Understanding the US - Again

[uddu]

https://x.com/Chopsyturvey/status/2040632382861308311
@Chopsyturvey

[vera_k]

Quite the trick this one enabled by loose standards. Looks like this was discovered only because the dog's owner posted a picture on social media.

Dog voted in California election

A dog was registered to vote by its owner, who submitted a ballot in the pet’s name in California's 2021 gubernatorial recall election.

[A_Gupta]

If you deep-dive into what happened in the Yourex case,

(a) the 2021 dog vote was not detected but the 2022 dog ballot was detected, and rejected.

(b) the information Yourex provided for her dog did not match any records in the state's DMV,Social Security Number, Death Index and Felon Status automated checks; at which point the registration is flagged as "unverified" and requires a human to manually review the registration. The Orange Country Board of Elections did not do this manual check in 2021. In 2022, their procedures were updated, and the ballot was rejected.

(c) Laura Yourex, apart from posting on social media, also self-reported to the Orange County Board of Elections. Nevertheless she faces up to six years in prison, if convicted of voter fraud.

[Cain Marko]

The changing norms in American politics, as summarized by CoPilot:

1. Historical baseline: profanity was once rare and news‑making

For most of the 20th century and early 2000s, open profanity from national politicians was treated as a breach of decorum. A famous example illustrates this:

In 2010, then–Vice President Joe Biden whispered “This is a big f‑‑‑ing deal” to President Obama during the Affordable Care Act signing. It caused a major stir precisely because such language from a top official was unusual.

This era assumed:

* Public political speech should maintain formality
* Profanity was a private‑sphere thing, not for microphones

2. The shift: profanity becomes intentional, not accidental

By the mid‑2010s and especially during and after the Trump presidency, profanity became strategic rather than accidental.
Recent reporting highlights:

President Donald Trump regularly uses profanity at rallies and in press interactions, sometimes multiple times in a single event.
* Examples include recounting his “shithole countries” remark and referring to alleged criminals as “sons of b‑‑‑‑‑s.”
* Trump also became the first U.S. president to publicly drop an F‑bomb in remarks to reporters in 2025.
* Senior officials in his administration, such as War Secretary Pete Hegseth, have used profanity in formal addresses to military leadership.

This marks a clear break from earlier norms: profanity is now used deliberately to signal toughness, authenticity, or rejection of “political correctness.”

3. It’s bipartisan now

While the shift is often associated with Republicans, reporting shows Democrats also increasingly use profanity in public contexts:

* Journalists note that Democrats have made a “conscious effort” to show they can curse too.
* Members of both parties now use profanity on social media, in interviews, and occasionally in speeches.
* The Associated Press describes it as a bipartisan trend: “vulgarity is now in vogue.”

4, Why the norm changed

Several explanations appear in recent analyses:

* Authenticity signaling: Voters often read profanity as “real talk,” especially in populist politics.
* Polarization: As politics becomes more confrontational, language follows.
* Social media: Platforms reward blunt, emotional, and transgressive phrasing.
* Erosion of institutional decorum: The old boundaries of “statesmanlike” behavior have weakened.

5. Current norms in practice

Based on recent reporting, the norms today look like this:
* Profanity in rallies: Common and largely accepted by supporters
* Profanity in formal addresses: Still notable, but no longer shocking
* Profanity in press gaggles: Increasingly normal
* Profanity on social media: Widespread among politicians
* Profanity in official documents or prepared speeches: Still rare and generally avoided
* Profanity directed at individuals: More controversial, but happens regularly

Just FYI, all the Protestant and Catholic churches teach against the use the profanity.

Maybe it is the increased movement away from the church and it's traditions that is causing this? Although it has not happened in the EU despite a major swing away from the church. I think it's a temporary blip and also harkens to the gawdy and tawdry aspects in American culture. The current leadership is also a product of WWE and tabloid television..

[A_Gupta]

A MAGA (former?) response to POTUS's post: