Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 27 May 2020, 9:36am
They also need to add the fact-check stuff on his response that says his free speech is being stifled.
If Music Could Talk
The Trump observations thread
Page 100 of 204
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 27 May 2020, 9:41am
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 27 May 2020, 9:55am
As others have observed, the Citizens United case that conservatives otherwise adore asserts that corporations have the same free speech rights as citizens. So this is Twitter exercising its free speech rights. CU is cool when it lets corporations buy candidates; not cool when it hinders conservative lunatics from lying with their services.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 27 May 2020, 3:55pm
Just out from the election the National Party in NZ elected a new leader after a coup as a last ditch attempt to try and win an unwinnable upcoming election against Aunty Cindy (winner over Covid19).
The new leader was introduced in his office proudly standing in front of his political memorabilia including his $7 MAGA hat!!
He tried to defend it for 4 days before backing down.
Another coup needed.
The new leader was introduced in his office proudly standing in front of his political memorabilia including his $7 MAGA hat!!
He tried to defend it for 4 days before backing down.
Another coup needed.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 27 May 2020, 4:17pm
There's something absolutely mesmerizing about how the right's embrace of stupidity and xenophobia and thuggishness seems to have a momentum of its own. The dumber it gets, the happier the base is. It's weird that in the 1970s and 1980s, it was conservative thinkers who were generating the most interesting critiques, but that side is now dominated by proud idiots in a way that ossifying leftists or liberals ever endured.101Walterton wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 3:55pmJust out from the election the National Party in NZ elected a new leader after a coup as a last ditch attempt to try and win an unwinnable upcoming election against Aunty Cindy (winner over Covid19).
The new leader was introduced in his office proudly standing in front of his political memorabilia including his $7 MAGA hat!!
He tried to defend it for 4 days before backing down.
Another coup needed.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 27 May 2020, 5:21pm
So my wife has often been put off by the humor presented in like the old Simpsons, KoTH, and other things as embracing/encouraging stupidity. She's an immigrant and (although fluent) not a native English speaker so she sees things differently sometimes. I always explained it is satire and it isnt embracing it but making fun of it. Now Im wondering if there isnt something to what she was saying. Like idiots are too stupid/willfully ignorant to not realize these are not caracticures to emulate.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 4:17pmThere's something absolutely mesmerizing about how the right's embrace of stupidity and xenophobia and thuggishness seems to have a momentum of its own. The dumber it gets, the happier the base is. It's weird that in the 1970s and 1980s, it was conservative thinkers who were generating the most interesting critiques, but that side is now dominated by proud idiots in a way that ossifying leftists or liberals ever endured.101Walterton wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 3:55pmJust out from the election the National Party in NZ elected a new leader after a coup as a last ditch attempt to try and win an unwinnable upcoming election against Aunty Cindy (winner over Covid19).
The new leader was introduced in his office proudly standing in front of his political memorabilia including his $7 MAGA hat!!
He tried to defend it for 4 days before backing down.
Another coup needed.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 27 May 2020, 5:47pm
She's not wrong. Satire works by its ability to work on multiple levels. Straight up, it confirms its target's view; bent, it exposes the target as worthy of contempt and/or mocking laughter. There were stories (apocryphal? verified?) of conservatives watching The Colbert Report and believing Stephen Colbert was a straight-up, fuck-the-libruls voice of the right. As funny as he could be, how much was he inadvertently feeding the stupidity of the right? Or All in the Family, despite Archie Bunker being a crude and dim bigot, actually appealed to conservative viewers who loved seeing him tell it like it is, especially to that insufferable Meathead (who was, most of the time, a stereotypical self-righteous liberal). My dad wasn't crude, but he had a lot of bigoted views and thought Archie Bunker made a lot of sense. I honestly don't know how much he understood the show to be mocking his racial and especially gender views. Satire's a risky game.revbob wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 5:21pmSo my wife has often been put off by the humor presented in like the old Simpsons, KoTH, and other things as embracing/encouraging stupidity. She's an immigrant and (although fluent) not a native English speaker so she sees things differently sometimes. I always explained it is satire and it isnt embracing it but making fun of it. Now Im wondering if there isnt something to what she was saying. Like idiots are too stupid/willfully ignorant to not realize these are not caracticures to emulate.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 27 May 2020, 6:21pm
Al Murray, the Pub Landlord has an audience full of flag fuckers who he was taking the piss out of at one point but he's more than happy to take their money and provide the show they want.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 28 May 2020, 1:39pm
