To what extent are we able to function?

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019

Bernie and Joe, plus Drum:
This is a terrible field.

By any traditional standard, two of the top five candidates are way too old for the job. Another member of the top five is way too young.

Of the remaining two top contenders, one spent several decades saying on official forms that she was an AMERICAN INDIAN. It's hard to believe that she ever could have believed that. It's impossible to avoid the possibility that she did this in hopes of career gain. We'll all be hearing more about this if she's the nominee.

That leaves Candidate Harris. We're somewhat surprised that she hasn't caught on, though she strikes us as tilting toward faux and mirage.

This terrible field is confronting the madness of the ongoing Trump era. The era calls for abnormal insight from national leaders, a bit like that required from Lincoln (see below). We don't see that level of insight anywhere in this field.

How poorly do we function as a people at this point in time? On the most simplistic level, consider this early exchange last night between two of the top three contenders:
STEPHANOPOULOS (9/12/19): Senator Sanders.

SANDERS: Let us be clear, Joe, in the United States of America, we are spending twice as much per capita on health care as the Canadians or any other major country on earth.

BIDEN: This is America.

SANDERS: Yes, but Americans don't want to pay twice as much as other countries, and they guarantee health care to all people. Under my Medicare-for-all proposal, when you don't pay out-of-pocket and you don't pay premiums, maybe you've run into people who love their premiums. I haven't.
Sad. We say that for several reasons.

First, Sanders never remembers to say that we spend two to three times as much per person as compared to other countries whose health care outcomes are as good or better than ours.

He did remember to say that these other countries provide universal coverage. But he never says that those countries' outcomes are at least as good as ours.

This omission probably helps explain Biden's peculiar response. "This is America," the Democratic front-runner said, apparently suggesting that we're spending more because we do it bigger and better than anyone else in the world.

That's an amazingly clueless (apparent) response from the party's front-runner. But this peculiar response is made possible because Sanders always fails to say that other countries get outcomes as good as ours.

Does any of this actually matter? Almost certainly, no. That's because you can't leave a discussion this big to the vagaries of a ten-person "debate" during a White House campaign.

The nation's political, academic and journalistic "elites" have spent decades failing to discuss the remarkable fact which Sanders partially stated.

Why do we spend so much per person as compared to everyone else? Where does all that extra money go? Are we all, red and blue together, being systematically looted in the general area of health care?

Very few people have ever heard a discussion of any such questions. Most people have no idea that we're all being systematically looted in the provision of health care—and you can't expect people to clamor for change on the basis of a few shards of alleged information tossed out in the midst of a ten-person "debate" marked by a thousand-dollar cash give-away plan and a comically awful attack upon Biden's alleged failure of memory.

That exchange between Sanders and Biden ought to be a national embarrassment, but no one is going to view it as such. Reason:

We just aren't especially sharp—and we aren't sharp enough to notice!

Drum is right and wrong: We recommend Kevin Drum's post, "Things Are Pretty Good in America These Days."

We recommend the post because Drum is very right, but also because he's remarkably wrong.

Drum goes through a list of indicators which suggest that American life has been getting much better. "Just about every social indicator you can think of has been moving in a good direction for the past couple of decades," he says.

Drum does note a few exceptions. Along the way, he also explains why we the people tend to think things are getting worse when they're actually getting better.

So far, so basically good. But then we get to the very large problem with the post. This is the way he ends:
DRUM (9/12/19): Nickel summary: Things are generally pretty good in America! Not everything, but most things. We sure don’t act like it, though.

Am I missing anything important here?
Is he missing something important? In our view, yes, he is.

Donald J. Trump is in the White House! This is the leading indicator of a terrible, ongoing dislocation which, absent some type of leadership, won't be going away.

As he departed Springfield, President-elect Lincoln said this:

"I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington."

Mind-boggling death and destruction followed, a fact which Lincoln assessed in the deepest possible way in his Second Inaugural Address.

Our current situation won't likely be going away, and our human skills are extremely limited. This strikes us as a terrible problem, and it may not be going away.

104 comments:

  1. "Of the remaining two top contenders, one spent several decades saying on official forms that she was an AMERICAN INDIAN."

    I have the impression that the fake Indian is the clown who your zombie cult high priests want.

    But of course Creepy Joe is fine too. A bit old, but he'll do. This one knows which side of his bread is buttered.

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    1. Yes. They'll probably nominate the fake Indian to win over the Trump voters, because she wants to hold the Elites accountable, and Trump voters number one concern is obviously the rigged economic system.

      Delete
  2. Perhaps I should read his post first, but it seems he missed a major thing - a rising suicide rate. If things are actually getting better, then why is the suicide rate rising instead of falling? Is that a "Poverty of Affluence" issue? (to name a book I loved back in the 1990s.)

    Another big thing, probably bigger than Trump (who as far as I can tell is not as bad as W. Bush) is an apparent lack of social cohesion. As shown in the online world, we seem to hate each other more. We seem to be increasingly divided and have more people trying to stir up hate. However bad Trump may be, from where I sit, the Trump-haters seem to be just as bad.

    Also as we search for new Kiwanis members to replace those who have died or moved away, they seem to be in short supply. Are people no longer as civic minded? Or do they just have so many people to talk to on their phones that they do not need the social connections a club used to provide? But more and more people are perhaps living in a town where they did not grow up and driving to another town where they also did not grow up, to work. So what do they care about giving back to the community?

    In the parks department where I work, the department head used to be a Lion, the building manager was a Rotarian, the pool manager was also a Lion. The baseball guy did not belong to a club, but always helped out at the track meet for Special Olympics. Now that they have retired or moved, their replacements are not involved in that way.

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    1. Trump is the modern day Hitler. If you can't hate him, your heart is not in the right place. It used to be conversation-ending to mention Hitler but in this case, the comparison is appropriate. Trying to damp down opposition to Trump by singing Kumbaya shouldn't work because it is our moral duty to oppose what Trump says, does and stands for. Peace, love and harmony are not worth our souls, our freedom and the other ideals our nation has stood for, up until now.

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    2. Every membership based organization has lost attendance. That includes scouting, churches, bowling leagues, volunteer organizations of all kinds. Kids are not dating any more. Social media is being blamed but it might be something else. Needs for social interaction are being met without leaving one's house and people may be too lazy to seek out face-to-face interaction (or maybe there are costs associated with it, both financial and social)?

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    3. "We seem to be increasingly divided and have more people trying to stir up hate."

      Well, that's the whole purpose of the liberal zombie cult.

      Their cult is wholly totalitarian: anyone not singing today's mantras (or not singing them enthusiastically enough) is an infidel. And as the dembot above confessed, combating infidels by any and all means is their "moral duty".

      Don't worry too much, though. Their cult is collapsing right before our eyes.

      Delete
  3. “Of the remaining two top contenders, one spent several decades saying on official forms that she was an AMERICAN INDIAN. It's hard to believe that she ever could have believed that. It's impossible to avoid the possibility that she did this in hopes of career gain. We'll all be hearing more about this if she's the nominee.”

    Of course we’ll be hearing about it, because that’s what Republicans want. Bob Somerby certainly seems to like bringing it up often. And he makes no mention of Warren’s policy proposals or her debate performances. His only take on Warren is the Indian nonsense.

    Ironic for the blogger who just yesterday discussed the alleged dumbnification of America to participate in that dumbnification himself.

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    1. This isn't participation in dumbnification; it's a warning about the onslaught of dumbnification. It's not that we'll all be hearing about this issue if Warren is the nominee. It's all we'll be hearing about courtesy of Trump, his supine party, and the press. She'll be inundated by the misogyny and racism given voice and made acceptable by the Republican Party. 40% of voters are already on board.

      Delete
    2. If Warren hadn't given Trump this issue, he would make up another one. Hillary didn't have to do anything to attract Republican noise. Whoever is the candidate will get the same treatment. Did Kerry do anything to deserve Swiftboating? This is what they do now.

