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Call me a Western supremacist and racist but on Feb 27th I did not expect Iranians to come out looking more decent.
Many old things are vile and, worse, not even effective. There's a point to having standards.
That's because it's not such a small thing as you try to make it out to be. It's not like Hegseth has bad facial features or that I get the ick. It's that his entire shtick is shit. His… ah, I've already covered that, didn't I. Aesthetics is correlated with holistic value. This is how a commander presents himself when he's likely to wage a nonsensical war in a reprehensible manner. This is how a secondary antagonist in a Disney adaptation of a children's fable looks like. Apparently, this is also how a guy looks when he's about to blow it. We're not on SlateStarCodex, but Scott would surely say that nothing is ever a coincidence, or something to that effect.
But anyway, there is something new to it. Again: the US has lost the war. So:
I concede I should have added the third line, for example: "and then Trumpists fucking lose, having debased and betrayed themselves for nothing".
Maybe you haven't been paying too much attention to them - I've been mildly impressed with Iran since the Global War on Terror days under Dubya - or maybe it's my own bias - I have nothing but contempt for western elites. Perhaps a bit of both.
My personal opinion on the matter is that paying too much attention to aesthetics got us Ursula von der Leyen, and the entire European establishment.
I see where you're coming from, and there's something to be said for the argument. I'll even add that I hope we end up with someone better after Trump leaves office. President Hand Grenade was fun as a protest against the treasonous ruling class, but someone like him is not viable when you want to actually wield power, rather than permanently play the plucky underdog.
No argument there. I've been calling this whole affair a disaster since day one.
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