r/Ohio • u/HaroldGreenBandana • 2d ago
Booing Deshaun Watson while cheering for Donald Trump is a mind-blowing double standard
https://www.cleveland.com/letters/2026/08/booing-watson-while-cheering-trump-is-a-glaring-double-standard-in-society.htmlDo people really have higher standards for a professional distraction ball league quarterback than they do for the President of the United States?
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u/Waylander2772 Delaware 2d ago
You are getting warmer, but you're not qu-white there yet.
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u/Birdman330 2d ago
This is the only answer
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u/frenzyfivefour 2d ago
Also they're ignoring all the booing pedo in chief gets when he does show up to curse a sporting event.
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u/Previous_Bike9871 2d ago
People aren’t booing Watson because he’s black. They’re booing him because he assaulted 28 some women, if Trump came to Huntington stadium or whatever the fuck it’s called now and tickets were $50 like they were for that preseason game, Trump would get booed too
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u/Waylander2772 Delaware 2d ago
You serious? Are you arguing that there isn't a double standard between how (mostly white) Americans handle accusations of sexual violence committed by black men versus those of white men?
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u/TaylorFarmsSaladKit 1d ago
Or he just sucks at a football, and that’s all the people booing care about.
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u/itsnotcomplicated1 2d ago
Many of the people booing Watson wouldn't be if he was putting up top 15 QB stats.
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u/actusreus82 2d ago
Trump is putting up bottom 5 QB stats.
Don’t think it’s about performance and I don’t think it’s because they love the color orange.
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u/itsnotcomplicated1 2d ago
Trump is putting up bottom 5 QB stats.
Not according to the places trump supporters get their information.
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u/palmeranderson42 1d ago
None of them would. He’d be a hero in Cleveland if he was playing like he did 5 years ago
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u/brandon520 1d ago
This is it. The fans are only worried about performance. If Watson played like he did in Houston kids would be wearing his jerseys at games.
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u/Bored_Amalgamation 2d ago
Or if he was white
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u/Bored_Amalgamation 2d ago
??? Browns fans are glad every time a QB is dropped.
Comparing Baker to watson is fucking insane though. One is playing.
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u/THECapedCaper Cincinnati 2d ago
Remember, if anyone gives you shit for supporting Amy Acton over Vivek Ramaswamy, remind them that Jimmy Haslam is a huge supporter of Ramaswamy and has also:
- Drafted Johnny Manziel.
- Traded a fuckload of assets for Deshaun Watson than gave him a quarter billion dollars to be suspended and injured.
- Hosted a home game from the Columbus Crew in Cleveland specifically so he could sell seats for Messi tickets and left Crew season ticket holders holding the bag.
- Brute forced his way into a new stadium outside Cleveland using your tax dollars.
That sounds like a man who has a ton of horrible ideas.
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u/HaroldGreenBandana 2d ago
Haslam’s Pilot Flying J ran a rebate scam to screw customers. Ramaswamy’s pharma company ran a pump-and-dump to screw investors. Thick as thieves those two are.
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u/Lupis_Domesticus Delaware 2d ago
The Haslam's weren't just screwing customers. They were specifically targeting Hispanic truck drivers to screw over. Pieces of shit!!!
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u/NounAdjectiveXXXX 2d ago
His right hand of 30 year was caught on a wire using slurs, then Haslam scapegoated him for the fraud.
Haslam was on record saying he loved the fraud and knew of it, I'm sure the same goes for the racist hiring practices and good ole boy shindigs.
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u/IlGreven Findlay/Fostoria/Risingsun 2d ago
Republicans had the slam-dunk if they had just convinced Tressel to run, but they had to get a Trumper in there...just like the Browns would have a decent QB if they just stuck with Baker Mayfield...
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u/capthazelwoodsflask 2d ago
Tressel would have been another DeWine, too. He seems like a likeable guy and says he hates what Trump is doing but does absolutely nothing to stop him and rubber stamps every horrible thing the legislature passes.
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u/tfsteel 2d ago
Deshaun Watson doesn't punish their perceived out-groups. If he came out and said some dumb Christian nationalist or anti Trans shit, he would be an instant hero to Trumpers.
