For a simple example: my mother is Catholic and until Trump came along, a lifelong single-issue Republican voter who always said she would be a Democrat if it weren’t for abortion. She attends church in an extremely progressive, famously LGBTQ-friendly town.

There’s a transwoman who attends her church (let’s call her Rita). This lady is probably in her mid-50s to mid-60s and has been a fixture at the church for at least 5 years. My mom has been in choir and bible study groups with her for years now. She still just can’t see Rita as a woman. Treats her politely but behind her back refuses to call her “she” and says she’s a “man in a dress”.

She’s really offended that Rita uses the ladies’ room. I’ve asked her why and she can’t articulate it, she just feels like it’s an invasion of her privacy, because men don’t belong in the ladies’ room. And when I point out that Rita isn’t a man, she just rolls her eyes. I’ve asked her if she’s worried that Rita is in there for predatory purposes and she admits that she doesn’t think Rita intends any harm. I’ve asked her how she’d feel if she were forced to use the men’s room and she says “but that’s different!”

My mom prides herself in being a moral person, and still can’t manage to get past her bigotry to see Rita as a woman. There are just too many mental blockades against it. But since she thinks she’s so highly moral, she thinks she must be correct in this situation. It excuses her from finding empathy and bettering her attitude toward trans folks.

My longwinded point is that when people who consider themselves highly moral are bigoted, there’s almost zero chance of getting through to them. And I think a lot of the people who are bigoted against trans folks feel that morality is on their side and being trans is morally deviant, so they think they’re justified in their prejudice.

Currently leggings and a sweater

I didn’t change my name. My perspective is that my identity doesn’t change just because I got married. My name has been mine since birth and it’ll remain that way.

I think the point is he won both the popular and electoral. In 2016 he lost the popular vote but won the electoral anyway.

Yeah also 4chan

When I was growing up, I had some family in LA & San Diego. One year when we visited them we ended up going to both Disneyland and SeaWorld. This was the late '80s or very early '90s and not a huge deal, I think it was just something to do to keep us kids busy. I know Disneyland isn’t “the” Disney that everyone talks about so maybe I’m missing something but Disneyland was sorta underwhelming. I wasn’t huge into Disney stuff anyway but I remember being kind of bored.

When we visited in 1997 we went to Universal Studios Hollywood. They had an attraction where you could get photographed in front of a blue screen and edited into a scene from Star Trek - they had uniforms and props and everything. I loved TNG and was so stoked to wear a command uniform and hold a tricorder. My uncle Ira was appalled that I chose TNG over TOS…I can still hear him saying “but that’s not real Star Trek!”

That’s pretty reductive. How much power do you think the Israeli people have?

I’m American. I know my country is funding this genocide. All I have is my vote, which has very little impact. I care a lot, but other than my vote I’m powerless to stop my government from arming Israel.

The Israeli citizens are similarly powerless.

You should care. The people are not the leadership.

“They brought me a turkeyberder instead of a HAMberder?! Call SEAL Team 6!!”

Huh, TIL… well let’s not tell my catholic mom I got that wrong haha

Or a habit.

The severity of this storm is likely due in part to climate change brought about by the oil industry.

At very minimum, if you assume it’s an innocent mistake, wearing that jacket in that context shows shockingly bad judgment. But she had handlers that surely would’ve noticed this and advised her to change. So that means she wore it intentionally with complete disregard for the context. It shows she’s a cold and cruel person, which isn’t a surprise but does mean that she’s not the reasonable person you think she is.

Belly spots!!

I love lightning bugs! Luckily I still see a lot of them in my backyard every year. Fewer than there used to be, but still a lot. I really hope they can be saved.

That’s been turned against the critic. Some people view “criticizism” the same as nitpicking and complaining.

Fucking eh

Ugh I love Bowie pics. I had to put my greyhound to sleep last month and it cheers me up to see a pointy brindle snoot! 🩶

I’m sure he’s talking about giving police carte blanche to be as violent as they want for an hour. Which is obviously batshit. But it honestly makes me wonder…is he trying to lose this election?

Yeah and also, sometimes it’s really hard to find NMIC products.