The Dictator observations thread.

Politics and other such topical creams.
Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Good (but longish) essay on conservative victimhood and the rhyming history of intolerant liberals "forcing" conservatives to become worse.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/ ... edirect=on
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

The best history is where you get to invent your own facts and ignore the ones you don't like!
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Image
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Kory
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 17319
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 1:42pm
Location: In the Discosphere

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Kory »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
30 Sep 2019, 6:52am
Image
I always forget about this comic but I always like it.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

It's adorable because she's a celebrity and he's a war criminal who got away with it!
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ellen-de ... 475f9c3ce5
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Flex
User avatar
Mechano-Man of the Future
Posts: 35799
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:50pm
Location: The Information Superhighway!

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Flex »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
07 Oct 2019, 10:33am
It's adorable because she's a celebrity and he's a war criminal who got away with it!
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ellen-de ... 475f9c3ce5
As has been pointed out on Twitter and such: he supported a constitutional ban on same sex marriages, but class solidarity among the rich remains stronger than any single social issue.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

WestwayKid
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 6704
Joined: 20 Sep 2017, 8:22am
Location: Mill-e-wah-que

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by WestwayKid »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
07 Oct 2019, 10:33am
It's adorable because she's a celebrity and he's a war criminal who got away with it!
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ellen-de ... 475f9c3ce5
It makes me especially happy the Cowboys lost.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Flex wrote:
07 Oct 2019, 11:18am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
07 Oct 2019, 10:33am
It's adorable because she's a celebrity and he's a war criminal who got away with it!
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ellen-de ... 475f9c3ce5
As has been pointed out on Twitter and such: he supported a constitutional ban on same sex marriages, but class solidarity among the rich remains stronger than any single social issue.
And the general population's deference to celebrity, especially when it can be spun as some kind of bridging the divide. Jon Voight and Alec Baldwin going out for ice cream would assure everyone that it's gonna be okay after all.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... ate-228111

My sister sent me this. It has some useful observations, certainly, but the sample used, I think, is flawed. A lot of the polarization in American (and Canadian) politics is less rooted in conservative vs liberal or conversative vs. left, even tho that's how it's manifested, than formal education vs. non-formal education. Learning and employing more critical approaches vs. a greater reliability on gut thinking. It's harder to have meaningful conversations when each side has reservations (if not contempt) for the other's way of thinking about problems.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

WestwayKid
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 6704
Joined: 20 Sep 2017, 8:22am
Location: Mill-e-wah-que

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by WestwayKid »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Oct 2019, 8:40am
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... ate-228111

My sister sent me this. It has some useful observations, certainly, but the sample used, I think, is flawed. A lot of the polarization in American (and Canadian) politics is less rooted in conservative vs liberal or conversative vs. left, even tho that's how it's manifested, than formal education vs. non-formal education. Learning and employing more critical approaches vs. a greater reliability on gut thinking. It's harder to have meaningful conversations when each side has reservations (if not contempt) for the other's way of thinking about problems.
I really agree with this. There is a lot of contempt out there and it's personal contempt. It feels like disagreements over policy are one thing, but when the disagreement is so much more fundamental it becomes very hard to reach across the aisle. It becomes a personal attack and I think it (obviously) goes beyond education, but extends into areas like religion (some of us rely on a higher power to fix things and some of us look for more realistic solutions). I will forever be a proponent of a liberal arts education because I believe it teaches kids how to think. It doesn't tell them what to think (which many conservatives believe), but it teaches them to how to critically approach problems.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

WestwayKid wrote:
18 Oct 2019, 10:01am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Oct 2019, 8:40am
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... ate-228111

My sister sent me this. It has some useful observations, certainly, but the sample used, I think, is flawed. A lot of the polarization in American (and Canadian) politics is less rooted in conservative vs liberal or conversative vs. left, even tho that's how it's manifested, than formal education vs. non-formal education. Learning and employing more critical approaches vs. a greater reliability on gut thinking. It's harder to have meaningful conversations when each side has reservations (if not contempt) for the other's way of thinking about problems.
I really agree with this. There is a lot of contempt out there and it's personal contempt. It feels like disagreements over policy are one thing, but when the disagreement is so much more fundamental it becomes very hard to reach across the aisle. It becomes a personal attack and I think it (obviously) goes beyond education, but extends into areas like religion (some of us rely on a higher power to fix things and some of us look for more realistic solutions). I will forever be a proponent of a liberal arts education because I believe it teaches kids how to think. It doesn't tell them what to think (which many conservatives believe), but it teaches them to how to critically approach problems.
I always tell my students—and I'm sincere about this—that I don't especially care if they forget all the "facts" of my class after they've received their grade. That's not what's important about a humanities education. It's about learning to be a better thinker and to get better at expressing those thoughts in text and aloud. It's about becoming a better citizen. Which is why business-oriented perspectives happily shit on the humanities for not being "practical." No, it isn't in the way they think; it's about strengthening the essence of democratic participation. I don't need to indoctrinate my students to a particular ideology. I just want students who are better equipped to reflexively employ intelligent skepticism. That I think that works against conservatism as it's devolved in the past fifty years is just a happy bonus.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

An old Onion piece, but still fantastic: https://www.theonion.com/area-man-passi ... 1819571149
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4 ... alist-poll

What I especially like is that the poll was sponsored by Victims of Communism.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Wolter
User avatar
Half Foghorn Leghorn, Half Albert Brooks
Posts: 55432
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 7:59pm
Location: ¡HOLIDAY RO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-OAD!

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Wolter »

”INDER LOCK THE THE KISS THREAD IVE REALISED IM A PRZE IDOOT” - Thomas Jefferson

"But the gorilla thinks otherwise!"

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-gat ... 5138825814

Can you imagine somebody fretting about hypothetically being reduced to having "only" $6B? Wealth really is a sickness.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Post Reply