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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Political Discussion Thread

Last night one of the dad's at baseball and I were talking politics and he mentioned a show called the Peruge where everything illegal becomes legal for a 12 hour period overnight once a year, including murder. The wealthy and privileged hunker down with heavy protection, while the less fortunate are left to fend off crazys. He commented that the group who was in power who created and supported this legal exemption sounded an awful lot like Trump... even using the phase "We Make America Great" several times.
 
Last night one of the dad's at baseball and I were talking politics and he mentioned a show called the Peruge where everything illegal becomes legal for a 12 hour period overnight once a year, including murder. The wealthy and privileged hunker down with heavy protection, while the less fortunate are left to fend off crazys. He commented that the group who was in power who created and supported this legal exemption sounded an awful lot like Trump... even using the phase "We Make America Great" several times.

It's called The Purge. There are several movies and now a spin off TV show on USA I think. I always find it funny that everyone goes straight to murder, but there are so many other crimes to commit. I'd put up a storage shed in the setback. :lmao:
 
It's called The Purge. There are several movies and now a spin off TV show on USA I think. I always find it funny that everyone goes straight to murder, but there are so many other crimes to commit. I'd put up a storage shed in the setback. :lmao:

WOW.... I can't believe that you would even ponder such a heinous crime. :-c What next, paint your door without HOA approval?

Don't you know that HOAs are like gods? HOA covenants and deed restrictions are still enforced during the purge.
 
The guy in the plaid shirt at the Montana Trump rally is freaking awesome! LINK

MZ sits here imagining "That's exactly how Michaelskis looks, only Michael is probably cuter." ;)

No, I'm not flirting. No, I don't want to be confused with the facts. Life is stressful. I'm just looking for some lighthearted fun. Okay? Gahd.
 
It's called The Purge. There are several movies and now a spin off TV show on USA I think. I always find it funny that everyone goes straight to murder, but there are so many other crimes to commit. I'd put up a storage shed in the setback. :lmao:

This has strong thread-splitting potential... :D
 
What... like what would you do if all crimes were determined to be legal for a 12 hour period once a year.... It also has the potential to be used against you in a court of law too.

Sounds like crime #1 must be eat all records that could be used against you. You know, that one bad performance review. That site plan you had to sign because the city manager was looking over your shoulder.
 
Today, Ruth Buzzi tweeted this:

Yes, I’ve been on television.

That doesn’t make me a valid source of wisdom and advice on politics. Talk to a grocer, mechanic, hairdresser or plumber, whose opinions are at least as valid as any actor’s and perhaps more valuable.


I was like, daaaang, I'm totes following this lady. Totes #Respect.

I'm now one of her nearly 66k followers.
 
I was leaving a store after work on Monday, when I noticed the truck parked next to me was sporting an Indiana BMV-issued "TRUMP 20" license plate. I wanted to get a picture for joking with my kids, so I put my purchase down on my passenger seat and then realized the driver was still in the vehicle. He looked like a dude that might have been on Duck Dynasty, though I confess I have only seen commercials and never an actual episode. I decided to skip a snapshot. As I backed out, however, I noticed there was also a sticker of the NFL logo with a strike-mark through it, and an American flag sticker with the phrase "If you don't love my Flag, you can leave my Land" above/below it.

Then today, as I entered my building, I saw a guy standing at the window to the Sheriff's office. He was wearing a dark colored sweatshirt and printed on the back was the following in large letters: "If you stomp on my Flag, I'll stomp on your Ass!" The text was above/below an image of a black and white American flag. There was smaller text, but I declined getting any closer to read it, nor to see what might have been on the front of the sweatshirt.

We sure picked a hell of a time to elect a narcissist serial liar like DJT, Sr.

I am beginning to truly fear for the future of our republic.
 
Article - Trump Rejects Death Toll in Puerto Rico, Accusing Democrats of Inflating Numbers
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/us/politics/trump-denies-puerto-rico-death-roll.html

Dem lawmaker: '3,000 people died and Donald Trump wants us to believe he is the victim'
http://thehill.com/latino/406462-de...ld-trump-wants-us-to-believe-he-is-the-victim

The 25th Amendment, explained: how a president can be declared unfit to serve

At least one person is taking this option very seriously.
 
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From Wirt, in another forum.
 
