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PaperclipPerfector  7d ago (text post)   27782 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 13, 2025

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I kind of buy the liberal claim that, because we all know Trump is corrupt and depraved, and the way in which he is so is incredibly funny, people don't hold him to the same standards they'd hold their political enemies, or anyone else.

Theres something to that, but its not everything. Cats try to steal your food, stay sitting on your legs when you want to get up, and scratch up your furniture. Do we accept this because "we all know they are selfish and incorrigable, and the way in which they are so is incredibly cute"? Again, thats part of it, but also, an adult human doing this would be a worrying sign, in a way its just not for the cat. Its not about a slice of ham, its about sending a message. In the other direction, you should be suspicious of a serious mormon who drinks like a normal person, even if normal drinking behaviour is not concerning per se.

Okay but we're putting the heavy drinker or the cat in the position of commander in chief of the United States military! That's bad. Like, if the surgeon operating on you is drinking a 'normal amount' at 2am the night before, you should be concerned about that whether or not he's a mormon.

Im saying it makes sense that people are less concerned when Trump does it, because the character implication is less. Im not saying what the right absolute level of concern is, because Im not sure how to think about that when the implication is gone.

Okay but we're putting the heavy drinker or the cat in the position of commander in chief of the United States military! That's bad.

Worked OK for Grant.

And Garfield.

Grant wasn’t an Ernest Hemingway-style persistent heavy drinker, glass of whisky always in hand. Grant was more of a “spend nine months teetotal and then go on a three day bender” kind of drinker. Also by the time he was President he had quit drinking for good. Now Lyndon Johnson on the other hand, was a persistent heavy drinker and say what you will about him it never diminished his effectiveness as President.

Grant was more of a spend nine months teetotal and then go on a three day bender kind of drinker.

In a nuclear world, this seems ... worse?

you should be suspicious of a serious mormon who drinks like a normal person, even if normal drinking behaviour is not concerning per se

Very much so. I am Muslim and am always slightly concerned when I see another Muslim-esque person drink in a way that I'm not if I see a white westerner drink.

Conversely, when I see Turks or balkan Muslims not drink when everyone else is, I become concerned in a way that I’m not when I see a white Christian turn down a beer.

I think this is a very interesting question. When I encounter someone who is nominally a religious trad drinking (in the case of Muslims or I guess Mormons), aborting, whoring etc, the deep hypocrisy this represents is the strongest characteristic of a certain type of chauvinism. It manifests itself in many ways, for example a liberal, promiscuous, immodestly dressing woman from an Islamic culture who identifies as a devout Muslim and argues against ‘white feminism’. The most common variant is typically the personally promiscuous and/or alcohol-drinking man from a chaste, sober religious subculture who nevertheless believes he is strongly following the rules he clearly does not care for, and yet judges those who also do not care for them as an outsider.

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