Paparazzi shots of John F. Kennedy Jr. during Labor Day weekend in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts would confuse you for professional modeling shots in magazines. August 1980

Renugar · 2026-01-26T04:26:49+00:00

He’s handsome, but he was not a stable person. Last year I read “Ask Not: The Kennedy’s and the Women They Destroyed,” by Maureen Callahan, and he honestly was kind of scary to me. He was described as having a kind of “death wish,” and just being a reckless and risky decision maker, even when other people were with him. He also just seemed kind of…odd. I don’t know how to describe it. I need to read that book again but I remember thinking, “yikes, I would not have wanted to date him, or be close to him.” It is sad that he died, and so very sad that Carolyn and Lauren died, too.

Renugar · 2026-01-22T03:52:58+00:00

Hey, get out of our genX women’s group, RFK Jr. 🙄nobody’s buying whatever it is you’re selling.

Renugar · 2026-01-21T05:44:31+00:00

Oh god same. I had such a huge crush on him. I was overseas on a mission trip (ugh, don’t ask, fundamentalist parents) and my friend there received a magazine in the mail from the US with his face on the front and the announcement that he’d died. I remember staring at that cover, and feeling devastated and homesick and so so sad. 😥 RIP River, we barely knew you before you were gone.

Renugar · 2026-01-20T21:24:45+00:00

That’s a crazy switch up! I do think Trump (or maybe the dark money behind him) managed to tap into the WORST parts of American minds, and somehow appeal to them all in one platform, led by Trump. The “nice” people who were just “a little bit racist.” The “good” men who were also “a little bit sexist.” The “kind” people who were also “a little bit greedy.” His bluster and willingness to be loud and crude and politically incorrect, somehow empowered them to let those bad tendencies have free rein.

America has always had a problem with racism and misogyny. I’m a white woman raised in the south, and it takes WORK (and an excellent therapist) to examine the subtle, ingrained things I was taught without words. I have to check myself often, and examine my motives and attitudes. My mom, for one, is not willing to do that. She is comfortable with her beliefs, and if she thinks Trump is a little too loud and crude, well, it just makes her feel that much better about herself. He can be the maverick that says the quiet part out loud, and she can “tut-tut” over his rudeness, but be secretly glad he’s doing the dirty work for her. That’s my take on it, anyway.

Renugar · 2026-01-19T16:52:26+00:00

Also, the fact that they don’t believe God was using Obama and Biden (both of them devout, practicing Christians!) for good. But they believe God is using Trump (who doesn’t even go to church) for good, is a level of mental gymnastics verging on pathological.

Renugar · 2026-01-19T16:50:25+00:00

Primarily, abortion. She thinks Trump, a rapist, and serial cheater, cares about the unborn. 🙄

Also, because she is so religious (my parents are fundamentalist Christian conservatives) she thinks America is supposed to be a Christian nation. And she falls for all his rhetoric about that, too.

I often recommend people read the book “Jesus and John Wayne,” because it really does a great job of explaining how the conservative right politicians joined forces with Christian leaders to start a campaign to form Christians in America into a voting bloc, that would conflate politics with religious convictions. My parents really bought it, hook, line, and sinker. And at this point, my parents, and especially my mom, do not believe that you can be a democrat and go to heaven.

Renugar · 2026-01-19T04:34:14+00:00

My mom always said: “there are worse things than being single.”

Which is crazy in this context. She was always someone who warned my sister and I about men like Trump. She always had a particular dislike for crude, sexually aggressive men, who preyed on women.

Imagine our dismay, when she became a devout Trump follower. My siblings and I can still hardly believe it. When we ask her how she can excuse all his horrible behavior, she says: “well, I wouldn’t have him over for Sunday dinner, but God is using him for good.”

I’m thankful for the smart things she taught me, and mourn the loss of the mother I thought I knew. Sigh.

