439 Comments

Seriously? Someone would vote for a Presidential candidate because a star endorses him? Are we that dumbed down in USA?

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Anyone whose vote for a candidate for POTUS could be "swayed" by a pop star is verifiably too stupid to vote.

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Imagine endorsing a candidate who is too brain addled and confused for a prosecutor to indict. Well that's Hollywood for you.

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You have just defined the American electorate.

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founding

Which is why the proposal to lower the voting age to 16 is one of my all-time nightmare scenarios.

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They should raise it to age 35.

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How about you have to file taxes before being eligible.

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I’d prefer actually paying taxes.

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I like that. In order to hold office in ancient Rome you had to serve in the army for several years.

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Well, 21 at least.

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Nellie loves The Wicked Bitch of the West, Hillary. She either knows but ignores that Hill is a vile, vicious, lying, self-serving, asshole and doesn't care or she is blind and doesn't know Hill is a vile asshole.

To be fair the description I gave Hillary fits most if not all politicians.

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I'm never sure if Nellie is serious when she mentions Hillary.

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I know what you mean.

My perception is that Nellie was most likely a huge supporter of Hillary for many years—whole heartedly believed in her— but has since come to realize that she’s not as great as Nellie once thought. So, when she speaks of her, it’s a bit tongue in cheek with dashes of nostalgia since she once admired Hillary and wants to still do so but alas, knows she never will again.

Or she actually just inexplicably, truly loves Hillary.

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One of the images of Hilldabeast that will forever be with me is her walking down a street with handlers to her sides in a v-shape with ropes to keep the plebs and press away. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-reporters-moving-rope-line-hampshire-parade/story?id=32225818 . Just a disgusting, semi-human.

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If Nellie really does love Hillary, what exactly is it that she loves about her? Scratching my head.

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Lesbians stick together. Don't think that's necessarily bad.

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Wait, they are sticky?

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I think, I hope, she does it just to illicit a response from this very conservative crowd, from people like me.

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She kinda does the same on Blabbin' Gavin.

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Does she do it just to wind us up?

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That’s what I think. Bc she always sneaks it in.

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That jumped out at me as well. How can a 67 year old man be that stupid? If he was 22 woman , maybe but I am embarrassed for the man. That was the most disgraceful thing I have read in a long time.

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Agree! Such an embarrassing comment from a ‘mature’ man! Obsessed with MAGA too. Does he know that Mexico isn’t near Gaza?

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founding

“That was the most disgraceful thing I have read in a long time.”

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OMFG so you don’t follow Bill Kristol and Tom Nichols on Twitter??? We must remedy this situation, Mr. Loveland.

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My thought exactly. Maybe instead of a requirement for voter ID there should be a requirement for voter IQ.

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How about a requirement for a candidate IQ as well?

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This is something I've long favored as an amendment to the law that changes the voting age back to 21 years. In all seriousness though, these kind of tests (literacy tests) were used in the post-Civil War South to keep black people from voting and can easily be abused by those in power, so we probably don't want to go there. But Increasing the voting age would be a very, very good proxy.

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Those were literal literacy tests as in can you read and write. They also caught up many people besides those of color. But after what I witnessed at the 2022 mid'term election day and the consequence thereof in my county I think voter literacy tests are indeed in order. Or make nuts and bolts civics a requirement to graduate high school.

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Vivek Ramaswammy advocated for a voter test - the same test required for foreigners seeking to become US citizens. I don't think this idea will get much traction, especially in view of the literacy tests once used to keep blacks from voting, but it would be nice if our voters had some minimal level of knowledge before electing those who make our rules and wars.

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Nicely done. Very witty.

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Unless it was made up.

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Bizarre

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Are any Swifties old enough to vote?

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My Eight year old neice is not. But she is the only one I know who likes her alot.

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So well said.

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founding

Our dumbing down began with the Oprah effect in 2008.

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Our dumbing down began in the 60s with the valorisation of 'freedom from'. Freedom from growing up, freedom from facts, freedom from common sense.......scroll to now:.... freedom from 'gender', freedom from 'Euro-centric' culture.

Kris Kristofferon said it: "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"......and here we are.

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…having lost nearly everything.

