Or first woman vs. first previously-impeached president.

Until he becomes too much trouble and conveniently falls out a window.

My workplace (which isn’t a preschool, but has preschoolers) floated the idea of doing a “trunk or treat.” But my manager nixed it with the explanation that it was “cringey.”

I don’t agree with her on much, but I agree with her on that. Instead we decorated the doors in the center and had the kids practice trick-or-treating the proper way.

He isn’t required to understand his behaviors in order to perform them. All his behaviors could have been shaped through early trial and error. Behaviors that got him a desired result became reinforced. He could’ve tried a lie+insult combo as a kid and got exactly what he wanted.

Repeated enough, the behavior could become second nature.

violent crime rates are near a 50-year low!

I wonder fear how much this could change in the near-future. :(

In aviation, this is called an “error chain.” It’s one of the concepts taught in ground school. Human error is a frequent element of accidents, so there is a focus on training pilots to find & fix mistakes early to “break” the “error chain” and prevent disaster.

The important thing is, you’re compelling people to examine their pre-existing beliefs. They won’t change their beliefs during your conversation, because deprogramming takes time. But the more seeds of doubt you plant, the better the chances are that some will germinate.

I find that the most effective way to encourage people to question themselves is to discuss things calmly and in good faith, through in-person conversations. Challenging people to “convert me” has been surprisingly fruitful - after all, I honestly would love to believe that a benevolent deity is looking out for us all. (As well, tons of believers would equally love to be the one who “shows [you or me] the light.”) I want them to provide compelling evidence that can change my mind.

Approaching the conversation in this fashion not only challenges the “missionary” types to think harder, but it also shifts the onus onto them to convince you. If they’ve never thought critically about their message, this kind of conversation may introduce questions that stick with them long after it’s over.

This idea the parents take most of the responsibility for the achievements of their children is absurd.

There’s also the flip-side of that attitude. It sure must feel nice for parents to be able to congratulate themselves when their kid excels, but what about when their kid has a disability or a developmental impairment? Who is responsible then?

It’s easy to be a parent when your kid acts and responds the way you want them to. Parents of neurodivergent kids can go above and beyond for their children, yet despite that they’ll still be given dirty looks and treated like pariahs when their overstimulated child has a public meltdown.

Kids aren’t raw lumps of clay that parents can mold to perfect shape. The best any parent can do is guide them toward success.

That may be how a lot of people manage addictions. However, when it comes to ideology, leaving one community tends to ripple through a person’s life in a way that completely up-ends it. To leave is to lose everything and everyone that’s dear to you. The thing is, once that door is opened and everything’s already been lost, it becomes easier to question all the other things you were told to believe. I’ve spent a lot of time in areligious spaces (in-person as well as online) and it’s not unusual for former cult members to become full-blown skeptics. The trauma of what they endured provides a strong motivation to avoid becoming duped again in the future.

From the posted article:

Schneider described how she’d been a lifelong Republican and devout evangelical Christian her entire adult life. In 2018, however, “I had an issue with my church.” Schneider was an extremely active volunteer but wanted more of a leadership role. But “because I had a vagina,” she said, church leadership told her that was not possible. That sent Schneider on a journey of exploring new ideas, including voting for President Joe Biden in 2020.

This is a familiar story, and it gives me hope. It also reminds me to look up cult survivor groups to join, because these people need support now more than ever.

I remember this progress as a kid. Nothing was taught until after I did something wrong. It ended up discouraging me from trying, because every time I did something that I thought was “right,” my mom complained about it.

At first the rule was “put dirty dishes in the sink.”

Then when I put dishes in the sink, the complaint became, “Why did you put dishes in the sink without washing them?”

So then I learned to wash dishes, and set them in the drying rack. To which my mom would complain, “Why are there dishes in the drying rack? You should put them away.”

Okay, so I washed and put dishes in the cabinets. “Why are the dishes all wet?”

…

How about teaching kids each step beforehand, instead of complaining that they don’t magically know/do everything?

