SICK DAY: American systems, coming undone!

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2019

Along with American leadership:
Today, we'll struggle to recover from yesterday's gruesome example of "American carnage."

Tomorrow, we'll try to pull our award-winning series, In Hoc Signo Vinces, back together again. For today, we'll skim the surface of the demise of American systems and leaders.

Yesterday's hearings helped display the headlong demise of our American systems and our American leadership cadres. We'll start with the depressing passage shown below.

In this morning's print editions, this passage appears at the very top of the New York Times' front page. In our view, this passage is depressing and alarming:
LAFRANIERE ET AL (7/25/19): Soon after the special counsel’s office opened in 2017, some aides noticed that Robert S. Mueller III kept noticeably shorter hours than he had as F.B.I. director, when he showed up at the bureau daily at 6 a.m. and often worked nights.

He seemed to cede substantial responsibility to his top deputies, including Aaron Zebley, who managed day-to-day operations and often reported on the investigation’s progress up the chain in the Justice Department. As negotiations with President Trump’s lawyers about interviewing him dragged on, for example, Mr. Mueller took part less and less, according to people familiar with how the office worked.

That hands-off style was on display on Wednesday when Mr. Mueller testified for about seven hours before two House committees.
Once famous for his laserlike focus, Mr. Mueller, who will turn 75 next month, seemed hesitant about the facts in his own 448-page report. He struggled at one point to come up with the word “conspiracy.”

At one excruciatingly awkward moment, he stumbled over a poorly worded question about who was president when he served as a top federal prosecutor in 1986, apparently assuming the questioner meant his subsequent Justice Department post.
The reporters are possibly being too kind with that speculation about Mueller's painful response to that "poorly worded question." (The question seemed straightforward to us. It was presented by a Democrat who assumed it would be answered quickly and easily.)

Based upon that piece of reporting, the fact that Mueller was no longer himself has been known, behind the scenes, for at least the past two years.

Presumably, this unfortunate fact was also known to the congressional Democrats who had been promoting Mueller's appearance so heavily.

Implicitly, they'd been promising the latest magical defeat of Donald J. Trump without the need to find the way to defeat him at the polls. As for us the people, the unfortunate fact was sprung on us early in yesterday's hearings.

Mueller shouldn't have been there. Based upon his performance, he should no longer have been functioning at the top of our leadership cadres.

(In fairness, every pseudo-liberal insider hack would have been allowed to continue saying that Mueller is an ex-marine and "a patriot." But he himself should no longer have been cast in the "miracle savior" role our cable hacks have been pimping to us for the past two-plus years, driving up company profits as they goose us along.)

As for the Democratic leadership cadres who insisted on yesterday's appearance, we'll let you decide about them for yourselves. In fairness, there's no miracle cure for the eternal problems presented by human nature, but our basic thought about them would be this:

They don't know how to address the stranger. More on that theory tomorrow.

At any rate, American systems have been falling apart for the past decade or so. Consider a few examples:

The Electoral College: Our peculiar Electoral College system has plainly started to sputter and wheeze.

Respectable analysts have been suggesting for the past month that Donald J. Trump could imaginably lose the popular vote by more than 5 million votes next year, yet still win re-election.

That would mean that losing candidates would hold the White House for sixteen of the 24 years from 2001 through 2025 (we're counting both Bush terms). It's hard to believe that the public will continue to tolerate this.

The Supreme Court: Our Supreme Court system has already broken down, due to its politicization along with its life terms. As the Court has become a partisan political body, presidents have begun to select rigidly reliable Justices who are also youngish or young.

Mitch McConnell's decision to adjust the date of Justice Scalia's death only made this growing system failure more fully apparent.

Senate math: Our system of Senate math gives remarkably disproportionate power to voters in small rural states. With our smaller states increasingly adopting one particular partisan cast, this is creating another fairly obvious system failure.

On a much smaller scale, the congressional hearing system, in which every committee member gets to showboat for the cameras for his or her sacred five minutes, was on display again yesterday.

