Back of the Napkin: The Youth Vote

by | Mar 18, 2021 | Musings, Politics | 205 comments

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

– Proverbs 22:6

If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.

– Unknown

There are differing views with respect to the effect of youthful education on adult attitudes, and this debate carries over into politics.  On one hand, you have people who lament or rejoice in the fact that the public education system is churning out progressive voters who will secure the future of the nation (the US, in this context) for the left.  On the other hand, you have people who are confident or concerned that the progressive passion of youth will give way to a more sober conservative mindset with age.  I thought it might be interesting to investigate this topic a little, using exit poll data.

For the purpose of this exercise, I decided to use exit polls from the New York Times (Source 1Source 2).  Since the youngest age category (18-29) completely ages up into the next age category (30-44) every 12 years, I decided to look at the data from every third election since the voting age was lowered to 18 (1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020).  While this is not the most comprehensive way of looking at things, it does compare apples to apples over time and so is useful for the purposes of this exercise.  The resulting vote share received by each of the two major parties from the youngest two voting contingents in each of these elections is graphed below.

From this, it does appear that attitudes do change over time, but not completely and not always in the same direction.  The general trend seems to be a movement towards preference parity, which means that since the young generally tend to vote more liberally that they tend to move in a more conservative voting direction as they age.  In general there is about a 10 point shift in preference from when an age group is in their 20s to when they are in their 30s.  This indicates that attitudes are not set in stone but neither is change guaranteed to come with maturity.

Furthermore, looking at the gap between the preferences of the old and the young seems to indicate that this is indeed an enduring trend.  Taking the voting preference for each party of the youngest age group in each subject election and subtracting the voting preference of the oldest age group, to get the age preference gap, yields a graph as follows.

With the exception of the 1984 election (where Reagan managed the uncommon feat of bringing people together in their opinions across age groups) there is a persistent age gap of about 15 points, and always in the same direction.  This indicates to me that the shifting of opinions as people age is a fairly consistent trend, and thus I doubt it is about to be overturned any time soon.

This is good news for those (like myself) who do not desire a progressive future, as it indicates that there is a limit to the effectiveness of the progressive messaging.  I think it is safe to say that the educational, informational, and entertainment sectors in the US are dominated by left-leaning individuals (data on campaign donations by occupation supports this) and that as a consequence they tend to push an academic and cultural education on the youth that is decidedly left-wing.  And while it is a strong position to be in to dominate these sources that shape and sway opinions, it is clear that the message does not take for everyone and furthermore that it fails to stick for a good many people.

Take my generation, for example: Millennials.  The millennial generation is generally considered to comprise those born between 1981 and 1996, meaning that the oldest two-thirds are in the most recent youth cohort to age up (the green line on the first two graphs, 1979-1990).  As you can see, older millennial support for Obama was sky-high: 66% supported him as opposed to only 32% supporting his opponent McCain.  I clearly remember the fervor for him among my peers, even in unexpected places (such as in rural areas of a red state).  But fast forward 12 years, and support for Biden (Obama’s VP) among this same set of individuals was significantly lower: 52% supported him as opposed to 46% supporting Trump.  This 14-point shift means that up to 20% of Obama-supporting youth decided to back Trump after aging into their 30s.  And Trump was basically the anti-Obama, in tone, tenor, and policy, so that is not an insignificant shift.

The take-away is that a decent portion of the youth are willing to reconsider their political views as they age.  This gives an opening for not just conservatives but also libertarians (and others!) to try to convince the youth of the soundness of their ideas.  The battle of ideas doesn’t end at graduation; in fact, it may only truly begin.

About The Author

Gadfly

Gadfly

205 Comments

  1. Drake

    I had no heart.

      • CPRM

        Kali Ma Shakti de?

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        i started out as a Reagan Republican. I had no heart. Now I’m a libertarian. I now have no soul.

      • Ask your doctor if BEAM is right for you

        So what you’re saying is you’re a redhead?   /Cathy Newman

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        No, what I’m saying is that you should take responsibility. That will give your life meaning. /Jordan Peterson.

        Actually I did have some red hairs in my beard which have since turned to grey. So technically?

      • UnCivilServant

        I declined bare-handed cardiac surgery. That’s unsanitary.

    • UnCivilServant

      Should I violate my no twitter rule if it allows me to snark on a glib?

      Nah, I’ll stick to my principles.

      • CPRM

        I’ll save you trouble:

        I just watched the #SnyderCut . Honest review from some one who has done his own fan edit Mash-up of Man of Steal and Batman V Superman (https://glibertarians2018.link/2018/01/12/myth-and-the-mouse/)

        It’s 20 times better than the Theatrical release. 1/20th what it could have been.

