“We pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Donald Trump said this past November, in a campaign speech that was ostensibly honoring Veterans Day. “The real threat is not from the radical right; the real threat is from the radical left … The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.”
What immediately leaps out here is the word vermin, with its echoes of Hitler and Mussolini. But Trump’s inflammatory language can overshadow and distract from the substance of what he’s saying—in this case, appearing to promise a purge or repression of those who disagree with him politically.
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Trump himself has changed, too—the old Trump seemed to be running for office partly for fun and partly in service of his signature views, such as opposition to immigration and support for protectionism. Today’s Trump is different. His fury over his 2020 election defeat, the legal cases against him, and a desire for revenge against political opponents have come to eclipse everything else.
I’ve camped in worse, believe it or not.
Also, bitching about the winters is like a state past time in Minnesota, so, yeah.
The weird thing is people really accept it too, though. Mostly people who have never lived anywhere else and took a vacation to Arizona a couple times. I heard ‘I LOVE the winter!’ many times from people who then were borderline suicidal around feburary.
I Like the changes between the seasons. The winter’s a bit too cold, and the summers a lot too warm, for my tastes. I’d probably go insane if it was perfect all the time… which, for the record, is 60’s and sunshine.
the other thing I like about camping in winter is that you don’t have fair-weather hipsters walking into your camp because they smell the coffee and their alchy stoves could barely manage heating up the freeze dried food. I’ll take -40 anything over freezing and rainy any day of the week. Cold and wet is the kind of stuff that seeps into you… and nothing wholesome ever seeps.
once its cold enough there’s nothing wet out there, it’s really just a matter of being smart and managing your layers.
Nothing wholesome every seeps lol love it. With you on the hovering around zero and wet though, that was my last big camp for three nights in Kootenay National Park. No problems staying cozy if it’s dry and cold, but the seepage gets to you.
I love it when the weather 50-55 and misty… some of my favorite days up north. But yeah, that makes for miserable, seepy camping. It’s true that sub-0 is very dry. I liked how there are places almost completely impassable in the summer - mucky death swamps - and then in the winter, frozen solid, and you can just walk right over them.
We got very few balmy weather days up there, so you had to seize the day when it was time. Now and then I’d be waiting and waiting for spring or summer (since the winter is like 7 months long and real summer, maybe 2) and then I’d have work to do and realize I’d been inside working for 2 weeks while the days were delicious. Still, I’d make the most of the winter too. I loved going to a park near my house for walks when it was 0-10 degrees. It was a cross country ski track, but nobody was ever there. These days people I live with want to go for walks and check the weather, and say “35!! That’s so cold!!” 35, sunny, no wind? As you note, you just have to dress right.
I have my -50 camping badge from when I was a scout 😁