SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2025
The commander's alleged "broken brain:" We'd like to be mad at Lawrence O'Donnell. On the other hand, we understand what he's decided to do, at least up to a point.
We've praised O'Donnell in recent weeks for his ability to care. While Rachel Maddow continues to chuckle and laugh and enjoy herself in ways we find extremely strange, O'Donnell has been visibly angry about the night assault on the federal government—most strikingly, about the new batch of starving / dying children created around the world.
Beyond that, O'Donnell's K.I.N.D. program (Kids in Need of Desks) has easily been the best thing anyone has ever done within the realm of "cable news." That said, on Wednesday evening, as he accepted the nightly handoff from the perpetually grinning and chuckling Maddow, O'Donnell told Maddow this:
O'DONNELL (3/12/25): I know you’ve pledged to cover and be here for the first hundred days of the Trump presidency. I hope you noticed that I did not make that same pledge when you did.
Say what? To watch the full videotape, you can just click here.
O'Donnell hadn't made the pledge! "You're not going anywhere. Are you?" Maddow now asked.
"Well, here's the thing," O'Donnell replied. Then, he offered this
O'DONNELL: This is Day 52. I thought it was Day 92. It turns out it’s Day 52, Rachel, and I’m exhausted at Day 52, and so I’m going to take next week off. And I’m telling you that now because I know you don’t like it when I just drift away.
I’m just taking next week off, then I can come back and go with you all the way to the hundred days.
After 52 days, O'Donnell was exhausted, he said. That disclosure led to this:
MADDOW: We all tell each other, "You have to take care of yourself. You got to pace yourself. You got to be in this for the long haul." So I can’t hold it against you, but I’m very sad.
O'DONNELL: Can you hold this against me? I’m gonna get a head start by taking tomorrow off?
At that point, "both erupted in laughter," the HuffPost said in this report. When he finally started his actual program that night, O'Donnell started with this:
O'DONNELL: And so America is at this hour completing the 52nd day of having a president of the United States whose brain does not work.
Donald Trump’s brain is broken, badly damaged, as he exhibits every day. And once again, today, Donald Trump said something that would have gotten any other president rushed to the hospital for a neurological examination and an evaluation for dementia, for starters. That’s where they would have begun...
Regarding that amateur diagnosis, maybe yes an maybe no. Buit it was in that context that O'Donnell had decided to take the next week off. He had decided to take an exhaustion break. It started with his absence from his nightly program on each of the past two nights.
He'd been on the job for 52 days. Given the fact that he never hosts his program on Friday nights, he'd actually been on the air on something like 31 nights.
That said, O'Donnell said he was exhausted from the exertion in question. In effect, he said he had decided to take a "mental health break."
We'd like to be mad at him about that. On the other hand, this:
In Thursday afternoon's report, we mentioned the fact that anger issues had seemed to surface during O'Donnell's program on Wednesday night. At that time, we didn't know that he had already announced his upcoming mental health break.
In our view, O'Donnell has been doing excellent work, but we thought we that we had seen that old problem starting to surface again. Within that context, we can't say that he is wrong in taking the time to "pace himself."
On the other hand, we can tell you this about the people who are paid millions of dollars, every year, to serve as Blue America's corporate tribal tribunes:
O'Donnell can't make it through 53 days. For the (reduced) $25 million salary she recently agreed to accept, Maddow will only be there for the first hundred days.
Meanwhile, a night assault is being conducted across the sweep of American culture. Last night, O'Donnell became the focus of that assault in the braindead first segment of the Gutfeld! program, right there, in prime time, on the Fox News Channel.
Back in the day when sacred Troy died, a night assault took that civilization down—a night assault fashioned from the tools available during the Late Bronze Age. As we've noted many times, Professor Bernard Knox described that assault in his lengthy introduction to the Robert Fagles translation of the Iliad:
Professor Knox, Introduction (1990)
[...]
The images of that night assault—the blazing palaces, the blood running in the streets, old Priam butchered at the altar, Cassandra raped in the temple, Hector's baby son thrown from the battlements, his wife Andromache dragged off to slavery—all this, foreshadowed in the Iliad, will be stamped indelibly on the consciousness of the Greeks throughout their history, immortalized in lyric poetry, in tragedy, on temple pediments and painted vases, to reinforce the stern lesson of Homer's presentation of the war: that no civilization, no matter how rich, no matter how refined, can long survive once it loses the power to meet force with equal or superior force.
That was a night assault employing the tools of the Late Bronze Age—butchery, fire, rape and enslavement, a baby thrown to his death. The night assault now underway employs the tools of this so-called Information Age. As a start, those tools can be grouped under this sprawling rubric:
The Stupidification of everything
Last night, O'Donnell was savaged and slashed, in the dumbest possible ways, by the corporate tools who rotate onto the Gutfeld! program each night.
That program's undisguised misogyny was also on vivid display, as its the case very night. This is Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut come to life—the longing within a certain strain of the population for a return to some deeply antique ways of life.
The longing for ancient ways—but also the never-ending, all-encompassing tribal stupidification. The neve-ending stupidification, but also the inability to regulate personal anger—the inability to disagree without validating this anthropological insight:
Where I come from, we only talk so long. After that, we start to hit.
Last night, they started to hit O'Donnell. Within the context of Information Age warfare, the blood ran in the streets.
Over here, in Blue America, our elites—people like O'Donnell and Maddow—have agreed to avert their gaze from such mayhem. For whatever reason, Rachel can't stop chuckling and laughing and enjoying herself. To his credit, Lawrence's anger had risen to the point where he decided, perhaps with good reason, that he should step away for a time.