        Now I should eat something, I’ve been drinking a long time.

      • Tres Cool

        Thats 2 of us

  2. Hank

    Well, this is an optimistic article for a change. Let’s see if the kids mature in time.

    • R C Dean

      Well, first let’s see if we will have valid elections. If not, it doesn’t matter at all who people actually (want to) vote for.

      • commodious spittoon

        They’d want to vote Democrat if they weren’t blinded by false consciousness, so it’s not stealing elections, it’s fortifying them.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Let me rain on that parade a little. When Thomas Sowell was asked why he dropped the Marxist way of thinking he simply replied, “Facts”.

      In spite of facts it’s now too easy to remain in one’s bubble up to and including thinking if only Comrade Stalin knew about this you wouldn’t be up against the wall.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Hey! I like our Glibs’ bubble!

      • CPRM

        Your Avatar makes me want to have a cigarette when I quit 2 years ago. You’re a shit site bestie. Not as good as Digby at all. *cries*

        By the way, he says ‘hi’.

      • R C Dean

        I was scrolling around the teevee a few days ago and ran across an old movie with people smoking. It reminded me that, damn, cigarettes were fun.

        A historian is likely to look back at the “second-hand smoke” hoax/the demand that people not smoke because other people don’t like the smell as the first emergence of public health Karenism.

      • Mojeaux

        Second-hand smoke is a NAP violation.

      • CPRM

        The so is shitty perfume.

      • R C Dean

        Is car exhaust an NAP violation?

      • rhywun

        Or car noise, while we’re at it.

      • Mojeaux

        Yes, yes, and yes.

      • kbolino

        Do you mean the concept itself, or the actual thing?

      • Not Adahn

        It was alway a shock kissing a smoker for the first time, but then your tongue went kind of numb and everything was ok.

      • R C Dean

        What about crop-dusting?

      • Mojeaux

        Do you mean the concept itself, or the actual thing?

        The actual thing. When I get hit with a face full of smoke, that’s an intrusion upon my person.

        What I think people should be able to do with their own bodies is one thing. What I think about people smoking outside in a huddled mass is about the same thing. You do you, man.

        What I think about people smoking everyfuckingwhere (work, airplanes, family restaurants and diners [bars excepted]) is a whole different animal.

      • Mojeaux

        What about crop-dusting?

        I don’t know.

        The only thing I know about crop dusting was what I learned on Petticoat Junction when whats-her-buckets married whats-his-buckets who was a crop duster.

      • R C Dean

        When I get hit with a face full of smoke, that’s an intrusion upon my person.

        The list of such intrusions is long indeed, and was universally tolerated for centuries, likely on some realization that treating them as such would result in a form of mutually assured (social) destruction.

        After all, if giving offense/intruding in this fashion counts as aggression, rather than bad manners, then that means that self-defense is in order. I’m wondering what level of self-defense would be appropriate. A bullet to the head seems a bit much. A good beating, perhaps? For someone who’s exhaust blows in your open car window, run them off the road?

      • Mojeaux

        “Tolerated for centuries…”

        So were a lot of things that are not tolerated today.

        I dare say that if everybody were still smoking everywhere, it wouldn’t be so intrusive. I remember when cigarettes were sold in vending machines and nobody batted an eye. I remember smoky diners and don’t remember being particularly bothered by it.

        When smoking was ubiquitous, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to protest. That was just the way it was. I am not the Karen who would’ve gotten that ball rolling, but I’m happier for the ball rolling past.

        I am also not unaware of the irony of a (possibly ersatz) libertarian being happy for something that arose out of other people being told what they can and can’t do with their bodies. It’s a confliction I have to live with.

        FWIW, I am NOT happy that the restriction was extended to bars. If I go to a bar, I know what I’m getting, which is why I don’t go.

      • R C Dean

        I dare say that if everybody were still smoking everywhere, it wouldn’t be so intrusive.

        Its the same intrusion on your “right” to not have to smell cigarette smoke whether its widespread or not.

        So were a lot of things that are not tolerated today.

        It is true that in many ways people are less tolerant today. Especially lately. I guess if words are violence, and silence is violence, why not smoke?

      • commodious spittoon

        Smoking is cool. Fact.

      • Bob

        Til COPD kicks in,
        Too many years, now Im dead,

      • Gustave Lytton

        Sorry. My wife quit several years ago for the last time and I’m very happy about it.

        Tell Digs the same. I am very happy for him, even if he isn’t here.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Meh, not if they just switch from democrat to republican.

  3. R C Dean

    I think I voted for Clinton over Bush, but I may not have voted that election; don’t recall. If I did, that would be the only Dem I’ve voted for in my whole life.

