THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2025
Life at the Bezos Post: Opinion writers have been fleeing the Washington Post ever since Jeff Bezos began to submit.
That process may have been hurried along when Bezos announced "that the newspaper's opinion section will focus on supporting 'personal liberties and free markets,' and pieces opposing those views will not be published."
In some ways, the paper seems changed. In other ways, it doesn't. In the past two days, we've read two submissions which seemed to come outta the new way of life.
We'll start with Becca Rothfeld's review of Karine Jean-Pierre's new book.
For the record, we don't assume that Jean-Pierre has written a useful or coherent book. We're a bit flummoxed just by its title:
Independent:
A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines
By Karine Jean-Pierre
Legacy Lit. 172 pp. $30
That subtitle strikes us as hard to parse. But then, Rothfeld swings into action, and we truly do start to feel lost:
In her new book, Biden’s former press secretary lets Democrats have it
Imagine parting ways with the Democratic Party not because of its unwavering support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he violated international law and waged a bloody campaign against civilians in Gaza; not because of its humiliating failure to mount meaningful opposition to the Trump administration’s assault on just about everything of value in the country; not because it continues to run candidates in their 70s and 80s, one of whom opted to die in office at 90 rather than cede her seat to someone younger; not because of its inability to expand access to health care, or protect immigrants, or tax the wealthy, or really get anything done at all; not because of its politely noncommittal affect and rhetoric of facile uplift, or its members’ tendency to address the public as if they are delivering the keynote at a corporate retreat; not because the Democrats have no political vision, something of a liability for a political party; but rather because of the single sensible—if very belated—thing they have done in recent memory, which was to usher a doddering Joe Biden out of the 2024 presidential race.
We fought our way through that opening pavement. In paragraph 2, things almost seemed to get worse:
These contortions are hard to imagine from anyone but the most devoted apparatchik, which is exactly what Karine Jean-Pierre is....
And so on from there, at remarkable length.
According to the leading authority, we share a bit of the old school tie with the reviewer in question:
Becca Rothfeld
Becca Rothfeld (born 8 October 1991) is an American literary critic, and essayist. She won the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, and Silvers-Dudley Prize.
She attended Dartmouth College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. Rothfeld later pursued a Ph.D. in Philosophy at Harvard University, but as of 2024 has not completed a dissertation. She is a book critic at The Washington Post.
We were once an undergraduate in that same department. The story we could tell!
Based upon her review, we'll guess that Rothfeld tilts toward Red, though that could always be wrong. We'll also guess that Jean-Pierre's book really isn't especially good—but based upon the tone of Rothfeld's review and based upon its ragged construction, we're inclined to agree with what AI Overview says about the roughly 600 comments:
AI Overview
The comments overwhelmingly criticize the article for being more of a political diatribe than a traditional book review. Many readers express dissatisfaction with the reviewer's perceived bias against the Democratic Party and Karine Jean-Pierre, arguing that the piece focuses too much on political opinions rather than the book's content...
We'll guess that the book may not be good. To our own refined ear, the review does read like a diatribe, and it just doesn't seem very good.
Yesterday, we fought our way through the book review. Today, we stumbled upon a bit of photo reporting, attributed to Amy B. Wang. Headline included, the report starts off like this:
Many presidents have renovated the White House. How Trump’s ballroom compares.
As construction is underway on President Donald Trump’s massive and extreme ballroom addition to the White House, images of part of the White House being torn down have caused a stir. It is not the first time the White House has undergone a major change in its more than 230-year history—nor the first time the changes have sparked controversy...
That almost sounds like someone may have been writing to spec. It sounds a lot like the official Trump Administration line—but as we clicked through the dozen captioned photographs portraying past changes to the White House, we found no claim that any of these relatively minor changes had actually been controversial, as the current demolition plainly is.
Our assessment? The woods are lovely, dark and deep, especially inside Harvard's Emerson Hall. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but we the humans may not be built for this particular type of work.
"WASHINGTON (AP) — In the midst of a federal government shutdown, the U.S. government’s gross national debt surpassed $38 trillion Wednesday, a record number that highlights the accelerating accumulation of debt on America’s balance sheet.
ReplyDelete"It’s also the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside of the COVID-19 pandemic — the U.S. hit $37 trillion in gross national debt in August this year."
https://apnews.com/article/trump-treasury-debt-ceiling-bessent-09575f13ca95c2f1beb38234b2cbe85b
Where are the "trillions" in tariffs?
The more important question is, what will happen when the merry-go-round stops and we can no longer spend trillions more dollars that we do not have?
