Let's relive the Bush years!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Let's relive the Bush years!

Grammarchist: Jan 28, 2013

I was in middle school when the Afghanistan/Iraq 2 happened and my friends and I played through the entire American campaign on Command and Conquer: Generals the day Baghdad fell. We're in a rural area, so the atmosphere was hard to describe. No sense that anything good was happening, just sheer revenge and power fantasy from just about everyone in my hometown. Most of my friends and I grew out of that by the end of Obama's first term, but a lot of classmates either went atheist/libertarian/fascist or jumped from GOP President Worship to GOP President Worship seamlessly.

I kinda want to check out Generals again as a weird time capsule.

# ? Jan 26, 2021 19:50

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# ? May 5, 2024 12:11

clean ayers act: Aug 13, 2007; How do I shot puck!?

A fun memory i had recently was when O'reily went off on his show about how one of the prequels, episode 2 i think, was bombing because it was a thinly veiled shot at the Bush administration and the american people weren't having it

# ? Jan 27, 2021 00:52

Dapper_Swindler: Feb 14, 2012; Im glad my instant dislike in you has been validated again and again.

clean ayers act posted:

Im glad this thread exists. In 2000 i had just discovered everquest and was entering 8th grade. It was not a good combo. My parents conservative so I was full on Bush supporter, especially after 9/11. That wouldn't change until 2004(after the election, unfortunately).
I had also just discovered the forums. My main source of news on 9/11 was the gbs thread and various threads on everquest community forums.
One thing i remember from those years was the prevalence of mortgages being hawked on radio. Like i was too dumb to understand at the time but it was a solid 5-6 years from 2002 on of breathless ads on the radio urging you to refinance etc. I'm still somewhat baffled no one saw the writing on the wall before 2007.

same. as i said up thread somewhere. i was like 10 when 9/11 happened and i was young republican because of my "cool" uncle. eventualy i became a lib and now whatever the gently caress i am now, i also wasnt that aware of poo poo outside fox new talking points and being a little dickhead who likes star wars and gi joe historical figures.

clean ayers act posted:

Your grandfather is loving awesome. My political "awakening" ,embarrassingly enough,came via the atheist movement that started in the mid 2000's. "The End of Faith" was the first book that really made me think about things from a different perspective. Thankfully i left the militant atheism part behind

i feel into the hardcore aithiest poo poo in like 2007-08. i am still agnostic but i got into religious history and that helped ease my dislike of various faiths. like yeah, they are all probably bullshit myth wise but its fascinating bullshit and i like reading about weird historical monks/rabbis/imam grognard types getting into screaming matches over doctrinal differences. the only religious types i genuinly dislike anymore are the right wing evangelicals bigot types and the wahabist assholes who hurt their own faith out of bigotry and poo poo.

# ? Jan 27, 2021 18:00

clean ayers act: Aug 13, 2007; How do I shot puck!?

Dapper_Swindler posted:

same. as i said up thread somewhere. i was like 10 when 9/11 happened and i was young republican because of my "cool" uncle. eventualy i became a lib and now whatever the gently caress i am now, i also wasnt that aware of poo poo outside fox new talking points and being a little dickhead who likes star wars and gi joe historical figures.

i feel into the hardcore aithiest poo poo in like 2007-08. i am still agnostic but i got into religious history and that helped ease my dislike of various faiths. like yeah, they are all probably bullshit myth wise but its fascinating bullshit and i like reading about weird historical monks/rabbis/imam grognard types getting into screaming matches over doctrinal differences. the only religious types i genuinly dislike anymore are the right wing evangelicals bigot types and the wahabist assholes who hurt their own faith out of bigotry and poo poo.

Not to derail the thread but ive been looking for good histories of the catholic church post 500ish. I see a lot of recommended out there but a lot of them seem designed to reinforce your faith or something so it makes me leery. Any recommendations?

# ? Jan 27, 2021 23:07

readingatwork: Jan 8, 2009; Hello Fatty!; Fun Shoe

OK, here�s the :siren:

second half of August of 2000 :siren:

. Kind of a slow 2 weeks overall but there was one story of import that�s worth mentioning. That�s right, that time a woman in a wheelchair nearly pepper sprayed Hillary Clinton:

August 14 - Pepper Spray Ends First Lady's Visit

New York Times posted:

Hillary Rodham Clinton's appearance at a community center here ended abruptly this afternoon when a woman in the audience inadvertently discharged a pepper-gas canister in her purse, sending people, many of them coughing, out of the building.

Mrs. Clinton was posing for pictures with children and taking questions at the Nepperhan Community Center when the room broke out in a wave of coughs.

Mrs. Clinton's Secret Service contingent walked over and escorted Mrs. Clinton outside to fresh air, and there she continued to shake hands, give autographs and pose for photographs. Her aides said she was not affected by the release of the gas, but she left ahead of schedule to make way for fire trucks called to investigate the release of the pepper gas.

The pepper gas canister was inadvertently set off by Ka'ttie Coleman, a Democratic district leader, who was seated in a wheelchair about 50 feet from where Mrs. Clinton was speaking. Mrs. Coleman, who was questioned by Secret Service agents, said that she had placed an organizer into her purse, which had set off the pepper gas canister.

''I worked very hard for her party,'' Mrs. Coleman said, obviously distressed by the evacuation.

