In the Depression era Our Gang comedies, a recurring gag was for the kids to get adult sized costumes and put on a show. The joke was the sight-gag of the kids wearing the oversize clothes, but trying hard to play the roles in their show. It was made in a time when there was a clear line between childhood and adulthood, so the audience understood that it was not just using kids for cheap gags. It was also a way to make sport of current issues without being too obvious.
The man behind the Our Gang series was credited with using children in a natural way, so they came across as real kids, not adult actors playing children. The authenticity of the roles, a group of poor children in the depression, often pretending to be adults or what they imagined it was like to be adults, allowed the adult audience to laugh at themselves and the foolishness of adult pretensions. The best comedy is that which allows the audience to approvingly laugh at themselves.
It makes for an interesting contrast to the modern day. The most popular movies in this age feature adults dressing up as children’s comic book heroes. They engage in the sorts of fantasy stories featured in comic books. These movies are not made for children, but for adults. The median age of the American comic book consumer is 34. The point of the movies is for the adults to escape anything resembling adulthood and engage in the sorts of flights of fancy normally associated with children.
Movies have always been escapism. In the Depression, people went to the theater to get some relief from the daily grind of hard times. During the war they went to be reassured that they were on the winning side. In the Cold War, movies often reminded people that they were on the side of angels in the great struggle with communism. Alternatively, they were a cautionary tale about the foolishness of war in a nuclear world. Movies reflect and shape the shared public consciousness.
That’s what makes those old Our Gang skits about kids in adult clothes relevant in the age of comic book movies. We live in an age in which fools and knaves dress up as serious people and perform serious roles. The typical politician is a dangerously stupid simpleton, but he can play his role well, so he gets the part. He is no different from the kids dressed up in adult clothes. The difference is you could laugh at the kids, but the modern version is nothing but horror.
Just look at the absurdity of the Covid panic. All over we see adult children cast in the role of political leader, playing a real-life action fantasy game where they are heroically fighting the Covid monster. Mario’s Cuomo’s oldest, currently staring as Governor, commissioned a book about himself fighting the Covid. It’s a wonder he did not have it titled My Struggle. Like so many other reckless idiots holding high office in this country, he lives in a fantasy land where he is always the hero.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but much of the outrage over Trump is that he is an authentic human being, not some airhead hired for the role. The long arc of our presidential candidates has reached the point where the Inner Party candidate is a man who could very well be dead right now. He stays locked in a basement. We are a click away from the next candidate being a concept or maybe a holographic image created by the special effects people in Hollywood.
That’s probably why the super hero genre has become so popular. In an age of mediocre men dressed up to play important roles, it is natural for the common fantasy to revolve around some great leader emerging to transcend the dreary blandness of the age and carry us forward into a heroic age. The foil for these heroes is always a group of people who are too small minded to appreciate whatever it is the hero is bringing to society with his super-natural or super-human skills.
It’s also not surprising that these emergent heroes are psychologically flawed in some way that will prevent them from fully realizing their power. The audience is supposed to see the foolishness of anyone trying to transcend this age. In the end, there is no escaping the dreary blandness of the egalitarian age. The subtext to these films is that only mentally flawed people think anyone should seek something more than material prosperity and temporary happiness. It is nihilism for a nihilistic age.
Another juxtaposition worth considering is that in the dawn of Hollywood, movies were a break from the labors of life. The audience was serious people engaged in the serious struggle of life. Today’s audience is composed of grown up children escaping the boring drudgery of life to pretend for a little while to be serious adults. They don’t desire a great leader to carry them to something better. They just think it would be cool to fly around in magic underwear for a while. Small men. Small dreams.
Joseph de Maistre said, “Every country has the government it deserves.” It is a popular quote with modern critics of liberal democracy, but they miss the larger point. The government is the reflection of the society’s elite, which in turn is a reflection of the people and culture that produced that elite. It is no wonder that modern leaders are grown up toddlers dressed up in adult clothes. They are the elite we deserve, because we are no longer able to demand more from ourselves.
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I think Gen x is probably the last childhood cohort that thought there was a mystery and the desirability of becoming an adult. I know I could not wait to be an adult. There is also correspondence with therapy culture going mainstream in the 70’s convincing all the adults that they were miserable. For my sake I hope adult hood comes back in fashion pretty soon. Because I’m an adult and I’m still vigorous. it would be nice to be useful
I think you may be right. One of the weird things I recall people reporting about the millennials is they were not getting driver’s licenses at 16. They did not see the point. Not all, of course, but a much bigger portion than in generations past. The end of the Cold War was an infection point for many things.
A lot of my clients have teenage children and it is an absolute chore to get any of them to drive. One of them is going ahead and selling the brand new BMW that they bought their child because she refuses to drive it and starts crying every time they try to make her. Can you imagine? I got my first car when I was 16 and I was so excited about it I used to wake up in the middle of the night and just go for a drive. They don’t desire freedom
I hear ya Whitney same here. But…..
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/urbs/the-car-in-the-landscape-a-love-story/
I’ll raise you
https://classic.esquire.com/junior-johnson/
Everyone used to go to the DMV on their 16th birthday to get their license. Everyone.
My parents wouldn’t allow me to get my license until I turned 18 and needed it for a job. Something about a lack of responsibility. They were no doubt correct, but it made me miserable. Makes dating tough!
Our tiny Nevada town high school loaned us a car to go take the test.
Guess what. They fibbed, there was no speed governor on that car. After passing, and before returning to school, I found out that I could bury the speedometer. It went over 100 easy!
After we got our permits at 15 1/2!
No kidding. Florida was 15/16 in olden times. But we’d all learned to drive on relatives farms. My cousins were permitted to operate machinery on roads at 12 so long as it was to/from fields.
Living in Reno, a friend loaned me a kitted out VW buggy with no driving the stick lessons. Sweating bullets, I lurched through the streets, fighting the stick and clutch, going wrong direction on one-way streets, cars swerving and honking, and learned to drive stick. Lived to tell the story! People are such pussies now. The moment they have an uncomfortable feeling they shriek at warp speed to see a therapist. When I was a water distribution operator moving water around the east bay area, one of the distribution operators died smashing into a tree. When I came on shift… Read more »
Learned to drive stick in Moscow. First time out on my own I stalled it in one of the major traffic circles. Thank heaven for diplomatic plates.
I was driving at 13
I was taking my go cart to the mall when I was 11
I learned to drive stick on a ford 150 at the farm where I worked. Great place to learn to drive. Dirt road, beat up old truck.
I watched a young bull being castrated. I’ll never forget the sound of those two plinks in the metal bucket….
Wait, what were we talking about/
I began racing go karts in 1974 at the age of 7. Good times. And I’ve still got my kart.
If we get some acreage, like we are planning, I am getting a tractor at minimum and some kind of go cart or beater I can race around in the dirt.
Suggest you buy an old John Deere with a detachable auger, cart and water tank. With that I can teach you how to grow just about anything, from apple, cherry, peach and how to string vineyards. A good tractor that you learn how to drive without it falling over and suffocating you is worth its weight in gold if you hold arable land. Gold.
