.

    Ruckus

    @Baud:

    Not me. I give my women free rein to speak their minds as they see fit.

    As they should. They have the exact same level of freedom men do, they are equal human beings. Who do much more than men do in becoming a parent. And even after that, often much more than the men do being a parent. At least that was the general level in my family and many of the families that I knew growing up. That might have been that when I was growing up a lot of men worked 6 days a week, possibly 10 hours a day. My dad did and so did I. A lot of that changed when I was in my 20s, laws about working hours/overtime changed a lot. For the better.

  137. 137.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Nukular Biskits:

    While sitting on the beach in Tampa?

    Nah, the only beaches Tampa has are onto Tampa Bay. Let’s put her somewhere more scenic – how about Anna Maria Island or Longboat Key?

  138. 138.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Belafon: Hmm, when she’s yelling “Fuck you!” at people in her opening sentence, I hear it as rage. Call it “righteous anger,” if you prefer. I’m not saying she’s wrong about what she’s calling out. I’m also not saying that she shouldn’t express herself as she wishes, although I don’t think she’s going to change minds among the people she’s initially addressing.

    My point is particularly about us (including myself), the audience, who watch this stuff and get a high from it.  I don’t think that watching a lot of rage videos over time has a positive effect on the psyche or leads to constructive action.  It may feel cathartic in the moment,  but ultimately I don’t think it’s healthy. That’s why there’s a term called “rage farming. “

  139. 139.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Geminid: I haven’t encountered such, but I believe you as I have already accepted there is no definitive link between odor and potency.

    I just hope my roomie has some ready to go when I’m done with this train ride.

  141. 141.

    Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    @Melancholy Jaques:  I’ll just add that recording in a closed car blocks out airplane and traffic noise. So a good recording studio.

    As said above but recording for a while then having an airplane go over is really annoying.

  142. 142.

    rikyrah

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    Have said it over and over

     

    They have FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

    What they long for is Freedom from Consequences of said speech.

     

    They wanna party like it’s 1924, and be able to do what their granddaddy’s did without thought of consequences.

  143. 143.

    WaterGirl

    I would describe the woman in the video as venting her frustration, which can be healthy.  It can also be helpful for other people who are frustrated but aren’t good at expressing it.

    I think it’s only unhealthy – for the person venting – if that’s the only mode you’ve got.  And it’s only unhealthy for the watcher if that’s the only kind of thing they seek out.

  144. 144.

    Dan B

    @TBone: I have noticed, (anyone else?) that when someone refers to a person in power who is female that there’s often a “she” inserted in the sentence / paragraph.  I believe it will stay that way until full equity.

  149. 149.

    Citizen Alan

    @SatanicPanic:  but no one believes WWE is a real sport.

    The dirty little secret about the WWE (as I recall, not having watched it in 20 years) is that it is not even a fake sport. It’s more like a hypermasculine homoerotic soap opera for incels who get caught up in the manufactured drama over shaven slabs of beef who solve all their problems with gratuitous violence. And the few women who play any role in the production add absolutely nothing except obviously fake tits.

  150. 150.

    Dan B

    @rikyrah: My partner has collected dozens of far right books from a free library in a park in our minority / majority neighborhood in vivid blue Seattle.  It’s a goldmine of dogwhistle and bullhorn racism and hatred.  He’s not sure what to do with the stacks of them but I’m glad to have them out of circulation.   I wonder how Utah would like them.  Not that we’ll be sending them anytime.

  151. 151.

    Citizen Alan

    @Matt McIrvin: And the behind-the-scenes terminology has crept into the fandom.

    I vividly recall a former Republican employer circa 2002 saying that the presence of Alan Colmes on Hannity & Colmes proved that Fox was “fair and balanced.” I responded by explaining to him what a “jobber” was in the context of pro wrestling and how it could apply to a fake news channel.

  153. 153.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Nukular Biskits: well that was quick!

