SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2024
President Lincoln's bet: Perhaps he was able to see where the culture would go!
Whatever the explanation might be, President Lincoln chose to state his gamble in the form of a question—in the form of a test:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers [sic] brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men [sic] are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
Could some such nation "long endure?" Speaking at Gettysburg, President Lincoln was willing to bet that it could.
Today we're engaged in another internal war. Across the sea, a different president—the (presumably) sociopathic Putin—is betting that Lincoln was wrong.
No one should know any better than Putin that empires don't tend to endure.
Our own nation was never exactly an empire. Today, though, it's a giant continental enterprise.
It encompasses many different regions and their varying culture zones. It includes many "identity" groups, none of which are "wrong."
The Soviet Union also encompassed many "identities." As a younger Putin sat and watched, that union came undone.
President Putin is betting today that President Lincoln was wrong. It's entirely possible that Putin is right. We'll work from this framework next week as we list the various players involved in the drama as the immediate endgame approaches.
According to experts, the problem here is simple. "We the people"—we the humans—aren't wired for this sort of work!
Our own view goes something like this:
"If history has taught us anything," it may have taught us that.
Full disclosure: We stumbled upon these musings today as we watched the first hour of the ridiculous propaganda show known as Fox & Friends Weekend. This morning, the highly paid friends in question were these:
Fox friends, Saturday morning
Rachel Campos-Duffy
Will Cain
Charlie Hurt
Fuller disclosure! The problem extends beyond that undisguised propaganda show and beyond those three "cable news" friends.
It even extends beyond the channel which airs that baldly ridiculous program. It extends all the way over to Us!
On balance, we Blues aren't wired for this sort of work either. We've proved it again and again.
Immigrants, indigenous people, black people, women are created equal too. Russia is much more homogeneous than the USA and not founded on the same principles. Blue tribe members are as wired for this as anyone else and additionally are usually taught to value diversity. So what is Somerby moaning about today, when he ought to be discussing the dangers of electing a demented sociopath?
ReplyDeleteAnonymouse 10:01am, when Bob discusses the dangers of Trump getting elected, you then launch into pulling your hair out over a song or literary work he has referenced.
DeleteYou are the demented psychopath of your fever dreams.
11;43,
DeleteWhat's with the Right, and their obsession with putting rapists in Executive and Judicial positions?
Oops, unless JD Vance's couch consented, I should have included Legislative, as well.
DeleteSomerby was busy complaining about blue tribes genes (aka wiring).
DeleteAnonymouse 12:54pm, saying you a weird frame of mind or some wires crossed is not about genetics. It’s saying that you’re not especially reasonable. In the case of anonymices, Bob is putting it mildly.
DeleteWhen scientists talk about something being hard-wired, they are saying it is genetic, not learned. This arises from the widespread use of computers as a metaphor for brain functioning arising in the 1970s among neuroscientists. Somerby didn't say anyone had "wires crossed" which refers to the metaphor of telephone switchboard connections. He said we blue tribe members are not wired for democracy. He is saying people are, by birth, not equipped to make democracy work. He has said this several times before and made it clear what he means.
DeleteIt is incorrect that humanity in general cannot make democracy work, when we as a species invented democracy (and all of the theorizing accompanying it) and have already made it work in our nation. It can be argued the Greeks made it work in ancient Greece too. That a democracy can be taken over by an armed attack is not the same as saying we people cannot participate and that democracy will fall apart because people can't keep it going. War destroys lots of things -- we now have the means to blow up the planet. That isn't due to a flaw in democracy when the war comes from outside the system.
Anonymouse 3:12pm, no, it’s not. I know that you’re invested in being insulted in order to point the finger at Bob, but you have no standing.
DeletePeople don’t come wired to believe certain things or to have modes of thinking. That’s why anonymices love to attack parents and wish to program kids with Orwellian versions of “diversity” and “equity”. You wish to “wire” them. To not merely teach them something, but to map out mental processes and paths in order to direct their reasoning. Parents get in the way of that process and you very much wish to wire these kids.
Somerby used the word wired. He thinks we’re too stupid to be democratic. I didn’t say any of that stuff. You don’t understand what “wired” means.
DeleteAnonymouse 4:56pm, if Bob said you were too stupid to be a Democrat.then he would be wrong. That’s an impossibility.
DeleteHowever, anonymices certainly are too stupid to be democratic.
So, you are not serious. Fuck off.
DeleteAnonymouse 5:26pm, I’m perfectly serious. You’re stupid and you’re not (small d) democratic.
DeleteCecelia, you are completely ignorant of the fundamentals of human behavior and psychology, making your comments merely a reflection of your ignorant point of view. When presented with what science has revealed about human nature, you scoff at it because it challenges the erroneous views you cling to. There’s no shame necessarily in ignorance by itself, but when you weaponize your ignorance to attack others, that’s less easily dismissed. Your wounds are deep, we see it in your every comment, and it pains us that we can offer little solace, all we can do is try to nudge you towards a better path.
Delete"Cecelia, you are completely ignorant of the fundamentals of human behavior and psychology ...."
DeleteNot when it comes to getting a deep deal on a case of wine by the box.
Anonymouse 7:12pm, for people who regularly laud their expertise, you have the unimpressive habit of trying to end every argument upon little more than your claim of expertise.
DeleteIt’s particularly revealing of how little you know when you reject the notion that teachers don’t just teach kids facts, they teach them the process of thinking. It’s in this area that teachers (and parents) can “wire” into students their inclinations and their judgments. Other than varying levels of IQ, this has nothing to do with genetics . Instead it’s the stuff that anonymices so frequently reference as environmental factors that can influence brain anatomy as well as psychology.
In the triffling bullshite of your trolling, how quickly you forget your “science” from one day to the next.
Stop deliberately misusing the term "wire" as applied to neuroscience. You don't know what you are talking about.
DeleteThere is a phrase in neuroscience that neurons that fire together wire together. That means that when a neuron has an action potential (fires) at the synapse between two neurons, with repeated firing, the neurotransmitters it releases can cause a change in the structure of the receiving neuron (the receptors) making it easier for the firing of one neuron to cause the adjacent neuron to have an action potential too. This creates pathways between neurons that transmit signals via action potentials in those systems of neurons that fire together within the brain. It is how brain pathways are created that connect and transmit signals from one brain area to another. It is not how students are wired into inclinations and judgments, as you suggest. That is pure nonsense. It is instead how stimulation of a neuron in the retina of the eye results in consequent stimulation of a neuron in the optic nerve, the thalamus and the visual cortext, so that a fetus acquires the ability to see with visual stimulation.
