I've never been a fan of that regime.

Between taking over the US embassy and holding dozens of Americans hostage, launching widespread persecutions of minority religions, and forcing women back into second class citizenship, I have been opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran from the getgo. But boy howdy, did they ever get this right!

The Iranians aren't the only ones who havef igured out how to use Trump's mental illness to their advantage, though. I have no doubt that Netanyu got the US into this war by convincing the Orange One that attacking Iran would make him a big hero with the American people and around the world. It probably wasn't a hard job, considering Trump's towering narcissism, but I will grudgingly give Bibi some credit for figuring out to manipulate our demented president so successfully.

Trump's incomprtence and the urgent need to remove him from office have never been more glaringly apparent. If the Republicans in both houses of Congress weren't as corrupt and incompetent as he is, he would have been impeached, convicted, and removed from office a long time ago.

"And so there's this intersectionality between racism and sexism that was on full display at the White House"

Well spoken, Sunny, but you left something out. This was an intersectionality between racism, sexism, and transphobia.

These bigots don't just think Michelle is a man; they think she is a trans woman, which to these racist, misogynistic, transphobic bigots, is the same thing. Consciously or not, they view trans women as traitors, men who have rejected masculinity, and that feels like a personal insult to them.

Calling Michelle a man is just one facet of transvestigation, which GLAAD calls a "hate-driven conspiracy theory [that] maliciously targets cisgender public figures — from France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron to Michelle Obama to Olympic boxer Imane Khelif — and then “investigates” them offering fake pseudo-scientific “evidence” that they are transgender (with the underlying bigoted and ignorant implication that being a transgender person is a bad thing). This is a notable example of how transphobic hate impacts everyone — as the targets of the harassment are cisgender people. The trope has even been weaponized against right wing figures such as Kyle Rittenhouse and Andrew Tate. Disinformation researcher Dr. Jay Daniel Thompson describes “transvestigation” as “a mash-up of QAnon, celebrity gossip and the myriad anti-trans conspiracies.” Source: https://glaad.org/transvestigation-definition-meaning-anti-lgbt-online-hate/

These people comb the internet for photos of famous women they don't like, looking for "clues" like broad shoulders, a prominent forehead, or a strong jawline that they regard as "proof" that the women in question are really trans women (who they call "men" because they either don't understand the distinction or have chosen not to recognize it).

If a woman they are targeting is married to a male public figure, these accusations are used as slurs against the male partner (becaise if his partner is a "man,' he must be gay. )

Never mind that there's absolutely nothing wrong with being either gay OR trans; these people believe that being either of those things is wrong in every way, and they delight in spreading their lies. Transvestigation is a sick, disgusting activity, and those who pursue it are sick, disgusting people.

This is exactly what I would have expected of him.

He has a desperate need to believe he is THE most wonderful, fantastic, amazing person to ever walk the earth. He wears his malignant narcissism like a suit of armor that protects him from ever having to confront unpleasant truths like those boos.

I'm sure he was aware of the boos, but admitting that to himself, much less to reporters, is absolutely out of the question, just like admitting that he actually lost the 2020 election. So yes, he's definitely delusional. On some level he does know the truth, but acknowledging it is not something he's capable of doing.

This melted my heart!

This melted my heart!

No, they can't. That's why the paramedic didn't diagnose him.

Early on, he acknowledges the fact that, despite his extensive training and experience, he can't give a formal diagnosis of Trump: "It comes down to one single thing I can’t do. I cannot diagnose. I can know what is wrong. I can treat what is wrong. I can even fix what is wrong. I just cannot officially tell you what is wrong."

Later, he says this:

All righty then.

Your disdain of protesters and the events they organize take part in are duly noted. You have expressed your opinion, as is your right, and some of us beg to differ, as is our right.

Some of us derive inspiration, strength, and encouragement from making our voices heard out on the streets, in chorus with likeminded others, and we will continue to do so. Will we change many voters' minds thereby? Gee, I don't know. But who said that was the main purpose of these activities? I've always thought of protesting as a way for people to, as I said above, make our voices heard, in a much more powerful way than any of us could ever do on our own.

When a whole crowd of people gathers on a busy street to hold up signs and shout slogans together, interesting things happen. There's the affirmation and reassurance each of us gets from knowing we're not alone, something that we all need as much of as we can get these days. There are the reactions of passers-by, the honks, and the waves, that tell us there are many others who care about what's going on, beyond those of us who showed up with our signs. There's an energy that flows through and among all of us, protesters and passers-by alike, that is reviving and invigorating and gives us the strength we'll need to go on fighting in the weeks and months ahead.