(In fairness, the Democrats had made the rare effort to get organized as a group. They also seemed to know that Mueller wouldn't be able to function well. Each member was prepared to read the text of particular portions of the Mueller report which the author couldn't seem to recall or discuss.)

Here as elsewhere, this 5-minute system failure reflects the grasping nature of our culture, in which each individual strives to maximize his or her financial and career gain, full stop, even on cable TV.

Does this reflect some sort of broad cultural change? Check the rise in CEO pay over the past seventy years.

Our American systems are falling apart, but so are our leadership cadres. That includes our journalistic leadership cadres. Even on "liberal" cable news, these ridiculous, bubble-wrapped guilds have become an unvarnished joke.

Everyone knows to criticize Fox, but liberal viewers are persistently conned by the multimillionaire TV stars on CNN and MSNBC. If you're a liberal who doesn't yet know that, so these things have always gone, all through the annals of time.

We started planning this site in 1997 because we thought this type of journalistic carnage could no longer be tolerated, even way back then. Even then, we were stunned by the press corps' lack of intellectual tools, but also by its members' desire to run in packs slandering targeted pols in the dumbest possible ways.

These types of moral and intellectual carnage now define "cable news" and our journalism as a whole. We have no idea where the off-ramp from this particular carnage lies, but in our view, the problem tracks back to a basic human deficiency, one we'll touch on tomorrow.

Are you your brother and sister's keeper? Are you inclined to respect the stranger—the "stranger in a far land?"

Are you inclined to respect the Other, even when the Other is so racist that he may say "colored," instead of "of color," when he's 82?

Future Anthropologists Huddled in Caves (TM) keep telling us, despondently, to consider these questions. They glumly insist that, based upon our inherited natures, the answer to these biological questions may turn out to be no.

Is it "all anthropology now?" So these experts ruefully told us, more than two years ago.

The ultimate example: Our president is visibly insane. Our press corps decided, two years ago, that they mustn't discuss that fact.

Every pundit plays along. Careers hang in the balance!

61 comments:

  1. Now we're talking turkey. Only I would say for decades, not just the past decade or so.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post, Bob. Thanks for laying this out so clearly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Respectable analysts have been suggesting for the past month that Donald J. Trump could imaginably lose the popular vote by more than 5 million votes next year, yet still win re-election. [...] Our system of Senate math gives remarkably disproportionate power to voters in small rural states."

    That's because the country is still called the United States of America, dear Bob, not the Unitary Zombie Cult of America as you'd prefer.

    Ever heard of federalism, dear Bob?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You mean "United States of Putin".

      Delete
    2. federalism and the electoral college are not synonymous, Dittohead.

      Delete
    3. No one said they are, dembot. Try to control voices inside you head.

      Delete
    4. So then, Dittohead, why bring up Federalism?

      Delete
    5. I'm not your schoolteacher, dembot. If you're too stupid to figure it out by yourself, ask your dembot supervisor.

      Delete
    6. Hey Dittohead, we all grew up in this country and already know about "federalism". Not sure where you grew up, asshole, but it's not news to us, and mentioning it does not address TDH's point. Now go run along and stick your head up Rushbo's anal cyst infested ass, ok Dittohead.

      Delete
    7. Calm down, Hillary. I would hate to cause another one of your seizures, and we all know that reappearance of your weird fantasies indicates that it's dangerously close.

      Delete
    8. I'd bet real money you don't miss a day getting your daily indoctrination in how to best serve the masters of the universe elites and shit on the common man from Limpdick on the hate radio. isn't it true, Dittohead?

      Delete
    9. So, we're done with federalism then?

      Did your dembot supervisor help, or did you manage to look it up in the 7th grade textbook yourself?

      Delete
    10. No, Dittohead, I want you to keep teaching us about federalism. Knock yourself out.

      Delete
    11. mm,
      Why are you calling the dembot zombie "a dittohead"?

      Delete
  4. "Our Supreme Court system has already broken down, due to its politicization..."

    Yeah, right. Politicization of an inherently political institution is horrible, unimaginably evil. Seriously, are you some sort of mentally ill, dear Bob?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dude, look in a mirror.

