wmw999

Question -- Trump is a master at pushing boundaries; social, entertainment, sexual, and legal. How far should he be allowed to push the boundaries, when his fans enjoy the fact that he's getting away with it? No matter what (remember that quote about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue)? I'm asking you as someone who evaluates honestly, and who says he doesn't want Trump to run again. How much behavior should he be able to normalize, and what are the consequences when other people want to engage in the same behavior down the road? Wendy P.

My husband and I are two for two -- we voted at least. The email makes it easy. Wendy P.

My parents fostered a couple of teenagers in the 1970's; one of them took driving lessons from my dad in their Pinto. He commented later on how great it was -- other kids had to pay for their driving lessons, and he learned for free! My dad commented "yeah, at the cost of a transmission." But Dad did admit it was his fault for using the Pinto instead of the (automatic) Plymouth. Wendy P.

You mean she should fit your preconception, I imagine. So my friend who was born with both a penis (and balls) and a vagina (along with ovaries and uterus) wouldn’t fit your preconception, either, right? Would you agree more with her parents’ decision (to remove the female bits and raise as a boy because that’s what they wanted — she went on to an Army Special Forces career), or with her own adult-made decision, to live the rest of her life as the woman she always felt like? Yes, surgery and all Not everyone fits into the standard boxes. The problem is that those people still exist, and simply ignoring their reality isn’t much different from ignoring someone simply because they’re darker than you Wendy P

Since I’m not an elite athlete, the argument about who gets to compete against whom is not one I have a dog in. But I can treat everyone with the respect that all humans are due. It builds me up, because my self-respect comes from me as well. Wendy P.

I was in Italy right before the 2016 election. At least one cab driver/train co-rider (whoever) said something like "if you elect Trump, maybe we can live down Berlusconi." Wendy P.

Oh come on, you can troll better than that. Anal sex with someone of the opposite gender is OK, isn’t it? Wendy P.

He also knows it's a personal thing, and doesn't try to talk anyone else into those feelings. I'm about as pro-choice as it gets (being a woman and all that), and don't have any problem with someone else feeling differently. There should really be some sort of counter to "let's try this on a societal scale and see what happens" on new ideas, just like there should be a counter to "if we don't allow things to change, they won't, and it'll be just like when we were kids and safe in our parents' homes." If we don't have conservatives, we end up just as crazy as all liberal, all the time. Wendy P.

Yeah. You’ll have your shoulder for the rest of your life; skydiving, probably not, especially if you fuck up your shoulder again. Wendy P.

Of course you will — otherwise it might show a different story.

Most manipulative asshole. I’d be proud to voted off. When I first heard about it I thought it sounded so cool. Then I thought maybe it’d be about finding the best leader (which is very different from the best survivalist). But no, it was all about finding who would stand tallest by tearing everyone else down. As far as deficit spending, I’d say that Reagan was the one who really started the ballooning, all while complaining loudly about free-spending democrats. Here is an interesting chart which can be expanded and contracted. Looks to me like Reagan (who did inherit high inflation and had the 1987 meltdown) and then GHW Bush increased the deficit year-by year. Clinton (beneficiary of the tech boom) not only decreased it year by year, he actually ended up with a surplus. GW Bush (who had 9/11 to deal with, and then dealt himself Iraq) did have some reduction in his second term until the meltdown started, then Obama had to compete dealing with the meltdown, at huge cost. But under him the deficit was decreasing again noticeably. Then we have Trump — he’s not entirely in this chart, but dang he ran it up. You see, if you cut income (by, say, reducing taxes), and then either keep the budget steady or increase it, the deficit still goes up. We are addicted as a people to cheap stuff coming easy, no matter who (else) pays and how. Look at our Walmarts and dollar stores, our fast clothing, and our environment. Wendy P.

It may well have cost him the election. Each independent turned off is worth two conservative anger warriors enthused. Obama was elected with enough of a majority that it might not have mattered, but McCain lost a lot of credibility with the maverick crowd with that. Wendy P.

I'd put it at "possibly" rather than "most likely." Definitely more likely than Biden possibly subbing for Obama, or even than Pence for Trump, but now I'd put Trump's health at worse than Biden's, and the ages aren't all that different. But Trump takes far worse care of his health. Wendy P.

If you expect perfection from Biden, but accept Trump’s faux pas as signs of being a human being (COVFEFE, “grab them by the pussy,” the hurricane map, “I don’t need security briefings because I’m a smart guy,”), then you’re not judging by the same standards. Frankly, there are plenty of Democrats and Republicans I’d seriously consider before Biden, simply because of the age. The minimum age for president is 35, not 75, for Pete’s sake. But not Trump, and probably not DeSantis. I don’t care for the “any disagreement is an attack on our values” approach. But the real point is hold any candidate up to the same judgment — if something similar were said about the other candidate, what would your reaction be? Wendy P.

The immortal nipplboy used to post about putting a six-pack in his reserve container, because he’d never had a malfunction Wendy P.

And look at how much lower the average inflation was during the Obama years. And HE was dealing with the aftermath of a financial meltdown. Wendy P.

The problem was that “don’t ask, don’t tell” really only applied to gay soldiers. Straight ones were absolutely welcome to be as overtly straight as they wished. Kind of like saying “we respect freedom of religion, but only the Christians can pray out loud in public.” Wendy P.

I’m really sorry to hear about your loss, Cory; that’s so tough, and changes your life into a new, and not always welcome, one. Metallica somehow never did it for me; it’s like a Rothko or Pollock painting. I can tell the talent, I know it’s all deliberate and people find it meaningful and beautiful, but it just doesn’t speak to me somehow. But, old and corny as it is, this song (pre-videos) does always send me: Wendy P.

I'd say that this paragraph is an excellent example of the range of "reasonable doubt" when it's someone you identify with, vs. "reasonable doubt" when it's someone you don't identify with. And it's always important to keep that in mind. The reason it's wrong to simply murder people when at war is that it's wrong to simply murder people. And if you find new, fun, ways to dispatch people who are in the way of your (hopefully righteous) mission, then it's also wrong. Wendy P.

Just that there aren't a whole lot of people in Massachusetts would object to an insurance company marketing to gay people (along with elders, families, etc) Wendy P.

Dude, it’s Massachusetts. Wendy P.

Why would it offend? No one is making them consider it or buy it. Wendy P.

Vacations are from all of dz.com Wendy P.

I know of at least one, and he's still skydiving regularly. I don't know how long he was out, nor the extent (other than he had to take early retirement; he is a dentist). Maybe make a plan with steps to get to the tunnel to master some of the physical skills, so that it's less of a leap of faith in freefall. It's got to be hard -- I have a cousin in the same situation. Same person, new uncooperative body. Wendy P.

As someone who has lived there (albeit as a child), and who has a decent number of Brazilian relatives and friends, both US and Brazil-based, along with a decent number in Argentina, I concur. Wendy P.