SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 2025
The Vances were already present: Sometimes, cultural schisms come into being—cultural schisms which cut too deep to be resolved in any short-term way.
These schisms may lead to wars. Sometimes the wars are military in nature. Sometimes the wars are political or cultural.
As of this very morning, we'd say the ongoing war between the Red and Blue American nations is at long last officially over. We'd also say that our own Blue America has lost.
We lost the war last November when the "landslide" numbers shown below came in. For the record, we Blues had been doing our best to lose this war for several years before that:
Nationwide popular vote, 2024
Candidate Trump (R): 77,302,580 (49.80%)
Candidate Harris (D): 75,017,613 (48.32%)
Those seem to be the official numbers. They're offered by the FEC. At its own site, the leading authority agrees.
No, that isn't a landslide! As far as we know, the winning candidate has actually stopped using that inaccurate term. On the other hand, he didn't win "by millions and millions of votes," the claim he made yesterday right there in the Oval Office.
In our view, yesterday's claim is also bogus. But to the victors go the spoils, and the war which was being fought within this country was a war of The Information Age.
That war was, and that war remains, an information / Storyline war.
The commander won by less than 1.5 points, but the fact is, he did win—and on that day, the die was cast. It led to yesterday's event in in the Oval Office. It also led to this summary by Rachel Campos-Duffy, offered at 6:18 this morning on an official show of Red America, Fox & Friends Weekend:
CAMPOS-DUFFY (3/1/25): In the end, I think what's remarkable is that we have a president who's willing to bring about world peace. Man! If he doesn't get the Nobel Peace Prize after this, that thing means nothing.
Peter Doocy quickly agreed. At that point, it was on to a different topic.
That account strikes us as daft—almost as a form of madness. But the other side won the war.
The other side did win! As a result, the winning candidate is now dismantling large parts of the federal government. He's also dismantling large parts of American policy.
As one example, in all likelihood, NATO is on the way out.
In Blue America, we worked hard, in the past four years, to generate this outcome. It started with the election of President Biden, which seemed to be a reprieve at the time.
At the time, it seemed to be a reprieve. But things spiraled downward from there.
For today, we want to advance one basic point. Here it is:
At a certain point, a schism will have become so vast that it can't be "discussed," negotiated or resolved between the warring parties in anything like the short run.
At a certain point, one side has won and the other has lost! It's pointless to continue to think that differences in viewpoint and messaging can still be resolved.
At some point, one side has lost! After yesterday morning's events, that's plainly where matters stand.
"The day of his death was a dark cold day." That's what Auden wrote.
To our reckoning, yesterday was also a dark cold day. But with respect to Auden's assertion, W. B. Yeats was still dead.
With respect to yesterday's events, Red American characterization of those events strike us as something akin to a type of madness. In the larger sense, we think of the deal which lay at the heart of yesterday's dispute in the following simplified way:
A guy was prepared to pay a certain price for a security guard to be positioned outside his hardware store.
But when he actually signed the contract which obligated him to pay that price, he learned that there would be no security guard involved in the deal!
That's roughly the way it looks to us. Spokespersons in Red America are going to tell the story in a vastly different way—and their agents are currently in full control, especially on the international front. They're changing so many things so quickly that no one can hope to keep up.
Citizens in Red America are going to hear that other account of yesterday's events. At this late date, there is no point in trying to reach some sort of agreement, across the two Americas, as to what "really" occurred.
On Blue America's cable news channels, they won't be telling us that. As is the case with the Fox News Channel, those channels still have a product to sell.
On the other hand, it's also true that many people at Blue America's channels may not realize that our own side has lost
In The Sixth Sense, the Bruce Willis character doesn't yet know that he's dead. At present, that's pretty much the way it is here in our own Blue America.
According to experts, we humans are wired to have a hard time understanding that wars have been lost. Also, when very unusual events occur, we humans will often have a very hard time seeing what has happened.
So it was in The Emperor's New Clothes, and so it is in the current situation.
At such times, we may be helped to see more clearly if we can find parallels in the works of literature:
Over the course of the past year, we've suggested that you consider the cataclysmic "night assault" which is prefigured in the Iliad. We've also noted Camus' account of the way the fictional townsfolk of the fictional Oran fail to see that a plague is underway in their city, even after the visible signs are entirely clear.
Regarding yesterday's Oval Office events, we'll offer two parallels from literature. To be clear, these scenes from literature capture the way those events looked to us. There is no point, at this late date, trying to influence Campos-Duffy or the people who stand in her thrall.
We start with the scene from the film Goodfellas where the Joe Pesci character returns to a bar to settle a score with a character by whom he feels he has been insulted.
He attacks the guy and knocks him down. As soon as he has his victim on the ground, the De Niro character joins in. Two (2) guys are now kicking the victim as he lies on the ground!
For us, we flashed on that famous scene as we watched yesterday's events. That's how it looked to us.
This morning, we also thought of the opening page of James Joyce's autobiographical novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Yesterday, to our eye, an officious vice president jumped in to insist that President Zelensky apologize for an imagined offense. That's how it looked to us.
Meanwhile, are we all just toys of the gods? When we turned to Joyce's novel, we were surprised by one part of the passage we had flashed on.
In this early passage, Joyce is characterizing his life as a very young child. Presumably, "Dante" is the way the very young child understands the name of his aunt.
You can peruse the full passage here:
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
[...]
Uncle Charles and Dante clapped. They were older than his father and mother but uncle Charles was older than Dante...Dante gave him a cachou every time he brought her a piece of tissue paper.
The Vances lived in number seven. They had a different father and mother. They were Eileen’s father and mother. When they were grown up he was going to marry Eileen. He hid under the table. His mother said:
—O, Stephen will apologise.
Dante said:
—O, if not, the eagles will come and pull out his eyes.—
Pull out his eyes,
Apologise,
Apologise,
Pull out his eyes.
Apologise,
Pull out his eyes,
Pull out his eyes,
Apologise.
We Irish! But so it allegedly went.
Pull out his eyes, apologise! That's a scene which flashed for us in the course of yesterday's tag-team mugging.
That's a scene which flashed for us. There's no point in trying to convince Campos-Duffy or the other friends that something like that occurred.
By now, our own Blue America has plainly lost the messaging / narrative / information war. The other side is very much in power.
What do you do when a war has been lost? First, you have to train yourself to see that the loss has actually happened.
Meanwhile, are we all just a joke of the gods—a stage play constructed for their amusement?
We certainly didn't remember this fact. But when we looked at the opening page of Joyce's novel, "the Vances" were already present!
The Vances were already there, even way back then! The Vances were already present as a mob ganged up on Joyce and tried to make him apologize for having done nothing wrong.
Are we secretly just a joke of the gods? As we seek the comforts and the insights of literature, did Homer get that part right?
Don't worry, Bob.
ReplyDeleteWe were promised that if we allow rooms full of slaughtered First Graders, good guys with guns wouldn't sell them to criminals on the black market, and would instead use them to fight government tyranny.
Problem solved.
Biden was an excellent president who pulled us out of covid, helped the nation recover financially (preventing a recession), enacted an infrastructure bill that was long overdue, advanced labor, and was everything liberals could have hoped for in a president. He is highly rated by the historians who rank presidents.
