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Did you know that George W. Bush is bad, actually? Crazy, I know, but it’s true! While known today mainly for making garbage tier paintings, dancing with Ellen, and saying Trump was bad that one time, George W. Bush actually has a long history of being one of the worst people ever spawned by this demon cracker hellstate. He was an idiot, a liar, a religious wing nut, and an honest to god war criminal with millions of deaths to his name. Being politically aware during his administration was not just frustrating, but traumatic. You know that uneasy feeling you get when you watch Trump tell the Dutch ambassador that she’s got the third best pair of tits he’s ever seen? That creeping feeling that something is very wrong and everything this country ostensibly stands for is collapsing under our feet? Well boo-fuckin-hoo I’ve been experiencing that for TWENTY loving YEARS and I can promise you that it was even worse under Bush. Ah, but I get ahead of myself. For you see the purpose of this thread is for us to relive and re-litigate those magical years together. Here’s how this will work. Every week I will be going through the Bush years month by month, digging through the media of the time and presenting you all with news and whatnot from that bygone era. I’ll start with the election in January of 2000 and continue all the way through to the Obama election in 2008, at which point maybe I’ll start a new thread dedicated to his bullshit or something, idk. As I do you are all welcome to discuss the events I post, or post your own discovered videos/articles/blogs/art/etc from around the same timeframe. They can be related to Bush himself, the various psychopaths in his administration, the media, or just the culture at the time. Anything you feel will help younger politics geeks out there get a feel for the time is fair game. All I ask is that you not jump *too* far into the future when discussing events to come). (Dear lord this is going to be so loving bad for my mental health...)
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# ? May 8, 2020 02:45 |
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# ? May 5, 2024 11:27 |
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We are currently in August of 2000 These are some of the things going on in the world right now:
Just FYI you can look through the NYT archives for free here but you can’t read the actual stories without a subscription. If you see a headline you’d like to read just let me know and I’ll post it/PM it to you. E: Just for clarity, people are welcome to discuss non-news related events/media/etc from or about the time period in question if they want. If you do though try to post a link/video or something about it so we have a bit more to go on than "X thing happened". Also if you post links to article you might want to quote the text in case the website you're linking to dies (which is very likely with articles that old) and the article is lost forever. readingatwork fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Jan 23, 2021 |
# ? May 8, 2020 02:45 |
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Alright let’s get started! This week we will be discussing January of 2000 Okay, so before we discuss the Bush years it’s probably good to spend some time with the Clinton administration. The Clinton years, for all the horrible poo poo that happened, were actually a pretty prosperous time to be an American. You know, assuming you weren’t black… or gay... or a female staffer for any major politician… Anyways what I’m saying is that if you were lucky enough to be on the right side of the tracks you had it pretty good compared to most other times in history. The economy was good, technology was improving at a dizzying pace, and your prospects for the future were bright. Your parents had all done better than their parents, and it was fully expected that you would do far better still. There had been no major recession since the 80’s, and major disasters like global warming, were still just matters of vague academic debate. An issue to be dealt with later, if at all. It’s also important to understand that the internet was a very new thing at the time. I got my first computer in 98 or so and it was the kind of machine that would take an hour to download a single pornographic jpeg. I remember I got VERY excited when my house’s internet speeds breached 1k/s. Why is this relevant? Because at the time the news was dominated by cable channels like CNN, local news stations, major newspapers, AM radio, and of course Fox News which was still pretending to be just another CNN clone. We did not have the power to question most establishment narratives because our entire worldview was shaped by establishment sources. Unless you had a relative who learned some weird poo poo in college you would never know who Noam Chompsky is or what Marx