TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2025
...bring a question to mind: We've asked the question before:
In the Oscar-nominated film, The Sixth Sense (1999!), the Bruce Willis character doesn't know that he has already died. Is it a bit like that with the American nation? Has it already ceased to exist?
The nation in question was always imperfect. In one major way, hundreds of years of brutal behavior created a cultural whirlpool from which it has proven to be extremely hard to extricate ourselves.
But has that nation ceased to exist? The question popped into our heads within the last hour as we scanned these headlines at the Washington Post's web site:
Democratic states sue to force SNAP payments during shutdown
The Agriculture Department has $5.5 billion in back-up funds for food stamp benefits but says it can’t use them.
Head Start programs could close this week, jeopardizing child care
Callers to Social Security wait for hours: ‘This is ridiculous’
The average wait time for a callback peaked at about 2½ hours from January to March, according to internal agency data obtained by The Post.
Trump put allies on obscure board set to decide White House ballroom’s fate
Current and former members of the National Capital Planning Commission panned the president’s East Wing demolition and worried that his ballroom would be rubber-stamped.
Citing autopen use, GOP-led House Oversight Committee calls Biden actions ‘illegitimate’
Those reports are all in the Washington Post. (Owner Jeff Bezos has said he was changing the direction of the opinion pages, not of the news reporting.) Then too, we're treated to this at the New York Times:
‘No Idea How Long People Can Hold Out’: Federal Workers Feel Brunt of Shutdown
As more than one million government employees go without pay, many are turning to side jobs and food banks to make ends meet.
Trump Says He Is Prepared to Send ‘More Than the National Guard’ Into U.S. Cities
In a speech to American troops assembled in Japan on Tuesday, President Trump said he would escalate his orders to active duty branches of the military if he decides it is appropriate.
Adelita Grijalva Just Wants to Get to Work. The House Speaker Won’t Let Her.
Regarding Rep-elect Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Mike Johnson won't swear her in to the House seat to which she believes she's been elected. But is it possible that the office in question no longer exists?
We're a little tired today. Maybe that's all it is when Bruce Willis pops into our heads.
"We're a little tired today. Maybe that's all it is when Bruce Willis pops into our heads."
ReplyDeleteFirst, none of the examples on Somerby's list indicates that our nation is dead.
Second, the last time Somerby referred to our nation as dead, he forgot to mention that he was thinking about Bruce Willis, so the whole dead metaphor made no sense at all. This time, he mentions Willis, but it still makes no sense.
It does seem like Somerby is inflicting his own fatigue and depressed mood onto his readers. He probably should mention his depression to his doctors, so they can help.
Bruce Willis is not dead.
DeleteSomerby is too tired to explain that Bruce Willis played a dead guy in a movie. He was actually dead and a ghost but didn't know it until the end of the film.
DeleteIt is fiction. Not only that, but it is fiction about something that cannot happen in real life because ghosts are not real. What is the point of using unreality as a metaphor for a real life situation?
Even if our country went full-on Nazi and recreated Germany's Third Reich, it would still be alive, not dead. Maybe Somerby is thinking that democracy is dead, but our country was alive (in the sense that it was occupied and functioning) before it became a democracy (when it was still a colony), it was alive during the Civil War, and it remains alive now despite the distress being experienced by so any of the people Trump has been persecuting. That's why this is a crappy allusion that makes no sense except to Somerby, who is too fatigued to think clearly.
Back when Somerby was obsessed with Joyce's story The Dead, which had no points of congruence with our current political situation, I suggested that Somerby might be grabbing the story simply because of its title. I said then that those who care about him might urge him to talk to his doctor about depression. Fatigue is part of depression. It is also part of illness.
Those of you trolls who defend whatever Somerby says, think about what is happening today. Somerby is not himself and he is not making sense. When you hear someone behaving this way, it means you should step back and evaluate whether their political speech is really about what is happening or whether it reflects a person's internal dysfunction or malaise.
You don't have to believe what Somerby says when he is feeling bad. The same goes for Trump.
