We know Haberman was supposed to write a book with Thrush before Thrush had some, um, issues. The publisher booted Thrush off and he got to keep his advance. Then Haberman backed out and had to pay hers back. Seems a bit unjust, in a way, but still curious why Haberman backed out instead of going solo.
Random Friday night thought. Discuss more important things!
Friday, January 31, 2020
Rules For Billionaires
The DNC debate rules might be good or bad, but changing them so Michael Bloomberg can get into the debates is, well, unsurprising... So of course they're doing it.
They're All Bad
I know the Senate is the greatest deliberative body in the world where all of the greatest people of America get along famously and frankly I go to bed every night just pleased as punch that The Chucks Grassley and Schumer have a grand old time in the Senate gym locker room. Get a tear in my eye as Snuffy Walden plays in my mind imagining their witty banter.
But, also too, their wonderful colleagues on the other side of the aisle are all corrupt assholes and they have been blowing up The Norms for years and I think it's past time for the Dems to tell THE AMERICAN PEOPLE just who those Republicans are.
Assume Senate comity dead.
But, also too, their wonderful colleagues on the other side of the aisle are all corrupt assholes and they have been blowing up The Norms for years and I think it's past time for the Dems to tell THE AMERICAN PEOPLE just who those Republicans are.
Assume Senate comity dead.
Proper
Britain is free at last, free at last.
Generational stolen valor is my latest "amusement."
This is why some festivities will be even more raucous than the one in Parliament Square. Tory MP Andrew Rosindell explained his party in Romford will involve British singing and British food “and English sparkling wine – nothing French or German”.I know this is a bit hard for Americans to understand, instinctively seduced by slightly posh accents, but the Tories are dumber than Republicans, the "objective media" (basically the BBC) is even more in the tank for Tories, and the Sensible Centrists are more actively destructive than Jon Chait and Claire McCaskill ever were.
That’s the spirit of friendship we’ve been promised, in which our independence creates a new spirit of harmony with our European neighbours, which we can celebrate like PROPER British people, not these Metropolitan traitors who eat European shite like pizza and have wine from places that know nothing about wine, like France. This is PROPER wine made from baked beans and Tizer.
He also displayed his optimistic youthful outlook when he demanded the BBC mark the event by playing “God Save the Queen” before it shuts down each night. This might not have the impact he hopes for, as the BBC hasn’t shut down at night since 1997, but that shows how out of touch the liberal whining BBC has become, deliberately showing programmes all night so it doesn’t have to play the national anthem before shutting down.
Other public figures have added to the national jollity, by making speeches that start with: “We are now in a position to heal the wounds of a divided nation, by coming together to tell the 16 million posh, traitorous, elite, sneering arse-wipes, ‘HAAA HAAAAA GET OVER IT, how DARE you express the slightest tinge of unease, you collaborator.’”
Generational stolen valor is my latest "amusement."
The age group that voted in the greatest numbers for Brexit were those between 65 and 75, so now the greatest generation this country ever produced can get on with the job of insisting they didn’t fight in the war to be told what to do by Europe, even though they were born 10 years after the war ended.
And this goes to show how patriotic they are; they were willing to fight Hitler even after he was already dead.
Both Sides
There's no doubt that President Obummer would have been driven out of office by Democrats by now if he'd been the Full Trump, and deservedly so. Political journalists who can't internalize that basic fact should be brushing up their fry skills instead of earning the big bucks.
Happy Brexit Day
It consumed the UK media to the exclusion of all else for years and now they barely talk about it. It's here, though the difficult parts are postponed. The Tories hav decided not to talk about Brexit anymore. They got it done. It's in the past. The difficult bits are yet to come, and my guess is that somehow those things will not be Brexit (because Brexit is GOOD) but evil Europe being evil.
Thursday, January 30, 2020
THE DAY EVERYTHING CHANGES
I wonder how things would be different if there was no NARRATIVE surrounding the primaries. As in, people woke up the next day read the results in their newspaper and then moved on. Starting in 2004 or so (starting before, of course, but *really* getting going in 2004) the hot takes about the hot takes about WHAT IT ALL MEANS go hyper-meta before any results are even out. Spinners as spinnning spinnning spinning towards freedom!
And no matter what happens, it'll be good news for John McCain.
And no matter what happens, it'll be good news for John McCain.
bUT hOW WilL wE PaY FOr IT
There's always money in the banana stand.
Add a gun that can’t shoot straight to the problems that dog Lockheed Martin Corp.’s $428 billion F-35 program, including more than 800 software flaws.
The 25mm gun on Air Force models of the Joint Strike Fighter has “unacceptable” accuracy in hitting ground targets and is mounted in housing that’s cracking, the Pentagon’s test office said in its latest assessment of the costliest U.S. weapons system.
ROBOTAXIS
Elon time is become ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE more ridiculous than Friedman Units.
Martin Viecha -- Senior Director of Investor RelationsWhat about the million robotaxis, Elon?
Thank you. The next question is, you set expectations that you would be feature-complete on FSD by the end of 2019. Can you please provide an update on when will we see this -- but with end users, where are you in retrofitting the FSD computer to older models?
Elon Musk -- Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Well, I mean, to be precise, I said I was hoping it would be feature-complete with both FSD by the end of last year. We got pretty close. It's looking like we might be feature-complete in a few months. The feature-complete just means like it has some chance of going from your home to work let's say with no interventions. So, that's -- it doesn't mean the features are working well, but it means it has above zero chance. So I think that's looking like maybe it's going to be couple of months from now. And what isn't obvious regarding Autopilot and Full Self-Driving is just how much work has been going into improving the foundational elements of autonomy. The -- like the core autopilots in Tesla or Autopilot software and AI team is just is I think very, very strong in making great progress. And we're only beginning to take full advantage of the Autopilot hardware and the FSD hardware.
So I think it's -- the apparent progress, as seen by consumers, will seem to be extremely rapid, but actually what's really going on my head it seems like that is just having the foundational software be very strong and we've got really strong foundation. And then a really fundamental thing is moving to video training. So in terms of labeling, labeling with video in all eight cameras simultaneously. This is a really, I mean in terms of labeling efficiency, arguably like a three order of magnitude improvement in labeling efficiency. For those who know about this, it's extremely fundamental, so that's really great progress on that.
"If you fast forward a year, maybe a year three months, we'll have over a million robo-taxis on the road."That was last April.
According to Musk vehicles will drive anywhere. "If you need geofenced maps, you're not self-driving," he said. He said that Teslas will be available to autonomously navigate dense urban areas like San Francisco and New York by the end of the year.
Our Failed Media Experiment
the president's lawyer said that anything the president does is legal, and playbook wonders how it will affect that lawyer's social life in martha's vineyard? pic.twitter.com/n31bVRvdy5
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) January 30, 2020
Heartland
Most of my life the archetype of The Politician was a southerner or maybe a Texan. The Voters Who Mattered were all white Southerners. "White" being a key term. Sure the realignment was happening, as the weird Democratic coalition which included white Southerners and white southern politicians was dissolving. That was worth talking about in a limited context. But the South was always portrayed as a white place, including the rural South. Even today I bet most non-Southern Americans think all black people live in New York, Baltimore, Chicago, DC, and Los Angeles (!!), when of course the South - and the rural South - has huge (huger) black populations.
And now it's the heartland. A place which also isn't as white as is portrayed. African-American and Hispanic residents everywhere, even in places like Mayo Pete's South Bend. But the Heartland, of course, means Real American so it means White.
