FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2026
Why hasn't it ever been said? We Blues! Yesterday brought another worrying assessment concerning the race for the House. It comes from Larry Sabato, one of the last of the sane ones.
In its newest assessment of the race for the House, Sabato's Center for Politics reports an improved prospect for Democrats. But even so, this is where matters are now said to stand:
Sabato Shifts 14 Races Toward Democrats...
[...]
“Our overall topline assessment is basically unchanged, though: Democrats remain favored to flip the House majority in November, but Republicans have a path, too,” [a Sabato analyst] wrote.
Currently, Sabato’s ratings list 179 seats as Safe Republican; 208 rated Safe, Likely, or Leans R; 181 Safe Democratic; and 207 Safe, Likely, or Leans D. Twenty races are listed as Toss-Up, 15 currently held by Republicans and five by Democrats.
That report comes from Mediaite. In our view, those numbers are frightening, close.
We Blues! The president's numbers are in the tank, but he won't be running this year. As We Blues exult about his numbers, the House numbers seem scarily close.
I can't believe I 'm losing to this guy! Way back in 1988, SNL's version of Michael Dukakis memorably voiced that point of incomprehension as the election neared.
We Blues have never quite understood the ways we sometimes look to others. We've been planning to examine that matter next week, though the madness of Wednesday's Fauci hearing may push that topic back again.
How can we (even possibly) be losing to the party of President Trump? We'd call that a very good question!
For today, we want to return to the madness of last Friday night's address at the White House Correspondents Dinner. More specifically, we want to return to Lawrence O'Donnell's reaction to that endless, disordered address, and to the man who delivered it.
Returning from a weeklong vacation, O'Donnell discussed the address this past Monday night. Before he did, he discussed the state of the war with Iran—and in his program's first few minutes, he came right out with this:
O'DONNELL (7/27/26): The one story that you know every historian will write about when looking at the year 2026 is Donald Trump's war. And in that war, historians will find everything they need to know about Donald Trump's incompetence, Donald Trump's laziness, Donald Trump's ignorance and yes, Donald Trump's madness.
What happens when a madman starts a war?
As far as we know, "madness" isn't a clinical term. It's a word which is often used in a colloquial sense, and the same can be said about "madman."
That said, O'Donnell is one of the very few major journalists who have explored the blindingly obvious possibility that the current sitting president is afflicted by some version of "mental illness" (whatever that challenging term might be taken to mean).
"What happens when a madman starts a war?" The doctor did seem to be IN—and O'Donnell continued from there:
O'DONNELL: [The difficulties in Iran] have left him deeply frustrated, his aides say, and have made him more erratic, even by Trumpian standards.
He's been even more erratic than normal! Indeed, "erratic" is "the kindest possible description of Donald Trump's public utterances," O'Donnell (quite reasonably) said.
O'Donnell then displayed a few of the crazy AI-generated images the president had posted on Truth Social over the weekend. With the normalization long since completed, we've seen those crazy images—posted by the sitting president!—reported and discussed nowhere else.
In one of the images—"hallucinations," O'Donnell called them--President Trump pictured himself helping George Washington clamber onto the top of Mount Rushmore. Eventually, O'Donnell said this about the sitting president:
O'DONNELL: Insanity cannot be anticipated. And that's why you could never possibly have imagined that image of Donald Trump and George Washington being put out by a president of the United States until Donald Trump did it.
And then, when he did it, when he flashes his madness like that on social media...it is completely empty of surprise, because everyone knows how crazy the president of the United States is.
[...]
The entire world knows that the man who started that war in Iran, and on the 149th day of that war put out that image of himself with George Washington, is a madman. That is what has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt in five months of Donald Trump's war, and then and in the now over ten years of Donald Trump's political career.
Everyone knows how crazy he is. The entire world knows he's a madman.
The word "insanity" was also used. Astoundingly, though, in the part of that passage we've so far omitted, O'Donnell also made the highlighted statement:
O'DONNELL: ...everyone knows how crazy the president of the United States is.
And no one is calling for the use of the 25th amendment to remove the madman in that image from the office of the presidency because the entire professional Republican Party in Washington has accepted fully the madness of Donald Trump.
The American news media has understandably run out of words to describe the horror of the madness of Donald Trump...
"Insanity" and "madness" aren't clinical terms. That said, it seems clear that O'Donnell is saying that President Trump is (severely) mentally ill.
Why, then—why in the world—would he also say this?
The American news media has understandably run out of words to describe the horror of the madness of Donald Trump.
Why in the world would he say that?
In fact, for better or worse, America's major news orgs have made exactly zero attempt to explore the fairly obvious possibility that the president is in the grip of some significant mental illness, or is suffering a cognitive decline, or quite possibly both.
Or, quite possibly, both! That's what his niece, a doctorate-holding clinical therapist, said to Erin Burnett earlier this year:
BURNETT (2/26/26): You've known him your whole life. Do you actually see a decline?
MARY TRUMP: I do, but I think it's important to remember that Donald has never been fit in any capacity. Obviously, what we're dealing with now are age-related cognitive declines. We're dealing with physical issues that the White House tries to cover over.
But this is somebody who for decades now has had serious, undiagnosed and untreated psychiatric disorders, which are only going to worsen, especially given the pressure he's under and given the cognitive and physical declines.
She described an "obvious" cognitive decline, layered atop decades of "serious, undiagnosed and untreated psychiatric disorders, which are only going to worsen."
Obviously, the fact that she said it doesn't mean that it's true. But she wasn't invited back to explain what she meant, nor has anyone else asked her to elaborate on the assessment she offered. Nor would our journalists (or politicians) know how to discuss such matters, even if they wanted to try.
