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professorgerm

clutching my imitation pearls

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joined 2022 September 12 12:41:49 UTC 

				
User ID: 1157


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
professorgerm


								
								
									
								
								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
clutching my imitation pearls

				
				
				

				

					3 followers  

					follows 1 user  

					joined 2022 September 12 12:41:49 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 1157


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


respecting the rights of protestors




Is obstruction a protestor's right? Are they truly that protected of a class that they can do basically whatever they want? The whole conflation of action and speech really went off the rails somewhere along the way.




If you don't have buy-in from the local populace, police, or political system, it's a feature of the system that that makes things difficult, not a bug.




We should build a wall around Minnesota instead of Mexico.


Also the results of the last event of insufficient buy-in from the local political system was putting them down by the hundreds of thousands and telling states' rights to get fucked. Federalism won the day, baby!




The response of an authoritarian to this problem is to send in the jackboots.




Was Eisenhower wrong to federalize the guard?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


American culture is not the Red Tribe




Agreed.




a general failure to model their adversaries' preferences




It would be easier if they'd be honest about their preferences and the consequences thereof.




libs are happy to celebrate* the space program




In theory, perhaps, or historically. Libs are at the forefront of the anti-moon crew. If you want to argue Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and the New York Times aren't really libs, fine, but that's one of the flaws to the two-party system.


Being proud of WW2 is much more of a conservative dad or granddad thing; young libs don't even like Churchill.


The civil rights movement is the founding myth of modern liberal-progressives, yes; a magic they don't know how to recapture.


The primary example that comes to mind is, i repeat myself, Ilhan Omar. A hateful creep that has achieved wildly more success than she could have in her home country, and uses it primarily shit on the country that welcomed her and support the country she left. It is unfair to extend this to the whole of "the libs," of course; a lot of that is negativity bias. But "the libs" had years to come up with a good narrative about America already being great, and they fumbled it over and over because... I don't really know why. For the party that's supposed to be the smartest, most talented, chock full to the brim with marketers and storytellers, they really fell on their face against what shouldn't be that hard of a question.


Biden spent more time apologizing for calling a murderer the wrong euphemism than expressing sympathy for the victim! If that's what liberal tribalism and preferences get us, then I don't know what's worth redeeming there.


edited


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I like this answer. Thank you.


My concern is that we've had too many people chewing away at numbers 1 and 5 for decades, and that the confidence is really hard to regain. In trying to account for the past failure of Point 2, we ate away at Point 1 as well.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


People tend to be pretty blunt and outspoken, and are happy to tell you their thoughts on whatever is in the news lately without much filter.




Was about to get a little chuffy on this one, being in the South and the "bless your heart" cliche coming to mind, before I caught it was under politics. And that point I was thinking of is under your 'Geography,' good catch on the closed-off-ness.


Yeah, I think this is a great broad-strokes; really, a lot more detail than I expected anyone to reply with! Thank you kindly.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


it happened because broad segments of the population across the political spectrum were disgusted by what happened to Floyd.




"Because they wanted to feel righteous and didn't care about the consequences thereof" is no less accurate of an alternative.




There was a moment at the end of the Biden administration where I thought there was relatively broad bipartisan agreement that something needed to be done about immigration




Trying to reverse course and throw 10 hail marys in the last 30 seconds after dicking around the entire game does not provide sufficient stability and support to eke out an agreement.




The right (well, Trump really) chose to score political points instead and unilaterally take a bunch of actions that will be reversed three years from now.




Alas! No nitpicks here. Enjoy Arbys.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Civility. Integrity. Humility. Temperance.




We haven't had a presidential hopeful that embodies those in 14 years, and the predicted hopefuls for the next round don't either. For the failed candidate that had a grain of any of those- well, hard to forget what one of the later shitbags said about him.


So no, I don't think Trump should be found aspirational. But damned if we're not starved for anyone else that can be, and that at least pretends to treat the country as something more than a paypig.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


American culture is awesome




Care to take a stab at defining it?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Liberals are, in general, far more likely to become disappointed/critical if they perceive the US to be failing to live up to its ideals and are far less interested in performative patriotism.




Those ideals being... what, exactly? Does it have any resemblance of a common culture, an actual community of common interest defined in some way other than GDP?


The problem with "far more likely to be critical" is that they seem to never find one godforsaken occasion to be positive.




I find that they are people who have contempt for the history and values of the United States, as well as outright hate for their countrymen.




I can't bring myself to entirely disagree, but you're hard pressed to find a group of similar scale that doesn't have such contempt and outright hate.


Edit:




The latter in particular I think right-wingers tend to mistake for antipathy.




On the topic of contempt and hate, there's a lot of wisdom in the old saw about the opposite of love being indifference, not hate, and I should've kept that in mind here. There is a corrosiveness to indifference and that may be one of the liberal's worst sins, that so many are unable to even recognize. It became too declassee to think that one's country and culture is something to be loved instead of apologized for.


Edit 2:


Ilhan Omar's infamous comments come to mind. And that is what people have in mind when they say liberals don't care about America.