Where else, but Texas... :(

Right-wing Christian pinheads vote to scrub Hillary Clinton and Helen Keller from curriculum


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-board-of-education-votes-to-remove-hillary-clinton-from-history-curriculum/

"A conservative Christian advocacy group, Texas Values, praised the board's decision in a statement to The Dallas Morning News. "In Texas, you don't mess with the Alamo and you don't mess with our Christian heritage. We applaud the majority of the State Board of Education for doing the right thing by restoring our foundational rights and history," said Jonathan Saenz, the president of the group."]A conservative Christian advocacy group, Texas Values, praised the board's decision in a statement to The Dallas Morning News. "In Texas, you don't mess with the Alamo and you don't mess with our Christian heritage. We applaud the majority of the State Board of Education for doing the right thing by restoring our foundational rights and history," said Jonathan Saenz, the president of the group.
 
I need to applaud our Governor and the response to the hurricane. He did a great job and was out visiting shelters and making sure that communities have the resources that they need.
 
I need to applaud our Governor and the response to the hurricane. He did a great job and was out visiting shelters and making sure that communities have the resources that they need.

I think Cooper did a good job with it. Trump is supposed to arrive sometime this week, which really just creates more of a problem than anything else.

I'm not happy with the FEMA IHP designations though. Only 18 counties received the designation, none inland. I have a lot of flooded houses that are well outside the floodplain so they almost certainly don't have flood insurance. There's very little, if any, 500 year floodplain modeling for my county and this was probably a 1,000 year event anyways. At least one of our rivers broke the flood record by at least 8 feet, but it's probably closer to 10-12. I might have to call Trump and see if he can put us on that list. We got PA with Matthew, and this was way worse.
 
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To go along with JNA's tRump tweet, here's another:


Trump crossed the street to a small brick house, where he stopped to greet an older man in the T-shirt. Behind the house, a large yacht had washed ashore and was shipwrecked against the wooden deck. Trump gazed at the yacht, saying, Is this your boat? The owner said no. Trump turned and replied with smile, "At least you got a nice boat out of the deal."

:wall::facepalm:
 
To go along with JNA's tRump tweet, here's another:


Trump crossed the street to a small brick house, where he stopped to greet an older man in the T-shirt. Behind the house, a large yacht had washed ashore and was shipwrecked against the wooden deck. Trump gazed at the yacht, saying, Is this your boat? The owner said no. Trump turned and replied with smile, "At least you got a nice boat out of the deal."

:wall::facepalm:
That is the textbook definition of 'too soon'.
 
To go along with JNA's tRump tweet, here's another:


Trump crossed the street to a small brick house, where he stopped to greet an older man in the T-shirt. Behind the house, a large yacht had washed ashore and was shipwrecked against the wooden deck. Trump gazed at the yacht, saying, Is this your boat? The owner said no. Trump turned and replied with smile, "At least you got a nice boat out of the deal."

:wall::facepalm:

That is the textbook definition of 'too soon'.

I dunno man, I think if I was in that guys situation, I'd laugh about it. I was just in a house that suffered flood damage and almost told the lady how much I've always wanted to see the inside because it's just such a cool house. I didn't because I definitely figured that was a "too soon" moment (FYI, the house was also cool inside, minus all the nasty mud).
 
I am wondering what everyone's thoughts are regarding the hearings pertaining to Brett Kavanaugh to SCOTUS and the accusations that were made against him. Do you think that he did what he did? Why didn't this information come to light at the very beginning of the hearings? Do you think that the accuser should testify? Do you think that the Democrats are using this as a delay tactic until after the elections so they can control the outcome? Do you think that the Republicans knew about it, think he did it, and just don't care?
 
I am wondering what everyone's thoughts are regarding the hearings pertaining to Brett Kavanaugh to SCOTUS and the accusations that were made against him. Do you think that he did what he did? Why didn't this information come to light at the very beginning of the hearings? Do you think that the accuser should testify? Do you think that the Democrats are using this as a delay tactic until after the elections so they can control the outcome? Do you think that the Republicans knew about it, think he did it, and just don't care?

I think it's very credible. The complaints were documented at the time when the accuser discussed the situation with mental health professionals. I think it's very, very challenging for victims/survivors to come forward to share their stories. When his name first got splashed around, I can imagine that she went through a pretty long evaluation process to determine whether she was willing to come forward and have her name splashed around and her credibility questioned before she chose to become vocal about what had transpired.

I don't think testifying will provide any more answers than any information that is already available does. Democrats are capitalizing on it, but I don't think they manufactured it. I'm sure many of them are using it as a delay tactic, though. No clue about the Republicans. I hope they didn't know about it, but it's clear that even if they did, the one that nominated him wouldn't have cared.
 
