SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2025
The strongman's no longer last: In fairness, Tinseltown's James Mangold is an accomplished maker of entertaining Hollywood feature films.
He even made two X-man movies! He did so when he was approaching 50, then when he was more than 50 years old.
In 2005, he directed Walk the Line. That film didn't strike us as silly or as flyweight infested at all.
Walk the Line didn't strike us that way. We can't say the same about A Complete Unknown.
Mangold may be the world's nicest person—but could he also be a conceptual flyweight? Unless he's being unfairly quoted, these are some of the things he has said when questions have been asked about the accuracy of certain elements of his current film about someone called "Bob Dylan:"
Fact-checking 'A Complete Unknown': What the Bob Dylan movie gets right, wrong
[...]
[D]irector James Mangold was not making a documentary, and as such felt free to play with events and dates in the early 1960s to keep his movie moving along.
"You make a biopic and there’s an assumption you’re doing a history lesson with text on the screen labeling things, but I had no interest in that," Mangold tells USA TODAY. "I wanted to tell the story with the same authority as a fiction film, where the dates don’t matter so much. I kept saying, 'We’re not doing the Disney Hall of Presidents, where the animatronic president does a famous speech."
Mangold said he wasn't "doing the Disney Hall of Presidents." He said he "wanted to tell the story with the same authority as a fiction film."
On that basis, it seemed to USA Today that he "felt free to play with events."
That's what it said in this flimsy piece in USA Today. Here's what it said in a much longer truth-check by Variety:
‘A Complete Unknown’ Fact vs. Fiction: Experts Go Deep on What’s True or Fanciful in the Celebrated Biopic
[...]
[T]he long answer involves acknowledging director James Mangold’s film taking liberties in terms of a condensation of timelines, the conjoining of separate incidents, fictional character names in a couple of cases, and moments of sheer imagination and fictionalization. It’s certainly possible to enjoy “A Complete Unknown” without stressing too much over which parts are fact and which are fanciful. But for those who want to take a deep dive into how much the movie aligns with the known historical record, we looked to several Dylan experts to help sort it out.
[...]
Mangold recently told Variety that the film is “not a Wikipedia entry” and he didn’t feel a fealty to a documentary level of facts—but also pointed out that, besides relying on Wald’s book and other historical source material, he based his version of the script (co-written with Jay Cocks) on many hours he spent personally talking with Dylan. In any case, many of those who’ve been in Dylan’s orbit over the years have given it high marks. Kevin Odegard, who played guitar on “Blood on the Tracks,” wrote, “We loved every minute…Critics who pick apart the imaginative world of composite characters and compacted historical footnotes are the dogs who caught the car. They miss the emotional punch of James Mangold’s poignant Hollywood movie."
All hail the "imaginative" genius! He said he wasn't constructing "a Wikipedia entry."
Beyond that, a guitarist thought the film was great. This assessment separates the guitarist from the dogs who caught the car.
Kissing industry ascot as it frequently does, Variety hurried the guitarist's analysis into its piece. Are there flyweight aspects to what Mangold has done? If so, the infestation doesn't seem to be restricted to him.
As we'll note tomorrow, this creative debacle links to one of the ways we Blue Americans managed to lose, even if narrowly, to the current commander in chief. It's now completely clear, as of this morning, that he has cast himself in the role of a lifetime—in the role of American Strongman.
Our own sacred Troy is already in flames, even as we speak. How did we ever lose to this guy? In our view, part of the answer is blowing in the gales of hot air inside James Mangold's entertaining fictional film.
Those gales of hot air involve quite a few invented people and places. For the record, we'll guess that quite a few of those inventions relate to the recent Tinseltown artefact you can explore by clicking here.
We've always advised staying away from our own Blue America's endless array of name-calls and bombs. That said, several of those inventions struck us as bizarrely racist-adjacent. Beyond that, the gender politics of this film struck us as grisly and throwback pretty much all the way down.
That gender politics is also built on the film's inventions—on its inventions and its disappearances.
Sara Lownds doesn't appear in this film; Suze Rotolo isn't permitted to leave. Black characters were invented out of whole cloth and were then portrayed in peculiar ways. All too often, this is the bullsh*t we've chosen.
We'll offer more on this painful mess tomorrow or possibly Monday. For today, a certain apparent nutcase is in the saddle and is riding Americankind.
