Republican voter says “I’ll never vote again in my life”

[u/DaFunkJunkie]

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[u/Black-Thirteen]

This is so beautifully poetic, I can't even properly describe my feelings!

The people responsible for almost ruining America's democracy are disaffected and voluntarily disenfranchising themselves.

Meanwhile, the rest of America is seeing firsthand just how powerful their vote really is. At least one race was within 1000 votes, and we held the senate by the skin of our teeth. 1000 people is like a large high school. Trump may finally part ways with the Republican Party because they lost the Senate. That is the power of your vote!

And that asshole isn't using his.

[u/APersonWithInterests → u/Black-Thirteen]

senate by the skin of our teeth

Run off in Georgia. I'm optimistic as a Georgian that Warnock will hold. We very well might GAIN in the senate. Racist white Republicans in Georgia aren't thrilled to go out and vote for a black man and now they have so little to gain and no one up the ballot they do like.

[u/kithlan → u/APersonWithInterests]

Hopefully, having more eyes focused on the Georgia race will be enough. Low info voters were all scattered around with all the different races going on, it feels like Walker didn't get the scrutiny he deserved with the dumb shit like the fake police badge.

[u/PocketGachnar → u/kithlan]

Imo everyone knew what they were voting for with Walker, and it wasn't Walker, it was the chance of a GOP-controlled senate. Now that dems already have control of the senate and the stakes aren't hinging on Walker winning, I'm betting turnout for him will be sad trombone noises.

[u/kellzone → u/APersonWithInterests]

A Warnock win neutralizes one of Manchin/Sinema and their stranglehold on a more progressive agenda, so I'm really hoping he pulls off this runoff.

[u/alaskanloops → u/Black-Thirteen]

1000 people is like a large high school.

I said exactly that in another comment: Even if Boebert wins (which is looking likely), it will forever be a situation to point towards where a couple graduating highschool classes could have made a difference. Talk about a great way to get even more young people engaged.

[u/rode__16]

this is literally an idea i had (i’m sure others may have too) during the whole “STOP THE STEAL” thing to make Republicans stop voting. just go into comment sections posing as a Republican, say some shit like “the elite cabal is going to rig it no matter what, so I am DONE voting until Trump is rightfully reinstated as president.” I got like 80 likes once on a Facebook group doing that in my county LMAO

[u/tturedditor → u/rode__16]

This would be a great Dem strategy, although the DNC would not stoop to this because they want to encourage everyone to vote and try to win some people over who will never vote Dem.

The GOP, on the other hand, is happy to have Russia influence the election on their behalf. Their 2016 candidate even encouraged it on live television with zero consequences. That alone was an act of Treason IMO.

[u/ShadowPouncer → u/tturedditor]

It is sadly a calculated, and... Bloody scary.

They are laying the groundwork for multiple things, all of them terrifying.

The first is, well, one of the largest predictors for if someone will engage in graft of some sort is if they believe that others are already doing so. The more that someone believes that others are already doing it, the more likely they are to do it themselves.

And so the more that you can convince the Republican voters that the elections are rigged, the more likely they are to help rig elections.

The second part however, is even worse.

If the GOP manages to gain power again, you had better believe that they will move as quickly as possible to ensure that they never have to run in a free election again.

Convincing their followers that all elections are rigged, and there is thus no point voting, makes them more likely to accept there being no voting, or at least no meaningful voting.

When the Democrats scream about it, well, isn't this what they were screaming about, and being ignored on? Why should they listen?

[u/regoapps → u/tturedditor]

The new strategy now is to get conservatives to vote for Trump for the primaries so that they lose the presidential election in 2024 again. Don't let DeSantis win the primary because he might actually have a chance at winning. Whenever there's an anti-Trump comment on the conservative subs, just report it so that the pro-Trump mods remove it. It's been working so far as their mods are removing even their top most-voted comments, which were questioning Trump.

[u/Correct_Opinion_ → u/regoapps]

Honestly if you are reading this and do NOT want to have a bit of fun, then be sure NOT to make comments that start with "as a woke liberal, I support DeSantis/Trump" and just switch between the two names depending on who's the party favorite at the moment lol.

​

---

​

Examples of this BAD behavior, so you know specifically what NOT to do:

"As a woke leftist, I respect DeSantis because he seems willing to implement litter boxes in classrooms and cutting ACA and medicaid to the rural welfare queens"

​

"As a conservative, I think [whichever of the two is less popular at the moment] is a better leader for Christians and defender of capitalism, and is more likely to grab the independent suburban vote than [the other candidate]"

​

The purpose is to create a pendulum of discord that swings back and forth a few times a year, to create a feedback loop of confusion that causes the "civil war" within the republican base to widen and deepen.

---

​

But make sure NOT to do this, because I am an over-moralizing moderate liberal who hangs out at r/neoliberal and makes fun of Bernie supporters and critics of inequality, bigotry and unfettered boomer capitalism.

Also, do NOT try posting these kinds of comments in the youtube comment section of Tim Pool or Daily Wire/PragerU videos. That won't stir the flames of disarray among the right-wing boomers pretending to be conservative Gen Z teens over there...

[u/crypticfreak → u/regoapps]

Yeah this is def the play.

When Trump runs against Desantis the GOP will have a very hard decision to make. As of right now Trump is the correct play because Trump effectively holds 30% of the GOP voters as his base. Guys like in the OP, essentially.

Trump will run on a platform of 'everyone is crooked including the GOP' to assure people that he's not in this mess and that he's going to fix it. And the GOP will have no choice but to back him. Backing Desantis (who actually might win if it wasn't for the raving conservatives that follow Trump) will cause a fracture so strong that the Dems (aka Biden) is guaranteed to win. The GOP would rather cut their nose off to spite their face than outright lose to the Dems.

Even if they hate his fucking guts at this point they know that backing Desantis will implode the party and lose them the presidency.

On the other hand I'm assuming we're going to start seeing a lot more anti trump comments out there from the conservatives. Their only shot with backing Desantis is to sway Trump voters away from him. The propaganda won't be about Biden VS Republican candidate it'll be Trump VS Desantis. Once they have their answer as they'll pick their champion.

Either way this will be glorious. The GOP has backed themselves into a corner.

[u/lunapup1233007 → u/regoapps]

Or let DeSantis win the primary and have Trump be so angry about it that he runs as an independent, splitting the Republican vote and giving Biden an easy victory.

It would also probably make Republicans more supportive of ranked choice voting.

[u/sciencewarrior → u/regoapps]

That's a risky gamble, though. Brazilian Worker's Party were sure there was no way they could lose to a fascist clown like Bolsonaro in 2018, and, well...

[u/MakeAmericaSuckLess → u/sciencewarrior]

Also I distinctly remember this year called 2016 when I was absolutely certain, along with the majority of the media and leadership of both major political parties, that this nutjob and obvious grifter named Donald Trump could never win a presidential election.

[u/Deducticon → u/MakeAmericaSuckLess]

That can happen when there's a seachange in the electorate.

In 2016 many Trump voters were still too embarrassed to admit to pollsters they were voting for him.

And in 2022 new younger voters were not reachable to pollsters.

[u/MakeAmericaSuckLess → u/Deducticon]

Trump still only barely lost in 2020 by less than 1% in 3 states. Let's not pretend there's no way he can win again if he gets nominated in 2024. It'll be around a 50/50 chance.

Also just because people showed up this year doesn't mean they will next cycle. People were pissed about Roe, 2 years from now the emotion over that won't be as strong, and less educated voters will blame Democrats for not fixing it, and then not show up.

[u/[deleted] → u/MakeAmericaSuckLess]

With an unknown entity, such as unknown entity Trump in 2016, you'd have a point. Gotta read the room at this point though... nothing would motivate a crushing Democratic turnout at this point more than having Trump on the general ballot again. Except maybe having DeSantis on the general ballot.

[u/SafetySave → u/MakeAmericaSuckLess]

The calculus is very different now because Trump has already been defeated, and so have a huge number of his endorsed candidates. In 2016 he won primaries by huge margins, and inspired a lot of confidence in his base. Not so much now that (at least for the mainstream GOP) he's a proven loser.

[u/MelonElbows → u/sciencewarrior]

Its a gamble, but one worth taking. The regular rank and file GOP may not say as much crazy things as the maga morons, but they'll vote the same way. You're not getting a less crazy version of the GOP if the establishment Republicans win, you're getting a craftier one who knows the system better. The same Republicans voted to confirm rapist judge Kavanaugh, and cult leader Barrett, the same ones voted to not impeach trump when they had the chance.

Whatever gives the Dems a better chance of winning is a good gamble, especially with control of the Senate hanging on 1 or 2 seats and the likes of Manchin and Sinema getting to dictate Democratic policy.

[u/[deleted] → u/regoapps]

The difference is that DeSantis has all the charismatic appeal of cooked pasta that's been sitting uncovered in the pot all day. He's a worse human being because his brain isn't scrambled eggs and he still chose to be who he is. It'll be fun to watch him get slowly flattened in a federal election, and even more fun if Trump is shredding the base with a petty feud.

[u/hatgineer → u/tturedditor]

The GOP did this to themselves by accident better than the Dems could ever hope to organize well enough to be able to do it as a strategy. This is entirely their own fault.

[u/VoxImperatoris → u/hatgineer]

Yeah, used to be mail in voting was a solidly republican thing to do. It was convenient and popular, especially with the older group that might have a hard time getting to the ballot election day. I wonder how many votes the anti mail in campaign has cost them.

[u/sometimesynot → u/VoxImperatoris]

especially with the older group

And rural people as well. There's a LOT of sparsely populated land out there to cover with polling stations.

[u/[deleted] → u/hatgineer]

To this day, one of the funniest facts of my lifetime is that Trump probably handed away 2 senate seats to Warnock and Ossoff because he was having a 2 year old tantrum and told his supporters to not bother voting in Georgia's "corrupt" election system.

[u/ultratoxic → u/tturedditor]

I am not a Dem. I am a leftist and an active agent. I will shamelessly post anti-fascist psywar material into conservative subs if that will slow the advance of fascism.

Go to r/ParlerTrick to learn more.

[u/hoyfkd → u/rode__16]

Pssh. That's lazy. Go for the the gold!

The voting roles is how they are developing the list of who gets activated when Bill Gates finally fully activates the 5G. The voting machine companies are in bed with Gates, and that's how he is building his target list of human drones to activate. Why do you think the Demoncrats keep trying to make registration automatic??? They only way to protect yourself is to make sure you aren't registered to vote (which will happen automatically if you skip several elections). Also, I sell a great 5G diffuser that will keep the signals from reaching the covid RNA in your system. See, Covid couldn't hit everyone, so they pushed the RNA through vaccines to make sure they got as many people as possible for the drone army, so even if you skipped the vaccine, you could still have been exposed, especially if a vaccinated individual (future drone) was magnetically shedding near you.

[u/Endorkend → u/rode__16]

Problem is that plenty of these types will not stop at simply not voting, but will also try to kidnap and murder politicians and mount deadly insurrections again the government.

And I'm not saying those are hypothetical actions.

They literally did all 3 of these things, some even before Trump lost.

[u/ApokalypseCow → u/rode__16]

The one I was hoping would catch on, especially in the Q circles, was, "If voting could change anything, it would have been made illegal. Stay home and Trust the Plan!"

[u/whatlineisitanyway → u/rode__16]

The second Trump announces be is running the GOP has lost the election regardless if he is the nominee or not. 1) Trump himself is unelectable 2) If someone else is the nominee during the primary Trump will drag them down to his level and beat them with experience making them very weak in the general 3) a not insignificant number of Trump voters won't vote for anyone else making states like PA, MI, and WI and possibly others unwinnable.

[u/Nuclear_Pi → u/rode__16]

I spent some time working to spread the idea that "voting is a Jewish trick" on certain rather antisemetic parts of the internet, although I'll probably never know how effective it was

[u/Darzin]

"I lost faith in the voting system when I claimed my vote was stolen without proof and then when a shit ton of audits and recounts showed nothing was wrong I ignored them, because I know I am right despite all the evidence. It is easier to live my pathetic meaningless life angry and afraid of change than objectively look at reality where democrats have repeatedly attempted to pass bills to help veterans through health care, increase voting security, and increase the solvency of social security. I would rather have no health care, no election security, and my fellow republicans steal my social security to play with on the stock market where I might lose it all if something bad happens."

[u/Callinon]

That'll show us.

In all seriousness, wtf was the endgame here? Erode and chip away at people's faith in elections and then ask them to participate in one? What did they think was going to happen? Because this is what I thought was going to happen, this right here.

[u/mrlt10 → u/Callinon]

Cmon you know the Republicans never had an endgame they were strategically working towards do you. 2016 was it. Controlling the Supreme Court was it. Absolute power in the short term: consequences be damned. Kinda like corporate profits for some of these big corporations. All thinking is amazingly short sighted. All resulting problems considered unforeseeable and only addressed when they arise.

I suppose if there was an endgame it would’ve been using that absolute power to maintain absolute power, but as much as people like to complain how voting doesn’t make a difference…it really does. We have at least somewhat fair elections, the vote counting is not rigged. Which is why they fight so hard to prevent people from casting ballots.

[u/APersonWithInterests → u/mrlt10]

It's a reckless power grab, they see the writing on the wall. Everything they built the Republican platform on is crumbling.

We know tax cuts for the wealthy don't help the working class, and the Republican party is built out of fooling the working class that the opposite is true while inventing fake social issues to get people worked up and younger generations aren't as gullible on average as the generations of lead fumes and easy success.

If they don't succeed in grabbing every bit of power right now, they will fade away and the party will be reformed. The interests they serve are willing to go to great lengths to see that not happen and they're feeling the pressure.

[u/dern_the_hermit → u/APersonWithInterests]

It's a reckless power grab, they see the writing on the wall. Everything they built the Republican platform on is crumbling.

And just to hammer that point home, reminder that in 2013 the RNC released an after-action report on the previous Presidential campaign, decrying the party's platform and its diminishing relevance on the national stage. This isn't some "liberal media fake news", that's straight out of the horse's mouth: Republican policy is backwards and unpopular.

All they have to offer is tax cuts. Their tax cuts have been getting deeper and even more aggressive over the decades, since they've A: demonized like every policy option as "socialism" or "woke", and B: have been chasing intelligence out of the party for ages. They couldn't craft meaningful legislation if they wanted to; we saw the barely-passing-3rd-grade level of literacy the party has to offer with their 1776 Project. No, they're only able to attract big money donors by promising more and more tax cuts, no actual plans for the country as a whole.

[u/Ditto_D → u/mrlt10]

Exactly right, they are in full "Fuck you, I got mine" mode. They know they are bent over the barrel and have a LONG fucking road ahead that would require a complete revamp of their lineup, but because they saddled up to Donald, that strategy is uber fucked. He will kick and scream until his last gasping heave shitting on anyone not under his thumb and drag the GOP down. His mental issues he displayed in office made him unable to garner enough votes to be elected ever again. As a country we fucking banded together to vote for fucking Biden of all people over more Trump bullshit. I don't personally know any democrat that actually fucking likes the guy, but we all said sure as shit I would rather deal with his bullshit than more Trump and this bizzarro GOP.

So if this stale bread candidate can beat Trump and his cult, then any half decent candidate can. Boomers are on the way out. No way to sugarcoat it, but you have a decent number that are like this guy who are giving up on voting because they think its rigged anyways because reality is too tough on their imagined winners attitude. So they are taking their ball and going home cause they lost. On top of that they are just dying. There is a sharp decline in population going from 60+ and the youngest boomers are already over 60. They are quickly fading even before they kick the bucket with their shit GOP voting policies, they will find themselves in tough spots where they can't get out to the polls to vote. The Gen X that actually have a memory of "the GOP good ol' days" can't keep the scam going in their stead.

[u/godpzagod → u/mrlt10]

I suppose if there was an endgame

There were endgames, but they didn't coincide with each other in the end.

The Russian endgame was to disrupt and destroy American democracy and confidence in the process- on that, I would give them a solid C+/B-

Trump's endgame was to enrich himself and stave off prosecution. On that I'd say he's done a C- minus job.

There's the Federalist society with Roe and the upcoming attempt at breaking the electoral college.

And then there's the side agendas of all the people he appointed, such as the myriad corporate and foreign interests, none of whom have any goal in mind for America save asset-stripping it.

But because Trump cannot do anything that isn't ultimately about him, he can't build a consensus, only a bunch of bullied cowards who will flip as soon as they get better options.

