Leopards Ate My Face! The Official Thread.

[Handyman]

Yeah the issue is that the media has always played it like the Dems are the "adults in the room" so they get blamed when things dont work. This election cycle the so called Liberal Media blamed the Dems for being both too divisive and too bipartisan! It is our fault when they break things (how could you let them do that!?!?!?) and it is our fault when we fix it but it doesn't solve 100% of the issues in record time. (are you better off now than before?)

The American Government is in a perpetual state of Moral Hazard. The GOP is allowed to do whatever they want without any long term consequences because the Dems will always clean up the mess and get the blame because we actually care about the system working. We are like parents of teenagers, always trying to make sure they don't completely screw up their lives by protecting them. Well sooner or later you need to let them go and experience the repercussions of their actions. Time to cut them off. If the Vets want to keep supporting the party that screws their benefits and openly mocks them...cool. If the Farmers want to go bankrupt again because of trade wars...awesome! If stupid old White People want to screw over SS and Medicare or the ACA while they are on it...outstanding! Hell at this point I am all for the idea of Red States opting out of anything they want to with the caveat that they also then opt out of any federal assistance. If Oklahoma wants prayer in school awesome, but the Blue States regret to inform you that you can pay for your tornado damage on your own. Florida wants to arrest journalists who speak ill of DeSantis or Trump...cool. Enjoy your hurricanes and lack of Medicare. Texas wants to arrest any woman who has a miscarriage...fine. Have fun this winter!

It is coming to the point where the Blue States are going to push back on all of this (especially California) and this country dies on the vine without us. We don't need them.

[ScoobyDoo]

Yeah the issue is that the media has always played it like the Dems are the "adults in the room" so they get blamed when things dont work. This election cycle the so called Liberal Media blamed the Dems for being both too divisive and too bipartisan! It is our fault when they break things (how could you let them do that!?!?!?) and it is our fault when we fix it but it doesn't solve 100% of the issues in record time. (are you better off now than before?)

The American Government is in a perpetual state of Moral Hazard. The GOP is allowed to do whatever they want without any long term consequences because the Dems will always clean up the mess and get the blame because we actually care about the system working. We are like parents of teenagers, always trying to make sure they don't completely screw up their lives by protecting them. Well sooner or later you need to let them go and experience the repercussions of their actions. Time to cut them off. If the Vets want to keep supporting the party that screws their benefits and openly mocks them...cool. If the Farmers want to go bankrupt again because of trade wars...awesome! If stupid old White People want to screw over SS and Medicare or the ACA while they are on it...outstanding! Hell at this point I am all for the idea of Red States opting out of anything they want to with the caveat that they also then opt out of any federal assistance. If Oklahoma wants prayer in school awesome, but the Blue States regret to inform you that you can pay for your tornado damage on your own. Florida wants to arrest journalists who speak ill of DeSantis or Trump...cool. Enjoy your hurricanes and lack of Medicare. Texas wants to arrest any woman who has a miscarriage...fine. Have fun this winter!

It is coming to the point where the Blue States are going to push back on all of this (especially California) and this country dies on the vine without us. We don't need them.

Yep. The media over and over and over again has covered for them and the Dems have been right there to clean up the mess. No more.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

No matter how much you did, it's always, well, you promised, and then didn't do anything to help me. Look at Biden's term for just an example. Maybe the best economy we've had for forty years, but all those uninformed voters didn't feel like it was, or they'd rather listen to the guys who tell them that no, it's lousy.

They couldn't afford a new F-150 at 7% interest, and Harris was gonna ban gas engines, so they voted to burn it all down.

[ScoobyDoo]

They couldn't afford a new F-150 at 7% interest, and Harris was gonna ban gas engines, so they voted to burn it all down.

And burn it will. Till there is nothing left.

[Handyman]

They couldn't afford a new F-150 at 7% interest, and Harris was gonna ban gas engines, so they voted to burn it all down.

Hey we need to elect a bigot tyrant because some 25 year old can't buy a house. If a kid can't buy a house why should a N!$$7r be allowed to have rights? If eggs are going to cost $.33 a piece then those damned C U Next Tuesdays don't deserve to be considered full citizens with rights!

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Hey we need to elect a bigot tyrant because some 25 year old can't buy a house. If a kid can't buy a house why should a N!$$7r be allowed to have rights? If eggs are going to cost $.33 a piece then those damned C U Next Tuesdays don't deserve to be considered full citizens with rights!

Can't wait until they axe Medicare, and our Boomer parents have to move in with us in their final years to afford their medical appointments and maintenance meds. Just my parents and my wife's dad though. She would be the first to say that her narcissistic stepmom can die in the street.

