SecondJon @SecondJon@qoto.org

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C.S. Lewis ( on government response to #COVID and other crises?)

Thanks for the welcome, #@freemo Here's my #introduction .

I'm...
• a dad of a handful of kiddos, married, living in Colorado.
• a Christian in the Anglican tradition, and suppose I'm an unaffiliated conservatarian.
• a reader, working through the great novels as well as easier/fun books and nonfiction.
• a card and board game player and am happily teaching more to my kids as they get older.
• short on free time. I enjoy a philosophical pipe as I read and/or reflect, and occasionally get my guitar or bow/arrows out to learn new skills.
• a software developer... and have been for a very long time, now in the world of APIs and cloud development (CRM/SFDC).

On this day in 2023, #Colorado District Court Judge Sarah B. Wallace rejected an attempt to exclude Donald #Trump from the 2024 ballot. The legal battle advanced from there to the Colorado Supreme Court and, later, the U.S. Supreme Court, which on March 4, 2024, ruled unanimously in favor of Trump.

Evil Republicans or Righteous Democrats? #uspol

"Our strategy was very simple. We couldn't buckle, and we had to say that they were blackmailing the country to get their way... they were willing to shut down the government, throw the country into default for the first time in its history and cut Medicare, Social Security, education and the environment just so they could get their way. And we were trying to say that they were basically terrorists"

It's all just politics.

Ha. Actually we're totally OK with kings. #nokings is it all just political cos play? Help help I'm being repressed, come see the violence inherent in the system!

Looking for a server that's still active and still committed to #qoto stated values. Qoto seems to be neither of the two. Do any exist?

Some of qotos stated values:

Be respectful, and don't harass other Fediverse users. Unpopular opinions are acceptable, hate-speech is not. Respect others users right to disengage...We won’t censor unpopular ideas and statements and welcome people from across the political spectrum...

The conversation about the US "government shut down" seems to be only about which party most voters will blame the shutdown on. It's pure election politics. The messaging is all about why you should be angry at the other guys and vote for us. If there was army significance to yet another shutdown, seven Democrats would vote and we'd move on.

Didn't President Obama call the Republicans terrorists holding the entire country hostage when the tables were turned and he needed just a few republican votes?

Pure politics, nothing to see here. Rise above their call to be angry and afraid. Fear is the mind killer. Don't live in, act out of, or vote from fear.