133 Comments
Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

The post in which we again wonder whether the extremists -- the entire GOP, I mean -- will overreach and collapse -- that is, enough voters getting a clue, motivated to vote and voting, vote them out of power -- before it's too late. I know, put like that the answer's probably a hard no. Maybe?

Me, I have no idea. My own answer fluctuates based on my mood.

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Your mood being at least, if not more, accurate than the media pundits.

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Nah, I’m just confused, they are certain in what they say because their jobs are to know what people want them to opine.

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If we're talking about flipping a state legislature from red to blue, in Wisconsin "enough voters" would be roughly 70%.

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Oof.

Hearted for the hard math.

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Was referencing actual voters as a whole, not necessarily state by state.

What I had in mind was enough repulsion to put the GOP out of power for a generation. It’s more a thought exercise than any sort of calculation than any real, necessary numbers because I’m sure that the Powers That Be would ensure that no such thing ever happens.

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History says it would take a punch in the mouth the size of a Great Depression.

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And a Democrat the size of FDR

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That’s what I thought in 2008. I also thought (if that’s the word) back then that with profits taking a hit large and big businesses would welcome the financial relief of passing off healthcare benefits to a single payer plan and if not reduced pay, then a slower growth of salaries. But no, instead we got the ACA.

Of course, the 2008 collapse, bad as it was, was nothing like 1929. Too, instead of getting agencies policing the economic/financial sectors, we got handouts to the companies that trashed the economy.

So I tend to doubt that anything could trigger a New Deal/ FDR 2.0.

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The US executed several ideas that ameliorate the effects of a smaller depression, so that it won't become a Great Depression. Most of those still exist.

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Yeah. In the immortal words of President George Walker Bush, "You're tellin' me this whole sucker could melt down". We dodged a bullet about the same caliber as Black Tuesday, partly because someone explained it to W in words he could understand. And then we elected a guy who wasn't the 2nd coming of Herbert Hoover. He did just enough to keep the train on the tracks while making sure the people who caused it were mostly made whole. Better than what President McCain would've done, at least. Now imagine what a Republcan President would do when the next collapse comes (and its coming, as sure as another pandemic). If there's 1 thing all Americans hate, it's being made uncomfortable, so there's a chance of a New Deal 2.0 silver lining. That or an official theocratic dictatorship.

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Yeah, so much help for the little people that it took earnings ~3 years for earnings to catch up to pre-meltdown levels.

Unless you were a homeowner who bought a house ultimately far beyond their means to finance when the interest rate went up.

Speaking of which, TARP says it all.

Anyway.

“The US executed several ideas that ameliorate the effects of a smaller depression…”

So what are these ideas?

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Until SCOWI makes them correctly district the state legislature

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Don’t single women know they will die alone and miserable without settling for any man who will have them and bearing several of his children? Everyone knows Real Americans are always white, Christian, and married, after all. I don’t think any bogus conservative argument in support of forced-birth makes me belly-laugh harder than their plaintive complaints about single women having the temerity to vote, and vote Democratic:

[Me, wearing an “I Voted” sticker, kicking last night’s hook-up out of the house, washing down a handful of Zoloft with vodka as I open cans of Fancy Feast for my 27 cats]: “And there’s not a fucking thing you can do to stop us, Incel. Cry harder.”

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

It's because women like you refuse to pump out 8 or 10 White babies to go work in the mines that Republicans have no choice but to slash Social Security and Medicare. (Actual reality: No matter how many babies of any color you pump out, Republicans have no choice but to try to eliminate Social Security and Medicare.)

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

It is a heavy burden of guilt I carry, but I try to bear up under the weight of only bearing two children, neither of which is well-suited to the mines as they are educated leftists. Sigh.

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Same! I guess we’re both going to Hell!

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Yes, we are going to Hell, but as the old Irish proverb says, just think of how many of our friends we'll meet there!

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Looking forward to it (sort of).

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It's all data mines now, so tell 'em the get their hard hats and headlamps on and git to work!

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Haul 16 gigs, whattya get?

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One year older and deeper in doubt?

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I think Mike Johnson said more or less exactly this about white women pumping out the babies. I mean immigration or raising the FICA cap would also solve any issues with funding, but that punishes the wrong people.

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I came here late, to hit this same button, so will only add "Yup. Birth-forcing and marriage go together like...uhmm...fish hatcheries and grizzlies at the fish ladder".

Hmmm. Needs work.