[LynahFan]

You can't make stupid people smart. Especially when those stupid people think they are actually smarter than all those "elites" who just look down upon them.

We saw it with Covid. You can't convince them of something they don't want to be convinced of, no matter how many facts, or proof, or actual science you can show them. They know they're right, cause they "did their own research", and anyway, you elitists don't know any better than me anyway, everyone knows I'm right, it's just common sense.

And that's just how they go about voting too. Nothing you can say to them can convince them that Democrats aren't just pedophile groomers looking to change the sex of their kids. Everyone knows this. They feel this(from the group that says 'fuk your feelings'). It's just common sense.

On my Facebook feed the other day, there was one of those obvious fake Russian trollbot posts about how Tom Hanks was gonna leave the country now that Trump's president. One of the replies was some guy who said something like, "doesn't matter, they all need to be hunted down and made to pay for their crimes"

How do you combat something like that?

I'm sure it's an old expression, but new to me when I saw a meme on Facebook this week: "Wise men learn more from fools than fools learn from wise men." Absolutely, 100% correct.

[Handyman]

Can't wait until they axe Medicare, and our Boomer parents have to move in with us in their final years to afford their medical appointments and maintenance meds. Just my parents and my wife's dad though. She would be the first to say that her narcissistic stepmom can die in the street.

My parents already live in my SOs condo where their rent is controlled (by us) and I subsidize what they can't afford as the costs of maintenance, HOA fees and insurance continue to skyrocket. They are both on SS and Medicare as well. (my dad does work still but shouldnt) My father, Boomer Hippy Former Socialist voted RFK and watches Faux all day. He is in for a rude awakening if/when Trump implements even 1/4 of what he is talking about and I have already vowed not to help anymore. If my mother wasnt alive I would cut his azz off completely. It is one thing to be a pr!ck because you are old and going senile, it is another to do so while living at the behest of my generosity.

[rufus]

Can't wait until they axe Medicare, and our Boomer parents have to move in with us in their final years to afford their medical appointments and maintenance meds. Just my parents and my wife's dad though. She would be the first to say that her narcissistic stepmom can die in the street.

Yeah, but Gen X and the rest can't afford a house. Where are all the parents gonna live?

Gonna be like the Meskins with 17 people crammed into a three room house.

[Handyman]

Im Gen X...we are fine. It is Millenials and Gen Z who can't...they also don't save enough to afford one anyways.

[Kepler]

All well and good to say lie to them, promise them anything, just get elected.

Problem is, unlike with Republicans, if the Democrats don't deliver on their promises, the voters just kick them out the next time. "You never did 'nuthin' for me."

No matter how much you did, it's always, well, you promised, and then didn't do anything to help me. Look at Biden's term for just an example. Maybe the best economy we've had for forty years, but all those uninformed voters didn't feel like it was, or they'd rather listen to the guys who tell them that no, it's lousy.

My advice is not to Democrats; it's to those with functioning brains regardless of their policy positions. The fight is not left vs right. Use the left and the right to split derp electoral power, thereby canceling it.




The Voting Rights Act was the highest point of American democracy (fittingly paired with the moon landing, the highest point of American civilization). Thereafter came the reactive erosion of democracy towards mob rule and collapse.

There is no escape from history, but we do know a little bit of political science we didn't used to, and maybe there are ways to engineer around the edges by exploiting that recent self-awareness. Principles are for observers. Participation requires pragmatism: the art of the possible.

So, is there a pragmatically optimal point on the graph above? Yes. As far from the descent into ochlocracy as possible: aristocracy. Its own descent towards oligarchy tends to be slower, allowing more flexibility for resetting actions. Even if the worst occurs, a safety net is spread beneath it in the birth of new democratic impulses, which have healthy and liberating effects on the human spirit.

For a while.

But historically aristocracies have sucked because the ordering principle sucked. Aristocracy of noble birth is a literal genetic dead end in idiocy. Aristocracy of wealth results in the same, culturally -- the Hapsburg jaw traded for the vacuity of fortunate sons and risibly entitled grandsons.

The aristocracy to aim for is intellect. Not merit. There are plenty of morally and ethically superior hardworking morons on Earth, and while they are a precious resource their leadership will naturally favor their own and lead us back to mob rule. Aristocracy of intellect is not morally defensible deontologically. It is strictly utilitarian. (1) It may be the one aristocracy who can still laugh at itself, generation after generation. Nobody is more aware of the clay foot of intellect more than intellect. And (2) it is as close as we can get to an aristocracy that will not abuse their privilege of rule, as we have no interest in power other than self-preservation. Power is inherently... stupid, degrading everyone associated with it. Intellectuals don't care about power except as a means to prevent zealots from using it to set humanity back on the course towards chaos again. What others appear to crave we regard as a sadly necessary annoyance like dental hygiene. Why? Because we're f-cking smarter. We have better things to do than stare at a mirror or buy sh-t. There's stuff to learn and beauty to create. Let the animals have the trappings; just detoxify them by removing them from any influence over us.