actually stood for. You were told the world worked a certain way and the entirety of your experience backed this up. The internet profoundly changed (and is still changing) this dynamic and is probably why there was any resistance at all to Bush’s insanity. But that’s still to come. For now, let’s look at some selections from January of 2000, just six months after George W. Bush, the Governor of Texas, announced his presidency and right when the Democratic primary results were starting to come in: Jan 1: Against all odds the Y2K bug doesn’t kill us all! https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/01/us/1-1-00-technology-2000-momentous-relief-monitors-missiles-year-2000-note-relief.html “The New York Times” posted:TECHNOLOGY AND 2000 -- MOMENTOUS RELIEF; Monitors Of Missiles At Year 2000 Note Relief We really thought we were all going to die, lol. (By the way I will be relying heavily on the New York Times because it’s fairly representative of mainstream opinion and I have access to it’s archives. If you want me to post an old NYT article just ask. Also any links to other news archives will be greatly appreciated.) Jan 1: The end of history is lookin’ bright y’all! https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/01/opinion/2000-and-beyond-the-shape-of-an-age-to-come.html The NYT Opinion Section posted:2000 and Beyond -- The Shape of an Age to Come Christ what an rear end in a top hat... Jan 3: The last peanuts strip is printed (Sunday strips would continue through February) This is not strictly political but it's my thread and I'm allowed to indulge myself God damnit! Jan 4: The Daily Show with John Stewart was incredibly important at the time so expect me to talk about it a lot. Here’s what it looked like at the beginning of the millennium. http://www.cc.com/video-clips/0pzlo8/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-headlines---2000 He’s still funny. Fight me. Jan 15: I wonder what the Bush campaign was doing at this time... https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/15/us/campaign-briefing-george-w-bush-the-confederate-flag.html ”New York Times” posted:CAMPAIGN BRIEFING: GEORGE W. BUSH; THE CONFEDERATE FLAG Oooooooh yeah that’s the stuff… Jan 18: Anybody curious what the Democratic debates looked like at the time? https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/18/us/the-2000-campaign-excerpts-from-bradley-gore-debate-in-des-moines.html The New York Times posted:THE 2000 CAMPAIGN; Excerpts From Bradley-Gore Debate in Des Moines EDIT: Found the whole Jan 5 debate on CSPAN: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4506348/user-clip-2000-01-26 Jan 24: Gore wins Iowa (the first primary state of the primary). He beat out Bill Bradley, a supposedly more liberal challenger that I know literally nothing about. Bush won Iowa and Alaska against Alan Keyes and John McCain, who I honestly forgot ran in 2000 lmao. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/25/us/the-2000-campaign-the-overview-iowans-deliver-victory-to-bush-and-gore.html The New York Times posted:Gov. George W. Bush of Texas and Vice President Al Gore were the clear victors in the Iowa presidential caucuses tonight as voters -- although just a few of them -- for the first time affirmed their positions as front-runners for their parties' nominations. Jan 30: HEY GUYS REMEMBER THE PETS.COM SUPERBOWL AD!? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXHrlm5Nk5w You have no idea how omnipresent these stupid ads there were for a while. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_JAhiY7xOA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN-U5x-5kv8 God drat that's a lot of text for only a few stories and I've only scratched the surface of this month. I could have easily broken this down by week if I wanted to, lmao. To keep this post from getting even more massive I’ll leave things here for the moment and post more stuff over the week as I find it. We will progress to February next weekend (the 17th). There’s no set schedule btw but I will try to have updates on Sundays. readingatwork fucked around with this message at 03:02 on May 17, 2020 |
# ? May 8, 2020 02:45 |
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FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK you you fake Texan son of a bitch.
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# ? May 8, 2020 02:48 |
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Also serving a reminder that Dick Cheney shot someone in the face and then forced them to get on television to apologize for getting shot.
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# ? May 8, 2020 02:49 |
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I don't remember anything political about the Bush years because I was a child during that time and insanely sheltered, so I'm looking forward to learning about some of the less well remembered stuff.