A more contemporary example is all the douchebags looking up to the Rick character from Rick and Morty as the ideal of masculinity. Hyper-intelligent and emotionally unavailable.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 5:47pmShe's not wrong. Satire works by its ability to work on multiple levels. Straight up, it confirms its target's view; bent, it exposes the target as worthy of contempt and/or mocking laughter. There were stories (apocryphal? verified?) of conservatives watching The Colbert Report and believing Stephen Colbert was a straight-up, fuck-the-libruls voice of the right. As funny as he could be, how much was he inadvertently feeding the stupidity of the right? Or All in the Family, despite Archie Bunker being a crude and dim bigot, actually appealed to conservative viewers who loved seeing him tell it like it is, especially to that insufferable Meathead (who was, most of the time, a stereotypical self-righteous liberal). My dad wasn't crude, but he had a lot of bigoted views and thought Archie Bunker made a lot of sense. I honestly don't know how much he understood the show to be mocking his racial and especially gender views. Satire's a risky game.revbob wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 5:21pmSo my wife has often been put off by the humor presented in like the old Simpsons, KoTH, and other things as embracing/encouraging stupidity. She's an immigrant and (although fluent) not a native English speaker so she sees things differently sometimes. I always explained it is satire and it isnt embracing it but making fun of it. Now Im wondering if there isnt something to what she was saying. Like idiots are too stupid/willfully ignorant to not realize these are not caracticures to emulate.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 28 May 2020, 2:11pm
Which requires ignoring so much else about his character and the show to appreciate that he's really quite pitiable.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 28 May 2020, 2:14pm
Which is made pretty explicit overall. Silly fools.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑28 May 2020, 2:11pmWhich requires ignoring so much else about his character and the show to appreciate that he's really quite pitiable.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 28 May 2020, 2:43pm
Hello,Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 4:17pmThere's something absolutely mesmerizing about how the right's embrace of stupidity and xenophobia and thuggishness seems to have a momentum of its own. The dumber it gets, the happier the base is. It's weird that in the 1970s and 1980s, it was conservative thinkers who were generating the most interesting critiques, but that side is now dominated by proud idiots in a way that ossifying leftists or liberals ever endured.101Walterton wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 3:55pmJust out from the election the National Party in NZ elected a new leader after a coup as a last ditch attempt to try and win an unwinnable upcoming election against Aunty Cindy (winner over Covid19).
The new leader was introduced in his office proudly standing in front of his political memorabilia including his $7 MAGA hat!!
He tried to defend it for 4 days before backing down.
Another coup needed.
The right has really embraced anti-intelligence for several reasons. First, you can't buy intelligence - you can buy school and education but work ethic and reasoning gets you through ("Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" - Edison?). Second, intelligent/reasoned/ethical thinking often runs counter to business gains. Remaining dumb is easier - celebrating ignorance makes you feel better than recognizing/admitting (and then doing something about) one's ignorance. Finally, many intellects have equal amounts of pretension and intellect. Snobbery has fueled this to a degree.
I have had the "smarter is better than dumber" conversation with many students. Individually, the vast majority of students acknowledge this. A group/mob may behave/think differently.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 28 May 2020, 3:18pm
To add what you say, part of it is also political calculus. When the Democrats moved to the centre in the late 80s, their new strategy was to embrace professionals (i.e., college educated) and suburbanites. In doing so, they gave the middle finger to the working class, save for rhetorical lip service. In essence, they said education matters to us. Which left the under-educated to the right. And that achieved a momentum of its own as right-wing politics became more anti-liberal than pro- … something. So gut thinking (as opposed to critical thinking) became a virtue. But gut thinking is self-serving, validating our prejudices rather than questioning them. So the right has accelerated into self-satisfying bigotry. It has the advantage of proving you're smarter than the smart people.gkbill wrote: ↑28 May 2020, 2:43pmHello,Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 4:17pmThere's something absolutely mesmerizing about how the right's embrace of stupidity and xenophobia and thuggishness seems to have a momentum of its own. The dumber it gets, the happier the base is. It's weird that in the 1970s and 1980s, it was conservative thinkers who were generating the most interesting critiques, but that side is now dominated by proud idiots in a way that ossifying leftists or liberals ever endured.101Walterton wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 3:55pmJust out from the election the National Party in NZ elected a new leader after a coup as a last ditch attempt to try and win an unwinnable upcoming election against Aunty Cindy (winner over Covid19).
The new leader was introduced in his office proudly standing in front of his political memorabilia including his $7 MAGA hat!!
He tried to defend it for 4 days before backing down.
Another coup needed.
The right has really embraced anti-intelligence for several reasons. First, you can't buy intelligence - you can buy school and education but work ethic and reasoning gets you through ("Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" - Edison?). Second, intelligent/reasoned/ethical thinking often runs counter to business gains. Remaining dumb is easier - celebrating ignorance makes you feel better than recognizing/admitting (and then doing something about) one's ignorance. Finally, many intellects have equal amounts of pretension and intellect. Snobbery has fueled this to a degree.
I have had the "smarter is better than dumber" conversation with many students. Individually, the vast majority of students acknowledge this. A group/mob may behave/think differently.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 03 Jun 2020, 7:12am
Our boy has pissed off the senile fascist.
Re: The Trump observations thread
Posted: 03 Jun 2020, 8:41am
Look, I'll take your money but I won't plough your driveway.