Can someone explain to me how it went from "All 
s are libertarians! Secret child eating libertarians run the shadow government!!" to this?:
We need to talk about the accusation "Matt Gaetz is a libertarian."
β Eric S. Raymond (@esrtweet) November 14, 2024
I know little about Matt Gaetz, and don't have an opinion about whether he is a qualified nominee to be Attorney General. I'm also not here to make a pro-Trump or anti-Trump political point; I want to address anβ¦
Also these are literally the Republicans current top guys:
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"Hey, let's frick."
Ohmigosh, I've been tricked! What sort of coercion or manipulation would be unique to them that wouldn't be exploitation for anyone even slightly older? I mainly hear arguments like, "But the older person will know the right things to say! They might have more money! They might be more interesting than guys her own age!" when a man who's broke, boring, and socially inept isn't getting much of anybody at any age. The arguments always hinge on either an idea that a person old enough for relationships is an absolute toddler, or that the older person has some sort of appeal.
I get what you're saying about hard AOC lines--but your argument makes no sense here, since those hard lines are usually under 18 for a reason.
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Maybe you should touch some grass so you learn what flirting is and how it involves all sorts of things that an immature child might have trouble understanding or handling.
What is appropriate? What is inappropriate? When am I allowed to say no? What is regular flirting and what is coercion? Do I owe someone for dinner or a nice date? Am I a tease or a wimp if I don't put out?
There is a general assumption that a child and even an immature teen would have trouble answering questions like these and many others in the heat of the moment and that, given more life experience, more maturity, they could more reasonably be expected to do so.
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You keep saying "immature child." We're not talking about that. Most of us knew what was appropriate by that age, or at least, what was inappropriate in an actual harmful way. Someone old enough to take part in adulthood in basically every way knows they can say no, and that they don't need permission. You know what flirting is at that age, and even if you're a social sped and don't get it, you know when somebody's making it clear something harmful will happen to you if you don't give them what they want.
As for whether or not you put out, if you weren't taught that, how do you figure it out? If you get treated like a slag because you're easy, you'll learn not to put out so quickly.
You mentioned life experience--how do you get that? By doing things. Doing something you regret or feel embarrassed about is how we learn. That's not trauma, which is the thing we're trying to avoid here.
All your arguments here either assume someone's a toddler until they magically mature in an instant, or assume becoming an adult is trauma.
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No, that's your assumption. My assumption, as well as the law's, is that given enough time, people will learn that shit from others. Since you really seem to not understand general child protection and AoC laws, they are essentially a measure of risk management. They are weighing the odds of someone being mature enough and having learned enough to make certain decisions by a certain point in their lives, what are the risk someone not mature enough gets taken advantage of? And on the other hand that risk gets weighed against the risk of depriving a perfectly mature individual of their liberties to act in a way they see fit.
So, going back to our example, the law doesn't assume people turn mature in an instant or that doing so requires trauma, they are betting on you having had enough maturity and life experience (which doesn't mean fricking or whatever, but talking about it with others, reading about it, etc.) by the age of consent to reasonably handle the murkiness of sexual relationships.
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So, you're saying 17 is okay, since it's the AOC almost anywhere?
You know the accusations against Gaetz are s*x trafficking, right? The Law doesn't think Gaetz r*ped a child, they're going after him because so many things can be s*x trafficking, even when they shouldn't. You're even committing a federal felony when you take a 25 year old woman across state lines for immoral purposes--which can include a premarital romantic weekend.
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The law actually doesn't go after him at all. The charges were dropped. Turns out for all your hysteria, the nuance that is impossible to add in law does get taken into account when judging individual cases.
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What hysteria on my part? It should've been clear I thought it was the law being weaponized against somebody. I'm not sure what that last line means-- are you trying to change your argument, or do you struggle with making a point clearly?
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You thought the law that dropped the charges was being weaponized against somebody?
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Yes, he was investigated when it was politically convenient, and it was dropped quietly when it wasn't needed, but people still keep insisting he's a child abuser.
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