He'll be back on the evening of Day 64, after a twelve-day absence. The millions of corporate dollars will still be pouring in as he deals with his exhaustion and as Maddow continues to act like she's having the time of her life.
We sympathize with O'Donnell's exhaustion! In fact, a night assault is underway—and it truly is "flooding the zone."
There's no earthly way to keep up with its various panzer movements. The stupidification is everywhere, as is the ugly, poisonous anger performed on Gutfeld! each night.
In the face of this nightly assault, our tribunes are sticking to their guild's ancient rules and regulations. According to those dictates, we can't consult the types of people who might be able to explain the nature of President Trump's allegedly "broken brain."
These stars have agreed to maintain their guild's mandated silence. But as Professor Know once put it:
No civilization, no matter how refined, can long survive once it loses the power to meet force with equal or superior force.
Our tribunes have agreed that they must never report what's being done on the Fox News Channel. The millions of dollars keep rolling in, even in the face of this, as reported by Mediaite:
Fox News Dominates All of Television In Prime Time So Far This Year
[...]
According to Nielsen ratings, the [Fox News Channel] topped all television networks in weekday primetime (Monday through Friday 8-11 p.m. ET) so far this year. Fox prime time from December 30th to March 11th has averaged 3.63 million total viewers...
MNSBC and CNN averaged 1.26 million and 635,000 viewers across prime time, respectively, so far this year.
"Cable news" is only one theater in the war we're calling a "night assault." That said, we decided to total those numbers:
Average viewers, weeknight prime time programs:
Fox News Channel: 3.63 million
MSNBC/CNN combined: 1.90 million
Basically, the Fox News viewership doubles that of the other two channels combined! Meanwhile, just so you'll know, Mediaite's report also included this:
The Five remains a ratings juggernaut, averaging 4.7 million viewers this year—beating Saturday Night Live and ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime. The show has actually averaged over four million viewers for 45 consecutive days.
The Five remains the most-watched show in all of "cable news"—and its very large number isn't even included in the prime time average we've posted above! The Five is also one of the dumbest "cable news" programs ever aired—a tribute to the stupidification at the heart of the current assault.
That stupidifcation is dominant on Fox. In fairness, a type of dumbnification has been widespread on MSNBC over the past many years as we Blues managed to earn our way out.
Along with the stupidification, a virulent anger is visible across both Gutfeld! and The Five. On our own tribe's corporate channels, our tribunes have agreed that this part of the assault must never be reported, described, challenged, critiqued or discussed.
At Fox, the tools keep changing lines on the fly. On MSNBC, one of our tribunes is exhausted. The other tribune seems to be having the time of her life.
Full disclosure:
The night assault feels exhausting to us on this campus too! Simply put, there is no way to keep up with the effluvient emerging from the fire hose on an hourly basis!
That said, O'Donnell has stepped aside after 42 hours. The hose is overwhelming us too, but we're soldiering on.
We close with a final question concerning the important matter of that allegedly "broken brain:"
What has Dr. Lee been doing in recent years? This is the sort of thing you'll never see discussed, not once, as our corporate tribunes cash their checks and retreat to Tinseltown to get their nerves in order:
Bandy X. Lee
Bandy Xenobia Lee is an American psychiatrist whose scholarly work includes the writing of a comprehensive textbook on violence. She is a specialist in public health approaches to violence prevention who consulted with the World Health Organization and initiated reforms at New York's Rikers Island Correctional Facility. She helped draft the United Nations chapter on "Violence Against Children," leads a project group for the World Health Organization's Violence Prevention Alliance, and has contributed to prison reform in the United States and around the world. She taught at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Law School from 2003 through 2020.
[...]
In August 2022, Mother Jones published an article titled "The Psychiatrist Who Warned Us That Donald Trump Would Unleash Violence Was Absolutely Right." It argues that the events of January 6th are Lee's "vindication."
In late 2023, Lee returned to warning that a third Trump candidacy for president was in danger of succeeding "not by rational persuasion or informed choice, but through the “contagion” of his symptoms." In May 2024, she published The Psychology of Trump Contagion: An Existential Danger to American Democracy and All Humankind. In September 2024, Lee organized another interdisciplinary conference at the National Press Club, convening national security experts with mental health experts. She simultaneously released The More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 40 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Warn Anew. In October 2024, Forbes published an article with a picture of Trump's former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley holding Lee's 2017 book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.
The night assault is underway even as we type! O'Donnell has stepped aside after 52 days. Maddow is chuckling and grinning and enjoying herself as she describes the Information Age equivalent of that Late Bronze Age assault.
Narrow as Republican margins were in last November's election, there's no obvious way out of this mess. As the latest part of the angry assault, O'Donnell was being trashed on Gutfeld! last night in the angriest, dumbest ways possible.
(Also, Nancy Pelosi's face—three separate hits in the program's first ten minutes!—just doesn't quite seem to be right! In our view, this undisguised nightly misogyny lies near the heart of the madness.)
It's the classic furious revolt from below—the Achaeans scaling the walls. Can some civilization "long survive" in the face of such an assault?
ReplyDeleteSo, idiot-Democrats are getting more and more rabid? Great! Thanks for your reporting, Bob.
Keep draining the swamp, Mr. President, keep draining the swamp. Please don't stop.
A masterpiece of trumptardedness.
DeleteYou have to guffaw at the constant reliance on Mary Trump and Lawrence O'Donnell to indict President Trump for mental derangement.