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Feb 10·edited Feb 10

Janis Joplin?? Or did he write it/sing it first?

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Janis Joplin's version became the most famous but Kristofferson wrote the song. As a former dabbler in song-writing myself I always give maximum credit to the song-writer more than the performer.

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Thanks for the info. Agree with who gets maximum credit. If not for the writer, no performer! However, I love Janis singing that one!

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Have you heard Kris’s version? I love it!

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I heard her version of Mercedes Benz this week accapello. Stunning. I had forgotten it. And it absolutely sums up a very significant portion of our fellow citizens: "My friends all have Porsches (modern superficiality), I must make amends. Oh Lord (government) won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." Well except for the worked hard all my lifetime part.

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Thanks for info I never knew that

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Yeah, she put her whole heart and veins in it. I loved her anyway.

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NO!! KK wrote it, and JJ made it famous!

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You are right about that!

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Uh yeah.

What do you think the average iq is in general and certain groups in particular. How many years have dems been promising stuff and never delivering and still getting elected simply because they are dems.

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founding

If you don’t vote for Democrats, millions of transvestite kids will 9/11 themselves.

Plus Biden has dignity and empathy.

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When they said the adults are back in charge, did they mean adult diaper wearing clowns?

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Depends on what you think adult means. Pun intended.

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"dignity and empathy" I doubt if the ever senile old fart knows what these words mean and if he does, he can't verbalize the meanings.

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Deadpan humor is underrated.

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We can only wish.

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😂😂🤣

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The median IQ is 100. Which isn't that bright to begin with. Then layer Democrat politics on top of it. And you have Biden' s America.

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Alt description!

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I think it is because they keep promising. I think Rs do it too just not nearly as well. The bottom line is that there are few things the government can fix. And way too many fall for the myth that it can.

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Ronny was right when he said government is the problem not the solution!

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Was he ever.

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Shit! The Demos have delivered $billions, to their voters.

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And family, business partners, and other benefactors.

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The average IQ is and will always be 100. That’s the point of the scale.

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Just remember what an IQ of 100 represents.

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As Churchill said ‘ the best argument against democracy is to spend 5 minutes with the average voter ‘

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Also, "Democracy is the worst basis for a government, except all others."

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Typical Churchill he was a very wise man.

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We're the idiots of idiocracy. I am embarrassed for us. No super bowl for me. Ridiculous ritual exploiting humans on and off the field. Biggest sex trafficking event of the year. It's horrible.

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In a few words you've captured the total ethical bankruptcy of this annual satanic ritual. Wasn't it just a few years ago that football was under scrutiny for inciting death from brain injury? Never mind - back to the bread and circus! Shame on TFP for becoming part of this groveling claque.

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A disgrace from TFP.

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I read it in total disbelief. It may be true that the "outsider," as TFP has styled itself, really only wanted a better box seat at the game.

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Fortunately, there is a show of spectacular orchids at the Toronto Botanical Gardens. For those of us who would rather have a root canal than watch football.

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If you think the SB is big on sex trafficking - you haven’t come down to breakfast at the team hotel the morning after the NBA All-Star game. Stayed at one in DC because it was the normal business hotel I stayed at - quite eye-opening in more ways than one.

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The WEF in Davos probably outdoes both of those bacchanalia…

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Try the DNC/RNC conventions...

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Did Mike Tyson show too?

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Actually - bringing the event to Vegas cuts down on the trafficking. What happens in whoretown, stays in whoretown.

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I embrace your first, second, and fifth sentences.

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Thought the same. We are in that ‘soft times make soft citizens’ part of history. Lordy.

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Yes, we are. COVID made our collective ignorance obvious.

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But it doesn't explain Bush, either one.

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I don't understand. Within their domains both Bush's were well qualified, and certainly vastly better qualified than Barack Obama, who didn't even finish one term as a US Senator. I have come to view both as representing--and in the case of the former CIA Director embodying--the Deep State, but that is another discussion.

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Arguably the Bush Iera Deep State was aligned with traditional American interests. That was completely undone during Bush II. Whether deliberately or unintentionally can be parsed but the consequences have been, and continue to be, devestating.