      If you think there is any candidate that wouldn't be treated badly, you are wrong. Biden will get the same thing, based on his age or some other random thing he said, or based on his son's dealings with Ukraine (real or imagined, doesn't matter).

      Finding the "perfect" flawless candidate isn't the solution. Defending whichever one we select IS what we have to do. Is Somerby defending Warren? No, he is joining the chorus against her. What liberal does that?

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    3. Somerby repeating Right-wing memes. What is this, a day of the week?

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    4. OK, @10:15A. You’ve got a strong argument, and there’s another one that follows directly: if we preemptively disqualify candidates based on our fear of their flaws, then we could let Trump eliminate our strongest candidate.

      But Trump is in no position to attack Biden on his age, his verbal miscues, or his son. The worst Trump has come up with so far is that Biden is “sleepy.” You’re right, there’s no flawless candidate, but I’m afraid in the “new norm,” a gay white Christian is a stronger bet than any woman, Jew, or person of color. I’d like to think I’m overreacting….

      TDH says

      Donald J. Trump is in the White House! This is the leading indicator of a terrible, ongoing dislocation which, absent some type of leadership, won't be going away.

      Is that what a “conservative” says? There are, to be sure, a few who despair of Trump, enablers all. But Trump is wildly popular in his party. You’re looking at the blog of a jeremiah and expecting him to endorse a candidate.

      That’s not what he does. Now that Gillibrand is gone, there isn’t a Democrat running whom I wouldn’t vote for, but I think TDH is right: not one has demonstrated the leadership to counter Trump. If you’re determined to post that makes me no liberal, I guess that’s your cue.

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    5. Is that what a conservative says? It isn't what a liberal says.

      No liberal thinks Trump won by virtue of leadership. Why should it take leadership to dislodge him? It will take facts and rooting out Russian influence and meddling, and protection of our election system from foreign influence.

      I have no idea what "dislocation" Somerby thinks is happening. Maybe he has joined White Supremacists in predicting a coming race war (civil war) because he thinks the country supports the armed loonies who have been shooting up public places. If so, he will be shocked by how fast the police round them up if they poke their heads out of their bunkers. There is no public support for this activity.

      Maybe he thinks there are so many Trump supporters that failure to re-elect Trump will cause an uprising? He is wrong about that. Those who voted for Trump as a practical joke or out of economic angst have returned to normalcy and want to vote for someone real next time. They realize the joke was on them. That suggests a landslide victory for whoever the Democrats nominate. And the hardcore supporters will whine the way Republicans always do, and we will return to responsible government. Again, if they wave their guns around, they WILL be arrested.

      Maybe Somerby thinks the dislocation is the extreme polarization between Trump supporters and everyone else? That polarization is extreme because Trump is so extreme himself. Once he is removed in disgrace and a normal candidate is selected by Republicans in 2024 (to regain some measure of political legitimacy), the divisions between supporters will go back to historical levels. If the Russians can be prevented from ginning up hate using Social Media, this will happen faster. The problem is irresponsible use of Social Media for illegitimate purposes, not division between Republicans and Democrats.

      As usual, Somerby hints but he doesn't state what he means by dislocation and his reference Abraham Lincoln looks suspiciously like a shout out to the alt-right. How could anyone think this moron (Somerby, not Lincoln) is liberal?

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    6. It isn't what a liberal says.

      You think that liberals don’t say that Trump as President isn’t an indicator of something terribly wrong?

      No liberal thinks Trump won by virtue of leadership. Why should it take leadership to dislodge him? It will take facts and rooting out Russian influence and meddling, and protection of our election system from foreign influence.

      That’s adorable. Really. But it will take leadership of the kind that makes people think that facts matter and that one of those facts is the vulnerability of our election system. 40% of those polled already don’t care about either facts or treason.

      I have no idea what "dislocation" Somerby thinks is happening.

      Really? He talks about it obsessively. It’s the fact that a crazy person is President and the press decides to discuss instead worthless trivia. Nothing to do with race wars and uprisings.

      [H]is reference Abraham Lincoln looks suspiciously like a shout out to the alt-right.

      You think the alt-right is fond of Lincoln? (Psst! It’s Jefferson Davis.)

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    7. Quibble one might, empty though it is, the main point is acute, TDH's post is empty piffle.

      "This is a terrible field."

      Far from it, this field is focused on the best set of policies we have ever seen from a group of presidential candidates.

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    8. "
      [H]is reference Abraham Lincoln looks suspiciously like a shout out to the alt-right.

      You think the alt-right is fond of Lincoln? (Psst! It’s Jefferson Davis.)"

      I don't think the alt-right is fond of Lincoln. I think the alt-right is framing the current situation in our country as a continuation of the Civil War of the 1860s. Somerby talked about a dislocation and then talked about Lincoln, who presided over a similar dislocation. That strikes me as a shout-out to those who are framing today's political upheaval as a fight between those who favor a multicultural society in which minorities have the same rights and privileges as so-called white people and those who wish to keep this a white-majority country in which minorities are tolerated and permitted to pick crops and clean houses. The people framing things that way are on the alt-right. Otherwise, Lincoln seems like a non-sequitur with little relevance to today's social climate.

      It has long puzzled me why Somerby keeps presenting those NAEP gap scores without ever talking about how to improve education and close the gaps. All of his evidence points to the intransigence of the gaps. Then he rejects the things that do have some impact, such as school desegregation, universal pre-school, and other liberal proposals. He prefers the nihilist view that nothing is going to work because no one cares about minority kids.

      Meanwhile, his repeated presentation of the gaps gives support to those who wish to claim that the differences are innate, those who want to argue that minorities cannot do well ever. That leads to the need to defend white society against minorities who are after all both stupid and uneducated. It leads to people like David in Cal who hints that Jews and Asians do well despite being immigrants, so why don't blacks? This is white supremacist crap too.

      So it seems plausible to me that Somerby has an agenda that involves guiding liberals who read this blog toward conclusions that create a favorable climate for the white supremacist policies and actions that Trump plans to take once he has secured the courts and eliminated opposition in Congress (according to Hitler's schedule).

      It is important that ideas like this be opposed in public so that we do not fall into the same acceptance of the unacceptable that Germany experienced in the 1930s. This is part of what "Never Forget" means.

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    9. I think the alt-right is framing the current situation in our country as a continuation of the Civil War of the 1860s.

      That’s what they’ve been doing all right, for about 143 years. Where ya been, Sparky? Of course, they haven’t always called themselves the alt right. The Klan, White Citizens Councils, Segregationists Forever, States Rightists — their names and numbers are legion.

      [Talk about Lincoln] strikes me as a shout-out to those who are framing today's political upheaval as a fight between those who favor a multicultural society in which minorities have the same rights and privileges as so-called white people and those who wish to keep this a white-majority country in which minorities are tolerated and permitted to pick crops and clean houses.

      Could this be any dumber? Lincoln was about reconciliation and forgiveness. You think talk about Lincoln resonates with the second parties you mention above? Could you be any dumber?

      It has long puzzled me why Somerby keeps presenting those NAEP gap scores without ever talking about how to improve education and close the gaps.

      Hmm. Let’s see. Maybe he doesn’t know how to close the gaps?

      [H]e rejects the things that do have some impact, such as school desegregation, universal pre-school, and other liberal proposals. He prefers the nihilist view that nothing is going to work because no one cares about minority kids.

      He hasn’t rejected desegregation. He’s said that with the old definition of segregation (and the current state of the law), desegregation isn’t possible. Do you disagree? Please tell us your plan to “desegregate” El Paso schools.

      Please quote a blog entry in which TDH came out against universal pre-school. His “nihilist” view is that nothing is going to work as long as we don’t acknowledge the state of things.

      Meanwhile, his repeated presentation of the gaps gives support to those who wish to claim that the differences are innate….

      Evidence for said claim, please. Racists don’t need “support” from this blog.

      It leads to people like David in Cal who hints that Jews and Asians do well despite being immigrants, so why don't blacks? This is white supremacist crap too.

      David in Cal is an idiot. He can’t help it. What’s your excuse?

