Sally Hayden, observing mass death!

SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 2023

Also, our own tribe's moral greatness: Sally Hayden, age 34, is an Irish journalist. The thumbnail looks like this:

Sally Hayden is an Irish journalist and writer. A foreign correspondent, she has reported from Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda. Her book My Fourth Time, We Drowned, an investigation into the migrant crisis, was published in 2022 and awarded The Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2022, the 2022 Michel Déon Prize, and is the Overall Book of the Year at the 2022 Irish Book Awards.

Hayden's guest essay in yesterday's New York Times is worth reading more than twice. It appeared beneath the headline shown below. Also, it offers a bit of perspective concerning the moral greatness of our own blue tribe:

Welcome to Europe, Where Mass Death Has Become Normal

That was the headline on Hayden's guest essay. She was reporting live and direct from the Tunisian coast—and she was providing a bit of perspective on our own nation's current political / journalistic / moral crises.

How has mass death become common in (or near the borders of) Europe? Hayden is referring to the death of migrants—of people trying to get to Europe. As she starts, she sets the scene in the following way:

Welcome to Europe, Where Mass Death Has Become Normal

In the Tunisian port city of Sfax, I sat this month with a group of men in a sandy, windswept park. As the sun went down, one placed the cap of his bottle on the ground, pouring in a precious portion of water for a stray cat who slinked toward him. The men, who were Darfuris, explained that they had escaped what they called a new genocide in Sudan. They saw militants burning homes, sometimes entire villages, and ran for their lives.

There are dozens—maybe hundreds—of Sudanese currently staying in that park in Sfax, and thousands across the city. They sleep on cardboard, or mattresses if they’re lucky. They contemplate their fates, chatting quietly about their experiences and wondering where they can get food. Mostly, they wait: for money from relatives or friends, or for work that might enable them to raise 2,000 Tunisian dinars, or $647, to buy a spot on a boat and a chance at escape. Everyone I met in Sfax,  which is about 80 miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa, wanted to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. They all knew they might die in the attempt.

Even so, people leave every day. Some send jubilant messages from Italy; others wash up dead along the coast. The weekend I sat in the park, as many as three ships sank, leaving more than 80 people dead or missing. Ten bodies were found on beaches nearby. Last week, 41 people were reported to have died after a shipwreck off the Italian coast.

Mass death has long been normalized on Europe’s borders. More than 27,800 people have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea since 2014—and that is most likely a large underestimate... 

Hayden is discussing the fate of the wretched of the earth. "This year is shaping up to be especially deadly," she writes. "This is what a crisis of human rights, ethics and, above all, global inequality looks like."

Hayden is discussing the wretched of the earth. Also, she's alleging a moral crisis in the face of global inequality.

That global inequality, and that alleged moral crisis, also involve us in the United States as we confront, or fail to confront, our own immigration policies. Before we consider our own behavior, let's consider a bit more of what Hayden writes:

In recent years, the economic situation across most of Africa has worsened, exacerbated by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Living in northern Uganda during the first lockdowns, I saw how quickly people began to starve as their meager savings evaporated. Last year, in Sierra Leone, I watched the cost of living crisis lead to deadly protests. Climate change makes everything worse. In Niger, it exacerbated malnutrition; in Somalia, it contributed to near famine.

In the face of such suffering, the rich world is hardening its borders. In Britain, the government has passed a draconian bill that prevents refugees from claiming their right to international protection and plans to house asylum seekers on a floating barge. European officials talk about “breaking the business model of smugglers,” but their statements ignore the fact that human smugglers are simply filling a need. Unlike me, a European who flew without a visa from Ireland to Tunisia, there is no safe way for many Africans to travel in the other direction.

In the face of vast human suffering, "the rich world is hardening its borders." That's a tough way to describe what's happening, but Hayden's account is basically applicable to our own situation too.

Despite silly red tribe propaganda, very few people in this country really support "open borders." Very few people are willing to open our golden gates to admit all who would come.

That doesn't make us bad people, but it does make us people people. As a general matter, with respect to the question of surrendering our vast material advantages, us and them the people are only willing to go so far. 

We're only willing to go so far. That's true of us in our own highly moral blue tribe. It's also true of the Others, of the people who reside within our immoral red tribe.

At present, we rarely hear this moral quandary discussed on our own tribe's cable "news channels." Fox News tends to push immigration issues hard, quite often in politicized ways designed to defeat Joe Biden.

On our own channels, our tribal tribunes avoid the topic, and the moral crisis, addressed by Hayden's essay. In truth, our principal channel discusses only one topic, serves only one cable food product:

Trump Trump Trump Trump Jail

When it comes to Donald J. Trump and the prospect of his going to jail, our tribal motto is abundantly clear:

No Legal Minutia Left Behind!

Our tribunes speak almost all day, and then all night, about this one highly tedious topic. Our tribunes speak about little else, and this is the culture we've chosen.

