489 Comments
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oraxx's avatar

At the end of the day, a church winds up with public money in their coffers, and that makes this wrong. I can't believe this church is the only possible venue available for a graduation.

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zspleen's avatar

"We welcome everyone"

We welcome everyone's money. Fixed it.

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ericc's avatar

You tell who they welcome by who they *spend* money on, not who they *take* money from.

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Boreal's avatar

***Welcome dependent upon receipt of valid currency and/or check clearing.

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Joe King's avatar

It's the only possible venue for the Christian Nationalists on the school board. Because jeebus.

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painedumonde's avatar

Christian Nationalism, I've been seeing that more recently. I think it's a good fit, they just need jackboots.

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Richard S. Russell's avatar

I'd be curious to know HOW MUCH money. The article doesn't say.

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

"The school district rents the space for about $28,000 each year—including security and traffic control costs—and it’s strictly business."

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Richard Wade's avatar

I'm impressed and grateful to this young man and to so many of his generation for their ethics and for their courage to stand up against oppression.

"'We welcome everyone,' [Pastor Troy Dobbs] wrote."

Okay, you welcome LGBTQ+ people to sit in church quietly and give you their money while you slander and condemn them.

Do you tell your congregation to welcome them to the neighborhood? To invite them and their same-sex partners over for dinner? To welcome them to the bowling league? The bridge club? The quilting group? To chat pleasantly with them the grocery store?

Do you tell your congregation to do all those and other simple, common decencies, but to always keep thinking that they're HELL-BENT EVIL PEDOPHILE GROOMERS PLOTTING TO TURN EVERY KID IN TOWN GAY?

Is that what you mean by "welcome"?

Your hypocritical religion is welcome to continue its extinction.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

"We welcome everyone."

Translated from Christianese, this comes out "Our church welcomes all denominations, but our favorite is the $20.00 dollar bill."

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Nope, benjamins.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

I was thinking what the max was that pastors might think an average churchgoer could realistically afford to give. :)

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

How do you think Creflo Dollar and his ilk get so rich?

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cdbunch's avatar

I'm gratified to hear a school board member say "As a district, you listen and if necessary make adjustments" A school board that listens to its students is a rare thing these days.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

"Make adjustments." One could translate that as: "correct an error." Admitting that a mistake was made is easily as rare and as big, possibly bigger ... and VERY refreshing.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

As religion had absolutely nothing to do with these student's education, there's no way on Earth that those students should be graduating from a monument to ignorance and superstition.

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XJC's avatar

If the school were in West Virginia or Alabama would your opinion change?

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Talking about public schools and how religion plays no part in public school education.

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Whitney's avatar

I don't like the way the church is getting taxpayer dollars, even if at first blush it seems 'reasonable' since they've made efforts to prevent proselytizing. Churches should either support themselves or be forced into bankruptcy so something with more value to the community can use the space/building/resources, public funds should never be used to prop them up.

The above is before we even get to some of the things the church leadership has said about LGBTQ+ folks, divorce, and who knows what else. Churches often claim to welcome those who don't completely align with their views because it means putting butts in the pews (and bucks in the collection plate) in an era where that's becoming more and more difficult to do; that doesn't mean they're not still looking down on specific groups. Just because they allow them to join doesn't mean they're not still effectively second-class members.

Yeah. Mr. Frost is right, it's time to find new location for graduation. This church only represents a slice of the community and graduation is for all the kids, not just a select few.

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

“… and graduation is for all the kids, not just a select few.”

Until all public schools go charter, and the religious take over like they do hospitals.

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cdbunch's avatar

Thank you, Oklahoma.

Not all public schools will go charter, someone has to teach the underclass just enough to be wage slaves for life.

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Lynn James's avatar

Your comment reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine back in Florida when Jeb Bush was governor. We were discussion his wrecking ball approach to all the advances of his Democratic predecessor in the area of preschool and elementary school education programs and safety nets after listening to one of his state-of-the-state speeches, when my friend remarked, "it's almost like he's deliberately trying to create a servant class...an underclass of uneducated poor kids who will be the day-laboring part-time minimum wage adults of the next generation."

Decades later, it's chilling how prescient that comment was.

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XJC's avatar

And Jeb Bush was considered a 'moderate' in 2016!

Remember Trump's trenchant debate line to him about Jeb's mother?! Stupid 'murica with its 7th grade mentality soaked it up and became immediately enamored with Trump as someone who "tells it like it is."

