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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#165326: Jan 5th 2017 at 5:49:23 AM

House Republicans are preparing legislation to defund the UN.

Yeah, I think I'll get another drink.

[up]The coastal states not getting even more electoral college votes due to their larger populations?

edited 5th Jan '17 5:50:38 AM by Krieger22

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#165327: Jan 5th 2017 at 5:53:11 AM

[up][up]If HRC won one extra Californian, the result would be the same as if she had won three million extra.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#165328: Jan 5th 2017 at 5:54:04 AM

[up]That.

edited 5th Jan '17 5:54:26 AM by IFwanderer

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
Medinoc from France (Before Recorded History)
#165329: Jan 5th 2017 at 6:24:00 AM

They call the UN "(((new world order)))", but the very guys they elect decide to attack it in retaliation for an anti-Israel move... If only cognitive dissonance could kill.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#165330: Jan 5th 2017 at 6:39:13 AM

Bear in mid the Go P relation to Israel is different than the Alt-Reich.

Both despise the UN but the religious right in the Go P and the lobbyists defend Israel, which gets the Alt-Right calling those Go P elements cuckservatives for not being Anti-Zionist and Antisemitic enough.

However the Go P dislikes the UN for both not being an organization that bends to their will and for being something that diverts our hard earned tax dollars into something useless that we don't get to tell them what to do, the Alt-Reich hates it for both latter reasons and for being pushing anti-white, pro-refugee, globalist agendas puppets being controlled by you know (((who))).

edited 5th Jan '17 6:39:46 AM by AngelusNox

Inter arma enim silent leges
blkwhtrbbt The Dragon of the Eastern Sea from Doesn't take orders from Vladimir Putin Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Dragon of the Eastern Sea
#165331: Jan 5th 2017 at 6:44:17 AM

[up][up]The world would be rapidly depopulated. Cognitive dissonance is how people stay sane. Of course, overindulgence in opiates does tend to lead to addiction and inebriation, so it's best to have at least a little consistency.

edited 5th Jan '17 6:58:43 AM by blkwhtrbbt

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#165332: Jan 5th 2017 at 6:55:26 AM

Cognitive dissonance is how people stay sane.
... What.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#165333: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:01:00 AM

[up]

Absolutely, it exists for a reason. Defense mechanism to protect from shocks, when confronted with information that goes directly against what a person believes or feels to be true.

Allows for impressive mental gymnastics to fit two or more contradictory positions together.

edited 5th Jan '17 7:04:31 AM by TerminusEst

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#165334: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:11:43 AM

It's kind of disconcerting that reality so so soul-crushingly awful at times that we could not function without the ability to outright deny reality.

Disgusted, but not surprised
blkwhtrbbt The Dragon of the Eastern Sea from Doesn't take orders from Vladimir Putin Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Dragon of the Eastern Sea
#165335: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:17:58 AM

Depressed people make suicide jokes as a coping mechanism. Rape victims use rape-play as a coping mechanism. I don't mean that's universal, I mean that's a thing that happens.

Sometimes people who lose loved ones walk around for weeks without feeling anything. No grief or anything.

This isn't even Psychology 101, this is High School Psych.

edited 5th Jan '17 7:19:15 AM by blkwhtrbbt

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#165336: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:22:47 AM

How much of an effect would our defunding the UN have on the UN itself? They're an international organization. We may provide them the most money, or close to it, but we aren't the only providers.

Also, thought that hit me, could this just be Brexit under a different tactic?

Re: Clinton's popular vote: I said myself before that, while important symbolically due to the scale of difference, it really doesn't amount to anything. The reason being that the Electoral College also typically goes by the popular vote, they just do it on a state by state basis rather than the grand total. The sad fact is that, whatever anyone says about voter apathy and/or suppression, enough states' popular votes went to Trump to give him the win.

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#165337: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:26:54 AM

The very concept of statehood is an extension of slave power. It took the Civil War to throw off the Southern yoke — the very structure of the government gives undue influence to rubes.

edited 5th Jan '17 7:27:57 AM by CrimsonZephyr

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#165338: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:28:44 AM

The healthy kind of cognitive dissonance is usually a type of coping mechanism, focused on a few specific things. It lets people function in the face of something traumatic. PTSD is sometimes (but not always) the result of cognitive dissonance not functioning properly, when the brain isn't blocked from making random connections related to the traumatic event.