Deleteanon 10:24, I see you are really getting into TDH - the first to respond not for the first time either. You post the same thing every time. You were in such a hurry, you forgot to call someone a "Soros Bot" - (I'm giving you the opportunity here!) Frankly, I'm not sure where you get off calling anyone an "idiot."
DeletePaid trolls like 10:24 are immune to being called out. It’s just a job, they’re barely scraping by as it is.
DeleteMental derangement is irrelevant. These guys are committing crimes.
DeleteTariff, no tariff, tariff, no tariff, the felon and the President are not deranged idiots.
DeleteThe obvious way out of this mess is for Republicans and Democrats in Congress to join forces, impeach, try, and remove Trump.
ReplyDeletePlease let me know what you are smoking.
DeleteI am more and more saddened by the lack of thought from both sides in the debate over Trump and Musk. There’s no point in discussing the issue with someone. People simply repeat the talking points from their team.
ReplyDeletefuck you, you fascist prick, Dickhead in Cal. Have you found that giant faucet in N Cal yet, jerkoff. Still calling your wife "deranged", Dickhead?
DeleteGo play with your maggot friends. I realize you find them embarrassing, but You're not better than them.
"the debate over Trump and Musk."
DeleteWhat debate exists over Musk? Is there anyone anywhere who thinks he's doing anything over than randomly slashing programs and people?
"What debate exists over Musk? Is there anyone anywhere who thinks he's doing anything over than randomly slashing programs and people?"
DeleteNo.
David in Cal,
DeleteI hear you. I'm not that thrilled by the debate about Hitler's Jewish solution, either.
The media coverage of ALL things Trump has to be 80% negative. At LEAST. On ALL networks that aren’t ONE network (Fox).
ReplyDeleteThe same goes with print. I don’t know what else to tell Democrats, it is what it is… deep breaths… drama queens. The only advice I give is to Trump and the Secret Service - wear bulletproof vests. Even in the shower.
Surely we should all simply rest easy knowing pathological liars Trump and musk are in charge, we shouldn’t ever question their superior judgment, as they fire veterans, meteorologists, air traffic controllers, and start demonizing social security as a massive con job. Also, when they fire probationary employees by lying about their performance. I mean, we should all trust that Musk’s loyalties are 100% apple pie American. Perhaps he and Trump can further enrich themselves while working for “we the people.” No one should complain about that…Anything else gets you labeled a “drama queen”. What an absurd complaint.
DeleteAnonymouse 11:33am, you show yourself to be a drama queen via your post. You have to hype things up as though I’m deriding any “concern” or even opposition contrarians have as to Trump’s actions, rather than the tone and content of Bob’s essay and some of reactions he mentions from the media.
DeleteNot that anonymouse posts aren’t, as a rule over the top, which is why I wasn’t even figuring you into the equation.
And you show that anyone expressing concerns you will label a drama queen.
Delete
DeleteThey are not drama queens. Draining the swamp will prevent (roughly) a million of thieves from stealing a trillion dollars every a year; naturally, the intensity of resistance corresponds to the amount.
Anonymouse 11:55am, no, I replied to a blog that referenced media takes and the blogger’s own opinion. Anonymices are not drama queens. You're operatives. Your reactions are calculated.
Delete“you show yourself to be a drama queen via your post.”
Delete“Anonymices are not drama queens”
Pick a lane, dumbass.
wear bulletproof vests
DeleteAmy Coney Barrett and her sister better start wearing them also, crazy lady Cec.
Cecelia is a man pretending to be a woman, who only engages in bad faith to trigger and own the libs.
DeleteNo good comes from responding to “Cecelia”, don’t waste your time or effort.
Whereas with you there's a big payout like a slot machine with three cherries?
DeleteAgree, Somerby can’t be as dumb and thoughtless and carefree as his posts, his content is likely paid for.
DeleteAnonymouse 12:17pm, the anonymouse picked the lane. She went into the full drama Queen act in order to say that I was impugning all concerns as to contrarians. That’s anonymouse calculated crap.
Delete
DeleteSomerby is paid by crazy Mary Trump.
Got it, Cecelia. I’m a drama queen, but not a drama queen. You can’t make less sense.
DeleteSomerby is paid to ignore Trump/Musk’s corruption and crimes.
DeleteBills don’t pay themselves, Somerby’s doing the best he can, considering his dire circumstances.
Anonymouse 1:07pm, there’s a difference between overwrought reactions from Bob and even from Lawrence “I need a break from this madness” O’Donnell. Or from Democrats in general. They aren’t anonymices trolling a blog. You are.
DeleteYour “explanations” make less and less sense, Cecelia. You just got caught in an abject contradiction, and you’re now resorting to your usual ad hominem attacks in a vain attempt to try to change the subject. It’s tiresome.
DeleteAnonymouse 1:22pm, what contradiction is that? There’s no contradiction that you went into drama queen mode “how dare you minimize my concerns” act … and there’s no contradiction that you were faking that personalization. You still are.
DeleteSure, Cecelia pretends to be a woman, but does he also pretend English is his second language, using that as a front to mask his dumb arguments, or maybe he really is an ESLer. Anything is possible.
DeleteHis comments keep getting murkier, past the point of being able to be parsed, straight into gibberish.
Anonymouse 1:33pm, I’d be less murky if you were swifter.
DeleteSee, an anonymous is a drama queen for worrying about Trump and musk, but really, not a drama queen, but rather an “operative”, again, because the commenter worried and complained about Trump /musk. Makes about as much sense as believing O’Donnell’s pre-scheduled vacation was a sudden decision based on Trump exhaustion.
DeleteBallyhoo!