My problem keeps coming back to right or wrong there used to be a day when he would have been tossed out for the next applicant.
 
I am wondering what everyone's thoughts are regarding the hearings pertaining to Brett Kavanaugh to SCOTUS and the accusations that were made against him. Do you think that he did what he did? Why didn't this information come to light at the very beginning of the hearings? Do you think that the accuser should testify? Do you think that the Democrats are using this as a delay tactic until after the elections so they can control the outcome? Do you think that the Republicans knew about it, think he did it, and just don't care?

I think it's entirely possible he did, evidence seems to show that he had/has made comments in the past that would allude to something like this being within his nature. Very similar to Trump's "locker room talk". The answer as to why it took so long to surface should be obvious, look how well this worked out for Anita Hill. She was humiliated when she testified and Clarence Thomas still got the seat. I think at this point Ford SHOULD testify, because there's been some interesting back tracking from the Democrats on the issue, particularly Feinstein.

Honestly, I think it's only fair that the Democrats stall as long as possible. The GOP did it with Garland, and it was WAY worse. Garland was a great middle of the road candidate who could appeal to both sides, and they still blocked him. And yes, they absolutely knew Kavanaugh had a lengthy paper trail that could be come an issue during the confirmation hearings. McConnell even flat out TOLD Trump he was a bad nominee and to pick someone else. Kavanaugh is there because he has some sort of deeper connection with Trump and Trump believes that Kavanaugh will be his man when things come to a head with the Mueller investigation.

I disagree with Kavanaugh on many positions, but I do believe he is a good attorney and is a good judge, but he is just not fit to be on the Supreme Court. His personal beliefs appear to sometimes cloud his judgement on certain major issues. I think that a Supreme Court justice should be the best of us, and if there is any shred of doubt that may question the character and integrity of the individual up for nomination, we should move on. No other position in United States government has the ability to change our lives more than a judge on the Supreme Court.
 
From my understanding of the timeline of the Kavanaugh accusation: Ford didn't really talk about it contemporaneously but there is documentation that she first brought it up in 20112 at couples counseling. When he was named to the short-list of potential nominees Ford sent a letter recounting the incident to her representative and Diane Feinstein. She wanted to be kept out of the public eye but wanted them to have the information. Once he was actually nominated Feinstein thought it was a serious and credible enough accusation that she sent it to the WH and the rest of the Senate Judiciary Committee but they kept in confidential in accordance with Ford's wishes. There is some speculation that this is the reason that the Rs on the committee had obtained a letter signed by 65 women who he has interacted with over the year who attested to his character - sort of a pre-emptive strike to any claims that he hasn't always been a fine, upstanding gentleman. Somehow Ford's accusations were leaked and Ronan Farrow was going to go public with it - that's when Feinstein made it known that such a letter existed and urged the committee to delay and then Ford came public.

To me, there are many understandable reasons why a teenage girl wouldn't have made the accusation when it occurred in the early 1980s. I can also see it from her side now that she may have wanted to keep quiet and stay out of it but considered it her civic duty to at least make sure that those in the decision making process had all the relevant information. I don't think she had any nefarious intent on making the accusations now. If anything, once Feinstein brought it to Gassley and the WH when she received it the WH had the opportunity to quickly withdraw if they found it credible or Grassley.

Should Ford testify to the committee? I think so but I can understand her hesitation, especially if the committee isn't making Mark Judge (the other kid who was in the room when it happened) but in the end I sort of agree with gtpeach, I don't think the testimony will really provide any additional information and it runs the risk of the Rs turning it into a Ford character assassination also shutting down any real hard questions for Kavanaugh by the Ds as being "out of order".

