Chose their whiteness over democracy

[SaidNobody]

Nancy Pelosi: they chose their whiteness over democracy.

A term that I was recently exposed to was called, "reality bias."

Apparently, nature isn't fair. For example, if you look up in a database of things that man might do, you might see things like, " drink beer, shoot shit, watch sports, look for something naked. "

Wow that is true and perhaps in a similar order, it isn't politically correct. So if you search in Google for "men can" You might get suggested results like, " get pregnant, menstruate, have mood swings, be sensitive. "

Likewise if you do the same for women You might get, " be strong, join the army, Like other women. "

In the name of fairness it seems like logic and reason goes further and further from the center. Like people might want to keep their money. There are perhaps more white people, so white people want to keep their money.

Identity politics seems to be fanning out into more and more aspects of our life. Nancy Pelosi used the quote in the subject line. Apparently fighting for our rights is now white supremacy. I'm just curious what others here might think about this.

[Reuben]

I think the term "whiteness" is loaded with racial prejudice. Worse, Pelosi is using it in a purely pejorative way. It means nothing in that quote but "I don't like those people."

I'm completely on board with most of the left's ideas about and movement toward racial equality, but I will never use that term.

[River Morgan2]

IMO, Pelosi meant there were a LOT of Nazi or anti-Semitic symbols, tattoos, t-shirts, signs, etc., on display during the protest, then riot/insurrection.

River

[SaidNobody]

I think the term "whiteness" is loaded with racial prejudice. Worse, Pelosi is using it in a purely pejorative way. It means nothing in that quote but "I don't like those people."

I'm completely on board with most of the left's ideas about and movement toward racial equality, but I will never use that term.

Would be you be open to discussing some of these ideas with me? Because to me, they defy the laws of nature. I can be civil, even if justifiably arrogant as shit. But please, I need someone to convince me that these ideas are not insane and insulting.

[SaidNobody]

IMO, Pelosi meant there were a LOT of Nazi or anti-Semitic symbols, tattoos, t-shirts, signs, etc., on display during the protest, then riot/insurrection.

River

Here is the deal with that. The "right" was about things the constitution is about. Back before and after the American Revolutionary War, some of the founding fathers went to France to discuss ideas. The general consensus was what we know today as libertarianism, the philosophy of individual liberties. But there emerged a small group that promoted the idea of separation of church and state. This wasn't just a law, or code, or ever idea. It was an entire philosophy.

When Martin Luther nailed his note to the church door, the church and state were basically in bed together. They were very corrupt. They were abusing the people by messing with their beliefs and taking their money. The reformation was triggered by church and state being entangled. Don't get me wrong, I like the reformation, but it occurred because of great evil and suffering.

For the next few hundred years, the people struggled against the corruption of the church and state. People moved to the new world. The founders wanted to make something safe and so they debated. They come up with libertarianism.

One group promoted the idea of separation of church and state as more than an idea. Church and State were both necessary. Things like marriage, ceremony, death rites, salvation, etc, are necessary aspects of humanity. And things like laws, justice, and government are also necessary. All things imaginary belonged in the church, all things that MUST be in common were part of the state. These guys were called conservatives.

Being conservative sometimes seemed cold and uncaring. Like, acts of charity are a church thing, not a state thing. It wasn't just about separating church and state, but philosophy also got into dependencies to outside influences or transferring resources from one group to another.

Anyway, Conservatives were on the Right of the debating chamber. The labels of Right and Left stick to this day. The Left thought that church and state should have a closer relationship. The monarchs were still God's chosen. They ruled over the nations with God's authority.

Things have shifted some since then. But the "right" was about keeping church and state in their lanes. In a sense, being right means being the center. It's about promoting personal freedom and while supporting both church and state. Abortion has tripped conservatives up. Are unborn babies humans? Do they have rights? Is believing an unborn child is a human being a matter of faith/belief or something that the state should recognize? So some conservatives have broken their philosophy. They have pushed church back into the state. They have pushed a matter of "faith" into the chambers of law.

This is a wicked sort of way opened the door to the philosophies of the left. The Left began to attack the church. They wanted the power of the church, but they wanted to apply it in the state. The Left wants to press things of church/faith/imagination through state-controlled institutions, like schools, hospitals, community organizing, and social peer pressure.

