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I really want the moderate middle to win out and rule the day, so to speak. We're not gonna get sensible laws and policies by gyrating back and forth between extremes. We need people with common sense and compassion in service.
But it seems we have to have crazy sh!t like what's going on now for people to even get out and vote.
I agree in general theory, only problem is it doesn't seem to work. What exactly constitutes "sensible laws and policies", varies from person to person as widely as the directions the wind blows.Quote:
Originally posted by Dreamtimer
Maybe we need a weather man after all :)
Here you go DT, I would imagine it's this type of situation right here that scares the bejeezus out of you. It sure does me, and that's why I went and talked to this guy spur of the moment a couple of years ago. This little hardware store is owned by this gentleman, it's about a half hour drive away, and he is also the local Baptist preacher. God help us all if this type of mentality ever comes to power. I just wanted to show this so you know I understand exactly what your concerns are, and I share them as well, I just also fear the opposing team.
My phone went dead on me, which is unfortunately why the video ends abruptly. The conversation ended very amicably, we shook hands and I left. I think maintaining a certain amount of respect and politeness is always the way to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0aSyL4RG6A
There was a guy running for office in VA who hit the sidewalks and went around and talked to all kinds of people. Many had never had a Democrat even knock on their door. It's a good thing to do. People need to meet people face to face and talk for real.
The other side may be scary, but they don't have the armament, organization, media, or scapegoats that the right does. The mainstream media simply does not play the kind of propaganda role that Fox, Limbaugh, et al do. And the left sure doesn't have anything like Drudge, Breitbart and the dozens of other alternative media sites. Not with the same coverage or reach. It also doesn't have a parallel Sinclair broadcasting.
It just doesn't have the machinery that the right has been perfecting for decades now. Not even close. Who even knows who the Young Turks are? But people know Fox, and Limbaugh, and Hannity, and Beck, and on and on and on.
Personally, I’d go for wall to wall perp walks, but the GF sez it needs to happen one by one to be able to properly absorb it.
This is a first-hand account from an experiencer. (the bold is hers, not mine)
One of the things that many men fail to understand is how pervasive the sexual harassment, assault, etc is in a woman's life.
Just today I saw a comment from some guy who couldn't understand why all men were being blamed when only a 1000 or so men did this sort of thing.
Before I aged out of this sort of thing, probably 15-20% of the men I knew or saw out in public did something or said something or otherwise made me feel unsafe.
Millions of men have done something, not around a 1000.
Every time I walked anywhere in public, the sidewalk, a restaurant , a store, the halls of my school, I faced catcalls and some truly disgusting suggestions or stares.
This started at age 11 when I sadly went from a 6X little girls size to a 14 Missus. As if it wasn't bad enough to have your body change that drastically so fast, the part where I stopped being a person and started being an object was worse.
It wasn't just catcalls though. Boys in my class felt the need to snap my bra (that hurts in case you are notaware); they felt the need to grab my boobs; they felt the need to stare unwaveringly at my chest.
And not just boys in my class in school. Adult men did the same things. Every damn day, through my pre-teen and teen years, at least one person harassed me
And if I didn't feel safe in the public arena, home was worse. My father was emotionally abusive my wholelife. After I developed, he became sexually abusive as well. He forced kisses on the mouth with tongue(ewww, I have never enjoyed kissing since) and he grabbed the boobs daily. And the leers were always there as well.
In all those years, no person everstood up for me even though many witnessed what was happening. That taught me well that there was no one I could trust or turn to.
At once point I took a class at a men's college that was nearby. One of my classmates told me that by being on his campus, I was agreeing to sex with any man that wanted it. He was pre-law, If you were wondering what shapes the attitudes of judges that don't send convicted rapists to jail because it would ruin their their lives, this is it.
I went to work for the US Navy as a civilian employee in a job with 50% travel. I had my boss try to break into my hotel room at 3 am. I didn't open the door and the next day we both pretended it had not happened.
One guy I went on a date with suddenly said. “Hey you're pretty.” It was about two hours into the date and the very first time he had taken his eyes off the boobs to look at my face.
I got date raped twice by two different guys. I got raped by a coworker at a party after I lay down to sleep off some booze and I woke up to find him pounding away inside me. Why didn't I report it? I guess you forgot the part where junior high and high school made me realize that no one would ever stick up for me. And it was shortly after the next incident I am going to describe.
One day in the office, I was sitting there doing some mathematical calculations and concentrating very heavily, when Wham!, I was on the floor with a guy (who was a foot taller than me and weighed over 100 pounds more) on top of me trying to rip off my clothes. In the office, in full view of twenty other men. Not a one lifted a finger to help me. I don't know how I got him off me, but let's just say adrenaline is a wonderful thing.After, my boss (yeah the same one who later tried to break into my hotel room) called me into his office and told me that if I pressed charges, my career was over. Every single one of those 20 men told me they would lie under oath if I had the guy arrested.