    How about moving some other legal processes along quickly.

    So, once again, women’s bodies are a kind of community property, and the commanders of the handmaids are on top. For now.

  158. 158.

    Dan B

    @Gloria DryGarden: He doesn’t believe in burning books…  We’ve got a gas insert fireplace except for downstairs and since we air-sealed the house we can only run them for five minutes before needing far fewer clothes, willow whips, and an icy pond to jump into.  But we’ve got a gas grill.  Not sure how sulfur smoked burgers would go over though

    Then again the house behind us just got an upgrade with a firepit that Satby assures us burns things to almost no residue.

  159. 159.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Ruckus: A truly principled, reality-based conservative?

    What is this of which you speak?

    Sounds like a Democrat to me.

  161. 161.

    Gloria DryGarden

    With regard to rage farming:

    the real rage farming is all the lies and disinformation and Romors and anti woman anti immigrant invective we’ve been getting exposed to.

    They want us confused and angry and chaotic. The anger, the rage can be almost debilitating. In this video, I think she’s more calling out the bullshit emphatically. Directing her anger into a call for it to stop.

    Shes fierce. She’s had it. It’s not the only way to communicate. Maybe it’s good for folks to hear the tone of this. It expresses how strongly many people feel, and it informs idiots that it’s so not ok. I almost think she’s implying that she’s coming for those idiots. Of course she isn’t, she’s busy. But she’s just sayin’.

  162. 162.

    SatanicPanic

    @Citizen Alan: As a fan I disagree with every part of your comment. Though WWE has a long, embarrassing history of racism and misogyny, in recent years women and people of color have played a big part in the sport. Women are some of the sport’s biggest stars now, they’re not the “Divas” of twenty years ago.

    When we went to Raw this year my wife was concerned we’d be entering an arena full of MAGAs. I told her to relax it would be a normal cross-section of normal people. And it was! It’s a fun-ass show. Yes, it’s “fake” violence (though a lot of it still hurts for real), and we can poo-poo people enjoying violence, but who doesn’t love action movies? Horror movies? Thrillers? That’s what wrestling is- watching an action or a thriller film live.

    As to it being homoerotic? I can’t totally disagree- John Waters did write the prologue to the Gorgeous George biography I read. But to go back to the action movie comparison- does watching Rambo make a man gay? I dunno. I think it’s more a matter of imagining you could be Rambo, not wanting to have sex with him. But who knows.

  166. 166.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Dan B: they ARE books. I agree, it’s hard to burn them. It goes against principle. And toxic fumes. But they can be stored in the dampest part of your house, if he isn’t willing to pass them on for your neighbor’s fire pit.

    im glad you live in a rainy place, so if you need willow whips, it’s growing right there.

  167. 167.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @SatanicPanic: weed has trained my brain not to be as bothered by the smell of skunks

    Weed has trained my brain to not be bothered by much at all.

    One might not know it from watching me here. This is, explicitly, the place I go to speak about the things that bother me as such things are almost uniformly found in the public policy sphere.

  169. 169.

    SatanicPanic

    @Matt McIrvin: Correct. Too many wrestlers have written biographies for it to really be a secret anymore, and the companies kind of lean into it now. Plus it’s literally called World Wrestling Entertainment.

  170. 170.

    Matt McIrvin

    @WaterGirl: I just saw someone over on Mastodon arguing that activism opposing harm to someone should always be centered around helping those being harmed, and not hate for the people doing the harm–because the latter trains you to get off on righteous hate, and inevitably, what that leads to is stoking hate against people on your own side who you think aren’t doing it quite right, because they’re closer and easier to hurt. (They called it “lateral violence,” said it’s a perennial problem in activist organizations.)

    And then there’s the closest person of all. I feel a lot of inward-directed rage–I blame myself for whatever tenuous connection I might have to bad stuff that happens, and sometimes it’s very tenuous indeed. E.g. Donald Trump was and may again be the President, he represents America, I’m part of America, some failing of mine maybe contributed to other people voting for him, so bad things he does are bad things I did. And then I kind of want to punish myself.

