Even if Biden wins, it doesn’t matter.

What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Again...I wish I had the “informative rating back.

We have gone from a society where we had a socially agreed upon code of behavior, called manners, that laid out how we were expected to behave - to a society where anything goes in the name of free speech, where we have a right to offend and by consequence a right to not be offended. I don’t know how you fix that.
You fix it by getting rid of the ignore on this site to begin with. If someone is so easily offended then they should leave this site or have the MODs ban the person they are offended by. Echo chambers don’t work. We have gone at one another pretty heavily and yet I would never even consider putting you on ignore.
 
The gulf is too wide between the ideologies.
That is what I fear....but there have to be some commonalities on which to build a bridge or we are doomed.

What bridges do you need to build.

Frankly, I want nothing to do with you.

The constitution accords us protections you want to take away.

Leave those in place and we are fine.

Try to take those away....and be ready for ugliness.

I don't need bridges via politics.

That is outside of the scope of politics.

I just need protection from assholes like Camel-A Harris and AOC.
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Again...I wish I had the “informative rating back.

We have gone from a society where we had a socially agreed upon code of behavior, called manners, that laid out how we were expected to behave - to a society where anything goes in the name of free speech, where we have a right to offend and by consequence a right to not be offended. I don’t know how you fix that.
You fix it by getting rid of the ignore on this site to begin with. If someone is so easily offended then they should leave this site or have the MODs ban the person they are offended by. Echo chambers don’t work. We have gone at one another pretty heavily and yet I would never even consider putting you on ignore.
Well that one is out of my control.
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Again...I wish I had the “informative rating back.

We have gone from a society where we had a socially agreed upon code of behavior, called manners, that laid out how we were expected to behave - to a society where anything goes in the name of free speech, where we have a right to offend and by consequence a right to not be offended. I don’t know how you fix that.
You fix it by getting rid of the ignore on this site to begin with. If someone is so easily offended then they should leave this site or have the MODs ban the person they are offended by. Echo chambers don’t work. We have gone at one another pretty heavily and yet I would never even consider putting you on ignore.
Well that one is out of my control.
I am not saying literally do it but options like that just lead to more problems. We have to start somewhere. I am very honest with my kids and I tell them what I said here. Do your best not to be offensive and do even better if possible not to be offended. Despite what the media tells you, everyone in America is born with equal rights.
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Again...I wish I had the “informative rating back.

We have gone from a society where we had a socially agreed upon code of behavior, called manners, that laid out how we were expected to behave - to a society where anything goes in the name of free speech, where we have a right to offend and by consequence a right to not be offended. I don’t know how you fix that.
I don't know I just went out for smokes a big black guy passed me up and said how you doing brother, I responded in kind, went to a Japanese steakhouse today and everyone was polite, life moves on.
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
There need to be consequences for stupid actions. You burn my business I get to punch you in the face. 30 yrs ago when I was in elementary school there would be fights daily. No one got suspended and parents weren’t called. Now a kid mocks another kids shirt and it’s bullying....we’re raising pussies. And then we wonder why when they grow up they are easily offended and burn shit down.
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
There need to be consequences for stupid actions. You burn my business I get to punch you in the face. 30 yrs ago when I was in elementary school there would be fights daily. No one got suspended and parents weren’t called. Now a kid mocks another kids shirt and it’s bullying....we’re raising pussies. And then we wonder why when they grow up they are easily offended and burn shit down.

Oh trust me I know, I've had to deal numerous times at schools because some snowflake kid crossed boundaries and received a lesson.
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
There need to be consequences for stupid actions. You burn my business I get to punch you in the face. 30 yrs ago when I was in elementary school there would be fights daily. No one got suspended and parents weren’t called. Now a kid mocks another kids shirt and it’s bullying....we’re raising pussies. And then we wonder why when they grow up they are easily offended and burn shit down.
Exactly, now they can punch someone out and run to the teacher and say it was their fault. Back in our time we would get in a fist fight and then sit back in detention and become friends.
 
What's changed? Could it be democrats legalising hard drugs, supporting pedophilla, taking hard earned money to give to illegals and never do wells, demanding Christians bow down to perversions, burning and looting at every given chance, defunding those that keep us safe, etc!

Yeah shit changed....not for the better for sure
No one supports pedo. My own hard earned money goes to support Christian groups Whether I want to or not. Nor do I or anyone I know support burning and looting or engage in it.
Nonsense, we see the news stories and the links, the arrests. The left supports all manner of perversity including pedophiles. Did I mention hollywood?

Disagree. I see support for underage marriage coming from the right for example (remember Duck Dynasty?). What adults do with other adults is their business. As a leftist, I strongly support protecting children, having a legal marriage age where children aren't marrying children, but finishing their education instead. That's my leftist thinking.


YOU OBV HAVENT SEEN 10 MIN VIDEO COMPILATION OF BIDEN TOUCHING AND SNIFFING LITTLE GIRLS?
Sure she has, she approves of it.
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
There need to be consequences for stupid actions. You burn my business I get to punch you in the face. 30 yrs ago when I was in elementary school there would be fights daily. No one got suspended and parents weren’t called. Now a kid mocks another kids shirt and it’s bullying....we’re raising pussies. And then we wonder why when they grow up they are easily offended and burn shit down.