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

¡qǝſ is a moderate compared to DeNazi. So is Darth Voldemort for that matter.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

OT

From "The Guardian" (via MSN) about an hour ago:

"Trump expected to surrender to Miami authorities on Tuesday after indictment."

There's an article, but I merely wanted to post the title. I just like the way it sounds. :)

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wreck's avatar

I hope to see his perp waddle.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Should he be tried, convicted, sentenced and imprisoned, that orange jumpsuit will work like camouflage.

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jomicur's avatar

Don't celebrate just yet. The judge assigned to his case is Aileen Cannon, the Trump appointee who already tried once to give him a pass in the documents case. Unless the prosecutors find some way to get her booted off the case, I'd say the fix is in. https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2023/06/disgraced-trump-appointed-florida-judge-initially-assigned-to-oversee-ex-presidents-criminal-case-report/

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cdbunch's avatar

Yeah, Ken Paxton was indicted something like 3 years ago. He's just now, finally facing impeachment, not even a trial on the criminal charges.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

"Don't celebrate just yet."

Spoil-sport. ;)

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Whitney's avatar

You'd think the ethical thing to do under those circumstances would be to recuse oneself.

*sigh*

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

Judges and Justices picked by the federalist society, installed by Trump do not know the meaning of the word. Why else do you think they were chosen.

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cdbunch's avatar

Surely, you're not naive enough to expect a Trump appointed judge to be ethical? I mean, it may happen, and it may happen that a Republican sex scandal would involve a consenting woman.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

SCOTUS has ruled against Trump a number of times. Including his own picks. :)

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cdbunch's avatar

I'm really surprised no one gave me the Leslie Neilson response.

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Guerillasurgeon's avatar

A leaf out of Clarence Thomas's book?

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jomicur's avatar

Well, she did seek advice from a higher-up. Unfortunately it was Clarence Thomas.

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XJC's avatar

A new reality show is already in the works: Agent Orange, featuring Teflon Don working his organization from the inside. Co-starring Kellyanne Conway, Mark Meadows, and Michael Flynn.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Airs on Fox, right?

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XJC's avatar

Trump Prisons becomes the newest line of Trump-branded products and services rolled out to Trump's 74 million MAGA supporters. It caters to locking up drug dealers from Mexico and 'bad people' without any specific criminal sentences like Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

I'm with Frost 100% on this business. Grace Church and Troy Dobbs are an atavistic mess of biblical bigotry and should not be allowed to have anything to do with that graduation ceremony.

I would sincerely hope that an alternative venue for those proceedings could be found.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Grace Church is being sneaky. By landing the public school graduation gig, they think they can claim that the school aligns with their contemptible views.

Public school graduations should never, ever be held at a church of any kind. When I graduated, I graduated at my high school. What a concept, eh?

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

My ceremony was held at Red Rocks Amphitheater, which was only 20 minutes away. My oldest graduated last year in the high school field house (aka gymnasium for those outside of Wisconsin) and my daughter just had her 8th grade recognition ceremony in the same place. Like, I just left it a half hour ago.

Chaska is a small town a ways out from most bigger cities, but there are still better places to hold it.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Every time I see a reference to Red Rocks Amphitheater, I'm immediately reminded of the concert New Age musician John Tesh gave there. :)

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

I’ve been to a few concerts there, and other events. My brother got married in the chapel there. Or even just went to walk up and down the stairs, lots of folks use it as a workout and there are trails to meander around.

I saw Beck there.

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RegularJoe's avatar

Google "live at Red Rocks"....lots of various bands and such.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Yup. But Teshy is the first one I'd ever heard of performing there.

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

After I remember my graduation, the first thought for me is U2 at red rocks. They recorded a music video there.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Tesh has a live album from the Red Rocks performance.

The entire concert is on YouTube, but just in case France won't let you see it, here's one of the songs from that show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmNN2l4GOo

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Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz's avatar

The Moody Blues recorded a live album there. I remember watching it on PBS a few times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXXfgWmVAgw

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Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz's avatar

That sounds awesome. I've been looking for a show to go to there, but I haven't found anything I really want to see.

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

I’m going to see Steve Hofstetter in July, but not at Red Rocks, here in Madison.

