Survey Says... That was a lie.

This morning I opened my news app and a Newsweek article about a Pew Research poll that liberals don't want to date Republicans or Trumpers.  (Let's not get into the fact it's disturbing that my news app knows I'm single.) I read the article and it went on and on but lacking substance, as in statistics.  It didn't go into male versus female or age groupings.  Just on and on ramblings for what at best sounded like a "praise be you" to Trumpers.  Well, if you know me you know, I went and looked up this magical poll.  I mean I participated in a You Gov poll last fall/winter and it's results were like 53-47, Dems and Trumpers not willing to date the other. Okay, so what are we missing here?  Besides the Newsweek article reads like a pat on the back for the good old boys. 

So I found the Pew poll.  It was showing 47 of Trumpers were not willing to consider dating people who voted for Clinton and only 24 of the Dems were willing to date a Trumper.  But wait. Did you notice what I left out?  Percentage, as in % symbol.  I realized as I reviewed the "poll" it was not a population percentage.  These were numbers.  They talked to less than 100 people each who they already knew were Dems and Republicans, Trumpers and non-Trumpers. Even better. Newsweek wrote about this like it was recent.  It was last October.  Like right after the YouGov poll that apparently was done in mid-October.  The YouGov poll showed about 53% of Dems didn't want to date Trumpers and 47% of Trumpers didn't want to date Dems, Never Trumpers, etc. Yours truly participated in that poll which is why I remembered it. It was more in depth. Took about 30 minutes. The analysis asked about friends with other views, dating people with other views, etc.  But it pointed out that women 48% are more uncomfortable than men 40% dating across party lines.  It didn't say what percentage of women were in each party though.  

So I looked up party demographics   In 2017, women were 56% Dem or Dem leaning. Now, women are 65% Dem/Dem leaning. Men were 48% GOP/GOP leaning.  Now, not to disturb you ladies, but now they estimate 42% of men still lean GOP.  And if they consider themselves Euroamerican males (some Hispanic men do which is why the census asked straight up "White, not Hispanic"), that percentage of GOP leaning jumps up to 61%, compared to only 47% Euroamerican women. 

There's a distinct disparity here where it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Dems are less likely to want to date a GOP, particularly one who's a Trumper.  They are more likely to be female.  Males are typically less intimidated by women who have their own point of view.  Except, now 65% of females view themselves as Dem or Dem leaning whether they want to say it outloud or not. So, it's not really surprising women who don't really feel comfortable standing up for themselves just prefer not dating anyone who they might feel "bullied" by. 

Bullied?  Honestly, yes, I get plenty of Trumper, GOP, conservative guys swiping right for me. And I've gone out on a couple dates here and there with a couple different Trumpers.  First, every one of them is a miserable date.  They are more likely to brag about how much money they have. I don't care, especially when I make more than the ones who brag. It's not that I'm looking for someone who makes more than me.  It's that they are insulting me indirectly by assuming I make less than they do.  It's almost laughable now it has happened on every date with a Trumper.  I'm tits and ass and fairly attractive for my age, so I couldn't possibly be making more money than them.  The one that was living off disability was actually so laughable I sat there smiling the whole time trying to pretend I didn't want to strangle him.  If they go to politics, I tell them I'm a moderate.  If they push, I tell them I am a fiscal conservative.  Oh yes, I know, I'm dodging the question.  They're just not smart enough to.  "Who did you vote for?" Three out of 5 had to push it there.  I voted for Johnson I reply.  You would think at least I didn't vote for Clinton and they would drop the conversation like a hot potato someone just shoved up their butts.  Ah but no.  One of them got so irate he was screaming at me by the time he worked himself into a tizzy that I was a femi-Nazi bitch and I could've put that into my profile instead of "wasting his time".  

Right now all of you are thinking this may have ended with him eating his teeth, but you don't remember seeing me in one of those jailbird magazines some of you buy religiously. But my friends that know me, know I get quiet, cold and calculating in these types of situations.  I was completely aware that everyone in a 15' radius was at a stand still waiting for this to play out.  When he took a breath, I simply stood turned to him and said loudly enough for the immediate peanut gallery,  "Well, this has been a horrible experience." Grabbed my coat and purse, and punchlined, "if I were a femi-Nazi bitch, I'd pay the bill.  Instead you are."

Honestly, I can see over half my friends in tears, regardless of their political affiliation.  Which may have prompted God knows what.  More screaming with "snowflake" or "pansy ass liberal" or any other slew of insults most Trumpers like to hurl like they were raised in seaside brothels by whores and sailors.  I can't imagine why most women wouldn't want to endure that. I promise you that's my last time enduring it.

Now, since that nightmare, I've basically hardly bothered with dating at all. I don't swipe right for anyone claiming to be a "conservative" anymore.  Just the sight of a guy in his profile with that MAGAt hat makes me cringe. I imagine at least some of the conservatives I'm swiping left on are Never Trumpers.  But I don't care. I don't want to experience that ever again.  The next time, the guy might be lucky to walk away with his trachea intact. I don't care what your political beliefs are. You do not have that right to scream at me or any other woman like you are a 3rd grade bully telling me I can't play with the ball.  And I'll tell you right now, I don't care how strong any of the women I know are.  None of them want to put up with it either.  

