10/10 title/reference.

We can both agree that we hate oligarchs and dictators and find a common ground in between.

I really like this take. I pray it’s the attitude we adopt for the midterms.

This whole exchange has been such a delight to read and agree with.

Like you, I don’t think the issue is this system or that, it’s the enforcement of the rules that make the whole thing work. And for decades, those rules and institutions have been sold away bit by bit for tax cuts and lobbyists.

Oh, my apologies, I didn’t meant to jump off the top ropes to defend pop culture etc. And absolutely, all sorts of routes to cool.

That being said, I’m a middle age man and am thus by classic definition, the anti cool.

Believe me, I have an over abundance of confidence, I know I’m cool in all the things that matter. But I also know that my time at the cultural forefront (whether your culture is pop, punk, underground, whatever) has passed, that’s off to the next generation.

I think of it like, while I still go to some of the larger underground events, I’m not one of the tastemakers that some of my friends were in our youth etc and I damn well won’t have heard of any of the bands but on the other hand, I am at the point where I can help out by buying all the merch.

I mean, you could make a credible argument for either but I’m pretty sure Republicans would whine regardless (she was pretty outspoken about how voting trump was a bad idea leading to his comically petulant “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” tweet.)

Her being allied to Trump does not bode well for the regime after Maduro, though

They have to get to the post Maduro stage first.

I think it’s like Ukraine, yeah, it’d be better if you didn’t have to rely on the States but to whom else can she turn?

If Venezuelans handle it, great and her praising trump costs nothing. If trump helps, there’ll be strings but it’ll almost certainly be better than Maduro.

I think she’s opportunistic and will praise whomever will help get rid of Maduro.

Sadly, US intervention is probably one of Venezuela’s best hopes at regime change and trump is childish enoughed to be influenced by petty praise.

To each their own. I definitely used to just listen to my own punk shit and disdain pop but the older I get, the more I see value in something fun with a catchy beat that a lot of people can dance and sing to at once. The classic tunes I dig were also pop once before they became old people tunes.

It’s like anything, if all you listen to is pop, that’s probably not great but if you refuse to listen to any, you’re probably missing out.

which apparently is worth being downvoted for

Yeah, that surprised me. My guess is that your comment came off a little “how can this be popular if I haven’t hesrd of it?” Which feels kinda boomery.

Don’t know what to tell you, he’s been on Canadian news a few times, subject of at least two Economist articles, BBC articles, Guardian articles etc. Maybe you missed the reports? I mean, if you don’t know the name of the guy announced to headline the Super Bowl (by definition, fairly goshdarn famous) it’s not like you’d be expected to be in touch with who is popular etc.

I mean, if you’re haven’t really listened to arguably the biggest artist in the world, are you really surprised you don’t know about the other big ones?

That moment when we realize we’re at the ppint where pop culture is passing us by rather than being targeted at us…

(Honestly, if it weren’t for some of the younglings on my soccer team I’d have only learned about Bad Bunny in the Economist, which is a pretty embarrassingly uncool way to learn about pop culture.)

According to number of streams it’d be Taylor Swift or Bad Bunny, but Bunny has a much smaller catalogue and fewer active years. (And I think conservatives would be as annoyed if Taylor played as she was pretty outspoken about trump.)

But yeah, his music has been everywhere. Anecdotally, I think it’s been played at 3/3 weddings I was at this summer, which I thought was neat considering none of the couples speaks Spanish.

Does he actually not remember he tried this less than 6 months ago and already had to back down?

Absolutely. Making fun of their hypocrisy almost feels like shooting fish in a gun-sized barrel at this point.

If Norway just created a Noble Prize, would he notice the difference? And if you surprised him with it in person, no one could ever point out that it wasn’t the Nobel prize as trump can’t stand to ever be wrong so he’d say that’s the one he really wanted all along.

Problem solved, someone can nominate me for the second Noble prize.

I imagine solvent banking institutions, retirement funds and the like are something that most people seriously need but barely think about. If the most valuable listed American company finds its value plummetting from 4 trillion to a few billion, there will be all sorts of fun and interesting revelations about the entire American financial system.

That being said, you are absolutely welcome to post your own memes which meet your specifications!

So it took that dumb fuck 9 months to realize that Putin’s the bad guy, Ukraine isn’t to blame for being invaded and that Western support could win this war?

Imagine how many lives would have been saved if he’d just listened to every goddamn adult in the previous administration.