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That we are off track seems clear enough, and that we have been off track a while also seems clear enough, but where we went wrong is hard to say.

I do think the assassinations of both JFK and RFK involved elements of our government. This is certainly what RFK Jr. is saying, and he is naming names.

And to my mind, the claim that Nixon was sabotaged by the CIA made by, among others, Tucker Carlson is plausible. Bob Woodward seems to have been one fo their assets, and I think Deep Throat--whose actual name I forget--was an asset as well.

And given that his removal caused a wave of failures and mass death in Southeast Asia, including the loss of the Vietnam War, it's hard not to think that even then some element of our own government was working against US interests. And even in the Korean War there were some very odd decisions.

It's maddening, trying to guess what is really going on, not least given that we can assume the people involved are smart enough to throw a lot of distracting flack out into the public domain.

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Well said, I totally agree. One of the things Putin said in the interview was that no one is as good at propaganda as the United States government. That no one even comes close. Prior to Covid, I would’ve called that BS. But now I believe it.

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I take it back to the Civil War. That is when the push for dominance of federal government began. Capture the money, capture the population.

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The author had to have made that up - what self-respecting 67 year old man could be so vacuous as to need to pop stars opinion in order to make up his mind on who to vote for?

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Oh Phil you should see the ladies of that age in my town trying to outdo each other in wokeness. I think they are desperate to maintain their (rapidly fading) youth. Or maybe their social security handout. Or both. Ugh.

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Not sure what town that might be Lynne but I high-tailed it out of Seattle two years ago so I know what you mean - people just for ridiculous trying to "one up" each other's wokeness...

I'm now happily residing in Arizona..

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Hmmmm, are you in rural AZ? The cities are all CertifiedWoke™️ nowadays. Our Limousine Liberal neighbors/acquaintances are all “systemic racism” this, and “White privilege” that! The only break we get are our friends who are LDS…oh, and the one proud MAGA late-30s guy at the top of the street, who sticks out like a sore thumb (but we don’t hang out — different stages of life).

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Far west Maricopa county.

The folks I associate with are smart enough to know the difference between "systemic" and "anecdotal".

any of those other grandstanding fools are summarily dismissed.

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Try to become active in party politics at the precinct level. I see Arizona as kind of aberrant because I think but for Dems crossing party lines to influence Republican candidates coupled with McConnell playing favorites with Republican money the results might have been different.

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Small town Texas. Too near Austinn for my politics. Keep up the good fight in Arizona. You are needed tbere.

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Well FWIW there is a 67-year-old MBA in Texas named Michael Dee.

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meds??

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Good point.

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Note it was reported by the Guardian a left wing supermarket flyer.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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Apparently.

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Yes that's about the size of it.

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Yes, we ARE!

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Gonna go out on a limb here and guess there couldn't be two less qualified people to do an NFL story than Oliver Wiseman and Suzy Weiss.

As for "Trump supporter" Boomer Esiason saying ‘If you want her (Taylor Swift) at the game, you gotta pay for the jet coming back from Tokyo. And she needs her own suite’.....is he wrong? Did Wiseman and Weiss qualify if there was any truth to this? Funny, but all they say is that Swift "can easily cover the cost". Then in real journalistic professionalism, they call Esiason a "moron" and go on to talk about Swift causing a "MAGA meltdown". I've got 5/1 odds on Esiason's story being more accurate than not.

Just to give you two a quick history lesson on Boomer 'QAnon' Esiason.....he's one of the top 25 NFL QB's of all times. He was named to four Pro Bowls, had a QB rating of 97.4 & 92.1 in 1988 & 89 respectively (not that either of you would have a clue what that means) and won the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 1995 for his charitable work & contributions. Just this year he was inducted into the Bengals Ring of Honor.

We all know the story is not really about the Superbowl, but if you were gonna pretend to write about footballs biggest day of the year, do yourselves a favor and at least consult with someone like Adam Schefter or Ian Rapoport so that it would almost look legit. Otherwise you guys might want to stick to reporting on Biden, trans kiddies and global warming......even though I bet Oliver could do a hell of a spread on what makes better buffalo wings......drummies or flats.

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Amen. “Articles” like this from the Free Press piss me off. A waste of time to begin with, and then oh look another dig at conservatives. Yay.

