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Mole

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Everything posted by Mole

  1. The news should mostly be boring. If it isn’t boring, there’s a good chance it’s entertainment, not news.
  2. Remember that time it was alleged that he said all of those terrible things about military service and the denial was to tell obvious and verifiable lies? At least he hadn’t tried to overthrow the government yet.
  3. The Phil Vischer (of VeggieTales fame) podcast has been pretty cathartic for me. One point that keeps coming up is the model of the black church, since their experience of alienation has been far more salient and is centuries old. My alienation is relatively recent and pretty abstract, except for all of the recent dying. If you believe the Gospels, the church should be full of terrible people, since the sick are the ones who need healing. Church should be a place for terrible people to at least transform into terrible people doing good for the world. That's the stabilizing moral influence that I've always valued. The problem is when the sickness comes from and is spread by the church. I think it's pretty widespread. A week ago, I figured that Rudy was going to be on Fox News this morning explaining how stealing the Declaration of Independence from the National Archives meant that we were now under British rule. I was sure that he would be calling Trump the king of the American Colonies while citing the Magna Carta and some 1920s law written to allow klansmen to seek damages from their victims for minor injuries incurred at lynchings. I was also sure that we would all just shrug our shoulders as law dogs call it an open legal question while we wait for the Archbishop of Canterbury to weigh in on if Trump would be the absolute ruler of the American Colonies or if the Queen would get the right of prima nocta. I guess I'm now surprised how sane a post-Trump world seems to be.
  4. The "Blue Lives Matter" flags came in handy while they were beating cops. The surprising thing for me wasn't really one thing, but the gradual revealing of character that was hidden by the relative ease of life prior to 2020. Church and faith is deeply important to me. Much of my social circle would be considered Christian Right. Prior to 2020, I generally considered the church a morally stabilizing force in this country, at least in the abstract. Many church people might do terrible things, but the faith itself was intertwined with the moral arc towards justice. It's one thing to have a somewhat abstract discussion about gay wedding cakes when there are perfectly good bakers just around the corner raking in the money from the gay wedding market; it's another thing to encourage the spread of death and suffering, and try to talk down to those who would rather not hurt others. If I heard one more comment about fearing God and not death... 2020 saw such spiritualizing of cruelty, selfishness, and indifference to spreading death and suffering by white evangelicals. It's unfathomable to think about any large group acting like this. It totally shocked and shook me. Honestly, I don't know what Christian community looks like for me and my family post-COVID. Spending Sundays at the park feeding the ducks has been far more spiritually fulfilling and done more good for the world than some of the sociopathic Sunday sermons I've heard from people close to me. I don't know how to reconcile these things. This transformation in me has been surprising and it stems from the white church's steadfast association with Trump. As far as specific events, the terrorist attack was nuts, but honestly not too surprising, since they were pretty openly stating their plan for months. I mean the coup started before the election pretty openly and was plainly articulated by Trump sometime after midnight on election night. The massive break from reality that occurred over the past 4 years or so was pretty shocking. People who always seemed kind and thinking just departed into an insane alternate reality. It was a lot to take in.
  5. Is this picture from the opening credits montage of Saved By the Bell during that one season where he played Screech’s cousin?
  6. I'll be happy when the phrase, "it's an open legal question" leaves the popular lexicon.
  7. In a sane world, that inaugural speech would put to bed all the dementia stuff.
  8. You even wrote that before he led a terrorist attack trying to overthrow the government where cops were beaten with American, blue lives matter, and Trump flags, and many of his supporters just shrugged their shoulders and started complaining about censorship and persecution. With all due respect to any terrorist sympathizers on the board of course.
  9. It’s really hard for wind bands to sound good in the cold. Tuning goes crazy and cold metal mouthpieces against the lips aren’t friendly. It’s hard even for the great players that the top military bands have. The bands all sounded really good.
  10. It’ll be on CBS right after Murder She Wrote and right before the test pattern comes up.
  11. Is today the Q Great Awakening?
  12. Please don’t make me be productive again.
  13. If I get pulled over for speeding, can I just claim double secret presidential pardon and go on my way? This is dumb and law in general is apparently really dumb. This past year has opened my eyes to many things, one of which is how backwards my view of the law was. I used to think that the law was built on established precedents and while there can be differing perspectives, philosophies, and objectives, everyone roughly reasoned from the same set of established standards, even the cynics. Apparently though, lawyers just dream up whatever idiotic thing fits their needs and shoehorn it to fit within an asinine reading of the most convenient law. As long as you repeat your moronic statement enough, it becomes established legal precedent. I think the legal term of art is trifidamque linguam exertat.
  14. At least the terrorists will self identify without the ambiguity of a traditional republican smokescreen.
  15. That's the average of everyone. Benchmark line. So they only sampled All-Americans? Such a weird poll. Which sport(s)? Present era only or is Earl Campbell in there? So many unanswered questions.
  16. What’s the sample size for All-Americans? It seems like a weird distinction to make.
  17. Except for the worst of his openly criminal speeches (The Election Night Lie, The Georgia Phone Call, and A Prelude to a Terrorist Attack) and a sense of civic duty to stay informed, I haven’t listened to him speak since the debate fiasco. Life is better when you don’t entertain the truly profane.
  18. You’re not wrong, but you’re not right.
  19. 1. The lead guitar part to Lethal Lolita has some energy. It’s worth a listen. 2. The prechorus to Lethal Lolita has a bit of a Duck Tails theme song vibe.
  20. Coup take 2 and here I am bothered by how the article used the word “nonplussed.” From context, I think they mean “not plussed,” which isn’t a thing, rather than traditional definition of bewildered. I’m not sure though; it could go either way and neither really makes all that much sense. I resent that this word has been so damaged and it’s just another terrible American thing.
  21. I know it feels good to rip old Ted for his sliminess, apparent lack of American values, and really lack of any coherent belief system at all, but attending the inauguration is the right thing to do. Even if he tries to marginalize the Trump terrorism movement for disingenuous reasons, he’s still helping to marginalize the movement by attending.
  22. Generally this, but we have a civic responsibility to be generally informed. It’s just that this duty should feel like a bit of a chore. If our news isn’t boring (PBS/AP/Reuters), then it probably isn’t news. Maddow is way less damaging than Tucker or Rush, but it’s still part destructive culture. When Jon Stewart told Crossfire that they were hurting America, he was right in ways that most didn’t ever fathom.
  23. FIFY, but point taken. At this point, anyone still on the Trump train isn’t jumping off.
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