“American Exceptionalism” turned into “America is so powerful we can go it alone”, which seems short sighted at best and delusional at worst.

I think they are obsessed with capturing some imagined handful of voters who’s on the fence and might be put off by issues that most voters don’t even really care about without considering that more voters might be excited by diminishing the wealth gap and healthcare for everyone.

They really are an unmitigated band of weirdos.

Okay, that got you an instant follow.

He’s of the DeSantis mold… looks pretty good on paper this far out, but crumbles under national scrutiny.

Yeah, being in the back pocket of Silicon Valley doesn’t instill confidence.

Mowing down homeless camps, throwing trans people under the bus and dining at the French Laundry during Covid lockdown are more his true colors than any liberal positions he’s taken.

Oh, I think he lies, but I’m not sure to whom. I don’t think he’s a lib in moderate’s clothing… sort of the opposite. He’s much more Clintonian, but without the political talent.

Delightful!

Still, none of this compares with the real dread I feel now for what's currently happening in the US and what the future potentially holds.

Sure, but shortly after 9/11 that the feeling of being relatively safe from nuclear attack (either intentional or because of some horrible mistake) for years was replaced by the thought that random terrorist attacks could become a real concern.

As someone who lands at the tail end of the boomers, i can say from first hand experience that this is all true. We had it pretty good. There was even a period after the wall fell and before 9/11 when, as Americans, there weren't really any wars to worry about.

I got about 15 minutes in and thought “this is pretty boring” and quit. And I really like all things Tron!

If might be helpful if over use of LLMs has atrophied your mental capacity so much that you are no longer able to count past 3.

Seems likely I was watching.