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YeahButt, look at the comments they bring!

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Yes. I thought the takedown of Esiason was mean spirited and unnecessary.

Margi, Ferrari is a fine movie. You will really enjoy it if you are a “gear girl.” It has not gotten the hype it deserves, unlike the football game.

Yeungling should be America’s beer. Everyone I know loves it.

My wife and I have opted not to attend a Super Bowl party this year. We are in Florida this week, the weather is sensational, we are nominal fans, and want the option of shutting down the game and doing something else if the game isn’t competitive. The beachside bar across the street seems like a good option.

I hope everyone enjoys our national holiday!

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Real Texans drink real Texas Beer, Shiner, brewed by Texans for Texans. Real Texans don't drink beer brewed in blue states for effeminate Yankees/Democrats/Socialists.

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And it's up against the wall Redneck Mother, Mother, who has raised her son so well. He's thirty-four and drinking in a honky tonk.

Just kicking hippies asses and raising hell.

God bless Ray Wylie Hubbard….

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London Homesick Blues!

"When you're down on you're and you ain't got a buck, in London you're a goner."

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One of my favorites. Saw Jerry Jeff Walker play in a dive bar in North Louisiana in the mid 80s. It was epic!

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I watched him twice at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas. Gruene Hall is the oldest continuously operated beer/dance hall in Texas.

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Shiner owned by the Gambrinus Company( "family-owned company with headquarters in San Antonio, Texas") who also owns Trumer Brewery based in Berkeley California. As they said in the Trix commercials, "silly rabbit, it's all about the color of money which is green".

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My go-to drink for the Super Bowl (or any other time) is Dr. Pepper.

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Dr. Ps college football commercials are the best around IMO.

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I'm taking KC +2. Draft Kings has a prop bet that Taylor Swift will be mentioned in the Super Bowl MVP speech.......might as well put a quarter on that :-)

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I completely agree Yuengling should definitely be a beer to try. I am not a beer drinker at all and I really do love a Yuengling, however can he get it?

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Tingling is the best. Shiner Bock is pretty damn good, too.

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Yuengling, Damn It!

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Evans W(rong again)

I am reluctant to defend Oliver (not very) Wiseman and Suzy (is this nepostism?) Weiss but the exuberance for Mahomes, who is a great QB, and the criticism of Boomer Esiason’s sensible statement were expressed by Tyler Dunne and Paula Froelich.

From Andy Reid to Chris Jones to Mahomes and Kelce there is a lot to love about the Chiefs, but there is also a lot to love about the 49ers with their great coaching staff, linebacking duo , underrated QB and great receivers.

But anyone who has their vote influenced by a celebrity is a moron. As is anyone who prefers demented and treasonously open borders to justifiably rude, patriotic and competent.

Most overhyped events are disappointing. Let’s hope this is an exception. Go 49ers and let’s hope the refs don’t determine the winner. If the 49ers cover Kelce man to man they should win. If they play zone, he will have a field day.

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Detroit fan here - wanna like the 49ers and support the NFC team. Just wish they weren’t from California.

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Well the young man playing QB for the 49ers is as great a story as you’ll get. He was picked last in the draft and dubbed “Mr Irrelevant “-aka-Brock Purdy. Very humble and the only QB to make the playoffs that was not picked in first round. He probably makes 800 k (chicken feed in the nfl)while Mahomes makes 25m. Seems like an awesome kid.

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I get a little tired of the glory boy quarterbacks myself. And my school has produced a few of late.

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I'm not a sportsball fan, but I'm a Midwestern girl, specifically a Kansas girl, so I'm pulling for the Chiefs in this match-up.

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You have a bit of a dilemma, girl.........Purdy went to Iowa State.

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If the Chiefs weren't playing, that *might* help me decide who to pull for.

For me, choosing a team to root for in the Superbowl is based on an esoteric combination of factors. In this case, I have a regional preference that overrides everything else. Sometimes I root for the underdog or against whoever seems most arrogant.

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Sez the guy who finds E Jean Carroll's fantasy tale to be believable.......

