A dear friend is having a hard time with this election

OP I am sorry for your friend but Ohio is deep inside enemy lines, why would she live in that place. Get her out of there!

selfishly I'm scared of a lot of things coming up, but mainly I'm scared of seeing creeping signs of support for trump in my very blue bubble. . . .

R1

Do I understand that sentiment, but it’s not easy for those of us who live in red states to pack up and leave. We have communities, elderly parents, jobs…and maybe I fit the definition of crazy, expecting a different result but I’m going to stay in Texas and fight. There are still millions of Democrats here and I can only hope that Elon Musk is going to finally overstay his welcome and that Abbott and Paxton will die.

And I keep holding on to the fact that Willie lives 30 minutes away to give me strength. It’s the little things that we hold on to.

All that said, your friend’s emotions are very familiar to many of us here and I hope she can find some peace. I’m lucky to live in the bluest neighborhood (by voting history) in the bluest city in TX, so I feel safe. Here’s hoping she can find her people sooner rather than later and if she can’t, may her neighbors lose all their money.

They’d be even more dangerous if they lose all their money. They won’t blame Trump.

Oh my. Betrayed by the voters of America? Betrayed by voting and democracy? How dare they vote for the other side?

And what do we hope for in return with love in our dear hearts? That all of this poor dear who is in great pain that all her neighbors lose all their money.

This is how the Dems will recover once again. Being the good guys.

r3, the salient truth is that trump didn't win that decisively. so, yes, millions of democrats all over the US. I wish you the best

Our hearts bleed for this poor woman!

I don’t care

Do you?

R5, Dems being the good guy is the lie you still tell yourself.

Around here, Dems are the good guys no matter how much trolling you do. Not sure what you think you are accomplishing here, but you aren’t.

That's nice, OP.

But the plural of "boy" has no apostrophe.

Oh, dear.

Is it really necessary for her to move house because of this? Stay in Ohio maybe in a couple years the mood will change.

I really believe a lot of White women have gone insane, like fucking insane zombies. OP, your friend might be one of them. Stay away.

R10 No I said it was the way back being the good guys. You know like wishing that half of all Americans lose all their money and savings because they did not vote the way I wanted them to vote. That’s a good guy dem in 2024.

That’s the kind of thinking that will lead us back from this crushing sweep of losing the house, the senate, the WH. Wish pain and suffering on other Americans.

Spare us your rubbish, R14. Repugs and especially MAGAts wish nothing good for Democrats. And yet it's always the Dems who are meant to be charitable and understanding.

MAGAts will lose money qand savings simply by how they voted, and they deserve it because they did it to themselves (and us).

Tell your friend to toughen up. Life goes on.

R15 I was referring to the dem liberal who made a comment on this very thread that they were wishing that a whole shitload of neighbors lose all their life savings because of the way they voted.

In short we need to become more like maga is their message.

What ever works should be the bottom line.

MAGA doesn’t care what we say about them unless it can be used to drum up more resentment against the educated elites. Are you suggesting that we should avoid saying anything mean about them and maybe they will go away? Hah.

R18 I don’t suggest shit . I don’t care what people say. Besides nothing we say is going to have even a little impact on anyone. If trump holds serve we will have no chance at all next election.

But I do think it’s cute to see dem liberals wish whole families of Americans lose everything.

Sherrod Brown's loss was really heartbreaking. He's one of the few good guys. And Ohioans were just so fucking dumb to vote Bernie Moreno in.

I would recommend that she try a Unitarian (UU) church. They don't do a lot of religious dogma and they're more progressive in their thinking, more caring. A lot of people come to a UU church after leaving a more strict or hateful religion (often Catholicism) because it has a welcoming community and still celebrate or mark a lot of events with rituals that are similar to other religions.....so there's some of that same feel of shared observance, etc.

She sounds mentally ill. I'm on the way to meeting a similarly unstable woman, and hope we can get through an hour with no tears.

Witness Protection Program

It would have been ugly today either way, because these are profoundly ugly people. Imagine your friend in Ohio right now if Harris had narrowly defeated Trump and he was furiously stoking a “Stolen Election!” belief system in his base 24/7. There would likely be some violence.

MAGA don't surf.

Maybe she could reframe her thinking so that she sees the people she thought were loving, and now sees as hateful, as having only been gullible?

