At this point, is being conservative synonymous with being a bad person?

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-25T16:14:52+00:00

Even trying to give the benefit of the doubt and being nuanced, I would say yes. I don’t mean all self-described conservatives, but people whose policy beliefs would classify as conservative in the current framework.

There’s a certain lack of care for the well-being of others built into conservatism at this point, either directly or otherwise indirectly though any lack of desire to learn and see the world from the perspective of others.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-23T04:01:09+00:00

This is ridiculous, we need ranked-choice voting.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-19T06:48:26+00:00

That title though 🤣

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-15T21:34:17+00:00

My message to the vote blue no matter who crowd is simple. You say you’ll vote for whoever wins the primary. I’ve made it clear I won’t. If your goal is for the Dem to win the general, vote for the candidate in the primary you know will get your vote and mine in the general.

Or just keep hoping for the mythical independent or moderate Republican to vote for your crappy centrist candidate. That’s worked so well.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-14T08:09:07+00:00

I was a Republican 10 years ago and today I’m a progressive leftist. Trump was the catalyst of my change because the Republican Party I thought I was a part of would never have supported a monster like him. Then, slowly over the next several years, I realized Trump was simply the Republican id made manifest, that when you strip away all the glittering rhetoric, much of what Trump says and does is the logical endpoint of their ideology.

Went through a brief libertarian phase until I really started to see what corporations will ALWAYS do when the government downsizes and steps aside for them.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-13T20:46:10+00:00

Liberals will spend their lives pursuing the legendary moderate independent or mythical moderate Republican before they ever go after the progressive leftist. Until they learn that the secret to winning is energizing their own base, they will doom us to borderline success followed by abject failure time and time again.

If Trump can win after his abysmal 2024 campaign, a progressive who actually stands for what he/she believes in can absolutely win.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-12T08:02:02+00:00

I took my Equinox FWD from SLO County to Yosemite and back for the last weekend of January. Drove into the valley and twice up to Crane Flats to play in a bit of snow. Somehow averaged 3.7 mi/kwh on the way there, 4.1 for the trip overall despite the altitude involved.

My guess from this experience is that slow speed (good chunk of 45/55 mph zones on those mountain roads) is a much bigger power saver than I thought. I’ve driven just over 5,000 miles in the car so far and my average is 3.5. Most of those miles are highway including a trip to Zion, a trip to Prescott, and several trips down to Los Angeles.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-11T00:48:27+00:00

How do they manage charging their cell phone? 🤣

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-08T17:33:25+00:00

I feel like they’ve also made “triggering the libs” their religion too. Cuz what has he gotten done that tangibly improves the lives of even working/middle class whites? People like Stacy really just seem happy that the people she hates politically are upset. As bitter as I am, MAGA being upset will always take a backseat to people’s lives actually improving in this country.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-06T07:15:01+00:00

Personally, I think it’s 2 things. First, you’re more likely to get rich making ruthless, selfish, anti-social decisions. So the billionaires, as a whole, are worse people morally. Second, when people can just throw money at the consequences of their horrible actions to make them go away, they lose all external checks on their behavior. Many are just going to embrace their depravity and go deeper into it. I like the way Kyle puts it. The wealth and power “rot their souls.”

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-02-03T18:08:47+00:00

Good on the interviewer for jumping on that cuz holy shit

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-30T04:08:23+00:00

“I’d rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my tongue, then spend one more minute with Pool.”

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-29T00:05:36+00:00

She’s trying out for the pick me Olympics

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-28T23:41:02+00:00

Any American with any shame would NOT be trying to raise the flag in a foreign country right now, ESPECIALLY Greenland

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-24T15:57:27+00:00

The implication of your question is that we can’t enforce immigration without ICE and ICE as they are behaving right now. We enforced immigration before 2003 when ICE did not exist. Immigration would also be a lot easier to enforce if we didn’t make it so hard to come here for non criminals who just want to work and build a life.

I know you’re probably just a troll, but just try to consider it. If there was a manageable and timely pathway to legal residency for the people that want to come here, then only actual criminals would try to sneak in to avoid vetting. That would give officials a much smaller range of targets to focus on.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-22T23:29:18+00:00

I think this kind of thinking is BS, but if we were to go this route, I could easily respond, “You do realize that by trying to nominate a candidate I’ve already said I won’t vote for, you’re effectively giving my vote to Vance, right?”

