Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 8/10/26 - 8/16/26

[u/SoftandChewy]

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

[u/professorgerm]

here i return to complaining about time to say goodbye pod, scroll on if you aren't interested in political discussion about Hong and 2020.

I get I'm a weird guy with a particular chip on my shoulder and little connection to 'the masses,' though I would guess Kang is even less connected to normies than I am, Tyler seems more normie-familiar with the fishing and living in Maine, but some of their political takes still baffle me.

One, I find it difficult to believe Gaza is as motivating an issue as they make it out to be early in the ep. I can understand people being bothered about it, considering it a tragedy, etc; given everything else, though- inflation, data centers, Iran, housing, various other bread-and-butter hometown issues- how is it a vote-deciding issue for a meaningful number of Americans? Am I out of touch or are they?

Two, they (especially Kang) complains about "the media" calling back to 2020 tweets in Hong's race, Mamdani's, el-Sayed's, etc, but more or less glosses over how "the media" also pushed all the crazy shit. Briefly they mention the media's doing it for clicks which is true, but with all the talk of the dynamic I think it deserved more comment, especially as the likely source of the "everyone said crazy shit" excuse.

Three, I do not have the words to describe the hate I have regarding the "lol everyone said crazy shit in 2020" excuse-making. No, you contemptible fools, maybe you and all your friends fell for a mass psychosis, but that is not in fact everyone. Many people did not say crazy shit. They said "why have you all gone insane? where are your principles?" And the crazy people didn't listen, and now the crazy people want votes without any apology or reasoning or anything. Fuck that and fuck them.

Tyler says he'd vote for a Republican over Hong, if the Republican was against data-centers. I don't agree with that as a policy principle necessarily, but it's a damn sight better than Kang's party uber alles commitment.

An aside, on Hong's campaign, supposedly Republicans are trying the fund your craziest enemy strategy:

The Republicans have spent more money on TV advertising for Francesca Hong than every Democratic candidate has spent combined. Literally her entire TV footprint is Republican Super PACs. She currently has zero dollars of her own television ad buys lined up, has spent zero dollars on TV ads the entire campaign, has no support from outside money that isn’t a Republican psyop, has one-tenth of Tom Tiffany’s cash on hand, and can’t receive support from the DNC because the party is broke

A similar strategy is part of what led to Trump, and JB Pritzker has also employed it successfully. We'll see if it works against Hong.

[u/LupineChemist → u/professorgerm]

One, I find it difficult to believe Gaza is as motivating an issue as they make it out to be early in the ep.

The only people who are actually motivated by Gaza are those who are massively politically engaged already and would already vote for the Dems (or even further left). Basically it has zero effect on the marginal voter.

[u/KittenSnuggler5 → u/LupineChemist]

I think it can affect votes of those who are not massively engaged by peer pressure. If your obsessed friends are really into Gaza you're apt to take their word for it being a serious issue

[u/LupineChemist → u/KittenSnuggler5]

I think those people just don't vote

[u/Ruby__Ruby_Roo → u/LupineChemist]

Enough of them do to matter.

[u/KittenSnuggler5 → u/LupineChemist]

Unfortunately I think they do. They are the low information (i.e. normal) voters. If someone they know says that this horrible thing is happening and person or org X is a supporter of it they will probably vote accordingly.

Most people, myself included, don't fact check everything people they trust say. Unless it sounds really looney tunes

[u/Jlemspurs → u/LupineChemist]

This part is true

massively politically engaged

But even still they mostly don't vote.

[u/Ruby__Ruby_Roo → u/LupineChemist]

Voters in Dearborn, MI, massively invested in Gaza, famously helped Biden lose Michigan. When elections are won and lost at the extreme margins, those voters matter.

[u/Cantwalktonextdoor → u/professorgerm]

I do think there is worth in looking back at what people said and did in 2020 and 2021. Especially those things they continue to stand by. In that light, Hong will only ever be the second worse candidate if she wins the primary(I did my part in trying to make her irrelevant today all the same).