    What good would that do? Probably no good at all.

    I don’t know how to make help the center, though, because emotions are hard to control. And helping always seems weak next to the fantasy of destroying a motherfucker. And rage is legitimate, sometimes.

  171. 171.

    Gloria DryGarden

    Darn it. “Rumors.”

    autocorrect changed it to Romeo. I thought I’d fixed it.

    i can spell, I just don’t always get my capital letters and apostrophes where they should be. I’m having to pick my battles.

  173. 173.

    Matt McIrvin

    @SatanicPanic: I’ve never really understood the appeal of WWF/WWE, it was always really repulsive to me, but from everything I’ve heard… it’s complicated these days. The organization itself does seem to be kind of reprehensible, but the fans often are not.

  174. 174.

    frosty

    @Nukular Biskits: ​He says the stuff they grew up smoking didn’t smell anything like what’s being smoked today.

    True. My son said the neighbor’s kid was smoking weed. I said nope, that’s a cigar, I know what it smells like (50 years ago). He told me I was wrong so you’re right, it doesn’t smell the same. Very skunky.

  175. 175.

    SatanicPanic

    @Matt McIrvin: It’s gotten better without Vince McMahon. He’s a world-class asshole but was finally driven out for good this year after some reporting about his very gross behavior with an employee. I like it because of the absurdist humor, the fights involve some impressive athleticism, and if you ever get to see it live, audience participation is so much fun. It’s not high-brow entertainment by any means, obviously, but I love anything campy and ridiculous.

  176. 176.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @SatanicPanic: I remember one time someone here did a lexical analysis of everyone’s manner of speech. It’s been a few years, I’d like to see it updated.

    I somehow got “happiest.”

  177. 177.

    Nukular Biskits

    @frosty:

    I have a keen sense of smell so I can pick up the scent of marijuana just even if it’s been hours after someone smoked it.

    Here in MS, I used to never smell it except at certain venues (like maybe a bar or concerts).  Now, I can smell it coming out the car in front of me on the road.

    So … either my sense of smell has gotten better, weed is more prevalent (which it is) and/or it has a stronger smell.

  179. 179.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I don’t know how to make help the center, though, because emotions are hard to control. And helping always seems weak next to the fantasy of destroying a motherfucker. And rage is legitimate, sometimes.

    Yup

    sometimes, in processing trauma, it’s quite helpful to play out that fantasy in one’s imagination.

    With good attention, one doesn’t get stuck spinning wheels in the rage. In my experiences in trauma therapy, I kept popping out of that deep dark emotions stuff, and noticing my current surroundings, (and any objects of beauty that could be resources, calming, soothing.)  My therapist explained this is normal. It’s a way to not get pulled under in the trauma vortex.

  180. 180.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Matt McIrvin: I used to watch his Star Trek reviews all the time. While I generally agree with his politics, I find his political content less interesting.

  181. 181.

    TS

    @Ruckus:

    It always amazes me that so many people really can’t see their federal or state governments as being anything other than providing a jail cell and 3 shitty meals a day,

    Looking at some of the republican state governments this does not surprise me at all. If you add controlling women to  the jail cell, you have the major part of their activities listed.

  182. 182.

    Soprano2

    @Nukular Biskits: That’s been my experience as well. I spent a long time answering the incoming phone at city sewer. There’s not much about the public that surprises me. I was called a jack booted thug and had a woman insist there was a homeless man living in the manhole near her house because she heard a noise in her shower drain at night that sounded just like her deceased husband’s snoring. You won’t be surprised to learn there was no man living in there.

  183. 183.

    jonas

    @Nukular Biskits:  When I ran for public office about 15 years ago, I frequently ran into people who had absolutely no idea how their local (or state) government even worked or who was responsible for what … and I wasn’t the only one.