Look at how much the age has been increased in the last ten-20 years to get a full unrestricted license. Most states continue to have restricted licenses available from 14-16 (these were the ages entitled to full unrestricted licenses not very long ago), and a friend with the Safety Department tells me almost no one tries to get the unrestricted/beginner’s versions as soon as they become available. Nationwide, teen driving has plummeted.
How do they get to work?
Work. You’re funny.
That’s a gem, old son. Upvoted.
“School is my/my kid’s job”.
Seriously. Hear this all the time.
P.S. – Most of them suck at their “job”.
In fairness to the kid, the way third-world drivers move their cars on our highways is pretty damn terrifying. I’ve nearly been wrecked twice in the last three days and both times when I looked over at the idiot driver it was a brown woman. One had a dot on her forehead and the other was wearing a headscarf. I’d imagine driving was a lot easier for teens thirty years ago because there weren’t as many drivers on the road, and those drivers weren’t as dumb.
Actually this is true. I do not drive on the interstate anymore if I can avoid it. The last time I did it was legitimately terrifying and yeah it is the non-whites mostly. Last time some guy in a Dodge Challenger with a front bumper ripped off so it look like Bane came up right on my tail and then swerved over into the fast lane and passed me and I glanced over and he was texting while he was doing all this. Black guy obviously
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
I drive my car like a maniac too. I particularly enjoy scaring goodwhite cucks in subarus going the speed limit. I’d rather 3rd worlders going too fast than goodwhites going too slow and voting to clog up the roads with bike lanes.
Learn to embrace chaos.
Learn to embrace chaos…upvote
You drew a harrowing picture Drew. Just wait til you are faced with a Bindi phlebotomist as once happened to me. That’ll blow your socks off on the third attempt at sticking the vein.
Visited the island of Trinidad in the early 90s. First time driving on left side of the road. There was no “gradually getting used to it”. Leaving the rental lot at the airport it was on. High speed, bumper to bumper, cars inches apart, stray dogs and Rastas suddenly appearing out of nowhere and crossing the road. Excellent training for Formula 1. Biggest butt puckering moment was rounding the corner on a twisting mountain road, no guardrail,one and half lanes wide and seeing a full size 18 wheeler coming at me. I am sure I must had two wheels off… Read more »
This evokes “fond” memories of trying to drive away from Dublin airport in a rental car during morning rush hour, never having driven on the left side of the road before. After the first hour on the road the sphincter started to relax a little.
You’d enjoy St. Croix USVI. Driver side the same as in continental US but vehicle on opposite lane. We used to visit frequently and each time there was another traffic death because a tourist was confused and drove right into oncoming traffic. But they’ll never change.
Drove in Italy and it took 20 years off my life. Then I drove in Romania.
Third-Worlders, with their incomprehension of rules, may be dangerous, but I’ll take them over clowns with their mugs buried in their sail foams, any day. Just about every time I see a driver make a dick move on the road, s/he is fingering her phone.
Twenty years ago, if I’m driving by a median that got whacked, I’d figure drunk driver. Nowadays, it has to be some idiot looking at their phone.
When we used to go down to Mexico on a regular basis, the further south you went, the more 3rd world it got, as far as driving was concerned. I remember coming up to a four way stop in La Paz and watching no one stop. After a day or so, you get with the program.
This is why my younger son would rather I drive. I still have extremely quick reflexes for my age, whereas he has trouble with all the multitasking/instant decisions required when driving amidst the 3rd world horde. The crap I somehow avoid daily – while I pass the damned local cops sitting in the church parking lot waiting to give out speeding tickets . . . Oh yeah, ‘protect and serve.’
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
For GenX driving was all about freedom and getting away from icky parents.
I had a friend who drove around constantly by himself when he was 14. One time we got picked up for speeding by the State Police on the way back from a movie.
My friend was only 15 with no license or learner’s permit.
The cops almost hit turkeys twice on the way back to the post because the vet driving was distracted helping the rookie fill out the paperwork.
Your clients are fortunate, I think, that their daughter doesn’t like to drive — even a brand new car, not the old beater our kids learned on in the 90s and were happy to have. Their insurance rates will be within reason, for one thing. Also, I’ve noticed how horribly those kids, especially girls, drive these days. They’re in some under-powered Prius-like vehicle, come speeding up right behind you, not keeping appropriate distance, then flash past at the first opportunity and cut in front with no particular warning. Here’s what I really miss about the current crop of teenagers: good-looking… Read more »
The attractive teenage girls are too busy selling themselves in softcore on Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, and Only Fans to leave the house.
Sounds like you are not living in the territory of Your People, kemosabe. Maybe change that, before some BIPOC “native” puts you through a log mill alive.
I know what you were doing. You were driving around looking in peoples’ windows!
J/K 🙂
Seriously, though, I couldn’t wait to drive. All my friends were the same way. I can’t understand the change.
Haha! Yoi know it
Its probably because Beamers have become so effeminate that she feels homosexually uncomfortable, especially with that “marital aid” they use for a shifter nowadays. I wouldn’t expect their son to be happy to drive that glitter-pink VW bug, either. But seriously, its a fairly easy thing to explain. The purpose of a car to a teenager or twentyish is to socialize, primarily with the opposite sex. The smartphone is easier, faster, cheaper, and sub rosa compared with a car. Its why new cars are now smart phones with wheels. Add to that the manginafication of soy for guys who can’t… Read more »
Freedom to do what? Go where?
What an insensitive father. He won’t hire a chauffeur for his daughter? 🙂
Kids don’t drive anymore, they Uber. How lame is that? You’ll know we’ve hit bottom when some Silicon Valley entrepreneur starts a service business in which some dolt comes to your house to wipe your ass for you.
If you only go out a couple of times a week and mostly for business, it makes a lot more sense than spending $450 a month for insurance and an extra 25 cents a mile in gas and expenses, more in some states. Uber by way of comparison is around an average of $2 per mile so even if you use it over 200 miles a month its cheaper than a car and you don’t need to drive. Note also many youngster cannot afford the cost of operating a car even if they make a higher than average say $10… Read more »
I think that the economics of driving aren’t discussed enough. When I was 16-17, I could work a part time job and scrape enough money together to afford driving my $600 beater. Cash-for-clunkers means no more beaters to be had. Insurance is more, gas is more, and the internet made it easy to stay home for much more entertainment. Cameras everywhere means you can’t get away with any shenanigans like teenagers used to. All that and I’m on the cusp of only 40 years old. Times are a changing fast.
The net effect is that society is going to end if not from war, collapse or immigration than from lack of anyone who actually enjoys living in that society. Largest generation ever, lowest fertility ever. It kind of reminds me of the Corporate State dystopia in the time travel police procedural Continuum. Essentially the corporations in that world own all the government debt and if you fail to pay your taxes you are chipped and used a machine tool. Now the evil super genius that created it can keep the lights on and even recover from an A Bomb blast… Read more »
Yeah, I saw that and it perplexed me. No driver license? How will you chase p**** what are you, a fag?
I ran out two batteries in the family station wagon making night moves with pretty girls. The rear upolstry had bare patchs after date night. Nowadaze they probably sleep over in the first date. After they s3lf-identify I guess.
Little too tall, coulda used a few pounds…
Man i remember looking in the paper to figure out what movie was playing, lie to my girlfriend’s mom that we were going to see it, then park on a backroad for hours. Youth are missing out on the joys of life, that magical time between childhood and adulthood.
