The Americans who spout off about things like standing up to tyranny and how much they love having guns are not the same people participating in this protest. The government is actively supporting those people.

The protesters are the ones expecting the rule of law to eventually win, but also know how important it is to protest so that the rule of law continues to exist. It may not be as violent as you’re expecting, but it seems to me that they are walking the walk.

We haven’t done this in a while and we’re a little rusty, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t fighting.

I’m sure people in every group, especially religions, feel like this at some point. Still sucks though.

That’s fair, and hopefully it works! I didn’t mean to spiel at you. I was just sad that people see us like that, even though it’s nothing I haven’t heard before.

Hello Midwestern neighbor!

I’m not sure if I’m allowed to swear on this sub so if my post gets deleted, that’s why, but it stands for “fucking Illinois bastard.” It’s super common on the southern side of Wisconsin and the people from Illinois are often aware of it and use it too in a joking fashion.

Dude, I get it, but as an atheist, it sucks to be lumped in like this. Most atheists don’t care that you practice your religion, and they are very respectful of it. Just because it’s not something I believe doesn’t mean I get to shit on other’s beliefs.

The atheists who act/think like this tend to be very new to it and are excited to show they are different or that they are actively rejecting the religion that they came from. Or, they are just a closed-minded person.

Most of us understand that it’s not a break; it’s a requirement of their religion. These people aren’t doing it to get out of work or to go have fun for a bit, and equality is not the same as equity. Some people need different things in the workplace and that’s fine. But, I know that there are a lot of atheists that are far too aggressive with their lack of belief.

I know you are already aware of most of this, but my overall point is that there are a lot of us atheists fighting for people to be able to practice their religions in and out of the workplace, and I’m sorry that you’ve only seen the shitty part of us.

He also lost because, in his mind, money = influence. He didn’t realize that even conservative Wisconsin voters do not react well to people throwing money at them to win.

We border Illinois and constantly deal with FIBs coming to our state, utilizing our parks, lakes, and woodlands, while acting like they are better because they have money. This is particularly common in the north woods where a lot of the conservative voters are.

Illinisians also think money makes them important. The difference is that we tolerate them because they are our neighbors, and we have a long history of hating on each other but also relying on each other - similar to siblings who disagree with how the other lives their life. Musk is a complete outsider and people were not happy about it.

This is a method that my non-confrontational midwestern mind can work with! Being exceptionally interested and kind to the point that they might realize you’re f-ing with them and don’t actually care at all. Whether or not they realize doesn’t matter because you know.

Similar to when we say “oh that’s interesting,” but actually mean that we don’t give a crap about what you’re saying but don’t want to be rude to your face.

“Common sense is a flower that does not grow in everyone’s garden”

Fair enough. I’m out of the loop these days.

That’s assuming the country providing the “security guarantee” will actually do what they say they will when worse comes to worst. These days, that’s a BIG assumption.

I know that you likely meant “sweety” at the end there, but I really, really enjoyed that it said “sweaty” instead. It just tickled me in the best way.

Truth. Although at least FMLA allows us to not get fired during the 12 weeks after having a kid. You just won’t get paid, assuming you haven’t already used your FMLA time in that calendar year. Hopefully, you weren’t stuck on bedrest during the pregnancy because you only get up to 12 weeks. Period. And that’s whether it’s used before or after the kid’s birth. Also, if you’ve been working for your current employer for less than a year, you get nothing.

FREEDOM!!!.. hooray…

You’re not wrong. The link seems to be based on a couple who are very pro-babies sending the idea of the mother medal to the Trump administration. Then, the article talks about how conservatives are trying to change the national dialogue about having kids and showed several quotes posted on social media saying why having babies is great.

The author of the article seems to be the one who made the link. They probably aren’t wrong, but it wasn’t the Trump admin who came up with it or started talking about it.

I had been planning on deleting my… I think 15 year old account? that I haven’t touched since baconreader stopped working but hadn’t pulled the trigger yet because I put so much work into those years of posts. But, you make a good point. I may need it for a thing someday.

They know that we know that they know that we know!

#2. 100%

Tired or not, you’re absolutely right.

Yeah, a LOT of Americans are treating this as business as usual, and it most certainly is not usual. Just because bad leadership has blown over in the past doesn’t mean this is the same thing.

People are not panicking anywhere near the level they should because we need to take care of this NOW. Like now, now. I can’t believe it ever got this far to begin with, but you are 100% right in saying that 4 years is far too long, and by then, it will be too late.

I think it’s more like a sibling that you grew up with who was taught the same moral code as you. They were living a healthy, normal life for a while but got offered a very high paying job that is at odds with those childhood morals. They decided to take it, and at first, they did just a few unethical things. Then, they realized that they could make more money by being more unethical and the people who were supposed to be chastising them were not very good at punishing people with money and were really easy to manipulate, so they leaned in to the lack of ethics.

They know what their doing is hurting people, and they don’t care because they want to drive their Lamborghini to family Christmas and bring an ostentatiously expensive bottle of wine so that people can praise and fawn over them. But, if you call them on their bad behavior, they become enemies because how dare you?! Now we’re the sibling who is powerful but has completely gone awry due to that same power.

I’m hoping we gave a nice family reunion someday where my country has learned the error of its ways and can once again be accepted by its lovely Canadian relatives.