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Everyone knows Real Americans are always white, Christian, and married

Dang, I only make one of those

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The Americanization of billcinsd. Long process...

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Some day, I will hate like you hate

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Oct 31, 2023·edited Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

I'm in Ohio. I've heard a bit about this.

Every 17 goddamn minutes.

There's a commercial playing on the Roku app channels EVERY 17 GODDAMN MINUTES that features Governor Mike DeWhine and his wife, Fran.

They say that everywhere they go everyone asks them about Issue One. They took time and carefully studied the issue and here's what they found. Issue One does not prohibit post-birth abortions. This means that liberals can murder their babies up to and past the moment of their birth. Now we might argue that Issue One also doesn't prohibit eating babies with fava beans and a nice chianti, shoving firecrackers up baby butts to make exciting July 4th decorations or throwing babies underneath your spinning tires to provide traction when you're stuck in the snow. All the more reason to vote against it say Republicans.

The DeWhines look horrible. The corruption is writ large on their faces. I get the feeling advertising is cheap on those Roku stations. I get a sense Republicans know they're fucked on this deal. They're just going through the motions. Churning the ad buys to keep the consultants happy.

The best part is Issue 2 piggybacking to hopeful victory on issue 1. Legal weed. Just like God had in the Garden of Eden. Weed is proof that God loves us and She wants us to be happy. This is so obvious. I'm surprised churches aren't behind legal weed.

Great column- Thanks!

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

"Liberals want to abort babies right up to the moment of birth, and even after" strikes me as a highly effective argument for people who have already drunk the Jesus Kool-Aide. For normal people, maybe not so much.

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Birth is an abortion, if u think about....

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Must I?

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author

You may have something there! If you really loved your fetus, why allow it to emrrge into this world of sin and toil?

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Git back in there! Didn't I give you a proper pre-fetchins up?!

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Back in the sac!

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Is this a variation on the "keeping your knees together" option the fundies love so much?

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I'm gonna toss this right here and predict that only SteveB will understand:

"Let's Kanock Kanees!"

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Oct 31, 2023·edited Oct 31, 2023

A musical number that teaches us that Edward Everett Horton has the thighs of an Olympic hurdler (never saw him in shorts before that and YOWZA)

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It's just makes theological sense. I'll refer you all to "De miseria humanae condicionis " by Cardinal Lotario del Segni, later Pope Innocent III (ca. 1180s). Which is a long screed about how women & babies are grossy-gross, so therefore u should join a monastery...

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Sounds like Innocent preferred the plumbing that God gave to boys.

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Pope Not-so-Innocent?

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He clearly never took a ball to the gonads

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After which most of us will burn in hell.

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I can put up with the sin. I'm partial to quite a bit of it !

Fuck a bunch of toil, though.

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While boys and gods go out for fun

A woman's work is never done

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Going through the birth canal is what gives babies original sin

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How many locks ya gotta navigate to get thru that canal?

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Well, if you are David French's kid, just the one on Mom's chastity belt

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Jesus said don't be pregnant at the second coming or he would abort those foeti

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One coming should be enough for any willing-and-able woman, you'd think...

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Also, why didn't he get the point after the locals' reaction to his first coming? I mean, there's plenty other places to visit – why push it, ya know?

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Ah yes, the nefarious post-birth abortion, otherwise known as murder. I'm no lawyer, but I believe there's already a word or two in the criminal code to address murder...

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The only other commercial I've seen is some white lady who makes the point to tell us that she's pro-choice but when she found out they can murder little babies like nobody's business, why, she changed your mind and voted against issue one because it just goes too far. Jesus wouldn't like it. Something else I found out- All that lying Bullshit being bandied about at 17 minute intervals - turns out Jesus called it" bearing false witness "and he had a pretty big rule against it.

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This sorta relates to yesterday's topic, that young people today don't exactly snap to attention when they hear the words "Jesus commands." Possibly because of a lifetime of seeing obvious hucksters using Jesus to sell everything from Donald Trump to Jim Bakker's Big Bucket of Survivalist Dried Pea Soup. Tends to put you off people who loudly proclaim their love of Jesus, and maybe even puts you off Jesus himself, poor guy.

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Big Bucket of Moldy Survivalist Dried Pea Soup, I am given to understand.

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Why do you hate Jesus?

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He was a nepo player – scrapin' by on Felipe and Matty's coattails...

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We the nation have been bearing up under the False-Witness-in-Chief for several years now – is this train hellbound yet?

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"I find this witness to not be credible" is putting it mildly.