And now it's the heartland. A place which also isn't as white as is portrayed. African-American and Hispanic residents everywhere, even in places like Mayo Pete's South Bend. But the Heartland, of course, means Real American so it means White.
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
America's Worst Democratic Presidential Candidates
Mayo Pete.
In the face of unprecedented challenges, we need a president whose vision was shaped by the American Heartland rather than the ineffective Washington politics we’ve come to know and expect.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) January 29, 2020
But They've Been Talking About This For Years
I don't know the truth of this or what it really means, but if a relatively small amount of money spent on Facebook (for example) is the key to winning an election, perhaps best to spend some money on facebook instead of complaining to the Facebook Hall Monitors (facebook is bad, delete it, but you go to the elections with the evil ad surveillance systems you have...).
Democrats and Republicans agree that the Trump campaign is far ahead of the Democratic Party in the use of this technology, capitalizing on its substantial investment during the 2016 election and benefiting from an uninterrupted high-tech drive since then.I think these stories are never quite right, but...
Republicans “have a big advantage this time,” Ben Nuckels, a Democratic media consultant said in a phone interview. “They not only have all the data from 2016 but they have been building this operation into a nonstop juggernaut.”
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Unpossible
I am surprised.
BREAKING: McConnell tells GOP senators he does not have the votes to block witnesses in Trump's impeachment trial https://t.co/EC85ytDAe2
— Matea Gold (@mateagold) January 28, 2020
John Bolton, Welcome To The Resistance
Getting older provides too much fucking perspective sometimes. I think, "why are these guys still around in public life?" Then I do a bit of math and..Oh, in 2002 John Bolton was "only" 54.
Math
Leaving aside my skepticism about the technology, the reason drivers are 80% of the cost for Uber is because Uber doesn't own the damn cars. They don't have the capital expenses. With a self-driving fleet, they would.
The driver represents the single largest expense in non-autonomous ride-sharing at 80% of the total per mile cost, according to estimates by research firm Frost & Sullivan. By removing the driver from the equation, fully autonomous vehicles dramatically lower the cost of a ride while boosting its addressable market. Already offering software as a service, Uber plans to take the bet further by making the cost of rides so low (between its fleet of human and robot cars) that vehicle ownership becomes obsolete.
Stanning
I suppose I am old and jaded and get off my lawn but while I certainly appreciate enthusiasm for political candidates, I generally find a certain kind of gushing fandom to be alien. No this is not a comment on any particular candidate or any particular candidate's fans.
Generally the president-as-royal, the "Leader" of our nation, rubs me the wrong way. It's a job and I hope they do a good one.
Generally the president-as-royal, the "Leader" of our nation, rubs me the wrong way. It's a job and I hope they do a good one.
I O W A
It is soon.
I don't know what the solution is, but we have to stop the perpetual campaign. Even without the presidential campaigns lasting forever, the fact that there are House elections every 2 years is... bad.
I don't know what the solution is, but we have to stop the perpetual campaign. Even without the presidential campaigns lasting forever, the fact that there are House elections every 2 years is... bad.
The Left Is Young And Mean And Silly And Immature
I think the general "are BERNIE BROS MEAN ONLINE" thing is a bit silly. Assholes online tend to be assholes to people they disagree with, which colors people's perception of such things. But even if you think online bernie bros are uniquely mean on the political internet, this is a trope that has been wheeled out since the Dean campaign. In part it's a cynical tactic, in part it's the general response from a set of people who have never heard criticism From The Left in their lives and they find it jarring and weird. We don't regularly get pieces about angry and mean Trump supporters, but, well, you know...
The Keyboard Kingpin, a k a Markos Moulitsas ZĂșniga, sits at his computer, fires up his Web site, Daily Kos, and commands his followers, who come across like squadrons of rabid lambs, to unleash their venom on those who stand in the way.
-BoBo Brooks, NYT, 2006.
Radical Dims
Regular reminder that former CNN people regularly find comfortable homes at Fox. And while Lou's show did have an "opinion" slant to it, it was never billed as a conservative opinion. Just Lou being Lou. And it isn't just Lou. John Roberts (not the SCOTUS guy), Bill Hemmer, Ed Henry...
Monday, January 27, 2020
Elite Journalism Brain
The treatment of Sonmez specifically is bad, but also what is wrong with them? As in, how do management brains work such that this happened?
The Post has suspended reporter Felicia Sonmez following her social-media activity over the death of NBA great Kobe Bryant. Here’s the explanation from Managing Editor Tracy Grant: “National political reporter Felicia Sonmez was placed on administrative leave while The Post reviews whether tweets about the death of Kobe Bryant violated The Post newsroom’s social media policy. The tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues.”
...
Management continued to worry about the tweets, says Sonmez, noting that Grant sent her another message saying that if she didn’t delete them, she’d be “in violation of a directive from a managing editor.” She deleted the tweets, providing a victory for all those who’d attacked her for posting a perfectly fine news story.
Fearing for her safety at home, Sonmez checked into a hotel on Sunday night. In a phone call with Grant, she learned that she was being placed on administrative leave effective immediately. The Post’s concerns with the tweets, Grant had indicated in an email to Sonmez, were that they didn’t “pertain” to the reporter’s “coverage area” and that “your behavior on social media is making it harder for others to do their work as Washington Post journalists.”
Starr
A reminder that the great salon hosts of DC (elite journalists) treated him like a saint and a genius during the last impeachment. Constant leaks will help with that, I understand.
Great Men Of Letters
Packer is such a weirdo.
At any rate, the consequences that befall provocateurs in America today are not terribly grave. In his speech, Packer shares the plight of one would-be contrarian who “once heard from a New York publisher that his manuscript was unacceptable because it went against a ‘consensus’ on the subject of race.” But the book was eventually picked up by a sympathetic editor and has since found “many readers.” Where one might see a positive outcome beyond the reach of the vast majority of people who hope to publish books, Packer sees the end of a horrific ordeal.
The content of the book, the merits of the arguments against consensus, naturally went unmentioned, as did the author’s name. Out of concern for his safety? No. As Packer concedes, writers today don’t “live in terror of being sent to prison.” And yet, he says, the fear of public criticism today is, “in a way, more crippling.” “A writer can still write while hiding from the thought police,” he says. “But a writer who carries the thought police around in his head, who always feels compelled to ask: Can I say this? Do I have a right? Is my terminology correct? Will my allies get angry? Will it help my enemies? Could it get me ratioed on Twitter?—that writer’s words will soon become lifeless.”.
Put The Cash On The Oval Office Desk
I don't think I'm particularly naive - I might be! - about federal government corruption, broadly defined. Still I do think "the president taking bribes" has not been a feature of the presidency in modern times. It is not a good development.
The Great White Hope
Any non-hack journalists knows Trump is horrible and guilty and should not be president and should be removed from office. They can't say that, of course, but they can wish for BIPARTISAN AGREEEMENT and UNITY. If there is only one side, then there aren't both sides...
Rhetorical Hammer
That doesn't mean it's never a useful strategy. "Well, the Republicans have no choice but to end this cover up...". But waiting for Susan Collins to ride in on her unicorn as Appalachian Spring plays in the background... no.
General Bolton, You're Our Only Hope
Wow this changes everything. Senate Republicans are going to have to...
