FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2026
Bundy, Koresh to follow: As it happens, we're going out to clean the pasture spring, or something very much like it.
We may offer a post in mid-afternoon. But it's back to the slag heap tomorrow!
Tomorrow: "Ted Bundy vibes," one messenger said. "David Koresh," said another!
February 27:
ReplyDelete"Oman’s foreign minister said Friday that Iran is offering to give up stockpiling enriched uranium as part of a deal with the U.S. related to its nuclear program.
"Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi is serving as the mediator between U.S. and Iranian officials in Geneva."
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5759623-iran-nuclear-deal-stockpiling/
But, according to one area man, the Iranian negotiators "as much as said" they'd continue to build their cache of enriched uranium.
Golly. I'm not sure who to believe!
To be fair, the same area man is on record claiming Iran - an ancient civilization - are suicidal, so we have to kill them all for their own good.
DeleteAs you know, Quaker, it was the judgment of our negotiators that Iran was stalling, not seriously negotiating. Were they correct?
DeleteI tend to believe our negotiators, because Iran would have had to be total morons to invite this level death destruction in their country over a misunderstanding.
Yes, after 100,000 fucking lies now is the time to believe in Trump's government.
DeleteThis was the assessment of the mediator that WE RELIED ON to conduct negotiations. But by all means, let's go with the after-the-fact justificatiion from Steve Witkoff.
DeleteWanna buy a watch? Genuine Rolex!
This is the equivalent of farmer stolen valor. Farming is hard work and Somerby/Frost don't do the work but borrow the image of salt of the earth, and nonexistent springs.
ReplyDeleteI asked AI whether Frost was a farmer and it said this:
"Yes, Robert Frost was a farmer, though not a highly successful or full-time one. He owned and operated a 30-acre poultry farm in Derry, New Hampshire, from 1900 to 1909. While tending chickens and cultivating the land, he wrote many of his famous poems and taught at nearby Pinkerton Academy to support his family.
Farming Career: He worked as a poultry farmer to support his family and wrote many poems in the early morning.
The Farm: The Derry farm is now a historic site known as the Robert Frost Farm.
Success: Locals and family considered him a rather lazy or unsuccessful farmer, as he often neglected chores to write.
Legacy: Despite his lack of commercial success, the farm provided the rural inspiration for some of his most celebrated poetry.
He returned to farming later in life in South Shaftsbury, Vermont, still treating it more as a lifestyle than a profession."
Sort of the way Somerby approaches his blog.
Well said. Shaftsbury is just northeast of Bennington, there's a little Frost museum there.
DeleteThere won't be any museums for gentlemen bloggers. Poor Somerby, no legacy to soothe the bleakness of facing mortality.
I would not have guessed that you could find something to criticize about this short post, but “farmer stolen valor”? That’s classic!
DeleteIt isn't just Somerby who's guilty of farmer stolen valor. All the analysts on his sprawling campus are complicit as well.
DeleteWhy doesn't he just assign the analysts to clean the spring?
DeleteHere is my favorite obscure, deep poem:
"Spring is sprung, the grass is riz,
I wonder where the birdies is?
They say the birdies on the wing,
But that’s absurd—I always thought the wing was on the bird! "
Anonymous but associated with Spike Milligan
I wish Somerby would stop discussing Ted Bundy and David Koresh. First, Bundy did not operate a cult. Koresh was not a serial killer. Why put the two names into the same sentence? Second, Somerby knows too little about what motivated those men to talk about them coherently. Third, using the names of specific mentally ill men to tarnish others is little different than using the diagnostic labels to attach someone. That isn't what the labels are for, and it is unfair to mentally ill people to imply that an person who is evil is equivalent to someone who is struggling with mental illness.
ReplyDeleteSomerby needs to stop trying to excuse Trump and deal with his wrongdoing, his crimes and misbehavior. Trump is hurting people. That means he needs to be stopped. It doesn't matter why he is doing it -- it matters that he is breaking the law in order to engage in crimes, grifting and deliberate harm to those he perceives as his enemies. That has nothing to do with mental illness.
And it's not just Trump. There's Miller. Vought, Pater, Bondi, Witkoff, Kushner, ... as nauseum.
DeleteFocusing on Trump's mind has been exhaustively analyzed to the point of deflection.