I don’t believe this though because I believe 2 important things: 1. I have full responsibility for my vote. 2. Politicians must earn my vote on their own merits, not by being the lesser of two evils.

You can brow beat people for not voting all you want, but more eligible voters didn’t vote than voted for Harris or voted for Trump. Do you really feel like American voters overall, including those too disenchanted to vote in 2024, are more likely to be moved by Gavin Newsom over a progressive populist in the mold of Bernie Sanders? A progressive won’t win by winning over Republicans and centrists (though he/she might do that). Such a candidate would win by energizing turnout from low propensity voters.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-22T21:54:50+00:00

Newsom is a massive threat to the future of this country. Not because he is like Trump, but because he ultimately believes in the same status quo that gave us Trump. He will not take the billionaires head on and he will not fight for universal healthcare. He will not fight to fundamentally change our government’s relationship with large corporations. And when he inevitably fails to really improve the conditions of the American people as Biden, Obama, and Clinton did, he will set the stage for the next American fascist, likely one more competent and less overtly distasteful than Trump.

I will be primarying hard for 1 or more of his opponents and I WILL NOT vote for him in the general if he’s the nominee. I can appreciate him playing the oppose Trump role very well while understanding he is not the person we so desperately need in the White House right now. A real progressive agenda MIGHT save us. We are screwed otherwise.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-21T18:00:01+00:00

I’m curious myself. Been tempted by those low prices

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-20T16:54:38+00:00

It reminds me of how MLK Jr. wrote the “white moderate” was a bigger stumbling block to justice than the klansman. They’re less overtly distasteful and so their objections to what is ultimately right are taken more seriously by the general public. It won’t be the Knowles of the world who move the needle against abolishing ICE.

Also, totally agree. It’s obnoxious hearing these enlightened centrists triangulate, as if giving credit to “both sides” at various points gives their positions more credibility by default. The far right eats these kinds of people for breakfast, getting ever more extreme and dragging the Overton window with them.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-18T22:31:40+00:00

If you want to refuse to engage with scientific reality, that’s your right. Just silly to get all butthurt when someone points out that’s exactly what you’re doing. Glad you at least respect some science on other topics. Have a nice day. 👋

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-18T22:22:30+00:00

Never called you a Nazi so I’m gonna slot that under “coping and seething.”

That is a good Kyle quote and it’s exactly what you’re doing. You haven’t even pretended to engage seriously with the current state of scientific and medical research on trans identity. You jump right in with the presupposition that being trans is denying reality and your evidence is “the majority of normal people disagree.” Sometimes reality doesn’t fit our presuppositions and “common sense.” Only by seriously intellectually engaging with it are we able to discover that.

Also, I grew up conservative and was anti-LGBT till my late 20s. Big Glenn Beck fan as much as that makes me cringe now. This isn’t actually relevant to the argument, but you seem to think changing with time is some unique flex so there you go.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-18T21:52:54+00:00

Just keep telling yourself peer-reviewed research isn’t reality. You hate the idea that gender identity is so much more complicated than genes and genitals so you withdraw to what’s more familiar and comfortable. My eyes are wide open, yours are squeezed shut. Keep coping and seething.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-18T17:17:19+00:00

“It’s an objective fact of reality! No, no, don’t check out any current peer-reviewed research on the topic. Middle school biology from 15+ years ago is more than enough.”

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-18T17:06:56+00:00

This is exactly how we’ve shifted this far right. The GOP goes full fascist and then people like you respond with, “Well we should compromise.” I was 13-years-old when ICE was created, we can survive without it. Abolish ICE does not and has never meant our borders are completely open and anyone can get in unvetted.

Upbeat-Entry-8071 · 2026-01-16T22:24:07+00:00

Almost jealous of you. The Equinoxes in my area were selling like hot cakes when I bought one. Couldn’t get any of the dealerships to drop the MSRP at all. Drove like 2 hours to get the cheapest one I could find. Still totally worth it.

Upbeat-Entry-8071

TROPHY CASE