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Tyler Dunn is a dickhead. Plus he missed the fact that Terry Bradshaw has FOUR rings and had them decades ago. But, as I wrote, Dunn is a dickhead, which is quite obvious from his “analysis”. Really shameful.

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I’m a fan of Christian McCaffrey and Brock Purdy. I just can’t find a way to bet against Mahomes and Mr. Pfizer +2. So it looks like I’m a Chiefs fan for Sunday. Hopefully I’m not W(rong)…..we’ll see.

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Easy. Bet with your brain and root with your heart. That way you can't lose.

Agree with those laughing at the FP covering football in the first place. The brie and chablis crowd discussing anything but gay art exhibits is beyond laughable.

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Yes. I should have mentioned CMC. I love the way he plays and I love his first name.

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Same here. I'd like to see SF win but when it comes to placing a bet - it'll be KC taking the trophy again.

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Agree, but Kelce had better have his phone shut off for the last few days.

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I know very little about football but agree … mahomes always throws to kelce so … cover kelce? Seems like that’s the way to win.

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I really don’t understand why Democrats are gambling all of their credibility on the 55/45 proposition that is Taylor Swift being involved in the Super Bowl not happening.

Like maybe you bet $1,000 she doesn’t show if you’re getting +175 or something, but you don’t gamble your name and reputation on it.

Anyways, “MAGA meltdown” just means people have detected a Democrat scheme and are discussing it in advance which Democrats hate because this really diminishes their schemes in general, even if the particular scheme in question isn’t happening.

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At this point, anything labeled a "MAGA meltdown" by the corporate media (and even TFP) is like something called a "conspiracy theory". The Dems don't like it when someone notices what they are doing and draws attention to it.

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I'm a Gordons London Dry, myself.

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founding

Evan - Thank you for your knowledge sharing on Boomer.

My worry for this year’s event is a national security threat from the 10 miilion plus folks who have seeped across our borders since January 2020. Keeping all in Vegas in my prayers.

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A valid concern I think. We had reservations in LV this weekend and canceled them. Just seemed like a too rich target environment.

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Boomer Esiason is a top 25 QB? Really? There are 36 QBs in Canton, and Esiason isn't one of them, so its safe to say the people that do know football disagree with your take on his accomplishments.

That being said, I agree that the article was crap in many ways, and its in inclusion of Esiason chief among them. It added no value whatsoever in terms of context, but did allow the flaky writers to confirm their lefty bona fides.

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And many played in the leather helmet days and some like Joe Namath don’t belong. Boomer threw 247 touchdowns Namath almost as many interceptions.

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I have no idea who Paula Froelich is but she sure p-d me off this morning. I have no opinion on Swift-Kelce. Hope he signs a good pre-nup cause I’m guessing she makes a buck or two more than him. And I couldn’t care less if they both vote D. Frankly I just assume the entertainment class does. But Froelich’s attack on Boomer specifically and conservatives generally was trash. To Esiason, as Evans notes he was a great NFL QB. Hate to break it to you Paula but only 34 men (are we still allowed to say men?) have won a Super Bowl. That’s pretty rarified air. As to what he said? I hear crazier stuff from KJP daily.

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Swift will quietly break up with him once the season is over and the hype has went away.

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I do not think so. The girl is positively aglow. As is he. You can't fake that (try as glam squads might). And if next comes marriage followed by the baby carriage she will get pretty conservative PDQ. She could cause a cultural revolution.

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She is a professional entertainer. All her fans in the stadia think she is singing to them directly. She knows what she is doing.

I won't write off the fact that her biological clock is ticking, and Kelce's Pro Athlete DNA, Q Rating and lack of financial need makes him an attractive partner... but throughout her career, Swift has shown an uncanny knack to be able to play to the cameras. Check out the Grammys last week.

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Oh I do not doubt she is calculating nor do I discredit her therefor. But her music suggests she is heterosexual and has had a lot of unsatisfactory boyfriends, so if she found a keeper good for her. I don't watch the awards shows anymore so all I saw was a clip of her on her feet dancing to Fast Car. Which I thought was nice. Plus if she and K have a little one full bore conservatism, which I am guessing are her roots, is inevitable. Because she is calculating and will want the best for the babe.

