“Weaponized flattery” - you captured it so perfectly. I look back at my youth with so much anger now, remembering how well this worked on me and how eager I was to perform for crumbs and pats on the head from men. Infuriating now.

You know, fuck Bernie Sanders, this pisses me off. We’re supposed to have standards and values. The GOP is the one hiring Nazis and groypers and trash bigots. How can people stand up to that without having some kind of standards that they adhere to? Goddammit.