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RegularJoe's avatar

Be sure to heckle him. He really likes that. 😉

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Tinker's avatar

My high school graduation was on the football field. It was definitely large enough, as it was designed to hold the entire school, their relatives AND the opposing team's people. Yes, it was May in Arizona but it was held after dark and in addition to the lightweight regalia, most of us wore shorts and t-shirts under them.

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cdbunch's avatar

We wore dress slacks and ties (the women of course wore dresses). Shorts were forbidden or I definitely would have worn some. And in Oklahoma, it doesn't cool much at night.

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Len Koz's avatar

Even when the wind comes sweepin' down the plain?

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cdbunch's avatar

Can't have it outside. May is the middle of storm season. Don't really know until about 4p if it's going to rain.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Mine, as well. Lots of room. No problem with the weather.

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cdbunch's avatar

So did I, in a gym, without air-conditioning, in May, in what is consistently the hottest town in Oklahoma. The only thing anyone remembers about my High School graduation is sweat.

Doesn't mean the church is the best venue or that young Mr. Frost is wrong to be concerned. Just that there may not be reasonable alternatives depending on distance (time) and cost. I mean, think about what even $5,000 could do if spent on the education of the students rather than the graduation ceremony.

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XJC's avatar

Oklahoma! How do you escape?

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cdbunch's avatar

I walked across the "river". Almost got my socks wet. Of course, I only made it as far as south Texas, so it's questionable if I escaped or just went from one room in Hell to another.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

Fifty-five years ago, I graduated in our own high school gymnasium, which was more than capable of handling the crowd. Interestingly, my daughter's HS graduation ceremonies were held at the State Theater in downtown Cleveland (which I'm sure was a considerable buck!). Granted that in a rural area, finding a proper venue could be a daunting problem. That doesn't change the fact that a church such as Grace Church is utterly inappropriate, considering its attitude on critical issues.

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XJC's avatar

Graduation online is better than graduation in a church.

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jomicur's avatar

Who is this Grace Church woman, anyway?

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

I can understand why the schools don’t consider moving to Minneapolis. I grew up near the twin cities and a good friend moved from my town to Chaska in middle school. It was over an hour drive to go visit. It is not a slightly longer drive and the economic status of the Chaska and Chanhassen area, an hour can be difficult to manage.

That is not to say I don’t agree with the student. Definitely find another option, mega churches need to be starved of attention and money, especially tax money. Finding an alternative might be a bit more difficult than represented here, but it is worth it.

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JerryBier's avatar

I agree with this student and I also see the need to change the place where they hold this most important ceremony. I'm happy that my school was so small that the school gym (not Jordan FCS) was adequate because it is one of the few times a high school graduate gets public acknowledgement for an accomplishment.

To sully that by adding a church (think how much these "patriots" would scream if it was a Mosque) venue is unnecessary and wrong at every turn.

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jomicur's avatar

I find myself wondering how many of the board members are also members of that church.

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Lucius's avatar

Good for that student.

Also, some of my family members are going to some kind of event at grace church in July. It's as unsurprising as it is disgusting.

Edited to add: alright, I broke down and dredged through the church's webshite to find out what they're going to. It's a "Christian wealth creation event" starring tim Tebow, one of the duck dynasty guys, a couple musicians I've never heard of, and a pair of con artists that call themselves "kingdom entrepreneurs".

So...I'm expecting financial disaster in the future of the family. Glad it's not immediate family that's going to the clown show, but I do feel bad for the kids who are going to be effected.

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nmgirl's avatar

"In the meantime, graduates who take these concerns seriously can always make sure they’re promoting LGBTQ rights and bodily autonomy and civil rights and everything else this church opposes in whatever symbolic ways they choose during the ceremonies. Even if the building belongs to an evangelical megachurch, it doesn’t mean the graduates need to give the church’s beliefs any respect."

NO!

There have already been stories this spring of schools prohibiting graduates from displaying any personal opinions. No eagle feathers for Native Americans, no orange cords to remember school shooting victims. Public schools don't want to publicly embrace the diversity of their students, despite their public statements. Actions speak louder than words.

We had a similar situation here but with graduation from the police academy. the ceremonies were being held at a local megachurch, despite there being many public venues available.

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Guerillasurgeon's avatar

Interesting. Our students – used to and probably still do – often wear national costume to prize-giving. Or some variety of national costume/school uniform, because some schools at least allow formal wear for PI students as part of the uniform, which is usually a black lava lava. At the very least it would be negotiable. Maybe not in private schools though.