Our tribunes don't discuss mass death. Also, they never discussed the recent claim that a miracle has taken place in one state's low-income public schools.

Also, consider this:

Way back on February 26, the New York Times published a giant Sunday front-page report about teenaged immigrant kids who are forced to work full-time overnight shifts in dangerous manufacturing jobs. 

Hannah Dreier was the author of this remarkable report, and of a follow-up effort. In the wake of this remarkable reporting, Dreier was consigned to the ranks of the disappeared. 

On "cable news," our blue tribe's tribunes kept talking about TrumpTrumpTrumpTrumpJail. They had no time for the danger, or for the suffering, of these local underaged wretched of the earth.

None of this means that we're bad people. It does suggest that we're people people—that we like to be entertained and morally reassured with relentless claims in which we're told that We are the very good people while The Others are very bad.

This doesn't mean that we're bad people. You can judge our multimillionaire tribunes as you will.

For ourselves, we'll suggest that Hayden's guest essay might help us think about climbing down from our blue tribe's moral high horses. 

As a group, we aren't the perfect moral exemplars our cable tribunes help us imagine ourselves to be. This doesn't mean that we're bad people. It does suggest that we should consider cutting back on the frequency with which we name-call everyone else.

By the way:

Has a miracle really occurred in Mississippi's low-income public schools? You've seen none of our stars examine that question!

Why do you think that is?


131 comments:

  1. Can any serious person believe Bob has the least interest in this article beyond using it as a long introduction to “Trump Trump Trump!” Bob constantly berates the NYTs, except when he can use it to shame left wing media… like the NYTs.
    But big picture, I guess it’s OK, as Bob must advocate for those fighting for economic Justice and equality …. Like Donald Reump!

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    1. So the first 17 paragraphs were a subterfuge, a trick to lure us in? As a spider does a fly?



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    2. Damn him! Damn that Somerby!

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    3. Most of those paragraphs is just reprinting the story. Unserious, can I interest you in the Brooklyn Bridge?

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    4. Suddenly, out of the blue, Somerby cries for the plight of refugees, the ones trying to escape the dumpster fires created by American right wingers.

      He’s sobbing so hard, it’s created a tropical storm in CA!

      Yet Somerby is silent on the nearly 50,000 Americans that commit suicide every year, mostly white males.

      Hard to get more disingenuous than Somerby, the wily old fool.

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    5. Wily old fool! More like diabolical arachnid, hoping that 17th paragraph will tempt a few more innocents onto the false threads of his deadly web of deceit.

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    6. One might hope Somerby does not get so discouraged by his feckless nonsense that he considers suicide.

      As a person named Freddie once sang, don’t try suicide, you’re just gonna hate it.

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  2. At this point people are going to have to start considering RFK or Cornell West.

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    1. In 2016, the votes wasted on Jill Stein would have swung the electoral college to Hillary and kept Trump out of office in the first place.

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2017/12/21/that-infamous-moscow-dinner-where-michael-flynn-and-jill-stein-sat-with-putin-utahs-rocky-anderson-was-there-too/

      Jill Stein was paid to attend a dinner in Moscow along with Michael Flynn and Vladimir Putin.

      https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/russians-launched-pro-jill-stein-social-media-blitz-help-trump-n951166

      Russia funded a pro-Jill Stein social media blitz that targeted the states that swung for Trump and not Hillary in 2016.

      And now we see a bunch of Russia-funded bots polluting this and other online sites on behalf of RFK Jr. and Cornell West. Because it doesn't matter what the politics of these minor candidates are, they won't win but they will pull votes from the left's viable candidate, Biden. This is how foreign meddling works.

      Somerby has the ability to block Russian trolls on his blog, but he doesn't use it. He has never acknowledged the damage done to Hillary by this kind of interference.

      Somerby said he supported Bernie. Bernie chose to support the Russians and Trump instead of Hillary. The Bros who stayed home instead of voting to keep Trump out of office, are as much responsible for everything that came after as the MAGAts themselves. Somerby did his bit to take Hillary down too, just as he is busily defending Trump (trying to reduce the complaints against Trump online and in the mainstream media, pretending that if no one mentions Trump in a negative way, then fewer Sudan migrants will drown trying to get to Italy.

      If Somerby will not use his blog for good, can't he take it down and prevent Russian bots and other trolls from using his blog to spread disinformation? That would be a minor help but at least he wouldn't be contributing to another 4-years of misery for the majority of people in our own country.

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    4. anon 1:10 - you are incredible. anon11:41 says people are going to have to consider robert kennedy Jr. or Cornel West, and you claim he/she is a Russian-funded bot polluting TDH's site. What actual evidence do you have that this is true? Also when did TDH say that he "supported Bernie?" When did "Bernie" choose to support the Russians and Trump? TDH supported Clinton, and certainly voted for her. You klive in a fanasy world. If TDH wants to start blocking trolls, he should start with you.

