66 Comments
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Lee's avatar

Community by community, some real shady shit is happening with that money, none of it about helping people. An actual taser-lasso has been developed, not kidding-to “help keep people safe from themselves” and is being added to the militarization of police so that as more patients are abandoned and turn to the streets, police can round them up to die in jails or just be killed on the way in. They don’t get treatment in jail. It’s a disgrace. Perdue lied, but physicians know better than to just listen to drug reps. Most diversion happened prior to meds arriving at pharmacy and DEA always knew this and didn’t stop it. Most ODs have always been multiple substance including illicit, not meds prescribed to the person taking them. The numbers were manipulated for the purpose of massive litigation, as well as providing an excuse for prohibition and patient abandonment.

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Jeanne Hopkins's avatar

Just a bunch of thanks for making me chuckle this morning. I needed it.

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Stephen Cummings's avatar

The debate’s sole purpose was to create media churn, so yeah, I’m blocking out news outlets for the next few days. I’ve been reading the same NYT “Dems are panicking” story for a decade.

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Howard's avatar

Today's Dingus is why I subscribe! (One of many reasons, really ) You watched so I didn't have to. As a recently retired highly trained media professional, I am reveling in being able to pick and choose my clusterf***s -- and I chose to watch 11 year old boys play soccer in the rain instead.

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Sharon Buchbinder, PhD's avatar

I went to bed and slept 9.5 hours. Best sleep in years. No debate about that! I am NOT a dingus.

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lyz's avatar

You are NOT a dingus.

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Sharon Buchbinder, PhD's avatar

🤣🤣🤣

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LA Bourgeois's avatar

Bed WAS the perfect alternative last night. I am not a dingus either.

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Cea N's avatar

Iit was nice to read how I’m feeling after watching that Spit fest last night. I’m still trying to figure out why CNN didn’t fact-check as we went. My bet id Trump said he wouldn’t appear if they did.

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Alex's avatar

til broasting is a real cooking method, and not a joke about how the country has been cooked by men. but I think we can come up with a better definition of broasting.

for example, broasting is when a guy prepares a meal while ignoring your dietary restrictions and "well, actually"-ING the reality of food allergies

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Melissa's avatar

My sister worked at a broasted chicken place in high school. She smelled like fried chicken all the time. But that chicken was delish!

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Robert Wallis's avatar

Such a great essay. The only reasonable response to last night. Thanks for the laughs. The only thing you didn’t include in “What I’m Drinking” is a reference to increasing quantities as this election season progresses.

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Callie Palmer's avatar

One thing that someone got right in the commentary is that Dems will panic. Let's hope that brings something fruitful. I am turning my thoughts to my summer Gender in Lit and Film course, and being gleeful about including "But I'm A Cheerleader". If you have seen it A) what is wrong with you, and B) get on it!

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Yes please to something fruitful! Like, real change, not just some sing-song-y "when they go low, we go high" nonsense.

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Callie Palmer's avatar

Yes - I'm a sober person, but we could change it to: When they go low, we get high!

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Lol. We might have to!

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Melissa's avatar

I did not watch. I'm voting the D box no matter what, so why bother watching? I'm under my bed, plugging my ears and singing la la la until November.

I though summer water was topo chico- hey! Who put tequila in my topo chico?! NVM.

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lyz's avatar

There was a tweet that was like "Im trying to become a low information voter" and I cackled

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Laura's avatar

OMG that's exactly right! Please, I need to know LESS.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Incredibly excited for the tsunami of "man in a diner" interviews were about to be subjected to.

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/anne...'s avatar

In Australia it was 'cafe owner' or 'gym owner' during Covid lockdowns - people who preferred other people to die as long as they had customers. Many of us swore never to darken the door of either ever again. Interestingly, many survived lockdowns but have since gone broke.

For politics, the interviewer usually stands in a suburban shopping strip - the sort with shops either side of what was a road, but is now landscaped and pedestrian-only. They only seem to pick ones I wouldn't be seen dead in, which probably explains the fact that they're mostly rightwing tradies and giggling older teenagers.

