There is an interesting part of law in some places and under some circumstances that refers to “fighting words.” Yeah, ideal world, turn the other cheek. This world isn’t ideal, and being provoked is a legally recognized defense to laying someone out (keep in mind its a mitigating factor not an absolute defense). Essen…

i probably came across as pretty condescending there, sorry about that.

I’m curious how much cardiology you were taught for whatever level of provider you are because a complete 12-lead EKG is available to us where I am, which will show a more complete picture, and a right sided view can be obtained by moving a single electrode. Right sided ischemia can also show up from a left sided view…

If you’re a firefighter you should damn well know there are a ton of people involved in every 911 call, including a huge room full of people with access to computers. Those computers have access to databases full of history for every address, phone number, names of callers, suspects, victims and THEIR respective…

I once got a hit short hit down the 1st base line off the best pitcher in our little league that would have been a base hit. The home plate umpire, the pitcher’s older brother, called it foul. After I stopped and started walking back to the plate, he changed the call to fair and I was tagged out a few steps from home.

Federal charges.

Indeed, and this is how the mentally ill themselves want it. They have agency and the right to direct their own treatment, and community based treatment is by far preferred by both patients and the medical field.

I’d say yes, many are victims. They have been systematically and intentionally targeted for decades, the media they consume saturated with fascist propaganda. They are not absolved by virtue of being victims, and don’t necessarily deserve any sympathy because of it. I just think its worth recognizing how it came to…

You’re not the only one. I kind of believe her at this point. The possibility she was railroaded due to ill-advised statements to police has been at the back of my mind every time this story comes up, and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time authorities have done something like that.

Add to that decades of propaganda promoting the specific ideas the OP mentioned that exploits those personality traits.

Now take all that, and add a huge dose of propaganda via Fox News, right wing radio, et al.

You’re not wrong. People, especially authoritarian-minded people, follow their leaders.

Fuck no, Trump is the god damn problem as is the rest of the GOP.

All data comes down to anecdata, as you put it, in the end, so thank you. Generalizations are useful to get one’s foot in the door, but each person’s choices are personal.

Okay ma’am, its 2018 now, and being a white guy, I really can’t answer for that. Whats your point?

Anyone who voted for Trump is taking care of themselves at this point, I think. Either they are shamed, or beyond redemption. Non-voters are more interesting to me, as its quite difficult at this point to avoid the real life consequences of not voting with someone like Trump and the rest of the GOP in power. Yet there…

Pretty much the same, but I also get a certain satisfaction out of it. Being challenged and having my eyes opened feels good, even if the initial challenge is uncomfortable and the dissonance a bit dizzying. Its like having a boil lanced. Hurts like hell at first, and smells terrible, but oh so satisfying in the end.

That’s kind of what I thought and what I’ve been thinking about, how to reach the non-voter, how to connect their day to day reality to politics and policy, aside from just economic issues. That I think is why the right-wing outrage machine works so well for them, they can connect the dots directly from government…

Yeah, we don’t “hear” non-verbal or even explicitly stated verbal communication, not because we’re dumb, but because they are saying something we don’t want to hear. “The sex he takes” is the best way I’ve heard it described, not quite assault but stupidly persistent, employing dominance behaviors as a means of…

I’m curious what you think is behind the non-voter/non-engaged women thing, like is there some sort of underlying cultural thing that just causes some women to tune out of politics that is unique to women, or is it the same as apolitical/non-voter men who just dgaf?