irelandindc

[irelandindc]

Ashamed to admit I’ve watched this (my brother is a fan) but posting here for the sake of completeness and transparency

[irelandindc]

G-G on Facebook - G-G on Twitter

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On the election:

Thoughts? Sure. Lots of them:

--I have said from the beginning that this is a turnout election. Get me 2016 levels of turnout and Trump could well win. Get me 2020 levels of turnout and Harris would probably win. 2024's turnout is much closer to 2016 than 2020, so the electorate was whiter, more male, and older in 2024 than 2020. The people Harris needed to vote, didn't. Thus Trump won all or most of the swing states, and won the popular vote -- the first Republican to do so since 2004. (This is why I was a not a poll watcher: percentages in a poll do not translate directly into actual voting; in a turnout election actual voting is what matters.)

--I used to ask my classes, "will we have a Black president or a female president first? (Yes, I acknowledged the obvious "Black female" hole in that question.) The Black question was answered in 2008; we now have a further answer in that a candidate of the nature of Donald Trump has beaten two immensely qualified female candidates, one white and one woman of color -- both in low turnout elections. Apparently, America really, really, doesn't want a female president.

--Dobbs didn't matter, at least not as predicted. Women didn't "vote Harris" despite all claims they would do so, at least not at the predicted rates.

--Demography is not destiny. The Latino vote has moved toward Trump in three successive elections. I'd guess this is *because* of his anti-immigrant stances, not despite them: pulling up the ladder after you "make it" is an old part of American political life.

--[edit/added]: it's a global "throw the bums out" cycle. People are pissed for lots of reasons, and fairly or not, the "in power" people are feeling the pain. Such is the nature of political timing.

--The urban/rural split is a hell of a thing in American politics, and it's only going to get more intense over time as rural areas continue to empty but still get two Senators forever and ever and ever.

--There are a LOT of people who don't think of politics in either ideological or governance terms. They're not interested in whether a candidate means what he says or is capable of achieving the ends being promised. Rather, politics for these people is *entertainment.* What matters is the show. The "right" people need to be publicly valorized; the "wrong" people need to be attacked, humiliated, and hounded out of the public square. It's bread and circuses. As long as the entertainment continues they'll put up with the regime whatever it is doing to them in the background.

--Donald Trump remains the greatest politician in American history at dominating the news cycle, and thus feeding the entertainment machine. Every crazy, cruel, cantankerous thing he says gets re-amplified over and over again, driving everything else out of the political ecosystem. It's evil. But it's genius.

--I have long said that Donald Trump will never pay a meaningful price for his crimes, his corruption, and his cruelty. He will die in a golden bed surrounded by a harem of women and teams of acolytes singing his praises. It's not fair. But it's almost certainly true.

--A brief note on tariffs: when America relied on tariffs, the government was much smaller than it is now (meaning it needed less money to operate), and US economy activity was mostly concentrated in the US (meaning that it was hard for other countries to put retaliatory tariffs on US products). Neither of these things are true today. So, good luck with that.

I'm sure there's more. But that's a start.

[irelandindc]

This show is fuckin funny

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Now that I’ve read the first three books of this series I thought it would be high time to start the show

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I think I decided to start watching this because I was thinking of Mulholland Drive, but it’s all good it’s only four eps so if I don’t like it at least it’ll be over quickly

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Also watching this because I’m a sucker for Psych-like shows and for Kaitlin Olson

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After a few years of slowly being convinced by the Conan and Fly On The Wall podcasts, I’m going to try to keep up with this season of SNL (and also go back and do a full watch-through). Let’s see how it goes!

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Back to the marvelverse!

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Haven’t been watching too many new things recently - BD, HOTD s2, and rewatching Hinterland. But did watch this last week, I’m not a big true crime fan but this was interesting.

Next few months will be mostly OMITB s4, Rings of Power s2, The Bear s3 but might have some time to start some new ones as well!

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Also have been working my way through this one quite slowly

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This show is good!!

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Finally getting around to watching this!

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Watched the first ep of this back when it first came out, but interested to revisit it now that I’ve been to Australia a couple of times