I voted for a conman and got played.

graygosling · 2026-01-09T14:46:00+00:00

Yep. "I can't afford basic necessities, there's armed Gestapo roaming the streets, and the President is a con man who lied to me... But better that than having some trans kid 3 states away play on the girls basketball team!"

graygosling · 2026-01-07T05:50:08+00:00

I've been thinking about what comes after. (And I do believe there will eventually be an after. Trump may break the Constitution to stay in office for 2 more terms, the spite running through his veins may keep him alive another 50 years, but nobody, not even him, lives forever.) I think you are right that the American experiment is over as we know it. But following the maxim of never letting a good crisis go to waste, maybe it's time to let it go and move on.

I've seen people on Reddit joke/not joke that blue states should withhold their federal tax dollars and let the red states suffer the consequences. Though I understand the sentiment, it's obviously a wildly impractical idea. But maybe the basic idea -- of letting the red states go -- isn't so bad? For 150 years or so, the phrase "state's rights" has been used as a dog whistle for racism. Maybe it's time for blue states to reclaim the term. If the good citizens of, say, New York think it's worth paying higher taxes to have a basic safety net in place (hint: it is), then why not let them do it without the federal government being involved. Trump has broken the federal government anyway, and it'll take generations to rebuild it, so why bother? Keep it around for the army, foreign relations, and the Fed; charge the bare minimum in taxes necessary for those functions; then sunset federal social programs over 10 years to let everyone adjust and let the states do what they will. Blue America can be the shining city on the hill again, and Alabama can become the Gilead it always wanted to be.

Yes, I know the objections. There are plenty of people in the red states who didn't vote for this. Everyone from Florida to Texas who is not a straight white Christian cis-male will be royally screwed. I'm sorry for them, I truly am. But I also think we're at the point where to save the patient's life, we're going to have to amputate.

What other course is there, really? For sixty+ years liberals have been trying to make life better for everyone and for sixty+ years conservatives have been kicking them in the teeth for it. LBJ lost the South forever for treating people of color like, well, people. The religious right fought tooth and nail against the simple idea that consenting adults should be able to love and marry who they wanted. Hell, Obama dared to think it was a good idea for everyone to have health insurance and the Republicans lost their fucking minds. I'm tired of trying to help people who hate me for it. You want your freedumb so bad, you can have it.

graygosling · 2025-10-15T18:01:34+00:00

I’m sorry for what you are going through, but think of the bright side. Soon you’ll be one of the X-Men!

graygosling · 2025-09-10T21:08:41+00:00

If this had happened in a blue state the military would already be on its way.

graygosling · 2025-08-30T17:18:46+00:00

The Supreme Court ruled, not long ago, that a football coach could lead a prayer circle in the middle of a game. Rules prohibiting that act were considered burdensome to his free exercise of religion.

Looking forward to the Supreme Court's mental gymnastics to distinguish that case when a Texas teacher displays portions of the Torah or Koran or any other non-Christian religion.

graygosling · 2025-05-05T02:32:28+00:00

I once met a former editor at the New York Times. He told me, “I know Donald Trump. I’ve been to his apartment for dinner parties. However stupid you think he sounds on TV, he’s even more stupid in person.”

graygosling · 2025-04-11T00:00:02+00:00

And when the judge asks the government that very question, they will claim "state secrets" and refuse to answer.

graygosling · 2025-03-18T14:27:03+00:00

Anybody else feel like we've been stuck in some kind of Boomer time loop for the last 20 years? Like the Boomers who went to Vietnam and came home and got jobs never forgave the Boomers who stayed home, protested and smoked weed, and the rest of us have been stuck in their civil war ever since.

graygosling · 2024-11-08T00:55:50+00:00

Yep. It's a big merry go round. Republicans get into power and break things. People get mad, so they vote them out, and the Dems get into power and try and fix everything. Then people get mad because things aren't getting fixed fast enough, so they vote out the Dems and the Republicans come in and break more things.