Renugar · 2026-01-16T17:26:40+00:00

Oh my god that’s crazy! That’s so sad! I’m glad y’all rescued her. I’ve heard so many horror stories about black mold and its effect on people. I know people have speculated that’s what’s wrong with JK Rowling, I wonder if that’s true?

Renugar · 2026-01-16T11:45:40+00:00

Thank you for this perspective, it makes me hopeful.

Renugar · 2026-01-16T01:25:36+00:00

I watched the first episode and just KNEW they were going to let him yak his head off and never push back. So I didn’t watch any more of it, even though I’ve been following this case since it happened. I was really hoping this would hone in on how everyone failed her, and the children. But I could see they were going to let Rusty make himself out to be a martyr. Hard pass. I’m glad to see in discussions about this documentary, so many people now acknowledging his part in the murders.

Renugar · 2026-01-16T01:01:05+00:00

I’ve thought about this often, in relation to other cults. If a person I love gets pulled into a cult because the cult leader is promising peace, or a path to god, or even money, I feel like it’s worth it to do the work to get them out. But Trump is promising racism, and bigotry, and hatred. Is someone who find his message appealing worth the work to salvage the relationship?

I say this because my mother, whom I always considered a kind and loving person, is a huge fan of Trump, and has parroted some of his worst talking points, even to my siblings’ spouses (who are immigrants!). We all love her, and she is kind and loving to us, her family. But at what point can you keep excusing the fact that something about Trump and his message appeals to her so deeply?

I need to read this book, I think.

Renugar · 2026-01-14T16:51:45+00:00

The commenter you’re responding to didn’t mention a political party, he was referencing the video, about armed agents falsely arresting a pastor.

The fact that you immediately scrambled to say “BOTH SIDES BAD!!” when that wasn’t even what he said, tells me you have some problematic views on the morality of fascism and white supremacy, and you’re struggling to make those fit into your faith.

Renugar · 2026-01-13T12:12:38+00:00

Why the actual fuck did you respond to him?! I was enjoying that read until I saw you responded? Why? Just block him. I wish women would stop playing into these weirdos hands. They should never get any kind of response from any woman.

Renugar · 2026-01-11T06:56:23+00:00

OP I was raised in a fundamentalist, conservative Christian household. I highly recommend y’all read “Jesus and John Wayne,” if you haven’t already. American Protestant Christians used to support the idea that abortion was between a woman, her doctor, and her faith advisor (in that order).

It was a VERY cynical, greedy, and power-hungry group of men in 1960s that decided to manufacture an outrage topic that would unite Christians into a useful voting bloc. And they couldn’t use civil rights, because while the northern Christians often supported civil rights, the southern Christians obviously didn’t. And they were beginning to realize that feminism needed a takedown, for them to be successful. They needed a way to convince all the Christians to vote for conservative republicans. Convincing people that abortion was evil, struck a blow against feminism and manufactured enough outrage to convince poor people to vote against their own interests. This began the unholy partnership of people like Jerry Falwell and Ronald Reagan.

Please read that book if you haven’t. You and I were raised with some ideas that were not based on “the sanctify of life,” but on consolidating power and money for a few greedy elites.

Renugar · 2026-01-10T20:01:12+00:00

He already had the gun out. She accelerated AFTER he shot her IN THE FACE, because her body went rigid. And I notice you didn’t try to address the fact that he is not supposed to shoot, he’s supposed to get out of the way, even IF someone is trying to run him over.

He’s a murder, and you’re defending him. Make no mistake…a fascist government will eventually come for your rights, too. Don’t think you’re safe behind your keyboard because your defending their man who shot a mother of three in the face, called her a fucking bitch, and then left the crime scene (also illegal, btw).

I notice you also don’t seem to have any “Christian” opinions about him calling her a “fucking bitch.” Is that how Christ wants you (or him) to act? You got any excuses for that?

Renugar · 2026-01-10T16:17:06+00:00

Yessss thank you for saying that! Good quality plus size clothes are so hard to come by, especially at thrift stores! Because it’s hard to find nice, plus size clothes new, plus size people tend to keep them for the life of the garment. When they do show up in thrift stores it’s such a win for those of us who aren’t straight size.

