Yes, before the internet people would say stupid shit like "Hitler didn't murder millions of people, public workers did" and they would be laughed at and either 1) forced to realize that they are wrong and their innate desire to be a part of a community would take over and lead to a reevaluation of their beliefs or 2) exiled into a life as that weird hermit guy down the street.
Now they can put that shit on the internet and immediately find a community of similarly insane people who agree. No matter what you say or do, there's never a need to self-reflect when you can immediately find a new circle of people (or bots) who agree with you. Eventually this group got big enough to hijack a political party whose only concrete belief is "lib tears."
This is the government Schumer fought to keep open. Also goes without saying, but you do not introduce the concept of “unpardons” if you ever plan to cede power to the opposition.
I mean it isn’t rocket science. bp had two of the worst o&g disasters in history within a 5 year period, which tanked public confidence in the company and cemented the stock below competitors. They were never going to out-Exxon Exxon at this point, so the CEO took a big swing on renewables to try and make bp be market leaders in that area - which in hindsight was a swing and a miss. The Ukraine war was a double whammy as bp was forced to sell stake in Rosneft (thus losing a revenue stream that could help temper a slower transition) and the ensuing profits the other companies saw in traditional hydrocarbons slowed the energy transition to a crawl. It’s self-inflicted, but there’s a world where the early 2020’s energy optimism isn’t interrupted by Putin and bp comes out smelling like roses.
I actually think this is the biggest issue currently with Gillis, from both sides. I think where he is most comfortable is to be the contrarian voice in a room full of left-leaning people. You see this dynamic, and him thriving in it, in his early specials.
The times are currently too polarized however for a nuanced viewpoint like this, so he just gets written off (or embraced) as MAGA... and people go into his sets already having decided whether or not they will like him based on this conclusion. I get the mantra that "a man is the company he keeps" and he hangs around some of the worst dudes on the planet, but if you listen to what he actually says in jokes/interviews and the endorsements, etc. that he HASN'T done, I think the label he has gained as a MAGA mascot is more due to our country's inability to handle nuance rather than a reflection of his actual beliefs.
I can tell you that I saw him last year with what was a VERY obviously right-leaning crowd, and he seemed just as uncomfortable as that SNL performance.
Miles is the only evidence anyone needs to support the claim that the government is actively trying to destroy public education.
Absolutely nobody involved thinks the man is doing a good job, except for those who actually have the power to fix the issue... if they wanted to.
In a vacuum, a supernerd gaining the confidence over time to do something like that is wholesome and admirable.
I just wish I didn't know the rest of the story here.
Affirmative action, CRT, woke, DEI. Every few years, Republicans repackage the exact same “the reason your life sucks is because of THEM” message into a new boogeyman, and dumb motherfuckers like you continue to buy it every goddamn time.