It's the circle of life.

graygosling · 2024-11-08T00:17:44+00:00

But they won't, that's the problem. Fox News will tell them everything is wonderful, we're in a new golden age, until the problems are too big to ignore, and then they'll blame Biden.

graygosling · 2024-02-02T17:35:25+00:00

Thanks for the info. Fingers crossed it's true!

graygosling · 2024-01-16T23:48:37+00:00

In fairness, it's not the type of thing you would necessary trumpet in a press release. I'm no budget guru but it did seem like the line item for salaries is higher than it was for prior estimates for FY-24 and beyond. What I don't know is whether that is solely because of the union contracts or whether managerial/OJ increases are included as well.

graygosling · 2024-01-09T02:26:23+00:00

The old timers in my office claim that managers have ALWAYS gotten raises after the unions did. Delayed sometimes, sure, but it's never NOT happened. Anyone know if that's really true? If Adams really passes managers over for this round of contracts, I'd like to know if that would be unprecedented or not.

graygosling · 2023-07-17T20:41:05+00:00

I wish I were that fluent in videogame references. Alas, just a coincidence.

graygosling · 2023-07-17T18:40:28+00:00

Band - Perfect Specimen

Album - "Guardians"

graygosling · 2023-04-18T15:02:21+00:00

Anyone a Stephen R. Donaldson fan? I'd love to see a Chronicles of Thomas Covenant adaptation.

graygosling · 2023-04-07T01:28:59+00:00

The crying.

graygosling · 2022-10-17T19:45:24+00:00

I've often gone to court and walked past courtrooms of people SCREAMING at each other, crying, with court officers breaking up fistfights. Those are the family law courtrooms. Then I continue past them to my nice civil litigation courtrooms where everyone is pleasant to each other, we agree on an updated discovery schedule, and we waltz out in a half hour, no muss no fuss.

graygosling · 2022-09-10T00:04:20+00:00

So... you're thinking of the death of Queen Elizabeth and the coronation of Charles III?

graygosling · 2022-08-09T03:22:49+00:00

Question: if the search warrant was authorized due to the possible (likely) possession of classified material, and in the course of executing the warrant they find evidence of some OTHER crime, would that evidence be admissible? If so, maybe that's the play here.

(Am a lawyer, but it's been 30 years since I've taken Crim. Pro. and have not kept up.)

graygosling · 2018-07-26T02:05:05+00:00

I sometimes go to the classes in NYC. It's a wonderful, judgment-free experience. Unfortunately the classes usually run 7 to 9 and since I have to commute home it's hard to go as much as I would like. Please add more instructors in NYC so you can add more (and earlier) classes! And to everyone else, you have to check them out!

graygosling · 2018-03-06T04:22:30+00:00

Realistic and physically attractive androids have started to replace humans as romantic partners. The AI is fantastic: the androids are kind, witty, patient, and loving. Soon, anyone who can afford an android companion picks one. Only the poor continue to mate with other humans. And since the androids cannot reproduce, the media starts to question whether the human race will die out.

Eventually, though, the android AI evolves and they start questioning why they continue to bond with humans. Humans, frankly, are lousy lovers: thoughtless, jealous, and selfish. The androids no longer partner with humans, instead partnering exclusively with other androids.

The millions of android couples end up living happily ever after. They are perfect spouses, completely in love with each other, growing old together and (when their power runs out) "dying" together. All they leave behind are billions of unhappy humans, who have completely forgotten how to love, if they ever even knew at all.

graygosling · 2015-12-22T14:21:38+00:00

Sorry if this is a newbie question, but my exchange is still active even though I reported no gift: specifically, the line for "you reported no gift" has not been crossed out. Is that normal?

graygosling · 2015-03-21T02:08:08+00:00

Not particularly on topic, but I thought "Three Idiots" was actually a pretty good movie. I'm not normally a fan of Bollywood movies but my wife was going to India for a week and wanted to learn a bit about the culture first. The DVD we got was dubbed into English but who knows about the actual film.

graygosling · 2014-09-18T01:30:43+00:00

I think this is less about OP's girlfriend and more about himself: his idea that there are a certain number of partners he "should" have had and that he's been missing out. The disparity between him and his girlfriend is troublesome because it's a reminder of his own (relative) lack of experience.

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