    …which, as we were discussing here the other day, is why so many people seem to think the POTUS has a dial on the Resolute Desk labeled “Raise/Lower Egg Prices” or “Raise/Lower Gas Prices”. The levels of civic ignorance in this country will be the death of us all.

  185. 185.

    scav

    @Matt McIrvin: Well yeah, it does sound all very nice in theory, but focussing uniquely upon the needs of the victim all the while remembering to behave with the upmost courtesy to the perpetrator does somewhat leave the impression that even more serial killers and abusers will be left to swan about, secure in their visions of being universally admired.  Reality does have this frustrating habit of being in the tricky middle of easily articulated and idealizing theories.

  186. 186.

    danielx

    @Suzanne: ​
      Well, yeah, they’d love to return to the 1950s and that’s the ones who don’t want to return to the 1850s. The good old days when every white man who wanted one had a decent paying job and women, children and brown people knew their place and by gawd kept to it, or else.

  187. 187.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Matt McIrvin: activism opposing harm to someone should always be centered around helping those being harmed, and not hate for the people doing the harm

    I can understand that thinking. However I think you need both the care for the victim and outrage toward the perpetrator. These can be separate efforts, but failing to hold perps to account is just acquiescing to abuser logic.

  189. 189.

    SatanicPanic

    @The Audacity of Krope: oh god I don’t think I want to know

    @Matt McIrvin: I think a lot of liberals like it. FD Signifier on Youtube likes wrestling (I believe he considers himself a leftist, but whatever). The beauty of pro-wrestling is that it’s trying to entertain you any way it can, and doesn’t care if you love it ironically or for what it is.

  191. 191.

    TBone

    @frosty: blunts, weed rolled in tobacco like cigars with special filling, were/are very popular.  I don’t see the allure, but that’s why they’re called blunts.

  192. 192.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @TBone: blunts, rolled in tobacco like cigars with special filling, were/are very popular. I don’t see the allure, but that’s why they’re called blunts.

    I tend to prefer this for the taste.  Adds a little accent to the weed that is not an accent of simple burning paper.

    I would never touch a cigar otherwise, though.

  193. 193.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Chief Oshkosh: I’ve been seeing this lithium mine rumor, too,  on Facebook . I’ve gone out on a limb w numerous people, telling them to stop, its lies. Crazy stuff.

  194. 194.

    Ruckus

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Emotions are more difficult for some to control than others.

    As I’ve stated here on several occasions I was a mental health counselor many, many moons ago, and one of the things we were taught over and over was that while we are all humans we can and often do react to the same thing in many different ways and with often conflicting emotions, because yes, we are humans and all of us have operating brains and differing levels/strengths of different emotions. IE, something that might piss me off in a major way might not affect you much at all or vis versa.  We are born human but how we are raised and how we see the rest of the world’s occupants may vary a lot. Some have a light switch temper and some have a dial that requires several turns to get to the same place. And a lot of the responses we have/give are different for different people or different situations.

  195. 195.

    TBone

    @The Audacity of Krope: 👍 well that explains it, I never tried one!  But a friend who smoked too many and was tryna quit weed got hooked on nicotine from the blunts so had a helluva rough patch.  Beware.

  196. 196.

    Jeffro

    @Ruckus: I know, I know…it’s a working theory that one exists..

    It’s funny: I have thought about writing a piece that shows just how easy it would be to make conservative (or conservative-leaning, anyway) arguments and policies for today’s problems, instead of either denying they exist or insisting that we need to go back to the 1950s 1850s to make society better.

    Maybe I should run for some office, but on a GOP ticket, as a “Democrat trying to hand-hold the GOP on how to be a principled conservative”, and see how much press I can get?  Probably not worth it: the post-trumpov GOP is going to be a shitshow regardless

  197. 197.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @TBone: I already fell into the nicotine trap. Went through two three-year rounds of smoking cigarettes, current vape fiend.