[narrator runs in, wet and dripping from the shower, screaming: NO THEY WON'T THEY ARE ALL BAD NOTHING WILL CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR STOP THIS BULLSHIT PRETENDING REPUBLICAN SAVIORS ARE JUST WAITING FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT TO PULL SOME BULLSHIT WEST WING MOMENT THEY AREN'T GOING TO DO IT EVEN IF THE VIDEO OF TRUMP RAPING BABIES COMES OUT]
[narrator runs in, wet and dripping from the shower, screaming: NO THEY WON'T THEY ARE ALL BAD NOTHING WILL CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR STOP THIS BULLSHIT PRETENDING REPUBLICAN SAVIORS ARE JUST WAITING FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT TO PULL SOME BULLSHIT WEST WING MOMENT THEY AREN'T GOING TO DO IT EVEN IF THE VIDEO OF TRUMP RAPING BABIES COMES OUT]
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Critics Say Trump's Nuking Of New York City Is "Mass Murder" Which They Argue Is "Bad"
One does wonder if there are any limits to the "one side says, the other side says" journalism as long as one of the two political parties is taking a position. I used to think there were some things. For example, "racism is bad" was a pretty uncontested position, even if what qualified as "racism" was always contested. Someone wearing a Klan hood and saying "I am a racist" was bad, at least. Now, well, just some people with some edgy views.
Have You Heard Of Rupert Murdoch
I don't reject concerns about the facebook and newfangled technology generally as platforms for right wing influence and bullshit spreading, but, you know, O'Reilly didn't need facebook.
Theranos
Just a reminder who was on the board of directors.
In 2016 they were:
In July 2011, Holmes was introduced to former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, who joined the Theranos board of directors that month.[114] Over the next three years, Shultz helped to introduce almost all the outside directors on the "all-star board," which included William Perry (former U.S. Secretary of Defense), Henry Kissinger (former U.S. Secretary of State), Sam Nunn (former U.S. Senator), Bill Frist (former U.S. Senator and heart-transplant surgeon), Gary Roughead (Admiral, USN, retired), James Mattis (General, USMC), Richard Kovacevich (former Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO) and Riley Bechtel (chairman of the board and former CEO at Bechtel Group).[114][115][116] The board was criticized for consisting "mainly of directors with diplomatic or military backgrounds."[24]
In 2016 they were:
Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEONo real point here. Just a random thought!
Riley Bechtel, former Bechtel Group CEO
David Boies, a founder and the chairman of Boies Schiller Flexner
William Foege, former director CDC
Richard Kovacevich, former Wells Fargo CEO and chairman
James Mattis, later U.S. Secretary of Defense
Fabrizio Bonanni, former executive vice president of Amgen
Saturday, January 25, 2020
PUMA 2 Electric Boogaloo
I have enough DC brain to know that if Bernie wins things are going to get... interesting.
The Art of the Hissy Fit
It's nothing new and yet Serious Politics Knowers at our elite publications pretend (or don't pretend, I have no idea) not to be aware.
Not as if Lindsey or Susan are going to be winning any Oscars anytime soon. These reporters must get tricked by their own 5-year-olds constantly.
Not as if Lindsey or Susan are going to be winning any Oscars anytime soon. These reporters must get tricked by their own 5-year-olds constantly.
Kayfabe
The dumbest fucking people in the universe work for the New York Times.
Imagine taking seriously the argument that they thought about stopping the president from doing crimes but the democrats were mean so they had no choice but to let the president keep doing crimes.
Imagine being paid lots of money to be a Serious Politics Knower for the New York Times and not getting that the Hissy Fit is the go to Republican play.
Republicans are VERY angry about Schiff’s decision to reference that CBS “head on a pike” report. Murkowski says “that’s where he lost me.” Barrasso says “whatever gains he may have made, he lost all of it — plus some — tonight.”
— Emily Cochrane (@ESCochrane) January 25, 2020
Imagine taking seriously the argument that they thought about stopping the president from doing crimes but the democrats were mean so they had no choice but to let the president keep doing crimes.
Imagine being paid lots of money to be a Serious Politics Knower for the New York Times and not getting that the Hissy Fit is the go to Republican play.
Fake Outrage
Every single time the Republicans manufacture a fake outrage to distract from the malfeasance and while I'd like to say that reporters just pretend to believe them I honestly think some of these brain worms reporters actually do believe them.
ADAM SCHIFF WORE A BLUE TIE INTO THE SENATE! THIS OUTRAGE WILL NOT STAND.
Most of the time the "outrages" don't even make any sense, and even when they occasionally do... this is Trump's Republican party we are talking about. They are not allowed to take to the fainting couch because somebody said a bad word or similar.
ADAM SCHIFF WORE A BLUE TIE INTO THE SENATE! THIS OUTRAGE WILL NOT STAND.
Most of the time the "outrages" don't even make any sense, and even when they occasionally do... this is Trump's Republican party we are talking about. They are not allowed to take to the fainting couch because somebody said a bad word or similar.
Friday, January 24, 2020
Crimeing Outside The Lines
Without getting into who wins the Presidential Crime Olympics, I think it's fair to say that Trump crimes like I color. You do your crimes inside the "okay to do crimes" zone that has been set up for presidents, or shift the boundaries about a bit. You do not start stabbing outside the lines with a big crayon.
Security
Forget the details of the recording, are the "but her emails" reporters ever going to actually acknowledge the fact that there is literally no security around Trump's communications?
But as for what was said...
A recording reviewed by ABC News appears to capture President Donald Trump telling associates he wanted the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch fired while speaking at a small gathering that included Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman -- two former business associates of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani who have since been indicted in New York.Aren't there people who are supposed to take care of this stuff?
The recording appears to contradict statements by President Trump and support the narrative that has been offered by Parnas during broadcast interviews in recent days. Sources familiar with the recording said the recording was made during an intimate April 30, 2018, dinner at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Trump has said repeatedly he does not know Parnas, a Soviet-born American who has emerged as a wild card in Trump’s impeachment trial, especially in the days since Trump was impeached.
But as for what was said...
"Get rid of her!" is what the voice that appears to be President Trump’s is heard saying. "Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it."Not sure who here could fire her? So, um, ...
Ladies And Gentlemen Of The Jury
Sure my client killed someone, but that was in the papers LAST YEAR. I move to dismiss!
Reporters who exist to do nothing but transmit transparent bullshit from Republicans and embrace every second of it...
G’morning. I wnated to highlight a few things from Playbook this morning.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 23, 2020
The main takeaway by Rs from the House presentation has been nothing new.
Nothing new about a series of charges that have been the subject of many hours of hearings, newspaper stories, cable coverage. pic.twitter.com/eLPhMW1WvN
Reporters who exist to do nothing but transmit transparent bullshit from Republicans and embrace every second of it...
The Anglosphere
One thing people in the UK and the US share is a weird belief that people in other countries give a shit what we think about them. Obviously the US matters in the sense that it is powerful and we like to blow people up but otherwise...
A Conservative MP has called for Brexit to be marked next week with a firework display that can be seen from France and a huge banner hanging from the White Cliffs of Dover.
Natalie Elphicke, the MP for Dover, has urged the UK to celebrate its exit from the European Union by hanging a banner displaying the words “We love the UK” on 31 January.
The newly elected Conservative has suggested the banner should replace a rival 150 sq m “We still love EU” banner which is being crowdfunded by Liberal Democrat MEP Antony Hook.