The Rs and the WH are in a tricky spot, timing-wise. I am sure the WH is in the process of quietly vetting a couple other candidates but they don't want to withdraw Kavanaugh's nomination right now because they know there is no way they would get a new candidate in front of the judicial committee before the midterms, and while the GOP is still a heavy favorite to hold the senate, that lead is slipping. If they can rush him out of committee now and force a vote approving him before the midterm they know that will hurt their chances of holding on to the senate in the midterm because it could be a huge mobilizing factor for the Ds to turn out the vote... but they will have their man on the bench. Cynically/strategically I honestly think the best bet for the GOP is to get him out of committee and hold a vote of the full senate early in November and hope that he fails 49-51 with Snow and Murkowski voting with the Ds. This would give the GOP a little bit of moral high ground saying, "Look, we brought it up to a vote and reason prevailed and we kept him off the bench. We're good guys!" (nevermind that all the guys in the GOP voted for him). And since there would still be a vacancy on the bench, the GOP could use that to motivate their base to turn out since there is ample evidence that Republican voters are much more motivated by the court and it might shore up their chances of holding onto the Senate as well as help out in some of the closer House races they are in danger of losing. Better yet, the GOP Senate leadership could bring up the vote and not whip it and allow the Republican senators to vote as they see fit and maybe the rest of the female senators (Ernst, Hyde-Smith, Fischer, Moore Capito) and some of the males would also vote against him giving all of them a bit more #metoo cred.
 
...

To me, there are many understandable reasons why a teenage girl wouldn't have made the accusation when it occurred in the early 1980s. I can also see it from her side now that she may have wanted to keep quiet and stay out of it...

Should Ford testify to the committee? I think so but I can understand her hesitation, especially if the committee isn't making Mark Judge (the other kid who was in the room when it happened) ...
The professor's home address has been published by a Twitter account with a white ­nationalist talking point for its handle. She's had to leave her home, delete her social media accounts.

This is a good read about what happens when a teenager reports an assault.
 
Yeah, historically when young girls accuse someone of sexual assault, the result is they get called a liar and reprimanded for saying bad things about the nice man. It's horrible.

I'm fortunate I was believed. It wasn't handled in some ideal fashion, but I at least didn't get additional abuse heaped upon me.

I believe that is largely changing now, with things like the #MeToo movement. It's to a point now where it's a guilty until proven innocent thing. That said, false reports of sexual assault are incredibly rare and generally sensationalized by the media, so the chances are that the accused is most likely guilty anyways.
 
I believe that is largely changing now, with things like the #MeToo movement. It's to a point now where it's a guilty until proven innocent thing. That said, false reports of sexual assault are incredibly rare and generally sensationalized by the media, so the chances are that the accused is most likely guilty anyways.

I have mixed feelings about that.

I occasionally wonder if I am the actual source of the #MeToo movement, what with opening mouth about such things on Hacker News for over nine years. It has to come from somewhere. I have yet to see anyone really explain where that came from.

And if I am the source of such movements, then I'm not really comfortable with a guilty until proven innocent model. I mean, I'm not comfortable with it regardless. But if I am the seed of this movement, then I feel responsible and like I have more work to do.

I only skimmed the article Veloise posted. I was wondering if it would be a good piece to post to Hacker News, but I don't feel it is. The writing isn't strong enough. There is too much lurid focus on sexual details. I think the framing of what went wrong is also something that is not helpful for me to post on HN as the most prominent woman there.

I have been changing attitudes on Hacker News because I view "rape culture" as a systemic problem, not something men are guilty of. And that makes a huge, huge difference in getting people to have an open mind and consider my points.

Apparently, from what I skimmed, the story in question is about a couple of teenaged boys raping a teenaged girl at a party with alcohol and nominally at least one adult playing chaperone. And I don't think it really works to just vilify two young men when there are so many situational factors involved. It also doesn't work to just give them a pass either.

An awful lot of stuff went wrong there. And then it got compounded after the fact.

Maybe I will look around and see if there is a better piece out there somewhere. Unfortunately, it's rare for me to find really good pieces on this very difficult subject that fit the very high bar I need them to fit in all parameters.
 
And if I am the source of such movements, then I'm not really comfortable with a guilty until proven innocent model. I mean, I'm not comfortable with it regardless. But if I am the seed of this movement, then I feel responsible and like I have more work to do.

Oh I have no doubts that the movement did not at all intend that to be the model. It was more about empowerment and creating a collective voice. I think the turn towards that guilty until innocent model can largely be blamed on social media and more sensationalism. Similar to how at its core, the Black Lives Matter movement was supposed to be about peaceful protest and intended to shine a light on police injustice towards African American citizens. In the end, things turned violent by people not even associated with the movement, largely as a result of people inflaming others over social media.
 
Oh I have no doubts that the movement did not at all intend that to be the model. It was more about empowerment and creating a collective voice. I think the turn towards that guilty until innocent model can largely be blamed on social media and more sensationalism. Similar to how at its core, the Black Lives Matter movement was supposed to be about peaceful protest and intended to shine a light on police injustice towards African American citizens. In the end, things turned violent by people not even associated with the movement, largely as a result of people inflaming others over social media.