      So it seems plausible to me that Somerby has an agenda that involves guiding liberals who read this blog toward conclusions that create a favorable climate for the white supremacist policies and actions that Trump plans to take once he has secured the courts and eliminated opposition in Congress (according to Hitler's schedule).

      Plausible to you? But you’re an ignoramus. Why would your cogitations carry any weight? Got any better evidence?

      Congrats on going full Godwin, though. Very helpful.

      It is important that ideas like this be opposed in public so that we do not fall into the same acceptance of the unacceptable that Germany experienced in the 1930s. This is part of what "Never Forget" means.

      Too late, Sparky. 40% of the electorate already supports Trump, including his border concentration camps. Which I suppose you’ll blame on a blog nobody reads.

      And “Never Forget” is either a pop song or a reference to 9-11. The phrase you’re reaching for in your brave stance against genocide is “Never Again.” For as poorly as it’s worked, you couldn’t even get that right.

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    10. Never forget refers to lots of atrocities in the past, including the Holocaust. You are correct that it has also been applied to Pearl Harbor and to 9/11. My reference was clear from context. Your inability to take context into account is noted.

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    11. The very fact that I could correct your error shows my ability "to take context into account." It's not that your message was unclear to me; it's just that you can't even get the simple things right. And are unable to admit it.

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  4. At least Elizabeth Warren doesn't wear three button suits!

    Sometimes I'm not so sure Somerby wants to see an end to the trivialization of politics.

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  5. Despite the assurances of Warren and her former employers that her purported ethnicity was not a cause of her advancement, Somerby refuses to believe her or her employers. Despite the good work she has done in public life and the journey she has made from Republican to progressive Democrat, and the public atonement she has made, Somerby cannot or will not see past the Indian thing. Apparently only Bill Clinton and Al Gore deserve to be defended from media and GOP inanity.

    So I will say this:
    Somerby has for decades said that he was a LIBERAL. It’s hard to believe he ever believed that. It’s impossible to avoid the possibility that somewhere along the way, he became a conservative.

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    1. So I will say this:
      Somerby has for decades said that he was a LIBERAL. It’s hard to believe he ever believed that. It’s impossible to avoid the possibility that somewhere along the way, he became a conservative.


      In return, I will say this

      Somerby has for (over two) decades said that the press, including the “liberal" branch, have been lazy, scandal-driven, and blind followers of tribal narrative. It’s impossible to avoid the possibility that somewhere along the way, you stopped weighing the evidence for his stance and just decided that anyone who criticized your side was your enemy.

      You’re pretty much the very kind tribalist TDH decries. Have you thought of abandoning commentary on blogs nobody reads and tried for a job in the liberal press?

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    2. Have you thought about taking your own advice?

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    3. You notice, deadrat, that I did not say (@6:19) that Somerby isn’t a liberal, or that he is conservative. I am illustrating his technique of insinuating something without actually saying it, just as he did about Warren. Of course the possibility exists that he is. Funny how you don’t recognize Somerby’s own technique. Tricked you.

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    4. 10:11A, Why? I pretty much have the same opinion of most of the liberal press as TDH.

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    5. @10:49A (and presumably also @6:19A), that’s some pretty clever argumentation. Ya got me, and is my face red.

      Or not so much.

      Is it hard to believe that Warren actually thought she was an American Indian (or an AMERICAN INDIAN. I don’t know what the difference is)? As she’s apologized for so claiming, I’d have to say she never believed it.

      Is it impossible to avoid the possibility that this was a career move? I think so. Why else would she do it? And if it was a neutral move of no more than informational value, why apologize?

      Now, is it really impossible to believe that TDH ever thought he was a liberal, er LIBERAL?

      But you did trick me.

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    6. Leroy, have you watched none of those DNA testing kit commercials? People take great delight in knowing that they have Nigeria ancestry, for example. They redecorate their homes with Nigerian art, wear African clothing, plan trips to visit Nigeria.

      The small act of checking a box on a handwritten card for the Texas Bar to celebrate her Cherokee grandparents (so she had been told by her parents) seems pretty mild compared to what others do. I am 1/4 Irish and I have been to Dublin and emphasize that small percentage beyond the 1/4 that is English and the 1/2 that is Norwegian. I love Irish music and drink green beer on 3/17. If anyone asks, I tell them I am of Irish descent. It is my right to do that. I don't expect it to get me a job, nor to enhance my career. It bores most people.

      If you can't imagine why she might take interest in being part Cherokee in OK, which is where Cherokees live and have a history, you have an extremely limited ability to empathize with others, and a very cynical view of people. Recall that she was not running for office and didn't use her heritage in any job hunting, as attested by her employers. But your view of whether she is "lying" or not takes precedence over others with knowledge, because you can't imagine caring about your own identity, your people, where you came from?

      Don't join Somerby in the ass parade.

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    7. Sorry, should have addressed this comment to deadrat, but I am not speaking to him any more.

      Delete
    8. The small act of checking a box on a handwritten card for the Texas Bar to celebrate her Cherokee grandparents (so she had been told by her parents) seems pretty mild compared to what others do.

      She doesn’t have Cherokee grandparents. She’s said that conversations with her parents and grandparents led her to believe that she had Cherokee ancestors. The DNA tests show that those would have been 6-10 generations back. Can’t you get even simple facts straight?

      But your view of whether she is "lying" or not takes precedence over others with knowledge, because you can't imagine caring about your own identity, your people, where you came from?

      Warren’s “identity” is not tied up with the Cherokee Nation; the Cherokee Nation are not Warren’s “people,” and she didn’t “come from” the Cherokee Nation. Which is pretty much the point, which has apparently escaped you.

      If you’d been hired by the Harvard Law School, they wouldn’t have hastened to report that they’d hired someone who was 1/4 Irish, 1/4 English, and 1/2 Norwegian. You can’t tell the difference between your particulars and Warren’s. Color me unsurprised.

      Trump tells worse lies with every breath. Doesn’t matter. 40% of the voters support him without a care for facts. Still wanna bet that the current tide of misogyny wouldn’t engulf the person Trump calls Pocahontas?

      ________

      Sorry, should have said this upfront. Please come back. I miss you. My cyberlife is nothing without you.

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    9. Subtlety and context are not within the scope of deadrat's cognitive abilities. Snark and pedantry are deadrat's forte.

      Warren's actions involving her native american ancestry do not bother me, to the extent it bothers anyone would merely indicate the extent to which said person is ridiculous and not worthy of note. Warren is a strong candidate with good policies and rising poll numbers in the dem primary and poll numbers that beat Trump.

      Delete
    10. I'll cop to being rude, snide, boorish, contemptuous and gay, but do you really think my comments aren't apt?

      Let's buckle down here.

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    11. Snark and pedantry are deadrat's forte.

      Fair cop on the style. Any comment on the substance of what I say?

      No?

      Imagine my surprise.

      Warren's actions involving her native american ancestry do not bother me….

      Me either.

      to the extent it bothers anyone would merely indicate the extent to which said person is ridiculous and not worthy of note.

      Yes to ridiculous, but there are a lot of them and they’re worthy of vote. A reliable 40% of the electorate says Gallup.

      Warren is a strong candidate with good policies and rising poll numbers in the dem primary and poll numbers that beat Trump.

      Is she strong enough? I don’t know.

      Good policies. Yep. You know who else had good policies? (Hint: Hillary.)

      Rising dem primary poll numbers: so what?

      Poll numbers that beat Trump. You know who else had good poll numbers? You know who else beat Trump in the popular vote?

      Hold my hand as we skip past the grave yard, whistling.

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    12. Clinton beat Trump but the manipulation of voting in three states swung the Electoral College against her. That manipulation involved Russian meddling in our election. That meddling MUST be addressed but Congress has been ignoring it because Trump (and the Republicans) cannot admit that he didn't win the election and is not the legitimate president.

      The polls were correct about Clinton's popular vote. Bernie and Jill Stein were willing collaborators with those trying to keep Clinton out of office. Voter suppression in MI, WI & PA swung those states to Trump, not increased Trump voting.