    I believe Trump 2020 was the only time I have voted for a Repub. And likely the last vote I will ever cast.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Don’t worry, You’ll cast a number of more votes. Or as least your ward representative will on your behalf.

      • R C Dean

        Good thought. I’ll have to check and see if anybody is voting in my name.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        De-register?

    • B.P.

      Dukakis was my first vote, and only Dem vote. Then a long string of LP votes, and Trump for 2020.

    • Drake

      I voted for Perot whatever year that was. HW Bush is the guy who made me realize that most Republicans are just fake opposition to the left.

    • robc

      I have never voted for a D for president. I voted for an R in 1988. And for a few who ran as L’s.

      • robc

        Oh, and I voted for Perot in 1992.

  4. CatchTheCarp

    The only time I ever voted for a Dem president was in 1976 – Jimmy Carter. I was young, dumb, and it was my first time voting. I don’t even remember why I voted for the guy – probably because I thought Ford still had some Nixon taint on him.

    • Not Adahn

      Talking about Nixon’s taint is more suitable to Wednesdays.

  5. juris imprudent

    I’ve always understood the 2nd quote to be attributed to Churchill.

    • Sensei

      I’ve heard the same, but I wonder. Churchill likely would have used “liberal” in the classical sense as opposed to that quote.

      • juris imprudent

        Well he did join the English Liberal party – which would eventually die a strange death[*] – and that party did advocate for a more-contemporary-liberal safety net than a classical liberal would. If our parties warp the meaning of conservative and liberal from their 18/19th century and continental meanings, the English weren’t all that much more faithful.

        * alluding of course to Dangerfield’s The Strange Death of Liberal England which was morphed into Murray’s The Strange Death of Europe.

    • Gadfly

      I had heard the same, but I googled it before making the attribution and found that it was not said by Churchill, and in fact it is unknown who actually originated it (although some 19th century French dudes said some things in a similar vein).

  6. PieInTheSky

    Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

    – Proverbs 22:6

    Sounds like child abuse to me

    • CPRM

      OK, Groomer

  7. Scruffy Nerfherder

    OK Boomer

    • Tres Cool

      w/e Zoomer

  8. Chipwooder

    I’ve never voted for a Democrat and can’t imagine that would ever change. I vote for Republicans who aren’t horrid (an admittedly limited pool) or third party or I don’t vote.

    • Akira

      That’s where I am. I used to be of the “both parties are equally bad” stance, but the Democrat Party’s reaction to the Trump era convinced me otherwise.

    • The Other Kevin

      I was thinking about it this morning. Democrats say things like, “Republicans are going to return black people to slavery and chain women to the kitchen sink!”, but when elected, Republicans pretty much do nothing.

      Republicans say “Democrats are going to take away your guns and free speech and raise your taxes!” And when elected, they do.

      • Psycho Effer

        Bingo! Republicans are Progressives driving the speed limit, as Michael Malice has said many times. The most a Republican administration will ever do is slow down the march of “Progress”.

    • Not Adahn

      They should make the Olympig the official mascot.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Hell, even France thinks we’ve gone batshit with the wokery.

      • Gadfly

        Well, the wokery does kind of frown on the classic French trope of sexual liberation as well as the other classic French trope of hyper-nationalism.

    • Tres Cool

      “Olympig” just gave me a soft-on. Real talk.

    • Gustave Lytton

      They’re trying to catch up- plastic bag bans and now gay marriage. They’ll catch up just like electronics.

      Not sure if you saw it, but put an OT behind your comment last night.

      • Sensei

        Missed it. Just checked – it’s on point!

    • Rebel Scum

      Olympig’

      I laughed.

    • CatchTheCarp

      From a different article:

      The response to Mori’s discriminatory remarks was swift and sizable.

      • R C Dean

        And pixelated?

    • Tres Cool

      And…the money shot: ““It’s impossible to compare a woman to a pig,” one said. Another wrote, “Even if that’s a spontaneous idea, you shouldn’t say that.”

      You can think it…just dont do it.

      • Rebel Scum

        Don’t humans share genetic traits with pigs?

      • Sensei

        Calling a woman a pig in Japanese, in my still less than perfect understanding, would be a stronger insult in Japanese than English.

      • Tres Cool

        Kinda like “cow” for Brits. That seems to carry more insult-weight than “cunte”.

      • Ted S.

        You can compare men to pigs, why not women?

      • juris imprudent

        Look at this guy arguing for equality.

    • kbolino

      I don’t understand why any country takes part in this farce. They never make back what it costs to build the infrastructure. And now they have to kowtow to insane Western white women’s prejudices. What’s the point?

      • juris imprudent

        The world’s best cocktail parties?

