The thing is, I think with just a tiny shift in perspective, that part of the song becomes about food deserts, and how social programs are often designed to keep people in the system, not help them get out of it.

After watching Beau’s videos, I tracked down videos on OIiver Anthony’s channel from before and after the song went viral.

tldr; Beau called it.

If you’re interested in what this guy is actually saying, vs. what people say that he’s saying, there are a pair of fascinating videos on his channel from before and after the song went viral.

A couple of thoughts I’ve had:

• He is smart AF. This guy isn’t a dumb bigot hopped up on MAGA propaganda. He may have partway fallen for some of it, but that’s why they spend billions of dollars on propaganda: it works.
• The pain and disillusionment he’s making music about are real. It’s stuff that’s happening to him and his loved ones. He’s not a rich, made-for-Nashville country music star.
• He’s definitely absorbed some conservative propaganda, but he also sees through a lot of their BS.
  • He goes into the “wellfare” line a bit, and for him it’s about the cycle of government dependence and how people feel trapped by some social programs. I think with a little more perspective he’d be singing about food deserts and how hard it is to eat fresh vegetables when your grocery store is a dollar tree.
  • There was a line about “normalizing pedophilia” which makes me think he’s fallen for some of the anti-lgbt+ propaganda from the GOP. I really hope that’s not the case.
• He definitely says the people on the GOP primary stage were who he was singing about in the song, not “populist saviors”.
• I think he’s halfway to realizing that it’s not really a culture war. It’s a class war, and people like him are losing.

I ended up being ok with the weirdly retconned Klingons - after all, Next Generation “butchered” the Klingons from TOS. The thing that kept me with Disco until season 4 was Michelle Yeoh’s character, because I fucking love her. That said, it does not really get much better than S1, and I gave up after S3.

…this little bit of cooperation between the Federation and the Orions probably improves their relationship a bit, which will eventually lead to Orions joining the Federation, which is how Tendi is friends with Boimler in the first place, which is how Boimler knows that not all Orions are pirates which is why Pike tones down his hostile response which gets them to a deal with the Orions which leads to…

OMG! They managed to make that scene just so hilarious and poignant at the same time. Watching her facial expressions as she realizes what Boimler is telling her made me want to just scream at him to shut the fuck up and slap the shit out of him…but he’s just being dear sweet clueless Boimey. :(

Theme-wise, I think they’re setting up a comparison between Pike knowing his doom and Christine/Spock knowing their relationship is doomed. Knowing that, what do you do in the meantime?

Yes! Boimler is a great example of an ally here - he tells Pike, who he spends all episode worshiping, directly and politely that his bias against Orions is wrong.

I’m still giddy about this episode. Possibly the best thing I’ve ever seen.

One thing I noticed particularly in this episode is how respectful both SNW and LD are of canon and fandom in general - the bit about not all Orions being pirates, for example. I know it originates w/Tendi from Lower Decks, but just in the context of this episode they take the one-dimensional nature of the Orions from TOS, poke a little fun at it, but then make it about the bias that the Federation/Star Fleet has against a culture they really don’t understand. The SNW writers effortlessly take what could be considered a flaw or one-dimensional writing from TOS and actually use it to flesh out the ST universe, all while telling a great story.

fwiw, it is also an “attack” from Republicans who claim the economy is a disaster. The Biden admin co-opted the term - similar to what they did with the “Dark Brandon” meme.

People on the “right” are vastly more accepting of authority than people on the left. For example, the people who didn’t wear masks were willing to die because Tucker (or whichever right-wing shitgoblin they listen to) told them to. It wasn’t some sort of anti-authoritarian expression, it was pure authoritarianism.

The democrats have had 15 years to get ANYTHING done on guns, climate change, health care, and student loans and they didn’t do jack shit.

If you ignore everything the Democrats have in fact done on those topics, then sure, they haven’t gotten ANYTHING done.

Hey now! As the headline says, the layoffs were painful. Those execs deserve some compensation for all their pain!

Prune juice. Just be sure to clear your calendar and plan to spend the next couple of hours near a clean bathroom.