They wouldn't have any idea how to do it. Along with just about everyone else, We Blues just aren't that sharp.
O'Donnell has frequently criticized the work of the mainstream press. By law, he isn't allowed to discuss Gutfeld, Watters, Compagno, Timpf/Tyrus, or even Dana Perino.
We Blues! By rule of law in the upper-end press, they simply cannot be discussed.
That said, O'Donnell has frequently criticized the mainstream press. Why would he say that they have nothing left to say about the president, when it's clear that they have vowed that they will never discuss the possibilities we've just mentioned?
We don't know why O'Donnell said that. Meanwhile, We Blues! We simply aren't the people we imagine ourselves to be.
In particular, we simply aren't unusually sharp. We enable the other side in a wide array of ways, and we rarely seem to know what they are.
This doesn't mean that we're bad people—because, of course, we aren't. It simply means we're people people, a bit like everyone else.
It doesn't mean that we can't be loved. Yevtusheno said this about us, though in translation, of course:
People
No people are uninteresting.
Their fate is like the chronicle of planets.
[...]
Who we knew as faulty, the earth's creatures.
Of whom, what did we know?
Everyone knows it—but no one has said it! Of whom, what did we know?
To watch O'Donnell's Monday night monologue: It's available from MS NOW under this headline:
Lawrence: Day 150 shows what happens when a madman starts a war
To watch the tape, click here.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been wondering, Bob, if perhaps it's you who is a total nut (clinical term!), and that is the reason you're obsessed with looking for "insane" people everywhere?
But of course you have not. Never mind.
Bob famously don't do comments dummy.
DeleteBob definitely reads the comments.
DeleteDon't be a sucker.
Where are the massage parlors of yesteryear?
ReplyDeleteNo people are uninteresting, although people who repeat the same tired things over and over again make a strong argument to the contrary. Abraham Lincoln said that.
ReplyDeleteAbraham Lincoln crushed the Confederacy, but it’s rising from the ashes.
DeleteIs that why there is speculation that Georgia is going Blue in the midterms? VA, NC too? Maybe TX?
DeleteO’Donnell is reporting on Trump, his administration, the congress, the elections, etc. Why would he spend any time at all talking about Gutfeld?
ReplyDelete"We Blues have never quite understood the ways we sometimes look to others."
ReplyDeleteSomerby has said this before. He implies that if we did understand then we might want to change how we look to them. But is that true? I wouldn't want to change a thing about my politics or my party's platform to make the right think more highly of me. I don't value their opinions. They are on the wrong path.
Changing one's views to attract right wing votes is called selling out. We could all do that, by it means abandoning the things our party rightly stands for. No thank you, Somerby.
But it is clear that Somerby himself knows how to advocate this sell out position because he himself "understands" how to look appealing to the right. And that may be because he is one of them, and has been since 2015 when Trump came down that escalator and his campaign began paying influencers, shills and guys like Tim Pool to advocate for him. That is a legitimate political move, unless you are also pretending to be liberal and denying transparency about who pays you. Those funded by Tenet Media still claim they didn't know Russia was writing their paychecks to promote Trump's candidacy. But they surely know how lefties appear to the right, those Others Somerby thinks we should care about so we can adjust how we look to them.
Aside from being an ineffective strategy, this strikes me as dishonest, just like Somerby appears dishonest when we chides we blues as if by representing our own views we are doing something wrong. Stand fast lefties. We have nothing to lose but our political conscience, historical traditions and integrity, if we follow Somerby's advice.
Agreed. Somerby’s template is always to throw a sentence into the last paragraph admonishing “we blues” irrespective of the preceding commentary , as if he is a part of some fraternity. The Groucho Marx line about not wanting to belong to a club that would have him applies here. Somerby does not have to worry about that possibility.
Delete"I disagree with this argument, therefore its author must secretly belong to the other side."
DeleteBORING
STUPID
Agree, 11:06. Well said.
Delete11:06 - Your premise is that Somerby urges us to change our views to attract right-wing votes. Your premise is not based on anything Somerby has written
Delete"Your premise is....bla bla bla"
DeleteBORING
STUPID
“Is something wrong with President Trump? At this point, what sane person could really deny it?” — Somerby, a few days ago
ReplyDeleteSo why should the news media bother with a discussion of Trump’s mental illness? Apparently, the only people who can’t see there’s something wrong with Trump are themselves not sane, so it’s doubtful that they will be receptive to mainstream analysis from carefully selected panels of mental health experts.
From Somerby's point of view it is better that folks focus on Trump's mental decline and nevermind his lifelong corruption and criminality.
Delete"How can we (even possibly) be losing to the party of President Trump? We'd call that a very good question! "
ReplyDeleteI'd call that a fatuous question. We aren't losing to the party of President Trump. In many senses, the Republicans are rebelling and no longer Trump's party. That's why Blanche cannot be confirmed. Republicans are discovering their own line in the sand and Trump is losing both his appeal and his grasp on the party.
Does Somerby really think that he himself can convince blue America to do things his way, by calling us "not very sharp"? Insulting people has never been the way to win their hearts. Somerby does this because he is not part of blue America. If he were, he might be discussing the merits of progressivism and explaining what the DSA is compared to Social Democrats, like other Dems have been doing in their podcasts and blogs. Thom Hartmann is explaining what Trump did to create unnecessary covid deaths during his term, contrasting it to Fauci's efforts. Crickets from Somerby in defense of Fauci.
Do right wingers understand how foolish they appear to better educated lefties when they throw words around without understanding them while discussing vaccines? Tiedrich does and his post today demystifyies whether fetus parts were ever used in vaccine creation. Somerby doesn't care whether it makes any sense to call blues "not that sharp" while the right is so collosally stupid that it thinks RFK Jr. knows anything about "real food" when he eats roadkill and says he "has no gag reflex".
