HEART(S) OF DUMBNESS: Potts reports from Arkansas!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2019

Hess from San Francisco:
Monica Potts has taken a journey up a long, winding river into the heart of dumbness.

It's even worse than that! For the past twenty years, Potts has been "living on the East Coast, most recently in the Washington area." She reports this fact in the essay which appeared on the front page of the Sunday Review in yesterday's New York Times.

Just for the record, Monica Potts is a good, decent person. From 2010 through 2014, she was a senior writer at the American Prospect, producing longform journalism. Since September 2014, she has been a fellow at New America, formerly the New America Foundation, a well-funded, self-admiring think tank which, in 2013, produced one of the slipperiest books about public schools of the entire "education reform" era.

We don't intend any of this as a criticism of Potts. Some of her past writing has been highly praised. Some of her writing has produced aggressive criticism from people more woke than she.

By any sensible standard, Potts seems to be a thoroughly decent person. But yesterday, the New York Times gave her one of its most valuable weekly platforms to describe her continuing trip into the heart of dumbness.

You see, although Potts has been living in Washington, D.C., she grew up in Clinton, Arkansas, a small town in rural Van Buren County.

Potts left Clinton to go to college; she graduated from Bryn Mawr in 2002. But two years ago, she returned to her home town. She describes this turn of events early in Sunday's essay:
POTTS (10/6/19): I returned to Van Buren County at the end of 2017 after 20 years living on the East Coast, most recently in the Washington area, because I’m writing a book about Clinton, Van Buren’s county seat. My partner and I knew it would be a challenge: The county is very remote, very religious and full of Trump voters, and we suspected we’d stand out because of our political beliefs.
The county "is full of Trump voters," Potts reports, finding a slightly unusual way to state an unsurprising fact. It's also "very religious," making the place a challenge.

In its author identity line, the Times describes the book Pots is writing: "Monica Potts is working on a book about the low-income women of her home town." Because the town is very small, there may or may not be an enormous number of such people, depending on how you keep score.

According to Census Bureau estimates
, Clinton's population was roughly 2,700 as of 2017. Its median household income was $34,764—well below the national figure of $57,632.

In those same estimates, 22.9% of Clinton residents were said to be living below the federal poverty line. The figure was 19.6% for Van Buren County (population, roughly 16,000) as a whole.

These poverty rates were higher than the national figure of 14.6%. That said, the cost of living would be lower than average in Van Buren County. For most purposes, it's hard to make sensible nationwide comparisons on the basis of a single official "poverty" standard.

At any rate, Potts is back in a town which is "full of Trump voters." Inevitably, the town turns out to be the heart of dumbness, a fact Potts conveys fairly clearly at the start of her front-page report.

How dumb are the people in Clinton? The people in Clinton are dumb! For starters, the Times has placed the following headline on the essay Potts provided:
In the Land of Self-Defeat
What a fight over the local library in my hometown in rural Arkansas taught me about my neighbors’ go-it-alone mythology—and Donald Trump’s unbeatable appeal.
Potts' essay is coming to us from "the land of self-defeat," where people work from their "mythology!" Potts learned these things from a fight about the local library in Clinton—a fight she describes in her piece.

To her credit, Potts seems to note the implausibility of this undertaking at one point in her essay. Still, in just the third paragraph of her essay, she starts explaining how dumb These People are, along with other rural Americans like them.

She spells it out like this:
POTTS: ...In 2016, shortly after Mr. Trump’s victory, Katherine J. Cramer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, summed up the attitudes she observed after years of studying rural Americans: “The way these folks described the world to me, their basic concern was that people like them, in places like theirs, were overlooked and disrespected,” she wrote in Vox, explaining that her subjects considered “racial minorities on welfare” as well as “lazy urban professionals” working desk jobs to be undeserving of state and federal dollars. People like my neighbors hate that the government is spending money on those who don’t look like them and don’t live like them—but what I’ve learned since I came home is that they remain opposed even when they themselves stand to benefit.
Needless to say, the people in Clinton have it in for racial minorities on welfare. But according to Potts, they're so dumb that they even oppose federal spending when they themselves stand to gain!