Oh trust me I know, I've had to deal numerous times at schools because some snowflake kid crossed boundaries and received a lesson.
We had stay at home mom's also who would call the neighborhood mom's up, I remember one time I had brass knuckles threatening to beat this kid up, boy when his mom called my mom I sure got a whipping..

And then my dad took me to the cops, and the cop explained to me what a misdemeanor was.. I think I was 14
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
There need to be consequences for stupid actions. You burn my business I get to punch you in the face. 30 yrs ago when I was in elementary school there would be fights daily. No one got suspended and parents weren’t called. Now a kid mocks another kids shirt and it’s bullying....we’re raising pussies. And then we wonder why when they grow up they are easily offended and burn shit down.

Oh trust me I know, I've had to deal numerous times at schools because some snowflake kid crossed boundaries and received a lesson.
We had stay at home mom's also who would call the neighborhood mom's up, I remember one time I had brass knuckles threatening to beat this kid up, boy when his mom called my mom I sure got a whipping..

And then my dad took me to the cops, and the cop explained to me what a misdemeanor was.. I think I was 14

I got called to school once, a kid touched our daughter inappropriate and she beat the crap out of him

Listened, nodded and asked what's the problem? She was never given punishment
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
There need to be consequences for stupid actions. You burn my business I get to punch you in the face. 30 yrs ago when I was in elementary school there would be fights daily. No one got suspended and parents weren’t called. Now a kid mocks another kids shirt and it’s bullying....we’re raising pussies. And then we wonder why when they grow up they are easily offended and burn shit down.

Oh trust me I know, I've had to deal numerous times at schools because some snowflake kid crossed boundaries and received a lesson.
We had stay at home mom's also who would call the neighborhood mom's up, I remember one time I had brass knuckles threatening to beat this kid up, boy when his mom called my mom I sure got a whipping..

And then my dad took me to the cops, and the cop explained to me what a misdemeanor was.. I think I was 14

I got called to school once, a kid touched our daughter inappropriate and she beat the crap out of him

Listened, nodded and asked what's the problem? She was never given punishment
Actions have consequences. Excellent
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
There need to be consequences for stupid actions. You burn my business I get to punch you in the face. 30 yrs ago when I was in elementary school there would be fights daily. No one got suspended and parents weren’t called. Now a kid mocks another kids shirt and it’s bullying....we’re raising pussies. And then we wonder why when they grow up they are easily offended and burn shit down.

Oh trust me I know, I've had to deal numerous times at schools because some snowflake kid crossed boundaries and received a lesson.
We had stay at home mom's also who would call the neighborhood mom's up, I remember one time I had brass knuckles threatening to beat this kid up, boy when his mom called my mom I sure got a whipping..

And then my dad took me to the cops, and the cop explained to me what a misdemeanor was.. I think I was 14

I got called to school once, a kid touched our daughter inappropriate and she beat the crap out of him

Listened, nodded and asked what's the problem? She was never given punishment
Actions have consequences. Excellent

The kid's father actually came to our home with the kid and made him apologize. Huge points and a lesson learned hopefully
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
There need to be consequences for stupid actions. You burn my business I get to punch you in the face. 30 yrs ago when I was in elementary school there would be fights daily. No one got suspended and parents weren’t called. Now a kid mocks another kids shirt and it’s bullying....we’re raising pussies. And then we wonder why when they grow up they are easily offended and burn shit down.

Oh trust me I know, I've had to deal numerous times at schools because some snowflake kid crossed boundaries and received a lesson.
We had stay at home mom's also who would call the neighborhood mom's up, I remember one time I had brass knuckles threatening to beat this kid up, boy when his mom called my mom I sure got a whipping..

And then my dad took me to the cops, and the cop explained to me what a misdemeanor was.. I think I was 14

I got called to school once, a kid touched our daughter inappropriate and she beat the crap out of him

Listened, nodded and asked what's the problem? She was never given punishment
Actions have consequences. Excellent

The kid's father actually came to our home with the kid and made him apologize. Huge points and a lesson learned hopefully
How it should be.
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
There need to be consequences for stupid actions. You burn my business I get to punch you in the face. 30 yrs ago when I was in elementary school there would be fights daily. No one got suspended and parents weren’t called. Now a kid mocks another kids shirt and it’s bullying....we’re raising pussies. And then we wonder why when they grow up they are easily offended and burn shit down.

Oh trust me I know, I've had to deal numerous times at schools because some snowflake kid crossed boundaries and received a lesson.
We had stay at home mom's also who would call the neighborhood mom's up, I remember one time I had brass knuckles threatening to beat this kid up, boy when his mom called my mom I sure got a whipping..