“Sadly, we can’t stop Brexit now, but we can send a strong message to the world that we still love Europe,” Mr Hook said in a statement announcing the proposal.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Speaking Of
And Sekulow isn't even the youngest generation. I'm not one to knock The Kids Today, generally, but the GOP Kids Today...
Related from Pareene. Maybe not more evil, but certainly more openly racist.
Related from Pareene. Maybe not more evil, but certainly more openly racist.
The Downward Spiral
The GOP's only going to get worse. We saw signs of this when they sent the Heritage Kids to run Iraq, and now those Heritage Kids are running this country. A generation of Great Leaders who really do live inside the "Fox bubble" and genuinely believe CNN is the Communist News Network.
Maybe not more evil, but a bit more stupid. Failsons of failsons.
But, sure, Joe Biden, tell us about your good friends in the Senate who will work with you.
Maybe not more evil, but a bit more stupid. Failsons of failsons.
But, sure, Joe Biden, tell us about your good friends in the Senate who will work with you.
Karen Called The Manager
Her act is so hilarious.
Just spoke to Sen. Collins, who confirmed that she wrote a note to Roberts wee-hours Wednesday.
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) January 23, 2020
"I did write a note raising the issue of whether there’d been a violation of the rules" of impugning another senator https://t.co/HfkOUmInOe
(CNN reported on the note late Weds)
Everybody's Gotta Eat
Everybody's a "Democratic strategist" now, and everybody is talking their book. At best you can say that their meal tickets are perfectly aligned with their honest preferences, but careers will be made or broken during this primary.
Shining City On A Hill
The Kids Today won't remember of course, but too many people who should know better have just chosen to not remember. Once upon a time the Bush administration decided Torture Was Good. The very silly opinion from the types of people who opposed the Iraq War thought Torture Was Bad, but they thought lots of silly things. The Very Serious Moderate Position was that Torture Was Bad, but if you don't call it torture and did it for a good reason, then whatever it is we're not calling torture is, well, regrettable, but they made us do it, you see. Weirdly that was pretty much the position of Don Rumsfeld!
The March 6 memo, prepared for Mr Rumsfeld explained that what may look like torture is not really torture at all. It states that: if someone "knows that severe pain will result from his actions, if causing such harm is not his objective, he lacks the requisite specific intent even though the defendant did not act in good faith".
What this means in understandable English is that if a parent, in his anxiety to know where his son goes after choir practice, does something that will cause severe pain to his son, it is only "torture" if the causing of that severe pain is his objective. If his objective is something else - such as finding out where his son goes after choir practice - then it is not torture.
Mr Rumsfeld's memo goes on: "a defendant" (by which he means a concerned parent) "is guilty of torture only if he acts with the express purpose of inflicting severe pain or suffering on a person within his control".
Couldn't be clearer. If your intention is to extract information, you cannot be accused of torture.
Is Pence President Yet
Busy morning then maybe a normal return to blogging! No promises. hassles hassles hassles
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Where's Rusty
I know he's still around but it's a bit odd living in a world where he seems like the least important wingnut media figure.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
MBS's Good Pals
Jared and the gang are all totally hacked.
The Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos had his mobile phone “hacked” in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message that had apparently been sent from the personal account of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, sources have told the Guardian.
The encrypted message from the number used by Mohammed bin Salman is believed to have included a malicious file that infiltrated the phone of the world’s richest man, according to the results of a digital forensic analysis.
ROBOTAXIS
Elon time, "six months, a year, tops," is notoriously slippery, and good bullshitters always leave themselves open to many interpretations just in case they need an escape hatch, but there are a lot of Tesla owners who truly believed, at some point that Elon was going to flip the switch and turn their cars not just in to genuinely automated vehicles, but ROBOTAXIS that would let them make money in their sleep.
With Rahm out of office, I think Elon's days of annoying me for "taking lots of public money" reasons might be fading, but I'm still a bit obsessed with the bullshit. Oh and the beta test 2 ton deathmobiles. They are still with us.
With Rahm out of office, I think Elon's days of annoying me for "taking lots of public money" reasons might be fading, but I'm still a bit obsessed with the bullshit. Oh and the beta test 2 ton deathmobiles. They are still with us.
THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION IN OUR LIFETIMES
Candidates (parties, politicians, pundits, etc.) can't keep seamlessly switch between "OMG THIS IS AN EMERGENCY" and "oh, well, lovely to be on stage with the former President, Mr. Trump, and his wonderful children" regularly.
They're bad people. Treat them like that, and don't stop.
They're bad people. Treat them like that, and don't stop.
My Opponents Are All Very Good, I Am Just Slightly Better
I always remember Dem primary campaigns being a bit nasty, and while one can argue about whether being a bit nasty is helpful (it might work, it might not), the "oh no don't say anything mean because then it will come back in the general election" seems to involve a big misunderstanding of how these things work. Don't think Republicans need Dem primary competitions to discover their oppo research.
MR. MCCONNELL SIRRAH HASTETH THOUEST NOEST HONOUR SIRRAH
Another moment when the Dems just can't appeal to the referees for help.
Monday, January 20, 2020
The Will Of The People
Perhaps find the diners where some of the 51% hang out.
(CNN)About half of Americans say the Senate should vote to convict President Donald Trump and remove him from office in the upcoming impeachment trial (51%), according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, while 45% say the Senate should vote against conviction and removal.
Look Up To The Skies And See
Everybody knows if the Dem wins in November, takes office, and settles down to a low 40s approval steady state, that there will not be a constant drumbeat of "these Philadelphia voters still support their candidate!" stories. Instead we will be going back to the Ohio diners for more years of coverage of Trump voters.
I Love Joe Biden So Damn Much
When do I get to go back to being a hack?
Joke. Of course Joe Biden (or probably *ANYBODY ELSE IN THE COUNTRY*) would be better than Trump. Even though I just did it (to make a different point), I hate that people constantly feel the need to swear and affirm that point. I'm not sure who they are talking to.
Joke. Of course Joe Biden (or probably *ANYBODY ELSE IN THE COUNTRY*) would be better than Trump. Even though I just did it (to make a different point), I hate that people constantly feel the need to swear and affirm that point. I'm not sure who they are talking to.
The Smartest Guys In The Room
One thing about blogging over the years is that it made me quite confident of the fact that while I am hopefully not a total dumbdumb, there are almost always people in the room who are smarter than me, and literally everybody in the room knows more about something (many somethings) than I do.
Every now and then people who went to Harvard (or similar) (#notallpeoplewhowenttoharvardorsimilar) say something which makes it pretty clear that it is at best difficult for them to comprehend that people who didn't go to school near Boston might be smart and know some things.
Really the combination of not being a total fuckup as a teenager, doing well on a test at age 16, and having the right parents and guidance counselors during those years should not be seen as the primary measure of the merit of people, especially like 40 years later. And yet...
Every now and then people who went to Harvard (or similar) (#notallpeoplewhowenttoharvardorsimilar) say something which makes it pretty clear that it is at best difficult for them to comprehend that people who didn't go to school near Boston might be smart and know some things.
Really the combination of not being a total fuckup as a teenager, doing well on a test at age 16, and having the right parents and guidance counselors during those years should not be seen as the primary measure of the merit of people, especially like 40 years later. And yet...
Any Gal Will Do
I don't care who the New York Times editorial board endorses. It just tells us about them. Endorsing TWO women was something they thought was a power move, but, you know, that's not how this works.