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    5. You mean as the Republican nominee?

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    6. Bernie was told that Russians were donating to his campaign and he said “so what?”

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    7. TRH did not support Clinton any more than he has supported Biden and Harris.

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    8. AC/MA — Do a search on Bernie at this website and see what comes up. I am not going to waste my time on it.

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    9. People are basically saying let's not try to beat a dead horse with a dead horse.

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    10. 1:10,

      "Somerby has the ability to block Russian trolls on his blog, but he doesn't use it."

      Which commenters are the Russian trolls? Besides the guy who signs his posts 'Boris Badenov'?

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    11. The ones who post moronic one-liners consistent with their agenda.

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    12. Biden's unpopularity is all the more reason to support him.

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    13. Popularity has nothing to do with competence or fitness to be president.

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    14. Ethnically, he has never been more popular.

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    15. 5:44,

      Da, comrade. Oops.

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    16. Polls indicate that RFK jr and Cornel West will not be factors in the general election.

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  3. Philosophers wiser than I have looked at the question of how generous a moral person ought to be. Should one donate 10% of one's wealth to the needy? 50%? 100% Should one take a high-paying job one dislikes in order to have more money to give away? I don't know the answer to these difficult questions. Instead, I will address two side issues: democracy and other people's gifts.

    One can make a case that a moral person would donate his/her entire wealth to the poor. Some have done this. However, it's a different moral question when those in power decide how much of their wealth others should donate. Do I have the moral right or even moral obligation to force YOU to donate a large share of your wealth to the needy? IMO this is more or less what happens with illegal immigration. The illegal immigrants harm the poorest Americans in a number of ways. Is it moral for the Biden Administration to have policies that impose this cost on the poorest Americans?

    The United States is a representative democracy. Laws are created by our elected representatives. Our Congress has enacted laws to limit the number of legal immigrants and to to decide who gets to immigrate here. Yet, most of the discussion of how to deal with illegal immigrants ignores the legislative process. President Trump and President Biden both do what they please. Judges who know nothing about the realities of immigration make policy. And, most Americans are happy to see the legislative process ignored.

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    1. David, you don't know anything about immigration. All you are saying here is right wing propaganda, not actual data about how immigration affects our country economically, including the poorest native workers. Your statement about Biden doing whatever he wants is ridiculous in the face of the recent court decisions limiting Biden's policies.

      People do not get to direct how the government uses their tax money (which is no longer theirs once it is sent to the government). We only get to affect how our taxes are spent via the representatives we elect to the House, where budgets are made and money is allocated. That imposes a limit on the president.

      By conflating legal and illegal immigration and ignoring that we also designate laws governing asylum seeking, which is another category, you pretend the president is not folowing the law. And why would you assume judges don't know anything about immigration? They are informed by briefs from both sides in a legal case and by the legalities, which is what guides their decisions. Judges are not making policy when they decide a case in a manner that you or the right wing doesn't like. Nor is the legislative process being ignored just because you personally don't want people to come here.

      Personally, I believe that if the immigration agents had been more selective, they wouldn't have admitted a Nazi like Fred Trump to come here and violate our laws to become wealthy, setting up his asshole son to ruin our country.

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    2. Zionists migrated illegally to Palestine

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    3. Quaint immigration laws are going to be vestiges of a time before the climate changed. Perhaps ultimaely the UN or some global entity will help distribute climate refugees instead of this being a problem for individual nations to deal with.

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    4. "Zionists migrated illegally to Palestine" True. What's your point?

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    5. People have been warning about huge numbers of climate refugees for 20 or 25 years, but it hasn't happened yet. One reason is that the net rise in sea level is not very fast. I say "net" because the reported rise does not include the lowering of the sea bed. Climate refugees may be a big problem some day, but that's way in the future. Barack Obama appears to agree, since he bought a beach front property to retire to.

      Meanwhile, the world has huge numbers of political refugees, crime refugees. and poverty refugees. There are probably 3 to 4 billion human beings whose lives would be better if they lived in the US or other Western nation. From the US POV, out what to do about these billions of needy people is a challenge.

      IMO the democratic process ought to make a conscious decision about how many we allow to live here. Unfortunately, we seem to be letting the process handle itself. That process will cause a big change in the culture of the nation in various, unpredictable ways.

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    6. It should be obvious that if you are a supporter of the existence of Israel, that you would consider that earlier immigration to be a good thing for the modern nation and its people.

      The US only started limiting immigration in 1917. Before that, the country was open to all and immigration was considered to be something that benefitted us. Racism was used as an excuse to limit immigration, which is why certain nationalities were more severely restricted than others (and still are today).

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    7. David, yes people have been warning about climate migration without it materializing, because that is the nature of a warning about something that will happen in the future. Now, it is happening and it is the cause of both the migrations within Sudan, which caused the violence within that country, and the migration of Sudanese to North Africa and from there to Southern Europe (Italy). It is going to increase as people feel the impact on agriculture and can no longer feed their populations, or people relocate to avoid floods and extreme weather events.