DeleteAnonymouse 1:47pm, you’re reading the comment thread in the same manner that you read Bob’s essay. You’re were two words in and already boxing at claims that were never made.
DeleteBalderdash!
DeleteI think when Cecelia gets their blood up, they get all up in their emotions, and that’s when they start spewing words that make little sense, but if you read between the lines, the message is always clear from Cecelia - roughly translated it’s: “I HATE YOU, AND I HATE THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL, I WANT TO OWN YOU SO I CAN FEEL BETTER ABOUT MYSELF.”
DeleteSad, really, what a tortured and wounded person Cecelia.
Cecilia, there probably are only about 2 anonymice here who are truly batshit crazy, including the crackpot who constantly calls you a man. My point is there aren't that many, one person can, and does, send a dozen posts, as anonymous, each day, it's like a full-time obsession. As far as hostility toward Trump - he basically asks for it. That the media, (except for Fox and the vast network of right-wing sites) is hostile to Trump is the way you describe - I look at Fox News and it's pretty clear they do the same thing to the blue side, probably worse. This is a small world at this site, and maybe it's a microcosm of how things have gotten out of hand. Trump certainly doesn't help, but there is blame to go around.
DeleteYou have no idea how many anonymous commenters are here.
DeleteAC/MA, two steady mices. One Mother Superior with borderline personality disorder, the other anonymouse is angry, plaintive and very ideological. Others occasionally drift in due to political militancy, leave when they realize that mama can never love them. That’s the core. One foul-mouthed anonymouse who may be personally acquainted with Bob and isn’t really in the anonymouse league. Another anonymouse who plays the role of Bob defender, but only because he likes to impress himself and thinks everyone else is stupid. That’s about it.
Deleteanonymouse 3:21 - well they all have the same name. And there is the tell-tale signature demented style.
DeleteAC/MA, we don’t agree on politics, but both of us recognize nut jobs when we see them.
Delete“ One Mother Superior with borderline personality disorder, the other anonymouse is angry, plaintive and very ideological” the reason Cecelia comes up with these descriptions so glibly is that he/she:/it is describing him/her/itself. The lack of self awareness is astounding.
DeleteMakes no sense. Somerby seems “angry” and “plaintive.”, upset that trump is mentally ill and the media won’t discuss it. When a commenter posts a complaint about trump or musk, Cecelia attacks that commenter as an operative. So to recap: anonymous commenters who criticize Somerby: vile operatives. Anonymous commenters who don’t criticize Somerby, but criticize trump: vile operatives. Anonymous commenters who call Democrats “idiots” and “soros bots”? Operatives? Oh no, they get no criticism.
DeleteTwo plus others who drift in, plus a couple more, is not two by my count.
DeleteCecelia is not qualified to diagnose borderline personality disorder, especially via the internet.
Somerby was raised Catholic. Mother Superior is an honorific, a title showing respect for the head nun in an order. Using that as a term of mockery or because you think being a mother and being superior are both bad things, isn't going to earn Cecelia any points with Somerby. It comes across as a deliberate attempt to be offensive that misses the mark due to ignorance.
Anonymices, I didn’t describe you as “vile”. I described you two as I very accurately described you.
DeleteO’Donnell was kidding, for crying out loud. He always takes multiple vacations every year.
ReplyDeleteSomerby likes to excessively take things literally and at face value when it serves his broader agenda, and this stance trickles down to his handful of fanboys/trolls.
Delete"fanboys/trolls"
DeleteAn ad hominem argument is a logical fallacy that involves attacking a person's character instead of their argument.
Agree, fanboy/trolls do not offer “arguments”, only bad faith attempts to “own”, therefore, the only logical response is to expose their bad faith agenda.
DeleteRight. 'Bad faith'. Shorthand for 'I disagree with you but I have no reasons for my disagreement.'
DeleteIf you think the fanboys/trolls are offering arguments in good faith, then you’ve revealed yourself as a complete sucker.
Delete'Good faith.' Shorthand for 'I agree with something but have no reasons for my agreement.'
Delete1:52, comically you dismiss the arguments of others, while believing wholeheartedly the words of those who you agree with.
DeleteYour inconsistency is only matched by your incoherency.
2:12 are you saying used car salesmen should not be taken at their word?
DeleteHow dare you!
“The psychology of Trump contagion: an existential danger to American democracy and all humankind”
ReplyDeleteThis is what Somerby wants you to read, I guess? Is Lee a drama queen? How about Bob? Would Lee be an appropriate dispassionate panelist on a panel of psychologists diagnosing an endless string of politicians and public figures?
Lee is a hack. Bob also sounds like a hack, but he could just be a TDS victim.
DeleteMeanwhile, at DOJ, Trump says that saying bad things about him, as CNN and MSNBC do (he claims), should be illegal.
ReplyDelete“ We'd like to be mad at Lawrence O'Donnell.”
ReplyDeleteBut pity Trump.
Somerby, thumb, scale.
ReplyDeleteRinse and repeat.
Ignorance ain’t gonna manufacture itself.
DeleteSomerby continues his misguided quest to normalize capitulation.
Delete@12:55 - Trump learned that technique from Biden in Afghanistan.
DeleteTrump was the one that capitulated to the Taliban, Biden was the one with the guts to get us out of that debacle.
DeleteWay to self own, DiC.
Ooo, look at Dickhead in Cal getting a little bitchy. you really are a little cunt, Dickhead. Go play with your maggot friends even though you think you're better than them. I won't tell them you think Gutfeld is gross.
Delete"Trump learned that technique from Biden in Afghanistan."