I’m not sure what these canvassers use, but at least on the Harris team they use an app. It uses location data to show canvassers which households to visit, serving the dual purpose of showing where the next house is as well as keeping track of where they’ve gone. On top of that, the app provides a place to record survey answers.

some of America PAC’s outreach has been plagued by disarray, the people familiar with its efforts told Reuters. As with many campaign operations, the group has hired contractors to carry out grass-roots efforts, relying on hourly workers to knock on doors and speak face-to-face with potential voters.

Some of those workers have been difficult to retain. Three canvassers, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters the work isn’t worth the pay, starting at some contractors at as low as $20 per hour. In some cases, they added, canvassers drive long distances in remote areas and don’t get reimbursed for gasoline.

I think this is all extremely telling. First of all, they had to pay for canvassers. Those canvassing on the Harris side are volunteers. That is, those canvassing for Harris do all of the above without being paid or otherwise reimbursed. No doubt the extremely rich think every problem can be solved by throwing money at it - they can’t fathom the intrinsic drives other people have that are more powerful than money. Whether it’s for something terrifying, like fearing for your and your family’s safety, or for something exciting, like breaking a glass ceiling, some forces are so powerful as to motivate people without financial enticement.

Second of all, those canvassers are being paid nearly 3 times the U.S. minimum wage and still say it “isn’t worth the pay.” One has to wonder, why do they believe it isn’t worth it? They don’t tell us in the article, but it’s not hard to imagine being in that scenario. Maybe the way some US right-wingers are known to treat strangers who trespass on their property could play a factor. Or it could be that the wealthy upper management treats their foot-soldiers with distain. Or it could be that they’re overwhelmed with work due to the shortage of staff. I’d rather hear the answer from former canvassers, but with the authoritarian ethos overlaying their entire campaign, I’d be shocked if any of those weren’t a factor.

Speaking of US right-wingers, it’s also very telling that the most die-hard fans aren’t jumping at the opportunity to get paid to spread their gospel politically canvas for their lord and savior favorite authority figure. Is it because the canvass organization failed to connect with them? Or did they connect, but realized that sending those people door-to-door could be a dangerous liability? Or did it turn out that the die-hard fans are only “fair weather friends,” who show up for parties and other happy times, but who’d ignore your calls when you truly need help?

There’s just… a lot to unpack about this situation.

According to The Free Dictionary, the term fellow travelers “originally applied to people in the early days of the Soviet Union who supported the Russian revolution and the Communist Party but were not members.”

Additional fun fact: the name given to the early Russian satellites, “Sputnik,” has a meaning of “fellow traveler." It was mentioned on that dictionary page, but I ran it through Google Translate just to be sure. (See the third option under “More translations.”)

It’s also important not to forget the interpersonal aspect of how their lot get news. A lot of them believe their family and friends’ words more than a published news source. I see an echo to how urban myths got spread in pre-internet days: a neighbor’s cousin’s best friend’s coworker swears the story really happened to them! It must be true!

When a story is emotionally-engaging enough, it will get spread without ever being questioned. Trump’s path to power basically hijacked (and reinforced) that pre-existing tendency.

Not OP, but for me a window popped up and asked for my email, without any button or other option to opt out/make it go away. I got around it by using “Reader” Mode.

The thumbnail above conveniently censors the naughty bits, allowing this article to be SFW.

For real. The fact that all of these are just more Republican lies is extremely disappointing:

“She’s committed to banning fracking, phasing out internal combustion engines, and rolling out the most progressive Green New Deal yet,” another section of the Progress 2028 plan reads.

“will support a nationwide gun buy-back program that will take dangerous weapons off our streets"

“Let’s remove barriers for undocumented immigrants who are undocumented!” one ad states, adding, “Access to affordable housing, driver licenses, and fair wages creates a stronger America for everyone.”

Republicans are so detached from the American people that they think these ideas would scare us. It’s no surprise they suck at parody, but by putting these words into Harris’s mouth they run the ironic risk of pushing undecided Independents or seemingly-ignored Progressives to vote for her.

That is poetry.

It’s definitely possible, I mean…

he told his supporters "to go out and vote on 'January 5th’”

Yes, listen to your dear leader. Mark your calendars and make sure to visit the polls in January. We all know Trump is always right and knows exactly what he’s saying, which is why it’s so important to only follow what he says to do. Don’t listen to any of the liberal lies about when election day supposedly is. They’re just trying to confuse you with more FAKE NEWS.