      Our border is too porous to limit by force. Further, most undocumented people come to the US by airplane and overstay their visas, not through the Southern border.

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    8. Who says climate migration isn't happening? Out of Africa and Central America to Europe and the US.

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    9. David said so. I disagree, like you.

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    10. David lies about having a cousin he doesn’t have, then offers misinformation about immigrants and climate change. He should considering getting his own act together before casting aspersions.

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    11. David,
      I'll always remember the fun times, before Right-wingers complained about the lack of stuffing, the broken coils,and the lumpy, wet sheets and blankets, and instead laughed hysterically over responding to BLM with "All Lives Matter".
      You made your bed, now sleep in it.

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    12. Yes, @4:21, racism was one of the factors affecting immigration laws. It wasn't the only one.

      I didn't know that immigration restrictions began as late as 1917. My uncle's experience illustrates one virtue of the restrictions. When my father came in 1920, his teen-age brother Morris wasn't allowed in with the family, because Morris was suffering from a communicable disease. He had to wait for a period of time before he was allowed to enter the country.

      Legal immigrants today still have health restrictions. Not so for the millions of illegals who Biden is encouraging to enter the country. We're not preventing them from bringing various diseases into the country.

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    13. It bears repeating in the midst of 1:11 PM's relatively frenetic commenting that his next good-faith argument or response will be his first.

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    14. Biden is not encouraging illegals to enter the country. He has largely continued Trump's policies, as much as the courts have allowed. Someone who crosses the border illegally will receive health screening by the groups who work with immigrants.

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    15. Not so, @2:13. See this article:

      Joe Biden is quietly selling off Trump's border wall as unused parts are sold at auction for MILLIONS of dollars in profit: President rushes to sell as bill forces him to EXTEND migrant barrier


      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12424753/Joe-Biden-quietly-selling-Trumps-border-wall-700-30ft-steel-tubes-auctioned-150-000-President-hurries-bill-passes-forcing-EXTEND-barrier-against-migrants.html

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    16. Owning the libs by chanting "All Lives Matter" to BLM had quite the boomerang effect on the Right.
      Couldn't have happened to a better bunch of pieces of shit.

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    17. David, you don’t have an uncle as described, you don’t have a cousin you claim to, and your counter claim to 2:13 is nonsense.

      In reality, the government was paying $47 million per year to store the unused border wall material, a colossal waste of money, so the US Army Corp of Engineers has sold most of it, essentially at cost, and in accordance with federal regulation.

      Ignorant and/or corrupt right wingers tried to make hay from this inconsequential circumstance, and either David got fooled or is trying to fool others.

      Trump’s “wall” turns out only amounted to an additional 80 miles (out of 2000), was completely ineffective, was small and ugly, and was not paid for by Mexico. It was a scam to transfer money from working class Americans to Trump’s business cronies.

      Biden in fact did continue Title 42, which limits immigration due to spreading disease.

      Furthermore, Biden has spent more on border security than any previous president, as well as deploying more border agents.

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    18. Here is a good example of brilliant republican immigration policy, curtesy of David's new favorite fascist from Florida:

      Florida Republicans Admit They Made a Big Mistake With Anti-Immigrant Law

      Republicans are trying to convince immigrants that the law was just to “scare” people, nothing more.

      “This is more of a political bill than it is policy. It does give more police state powers going forward to deal with immigration, but still this is mainly a political bill,” Roth concluded incoherently. It’s just politics and messaging, but also it ramps up the police state, but also it’s just all politics. OK.

      https://newrepublic.com/post/173247/florida-republicans-admit-made-big-mistake-anti-immigrant-law

      There is only one party that is trying to deal with immigration policy in a humane way, but are continually blocked by republicans who want to keep the status quo for political reasons.

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  4. From New York Magazine:

    Not long ago, people who suggested that researchers might have accidentally unleashed the virus were written off as kooks or China hawks, which confined much of the early public discussion of the lab-leak theory to the fun houses of the far right. Now the theory is getting increasing consideration. “In some ways, it’s quite similar to the Hunter Biden laptop situation,” said Alina Chan, scientific adviser to the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. “Because the central or liberal media refused to cover it properly, it gave free rein to all of the right-wing media to report in the most polarizing, exaggerated way possible and inflame tensions.”

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    1. Alina Chan is biased as she has been pushing the lab leak conspiracy theory for a while, but when she offered a paper supporting her stance it was rejected by scientific journals. Experts rate the lab leak theory as having “low confidence” largely because there is zero evidence to support the claim, while a zoonotic source is supported by evidence.

      Alina Chan’s notions on Hunter’s laptop are nonsense as well.

      Apparently Alina Chan is bored out of her mind and starved for attention.

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  5. I see the trolls were up early this today.