Sadly, they're even dumber than that. Here, let Potts explain:
POTTS: Since coming back, I’ve realized that it is true that people here think life here has taken a turn for the worse. What’s also true, though, is that many here seem determined to get rid of the last institutions trying to help them, to keep people with educations out, and to retreat from community life and concentrate on taking care of themselves and their own families. It’s an attitude that is against taxes, immigrants and government, but also against helping your neighbor.
These People! They're so dumb that they won't even cooperate with "the last institutions trying to help them!" And it sounds like they're remarkably venal too. They're opposed to taxes, immigrants and government—but they even stand opposed to "helping your neighbor!"

Potts never quite explains what that unpleasant claim means. But so it may go when people like Potts try to go home again.

Concerning the people of Clinton and/or Van Buren County, we'll quickly give them this. If "their basic concern" is that "people like them, in places like theirs, are overlooked and disrespected," we'll say that yesterday's essay suggests that they aren't always crazily wrong in the things they think and suspect.

We'll examine the logic of Potts' specific critique as the week proceeds. For now, suffice it to say that Potts builds her remarkable act of denigration around a question of pay for the local librarian:

In this low-income locale, the librarian ended up getting paid $19 per hour. Potts believes the figure should have been more like 25.

For our money, the tone of Potts' essay makes her rediscovered fellow citizens seem like giants of perception. That said, how dumb are the people in Clinton?

We're going to guess that there's plenty of room for improvement!

That tends to be true of all us humans, possibly including Potts herself and even the glorious Times. As a general matter, we're all stumbling along, seeing through a shot glass darkly, hampered by the inevitable shortcomings known as the human condition.

Few organizations put our shortcomings on display with more frequency than the Times. We think the paper has done it again by publishing Potts' essay and by giving it such prominent display.

In truth, we thought Potts' essay was itself perhaps a bit less than fully insightful, with a possible undertone of The Ugly. Then too, there was the profile by Amanda Hess which was the featured piece in yesterday's New York Times magazine.

While Potts had ventured to darkest Arkansas, Hess had gone to upper-end San Francisco, where she met with one of Rachel Maddow's legion of fans. She also quoted Molly Jong-Fast, a name-brand Maddow fan, imaginably in New York City.

Potts' journey to Clinton got the featured spot in the Sunday Review. Hess' trip to the Golden Gate received the corresponding placement in the Sunday magazine.

That said, here's our question:

Is it possible that Hess had journeyed upstream to a heart of dumbness too? To us, it almost seemed, reading her essay, that the answer could be yes.

We'll explore these two essays, and the populations they discuss, over the next few days. That said, is Clinton, Arkansas really "the land of self-defeat?"

Before we enjoy that idea too much, let's spend some time among our own set, possibly in upper-end Gotham, definitely out by the bay.

Tomorrow: Brilliance-by-the-bay

56 comments:

  1. There is a difference between calling people "dumb" and calling their actions "self-defeating." Somerby uses the word "dumb" a lot. Potts doesn't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello everyone. I was heartbroken because i had very small penis, not nice to satisfy a woman, i had so many relationship called off because of my situation, i have used so many product which i found online but none could offer me the help i searched for. i saw some few comments about this specialist called Dr OLU and decided to email him on drolusolutionhome@gmail.com
      so I decided to give his herbal product a try. i emailed him and he got back to me, he gave me some comforting words with his herbal pills for Penis t, Enlargement Within 5 day of it, i began to feel the enlargement of my penis, ” and now it just 2 weeks of using his products my penis is about 10 inches longer and am so happy..feel free to contact DR OLU on(drolusolutionhome@gmail.com)or whatsapp him on this number +2348140654426  























      Delete
  2. Jeez, Bob. What a dumb, smug zombie cult you belong to; it's un-fucking-believable.

    You'd think you already know, seen it all, nothing could surprise you -- and yet it keeps coming, and it still surprises. Oh well.