I don’t hate men. I have known and worked with some really great guys. But it is not just a few bad apples and not just a few times in a woman’s life.
So what would you do?
Quote:
Originally posted by Dreamtimer
Carry a gun!! Haha ....... needless to say my mouth has been quite nasty at times when inappropriate comments, advances or inuendo's have been made but it was those unexpected attacks including physical that I wished I had a gun as I would have shot the genitals off versus saying a word.....or slinking away in horror and shame................. grrrrr.....that is why it is pertinent to speak up no matter what or who is present because saying nothing leads to unspoken permission for many a perpetrator!!
The woman relaying those awful experiences must have some terrible luck. Most men I've known would beat the living daylights out of another man doing these things to a woman, without hesitation.
I hope this "Me Too" movement doesn't wind up being yet one more way of creating division amongst us.
I don't think her experience was all that uncommon, Fred. To ascribe it to bad luck is a very unfortunate perspective in my opinion. It's not bad luck to have a consistent life experience of men leering and grabbing, including on the job. It's a bad atmosphere, and a bad culture that leads to that. It wasn't terribly clear from the post but she worked for the navy. Thus, these were men who hold all of our lives in their hands. Bad luck? I think not.
And I'm very glad you would beat the shit out of a man who would do that. There are a very many who wouldn't.
We can't pack everywhere we go, and when you're jumped by someone twice your size will you even be able to get the gun out?
Women shouldn't have to pack to be safe.
Ha! See? It just divided me and you already.
I've lived anything but a sheltered life. Worked on construction sites for decades, was in the Navy, and spent way too many years bar hopping and going to wild parties after closing. I never once saw a situation similar to hers, but I know what likely would have happened had any one of them occurred.
What else can I say? This is my experience.
Wow, that’s a sad testimony. Unfortunately, I think she may be karmicly paying for her past lives as a male. No one is truly innocent in the great game.
Kindness, understanding, forgiveness...my hardest lessons to learn.
I cannot agree with that. That kind of explanation is quite gratuitous in this so-called "alternative community", and it is way too cheap. "Oh, if anything bad happens to you then it's because of something you did wrong in a past life."Quote:
Originally posted by Dumpster Diver
Shit happens to good people because there are cosmic parasites who feed off of that, and because there are way too many psychopaths on this planet. One does not have to have had any past lives in order for that to happen. I've had shit happening to me all of my life — and it still is — and yet I don't have any past lives, nor will I have any future ones. And I sure as hell didn't deserve any of it in this life either.
I personally know multiple women who've been the victim of either outright rape or some other kind of sexual assault/harassment. I even know a woman who was gang-raped by five guys when she was a teenager.
In my book, rape (or attempted rape) is the worst of all crimes. If you kill someone, then that's very bad, but then the victim's worries are over. If on the other hand you rape someone, then the victim has to live with that for the rest of their life, and no prison sentence for the perpetrator is going to undo the trauma and the long-term psychological damage to the victim, plus that in way too many cases, it'll never even go to court due to the intimidation factor and the victim being too scared to speak up, with as a result that the perpetrator is left free to strike again with impunity — whether against the same victim or whether against another one.
I don't think you have divided us, Fred. I didn't feel divided.
It's just not logical or sensible that something that happens from age 11, through school, college, within family, professionally, until age 40 can be attributed to bad luck. Ain't no way.
I'm very glad you never saw such a thing. I never experienced it. Doesn't mean it didn't/doesn't happen. I almost got gang raped by a group of guys from college who were supposed to be my friends. It was my instincts that saved my ass. They would have all denied it en masse. And I would've borne the scars for the rest of my life.
Are we really divided? Those men, in the military, were part of a group. Like a police force with their blue wall. They were protecting each other at her expense.
You probably spend enough time with women to understand and respect them as people. Unfortunately, that may make you the exception rather than the rule.
Are we divided? Really? I don't think so. I think you just don't believe 'til you see, which means you may not be able to really get what's going on with these women.
I'm sure you're capable of defending yourself against false accusations. You likely have plenty of people who will stand up for you since they know your integrity. False accusations only go so far unless the system is trying to railroad or make example of you.
I forgot to mention, I've heard it said more than once that politics is Hollywood for the Homely. The sexual harassment stuff coming out now with our Congress is part of the same pattern of people in power and the effects that has. Business, entertainment, politics, military, we will find the same patterns of behavior.
And it's not all going to be solved by sudden mass arrests. This is a disease which needs healing and that's going to take much longer than most people would like. The arc of change is slow from our personal perspectives.
I am so proud of you Aragorn for seeing this clearly for what it is! :smiley hug: Yes, I've had my share of things too, of course.Quote:
Originally posted by Aragorn
Fred, I don't think for a minute you would accept this or that you dis-believe it...we are not divided as Dreamtimer said...
and THANK YOU Dreamtimer for bringing this up personally. :tiphat: