Ooh, tell me more! I used to love a good fairy tale. And this one sounds like a doozy! But just like you started, make sure it doesn't have anything that matches reality - that'd be great. Thanks!

Okay. See ya!

Do you need a hug? It sounds like you need a hug.

And jokes on you, I was conceived in the backseat of a car. Don't you feel foolish now?

You all are getting Creators? - <sighs sadly in godless heathen>

Wow, I never realized you could see outraged, frothing at the mouth spittle flying around via text before. Thanks for the educational moment.

You don't know what satire is, do you? And man, with everything else thrown my way because of this post, insulting my nerd cred is a low blow even for someone from hexbear. I thought you all at least had standards!

So in this situation, are you suggesting Stein, de la Cruz, West, or Fruit? Because other than as a "protest" vote that hands it to Trump, what does that do exactly? Let's say air traffic controllers are busy with all the flying pigs, and somehow Stein wins. She's woefully under-qualified and she's literally the leading third-party candidate. What exactly do you think she or any one of them would be able to do? They're not serious candidates, and are more likely to setback efforts at building third parties than advancing them.

Protest votes can be useful in primaries but are pointless in general elections. No serious candidates have been building a party with a chance at knocking off the Dems and GOP for the past 4+ years, and instead they only come out every presidential cycle to fundraise and maybe grab a few headlines. The last mildly "successful" third party candidate for President was Perot, and (thank god) he did nothing to shift the national conversation. No one remembers the protest votes, they only remember who won.

I've been voting since 1988 and active in community and political organizing the whole time, and pretty much every candidate I've backed in the presidential primaries has lost. Every election has been a somewhat dissatisfying choice that has lead to a few policy wins and many more disappointing loses. But absent a magical unicorn national third party that builds a grassroots movement that can actually affect change, I'm left with choosing what I believe is the only option with a hope of something better and against the option that would definitely bring me and my loved ones harm, as he would bring harm to literally millions of others. You can say I'm selling out my principles, but I say any other choice is selling out my fellow humans around the world and in the US.

No, but would've loved when Frodo got rid of Sam, if Sam has said "See the violence inherent in the system! Help, I'm being repressed!" 😄

Excellent job committing to the bit!

For the purposes of the satire, they left the ring out of it. Otherwise it's just a Monty Python sketch and would be about "the violence inherent in the system" 😉

And as I commented to someone else who picked Frodo - he too gave in to the ring in the end and was only saved by someone biting off his finger that had the ring on it. He's also an upper middle class nepo-baby who's a landlord. If you're going to pick someone else, you have to go with proletarian Samwise.

Goddamn, it's always fucking Gondor, isn't?

He's also not specific about what additional support it is he'd give Israel. I don't really believe he could give them more than Biden and Harris are. What, materially, could he do for them that Biden would refuse to? He didn't offer specifics atleast.

So you're expecting restraint from the guy behind an attempted coup? The guy who had to be talked out of wanting to nuke North Korea? Listen, I'm not expecting to change anyone's mind - we're obviously coming at this from different perspectives. It's not just "both sides bad", it's that all sides are bad, or at least imperfect, and you need to make a choice.

I prefer the deeply problematic former law enforcement politician who will never be exactly what I want versus the nearly-octogenarian lying, cheating, clearly insane guy who I believe would be the biggest step towards a civil war, World War III, or both.

I want Palestinian lives to be saved, I want Ukrainian lives to be saved, I want American lives to be saved. I want clean air and water for the generations to come. I want everyone, not just Americans, to have a chance at a better life and control over their own lives and bodies. Chances are I may not get any of those things, but my best shot at getting any of them is to vote for the person who seems the most sane. It's the only choice I have.

Oh no! A cutting remark about my username!!! However will I survive?!

Deep cut with the Haradrim, I'll give you that 😉

He was saved by Gollum biting his fucking finger off, but sure. Keep simping for your rich, nepo-baby, landowning bourgeois. Find it hilarious seeing someone from hexbear backing the landlord in the story.

You really should be more careful. I could be in the room with you right now!

I should know better, but sure, I'll bite. You want specifics of what Trump thinks?

https://www.reuters.com/world/netanyahu-denies-report-he-spoke-trump-about-gaza-talks-2024-08-15/

In an event later on Thursday about tackling antisemitism, Trump criticized Biden and Harris' months-long calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

"From the start, Harris has worked to tie Israel's hand behind its back, demanding an immediate ceasefire, always demanding ceasefire," Trump said, adding it "would only give Hamas time to regroup and launch a new October 7 style attack."

Trump added: "I will give Israel the support that it needs to win but I do want them to win fast."

In the same event, Trump also labelled pro-Palestinian supporters calling for an end to U.S. support for Israel's war as "pro-Hamas thugs" and "jihad sympathizers." He threatened to arrest and deport them from the U.S. if he became president.

Netanyahu's office and Trump both separately denied on Thursday an Axios report that said they had spoken the previous day about Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks.

This was back in August, and the dude has Bibi on speed dial. If he cared one iota, he could have been leaning on Netanyahu and making public calls for an end to Israel's crimes since this started. But he hasn't and he'll do far worse if elected. Hell, he'll send US ground troops throughout the region killing civilians right and left if the price is right. And sell Ukraine down the river too. Never trust a narcissist to have anyone else's interest at heart.

Ahh, yes, Frodo. The one who actually gave into the ring and was only saved by someone literally biting it and the attached finger off.

Also, brave call to say that Frodo exerted an ounce of agency. Frodo was a puppet of the existing power structure and elites who essentially got tricked into going without understanding what was at stake, repeatedly put the ring on despite Gandalf telling him not to, got stabbed and almost died, and then because no one could trust anyone else with it, was the default choice to keep going with a group he had no say in creating.

If you were going to pick someone, you should at least have gone with Samwise.

Talk about someone who hasn't read the books.

Hmm, let me guess, you're voting for Grima Wormtongue?

Hypothetically and only for the sake of argument, let's say Harris "supports genocide". We know Trump supports …let's call it "Genocide+". What does that leave? I believe most people think Harris will make getting a permanent ceasefire and supporting a two state solution central tenets of her administration. And Trump will do something insane that will threaten many more innocent lives across the entire region.

You can cast a vote for the imperfect candidate (which is every candidate ever), you can cast a vote for the candidate most likely to start World War III. Or you can cast a vote for Grima Wormtongue, oops I mean Jill Stein, who is on the take from both the Russians and the GOP, and end up helping WWIII guy. Those are your options. It's not necessarily a fun choice, but it shouldn't be a hard one.