This is wired into our brains because of our species genetics, but it also requires stimulation for the pathways to be established. This happens in utero, with self-generated brain waves but also continuing development after birth with exposure to light. Neurons that fire together form patterns of stimulation that ultimately become recognizable objects. If a person is blind, their brain will change to use the parts of the cortex that are not being stimulated for some other purpose. That is neural plasticity.
But this is not how children are indoctrinated in school or by parents, as you suggest. And opinions are not wired into the brain. There is a neural substrate to all thinking but not the kind of physical wiring you keep talking about, inaccurately. If there were, then beliefs and attitudes could not be readily changed, the way they are. People could not create lists of possibilities and then choose the most likely one, for example. People could not add new words to their vocabularies. You are suggesting hard-wiring of "inclinations" and that contradicts the purpose of the brain, which is to permit flexibility in thinking and behavior.
Anon, please stop manipulating everyone because you want to paint Somerby as making a statement reminiscent of Hitler. You're claiming that Bob was implying you're a genetic anomaly by arguing that humans are wired based on our species. This doesn't make sense. Even though we have the same anatomy, external factors can still influence how our anatomy and its functions work. For example, if we both underwent a brain scan and the technicians mentioned specific scenarios or people, different parts of our brains might react. Our biology is inherently human, but our emotions and reasoning processes, which are unique to each individual, can still impact how our anatomy functions.
DeleteYou don't know enough about how the human brain works to use the word "wiring" accurately. You are making a fool of yourself and spreading misinformation. For example, emotions are not "unique to each individual" and emotions do not impact how our anatomy functions, they arise from our anatomy. Emotions are part of our anatomy, not distinct from it. You don't seem to have a clear idea what I was arguing. You are ignorant and that makes what you say here gibberish. I am suggesting that you should stop talking about things that you are so ignorant about that you don't make sense.
DeleteAnonymouse 2:57pm, you’ve said nothing compelling as to the argument that bad ole Bob was accusing the Blue Tribe as being genetically flawed. It’s somewhat less than compelling to say that since Bob used the term “ wired” and humans come prewired, Bob is therefore accusing liberals of having a genetic anomaly.
DeleteYou liken this “take” of yours as being an utterly indisputable scientific fact. Well, Bob didn’t call you subhuman, but I have no problem with doing that. Go crawl back into your web and quit trying to impersonate a rational and reasonable human being.
It's funny, because Republican voters only care about bigotry and white supremacy.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that thinking scores of millions of voters care only about bigotry and white supremacy is itself a classic case of bigoted thinking.
DeleteAmen!
Delete"obstinate or unreasonable attachment to a belief, opinion, or faction, in particular prejudice against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group"
DeleteIf we were singling out and calling people bigots or white supremacists on the basis of their membership in a particular group (such as Southerners or rural or non-college attendees) than you might have a point, but we are calling people bigots based on their "obstinate attachment to beliefs, especially their prejudice against diverse people, which is exactly the definition of the term -- because they are bigots, not because they are white or
Cont. (got cut off midsentence) members of any particular group. Anyone can be a bigot and bigots are called out for their bigotry regardless of their party affiliation. Look how Somerby is called a bigot here, despite claiming to be a liberal.
DeleteRepublicans do tend to try to turn negative words applied to them back onto the speaker and this is more of the same. Republicans say "we aren't racists -- it is racist to call white people racists, so we are the victims of racism, not its perpetrator". That rests on a misuse of the term racist, just as today's accusation rests on a misuse of the term bigotry.
And these days “bigotry” is saying that a man isn’t a woman because he wants to be one and no white kid should be made to feel that she has an automatic steak in past or current racism by virtue of being Caucasian.
DeleteNo one cares if they’re called a bigot anymore. You’ve degraded that appellation into melted jello.
"No one cares if they’re called a bigot anymore."
DeleteAre you kidding? Try being elected by Republican voters, without being thought of as a bigot.
Good luck, RINOs.
"No one cares if they’re called a bigot anymore. "
DeleteI want to live in Cecelia's world, where snowflake Right-wingers don't complain when you tell the truth about them.
Anonymouse 3:18pm, oh, sure. As though you’re calling people that on a face-to-face basis, rather than on a blog board.
DeleteCecelia doesn't seem to understand the concept that each of us should mind our own business and not interfere in another's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. She sounds kind of un-American when she insists that men need to stay in their own lanes.
DeleteIf Cecelia wants to define being male as having a penis, how can she write a definition that will include all sizes and shapes, cut and uncut, without excluding someone who belongs in the category (guys with micro-penises for example)? Are male infants who suffer accidents at birth girls? Girls may not think so, but Cecelia wants the right to tell everyone who they are and must be -- not to let them figure it out for themselves.
Oddly, there are a lot of non-white white supremacists, like Nick Fuentes for example, just as Hitler was a part-Jewish virulent antisemite. You don't have to be white to be a bigot, true, and you don't have to be male to be sexist or misogynist (just support patriarchy and hate women).
I wish there were a rule that if you are going to be any kind of bigot, you must learn how to spell. As is, it sometimes sounds like Cecelia is frothing at the mouth while typing. Not a pretty picture.
Cecelia,
DeleteAnd put myself in the crosshairs of what all the people who don't care about being called a "bigot" will do to me?
LOL.
Anonymouse 3:37pm, we went years without telling people like John Bobbitt that he now must consider himself a woman by virtue of his wife’s handiwork. The same with uncommon genetic disorders.
DeleteThe irony is that you could let people with such problems find their own way and you’d never encounter any of them on Twitter screaming that they want you dead for misgendering them.
You don’t have to be a bigot and you don’t have to find them behind every face that doesn’t mouth everything you believe either.
Go look in a mirror. Odds are you’ll find the bigot of your dreams.
Anonymouse 3:51pm, oh, you can practice by telling your fellow liberals that they’re bigots. If you live long enough only then can you try it on a conservative.
DeleteCecelia, you switched sides in midstream on this one. I am the one saying that you need to let people figure it out without putting people in categories based on some law made by others. Now you claim to take that side.
DeleteIf you tell a person who says they are female that they cannot be, then you are interfering with their lives. It doesn't matter whether they are Bobbit or someone with a birth accident or what their reason is. It is not your business and not your choice. The phrase "My body, my choice" does not only refer to abortion but also to busybodies who want to tell girls they must wear dresses, boys they cannot love other boys, androgynous people they must pick a gender, and so on. You need to live your own life and let others live theirs, or else you are truly being not just a bigot but a tyrant.
Anonymouse 4:07pm, no, rare genetic disorders are not analogous to someone saying that they feel like they are the opposite gender of their biology, therefore they are.
DeleteNo, they are not. Women can wear as many empty jock straps as they wish, and men can talk about feeling menstrual cramps, but the rest of us don’t have to go along with it because liberals desire to redefine reality.
The ting I most have in common with Cecelia, is that neither of us believe a thing she writes here.
