WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2025
...no one said a word: Arrivals of the type under review have occurred all through human history.
As Professor Knox described, such arrivals sometimes succeed due to a lack of preparation (or will) on the part of the invaded society. So it was in the lesson learned from the violent assault which took down sacred Troy:
The images of that night assault—the blazing palaces, the blood running in the streets, old Priam butchered at the altar, Cassandra raped in the temple, Hector's baby son thrown from the battlements, his wife Andromache dragged off to slavery—all this, foreshadowed in the Iliad, will be stamped indelibly on the consciousness of the Greeks throughout their history, immortalized in lyric poetry, in tragedy, on temple pediments and painted vases, to reinforce the stern lesson of Homer's presentation of the war: that no civilization, no matter how rich, no matter how refined, can long survive once it loses the power to meet force with equal or superior force.
It was a vicious, rage-fueled arrival. Troy's civilization had been more refined—but after ten long years, the sacred city wasn't able to hold off the murderous, rage-filled assault
Last Friday evening, PBS debuted an 83-minute American Masters program which described a different arrival. We refer to the disastrous arrival which swallowed much of Europe starting in the 1930s.
Starting at the 20-minute mark, the program broke one of our current society's major journalistic rules. It directly compared the early years of that arrival to the arrival which is playing out today within our own flailing nation.
Tomorrow, with Independence Day approaching, we'll show you what American Masters said about the early years of that earlier arrival—and about the way that early arrival seems to resemble our own.
For today, we'll direct you to this:
Many warfighters have come over the walls as our present arrival continues. One such player is Kristi Noem, President Trump's Secretary of Homeland Security.
Today, the New York Times reports a rather strange presentation by Noem. This happens early in a news report in today's print editions:
On Pivotal Day for His Bill, Trump Leaves Washington for ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
While the fate of his entire legislative agenda was being decided on Tuesday, President Trump traveled a thousand miles away from Washington to hang out in a makeshift detention center for migrants that had been thrown together on an old airstrip in the Florida Everglades.
The place had already been nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” by Republicans, on account of the fact that it’s surrounded by miles of marshland seething with reptiles. Mr. Trump instantly thrilled to the alligator alliteration—as he said on Tuesday, “I looked outside and that’s not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon”—and ordered up a tour.
[...]
Ms. Noem told a story about a recent detainee. “The other day, I was talking to some marshals that have been partnering with ICE,” she said. “They said that they had detained a cannibal and put him on a plane to take him home, and while they had him in his seat, he started to eat himself and they had to get him off and get him medical attention.” (The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions seeking clarity about the episode Ms. Noem described on Tuesday).
“These are the kind of deranged individuals that are on our streets in America,” she said.
The facility is surrounded by gators; also, Noem was there. Along the way, she told what seemed to be a very strange story about one recent detainee.
To its credit, the New York Times reported her very strange story. Also, the Times is seeking comment or clarification from DHS, though we'll guess that the paper will never mention this strange tale again.
With this peculiar tale, we may have moved away from the type of vicious arrival executed by the Achaeans. We may have moved instead to the type of arrival described in the 1997 feature film, Men in Black.
Do highly unusual creatures secretly live among us? More to the point, are such creatures the ones who are being detained? Or is it possible, in some cases, that these highly unusual beings are the ones who are locking the detainees up?
Not long ago, Secretary Noem published the story of the time she shot and killed her disobedient puppy. She may have failed to understand the way the story would seem to many of her fellow citizens.
Yesterday, she repeated a very strange story. It's a story she originally told last Friday night on what may be the most extraterrestrial of all current "cable news" programs.
For videotape from yesterday, we'll direct you to this news report by Mediaite's Zachary Leeman. (Headline: "Kristi Noem Shares Jaw Dropping Story at Trump Presser About Detained Cannibal Migrant Trying To Eat Himself.")
The migrant tried to eat himself! So said this member of the wedding—and her story did sound a bit odd. Indeed, it sounded so odd that Fox News Digital, like the New York Times, says it has asked three federal agencies—DHS, ICE and the U.S. Marshals—to provide further comment.
(For the Fox News report, click here.)
