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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   6994 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026

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I never got a satisfactory account of why Hillary collapsed with a seizure on 9/11 at the height of the 2016 campaign. The official story was pneumonia, carefully elaborated as the definitely non-contagious pneumonia when her method of showing face was a quick public appearance with kids. It was a screaming cover-up. And yet what was there to cover up? Ten years later Hillary seems fine.

Actually, in the same vein, it's also bizarre that Biden was diagnosed with cancer immediately after leaving office, but definitely not while he was in office. I guess in this case it's spread to his bones (quite painful) and they believe he will die with it, so it's not quite the same disappearing flu.

At the time, she was very concerned with projecting a tough guy image because of questions over her age, stamina, ability to deal with complex situations if woken at 2 in the morning in the White House etc. so she and her campaign were paranoid about any suggestions of "she has a health condition that will affect her ability to function". Hence the "no! she did not faint, it was only a stumble! and she didn't even stumble!" reactions and fierce denials of her catching so much as a cold. Hot sauce! Kills all known germs!

I reckon she was also recorded coughing up some sort of suspicious green phlegm.

Yeah I remember that too. It was weird.

But I have to think the stress of flying around the country, keeping weird hours, meeting hundreds of people, giving speeches, being attacked in the media, etc... would probably make most people break down physically and emotionally. For Hillary, her problem was that she never built up her chops in the minor leagues. She was never a super extrovert like Bill, so the crowds stole her energy instead of giving her energy. Most people like her would have gotten weeded out in single A-ball before they even had a chance to blow up in the Big Leagues.

On the other hand, Trump is perhaps the most elite person we've ever seen (certainly at his age) at being able to thrive in chaos. All the 80 year olds I know tire very easily despite having minimal responsibilities.

We often don't understand what makes politicians special. We're disappointed that they are usually midwits, but the good ones are elite in other ways. Simply being able to keep it all together is impressive.

I'm fairly sure that politicians and their staffers are coping with the high energy demands and stress with prescription pills. I think a lot of weird incidents by politicians in public can be explained by this. When you're absolutely fucking exhausted but staying on your feet and performing with stimulants, sometimes the exhaustion can suddenly win and you go down like a puppet that had its strings cut. Literally or metaphorically.

Also a lot of modern politicians are just kinda elderly. My dad's in good shape for his mid-seventies and is retired, but still has 'bad days' on occasion. If I was taking him on an international roadshow of public appearances I'm not bullish that he'd be totally photogenic the whole time

Even ignoring the whole prescription stimulants angle, I’m surprised this kind of thing doesn’t happen more often given:

  1. The extreme hours worked
  2. The lack of sleep 3 the crappy and variable food
  3. The constant stress
  4. Constant exposure to sick people

I have had a little taste of this due to due to extensive travel for work last year. Consecutive days of poor sleep is a recipe for strange and sudden health issues.

the crappy and variable food

They can get takeout at any of the many national chains and get something pretty consistent and okay. Home cooked is out of the question though.

Constant exposure to sick people

Retail employees at a busy place get more face to face exposure to random people than a politician. Sure they don't shake hands all the time but hand sanitizer exists and the biggest risk is airborne illness.

Sleep deprivation and stress definitely is true, though idk how much that actually happens on the campaign trail. I guess it really depends on how well the politician can catch naps while on the tour bus.

They can get takeout at any of the many national chains and get something pretty consistent and okay. Home cooked is out of the question though.

This is supposedly part of Trump's secret. In terms of food safety, McDonald's is going to be much better than a random diner.

Ironically, eating vegetables is much more likely to make you ill in the short term.

Yeah, it's easy to laugh at his common/pedestrian tastes, but it's (1) convenient (2) quick and easy to get practically any time or any place (3) stick to burger, fries, Coke, you know what you're getting, you know what you like and you will eat it (4) can be eaten on the go or while in a car etc.

A constant diet of fast food? No. But "need something fast on the campaign trail where we don't have time to sit down for a proper meal"? A lot better and more reliable than "is there a restaurant or diner up the road we can get something and get out in forty minutes?"

Yeah food safety is very unintuitive. You're much more likely to get sick from eating salad than from sushi

"What's the matter Talarico? You too good to eat an oyster? It was farmed right here in the Gulf of America. You ain't some sort of gay commie vegetarian, are you?"

Talarico grimaces. "Do it for the trans kids", he thinks. Down goes the oyster. 12 hours later, explosive diarrhea follows.

Here's what JFK was on according to ChatGPT. This is Michael Jackson level pharmacological assistance.

Records from 1955–1963 show doctors prescribed or administered several medicines over time. The reported list includes:

  • For pain: codeine, Demerol (meperidine), and methadone
  • For anxiety: meprobamate and Librium (chlordiazepoxide)
  • For sleep: barbiturates
  • For other conditions: thyroid hormone, hydrocortisone and testosterone, antispasmodics, antibiotics, antihistamines, and gamma globulin He also received injections from physician Max Jacobson that reportedly contained amphetamines, steroids, calcium, placenta, and vitamins; those were a separate treatment from his regular prescriptions. The medication list varied over time, and the records available to historians were not a complete lifetime medical file

I still want to know what the Biden cocktail was.

I will say this. Medical ethnics are actually pretty good in that we're not getting tons of leaks about the drugs politicians are taking.

Ah yes, the sledge hammers for your endocrine system. Crazy.

Placenta?

I will say this. Medical ethnics are actually pretty good in that we're not getting tons of leaks about the drugs politicians are taking.

I mean I have personal knowledge of a few politicians and it is usually exactly what you'd expect - people using cocaine because of course. Sometimes Adderall.

We often don't understand what makes politicians special. We're disappointed that they are usually midwits, but the good ones are elite in other ways. Simply being able to keep it all together is impressive.

Grandiose narcissism apparently offers some sort of 'shield' to keep external stressors from being internalized.

Sociopathy is probably more extreme than that, in both 'positive' and negative ways.

Yeah, it's likely adaptive in some ways. If you're building a society, the correct amount of dark triad types in the gene pool is > 0.

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