A true conservative, someone that you might consider "far-right" is actually very moderate. The Left allows for things like "progressivism." The Left allows for things like, "if the majority decides, it's ok." Or, "if it is a dangerous idea we can suppress it." Or, "if he lies, we can talk away from his right to talk."

What people called "alt-right" is actually far left. Nazis were progressives. They decided the old tolerances were contaminating society and it was alright to kill anyone that was a burden. Progressive decided that a particle group was causing the suffering of the right so it was OK to kill them.

White supremacy is not a conservative valve. The idea that I am special, and I am very special, is a belief or faith-based. When I go to church I can even think I am Jesus. But when I go to the courts for justice I am like everyone else. When I go to get benefits from the state like education, food stamps, property, ownership, licenses, services, etc, I am the same as everyone else.

So these Neo-Nazis and KKK guys, they are not conservatives, or even on the right. If you think that you have the right to abuse someone because somehow you are of a special or superior race, you have pushed your "beliefs" into the realms of state.

One thing the conservatives did foresee. They needed the "source of rights" to be beyond the reach of men. So they separated the rights from the laws that restricted them. They put our freedom, our rights, in the church. The state had the power to limit or restrict rights, but they did not give rights. God gives us our rights. We have the right to do "anything" unless there is a law the restricts it. This is important to the psyche. We are because God made us so, but the laws help us get along but not dictate what we believe.

[Cnsl1]

That's a cogent argument right there, SN.

Kinda makes me wonder if you is even white. I suspect a little miscegenation in yo heritage.

Sorry for the levity.. and I didn't mean to offend but couldn't help misself . I did indeed like that message. Makes sense.

Couple things come to mind.

First, my HS govt teacher taught that if you go far enough right and far enough left you end up in the same place, which I think is a shorter and dumber way to say what you said.

Second, I've heard some white folks talking about fighting for their lost rights and freedoms. I get that. No one wants to lose their rights and freedoms. But, so far nobody has told me what rights and freedoms they lost. Freedom to break in and ransack?

[SaidNobody]

That's a cogent argument right there, SN.

Kinda makes me wonder if you is even white. I suspect a little miscegenation in yo heritage.

Sorry for the levity.. and I didn't mean to offend but couldn't help misself . I did indeed like that message. Makes sense.

Couple things come to mind.

First, my HS govt teacher taught that if you go far enough right and far enough left you end up in the same place, which I think is a shorter and dumber way to say what you said.

Second, I've heard some white folks talking about fighting for their lost rights and freedoms. I get that. No one wants to lose their rights and freedoms. But, so far nobody has told me what rights and freedoms they lost. Freedom to break in and ransack?

Yes, I am a mixed blood. My father was a radical preacher with passion to rattle the rafters. My mother's side was filled with radical thinkers who spent too much time in the wilderness and mountains.

I have not lost any rights as a white person. I don't think I have ever implied that. I have lost rights as an American.

I have also been blamed for a bunch of crap because I am a white person. I spent 15 years debating with a guy from Jamaica. Even though we were basically pretty good friends, he hated me. He said I was the worst type of racist. He said that because I promoted the idea of friendly relationships between different races I set young black people to be murdered by white people that they trusted.

To him, and he was a member of the Sons of Africa, an old fraternity that dedicated itself to the freedom of black people since 1790, the only solution was segregation. He thought they should push all of the white people out of the south and take over that region as their own country.

My family left Pennsylvania long before the Civil War ever started. My family worked farms and horses for almost 200 years, mostly in the Rocky mountains. I tried to tell him that I personally did not have anything invested in his oppression. He didn't buy it. simply by being a white person I was part of the problem.

I am not fighting for my rights. I am fighting for my reputation. There was a time where I wasn't sure which side of the Civil War I would have been on. But in the recent years I have dug through the illusion of what the Civil War was actually about. I absolutely would have been on the North. While the South was fighting for the rights, what they meant was that they had the right to own other human beings. There would have been no point in my life that I ever thought that was okay.

When most people look at me, they see a white person. Granted, very handsome white person, but still just a white person. I am not just that. I am a Christian from the European culture. We were the first people on Earth to grant women equal status in the culture. We gave them the right to vote. Gave them the right to own land. Many people still look at this as if we were somehow the oppressors. Nature was the oppressor. 200 years ago a woman did not survive on her own. She needed someone to provide and protect her. That's what we did. Likewise a man did not have a chance to have a family or lineage without a woman. That's why we provided for her.