DeleteAnonymouse 4:19pm, you don’t even put a name to what you write.
DeleteEven women don’t wear empty jock straps to pass as male. The stufff them or wear prosthetics, like Bobbit. Are you aware of how many women wear falsies in their bras? Are they not women? Or do they become something else after breast reconstruction? Are you and your friends going to ban cosmetic surgery for all?
DeleteThe problem beneath the bigotry is lack of empathy, and at extremes, sadism. The cruelty is the point.
Anonymouse 4:39pm, women who use falsies are women with small breasts or women who feel they have small breasts.
DeleteMost flat chested women can still breast feed. That’s not the case for men.
Women who wear falsies may also be survivors of breast cancer. Men given hormones can breast feed.
DeleteAnonymouse 4:52pm, men can be surgically altered to have a vagina. Go for it dudes!…
DeleteThat makes them a surgically altered male.
Calling yourself a 'man or 'woman' is not merely a personal choice. You are using a language that is common to us all.
Delete'Man' and 'woman' have definitions society has agreed to. The sliver of trans people don't get to unilaterally redefine those terms.
You think you should tell others how to live. That’s the bottom line. I don’t.
DeleteAnonhmouse 5:25pm, you endlessly tell people how to live and endlessly denounce them when they ignore you.
Delete5:38: what you are describing applies more aptly to conservatives. You should admit that and move on.
DeleteAnonymouse 5:45pm, I’m describing the behavior you engage in when people don’t buy whatever anonymices are selling. Scroll up and count how many times that you called contrarians bigots today. It doesn’t merely apply to you, it’s your professional job description,
DeleteTrump is a bigot. The GOP debases itself at his feet. What does that make them?
Delete3:37 good comment, fyi “white supremacy” actually has its roots in Spain with the Catholic Church, so Latin people being “white supremacists” is not out of place.
DeleteGender is a social construct, it is not a biological term like male/female. Current societal norms of what’s masculine and what’s feminine have no biological basis.
Some people are born feeling like they belong to a different gender than what they were assigned, or no gender at all, or something in between.
In reality, most people exhibit and vacillate between both so called masculine and feminine traits multiple times throughout any given day.
Right wingers tend to demand rigid conformity on issues like gender because it helps maintain their preferred hierarchies, but this rigidity is an emergent trait that cuts against our innate human nature, and causes untold misery in our society.
This is not limited to humans, most organisms include a full spectrum of sex/gender.
It is too bad right wingers are stuck with hating those that are different, they miss out on much of the beauty of life, but this is not a good reason to ignore the suffering they cause in others.
What amazes me is the spittle flecked rage that right wingers like Cecelia gin themselves up into about transgender people. The unhinged hatred is mind boggling. And sad. And incomprehensible. .
DeleteAnonymouse 8:55pm, I’m voicing what has been the norm. You’re the one shaking your fist at it.
DeleteFor myself, I don't hate trans people, I'm more disgusted by them.
DeleteAnd not one comment addressed the point about a minority unilaterally redefining terms such as 'man', 'woman'.
I don't tell trans people how to live and I don't expect them to tell me how to speak.
It was also the “norm” that blacks were enslaved in the south, and that women couldn’t vote. There’s nothing sacred about some “norm” and you are not superior gif upholding some “norm” because it’s a norm. In fact, a norm can be downright harmful sometimes. And you are indeed outraged about transgender people, Cecelia. You are seething at this violation of the sacred “norm.” You desire that transgender people in violation of this norm be shamed and punished.
DeleteAt least you’re honest, 9:34. And if you were really honest, you’d probably find that you are a disgusting person. Most transgender people aren’t concerned about redefining anything…they just want to live their lives. Unfortunately, Republican legislatures won’t let them.
DeleteAnonymouse 9:51pm, you are still arguing apples to oranges. It’s been the norm to designate people as to their race and ethnicity. I’m a milk-skinned goddess. Can I decide my race? After all, I’ve always been a black girl trapped in a white girl’s body.I know who I am and that is the sole standard.
DeleteYou’re full of shit, Cecelia.
DeleteAnonymouse 10:53pm, you’re not only full of shite, you’re demanding that the whole world supports your shite.
Delete"Most transgender people aren’t concerned about redefining anything…they just want to live their lives."
DeleteThen why are there so many circumstances these days under which someone is asked for their pronouns? This wouldn't be necessary unless something was being redefined.
Why is it that whenever I visit the South, some asshole with an axe to grind deliberately misgenders me because he is trying to make some point about disparaging wokeness?
Delete"...we blues aren't..." Speak for yourself, Bob, you are not in my group.
ReplyDeleteWe will largely all go around wearing red maga hats to avoid being violently attacked if Trump wins.
ReplyDeletePro tip:
DeleteThey won't see you gunning for them if you wear a pro-NRA t-shirt.
By all means wear NRA and MAGA attire whenever you are out and about. Be particularly sure to have bumper stickers for those groups on your vehicles too.
DeleteThat’ll be the fastest reality check you’ll ever receive and boy do you need it.
"That’ll be the fastest reality check you’ll ever receive..."
DeleteYou make it sound like being nominated to the United States Supreme Court by Donald Trump is a bad thing.
Re: being a Supreme Court member
DeleteI'll set the price to buy me at Alto and Thomas' prices put together.
I'll bet that if I put a Trump bumpersticker on my Tesla those guys who roll coal on me will stop it.
DeleteAnonymices 3:25pm, it takes a Don’t Tread On Me flag and a blog saying you have your “wires crossed” before anonymices are having a pity party and wetting their pants.
DeleteIf you’re an endangered lot, it’s because you’re prone to choking to death on chipped ice.
I remember when the Gadsden flag was about the Revolution, not coopted by bigots. I had to throw mine out because displaying it would send the wrong political message. Many of us are proudly flying our American flags in order to keep the right from co-opting that one too.
DeleteIf Trump wins and try to become a dictator, we should rally around the Gadsden flag as a symbol of our resistance to his authoritarianism. It would then be ambiguous and he wouldn't know who to put in jail. When he got it wrong a few times, his own supporters might turn on him.
It is pretty mean to laugh at someone whose relative choked on ice in a cold climate. There is that famous right wing lack of empathy again. You wouldn't be so glib if it had happened to your granny in her senility.
DeleteAnonymouse 3:45pm, oh, so no one chokes on chipped ice in a warm climate? How clueless do you have to be to act as though people closer to the equator don’t choke on ice. They do it all the time and it’s on chipped ice, not on ice blocks like your heart!…
DeleteAnonymouse 3:43pm, or you could just keep on trying to jail or kill him.
DeleteYou sound so incredibly silly, @4:04.
DeletePeople have choked on their own saliva. Have some respect Cecelia!
