Lol, I have two degrees in studying this, and I’m old enough to have seen the full cycle play out a few times for both sides. I’m not trolling, I’m jaded AF. And I’m taking about what either party does as a party line. Orange Bully is obviously different, but it’s an individual thing, nothing the party itself has accomplished or done.

Look, if the difference was so vast, ask yourself why Schumer and all the other 70+ year old Dems seem hellbent on laying low and doing nothing but maintain their own power? Maybe get a couple seats in 2026? That’s not resistance. That’s capitulation. Not even strategic capitulation, simply consent and wishes for crumbs. The same thing the alt-right does because TACO boy always chickens out when it comes to a “crossing the Rubicon” style move.

Political parties only exist to enrich and entrench politicians in the party. They are unions for politicians, with no benefits passed to the voters unless it first benefits the politicians. Open your eyes. If you think either party is so noble and steadfast and true, ask yourself where, in a time of need, they are.

Edit: I’m a privacy advocate, and so you have shit like this: https://lemmy.today/post/31901334. While on the other side, journalist Taylor Lorenz has repeatedly mentioned that during a social media influencer event the Biden White House held, they pushed for the idea of “unmasking internet trolls,” which by default means knowing who everyone is online. (The most recent episode of Power User mentions it again) This, the slow deterioration from a few Senators in 2017-18 trying for an internet bill of rights, down to not a bill but…principles, down to privacy as a consumer right, down to F it we need tech bro money too so scrap it all and let’s support Digital IDs now (https://www.meritalk.com/articles/congress-warms-to-digital-ids-as-fraud-privacy-concerns-grow/)

Plenty of examples of both parties having incredibly similar implementations of two different sounding policy goals. Which is fascinating to read about, but a terrifying place in which to live.

Yeah, has that gotten off the ground yet? Or is it still just investor stage pipe dream?

The more accurate form of the comment to which you’re reacting would be:

Can I have a free beer?

Conservatives: No

Liberals: Points to novelty sign on wall Free Beer Tomorrow winks “so you want a beer today? That’ll be $8.99”

The results aren’t exactly the same, but the gulf is not meaningful is the problem. Realistically, most people don’t actually like either party, they just dislike the other party more. If one day we had a 7 random parties just appear and Rs and Ds vanish, for a solid 20 years, political discourse would be verdant and nuanced in a way rarely seen in the US.

An Uncrustable filled to the point of being round.

These fools will be sitting in the ashes of DC after Iran nukes it, still trying to have a hearing on if Biden liked ice cream too much.

Hard agree. Blood Magic is just mystical credit card debt. You have to pay a some point.

I just want an electric car that can do exactly this.

Modular components on an option of 3 frames. Reparable to a degree. Bare bones functionality. Physical buttons, no screens. Open source software. Upgrade not the whole car, but components as you go. Literally what video games taught us.

If I had Mark Cuban money, it’s the first thing I would do.

FWIW, the “meh-haow” call at them actually does work.

Doing OSINT is exactly what converted me into a privacy advocate.

I saw some retiree earlier today trying to take a pic of something. Opened his phone holding it up for all to see, and has only stock Android and bloatware apps. Like he just set it up yesterday. Worn cover and screen indicates, nope, not a new phone. I sighed a heavy sigh of sadness. Old guy has no idea. And would be pissed if he actually knew how much data he sprays all over.

It’s extremely generous of you to assume they know anything other than the most brain-stemmy calculous of “fabric word say heaven, it’s talking about the thing I like.”

Here’s an idea for a “distraction free” phone:

Any android phone.

In a work profile use a primary launcher app that only shows 3 or 4 important apps. Disable everything else.

Lock all the rest in the normal profile with a password that is a randomized 32 or longer character string that you can’t possibly memorize.

Write it down in glaze on a plate, which you smash and store in a bag with some super glue.

“OK, so, I want a Honda Civic, but for up and down instead of forwards and backwards.”

Funny how it had to happen in that order.

I will bet you all $5 in gringo money that she had a split-second moment of clarity about how she is absolutely going to hell when she shuffles off this mortal coil, had a panic attack, and just needs a way to blame immigrants for it once she regained her normal line of corrupt and abhorrent thought.

Recipe for nachos:

Pile up chips, other stuff from around the house, and cheese, in that order.

Hot until cheese looks yum.

Apply: Red and hopefully spicy, green, or white toppings.

Scarf.

“Domain, Kingdom, Phy- oh no! Kevin is right there! OK, I should ask before I forget.”

Y’all, the last thing the suckers who will buy this want is some Nanny State telling them they can’t buy this.

It’s a stupid fake phone. Let them buy it. Who cares? If not this, the grifters already have 700 other things lined up behind it. Let them pay for our schadenfreude, as they have done so many times before.

Yeah, this is a big part of how all the broligarchy tech guys got involved with the campaign. Once the schism over social media and who controlled where you can say what started 2017-2020, there was push for and investment in full tech stacks down to full data centers controlled by Trump Media. For them, they see this as already appealing to the same captive audience they already extort daily for “donations.” Gab, MeWe, Rumble, TruthSocial, Parler, and a dozen other smaller platforms formed to try and pick at a market they hoped would be big enough to leech from for decades and not let just Zuck have all the access.

These same people on the tech side had been pushing for crypto since its inception as a new economic system. Its part of why Peter Thiel added a whole crypto wallet to Brave browser. Which is why the Trump meme coin is on the Solana blockchain, it’s the same kind of guy they got wrapped up with, that also wants to have Network States where the wealthy can be super-citizens. So their solution to everything, being ultra-wealthy people detached from reality, is to just build compete infrastructure from the ground up to suit themselves and be maximally insulated from criminal prosecution, including financial platforms, while enjoying all the amenities of living in a country built by millions of hardworking Americans.

As a daily Linux user… Yeah.

Counter-suggestion, lolcubez. Because they’re square.