Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion on DCUM, but I think that white men are not more problematic than any other group of men. And that doesn't mean that I'm ignoring or denying their negatives, but rather that the list of stereotypical negatives of black men or latino men or SE asian men or native american men or pretty much any other group is just as long.

So if your average white guy is a family man, worker and a member of society at least on the level of national average, but the popular discourse leans toward 'is a decent white guy a unicorn?', then I quite understand their alleged confusion.

Yes, your opinion is certainly unpopular. White men suck. All of them. Some only suck a little - like TW - and most of them suck much more. We’d be better off as a country with 95% less of them. I made a conscious decision to never bring a white male child into this world. And I’ve stood by it. If more women did, we’d pretty much solve all of the world’s problems within a century or so.

I'm hoping this is a troll.

Or this is a misandrist and a racist. Great combo!

Anonymous wrote:Good grief, this thread has gone off the rails.

Trolls.

Good grief, this thread has gone off the rails.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a middle-aged Black man from a rural, mostly White, area of NC. A place where farming, hunting, fishing, pick-up trucks w/ rebel flags, and Jesus Christ are popular.

I couldn’t get past your first paragraph. Trying to imagine what that must’ve been like. How you endured it. How you survived it against those odds. Why did your mother keep you in a such a place? Surely she must’ve had some kind of opportunity to get you to a city where you could grow up safely among your community instead of a place like that where your life was in constant danger from the klan and other such white men. I just cannot fathom how horrible it must have been. I’m an adult white female-identifying person, and the environment you describe sounds terrifying. I honestly don’t know how you survived it.

OP here. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't hard. It was. For example, I had three brothers (one was killed) and none of them finished HS and all have been incarcerated. Still struggling. My mother was an alcoholic and we were very poor, so no way out of our suffocating circumstances.

At my age and maturity, I realize I am, well, a "unicorn". I have a masters degree, live in an affluent community, am putting four kids through college, and make a good living. Not boastful, just extremely grateful for everything.

And to poster 16:05, I fully disagree that "White men suck". I believe we all have issues, individually and collectively. If it weren't for some really beautiful people who believed in me and gave me a chance, and who just happened to be White males, there's absolutely no way I'd be where I am today. I'm very sorry you feel that way.

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion on DCUM, but I think that white men are not more problematic than any other group of men. And that doesn't mean that I'm ignoring or denying their negatives, but rather that the list of stereotypical negatives of black men or latino men or SE asian men or native american men or pretty much any other group is just as long.

So if your average white guy is a family man, worker and a member of society at least on the level of national average, but the popular discourse leans toward 'is a decent white guy a unicorn?', then I quite understand their alleged confusion.

Yes, your opinion is certainly unpopular. White men suck. All of them. Some only suck a little - like TW - and most of them suck much more. We’d be better off as a country with 95% less of them. I made a conscious decision to never bring a white male child into this world. And I’ve stood by it. If more women did, we’d pretty much solve all of the world’s problems within a century or so.

No, in my experience, he is not a unicorn, OP.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a middle-aged Black man from a rural, mostly White, area of NC. A place where farming, hunting, fishing, pick-up trucks w/ rebel flags, and Jesus Christ are popular.

I couldn’t get past your first paragraph. Trying to imagine what that must’ve been like. How you endured it. How you survived it against those odds. Why did your mother keep you in a such a place? Surely she must’ve had some kind of opportunity to get you to a city where you could grow up safely among your community instead of a place like that where your life was in constant danger from the klan and other such white men. I just cannot fathom how horrible it must have been. I’m an adult white female-identifying person, and the environment you describe sounds terrifying. I honestly don’t know how you survived it.

Anonymous wrote:Tim Balz is a raging leftist. That’s his identity.

You got his name wrong so maybe you are confused?

Anonymous wrote:I'm a middle-aged Black man from a rural, mostly White, area of NC. A place where farming, hunting, fishing, pick-up trucks w/ rebel flags, and Jesus Christ are popular.

While often challenging, I feel fortunate to have grown up in that environment and then going to college and grad school in a totally different world. Where Black and White students studied and lived together.

Which brings me to my Tim Walz unicorn question. Now in my 50s, I've grown up with, gone to school with, work with, and am family/friends with, countless White men. In my lifetime, (and I really want to say this w/o offending anyone) I feel like I've witnessed White men trying to figure out who they are. And that has been a long struggle for them and partly the reason why the country is the way it is today. I've wondered and worried about White men from this perspective.

But Tim is different. At least, to me he seems to be. I'm not sensing that struggle with him. That's uncommon. Kind of unicorn-ish, I think. He seems to have figured out some things that we, as men (dare I say, especially White men), struggle with for a good part of our lives. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on this.

