Gretchen Whitmer Al Gore Michelle Obama

At least two said NOT HAPPENING NO WAY NOPE.

Idk if maybe Big Gretch would agree to run if Biden endorsed her.

This is because Gen X grew up with wicked good imaginations!

To this day, I see a really big box and think, “Rocket? House? Space alien hotel?” before I realize I’m too old for cardboard box love.

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Boy George doll from the 80’s… My mom made it when I was in high school.

Yes!! And I was running around as a noob without even the right kind of armor… I was a hunter wearing cloth (wince) because the dresses were pretty ( Transmog is so great to be able to do now). I’d take my hunter in her mage robe to help fight Deathwing and would get one-shotted just from being nearby. Lol

It was great! 😂

Do you have a favorite class? Mine is mage… I love my hunter but miss the old days when I had to feed the pet and manage it. Rofl. I accidentally got a whole group killed in a dungeon because I wasn’t good at handling my pet yet. My husband NEVER got good at it. Lol

I got chills when I started listening to it… It is as if it is unfolding right in front of me. It’s one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to…

I’ve always given audiobooks with multiple performers a wide berth… That was clearly a huge mistake… Not only do I love your 1984 audiobook suggestion, but also you’ve opened my eyes to a whole new genre/performance/reading of audiobooks.

Thank you! I will still think of our conversation years from now when I listen to this kind of audiobook… What an awesome Reddit moment… Ok… I’m really thinking, ‘What an awesome Gen X moment.” Lol

That is awesome!!

My husband and I started playing right when Deathwing started randomly attacking cities in preparation for the Cataclysm expansion to drop.

Same! I only play Alliance (Mainly NELFs), but my husband plays Alliance and Horde. You?

We have three branches that are supposed to work as a complex system of checks and balances to prevent abuse, tyranny, and etcetera.

1) Executive, (President)

2) Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives). The Senate and the House of Representatives together make up the Congress.

The House of Representatives… Republicans won 222 seats to 213 for Democrats.

Democrats still control the Senate but BARELY — 49 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and 4 independents. Also, the vice president gets a vote.

3) Judicial (Supreme Court and lower courts)

We have nine justices on the Supreme Court. Six justices are very conservative and were appointed by a Republican president. Three justices are liberal and were appointed by a Democratic president.

The Supreme Court just ruled to basically expand a President’s power to be near absolute. Any “official act” undertaken by a sitting President is not against the law. So, for example, talking to joint chiefs of staff about fomenting an insurrection is not breaking any laws because talking to the joint chiefs of staff is an “official act.”

The Supreme Court is held by Republicans/conservatives. The House of Representatives (and consequently congress) is held by Republicans.

Here’s how that can impact Congress:

“Within Congress, the switch to Republican control of the House means that the party can control what legislation is voted upon and use its investigative powers to dig into things the party doesn’t like. Republicans will control the many committees and subcommittees that oversee budgets and policies. On each committee, a Republican will fill the chairman’s seat and the party will seat a majority of the committees’ members and employ more staffers than will members of the Democratic party.”

https://it.usembassy.gov/how-do-major-political-parties-split-control-of-congress/

If Trump gets reelected… All of the above combined with a 920 page playbook littered with propaganda, very specific details for stripping away most of the checks and balances , and etc… implementing the things in that playbook would be possible…

I’m not the best with the government details… If I’ve gotten anything wrong, I apologize. Hopefully, someone will correct me if I was wrong about something.

I am actively wondering if pro-MAGA are posting comments in subs complaining about subs suddenly being too political… in order to stop the conversations…

I had a related experience … though I was not banned… the mods in that sub are great… the sub had a new post about Democrats and Biden making a poor choice for the sake of optics based on polling/research... It’s true but VERY OLD news from early 2022. The link claimed the document was leaked as if it was current news… but major news all covered it back in early 2022, AND I saw nothing indicating it was “leaked.”

As it paled in comparison to Trump’s past presidency and what’s in Project 2025. I made a post, not the world’s best- I should have included quotes… My post was deleted by the mods likely because I didn’t include quotes showing the relevancy… but the misleading post about the democrats doing the wrong thing stayed up.

I cannot write a better post now as it looks like political discussions are mostly being stopped.

I understand mods not wanting politics to overtake things, but you know, it feels like being silenced… Idk what the mods can do… The post I made before they deleted it had comments accusing me of fear-mongering… The comments weren’t generally what I’d expect from that group.

What if this happens in almost every sub? It’s easy for far-right people to join a sub and deliberately brigade the political conversation by complaining about it until the mods comply…

Just fyi… What you posted was in the news in February and March 2022. I provided one link, but you can google for others. I agree that Democrats should have done better. I just wanted to make sure you & others know this was in the news over two years ago… Also, from what I read, it was not “leaked” as the government itself published it.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/democrats-turn-mask-mandates-covid-landscape-voter-attitudes-shift-rcna18043

Also, if you care about covid, you should read the playbook for Project 2025 (link at the bottom). In his first presidency, Trump accomplished 64% of the Heritage Foundation’s much tamer 2016 agenda… This time the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is far more intricate and far-reaching. Have a read of some direct quotes with page numbers. Go look them up. Please do. I pulled some small quotes out but there’s plenty more…

Department of Health and Human Services

Page 451

“Goal #4: Preparing for the Next Health Emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how catastrophic a micromanaging, misinformed, centralized, and politicized federal government can be. Basic human rights, medical choice, and the doctor-patient relationship were trampled without scientific justification and for extended periods of time.