It took me twenty years to conclude that the individual that raped me when I was twelve did not intend to hurt me and that there was an element of miscommunication there. He thought I wanted it. He didn't know how wrong he was until I began screaming.

I spent years asking therapists "Why didn't he just apologize!?" and having them look at me like I was truly a loon, completely out there.

From what I know of his life, it seems to me his life has spent more time in the toilet than mine has. I think he was probably torn apart with guilt.

I have often been called a rape apologist when trying to discuss the subject. Women who have been hurt want to hang someone high and often see all men as terrible people for existing. Trying to inject some reason and stats into the discussion is challenging.

But if you call it rape culture, then you need to be looking for solutions that involve changing the culture so such stuff happens less rather than changing the culture so that, after the fact -- after some woman has been horribly traumatized in a way that is likely to psychologically and emotionally maim her and leave her with life-long scars -- we simply hang some man high, as if that somehow makes it okay what was done to her.

The people on the warpath are still looking to build a gallows. I am looking to build a new culture, a more civilized culture, one where such things are drastically less likely to happen to begin with.
 
I have mixed feelings about that.

...

I only skimmed the article Veloise posted. ...

Apparently, from what I skimmed, the story in question is about a couple of teenaged boys raping a teenaged girl at a party with alcohol and nominally at least one adult playing chaperone. And I don't think it really works to just vilify two young men when there are so many situational factors involved. It also doesn't work to just give them a pass either.

An awful lot of stuff went wrong there. And then it got compounded after the fact.
....

If you read it...the boys invited her to "go get food" and took her to an backyard storage shed.
And it appears that the mom who hosted the party denied there was drinking, lied to police (there's video), took the victim's clothing AND WASHED IT, spread lies about "she recanted."

But don't worry; your perfect story will appear soon. Try this one.
 
If you read it...the boys invited her to "go get food" and took her to an backyard storage shed.
And it appears that the mom who hosted the party denied there was drinking, lied to police (there's video), took the victim's clothing AND WASHED IT, spread lies about "she recanted."

But don't worry; your perfect story will appear soon. Try this one.



I'm not looking for a perfect story on this subject. I keep my eye out for high quality writing on any and all subjects to post to Hacker News. I don't shy away from difficult subjects, nor do I have an agenda to promote certain topics on the forum. It's something of a tightrope I have to walk in that regard.

The forum is full of people with PhDs and self made millionaires and the like. I realize most people on Cyburbia have Master's degrees, but the standards for discussion and civility on HN are especially high.

You have to have a membership there to apply to Y Combinator's incubator program. Their program has played a role in the development of many big name businesses, such as AirBnB, Reddit and DropBox.

So behaving well there and impressing people with your smarts can help open the door to literally millions of dollars for some people. That fact has a strong influence on the culture. It is a high stakes environment. They place a very, very high value on civility. Articles about difficult subjects that aren't handled adequately well rapidly get flagged to death.

When they screwed up their pilot "online startup school" recently and sent acceptance letters to the rejects and rejection letters to the people accepted, they graciously decided to accept all 15k applicants and try to find some means to ramp up rapidly to deal with the load. I think they had intended to accept 3000, so their load quintupled with that decision.

In other words, this is an environment with a low tolerance for excuses. I don't make excuses. I meet the standard. That's how I fit in.

I love Cyburbia and I'm thrilled to be back here. I've probably posted several articles from Cyburbia to Hacker News because the quality of people and ideas and so forth here is pretty high. So I was actually excited to see this piece and hopeful that it would be a rare gem.

Although it has some good qualities, the piece serves too much as a means for the author to process her own firsthand trauma, having been at the school in question where this debacle occurred. The writing is good, but not what it needs to be for me personally to post it to HN.

As the highest ranked woman there, I'm in a delicate position. There can be a lot of eyes on what I do -- the forum gets 5 million visitors a year -- and people can react very strongly to things I do simply because of my position there. That's just reality and I have to take that into account when deciding what to post.

I don't plan to click the link you've given me.

I missed the edit window, but I will add that Hacker News is, in some sense, the old boy network of our age.

Historically, HN was as much as 98 percent male membership. The exclusion of women on HN is excluding them from the halls of power. My participation there and prominent position is helping open doors for other women.

I have my eye on the big picture. I'm not apologizing to anyone for that.
 
Trump just questioned why the FBI wasn't involved in the Ford/Kavanaugh case 36 years ago....