"Why put the two names into the same sentence?"
DeleteJust yesterday, Our Gracious Host told us that the assembly of tools at The Five compared James Talarico to Koresh and Bundy. That's why you see the names in the same sentence.
Is today your first time to visit here? Or do you think it's ours?
It isn't cute when Somerby tells lies. He is going on his regular medical appointment, not cleaning chicken shit out of the creek. He doesn't have to tell us where or why he will not post this morning, but he shouldn't lie about it, even in obvious ways like this. It just isn't funny when people lie these days, given how much lying is going around and the consequences of so many of the lies, especially to the functioning of our democracy.
ReplyDelete"He is going on his regular medical appointment, not cleaning chicken shit out of the creek."
DeleteThere is stupid and there is stupider. And then there's you.
I didn't write Somerby's post today. He did that.
DeleteIf you can interpret the metaphor of Frost's creek, please do so. Calling other people stupid is name-calling, which is both lazy and stupid, involves no think whatsoever. So, if you think you know what Somerby means, have at it and explain it to the rest of us.
If you're really telling us you can't figure out what he means, you're confessing to an absymal lack of basic reading skills.
DeleteSo, you have no clue.
Delete"Calling other people stupid is name-calling, which is both lazy and stupid, "
DeleteThis sentence is a work of art.
Right up there with Magritte's "This is not a pipe."
DeleteYesterday, David in Cal posted some lies about Newscum and medicare fraud in CA. Here is a rebuttal:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/20/2373918/-Oz-says-California-s-not-fighting-health-care-fraud-but-data-shows-it-s-part-of-a-larger-battle
CA is top of the list of large states in its recovery of fraudulent claims for Medicare (that means most effective at stopping fraud). Oz is claiming there is a Russian and Armenian organized crime committing fraud (I guess, the equivalent of those Somalian fraudsters in MN), but there is no evidence supporting that. Newsom has filed a civil rights claim against Oz for bias against Russian and Armenian people. For those who don't know, there is a large Russian immigrant and Armenian heritage community in Los Angeles.
David is a foreign troll, his posts are of no consequence.
DeleteFraud connected to government entitlement programs are tiny percentages of their budgets and are being committed by providers, not consumers.
The more pertinent aspect of programs like Medicare is that they are highly efficient, with operating/admin cost around 2%, unlike the private sector with operating/admin costs above 30%.
The real fraud is being committed by corporations, and they get protection from Republicans to keep that fraud going.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth imposed a total ban on microphones at the Pentagon on Friday, complaining that press briefings were making him sound “like a giant idiot.”
ReplyDelete“I’ve been watching so-called news coverage of me and every word out of my mouth sounds stupider than the last,” he said. “I blame microphones.”
After expelling all sound-capturing equipment from the Pentagon media room, Hegseth proceeded to conduct an hourlong briefing entirely in mime.
According to a new poll, Americans strongly support Hegseth’s new policy since it saves them the trouble of muting him.
Hegseth is a ripe target.
DeleteIt was kind of funny when his own mom took him to task for his abuse towards women.
Apparently when Hegseth said "Kill all Muslims", he meant it. Now with access to sophisticated weapons, Hegseth is killing Muslims daily, many of them are children.
That is not very funny, nor was it funny when he raped that Republican woman at a conference. Hegseth did not deny it, he just meekly claimed she had given consent, but she was drunk - possibly drugged - and yelling no as he forcibly violated her.
We should all be grateful that, despite his questionable background, Hegseth is doing a superlative job as Secretary of War. A lot of people throughout the entire Gulf region are still alive thanks to the exceptionally rapid degrading of Iran’s military capability.
DeleteExcept he isn't. That's how he wound up bombing a girl's school. By doing a piss-poor job. In any other administration, he would have been fired for that.
DeleteIf you totally overlook someone's mistakes, even huge ones, then anyone can seem to be doing a good job at anything. I am not inclined to forgive him for child murder.
Exactly, dickface. Do you get on bended knee and pray in the name of Jesus Christ, you fucking fascist prick?
DeleteHegseth: "May almighty God continue to bless our troops in this fight. To the American people, please pray for them every day on bended knee with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ."
