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oraxx's avatar

These people would go out of their tiny little minds at the mere suggestion any prayer but their own be presented by this school. They simply cannot accept the fact rights are not matters of majority rule. Rights exist to protect the individual from the tyranny of the majority. At the end of the day, these prayers do not accomplish anything other than enforcing rote conformity. They send the message that there is only ever one acceptable point of view when it comes to religion. Why aren't the churches enough for these people?

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Jason's avatar

I do have to admit that I would be less offended if they prayed to MY deity, Lisa the Rainbow Giraffe (leaf be upon Her). But somehow it's never about the One True Giraffe...it's all rigged in favor of that OTHER dude...🙄

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

She sounds nice.

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Jason's avatar

Right!? I recently converted to Lisa after years of worshiping The Flying Spaghetti Monster. (I'm half-expecting a jealous lightning-bolt from the FSM...or maybe I'll get off easy, and it'll just be Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs...)

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oraxx's avatar

:)

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Joe King's avatar

More Hen.

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Jason's avatar

Is "More Hen" part of the Lisa-the-Rainbow-Giraffe theology? I've heard this phrase before but I don't know what it means...🤔

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Joe King's avatar

Yes. Check out the Skep-Tick on YouTube.

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Jason's avatar

As I'm listening to the Skep-Tick, I'm thinking maybe he's the *origin* of Lisa the Rainbow Giraffe! I'd been wondering where it came from...🤔

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Jason's avatar

Thanks! I'm but a fledgling believer in this religion, still learning about the colorful wonders of Lisa. I gather "more hen" is the equivalent of "amen"...🤔

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XJC's avatar

God just keeps dropping the ball enforcing his rules. God needs their help to remain almighty.

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maddog7's avatar

as it has been with ALL gods throughout history. They disappear once forgotten.

Has Thor or Zeus done any smiting lately .. other that for the MCU as paid actors?

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Jason's avatar

I heard Zeus has a small chain of dry-cleaning stores in Jersey now. It's not exactly Mt. Olympus, but it pays the bills.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

"We just ask you to touch the cheerleaders, touch the band students, touch the drill team, right now. Have your way, God. Have your way, God. And we say “yes” to your will, God."

Ahem... That would explain all the sexual abuses in christianity.

“I hope you enjoy your permanent vacation at the only place hotter than Texas in August”

How kind of barkton to offer Mme Lawrence vacations in Sahara.

What sadden me is that if there is the possibility of a trial, in the end it's the students who will suffer the most. Those who want to illegally enforce their flavor of religion should be liable on a personal level.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

The hell of it is, this IS Texas, and it's likely that most of the kids are okay with it. The problem, as it's always been, is that minority kids – Jews, Muslims, nones – are stuck with it, too, and they shouldn't have to tolerate this blatant display of Christian territory-marking.

So we wind up with one more lawsuit against one more recalcitrant school board official who is convinced that he can act in violation of the Constitution and the law, because MUH RELIGION!

[TS shakes his head and groans for the umpti-umpth time.]

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

He’s asking God to touch these people. God is an extension of yourself. So he’s really telling people to touch themselves.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wv-34w8kGPM

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cdbunch's avatar

I'm still amazed MTV was allowed to show that.

At least when someone touches zirself, there is no question consent was given.

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

Except the fundie evangelicals who claim masturbation is self rape. Just goes to show they do not respect consent, if they even have an iota of understanding of it. I mean, I assume it’s willful because they want to control others and have been denying bodily autonomy for ages, and believe wholeheartedly in marital rape being a good thing. They are the ones who violently defended slavery.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Not if you have a split personality disorder 😁

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cdbunch's avatar

I was thinking Alien hand syndrome, I think it's called. Where the hemispheres of your brain aren't communicating and the right side does things without the left knowing what's going on.

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Len Koz's avatar

Isn't there something called "the stranger" where you sit on your hand until it loses feeling, then touch yourself with it?

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Jason's avatar

Jesus was clearly prophesying Alien Hand Syndrome when he said "Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." (Matthew 6:3) And you STILL don't believe he was the LÄRD?!