DeleteThis is why we need a budget. Please contact your Republican elected representatives and urge them to settle the shutdown so that spending can be placed on a sounder foundation than the President's various lies about how much tariffs are producing.
DeleteThe spending continues at an accelerated pace under Trump. Meanwhile, he mesmerizes chumps with gimmicks like DOGE and tariffs.
Delete@4:48 Your comment is sensible, but sadly it’s wrong. That’s because whatever budget the two sides agree on will need us to borrow an additional $2 trillion in 2026 and even more in the future.
DeleteThe wild irresponsibility of both parties and our media is leading to a disaster.
"...the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside of the COVID-19 pandemic..."
DeleteBuh..buh...but Musk has a chainsaw!!!11!
David in Cal,
DeleteLike climate change, reducing the deficit is impossible, now.
There is no such thing as "negative spending" and morons let Reagan convince them "taxes are theft".
Have you thought of crying yourself to sleep?
The US fiscal health plunged off a cliff. When the economy hits bottom and gets smashed to bits it won’t seem so important to argue about which party deserves more blame.
DeleteWe're all responsible, because we all let the Republican Party ruin this country.
DeleteIn Trump’s first term, Dems actively resisted building a wall. Then, they criticized Trump failing to get the wall built. Dems this year actively worked to hamper DOGE. Now they criticize DOGE for saving only $200 billion when they were seeking a trillion. Btw saving $200 billion is remarkable by historical standards.
Delete"Then, they criticized Trump failing to get the wall built."
DeleteIncorrect.
They mocked him for claiming he had "completed" the wall when he had done nothing of the sort.
"Btw saving $200 billion is remarkable by historical standards."
Except they didn't save $200 billion or even half that. It's all what George W. Bush called "fuzzy math."
"In Trump’s first term, Dems actively resisted building a wall. Then, they criticized Trump failing to get the wall built."
DeleteIs there supposed to be something wrong with that? Trump knew it was likely he would run into Democratic opposition on the wall yet he promised he'd get it built. And he didn't. End of story.
"When the economy hits bottom and gets smashed to bits it won’t seem so important to argue about which party deserves more blame."
DeleteIt won't seem important to the party that deserves more blame, that's true enough.
The Republicans lead the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Executive Branch, and the Supreme Court.
DeleteAnd the party that controls these things owns the shutdown. I learned that a few years ago when the Republican Party said it.
DeleteRepublicans administrations are great at undertaxing the wealthy and terrible at managing the economy. This combination has had devastating effects on the national debt, Trump being the worst offender in history.
DeleteIf there is one thing I can say with 100% complete confidence, it's this:
DeleteDavid in Cal doesn't give a shit about the federal deficit or debt.
I do not disagree with much of what the reviewer said about the democratic party, and cancelled my membership in disgust a few years ago (that does not mean I will abstain voting for democratic candidates). Republicans take joy in people like me, not realizing that it would take a gun to my head at the polling place for me to vote for one of them.
ReplyDeleteThe reason this ballroom is controversial is that Trump is doing it. If Trump said it was a nice day, Dems would say it’s raining and castigate Trump for lying. Bob would provide a technical explanation showing that referring to a “nice day” demonstrated a mental illness called goodweatherphobia, which came from Trump’s childhood.
ReplyDeleteWrong.
DeleteIt's not controversial because Trump is doing it. It is excused because Trump is doing it.
I can't even imagine the shrieking we'd hear if Biden or Obama decided to knock down an entire wing.
If Trump said it was a nice day, I'd check the weather. But that's because I don't work for the Right-wing corporate-owned media (AKA the media).
DeleteQuaker - Trump is not “knocking down a wing.” He is “knocking down a wing as part of a project to build a new and grand White House Improvement.” Judging the project in terms of only what gets knocked down is like judging a heart surgery as if it consisted only of the incision.
DeleteDo you even hear yourself?
DeleteTrump is not “knocking down a wing.” He is “knocking down a wing as part of a project to build a new and grand White House Improvement.”
But go ahead and try to convince me you'd be just fine with this if Obama did it.
No, I won't but into your deflection. This isn't controversial because Trump is doing it, it is excused.
"Judging the project in terms of only what gets knocked down is like judging a heart surgery as if it consisted only of the incision."
DeleteRight. But only if the surgeon undertakes the operation without consulting the patient or the patient's family. "It's all paid for by donors!"
"Judging the project in terms of only what gets knocked down is like judging a heart surgery as if it consisted only of the incision."
DeleteSo you'd be agnostic on the idea of Trump knocking down the Statue of Liberty to replace it with condos until you saw how the condos turned out?
