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The reason I voted no is that during this past year when I have had discussions with conservatives online it has ended up becoming a nasty shouting match. I would prefer this to be a safe space with minded people.

"Nazi" can be a 5-letter word...as in THE LYIN' KING. It can be a 6-letter word...as in "Miller". And it can be a 3-letter word...as in GOP.

There is a trend among some liberals that we all need to co-exist and "get along". I understand where this idea comes from. Certainly, those of us on both sides of the aisle have commonalities. At the end of the day, we all want to own a home, live in safe neighborhoods and send our kids to good schools. However, I do recall Bill Maher once saying, "There IS a difference between the two parties." One party pulls out racist and homophobic slurs like their morning coffee. Therefore, I do agree that often the other party does not have a soul. After all, how can one sit back and defend what ICE is doing to migrant families? How can one proudly proclaim to be a Republican and not care at all that many people will not be able to afford health care?

I've been divorced since 2017 and have been on and off the dating sites. Here's my humble opinion, BobDylan. You feel as if you were played because dating apps are basically a game. Swiping, liking, waiting.... then....."Oooh, someone messaged me back!" The rewards are up and down with the ghosting, algorithms, and painful first dates. The only way to survive the game is not to take it personally. Believe me, I'm not above getting my feelings hurt either. However, I do find that when I set realistic boundaries "with myself", I am always in a better mindset. For those of us who still work full-time, it truly can be the easiest way to meet singles. Not that I didn't think the Captain had great advice - volunteering, card groups, pickle-ball, animal groups. However, that isn't always easy with limited free time. I was sorry to read that you felt sad and cynical. Because that was me until I changed my goals. Now I avoid burnout by not having expectations. Change your perspective about the woman who decided not to meet. Look at it not as a missed opportunity but an apparent mismatch. She was obviously not ready to date at this time.

Well, I finally got to a place where I can reply or comment on a post and all I can say is that this, at least to me, is not a very user friendly site as far as navigating. I can't even figure out how to complete my profile. Sorry Bob that my comment on your post isn't actually relevant but this is the 1st place where I could actually post a comment to hopefully be upgraded to Newbl CITIZEN.

In all of my romantic relationships except the last one, politics was never a concern of mine. BobDylan, I privately shared the following anecdote with you, so please pardon the replay. I ended my last romance because the gal was a devout, unrepentant Trumper -- a tough call because she had great legs. I go stupid over great legs. Ultimately however, the lass' odious politics "trumped" her gorgeous gams. But, oh, you kid! These days politics getting in the way of romance is not at all a deal-breaker. I'm out of "the mating game." My domestic partner of 40 years died two years ago. Our relationship was platonic. But she was my closest, longest, and dearest companion. Not a day goes by that she is not in my thoughts, dreams, and memories. Two years later, I still grieve and mourn the loss of her company and friendship. Her demise was, to date, the latest in a traumatic series of losses during the past seven years: one coworker died after suffering a stroke, one coworker was brutally murdered, one friend died from cancer, and one friend committed suicide. Another loss -- simultaneously depressing and welcomed -- is the death of my libido. But, I'll pass on pill-popping Viagra, thank you very much. Emotionally, psychologically, figuratively, and literally, I can't get it up for Love -- and I'm not cryin' about it. Nothing lasts forever. Just as well because finding a "soulmate" and getting married were never on my Things to Do list. To me, marriage is a passion-killer -- the conjugal equivalent of a lobotomy. Spending my life day after day . . . week after week . . . month after month . . . year after year — until death! — with one woman . . . can't do it! Beyond my capability. Monogamy (meatloaf again?!) = Monotony, as far as I'm concerned. Sacre bleu! La variété! Eet eez ze spice of life, oui? So needless to say, I won't be joining the Liberal Hearts Club, which is no great loss --indeed, no loss at all -- for womankind.

Oh boy, I have a lot to say on this topic. I will not engage with anyone on a dating app that doesn't list "liberal" in their profile. I won't even "like" a person who lists moderate. Because in this climate, it's time to choose a side. To much is at stake to be wishy washy. I've had men message my profile who were moderate or apolitical. I would politely decline and explain that we would not be compatible. A few would argue "Why is it a big deal?" Umm... because I need to respect the person I'm dating.