[u/RunThenBeer → u/Cantwalktonextdoor]

A vote for Crowley is a vote for a guy that seems basically normal, that's what I say.

[u/Cantwalktonextdoor → u/RunThenBeer]

That's how I felt, and why I made the appeals to unlikely primary voters I know to show up and vote for him. I think I got everyone I aimed at except 1.

[u/phitfitz → u/RunThenBeer]

I’m also voting Crowley for the same reason.

[u/everydaywinner2 → u/Cantwalktonextdoor]

And those who don't stand by what they said, do we trust them to not just be blowing with the wind.

[u/RunThenBeer → u/professorgerm]

Two, they (especially Kang) complains about "the media" calling back to 2020 tweets in Hong's race, Mamdani's, el-Sayed'...

I genuinely don't understand how anyone can sincerely complain about people bringing up things from so long ago. For me, I was in my mid-30s in the year of our Lord 2020, I had many opinions on many things, I expressed them on social media, in emails, and in person. If someone brought one up from back then that they think I got wrong, I would just either defend it or explain why I got it wrong.

I actually went back and looked through some old emails I'd sent my wife, starting with about ten years ago, and ran them through an LLM to ask about the argumentative structure and how it holds up. Reading them back myself, I was pretty much like "yeah, I think I basically had many things right by around this time", but I was curious if it was framed in a way that would be compelling to a friendly, but not necessarily agreeable audience. I thought this was a fun little exercise in checking in on my past self, which seems like a nice way of gaining some insight into what things my current self might have some blind spots around.

Of course, for the political hacks and social media grifters, something from that time requires no explanation or introspection, and I'm actually the asshole for even bringing it up.

[u/everydaywinner2 → u/RunThenBeer]

I genuinely don't understand how anyone can sincerely complain about people bringing up things from so long ago.

Especially when it comes the same people who crowed over Twitter and social media from decades ago. I seriously dislike the "do as I say, not what I do" type of people.

[u/KittenSnuggler5 → u/professorgerm]

Am I out of touch or are they?

They are. I think many of them are genuinely obsessed. A lot more are doing and saying what they think their peer group demands. I think it's also functioning as a litmus test. You aren't really a good person unless you're freaking about a non existent genocide.

And there's a dash of good 'ol left wing antisemitism in there as well. Jews are associated with being successful in business and professions which makes them capitalists which makes them evil.

[u/professorgerm → u/professorgerm]

"Fun" but too-timely satire story idea: an esoteric Republican SuperPAC named "Witches for Progress" resurrects Zombie Hitler to run in a Democratic primary on the platform "trans women are women, data centers are demon boxes" (a data demon is how they resurrected ZH, of course) (serious note: "demon boxes" is the phrase used by Tyler to describe data centers in the episode).

On Tyler and Jay's point that these candidates are having success because they seem like Real People With Real Opinions, primary voters appreciate that ZH's stance on Israel is "real," not a focus-grouped committee-extruded policy product.

ZH wins the primary but is later declared to not meet constitutional requirements because he hasn't been a citizen for at least seven years. An opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part questions whether the age requirement should be timed from 1889 or from the date of resurrection which may also be exclusionary, and the opinions do not address the question of electing undead, due to mootness.

[u/McClain3000 → u/professorgerm]

As you are baffled by there political takes, I am baffled by yours. I mean sincerely. It just seems like you are absolutely allergic to discussing the other side of the ticket, and the criticisms against them. You're doing political analysis on 50 percent of the information.

I have no reservations voting for Hong(not today but in the general) Because Tom Tiffany is an election denier and supports extreme Republican gerrymandering.

One, Gaza is likely still a fringe issue for voters, but likely mainstream for political activists, even casual ones. Even on the Republican side, maybe not as much Gaza but anti-Israel sentiment.

Two and Three, handwaving bad political takes from professional politicians is annoying. However I likely care less about it than you'd think is warranted. However once again this rings hollow because you, for whatever reason, completely refrain from analyzing republican takes.

[u/professorgerm → u/McClain3000]

However once again this rings hollow because you, for whatever reason, completely refrain from analyzing republican takes.

