The photos of the "crowds" at the tank parade remind me of when Bill Hicks would come on stage in an almost-empty club, scan the room slowly, and announce "I've had more people in bed than this" ...
When the president sends a cabinet member on TV to announce "We are using the military to liberate an American city from its elected leaders," where do you go from there. What is left to say. The idea of that being anything short of a near-universal "Wait, what the fuck is going on" moment proves how far we've backslid.
This is from 2022 but it was absolutely right. The practiced buffoonery of Trump 1, all the "just kiddings" and "seriously but not literallys" absolutely succeeded in desensitizing people who are hardly paying any attention to the harder stuff they always intended to do next. ...
The basic fallacy in chasing votes by being "tough on immigration" is that the modal American's position on the issue is "Deport the Bad ones and keep the Good ones," and they alone know who is which, and that simply does not translate into workable policy. So this kind of gestapo stuff horrifies some of the same people who cheered when Trump promised to do it. There are true sociopaths who love this, but "No, I meant only the BAD immigrants! Not my coworker/friend/neighbor!" is as likely a reaction as enthusiasm. You cannot do immigration policy that satisfies these people because what they want is nonsensical.
So by the time center-left parties fully commit to chasing the far right by "getting tough" on immigration, the backlash has already begun to build and they walk right into it. "I thought you people wanted this!" No, they want something impossible and convinced themselves they'd could have it - the "eat whatever you want AND lose weight!" of immigration policies.
It is hard to grasp but large masses of Americans are both racist/xenophobic AND not racist/xenophobic enough to applaud what Trump is doing. It's goldilocks shit, they want a level of racism/xenophobia calibrated exactly to their personal preferences, and you just can't make that policy. Don't try. ...
AP: Trump extends olive branch, invites Musk to White House cellar to taste some brand new amontillado ...
Liz says:
Why do you hate gay people, Ed?
(Bareback Mountain)
erik says:
on a related point, some friends of mine and I spent a short conversation the other day trying to decide whether Brokeback Mountain or Top Gun is the gayer movie.
Ed says:
That is utterly ridiculous. There is not even any doubt that Top Gun is significantly gayer.
Samantha says:
Bareback Mountain seems to have caught on around the metro Atlanta area, Iceman.
Scott says:
I think I prefer "flaming saddles" as it provides several ways to make fun of the movie.
First, flaming is, of course, a common adjective to describe something that is very homosexual – which this movie is.
Secondly, flaming saddles could also refer to the inflamed asses that these two gay cowboys would almost certainly have after an evening of butt-love.
The possibilities are endless.
mike says:
I don't think Top Gun is gay insomuch as the only real sexual attraction the characters feel is towards their jetplane fighters. It's true the women come across as stand-in props until they can get back to business – but I sense "back to business" is less showers in the barracks but shooting missles at Russians.
Nate says:
I'm partial to "Flaming Saddles".