  9. Rebel Scum

    So you are saying I should poll a millennial.

    • CPRM

      No, that’s how The jacket got on his first list. God knows it wasn’t for being libertarian.

  10. PieInTheSky

    The question is what about them damn immigrants who come to the US with probably the worst politics? When immigrant youth outnumber local youth what then? You liberatarians aint got no answer for that. This is why I am switching to the alt-right

    • Sean

      *flashes OK hand gesture*

      • juris imprudent

        You and Jen Psaki!

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Put your hopes in one hand and dog shit in the other, which one weighs more?

    • R C Dean

      Confident prediction: Biden will take a “hard line” for the sole purpose of extracting more graft from the ChiComs.

      • Psycho Effer

        Words are wind, though SJWs say that words are violence. I expect he make sounds that might seem negative about China, but there will be no actions that matter.

        If I thought that the government should be doing something about China, I would simply pay companies to manufacture things here. If we are going to be doling out massive piles of cash for “COVID relief” that’s what I would do. Here’s $10 billion, build a chip fab in Texas.

  11. wdalasio

    I’ve always understood the 2nd quote to be attributed to Churchill.

    I’ve heard the same thing. It almost certainly isn’t true, though. Churchill started out a Conservative, defected to the Liberals and re-defected back to the Tories. For Churchill to say that would mean that he was admitting to having no heart and no brain.

  12. Ozymandias

    Great article, GadFly. Very nicely done.
    The young’uns actually give me hope, as crazy as that sounds.
    I think they’ve been fed so much bullshit that they’ll eventually default to the “it’s ALL bullshit” attitude in their 30s and 40s – which is great, because it turns out that if you assume EVERYTHING is bullshit, you’ll be right better than 90% of the time.
    Makes me slightly hopeful.

    • wdalasio

      You may be right. But, what then? It seems to me like their heads are being stuffed with so much mush that they won’t have the intellectual tools to figure out where to go after they figure out they’ve been being fed bullshit.

      • PieInTheSky

        But, what then – they start an onlyfans

    • B.P.

      My 12-year-old son has a class two days a week called, no shit, Social Justice. Through no coaching at all on my part, he has come to the conclusion that it’s all bullshit. He has identified the two or three true believers in the class, too. This from a kid who is almost entirely occupied with sports statistics.

      • commodious spittoon

        It’ll be the new DARE program in a couple years.

      • B.P.

        Hopefully. And hopefully the true believers in class are treated like the uptight twits who were all rah-rah for DARE back in the 1980s. I contrast this with the folks in my professional life, grown-ups in their 30s, 40s, and beyond, who are fully invested in woke. They can’t grasp what a 12-year-old can.

      • Ted S.

        DARE to keep kids off Ritalin.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      The George Carlin homeschool curriculum!

    • Gadfly

      Thanks! I’m hoping that will be the case too, although I can’t say I’m necessarily confident about it (but it could happen, so I’m not pessimistic). As someone just north of 30 who comes from a long-lived family (3 of my 4 grandparents made it past 90) I very much hope that I don’t have to live through another 60 years of woke BS.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        You and me both. Unfortunately, I don’t see us evolving away from it.

  13. J. Frank Parnell

    First time I voted was for Bush in 88, because the Dems seemed like anti-American shitbags, the wives of a bunch of Democrats were on a crusade to ban the music I liked, and I hadn’t heard of the Libertarian party yet.

    Apart from that, I voted straight LP ticket until California implemented this retarded top-two open primary system. Now I vote LP in the primary, and in the general I vote for the Republican if I’m allowed, or the less popular or non-incumbent Democrat if I’m not. I think my first ever vote for a Democrat was Loretta Sanchez over Kamala.

    I also vote LP for president, although this last primary I picked up a Democrat ballot so I could put in a “fuck you” vote for Tulsi.

  14. Rebel Scum

    I voted for GayJay in 2012 for my first vote (wasn’t quite eligible in 2008.). Then Trump in 2016, mostly for the lulz but also because Her Shrillness is such an awful person. Again for Trump in 2020 for the lulz and because Dems are insane totalitarians now.

    • Rebel Scum

      Oh, and Trump in 2016 because I hoped it would make GayJay libertarian again.

  15. Akira

    I think it is safe to say that the educational … sectors in the US are dominated by left-leaning individuals … and that as a consequence they tend to push an academic and cultural education on the youth that is decidedly left-wing.

    Here’s what I’m hoping for: The COVID-related transition of education to online models will make people realize how easy it is to learn without going to a brick-and-mortar university building. There will be an expansion of privately run “boot camp” style courses, and employers will come to accept these as valid credentials, largely because of the lower wages that the graduates will accept (especially since they won’t be saddled with six figures of debt). Most college education will be done online and be augmented with lab sessions held at special teaching labs.

