Sunday, June 30, 2019
A Man Who Moves Across A Space Then Disappears
We all lose the plot.
Biden — speaking at fundraiser hosted by Seattle gay-rights leader — suggests that mocking “a gay waiter” was seen as OK just five years ago, leading to crowd objections, per pool report. pic.twitter.com/eu02HpAlq4
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) June 30, 2019
Saturday, June 29, 2019
MAGA
I know I keep coming back to this but I just do not understand how Trump has personality cult fandom. I get that people are Republicans and conservative and support horrible things but how do you turn on the teevee and see Trump and think "you the man!"
I don't get it.
I don't get it.
Friday, June 28, 2019
Friday, Friday
Sorry, life intervened the last couple of days as it does and made this blog extra sucky.
Afternoon Thread
Gosh, it's been almost a year since Same River Twice came out. Before you leave for your summer weekend at the beach, download it to your Kindle. I promise you, you'll enjoy the mystery.
Gropey Joe
I am of the contrarian opinion that pretty much anyone can beat Trump except for... Biden. He'd be slaughtered.
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Battle Cry
Well ok then.
Pelosi tells her caucus they’re going to vote on the Senate border appropriations bill she’d objected to, but with a “Battle Cry as to how we go forward to protect children in a way that truly honors their dignity and worth.”
— Tanya Snyder (@TSnyderDC) June 27, 2019
Nerds
That's really nerdy!
EXCLUSIVE: “I’m really so delighted, and I can’t believe I get a chance to be part of this,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon told Deadline last fall about joining the writers room of CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Picard series as an executive producer. The lifelong Star Trek fan has now been named showrunner of the Star Trek revival that is bringing Trek icon Patrick Stewart back into Federation space.
Better Things Are Not Possible
And that's why I'm going to make sure they don't happen.
Everybody's gotta eat.
3. I’ve been through multiple health care fights, incl. the original Medicare for All with Ted Kennedy and of course ACA. I know what it takes to get reform passed- eliminating private insurance in favor of a government system is not politically possible. At least right now.
— Stephanie Cutter (@stefcutter) June 27, 2019
Everybody's gotta eat.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Nobody's Fault But Mine
As a certain Beatles nostalgia movie is about to be released, I thought I'd plant my flag for Led Zeppelin. Are they a blues-stealing band? (Yes!) Are they a weird prog-rock band with some dumb hobbit lyrics (Yes!) Were they actually good? Also, yes.
Fact Chucking
The weirdest development in journalism was the "fact check" as if that shouldn't just be a normal part of journalism. But then the "fact check" became just a normal part of journalism in that it ceased to be about fact checking and more about pushing an agenda under the guise of "fact checking."
EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS in prize money to anyone who can actually explain how "this is a misleading statement."
“Millions of Americans are forced to work two or three jobs just to survive.”
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that nearly 8 million people hold more than one job. But most of those extra jobs are part time, not full time. And the “millions” of people amount to just 5 percent of Americans with jobs. So that means 95 percent of workers are not working two or three jobs “just to survive,” making this a misleading statement.
EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS in prize money to anyone who can actually explain how "this is a misleading statement."
Let's Get Drunk And Fight
Kdrum deserves the Nobel or whatever for pushing the very real lead-crime link, and while he doesn't disagree the perhaps more important issue is that lead made a generation of assholes. Statistics aside, think about how much the "bar fight" was a staple of movies forever, and now is not so much. Guys go out, drink, end up punching each other, because of course.
Of course alcohol is part of that story, but when is the last time you saw an actual bar fight? I actually did see them frequently as a young person. Sure that was college, booze, etc., but still.
Test the entire National Security Community for lead poisoning. Pretty sure I know what you'll find.
Of course alcohol is part of that story, but when is the last time you saw an actual bar fight? I actually did see them frequently as a young person. Sure that was college, booze, etc., but still.
Test the entire National Security Community for lead poisoning. Pretty sure I know what you'll find.
The F-35 Gotta Eat
One problem with proposing policy in liberal circles is there's always the "but a different policy would better serve poor people!" argument. Sure, yes, this is always true. I am not against helping poor people, but policies can be good even if they aren't designed to help poor people.
And if you want to help poor people, the place to start is making the policies which do more directly benefit them less onerous. Fewer bureaucratic hurdles. Make them more...universal... even.
And if you want to help poor people, the place to start is making the policies which do more directly benefit them less onerous. Fewer bureaucratic hurdles. Make them more...universal... even.
The Courts
Democrats have spent decades telling us we have to elect them because of "the courts." Mostly the Supreme Court because that's something normal people sort of understand, but judges generally. And after all the conservative nutcases appointed during the Bush and now Trump years, we're supposed to wait for all those Yalies (nobody who went to Yale can be bad) to do the right thing.
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Your Moment Of Zen
...I had no idea David Gregory is only 49*. wtf
*48 his blessed birthday this year has not yet arrived!
The Best People
BREAKING: Trump's chief of protocol, Ambassador Sean Lawler, pulled off the job just ahead of G20 summit amid allegations of discrimination and harassment, officials tell @NBCNews. Full story coming from NBC
— Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) June 25, 2019
"Duncans are bad" Is A Good Rule Of Thumb
Rarely steer you wrong.
Federal prosecutors have accused Rep. Duncan Hunter of improperly using campaign funds to pursue numerous romantic affairs with congressional aides and lobbyists, according to a new court filing late Monday night..
The Justice Department alleged that Hunter (R-Calif.) and his wife Margaret Hunter illegally diverted $250,000 in campaign funds for personal use, including to fund lavish vacations and their children’s school tuition. Monday’s court filings also spell out allegations that Hunter routinely used campaign funds to pay for Ubers, bar tabs, hotel rooms and other expenses to fund at least five extramarital relationships
Steve Dunleavy Is Dead
For reasons I don't understand there's a weird respect given to the worst of the worst reporters at the worst of the worst of outlets in America, the New York Post. Maybe not everyone is tainted by their association with that place, but Dunleavy himself was the taint.
I'm not normally one to speak ill of the dead right away, but waking up to a couple of more generous than etiquette requires tributes to the great man pissed me off.
It isn't only the bad act he should be remembered for, but he was the primary "national journalist" behind the successful release of Wayne DuMond, a rapist and child molester who, after release, went on to rape another woman and murder her.
And then he raped and murdered a woman and, well, bygones.
I'm not normally one to speak ill of the dead right away, but waking up to a couple of more generous than etiquette requires tributes to the great man pissed me off.
It isn't only the bad act he should be remembered for, but he was the primary "national journalist" behind the successful release of Wayne DuMond, a rapist and child molester who, after release, went on to rape another woman and murder her.