Anyways here�s the real major event of this period: Al Gore accepting the presidential nomination at the convention:

https://www.democracynow.org/2000/8/18/al_gore_accepts_presidential_nomination_from

And here�s The Daily Show discussing the Convention featuring :siren:

Al Gore�s legendary wife kiss that will haunt him until the day he dies :siren:

:

https://www.cc.com/video/exnuk3/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-indecision-2000-convention-highlights

Here�s an incredibly passive-aggressive opinion piece on the convention from Time.com via CNN:

August 16 - Did the liberal lions roar too loud for Gore?

Time.com posted:

By Frank Pellegrini

(TIME.com) -- Whenever parties dance toward the center, as have these New Democrats and these different kind of Republicans, there are always deals of pragmatism with the base that brung 'em, deals of silence with the old guard.

George W. Bush could stuff the God-wingers away for his show because they are desperate to return to power. But Al Gore has bigger and more popular voices than that in his party, and there has been no opportunity to bargain into them submission.

And so for a night in the sagging middle of this Clinton-Gore-Lieberman convention, the liberal lions were let out of their New Democrat cage. It was an indulgence the Republicans hadn't dared risk [LMAO], but it was one these Democrats couldn't well avoid.

Not with star-power politicians like Jesse Jackson, Teddy Kennedy and Bill Bradley ready to sing the praises and the necessity of Al Gore. But somewhere on Gore's way to the left coast, the chronically overshadowed vice president must have wondered if these lions couldn't have left a little more of the roaring to him.

Oh, the call to arms was as telegenic as could be, especially considering these three were all would-be presidents once, and none ever made it through a primary season. Jackson began sullenly -- perhaps miffed at his pre-prime-time, pre-Caroline time slot? -- and ended deafeningly, waving his arms and raising his eyes and shouting "Stay out the Bushes!"

But his not-so-long-ago terming of Bill, Al and Joe's DLC as "Democrats for the leisure class" hung over the speech, and as he hit the nights'-end pundit circuit Jackson made little effort to let the evening's rote unifiers cancel that old gripe out.

Teddy Kennedy was at his old-time booming best, lashing together the generations of Camelot and insisting that the strength and breadth of his support for Gore had only two precedents, each named Kennedy.

The arms rose up and the hands thrust out, rally-style, turning shoulder pads into great hulking wings, giving the reverential crowd their big Brahmin in all his glory, soaring in call-and-response -- "Fight for Al Gore because... HE IS FIGHTING FOR YOU" -- like a linebacker angel. The subject was health care, which surely Gore needs to own, but the word, again and again, was "All." Health care, Kennedy's shining issue, for all our children. All our seniors. All our people. If memory serves, that is farther than Al Gore has ever been willing to go. [and that�s� bad? Good? He�s not wrong but hell if I know what his actual point is supposed to be]

Bill Bradley was willing, and of course he was on next -- and sounding extremely presidential. The only politician around with the halo to make "shame on all of us" an applause line gave a tight and moving speech that sounded nothing like the listless death throes of that bruising primary campaign. "Let me get right to the point -- we're all here to elect the next president of the United States, Al Gore," he began, but by the time he had made his way through the explanation of how enemy becomes endorsee he had set a very high bar for the nominal star, not just in health care policy but in rhetorical polish.

Perhaps Bill Clinton's was not the only valedictory of the week -- perhaps Bradley's was liberalism's too. But Gore's Thursday night hurdle grows ever higher. The lions seemed a tad catty on a night when the journalists' row stood visibly empty and the networks stood down [hahahaha, of course the media skipped all the lefty�s speeches] -- those watching Bradley, and then keynoter Rep. Harold Ford Jr., had to flip to stay ahead of the Teddy and Caroline tour of the convention-hall news desks.

For Gore, who has many minds still to change, this night of challenging praise may prove bedeviling. Luckily for him, much of America wasn't watching. [Damnit Gore! Can�t you keep all these people trying to give healthcare to the poor from pointing out how little you stand for!?]

Copyright � 2000 Time Inc.

Here�s a neat piece on an internal police document that was uncovered on how to deal with protesters around the convention:

https://www.democracynow.org/2000/8/18/democracy_now_confronts_police_over_internal

Spoiler: They assume even tepid Democrats are violent anarchists wielding acid eggs and hiding weapons in puppets and other insane bullshit.

Bonus: Here�s the Daily Show making fun of the LAPD for this (and kind of intentionally missing the actual argument the police were making but whatever):

https://www.cc.com/video/gm12hn/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-democratic-national-convention-2000-crowd-control

Man, West Nile Virus seems positively quaint now:

August 26 - 2 New Cases Of West Nile Are Confirmed

New York Times posted:

By Jennifer Steinhauer

Two elderly women have become seriously ill from the West Nile virus, bringing the number of those infected this summer to five, health officials said yesterday as they announced that the city would intensify its spraying of pesticides over the weekend in response.

The number of people infected this year with the virus is sharply lower than it was at this point last year, when the West Nile virus first emerged in the Western Hemisphere and killed seven people in the New York metropolitan region. But while health officials were far more prepared this year to combat the spread of infected mosquitoes -- at this point last year, the city had yet to correctly identify the disease that was sickening residents -- the evolution and the spread of the disease are still confounding health experts as West Nile expands beyond municipal and state borders.