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Bill Wilson's avatar

https://youtu.be/wv-34w8kGPM?si=rR3KH2-LrygbFFvn

‘I Touch Myself’ by the Divinyls

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Len Koz's avatar

I'll watch that later, after my company leaves.

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RegularJoe's avatar

… Come on, come on, come on, come on

Now, touch me, babe

https://youtu.be/8lVqEchxIxw?si=5qoxKcHvI5qoOx5j

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Hannah's avatar

That text was really creepy. It would have made me uncomfortable as a student.

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Joe King's avatar

“I hope you enjoy your permanent vacation at the only place hotter than Texas in August”

Mr Burton:

Ignoring the egregious factual error in this statement leads me to understand your meaning in only one way. As a threat. The only rational response to such a threat is 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

When you are called out for 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 promoting (white evangelical) Christianity above other beliefs and nonbelief, your only response is to claim that you are being attacked and then to threaten your "enemies". You are so deeply indoctrinated into your interpretation of the Bible that you fail to recognize that trying to force your agenda is the real attack. Then you make threats. You seem to relish the idea of those who push back against your authoritarianism being subject to infinite torture. If that is indeed the case, then you, sir, are a sadistic monster who has no business in the care and education of children.

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Jason's avatar

Ah, the gloating, smirking, sadistic glee of the "loving" Christian who invokes everlasting pain and torment upon those who don't happen to subscribe to his belief system. How can we not perceive the beauty and goodness of this religion, when we have such exemplars spitting it at us...

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Joe King's avatar

𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒.

Isn't the guy supposed to be omnipresent? How do you bring someone back to a place they couldn’t possibly have left?

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oraxx's avatar

What they're really saying is, 'Let's hand power to the preachers.'

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Derek Smith's avatar

More pointedly - “let’s bring back burning witches, the persecution of Jews, Muslims, and atheists, etc.”

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RegularJoe's avatar

Remember this guy, and what he said? Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts stated "...we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be."

Left here. Nope. You say you want a revolution, it ain't gonna be free....gonna take a lot of blood and treasure. Are you really willing to pay the price? 🤔

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Eva Grammer's avatar

HA! Tru dat, yo.

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Jason's avatar

𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒.

"And while we're at it, brothers: let's bring God back to the OUThouse, too! Been too dang long since the good Lärd showed His face when I'm a-doin' m'business..."

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XJC's avatar

Joe Biden’s delusional Catholocism doesn't count.

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LeeAnn Young's avatar

It doesn't count because Biden does not try to convert everyone else. I have heard him state his faith but never heard him proselytizing to everyone else.

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Jason's avatar

It doesn't count because Biden isn't a Republican. Politics is more important than religion to these people...that's why they traded Jesus for Trump.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in Heaven."

-- Jesus, in Matthew 6:1

Oops. Another Christian who can't be bothered to even read/heed the gospels of their supposed messiah.

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phelpsmediation's avatar

Even quoting the Bible to show their hypocrisy gives too much credit to a fiction written by Iron Age people who knew less about the world than my 8 year old grandson and who wrote to keep women as property and control the population with fear.

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XJC's avatar

"I was never really into religion, never really into God, because God never picked up the phone and called me." -- President Trump

From the forthcoming MAGA Musical for the Masses, Dictator for a Day. Dictatorforadayshow.com

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Hank Long's avatar

Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god. Blah blah blah blah god...

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RegularJoe's avatar

Also.....yadda yadda.......🙃

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

It really seems as though Grey Burton REALLY WANTS to waste the Rusk School District funds on what will almost certainly be a lawsuit, aimed at him and the district, because he INSISTS on interjecting Christian prayers and ceremonies to students, at least some of whom find such practices discriminatory and unwanted. Here we go again.

Have to say, though, part of me wonders if Burton has the current SCOTUS in mind as he does this, thinking that this could be the case that cracks the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, should the suit find its way there (and it could).

Yet more fun and games with State / Church separation. Let's stay tuned to this one, too, shall we?