      No liberal or Democrat pretends this was a fair election. Trump will go to jail over this. Whether the next election is fair depends on whether Trump colludes with Russia again, not whether Warren ever called herself a Cherokee.

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    13. This is a comforting story you tell yourself. And you could be right: Russian hacking may have changed vote totals in crucial states. And you’re right again that Republicans have and will try their best to block any investigation of the past or any attempt to safeguard elections in the future.

      What voter suppression are you talking about? You can’t count unfair methods that have been ruled legal, like ID requirements.

      The polls weren’t correct about Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

      Whether the next election is fair depends on whether Trump colludes with Russia again, not whether Warren ever called herself a Cherokee.

      And the swift-boat hoax had no effect on Kerry’s campaign. You have a higher opinion of the electorate than I do. I hope you’re right.

      Delete
  6. What astounding drivel, 4:57 and 6:19.

    Bob made no mention of any of the candidates’ policy proposals. He brought up Medicare-for-All as a way to slam Bernie for a point he’s not making, a point which might help Bernie. Bob’s right, Bernie should definitely include the information about outcomes, in countries with universal health care, in his speeches.

    Likewise Bob’s observations on the Pocahontas thing. He said nothing about her policies. He made a political judgment, which I find sound, that “this thing” is going to raise its head again, to take her down a peg or 270. The masses nowadays seem not to normally rally around sound policy, they rally around personality. She can be painted as a liar, and a bad one at that. I thought her claims to be ludicrous myself. C’mon, just look at her, recessive genes be damned!

    I love Warren, and hope that the Republican spin machine isn’t too powerful should she win the primaries.

    I was criticizing two anons here, even though they sound like the same person. Sure is tiresome pointing out a time stamp. Why don’t you, guy(s), get a nym? Don’t be shy.

    Leroy

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    1. This isn't a matter of shyness. It is a matter of internet stalking and doxing. Things can get ugly in cyberspace (see Gamergate for example). Focus on criticizing the ideas that are posted instead of the people and you won't need nyms.

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    2. This is a matter of ignorance. If you choose a unique nym (not a google id) you have no more chance of being cyberstalked than if you had used the common nym Anonymous. It's hard to juggle the Anonymi in threads where more than one person uses Anonymous. If you are afraid of attracting a personal troll like the one I have (and really that's no burden), then simply change your nym at will. All Leroy wants to do is distinguish whom he's talking to.

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    3. Leroy, Somerby has called Warren a “terrible candidate” more than once. Look it up if you don’t believe me.

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    4. Nah 11:13.

      Why don’t you just post the links for me? It would be much easier for me to determine your argument. For example, I recently believed that the Medicare for All plan would attempt to abolish private health insurance. Even the New York Times said so! But I looked at the legislation, as it was written. It does no such thing. See 107(b).

      LINK

      If Bob actually wrote “Warren is a terrible candidate”, I would only agree with him to the extent that a Warren Presidency would remove a very effective Senator from the Senate.

      He’s making a political judgment, not a personal hatey one. I may be wrong, but you didn’t post any links, so I guess I’ll never know.

      Leroy

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    5. BTW, in kindness to our local anonymi (and myself), I didn't realize that you could select NAME/URL in the "Reply as:" dropdown, and type in anything you want. I think deadrat or Cmike may have explained that to me, but if it wasn't one of them, I apologize to the teacher of that lesson.

      Leroy

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    6. "This is a terrible field."

      TDH applies this phrase to Warren et al, but it could just as well be applied to the commenters with nyms.

      deadrat has no troll, he is merely among the cadre of disliked commenters.

      Delete
    7. Yeah? How about the Anonymi Ignorami? You don’t think they’re by and large terrible commenters? Of course, you are one, Anonymous, I mean.

      Thanks at least for knowing what a troll is.

      Your claim that I am among the disliked here isn’t new, but it’s always puzzled me when I see it. Am I disliked? By whom? You?

      Did you take a poll? (If so, I hope you didn’t forget the spell casters and the Mumbai movers.)

      Does being disliked mean I’m wrong?

      And why post this conclusion? Did you think it would make me cry? Have I given any indication that I care about the opinions of the ignorant who post as Anonymous, those who are too uncaring or scared to distinguish themselves from the pack or too stupid to understand that a unique nym poses no danger?

      Delete
  7. "It's impossible to avoid the possibility that she did this in hopes of career gain."

    First, academic search committees are not permitted to take a person's race or ethnicity into consideration during a hiring decision (age, religion, disability, gender are similarly excluded). However, universities do keep track of demographics in order to see whether their attempts at outreach during searches are effective. That's why they ask hirees what their background is, after they have been hired. That is when Warren supplied info about being part Cherokee.

    Politifact says she made no mention of Indian background during her political campaigns. She stopped being listed as a minority law professor (no mention of what minority) in 1994. So this appears to be something she did early in her life, while living in Texas, before she entered politics.

    This is not anything anyone cares about except to attack Warren. Why would Somerby, a supposed liberal, work so hard to discredit Warren? It is possible he is being too loyal to Bernie (who is too old to run), but it is more likely he is once again carrying water for the Republicans.

    https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/dec/01/facts-behind-elizabeth-warren-and-her-native-ameri/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Somerby cares about it because his goal is to attack liberals and to act as a useful idiot for Trump, or rather since he lacks the audience to be truly useful, as a 'useless idiot' for Trump

      Delete
  8. There are numerous differences in American culture that feed into the health care disparities. They include:

    1. This is a capitalist country without much regulation of health care or pharmaceutical companies.

    2. We regard health care as an individual responsibility not a right of citizenship much less a birth right.

    3. We initially developed a system in which employers provided health care as a benefit but are evolving to a gig economy where neither pension nor health care is provided. This is not true in other countries, especially those disrupted by WWII and having to deal with the famine and health consequences (war related disabilities, disease) after the war. The war was not fought in the USA on our territory except in Hawaii, so we do not have the same health needs and did not revamp our health care system after WWII as other Allied nations did.

    4. Our belief in individual freedom means that we permit people to consume food, alcohol, drugs with less control and constraint than other countries. We rely on advertising instead of regulation.

    5. Consumption is viewed as a character issue so we do not provide treatment for alcoholism, tobacco-related illness and similar lifestyle-caused disease except through our paid health care system. There is no public health safety net for this stuff.

    6. We believe that mentally ill people have the right to their symptoms and we permit them to refuse treatment, including medication that might enable them to life close to normal lives. We have no reasonable community-based treatment facilities for mentally ill people outside the health care system so those who are homeless over-use emergency rooms with chronic disease they are too mentally ill to manage themselves. Mentally ill people are given no subsistence that permits them to manage other health conditions.

    7. Because people have the "freedom" to choose their own providers and order their own health care menu-style, there are incentives for the capitalist health care system to provide unnecessary costly procedures that have little proven benefit. Examples are caesarian births, repeated knee replacements, cosmetic surgeries, stents and back surgery with little empirical efficacy at providing relief, alternative medical practices with public demand but no scientific backing.

    8. Because the health care system operates in a free market, there is no standard of care and no requirement that providers adhere to standards about what works and what does not. That permits fraud and abuse of patients, especially with regard to diseases with difficult prognosis or no known cure: cancer, arthritis & skin disorders, immune diseases, back problems, psychiatric disorders (autism), and so on. This is a consequence of lack of control of providers combined with demand-driven medicine and participation by fraudulent providers.

    9. When consumers drive the market, there is considerable pressure on doctors to do things that patients demand whether they are effective or not, such as prescription of antibiotics for flu, pain killers upon demand, etc.

    10. American expectations may be different than those of other cultures. For example, attitudes about pain vary considerably -- other cultures expect pain in their lives, consider analgesia to be for children and are willing to tolerate more discomfort. Similar differences in how much people will tolerate symptoms leads to over-treatment of things that people live with in other countries. Agining is an example. Old age brings aches and pains. Americans won't accept that because they expect to stay young forever. That drives a lot of therapies and surgery to look and feel young. Whereas age is revered and respected in other cultures.