    Oh yeah, by the way, I found a nice cartoon for you, dear Bob. Enjoy:
    Kamikaze Attack

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hard not to agree that a community that won't fund a library is shooting itself in the foot. But the whole back story about the expensive new library building and the perceived excess spending during a shale oil boom, isn't really about Southern self-defeat but about what happens during boom and bust periods in small towns. Potts might have related her town's plight back to the nation's foolish austerity measures of 2009, but that might have taken more research. Potts never demonstrates that self-defeat is a wider phenomenon than just her town's momentary adjustment to changing financial conditions.

    Somerby is way too defensive about any perceived criticism of Southern-ness. He includes a stupid dig at Potts for interviewing and writing in depth about poor women in Clinton without presumably interviewing the whole South. But this column today is mainly just a pretext for criticizing Maddow and her new book (which Somerby will never read but will no doubt trash).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Somerby used to not blame authors for the stupid headlines put on their articles by the NY Times staff. That is apparently out the window these days. The article is about reluctance to fund anything via taxes in Clinton, and it explains why, but it is not really about self-defeat and it isn't a characterization of Southern people, since it is about a temporary situation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everything except attacking liberals, and defending the likes of Trump, Ron Johnson and Roy Moore is out at TDH these days,.

      Delete
  5. “Inevitably, the town turns out to be the heart of dumbness, a fact Potts conveys fairly clearly at the start of her front-page report.”

    First off, Potts probably knows the people of Clinton, AR, a bit better than Somerby, since she grew up there and has moved back there.

    Somerby’s thesis is that Democrats have shown contempt for the residents of rural Van Buren County, Arkansas, and therefore those residents will never vote for a Democrat. That is a blinkered view to ascribe to these people for a couple of reasons:

    1. It is illogical to reject an idea out of hand just because it comes from a Democrat. But that is what the residents of Clinton are apparently doing. It is irrational, and self-defeating, or “they remain opposed even when they themselves stand to benefit”, as Potts argues. Somerby wants to claim that Potts is calling these people dumb, but by deflecting it this way, he fails to deal with the truth or falsity of her actual claim. Small towns and rural counties are dying, and the residents would rather cling to their political resentments than enact policies that might turn things around.
    2. There is a serious conflation of national with local politics going on here. It was amusing to read this: “Ms. Hamilton, the Facebook commenter, told me that the voters fixed the county’s problems by electing Republicans to countywide offices in 2018.” The problems have not been fixed, needless to say. The downward spiral will continue. But the main irony is that Arkansas was heavily democratic up until quite recently. The previous governor, whose second term ended in 2015, was a popular Democrat, and he carried Van Buren County. The residents of Clinton think that their friends and neighbors who run as Democrats for local city and county offices are merely clones of national Democrats, like Pelosi or what have you. This couldn’t be further from the truth, but again, self-defeating tribalism leads to outright rejection of decent candidates with decent ideas.

    These residents are basically saying: They won’t raise local property taxes because “they believe every tax dollar spent now is wasteful and foolish and they will have to pay for it later.”

    A final note, about the Ms Hamilton, the Republican, mentioned above:
    “She commutes each week to work in the Midland-Odessa area of Texas.”

    That takes some serious dough. (You’d have to fly. It’s hundreds of miles away.) She opposes raising taxes and paying that librarian more while she herself benefits from the low taxes in Van Buren County.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It does seem dumb to watch your city and county disintegrate just to own the libs. Just sayin’.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Governments at all levels are over-committed. Federal fiscal problems are glaring, with a trillion dollar deficit. And, worse than that, there is an unfunded liability for federal pensions, retiree health, Social Security and Medicare of $210 trillion! This staggering amount is hard to believe, but it represents money that will be paid out. It will eat up federal money that we might wish could be used for other purposes.

    Local and state government deficits are mostly in the form of under-funded employee pensions. The under-funding has two components: acknowledged under-funding and the impact of unrealistically optimistic actuarial assumptions.

    Bottom line: The Times article is naive in failing to worry about affordability. We better get used to battles over government spending priorities and over the need to economize. That's our future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cities wouldn't struggle to provide basic services if businesses and rich people paid their fair share in taxes.

