First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV

> "Cardinal George of Chicago, of happy memory, was one of my great mentors, and he said: 'Look, until America goes into political decline, there won't be an American pope.' And his point was, if America is kind of running the world politically, culturally, economically, they don't want America running the world religiously. So, I think there's some truth to that, that we're such a superpower and so dominant, they don't wanna give us, also, control over the church."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pope-could-it-be-american-c...

It’s funny seeing people talk about the decline of America. I can remember the same conversations in the 1970’s, late 2000’s as well.

If we ever hit a point where nobody is talking about America being in decline, that will mean we are entering decline.

I do think we’ve been in a down period when it comes to politics for a while but I am mid to long term optimistic about things getting better. This is not the first time we’ve had crazy massively divisive politics or populist crackpottery. Overall I do not think we are in any kind of terminal decline.

What is happening is that other countries are rising. I think that’s good for us. When America was the only superpower it made us lazy and foolish.

Look at how it works out in the corporate world. Take Intel for instance. They had a near monopoly for about a decade on top performing CPUs and it destroyed the company. Google carved out a monopoly on search and they are complete trash now. Pride cometh before a fall because pride causes the fall.

My optimism for the US is quite limited, because they have kinda knowingly dismantled their own democracy, and are in the process of dismantling it even more, while the president tries as hard as possible to become a Putin-like dictator, and important decisions are made by tech giant owning oligarchs. A while longer and the US might enter a civil war or will simply lose all good will it had directed towards it in the world and will then stand alone, while other countries enable the US' competitors. If Americans do not change something about their trajectory soon, it will not end well for them, and probably not end well for many other countries either.

The US has a history of hitting rock bottom every so often. First constitutional crisis leading to the replacement of the articles of confederation, civil war, Great Depression and the new deal, the Vietnam era, and now the collapse of the post Cold War order.

I am not sure fascism will take here. Americans might think they want it until the fascists start telling them what to do. We are kinda starting to see that.

We will see more. Wait until some stand your ground red blooded American homeowner guns down a bunch of ICE goons doing a warrantless raid on the wrong house. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet. I’ve been checking the news for it daily. Then Trump tries to confiscate guns. I’ve been predicting for years that it’s MAGA who will try to “come for the guns.” That will be a hoot as they say a few hours South of where I am.

Of course they still have the culture war card. For some reason trans derangement syndrome (TDS) still has a hold on people. I don’t understand why that particular thing works so well, even on some people you would not expect.

> For some reason trans derangement syndrome (TDS) still has a hold on people. I don’t understand why that particular thing works so well, even on some people you would not expect.

I think it work as good as it does since there are no trans people around most people at all. It is a TV thing.

Outside of big cities I have never seen anyone. Prevalence measures varies but in my 30k pop county there should be like from 3 to <1.

>Outside of big cities I have never seen anyone.

It's not their responsibility to present themselves to you for enumeration and measurement, festoon themselves and their cars with trans pride tattoos and flags and bumper stickers, or allow you to sexually assault them by inspecting their genitals before playing sports or taking a shit.

Maybe they're just ordinary every day people, going about their ordinary every day lives, all around you, without you even knowing about it, because it's none of your business.

In fact, maybe that's what transphobic bigots with Trans Derangement Syndrome most fear, that they are surrounded by everyday normal trans people going about their everyday normal lives, but they don't even know it, and that is why they are so obsessed with inspecting other people's genitals and denying them human rights.

Any transphobic bigots with Trans Derangement Syndrome want to chime in and explain exactly why you're so obsessed with other people's genitals, which are none of your business? Or Trump voters who support him and his normative gender role enforcers grabbing women and children by the pussy to judge whether or not they're allowed to play sports or use public restrooms, all in the name of "protecting women", at the same time as they celebrate taking away women's right to abortion? Care to share your browser history, so we know if you're jerking off to the same secret obsession that gets you so hot and bothered in public?

NORTH CAROLINA: Anti-trans Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for North Carolina governor Mark Robinson called himself a 'Black Nazi,' admitted to liking trans porn:

https://www.advocate.com/election/mark-robinson-black-nazi-t...

>“I like watching [transgender slur] on girl porn! That’s fucking hot! It takes the man out while leaving the man in!” Robinson wrote in one comment verified by the outlet. “And yeah I’m a ‘perv’ too!” -Mark Robinson aka "minisoldr"

Unjustly confronting women, accusing them of being men, and expelling them from the bathroom just because they don't look stereotypically feminine enough for you is not "protecting women". It's as sexist and bigoted as it gets.

WASHINGTON, DC: Lauren Boebert & Nancy Mace confront woman they thought was trans in ‘predictable’ Capitol bathroom incident:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/lauren-boebert-nancy-mace-confron...

>A misguided attempt to enforce Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s discriminatory anti-trans bathroom policy at the Capitol led to an embarrassing misstep by GOP Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina who were involved in an incident on Thursday that transgender Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride's office called “predictable.”

>The pair confronted a cisgender woman in the restroom, mistakenly believing her to be the Delaware Democratic lawmaker, who is the first out transgender member of Congress. McBride had previously said she would follow House rules after Johnson banned transgender people from using the bathroom in line with their gender identity. The incident has reignited criticism of Johnson’s anti-trans bathroom regulations, which critics say endanger and harass all women.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Woman says Boston hotel guard told her to leave bathroom because she ‘was a man’:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/06/boston-hotel...

>Same-sex couple says they were appalled after being confronted and wrongfully accused in women’s restroom.

>A couple visiting Boston says they were left confused and appalled after being forced out of the Liberty Hotel during a Kentucky Derby party on Saturday, following what they describe as being confronted and wrongfully accused in the women’s restroom.

>Ansley Baker and her girlfriend, Liz Victor, both cisgender women, said a hotel security guard entered the women’s bathroom and demanded Baker leave the stall she was using, claiming she didn’t belong there.

>“All of a sudden there was banging on the door,” Baker recalled to CBS News.

>“I pulled my shorts up. I hadn’t even tied them. One of the security guards was there telling me to get out of the bathroom, that I was a man in the women’s bathroom. I said: ‘I’m a woman.’”

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Cis Woman Mistaken as Transgender Records Being Berated in Bathroom:

https://www.advocate.com/news/2022/11/01/cis-woman-mistaken-...

>A woman in Las Vegas says she remains shaken from her experience last week when another woman berated her in a public restroom for being transgender. The problem is that she's not trans, and, as she puts it, regardless of whether she had been, the entire situation was plainly wrong.

>In Las Vegas, Jay, a 24-year-old cis woman, was driving with her boyfriend on Thursday when she said she had to use the restroom.

>Jay says the couple stopped at Rampart Casino after being out all day to fix a seat belt on their car.

>Because she knew she would take longer, she gave her boyfriend some money to gamble while he waited and she went to the bathroom.

>"As soon as I got in, I went straight to a stall," Jay tells The Advocate. "About a minute or so in, I start to hear a woman being extremely aggressive. At first, I wasn't hearing exactly what she was saying until I started hearing her say, 'Trans, figure out your identity at home ... they better not come out of there. .. that's not allowed ... that's a boy, [and] they think this is [OK] because it's being taught in schools.'"

> It's not their responsibility to present themselves to you for enumeration and measurement, [...]

Come on. That is not what I meant. I recognise almost everyone my age that went to school here. People talk.

>People talk.

Yeah, they do, don't they? And because of that, it's really tough to be trans or gay or whatever in a small town. And that drives people into the closet, and drives them to leave.

How much do you really know about those people you never saw again after high school?