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  6. When there are many important issues that need to be considered, it makes sense to focus on who will be the leader, policy maker and party governing our country, rather than presenting the details of each individual topic, over which we individuals have no input other than to consider carefully who we select to govern our nation.

    Somerby never mentions any of these important issues unless he wants to bash liberals for being insufficiently concerned about them (and too concerned about Trump). In general, the left is the only political faction who cares about global warming, which is at the heart of the crisis in Sudan and the migration to Italy. The left also cares about the deaths at our own borders, 8000 since 1998, 853 in fiscal 2022 (according to the border patrol). The right cares only to make sure people are kept out and that Abbott gets to drown migrants in the river. Somerby said nothing at all here when Abbott started doing that. Is it relevant that DeSantis wants to shoot those who manage to get across the river, summary execution? Does it matter thant Trump wants to use drones to attack Mexicans? That is part of the Trump Trump Trump conversation.

    If Trump somehow manages to win another term, WE may be the ones wishing to cross borders and find a better place to live.

    Perhaps Somerby donates the stipend he gets from some deep money conservative PAC, or the Kochs, or his favorite oligarch to organizations that feed people in third world countries. He perhaps thinks that gives him license, a high ground from which to chide liberals, who I know damn well are the major donors to freedom from hunger campaigns worldwide. Republicans, when they donate to charity, give to their personal churches. It is how they write their mandatory tithes off on their taxes.

    I resent being told that I cannot complain about Trump's corruption until every hungry child is fed worldwide. The needless suffering will stop when we address the criminals at the top of our food chain, like Trump, who contribute to the suffering of the world via their own greed.

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    1. Well said. And Bob has never suggested what should be done about Trump’s criminality, one assumes his answer is nothing.

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  7. Digby sez:

    "This is psycho talk and its common in this Republican primary campaign. The people cheer and shout with unbridled glee at the notion of killing immigrants and invading Mexico.

    'Former President Donald Trump, who has previously called for building a wall along the southern border and giving drug dealers the death penalty, has also proposed creating a naval blockade of Mexico to prevent drugs like illicit fentanyl from entering the U.S. His leading opponent in the 2024 GOP nomination race, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, promised last week to use “deadly force” against anyone caught smuggling drugs across the border.

    On Capitol Hill, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and John Kennedy (R., La.) have both voiced support for military operations in Mexico. Sen. J.D. Vance (R., Ohio) said in a recent interview on NBC that cartels should be considered terrorist organizations, meriting a military response. And Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R., Texas) and Mike Waltz (R., Fla.) have sponsored a bill that would formally declare war on the cartels—meaning the military would be authorized to drop bombs on cartel targets.

    In an NBC poll taken in late June, sending troops to the border to stop drugs was the single best-liked of 11 GOP proposals tested with Republican primary voters.'

    There’s just one little problem:

    'Doris Meissner, who served as the top immigration official under the Clinton administration, said the Republican proposals are problematic because deploying the U.S. military on domestic soil to perform law-enforcement functions is illegal, and performing military operations in Mexico without the explicit cooperation of the Mexican government would be an act of war against a sovereign country.'

    I’m pretty sure that if the Republicans win back the White House we are going to see the limits of their alleged pacifism. It’s unnatural for them. They are positively yearning for a war."

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    1. Yay yay yay let’s go to war with Mexico because our right wing leaders treat their supporters so horribly that a significant portion of them are addicted to drugs just in order to cope with the terrible circumstances of their lives!

      As the Trump admin used to say, cruelty is the point.

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    2. Some people assert that a Trump victory would lead to more war even though Trump's actual regime produced less war.

      Doesn't Trump have enough real flaws? Do his enemies really need to make up imaginary ones?

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    3. No one is making up that Trump wants to attack cartels using drones, which would be an act of war against Mexico. That is not imaginary — he said it himself.

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    4. Not in and of itself.

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    5. Trump killed more foreigners with drones than Obama. If you want to know how bad killing people with drones is, read Glenn Greenwald's archives discussing Obama's drone program.
      If you want to read about Trump's drone program, read someone other than Greenwald, he never discussed it because he's yet another Right-wing rat-fucker.

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    6. Bideen has greatly reduced use of military drones.

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    7. More specifically, civilian deaths dramatically increased under Trump, largely due to his world views and values.

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  8. “No legal minutia left behind!” Translation: when MSNBC is telling me what I don’t want to hear it all gets so complicated……

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    1. We are looking into it, however, it may be that it will be difficult to find a jail cell large enough to accommodate his enormously fat body.

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  10. Here is some of the stuff Somerby has said about Bernie, Biden and Harris, in terms of his own support and opinions:

    Sept 29, 2020: "According to Stephens, "she was enthusiastic for Bernie Sanders in 2016" but will vote for Trump this year. Stephens reports her reasons for favoring Trump, failing to note that some of her statements make little sense on a purely factual basis.

    (We'd be less dismissive of some of her views make perfect sense. For example, we share her view that Biden-Harris is a weak ticket.)