  198. 198.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Smallish bit of good news, NYT Battleground Poll: Swing State Voters Believe Society Should Accept Trans People As Their Gender

    According to a New York Times/Siena battleground state poll, voters in the battleground states of Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin overwhelmingly believe that society should accept transgender people as the gender they identify with. These same voters also support Democratic Senate candidates in these states, despite tens of millions of dollars spent on anti-trans advertisements targeting them. This data raises doubts about the effectiveness of such ads in swaying voters toward Republicans, as similar efforts have failed in the past. The numbers come at a time when national anti-trans ad campaigns are being launched, aimed at Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris.

    According to the latest New York Times/Siena poll in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, 56% of voters agreed with the statement, “Society should accept transgender people as having the gender they identify with,” while 34% agreed with the statement, “Society should NOT accept transgender people as having the gender they identify with.” Support for transgender acceptance was even higher among women (64% to 28%) and Independents (58% to 28%). Even rural and small-town voters in battleground states indicated, by a narrow margin (45% to 43%), that transgender people should be accepted as their identified gender, indicating that assumptions about small towns in battleground states could be challenged as acceptance continues to improve.

    Given Republicans in TX are running anti-trans ads non-stop, I’d love to see a similar polls, albeit I’m not as optimistic about the results.

    Important point though, this is undoubtedly having an impact on trans people, specifically trans teens. We’ve seen the already horribly high rates of suicide attempts among trans teens spike in states that have pass anti-trans laws.

  202. 202.

    Jeffro

    @Citizen Alan:

    @Matt McIrvin:

    @SatanicPanic:

    I was reading an interview with John Cena a few weeks ago, and it was remarkable on many levels.  He made a clear distinction (straight-up to the interviewer; no hedging) about the difference between “athletic performance” (or was it “athletic entertainment”? aka pro wrestling and “competitive athletics” aka the UFC, pro football, etc.

    He literally compared pro wrestling to Shakespearean drama, with the actors engaging the audience, following a story arc, and so on.  Just in tights while slamming each other around.  =)

    (Cena also said – and this has stuck with me as well – “If I start to feel like a big fish, I need to find a bigger pond.”)

  204. 204.

    TBone

    DeathSantis will strike out again.

    The (Florida) Health Department said that if the (abortion rights) ad is not removed within 24 hours, the department will initiate legal proceedings to obtain an injunction.
    Critics have accused the state government of “fascism” and trying to silence political rivals.
    Leon County Democrats responded: “Outrageous bullying using the government. Pure fascism.”

    msn.com/en-us/news/us/desantis-administration-threatens-local-tv-station-for-airing-abortion-rights-…

  206. 206.

    WaterGirl

    I would describe the video as a display of righteous anger.  Not rage, and certainly not the spittle-flecked rage we often see on the right.

  207. 207.

    SW

    I think the pearl clutching is pointless. First I have been told all my long life that venting is good for you.  Wouldn’t know because it is just not in my nature.  But the implicit point that you won’t convert anyone by yelling at them is meaningless.  It presupposes that there is this meaningful pool of persuadable undecided voters.  I am confident that this just isn’t true.

    There are indeed quite a few people who claim to be undecided.  They may even believe that they are.  They are not.  As we have discussed before, it is tribal.  The tribalism goes way beyond politics.  There may be a real pool of apolitical folks out there.  But in the end they will vote with their tribe.  Therefore motivating your tribe to turn up is the entire game.  Rage snark ridicule humor whatever works.  No one makes you watch this stuff so I assume it works for those who do.

  212. 212.

    Falling Diphthong

    Micaiah Johnson’s second book was written in the shadow of the garbage fire at the Tennessee Legislature, and the rage comes through in the writing. She observes that rage fights back.
    I feel like a lot of the garbage hose of doom is by design, to exhaust people. So they give up and detach and stay home.
    First book is The Space Between Worlds and the duology is excellent.

  214. 214.