Things changed and when they did we changed with too. Christian culture created an environment that has basically led the world into a new age. I did not say white Christian men. I said Christian culture.

There is a massive push against white men. It's not my rights so much that I am worried about. That's not true. I am worried about my rights. There are many white men who go to speak their opinion and are discounted merely because they're white.

If I share an opinion somebody will shout "white privilege."

Some rights are protected by the state. But rights are not given by the state. I get my rights from God. And I have the right to share my opinion without being judged by the color of my skin. Our nation has fought hard to do away with this sort of thing. But that is not something you will ever see on actual law books. Can you imagine bill title?, " white men have the right to be heard. "

To my rights that are being attacked are not in the state. The state is very clear that I have the right to speak. All people have the right to speak. But with the left, they are attacking people they don't like with social pressure. They have attacked conservatives on most college campuses. Riots have broken out to shut down conservative speakers such as Candace Owen and Ben Shapiro. Candice is a black woman, If skin color and gender were an issue she should have not only have a podium but a throne behind it. But she is also a conservative and she has been attacked both physically and socially.

I could go on for hours about this stuff. I would not want to bore you. So I will leave it with the last thought.

Society is an illusion. There have been civilizations so great that to this day they blow our minds. The things they did were simply mind numbing. Their cultures seemed rather barbaric sometimes. Some of the things that the Egyptians believed border lined on insane. But like every other civilization that has come and gone, a weakness set in. A lack of cooperation and central focus.

Chances are that will happen to America and even Western Christianity.

You will have a religion. You will choose it and fight for it, or someone will give it to you. When you get into the structure of heaven, you realize that the most important things are the ideas that people work with. In the higher heavens, they are the pillars of heaven, the foundation of existence.

Right now, progressives are attacking these pillars of our culture. They are replacing them with weaker ideas such as men can have babies. If or when this culture fails, there will be pockets of people who are solid and still have a functioning system. When society falls the first thing to spring up are radical cults who then fight over who will dominate the new culture. Many people would be happy to live peacefully and without radical thinking. But just like ISIS Begin to fill the power vacuum the Middle East, so too will groups among the Christian nations.

Chances are, the groups that can follow our current constitution the closest will probably gain the upper hand. It is the most functional form of government perhaps I've ever heard about.

But it may not last. Violating peoples constitutional rights because you don't like the color of their skin is giving permission to tear down the very institutions that hold us up.

I am white, mixed with a certain amount of handsomeness and stable genius. I am very privileged to live in the United States. I am very privileged to have more than one parent in my house. I was privileged to grow up close to nature and tall mountains. I could go on for 20-30 minutes about how I am privileged. But the idea of white privilege is ridiculous. To think that I should feel bad for the blessings God has given me goes against everything I believe. I take time out of my day to thank God for my many blessings which includes my many privileges. But that privilege never includes, thank you for making me have more rights than other people. People have the same rights under our law. But it is a fight to make it work. Just like now, I am not fighting for my rights in the government. I'm fighting for my rights in society. Even here, you hinted at my less than valid opinion because I was white. I am not sure how you put it. But my cognitive thought seemed almost non-white to you?

I had a beautiful young white girl look me straight in the eye and tell me she hated white people. This is what I'm talking about when I say I fight for my rights. It wasn't even about me at that moment. She was white and she hated white people. We do not deserve that sort of guilt trip. Our young people deserve to be just as proud of their culture as anybody else. I shouldn't have to defend the color of my skin to my own daughter, and I do. All of her friends are Spanish. Several times a week she brings her phone to me with some message where I have to explain it's still okay to be a white person. I don't teach her to be superior because of her skin. I teach her to be superior because of her tolerance and understanding.

It may have been Betty White: "I don't think I am better than anybody else, but I sure as hell ain't any less."

[Reuben]

IMO, Pelosi meant there were a LOT of Nazi or anti-Semitic symbols, tattoos, t-shirts, signs, etc., on display during the protest, then riot/insurrection.

River

I think that's a likely reading. If it's what she meant, though, I don't think it's helpful, because it means she associates all those things primarily with the color of her own skin. If the insurrectionists had been black and a rep said they had chosen blackness over democracy, what would we think?

We would think that rep was speaking from internalized racism.