DeleteWrong as usual. Trump capitulated in Afghanistan. Biden just carried out the capitulation
"Capitulate" doesn't mean what you think it means.
DeleteDavid in Cal - come on man, Biden extended the Frump/Pompeo surrender to the Taliban deadline by three months as the jaggoff felon provided no transition assistance. Trump and Pompeii negotiated the surrender without the Afghan government, and after they told Pakistan to release 5,000 Taliban terrorist prisoners. Moving 130,000 folks surrendering out of a war torn country with 14 dead soldiers was a remarkable achievement; with the bomber a hard to ID member of a splinter ISIS faction. Name a better war surrender evacuation anytime time in history? Second question, should the Biden Admin have refused the Frump negotiated surrender and gone back to full scale fighting for another 20 years you dumbass?
DeleteSomerby’s buyer’s remorse over Trump…is FUCKING DELICIOUS!
ReplyDeleteOy. My head is pounding, my nerves are shot. All from reading this.
DeleteWomp womp
DeleteI voted for Trump because Trump is a racist, sexist, xenophobic bigot.
ReplyDeleteThe economy crashing is just a bonus.
You're a mensch, Soros-bot. I appreciate your vote.
DeleteA bot is not a mensch.
DeleteWhen it votes for The Commander, it is.
DeleteSomerby analogizes what Trump and Fox are doing to the butchering and raping of Trojans. Am I really supposed to believe that Somerby is pushing right wing views?
ReplyDeleteYou don't get it, do you? You're being conned because (fill in the blank). Somerby pretends to (fill in the blank) but really he's (fill in the blank).
DeleteDoes that explain it?
It’s been more than two weeks since Trump promised his beautiful healthcare plan, but I guess you live in a different dimension where time passes more slowly, so two weeks will never pass, and you can keep on believing the horseshit people spew at suckers like you.
DeleteNearly a laugh…
1:05 - Is this supposed to make sense?
Delete12:53 - Thanks. That’s the best explanation I’ve ever seen.
Delete1:05 is clearly mocking your inability to put two and two together.
DeleteBut, hey, you be you.
Keep believing those car salesmen, they always mean what they say.
1:15 - And I mock the way you put two plus two together to get seven.
DeleteSure, ok…….waiting for the 1:46’s mocking……
Delete……waiting……
….waiting…..
Oh, wait a sec, you weren’t being literal, I almost fell for it.
Which is better? Trump's way. Promise a lot and accomplish less than promised? Or Biden's way. Promise nothing and accomplish nothing?
DeleteDiC - Biden pulled us out of the horrible economic mess he inherited and left the best-running economy in, well, history, at least if you believe the standard metrics. It seems to me you ought to acknowledge this remarkable achievement.
DeleteWhich is better? Lying all the time like Trump? Or lying a lot less, like Biden?
DeleteWhich is better Dickhead?
“ Promise a lot and accomplish less than promised?”
DeleteHe promised a great healthcare system. Not only did he not accomplish this, he didn’t even try. What’s the word for this?
Yes @7:14, I agree. That was probably braggadocio. I doubt if Trump actually had any idea of how to improve health care.
DeleteOTOH he wildly succeeded in virtually ending illegal immigration over the border with Mexico, without the need for a new law. He slightly succeeded in slightly bringing down the cost of eggs, and inflation in general. He succeeded somewhat at reducing the cost of fuel. He slightly succeeded at changing the narrative in Ukraine. There's chance that this will lead to peace. He strengthened NATO by persuading European countries to devote more resources to their own defense. His DOGE reduced government spending by a significant degree -- a lot more than VPs Gore and Biden who were given the same challenge. Trump succeeded by actively fighting antisemitism on college campuses, instead just decrying it.
It’s so bizarre to me. Trump has the gop in the palm of his hands. If he had actually fought for a healthcare system that would benefit all Americans, something he could have forced the Republicans kicking and screaming to do,
Deletequite a few Democrats would have stood at his side. If he chose to vigorously defend social security against the gop demonization of it, even i would have complimented him. But instead, he chooses to lie and demonize everyone who looks cross eyed at him, telling the world that people like me have no value. He is such a weak pathetic man, given the chance to do good things, but squandering it.
David said: "Which is better? Trump's way. Promise a lot and accomplish less than promised? Or Biden's way. Promise nothing and accomplish nothing?"
DeleteSometimes I feel bad that commenters here call you all sorts of crude names....
David in Cal doesn't criticize Biden for the lowest unemployment rate in over half a century. David in Cal criticizes Bien, because Biden doesn't give him the bigotry (especially against black people) David in Cal craves.
DeleteWhy would anyone view the unemployment rate in isolation? Especially as a metric to evaluate the success of a particular presidential administration? Economists know one statistic never tells the whole story. On the other hand, propagandists know using a simple framing can be useful as a persuasion tool to score political points while it obscures crucial context.
DeletePartisan bickering over unemployment stats is a false choice. Mixing it with accusations of racism is particularly despicable. Using racism simply as a moral performance without any regard to solutions manipulates racism. It reinforces division and exploits racial tensions rather than solving them or even addressing them. It is itself a form of racism or bigotry.
Very impressive.
I voted for Trump because he was willing to demonstrate, even in front of children, how to fellate a man.
ReplyDeleteWhich man?
DeleteIt couldn’t be Musk, what with his notched penile implant.
My guess, Trump’s sucking off Putin while Musk watches in the shadows.
Thank you, Soros-bot. A vote of an idiot-Democrat pervert is just as good as any other vote.
DeleteYou tell 'em trumptard.
