Juliajms

This is an interesting thread. I tend to think of the decline as starting with 45 because I'm US centered, but here's another view. I do think he's made people like Netanyahu worse, but maybe it's more of a synergy.

^ So gross, but he would have probably golfed following 9/11, he's that worthless. This is just plain nuts.

Florida was having problems with theirsystem too ahead of the deadline. https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2018/10/09/a-mess-floridas-online-voter-registration-system-panned-641953

Not preachy at all. I had a similar thought about the various murderous dictators the world has seen. People under the rule of Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler must have thought it would go on forever, but it didn't. I'm hopeful that we can turn things around even now, but even if things do get much worse it doesn't mean they won't get better for future generations. We share that kind of optimism at least.

I hope you are right, but I can't share your optimism. Who knows if democracy as we knew it will even survive Trump? I have my doubts because now those in power know that you can flaunt norms and no one can or will stop you. We'll see if the Genie will go back in the bottle. I think it's more likely if we can defeat Trump in 2020, but now ambitious people of all persuasions see that you can lie, cheat and steal and get away with it even when the world is watching. Isn't that the truth. We are truly in crazy town. 60 million people voted for that man and many of them will again. It's chilling. I know most people in this thread will not agree with me, but I would rather be ruled by John Kasich for 10 years than Trump for 2. Maybe I would feel differently if I weren't white and straight, but at the same time, I understand he wants to take away my reproductive rights. It's just that I see Trump as an existential threat to both democracy and life itself. I'm willing to give up the short term so we can live to fight another day. As for Bill Clinton I did love him at the time, but I was still a teenager when he was elected. I wouldn't vote for him now and I do believe his victims. It's really too bad he didn't step aside because nothing would have been lost. In fact, I wonder if we might have avoided Iraq, if Gore had been the incumbent when he faced W. I also agree that Ted Kennedy should have gone to prison for whatever that's worth now that he's dead. I don't think either of them would have gotten away with what they did in 2018, but we'll never know.

Of course! Yes. I'm afraid it's going to start feeling normal at some point.

It was really sad. It was also a little contradictory. I agreed with him that it was too hard to watch the whole thing, but not that it was an embarrassment to (Kan)Ye's deceased mother or AA people in general. We were watching mental illness on display as some kind of sick entertainment.

One more before I say goodnight. This video is just insane. Talk about embarrassing. All he cares about is money.

Let's hope they manage to block this.

^ Well, I think Don was mostly right, but so much about what he said was incredibly sad, especially how is mother would be embarrassed. That's not the right word. He's right though "we are watching someone's demise".

I'm not sure what to think of this deal.

The monstrous indifference of these people knows no bounds. ICE put a 4 year old on a plane to Guatemala with no one there to pick her up. https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/11/us/ice-separated-families/index.html

Yes, exactly. No one has to support what he is saying. I would hope they don't, even when it is coherent. No one has to allow a person who refuses treatment to stay in their lives. The point is his family should do their best to get him treatment or keep him out of the spotlight. Kim K is an idiot to bring so many toddlers into this man's life. I usually don't comment on other people's reproductive choices, but what kind of fool decides to have a baby when their husband just got out of the mental ward? The stress of that is so intense, having nannies doesn't change that. Lord, I miss the days when I didn't even know that woman's name. In other news, I'm thrilled that the fed popped the bubble in the housing market. That was a very good call and I'm glad it happened before Trump could fire Powell, which he surely will if he hikes again.

It's not about excuses or support. Like I said, I don't even know a Kanye West song, unless it was on Glee. It's about someone who is clearly not well having a manic episode in public. Meanwhile, no one can or will do anything about it. Kanye may very well be a bad person underneath it all, but someone should probably step in and get him on his meds before he crashes and hurts himself. Roseanne, same thing. I've never seen mental illness as an excuse, but it can be a reason. I''m not sure why people try to put a time limit on that medical reality. Her brain was seriously injured (and she has bipolar). I don't think it's a leap to say she has never been normal since that event. It's not really about whether we like her enough to support her TV career. It's about if someone who knows her can get her on the meds before something terrible happens. Me too.

Part of me feels the media is exploiting mental illness, but what are they going to do? They can't pretend Kanye isn't in the oval office talking nonsense.

Remember when Obama put his feet up? My perception of NC isn't as low as Mississippi by any stretch. Maybe because I lived in the south for a good long time, but my ranking of the worst is West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky. That's just perception I can't put into words why. I'm not even sure NC would hit my bottom 10.

Me either. I'll believe it when I see it. I think so. Iowa is such a strange state. Before I moved to Omaha I would have just lumped Iowa and NE in together, but Iowa is actually more progressive. They just happen to have that nut Steve King making them look like Neanderthals. Meanwhile, we have clean cut "farmer boy" Sasse who knows how to talk a good game while swimming in the exact same $hit at a higher level..

Maybe some good news.

Injustice seems so intractable right now. A lot of terrible things are happening, but what has gone on with these migrant children is among the worst. I feel like other countries should be stepping in to stop it, but we're like China and Russia now. So powerful that other countries might note our human rights violations, but they won't step in. I wonder if people felt more optimistic in the 50's and 60's? Things were worse in terms of civil rights, but did it feel like an upswing? Like better things were around the corner? Now things might be technically better, but we're in an obvious downswing so it feels worse. I'll have to find someone in their 70's to ask.

Another thing I didn't know. If only more people had listened and acted before 2016.

If it were up to me we would never have another billionaire president. People with that kind of money have no idea how the rest of us live. Sure, there are a few exceptions, but overall, no thank you. I don't really think we have even come close to leaning the lesson of not idolizing the rich. Nevertheless, I would take Bloomberg in a heartbeat. At least he can string coherent sentence together and probably wouldn't put children under 5 in internment camps. The bar is very, very low. And yes, although I don't relish Kerry or Biden as candidates, I would also take them over Bloomberg. Kerry is also a billionaire, but at least he's spent his life in public service.

You vote for Bloomberg. It's not even a close call. If we are lucky he won't be the nominee.

Thanks. It's really really worrying that this kind of rhetoric has become the norm.

I didn't hear about this. Was he talking about Murkowski?