And once again, officials are being forced to turn to costly pesticide spraying even though its efficacy is hard to know definitively.

Staten Island has replaced Queens this year as the hot zone for the disease, in part, health officials and epidemiologists suggest, because its marshlands are havens for mosquitoes. But other factors may be influencing the shift, including a change in how birds in different areas of the city responded to the virus this year.

As it stands, all but one of the human cases this year were diagnosed on Staten Island, and pools of water there bearing infected mosquitoes far outnumber those of other boroughs -- 65 to date, versus just 3 in Queens. In addition, 40 birds on Staten Island have been found to be carrying the virus, which is 60 percent of infected birds found this year.

One of the two women whose cases were disclosed yesterday is an 87-year-old from Borough Park who was admitted to a Brooklyn hospital on Aug. 7 for surgery and who developed encephalitis on Aug. 15. She later suffered seizures and is now in a coma in critical condition. The other woman, who is 84, is in stable condition at Staten Island University Hospital after becoming ill on Aug. 18 with encephalitislike symptoms. She was admitted to the hospital last Sunday. Initial tests indicated that both women had contracted the West Nile virus. Officials would not release the victims' names.

It is still too early to draw definite conclusions about the final path that West Nile will take this year. Health officials have long warned that the next two-week period is likely to yield the greatest number of sick people. But some interesting distinctions have emerged.

One is clearly that for all the difficulties in predicting the ways of the illness -- where it will emerge the strongest, who is most vulnerable to it, what will combat it best -- the state has done a formidable job of warding off a larger calamity this year.

By this point last summer, 10 people had been identified as having fallen ill with West Nile and one would soon die, though health officials mistakenly thought it was St. Louis encephalitis that was causing the illnesses. Spreading larvicide and conducting a public information campaign intended to rid the city of standing pools of water and to encourage residents to reduce bites by wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts contributed to the smaller numbers of cases, experts agreed.

''The various things that the state and city have done to reduce exposure has undoubtedly had a positive effect on reducing cases,'' said Ward Stone, chief wildlife pathologist for the State Department of Environmental Conservation.

And while officials had their eyes glued on Queens this spring, the majority of infected birds, infected mosquitoes and human illnesses have come from Staten Island. Experts said this might be because birds in Queens had developed immunity to the virus, and as the disease spread, Staten Island birds, which were barely exposed last year, might be especially vulnerable.

''There seem to be too many immune birds for the infection to be doing well in Queens,'' said Andrew Spierman, a professor of tropical public health at the Harvard School of Public Health. ''Immune birds inhibit transmission, because mosquitoes need to feed on infected birds to transmit.''

And clearly the disease continues to spread far and wide. In Suffolk County, 56 birds carrying West Nile have been identified by Mr. Stone's laboratory, and 104 are still being examined. In Rockland County, the number of birds testing positive for the virus has risen to 85. And Mr. Stone said that birds with the virus had been detected from Niagara Falls to the easternmost part of Pennsylvania to Oswego County. ''If we don't get every county in the state by the end of the year I'll be surprised,'' he said.

And so officials have had little choice but to resume the spraying that they had hoped this spring to avoid. Ground spraying began last night in the Bronx, where a new mosquito pool was identified, and in large swaths of Brooklyn, including Prospect Park. Spraying in other areas of both boroughs will continue throughout the weekend, and Staten Island will get ground and aerial spraying Sunday and into next week.

But experts agree that the effect of spraying can never really be quantified. ''There is always improvement, sure, but is it measurable, no, and is it significant, I don't know,'' said Mr. Spierman of Harvard. He added that ground spraying was particularly tricky, because wind must be present but not too strong to ensure the optimal effect. What is more, each spray of pesticide covers only 200 feet. He added that any obstacles to a truck's spray range, including the wind, contribute to a loss of efficacy.

There may be a disconnect between what residents expect pesticides to accomplish and how much even large-scale efforts can do to stave off a pathogen on the run. ''You can never eliminate all cases,'' Mr. Spierman said, ''but the helicopter application makes a much greater reduction.''

But spraying pesticides from helicopters is not only extremely expensive, it also tends to unnerve residents, even as they clamor for a West Nile-free city.

When pressed to give his view of spraying, Dr. Neal L. Cohen, the city's health commissioner, said: ''The new mosquito pools tell us that there is still active viral transmission even after spraying. At this point it is less severe than last year, but there is still cause for concern.''

Dr. Cohen's comments came during a news conference held with Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was in the awkward position of having minutes earlier announced erroneously, on his weekly radio show, the death of one of the victims. The mayor said that he had been told the patient was likely to die, but that he had misheard.
Correction: Sept. 1, 2000

An article on Saturday about two new cases of illness in humans caused by the West Nile virus misstated the surname of a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health who said it was possible that birds in Queens had developed immunity to the virus. He is Andrew Spielman, not Spierman.

�Dick Cheney is good actually because he�s experienced and can help Bush be president� was actually a pretty common sentiment at the time and his hilarious considering how much he ended up controlling behind the scenes once in office:

August 25 - Cheney's C.E.O. Record

NYT Opinion posted:

To the Editor:

Re ''Cheney Has Mixed Record in Business Executive Role'' (front page, Aug. 24):

Your analysis of Dick Cheney's business record reveals a man who is more comfortable with broad ideas than he is with the minutiae that can make or break a company. This should concern voters who are depending on Mr. Cheney to guide an inexperienced governor through the complexities and pitfalls of Washington politics.