    This should give even Somerby some idea about why costs are different here, above and beyond his simplistic view that people are being bilked by someone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @7:48 is that you DiC? Is this me?

      11. With a for-profit system and a powerless consumer, why not suck them dry?

      FTFY

      Delete
    2. Consumers have the same ability to choose among different providers as they have in any industry. I see that choice as part of the problem. You seem to suggest that being powerless is the problem. A powerless consumer in a non-profit system doesn't seem like an improvement. You switch taxes for direct payments and the people are sucked dry via the government. Do you have more than slogans to suggest?

      Delete
  9. Drum wrote: "Just about every social indicator you can think of has been moving in a good direction for the past couple of decades..." Bob asserts that Drum overlooked the fact that Trump is in the White House. But, the facts contradict Bob's comment. Most of these indicators have improved particularly rapidly since Trump was elected. E.g., since Trump took office, 6.2 million Americans became no longer poor enough to qualify for food stamps.

    Those who think Trump is essentially the Devil will never appreciate Trump. But, all those whose lives have improved since he was elected will appreciate him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a liar you are.

      Delete
    2. You're right, @9:00 PM. Trump actually took 6.6 million out of food stamp eligible poverty.

      Number of Americans on Food Stamps Falls 6.6 Million Since Trump Took Office
      https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/kharen-martinez-murcia/number-americans-food-stamps-falls-66-million-trump-took-office

      Delete
    3. Trump is hardly responsible for decades of change. Most of the indicators have decreased since Trump took office. The ones that haven't were well in place before he arrived and have continued despite Trump's best efforts to drag them down.

      If Trump changed the eligibility to throw people off Food Stamps, that isn't a decrease in poverty. It is a weakening of the safety net.

      Delete


    4. Lately, though, the Trump administration has recommended against waivers and many states have decided not to reapply for them.



      “The numbers of people on SNAP have been coming down at sharper rates in states without waivers,” Vollinger said. “So it’s a more complex picture than an improving economy.”


      David is a treasonous bastard and a morally bankrupt trump cultist. The sun never shines now without David the Fool praising trump for his magnificent beneficence on humanity.

      Delete
    5. Work force participation is at a near all time low, so in reality employment indicators are not good.

      The indicators that are improving are on the same trend line going back to 2010, none have improved more rapidly under Trump.

      Trump has tightened food stamps requirements, which means Trump has not brought people out of poverty, it means he has kicked poor people off of food stamps, and he is proposing to kick even more off. That said, if David bothered to look at trends, he would see that food stamp usage peaked as a result of the Republican recession in 2008 and has been following the same rate of decline since 2012.


      Delete
    6. 4:42,
      The mythical Trump voter, who isn't a bigot and is really concerned about the rigged economy, must be pissed Trump did that while giving corporations (who were sitting on piles of cash) a huge tax break.

      Delete
  10. "That leaves Candidate Harris. We're somewhat surprised that she hasn't caught on, though she strikes us as tilting toward faux and mirage."

    Somerby cannot conceive of any female candidate as a viable choice. Kamala Harris has a track record as AG of California that includes accomplishments that are neither faux nor mirage. Somerby should appreciate her willingness to address truancy by charging parents in order to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. She is actively working to close that achievement gap that Somerby pretends to care about, in his faux and miragey way.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "Our current situation won't likely be going away"

    If Somerby truly thinks this, he should be addressing the things that put us into this mess: (1) interference by Russia in both voting and social media, (2) interference by Comey, and (3) Russian meddling in campaigns via money laundering and NRA funding, PAC donations, small donor contributions, (4) manipulation of the Electoral College.

    These are the things that put someone like Trump into office. The popular vote was strongly against him. The American people rejected Trump. That rejection is even stronger today, judging by polls and recent elections of Republicans in Red districts and defections from the Republican party and resignations of long time Republican congressmen.

    But Somerby never mentions any of this. Why not? It is what a liberal would be talking about. Instead, he seems bent on convincing us that Trump's re-election is inevitable. Who benefits from that? Not liberals. Not the American people. Russia maybe. Republicans certainly. Trump?

    Somerby is not what he pretends. He can invoke Lincoln all he wants but it doesn't change the FACT that Trump is going to jail and Americans were never for him in sufficient numbers to elect him, and the divisions are healing already as more and more people recognize the filth that occupies the White House.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Does any one else here resent the way Somerby invokes revered figures to support his own sour and ugly pronouncements. Somerby trivializes the sacrifice of those who fought and died when he makes a great man like Lincoln into his own personal martyr. He needs to take his grimy fingers off our great men of history, including MLK and Gandhi and Aristotle for that matter.

      Delete
    2. I, for one, resent the faux outrage of a commenter like you, who can’t or won’t read for comprehension. TDH doesn’t invoke Lincoln as his “personal martyr” or the Civil War as a metaphor for his own life. His views may be dyspeptic, but he predicts great trouble for our society. In this he may be right or wrong, accurate or hyperbolic, but that’s as may be.

      And what’s this “our great men of history”? Who gave you ownership of great men across history and continents?

      ~~~

      I’m just kidding, Sparky. I’m not invested enough in the prattle of Anonymous wankers to work up resentment. Comment away.

      Delete
    3. You don't know whether my outrage is faux or real.

      With all the nyms to choose from, who would choose to be called "Deadrat"?

      Somerby evokes these people to lend gravitas to his own grumblings. Those people wouldn't stand near Somerby on a podium, wouldn't read this blog, wouldn't have anything to do with him. Associating himself with them after their death, when they cannot object, is a deliberate insult to them and to our intelligence. (You can, of course, choose not to be offended.) Your comprehension apparently varies from that of others here. That probably isn't your fault, but I could be wrong.

      Don't call me Sparky. I have chosen the "nym" Anonymous and you should respect that choice. It says as much about me as your choice, Deadrat, says about you.

      Nice of you to give me permission to comment, when I am going to do it anyway. Make you feel powerful to do that? Just like labeling people Sparky makes you feel big and strong? Do you realize how pathetic these comments make you seem?

      Delete
    4. You don't know whether my outrage is faux or real.

      You’re right, I don’t. Call it an educated guess. Also, it allowed me to parody your ridiculous comment.

      With all the nyms to choose from, who would choose to be called "Deadrat”?

      The initial letter isn’t capitalized. I’ve been using the nym for over 45 years, and I think you’re the first person to ask about it. (Obviously, not in cyberspace for over 45 years, but in other situations when I found it useful to mask my identity in an obvious and non-fraudulent way.) It’s origin story is a mundane and private joke. I won’t document it here. I suppose you’re gonna draw some conclusions about my psychology. How reliable do you think those will be?

      Somerby evokes these people to lend gravitas to his own grumblings.

      Just as you evoke them to complain about TDH’s evocations. So what?

      Those people wouldn't stand near Somerby on a podium, wouldn't read this blog, wouldn't have anything to do with him.

      You know what Aristotle would have done? Impressive. Aristotle propounded a lot of nonsense, so I think he’d stand near you with no problem. And nobody much reads this blog.

      Associating himself with them after their death, when they cannot object, is a deliberate insult to them and to our intelligence.

      Really? Why isn’t it flattery to want to be associated with them? And is your intelligence really insulted by a blog nobody reads? OK, if you say so.

      (You can, of course, choose not to be offended.)

      The indeterminate second person, I presume, but you might take your own advice here.

      Your comprehension apparently varies from that of others here. That probably isn't your fault, but I could be wrong.

      My opinions differ from some of those who post here. Is that a bad thing? I don’t understand how fault is involved.

      Don't call me Sparky. I have chosen the "nym" Anonymous and you should respect that choice.

      Sorry, no. I wouldn’t call you any name that disparages your physical person, but I have no reason to respect a choice that makes threads here difficult to follow and for no good reason.

      It says as much about me as your choice, Deadrat, says about you.