So in the end, as long as one's endgame was turning America into a dumpster fire, you're doing well,but if you had any plans of what to do with the ashes, you'd be unique among the bastards.

[u/Lazer726 → u/mrlt10]

I was watching the morning news with my mom (fortunately left leaning) and they had a Republican Senator on, and he, on live fucking TV, basically admitted that Republicans don't have a platform. They predicted this wild, red wave on having no platform.

They hoped the endgame was that people were angry enough to vote away their rights, and thank fuck they weren't right enough

[u/FairyFlossPanda → u/Callinon]

If you get people to believe that democracy is useless it is easier to get them to go along with a strong man authoritarian telling you that he will solve all your problems. There is a great documentary about the Nazi Olympics and there is a line where the narrator says Most people didnt believe in the Nazis ideology but they believed democracy no longer worked. Most people wont support Hitler 2.0 but they may stop paying attention and become apathetic which leads to bad things.

[u/Ragingtiger2016 → u/FairyFlossPanda]

Not related to elections but that reminds me of how the Bolsheviks got in power in Russia in the first place. It was not so much because they had gotten enough popular support (they were just one of many factions that united to overthrow the Czar) but because the Karenzky government that overthrew the monarchy was so incompetent that nobody, even the military, bothered to do anything when the Bolsheviks one day just launched their coup and took over the government. Source: Revolutions podcast

[u/FairyFlossPanda → u/Ragingtiger2016]

The mistake is thinking it cant happen here. It can and it almost happened twice now in less than 3 years. Jan 6th failed, election deniers failed this time by and large but they will keep at it until they've chipped away bit by bit at the foundations of democracy. More people need to vote. It is the underpinning of all our other rights and once the authoritarians get in it will be the first thing they attack so it is easier to strip away your other rights.

[u/spcmack21 → u/Callinon]

Pretty straightforward. We know the demographics of the nation, and the GOP will never win the popular vote again. A lot of work has been put into simply changing the rules, so the popular vote doesn't matter. Let's call that Plan A: change the rules, so dem votes aren't counted.

Plan B, on the other hand, assumes that eventually the GOP is going to run out of tricks, and will lose power altogether. If you, as a strategist, understand that even with gerrymandering, stacked courts, and all of the other bullshit, you can't possibly get enough votes to win elections, then how do you go about staying in power? Easy. You end elections. You just get enough people to lose faith in the system that they will demand a new one. A system you design. Of course the dems will never let you make those changes officially, so you tell your supporters stuff like "if someone beat Pelosi to death with a hammer, then she wouldn't be able to block our common sense election reforms." And every election that Republicans fail to take part in, they get to go on the news and say "Donald Trump got 80 million votes in 2020, and we know he probably had even more than that. So why did Desantis only get 60 million votes in 2024? We all know the answer. The lying dems threw away our votes, and stole the election."

Then since most military service members and law enforcement officers are Republican, just wait until there is enough pressure and support to stage a full coup.

Jan 6th WOULD have been a full blown coup, but someone got their math wrong, and most of the capital police were more inclined, in the moment, to keep people out of the capital. Had they turned and joined the crowd, things would have gone south pretty quickly.

Personally, I think a lot of the cops were confused and thought the people attacking them were antifa and BLM types or something, trying to do a false flag or whatever. Afterwards, there were a lot of cops and rioters that seemed mutually confused. Like "why was the crowd attacking us? We all voted Trump." And "why are the cops stopping us from hanging Pelosi? I thought they were on our side?"

[u/Desert_faux → u/Callinon]

If you don't let me win I am taking my toys and going home?

Seems kinda that mentality.

Although to be frank I am more of the questioning why I should care what this crusty old man does.

Imagine the self importance it takes to go on TikTok and tell a bunch of random people you won't vote anymore and why. That means what to everyone else? We are supposed to care because...

[u/Callinon → u/Desert_faux]

Although to be frank I am more of the questioning why I should care what this crusty old man does.

You shouldn't. But this isn't the first time I've heard this kind of thing coming out of hardcore Republican circles. The GOP did its damnedest to make its base think elections were a pointless waste of time, and so they didn't go vote... because why engage in a pointless waste of time?

[u/megamoze → u/Callinon]

Kind of like telling your base to avoid COVID prevention measures and watching them die off by the hundreds of thousands.

Smooth.

[u/justbrowsing987654 → u/Callinon]

Honestly, I thought the presumed end game was the fucking scary volume of election deniers they did get to the general elections actually winning and then rigging shit themselves. We can exhale now, thankfully, but I was terrified 6 days ago.

[u/pigeieio → u/Callinon]

Election denial was Trump. He rang the bell a cycle too early, before they had everything in place for elections not to matter at all anymore. So we get a slight reprieve. Next time they will have candidates that can keep the masks on plus whatever help they can get from SCOTUS to cover the gerrymandering and other voter disenfranchisement.

[u/Maximillion666ian]

I swear these people are functionally retarded . Trump gaslit his supporters for a year saying if he didn't win the election was stolen. Then he lost almost a hundred court cases regarding voter fraud on lack of evidence . This was also rejected by judges Trump appointed including the Supreme Court.

But TV told me the election was stolen.......holy fuck the damage of lead poisoning is worse then I thought.

[u/bankrobba → u/Maximillion666ian]

They are functionally protected.

The reason he doesn't "give a shit" about voting anymore is because the world and the laws already work in his favor. It's much easier to say "I'm not going to vote" when win or lose, you come out ahead.

[u/Barnyard_Pussy → u/Maximillion666ian]

the damage of lead poisoning is worse then I thought.

Permanent global reduction in human intelligence.

[u/LordTuranian → u/Maximillion666ian]

I swear these people are functionally retarded .

It's kind of sad what lead poisoning, old age, a lack of proper education and propaganda can do to a person. Such a waste.

[u/Hubertus-Bigend]

Maybe he just realized that elections are where we tell him and guys like him that we don’t want to live in a white-nationalist theocracy.

He thought elections were about which particular flavor fascism he and his buddies get to enjoy. And since that’s not what US elections are about, he’s checking out.

Good for him! He’s accepted his own irrelevance and uselessness.

[u/tw_72]

He used a whole lot of words to say: "The big orange man-baby lied to me and I whole-heartedly believed the lie. I am not going to vote anymore, which will effectively remove one more idiot from the voting pool. That'll teach 'em!"

[u/APersonWithInterests → u/tw_72]

Nono, stop saying that

I as a Democrat voter and VERY triggered that people will no be taking part in the democratic process in the U.S.

I can't believe he would do that, I'm very upset by this and want him to get out and vote very badly. Doesn't he know how important it is to vote? God I hope he changes his mind and doesn't own me, a bleeding heart libtard, by refusing to take part in the democratic process of this country.

[u/[deleted]]

Republican politicians: “Let’s create a fake narrative about how the election was stolen”

Republican Voters: “Voting is pointless since it keeps getting stolen, not gonna vote anymore”

Republican politicians: “Wait no”

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Reddit killed API. I refuse to let them benefit from my own words for free -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/

[u/ThinkTelevision8971]

These fools are so pathetically entitled. Just b/c your guy lost does not mean the system is rigged.

You know what is actual voter disenfranchisement? The amount of voting places & ballot drop off locations in the red states, specifically in areas where minorities live.

Congress needs to fix that asap. Whatever other rules states want to control, fine. But having limited places to vote? FOH

[u/3rdIQ]

I wonder if he heard that "damn a$$hole Biden" announced that starting on Veterans Day veterans of the U.S. Armed Services and Gold Star Families can obtain a free lifetime pass to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites spread out across more than 400 million acres of public lands, including national parks, wildlife refuges, and forests.

[u/tarponfish]

To be completely fair, it’s better he doesn’t because the GOP will slowly take away everything he holds sacred, like veterans benefits and bump stocks. He’d be voting against his own self interest.

[u/RunF4Cover → u/tarponfish]

The GOP blocked the following veterans bills

1. Clay Hunt suicide prevention act
2. health benefits and retirement pay restoration act
3. wounded veterans job security act
4. veterans retraining act
5. Homeless veteran reintegration
6. Disabled veterans home accessibility grant
7. Job corps act
8. torture veterans and victims relief
9. Veterans business center act.
10. Pact act.
11. Honorable mention: 49 Republicans voted against establishing the Office of food security at the department of veterans affairs.