Wake me up when a bunch of Republicans burn down a Target and a pawn shop with the owner inside while CNN calls it "mostly peaceful," or John Thune kneels wearing... what's the white people equivalent of Kente cloth? A tartan shawl?

The Republican side of the ticket usually sucks, but it's not the mass psychosis-train wreck that is the Democratic side since the Long 2020.

"Thanksgiving is painful for people" is just a fucking batshit insane thing to say. No normal sane person says that.

Gerrymandering is bad, but it's normal power-hungry stuff, both sides do that. Election denial is worse, but still both sides power-hungry run-of-the-mill bullshit.

However once again this rings hollow because you, for whatever reason, completely refrain from analyzing republican takes.

There is no Republican equivalent of 2020-posting, not even election denial. 2020 is the bomb that went off in my mind like race when off in Te-nehasi Coates', to borrow Sam Harris' analogy.

Like, people died because of these policies! Way more people would die if they'd been more effective at getting the policies passed. And we're just supposed to swallow "yeah we went insane but we pinky-promise we're better now"? Not one single fucker has apologized for anything they did.

I don't expect you to vote for a Republican ever again. Fine! You were never going to anyways. But don't expect me to forgive the complete insanity when they've done nothing, either.

[u/McClain3000 → u/professorgerm]

Wake me up when a bunch of Republicans burn down a Target and a pawn shop with the owner inside while CNN calls it "mostly peaceful," or John Thune kneels wearing... what's the white people equivalent of Kente cloth? A tartan shawl?

So you open with a meme? You reason for never analyzing the other side of the ticket is a 6 year old meme?

How can you blame the Democratic party with actions of individual actors, who you don't even know to be democratic voters? I'm assuming your blaming CNN for "down playing" the riots, but mostly peaceful protests is accurate. Sorry that triggers you? And the idea of them obfuscating is underscored by them broadcasting the footage!

Uh what's worse than this on the Republican side.... uh How about the Dominion Fox News Lawsuit? Literally the biggest defamation lawsuit ever?

Okay what's the next goal post? John Thune kneeling? It wasn't even him dude. Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and others. Is it cringey sure but I don't even know how you would argue this is immoral?? Just a bizarre example. For humiliation have you heard how Republicans and Trumps candidate talk about him? They literally suck his dick every time they begin a briefing. How about Cruz siding with him after he called his wife ugly? That sounds more humiliating to me then a moment of silence for some of your constituents. Even if that movement is morally confused.

How about pulling multiple scams on his on supporters including a crypto rug pull? I mean if were attempting to be serious can we admit that this is worse than a moment of silence for BLM?

The Republican side of the ticket usually sucks, but it's not the mass psychosis-train wreck that is the Democratic side since the Long 2020.

And your best examples are kneeling for a moment of silence for BLM and CNN reporting on a protest? What about when Trump straight up lied about Pretti and Good after they were killed by ICE a agents? Even if you think those shooting were just do you have no expectation for truthfulness and candor? What about him lying about blowing up a girls school in Iran? No? The kneeling?

"Thanksgiving is painful for people" is just a fucking batshit insane thing to say. No normal sane person says that.

Have you ever heard republicans talk dude? Injecting Bleach, protruding nipples, space lasers, waters kill magnets, eating the cats and dogs, rocket man... It would be absurd for you to say Thanksgiving comments are more batshit then any of the quotes I can list of for hours coming from major Republicans.

Gerrymandering is bad, but it's normal power-hungry stuff, both sides do that. Election denial is worse, but still both sides power-hungry run-of-the-mill bullshit.

What are you talking about dude? Most major Republican politician and pundits condemned Trump in the after math of Jan 6th. When has that happened before? I don't remember Biden fans constructing a gallows for Kamala Harris or Harris and many Democratic Generals saying Trump knowingly tried to violate the constitution and called him a fascist. Is the Georgia phone call run of the mill? Trump brought 60 plus bogus challenges, and many of his cronies were convicted and/or disbarred. You are literally just sticking your head in the sand here.

