@Ellen North If that's what it was, the allusion to the TV character went right over my head. I got rid of my TV 15 years ago. I don't watch TV shows, even via the Internet.

#1.1 #1.1

Personally, I thought Colbert lampooned Pence in the conservative character he's played on TV for so long.

And "I hope soon he’ll be President Dense,” struck me as an obvious joke, very far from a wish...

@TheOtherMaven True. Of course, people like Roy Moore would insist that the Roman Catholic popes are not Christian. The American Protestant fundamentalists have co-opted the term "Christian" to apply to themselves only.

#1.1
"The most powerful Christian supremacist in history" was probably Pope Innocent III. On his watch and with his encouragement three brilliant civilizations were destroyed: the Albigensians in southern France, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and the Byzantine Empire. (The latter two were later resurrected, but as pale shadows of what they had once been.)

@konondrum
on the essay itself use the comment form at the bottom. To reply to a comment use the blue "Reply" button under the comment you want to reply to.

#9.1

@JtC
My issue happened like this:

1.) Tapping reply, directly under member I'm replying to (I know how to do that.)

2.) Typing a subject (I usually hit backspace due to the cursor landing on space 2, instead of space 1 before I type anything - even on my desktop)

3.) Typing my reply comment

4.) Tapping preview

5.) Seeing the comment above the person I intended's ID in the preview

6.) Thinking I fucked up, canceling the reply, and repeating steps 1-5

7.) Ending up with a reply to my intended recipient AND the person who left a basic essay reply (directly to the essay author, - exactly like the one I was replying to, only a completely different user, and on his own, separate, direct reply to the essay author, DIRECTLY ABOVE the member my reply button tap was intended for.

I deleted nothing. I cancelled, and tried again.

#9.1
the nesting problems that you occasionally have on your phone is probably due to the small screen interface and you are inadvertently removing the parent link from the text editor body. Removing the parent link will cause the comment to act as a comment to the essay rather than a reply and it will default to the bottom of the comment thread.

@konondrum

In the last year where I have either cringed at recalling my years of loyalty as a partisan patsy, or wistfully remembering how much easier it was living in ignorance. This brave new "woke" world offers very little relief in the way of comfort out there. Living in reality among the insane and the cravenly greedy is a lonely and merciless march through betrayal and frustration. It's also one of the main reasons I spend what little "leisure" time I have here among fellow refugees of last years election.

So, welcome. You are not alone in your "woke ness"

#10.5 Shook me good at the time. I can't even listen to him anymore, just disgraceful.

Yeah, he may spend 3 minutes talking about net neutrality or whatever, but it's clear his job is not to educate but to distract and manipulate.

@mimi  
My story is kind of the antiparticle or through-the-looking-glass version of yours, since I made the opposite journey, from Hawaii to Germany.

By now, even though I’ve lived in Germany for four decades, I realize that — let’s face it — I’ll never really understand what it’s like to be an “Ossi” / a German. I’ll never think about, or have the same personal reaction to, politics and social developments that a German / an Ossi would have.

In particular, I’ll never really understand in my gut all the guilt and walking-on-eggshells and bending-over-backwards that afflicts a typical educated German as soon as the slightest whiff of uh-oh-maybe-it’s-prejudice surfaces.

#12.2
your feelings about Obama. I understand all the arguments given, but don't believe in the judgement that he was a 'ruthless warmonger', when he started out in 2007/8. To me he seemed to be a light-weigh and clueless naive about anything that related to other countries' political interests and peoples outside the US. In that sense if you want to hate or judge anybody for them being clueless, I wonder who you wouldn't judge that way.

My son and me had canvassed in Obama's first presidential campaign. I think my son also voted for him (that being his first time voting at all - as he became a US citizen in late 2003). I remember that both of us became disillusioned about him when he didn't make the efforts to stop the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and didn't close Guantanamo Bay. We both were not able to understand the discussions about the question, if Obama could or couldn't have done that. I believe most Germans still believe that Obama had no chance to implement his campaign propaganda later when he became President. Therefore the relative lenient way they think about him.

