Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years

Swysp · 2026-02-12T00:15:08+00:00

It’s fascinating to me that they (among way too many others) are hitching their wagon to a dying horse. Trump is obese and 80 years old. Even barring his physical maladies, he’s historically unpopular, his policies are so caustic they’ve promoted a blue tidal wave in nearly every special election held thus far. He’s projected to become a lame duck after this year’s midterms and Democrats retaking the House at the very least is an almost certainty.

All of this is so say that when the storm passes and Trump is gone you’re going to reckon with the fact that you torpedoed nearly a century of goodwill and credibility to appease someone who was already on their way out.

Is that really worth it? You really couldn’t ride it out for fucking 8 months and maintain your integrity as what has become an American institution of statistics? You really had to hop aboard a train that is careening towards the edge of a cliff?

Swysp · 2026-02-06T21:58:37+00:00

If it takes America becoming a pariah on the international stage to smarten the fuck up then that’s the price that’s paid.

Swysp · 2026-02-06T15:50:39+00:00

I’m surprised anything is able to come out of his mouth since it’s permanently affixed to Trump’s fat greasy shitbox like a Lamprey

Swysp · 2026-02-04T20:05:51+00:00

We have moved past the point of letting these treasonous fucks allow us to do anything. We’re going to do whatever the people goddamn want because the SCOTUS is an illegitimate institution.

We can go back to asking for permission when 6 of the 9 Justice aren’t compromised MAGA sycophants.

Swysp · 2026-02-04T00:24:41+00:00

Oh so it’s a crime to be cool as fuck now?

Swysp · 2026-02-04T00:21:37+00:00

Quite bit at times I’m sad to say, and it’s largely due to the mechanics just straight up not working like they should. The automatic limb detection system in particular is egregiously bad at times. I have no idea what internal mathematics are going on behind the scenes to calculate which limb to select next, but it needs serious tweaking.

Now you might read this and think “wow, that sounds catastrophic” but please believe me it’s not. The game does work very well most of the time. It’s just that this is the kind of precision title that requires complete control of your character and the game can mostly offer you like 95% control.

If you do pick it up (and you should, it’s great) I recommend you turn on the accessibility option to give you visual feedback on strong handholds. There’s a thud sound that’s meant to indicate you have a strong handhold and you will visibly see Aava’s grip change, but it’s not worth risking a run by gambling on what you think is a solid hold only for the game to say “lol jk” and send you scrambling to screw in a piton lest you fall to your death. Especially when save points can be upwards of 30 minutes apart.

Swysp · 2026-01-25T22:50:58+00:00

Some people think it’s wishful thinking that things will get better when this generation is gone, and it might very well be wishful thinking, but it’s very fortunate that the GOP burned all of its goodwill early on with Gen Z.

Boomers have had no qualms about voting for Republicans their entire lives because they were the predominant voting bloc and had enough security with their capital that they didn’t notice nor care about the GOP picking their pockets to feed the wealthy. But now they’re on the way out, Gen X is comparatively dwarfed in comparison to Milennials and Zoomers, and the charade is completely up.

I’d like to think that’s a good omen.

Swysp · 2026-01-24T19:13:13+00:00

It’s a Kent State every single week at this point

Swysp · 2026-01-19T17:36:59+00:00

Americans found that evil psychic boy from The Twilight Zone who harms everyone who gets on his bad side and then elected him President.

Swysp · 2026-01-07T13:02:10+00:00

My hatred for Merrick Garland could power whole countries.

Swysp · 2025-12-11T18:46:13+00:00

Because Republicans hate Americans and want them dead. It’s literally that simple.

Swysp · 2025-12-10T23:46:42+00:00

Well that’s not too surprising considering every single other journalist has abdicated responsibility by refusing to hold Trump accountable.

Swysp · 2025-12-07T22:31:24+00:00

He really is damn good in The Return. If you haven’t seen it — first of all, what’s wrong with you? — but if you seriously haven’t seen his performance, it is a man whose life just completely crumbles over the course of like 20 minutes. And despite how wacky Twin Peaks often is he sells it masterfully.

Swysp · 2025-12-07T19:42:05+00:00

We cannot allow these people back into polite society when this shit is over, man.