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# ? May 8, 2020 02:52 |
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cheney's bulge belongs on the first page of this thread this is how we dressed in 2004
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# ? May 8, 2020 03:23 |
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I just found the entire Jan 5 Democratic primary debate on CSPAN and I am watching the gently caress out of it. Very highly recommended viewing. Al Gore suuuucks as a speaker and it's kind of adorable. https://www.c-span.org/video/?154474-1/democratic-candidates-debate Edit: Whoops. It was Jan 5. I was looking at the wrong window. readingatwork fucked around with this message at 03:49 on May 8, 2020 |
# ? May 8, 2020 03:28 |
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sirtommygunn posted:I don't remember anything political about the Bush years because I was a child during that time and insanely sheltered, so I'm looking forward to learning about some of the less well remembered stuff. I remember quite a bit but it was filtered through the lens of being raised by a very conservative father who listened to Limbaugh and volunteered for the bush campaign, so I'm extremely looking forward to revisiting all this poo poo
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# ? May 8, 2020 03:28 |
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readingatwork posted:I just found the entire Jan 26 Democratic primary debate on CSPAN and I am watching the gently caress out of it. Very highly recommended viewing. Al Gore suuuucks as a speaker and it's kind of adorable. why is peter jennings standing in front of the polish flag
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# ? May 8, 2020 03:30 |
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Bush did 9/11
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# ? May 8, 2020 03:31 |
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Bel Shazar posted:Also serving a reminder that Dick Cheney shot someone in the face and then forced them to get on television to apologize for getting shot. Dude! Spoilers! readingatwork posted:Jan 4: The Daily Show with John Stewart was incredibly important at the time so expect me to talk about it a lot. Heres what it looked like at the beginning of the millennium. Thinking about the moment I had to admit that Stewart was just a lovely, lovely human being still makes me feel
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# ? May 8, 2020 03:53 |
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This isn't Bush but Y2K was a legit big deal and there are a lot of old software engineers who get real mad anytime someone acts like it was a hoax or myth. George Bush doesn't care about black people.
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# ? May 8, 2020 04:26 |
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welcome to the gun show
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# ? May 8, 2020 04:32 |
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readingatwork posted:I just found the entire Jan 5 Democratic primary debate on CSPAN and I am watching the gently caress out of it. Very highly recommended viewing. Al Gore suuuucks as a speaker and it's kind of adorable. Bill Bradley had a not awful healthcare plan. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bradley092999.htm So obviously he lost because this is a hell country.
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# ? May 8, 2020 04:34 |
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Gumball Gumption posted:This isn't Bush but Y2K was a legit big deal and there are a lot of old software engineers who get real mad anytime someone acts like it was a hoax or myth. If you have any articles on the subject feel free to post them. I'd be very interested in reading them. Gumball Gumption posted:Bill Bradley had a not awful healthcare plan. Let's take a look... quote:Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley outlined a plan today intended to provide all Americans access to health coverage by significantly expanding federal subsidies and tax credits to help families buy insurance. Done. Also if the debate I'm still watching is to be believed his plan would have also eliminated Medicaid.