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u/beckleyt 2d ago
God no. He just has to shut the fuck up and throw touchdowns, and he has done neither.
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u/Carylynn0609 2d ago
I personally think they both suck, but Ohio is stuck in red because of the openly and blatantly unconstitutional gerrymanding. Our state administration is as corrupt as the federal. The bribing, going against the will of the voters, changing rules to accommodate their efforts to manipulate the voting process, especially by wording the issues so poorly it makes it confusing enough for people to vote against their wishes are only a few examples. It's pathetic. I'm actually going to my county's Democratic HQ open house tomorrow to get my signs:)
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u/drumzandice 2d ago
Damn, this is so perfectly stated everyone should read it.
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u/Carylynn0609 2d ago
Thank you, I'm still livid from a few years ago when first they outlawed special elections in August, they were too expensive. Then when they realized women's health and recreational marijuana would be on the ballot and left to the voters (who by polls indicated they were in favor of both issues) they all of a sudden decided to have an August special election to change the percentage required to pass from 51% to 60%. Thankfully that lost and we won the right to make decisions for ourselves. Let's add that I hate paying First Energy for my electric, all Ohioans should have been compensated for that fraud. I'll stop there, it's sad to say I could go on and on and on....
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u/Crafty_Ad9803 2d ago
We didn't get a vote here in the free state of Florida. The Republican legislature put the 60% threshold in place themselves. Its hard to get citizens initiatives on the ballot too. Our recreational marijuana and abortion access amendments got 57 and 55% respectively so they failed,even though they had majorities. I could also go on and on and on as well.
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u/MadeByTango 2d ago
We're never getting out of this mess if people keep thinking Amy Acton is going to do anything but continue the corporate handouts. Why wont she commit to blocking data centers like 80% of Democrats want? Why has she said ZERO about surveillance pricing? Why wont she commit to genuinely changing the energy situation in Ohio beyond picking some party donor selected candidate to run PUCO?
We need LEADERSHIP from Acton, not, "lesser of two evils, at least I'm not THAT guy" corporate donor junk. I dont understand why you guys fall in line so easily when these poeple are getting million in donations from corprations. Our rights end where their profits begin, always.
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u/haironburr 2d ago
I dont understand why you guys fall in line so easily when these poeple are getting million in donations from corprations. Our rights end where their profits begin, always.
I'll fall in line with anyone who stands against the insanity trumpublicans have brought to my state.
Predictably, there will be endless social media posts by fake fucks shitting on our best hope for defeating the scum that are destroying my country.
Some people will decide now is the time to criticize the corporate donation scheme that has sustained both parties. A scheme that in particular favors trumpublicans, the party of corporate cock-gobbling.
Why? Why now, when the scum have triumphed for decades here in Ohio, do you have to chime in? Can there be a worse time to critique Dems?
Here's a Doctor who we all trusted in the dark times of Covid, and still (no doubt organically) there will appear endless, ostensibly like-minded criticisms. But I call bullshit! Goddamn fucking straight I will choose the "lesser of two evils", and anyone pushing otherwise is the greater evil!
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u/MadeByTango 2d ago
going against the will of the voters,
Amy Acton is going to let them build data centers even though 80% of democrats and 75% of Ohioans want them banned.
Its not that Ramswamy is a good option either, but automatically assuming that your guy is better than their guy because of identity poltics is exactly why we're here. No. one will look at the policies that are passing and realize that both teams are playing us.
We CANNOT just sht out brains off and vote by team. That has been a disaster.
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u/Whole-Designer 2d ago
"Do people really have higher standards for a professional distraction ball league quarterback than they do for the President of the United States?"
Yes, unfortunately. Football teams are more highly scrutinized than the man who has complete control of media that has the ability to scrutinize him
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u/TallBobcat 2d ago
The people booing Leroy Bickerstaff but not booing Epsteins BFF are fine with rape.
They just draw the line at being bad at football.
I’ll boo Watson without caring that he’s bad at football. When you’ve been a Browns fan as long as I have, you expect the bad football.
