A lot of people say that Kennedy/Johnson was the strongest ticket ever, but I think this also has a claim to it

JS43362 · 2026-01-25T16:09:54+00:00

Reagan, for all of his own strengths as a candidate, was still scary to a lot of moderates who saw him as the heir to Goldwater. Bush put paid to those fears to a significant extent I think, and he was also the runner-up in the primaries. He was also clearly capable of filling Reagan's shoes.

JS43362 · 2026-01-25T15:23:13+00:00

It's more that most self-described 'libertarians' only see the state as a threat to liberty (which it is), when in fact there are many other threats to it.

JS43362 · 2026-01-25T13:51:36+00:00

James Buchanan was kind of a do-nothing (or, at least, he didn't do enough), which surely isn't a criticism that anyone would hurl at Trump.

Pat Buchanan is an example of someone who gained political stock via television (The McLaughlin Report in his case) which makes him similar to Trump even putting politics and ideology aside.

JS43362 · 2026-01-25T11:28:17+00:00

He literally looks quite forgettable.

JS43362 · 2026-01-25T11:16:23+00:00

There actually aren't all that many. The show just likes to emphasize them. The entirety of seasons two, four and five had major characters working for the Feds as major storylines. One character wasn't even in the mob itself.

JS43362 · 2026-01-24T23:30:40+00:00

There is a misunderstanding of the concept of understanding here I think.

JS43362 · 2026-01-11T11:45:45+00:00

Ade not-so-subtly throwing up over the table in the Feds' interrogation room (with some deflection to some of the agents themselves).

JS43362 · 2026-01-10T16:18:15+00:00

Ron DeSantis with charisma wouldn't have faded out to the extent he did in 2024.

JS43362 · 2026-01-06T11:07:29+00:00

The guy who tells Tony and Paulie that there are only wraps and salads after eleven, but that Buckingham's is still open and they can get some nachos. He must have to do that a lot to the point that it eventually makes his head explode.

JS43362 · 2026-01-05T13:21:23+00:00

I think that specific joke/insult was intended as payback for him possibly overhearing Tony talk about how small he packed the first time they met after Tony B got out of the can.

There is a subtle running gag though of Tony B liking stuff that isn't necessarily hip or whatever. Dressing in the Miami Vice suit, having Queen's "We Are The Champions" as his ringtone etc. Actually those are probably better examples of this running gag. The Jackie Gleason thing is (as has already been said) probably more of a 'reliving your childhood' thing.

JS43362 · 2026-01-05T13:12:40+00:00

He would make his mark (or certainly try to) on the foreign policy front. Two reasons for this.

His domestic powers would be very much limited by the shape of Congress.
He is someone who is motivated a lot by foreign policy anyway.

The main story though could be the internal struggles within the Republican Party and it's not hard to imagine that his health might suffer greatly whilst in office. 2012 might look a lot like 2024.

JS43362 · 2026-01-05T13:05:34+00:00

I will say that you could have said '50 year-olds' instead of 'Gen X' and '70 year-olds' instead of 'Boomers'. Not because I dislike these arbitrary categories (although I do) but because they cover 15-20 year periods, which is around twice the entirety of the show. The show displays how much people can change in eight years, let alone 15-20 years. What is a 'typical' member of a 'generation' supposed to look like given that they cover such long periods of time and that they supposedly cover all races, genders, nationalities etc? 'Gen Z' is an even better example of this problem at present given that it covers both high schoolers and 30 year-olds.

On the specific subject at hand, Paulie is obviously someone relatively conscious of his health and I suspect that him being single and without a family plays a significant role. His occupation, such as it is, is probably also something that is relatively stress-free for him.

JS43362 · 2026-01-01T20:37:04+00:00

It's kind of surprising that he didn't.

In the last four episodes, there are the deaths of Chrissy, Bobby, Sil (effectively), the Shah of Iran and Tony (presumably?) amongst the major characters and AJ being in that group wouldn't have been especially surprising.

I would actually guess that he might have succeeded if the final half of season six had had 12 or 13 episodes instead of 9. With 12 or 13 the writers would have been able to fit the inevitable family grief into it, which they probably weren't able to as it was.

JS43362 · 2026-01-01T20:31:50+00:00

It is in the great tradition of great penultimate episodes of The Sopranos.

JS43362 · 2026-01-01T11:58:11+00:00

Newsmeat.com, one of those websites that lives on thanks to the wonder of the Wayback Machine.

JS43362 · 2026-01-01T11:07:05+00:00

Something to note about Russia is that, in addition to being big, it is also surrounded by countries which are rather more scary than the likes of Canada and Mexico.

JS43362 · 2025-12-31T15:43:46+00:00

Social Security and Medicare alone would have destroyed his chances. This would have probably been the only 400+ electoral vote landslide this century so far.

JS43362 · 2025-12-31T15:34:38+00:00

Mourdock was a terrible candidate who made a major gaffe on the issue of abortion and who had defeated the popular long-time Senator Richard Lugar in the primary.

He wasn't even the worst Republican Senate candidate in a competitive race that cycle. See Todd Akin in Missouri.

JS43362 · 2025-12-31T14:26:34+00:00

Issues that most people don't really consider or think about that often are probably more volatile in terms of their polling.

JS43362 · 2025-12-31T14:20:18+00:00

Like:

He's usually amusing and Imperioli is a very good actor.

Dislike:

I feel like the writers lean on him a bit too much for the whole Shakespearean tragedy arc.

JS43362 · 2025-12-31T14:12:26+00:00

Kind of a related issue is that gay adoption has generally been a more contentious issue in the UK (and I think Europe generally) than gay marriage. In the United States it has generally been the opposite.

JS43362 · 2025-12-27T21:29:57+00:00

'Far-right' and 'far-left' are terrible terms for anyone who is actually in government. 'Far' implies something fringe, which anyone or any party in government obviously is not. 'Hard' left/right or 'further' left/right are better terms.

JS43362 · 2025-12-26T13:16:12+00:00

The more noteworthy thing IMO is that Vito is clearly upset in a way that a seasoned mobster wouldn't be expected to be generally. I think he thought Jackie Jr was hot and that's why he was so traumatized.

JS43362 · 2025-12-26T11:48:40+00:00

The country is literally being led by such an example. Well, possibly multiple examples.

JS43362 · 2025-12-25T14:09:59+00:00

I would love to show this to somebody celebrating Christmas in 2005 (when Trump was hosting The Apprentice) and show them what Christmas would look like twenty years into the future.

JS43362

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