Texas did this bigtime in 2003. The GOP, for the first time Texas history, had control over the house, Senate, and governor’s mansion. They gerrymandered the fuck out of Texas.

In 2002, the majority of US House Representatives from Texas were Democrats. After the redistricting in 2003, the 2004 elections gave the GOP its first congressional majority out of Texas, with 2/3rds of the seats.

Texas isn’t that red. Its shift to the right is fairly recent, and it was driven by having a Texan run for President and GOP fuckery with the elections.

But that’s the thing with the GOP. You give them absolute power one time, and they’ll never, ever give it up.

It’s a great play.

Every single Democrat running against these assholes next November will be able to say the Republican candidate voted against the release of the Epstein files. That’s their headshot in the debates. “Representative X voted against the release of the Epstein Files” is an easy campaign strategy.

I’m a white Christian man, and that sounds awful.

I don’t understand how people can want to live in that world.

What we need to do is start a campaign talking about how he’s not smart enough or brave enough to try and revoke her citizenship.

Dude is easily manipulated.

If art is good, I’ll appreciate it even when the people funding it aren’t doing it for the love of art.

I mean… the movie kinda points that out, too. The exec straight-up changes his tune on the idea of a realistic Barbie when he’s told it will sell.

It does a pretty good job of pointing out all aspects of Barbie, good and bad. From female empowerment to consumerism to the objectification of women and the issues surrounding body shaming.

It even calls out the film itself for casting an unrealistically beautiful, successful woman to play Barbie.

Don’t research the sequel.

If he’s verbally abusive, violent, and keeps you locked up as a prisoner, he isn’t necessarily evil.

You can change him! Just be patient, accept him, and love him!

This is a bill to arrest people trying to prevent climate change.

Trump’s first impeachment was about withholding military aid from Ukraine. Nothing came of that, and nothing will come of this. Republicans don’t care about the law.

I’m stocking up on ammunition in case I need it for self-defense and using a no-log VPN when criticizing the government.

So I’m gonna go with “No.”

Yeah. I’m not going to any celebrations of the country this weekend. I don’t have it in me to be patriotic right now. It’s wild how far we’ve fallen in the past decade. And flabbergasting how much further we fell over the last 6 months.

I never thought I’d literally be stocking up on ammunition over political shifts in the US. That’s what the crazies on the right do.

That’s too kind. Make the property a crippling liability they have to unload instantly.

Tax unoccupied homes at 150% of their value annually.

I’m saying that people are varied and that individuals have a maximum potential. Not everybody can lift weights to the point they become the strongest person on the planet, and not everyone can study until they’re the most-knowledgeable person on the planet.

We’re not clones. Everyone is born different with different brains and bodies, and it’s important to recognize that so we can cater to people’s individual needs, learning styles, abilities, and passions.

As someone who works all day, commutes, and then has to sleep, I don’t understand this viewpoint.

What am I going to do with extra daylight after work? I’m still just going home and then to bed. It’s not like I’m taking an excursion to the lake at 8pm when I’ve got to be up at 5am to get ready for work.

Yes. People have different natural abilities.

I played the bassoon for over a decade. I had access to truly excellent instructors and a great music program and worked hard at it. And after years of training and work, I was decent. I saw other people with no prior music background pick it up and get better than me in 2-3 months.

People’s brains are wired differently.

There’s definitely variance in human intelligence, yes.

Smarts/intelligence is the capacity to learn. An educated person has been taught. A knowledgeable person has learned.

They’ll be more knowledgeable and better educated. They won’t be smarter.