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larry parker's avatar

I can't comprehend a HS graduation costing $28,000. Maybe it's because my HS class was only 40 people.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

My HS graduation ceremony cost 0 €.

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larry parker's avatar

Mine cost 0 €, too. : )

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jomicur's avatar

You are an unconscionable smartass, Larry, and you need to stop. That's MY job, dammit.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Scram, buddy. You're workin' MY side o' the street.

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cdbunch's avatar

Boys, Boys, don't worry, there's enough work for all three of you. No one's in danger of getting downsized.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

The competition is fierce these days. :)

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Maltnothops's avatar

Mine had 46. There could have been 50 but 4 girls dropped out of school between 10th and 12th grades because they were pregnant and so therefore undeserving of education. For those not running the numbers, that was almost 20% of the girls.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

That twit Kevin Sorbo left a tweet showing 4 leaders who had their political opponents arrested. He named Stalin, Hitler, Mao and Biden.

Uh no, Jerkules. Trump did HIMSELF in with his own actions. Biden had absolutely nothing to do with TFGs legal woes. Oh, and the 4 you mentioned are believers in God. Just like you.

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cdbunch's avatar

How short their memories are. Trump tried desperately to have Ms. Clinton arrested.

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Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz's avatar

I don't think he actually tried, that would have taken effort. He certainly talked about it a lot, knowing that's what his people wanted to hear.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

They've stopped uttering "But her emails!" and are now fixated on "Hunter Biden's laptop!"

With the GQP, the title changes but the song remains the same.

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cdbunch's avatar

I still haven't figured out what they think is on that laptop. But it reminds me of an Uber a few weeks ago in Vegas. The guy had Sean Hannity on the radio, barely had the AC on, and took the longest possible route to my destination. 20 minutes of listening to that jerk make vague allusions.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Maybe they think Hillary's emails are on his laptop.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

With whoever* it was they were waiting for.

* Can't recall his name just that he is dead.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

You talking about John Paul Mac Isaac?

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jomicur's avatar

The song is ended. but the malady lingers on.

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cdbunch's avatar

I like the way Bowling for Soup put it. "Same Song, Different Chorus"

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NOGODZ20's avatar

"You take a look around

And you say 'hey, wait!'

This is the same as

Where I just came from

I thought it was over

Oh, that's just great!"

- Bowling for Soup

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jomicur's avatar

Where was Kevin Yobbo when Trump led his supporters in chants of "Lock her up"?

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Maltnothops's avatar

Interesting. A local RWNJ posted a comment to that same effect. Makes me wonder if they all independently have the same stupid ideas or if they all blindly repeat stupid ideas they’ve seen elsewhere.

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larry parker's avatar

Blindly repeat stupid ideas they’ve seen elsewhere.

A lot of the times it starts as Russian propaganda, then gets picked up by RWNJ "news".

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Collective dead brain.

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

That's why one of my favorite questions to ask consewertives over at the TBT was, "Did your parents have any children that were not brain dead at birth?"

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NOGODZ20's avatar

The one I heard as a kid was "Did your parents ever have any children that lived?"

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Tampa Bay Times.

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Maltnothops's avatar

Thank you.

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Lynn James's avatar

YES!!!!!!!!

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Seems like they all read from the same badly-written script.

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cdbunch's avatar

Maybe someone stole ChatGPT 1.0.

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cdbunch's avatar

They've been Borg'd.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Or assassinated, at least for Stalin (Trotsky).

Show me Biden's "rehabilitation"/goulag/concentration/death camps too.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Rohm and the purge of Nazi leaders, via Hitler ("Night of the Long Knives").

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NOGODZ20's avatar

In case no one's heard, Ted "Unabomber" Kaczynski has died.

How about that? A free bunk space in prison for Trump has just opened up.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

First Trump, and now this. Good times.

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Lynn James's avatar

Good times, any time you meet a payment,

Good times, Any time you feel free . . . .

I just dated myself.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

I dated myself once. We went out for pizza and split the cheque.

Then we came back home and fucked like rabbits.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

I hope you didn't forgot to use a condom.

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jomicur's avatar

Nice Catholic boys would never use those evil things.

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cdbunch's avatar

Nice Catholic boys aren't supposed to be dating their hand either.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

She probably thought she was smarter than drumpster when she just copied the document.

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Matri's avatar

She has the right to remain silent. What she lacks is the capacity.

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