There is someone stupid spreading more stupidity here, but it isn't us blues (hint, his name starts with the initials R.S.). This blog has become more looney tunes itself since Somerby decided to translate the right to us in order to encourage us to mend our ways. Except he doesn't even do that. He just chides us for being "not sharp," whatever that means in a nation where Trump supporters wear adult diapers to show their fealty to Dear Leader.
This is a continuation of Maher's complaint that the left lost to Trump in 2024 because of being too woke. But anti-wokeness was always a right-wing talking point. The whole "we look silly to Others" is a right wing campaign meme, along with anti-trans rhetoric and anti-immigrant racist complaints. Are these effective ways to gain right wing votes. Well, they have Somerby convinced, but is that really what the left is about? I don't think so. And when Somerby complains that we shouldn't be promoting DSA candidates, he forgets that they are the ones talking about affordability, anti-war, anti-ICE and anti-corruption issues that are the way Democrats can win, not just defund police or whatever Somerby thinks is off-putting to conservatives.
DeleteThe right is going to smear the left no matter what we actually say and are. Look what they are doing to Fauci. We are smearing back -- how many new Republican names are going to be revealed in coming weeks out of the unredacted Epstein files? Why is Trump's govt still stalling on prosecutions of child rapists?
But why is Somerby calling the left "not sharp?" To undermine our confidence and slow down our efforts before upcoming midterms. This is like telling your teenager "You aren't very sharp" right before they take the SAT exams. It is unhelpful and designed to undermine not increase our comeptitive edge. That's because Somerby is rooting for the other team. He seems Trump losing, red candidates losing, and he is doing his bit to stop the blue tsunami by telling us we aren't very good at politics. Eat shit, Somerby.
Whenever I hear someone call Dems too woke, I know that person will never be more than acquaintance. It signals exactly where they are coming from. It does the same when Somerby says it. I stop listening because I know that person, including Somerby, has nothing to say to me.
DeleteLove these asshole Republican "Christians" who never can quote Christ as he is too woke for them.
Delete11:41 - You say that Somerby has nothing to say to you, but you can’t stop reading him, can you? Why do you think that is?
DeleteThere is nothing with disagreeing with TDHs thesis and coming here to challenge and debunk it. Why do you find this perfectly normal behavior to be strange?
DeleteIt has been explained to DG many times, he is just trolling, ignore him.
Delete4:47 - Why do I find it strange? Because I read Somerby in the hope of learning something, and you say you will never learn anything from him, yet you keep reading.
DeleteTrying to learn from Somerby is like trying to learn from Trump.
DeleteWhy does anyone contradict Trump? Because he is the president and he should know better -- we don't want anyone to be misled about sharks or batteries after all. Somerby is a different kind of fraud, but a fraud nevertheless. Read at your own risk.
9:20. What an odd destination for someone looking for knowledge. Especially trolling the comment section for individuals whose comments you find objectionable. It's 2:00AM. I just woke up from a sound sleep because the thermostat needs adjusting and I am typing this knowing it's foolish and a guilty pleasure. Definitely not here for knowledge. You can criticize me for doing so; I deserve such. But in a minute I'll try to get back to sleep. I could be trying to learn Italian in these free minutes or practice scales on the piano but there is a place for everything including nonsense like this. But as a conduit of knowledge? I am afraid that you've come to the wrong address.
DeleteEvery time Somerby says O'Donnell, I think of Rosie first. I guess I am stuck in a left-wing mentality. Or is it right wing to do that? After all, she occupies a lot of space in Trump's head.
ReplyDelete“We Blues have never quite understood the ways we sometimes look to others."
ReplyDeleteDoes this refer to the issues that we support, or does this refer to the way we talk about the issues that we support?
That's a very fine hair to split.
DeleteIf I look like a bad person, is it because I say and do things that look like a bad person would say and do, or is it because I do and say bad things that are themselves bad acts rather than just appearing to be bad? This is another version of Somerby saying that it is all to complicated to know or say anything definitive about what is going on.
There is an English saying for this situation: "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck."
If we look like blues to others, perhaps it is about nothing else than being blues (with all that being blue entails). This is not about impression management (something JD Vance and George Santos worry about, not to mention Trump and his bros who want to look ever so manly), but about who we are and what we stand for. If we be blue, the rest will take care of itself. Remember how Hillary used to be mocked for using focus groups to examine her "image," (whether she did that or not)? It is not a good thing to follow Somerby down HIS rabbit hole of looking like the right kind of Democrats to appeal to Others (who don't give a shit but wear all the merch because they are not ashamed of who they are). Somerby wants us to be ashamed of part of our party so that we will come across as phony as hell to ALL prospective voters. Don't do it.
"In particular, we simply aren't unusually sharp."
ReplyDeleteAre we unusually moral? Perhaps. Are we unusually empathetic? Some studies say so. Are we pro-Constitution and anti-fascist? Most of us.
We do happen to be smarter and better educated, in general, than the right is, based on studies of such things. So why would Somerby say we are not sharp? Maybe he isn't that sharp himself, when it comes to comparative studies of the traits of Republicans and Democrats.
Somerby went to Harvard back when money could buy admission without test scores to match. His mother insisted that he go, says Somerby. He was a philosophy major (which is now the major of choice for would-be lawyers) but he had to retake several courses in summer school, not even getting that Gentleman's C grade, by his own admission. Then he taught school until the war ended and became a stand-up comedian. He quotes some hefty books but never seems to have read past the preface, so is that real learning or posing as intellectual? He appears to have not read a new book since college. His avoidance of new knowledge parallels Trump's pretense, while most people think he has never read a book all the way through.