      That so-called unfunded liability consists of compensation owed to workers in the form of pensions, and social security that workers paid into during their lifetimes and thus are owed, and health care, which should be a right of all citizens. These aren't frivolous things nor are they charity, due to the participation of workers during their employment. If municipalities aren't sufficiently well-managed to raise taxes to cover their liabilities, there is no reason why the workers should take the loss. Deficits are a sign of mismanagement.

      Conservatives who wish to evade their responsibilities need to be forced to chip in their fair share. That hasn't happened in a long time, which is why governments are having these problems. Affordability isn't the problem. It is that our representatives are bought off by the rich and thus not forcing them to pay their fair share.

      Delete
    2. Anon @5:32 - how much do you think one's fair share is? I could possibly still get consulting jobs if I
      sought them out. My consulting earnings would be taxed at around 63%. Is that too little?

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. David, are you rich or a corporation? Why 63%? If you are counting a reduction in social security due to earnings as a "tax" that is a deception. No rich person or corporation pays 63% under most circumstances. If you made $82 million (Ivanka and Jarod's earnings in the White House) and you had to pay 63% in tax, you would have $31.1 million left to live on. That should be achievable and think how much good the money would do others! If it decreased their will to seek graft and collude with other countries, that would be to the public good too. Win win all around.

      Delete
    5. My consulting earnings would be taxed at around 63%. Is that too little?

      That depends. How much would you be left with as your after-tax income for the year?

      And while we're on the subject. Some people work, in large part, for the satisfaction or the status a job gives them. Most people are working for the take home pay.

      This whole libertarian mindset of, "I don't care what intangible benefits I would derive from working or how much money I'd be taking home or how much profit my employer is realizing from the work I'm doing, I'm only willing to work if the tax rate I'd be subject to is at a percentage that sounds right to me based on my general(/arbitrary) principles," is a mindset derived from, what's the word of the day? Oh yeah, "dumbness".

      Delete
    6. I am counting federal and state income tax and the self-employment tax. For self-employed people, that latter tax takes the place of Social Security and Medicare. I am not counting reduction in SS due to earnings.

      CMike - I am not choosing to earn additional money by consulting, so the Treasury gets nothing. Very high tax rates encourage people to avoid paying taxes one way or another.

      Delete
    7. Yes, self employed people now pay 15.3% in social security taxes. That's still a long way from 63%. To push your tax rate up to 63% you'd have to have other income that puts you in the top income tax bracket.

      It is probably not true that the Treasury gets nothing. I might even argue that society is better off because you are not working. Instead of hiring you as a consultant that company will presumably hire somebody else. Somebody who really needs the job, who needs the money. That person can then support their family.

      Then the Treasury collects taxes from them too.

      Delete
    8. Good points, Dr. T. However, I had been consulting in Bermuda, and paying full US and California income tax on my earnings. The person who replaced me is not an American, so he pays nothing to the US Treasury.

      Delete
    9. You're right David in Cal, Dr. T. made some good points. About that somebody else who would have to be hired so you could avoid any further obligations being added to what's all ready permanently stuck in your craw, so what if she didn't pay anything to the US Treasury?

      She's a worker who needs the money- someone with whom, if not you, most of the rest of us are in solidarity. As for taxes, no doubt she will be paying them, if not to the US Treasury then to some other government's treasury as part of the price for civilization in its jurisdiction. Everyone's a winner.

      Delete
    10. "Everyone's a winner."

      Lol. Thanks for the laugh, dembot. Yes, if 'everyone' means 'useless government bureaucrats'.

      It never stops to amaze me how liberal zombies are conditioned to looove taxes.

      The strongest evidence yet that every human quality that they may have possessed originally is long gone.

      Or are they just conditioned to bullshit and virtue-signal, while hating shitty taxes just like any human?

      Tsk. Conundrum...

      Delete
    11. CMike - Yes, I was focused more on America's problems. When we are forced to cut education or medical care, I will derive only a bit of satisfaction from knowing that tax money is going to other countries.

      BTW - Although your point is generally valid, in my case the person who replaced me lived in Bermuda and pays no income tax.

      Delete
    12. Death and taxes are as certain in Bermuda as elsewhere. Bermuda is a protectorate of the UK however its central government, which is independent in domestic affairs, collects about 16%* of the island's GDP in taxes.