Hi, new to the site. The main reason that I’m here is to interact with like minded people and escape the constant name calling and petty arguments. I’m afraid that opening up to members from the right would devolve into a bunch of trolling. Maybe in “regular” times there could be real discussion but the hard core MAGA folks don’t seem to have much capacity for critical thinking. My humble opinion, I hope I’m wrong.

When asked about a woman becoming president of the United States of America, Former First Lady Michelle Obama bluntly stated, "We ain't ready."

The implication is that we're going to win unless the Rs can figure out a better way to cheat. They're working on it. Our side needs to be ever-vigilant and "think outside the box." The Rs are diabolical and clever and have no boundaries. Nothing is off the table. Nothing is too-farfetched for them. Nothing is sacred. They respect nothing. Our people need to brainstorm and consider the most far out possibilities, because that's what they will be doing. ARE doing. Trust no one. Check and re-check everything and everyone.

To the point where a Capitalist Market's only goal is growth & stockholder wealth, with no regard for sustainability or environmental impacts, and then to have SCOTUS declare corporations are "people" who vote with money & political force, further cementing their death grip on our Earth that will inevitably result in a depleted, dead Planet - YES, CORPORATIONS ARE EVIL.

I want a site where I can escape my MAGA rural life for a little while each day.

I can only speak for myself. If I was a celebrity, I would feel obligated to speak out. It would be a gift to be able to do the moral and ethical thing in such a potentially impactful way.

DEAR RED STATES… WE’RE LEAVING Dear Red States, We’ve decided we’re leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we’re taking the other Blue States with us. That includes Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, most of the Northeast, and our favorite swing-flirts like Michigan and Pennsylvania when they behave. We’ll call ourselves The United States of Sanity. You can keep Mar-a-Lago. Here’s the split: • We get stem-cell research. You get stemware from Branson gift shops. • We get the Statue of Liberty. You get the world’s largest ball of twine. • We get Apple, Microsoft, Google, and you get MyPillow. • We get Hollywood. You get Duck Dynasty reruns. Resources: • We control most of the venture capital, the Ivy League, the West Coast tech corridor, the Great Lakes (about 84% of North America’s surface fresh water), and 95% of U.S. wine production. • You get coal, cattle, and almost all the tornadoes. • Pineapples? Hawaii. Lettuce? California. Cheese? Sorry, Wisconsin votes blue more often than not, so it’s coming with us. Taxes and money: • On average, blue states send more to Washington than they get back. Red states take in more federal dollars than they pay. So when we “split the check,” you’ll be picking up your own tab for the first time in decades. Good luck with that. Culture: • Blue states have lower divorce rates and higher life expectancy. Red states have more churches per square mile, but somehow not more stable marriages. • In recent polls, around 40% of Republicans still doubt evolution, and a stubborn minority think Saddam helped with 9/11. Y’all can keep those history books. • We get Broadway. You get Branson, which is kind of Broadway if it ran on casseroles and Precious Moments figurines. Weather: • Hurricanes? You’ll still get clobbered in Florida and Texas. • Mosquitoes? Honestly, they’re bipartisan — but they seem happier in your humidity. Peace out, —The Blue States 🥂💻🌊

Republicans also like to say guns don’t kill people; people kill people and blame mass shootings on mental health issues. Yet they don’t support funding for mental health services. Their arguments never make sense to me.

Hi Susan. The protest was very uplifting. I have 2 daughters also and it was so good to be able to share the experience with them. You are correct, nothing THE LYIN’ KING does should shock me or any of us at this point. It’s hard to accept that so much has changed in such a short time. The families and friendships THE LYIN' KING has destroyed is one of the hardest things to accept. I can’t imagine 3 more years of this but I have to believe good will triumph over evil and we will get through this. Hopefully we come out stronger. At least we have taught our children you have to fight for what you believe in and everyday be grateful for the freedoms we have.