At any rate, so said the cabinet member, perhaps from somewhere within her own private Everglades. As we try to find better ways to describe the participants in the current arrival, we thought you should see the original way she told the story, speaking to one of the skillful corporate messenger fellows who now drive what's left of our national discourse.
Noem appeared last Friday night on Jesse Watters Primetime, the second highest-rated program in all of "cable news." Inevitably, Watters started talking about the "bad hombres" who are being detained and deported.
Soon, the cabinet member said this:
SECRETARY NOEM (6/27/25): Listen, Jesse, you calling these guys "bad hombres"—they really are. I was talking to a U.S. Marshall just yesterday, and he was talking about the fact that they were deporting a planeload of illegals and one of them was a cannibal.
And he kind of said it off-handed, and I said to him, 'What do you—what do you mean, it was a cannibal?" And he said, "Well we put him on the plane, put him in his seat, and he started to eat his own arms, he was such a deranged individual."
This is the kind of people that President Trump is getting off of our streets—people who are murderers and rapists and, and are deranged individuals, that we are working to get out of the country as fast as possible.
Apparently involuntarily, Watters briefly raised his hands to his head as her story started. Even Watters seemed to be taken aback by what he initially heard.
The gentleman quickly regained self-control. Soon, with Watters back to playing the fool, Noem's strange story continued:
WATTERS: Secretary, was this bad hombre handcuffed to something, and he was trying to chew his arm off so he could escape? Or was he just hungry?
SECRETARY NOEM: No, what bothered me the most was that this U.S. Marshal just said it like it was normal. These are the kinds of people they have to work with every single day when they're deporting people out of this country.
So they had him—put him on the plane and had him in shackles for the flight because he was such a dangerous individual. When he got back to his seat, and put another individual in the seat close to him, he said he was literally eating his own arms—that, for him, that is what he did. He called himself a cannibal, ate other people, and ate himself that day.
Her jumbled story doesn't quite parse. That's often the case with extemporaneous speech.
That said, is something wrong with Kristi Noem? As background, we offer this:
At least as a matter of theory, (almost) everything is possible. That said, does it sound like the member's tale actually makes any sense?
According to Noem, the men and women of her department aren't just working with murderers and rapists—they're also working with cannibals! That includes the kinds of cannibals who may start eating their own arms!
In fact, "these are the kind of people they have to work with every single day." So said Kristi Noem, speaking to the ridiculous Watters.
Does that story seem to make sense? For example, to the extent that any such people exist, do cannibals actually eat their own arms? Does some such representation seem to make any sense?
Noem seemed to think that her story did make sense. Though startled, Watters engaged in the kind of slippery pseudo-discourse which now forms the basis of much of our "cable news."
Many people have come over the walls in the course of the current arrival. For the record, these people often have legitimate complaints about the frequently ridiculous conduct of our own Blue America.
But as in Men in Black, so too here, or can it sometimes seems. It can sometimes seem that certain beings are living among us who may dwell in their own private Everglades.
What is the world was Secretary Noem talking about? Yesterday, when she told her story at a major press event, the New York Times and Fox News found her story so peculiar that they sought further comment.
By way of contrast, consider what happened last Friday night.
When Noem told the puzzling story last Friday night, she did so on one of the most-watched TV shows in all of "cable news"—and no one said a word about what she had said! No one reported the weird thing she'd said. No one discussed her strange story, or wondered about what it might meant.
As we've told you, what happens on the Fox News Channel is allowed to stay within the Fox News Channel. That said, it also spreads all through Red America, fueling the current assault.
Blue America's orgs agree to avert their gaze from that realm. To appearances, no one wants to tangle with Fox. Putting it a different way:
No civilization can long survive once it loses the power (or the will) to defend itself against an assault.
Tomorrow, we'll turn to American Masters, and to the disastrous arrival which started in the 1930s. For today, is something wrong with Kristi Noem? As part of the ethos of Blue America, no one is permitted to ask.
In closing, also this. Sacred Thoreau said it long ago, right at the start of Walden:
I, on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men’s lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land; for if he has lived sincerely, it must have been in a distant land to me.
