Sometimes I regret, just a little, that there are no Trump supporters in my family. Sometimes I’d relish having the opportunity to get in (and punch) the face of a Nazi.
Believe me you don’t want that. Early on in trumps first campaign I lost my older brother that was once my hero, three tour Vietnam veteran marine who before tRump was usually in the same page as me or at least could discuss rationally any issue but post Trump appearance he did a 180. I had to leave Facebook, another pos that promoted Trump. I’m sure he’s changed in his opinion of tRump by now but I’ll never know as we haven’t spoke in years. It’s heartbreaking.
Finding out he’s still misguided could hurt. But better that than finding out later that he’s moved back from it and you’ve lost years thinking you still disagree.
You’re right and thank you for that advice,it’s encouraging. So I planted a seed that could grow, and he congratulated my husbands graduation Magna cum Laude from USV at age 59, I’m not bragging I’m just so proud of him post military service, both are vets and my husband wished him happy marine birthday and he responded so it’s started.
This comment is in regards to the podcast and the confusion you guys had in regards to why people were protesting Democrats and not Republicans. I’m not a protester, but I think it’s clear. They protest Democrats because that’s who they vote for & the Democrats are more likely to call for a cease-fire.
This is a great essay, Justin, about knowing when you have to turn away from people who seem to have completely lost their ethical compass. I lost two friends to Trumpism. At first I regretted it, but shortly thereafter I realized that I didn’t want to share anything with anyone who could vote for a sociopathic monster and not think twice about it.
I saw the lawsuit Trump filed against 20 media organizations today and wonder if/when The Banter will be next. It seems like they have the money, resources and appellate/SCOTUS judges to shut down just about every non-MAGA media outlet in the country. Lawsuits are meritless, but who can afford to defend them? I'm with Ian, I think Trump is gonna win the Electoral by a landslide, even if Biden squeaks the popular. But the more mainstream late night comedians and SNL mock Biden's age, and the more dark money that pours into social media, and the fewer restrictions placed on political ads, and the sinking of Univision/Telemundo as a responsible journalistic outlet, and the rise of third party/protest vote candidates -- I think democracy is sunk. I won't be in the first round of Trump's arrests and encampments, but I'll surely be in the second. I'm happy to take a bullet and check myself out should the country descend into street riots and martial law, but I have a kid to raise and protect, so that's not an option. Not sure where we'll be in 5 years, but I doubt it will be the thin ice sheet of peace we're skating on now.
“I'm happy to take a bullet and check myself out should the country descend into street riots and martial law, but I have a kid to raise and protect”
Best way to protect your child is to not turn defeatist. Look at all the Democratic wins that have actually happened in recent elections despite all the polls and commentators saying the elections would go otherwise. Remember the “red wave” in 2022? Yeah, I didn’t see it happen either.
They cannot win if people vote. They cannot win if people keep getting the word out and remain as determined to win as Republicans are to make us lose. You’d be willing to take a bullet if the worst comes to pass? Then be willing to persevere for one year and not surrender to them.
Thanks Christopher and TJ for the replies -- I needed that splash of cold water to the face, surge of adrenaline to get back into combat mode. I figure, if we each can stop one person from voting for Kennedy or Stein, and perhaps keep one person from voting Trump, and/or keep one Biden voter from staying on the bench, then democracy has a chance. I was encouraged to see a new conservative group emerge to form the Society for the Rule of Law Institute; because that's something I can use to get family members to feel safely conservative in values while not blindly voting the ticket. So we'll see. I also just watched a 26 minute highlight reel of Seth Myers "The Kind of Story We Need Right Now", which put wind in my sails for sure. Happy holidays to one and all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UABJH6zLHBE
Glad to help, Kels. Just know, when the sense of hopelessness tries to creep in, that there are vastly more opposed to Trump than are for him. It’s just that *they* are so vocal.
As for those you meet who want to vote for a Stein or West, just remind them that elections are not valentines. You’re not going to find the love of your life, but you can make the move that gets you closer to where you eventually want to be.