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Evan, you should email Bari and volunteer to write their Saturday football articles next season. Seriously. The rest of us will get a kick seeing a take from one of our own instead of another pundit.

How about you reply to yourself with your short take?

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I'll get right on that.

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Agreed. This was not good. I'm sure there was a Super Bowl angle The FP could have found that would have been it its wheelhouse, but this was not it. Maybe a story about how the NFL and the Super Bowl made its way to Las Vegas, something that for generations seemed impossible. Maybe a story about how the 49ers are in a pitched legal and political battle with their home city (Santa Clara) over the fiscal boondoggle that their stadium has become. Or how the spectator sports scene in the Bay Area is in turmoil, with Oakland losing all of its major-league teams, free-agent baseball players shunning the Giants because of the sad state of affairs on the streets of San Francisco, and Cal and Stanford heading to the Atlantic (?) Coast Conference. And if you really need to force in a beer story, how about one on the still-shocking demise of San Francisco and craft-beer icon, Anchor Brewing? There's even a potential football angle there since the historic brewery is just a stone's throw away from where OJ Simpson grew up.

As for the halftime shows, I'd love a deeper dive into their evolution from "Up With People" lo-fi extravaganzas in the 1970s to multi-million-dollar productions featuring global superstars.

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And what is with the 21-year-old intern pretending he doesn't know what booze to drink? If true, he should go to that nerd table they mentioned in the first couple paragraphs.

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That bit was just an excuse to get in the obligatory MAGA/Trump dig. I wonder if they realize it has the effect of reinforcing support therefor?

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Thank you for saying this.

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I've been saying that same thing all along.

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Drummies!

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Did you really just write that Boomer is a top 25 QB of all time??? I watched dude play and he was good, but is nowhere near an all time list.

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I love how conspiracy theories are always presented as crazy until they turn out to be true, at which point they are ignored. Many crazy ideas over the past few years were discovered to be not so crazy after all but there is never an apology for all the mocking.

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"As Michael Dee, a 67-year-old investment banker and big daughter-guy from Texas, told The Guardian, “I think she could, potentially, absolutely change my mind politically, because she is a strong woman who is a role model to my 24-year-old daughter.”"

Geeesh. Have American men really become this weak? In Texas?

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Why would a 24 yr. old women (she's no longer a girl) need a role model? Her father, on the other hand, definately needs one.

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Feb 10·edited Feb 10

I have nothing against T. Swift and even like some of her songs, but how exactly is an unmarried, 35-year old woman with no kids who jumps relationships constantly a role model?

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She is a woman who has succeeded on her own terms and is fabulously wealthy, living the dream of every young girl who ever wrote a poem or a song and stood in from of a mirror and sang. She has shown that a female can make it on her own terms and in turn, inspire and influence thousands of other that want to be just like her. I would venture to guess, that since the mid-sixties, marriage and children isn't the ultimate goal of a majority of women.

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Also proof that nose jobs are inevitable for women on camera in entertainment.

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It's either that or they'd all look like General DeGaulle.

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I'll take that side bet she won't be single long. She's mentioned having children and that biological clock alarm has likely gone off non-stop. She's probably frozen a few eggs Thinking she and Trav tie the knot in the off season.

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Yes. It was Oscar Wild who said "Just be yourself. Besides, everyone else is already taken."

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First clue that the guy is kind of dumb; "she could, potentially, absolutely",,,,really? The words potentially and absolutely next to each other in the same sentence?? After reading that I just feel like, wow, totally, literally, disappointed,,,,,,,

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You forgot "virtually" :-)

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Dang it, you're right ! I need more coffee.

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Guessing Dallas or Austin, you sure won’t hear that kinda talk in Dime Box, Tx

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maybe he moved down there from NY/NJ for tax bennies?

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FWIW the NY/NJ newcomers seem imminently more reasonable than the Cali types. The Cali types are largely predisposed to recreating Texas in Cali's image.

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For asylum seekers, them Californians are awfully persnickety

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Pushy, demanding and entitled. Ugh.

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There’s times when talking to them folks, I get the impression they think I’m dumber than a box of rocks.

I mighta fell off the turnip truck, but it didn’t back over my head

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Been seeing boatloads of California plates nowadays

Refugees

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YES! Cali makes more sense!!