DeleteAnonymouse 4:11pm, I do respect them. That takes years of practice.
DeleteAnonymouse 4:11pm, exactly.
Delete3:30 - I just saw a Tesla with this bumper sticker:
Delete"I bought this car before we learned that Elon is an asshole!"
PP, the Tesla owner was virtue signaling when he bought the vehicle and virtue signaling when he denounced it.
DeleteCC. Probably true, but I still laughed.
DeleteI don’t pay anything for solar power so I charge for free. I’ll bet you pay for gas.
DeleteMaybe Revian will make virtue signaling great again.
DeleteWhat is the virtue in spending $100K on a short bed truck when there are cheaper alternatives? Revian is a status symbol, not a working truck.
DeleteI meant Rivian.
DeleteTo be fair, Musk merely bought Tesla. In fact Musk has never really founded anything, he’s essentially just a pr guy, and a pretty clownish one at that.
DeleteNissan was the first manufacturer with a successful EV, years before Tesla.
In CA, starting in 2026, gas vehicles are being phased out, completely gone by 2035, and with CA being the fifth largest economy in the world (2nd by per capita), the rest of America will follow CA’s lead, as it always does.
Anonymouse 7:39pm, genius can also be a talent for picking the right enterprise and people.
DeleteThis is fairly amazing.
https://x.com/bulentm/status/1846631684206121357?s=42&t=oYvKLjVc8YzJIvwKoQTYBQ
Musk didn’t do any of that. He’s too busy destroying twitter and messing up door knocking in swing states. Don’t confuse people who make and do stuff with those who buy stuff.
DeleteAnonymouse 9:00pm, there goes patrons galore with a brilliant eye for great art and invention.
DeleteCan anyone think of a way we can largely avoid violent attacks if Trump wins?
ReplyDeleteIn his last term, Trump sent members of agencies to Portland and Seattle, in unmarked vans, to kidnap, attack and harrass those they considered to be protesters or "antifa" or targets (political enemies). He had to be talked out of sending national guard and other obvious military to attack protesters, such as the demonstrators outside the White House. Project 2025 talks about forming a personal presidential milita that can be used at Trump's discretion (against US citizens exercising 1st Amendment rights, for example). Right wingers are talking about using troops to "guard" polling places and vote counting centers. That is voter intimidation. There were armed black men sent to polling places in 2016 too, but not as systematically as is now being proposed. That is another reason to vote early or by mail.
DeleteAfter Trump wins, he says he will implement plans to deport people en masse, but he is also talking about putting political enemies in jail through targeted prosecution. That implies cops to lock people up and charge them with things, assuming Trump doesn't just round people up and ship them to Guantanamo. There is a reason why most Democratic presidents have tried to close that prison and most Republicans have opposed it.
It is not paranoid to worry about the kinds of abuses that happen routinely in other authoritarian-run countries, when we have a strongman-wannabe like Trump making threats and promises to do the same things here.
Rene Descartes, who gave us mathematics not just philosophy, changed his address at least once a year in order to avoid persecution by the Catholic Church. With much better communications and travel now, it might make sense to emigrate or take identity-protection precautions or even live off the grid until we see how things shake out. Perhaps look at how Chinese dissidents protect themselves.
Anonymouse 2:07pm, just do as you generally do- sleep under your bed.
DeleteDescartes died in the Netherlands, having fled there to avoid the pope. This is all so funny, hahahahaha.
DeleteAnonymouse 3:46pm, there’s that famous anonymouse wiring.
DeleteThe worst part of Trump's second term will be all the violent attacks on people who are not wearing hats
DeleteAnonymouse 5:56pm, actually, we should start with people who wear pajamas in public.
DeleteI suppose you don't know that it was trendy for high school kids to wear pyjamas to school awhile back. Judging other people by their appearance will get you in trouble.
DeleteAnonymouse 7:08pm, judging people by their appearance is utterly sensible, reflexive, and can be life saving for the judge and the judged. A friend of mine made a judgment as to appearance a month or so ago and she literally saved the life of an elderly mentally compromised neighbor.
DeleteSure sure.
DeleteCecelia is a man pretending to be a woman, there’s no good reason to respond to the garbage he posts here, it just enables his worst traits.
DeleteAnonymouse 8:10pm, but you do.
DeletePlease explain the relevance of Cecelia's biological characteristics, which seems to be an issue of ongoing significance for you.
DeleteHector - A+ for concision and humor.
DeleteYesterday, Heather Cox Richardson wrote (as part of a longer essay about the new FTC rule enabling people to more easily cancel subscriptions):
ReplyDelete"But the argument that Americans need a strongman depends on the argument that democracy does not work. In the last three-and-a-half years, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Democrats have proved that it can, so long as it operates with the best interests of ordinary people in mind. Trump and Vance’s outlandish lies about the federal response to Hurricane Helene are designed to override the reality of a competent administration addressing a crisis with all the tools it has. In its place, the lies provide a false narrative of federal officials ignoring people and trying to steal their property."
This explains one of Somerby's ongoing complaints. He claims we the people are not wired to participate in a democracy, that our nation's experiment has failed (like sacred Troy) because we voter, especially the blue ones, are not wired to make a democracy work. Somerby apparently thinks democracy is a failed experiment. He returns to this theme over and over, today pretending Lincoln might have agreed. He claims the blue tribe is no better equipped to participate in our democracy than the red one, often saying we are just as bad as the worst attackers of our democratic system and elections.
The opens the door to strongmen such as Trump and Putin are pretending to be, to Viktor Orban and the authoritarian right.
Undermining our elections is a clear step in that direction, and Somerby offers no hope that we can elect anyone better than the failing monster, Trump.
Some of the trolls here ask why we bother to read Somerby if we disagree with him. Someone has to contradict the nihilism represented by Somerby's essays. Someone has to meet lies with facts and truth. But most importantly, someone has to defend against this idea that democracy is too exalted and cannot work for real people like those in our country (blue and red), so let's give up and just let Trump and whatever right wing dictator wants to run our country take over. Because the rest of us aren't up to the job of fighting for our nation.
Trump is an abomination, but so is Somerby. Somerby is not the voice of reason -- he is the voice of money being applied to subvert our democratic system so that Musk and Thiel can have their way. Look how they are already celebrating their assumed victory.
This is why each of us needs to vote early (if possible) and vote for Harris. She is not only the Democratic Party candidate but she is the pro-democracy candidate, and this year she is not running unopposed. Say no to the dictators and oligarchs by voting for Harris.
"Someone has to meet lies with facts and truth."
DeleteSounds good. Can you stick to that standard? Next paragraph you say that Somerby "is the voice of money being applied to subvert our democratic system." If this is "truth," that plutocrats are paying Somerby, then prove it.
If you can't prove it, then you are the one who is lying.