Excess deaths, not due to COVID-19, skyrocketed because of forced lockdowns, isolation, vaccine-related mass firings, and colossal disruptions of the economy and daily rhythms of life.”

“Every one of the overreaching policies during the pandemic-from lockdowns and school closures to mask and vaccine mandates or passports-received its supposed legal justification from the state of emergency declared (and renewed) by the HHS Secretary. Tellingly, however, the threshold for what constitutes a public health emergency-how many cases, hospitalizations, deaths, etc.-was never defined. For the sake of democratic accountability, we must know with clarity what will trigger the next emergency declaration and, just as important, what will trigger its end.”

Page 452

“Unaccountable bureaucrats like Anthony Fauci should never again have such broad, unchecked power to issue health "guidelines" that will certainly be the basis for federal and state mandates. Never again should public health bureaucrats be allowed to hide information, ignore information, or mislead the public concerning the efficacy or dangers associated with any recommended health interventions because they believe it may lead to hesitancy on the part of the public. The only way to restore public trust in HHS as an institution capable of acting responsibly during a health emergency is through the best of disinfectants-light.”

Page 453

“When it was too late, we were told to put our lives on hold for ‘two weeks to flatten the curve;’ that turned into two years of interference and restrictions on the smallest details of our lives. Congress should ensure that CDC's legal authorities are clearly defined and limited to prevent a recurrence of any such arbitrary and vacillating exercise of power.”

“The CDC can and should make assessments as to the health costs and benefits of health interventions, but it has limited to no capacity to measure the social costs or benefits they may entail. For example, how much risk mitigation is worth the price of shutting down churches on the holiest day of the Christian calendar and far beyond as happened in 2020? What is the proper balance of lives saved versus souls saved? The CDC has no business making such inherently political (and often unconstitutional) assessments and should be required by law to stay in its lane.”

https://www.project2025.org/playbook/ (click on Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise)

This Project 2025 playbook CAN be enacted. As SCOTUS, the house of representatives, and congress will be a republican majority… and the senate will be tied… and because SCOTUS just had a ruling giving immense power to the president…

A couple of people in this sub accused me of fear-mongering. Have we not all been accused of that because we think covid is a serious disease? It is NOT fear-mongering when it is a FACT.

This is unfair. Many of the problems we have in the states are greatly impacted by politics…

It isn’t fear-mongering if it is TRUE… just like considering covid to be a serious disease is not fear-mongering because it is TRUE.

Read the links I provided in the post including the playbook book itself…

This would be brilliant if Republican and Democrat presidents etc banded together for a joint message!!!

My thought was Taylor and Dolly (imagine a duet between them that then becomes the campaign song?) and etc start now and keep up the momentum until the election… time for people to spread the word… time to get voters registered…

But, for sure if it’s just mentioning it one time (which would still help a lot) then closer to the election like you suggested is better than this early…

Hurricane Beryl broke records… Earliest cat 4 hurricane, earliest cat 5 hurricane, and the hurricane formed in 42 hours…. We’re at the BEGINNING of hurricane season…

The 4th case of bird flu in a person just occurred in Colorado. That’s three states now… This virus is getting a ton of chances to mutate to H2H spread…

Insisting climate change isn’t real… insisting that wearing a mask to avoid spreading a deadly virus is against one’s freedoms… That group might be about to be hit with a truth sandwich…

I think Dolly can make that choice for herself…

I think we need every celebrity who will speak up to speak up… IF THEY WISH TO DO SO.

I’ve been mulling this over for about 24 hours… SCOTUS, I think, doesn’t fear that Biden has this new power right now as a sitting president. I think they think Biden is too good and moral of a man to wield that power when he knows it is wrong…

But… KNOW THYSELF- Socrates… I think wielding that power to stop the far greater evil of fascism is the right choice… As long as Biden immediately removes the power afterwards… No holding it for a rainy day….

Appt four seats to Scotus… and anything else that is CRUCIAL to preserving democracy…. And the first day SCOTUS meets, have a vote taking away the power.

On a much smaller insignificant scale, I’ve been the person everyone assumed would be too nice to fight back. I have learned to defend myself. On the few occasions I do, it always surprises people to find out the nice little bookworm has teeth.

I think you are right… they have been planning this for decades… and we are late to the game…

Do you think spreading the truth about what is in the playbook is enough to correct course?

Sorry about that…

Richie Rich and Swamp Thing fan here!

Push ups were one of my favorites…

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I was way too clumsy… I had a lemon twist though!

Exactly! VOTE against Tarkin and Vader!

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We need an honest government that has transparency and that has a system of checks and balances from whatever party is in control… Right now, it’s the far-right that has a plan to strip away transparency and the checks and balances…

“The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know…

No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary…”

JFK

https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/american-newspaper-publishers-association-19610427