Dr Alex Cruikshanks
@alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
5.1K followers 510 following 19K posts
Historian of the former Yugoslavia and ethnic partitionism. X-Men opinion-haver. Did a PhD on diplomacy in the Bosnian War. Host of The History of Yugoslavia podcast.
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alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Eh, maybe a bit, but this isn't really how porn addiction (supposedly) works - porn addicts become shut-ins who don't do other stuff and are constantly looking for more hardcore stuff, not relatively soft stuff in other everyday hobbies.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
I personally would've assumed that an era where everyone has multiple machines that enable you to see whatever boobs you want, however many you want, and whenever you want would've reduced the demand for boobs in unrelated everyday scenarios, but apparently not. My best explanation is this:
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
There's apparently a whole species of dude who don't so much like looking at boobs as like having other people look at them looking at boobs.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Probably he said they were new arrivals and they just uncritically accepted it.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Correction on above, seems he was elected, albeit by 12 votes:
aubreygilleran.bsky.social
It looks like he was elected. The town is just so small there probably just isn’t a salary for the mayor.

www.cityofblancotx.gov/documents/38...
www.cityofblancotx.gov
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Ah, fair enough. Fwiw, I wasn't implying him being unelected was some sort of deliberate conspiracy, I assumed he was just the only candidate.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Note also he's described as a "volunteer mayor" (in other words, not elected) and as owning a "family construction business".

Every small town has a few guys like this, who've been locally wealthy for a few generations and so think they own the place.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
And he describes this like this:
- "they imposed some of their liberal politics"
- "Anyone who didn’t comply was dismissed as ignorant"

But the above concrete examples show the opposite! He's pissed that *they* aren't complying with *his* impositions! That they express opinions he dislikes!
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
He describes his antipathy to liberal newcomers because of things like:
- Them not joining in a collective prayer at town meetings
- Criticising him running public events in conservative-coded ways
- They "tried to raise taxes" (in other words, they failed)
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Everything about this guy epitomises the core Trump supporter: small town local elite determined to keep the town as a shitty rotten borough because it *not* being so threatens his status as a local big man with the power to impose his preferences on everyone.
espiers.bsky.social
I was trying to put my finger on what bothered me about this portrayal and I think it’s that it just takes the guy’s words at face value, like he was a nice guy and reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death just pushed him over the edge www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/u...
She Despised Charlie Kirk. He Resolved to Make People Like Her Pay.
www.nytimes.com
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Yeah, agree, Hungary is more comparable to a state within the US than with the US as a whole in this sense.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Oh, for sure, in some form or other
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Not the same in the US. For all the "I'm moving to Canada!" talk, it's practically much harder in multiple ways for many American to move to Canada than for Hungarians to move to Austria.

The GOP are pretty much stuck in a room with half of the country hating them.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Not to mention Hungary's different population + geography dynamics. Hungary has a declining & old population. The core opposition demographics like university-educated youth are not growing - in fact Hungary being a smallish EU country makes it pretty easy for them to vote w/ their feet and leave.
bretdevereaux.bsky.social
The 'soft' competitive-authoritarian transitions in countries like Hungary relied substantially on relatively weak liberal institutions and thus the ability to consolidate fairly broad popular support for the emerging autocratic regime, through an information environment favorable to the tyrant.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Similar to how White segregationists took it for granted that Black people were actually perfectly content with their subordination and that Civil Rights campaigns were all just the work of "outside agitators" being directed by those damn Yankee Commies.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
And indeed, they take it for granted that those they regard as below them in the hierarchy - women, children, ethnic minorities, poor people - are actually totally content and accepting of their lot and any effort to change it is really just manipulation by Yankees/Commies/Jews for ulterior motives.
jamellebouie.net
and this is in turn tied to what they think america is supposed to be: a rigidly hierarchical and patriarchal society dominated by a religious and business elite
Reposted by Dr Alex Cruikshanks
jamellebouie.net
a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society
thomaszimmer.bsky.social
What he’s railing against is a profound shift in culture, status… He’s obsessed with the idea that America is controlled by a leftist “ruling elite” - but “elite” isn’t defined socio-economically or by political power, it means something like: Getting to define “real America” and who gets to belong.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Dust, Magik and Exodus the obvious stand-out inclusions here if this was a hint of any kind
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Also gib me they 🥺

(Lorna is confirmed to be in Season 2, but not the twins yet)
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Hope we actually get a proper release of this soon, but super excited nonetheless, and given this appears to be melding AoA and the future Askani timeline in some way, makes me wonder if this is Nate Grey and they're merging him and Cable into one character?
X-men 97 Season 2 trailer
YouTube video by Art of JeAA
www.youtube.com
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Just keep her safely shielded from ever wanting to see the awful TV show.
alexsaysstuff.bsky.social
Honestly would not be surprised if his Irish relatively already don't speak to him, given his wife and kids don't.
robertbohan.bsky.social
Articles about people who have been ‘cancelled’ rarely ever mention what they say on social media. Here’s a terrible example of such a case. When zealotry is this extreme, it’s time his Irish relatives stage an intervention. Mocking a minor’s suicide is despicable. Starmer defends him!
indiawilloughby.bsky.social
This is Graham Linehan, who UKLabour, WesStreeting and every columnist in the country rushed to defend when he was arrested by police, after inciting online violence and smashed a trans girl’s phone. They are even changing the law specifically to protect him. “Just a joke” @mrjamesob.bsky.social