I’m reminded of a moment in the 70s show “The Odd Couple” when Oscar is dealing with babysitting a kid for an afternoon (it was something like that) and the kid remarks that there is a stain on Oscars carpet and Oscar says something like “No, I think that’s the original color” and the kid look disgusted at the implications of the entire carpet being a stain.
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Yes. Speaking from a Finnish point of view, there’s been a serious shift in how people conceive of America. W. was bad, very bad, but he was an ordinary sort of bad president, and his badness was more of a matter of quantity instead of quality. Especially with the election of Obama, a lot of people (myself included!) were willing to see him as an error or an aberration, a manifestation of American politics going mad with fear over 9/11 attacks.
But then America elected Trump: a man with absolutely no political experience, and of no substance; a man blatantly and obviously unfit for the job; a washed-up businessman and a reality TV star that deliberately spoke to and appealed to the worst aspects of America. And now we’re facing the ugly reality that America can no longer be trusted or relied upon. Trump lashes out at America’s out allies, threatens to drop out of long-standing treaties without warning, starts trade wars with America’s trading partners, sucks up to dictators and would-be dictators, and generally flails around erratically and without a clue… and the Republican party supports and shields him, and the odds of him being re-elected even after everything he’s said and done are frighteningly high.
It’s going to take generations of sane, reasonable, reliable behavior from the USA before the memory of Trump ceases to haunt everyone else.
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Hence my reason for just phrasing my comments straight up; the Onion used to be an obvious farcical take on some of the unpleasant aspects of reality… now sadly it seems that reality itself has become some sort of tragic farce.
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Everything you’ve said is what I’ve always imagined most intelligent people outside of the US are thinking, but have never seen it summed up so succinctly and comprehensively.
But, hear me out: once is chance, twice is coincidence, third time is a pattern. You really do have to wait for America to elect a third supremely awful executive before you count it out. We’re still on “coincidence”!
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True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.
— Dr Martin Luther King, Jr
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And keep in mind that all mentions of atrocities involving the border or treatment of undocuments only serve to bring a contented smile to the likes of Trump and Stephen Miller and Steve King: they know that The Conservative Base love hearing how Trump is “hanging tough” on border issues. That is, you cannot shame them, in any way: he fired Kirstjen Nielsen because she wasn’t “tough” enough.
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Please at least scan the article before posting.
Indeed. Upon reading the headline I was prepared to disagree with the post. But I took the time to read the post and discoved it was satire before posting.
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Satire is not satire if it is not based on hard uncomfortable realities and human follies, and hard uncomfortable realities and human follies can – quite understandably – be depressing and exasperating.
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Civil? I can do civil.
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Alternatively, once was Reagan 
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[quote=“LurksNoMore, post:23, topic:146902”]
But then America elected Trump: a man with absolutely no political experience, and of no substance; a man blatantly and obviously unfit for the job; a washed-up businessman and a reality TV star that deliberately spoke to and appealed to the worst aspects of America. And now we’re facing the ugly reality that America can no longer be trusted or relied upon.
[/quote]I would argue that “the System” is setup to block competent candidates who have a conscience. During the last election we had the choice of Mrs. Warmonger who used to talk about the young “black superpredators” and now about “the deplorables” and Mr. Delusions of Competency, a legend in his own mind, who has a very malleable view of the truth or even facts.
It became a choice of the lesser evil as neither was any good. Personally, I am hoping for Sanders, Gabbard, or Warren to succeed, but as they are all reformers who are against the American war on everything and/or the neoliberal corruption and the continuing impoverishment of the poor by the wealthy, I expect either some election rigging by the Democrats, a sudden “illness” to happen, or a mysterious collection of child porn to just appear on their personal computer, if any of the three were to win.
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Sadly, this is a truth that very few people realize or understand.
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The BBS is for discussion. Sometimes the topic in general is discussed instead of the article. It’s still on topic.
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The Trump era has basically destroyed my ability to appreciate and enjoy satire. It just cuts way too close to reality to be even remotely funny.
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Can I live in your world? It seems much nicer than mine.
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Sometimes people need to remember that Keep Calm And Carry On doesn’t always work, and we need to Raise Hell And Break Shit instead.
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Aye; as much as they may be my forte, mere mockery and pithy snark won’t save us from the appalling rise of fascism and institutionalized hatred, here and throughout the world.
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I was hoping this would be some thoughtful advice on how to deftly maneuver around whale sized egos, or safely circumvent terrifying vistas of cognitive dissonance.
Cause I’m having SIGNIFICANT trouble not absolutley losing my shit on the office proudboy incel every time he tries to bring up current events.
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