Perhaps this is Somerby's projection of his own intellectual inadequacies (perhaps made clear to him at Harvard) onto the blues. He never skips an opportunity to knock expertise and attack some hapless Ivy League journalism grad, which may be his lifelong attempt to cut others down to his own size, brainwise. So this may be nothing to do with blue American behavior but all a part of his own inferiority complex, still being worked through when he is Trump's age and should have come to terms with his own IQ decades ago.
It doesn't mean we blues are not that sharp. After all, he offers no evidence to support these negative digs at blue America, other than that Trump's poll numbers are continuing to slide, and I don't see the relevance of that at all, to we blues cognitive status. WE are not the ones with dementia.
"So why would Somerby say we are not sharp?" Most American can't read at the 7th grade level. We be dumbasses. Look at the greasy fuck pedophile elected twice to President.
Delete"So why would Somerby say we are not sharp?" Most American can't read at the 7th grade level. We be dumbasses. Look at the greasy fuck pedophile elected twice to President.
DeleteThis comment reeks with an inflated sense of moral and intellectual superiority. I think when Somerby says we Blues do not realize how we are perceived by others, he refers to people who make smug, condescending comments like this one.
DeleteI was referring to 12:01’s comment.
DeleteQuick. Name a Democrat running for office who is smug and condescending.
Delete“I pity Trump.” Is that smug and/or condescending?
DeleteHow about this: “Is something wrong with President Trump? At this point, what sane person could really deny it?”
I guess all those Trump loyalists are just insane. But Somerby isn’t being smug or condescending. Nope. Nooooope.
It’s not Dem leaders, by and large. It’s us, or at least a subset of us who constantly scold the Others about their stupidity and their mendacity.
DeleteSo, DT, us average blues should refrain from saying certain things that you and Somerby find objectionable in any online blog or forum whatsoever, and just leave the hatred, the smugness and the condescension to the others to freely spout whenever and wherever they feel like it?
DeleteI would also point out the asymmetrical nature of this argument, DG. The hatred, the smugness, the condescension within the Republican Party comes from the very top and all of its leaders pretty much engage in it. You are saying that the Democratic leaders do not engage in this, but the rest of us are the problem. Do you see the asymmetry of that analysis?
DeleteWell, yes in the sense that Republicans are ten-fold worse than Dems. Which is why I would hope that Dems adopt strategies that will lead to electoral victory.
DeleteBut “anti-woke,” to take an example, is a powerful political tool for the Right because many of the Others are fed up with being scolded by what they see as condenscending lefties strutting a performative superiority.
So you have fully adopted the right wing framing of liberals, DG? Woke performative superiority?
DeleteWhen I stand up for trans people when I testify at the legislature against anti-trans bills I am not performing any superiority or performing some sort of wokeness just for grins. I’m standing up for people that I care about who are being targeted by the right wing with laws trying to erase them. I also stand with an anti-ice group that reports ice trying to round up immigrants and deport them, ripping apart families in the process. am I performing a woke superiority when I do that DG?
What the Republicans are doing is bigoted DG, there’s no other word for it. I don’t have to use that word, but that’s what it is. So fuck off with your notions of woke performative superiority
Oh by the way, DG this is mh. I used to comment here under mh. And that previous comment was mine, and I am transgender. Does that fucking bother you?
DeleteWelcome back mh. What you say is spot on.
DeleteUs normal commenters do support trans rights, as any person should.
Trolls like DG never offer any evidence to support their moronic views on electoral politics.
Remember when Somerby was writing essays supporting the right of conservatives to pull books out of classrooms and libraries, because of woke? I do.
DeleteI am 12:01. I am mentally superior to someone with a 7th grade education. I worked hard to be that way. Nothing worth having comes easy, including cognitive strengths. Why should those with expertise have to pretend they are stupid in order to be tolerated by the right? Somerby mocks expertise, so he fits right in with the right's attitude about being smart. Trump says he loves dumb people -- they are his best customers. When did Americans lose their willingness to educate themselves and their kids? The right shamelessly exploits anti-intellectuals by telling them they are the real smart ones, and Somerby goes right along with their game. As a former teacher, he should know better, but he seems to be proud of ripping off the system while draft dodging, since black kids can't really close any gaps anyway (he hints).
DeleteThere is a folk belief that someone can be smart without being educated. That isn't true. Just like you cannot be strong without lifting heavy things repeatedly. Cognitive skills are developed via experience interacting with the environment, solving problems, making decisions, performing visual and spatial tasks, using language to communicat with others, and reading a lot of books of increasing complexity. Mental effort results in fatigue, just as physical effort does. It feels tiring and can even be upsetting because confusion is not pleasant and frustration often produces anger. People who persist despite such feelings tend to learn and become better at using their minds in various tasks.
DeleteThere are people who instead wish to avoid negative emotions and becoming fatigued by doing mental work. When they are no longer forced to do tasks by parents or teachers (or work circumstances) they avoid them. Being mentally lazy, avoidant of mental effort (such as reading long paragraphs and paying enough attention to follow them) causes someone to become stuck at a lower level of functioning. It is a choice. Some people are curious, ask themselves questions and then pursue answers. Such people are motivated to learn and do the work involved in science, math, and academic fields. Some parents encourage kids to do this while young so it becomes a habit when they grow up. Others mock children for posing questions, feel threatened by having a smarter child whose questions they cannot answer, and discourage learning at home and at school. Their kids have obstacles to overcome because mental activity is mocked, as occurs here with Somerby and this idea that those who know more are condescending posers, pretending to be smart.