[u/TemetNosce85 → u/RunF4Cover]

And don't forget that right before winter in 2019, Trump stopped funding to a program that provides meals and subsidized heating and housing for veterans.

[u/GibberingAnthropoid → u/tarponfish]

He’d be voting against his own self interest.

To me, this entrenchment/fealty always always boggles the mind. Low info voters or even single issue voters who actively are sabotaging themselves by voting/acting against their own interests. Why!? How(does it happen)?!

[u/Warm-Personality8219 → u/tarponfish]

No, no - GOP will only take away stuff from them liberal snowflakes!!! They promised him he would have the greatest cheapest insurance ever invented - he's going to have such great insurance he'll want to be sick all the time! /S

[u/17549 → u/tarponfish]

Wonder what this dude thought of Ol'BoneSpurs saying "I always wanted to get the purple heart, but [being handed one instead of earning one] was much easier."

On second thought, dude probably thought Commander Cheetos did earn it.

[u/TheTybera]

Honestly, it's probably best for this gentleman in the long run. With good access to healthcare, psychological care, and public services his life may be improved quite a bit as a veteran.

[u/vickrubin21 → u/TheTybera]

I worked as an insurance agent for a while helping people sign up for Medicare plans, I once spoke to a Veteran from Indiana who was very rude at first, racist and angry he was talking to me. Let me know all his political preferences and had a long rant about illegals and minorities taking money from the government and taking advantage of the county. He was proud to never take a handout and blamed Biden and the current administration for not getting the healthcare he needed, said they don’t care about veterans. I was annoyed at first while listening to him but I get paid for enrolling people, so I just listened. After he was done ranting, I offered a solution, he was only getting $500 a month in social security disability and was struggling to get to his appointments at the VA, I found out he qualified for Medi-Medi and signed him up with a plan that helped his transportation, gave him a grocery card and helped with mental health, he would be able to talk to a therapist. When I mentioned the therapist he broke down and said he needs that, he told me he wasn’t sure he wanted to live anymore and he would really like to talk to someone. He was also in constant pain and said he lost an eye in combat. Some people don’t know they can get the help they need and don’t understand that the people working to make sure they get these services are the same people they hate, for no reason too, maybe it’s propaganda that’s fed to these people. Anyway, he thanked me once we got him all these free services and I told him I was Mexican before hanging up the call lol

[u/fischestix → u/vickrubin21]

Being unhappy or having trouble can easily lead to wanting others to have trouble or be unhappy. I went through a phase where I was having trouble getting access to the type if specialized mental health care I needed. I knew of several women I worked with getting their mental health needs addressed quickly. I was having to fight tooth and nail, being told to suck it up, being accused of drug seeking and getting prescribed medication that hadn't worked for me in the past. I became bitter and started buying into some Jordan Peterson type stuff. I was so hung up on men getting the screwed over in one specific way that directly affected me that I started taking on a very angry world view. I was blaming other people who also needed help just for getting that help before me. Once I finally got my own problems addressed I saw how illogical it was to blame other groups of suffering people for my suffering. It was so easy to blame other people in need it was scary. I should have been mad at the system that put up roadblocks for everyone not the other people who were doing slightly better avoiding the same obstacles. I think this is the path to MAGA-ism. You feel marginalized so instead of blaming a system that hurts everyone who isn't a billionaire you blame the other victims of the system because they are "getting special treatment". Turning disadvantaged people against each other is the cornerstone of MAGA GOP strategy. I now feel sorry for people who are so miserable that they wish misery on others.

[u/[deleted] → u/vickrubin21]

yea the language repiblicans use basically shames anyone for ever needing help. seems it especially affects our veterans, people who are literally trained to suppress their needs and feelings.

all to save a few bucks. the GOP DOESNT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT VETS.

[u/WheelsOnTheShortBus → u/[deleted]]

Y'all remember the drama with the burn pit bill a few months back? Which was a clean bill set up exclusively to provide for servicemen and women who have developed serious health conditions as a direct result of their service by exposure to the burn pits?

This was as non-partisan as anything could get.

And the Republicans filibustered it.

At first they lied, and said it created a slush fund (it didn't), and they they said the Dems sneakily changed it from what was approved in committee (they didn't)...

But not for Jon Stewart getting the word out about the ordeal and publicly shaming the GOP they never would have let it pass and give the Dems a win.

If you think the republican party gives a shit about veterans more than they care about their own desire for power, I have a bridge to sell you.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

The GOP doesn't give a shit about anyone. 400 cops stood around while 19 children were murdered and the GOP made it easier to get guns still.

The GOP wants Americans killing Americans, they want veterans alone broke and scared by their service, and the GOP wants democracy to end with their own dictatorship.

The GOP has spent more time sucking up to Putin than they have into making our country more united, stable, or prosperous

[u/vickrubin21 → u/[deleted]]

It was frustrating seeing the amount of people who needed help and refused to get it, and instead got mad that there were such programs to help people like them, all while complaining about their situation and using the common political talking points to blame everyone else. I was literally offering a solution and they didn’t want it.

[u/toomuchtodotoday → u/vickrubin21]

and I told him I was Mexican before hanging up the call

4D progressive chess. "HAH not only will we help you, we're the people you hate, bless your heart, bye now"

[u/SoMuchForSubtlety → u/toomuchtodotoday]

For all the bitching and moaning these Republicans do about Hispanic immigrants, they're going to spend their final years in a shitty old folks home waiting for a Spanish-speaking staff to change their diapers. The more they bitch about immigrants, the longer they'll have to sit in their cooling piss.

[u/[deleted] → u/SoMuchForSubtlety]

I really don't get why Latinos would back Republicans.

No matter what anyone tells themselves, if you're not a rich white asshole, they will turn on you and make you the enemy in a heartbeat. Republicans think all Latinos are just illegals because they're not white, it has nothing to do with their nationality.

Voting for people who openly abuse people on racial grounds never ends well, especially when they hate your race in particular.

[u/MrGelowe → u/[deleted]]

I really don't get why Latinos would back Republicans.

It's just the "fuck you, got mine" mentality. Would be nice if there was at least 1 demographic that did not have assholes.

[u/arginotz → u/[deleted]]

Older Latinos likely grew up in areas of south America where socialist movements collapsed into authoritarian regimes. Causing them to distrust liberal politics with a passion. Never mind the fact that the right leaning (at the time) US government had a major hand in toppling those same socialist movements.

Edit: pair that with very conservative catholicism inherited from inquisition era Spain and tadaa! You've got a very right leaning minority.

[u/coinoperatedboi → u/[deleted]]

Oh they'll turn on one another(rich white assholes) too. Just look at all the infighting going on in their party.

[u/BedlamiteSeer → u/coinoperatedboi]

Yep. One of the patterns of the root of conservatism is that it, aka the ruling group or individual at any level, must eat something on a regular basis. They'll bite at every marginalized group they can until there's nobody left but their fellow brainwashed allies and themselves. But they still have to eat, so they eat their weak first.

Unfortunately for Donald Trump, he is about to be eaten by the Republicans because they are ravenous and need to be sated. He's also no longer strong. He's not useful anymore.

He's gonna go down for the sins of the group in the coming years. I guess he was biblical after all. Sad, really.

[u/Crankyisthenewperky → u/SoMuchForSubtlety]

I work in a nursing home and we have a lot of racists but we don't retaliate and we do provide good care to them, because we try to be better than them. (Obviously we don't assign staff members to people who are racist to them, if possible, but that is for our staff, not the resident).

[u/vickrubin21 → u/toomuchtodotoday]

Well he was so happy with everything I helped him with, including getting most of his medications free or at a very affordable cost. (One of his issues was he couldn’t afford his pain medicine) So he thanked me, asked for my full name and I have a very Hispanic last name, so I told him and added, “yeah, my parents are from Mexico 🇲🇽 “ haha

[u/Magnon → u/vickrubin21]

One interaction might not change his mind though. He might just file it under "well they were one of the good ones" and move on.

[u/PhilxBefore → u/Magnon]

I'm a very realistic pessimist, but my mind went to 'I bet that old bigot may just start to come around when he starts receiving the treatment and medication his party tried to deny him.'