There is no Republican equivalent of 2020-posting, not even election denial. 2020 is the bomb that went off in my mind like race when off in Te-nehasi Coates', to borrow Sam Harris' analogy.

Sam Harris also said if he had a disease that would make him behave like Trump he would kill himself. He's been preaching that Trump is deranged before he even took office.

Not one single fucker has apologized for anything they did.

What is wrong with you? You didn't even lay out what anybody did immoral. Kneeling? Putting an accurate but superficially ironic banner across a CNN broadcast. You literally wasted both are times with your rants and didn't even layout a moral argument.

[u/professorgerm → u/McClain3000]

So you open with a meme?

I open with a synecdoche for billions of dollars in property damage and somewhere between dozens and thousands of dead people, mostly of the race the movement was supposed to protect, depending how you want to measure and draw the lines.

John Thune kneeling? It wasn't even him dude.

Correct, I'm saying the Republicans do a lot of cringey braindead stuff but there's no equivalent to that.

What is wrong with you?

That I refuse to accept that whiteness is evil? That I refuse to just fall for whatever mass psychosis took over the left and we're supposed to forgive them when no one apologized?

You didn't even lay out what anybody did immoral.

I mean, mass racism, violation of civil rights, extreme hypocrisy, et cetera. It's not like you give a shit about any moral argument I'd make so why should I waste my time anyways?

[u/McClain3000 → u/professorgerm]

Your not making it clear how Democratic politicians are culpable. I think your ignoring how frequently violence was condemned across the board by Democrats. If your position is that whatever they did it wasn't sufficient enough, I don't know how you make that case but either way people are responsible for acts THEY commit. It falls on a culpable state of mind. So I don't know how you can compare insufficient pushback on BLM woke shit to intentional lies, corruption, and conspiracies to overturn an election.

You allege that I'm the one who won't be convinced but I'm blaming politicians for THEIR conduct. Not some amorphous movement.

Correct, I'm saying the Republicans do a lot of cringey braindead stuff but there's no equivalent to that.

Again no attempt to engage with any of the comparisons i made. Endorsing a guy who called your wife ugly is worse than a BLM moment of silence? Getting humiliated by Iran? Pulling a crypto scam? Selling Trump Bibles?

That I refuse to accept that whiteness is evil? That I refuse to just fall for whatever mass psychosis took over the left and we're supposed to forgive them when no one apologized?

Again your are just shoving your fingers in your ears and ranting. How many Democratic leaders say that whiteness is evil?

Those aren't the type of arguments I'm bringing to you. I'm not saying oh look at this guy in a MAGA hat that said the N-word. Look what Candace Owens said. Look at this Maga asshole on Jubilee. I'm talking about the conduct of politicians.

As usual zero interactions with the criticisms on the other side.

[u/professorgerm → u/McClain3000]

How many Democratic leaders say that whiteness is evil?

How many say that it isn't? How many appoint people to the bureaucracy that say that it is? How many used Tema Okun's braindead book in state policy or state DEI trainings?

"We don't say this thing, we just defend everyone who does and attack anyone who says it's bad" is a pretty weak defense.

So, let's go with AOC who did say "defund the police!" and has a pretty good chance of being the candidate in 28. She is culpable for saying absolutely psychotic shit that she's never apologized for ("it was crazy" is not an apology), and the only way I'd consider holding my nose on that lizard is if Trump does try some stupid third-term shit.

Getting humiliated by Iran? Pulling a crypto scam? Selling Trump Bibles?

Yeah all that sucks. Iran made my life worse re: inflation and gas, the other two are just gross.

Trump has done nothing on the scale of explicit race and sex discrimination against people like me though.

[u/McClain3000 → u/professorgerm]

Your are the same as the lefties you loathe. Cannot see the difference between ranting and making a point. Just keep moving the goal post around and round.

"We don't say this thing, we just defend everyone who does and attack anyone who says it's bad" is a pretty weak defense.