This persecution of Fauci is a good example of the split between ignorant people on the right and educated people on the left, with very high stakes in terms of survival. Fauci tried to help people too stupid to make the effort to figure out what was true about covid. Now he is being scapegoated and the same "victims" of Trump and the right are being encouraged to believe a slew of lies about what Fauci did. This is Idiocracy in all its glory, and Somerby has the nerve to pretend that knowledge is just posturing and not actually worth anything in politics or life.
Somerby has been anti-intellectual since he first started blogging. I suspect he was that way as a teacher too, with his own smug superiority toward his students, their families, and all those suckers who went to war. And now he projects that onto liberals, blue America, not just female journalists with Ivy League degrees.
mh - No, it doesn’t bother me (although the fact that you think it might bothers me a tad). And I applaud your efforts for trans rights and against ICE. Good for you!
DeleteI suspect we broadly share the same political views, but we might differ on tactics. I think it’s a mistake for lefties to say things such as “All Republicans are bigots.” First, it’s not true. Second, it destroys any possibility of persuasion and hardens tribal affiliations.
I think the only way out of our political morass is electoral, so I think we should refrain from making false, counterproductive accusations.
5:38 - I bow to your vast intellectual superiority. Perhaps telling the Others that we Blues are smart and they are stupid will be the winning campaign theme. I can see the bumper sticker now:
DeleteVOTE DEM, YOU STUPID FUCKS!
It would be condescending to dumb down blue America so that red voters feel comfortable. We blues spend a lot of time contradicting the propaganda flooding the right. We do it here at Somerby's blog but also other places. When someone wants to come here and insist that the right is not lying about Fauci etc., we correct them with facts. Beyond that, it is hard to know what DG wants? False compliments about red acuity? Or does he just want us to stop using words like acuity?
DeleteVote DEM, it will make your life better. We have never gone around calling red America "STUPID FUCKS!" except under troll provocation at a website where they don't belong and do not contribute.
If red America feels stupid because they don't know what is going on, there is a way to fix that. In most areas it is called community college. There is Wikipedia. Spellcheck. People don't have to remain stupid, but they do have to stop believing people like Trump who grift off their stupidity and rob them.
DG, if you are so smart, why does any red voter think it is a good idea to sell off parts of our National Parks?
“DG, if you’re so smart”
DeleteI’m not. As I said, I bow to your self-professed intellectual superiority.
DG doesn't only differ on tactics. Why do Republicans think we on the left are so stupid that we will believe statements like that?
Delete@5:38 said they worked hard for their education and are smart. DG hears that as calling others stupid. Why cannot someone who is actually smart and accomplished say so without being denigrated by Others (including DG). It is not calling anyone else stupid when you assert your own credentials in an area of expertise.
Intelligence varies along a bell curve (normal curve). There are a few very stupid people at one tail of the distribution of IQ scores and a few very smart people at the other tail and most people are somewhere in the middle.
It seems like red voters are so concerned with domination that any suggestion another person might be a bit smarter must be opposed with violence. We blue voters don't think like that. We are not threatened by other people's accomplishments because we don't feel diminished by them. We can still be proud of our individual achievements, whatever they may be. Go ahead, call that pretentious or condescending or whatever word meaning "less than" you reds feel when someone else succeeds at something.
“Red voters are so consumed with dominanation that any suggestion that another person might be a bit smarter must be opposed with violence.”
DeleteWhere to start? You folks see this as an intelligent proposition, backed by empirical evidence, rather than a grossly-false prejudgment of millions of our fellow Americans?
DG - Kamala did the outreach thing and campaigned all over the country with the vile war mongering evil Cheney. How did that "can't we all get along" bullshit work out for her?
DeleteWho complains about someone being (or feeling) smart. Maria danced around singing “I feel pretty” and people shared her joy. Who begrudges someone their smarts? DG snd reds who think it is zero-sum so someone smart makes them dumb. That is teir damage — reds go around being aggressively stupid in retaliation for being called wrong on empirical matters.
DeleteI may not be as smart as the intellectual giants populating these comment threads, but nevertheless I’m wondering whether calling the Others “Stupid Bigots” is likely to change their votes.
DeleteIf the Republicans are willing to pretend that a dead man is still alive, for political advantage, why wouldn't they pretend that an insane old far with dementia is perfectly normal, in order to continue to benefit from his corruption? There is no big mystery here.
ReplyDeleteThey can look to the Dems pretending old Joe was fit to President for the length of his administration.
DeleteGood point, 1:46.
DeleteThe physical and even mental health of a president is extremely less consequential than the degree to which that person is corrupt and a criminal.
Biden may have lost a step but he wasn't corrupt or a criminal like Trump is, so Biden improved our country while Trump is hell bent on destroying our country.
Do "we blues" understand how we look to others?
ReplyDeleteI can accept that there are behaviors among the "blues" that the right has found easy to ridicule. Some lefties have a fondness for tagging ideological opponents with disparaging labels (racist, misogynist, homophobic, and more.) They sometimes demonstrate a dedication to performative quirks (announcing preferred pronouns, recognizing ancestral, indigenous inhabitants of land, adopting linguistic constructions (LatinX, diversity and inclusion, and so on.)
The Right scores big by mocking these behaviors, even if they neglect to show that there's anything at all wrong with any of them.
As a matter of fact, the Right has its own set of similar behaviors. Calling opponents names? Sure! "Commies." "Woke!" "TDS!" Performative silliness? In buckets! Boat parades! MAGA hats! Boycotts of Bud Light, Cracker Barrel, and any movie that is deemed offensive. Linguistic quirks? Sure thing! Gulf of America, anyone?
The way w?"we blues" behave isn't really any different from the way reds--or any group of humans--behave.