As we face a host of problems and opportunities, we need a White House that understands both the big picture and the small details.

KENDALL WELLS

Knoxville, Tenn., Aug. 24, 2000

Here�s Democrats holding their convention at a hotel while the workers are trying to unionize because they�re huge dickweeds. Apparently the owner is a donor to Al Gore which I�m sure is a coincidence:

https://www.democracynow.org/2000/8/14/hotel_workers_protest_the_democrats_use

And here�s Microsoft telling it�s Encarta writers to change an entry on the Armenian Genoci-HOLY poo poo YOU GUYS I TOTALLY FORGOT THAT ENCARTA WAS A THING! REMEMBER ENCARTA!? IT WAS LIKE WIKIPEDIA ON A DISK BUT WAY LESS INFORMATIVE! Man that takes me back...

https://www.democracynow.org/2000/8/23/under_pressure_from_turkey_microsoft_attempts

Finally have a random Bill Maher featuring some borderline fascist bad takes on the paralympics because I had to watch it and now so do you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJJpz3vLImw

It's got a baby Joe Rogan and a bunch of millionaires freaking out over the Socialist candidate for president so that's kind of cool at least.

EDIT: Note how much the crowd loving loves him despite the whole panel being against him. Don't EVER believe it when people tell you that Socialism is unpopular. It's only unpopular with a media class full of conservatives who make 7-8 figures a year.

readingatwork fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Feb 19, 2021

# ? Feb 19, 2021 01:17

readingatwork: Jan 8, 2009; Hello Fatty!; Fun Shoe

Seriously though, watch that Bill Maher episode. It's loving bananas.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 01:43

JustJeff88: Jan 15, 2008; I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE

THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

of SA-Mart forever

readingatwork posted:

Seriously though, watch that Bill Maher episode. It's loving bananas.

I have no intention of watching it because, based on experience with such "panel shows" as America knows them, it is going to be one fairly articulate, half-decent person trying to raise cogent, serious points while a bunch of brainless, pampered, self-obsessed "celebrities" shout over him because they mistakenly think that they know something.

All this followed by legions of horrible comments, of course.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 03:39

Grammarchist: Jan 28, 2013

Good God, that Maher episode explains so much about some people I knew growing up. Friends' parents who liked to hedge their positions in such a way that they're not evil, but ready to fascist at the slightest invitation. Justifying the death penalty because "we're not talking about systemic racism in the justice system, we're talking about how this one guy deserves to die" just perfectly encapsulates that mindset. Naturally, a lot of those Maher fans became Trump fans later in life. I'm almost positive I've heard Trumpists in my life rail against the ADA specifically because of Maher's mountain climbing joke as well.

And Holy poo poo I never knew I could loathe Joe Rogan more. He had even less appeal as a young whatever the hell he was.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 03:56

Dapper_Swindler: Feb 14, 2012; Im glad my instant dislike in you has been validated again and again.

clean ayers act posted:

Not to derail the thread but ive been looking for good histories of the catholic church post 500ish. I see a lot of recommended out there but a lot of them seem designed to reinforce your faith or something so it makes me leery. Any recommendations?

just PM me. i can probably find a couple for you. on your point about faith stuff. yeah alot of catholic history books, epically the saint ones are deep into the leery poo poo but that kinda stuff helps you understand the mindset better.

Grammarchist posted:

Good God, that Maher episode explains so much about some people I knew growing up. Friends' parents who liked to hedge their positions in such a way that they're not evil, but ready to fascist at the slightest invitation. Justifying the death penalty because "we're not talking about systemic racism in the justice system, we're talking about how this one guy deserves to die" just perfectly encapsulates that mindset. Naturally, a lot of those Maher fans became Trump fans later in life. I'm almost positive I've heard Trumpists in my life rail against the ADA specifically because of Maher's mountain climbing joke as well.

And Holy poo poo I never knew I could loathe Joe Rogan more. He had even less appeal as a young whatever the hell he was.

yeah conservatives groups are loving weird with disabilities, the physicaly disabled can gently caress off and die or be viewed with some more moral pity but they LOVE the mentaly disabled because they can raise them up to never question the bullshit and the evangelicals LOVE to use them are Pro-life props. i have seen that poo poo in person, its loving gross and depressing because its never like "this kid has eagle barret" or "this child has down syndrom but she is doing the best she can" they always use the poor kid who is like Anencephaly or basically a vegetable and that is supposed to prove american jesus love. obviously not all are like that, but i remember that poo poo took off hard in the 2000s after shivo.

Dapper_Swindler fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Feb 19, 2021

# ? Feb 19, 2021 04:07

JustJeff88: Jan 15, 2008; I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE

THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

of SA-Mart forever

Grammarchist posted:

And Holy poo poo I never knew I could loathe Joe Rogan more. He had even less appeal as a young whatever the hell he was.