    Do Democrats have something to learn from this one voter, who Stephens describes as an "outlier?" Almost surely, the answer is yes, but Stephens makes no attempt to say what it is.

    We'd like to see our favorite stars speak to more Trump voters. "

    In response to an article about Bernie's liabilities under close examination, should he become the nominee, Somerby defended Bernie by pointing out the liabilities of other Democratic candidate, saying:

    Jan 29, 2020: "In fairness, Candidate Warren's past claims about being an American Indian would also beg for revival. The liberal world has shown amazingly little awareness of the way that matter might play if Trump chose to revive it. And how about Biden's wayward son? Surely everyone understands that he never should have been in Ukraine."

    In discussing the views of Newton-Small, who was examining sexism during Clinton's 2016 campaign, Somerby plays gotcha, trying to show that she was expressing two incompatible views, and Somerby features this quote:

    May 22, 2019: "Clinton, though, ended up playing the hectoring housewife at times to Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, lecturing them on their pie-in-the-sky ideas. As one young woman before the New Hampshire primary put it to me: Going to a Hillary rally was like going on a date with an actuary. You knew what she was saying was important, but it was really boring.

    Ugh. Today, Newton-Small complains about the alleged sexism of the working-class white women who serve as our tribe's latest Others. In real time, she said that Candidate Clinton had repeatedly come across as a "hectoring housewife."

    No defense of Clinton there, even when she was the party nominee in 2016. His point was to disassociate sexism from questions of likeability (which he felt Clinton lacked).

    May 16, 2019: "In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote over Trump by almost 3 million votes. That said, next year's Democratic nominee will probably need to win some Trump voters back."
    ...
    "Sanders started his discussion that night with words of admiration, gratitude, respect. He told the people in the hall that their parents had kept his boyhood home warm. He told them they aren't his enemy.

    You don't win back every voter that way. But you don't have to win back every Trump voter. You have to win some, not all."

    Note that TDH did not quote the way Clinton discussed coal with voters in Appalachia, he merely speculated that despite winning the popular vote by a huge margin, some had defected to Trump and would need to be "won back" after her candidacy. Somerby assumes she did a bad job of speaking to voters, offering no proof or contrast to his praise of Sanders.





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    1. More:

      May 6, 2019: "Has Candidate Biden really received "glowing press coverage," full stop? Or is that perhaps a bit of a fantasy, delivered live and direct from the kingdom of critical theory?

      Has the New York Times fawned over Candidate Sanders? Does anyone really believe that?

      In a similar vein, have Candidates Harris, Klobuchar and Warren really received some sort of unremitting negative coverage? Did anybody take a look at Harris' coverage last week?

      Claire Bond Potter is a professor of history at the New School. As she tried to establish her apparent claim, she cherry-picked her quotations about those candidates in much the way an indolent high school sophomore might."

      And so does Somerby. Does Somerby think that one week's worth of casual observation refutes a systematic study of coverage of female vs male candidates? But note that Somerby is defending Bernie and incidentally Biden (who is also male) from not having to answer the likeability question about whether their personalities are sufficiently pleasing to be run for president. Somerby routinely denies the existence of sexism, just as he denies the phenomenon of racism.

      Apr 3, 2019: "Should Joe Biden run for president?

      As a general matter, it seems to us that Biden's a bit old for that particular challenge. The same would be true of Bernie Sanders, of course."
      ... [lengthy discussion of who supported crime bill]
      "As a general matter, it seems to us that Biden's too old."

      Not exactly support, but Biden wasn't the nominee yet.

      Dec 13, 2018: "BREAKING: Bernie Sanders gets it right!"

      Somerby favorably quotes Sanders who is talking about bipartisan congressional condemnation of the Saudi's war against Yemen. This devolves into an attack on Rachel and a harangue against humanity based on Harari's stupid book about human nature.

      June 14, 2017:

      "How should liberals, progressives and Democrats address the "failed political strategy" that leaves us in our current miserable state? Sanders says this of the Democratic Party:

      "Without hesitation, it must take on the powerful corporate interests that dominate the economic and political life of the country."

      We can't say that's false. We'd also say that the liberal world should challenge the powerful corporate interests that dominate the "journalistic" life of the country. That domination is on display each night as our favorite cable stars mug, clown, dissemble, cavort and send brain cells to the gallows.

      As his column proceeds, Sanders prescribes a narrow political path as we attempt to address our downward spiral. We don't necessarily disagree with the various things he says, but we think his field of vision is somewhat narrow.

      What explains the gruesome facts Sanders presents at the start of his column? Is it the gerrymandering we love to blame? Is it really all those racists Over There?

      We think Sanders' field of vision is perhaps a bit narrow. Tomorrow, we'll suggest a few of the ways we've reached the pathetic state of affairs in which our tribe can think of little but this:

      Dearest god in heaven, please! Help us lock him up!"

      and it goes on and on...