The biggest difference is that blues are often urging people to change how they behave--to stop denigrating people on account of their gender, ethnicity, or race; to recognize the existence of those who have long been overlooked; to use language that includes rather than excludes. Reds, on the other hand resist change. Change is hard and requires one to see the world from new perspectives.
This is not great analysis.
DeleteCurrently, Democrats are more conservative than Republicans.
Centrist Heather Cox Richardson (noted historian of the GOP) makes this point all the time.
Republicans, under Trump, are demanding we change our country in very fundamental ways, ways that help billionaires at the expense of the bottom 90%.
“The Right scores big by mocking these behaviors, even if they neglect to show there’s anything at all wrong with them.”
DeleteIn my view, this thought deserves reflection.
Ok, DG. Reflect.
Delete"Currently, Democrats are more conservative than Republicans."
DeleteNo.
“The Right scores big by mocking these behaviors, even if they neglect to show there’s anything at all wrong with them.”
DeleteThey go further than mocking the behaviors. They make them illegal and in some cases round people up. they call it “woke”. they attack universities with lawsuits , harass people using the legal system, force universities to drop gender studies, suggest rounding up trans people, etc. that’s a lot more than mocking.
The Republicans are trying to rig the election system to benefit themselves. They’re trying to take away freedom of speech from media companies and from universities. they have unleashed unlimited Baroque corruption into public office. They have unleashed an unaccountable fascistic police force on the country, and in a number of cases have rounded up innocent US citizens and have even killed some with impunity. All of that is radical and has nothing to do with conservatism. Democrats want to preserve our systems.
DeleteAgree with 2:33 and their reference to HCR.
DeleteAnd sorry, I take HCR's stance any day over Quaker - she backs her stance up with evidence, Dems are more the conservative ones compared to the extremists in the GOP, they want radical change. As HCR points out Eisenhower was to the left of current establishment Dems in many ways.
It is blatantly untrue that the right and left behave similarly because we are all humans. For one thing, most political violence arises on the right. The desire to enslave black people, women, and others is a right wing thing, not something the left pursues. There is no lefty equivalent to tradwives. The left is not embracing fascism. These are not quirks but ideological differences that matter.
DeleteRichrath said this about us:
ReplyDeleteGolden country your face is so red
With all of your money your poor can be fed
You strut around and you flirt with disaster
Never really carin' just what comes after
Well your blacks are dyin' but your back is still turned
And your freaks are cryin' but your back is still turned
You better stop your hidin or your country will burn
Republicans overwhelmingly support everything Trump does. (A notable few are starting to defect.)
ReplyDeleteI guess all his voters are insane too.
Somerby's analysis is remarkably dumb.
About 40% of folks polled about anywhere prefer "dear leader" to a Democratically elected leader. Weirdos and jaggoffs the whole lot of them.
DeleteWeirdos yes, but Trump's polling is around 30% and sinking.
DeleteIn 2024 Trump received support from about 30% of the electorate. So that matches.
He only beat Harris by 1.5%, Trump did not even get 50% of those that voted, most people voted for someone other than Trump.
Richrath said this about us:
ReplyDeleteWith all of your money your poor can be fed
You strut around and you flirt with disaster
Never really carin' just what comes after
Well your blacks are dyin' but your back is still turned
And your freaks are cryin' but your back is still turned
So?
DeleteYou are an asshole, that's so.
DeleteSo, you think posting the same lines twice in 14 minutes is useful?
DeleteMary Trump, the president's first cousin is consistently making the point that the man is clinically afflicted with mental illness. She's not only his first cousin, but has a PhD. in Clinical Psychology. So, um, more than qualified to make the call. P.S. -- Bob, move to Substack. All your peeps are there.
ReplyDeleteShe is not Trump's first cousin. She is his niece, the daughter of his older brother Fred. She does have a clinical psych degree but she has not examined Trump using the tools of her trade and thus cannot make a "remote" diagnosis under the ethics of her profession. If she is not concerned about dementia, then she doesn't know her stuff.
DeleteEvery human being has a personality that can be classified into categories. Whether it becomes a disorder depends on their fit with the demands of society. Can they hold a job, find a relationship, are they chronically unhappy or depressed, anxious? Trump is not disordered by the measures of the DSM unless you consider his clashes with the law -- criminals are considered disordered. Given that Trump is functioning, Mary Trump has no basis for calling him mentally ill or anything else. Somerby is a know-nothing when it comes to psychology.
Bob's thesis rests on a false premise, which is why he never offers credible evidence to support it. Best he can do is randomly quote right wing pundits and right wing literature.
ReplyDeleteHow people vote is for the most part baked in during their upbringing.
Swing voters, of any significant amount on a national level, are a myth.
There occurred a significant partisan realignment in the US over the past ~50-90 years (really since the New Deal, but more acutely post Civil Rights), and during that transition there were times where swing voters did exist, albeit in a fairly minor way, but that realignment has been complete for some time.
Modern day electoral politics is primarily about motivation and mobilization, persuasion plays no significant role.
Due to the psychology of Republican voters, Republicans have an edge because their voters are easy to motivate - they respond well to endorsements of racism, sexism, and xenophobia.
Republicans have another advantage in that they are willing to win at nearly any cost, so they are fine with dirty tricks and voter suppression etc.
Dem voters are not highly motivated by the neoliberal gruel Dem leaders have been feeding them since Clinton, but they are highly motivated by calls to help the oppressed and by policies that help people meet their material needs. This is why when Biden bucked the neoliberal trend, he was jettisoned. This is why a new breed of Dems have been over-performing since 2018.