Clinton conspiracy theories in the 90s made Benghazi look reasonable.
DuMond's victim was a distant relative of Bill Clinton. After his arrest, DuMond was castrated, though it's quite likely he did it to himself. The right wing conspiracy theory was that Bill Clinton sent his goons to do this, and also that DuMond was actually innocent because reasons.
It became one of those weird right wing causes that most people were unaware of in the 90s, egged on by Dunleavy, eventually leading to DuMond's early parole under the great leadership of America's favorite nice governor, Mike Huckabee.
And then he raped and murdered a woman and, well, bygones.
But What If The Voters Approve Of Putting Children In Cages
Frightened at the thought of some sort of focus group going on at some consultant shop.
Monday, June 24, 2019
Complicit
I suppose the question must be asked: Why are Democrats shockingly silent on the kiddie concentration camps?
Hair Metal
The Dee Snyder crack is apt. Perhaps it was a bit of a confusing time, but in my teen years the most macho of macho rock stars had the best perms and fabulous makeup, at a time when perms and makeup were pretty fabulous(ly bad). And I don't mean KISS who were clowns. Weirdly, whatever problem parents had with that music, it wasn't the pseudo-drag element. As long as the dudes made clear they were certainly not gay no they were not nobody cared about drag.
The great Drag Freakout of 2019 has been interesting to watch. Wait until they hear about the Christmas family favorite in England - Panto.
The great Drag Freakout of 2019 has been interesting to watch. Wait until they hear about the Christmas family favorite in England - Panto.
Stupid Shithead Of The Day
Hard not to be cranky when this is the kind of dumbass both sides stuff you wake up to.
Yes the left and the right would agree if only the right would agree. I am a highly paid Brookings Man who pretends not to know anything about the conservative movement.
The abortion rate in Delaware fell by A THIRD (32%) with NO change in access to abortion services. How? Better access to contraception. Surely something Left and Right could agree on? https://t.co/Q8N1d7ivPB #FamilyPlanning
— Richard V. Reeves (@RichardvReeves) June 24, 2019
Yes the left and the right would agree if only the right would agree. I am a highly paid Brookings Man who pretends not to know anything about the conservative movement.
What Is Journalism
Too often it isn't about informing readers/viewers, it's about reporters/hosts playing their designated role in a bit of choreography. Chuck Todd had an "exclusive" interview. He asked questions. Trump responded. That's "news." If the president says something, that's "news." All done!
Morning Thread
My only question: If you're not having nightmares over what is happening at the border, why not?
Sunday, June 23, 2019
What's It Going To Take
I'm really getting tired of the sternly worded tweets. MR. PRESIDENT, THIS IS BAD. Do something. I know "something" will never be enough to fix everything, but it's something.
Summer Fundraising Funstravaganza Day...um... 3?
I was mad online yestertday so I forgot day 2.
Support this site!
Support this site!
We've A Sight To Make You Drool
Criticizing the theater criticism brand of political journalism, in which notionally "objective" journalists pass judgment on ties and sighs, on how "things are gonna play" without any evidence, is not new, but the Trump era makes clear that the whole thing is just a choreographed show. Trump pretends to be president, Chuck Todd pretends to interview him, the White House Press Corps pretend to be combative with Sarah Sanders, Maggie Haberman pretends she hasn't been buddies with Trump for years, everyone pretends it's all a show and nothing really matters at all.
Must be nice for it all to just not matter.
...adding, often when talking politics and journalism "journalist" becomes shorthand for "political journalist." Look, the people doing deep investigative stuff, even about politicians, are not "political journalists." People whose anonymous sources are genuine whistleblowers and not just shittalkers or people laundering the official line through "anonymity" are not "political journalists."
Of course there are many good journalists. They just mostly aren't the types you see talking politics on the teevee inbetween writing up their text messages from someone whose name rhymes with "Hope Hicks."
The ones who think that what really matters is the Royal Court Drama. Those are the "political journalists."
Must be nice for it all to just not matter.
...adding, often when talking politics and journalism "journalist" becomes shorthand for "political journalist." Look, the people doing deep investigative stuff, even about politicians, are not "political journalists." People whose anonymous sources are genuine whistleblowers and not just shittalkers or people laundering the official line through "anonymity" are not "political journalists."
Of course there are many good journalists. They just mostly aren't the types you see talking politics on the teevee inbetween writing up their text messages from someone whose name rhymes with "Hope Hicks."
The ones who think that what really matters is the Royal Court Drama. Those are the "political journalists."
"We" Did Our Part
I know political activism doesn't start and end at elections, but "we" did put the Democrats in power in the House and I don't think it was so that they could do 2 years of messaging bills while letting people blow off or essentially dodge subpoenas.
They don't have infinite power, but they have a lot more power than "we" do.
They don't have infinite power, but they have a lot more power than "we" do.
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Nothing Really Matters
Online rewards a bit of shrill. Everyone applauds a good righteous rant. I try to never perform shrill, but only be shrill when I am, well, shrill. And the last 72 hours or so have made me very shrill.
There's something a bit Gen X about our political-industrial complex. They aren't all Gen X, of course, but the basic ethos that it's uncool to actually care, and that anyone who supposedly does is just pretending is pervasive.
And yes of course there are many genuine dogooders and people who get into all aspects of "the business" for do-gooding. But the culture does not reward that.
There's something a bit Gen X about our political-industrial complex. They aren't all Gen X, of course, but the basic ethos that it's uncool to actually care, and that anyone who supposedly does is just pretending is pervasive.
And yes of course there are many genuine dogooders and people who get into all aspects of "the business" for do-gooding. But the culture does not reward that.
How About The Crimes Against Humanity Then?
Perhaps torturing children and toddlers in concentration camps could invite more than a sternly worded tweet?
Dems don't have infinite power, but they have to use the power that they have, and have to stop looking for the hall monitors - Mueller, Morning Joseph, some judge somewhere, some magical force of public opinion - to solve their problems.
Fine give Trump a Mulligan on the past crimes, or let him give himself one as he tends to do. How about the current ones?
Dems don't have infinite power, but they have to use the power that they have, and have to stop looking for the hall monitors - Mueller, Morning Joseph, some judge somewhere, some magical force of public opinion - to solve their problems.
Fine give Trump a Mulligan on the past crimes, or let him give himself one as he tends to do. How about the current ones?
Friday, June 21, 2019
Happy Hour Thread
Had a couple of errands to run this afternoon and all hell broke loose.
I miss the calm days of the Bush administration.
I miss the calm days of the Bush administration.