It's now clear that he's casting himself in the role of a lifetime. That said, we think Mangold's film helps tell a story about the way we Blue Americans weren't sharp enough, over the course of quite a few years, to keep this change from a-happenin'.
(We were like the townfolk of Oran. In fairness, The Plague was plainly a work of a certain type of fiction.)
Sara isn't in the film. Suze just keeps hanging around, tears streaming down her sad face. A bunch of (rather peculiar) black characters get invented and shoehorned in. To our eye and ear, a few of those characters get presented in weirdly familiar old ways.
How did we ever lose to that guy? In part, is this the Tin Pan Alley dumbness we Blues have persistently chosen?
Pete Hesgeth is the Secretary of Defense, because those who despise DEI are perfectly fine with unqualified people getting jobs.
ReplyDeleteTurns out they despise DEI because it might help someone who isn't a white male.
And, of course, DEI allowing unqualified candidates to get hired is also lie.
DeleteThe idea that DEI advanced "unqualified" candidates instead of boosting qualified ones who were otherwise being overlooked, is part of the right's racism. On the right, being a minority automatically makes someone unqualifed and eligible to be scapegoated for the mistakes of others (if accidentally hired).
DeleteBeing a minority doesn't automatically make someone unqualified but minorities are suspected of gaining unfair promotion because DEI and affirmative action exist(ed). Why wouldn't they be?
Delete"Why wouldn't they be?"
DeletePerhaps those who understand the history of the nation, and how generational poverty works, might not be persuaded by their paranoia.
Easy answer, really already answered above, but bears repeating, there’s no unfair promotion to suspect, DEI employees are completely qualified, as well as being minorities.
DeleteEmployers have been icing out qualified minority hires for decades, DEI is a legitimate way to combat the sexism and racism employed by employers to keep their employees White and male.
By every metric, White males have an advantage in society, based merely on their White-ness and male-ness, which is seen as a tad unfair to those who do not happen to possess those qualities, even while being fully qualified and competent in their professions.
DEI for Whites has been in use for decades, and now it’s working for minorities, who have long suffered from the sexism and racism that is foundational to our society and that remains highly prevalent.
Why wouldn’t someone support DEI? Because they are racist and sexist.
I don’t support DEI because there are millions of women and people of color richer and more powerful than I am.
DeleteThis is why serious people use stats to talk about the workforce.
DeleteI don't support the Republican Party, because there are one-hundred million Republican voters who are as racist as fuck.
Delete"DEI allowing unqualified candidates to get hired is also lie."
DeleteBut then it's not working.
I used to love stumping Right-wingers by asking them to explain what DEI is.
DeleteNow, I love stumping Right-wingers by asking them to spell DEI.
I supposed Odetta is one of those peculiar black characters, inserts only to assuage woke viewers? Here is the part of her bio concerning folk music, from Wikipedia, which is a good source despite Elon Musk's feud with it:
ReplyDelete"She made her name playing at the Blue Angel nightclub in New York City, and the hungry i in San Francisco. At Tin Angel also in San Francisco in 1953 and 1954, Odetta recorded the album Odetta and Larry with Larry Mohr for Fantasy Records.[9]
A solo career followed, with Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues (1956) and At the Gate of Horn (1957). Odetta Sings Folk Songs was one of the best-selling folk albums of 1963.
In 1959 she appeared on Tonight with Belafonte, a nationally televised special. She sang "Water Boy" and a duet with Belafonte, "There's a Hole in My Bucket".[10]
In 1961, Martin Luther King Jr. called her "The Queen of American Folk Music".[11] Also in 1961, the duo Harry Belafonte and Odetta made number 32 in the UK Singles Chart with the song "There's a Hole in the Bucket".[12] She is remembered for her performance at March on Washington, the 1963 civil rights demonstration, at which she sang "O Freedom".[13] She described her role in the civil rights movement as "one of the privates in a very big army".[14]
Broadening her musical scope, Odetta used band arrangements on several albums rather than playing alone. She released music of a more "jazz" style on albums like Odetta and the Blues (1962) and Odetta (1967). She gave a remarkable performance in 1968 at the Woody Guthrie memorial concert.[15]"
From this it should be clear that she was part of the folk music scene, way more of a success than Dylan (during the depicted time) and had every right to be shown on that stage, even receiving an apology that seems to have offended Somerby.