DeleteWhen an anonymouse tells you that they voted for Trump because they think/believe that he is a pedophile and a bisexual and they get warm fuzzies over that, BELIEVE them. It fits the anonymouse psyche.
DeleteIf anyone tells you they voted for Trump for any other reason than they love his bigotry, they're joking.
DeleteI voted for Trump because he was willing to pay for an abortion after he raped that 13yo girl.
DeleteI voted for Trump because he is a serial sexual predator.
DeleteI voted for Trump because the head of CPAC keeps sexually assaulting men even though he’s married to a woman.
DeleteAnonymouses, I believe you.
DeleteI voted for Trump because his spiritual advisor has been arrested for being a pedo.
Deletehttps://www.mediaite.com/politics/breaking-cpacs-matt-schlapp-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-a-man/
DeleteI voted for Trump because he will bring peace to Ukraine before he even takes office.
DeleteThe SpaceX Dragon is in the process of rescuing the astronauts Biden characteristically left behind for months. Li'l X Musk is featured in a heartwarming video with the grandfatherly Trump taking him by the hand and hoisting him onto Marine One. The President has negotiated a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and rescued Ukrainian soldiers surrounded by Russian troops.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great time to be an American.
When's Putin going to let Trump do something about immigrants mopping the floor with white people on the job market?
DeleteThe real Replacement Theory: incompetent White men are being replaced by competent women and people of color.
DeleteAnonymouse 1:39pm, so try to be competent enough to go for a competent presidential candidate next time.
DeleteCompelling comeback, 1:49.
DeleteBwahahahahahahaha!
LOL!
The returning of the ISS astronauts is routine, the current one was actually a Biden admin plan.
DeleteMusk ignoring his children so that others have to tend to them is nothing to have pride over.
Zelensky has been outplaying Trump and Putin; Trump has not negotiated anything other than switching out his dirty diaper for a fresh one.
Fundamental to Republican culture is taking credit for work others have done.
"The President has negotiated a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and rescued Ukrainian soldiers surrounded by Russian troops."
DeleteA little out over your skis there, Skippy.
Cecelia,
DeleteBe honest. Do you ever see yourself forgiving Joe Biden for the lowest unemployment rate in over half a century?
Or are you still pissed that he treated black people as equals to you?
Anonymouse 10:53pm, I’ll never forgive Joe's handlers for pretending that he competent and in charge so they wouldn’t have to admit that a black guy was running the country.
DeleteYou are sick, lady.
DeleteCecelia,
DeleteIt IS hard to believe a white person brought us Morning in America, so I can see why you would think Biden wasn't in charge.
After all everyone saw the worst President in the history of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan, was white.
Anonymouse, your own Democratic leadership knew Biden wasn’t in charge of anything. Now that it’s safe, Jake Tapper has a book coming out on all the endless backstage finagling it required to make Joe look cognitive. That Biden was leading squat won’t be the last glorious lie you fatuous fools tell yourselves
DeleteBiden’s unemployment numbers were drastically revised.
DeleteBoeing is not spelled Biden idjit.
DeleteSomerby misappropriating Brabender again, albeit more cowardly this time, with an unidentified quote.
ReplyDeleteIn reality, Brabender was a sensitive person with no inclination towards violence; he actually wept when he once accidentally hit a batter with a pitch.
In reality, Republicans maintain power primarily through corruption and criminality.
Somerby seems to prefer a lie-back-and-take-it approach, since we somehow made them do the terrible things they do to us; if only Somerby had lived in earlier times, we would still enjoy having slaves, and not have a Jew in sight.
Contemptible stupidity.
DeleteHaitian immigrants ate that one Republican voter who wasn't a bigot.
DeleteTough break.
The Impatience of a Fascist
ReplyDeleteTrump says CNN, MSNBC and unidentified newspapers “literally write 97.6 percent bad about me” and “it has to stop. It has to be illegal.”
Pro tip:
DeleteMention Trump's teeny, tiny hands.
Me 'an Cecelia have been dying to learn, who has the tiniest little tiny shroom, little Marco or the Orange Turd?
DeleteAnonymouse 3:50pm, take a bow, little mouse, and don’t forget your circular bandaid/codpiece.
DeleteDo boomers really think that "(female) American Psychologist" and "WHO" and "Mother Jones" are seen as anything other than automatically bereft of any credibility? They speak in a different language than the rest of us. It sounds like a mix of astrology and psychosis.
ReplyDeleteMother Jones is the liberal media, the Right has been going on about since Reagan.
Delete'Trump walks back 24-hour Ukraine peace promise: "I was being a little bit sarcastic"'
ReplyDeleteSarcasm: "the use of irony to mock or convey contempt."
Apparently the contempt here was for the truth.
When the peace settlement is reached soon, the total time consumption of Trump's negotiations will add up to less than 24 hours so in that sense it's true. Whatever the overall length of time, it will not be Joe Biden's 3 years of failure which was leading to one of two outcomes under a KaMAla presidency. Russia completely overtaking Ukraine or WWlll.
Delete"the total time consumption of Trump's negotiations will add up to less than 24 hours"
DeleteIs there an English translation of this available anywhere?
Fun with numbers:
DeleteIf you multiply the number of Republican voters who aren't bigots by any other number, the result is always zero.
Ukraine is still going strong, same with inflation, the genocide of Palestinians, and the Republicans desire to cut essential programs like Social Security and Medicare.
ReplyDeleteWho knew?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt's time to stop looking at cable TV as separate media. I have cable. All my stations are cable stations.
DeleteIn fact, it may be time to stop looking at TV as a separate form of media.
It may be time to stop looking at TV.