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Are You Excited???
The coveted Eschaton endorsement will be broadcast on all the major networks at 8pm EST!
UPN, WB, The Gorilla Channel, The Burly Bear Network, Hawkvision, and Plum TV!
UPN, WB, The Gorilla Channel, The Burly Bear Network, Hawkvision, and Plum TV!
Poop Dogg And The Enema Man
"Greedy Geezers" was a favorite of Alan Simpson, of "Simpson-Bowles." You might remember their comedy stylings from when Obama-Biden tried to cut Social Security. But the phrase was, in this context, a favorite of the neoliberal shills of the Washington Monthly and the New Republic of the 70s and 80s. That poor old people had it too good was an article of faith among a generation of young wonks, though I suspect now that they're old their enthusiasm for taking a hatchet to Social Security has waned, if only slightly. They only want to cut it for people who haven't started to receive it yet, now.
Greedy Geezers
The campaign to kill Social Security has been a long one, and Joe Biden has always been a part of it.
Innovating Pizza
Nobody is going to get rich by DISRUPTING PIZZA. Sure you can get rich setting up a new pizza chain. Appealing (whether good nor not) product, good branding, the usual thing. There is no TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION that is going to do it. What's it cost to make a pizza, Michael? NOT THAT MUCH! How much can you charge for it? NOT THAT MUCH!
We want to make pizza! Um, with a robot! OK here's eleventy zillion!
Oops weirdly we can't make money that way, so we're going to pivot to being the "Amazon of food" which means, "we are going to be worth eleventy zillion dollars for reasons and get gullible journalists to write it up."
There's always a "the critics just don't understand the brilliance" stuff coming from these guys, when, no, usually they do.
I think we're finally getting to the end of the era of "Campbell's soup, but with an app." Not sure what the next era will be!
SoftBank-backed Zume is laying off 360 employees, accounting for about 50 percent of its workforce, and shuttering its robotic pizza business to focus on food packaging.
We want to make pizza! Um, with a robot! OK here's eleventy zillion!
Oops weirdly we can't make money that way, so we're going to pivot to being the "Amazon of food" which means, "we are going to be worth eleventy zillion dollars for reasons and get gullible journalists to write it up."
But to Zume’s fans, just because it is easy to mock doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity there. For starters, preparing and delivering pizza pies made by robots to Silicon Valley diners isn’t even Zume’s main business anymore. The four-year-old company has largely pivoted to an enterprise model where it works with restaurants that have no storefront and prepare their food in shared centralized kitchens, or “cloud kitchens”; with delivery providers like DoorDash and Postmates; and with existing pizza companies to build a hub-and-spoke model for the entire delivery industry. The company has been trying to morph into a data and logistics provider, part of an effort by founder Alex Garden to become “the Amazon of food.”That last bit was written... a whole month ago.
That pivot is not widely understood by the jokesters, who wonder how Zume can compete with the Pizza Huts and Domino’s of the world in the $10 billion pizza-delivery industry. The food-delivery sector is riddled with sky-high customer acquisition costs, given weak consumer loyalty and rampant subsidies made possible by venture capital.
There's always a "the critics just don't understand the brilliance" stuff coming from these guys, when, no, usually they do.
I think we're finally getting to the end of the era of "Campbell's soup, but with an app." Not sure what the next era will be!
Saturday, January 18, 2020
TEN MILLION DOLLARS
With so many billionaires about, why not a private prize of $10 million for the scientist who genetically creates an O2 producing organism that will thrive in the frigid, methane lakes of Titan?
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 18, 2020
Well, you know, we can't possibly increase average gas mileage by 3MPG but bet for TEN MILLION DOLLARS we can all go to another planet's moon or some shit.
Afternoon Thread
Rock on.
Just read that Derek Fowlds has died. Excellent in Yes Minister & Yes Prime Minister. And had one of the best lines in sitcom history when they discussed newspaper readers on Yes Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/hRYmGUSNr7
— Cameron Yarde Jnr (@CameronYardeJnr) January 17, 2020
The Important Things
I don't know if people are dumb or just see opportunity for infinite graft or both.
How about a train that uses existing technology and can go about as fast as your fantasy technology?
Haha, oh no. That's 19th century technology and I saw this on the Jetsons.
(TNS) — Missouri lawmakers waded into a potentially expensive competition Monday to become the international crossroads of a mostly untested, futuristic, high-speed transportation system.
In legislation that began working its way through the Legislature Monday, tube transport systems like the hyperloop could begin qualifying for funding under a state program for public-private partnerships.
Although the long-term goal is to connect St. Louis and Kansas City with a pneumatic tube people mover that could transport passengers across the state in 30 minutes, a recent study commissioned by House Speaker Elijah Haahr recommends the state should first build a 15-mile track to test the feasibility of the concept.
How about a train that uses existing technology and can go about as fast as your fantasy technology?
Haha, oh no. That's 19th century technology and I saw this on the Jetsons.
Our Dumb Discourse
I float above it all, of course, dear readers, unlike you.
Not true, of course, but that almost everyone thinks they are the sole Spock in a crowd of Kirks is always amusing (though not ha ha amusing).
Not true, of course, but that almost everyone thinks they are the sole Spock in a crowd of Kirks is always amusing (though not ha ha amusing).
Friday, January 17, 2020
Crack Master Dan
kjsgsjgks pic.twitter.com/p2GDHYTBzp
— guy fieri 2020 campaign manager (@libbycwatson) January 17, 2020
That's Biden chatting with the NYT editorial board.
I Bravely State The Controversial Opinion That We Must All Unite And Vote Against Donald Trump
Done my bit for politics for the day.
Infrastructure Week
One thing about the Bush era was that there were still policies... being... debated? Sort of. This is somewhat LOL TRUMP NOTHING MATTERS, of course, but it's also the general increasing abdication of Congress. I am too dumb to write the full version of this story but Obummer pushed this trend along, too. That isn't to say Congress doesn't matter at all, it's just that it's increasingly not the place where important legislative debates happen, and certainly not in public.
To The Jake Tapper Signal
He Disrespected THE TROOPS.
But as I said here, everyone's gonna put on their shocked faces for a day and then coverage will return to normal. And that's not normal.
“I wouldn’t go to war with you people,” Trump told the assembled brass.I know that one "excuse" for Trump coverage is that he spews so much shit every day that no one thing can stick. Another one, slightly related, is that the Dems are just bad at playing a game and are incapable of seizing on one thing and hammering (no this should not be a game but it is). But some things are objectitudinal and nonpartisany and SUPPORTING THE TROOPS is one of them (whether or not it should be). If Obummer had said something like this, literally every single New York Times article about anything having to do with Obummer and the military would, by its 4th paragraph, inject something like "The president's relationship with the military has been strained after his comments..." and any time he was within 250 miles of a military base they would go interview a bunch of TROOPS so they could say how MAD MAD MAD they were at the guy. And those assignments wouldn't require Republicans pretending to be mad about it. They would just become part of the normal background. Obummer hates the military, the military hates Obummer.
Addressing the room, the commander in chief barked, “You’re a bunch of dopes and babies.”
But as I said here, everyone's gonna put on their shocked faces for a day and then coverage will return to normal. And that's not normal.