In the comedic Men in Black, visitors from a distant land have already staged an arrival—are already living among us. From what sort of distant land did the secretary's story emerge?
Tomorrow: Why do certain arrivals gain purchase?
ReplyDelete"To its credit, the New York Times reported her very strange story."
In this day and age, if you, Bob, still don't know that all New York Times stories, all the CNN stories, all MSNBC stories, all NBC, CBS, ABC, AP, etc. stories are all the same story: Orange Man Bad, then you, Bob, are a brain-dead idiot. Total idiot.
But keep watching Fox, Bob, by all means, please: who knows, it may cure your TDS, or at least slow down its progression. And that would be fan-fucking-tastic!!!
Quit bragging about not reading the NYT. Nobody cares how dumb you want to be.
DeleteOrange Man really is bad.
DeleteNoem makes up this ridiculous story to demonize the undocumented; then spreads it on Fox; and the mainstream media stares off into space. This is an example of Somerby’s thesis that Blues have lost the power and the will to meet force with equal or superior force.
DeleteHow do you know she made it up?
DeleteIt doesn't matter whether she made it up or not. What is her motive for telling the story and generalizing it to the people walking around in cities?
DeleteI can see ICE questioning people one by one, "When was the last time you bit any part of your body? Don't look at me that way, this is a serious question."
ICE Agent: "Are you now or have you ever been mentally ill? Which baseball team did Mickey Mantle play for?"
From what I've seen in videos posted online, ICE isn't asking anyone anything. They are grabbing people with brown skin, kidnapping them, and then releasing them later if they happen to have a valid passport, but otherwise holding them for days, until an attorney locates them and manages to get them out of custody.
The only reason ICE uses to detain someone is the color of skin and whether they speak a second-language besides English. Noem is trying to pretend that isn't their criterion. And if a person doesn't have tattoos, maybe their cuticles are suspiciously short!
“the mainstream media stares off into space.”
DeleteDid you read the part where the mainstream media reported what she said?
Terrible analysis from 11:28.
Delete"Mainstream media" is a meaningless phrase; today we have corporate media and independent media. Independent media now dwarfs the viewership and influence of corporate media, however, Noem's bizarre statement, and her weird behavior in general, has been covered by both.
Somerby wants us to capitulate to Republicans on many issues, issues he views as merely cultural issues - although they are not - such as racism, sexism, and xenophobia, yet at the same time "meet force with equal or superior force".
Somerby's theses are nonsensical, but are employed to further his right wing agenda.
Immigrants, including those undocumented - which is not a criminal offense, have a lower crime rate than native born citizens.
One of Biden's first proposed legislation in 2021 was to deal with the surging flow of immigrants that started under Trump (primarily due to Trump's disastrous foreign policies), but was rejected by Republicans because they need the immigration issue to whip up fervor among their base (White Supremacists and Christian Nationalists). And they rejected it again in 2024 when one of their own proposed immigration legislation, following orders from Trump.
92% of those being deported by Trump have no criminal record at all.
I was born here. (My grandparents were immigrants.) I’ve never committed any crimes.
DeleteHow do you know she made it up?
DeleteThat's the default assumption with this administration. Let's say that there's some truth to this story -- what conclusions should we draw from this story?
We should treat the mentally ill humanely.
DeleteAnon@2:06 -- That would be my conclusion as well. Any reasonable person would come to the same conclusion.
Delete1:00 - "Somerby wants us to capitulate to Republicans" on issues "such as racism, sexism, and xenophobia."
DeleteThis is batshittery.
You only get one opinion here, Dogface, no matter how loudly you yell.
DeleteTrump is talking today about deporting citizens born in the USA, if they get on his bad side. Most of us saw that coming.
DeleteThe newest grift should be selling cannisters of Alligator repellent (smells just like Trump fragrance).
A read a book a few years ago that was the memoir of a French woman in occupied France who was sent to a work camp for naming her pig "Hitler." The workers were made to work in unsafe conditions, exposed to toxic chemicals and subject to frequent injury. They were obviously considered expendable. Does that punishment fit her crime? Will Trump show any restraint when he starts shipping people to South Sudan for laughing at the way his weave flaps in the breeze?