ReplyDeleteSomerby continuing to knock Biden stinks. He is perhaps still justifying his own abandonment of Biden over his age, but he seems to have moved beyond that to try to erase Biden's many accomplishments. There is no need for that. It shows an ugly kind of revisionism.
The rest of today's essay is more doom and gloom. We don't need that if we are to resist Trump's destruction of the things that most liberals consider important, especially civil rights and support for American allies. What comfort does Somerby find in literature? None that I can see.
Today's effort is rancid.
No one pulled us out of covid. The fact that 89% of Americans got covid "pulled us out."
DeleteWhen your “fact” is inaccurate, you’ve lost the argument.
DeleteBiden did pull us out of Covid, in a variety of ways, Biden is our most significant president, in terms of positive impact, since FDR.
That is the argument of a first grader whose mommy loves Biden.
Delete11:38 as compelling a case you make, I disagree.
DeleteAbout a third of Americans have gotten Covid.
DeleteI don't see things Somerby's way. We haven't lost a "war" to red voters. They managed to win the presidency by a slim margin, with a presidential candidate for does not know how to govern. Now red states are getting what they deserve and it is hurting them as surely as it hurts us. Trump is not sparing anyone in his destructive rampage, which will be stopped eventually by the courts and by failure of imagination of his cronies, once they discover they do not know how to build anything in our government's place. Then the Democrats will come back and pick up the pieces.
ReplyDeleteWhere can I see this movie, “Wiseguys?” Sounds very exciting!
ReplyDeleteGoodfellas is better.
Delete“Wiseguy” was the book the film “Goodfellas” was based on. All of Somerby’s analysts who once might have fixed these issues before he hit the publish button have fled his service. You really have to worry about Somerby’s mental state for him to keep making these basic errors that will never be corrected. Hopefully, one of Somerby’s family members will gentle lead him from his computer and into permanent retirement from writing.
DeleteSomerby’s mental state is run by his bitterness at lacking relevancy, and lacking parental love in his formative years.
DeleteHe had love in his "formative years." His father died in Somerby's middle childhood. That is considered a latent period, not a formative one, developmentally speaking. Somerby clearly assigns blame, but that doesn't mean it was what happened in real life. A therapist might have helped him sort this stuff out, so he wouldn't wind up pitying villains like Trump and Tucker Carlson (which strongly suggests he identifies with them).
DeleteIf Somerby supported Biden, why does this "report" have such an "I told you so" feel to it? This is gloating.
ReplyDeleteSomerby apparently does not seem to understand that we are now a wholly owned subsidiary of Putin, who paid off Trump by permitting this public humiliation of Zelensky. This is Trump at his ugliest, and Somerby compares him to James Joyce!
If there is any justice in this world, Trump will cut off Somerby's social security and then Somerby will find out that his "service" to Trump will not spare him and that Trump has no loyalty to his red voters. And he will see that this destruction of our country by Putin's handmaid includes his own minions. No one expects Somerby to apologize for anything he has done since 2015 and no one expect this senile old fool with a blog to understand what he has been doing.
Soon the red and blue factions will dissolve because it will become an "every man for himself" kind of society. Somerby seems to think Trump will stop at hurting his perceived enemies, but once he gets this recession rolling, impersonal economics, disease, famine and shortage will affect us all. That's how it works in third world countries. Will Somerby seek asylum in Russia, as Trump will no doubt do (if he doesn't die first).
To be fair, the result of Trump’s temper tantrum was that Trump humiliated himself. The temper tantrum itself was the result of Trump feeling humiliated by being outplayed by Zelensky.
DeleteTo be sure, Zelensky is a hero, an admirable force, but he’s been shopping this deal for a while, and it’s understandable, but, just like with Afghanistan, Ukraine really is not a bounty of minerals, it’s a bit of an empty carrot dangled to give some cover for those a bit squeamish about helping Ukraine fight one of the most dangerous fascists in history. Trump jumped in without knowing anything, tried to personally benefit, and got outmaneuvered, since, in reality, Trump is terrible at negotiating and making deals (turning his dad’s half a billion into 6 bankruptcies).
Somerby does not know anything or care about Ukraine, or the plight of Americans at the hands of the Republican Party; he has his marching orders which he dutifully fulfills with this insipid right wing vanity blog.
Your little dictator hero
DeleteHe’s in year 6 of his 5 year term
Declared martial law Feb 2022 and has banned elections since then
Banned 11 political parties
Passed law in 2022 to censor journalists and combined all news into 1 gov’t station
Journalists investigating his corruption get conscripted and thrown on the front lines to die
How can we get peace in the Ukraine and an end to martial law and new elections? I got an idea. Tell Vlad to get the fuck out of President Zelensky's country and return all the Ukrainian children the russian invader kidnapped, and then fucking apologize to the rest of the civilized world.
DeleteI may have other conditions, I am still thinking.
11:37’s I know you are but what am I argument is fucking hilarious. Pravda on, my fellow propagandist.
DeleteTo be fair, Zelensky is a dictator in a sense, since he took over a region of Russia without being elected there. Putin also took over Russia without really being elected, but unlike Zelensky, Putin is a paper tiger.
"Declared martial law Feb 2022."
DeleteWeird. That's right when Russia invaded. Wonder if the two are linked?
10:23 - Somerby does not compare Trump to Joyce. He’s comparing Zelensky to Joyce. Both are being bullied.
DeleteAnd if this post has an “I told you!” feel, it may be because he did.
Zelensky defended himself well. Somerby had to distort Joyce mightily to make any of it fit the current situation -- he appears to have done that solely because someone named Vance appeared in the book. Children are not considered "bullied" when they are receiving discipline. It is called parenting or teaching. The Dante was his governess. Seeing this as bullying is Somerby's contribution and it speaks loud and clear about his attitude toward his own parenting.
Delete"But when we looked at the opening page of Joyce's novel, "the Vances" were already present!"
ReplyDeleteSomerby never reads beyond the beginning of any book. That prevents him from reading the moral or resolution of whatever conflict is set up in the first pages.
Vance was there in the oval office because Trump has major disrespect for Vance. Vance is the lady's lapdog, the pathetic weak sister among Trump's sycophants, placed into the job that Trump himself has said is a do-nothing position. Trump hated Pence and he doesn't like Vance any better. So what does it mean when Trump lets Vance kick Zelensky during a public meeting?
It means that Trump's perceived humiliation of Zelensky is complete, because Trump permitted his smallest and weakest MAGA to spit on Zelensky and push him around. Yes, Zelensky fought back bravely, which is to his credit, but Trump didn't let Vance speak because he likes Vance. He did it because he wanted his lowliest MAGA to show Zelensky utter domination by the most despised of Trump's lackeys.
And Somerby doesn't see that. He labels Vance Irish. We Irish do not deserve that, nor have the Irish (the historical backbone of labor and politics in immigrant America) been the weak link as Vance is now, shunted aside until it is time to use him in Trump's ugly manner.
What is wrong with Somerby?
Somerby is a right winger.
