Funny (political, religious) pictures

PatrThom

PatrThom

Me at the pharmacy waiting for the counter to open so I can pick up my wife’s prescription listening to a 3-person group ahead of me—two middle-aged sisters and their wheelchair-bound mother.
The mother, from her wheelchair: (looking around) “Shouldn’t we be wearing masks?”
A sister: “Don’t worry, ma. They’re optional now. You don’t have to wear one if you don’t want to.”
Mom: “I thought we had to but ok.”
(Small amount of time passes)
Mom: “Oh look. There is a penny there on the floor right next to the counter”
A sister: “Eww, mom. I’m not gonna touch some dirty penny that came from who-knows-where and has been sitting on the floor for who knows how long.”
Me, burying my face deeper into my phone so I don’t say anything out loud. :rolleyes:

—Patrick
 
Cat

Cat

Biden and trump accurately represent what is wrong with liberalism and conservatism. They really are perfect picks
 
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PatrThom

PatrThom

I still see them more as symptoms, more like fruiting bodies. They, themselves, are not the issue nor the cause, but the fact that these are the sorts of people being elected shows that there is definitely something going on underneath.

And Trump does NOT represent Conservatism. He represents Fascism.

—Patrick
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

PatrThom said:
I still see them more as symptoms, more like fruiting bodies. They, themselves, are not the issue nor the cause, but the fact that these are the sorts of people being elected shows that there is definitely something going on underneath.

And Trump does NOT represent Conservatism. He represents Fascism.

—Patrick
Click to expand...
Eh, the movement underneath him is definitely fascist, but I'm inclined to say Trump is more of an exponent of populism.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
The people who claim to be conservatives (the GOP) also are not, in fact, conservatives. They stopped being that around the time of Goldwater's departure from the party.
 
ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

One big issue is I don't think the majority of politicians actually want to govern. Why would they? It's easier to just keep your constituents frothing at the mouth of the horrors of the other side while you do absolutely nothing, rather then actually pass bills that might end up being unpopular to your constituents. Maybe pass a few tax bills here and there for the mega wealthy so they keep sending you fat campaign contributions.

This might sound kind of, well, conspiracy theorist, but I am starting to wonder how much of the obstruction and general lack of passing anything is pre-planned by both parties. Remember when they almost passed that "Obamacare" repeal but missed it by the one McCain vote? They played that up as McCain screwing the GOPs plan, but we know the ACA is actually really popular with most Americans, but due to so much propaganda most conservatives don't connect the ACA with Obamacare, and were likely going to be out for blood once it was gone and they lost coverage. McCain giving that last "No" allowed the GOP to preen their feathers and act all mad without really losing any support. I am starting to feel the same about Manchin and Sinema, only for the opposite party. Why would you want anything to actually happen when you get all your money from dark money and actually passing bills is risky? Just keep the status quo as much as possible and you can be like Biden and McConnel and just sit in your seat for decades.

It's not going to get better.
 
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PatrThom

PatrThom

ScytheRexx said:
I am starting to wonder how much of the obstruction and general lack of passing anything is pre-planned by both parties.
Click to expand...
I don't know if I'd call it "pre-planned" so much as just "in line with their personal interests." They are not joining together/teaming up/agreeing to disagree about this stuff, they're each merely allowing it all to continue because they somehow end up better off individually as a result. It's like if a bunch of vultures somehow voted for a new freeway, it would not mean they are "teaming up" with the engineers because they want to lessen the traffic load elsewhere, it's because they are in favor of more roadkill.

We already have plenty of evidence that many (most?) of the current people in power are not (even interested in) wielding that power as a means to better their constituents, they are wielding it to benefit themselves (and their heirs/cronies), and the dog and pony show is to misdirect the public/their constituents away from that fact.

--Patrick
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

PatrThom said:
many (most?) of the current people in power are not (even interested in) wielding that power as a means to better their constituents, they are wielding it to benefit themselves (and their heirs/cronies)
Click to expand...
I can't remember if I already posted about this or not, but saying this reminded me of reading about this sort of thing being mentioned in an interview with Andrew Yang from last month:
Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at UC Berkeley, has been studying the influence of power on individuals. [...] He has consistently found that power, over time, makes one more impulsive, more reckless and less able to see things from others' points of view. It also leads one to be rude, more likely to cheat on one's spouse, less attentive to other people, and less interested in the experiences of others. Does that sound familiar? It turns out that power actually gives you brain damage.
Click to expand...
Sukhvinder Obhi, a neuroscientist at McMaster University in Ontario, recently examined the brain patterns of the powerful and the not so powerful [and] found that those with power are impaired in a specific neural process — mirroring — that leads to empathy... Perhaps most distressing is that in lab settings the powerful can't address this shortcoming even if told to try. Subjects in one study were told that their mirroring impulse was the issue and to make a conscious effort to relate to the experiences of others. They still couldn't do it. Effort and awareness made no difference in their abilities..
Click to expand...
(emphasis mine)

So we now have scientific studies (That Obhi one is almost a decade old, even!) showing that giving a person power literally makes them care less about the people they have power over and more about themselves. If ever there was anything that suggested there should be term limits, I don't know if I could even come up with anything more compelling.

--Patrick
 
Cat

Cat

ScytheRexx said:
One big issue is I don't think the majority of politicians actually want to govern. Why would they? It's easier to just keep your constituents frothing at the mouth of the horrors of the other side while you do absolutely nothing, rather then actually pass bills that might end up being unpopular to your constituents. Maybe pass a few tax bills here and there for the mega wealthy so they keep sending you fat campaign contributions.

This might sound kind of, well, conspiracy theorist, but I am starting to wonder how much of the obstruction and general lack of passing anything is pre-planned by both parties. Remember when they almost passed that "Obamacare" repeal but missed it by the one McCain vote? They played that up as McCain screwing the GOPs plan, but we know the ACA is actually really popular with most Americans, but due to so much propaganda most conservatives don't connect the ACA with Obamacare, and were likely going to be out for blood once it was gone and they lost coverage. McCain giving that last "No" allowed the GOP to preen their feathers and act all mad without really losing any support. I am starting to feel the same about Manchin and Sinema, only for the opposite party. Why would you want anything to actually happen when you get all your money from dark money and actually passing bills is risky? Just keep the status quo as much as possible and you can be like Biden and McConnel and just sit in your seat for decades.

It's not going to get better.
Click to expand...
According to many on the left it is the plan to get nothing done and have just enough conflict to keep the donations coming in. So yeah it is a conspiracy theory that makes you a wacko communist
 
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