I now watch US politics as if I'm peering into a completely different moral universe. Constantly surprised by what matters and what doesn't. Sexual assault, racism, idiocy and corruption all OK. Drinking on the job apparently isn't. - ThreadSky

iandunt.bsky.social • 89 days ago

I now watch US politics as if I'm peering into a completely different moral universe. Constantly surprised by what matters and what doesn't. Sexual assault, racism, idiocy and corruption all OK. Drinking on the job apparently isn't.

Reposted from Alex Koppelman

Breaking from @nbcnews.com: Pete Hegseth's drinking worried colleagues at Fox News, according to 10 current and former Fox employees. Two said that on more than a dozen occasions they smelled alcohol on him before he went on air. www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

Comments

claudieann.bsky.social•88 days ago

Completely agree. I switched to following US politics because I can be astonished and outraged at a distance

etotheipiadd1.bsky.social•89 days ago

Drinking on the job as say a pilot I can understand.
I'd have thought it was obligatory as a Fox News talking airhead.

eyebeemania.bsky.social•88 days ago

I've long thought similar about US media. On TV it seems fine to show as much gratuitous violence as possible, but dare to show an unclad breast on network TV and the whole industry implodes, and the FCC trot out huge fines. They even avoid saying what it was, by calling it a 'wardrobe malfunction'.

guitarmoog.bsky.social•89 days ago

That’s puritans for you.

equiton.net•89 days ago

Take a look at Hitler's cabinet, the parallels are interesting to note...

dreamblu.bsky.social•86 days ago

United States is deeply racist. Obama’s two term presidency is the cause of all of this. White men lost their mind.

you-cant-eat-money.bsky.social•89 days ago

It is…but don’t forget to watch what Russia is up to in Eastern Europe too….

j-d-parker.bsky.social•89 days ago

Having a drink or two before going on air on Fox News is by far the least offensive thing about him. If he had serious values and empathy for humanity I would let that one slide. It's not like he was doing open heart surgery.

davefr.bsky.social•89 days ago

Don't give Trump ideas .. May shift him to Surgeon General.

j-d-parker.bsky.social•89 days ago

🤣

petecordell.bsky.social•89 days ago

American politics with Trump in charge does feel very slapstick Keystone Cops. I have to keep reminding myself that this is serious stuff!!!

darksatanicmills.bsky.social•89 days ago

Sounds a bit like my office.

danmmurphy.bsky.social•89 days ago

They like their sexual assault, racism, idiocy and corruption committed with a clear head.

lazare76.bsky.social•89 days ago

He better hope they don't disvover that he once said Fuck.

wendycp.bsky.social•89 days ago

My hope is that the moral gulf between US politics & ours will save us. If Farage is to succeed here he will need to realise that although we do seem able accept conmen & scammers quite readily.

magslittlefish.bsky.social•89 days ago

Wendy, I used to think that, once upon a time, but now I’m not so sure. Becoming more and more cynical

wendycp.bsky.social•89 days ago

I am cynical to but the out cry against Wallace does show up with some things the brits will not put. And it could just be that unlike the US the women of the UK will save us. I for one will be out protesting. I’m not letting Boomers ruin this country before we all die off.

magslittlefish.bsky.social•89 days ago

I’m going to have to stand up for Boomers here 😂. I’m of a certain age.

wendycp.bsky.social•89 days ago

Me to 😀, I see friends & family getting more & more angry about this country & Starmer is to blame it seems . We came into this world after a terrible war & benefitted from Post war boom & benefits , I don’t want to leave it fighting another war against fascism. Hope Starmer has his big boy pants

magslittlefish.bsky.social•89 days ago

Me too!! I’ve waited a long time for a Labour government and really want to see change!! Let’s start with the media!