It wouldn’t change the impact of Trump/MAGA on our lives in most ways, but in the small day-to-day moments it might and if that’s all she can do, then that’s what she can do.

I have a Harris-voting cousin who assures me that her children (who voted for Trump) “love their families.” There is no possible attack response to that position (“felonies,” “paying off porn stars,” “bankrupt casinos,” “defrauded students at his ‘university’”) that doesn’t cause the other mind to snap shut. I have no choice but to think of those relatives as deluded fools because it’s that or thinking of them as perfect candidates for Naziism, which my cousin needs to think they’re not because she loves them.

It’s an ugly mess but going insane is allowing them to win absolutely. I wish her luck.

[QUOTE] My God she is in pain. Betrayed by people she thought were good, decent people, only to discover how much joy they get from the suffering of others.

I'm having trouble understanding how someone's neighbors voting for a different candidate = a betrayal of this woman. That is not the case.

Is there more to this saga that we are not hearing?

I told myself the same lie for decades. All politicians suck and destroy life. Wake up to this.

- R5

How about not equating Trump with Hitler and his voters with Nazis. He can be horrible and not be Hitler. That mindset is hysterical and ridiculous.

How about not equating death with starvation.

Thank u India.

Russia has interfered with our election with the help of Elon Musk. This is definitely not what the majority of this country wanted and Dems walked into a trap.

OP, you're hag needs to take one for the team and stay where she is. We'll never flip Ohio blue again if people just run for the exit doors. Everyone must do their part, and then some.

'She didn’t understand the scope of how shitty these people are.'

Your friend is a true idiot. Tell her to grow up. And if she doesn't cut her out of your life.

R31 sounds like Trump if Harris won. It was a Trap!

Why did all the adults die off?

She should build a plan for a move when her daughter is out of the house. Maybe another state where they could both be. Other than finding support such as it is online, I don't know, try to remember some people voted for him out of cluelessness? In her shoes I'd try to just take people as they come and avoid politics. It's already a thing on TikTok.. the FAFO idea. I'm almost looking forward to a little clapback when Trumpflation kicks in.

Imagine Johnny Carson crying the day after an election on air. Everyone would be WTF?! And he had to endure two Nixon wins. A man who killed how many innocent young people because he refused to end the pointless Vietnam war.

Good god. Your side won’t always win. Deal with it and move on. She sounds demented and you’re her enabler.

Bawling and carrying on like a whiny bawling toddler for politics is so ridiculous— if not mentally ill. How does this woman normally cope with the inevitable disappointments in life?

[quote]She will not try for another child because she has a history of miscarriages.

You mention "daughters" old enogh to be introduced to activism, but how many children does she want?

I know about the change in laws and the implications of open-ended interpretation in the wake of the Supreme Court decision and movements afoot in states, but maybe less time for hysteria and more time to get a grip and considering some options. Did she honestly think that she was in a stronghold of like-minded people? That she was betrayed by people she thought had the same opinions as her? I have some sympathy for any reasonable person in Trump´s America, but she seems a little unbalanced (and to be clear, I would say a lot of Trump supporters are unhinged, albeit in a different way.)

.

In the face of the outcome of this election in which if one side wins the other loses everything (which is of course what happened), but if the other side wins the other not only loses nothing but their lives get better (which would have been the outcome had Harris prevailed) is not a normal election.

We forgot that cruelty isn't a side effect, it is the point. We forgot that Christians don't follow the teachings of Jesus — if they ever did. We forgot that our belief in a government that solves problems is at odds with the oligarchs who believe that government is to serve them and only them because, in their minds, wealth = worth. We forgot that America is deeply racist, deeply misogynist, and that the goodness and greatness that we tell ourselves we are is an illusion designed to make straight white Christian men feel better about themselves and all of the abhorrent, disgusting things they have said and done.

We forgot that America is a two-faced whore.

And we all know what happens when you get involved with two-faced whores.

[quote] [R31] sounds like Trump if Harris won. It was a Trap!

Exactly. Trump constantly touted the electoral process as "rigged" making Biden say the election process was safe, Elon tampers with the electronic voting satellite and dems cannot claim the election was rigged.

I never believe electronic voting was 100 percent safe. We need to go back to paper ballots.