Do Evil
As an aside to the issue of Google and Facebook eating the internet, I think there's a lesson to be learned that as both companies grew bigger they grew more evil, not less. And I don't think it's right to say the direction went the other way, that they grew bigger by becoming more evil. Sure there's a bit of both, and I think it's more true with Facebook, but certainly as Google got bigger its "do no evil" mantra disappeared, and as they became even larger it was increasingly "do evil."
All Blown Up
I slept through it because I sleep with ear plugs and I never smelled anything so I assume the winds were blowing in the right (for me) direction, but this big refinery in the middle of the damn city has long been a problem about to happen. Also a problem just by existing.
...more
A series of explosions ripped through a refinery in South Philadelphia early Friday, lighting up the night sky and triggering a massive fire.
...more
Summer Fundraising Funstravangza!
I used to feel a bit weird "begging" for money as it somehow seemed unseemly, but everyone knows that you can't run a publication off of advertising anymore. Call it "reader support" call it a "subscription" call it "why does my local NPR executive make close to a million per year?" call it "no billionaire patron for me" money but the brief period were people on the internet could make things happen solely with ads is pretty much over. For awhile the "increasingly aggressive ads" worked a bit but I skipped that phase because who can deal with that. Thanks google and facebook. It was fun while it lasted. The traffic on this site has been pretty stable for years so it isn't that nobody is reading anymore.
What this blog does, or at least what it is for, has changed over time. Probably much more about keeping a community together than any particular smart thing I have to say. A lot more competition in the "liberal asshole" space on the internet, which is a good thing! Smarter people than me. Still we have a bit of fun here.
Consider a donation/contribution/subscription/screw you zuckerberg whatever you want to call it. If not, another exciting post will appear shortly.
Support this site!
What this blog does, or at least what it is for, has changed over time. Probably much more about keeping a community together than any particular smart thing I have to say. A lot more competition in the "liberal asshole" space on the internet, which is a good thing! Smarter people than me. Still we have a bit of fun here.
Consider a donation/contribution/subscription/screw you zuckerberg whatever you want to call it. If not, another exciting post will appear shortly.
Support this site!
The Threat Of Iran
I've asked this before and people have provided explanations, but as is often they case they're all *different* explanations. That doesn't make them wrong, it just means that it's complicated and while we can point to this and that it still, to me, doesn't quite add up. Why is it the conventional wisdom (not that it's true) of almost every person in the orbit of the US government that Iran is some big threat that we constantly need to deal with to the point where we are always close enough to war that all it takes it one right bureaucratic move from John Bolton to make it happen? As I said I've asked this question before so I'm not really looking for the same answers again. It's a rhetorical question.
The right response from Dems in power and presidential wannabees is "this is fucking stupid do not do this." Not "oh the president needs to go to Congress." Or "oh President Trump is not the *right man* to run a war" which he isn't but if a war can just wait until he's out of office than maybe we don't need war?
The right response from Dems in power and presidential wannabees is "this is fucking stupid do not do this." Not "oh the president needs to go to Congress." Or "oh President Trump is not the *right man* to run a war" which he isn't but if a war can just wait until he's out of office than maybe we don't need war?
What's Another War
One reason to oppose the Iraq war (certainly not the only one) was that it opened the door to our imperial dreams and ended the minor anti-war taboo that had been in place since Vietnam. "War is bad" seemed to have been at least somewhat conventional wisdom and now it's LOL who's next????
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Free Speech Grifters
I will use my free speech to yell at them on twitter more, before they mute or block me and deprive me of it!
...sorry, link fixed.
It’s not just the IDW itself: Some of its key popularizers also get Koch funding. Bari Weiss and The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf—who has been one of the most visible defenders of Peterson in the mainstream media—have both received cash prizes from the Koch-funded Reason Foundation, where David Koch himself sits on the board of trustees. And remember “The Coddling of the American Mind”? Well, one of its co-authors, Greg Lukianoff, is the head of that campus free-speech watchdog, FIRE. That organization is funded, of course, by the Koch brothers (for good measure, the Charles Koch Institute also did a laudatory write-up of the piece).
The Atlantic is perhaps the worst offender. Last year it launched “The Speech Wars,” a reporting project that seeks “to understand where free speech is in danger and where it has been abused.” Even though the magazine had just been bought by billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs and was seeing all-time high circulation and web traffic, The Atlantic solicited funding for the project from none other than the Charles Koch Foundation (the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Fetzer Institute are also underwriters).
When I asked The Atlantic for comment, a spokesperson replied that “editorial control for this series—as with every piece of journalism we create—rests solely with The Atlantic.” But the magazine refused to deny that reporters and editors with “The Speech Wars” are ever in contact with the Koch Foundation. Editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg did not respond to my request for comment, and The Atlantic has not disclosed how much money it has received from the Koch Foundation.
...sorry, link fixed.
Chang chang changitty chang sha-bop
Pareene:
But such mediagenic theatrics concealed a far more momentous question: Had Trump and the Democratic leadership really been at war? Democrats first outsourced their attempts to fight Donald Trump to the office of Robert Mueller. Then, given a House majority with which to investigate the administration, they found themselves totally stymied by Trump’s stonewalling. How should they deal with an administration that refuses to answer subpoenas, whose White House counsel argues Congress has no constitutional right at all to investigate a president or his administration? Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been answering that question pretty consistently: Wait for the Trump administration to go away on its own.
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
But Houston!
Whenever the subject comes up generally somebody comes along and says "but Houston has no zoning, and..." Well, sort of, but not really. Houston has a set of land use regulations that are pretty much identical to everywhere else. Not that all places (or neighborhoods in those places) are identical, but identical in the sense that they tend to mandate all the same things which limit development (again, not everywhere) to single family homes, and certainly lead to lower residential density (and the automobile-centric neighborhoods that result). Zoning is often shorthand for zoningandlanduse so in the case of Houston "no zoning" means "no laws telling you that you can't put a doctor's office in this spot." But they'll still tell you how much off street parking you need to have for your doctor's office.
So they have same land use laws as everywhere else - large lot zoning, setback requirements, minimum parking etc. And they even have many of the same zoning features in that while the guvmint doesn't tell you that you can't operate most businesses out of your home, your HOA does. Potato, Potahto.
So they have same land use laws as everywhere else - large lot zoning, setback requirements, minimum parking etc. And they even have many of the same zoning features in that while the guvmint doesn't tell you that you can't operate most businesses out of your home, your HOA does. Potato, Potahto.
Suburbs Of Nowhere
This NYT bit about zoning was, of course, catnip to me. The big point is that even in cities, the amount of land zoned explicitly or effectively for nothing other than single family detached housing is immense. "Downzoning" has long been a thing, meaning even currently dense areas contain a lot of noncomforming properties. You can knock down a multifamily unit to build a single family home, but you can't do the reverse.