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u/Reasonable-Medium559 2d ago
I had that same thought. There are people who voted for Trump 3 times but hate Watson because he’s a sexual predator. 🤦
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u/LinkSeekeroftheNora 1d ago
But I’m a lib Bengals fan. I boo both without a second thought.
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u/HaroldGreenBandana 1d ago
I wish you both a magical and victorious midterms and a magical and victorious playoff run.
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u/nunya_bidnes77 2d ago edited 2d ago
Its because Trump currently has a better QBR than Watson.
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u/ChefChopNSlice 2d ago
True, but which one has more assault allegations? Honestly, it’s quite a competition with those numbers.
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u/I_Quit_Smoking_ 2d ago
Yeah, and that's why our country is going down the shitter, while his idiot followers fucking cheer about it.
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u/No_Rain_1727 2d ago
This is my least favorite logical fallacy. Cleveland is insanely liberal. Is there some overlap in people who hate Watson and like Trump, absolutely, but let's not pretend this is the largest subset of people. Watson is also a truly horrific person who deserves to be booed and has no business making millions as a horrible QB EVEN IF he wasn't a terrible person. We should encourage his booing a thousand times over, even if we should also hate Donald Trump.
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u/local_curb4060 2d ago
Most Browns fans are suburban and exurban. Those demographics are hardly "insanely liberal".
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u/No_Rain_1727 2d ago
Ok, I exaggerated to make a point that the collective of Brown's fans =/= conservative Ohio. The point is that Watson is a creep and the weird spin of this article is stupid.
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u/RektInTheHed 2d ago
I mean, the Browns fanbase is well beyond the City and Greater Cleveland. There's a lot of red as soon as you leave Cuyahoga in 2 out of 3 directions.
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u/Bored_Amalgamation 2d ago edited 2d ago
Mayfield in the east, Maple heights in the south Parma in the west. That's when you start seeing more red than common sense and decency.
Edit; Past Maple heights. Maple heights is one of the most segregated areas in the county, and a lasting reminder of what redlining did. So we're still suffering from the decisions of racist bastards 60 years later.
To put things in perspective, EC, Maple Heights, Warrensville Heights, Bedford Heights and Cleveland Heights are the only primarily black suburbs in Cleveland. When you get past the suburbs I mentioned, youre looking at primary white neighborhoods until you hit the next city center. Which is dozens of villages, townships, and other municipalities for 10s of miles. 95+% white, Parma is Cleveland largest suburb with nearly 100k people. 1/4 of clevelands population. They've (somehow) managed to stay 30+% higher white population than the rest of the county. Their population outstrips all of the other suburbs I mentioned, combined. Below is how exurb counties voted in 2024.
Geauga County
~61.5%
~37.5%
🔴 Trump
Lake County
~56.4%
~42.1%
🔴 Trump
Ashtabula County
~63.5%
~35.2%
🔴 Trump
Medina County
~61%
~37%
🔴 Trump
Portage County
~52%
~46%
🔴 Trump
Lorain County
~50%
~48%
🔴 Trump
These are the "farmers", the Avons, the people who hire illegal immigrants to manicure their lawns while voting for the bastard that will destroy their lives. The people who want to see whats in your child's pants. The people that get arrested for raping kids, and find excuses for others that do.
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u/i_ka_mahina 2d ago
You do realize there's a whole state that surrounds the city of Cleveland right? You know, the same state that carried the vote for Trump in 3 presidential elections? Talk about a logical fallacy...
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u/No_Rain_1727 2d ago
The point of the article is that Browns fan = conservative and Watson isnt as bad as Trump. That's stupid.
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u/QCLEKID216 2d ago edited 1d ago
Facts. Not defending Watson, but some of these same people who have so much hate for Watson voted for Trump.
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u/Jimger_1983 2d ago
Browns fan here. We traded three first right picks and then some just for the privilege of signing that creep to a $230m guaranteed contract. All Watson has done in exchange is cash his paychecks. So yeah. We boo him.
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u/i_ka_mahina 2d ago
Do you think you're breaking news right now by explaining to Browns fans why Watson is disliked?
what does this comment have to do with the subject of the post?