cb24resident.bsky.social•89 days ago

It’s truly bizarre hearing the most corrupt people wang on about fixing alleged evils of the Dems. The hypocrisy is astounding. Then again that’s deliberate. It’s all an act. To MAGAts anything more than zero tax is a crime against humanity. Survival of the fittest: the ultimate libertarian utopia

rodders-m.bsky.social•89 days ago

What the story is has no concern at all, only the narrative of the one telling it and the agenda being pushed. The negative slant could have been written about a host of other stories. In this case it could be a warning shot to maintain control - we can destroy you as fast as we have made you

euromec23.bsky.social•89 days ago

Remember, the US had prohibition and there are still dry counties, eg no alcohol sells. By heck you may mock Sweden's #Systembolaget & Finland's #Alko, but the largest alcohol monopoly is Pennsylvania's Wine & Spirit.

owenlaw76.bsky.social•89 days ago

Only in America do you see a politician “praising Jesus” one moment and being exposed as a sex pest the next - the morality is weird but it makes for a good soap opera.

jimob1.bsky.social•89 days ago

In the giddy late 80s-90s people were worried if you didn't smell of booze! Happy days.

demokratia.bsky.social•89 days ago

And 70s. If you remember the 70s you weren't there.

timmokx.bsky.social•89 days ago

When you read through the article, it is just absurd. Puritanical BS

davefr.bsky.social•89 days ago

The McMahons too.
Couple running a wrestling gym. Trainer was grooming/assaulting the boys. Fired .. REHIRED later so long as he promised to stop abusing. He didn't.
It's my opinion that the only way he gets rehired is if he had stuff on the owner.
Then 'committed suicide' while under investigation

davefr.bsky.social•89 days ago

He was reportedly drunk, causing a poolside altercation at the women's Republican convention he went to and raped someone, after molesting and touching a whole load if women.
So yeah, it could be drinking is a problem.

feelingantsy.bsky.social•87 days ago

Right! This isn’t just “he likes a drink at lunch”

blauhaustechnology.com•89 days ago

The rage-o-sphere has consumed everything left-leaning and will now have to feed itself some other way

bake1958.bsky.social•89 days ago

Thanks Ian.Cheers

jamesneill.bsky.social•89 days ago

My take on the situation, filtered through Lippmann’s Public Opinion and Achen/Bartels’ Democracy for Realists, which reviews over a century of survey data, is that this is what a large proportion of the population are like and all that was lacking was the means to really exploit them.

haylibop.bsky.social•89 days ago

I suspect if he put on a dress and assaulted a woman in the ladies’ republicans wouldn’t give a toss. It’s all a power game.

eamonn-red.bsky.social•89 days ago

Same, I used to feel we inhabited the same universe, now (and possibly as a mental health defense mechanism) I've 'otherised' the US in ways I previously reserved for Russia or China.. 🤔

markanorris.bsky.social•89 days ago

It comes from the top. What matters to the success of the nomination is what Trump thinks, and he is a lifelong teetotaller.

He’s always had a thing about drinking. He clearly doesn’t have an issue with the other things or even considers them positives.

feelingantsy.bsky.social•87 days ago

It’s not drinking though is it? It’s being a drunk.

Having a drunk as the head of the American military (or a sexist or a racist etc) seems to be a really bad idea.

markanorris.bsky.social•87 days ago

It is a bad idea. So is having someone that could be easily blackmailed or who is corrupt. Trump doesn’t consider those disqualifying though.

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heyfriend-1.bsky.social•89 days ago

📌🦋💙♻️

llewelynpritch.bsky.social•89 days ago

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doubtful-guest.bsky.social•89 days ago

Agreed on the other problems, but not sure I want the guy who runs the Pentagon to be drunk by 6 every morning.

gfrose.bsky.social•89 days ago

But has he used the Lord's name in vain?! That's what we need to know. 😡😡😡

dystopiangirl.bsky.social•89 days ago

You’re right, it’s just not cricket! 😆

geordiekakamora.bsky.social•89 days ago

I think I get it, being a terrible human is perfectly fine as long as you didn't have a pint first.

ros14.bsky.social•89 days ago

We're almost up there.
Government corruption at the heart of our NHS.
Women's safety on ice.
Tory government spouting racism and division.
Rioting/looting on our streets and Farage (Mr Brexit) complicit.

