ptomj.bsky.social
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"But what would the Founders think?"
Who cares? They were a diverse collection of imperfect, flawed human beings. Abolitionist and slaver. Lawyer and petty criminal. Monarchist and republican. Banker and agrarian. More to the point: they're dead. The country they built hasn't existed for centuries.
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The scribblings of the Prophets/Saints are pored over centuries later to try and parse *their* intent, *their* thoughts, and *their* beliefs as *the* source to guide the actions and decisions of people today.
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Prophets/Saints (Founders) scribed the Bible/Decalogue (Constitution) through divine sanction and inspiration (rights and liberties are "endowed" by a "Creator").
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The way US history has been mythologised is certainly quasi-Abrahamic. Moses (Washington) leads his people to freedom from the tyrannical Pharaoh (George III - Paine even refers to him as a "sullen tempered Pharaoh of England").
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Although it should be noted he only refused to run for a third term on account of his age, and didn't want to die in office to give the impression it was a lifetime job. I think had he been younger he absolutely would have run for three or even four terms.
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Isn't that betraying the public's trust?
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The only two areas he really diverged was not using the Continental Army to overthrow Congress and install himself as dictator a la Cromwell, and refusing to run for a third term. He wasn't a tyrant in that sense, but a lot more ruthless and ambitious than people think.
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I think his whole "I just want to retire" shtick after the Constitution was adopted was similar. The first election was basically just a campaign to get Washington to accept the job. Him playing hard to get made people want him even more, and guaranteed victory.
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It's like the whole concept of his supposed humility. He frequently turned up to Continental Congress meetings in military uniform, fully expecting it would get him noticed and he'd be given a command, and then acted humbled and blindsided when he got one.
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The invocation of them to defend whatever one's pet political position is really betrays the quasi-religious idolatory that American culture has imbued them with. It's a secular form of invoking God.
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"Don't find joy in life, just be a doomscrolling misanthrope like me!"
I can't stand these misery vultures.
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He flies by virtue of a wingsuit that you could buy off Amazon rather than electrically-stiffened fibres. The Batmobile is basically an upgraded modded street racing muscle car. Even the cowl looks hand-stitched. The grapple launchers are things you can buy online.
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As an example, in the Nolan movies, Wayne gets access to a massive armoury of high-tech non-production experimental military equipment. Nothing out of bounds of realism, but still stretching what's probable.
In The Batman, everything looked like it was cobbled together from bits and pieces (cont)
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Yeah, they're grounded in the same way the Nolan Batman movies are. They're certainly more realistic than the others, but they still exist in a heightened reality that bends the probable. I'd say Reeves' The Batman is the most realistic Batman movie.
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Maybe he'll get one after he finally expires, because dying would be his best contribution to world peace.
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"Moldemort" 🤣🤣🤣
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Casino Royale was probably the most grounded, but after that they became campier and more fantastical (which isn't a criticism, some of those movies were great!).
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Play what game? Explaining why you provided a bad example so you just shift the goalposts?
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The Good Friday Agreement affected the entirety of the UK and its relationship with Ireland, not just Northern Ireland.
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88 feet tall? Did they install 14 of them?
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If you're supposed to work to get medical care, why do members of Congress get it?
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"You can have dignity in death but not in life"
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It never really did with Manchin either since he loved to withhold his vote.
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You just admitted it can be abused because no law is immune from abuse, then told the same person they were being ridiculous for saying the law could be abused. You can't have it both ways.
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The US government *are* Nazis.
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You do realise winter and summer are two totally different seasons, right?
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They look like wee parachutes!
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Looking forward to the hand-wringing from fence-sitters of how this would be indefensible evil if the Tories were doing it, but it's economic necessity and very smart when Labour does it.
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I'd legitimately watch either of those two before PIC S3 because at least those two have stories that only last 45 minutes each. PIC S3's story is ten fucking episodes.
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Do you say biopsy as "bi-op-see" or "bio-sigh"?
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"You can have the exception in this case, but no others"
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Counterpoints:
1. Language and pronunciations aren't fixed and way more fickle than we think; and
2. I don't care. It's biopic like myopic and you can't stop me.
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The whip system is mostly good but it can be abused, like this. If MPs were just required to vote according to the (let's be honest, fickle) wishes of the public, then we may as well just have a referendum on every policy decision. As we all know referendums are great and always well-informed.
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Greens don't have the appeal. They have far too much baggage by being seen as NIMBYs domestically, and supporting extremist cranks internationally. We need a left party with actual principles and a spine, not a hangout for trendy student union types.
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What happens if a majority of constituents support the Royal Navy machine gunning migrants in boats crossing the English Channel? Should the MP vote in favour of that because it's what their constituents think?
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Don't get me wrong, MPs should vote against these cuts regardless, but saying whipped voting should be made "illegal" is just insane.
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If they always have to vote based on what their constituents think then why bother with elected officials and government at all, just have every policy decision decided by popular referendum.
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The US doesn't have any military bases in Pakistan, certainly not in Afghanistan (come on), and absolutely none in Turkmenistan (?).
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Translation: "we miss your money."
Nothing about how this is perceived by Canadians, the severe damage to trust, the threats to Canadian sovereignty, or the fact that Canadian citizens have been detained and/or turned away for no good reason. It's just always about them.
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Hey JD! If you ever feel like visiting the UK, we'd be delighted to welcome you to DFS. They're a furniture company, and they always have sales on some great sofas that I think you'd be interested in!