S21.E10: Chris Sununu; James Kirchick; Winsome Sears

[tessaray]

Air Date:  March 31, 2023

Description:  Bill’s guests are Gov. Chris Sununu, James Kirchick, and Lt Gov. Winsome Sears.

[Pike Ludwell]

Not that great an episode. I wasn't impressed with the guests. So much wrong thinking. Either just logically wrong, poorly reasoned, factually inaccurate, apples and oranges comparisons, etc. Actually there were a few good things, especially when Bill jumped on Sununu about saying he'd vote for Trump (but unfortunately he let Sununu filibuster) and the other times he was harshly critical of Trump, and also the final "New Rule".

Edited April 1, 2023 by Pike Ludwell

[The Solution]

Jesus Christ! I was gonna say that Bill must have some awesome coke backstage based on Chris Sununu's behavior but the other guests knew how to act right. I didn't agree with them, but they could act right. Sununu is a fucking asshat. On coke.

Better analysis to come after I've had a chance to watch the show again.

[DXD526]

Sununu was horrid.

Sununu: Trump tried to overthrow American democracy and is a bad person.
Also Sununu: If Trump is the Republican nominee in '24, of course I'll vote for him.

No idealism. No convictions. Just ambition. 

[arachne]

I thought Gov. Sununu was one of the "good" Republicans. I had no idea he was such a jerk. Last night was a learning experience.

Bill's final pro-atheist New Rule was re-heated leftover rant; I know I've heard it before. Bill sounded tired --  atheism notwithstanding, maybe he needs the Easter/Passover break more than his staff does. 

[Poohbear617]

I was upset how quickly they dropped the automatic weapon talk..especially after to i am a mom diatribe...what about the moms whose kids dont come home school..im sure they would much rather have their children have fun with a drag queen in a heartbeat.

Show her the video of what AR 15 do to childrens body.  Once again we r reminded how congress and especially Republicans are not going to do anything until their own children or grandchildren are envolved in a shooting..how sad for the rest of us.

[Welshman in Ca]

30 minutes ago, Poohbear617 said:

 

Show her the video of what AR 15 do to childrens body.  Once again we r reminded how congress and especially Republicans are not going to do anything until their own children or grandchildren are envolved in a shooting..how sad for the rest of us.

What in the world makes you think that would change their minds? They already believe their own children should carry a pregnancy to full term even if the pregnancy resulted from a rape.

I admire your ability to believe that their minds can be changed but I don't share your belief.

The fact that more than one has said Trump is an ass but if he's the Republican nominee I'll vote for him defies belief & should tell you all you need to know about them & any morals they may have. Trump was right when he said he could shoot someone and get away with it, I'll add that the people like the republican leadership would defend him if he did.

Edited April 1, 2023 by Welshman in Ca

[chediavolo]

1 hour ago, Poohbear617 said:

I was upset how quickly they dropped the automatic weapon talk..especially after to i am a mom diatribe...what about the moms whose kids dont come home school..im sure they would much rather have their children have fun with a drag queen in a heartbeat.

Show her the video of what AR 15 do to childrens body.  Once again we r reminded how congress and especially Republicans are not going to do anything until their own children or grandchildren are envolved in a shooting..how sad for the rest of us.

Sears is repulsive. 

[aghst]

Sununu tried to appeal to Bill's anti-woke beliefs, saying CA is run horribly.  He alluded to the homeless, can't walk anywhere.

Well I walk all the time in CA, though I'm in the suburbs, not the big city.

I don't recall off the top of my head but NH probably has low taxation but isn't a welfare red state like AL or MS or LA.

Still, without CA, the rest of the nation would be much poorer so that that back to tiny NH, which has no weight -- Bill alluded to scaling problem when Sununu tried to compare his state to CA.

As for the guests, nobody challenged the idea that the 2nd amendment is as interpreted by the current very conservative SCOTUS.  They just say the 2nd is as basic a right as the 1st amendment and we're just going to have to pay the price in form of all the shooting sprees -- by the way shootings are the main cause of children's deaths of a certain age range now.

This right is so inviolate, we just have to live with these massacres now and then -- actually they're becoming more common.

Then the fatalistic "400 million guns, we'll never get rid of them" so we might as we'll not bother to try.  In fact do the opposite, let everyone get everything, even though it's a relatively small number who own tons of guns.

Nobody is suggesting confiscation.  Australia got rid of their gun problem after a horrific shooting spree event by encouraging people to turn in their guns, in exchange for money or other incentives, as well as tougher laws.  

We have to start somewhere, chip away at it, getting rid of certain classes of weapons is one way to start, maybe controlling sale of bullets more tightly is another starting point.

Bill's idea not to publicize the shooters, like the NFL not showing fans who run onto fields, isn't going to reduce the shooting sprees to any significant extent.  I don't know what the motivation of the trans shooter was, but apparently she or he felt mistreated.  And that black lady saying the shooter doesn't deserve to be referred to in his/her preferred gender is also ridiculous.

Yeah how did mistreating trans people work out for that school?