      Again, no initial cap. Your choice says you don’t care to make exchanges here easier, possibly because you don’t understand how the ID system works. What do you think my nym says about me? Nothing you could know with any reliability.

      Nice of you to give me permission to comment, when I am going to do it anyway. Make you feel powerful to do that?

      Good heavens! It’s a figure of speech. I just meant something like I’m looking forward to making fun of more of your nonsensical comments. Do you believe that I think I have the power to grant or withhold permission to post? How could that even work?

      Just like labeling people Sparky makes you feel big and strong?

      Big and strong? By writing comments on a blog nobody reads? No. It’s just a rhetorical device to express my contempt for your argument.

      Do you realize how pathetic these comments make you seem?

      Where’s the self-awareness fairy when you need her?

      Delete
    5. "It’s origin story is a mundane and private joke. I won’t document it here. I suppose you’re gonna draw some conclusions about my psychology. How reliable do you think those will be?"

      The interesting part isn't the origin story for your nym, but that you have continued to use it for so long. There is a psychological goldmine in the fact of someone using such an ugly name for such a long time. You do seem to delight in your own ugliness. And you think you have revealed nothing!

      And then you tell other trolls that they should do better trolling! You make yourself ridiculous.

      You deny feeling strong by bullying others here, then talk about your own contempt. You have no self-awareness whatsoever.

      That is entirely consistent with the dark triad shared by internet trolls: Machiavellianism, sociopathy and narcissism. And to top it off, you cannot resist the chance to talk about yourself, to gloat over imagined verbal victories. You are naked to the public and you wouldn't like the way others see you -- not congruent at all with your view of yourself.

      Time to go away, deadrat.

      Delete
    6. There is a psychological goldmine in the fact of someone using such an ugly name for such a long time. You do seem to delight in your own ugliness. And you think you have revealed nothing!

      That’s a ratsist comment. I suppose you believe the slander that rats were responsible for the Black Death. It was the fleas, I tell you.

      Look, I know I’m a thoroughly disagreeable person online. And, trust me, I’m even worse in person. I call people ignorant when they don’t know things they should know. I’m openly contemptuous of bad reasoning. But I don’t attack others for their presumed physical characteristics. I’ve been called a fag in this commentariat, something I consider far uglier than anything I’ve ever posted.

      (Uglier in intent, anyway. It’s derogatory slang for a homosexual. I know it’s meant to be insulting, but why is it? It’s like calling me left-handed)

      But being undiplomatic doesn’t make me a troll. Trolls say provocative things unmoored from argumentation just to get a rise out of people. Mao with his constant “dembot” thing is a troll. I respond to commenters’ arguments. You may judge me on the wrong side of those arguments, but that doesn’t make me a troll.

      I’m not a bully, either. Bullies require some kind of power and willingness to use that power to silence people. I have no more power here than any other commenter and no ability to silence people.

      And to top it off, you cannot resist the chance to talk about yourself, to gloat over imagined verbal victories.

      Really? What do you know about me from all my talking about myself? You might know my claimed age within a few years and my claimed state of residence. Do you know how many times I’ve been married? Do you know how many children I have? Do you know where I went to school and what degrees I have? Where I have worked, and where I work now? Where I go to church?

      I’m the guy who thinks personal cyber-claims are worthless evidence of anything. I also think my personal details are boring. But go ahead and tell me what you think you know.

      I also think that if you have to declare yourself the victor in an argument, then you’re not. So I don’t “gloat” in this forum. In private, sure. But you can’t see that.

      You are naked to the public

      A horrible mental image, to be sure.

      and you wouldn't like the way others see you

      There are a few people in this world whose good opinion means something to me. None of them posts here. I don’t give a shit about the rest or what you claim to see.

      -- not congruent at all with your view of yourself.

      And how would you know that?

      Time to go away, deadrat.

      Why is that? Will it make you feel better about your inability to present a cogent argument?

      Delete
    7. 9:31 you make a good point.

      deadrat suffers from Asperger Syndrome or some such similar thing, pay him and his empty nonsense no heed.

      Delete
    8. I am also known as the 'Desert Diva'.

      I cut my bananas across with a knife, because it then exhibits a representation of the Crucifixion and I constantly masturbate to Eric Estrada.

      Let's get real clear about that first and foremost.

      Delete
    9. Asperger Syndrome. An obsolete term, now subsumed into the autism spectrum. Used by people who think "retarded" would be an appropriate epithet for someone they disagree with.

      Delete
  12. Somerby says "This is a terrible field"

    If we needed any more evidence that Somerby is no liberal, this is it. There is someone to like in this field for anyone with left-leaning views.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now that Gillibrand is gone, I can find something to like in all of them. I think TDH means not one of them is up to the job of defeating Trump. On my darker days, I agree with him.

      Delete
    2. Certainly, since TDH spends all his time defending Trump, he would believe that none of them is up to the task of defeating Trump. And TDH clearly wants Trump to win, so he can bitch about Election 2000 for the rest of his miserable existence.

      Delete
    3. Polls show they all beat Trump.

      Delete
  13. For those of you, like Leroy and deadrat, who think Somerby is simply pointing out a danger for Warren in the American Indian thing:
    1) it is a trivial issue that has been ginned up by the media and the GOP, and it should not be used to throw her on the trash heap
    2) the same thing could have been said about Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky or the Jennifer Flowers bs, and it was indeed used by the media and the GOP to try to discredit him. But instead of calling Clinton terrible, or questioning his morals or judgment , Somerby said the press and the GOP were wrong to depict it as they did and that it should have stayed a private matter, and he went massively to bat defending Clinton from what he saw as mistreatment over trivial matters. His unwillingness to do that with Warren shows a completely different approach. He has called her a “terrible candidate” more than once. He never called Bill a terrible candidate, despite the affairs and rumors of affairs. (And for the record, I thought Somerby was right about this at the time). In my view, Warren is not terrible, and Somerby is wrong. Apparently his definition of terrible is “a candidate that has a flaw according to the GOP.”

    When did Somerby’s blog change from defending against press bs to finding fault with “our” candidates?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TDH has been about attacking liberals, defending Trump and Roy Moore for a while. No surprise there, Somerby is a Trumptard now.

      Delete
  14. To those without reading comprehension:

    I did not say that Somerby isn’t a liberal. Nor did I say that he is conservative. I used Somerby’s technique of insinuating without actually saying something. (“It’s impossible to avoid the possibility that Somerby is a conservative.”) Of course the possibility exists that Somerby is a conservative, so you can’t avoid that the * possibility* exists.

    See how that works? You guys don’t like it when Somerby’s technique is used on him.

    Tricked you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You did trick me, for one. Well played!

      I should have gotten your criticism of TDH's technique, but it's not your technique I don't like. I don't think your analogy is apt.

      Delete
    2. "I don't think your analogy is apt."

      The rest of us do.

      Delete
    3. The rest of you, Sparky? Didja take a poll and find that "apt" won? Didja think that made you right?

      Delete
  15. @Leroy and @deadrat:
    Does it not occur to you that Somerby is essentially calling Warren a liar, when he insinuates that she gained some advantage from calling herself an Indian? Or to put it the way Somerby does, it’s “hard to believe she didn’t”, even though she and her employers say she did not. Somerby will not let it rest there. He will continue to give credence to conservative and media complaints about Warren, instead of taking her at her word and moving on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Does it not occur to you that Somerby is essentially calling Warren a liar….

      No, because I not about to fall for the Ray Comfort bullshit of “If you’ve ever told a lie, that makes you a liar.”

      Warren told a small lie. For the purposes of the EEO racial categories, Warren wasn’t a Native American, and she claimed she was. She’s admitted that this was a mistake and apologized for it. I don’t think it’s a big deal, Indians don’t seem to think it’s a big deal, but if she’s the nominee that’s all we’ll hear about from the Republicans and their enablers in the press, buoyed by the tide of misogyny and racism that’s the new norm.

      TDH is trying to sound the alarm, but you just think we should all just be “moving on.” Good luck with that.

      I hope 10:15A is right. I just doubt it.

