Hmm. Well, I'll give it some thought. My first, knee-jerk reaction to the idea that HoD is a critique is to say, "a critique, or a celebration?" I think you could interpret it successfully both ways, which if so means it's still a failure (since half a critique isn't much of a critique). It certainly didn't work very well as a horror story.

Well, who knows. We have no tablets, handed down from God on the issue, and it's not very important.

I see maliciousness as an expression of personal animus. He was doing everything he could to bring that immigration level down, at the southern border, and separating parents from kids was just another technique, to him. Maybe he figured that if word got around that the kids were going to go to separate camps it would reduce the flow. That's not malice; that's an intense focus on the bottom line.

As far as E. Jean goes, we're speaking of a guy who has obviously had a lot of success with women by failing to imagine that anyone might find him resistible. That doesn't condone rape, but what he did wasn't rape (but it still doesn't condone it, but she really should have gone to the cops at the time.) I dunno; it sounds to me like he was deeply confused about his own attractiveness, and he never once offended anyone badly enough that a criminal report was ever filed. Because if it had been that would have cured his confusion, if confusion there was. I realize that's not the standard of behavior we'd like to expect from candidates for higher office, much less citizens, but it's not malice.

And these are your two best arguments. We're never going to get there, on this one.

All right. Well, I can see we're never going to see eye to eye on this. I appreciate you making the effort, though.

Good answer.

this is that proroguing Parliament issue, right?

Rabelaisian?

And very well done.

I appreciate your care expressing yourself. Thank you so much. Good luck with the BBQ!!

Yep. I have to say, the impression I'm getting is distinctly negative. I guess I should have been paying a bit more attention!!

You don't think it was a horror story?

I've been hearing a lot about it. I guess I should have been paying attention, eh? lol

Woah! That is something. I'm sure you will have a wonderful career. (Well, I've been wrong before. It is perennially remarkable to me, how little artists sometimes understand what they do. An artist can do something truly amazing one minute, and then the next minute something just dumb. It's interesting.)

Ah, the rape conviction troubles me. It was 30 years ago, and it wasn't actually rape, and the lady didn't complain at the time, and the conviction wasn't beyond a reasonable doubt, but by a preponderance of the evidence -- but I believe it happened, and it troubles me. And I can imagine how much shame a woman might feel, after something like that. That would inhibit her coming forward about it. Our society does not welcome such complaints.

As far as the hush money payments go, I don't think anyone ever doubted they were actually hush money payments. But hush money payments are not illegal. Disguising them as something else can be a misdemeanor. Disguising them as something else in order to hide another crime is what makes it a felony. And I still can't tell what crime Trump was supposed to have been hiding. I've asked a number of times, and I've had people explain it a number of times, and I just can't wrap my head around it. The explanations I get just seem so recursive, to me. And I'm not a stupid guy. I just am not catching on to what seems so obvious to so many others.

But my thing is this: who was harmed? This is my sticking point. In all those 91 felony counts, what identifiable individual was harmed, in any of that? The point being, that here in the US we have WAYYYYYYYY too many laws. At last count, I think we have over 300,000 felonies, just in the federal courts. We have become a police state. And that doesn't seem to trouble many people. Well, it troubles me.

I think if you're threatened with jail or prison someone, somewhere, should be able to raise their hand and say Me. I was harmed. That person should have sworn out a complaint as to exactly how they were harmed, and they should be willing to appear in court against you. None of that is going to happen here, nor do any of the authorities seem to see that as any kind of problem.

Now, when you claim that Trump "fanned the flames" of J6 I think you understate the case pretty dramatically. He was planning to stop the Congressional count of the Electoral College votes and get Mike Pence to throw the election to the House. That was his plan. It didn't work, because Mike Pence is not a total shit, but it might have.

But that would not have been an attack on democracy. Democracy is strong in the US; it was strong before J6, and it would have been strong afterwards, even if J6 succeeded. And the reason is this: Trump was just trying to get a second term in office. IN A DEMOCRACY. His supporters wouldn't be supporting him if he actually wanted to be Il Duce, American style; they would have no interest in that. They are democratic to their bones. As is Trump himself. They just wanted him to have a second term, and hopefully he will still be able to get one. If Biden continues clueless about the border. Fingers crossed.

Who is it? It's very interesting... is this a celeb?

he was no dummy... OMG he's still alive...

Probably one of the more classic lines in movie history. That and "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

lol it was NOT!! ...not that drugs weren't a part of it, just... they weren't central. Not at all.

Woah - well played.

Gosh, and you're one of the much more moderate commenters I've had... lotta hate for ol' Boris in his sub, I must say!! Well, it's clear I haven't been paying attention. I will try to do better. And I do thank you for that link!!

Sorry. Not trying to be snarky.

that's a tough one; I'm not even sure that what it's "about" is what it's about... is it about war? Or something else?

I mean, I know it was related to or based on Conrad's Heart of Darkness... but it's not clear what the novel was about either. My own take is that the novel was a classic horror story, like Frankenstein or Dracula, only instead having a fictitious monster at its heart, the human monster is at its heart. Kind of like Lord of the Flies only not so effective or good. Kind of a failed effort, actually, Heart of Darkness. Although it obviously moved people enough to want to make a movie with the same or a similar message.

And if that was the message, I'd say it didn't work. The movie is not a horror story, not at all.

Maybe the real message was how crazy people are when they think they can do things that they're stupid to even imagine they could ever possibly do, like go to Vietnam and fix their shit over there. When we don't even know how our shit works over here.

And if that is the message, then you should probably say something like this:

AN is a war movie, but it's bigger than a war movie; it's a movie about how stupid it is to try to fix other people's shit when we don't even know how our own shit works. It's a movie about how many different things can go wrong when you try to do something like that, and how crazy it is to even imagine that you could.

Whaddaya think? Close, or no banana?

love the background too... this one's cheerful!!

This one didn't... it's in a zoo

Well, it's obvious I haven't been paying attention lol

Grrr!