In my own youth as a folk song aficionado, I knew who Odetta was, even if Somerby apparently didn't. Until he clarifies himself, we don't know why Somerby was so offended by her inclusion in the film, but I believe she had every right to be shown there. She was important in folk music. Unless Somerby can prove that she wasn't there, he has no basis for suggesting that black people appearing in the film were added gratuitously.
Today Somerby shows the same kind of irritated outrage over Odetta in a film, that white people express when they hear someone speaking Spanish on the street. This is OUR country, how dare they speak a foreign language that WE cannot understand! How dare they put a black woman in a film, on a folk music stage, where she clearly doesn't belong! This must be DEI run wild, wokenss out of control! Not Somerby's finest moment.
Delete"A bunch of (rather peculiar) black characters get invented and shoehorned in. " Someone apologizing to Odetta on stage (was she scheduled to perform next or just enjoying the show) is not very peculiar in the midst of some backstage uproar, as depicted. Does Somerby think that was invented so that someone could symbolically apologize to a black woman? That gives Mangold too much credit. But why shouldn't she have been there among her fellow folk artists that night? Why does Somerby claim she was "shoehorned in"? I suppose he thinks she was shoehorned in to the memorial for Woody Guthrie or the March on Washington too? Maybe he thinks MLK Jr. was shoehorned into that March himself?
DeleteIn real life, while Dylan was involved with Joan Baez, he ended their relationship by chasing Mavis Staples of the Staples Singers. She was omitted from the film, which showed Dylan returning to his Suze Rotolo figure. Was she shoehorned out of the movie because she is black, or did the Director decide that showing him throwing over Baez for a black woman was more than the audience wanted to see?
https://www.thetimes.com/culture/music/article/the-freewheelin-love-life-of-bob-dylan-he-just-likes-his-women-ft6b33wj8
DeleteThis article describes the accusation that he drugged and had sex with a 12 year old while on tour (during the time period of this film). That is not "sexual politics" but a crime, if it happened. The article appeared in the London Times when the #metoo accusation against Dylan occurred, so it was not cleaned up for movie publicity.
As described, Dylan didn't treat any of the women in his life very well. That was downplayed, if anything, by the film (which had Dylan's cooperation). Somerby objects to the fictional composite character, but why should any of the real-life women have to be embarrassed by Dylan's mistreatment of them?
Filmmaker Woody Allen has again denied accusations that he molested Dylan when he was a child. Dylan accused the Oscar-winner of sexually abusing him in 1992 when he was 51 years old.
DeleteThis right wing vanity blog has always been about excusing Somerby’s racism and sexism, and scolding Dems for calling out racism and sexism.
DeleteSomerby’s claims about Dems, the media, and electoral politics have always been like a bucket with a hole in it: they never held any water; Somerby never substantiates his nonsensical claims, he can’t be bothered - to him, they are axiomatic, even though in reality it’s all hogwash.
Bob Dylan and Dylan Farrow are two different people.
DeleteOnce a Dylan, always a Dylan.
DeleteDylan Thomas was different, too.
DeleteDid the director have to "play with events" and fictionalize his film in order to meet subjective "representation and inclusion standards"?
DeleteWhy can't Somerby do a little research on Dylan before going out on a limb with accusations of too-much-PC and insufficient realism?
ReplyDeleteDogs don’t try to catch cars. They chase cars away. Successfully.
ReplyDeleteHa!
DeleteI don't know. I didn't see it.
ReplyDeleteBob doesn’t mention Odetta in today’s post. Commenters accuse him of bad thoughts about her. Where are David and Cecelia when we need them? They’re both so cognitive and so beautiful. I love them so!
ReplyDeleteIt takes them a while to get into character.
DeleteHe mentioned her repeatedly in his previous essay on this topic.
DeleteHere is the kind of thing Bob Dylan did to his actual wife Sara Lownds, who he married shortly after the time period in the film:
"The final straw came in 1977 when Lownds came down to breakfast to find Dylan and a girlfriend with their four children, Jesse, Anna, Samuel and Jakob. (Dylan also adopted Lownds’s daughter from her first marriage, Maria.) She later claimed he hit her in the jaw and, when she won custody of the children, that Dylan had an affair with the therapist Lownds hired to help the children through the separation."
This makes the story about the 12 year old more believable. This kind of bad behavior is more than sexual politics, which refers to norms for relationships between men and women, not the acts of criminals and abusive jerks (Dylan appears to have been, given his assault on his wife).
