Nah unfortunately you’re 100% right, it has never actually been equal in practice. But at least we all could delude ourselves into thinking that we were striving towards that principle. It’s all laid bare now, and it’s fucking ugly. The fact that they’ve been actively working towards these very goals with laser focus, for decades, makes it all the worse.

And who gets to decide if a lower court decision stands? You guessed it, the Supreme Court. This was always going to be their ultimate decision.

Exactly, and that’s how this court is so tricky. By not fully defining what an “official act” is, they’re claiming the power to decide later. Because that very issue will inevitably reach them after some batshit district court ruling. So they ultimately get to decide regardless, and this court regularly makes up ahistorical and completely absurd justifications that don’t pass the smell test, so we’re doomed.

Not “may have,” did. They did legalize any action taken by the person holding the office of the presidency. Trump tried to have his VP killed for fucks sake. That actually happened. It’s no longer the case that everyone in America is equal under the law. The president is now legally allowed to do anything that would get the rest of us thrown in jail. This society isn’t even pretending to be equal anymore. We’re finished.

I’m so fucking tired, and I feel like that was one of the main points of this. Dems are too exhausted and afraid of taking big actions to do anything about this, so like I said, we’re finished.

Yup, this immunity decision and their ruling overturning Chevron deference will fundamentally change how our government functions. If expert agencies are no longer able to rely on their expertise and presidents are officially above the law, then our democracy is over. Whoever holds the office of the presidency is now a de facto king (in the words of Justice Sotomayor). The comparison to the Enabling Act is super useful for people who care at all about history or democracy.

Yeah I hear you, but that door they left open is exactly why it doesn’t matter. By not defining official acts, they essentially gave themselves the authority to make that determination later, which means anything done as president can be considered official, as long as they say so. This was another power grab for them and any republicans who want to use it, but you can be sure the rules would be different for democrats.

In her dissent, Sotomayor made it pretty clear that that doesn’t matter.

“When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution,” Sotomayor wrote. “Orders the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.”

“In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law,” the justice added.

Ha! I never thought about the underground mansion hideaway. Good stuff. You’re right, they’d be pretty much unstoppable and unbeatable.

It’s a little known fact that Justice Gorsuch’s mother was the EPA Administrator under Reagan, and she resigned after an abysmal record of mismanagement.

He’s clearly got some mommy issues.

If I could bend, I think I’d choose the earth nation. Imagine how much cool shit you could build. Need an extension on your house? Here’s a brand new stone wall in 30 seconds.

I would take it upon myself to solve homelessness, if it existed. You need a house? Done. You need a house? How many rooms? Done.

I would build so. much. stuff. It would get weird.

Omg this happened to me last year in my old shitty apartment, but it was real. Somehow a massive roach ended up on top of my comforter. I had serious trouble sleeping for a while after that, and I was seeing tricky shadows for weeks…

The whole neighborhood had a roach problem, it wasn’t any particular grossness on my part. The general consensus amongst my neighbors at the time was that the nearby restaurants were to blame, but you can be sure I did a deep cleaning after that episode…so glad I don’t live there anymore.

My whole team and I work remotely, so it’s not the exact same situation as you, but I made a concerted effort from day one to set social boundaries with my colleagues. First week on the job my manager found out I’m single and offered to set me up with people. I acted very weird about it, purposefully exaggerating how uncomfortable the offer made me, and she got the hint. We have a very friendly and cordial working relationship, but she no longer pries into my personal life unless I volunteer information. Been happily working under her for four years now.

That work/life separation quickly filtered down to the rest of my colleagues, to the point where now they act a little weird when a company call starts to get personal. Mission accomplished.

I think the key thing is that you’ll never get through to people if they can’t read social cues. Sounds like your workplace cliques are filled with those types of oblivious folks, so you might just need to be completely explicit about keeping things fully professional. I’m lucky that my manager is emotionally intelligent, but that’s pretty rare these days.

Good luck!!

Edit: queues to cues

I’m a very engaged voter, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be watching this debate. I know more than I need to about both candidates, so the only reason I’d watch is for entertainment value and to see who fucks up the most. That’s not a valuable use of my time, nor is it a good reason for having a debate.

I don’t have much sympathy for undecided voters at this point. If you plan to vote for Trump, for any reason, then I don’t respect you. This debate won’t change that.

Yeah, seriously. It actually sounds like she might have had it even worse than his “normal” victims. What an absolutely disgusting piece of shit. As time goes on and we learn more, he only looks more and more fundamentally evil.

Brad Edwards, an attorney for Doe, told The Daily Beast, “In addition to Epstein’s rotation of victims, there was typically one person who he made believe was his girlfriend, usually completely in the dark about his criminal abuse.”

“Jane Doe 200 was that girlfriend during this period of time, which means she learned more information than most other victims,” Edwards added. “In the end, Epstein violently raped her in a manner far worse than his usual modus operandi. This victim has lived in a particular fear for a long time and she deserves justice.”

It feels right to me. People are being injured, maimed, permanently disabled, and killed. All by a particular piece of readily available technology. When we can point to the single thing that causes all those individual health emergencies, and it’s consistently happening across the country on a daily basis to many many people, in public spaces that are otherwise quite safe, that’s most definitely a public health crisis.

I know you said to avoid the “just don’t connect it” advice, but I frankly think that’s your best bet without shelling out absurd amounts of money. I hate the concept of smart TVs, so like you I tried to find a reasonably priced dumb TV. Had zero luck. Instead, I bought a 55” Hisense TV (U8K) about 6 months ago, and have never once connected it to the internet. I think it’s technically a Google TV, but I wouldn’t know, since I just connect my devices to it, no internet necessary. It’s a gorgeous display with amazing picture quality. All the features are enabled, nothing was stuck behind an internet-wall. I don’t regret it.

Well that’s some backwards bullshit.

Keep in mind, this enhanced program lasted only six months (if I’m doing my math correctly) and resulted in these mental health improvements, on top of all the other benefits of not having a country full of starving children. All it took was six months. Imagine what a properly compassionate social safety net would do for everyone?

The republicans who prevented the program from being extended have once again shown a crass lack of compassion and empathy. They should be ashamed of themselves, though of course they won’t be.

Think of the children! Oh wait, this was their opportunity and they chose to be unsympathetic assholes.

This makes me sick. Or rather, them sick. Or, whatever, this was a totally fucked up and inexcusable thing to do.

….Chuckles nervously……

True that.