And the inner ring suburbs are generally even worse (Obviously this is a big country and not all cities are the same so generalizations are necessary. "Inner ring suburbs" are more of an older city thing, as those cities stopped annexing their streetcar suburbs.) They tend to be a bit denser, too, but with as much or more of a tendency towards downzoning. Not a lot of new housing of any type being built. Then you get the actual suburbs which tend to be locked in amber, at least residentially, once they are somewhat built out.
That leaves building on the fringes, which happened during the glorious aughts, but the fringes (exurbs) are suburbs of suburbs, and detached from things like cultural institutions, employment centers, and civilization generally. They can be close to nature, which is an amenity, but they're not exactly rural or small towny, just big box stores and strip malls and a very long way from the baseball stadium.
So where do we put the people? Often people want to say "declining rust belt cities" or similar. And, ok, sure, but declining places have declining housing stocks and no jobs. That's why they're declining. And the same policies (or worse) than the more booming places.
And the inner ring suburbs are generally even worse (Obviously this is a big country and not all cities are the same so generalizations are necessary. "Inner ring suburbs" are more of an older city thing, as those cities stopped annexing their streetcar suburbs.) They tend to be a bit denser, too, but with as much or more of a tendency towards downzoning. Not a lot of new housing of any type being built. Then you get the actual suburbs which tend to be locked in amber, at least residentially, once they are somewhat built out.
That leaves building on the fringes, which happened during the glorious aughts, but the fringes (exurbs) are suburbs of suburbs, and detached from things like cultural institutions, employment centers, and civilization generally. They can be close to nature, which is an amenity, but they're not exactly rural or small towny, just big box stores and strip malls and a very long way from the baseball stadium.
So where do we put the people? Often people want to say "declining rust belt cities" or similar. And, ok, sure, but declining places have declining housing stocks and no jobs. That's why they're declining. And the same policies (or worse) than the more booming places.
America's Worst Democratic Presidential Candidates
Joe Biden.
Aside from being part of the regular "but the Democrats were the real racists!" taunt (yes, guys, we know), there's rarely a reckoning with just how amazingly racist these people were. I don't care what party they were of (at the national level many of them eventually became Republicans, some became somewhat repentant and improved Democrats, and local and state politics is always a bit more complicated), but we spent years just yelling "but states' rights" instead of acknowledging their words (let alone deeds).
They were *really really really racist*. Racism was central to the whole political project. It wasn't hidden behind bullshit legal philosophy or minor policy differences, it was right out there in the front. I imagine some of it would shock even our new alt-right friends.
It's one thing to say a few kind words about Strom Thurmond at his funeral. I get that sort of thing. But there's no reason to exhume these monsters to highlight what a getalong guy you are. Or maybe there is?
Aside from being part of the regular "but the Democrats were the real racists!" taunt (yes, guys, we know), there's rarely a reckoning with just how amazingly racist these people were. I don't care what party they were of (at the national level many of them eventually became Republicans, some became somewhat repentant and improved Democrats, and local and state politics is always a bit more complicated), but we spent years just yelling "but states' rights" instead of acknowledging their words (let alone deeds).
They were *really really really racist*. Racism was central to the whole political project. It wasn't hidden behind bullshit legal philosophy or minor policy differences, it was right out there in the front. I imagine some of it would shock even our new alt-right friends.
It's one thing to say a few kind words about Strom Thurmond at his funeral. I get that sort of thing. But there's no reason to exhume these monsters to highlight what a getalong guy you are. Or maybe there is?
Don't Kill Me Bro
There's too much talk of individual behavior when it comes to vehicle and pedestrian safety issues. Of course individual behavior matters, but it tends to lead to mostly pointless arguments about whether cyclists, pedestrians, or drivers are "the worst." We know how to design streets that emphasize safety over traffic throughput, and that street design is probably a lot more important than yelling at bad drivers or even traffic enforcement. Design a highway and drivers will treat it like a highway. Institute various traffic calming measures and they'll slow down. Have separated bike lanes and cyclists are safer. Time lights for pedestrian crossings appropriately and pedestrians will be safer. There are lots of things.
And, yes, as it says in the link, a big problem is that SUVs kill people because of the way they are designed.
And, yes, as it says in the link, a big problem is that SUVs kill people because of the way they are designed.
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Who Put This Thing Together
That's a lot of drugs.
Federal authorities Tuesday seized more than 16 tons of cocaine from a cargo ship docked at the Port of Philadelphia — a massive haul they estimated was worth more than $1 billion and described as one of the largest busts in the nation’s history.
Boris
Amazing that anyone, even really elderly Tory party members, can look at Trump and think, "how can we copy that?" They aren't precisely the same, of course, but they do have their similarities. Cousins, not twins.
How will Britain’s political system cope with a leader whose words bear so little relation, not just to his actions, but to the words he will say tomorrow? We don’t have to imagine. Donald Trump is in the White House.
In some ways, this weaponisation of bad behaviour has proved an excellent political strategy. In his presidency, as in his campaign, Trump has been graded on a very flattering curve. Silvio Berlusconi was Italy’s most durable prime minister in decades. And Johnson himself has repeatedly survived things that would have destroyed anyone else in British public life.
Vetting
They don't even try.
In the months that he has served as President Trump’s acting secretary of defense, Patrick Shanahan has worked to keep domestic violence incidents within his family private. His wife was arrested after punching him in the face, and his son was arrested after a separate incident in which he hit his mother with a baseball bat. Public disclosure of the nearly decade-old episodes would re-traumatize his young adult children, Shanahan said.
Also Nobody Watches Your Speeches On CSPAN
I really don't get how clueless they are.
In recent weeks, Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has briefed fellow House leaders in private meetings about focus groups the committee commissioned in three key political battlegrounds. The upshot, according to four Democrats familiar with the findings, is that the public’s impression of the new House majority is bound up in its battles with Trump, not in its policy agenda.You don't have to pass bills to tell voters what you'd like to do. There's only one way to grab the mic and that's doing serious oversight hearings.
Nomnomnom
My president.
The good news, we're rebuilding it here. We're building America. Everything's made in the U.S.A., and it's great. But I-- you know, it's one of those things. I have to rebuild the military. Otherwise, I mean, what's more important-- than our military? Especially in these days where you have such problems. And I think the stronger we are, the less likely it is that we use the military. We're close to being very, very strong. We're close to being stronger by far than ever before. But I took over a totally depleted military. And you know that. The planes were old. They talk about the grandchildren of pilots were flying the same plane as they were flying many years ago. We have beautiful new F-35s and F-18s and new-- rifles, new uniforms. In the case of the Army, we have the new uniforms that everybody's wanted for years. They're an expensive-- job. You know, you-- it doesn't sound it, but it is. And-- we have-- we have spent a tremendous amount of money on our military. And we did the right thing because we had to rebuild our military.