[quote] I just ache for her, and all the other blue dots. You guys on Datalounge are my hero’s right now. Thank you for everything.

MARY.

Tell her to move for the sake of her children. Teens are more influenced by their peers than by their parents. If they are surrounded by MAGAs, they will start listening to Rogan (“He makes some good points, Mom”) and that’s the end.

Tell this frau to suck it up and deal.

Tell her to:

a) join Bluesky so she can find some online liberal community

b) go to local Democrats meetings — even in deep red country they are there!

c) volunteer at the local soup kitchen, food bank, housing orgs (Habitat for Humanity etc.) homeless shelter, etc. and frequent the programs at the library…that’s where to find the liberals…or at least the people who aren’t total selfless shitheads & actually care about helping the needy

Can you tell us approximately where she lives in Ohio? I had this kind of breakdown 4 years ago during the election, seeing Trump signs in my small western Ohio town all while also seeing the elderly in my community dying from Covid. I put my house on the market, got a job transfer (which admittedly everyone can't do) and moved to Columbus on election day 2020. It's not perfect, but it saved my sanity.

She's in New Philadelphia, R44.

Purr, purr Francine.

There are still hip places of Ohio; tell your friend to move out of the hick town New Philadelphia and into one of those places.

Ohio has been going red for years. She just noticed her neighbors were MAGA?

I think there is a good chance that Trump may try to invalidate gay marriages. He invalidated abortion, enraging many many straight people. He might take the chance with minority gays,

[QUOTE] He might take the chance with minority gays,

Huh?

R48 knows what they are talking about. Find others like you in your area, they are there.

More importantly, in my life experience, is doing charity and helping the needy. Not only do you help the people around you, it makes you like them more. When you give a gift, it makes you like the person more and see them as a person, flawed, but a person just like you.

Getting away from things that make you sad, or angry, or scare you is a way to try and stay safe but it is not a good way to make yourself feel better, happier, or less anxious.

Sorry, R43 is the poster I mean knows what they are talking about

Every one telling this woman to move….do you not understand yet that working-class people, especially those with kids (but anyone without huge resources), are unable to just pack up and move? Especially *now* that we have zero safety-net left??? The only people now who can move are upper-middle class and above. What do you do now, without a huge financial cushion? You rip your kids away from their friends? Abandon your only support system? Abandon/sell your house and vehicles? You stop working, or rebuild a small business in middle-age? It’s hard to gauge which risks are smart and which are plain stupid. Do I cash out my retirement and buy all Bitcoin? I have zero fucking clue, kids. None. And anyone telling you they know the answers is full of shit.

I have a spouse, we have a home with a mortgage still, early 50’s, maybe about $600k in retirement, plus with current home value, we’re worth maybe $1mil. “Today” that’s our net worth, I expect by February, we may be worth zero, and have no ability to put our youngest through school, and none of our kids will be upwardly mobile now. Plus I think school might stop, and/or women will be pushed back out of the workforce. We have 5 kids, 4 young adults, 3 of whom are still here. Spouse is a contractor. I have begged him to cash out our savings, send me with the youngest abroad to find a place to stay temporarily, and possibly buy abroad, in order to stretch our meager savings and try to save what we planned to leave to our children (who will I’m sure get zero now). He refuses. He will not leave, he will not sell, he will not move, he will not send me to find us temporary safety for our youngest child (13 yo female). No weapons, no stockpiling supplies, no preparation— because spouse thinks I’m nuts and that it will all magically work out somehow. How the FUCK will this work itself out, for any American, except the corrupt and the rich and the white men? So I am literally here, waiting for everything we’ve worked for our entire lives to be lost and to have nothing to help my children even. We have a mixed marriage in extended family with biracial children in the middle of PA, I’m terrified for them in this new “America”.

So if OP’s friend is anything like me, she’s having a full-tilt nervous breakdown, accompanied by 24/7 paranoia. The paranoia is debilitating. I cannot imagine how she feels. She’s likely looking over her shoulder 24/7, like me, even though we’ve done nothing wrong. During election, I did some online activism that helped me acquire a Nazi-stalker who stole my identity, credit fraud etc., and one of the content generators I was helping promote to try and win the election has just received a visit from Secret Service.