Afterwards, we go home physically tired but mentally uplifted and recharged, cheered to know that we're not as isolated as we feared, that we actually have lots of company, and resolved to plunge with renewed vigor into the work that needs to be done. Work like talking to voters and working to change minds, which is very important, as you pointed out.

Showing up at a protest doesn't mean we're not going to do anything else. Some of us will be writing postcards, knocking on doors, phone banking, ir fund raising. And many of us will be talking to our friends and neighbors. Some will be doing all of the above. Some of those things may reap more tangible results than others, but all of them reinforce and support each other as well as those of us who do them.

Of course protesting alone doesn't win elections. What a silly idea! But to imply that they have no value at all seems like an equally silly idea to me. Protests are just part of the picture, but they have legitimate purposes, not the least of which is to support and reinforce our determination to continue with all of the other tasks that are necessary to win elections. If you don't get anything out of them, fine. You do you. Just please find a way to do you without raining on everybody else's parade, and don't make assumptions about what else we protesters may or may not be doing. And don't forget we ALL want the same thing, to save the country we love before it's too late!

The Republican Party, and (unwittingly) NBC TV.

I will always believe, unless someone can provide evidence to the contrary, that The Apprenctice, which aired on NBC, is what launched his political career. He was just a washed up, multiply bankrupted, wouldbe real estate mogul until that TV show came along and presented him as the smart, savvy businessman he had never been and positioned him to acquire a nationwide base of fans who were primed to gobble up whatever he served them.

He had threatened to run for potus many times in the past but never acted on it until that show made him a "star" (as in "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." *gag* ) His deep resentment of Obama lit the fuse, but The Apprentice provided the fuel.

Was the network or anyone associated with the show aware that they were creating a political monster? I don't think so, but that is what they did nonetheless. And it sucks beyond belief.

I am lucky enough not to have any Trumpers in my immediate life.

I imagine my ex bil is a Trumper, but I never really liked him anyway, and I wrote him off as a loss when he let my sister die abandoned in a nursing home after she left his ignorant ass. I have a nephew who is a semifamous RW activist, but he lives in another state and cut off contact with me years ago. So there are no Trumpers with whom I currently have a personal relationship.

That said, my attitude toward the faceless mass of red hatted peabrains who voted for him is that if the country survives this, I'll be willing to put this behind me and move on. If one of them should express their regret to me personally, I'll be civil to them. However... if they expect our side to apologize for being "mean" to them, they will have a VERY long wait.

They are the ones who owe a huge apology to everyone in the US and around the world who has been harmed by their poor choices. That includes but is by no means limited to the following:
- all of our erstwhile allies that Orange Satan has alienated
- all of those who have died, been injured, or lost loved ones due to his actions in waging unnecessary wars, blowing up boats in international waters (which he claimed to be drug smugglers with no evidence whatsoever), etc.
- the millions around the world who have lost their lives or will lose them due to the defending of USAID
- the entire nation of Ukraine, who he has turned his back on and left to the "tender mercies" of Vladimir the Terrible Putin
- the citizens of every country he has threatened to invade or otherwise take over, including Canada, Greenland, Cuba, and/or any I have may have forgotten
- and too many others to mention

I could go on for days, but I'm tired, so I'll stop here and let you all use your imaginations to fill in the blanks. My point is that everyone who voted for him, ever, owes so many apologies to so many millions of people that the idea of any of them ever expecting to receive an apology from any of us is absoputely laughable.

Another thing I will not do is pat them on the head and say, "There, there, you did your best, what a shame that you were taken in by that Orange Hellbeast." When I hear Trumpers proclaim in YouTube videos that they voted for him because he promised no wars or said he would lower gas and grocery prices, all I can do is stare in bafflement that anyone would still believe one word he says.

To sum up, I have nothing to apologize to them for, and they have everything to apologize to everybody for.

History will remember the Roberts Court all right.

Chief Justice John Roberts will be remembered the way chief Justice Roger B. Taney is remembered for the Dred Scottt decision, the way Chief Justice Melville Fuller is remembered for Plessy v Ferguson, and the way Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone is remembered for Korematsu v. United States.

In other words, he will be remembered not in his own right as a great or even particularly good Chief Justice, but as the Chief Justice who presided over a court known for disastrous rulings. Only in Roberts" case, he will be known as the Chief Justice who presided over over a court known not for one catastrophic decision but for a whole string of historically bad rulings. One of these, Citizens United v. FEC, is already enshrined in numerous lists of historically bad Supreme Court cases such as this one: https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/supreme-court/13-worst-supreme-court-decisions-of-all-time/

His name is one that will live in infamy as generations of law students study the many terrible rulings rendered by the Roberts Court.