You forgot one, Erick. In 1973, we were assured that the Roe v. Wade trimester scheme was inviolate and would never change in either direction, irrespective of anything medical science or people's desires may be or reveal. 48 years later, abortion on demand is the de facto reality in this country and the Roe trimester structure has been destroyed, even as the gestational age of viability of an unborn child has steadily decreased.
Nothing reveals this scheme of "pushing the Overton Window" more than the life question. The entire "transgenderism" one is, however, running a very close second; just ask J. K. Rowling how she knows. And as a military veteran, I know just how the acquiescence of the Department of Defense to this agenda has damaged force readiness and morale, and how it will damage both those things even more as we blithely charge on into what the Germans call "Wolkencuckcucksheim" ("Cloud Cuckoo Land") Enough, already.
So all this is driving me crazy. It's like a hall of mirrors. No matter which way you look it's not real. I know what I believe, who I am and who my family is. So we are rock solid in our beliefs and won't put up with any of this stinking nonsense. But I had an interesting encounter relative to two posts from Perdue on FB today. One was his beaming announcement, the other an apparent endorsement from The Other Big Guy - Mr. T. I commented on both expressing my support for Brian Kemp and bemoaning the fact that Perdue had jumped in - or rather was "pushed" in by Mr. T. I was immediately set upon as a RINO, a liberal, a moron and a member of the dreaded Election Steal Denyers (sp?) club. Some people even thought I was a lurking Democrat trying to discredit Trump and Perdue. I love a good debate so I kept on going for quite a while until I realized it was a total waste of time. No matter how nasty people got, I kept my good nature an stuck to the facts. Emotion, emotion, emotion, drama, drama, drama. That's what's out there right now.
There are very few 'good debates' to be had on the Internet; and trolls are one of the - if not the main - reasons why.
Those of us that have been a participant on the Internet for years are too familiar with the groups of folks that float in cyberspace and wait for a controversy to erupt so that they can get their power rush by antagonizing the commenters. They work in pairs, and play the commenters against one another. These are not people from other countries, these are Americans that admit that "...I love to see the commenters get their panties in a wad over something I say but actually could not care less about." An actual quote from a famous troll that started on a site from years ago called 'hell dump'.
The Internet has gone from people having fair discussions (back in the 90's) about topics of interest to people needing (almost on an addiction-level) confirmation from the 'in-group' of their particular bias. For the first time in history the angry people of the world now have an international platform from which to spew their anger and discontent; their anger renders them useless in an intelligent debate and so they resort to labeling.
I don't know if I'd call it a waste of time to engage in debate on serious subjects, challenging the status quo is important - resistance is not futile - but when the comments turn to hyperbole and name-calling that's the time to bow-out.
Eric, Thank you for addressing these topics. The fact that we are being bullied into accepting "feelings" over biology regarding transgenderism has me apoplectic. Biological men are stronger and have more bone density than biological women. No amount of hormone therapy is going to change that. Men competing as a woman in female sports is not only stupid...it is dangerous! A transgender MMA fighter that kept his biological gender a secret severely injured every female competitor he faced. He did not have near the experience or expertise of the women he fought. But his biologic strength and bone density were such that he routinely fractured women's skulls and broke their bones until his true sex was identified. This strength advantage will cause similar injuries in female basketball, soccer, etc. if it is not stopped. As far as business or institutions/government, the recent appointment of Rachel Levine as the "first female Admiral" in the USPHS is a major slap in the face to every female PHS officer that has worked hard their entire career to get promoted...and now a man gets the ultimate promotion!! Where are the feminists of the past? They would not have stood for this. They would be marching from coast to coast in opposition. As far as the Bully-in-Chief Trump, I was a big supporter. I voted for him twice and even contributed donations to his campaign. I did so because I strongly support the policies of border security, strong military, and lower taxes, less regulations, second amendment, strong economy. But his actions post 2020 election made me literally burn my MAGA hat. The fact that he is now going after Gov. Kemp is infuriating. Trump needs to stay out of state politics!