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They think bearing false witness only relates to your co-religionists. To anyone else it's all Cole Porter

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S'Wonderful!

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It's delovely

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delyin?

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2 marks for reprising the hot mess for us outta-staters.

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Another Ohioan here. With all the dirty tricks the Republicans are desperately throwing at the wall to try to defeat Issue 1, I'm already wondering what their next play will be after Issue 1 (hopefully, I'm not counting my chickens yet) passes. They won't be able to just drop it after riling up their base with lies about baby killing and kids being able to get gender affirmation surgery without parental permission. They're either going to find a way to challenge the constitutional amendment, or they're going to redirect the rage in some other horrible, hurtful way. You're absolutely right, Roy. It's about democracy. Here's hoping we get legal weed to help us through whatever's coming next.

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Oh, they will simply forget about all the horrible things they said would happen. It will never be dropped however. What is it about constant vigilance again?

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Here I am, patiently waiting for the gay marriage to do all the America-destroying we were promised. If I have to wait much longer I'm going to demand to speak to a manager.

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Maybe they'll have to murder a few babies to prove that you can murder babies. Hey, whatever gets the job done.

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On one hand, we never said babies shouldn't expect to get their hair mussed. On the other hand, babies don't usually have much hair. It's a conundrum.

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Tricky.

2 marks anyway.

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You mean by means other than the usual one of denying their mothers needed maternity care?

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I hate to see them get their way, but I'll be honest, I'm pulling for The Rapture.

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I admit I read that initially as Rupture and was totally on board either way.

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I have the answer. Let's compromise! Abortion will be allowed, but only before birth.

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Well, there are a few people I would dearly love to abort more than 70 years after they exited the birth canal, but I'm a reasonable man so I'll accept your compromise.

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I was back for a visit a couple of weeks ago, on the blood-red side of Cincinnati. Saw 1 (one) YES sign. Also witnessed the deWhines' ad as well as a YES ad made by a man of the cloth which seemed pretty good (something about keeping government out of family health decisions; good buzzwords for Buckeyes). Not sure Roku was running them 1:1 but was glad pro-choice seemed to be in the game. But maybe because of the environment I have a bad feeling about this. The wording of Issue 1 is not the best ("unborn child" rather than fetus) and Ohio is Catholic Church territory. So... actually kinda worried.

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Here’s hoping Ohio sane people pull it off. The ads write themselves as in Kentucky’s governor’s race, so maybe Dems can take over the Federal government, or what’s left of it, in 2024. What they’ll do if they catch that car, who can say? Packing the Court, dumping the 60 vote Senate rule for starters, I hope. Meanwhile, the NYT and WaPo have decided that single women voters won’t save Biden because now young leftists and Muslim Americans hate him for embracing Israel. No doubt they’ll be turning out for Trump or RFKj or Cornel West (the NYT crossword included West as an answer so he’s bound to win).

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

"dumping the 60 vote Senate rule for starters"

Oh, you make my heart go pitter-pat, but please allow me to introduce you to Mr. Chuck Schumer.

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That's peanuts. Senators for all, and oh by the way Representatives for every, say, 25000 residents. If you say "Horrors, No! the Capitol's too small!" I reply "I think you're gonna need a bigger brain."*

*There are states that have more equitable representation by their senators than by their members of congress. Some nations are simply too stupid to survive.

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Dear Mr. Deace: Have you considered that there may be reasons why single women vote in droves against Republicans every year? Sincerely, A Single Woman

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Oct 31, 2023·edited Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Also, Mr. Dunce... er, excuse me, Deace: Yes, "single women vote in droves against Republicans every year" but have you considered what happens in a country with [inexplicably] close elections when the droves get even 5% bigger? Think on that, and then please don't get back to me, thanks.

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Nothing to see here – drove on, drove on...

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Take a break Drover 8

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Single women vote against Republicans because they’re ugly bitter man-hating cat-smelling hags, not for any legitimate policy disagreement. Don’t they understand we love them?

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

The Hippie Chick Pie Wagons having their revenge. Again.

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I know, right? That’s why their consent to be governed by us white male elders is unnecessary.

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Young single woman uses Tik-Tok to share her plans for a Saturday afternoon, right-wing internet loses its Goddamn mind:

https://www.readtpa.com/p/social-media-social-etiquette

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She's right – it's all about the shakshuka. But it is also feasible that she could make shakshuka with 6 little rugrats around, so her entire argument falls apart under the tremendous weight of maliciously clueless, ineffectual deadbeats with literally nothing else to do.