Yuge plus one as with Vizzini. Here is where I end up in Hell. Several of our evangelical lutheran, dutch reformed and churches of the german gottes had back parking lots that abutted extensive woods. We always parked opposite the sole mercury vapor lamp in the shadow of the trees. The girls knew this stuff and who was I to object. The first battery out got us jump started by the daughter of the h.s. band director; the second battery out I was grateful to be jumped by the local carpet installer’s van. I was embarrassed, the girls more concerned,… Read more »
My son spent half an hour yesterday cleaning out the back seat of his car:- lint roller and all, after the dog hadbeen in it the day before.
I didn’t inquire as to why the unusual need for such cleanliness,
That’s funny. I would have teased his ass unmercifully.
These daze, just be thankful. You look to have grandkids, he just doesn’t know that yet! Hepp ’em out.
“Neflix and chill” google it.
Fag isn’t an insult anymore, no one outside of redneckistan cares if you call them gay. Maybe they should. Second, kids today get laid a lot less. Some surveys say that half of all people are single and that half of those NEVER want a partner and its not just old people. Sex has been in steady decline for decades (since AIDS/Herpes) and actual dating is considered to be unsafe by some. Way too much chance of an unhappy date claiming rape or the like and these days even if you win, you lose. Its bad enough I’ve seen heard… Read more »
Here in Germany at least, it’s not just that young people don’t they don’t see the point of getting a drivers license, they simply can’t afford the cost of vehicle ownership; purchase price, fuel costs, insurance, maintenance, etc.. Fortunately least we have excellent public transportation across all of Europe.
Yes. Here in the UK, our public transport has many links. I used to travel by train down to Bavaria, from London, too… but now they’ve ruined that with Covid regulations, so back to the motor for me.
Of course, our government wants all IC engines off the road by 2040, so we’ll be hit with more and more ‘green’ taxes, so it’s back to walking everywhere for me.
Covid has ruined much of our society norms. Or to be more accurate, EU governments response certainly has. I hate to admit it, but the DB has never been as good since it was privatized. I’ll never give up my car. Not until Germany outlaws speeds above 130, then I might as well walk.
In my part of the UK public transport is rudimentary, but we still see fewer young people learning to drive. Partly this is because learning to drive has become more difficult over the years due to changes in the driving test. However, the main reason for the change is cost. It’s not only learning to drive which is much more expensive, the cost of car ownership, particularly insurance has been rising faster than wages for years. Couple that with the way that housing costs have risen over the same time-frame and it’s hardly surprising that young people are economizing where… Read more »
As I noted above, its the same in the US.
A kid making $10 an hour can’t afford to operate a car and do anything else.
Yeah, the lack of desire for getting a driver’s license among young people was flashing billboard to me that something was wrong.
It’s partially explained by the fact that kids are driven everywhere from birth to their very organized play dates, club sports, etc. They aren’t riding their bikes to find some friends at the park. So what’s the point of getting a driver’s license if you already have a chauffeur.
Also, most modern White teenagers are extremely risk averse since they’ve been brought up to fear pretty much everything. Driving a car involves risk, so they’d rather pass.
There’s another issue tucked in there, Citizen. When I was a kid, biking down the road wasnt such a big deal. Now, though, we have another 40 million mestizos out driving drunk and looking for a Mollie Tibbits score. Importing tens of millions of <80 iq people who think 12 is a reasonable age of consent, a BAC under 10 is perfectly sober, and “no habla” is a reasonable defense to a rape charge has fundamentally changed the landscape for letting our daughters “run free.” Having 3m illegals is a different society than having 50m illegals/semilegals.
I’d call that wisdom and well developed cost benefit analysis. $10-$12 an hour pay if you can find a job meeting $800 a month for taxes, car payment, insurance, gas and such doesn’t pencil out. If you want kids driving and we probably don’t, get the cost of cars down, insurance down and wages up. It won’t be easy after Cash for Clunkers but even here in Cali there are cheap cars. Still $2500-5000k for a car it doesn’t pencil out even at the $12 an hour and note too under 18 workers are super rare. Companies won’t hire them… Read more »
“Infection” point. Good one. I like that.
Yowz! I missed “infection point” on first reading.
My nieces are like this. Just had very little interest in learning to drive. It baffled me.
Out here in the sticks my sons couldn’t wait to get their license so they could drive the 12 miles to private school. The youngest got his last year along with a farm endorsement so he can drive a truck. His first trip on his own was in a 10 wheel flat bed truck with 13 speed shift. Now we have a fleet of 30 year old 4×4 pickups in the driveway.
inflection/infection, same thing here.
I’ve finally figured out that these mangled idioms are usually intentional. And that is one of your best.
Infection point. That should become standard parlance.
I teach high schoolers. It used to be that the boys wanted to be men and acted like it. Now they are all discussing their Halloween costumes. The infantilization, the lack of testosterone, and the ‘warm is the womb’ desire is real. They are physically different than any other generation. The driver’s license issues is real, as well. My generation would chomp at the bit and could cite the day you could get your license. I asked my seniors the other day what age you have to be to get your license now, and not one knew. To be clear,… Read more »
Nothing a few days without food won’t cure. But I get you. I’ve often wondered if they started slipping us estrogen analogs after World War II.
I doubt it was done on purpose though there are a lot of estrogen analogs in the environment do to birth control pills and especially plastics. Most of this is the way people live, many people thirty and under had overprotective parents , schools that might as well be prisons and spent a great many hours in front on the computer. Yes they did exercise and do sports but it as all structured. The kind of vigorous spontaneous real world play and exercised that all of us older kids, even bookworms like me engaged in just wasn’t there. When I… Read more »
There is no point for today’s urban kids to spend huge amounts of money on a car stuff when they aren’t going anywhere other than work for the most part. They don’t hang out at malls, go shopping go on dates or to parties nearly as much as previous generations. Blame economics culture and tech for this. Teen pregnancy is so low now its lower in absolute terms than in the 1940’s which given abortion is way down suggests better birth control and more importantly a lot less sex. Also a lot of states don’t allow under 18’s to drive… Read more »
We had our first kid when I was 18 !! And I was a “Joe Prep” going to college and playing tennis. Whole world changed overnight when she got pregnant, and I have been an adult my whole life it seems. And now I need a break lol
God bless you, friend
I’m an Xer that fell prey to this delusion.
Now I wish I could relive my life from about 1980 to 2019 on loop, kind of like the novel Replay
Live life to the fullest at any age and any stage. You can’t go forward or go back so enjoy the present. Not in a hedonistic way, more like just live fully and enjoy the benefits that come at any given age. Youth = freedom age = wisdom etc.
Uhg, sounds like a lot of work…
Wild Geese: check out Dan Simmons “Flashback” for a (sad/ inspiring/ blackpill/ dystopian) adult read…
Thanks Moe!
The memory tech sounds a bit like Strange Days (1995).
I have mixed feelings about that film because the plot is pozzed, but they raised interesting points about memory recording tech, the acting was good, they pulled off the multiple ending trick very well, and the soundtrack was solid.
The scene with the kids at a middle eastern bazaar somewhere in the USA, and the bombings being called out on the radio while driving both felt like things I could live to see with my own eyes.