      Delete
    2. "..are you some sort of mentally ill, dear Bob?"

      Yeah, right. As if Right-wingers need to be mentally ill to not have a clue about reality.

      Delete
  5. That comment about the small states and the Senate seems to me to be the lie that never dies. Let me flail at it again.

    The ten smallest states

    Wy - RR
    Vt - DI
    Ak - RR
    ND - RR
    SD - RR
    De - DD
    RI - DD
    Mt - DR
    Me - RI
    NH - DD

    By my count that comes out 10-10, and does NOT favor one party over the other. Also, if you go back in the past. Before this last election there was a D in ND. Had she not represented her party over her state in the Cavanaugh vote, she might still be there.

    SD as I well know, has had Democratic Senators for many years. In my view, coastal liberals need to quit whining about "flyover states have too much power" and the Democratic Party needs to find viable candidates for SD and such, like they once did, in the not too distant past.

    Then let's look at the large "liberal" states that are being cheated by the Senate system. The ten largest states

    Ca - DD
    Tx - RR
    Fl - RR
    NY - DD
    Pa - DR
    il - DD
    Oh - DR
    Ga - RR
    NC - RR
    Mi - DD

    Again, it happens to now be at 10-10. I am not seeing a partisan disadvantage. Quit whining and win some seats in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This.
      Pointing out that Republicans are okay with treason against the United States of America isn't the least bit partisan. Being from a small, big, or medium-sized state doesn't make it untrue.

      Delete
    2. Let's look at statewide results in PA 2018 for example. Democrats won the popular vote statewide for US House Seats by a healthy margin greater than 10%. Net results in US House Seats - 9 Rs and 9 Ds. Dems netted a 3 seat pickup.

      We're trying, Dr., we're trying.

      Delete
    3. Hard to win white states on a platform of "destroy whitey."

      Delete
    4. That's so true anon 2:04, so true.

      Everyone knows that 44% >>> 56% as long as the 44% is comprised of mostly whites voting in carefully twisted congressional districts.

      Delete
    5. Good post by Bob.

      And not bad, Dr. T. But I can't help but notice: You only count 20 states in your tally. How does it go when the states, in relation to each other, become incrementally larger? There are 30 more states to add to the analysis. How does it work out then?

      Regardless, the EC and the duopoly are the designed failures (and let’s not even talk about gerrymandering, even though mm rightly brought it up). Of course, it’s pretty well known that the idea of political parties was anathema to many of the founders, but too bad, amiright? It’s led to the very backbiting we see today. For fuck sakes, the DNC and RNC are corporations!

      My view is that the Republicans have for decades been striving to take us back to the idea of only the “landed gentry” being in control. With Democratic party help, they’ve done a bang-up job. At this point, leaving everything up to the Dems trying to regain everything they’ve lost, especially in State races, through electioneering, seems a fool’s errand. AOC and the “squad” may as well be a third party in that regard.

      Public financing of campaigns, ranked voting, elimination of the EC, these things we really need are just pipe dreams in our current situation.

      That being said, I’m just another dumb ass with an opinion.

      Leroy

      Delete
    6. AnonymousJuly 25, 2019 at 2:04 PM

      Hard to win white states on a platform of "destroy whitey."

      You going to be okay, snowflake?

      Delete
    7. 2:04 PM is a Conservative playing the victim card. Shocking! That practically never happens 24/7/365. LOL.

      Delete
  6. Dude, look in a mirror.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Somerby calls the president insane and yet he devotes this blog to defending the man.

    This is the right wing's attempt to discredit the Mueller report, attacking Mueller himself as if all the investigatory expertise of the FBI were solely dependent on Mueller's mental state. It isn't. The Mueller Report showed the truth about Trump and nothing about Mueller's demeanor can discredit that. It is embarrassing to watch Somerby try.

    We need to impeach Trump, indict him and put him in jail. Sooner rather than later. He will not be reelected and it makes no sense to fantasize that he will be anywhere close in the voting. The longer this goes on, the more frightened Republicans will become about Democratic reprisals when the tables are turned.