DeleteMaybe he was biting his nails and the story got exaggerated. :)
ReplyDeleteSo what kind of goof is Kristi?
DeleteNail-biting, gnawing at hangnails, eating hair are all examples of auto-cannibalism and they are common and harmless except to the individual. Prisoners are not in a normal situation. The guy may have been trying to harm himself to the point of requiring medical attention, which would interfere with being taken someplace by marshals. He may not have known where he was going or why, may have been frightened, and may have been seeking help or attention.
DeleteThere is no reason why Noem would understand anything about normal or abnormal prisoner behavior, given that she is totally unqualified for her job.
None of this suggests that there are cannibals roaming the streets of our cities, just waiting for the urge to eat themselves (and if they did so, who else would they be hurting). This is a story on the same level as the one about Haitians eating pets and it is designed to justify the abuses Noem and her crew are committing. Dehumanize the victims so that no one will care what atrocities are committed against them.
I wonder if Noem and Somerby are aware of the phenomenon of cutting and other self-harm perpetrated by teens and mentally ill people when they are in distress? Prisoners cannot cut themselves because they are not permitted sharp objects, but the behavior may be the same. That makes them tragic, not dangerous to others.
Why does David include a happy face after his suggestion? Is this something to smile about?
DeleteAnother eating the pets story gone off the rails. Noem was never impressed with that story, preferring the shooting the pets version.
DeleteIt's also possible that this person was having a psychotic breakdown from the stress that was inflicted upon him. He needed medical attention. It is well known that creatures in captivity, particularly in small enclosures, begin to exhibit self-injurious behavior.
DeleteIf there's any truth to the story, it's more indicative of tremendous cruelty and inhumanity that that we, as a people, are demonstrating. We are horrible and the history will judge us as such.
It is also possible the story is made up.
DeleteDuh fucking duh.
With the power
Of soul
Anything is
Possible
The odds are that it's made up, just like everything else we've been told.
Deletegreat song.
Delete12:41 and "we" is exactly who?
DeleteSomerby is an idiot about warfare. Troy was under seige for 10 years (according to Homer). They must have been well supplied and resourceful to have lasted that long. It requires food and water and vigilence. In the Iliad, it took a Trojan horse to cause Troy to open its gates, not lack of preparedness, as Somerby suggests.
ReplyDeleteSomerby says Troy should have had equal force, but it obviously did have such force in the form of castle walls, a water supply, a source of food, and ways of holding off whatever attacks the Greeks made on its walls and gate -- for 10 years!
In seige warfare, the goal of the aggressors is to starve out the castle or town it has encircled. The people inside the walls should sneak out at night and damage the ships, interfere with scavenging to feed the camped troops and otherwise harass the enemy until they get tired of waiting and go somewhere else.
Somerby repeats that bit about Cassandra being raped way too often. Is this some fantasy he gets off on? Women were often taken as plunder rather than raped or murdered (as now occurs in modern wars).
Somerby refers often to the anger of the men in the Iliad, but no anger sustains a 10-year seige. I am surprised that half of the original attackers weren't dead and gone by the end of the Iliad. I suspect this is not a particularly realistic piece of fiction that Somerby keeps presenting to us as some kind of allegory. Unfortunately, there are no points of contact between the Iliad and modern politics or anything meaningful, including modern warfare. But there are some warped boys who like to fantasize about ancient battles and who perhaps yearn for the chance to engage in unfettered combat. We should be glad they don't snap and become shooters, but why does Somerby or anyone else encourage this morbid fascination among bros for ancient Greece and Rome. And who made Troy the Blue tribe victim? Somerby, as I recall.
Rape is a wonderful fantasy.
DeleteJust remember that the Iliad is fiction. Don't lose track of the boundary between fantasy and reality or you'll wind up in Alligator Auschwitz yourself.
DeleteTroy existed, the Greek city-states existed. But the characters in the Iliad? We just don’t know.
DeleteThere is no credible evidence that the story has any bit of truth to it, in fact it is well known that the story has changed quite a bit over the years.
DeleteIt is not unreasonable to suspect that Somerby chuckles to himself, imagining himself as a Trojan Horse slyly deconstructing "Blue America".