That content-generator is wealthy as hell, but I believe realizes there is no escape, it doesn’t matter where you go now, the entire globe is not stable anymore. So you can run, but you can’t hide. I don’t have those kinds of resources, so I’m even more frightened. OP’s friend is right to be falling apart, this is the biggest trauma America has ever experienced, it makes 9/11 look like Candyland.

Bottomline? America died on Election Day. Sure, the framework of a country is still there, but it’s done. And the majority, including people on both sides, are in complete and utter denial still. And all I can do is sit here like a fish in a barrel, waiting for it happen. It’s *horrific*. And I’ll close with this. I had my cable fixed yesterday. The cable guy was actually Ukrainian. He looked shell-shocked, refused to speak the whole time, and I realized not only is he in trauma and fear, but he doesn’t know if he can trust me because the Stasi are watching/listening to our every move now. They are using NSA technology to spy on citizens. So, yeah. Of course this woman is freaking the fuck out. When you are educated and informed on what’s happening FULLY, you understand that our lives are over now. Truly. Hope is lost. Now it’s moved to survival. And that is what this poor poor woman is feeling, no doubt. She’s just trying to survive another day, that’s all you can do in a war. Survive.

I apologize for unloading here, I mean that. I’ll put myself in time out now. 🙏 Thank you for listening to my pain, troubles, fears, and worries. I never prepared myself that at 52 yo, everything I knew and believed in would be taken away from all of us. I didn’t know to prepare for the end of our country. And to all my allies who fought to stop this destruction, *especially* my beloved gay brothers/sisters…..you may have to go invisible again, just like I’ll be forced to too. It’s fucking BULLSHITE. But stay alive. Protect yourselves, don’t make yourself an easy target right now like I did in fighting during the election to save democracy. The only way people survive world wars is by living beneath the radar. I expect posting on this site to become too dangerous soon too. My circle gets smaller and ever smaller, it’s to keep myself and the people I love safe. So please, stay safe, it’s “every man for himself” now, protect you and yours first now.

P.S. — my post is why the suicide rate is skyrocketing. People are LOGICALLY concluding that the only way to protect their family is to not be a burden, and potentially cash in on life insurance for them, before that’s taken away too. And I may end up being one of those too. I just don’t know. Sorry to be a downer, just keeping things real AF. I can’t lie or pretend to be ok anymore. I love you all so much, this site has given me life for maybe 15 years, and now it’s all coming to an end soon. It’s brutal. My brain antecedent process it. And yes I’m in therapy, and yes I’m going to stop therapy, because what’s the point now? I can’t afford to be pussing away $185 a week when food is about to triple and we are about to be put out if fucking business because we will lose half our crews and materials will go up. They are predicting 25% increase on lumber (minimum!!!) and that 40% of the labor force in construction will be deported. Even if it never comes to pass, they’ve already conquered me in my head, so I’m tapped out.

*typos, “can’t”, “pissing” etc. I’m a mess, and I’m fragile, so sorry.😞. I love you Datalounge, always have, always will!

Get a blog.

I know r57. I just needed to unload because I’m in agony. I won’t make it a habit, I promise. I am journaling to try and get it out. But once in a while, it helps to connect with others who might be feeling the same way, it can help them to not feel so alone in this, so that’s the main reason I let it rip here.

A dear friend, an old, childless White woman, married to a man who worked in a deli for decades, got facial psoriasis from the 2016 election. She also got a black eye running into a pole to avoid an old White man during covid. I do not know how she is faring now, what with Trump winning this election. I dumped the crazy bitch a few years ago.

It's a fucking clown show folks, if you let it.

R59

[QUOTE] So I am literally here, waiting for everything we’ve worked for our entire lives to be lost and to have nothing to help my children even. We have a mixed marriage in extended family with biracial children in the middle of PA, I’m terrified for them in this new “America”.

I'm not how you're under threat in this situation. These are your neighbors, the ones you've already been living around for years. Same as it ever was.

I hate to be a debbie downer, but where will she go unless she leaves the US.

R61? One of their goals is to destroy the US dollar. So guess who that threatens? All y’all. You’re fucked too, even if you’re not at risk of violence. I posted that I fear for my safety because I was an activist and they are sending fucking *secret service* to activists homes now. That wouldn’t make you feel scared at all? Having SS do a home-visit to tell you you aren’t allowed free speech anymore or you’re now an “enemy of the state” LMFAO? Then you’re tougher than me, hat off to you.

