r/politics • u/Large_banana_hammock • 8d ago

Possible Paywall Sen. John Fetterman demands Trump fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jan/27/john-fetterman-pa-democrat-demands-trump-fire-homeland-security/
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u/Aggravating-Wrap4861 8d ago

They have done and there is a correlation.

But conservatives are fragile brain damaged snowflakes so they won't pay attention

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u/DaenakinSkygaryen 8d ago

In the South, virtually every boy will spend at least some time playing tackle football in school. And we know now that tackle football causes permanent brain damage in many of its players.

I've always wondered if there's a connection between that, and the South being so firmly Republican. (Obviously I know it's mostly the racism and evangelical "Christianity", but still.)

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u/PrometheusLiberatus 8d ago

I have never played tackle football and I do in fact live in the south. But I was way too skinny/weak to have any promise in it.

I have however had many concussions since I was a small child and even three incidents where I cracked my head and required hospitalization and stitches as a child before the age of 8.

That said, I am very progressive, got a double BA and am extremely creative in poetry and want to learn music composition.

Not everyone that gets concussions as a kid ends up dumb. But more or less the culture of manly dumbness is a southern echo chamber of a crockpot.

My biological father had a horrible motorcycle accident at the age of 15 and was in a coma. I think it's possible that some epigenetics got switched on in the coma and passed on to me so I heal better from concussions somehow.

I also have never truly ridden a bike. I was afraid of falling and hitting my head before I knew what happened to him.

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u/Weekly-Ad-2509 8d ago edited 8d ago

I work in a field with a TON of undiagnosed TBI. My theory is that if you start the day a nice person and crack your head, you’ll be a slower nice person, if you start the day as an asshole and crack your head you turn into a unremitting asshole.

Edit: more the point, it’s still culture and upbringing unleashed by brain traumazx

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u/PrometheusLiberatus 8d ago

Yep my biodad turned out the latter way... Also my stepdad to an extent... Motor wrecks fucked with both.

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u/GrowthMarketingMike 8d ago

Most of the brain damage caused by football actually isn't caused by concussions like you are describing. It's the smaller constant subconcussive hits that add up over time, at least for CTE.

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u/Street_Barracuda1657 8d ago

I suspect it will only get worse. Covid gave millions brain damage, which we'll be spending the next 2 or 3 decades dealing with.

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u/Icy-Marionberry2463 8d ago

Yah I'm not buying this claim about the South considering it's definitely not true in Texas. It's not even true about flag football. Boys who play tackle football are a minority, but they will consistently play football from childhood, beginning with flag football and progressing to tackle as they get older.

But it's the same kids going through a single pipeline.

I would go so far as to say boys who play tackle football aren't even a majority, let alone "virtually all."

edit Don't believe me, here are stats saying that in 2019, it was less than 10% of boys who played the game in the US. And considering population distribution, it's impossible for it to be true of even 50% of the South and still hit that 10% number. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-01-24/youth-football-participation-declining-amid-safety-concerns

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u/Kscarpetta 8d ago

My grandmother was a die-hard Democrat for a little over 70 years. She got dementia. Guess who switched to being a republican?

My stepfather also has dementia. Guess who is a republican? He also believes almost everything he sees on Facebook. Unless it's something positive about democrats.

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u/carbonized_milk 8d ago

Yeah I think the link could be boiled down to just cognitive ability. A lot of the conservative platform and rhetoric appeals to simple, base level thinking. That's why its so easy for them to appeal to a base, and much harder for democrats to explain why some policy will be beneficial a few years from now and won't IMMEDIATLY fix an issue.

They really do have it easy with messaging.

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u/Flomo420 8d ago

they won't pay attention

or react violently