The article says: "Dylan met the former Playboy bunny Sara Lownds in 1964. Baez discovered he had a new girlfriend only when Sara answered the door. Baez later said it was “the most demoralising experience in my life”.
Dylan explained his decision to the tour manager Victor Maymudes: “Sara will be there when I want her to be home, she’ll be there when I want her to be there, she’ll do it when I want to do it. Joan won’t be there when I want her. She won’t do it when I want to do it.’”
That shows Dylan with the maturity of a 5-year-old, based on his own words.
Typo: appears to have been [both]
DeleteThe therapist was unethical.
DeleteThe therapist was definitely unethical but so was Dylan, who the movie was about.
DeleteShe seduced him at a vulnerable time in his life.
DeleteThis shows Dylan with the honesty of a 5-year-old.
DeleteDylan was vulnerable because he was temporarily out of ideas for his scheming in how to fool suckers with his phony iterations of himself.
DeleteHe gave them what they wanted.
DeleteI couldn't care less if Bob has “bad thoughts” about women. Afterall, Odetta was very attractive.
DeleteRight on Cecelia. On both counts although I can't read your mind on your first point but I assume because you posted it, you really could care less.
DeleteA small quibble: "after all" is two words. Putting it as one word sounds an awful lot like "adderal."
Adderall- lovely girl too. Odetta’s cousin.
DeleteOdetta was not as beautiful as you, Cecelia.
DeleteThat’s sweet, anonymouse. RightisRight has a thing for Adderall.
DeleteRepublicans nominated an Adderall addict to be President 3 times in a row.
DeleteNailed it. Rotten Tomatoes critic ratings were once reliable indicators of a worthwhile film. Now they just indicate how many fake black quiet heroes or white villains are shoehorned in.
ReplyDeleteAmerica is sick of this bullshit. Hence Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth is a real life hero, thanklessly out to kill all Muslims, and rape and assault all women.
DeleteHe’s perfectly suited for Trump’s administration.
And look how he has boosted the alcohol industry!
DeleteNext up: Tulsi Gabbard.
DeleteHegseth has his problems but leave it to Democrats to overreach with the sister in law bullshit, igniting the passions of people who would otherwise disapprove of him.
DeleteVoting for a guy who is totally unqualified to run a department with almost 3 million employees and
Delete$842 Billion budget because your feelings got hurt, sums up the maturity of the modern Republican Party perfectly.
Thanks for sharing, 12:22.
His problems being: a rapist and an alcoholic and a serial abuser of women. If raising the specter of such behavior ignites the passion of someone, to then approve of Hegseth, then such a person was always going to vote for Hegseth.
DeleteTrump is filling his admin with sexual predators.
Sexual predators flock together.
Hegsetth got confirmed. Oh boy!
DeleteGet ready for a replay of January 6th, but this time from voters who think DEI is offensive because the unqualified are getting jobs, and not because it helps non-white males (obviously).
No one is saying males shouldn't have jobs. The workplace should be fair and open to all qualified candidates competing for a position. It shouldn't be biased in any direction but truly based on merit.
DeleteAgree, DEI corrects the long standing biases for White males and against women and people of color.
DeleteHegseth is unqualified for the job, and is a generally reprehensible and unreliable and untrustworthy person who happens to be a White male, so he well illustrates the need for DEI.
12:45 not so. There were likely thousands of people who would not have been motivated to pressure their senators or take to socials about Hegseth but when they heard about the 11th hour allegation debunked within minutes but still peddled by Democrats, they remembered when they or someone they knew was accused by a crazy "sister in law" and it lit the fire. This self-sabotage has been helpful to Republicans a number of times. Brett Kavanaugh and others.
Delete@3:17 is basically arguing that women shouldn't be believed when they talk about abuse they've witnessed or experienced. One of the women filed a police report against him, corroborating the sister in law's statement. His alcohol abuse isn't really a secret and @3:17 sounds silly trying to explain it away by discrediting witnesses.
DeleteIt reminded me, too, of the time no one looked into the criminal allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.
DeleteSomerby keeps confusing the details of specific relationships with "gender politics," which is akin to confusing weather with climate. Even the most throwback men in the 1960s understood that women don't like it when you cheat on them.
ReplyDeleteRoman Polanski was charged with: "unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor." These were crimes, not men being men. These acts were not condoned in 1977, not part of the sexual politics of the day, nor were they in the time period depicted in this film. But this is the kind of thing Epstein did and allowed his friends to do, including Trump (who was accused in sworn depositions in Ghislaine Maxwell's trial of raping a 13 year old).
