48 Comments

Listening to Vance during the debate reminded me of a underded junkyard dog on a short chain. Plenty of bark and no sense. I got your new book in the mail today. I was wondering if you could sign something a short note or card that I could place in the book? Should I ask your Dad for an address to mail a sase to?

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Yes, Vance was deliberately smarmy. I will disagree though about the idea of childcare. I think many moms would very much like to stay home with their children and would do so if they received some level of pay. I think this is an excellent idea.

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If Vance is so in favor of IVF, why couldn’t he be bothered to return to Washington D.C. to vote for a bill protecting IVF?

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Imagine Trump answering that question!! Within a few words he'd be talking about tariffs- or something.

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Apart from “standard” vs “ban” is the obvious contradiction between a national “bandard” and “leaving it up to the states.” There are some fat targets here for ads.

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I hadn't realized what an incredibly deceitful guy Vance is. He pretended to be a regular guy last night but he's so far away from it that it rang wrong even before I heard lie after lie from him. I thought Tim Walz was heroic in overcoming his fear and anxiety and going right in there for 90 minutes. Bravo! He is likable and Vance is not. It didn't work, JD. I wasn't fooled.

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You really nailed what I was feeling last night.

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I got so angry last night listening to this debate that I had to go outside and cool off. What bald face lies this person spewed forth.

Why is the very humanity of women deemed “negotiable” by JD and others of their ilk?!

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Was fairly disappointed in Walz because he spewed a lot of "word salad" and never called out Trump and Vance, instead saying things like "There are people who want to do X" - rather than saying "My opponent wants to do X". He was way too nice, looked worried, and I think a lot of what he said would only be clear to people who really know the issues, not to the average viewer. Vance came across like a well-spoken Trump and I think he could fool a lot of people.

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I was actually disappointed in Walz because he said he wanted to "restore Roe" rather than going further than that, which is – as polls clearly show – what the American people want.

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I wish Walz would have pointed out that the very states with the strictest abortion bans are the ones providing the LEAST support for women and children (that Vance claimed to want more of). Also wish he would have noted that Republicans did everything in their power to prevent the will of the people in the Ohio vote Vance fake-piously mentioned. Thank you for noting Vance's patronizing "Margaret"! Maybe only women could hear this (my husband didn't notice it) but it made my blood boil every time!!!! I wish she would have called him "JD" in return.

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I think it is important to understand how much economics plays a part in the majority of women's decisions to have an abortion. What Vance was trying to do was to make this argument when he was addressing the need for far more robust financial support to women/families who want to have a child.

He of course retreated when he was asked for specifics--it's always "leave it to the States" and or individual corporations.

That is why you cannot separate economic issues from the abortion issue.

Abortionomics: When Choice Is A Necessity - On The Issues Magazine

https://ontheissuesmagazine.com/2012winter/abortionomics-when-choice-is-a-necessity/

Opinion | Roe v. Wade’s greedy offspring - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/roe-v-wade-and-the-dishonest-industry-it-spawned/2012/01/17/gIQAaf5T6P_story.html

Opinion | Sorting out ‘Roe v. Wade’ events and abortion data - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/sorting-out-roe-v-wade-events-and-abortion-data/2012/01/18/gIQAHTZLOQ_story.html

Pundit solves abortion wars in one easy column | Salon.com

https://www.salon.com/2012/01/19/pundit_solves_abortion_wars_in_one_easy_column/

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I wish Walz had been better prepped to rebut the words “national minimum standard” by calling this word salad a ban. Very disappointing. I was up at 4am worrying about the election again. Vance came across as a nice normal guy and not the truly sick Christian nationalist weirdo that he is.

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Does anyone remember who it was who declined Trump’s invite to be VP for 2016 and said that Trump’s enticement was that this person would become Pres. in all but name? Vance kept slipping into talk of what He would do and He would support. In his closing remarks, where Tim Walz in his Summation said something like ‘vote for Kamala Harris’, Trump’s running mate said ‘vote for me’. It sounds like Vance bit at the hook offered by Trump or perhaps by JD’s Project 2025 pals and he sees himself very much as the puppet master. He did claim all credit for the pet massacre in Springfield lie. Is it possible he is an even bigger narcissist than Trump?

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Vance is not stupid and he knows exactly who and what Trumps is - he's said so himself! Watching him lie so glibly and praise Trump with language so absurd it was comical, I realized that Vance sees Trump as a useful idiot he can manipulate in his own quest for power. I'm not sure narcissist is a strong enough word; this man is dangerous.

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Absolutely dangerous, because he wants power more than anything, and he might even believe he knows what is best for everyone. He is seriously flawed, I just don’t know enough to tick all ten boxes for psychopath. I do recognize the facility for and enjoyment of lying, proving to himself what fools he makes of everybody else, but I don’t know if he enjoys causing pain, injury, terror as Trump does, whether face to face or at arm’s length, cue the drones and his latest suggestion of a Kristalnacht for criminals.

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The idea of Vance feigning compassion is akin to a lion feigning compassion for its prey.

Reporters need to do a much better job of pushing Vance and Trump on this issue.

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I had to scream at the TV a few times myself. It helped a little when I switched from wine to gin. But not much.

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I like how you roll!

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;-)

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He's a smooth, smooth fascist.

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Vance gives off major domestic abuser vibes. This idea that women could or should trust him is delusional on his part.

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Yes, he watched his grandfather whale on his grandmother, and came out of it thinking that's how to be a man. The "no fault divorce ban he wants is a huge red flag.

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Vance has humble-bragged about his bad temper for the New York Times:

“I can be defused, but only with skill and precision. It’s not just that I’ve learned to control myself,” he wrote, “but that Usha has learned how to manage me.”

(source: https://www.threads.net/@gwynnek/post/C_nvDsFR48T )

Vance's abused grandmother Bonnie Vance married because she was impregnated at the age of 13. Probably due in part to domestic violence, she had eight known miscarriages. A New Yorker article describes how she filed twice for divorce due to this abuse. The first time was before no-fault laws existed. (no-paywall link: https://archive.li/zAQow) At some point she tried to get out of the marriage - again unsuccessfully - by setting her husband on fire. Any stability Vance attributes to this marriage is surely the result of the economic security from his grandfather's union job, not the homicidal hostage situation his grandparents endured.

Instead of healing from the abandonment and abuse he suffered as a vulnerable, powerless child, or seeking to identify and remedy its social and economic determinants, Bowman, who became Hamel, and then Vance sensationalizes and profits from it. He uses his self-serving nostalgia and the personal myths of his past as a license to bully others. With trauma and grievance where his moral core should be, he is able to rationalize whatever evil the house of cards that is his embattled ego requires to survive.

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I knew you would know the facts, I could not find the interest to read his book, and I’m a voracious reader, I pretty much devour several books a week. I have a theory that Amy Chua, his “tiger-mom” mentor actually ghost wrote his book, as even the titles are similar “Battle hymn of the Tiger mom” and “Hillbilly Elegy”. I am of course, familiar with said words, but who actually speaks like that? pretentious people all around.

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