"If Trump said it was a nice day, Dems would say it’s raining and castigate Trump for lying."
DeleteSo in your view the Democrats have to make up phony instances of Trump lying? Like there aren't enough of the real ones?
Get some help.
The Statue of Liberty welcomes immigrants. It’s overdue for demolition.
DeleteHector - IMO a better way to build condos in NYC is to use the UN building. More residence would do more good for the world than the UN is doing today.
DeleteNYC needs more condoms.
DeleteSpending $230 million on defacing the White House while pushing a bill that will make healthcare unaffordable for tens of millions of Americans is a good look. This is the kind of thing that would euphemistically be called tone deaf but it is a Marie Antoinette moment and the Republican Party will pay a steep price for their role in this. Looking very much forward to the midterms; the rubber stamping Trump sycophants are toast.
DeleteThe knocking things down or marring them via a planned deconstruction-to -reconstruction project is confusing to anonymices. They have reserved that process for statues of Founding Fathers and paintings considered to be masterpieces.
Delete“Demolition of the East Wing began on October 20, without review by the National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees federal construction.”
Delete“the majority of polled Americans disapproved of the decision to demolish the East Wing, with 53% disapproving and only 24% approving”
Why not knock down the entire White House and replace it with a Trump Tower?
DeleteNo one has addressed the likelihood that Russian listening devices will be installed in the new ballroom.
David in Cal,
DeleteGood point.
I, too, could see the ballroom being less controversial if it was done by someone who hadn't raped a 13-year old who reminded them of his daughter,.
Vice President JD Vance criticized on Thursday a vote by the Israeli parliament to advance a bill on the proposed annexation of the occupied West Bank, calling it "a very stupid political stunt."
ReplyDelete"I personally take some insult to it," Vance said at Israel's Ben Gurion airport as he departed the country after his visit. "The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren't happy about it."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vance-israel-insulted-west-bank-annexation-knesset-vote/
I told you Vance wouldn't be able to tamp down his anti-semitism forever.
DeleteIt was a rather pointless vote since the Israeli religious fanatics don't seem to need anyone's permission to annex the West Bank piece by piece.
DeleteStephen Miller: "Let me just say Mr President that this country was going to die without you. This country was going to actually die without you ... you alone saved it."
ReplyDeleteWe live in North Korea now, apparently.
Also, note the similarity of language between Miller's statement and Somerby's remarks yesterday about our country being dead. Tell me these aren't talking points. Or perhaps Somerby read Miller's remarks and they influenced his own choice of daily metaphor. The only part Somerby left out is where Miller says Trump has saved us. Somerby can hardly say that and still pretend he is part of blue America though.
Delete"You are a sad, strange little man. You have my pity. Farewell!"
Delete"The only part Somerby left out is where Miller says Trump has saved us."
DeleteGiven your thesis, that's a rather significant leave-out.
If Somerby is still saying, nine months after Trump took office, that the country is dying, how do you then make the inference that Somerby is a Trump supporter?
Because is repeating Miller’s talking point. Weren’t you paying attention?
DeleteMiller: The country was dying but now it isn't.
DeleteSomerby: The country wasn't dying but now it is.
Nonny Moose: Why does Somerby repeat Miller's talking point?
Why does Somerby repeat Miller's talking point?</i?
DeleteBecause it's true
Somerby cannot claim Trump is reviving a dead country without blowing his cover. I said that above but you are ignoring it. We blues don’t advance Miller’s talking points — we rebut them. Where is Somerby’s rebuttal that our country is not dead?
DeleteCalling people Nonny Moose makes you sound like Cecelia, Quaker. Is that your intention?
DeleteAre you seeking my attention? Tell me why
DeleteI love Cecelia.
Delete"Somerby cannot claim Trump is reviving a dead country without blowing his cover. "
DeleteNow we're getting somewhere: Somerby is saying the country is dead under Trump because he doesn't want people to know that he REALLY thinks the country is being revived under Trump.
Luckily, a mind like yours is here to unravel his deception.
"We were once an undergraduate in that same department. The story we could tell!"
ReplyDeleteHere is a piece of ugliness aimed at Becca Rothfeld. If there is a story, then tell it. If there is no story, don't hint that there is one. Leaving that "story" up to reader imagination has the effect of smearing Rothfeld without presenting any info, much less evidence about whatever may possibly have happened. Somerby claims there is a "story" without having to supply any proof of anything, and that is an empty yet damaging accusation that Rothfeld cannot refute or substantiate because Somerby doesn't say what on earth he is talking about.
