Looking forward to the Ronnie D content. I think Meatball Ron stands a good chance of winning the primary. He's more charismatic than I once thought, despite being a total weirdo in private, apparently. That doesn't bother me nearly as much as using an intentional mispronunciation as a litmus test for how submissive women he dated might be. But Ron's also recently realized that he'll have to stoop to Trump's level or lower to sling enough mud to counter Trump's attacks. Whether or not Tiny D can win the general election hinges on whether the economy tanks or not, I think. Among other issues, first and foremost, his and the GOP's efforts to literally erase the existence of trans people should be disqualifying. And it's not. Not enough people are aware or care enough about it to damage the GOP significantly at the ballot box. It's (still) got me real fucked up. It's still escalating. And that's why Chapelle's and others' jokes at marginalized groups, however minor anyone perceives the humor to be, are 100% unacceptable. In eras when these groups weren't being rapidly stripped OF THEIR RIGHT TO EXIST, maybe the jokes would be... almost OK? Also, did you see this? What a fascistic culture they've cultivated down there. Not like Greg Abbott's funhaus is much better, admittedly. Two of our largest states are abject experiments in minoritarian theocracy. Things are great.
Agreed on your first point. The GOP machine seems to have picked their favorite to back for quite some time. Purposely deleted a few lines in my op about the 'Thai' test... I expected some fresh takes or nuance from Last Week Tonight (where I was exposed to this). I was let down when they leaned into obscure potshots at his character. Granted, it's a comedy show at heart... but I'm beyond the thinking that the public really needs to be swayed on character before they decide how they vote - or that these pieces of information have any bearing in the political realm at all. A main gripe I have with center/center-left media and reddit is the same rhetoric was/is used with Trump, and it implies tests of character have meaning in the politics today. We still got Trump. Not shocked about the principal... a large amount of what I have outlined is centered around the push to reform education as a means to sway the future population. There's your sneak preview.