Monday, June 17, 2019
Near Boston
The focus on elite (super-elite) colleges by the people who run our discourse who all have dick measuring contests late into their lives based on which elite colleges they attended is always annoying. But higher education, in general, does matter, and lost in all of these conversations is that running a residential campus is harder than running the comments section here, but it is similar. Of course all of these institutions get these things wrong sometimes but the issues are more complex than outside observers usually recognize. What if the racist guy is put into a dorm room with an African-America person?
There are a lot of issues here, and not just the one I raised, but "what happens at Harvard" is the dumbest thing we talk about usually and I apologize for contributing.
There are a lot of issues here, and not just the one I raised, but "what happens at Harvard" is the dumbest thing we talk about usually and I apologize for contributing.
Don't Believe Everything You Read On The Internet
I think email forwards have been forgotten. Before "social media" and really the internet generally there was dumb shit that people forwarded over email.
It wasn't so different.
It wasn't so different.
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Sunday Night
I don't even hate Bon Jovi (local boy, sorta) but this video suddenly made me mad.
One free subscription to whoever figures out why!
One free subscription to whoever figures out why!
Freedum
Had this chat with a couple of other smug people in similar situations earlier, and the while so much marketing involves convincing us that cars make us free, I am so thankful that I actually don't need one for my daily life. Sure cars are useful things and sure I rent them sometimes (carshares or actual rentals) and of course late at night I grab a taxi sometimes but I can get by without them daily and I would pay a lot for that privilege. As much as people pay to own them, at least.
Elder Care
I am of that age when my peers are dealing with elder care issues and wow is it a nightmare. The sad fact is that as some point our bodies and minds start to fail us and other people have to step in. That there is no simple comprehensive system dealing with that - even an imperfect one - is tragic. It becomes a full time job for those people who care and can at least try, and if not...
It's Ok If Vegetarians Aren't Perfect
I used to be more dumb about this stuff, but really if your friends have any dietary restrictions (not limited to being vegetarian) they don't have to be perfect and you shouldn't interrogate them about this stuff. Their dietary restrictions - for whatever reason - are not passing judgment on you (unless they say so) and they'd really rather have a meal without being asked about it. Related is getting mad at fat people for being fat and then being weird about how they try to navigate a diet without being a recluse. Meals are a social thing and demanding people diet is demanding they violate social customs.
Many vegetarians eat a piece of chicken occasionally. Let it go. Eating is a fundamental human need and whatever choices people make they don't want to be asked about them constantly.
I am not a vegetarian.
Many vegetarians eat a piece of chicken occasionally. Let it go. Eating is a fundamental human need and whatever choices people make they don't want to be asked about them constantly.
I am not a vegetarian.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Brexited
I appreciate the change of subject but it's a bit funny that after years of being about nothing else the UK political conversation has sort of abandoned Brexit. Sure there is talk in the context of the Tory leadership contest (aka the Prime Minister Election) but they are all totally full of shit about it and there is no real talk. There is no renegotiation with the EU. May's "deal" is, give or take a few commas, the "hardest possible Brexit." Nobody knows what's going to happen and no one really talks about it anymore.
Summer In The City
They don't open for long enough but I am always amazed when I go past a city public pool. We built these things that people can just use?
Morning Thread
Paul Rebmann has his newsletter up. Click through for his photos of wildflowers and achieve your morning Zen. Best way to start the day.
Friday, June 14, 2019
Solidarity
I don't think conservative rule hastens the revolution, or that heightening the contradictions automatically leads to better things, but at least it helps to provide a bit of unity to the opposition. I think liberalish people become more hardened to liberal positions than they would have otherwise during the Bush years. And, sadly, softened on some during the Obama years.
The flip side is that it was and is a thing to say that WE CAN'T COMPLAIN ABOUT DEMOCRATS. Yelling at them is always the role of activists. You know who really complains about Democrats? The rich people they talk to every day.
The flip side is that it was and is a thing to say that WE CAN'T COMPLAIN ABOUT DEMOCRATS. Yelling at them is always the role of activists. You know who really complains about Democrats? The rich people they talk to every day.
Wow They Are Bad
Obviously none of this is about MEEE, really, but I gotta blog and wow is it hard sometimes. How many ways can you point out that Sarah Sanders is a big horrible liar and also Trump is bad too?
I still maintain that the Bush years were worse (so far) for many reasons, but they did at least fake running a real administration. Criticizing that required a bit of nuance. Sometimes at least. But now it's just LOL DONALD TRUMP IS PRESIDENT DID YOU SEE HIM ON TEEVEE.
I still maintain that the Bush years were worse (so far) for many reasons, but they did at least fake running a real administration. Criticizing that required a bit of nuance. Sometimes at least. But now it's just LOL DONALD TRUMP IS PRESIDENT DID YOU SEE HIM ON TEEVEE.
Democracy. Whisky. Sexy.
Weird but dangerous people.
Trump is the symptom of the Republican Party’s turn toward illiberalism, not its cause; even before Trump ran for president, some Republican elites were plotting to diminish the political power of minorities and enhance those of white voters. Whatever their disagreements, the leaders of both the populist and establishment wings of the Republican Party have concluded that they cannot be allowed to lose power simply because a majority of American voters do not wish them to wield it. The president speaks of imprisoning his political rivals and his voters cheer. He valorizes political violence and his followers take note. His attorneys argue both that Congress cannot investigate criminality in the executive branch, and that the president has the authority to end criminal investigations into himself or his allies, while ordering them against his opponents. Trump’s supporters exult in the head of state attacking private citizens who demand equal rights, then wave the banner of free speech exclusively in defense of expressions of bigotry. In the end, Trump will dictate the course of his party on these matters, and his base will do whatever he gives them license to do. Writers like French and Ahmari cannot shape this course, they can only argue about it after the fact.
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Congratulations Sarah Sanders
After your much hard work not actually doing anything except maybe whispering in Maggie's ear the Harvard IOP welcomes you with a 7 figure fellowship.
Pay Me
I don't begrudge media outlets for landing on the strategy of asking readers to pay them, but it has ruined the internet. There is nothing you can link anymore which isn't behind some sort of paywall, or blocks your adblocker, or has annoying popovers. And this would be ok in concept if any of them managed to keep you logged in but somehow they don't even if you do pay.