    … Yea, I’m an optimist, but it’s the only way I can see that the Left loses their grip on academia.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I’ve had similar thoughts. I wish I could get in on that racket on the ground floor.

  16. Rebel Scum

    I wonder who Florida Man voted for.

    A Florida man has been arrested for throwing a smoke bomb into the grounds of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, with the device causing two cars to crash seeking to avoid its fumes.

    38-year old Paul Rawls is facing charges of making, possessing, throwing or discharging any destructive device, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. He was arrested on Sunday, with law enforcement responding to reports of a smoldering device on South Ocean Boulevard, adjacent to Mar-a-Lago. Police claim Rawls admitting to throwing the smoke bomb when he was apprehended, with footage allegedly showing him throwing the “5 Minute White Smoke” device from a gray Volkswagen.

    Two motorists had crashed after swerving to avoid the smoke flowing from the commercial incendiary device.

    • B.P.

      White supremacist terrorism. Time to deploy a National Guard battalion.

    • commodious spittoon

      “This is Biden country!”

    • kinnath

      more evidence that there aren’t enough guns on the street in this country.

    • Gustave Lytton

      If it was a commercial incendiary device, I doubt it was actually five minutes, the smoke was that thick, and it certainly isn’t a prohibited destructive device.

      ATF has gone after manufacturers producing near equivalent to standard military smoke grenades so civilian versions are wimpy. They also are not destructive devices nor has the ATF gone after resellers or possessors of actual military smoke.

  17. kinnath

    new Slate headline:

    A New Report Adds Evidence That Trump Was a Russian Asset by William Saletan

    We have gone through the looking glass.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      He should be canceled for promoting the idea that our election was stolen.

    • Rebel Scum

      How can the be s’more if there never was any in the first place?

  18. SP

    My mid-30s daughter is a libertarian. My late-20s son is a conservative.

    • Rebel Scum

      Sounds like a sitcom.

    • PieInTheSky

      parenting failure to not instill social justice in your children.

    • Lachowsky

      I was a libertarian in my 20s and am an anarchist in my 30s. I didn’t know what to call myself in my teens other than a hard case of oppositional defiance disorder.

      • PieInTheSky

        anarchist in my 30s – usual to get more out of touch as you age

      • juris imprudent

        Not to piss on ya, but being an anarchist is like being a communist – you just love a good theory.

      • Lachowsky

        its an ideal to strive towards. A lodestar, if you will. Right wing anarchists are basically right about everything, they will just never get their way.

      • PieInTheSky

        its an ideal to strive towards. – is there a point though to strive to the unachievable? I get the dream high as you get no higher than your dreams thins, but anarchism is awful silly

      • Swiss Servator

        Yes, just the same!

        If a communist puts their theory into practice we get Gulags, secret police, poverty and mass graves.

        How about an anarchist?

      • PieInTheSky

        How about an anarchist? – you get what we have now

      • R C Dean

        After all, the human race did start in anarchy. And here we are – gulags, secret police, poverty, mass graves and all, to a greater or lesser extent pretty much everywhere.

      • Lachowsky

        No idea, since its never really been done. My ideal way to implement it is by shrinking government until it becomes a problem. I personally think it would be better than what we have now. Not perfect. Not utopian. Just better.

      • The Hyperbole

        Straff converted me to anarchism with a similar argument but I’ve since forgotten it and reverted to nihilism.

      • R C Dean

        No idea, since its never really been done.

        But it has. Small clans/tribes of hunter-gatherers existed for millenia without anything remotely approaching a government. I think anarchism just doesn’t scale past the Dunbar Number.

      • Lachowsky

        Fair enough. I was really thinking since the industrial age there has not been any large scale anarchic experiments.

        I think the U.S. as a geographic area would be just fine without the federal government.

        If the states could devolve power to the lowest possible level, some I think would end up pretty anarchic while others not so much. Thise that chose the anarchic route I believe would outcomes the rest in the long term. From that, who knows what happens.

      • Gadfly

        The problem with anarchy is it doesn’t have a solution for either justice or defense. On the matter of defense, governments have proven most efficient at fielding armies (which should come as no surprise to critics of government, that government excels at destruction), and to defend against an army you need an army yourself. On the matter of justice, any system of justice is definitionally coercive (almost no one consents to punishment), and therefor the moment a system of justice is applied you have a proto-government at least, or a government in fact at most.

    • Animal

      Our kids are in the range from 23 to 38. The oldest is libertarian leaning conservative, the others are “fuck off and leave me alone” libertarians.

      Mrs. Animal and I are pretty pleased with the way they turned out.

