Pete1111

One might remind ourselves that when Maga isn't blaming the corrupt news and corrupt political actions on the influence of George Soros, that Trump has told us, (and he was very strong), how there are good people on both sides. That said, while Trump describes how the flow of immigrants at the border has increased bigly due to outflows from prisons and mental institutions, the reality is a benefit to our US economic engine: young, cheap labor willing to get out of bed and go to work every day.

Just ask Trump. He said it very strong yesterday that Putin is a better leader than Biden. Putin will raise oil drilling bigly while Sleepy Joe is the most corrupt leader the world has ever seen. Believe me! Regarding immigrants the GOP will try scaring the $$$ out of you by saying whatever it takes to get you to open your wallet, just like televangelists do. In either case, after they have your money, they have no viable agenda or policy other than vote for them and/or pray.

Who will expense dear Rudy his scotch and private transportation?

Another somewhat recent example how it is OK" to be gay and/or play gay, In Space Station 76, a straight character was played by a gay actor and a gay character was played by a straight actor. Love that movie. I'm not at all affected as a viewer knowing the actor's sexuality is not the same as the character's. The performances were spot on! The creators were queer. A funky movie that didn't get enough hype.

Even if he read Hitler speeches would he remember what he read? Or is someone reminding him how to pander to his base? That said, Trump has never been shy about his Jewish friends. In the end, Trump is twice the age of Hitler. I don't mean to sound ageist, and bless his heart, but TFG doesn't pull off his Nazi routine well. He sounds less like a screaming der Führer and more like a big balloon wheezing out through its unfastened flap.

Live theater can really show an actor's true colors as far as their acting chops. I'm not surprised how good you say Bailey was in Beautiful Thing. All the players were good in Fellow Travelers, but for me Bailey was the best part, every scene he was in. I look forward to seeing more from him, whether gay or straight roles.

Gosling got his start singing and dancing on the Mickey Mouse Club which is kinda gay. And yes, Ken getting kissed by two other Kens when he hugs them is pretty gay. Gerwig showed how Ken was perfectly fine with it, because, as the OP asked, Yes, being gay is OK.

I agree, Fellow Travelers was a bit of a chore for me too, but I recognize how a lot of people do like it. There are a lot of great scenes. But, I enjoyed Ryan Gosling getting kissed on both cheeks by two guys during the #I'mJustKen dance scene in Barbie, more than all the graphic sex in Fellow Travelers put together. Maybe I am just a victim of Queer Baiting. Skip to 3:45 for the male dance sequence and queer-baiting man-on-man kisses.

I disagree with the term queer baiting. I don't like how that term has been stolen from its original use. To me, it is insulting and disrespectful to true victims of queer baiting wrought by the police and bashers. That said, even gay directors admit they prefer freedom who they cast, with no requirement to confirm where the actor lands on the Kinsey scale. I was at a Q&A for Call Me by Your Name where a woke young woman asked Luca Gudagnino why he didn't cast gay actors in the lead. He asked her if only those that practice cannibalism should be cast for a cannibal role. In CMBYN, neither character landed at Kinsey scale 6.0. So yeah, the queer baiting idea itself is as messy as it is futile. I prefer watching actors that are talented and nice looking. Sadly, the "nice looking" is the piece attacked as queer baiting when a role is not awarded to an out actor. Fellow Travelers cast gay actors in the lead rolls, a successful choice. Bailey and Bomer have both successfully played straight and gay roles. I have no problem when straight or closeted actors do the same. In the end, casting is a business decision, like it or not. Casting affects the product. Directors need the largest available population of choices that make sense for the role. Back to the "positive" theme of the OP. HBO recently streamed Angels in America during World Aids Day. I love Al Pacino. He was fantastic playing Roy Cohn. I have also seen him play a gay role live on stage. Again he is an amazing actor. Angels in America was produced nearly 20 years ago. HBO and Al Pacino thought it was "OK" to play gay content back then. In the ensuing years, as "old thinking" has transitioned out of the industry, playing gay and being gay in Hollywood has become more and more "OK". But it would be blind to ignore reality. For example there are regions in Poland that recently voted themselves "LGBTQ free zones." Some religions in the States still preach that gay men risk burning in Hell. Therefore, marketing entertainment with gay content is probably a tricky path. So kudos to the actors and content creators that took risks decades ago, helping move the ball in the right direction towards a time where it is OK to be gay or play gay in Hollywood. As far as Asia, my sense is that places like Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taiwan are regions where gay actors are "ok", e.g. Leslie Cheung in Happy Together (R.I.P)

A continuation of his election denial would be no surprise. Sadly the Repubs use the border to stir up the electorate and win votes. They have not passed any new immigration policy, long time.