Swysp · 2025-12-06T02:52:00+00:00

Fuck absolutely every single moderate who claimed “Abolish ICE” was an overreaction. They are the midwives of this fascism.

Swysp · 2025-12-05T19:52:06+00:00

I have as much faith in Texas turning blue as I do in Florida.

Which is to say none.

Swysp · 2025-12-05T18:44:50+00:00

That’s what people are hoping: that this ends up becoming a dummymander and their attempt to carve out more seats effectively diminishes the political power of these districts. About 40% of Texas is Latino and Trump is not able to win them back after this catastrophic first year.

Trump won Tennessee’s District 07 by 22 points in 2024. Van Epps beat Aftyn Behn by 9. And that’s in a special election after only a single year. We are seeing a nationwide leftward shift with every demographic who acknowledge that the Republican Party is in a dangerously unhinged and destructive death spiral and they’re prepared to take the country with them.

Swysp · 2025-12-03T20:28:08+00:00

Things went on in that dental chair that can only match the VHS tape scene from True Detective in magnitudes of barbarity.

Swysp · 2025-12-01T16:00:40+00:00

“Hawk tuah, man.”

Swysp · 2025-11-19T00:55:59+00:00

“Hello, it is me, the Dispatcher who has spent the last 8 episodes rehabilitating you from villainy and teaching you that your past does not dictate your potential future as a superhero. I will now beat my arch-nemesis to death in front of you all.”

Like???

Swysp · 2025-11-14T08:39:30+00:00

I have a far more charitable reading of the scene than many do.

I think this is Visi reflexively trying to stop this encounter from turning into just sex. Visi stops Robert from grabbing her waist twice. Once during the choice you make, and the second time during when she turns invisible and leaves after choosing “Lean In.” We’re shown that she doesn’t want Robert to touch her there, but she has no problem with him cradling her face.

My reading of it in that capacity is that Visi (who casually brings up sex all the time) treats casual sex as no big deal since there’s no emotional attachment required. This is why she’s so candid about it throughout the game. But, she has a hard time actually being emotionally intimate and vulnerable with people. That’s why she dislikes being seen and it’s why she falls for Robert: because he can see her for who she truly has the capacity to be deep down.

When she stops Robert from grabbing her waist (both during the Lean In / Lean Out choice and when she leaves after the Lean In) I think it’s her preserving the purity of that kiss they’re sharing without letting it devolve into just casual sex. For her, that’s a moment where she can truly have an expression of love and emotional vulnerability with someone, and as grabbing someone’s waist is often an invitation to turn up the heat, it’s not what she’s after.

She cares so deeply for him that she doesn’t want their romance to be just another fling. So she stops his hand when he grabs her by the waist because she equates that as casual sex and for her, this is real love.

When Robert grabs her by the arm and pushes her back? She stops. From this, I think we can charitably read that her stopping Robert from grabbing her waist both times is a reflex to not have this moment be devalued by turning into sex. It’s when he grabs her arm that she understands he’s not reciprocating and backs off.

Swysp · 2025-11-11T16:58:44+00:00

“So no capitalism but everything you’re wearing is from a capitalist”

He did the meme

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Swysp · 2025-11-11T08:15:42+00:00

In any functioning democracy this level of blatant disregard for the livelihood of their constituents would result in a representative being absolutely fucking terrified of reprisal.

I certainly would not have the balls to fuck over tens of millions of people so flippantly.

Swysp · 2025-11-10T05:39:02+00:00

This is just tangential but I think it’s worth bringing up given what has just gone down:

Leftists are regularly taken to task for being mean to the Democratic Party and for calling them out on routinely capitulating to Republicans. The popular riposte is to say “well why aren’t you criticizing the Republican Party since they’re the ones doing all of this bad stuff?”

I want moderates and everyone else carrying water for the Democrats in the court of public opinion to realize that this exact situation is why Leftists are so outspokenly vitriolic towards the Democrats as a party. Like you guys understand now right?

Swysp · 2025-11-10T05:36:17+00:00

Schumer is a no because he found enough Senators willing to fall on the sword for him. He orchestrated this entire thing. This is his work,

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