      Delete
    2. I'm proud of what we've done in Ukraine.

      Delete
    3. I’m old enough to remember how under Trump, Putin was having his way. But that changed with Biden, now Putin is getting his ass handed to him.

      Delete
    4. Biden is on the verge of losing Niger to Russia

      Delete
    5. Niger is not now and never has been a colony of the USA.

      Delete
    6. Think of all that has been lost.

      Delete
    7. We, society, have; thus all the lost and found boxes everywhere.

      Niger is a tiny country (25 million) and one of the poorest, it holds no international significance.

      Niger has suffered 7 coups in the last 3 years, and there’s no credible evidence Russia was involved in the current coup, which is already starting to crumble under increasing sanctions and threats of military action from ECOWAS.

      Under Trump, Putin flourished, but now, under Biden, Putin is flailing, floundering, and getting his ass handed to him.

      Delete
  11. It's common for sons of vice presidents to form shell companies.


    But 20?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://apnews.com/article/0a3283036d2f4e699da4aa3c6dd01727

      Nov 6, 2018: "China grants 18 trademarks in 2 months to Trump, daughter"

      You would need to close the loop on this and provide any evidence whatsoever that Hunter Biden did anything using those shell companies, much less anything criminal or unethical or corrupt. To my knowledge, no one has done that yet.

      Delete
    2. If I were the son of a vice president I would not be afraid to do business with traditionally corrupt countries in which my father is performing diplomacy. Conflict smomflict.

      Delete
    3. Biden performed diplomacy in every country of the world. Should Hunter not work?

      Delete
    4. Hunter received a free electric bike from Guam the Tuesday after vice president Biden left the embassy there.

      Delete
    5. How do you know that?

      Delete
    6. He made it up. Nothing there on google.

      Delete
    7. It was from senator Baxter's hearing.

      Delete
    8. Like I said, nothing on the internet. If this were real, it would have been reported from the hearing. It is more disinformation.

      Delete
    9. President Biden has promised to stop lying about Hunter and the million dollar business deals he was making with autocrats he met through his father and only because of who his father is. I think people from both sides of the aisle have pretty much agreed that the president should stop lying about those relationships now that they have been exposed.

      Delete
    10. Hunter was hired and then paid by people and companies.

      Anybody need smelling salt?

      Biden didn’t lie about Hunter, nor engage in any illegality or corruption.

      This is in stark contrast to how the Trump crime family behaved.

      Delete
    11. "I think people from both sides of the aisle have pretty much agreed that the president should stop lying about those relationships now that they have been exposed."

      Relationships? I think Joe Biden has admitted all along that Hunter is his son, for better or worse. There is no evidence of corruption on Biden's part. If there were, we would be hearing about that instead of all these vague accusations with no proof.

      Delete
    12. Electing Hunter Biden as President is almost as stupid as electing a Republican. Almost.

      Delete
    13. Hunter Biden is not a candidate for president.

      The trolls here are as stupid as Republicans.

      Delete
    14. I suppose we're just supposed to forget when Hunter was convicted in El Paso.

      Delete
    15. Did he fall in love with a Mexican girl named Felina?

      Delete
    16. It’s easy to forget fake stories.

      Delete
  12. How about a health update, Bob.

    I’ve been praying for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. None of your business Cecelia.

      Delete
    2. Bob would have thrown in the comma.

      Delete
    3. You presume on slight acquaintance.

      Delete
    4. General information:

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma

      Delete
    5. Were a god to exist, it would possess traits like omniscience and omnipotence, nullifying the utility of prayer.

      Delete
    6. OMG!
      Bob's in a coma.

      Delete
    7. No, I think he’s just on his period.

      Delete
  13. Democrats are just have to figure out a way to differentiate themselves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The problem is all those Repubs that support common sense gun control, college debt relief, humane treatment towards those at the border, support Black Lives Matter, support antifa, abortion rights, fighting climate change, opposing inequality, opposing systemic racism, supports people of color and gay and trans people, etc. make it so hard to differentiate.

      Delete
    2. Tom Cotton has bank records that show Hunter Biden was involved with Guam.

      Delete
    3. "Involved with"? What does that even mean? Tom Cotton doesn't have "bank records" that show Hunter Biden received a free e-bike. You guys have nothing showing any Biden corruption except your own accusations. That isn't enough to convince a Democrat and it isn't enough to even bring someone to trial.

      Trolls who keep posting this one-line garbage need to get a real job.

      Delete
    4. Meanwhile, Republicans don't seem to have any ethical problems with stuff like this:

      "Washington Post: “To help them haul in large sums of money, the document suggested that lobbyists be allowed to offer their clients certain perks, such as meals and rounds of golf with DeSantis, who loves the sport. DeSantis’s fundraisers envisioned that some golf outings with the governor would net contributions of $75,000 or more, according to other emails among DeSantis’s political advisers.”

