Sounds like the moms are to blame. Moms need to be less forgiving of their sons, to better prepare them for their future relationships.

Do you mean the Democrats? If so, yeah, the Democrats do seem willing to accept anti-Trump conservatives into their party.

The Democrats really want to be a big tent party. They'll take just about anyone within a certain ideological range, centered around the American political middle. This definitely includes many conservatives.

I question the effectiveness of this strategy, though, as when you include too many opposing ideologies in a single party, it can be difficult for the party to choose a clear path to take. It's often the case that when you try to appeal to as many different people as possible, you end up not appealing to very many people at all.

This really isn't that surprising. The Republican party has become a cult of personality around Trump, putting it at odds with actual, ideological conservatives.

I don't know what Trump's ideology is, or if he even has one. He seems to only believe in his own ambition, for wealth, power, and control.

However, conservativism does lend itself to people like Trump rising to power, because it promotes a central authority and/or aristocracy that preserves tradition, culture, and the established social order. Conservatism doesn't just tolerate social hierarchies, like class, it promotes them, and, in fact conservatism believes that such hierarchies are not only necessary, but natural and essential. It makes sense that malignant narcissists would take advantage of such a system to try and take their "rightful place" at the top of the hierarchies, because they believe that they are inherently superior to everyone else.

Over the past few years, about 4 in 10 young women between the ages of 18 and 29 have described their political views as liberal

I wonder how the other 6 in 10 young women would describe their political views. While 40% isn't a majority, I would think liberals are a plurality. Still, it's a little disheartening that there isn't a clear majority in the US. It would be nice if a majority of Americans could reach a consensus.

Of course parents not taking appropriate precautions doesn't absolve the companies of responsibility. Unethical behavior is unethical behavior, even if there are things consumers can do to protect themselves from it. After all, the precautions wouldn't be necessary if the companies didn't engage in this behavior in the first place, so these precautions aren't really solutions only mitigations.

I don't truly understand why the option is between someone who might be reasonable, and a convicted predator con artist who, at every turn, keeps demonstrating how they're more racist and incoherent than your great grandpa

I think our system of politics as day time talk show style entertainment is part of the reason why the convicted predator continues to be a seemingly viable candidate.

In a system where a single person gets full executive authority,

Well, that's the problem, isn't it. No single person should have that much authority. But, regardless, does this debate platform really tell us all that much about how a person is likely to perform as chief executive? I'm not so sure. I think a person can do relatively well in a debate performance and still end up being a poor president.

I can’t vote for policies.

But you can vote for a representative (two, actually) who can vote for policies. That's where our focus should be, I think. I'm not really sure why we need a president, to be honest. A single individual with that much power, who isn't even elected by popular vote, seems undemocratic to me.

I used to advocate for Linux, because I wanted more people to use it, so that more software devs would support it. I care a lot less about that since proton came to prominence. Linux still doesn't get all the support from devs that I want, but there's so much great software available now, both open source and proprietary, that I don't really worry about non Linux users anymore.

So use whatever OS you want, folks. I don't really care.

Politics shouldn't be a sport. Critical thinking and data driven analysis are much better methods for determining the best policies than an arbitrary contest of who had the best quips or who totally owned their opponent more. Our future as a country shouldn't be determined by the political equivalent of a rap battle.

RIP Lt. Zogg

If the world was warming even faster than scientists thought it would, seemingly jumping years ahead of predictions, would that mean even more crucial decades of action had been lost?

Yes. Yes it would.

If you live in Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, or Florida (really any of the fifty states, but these are the most critical), AND you don't want to see Donald Trump elected for a second term, you must vote for Joe Biden in November. Yes Biden is a doddering old man who is experiencing rapid cognitive decline, and yes it is totally unacceptable that these are our choices, but disengaging does not solve the problem, it only makes it worse.

Believe me, I completely understand the inclination to just say to hell with it and check out, but we can't do that. I have been as guilty of it as anyone but I now fully recognize it was a mistake. But it's not too late to make it right. Voting is not only a right, it is a responsibility. If we, the people, want to rule, we must be vigilant and responsible.

Right now, our priority is damage control and harm reduction. I know, it has been that way for far too long, and that is extremely frustrating, but it is nonetheless the reality of the situation. We must vote for Biden this year, and then we MUST stay engaged so that we can work toward nominating the best possible candidate in 2028. We must stay informed and vote, diligently, in every state, local, and primary election.