Politics & Current Events
smerka
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
So Trump's going to be President
and I feel like I'm going to wake up any minute now. I feel like he has no idea what is about to come his way.
Re: So Trump's going to be President
I have never in my life felt so abandoned by my government. I am thoroughly sickened through and through.
He ran a campaign of hate and hate is all I'm seeing coming down the pike from both him and many of his Cabinet appointees.
He doesn't care about the American people and doesn't even pretend that he does.
Case in point. I'm sure there are a million examples, but this one affects me personally to the core.
In their current total repeal of the ACA...including throwing the baby out with the bath water and turning everything back to the bad old days. They've added one other piece. No more drug imports from Canada.
So, pretty soon I won't be able to buy insurance AT ANY PRICE outside of an employer group plan. AND...just to screw people over even more and make things MORE expensive for them...I can't buy the medication I need cheaper through Canada.
The total repeal of the ACA is bad enough. But at least I can understand where it comes from, despite its evilness. But blocking Canadian drug imports? There is NO reason for that. NONE. WHY?!?! WHY are they screwing people over like this? Because all these politicians are in the pockets of Big Pharma. There is no other reasonable explanation.
Warning, my pity party:
Just to put it in perspective, I'm not complaining about 20 or 50 bucks. I'm talking about insulin I need that is $550 (retail) for a box of 5 pens...that lasts me about 3 weeks. Or I can buy the exact same thing from Canada for $135/box. Oh! It's ALL out of pocket because I have a HD insurance plan, but at least I can afford it.
And that's fairly "old school" treatment. The best treatment is over $17K/year (retail).
Without Canadian imports, the only option I can afford is REALLY OLD FASHIONED. It is substantially less effective than the "mid" option I am doing right now. It will shorten my life even further and potentially bring about the ugly complications associated with this disease even faster.
But I guess to politicians, losing my eyesight and kidneys...which is going to make my current insulin treatment look like a freakin' bargain from a big picture standpoint...is better than losing those sweet, sweet campaign contributions from Eli Lilly and the other BP players.
I hate and despise every single one of those politicians who are barring Canadian drug imports. I'd like to be the bigger person. But I'm not. I hope they all suffer the same long, slow, painful death that they are sentencing me and countless others to.
I agree with you RE: character flaws and behaviors, which is why I didn't vote for him. It's also why aside from my political and social ideals not be aligned with HRC, I could not vote for her either...dishonesty, lying, etc..
They were both cruddy candidates.
I just think it's a big burden to shoulder and obstacle to overcome to have disgust for so many other Americans. At this point, I am not sure how that is helpful to anybody?
Not trying to start a fight with you, but I think at the heart of this matter is that while most people dislike DJT, many did vote for him because the establishment (Rep or Dem) wasn't cutting it for them - their families or wallets. Their dislike simply could not be overcome by their stronger dislike of the status of things in the nation. HRC was "establishment" too and a lot of people just were/are sick of that. DJT certainly wasn't the best non-establishment choice, IMHO. We just witnessed the political pendulum swinging drastically, even wildly. It's sad it has come to this. But people are fed up with D.C. business as usual. I think if the DNC had produced a different candidate, we would be having a Dem as POTUS sworn in this month.
Update:
PHEW, at least for me. Sorry, I should learn to read more carefully. The bill that got knocked out was to look at allowing more drug imports from Canada. But the ones that are currently allowed are still allowed for importing. At least for now.
Despite that, I'm still biting the bullet and ordering 10 boxes of my medication and will be keeping my eye on this issue.
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@MommyLiberty5013 and @als1982, heck I can agree with both your points. This was really the first election I was deeply troubled and upset over. And some of why I was upset was the large enough amount of people who voted for him. I was thoroughly disappointed in the people of my own country.
To me, its one thing if a liberal person votes for a liberal candidate or a conservative person votes for a conservative candidate. I may not agree with a person's particular view, but I can generally respect it.
But Trump...out of his OWN MOUTH. Talked about using his power to sexually harass women. And just to double down on that. He wasn't even sorry and didn't even understand what he did wrong. He was PROUD. PROUD of it and BRAGGED about it, at the time. And hugely downplayed it during the election as nbd, why is anyone even upset.
That goes beyond this issue or that issue. That is a person's core character. Of a power hungry, sociopath who has no compunction of taking advantage of whoever he wants or whoever is in his way. I don't think he believes in anything, anyway. He will say whatever he has to and flow with however the political/popular breezes are flowing.
So, on the one hand, I WANT to respect someone's decision to vote for Trump. But, instead, I find myself really questioning "why". I wonder if they're the kind of people who think so little of women also. Who also don't think blatant sexual harassment is a "big deal". Or, maybe they're disgusted by all of that also...but not enough to override whichever Trump fantasy they want to believe in and/or their dislike of HRC.
I was going to respond to your meds story before, but I never had the chance due to my schedule around here. I am so glad you aren't being hung out to dry and you can get your meds.
I have not read about the details or proposed details of the repeal/replace of the ACA yet. But, I did read something today about the proposed tax policy and it heavily mentioned imports and exports.
DJT is such a wind bag, that I think he literally has no idea what he's saying. In fact, during the primaries, he once made fun of Dr. Ben Carson's faith (Carson is a Seventh Day Adventist, which is a form of Christianity). Anyway, I think Trump is an equal opportunity jerk to all people and doesn't really focus on any particular group, he just says whatever his mind produces without running it through a filter like most mature adults.
A flip side to this down on DJT debate and having "disgust" for Americans who voted for him, would be that it's unconscionable to you that others voted for someone such as him who you perceive is so vile.
To many Americans, voting for a candidate who supports abortion is vile and abhorrent too. That's an issue that comes around every four years when office for POTUS is up for a newbie or a second term of the pro choice existing person. So every four years, a portion of Americans question the positions and sit in disbelief toward their fellow Americans who vote for the pro-choice candidate.
I'm not debating pro-life or pro-choice here and I do not intend to do so, I am just simply pointing out that in every election cycle one group of people ends up having major questions for another voting block. One group cannot believe those other people could think or feel that way.
But, you don't see the "losing" group in most cases, who voted for the pro-life candidate and their candidate lost, being violent or spewing hatred online. I have a major problem with that sort of behavior.
Anyway, it is always tough to be on the side that did not win (been there). I do not know if we win at all with DJT, but I am trying to remain positive.
My discourse with you stops here.
Absolutely and I didn't mean to gloss over other groups he's made threatening statements about.
I think the sexual harassment just especially sticks in my head is because it was about his ACTIONS. And actions that happened long before he'd even thought about a political career.
Fortunately, the election fervor negative aftermath has subsided, but for those few days and few weeks afterward, I was also very upset to hear about the uptick in hate crimes. Even my own city, which is normally not a hot bed of anti-Muslim sentiment, young women at Tulane University were fearful of wearing their hijabs. They were being verbally attacked, whereas they hadn't before.
It was almost like the mere voting in of Trump had some people feeling like now they had "free rein" to commit hate crimes. To give Trump some begrudging credit, he did speak out against that. Not as loud or emphatic as he should have, but it was better than the total silence I was expecting from him.
Thanks, that is food for thought. Because I am admittedly having trouble understanding how people could have voted for him. But then, to me, a politician's character is 100x more important than their views. However, unless its egregious (like on my earlier rant), I generally separate the two. But I can see how other people might entwine character and views much more than I do.
Now that I think about it, we have seen time and again where people vote for obviously bad choices. Here locally, we had a LONG time Congressman up for re-election. Granted, he had historically been well-loved. But, at the time of the elections, he was about to go on trial in Federal Court for bribery charges. He'd already been stripped in Congress of all the committees he served on. He did lose, but only by the NARROWEST of margins. It was dumbfounding, to me, he even got that close. He made national news at the time of his arrest with $40K in cash, hidden in his freezer, lol. And, yes, he was convicted and in prison within the year, so thank goodness he lost. But what were people thinking?
Though, I have to say it drives me a little nuts...for both sides of the aisle...when people largely base their Federal voting decisions on judicial issues. Lots of examples, but same-sex marriage and abortion are some hot button ones. Those were first state judicial issues and then Supreme Court decisions. And now they are both done deals anyway.
Other than tangentially when there is an opening in the Supreme Court, the Legislative and Executive branches don't have anything to do with judicial and most state matters. Sure, politicians on both sides like to beat their chest about it all day long because many of those judicial issues are important to Americans (of course!). None of them are going to admit and remind people their views are largely meaningless for actual policy. Don't get me wrong, not trying to downplay the huge importance of choosing Supreme Court Justices! I'd just prefer to choose a candidate based on how they will lead the other 99% of the time than the (maybe) 1-2 SC Justices openings they will vote on.