If Somerby were a good decent person, he might be complaining because they left this kind of stuff out of the Dylan biopic. Instead he is referring to the whitewashed behavior toward women as "throwback sexual politics" and ignores that Dylan's worse behavior was omitted from the film. Instead Somerby complains that random peculiar black people are thrown in, as if there were no civil rights movement, no integration in music, no black performers worth showing in the 1960s folk and rock scenes (which included blues). What kind of world does Somerby live in?
At least Polanski made some good movies - he had genuine talent, which is no excuse, Polanski’s behavior was reprehensible and a crime.
DeleteDylan is a horrible person and a bad musician, his only genuine talent being in marketing, another snake oil salesman that segments of our society seem to easily fall for.
Only the dumbest people think Trump is on Epstein's rapist list.
DeleteDylan’s voice is terrible. Baez was a fool.
DeleteRoman Polanski stuck a knife in Jack Nicholson’s nose and sliced it open.
DeleteThe point here perhaps is that making good movies or singing good songs doesn't give any man the right to rape children, punch women in the face, and still be considered welcome in society. Dylan's mistreatment of Baez doesn't maker HER the fool. Dylan is still a miscreant and all she did was trust him when he was untrustworthy. This idea that women are to blame when men hurt them is part of that throwback culture. It prevents women from reporting crimes, out of shame that they were somehow to blame. That IS part of throwback sexual politics -- blame the victim.
DeleteChinatown is slick and well produced, but eh kind of empty. Knife in the Water and Rosemary’s Baby are great films.
DeleteBut then Polanski assaulted a 14yo, which is a disgusting crime. Makes it hard to separate the art from the artist, when the artist is so…repulsive, maybe those films aren’t so great then.
Trump raped a 13yo.
Trump was best buddies with Epstein, owns a house near his, wished Maxwell well after her conviction, refuses to release any Epstein files.
Of course Trump used Epstein’s “services”, along with many others: Dershowitz, Pinker, Clinton, Gates, Prince Andrew etc.
Epstein’s dead now, the guards didn’t check on him, and the CCTV “malfunctioned”, but some say there was a trail of tan spray footprints outside his cell.
Trump is now President, one of the more consequential roles in society, much more than a filmmaker. At least it’s temporary.
Trump voters don’t (much) deny his criminality and corruption, they admire it.
Don't confuse actors with the people they portray. Jack Nicholson was reportedly in that hot tub with Polanski and his young teens.
Delete"No, Roman Polanski didn't actually slice Jack Nicholson's nose open in the 1974 film Chinatown. Instead, Polanski used a special knife with a reservoir of fake blood to make it look like he cut Nicholson's nose."
Clinton used Epstein's plane while conducting business for his global foundation (a charity) but there is no evidence he used any other "services".
DeleteOh. I thought Chinatown was a documentary. Never mind.
DeleteAnd Jack’s girl at the time, Anjelica Huston - daughter of John Huston, famed director and co star of Chinatown - was aware of Polanski’s behavior, since the assault occurred at Jack and Anjelica’s house, but hasn’t offered much condemnation of Polanski. She was arrested at the time as well, for possession of cocaine.
DeleteJoan Baez’ folly was that she worked with Bob Dylan at all. His singing stank, while hers was great.
DeleteBaez did a version of the song Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, which inspired LZ to do their own version, one of the masterpieces on their first album recorded in ‘68.
DeleteLater in the 70’s Page did an interview talking about how much of the popular music from the early-mid 60s, Beatles etc, wasn’t good at all, but that those artists did have cultural impact, suggesting they may have broken down some class barriers.
It all got washed away with Reagan and his corruption and neoliberalism.
The main impact Dylan had was to his own wallet.
The Beatles were great.
DeleteThe Beatles were great until a wave of really talented musicians came along and the Beatles couldn’t compete so they folded up their tent.
DeleteThat wave was likely the result of the positive socioeconomic conditions arising from the New Deal and similar post-War policies worldwide.
That wave was halted by a wall in 1981, which was the start of a $50+ billion redistribution of wealth from the bottom 90% to the top 1%. Now our lives are too precarious, now we are too focused on commodification, to produce much music of any significance.
I think Paul McCartney was realy talented.
DeleteDylan was raped by Woody Allen in Mia Farrow's summer cottage on Martha's Vineyard.