3:48: "Somerby is too tired to explain that Bruce Willis played a dead guy in a movie."
DeleteSomerby: "In the Oscar-nominated film, The Sixth Sense (1999!), the Bruce Willis character doesn't know that he has already died."
Last time, Somerby discussed the "our country is dead" part but didn't mention Willis or the film at all. I stated that. In his fatigue, Somerby forgets that he must make sense in order to communicate. Excessively cryptic remarks about our country being dead are unhelpful.
DeleteMaybe Somerby's a little tired today.
DeleteNo doubt. Tired is part of being depressed but being depressed is not necessarily part of being tired.
DeleteSomerby doesn't have to post anything if he is tired.
"Tired is part of being depressed but being depressed is not necessarily part of being tired."
DeleteAdmit it. You got that from a fortune cookie.
I think that it's clear what Somerby means with his allusion to Sixth Sense, and it's a very apt analogy.
DeleteExcept he didn’t make it at first. He said we were dead, without even specifying whether he meant our economy, culture, laws, traditions, national stature, freedoms, democracy, or what. But he said we blues did it. If he meant we were a walking ghost without realizing it, a la Sixth Sense, he should have said so before now.
DeleteBeyond that, I do not find the analogy apt because ghost are not real.
"But he said we blues did it."
DeleteNope. He didn't say that. Post wasn't that long for you to miss that. (Pssst. Your anti-Somerby obsession is showing.).
I've been seeing more mentions of Trump's manic activity in news reports. Somerby has never mentioned bipolar disorder in relation to Trump, but the grandiose plans, changing moods, rages and revenge fantasies, instability and inability to complete projects all suggest a mood disorder. Others have suggested that Trump's Kennedy Center involvement, his rebuilding of the White House and putting up an "arc" and his garden of heros, the memes and odd portraits and gilding everything within reach, are attempts to distract him and keep him away from government, encouraged by his staff and behind the scenes puppetmasters.
ReplyDeleteAnonymouse 3:38pm, Somerby has often mentioned that he thinks that Trump has a psychological disorder. He’s complained that the media won’t talk about Trump’s mental health. Anonymices have impugned Bob for suggesting that they should. Now here you are saying that people are mentioning mania as to Trump’s behavior, however, you quickly add that BOB has never referenced THAT particular disorder. You are a piece of work.
DeleteSomerby knows nothing about psychology, much less psychiatry. He has been misusing psychiatric terms to promote his own agenda -- that we should pity Trump. Pointing out that there are other symptoms and labels he might have used, shows Somerby's ignorance on the topic and his lack of qualifications to be using terms he blithely throws around in support of his own belief about Trump.
DeleteIf Somerby were seriously capable of thinking about Trump's symptoms, he would have mentioned the recent mania and also his dementia symptoms. The absence of such discussion shows that Somerby is not serious but is promoting some unclear agenda of his own. It is part of Somerby's incoherence on this topic.
You are as ignorant as Somerby and you have no idea what is being discussed here. I suspect you can barely read English. Defending Somerby is a lost cause.
I read English very well.
DeleteActually, no you don’t.
DeleteI read it, write it, speak it, understand it.
Delete"But is it possible that the office in question no longer exists?"
ReplyDeleteNo, that is not possible. Grijalva has been visiting her office but has no work to do there until she is sworn in. The office exists and so does the job. If it didn't, Johnson would not be afraid she will sign that petition to release the Epstein Files, which also still exist.
Mike Johnson does not have the power to permanently disband the House. He is only succeeding in the shutdown because Democrats and Republican House members are letting him adjourn for another week. Trump does not have the power to disband the House either.
This is a stupid essay. Somerby tries to strike a pose but only sounds silly.
Trump is not going to be allowed to send active duty troops into U.S. cities. ICE agents have now killed several people in the course of their activities. This is going to catch up with them.