"Donald Trump"
I get - and sort of agree with - "covering Donald Trump as you would cover any other president." But if President Obummer (or even President Bush) behaved this way, "normal coverage" would not be like this. Manufacturing a "president" by just writing him as fiction is not (entirely, anyway) normal coverage. Sure there are always elements of this. Covering the pageant as it is meant to be seen, as scripted, not as it actually was. But that's always bad! And it isn't always "normal."
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Trumpese
I speak the language of Trumpkins pretty fluently but I don't get that he still clings to "PERFECT PHONE CALL." What the hell is that?
Apparently There's A New Book Out About How Trump Is Crazy And Dumb And Bad
I'm sure it is a very fine book by very fine journalists and I certainly don't object to it being published or object to people reading it, but there is a kind of "yes, you read a few tweets and watched one rally, too?" about all of these sorts of books. Yes the details matters and history demands they be recorded, but there's a bit of "new book says Trump is as bad as he obviously is" and people put on their shocked faces for a couple of days and then go back to covering him as "normal" every time one of these comes out.
Really Can't Go Wrong Promising Nice Things To Older People
Hogan proposed reducing all income taxes for lower-income retirees and at least a 50 percent state tax cut for residents who earn $100,000 or less. He says this is first step toward his goal of eliminating all income taxes on retirees. https://t.co/gHtMCxw0iI
— Erin Cox (@ErinatThePost) January 16, 2020
State income tax cuts aren't gonna provide the elder care they're gonna need soon. They're a "cheap" Republican "nice thing." But... smart politics!
Your Favorite Candidate Sucks
I suppose the first election campaign I really remember as an adult - I mean campaign as a long extended event, not just the "election" - was 1992. Then there was cable news and Cspan if you were junkie. IIRC you could just spend hours (not that even I did) watching Cspan basically point cameras at campaign events. But cable news (CNN) wasn't just (mostly) about politics then. It was just a bit of the action. Politics was a subset of news, not the other way around.
Anyway, my point is, even if you were a complete politics nerds, you wouldn't have access to the politics as constant national events. I don't remember how many primary "debates" or similar there were, but they weren't accompanied by countdown clocks and pre-analysis and the spin room and post-post-analysis, or certainly not more of an hour of any of that. You might read about it in the paper - probably your local one, who had a NYT or WaPo subscription? - the next day or the day after that.
Even in 2004 or 2008 or 2012 only nerds probably had any sense at all of the hourly or even daily developments. Smartphones have shoved that stuff into the feeds of even more normal people who would otherwise be paying attention to other things.
Such changes are neither good nor bad, really, they just are. Now more people can get mad about politics constantly!
Anyway, my point is, even if you were a complete politics nerds, you wouldn't have access to the politics as constant national events. I don't remember how many primary "debates" or similar there were, but they weren't accompanied by countdown clocks and pre-analysis and the spin room and post-post-analysis, or certainly not more of an hour of any of that. You might read about it in the paper - probably your local one, who had a NYT or WaPo subscription? - the next day or the day after that.
Even in 2004 or 2008 or 2012 only nerds probably had any sense at all of the hourly or even daily developments. Smartphones have shoved that stuff into the feeds of even more normal people who would otherwise be paying attention to other things.
Such changes are neither good nor bad, really, they just are. Now more people can get mad about politics constantly!
Two Sides
We can debate/discuss precisely why it is, but nobody can doubt that if President Obummer were doing so much crimeing that a) the Dems would want to remove him from office and b) the coverage from the "objective" press, the lefty press, and (haha obviously) the conservative press would be completely different. Perhaps a) explains b), and that's probably what the "objective" press tells themselves, that they can't take a side as long as there are two sides, but also that's ridiculous.
Also THE OPINION SIDE IS DIFFERENT THAN THE NEWS SIDE and the editorial boards have been not exactly been falling all over themselves to support removal from office. Some have.
I'm not sure why press coverage requires the approval of Susan Collins (and that wouldn't be enough either) to just cover things as they are, but that seems to be the case.
Also THE OPINION SIDE IS DIFFERENT THAN THE NEWS SIDE and the editorial boards have been not exactly been falling all over themselves to support removal from office. Some have.
I'm not sure why press coverage requires the approval of Susan Collins (and that wouldn't be enough either) to just cover things as they are, but that seems to be the case.
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
The Best People
Quite an extraordinary bunch.
The messages, released Tuesday by the House Intelligence Committee relating to its ongoing impeachment inquiry, show Hyde claiming to know Yovanovitch’s location and movements in Kyiv, while implying that he was in contact with local security services in Ukraine who could be paid to go after the ambassador.
The startling messages show the extent to which the Giuliani associates were willing to at least entertain extreme tactics from a campaign donor who has courted controversy and even unsettled others, including fellow supporters of the president.
The Intercept obtained police records showing that Hyde violated a restraining order issued by a Washington, DC superior court judge at the request of a Republican consultant who says that Hyde stalked her and intimidated her family over the last year. In one of the reports, an officer disclosed that Connecticut police confiscated Hyde’s firearms in connection to his violation of the restraining order. Hyde was reported to authorities for “unsettling behavior” and trespassing at a church in Connecticut, according to a separate police report last summer.
Huzza!
Virginia has just become the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Ladies, welcome to the club!
So Much Crimeing
A bit busy to get to all the details at the moment (sometimes I am a lazy blogger, but sometimes I really am busy with other things), but after quickly skimming all of the latest revelations, the only important question is: are Democrats scaring swing voters?
Now I have Chris Cillizza's job. Goodbye.
Now I have Chris Cillizza's job. Goodbye.
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Disloyal Democrats
I'm not one to complain about primary challenges on principle. Go for it! But is a bit at odds with usual practice for people to line up against Markey like this.
To kick off 2020, Joe Kennedy is ramping up his campaign to unseat incumbent Senator Ed Markey—and today, the 4th district rep’s campaign shared a long list of formal endorsements for the candidate from prominent House Democrats.Self-preservation is usually a strong enough reason for this not to happen. It is... strange.
The Problem, You See, Is The Voters
Totally true! If more people thought like me and voted by me, everything would be much better.
Not sure how helpful this observation is.
Not sure how helpful this observation is.
There's Always Money In The Banana Stand
Lol.
Markets are always so "stressed" (that means their bets are losing and they're having a hard time borrowing money to cover their losses. Close enough, anyway.)
"Critics."
Federal Reserve officials are considering lending cash directly to hedge funds through clearinghouses to ease stress in the repo market. But that could be a tough sell for policy makers. https://t.co/CUlI4o943Q
— WSJ Markets (@WSJmarkets) January 14, 2020
Markets are always so "stressed" (that means their bets are losing and they're having a hard time borrowing money to cover their losses. Close enough, anyway.)
Critics of the new plan say if the Fed lends cash directly through the clearinghouse, it could end up contributing to a hedge-fund bailout.
"Critics."
Elites, Man
Any view of "real schools" that doesn't include LSU... for whatever reason... doesn't include many schools.
And elite private schools generally have shorter semesters (class weeks, anyway, perhaps replaced by extra long reading periods and exam times) then prestigious state ones.
Do the Warren/Sanders "free public college" proposals include LSU, or would it only apply to actual schools?
— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) January 14, 2020
And elite private schools generally have shorter semesters (class weeks, anyway, perhaps replaced by extra long reading periods and exam times) then prestigious state ones.
The Hall Monitors
That Dems are bad at playing "the game" is true, but that it shouldn't always be goddamn game is a also true. Still it is the case that they too much expect The Hall Monitors to inject truth, which while not an unreasonable desire, it just isn't how things work.