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# ? May 8, 2020 04:44 |
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How long will it take to capture Baghdad? 2 days Will Saddam be killed? Yes Total Iraqi civillian casualties: 500 dead Total military casualties Iraq: 3000 dead Total military casualties U.S.: 15 dead Will the Iraqi army regulars hold the lines? No Will the Republican Guard fight to the end? No Will chem/bio weapons be used on invading troops?: Yes Will Saddam launch attacks on the Kurds? Yes Will Saddam launch attacks on Israel? No -If yes; will Isreal retaliate harshly? Yes Will Saddam sacrifice Baghdad (gas/nuke it)? No Will the Kurds make a grab for independence? Yes Will Iran do anything silly like try for land? Yes Will Saddam burn the oil fields? Yes How long will the US be occupying Iraq? ~15 years Will the Iraq war catalyze increased terrorism in America?No In the long run, will this war be good or bad for the world? Good We have to look at what those civilian casualties are- just because they're civilian doesn't make them innocent! Lets take a look at a few possibilities: 1) A civilian walking down the street to market gets killed by a cruise missile fired at the market. 2) A civilian asleep in their house is killed when their house is targetting by a smart bomb and blown up. OK, these two are regrettable innocents being killed- but since the US doesn't make a habit of targetting markets or houses, they're very small in number! 3) A civilian working at a chemical weapon factory gets killed when the chemical weapon plant is bombed. 4) A civilian security guard at a weapons depot is killed when the weapons explode. 5) A civilian contractor repairing a tank is killed by a MOAB dropped on the unit. 6) A civilian engineer is killed when the military command center he works at is destroyed. 7) A civilian delivering snackiecakes to the baghdad bunker vending machines eats a 5,000lb bunker buster. etc, etc. The list goes on. My point is that there are a lot of civilians directly supporting the military that aren't exactly "innocent" and would be mire rightly counted among the military casualties than civilian. I'm a civilian and work for the US military, but I acknowledge I'm also a valid military target because of what I do. And I think the vast majority of civilian casualties in this campaign will not be innocent.
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# ? May 8, 2020 04:49 |
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fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck why must you bring back all the buried trauma I was a liberal white teenager coming of age in a liberal white bubble, so the views on current events that I absorbed and spat out were just about what you'd expect. It definitely gave the era a growing sense of dread. I recall being horrified at various Things but for the life of me I can't remember what they were now. But I was pretty oblivious to race issues for obvious reasons, so I'm sure there's plenty of stuff that flew over my head then but will be a nasty surprise now.
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# ? May 8, 2020 04:54 |
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readingatwork posted:If you have any articles on the subject feel free to post them. I'd be very interested in reading them. https://junkee.com/y2k-bug-1999-hoax/192228 This one is pretty good. The big thing is that a lot of the fear people had was overblown. The power grid wouldn't go down, planes wouldn't fall out of the sky. But that's because a lot of people spent a lot of time making sure those things wouldn't happen or fixing it in cases where it would. Sadly they also protected the credit card company and wall street computers.
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# ? May 8, 2020 04:55 |
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Jan 5 2000 Dem Primary debate observations as I had them:
Final thoughts:
Winner: Gore
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# ? May 8, 2020 05:37 |
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Found the Republican Debate for Jan 15 2000. I'm posting it now but will watch it tomorrow while I should be working. https://www.c-span.org/video/?154478-1/republican-candidates-debate This might be rough... E: Dear lord... readingatwork fucked around with this message at 05:47 on May 8, 2020 |
# ? May 8, 2020 05:43 |
just lol at the John Stewart photo, he looks like a teenager trying on daddy's suit
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# ? May 8, 2020 05:52 |
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Obligatory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ogibWCNKI
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# ? May 8, 2020 06:12 |
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ANIME AKBAR posted:just lol at the John Stewart photo, he looks like a teenager trying on daddy's suit its particularly funny because that was a function of him trying really, REALLY hard to look young a thirty-seven-year-old third-tier new york comedian has to try really hard to look like he's connecting with young audiences, because he can hear the Borscht Belt calling his name and it's not an attractive sound.
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# ? May 8, 2020 06:35 |
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I appreciate this thread thank you ah, that mixture of amusement at how loving stupid everyone was about patriotism and terrorism and colored threat level charts, and being constantly, deeply terrified that I'd be drafted any day now good times
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# ? May 8, 2020 07:24 |
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The excellent podcast, Blowback is doing a retrospective on the Iraq War and the lead up to it and I highly recommend it. It's I think on premium Stitcher but it's going to be released for free once it's over and the creator has said he doesn't mind people sharing pirated links if they can't afford to pay for it.