DeleteThe “moral” or “resolution” of the scene is not the point, at all.
DeleteWhen Sonerby saw Zelensky get beat up it made the opening scene of Portrait, where Joyce is getting bullied, flash in Somerby’s mind. He looked it up and the Vances were mentioned in the scene. How weird! is all he was saying.
When someone writes a book, you do not understand what the book is "about" until you get to the end. Somerby usually only reads the first few pages of some book he talks about here. He only quotes Wittgenstein from the preface. Only quotes My Antonia from the first chapter or so. He never talked about the come-uppance of the man who courts the Lady with the Lapdog, suggesting he doesn't know what happened to him at the end of that short story. As pointed out above, Somerby mistakes who Vance is, confusing the governess with Stephen's crush Eileen, who had nothing to do with bullying.
DeleteWhy does he quote stuff he hasn't read or doesn't understand? To sound intellectual? It seems self-defeating. I think he is mocking literature because his extreme dislike of expertise, education, cultural consumption is part of elitism and his mission here is to undermine education as elitist and thereby attack the same institution that the Republicans are now dismantling by destroying the Dept of Education, banning books, targeting libraries and teachers for persecution by red extremists, and eliminating the source of independent information that contradicts authoritarian propaganda. Somerby has been doing this for years.
Or it may be that Somerby has become too senile himself to actually read more than a page or two of any book, but he wants to sound intellectual, to recruit Joyce to his side of his argument. Most of the other authors he quotes have been conservative or even fascist, like today's mention of Yeats and previous citations of e.e. cummings and Robert Frost. His literary heroes are right wing, even Dylan who has been a lot of things in the years since he was a hippie who pretended to write protest songs.
Who are the Vances in Somerby's Joyce quotes? Not Uncle Charles or Dante. and Dante is not Stephen's aunt, nor is she married to Uncle Charles. She is a completely different and unrelated person, a governess whose job is to chide the young children. The Vances are the parents of a young girl, Eileen, who is a neighbor. Somerby runs all this together as if he doesn't remember and didn't bother to figure it out. None of these people are like J.D. Vance except that the neighbors share the name Vance. They don't behave like Vance did and this is not an apt or relevant stream-of-consciousness association in any respect. We don't even know what Stephen was supposed to apologize for, but no Vance was present in that scene. So this amounts to confusing babbling by Somerby.
ReplyDeleteFrom Cliff Notes:
"Uncle Charles Stephen's granduncle (great-uncle) who lives with the Dedalus family. He is an aging, "hale old man with welltanned skin, rugged features and white side whiskers." He spends memorable mornings walking with young Stephen, visiting neighboring vendors, and pilfering items for Stephen's consumption. A relic of Ireland's hearty and spirited past, Uncle Charles resides with the family until his death.
Aunt Dante (Mrs. Riordan) Not an aunt by blood or by marriage, this "well-read, clever," and overzealous Irish governess of the Dedalus children values "God and religion before everything!" During Stephen's first Christmas dinner with the adults in his household, Dante's firm religious convictions clash violently with Mr. Casey's political opinions regarding Charles Stewart Parnell. Her final denunciation of Parnell, directed at Simon and Mr. Casey, leaves both men weeping over the fate of their fallen leader and the precarious future of their country."
Somerby suggests that Uncle Charles was married to Aunt Dante, and that they are the Vances. Actually, Eileen Vance is somebody unconnected to them and the Vances, who are neighbors down the street, are condemned for being Protestant:
"Eileen Vance The daughter of the Dedaluses' Protestant neighbors. As a young child, Stephen said that he was going to marry Eileen; Dante was livid, and instantly and firmly, she discouraged the possibility of such a "sinful" association. Thus, a pattern was begun. For young Stephen, Eileen was the first in a long line of women who were desired by Stephen but who were condemned by other people for one reason or another. Specifically, Stephen remembers Eileen's cool, soft, "long white hands"; the image of Eileen's hands enables Stephen to understand the meaning of the term "Tower of Ivory," a phrase which he had often repeated without comprehension in the Litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Eileen's characteristics eventually blend with other female "E" references in the novel — "Emma" and "E — C — " and Emma Clery — all revealing different facets of Stephen's ambiguous, confused, conflicting sentiments about the women in his life."
I can see why Somerby might identify with young Stephen given his own troubled history with women and his conflicts with his mother (his own Aunt Dante?). But this all has nothing to do with Zelensky, Vance, Trump, or Putin.
Casting insinuations about Somerby, women, and his mother are disgusting.
DeleteSomerby has been open about troubles with his mother and women in general; there’s nothing to insinuate, Somerby openly conveys/endorses sexist attitudes and behavior.
DeleteIf anything is disgusting, it’s denying obvious sexism.
Righteous indignation often masks guilt, 12:11. Just insinuatin’.
Pure fucking bullshit.
DeleteSo the record is clear: Somerby tends to refer to his mother as his “sainted mother.”
DeleteIrony?
DeleteSo, in your twisted mind the fact that Somerby calls his mother “sainted” is evidence of childhood trauma with his mother. You’re one sick puppy, aren’t you?
DeleteIt's an Irish phrase. And yes, probably ironic.
Delete@2:24, you are obviously unaware that Somerby wrote and performed a one-man show where he dealt with his ambivalent feelings about his mother. We aren't making this up.
DeleteMaking these insinuations about his mother is low, basement low.
DeleteBut not Republican Party low.
Delete"Are we secretly just a joke of the gods? As we seek the comforts and the insights of literature, did Homer get that part right?"
ReplyDeleteSomerby has said several times that he is not religious. If he doesn't believe in God, he doesn't believe in "gods" either, so there is no point in invoking them just because Homer did.
There is nothing funny about what is happening to all of us these days. Dismissing this as a big joke is certainly not how we on the left see things.
To invoke Homer is not to state a belief in the gods but in the beauty of Homer. If you can't understand this, then the joke's on you.
DeleteThe Iliad has no bearing on our current situation.
Delete@11:03 -- you do realize that the Iliad is a translation of Homer into English, not the original version, right? That filtering through a translator keeps any of us from knowing how much "beauty" Homer had versus his translator's choices. And since there is no way to compare Homer's work to any original historical events or even the oral tradition, how much did Homer himself contribute?
DeleteBros are fascinated by Homer because there are all those explosions (lots of violence, especially against women), amirite?
Actually, most of the violence in the Iliad is against men.
DeleteGood point, the violence against women in these stories really titillate Somerby and the Repubs, but the violence involving men touch that latent homosexuality nerve that many Repubs experience.
DeleteHomosexual relations among men were common in the Ancient Greek world, including the practice of pederasty. Wonder why Somerby never mentions this? I wonder if the right wing fans of the Iliad have any knowledge of this.
DeleteYou think violence is sexually arousing? You may wish to discuss this with your therapist.
Delete1. The war started because of Helen, who was not a man. She may have been abducted or fled of her own choice, but if the latter, fighting to force her to return is violence against her.
Delete2. Some of the fights between men were over ownership of specific women.
3. When a woman walks into the sea to avoid being the possession of a man, she may have committed the act of self-murder but it was forced by male violence against her.
