You make a very good point. I am not religious, but I think part of it is the demise of churches. They no longer help set norms for behavior.

Gee now I sound like "the other side".

One thing I will say about assuming that T voters endorse (not just tolerate) his vulgarity...

I was at a march where the vast majority of people were polite and many/most of the signs were thoughtful and PG-rated. But there were a lot of marchers there. Some of them hold views I do not. I could easily have had my photo taken next to a sign that I disagree with. Same thing w T voters; you can't cherrypick which parts of the platform you love, and which ones you are "eh" about, and which ones you think are wrong. So I am hoping that T's election does not mean that millions and millions are ok with his behavior.

That said, it creates a bad "president" as he would say LOL

I'm not sure the alternative candidate was less greedy. She has never held a job that was anything but a government job. You don't get rich working for the government, even at the presidential level. There are still plenty of expenses that chip away at a salary. The Clintons claim to have been "dead broke" after leaving the White House. According to Forbes magazine, they have "earned" $230 million in the 16 years since then. Are we to believe that they found entry level jobs in our economy that paid that paid them $14 million per year? I think it's no secret that they give speeches and charge what the market will bear for those. The idea of charging what the market will bear is what goes to the demonstration of greed. They give as many speeches as their personal health will support. They talk and talk and talk.

I'd like to point out that giving a speech might be a fine job, but there is no risk to the Clintons. They did not have to go out and borrow money to give a speech and then hope for a 7% or 20% or even 100% return on their money. Furthermore they did not employ hundreds of people to keep the economy going. Well, in their case they might have servants. But the Clintons are not swimming in the same pool of employment opportunities that most of us in this forum are. They are simply taking as much advantage as they can of the richest people and businesses they can find.

Kindness and decency: Familiarize yourself and your family with the Golden Rule and all the variations from different religions. I believe there are at least three main differences. Then spend your Sundays walking around looking for examples of all three variations. Talk with your children about what people could have done differently to be more kind or decent. If you talk about it and become more aware of acts of kindness, both you and your children will absorb it.

Totally disagree with your analysis about making money and the Clintons.

With their educations, they could have made a lot more money and had much easier lives. NO ONE with an Ivy degree(s) goes into governing for money. Look at all the billionaires in T's cabinet; the Clintons would have been one of those people if they had not gone into public service. Billions, not millions.

The idea of charging what the market will bear is what goes to the demonstration of greed.

That is crazy; are you a capitalist or a socialist? You do know that they speak/spoke all the time for free for causes? Are you saying that if a Wall St firm wants to pay them 500k to speak, that is wrong of them to charge so much? Your anger is misdirected at the Clintons if you are unhappy about the high sums that the "market will bear (sic)" ..... for all sorts of things.

I think we have to do more than just carrying around "good, kind feelings" in our hearts. That's vital, of course, but feelings are fleeting and ineffective unless we step outside of our feel-good, warm-fuzzy place and take real, positive action. To that end, each of us can volunteer doing something to make this world a better place. Mentor an underprivileged child, work shifts at the food pantry, become an ESL volunteer, embark on a fundraising project ... the possibilities are virtually endless. It is by doing that we create impact, and it is in knowing we've made a difference that we find true happiness.

Why bring in a 'Clintons are worse' argument? Trying to change the subject? Feeling defensive? Those are spurious arguments, BTW; she is not our Commander in Chief, nor is her husband.

Saw this @ our city's rally on Saturday - hopeful sign?

(The part that got cut off says 'please')

dchall -

I think you missed my point. It is not about one candidate versus the other. The Clintons have also offended my concept of decency. I used Trump's issues as an example because he is our President.

Popular culture has always pushed the limits. But Lenny Bruce content was not easily available to impressionable young people. And the edges of decency didn't dominate popular movies, books, television shows, etc.

So, now many think it is okay or inevitable that we have a ***** grabbing President. And that really disturbs me. So, I wondered aloud about things that I can do to promote cultural change while maintaining acceptance. I practice it in my own life. What other ways can I make a positive influence?

dchall, not true. you are just repeating the fake news you read. Hillary had a job as a lawyer at the Rose Law Firm. That's what many lawyers do. work at law fiirms. Why dont you break down and read her website or other reliable sources. But perhaps you are too far gone.

Yeah, how could we forget the cattle options fiasco? C'mon, if you are really an HRC hater you need to keep track of all those "misdeeds" better, D_schall.

BTW, no risk? They took risk each time that they would get elected or not!

Haven't read all the responses, but watch "the real mad men of advertising" on smithsonian channel. It explains a lot about why our culture is the way it is.

We are sponges. It doesn't matter as much what the message is.

So far, they have aired episodes for the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

My email account is on Yahoo. Every day they send me a News of the Day item that I can click on. Almost without exception, their News of the Day is about some celebrity or sports figure and not about anything of substance. If that's the only place some people get their "News," it's badly distorted and unreal.

For now I'm ignoring the unkind remarks about me posted above. I practically solicited them. Instead let's continue to move forward. Here are three forms of the Golden Rule (posted on Wikipedia).

• One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself (positive or directive form).
• One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated (negative or prohibitive form).
• What you wish upon others, you wish upon yourself (empathic or responsive form).

d_gw, in your opening remarks you stated the following, "And that is why a greedy, fame obsessed reality TV star is our current president." Since we are talking about kindness and decency, would you classify your thoughts as among those you find to be kind and decent? Or is name calling one of the acts you would you prefer to shelter your children from? I submit that your remarks are an example of our being desensitized by culture. How do we overcome it? If this example is valid, the task is going to be difficult. How do we bite our tongue?

My remarks were off topic to help further the point. Your original remarks struck a nerve, and I responded. Sometimes it is so easy to go off topic. How do we control that inclination to punch back? or to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind? How do we avoid being baited (and I'm looking at Mr Trump on this one)? What could you have said at the beginning to be more neutral and less...baity? My comments fueled the fires and riled sensitive some people. Sure enough a few responded in unkind ways, so there is plenty of content right here to examine. What could they have said to have a different outcome? In this day and age can we learn to criticize in a kind way?

Edited to delete my post to dchall. I don't want this thread to turn into a back and forth nit pick session so I am not going to fuel the fire.

d_gw, you are right to say that as a country we have lost our humanity and this election reflects that. My friends/family that voted for T are not concerned with his lack of a moral core. They simply want change.

I have a very hard time accepting this but when you see the type of TV programs and movies that are popular, you can see the examples fed to our citizens. They think programs like the Simpsons are great. So now we have a character just like the Simpsons' characters as our president. It is very sad. If you really want to make America great again, this has to be addressed.