R62, there really is no where to run (unless you’re rich?). Europe now considers America an enemy and a potential threat. They HATE us now because our politics have now put the entire globe into a world war. So Europe isn’t exactly chomping at the bit to take on Americans FYI. We FUCKED Europe with this election, and Canada feels the same. So that leaves…..Central and South America, the Caribbean, Asia. No problem for a working class family, yeah? So you are right, you’re not being a Debbie Downer, we really can’t run from what’s about to happen. You understand they’re building multiple camps at this moment, yes? Two in south TX, one in GA, I’m sure there are more. And they plan to use the prisoners to pick our crops. So your cleaning lady is about to become Elon’s slave labor, on American soil.

His father just gave an interview admitting that Elon’s grandparents were in the Nazi Party, so Elon is here to get his inner Nazi on, but on American soil. We are about to experience a Holocaust on American turf. Is that too Debbie Downer too?

[QUOTE] We are about to experience a Holocaust on American turf.

There would need to be victims. Who are the victims in this scenario?

The “deportees” DUH. You think they can easily transport 2 million humans in one fell swoop? No, they cannot, unless the put them all onto trains in box cars? That’s why they’re building camps darling, try to keep up.

[quote]Europe now considers America an enemy and a potential threat. They HATE us now because our politics have now put the entire globe into a world war. So Europe isn’t exactly chomping at the bit to take on Americans FYI. We FUCKED Europe with this election, and Canada feels the same.

As a European (and citizen and resident of two European countries), I can say that millions of us empathize with the millions of Americans who did not vote for MAGA and who are now in a funk and/or considering leaving the country. Everyone understands what a divisive figure Trump has been and continues to be. We know you did what you could, that you were outnumbered, and that this is out of your control. In the Netherlands, people are already expecting an influx of U.S. citizens over the next few years. Political "refugees" from the U.S. are not considered "enemies" or a potential threat.

If you put OP on ignore it reveals that he's a troll who's arguing with himself over half the thread.

Fuck off, you pathetic weasel.

Tell her to change that promotion title’s “l” to an “r” in “election”—watch how much attention and support she’ll start getting svery soon..!

R66, thank you thank you 🙏. I have read Europeans who are fucking pissed as hell, and they should be, but I’m so glad to hear that some of them know how hard we fought them. I gave everything I had and then some. Everyone I know worked their fucking asses off. I believe she won it but the bomb threats, mail ballots, burned ballot boxes, the propaganda, Elon with million dollar checks, all of those things all stacked up together to let them win it. Not to say Trump’s win is not legitimate, but I have seen and read enough that I believe she actually at least tied the popular vote. I cannot tell you how many blue voters are saying their ballot was not counted. I am one of those too, and I live in a blue state!!! My county had the same website for 20 years, then during election week, it magically is a whole new platform?? So those MFers rigged the SHIT out of it, AND we had too many disenfranchised voters. Millions were blocked from voting due to Rethugs. They purged the voting rolls.

But I’m so glad some in Europe know this isn’t what the majority here wanted. We were pulverized by Elon and Trump. On SM, they had the ball 90% of the time, we couldn’t score enough points. And Biden, the FBI, and Merrick Garland fucked us too — they failed us beyond words. I’ve never felt more betrayed.

Because you’re in Europe, how worried are you for what this means globally? Do you feel like Europe has the ability to protect itself from the new administration? I am hoping Europe and Canada don’t fall too. Putin is here to conquer the globe, and it looks like he has won the war thanks to fucking Elon. I’m very curious to hear how you feel and your thoughts. Thank you again, you lifted my shattered heart just a bit.

Op have her read or listen to the book They Knew by Sarah Kendzior. It helped me get out of my hopelessness after the election. I read her other books too but that one helped me understand more and has helped me to focus on the present and what is important in my life.

Europe....blah...blah...blah...

The entire Union has lurched to right. Giorgia Meloni is probably the most important woman in Europe right now. Watch Marine Le Pen's party in the next French election. All over the EU the far right is winning.

Glad to be of any support, R69, however modest. I don't have to tell you that years before Trump announced his candidacy for president and before the world had heard of Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor George W. Bush was deeply unpopular across Europe (to the point where some Americans felt compelled to "masquerade" as Canadians when traveling), and even at the height of that unpopularity Europeans did not "blame" random American tourists or expats for Bush. We were all aware of how unbelievably close the 2000 election had been and what subsequently happened in the Supreme Court after the Florida recount dispute. I follow U.S. politics to some extent (largely here on DL!), but many other people I know here in Ireland and in the Netherlands (where I'm from originally, and where I still spend a chunk of the year) are more informed about American politics than about what's going on in their own country. (I've heard quips about Irish people waking up in a sweat in the middle of the night in October 2024, grabbing their phones to check the early-voting results for Bedford County, Pennsylvania). People were hugely invested emotionally, even throwing election-night "parties" where few or none of the attendees had actual ties to the United States.

I would also add that we have our own embarrassing (and often shameful) governments to contend with: see the article linked at R71. I learned today that the main environmental management agency in the Netherlands is selling off several nature reserves to farmers (claiming that the State needs to add the proceeds of these sales of EUR 100 million to its coffers), which will now be used for yet more of the monoculture that is already destroying entire ecosystems and leading to the extinction of numerous species. The Dutch government also recently implemented a new law under which legal and law enforcement personnel can be fired merely for being related (say, a child) to someone guilty of a felony, or even a misdemeanor such as cannabis possession. The one mainstream liberal (in the European meaning, what you in the U.S. would call "classically liberal") party in the current right-wing Dutch coalition appears to have abandoned whatever principles it might have had and has hitched its wagon to the hard-right PVV party.

As for your question regarding Europe's ability to protect itself: I cannot help but be pessimistic. I have been trying to tell myself to "keep an open mind" about the incoming U.S. administration, but that seems both laughable and impossible. I have little or no faith in their competence in handling any type of crisis. Wish I could say more to cheer you up. Just know that we have our own share of shitty, illiberal, crude, and incompetent leaders. Here's hoping yours won't be worse than "our" Viktor Orbán (apologies for the long-winded reply--I'm usually more succinct than this).

When it comes to finding a new church, she should look into maybe liberal Methodist or Episcopalian churches.

Tim Walz and Kamala Harris addressing and thanking voters for Thanksgiving:

My friend is a cardiologist in NYC who says the number of people who have come in with AFib has tripled since the election.

But in regards to Sherrod Brown, even his supporters on the ground didn’t know what was going on and thought he was safe. They didn’t realise the seat was basically being bought by tech bros so his opponent could do his bidding. That’s the problem when campaign finance laws are basically a joke. A Super PAC means forces from out of your state can just come in and buy the seat, in this case, for $30M.

The same way Thiel bought Vance’s seat in 2022 for $15M.

Brown should run again in the special election for Vance’s seat. There would probably already be enough discontent with Trump that he could win.

*so his opponent would do their biding

OP, stand in front of a mirror and conjure up your true self by saying "Teacake" 3 times. You will appear to yourself and get the non-answers to your non-question you so desperately attention seek.

R75 that is very interesting. I had to pick up some paperwork from an urgent care office that specializes in cardiology. It was the day after the disastrous Biden debate. The place was packed with people mostly under 50, some in their 20s!

R78 Bitch please. Your obsession is crazy bro. Just crazy. Thinking I am the author of every mafuckin thread. Shit is sick.

[QUOTE] My friend is a cardiologist in NYC who says the number of people who have come in with AFib has tripled since the election.

Are these real cases or false alarms? Elections do not cause Afib.

Agree R80. R78 is a real Boris.

I know almost nothing about Afib, but wouldn’t STRESS cause it r81? Every human being I love right now is struggling with their health. Can I say it’s the election? I do, because it’s STRESS dude. Our country just got taken over by Russia. America is *officially* not running the planet anymore. It’s Russia, China, and Iran/Saudis, and Nentenyahu now.

If that isn’t worth a little fucking stress, I don’t know what is. Putin conquered America. And it’s killing the people who “get it”. I’m one of them. I’ve had long-term COVID from this, I’ve lost 25 pounds, can’t eat/drink/sleep, I’m destroying my marriage because I can’t function. Even though I hate what I’m in, what we’re all in, I am so glad that I get it. I wish I could live in denial, but I cannot. And it will likely kill me soon, the stress, and I welcome death at this point. I’m not alone in this.