ReplyDeleteWhen Somerby assumes the worst while posting headlines about Trump's misbehavior, he is doing the right wing's dirty work. Trump wants people to be demoralized and submissive. We on the left can resist best when we stay optimistic, resolved to resist, dedicated to fighting for our democracy. Getting all gloomy gets in the way of protecting our institutions. There are plenty of messages of hope out there too. Other bloggers have been listing them and encouraging protesters to hang in there and keep fighting. Somerby does the opposite here. That should tell you everything you need to know about which side Somerby is on. Hint: It isn't the blue side.
Anon too scared to use a nym urges us to "keep fighting."
DeleteWhat does it fight to use a fake name so that Dogface can feel powerful after bullying other commenters?
DeleteThat's the other thing about Anons -- they can dish it out, but they whine and whine and cry if there's any pushback. Are you feelling bullied? Maybe you can call your mother.
DeleteWhat does what you have written have to do with anything Somerby wrote today or any substantive political issues being discussed?
DeleteYou are a bundle of pure hostility looking for a punching bag. You seem frustrated that no one wants to play with you.
In school, I learned that one good reason for avoiding corporal punishment with your kids is that they will try it with their friends when they get mad at them. Kids who hit other kids lose friends and soon have no one to play with. That's you,
Doggy.
5:14 - In my view, many Anons see Somerby as a punching bag. I admire Somerby as a thinker, and to see fraidy-cats who are too scared even to use a nym use his platform to casually defame him angers me. Especially because they never seem to accurately paraphrase what he writes, and instead form these ridiculous theories about how he's a racist, sexist, pedophilic traitor promoting Trump.
DeleteWhy would Somerby care whether commenters use a nym when he doesn't read his own comments section?
DeleteDG didn't say Somerby cared; he said he himself cared.
DeleteCouldn't even correctly read a simple paragraph, could you?
Who cares?
DeleteI'm supposed to care what DG wants? He calls himself Dogface George, pretending to be a WWI soldier (they are all gone now). Again, why would DG care about how anyone refers to themselves when Somerby doesn't care?
DeleteOur resident Bob-whisperer is earning his cookies today.
ReplyDeleteI used to like chocolate-chunk cookies, but now I prefer oatmeal raisin cookies.
ReplyDeletePeanut butter cookies…
DeleteOdd that this was not among Somerby's gloomy headlines:
ReplyDelete"A White House historian on Tuesday lamented that President Donald Trump just made her "worst fear come to fruition."
Katherine Jellison, an Ohio University historian and scholar of first ladies, told Politico Magazine that the East Wing destruction will lead to lasting consequences.
“Those of us who do oral histories — interviewing former first ladies, their children, their staff members — a place like the East Wing is a physical structure that can spark those kinds of memories,” Jellison said.
The East Wing has been home to the first lady's office since the 1940s, and its demolition has sparked outrage from Americans at the administration. Now, first lady Melania Trump's office is based in the main building of the White House.
The minute she heard about the president's plans to add the ballroom, it raised concerns for the historian.
“It was my living nightmare last week when I saw those first visual images,” Jellison said.
The area was formerly a terrace that covered an underground bunker during World War II. It was expanded by "the person who still arguably was our most active and activist first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a dynamo, in part because her husband was paralyzed and in a wheelchair, and things were certainly not accessible. So she needed to be someone who was very active and went places that her husband couldn’t go and would report back to him. But also she was motivated by her own desire to change American society."
The erasure of the space, and what could happen to the artifacts and historical items — although the White House says it will work to preserve them — has raised questions.
"I’m very concerned, and everyone I know who studies first ladies and studies architectural history, people who study the history of the presidency, everyone in my orbit, is very concerned that all of this was done so quickly, without consulting with organizations like the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts," she said.
Jellison also called the "secretive nature of this project" troubling, with a bulldozer appearing and a sudden teardown happening as a "dark visual that bothers people."
It also seems to upset people across the political spectrum, she explained.
"I think that is why maybe some people on the political right have been upset, because they just see that as a continuation of the deep state. On the political left, it’s a strong metaphor for the way they’ve always characterized both of Trump’s terms: This guy is tearing down all the norms. We now have a visual metaphor for that," Jellison said.
