wmw999

Except it's like playing the "let's hit each other, you go first" game. The one where one person socks the other's arm lightly, in a friendly manner, and the second one wallops the first. Watch for details on who he pardons, and watch for all the "you did it first." Personally, I'm sick of that shit. Bad is bad, good is good, and context is context. Wendy P.

Rich, if you can't articulate the truth yourself, why exactly should I trust your estimation? Wendy P.

No. But Gingrich was the one who pretty much defined serving “my people” over “all the people” and “compromise is loss” as tenets of the new Republican Party. And I don’t think either of those added to the country. Our already adversarial political system became way more adversarial, and I see that as a strong net negative. We are still neighbors and countrymen Wendy P.

Not where I live! It is, of course, a buckle on the blue belt Wendy P.

Well, if OAN, Blaze and the like can exist, why not this also? Wendy P.

D69 was a choice; so was Gary's number Wendy P.

I think the isolation and echo chambers that are built by some media are partly responsible, too. They make comfy little intellectual rooms, and advertise them where customers will go -- thereby making money for the advertisers, eh? Wendy P.

D-37, cancelled by USPA. That’d be an interesting story! And Nate Pond was D-69; I wonder why he’s not on the list. Wendy P.

Honest question — if, say, Hillary Clinton’s charity had been deemed a scam, would you agree that it was probably fair, and a reflection of her honesty? Or would you think that it was just targeting by an unfair justice system? Wendy P.

Do you really have to ask? There's only one answer to that question, ever! Wendy P.

Kinda softball isn't it? Soft balls are hit back and turned into discussions. Hardballs just go right past and lead to talking at, rather than with, each other. It's not like baseball or Uncle where you win and the other guy acknowledges it. Wendy P.

Well, the administrative state is what Theodore Roosevelt fought for (aka the Civil Service). I think that a whole lot of jobs SHOULD have civil service protection, exactly so that they don't become political pawns. We've gotten awfully big as a country; people you know nothing about also live here, and are citizens, and have needs you couldn't care less about. Do you want your needs served before them? Wendy P.

Not all of them; lots and lots of homeless people really do just need an affordable place to stay, and plenty of addicts want to get better (one of my sisters-in-law works with them). It's hard work, and when you're down and out you have far fewer options, and often you got that way by having less imagination than average. If you can reduce the problem of homelessness by 60% with a housing-first approach (number picked out of the air, but based on conversations with actual homeless people), is that worth it? There isn't a perfect solution; you have to apply the Pareto Principle and fix what you can with the resources you have, and then see if the problem morphs into something different and maybe more manageable. And all those "no foreign aid until every single veteran is housed" memes? Far and away the most destructive addict I met when I volunteered in that community was a veteran who only had a problem with alcohol (and with being an asshole). He was housed and kicked out at least twice in the two years I volunteered there; rather a special accomplishment. Every problem doesn't, in fact have an easy 100% solution.

So -- what's next? I've also been on some (lesser, admittedly) signature events, and I didn't think the comment was dismissive at all -- it said the achievement was enough to impress someone isn't automatically impressed. How many planes were used? Wendy P.

And what about the fairly significant number who aren't, in fact, heroin addicts? Or even methheads etc? Some are just alcoholics, and some are people who are down on their luck and not real resourceful. Or do we just do away with that whole "rights" thing if you aren't a homeowner? Wendy P.

Oh, I think George Will nailed it. Propose the impossible, and they’ll “settle” for the ridiculous Wendy P.

It’s Biden’s JOB to be polite. It’s another thing Trump was incapable of completing when he was the outgoing president Wendy P.

Kind of like Hillary Clinton, right? Wendy P.

It’s probably kind of like states that start easing concealed carry. A friend of mine in Texas said that since getting his license he’d needed it a couple of times. I’d never felt like one would be useful. Maybe if you live in a vaccine-averse area, it’s easier to ascribe reactions to the vaccine; if you live in a vaccinated area, it’s easier to look for something else. Kind of like how that “DEI hire” makes unacceptable mistakes, but Bubba there is a goober sometimes, and you just gotta deal with it because everyone likes Bubba Wendy P.

I believe the expression “chickenshit motherfucker” was invented for revelations like that Wendy P.

I like variety; I’m not sure there are individuals who I go to (although Heather Cox Richardson rarely disappoints). But if I listen to the people I identify with too much, I’m just entering the echo chamber. So I check in with normal people I know (yes, sometimes on FB) for how they see things. Because I don’t learn much just confirming my already-opinions. But I tend to avoid the cruel and the mean-spirited. I’m just not into that. Wendy P.

Some places/agencies/whatever need to be manned for, if not worst-case scenarios, at least bad-case scenarios. Like police, fire, military, whether national or local. That readiness costs money. So does fixing a leaky roof, even though it never leaks on the days you can fix it. Wendy P

Really, all the anti-DEI stuff makes it clear that plenty of people only got the job because they were males (and often white males). So whatever they do is the definition of "right," just as advertising defines appearance and luxury for many people. The possibility of there being a different standard is threatening, because people have been striving towards that standard for, basically, ever. Wendy P.

I’ll be honest; if Covid had come up while I was pregnant, I might have hesitated with a vaccine, too. Yes, I would also have isolated at home if possible. I didn’t know that changing providers led to worse outcomes — but I’ll also admit I would still have changed providers (the first one I went to wasn’t right for me; he was fear-based, and advocated as little activity as possible — I was at the time skydiving and walking up and down 4 flights of steps multiple times a day for fitness). Having to lie to your provider also leads to worse outcomes, in my opinion. Note that I would have gotten vaccinated (immunized, whatever — that’s the kind of quibbling that says “any argument will do.”), but I would have waited until after delivery. Since no actual pathogens were involved, I wouldn’t have worried as much about minor illness with an infant around. Maybe wrong, maybe right — as individuals, we make our own decisions. However, when addressing larger populations, we need to use appropriate tools, like statistical modeling and best practices. Wendy P.

I hate to say it, but I'm not sure that we have the energy to make it run right (i.e. not turn into basically a donut shop where all the same people sit around the corner of the counter and argue the same issues all the time). Someone younger, more tied into how people want to discuss things now would be required, and we might just have to put up with not being the big dogs on the block that we're all used to being in here. I know I don't; to do anything other than just pay $3000/month for the privilege of keeping a memorial to early 2000's social media going, I think it'd need at least one person who's willing to do maintenance (e.g. bug fixes, periodic upgrades, diagnostics), possibly a marketing person for advertising, and someone (that communications person) to actually run it, set the tone, and maybe clip and archive some of the plethora of dead fora (foreign language fora?), and reorganize things so that it's less overwhelming. Remember shortly after it opened, when there were about 6 fora, instead of 197? Maybe something like that, and we still have to attract actual people to it. I'm happy to pay, and contribute ideas, and brainstorm, but I'm in no way interested in investing significant more amounts of time than I do currently in social media. I'm not sure who does. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, I love this place, but that's where I'm at. Wendy P.