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Jason's avatar

A frightening thought! SCOTUS -- which has unmoored itself from precedent, accountability, and common sense -- might well issue an unhinged decree respecting the establishment of religion any day now....

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Julie Duggan's avatar

Exactly - 6 SCOTUS have twisted, contorted, turn themselves into human pretzels with their illogical rulings.

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Joe King's avatar

They designated a student to deliver the prayer as an explicit attempt to go around the constitution. They knew it was against the law, so they made a student the public face of it so they could twist the narrative by a lie of omission. All to get people outraged that those evil atheists are trying to get rid of God. In other words, liars for Jesus lying for Jesus. Yet another day ending in "y".

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SeekingReason's avatar

This type of lawsuit always results in the school losing. Let them support FFRF if they insist on this atrocious intrusion into public schools. These people need to be removed from public schools altogether. Let them teach a pt a christian school WITHOUT our funding!

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Eva Grammer's avatar

Non-Christians, if they ever wanted to convert to Christianity, are NOT going to be persuaded to do so by a school prayer of any kind, or a Facebook post, or the opinions of one administrator in a school district. What this man is defending is NOT "bringing God back," it's really "bring totalitarian rule back".

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

To him they are one and the same. Which is about the only thing these jackanapes ever get right.

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Just another illiterate kkkrister.

Mathew 6:5-8 (NIV)

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

NOGODZ ne va pas être content que tu lui ai coupé l'herbe sous le pied 😁

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NOGODZ20's avatar

That's ok. Plenty of Matthew's Jesus to go around. I posted a lesser-known verse. :)

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

😈

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NOGODZ20's avatar

"Let it be peaceful. Let's have a good game."

Um, have you ever seen a football game? It's anything but peaceful. It's a violent game based on war.

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Joan the Dork's avatar

And that's just the fans!

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NOGODZ20's avatar

"In football, the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use the shotgun. With short bullet passes, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's offensive line."

-- George Carlin

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NOGODZ20's avatar

This bit is a perennial on the football-themed edition of Craig Orndorff's "Seems Like Old Times" radio show. Lots of fun tunes about the sport. Carlin's "Baseball/Football" is part of it.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

I think George goofed at the end. That should have read "....punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line."

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Kay-El's avatar

Burton is just another kook in a long line of bible thumping kooks that will try to jam his bullshit down people’s throats, legally or not, for the greater glory of himself, not his god. Isn’t that a big no-no in Christianity? Since he’s used to Texas in August, he shouldn’t be surprised when he ends up in a place hotter than there on his permanent vacation. 🙄

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cdbunch's avatar

The only place hotter than Texas in August, is a small corner of southwest Oklahoma that used to *be* part of Texas.

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Jane in NC's avatar

This is yet another example of christians using positions of power within government organizations to impose their religion on everyone else. When their actions are challenged on solid constitutional grounds, they don their christian victimhood hair shirts and claim they're being attacked for their beliefs rather than for violating the law and other students' First Amendment rights.

Another case in point that when christians talk about 'religious freedom' what they really mean is christian privilege.

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Julie Duggan's avatar

Definitely abuse of power and coercion- as I believe there were a lot of students there that didn't appreciate it but they are too scared to say anything.....that should never happen.

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Jane in NC's avatar

That's why government endorsing any particular religion is coercion. Of course, those students didn't feel free to object, they were a captive audience, and that nonsense was dropped on them without warning.

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cdbunch's avatar

OT: out for my test. Might be back this evening. Or might go out to a restaurant to celebrate getting through this.

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cdbunch's avatar

Well, I finished in less than 2 of the 3 hours. That's always a little scary, but I spent at least 15 minutes reviewing what I'd done and if there was anything else I could check. Won't know for a few hours, at least, if I passed. They claim it can take up to 3 days, but when I did this certification 3 years ago in Houston, they had the results by the time I got back to SA.

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cdbunch's avatar

285 out of 300. I passed. Though I'm not sure why they downgraded me the 15 points.

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Congratulations! 🍾 What kind of certification?

