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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026

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When OUR guys do it, it's just Twitter ragebaiting and flaming. When THEIR guys do it, it's some unsolicited jab about "Murka," or obesity , or guns, or something the current president did.

I also wonder how much of this is just Europeans trying to do to the Americans the same sort of international bants that Europeans tend to do to each other when meeting in international settings, and those bants failing to land.

I also wonder how much of this is just Europeans trying to do to the Americans the same sort of international bants that Europeans tend to do to each other when meeting in international settings, and those bants failing to land.

Sure, but this goes both ways; international criticism of Trump (both plebian and patrician) centers around this exact thing.

Well, yes, but he's also in a different position from just some ordinary Joe Sixpack shooting his mouth. He is supposed to be a statesman of some sort. There are (unstated but still existing) rules and codes for statesmanly behavior, especially in international contexts.