Why? A genuine desire for OBJECTIVE TRUTH to be on their side and the desire for their to be some people appointed to establish that. Lazyness? Politicking is hard work. Fears of upsetting the guy who just won the +12 Trump district? Sometimes, probably, ixnay on the orruption-cay, because we'd best not go there.
I dunno. I don't how to fix it.
Why? A genuine desire for OBJECTIVE TRUTH to be on their side and the desire for their to be some people appointed to establish that. Lazyness? Politicking is hard work. Fears of upsetting the guy who just won the +12 Trump district? Sometimes, probably, ixnay on the orruption-cay, because we'd best not go there.
I dunno. I don't how to fix it.
Monday, January 13, 2020
Sports
I don't fault anyone for enjoying the contest aspect of elections, but we spend way too much time on it, so much so that we start talking about the next election before a new Congress is even seated. Fine to enjoy your polls and prognostications and turnout models, etc, but...
Mysteries
You don't have to care about the royals specifically to see that their treatment shows an incredibly racist media culture that refuses to hear any such criticism.
Still Making Us Crazy After All These Years
It was a weird time, with practically anyone in media and politics with a prominent microphone going on TV each day saying, "the moon is made of green cheese" and everyone would nod along and people like me would say, "that's fucking crazy the moon is not made of green cheese." I don't know precisely why so many prominent Democrats supported the war. I mean I get all the possible reasons, I just don't know precisely which ones apply to which people. But really "I fucked up" is the only proper response, not some argument about why precisely he had understandable bad judgment and attempting to rewrite his role. Biden was a big hawk. He just was.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Empire
Always love to tell people that The Quiet American, a novel about our war in Vietnam, was published in... 1955.
It's Pronounced With A Hard 'G'
Dumbass
đš On Inside the Hive this week @gabrielsherman tells this short hilarious and sad story about Trump that pretty much sums up his presidency. đš https://t.co/wCWIPNRYO1 pic.twitter.com/Nv6EpUo01J
— Nick Bilton (@nickbilton) January 10, 2020
Primary Hell
The editorial position of this fine blog matters about as much as a fart in the wind (sorry, I really don't control the world anymore), but for the record I can't stand Biden or Mayo Pete (for mostly different reasons) and otherwise don't care much. OK I don't like the billionaires either but that's rather obvious.
Friday, January 10, 2020
Theater
The UK press spent about 2 years (I am not exaggerating) trashing the former Labour leader over this photo.
I'm not sure how anybody is suppose to look good while eating a bacon sandwich, but his failure to do it properly suggested he was inauthentic, just not a man who eats bacon sandwiches like real men. And while not all Jews follow dietary restrictions, nudge nudge, maybe he doesn't really eat bacon, you know?
They can do this for anything. Or not. At least the UK press is somewhat self-aware that they do it.
I'm not sure how anybody is suppose to look good while eating a bacon sandwich, but his failure to do it properly suggested he was inauthentic, just not a man who eats bacon sandwiches like real men. And while not all Jews follow dietary restrictions, nudge nudge, maybe he doesn't really eat bacon, you know?
They can do this for anything. Or not. At least the UK press is somewhat self-aware that they do it.
East, West, South and North Somewhat.
At least Rumsfeld had a bit of a poet's soul.
Pompeo tonight on Fox on the “imminent” nature of the threat posed by Soleimani: “There is no doubt there were a series of imminent attacks being plotted. We don’t know when and where. But it was real.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 10, 2020
Thursday, January 09, 2020
They Know
Every piece about Trump is written by someone who knows they are being completely full of shit about how they portray him. We saw this a bit with Bush, but now it's totally nuts. I don't know how adhering to norms of false balance became more important than informing readers...
Buck
RIP Buck Henry. The dude was hilarious. He knew how to hit a joke even when he was doing it on 30 Rock, late in life. Funny guys can make even bad writing funny. I can't even make good writing funny! But his great contribution was screenwriting and I don't know why people don't get that Catch-22 is an amazing adaption (you can't adapt that novel into a 2 hour movie well, but he did it, somehow).
Purity test
I think at the Centrist Bureau of Standards, 1 foot = 9 inches, maybe less if Joe Biden was the negotiator.
I like to regularly remind people that the term "Centrist" is cooked-up DC jargon about how members of Congress vote and has nothing to do with the American political mainstream. If a member votes more often with the other party, they're "Centrist". This means that if a Democrat votes with the Republicans a lot, we can call that Democrat a "Centrist" rather than what you really are when you vote with crazy right-wing loonies, which is "a crazy right-wing loony".
Anyroad, R.J. Eskow has a useful dictionary for you if you're trying to parse the bizarre language you see on page and screen from the punditocracy, "The Progressive's Guide to Corporate Democrat Speak."
Wednesday, January 08, 2020
The Last Blog Standing
Blogging is actually harder than it used to be because nobody blogs anymore. But Dan does now!
There Was A Post Here
Think I set the wrong date accidentally. Blogging is hard work!
No, really, it is. A couple of posts are easy. Doing this all day every day is hard!
No, really, it is. A couple of posts are easy. Doing this all day every day is hard!
Tuesday, January 07, 2020
Why Was Obama Different
Savvy people are supposed to say things like, "Joe just says these things because they're what people want to hear" as if telegraphing that Biden is a big liar is better than telegraphing that he's an idiot. Might be true! But it's weird.
Former Vice President Joe Biden said that he predicts Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) may become “mildly cooperative” in a post-Trump era.Still if we take Joe Biden, Vice President of Barack Hussein Obama, a man who spent 3/4 of his presidency at least trying to get Republicans to play nice with him, seriously, then the obvious questions are... how will you succeed where your best friend failed? And just why did you think he failed? And what does that say about your good friends on the other side of the aisle? Is there even an aisle? Why is all of our discourse about partisanship dumb?
“I’m not suggesting all of a sudden everyone’s going to project a new sense of courage and political courage,” Biden said at a campaign event in New York. “What I’m suggesting [is] that the dynamic changes when the right vote, as opposed to the vote you don’t agree with, becomes a possibility if you vote for it.”
When Ari Fleischer Thought He Would Be Executed For Treason
I don't know where I heard that or if it's true, but I do have a memory of someone saying he was scared of it. Our system of international law and the various taboos and legalities that flow from that aren't real barriers. No President of the United States is actually going to be tried for war crimes and Ari Fleischer wasn't going to be tried for treason (I realize these are different things). But perhaps those various constraints have had some impact on behavior. Some...
I, Robot
I actually don't remember how I set this up so if it ever dies I can't fix it but for those of you on the twitter here is the twitter RSS feed.
Prozac Nation
Rip Elizabeth Wurtzel.
I didn't know her really but once upon a time knew her slightly (very slightly) online as these things are. We were Facebook friends!
Online makes our extended circles even more extended and it's a bit weird.
I didn't know her really but once upon a time knew her slightly (very slightly) online as these things are. We were Facebook friends!
Online makes our extended circles even more extended and it's a bit weird.
Blogger PTSD
I remember how the conservative movement seamlessly switched from some combination of "KILL ALL MUSLIMS" and "SADDAM IS GOING TO NUKE US ALL IF WE DON'T KILL HIM" to "this is about spreading peeance and freeance and democracy, and you are a big racist for thinking Iraqis don't deserve that." From WOLVERINES to PURPLE FINGERS, I suppose.