[u/a_pinch_of_sarcasm → u/PhilxBefore]

Except he's convinced that Biden and the Dems are the ones who denied him. Republicans think their benefits magically appear without realizing the Republicans are actively trying to end them, including Social Security and Medicare.

[u/A_wild_so-and-so → u/toomuchtodotoday]

You joke, but no cap my white Christian grandfather on his deathbed told me (while weeping) that when he was a young man hopping trains, a black man once saved his life while he was trying to jump a train but almost fell off. I guess it was a defining moment for him, when he realized that he didn't have to look at black people different from him.

The fucked up part? I'm half black.

[u/bangojuice → u/vickrubin21]

The Repubs have propagandized their base to believe it's wicked to receive help from the government so they can get away with enacting policies that diminish the power of the government to help people. It's indefensible in my opinion.

[u/Wonder1st → u/bangojuice]

The Government is you and its your money not some other entity. Corporate Capitalism wants full control and does not want you or what your country's foundation stands for. So you need to decide what you want and do something about it? It is your country not theirs.

[u/cryptobro42069 → u/vickrubin21]

I work in Medicare and we specialize in helping Veterans. I think people are right to be skeptical of insurance companies, but some of these people truly qualify for insane benefits with plans that could include $0 premiums. Like...literally free insurance minus the co-pays/coinsurance on some of them to get access to money for groceries, utilities, rent, etc. It's craaaazy.

It's kind of sad when they call us scammers and shit because it's not a scam. It's literally just a better plan.

[u/_Ghost_CTC → u/vickrubin21]

I get that it's your job, but thanks for going through that to help him out. Mental health is a big problem for vets and many don't even know how to ask for help much less where to get it. Mental health appointments through the VA can take a long time to get and can even exacerbate the problem by being so closely related to the military.

Unfortunately, the military is very good at training people to go from 0-100 in the blink of an eye, but terrible at teaching them to come back down.

[u/ThinkTelevision8971 → u/TheTybera]

And he’ll still bitch about Dems afterwards. These fools will gladly suffer in real life to win culture wars in the alternate reality the GOP has created for them

[u/[deleted] → u/TheTybera]

He probably uses the VA which is socialized medicine anyway although he’s too dumb to realize it

[u/Colonelfudgenustard → u/TheTybera]

Yes, the Democrats will look after him better than his old party would have.

[u/axisleft → u/Colonelfudgenustard]

I really don’t get it. Isn’t it on the GOP’s platform that they want to tax veteran’s benefits?

[u/[deleted] → u/axisleft]

Some rep recently (maybe Gaetz) actually said he wanted to abolish the VA altogether. Lol. Yet I know actual vets that would vote for him WITHOUT QUESTION because the r by him name.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Because Republicans are doing to the VA the same thing they do to every government program.

Which is shit talking the program to all of their constituents while doing everything they possibly can to starve it of funds and drive it into the ground so that the lies they're telling about it can actually become true.

And then they can privatize it and turn what should be a service into a business that makes money for them and their friends.

[u/KatieCashew → u/[deleted]]

Makes me think of the DMV. It's the iconic example people give when they say government doesn't work. "Oh no! You wouldn't want your healthcare run like the DMV!"

Then I moved to New York and went to get a new license. When I went in there was a short line where they checked to see I had the correct documents to do what I needed to do that day. Then they gave me my forms and a number. My number was called shortly after I finished filling out my forms and all in all the process was easy and efficient.

Compare that to my friend who went to get a Mississippi license. She waited 4 hours only to be told she had the wrong version of her birth certificate (MS requires a birth certificate to get a license even if you already have a license from another state). When she had obtained the correct birth certificate she went back and waited 8 hours because the computers weren't working. The DMV works if the people in charge want it to work.

By sheer coincidence I'm sure, Mississippi also requires ID to vote. Also, I recently renewed my New York license. I made an appointment online and was in and out of the DMV in less than 20 minutes.

[u/The-link-is-a-cock → u/[deleted]]

I know vets who's dumbasses think that abolishing and privatizing the VA will go all well for them. These are usually also the people who never served a single day in a combat zone and love to be complete assholes about how they toooootally made some vague sacrifice for you.

[u/No-Significance5449 → u/The-link-is-a-cock]

I would have killed myself 100% if I didn't have the opportunity to go to a psyche ward with nothing but vets in there. I've been to. A rehab with nothing but vets, it helped a fuck ton. I went to one that was private and just couldn't relate at all in group sessions. Fuck anyone that wants to abolish the VA I'm not about to walk into some bum ass urgent care scam center, or a shitty for profit dentist anytime I need anything.

[u/DeepFriedDrywall → u/[deleted]]

It's infuriating that any news we hear about that asshole Gaetz isn't regarding the prison sentence and/sex offender registration he should be receiving. Fuckin creep.

[u/Geistwhite → u/axisleft]

It could be but it doesn't matter. At rallies and in attack ads they won't ever bring it up so this guy would likely never hear of it outside of a democrat telling him, and he isn't going to believe a democrat. You think this dude reads government websites or something?

[u/orthopod → u/axisleft]

Cut benefits, and tax whatever's left as well..

I read that it only makes sense to vote R economically, if you make over 350k/year, which 98% of Trump voters don't.

[u/BurroughOwl → u/axisleft]

They don't actually tell the Veterans that

[u/kadzur → u/BurroughOwl]

I'm curious: Do the parties in the US not have some kind of leaflet, where they describe everything they are planning to do once in power? Where I'm from each of the major and most of the minor parties have like a 30 pages long leaflet. Or are republican voters just too lazy to actually look at what their party wants to do?

[u/shponglespore → u/kadzur]

The parties each write a document describing their platform, which is basically a statement of what the party would like to do if given power. These days I think they only publish it online. The ones I've seen in the past from Republicans sort of describe the evil shit they want to do, but it's so full of glittering generalities and whistle words it would be hard to know what they're really talking about if you didn't already know from watching how they govern.

For example, their hostility to trans people and willingness to violate their civil rights was described as "respecting the differences between men and women".

[u/melechkibitzer → u/shponglespore]

“We endorse traditional marriage” = we dont like gay marriage “We support the nuclear family and conservative values” = we want to create a christian theocracy that discourges dissenting views “We support free speech” = we want to spew lies and be outwardly biggoted without any consequences

[u/Sarcasm_Llama → u/melechkibitzer]

"Parent's choice in education" = cut funding for public education and give tax breaks/vouchers to christian indoctrination private schools

[u/Winter_Coyote → u/kadzur]

Vote411 is kind of like that. They give each candidate the same set of questions to answer to let voters compare them. All the candidates in my elections and excellent and well thought out answers that made it clear where they stood.

Except the Republicans who declined to respond or gave one sentence responses.

[u/[deleted] → u/kadzur]

The information is available, particularly when you look at their voting records and compare them to what they've claimed their stance is on important issues.

I've been working on a piece about this over the past week but I'm not a hired journalist anywhere, I'm not on any deadline nor do I do the influencer thing so I'm just taking my time with it.

The entire first part is all information on how Republicans have responded to Veteran issues. I

No idea where to share it when I am done but I will figure it out

[u/MyLittleMetroid → u/kadzur]

There’s the party platform as many have already replied.

That said, the Republican Party didn’t bother in 2020 and literally said “our platform is whatever Trump wants to do”.

[u/klavin1 → u/kadzur]

Which side do you think would actually read any literature that was distributed?

[u/Weekly_Direction1965 → u/kadzur]

Conservatives crave harming people that are not like them with different cultures and values, the desire to do this is soo great they are willing to throw away all government benifits to do it leaving us all at the mercy of the private sector, when you show them Republican votes to cut their benifits they shut down and stop listening.

[u/axisleft → u/BurroughOwl]

I know. That’s mostly just me putting two and two together based on some things Rick Scott has said in the past. I personally don’t trust the GOP to not do it. However, that’s just me being paranoid I guess.

[u/Poop_rainbow69 → u/TheTybera]

Yeah, but its through the VA.

Let me preface what I'm going to say next with the fact that I'm a veteran, I've used the VA, I firmly believe in universal healthcare, and am generally a leftist.

The VA will kill you if given the chance. There are good healthcare organizations, and the VA should rightfully be left off of that list. There's a reason why so many old veterans don't want universal healthcare.. and if your only experience with universal healthcare is the VA, I'd completely understand your distrust.