  19. CatchTheCarp

    I learned something new today: Back in 2018 the Army eliminated grenade throwing in basic training because most recruits are physically unable to do it.

    “What we have found is it is taking far, far too much time. It’s taking three to four times as much time … just to qualify folks on the hand grenade course than we had designated so what is happening is it is taking away from other aspects of training,” Maj. Gen. Malcolm Frost, commanding general of the U.S. Army Center of Initial Military Training, told defense reporters on Friday.

    “We are finding that there are a large number of trainees that come in that quite frankly just physically don’t have the capacity to throw a hand grenade 20 to 25 to 30 meters. In 10 weeks, we are on a 48-hour period; you are just not going to be able to teach someone how to throw if they haven’t thrown growing up.”

    https://popularmilitary.com/us-army-general-says-new-recruits-not-strong-enough-throw-grenades/

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      In that case they need to get rid of hand grenades all together. You don’t want those things going off too close to you or your fellow soldiers.

    • Gustave Lytton

      you are just not going to be able to teach someone how to throw if they haven’t thrown growing up

      Bull. Fucking. Shit.

      This is how you do it. Incorporate it into daily activities: part of PT, single interaction before/after entering the chow hall er DFAC, and as part of corrective smoking.

      No different than other deficiency that the Army has dealt with and continues to deal with: marksmanship and firearm familiarity, physical conditioning, literacy… if nothing else, recycle them to a Grenade Training Unit until they get it.

      Besides, throwing a grenade, as taught in Basic, is more like shot put than ball throwing.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Suspect real issue is women and general lack of upper body strength among recruits.

      • commodious spittoon

        Give em lighter grenades.

      • juris imprudent

        Do you work in Acquisition?

      • Gustave Lytton

        How would that help? Trainees are prohibited from tobacco use.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        This.

        Spend 5 minutes a day throwing a baseball.

        Do that for a couple weeks, and you’re good.

        Because throwing something 20-30 meters is not hard. At all. It’s first to second base.

    • Rebel Scum

      Might as well start injecting their testicles with soy at this point.

      • db

        I thought that *harvesting* testicles was becoming the major source of soy these days?

    • Plisade

      Cut out all the woke sensitivity training and you’ll have enough time for grenades.

      • Suthenboy

        ^This^

      • Sensei

        What do you think this is? The Japanese Olympic committee?

    • Drake

      Imagine trying to teach somebody how to throw a grenade who never played a sport…

      The solution is to develop a stick grenade like the Germans used. Bulkier but easier to chuck.

    • Cy Esquire

      When in doubt… lower the bar.

    • Sean

      Grenade launchers for everyone!

      • Drake

        But they are heavy and can kick delicate shoulders too hard.

      • Plinker762

        OK, panzerfausts for everyone!

      • Plinker762

        Now you are on to something. NGLA? (National Grenade Launcher Association)

    • R C Dean

      Next up: no firearms because some recruits are sensitive to loud noises.

  20. trshmnstr the terrible

    One aspect that I’m curious about is the impact of social media on this. A theory is that people regress toward the mean of their peers. Through schooling, they’re surrounded by progressive classmates and teachers and end up more leftward than they would otherwise be. As they get into the real world, surrounded by older, more conservative folks, they swing rightward as time goes on.

    Now, people can surround themselves with like-minded peers. There isn’t this impulse toward moderation when everybody surrounds themselves with people of the same persuasion.

    • Cy Esquire

      I can see that argument. I lean more towards the gigantic commie welfare that our governments have become. It’s damn near cradle to grave for City, County, State and Federal workers. In some states, teaching/phd/college environments are almost cradle to grave government entitlement and care. These people never have to experience the real world. They collected checks while everyone else was locked up and cities burned. They’re the experts that are going to get large sums of money from the bailout. The grant writers. The heads of the Kennedy Foundation.

    • Gadfly

      That would be interesting to study. However, I will point out that the majority of millennials were on social media by 2008, so if social media were a strong left-wing pressure point I would not expect a 14pt shift from Obama to Trump as the exit polls showed. Maybe things could be different for zoomers who have spent their entire lives online, but there are a lot of entertaining subversive communities online that will work to counterbalance the dominant leftist online zeitgeist.

      • R C Dean

        Social media was much more wide-open and less controlled/biased pro-left and anti-not-left back in the day.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        This. In 2008, Facebook was freshly opened to non-college students. Twitter may have technically been a thing, but it wasn’t a cultural force yet. I think the 2012 election is the first presidential election where the full force of social media culture began to be felt.

      • Lady Z

        I’d argue that social media was a far less politically dominated space in 2008 (by my own anecdotal observations) than it is now. The effects may not be evident yet.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      We’re well into looneyville. People BELIEVE in the masks, even though there’s no real empirical evidence for them, just simulated lab transmissibility bullshit.

