@QMS
Election Detachment Syndrome. I don't think it really matters much who gets elected, the downward trajectory is unstoppable at this point. This election is about which political tool decides who or what is to blame for the fall. As we all know, the finger wont be pointed at the real culprits, the greedheads.

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the divisive use of digital disinformation
shutting down minds left and right
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thanks for the OT!

@Lookout
that if Trump is selected he'll call for unity and kumbaya as all hell is unleashed in the Mideast. The Israel Firsters lining up behind him is a tell.

I also think that if Harris is selected she'll call for unity and kumbaya as all hell will be unleashed in Ukraine. The neocons lining up behind her is a tell.

It's a win-win for the MMC (military monied class), and a lose-lose for We The People.

Same as it ever was.

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear,
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

And from Dune:
"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

Fear is one method of control. TPTB have been hyping TDS for years now, and it has been an effective technique. Many people continue to be misinformed about Russiagate and still think Russia hacked our election...and may do so again....especially if Trump wins.

I hate these predictions of violence and chaos after the election. That narrative might be a set up for a false flag...much like the Jan 6 psyop. Meanwhile we've got WWIII brewing in the ME which TPTB should fear.

My Friday helper called in sick today, so I better get on with my chores.

Take care and thanks for the OT!

@enhydra lutris
we are living through the greatest psychological operation in history, and that's saying a mouthful.

Perhaps tabula rasa isn't just a youthful condition after all.

Fear is a mind killer.

going to post that "mantra" from Dune, but I see that Lookout beat me to it. It is very good advice. It is easy to say "I won't fear", or "do not be afraid", but fear is, as you note, fear is built in, an evolved survival reflex. The Dune "mantra" deals with that by acknowledging fear and telling us to face it down and get past it.

I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

That is, perhaps, easier said than done, but it is easier in non-emergency situations when one can stand and ponder and analyze - what am I afraid of? What's the worst that can happen? What do I do afterwards if that happens? etc. Though the mind can conjure up many other, more extreme fears working with terrors designed and taught by those with a special interest in so doing, for most of us the default fear is the fear of dying. In The Book of Five Rings the great master, Musashi Miyamoto counsels that "A resolute acceptance of death" is a fundamental key to the way of the Samurai. Many accomplished in the attitudes of Taoism and en would counsel the same. Once one passes that hurdle, it is far easier to dealk with other fears, for, in the end, nobody gets out of here alive. As another great master, the illustrious Robert Zimmerman, once said "he not busy being born is busy dying", so it is simply part of the process of getting on with it.

In the US we have time to think and election dismissal syndrome is the only reasonable answer. There are no good guys. There is no lesser evil. Nobody has our best interests at thear, as individuals, as a class, or as a nation. Both sides claim that the other will do away with our civil rights and both are telling the truth. The ongoing attack on our civil rights is bipartisan and will continue under both side, which are equally fascist, so prepare, but don't fear, which is perhaps the key to any and every threat that our politicians and political system can barf up.

be well and have a good one

@Snode
and it works. Just ask any authoritarian or dictator down through history.

and we are fear nation now. Aside from politics just about everything has a tinge of fear. Can we afford a place to live if our circumstances change? Can we afford a vehicle and afford to maintain it? Will a medical emergency bankrupt us? Do we have enough money to afford lifesaving treatment? Heck, you downshift the choices in food you buy at the market, and then poof! they stop carrying what you've grown to depend on. Now you fear of missing out. We fear any change, it's rarely for the good. We can't rely on politicians for anything except some degree of neglect and exploitation, and just hope they leave us alone. If they help some of the 99%, it's only by taking away from the other 99%, damn the consequences. It's no skin off them.

@snoopydawg
while I go curl up in the fetal position.

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OMG! Trump is going to be a dictator on day one and he will throw all his enemies in prison!

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has declared with authority that either you vote for Harris, or this “may well be the last real vote you ever get to cast.” I have long criticized the apocalyptic, democracy-ending predictions of Biden, Harris and others as ignoring the safeguards in our system against authoritarian power. Nevertheless, Harris supporters have ratcheted up the rhetoric to a level of pure hysteria. Recently, Michael Cohen, a convicted felon and Trump’s disbarred former lawyer, told MSNBC that if Trump wins the election, he will “get rid of the judiciary and get rid of the Congress.”

Recently, MSNBC host Al Sharpton and regular Donny Deutsch warned viewers that they will likely be added to an enemies “list” for some type of roundup after a Trump election. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow also joined in the theme of a final stand before the gulag: “For that matter, what convinces you that these massive camps he’s planning are only for migrants? So, yes, I’m worried about me — but only as much as I’m worried about all of us.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was quick to add her own name to a list that seems to be constantly updated by the media. She told podcast host Kara Swisher, “I mean, it sounds nuts, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy threw me in jail.” On ABC’s “The View,” the hosts are becoming indistinguishable from tinfoil-hatted subway prophets. Whoopi Goldberg even explained how Trump is already committed to being a dictator who will “put you people away … take all the journalists … take all the gay folks … move you all around and disappear you.”

Geezus! Remember last time it was Trump will not leave office on January 20, but then he did.

The doc who comments on naked capitalism said he’s seeing so many patients who have depression, can’t sleep or eat and other mental issues because they are so afraid of what Trump will do. All the things that he didn’t do last time he had the chance to do them. Democrats have willfully and happily made their base go batshitinsane and I don’t know how people can recover from it. Hell they got people liking people like Cheney, Bolton and the other war criminals that destroyed the Middle East, killed millions of civilians and caused the migrant crisis that every country is dealing with.

He was going to be Hitler last time too, but he forgot to do it…oops.

Look for another pussy hat brigade and the return of BLM if Trump wins.

@QMS from voting, took about an hour in total. I wanted a tattoo on my butt that said "kick me here for thinking my vote matters", but all I got was a sticker.

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absolutely painless. Only 5 props on the ballot.
The individual politicians voted for I know personally,
except Stein. Easy peasy. Once again, I asked for a receipt
of my vote. They offered me a "I voted" sticker instead.
Does it count?

@usefewersyllables
I get a kick out of all the promises being made, as if the country isn't already in debt up to our eyeballs.

If there ever was an election where a third party has a chance of making some traction, it's this one. We shall see.

have nothing but FUD to offer.

It has been a long time since a Uniparty politician offered something positive, in exchange for our votes- as opposed to pure tribalism and IDpol. And the last time such a thing was done, the positive items were all lies, in any case.

I now believe that positivity is never again going to happen with the Uniparty. That die is cast. The stage is very much set for third parties to differentiate themselves from the constant, numbing FUD, just in case anyone was watching.

Makes me happy that I voted for Stein. Gotta start somewhere.