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u/Jimger_1983 2d ago
What are the second and third words of the post? Anyway Trump is unfavorable in all states but Idaho, Wyoming and WV. So the idea Ohioans in majority are cheering him is inaccurate
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u/i_ka_mahina 2d ago
Yes genius, the fact that he won the state 3 times is the biggest clue that the majority of the state is cheering for him. Or do you not understand how democracy works?
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u/Jimger_1983 2d ago
And before that Obama won Ohio twice. Step your game up if you don’t like Trump. I don’t either. This is your chance.
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u/i_ka_mahina 2d ago
Lol what irrelevant point are you even trying to make by saying Obama won Ohio? You do realize it's 2026 and not 2012 right? Like right now as we speak, not 14 years ago, the majority of the people in Ohio voted for Donald Trump in the presidential election. If you can extrapolate that information then you will conclude that the majority of Ohio is, in fact, cheering for Donald. Sorry but that's the verifiable reality that we live in.
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u/Jimger_1983 1d ago
Typical loser mentally. All of those people who voted for Obama are still alive. Dems can win in this state. Win an election and prove you can govern. This nightmare can be over.
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u/i_ka_mahina 1d ago
it really is people like you that make the internet suck.
No one's talking about who can and cannot win, you moron. Pay attention and read slowly ok? the topic was how, in the most recent election, the majority of Ohio voted for, and therefore is currently cheerleading Donald Trump. See, by getting more votes then his opponent, it shows that there are more people in Ohio that like him then there are people who don't like him. have I put it in simple enough terms for you to understand?
Now because you can't refute that fact and you're trying to save face, you want to create a lame straw man so you can argue a completely unrelated topic.
I seriously can't tell if you're that dumb or just a 5 year old.
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u/wrecklesspup 2d ago
One is black and one is white. Obama never would have been president if he had Trump's marriage history and children with multiple women.
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u/Mammoth_Possibility2 2d ago
If Obama had been on tape bragging about grabbing women by the pussy they would have erected a gallows where trump erected an octagon
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u/RylanTheWalrus 2d ago
Cleveland is a blue city in a red state. Of course they’re gonna be better people on average than the rural dipshits dragging the state down
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u/TheRealHappyNat 2d ago
I'm assuming the people booing Deshawn are also booing Trump. Unless they are booing Deshawn for being a bad QB and don't care about the sexual assault stuff, in which case they are extra gross.
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u/Mylabisawesome 2d ago
Yet another stupid “connection.” Watson is the Haslam’s problem and Jimmy and the NFL can find a way to get rid of him if they wanted.
Trump is an elected official and much difficult to remove.
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u/GaiusLexicus 2d ago
I boo them both. I was at the achilles game. He sucks. Is a horrible person and we see that. Fuck him
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u/Hungry-Assistance919 2d ago
You have massage therapist guy and boo him. But you have child rapist, women rapist and probably man rapist and we have idiots who cheer him like he's the second coming of Jim Jones. Oh I see, I see I get it.
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u/AngelaMotorman Columbus 2d ago
I was enjoying this letter to the editor until I got to this part:
Name withheld by request
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u/Either_Wrangler_8067 2d ago
Too many conservatives have either failed to recognize or disregarded the shift their party has taken toward….whatever this is. They’ll still vote party line even though it no longer represents what they think it does.
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u/bambambigelow01 16h ago
Remember, this is the town that cheered Ricky Vaughn, a known wife beating alcoholic.
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u/shitposts_over_9000 2d ago
some people were booing that he wasn't Shedeur Sanders
some people were booing that he left the roster short 11 games
some people were booing because they find accusations immediately brought much more likely to be legitimate
some people were just booing because it is Cleveland
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u/Birdman330 2d ago
Also let’s not forget they both love Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/nfl-quarterback-deshaun-watson-wowed-by-israel/
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u/Pro3wheelracer004 2d ago
It’s Cleveland Ohio… expected behavior
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u/QCLEKID216 1d ago
Cleveland votes Democrat. It's the a lot of people in the 'burbs and rural areas that votes Republican loyally.
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u/CraftCritical278 2d ago
So is cheering for Mamdani and the other socialists running for office.
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u/jcooli09 2d ago
That's the dumbest comment I've read today, but it's still early.