That thought has occurred to me, what it would be like to have been able to have lived my life without a book rack full of lies pumped into me. But, then I remember how much I hated school, and hated it with a fiery passion. Glorified prison says I; even if I could save western civilization by only having to relive my youth attending school I’d say the hell with western civ. The fact that the girl/woman in the Replay book had to constantly relive her school going youth was a nightmare in the making…to me.
Agree that it would be an enormous torment to relive the elementary and secondary school years with all one’s adult memories.
I differ in the sense that I didn’t hate school, but I really failed to understand the importance of the social aspects then and now.
I think I’d have achieved much more in my life if I’d handled the social aspects better.
The effects of lowering the bar to the lowest common denominator What passes for quality today is a joke. THIS is what drives me the most. If you could point to one thing about our society that disturbs or angers me the most it is this acceptance of low quality. And over time I have learned that it has a racial component, which is why I drifted in the DR direction. If the races were capable or interested in maintaining and always in the pursuit of “high quality” I wouldn’t be here. I doubt many of us would. But as… Read more »
what’s really going on is the replacement of competence with political reliability. and no one is more reliable than a person unfit for the job they hold due to political allegiance. it’s a feature of the left, not a flaw. or at least not accidental…
Bioleninism, in other words, and this is correct. The people who choose our leaders demand it.
Precisely why they hate a Trump. Beholden to no one.
I see it at work, white people killing themselves trying to do it “right” or “the right thing” and make it work. Stressing over everything. The 3rd worlders don’t care at all. I’m not even sure the 3rd worlders understand why the white people are working so hard. If they realized what caused these issues and why (race), they might not be so enthusiastic. Sadly they seem blind so they just keep breaking their back to keep things on track. Eventually nothing will work, and that bodes very poorly for our Just in time supply chains, and basically everything, which… Read more »
Drives me crazy
On so many levels
It is basically them pissing on us and our culture whether they know it or not. They SHOULD NOT be here
I just don’t care. I do the minimum and still get paid. If the boss complains i show that I still did more than Mahmood. For tasks like home improvement I do it myself.
Corps are anti-white anyways I don’t see why I should work hard when they openly tell me white men are bad. Promotions are based on how much the wahmen leaders like you, not performance.
Why I quit corporate maybe 15 years ago
Plus the company was owned by a Jewish fellow, so it was a dead end for me
Judging by the ordeal that has become on-line ordering I’d say we’re pretty close to finding out what happens when merit becomes a dirty word.
The classic “Pump Six” short story by Paolo Bacigalupi.
(Pump Six is ailing, about to fail, threatening the whole metropolis’ freshwater supply…)
Culture takes a blame too. Many Latino countries are Caucasianer than USA but mañana culture rules. Argentina’ for instance.
Tell me about it. I’m having to send an irrigation controller back for warranty work. I asked the salesman where it was made? In Mexico. I said that was good, I didn’t want one from China. Joke’s on me.
There’s also a “don’t kill the job,” planned obsolescence component. My sister recently had to replace her 70+ year-old boiler. Was she offered another 70-year (or better) boiler? You know the answer. It’s the prioritization of GDP over every other concern, including the health and well-being of the people. And the Financialization of every aspect of the economy.
Not that long ago we did have a couple of outstanding men who ran for president. Men who campaigned on serious, important issues, such as immigration, opposition to free trade and outsourcing, along with trade deficits, and the national debt. Unfortunately the not-so-serious national media smeared Ross Perot and Pat Buchanan, ruining their chances to be elected. Compare those specific, grown-up issues with what Joe Biden is campaigning for and with the debate questions that have been lobbed to him.
After your first two sentences, I knew exactly who you were going to name. I voted for both of them, and campaigned for Perot. Long ago in a far off land called America…
Oh the press is indeed serious, but serious about keeping out men like Buchanan and Perot. As long as I can remember the press has always been a gate keeper preventing people the ruling class does not like from holding public office. Just look how the press attacks Trump on a 7×24 basis and has since before he took office. The press is not there to inform the people, it’s there to enshroud us in ignorance. People who grew up with the internet have no idea how limited the peoples access to real news was prior to that. It was… Read more »
Ross Perot got 19% of the popular vote running as independent, and could have plausibly had much more if he had not popped in and out of the race (SNL had weekly skits of him doing so. He also, like Trump, had a populist message on US financial issues (deficits and debt – the 3rd world invasion not a hot issue as it was just picking up steam in 92). First politician that actually spoke about real issues in specific terms , employing charts with numbers and arrows! Perot was in an out because his wealth and family were likely… Read more »
Ya’ had me goin’ there for a minute Stanz – but yeah…never mind
I voted for Perot and my mom never forgave me. Stole a vote from the Republicans…
Just our version of a fallen society or nation. Inevitable, but kind of hoping the good parts of our people and culture would have lasted a little longer.
One day a sword will rise….
my brother and I used to love that movie !!!
its ending gets me every time, one of the best
I was an avid DVD collector back when they were popular
Took many years for Excalibur to come out on DVD. Same thing with Westworld
Just printed a 3d model with excalibur in stone. Coming out nice. Great legend and Boorman’s version is the best film.
You made it in stone?
Wow !!!
Whenever we all have our inaugural meet up you have to bring it !!
I meant the image of stone. It’s pla plastic, but when I’m done it will look like stone.
good enough for me !
A LEGO collector like myself has no room to criticize anyone for using plastic
Listen, strange women lyin’ in ponds distributin’ swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!
If I went ’round sayin’ I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!
So your saying a watery tart throwing a sword at you is no good for deciding executive power, but finding boxes of ballots in car trunks and Aunt Jeans hall closet are?
So preferable is Lori Lightfoot rising from the pristine waters of Lake Michigan, part fish part human, and lording over the expanse of humanity
I kid I kid
It’s more like the black from the creature lagoon…
–>>bangs coconuts against one another due to nostalgia
Comic genius.
the modern excalibur: “Microsoft invites you to use your creativity, passion, and cloud expertise to create solutions that empower communities. Join us for the Microsoft Azure Hack for Social Justice. Put your hacking skills to the test to address real-world challenges around social justice and help drive change. There are $10,000 USD in prizes up for grabs, plus swag prizes valued at $2500. Learn more about prizes when you sign up. Projects will be judged on quality of idea, technological implementation, potential social justice impact, and intersectionality. Choose an area (or areas) that you’re passionate about, or get inspired by… Read more »
No, those are the evils that Arthur took up Excalibur to defeat.
that’s the type of king pope fransissy can get behind
That reminds me of the time Archbishop Francis Spellman was processing up the aisle at St Patrick’s after a night of hard partying with his pals, with an altar boy ahead swinging a censor, and one of his hung over buddies leaned over from a pew and whispered “Franny, your purse is on fire!”
I just read about Spelman. You poor trade caths. I weep for you.
I thought this was satire…
The sword of Damocles scythes the ether above us.
Don’t count on it.
I watched the Our Gang shorts as a kid in the late 70’s and early 80’s and loved them. I am a very simple minded man.
Don’t go being hard on yourself
As a toddler, I was pretty much Spanky re-incarnated 😉
This was back in the days before cable in my area. Afternoon UHF.
I was just recently watching a bunch of 1930s hour long films, mostly Charlie Chan. A different world.