You need to get some counseling. I can guarantee you that nothing in your life as yet has changed because Trump won the election. Trump is too chaotic to be anyone’s puppet so take a breath. Stop watching the news. You are driving yourself crazy.

OP, the problem is that your friend lives in Ohio. I have never met someone from Ohio who was liberal-minded, they disliked Jews and blacks. I guess migrants, too. There's a nasty edge to them; they are looking forward to the deportations, the destruction of the frayed safety net, and the coming genocide in Ukraine.

Sadly, the source may well be economic decline. A friend of my parents drove from NYC to Chicago in the mid-60s. He was astonished at the degree of industrialization in Ohio. It seemed that one factory followed another; he was deeply impressed. I remember him telling me every kid had a bike and a dog.

It was a good place at one time.

The entire state of Ohio and everyone in it including the OPs mentally unhinged friend are worthless slugs. And Columbus is the worst.

R85, your post is so spot-on, I’m GenX (Chicago) and the people I’ve known from OH are like *nasty* in their racism. And I agree, it’s because they were crushed when manufacturing was sold abroad, and they resent the fuck out of the world now. It’s sad because the people they hate aren’t the ones who screwed them. It was their own fellow white heterosexual males who sold their asses out for mo’ money! I hate this country now, I hate capitalism, I hate it all.

We definitely got the America we deserved. We were built on injustice, refused to reconcile it, and now we’ve ended on injustice. The only wish I have now is for my elderly relatives who voted red to live long enough to see social security stripped away from them. I need to see it, then I can die.

R87 is the future of the Democratic Party.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Fuck off r88. I’ll never support that party again, I haven’t since 2016. Don’t worry? I only say this stuff when I’m “with family”. I’m not going to bark this everyday. You guys can go do your marches and your fundraisers and your losing candidates all by yourselves. Once bitten, twice shy. You’ll never hear people like me speak out again, the floor is all for you, mother fucker 🤡.

Let’s hear what you can contribute, since you clearly are smarter, O Wise Sage. Let’s hear your solutions, we all wanna know LMFAO. 😂 Go ahead. We all patiently but anxiously await your wisdom, light, and rainbows.🌈

r90 don't bother with scum like r88. His solution is MAGA. He may not say it out loud but if you listen carefully you'll find the MAGA thought world.

BTW, I lost all faith in the Democratic Party. It is almost extinct in Florida. Why? Because they kept running "great black hopes," It started in 2010 when they ran a black friend of Obama. Since then black women, black men, etc. Many were good people, who would have discharged their duties as public servants fairly. None can win the panhandle.

As the gerrymandering took hold and snowbirds from red states retired, more extreme Republicans were elected. It now has book burning, anti-vax, the governor firing elected officials, and passing laws to punish specific companies. Everything is pay-for-play.

If you need help from Governor DeSantis like the CEO of Duke Energy, when right-wing terrorists blew out transformers, you need to pay $10K.

R90 I have no problem with you hoping your elderly relatives lose everything they have and crash and burn and live in poverty as you are living long enough to see.

I just gave you a compliment that you were the future of the dem party and now I find you are not even a dem like me.

I am so sorry for thinking you were a Democratic.

Oh and I hope your old relatives get really sick and their house burns down with them and their dogs still in it and no way to get out. I stand in solitary with you even though you and your hate are no longer a Democratic.

The nerve of these people not voting for Harris. Let’s pray for horrible deaths

A Democratic?

It’s 5 am est and the queens who correct auto correct are out and working hard already.

5 am EST? It’s six. How curious.

Yes the Queens Who Correct Auto Correct were out early today. Before 5 am where I live. Its not like they have anything else to do.

R1, I live in Ohio. Lifelong Democrat.

I have family here. Housing is cheaper. Jobs in my field are more plentiful than elsewhere.

Not all of us have the glorious panoply of options that wealth can bring.

[quote] Do I understand that sentiment, but it’s not easy for those of us who live in red states to pack up and leave. We have communities, elderly parents, jobs…and maybe I fit the definition of crazy, expecting a different result but I’m going to stay in Texas and fight.