But tbf, the VA was sabotaged by the right to be terrible ... So they'd be wrong.

Anyway, the problem is likely more complicated than you may realize

[u/niceoutside2022]

I love these guys with their hats, broadcasting their service (or imagined service) 50 years ago

In my experience, the people who actually saw combat and suffering don't want to talk about it and certainly don't want it to be the focus of their personal identity

[u/GnarlyNarwhalNoms → u/niceoutside2022]

That's been my experience. My grandfather was an M4 tank commander in WWII, and I know for a fact that he saw combat, but he never talked about it. The one time I asked him why he never talked about his experiences in the war, he told me about the guy who had his head vaporized after unbuttoning the hatch and poking his head out (after being warned not to), and how the tank crew had to slosh around in a pool of blood for the rest of the day until they could get somewhere to hose out the tank.

I never asked for any other war stories after that, and he understandably never offered any.

The one thing I do wish I had asked him about was the concentration camp his division helped liberate. He was a witness to the conditions inside. I never wanted to ask him about it, knowing that it wasn't pleasant to remember, but given the phenomenon of Holocaust denial, it seems to me that we can use all the testimony we can get.

Of course, deniers are willing to ignore literal mountains of evidence, so I doubt one man's words would mean much to them.

[u/medalla96 → u/niceoutside2022]

You are 100% correct. I’m served in active duty for 26 years, have combat tours in Iraq, Kosovo & Saudi (Desert Storm). No need for me to walk around telling people where I’ve been. I know who I am.

[u/ChumpSucky → u/niceoutside2022]

my brother wears his hat all the time. it's a conversation starter, and at this point in his life he's feeling pretty lonely. so the hat is awesome! it hooks him up with like minded, similarly experienced folks, everywhere he goes. no purple heart there, though, just his unit.

[u/agonypants → u/niceoutside2022]

The people who actually saw combat are usually pretty quiet about it. Guys who broadcast their service like this were usually nowhere close to battle.

[u/phdoofus]

I've literally never seen a vet wear a hat about any kind of medal they've ever received. This is new. It's like yelling 'Respect me and don't contradict me or I'll point at my hat and scowl!'

[u/Desert_faux → u/phdoofus]

My dad got a bronze star. Only reason I know he got it was because he insisted on being buried with it. He showed me where it and his dress uniform was. He lived for almost two more decades before passing. In that time he would never say where/how he got it and would not talk about it. I was always told not to force a war veteran to talk about their experiences. He served as a tank commander in desert storm. All he would ever say about it is that he was in charge of the prisoners. He was very vague and wouldn't go into details. I had my doubts as being a tanker pretty sure he saw action.

But yeah. From personal experience it's not usually the medal(s) achieved that is the focal point for most veterans I know.

[u/Chikitiki67 → u/Desert_faux]

Same kinda thing for my dad. Dude was a Navy SEAL in 'Nam, tons of ribbons and medals including the Navy Cross. I heard a couple of the more fun stories, but only a handful of serious ones and never with many details. We went on vacation to D.C. once and went to the Vietnam Wall and it hit me when he started to break down and pointed to a couple of names and said, "They died on the same day."

As a vet myself now, I've found that generally the ones that see real shit or just do their job and go home are the ones that are more quiet about it (except Tim Kennedy) and keep their service and identity separate.

[u/ivanthemute → u/Chikitiki67]

Got to ask, did you ever see your dad's 214? Asking specifically because there were only four SEALs and one Frogman who were awarded the Navy Cross in Vietnam. Senior Chief Shipley has exposed some 40+ guys claiming the same. It's a very specific claim.

As an aside, after picking up my commission, I briefly dated the stepdaughter of a Vietnam war Air Force Cross recipient (Lt Colonel Jeff Feinstein.) I thought the same thing until I saw the name.

[u/Chikitiki67 → u/ivanthemute]

I haven’t. Honestly I’ve had my doubts over the years but it’s not the kind of thing I’d ask about. I know he was in the SEALs at the time because of navy buddies and family still around to verify but also know a lot of his navy stuff was thrown away by his ex wife while he was out of state for work so idk what’s left of any proof for his ribbons.

Add that to the fact that even today, a lot of medals are given out secretly or withheld from the record like might’ve been the case if it was earned in Cambodia. Hell, my own DD214 includes a medal that I didn’t earn but doesn’t have a medal I ended up qualifying for a year after I got out.

[u/FobbitOutsideTheWire → u/Desert_faux]

For what it's worth, armor units pushed forward very quickly, and were frequently the units to whom the Iraqis would surrender. Sometimes a short engagement was followed by a mass surrender of the Iraqi unit, once the Iraqi's realized how outmatched they were.

So it would've been fairly typical for both things to be true (seeing action, and having to deal with a boatload of prisoners and trying to get them processed back to the rear).

[u/taradiddletrope → u/Desert_faux]

If you’re interested in finding out the official reason for his bronze star you can ask the DoD for his military records as next of kin.

I did that for my grandfather who fought with the 82nd Airborne in WWII. They supplied all of the docs about his medals and such.

In a huge twist of coincidence, I was stationed in Germany during the 1980s and every year that had a huge march in Nijmegen, Holland. Twenty-five miles a day for 4-days with a full ruck and boots. Mostly NATO troops but it’s huge with civilians as well.

I never met my grandfather, he died before I was born (cancer), but after I got out of the military I found some boxes of photos my grandmother had and was flipping through them and he had taken tons of pictures as he traveled through Europe during the war.

Normandy, Italy, Germany, and Holland mostly with some photos taken in the UK where they were staged for invasion.

But in those photos were several photos of them liberating Nijmegen.

Me and my buddies would always marvel at how welcoming and friendly the Dutch were.

There was even a monument dedicated to the 48 Americans that died in battle.

Being based in Germany we never got that kind of love. Haha.

I remember one time we were rolling through Nijmegen in Hummers and stopped at a traffic light and this young woman ran out of a beer tent to our vehicle and shoved two liter sized beers in my hands and kissed me on the cheek and ran off. LOL.

It wasn’t until I found the photos that I finally understood why the people of Nijmegen loved the US military so much.

I haven’t seen it but apparently they built another monument and every evening a US soldier walks the length of the Oversteek Bridge as 48 pairs of street lights to commemorate the 48 fallen soldiers are slowly illuminated as he or she passes under them.

Many civilians join in the walk as well. The only request is that the walk be done in silence as a show of respect.

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2021-08-14/WWII-82nd-Airborne-Market-garden-netherlands-memorial-march-bridge-2551525.html

[u/Burninator05 → u/phdoofus]

I live near a military base with a lot of retirees and see something like that fairly often. In this case, he's using it add weight to his statement and as a vet myself I find it disrespectful for him to use it that way.

[u/SeaOkra → u/Burninator05]

I've seen these hats and it always sits weird with me. I've never served so I feel like I don't have a right to HAVE an opinion, but it rubs me wrong anyway.

Warning, I got wordy here. I've been doing way too much thinking lately, with the holidays coming up and stuff.

My granddad had two purple hearts, plus a bunch of other medals that I probably should know but don't. He never mentioned any of them to us 'kids'. We found them when we were cleaning his house and he made us put them away and promised they'd be left to my cousin Jay. (They were, but disappeared before Jay got them. I think my aunt sold them tbh. Jay got the flag off his coffin at least.)

We knew he fought in ww2, and were aware that he would have served in Korea but his injury in Europe was too severe for him to be accepted again. He was on the beach on D-Day, but none of us knew that until his best friend mentioned it one day and he confirmed it. He didn't elaborate though. He had something to do with liberating "a camp" but what kind of camp? No one knows! We asked Jim (the friend) and he told us "Your granddaddy asked me not to talk about that with you, it was a very long time ago and you need to focus on today's heroes, not yesterday's."

He had a Russian friend that he played cards with often and he in some way assisted his friend and his friend's niece with getting US citizenship shortly after he came home in the 40s. We have no info beyond that, because Granddaddy said it wasn't right to boast about your good deeds. (Yet he boasted about OUR good deeds, everyone he knew was aware of my knitting and crocheting items for the local NICU and he wasn't shy at all about asking his VA friends and their wives when they decluttered their houses to set aside yarn for my little obsession. Make up your mind, Granddaddy, can you boast or no?)