    Meanwhile Somerby cloaks his conservatism in meaningless columns about Constantine, hoping that if no one understands what he means, he can still pose as a liberal, thus undermining the left from the supposed-within. It is an ugly, dishonest ploy and it needs to stop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Somrby is as liberal as the mainstream media (i.e. not the least bit liberal).

      Delete
    2. If this is a stunning and heart-sick making revelation to Somerby, imagine what Nadler and Schiff must have felt, starting a week ago.

      Delete
    3. anon 12:26, never mind impeaching Trump. If you're correct, we need to impeach Somerby. That's a big if though - you seem to be nuts.

      Delete
  8. Somerby now reads with great interest and concern an article in the New York Times, a newspaper about whom he once claimed “you can’t believe a thing you read there.” In this article, the characterization of Mueller’s handling of his office comes to us “according to people familiar with how the office worked.” The day wasn’t long ago when Somerby would criticize a news report for this kind of vague unsourced information. The article has the headline “Mueller’s Labored Performance Was a Departure From His Once-Fabled Stamina”. Thus, the article is focused on style over substance. It’s all about the *performance* of “once-fabled” Mueller. The whole thing reeks of narrative. Somerby buys into it, because it fits his own narrative, which is encapsulated in this statement: “Implicitly, they'd been promising the latest magical defeat of Donald J. Trump without the need to find the way to defeat him at the polls.”

    This is wrong in two ways: first, the Democrats wanted Mueller there to get his report into the record and on TV, gaining a wider audience for an important report that few have read, and to hear from the man himself. Fox News viewers routinely see only misinformation about Mueller and the report. Second, no one on the committees chaired by Nadler and Schiff saw this as a magical Hail Mary to defeat Trump. Neither of those congressmen are on the record saying anything of the kind. They merely want what they feel is important factual material to reach a broader public.

    Second, the Democrats have fielded more than 20 candidates, who all have a platform they are running on. They aren’t secretly hoping or expecting impeachment or criminal charges of Trump. They are fully committed to taking on Trump in the general election.

    ReplyDelete
  9. “With our smaller states increasingly adopting one particular partisan cast, this is creating another fairly obvious system failure.”

    This is puzzling coming from Somerby.

    If he thinks that liberals are placing all their bets on some magical hobbling of Trump and have given up trying to defeat him at the polls, and he spends all his time admonishing liberals to love and understand The Others, then why would he not advise liberals to win the Senate by defeating the Republican Senators at the polls, rather than whining about a supposed “system failure?”

    The giving of two senators to each state *is the way the system was designed*.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is true, but it doesn't mean that the EC method of selecting the President is sacrosanct and cannot be altered or abolished without bringing about the end of the Republic. By he way, fuck the states, the UNION is supreme. 800000 men paid with their lives for the Union

      Delete
    2. I wonder if Somerby will also admit that the drawing of district lines and gerrymandering also represent a system failure? He wasn’t singing that tune a while back (http://dailyhowler.blogspot.com/2018/01/breaking-statistical-pet-peeve.html)

      Delete
  10. To the main point of the post: a simple, humbling, obvious comparison would be to Puerto Rico. People took to the streets to oust an unfit leader. We look to others to save us, wishing for better leaders to magically appear. Our first Reconstruction failed. We need a new Reconstruction and a Third Founding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, Puerto Rico is doing a bang-up job.

      Delete
    2. In certain respects, they are and we can learn from their example.

      Delete
    3. So, when is the March on Washington, Dave? Are you planning it or..

      Delete
    4. Very good. You're getting there (or here). Keep going . . .

      Delete
    5. The only thing I learned from Puerto Ricans is that they'll put up with an unlimited amount of government corruption, but draw the line at mean words.

      Delete
    6. @3:27 PM
      Heh-heh, that's a great observation.

      Delete
    7. Start somewhere. They drew a line.

      Delete
    8. PR is similar to Republicans.
      Republicans will put up with an unlimited amount of government corruption, but draw the line at helping non-whites.

