Oh Hamburgers!

Sounds like a nightmare for those Chick-fil-A cows :D

It's interesting you notice he's seemed more humble/soft spoken. Do you mean in terms of content of his messaging, or his tone of voice? Or maybe both? I have not observed a shift in his message personally. Looking at the transcript from his news conference at Mar-a-Lago 8 days ago I see more of the same. He's still focused on Kamala being a terrible candidate, about how Biden dropping out was an inconvenience to him. He's still talking about crowd sizes, saying his crowd sizes were "10 times, 20 times, 30 times the crowd size". He talks about crowd sizes for about 3 and a half minutes. He calls a question about concern with him taking the race seriously a "stupid question" and goes on to say he's leading by record numbers. He then goes back to talking about big crowd sizes from January 6th, comparing his crowd that day to Lincoln and Washington. He then brags about how he was the one to bring abortion back to the states when it took 52 years before him. That's from the first 45 minutes of a 1 hour 17 minute transcript, but it seems to follow Trump's playbook I've seen many times before. Spend a lot of time trashing his opponents, saying they're bad for the country, they are stupid, give them derogative nicknames, insinuate they didn't earn their standing. Then talk about all the great things he does and has done, focusing on views, or crowds, or popularity, or how he did something that others said was impossible, or did something no other president has done. I haven't seen a humility, a thankfulness to God, an appreciation of others that represents anything different from the past or a stark shift in outlook.

You're right, none of us can see inside Trump's (or any candidate's) heart, the best we can do is look at their actions, works, and how they treat people over the course of their lives to help define them to the best of our ability. I highlighted Trump's past as an example of how he's lived over the past 78 years. I don't see a life of service or care for others, I see a life focused on money, power, and the use of people. At some point what you care about is reflected by the way you act and the people you associate with.

I said you can learn a lot from someone based on how they treat others. Yes policy certainly matters, but I also think personality matters, when it has to do with their outlook on life and how they interact with other people. Jesus spent his life giving and serving others, living simply, and caring for people. I want the leader of our country to possess those values. No candidate is perfect, but Trump has lived a life that seems obsessed with material goods, money, and status. Born into wealth, he's focused his life on luxury hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He's been married three times and divorced twice - to models and actresses. He had an affair with Stormy Daniels and has expressed his feelings about how wealth lets you "get away with things" when dealing with the opposite gender. This has nothing to do with getting information, this is what I've observed from a man who has been in the political sphere for over 8 years. I see love of self and a focus on 'us vs them' when I hear Trump speak at rallies and respond to criticism. Those just aren't values that I respect nor do I think they should be represented by the US President.

Job searches are hard. It's hard to be told no and have that feeling of rejection, not being good enough. There were many positions I've applied for in the past that I knew I could do and do well if they just let me get a foot in the door, but I wasn't given that chance. You mention sketchy employment history & a violation of company policy - I don't know the details of these things but if those are things you have, yeah it's gonna be hard to overcome and convince someone to give you a chance. Should you get a job you'll need to work hard to prove those are blips on the radar and don't represent who you are & can be as an employer. Fresh slate & start over so to speak. To have a successful interview you need to sell yourself. Dress appropriately, be clean, be approachable. Can you hold a conversation, listen to their questions and ask questions of your own? Be engaged and socially present? You need to help them visualize you as someone who could be employed for them and could do a good job. First impressions matter for things like this, and even if there's something you don't have experience with you have to show them what steps you'd take to get up to speed. Obviously this is all much easier said than done, and it might be a good idea to ask someone you trust for help, if there are things you could do differently that might improve your chances of being hired. Finally, accept that getting rejected is part of the process, and try not to take it personally. There are many jobs where you could have been a top candidate, but someone else was chosen who had something you didn't. Don't let it get you down and just keep trying.

Trump has shown us who he is over and over in word and action. Even setting aside things like policy decisions or stances, you can learn a lot from someone by how they treat other people. Trump does not treat other people with respect. He does not appear to be someone that possesses empathy. If someone disagrees with him, he does not listen to their argument or try to find common ground. You're with him, until you're against him, and Trump has a lot of people who he hired that are now against him. At some point you need to start asking yourself why that happens so frequently. Does Trump strike you as someone who is kind? As someone who would share of themselves to help someone in need? Does he seem like someone who will truly listen to a person struggling? Is he going to give of himself, to sacrifice for the good of others? I did not vote for Trump in 2016 but I was willing to have an open mind when he took office as President. I hoped the bombastic chauvenistic showman I saw during campaigning wasn't his true self, and it was just a way to garner publicity. Unfortunately I was wrong, and we had to endure four years of embarrassment as a country. I did not vote for Trump in 2020, and I will certainly not now vote for him in 2024. The man is 78 years old and I hope he would not consider running in 2028 if he isn't elected in November considering how much he was harping on Biden's age.

Kamala currently up in the polls but considering how much has happened in the last 4-6 weeks, it seems like an eternity between now and election day! Here's hoping for a peaceful transition of power and a safe election season for everyone!

Forgiveness is important, or at least a willingness to move on. Focusing on petty squabbles from the past and quid pro quo doesn't really get us anywhere. At the same time 'moving on' doesn't mean we should forget the lessons of the past, or choose not to hold people accountable for actions. I think there's more to untangle legally with Trump, and I also think it's fair to judge Biden on his future actions, holding him accountable just like any other president.

I don't use Facebook much, sorry to disappoint.

We're definitely living in strange times, on that we can agree

I'm referring to how the BLM protests spanned multiple days. The rally on January 6th was a more confined thing. I know there have been plenty of nonviolent conservative protests. Overall most of the BLM protests were also nonviolent. The difference from January 6th is people were saying stuff like "1776" and starting to talk about civil war, rebellion, attacking other government institutions and using social media to coordinate. This specific riot - fueled by Trump - is a bit of a unique thing.

A few things: The vast majority of the BLM protests were non-violent. The single Trump protest was violent. A lot of the violence in the BLM protests were escalated by police using excessive force. I'm not saying BLM protestors using violence were blameless, but you must admit the way police handled BLM protests is much different than how police handled the storming of the capitol. I actually was really upset about the violence in some of the BLM riots and protests. It's one of those situations where a movement becomes so large that many people have different thoughts on what the movement should be. I think the looting and rioting in some areas detracted from the overall (good) message that the protests were trying to send. The people who chose to loot/burn/destroy property should be punished, just like those who chose to break into the capitol should be punished.

Wait I'm confused... so we're allowed to say America isn't great? OP made it sound like saying America wasn't great was a bad thing. (I'm mostly kidding, but I do think it's funny the OP starts by praising Trump for saying "America is great out loud" and condemning Biden and "the media" for saying otherwise... but now only a few posts below you're arguing that America isn't great. I think it just goes to show how people with similar beliefs can have very different opinions on things.) On a serious note, I've never said America is all peaches and cream. I have many problems with how this country runs, and I agree it could be great, or at least much more great than it is. I can have the opinion that America needs to change things, and also say we don't need to freak out and say the sky is falling because one election.

You did too! We're all chatting on site focused around people chatting

Wow, talk about fear mongering. Newsflash, when you commit a federal crime in this country there are consequences. It's been that way since before the ink of the constitution was even dry. Using a platform to conspire against the government, or plot mayhem is not protected speech, never has been. Lawful use of platforms on the other hand... yes I agree anyone should be able to use them.