Elon Musk, Miriam Adelman, Peter Thiel (who hired Nate Silver to produce and interpret red wave polls), Rupert Murdoch (who Trump asked to say nothing negative about him during the next 21 days), the Kochs, whoever paid $3 million to transport Turning Point and other 1/6 participants to DC before the attempted coup.
DeleteI don't have to prove anything about Somerby. We can all read what he writes. Today he said we blue tribe members aren't wired to participate in a democracy, the failed experiment that Lincoln couldn't hold together. When I say that this argument undermines democracy and is an example of what Heather Cox Richardson was worrying about, anyone here can read what Somerby said and what Richardson said and see what I am saying about Somerby. That is all plainly obvious.
Whether Somerby gets paid to spend hours here every day writing such garbage is between Somerby and his accountant. You couldn't pay a patriot to write what Somerby writes. So maybe Somerby is a true believer. But it is not only possible but likely (given that others have been shown to be paid) that Somerby made his hard right turn in 2015 because someone decided to help him out with his expenses. And I don't have to prove any of that. In fact, it may be that Somerby died a few decades ago and someone else bought his blog and has been using his name to spread anti-democratic propaganda. That would be consistent with the way this "Somerby" has no respect for the authorship of anyone else, failing to properly cite or sometimes even acknowledge his quotes -- very much like occurs in Russia and China with American creative efforts.
If you think Somerby is what he claims to be, a liberal, how about if you provide the slightest shred of evidence supporting your assumptions.
I guess that's your long-winded way of admitting that your asserted "fact" that plutocrats are paying Somerby might not be the "truth."
DeleteWe didn't know whether Trump's 1/6 supporters were paid or not to attend the Capitol building insurgency. Now we know they were paid. Does that make their actions any less wrong?
Delete"If you can't prove it, then you are the one who is lying."
DeleteThis goes double for those who say there is a Republican voter who cares about something other than bigotry and white supremacy.
I suspect that you have to actually care about the truth in order to make the effort to tell whether something is true or not. Why don't you write to Somerby and ask him whether he gets paid anything to write his blog. That might cast light on the truth about his income and motives. It wouldn't shed any light at all on whether we blue tribe members are capable of participating in a democracy or not -- there is true about that too and it isn't Somerby's view.
DeleteI have cast a thoughtful, researched ballot in every election local and national, since I became of voting age, without exception. I did that even before mail-in voting. I have abided by the results of every election without ever storming any official building or trying to undermine my government. I have always paid my taxes and I have communicated with my representatives on occasion, I have read a daily newspaper almost every day and I have written letters to the editor to participate in dialog with others on the issues.
That is being a good citizen in a democracy. And I am a blue tribe member. I believe that falsifies Somerby's statement about the members of the blue tribe. And if I exist, I am sure there are others like me who have done the same. I am willing to admit that those who have been imperfect in supporting our democratic system, have nevertheless done their best and put in sufficient effort to keep democracy afloat for the duration of our country's existence, going back to the first ballot cast. That too falsifies Somerby's statement about us.
Note that the Democratic Party is the longest continuously existing political party in the USA. That makes us blue voters pretty good at keeping our party going too. We are not going to let Trump take what we have worked so hard to sustain.
"We didn't know whether Trump's 1/6 supporters were paid or not to attend the Capitol building insurgency. Now we know they were paid."
DeleteHow do we know that?
JackSmith’s evidence release yesterday.
DeleteHow much did Trump's 1/6 supporters get paid to attend the Capitol building insurgency? Exactly how much. Since we know that now.
DeleteI don’t know if Somerby is paid, like many other right wing stooges are (from Tim Pool to Jimmy Dore, etc), but it’s a reasonable supposition. Somerby certainly is a right winger pushing a right wing agenda. The only ones fooled by Somerby’s silly plausible deniability rhetoric, are the lost souls who (poorly) defend him as if he were a damsel in distress, because they rely on him to soothe their emotional discomfort at having their dominance-oriented views challenged.
DeleteHow much did Trump's 1/6 supporters get paid to attend the Capitol building insurgency? Since we know that now from Jack Smith. You're not going to answer that, are you?
Delete@3:02 lists payouts for 1/6
DeleteTravel expenses
Delete@3:02 doesn't mention any supporters getting paid to attend the Capitol building insurgency.
Delete8:03 - Remember when this thread began and we were going to stick to "facts" and "truth"?
Delete"I don't know if Somerby is paid" -- true.
"Somerby certainly is a right winger" -- Not a "fact," not a "truth," but merely your opinion.
"[Somerby] is pushing a right wing agenda -- Neither "fact" nor "truth," but merely your opinion.
The "lost souls" who defend Somerby "rely on him to sooth their emotional discomfort at having their dominance-oriented view challenged." -- Neither "fact" nor "truth," but merely your (ridiculous and absurd) opinion.
Why did your commitment to "fact" and "truth" evaporate so quickly?
It isn't opinion when Somerby's words are available for anyone to read.
DeleteI've read those words and my opinion differs from yours. At least I recognize it as my opinion; I'm not so egotistical as to confound it with "fact," as you do.
DeleteWhen there are questions about what Somerby said, then it is a matter of fact. When there are questions about what Somerby meant or what his motives are, then it is speculation, because Somerby does not matter these things clear. If you read Somerby's words and find only opinion, then you are not thinking clearly.
DeleteSomerby has been working hard to convince others that nothing means anything. That isn't how language works, although mean is shared and consensual. That may be where you go astray.
How long will Western culture endure?
ReplyDeleteFor several centuries, many parts of the world have shared what might be called "Western culture". Characteristics include democracy, freedom of speech, rationality, and acceptance of minorities. Western culture exists in less than half the world. Will it spread to more of the world? Will it shrink?
IMO things don't look good right now. Russia, Iran and China are becoming more powerful. Iran is militarily stronger than ever. They're being resisted, but will the resistance be adequate?
Acceptance of minorities has not been part of Western culture. Acceptance of religious minorities was written into the US Constitution because of the religious dissidents who formed our colonies. But there was no protection for slaves or women (two other kinds of minorities). These are advancements that are a part of our own nation's history, that we should be proud of but which are being rolled back by the white male majority at every opportunity. It is only ideals and vigilence and the voice of the minorities themselves (afford by our Bill of Rights) that has made any progress at all, much of it since the 1950s (perhaps inspired by the experiences of WWII). Our progress is worth continuing and protecting because we do inspire others around the world.
DeleteIf you want to strengthen the US against other threats, do not ally with Trump. He is weak and he would destroy the qualities that make the US great, our freedom, our diversity, our ability to work together toward common national goals. Trump is not going to protect the US from Putin. He has allied with Putin against our nation's interests (commonly called treason) and to further his own wealth. That is bad for America.