I remember also (unfortunately I remember things that are not relevant to most of you) that - ironically - Angela Merkel, who is accused of a lot of stuff - seemed to have been the only one whose instincts told her that Obama is a bit too "easy on aggrandizing himself". She therefore didn't allow him to speak in Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

Conflict over Berlin Visit Becomes US Campaign Issue

The fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is less than thrilled about the idea (me: Obama speak at the Brandenburg Gate), has made the rounds in the American media. But Obama, casually dressed in an buttondown shirt without a tie, appeared very relaxed. "We have been trying to coordinate with the folks on the ground in terms of finding an appropriate site, but we didn't have a particular site in mind," Obama said according to the paper. "I want to make sure that my message is heard as opposed to creating new controversy. Our goal is for me to lay out how I think about the next administration's role in rebuilding a trans-Atlantic alliance. I don't want the venue to be a distraction."
It was almost as if he said it in passing, but even so, it sounded as though it were the end of the ambitious plans for a speech at the Brandenburg Gate that has kept his team on tenterhooks for days now. The debate those plans sparked have even come as a surprise to his staff.

and

Is Obama Speech Site Contaminated by Nazi Past?.

The exact location of Obama's speech had become a matter of intense speculation in Berlin after his campaign team originally suggested an appearance at the Brandenburg Gate. Many, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, questioned whether the site -- where Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both spoke when they were in the White House -- was appropriate for a candidate. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, who is a major figure in Germany's Social Democrats, was in favor of the Brandenburg Gate site and the Obama visit quickly became yet another excuse for German politicians to fire off barbs at each other.

I remember the coverage of the speech. I also remember being in agreement with Merkel's point of views.

German Politicians Are in an Obama Tizzy.

I think Merkel had the right instincts. Til today that is not seen by most Americans.

Oh, and btw many of you wonder why Germans have been big Obama fans, as it is said in many opinion pieces in the US and in Germany. I think the answer is pretty obvious. With our German racial history, our generation (mine that is the post wwII born ones, now elderly) have a justified fear of racism, so I doubt that a lot of Germans would have had the guts to criticize Obama back then when he campaigned the first time. On which basis should a German have done it? So, I think, Angela Merkel's instincts were the most 'criticism' you could expect from a German politician.

@mimi

light-weight

#12.2
your feelings about Obama. I understand all the arguments given, but don't believe in the judgement that he was a 'ruthless warmonger', when he started out in 2007/8. To me he seemed to be a light-weigh and clueless naive about anything that related to other countries' political interests and peoples outside the US. In that sense if you want to hate or judge anybody for them being clueless, I wonder who you wouldn't judge that way.

My son and me had canvassed in Obama's first presidential campaign. I think my son also voted for him (that being his first time voting at all - as he became a US citizen in late 2003). I remember that both of us became disillusioned about him when he didn't make the efforts to stop the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and didn't close Guantanamo Bay. We both were not able to understand the discussions about the question, if Obama could or couldn't have done that. I believe most Germans still believe that Obama had no chance to implement his campaign propaganda later when he became President. Therefore the relative lenient way they think about him.

I remember also (unfortunately I remember things that are not relevant to most of you) that - ironically - Angela Merkel, who is accused of a lot of stuff - seemed to have been the only one whose instincts told her that Obama is a bit too "easy on aggrandizing himself". She therefore didn't allow him to speak in Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

Conflict over Berlin Visit Becomes US Campaign Issue

The fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is less than thrilled about the idea (me: Obama speak at the Brandenburg Gate), has made the rounds in the American media. But Obama, casually dressed in an buttondown shirt without a tie, appeared very relaxed. "We have been trying to coordinate with the folks on the ground in terms of finding an appropriate site, but we didn't have a particular site in mind," Obama said according to the paper. "I want to make sure that my message is heard as opposed to creating new controversy. Our goal is for me to lay out how I think about the next administration's role in rebuilding a trans-Atlantic alliance. I don't want the venue to be a distraction."
It was almost as if he said it in passing, but even so, it sounded as though it were the end of the ambitious plans for a speech at the Brandenburg Gate that has kept his team on tenterhooks for days now. The debate those plans sparked have even come as a surprise to his staff.

and

Is Obama Speech Site Contaminated by Nazi Past?.