      From what I can tell about 80% of those revenues are generated directly or indirectly from Bermuda's residents through payroll taxes, land taxes, customs duties, and stamp duties [LINK]. The remainder comes from fees that target tourists.
      _____________
      * The US central government collects about 17% of GDP in taxes [LINK]. Of course in the US, local and state governments collect nearly that much in additional taxes.

      Delete
    13. I can't speak to what zombies do or don't looove. However, in the matter of taxes, here's a grown-up view about how to feel about them. LINK

      Delete
    14. Oh, you have watch a youtube video to find out how you feel about taxes? It figures.

      It wouldn't surprise me if your cult 'educates' you a-la A Clockwork Orange...

      Delete
    15. Mao thinks he's some sort of original thinker.

      Delete
    16. You really believe disliking taxes is original thinking? Is this what that video says?

      You need to get out more.

      Delete
    17. Great job here Mao! I was starting to think your reductio ad Hitlerum bits were the only parts of the script they were sending you anymore.

      Delete
    18. Mao is neither original or a thinker. Mao is a standard issue piece of shit Republican, who gets a hard-on over the Establishment.

      Delete
    19. Tsk. Interesting. No matter how the conversation started and what it was about - taxes, education, current events - it always ends the same: completely unintelligible dembot word-salad. Like a fuse gets blown.

      Delete
    20. David in Cal,
      We know, as a Conservative, you hate the United States of America (hence the full-throated support of treason, etc), but we don't need to hear you humble-rag the richest nation in the history of mankind.
      I recall this same type of humble-ragging at the millennium, only to have Conservatives turn around and find $3 Trillion to blow on defense contractors with ties to the George W. Bush Administration.
      We may not need to kill off all Conservatives (that's up for debate), but we definitely need to stop listening to their nonsense.

      Delete
  8. But not nearly as dumb as someone like you who shows up every day to condemn as TDH as "The Other" on the basis of a disagreement you don't understand.

    Here's how much of a "Trumptard" TDH is. Last Friday he called Trump a flounder (i.e., a bottom feeder) and wrote, "Nothing Trump does won't be crazy."

    ReplyDelete
  9. It might be important to note that Arkansas, under its previous Democratic governor, took advantage of the ACA to expand coverage under Medicaid. That provided insurance to over 250,000 people who otherwise would not have had coverage. Close to 1 million people in the state benefit from Medicaid, somewhere under 25% of the population. You can probably guess that a fair percentage of Van Buren county residents are benefiting from this. And they are almost all white. This has also helped keep rural hospitals from closing their doors.

    The current Republican governor actually fought to maintain expanded Medicaid, but has enacted work-requirements that have reduced the numbers eligible. These requirements are currently being challenged in court.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You have previously called this commenter a troll. Why are you now feeding him/her?

    Also, this commenter isn’t disagreeing with Somerby, but rather calling him a fraud, an assertion that isn’t refuted by your quoting of something Somerby said last Friday.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bob,
    I have commented here before that those who vote for Trump are either racist or stupid. e.g. DinC and Mao.
    Thanks for confirming my belief.
    I assume you did not vote for Clinton.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Somerby making one comment attacking Trump and 99 attacking liberals or repeating right wing talking points, or lying or showing he doesn't understand percentages doesn't change him into a non Trumptard. It make shim 99% a Trumptard, which is > 95%, so statistically he is a Trumptard.

    ReplyDelete
  13. And to add -- it is important to point out for those who don't realize it that Somerby is not a liberal and when he speaks of his tribe, he is speaking of the tribe of Trumptards.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Deadrat, just because Somerby routinely writes a pro forma statement saying that Trump is probably crazy, doesn't mean he isn't defending Trump and repeating right wing memes and attacks on liberals. That is 99% of his content, and that single statement about what an awful person Trump is, doesn't fool anyone who reads the rest of his scribbling.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Trump's policies have been extraordinarily good for black Americans. So, I don't think it was racist or stupid to vote for him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Trump's policies have been extraordinarily good for black Americans"

      That should be Trump's 2020 campaign slogan. Can you imagine? The Senate would impeach him before the first Republican primary.

