Thursday's Most Active Threads

The three most active threads yesterday were all ones that I've previously discussed and will, therefore, skip today. The fourth most active thread was titled, "What are your favorites of Trump’s early accomplishments?" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. The original poster is a diehard fan of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump. He considers Trump's first term to have been "unquestionably successful". The original poster could not be happier with the beginning of Trump's second term, specifically noting Trump's revocation of former President Lyndon B. Johnson's Executive Order 11246. To say that the original poster is delusional is to put things extremely mildly. According to the original poster's understanding, Executive Order 11246 was one of the "starting points of affirmative action and discriminatory hiring practices". What the EO does is require U.S. government contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." I would be very interested in hearing exactly why the original poster opposes that language, especially because the original poster describes himself as "being a minority". The original poster provided an explanation for his completely backwards understanding of this issue when he concluded his post by saying, "I’ve been glued to my TV and X". Well, no wonder. Trump's avalanche of executive orders was largely aimed at pleasing his supporters like the original poster. They have been very effective in that regard. Their real-world impact is another question. Trump's EO regarding birthright citizenship has already been blocked by a federal judge. His EO dealing with electric vehicles reversed a mandate that didn't exist, paused funds that have already been disbursed, and didn't touch EV tax rebates. Trump's federal employee return to office order will primarily create chaos and may not actually result in many employees returning to their offices. Certainly, Trump has done some real damage — something the original poster would probably consider an achievement — but that is buried under a mountain of illegal, unworkable, and meaningless bluster. Simply separating fact from fiction will be a significant challenge. Never mind trying to convince those like the original poster that their understanding of things is the complete opposite of reality.

Yesterday's next most active thread was posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. Titled, "JMU EA is out", the thread is about decisions regarding early action college admissions applications at James Madison University. "Early action" applications are submitted according to an earlier deadline and receive an earlier response. Students generally can apply to more than one school during the early action period, and they are not required to commit to the university if accepted. EA, as it is called, is a good option for students who are targeting a favorite school. The original poster's child was deferred. As is normal for threads of this nature, the responses include acceptances and deferrals. I am not sure there were any outright rejections. Like many colleges, JMU is somewhat controversial in the forum. Many posters hold the school in low regard. Even one of the posters whose son was deferred considered it a "safety" school. Surprisingly, her son was accepted into Penn State's engineering program, which most would consider to be more competitive. This is just more evidence that college admissions are often a crapshoot. Later in the thread, another student deferred by JMU was also accepted by Penn State. This led to a discussion about the quality of Penn State. The forum has a number of posters who absolutely hate Penn State, and negative comments are to be expected whenever the school is mentioned. Later, the thread turns into a discussion of the quality of JMU. While a number of posters are surprised that it appears to have become more selective, others still insist that the school is second-rate at best. One poster claims that JMU actually stands for "Just Missed UVA" and is nothing more than a backup to the University of Virginia. There may be a kernel of truth in this as UVA has become more competitive, especially for students from northern Virginia; applicants who might previously have targeted UVA may be applying to JMU instead. This has the result of making JMU more competitive, especially for those from NoVA. However, some posters insist that JMU was more competitive decades ago when it was a smaller school. One thing that I've noticed impacts many school discussions is impressions lodged in the past. In college discussions, posters' perceptions of school were often formed when they were in college. Twenty or thirty years later, things have likely changed. It is hard for some to get their heads around that.

Next was a thread titled, "Hitler dismantled democracy in 53 days. What is your prediction with Trump?" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. The original poster says that she is very scared about the fate of our country and that cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump is being normalized. The original poster, in a follow-up post, again stresses how quickly Adolph Hitler was able to undermine Germany's democracy and says that she believes that Trump is trying to beat his record. Democrats have raised concerns about Trump's autocratic tendencies for years. It is quite clear that Trump cares little for the rule of law. He would much rather rule by fiat than by democratic governance. With Congress in Republican hands and the Supreme Court dominated by conservatives, Trump may well believe that he can get away with whatever he wants. Two early examples of his ignoring the law, and even the Constitution, are his handling of TikTok and his attack on birthright citizenship. TikTok was required by law to either be sold or shut down by January 19. The service did briefly stop providing service within the U.S. However, Trump — even before becoming President — declared that he would allow a period for continued negotiations. There was no legal justification for this extension and, strictly speaking, TikTok is now operating illegally. The Supreme Court even ruled against TikTok, but Trump doesn't care, and nobody else seems to care either. With regard to birthright citizenship, this is ordained in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Trump has summarily attempted to change the Constitution in this regard. A federal judge has blocked Trump from implementing his executive order regarding birthright citizenship, but who knows where things will go from here? Moreover, will Trump officials obey Trump or the judge? Trump's attacks on democracy are clear. However, it is problematic to compare him to Hitler. There are some clear similarities between Trump's and Hitler's rises to power. But Hitler is known more for the Holocaust than his usurpation of democracy. It is hard to divorce Hitler's dismantling of democracy from his massacre of millions. As a result, some posters suggest that Trump is more like Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator who allied with Hitler. For my money, Trump is more of a Juan Perón, but without the intellectual underpinnings.

The final thread that I will discuss today is another one that was posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "Conception Begins At Erection Act", the thread is about legislation introduced in Mississippi by State Senator Bradford Blackmon. The bill would make it "unlawful for a person to discharge genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo." The bill makes two exceptions. One for genetic material that is provided for future fertilization of an embryo (e.g. IVF) and a second for genetic material discharged while using contraception intended to prevent fertilization of an embryo. As a result, this bill seems to be essentially a ban on masturbation. Though nocturnal emissions would be problematic as well. In addition, men who are party to unintended pregnancies would be in violation. To be clear, while the bill appears to be a parody, the point the Senator is trying to make is serious. Restrictions on contraception and abortion always focus on the woman’s role. This bill is meant to bring attention to the role of men. Many of those responding find the parody enjoyable and challenge MAGA posters to respond. MAGAs famously don't like being the butt of jokes and don't find much humor in the legislation. About the best that they can muster in terms of a response is to call Democrats "dumb". Some of the posters don't seem to understand parody and actually believe the bill is serious. One poster, who may well know the bill is a joke, still claims that it is "a really great idea" and would "solve A LOT of problems". The poster says that it is aligned with Catholic ideology. On the other hand — pun not intended — another poster claims to have already violated this bill 27,000 times since eighth grade. Some posters agree with the larger point that responsibility unfairly falls on women in these matters, but they find this bill to be ineffective in making the point that is trying to be made. Conversely, a MAGA poster attempted to justify putting the onus on women and avoiding restrictions on men. However, that poster used a word that I have prohibited, and I've removed the post.