Trump says he told Putin, who was his house guest at the time, that he'd blow up Moscow if Russia attacked Ukraine. That threat deterred Russia.
DeleteThat's bullshit.
DeleteDiC - Does it terrify you that Trump threatened to blow up Moscow, which of course would have precipitated a global thermonuclear war?
DeleteI’ll bet Putin laughed at him.
DeleteAnonymouse 4:40pm, is Trump deranged and dangerous or …did Putin laugh?
DeletePP - No it didn't terrify me, because
Delete1. The threat wasn't taken really seriously. But, even an unlikely threat prevented the war.
2. The threat saved millions of lives.
3. Russia's conquest of parts of Ukraine is a defeat for Western culture
PP - There no reason to think Harris's foreign policy will differ from Biden's. Does it terrify you that the Biden/Harris foreign policy led to war and instability in parts of the world and a defeat for Western culture?
P.S.to @4:40. Yes, Putin probably laughed at Trump, but, more important, he subsequently did NOT invade Ukraine.
"Trump says he told Putin, who was his house guest at the time, that he'd blow up Moscow if Russia attacked Ukraine. That threat deterred Russia."
DeletePutin was Trump's house guest?? And the source for what he told Putin is....??
Is that you, Internet Research Agency?
I guarantee Harris won’t threaten to bomb Moscow. Trump colluded with Putin. Biden didn’t cause Putin to invade Ukraine. You shouldn’t believe so many of Trump’s lies.
Delete"Former U.S. President Donald Trump suggested at a fundraising event that he would have bombed Moscow in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Washington Post (WP) reported on May 28 (2024)."
DeleteOkay, so no one was anyone's 'house guest.'
And the source for this little gem is Trump. So why would anyone be so gullible and/or deceptive as to repeat this as if it was fact? Are there still stooges out there that take what Trump says about anything at face value?
Yes. Stooges like DiC, unless he is merely trolling.
DeleteThe house guest point was in today’s Wall Street Journal. Trump says it happened at Mar a Lago during breakfast. Of course you’re free to believe him or not.
DeleteDavid, the best bet is to assume that everything Trump says is a lie. That’s just been his track record. Why do you push his bs if you yourself have no way of verifying it? It’s irresponsible. Trump is a pathological liar.
DeleteDiC - I’m trying to get through my mind how a threat that wasn’t taken seriously could have saved millions of lives. Any help with this?
DeleteDavid,
Deletewhen you say it was 'in the Wall Street Journal' what do you mean? Was it reported as if it was a fact? Or was it Trump being quoted? Or...?
Because I can't find any evidence Putin has ever been in the state of Florida. Ever. Or that he's stayed at the White House. Ever. So this sounds like standard Trump loony tunes.
But your take on Trump telling an uncorroborated story in which he's the hero who cows Putin into submission is: I'm free to believe it or not?
Why did you present it in your first comment as if it was something that actually happened?
Hector - I found quotes from the Trump interview in the Wall Street Journal, which is behind a paywall.
DeleteFirst of all, I apologize for a mistake. It was Xi who was a guest at Mara-a-Lago, not Putin.
He [Xi] stayed at Mar-a-Lago with me, so we got to know each other great...
“I would say: If you go into Taiwan, I’m sorry to do this, I’m going to tax you”—meaning impose tariffs—“at 150% to 200%.” He might even shut down trade altogether.
Mr. Gigot: “Would you use military force against a blockade on Taiwan?”
Mr. Trump: “I wouldn’t have to, because he respects me and he knows I’m f— crazy.”...
Vladimir Putin knows it too, in Mr. Trump’s telling: “I said to Putin, ‘Vladimir, we have a great relationship.’ I got along with him great. He’s a different kind of a character, I will tell you, much different than anybody under—I knew him very well. I said, ‘Vladimir, if you go after Ukraine, I am going to hit you so hard, you’re not even going to believe it. I’m going to hit you right in the middle of fricking Moscow.’ I said, ‘We’re friends. I don’t want to do it, but I have no choice.’ He goes, ‘No way.’ I said, ‘Way.’ I said, ‘You’re going to be hit so hard, and I’m going to take those f— domes right off your head.’ Because, you know, he lives under the domes.”
Above comment from David in Cal
DeleteThis is the level of stupidity and worship of a fictional strongman we have to deal with. Rational discourse is not possible.
DeleteDavid, do you actually believe that story? Have you ever heard of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)? Do you know of anyone in the leadership of our military who will confirm that bullshit? How hard do you think Putin laughed in Trump's face? How close to Moscow will our nukes get before Russia launched on Washington D.C. and New York City.
There is something really fucking wrong with you.
@7:33 You're missing point. The threat deterred Russia from attacking Ukraine (if you believe Trump.)
DeleteYou are correct that only a crazy President would attack Moscow, but a threat is not an attack. Trump is unpredictable enough that Putin could not be totally absolutely sure what Trump would do.
By the way, Dickhead in Cal, Russia was already in Ukraine at the time. Remember when Trump got impeached for extorting the president of Ukraine? I sure do.
DeleteHave you gone thru the Jack Smith indictment yet, Dickhead, or will you continue to claim these are all trumped up charges without bothering to educate yourself as to the facts?
Thank you David.
Delete7:39, bwahahaha, trump is as predictable as the sign rising in the east. Where the fuck did you develop this fictional mythology that was projecting himself as an unpredictable mad man. By the way, stupid, this might work, but not if you announce to the world that this is your play.
DeleteTrump is Putin’s puppet.
DeleteTrump has never threatened bombing Russia or China.
Russia, China, and Iran are losing strength, not gaining.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which plan was developed during Trump’s admin, has been a disaster for Russia/Putin.
Russia/Putin has been exposed as a paper tiger. Putin was quaking in his boots over a ragtag group of less than 25k poorly trained and equipped men threatening to march on Moscow, Putin had zero military capability to respond. The Russian economy has collapsed, the ruble is gone, and they have skyrocketing inflation and interest rates; due to the invasion misstep, Russia has essentially become a vassal state to China.
But China is also collapsing, issues with low birth rate and real estate busts etc.
These right wing trolls can’t even bother to offer anything coherent, just misinformation that’s easily debunked.
Sure, under Trump, Putin had his way, but with Biden, Putin is getting his ass handed to him.
Too bad Biden had no power to do anything about the 600 thousand Ukrainians that are dead because of that war. As the most powerful man in the world, his hands were tied and there was simply nothing he could have done about it.
DeleteOver a half a million dead Ukrainians on Biden' watch.
It's all the more sad because out of the $11 million his son made between 2013 and 2018, millions of it came from a Ukrainian firm accused of bribery. And his son made that deal made while he was in Ukraine with his father. So it hits all the more close to home; the 600 thousand dead people whose deaths we couldn't stop due to our lack of power.