Who could possibly feel that the AI video of The President flying a jet dressed as a King flying over a protest dumping poop is an appropriate response to a peaceful protest of 7 million people? Imagine if Obama or Biden did something like this. The Republicans freaked out when Obama wore a beige suit. Do I agree with Trumps freedom to be able to post such a disgusting and churlish piece of 💩? Yep I sure do. Should this man-baby be our president? Absolutely not. The Speaker of the house, Mike Johnson needs to go too. Such a religious man with no morals whatsoever. He is the ventriloquist dummy, sitting on Trumps lap. All Americans should be appalled.

The last company that I worked for employed many immigrants, mostly from Asia (China, India, Japan) but also from Europe (England, France, Germany, Scandinavia). During T-R-U-M-P 1.0 when DJT imposed his first travel ban (against primarily majority-Muslim countries), there was widespread consternation among coworkers in the USA on an H-1B visa -- even though most of them were not from travel-banned countries. During a business meeting, I felt compelled to apologize to my immigrant colleagues. I genuinely felt embarrassed by and ashamed of the lunatic president. One coworker, from China, expressed that he migrated to America because it was "The Land of Opportunity." He had particularly been impressed with and inspired by Barack Obama's "We are the change we seek" speech (Remember those good ol' days? Remember that dignity . . . that sanity?). After living in America, he was shocked and surprised by the degree of hostility and anger in America -- that many Americans were so unhappy and "so mad."

You're welcome, V., and I will try to abide by your suggestions here.. And I also appreciate the tolerance and patience you have shown so far, as moderator of this site. I only wish reddit and FB, for example, were also so... These days, my fav source of commentary and news, besides Commondreams.org, is Substack, not only for the many commenters, but also the seeming lack of moderation, which still seems to result in respectful and intelligent comment threads accompanying the posts. Whodu thought it, that maybe people can respectfully participate in social discussion, without the usual FB or reddit flaming and childish insults, etc.? Or it could be that the MAGA idiots just stay away from there, realizing they are just way too outnumbered and outgunned intellectually on Substack...

I have zero doubt that many ICE goons are members of Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and pardoned J6rs, which is why they don't want their identities known and won't show their faces..

Tim Walz just said it perfectly. Everything that is happening is no longer political difference it’s a moral one. There is no possible way you can watch the many versions of these shootings and believe the protesters are at fault. How the protesters are keeping this peaceful and controlled is beyond me but they are! This is how we can help. FULL SCRIPT for calling your senators in one image. Call 202-224-3121. Ask to be connected to each of your two senators (two calls total). Read this or a version of it (feel free to riff). They’re voting THIS WEEK. I’ve shown what this looks like in a reel on my page (if you need more guidance). Thanks in advance — and if you want more actionable info without rage bait, follow this account 🙏🏻 #usa #news #politics My name is [YOUR NAME] and I'm a(n) [YOUR STATE] resident. I'm calling to urge you to filibuster the upcoming Homeland Security appropriations bill. I'm sick of watching lawful citizens and noncitizens being arrested at their jobs, assaulted at peaceful protests, pulled out of their vehicles, blinded by munitions, and getting shot and killed. Senators like you need to filibuster this bill so that ICE doesn't get another penny. It already has $18.75 billion for 2026 - it doesn't need another $10 billion. My fellow [YOUR STATE'S RESIDENTS] and I will be watching your vote - and we will remember, I promise. My name again is [YOUR NAME] and my contact info is [YOUR PHONE NUMBER AND/ OR EMAIL]. My zip code is [YOUR ZIP CODE]. Thanks for listening and please do the right thing.

the immediate lying by the Prez, Noem, Bondi, Miller and his other mobster, N@tzi gang members are off the charts. Congress needs to make it's long overdue move NOW!

if this image is real, you'll be seeing a lot of it. to clarify. It doesn't even matter if the gun was accessible to the victim. It's presence is only relevant if he was threatening the agents with it. and even if he did, again, the question is, why was he shot 4 time???