Well uh, generally sir, the FBI doesn't get involved with sexual assault cases involving random minors.
 
Trump just questioned why the FBI wasn't involved in the Ford/Kavanaugh case 36 years ago....

Well uh, generally sir, the FBI doesn't get involved with sexual assault cases involving random minors.

Let's just go ahead and change the policy now so we have the complete record for decades later when these random minors may end up pursuing a job of national importance...

I'm probably going to have to stop following this news, honestly. It's incredibly triggering for me. This poor woman is just being re-victimized over and over and over again, and this is a huge part of the reason she didn't come forward before. The stakes are so high, she's allowing herself to be subjected to this in order to shine a light on the truth of this man's character, but it is coming at a very high cost to her.
 
Trump just questioned why the FBI wasn't involved in the Ford/Kavanaugh case 36 years ago....

Well uh, generally sir, the FBI doesn't get involved with sexual assault cases involving random minors.

pResident tRump will blame AG Jeff Sessions for this in a tweet later today :h:
 
Triggering

...
I'm probably going to have to stop following this news, honestly. It's incredibly triggering for me. This poor woman is just being re-victimized over and over and over again, and this is a huge part of the reason she didn't come forward before. The stakes are so high, she's allowing herself to be subjected to this in order to shine a light on the truth of this man's character, but it is coming at a very high cost to her.

Saw a FB event.
Christine Blazey-Ford has been asked to testify Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Will she? Won't She? Well we all will!!

Monday 9/24/2018 WE ALL TESTIFY! Share your story with the NAME of your abuser, rapist, molester, sexual harasser; share all of the details and dates, include where this abuser might be now. Tell us if you told anyone, did they support you or silence you? What is their name? Did you report the crime? What happened after you reported the crime? Name the officers, detectives, prosecutors who helped or did not help you. Did you tell a therapist? How long before you told anyone? How has this changed you?

Going by what my friends and acquaintances are posting, it would appear that #metoo includes everyone who ever presented as female.
 
Saw a FB event.
Christine Blazey-Ford has been asked to testify Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Will she? Won't She? Well we all will!!

Monday 9/24/2018 WE ALL TESTIFY! Share your story with the NAME of your abuser, rapist, molester, sexual harasser; share all of the details and dates, include where this abuser might be now. Tell us if you told anyone, did they support you or silence you? What is their name? Did you report the crime? What happened after you reported the crime? Name the officers, detectives, prosecutors who helped or did not help you. Did you tell a therapist? How long before you told anyone? How has this changed you?

Going by what my friends and acquaintances are posting, it would appear that #metoo includes everyone who ever presented as female.

I have issues with this kind of messaging, too. Victims/survivors should be empowered to have as much autonomy and choice as possible when it comes to sharing their stories. Pressuring women to share their experiences is just pressuring them in a different way. I doubt I will ever publicly share the details of my experiences.
 
I'm probably going to have to stop following this news, honestly. It's incredibly triggering for me. This poor woman is just being re-victimized over and over and over again, and this is a huge part of the reason she didn't come forward before. The stakes are so high, she's allowing herself to be subjected to this in order to shine a light on the truth of this man's character, but it is coming at a very high cost to her.

I mostly avoid such stuff. I have a pretty thick skin, but it tends to be maximum rage factor with little to no upside.

Over the years, I've privately supported a few rape survivors and helped them move on. I am changing the discussion in places where I participate. Those things help me feel okay and feel empowered and like I am making a difference.

But stuff like what I gather is currently going on in Washington is the kind of thing to make one just go postal. Yeesh.

I have issues with this kind of messaging, too. Victims/survivors should be empowered to have as much autonomy and choice as possible when it comes to sharing their stories. Pressuring women to share their experiences is just pressuring them in a different way. I doubt I will ever publicly share the details of my experiences.

There are people who know who molested me, but I don't think I have ever said so publicly. It helps me tell my story on my terms because no one is jumping up to dispute my story due to having been named.

For my purposes, I think that is a more powerful position than trying to go toe-to-toe with the assailant per se. What we are currently doing is like maximally problematic for the victims and minimally effective in terms of progress.
 
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I believe her.

Judging by the lengths a lot of Republicans seem apparently willing to go, they do, too.

What a shame for America.:not:
 
US politics is a baby brother playing with an unplugged video game controller his brothers gave him so he'll stop asking to play. The "progressive takeover" strategy is when the baby brother says "Hey this isn't plugged in!" and his brothers hand him another unplugged controller.

Source
 
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