DeleteDylan Farorow is not a singer so how is she relevant?
DeleteYou're thinking of Dylan Farrow, the adopted child of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen. She accused Allen of molestation but investigations found he didn't.
DeleteI'm talking about Bob Dylan, the famous performer.
And don’t confuse them with Matt Dillon.
DeleteTrump has always made a weird false claim, the one about Pelosi refusing his request for the National Guard for 1/6. It turns out Trump did make that request, but it was to Christopher Miller, acting Defense Secretary, not to Pelosi.
ReplyDeleteApparently Miller was concerned (possibly based on insider intel) that Trump was going to use the Guard to takeover the Capitol, so he refused the order, ostensibly on the grounds that it was not made through proper procedures. Miller also put out a memo saying if the Guard were to be deployed they could only be armed and used on his command, effectively de-fanging the Guard.
Now Trump wants to investigate the 1/6 congressional committee, but that’s fraught with peril; for example, already the investigators have expressed concern over subpoenaing Hutchinson, because she apparently possesses a lot of texts from Trump/Trump officials that involve many requests for sexual favors and other such embarrassments. Oops.
Somerby loosely refers to Trump again, calling him a Strongman. Yes, Trump's life is fictionalized for MAGA consumption. That fact is so obvious that it seems odd that Somerby even mentions it. Why would he? Are there parallels Somerby thinks should be drawn between Dylan and Trump, or is he trying to excuse Trump because Dylan's life is being fictionalized? It is hard to see what Somerby's point is. Dylan wasn't elected president and I doubt anyone would vote for him now -- too old.
ReplyDeleteStephen A Smith stuns the Bill Maher crowd into silence as he articulates how Democrats have no one left fighting for the American people:
ReplyDeleteSAS: "The man was impeached twice, he was convicted on 34 felony counts. The American people still said 'He's closer to normal than what we're seeing on the left.'
He's saying 'I kept my promise'
Then you turn around and look at the left and you say 'What promises did you keep?'
What voter can look at the Democrat party and say 'There's a voice for us, somebody who speaks for us, that goes up on Capitol Hill and fights the fights that we want them fighting on our behalf. They didn't do that. That's why their behinds are home, and that man is back in the White House.
He's doing what he said he was going to do."
The American people said 'We'll take the supposed 'felon' over the woman who is telling us men can get pregnant'
The American public despises low unemployment rates, and loves corporate tax cuts.
DeleteWhat are people who think those things are important to the health of the nation supposed to do about that?
Trump doesn't keep promises. Harris didn't campaign on trans issues. The right did that. Why come here and post lies like this?
DeleteSure, it seems silly to point out that men can't get pregnant. But it's necessary when the government is telling you they can.
DeleteIt seems silly to point out no Republican voter knows anything about economics. But it's necessary when the mainstream media lie about there being a Republican voter who does.
DeleteA reminder of what good decent people sound like:
ReplyDelete"the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals,
They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, wadara, and temples.
I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President,on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we all were once strangers in this land."
Bishop Budde at the National Prayer Service preceding Trump's inauguration
She's the kind of person who would sit her black child in front of Roots and play it on a loop and then go out and give a speech about how afraid black children are.
DeleteAbusive, hateful, mentally ill. America sees people like her for for what they are and it isn't Christian.
It doesn't hurt anyone to learn about slavery and the history of black people, but does this woman even have kids, much less a black child? Look at the aggressive hostility displayed by this troll!
Delete"It is human nature to hate him whom you have injured" -- Tacitus
DeleteRacial hatred isn't going to stop until Republicans stop hurting black people (and immigrants, women, etc.). Unfortunately, the hate seems to keep motivating the abuse, like that displayed by @3:10.
Republicans try to point to increases in percentage of Black male voters for Trump, but this is not borne out by the evidence, since you can’t compare different cohorts, particularly with Trump getting a high turnout of low propensity voters, and Harris suffering from a historic low turnout from Dems.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, as it turns out, much of the low turnout was due to voter suppression: over 3 million new registrations were rejected, nearly 5 million voters were kicked off the roles, hundreds of thousands of votes were rejected by vigilante challenges, over 2 million mail in ballots were rejected, over 1 million provisional ballots were not counted, hundreds of thousands of in person ballots were rejected, and the vast majority of these suppressed votes were Black votes.
Worse, there was widespread closing of polls, removal of drop off sites, bomb threats to polling stations, all in Black areas in red states.