Here's another possible reading, drawing on earlier things she said for context. Maybe she was assuming that because Trump's policies about Covid disproportionately affected black Americans, that they were intended to do so. Therefore, trying to keep him in power was intentionally oppressive to black people, which is a face of whiteness.

There are big problems with that from a logical and cultural perspective.

Or maybe what she said was just a dog whistle intended for black Democrats. If that's the case, I'm personally offended at being associated with idiots like that based on the color of my skin. It doesn't matter whether or how much I agree with her on the substance of her message. Tarnishing my reputation a little for her political advancement is wrong. It's exactly the same problem I have when church leaders say the bullshit they say about heretics and apostates.

I can't find a way to make what she said anything but problematic.

[Cnsl1]

You misconstrued my comment, SN.

I did like your post, and was jesting with a movie line from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou.

I don't have anything against white people in general or particular. Or black people or brown people, or whatever other colors there are. I admit to being a little cautious with blue people, as my only experience with them showed me they are expressionless and unpredictable, but have a fascinating sense of rhythm.

Stupid people, I'm also fine with, as well as ignorant people. Pretentious people can be tiresome, but tolerable in the right circumstances. Pedantic people can get wordy, but even verbosity has a place. I've found you can always learn something from Pedagogy people, but you never want to get them confused with Pediphile people, who are the types of people everyone hates, and for good reason.

Animated people, you ask? Ok, stop it.. it's true I prefer live action and I don't really want to watch cartoons, but I'm not an anti-amimaticite! Those people don't age! It's freaky! I know, I know, someone in CA is going to say, well my neighbor is an animated duck and we've been friends for years. He pays his taxes like everyone else and just wants to be treated equal and get back to work. I get it. By I tell you this, I don't need Boomhauer cruising my neighborhood eyeing my daughters!

But really, when it comes down to it, there are only two kinds of people in this world.
The kind of people who think there's only two kinds of people in this world and the rest of us.

[SaidNobody]

You misconstrued my comment, SN.

Maybe. But there was a familiar ring in it. Not so much of intentional hatred but a guilt turned in on one self. Perhaps that is too harsh. I don't know you very well. However, having come from me cultish background and that I made a personal study of mind control, I recognize some of the signs. People who feel guilty for who they are are vulnerable and even subjective to people pushing guilt. I have seen videos of young teens in tears and on the verge of suicide because they couldn't stand that they were white. They didn't want to be the problem in the world.

I did like your post, and was jesting with a movie line from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou.

Well, I mean, what was not to like? I do appreciate your jesting. A good sense of humor is a healthy step of not taking oneself so seriously. Thank you for that. I remember that movie but I don't exactly remember the reference that you might have implied.

I don't have anything against white people in general or particular. Or black people or brown people, or whatever other colors there are. I admit to being a little cautious with blue people, as my only experience with them showed me they are expressionless and unpredictable, but have a fascinating sense of rhythm.

Stupid people, I'm also fine with, as well as ignorant people. Pretentious people can be tiresome, but tolerable in the right circumstances. Pedantic people can get wordy, but even verbosity has a place. I've found you can always learn something from Pedagogy people, but you never want to get them confused with Pediphile people, who are the types of people everyone hates, and for good reason.

Animated people, you ask? Ok, stop it.. it's true I prefer live action and I don't really want to watch cartoons, but I'm not an anti-amimaticite! Those people don't age! It's freaky! I know, I know, someone in CA is going to say, well my neighbor is an animated duck and we've been friends for years. He pays his taxes like everyone else and just wants to be treated equal and get back to work. I get it. By I tell you this, I don't need Boomhauer cruising my neighborhood eyeing my daughters!

But really, when it comes down to it, there are only two kinds of people in this world.
The kind of people who think there's only two kinds of people in this world and the rest of us.

I am definitely one of the kind of people who can separate all other kinds of people into two types of people. Categorization is a symptom of consciousness. I like to keep it simple and with just two groups. I cannot handle much more than that.

As a conservative, I agree with some of the high profile conservatists that America is not a racist country. However, as I mentioned some other places, I have spent the last 15 years debating with a man from Jamaica over this. He says that America is the most racist country on earth.

There are factors that go into what he is saying that I don't think get proper attention. I have heard a number of people on the NOM say how they are Republican but they cannot stand Donald Trump and either did not vote for him or voted Democrat.

