ThoughtCriminal
ThoughtCriminal's JournalIn 1940-41, Hollywood made Anti-Nazi Movies
They shined a spotlight on Nazi brutality and racism.
Some are forgotten, but films like "Casablanca" and "The Great Dictator" are among the greatest films of the era.
Where are the movies about the Russian invasion of Ukraine (outside of Europe)? Where are the parodies of MAGA extremism (outside of late-night TV)?
For all the right-wing hysteria about "Hollywood Liberals", it seems like the industry afraid of offending someone. It's not like there aren't some compelling stories to tell.
My Milestone - 1/3 of my life at DU
Without giving away the exact days. I'm 65 and I have now been on D.U. for 1/3 of my lifetime.
I've said it before after we were offline for while - there is no substitute
100% Reliable. Bank on it. Prediction!
How will the GOP react to the results of the 2022 election?
Same way they react to EVERYTHING!: They will move further to the extreme right. And more insane.
This will happen if they win big. This will happen if they win small. This will happen if they lose big. This will happen if they lose small. And this will happen with every result between every possible outcome.
How do I know this? Look at every election since 1960. No exceptions. Every election, every trend, every national tragedy, or triumph, every news event and social trend somehow becomes a signal to Republican politicians that they need to move further to the right, discard decency and sanity. They double-down and then double-down again, it's an un-ending feedback loop that never moves even micrometer back towards the middle and what is considered "Centrist" itself moves rightward every news cycle.
Any political pundit who predicts any other result, is worthless.
Capitol Insurrection is the Anti-Selma
I can't help but contrast the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery in support of civil rights and the rights of African Americans to vote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches
"The first march took place on March 7, 1965, organized locally by Bevel, Amelia Boynton, and others. State troopers and county possemen attacked the unarmed marchers with billy clubs and tear gas after they passed over the county line, and the event became known as Bloody Sunday."
On January 6, 2021, we saw a very different kind of protest. Republicans, QAnnon nuts, and their white supremacist allies made a violent attack on our Congress to try and take away the votes of the majority of the American people and especially - the votes of African Americans.
Just dropping in from one of the parallel universes
And wow, you guys are messed up, but things are pretty weird in many the "Normal" ones.
By the way - out of a sampling of 15 quadrillion universes, there are only three where Donald Trump is President of the United States, and he was removed from office in the other two. So yeah - sucks to live here.
But back to the last universe we visited. They have a pandemic too and Hillary Clinton is the POTUS. The big issue there is the un-ending Republican demands for impeachment. In January and February of 2020, Clinton began taking measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States.
And man did the Republicans and right-wing media go nuts!: Testing, mass acquisition of PPE, military mobilization, field "Hospitals", helping China contain the "so-called" disease. "Jade Helm" on steroids! This "Pandemic Response Team" is just a code term for martial law!
But now its April and the tone has changed. Republicans are demanding Clinton be removed from office based on predictions that as many as 15,000 Americans may die from the epidemic she failed to stop.
Good to know that was not the worst possible reality. I'm going to go back to the one where Al Gore won in 2000. That's where we have transdimensional portals.
Why don't we just see if we can out-bribe the Russians?
It works with incompetent CEOs (golden parachutes).
Here's my idea. We offer Trump $10 Billion to resign, leave the country forever and shut up. Pence gets $1 Billion, McConnell $500,000,000.
Trust me, it would be a bargain that would pay for itself the first week.
Regulation is essential to the 2nd Amendment's purpose
Background checks, training, and permits all seem reasonable for a well regulated militia as opposed to any yahoo who wants a gun.
"Well Regulated" does not just mean well equipped. It also means well trained, well disciplined and with a lawful chain of command.
The government can and should regulate what type of weapons are permitted. That is reasonable.
The government can and should regulate who is legally prohibited and enact regulations that prevent them from obtaining firearms. That is reasonable.
If the "militia" is not well trained, it is nothing more than a danger to itself, our nation and its citizens. This should be blindingly obvious.
If there is not a lawful chain of command, the so-called militia is just an armed mob, a dangerous pack of vigilantes, or an angry nut with a grudge.
Moore's Law for Politics - "Every two years the GOP becomes twice as insane"
"Moore’s Law is a computing term which originated around 1970; the simplified version of this law states that processor speeds, or overall processing power for computers will double every two years." - http://www.mooreslaw.org/
Over the past generation, we have witnessed a similar revolution in the Republican Party. Every two years, the GOP gets approximately twice as bat-shit crazy.
It is not perfectly linear - during primary season the rate increases as Republican politicians strive to prove they are farther to the right than any challengers. Unfortunately, this season has grown with every election to the point that it begins on the Wednesday after the first Monday of November of even numbered years. This constant "doubling down" raises the question of whether quantum physics places any limits on how far to right it is possible for a political party to go.
A RW Fantasy End Game: "No size restrictions and screw the limit"
Here in Central Teapartistan, I'm hearing some pretty delusional talk from a particular sub-set of the GOP base.
They are hoping that the shut down will lead to a societal breakdown, followed by martial law, FEMA concentration camps, and civil war. Ending up with patriots "Taking our country back" just like those kids in "Red Dawn"!
What do these "Prepper Patriots" plan to do when SHTF? Why go into the mountains with their SUV, stockpiles of MREs and ammo and go hunting and fishing! I don't think it is a coincidence that mostly, this is what they love do anyway on days off. There is an unmistakable wish here to screw to mortgage, get away from the dead-end job and go on a permanent vacation while the deadbeat liberals starve in the cities.
The fantasy of living off the land with bushcraft skills learned on YouTube and practiced on weekends is not likely to play very well when dealing the reality of doing that in the wilderness for more than a few weeks. It is especially difficult along with a million other Elmer Fudds with the same dream. Game gets scarce, fuel, rations and ammo run low. Hard enough for the single survivalist, imagine trying to keep a family fed.
If corporations are people, how do we determine their gender?
So we can prevent same-sex corporate mergers? Why isn't the GOP doing something about this?
Could we somehow use the name of corporation (John Deer is male, Amazon is female), or base it on their best selling products? But what if the parent company makes both locomotives and bras? We certainly couldn't use the French noun gender as a guide, because well... that would be "French".
Suggestions?
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