"Before we were even warned, professional historians and others, we saw bulldozers bringing the place down. Was due diligence done to preserve important records, important artifacts, important objects? We really don’t know. It is my worst fear coming to fruition," she added.
As Melania Trump maintains a low profile, nearly disappearing through the destruction, she has sent a message. It also raises questions about what the future first ladies will do in their roles.
"If we’re talking about metaphors, the fact that there’s not a first lady’s office in the now-absent East Wing sort of speaks to Melania Trump’s current role as first lady, which is largely unseen and unheard," Jellison said." [Rawstory]
Why do you suppose Somerby overlooked it?
Anonymouse 5:06pm, I wonder why we’ve gone 83 years without an office for the First Lady that wasn’t a matter of Eleanor Roosevelt first co-opting the space and Rosalyn Carter making that action official literally decades later.
DeleteWhy wasn’t this woman speaking up years ago. Here’s an article that has an entirely different flavor from Jellison’s hyperbole.
https://www.politico.com/story/2010/07/inside-the-flotus-office-040343
Cecelia, perhaps you are unfamiliar with the suffrage movement in the USA?
Deletehttps://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/woman-suffrage#:~:text=Beginning%20in%20the%20mid%2D19th,Read%20more...
It is odd that someone who claims online to be female doesn't know about the long struggle by women to earn rights such as voting, working outside the home, being elected office and being part of society at large. No time like the present to catch up with your remedial reading, I guess.
"Why do you suppose Somerby overlooked it?"
DeleteI dunno, maybe for the same reason he 'overlooks' literally a milllion other things?
Somerby doesn't give a damn whether the First Lady exists, much less whether she has an office. Somerby routinely denigrates feminists, female candidates, female journalists, and cable celebrities such as Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, black women such as Ketanji Jackson Brown. He refers to the rape and murder of women in the Iliad as "sexual politics." In other words, he is a sexist asshole.
DeleteMisogyny is over.
DeleteAnonymouse 5:55pm, what’s perplexing about this bit of history is that it took Pres. Trump to invoke a reference to…women’s suffrage and the office of the First Lady without an iota of irony as to the former Office of the First Lady being akin to the kids going off the college and leaving the recreation room to mom for her eBay business.
DeleteIt takes a Trump…
@6:09 Close. Somerby keeps saying that #@MeToo is over. That suggests he thinks men can now get away with sexually abusing women again because it was all just a fad to hold men accountable for sexual misbehavior. He has said that multiple times in different places over the past several years.
DeleteCecelia, in the case of a child abandoning their room to go to college that makes some sense to repurpose it. But there are still First Ladies in office. Trump has not abolished the position just because Melania and he have separated. There will be another First Lady and she will have no offices to do her work for the American people. Trump does not have the authority to unilaterally abolish the position of First Lady.
DeleteCecelia's trivialization of the work of First Ladies is noted.
DeleteAnonymouse 6:13pm, just going along with the unlikely scenario of you accurately describing Bob’s take on anything… wouldn’t Bob’s supposed opinion convey a sense of apprehension that many people were merely posturing as to their concern about sexual harassment and exploitation?
DeleteThe unwillingness to respond to women’s complaints is sexism.
DeleteAnonymouse 6:16pm, no one gave one flying fig of interest about the First Lady’s office and the history of how the area was co-opted and then redecorated over the years. You and everyone couldn’t have pointed out where it was or have cared less. THAT should be the issue.
DeleteThis is a lie. I have visited the White House. Have you?
DeleteI have never visited the White House, but I will when the ballroom is complete.
DeleteThe usual pathway to reconstructing or renovating a part of the White House structure goes through a review process. Bulldozing and leveling a part of the White House does not require that review process. Before this all got started, Trump publicly stated that the East Wing was not going to be affected. Now the plan is to have a large box like structure dwarfing the White House in place of the East Wing. So Trump took a wrecking ball to the East Wing knowing that he could do so without anyone's scrutiny. MAGAts in the deplorable basket have no problem with this nor the transactional issues that will come from various and sundry private entities who have greased their relationship with a president known to accept payments for get out of jail cards given to drug distributors, money launderers and everyday multimillion dollar swindlers.