Somerby imagines himself rescuing Cassandra.
DeleteThe Trojans started the war by abducting Helen.
DeleteEarly on, Somerby imagined he was Cassandra.
Delete@2:09 That is the version that gives Helen no agency. She might have run off with Paris of her own free will. There was a point a few years ago when Somerby was speculating that Helen was a shameless hussy to have gone with Paris but Homer apparently wrote a speech where she expresses regret and laments her loss. Note that these are words put into a fictional woman's mouth by men telling a story peripherally about her. Was it perhaps a cautionary tale to keep Greek women of Homer's time from being attracted to other men? Look what happened to Helen and Cassandra, Homer and his buddies say, with a smirk.
DeleteIt is almost as if Somerby has never seen the film Thelma and Louise.
Bob's arch enemy "the Google" on the internet tubes says self canaballism is a thing. Mostly the very mentally ill/heavy drug abuser. So it could well have happened. A1 says folks have been known to do it under the duress of captivity. Noem's Nazi troops are surely dealing with mentally ill/heavily drugged people So it ain't totally unhinged. The part about this is the type of people we deal with all the time, totally fucking unhinged.
ReplyDeleteThe puppy-shooter is unhinged.
DeleteAlso too, in her book after she killed her boy's puppy, she didn't like the smell of her goat and blasted that stinky varmint in the gravel pit as well. Puppy goat stew for the family, yummy!!! Also too a typical Republican money scammer who fucks Corey Lewandowski while both married to others. Eww, the lizard people are so gross.
Delete
Delete"That said, does it sound like the member's tale actually makes any sense? "
It doesn't really matter. The only thing that does make sense, is that all illegal migrants need to be deported. Every one of them. And then -- voila -- no more strange stories about illegal migrants, and everyone is happy. End of story.
"Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace," Trump wrote on the social media platform he owns.
Delete"This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!" Trump said.
"Our farmers are being hurt badly," Trump said during an event in the White House East Room when asked about his position. "You know, they have very good workers. They've worked for them for 20 years. They're not citizens, but they've turned out to be, you know, great."
Trump said he plans to sign an executive order to address the situation, adding that it will take a "common sense" approach. "We can't take farmers, take all their people and send them back because they don't have maybe what they're supposed to have, maybe not," Trump said.
Trump also said, "go fuck yourself" to his ignorant maga cult
Trump does not know what the fuck he is doing.
Delete92% of those being deported have no criminal record.
DeleteGood. Because, record or no record, they are all criminals.
Start with porn model Ivanka - a disgrace to the first ladies that came before.
DeleteBad because record or no record we need them to succeed as a country.
DeleteYou idiot-Democrats need slaves, to succeed as a country.
DeleteCapitalism needs cheap labor, whether it is slaves or immigrants makes no difference to those in power.
DeleteChattel slavery ended, but most Americans today are wage slaves, beaten down and their lives made so precarious, they no longer have much energy nor agency to resist. Immigrants are wrongly demonized because right wingers need a boogeyman to fearmonger about.
Republicans are deeply unAmerican and deeply immoral.
Capitalism per se doesn't need cheap labor: it innovates, it introduces automation.
DeleteThe Democrat party, however, always has been, and still is, the party of slaveholders. Reactionary party, providing support for cheap labor.
Yes, capitalism needs cheap labor. Always has, always will. No, the Democratic party is no longer the party of slave holders. They switched to the Republican party after the civil rights act of 1964.
DeleteRepublicans are deeply American and deeply immoral.
DeleteNo, capitalism doesn't need cheap labor: it innovates, it introduces automation.
DeleteThanks to capitalism, we have self-driving automobiles now.
Yes, the Democrat party has always been, and still is, the reactionary party of slaveholders, now providing cheap labor via illegal aliens.
Republican farmers and businessmen employ most of the illegal aliens. Self-driving cars are one of the great hoaxes of our time.
DeleteIllegal aliens wiping the floor with white people on the job market, will never not be funny.
DeleteThose whose business depends on being able to "employ" illegal aliens, and of course illegal aliens themselves, vote for the Democrat party, obviously. People vote their interests. Always.