    Jay

    For those interested, VatnickSoup has done a deep dive into Project 2025.

    Pekka Kallioniemi
    @P_Kallioniemi
    10h
    In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an American conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation (@Heritage). Heritage is best-known for opposing military aid to Ukraine and for their political initiative called Project 2025, a potential blueprint for a Trump presidency.

    1/23

    nitter.poast.org/P_Kallioniemi/status/1843261950710722687#m

  215. 215.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @WaterGirl: I agree. Yes. It’s kind of a relief to hear someone venting this way, because, I RELATE to this amount of anger. I agree w your previous statement too. That it’s only unhealthy if it’s the only mode, for both  sender, and receiver.

    It strikes me that you have a way of writing something calm and validating, and neutral. About someone’s incandescent rage. I love that contrast.

    Neutrality is king, it’s a place from which to operate effectively.

  216. 216.

    SatanicPanic

    @Jeffro: I think people don’t understand wrestling because to a casual viewer the matches can seem silly and at times boring. If you just sit down and watch a few matches it’s not really that fun. You have to know why these people are fighting. If anything I like the drama more. The TV shows are a lot like the muppet show with all the chaos and backstage goings-on.

  217. 217.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Baud: referring to desantus, and anti choice enactments in Florida.

    I hope he costs the GOP Florida.

    BE IT SO.

    ( oh, I spelled his name wrong. Sigh.)

    (check it out as a revelatory typo: de- santos. Like, un-saint. That’s apt ).

  219. 219.

    Gloria DryGarden

    I really only got on here to say I got an email NOT asking for money, but would I like to help move on with phone banking this Thursday, and Saturday. So, I signed up.

    any tips?

    I’m not a good debater, I’m an introvert.  But I think I can keep to some talking points. I just don’t know if I can overcome objections and convert anyone, so I hope that’s not typical to get into contentious discussions. I’ll have to practice neutrality. Yikes.

    also, I’m starting to get notices from the Trisha calvarese (sp) campaign.

    She’s running against Lauren Boebert, doing door knocking and meet and greets in Loveland, in highlands ranch, which is s Denver. The district is a huge area of Colorado. It’s beginning to sound winnable. Sure hoping.

  220. 220.

    Eunicecycle

    @Sister Golden Bear: ugh in Ohio too. There’s one running right this minute. I am so glad to see the survey that says Ohioans want to accept people as they are. It bodes well for Sherrod Brown.

  221. 221.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Gloria DryGarden: I’m not a good debater, I’m an introvert. But I think I can keep to some talking points. I just don’t know if I can overcome objections and convert anyone, so I hope that’s not typical to get into contentious discussions.

    Converting someone is far less common than activating someone beyond what they might otherwise have done.

    One of my most fondly remembered political calls was to a Dem on the “didn’t vote last time” list who already liked our candidate and took the call as an opportunity to get information on how they could contribute time and money, themself.

  222. 222.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @The Audacity of Krope: SWEET

     

    check out the number,222! I take note when it’s double numbers, or special numbers. Cool. I’ll take any positive omens, at this point.

    sister golden bear, your news is heartening and uplifting. Yay. Very yay.

  223. 223.

    Geminid

    @Gloria DryGarden: People are probably confusing an important quartz mine near Spruce Pine with a lithium mine. The mine’s quartz is very pure so a lot of chipmakers use it. This was a potential problem for the industry but the owner says the mine is ok and just needs the power restored.

    But now the question becomes: where is the lithium mine, and why are they hiding it?

  226. 226.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: yes, and amen. It’s a prayer, and we can say amen.

    Can we not ask god for such a thing? Well then, may things align in the interests of a majority of the people, in Florida, especially including for women, and their partners and families. May the election result in a highest good for all. Harming none.

     

    i swear to god, someone else’s abortion doesn’t harm the people who didn’t have abortions. In weighing out what’s fair and unfair, it’s ridiculous to place priority on an embryo or fetus over anyone else’s concerns.