What the GOP are doing on the other hand, is actively cultivating and encouraging cognitive dissonance in massively unhealthy ways. Unless you're a complete sociopath, doing something and then immediately decrying it as immoral and wrong tends to create stress. You might not register where the stress is coming from, but it's still there, and it can create massive health problems down the road.

Essentially, healthy cognitive dissonance is a cushion to help deal with traumatic events. Unhealthy cognitive dissonance is actively and willingly holding two opposing views at the same time.

I can't really blame the average GOP voter for their cognitive dissonance, as they're getting a very warped view of the world with a ton of missing pieces, so dissonance is the only way for it to make any sense, but I can blame the GOP leaders, because half of their positions don't have any logical connection to the other half.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#165339: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:29:42 AM

[up][up]Um... Huh?

I was confused by the statement on its own, since when I first saw it it ended at "slave power", but now am mildly amused by how its current wording suggests "slave power" as "power of slaves" as opposed to "power of enslavement", which is probably closer to the intent.

edited 5th Jan '17 7:38:25 AM by sgamer82

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#165340: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:29:57 AM

With each passing day, the name "United States of America" sounds more and more like a sad ironic joke. Still not as bad as the "People's Republic of China" or the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea", though it's probably close to "United Kingdom" and "European Union" in terms of irony.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Fighteer MOD Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#165341: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:35:35 AM

[up] M84, we've banned people from OTC in the past for contributing nothing useful to the conversation, but rather spewing doom-and-gloom, hyperbolic statements of angst, and so forth. You're teetering close to that edge. If you have nothing interesting to say, don't post.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
nightwyrm_zero Since: Apr, 2010
#165342: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:41:53 AM

As a long time player of X Com, the US pulling funding from an international organization gives me terrible flashbacks. On a more on-topic note, how well would the UN continue to function without the US' support?

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#165343: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:42:09 AM

[up][up][up][up]My view is that the entire apparatus of the United States, every political tool, every institution, every party, every individual's own political beliefs, are shaped, even unconsciously, by the legacy of bigotry in this country, all the way up to slavery. It's why, ultimately, the country is beyond help — the cancer that's killing America was with it since it was born. To "save" America, the entire country needs to basically rethink the entire concept of what it means to be an American. We can't rid America of Trump until we rid ourselves of that piece of Trump that exists within all of us.

Honestly, I think the solution is actually to normalize Trump's behavior. We have to stop treating him as an abnormality or a political "other" who is unprecedented and whose ideas are somehow "un-American." There's nothing more American than a bigoted, boorish parvenu.

edited 5th Jan '17 7:44:32 AM by CrimsonZephyr

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#165344: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:44:39 AM

So in lighter news, the GOP Congresspeople are hitting more and more snags in their plan to deal with the ACA.

Trump of course responded with a bunch of silly and petty tweets bashing Democrats.

It's almost as if the GOP never actually thought they would have to put their money where their mouth is and actually replace the ACA with something. It would explain why none of them came up with a replacement during the years they spent bashing the ACA.

Reminds me a bit of the way UKIP totally dropped the ball after Brexit actually passed.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#165345: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:49:07 AM

[up] Well, yes. "Protest" votes rarely have any concrete ideas behind them other than "I don't like this."

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#165346: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:55:08 AM

In slightly darker news, Trump has once again staffed an important position with someone who really, really shouldn't be in that position. The new head of the SEC is...(drumroll)...Jay Clayton! A corporate lawyer who has represented big names on Wall Street in the past...including Goldman-Sachs. Man, Trump really loves him some Goldman-Sachs.

If Trump were in charge of picking guard dogs to protect a farm, he'd pick a bunch of hungry foxes and wolves.

edited 5th Jan '17 7:56:15 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#165347: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:57:15 AM

Hey remember how voting Hillary was voting for Wall Street?

Good you didn't do that, right?

"You can reply to this Message!"
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#165348: Jan 5th 2017 at 7:57:50 AM

So in lighter news, the GOP Congresspeople are hitting more and more snags in their plan to deal with the ACA.
What snags?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#165349: Jan 5th 2017 at 8:02:05 AM

[up][up]On that point...

Whoops, G'job Eddie, now the US got both for the prize of one!

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#165350: Jan 5th 2017 at 8:03:21 AM

[up][up] Mainly that they are slowly realizing that even much of their voter base doesn't actually hate the ACA enough to want it repealed without a viable replacement ready at the same time. Their original "repeal first, figure out a replacement sometime later" strategy wasn't as universally popular as they had hoped.

The Dems' response was more or less "You're on your own, morons."

edited 5th Jan '17 8:04:06 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised

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