The fact of reality is, there’s absolutely NO conceivable way, NONE, that anybody other than a candidate from one of the main two parties is going to win even a single electoral vote. It’s going to come down to Trump or Biden. That’s it. That’s the only choice people are going to have.
So a vote for Stein, West, Williamson is a vote *FOR* Trump. By not voting for Biden they’re making it that much easier for Trump to win.
A vote for Stein, West, Williamson is a vote to help elect exactly what they claim they don’t want.
Exactly Christopher. We can’t have a repeat of the 2000 election with Ralf Nader taking votes from Al Gore and even then Gore won the popular vote and the Florida ballots iffy in design, we’re being recounted just once, then somehow, can’t recall how they stopped the recount in Florida but stop it they did. Guess who was governor of Florida at that time? None other than Jeb Bush himself, and the Fla Secretary of State was a close chum of Jeb. We had to wait weeks to find out who won and this was done by Gore who said he couldn’t keep America in limbo or something along those lines. It was so obviously underhanded and rotten the smell still hangs in the air. Look at what happened with GW Bush as a puppet potus with Dick Cheney pulling his strings, GW didn’t have the strength of mind for the job and the Iraq invasion and Halliburton and so on etc etc...just one person, the wrong person in the oval cost thousands of American lives, created a chaotic open lawless country where anyone who hated us need go no further than their own back yard to kill Americans and we made it easy for them to hate us after three days and nights of constant bombing of a city of almost 6,000,000 people and brings to mind todays bombing of Gaza. I’ve gone long here, didn’t intend to but there were NO WEAPONS of MASS DESTRUCTION to be found but Halliburton, where Cheneys former job as CEO won a no bid contract to supply American troops, and did a piss poor job of it too. There’s so much more to it but while Saddam Hussein wasn’t the sweetest guy around he had “zero” to do with the attack on 9/11. The whole thing made me sick sick sick and I wanted to bitch slap my overly excited sis in law who stupidly and naively was whooping and hollering and happily rejoicing in the invasion and oh yes she’s a Trumper. Her reasoning as is a lot of evangelistic “cristens,” i refuse to spell it correctly when refering to that bee-itch, is the issue of abortion, when she’s probably I’m sure had her limit in Chicago but that’s the most used excuse for them voting for a filthy pos like Trump, and I know a lot personally about these holy rollers, nothing but posers. Being from Chicago...I could tell some zingers about this racist, cristen. (sic)
Right. We have little ones and I don’t believe it will ever come to that kind of craziness. Look at the good and just people in our country who are bringing him to account for his crimes.
You’re right Ben, I’ve read Hitler avidly since the 70’s and it doesn’t take an English teacher to see the almost word for word rhetoric of tRump to hitlers speeches and remember it was early in hitlers Nazi party that he gave his speech in Munich for all of Germany to hear. Yes they hid the gas and ovens of the death camps but couldn’t hide the outlawing of Jews from holding jobs, owning a business, and wearing the star. It didn’t happen over nite but it was all known to the public who had been fed fake propaganda from gobbles and his ilk on state controlled radio. Only by knowing Hitler and how he came to and held onto power explained why so many followed Trump and believed his lies but Americans have access to the truth and that’s the only thing that keeps trumps numbers from being even higher, also there are those of authority in our system who hold him accountable. Germany didn’t have the strength at the time of Hitler We have the checks and balances to keep Trump and his followers from ever realizing their goals.
This is what they want. Don’t let these hateful bastards bring you to despair. There are more of us than there are of them. Even with the voter suppression and gerrymandering, and even with Glenn Youngkin purging thousands from the Virginia voter rolls, this past election did not stop people from coming out in droves to achieve big wins for Democrats. We can do this.
Sometimes I regret, just a little, that there are no Trump supporters in my family. Sometimes I’d relish having the opportunity to get in (and punch) the face of a Nazi.
Believe me you don’t want that. Early on in trumps first campaign I lost my older brother that was once my hero, three tour Vietnam veteran marine who before tRump was usually in the same page as me or at least could discuss rationally any issue but post Trump appearance he did a 180. I had to leave Facebook, another pos that promoted Trump. I’m sure he’s changed in his opinion of tRump by now but I’ll never know as we haven’t spoke in years. It’s heartbreaking.
