You’re being deliberately obtuse. Wahhabism is a repulsive ideology that deserves to be treated as such, and the willingness of Americans to look the other way when supporting it to serve our purposes (whether it be Republican or Democrat supporting the Saudis or the Taliban) is a massive stain that we are still…

The day some asshole comes into a Western church and guns down 50 Christians simply for being Christians, you can damn well bet I’ll be denouncing them just as hard. And anybody who refuses to do so will be no political ally of mine. It’s really not that hard of a stance to take.

Exactly. Though the added irony is that the Obama administration stepped up border security and deportations in a huge way compared to Bush, but none of it was ever enough for US nativists. Everybody who actually understands the logistics of the border knows that “the Wall” would do little to stop actual illegal…

Yeah, completely agree, and I say this as somebody who otherwise very much likes the show in general and this episode in particular. The spinning briefing is when it finally pushed me over the edge, it was extremely distracting.

Vonnegut didn’t have much use for the American two party political system, but he didn’t have much use for people who are deliberately cruel, either. Coulter’s whole persona is based around gleeful cruelty.

Sometimes I feel like the victory lap we all took (hell, I know I’m still taking it) is going to make it more likely that he actually does shut everything down again in a few weeks. He’s given himself 21 days to get driven into a frenzy from all the mockery.

Funny enough, Babylon 5 canon really does have angels turn out to be glowing tentacle things.

Beth Elderkind, who did the reviews last season, hated the show. Idk for sure who’s doing them this season, but if it’s James Whitebrook, he hates the show too. They’re like every whiny Trekkie ever.

Thank you for this, I’ve always wondered what the hell Solomon’s deal is. I mean, reading articles on the Hill for its (usually) decent reporting typically means having to navigate a minefield of shrieking conservative opinion pieces masquerading as ‘breaking news,’ but the bug up Solomon’s ass always seemed to have a…

Even if you adopt a purely cynical view of the Democratic party’s motives, a lot of this stuff is handy for getting Democrats elected (particularly expanded voting rights) and undercutting Republican power (like scaling back big money donations - Democrats have had a distinct advantage for awhile now when when it…

It’s easy for them when we live in a free market utopia where it’s the right-wing and the super right-wing.

Sooooo... organize to get people to vote?

So here’s the thing about taking the Asshole Route to getting what you want: yes, it can be more immediately effective than Basic Decency. But any gains you get by being an asshole can only be held by continuing to be an asshole. And you can never let up for a moment, because you’ve pissed off enough people who are…

One of my few criticisms of the book series is that the main villains are mostly little more than crazy assholes. The TV show seems to be doing a lot better at giving them some nuance.

So, what I’m about to say could be considered a book spoiler, but technically the TV show did show us the thing I’m about to talk about, it just hasn’t emphasized it yet:

Medical intervention for artificial insemination is only really necessary when there are fertility problems. Otherwise all you need is a male donor, a turkey baster, and a decent sense of humor.

This is what I particularly appreciate about this kiss - romantic plot lines in games usually strike me as forced and shoe horned without any real point. This works BEAUTIFULLY as a framing device for the game’s brutality. ‘They should be very, very scared of you.’ Yuuuuuuup!

I actually thought something very similar (though I was admittedly not exactly sober myself)! I’m starting to think that the maze is an actual physical trigger of some kind. Maybe Arnold put something in the hosts’ code that makes the image of the maze something that a host can remember after a memory wipe.…

Does the lack of “spark” render the body unable to transform into anything except its last assumed form?

My favorite subtle touch for the episode: when Naomi radioed the Roci at the end, she was speaking with her non-Belter accent.