"A lot of people throughout the entire Gulf region are still alive thanks to the exceptionally rapid degrading of Iran’s military capability."
DeleteDoes that include the people that have died during the war? Are the people that have died still alive?
Just trying to get to the depths of your stupidity.
Yes David in Cal, superlative indeed. Who could have predicted Iran would use drones to disrupt global oil supplies in this day and age of warfare? You pathetic ass.
DeleteTiedrich says:
Delete"now let’s watch Donny crank the crazy dial so far past eleven that the damned thing snaps off in his freakishly undersized hand.
“some of this weaponry is unthinkable. you don’t even want to know about it. oh, you could end this thing in two seconds if you wanted to.”
he’s … he’s talking about nukes, isn’t he?
holy fuck, it’s Dick Nixon’s ‘madman theory,’ except in this case it’s not a theory — it’s real life.
you’ve heard of the ‘madman theory,’ right? it goes like this: when Nixon was president, there was this fun thing his foreign policy stooges would do: they’d ring up their commie counterparts and go ‘look, the Big Guy in the Oval Office is batshit nuts. we’re trying like hell to keep his finger off the button, but we really can’t control him. he’ll nuke you in a hot second and not think twice about it, so maybe you ought to give him whatever he wants.’
I shit you not.
The madman theory is a political theory commonly associated with the foreign policy of U.S. president Richard Nixon and his administration, who tried to make the leaders of hostile communist bloc countries think Nixon was irrational and volatile so that they would avoid provoking the U.S. in fear of an unpredictable response.
spoiler alert: it didn’t work. Nixon was a paranoid criminal, but he wasn’t insane — and no foreign leader bought his act.
but oh, look: the Madman Theory isn’t a theory any more. now we have an actual madman in the Oval Bordello — and Iran better watch out, because no one knows what the fuck Donny’s going to do. it’s the Big Wheel of Bugfuck.
Donny’s always had this fascination about using nukes. recall that back in 2016, Donny had to be talked out of nuking a hurricane — more than once.
During one hurricane briefing at the White House, Trump said, “I got it. I got it. Why don’t we nuke them?” according to one source who was there.
The briefer “was knocked back on his heels,” the source in the room added. “You could hear a gnat fart in that meeting. People were astonished. After the meeting ended, we thought, ‘What the f---? What do we do with this?’”
thank fuck there were adults in the room to talk sense to Donny. the thing is, there are no longer any adults, anywhere — and the Mad King is even more deranged than he was during his first reign. so when he gets super horny to drop a nuke on Iran, who’s going stop him? not Liddle Marco. he’s so terrified of crossing Dear Leader that he won’t even take off those ridiculous ill-fitting shoes Donny bought him.
and certainly not this piss-drunk maniac.
“and I say this to every American who wants peace through strength. may almighty God continue to bless our troops in this fight. and again, to the American people, please pray for them every day on bended knee with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ.”
oh, awesome. nobody could have predicted that the dunk-tank clown with the emotional maturity of a twelve-year-old boy and covered in Christofascist tatoos would imagine he’s waging some kind of holy war.
oh, and fuck you completely, Piss-Drunk Pete. we still have a First Amendment in this country that says I don’t have to do anything in the name of Jesus Christ.
look, I’m no biblical scholar, but I really don’t think Jesus was all about dropping bombs on schoolgirls. there’s no line in the Sermon on the Mount about ‘blessed are the deranged alcoholic warmongers.’
They are desperate. They will drop a tactical nuke to show we mean business. Just a small display of what the big one would do. That green lights Russia dropping one in Ukraine. Then it is off to the races and the planet dies. So much winning!!!
DeleteOne of Hegseth's jobs is to control Trump's delusions and keep him from doing bad things to other countries. He has majorly failed at that. Trump is working himself up to taking Cuba by force, so that he can build condos and hotels and golf courses there. He mistakenly believes Cuba doesn't get hurricanes. Trump apparently thinks he can make Venezuela or Canada into a 51st State just by fiat. It doesn't work that way either. And whatever happened to deporting those Venezuelans? Why do that if you're going to add an entirely Hispanic state to the union?
DeleteDoesn't the president have to make some sense? This one doesn't. One of Hegseth's duties is, along with the rest of Trump's cabinet and the VP, to invoke Article 25 and remove Trump for being batshit crazy. Hegseth doesn't have the guts to do anything like that -- he won't even tell Trump that bombing Iran was not a good idea.