Then she went on like drag performers are giving children lap dances and doing pole dances at schools.  Maybe it happened once or twice but it's like saying that because it once rained in a  desert area, the desert is like a rain forest.  Dishonest, using outliers or one-time things to try to represent what is opposite of what's happening.

Then Kirchick -- I wouldn't have minded hearing more from him -- said trans are getting way more aggressive about asserting their rights.  He's gay but he's willing to thrown trans people under the bus.  Apparently LGBTQ is too much.

 

[The Solution]

The guests this episode managed to make Bill the most likeable and rational/intelligent person on the show.

Sununu is a manic liar. Lt. Gov. Sears is a calm collected liar. Lap dances in school? In the library? I see. Cross-dressers and books are the problem, not assault rifles. I wish someone would have looked dead at her and said "Don't lie!" Ari Melber would have told her to cite a specific example.

Let's not even talk about lack of gun control being the issue because we'll never fix it. Dumbasses.

You can tell by looking at Lt. Gov. Sears' eyes that she's lying and a bad person. If that's some woke bullshit, I'd much rather be on Team Erykah Badu than Team Sears.

Edited April 1, 2023 by The Solution
added another thought

[Welshman in Ca]

All 3 "guests" were a complete & utter waste of space and shouldn't have been given the time of day never mind actual real airtime to spout their talking points (or shouting points in the case of Sununu).

[Hedgehog2022]

2 hours ago, The Solution said:

The guests this episode managed to make Bill the most likeable and rational/intelligent person on the show.

Sununu is a manic liar. Lt. Gov. Sears is a calm collected liar. Lap dances in school? In the library? I see. Cross-dressers and books are the problem, not assault rifles. I wish someone would have looked dead at her and said "Don't lie!" Ari Melber would have told her to cite a specific example.

Let's not even talk about lack of gun control being the issue because we'll never fix it. Dumbasses.

You can tell by looking at Lt. Gov. Sears' eyes that she's lying and a bad person. If that's some woke bullshit, I'd much rather be on Team Erykah Badu than Team Sears.

Sears is truly despicable. I live in Virginia and she’s batshit crazy. When she was campaigning she had a photo of herself holding a huge firearm…since I’m not a gun person I’m not sure exactly the make of it was. She used this photo on her campaign posters and other campaign materials. Having her on his show makes clear to me the far right trajectory Bill is taking now.

[Hanahope]

So many stupid and gaslighting tropes against democrats.  Socialists, defund the police, none of it is true.  
 

republicabs and their blind devotion to guns and not realizing they do too love socialism, just when it bails out banks and big business, and not when it helps people get healthcare.  And hey there are bad people in other countries too and they don’t have mass shootings every week.  Gee I wonder why.

and Sears, your party would never let your father into this country today.

And Rittenhouse killed people too, but he’s celebrated by these people.

Oh please, Lap  dances and pole dances do not occur in schools.  That is not a thing. 

 

[ApocalypseThen]

15 hours ago, arachne said:

Bill's final pro-atheist New Rule was re-heated leftover rant; I know I've heard it before. Bill sounded tired --  atheism notwithstanding, maybe he needs the Easter/Passover break more than his staff does. 

While it was nice that he didn't do another rant about the "woke mind virus" for a change, I agree that most of the atheist rant seemed recycled. Let's hope the 2-week break has a positive effect on the comedic aspects of the show.

[ApocalypseThen]

15 hours ago, Poohbear617 said:

I was upset how quickly they dropped the automatic weapon talk..especially after to i am a mom diatribe...what about the moms whose kids dont come home school..im sure they would much rather have their children have fun with a drag queen in a heartbeat.

Show her the video of what AR 15 do to childrens body.  Once again we r reminded how congress and especially Republicans are not going to do anything until their own children or grandchildren are envolved in a shooting..how sad for the rest of us.

It's unfortunate that there are so many "one issue voters" who would vote against any politician that proposes any type of gun control legislation, but there are very few people like that on the other side. 

The NRA and the Republican Party must be really proud that they somehow managed to shift the Overton window to the point where even a lot of liberals start with "Well, we just have to accept that America will always have a shitload of guns and there isn't much we can do about that." 

[Chalby]

On 3/31/2023 at 8:44 PM, Pike Ludwell said:

Not that great an episode. I wasn't impressed with the guests. So much wrong thinking. Either just logically wrong, poorly reasoned, factually inaccurate, apples and oranges comparisons, etc. Actually there were a few good things, especially when Bill jumped on Sununu about saying he'd vote for Trump (but unfortunately he let Sununu filibuster) and the other times he was harshly critical of Trump, and also the final "New Rule".

Sununu just sounded like a thirsty politician, who's only interested in the Party line. The way he'd steer specific questions/ conversations back to his generalized political talking points (which turned quickly into a monologue rant).

[Chalby]

On 4/2/2023 at 12:02 AM, ApocalypseThen said:

I agree that most of the atheist rant seemed recycled. Let's hope the 2-week break has a positive effect on the comedic aspects of the show.

I'm sure he used material from his movie, Religulous. Which was very well done.