Somerby's hostility toward women leads him to publish his name dropping without thinking about how it might affect Rothfeld herself. Somerby is 25 years older and they were not at Harvard concurrently. They perhaps studied some of the same philosophers, so what "story" can Somerby possibly tell? This is self-aggrandizement at Rothfeld's expense, without any clue that Somerby is joking. And Rothfeld can have nothing to say about it, since she is being used as an object of Somerby's imagination without permission.
"The story we could tell!...is an empty yet damaging accusation that Rothfeld cannot refute"
DeleteIt didn't occur to me that 'the story we could tell' had anything to do with Rothfeld, since as you point out, they missed each other at Harvard by 25 years.
It seems more reasonable to assume it's a reference to Bob's own experience at the Philosophy Dept, since academic philosophy is a subject Bob has strongly negative feelings about.
Shouldn’t Somerby be clear about this? I had to look up Rothfeld’s birth year. He implies she is part of the story (by juxtaposition) when she is way too young. This is entirely grauitous but hints there is something in her past. That’s a rotten way to tarnish a woman who is likely innocent.
DeleteWell she's only being 'tarnished' in your delusional mind. Since they were at Harvard 25 years apart, no normal person would give Somerby's statement the interpretation you are.
Delete"For the record, we don't assume that Jean-Pierre has written a useful or coherent book. "
ReplyDeleteFor the record, Somerby never assumes that any woman author or female journalist has wrtitten anything useful or coherent. He opens the title page and begins looking for some flaw to confirm his preconception that whatever women write must be awful, especially if that author is black, as this one is.
In this case, he starts by complaining about the subtitle, then fights his way through some more prose, then complains that there are "too many words" as she writes "at remarkable length." In the middle of Somerby's complaint one loses track of whether he is complaining about the book itself or the review. Then he uses the review to malign the book itself, saying:
"We'll guess that the book may not be good. To our own refined ear, the review does read like a diatribe, and it just doesn't seem very good." So, both women are bad, according to Somerby, who has not read the book itself.
At most, we know very little about what may be wrong with the book, but we do know that Somerby has found two more women to disparage. Hopefully that gives him pleasure. It does't inform any of his readers, but I would hate to have all that wading through words he did be for nought.
"He (Somerby) opens the title page and begins looking for some flaw to confirm his preconception that whatever women write must be awful, especially if that author is black, as this one is."
DeleteWho is another black, female author that Somerby, in your view, has disparaged?
Toni Morrison, in Somerby’s defense of school book banning.
DeleteSo these two instances suffice to support your statement that whenever a black woman anywhere writes anything, Somerby will disparage it.
DeleteAnd that makes sense to you.
Trump: "I look the other night, Saturday night, Portland is burning to the ground and these people are saying it's just friendly stuff. The whole place is burning to the ground."
ReplyDeletePortland did not "burn to the ground" on Saturday or any other day. The president is saying things that are simply not happening.
You can chalk it up to dementia, or something more sinister.
DeleteThis illustrates why Trump is a master persuader. With one clever comment he turned the conversation towards to be about just how much harm ANTIFA is causing in Portland.
DeleteNote that there is a germ of truth in Trump’s wild exaggeration. Antifa did do big time damage in Portland a few years ago. And they’re still around doing less serious improper acts today.
So you opt for ‘sinister.’ Thanks, DiC.
DeleteLying is not appropriate persuasion, DiC.
DeleteWho exactly is persuaded by this? He's a lunatic in the middle of a hallucination.
DeleteAntifa really messed up the Republican Party at Iwo Jima in 1945.
DeleteWho is exactly persuaded by this? Soft headed rubes like DiC.
DeleteWeak-minded people with no ability to discern or analyze events will find him persuasive. How can he persuade any sane person by simply spouting counter-factual bullshit?
DeleteIt's interesting to read comments on NextDoor from people who agree with Trump. They all live 25+ miles from Portland and haven't been there in decades. It's not that they think what Trump is saying is true; they just want to punish the people whom they think they dislike.
Antifa is a myth.
Remember, David in Cal only cosplays as the dumbest fuck on the internet, in service to his over the top bigotry.
DeleteTrump did such a great job persuading himself that a 13-year old reminded him of his own daughter, he had no choice but to rape her.
DeleteIt's amusing when commenters are so disturbed and shocked by Trump's use of wild exaggerations, but are fine with the zillions of wild exaggerations hurled at Trump. I'm thinking of words like "Hitler", "fascist", "insane", "child rapist", or "dumb".
DeleteHe is a fascist; that’s a factual description. It was Vance who called him Hitler, Somerby who calls him insane. Child rapist: well, there is some reason to believe it may be true. And I’m sure you’ve seen comments here calling Democrats “soros monkeys” and idiots and what not. Why, I’ve even seen a commenter call the Democratic Party the “party of hate.” Someone named “David in Cal” or something like that.