      Delete
    2. Get your facts straight. Somerby called Harris a liar. She is faux (e.g., false). Why? Because she supports equal pay for women (as do nearly all liberal candidates, especially those who are female). It doesn't take much to be labeled faux in Somerby's world. But Deadrat doesn't think this Indian stuff is an accusation of lying. Republicans take this a step further and claim that because Warren called herself an Indian, she believes in the one-drop rule of racial classification (something used to decide whether a black person might be black under Jim Crow laws).

      TDH doesn't like any of the female candidates, because one drop of taint makes them unsuitable as candidates, unable to win -- he is sounding that alarm. Never mind that Bernie had hundreds of FEC violations and didn't care whether his donations came from Russian money laundering or not, that he took NRA money, that he treated women unfairly on his own campaign, that he never backed Hillary sufficiently during the general election. Republicans might talk about Warren's DNA test, so she is out. And Harris is just too faux for words.

      Delete
    3. TDH isn't trying to sound the alarm, he just wants to attack all the Dem candidates because he is a Trumptard.

      Delete
    4. But Deadrat doesn't think this Indian stuff is an accusation of lying.

      It’s an accusation of telling a fib, a small and objectively inconsequential untruth. It’s not an accusation of being a liar. No one tells 100% of the truth 100% of the time. Liars are habitual.

      Republicans take this a step further and claim that because Warren called herself an Indian, she believes in the one-drop rule of racial classification….

      Indeed they do. In about a dozen words, like the ones you state above. How many do you think it will take me to explain that the accusation is bullshit. 25?, 35? Do you think you can do it in fewer? I doubt it.

      Do you have a clue about the problem yet?

      Delete
  16. Democrats have repeatedly rejected Biden as a presidential candidate. Why would they accept him now, when it is critical that Trump be ousted?

    Polls are suggesting Biden would be an effective candidate largely because of name recognition and nostalgia for Obama. But Biden doesn't have the chops to win the nomination, just as he didn't during past primaries. He will drop out when a new frontrunner emerges.

    Somerby is making a preemptive strike against Warren. Over on his blog, Kevin Drum has done the same against Kamala Harris. Portraying women as "terrible candidates" without evaluating their programs is a giveaway that motives for disqualifying them have little to do with their accomplishments or their policy or their ideas. They are prima facie "terrible" and they are not being taken seriously by these male bloggers who think it is self-evident why they cannot succeed, no evaluation necessary.

    I am sick of this crap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course not, 4:01P, but a majority of voters in the last election wanted as President one woman, very much not an idiot.

      Delete
  17. There has been a lot of coverage of what happens to our health care $, including by the NYT (whose columnist wrote a book about it)

    But Somerby doesn't really care about health care. His main goal is to attack liberals, defend Trump and the likes of Roy Moore, like the Trumptard that he is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Troll better, please. We deserve it.

      Delete
    2. Elisabeth Rosenthal, NYT health care columnist covered health care costs in the US in several columns and wrote a book about it. So the topic has been covered.

      Somerby's goal though is to attack liberals, and act as a 'useless idiot' for Trump, so he will naturally ignore that.

      Delete
    3. Amusing that you don't find Mao (who attacks liberals continuously) a troll, but find someone who criticizes Somerby's attacks on liberals a troll.

      Delete
    4. You mean me, @6:34P? What makes you think I don't find Mao a troll? He's a self-admitted troll. In fact, I call him our Village Troll.

      I don't mind commenters taking the blog owner to task when he's wrong. I, myself do that. But anybody who claims that TDH defends Trump or Roy Moore is either a troll or an idiot. I'd hate to think that DinC is catching.

      Delete
    5. Roy Moore was blamed for his behavior with young teens, aged 14, well below the age of consent. The media ALSO reported his behavior with "barely legal" teens aged 18-20. Somerby reviewed Moore's activities with those barely legal teens, criticizing the media for reporting them, while ignoring his concurrent behavior with the underage girls. Someone less familiar with Moore's misbehavior might believe that defending his actions with barely legal girls as "legal" even if not entirely normative exonerated Moore and showed a witch hunt by the media. By ignoring the accusations about those 14 year old girls, Somerby presented Moore as a victim of media persecution. So, Somerby defended Moore by leaving out, ignoring the ONLY behaviors that anyone considered illegal. The behavior with the 18-20 year olds was mentioned because it supports the allegations about the underage girls, not because those behaviors themselves were illegal. Somerby argued that they were OK because at least one of the mothers approved the dating of her 19 year old daughter (nothing about the other moms), but that requires ignoring the norms that were in place at the time, that would consider even that to be cradle robbing and not normative, abnormal, creepy, even if legal because the girl herself was of age and could make her own decisions about dating Moore.

      So, yes, TDH did defend Roy Moore. He did it by misdirection and omission of the actual misbehavior that Moore was being accused of.

      Delete
    6. I realize that TDH routinely includes a pro forma statement that Trump is horrible and that he is mentally ill and the press should be saying so (which is idiotic). Then he goes on to attack those who are trying to expose Trump's actions, those who are running against him, those who are trying to remove him from office, those investigating his crimes, and liberals in general. He concurrently supports Trump's supporters (The Other), attacks anyone with more education than himself and quite a few with the same kind of degree, journalists, professors, and anyone who writes a book about (a) philosophy, or (b) physics, or (c) anthropology.

      Not only does Somerby attack those who are working to remove Trump, but he attacks anyone who believes that sexism, racism, bigotry against immigrants, greed, cronyism, and so on, are wrong. He repeats Republican memes (often on the same day they are being circulated elsewhere), routinely mocks Democrats and liberals, and advances conservative defenses of Trump and Republican wrongdoing.

      The occasional remark that Trump is mentally ill doesn't outweigh the negative things he says every day about those who oppose Trump. When you attack the enemies of someone in office, it is the same as supporting that officeholder. That is what TDH has been doing every day in this blog.

      Deadrat says that TDH has not been supporting Trump because he never comes out and says "I support Trump." There are other ways to support Trump and Somerby has been using them way beyond the limits of coincidence or purity of media. Somerby is The Other but he is representing himself as liberal. That is a lie that needs to be exposed because subversion from within is part of Russian interference and meddling on the internet. Somerby's job is to sow confusion on the left. Deadrat is his little helper.

      Delete
    7. anonymous@11:32

      Well said. One should add that Somerby almost never comments on Fox News or the right wing media and their attacks on liberals.

      The charitable interpretation is that Somerby is a 'useful idiot' for Trump. More likely, Somerby just wants Dems to lose, so he can bitch about Election 2000 for the next 19 years ..

      Delete
    8. Hello world,
      So I'm grateful to the great doctor Ehi for helping me with a very powerful spell to get the lottery winning numbers. I won the lottery of SIX HUNDRED AND TEN THOUSAND USDOLLARS ($610,000) a weeks ago in a jackpot from 7 lottery play. The first thing I bought was a brand new car with all the features I never dreamed I'd have. From there, I manifested my perfect dream home and I am living the best life. I really don't know how to express myself right now for I am overwhelmed with joy. I want to appreciate doctor Ehi for his loyalty and magical works. It exists only in the right hands and with it everything is possible... He is also good in love spells, healing spells, pregnancy spells, and other spells. If you need any of this spell you can get in touch with him. Google Mail:- ehitemple@gmail.com, whatsApp Messenger Number:- +19723839289 May God bless you all.

      Delete
    9. Somerby reviewed Moore's activities with those barely legal teens, criticizing the media for reporting them, while ignoring his concurrent behavior with the underage girls.

      Your writing is so confused that it’s hard to tell from this sentence what the ”while ignoring” clause modifies, “the media” or “Somerby.” The following sentence reveals that it’s the latter.

      You have told a lie. You should probably stop doing that.

      In fact, TDH did criticize the media for concentrating on Moore’s legal activities, and he excoriated the media for ignoring the accusations from underage girls, including an allegation of sexual assault that TDH described as credible.

