You can gaslight yourself all you want, but you can’t gaslight me. My eyes actually work.

It only seems recent because you’re young and not aware of the history of the term.

Did you miss that moment when Elon Musk did two Nazi salutes, in public, at the inauguration, and no one did anything about it?

This isn’t a “they’re calling everyone Nazis” moment. The Nazis are calling themselves Nazis and making it a public-facing symbol of the power they’ve gained.

Call it white nationalist, MAGA, or whatever. Giving it a different label does not change what it is, and that’s especially true when they start raising their arms Hitler-style on national television.

It’s not a new thing, and while I don’t think it can be easily distilled into a social media reply. I’ll do my best.

This has been a 40-year process, beginning with Ronald Reagan and continuing incrementally with every president since, including Obama unironically. (Remember how he crushed Occupy and ignored Ferguson and legalized torture on New Years Day?) It’s become stronger as people have become poorer and more willing to not give a shit about the quality of our country’s leadership. Now every person not only has personal biases, but a computer in their pocket constantly telling them everything they think is correct and actively angering them. Hitler would have creamed himself at the thought of being able to dictate social media algorithms.

If people can’t afford to feed their kids or see a doctor, they’re not going to give a shit about fascism, and no matter who we elect, most people can’t afford to see a doctor and adequately feed their kids.

It’s going to be worse now than it had to be. In 2016 people were willing to punch Nazis. Now, you can render a Nazi salute twice, in the seat of government, in front of the entire Democratic leadership… and they will fucking clap and smile.

Fustigate and discombobulate are a couple of my faves.

Depends on how many investment transactions I have and the dollar amount they represent. I didn’t make very many sell trades last year, so not having to wait for 1099’s meant I have already filed mine.

LOL

Where have you been the last three weeks?

The words “Dems are powerless” shouldn’t even cross your mind after what you’ve seen, unless you’re gaslighting yourself.

Absolutely.

I’m not underselling the unconstitutional shit.

I’m underselling the alarmism when people can open up the AP site and literally read about checks and balances happening.

The funny thing is, when Biden had Congress people were making this same excuse.

It really is.

These are the people who told a bunch of impoverished Americans to be joyful for three months of a presidential campaign while offering zero comments on policy, other than the fact that they wouldn’t change anything.

You realize that the other guy being just as bad as your guy on a particular issue doesn’t support your position here, right?

CONSERVATIVES ARE ACTIVELY EXECUTING A COUP

Get out of your echo chamber, because that’s not true.

They were elected democratically and there’s always a ton of turnover with any new administration. The only difference now is there’s more of it and your social media algorithm is putting alarmist posts in front of your eyes so you’ll keep clicking ads and buying shit.

DOGE has done some unconstitutional shit, yes, but you’re ignoring that the courts are putting a stop to it. They did with the funding freeze, the birthright citizenship EO, and the Treasury Dept. malfeasance. It just takes time, same as it did with the Muslim ban.

Also, stop blaming the voters. Next time you see a choice between a name you recognize and a Marianne Williamson, don’t choose the douche you know is a terrible president just because you recognize his name and ignore that he’s in public, literal cognitive decline.

You know, a president who enters office with control of Congress has, for the last 30 years, lost it at the mid terms. It happened to Clinton, Dubya, Obama, and Trump.

But this silly notion of blaming the poor and pretending everyone’s a fascist might just be what Trump needs to buck the trend. Democrats had four years to act in a meaningful way on inflation and poverty. They focused on getting WMD’s to a genocide and finding every dollar they could for a foreign war instead.

It makes perfect sense that the voters wanted change, and zero sense that you and others actually expected them to believe you when you insisted, without evidence, that Democrats would actually do something about the food prices.

They’re trying, which is honestly kind of cool, especially right now. His social media feed is doing its best to reinforce the worst notions about trans people and it’s probably taking effort for him to consider other perspectives.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Time, and how you use it, becomes more important once you understand that it’s finite.

No. I’ve completed my personal bucket list though, so I’m never in a great rush to do things these days.

Love definitely hits different in your 20’s. Though, the plus side is when something ends I don’t obsess over it like I did as a young man.

I remember in the mid-2010’s when Guns n Roses decided to reunite and tour, and my first thought was: “Why would I want to watch Axl Rose now that he’s old and fat?” That was a sign.

This is the plus side of being older.

I’ve been burned enough times in life that it’s really easy to just write people off that I shouldn’t have let in my life anyway, and I’m much happier in my own little world with my books.

At age 30, I noticed I couldn’t skimp on sleep anymore and hangovers were much worse than in my 20’s.

In my mid-30’s my eyesight started to blur and I had to start wearing glasses.

At 40, my digestion isn’t as good as it used to be and I take supplements. Also, it’s harder to memorize things now, and I no longer have the option of missing workouts or daily stretching, because I notice it much more if I haven’t done these things.

I wouldn’t say ‘often’, but I definitely do. My work has a quarterly process meeting where we talk through new things everyone has learned and figure out ways we can add to our procedures and put those thoughts and methods down on paper. It’s not my favorite to talk through things, TBH, but I always learn new things when we have those roundtables.

This might sound a bit simplistic, but try different things. Different people process info in different ways, and you’ll never figure out what you don’t know that you don’t know if you don’t consider different perspectives and techniques.

I have several teammates at work that process information better by having meetings and talking through various projects and concepts whereas I need to throw on headphones, become dead to the world, and focus to achieve my best state for thinking through things. I retain information better by typing or writing it out by hand, which I attribute to growing up with video games.