      Delete
  11. Once again, Tucker summarizes it best:

    At the very least, we now know the truth about Robert Mueller, a mysterious prosecutor with unchecked power, revealed at last to be a daft old man blinking in the sunlight once his curtain was torn away. It was a sad coda to the long and ridiculous Russia saga. An absurd story for certain, but not a harmless story, hardly. This years-long charade deeply hurt our country. It corrupted our most sacred institutions, it divided our people.

    But worst of all, it distracted all of us from our real problems, which are legion. Get in the car tomorrow morning and drive five hours in any direction in this country. Stop frequently. Look around. How’s America doing, do you think? Now remember that all the sadness you just saw on your drive – the drug zombies, the homeless people, the payday loan places, the boarded up buildings, all the slow motion disasters unfolding unmistakably around us – all of that has been completely ignored for years, all in favor of some stupid story about Russian spies that never even made sense and didn’t even happen. Our ruling class did that. They did that to you as a distraction. They do not deserve to rule, that much is clear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. what's Tucker so worried about? Hasn't Trump fulfilled his promises so we're now great again?

      Delete
  12. Many of the very same people who are unfortunately suffering voted for the people who made them suffer.
    Trump is not doing anything to help them, although they think so because he makes them feel good about their cultural resentments because that's all they care about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're soooo warm-hearted and perceptive, dear dembot.

      Please go on, tell us more about your deep concern for the misguided unfortunates who stubbornly refuse to join the zombie cult.

      Delete
    2. Mao,
      Surprised you found the time to respond, since you spend most of your waking hours cheering on Trump giving a huge tax break to the Establishment Elites, while gutting the food stamp program designed to help the underclass.

      Delete
  13. The fact were already out, dipshit. The dems are the ones who demanded this circus, and the only thing we learned from it is that the entire investigation was a sham, and the man running it doesn't even know the relevant facts. I would say that's a pretty big failure on the part of the dems.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Rachel Maddow was very pleased with the hearing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. They did a service to the Donald J. Trump 2020 reelection campaign. He'll use it against them ruthlessly. And they deserve it. And as a party member, I think it's pathetic they haven't fought Trump head on concerning more important issues.

    ReplyDelete
  16. That's ridiculous, Cecelia. All Mueller did was testify for 7 hours about how Donald J Chickenshit, Acting President, obstructed justice in multiple instances and committed perjury all in defense of he and his campaign team of liars, beggars and thieves welcoming, encouraging and enabling Russian criminal actions with respect to our National election in 2016.
    From what I hear unanimously from Crazy Towne rightwards is it was a great day for Donald J Chickenshit, Acting President.
    So don't let Maddow kid you,

    ReplyDelete
  17. Addressing the stranger:
    Humor can work.
    Music can work. Willie Nelson's latest album includes this song written by Guy Clark over 30 years ago-- touching and meaningful today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYBaSvR2R0o

    ReplyDelete
  18. Not enough bigotry from Mueller to have Conservatives defend him, I see.
    Ho-hum, Right-wingers support treason against the United States of America. Must be a day of the week.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'm already tired of the reviews about the Mueller hearing.
    When are we going to review which hat Right-wingers will wear the next time Republicans run the country into a ditch (again)?

    ReplyDelete
  20. You know, mm, of the two of you, Maddow has a much better delivery.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Am so excited that my ex husband is back into my life after we had a serious argument which led to him leaving me, my life was a mess without him because he was my source of happiness i tried calling him but he didn't answer my call but everything came to an end after i contacted this genuine and powerful spell caster called DR GREAT who cast a love spell on my ex husband to make him realize how much he loves me and that we are meant to be together forever, since then we have never had a quarrel again and our love for each other has continue to grow each day. contact him now for urgent love spell at infinitylovespell@gmail.com or infinitylovespell@yahoo.com or add him up on WhatsApp +2348118829899 you can also view his website http://infinitylovespell.website2.me/






    Am so excited that my ex husband is back into my life after we had a serious argument which led to him leaving me, my life was a mess without him because he was my source of happiness i tried calling him but he didn't answer my call but everything came to an end after i contacted this genuine and powerful spell caster called DR GREAT who cast a love spell on my ex husband to make him realize how much he loves me and that we are meant to be together forever, since then we have never had a quarrel again and our love for each other has continue to grow each day. contact him now for urgent love spell at infinitylovespell@gmail.com or infinitylovespell@yahoo.com or add him up on WhatsApp +2348118829899 you can also view his website http://infinitylovespell.website2.me/