I would assume such from a guy who thinks that he's hard and makes a ridiculously rich living commenting on 'roided-up men beating each other unconscious, but I could swear that I heard somewhere that he was as of recently a staunch Sanders supporter.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 04:26

readingatwork: Jan 8, 2009; Hello Fatty!; Fun Shoe

Dapper_Swindler posted:

yeah conservatives groups are loving weird with disabilities, the physicaly disabled can gently caress off and die or be viewed with some more moral pity but they LOVE the mentaly disabled because they can raise them up to never question the bullshit and the evangelicals LOVE to use them are Pro-life props. i have seen that poo poo in person, its loving gross and depressing because its never like "this kid has eagle barret" or "this child has down syndrom but she is doing the best she can" they always use the poor kid who is like Anencephaly or basically a vegetable and that is supposed to prove american jesus love. obviously not all are like that, but i remember that poo poo took off hard in the 2000s after shivo.

Physically disabled people often can't work and require ramps and such to function in society which costs conservatives tax money for no personal benefit and therefore they must all be culled for the greater good. The mentally handicapped on the other hand can be used as sub-minimum wage labor to make rich people money with minimal support needed and therefore aren't as big of a problem.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 05:27

gfarrell80: Aug 31, 2006

Related content: I just finished the 'Blowback' podcast about Bush and the Iraq war. Excellent stuff.

Thank you for making this thread.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 05:28

sexpig by night: Sep 8, 2011; by Azathoth

readingatwork posted:

Physically disabled people often can't work and require ramps and such to function in society which costs conservatives tax money for no personal benefit and therefore they must all be culled for the greater good. The mentally handicapped on the other hand can be used as sub-minimum wage labor to make rich people money with minimal support needed and therefore aren't as big of a problem.

yea it truly is a vile little bit of mental math they do. The mentally impaired are good because unlike those drat physical disabilities you can turn a profit on them real easy, and yea they often make good 'MY MOTHER WAS ALMOST FORCED TO ABORT ME BY THE DEMOCRATS' props. Real sick people the 'compassionate' right wingers are!

# ? Feb 19, 2021 05:35

Orange Devil: Oct 1, 2010; Wullie's reign cannae smother the flames o' equality!

JustJeff88 posted:

I would assume such from a guy who thinks that he's hard and makes a ridiculously rich living commenting on 'roided-up men beating each other unconscious, but I could swear that I heard somewhere that he was as of recently a staunch Sanders supporter.

Rogan strikes me as the kind of guy who supports whatever he's most recently heard about.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 09:59

V. Illych L.: Apr 11, 2008; ASK ME ABOUT LUMBER

rogan did endorse sanders after his series with various presidential candidates and it led to some truly bizarre reactions with people basically demanding that sanders denounce rogan's endorsement and getting worked up about sanders legitimising rogan.

i don't think rogan's staunch anything much, but the guy's secure enough that he can do whatever he pleases without consequence, and what he wants to do is get high and talk to people for hours. as far as these things go he's not the worst imo

# ? Feb 19, 2021 12:33

V. Illych L.: Apr 11, 2008; ASK ME ABOUT LUMBER

rogan is interesting as a phenomenon, because he's incredibly popular in a way which is totally inexplicable to the arbiters of good taste (and myself tbh i've tried listening and i just find it tedious), which pisses people off to a truly astounding degree and convinces them that he must be some kind of limbaugh-esque reactionary

afaik he's got very bog-standard meathead dude attitudes about things and a pretty open mind, so when someone lays out how demonically hosed the US healthcare system is he'll accept it - but he won't take any broader systemic conclusions from it, and he absolutely won't bother with positioning himself culturally to try and make it happen. so you've got a guy with a ton of cultural signifiers which scream low-brow rear end in a top hat who's got this enormous platform for reasons that seem inscrutable, and that drives a lot of people who are used to navigating politics by way of these cultural signifiers completely insane

# ? Feb 19, 2021 12:41

JustJeff88: Jan 15, 2008; I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE

THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

of SA-Mart forever

V. Illych L. posted:

rogan is interesting as a phenomenon, because he's incredibly popular in a way which is totally inexplicable to the arbiters of good taste (and myself tbh i've tried listening and i just find it tedious), which pisses people off to a truly astounding degree and convinces them that he must be some kind of limbaugh-esque reactionary

afaik he's got very bog-standard meathead dude attitudes about things and a pretty open mind, so when someone lays out how demonically hosed the US healthcare system is he'll accept it - but he won't take any broader systemic conclusions from it, and he absolutely won't bother with positioning himself culturally to try and make it happen. so you've got a guy with a ton of cultural signifiers which scream low-brow rear end in a top hat who's got this enormous platform for reasons that seem inscrutable, and that drives a lot of people who are used to navigating politics by way of these cultural signifiers completely insane

There's a one-man wine and cheese shop near where I live, and just yesterday I had a long talk with the owner... he's remarkably similar. It's remarkable in and of itself that he's managed to keep the door to his little shop open for almost 30 years, but he's an older chap in the middle of the bloody bible belt etc yet freely called himself as a socialist. We were alone when talking about things, but he outright admitted that he has lost customers because he expressed a leftist viewpoint in his shop. Just to be on the safe side, as soon as another customer came in I left as I didn't want to cost him any business.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 16:00

Dapper_Swindler: Feb 14, 2012; Im glad my instant dislike in you has been validated again and again.

readingatwork posted:

Physically disabled people often can't work and require ramps and such to function in society which costs conservatives tax money for no personal benefit and therefore they must all be culled for the greater good. The mentally handicapped on the other hand can be used as sub-minimum wage labor to make rich people money with minimal support needed and therefore aren't as big of a problem.