It’s interesting how America has promoted hero culture for so long; Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Daniel Boone, Abe Lincoln, Sgt. York, and Audie Murphy. The real heroes you once had have all been removed by the woke culture and replaced with cartoon and comic book characters, or worse, millionaire sports figures Today, 25-35 year old man-boys are playing World of Tanks on their computers. Consider just a few generations ago, their great-grandfathers were actually driving them into Berlin at the same age or younger. Unfortunately America, and Europe, are all out of heroes. That’s probably why the West is in… Read more »
i like salvini as a potential leader though, i am curious to see if he can pull italy out of eu
He’s Milanese It’s like expecting a Bostonian to lead the American south into battle Lots of regional frictions. My dad’s side is from Emilia-Romangna, which isn’t far geographically from Milan’s Lombardia (they border each other) but vastly different culturally — think Massachusetts vs North Carolina — and my family can’t stand him even though they agree with his politics for the most part. They just look at him like a Milan wise ass. That’s the problem with him, as it were; not a problem “with” him so much, for it is beyond his control, but a problem of regionality he… Read more »
Oy Vey.
Translate into other languages please?
French?
Aye voy! Get it right.
nowadays it does not matter how good a storyline is, if it doesn’t fulfill diversity quota & if it doesn’t send the right message(Leftist message), no one will care to produce or publish that story.
I like the movie where it was revealed that NASA couldn’t have put Whitey On Da Moon without a bunch of sooper-smart negro ladies doing the math for them…
To be fair, these movies are entertaining in their own right. The agenda shines through, and the comedy of seeing white producers pushing their dream version of what a black person should be never ceases to make me laugh.
Scratch Pax’tsson’ia Wetmore and discover Brittni Quisendorfer…
you should check out the books, mozart’s sister was apparently more talented of a composer than her brother, but patriarchy ruined her career, i guarantee it will be made into a movie at some point.
circe was a rape victim, that’s why she turned men into pigs, in fact all witches were victims in any fiction book
king lear is blamed for killing his wife cause patriarchy is evil
Was that Hidden Colors or some such nonsense? God, that was terrible.
One thing rarely mentioned is the talented tenth would just be tribal leaders or something in an African society. While the top 1/10 of 1 percent make all the most important breakthroughs for all peoples, it is the average that allows them to work their magic. Without the high average, there is no large technical society. There is no real reward to be the smartest peasant farmer.
Or Mozart born in the Stone Age.
Euclid was a Hutessa, ya’ know…
The Thing is on the tv. Couple of blacks but NO WHAMMIN’!
I don’t have much to say, other than I expected our brave leaders to do this. And in addition: Bwahahahahaha! For such a person to release such a book is a particularly useful insight into their crumminess of character.
Publishers pay them handsomely with no expectation the advance will be realized in sales.
We sure as hell can’t demand anything more of anyone on the left cause that’d be mean, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, White supremist – whatever. Now, if you’re a regular old normal White person, the “you better or else” demands are never ending.
We live in an age of mediocrity. The time we live in has no great actors, athletes or musicians. There are no beautiful women to be admired, only hoes to be thrown away. There are no great statesmen or leaders to inspire us. Nobody has ever heard of the latest Nobel prize laureates. Award shows are a joke. All the old institutions are falling away and not being replaced. I get accused of being jaded and that’s half true but what is also true is that there is so little to strive for.
Do you think that the “reward” simply isn’t worth it? Meaning, you strive for greatness and what does it get you? So you get to hang around people like the Clintons, Epstein, Weinstein, Hollywood types, rich black jocks, etc. Maybe if you come from poverty or lower income status that being able to rise to their level and having lots of bling and status is an incentive, but if you are already quite talented and have some greatness about you then you’d probably just say screw it, not worth it. In short, there is no exclusivity anymore. Reminds me of… Read more »
You’re probably right. I did quite well in a job when I was younger but never spent much on the trappings of wealth. That precluded me from rising any higher. In my new career I am a good contributor but I have zero ambition. Those around me scrapping for status are miserable on the inside and I can’t stand being around them. Perhaps my first comment was looking too far outward and not inward enough.
They are the elite we deserve, because we are no longer able to demand more from ourselves. Powerful conclusion, my friend. The infantilization of what should be adults has been an ongoing project. The phenomenon has exploded since 1984, when to quite a bit of acclaim psychological counselor Dan Kiley wrote THE PETER PAN SYNDROME: MEN WHO WON’T GROW UP. Suffice it to say that men in the Eighties were full of testosterone compared to most beings that identify as male today. In fact, given its unconscious and unabashed promotion of basic masculinity, the book likely couldn’t find a major… Read more »
You do realize the infantilization of men in the West corresponds to a massive drop in Testosterone and Sperm levels at the same time? Our levels have dropped over 50% in about 30 years. IOW there is a biological component to it and no one wants to go near it. People think it’s funny that young men today have T levels of old women. It’s not. It’s a frigging nightmare. Modern society is poisoning us. It also I think explains why the West went belly up because of Covid. And it’s killing military recruitment as fewer and fewer HS grads… Read more »
More red meat, less (or no) soy. Soyboy is real.
Estrogen in the water? Women wanting to live like whores and it’s destroying mankind from both a societal and biological standpoint? Like you though, I think they know they answer, but are afraid to broadcast it.
Blamed on plastics. I don’t know how valid such claims are.
This is what scares me the most, Rwc. Nobody ever talks about it, but it might be the most important thing we can’t control.
It has been ongoing for three generations, as I recall, with each successive generation having lower testosterone levels than the last. There are cultural as well as environmental causes.
Anyone that cares to learn the culprits should use their search engine of choice for “Endocrine Disruptors.” There’s a lot of them.
“They don’t desire a great leader to carry them to something better. They just think it would be cool to fly around in magic underwear for a while. Small men. Small dreams.” Obama was the swan song for progressive heroes of the left. For al his faults, he was truly charismatic and had his own unique vision. Now it’s going to be all George Floyds, Vindmans, AOC’s, and other thugs and mediocrities. When a major presidential candidate who is going to get at least 45 percent of the vote is not capable of getting crowds more than 100 people, it’s… Read more »
“he was truly charismatic and had his own unique vision” haha i almost thought you were serious there for a moment. good one!
Well, he did have good vision, meaning he had no trouble viewing and reading his teleprompter.
When everything is recorded and edited for online bashing, teleprompter discipline is a must for pols. I unironically think this was one of Obama’s greatest strengths – he completely understood message discipline.
The temptation to ramble when everyone is staring at you with adoring eyes is quite strong. When they give into it you get rambling “Corn Pop” anecdotes.
Are you high? Obama had charisma? He read his speeches of a teleprompter the same way Joe does. He was an empty suit.
We didn’t speak well on his feet, but he had a preacher’s voice and body language that resonated well with the audience. Public Speaking is much more than just the text spoken.
He brought his vision of a post-national cultural hegemon to the generals in exchange for forever war, which is how it got pozzed so fast.
On one-on-one meetings he was very affable with people.
He certainly was no Teddy Roosevelt with vision and charisma, but far superior to Romney and McCain.
Obama was trained in using conversational hypnosis techniques in his public speaking. It was all staged. That’s why it all went to crap when he left the teleprompter. There is a fascinating body of work out there, describing the techniques, and how he systematically employed them, working from a script.