The decision to attack Iran was not made by Hegseth. Once Iran was attacked, it was inevitable that this evil regime would kill a great many people. Evan its own citizens. Thanks to superlative work by the US and Israeli militaries, Iran killed far fewer people than they otherwise would have.
DeleteI don't judge a Secretary of War based on her/his religion or sexual behavior, or race, or height, etc. I judge him or her on how effectively our military fights.
You have no idea who made the decision. Could have been Putin.
DeleteTrump is doing such a good job that people have to make up imaginary things to blame him for. So, Tiedrich blames Trump for using nuclear weapons, something he didn't do.
DeleteThe world in absolute chaos is your idea of such a good job. With no plans to back down off Mount Mistakes Were Made, and really totally absolutely fuck shit up beyond all belief. You are a ridiculous flip flopping troll, the same freak who declared Iran's military was eliminated and we won on day one.
DeleteI understand that "no plans" is the current narrative. But, gee whiz, the war in Iran could hardly have been planned more successfully. As planned, the US and Israel virtually wiped out Iran's navy, air force, air defenses, missiles, missile launchers, many military factories, and most of their leaders. In only 2 weeks! Mines are a difficult problem. It's trivially easy to lay mines, whereas a mine's damage can be enormous. The US and (some of) its allies are ready to begin the task of removing all the mines and opening the Strait of Hormuz. This will not be an easy task. I am confident that we will succeed.
Delete"The US and (some of) its allies are ready to begin the task of removing all the mines and opening the Strait of Hormuz."
DeleteYou're woefully misinformed.
First, no US ally has agreed to assist with helping in any military way to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Second, very little if any of the damage being done to ships in the Strait are from mines. The damage is being done by missiles and underwater drones.
Them damn evil Muslims also got them unmanned drone boats to slam into tankers. Good grief, it's a fucking disaster that only gets more worser...
DeleteAs planned, the US and Israel virtually wiped out Mideast oil and gas production. FIFY David.
Delete“See what you made me do” is a childish excuse. We didn’t close the Strait. Closing the Strait of Hormuz is not part of a war against us. We don’t need that oil. Closing the Strait is a FU to the entire world.
DeleteIran closed the Strait. At great effort we are the ones who will re-open it. Yet, some people will blame the US and excuse Iran.
Here's a thought exercise: if the US hadn't attacked Iran, would the Strait of Hormuz now be closed?
DeleteAnswer: No.
Conclusion: the US bears a large part of the responsibility for the Strait being closed.
We don't need that oil says the Dickhead, so why the price gouging dufus?
DeleteI am some people. I blame Bibi, Trump, and Putin for closing the straight, exactly as they intended.
DeleteTiedrich blames Trump for using nuclear weapons, something he didn't do.
Delete1) Dickhead, no he did not, he is reporting some of the amazingly dumb shit your fucking insane hero is saying, fuckface
2) You wouldn't give a shit is Trump did unleash a nuke on Iran. You would be here in less than 10 minutes defending the insane bastard. Who the fuck do you think you are kidding?
Do you deny it, dickhead?
Say it right here and now, you would move to have the insane bastard impeached in he authorized use of a nuclear weapon. Say it, fuckface.
“See what you made me do” is the Trump Admins casus belli for this clusterfuck of a mess they made.
DeleteLike most of the poets Somerby quotes, Robert Frost was a conservative. He is described as:
ReplyDelete"Robert Frost was considered a profound, often stubborn conservative thinker, particularly in his later years, characterized by a preference for individual liberty, skepticism of government welfare, and adherence to traditional Judeo-Christian values. While not a rigid partisan, he was a noted critic of the New Deal and liberal social policies."
Too bad today's conservatives no longer value individual liberty and traditional Judeo-Christian values but are supporting child molestation, grifting at public expense, and expansionism via sneak attack. This is where pretend farming gets you.
There does seem to be some possible connection between capability in abstract/metaphorical thinking and conservatism/lacking empathy.
DeleteIt is likely marginal relative to primary root causes, but it is interesting none the less.
