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Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 15, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Is the They Eats Cats in Ohio the best meme so far in the election? The memes from the right are chuckle worthy which hasn't been in a long time and the left is in the (un)usual for them defensive mode since Kamala nomination to debunk.

The best I have seen so far: https://images7.memedroid.com/images/UPLOADED489/66e3727adde1f.jpeg (alf with a cat sandwich) https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GXcp_JCWQAA8gO8?format=jpg&name=medium (woman and cat arguing)

Lots of alf memes on the topic anyway. Also a lot of ai generated memes in which trump saves cats. I have seen a parody of the chick-fil-a ads, cats in combat fatigues getting deployed to ohio, tiktok trend with shocked dogs when trump says they eat pets in there.

All in all surprising memetic hit.

And it resulted in an absolute banger of a techno song, although good luck finding it on Google.

Trump's speaking has a strange rhythmic quality that makes it pretty easy to set to music.

Nice song, but I hate how Twitter stops playing the video as soon as I scroll away from it to read the replies. It's just as terrible as autoplaying videos, but in reverse.

I hate how Twitter stops playing the video as soon as I scroll away from it to read the replies

There is a public video-enabled Nitter instance at https://elon.cucked.me/Bigfoot_USA/status/1834305378621730851 ; it doesn't have infinite-scrolling replies, but it does allow you to keep the video playing in the background when you open subsequent pages of replies in a new tab.

I couldn't stop laughing at this video clip from the hallowed halls of Congress earlier this week. It has the exact same tone as schoolchildren bullying an overwhelmed substitute teacher. I think that's a good metaphor for the id of the two parties.

Why is it surprising? It seemed obvious as soon as a candidate repeated an accusation that's at once all of outre, disgusting, racist, ultimately unprovable as either true or false, hate-inducing, and goofy; that was going to be a viral moment. People love hating the out-group, it feels great. This is true regardless of the truth value of the accusations. The race was on the moment he said it between right wing research efforts to turn up something close enough to true to say it was true, and left wing efforts to turn up a hate crime against the Haitian community. So far the right has turned up a couple rumors that almost kinda sound like it, and a bunch of pictures of people two towns over roasting what are obviously chickens or lamb on closer inspection; the left is in overdrive reporting "threats" but hasn't turned up anything concrete yet. The NY post meanwhile is reporting on car crashes in Ohio in which no one is injured as major news stories.

That said, I think the best meme of the election so far has been the Fight Fight Fight photo of Trump. Fifty years from now, when the 2020s retro look is back in, and it's all aesthetic and no politics, it'll be around. When my grandkids want to decorate their 2020s vintage basement in style, they'll put that picture on the wall, maybe in the form of a framed boardwalk T shirt from the Jersey Shore, as iconic of the time, without really knowing whether they agree with DJT's politics or not; in the same way that I have a velvet painting of JFK hanging in my '62 vintage basement.

My favorite has been, "If Kamala wins, you get free healthcare," as if free healthcare for all would be a travesty of the common man.

It would be - the common man is pretty happy with their insurance-provided health care, as opposed to VA or Medicare.

I'm mildly surprised this hasn't been discussed in the main thread. But I guess I can predict how it will go.

I'm a fan of the autotunes and dance remixes personally. There are several good ones, including one I'm partial to where the guy autotunes a howling dog as a backup singer. Would really enjoy going to a good dance party and hitting a few strides to "They're eating the cats, they're eating the cats" between Chappell Roan or something.

Edit: As an addendum, the second-best meme of the cycle is the series of coconut tree dance remixes from Kamala's announcement PR team meme blitz, for the same reason.