      So TDH did not ignore the accusations from underage girls, but you made the accusation that he did anyway. That’s contemptible on your part.

      TDH argues that legal activity, even activity that violates the “norms” of bluenoses like you, isn’t the media’s business. He doesn’t argue that Moore’s dating 19-year olds is “OK”; he argues that such 19-year olds are adult women whom we grant agency over their sex lives.

      Contrary to your absurd claim, legal behavior is not evidence of illegal behavior. If that were true, having a drink on a Monday during which you don’t drive would be evidence of drunk driving on Tuesday, when you did drive.

      If you found yourself “misdirected” by TDH, then the fault is yours. TDH did not neglect the accusations of Moore’s actual misbehavior.

      Delete
    10. It’s too bad the stupid doesn’t hurt. Of course, that would put 6:06P in agony.

      TDH doesn’t comment on Fox news and the rest of the right-wing clan because that’s not what he does. If you want read criticism of fascists, find another one of the plentiful sites that do that.

      TDH criticizes “our” side when he sees “us” slipping into Fox News mode. In this he may be on point or off, mostly right or entirely wrong, but he’s not here to tell you how bad the “Other” is. That’s pretty much evident. He wants to warn “us” when “we” act like them.

      You’re like a guy in a poker game who stands up and yells, “Bingo!”

      Delete
    11. When you attack the enemies of someone in office, it is the same as supporting that officeholder.

      Thank you, Comrade, for wholeheartedly supporting the Party Line. Your name has been mentioned with favor in dispatches to the Central Committee.

      Delete
    12. I looked up those articles about Moore. Somerby blames the cable news pundits for not focusing on the 14 year olds, but then he himself spends all his time defending Moore on his pursuit of the 17 to 19 year olds, while complaining that the pundits focused all their attention on that behavior, not the alleged attacks.

      I suspect that there is legal liability or jeopardy involved in talking about crimes of which Moore had already been charged whereas talking about his behavior with young women who were half his age was OK because the behavior was creepy but not illegal.

      But the press focus on the "dating" of 17-19 year olds instead of the 14 year olds doesn't make it OK for Somerby to argue that Moore is being railroaded because it is OK to stalk and "date" and aggressively pursue such young women when you are 32+ and an Assistant DA and they are high school students.

      Somerby did argue that Moore was being maliciously targeted and Somerby did defend Moore on that behavior. He left the alleged attacks on the 14 year old to the courts, as did the press figures he criticized.

      Somerby's assertion that it is OK for an adult male to stalk a 17 year old if her mother approves of it was particularly egregious, as I said at the time. It is part of the reason why I believe that Somerby has major problems with when it comes to women and women's issues. When children must approach mall security and ask them to intervene because they are being annoyed by a grown man (Moore), that is misbehavior on his part and Somerby shouldn't be alleging that Moore was being somehow persecuted by the press for reporting that stuff. Somerby should be ashamed to have written so extensively on the wrongs that Moore suffered -- a literate Trump wouldn't have been as active in Moore's defense as Somerby was.

      Delete
    13. Pssttt...deadrat ain't nuthin'but chit, and neither are any of his comments.

      Delete
    14. You’re lying.

      Here’s TDH on 12/5/17 quoting Lawrence O’Donnell saying

      When Roy Moore was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney, he was reportedly constantly trying to date teenage girls who were at least 14 years younger than he was, and one who was only 14 years old.

      And when he was 38 years old, Roy Moore actually succeeded in marrying a woman who was 14 years younger.


      And TDH comments: “Lawrence didn't mention the fact that Moore stood accused of assaulting two teenage girls. He seemed to be more upset by the fact that Moore had dated teenage girls—and that he'd even married someone fourteen years younger!”

      and

      “Might we mention something else? Moore stands credibly accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl, and of violently attacking a second girl who was 16. “

      You say

      I looked up those articles about Moore. Somerby blames the cable news pundits for not focusing on the 14 year olds, but then he himself spends all his time defending Moore on his pursuit of the 17 to 19 year olds, while complaining that the pundits focused all their attention on that behavior, not the alleged attacks.

      TDH never “defends” Moore. His entire focus is on the reporting, which itself focuses 1) on Moore “trying to date” a 14 year old, while not mentioning sexual assaults on underage girls and 2) on Moore marrying a 24 year old woman when he was 38.

      You say

      Somerby's assertion that it is OK for an adult male to stalk a 17 year old if her mother approves of it.

      You’re lying.

      The woman whose mother approved of her dating Moore was Gloria Deason. Moore dated her in 1979, the year she turned 19. She was an adult in 1979, not a minor. And it could hardly have been stalking if Ms Deason agreed to the dates and her mother knew about them.

      Stop lying about this.

      Delete
    15. I've been reading this blog for a good many years and I've never seen Somerby even intimate that conservatives are fascists.

      Frankly, Deadrat, that lack of hyperbole is what enrages your anonymous friend here.

      You can try to convince him that the blogger truly sees conservative Republicans as being that, yet sticks to warding off his own from the side of Mussolini, however as quick and engaging as you are, he ain't buying it.

      And for good reason.

      Delete
    16. There are two things that animate the Anonymi Ignorami here. The first is TDH’s preaching that in spite of all evidence to the contrary, Republicans are caring human beings and shouldn’t be tarred with the broad brush. The second is TDH’s focus on what he sees as the tribal sins of the liberal side.

      Delete
    17. The main thing that animates Anonymous comment here is Somerby's assertion that he is liberal while simultaneously repeating Republican memes and talking points. I am one of several anonymous commenters here who talks about this. I don't care whether Somerby repeats the obvious statement that Republicans are caring human beings (they do love their dogs and children) but I do dislike the conservative term "tribal" and I find Somerby's attribution of so-called sins to the liberal side to be repetition of Republican smears.

      Delete
    18. "TDH doesn’t comment on Fox news and the rest of the right-wing clan because that’s not what he does.'

      Exactly, because he is a Trumptard, a 'useless idiot' for Trump.

      Delete
    19. I find Somerby's attribution of so-called sins to the liberal side to be repetition of Republican smears.

      Then you don’t know what a Republican smear is. Here are a few: Democrats

      are communists
      hate America
      want to confiscate all firearms
      want to destroy Social Security
      exploit black people for political gain
      are soft on crime
      want open borders
      etc.
      ad infinitum
      et nauseam.

      These aren’t lies because Republicans say them. They’re lies because they’re untrue. (In fact, it’s likely the other way around, that Republicans say them because they’re lies, lies that they think give them an electoral boost. And in that, history says they’re right.)

      When TDH says Republicans are caring human beings, he isn’t talking about pets or progeny. He means they aren’t all vile racists. Now my concern is not so much the caring part. I think Republicans walk amongst us as human, but they’re another species altogether. The kind that either cheers locking up small children without their parents in concentration camps, denies the obvious evidence that this is happening, or doesn't think it's a moral problem.

      Now that’s just me disagreeing with TDH. But at least I don’t think my disagreement makes him a Republican.

      Do liberals act tribally? Just looking at the comments from Anonymous members of this commentariat, including yours, I’d say so. Now, in that, I may be right, wrong, or somewhere in between. But that may be determined by evidence, not by simply declaring that it’s a Republican talking point.

      Delete
  18. Hello world,
    So I'm grateful to the great doctor Ehi for helping me with a very powerful spell to get the lottery winning numbers. I won the lottery of SIX HUNDRED AND TEN THOUSAND USDOLLARS ($610,000) a weeks ago in a jackpot from 7 lottery play. The first thing I bought was a brand new car with all the features I never dreamed I'd have. From there, I manifested my perfect dream home and I am living the best life. I really don't know how to express myself right now for I am overwhelmed with joy. I want to appreciate doctor Ehi for his loyalty and magical works. It exists only in the right hands and with it everything is possible... He is also good in love spells, healing spells, pregnancy spells, and other spells. If you need any of this spell you can get in touch with him. Google Mail:- ehitemple@gmail.com, whatsApp Messenger Number:- +19723839289 May God bless you all.

    ReplyDelete
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