And folks please, I fully understand that this whole post is one hell of a generalization, based on an extremely micro point of view. I also know full-well that we as Black men have our own unique struggles. If this post feels like I'm "throwing stones", then I've failed in trying to have objective dialogue and I apologize. Thanks.

No, I don't think so

Anonymous wrote:I’m so confused why people care he left the military after what, 20 years? He did his time. People DO leave the military . Trump never served time at all and Vance very little himself so this seems like a complete red herring.

He did 20 years, left, then signed back up again after 9/11 and did another 4 years (total of 24 years of service).

The accusations of leaving right before deployment are basically lies. He retired a few months before the unit received orders that they would deploy in the next year. And to even retire you need to put in your papers 4-6 months prior to the retirement date. He had already filed to run for Congress about 5 months before the unit received their orders.

Here's the basic timeline:
April 1981: Walz enlists in Nebraska NG at age 17
1996: transfers to Minnesota NG
September 2001: re-enlists in NG and signs another 6-year commitment
2003: deployed to Italy to support logistical operations for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Late 2004 / Early 2005: Walz submits retirement paperwork. It takes many months to get retirement paperwork submitted and approved. Note - we do not have an exact date when this happened.
February 2005: Walz files paperwork with FEC that he intends to run for Congress
March 2005: NG unit is notified that it may be called upon within the next two years to do a deployment, but no date is provided
May 2005: Walz retires from NG, does not complete full 6-year commitment. NG members may retire at any point after 20 years of service, even if they do not complete full current commitment.
July 2005: NG unit receives official deployment orders for Iraq
August 2005: NG unit receives mobilization order
October 2005: NG unit is mobilized and begins full time training to prepare for deployment
March 2006: NG unit deploys to Iraq for a 22 month rotation

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I know a lot of men like Walz (as described by the OP). He is not a unicorn. Too many biased people in this world. You all need to get out more.

You know, lots of men that publicly support LGBT people?

DP. I mean, yes? Of course, lots/most men do, at least generally.

No they don’t. They don’t go to the pride parade, they don’t fly a flag, they don’t vote for their rights, they don’t lead a club.

They just try really hard not to say f$&&)ot or gay in front of their gay niece/nephew.

And don't you want to ask yourself why Walz does? I think in fact that man does struggle with identity, and I wonder if the troll who started this thread was getting at that to begin with.

You and the troll are both out of your trees.

My 76 year old white dad does fly a flag (my kid gave it to him), and votes for LGBTQ rights.

He’s not gay, and he doesn’t have 21st century language to describe his positions. He says: “Life is hard enough already. There’s no reason to make it harder for anyone. People should be who they are.”

Sounds like your dad is a good man despite raising a child who mocks him for not having “21st century language,” whatever that might be.

DP, but I think she meant he isn’t totally up on modern day pronoun language. It doesn’t seem like he is being mocked, but rather than even someone who can’t keep up with today’s language changes (harder for old people) can still respect other people’s right to live how they want.

Tim Balz is a raging leftist. That’s his identity.

I’m so confused why people care he left the military after what, 20 years? He did his time. People DO leave the military . Trump never served time at all and Vance very little himself so this seems like a complete red herring.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unicorn in the sense that he left the military instead of deploying, is basically incompetent and has views wildly out of touch with main stream America.

You are disingenuous and gross

And a god dammed liar
Your idiot brain supports liars
The European Union has issued a formal letter to Elon Musk, demanding that he censor Donald Trump in their upcoming interview.

The EU warns of "legal obligations" if Musk does not take action to prevent the spread of "disinformation."

Before attacking the poster -- deal with his comments. Leaving military is a real issue. No reason he could not leave and lots of people do at that point. He did put in 20 plus years which is more than his critics have done. There were no deployment orders at the time he left. People thought they would get them. Certainly that is why he left but that was his right. The timing is odd but unless someone has walked in his shoes they probably should shut up. I know a Navy Intel officer that did his service and was in reserves -- called up after 9/11; released after 9 months; called up for Iraq; released after 9 months; 2005 called up for Iraq -- released. At that point he had had enough and left the reserves. He knew he would be called up again and wanted to move on with his life. Happens every day. People on active duty do not re-up. This is not really an issue.

His record in MN is pretty good so the incompetent does not work -- at all. And he is mainstream America -- pretty in touch.

I'm from the Midwest and my dad and Tim have a lot in common. My dad was a teacher at one point, played football, and got drafted during Vietnam. He's emotionally open, and a great husband and father. There are others out there like him. I think in his case, he had a really great dad himself, who taught him how to fix things, and made him work at his business as a teen, but also expected him to go to college.

I hope that generations to come don't have the same issues of toxic masculinity we've had in the past. I would love it if women can be whoever they want to be and men can be whoever they want to be.