For anyone who believes Trump, I know where you can get a swell deal on a "Swiss-made" watch. Contact me for deets.
DeleteSad that despite his best and most sincerest endeavors, the most powerful man in the world who was able to hand Putin his own ass in so many other ways, was unable to prevent 600 thousand Ukrainians from being killed. But his hands were tied. There was simple nothing he could have done.
Delete8:11: Eastern European oil companies are known for hiring board members who are self-confessed crackheads with no experience in energy and paying them 20 times what other board members are paid. That this particular one was the son of the United State's chief diplomat in same country is mere coincidence.
DeleteSince you're so torn up about it, why don't you offer up a few things he could have done. Since you feel so strongly.
Delete"...couldn't prevent six hundred thousand Ukrainian from being killed..."
DeleteDumb and innumerate commonly commigrate.
Hector, how about starting with a deal that Ukraine stays neutral and Russia stays home.
DeleteThat’s brilliant, Cecelia. Why didn’t anyone think of it? Wow.
DeleteAnonymouse 10:48pm, because it wouldn’t have made money for the right people and it wouldn’t have protected the right president.
Delete"Trump says he told Putin, who was his house guest at the time,"
DeleteGame over.
"First of all, I apologize for a mistake. It was Xi who was a guest at Mara-a-Lago, not Putin."
DeleteOh! Well. That's very different.
Nevermind.
I guess by the time Biden leaves office it will be around 750,000 dead Ukrainians. He tried everything he could but preventing or curtailing this devastating human tragedy was something he simply didn't have the power to do. As a consolation we were able to pump a couple of hundred billion into the war. That could buy plenty of graves for the hundreds of thousands of killed - but it didn't buy us any power to do anything about the war itself. After all, what could Biden have even done?
DeletePlus he was busy creating the miracle economy that American people are so excited about. ;)
@7:33 - Another reason Trump's threat could have been effective is that Putin is smart enough not to take Trump literally. Threatening to attack Moscow might be understood as threatening to take some strong action. With a wimpy President like Biden or Harris an unspecific threat would be ignored. But, with Trump, an unknown strong action is something for Putin to worry about.
DeleteP.S. this is why Trump's arrogant promise to immediately end the Ukraine war is not saying he will surrender. Instead, it's a way for Trump to express confidence (or arrogance) that he would be able to force Russia to negotiate a reasonable ending
There was no fucking threat, Dickhead. Name one person in government at the time that backs up your fucking myth.
Delete'Trump's threat'
DeleteAre we still talking as if the 'threat' made by Trump to Putin occurred anywhere other than in Trump's imagination?
"how about starting with a deal that Ukraine stays neutral and Russia stays home."
DeleteIs that what Ukraine wanted?
The main thing to remember is all Republicans are racists, Biden was the greatest president in the last 70 years, the economy is the miraculous and the American people couldn't be happier about it, Hunter legitimately earned a million dollars in Ukraine when his dad was in charge of diplomacy there, only a quarter of a million Ukrainians have been killed since Biden became president, Trump will create bloodbaths if elected and Trump supporters are set to violently attack anyone who is not wearing a maga hat.
DeleteEverything else is just noise.
10:17: I am looking forward to seeing Donald J Chickenshit appoint a few more Christo-Fascist corrupt corporate lackies to the Supreme Court. Or would that be Peter Thiel and Leonard Leo doing the appointing? It is so confusing nowadays. The important thing is now that Roberts has crowned Donald J Chickenshit "King for life", Donald J Chickenshit doesn't have to bother with defending his crimes in court anymore and the country can return to watching the Trump Crime family grift for another four years without any annoying legal distractions.
DeleteWipe the snot running down your nose, trollboy.
Thanks, 10:35
DeleteThere's nothing like sound reasoning, delivered with composure, to critique troubling trends in governance.
What's the matter, fuckface 10:39, don't you want a few more christo-fascist corrupt corporate tools sitting on the supreme court re-writing the Constitution for the next 50 years? What's wrong with you, too woke?
DeleteI would be angry that the Democratic Party failed to beat Trump politically and put all their chips on lawfare and uninspirational candidates that are really poor public speakers. What's up with that?
Delete"the Democratic Party failed to beat Trump politically"
DeleteWhat time frame are you describing? It would have to be 2016, but then your accusations of lawfare make no sense since the Republican Mueller was appointed by the Republican Rosenstein after Trump fired Comey and then was caught boasting about the firing to two Russian officials.
So it was must be post-2020. But that's when the uninspiriational Biden beat Trump by 7 million votes. Wasn't close.
“ Speaking at Gettysburg, President Lincoln was willing to bet that it could.”
ReplyDeleteLincoln waged all out war on the confederacy and crushed them. That was Lincoln’s “bet.” He knew that sometimes, you have to do more than give speeches or write blog posts expressing sympathy for the secessionists.
Spot on.
DeleteIt’s not spot on unless you think that voting against your candidate is the equivalent of seceding.
Delete1. Somerby brought up Lincoln, who was fighting fucking secessionists, Cecelia. So you might ask your boy Bob the relevance of the reference.
Delete2. The broader application is that sometimes you can’t work and play nice with a group like the GOP and Trump, because, like the fucking confederacy, they do not respect democracy.
Anonymouse 10.44pm, you spent 2016 to 2020 playing nice with Trump via starting an FBI investigation before he was elected. That was based upon false info anout Carter Page that given to a FISA court. Next there was Mueller for almost four years, and now you’ve spent all of Biden’s presidency chasing the same rainbow…eh…Justice…
DeleteI understand that this is what you mean by being unable to “play nice”. Yet all this vigorous…eh….self-defense…on your part hasn’t gotten you very far, so when you start talking about more… highly necessary… brutality against we tyrants who have enslaved and brutalized you for years, and who attempted to take over the government sans anything like the Weather Underground or the Confederacy, you should figure that you might be asked a question or two.
Oh, the humanity.
Mueller investigation? Oh yeah, the highly partisan witch hunt headed up by a lifelong Republican, ultimately resulting in the indictment, conviction or guilty pleas of 34 individuals and 3 companies, including top advisors to Trump and Russians whose goal was election interference. It wasn’t as if Trump didn’t publicly suggest the Russians participate in that effort. But go ahead and hang your hat on that effort as if it were the equivalent of 8 Benghazi hearings. Yeah that’s the ticket, the Mueller investigation was a fevered partisan ploy to undermine the legitimacy of Trump and an administration with a record breaking number of criminals. Good luck with that argument.
DeleteThe Mueller investigation didn't result in any indictments, convictions or guilty pleas of Trump campaign members for anything that had to do with Russia and the 2016 election.