Interesting stuff. Can you post links?
My experience in public speaking only got as far as a couple of years of Toastmasters.
http://www.pennypresslv.com. Having trouble getting the actual link. If you search engine “Obama conversational hypnosis”, the pennypresslv link turns up in the list as a pdf. There are other articles, but this one appears to be the most granular. It’s a real rabbit hole, set aside an hour.
He only had “charisma” if you buy the whole magic negro thing. I heard him and immediately recognized the wise and slightly condescending tone of the magic negro.
Remember when he went to England for Brexit? Brexit support grew after because english people recognized the condescending bullshitter speech.
You recognize that character role of the magic negro right away. Don’t beat me up on this but I actually voted for BHO in 2008. It was a spite vote against the Repubs, especially McCain and secondarily Cheney/Bush and that whole crowd. A form of ‘accelerationism’ one could say. Would I do it again? Yes.
I had similar feelings towards McStain and Romney, so went third party.
Had the ‘black preacher’ thing down pat, that’s fer sure. It sounds remarkably like the ‘black drug dealer’ thing.
Dutch is spot on. It’s not the drug that grabs ya, it’s the black dealer hustling his marks. I’ve watched way too many of these punks hypnotize their customers, their marks, or their pu**y.
Skilled traveling con men do it too, those guys really exist, lemme tell ya, a la the movie “The Grifters”.
What do they. do?
Hypnotize you. Really– staring into your eyes as their mouth runs, while their hands are arranging something else.
As to old white con men, a couple of times, (or more), these guys were legends. Like something out of a Hollywood movie, except they were real, and actually made a living that way.
Blacks have the good stereotype of being exceptionally adept at conveying emotion. Hence success in entertainment…
May his stumping for Lunch box Joe have similar effect!
That’s the reason – we had come off of 8 years of barely articulate Bush II, and his opponents were a half-mad warmonger who looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel every time he spoke, and then a milk-toast monotone who seemed like he was about to sell you insurance. Pretty low bar. If nothing else, Trump is energizing and entertaining when he speaks.
Really, of all the things, knocking Obama for his teleprompters is just cheap and dumb. Empty suit? Sure. A mundane tool to aid in public speeches? Eh….
He read the teleprompter like a televangalist. He had the southern preacher cadence – two notes down, one note up. I found it annoying as hell.
Sorry Chet ole boy, your Obama take is way out there. Did you just red pill recently?
I never understood, and never will understand, Obama’s charisma. To my eye he was a nerd trying hard to convince everybody he was cool. He could deliver a speech, I’ll give him that. Could he write one? Not a good extemporaneous speaker, not commanding but mean, very awkward without the production around him.
From what I heard, he had a bit of the Clinton thing going on, but maybe better. I recall reading from some disinterested party, I think a guy who gave him a semi-challenging question at a town hall thingie, that in person Obama actually comes as pretty friendly and relatable; and I’d heard the same thing in regards to Clinton (Bill, obviously). Now they’re politicians so it’s probably an act to be sure, but to OPs point, even frauds like that are going by the wayside, replaced with people like Biden and Harris who make it their business to be… Read more »
“The government is the reflection of the society’s elite, which in turn is a reflection of the people and culture that produced that elite.” And yet, Trump. He has survived the most concentrated elite-class hate-and-smear campaign in history, and his people have stood with him through it all. His very existence—not to mention survival and triumph—as President suggests that our contemptible elite class has not totally prevailed. A civil war of sorts unfolding before our eyes, a precursor perhaps for what is coming.
Yes to all of this. But why? Because our environment no longer includes hardship and existential threat. There is no longer a cauldron of competition or gauntlet of trials to sort the wheat from the chaff or purge the lame. There was a time when the best among us fought their way to the top and earned the right to lead. Nowadays, the average voter is a mediocrity and chooses accordingly.
There is no longer a cauldron of competition or gauntlet of trials to sort the wheat from the chaff or purge the lame.
it’s because of women, corporations are filled with them, they remove the fun and the competition from the environment.
It’s like playing sports with women, suddenly it sucks once they join in, unless you plan to…
and notice how they always baby the weak guy. They will be hard on me and I ask “Why are being hard on me and not him?”
“Because you can take it”
Ok fine, but you are not helping him. You are ruining him
When women join the sports team it suddenly changes from a team, into a “impress the woman, make her laugh” competition. I don’t give them any attention but the then again I’m not a simp.
The proper way is to have a robust male competition while your girl watches in the stands, and then f*** her after.
I don’t get why girls don’t like to sweat either or walk around wet after swimming
Weirdos
Heat rash…
“Industrialization has significantly reduced human ecological stress in the West, and has accelerated the decline of European religion — one of the key supports for an already low level of European ethnocentrism. Advances in medicine and developments in the welfare state have led to wholesale dysgenic impacts. The increased proliferation of unhealthy mutations has further precipitated the decline of healthy instincts rooted in healthy genes that promoted survival.” (Occidental Observer) This is what TomA is talking about. 200 years of “modernity” have removed the environmental realities that made European man the hardass he once was and now the West is… Read more »
I was driving by a saw a homeless guy and I realized that this man NEEDS hardship to give him meaning in life and to give him the power to get up the next morning. It propels him. Take that away, and he dies.
This idea that life is supposed to be easy, which is the essence of communism or socialism, is a death sentence either physically or spiritually. People pushing it are evil.
Laziness is the essence of evil.
At most 1/7, according to the Church 🙂
There is no longer a cauldron of competition or gauntlet of trials to sort the wheat from the chaff or purge the lame. That is where hard times can help out. And The Lord knows we’ve got those coming. At some point, our Magic Money Theorists running the central banks must surely suffer because the con can’t go on forever. But unfortunately, the con does seem to be a resilient beast. I suppose it all depends on how long you can trick the public, and with a stupider populace it seems the likelihood of the bulk of people getting wise… Read more »
Merit has no merit anymore. Oh, it gets paid lip service to, but everyone knows the score. The prime example of course is virtually any jogger in a position of power, authority or responsibility (outside a couple of sports) got their gig via skin color, nothing else. Thus the big slide to mediocrity continues apace.
No reason the slide would pause at mediocrity.
Bad: Imagine your favorite basket case African nation.
Worse: now imagine that same nation after outside aid and technical support is no longer available.
A friend works in marketing for BigCorp, and he’s a good consumer of analytics of various types. I do that work, so we talk shop sometimes. He asked me one time what the most surprising thing I’ve learned about business analytics has been and I told him: the least important thing in business analytics is getting the right answer. Literally nobody cares at all, except some cranky old White men who have weird reasons for all the things they do.
“In the Cold War, movies often reminded people that they were on the side of angels in the great struggle with communism.”
A small point, but nothing grinds my gears, or my teeth, than the flippant way academics and ‘cultural critics” sneer at the “expected Cold War paranoia” in postwar films. It’s one thing for someone like Brecht to have a principled (tho wrong) notion that the Soviets were the angels; but the blithe repetition of the idea that there was literally no threat, no hidden agents, no problem, is still infuriating.
Worse yet are the academics and cultural critics who embraced the Soviets and then acted like they won the Cold War, only to now drift back to the wonders of Uncle Karl.