Overshadowed by the tragedy in Minneapolis and continued reporting on America's raid on Venezuela: the "death" of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. On January 5, the CPB board of directors voted to dissolve the 58-year-old nonprofit corporation. sic transit gloria Big BirdBoard vote dissolves defunded Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 Do federal funding cuts spell the end for Big Bird and Cookie Monster? List of Public Broadcasting Systems Programs

I find it refreshing that women are being encouraged to approach a man first. Obviously, Bumble was well ahead in this direction. However, I will tell you that some women have fantasies that a "real man" pursues the woman he is interested in. The man is expected to initiate, and it is a perception of weakness if he doesn't. Please note that I am not agreeing with these traditional gender roles. I have four adult sons and, as a feminist, am very careful about male-bashing. I don't want a world where my sons are subject to such rigid expectations that are not healthy for anyone. Regardless, though, I do feel that, from articles I've read and even anecdotal conversations with single women, they will question a potential date who wasn't pursuing first. As a side note, I've been separated/divorced since 2017. Of the dozen or so "first dates" I went on initiated through a dating app, I pursued all of them. Meaning I made the first introduction. If I had waited to be contacted first, I would have had no dates.

I've gotten to where I just don't know what to think anymore, as far as America's gun fetish and how or if we will ever make any progress against our country's epidemic of mass shootings. But I do know that I appreciate and agree with both of your perspectives here. After THE LYIN' KING got elected, I too was planning to buy a handgun and learn to shoot for the first time in my life, as part of expected self defense against the MAGAs, who I still think will eventually be acting as paramilitary groups, same as ICE is now, only they would be hunting anyone opposed to MAGA, not just brown people. Anyway, I didn't buy that gun, not because I don't think it's eventually going to come to what I've been dreading, as far as MAGAs in packs coming to hunt us, but because I realized that arming myself wouldn't really prevent them from killing me,, and the the satisfaction of being able to fight back and maybe being able to take out a couple of them in the process, was not worth the risk I was also developing that I might also succumb to my worsening depression and use it on myself sometime. So no gun for me, and I'm just hanging in there, trying to have some hope that we somehow get thru this nightmare, while in the meantime stick as close as possible with my local offline friends and enjoy what I can in my personal life. To me, an armed society and religion are much alike. People acting falsely and more ethically and fairly towards others, only out of coercion that if they don't they will suffer, either in this life or some imagined afterlife. Makes me proud to be non religious, so I act morally and ethically because I want to, not because I need to for approval from other church members. And glad I can still have many places where I don't have to deal with armed assholes ready to blow me away, if I say something that pisses them off. That's what makes for a free society, not the Old West stuff of having to shoot it out every time there's a disagreement. And from what I've read. there was actually more gun control than people think in the Old West, at least as far as in the towns there, where people did have to turn in their guns when they came into town, etc.. As far as the Beatles song, the irony of it has always haunted me after Lennon's murder, which was two days after my birthday, in 1980. If only John had known how his life would end that way, even tho he reportedly was afraid for some time before his death, that he would be assassinated, either by the govt. or by one of his crazed fans..

More than is capable of the human will, alas. An acquaintance of mine who is a self-described "flaming liberal" bought a gun after DJT was re-elected. "We have to be ready and prepared for the fascists," was her (to me, cockeyed) rationale. She took a firearms training class during which the instructor -- in all seriousness -- told students, "Y'know, back during the 'Wild West days' people were more respectful when everyone was armed." That's the type of mentality that anti-gun and gun control proponents are up against. Decades ago I was robbed at gunpoint. By a blessed miracle of fate, I was spared becoming a gun-violence statistic. Despite that experience, I was not, never have been, and never will be compelled to buy a gun.

“America’s favorite candy and not at all a guilty pleasure” Daily mass shooting has become a common place occurrence. It shouldn’t! It shouldn’t happen and we shouldn’t be numb to it. 13 years ago Sandy hook Elementary school massacre occurred 20 children and six adults were killed. I thought certainly this will be the turning point. It wasn’t. While watching the latest shooting at Brown College last night, 2 killed 9 seriously injured my first thought was dear God not another one. A reporter was interviewing a student. Visibly shaken the young student explained she picked this college because she felt it was safe and secure. She had been in a mass shooting in middle school. She was shot in the stomach and she survived. Her best friend was not as lucky. He died on the scene. As she told the story it gave me chills when she very calmly said I can’t believe this is happening again. I felt sick, why should this poor girl have ever had to go through any school shooting let alone two. What is it going to take? I ask myself that question way too often these days. What’s it going to take?