4. Horrible acts are committed against the conquered women in Troy, c.f. Cassandra.
The fantasy among white supremacist and incel men who glorify the Iliad is that after fighting bravely against other men, women will reward them with their submission (coerced in every instance in the Iliad). I agree that they find the male-on-male violence titillating and a way of attracting male attention. All-male clubs tend to be like that, even modern athletics.
Somerby might be embarrassed if he knew how much this fixation on Homer reveals about his psyche. Except Republicans seem to feel no shame and don't seem to be embarrassed by anything. Look at Trump's dancing and Musk's jumping around on stage (trying to put his body into the shape of an X). And their shameless lying.
But if Republicans feel no shame, why do they not recognize and indulge their homosexual tendencies, pedophilia, violence against women? Arguably more do on the right than the left, but why not to a greater extent? Are they working it off via violence and mistreatment of minorities, immigrants and women? They seem to be letting it all hang out more lately, but what was the source of restraint previously?
DeleteIt will no doubt get worse, as it did under Roman leaders like Caligula.
It is getting worse. Trump lobbied and got the Tate brothers back into the US. It’s an ongoing process of good old fashioned normalizing of sexual assault and human trafficking, just like Trump engaged in with Epstein.
DeleteSexual predators flock together.
Delete"That filtering through a translator keeps any of us from knowing how much "beauty" Homer had versus his translator's choices."
DeleteSome truth here but pointless since it applies to every translation ever made, amirite?
You say Republicans feel no shame, but I detect no shame in your slandering all Republicans as latent homosexual pedophiles who long to physically harm women.
DeleteThey don't just long to harm women, they do it. Truth is the defense against slander. Women are dying in TX and other states because of Republican men and their desire to control women, through force. Even domestic violence is much higher in red states. Trump is a rapist and red voters elected him. There are no Republican men speaking out on behalf of women in the House or Senate, when assholes on the right talk about denying women the vote. And Republican legislators do not support the nationwide effort to make child marriage illegal. How is that not pedophilia? Where is your shame, that you defend such men by saying that ALL Republicans are not like that? The number of men who favor oppressing women is a majority on the right (by their actions), and that is enough to support my claim, which did not use the word ALL but did generalize, appropriately in the context of Republican congressional voting and the actions of red state legislatures.
DeleteYou're right. Just applies to Republicans who physically harm women and blow-dry their hair and smear make-up all over their face.
DeleteOnly to those guys.
12:56: The Republican Party is subservient right now to Trump, who is a sexual assaulter, was a good friend of epstein, and who lobbied to get the Tate brothers here. I don’t know about all Republicans personally, but the Trump party is very clearly instilling a lack of shame in its followers and a return to a normalization of sexual assault and male dominance. As long as any “good” Republican fails to speak out, then every good Republican is enabling this. The recent tweet of a state department hire, that women and minorities have been coddled too long, and that whites men must run things again, received zero pushback from “upstanding” Republicans. Not to realize and acknowledge this is the real shame here.
DeleteTexas abortion laws have saved over 30,000 babies so far who would be dead but are alive now and enjoying the magical wonders of the world they are discovering. Only the most evil people would wish there had been a "right" to kill them.
DeleteWhat does abortion have to do with the above discussion 1:11?
DeleteWhy did Republicans not vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act? Why were the female admiral and general the first ones fired among the Joint Chiefs when Trump took office? Why are women in leadership positions in govt being fired without performance reviews? It is hard not to argue that women are persecuted by the Right when you guys do such things. Did you think no one would notice your targeting?
DeleteIf Republicans are not focused on oppressing women, why did they oppose Biden's effort to make the ERA law, after it has met all of the legal requirements to become an amendment? Why do Republicans laugh when Gutfeld targets Jill Biden (who is as much an innocent bystander as Melania)? Why do Republicans seem to only care about transwomen and not transmen, when they are targeting transpeople? Why did Republicans target the female helicopter pilot in that crash, when it was the male supervisor who was in charge? Why did they blame the fires in LA on the female mayor and fire chief, when no one could have prevented those high winds from spreading the fires?
You don't have a case to make when it comes to Republican men targeting women with violence, attacks, vote suppression and discrimination. No man who cares about women would be sitting still while Trump lets Andrew Tate into our country.
I’m a man. I care about women. I’m sitting still, and so are you.
DeleteThe “men” who could do something about it, aren’t.
DeleteI contribute to women's groups that are working against oppression, such as Unchained at Last. Send them money at:
Deletehttps://www.unchainedatlast.org/
I also contribute to Planned Parenthood and several other women's groups fighting domestic violence. We can all make phone calls to our legislators and send money to advocacy groups. Right wing voters do not do that. Women do it, but I doubt there are many ashamed Republican men quietly fighting to help the women they love.
And yet the Tates are back in the USA.
DeleteWhere is everybody? Gone to fight in Ukraine judging from the warmongering here.
ReplyDeleteThe warmongering is coming from Putin and his buddy Trump, asswipe.
DeleteTotally. After yesterdays' stellar performance, the Nobel can no longer be denied to Trump.
DeleteNot to mention JD Pipsqueak, who made his own invaluable contribution.
The decline of the US as an advocate for the free world began with Trump 1, but the history books will forever cite yesterday.
DeleteThe war is not over as long as we can still call our elected representatives. Here is something to talk to them about:
ReplyDeleteFrom Thom Hartmann:
"— The plan to “demolish” Social Security is underway right before our eyes: who will stop them? The GOP’s plan to make Americans hate Social Security is well along in its execution. Their scheme — which they’ve been advancing in small increments for 44 years — is brilliantly simple: break the agency’s ability to respond to taxpayers, causing people to have to wait on the phone or travel for hours to stand in line for hours. As complaints mount, Republicans will then point to the “broken Social Security Administration” and pitch a Medicare Advantage-like alternative: privatized “Social Security Advantage,” run by the big New York banks who are reliable GOP donors. Once a critical mass of seniors have moved from SS to the new privatized program, they’ll then just shut down legacy Social Security, arguing that “the free marketplace has spoken.” The key to accelerating the process (Social Security’s administrative staff has been far too small for decades since Reagan first started cutting it) is a new demand from Trump’s acting Social Security Commissioner that the agency cut its workforce by fully fifty percent. Once that happens, all bets are off; the agency may not even be able to get checks out in a timely manner or process applications for new benefits, much less help SS recipients sign up or solve problems they may encounter. As Congressman John Larson noted: “This is nothing more than a backdoor benefit cut and an insult to Americans who have paid into the system and earned their Social Security—all to pay for trillions in new tax cuts for the wealthy.” Social Security Works president Nancy Altman was blunt: “Field offices around the country will close. Wait times for the 1-800 number will soar.” Larson added: “Let me be clear—laying off half of the workforce at the Social Security Administration and shuttering field offices will mean the delay, disruption, and denial of benefits.” Meanwhile, Idaho’s Republican Senator Mike Crapo blocked Bernie Sanders’ attempt this week to give all seniors on Social Security a $2400 annual raise. Noting that the raise would be paid for by having people earning more than $250,000 a year start paying Social Security taxes on all their income above that amount (which is currently exempt from Social Security taxes), Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (a co-sponsor of the legislation) said, “The Social Security Expansion Act will protect the national treasure that is Social Security by extending the trust fund’s solvency for 75 years and expanding benefits by $2,400 a year so that everyone in America can retire with the security and dignity they deserve after a lifetime of hard work.” But big banks and the morbidly rich object, and they own the GOP…"
https://hartmannreport.com/p/saturday-report-3125
From Thom Hartmann:"— The plan to “demolish” Social Security is underway."