Some of the interesting “non-fiction” from early 20th centery were written by Western socialists or communists who were in favor enough to take tours of Soviet Union or Eastern Bloc. In some cases “their eyes were opened” and they wrote not so complimentary books or essays about the experience.
I can’t stand to even watch the Hollywood trailers anymore it’s makes me nauseous. I go back and watch a John Ford movie like The Searchers with John Wayne and ask myself what the hell happened?
I think urbanization has a lot to do with it
Sensibilities and tastes became increasingly urban (not so much if at all “urbane”) and ultimately trashy and frivolous, given the state of urban life and modern society.
I watched The Battle of Jadotville, the other day, a pleasant surprise. A straight up-and-down war movie, beautifully shot and with good action sequences.
in the last month Mrs and I have watched with great pleasure The Searchers, True Grit, The Quiet Man, McLintock!, all four are awesome movies.
You outdid yesterday’s epistle Zman. You’re on a streak.
Yes, our society has become infantilized. How did it happen? There’s that rubric about how ‘hard men breed good times,’ and so on until we get to weak men breeding hard times. That’s where we’re at now, wash rinse repeat.
What’s worrisome is that the non-Western societies have noticed.
When I used to think of “weak men” I never imagined the current combination of weirdos, freaks, soyboys, trannies, cucks, urban hipsters, and just seemingly normal-looking men who are paralyzed by committing thought crimes and can’t call a spade a spade.
It seems to have started, this gravitation toward weak men, with the advent of TV and when women especially began saying of B actors “Oh, he’s so handsome!”
No, yo are not supposed to like him. You are supposed to like HIM – a John Wayne or an Eastwood.
“Ehh, they’re too rough. I like him” pointing at Jack Lord on TV as my grandma used to. or Alan Alda.
The one guy I would enjoy torturing is Matt Damon. I see him and want to squeeze his skull like a zit.
It’s a white thing. Look the Brownskins are tribal and won’t throw each other under the bus like whites do. This is why normal white males won’t say squat.
Take the kid Kyle Atkinsson or the guy who was shot dead in Colorado. Not a peep from our side outside of some DR douche nozzles saying they deserved it.
Any sane white guy would keep his mouth shut and do nothing in such circumstances. Because he is all alone.
O/T
But Judge has dismissed 3rd degree murder charge against Chauvin of Fentanyl Floyd fame
I call, and raise:
Democrats on LA radio:
“Is it possible that The Proud Boys and Iran are hacking the election?”
So the DNC-CCP think ramping up numale soi boi riots is a great idea two weeks before the election?
Interesting.
“Our Gang” was my favorite show growing up. I’m trying to get all the episodes before they vanish (like “Song of the South”). Liberals should celebrate the series as it showed white kids and black kids playing together. The gang always included at least one black member–Buckwheat was the best. However, the occasional racial humor is too much for them. “The Boy From Borneo” was a classic. Spanky thought the black man at the carnival was his Uncle George, the “black sheep of the family”. The kids took him home and offered him food. When Uncle George saw food he… Read more »
I wish they’d bring back Amos ‘n Andy (dream on). I used to watch it with our black maid after school. We laughed our asses off.
I was in a children’s/science museum not long ago and there was a large display of early 20th century ads that portrayed negroes in a poor light. I have no idea why that was considered appropriate for a science museum but it made me think about how overwhelmingly the pendulum has swung these days. It’s certainly more subtle, but whites, white men in particular, are today depicted as every bit as foolish and incompetent as the blacks in those ads.
It’s certainly more subtle, but whites, white men in particular, are today depicted as every bit as foolish and incompetent as the blacks in those ads. I’ve been having similar thoughts. White guys have been portrayed as oafish and slow on the uptake for around 40 years. Just look at films like 48 Hours and Beverly Hills Cop in the early 80s. Another huge turning point was the debut of the Homer Simpson character in the Simpsons, way back in 1989. Now look at how black men have been portrayed since 1980 or so. In 80s sports we had Magic… Read more »
Stumbled upon by accident. Here’s an early American “Negro” actor who played demeaning roles (even at the time!) but earned a million dollars (no small thing in 1930s!) Sadly, like many who can’t handle cash, he blew it all.
https://historycollection.com/this-is-the-actor-that-divided-black-america-and-heres-why/
I couldn’t even remember why it was so funny. I just went to a website which lists the synopsis of each episode. Most of the plots involved the Kingfish swindling Andy and other brothers using various get-rich-quick schemes.
We also liked Sanford and Son. Red Foxx must have got a lot of his material or at least inspiration from Amos ‘n Andy.
I actually know someone who wrote a series of short stories about people who found magic underwear, and how it transformed them. (One stopped stealing bicycles — a triumph of good over..um.. less good.) Small dreams indeed, and yet when I consider the massive madness of the Left’s dreams — total equality of outcome in all serious professions, Wakanda in Chicago, history erased, etc. — I prefer the small dreams of impotent Peter Pans to the fever visions of our Dear Leaders and the rabble that follow them.
And notice how small dreams went from being presented on the big screen to being presented on the TV?
I can see having dreams, however trite, as big as a movie, but a TV????
“Dreams as big as TV”
Hahahaha
We’re not even getting Star Trek.
Instead, we’re told to dream of Good Times or Friends, but end up getting The Addams Family.
“It’s a wonder he did not have it titled My Struggle.” This is hilarious, Z Man! I guess he was worried the German translation wouldn’t sell.
“We are a click away from the next candidate being a concept or maybe a holographic image created by the special effects people in Hollywood”.
On the surface that statment is farcical, but on further reflection it’s all too possible – although the ‘special effects’ people deep in the bowels of the DC swamp are more likely to be the progenitors of said image vs Hollyweird.
Capeshit and Il Douché in one post.
This is great!
I’m reminded of that show George Carlin performed explaining where politicians come from.
” They are the elite we deserve, because we are no longer able to demand more from ourselves.” Sad but true. The fact that our leaders have chosen to take personal responsibility for the spread of a flu like illness, something which on the face of it is quite simply batshit crazy, says everything you need know about the quality of the West’s current elites. It puts me in mind of the old adage, “Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.” From this side of the Atlantic I get the impression that Trump is thoroughly enjoying himself.… Read more »
“We are a click away from the next candidate being a concept or maybe a holographic image created by the special effects people in Hollywood.” If Creepy Joe didn’t have a face that looks like it was cobbled together from spare parts and sound like a mid-stage Alzheimer’s patient I’d assume this was already happening. Look no further than the year of pretending Buzzy G was still with us in the corporeal realm. My only question about that situation is why they didn’t keep the illusion going until after the election. If Corn Pop does become our modern day Henry… Read more »
We aren’t a click away, we are already there. Joe, Kamala, and now Obama, subbing for Joe, are getting ten or fewer people to show up for the IRL “events”. Yet half the voting population, more or less, is voting in that direction. This election is a huge experiment in engineering a party victory without any actual, flesh-and-blood, candidate involvement. If they pull it off, we are living in a whole new world, one that we can’t really make any sense of. If they even come close to winning, the writing will be on the wall.
“Joe Biden” is the brand name, indeed. Good point.
President John Edward Yancy
The pressmen at the NY Daily News had a saying: Never trust someone who doesn’t read the comics.
Prosperity has ruined us.