DeleteWorking people, whose jobs were moved abroad or given to illegal aliens, they vote for Trump.
It's very simple. Everyone, even a child, can understand. Only retarded Democrats can't.
sorry, fuckface, the businesses like Prince Orange Chickenshit's hotel business vote republiCON
DeleteBusinessmen and farmers support Trump.
Delete"Those whose business depends on being able to "employ" illegal aliens, and of course illegal aliens themselves, vote for the Democrat party, obviously. People vote their interests. Always."
DeleteLouder, please. Some of us in the back can barely hear your crying squeals, over the noise from Republican voters cheering along Trump's big bill that gives huge tax breaks to corporations that hire illegal immigrants.
Illegal aliens do not vote.
DeleteLol. Are you kidding 10:55, or are you dumb? Why do you think that party is fighting tooth and nail against voter id laws?
DeleteI am solidly with Noem's critics. She should not have said this.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a Marshall really did tell her something like this story. Maybe the story got wildly exaggerated. Maybe it's even true, though I doubt it. Maybe Noem made it up. Regardless, Noem should not have repeated a story this remarkable without iron-clad support and backup for it.
I think she's not qualified for her position.
I was extremely disappointed that Prince Orange Chickenshit did not feed at least one of these brown people to the alligators. It would have been spectacular TV, wouldn't you agree, Dickhead in Cal?
DeleteOn the contrary. She is vicious, dumb as a stick and incapable of being truthful about anything. She meets all of the qualifications for this cabinet and clearly has a bright future in Republican politics.
DeleteFor what it’s worth, Somerby wrote a post a few years ago saying what raw political talent Noem possessed. It wasn’t ironic.
DeleteShe has the talent for a political career in the MAGA world.
DeleteTotally qualified. Formerly attractive post menopausal middle aged woman who sculpted her face and body back to its lizard skin origins. Plus big jugs. A thief and a grifter. Another plus, nasty as all get out.
DeleteYeah, why do Republican women keep making themselves ugly on purpose?
DeleteVery weird.
Likely has something to do with how prevalent latent homosexuality is among Republicans.
Kristi Noem was never attractive. She’s always been repulsive.
DeletePer usual, David, you're missing the forest for the trees. The exact factual accuracy of this story is less important than the point that Noem is trying to make with it.
DeleteI agree, Ilya
DeleteI find it offensive that Somerby keeps comparing immigrants to off-planet aliens. First, the latter are not real. Second, in Men in Black, the purpose of the immigration agents supervising the aliens was to keep them out of trouble while visiting or going about their business, not to remove them. Only the "bug" was bad because he was (1) not intelligent, (2) voraciously hungry, (3) a danger to everyone else, (4) intent on stealing the universe and harming it. Beyond that, any resemblance to human immigrants is nonexistent.
ReplyDeleteWe are all one species. Somerby's allusion to Men in Black suggests otherwise and compounds the error Noem makes when she tries to portray immigrants as less than human.
I watched Geostorm last weekend and was surprised to find that it was likely the source of Marjorie Taylor Greene's fantasies about Democrats controlling the weather because that is exactly what happened in the film. Also Democrats kept claiming that we are all one people and Democrats cared when China and Brazil were devastated, whereas saboteurs of the space station did not. Here is what Greene said, suggesting Democrats were controlling weather to hurt Republicans:
"In October 2024, following Hurricane Helene, Marjorie Taylor Greene shared posts on X (formerly Twitter) suggesting that "they" could control the weather.
She also shared a map of areas impacted by the hurricane overlaid with an electoral map, implying that the hurricane was somehow related to political affiliation or intended to influence the election.
While she didn't explicitly name Democrats as the "they" who could control the weather, the context and sharing of the electoral map fueled accusations that she was suggesting Democrats were responsible for the hurricane or manipulating the weather.
These claims have been widely condemned as baseless conspiracy theories.
President Biden called these claims "beyond ridiculous" and "so stupid". "
Somerby, if he were trying to be helpful, might remind those with weak minds that movies are not real. But Somerby himself seems to live in his own hazy world where ancient Troy was sacked by Achaens who had conversations and engaged in rage, described by Homer, who may or may not have existed himself. This is fiction.
