I know that, parents and brothers aside, my entire family voted Trump. And we're from MASSACHUSETTS, which is just insanity. I have a hard time talking to them now. We were never close, but I'm done. My mother is taking the the "just don't talk politics; don't let this divide you" stance, which I admire, but I just can't. I don't need people like that in my life.

And the GOP's new level of villainy is fully ridiculous. The fact that I just moved from being represented by Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren to a state where I have to deal with Marco Rubio makes me sad.

In completely unrelated news, I bought a single-serve coffee machine and the instructions are very clear on using the cup you are going to use to pour water into the machine (which makes sense, size-wise), but apparently I missed the day in school where we learned how to pour water from a coffee mug without spilling it all over the kitchen counter. (I lived on a ship too long. I don't know how to adult.)

Gud - people are ignorant about how things really work #1.

Some are willfully ignorant, others, just uninterested.

#2 Then there are the pie in sky or naive libertarians. We shouldn't need government because everyone should just do what is right and good.

#3 Then there are the ingrained prejucides that completely blind people. These are the "we don't need social programs, laws for equality blah blah blah" people. They THINK things are equal, may even think they are slighted more than this or that minority/protected class. These people do not buy into systemic institutional bigotry. They do not believe that years of historical inequality and prejudice has a bearing on someone's chances today.

#4 There are the capitalists/politicians first. Everything is viewed from a "what will make money" and/or "what will get/keep me elected lens". Right for them only is in terms of these factors until something affects them VERY VERY directly.

A useful Chrome browser extension for these troubled times: [link]

I know conservatives and they aren't bad people. So why do the political conservatives always seem to be on the wrong side of history?

Ask yourself how you define good and bad here.

I mean, all of msbelle's points are good ones, but sometimes personable people who do nice things for people like them have awful beliefs that lead to bad things being done in the name of those beliefs and thus are doing bad, because if good isn't a thing you are, it's a thing you do, the same must be said of bad.

In totally random news, I just found out a kid I grew up with is now married to a minister in Iowa and has two teenagers. That is....very different from my life. (And I found out because her father is my coworker now! Everyone is my coworker now.)

Dangit! I bought cushion covers for some ugly throw pillows and they don't fit. Our apartment is provided by Chris's company, fully furnished, which is amazing - but some, uh, interesting decor choices were made. The pillows on the couch have random numbers and letters printed all over them, which is not really a look I was feeling.

I guess I'll have to go buy some properly sized throw pillows and stash the ugly ones in a closet somewhere.

Jesse, a woman who was a friend of mine in middle school is now married with 8 children and living in a settlement in Israel. I think she converted to Judaism, even - she certainly was not Bat Mitzvahed anyway, and I lived in Lexington, where that was a big deal in 7th grade, you know? Life can take people on many paths.

True fact! It's amazing when it feels like we've started in the same place, you know?

The most recent high school weirdness I had was discovering that a guy who was a giant goof in high school is now a well-respected doctor and has taught at Johns Hopkins.

Edit: And also got a Masters in public health at Harvard. Life is so weird.

There's something that has made me uneasy about politics now. I mean aside from the obvious. It's that I get this feeling that conservative reps are, well, kinda villains. I find that really unsettling and it makes me question myself.

I don't get how this is news. I mean, Reagan's policies killed gay men in the 80s. Plus this:

My experience has seen people that were all about getting rid of the horrible restrictions on pollution that are killing our industry, except the plant next to my playground. Hatred for all 'those people', except those I happen to have worked with or family, and they are exceptions. Screw the homeless or disabled, except when it is this exception or that, generally close to home. The inability to see beyond their own backyard. eta: and of course love the guns until their loved one is shotMy experience has seen people that were all about getting rid of the horrible restrictions on pollution that are killing our industry, except the plant next to my playground. Hatred for all 'those people', except those I happen to have worked with or family, and they are exceptions. Screw the homeless or disabled, except when it is this exception or that, generally close to home. The inability to see beyond their own backyard. eta: and of course love the guns until their loved one is shot

This isn't new.

The most recent high school weirdness I had was discovering that a guy who was a giant goof in high school is now a well-respected doctor and has taught at Johns Hopkins.

Ha! The fact that my best friend from college is a Hopkins doc makes me expect them to be more goofy in various ways than not.