    (I bring up fairness, because that’s my reaction to the capital punishment of an innocent man in Missouri recently. I’m sore about it, it’s not my personal business, but the principles of unfairness bother me deeply. It was a wrongful death.)

  227. 227.

    frosty

    @zhena gogolia: I haven’t seen M^4 lately. Perhaps he’s moved to more vitriolic vicious pastures? Do we have to up our game?

    ETA Oh hell, another last comment on a dying thread.

  228. 228.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Geminid: I did read about the quartz mine, with the super pure necessary quartz.

    i like your question about where is the lithium mine. I’d like to ask where did that rumor originate, from djt, or from mtg? Or someone else?

    ( auto predict changed his name to dot. )

    I’m more interested in supporting my friend in Hendersonville. Last night she wanted some meditations to create calm and a feeling of less stress and a positive sense inside herself. So I’ve been concocting something for her.

    and now, instead of looking up rumor sources, and losing my temper internally, I’m signed up for phone banking. I’m going to pretend I’m not afraid. Maybe it will go well. I should do the meditation I made for my friend.

  231. 231.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Matt McIrvin: I love your introspection.

    I too, ask how am I a part if this. And even, when do I act in these ways, blaming, greed, self centered ness.  Some say clearing up the conflicin ourselves makes the outer situation change. I’d like to live to see that. Tins of inner work.

  232. 232.

    VeniceRiley

    Here for Water Girl’s last comment and did a tL;Dr scroll on all the highfalutin versions of “she should smile more” strategy.

    I don’t think men, even the “good ones” understand the edge inherent in the daily life of women. At all.

     

    As for rasslin’, it was a thing that Bill and Chelsea watched together … that Hillary sustained, iirc

  233. 233.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Matt McIrvin: I love your introspection.

    I too, ask how am I a part of this. And even, when do I act in these ways, blaming, greed, self centered ness.  Some say clearing up the conflict in ourselves makes the outer situation change. I’d like to live to see that. Tons of inner work, miles to go before I sleep.

  234. 234.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Falling Diphthong:

     She observes that rage fights back.   I feel like a lot of the garbage hose of doom is by design, to exhaust people. So they give up and detach and stay home.

    yes

    i read somewhere that sowing despair is part of their strategy. Maybe to induce voters to think they need those who spew the hate and despair.

    rage fights back- I’m interested in exploring this idea. Hmm. It’s a new thought, or a different frame. When one is in an oppressed group, there can definitely be an edge, some rage, a need to fight back, either to keep despair at bay, or to fight for rights and respect

    and fairness

  235. 235.

    Citizen Alan

    @SatanicPanic: As I said, I haven’t watched WWE in probably 25 years. (I had some friends in law school circa 1999 who followed it religiously at the time.) The only female wrestler I recall was Chyna (and Stephanie McMahon if she counts as a wrestler), if that tells you the era I’m familiar with. Otherwise, I mostly remember a bevy of women who stood ringside, never spoke, and just hung over the shaven slab of been whose girlfriend they had been hired to play. Occasionally, they wrestled one another in matches designed to function as violent hyper-physical strip teases that always ended with one or both stripped down to sexy underwear.  YMMV.

  236. 236.

    Citizen Alan

    @SatanicPanic:Plus it’s literally called World Wrestling Entertainment.

    I am old enough to remember when it was the World Wrestling Federation until the World Wildlife successfully sued for trademark infringement. :)

  237. 237.

    Citizen Alan

    @Jeffro:  I really like John Cena. I love how committed he was to Peacemaker. Most male action stars with his level of fame would have balked at playing a character like that who is a ridiculous buffoon in one scene and a moving example of an adult abuse survivor and deeply closeted gay/bi man. I like to imagine John Cena playing the Ben Stiller role in Tropic Thunder. It would have been the greatest comedy of the last 30 years. (It was still a great comedy, but Stiller’s decision to cast himself as a fading action star was the weakest part of the film.)

