I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
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♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
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Betrayal, yes, I was the one who shared how much I LOVED "A Place to Call Home"--and I'm so glad you found it and it eased the past months for you! I wish I'd not seen it so I could watch it again! Actually I did just that--watched the whole thing over again.....just as good the second time around. And I re-viewed some key episodes......I so hated Regina--then felt really moved by her actions in the end.... a great story in every sense!
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I'm savoring picturing Trump in the White House these days...
I think of how his large, cocky self pranced and strutted and bad-danced on those rally stages, so confident he was gonna be a shoe-in the second time around, only to get the boot instead.
I think of the regime he set up, the minions he got to join him, the whole nine-yards of "empire building" he worked at for four plus years, his insatiable ego fed by those who follow him.
What satisfaction can he get from being "loved" by those you know he considers ignorant, stupid, beneath him, who love him blindly?
The only satisfaction for him was getting their vote.
And they were out-voted.
Now his domain is shot with holes. Eroded around him. Ten days ago the White House might as well have burned to a crisp, Trump inside it.......
At first I was sorry that we'd have to endure him for seventy-odd days.
Now I'm savoring it.
He's pinned there.
Like a dart stuck in a dart board.....
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OK, this made me laugh. I have to share it....
I was in the process of wrapping fresh chicken breasts in plastic wrap before sticking them in the freezer. Halfway through, the plastic wrap ran out. I grabbed a new box.
Sadly, I saw that the directions for setting up the new cutter box were not only in tiny white letters on a orangey-red background, some trailed over the wrinkly cardboard edge and were indecipherable; I'd have to imagine them. I dug out my magnifying glass and readers and proceeded to read what to do, step by step.....
Midway, I had to stop and go "Huh? I do WHAT?"
It took a while but I finally figured it out---fold this, push that, wrap this, etc---all the while thinking Who WRITES this stuff?
They really should re-do these instructions, then put a selling point on the front of the box in BIG BOLD LETTERS:
"INSTRUCTIONS EASY TO UNDERSTAND! TAKE NO MORE BRAINS THAN THOSE OF THE AVERAGE TRUMP VOTER!"
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WHOOOOO-EEEEEEEEE!
IT'S HAPPY DANCE TIME!
(PANTALOON, DOING HER HAPPY DANCE THE DAY I BROUGHT HER HOME...)
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Where they got it wrong: The brain-dead voted for Trump.
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Hot damn, Arizona! Hey won’t cha go myyyy way?!
And you did
Shake yo’ boo-tay, Pantaloon-ay!
Woot! Woot!
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The following article is long but makes observations I think many of us here will find interesting, so I’m posting the whole thing:
I've spent 4+ years trying to understand Trump supporters. I'm all done now.
By Annie ReneauMany Americans had been hoping for an overwhelming Biden landslide win in this election. Not just the clear majority victory that it turned out to be, but a full-on tsunami that would thoroughly wash away the stain of Trumpism from America forever.
That didn't happen. And we really shouldn't be surprised by that.
As in 2016, there's a push in the social discourse to try to understand why 71 million Americans thought Donald Trump was a better choice than Joe BIden. (Cue the thousandth media interview with a rural, small-town American.) But Trumpism isn't that hard to understand. It's multi-faceted and multi-layered, but it's not complicated. In fact, simplicity is one of its key features, which I'll explain in a minute.
I am going to speak frankly and somewhat forcefully about my fellow Americans here, but first I want to be clear about my perspective. I am a political independent who would best be described as "leaning left," though I hate those kinds of labels. I have always voted for both Democrats and Republicans, including on my own state's ballot in this election. The only real passion I have for politics is my disgust with our two-party system, so don't take my words here as toeing some partisan or ideological line.
I also believe there is a distinct disconnect between why Trump supporters thinkthey support him and why they actually do. I've spent four years listening to their reasoning. I've tried to make it make sense. And though entire books can and will be written about this, I've landed on what I see driving Trumpism the most.
Though partisanship certainly plays a role in his number of supporters, the support for Donald Trump isn't about political parties. Yes, there are people who will vote Republican even if they have to hold their nose or sell their soul to do so (same with some Democrats, I would assume). For some people, elections are all about one issue—usually abortion or taxes—so they vote Republican, but Trump hardly represents the traditional party identity.
I mean, let's be real here. Anyone who thinks a serial-adultering, porn star banging, pussy grabbing, charity student defrauding, non-church-going, faith-mocking, unrepenting man like Trump is a reflection of true conservative values is as delusional as he is. And anyone who thinks that a military-bashing, deficit-building, debt-ballooning grifter is a true Republican is fooling themselves. There's a reason why many lifelong Republicans rejected Trump from the beginning.