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Exactly my point! Love Dime Box, Blue and Lexington - beautiful parts of TX!

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Great BBQ joint in Lexington, but the line starts about 4:00 am

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Question is: The dude LIVES in TX? or he is a TEXAN? Having married a TEXAN myself; and living there in the suburbs of DFW there is indeed a difference. But I'm just a recovering "cranky-yankee" as my husband likes to point out so what do I know? Besides living in DE 36 years and vowing never to return once I left in 2007; being a TEXAN (small town and all that) and living in TX (all those who have flocked there and FL) different for sure.

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This sounds like he expressed this sarcastically.

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Now, that’s what I think is a psyop.

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The article was fun, but it's more fun reading the comments and seeing how many joyless, self-important people there are online. Go Chiefs!

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I guess if that's what you're looking for, that's what you'll find. But it sorta makes you one of them, eh?

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People who are miserable for no real reason are funny so joyless? Me? Sorry, nope.

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Yep.

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Man. Some of y'all are taking this piece too seriously. Just a party-goers guide to watching a cultural event. Sort of like the red carpet preview ... "Who are you wearing?" Joan Rivers used to say. Except Rivers is dead, so we need something to take her place.

Two things of note: I'm quite sure Ms. Swift can pay her own way from Asia. But you can't blame the NFL if they offered to foot the bill. They revel in the idea of the influx of nubiles watching their corporate sport. Capitalism, baby!

As for dumbing down of the event for cultural purposes, that's OK, too. I guarantee 98 percent of the audience watching have no earthly idea of the "X's and O's" of a very complex sport ... of passing trees, down blocks and Cover 2.

So enjoy Usher (I won't, but that's OK. Lots of people like him). Let the Swifties go wild with each cut to her box. Drink your craft beer (Bud Light is shit anyway). It's a Holiday. Don't grumble. Have fun!

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This quote is what is totally numbing and dumbing: “As Michael Dee, a 67-year-old investment banker and big daughter-guy from Texas, told The Guardian, “I think she could, potentially, absolutely change my mind politically, because she is a strong woman who is a role model to my 24-year-old daughter.” Seriously stupid. But agreed, article is for fun, even if I don’t with everything. Can’t wait to go to our Super Bowl party tomorrow.

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Yeah, Goldbert ... I agree. Gratuitous and unneccessary, really. (My nice way of saying 'bullshit') It's on the same level as a Hollywood celeb saying "If so-and-so is elected, I'm leaving the country!" Then we see them the following year on the podium accepting their Grammy.

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I agree with your assessment except the article was mostly a POS. The game is for fun. For the fans.

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Ugh! Oliver and Suzy couldn't resist Dis'n a large swath of voters and readers. Don't group us together into a monolith identity bucket. Criticize policies, not voters or their intelligence.

Is this the drumbeat for '24 at TheFP? Maybe I'll take a pass.

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The NFL is a crock within a crock.

The NFL deserves an underdeveloped, middle school starlet and their fraudulent black national anthem. Bread and circuses forever!

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WHY HAS NO ONE MENTIONED THE PUPPY BOWL ON ANIMAL PLANET

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I’ve had an amazing 24 hours! Not once, not once did I see or hear anything about Taylor Swift and.... oh wait, I’m dead!

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How do you think parents of Baby Boomers felt about The Beatles?

Best to just observe this phenomenon and appreciate it for what it is (you get to determine that for yourself.) Once a generation a Taylor Swift comes along.

I find her a pleasant distraction from you know who.

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Contrary viewpoint:

90% of the Beatles' songs were written mostly by two people.

Look at the credits on this track: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavender_Haze

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The Free Press is fast becoming the kind of media property they once used to mock.

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In my mind they crossed it a while ago. Keep waiting to see if it ever boomerangs. Doesn’t look promising and seems to be accelerating the wrong direction.

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I love the Free Press but I’m starting to think that you guys look down your noses at regular working people. Getting a little too snobby.

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You're just starting to think that now? I enjoy TFP a lot but they still come off a bit too desperate to be viewed like the New York Times.

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I haven’t been reading it for too long.