R3, thank you for explaining. And thank you for taking the position that you'll fight the enemy rather than run away. Love you!

At the risk of hopeless naïveté, is there anything blue states can do to help? Without making progress in red and purple state, the map for the Senate and the White House is almost impossible.

R99 nope we Blue States have are own problems and issues.

There is only one answer to a rousing comeback and us doing a sweep of WH House Senate and that is so unlikely to happen .

We need to steal a very large number of GOP voters away from the GOP by meeting these people we consider bigots and Nazis and unAmericans and evil half way in some kind of new larger dem party.

Small parties with fewer numbers rarely win. Ask the Greens. And before the election the GOP already had more registered members than the Dems.

And we are smaller today because losers do not attract they do the opposite. Just look at how many DL members that are fleeing the country or saying they will never support the Dems again. Very recent DL comments saying exactly that.

“Help Help we are shrinking”.

R100, the question wasn’t directed at blue states. And you don’t know which one I am in, but you’re already at Nazis and doom. Maybe jumping to answers before listening is part of the problem.

Fight where you stand.

“is there anything blue states can do to help”

R102

Sorry R101

Shit OP, what is your friend going to do?

Let her know the Darfur Orphans are solemnly taking up a collection for her. Also, the Syrian refugees are finally grateful that their homes have been reduced to rubble, because at least now they won't have to live next door to someone who voted differently than they did, small mercies, right?

Tell your friend to get a fucking real problem, I've seen cancer patients whine less than the fucking performative white chicks in the face of this election. Jfc. Suggest a holiday in Cambodia.

Well, I just watched Kamala's drunken rambling shit-fest of a Thanksgiving message and am not optimistic about the future of the Democratic party.

Apart from committing a crime like perhaps taking over the Capitol. I think anything people are going through between now and January is legit. I intend to start getting in great shape, improve my diet, and secure my finances so I can see the day when these MAGA assholes are finally shown the door and disowned by whatever future psycho movement overtakes the Republicans. As with Nixon, Reagan, and both Bushes. We lost those races, but history has had a different take.

Virginia and New Jersey have highly winnable, highly visible races next year that will introduce two strong female Democratic governors. No need to wait until 2026 to raise some hell.

Why weren't you already committed to getting in great shape, improving your diet, etc? Just curious. I think people should always be in the best shape they can, no matter who wins the election.

It’s not an on or off switch. I’m in good shape. I intend that every run, rep, and kale salad will be a step to move past this bullshit.

Imagine being stuck sitting next to R108 at Thanksgiving dinner...

Ha, no R110, I'm not an asshole about fitness, I was just curious if this was somehow affecting one's diet and or exercise regime, like "if dems had won, I'd get ozempic, but since they didn't, I'll be watching what I eat" something like that.

My unswerving commitment to frosted doughnuts transcends the vagaries of elections, democracies, and villains.

Why did she decide to live in a butthole place like New Philly, OH in the first place. That is her real issue. Of course the politics and the people there are bright red.

Drink a big can of STFU R105. Problems are relative, you know, and she has a right to be upset at what was done to her.

[QUOTE] nope we Blue States have are own problems and issues.

Oh dear!

What was done to her her R114? Nothing was fucking done to her, an election was held, someone won, someone lost. No one did anything to this woman and I'm sure her life will change not one bit.

She sounds like a wacko at least as seen thru the eyes of the OP. So maybe it’s not all her.

[QUOTE] No one did anything to this woman and I'm sure her life will change not one bit.

Yes something was done to her, by them MAGATS in that town. They were two faced and rude.

Her neighbors took advantage of democracy and voted. Upon hearing the results she had a mental breakdown.

This is a woman who should be on DL

Oh no, not yet another straight woman of a highly nervous disposition. Please no, R119.

[QUOTE] This is a woman who should be on DL

And Andy Cohen would disagree with you.

How were they two faced? Were they pretending to vote for. Harris? Why didn’t she move 8 years ago when Trump won the first time?

Why didn't she move 8 years ago? Because there's was no way she -- or ANY of us -- could have known how awful Trump would be back then.

OP is your friend the same lady who owns a coffee shop and runs around naming everyone who attends AA meetings with her, even when they walk in the store 😂.