As it turns out, there was no decrease in the percent of Black votes for Harris, and it wasn’t because they stayed home, it’s because their votes were actively suppressed by Republicans.
"Furthermore, as it turns out, much of the low turnout was due to voter suppression: over 3 million new registrations were rejected, nearly 5 million voters were kicked off the roles, hundreds of thousands of votes were rejected by vigilante challenges, over 2 million mail in ballots were rejected, over 1 million provisional ballots were not counted, hundreds of thousands of in person ballots were rejected, and the vast majority of these suppressed votes were Black votes."
DeleteAny citation to support these numbers, or did you just pull them out of an orifice? And how about context? You say, for example, that 3 million new registrations were rejected. Is this unusual? How many were rejected in 2020? And were the rejections proper, or were they unlawful for some reason? And were the rejections focused disproportionately on Black voters, or Dems, or some group that tends to vote Dem? (And so on, for all the other numbers you "cite.")
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won-c6f?r=brgvh&utm_medium=ios
DeleteAnonymouse 1:23pm, so where is the anonymouse apology for arguing up and down that black men of endemically misogynistic?
Delete“Oops”’?
You're a cockroach.
DeleteAnonymouse 9:31pm, you’re an anonymouse.
DeleteNo. It's too late. From now on, you're a cockroach.
DeleteAnonymouse 9:43pm, you’re still an anonymouse. .
DeleteWhere’s the annonymouse apology for arguing that it’s common knowledge that black men are sexist?
DeleteIt’s common knowledge that black men have big dicks.
DeleteAnonymouse 10:10pm, flattery isn’t going help you now. Apologies are in order.
Delete"Apologies are in order."
DeleteLOL. That's some pre-Gingrich thinking, right there.
Anonymouse 11:15pm, no, Alinsky was around before Gingrich.
DeleteIn the media's defense, they feel they need to report everything Gingrich says, because they don't want to be scooped just in case it's the very first time Gingrich makes a statement in good faith.
DeleteFrom the Washington Post:
ReplyDelete"A decision by Donald Trump's incoming administration to make a late-night firing of at least 12 inspectors general –– including some the president personally approved of in his first term –– is creating alarm among observers, according to a report from the Washington Post.
Increasing those concerns is the fact that abrupt "purge" is likely illegal under federal law.
According to the report, "The inspectors general were notified by emails from the White House personnel director that they had been terminated immediately, according to people familiar with the actions, who like others in this report spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private messages," adding federal law states Congress must be given 30 days’ notice of intent to terminate a Senate-confirmed inspector general."
What does a gangster politician do when planning to engage in crimes? Fire the watchdogs.
These are good faith employees of the federal government, with families and homes and no doubt debts and obligations, who were given no notice at all. What have they done to throw a hand grenade into their career paths? Some are Trump apointees.
This is not how a good decent employer deals with staff. People who behave like this are sociopaths who do not think of others as people at all, but as pawns in their own game. Anyone who voted for Trump bears responsibility for the things he does, large and small. How would you feel if you were fired like this, for no reason and with no ability to offset the sudden loss of income?
Yastreblansky points out the reason for the dismissal of the Inspector Generals:
Delete"The new wrinkle in these two orders is in the reporting requirements: instead of directing investigators to direct the final reports to the department's office of personal responsibility or its inspector general, which would be the normal procedure, they will go to a political appointee at the White House—the deputy chief of staff for policy, who happens to be Mr. Stephen Miller, resuming the job he took with the first Trump administration in December 2016."
Removal of Inspector Generals in favor of control by a single political appointee is an obvious step on the road to Trump becoming an authoritarian leader instead of an elected president accountable to the people.
https://yastreblyansky.substack.com/p/dictatorship-takes-shape
Yastreblansky concludes:
Delete"We're watching how a dictatorship is put together, with a cabinet of flashy characters serving as lightning rods, central casting as Trump the TV producer likes to say, whose escapades will attract all the attention, wild misfits like Kennedy and Hegseth, cute girls like Noem and Bondi and Gabbard, true kayfabe celebrities like Oz and Duffy and McMahon, politician-celebrities like Rubio and Stefanik, but what they really have in common is weakness; and the subterranean army of the dictator's own made men, diligent and determined in the service of the capo di tutti capi, Stephen Miller drafting the order that gives him power independent of Bondi and Noem."
