MerryJaneDoe

A person can be smart. “People” are not. Groupthink changes a person, especially when tribalism is involved. The masses are easily led by “us vs. them” narratives.

“It’s not a war.”

“The war will be over in a few days.”

“Maybe…conscription?”

Either they have no idea what they are doing or they are just plain evil. There is no middle ground.

it would probably also disproportionately affect poor Republicans

If MAGA thought that it would be a disadvantage to their voter base, they would not be pushing for it.

I don’t think mass media is brainwashing people, because I don’t think they’re making them adopt new beliefs.

And where did those beliefs originate?

I don’t trust people to do this anymore.

What do you mean “anymore”? My whole point is that everything you are seeing is normal. The misdirection, the fake news, the corruption. It’s always been there. The difference today is that information travels much, much faster than it used to.

My takeaway from this article:

The city manager makes $400k/year.

If our leaders want to live an upper-class lifestyle, they need to deliver stability to the middle-class. Dude, you don’t get paid to sit on your ass. Work this shit out, water is fucking important.

Ultimately, who is responsible for the content on the platform? Who should be held accountable for shit content? How much privacy are YOU willing to give up in order to ensure that only verified biological humans are on your platform of choice? There’s no good answer here, except that maybe we put too much faith in social media and minimized all the ways it touches our lives.

The snake is eating itself. Can’t trust Amazon sellers, Google reviews, YouTube videos. Can’t trust that there’s a real person behind that social media profile. Don’t know if the how-to guide was created by a trusted professional or a random ChatGPT subscriber.

Growing pains of the Information Age. Two steps forward, three steps back.

So annoying, right? Like, just SO annoying!

…

Ok, fine, whatever, yeah, that’s me. Sorry. But you really SHOULD add cheese to it.

It’s all the same.

Listen to the wise words of Dwight D. Eisenhower, maybe the last sane president of the U.S.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg-jvHynP9Y

This man was a general in WWII, a military man and a patriot. He warned that perpetual war would be the result of the “military industrial complex” America had built.

He was right. It never ends. We are at peace with our neighbors to the north and south, have an ocean between us and our nearest rival, yet somehow this nation is always at war.

“Salt. I hear so much about salt. I tried a heaping spoonful and it was nasty. What am I doing wrong?”

Same energy, my friend. This is why cooking is such an amazing skill. You can take 10 things that aren’t particularly tasty, and create something amazing.

“There was no brainwashing…”

Define brainwashing. Tell me why a farmer who lives 3,000 miles away from NYC should be emotionally affected by 9/11, but not by the countless other injustices in the world. How else do you define mass media if not “brainwashing”?

“Dumb and uneducated” is the same thing as brain-washed.

It’s not accidental.

In fairness, Bush’s rating declined steadily after 9/11, and was in the mid 50s when he asked Congress for a formal declaration of war in Iraq.

And that makes sense - Americans rallied in the days following the attack. Bush played his role perfectly. He was very presidential after 9/11. He was serious. Somber. He mourned and offered consolation. He was dignified.

The Trump administration missed a crucial step in starting a war. He forgot that Americans hate wars of choice - and especially when the gas prices are affected.

It’s been relevant since the Crusades.

But, in contemporary history, it’s been relevant since Regan. Google “Moral Majority”.

The only way to get to the truth is to listen to everyone’s bullshit narratives and try to pick out the grain of truth in each. This has always been the case, throughout human history.

This has always been the case. This is what America has always been. I’m honestly shocked that so many people are shocked.

The MAGA idiots that voted for Trump still support Trump. My neighbor is overjoyed that we are at war. I’ve never been so disgusted by a boomer’s behavior.

My other idiot boomer friend is not MAGA, but he is Republican. And he will continue to vote Republican, even though he hates Trump.

They never learn. It’s always “well, next time it’ll be different”. And, in that respect, they are exactly like Democrats.

I think people set the bar too high for shower sex - and, generally, for sex in weird locations.

It’s not about having a mind-blowing orgasm, or even about climaxing. It’s about the sensuality. Your body slick with soap and water, grinding against your lover. Soaping each other up, rubbing against one another, giggling and groping.

Stop trying to finish your business on porcelain - you’ll hurt yourself! Retire to the bedroom and finish properly!

Guys literally want one thing.

Reclaim patriotism. Republicans love to wrap themselves in the flag, progressives need to do the same thing. It’s just a piece of the whole, but seeing pics of the LA protests with Mexican flags flying - that doesn’t help bring American voters to a cause.