Infrastructure Week
She's so corrupt there's nothing we can do!
House Democrats are poised to launch an investigation into the Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao over allegations that she used her position to advance the interests of her family and her husband’s political career.There wasn't even ever an infrastructure week.
But even as some members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee say such a probe is inevitable, other Democratic lawmakers have expressed doubts about whether the current evidence is sufficient to warrant it, according to three lawmakers with direct knowledge of the conversations that have taken place over the last several days. And some lawmakers who spoke to The Daily Beast expressed unease—at this time—to call out the secretary for fear that doing so would impact their ability to advance infrastructure projects in their home districts.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Joe the Biden
Wisdom doesn't automatically come with age but I like to think I am much smarter about certain things. One thing is the toxic messages about female sexuality I received as a teen. I don't know if it was the worst era but it was the height of the religious right and the sexual backlash and AIDS fear and generally it was, for lack of a better word, a prudish time. That men were protectors and predators both was a common message and confusing to boys and girls. I don't know how Grandpa Gropey Joe sees a 13-year-old girl and jumps right there but...
Joe Biden meets a voter’s granddaughter in an Iowa coffee shop and asks her age. She says she’s 13. He addresses her brothers. “You’ve got one job here, keep the guys away from your sister.”
— Liz Goodwin (@lizcgoodwin) June 12, 2019
Maybe Jailed Toddlers..Something Else?
I know part of the problem is that Trump is so horrible that...where do you start? But just pointing and saying "Trump is horrible" is not enough. Pick a few issues. Get on teevee every day. Talk about them.
I don't buy the idea that Democrats are just bad at "the game." I mean, I do, but it doesn't excuse the press who will get very mad if you tell them they are just pawns in that game. And then, very savvily, explain the game to you. But they are bad at it.
I don't buy the idea that Democrats are just bad at "the game." I mean, I do, but it doesn't excuse the press who will get very mad if you tell them they are just pawns in that game. And then, very savvily, explain the game to you. But they are bad at it.
Stolen Valor
I think this more of an issue in the UK where the war was not something which happened mostly elsewhere and the aftermath lasted awhile, but the baby boomers are, by definition, people who were born after WWII and the weird ownership of a war they weren't alive for is strange.
#ofcoursenotallboomers
Searching Twitter for the words “licence fee” and “veterans” is asking for trouble, obviously – but it nonetheless brings up a set of depressingly common, and depressingly predictable, sentiments. “D-Day veterans will now have to pay a licence fee to fund shite such as local BBC radio,” says “full-time binge-drinker” Rob. “The BBC propaganda machine,” writes James, whose love of Chelsea F.C. is matched only by his love of his wife and daughter, “has hit the wall today by trying to charge veterans the licence fee.”
Except – that’s not what’s actually happening at all, is it? The numbers don’t add up.
Today’s 75-year-olds were born in 1943-4. Even at a time of total war, toddlers were not being conscripted, kitted up and sent to help out at D-day. To have seen combat during the war you’d need to have been born in 1927 or earlier, making you at least 91 today. And while there were a few younger boys who lied about their age in the hope of seeing action, that a) was unusual, and b) shifts the age bar to about 88 at the lowest.
#ofcoursenotallboomers
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Curiosity Killed The Pundit
I am a very well-educated (credentials) man. I have read a few books in my life. Took a few history courses. Know a few things. I am still pretty dumb. I accept that. How is it that people don't get that most of our pundits are actually dumber than me?
No Joe
Either Biden is lying in which case he thinks it's always 1995 or he believes it in which case he thinks the honorable Republicans he loves so much only did not work with his best friend Barack because they are big racists.
Biden at a fundraiser tonight, on his desire to work with the Republican Party post Trump.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) June 11, 2019
“With Trump gone you’re going to begin to see things change. Because these folks know better. They know this isn’t what they’re supposed to be doing."
Pro-Choice Squishes
They are all very dumb people because... ultimately the issue is whether women have freedom or not and where do you stand on that. Years ago Will Saletan had this whole debate with Katha Pollitt where as she pointed out, some nameless dumb blogger noted that he just wanted her - and everybody - to admit that abortion was Icky and there was no policy substance behind his position. I actually don't like the term "pro-choice" but ultimately either women are making this choice or someone else like Judge I Like Beer is. And if you go on and on about abortions you think are good and abortions you think are bad you are taking that choice away, and really you're just doing it because you think sluts are gross. Of course the women you are friends with all have good abortions.
Monday, June 10, 2019
Sorry This Blog Sucks So Much
I can't claim Simon was a friend or even really a colleague but I am a bit of a mess. This is sad.
The Best Of Us
I'm not sure if I ever met Simon. I think I did but I confuse the internet with real life. But he was the best of us and I had no idea and I am so sad.
Gerontocracy
When I was a dumb grad student the most amazing paper I was assigned was one which showed that school bonds were much less likely to pass in communities where there were old white people and young minorities.
This is our problem.
This is our problem.
What A Story
Journalists in the UK love Boris Johnson for the same reason journalists loved Trump here. Very exciting story!
Sunday, June 09, 2019
Love To Give Directions
"Which way is 12th St?" as we stood midblock between 12th and 13th was an easy one.
Saturday, June 08, 2019
Public Accommodation
Once and not all that long ago I went on a trip with some friends. A lesbian couple. We were going hiking. I am a dumb person so it did not occur to me that checking into a hotel could be problem. It was not a problem! The lovely woman at the checkout desk was a trans woman and she was very happy to see us. But I am dumb and until that moment it did not occur to me that getting a hotel room in Pennsyltucky could be a problem.
And the problem isn't that someone might not rent to you. It's not knowing if they will. Not knowing that when you walk into a store if you will be served. It is a concern and holy crap what a concern.
Maggie Haberman once told us that Donald Trump was a friend to LGTB. This is why I tell you to cancel your New York Times subscriptions. Donald Trump has turned trans people into unpersons. I am not as dumb as I used to be. I have friends who are trans. I know "I have trans friends" is a joke like "I have black friends" but I have more trans friends than black friends.
And the problem isn't that someone might not rent to you. It's not knowing if they will. Not knowing that when you walk into a store if you will be served. It is a concern and holy crap what a concern.
Maggie Haberman once told us that Donald Trump was a friend to LGTB. This is why I tell you to cancel your New York Times subscriptions. Donald Trump has turned trans people into unpersons. I am not as dumb as I used to be. I have friends who are trans. I know "I have trans friends" is a joke like "I have black friends" but I have more trans friends than black friends.
If You Lift Your Eyes I Am Your Brother
For two weeks I have composed a blog post in my head. Sometimes this job is hard.