DeleteYou can't kill a person who's already dead. The Social Security Trust Fund will run out of money in a few years. With the Federal Government running a $2 trillion deficit, there is no way to keep SS benefits at their current level.
“No way?” Sure, if the Republicans have their way.
DeleteWe all knew this was coming. DiC is making hartmann’s case, paving the way for the gop to destroy social security, regardless of any public opposition.
DeleteDickhead Dave leaves out the part where Thom explains how to fix Social Security. Removing the payroll tax cap on the those making over $165K solves 2/3rds of it. Shitheels like Musk could easily pay the rest by simply rescinding disastrous Republican tax cuts for the wealthiest. How does it makes sense to pay 100% of payroll taxes on minimum wage and 17% on a million DiC??? Furthermore if the system defaults it does not pay zero, it pays about 2/3rds. Another of the propaganda lies spread by the Right. Punch the poor, it's the Nazi way. Delusional and hateful is a hell of a way to exit this earth you cretin.
DeleteMaybe David is the Right-winger who understands economics?
DeleteJust kidding. No Republican vote has ever understood economics, obviously.
Haitian immigrants ate Trump's Nobel Peace Prize.
ReplyDeleteWho is a sexier rebel, Elon Musk or Zelensky?
ReplyDeleteWhich is more refreshing, Pepsi or RC Cola?
There is no comparison, asswipe. Zelensky is a hero, defending his people from a brutal war of aggression perpetrated by a nuclear powered kleptocracy, musk is a megalomaniac oligarch destroying the us to enrich himself.
DeleteIt is hilarious that the troll @11:07 had to modify the original Pepsi Challenge between Pepsi and Coke to RC Cola, in order to avoid raising the issue of Musk's drug use! Coke references and Don Jr. are supported by video of his "Coke Jaw", like this one:
Deletehttps://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/this-week-in-stupid-march-1-edition
"Alexa, can grinding your jaw be a sign that you’ve hoovered way too much coke?
Cocaine jaw, also known as “coke jaw,” is a common side effect of cocaine use. It refers to the uncontrollable grinding of teeth and repetitive clenching of the jaw often observed in individuals who misuse cocaine.
oh gee.
Alexa, can putting your hand not quite to your mouth and then pretending you’re chewing on something be an effective way of masking that you’re coked to the fucking gills?"
Musk has been abusing Ketamine quite openly. Wouldn't want anyone to connect that to the Trump circle's other drug use, would we? So Coke becomes RC, which no one ever thought was similar to the real colas.
Or maybe Eastern European trolls on troll farms are not up on cultural attitudes towards cola drinks in the USA. Or the troll was trying to knock Zelensky, who is too busy fighting a war to abuse drugs the way today's right wing does. It is well known that white supremacists in red states are all meth abusers.
Zelensky is fit and righteous, and doesn’t suffer from Musk’s herpes, hair implants, botched penile implant, and disgustingly grotesque physique (google the pic of Musk in a bathing suit on his yacht, his pasty white, flabby tub of a belly and man boobs on full display, but fair warning it may induce vomitting).
DeleteMusk is the least sexy thing on the planet, which apparently fuels much of his rage and immiserating behavior, let’s not lean into that.
Apartheid groupies love his blatant racism.
DeleteMusk and Trump are both physically repulsive and share the belief that money makes them superior, not just rich. Delusions don't make you smart.
DeleteRC rules. Especially when you have a Moon Pie with it.
DeleteSomerby doesn't bother summarizing what happened in the oval office. He adopts a confusing and unrecognizable version and then moans and groans that we have all lost because Blue voters are apparently shit.
ReplyDeleteHere is a better summary:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-28-2025
I would have quoted it, but it is too long, but I consider it to be a much fairer account than Somerby's garbage.
The Ukraine grift is stealing hard earned money from middle class families who have to pinch pennies to buy basic necessities in order to enrich Ukrainian oligarchs who give it to their spoilt kids to get lip filler in London while lower class Ukrainian boys get slaughtered for the cause.
ReplyDeleteShitbot shitposts victim of pre-arranged, pre-scripted televised ambush.
DeleteHow do parents in North Korea feel about their "boys" being shipped to Ukraine as cannon-fodder by Russia?
Delete@12:07 They are grateful to Dear Leader. No other feelings are valid.
Delete
ReplyDelete"The commander won by less than 1.5 points, but the fact is, he did win—and on that day, the die was cast."
There are many facts, Bob, most of which you and other Democrats prefer to ignore.
For example: the Harris campaign had a huge money advantage. The Harris campaign was overwhelmingly supported by the mainstream media. By polling companies. Etc. All things considered, it was indeed landslide victory.
Awwww. Poor little MAGA. Have to puff themselves up by saying how hard it is for them.
DeletePeace in Ukraine on day one! How's that workin' out?
Harris did not have a huge money advantage. The advantage Harris had was that her money was raised from individual donors contributing small amounts, whereas Trump’s money came from a few billionaires with many strings attached; Trump is bought and paid for.
DeleteSomerby’s buyer’s remorse over Trump, is hilarious!
ReplyDelete"WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Asserting that “it was for the good of my country,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with a Russian agent on Friday.
ReplyDeleteZelenskyy said he was aware that meeting the enemy agent would stir controversy, but added, “It was important to communicate with someone who speaks for Putin.”
After the Ukrainian thoroughly destroyed his counterpart in the meeting, the Russian agent received a harsh upbraiding from his Kremlin superior, Elon Musk.
“I thought I told you not to have any meetings without me,” Musk screamed.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy’s performance garnered wide praise. “Vlod, you kicked his ass!” said Bishop Budde."
The joke is: this is not satire, this is factually accurate. Trump and Musk are Putin puppets.
DeleteYou saw it and you were warned you f'ing Nazi Cultists: Remember from the Clinton debate - "No, you're the puppet" good times. And the chess master's response:
DeleteGarry Kasparov
@Kasparov63
Incredible. What does Putin have on Trump to inspire such blind loyalty? Trump defends Putin more aggressively than Putin’s own propaganda!
8:36 PM · Oct 19, 2016
2016 - you purposefully blind Nazi cultists.
The Right hates the United States of America with every bone in their bodies.
DeleteSomerby keeps referring to the fictional people of Oran who didn't recognize the plague. The more relevant parallel with that book is the current failure to vaccinate children for measles ongoing in TX.
ReplyDeleteI do not understand Somerby's constant claim that We Blues don't recognize what is going on, when it seems to me it is the right with the distorted beliefs about a variety of issues, from who started the war in Ukraine to what happened during covid to whether kids get measles when they are unvaccinated. Two people have died and over 100 cases are ongoing, of a disease that was considered eradicated. Yet red voters, Trump and RFK Jr., and TX (where this is happening) don't seem to understand the seriousness of their unhinge health views -- yes, that goes for Bill Maher too.