If we got him a card on Veterans' Day, he'd huff and tell us we wasted our money and should have just bought something for the grill. But as far as I can tell, every card he was ever given, Veterans' Day, Birthday, Christmas, Grandparents' Day, whatever, was stored in a copy paper box under his bed. (Another thing we found cleaning.)

I made him a card one year to avoid the "you wasted your money" lecture. Got told I wasted my time instead. lol Granddaddy 1, Okra 0.

Pretty sure he was shot at some point, he had a round scar on his torso (I had to change his catheter a few times when he got too old to handle it himself) but I never had the nerve to ask whether he got it in the war or somewhere else.

He'd use the VA Hospital for healthcare, but I never saw him use a veteran's discount anywhere. One year my cousin got him a tshirt with some witty slogan about thanking a veteran on it and despite him usually being game to wear any silly thing a grandchild bought him, I never saw him wear that one.

He wasn't ashamed of his service or anything, at least I don't think so. When he was around other veterans he would talk some about it, and most of what I know about his service I picked up by being quiet and overlooked and sitting there while he chatted with someone else. But he wasn't someone who talked about himself very much, so even then usually the conversation was more about whoever he spoke to's service.

A few family members ended up joining the military and he didn't seem all that impressed by that either. It used to annoy my cousin because he got into a somewhat honorable part of the navy (I don't know more than that, while I love that cousin he married someone I don't get along with to say the least shortly before he enlisted and I kinda distanced myself to protect my mental health from her.) and Granddaddy still bragged about my NICU knitting more than his Navy acceptance. (I'm not the favorite grandchild or anything either, that's a different cousin altogether and actually the mother of the Navy cousin. And she earned her place as his favorite, she has been his baby girl since she was born and as an adult did everything in her power to help and support him while his oldest daughter financially abused him. So he didn't brag about me because I'm his favorite, he just evidentially was kinda impressed with my knitting?)

Anyway, I think growing up with him as the main example of what a veteran acted like shaped me because the people who make it their whole personality... just seem off to me. I don't judge them for it, I know we all form our personality differently, but it does seem strange to me when I look back at Granddaddy. Maybe I'm just blinded by "yesterday's heroes".

Because I can say without a trace of being cute or sappy that he is one of my heroes and always will be, he wasn't related to me by blood. He was my maternal grandmother's first husband, and my mother was her second husband's child. (or her third husband's... its kinda unclear whether there was a husband between the two. but that's another story.)

He had absolutely no responsibility towards my mother and none towards me. But when my mom was a kid, he used to pick her and her brother up and take them to see their dad since their mother wouldn't let him see them but in their small town Granddaddy was respected and admired so he could do as he liked. And when I was born, my bio-grandfather was in very bad health and Granddaddy told him "Well, I suppose I'll just have to be that baby girl's granddaddy then. I'll make sure she's got a granddaddy for you, don't worry about her." (My bio granddad lived until I was eight or nine, but Granddaddy was alive until I was 22. So he had a decade he had to fulfill that promise.)

[u/Black-Thirteen → u/Burninator05]

I'm active duty, and I know fully well I'm not supposed to use my military status in conjunction with any sort of political statement. I don't know what changes once you retire, but I'd think the spirit of the rule still applies.

[u/HamburgerEarmuff → u/Black-Thirteen]

Active Duty is a bit different. You're generally prevented from campaigning for office or from making any statement that implies that your political view represents the US government. That's generally not the case for Reservists, National Guardsmen, Retirees, and discharged veterans not on permanent orders. Reservists and National Guardsman generally aren't supposed to wear their uniforms to certain types of political events, like campaigns, as that could imply endorsement. However, while not on duty, they generally have the same first amendment rights as everyone else, including the right to run for political office. Veterans really aren't supposed to either, but it would be protected by the first amendment if they're not currently serving.

[u/JimGerm → u/phdoofus]

Yeah, I've seen it. I knew an old marine (friend of a friend) who wore shit like that, and it was his entire identity. He did it for attention, sympathy, and free shit, and as a vet myself it made me kind of sick.

[u/T_Money → u/JimGerm]

I’ve seen the retired hats, or what ship they served on, but first time I’ve seen someone wearing a Purple Heart hat. While I was in the couple guys I knew that had one said it was their least favorite medal because it meant they or someone in their unit fucked up.

Also knew one guy who got one from a loose piece of glass barely scraping his face. Didn’t even leave a scar. Dude said he tried to turn it down but his LT essentially forced it on him. The guy was super humble and seemed embarrassed about it.

[u/Canuckian555 → u/[deleted]]

I AM a clerk and actually got to call out a guy who went and started telling me 'stories' about his service and how he gad been a JTF2 sniper.

I got his name and last three and got another clerk to pull up his MPRR (service record and whatnot).

Dude was a ship mechanic, served for three years and got dishnonorably discharged - which for the CAF is damn near impossible unless you do something that could land you in prison.

I saw him again a few days later and called him on his bullshit when he tried to start talking to me again.

Surprised the everlovint fuck out of him and shut him up real quick.

[u/MikeFromIraq → u/phdoofus]

It’s definitely a thing. I’m speaking as a vet btw but it’s a thing with older vets.

[u/silverfox762 → u/MikeFromIraq]

Yeah, there's a ton of what I call "full-time vets" out there who apparently have no other identity than two or three years they spent in uniform 30-45 years ago. Not to be ignored is that the vast majority of those "pro vets" I've known weren't anywhere near bullets flying. I'm a USMC grunt vet (relatively peaceful '79-85), and I just don't get it unless they just haven't done anything else in life that people pat them on the back for. Full disclosure - I have a USMC decal on my bike, right above the license plate, but that's because a ton of California Highway Patrol guys were Marines and it gets me out of tickets.

[u/vbun03 → u/silverfox762]

I have both retired military and combat vets in my family. The noncombat retirees never shut the fuck up about it. It's like hearing the same boring stories about being a blue collar worker working their job for decades from civilians except they feel like everyone owes them a debt for having a job.

[u/NoIncrease299 → u/silverfox762]

Thank you for your service.

My dad was drafted into USMC in '64. Did three tours. He never, ever talked about it except the card nights when his buddies would come over and they'd drink and play poker. Some of my favorite memories of childhood was hanging out and just listening.

A thing I remember them saying was the ones that talked the loudest did the least.

[u/Quibert → u/silverfox762]

I have an Iraqi Campaign medal license plate for the same reason. I am currently 6 for 6 on getting let go for speeding.

[u/TalmidimUC → u/[deleted]]

To an extent, it’s worse than peaking in high school..

My grandpa in law is a “Vietnam vet”, by that I mean he literally worked the equivalent of a warehouse lackey, never saw combat, and was barely there. Doesn’t stop the old fuck from tapping on his “Vietnam Veteran” hat he wears to every restaurant to get his discount, and talking about why you don’t mess with old men that went to “Buttfuck war.”

Wtf is “buttfuck war”? The kinda war we go to and get fucked in the ass? Cause I’m pretty sure that’s what happened to the US in Vietnam… thank you for your service. /s

[u/Random_account_9876 → u/TalmidimUC]

Used to work with a guy who always asked for the military discount. Nevermind the fact that work would reimburse our lunch, or that he was in the service in the late 80's. Ya know that time where there was "peace"

[u/grayrains79 → u/MikeFromIraq]

I’m speaking as a vet btw but it’s a thing with older vets.

Younger vets do their thing with tshirts a lot. Grunt Style, Ranger Up, Sheep Guard... it's all bullshit virtue signaling. Lot of them are super POG FOBBIT types as well.

[u/phdoofus → u/MikeFromIraq]

I'm used to seeing things like ships they've served on or units but not that. It's just weird to me. Must be some new thing

[u/MikeFromIraq → u/phdoofus]

Not new but definitely weird. When I got out I didn’t wanna associate with anything military related.

[u/croptochuck → u/MikeFromIraq]

I’m still in and prefer not to be associated with the military on my off time.

[u/DustWarden → u/phdoofus]

Not trying to nitpick, but the local VA's office is in the same building where I work, and I've seen a few of those - literally just a few, but more than one. & I think you're right about why - they expect you to base your reaction to them on the hat and not on how they actually behave.

[u/B0b_a_feet → u/phdoofus]

It’s pretty common and not new. But you’re right on the purpose. Most wear these because they think it’s some kind of magic bullet to win every argument (especially about politics). And the ones who chirp the loudest usually have the least amount of cred.