DeleteThe Mueller investigation where Donald J Chickenshit told Manafort not to be a rat and he would pardon him, which he did.
DeleteThat (FBI investigation of Trump) was based upon false info anout Carter Page that given to a FISA court.
DeleteNope.
"The investigation was officially opened on July 31, 2016, initially due to information on Trump campaign member George Papadopoulos's early assertions of Russians having damaging material on Trump's rival candidate Hillary Clinton which the Russians offered to anonymously release as assistance to the Trump campaign."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossfire_Hurricane_(FBI_investigation)#:~:text=The%20investigation%20was%20officially%20opened,assistance%20to%20the%20Trump%20campaign.
"Next there was Mueller for almost four years"
DeleteAppointed by Republican Rod Rosenstein.
"sans anything like the Weather Underground or the Confederacy"
DeleteYou don't need a subversive organization when the person overthrowing the election is the sitting president.
That FBI investigation of Trump was based on false information about Carter Page, including the failure to disclose his role as a CIA operational contact, and an illegally altered email by an FBI attorney that led to a flawed FISA application.
Delete"Based" doesn't directly mean "started." It means that something is grounded or founded on particular information. I
Delete"The investigation was officially opened on July 31, 2016, initially due to information on Trump campaign member George Papadopoulos's early assertions of Russians having damaging material on Trump's rival candidate Hillary Clinton which the Russians offered to anonymously release as assistance to the Trump campaign."
How did that work out?
10:29: you mean after Donald J Chickenshit obstructed the investigation, pardoned all his co-conspirators and refused to testify under oath? And then after he fired his AG and replaced him with the corrupt lying sack of shit, cover-up specialist Bill Barr?
Delete10:29,
DeleteHow did it 'work out'? Please be more specific in your question.
'"Based" doesn't directly mean "started." It means that something is grounded or founded on particular information.'
DeleteNo idea what point you're trying to make with this distinction. The commenter at 11:44 clearly meant to use 'based' as a synonym for 'started', and that's who I was responding to.
I didn't think it was clear the commenter at 11:44 meant to use 'based' as a synonym for 'started'. Why is that clear? Doesn't the same distinction apply?
DeleteSetting all that aside, why is it important the investigation was opened due to information about George Papadopoulos's early assertions? Was that simply meant to show it wasn't started by the FISA application the FBI doctored?
Because basing a full-scale counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign based on vague claims by a low-level adviser with little real influence in the campaign also calls into question the motives of the investigation, does it not?
11:44 said "That was based upon false info about Carter Page that (was) given to a FISA court.'
DeleteThe 'That' referred to the starting of the investigation. Couldn't be more clear.
As for the motives of the investigation:
'The Inspector General stated that the review did not find evidence that "political bias or improper motivation influenced" the opening of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_General_report_on_the_Crossfire_Hurricane_investigation
Hector, this puts the mood of the IG rather differently.
Deletehttps://www.cnn.com/2020/01/23/politics/fisa-carter-page-warrants/index.html
A FISA warrant gives the feds the right to listen in on two-tiers of people. That would be everyone who Carter Page talked with and everyone those people spoke with, including Trump.
"Arnold Palmer was all man and I say that in all due respect to women, and I love women, but this guy -- this is a guy that was all man. This man was strong and tough," Trump said, adding, "And I refuse to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, ‘Oh my God. That's unbelievable.’ I had to say it. We have women who are highly sophisticated here..."
ReplyDelete“We have women who are highly sophisticated here.”
DeleteAt a Trump rally. You betcha.
"And I refuse to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, ‘Oh my God. That's unbelievable.’ I had to say it.
DeleteBonkers.
"Make sure you vote and bring all our friends that want to vote for us," he continued. "Tell him, Jill, get your fat husband off the couch, get that, get that fat pig off the couch."
ReplyDelete"Tell him to go and vote for Trump," he said. "He's going to save our country. Get that guy the hell off. Get him up."
"You slap him around," he added. "Get him up. Get him up. We want him off the couch to get out and vote."
I am generally skeptical about unwitnessed and uncorroborated accounts of events made by Donald Trump unless of course DIC believes that they occurred. In which case they can be judged irrefutable facts. So it makes perfect sense that Trump threatened Putin and in so doing successfully prevented the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is in keeping with his public comments when the invasion occurred, in which Trump rebuked Putin and condemned the invasion. You say what? That he made no public comment suggesting that the invasion was unacceptable, or at the least, a mistake? You say that Trump called the invasion of Ukraine brilliant? Makes perfect sense that the same person who claims to have warned Putin not to invade Ukraine would
ReplyDeletecompliment his having done so, Perfect sense to rubes like DIC.
Haw.
DeleteOur Host noted long ago that Trump has described the war in Ukraine thusly:
DeleteBack on February 26, Trump said that Mr. Putin's war was an "atrocity" and an "assault on humanity." On March 2, he said it was "a holocaust." On March 10, he said it was an "attack on humanity."
http://dailyhowler.blogspot.com/2022/03/your-daily-howler-keeps-getting-results.html
8:51 and what did he say immediately after Putin invaded Ukraine?
DeleteMaybe I can be of help:
Delete'This is genius,’ and ’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy.'
Anonymouse 12:01pm, 'This is genius,’ and ’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy” is what an opponent might use towards another opponent in a chess game. Grudging admiration over being outmaneuvered doesn’t mean you don’t wish to win.
DeleteThere is nothing "genius" about war and killing people.
DeleteContext matters.
Delete“The problem is not that Putin is smart, which, of course, he’s smart,” Trump said. “The problem is that our leaders are dumb… and so far, allowed him to get away with this travesty and assault on humanity.”
Trump called the Russian invasion an "assault on humanity" as a criticism of Joe Biden.
Anonymouse 2:46pm, I’m sure you’ve heard of the term “evil genius”. There’s a reason you’ve heard it.
Delete"They're eating the dogs!"
ReplyDeleteStill?
DeleteI thought it was cats. Maybe cat ladies.
DeleteJust tuned in to watch MSNBC expressing their alarm over Trump working at McDonald's in Philly. This is exactly why he's going to win. Can't the Democrats at least pretend to have a sense of humor and levity long enough to win an election or do we have to fulfill Carville's warning that Democrats are exclusively a party of scolding old ladies and gay men? Kamala Harris is a crap candidate but we're stuck with her because a black woman was needed on the Biden ticket, but there was enough there to pull out a win. The missing piece turns out to be nobody likes Democrats.
ReplyDeleteJD Vance was afraid to say "lesbian" but we all know that's what he meant when he talked about those cat ladies. At least Trump can say "schlong" without blushing. That's no reason to vote for him, of course, since he clearly empathizes with Weinstein more than with his victims.
DeleteWould you eat a hamberder Trump had his hands all over? I wouldn't.