Despite appearances, Trumpism isn't about Republicans vs. Democrats. Political parties are merely weapons Trump wields in his battle for personal glory. After all, this is a man who changed his political party four times in less than three decades. He's not now and has never been about party.
No, Trump is about Trump. It's what he's always been about and will always be about. He is a textbook malignant narcissist, always and forever obsessed with what will serve his personal need for power, glory, and adulation.
The question then is, how did Trump get 70+ million voters to believe he's all about America or all about them? He did it the same way every demagogue with authoritarian tendencies throughout history has done it—by keeping the message painfully simple, appealing to people's basest human instincts, lying egregiously and relentlessly, and undermining people's faith in the real-world journalism and fact-checking that keep them from being sucked into his unreality.
Let's start with the messaging. Trump's gist is this: "The government is broken. I'm an outsider, but clearly a powerful one because I have money and fame. I alone can fix what's wrong. The problems are simple and are caused by [insert 'other' group—undocumented immigrants, Muslims, Democrats, long-time public servants, etc.] and the solutions are simple too [build the wall, ban them from the country, vote for me—I'll drain the swamp]. Yay, America!"
No matter how ridiculous that all sounds to many of us, there's a significant portion of the country who relish in such simplicity. We don't want to have to think about complicated problems or work through unclear solutions. Making things black and white, removing all the gray area and nuance and complexity from the issues, feels refreshing to a lot of people. It doesn't matter if it's based on falsehoods instead of facts. Keeping problems simple and making it seem like solutions are cut and dry makes people feel safe.
The problem is, in order to reach that simple, safe world, you have to appeal to people's prejudices and fears. People of every persuasion are easy prey for fear-mongering. Prejudices are common, fear is an easy instinct to manipulate, and Trump is shameless about combining the two. Scary caravans of immigrants. Scary Muslims coming in from scary Muslim countries. Scary gang members moving in next door. Scary poor people coming to live in your suburban neighborhood. Scary rioters. Scary ANTIFA.
I know there's some debate about exactly how racist Trump is, but we don't even have to quantify that. It's very clear that he utilizes and allows for racism when it suits his needs. Same with xenophobia. Same with partisan tribalism. Again, Trump is all about Trump. And pushing people's prejudice buttons, indicating when they should feel fear or enmity and then convincing them he'll keep them safe with his simple solution is a strategy that works.
One of the weirdest things for those of us outside of Trumpland, of course, is that it doesn't matter whether anything he says is true at all. His followers don't seem to care that he lies constantly and egregiously. I've heard some try to brush it off as "Oh, all politicians lie," but no, all politicians don't lie like Trump. Trump doesn't just stretch the truth or mislead by creative wording or omission like most politicians. Trump does the Big Lie thing, where if you say untrue things enough times and with enough conviction, people will believe you, even when what you say is verifiably false.
This part of Trumpism gets tricky, because in order for it to work, you have to also successfully discredit the people who hold politicians accountable and fact check them. Hence the outright dismissal of mainstream media. Hence the constant "Fake News!" drumbeat. Hence today's Twitter rampage against Fox News for actually reporting facts instead of constantly praising him. Hence the proliferation of right-wing news outlets that keep going further and further into conspiracy theory land.
Misinformation is Trump's engine and praise and flattery are Trump's fuel. The more he gets, the more he pushes the simple messaging and fear-mongering that give people the brain chemical releases they crave. (If you think people don't like having their fears triggered, there's an entire horror movie industry that disagrees with you.) And the more he gives people what they want, the more they give him what he wants—big crowds and rabid fandom and heaps and heaps of adulation. And so the cycle goes on, with Trump seeing himself in the thousands of faces in the crowd, which serve as narcissistic mirrors in which he sees his power and glory.
Which he then turns around and claims is all for them. And they believe him because at this point, his reality is their reality and real reality doesn't exist anymore.
Of course, not everyone has full-on fallen into the Trump cult. We can't discount the role that good old-fashioned self-interest plays in some people's decision. There are a whole lot of people who simply don't want to pay taxes, don't care who Trump's policies hurt, and think destroying the dignity of the office of the presidency is a small price to pay for filling their own pocketbook. There are also those who will put up with anything if they think it'll "own the libs."
So yeah. Trump's support is not hard to understand. Between playing on people's loyalties, prejudices and fears, and manipulating people with misinformation, Trump's demagoguery works the way it has always worked in other cultured countries throughout history. Americans are not immune to the psychological pull of a "Dear Leader" type—we're just incredibly lucky that this particular demagogue also happens to be an incompetent fool.
