Early update for March 21, 2023
Added 2023-03-20 03:55:00 +0000 UTCa great help
Comments
<3
Bagge
2023-03-21 05:18:13 +0000 UTCDorothy's such a helper that Ruth is gonna get more out of this little therapy session than she does.
Uniquitous
2023-03-20 23:19:11 +0000 UTCOh Dorothy knows, I'm sure she has filled entire planners with colourcoded plans. I think the issue is more: what does she HAVE to do to be able to get the things she wants to do done? And will she be able to live with that price?
Jasmijn Wellner
2023-03-20 11:11:09 +0000 UTCRuth doesn't dress in all black/dark colors but she is often enough very goth.
Beck(y) Chonigman
2023-03-20 10:01:10 +0000 UTCIf you're going to be president, you have to ask what you want to do when you're in power.
Ian Kacprzak
2023-03-20 08:46:38 +0000 UTCIt takes a certain amount of insanity to seek and wield power. Either straight-up psychopathy, or the self-delusion that you trampling on other people is somehow in the service of a greater good (that means you see yourself as qualified to tell the rest of us what "the greater good" is.)
darklion
2023-03-20 06:05:27 +0000 UTCI think a part of it Dorothy’s not getting is the ugly, Trolley Problem nature of the real world. Let’s say there is a terrorist who believes their enemies are so evil and their cause so holy that bombing marketplaces is justified. Intel knows with High Confidence that they’re going to hit one tomorrow estimated casualties is 40 civilians. The bomber has a warrant for arrest from local government and the UN, but does not recognize either authority and will not willingly come in for trial. Local government does not have the power to bring the bomber in and maybe not the will either since the bomber also has some pull with local religious leaders. What next? We could tip off local law enforcement to clear the market tomorrow. But the bomber’s scouts would notice that and abort the bombing, planning to try again very soon. Sources about how we found out the exact date are now compromised in exchange for not stopping the bombing. Since the bombing didn’t happen, people sympathetic to the bomber’s cause loudly complain the tip was false and the US doesn’t know what it’s talking about, We have Reaper drones in the area equipped with Hellfires. Drones were prohibited from being armed long ago, but that ship sailed and everyone does it. So I guess some countries ignore the UN too. We know exactly where the bomber’s compound is and could destroy it, killing everyone in it. The bomber is well aware of this possibility and makes sure several family members, including children, are near him at all times. Using human shields is against the UN, but so is bombing civilian marketplaces. Let’s say he keeps 5 children near him. What to do, President Keener? You could just let the bombing happen, it’s not your country. 40 humans will die. Despite State Department warnings about potential terrorism for this country, there’s always a chance US tourists and aid workers will be caught up in the blast. Expect headlines about Americans being killed on your watch if so. Your detractors will say you’re soft on terrorism and failed them personally. You could bomb the compound, although that puts five children in their graves. Local government will even give approval, although quietly because tensions are already high and they don’t want the heat from the dead children. They’ll prefer to duck that and imply the USA acted unilaterally. The military has lawyers who confirm the target is an unlawful enemy combatant, and is a legally valid target. No one really likes thinking about the children, and POTUS ultimately signs the strike package so the local Combatant Commander doesn’t have to. It stops the marketplace bombing, but makes the bomber a martyr. He has a video prepared for the possibility, calling on all faithful to rise up and take up his place in overthrowing the great evil which is the USA. In this situation, Raidah makes a social media post about how war crimey the USA is, tut tut. You could try to resolve all religious tension and economic inequality worldwide, so that no one wants to become bombers. This also means giving up USA wealth and economic advantage. America First types will say every dollar invested in this direction is one stolen from American school children and innocent oil companies who need more subsidies and banks who need to be bailed out at home. Good luck with that. But not by tomorrow. The 40 marketplace victims pay with their lives. You could try something off the wall like replacing every person in the market with humanoid robots. Except that’s currently sci fi. There is one other solution. There’s a missile that basically turns into a spinning bundle of machetes. It needs a visual lock on, but absolutely shreds whoever it hits (and anyone standing directly behind them), but not everyone in the house. I don’t know if Raidah would approve, but she wasn’t exactly offering viable alternative solutions either and someone out there has to make some call. And that’s the thing. There are dozens of calls like this needing to be made like this every day. POTUS or someone below them have to make them. There’s a reason presidents come out of the job looking like a vampire drained their life force. (You can Google images “presidents before and after” if you want to see this effect.) And Dorothy thinks she wants this. But does she? It’ll be the stress of leading people out of that basement day after day for 4-8 years, all while people not offering better solutions call you are war criminal. A thankless job that doesn’t even pay particularly well. Picking another goal is probably one of the most mental health affirming choices Dorothy could make.
Shane Wegner
2023-03-20 05:22:26 +0000 UTCAn amazingly apt comparison!
Bad Poetry
2023-03-20 05:21:38 +0000 UTCAs someone who does know, though, I'm saying unless that's intentional it's a bad call.
Seth Aaron Hershman has they she pronouns
2023-03-20 05:19:53 +0000 UTC*kim wexler voice* "call it the fallacy of sunk costs"
Seth Aaron Hershman has they she pronouns
2023-03-20 04:08:07 +0000 UTCMaybe this is part of Dorothy's whole "internalized ableism" thing, but if it's not, a conversation about mental health might be a bad place to put "narcissism" in the same dialogue bubble as "evil"
Seth Aaron Hershman has they she pronouns
2023-03-20 04:07:12 +0000 UTCYou're too self aware and care too much about other people to be truly evil, Dorothy. Under all the snark, you are too Ruth. I'm sorry, ladies.
BBCC
2023-03-20 04:04:24 +0000 UTCOh, Dorothy, honey.
Lindsey Bockhorst
2023-03-20 04:01:02 +0000 UTC