You really think the reason Dem leaders persuaded Biden to withdraw was because “he bucked the neoliberal trend”? And so, in your view, the fact that he was completely incapable of formulating a coherent argument in debate had nothing to do with it?
DeleteThat's not true. He had a exhausted voice from illness and travel. But what he said was quietly coherent, unlike his idiot opponent blasting bullshit.
DeletePeople who read the transcript of the debate considered Biden's responses coherent.
DeleteBiden: "Look, there’s so many young women who have been – including a young woman who just was murdered and he – he went to the funeral. The idea that she was murdered by a – by – by an immigrant coming in, and they talk about that. But here’s the deal, there’s a lot of young women who are being raped by their – by their in-laws, by their – by their spouses, brothers and sisters, by – just – it’s just – it’s just ridiculous. And they can do nothing about it. And they tried to arrest them when they cross state lines."
DeleteTrump exhibits way worse signs of aging.
DeletePeople want Trump to no longer be president because of his corruption and criminality, not because of his aging.
The US has good protocols for handling an incapacitated president, it is not a significant issue.
Furthermore, Republicans never own up to their responsibility, they would never impeach one of their own or use the 25th amendment.
Yes, Hector, Biden was correctly pointing out, with his famous awkward phrasing, that the native born citizen crime rate is much worse than the immigrant crime rate and that Republicans are being hypocrites about immigrant crime.
One thing to note is how none of the trolls are addressing the substance of 2:19, it is just all snark and sarcasm from the trolls, per usual.
OK Hector, give us some choice Trump quotes, or are they all just nasty finger pointing horseshit as always?
DeleteHector, anyone speaking extemporaneously has these filler words (uh, um) and false starts. Editors clean that up when they print what someone said. Trump does it way worse than Biden did. Biden has admitted that he was not at his best during the debate and he offered reasonable explanations, including fatigue, cold medication and jet lag. Those who have worked with Biden testified that he was still sharp during meetings, including his staff, members of congress, and foreign leaders. He subsequently gave several coherent, effective speeches, including the State of the Union, including effective spontaneous quips to the audience. Even so, you can see what he is trying to say and it makes sense. The same is not true with Trump. Those trying to remove Biden ignored all of the counter-evidence concerning his debate performance and Trump refused to schedule another debate with Biden.
DeleteDon't forget that Obama had a bad debate too, but was given a do-over and went on to do fine as president. Biden had his administration's excellent performance to show for him yet his enemies portrayed him as incompetent. There was a lot of dishonesty about Biden's cognition at that time, especially from Somerby, who was one of the vocal attackers trying to push him off the ticket.
DeleteRonald Reagan’s first debate against Mondale he was barely conscious. Totally incoherent, didn’t know where he was
Delete"Biden has admitted that he was not at his best during the debate and he offered reasonable explanations, including fatigue, cold medication and jet lag"
DeleteThe jet lag resulting from the trip he had concluded 12 days before the debate? That jet lag?
Not sure your timeline is correct. He was traveling to work on a peace deal more recently than that, but I’m not going to look it up. Republicans tell lies.
DeleteYou're better off not looking it up since the answer is 12 days. You just can't handle the truth.
DeletePlease cite a source for that fact, preferably from someone connected to Biden who was informed about his schedule. I get it that Republicans say things that are not true, so the source needs to be valid, not just some Republican rag or Fox claiming it.
DeletePresident Joe Biden has blamed his poor debate performance last week on jet lag, telling reporters that he "wasn't very smart" for "travelling around the world a couple of times" before the debate.
Delete"I didn’t listen to my staff... and then I nearly fell asleep on stage,” he said.
Mr Biden, 81, last returned from travel on 15 June, nearly two weeks ahead of the 27 June debate.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4ngx67qle6o
The average Black family has 8-15 cents for every dollar the average White family has.
ReplyDeleteDon't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.
Is that right? So, why wouldn't you quit complaining get a job? Don't feel like it?
DeleteYes, 2:21, and the average Jewish, Asian and Mormon family has over 100% of what the average white family has. What's your point?
DeleteThat you are a consistent asshole troll
DeleteAh, there you are, dickhead in cal.
DeleteI am old enough to remember when dickhead in cal cheered loudly about how King Orange Chickenshit withdrew his demand for a fucking slush fund to pay his criminal insurrectionists.
David, what the fuck happened?. It seems Donald J Chickenshit won't allow the DOJ (otherwise known as his fucking lawyer) to put in writing that the settlement with the IRS is void. What the fuck David, why do you suppose the criminal you support wholeheartedly is so insistent on stealing billions of dollars of taxpayer's money. What the fuck, dickhead. Please explain, fuckface why you support the monumental, unprecedented corruption, you fucking phony lying fascist freak.
2:21 points out how racism is still a fundamental aspect of our society in America.
DeleteDuh.
David is just proving 2:21's point.
DG, pay attention. The “others” apparently have no problem allowing Trump to pillage the government treasury. Notice how David averts his eyes? I’m not sure I know how to talk to people like that.
DeleteNeither do I. But I suspect opening your mind and heart couldn’t hurt.
Delete“We Blues have never quite understood the ways we sometimes look to others. ”
ReplyDeleteWe must conform ourselves to how they would like us to look. Is that it?
As it plainly says, we don't understand how we look.
DeleteAnd if we did, it's not that we must change our behavior, but that we might want to, based on our new understanding.
How “we” look?. what, “we” 85 million liberals? and I assume you take it that only Bob Somerby clearly sees how we sometimes look to the others. He alone understands.
DeleteYes this is one of the more stupid ideas Somerby tries to push. And to make it worse, Somerby offers no evidence to support his goofy idea.
DeleteBut with these types, every accusation is a confession.
It is Somerby and the Republicans that lack self awareness.