I find it offensive that Somerby keeps comparing immigrants to off-planet aliens.
DeleteThat is the most profound misunderstanding what Somerby has written. I couldn't get past this first sentence, which makes no sense.
I thought he was characterizing current republicans and/or their beliefs as “alien”, which makes no more sense.
DeleteIf aliens can make it to Earth, they would undoubtedly have the power to wipe out the human race, and seeing how Trump and the Republicans operate, would do so forthwith.
DeleteFrom Little Big Man, a rare story worth engaging with:
"There is an endless supply of white men, but there has always been a limited number of human beings"
"Do you see this fine thing? Do you admire the humanity of it? Because the human beings, my son, they believe everything is alive. Not only man and animals, but also water, earth, stone, and also the things from them like that hair. The man from whom this hair came, he's bald on the other side, because I now own his scalp! That is the way things are. But the white man, they believe everything is dead. Stone, earth, animals. And people! Even their own people! If things keep trying to live, white man will rub them out. That is the difference."
I’m white, and I think animals are alive.
DeleteIlya, this is what Somerby says today:
Delete"As Professor Knox described, such arrivals sometimes succeed due to a lack of preparation (or will) on the part of the invaded society. "
This cannot refer to Republicans or fascists or MAGAs or even toTrump because all of those groups are home grown, not invaders in any sense. The only people being characterized as invaders in current discourse are immigrants of various categories.
That makes sense in Somerby's world because Somerby has regularly been chiding the left over not taking immigration issues seriously enough, not having a policy about the Southern border, etc. That puts Somerby squarely with the nativists and xenophobes, not matter how much he denies it (he claims it is just common sense to worry about migrants and he reprints stories about migrants who have killed women in the US, and even discussed the bit about the Haitians eating pets, giving the story greater exposure without condemning it as nonsense.
If Somerby does not think of immigrants as alien invaders, he encourages that image in people's minds by reprinting Kristi Noem's story along with references to Men in Black, who were essentially ICE in the films.
The segment of MAGA that is Q-Anon and believes in reptilians disguised as humans, does not think of aliens as part of its own group. So if Somerby was referring to that, he was off-target.
The problem with Somerby is that he doesn't want to say what he means and likes it when people can project anything at all onto his words, especially exonerating him when he is clearly saying bigoted things. Referring to anyone as aliens is dehumanizing, something that Somerby used to object to and recommend avoiding. Now he doesn't seem to mind. And no, calling people aliens is not amusing, not matter who is being called that.
Tommy Lee Jones was once Somerby's suite-mate at Harvard. It may amuse Somerby to think of him as an ICE agent, but it is not amusing to call migrants aliens, even as a play on the term illegal alien. These are people, and if you happen to know any of them you will see that they are very much like the rest of us. Not like bugs wearing skin shirts or self-cannibals.
Please rethink your reaction in the light of what Somerby has been saying today.
Kristi Noem is a bad person but she is still a person.
DeleteIs she a human person?
Delete
ReplyDelete"That said, does it sound like the member's tale actually makes any sense? "
It doesn't really matter. The only thing that does make sense, is that all illegal migrants need to be deported. Every one of them. And then -- voila -- no more strange stories about illegal migrants, and everyone is happy. End of story.
"Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace," Trump wrote on the social media platform he owns.
Delete"This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!" Trump said.
"Our farmers are being hurt badly," Trump said during an event in the White House East Room when asked about his position. "You know, they have very good workers. They've worked for them for 20 years. They're not citizens, but they've turned out to be, you know, great."
Trump said he plans to sign an executive order to address the situation, adding that it will take a "common sense" approach. "We can't take farmers, take all their people and send them back because they don't have maybe what they're supposed to have, maybe not," Trump said.
Trump also said, "go fuck yourself" to his ignorant maga cult fans.
So, Orange Man is Good now, and all you idiots will vote him, for his third term, right?
DeleteI didn't say Prince Orange Chickenshit was good, maggot.
Delete12:09: the point is that you magats will swallow anything Trump serves you. “Deport them all” yes!! “Don’t deport them all” yes!!