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Hilary's avatar

til: every anecdote sounds way more epic when read in your head in an (probably terrible, let's be honest, what do I know) Australian accent

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Kevin Rose's avatar

I walked home from work, popped some popcorn - even added butter - set up my computer and started watching. Boorrrrrringgggg! I want to see a debate where they take the gloves off and get down and dirty. I would volunteer to be president but I’m sure I would be labeled “too liberal.” My adult daughter and I have a liberal contest - it starts when she gives me a quiz, takes it herself, and I turn out to be more liberal! (She doesn’t like that.). Let me put it another way: I’m an engineer and a problem solver - so if I were President I would ask not can something be done but how it could be done. Fortunately I was watching on Allan Lichtman’s channel - he says debates neither make nor break a campaign. That is fortunate.

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Asha Sanaker's avatar

I think it's worth remembering over the next five months, for those of us Gen-Xers, that Biden is the same age as our parents. (As is Trump, if your parents were a little younger when you were born.)

Let's not let our understandable frustration with our own aging, imperfect parents get wrapped up in our emotions about this election. One of these guys has basic integrity (Though I'll never forgive him for his maltreatment of Anita Hill.), respects how federal politics works, and knows how to get shit done. Even if he prompts related despair to what I feel when I talk to my mom and she's lost her hearing aids.

The other is a lying, narcissistic, misogynistic, felon who mocked disabled people, raped multiple women, and locked kids in cages.

Enough said.

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Liz K's avatar

Yep. I’m an older Gen-X, and my parents are dead. I will vote for Joe Biden’s rotting corpse before I’d vote for Trump.

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Liz K's avatar

I realized after I typed this that if my parents were still here, they’d be 81. Same age as Biden.

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Jerry K. Sweeney's avatar

We are in accord about voting for Mr. Biden and his treatment of Ms. Hill.

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greta's avatar

asha, i'm 75 so only a bit younger than the two last night. that said, i know my limitations; i know my husband's limitations. should our physical and mental issues disqualify us from being president. you bet they should. it's a bit of a moral dilemma now. am i going to vote for biden over trump, of course. and i am going to walk into that voting booth fully cognisant of the fact that i am voting from someone whom i KNOW isn't capable of serving as presiden? sadly, yes.. ugh, ugh, ugh.

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Karen's avatar

I was born in 1963, which makes me two years younger than the guy who coined the phrase ‘Generation X’ and my mom is 86. This comment resonates with me A LOT. I really love my mom; she’s always been a great support for me. She’s in good enough shape that she has recovered from BREAKING HER NECK in March. That said, Oh Jesus Christ is it frustrating sometimes to talk to her. She thinks Biden is dotty but also recognizes Trump’s, let’s say, FLAWS, but she thinks he ‘fights for America.” The worst thing is how often she reminds me that’s she was born in 1937 and has always lived in small towns in East Texas, with all the annoying prejudices this entails. And I do mean ‘prejudice.’

Anyway, thanks for giving me the chance to grouse a bit. As for Biden himself, he’s done an amazing job as President in conditions and with challenges that only Lincoln and maaaayyybe FDR had to face. When he’s been suboptimal, it’s been mostly due to things outside of his control and that he can’t make public, mostly Gaza. That people can’t look at his record and support him based on that make me want to scream.

Finally, let’s also discuss the real reason a bunch of white men are wringing their hands at Biden’s bad debate performance: Kamala Harris. If Biden loses it, Harris is right there to take over. Of course, she has the major flaw of being female and Black, and I’m inclined to say the former is more signifcant than the latter these days. We should be pointing out every time we can that Veep Harris is more than capable of doing anything Biden does except being male and white.

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Laurie Lawrence's avatar

I had the debate on for 20 minutes. It was so depressing it made me want to drink again so I turned on Family Feud instead.

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Ab's avatar

Did anyone say Chardonnay was overrated? If not, major oversight.

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lyz's avatar

Hugely overrated!

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abigayle77's avatar

I like Chardonnay, and I also think it's overrated.

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Crone Life's avatar

I didn't watch, does this put me ahead of the game?

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lyz's avatar

Yes! You are the only winner in America

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greta's avatar

ditto

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