May I ask, what is SGT?

Freeman gave quite a sermon after and reminded there is more to come. Is Miss Lindseybelle on this mix?

...as well as other speech that harms the judicial process can be prohibited.

Considering the honesty of George Santos, the intelligence of Lauren Boebert, the empathy of Marjorie T. Green, the moral standards of Matt Gaetz, the integrity of Kari Lake, the spine of Kevin McCarthy, and the personality of Trump, how would your nephews square any decision to vote Blue? Or are they unaware of these modern GOP traits? 😉

The fast pace of the information flowing on TikTok and the number of views per post might not be a fair equivalent to Dad's barber shop.

That's a good point, especially in these modern times when so many are gathering their political ideas from TikTok.

The welfare of Palestinians is not a priority for Iran. Iran wants to stir the pot in Gaza and Lebanon. They help keep the cycle going. Regarding Netanyahu, it seems Israelis blame him. Can anyone be surprised how it looks, that a corrupt leader willing to diminish democracy and enrich himself may have taken his eye off the ball?

The GOP Grifters that get punished are the dumb ones that don't know how to cover their tracks or the ones that piss off the wrong people. Sara Huckabee for example. There had to be a more palatable way to fund a gal-pal trip to Paris with Arkansas tax revenue than claiming the $19000 was for a lectern, too easy to disprove. The trouble with Joe Harding and the GOP is there are so many more grifters queued up to follow with more GOP grift. Didn't Iowa Repubs actually get rid of their auditor (a Dem) which seems to give their GOP government free reign with state funds?

A lot of people are saying it......Biden doesn't have the mental faculties that Trump has.

A lot of people are saying it...Biden might lose if Trump picks a very strong woman running mate.

Tis true. Though the context has evolved, the original post was a worthy question and remains an important topic that's been continually debated in the media. IMO, one applicable argument across all the indictments since @Luckys post is the scenario that when the justice system ignores criminal activity because the President was involved it invites the same criminal activity or worse under future election cycles and/or future administrations. I agree, (probably because I've read your posts), that Democrats need to talk about other things such as the economy, jobs, energy projects, other infrastructure projects and so on. And it seems Biden is doing that. But I expect the Fulton County indictments will bring a final blow, that will get discussed a lot, especially how Trump's crimes affected people like Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Their case is going to look undeniably bad for Trump. From how I understand the law in Georgia, people are going to serve time in jail if they don't flip on Trump. Back before any of the indictments, some of the talking heads speculated that Fulton County is where Trump will fall. Of course not everyone agrees and maybe I'm swept up in the drama, but to me it seems that the Trump team knows from Fulton County, if they don't win in 2024, he's fucked. .

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Earlier this year (May 2023) Lindsey Graham claimed the focus on Clarence Thomas is an unethical initiative by the Dems to delegitimize a conservative court. But by now isn't it clear Uncle Thomas is largely responsible for the fall in the Court's reputation? I'm not waiting for LindseyBelle to chime in again anytime soon, at least not until he learns his fate in Fulton County, whether he is indicted or is an unindicted co-conspirator in the Grand Jury election fraud case. Since that news may come soon (this week?) ol' Lindsey will need to check his hair and makeup for another turn on Fox, for more spin. Frankly, I'm not as focused on Clarence and Lindsey though. Rather, I'm excited to see The Donald have his mug shot and fingerprints taken before appearing in court, in Fulton County

I'm excited upcoming film "Saltburn" has a steamy, homoerotic relationship featuring Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan. IMO Keoghan was fantastic in Banshees and Elordi is also great. Sounds like the actors got shredded for the roles. But I dread how the woke Internet will cry foul and raise a stink the production did not cast an out gay actor. I just don't agree films should limit their cast nor do I understand where on the Kinsey scale the actor must land to avoid being fired.

That's it, in a nutshell, although how the lamestream media keeps framing the race with messaging about Biden's unpopularity is not helping. Rather, they could explore data showing how Biden is not optimal yet he remains preferable to TFG, due to Trump's potential dementia, his indictments, grifting by his company, sexual abuser, etc. But the lamestream media remains hands-off in too many ways. Similarly, they could frame the Manchin 3rd party candidacy with the inevitable Trump win and by pointing to what Ayres predicts in @stevenkesslar post, 4 years of retribution, not to mention more Trump crimes and more pardons. But the media does not focus on those issues. Not enough anyway.