Except Frost wasn't being metaphorical when he said he had to clean the stream. He was being literal. Somerby thinks all you need to be metaphorical is to mention something, doesn't matter if it fits or not. For example, what are the parallels between going to his medical visit? Well, one is that he finds it a chore, like Frost, but what beyond that? Is he part of a stream of patients being cleaned by his doctors, who find him a chore? That seems more likely than whatever Somerby means, if anything.
DeleteJFC -- You really don't know what he means? Let me spell it out for you: No post now, he's got something to do, maybe one later.
DeleteGot that, but what about the Frost poem? Filler?
DeleteNo. A gift for your reading pleasure. Duh!
DeleteYou stalkers are obsessed with finding things to criticize, aren't you?
DeleteI thought you folks hit your peak when you decided that Somerby's style of punctuation proved his sexism. But this is bumping right up there next to it.
Delete"Like most of the poets Somerby quotes, Robert Frost was a conservative."
DeleteAlso, Frost is dead. Somerby hates the living.
All these liberal women being trained to be single and childless or hate men. Now they are desperate and preying on children to fulfill their desires. Going against God’s natural order in creation is unnatural. It leads to perversions of the mind and spirit.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya, bro.
DeleteIt sucks to be an unfuckable loser like yourself, so lashing out with sexism towards women can seem reasonable from that position.
I am a woman.
DeleteI am your father.
DeleteMen train women to hate men. Girls start out idolizing their daddies and then gradually lose that feeling with experience.
DeleteCan young men help it if they choose to be pathetic? Views differ.
DeleteMany women have warm hearts and would nurture a pathetic man. The violence is a dealbreaker.
Delete"All these liberal women being trained to be single and childless or hate men."
DeleteReally? Who trains them? And where do they get this training? If you, like you say, are a woman, did you receive this training? Did it not take for you? Why not?
Please send your pamphlet. I am curious.
All my pamphlets are bi-curious.
DeleteI can see how Trump wound up wearing a campaign hat to a solemn ceremony. He is lazy, so when he was told by Suzie Wiles that he had to go show respect to the first American casualties of his Iran war, he said "I don't wanna go waste my time on a bunch of losers, who couldn't manage to stay alive in a plane." I can see Wiles saying, but if you go, you can wear your campaign hat and then we can use the photo in your next fundraising letter. Think how the veterans will cough up their dough, if you are honoring them." And I can see Trump reluctantly responding, "yeah, that is probably worth it, where did I leave my hat?" and Wiles responding, "You should put on a new one for this occasion, they're on the shelf behind the Resolute Desk." Then Trump whines, "But I don't have to go to the reception do I?"
ReplyDeleteThen Suzie says, "President Netanyahu wants you to go" and Trump says, "Okay, if I hafta."
DeleteAnyone but me still remember Susie's dad's game-winning kick in 1958? Crucial game. Snow. Longest field goal of the season. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkR5JKV3STY
DeleteNo, we only remember what a sick fuck Nazi troll you are.
DeleteSorry, David. Everyone who remembers back that far is busy talking with Robert Frost. Who is dead.
DeleteI do remember learning that Susie's dad was an abusive alcoholic, just like our superlative Secretary of "War."
That Somerby! When he's not punctuating like a sexist, he's stealing the valor of farmers or, for God's sake, he's offering poems that confuse us!
ReplyDeleteanother bloody day for the 401k's, let's all stand around and watch Orange Nero burn the planet down, cause obviously there is nothing that can be done to stop him.
ReplyDeleteAre you retiring today or anytime soon?
DeleteIf not, why worry about day-to-day fluctuations?
Yes, within 6 months, and fuck you too very much, between the fucking illegal tariffs that king Orange Chickenshit won't pay back and this unnecessary wasteful ignorant unprovoked attack on Iran he has truly fucked me.
Deleteday to day fluctuations my ass
DeleteWe are at the point that the insane debt primarily caused by tax cuts for the rich by Shrub and the felon, along with runaway weapons spending, has resulted in an unsustainable debt load. This ain't no daily fluctuations, it is the end of an empire.
DeleteDiC has suddenly lost his concern for the debt.
DeleteOrange chickenshit can’t pay TCA but wants $200 billion for his Mideast war
ReplyDeleteCan you spell RECESSION, dickface?
ReplyDelete