Why doesn't Somerby draw more appropriate parallels from his own allusions? Does he not recognize that measles is becoming a plague due to Republican false beliefs? What the hell does Oran have to do with We Blues? Or Bruce Willis (who saw too much, not too little)?
Ukraine is still going strong, same with inflation, the genocide of Palestinians, and the Republican agenda to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
ReplyDeleteWho knew?
Inflation has gone back up under the idiot President and his Felon mouthpiece.
DeleteThe imaginary Republican voter who isn't a bigot, is the same one who knows about economics.
DeleteWhen Trump lost it and started ranting about Hunter’s bathroom (???), even Republicans finally woke to Trump’s lunacy.
ReplyDeleteSo delicious!
IMPEACH TRUMP.
ReplyDelete"SATURDAY: The war is over, and the war has been lost!"
ReplyDeleteWhat is the point of calling an election a war? If Somerby is talking about the so-called culture war, that was lost by the conservatives a long time ago. This may be a backlash, but it will not last beyond Trump's term and even young conservatives are not fighting on the same side as their parents when it comes to culture. There is no basis for calling the culture war lost to reds when JD Vance is married to an Asian woman and Captain America is still black:
"In the Marvel comics, Captain America was originally a Black man. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sam Wilson, also known as Falcon, became Captain America after Steve Rogers retired the title in The Avengers: Endgame. Anthony Mackie, a Black actor, now plays Captain America. "
Somerby imagines: "As one example, in all likelihood, NATO is on the way out."
ReplyDeleteReality: NATO stronger than it was, because NATO members strengthened their militaries.
I think Bob's point is that NATO will no longer have the US as a member; individual countries' marginal increases in military spending will not be enough to offset US absence.
DeleteI doubt this is true.
DeleteSilly to doubt what you keep seeing and hearing. The President and the Felon are 100% aligned with the war criminal. The Felon destroys everything he touches.* War Criminal Putin's war against the west began in 2014. Trump was already on board shit posting for the racist Nazi's birth certificate nonsense since 2011. You people need to reflect on what creepy Nazi's you have hardened into.
Delete*His only non-kill was reading a teleprompter and barking "your fired" in a scripted reality show for dimwitted Nazi consumption.
If Europe becomes an independent force in the world, that’s one good result of America’s downfall.
DeletePissing on the grave of Republicans is going to be the nation's 21st century pastime.
Delete“Musk said that DOGE found $1.9 billion dispatched to inactive NGOs before they got the money, but did not share the name of the entities.”
ReplyDeleteHuh. No verifiable details, just a free-floating accusation along with the tale of the unnamed 150-year old receiving SS checks and the unnamed dead gvt. workers getting pay checks.
Scary bed time stories. To frighten good little MAGA boys and girls with.
This morning I finally listened to the first half hour of the disastrous Oval Office meeting. IMO the two sides had different expectations. Trump thought the mineral deal was close enough that he would convince or bully Zelensky into signing it. Zelensky had no intention of making any mineral deal or cease fire. He saw the meeting as an opportunity for Ukraine to gain support from Americans.
ReplyDeleteTragically, neither side got what they wanted. Trump didn't get the minerals; Zelensky didn't gain popularity.
P.S. Trump annoyingly kept referring to "rare earths' as "raw earths."
Zelensky wanted not just to gain support but to gauge support. He's trying to figure out what to do going forward and he wants to know to what extent he can count on the US.
DeleteThat's why he got so annoyed when Pipsqueak Vance crawled up Trump's butt with praise for Trump's "diplomacy," which Zelensky sees as meaningless without some accompanying security guarantee.
Zelensky, for some reason, doesn't trust Putin as much as Trump does.
Did you see the part about “no security guarantee” DiC? So, the next time Putin launches an attack on Ukraine, zelensky will again be called a dictator of he doesn’t give Putin everything he wants. It’s pure madness that you are supporting, DiC.
DeleteHector -- Nobody trusts Putin. But, a cease fire now followed by negotiations to get a permanent peace including security for Ukraine seems achievable. Even if the effort to get a permanent peace fails, how can it wrong to have a cease fire while working on a permanent peace agreement?
DeleteDiC, Trump doesn’t want an agreement with zelensky. He wants to give Putin everything he wants. The meeting in the White House was a setup to give Trump a pseudo plausible reason to cancel the deal he never actually wanted.
Delete"how can it wrong to have a cease fire while working on a permanent peace agreement?"
DeleteIt may not be wrong and it seems like a competent US negotiator (dealmaker) wouldn't have had a problem convincing Zelensky of that.
Remember that in the weeks prior to the meeting, Trump had the US vote against a resolution condemning Russia for the invasion; called Zelensky a dictator; blamed Ukraine for starting the war; had discussions on Ukraine with Russia without Ukraine involvement; and made what can only be called an insulting offer on the mineral deal.
So maybe, just maybe, Zelensky was getting a little frustrated with and not very trusting of Trump. And then up spoke Vance the Smartypants and the rest is history.
Trump is negotiating thus gratuitously insulting one party is stupid.
DeleteThere was no need for Trump to summon Zelensky to Washington to sign a minerals agreement. Any of a number of government ministers could have been assigned to the task and it could have taken place anywhere in the world.
DeleteTrump wanted to demonstrate his power by summoning Zelensky and forcing him to sign the deal in front of reporters--including one from Russia's TASS. But then Vance blew it--he couldn't stop himself from jumping in to take a swipe or two at Zelensky. Zelensky replied with an obvious and sensible question and Trump had a meltdown.
The fighting could stop today. Zelensky is not the obstacle to a ceasefire.
Hector et al - a cease fire was established after Putin took control of Crimea. How did that work out numbskulls? Putin has said Ukraine is the first step in reestablishing the Soviet Union, including NATO states. What in the ever loving heck makes you think he is satisfied with a third of Ukraine? The stupid really does burn. And DIC, your appetite for eating shit is boundless. No matter how bad it tastes, you always compliment the chef. Eat More Shit Fascist Jaggoff.
Delete"a cease fire was established after Putin took control of Crimea. How did that work out numbskulls?"
DeleteIf you have a state of war and a ceasefire is imposed, then broken, you return to the same state of war. So what have you lost?
In your example, Putin took control of Crimea, a ceasefire was established and after it was broken, Putin still had control of Crimea.
There was a negotiated cease fire after Putin took Crimea starting in 2014. Putin up-armored and planned for a strike during the cease-fire to decapitate Ukraine leadership in threes days three years ago. To act like a cease fire has no consequences is really dishonest framing. There need to be strict negotiated controls on Russian weapons procurement with inspections, penalties, etc. Need an acceptable to both parties peace keeping force. What about Putin paying for leveling one village/city after another. What about penalties for war crimes? What about the stolen children? Cease fire sounds easy peasey though. Good idea to get her done man!!! Why is Zelenskyy stalling???
