In other words, social media has/is making people think less critically. As for why I believe a "progressive" message has difficulty resonanting with large swaths of this country can be found in the breakdown of educational completion statistics. Stupid is, as stupid votes. Better yet...in a slightingly more old school poetical phraseology, ride the wind--reap the whirlwind.

Can you see it yet? A line is being drawn, my fellow Americans. Choose wisely.

You're welcome. I confess I had to look it up to be sure I spelled it correctly.

I've got $20 that says the usual suspects will run from this thread like scalded cats.

Meanwhile, the becquerels will quietly tick up unnoticed until containment becomes impossible. I won't speak for any of you, but I'm not all that keen on growing a 3rd arm or creating culinary recipes for glow-in-the-dark vegetables.

Early in his 1st administration, he held some meaningless photo op in the WH with Vietnam veterans where the discussion topics came around to the subject of Agent Orange and it's rather detrimental affects on a substantial # the soldiers and airmen who served there. Trump became visibly agitated as to why the vets were complaining about defoliants. When someone attempted to explain, he cut them off, hectoring them that they were all wrong, insisting that Agent Orange was napalm. I suppose he still believes that to this day. True story. Look it up.

Lamp...I was referring more to Xanthippe's response re:#17, but you are right on the nose as well.

Has anyone else noticed EVERY act this administration promotes benefits Russia both openly and/or indirectly? Kompromat, baby!

The cruelty is the point, it would appear. I confess there are times when I become so gobsmacked by the thoughtless offal posted here, that my trusty ol' thesaurus completely fails me. It's a shame we can no longer use "colorful" adjectives to insure our responses have their intended purpose. Starving kids to get tax-free ammo? How about a rather emphatically-displayed Hawaiian Good Luck Sign, harridan? I've got one for you in my other hand as well.

They won't fit you.

Hot Damn! Mr. Robson has posted something I totally agree with. Will wonders never cease? I continue to drive a 30ish-year-old junker as at least I can still do my own maintenance/minor repairs. My neighbor bought one of those new Broncos last month, and while helping him drool over the engine compartment of his new ride, it took me a while to even find the oil dipstick.

I can't help but wonder if all these preposterous annexation proposals are/were designed to be first--and foremost--misdirection away from the unpalatable aspects of TrumpCo's 2025 monkey buisness.

It was my observation during the short period of time I spent in front of a classroom, how hard it was for hungry kids to concentrate, let alone retain the basic knowledge being proffered. Then again, perhaps that was the plan all along.

Its the specter of Willy Pete and area denial ordinance (chem/bio). And when the favor is inevitably returned, that thick-brick drunk will no doubt begin blithely suggesting we let some kilotonage off their chains. These people are insane. Prove me wrong.

Hmm...National curriculum/teaching standards? Equitable funding in red-lined communities? I would imagine those two examples alone would suffice to most people, but when it became acceptable to put a college dropout wrestling promoter in charge of the education of our children, well...as Machiavelli advised, "Any excuse will serve a tyrant."

Fish Odor evidently sees an nefarious element in the concerned voice of the head of (a) Teacher's Union. You know who I hear "screaming?" Those students 15-20 years from now who have difficulty reading /comprehending past a 6th Grade level in a progressively technical society. Left behind? More like kicked out of the car on the side of the road like a abandoned house pet. If your goal is a nation full of easily malleable nose-grinders, I couldn't think of a more sure way to accomplish that.

OMG...you red hat snivelers will post anything as long as it doesn't require actual provenance or one iota of factual clarity in the first place.

My "if/when I win the lottery" town I'll move to is a dinky beach town on the California central coast where my grandfather loved to go surf fishing in the late '50s/early '60s. I'll go down to the ocean every morning, throw a baited hook out past the breakers, and spend the moments I have left to me explaining to his memory why I didn't go into the family business when it was my time.

If you had a lick of sense, you'd be pissed too.

The truth is businesses tend to treat their workers as exploitable property, and theirs to discard whenever their business model changes. I believe a refresher on the affect the French Revolution had on autocratic oligarchs across Europe a short two centuries ago might be something Trump, Musk and the suits on Wall Street should consider pursuing.

Trump? Drive? Someone in the WH press pool should inquire why he has (presumably) never learned to drive. Double-dog-dare him to do a couple laps around the Capital Building in one of Musk's toys when he declines to answer or proffers the whopper that he's the greatest driver of all time. No one has ever driven better that Donald Trump. Who am I fooling? If he does carry a "valid' drver's license in his wallet, it's about as real as his Man O'the Year Time Magazine cover he continues to display and crow about.

As long as ICE keeps their mouth-breathing mitts off of Tate McRae, she can stay as long as she wants. Her video of Revolving Door gave me a honest-to-god chubby the first time I stumbled across it online. Oh! Canada...See, at my age, that doesn't happen all that much these days.

Womp womp. Wha? Too soon?

Mr. Dead...I believe this country went sideways the moment they drove the Golden Spike back in 1869. Our whole economic system became as stratificational as the post-fuedal examples in Europe and England the Pilgrims attempted to escape from a good century before. Once the telegraph followed the tracks to SF, the party became Members Only, coast-to-coast.

On the upside, Jack is paint thinner. and I wish nothing but good health to our Northern neighbors.