The Politics Thread

[Juliajms]

That's just silly. Wouldn't it be far better to just shelve it? The damn car itself is called the general Lee! Is there anyone really clamoring to watch that nonsense anyway?

[Faulkner]

I’m all for reckoning and wrestling with the past, but I think policing these ancient curios are a waste of energy. In cases like GWTW, they are snapshots in time that can be learned from and contextualized in a way that is useful in our digital culture, which decontextualized everything (but with DofH, you’re right: very few people were even thinking about that show before this controversy). How do we make the culture more inclusive moving forward? 

Edited June 14, 2020 by Faulkner

[Vee]

@marceline we're waiting for you on Rampgate!

[Taoboi]

That just lets me know that they are scared of change and the fact that their 'leader' has messed up so much there is very little chance of re-election.

probably in the South.

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  That said...I agree with the shelving more than anything. It is a sign of its time more than it is purposely trying to offend people. A lot of people have fun memories of that show so best to leave it be IMHO.

[amybrickwallace]

 

With a car horn that plays "Dixie"!!!

[Juliajms]

I'd forgotten that. I'm not in favor of any kind of cultural purge. I do think some of this stuff should not be on the airwaves or streaming. If people want to buy the DVD's and watch them without bothering the rest of us, fine.  When people try to cancel JK Rowling (who I don't give one damn about as a writer) I cringe a bit. If you don't want to buy her books fine, but if we can't read or watch anything made by people who aren't fully "woke", the pickings are going to be slim indeed. I feel more fortunate then ever that Bernie was not the nominee because people on the far left really do seem to want to take it that far.

 

I'm all for getting rid of these Confederate statues and renaming the military bases.

[amybrickwallace]

 

Do any channels even currently air reruns of the Dukes? A search of my cable provider shows they don't.

 

I agree with that, as I was a little kid when it was originally on. Even as an adult, I enjoyed it because it was just plain FUN, which you can't say about a lot of shows on now. The late 70s through the late 80s had a lot of fun action/adventure programs. My mom also bought a General Lee Matchbox car for me back in the day, when no one thought twice about it.

[Taoboi]

Same. As a kid, I never knew any of the subtext. It was fun action/adventure to me as well. Color me surprised much much much later. And even then I'm not sure how to feel about what I felt was a kid show. I mean did the creator know, was it just the good ole boy theme back then with no bad sign, I don't know. 

 

As for does any channel still does...well...I want to say I've seen it on one of my channels in passing on the guide once on a old school tv shows (they have HEAD OF THE CLASS, FACTS OF LIFE, NIGHT COURT, all kinds of shows from as far back as the 60s and 70s I believe), but I want to say it was late night. It is next to a channel called ESCAPE here that aired thriller/suspense/crime tv shows (some even from Canada) and SCANDAL. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Did anyone read that NYT article? I did, and it was extensive. I wonder if Mary Trump provided some of those documents that were embedded in the article. The fact that she was a primary source for that feature really speaks volumes.

 

[marceline]

 

LOL! I have to admit it's finally good to see the media finally forced to ask some questions about his health. It's ironic that after forcing all these students to risk their health just for an ego boost ended up making him look weak and sickly. I still think there's only a 50/50 chance he make it to November.

[Faulkner]

 

 

 

 

[DRW50]

Holy [!@#$%^&*]. I figured at best that would be a 5-4 with Roberts narrowly ruling for certain protections to try to keep things from going too far in one direction. I know some people are choking right now as they invested so much time and $$$$$$$ in these elections and in getting far right activists onto the benches.

 

All I can humbly say to them is - eat [!@#$%^&*] and choke on it, you ugly, worthless hatemongers. 

 

The BEST part of this is that Neal Gorsuch, who wrote the opinion, was a Trump pick! Anti-lgbt hate groups spent so much time and money and this is what they got for it!

 

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Edited June 15, 2020 by DRW50

[Juliajms]

This is nuts.

https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/status/1272495494221172738?s=20

[marceline]

 

A Twitter account I follow by someone who was former GOP now independent says that this decision is really going to demoralize Trump's evangelical supporters. He says that hating the gays is even more important to the evangelicals than abortion which, I gotta say, surprised me a little until you realize that evangelicals like to talk a good game about abortion until one of them needs one.

[DRW50]

 

That's interesting. I would have had the same thought too (about abortion being most important to them). I hope it does demoralize them, even if they will have their share of wins - this was, or should have been, one of their biggest, after all the decades they've spent getting to this point.

 

With Anthony Kennedy, these groups would always blame his clerks and claim they had somehow corrupted him. So I guess we may get more of that type of paranoia popping up again.