This sense of discomfort with Donald Trump is similar to a " can't handle the truth. " With both his language and his actions Donald Trump has made historical efforts to bring people of color into the game of success and prosperity. He did more for their well-being simply by giving them jobs then any other president in the last 50 years. Perhaps at all.

I was one of those people, as someone here mentioned, that actually toyed with the idea of voting for Hillary Clinton. I was very up to date on the social norms. I was excited that we might actually get a female present. We had just had a black president which was sort of a feather in our cap. Plus, my friend from Jamaica insisted that if America voted for Trump it would merely prove that we were the most racist country in the world.

I talked with my wife about it as we don't always agree politically. She merely said that I needed to research it before I made that decision. Before that time I was not very political at all. I patted myself on the back as someone who trusted both sides. I was an independent.

My research led me to places that kind of blew my mind. Someone on here said that they would never vote Republican again. Did you know that it was the Republicans that freed the slaves in the 1860s? Of course you did. Who doesn't? But there is that pesky little event in history where supposedly the Republicans and the Democrats switched platforms. Now I'm guessing that no one has ever really thought out the logic of such a thing. Why would the Republicans give up their position as the moral high ground? Straight up to the 1940s the KKK was openly Democrat. They lynched a man on live TV. This had a big backlash and the KKK membership dropped from about 4 million down to a few thousand.

Over the next 20 years, through some tricky publicity work, Democrats convinced the world that all of their bad guys switched over to the Republican Party. All of the black people, who were up to that time devout Republicans felt unsafe and decided to move to Democrat Party. This put them exactly where they had been before. Basically under the control of the very people who had enslaved them 80 years earlier.

There was no switch. Sure some Democrats became Republicans. What smart Democrat wouldn't? But the bad people, the people from the Dixiecrats and the KKK, they stayed Democrat. Democrat Senator Robert Byrd who was a mentor to both of the Clintons was the grand wizard of the KKK. The organization went more underground when he died. But through the teachings of another mentor of Hillary, known as Saul Alinsky, They still use the imagery and influence of the KKK to push voters. It is even more effective than it was before but it is a different method. They show up in support of the person they are trying to destroy. It's written right in the manual.

I think America is a great nation. But I agree that there is systemic racism. But it's not in the people. It's in the government. I have tried to point this out before but people continue to simply ignore it. If you want to destroy a child, convince them that they're not capable of handling life. Continue to do everything for them. give them the advantages that you won't give to other kids. prove to them that if you weren't helping them they wouldn't make it.

This is what Democrat party has done to people of color. They continue to do it. I will not get into all of the evil things they have done, in my humble opinion, with clear intention to destroy the communities of color. Republicans have become confused of their own identity and history. They have let politicians who are corrupt get into their leadership. They don't know enough of who they are to recognize those who are not part of them.

This is why Trump feels so uncomfortable to so many Republicans and is downright despised by the Democrats. We don't need to baby people. We simply need to give them equal opportunity. We don't need to dumb down entrance exams for people because they're not smart enough to get in on their own merit. We simply need to promote the same tools of success that we have done to the successful people in this country.

I usually don't have problems with people of color either. However, when it comes to blue people, I usually give them a warm hug. They're probably pretty cold.

[hmb]

I talked with my wife about it as we don't always agree politically. She merely said that I needed to research it before I made that decision. Before that time I was not very political at all. I patted myself on the back as someone who trusted both sides. I was an independent.

This is an interesting perspective, SN. I became an independent because I did not trust either side. I am still independent. I try to weigh each side and make decisions on what I think is "less evil." I don't believe any side is free from "evil." There are times when I make a choice and don't like it, but I think it's better than the alternative. That's a real plus with our democracy. Anyway, I stray from your topic. I just thought it was an interesting comparison.

[SaidNobody]

I talked with my wife about it as we don't always agree politically. She merely said that I needed to research it before I made that decision. Before that time I was not very political at all. I patted myself on the back as someone who trusted both sides. I was an independent.

This is an interesting perspective, SN. I became an independent because I did not trust either side. I am still independent. I try to weigh each side and make decisions on what I think is "less evil." I don't believe any side is free from "evil." There are times when I make a choice and don't like it, but I think it's better than the alternative. That's a real plus with our democracy. Anyway, I stray from your topic. I just thought it was an interesting comparison.

