If you go down into the comments on the Twitter thread, you can also find this article: Sounds like some textbook grooming was going on.
For @Federal Farmer this is grooming a child to be interested sexually in old creepy men. This is the grooming your republican heroes do. It is not how you use grooming to refer to telling GLBT kids it is ok for them to be themselves and to make their own choices.
A couple of things come to mind: for one, I still like looking at pretty girls, but at my gym there are plenty of cute college age girls. Nice to look at, but as far as serious interest of a carnal kind...nah. The thought of getting it on with someone young enough to be a granddaughter, strikes me as just...wrong... I have some of the same reservations about the next age group up, which would be an age group young enough to be my daughters. Maybe that feeling isn't as strong, but it's still there. I'm not painting myself as morally superior in any way. I just can't identify with the idea of why someone would feel comfortable hitting on someone so much younger.
I get what you're saying, I understand where you're coming from, and I can sympathize to some extent. But I think we're making some assumptions here. The biggest one is that we are assuming that he pursued her. This does not necessarily follow, especially now in the 21st century. I'll tell you my own experience. About 7 years ago when I was 41, a certain young lady (age 23) was running in the same circles as me We had mutual friends and mutual interests. I "noticed" her, to be sure (she was, to me at least, VERY good looking), but because of our age difference I didn't think much of it. After a few months she started openly flirting with me, to the point that everyone in our circle was keenly aware. I wasn't sure if her motives were sincere or if she was just having a little fun. One day, she messaged me on Facebook and point blank said, "hey dummy, how obvious do I need to be? Why aren't you getting the hint?" That led to a very big discussion about age differences and social decorum and various sundry other topics germane to this event. She wound up making a good case, and we entered into a relationship. We remained as "a couple" for a little over six months. Turns out that we just weren't as compatible as we'd hoped we would be, but not for any reasons that had anything to do with the age difference. Her family liked me, her friends thought I was good for her, it just wasn't meant to be. So, regarding this lady and this gentleman (who I knew nothing about, at all, until this afternoon and still have no idea who they are apart from what's been in this thread) clearly met while both were adults, and both (as adults) decided that they were a good match and apparently they've been married for 10 years or so now. I have no reason to assume a priori that there was any grooming involved. If she had met him when she was 15 or 16, and then later when she was an adult, SUPRISE they are in a relationship, I would fully agree that there was likely some major sketch going on. But the facts being the facts that are, I don't have any reason to assume bad motive or bad acts.
Good story and I don't doubt it. I also don't doubt that you're right about the possibility that she pursued him. As Henry Kissinger said "Power is the best aphrodisiac." However, the optics are still not great, especially with all the right-wing, Q-Anon obsession with pedophilia. I'm sure that such a relationship would be great fodder for the right wing echo chamber if it were a "progressive", "left-wing" "socialist" politician in that kind of relationship.
The only reason I doubt she went aft6er him is they got married. Marriage is normally the way to pretend the dependent relationship of religious master and slave is legitimate. When the woman is actually independent and not groomed into a submissive slave through emotional and societal abuse (possibly physical also) the woman is there for financial rewards that often come from older men. I have known quite a few women who chase the older men and the reason is always the best gifts and travel. They don't marry because they often have multiple older men on the line. Old white guys will spend tons of money on girls. Unless he is super rich there is no reason to be marrying him for a golddigger. You don't give up the best years of your body for a guy with only a couple of million who is that far from death. What he is doing is covering for child molestation with marriage.
Shitty pay doesn't help Good teachers get burned out and the shit ones like Dayton3 float around like a fatty turd that won't flush because the admins have no other options.
Ah, we finally got to UA slamming unions. I was wondering which other trite Republicunt shit he was gonna trot out next.
And right on schedule, ad hominems in place of actually addressing the argument. You know goddamn well those public sector unions keep shitty teachers in place.
Lots of private schools. Lots of charter and magnet schools. Then there's homeschooling. What choice do you want?
Voucher schools, so the little racist-larvae can meet, and mingle, and have sports, and hook up, and marry, and make more little racists, and all on the state dime. Racists are butt-hurt that they're kicked over into the shame corner.
She covered that in the second sentence you snipped, you dishonest horse semen guzzler. You calling everyone under the sun a liar has been an act of projection all along.
Sorry, no way in hell I'm paying for Al's snot nosed brats to attend private school. If he can't afford it and doesn't want the public option, then homeschool the little bastards.
All schools should charge direct tuition, and nobody without kids should be forced to pay it. If that offends your sensibilities, you are free to donate to the indoctrination camp of your choosing.
Sorry asshole. Public education is a standard even in 3rd world countries. You just want china to take over the world.
What I want is for parents to take responsibility for their crotch fruit and stop dumping the burden on the rest of us.
No, no, no, stick to the script, Robotman (I woulda said that without the av!!). You're supposed to say "I don't smoke in bed, and put egg sandwiches in the toaster!! Why should I pay for other people's irresponsibility?? ".