The exact location of Obama's speech had become a matter of intense speculation in Berlin after his campaign team originally suggested an appearance at the Brandenburg Gate. Many, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, questioned whether the site -- where Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both spoke when they were in the White House -- was appropriate for a candidate. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, who is a major figure in Germany's Social Democrats, was in favor of the Brandenburg Gate site and the Obama visit quickly became yet another excuse for German politicians to fire off barbs at each other.

I remember the coverage of the speech. I also remember being in agreement with Merkel's point of views.

German Politicians Are in an Obama Tizzy.

I think Merkel had the right instincts. Til today that is not seen by most Americans.

Oh, and btw many of you wonder why Germans have been big Obama fans, as it is said in many opinion pieces in the US and in Germany. I think the answer is pretty obvious. With our German racial history, our generation (mine that is the post wwII born ones, now elderly) have a justified fear of racism, so I doubt that a lot of Germans would have had the guts to criticize Obama back then when he campaigned the first time. On which basis should a German have done it? So, I think, Angela Merkel's instincts were the most 'criticism' you could expect from a German politician.

@mimi

and drone assassinations that target civilians, slavery and not prosecuting war criminal who tortured innocent people and financial criminals whose greed has caused so much pain and misery. I didn't think I had to explain this.

Obama was far from being naive when he was running for the presidency. He knew damn well what his job was going to be.

#12.2
your feelings about Obama. I understand all the arguments given, but don't believe in the judgement that he was a 'ruthless warmonger', when he started out in 2007/8. To me he seemed to be a light-weigh and clueless naive about anything that related to other countries' political interests and peoples outside the US. In that sense if you want to hate or judge anybody for them being clueless, I wonder who you wouldn't judge that way.

My son and me had canvassed in Obama's first presidential campaign. I think my son also voted for him (that being his first time voting at all - as he became a US citizen in late 2003). I remember that both of us became disillusioned about him when he didn't make the efforts to stop the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and didn't close Guantanamo Bay. We both were not able to understand the discussions about the question, if Obama could or couldn't have done that. I believe most Germans still believe that Obama had no chance to implement his campaign propaganda later when he became President. Therefore the relative lenient way they think about him.

I remember also (unfortunately I remember things that are not relevant to most of you) that - ironically - Angela Merkel, who is accused of a lot of stuff - seemed to have been the only one whose instincts told her that Obama is a bit too "easy on aggrandizing himself". She therefore didn't allow him to speak in Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

Conflict over Berlin Visit Becomes US Campaign Issue

The fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is less than thrilled about the idea (me: Obama speak at the Brandenburg Gate), has made the rounds in the American media. But Obama, casually dressed in an buttondown shirt without a tie, appeared very relaxed. "We have been trying to coordinate with the folks on the ground in terms of finding an appropriate site, but we didn't have a particular site in mind," Obama said according to the paper. "I want to make sure that my message is heard as opposed to creating new controversy. Our goal is for me to lay out how I think about the next administration's role in rebuilding a trans-Atlantic alliance. I don't want the venue to be a distraction."
It was almost as if he said it in passing, but even so, it sounded as though it were the end of the ambitious plans for a speech at the Brandenburg Gate that has kept his team on tenterhooks for days now. The debate those plans sparked have even come as a surprise to his staff.

and

Is Obama Speech Site Contaminated by Nazi Past?.

The exact location of Obama's speech had become a matter of intense speculation in Berlin after his campaign team originally suggested an appearance at the Brandenburg Gate. Many, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, questioned whether the site -- where Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both spoke when they were in the White House -- was appropriate for a candidate. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, who is a major figure in Germany's Social Democrats, was in favor of the Brandenburg Gate site and the Obama visit quickly became yet another excuse for German politicians to fire off barbs at each other.

I remember the coverage of the speech. I also remember being in agreement with Merkel's point of views.

German Politicians Are in an Obama Tizzy.

I think Merkel had the right instincts. Til today that is not seen by most Americans.

Oh, and btw many of you wonder why Germans have been big Obama fans, as it is said in many opinion pieces in the US and in Germany. I think the answer is pretty obvious. With our German racial history, our generation (mine that is the post wwII born ones, now elderly) have a justified fear of racism, so I doubt that a lot of Germans would have had the guts to criticize Obama back then when he campaigned the first time. On which basis should a German have done it? So, I think, Angela Merkel's instincts were the most 'criticism' you could expect from a German politician.