It still baffles me that the party that wraps itself in the American flag and calls themselves “Patriots” seem to have no problem what so ever in letting a non-elected immigrant run the country.

I think we are talking about leadership at different points of time.

The leader that America needs right now is someone to articulate and draw people together behind the idea of “Throwing the bums out” and in that context there is a large coalition of people that agree with that sentiment.

What happens after the bums are gone is where the in-fighting and purity tests start to take hold. But having the opportunity to argue about whether Leader A’s policy of taxing the billionaires at 90% vs. Leader B’s policy of 70% tax rate on them would be a welcomed change.

I completely agree that we can’t blindly blame this on election fraud, that is a form of denial. Which I will admit is part of my Tinfoil hat rant above.

But if there are credible sources that are stating they have doubts about the legitimacy of the results there should be an investigation. Note, this isn’t really about this past election, I know of no evidence that shows fraud only slight rumblings from “unknown sources” which isn’t legitimate to me.

My concern is that the Stop the Steal movement, that was using weak or even made up evidence to support their cause has made future allegations less likely to be taken seriously.

trump isn’t a strong leader, he’s a very accomplished con artist.

He allows people to project their vision of who he is on him.

You say I’m christian? Sure I’ll pretend I am

You say I’m anti abortion? Sure I’ll pretend that I am

You say I’m for the little guy? Sure, I’ll pretend that I care about them

You say I’m anti-vax? Sure, I’ll tell you that I am

You say I’m the second coming of Christ? Okay, I’m good with you thinking that about me

You say I’m a strong patriot? Sure, I’ll hug the flag and say the words you need me to say

He is everything to everyone of his supporters because he never tells them that they are wrong about who he is.

A strong leader is someone that has strong convictions and articulates them in a way that resonates with the population. They are not people that waffle in their ideals, you either like their stance or you don’t. Smart ones will adjust their ideas over time but they do this from a strong ideological foundation. Some are genuinely good people like MLK, jr. others are more despotic. What America needs is one or two genuinely good strong leaders.

we voted for this

<Tinfoil hat>

Did we? There are some suspicions of voter fraud in some swing states and it sure as hell isn’t below musk to attempt something like that.

Yet, I think that the past MAGA crazies screaming about “election fraud” and “stop the steal” has poisoned the well for legitimate future calls for investigating potential fraud in elections. On top of that it also makes people that question the results sound like the crazies of the past.

It could explain why trump is allowing so much power to musk.

</Tinfoil hat>

Source: I have no source. It’s all feels over reals and a partial lack of acceptance that so many American people are that dumb.

Honestly I think a large majority of people would be on board with this system, the thing is how do you describe this to a disengaged voting population in a way that is understandable but brief ? And at the same time, how do you quickly counter the ‘communist’ argument that would come from the ultra-capitalist right?

there was just a tiny bit of sarcasm with that question

Damn that’s a cool take I had never known about - thanks for that

I don’t think that there is a tactical thought to people wanting to vandalize Teslas. I think that there is a true sense of helplessness on not being able to do anything to stop these fuckers. So in in the place of something more substantial the anger and frustration is being taken out on something associated with musk

Is it right? Probably not. Is it understandable, yes

The number of people that would go to the woods makes me think that staying in a city would be a better option.

True.

One conservative acquaintance voted for trump to bring Jesus to the country and to stop abortion.

Another voted for trump because they worship money and believe that another trump administration will help him get richer.

My response is:

Good, as long as I don’t think about it.

Going back to the EU with our tail between our legs isn’t going to go down well with anyone so won’t be happening anytime soon.

“we would rather the people of the UK continue to suffer economically than be embarrassed on the international stage for a few years.”

That’s is strong leadership /s

It’s a great thought experiment to get us to think about what is truly important -

No one is going to answer “work more” or “continue to conform to other’s expectations of me.” or any other thing that we are taught to believe are important.

Sure having some savings is important, your health is important (except maybe not so much in this instance), but really life is about experiencing life not creating shareholder value or working hard to blend into the crowd just to make other people less uncomfortable.

I know I went off on a tangent, I do that often. But I’ve been thinking more about how in the west we are taught aggressively from a young age what is deemed important (work, money, prestige, name brand things, etc) and what is frivolous (hobbies, family, friends, etc) and then people wonder why life sucks. It doesn’t suck, it’s that you are trying to conform to something that goes against your true nature.

To answer the question: travel, spend time with people I love, play video games, eat more cheeseburgers, drink more beer.

I’d want to do a series of shows based on the chapters from World War Z

I kinda get the feeling that part of this was a loyalty test for main stream media to see how they were going to report on something that was obviously a nazi salute.

Was it going to be “Musk is swatting at fly, the liberal media goes off the rails with crazy nazi conspiracies.” Or “Musk is a fucking nazi, he needs to be deported”

Which is going to get the “love” of this administration?

Yes I do.

If app A has an icon that when touched does a specific thing, and app B has the exact same icon that does the exact same thing there is nothing new to learn. The learning curve is flat.

If you are arguing about the ethical and legal aspect of one app using the exact same UI as another that is a different conversation and a good one to have.

well the the learning curve for new users is flat and adoption of the app will be more acceptable to more people.

I think it’s a smart idea - they can always make changes to the UI in time as the platform gets more people.

It is a mental disease

Yes. As a completely uneducated non-certified internet therapist I’d say that disease is fear. I really believe that those people that strive for more and more do so to try to fix a fear of not having enough. Or a fear of not being enough. Instead of actually trying to recognize the this fear and controlling it, they just do the one thing that can temporarily make them less fearful and that is make more, control more.

I’m still pissed we as citizenry didn’t stand up and demand what we deserve

This will only happen if there is someone that the progressive democrats can get behind. Someone like Bernie but younger and more angry. Someone that will call out the bullshit and do it in a way that will get the attention of the big media corporations. I hate to say it but a progressive trump, but smarter (which shouldn’t be difficult) and genuinely out to better the lives of the American citizens. And I genuinely hope that this unicorn exists.