It’s so funny to see all the liberals who spent the last 2 months claiming how great the economy was under biden suddenly cave and pretend it’s worst under Trump within days 😂😂 but seriously …stop gas lighting nobody is falling for it 🤷🏽♂️
DeleteNo one is pretending that. BTW, gaslighting is one word.
DeleteDamn right loser 😎🤷🏽♂️
DeleteTrump hasn't done anything about the economy, and most likely won't.
DeleteHis voters don't care if eggs are $50 a dozen, as long as he makes the lives of non-white males miserable.
Take Bob's advice and get to now Trump voters and their beliefs. You'll soon understand what actually motivates them.
Dear Democrats..you lost and gas lighting isn’t working to influence supporters anymore 🤷🏽♂️
DeleteDear Democrats,
DeleteYou're suckers, because Republican voters never cared about inflation in the first place.
Dear Republicans, you won and gas lighting is still working to influence supporters.
DeleteHeather Cox Richardson describes the creation of democratic government institutions after WWII, such as our interstate highway system and the Centers for Disease Control (mobilized to fight malaria). She also describes the first steps Trump has taken to destroy these achievements, including:
ReplyDelete"He has stopped the funding for repairing roads, bridges, airports, and ports that passed Congress in a bipartisan vote in 2022, as well as taken away funding for new solar manufacturing plants and other new systems to address climate change."
Is it in our country's interest to stop repairing roads and bridges, aiports and ports? Is this what Trump's voters thought they were getting when they voted for him? This looks like self-sabotage to me, and it makes Trump's close relationship with Putin seem more sinister.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-24-2025
DeleteTrump’s voters are cockroaches.
DeleteGavin Newsom looked presidential and made Trump look weak when Trump briefly visited CA yesterday.
ReplyDeleteTrump also got humiliated in a press conference with local LA officials, his lies being called out and debunked, making Trump lose his cool in an embarrassing display.
Too bad Trump is incapable of recognizing or feeling humiliation, embarrassment or shame.
DeleteNeither is Putin.
Delete"Tech Arsenal Could Power Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
ReplyDeleteJanuary 25, 2025 at 2:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 11 Comments
“Apps and ankle monitors that track asylum seekers in real time wherever they go. Databases packed with personal information like fingerprints and faces. Investigative tools that can break into locked phones and search through gigabytes of emails, text messages and other files,” the New York Times reports.
“These are pieces of a technology arsenal available to President Trump as he aims to crack down on illegal immigration and carry out the largest deportation operation in American history. To do so, his administration can tap a stockpile of tools built up by Democrats and Republicans that is nearly unmatched in the Western world.” [Political Wire]
These are the same tools that can be used to suppress domestic dissent, manage the press and keep Americans from learning about the actions of our government and oligarchs like Musk. Welcome to 1984. Whatever Trump's administration does to track immigrants will shortly be turned against all of us citizens too.
Elon Musk’s estranged daughter (age 21) is trans. He blames the woke mind virus.
ReplyDeleteHe buys his tampons using the Gunk app.
DeleteMusk is the “he” here. Are you saying Musk buys tampons? His daughter clearly doesn’t.
DeleteI was told the daughter bought tampons for her vagina on the Gunk app.
DeleteFuck off troll
DeleteI'm sorry. You're right. It was Reid Hoffman's trans godchild who used the Gunk app to purchase tampons for their vagina.
DeleteYour mama lock you in the basement again dickwad?
DeleteSomerby hates crude jokes like this.
DeleteAnonymouse 10:53pm, like you care?
DeleteCaring about what other people think is woke.
ReplyDeleteAnonymouse 11:30lm, anonymices pretending to care about Bob’s sensibilities in order to shut someone up is the very essence of wokeness.
DeleteReminds me of when bigots tried to silence BLM by replying "All Lives Matter", and immigrants heard them loud and clear, and came en masse to our Southern border.
DeleteTalk about a win-win.
It made Right-wingers cry, AND it made it easier for employers to find good workers.
For the liberals crying about the current price of eggs…I thought they were good and the economy was great!? What changed in just a few days!?
ReplyDeleteDidn’t obamas “economy” last the entirety of Trumps first term and that’s why it was good? You claim he “left it for trump” but now Bidens “Great economy” is ..Trumps horrendous price of eggs economy..in literal days?! Help me out here 👀
Understanding how economics works is "woke".
DeleteI love that our newest President is making Right-wingers pay a premium for eggs.
DeleteIt's political genius.