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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
How widespread were "freedom fries" back then? Did you guys ever encounter somebody who was all for it?
Oh God! Natural light!I was someone in favor of it! I said "freedom fries" for like three years. And made lots of France jokes.
And frequently defended both Bush and the war.
Growing up in a really Conservative family messes with you, man.
edited 2nd Jun '17 2:16:01 PM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.A combination of moving out on my own when I came of age, doing so in a major liberal city instead of the small rural town in Kansas that my family has migrated to piece by piece over the years, and a lot of subsequent time spent being exposed to other points of view, some of which happened in this thread.
Here is a great example of the type of cognitive dissonance and ignorance that comes from the far-right. In the Conservative infobubble I hailed from, George W. Bush was not responsible for wrecking our economy with the Iraq War. The war did do a lot of damage and go on longer than it should have, but that wasn't Bush's fault. It was the Democrats.
See, the reason the war lasted so long is because America forgot how to do war. It forgot that because the wussy Democrats spent so many years crippling our military and poisoning our minds with their dogma. We couldn't win the war for Iraq because we weren't willing to actually win the war the way wars were supposed to be won.
Clearly, the correct way to deal with Iraq was to use our superior military might to carpet-bomb half the country into glass. Then we'd roll our tanks into Baghdad and turn the capitol to a pile of rubble. Publicly execute Saddam Hussein so everyone knows who's in charge now. Finally, raise American flags and be like, "F*ck off, bitches. This terrorist hellscape is the property of AMERICA now! That's what you get for messing with us!"
Obviously, it'd be done in an afternoon, everyone would live happily ever after, and there would be absolutely no negative consequences of any kind. It makes perfect sense as long as you have absolutely no idea how international politics or basic cause-effect functions.
edited 2nd Jun '17 2:29:24 PM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
I hailed from a similar info bubble, not helped by not having internet access at home. I got my first dose of the real world during my college orientation, and I was a mess between then and the end of my first semester. I got better, but it is a long process that does not happen without a lot of painful self evaluation.
My first dose of reality came when I failed out of the U.S. Army. My DI - who was amazing and to this day is still one of the greatest inspirations I've ever had, even though I only knew him a few months - broke me of my family's ideal that joining the military is just something you do as a matter of course, and that anyone who doesn't is in some way lesser for it.
He said a lot of things that stuck with me but the important one in this context is that there are basically only two reasons to be in the military: because you believe very strongly in something and have a fervent desire to champion it, or because you have nowhere else to go. A lot of people don't fall into either of these categories, and that's okay.
One of the last conversations I ever had with him was when I found out they were sending me home. I was told I could try again in two years, and I wanted to spend those two years getting my issues in order and come right back soon as I could to try again. I felt like a complete failure. My DI took me aside and told me, "You take those two years, you do everything you can to turn your life around. Then, when that time comes, i want you to take a look at where you are in life. If you're happy, truly happy with where you are, then don't come back."
That was eye-opening for me in a lot of ways and really opened the door for me to wonder about other people's ways of living.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.@fruitpork: Like I just found out the world formed a hilarious joke, and I was the punchline. I grew up in an area where churches outnumbered restaurants nearly 2 to 1, most people were at least mildly religious (Catholic, Baptist, various flavors of Protestant, Jehovah's Witnesses) and I did not meet a single person who identified as anything but Cis/Het until that summer. I grew up about half an hour from where the Bush family spent their summers, and met them enough times that they could do no wrong from the point of a teenager. I worked construction and spent all day during the summers around the kind of crass, coarse, downright offensive sorts of people that give stereotypes bad names, and got along with them fine.
That summer, I saw just how little of the world I knew, looked in the mirror, and realized I was about 5 years from becoming a carbon copy of my father-mildly racist, moderately homophobic, and insensitive enough about women that I probably deserved a groin kick on general principle. What really saved me was a spur of the moment decision my last semester of high school-I dropped an overstuffed class and took an intro Psych course, that led me to changing my college major my first week. Taking courses that eventually lead me to science, and thinking like a scientist. It also brought me into contact with several mentors among the faculty that gave me some great advice, and finally the courses themselves led me to take a long look at how I got there.
edited 2nd Jun '17 3:14:44 PM by ViperMagnum357
Richard Burr is trying to bury the CIA torture report.
The ACLU is suing via the Freedom of Information Act to access the complete report (only a summary has been released so far) but Burr is trying to find a legal loophole that would place the report outside the boundaries of Fo IA and keep it classified for good.
Trump takes to twitter again, what a surprise... apparently trying to justify pulling out of the Paris Accord.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_59314062e4b075bff0f2492b/amp
And has anyone seen this?
technically he can't, the Agreement has a term that now country can withdraw until a certain number of years after it was signed.
edited 2nd Jun '17 4:08:21 PM by megaeliz
The California Senate has just passed Healthcare.
Now it goes back to the Assembly to figure out details. It's going to pretty much be up to Jerry Brown to approve or veto it.
No. Rejoining would mean admitting that he made a mistake, and Trump never admits to anything because he thinks that it makes him look weak. At the same time, a changed agreement is not on the table. France, Germany and Italy were pretty clear about that point and if what are the US closest allies after the UK (which somehow still believes in the special relationship) aren't ready to negotiate, none of the other leaders will either.
Granted, if Trump gets replaced and the next guy in line signs and ratifies the agreement, nobody will stop him (or her for that matter). But I don't see the Republicans actually doing something against Trump anytime soon.
They have other stuff too. One from a few months ago is actually addressed to Brietbart.
And they have a whole series of these.
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLki90Aw2GjddcCAz4tVJ89PalyuGn0dH1
edited 2nd Jun '17 7:28:38 PM by megaeliz
With the exception of a few people (in the Brexit Baby Boomer generation, and it's not a lot of that generation), British people don't believe in the special relationship, and haven't done for decades. Politicians will use the language for political reasons (some, mostly Tories and some UKIP, may genuinely believe in it but the majority are just using 'diplomatic language' when they use it).
The right-wing press push it for their own private agendas and not because they believe in it — most of the press barons who control the British press have large, personal business stakes in the US. They're very out-of-sync with most British people, however. When most British people talk about the 'special relationship', we're usually mocking the concept of it.
edited 2nd Jun '17 7:29:37 PM by Wyldchyld
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.

But then WWI happened.
Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.