Just having an open and polite dialogue here. But, as I stated quite clearly, while I mentioned abortion as an example, my post wasn't about abortion (I even said I wouldn't discuss it), it was about voters not being able to understand one another. If you have an issue with abortion, then sub in some other hot button issue, as any issue will suffice. I pulled abortion out of the cloud because it had already been mentioned in the thread...buy another Nestie...a liberal Nestie, in fact.
I guess readers could miss that point by accident or in fact, maybe some readers aren't really interested in other points of view other than their own.
So, there's disgust out there, but no real interest in dialogue or conversation to help understand one another. There's just an immediate shut-down based on a missed point. I clearly stated this was not a debate on pro-life or pro-choice.
You can disagree with me all day long. Many people on here do! I have absolutely no trouble with that if you hold differing viewpoints than me. Others here who don't share my views can at least vouch for me being fair and polite (I hope.).
But I do expect a fair conversation in which a reader can discern what I am actually saying and not take an example I used as the entire point of my whole message. That point I made clear.
AGAIN here's my point (it obviously got missed): "In every election cycle one voting group of people ends up having major questions for another voting block" be it DJT, abortion or another issue.
You are so correct on the judicial issues. I even corrected a campaign leader during the recent POTUS campaign season who chided a voter on FB for asking which local judges to vote for! He was annoyed she cared. He was like, "All that matters is POTUS as s/he will influence the SC." I was blown away with the lack of understanding there. I answered her question for her and also encouraged her that she was right to care at the local and state level.
I agree. I read about all that too. This is why I did not and could not vote for Trump. But because I am conservative I had to find someone else to vote for, which ended up being Evan McMullin. He met my need for conservatism, but he's not a jerk and he's well spoken and professional - basically everything Trump isn't.
Thanks! I appreciate this.
Perhaps, "Takes precedence" is what you were thinking of?
I realize I don't chime in over here much, but I thought I'd add my two cents.
For me, it really came down to one thing. I'm a contractor in the DoD space and I hold a security clearance. Each year, we get briefings that we have to acknowledge saying we understand how to handle information and the penalties for mishandling it. The press made it out to sound like an "e-mail issue", but it wasn't. It was a mishandling of sensitive information issue. I could get fired and go to jail for what Clinton had done and yet she was running for president. I just could not in good conscience vote for that.
And yes, before anybody says something. There were claims of others doing the same thing before her, but at the end of the day, they weren't on the election ballot.
If I thought a third party candidate had a real chance, I would have voted for them. Heck, I honestly would have voted for Bernie had he won the democratic nomination.
I know the lot of people voted for Trump as an anti-establishment move, but honestly, he's as establishment as the rest of them. He's just never held office before and up until a few years ago, he was actually a Democrat, but I don't think most people realize that.
So true! I'm right there with you. My vote matters for state issues, governors, and Congress positions. I try to take comfort in that. But it does not matter for President. Louisiana's electoral votes have only gone to the Democratic candidate 3x in the last 50 years.
While I understand it is pretty much impossible to get rid of the electoral college, I wish more states would at least break up their electoral votes by district. I just find the current system disgusting. Unless a person is in a swing state, their POTUS vote pretty much doesn't count because of the "all or nothing" electoral vote system that (I think) 48 states have.
Haha, I seem to always live in the "different" part of the state. CA ALWAYS goes Dem., but I grew up in Orange County which is super conservative Republican. Very extreme, I always joke they make Newt Gingrich look liberal. Now I live in NOLA, which is strongly Dem., but the rest of the state is very, very Rep.
So, I've seen the frustration from both sides. There are millions of people who live in OC, mostly Republican, and their votes don't count. Over 40% of Louisiana's population lives in NOLA, mostly Dem. And their votes don't count. I might lean more liberal, but it is equally infuriating because everyone's vote should count.
Sorry for the tangent!
Today is the sad day. I'm praying for minimal damage over the next 4 years that aren't going to take many years to undue. Aside from my personal dislike of Trump's character, he has no experience in politics. I just don't see his term being anything but a total disaster. But the magic of our government is he is not a dictator and he is not the only piece. Hopefully Congress will remember their duties to the American people and make wise decisions.