[Chalby]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:51 PM, aghst said:

... that black lady saying the shooter doesn't deserve to be referred to in his/her preferred gender is also ridiculous...

Then she went on like drag performers are giving children lap dances and doing pole dances at schools.

I understand the lady's poorly phrased comment. Many people were so disturbed, and/or traumatized by the slaughter, they do NOT care what pronoun the shooter prefers.  

My personal response would be to use either he or she, but I would ask the person first (if I wasn't sure). However, if I were asked to use "they" I would explain that I'm a teacher, and unless there's a twin somewhere, "they" refers to more than one person /place or thing.

As for drag queens, where did the queens give lap dances, and to whom (exactly)?, Also, which drag presenter did a pole dance in front of kids? Was the pole dance pornographic, or athletic? I don't trust this statement's source.

[sistermagpie]

On 4/14/2023 at 3:56 AM, Chalby said:

My personal response would be to use either he or she, but I would ask the person first (if I wasn't sure). However, if I were asked to use "they" I would explain that I'm a teacher, and unless there's a twin somewhere, "they" refers to more than one person /place or thing.

 

"They" has been used as a singular pronoun for hundreds of years. It's not incorrect.

[Chalby]

On 4/16/2023 at 8:37 AM, sistermagpie said:

"They" has been used as a singular pronoun for hundreds of years. It's not incorrect.

I've always tried to use it in college essays, but would have it corrected. If definitions have changed, so will I.

[sistermagpie]

3 minutes ago, Chalby said:

I've always tried to use it in college essays, but would have it corrected. If definitions have changed, so will I.

Interesting article on the history of they as a singular pronoun:

https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/

 

Current Merriam Webster gives these definitions:

1

: those ones : those people, animals, or things

They dance well.

What do they want to do?

They aren't as popular as they once were.

2

—used to refer to people in a general way or to a group of people who are not specified

You know what they say.People can do what they want.They say the trial could go on for weeks.He's as lazy as they come.

3

a—used with a singular indefinite pronoun antecedent

No one has to go if they don't want to.Everyone knew where they stood …—E. L. Doctorow

b—used with a singular antecedent to refer to an unknown or unspecified person

An employee with a grievance can file a complaint if they need to.The person who answered the phone said they didn't know where she was.

c—used to refer to a single person whose gender is intentionally not revealed

A student was found with a knife and a BB gun in their backpack Monday, district spokeswoman Renee Murphy confirmed. The student, whose name has not been released, will be disciplined according to district policies, Murphy said. They also face charges from outside law enforcement, she said.—Olivia Krauth

d—used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary (see NONBINARY sense c)

I knew certain things about … the person I was interviewing.… They had adopted their gender-neutral name a few years ago, when they began to consciously identify as nonbinary—that is, neither male nor female. They were in their late 20s, working as an event planner, applying to graduate school.—Amy Harmon

[Chalby]

On 4/14/2023 at 12:56 AM, Chalby said:

 

I don't know how to delete a post.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Chalby

[Chalby]

On 4/19/2023 at 12:20 PM, sistermagpie said:

Interesting article on the history of they as a singular pronoun:

https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/

 

Current Merriam Webster gives these definitions:

1

: those ones : those people, animals, or things

They dance well.

What do they want to do?

They aren't as popular as they once were.

2

—used to refer to people in a general way or to a group of people who are not specified

You know what they say.People can do what they want.They say the trial could go on for weeks.He's as lazy as they come.

3

a—used with a singular indefinite pronoun antecedent

No one has to go if they don't want to.Everyone knew where they stood …—E. L. Doctorow

b—used with a singular antecedent to refer to an unknown or unspecified person

An employee with a grievance can file a complaint if they need to.The person who answered the phone said they didn't know where she was.

c—used to refer to a single person whose gender is intentionally not revealed

A student was found with a knife and a BB gun in their backpack Monday, district spokeswoman Renee Murphy confirmed. The student, whose name has not been released, will be disciplined according to district policies, Murphy said. They also face charges from outside law enforcement, she said.—Olivia Krauth

d—used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary (see NONBINARY sense c)

I knew certain things about … the person I was interviewing.… They had adopted their gender-neutral name a few years ago, when they began to consciously identify as nonbinary—that is, neither male nor female. They were in their late 20s, working as an event planner, applying to graduate school.—Amy Harmon

Sister magpie, you have won my grammatical heart. I love proof, examples, etc. Thank you!

[RealHousewife]

On 4/16/2023 at 10:37 AM, sistermagpie said:

"They" has been used as a singular pronoun for hundreds of years. It's not incorrect.

 

32 minutes ago, Chalby said:

Ignore this part of my post. I learned that "they" is officially allowed to be used as a singular reference. As a gal who loves to be schooled (tongue in cheek) I just wish I could resubmit all my university essays where I was docked marks if I used "they" instead of the stiff and  annoying "he/she". 

I do my best to respect everyone's pronouns, but I was also taught "they" was plural as a child. My understanding of this as non-teacher is that "they" has been used casually for many years, but is now seen as proper use for a singular pronoun.