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"Here I am, reading TGIF in my Amalfi Coast million dollar winter villa." Ugh.

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Call me an outlier, but I can compartmentalize my musical and voting preferences. Some of the music I dearly love is written by dyed-in-the-wool anti-Trumpers. It doesn’t matter what they say; I’m still voting for Trump (or, more accurately, against any Democrat). In fact the more they froth at the mouth, the more stubborn I become.

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"As Michael Dee, a 67-year-old investment banker and big daughter-guy from Texas, told The Guardian, “I think she could, potentially, absolutely change my mind politically, because she is a strong woman .."

The strong woman for the weak man.

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Wow... totally shocked that with all of the issues occurring in the world, this is what the FP chooses to write about. PS: I actually might not even watch the superbowl and hearing others say the same. The vast majority of the country doesn't care about these two teams.

I think a topic more concerning of discussion, is the subtle attack that this platform, Substack, seems to be under: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/the-subtle-yet-coordinated-attack

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Why NOT something frivolous on a Saturday morning? We can only take so much of the heavy stuff all week long. Time for a bit of frivolity!

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Then make it interesting

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YeahButt, it does allow me to get up my self-importance, along with what looks like most of the crowd here, so far.

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If that’s the case then they should leave politics out of it.

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There is no area in which politics has not been infused.

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Very sad

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Love your moniker. Wish I'd a thought of it.

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That there’s the problem

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The attack on substack is an important issue - but probably not for a weekend morning. There are increasing calls for public funding of media, especially print media, that is behind a lot of the attacks on substack. One look at NPR reporting tells you all you need to know about how one-sided public funding of journalism would be.

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It's a push for cultural unity using entertainment.

They need it desperately because we're internally more divided than ever, and facing the end of the pax Americana with a totally incompetent and corrupt Commander in Chief, backed by a party of unserious clowns.

So let's bring men and women back together with some good old fashioned football, pretty blondes and hunky men!

It won't work, and it's honestly pretty pitiful that this is the best they can do.

And yeah TFP is on board enough to pretend they care about football and that this is worth an article. And they do this days after mocking the idea that this is a propaganda push, when it is so obviously a propaganda push.

I'll skip the nerd table in the corner, thanks, it's really not great to hear "we have a place for everyone here and yours is in the corner of shame." My family is watching "for the commercials" and I remind them that the commercials are preachy, hypocritical, and unfunny now. Like all of corporate America.

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Panem et circenses.

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With real butter and clowns, please.

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Clowns suck. More liontamers.

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When I toured Australia with the Moscow Circus, lost somewhere in the mid-sixties of memory, I recall the Lion Tamer; all six feet 2 of her Russian self. She cracked the whip and the lions did whatever she wanted them to. She was making it with the band leader, an older distinqued-looking gentleman, who spoke no English and was a marvelous conductor. The CLOWNS. Two of the clowns were man and wife. She dressed in peasants clothes and played the upright piano. He, formerly of the Moscow Symphony, asked for a transfer to the Moscow Circus to form an act with his wife, played Trombone. They were masterful players and did funny musical bits.

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Careful with that, "...unserious clowns." Go back on TFP and read Matti Friedman's, "The Wisdom of Hamas." I'm afraid we're in serious trouble.

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TFP always do fluff articles on Saturdays. Don't you know it by now?

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I'm not a sportsball fan, but the only ball-sport I actually enjoy watching is football. And the Superbowl is generally the only time I sit down and watch it on purpose. And I generally pick the team I'm rooting for on some basis that has nothing to do with football (in this case, I'm rooting for the Chiefs because I consider Kansas my heart's home).

I've noticed that TFP usually has some kind of pop culture take on Saturdays. That's a legitimate direction for them to branch into.

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I can’t believe a 64 year old man would go on record to say Taylor Swift could sway his vote. Biden couldn’t pull the handle for himself but this numnut would vote for him because Taylor Swift says to. I wonder if these Swifties would jump off a bridge because she said do it. I don’t understand this infatuation with her and I certainly wouldn’t mortgage my house to buy a ticket to see her like some of these idiots have done. I guess these people have to cling to something if there life’s are so shity they lose all perspective over a singer.

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Mass formation psychosis.

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