  238. 238.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Citizen Alan: Peacemaker was an incredible show and John Cena is a great actor–he can do comedy, he can do pathos, he looks convincingly like a superhero, he’s just great.

    I thought Gunn’s re-do of The Suicide Squad was the best thing to come out of the DC movie stable but then Peacemaker spun off of it and blew it away.

  239. 239.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Gloria DryGarden:

    @Matt McIrvin: I love your introspection.

    Thanks. I could probably do with less of it.

    I was raised not to feel superior to people, because I was supposedly smart or well-educated or just lucked into a fortunate social class/gender/race or whatever. So when so many people just act like evil dumbasses it’s really, really hard to take and I eat myself up trying to figure out how I’m at fault.

    I think that is actually a really common thing among liberals, because, you know, on the right you can just declare that, yeah, you’re the master race, but it’s inconsistent with liberalism. So there’s this whole industry devoted to writing material for liberals that tells them how to empathize with right-wing meatheads and blame themselves for somehow making them that way (this is how J. D. Vance first came to prominence, in fact–his memoir was supposed to be some kind of Rosetta Stone that would make it all clear).

    And it’s funny, because one of the things that totally motivates the right is this burning resentment that liberals think they’re better than conservatives, while the good Atlantic-reading, NPR-listening liberals are just bending over backwards desperately to find any excuse to not think that. Even though, God, there are so many reasons.

    It’s the basis of Conor Friedersdorf’s whole damn career.

  240. 240.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @VeniceRiley: Heh. Gender assumptions on the internet can be … mistaken. Basing an argument on mistaken gender assumptions can lead to … erroneous conclusions. I happen to know the inherent edge in the daily life of women well. From the inside, you might say. ;-)

  241. 241.

    wjca

    @Belafon:  I saw someone on bsky who is so allergic to weed that it makes her eyes swell being in the smoke.

    To me, it’s like a couple of knitting neddles being driven into the base of my skull.  And at concentrations lower than the smell being perceptible.  Painful!

    I think it should be legal.  But the downside for me personally is not insignificant.

  242. 242.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Matt McIrvin: This is a very interesting comment, worth mulling over more. Emotions aren’t inherently bad, they just are. It’s what we do with them when they happen and which emotions we set out to cultivate that matters.

  243. 243.

    FelonyGovt

    @Sister Golden Bear: I’m SO glad to see this. I’ve been outraged at the Trump commercials running during the baseball playoffs that are all ooga-booga transgender people! and sex change operations in prison! and here’s Kamala with Jonathan Van Ness who’s wearing a dress! I’ve wondered despairingly if this shit actually appeals to people. Hopefully not.

  244. 244.

    Joy in FL

    I just now had time to listen to this. It is so great. It was cathartic for me, her expression of righteous rage was actually cathartic for me.

  245. 245.

    Ruckus

    @Jeffro:

    I believe that conservatives have a hard road ahead.

    First, they seem to want a world that really no longer exists.

    Second, they seem to want to control everyone else’s lives so that their concept of government makes them right and therefore everyone else wrong or dead. That second result seems rather more what they think they want.

    Third they are losing a lot of whatever it is they had in decades past, with everyone having far more communication (like we are doing now) than they have really ever had prior. And that is really pissing them off because they really can’t seem to find any thing better than what they think life was like maybe a a hundred or more years ago.

    As an old fart I can tell anyone not an old fart that life quite a few decades ago was different than today and most of us really, really, really do not want to go backasswards. Myself included. Sure some stuff might have been different, possibly better, but not nearly enough to make the concept acceptable. And I wasn’t looking then at the last segment of life no matter how much I have left, because I am likely at best have 25 yrs. More is possible but that would be a tad unusual.

  246. 246.

    wjca

    @Baud:  I give my women free rein

    Gracious of you to provide them the means to rein you in.  And for free!  Well done!

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