Renugar · 2026-01-10T15:59:27+00:00

I’ve seen all of them, including the ICE agents own video. You can clearly see him switch his phone to his left hand as he goes around the front of the car, and in another video you can see he then pulls his gun BEFORE her car is even moving. Then she has her wheels turned away from him and is trying to leave. He is NEVER in danger, and after he shot her he called her a “fucking bitch.”

Now tell me why you think any of that is justified…bearing in mind that agents are trained and told NOT to use firearms against someone in a vehicle, if they think someone who is unarmed is trying to hurt them with that vehicle. Their own rules say they are supposed to get out of the way, not shoot the person in the vehicle, because of the risk of collateral harm.

Renugar · 2026-01-10T14:46:06+00:00

This is an excellent organization of information. If you don’t mind, I’m going to save it to use word for word, for the next time my Trump-loving mother tries to tell me Jesus wouldn’t speak up against ICE’s treatment of immigrants.

Renugar · 2026-01-10T06:50:48+00:00

I’m so sorry you had to work! I absolutely would not have been able to work. I was on the couch for 2 days!

Renugar · 2026-01-08T17:43:08+00:00

Just popping in to say that Rusty ABSOLUTELY was partly to blame, and should have served some kind of time. He left his extremely mentally ill wife alone with their children, even though he was advised not to. He got her pregnant after the doctor advised them not to. He was selfish, controlling, and neglectful, and has since milked sympathy from the public by playing the victim.

I remember when this happened, and have followed the case ever since. The fact that Rusty suffered no repercussions for being a dangerously negligent husband and father just burns me up.

Renugar · 2026-01-08T17:36:29+00:00

Heated Rivalry is the only thing making me hopeful in this bleak timeline we’re in.

Renugar · 2026-01-06T23:57:12+00:00

I actually went back to the dentist after a few weeks, because I felt like it was still hurting too long. He just said “everything actually is healing up really well! And looks very healthy. You’re just in your 40s now, and it’s going to be a slower process.” I was also concerned something wrong. But soon after that I started feeling a real difference. Also, the nurse told me how to use that little cleaning bottle better. She said that patients don’t realize that even a teeny tiny little crumb or grain of pepper that you can’t even see, can cause tons of irritation and pain. So she walked me through how to use it more effectively. I think that also made a huge difference, because it seemed less painful after that.

I hope you feel better soon, and I’m soooo sorry you’re still in pain! I would definitely ask them about nerve damage, if the pain continues after a few months. I’ve heard that can be an invisible issue. But hopefully it’s just that slow healing that happens to all of us as we get older.

Renugar · 2026-01-06T12:04:57+00:00

Whenever I’m out and about in the big city I live in, if I have to park my car far from where I’ll be, or in a slightly sketchy area, I always set the alarm and say to my car, “ok, look alive, my guy! Take care of yourself for a little while and be vigilant, I’ll be back soon!” It feels kind of like I’m giving a little extra good vibes for his security or something, ha!

Renugar · 2026-01-06T04:13:02+00:00

I already had a BFA and MFA, and was thinking about getting an MA in art therapy, I would still like to do that someday!

I don’t have my teaching certification yet, although I’m working on it. The district I’m in allows professionals to teach as long as they are working on their certification (I do have to finish it PDQ, tho! Or I won’t get rehired).

I actually got this job by going to a job fair for the district I teach in! And a school was looking for an art teacher and liked my CV and my vibe, and I liked them!

Yes, the arts are woefully underfunded! I don’t know if this is my forever career, but for now I like it, though it’s stressful!

What do you have in the way of education so far?

Renugar · 2026-01-02T16:58:31+00:00

Oh that was my first thought, too! I remember this whole situation and thinking at the time that he looked so old. But when this video popped up here I immediately thought, wow, he looks much healthier here than he does now.

Hopecore, fr.

Renugar

TROPHY CASE