oh i know. i am one of them as i have said in other threads. its a bitch finding a job in general and with covid its even worse. working retail sucks rear end and id love to be a staffer or some kind political ghoul or just work in a museum or some corpo entertainment PR thing.

anyway there used to be a local car show set up to help pay for sick kids medical expenses(its gone now because everyone got old and various drama/etc) anyway i used to be one of the kids they helped out. anyway last year of the show was some poor vegetable kid who baiscaly laid their making pug breathing sounds and the young parents were super evangelicals who met with loving palin and mccain and they legit used him as anti abortion platform and i saw them place their loving pamphlets on his lap while handing them out at said show. I am still weirdly mad that we gave them loving money when there were other kids who needed just as much and were way more "viable". idk

sexpig by night posted:

yea it truly is a vile little bit of mental math they do. The mentally impaired are good because unlike those drat physical disabilities you can turn a profit on them real easy, and yea they often make good 'MY MOTHER WAS ALMOST FORCED TO ABORT ME BY THE DEMOCRATS' props. Real sick people the 'compassionate' right wingers are!

yeah. this lady who was a friend of the family used to help me drive to classes(i can drive fully by myself but poo poo happend and i needed a driver) she is a nice lady but super tradcath/knights of columbus/having super prayer things during election day type deal. anyway, she got weirdly mad about how some mentally disabled kid who went to her church was now more open to obama now because one of his care takers was a liberal instead of voting "correctly" or some poo poo. but yeah, she never said it outright obviously but she was mad that he was straying from the flock because other opinions entered his brain and he was open to them. i think it annoys me because i know alot of religious conservative folks who do genuinly good things for disabled folks of both types but for many of them there is always that under current.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 20:59

JustJeff88: Jan 15, 2008; I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE

THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

of SA-Mart forever

The thing that I have noticed about "conservatives" in general is that, when it comes to helping people, they are fine with it based on two self-serving criteria:

1) It must be someone who is "worth" helping. You will notice that this can be a very restrictive definition
2) It must be voluntary on their part, but they will scream murder if their tax dollars go to help anyone against their will, especially someone outside of group 1)

I didn't have nearly the anti-religious fervour that I do now until I came to the US. I myself grew up in a Reform Jewish family with an uncle who is a rabbi, but once I saw especially the Bible belt with mostly Baptist churches and the violent, self-serving prosperity gospel culture I really started to loathe everyone.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 21:12

Dapper_Swindler: Feb 14, 2012; Im glad my instant dislike in you has been validated again and again.

JustJeff88 posted:

The thing that I have noticed about "conservatives" in general is that, when it comes to helping people, they are fine with it based on two self-serving criteria:

1) It must be someone who is "worth" helping. You will notice that this can be a very restrictive definition
2) It must be voluntary on their part, but they will scream murder if their tax dollars go to help anyone against their will, especially someone outside of group 1)

I didn't have nearly the anti-religious fervour that I do now until I came to the US. I myself grew up in a Reform Jewish family with an uncle who is a rabbi, but once I saw especially the Bible belt with mostly Baptist churches and the violent, self-serving prosperity gospel culture I really started to loathe everyone.

i just loath uber conservative religion in general though mostly american conservative evangelicalism/baptism/uber trad Catholics and KSA type Wahhabism since those seem to be the most openly awful and backwards and the ones that force it on folks.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 21:14

Halloween Jack: Sep 12, 2003; I WILL CUT OFF BOTH OF MY ARMS BEFORE I VOTE FOR ANYONE THAT IS MORE POPULAR THAN BERNIE!!!!!

Religious conservatives view charity the same way rich people view their philanthropy: it has to be on their own terms, it's self-serving, and it's to provide cover for the harm that they do.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 21:22

JustJeff88: Jan 15, 2008; I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE

THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

of SA-Mart forever

Dapper_Swindler posted:

i just loath uber conservative religion in general though mostly american conservative evangelicalism/baptism/uber trad Catholics and KSA type Wahhabism since those seem to be the most openly awful and backwards and the ones that force it on folks.

I actually don't know what "KSA" or "Wahhabism" are; can you explain? In my defence, I was not raised in the US.

By the way, I know that it's odd to offset 'conservative' as I just did, but I really hate tribalism and labelism. I don't use terms like liberal/conservative and left/right myself, but sometimes I have no choice but to use them as a sort of cultural reference when talking to others. You've probably noticed by now that I have no affection for the 'left' or the 'right' as it is known in the Anglophone world, so I am totally alienated and mostly spend my time being vitriolic to both camps because I think that they have rotten values. I grew up in a family of communist Jews and I think that they taught me fantastic values. I'm a rabid anti-cap(italist) and proud of it, but I'm not comfortable with any other sociopolitical labels, I don't want to be associated with either 'side' of the political battlefield and I have dire misgivings about the new 'co-operative economy' that the extreme left (funny how the idea of people collaborating as equals is considered extreme) likes to crow about.

I also use inverted commas/quotation marks, both single and double, far too much. Sorry about that; I know that it's rather annoying.