I know that Trump supporters will fall all over themselves trying to claim that I've gotten them all wrong here, but here's what they'll miss. If they genuinely believe that a known conman who has embarrassed the country on the world stage and whose pandemic oversight has caused countless American deaths is a truly a better choice than a man with more than four decades in government and who is personally well-liked on both sides of the aisle, then whatever they believe about either Biden or the Democrats is almost assuredly based on misinformation pushed in Trump's unreality.
At this point, you can't support Trump and be living in the same objective reality as the rest of humanity. You really can't. And if you are living in objective reality and chose him anyway? Sorry, but you need to search your soul to figure out what made you such an ass.
There's nothing more to be understood at this point.
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This Thanksgiving, Choose Love
By Connie Schultz
https://www.creators.com/read/connie-schultz/11/20/this-thanksgiving-choose-love
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This is from the above article, regarding the current administration's silence about the pandemic:
Dr. Emily Landon, executive medical director of infection prevention and control at the University of Chicago Medicine on the sudden, dramatic spike in COVID-19 infections and deaths: “This is a huge catastrophe. The number of people dying in the United States every day is like having three or four completely full planes crash to the ground and everyone die. Can you imagine if every night's news had three plane crashes, and it just kept happening every single day, and then it was four, and then it was five? No one would stand for that. I cannot imagine how anyone can turn a blind eye to this."
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If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us. -Jim Rohn
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Have to go back and read your entries Divine, which I'm sure I'll likely be in strong agreement with afterwards.
Also had to shout out to Trill. I'm a bit like you I think. Irritated that Trump is still in the WH after all the incredible damage to what it stands for and how reverent we mainly feel about this magnificent house that was indeed built by slaves. Partly is definitely knowing that Trump has so little appreciation for it all. If memory serves early on he said something to the effect it was a dump -- but those in the know I think got that stmt. erased for the most part. But like you I also feel that when he realizes he actually INTENDED full well to have the use of this DUMP ant the U.S. budget and tax monies, he is going to ( if it is possible with his damaged mental state ) going to have to deal with a bitter-sweet feeling in having to leave as a LOSER. I think he is bein quiet right now because he is plotting how to come out of this looking somehow better ( not real possible I don't think ) and I also think as others have said -- he will slink aways at Thanksgiving or X-mas and just not return. Then he can keep up his, I didn't lose charade, to a degree and not have to face a leave-taking that puts him on full international display.
I'm likely more upset with the Reps. who are still holding his tiny hand trying to soothe him so they don't lose his voters who will fade into the woodwork for the most part from whence they came, after they saw he would always cheer them on for their adoration and vote -- no matter how much disdain he really had for them. As for his 2024 run -- you can't do that from federal lock-up. One more little note Uday and Qsay would like for him to move through a real coup ( doubtful for the leader of the can't shoot straight gang ) while Ivanka wants him to concede ( even if almost silently ) so her brand is not ruined. What a BUNCH of rotten, stupid, misfits who never should have been near Washington D.C. or the WH. Bye Bye suckers and losers.
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Spookie, the story of the lesbian sheriff elected to Hamilton County in the Cincinnati area makes me think of the saying, “Change is incremental." It is so often how the political landscape evolves in the U.S., by “small, systematic steps provoking change over time."
I mentioned it earlier this year, but I was absolutely shocked, in a good way, in June when Wheeling, WV elected Rosemary Ketchum to their city council, making her the first openly transgender elected official in West Virginia. I live 45 minutes up river from Wheeling, and this is Trump country to the max. WV is Appalachian to the max and by that I mean rrredneck city. The state went twice for Trump and has a Republican governor. And yet. This was a small, yet significant shift in how voters even in WV can remain open-minded enough to decide who they think is the best candidate for office.
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I was quite surprised my local pro-Trump, Republican-owned newspaper ran this article on the editorial page a couple days ago:
Trumpism deflates into history
by Froma Harrop
When Pennsylvania was called, the world heard a quick boom, followed by the pffffffffft of a deflating presidency. Suddenly, the angry, paranoiac tweets that used to scare so many because, after all, Donald Trump was president, lost their menace.
The air was escaping even before Joe Biden was declared winner. Come Thursday evening, ABC, CBS and NBC felt free to cut away from Trump's rant about voter fraud "stealing" his reelection. The Trumpian power to dominate coverage was clearly fading.
Just weeks ago, the pro-Trump New York Post was peddling a crazy story about incriminating emails on a laptop allegedly owned by Biden's son Hunter and left at a computer repair shop. The shop owner later said he was legally blind and not quite sure that the man who left the mystery laptop was actually Hunter Biden. One of the writers who composed the Post story refused to put his name on it.