You forgot one, Erick. In 1973, we were assured that the Roe v. Wade trimester scheme was inviolate and would never change in either direction, irrespective of anything medical science or people's desires may be or reveal. 48 years later, abortion on demand is the de facto reality in this country and the Roe trimester structure has been destroyed, even as the gestational age of viability of an unborn child has steadily decreased.
Nothing reveals this scheme of "pushing the Overton Window" more than the life question. The entire "transgenderism" one is, however, running a very close second; just ask J. K. Rowling how she knows. And as a military veteran, I know just how the acquiescence of the Department of Defense to this agenda has damaged force readiness and morale, and how it will damage both those things even more as we blithely charge on into what the Germans call "Wolkencuckcucksheim" ("Cloud Cuckoo Land") Enough, already.
even so, come Lord Jesus
So all this is driving me crazy. It's like a hall of mirrors. No matter which way you look it's not real. I know what I believe, who I am and who my family is. So we are rock solid in our beliefs and won't put up with any of this stinking nonsense. But I had an interesting encounter relative to two posts from Perdue on FB today. One was his beaming announcement, the other an apparent endorsement from The Other Big Guy - Mr. T. I commented on both expressing my support for Brian Kemp and bemoaning the fact that Perdue had jumped in - or rather was "pushed" in by Mr. T. I was immediately set upon as a RINO, a liberal, a moron and a member of the dreaded Election Steal Denyers (sp?) club. Some people even thought I was a lurking Democrat trying to discredit Trump and Perdue. I love a good debate so I kept on going for quite a while until I realized it was a total waste of time. No matter how nasty people got, I kept my good nature an stuck to the facts. Emotion, emotion, emotion, drama, drama, drama. That's what's out there right now.
There are very few 'good debates' to be had on the Internet; and trolls are one of the - if not the main - reasons why.
Those of us that have been a participant on the Internet for years are too familiar with the groups of folks that float in cyberspace and wait for a controversy to erupt so that they can get their power rush by antagonizing the commenters. They work in pairs, and play the commenters against one another. These are not people from other countries, these are Americans that admit that "...I love to see the commenters get their panties in a wad over something I say but actually could not care less about." An actual quote from a famous troll that started on a site from years ago called 'hell dump'.
The Internet has gone from people having fair discussions (back in the 90's) about topics of interest to people needing (almost on an addiction-level) confirmation from the 'in-group' of their particular bias. For the first time in history the angry people of the world now have an international platform from which to spew their anger and discontent; their anger renders them useless in an intelligent debate and so they resort to labeling.
I don't know if I'd call it a waste of time to engage in debate on serious subjects, challenging the status quo is important - resistance is not futile - but when the comments turn to hyperbole and name-calling that's the time to bow-out.
Amen Brother Erick
Figure out who the bullies really are? Like about everything these days, it will depend on who you ask.
Eric, Thank you for addressing these topics. The fact that we are being bullied into accepting "feelings" over biology regarding transgenderism has me apoplectic. Biological men are stronger and have more bone density than biological women. No amount of hormone therapy is going to change that. Men competing as a woman in female sports is not only stupid...it is dangerous! A transgender MMA fighter that kept his biological gender a secret severely injured every female competitor he faced. He did not have near the experience or expertise of the women he fought. But his biologic strength and bone density were such that he routinely fractured women's skulls and broke their bones until his true sex was identified. This strength advantage will cause similar injuries in female basketball, soccer, etc. if it is not stopped. As far as business or institutions/government, the recent appointment of Rachel Levine as the "first female Admiral" in the USPHS is a major slap in the face to every female PHS officer that has worked hard their entire career to get promoted...and now a man gets the ultimate promotion!! Where are the feminists of the past? They would not have stood for this. They would be marching from coast to coast in opposition. As far as the Bully-in-Chief Trump, I was a big supporter. I voted for him twice and even contributed donations to his campaign. I did so because I strongly support the policies of border security, strong military, and lower taxes, less regulations, second amendment, strong economy. But his actions post 2020 election made me literally burn my MAGA hat. The fact that he is now going after Gov. Kemp is infuriating. Trump needs to stay out of state politics!
We've read the end of the book. You have no idea the temptation for me to say, "Here, hold my beer!"
Oops.....!