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DeleteYes! Idiot-moonbats for Trump! Four more years!
you have things ass-backwards, maggot breath. how's life living up orange chickenshit's fat ass?
DeleteSad so many folks have no idea how food is put on their table and how roofs are put over their heads. There ain't nearly enough US citizens who want to work that hard, you fools.
DeleteI am another idiot-moonbat, and Donald Trump is my candidate now. Drain the swamp!!! Four more years!!!
DeleteThank you for opening my eyes, 12:02.
So 1:13 (Mao) please explain how quoting the felon noting his policies are fucking farmers opened your eyes. Also, why were you keeping them closed?
DeleteWhy expect trolls, like 1:13, to make sense? They are here solely to trigger you.
DeleteThey successfully trigger me every time.
Delete"We can't take farmers, take all their people and send them back because they don't have maybe what they're supposed to have, maybe not," (TACO) Trump said.
Delete“ From what sort of distant land did the secretary's story emerge?”
ReplyDeleteI remember 30 years ago a conservative expressed to me the wish that all illegal immigrants should be shot crossing the border. I thought then that that guy was just an outlier.
The desire for cruelty towards “illegals”, particularly brown skinned ones, substantially pre-dates Trump. Somerby seems willfully ignorant of this strain of conservatism when he suggests that Noem et al are aliens or that their views come from some distant land.
Mythology is very important for coalescing the populace against some imaginary enemy. At first it was Tren de Aragua, which was invented out of whole cloth. Now, the mythology is being expanded: these are "bad hombres", cannibals, I tell you!
ReplyDeleteThe tale here is a little reminiscent of "Men in Black" -- except that it's upside down. In the film, the special agents must keep everyone in the dark that there are dangerous aliens living amongst us and this plane is on razor's edge, and can be obliterated at any time. In our current narrative, the men in black are being put front in forward as the people keeping us safe, which, of course, is a myth. Or to put it more plainly: it's a lie.
Right wingers always use a kernel of truth to spread their toxicity.
DeleteThe truth is there have been people behind the scenes pulling the strings for a long time, from Sullivan and Cromwell and Brown Brothers Harriman to Nazis to the deeply corrupt administrations of Reagan, the Bushs, and Trump.
I’m a good hombre and certainly not a cannibal.
DeleteThere is some connection between the universe folding in on itself, and Trump's TACO predilections, and taco eating immigrants trying to eat themselves, and Republicans tying to own the libs but owning themselves instead.
DeleteIt is murky, like all things Republican, like every Somerby post.
This is a murky blog, has been for many years.
DeleteMen in Black -- ICE agents -- is what stands between us and cannibal aliens. That's the story that the puppy killer was trying to tell us. It was a bit clumsy.
DeleteWhen an alien eats you alive, don’t come crying to me.
DeleteI learned something today. ICE is a relatively recent invention. It was created in 2003 under Junior Bushleague after he fell asleep at the switch and allowed a Saudi to launch a sneak attack on 9/11.
DeleteGood that you learned that. Always remember it.
DeletePrince Orange Chickenshit has his head up the Saudi's ass.
Deletehttps://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-private-payrolls-unexpectedly-decrease-122456500.html
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. private payrolls fell for the first time in more than two years in June as economic uncertainty hampered hiring, but low layoffs continued to anchor the labor market.
Private payrolls dropped by 33,000 jobs last month, the first decline since March 2023, after a downwardly revised increase of 29,000 in May, the ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the report would show private employment increasing by 95,000 following a previously reported gain of 37,000 in May.
womp womp
That’s the tragedy of MAGA.
DeleteDon't you need + 250,000/mo. to keep up with population growth?
DeleteWe’re decreasing our population.
DeleteWhere is Cecelia? I need her. Without her I’m unhinged.
ReplyDeleteShe's shopping for a new fainting couch, for when one of the Anonymous' commenters at TDH insults her back.
DeleteBut she has a beautiful back.
DeleteCecelia, your self-compliments are embarrassing and pathetic.
Delete"And he kind of said it off-handed,"
ReplyDeleteIn a disarming way?
That's the best one I've seen here in a while.
DeleteGood thing they stopped him. If he had been allowed to continue he would have disappeared altogether.
Delete