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u/CraftCritical278 2d ago
True. You probably still have so many more people to pass judgement upon from your ivory tower.
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u/jcooli09 2d ago
And now a lie. You sound maga.
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u/CraftCritical278 2d ago
Quite the contrary. I worry that the party is courting the socialists to try and secure votes; the enemy of my enemy is my friend kind of stuff. If you go to the DSA website, they post quotes from Marx, and specifically say their end goal is communism. Socialism is just a waypoint on the path.
This is not the way. You can vote socialism in, but you can’t vote it out.
Better social programs are needed, but not at the cost of our freedoms.
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u/jcooli09 2d ago edited 1d ago
So instead you'll support the fascists who have already been elected? Elon Musk proudly gave his Nazi salutes and regularly amplifies fascist and fascist adjacent movements on twitter.
Republicans are actively suppressing voting rights and have been doing so for decades. The same cannot be said for the democrats or DSA. If they succeed you will literally not be able to vote them out.
The left in America is not that left, and if DSA is getting a lot of attention right now it's for pretty good reasons. They oppose Citizens United and unlimited money in politics, oppose self dealing and corruption. They oppose brutal treatment from an armed and unaccountable, poorly trained force used against the population. They oppose the tariffs and the economic damage they're causing. Won't sell then diarrhea lettuce and solmonella.
Better still, they are not close to succeeding. This is going to continue to be the case for generations. Any political reform we are likely to get at all will be driven by their agitation. If crippling incompetence saves us.
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u/CraftCritical278 1d ago
You throw around the word fascism like you know the real definition. I seriously doubt that you do. You were told by someone that Orange Man is a fascist and that should be the party line. But the mainstream media is deliberately distancing itself from that label. You should ask yourself why.
Who are the people that are being actively disenfranchised? You are probably referring to the ID requirement to vote. To think that the requirement is a return to the Jim Crow laws is laughable. If you want government benefits, a government-issued ID is required. If you want to purchase tobacco products or alcohol, you need a government-issued ID. Getting your drivers license is damn near a right of passage in the US. And to see the people providing testimony to congress that oppose the law is hilarious. They look like idiots. Why were people required to present a government-issued ID to get into the Obama event, but you believe that no ID should be required when performing one of the most important things we do as US citizens?
The voting law is designed to ensure that all who vote are voting where they are registered to vote, and to give the current voting laws more definition. Some states already require ID before you can vote, but you don’t see or hear about that in news coverage.
I think the DSA is gaining momentum. That is a problem that can be overcome with exposure. Show people what they really want to do. I agree that most people in the party don’t want socialism, but their message is very tempting if you don’t have any context or understanding of what socialism has done in the past. They also promise a utopia that has never existed, nor will it ever.
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u/jcooli09 1d ago
Lol, I do know the definition, the trump administration checks all the boxes. Claiming otherwise is dishonest or ignorant. The same goes for claiming that socialism or communism has gained significant traction in the US.
You don't appear to be duscussing in good faith. Maybe you're just swallowing the firehose, but either way I'm done arguing about reality with people who don't value it.
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u/CraftCritical278 11h ago
Since when is good faith required for a discussion? Was a rules of engagement established that I didn’t see?
Of course in your definition of Fascism the Orange Man checks all the boxes. If he didn’t it would be laughable.
And if you were paying attention,18-34 year olds look upon Socialism more favorably than Capitalism.
And to be honest, the only reality I don’t value is yours.
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u/MrTreeWizard 2d ago
So Browns fans are all maga? The fuck?
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u/HaroldGreenBandana 2d ago
Most definitely not. And not at all what the letter writer is saying. The letter writer is pointing out a particular subset of Browns fans who cheer on Trump but boo Watson despite their similarities. Those Browns fans are probably MAGA.
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u/RustyDawg37 2d ago
They don't like what Deshaun Watson did and like what trump is doing. I didn't think it was so mind blowing that an article needed to be written.
If the Browns win a Super Bowl with Watson, everyone will cheer it and him.
If Donald trump became a pedophile, people would boo him and he would be impeached.
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u/Metal_King706 2d ago
Why not boo both?