Too big of a term for the young, the older folks can narrow it down and tell you it is health and time.
As Bane put it,
“Victory has defeated you.
Peace has cost you your strength!”
As a recovering comic book addict myself, I never understood American comics. So there you are, browsing the only shop in Copenhagen to put Marvel on the shelves: “Hmm.. Great artwork, a bit homo, but hey! Let’s see, this one is about a guy who wears spandex, has a secret identity, can fly and shoot lasers from his eyes. This one is about a guy who wears spandex, has a secret identity, can turn invisible and travel through time. This one is about a guy who wears spandex, has a secret identity, can climb sheer surfaces, jump 50′ and shoot… Read more »
Comics to me were Peanuts, Gary Larson, Sandra Boynton, The Lockheads, Hagar, Bloom County and of course Dilbert. I never appreciated the appeal of the spandex characters. I knew lots of smart kids who did enjoy them but I never tuned in.
Those are strips or single-panes, another kettle of fish altogether.
Calvin and Hobbes, one of the best ever!
Don’t knock Spandex; it depends entirely upon what it is enclosing!
I never got much into comics (Mad back in 70s). While it was never a major hit, look up on Google [Images] “Power Girl cosplay” how fans play dress up and get an eyefull 😀 I can understand why some people like comic book conventions.
Videogames replaced what used to be good comic books
I was never a comic book guy but was and still am a pretty avid “gamer” as they like to say. All the great artwork and characterization is going to be found in video games. Lately I am big into Hitman, and if you want to see some excellent artwork and varied scenery check out Hitman Absolution — I don’t see how this doesn’t get more credit, very underrated. Then the new Hitman trilogy is excellent too. Great humor, good characters, etc.
Lately I am big into Hitman, and if you want to see some excellent artwork and varied scenery check out Hitman Absolution — I don’t see how this doesn’t get more credit, very underrated. Saw this and now feel compelled to respond. As a lad, I loved the Hitman games. I haven’t played them for years, but I could pick up Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Blood Money and still find them playable. Also, Hitman: Contracts was a slight modification of the first game. I loved them. I thought Absolution was an abomination, to be honest. It completely changed… Read more »
What I love about Absolution is the artwork and so much variation in scenery and maps. It’s quite an achievement. I also like the voice acting. But I get what you are saying with the early games versus Absolution. Very similar to the gritty, more spartan Connery as Bond versus the more flamboyant and colorful Moore. The recent trilogy (the final installment due out in January 2021) is very good and rewards patience but also has a number of “challenges” or missions that are linear sequences where you are prompted to do A which in turn takes you to B… Read more »
Al Capp – creator of Lil Abner – and for a boy of age 12 (or therabout), images of Daisy Mae, and Moonbeam McShine stirred up…something new.
Hehe… I didn’t really understand much of the plot, since I had no idea what the postbellum South was about, but Daisy Mae I could understand.
I didn’t understand the South or Daisy Mae at the time, but she represented something I seemed to need.
And just to be clear: this is not one of those things like movies, where the Euro version is merely different, but with lower budgets and the libs love them because not understanding the plot makes them feel smart.
European comics are actually better – way better. I am baffled as to why they haven’t made to to the US, seeing there are so many American comic book fans.
One more thing: as I mentioned, European comics are artist-centered rather than character-centered. This means that the first few albums in a series will usually be somewhat amateurish, the illustrator taking a few albums to get his bearings. An artist like Christin doesn’t actually have much talent to work with and only starts to get real good after the first ten installments, but the stories of Mezieres and – especially – the aliens make up for a lot.
So do not despair if the first album you read is a bit meh.
I read comics through the 80s and 90s.
They were kind of messed up then.
For the most part, they are horrific now.
If have kids, keep them far away from this degenerate material.
If have kids, keep them far away from this degenerate material.
To be fair, the samples I’ve listed are specifically marketed to adults, except for Prince Valiant. Don’t give them to your kids.
Also, I doubt modern children are going to go into comics in the first place, there are much more exiting alternatives these days.
I have only read one book-length comic, called Bone. I used it to encourage my grandson (whom we raised) to read. No superheroes and in fact the ‘heroes’ are barely competent. It was written and drawn by the same guy, Jeff Smith, and is endlessly entertaining. I recall getting called away to the phone one time. When I returned the pages were different and my grandson asked with some trepidation whether I minded that he’d read ahead. He was seven.
Bone is after my time, but I’ve heard good things about it.
There are other great America artists like Richard Corben, Robert Crumb and Vaughn Bodé, but while I recognized their skill they don’t quite tickle my thing.
It dawns on me now that superhero comics are not actually meant for adults, adults just read them in lieu of better options so comparing them to dedicated adult comics, might not be entirely fair.
You don’t understand.
Spandex is an invention of Dupont, the company who bought Delaware at the time of The Great Patriotic War, and which became the vehicle for Biden to pursue a political career. Of course the Media extolls the virtues of Spandex, how else will the money get filtered though to Pee-Pad Joe and his Knee-Pad Ho?
He might have to resort to money-laundering and we don’t want that, Do We?
There’s no one else out there saying these simple things. From the 60 minutes interview:
https://twitter.com/davereaboi/status/1319335460091645952
He goes on “People that don’t want to see the stores get looted and burned down, that don’t want to see riots, that don’t want to see anarchists.”
I knew “Our Gang” as “The Little Rascals.” Spanky, Alph Alpha, Buckwheat. The whole crew. They were great. I watched every episode as a kid, plus re-runs. I still remember the episode with the cake (or whatever it was) in the oven, going “weep-wow, weep-wow,” as the cake, or cake batter (or whatever) kept expanding and oozing out of the oven door.
“Disinformation”
https://mobile.twitter.com/ColumbiaBugle/status/1319088954910535681
Forward, Soviet !
My reflections on the evolution and meaning of the superhero costume:
https://counter-currents.com/2012/07/the-ponderous-weight-of-the-dark-knight/
The Tribe’s most important and effective invention was Oxycontin.
“They don’t desire a great leader to carry them to something better. ”
Oh, oh. Don’t give the goyim any ideas. You know what happened last time. Interesting that Jews invented comic books, and came to dominate Hollywood.
Perfect.
It’s a wonder he did not have it titled My Struggle. He probably tried but was told that the title was trademarked/copyrighted. Last evening on the news I discovered that we are well into the dreaded predicted COVID-19 2nd Wave! According to no less worthy than CBS’s Norah O’Donnell, there are tens of thousands of new cases,hospitals are overwhelmed and the death rate is approximately SEVEN HUNDRED PEOPLE PER DAY! :-O Damned good thing Joe Sixpack is lousy at arithmetic. One good sign. Here in Texas they’re allowing bars to reopen. Gotta be a few hundred (thousand?) bar owners happy… Read more »
ZMAN: Thank you for saying the unsayable…you nailed it….and the results we have in our society are of our own making…time for us to own up to that fact and the change we want to manifest internally first…there is no other change that’s durable
Imagine if you will a think tank populated with people who feel very hard for their paychecks. The harder they feel, the more they validate the feelings of the other feeling warriors. The heat from all the feelings keeps the bubble aloft, but it is only a bubble after all.
[…] ZMan points out some inconvenient truth. […]
Is the title of the blog pulled from Tono-Bungay?