      “While it is common for politicians to seek donations from lobbyists, the efforts by DeSantis to effectively auction off his leisure time to those seeking to influence state policy created a special pathway of access for wealthy donors to the governor that is striking in the way that it was documented in writing, ethics experts said.”

      Delete
    5. I changed my mind once I read the contents of the laptop.

      Delete
    6. Ah, yes, the contents of the laptop which Russia added to the computer specifically to gull rubes like you.

      Delete
    7. The laptop contents do not implicate Biden in any illegality or corruption.

      Hunter’s laptop contents are more benign than yours, 12:16.

      Delete
    8. Democrats are merely asking the president to stop lying about his knowledge.

      Delete
    9. The “Democrats” are merely asking the former president Trump, who could only serve one term due to losing the 2020 election, to stop lying.

      The current president, President Biden, in contrast with Trump, has not lied about his knowledge.

      Delete
    10. Knowledge about Hunter's business deals in China..

      Delete
    11. OMG Hunter, a businessman, engaged in business deals! I bought something from China last week myself. Can’t you guys be specific about what you think was wrong?

      Delete
    12. Hunter may have wanted China to fast track his trademarks but they didn’t. They did do it for Ivanka’s tchotchkes, and she was able to make hundreds of millions while working for her father in the White House.

      Either way, Biden did not lie about his knowledge. This is in contrast to Trump, who lies with every breath.

      Delete
    13. Joe said he had no knowledge about China. He met with Hunter's business partners 18 times. Why? To talk about the weather?

      Delete
    14. Obviously, to talk about Hunter.

      Delete
    15. Joe didn’t have meetings with Hunter’s business partners.

      10:13 would you be interested in helping out this Nigerian Prince I happen to know?

      Delete
  14. Sorry Bob, people who commit crimes, especially those with 91 charges against them, should be punished if they are convicted. I am a law and order liberal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To be fair, there is no such thing other than law and order liberals.

      Delete
  15. "Sally Hayden, observing mass death!"

    To be excessively literal, Sally Hayden didn't actually observe any mass deaths herself.

    Her headline:

    "Welcome to Europe, Where Mass Death Has Become Normal"

    No one in Europe considers mass deaths to be "normal." Perhaps she means routine or more frequent, but she underestimates the responses of those who are appalled and upset about such deaths.

    Somerby demeans not only Europeans who Sally Hayden says have gotten used to such deaths, but Americans who are concerned about them, no matter where they are occurring. Just as we care about the deaths in that Maui wildfire, even though they are farther away than Europe and largely preventable. And we care about the unnecessary killing in Ukraine, where people were invaded for no good reason and must fight and die to keep their country free. And we care about the fentanyl overdoses and the despair that causes them, and the stupidity of those still poisoning themselves with cigarettes. I would bet that even some Republicans care about such deaths.

    Why does Somerby think he will convince anyone of his ideas by first insulting us?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hunter is suffering from loneliness more than anything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hunter got his law degree from Yale and then spent his career founding various lobbying and consulting firms.

      For his work, he was paid money!

      Hunter has a supportive father, 5 children, and a wife (who looks like a hotter version of Cameron Diaz).

      The claim that he is suffering from loneliness is without merit.

      Perhaps it’s more like projection, or a confession.

      Delete
    2. You are right. In that way he is similar to Hillary.. Married/born into it.

      Delete
    3. Better trolling please.

      Delete
    4. Hate to break it to you…we are all born into it.

      Furthermore, marriage is not rare.

      The only similarity between Hunter and Hillary is the first letter of their first name. Sure it’s terribly interesting, but dispositive of nothing.

      Delete
    5. Most of the rich made their money the old fashioned way. Born or married into it.

      Delete
    6. Hunter traveled to Bora Bora on Air Force. 2.

      Delete
    7. Where is your proof, other than someone said so? If he went with the President (recently) or VP there is no ethical problem.

      Delete
    8. AF2 is the VP’s plane.

      Delete
    9. Hunter did not travel to Bora Bora.

      Apparently, trolls like 8:19 are weirdly triggered by Hunter having a bigger penis than Trump’s.

      Delete
    10. Hunter receives millions from China.

      Delete
    11. What a coincidence! So do I, and I don’t even know Joe Biden!

      Delete
    12. The millions Hunter earned from China had nothing to do with Joe, his father, the vice president.

      Delete
    13. Hunter received payments for work he did, this is not a new concept, nor illegal or corrupt.

      Hunter’s business dealings in China mostly fell through, in contrast with Ivanka who had her tchotchke trademarks fast tracked and made hundreds of millions while working for her father in the White House.

      The Trump Crime Family lives off illegality and corruption, weirdly cheered on by the common everyday right wingers whose pockets the Trumps are picking.

      Delete
  17. Biden orders cool ice cream flavors.

    ReplyDelete
  18. A miracle in terms of Mississippi school kid's test scores will be if and when Somerby stops referencing them.

    ReplyDelete