Reach out to him and find out.
Finding out he’s still misguided could hurt. But better that than finding out later that he’s moved back from it and you’ve lost years thinking you still disagree.
You’re right and thank you for that advice,it’s encouraging. So I planted a seed that could grow, and he congratulated my husbands graduation Magna cum Laude from USV at age 59, I’m not bragging I’m just so proud of him post military service, both are vets and my husband wished him happy marine birthday and he responded so it’s started.
Happy Thanksgiving Christopher!
Happy Thanksgiving, TJ!
And I hope that seed grows.
This comment is in regards to the podcast and the confusion you guys had in regards to why people were protesting Democrats and not Republicans. I’m not a protester, but I think it’s clear. They protest Democrats because that’s who they vote for & the Democrats are more likely to call for a cease-fire.
Exactly
This is a great essay, Justin, about knowing when you have to turn away from people who seem to have completely lost their ethical compass. I lost two friends to Trumpism. At first I regretted it, but shortly thereafter I realized that I didn’t want to share anything with anyone who could vote for a sociopathic monster and not think twice about it.
I wish I knew if my brother who went trump in 2015 changed and I’m sure he has but I’ll never know.
I saw the lawsuit Trump filed against 20 media organizations today and wonder if/when The Banter will be next. It seems like they have the money, resources and appellate/SCOTUS judges to shut down just about every non-MAGA media outlet in the country. Lawsuits are meritless, but who can afford to defend them? I'm with Ian, I think Trump is gonna win the Electoral by a landslide, even if Biden squeaks the popular. But the more mainstream late night comedians and SNL mock Biden's age, and the more dark money that pours into social media, and the fewer restrictions placed on political ads, and the sinking of Univision/Telemundo as a responsible journalistic outlet, and the rise of third party/protest vote candidates -- I think democracy is sunk. I won't be in the first round of Trump's arrests and encampments, but I'll surely be in the second. I'm happy to take a bullet and check myself out should the country descend into street riots and martial law, but I have a kid to raise and protect, so that's not an option. Not sure where we'll be in 5 years, but I doubt it will be the thin ice sheet of peace we're skating on now.
“I'm happy to take a bullet and check myself out should the country descend into street riots and martial law, but I have a kid to raise and protect”
Best way to protect your child is to not turn defeatist. Look at all the Democratic wins that have actually happened in recent elections despite all the polls and commentators saying the elections would go otherwise. Remember the “red wave” in 2022? Yeah, I didn’t see it happen either.
They cannot win if people vote. They cannot win if people keep getting the word out and remain as determined to win as Republicans are to make us lose. You’d be willing to take a bullet if the worst comes to pass? Then be willing to persevere for one year and not surrender to them.
Thanks Christopher and TJ for the replies -- I needed that splash of cold water to the face, surge of adrenaline to get back into combat mode. I figure, if we each can stop one person from voting for Kennedy or Stein, and perhaps keep one person from voting Trump, and/or keep one Biden voter from staying on the bench, then democracy has a chance. I was encouraged to see a new conservative group emerge to form the Society for the Rule of Law Institute; because that's something I can use to get family members to feel safely conservative in values while not blindly voting the ticket. So we'll see. I also just watched a 26 minute highlight reel of Seth Myers "The Kind of Story We Need Right Now", which put wind in my sails for sure. Happy holidays to one and all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UABJH6zLHBE
Glad to help, Kels. Just know, when the sense of hopelessness tries to creep in, that there are vastly more opposed to Trump than are for him. It’s just that *they* are so vocal.
As for those you meet who want to vote for a Stein or West, just remind them that elections are not valentines. You’re not going to find the love of your life, but you can make the move that gets you closer to where you eventually want to be.
The fact of reality is, there’s absolutely NO conceivable way, NONE, that anybody other than a candidate from one of the main two parties is going to win even a single electoral vote. It’s going to come down to Trump or Biden. That’s it. That’s the only choice people are going to have.