As soon as Trump lost, the tabloid dropped him faster than a boring headline. It published an editorial urging Trump to "stop the 'stolen election' rhetoric." The Post no longer had use for him. Sayonara.
Despite it being over, Trump family members continue to send out several email appeals a day for money. "Contribute ANY AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY to stand with your favorite President and to DEFEND the integrity of our Election." Send $5. Send $20. The grift goes on.
Think there's not a personality cult here? My favorite email purportedly came from Eric Trump. "My father wants to see a list of Official Election Defense Fund donors TODAY," he wrote. "Will he see YOUR NAME?"
Imagine the glory of having the great man acknowledge your puny existence.
And what is the fate of Trumpism? Can someone else lasso the populist passions Trump ignited and run with them for political gain? Certainly not anyone we can identify today. The cultural resentments – not all lacking some basis – will endure. But not every ambitious politician can whip up the public the way Trump could. As Republican pollster Frank Luntz points out, Trumpism was built around a person, not a philosophy.
Trump actively helping other Republican candidates seems unlikely. He's not one to do things for others.
Trump did have a genuine talent for oratory, for entertaining in the keep-repeating-the-line Vegas style. It sometimes sounded funny even when it wasn't. He was a genius at making himself the center of national conversation, prodding the public with electric shocks of outrageous claims whenever minds wandered elsewhere.
Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric have none of that flair. As much as the Trump fandom tried to weave fantasies of a Trump family dynasty, the kids are quite ordinary.
The big parade float that was Donald Trump cannot be reinflated in four years. For one thing, he's now a loser. Whereas others can overcome loss, Trump has crafted his whole mythology around some magical power to win. And in the cognitive department, he hasn't been aging well.
Trump will soon have to deal with his troubled real estate empire. He owes over $400 million, which comes due soon, and several properties are failing. The only business he made serious money in was show business, and his TV phenomenon, "The Apprentice," is done with.
Then there are his legal problems, notably investigations into possible tax fraud of major-league dimensions. And wait till his former advisers turn themselves loose with their memoirs. Suffice it to say, Trump will have distractions in the months and years to come.
Face it: This one-man show is about to close. If, as they say, journalism is the first draft of history, it's time for the second draft. Historians, take it away.
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DivineMrsM: great article that skillfully and insightfully dissects trump and his fanatics as to their driving forces. Sort of the same traits one would see in any fanatical autocrat such as Hitler, Mussolini, Putin, etc. None of these leaders have really demonstrated any degree of intellect since their bases require only simplistic solutions and they can provide that with lies, cunning and alacrity.
Trill1943: Loved the A Place to Call Home series and felt the same about Regina. She is such a talented actress. The lead female in the series, Marta Dusseldorp, has been featured in several other Aussie series and is brilliant in any role she plays. I will watch it again, and my willingness to do that speaks for itself.
IllinoisLady: I do hope that Trump leaves the WH and goes to Mar-a-Lago to never return. And then his next housing will be a federal prison where he will really feel the decor is not to his liking. I would imagine his dislike of the WH decor is due to the fact that it is not over the top glitz like one would see in a casino and instead reflects tradition, genuine good taste and the low key, tasteful decorum befitting the "palace of presidents".
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Always looking for DVD to check out from library since no TV. Just requested "A Place to Call Home". First search funny - hits for a place to call home, baby elephants...giraffs.... penguines.... etc. So narrowed the search. Also, the posts above remind me to call my reps. Called 2 already, 2 more to go. Not that it does any good, especially the ones I saved for last. But if they track who called and about what and others ask for this information, maybe it will be more damning information that they do not represent, but rule.
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Ahhhhh...... a much needed breath of fresh air is coming into the WH in Jan. with Biden. Now if we could just get rid of that spikey bitch Pelosi, we could really clear the old stale air!
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Kinda curious why you would say something so derogatory about about the most effective Speaker of the House in US history? Spikey bitch? Really? Talk about sexist.
Not only was she the first Female Speaker, she has passed more legislation than anyone ever. The only reason Obama got anything done was because of Pelosi. And she and Biden will work really well together. Whatever he wants legislatively, she'll find a way to deliver.
While I would like to see her start training someone younger, like Katie Porter or Eric Swallwell, to take her place, don't ever underestimate her ability to get things done.
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Ddfair,
I live in a congressional district neighboring Ms. Pelosi’s. May I ask why the name calling? She is generally well regarded by her constituents and I for one am glad that she was chosen as speaker during the trump debacle
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Finally, FINALLY Georgia was called for Biden by WaPo. Get that icky thing out of the WH and his icky family with him.
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