eric2907.bsky.social•87 days ago

You should see it from over here. Folks always said that JFK's Profiles in Courage was a very thin book for a very good reason. H.L. Mencken predicted that one day the American people would obtain their heart's desire and put a complete moron in the White House.
Mission Accomplished!!!

bougeard.bsky.social•89 days ago

Imagine working at Fox News sober

sueryan66bskysocia.bsky.social•89 days ago

Sexual assault is almost a pre-requisite in the GOP.

chrishauser1.bsky.social•89 days ago

They would make better decisions if they were all drunk I suspect.

dextercrisp.bsky.social•89 days ago

Trump, famously, doesn't drink.

mouldybags.bsky.social•89 days ago

Mixing adderall and alcohol can be dangerous

aliquack.bsky.social•89 days ago

Americans have a weird relationship with alcohol. 2 beers and they're in rehab.

boatdesigner.bsky.social•89 days ago

Americans do have a strange relationship with alcohol. I would argue that Brits do too, just a very different weird relationship. Here it is more one that allows inhibitions to be dropped. Drinking heavily here is socially acceptable too. Though younger folk drink much less.

eddiedolan.bsky.social•89 days ago

Is it relevant to this discussion that Trump doesn't drink? For sure, if he drank, Maga would consider it a Christ-like virtue.

andyjarrett.com•89 days ago

I’m currently watching America like it’s the latest What If…? season.

barleyscotch.bsky.social•87 days ago

Dude. In the US, drinking on the job is way worse than any of those other things. I know you're through the looking glass here, but I grew up there. When the Guardian says we need to understand the "fly-over Americans" I am one of them. I 100% understand them. I'm now a UK citizen.

dubiousfood.bsky.social•89 days ago

Has anyone ever actually "smelt alcohol" on someone? Americans always say that, but I've no idea what they're on about. A I've been around plenty of boozers.

mogo-uk.bsky.social•89 days ago

If you’ve not had a drink yourself, absolutely you can, same with a cigarette or weed.

micarlson.bsky.social•89 days ago

What's worrying is the criticism getting marooned on the island of sexual behaviour, which didn't win with Thomas or Kavanaugh, when you've got his inability to run a Koch brothers astro turf lobby group with a huge budget and only 10 employees...when he's in line to run the biggest budget anywhere

davidkernohan.bsky.social•89 days ago

Complete absence of a moral framework - All that matters is who is doing the transgressing

justj1.bsky.social•89 days ago

US going to have a self inflicted difficult few years.....hope orange slime doesn't spread here...time to be vigilant

marksbark.bsky.social•89 days ago

Americans have always been a bit weird when it comes to booze.

petecurransghost.bsky.social•89 days ago

"Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty"
Arendt.

littlemavis.bsky.social•89 days ago

I'm not sure they ever got over prohibition

donnypolitico.bsky.social•89 days ago

I’m old enough to remember Michael Gove looking extremely pissed in the Commons chamber…

akendal.bsky.social•89 days ago

Never mind Kwarteng at the Queen's funeral.

alexliberto.bsky.social•89 days ago

@iandunt.bsky.social I’m just sorry that Beckett and Pinter aren’t here to see the US today. Imagine the masterpieces they would dish up for us.

barryscarr.bsky.social•89 days ago

Pinter, yes. Not sure about Beckett though - he ploughed his own furrow.

mcolvinmckenzie.bsky.social•89 days ago

I turned off weeks ago and it has been good for my mental health

raen.bsky.social•89 days ago

His show started at 6 am.

majlh77.bsky.social•88 days ago

After years of watching performers on drugs get on stage, nothing surprises me.

samjcrawley.bsky.social•89 days ago

https://bsky.app/profile/tomscocca.bsky.social/post/3lcgs22g2nc2l

lucazanzi.bsky.social•89 days ago

We should ship them a truckload of bacon baps and see what happens.

reallyoldlight.bsky.social•89 days ago

That's what's so jarring about US politics since 2016. The lines being pushed until there aren't any. Every transgression I read about seems to be followed by 'but that's okay'.

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