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# ? May 8, 2020 08:13 |
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This is mostly what I remember from the Bush years https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/32543
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# ? May 8, 2020 08:18 |
Falstaff posted:Thinking about the moment I had to admit that Stewart was just a lovely, lovely human being still makes me feel What did Stewart do? I've been out of the loop since he stopped hosting his show, and even then wasn't that aware of him outside of the show.
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# ? May 8, 2020 08:42 |
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quote:The very novelty of it -- this is the roundest year any of us will ever see -- suggests momentous change. In a practical sense, of course, that is far from true. loving Christ, this is the Worst-Aged Quote of Human History.
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# ? May 8, 2020 08:46 |
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Not to drag the thread into nostalgia, but internet culture was interesting in 2000. The internet wasn't really mainstream yet, most of what I went on was Gamespy forums, IRC chatrooms and sites like Stile Project and SomethingAwful, and I could count on one hand the number of people I knew who had the internet. Over the years it became awash with anti-Bush cartoons and imagery (mgs3 hadn't come out yet so memes hadn't entered nerd lexicon just yet) that had a certain aesthetic I relate heavily to that period. I don't think I remember seeing any Pro-Bush stuff at the time, unlike now where half the internet seems awash with pepe poo poo. Images were usually badly compressed jpgs like this the 'inspirational quote' format was also very popular at the time
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# ? May 8, 2020 09:40 |
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I'm not sure of this Gore. He sounds awfully like the Bush fella. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3dvbM6Pias
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# ? May 8, 2020 09:45 |
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heyyy George it's your favorite neighbor https://youtu.be/mC-m1ptBzuI
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# ? May 8, 2020 12:07 |
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Nuebot posted:What did Stewart do? I've been out of the loop since he stopped hosting his show, and even then wasn't that aware of him outside of the show. ruined summerslam several years in a row
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# ? May 8, 2020 13:07 |
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Raskolnikov38 posted:ruined summerslam several years in a row no, WWE did that just fine on their own
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# ? May 8, 2020 13:58 |
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Nuebot posted:What did Stewart do? I've been out of the loop since he stopped hosting his show, and even then wasn't that aware of him outside of the show. The main points of criticism are that his theory of political change sucks (See: The Rally to Restore Sanity which I will cover in detail when it comes up in like a million weeks) and also that he was staunchly anti-union and kind of a dick about it. I'll still defend him on a lot of fronts but on these points his critics are 100% correct.
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# ? May 8, 2020 15:01 |
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justcola posted:Not to drag the thread into nostalgia, but internet culture was interesting in 2000. The internet wasn't really mainstream yet, most of what I went on was Gamespy forums, IRC chatrooms and sites like Stile Project and SomethingAwful, and I could count on one hand the number of people I knew who had the internet. Over the years it became awash with anti-Bush cartoons and imagery (mgs3 hadn't come out yet so memes hadn't entered nerd lexicon just yet) that had a certain aesthetic I relate heavily to that period. I don't think I remember seeing any Pro-Bush stuff at the time, unlike now where half the internet seems awash with pepe poo poo. Here's my favorite, courtesy of stupidpicture.com:
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# ? May 8, 2020 15:10 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoc4GQ_04r8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgO1LUijb0k
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# ? May 8, 2020 20:46 |
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This thread is a great idea. I'm not American, but I turned 18 in 2001, was very disturbed by Bush being elected, 9/11 and the war in Iraq, and have followed American politics ever since. I also worked in the USA for three months in 2007, the waning days of the Bush administration. It will be great to re-read and watch all the stuff I've forgotten over the years!
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# ? May 8, 2020 20:46 |
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Great thread. I hope you talk about the "guy I'd like to have beer with" poo poo the media made up. I still hear that verbatim to this day, YOOL 2020
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# ? May 8, 2020 20:55 |
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# ? May 5, 2024 11:27 |
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I think I'll pass on reliving the year where my schizophrenia, depression and general psychosis decided to fully manifest. gently caress Bush and everything he enabled.
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# ? May 8, 2020 20:57 |