I am not confident enough to define American in a way that I truly find acceptable, but in something of the spirit of Potter Stewart, I am not American in the way she is; if she has a definition at all, it is incompatible.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


"dumb people don't deserve to be happy and safe" is precisely what leftists are afraid of when they try to bury any discourse about the biological basis of IQ




It would help their legitimacy and they wouldn't be smeared that way if the average leftist didn't think there were vast numbers of people that don't deserve to be happy and safe, just defined on other terms.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


the most prominent example of eugenics in living memory would be the Nazis.




They're also the primary reason the left distanced itself from eugenics.


The US left still loves Planned Parenthood and Harvard-educated experts; they just like to ignore why Planned Parenthood was started and what Harvard-educated experts said on the topic before the Nazis made the concept verboten.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I like Neal as an actor but yeah, many of his characters are assholes you want to punch in the face, I associate that with him.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
How often are agents provocateurs interfering with ICE? How often do cops have to restrain drug-addled subjects resisting arrest? Both occur pretty regularly, right? Most of the time both situations end up with no consequences; very rarely something bad happens and then it's the cause du jour for a round of mass stupidity.


No amount of training gets you perfection.




regularly escalating situations that could be deescalated




How exactly does one deescalate against people wanting escalation, short of giving up and unilateral disarmament? That's what I mean by expecting perfection.




It would be better if this wasn't the case.




It would be better if protestors didn't interfere. It would be better if we hadn't spent years ignoring the border. It would be better if men were angels and we didn't need government at all.


Alas, people Will Not Just.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Not that significant, I just dislike them. I prefer usage taxes.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


we're starting a slow society-wide slide into cheering for death




Excuse me, did you miss the "shout your abortion" campaign like a decade ago? The way people reacted to Margaret Thatcher's death?




But only one of those sides is making a habit of claiming immunity, pardoning people left and right




LOL. Also you don't need to claim immunity when your side has the AGs and just won't prosecute to begin with.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Fair, better nuance there.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Do you think the administration's reaction to the shooting is a "reasonable path for America"?




When was the last time any administration had any "reasonable path" response to stochastic tragedies? I'm not there's been one since... at least the birth of social media.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I think *-isms are bad




Hey now, that moved to the right over the last 10 years. Official left position has long been that -isms are good, as long as they target the right groups.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


That she wasn't there accidentally?




You'd have to believe everyone that knows her, including her wife, is lying to believe there's a chance she was there accidentally. Weird one to include in your list of uncertainties; that she was there deliberately to interfere is like the second-most confident thing anyone can state about this situation.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I don't find this video particularly clarifying.




I found clarifying against the "she didn't even hit him/it was just a nudge" arguments. Helluva 'nudge.'


Otherwise agreed, and the people making those arguments aren't going to change for the reasons you mention.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I have no reason to think she was anything but a normal, well-adjusted person




Going to a 'protest' to blockade government activity is not the action of a normal, well-adjusted person. You may think it's a good thing! Necessary, maybe even sacred, whatever. But not normal and well-adjusted.




Honestly I find it pretty ludicrous to imagine that this situation would have ended up with someone dead if the agents had behaved like normal well-trained cops




Situation much like this one have happened possibly dozens of times, maybe hundreds or thousands if we broaden the category, over the last 10 years in this country, and very few of them end this way. It's less about the specific training (even if it was inadequate) and that every such interaction is rolling a handful of D20s: how does the subject react, how does the officer react, what are the environmental factors making them react better/worse, etc. This encounter rolled too many 1s.


If you expect perfection in every single encounter, you are not living in reality.


Likewise, living in Minneapolis, the victim of this tragedy was not living in reality.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
As with most things about this administration, it's an overcorrection from Trump 1 and Biden.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


see why American riot police don't use water cannons




They did at Standing Rock, and it's not clear to me why that was the odd exception, unless whoever was in charge of the police thought it was funny (one can imagine: "they want the water? We'll give them the water, alright!")


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


To release some kind of statement, say his heart is with the kids and the widow. Which AFAIK he hasn't.




You only release a statement if you want to be eaten alive by leopards.


While ICE training seems to be questionable, I am reasonable sure there's a lawyer, administrator, or chief that strongly informed him "GOOD GOD DON'T SAY ANYTHING TO ANYONE ABOUT ANYTHING!"




And he loses still further sympathy points if it was him who said




slightly fascinated about how much attention this comment has gotten. Surely there's a good descriptor for the way certain insults are perceived as worse than rape or murder.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Do you think he's actually confused about the legality of hitting police officers with your car?




There's a non-zero chance they believe protestors are a protected class with extreme leniency, that well could include a grey area around "you can hit cops if you don't intend to kill them," but I'm not familiar enough with op to be confident in that.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Additionally, I'm not sure this is true. Her car had Missouri plates.




Seems to be she'd lived in Minneapolis for a while (multiple months iirc) and hadn't changed plates. I can't complain about that, I delayed changing plates quite a while to not pay new state taxes.