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  • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]
    ·
    10 days ago

    Donilon, Biden's top political aide, privately has reassured people that voters will "do the right thing" in November by embracing democracy and rejecting Trump, according to a Biden aide who has heard Donilon say it.

    "Joe Biden is a great president, and great presidents get re-elected," is another common Donilon refrain.

    I can only interpret this as whistling past the graveyard because even though I think most of the people in the admin are dummies I can't believe they're genuinely this stupid

  • Wertheimer [any]
    ·
    10 days ago

    Zhao Gao was contemplating treason but was afraid the other officials would not heed his commands, so he decided to test them first. He brought a deer and presented it to the Second Emperor but called it a horse. The Second Emperor laughed and said, "Is the chancellor perhaps mistaken, calling a deer a horse?" Then the emperor questioned those around him. Some remained silent, while some, hoping to ingratiate themselves with Zhao Gao, said it was a horse, and others said it was a deer. Zhao Gao secretly arranged for all those who said it was a deer to be brought before the law and had them executed instantly. Thereafter the officials were all terrified of Zhao Gao. Zhao Gao gained military power as a result of that.

    • What_Religion_R_They [none/use name]
      ·
      10 days ago

      馬鹿ばか • (baka)
      1 foolish, idiotic, stupid, ridiculous

      The characters 馬鹿 (literally “horse + deer”) are ateji (当て字), probably chosen as an allusion to Literary Chinese 指鹿為馬 (“to deliberately misinterpret and invert right and wrong”, literally “to point to a deer and call it a horse”)

  • StalinStan [none/use name]
    ·
    10 days ago

    What is our equivalent of thowing elaborate banquets so the sandal bearers or diffrent noble factions can meet in the background and just sort things out. Is it those thousand dollar plate dinners? That would be so lame.