DeleteIt may be well past time for David in Cal to stop posting.
Delete
ReplyDeleteFinally.
"A new bill by Minnesota Senate Republicans aims to label Trump Derangement Syndrome as a mental illness."
TDS is a sign of a healthy, normal mind.
DeleteSure, sure. We'll just give you some of vitamins, dear.
Delete""A new bill by Minnesota Senate Republicans aims to label Trump Derangement Syndrome as a mental illness."
DeleteSenate Republicans aren't stupid. They know all Republican voters are bigots, even as they cosplay that there is one who isn't.
I"m taking supplements to enhance my TDS.
DeleteTantric yoga boosts TDS levels.
DeleteDemocrats are mentally ill.
ReplyDeleteA 42-year-old man who dresses as a woman woman and who allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at vehicles and spray-painted “Nazi cars” at a Colorado Tesla dealership lives with his mother due to “emotional problems” and calls herself “baby” online.
Justin Thomas Nelson, who changed his name to Lucy, is accused of hurling incendiary devices at a Tesla dealership in Loveland, Northern Colorado, and vandalizing the business and vehicles on multiple occasions with graffiti “offensive and hateful in nature,” police said.
In one incident, the suspect allegedly took aim at Tesla CEO Elon Musk — who has previously been accused of antisemitism — scrawling “f—k Musk” with red paint on the front windows of the establishment and in another, sprayed “Nazi” on a company sign.
Anything other than abject worship of trump and musk is labeled mental illness by the MAGA cult.
DeleteAlmost as crazy as those two Republicans who tried to assassinate the Felon.
DeleteI'm against people vandalizing cybertrucks because of Musk's political actions.
DeleteThey should do it because of how hideous they are.
"butchery, fire, rape and enslavement, a baby thrown to his death."
ReplyDeleteBob is talking about the Iliad. Yet those words pretty closely describe Hamas Oct. 7 attack on civilians
If you throw in blowing up babys, and starving tens of thousands, they'd match Israel's actions too, huh? Ever think of that?
DeleteI guess you could make the same claim for bombing Germany.
DeleteThesis: indiscriminate bombing is always good, as long as Israel does it.
Delete@7:19 Israel’s attacks on Hamas are historically NOT indiscriminate. The ratio of Palestinian civilian deaths to military deaths is the lowest in history for any urban war.
Delete"The ratio of Palestinian civilian deaths to military deaths is the lowest in history for any war."
DeleteAs verified by the IDF.
The allied bombing of Dresden, a city without discernible military targets, was the background for Vonnegut’s dystopian slaughterhouse five. Of course, this brands Vonnegut as “woke” or “anti American” or whatever.
DeleteAnonymouse 8:33pm, I never heard him described in that way. These things of war are more complex than those sorts of traded appellations. That’s the point.
DeleteThe US-UK firebombing of German cities was a horrible war crime. So was the US firebombing of Japanese cities.
Delete“Here’s a ‘dead’ person on Social Security in Seattle, with plenty to say”
ReplyDeletehttps://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/heres-a-dead-person-on-social-security-in-seattle-with-plenty-to-say/
DiC will praise musk’s brilliance.
Cecilia will call me an over emotional shrew for posting it.
This is behind a paywall
DeleteI was able to read it via
Deletehttps://x.com/emptywheel/status/1901039006948757728?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
I’ve only said it a million times: I only follow Bob’s links.
DeleteUnwilling to learn anything then, Cecelia. Not surprised. I mean, it’s the Seattle Times, for Chrissakes.
DeleteAnonymouse 8:59pm, oh. Now I’m certain no one would learn anything.
DeleteThis is an example of a screw up by the Social Security Administration. If it relates to Musk at all, that would tend to support Musk’s claim that a thorough investigation of SS is needed.
DeleteI’ll summarize it for you, shithead. Ss took $5000 from the man’s bank account, claiming he was dead. He wasn’t. I can see why you, Cecelia, wouldn’t want anything to interfere with your musk/Trump worship.
DeleteYour willful ignorance is par for the course.
DeleteAnonymouse 9:02pm, I can see why an anonymouse would find that story to be earth shattering.
DeleteMusk and his people didn’t mistakenly mistreat this claimant. So this error is not a reflection of Musk. The people Musk is investigating made the error.
DeleteP.S. in fairness to SS, this error appears to be a one off. It’s not a reflection of the entire SS Dept. IMO.
In fairness, have you or your wife ever missed a SS check, Dickhead? And once again, we don't need Musk and his pack of 19-24 year old cyberpunks poking their noses in my business. IGs have been auditing the SSA for years. In its 90 years of existence it has never missed sending the checks. Yes, this is a human enterprise and there will be human errors, but when they ask for funding to improve their system, the republicans deny it. Then the same republicans cluck around like a bunch of chickens complaining about the occasional errors.
DeleteWhen would Musk have time to mistreat this claimant?
DeleteAfter he stole our personal information, but before he sold it to China?
Sorry. Until we can pinpoint the time, I'm not blaming Musk.
The people Musk is investigating made the error.
DeleteMusk is investigating now? I thought he wasn't in charge of DOGE, whatever the fuck that is supposed to be.
I don't know how you can claim Musk isn't responsible, since this occurred after the cyberpunks took over. I have never heard of SSA directly taking money from a person's bank account without checking the beneficiary.
I cannot fucking wait until your wife gets a letter from your bank telling her why they allowed SSA to take money from your account.
"If it relates to Musk at all, that would tend to support Musk’s claim that a thorough investigation of SS is needed."
DeleteGod, you're stupid.