So Newsweek and their article can kiss my ass and probably at least 65% of the women out there feel the same way.  Same goes for Pew Research.  If you aren't going to take full demographic data and analyze it your results are shit.  Here's the facts fellas.  Women are still tired of being crapped on.  We almost all have been, and if we haven't been, we know someone who has been. One of our good friends has definitely put up with some man's crap. We are tired of it and you can scream MAGAt at the top of your lungs.  Most of us realize what you really want is to dial back when boys were men and men were boys.  Women were property, arm candy, barefoot and pregnant, and held by financial "gunpoint" in dependency.  Some feel "good", "I'm a man", skewed poll isn't going to change most women don't want to go back there, if they remember how bad that really was. 

What we want are partners, respect, someone who understands give as much as take.  What we don't want?  To be bullied into submission.  So yes, most Dem/Dem leaning being a majority of females?  It doesn't surprise me 71% don't want to date you in a tiny skewed poll.  What surprises me thinking about it now is that a statistically sound poll showed 47% of us were willing to last October.  I was one of them.  Thank your MAGAt behavior for turning me into one of the 65% of Dem leaning women when I've been registered GOP all my adult life. Leaders lead by example because followers mimick.  Donald Trump is a pig and you decided that meant you could be too. Survey says, that was a lie.

How to piss off a Trumper

1. Don't like Trump.

2. Make it clear you don't like Trump.

3.  Say anything with the word "Trump" in it after #2.

That's it. No repeat necessary.  Trumpers will keep coming at you until you give up.

Hoaxers and the Dalai Lama

You have to be a very strong person to make points to Hoaxers. You have to have the facts, be ready to share them and be able to post the links yourself because Hoaxers can't Google. Often you will have to have legitimate medical sites, proof of anything you share with credentials. 

Even educated ones will try to jump all over you as long as they outnumber you and can "bully" their view. They have a tendency to get snarky with no facts. It's hard not to get snarky back.  Afterall, you've got facts.  They've got an opinion based on other opinions, often devoid of any relative facts.  Sometimes devoid of any facts at all.

What I find most interesting is how often facts just aren't enough with them. They've tied their egos up to something that seems trivial.  Should a person's ego be tied up so tightly to the idea something is a "hoax"?  Should a person's ego be so tied up to incorrect information?  Is this really normal behavior?

For example, I have friends that are very tied to certain religious beliefs. Their religion gives them strength through hard times. Makes them thankful for what they have. Often helps them cope with daily life and sometimes tragedy. They often believe in intangible things.  Things we can't see. Things they take on their faith.  To some degree, we all do.

Using my own beliefs further to my point, I believe in reincarnation. I also believe in Karma.  I often see posts by some of my Christian friends posting a vengeful version of karma.  That's not really what Karma is in teachings. Karma isn't good or bad, so much as lessons.  Some might view good Karma as a reward. But in teachings, it's not a reward. It's an opportunity to grow more.  I don't point this out. My friends that share this aren't talking in facts. They are talking in opinions and views and interpretations.  They interpret the word "karma" as they perceive "heaven" and "hell", rewards and punishment. 

Could I explain this difference?  Sure, I could. And honestly, since most of my friends are not tied to my religious beliefs, it might confuse some, interest others, but I doubt any of them would then have 3 to two dozen people pelting me with arguments like bullies in a school yard.

Even if they did, would they all be right or wrong?  I have no way to prove reincarnation.  There's no science behind it really.  I cannot prove their interpretation of karma isn't really correct. It's like splitting hairs at that point.  Am I tied to my beliefs?  Of course I am. But I have no proof. I have religious texts but those are not scientific proof. I cannot share a Harvard Medical study showing how Karma works. There are no facts, just my belief.

Yet, medicine works in facts.  There is science behind it.  There are studies, lots and lots of them.  There are experts who can show you pictures of the viruses and bacteria and who have scientific proof of exactly how the body's immune system works.  Do they know everything?  No, but they know, factually, way more than any one else.  

When someone says, I don't care what the facts are and accepts a narrative with false facts, we call that beliefs.  It's not. Beliefs are in things with no facts. Zero, none, zilch.  Beliefs we take on faith. Like some of my friends take on Faith God is there for them. Or that heaven or hell will be where they or others end up.  Even my own beliefs in reincarnation and Karma.  These are beliefs. We have no proof; we just believe. 

Hoaxers have somehow tied themselves up into fact denying, twisting, even faced with the numbers of the dead. They believe. They use all kinds of weird things that often don't make sense factually.  But the strangest part is they ignore facts. I said a few days ago, dead is dead. 16,700+ today. Somehow the Hoaxers have let go of the 2009 flu narrative of 16,000+ in 6 months was bad and moved on to "new" numbers.  It's a moving scale for them.  How in the hell is that even possible?  I think the answer is clear.  Ego.

Years ago, the Dalai Lama was asked an interesting question in an interview. 

"What would you do if science proved there was no such thing as reincarnation?"

The Dalai Lama replied, "We would stop believing in it."

Hoaxers, regardless of religious beliefs, you could learn a lot from the Dalai Lama. Even if your ego, everything you believe is tied into something, in the face of facts you quit believing.  No one's ego is more than facts.