DeleteZelensky wanted the White House meeting. Then he couldn’t keep his uncontrolled stupid mouth shut, and he did himself in. For those who say Trump planned at all and didn’t really want a deal, not exactly. Trump is fine not having a deal and yes, probably prefers it that way push comes to shove, but was willing.
DeleteNo self-respecting person would ever listen to a word Trump says.
Delete"There was a negotiated cease fire after Putin took Crimea starting in 2014. Putin up-armored and planned for a strike during the cease-fire to decapitate Ukraine leadership in threes days three years ago."
DeleteBlaming the ceasefire of 2014 for an invasion that happened eight years later strikes me as unreasonable, but suit yourself.
Hector you would have to ignore Putin's whole premise for invading Ukraine twice. It is step one in returning the Soviet Empire. You usually are pretty sharp, but man are you acting daft. Seriously after Putin's nonstop war crimes you are OK with a cease fire with no US security promise. Are u on Putin's payroll too?
DeleteYour daily reminder that the US does not need peace in Ukraine nor does it need to fund war. Trump is brokering peace as a favor to Europe, Ukraine, and Russia.
ReplyDeleteTrump holds ALL the cards. If Zelensky refuses to say exactly what Trump wants to hear, no deal and no problem for the US. Huge problem for Europe and Ukraine. Everyone knows this. Zelensky is trying to save his own hide.
"Zelensky is trying to save his own hide."
DeleteFascinating insight. Tell us more.
If the US bows out he’s dead man walking.
DeleteIf a deal is reached he’s probably dead man walking anyway as a result of his corruption.
@1:48
DeleteAre you actually based in Russia? Or do you get daily instructions via text? You never fail to deliver the Russian line to the letter.
All of the European countries are aligned against Russia, and now the USA if we stand with Russia. The last time that happened, Germany lost. And the time before that too. And Napoleon lost. Yes, circumstances were different, but a single nation cannot stand against the rest of the world. That is Trump's hubris.
Delete"If a deal is reached he’s probably dead man walking anyway as a result of his corruption."
DeleteWhere have you learned of Zelensky's corruption? Is it his corruption that has him sticking around Ukraine, leading this 'hopeless' war effort despite having squirreled away billions?
The right wing pro Putin lies never make sense.
DeleteI don’t think so.
Delete“All of the European countries are aligned against Russia … a single nation cannot stand against the rest of the world.”
I wish that were correct. Then the US could stop supporting Ukraine and let Europe do the job. We would save a fortune. But I don’t think Europe has enough weapons and enough willingness to fully replace us.
Aside from the fact that Europe isn’t a single nation, your comment would seem to say that the US should continue helping, otherwise why would you say you “wish that were correct?” You place saving money vs helping a democratic ally being invaded and attacked? You also seem to underestimate if he ignorant of the sacrifices that European countries have made to help Ukraine.
Delete“ You also seem to underestimate if he ignorant of the sacrifices that European countries have made to help Ukraine.” should be “ You also seem to underestimate or be ignorant of the sacrifices that European countries have made to help Ukraine.”
DeleteYes indeed, all of Europe is aligned against Russia. They are also aligned against the US now. The staged event on Friday starting with the scripted nastiness from MTG's latest boyfriend will be further isolating for the US. Trump and Vance were adolescents in the bullying show they staged, for the benefit of Putin via a live streaming TASS reporter that somehow "snuck in". The adults on the other side of the Atlantic have taken note and will circle the wagons to the detriment of any economic solidarity they may have had with US interests until now. The US is an unreliable ally run by nasty lying adolescent bullies. There is a lesson to be learned here and it can't come soon enough for my satisfaction. Trump is tanking our economy via his open antagonism toward virtually all of our major trading partners, and in the obvious subservience to Europe's existential threat. The forging of new trading partners with the purpose of excluding the US is ongoing. Inflation and recession are around the corner. It is a painful lesson that will remind us that elections have consequences, especially those advanced with Russian assistance, and Musk's advocacy of propaganda and misinformation.
DeleteHungary, even though it’s a NATO ally, isn’t aligned against Russia.
DeleteTrump holds every card. He knows it and so does everyone else. What you’re hearing from seething Democrats is Loser Noise.
DeleteTrump? Holding all the cards? In his teeny-tiny hands that are dwarfed by the hands of my 5-year old niece?
DeleteI don't think so, troll.
Putin is holding the cards, because Trump is weak to resist him.
DeleteDavid in Cal - save a fortune is more BS. 90% of Ukraine funding is spent here mostly replacing outdated equipment with new, and building up arms production needed for the modern military. And the total is $120B not the lying felons dirty lie of $350B. Why do you accept this not stop liars lies? Quit being a dupe.
DeleteSomerby is a nihilist, which is why he likes the quote from Homer about us being a joke of the gods.
ReplyDeleteAI says:
"Nihilism is a philosophical belief that rejects the existence of objective truth, morality, or meaning. It's often associated with extreme pessimism and skepticism.
Key ideas
Nihilism rejects the idea that there are objective moral truths or values
It also rejects the possibility of knowledge or communication
Nihilism asserts that life or the universe is meaningless or purposeless
Nihilism is often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche, who believed that nihilism would destroy traditional morality "
This sums up Somerby's line of thought here. It is also no coincidence that Somerby espouses the beliefs of Nietzsche, since Nietzsche is a favorite on the right, especially among the white supremacist incel crowd of bros. Perhaps Musk is one too -- I wouldn't be surprised.
College sophomores are often infatuated by nihilism. It appeals to their facile, superficial reasoning and their lack of worldly experience. I don't know what Somerby's excuse is for falling for this stuff, but perhaps he has been that way since his early days as a draft dodger
DeleteTeaching was good. Serving in the armed forces was bad.
DeleteMany young men didn’t have a choice.
DeleteStill don’t in Ukraine.
DeleteWhat’s the situation in Russia, Boris @6:45?
DeleteHe could have studied relevant subjects, trained to be a good teacher, but he didn’t. He cheated his students because they were poor, black, and available to be used by Teach for America. They deserved better.
Delete“The Trump right hates Zelenskyy because he exemplifies integrity and courage, and the price of following Trump is to abjure those qualities forever.”
ReplyDelete—David Frum
Zelensky is sending people with Down Syndrome to the front lines. That’s Democrats idea of a hero.
DeleteLet’s ask Alexei Nawalny how he feels about all those Russian war casualties…
Delete"Zelensky is sending people with Down Syndrome to the front lines."
DeleteThis seem to be false (notice no cite given). What if it were true? Who would we blame, the country defending itself or the country that did the invading?
War causes many horrible things to happen. Limbs get blown off, people starve to death. That's all on Putin.
David noticed that Trump said “raw earths.” Trump is cognitively impaired.
ReplyDeleteTrump kicked him out and didn’t even let him stay for lunch.
ReplyDeleteNBC News in 2022: “Biden had barely finished telling Zelenskyy he’d just greenlighted another $1 billion in U.S. military assistance for Ukraine when Zelenskyy started listing all the additional help he needed and wasn’t getting. Biden lost his temper, the people familiar with the call said. The American people were being quite generous, and his administration and the U.S. military were working hard to help Ukraine, he said, raising his voice, and Zelenskyy could show a little more gratitude.”