Nice to see you again on the forums, Lindy. I missed you. V., you totally nailed it, they should be doing those ads now, but you're so right, that instead they'll wait to the next season and do the same stale left vs. right talking points, and stick to the same identity politics and culture war 💩, instead of running on lefty economic populism. Because first off, they don't stand for economic populism from the left, and haven't stood for it since the 80s, and secondly, they won't do that because it would offend their corporate donors. So they'll stick with the same bashing the Repubs on culture war stuff and ID politics, and with that, maybe even still find a way to lose races that should be easy to win. Beginning with Clinton in the 90s, the Dem Party traded unions and the working class for corporate and Wall Street cash, and we've all been paying the price ever since.. I look for more of the same tired, " We don't stand for anything economically, but at least we're not Repubs, and we differ from them on the culture war stuff", but the problem is, the working class and most voters, really don't care about the culture war stuff and ID politics, compared to economics. So even if the Repubs lie to them about economic policy and what they will deliver on it, most people will still vote for Repubs, if the Repubs at least play to their anger and grievances, while the Dems simply ignore those things, as if class war doesn't exist..

I'm not sure how you define the left, but if you mean Democrats I think I understand your point. IMHO, the societal issue to overcome dealing with immigration vs poverty is overcoming fear of the other and there is no one-size-fits-all solution I can see. Even Evangelists have abandoned their savior’s words on this, only to embrace attempts at drowning their own fears with perceived power and money. Fears triggered by current events that remind us of past troubles are hard to spot and even more difficult to overcome once understood. And they are unique to each individual to a large degree, even though I assume there can be groupings. Dealing with anxiety is still a personal battle. Even the seemingly most simple person operates within a complex web of conscious and unconscious thought, whether aware of much of it or not. Unscrupulous actors prey on the unwary and the fearful in order to command mass movements. Poverty is a tool for them. Even if a largely white population was made to happen in the US, all the ills we see now would still be here in full force. I suspect I am preaching to the choir with this view, no?

No worries, Michele, a lot of us, including me, have struggled with navigating the site and setting up our profiles. So your comment being placed in this thread is just fine. What matters is that you're here, and we're getting to hear from you and to begin getting to know who you are.. Tom [moved here from other thread] Sheesh, I'm feeling so sad, cynical and hopeless today, but then again, it's also at least partly because I just found out that a woman I met at a speed dating event in Oct., and had traded a few messages with, has been misleading me on where I stood with her and whether she was going to go ahead as planned with meeting me for coffee after she recovered from a surgery she had soon after the dating event. Guess you just can't trust anybody to keep their word these days, in the dating game, until after you've been chosen against the rest of the field and are in an established relationship. It's not that I cared so much about whether things worked out with her or not, but about having misread someone again, for the umpteenth time, about what I might expect from them going forward in the dating process. I get to where it's so hard to trust my judgement about people in that game.... Even with added experience and age, it still sucks to get and feel played, no matter how many times it's happened before to you. Why can't most people play life with integrity, honesty, and fairness, be it pols, business people, or even singles in the dating game? I know that I'm over generalizing from my experience, but sometimes, like now, I feel like Diogenes, in search of one honest man (or woman). Maybe I should change my username to Charlie Brown, someone else I have often felt was my alter ego? Another underappreciated bald character... Carry on, my friends... Tom aka Bob....

No worries, mac. Don't mind at all the replay, and I agreed with your point, plus, I think the rest of the class would enjoy hearing your experience.. And like you, I usually have my physical type that I'm attracted to, same as most folks.. As a widower, I feel your pain about losing your longtime partner, and it sucks to lose so many people to death in such a short time. I lost both my parents and my late wife, all in less than a ten year span. It felt like death was just stalking me, and all I wanted was to go several years without anybody close to me dying.... I have to respectfully disagree with you about marriage and monogamy, since I really enjoyed both of those with my late wife. As for libido, the dating mating game, etc., I have not chosen to give up, but I totally get why so many others my age, and maybe whatever your age is, do. I respect them as well, as they're doing themselves and the rest of the world, a favor, rather than trying to be or do something that isn't really them or what they want. Only going to cause grief for all involved and concerned. But I'm really glad you're here, on the site and in the forum, as I really enjoy your posts and comments, as you're really bright, funny, insightful, and brutally honest with us, esp. about yourself...