Delete"That suggests he thinks men can now get away with sexually abusing women again..."
DeleteThis sentence suggests you're a fruitcake.
"A few days ago, Bobbie Coleman — the chairperson of the Hardin County Republican Party — shared an AI video on the county party’s Facebook page with former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama portrayed as grinning apes." [Rawstory]
ReplyDeleteSomerby has argued that racism is over and those on the left who are concerned about it, who call it out when it occurs, are the reason Trump got elected. I think it is the opposite. Trump got elected because he has given racists permission to let their racism hang out.
As was seen with the so called young republicans in NY (in their 20's and 30's), and as evidenced by the popularity of a now deceased personality spouting white supremacist doctrine, racism is alive and well in the republican party.
DeletePumpkin: "Somerby has argued that racism is over"
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that is true.
Exactly, no reasonable person believes it is true. But Somerby does. It is part of why I consider him racist.
DeleteNo, this is something you just made up. It's all in your head. Somerby never said that "racism is over."
DeleteSomerby's odd argument that racism is over has come up in several contexts. One is when a black grad student got thrown out of her dorm by a custodian who said she didn't belong there. Somerby said that black students were being taught to detect microaggressions because there wasn't enough real racism in their lives any more. Another occasion was when Somerby objected to anti-racism workshops being held on college campuses during the summer. He thought they were teaching black students to be over-sensitive to racial slights, causing them to detect racism where there was none. He said (in so many words) that black students were being taught wokeness when there was no longer racism in their lives. This is a common right wing attitude. Somerby supported the belief that CRT (critical race theory) creates negative racial attitudes by teaching black students about the racism in the past, something no longer happening in our society. Somerby did not support BLM or any other outrage over shootings of black men -- all were attributed to wrongdoing by the victim that resulted in them being shot.
DeleteQuote Somerby. Your paraphrasing ability is worthless.
DeleteNo. When I dig up the quotes, you say they don't mean what they plainly say. You are not a good faith commenter but an asshole trying to discourage negative comments here. I won't waste my time using a search engine that you can use yourself, since you are the one dissenting about what others here have also read for themselves. I commented on each and every one of these things when Somerby first said them.
DeleteBut, truly, racism is over.
Delete6:03 - OK. You say that Somerby says "racism is over." You won't cite a single quote to support your statement. I guess that's the end of it.
DeleteBut I will quote from today's post:
Delete"The nation in question was always imperfect. In one major way, hundreds of years of brutal behavior created a cultural whirlpool from which it has proven to be extremely hard to extricate ourselves."
I read the "cultural whirlpool" we're still mired in as the racism resulting from hundreds of years of "brutal behavior." It doesn't sound to me like Somerby thinks "racism is over."
Any idea why he doesn’t refer to racism more directly? Do you think racism is only brutality? Do you think Somerby necessarily reads the same as you?
DeleteI have cited Somerby’s quotes before. You guys don’t accept evidence. It is a waste of time.
Delete"Any idea why he doesn’t refer to racism more directly?"
DeleteBecause he respects your reading skills and figures you know what he's talking about.
"Do you think racism is only brutality?" Of course not, and neither does Somerby, which is why he refers to it as a "cultural whirlpool."
"Do you think Somerby necessarily reads the same as you?"
Well, I think I'm accurately summarizing his view. Do you disagree? How do you read it differently?
I see that Somerby’s vagueness lets you read whatever you want into his words.
DeleteI don't know. Doesn't seem vague to me, and nobody has suggested a different reading.
Delete"hundreds of years of 'brutal behavior'" must mean slavery and its aftermath (Jim Crow, etc.)
Deletethe resulting "cultural whirlpool" must refer to racism and its effects
the "extremely hard to extricate ourselves" must mean that the racism persists
Exactly, you are superimposing your meaning onto Somerby’s words, not eliciting Somerby’s meaning from his words.
Delete