This is what I genuinely despise about the discourse on this matter (and many matters like it).
The standard of proof for every single element of the claim of election fraud gets escalated to an unreasonable level, and every time you 'prove' some particular element of it, they insist on strict proof of some even more granular point of fact. Plus motte and baileying from "oh there's no proof of voter fraud" to "Well you can't show that the outcome was effected!"
"Okay sure they pulled ballots from under a table... prove those weren't legitimate ballots that were just... unconventionally stored." "Okay, this ballot can't be traced to an actual voter... but you can't show that it was intentionally filled in by a third party."
Or whatever.
When the meta point is we really need to make sure important elections don't have the scent of fraud, even accidentally.
faceh
22hr ago
Lets say it was a bit unreasonable.
Instilling faith in the 'sanctity' of the vote tallies is critical to the successful functioning of any democratic system, at any scale.
It seems objectively worth whatever burden it adds to the average citizen to make it significantly harder to cheat even a small quantity of votes. And its a very visible measure too. People should be more willing to believe and accept the outcome, absent other anomalies in the count.
And as long as there's a well-established and trusted method for obtaining ID, then its not even something 'arbitrary' like a poll tax or poll test, it really can't be abused to restrict who has the ability to vote.
Anyway, Democrat opposition to voter ID without any coherent argument for it has noticeably raised my suspicion/belief that they rely on some level of cheating to win. Adding on my experiences with Florida elections once they were made more secure.
faceh
1d ago
Agent was successfully able to submit a public record request via an online portal, given sufficient detail and just a little nudging.
The power this potentially unlocks is quite sizeable, actually.
faceh
2d ago
I buy most from Sam's Club, I generally trust that the products will be quality and won't kill me.
And you get bulk pricing.
If its grey-market stuff, I intentionally look for sellers that have a physical presence that is close enough to me that I could, if needed, show up and confront someone personally and/or burn down their building.
Or, more seriously, that makes it easy to attempt legal action on them, although if you dig into how these entities are structured, its clear they're really trying to make it hard to pin them down.
Beyond that, repeated positive interactions and referrals from trusted friends are the go-to.
faceh
5d ago
Its very fair to ask a friend "this person sounds great... why are they single?"
There's a few fine answers to that question.
One of my buddies got his GF from our friend group b/c the current GF asked her friend, who is close friends with my buddy, if he was single and looking and then had the friend nudge him in her direction, and things worked out well because the friend was a good intermediary and could vouch for both parties.
But they'd had a decent amount of time to assess each other from somewhat afar. It wasn't a cold/blind introduction.
faceh
5d ago
I initially agreed because I thought I could change her mind back.
Been there.
Its odd that I used to (and somewhat still do) believe that there was a specific sequence of words I might be able to utter that would 'fix' things and get them back to where I wanted.
But attraction really don't work that way.
and I learned that this woman was a terrible person to be friends with because her extreme dogmatism combined with terrible mental health.
Also been there. Had a really awkward Friends -> mutual crush -> 'breakup' -> friends -> FWB -> breakup/blocked sequence with one girl. Took me like 5 years to realize she was irretrievably messed up in the head and she was happily using me as a psychological crutch, which was causing a drag on my mental health. She reacted poorly to my attempt to create a boundary, which confirmed that cutting her out was the right choice.
I think having female friends who you have no intention of sleeping with ever is perfectly fine and perhaps even good.
I've got a solid handful of such friends, and the thing they have in common is I have negligible levels of sexual attraction to them (like, I wouldn't turn down an offer, but I get no arousal just from being around them) and they're usually partnered to someone and thus I mentally sort them as 'off the market.'
I think the friendship->lover boundary should never be crossed, because unfortunately you can't really go back.
I think you can, but in my experience you need like a solid 18-24 months of virtually zero contact and of course lingering feelings can flare up so you have to keep a boundary in place on how often you hang out.
Me, I am loathe to give up a connection with someone I share a lot of pleasant memories with.
I honestly can't blame anyone they get into a relationship with from being antsy about it, though.
Romance is just a messy thing, tied in with our baser instincts. Even having a fully intellectual comprehension of how it works you'll still be susceptible to the standard traps and pitfalls.
faceh
6d ago
I've basically resorted to telling any women who suggest mere friendship "I literally have all the good friends I need or want." Nicely, but making it clear I'm not that guy who will remain in orbit indefinitely.
Now, if I know them as part of an existing friend network or through work or because I happen to run into them on semi-regular occasions, fine. I can pop by, be friendly and engaging, and see where it goes. I just won't be fielding long, emotional text conversations or helping them move heavy objects.
The effort required to put up even the facade of friendship with multiple women doesn't seem worth it unless she is actively wing(wo)manning for you. And maintaining mere 'facades' of friendship is way too manipulative/dishonest for my taste.
And my experience with women wingmen is laughable. They'll bring this one friend who is "single and super nice that you should meet" to a gathering. And she's 50+ pounds overweight or a major butterface and usually poor social skills to boot (i.e. there's reasons she's single). So you have to politely reject without either insulting your friend or the referral.
Happened to me 2, maybe 3 times in the past 5 years? And if you're out and about they'll suggest the most insane approaches to you. "You should talk to that 45-year-old cougar-looking lady with the back tattoo!"
Yes, having female friends is important so you can have a some social proof you're not a creepy loser and have access to her potentially single friends, but don't expect them to be that big a help in landing one.
faceh
6d ago
This is my diagnosis.
There's a solid number of women who are absolutely down to clown if you get them in the mood. They don't just talk the talk.
But many, MANY of them get engrossed in the fantasy, they read the romantasy books, watch the shows and movies, maybe even watch the porn, and will engage in massive amounts of dirty talk, digitally, but are terrified of having the actual physical interaction. Maybe they dip a toe in and then immediately retreat back to the safe, comfortable world of fiction.
And in some cases, if you end up part of their fantasy world, and then break that fantasy in some way, either from rejecting them, or giving them the ick, or, hell, you actually help them act on the urges but your performance isn't up to snuff (good luck living up to minotaur standards), and they get incandescently angry at you.
Something about the collapsing of the ideal they imagined to the dirtier, lacklustre reality leads to disappointment that manifests as anger.
Its something like accepted knowledge that women get off way more on the mental side of sex whereas men, despite being very visual, really need physical interaction to be completely sated. Hence why strip clubs for women aren't really a thing. And current tech is much more catered towards entertaining the mental aspects of sexuality, whilst keeping the physical at a 'safe' distance. So I'd guess many women now have a completely enclosed, fantasy-centric approach to their pleasure, and the thought of making the jump to realspace is daunting.
Yep. And maybe the SAVE act isn't the right solution.
But its the one that's actually being offered.
I've said that I would actually be okay with the death penalty for anyone caught fabricating some large number of votes.
The system is THAT important to maintain faith in it.
And I also suggest sanctions for trying to overturn an election based on spurious claims of fraud, since that also undermines faith in the system.
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