      Delete
  16. Interesting that there are so many Trump voters in Van Buren. Way back in 1992, Mr. Clinton took 52% of the vote and again in 1996. Gore lost the county, but got a respectable 45%. Now Hillary gets a mere 21%. Why?

    Hillary is their former first lady. I might think it is because she ran for the Senate in New York, but I also observed 2008. In 2008, Obama did better than Kerry almost everywhere - except Arkansas. The obvious reason being that Arkansas Democrats were not happy about Obama defeating Hillary in the primary. And yet Obama did better in Arkansas even in 2012 than Hillary did 4 years later. Curious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "And yet Obama did better in Arkansas even in 2012 than Hillary did 4 years later. Curious."

      What's so surprising here? 'Hope', 'change' - people tend to believe vague, ostensibly well-meaning promises. They believe, and they get fooled again and again, for decades, by globalist zombie clowns.

      Until they stop believing them.

      Delete
    2. Mao,
      Trump gave Putin a huge birthday present yesterday with our troop withdrawal from Syria. What did you get Putin?

      Delete
    3. Ah, The Dark Lord Putin, The God of dembots and zombies.

      Always on the dembot's 'mind'. What sacrifice did you bring to His Altar, dembot?

      Delete
    4. The other day I heard someone say they couldn't believe Republicans are so supportive of Trump's treason. I immediately called them a demote zombie for not believing something so obviously true by definition.
      Thanks Mao.

      Delete
    5. "What sacrifice did you bring to His Altar, dembot?"

      I told Putin Trump loved the Establishment more than he loved the birthday boy. Putin called our meeting short and said he had something important to take care of.
      Next thing you know, the US was withdrawing from Syria.

      Delete
  17. So many Anonymous Ignoramuses, so little time.

    Not 10:59,

    I called 10:59A a troll? When was this? Trolls are in it to provoke and disrupt. Mao is a (self-admitted) troll. But I think 10:59A is just as likely to be someone who’s angry at TDH and not coherent enough to write valid criticism.

    TDH criticizes liberals as a soi disant liberal. I think we can say that accusing TDH of making a fraudulent claim to be a liberal is to disagree with him that he is what he claims to be, dontchathink?

    “Trumptards” (10:59’s word) don’t say that Trump is sleazy and insane. TDH does. So what do you think that makes TDH?

    Non Trumptard (but Liberal Tribalist), you say,
    “Somerby making one comment attacking Trump and 99 attacking liberals or repeating right wing talking points… doesn’t change him into a non Trumptard.”

    TDH consistently calls Trump dangerous and insane, so it’s not one comment. Things that a rightwinger says aren’t wrong because a rightwinger says them; they’re wrong because they’re factually incorrect. I think TDH says things about liberals that are right and things about liberals that are wrong. Not only can I distinguish the two, I know why he’s wrong on the latter. Why don’t you practice gaining this little skill? I know it’s harder than reflex tribalism. Try anyway.

    (And you need to get out more if you want to hear real right-wing talking points.)

    Anonymous @5:38P,

    True, saying Trump is crazy doesn’t automatically mean one isn’t defending Trump. You could admire crazy, for instance. But it’s not what actual feral Trumpers say. 99% of what TDH writes is critical of liberals because that’s what this blog is about — criticizing liberals when they don’t live up to liberal ideals. That not what rightwingers do: they hate liberals and their ideals.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Bob is concern trolling liberals by advising them to fight with one hand tied behind their backs.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Centrist Non Trumptard.October 7, 2019 at 9:36 PM

    '99% of what TDH writes is critical of liberals because that’s what this blog is about — criticizing liberals when they don’t live up to liberal ideals.'

    The blog was supposed to be about media criticism. And given that Somerby attacks liberal ideals pretty much all the time, it's hard to believe that he cares about it.

    FWIW, when it comes to tribalism, I am actually pretty centrist, and don't even consider myself a liberal. But I am an anti-Trumper, and when TDH lies profusely (as he did in his comments about Johnson), when he demonstrates 'low IQ' (in his gripes about NYT's use of percentages), when he gallantly defends Trump and concern trolls libs, then he is clearly a defacto Trumptard.