No doubt the same problem of erosion towards oligarchy will occur. My selfish argument not to worry about that as much as the decline of other forms is this is my tribe, so exaggeration of our influence hurts me the least. Insofar as I have a selfless pitch, it's that we would see we have as much to lose as everyone else if we let that slide go unabated. In every other case above, the start of the concentration of power will just compound itself. (Note: I believe that's true even in a tyranny of intellect, which distinguishes me from Plato.)

So if that's the goal, how to achieve it? Work with what the local situation gives you. Permeate and co-opt centers of power. Again, the motivating question from walrus: if we're so smart, why aren't we smart enough to use the landscape rather than whine about it? The American landscape is the institutional kabuki of representative democracy pockmarked by the rather more forceful influence of corporate power. Colonize those power centers. Infiltrate them. Take whatever cudgel happens to be at hand and use it to establish a de facto aristocracy of intellect.

Note: do this everywhere. If you're a Russian, cultivate Putin's circle. If you're a Third World warlord, grab a machete and hack your way to the top.

It's worth a try. It gives us something to do other than be morosely distanced and ironic and b-tch while we suffer through this interminable interlude between tall ships and spaceships.

[HockeyRef]

I just wanna know now, what Donnie plans to do about all those schools doing sex change operations. I mean, it's a nationwide scourge, one day little Jimmy goes to school, and little Julie comes home.


What's Donnie gonna do to stop that?

As a former health teacher I was so ****ed off about this especially...and what's worse? People BELIEVE this! They VOTED for this. God help us...

[Handyman]

Its more than that though Kepler, we need to take the few advantages we have and not only cultivate them but exploit them. Some are already starting to show by nature of who we are dealing with...

The only thing that these people hate more than us are each other. Throughout history you see that when authoritarians fall it is as much about the infighting as it is about the revolution. These people crave power and they don't like to share it and they will stab each other other to get closer to the man pulling the strings. They trust no one, they like no one and they will protect no one. Trump hasn't even taken power yet and you can see the fighting starting already. I guarantee half the information the media is getting about the nominees is coming from inside the house. When Kash Patel is in charge of the FBI he is going to make J. Edgar Hoover look like Jimmy Carter. Throw in a House that is nearly 50/50 and a Senate Leadership that openly didn't support Trump and there is a lot of bad juju swirling around. It won't fix anything now but when the economy tanks and the people are angry the pressure will get to them and we need to be ready to exploit that when it happens.

The other thing we need to do...stop pussyfooting around it and just go full Progressive. The "run to the center" BS worked for Biden because Trump was so chaotic people got mad but it killed Harris because Americans are stupid. (they were trying to do what you are suggesting by campaigning with Republicans...and sadly it hurt more than helped because even The Left is stupid as has been shown around here by a certain poster who returned I hear) No more passive answers, no more trying to make sure "The Middle" isn't scared away (they are too selfish to be scared...they just want theirs) and no more talking about what the GOP is going to do. (or is doing) Dont let the voters/media focus on anything except what you are doing and what you are giving them. No more talk of bipartisanship in the past or the future. Make it plain and simple...dumb it down so even the morons understand. And when the media starts to turn attack them. Trump wants to jail them and they still coddle him...meanwhile they forced Biden to quit because he didn't do enough interviews with them and they cultivated a BS narrative about Harris because their owners wanted better ratings with Trump. (they forgot that we are smart enough we dont need them to know what is going on) So when they do that in 2/4 years tell them to phuck off.

Which actually brings me to the last thing we need...our own alternative methods of media. Some are forming but we need more. We need ways to get the message out there without the gatekeepers. The Right has dozens of them (many cultivated by Russia) and we need to fight fire with fire. In a world where people believe podcasts over experts its time to meet the idiots where they are the most...their phones.

[Handyman]

As a former health teacher I was so ****ed off about this especially...and what's worse? People BELIEVE this! They VOTED for this. God help us...

These are the same people who believed that we (teachers) were putting kitty litter in our classes because students identified as cats...

(I heard lots of so called liberals buy into this one as well)

[Jimjamesak]

If there’s anyone that really needs to have their faces eaten it’s the Bernie bros that are gleefully celebrating the defeat of the “liberals” and blaming the “evil DNC” for blocking Bernie back in 2016.