in my case, it's obvious where i stand on the significance of politics in dating. Aside from physical attraction/chemistry, political views may be at the top of the list for many singles. There used to be more wiggle room in our grandparent's generations when women weren't as involved in politics. Now, especially due to the internet, people connect to politics like they do favorite sports teams and bands and they follow politicians the way they do celebrities. i can't imagine speed daters beating around the G. W. Bush. The only reason someone should avoid that issue up front is if they are just looking for a fling. Otherwise, it's counter productive to invest in a relationship that is likely to fail.

The current state of the GOP can be mostly attributed to cuts in public education, and the subsequent decay of our public school system. We have been dumbed down enough to where there are enough low intelligent, simpletons that the GOP media can wrap around their little figure to make the elections close enough so the richest man in the world can order a few switches and clicks to determine our president.

I totally agree that many men are intimidated by women who are smarter or have more education than them. You see that all the time in the dating game and on the dating sites. And the strong father thing has long been a feature of why some people, both men and women, are attracted to fascists and authoritarian strongman leaders, like Hitler and now THE LYIN' KING. It was well-documented after the Nazi era that Germany was particularly vulnerable to his movement because of how all Germans, of both genders, were socialized to support or prefer strong father figures in their families and their society. I too am interested in your idea of our American neurosis, as well as why so many American women still supported and support THE LYIN' KING, despite his open misogyny and his history of abuse towards women. One theory I've heard is that those women are "Pick Me" types, who are attracted to those sorts of men in their personal lives, and also in the political realm, they want such men to pick them out for positions of power and privilege, etc.. I also agree that the women who supported THE LYIN' KING and who support his party, are almost entirely white. They sure seem to be traitors to their gender, in my mind, but then again, even in The Handmaid's Tale, there were still the Aunt Lydias, who sold out their gender and collaborated in the oppression of other women, just so they could have some greater privileges than the vast majority of women who weren't married to the male leaders of the fascist patriarchical group that ran things. It's nice to see fiction reflect reality so well, esp., when it's written long before the fiction becomes reality.. Right now, AOC would seem to be the leading female candidate for prez, but I have my doubts about her being able to win, and even about whether she would end up running for it. I also have my own personal doubts about whether she could be trusted to not end up being just another corporate sellout, same as Obama was, and that Biden also was, altho with Biden, everybody in the know and paying attention, already knew that he would be just another corporate Dem centrist, since that's what he'd always been in the Senate.. And don't even get me started on what a sellout and traitor to the working class, that Bill Clinton was...

Follow-up Poll: Which Woman Do You Think Would Make an Ideal President? Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, because her spunk, Democratic Socialist ideals, and (unfortunately rejected) "Green New Deal" legislation are the types of "breath of fresh air" that are desperately needed in America. Summer Lee, because, just like fellow "Squad" member AOC, she is fighting for the kind of future for America that I want. Kristi Noem, because America is going to the dogs, and this b*tch knows how to pop a cap on that problem! Rachel Maddow, because America would still be able to have a First Lady. Caitlyn Jenner, because she's got balls! RuPaul, because why not?! "Sissy that walk, Grrrl!" Write-in Candidate

That people get history and economics lessons from a 'toon exemplifies one reason why I despair for the future of America. Here are (IMO) more intellectually nutritious, more educational, more adult, and more valuable explanations of Capitalism and Socialism.

i fear that the bad news is already baked into his stock price and the bar has already been lowered to dirt level. i mean, he bragged about grabbing women by the cat hairs, is already a felon and adjudicated rapist, blew up 20 boats carrying 79 people on spec, hoped for his VP to be hanged, and buried his ex-wife on his golf course for the tax break!