    Somerby is a Trumptard, and I agre with anon 9:08, he concern trolls liberals and wants them to lose, that's why he gallantly defends Roy Moore and Trump.

    ReplyDelete
  20. '“Trumptards” (10:59’s word) don’t say that Trump is sleazy and insane. TDH does. So what do you think that makes TDH?'

    It makes him a would-be fifth columnist who pretends to be a liberal while being actually a Trumptard.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Centrist Non Trumptard sez, “The blog was supposed to be about media criticism.”

    Well, it’s subtitled, “musings on the mainstream ‘press corps’ and the american discourse,” but it’s always been a scold about corporatist media shortcomings, especially if the reporters are favored by liberals.

    You continue,

    it's hard to believe that he [TDH] cares about it [liberal ideals?].

    What’s hard to know is what TDH really cares about. Why don’t we stick to his claims?

    FWIW, when it comes to tribalism, I am actually pretty centrist, and don't even consider myself a liberal. But I am an anti-Trumper…..

    Good on you, but you don’t have to be a liberal to be tribal. You just need to pick a side and abide by two rules:

    1. My friend’s enemy is my enemy too.
    2. My enemy’s friend is my enemy too.

    What lies did TDH tell about Johnson? All he said was that Johnson claims he doesn’t trust the FBI and the CIA. Now Johnson actually did say that, but that’s incidental to the larger group he says he doesn’t trust — anyone in the Obama administration. That’s the first place TDH goes wrong. TDH also criticizes Todd by interrupting Johnson, but Johnson, like all Republicans, is talking the script of the day, which Todd is trying to get past. That’s the second thing TDH has wrong.

    So that’s why I think TDH’s blog entry was off kilter. But you know only two things:

    1. Todd is your friend in that he’s down on Trump. TDH criticizes Todd, fairly or not, so TDH is your friend’s enemy. Thus TDH is your enemy too.

    2. Johnson is your enemy in that he defends Trump. TDH sides with Johnson, at least in as far as saying it’s not nuts to distrust the FBI and the CIA. So TDH is your enemy’s friend; thus TDH is your enemy too.

    See? Tribal.

    TDH never defends Trump, and he has never defended Moore. It's time to PU|SU.

    ReplyDelete
  22. People are quite frequently fairly different than what they claim to be, huzzah! Being excessive literal and ignoring context often lead to bad assessments, but can be a handy tool for those that do not argue in good faith.

    Somerby's party trick is to trash Republican's character but defend their actions. Hitler was terrible but he got the trains to run on time. Fanboys can defend such statements but they are just counting how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ron Johnson repeatedly funded security agencies and various laws that give them power. He is clearly lying when he says that he does not trust them -- he is only trying to defend Trump. Also, he was spouting conspiracy theories on Todd's show. Somerby skips over this, demonstrating his Trumptardism.

    Somerby defends Johnson. He defends Moore. He defends Trump. And deadrodent indulges in sophistry claiming this is not really a defense,

    I used to wonder whether Somerby was clueless, a liar or a Trumptard. I've decided to split the baby -- Somerby is a clueless, lying Trumptard.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I want to share a testimony of how Dr.Osemuhau herbal mixture cream saves me from shame and disgrace, my penis was a big problem to me as the size was really so embarrassing,and i was also having weak erection problem. I can't make love to my wife and my penis was just too small a full grown man like me having 4 inches penis and to worsen it i don't last in sex i cant even last two minutes it was really a thing of shame to me. My wife was really tired of me because my sex life was very poor,she never enjoyed sex,i was always thinking and searching for solutions everywhere until when i saw a testimony of how Dr.Osemuhau herbal mixture cream have been helping people regarding their sex life, so i decided to give him a try and to my greatest surprise in less than one week of taking the herbs my penis grow to 8 inches i couldn't believe my eyes and as i speak now my penis is now 8 inches and i do not have week erection again. I can make love to my wife longer in bed. And my marriage is now stable,my wife now enjoy me very well in bed. can contact him drosemuhau@gmail.com {) or call or what-apps him through +2348168714427

    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