Friday, June 07, 2019
Do You Even Have Friends
A legitimate joke about conservatives is they occasionally stumble upon a problem that directly impacts them or their family or friends and suddenly become liberals... on only that issue.
Learn to generalize.
Learn to generalize.
Freedom
I haven't owned a car for 15 years. Cars are useful and for some purposes necessary things, but in my daily life I really don't need one. I know I am smug about this, but I put so much value on not needing a car. How much would you have to pay me to go live somewhere I needed a car? That is a very big number. Very big.
And Philly, outside of a narrow bit, is not "Manhattan." It's mostly 2 and 3 story row houses. You don't need skyscrapers to have enough density for walkability.
And Philly, outside of a narrow bit, is not "Manhattan." It's mostly 2 and 3 story row houses. You don't need skyscrapers to have enough density for walkability.
LOL Nothing Matters
I usually don't care that Trump violates the NORMS which are often some shit Republicans made up yesterday, but I will care when Trump is out of office and suddenly those NORMS are FEDERAL LAW once again.
Thursday, June 06, 2019
NORMS
There's some obvious stuff spelled out in the constitution, good or bad. Jimmy Carter read the thing. Bye bye peanut farm.
Debate me, Nancy.
Debate me, Nancy.
D-Day
It wasn't just about storming the beaches. My friend Sarah wrote a book about the women who helped to make it happen. It is a good book.
Wednesday, June 05, 2019
It's A Competition
Dem primaries are competitions and the candidates aren't all the same and it's good to air out their differences and it's good that noisy assholes on the internet yell at them when they are bad.
It just is not the case that if you mention that bad things TRUMP WILL WIN. It doesn't work that way.
Because of the internet and how they are covered more people are in tune with the minutiae of politics than they used to be. But, really, while now we have people yelling at strangers on the internet, the actual candidates seem to be much nicer to each other than they used to be. 1992? Nasty primary. 2000? Nasty primary. 2004? Nasty primary. 2008? Not actually that nasty. 2016? Not nasty at all.
It just is not the case that if you mention that bad things TRUMP WILL WIN. It doesn't work that way.
Because of the internet and how they are covered more people are in tune with the minutiae of politics than they used to be. But, really, while now we have people yelling at strangers on the internet, the actual candidates seem to be much nicer to each other than they used to be. 1992? Nasty primary. 2000? Nasty primary. 2004? Nasty primary. 2008? Not actually that nasty. 2016? Not nasty at all.
Starlink
We all need dumb obsessions, and my latest one is how everything Elon touches eventually turns to shit.
Dealing with the effects of modern technology is nothing new for those who collect light for a living. But Starlink’s end goal is the real problem. Currently, some 200 to 400 satellites orbit about 373 miles above our heads, the same altitude for the Starlink constellation. That’s bad enough for astronomical data. And Musk would like to turn that 400 into about 12,000.
In true Silicon Valley fashion, Musk and his team didn’t consult with any scientists, astronomers or ethicists about what launching 12,000 satellites into space might mean. “The fact that these new objects in the sky were so bright, and brighter than many of the stars, was just quite terrifying, actually,” says Jessie Christianson, a scientist at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology. “Basically, what it means is that some fraction of ground-based astronomy images, especially wide field surveys, will be not as useful for science.”
Other Countries Are Foreign
This is actually quite true. Even Canada is quite "weird." It isn't, really, but it is a different country. I remember in grad school a friend from Canada describing all the little ways the US was "weird" (different) to her, and it was fairly enlightening, especially as if you're a Canadian without an identifiable accent nobody knows you're a strange in a stranger land when you fail to understand how to navigate things like the post office.
But foreigners are just people and many Americans tend to think of them as Martians, instead of just people who grew up with somewhat different cultural backgrounds, traditions, customs, and expectations.
But foreigners are just people and many Americans tend to think of them as Martians, instead of just people who grew up with somewhat different cultural backgrounds, traditions, customs, and expectations.
Better Things Are Not Possible
You don't have to be a commie like me to understand that it isn't 1993 or 2003 or even 2013 anymore. The world changes. The pressing needs change. The failures of certain policies become more important. The demographics of voters changes.
One consistent message of this dumb blog which I think has held up pretty well is that even if your policy agenda is fairly moderate, "not quite as evil as the other guys" is not really a winning message. But in addition, after 40 years of "the best we can do, mostly, is try to slow the backslide into Reagan hell" as the moderate policy agenda, that isn't good enough either, especially as we see how quickly most of the few genuine gains can just be erased.
Conservatives don't really hide who they are and what they want, even if David Brooks tries to do that for them. What they want is bad and it isn't enough to say "whoa, slow down there.'
One consistent message of this dumb blog which I think has held up pretty well is that even if your policy agenda is fairly moderate, "not quite as evil as the other guys" is not really a winning message. But in addition, after 40 years of "the best we can do, mostly, is try to slow the backslide into Reagan hell" as the moderate policy agenda, that isn't good enough either, especially as we see how quickly most of the few genuine gains can just be erased.
Conservatives don't really hide who they are and what they want, even if David Brooks tries to do that for them. What they want is bad and it isn't enough to say "whoa, slow down there.'
Tuesday, June 04, 2019
The Kids Today
The weirdest obsession by conservatives (except the ones like the assholes at the Atlantic who are funded by the Kochs - it's not weird because everybody's gotta eat!) - is the tyranny of college students. Sometimes 19-year-olds are dumb (often they are not!) but even when they are they almost never have any power and protesting the use of campus resources for bigots and war criminals is at worst rude and reflects no real threat to any recognizable concept of "free specch" nor even hints that said students tend in that direction.
It's a useful "idiot" tell, as in, if this is your interest, you are an idiot. Or paid, of course.
It's a useful "idiot" tell, as in, if this is your interest, you are an idiot. Or paid, of course.
Catching the Car
You can find the pictures yourself, but is there a more miserable man than Trump in the UK? He likely thought nothing would make him feel better than having the Queen of England give him a big welcome, but of course it makes him miserable. These things are for show, and Trump doesn't know how to dress himself (why does nobody dress him? I'd be paying someone to dress me!) or behave and the whole thing is mostly just for pictures so of course it isn't "fun" in any meaningful way and wouldn't be for anyone, really. He thought it would be the ultimate moment of being at the center of attention, but like everybody else - even the queen - he's just a bit character in a theater production. That's just how these things work and how can you be so stupid as to not know that.
Monday, June 03, 2019
Look Like You're Doing Something
But don't actually do anything.