The Dems winning a lot of the local races in PA, in areas that went red last election, says the pushback is real against the current administration. The Dems derailing the hold the line on the shutdown doesn't do anything for the momentum they might have had going. I have heard that if they can actually hold a vote on the extensions on the subsidies next month, the Republicans will vote against the extensions and will appear to be wholly responsible for the increases and rightly so. Frustrating

I share your aggravation, Lindy, and I agree with you that the shutdown was a waste. I am not surprised by the news. I was hoping against hope that Democratic congress members would surprise me and "hang tough." But -- incurable pessimist and cynic that I am -- I knew that it would be Democrats who would cave in. None of the Democratic senators and Independent Senator Angus King in Maine who "backed the Republican deal" are up for reelection in 2026; two (Illinois Senator Richard Durbin and New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen) are retiring. I am a lifelong registered Independent voter. The Democratic party has never failed . . . to disappoint me.

. . . or all get to be eaten. Should I wind up on the menu, per favore, serve me with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

I think it is especially important for comedians to speak out. They are the ones who call out nonsense, piffle, lies, hypocrisy and utter bull💩. We depend on them to remind us of reality.

That's pragmatic and offers space to get things done. If there are right wing trolls here (or any kind of troll) on the forum, it's the job of moderation to weed them out for 'disturbance of the peace.' Isn't a huge part of our agenda opening minds and appealing to the good side of people? I know for me at least, rage never got me anywhere and the real work begins when I can belly breathe again.

I believe it's ok for celebrities to voice their opinions, just as it is ok for anyone to do so. But people must keep in mind that they are just individuals voicing an opinion.

Guns: The American Sickness. The Eternal and Incurable National Social Disease (the "gift" that keeps on giving). America's Favorite Candy and Not At All Guilty Pleasure. Gun deaths? School massacres and church shootings? Meh. Sh!t happens. There is no unacceptable tipping point. No intolerable amount of "collateral damage." No "beyond the pale." The sky's the limit. And like Heaven above, the Second Amendment is holy and sacred and must be honored . . . at all costs. No matter the costs. It will never be infringed. God willing. . . . and God is a Rock-Ribbed, Right-Wing Gun Owner . . . who has all of us in His gunsight.

I applaud the celebrities that speak out and donate to causes they believe in. These are not normal times. When you have billionaires buying elections, we need all the help we can get. As for JK Rowling, I never was a Harry Potter fan but my daughter was. She was extremely disappointed in Rowling as a person but respects her writing.

Jennifer Lawrence says, Billie Eilish is going the other way. Telling billionaire's off to their face and donating millions. which way would you go if you were a celebrity? for example, J.K. Rowling airs anti-trans positions. Will you, should you boycott the Harry Potter universe?

What is really going on? The past few days there have been many posts about the Epstein files in which you’re shown a list of people in the files. No names. ex A rock star. A high figure politician. Royalty (ok I think we know this one). I don’t want to play guess the pedophiles. Second, A few theories about Charlie Kirk’s death and about his wife and their not so great relationship. Fact check everything. If we have enough time to read all this stuff, we have enough time to fact check it Snipes.com, AP fact check, Reutears fact check, and politiFact are all reliable sources.

and when Obama talked directly to his attorney general for 15 minutes in air-force one on the tarmac

Sure, the Lyin' King (or Prez-a-King, whichever you prefer) is prejudice against every category of human being that is not a white male. Actually, ANY human being that doesn't like and/or support him. But his bias won't stop him from hanging with Kanye or turning against the DC police if it's useful. His policies and relationships are purely transactional. If most Hispanics voted for him, he'd open the borders. If crime benefits him (as did the Jan 6 insurrection) he'd rationalize it and pardon the thugs. If peace can get him a Prize, he's for it, otherwise he'd risk a global war by dropping bombs on Iran and support the massacre of Palestinians to appease the interests of powerful political allies. He pretends to be an anti-abortion Christian for the same reason. In reality, he's not even a Republican. He's a Narcissistic Sociopath out for himself. "Follow the money" is the traditional advice for figuring out the moves of politicians around the Monopoly board. The Top Hat, Battleship and Racing Car own Park Place. They routinely PASS GO and collect $200 (million or billion) from The Banker. The Boot & Wheelbarrow (working men), Iron & Thimble (working women), and Dog (natural world), are stuck on the 2 purple spaces. Today, "follow the money" still applies. But, also, the dice are fixed and the guy rolling them is most interested in accumulating GET OUT OF JAIL FREE cards!