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cdbunch's avatar

RedHat Certified System Administrator. Necessary for a RedHat Certified Engineer which I've earned 3 times prior and will be refreshing my skills to take that test in the next few weeks.

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Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz's avatar

Do you actually have a red hat to go with that?

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cdbunch's avatar

No. It’s been a couple of decades since I’ve seen that kind of swag.

I took it in my guest bedroom. The remote proctor is lucky I was wearing pants. (Well, pajama shorts)

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Go to a restaurant anyway.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

Hell, yeah, she should go treat herself!

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cdbunch's avatar

Payday's tomorrow, not today. :)

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

OOPS! Sorry. 😖

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

I'm the wrong person to apologize to.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Best of luck.

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Joan the Dork's avatar

OT- It's only been three days, and the GQP has already worn out all of their attack lines against Kamala Harris... and managed to kick themselves in the nards with a blast from the past, in the form of current VP candidate and absolute fuckwit JD Vance's whinging about her not having children back when he was running for Senator: https://apnews.com/article/jd-vance-kamala-harris-childless-trump-0a37e991097b66c52bff5bf7ecf8de7b

Guess the two stepchildren don't count- and the Republican party would 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 have stopped with the racist, sexist bullshit if she'd popped out a couple of babies, amirite? Yeah, this will 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 help the Republican ticket win those swing voters!

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

I may be childless but I have a nephew and a niece, so yes I am invested in the future of my country, starting with ensuring we don't end with a right wing nuts government 🖕

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

Not horribly surprising. They have nothing positive within their own party to argue for or at least bring to the table for discussion, so their side of things devolve into weak, childish taunts which fall flat and other suchlike crap.

They've been played by a master player, who has turned the reins over to a young and vital protege, who has their number and knows what to do with it.

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Bagen Onuts's avatar

Just like a scamvangelical sermon.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Looks like Vance isn't ready for the Big Time. He made a total ass of himself at his very first solo rally. Trump is reportedly not pleased. Trump, in fact, is pissed off because he didn't even want Vance as his VP pick and now he's stuck with Mr. Hillbilly Elegy.

youtu.be/w_74nc8WU0E

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Joan the Dork's avatar

More like Hillbilly 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘦. He is, to put it mildly, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 playing so well with the folks he was hired to appeal to, because they can see right through him for the cheap-shit poser he is: https://www.wonkette.com/p/we-need-to-watch-alllll-these-tiktoks

If there's one thing 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 small town folks hate, it's an 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 pretending he's one of them.

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Guerillasurgeon's avatar

Given his family lived in Ohio not Appalachia, and given they were receiving an income of $170,000 equivalent today – his book is a lie. Although to be fair his family was dysfunctional, but not in the least poor.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Wouldn't it be something if Vance dragged down Trump's campaign to be dictator?

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Joan the Dork's avatar

I'll have to stock up on popcorn.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

I have 2 kg of kernels waiting to be popped.

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Guerillasurgeon's avatar

I thought I found some ancient popcorn in the cupboard the other day – turned out to be lentils.☹️

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Matri's avatar

Trump is never pleased with anything that doesn’t praise him 24/7.

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cdbunch's avatar

Imagine being that poor AI.

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cdbunch's avatar

But is he stuck? I think it's only tradition that the Running mate is immutable after the convention and we know how much the current Republican party cares about tradition when it gets in the way of what they want.

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Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz's avatar

I was wondering that myself.

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

Considering the GOP is fighting poor polling and considerable damage from their misstep of criminalizing abortion, attacking the candidate for choosing how her family is created will only dig their hole deeper. Vance is the VP choice to defeat Biden, but he’s the opposite of what Trump needs to beat Harris. He wouldn’t be effective against either candidate. His extreme anti abortion stance is a losing strategy.

I think, and I hope something else will happen and be just as effective, that there will be an incident shortly before the election where a sympathetic woman (or girl) will be harmed by the anti abortion policies forced on the USA and we are bolstered by it. I would hate for it to happen, and it would be ultimate evil if it were done intentionally, but we will probably see something. We need to simply just remember what has already happened.

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