I subscribe to Improper Fetchins Up Illustrated, in case you were wondering...

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If America cannot come together, even over a shared love of shakshuka, then things are worse than I thought.

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STOP EGGING THEM ON!!

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This rightwing freak out was an absolutely textbook example of "who the fuck asked you."

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But there she was! Being a woman! Right out there in public!

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And she was speaking! I see your point, it was clearly a deliberate provocation.

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Somewhere, a man has something to say. Is it too much to ask her to suspend her womanly blatherings until all men have been heard from? Some people just don't know how to wait their turn.

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Fucking hell, Claire. For a minute I was thinking we needed a goddamn exorcist in here 🤣

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UBMHCSHs Unite!

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2 marks for the lot a yins!

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Re: “those broads just don’t like us trolling.” Was this really only 12 years ago? Feels like a different life

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh%E2%80%93Sandra_Fluke_controversy

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

But it was so much FUN, calling a female law student a slut because she dared to testify before Congress, just fuckin' around, you know? Nobody told me there'd be a "finding out" phase to this.

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Women famously are not funny.

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Ha!

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I'm guessing many right-wing men have experienced a particular form of female humor known as "pointing and laughing" and they were not amused by this AT ALL.

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

The very public transition of the GOP from anti-Democrat to anti-democracy is complete.

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

They Don't Want To Govern, They Want To Rule, A Continuing Series

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

Give each one of them a little scepter to wave while they sit on their throne, I won't tell them it's a toilet brush if you won't.

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Coincidentally, we are just back from Cape May, where among other things we attended a lecture about albatrosses by Peter Harrison, author of Seabirds: The New Identification Guide. It was rollicking.

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Is that now hung around your neck?

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Nah – I'm just dressing up in drag and trying to pawn it off to the punters at the theater during intermission.

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You're a cheap date.

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You have NOOOO idea...

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso

This single woman screams at abortion protesters every Saturday morning at Planned Parenthood, followed on Sundays by picketing the churches that we're able to ferret out their membership at, just to give them a taste of their own medicine. Also, just like the feminist-haters say we all do, I weigh 300 pounds and live alone with several cats instead of the children I never had. The good thing about being a 300 pound single woman is that I can vote in droves all by myself ;)

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2 marks, at least. I'll play "Huggin' and a Chalkin' "* in your honor.

*OK, maybe not Hoagy's finest work...

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Interesting. I hope you are right. I live in a rural country in SE Ohio and that county went just the opposite as the rest of the state on the super majority amendment, so I do hope that I'm not getting a good feel for what is actually going on in this election. We all do what we can I guess.

And now for something sort of different. The Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting article on the Federal Theater Project, concentrating on the play "It Can't Happen Here" made from Sinclair Lewis' novel. An interesting and in the end sad read.

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How can someone who sincerely believes in Original Sin truly believe in democracy?

…at least when their theology lets them believe that the Holy Spirit would help the Church or the Elect to do a better job?

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I'm the last person to ask on this, but doesn't the Bible have some shit in it (I know, I know) about how you should obey WHOEVER is King, no matter what they do, because it's GOD that put them on the throne? So yeah, not exactly democracy-friendly (also interesting how American Christian Fundamentalists don't ever apply this principle to one Joseph Robinette Biden.)

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Nov 1, 2023·edited Nov 1, 2023

There are Christians who respect that scripture who take it to mean that to apply to the established government of whatever stripe. Others start wondering what they owe Caesar and the LORD, respectively.

The Christians of whom you write are the same persons who interpret 'Be not in conformity with this world.' to mean 'Force this world to be in conformity with you.'.

(One of the sages of the Talmud (Pirkei Avos 3:2): 'Pray for the welfare of the government, for if not for the fear of it, people would devour their friends alive.' It is against Jewish law to break the laws of your country, but there are exceptions if the government demands you worship an idol, not circumcise your son, or commit murder or adultery.)

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I know it's colloquial, but I don't think these people are lunatics, but rather they're otherwise-good people who believe bad things (embryonic and early-foetal personhood, the 'traditional' female rôle as happy destiny) and are especially dangerous thereby and bad people who know the cultural Ley Lines to power.

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Agree about the categories. Ever'body got (from somewhere) their own (sometimes twisted) ideas.

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Steve Deace. That nasty, fat little fuck. He's from Des Moines. WHO, our longtime right-wing mega/maga radio station put him on the air bookending Rush Limbaugh's show way back when. At least Rushbo is dead.

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