    Am so excited that my ex husband is back into my life after we had a serious argument which led to him leaving me, my life was a mess without him because he was my source of happiness i tried calling him but he didn't answer my call but everything came to an end after i contacted this genuine and powerful spell caster called DR GREAT who cast a love spell on my ex husband to make him realize how much he loves me and that we are meant to be together forever, since then we have never had a quarrel again and our love for each other has continue to grow each day. contact him now for urgent love spell at infinitylovespell@gmail.com or infinitylovespell@yahoo.com or add him up on WhatsApp +2348118829899 you can also view his website http://infinitylovespell.website2.me/






    Am so excited that my ex husband is back into my life after we had a serious argument which led to him leaving me, my life was a mess without him because he was my source of happiness i tried calling him but he didn't answer my call but everything came to an end after i contacted this genuine and powerful spell caster called DR GREAT who cast a love spell on my ex husband to make him realize how much he loves me and that we are meant to be together forever, since then we have never had a quarrel again and our love for each other has continue to grow each day. contact him now for urgent love spell at infinitylovespell@gmail.com or infinitylovespell@yahoo.com or add him up on WhatsApp +2348118829899 you can also view his website http://infinitylovespell.website2.me/

    ReplyDelete
  22. I am so happy for making the right choice by contacting Dr. Irosi who helped me in getting my ex back by casting a love spell on him. One of the best decision i ever made was contacting Dr. Irosi to help me get my lover back, I was life filled with happiness after i contacted Dr. Irosi because he didn't just bring my lover back to me he also made our love for each other more unique and superb. If you need to spice your relationship with more love and attention contact Dr. Irosi on his Email Address [drirosisolutioncenter@gmail.com], call or whatsapp him via his contact +2348118829771 and be happy just like i am, thanks Dr. Irosi for your great work.  

    ReplyDelete
  23. I want the world to know a great man that is well known as DR Padman ,website: https://padmanspell.com/index-3.htmlhe has the perfect solution to relationship issues and marriage problems. The main reason why i went to DR Padman. was for solution on how i can get my husband back because in recent times i have read some testimonies on the internet which some people has written about DR Padman, and i was so pleased and i decided to seek for assistance, which he did a perfect job by casting a love spell on my husband which made him to come back to me and beg for forgiveness.I will no stop publishing his name on the net because of the good work he is doing. I will drop his contact for the usefulness of those that needs his help.His Email (padmanlovespell@yahoo.com) or his ebsite: https://padmanspell.com/index-3.html Whatsapp +19492293867 https://twitter.com/padman_dr. this great spell caster for your relationship or marriage problem, Once again i am very much grateful to Dr.PADMAN

    ReplyDelete
  24. I Can't still believe that i got cured from Genital Herpes through herbal treatment from Dr Oyagu who I met through the internet, I actually couldn't believe it at first because it sounded impossible to me knowing how far I have gone just to get rid of it. Dr Oyagu send me his medicine which I took as instructed and here I am living a happy life once again, a big thanks to Dr Oyagu, I am sure there are many herbal doctors out there but Dr Oyagu did it for me, contact him oyaguherbalhome@gmail.com , also call or whatsApp him on +2348101755322

    ReplyDelete
  25. LOTTO, lottery,jackpot.
    Hello all my viewers, I am very happy for sharing this great testimonies,The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how I win the lottery euro million mega jackpot. I am a Woman who believe that one day I will win the lottery. finally my dreams came through when I email believelovespelltemple@gmail.com and tell him I need the lottery numbers. I have spend so much money on ticket just to make sure I win. But I never know that winning was so easy until the day I meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, . so I decide to give it a try.I contacted this great Dr Believe and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out I was among winners. I win 30,000 million Dollar. Dr Believe truly you are the best, all thanks to you forever

    ReplyDelete