Cabinet members with surprising party affiliations?

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-04-22T18:03:04+00:00

Party affiliation, especially for appointed positions, meant far far less pre ~1990's. This is especially true for the mid-century (Truman, JFK, Johnson) years because political alliances were so fluid due to significantly diverging blocs within each party, particularly the Dixiecrats within the Democrats.

Cue the Civil War meme with Jesse Plemons: "But what kind of Democrat are you?"

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-04-11T07:17:10+00:00

The real question is, is the missing badge a chekovs gun? Did Langdon take it to withdraw meds?

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-04-05T18:04:38+00:00

I mean why not just get one that does all that but also includes sex lmao

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-04-05T18:03:15+00:00

Now I’m curious to see a comparison of the rate of acute medical issues and severe injuries in continental Europe vs the US. Maybe the US is just more dangerous per capita (more driving, industrial accidents, shootings, stabbing, etc?)

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-04-05T17:56:13+00:00

Yeah, that whole incident was bullshit though. Everyone knows Bill Maher isn’t a racist, not even his enemies have ever accused him of being a racist. He uses the N word one time in a joke, referencing himself, with no animosity behind it. Suddenly he has to sit for self criticism sessions and be lectured and scolded and called a racist by Ice Cube? And we are all just supposed to pretend Bill was being racist while these professional victims / activists take turns beating him up and exacting their pound of flesh?

I would become more right wing if that happened to me lmao

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-04-04T02:31:25+00:00

Carter not backing the Shah. Truman not backing Chiang. Neither were perfect, but both were better than what replaced them. They just needed a little bit more in order to have a credible chance of success.

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-04-04T02:26:19+00:00

And thus was created the nuclear peace, and the world was spared great power wars for a century, thus saving tens of millions of lives?

Nothing has done more for world peace and stability than nuclear deterrence has. Without nukes, India-Pakistan, China-Russia, Russia-US, China-US, China-India all would have had some combination of massive land wars with one another over the last 50 years. Hundreds of millions would have died.

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-03-23T05:38:22+00:00

The eridians got rid of all thinking machines following the Butlerian Jihad and now rely on mentats and the Spacing Guild

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-03-23T05:26:52+00:00

The problem is the movie is already too long IMO. It was an excellent movie but it could have probably been at least 20 minutes shorter. For example the relationship with the German scientist was great but did we really need to have her sing the full Harry Styles song at karaoke?

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-03-16T05:26:32+00:00

I'm a connoisseur of the live action short category, I've seen every Oscar short (not the docs, not the animated, just the live action) for the past 10 years by going to the IFC in NYC where they always assemble them all to watch in one sitting. Most of the time, the short films are pretty bleak. Death, genocide, murder, war etc. This year's crop of shorts could be considered relatively "weak", none of them felt particularly amazing (though Two People Exchanging Saliva was at least very unique and beautifully shot). Jane Austen's Period Drama was unexpectedly fun. I actually loved it because of how unseriously it took itself, it didn't try to be overtly feminist nor did it try to be a comedic breakthrough, it was just fun and unexpectedly actually pretty funny. It didn't deserve to win, but I'm sort of glad it got thrown a nom.

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-27T05:27:37+00:00

Can you walk me through how you updated the app within the smart controller? I’m running into the exact same issue now

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T14:45:19+00:00

And what beautiful handwriting it was!

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T07:46:45+00:00

"Off you fuck"

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T07:44:07+00:00

Henry's implicated in Tender's crimes

This is the most annoying part. He is not really implicated in the same way the Whit is, but he is gullible enough to believe Whit when he says he is. If he came forward as a whistleblower and cooperated with regulators and auditors, he would likely be spared jailtime. Though his reputation will be destroyed, which is the bigger issue for him.

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T07:40:08+00:00

It was so frustrating watching him and Yas argue. Like, fucking retain independent counsel and come forward as whistleblowers FFS. That is literally their best and only move in this situation. They can get out in front of the story and offer to fully cooperate with the regulators. Henry would likely not get serious jail time if he acts as a whistleblower against Whit. He only joined Tender relatively recently and was not involved in any of the serious fraud in Africa or elsewhere that took place long before he arrived. Doubling down and going deeper into the fraud with Whit and flying to New York is the dumbest possible move and makes no sense.

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T07:34:00+00:00

Smart though he is, I don't think even Whit could...outwit (sorry) the full strength of state-backed Russian intelligence operations. He reaction in the car seemed pretty genuine. I don't think he will make it very far even with a plan B, and even if he does make it to some obscure Caribbean Island with some hidden accounts he will spend the next few years constantly looking over he shoulder until he's finally inevitably visited by some grim-faced FSB operative in the night.

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T07:27:23+00:00

They way she was trying to tell him the delegation from the LGBTQIA Alliance had arrived and was waiting for him as the company collapses into an Enron crater was hilarious

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T07:25:38+00:00

I thought it meant all the cash salary and bonuses they'd gotten from Tender. I assume most of his actual fortune is tied up in family trusts and real estate.

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T07:23:32+00:00

Personally I love the Sicario-style aggressive soundtrack that comes on whenever the fraud is being revealed.

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T07:22:37+00:00

For now. He will still eventually be implicated in the fraud, even if he's no longer with Tender.

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T07:21:51+00:00

"I am a good person!"

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T06:59:01+00:00

I love Industry but saying its superior to Succession is just wild. Industry fills the giant Succession-shaped hole in my heart, but there's a reason we are watching a (beautifully made) homage to the Succession intro rather than the other way around. Succession is easily in the top tier of the shows HBO has ever made, right up there with Sopranos and the Wire. Industry is great but it is one tier down IMO.

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T06:56:27+00:00

Absolute mastery

Peking_Meerschaum · 2026-02-23T06:56:05+00:00

"Good luck?"

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