      • grrizzly

        Social pressure. The other day we visited a former neighbor who now lives in FL. Despite getting both vaccine shots he duly puts on a mask every time he is in a common area of his condo building. You don’t want to be caught without a mask by your neighbors in an elevator.

      • db

        Like, are people just too dumb to realize that when they go out to eat and take the mask off when they sit down, there isn’t some special force field that makes them safe? That the reason they don’t get sick from that has less to do with masks and more to do with individual characteristics and risk factors? Like, putting on the mask to go to the restroom means nothing when you can sit down and take it off in the exact same atmosphere?

        Or are there just so many people not going out that they haven’t even experienced this for themselves? I know some people who haven’t gone out to eat for over a year, but by far, the greatest majority of the people I know have been eating out and been exposed to others quite regularly. Of those people, I know five who have gotten sick. Two had a rough time of it, but stayed home. One had effectively a bad cold. One died, and other barely noticed it except his senses of taste and smell still haven’t returned. But I know dozens more who keep going out and stubbornly won’t get sick.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Griz nailed it. Social pressure. See also, Ozy’s article the other day. Most people find it to be small enough of an inconvenience that they go along to get along.

        They may not all be anti-maskers, but they’ll remove the masks as soon as it’s socially acceptable.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        So many people too arrogant to admit that they don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.

      • Chipwooder

        Even Johns Hopkins, in a 2019 study, said there was very little evidence that masks are effective at controlling highly contagious airborne pathogens.

        Which is why the American medical establishment, led by Fauci, discouraged them in February and March 2020. Then, almost overnight, they reversed course and starting insisting that masks were the way to beat the virus, and almost every state started forcing people to wear them. It was just as well-reasoned as the “6 ft social distancing”, which is to say it was pulled out of their collective asses.

      • Rebel Scum

        The shame muzzle is about control.

  21. Rebel Scum

    Someone’s getting a Flood of attention.

    As the economic fallout continues, a Norfolk native did the unthinkable late last year.

    58-year-old Dorian Flood, who grew up in the now-redeveloped Liberty Park section of Norfolk, signed a lease with MacArthur Center for 1,012 square feet of restaurant space in the mall’s food court.

    “Who would do that? Who would do that? A crazy woman right?” asked Flood.

    On January 1, 2021, Flood made history as the first Black female to open a restaurant in the 22-year-old MacArthur Center.

    “We opened up a restaurant in the heart of a pandemic and God has blessed us; we have been doing wonderful. We have serviced so many customers — over 5,000 within two months,” Flood said.

    Immutable characteristic firsts are getting a bit ridiculous.

    • db

      I’ll be happy when we can identify the very last “very first.”

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I wish her luck. MacArthur Center has been dying a slow death for the past five years at least.

      • Chipwooder

        As have virtually all indoor malls.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Less than 100 customers per day for a mall location seems a bit low.

  22. Gustave Lytton

    New level of stupidity at work. IT morons have locked down auto fill in Edge so I can’t turn that shit off. These fucking retards are determined to create unnecessary incidents.

    • Sensei

      Yeah. I could understand the reverse, but forcing it on seems like creating problems.

    • commodious spittoon

      Makes national news because he’s white, or doesn’t because he’s evidently homeless?

    • R C Dean

      the latest victim in a wave of attacks on Asians in the Bay Area

      I’ll need a little more info before I conclude there is a “wave” of attacks on Asians. Although it is San Francisco, so I’m willing to believe that its continued descent into the shitter includes racist attacks on minorities.

      • rhywun

        San Francisco is approximately one-third Asian. Random attacks on strangers by crazy people – a frequent occurrence in any large American city these days – are necessarily going to include a lot of Asians.

    • limey

      “There was a guy on a stretcher and a frustrated angry woman with a stick in her hand,” O’Donnell says.

      Before plaguetime that was a regular Saturday night.

    • rhywun

      the latest victim in a wave of attacks on Asians

      I’m not buying this without a statement from the perp saying “I attacked her because she is Asian”.

      This is a big country, there are random attacks on people everywhere, every day. The-media-is-the-enemy picks and chooses which ones to highlight in order to advance whatever the current narrative needs to be.

      To wit: something like 80% of murder victims in inner cities are blacks. Where are the hundreds of news articles decrying this? Answer: the-media-is-the-enemy doesn’t give a shit unless the shooter is a white cop.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        The-media-is-the-enemy picks and chooses which ones to highlight in order to advance whatever the current narrative needs to be.

        *Nods aggressively*

        The current narrative is “Asians are under attack”. The current subtext is “Asians need to get back on the plantation.”