5:26, under your logic, no one could ever criticize the Democratic party since by doing so they would be presuming to speak for 85 million people.
DeleteAnd 5:39 thinks it is stupid for a political party to try to understand how half the electorate perceives them. Thinking like that is why the Dems lose elections.
Democrats should focus on likely Dem voters not chase Republicans, wasting time and money.
DeleteThat’s a fools errand, Hector. Stay true to our values, fuck the racist bastard trump cult.
DeleteSomerby says understand not imitate or agree with or conform. He's making a claim about self-awareness. In other words, ... well, never mind.
DeleteIt's not about changing values or changing policies. It's about understanding how the way we promote them is perceived.
DeleteFuck those ghouls. Do they worry about how they are perceived by me?
DeleteThis topic of discussion by Somerby is simply way, way over your head (s). You're not smart enough to understand it.
DeleteThis is like urging Democrats to produce ads in French even though French citizens are not going to vote in our elections. It will waste time, money and effort with no return at all. Any Republican can find out about Democratic issues and proposals by visiting a candidate or party website. It is easy. Then if Democratic ideas appeal to them, they can change their voting. Others are people who read English and can look up words and figure out what they want in life. We do not need to create "special" approaches just for Republicans. THEY need to become human beings and stop expecting some glorified superhero version of Trump to solve all their problems. None of us can bring any Other person to that realization. They have to do the work themselves.
DeleteHow do you change a light bulb? The light bulb has to want to change. An Other who wants to change can meet us halfway. We aren't going to chase them down any street.
Why don’t you try explaining somerby’s theory, smart guy.
DeleteThese trolls think they are funny. Don't feed them.
DeleteSomerby is suggesting that we won't win red votes by appealing to them via blue values and ideals. We need to offer them money to change their votes.
Delete9:13 I can't explain it to you. The topic is over your head. You're not smart enough to understand it. It's best that you just stick with your belief that what he says is written in exchange for money on behalf of Russia in order to sow discord among liberals and thwart Democratic electoral success.
Delete9:49, I never said that, asshole.
Delete“THEY need to become human beings”
DeleteI can’t express the mindset I’m deploring any better than this. Hubris mixed with contempt.
Now think about what makes people human and compare that to red American behavior. Start with Epstein.
DeleteThere are too many right wing atrocities for your fake outrage.
Delete‘The Boss Wants This Money’: Inside Trump’s Unprecedented Fundraising Operation
ReplyDeleteMeredith O’Rourke, nicknamed ‘princess of darkness,’ carries out president’s desire to wring hundreds of millions from companies for his projects
**********
Jesus Christ, how much longer, dear God must we endure this horseshit?
Greasy fuck admin top to bottom. And with this gang of thieving assholes there is no bottom.
DeleteGiven the way Fox hosts tend to become Republican cabinet members, shouldn’t there be a test?
ReplyDelete“ Fox News host Griff Jenkins made a humorous error Friday, saying that “pigeons don’t lay eggs” before he was corrected live on air by a befuddled chicken coop builder.”
The error is humorous in a TV host but not when stupidity is dangerous.
Justice Department drops criminal case against Olympian over damaged Reflecting Pool
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department moved Friday to dismiss a criminal case charging a former Olympian with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
******
Keep in mind when the fucking media refers to the fucking DOJ, the fucking media actually means fucking trump’s fucking lawyer and a fucking dry drunk reject from the Fox NOOZ evil empire
Suggesting that Dems need to understand how Others see us seems to be an attempt by Somerby to turn Democratic traits against us in the face of an oncoming blue wave.
ReplyDeleteDemocrats tend to be more empathetic than Republicans. Understanding how other people think and feel is an aspect of empathy. But the way Somerby suggests this, it comes across not as trying to include and help Others for their benefit, but as a narcissistic attempt to be what Republicans want us to be, in order to manipulate them into voting Democratic.
Democrats have never tried to exclude Republicans from any benefit we have worked for on behalf of Americans. It would never occur to Democrats to withhold FEMA disaster relief based on whether a state is red or blue. We work on behalf of all Americans, and our view of diversity and equity is inclusive, benefits extended to all. Republicans think that a program intended to help disadvantaged people is actually unfair and limiting to Others, who see themselves as equally entitled even if not disadvantaged in any obvious way. Democrats want to help the needy, not the wealthy but Republicans want whatever they can grab because might makes right and every man for himself.
Democrats don't need to "understand" Others because they are already included in our efforts to improve life for all. But Others really need to understand what it is like to be an immigrant or a disabled person, or the opposite sex, or poor, so that they can widen their views to include those they have distanced themselves from, including Democrats.
Does Somerby realize that he is advocating that we blues do what we already do, understand the needs of others, whereas it is the Others who need to develop an understanding beyond their own egos? His advice is misdirected and will not help Democrats, if Others do not already appreciate what Dems have given to our nation. Somerby is urging the wrong people to listen. As a narcissist himself, perhaps it is a revelation to him that anyone can gain by considering other people's needs. Perhaps he will "get it" with a bit more thought.
He's not advocating that we understand others.
DeleteThis topic is too far over your head. You're not smart enough to understand it.
DeleteThanks for explaining that we’re too stupid to understand.
Delete@8:57 Of course he is. He is suggesting that we need to understand Others in order to not lose to them again, even though the polls are running our way now.
DeleteDG, you are not going to convince other trolls to respect you -- they are trolls.
DeleteI respect DG even as I hate him.
DeleteOthers who hate me get their impressions of us by listening to Rush
DeleteLimpdick and Fox NOOZ 24/7. I have mi control over their fucking lies
I have no control over the false representation of me on Fox
Delete9:22 - Have a blessed day!
Delete