The disgraceful todo in the Oval Office hurt both Trump and Zelensky. It may have helped Putin. It certainly helped the Dems imo.
ReplyDeleteWhatever Trump does will look wrong. If he continues the usual military support, he will be seen as kowtowing to Zelenskyy. If he cuts military aid he will be seen as kowtowing to Putin.
Trump has dementia. He is controlled by Musk on behalf of Putin. Of course he is kowtowing to Putin.
DeleteLook at Dickhead in Cal; everything is filtered through the lens of his conviction that tRump is a god. He worries and frets now over how that ignominious goat-fucking cabaret that orange- chickenshit and pretty boy-toy Vance embarrassed the country with will hurt tRump. Unbelievable, but true. Because Dickhead has no moral core values. He wouldn't care if Putin nuked Kyiv tomorrow as long as he can twist it into being a brilliant outcome for tRump. You have repeatedly shown us who you are, David.
Delete...he will be seen as kowtowing to Zelenskyy...
By who, you fucking freakshow? By you and your fellow fucking fascist freaks?
My oh my, DiC, what a dilemma for Trump. What to do, what to do....... Don't worry, if he shot Zelensky in the face in broad daylight on 5th Avenue in NYC, he wouldn't lose any measurable support, certainly not yours. Just as long as nothing interferes with his weekend golf outings in Florida.
DeleteDickhead in Cal, how can we blame this no-win situation orange chickenshit finds himself in on President Biden? Think about it, fuckhead.
DeleteDavid in Cal would cry real tears, if a black person gets a benefit from the government. Foreign policy and economics mean nothing to him.
DeleteA little over a month into the presidency and Trump has completely unnecessarily insulted our neighbors, declared this country to be an unreliable ally and trade partner, aligned us with North Korea, Belarus, and Russia in the UN, and given a chainsaw to a private unelected citizen who threatens to cut Medicaid. When the dust settles from all this we will be on an inflationary trajectory, our long-standing trading partners will have found as many ways around US business as possible, unemployment will be up, and we will be in a progressively worsening recession made all the worse by stocks that are priced up currently. Musk will be even more incened to gift off the US taxpayer as Tesla stock tanks, and we will be reminded how numbingly stupid it is to put any credence to the idea that crypto currency as volatile as bitcoin should have a major role in this country's economy.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how bad things can get in short order when a country elects and puts no brakes on a vindictive demented old man.
America has never been better.
DeleteWe dodged the bullet of all bullets by crushing Ka-mala and tampon Tim.
Musk has already identified and eliminated a large amount of wasteful spending. People should be criticizing those who spent wastefully. They should be thanking the person who ended the waste.
DeleteNo, Musk has identified a small amount of waste and caused a lot of disruption plus his own waste (people fired then rehired, food and resources going to waste, suffering). Musk is a loose cannon.
DeleteThe naivete of rubes like DiC in regard to how much waste Musk has eliminated requires that the MAGAS accept all his claims and fastidiously avoid fact checking them.
DeleteDOGE says it's now saved $65B in federal funds.
DeleteDOGE figures were checked by NY Times and found to be bogus. Mistaken, inflated, false. A mess.
DeleteHilarious that DiC cites DOGE's numbers.
DeleteIs DiC this stupid or does he think we are? Or both?
DeleteBoth.
DeleteWhich do you think is more anti-America, Russia or the Republican Party?
DeleteI'm going with the Republican Party because they swore to kill more American citizens than Russia.
"DOGE says it's now saved $65B in federal funds."
DeleteAs of 2/22:
"The Wall Street Journal analysis projects the actual savings could be closer to $2.6 billion over the next year..."
"They should be thanking the person who ended the waste."
DeleteIn addition to lying continually about how much savings is being generated, Musk's DOGE is generating enormous litigation costs to the government to defend firings and contract breaking that are prima facie illegal.
DOGE is also firing workers whose absence will bring about increased future costs/deaths e.g. those who fight bird flu, or who control the release of water from California dams, or work in air traffic safety.
So yeah, thanks a lot Elon.
https://jabberwocking.com/trump-kills-elite-tech-group-because-its-too-woke/
DeleteIncened = incentivized
ReplyDeleteGift = grift
ReplyDeleteThe disgraceful attack on Zelensky which even Murdoch's WSJ condemned does less harm to the Ukrainian leader than it does to Trump, who has embarrassed himself on the world stage. Europe will rally around Ukraine and is very motivated to punish and contain Putin. The EU may emerge as a more forceful player in the outcome of this war, having seen how feckless and boot licking of Putin Trump is. The kind of capitulation Trump would give to Putin is not in the EU's security interests.
ReplyDeleteYou may be right, 11:12. But, so far the EU's support for Ukraine has been words. Time will tell if they're willing to make the economic sacrifices necessary to replace all the US doing for Ukraine.
Delete"But so far the EU's support for Ukraine has been words". More MAGA bullshit.
Delete2025/0226/1499138-us-vs-europe-who-actually-gives-more-support-to-ukraine/
DeleteAs a % of GDP the US ranks 10th among countries in support of Ukraine's war efforts (0.36%).
DeleteThe overreliance of Europe on the US as a deterrent is over, and the EU will now need to further arm itself. Part of what came with the price tag of being Europe's big brother was goodwill. I would not want to be the CEO of Boeing at this juncture. Their sales in Europe in 2023 totalled $ 76 billion c/w Airbus's $ 71 billion. The Tesla effect will be showing up in the spreadsheets of any US company competing with EU entities for European business. It's only natural as Europe expresses it's disdain for the America it saw on display on Friday. The rift has just begun. The economic consequences for US businesses in Europe will be significant, and we will certainly see this soon as the tourist industry will be affected. They don't like us over there now.
DeleteNorway has declared that it will no longer refuel American ships, including the US Navy.
DeleteActually @11:55, one Norwegian company said they would not fuel American shipS. The Norwegian government said Norway would continue to fully cooperate with the US
DeleteOh fanny-burp no!! Nooo!!!!! (Too late. It was loud and long.)
ReplyDeleteDiC - Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker says first quarter GDP is falling (-1.5% rate). The tracker was showing a +2.3% rate just nine days ago.
ReplyDeleteIt’ll be hard to blame this on Biden.
“Russian Lawmaker Predicted the Trump-Vance Ambush of Zelensky”
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-lawmaker-predicted-the-trump-vance-ambush-of-zelensky/
Trump is at war against his own people:
ReplyDeletehttps://jabberwocking.com/trump-kills-elite-tech-group-because-its-too-woke/
It sounds like this group was doing a good job and will be missed.
DeleteDrum wrongly equates woke with not discriminating against certain groups. Woke means the opposite. Woke requires discriminating against certain groups, particularly white men.
“ this group was doing a good job and will be missed.”
DeleteSo why fire them?
White men discriminated against everyone else in this country for its first 300 years. Attempts to rectify that were met with howls (from white men) of “you shouldn’t discriminate based on sex/skin color.” How ironic.
I’d say if Trump and his cabinet are examples of the competence of white men, then perhaps “woke” is onto something.