When I say trust, maybe I should have said I didn't distrust. Or rather I figured both sides were loyal opposition. I knew there was corruption but I didn't necessarily believe one side was worse than the other. I liked the moral stances of the Republican presidents and so I've always voted for Republican presidents. But I was very likely to vote for Democrat local government.

Research took me down a number of rabbit holes. The interesting thing about a rabbit hole, is that you can always tell that it is a rabbit hole from the surface. What you are never quite sure of is how deep it goes or what it ties into or maybe it wasn't really a rabbit hole at all but rather some large serpent.

In this case, I ran into things that were sort of apparent on the surface but unbelievably deep.

[Cnsl1]

I've heard the argument that by giving extra help to minorities, the govt actually disables them, and honestly I don't know what approach is best. I understand that decades of racism isn't erased by simply opening opportunities. Just like decades of poverty for any race isn't eradicated by free college education. It's a start, sure, but I've come to understand that the problem is more complex than I used to believe, as a white American.

Next, I caution your belief in a dichotomous or polemic populace (only two kinds of people in the world). That's generally thought of as a lower level world view or hypothesis for multiple reasons (see Pepper's "World Hypothesis" 1942 for one), and puts one in a position of always looking for categorical solutions in a world full of very very gray issues.

Also, I was just making a joke about only two kinds of people in this world.

And I think most of the time, I Dennis Miller you with my sense of humor. And, to your defense, you're probably in the majority where that is concerned.

If I remember correctly, Dennis Miller said that most people get about two thirds of his jokes, but only about 10% of people get about a quarter of his jokes.. and that there are some jokes that nobody gets, but he tells them anyway because they are funny to him.

Half of what I spew on here is probably for my comedic benefit. Maybe a quarter. I'm still laughing at my comments about Sam getting his mention, but my wife says it's really not that funny.

She's definitely smarter than me.

[moksha]

One of the posters at Mormon Discussions recently strongly denounced the concept of democracy because it interfered with the election of his Trump messiah. The majority of Republicans in the House also voted to abandon democracy. I see the underlying factor not being whiteness, but rather a desire to embrace fascism with Trump as their leader. He alone can make their prejudices run on time.

[SaidNobody]

One of the posters at Mormon Discussions recently strongly denounced the concept of democracy because it interfered with the election of his Trump messiah. The majority of Republicans in the House also voted to abandon democracy. I see the underlying factor not being whiteness, but rather a desire to embrace fascism with Trump as their leader. He alone can make their prejudices run on time.

But... Dude.

Some people have a pimple on their butt. We don't define the whole person that way.

What policy or idea do consecutives promote that makes you think we are fascist?

[SaidNobody]

I've heard the argument that by giving extra help to minorities, the govt actually disables them, and honestly I don't know what approach is best. I understand that decades of racism isn't erased by simply opening opportunities. Just like decades of poverty for any race isn't eradicated by free college education. It's a start, sure, but I've come to understand that the problem is more complex than I used to believe, as a white American.

Next, I caution your belief in a dichotomous or polemic populace (only two kinds of people in the world). That's generally thought of as a lower level world view or hypothesis for multiple reasons (see Pepper's "World Hypothesis" 1942 for one), and puts one in a position of always looking for categorical solutions in a world full of very very gray issues.

Also, I was just making a joke about only two kinds of people in this world.

And I think most of the time, I Dennis Miller you with my sense of humor. And, to your defense, you're probably in the majority where that is concerned.

If I remember correctly, Dennis Miller said that most people get about two thirds of his jokes, but only about 10% of people get about a quarter of his jokes.. and that there are some jokes that nobody gets, but he tells them anyway because they are funny to him.

Half of what I spew on here is probably for my comedic benefit. Maybe a quarter. I'm still laughing at my comments about Sam getting his mention, but my wife says it's really not that funny.

She's definitely smarter than me.

The polemic thing was sort of a joke. There are entire philosophies based on binary thought. Some even purpose the universe is 1 dimension, basically consciousness messing ideas on a "is or isn't" basis.

But the racist thing. As fast as I am concerned, it's completely misunderstood. I think that some groups using it too advanced their political interest also makes it worse.

My wife doesn't think I'm funny either. She used to. I haven't seen Dennis Miller in a while. I forget what happened to him.