  23. The Bearded Hobbit

    At 18 I did not want to be drafted to fight in Viet Nam so I voted for McGovern (back when the D’s pretended to be anti-war).

    Four years later I drifted over to the R’s, mostly after listening to Reagan on his radio talk show.

    By 35 I was voting Libertarian, although I’m disgusted with myself for voting for Barr in ’08. That ended after Johnson’s first campaign.

    I keep saying that I’m not voting anymore but voted for Trump both times and will probably vote solid R from now on. Can’t see voting for a D anytime in the future.

    • R C Dean

      In 5 or 6 years, I could well not be eligible to vote any more, as I might not even be a US citizen then. Of course, by then the Dems will probably have opened up voting to the entire planet.

    • Rebel Scum

      back when the D’s pretended to be anti-war

      Lyndon Johnson says “hi”.

      • limey

        By exposing himself.

      • Lachowsky

        Roosevelt
        Wilson
        Truman

        Rs being the war party is a more recent development.

      • Gadfly

        Rs being the war party is a more recent development.

        And there are signs that the neocons may be heading back to the Ds, so the Rs may return to their historical norms.

      • Rebel Scum

        It was the Bushes. ///NoNewTaxes ///MissionAccomplished

    • commodious spittoon

      I haven’t voted since ’08, but I’ll vote against Grisham next year. Assuming I’m still living here.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        I’ll vote against Grisham

        I’ll bet she wins with 80%.

        Been voting against the incumbent for the past few cycles and “scoring” a 0.0 on my ballot in 2018 pretty much turned me off voting completely.

      • commodious spittoon

        It’s pathetic. I don’t know about up your way but in Albuquerque I’ve seen more consistent masking than I did a year ago.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Summarized:

      At 18 a Democrat
      At 25 a Republican
      At 35 a Libertarian
      At 55 a pissed-off Anarchist

  24. Tundra

    I’m teaching my kids that voting is bad and that anarchy is beautiful.

    I’m due for a drone-strike any minute…

    • limey

      I wonder how easy it would be to hack a drone and land it in your field like in Interstellar. I imagine you’d probably get in big trouble for hijacking military hardware. Probably best to not even think the bad thoughts about doing that.

    • The Other Kevin

      You’re one wrong pronoun away from a knock at the door.

      • Not Adahn

        beep/boop/bot?

    • Lachowsky

      ?

  25. limey

    I’m about to submit myself for an ideological carpet bombing, but, I’d still vote for Noem despite the apparent drug warrior stance on weed, mostly because I don’t think weed would be the particular hill to die on in the current situation. Sure, I don’t partake of the derpy cigarettes, so it’s lower on my list of priorities. I would still argue for total declassification of it from first principles, while acknowledging the serious affects on neurological development in kids and teens, especially young males. However, I think Noem is alright, and I don’t think her rhetoric on weed will survive the cultural shift toward being more pro-freedom on drug use, looking at states like Oklahoma.

    • rhywun

      Look, you either get reasonably sane fiscal policies and more-or-less freedom but no reefer,
      or commie utopia + reefer.

      Pick one.

      /not a huge exaggeration

      • Rebel Scum

        Besides it is not like Dems are going to legalize, at least not without major strings. “There is just too much money in it.” – Some authoritarian bitch who happened to be right but not how she meant.

    • Gustave Lytton

      For me, it’s not the specifics but that she can’t see past her blinders that freedom means people can make their own choices.

  26. grrizzly

    Magnanimous Gov. Baker relaxes travel rules.

    The July 2020 travel order that required people entering Massachusetts from most states to fill out a form and quarantine for 10 days, test negative for COVID-19, or face fines of up to $500 per day will be replaced with an advisory that instead encourages people to quarantine upon arrival in Massachusetts if they have been away for 24 hours or more.

    The advisory, Baker’s office said, will not apply to those returning after trips shorter than 24 hours, those who tested negative for COVID-19 up to 72 hours before arriving in Massachusetts, or fully vaccinated travelers. Last month, Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said they planned to loosen gathering-size restrictions and transition to Phase 4 of the reopening plan on March 22, allowing stadiums, arenas and ballparks to operate at 12 percent capacity after submitting plans to the Department of Public Health.

    It goes into effect on Monday. My flight is scheduled to arrive in BOS 13 minutes before midnight on Sunday. I won’t be deprived of flouting the travel order one last time.

    • Plisade

      “Phase 4” They know that if they immediately lift all restrictions there will be no ill effects. They’ve gotta drag it out or appear to have been wrong.

      I imagine in 10 years you won’t find anyone admit to having bought into this, much like there are no Nixon voters.