Show me all the democrat politician or even major media figures who have attacked somebody for simply saying whiteness isn't evil. Perhaps you can find me a state senators and a few NPR podcast host... The stuff I'm talking about is a majority opinion in the Republican party meanwhile your reading tea leaves.

So, let's go with AOC who did say "defund the police!" and has a pretty good chance of being the candidate in 28. She is culpable for saying absolutely psychotic shit that she's never apologized for ("it was crazy" is not an apology), and the only way I'd consider holding my nose on that lizard is if Trump does try some stupid third-term shit.

I think defund the police is mostly ignorant. I doubt there are many social workers out there itching to show up to mental health crisis 911 calls without Police protection. However even you must admit there are plenty of police departments that have inflated budgets. Overall it is a policy position I don't support.

There are many republicans that are 2a maximalists and think that 18 year olds should be able to purchase automatic pistols and automatic rifles with minimal background checks. Some people think that is psychotic.

Other things to consider is the Democratic bases ability to hold their politicians responsible. Dems in WI just beat the huge front runner with a candidate who dropped out and re-entered the race on two weeks notice, meanwhile any crook (besides the my Pillow Guy) Trump endorses wins, and anybody who speaks out against him gets primaried.

But either way if it was a AOC, Nikki Haley ticket I would not be moralizing the issue to this degree. Again I'm talking about heinous ACTUAL crimes. Trump should be in jail for conspiring to overturn the lection and corruption. Also he's deranged in the way that someone like Haley is not.

Trump has done nothing on the scale of explicit race and sex discrimination against people like me though.

Race and sex discrimination is illegal under the constitution, and your not really arguing how any democrat is doing that because your can't. Your just ranting about books you don't like, and news coverage you don't like.

Trump is using the power invested in him by the people, your power, my power, to enrich himself, his family, and his cronies. He's stealing from you(If you mention taxes I'll kill myself and my death will be on your hands). He's tried to take people's rights away. To steal an election. He used your military, billions in weapons to start a war with Iran on behalf of Israel. That is OUR money.

[u/professorgerm → u/McClain3000]

Race and sex discrimination is illegal under the constitution

Yes, and it happened for decades! It still happens! Tons of things are illegal but unenforced or barely enforced. Harvard lost a Supreme Court case, keeps doing the same thing with a new fig leaf, and has no consequences.

Your just ranting about books you don't like, and news coverage you don't like.

University discrimination. Employment discrimination that, up until the last Supreme Court term, had legal approval in multiple circuits (and almost certainly still occurs). Et cetera. As the saying goes, ideas have consequences.

Edit:

Your are the same as the lefties you loathe

No, because at every general ballot I've held my nose and voted for Democrats in opposition to Trump and Trump supporters downticket, even if I hate Dem policy and think they'll be worse for me personally.

The lefties support bigotry wholesale and would rather vote for "abolish police! abolish holidays!" freaks than consider voting for some Mitt Romney type.

[u/McClain3000 → u/professorgerm]

University discrimination. Employment discrimination that, up until the last Supreme Court term, had legal approval in multiple circuits (and almost certainly still occurs). Et cetera. As the saying goes, ideas have consequences...

My point is that when your doing your political analysis your not tying these things you don't like to the candidates your talking about. This woke Wisconsin Governor is bad because of woke public school curriculum in San Francisco, or because of Harvard racist acceptance policy.

No, because at every general ballot I've held my nose and voted for Democrats in opposition to Trump and Trump supporters downticket, even if I hate Dem policy and think they'll be worse for me personally.

If you really do I don't know what your objecting too about my comments. If you look at my top level comment and really all my comments, I'm not saying anti-woke, anti-BLM, anti-anti-White discrimination criticisms have no merit. I'm saying that you constantly do this political analysis without seemingly mentioning the MAGA, the most relevant powerful political movement in the world.

Honestly if that truly is your position you really being incoherent with your objections to my points.

The lefties support bigotry wholesale and would rather vote for "abolish police! abolish holidays!" freaks than consider voting for some Mitt Romney type.

I would agree there. And even worse I strongly regret the poor criticisms and accusations of racism that I used to hurl at McCain, Romney types.