So a vote for Stein, West, Williamson is a vote *FOR* Trump. By not voting for Biden they’re making it that much easier for Trump to win.
A vote for Stein, West, Williamson is a vote to help elect exactly what they claim they don’t want.
Exactly Christopher. We can’t have a repeat of the 2000 election with Ralf Nader taking votes from Al Gore and even then Gore won the popular vote and the Florida ballots iffy in design, we’re being recounted just once, then somehow, can’t recall how they stopped the recount in Florida but stop it they did. Guess who was governor of Florida at that time? None other than Jeb Bush himself, and the Fla Secretary of State was a close chum of Jeb. We had to wait weeks to find out who won and this was done by Gore who said he couldn’t keep America in limbo or something along those lines. It was so obviously underhanded and rotten the smell still hangs in the air. Look at what happened with GW Bush as a puppet potus with Dick Cheney pulling his strings, GW didn’t have the strength of mind for the job and the Iraq invasion and Halliburton and so on etc etc...just one person, the wrong person in the oval cost thousands of American lives, created a chaotic open lawless country where anyone who hated us need go no further than their own back yard to kill Americans and we made it easy for them to hate us after three days and nights of constant bombing of a city of almost 6,000,000 people and brings to mind todays bombing of Gaza. I’ve gone long here, didn’t intend to but there were NO WEAPONS of MASS DESTRUCTION to be found but Halliburton, where Cheneys former job as CEO won a no bid contract to supply American troops, and did a piss poor job of it too. There’s so much more to it but while Saddam Hussein wasn’t the sweetest guy around he had “zero” to do with the attack on 9/11. The whole thing made me sick sick sick and I wanted to bitch slap my overly excited sis in law who stupidly and naively was whooping and hollering and happily rejoicing in the invasion and oh yes she’s a Trumper. Her reasoning as is a lot of evangelistic “cristens,” i refuse to spell it correctly when refering to that bee-itch, is the issue of abortion, when she’s probably I’m sure had her limit in Chicago but that’s the most used excuse for them voting for a filthy pos like Trump, and I know a lot personally about these holy rollers, nothing but posers. Being from Chicago...I could tell some zingers about this racist, cristen. (sic)
What were we talking about again?
🥺
"then somehow, can’t recall how they stopped the recount in Florida but stop it they did"
The Supreme Court decided they get to pick who's President so called and end to the vote counting.
What? You think political corruption in the Court is something new? It's been there this entire century at least.
Right. We have little ones and I don’t believe it will ever come to that kind of craziness. Look at the good and just people in our country who are bringing him to account for his crimes.
You’re right Ben, I’ve read Hitler avidly since the 70’s and it doesn’t take an English teacher to see the almost word for word rhetoric of tRump to hitlers speeches and remember it was early in hitlers Nazi party that he gave his speech in Munich for all of Germany to hear. Yes they hid the gas and ovens of the death camps but couldn’t hide the outlawing of Jews from holding jobs, owning a business, and wearing the star. It didn’t happen over nite but it was all known to the public who had been fed fake propaganda from gobbles and his ilk on state controlled radio. Only by knowing Hitler and how he came to and held onto power explained why so many followed Trump and believed his lies but Americans have access to the truth and that’s the only thing that keeps trumps numbers from being even higher, also there are those of authority in our system who hold him accountable. Germany didn’t have the strength at the time of Hitler We have the checks and balances to keep Trump and his followers from ever realizing their goals.
And I am increasingly pessimistic about the next election--I really think that he's going to win.
Don’t be defeatist. It will be a struggle but the odds are on our side. All they need to win is for us to give up.
And us giving up is their main strategy. Making it so exhausting that we don’t persevere. We must not fall for it.
I’ll never ever give up. That bastard pulled my family apart as he did many others. He needs to be totally obliterated. Gone!
You go!
This is what they want. Don’t let these hateful bastards bring you to despair. There are more of us than there are of them. Even with the voter suppression and gerrymandering, and even with Glenn Youngkin purging thousands from the Virginia voter rolls, this past election did not stop people from coming out in droves to achieve big wins for Democrats. We can do this.