One might argue, in response, that a sensible executive branch would understand that lowering drug prices would be politically advantageous. And this insight, in turn, might lead some hypothetical Republican secretary of Health and Human Services to vigorously negotiate the prices of considerably more than the 25 drugs mandated by law. Alas, we must again remind any readers given to policy transports driven by logic and sound political calculation that the current, non-hypothetical HHS secretary is a former pharmaceutical industry executive. We must also gingerly remind said readers that all available evidence from the last 40 or so years of hard-right governance in Washington shows that Republicans will always place industry profits above their constituents’ needs. In short, the Republicans who currently have power in the White House and the U.S. Senate have not actually done any of the obvious things they could do to reduce drug prices, and can reliably be expected to stay the course, as they like to say.
Yet the Democratic speaker of the House is blithely proceeding as though none of these obvious and crushing truths have any purchase in the debate over health care policy. The Pelosi proposal doesn’t even seem to have any safeguards in place to prevent HHS from “negotiating” pharma-friendly high prices (which, again, is easy to imagine any Republican administration, and especially this Republican administration, doing). And in the event of a stalemate over prices, the negotiations only get sent to OMB (which has no experience regulating markets of any kind) if the pharma company in question and government regulators can’t come to an accord over a modified price. The government is thus free to continue doing nothing in the far more likely scenario of both parties showing that they can agree on an exorbitant one.
Foxy
Back in the Bush years, when Fox was ascendant, it was not entirely obvious how bad it was to many. It wasn't because it's actually much worse now, it's that it was barely different than what was on its sister networks, MSNBC and CNN. Post-9/11 they all fell all over themselves to make the steely-eyed rocket man our own God King, Our Protector, The One Who Kept Us Safe. Practically every morning Bush would give the same dumb speech at some "factory" or similar, with a ridiculous number of flags in the background. They'd all dutifully cover it, and only occasionally take a break from the adulation to sneer at some mild disagreement from a Democrat who just Did Not Get That Everything Had Changed.
And even in the Obama years, when its ridiculousness became increasingly apparent, it was possible to see it as at least being in opposition to the guy in charge, Obama, which whatever its faults at least had a punching up aspect to it.
Now it's 100% clear that it isn't just conservative, or Republican supporting, but an entirely manufactured alternative universe that rage junkie seniors spend their days hooked on, impervious to any outside information. Also there are a lot of them and they vote and despite what you hear tend to hate their kids and grandkids.
And even in the Obama years, when its ridiculousness became increasingly apparent, it was possible to see it as at least being in opposition to the guy in charge, Obama, which whatever its faults at least had a punching up aspect to it.
Now it's 100% clear that it isn't just conservative, or Republican supporting, but an entirely manufactured alternative universe that rage junkie seniors spend their days hooked on, impervious to any outside information. Also there are a lot of them and they vote and despite what you hear tend to hate their kids and grandkids.
Nothing Really Matters, Anyone Can See
I used to not quite understand why the ranks of punditry and political journalism are populated largely by people who seem to not care at all about policy at all. I don't mean simply that the constraints of political journalism specifically supposedly require an objectivity (which only applies selectively but that's another issue) about such things, but that they honestly don't really give a shit. It matters more that dead John McCain might be sad than that we are torturing toddlers.
Of course this doesn't apply to all journalists. Some are doing that noble investigative reporting about politics which they all supposedly, but mostly don't, aspire to. The court intrigue journalists and the politics as theater criticism journalists and Chris Cillizza and oh God Chris Cillizza-wannabes.
But of course they just want to be on TMZ-for-politics. If you grow up thinking "I want to be a political journalist!" your model isn't "All The President's Men" or whatever, it's CNN gabfests. That could be me!
Of course this doesn't apply to all journalists. Some are doing that noble investigative reporting about politics which they all supposedly, but mostly don't, aspire to. The court intrigue journalists and the politics as theater criticism journalists and Chris Cillizza and oh God Chris Cillizza-wannabes.
But of course they just want to be on TMZ-for-politics. If you grow up thinking "I want to be a political journalist!" your model isn't "All The President's Men" or whatever, it's CNN gabfests. That could be me!
America's Worst Editorial Page Editor
Fred Hiatt Has apparently been very sad that I have been ignoring him lately. We knew he was into crimes, so we can't impeach him for crimes.
"We knew he would grab'em by the pussy when we voted for him, so the multiple on camera rapes are just not grounds for impeachment" - Fred Hiatt, basically.
I think we’ve been proved right. But that is precisely the point: We thought his unfitness was evident before he was elected, and Americans chose him anyway. (No, he didn’t win the popular vote. But he won.) He is endangering the future of the planet — but we knew he was a climate denier. He ripped children from their parents at the border — but his racism and anti-immigrant animus, like his contempt for the Constitution, were no secrets.
To impeach him now for what the electorate welcomed or was willing to overlook isn’t the democratic response. The right response is to defeat him in 2020.
"We knew he would grab'em by the pussy when we voted for him, so the multiple on camera rapes are just not grounds for impeachment" - Fred Hiatt, basically.
Vanity in the UK
I'm not sure how Trump can go there given that it's all one big Muslim no go zone these days.
Why is he going there? Weird.
Why is he going there? Weird.
Sunday, June 02, 2019
The Confidence Of A Successful Mediocre White Man
It is refreshingly honest to admit you're a dumbass sometimes, but not that much of a dumbass.
Better Things To Do
Most cities can't manage to put in a dozen miles of bike lanes. I'd hope they wouldn't be bothering worrying about the unicorn invasion that might happen in a few decades.
Ban cars. There's your answer.
Only a tiny fraction of survey respondents said that their town had a “clear plan” for autonomous vehicles, and just 36 percent of the largest cities have general plans that mention AVs. Even fewer, 24 percent, have issued separate strategies for maximizing the possible safety and congestion-easing benefits of self-driving cars.
Ban cars. There's your answer.
Cloudy John
Not going to rehash his whole history, but John Solomon was a Very Respected Journalist at Very Respectable News Outlets (Washington Post, AP) for years. He was, at those outlets, transparently a right wing hack at best and more accurately a conduit for whatever right wing horseshit someone would hand him. Of course during his tenure there were numerous criticisms of him written by his colleagues. Haha, I kid, only stupid bloggers and similar ever said a word.
Like most professions, journalism is not good about policing its own. Unlike many professions, journalists often pretend they are. Something about truthtelling blahblahblah.
Like most professions, journalism is not good about policing its own. Unlike many professions, journalists often pretend they are. Something about truthtelling blahblahblah.
Saturday, June 01, 2019
Yes We Do Have Some Trails In this Dumb City
Even nice ones, though they're a bit of a bus ride for me to get to.