And then my dad took me to the cops, and the cop explained to me what a misdemeanor was.. I think I was 14

I got called to school once, a kid touched our daughter inappropriate and she beat the crap out of him

Listened, nodded and asked what's the problem? She was never given punishment
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?
If Democrats weren’t so easily offended and stopped telling me that trans girls are identical to biological girls then maybe we could have a civil discussion on how to better this country. Currently you and I can barely hold a civil discussion but you want the rest of the country to fall in line. Do explain how. Thanks.

I don’t think this is about anyone falling in line.
By fall in line I mean become civil toward one another.

You and I HAVE held civil conversations. So...where does change start?
It starts by taking people who disagree with you off ignore on this site. It starts with more listening and less talking. It starts with us trying our best not to be offensive but trying 10x harder not to be offended. Racial jokes are funny. Religious jokes are funny. Sex jokes are funny. Allow America to be funny again without feeling guilty about it. Lastly, it starts with the Left halting its divisive rhetoric that this country is systematically racist, was built on racism and taking down statues of our founding fathers.

Good start but it's deeper than that
Unless we get a start there is no middle or end.

The problem is neither wants a start.

It boggles my mind people lose jobs over some inane comments from years ago, businesses are forced into bankruptcy over personal beliefs, children are exposed to so called adult whims (see trannies in restrooms), etc, etc.

What the hell are we teaching children? If they don't get their way they can sue, burn and loot, even kill?

No thanks, the left keeps it up and it'll end badly
There need to be consequences for stupid actions. You burn my business I get to punch you in the face. 30 yrs ago when I was in elementary school there would be fights daily. No one got suspended and parents weren’t called. Now a kid mocks another kids shirt and it’s bullying....we’re raising pussies. And then we wonder why when they grow up they are easily offended and burn shit down.

Oh trust me I know, I've had to deal numerous times at schools because some snowflake kid crossed boundaries and received a lesson.
We had stay at home mom's also who would call the neighborhood mom's up, I remember one time I had brass knuckles threatening to beat this kid up, boy when his mom called my mom I sure got a whipping..

And then my dad took me to the cops, and the cop explained to me what a misdemeanor was.. I think I was 14

I got called to school once, a kid touched our daughter inappropriate and she beat the crap out of him

Listened, nodded and asked what's the problem? She was never given punishment
Actions have consequences. Excellent

The kid's father actually came to our home with the kid and made him apologize. Huge points and a lesson learned hopefully
Now we are talking white supremacists conservative, I guess when we had two parent homes.
 
What this election has told us, in multiple ways, is that our country has fundamentally changed and that breaks my heart.

The Republicans are entrenched. They are likely to retain control of the senate, added to their House, and retained state legislatures. They have the courts. They will control redistricting after the census and we can expect continued gerrymandering to further marginalize Democrat voting blocks, leading to more districts where a minority of the voters controls a majority of the seats. Not unique to Republicans, but increasingly utilized by them.

The Democrats have still, somehow missed the mark. Again. They can’t seem to get a message to the people that unifies. Maybe this is because Biden is not strong candidate, and Trump carries the power of the incumbency into the election. There are some bright spots, retaining seats in Texas, tight margins in some key red states.

If Trump wins, I see a further dismantling of our nation’s democratic infrastructure and a continued decline in our image and effectiveness abroad. I see complete politicization of our departments, from tiny VOA to DoJ, and entire civil service where personal loyalty is demanded over competency and professionalism. When Trump talks about reorganizing military leadership, is he attempting to politicize the military? I do not think this is hyperbole. We have been seeing this trend for four years, E.O. after E.O.

If Trump wins, and continues his assault on long established unwritten rules of behavior and social norms what will we see coming out of this? When society agrees to an unwritten set of norms and our leaders hold to it, our institutions function smoothly even with bumps and potholes. But when those potholes become so extreme they threaten the structure and people can no longer navigate, we are forced to create laws or rules we never thought would be needed. Example: media resorting to fact checking, because the volume of disinformation and political lies exceeds the ability of our society to handle, and it is coming from our leadership. I fear, if Trump is re-elected further attacks on truth, on facts, and on genuine journalism.

But Trump doesn’t need to win for this. It is already rolling down on us. If Biden wins, a huge segment of America voted for Trump. Huge! And that is dismaying and unsettling, to me, because I see this election as not about which candidate to elect, but as who we are as a country and who we want to be going forward.

If Biden wins, what, at best will happen? A rollback of EO’s? Competent people making decisions? Rebuilding the integrity and professionalism of our battered institutions: DoJ, State Department, EPA, CDC, VOA,....

If Trump wins, there is nothing to stop him from using his offfice to go after his “enemies“, every person who has ever criticized, spoken up, or gone against him and firing those who won’t do it. I think this, coming from the top of our leadership, is an existential crisis. If Biden wins....maybe the Republicans can create a better party, without Trump.

I read, somewhere, that an alarming number of people no longer feel democratic principles are so important, and that a strong (authoritarian) leader might even be preferred to the messiness and uncertainties of democratic systems. I'm trying to find links to this, because I wonder if it plays into sentiments driving our country today.

Trump won 2016 by very narrow margins. 2020 will be the same, who ever wins. Will the people win?

I have been saying this for years, Coyote. America as she once was, is now dead.
 

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