Halloween Jack posted:

Religious conservatives view charity the same way rich people view their philanthropy: it has to be on their own terms, it's self-serving, and it's to provide cover for the harm that they do.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 21:25

Feldegast42: Oct 29, 2011; COMMENCE THE RITE OF SHITPOSTING

JustJeff88 posted:

I actually don't know what "KSA" or "Wahhabism" are; can you explain? In my defence, I was not raised in the US.

Basically the religious strand that runs Saudi Arabia. One of the followers of that dogma flew a couple planes into some towers in the US a couple decades ago.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 21:32

Dapper_Swindler: Feb 14, 2012; Im glad my instant dislike in you has been validated again and again.

JustJeff88 posted:

I actually don't know what "KSA" or "Wahhabism" are; can you explain? In my defence, I was not raised in the US.

By the way, I know that it's odd to offset 'conservative' as I just did, but I really hate tribalism and labelism. I don't use terms like liberal/conservative and left/right myself, but sometimes I have no choice but to use them as a sort of cultural reference when talking to others. You've probably noticed by now that I have no affection for the 'left' or the 'right' as it is known in the Anglophone world, so I am totally alienated and mostly spend my time being vitriolic to both camps because I think that they have rotten values. I grew up in a family of communist Jews and I think that they taught me fantastic values. I'm a rabid anti-cap(italist) and proud of it, but I'm not comfortable with any other sociopolitical labels, I don't want to be associated with either 'side' of the political battlefield and I have dire misgivings about the new 'co-operative economy' that the extreme left (funny how the idea of people collaborating as equals is considered extreme) likes to crow about.

I also use inverted commas/quotation marks, both single and double, far too much. Sorry about that; I know that it's rather annoying.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

KSA type Wahhabism. super radical puritans islam that is often used by AQ and ISIS and other types of those sort(though their are massive differences between those groups idiologically and poo poo) anyway,

it got mainstreamed in Saudi Arabia to keep the various clerics happy after the Grand Mosque seizure in 1979 by weird wahhabist outcast types and that scared the saudi royals out secularizing the country and then they started spreading that poo poo all across the world and has helped inspire various terrorists groups and acts though part of that is other obvious geo-political stuff/etc.

also your fine, goon friend. i don't even know what the gently caress id label myself outside general lefty person socially and fiscally. if i makes you feel better. i know nothing about Judaism outside like little history tid bits.

Dapper_Swindler fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Feb 19, 2021

# ? Feb 19, 2021 21:37

Dapper_Swindler: Feb 14, 2012; Im glad my instant dislike in you has been validated again and again.

Feldegast42 posted:

Basically the religious strand that runs Saudi Arabia. One of the followers of that dogma flew a couple planes into some towers in the US a couple decades ago.

that and ISIS. fuckheads like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi basicaly went farther than AQ and basically made it more about "sunni purtianism" aka kill anyone not my specific sect of islam but especially shia. and going full horror show with violence which helped inspire isis and poo poo.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 21:40

Grammarchist: Jan 28, 2013

Part of me wants to revisit the comedy shows of the 2000's. Comedy Central was about the closest thing to culture we had when I grew up, and the only thing that I remember adults talking about. A lot of my friends' parents seem to have internalized a few "politically incorrect" early oughts jokes and refused to learn anything new. So when they lost their minds over gay marriage and immigration they'd simply cite some old formerly "mainstream" joke as cover. It's like Trump constantly referencing events and trends from the 80's.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 21:44

Halloween Jack: Sep 12, 2003; I WILL CUT OFF BOTH OF MY ARMS BEFORE I VOTE FOR ANYONE THAT IS MORE POPULAR THAN BERNIE!!!!!

It's quite strange how the US political line for years was that we were combating Muslim extremism and terrorism, all while our strongest ally in the region (besides Israel) is the House of Saud.

# ? Feb 19, 2021 22:15

Dapper_Swindler: Feb 14, 2012; Im glad my instant dislike in you has been validated again and again.

Halloween Jack posted:

It's quite strange how the US political line for years was that we were combating Muslim extremism and terrorism, all while our strongest ally in the region (besides Israel) is the House of Saud.

i mean the other power house (iran) isn't much better with the weird extremists poo poo, its just Iran has actual chance of reforming someday because the youth are mostly chill and just want a thriving country without the weird theocratic bullshit and and Shia tends to be more esoteric and weirdly similar to american chriatian conservatism with alot of focus on judgment day and the world being a gross place and such when it comes to extremism and alot of the hardliners in iran are basically GOP types with the same types of dumb culture war poo poo. basicaly Iran is way less "alien" than the KSA is since Persia basicaly used to be the heart of "western ideals" and poo poo. its interesting poo poo and everything is depressing. thanks W, you gently caress.

Dapper_Swindler fucked around with this message at 23:08 on Feb 19, 2021

# ? Feb 19, 2021 23:05

Freakazoid_: Jul 5, 2013; Buglord

Being able to look back at videos from ~20 years ago is really useful to me, as someone who had come of age then and didn't care about politics. Comedy Central in particular is really useful, because they were the first network to really dive into political comedy full time.

# ? Feb 20, 2021 00:33

sexpig by night: Sep 8, 2011; by Azathoth

Halloween Jack posted:

It's quite strange how the US political line for years was that we were combating Muslim extremism and terrorism, all while our strongest ally in the region (besides Israel) is the House of Saud.

ah but Jack, you see, MBS says he doesn't even know what Wahhabism is, and he says nobody can define it and it doesn't even exist, it's just (probably filthy Shia) propaganda against the noble and kind House of Saud.

