That's "a" problem to be sure, but perhaps not "the" problem. For example, every president for the past 36 years has pardoned a turkey for thanksgiving. Given the genocide of Native Americans by the US government, and the supposed occasion of Thanksgiving this seems like many smacks in many faces. Or making light of execution, which America is just one of 3 OECD countries (us, japan, and south korea) who even have capital punishment anymore, is in extremely poor taste. So joking about free speech is tone deaf I agree, but not unprecedentedly so, and not necessarily the purview of either party.
Long story short, there are bigger fish to fry, and we can't afford to waste our anger rather than apply it where it belongs.
The very short article makes it pretty clear that this a was a joke. When we take these types of headlines at face value we become just as mindless as the maga crowd.
Vice President JD Vance jokingly called for instituting a “narrow exception to the First Amendment” Tuesday to prohibit Americans from uttering the numbers “six” and “seven,” referencing the viral meme that has exploded in popularity among children and teens, including Vance’s own five-year-old child.
“Yesterday at church the Bible readings started on page 66-67 of the missal, and my 5-year-old went absolutely nuts repeating ‘six seven’ like 10 times,” Vance wrote in a social media post on X. “And now I think we need to make this narrow exception to the first amendment and ban these numbers forever.”
The meme, which has baffled and confused adults for months, traces its roots to the 2025 song “Doot Doot (6 7) by rapper “Skrilla,” which had been used on highlight videos of the professional basketball player LeMelo Ball, whose height is 6’7. Clips of basketball players and young sports fans uttering the phrase “six, seven” while doing exaggerated hand gestures also accelerated the meme’s spread.
The meme’s use in schools has been so prominent among young children and teens that some have begun banning its use, a policy that Vance now appears to agree with, at least in jest.
“Where did this even come from?” Vance continued. “I don't understand it. When we were kids all of our viral trends at least had an origin story.”
Possibly unpopular opinion, but the black deck basically ruins this game. I was obsessed before black deck, and to be sure continued playing for a while afterwards. But the black deck was so miserable that I realized it wasn't even fun. It made me feel like if I had any self respect I'd call LocalThunk's bluff and quit playing. But I didn't. Loss after loss I continued to debase myself and continue grinding, waiting for essentially pure luck to release me and allow me to have fun again. But I never regained my enthusiasm.
She said ‘This was why I couldn’t get off and stay off. Just as the cliché warns. I literally wasn’t keeping it in the day. I was adding the clean days up in my head.’ She cocked her head at him. ‘Did you ever hear of this fellow Evel Knievel? This motorcycle-jumper?’
Gately nods slightly, being careful of a tube he now feels. This is why his throat had had that raped feeling in it. The tube. He actually has an old cutout action picture of the historical Evel Knievel, from an old Life magazine, in a white leather Elvisish suit, in the air, aloft, haloed in spotlights, upright on a bike, a row of well-waxed trucks below.
‘At St. Collie only the Crocodiles’d heard of him. My own Daddy’d followed him, cut out pictures, as a boy.’ Gately can tell she’s smiling under there. ‘But what I used to do, I’d throw away the pipe and shake my fist at the sky and say As God is my fucking witness NEVER AGAIN, as of this minute right here I QUIT FOR ALL TIME.’ She also has this habit of absently patting the top of her head when she talks, where little barrettes and spongy clamps hold the veil in place. ‘And I’d bunker up all white-knuckled and stay straight. And count the days. I was proud of each day I stayed off. Each day seemed evidence of something, and I counted them. I’d add them up. Line them up end to end. You know?’ Gately knows very well but doesn’t nod, lets her do this on just her own steam. She says ‘And soon it would get… improbable. As if each day was a car Knievel had to clear. One car, two cars. By the time I’d get up to say like maybe about 14 cars, it would begin to seem like this staggering number. Jumping over 14 cars. And the rest of the year, looking ahead, hundreds and hundreds of cars, me in the air trying to clear them.’ She left her head alone and cocked it. ‘Who could do it? How did I ever think anyone could do it that way?’
Just a sode note, even if he was a financial genius, it isn't his job to "lead the economy". At best he would supposed to accomplish that through appointments and consensus if that were his goal. Here isnhis job description per the constitution:
The U.S. Constitution contains the only official “job description” for the
President of the United States. According to Article II, Sections 2 and 3, the
President:
Is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United **States, and
of each state’s militia when the nation has need of it
**> 2) Has power to obtain information and opinions from heads of the
executive departments
3) May grant pardons and reprieves for crimes against the United States
4) Makes treaties with other countries with the approval of the Senate
5) Appoints ambassadors, federal judges and heads of executive
departments – all subject to the approval of the Senate; the President also
has power to fill any vacancies that may happen while the Senate is in
recess
6) Must report to Congress from time to time about the state of the union
and recommend whatever measures he thinks are necessary
7) May call members of Congress together on extraordinary occasions, as
well as adjourn their meetings when they cannot agree on their own about
when to do this
8) Receives foreign ambassadors and other public officials
9) Is responsible for enforcing the nation’s laws
10) Issues commissions to all officers of the United States
Best case scenario: the less corrupt, less cruel (note: less) democrats wrest power back. At which point all hidden failures will become public and blamed on them. Republicans will claim everything was peachy under their watch and everything went to shit as soon as a woman or a person of color got control.
This belittles sex workers more than it describes Musk. Just because they're naked doesn't make their work any less demeaning than rotting behind a desk waiting to have your retirement stolen.
If your brother gets suicided, you may fear those potentially responsible and have strong motivation to carry their water. I wouldn't be surprised if Mark and Ghislaine continue to provide convenient denials and clarifications. If they didn't have the spine or moral compass to do the right thing before, than I wouldn't expect them to do the right thing now.
Olive drab?