@mcfate
Afghanistan: Guys, I'm right here....

@CJLavoie I do intense searches on candidates for non-partisan offices and if I detect even a whiff of Republican endorsement, I vote for the other person.
Although I'm a little conflicted this time. We have a local race where both candidates are pretty good; one is more left, but less experienced; the other is a moderate, but very popular in the district. That one will bear some thought.

@thewebrecluse Yeah, I thought of that. As in the Johari window, it's impossible for an individual to describe themself accurately, there's too much they don't know. The drone would add some of the "what others know" quadrant, but there are always unknowns.
On the other hand, I don't care that much about the deep unknowable self. The person I see is enough. I don't care what they do when they're alone, as long as it's not something vile like watching kiddy porn or voting Republican.

@GNious It depends on the state committee. I think in most places you just have to sign a statement saying you believe the election was stolen and shout "Make American Great Again!"
Oh, and show them your gun.

@tgraph52 The MAGA and "Stollen Election" tropes attract and promote low grifters like Mark Robinson and Semi Bird, like opportunistic infections in an addict's body. A party that puts up clowns for candidates won't last long.

@thewebrecluse A tool has its own influence , though. As they say, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
To build a dating app that conveys an accurate impression of a person is hard; building one that resists people's wish to look better and more attractive than they really are, compensates for how little they know themselves, *and* turns a profit, is very hard.
The best dating app would have a drone follow you around, randomly recording your interactions with people.

@Pennyformythoughts I suggest reading Anthony Bourdain's rant on garlic in "Kitchen Confidential." Here's an image.

@DavidSalo As if he ever had a claim to be a conservative. He's a good example of how someone who's simply bigoted and reactionary can pass as a conservative. Maybe conservatives should ask themselves why that's so.

@mcfate @th3j35t3r No, an incompetent clown would try to be funny, and fail.

@sfleetucker pox

@Museek Any outfit that calls itself the "Party/Army/Family/Whatever of God" is most likely a terrorist organization.

@LiberalLibrarian The same people who quote Bishop Tutu, telling us that staying neutral in situations of injustice is choosing to side with the oppressor, tell us not to talk politics.
But how else can we figure out how to live with each other in peace, harmony, and justice? Charity only ameliorates the effects of injustice; armed rebellion kills people, probably for nothing.
If you want to do anything meaningful about injustice without picking up a gun, you have to talk politics. That's all.

@grrlscientist
"... it is unchecked power and authority, not celibacy, that is the root of the problem. It is also very much a crisis of the evangelical movement’s own making; ... commercial incentives have produced a culture where the more charismatic and authoritarian the leader, the more successful the church."

Which is why one of the rules at our Unitarian Universalist church is: no adult is ever alone with a minor, there must be at least two adults; another rule is: no "authorities."

@th3j35t3r He's not a clown. Clowns are supposed to be funny.

@Tacitus_Kilgore Everything he does, when he has control of himself, is calculated for popular appeal. Unfortunately for him, that only goes so far. "The Apprentice" was popular for a while. So was his version of himself as a statesman. Sic transit....