I laughed at the Toonces analogy. Maybe that sort of low-brow humor is all we get until we fix this mess.

I get that he’s evil, racist, and rolling back or ignoring every law in the books. I just don’t understand how this whole cult thing works with such a dearth of charisma. Couldn’t these idiots find a cult leader with some f*ing panache? I know it’s petty of me, but the dumb is almost as painful to witness as the…

Good.

There should be a reasonably educated, articulate person doing that exact thing on every channel.

That last part is the part I keep sort of mentally tripping over: HOW did this asshat get cult leader status? Surely there are suave, well-spoken con men with the capacity to ape couth and personal dignity? This shitgibbon can’t dress himself or speak full sentences.

Thank you, Bear. As I writer, I am often fascinated how culture and language interact.

“I’m complicit in the dismantling of our government to benefit Russia and a band of ignorant grifters, with a side of human rights violations involving infants, yet, I just can’t fathom why my dates don’t get the same tingly feeling I do when I mention it over tapas. Who knew fascism would be so hard? Also, I was told…

I was a volunteer with Election Protection for the presidential elections of 2008 and 2012. It’s a non-partisan group focused on ensuring that eligible voters are able to vote. My friend and I were in Youngstown, OH, both years, and saw some very hinky stuff going on in 2008. 2012 was better (the Obama campaign…

Hmmm, what could have changed. What puzzle. Wait, I’ll get it. Don’t tell me...

It does, but it also reinforces the sense of “other” around transgender people. It’s a subtle implication that she’s not a real woman because she requires a modifier.

I hope you’re right!

Yeah, but depending on the genre and quality of the story, this is also a beat or two before we get:

Sure. Hard to get a good seated pose, as she’s so full of zoom, but here she is proving she’s way too big for a mere 15" diameter footstool.

Unfortunately, that is quite true. Doubly so in a foreign country, where everything from body language to legal status can be something different than it is at home. A bit of circumspection never hurts.

Traveling solo while in possession of both a bra and a pulse, inconspicuous is my primary aspiration.

Fair enough. I don’t know the larger history around international misbehavior, and I wouldn’t presume to understand how multiple other cultures view Americans. From personal experience, the bar to be deemed “too polite” must be very low indeed, as I clear it without any special or performative effort; no maple leaf…

Ha. International airports are dire. I would’ve appreciated the laugh, had I spotted someone in your not-Daft Punk tee. I personally stick to plain tees and just try to keep my head down (in a book) in the hopes the whole process will be over faster. Doesn’t actually work, but I live in hope.

I was thinking more of the lack of sense of decorum when access to appropriate clothing isn’t an issue. For example, tourists headed into temples in little better than swim attire, or expecting to be seated at dressy restaurants in ripped tees with raunchy slogans. It’s a matter of considering if you would want…

I would like to think that many Americans are quite capable politeness, and therefore merrily going on their way in the world, not being noted as Americans. But at least some of us have behaved so very badly that that’s what my countrymen are “known for” in the larger world.

I’ve been mistaken for Canadian while traveling abroad without affixing anything to anything.