We can't tell from the article what the cause of this problem is.
But if it was 'related' to Musk, than it could have been CAUSED by Musk.
It's plausible that DOGE is pressuring SS to declare more beneficiaries as dead, in which case it would indicate, not that a thorough investigation is needed, but that Musk is a dangerous fool.
DeleteAs a Democrat I demand that 360 y.o. SS recipients are not declared dead.
Long live the Democrat Party!
Anonymouse 11:47am, and goodness knows they’re all still voting.
DeleteWhich of the two is an operative, 11:44 or 1:44? I’d say both. Gotta keep up the anti social security propaganda, even at a supposedly liberal blog.
Delete11:44 should be 11:47.
DeleteAnonymouse 2:26pm, I have a nym and don’t need to be referred to via a timestamp. That’s more accountability here than anonymices have taken on.
Delete3:45 Where are the DOGE receipts for paying folks over 120 y.o.? Just more BS lying to dipshots like you who are dumb.
DeleteAnonymouse 4:01pm, if there’s some sort of anti-logic award you’d win it.
DeleteSo an operative with a screen name. Whoopee.
Delete“ Trump succeeded by actively fighting antisemitism ”
ReplyDeleteTrump’s success has to be measured against DiC’s equating any criticism of Israel or Netanyahu as “anti Semitic”. At some point, issues of free speech become pertinent.
Let’s be clear about Mahmoud Khalil: He’s a green card holder who has distributed propaganda from Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group, at Columbia University, where he has organized violent protests that fomented despicable antisemitism.
DeleteHe has led a group that harassed Jews and committed a slew of other abhorrent and illegal acts including vandalism, destruction of property and even attacks on Columbia security staff.
David in Cal,
DeleteDon't you just love the way Mahmoud Khalil upends norms?
It was just a brilliant negotiating tactic
DeleteLet’s be clear about Trump, he led a rally in which he lied about the results of an election, leading to the violent riot on the Capital that resulted in over 140 Capital Police injuries.
DeleteLet's be clear about David in Cal: He will pretend to believe any old stupid thing, as long as it leads to black people suffering.
DeleteDavid in Cal is the perfect Republican voter.
Mahmoud Khalil underpromises and overdelivers. Isn't that better than Biden?
DeleteAnother person whose social security was tampered with:
ReplyDelete“Oklahoma man says Social Security benefits terminated without warning or explanation”
https://www.wkrn.com/news/national/oklahoma-man-says-social-security-benefits-terminated-without-warning-or-explanation/
Why must Republicans mock and demonize social security? Why does Trump have to lie about this? It would be so easy to defend a program crucial to millions.
“ The more recent Quinnipiac poll shows self-identified independents disapproving of Musk and DOGE by a 68 to 28 percent margin.”
ReplyDeleteOne reason I am in awe of Musk
ReplyDeleteSpaceX to send Starship to Mars next year, Elon Musk confirms
Does SuperNazi really need a starship to go to Mars though? Can't he just fly there?
DeleteWe've had a small SUV and a helicopter traveling around the surface of Mars for about 4 years now, but yeah Dickhead, yawn.
**********************
The sun on the meadow is summery warm.
The stag in the forest runs free.
But gather together to greet the storm.
Tomorrow belongs to me.
The branch of the linden is leafy and Green,
The Rhine gives its gold to the sea.
But somewhere a glory awaits unseen.
Tomorrow belongs to me.
Now Fatherland, Fatherland, show us the sign
Your children have waited to see
The morning will come
When the world is mine
Tomorrow belongs to me
Tomorrow belongs to me
Tomorrow belongs to me
Tomorrow belongs to me
OK. Is that going to be before or after full self driving? The $25,000 car? The Optimus robots?
DeleteMusk says a lot of things.
2016: Musk announced that all Tesla vehicles would have the hardware necessary for “full self-driving.”
2019: Musk predicted that Tesla would have over a million robotaxis on the road by mid-2020.
2020: Musk claimed FSD would be “feature complete” by the end of the year.
2023: Musk admitted his previous timelines were overly optimistic but promised full autonomy “later this year.”
Fair point, Quaker. I haven't followed Tesla's development. My impression is that his timelines were overly optimistic, but did develop (or is on track to develop) the things he predicted.
DeleteHere's why I become erect just thinking about Elon:
Delete"Musk’s recent claims about Social Security fraud exemplify DOGE’s approach to manufacturing crisis. His posts on X suggested millions of people over 110 years old were fraudulently receiving benefits.
The Social Security Administration had to step in to correct the record, confirming that none of these individuals were receiving payments. The correct data can be found here.
DOGE’s public claims require constant revision when confronted with actual data, yet these corrections receive far less attention than the initial sensational allegations.
I fully agree with you @5:52. I am not happy that someone whose work I greatly admire is relying on false or misleading statements as motivators.
DeleteNot to excuse Musk, but this kind of exaggeration is widely used by both teams. E.g., in Today's NY Times there were doom and gloom articles about how deporting Khalil would destroy freedom of speech for all Americans.
I Agree with David in Cal that deporting Khalil will not destroy the freedom of speech rights for Right-wingers.
DeleteDavid in Cal,
DeleteDo you greatly admire the work of the mainstream, corporate-owned, Right-wing media, or are you okay with them exaggerating about there being a Republican voter who understands economics enough to be anxious about it?
"My impression is that his timelines were overly optimistic,"
DeleteAnd mine is that his timelines are textbook examples of stock price manipulation.
Mileage varies.
Well yes DiC, maybe they should escape the atmosphere first dipwad.
ReplyDelete