DeleteAerial photos of the white House east wing show it totally destroyed as opposed to the untouched condition Trump said he would leave it. That DiC cannot tell the difference between random comments on a somewhat obscure website,( or those of the present VP) and Trump's outright lies about government actions? Well I find that amusing.
DeleteYou are a fucking idiot, Dickhead in Cal. Your hero, King Orange Chickenshit has a reputation of being a ginormous bullshitter. A fucking LIAR. This apparently impresses you. He represents our country to the world and he is seen as a fucking lying clown. His lies are not seen as exaggerations. They are recognized as glaring falsehoods the minute the words leave his fucking lying pie hole, you fucking fascist freak.
Delete"With one clever comment he (Trump) turned the conversation towards to be about just how much harm ANTIFA is causing in Portland.
DeleteI too have a clever comment: you're an asshole. Now the conversation can be about how much of an asshole you are.
David in Cal doesn't believe anything he posts, except the bigotry.
DeleteEVERYTHING else he posts, is in service to that bigotry.
David has a hollow soul.
DeleteThat's what happens when you debase yourself so badly, you publicly excuse child rape.
An Arizona boy was reportedly barred from trying out for his school’s boys’ basketball team and instead ordered to play with the girls’ team after an error with his original birth certificate.
ReplyDeleteLaker Jackson’s case is the latest to highlight the US’s debate over school athletics and gender identity amid increasing attempts by elected Republican leaders to ban transgender athletes from participating in sports.
In his case, though, Laker is not trans. He is an eighth-grade student at Eastmark high school in Mesa, Arizona, and was excited to join his school’s team, he told local news outlet AZFamily.
“I like the team aspect of the sport a lot,” Laker said to the outlet. “I like to play basketball, I wrestle, and I like football a lot.”
But Laker was removed from tryouts due to a clerical mistake dating back to an inaccuracy on his original birth certificate, said his mother, Becky Jackson. Laker’s birth certificate mistakenly says he was born female.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/21/arizona-basketball-team-birth-certificate
Official records are important. Errors should be corrected as soon as they’re found.
DeleteDid they make him disrobe so they could verify it? I’m sure the local republican camp counselor volunteered for the job.
DeleteYes, he was wearing a man’s robe.
DeleteI'll bet you Gym Jordan volunteered for the genital inspection.
DeleteRothfeld means Redfield.
ReplyDelete“ WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)— Mike Johnson had no comment on Thursday after Donald J. Trump demolished the House Speaker’s family home.
ReplyDeleteJohnson had reportedly been asleep when a backhoe came crashing through the wall of his master bedroom, sending the Speaker and his wife fleeing for safety.
At the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered scant explanation for Trump’s decision to level Johnson’s dwelling, saying only that he “felt like it.”
After initially refusing to comment, Johnson told reporters that he was “sure the President had a perfectly good reason for doing it” and invited Trump to total his car.”
https://www.facebook.com/fanny.farts.7/friends
ReplyDeleteRepublicans are incapable of governing: Day 24
ReplyDeleteThe estimated cost for King Orange Chickenshit's monstrosity has just clicked up to $350 million. I am putting the over/under for final cost at about $1 billion
ReplyDeleteWhat's the over/under for Trump's personal take on the $1 billion?
DeleteBig fucking Baby Huey is taking a fit again:
ReplyDeletePresident Donald Trump said on Thursday he was terminating trade talks with Canada, threatening once again to upend the crucial economic relationship between the United States and its second-biggest trading partner.
Trump said he canceled the talks in response to an advertisement released last week by the government of Canada’s Ontario province, which featured audio from a speech by former US President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs on foreign goods.
In the 1987 speech, Reagan lambasted tariffs as hurting “every American worker and consumer” and “triggering fierce trade wars.”
Someone needs to throw a net around this lunatic.
I understand why Trump is cutting off trade talks with Canada.
DeleteIf Trump let's Canada get away with quoting Republicans verbatim, it'll be open season for the Democrats to quote Republicans verbatim, too.
The best thing about this is that two separate courts have already ruled unanimously that Donald J Chickenshit is not a king and cannot impose absurd irrational tariffs without Congressional legislation. King Orange Chickenshit says "fuck you, I want to be a King."
Delete"I will get my friends on the SC to let me do it in violation of the Constitution"
I here there is something happening on the White House grounds, but who has time to think about that while Trump and the Republican Party are hiding the Epstein Files from us.
ReplyDelete#focusonthechildrape