Many Such Takes: Gretchen Whitmer's Dorito, Gun Mogging, Canceling Obama, Saeko's Therapist
The most unhinged discourse of the week, always free
Welcome to Many Such Takes! I stay up to date with the latest and most chaotic Twitter discourse so you don’t have to. If you see yourself featured here and you don’t like it, simply send me a Substack message and I will happily remove, no matter who you are or what you said. For previous issues of Many Such Takes, see this tab on my main page. Many Such Takes will always be free, so please become a free subscriber to see more every Sunday!
New Unlocked CHH article!
Every Saturday I plan to unlock a previously paid or archived article to be free for everyone. This week, it’s my article about Trump’s true identity as a catty biotch:
We Miss Catty Sassy Trump
Many people knew who Donald Trump was before he ran for President in 2015, but most of what they knew about him probably had to do with his celebrity status and the Trump brand. They knew about Trump Tower, they knew about The Apprentice and they knew about his catchphrase, “You’re fired.” But the thing that I knew about him, more than anything—the thin…
Gretchen Whitmer’s Dorito
This week, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer released a bizarre video in which she feeds a Dorito to a woman on her knees, which rubbed some Catholics the wrong way, as it was interpreted as mocking communion:
Honestly, the video is really bizarre. But thank goodness, or I wouldn’t have material for Many Such Takes.
It turned out that she was parodying another video, of Jeremy Allen White feeding pizza to Stephen Colbert. Oh, duh! That famous video we all saw and with which we were totally familiar!
Okay, this somewhat clears it up, I guess?
I’m inclined to think it was a mix of TikTok trend parody/Stephen Colbert pizza video parody referencing the CHIPS act, but given that this is the first I’m seeing of this “trend,” and I spend way more time online than I should, this was a rare Whitmer L.
Gun Mogging
This is America, y’all, and if there’s anything I know about America, it’s that whoever wins the Presidency has to be more Gun than any of the other candidates.
Earlier this year, Kamala Harris admitted to owning a gun. Guns! While some people might believe Trump owns a gun, there’s no way he does. Think to yourself for two seconds if you can picture Trump shooting a gun. You can’t. I don’t think he ever has or wants to, although I could see him manning some kind of T-shirt cannon for merch purposes before quickly dusting off his hands and squirting on some Purell.
Anyway, now it’s down to the VP candidates to see who wins the gun-off. Tim Walz released this video of him hunting pheasants (I have no idea what that should entail, but apparently he didn’t do very well.)
Then (perhaps in response?) JD Vance posted this photo of himself holding a gun. We may never know who is the Most Gun of All!!!
*chanting* Guns Guns Guns GUNS GUNS GUNS GUNS
Canceling Obama
As a writer, I can tell you that it’s my absolute biggest fear that imperialist war criminal Barack Obama sees my Substack and promotes it. Please, Obama, don’t promote my Substack!
Because some of you might not be on Twitter regularly and aren’t familiar with this Type of Guy, this is a leftist anti-Obama post, not a right-wing anti-Obama post. Glad I was able to clear that up.
My favorite takes in response:
Saeko’s Therapist
This is one of those Twitter dramas that almost seems AI-generated to create the most absurd discourse. This week, a trans woman (not including usernames here to avoid any unnecessarily pile-ons) expressed discontent over how her therapist handled her name:
Presenting the zenith of Twitter arguments: transphobia vs. cultural appropriation. *Costco dad voice* let’s bring the BOOOOM!
Just to be clear: the therapist shouldn’t have deadnamed her; that’s not why this went viral. It’s the fact that she has chosen the name “Saeko” despite…well, not being Japanese. I will say I’m highly disappointed that people completely glossed over the therapist believing she was being asked to call her patient “Psycho.”
Of course, some people were just rude and transphobic, but among the people who meant well, there were some interesting disagreements. Note that OP said she wasn’t white, although it wasn’t clear what her ethnicity was because she at least appeared to be white at first glance.
Saeko is kinda the modern day gold/white black/blue dress debate:
I don’t feel I’m qualified to have an opinion here, as a woman who is neither Japanese nor trans, however I do hope Saeko found a different therapist.
Deep Dive: Sex After Baby
I did the following research and article after the drama this week on Twitter after a user complained about not getting enough attention from his wife in the 8 weeks after their newborn was born:
Survey Results: Sex, Divorce and Infidelity After Baby
I’m breaking the last taboo: let’s talk about moms and dads having sex. (Don’t worry, not yours, who we all know only had sex once to conceive you; perhaps a few more times to conceive your siblings.)
The Whitmer situation is what happens when your staffers overestimate the general public’s familiarity with all of the latest Tiktok memes. As a rule of thumb, I think if a politician is considering making a video playing on a current meme, they should first ask whether the clip would make sense to someone who is unfamiliar with the meme and whether there’s a reasonable possibility that it could be misinterpreted.
Not to be a cliche Midwesterner, but Tim Walz is an actual hunter, as in he has had a license for years and goes hunting. JD Vance posed with a gun. They are not the same. I can't speak to the intricacies as to how Walz held the gun in these photos, but I'm going with... it doesn't really matter.