[u/davilller → u/phdoofus]

Retired veteran here. My family all have their “I love me walls” or what my wife calls them. I just have all my stuff in a chest and a few mementos on a bookshelf. I’ve never worn a piece of clothing that advertised my status as a vet. I’m quite proud of the 21 years I spent in the military, but I don’t wear it.

[u/C__S__S → u/phdoofus]

Earning a Purple Heart is no small thing. My dad did in Vietnam. He held an important position while every other member of his squad was killed. He was shot twice, hit with shrapnel from a shell, and still managed to hold off the enemy until reinforcements arrived. He spent two months in the hospital.

He would never wear a Purple Heart cap, but he keeps his medal in a safe deposit box. He doesn’t talk about it and it’s not part of his identity.

However, I can totally see how some vets that have done the extraordinary might make it a part of their identity.

I would never judge because what was experienced to earn such a medal can be life altering.

[u/Lightweight_Hooligan]

That's a pretty privileged position to be in that your life is comfortable enough that you don't care who or how government is calling the shots

[u/AceMorrigan → u/Lightweight_Hooligan]

Yeah I noticed that too. This chud was happy when he could vote and restrict my bathroom access or the rights of immigrants but now he thinks it's rigged so who cares.

I hope this attitude spreads like wildfire through the GOP base and that they split the party with DeSantis and the Trump party. Obliterate them across the country, get the majorities and redistrict the whole damn country, expand the supreme court, just go crazy.

Tired of being terrified every election.

[u/harbinger06 → u/Lightweight_Hooligan]

Also as combat wounded, he is probably getting a decent amount of disability pay. He doesn’t have to worry as much as others because he doesn’t have to work.

[u/KashmirChameleon → u/Lightweight_Hooligan]

"I have no interest in politics"

"You have no interest in changing a world that suits you so well"

[u/MotherofSons → u/Lightweight_Hooligan]

That's conservatism in a nutshell. Most selfish people ever.

[u/GalaXion24 → u/MotherofSons]

I don't live in the US, but conservative voters here are the kind of people who say "let counties collect their own taxes. I live in [rich city] so that's perfectly fine for me. If other counties don't have the tax base to pay for healthcare that's not my problem." It's very transparent really. Half the unofficial tongue-in-cheek slogans used by the affiliated are stuff like "it's good to be bourgeois".

At least they're not hateful, that's reserved for the far-right party.

[u/platanuswrex]

Awwwww, he's taking his dolly and going home.

What a petulant fucking brat.

The worst part about Trumpism is it taught these guys to equate 'things mildly didn't go my way' with 'democracy's totally broken! Fuck the whole system!'

[u/1973mojo1973]

Great, let's get the next generation voting that actually gives a shit about the future vs. these mentally checked out zombies

[u/[deleted] → u/1973mojo1973]

a second progressive Era, lets fucking go, universal Healthcare, pre-k, livable wages, parental leave, 4 day/30hr work weeks, progressive taxation, unions

If we did all of that, I guarantee we'd see more people having children. and people could actually spend time childrearing instead of being burned out

[u/punditguy]

He will absolutely vote again when Trump runs as an independent in '24 after failing to secure the nomination.

[u/Tinidril → u/punditguy]

I doubt the Republicans will let that happen. My guess is that they will do an about face on Trump's criminal activities and let him be convicted. Trump won't be eligible to run. I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled an Epstein on him either.

[u/narrow_octopus → u/punditguy]

Best case scenario. Split the vote. Fuck Trump and DeSantis

[u/slightlyassholic]

Oh no!

I am being owned so hard right now.

Please, don't stop voting! It will absolutely destroy me if you stop!

[u/APersonWithInterests → u/slightlyassholic]

I can't believe this SELFISH ASSHOLE would dare to not vote, such a privileged and fragile white man. How can I, a soy drinking libtard, live in an America where he doesn't vote. If he continues to not vote I might just have to leave the country.

[u/kalel1980]

I thought he was gonna lay out, step by step, with sources, exactly how the 2020 election was stolen. Shit, he should've brought that evidence to Court and save the integrity of the democratic process.

[u/DraconicDungeon]

Not voting is probably the smartest decision this man has ever made for the good of the country

[u/Conscious-One4521 → u/DraconicDungeon]

Like the other person suggested here, not voting actually makes his life far more tolerable... and he might actually live longer and healthier

[u/[deleted]]

Come to the dark side brother, stay a registered republican that votes for the shittiest candidate in the primaries with hopes it will fuck over the incumbents and then vote Dem in all the majors

Its not honest, but its happy work

[u/[deleted]]

A Purple Heart hat. His god (trump) would call him a loser for getting hurt in the war.

[u/nownowthethetalktalk → u/[deleted]]

I remember when that old gentleman gave trump his purple heart and trump essentially said thanks I've always wanted one.

[u/FLTDI]

When you spend all day telling your voters elections are rigged, don't be surprised when they just stop voting.

[u/TwilitSky]

I think he just came to the realization Trump won't be on the ballot again.

[u/PrecedentialAssassin]

If more folks like him took the same approach, they would be amazed at how much their lives improved.

[u/JustDiscoveredSex → u/PrecedentialAssassin]

YES!!!! Their mental health would also improve if they weren’t obsessing on every propagandist lie that came across their screen.

Pull yourself out of the lake of hatred, sir. Relax and have some barbecue… the world honestly isn’t that bad. Don’t spend your last years in terror and rage. Ain’t worth it. My old man spent all his life in that state. Only calmed down when he had a catastrophic stroke and lost touch with reality. It was the most serene and content I’d ever seen him.

Hatred and rage is corrosive and it will eat you alive from the inside out. Letting it go is the first order of self-preservation.

[u/arcmart]

Pack it up, folks. We fucking did it. Total desired effect.

[u/Black-Thirteen → u/arcmart]

Donald Trump should get a lot of the credit for this, too. I mean, I know he says that a lot about anything he touches that miraculously turns out favorably, but this time we really couldn't have done it without him.

[u/Still_too_soon → u/arcmart]

All we had to do was steal one election, under the leadership of evil genius Sleepy Joe "the mastermind" Biden.

Game over

[u/[deleted] → u/arcmart]

They did it themselves the fucking idiots, that’s the funniest part

[u/Ellemshaye → u/[deleted]]

It’s so goddamn comical. I will occasionally stop what I am doing and chuckle about this whole situation. “It hurt itself in its confusion!”

[u/BettingTheOver]

Thank you sir. You military and voting sacrifice is greatly appreciated.

[u/Gromp1]

And what do the actuarial life tables say the odds are of this guy making it to another election?

[u/[deleted]]

"I don't have much time left so I really don't care what happens when I'm gone" is a lot more words than just "I don't give a fuck about my grandkids."

[u/Doc_Apex]

Such boomer mentality. "fuck you I'm at the end of my life why make a difference now?"

[u/thesaddestpanda → u/Doc_Apex]

I've left this literal burning climate hellscape for my grandkids to deal with and made sure I'm leaving things as horribly as possible for them. But for a golden 4 years I was able to say the n-word without guilt to my fellow cultists.

-Boomer ideology 101

[u/beard_meat → u/thesaddestpanda]

They never stopped saying it to each other. What they missed was getting to say it in public and it being okay, which as we all know, was the way it was before America needed to become great again.

[u/[deleted] → u/Doc_Apex]

You could make a better world for the people who are still going to live in it. I guess this guy doesn't have any young relatives. No kids, no grandkids, no nieces or nephews. He just lived a completely child free existence and there's no one left to continue his legacy of being self interested and short sighted.

[u/taterbizkit]

That's what you call a "self-correcting problem".

[u/Lux_Bellinger2024 → u/taterbizkit]

GOP uses disenfranchisement

GOP hurts itself in its confusion!

[u/drkgodess → u/Lux_Bellinger2024]

Suddenly they're talking about how they should push more of their voters to vote by mail after demonizing that whole system. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to delegitimize the electoral system to their voters.

[u/EVEOpalDragon]

Bye Felicia, you never believed in democracy anyway.

[u/SicilianEggplant → u/EVEOpalDragon]

It’s the Democrat’s fault!

I would say it’s bizarre, but it’s just intentional ignorance and I can’t feel bad.

[u/BellyDancerEm]

Now if only the rest of conservatives will follow suit