So, ya know, both sides.

# ? Feb 20, 2021 00:39

readingatwork: Jan 8, 2009; Hello Fatty!; Fun Shoe

Freakazoid_ posted:

Being able to look back at videos from ~20 years ago is really useful to me, as someone who had come of age then and didn't care about politics. Comedy Central in particular is really useful, because they were the first network to really dive into political comedy full time.

Revisiting TDS is one of the more interesting parts of this for me because there's enough distance now for me to look at it objectively and I can see both it's strengths and it's glaring weaknesses in ways I couldn't at the time.

Speaking of which I'd like to add a few more shows like these to the roster. Does anybody remember any of the other shows with Maher's format that were on at the time? There's one I'm thinking of in particular (the guy went hard right after 9/11) but I can't remember the guy or the show's name for the life of me.

E: I think it was Dennis Miller Live!

readingatwork fucked around with this message at 00:48 on Feb 20, 2021

# ? Feb 20, 2021 00:45

Grammarchist: Jan 28, 2013

readingatwork posted:

Revisiting TDS is one of the more interesting parts of this for me because there's enough distance now for me to look at it objectively and I can see both it's strengths and it's glaring weaknesses in ways I couldn't at the time.

Speaking of which I'd like to add a few more shows like these to the roster. Does anybody remember any of the other shows with Maher's format that were on at the time? There's one I'm thinking of in particular (the guy went hard right after 9/11) but I can't remember the guy or the show's name for the life of me.

Dennis Miller Live?

# ? Feb 20, 2021 00:48

readingatwork: Jan 8, 2009; Hello Fatty!; Fun Shoe

Grammarchist posted:

Dennis Miller Live?

poo poo, you beat me to it. Yeah I'm pretty sure that's the one. I think it will be fun (?) to use him as a case study in how batshit insane people went at the time.

readingatwork fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Feb 20, 2021

# ? Feb 20, 2021 00:48

the yellow dart: Jul 19, 2004; King of rings, armlocks, hugs, and our hearts

Dapper_Swindler posted:

i mean the other power house (iran) isn't much better with the weird extremists poo poo, its just Iran has actual chance of reforming someday because the youth are mostly chill and just want a thriving country without the weird theocratic bullshit and and Shia tends to be more esoteric and weirdly similar to american chriatian conservatism with alot of focus on judgment day and the world being a gross place and such when it comes to extremism and alot of the hardliners in iran are basically GOP types with the same types of dumb culture war poo poo. basicaly Iran is way less "alien" than the KSA is since Persia basicaly used to be the heart of "western ideals" and poo poo. its interesting poo poo and everything is depressing. thanks Churchill and Kermit Roosevelt, you fucks.

eft

# ? Feb 20, 2021 01:35

readingatwork: Jan 8, 2009; Hello Fatty!; Fun Shoe

Here, have some random episodes of Dennis Miller Live. Footage of the show this far back is a actually pretty hard to come by so it might not be a regular thing.

Here's a full show from 1996 so you can see the full show format. At this point he seems to be a generic Leno type than a real political commentator. I'd forgotten that he did a live call-in segment which is actually kind of neat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtI-MoH9PkQ

Here's George Carlin on his show in 1998 mostly because Carlin owns and I will take any excuse to post him:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RW7h9-rTHM

Here he is interviewing John Stewart in June of 2000:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE42PMdesJg

Notice how he's largely (albeit not completely) apolitical at this point. He's got a chill vibe and a decent sense of humor which makes him pretty watchable even now. It really is a shame that he completely lost his mind after 9/11.

# ? Feb 20, 2021 02:10

Phyzzle: Jan 26, 2008

Does anybody remember an hourlong special on comedy central called State of the Union Undressed where Dennis Miller and john cryer were going to make fun of the State of the Union Address live in real time? But Cryer couldn't think of a single joke the the entire time, and froze into this glassy eyed state where he kept silently pouring and drinking water with shaking hands and they begged some other comedian (Andy Richter?) and got him to come over and try to think of funny things to say.

# ? Feb 20, 2021 05:42

Dapper_Swindler: Feb 14, 2012; Im glad my instant dislike in you has been validated again and again.

the yellow dart posted:

eft

yeah. i mean you can probably go back further but yeah pretty much.

# ? Feb 20, 2021 18:17

Animal-Mother: Feb 14, 2012; RABBIT RABBIT
RABBIT RABBIT

readingatwork posted:

Speaking of which I'd like to add a few more shows like these to the roster. Does anybody remember any of the other shows with Maher's format that were on at the time? There's one I'm thinking of in particular (the guy went hard right after 9/11) but I can't remember the guy or the show's name for the life of me.

Colin Quinn's Tough Crowd also fits this description.

# ? Feb 21, 2021 04:57

Grammarchist: Jan 28, 2013

For some reason I get confused and think Morton Downey Jr. was around more recently than he was. Probably because of that documentary that came out a while back, or because "loud, shouting white man" got so big as a style.

# ? Feb 21, 2021 20:41

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# ? May 5, 2024 12:11

Alikchi: Aug 18, 2010; Thumbs up I agree

W's first term was Lewis Black's heyday, too.

# ? Feb 21, 2021 21:52

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Let's relive the Bush years!

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