Comey, until recently, was a registered Republican, as he had been “for most of [his] adult life,” in his own words.

On the one hand, damnatio memoriae is precisely what Chaffetz deserves. On the other hand, he was so toxic to the national political discourse... but then again, there are so many of these douchecanoes to choose from.

I did until about May. Thereafter, I was increasingly more freaked out, and so significantly upped my donations and volunteering. All for naught, of course.

Everyone who follows politics, pretty much. Remember that Jason Chaffetz established a national rep with his 2015 investigations of Hillary Clinton...

Based on having watched this episode, and Maher’s entire spiel about Laura Ingraham, he doesn’t seem to understand how First Amendment works.

But it’d be fun to watch them try!

Regulations have changed significantly in at least one respect: under President Obama, you could go to Cuba without an organised group. You did still have to go for one of the permitted reasons, but your trip could be self-arranged. Now (thanks, Trump!) - not so much. It’s a shame; Cuba is wonderful.

NYC should secede. (I mean, I know that’s my perennial tantrum speaking, and it won’t happen, but how I wish it would.)

10/10 would watch.

There are no female rebbes in the Hasidic movement (with literally one exception dating back to the XIX c.), so perhaps the community you know isn’t Hasidic?

Maybe the Bella Thorne story should have been disaggregated from the rest of them... and covered in a different subsection.

Cowtowing to Trump after he insults their families has become a rather unexpected tradition for Texas politicians. See also Cruz, Ted. As a once-Texan, I am pretty surprised.

The Red Sparrow, like the Night Manager, is based on well reviewed literary source material. Of course, why the heck the Red Sparrow (book) was well reviewed is beyond me.

And Mel Gibson is fine, despite the PR nightmare (multiple PR nightmares, really), and the ensuing jokes about how long it would take for Hollywood to forgive him.

To your Cruise question: The Edge of Tomorrow, which is far, far better than merely decent. (This shouldn’t detract from your overall point; there are maybe three films like that in his entire career.)

The one high school movie that holds up? Heathers.

I like Jennifer Lawrence a lot, but find “Red Sparrow” unwatchable, based on what I can tell of the plot from the trailers (have not read the book).

It’s not just you. Saw her in person at NY ComicCon, 10/10 can confirm. And she was warm and funny and lovely, so I’m not even mad at the fact that her attic is apparently full of aging portraits.

You probably know this, but, for the record: Weinstein merely handled distribution for some of the Ghibli films (this came about via Ghibli’s and Miramax’s Disney deals), he did not produce them. The sword story is true, though the sword was actually sent to Weinstein by Miyazaki’s producer in connection with Princess…

Wagner was a notorious antisemite.