Like it switched overnight. And "everyone" just went along with it.
Like it switched overnight. And "everyone" just went along with it.
I Was Told Our Invasion And Occupation of Iraq Was a Deeply Humanitarian Mission
Sure it was maybe the 7th reason, but we didn't paint all those schools for no reason, right? Sure Trump is Trump but lots of conservatives are going to be real mad about this.
I know, I know, the real reason for the invasion was to tell them to Suck On This.
WASHINGTON - Senior administration officials have begun drafting sanctions against Iraq after President Donald Trump publicly threatened the country with economic penalties if it proceeded to expel U.S. troops, according to three people briefed on the planning.Purple fingers, baby. Purple fingers. The Democracy. The Whisky. The Sexy.
The Treasury Department and White House would likely play a lead role if the sanctions are implemented, the officials said. Such a step would represent a highly unusual move against a foreign ally that the United States has spent almost two decades and hundreds of billions of dollars supporting.
I know, I know, the real reason for the invasion was to tell them to Suck On This.
Monday, January 06, 2020
Just Asking Questions
Andrew Sullivan, ladies and gentlemen, Andrew Sullivan. pic.twitter.com/cvs4x6q1S0
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) January 6, 2020
Is It Really Genocide?
Critics say yes, but the Trump administration argues that they were all immediate threats.
A Billion Years Ago
I know Trump is unique in ways, but both the ridiculousness and evil of the two administrations really aren't so different. The Bush administration, also, too, was headed by a really dumb guy and was filled with right wing nutcases who were also quite dumb who then went on to hire a bunch of failsons and faildaughters. They started two major wars. Aside from crazy tweets, the big difference between now and then is that few questioned the brilliance and nobility of Ari Fleischer at the time, while some do point out that Kellyanne is full of shit.
In other words, that era was, in a lot of ways, worse. More crazymaking, anyway.
In other words, that era was, in a lot of ways, worse. More crazymaking, anyway.
FULL DISCLOSURE
I'm so old I remember when journalists spent their days on blogger ethics panels (not much else was going on at the time) decreeing that bloggers MUST REPORT ALL FINANCIAL CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS which of course isn't a crazy idea except that never happens in "real" journalism.
The Deaths Of Other People
I don't quite understand the psychology of people who call the manager if their fries are 2 minutes late but who think nothing of the torture and deaths of other people, but those are the people who run the war machine parts of the government and their communications allies and I don't just mean the Trumpkins. "We" set up a torture regime and the balance of elite discussion in this country was firmly in the "don't call it torture, also torture is necessary" camp. That wasn't the Trump administration.
Are War Crimes OK?
We'll hear from both sides.
They wouldn't call torture torture, so we know how this goes.
Words, what do they mean?
They wouldn't call torture torture, so we know how this goes.
Words, what do they mean?
NEW YORK (AP) — After Friday’s targeted killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, newsrooms struggled with the question: Had the United States just carried out an assassination? And should news stories about the killing use that term?
The AP Stylebook, considered a news industry bible, defines assassination as “the murder of a politically important or prominent individual by surprise attack.”
Although the United States and Iran have long been adversaries and engaged in a shadow war in the Middle East and elsewhere, the U.S. has never declared formal war on Iran. So the targeted killing of a high Iranian state and military official by a surprise attack was “clearly an assassination,” said Mary Ellen O’Connell, an expert in international law and the laws of war at the University of Notre Dame School of Law.
Just as clearly, the Trump administration doesn’t agree.
Sunday, January 05, 2020
Embedded In The Mush Brain
Trump is pretty stuck in 1977-1992 or so. I think some clues about what he thinks of as "good" or "bad" to the extent that he sees beyond his navel can be found there. So he remembers the Iran hostage situation and someone stimulating those neurons can probably convince him that Iran is the great Satan.
Still Can't Find It On The Map
Everything is faster now. In blog time it took WEEKS for everyone to pretend to be an Iraq expert. In Twitter time it's like 2 hours.
That man who I could not name 2 days ago is worse than a thousand Hitlers!!!
That man who I could not name 2 days ago is worse than a thousand Hitlers!!!
President Deals
In the context of "deals," the important thing about The Man Of Deals is that he reneges on all of them.
General Mad Dog, You're Our Only Hope
Wow all this guy needs to do is write a sternly worded op-ed and then...
what?
I have no idea.
Today would be a good day for Mattis to speak. https://t.co/O22QedaeYa
— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) January 5, 2020
what?
I have no idea.
52
More war crimes!
President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Iran that if it retaliates for the killing of one of its top leaders, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, it will face U.S. attacks on 52 targets, a number he said was symbolic.Tragedy, farce, blahblah.
Not My Problem
Looking at what's going on in Australia and the reactions of the Prime Minister (I know little about Australia or Australian politics) I'm struck by people who want to be in charge of everything but don't actually want responsibility for anything. Obviously nobody wants to take *blame* for everything, but there's a level of understanding that if you're in charge you're in charge that some people don't seem to have. I don't mean brain worm addled dunces like Trump. Of course he's like that. I mean other people who put themselves into positions of power where they have to make The Big Decisions and don't just deflect blame (a bad if not entirely abnormal response) but seem to disavow the idea that they have any power or responsibility at all.
I get the people who go into politics for the grift. It's a potentially lucrative career. But most jobs in politics don't actually involve that kind of responsibility. Some do, and people who seem to have no interest in that pursue them anyway. It's bizarre.
I get the people who go into politics for the grift. It's a potentially lucrative career. But most jobs in politics don't actually involve that kind of responsibility. Some do, and people who seem to have no interest in that pursue them anyway. It's bizarre.
Saturday, January 04, 2020
And Let God Sort Them Out
When war fever hits I realize about 20% of the population are wannabe serial killers.
The Neverending Friedman
For no particular reason I was reading through some of the archives of this Very Fine Blog from the Peak Iraq War era and it is unbelievable how stupid those times were. Tragic, of course, but people were so dumb, and those people and their even dumber replacements still basically run everything.
He Did So Many 911s
It's like we've been talking about nothing but this malevolent evildoer for months.
Bored Now
I don't think Trump has any good qualities, precisely, but he does have some qualities which lead him to better results. That he is dumb and lazy is not entirely good, but also good. He sorta gets that war is bad (no I am not saying DONALD THE DOVE) and also war isn't about him, precisely, once we get through a speech or two. Very boring stuff, really.
Friday, January 03, 2020
2... 4... 6... 8... Who Should We Assassinate
I thought that was a very funny Mark Russell PBS special song lyric about retired CIA officers. I was 9 at the time.
Probably good reasons to keep that door mostly closed but I am just a dumb hippie.
Probably good reasons to keep that door mostly closed but I am just a dumb hippie.
Everybody Loves War
I can't even bother to engage anymore.
When Will Saletan's big lesson from supporting the Iraq war was that the Iraq war was bad not because of war being bad but instead because it made going to war with Iran less likely...
In 2003, I was as antiwar as any other "no war for oil"-chanting marcher, but I do regret occasionally treating the case for war, and the people making it, with anything less than pure and total scorn, rage, and rejection
— Aaron Bady (@zunguzungu) January 3, 2020
When Will Saletan's big lesson from supporting the Iraq war was that the Iraq war was bad not because of war being bad but instead because it made going to war with Iran less likely...
War Is Good As Long As It Is According To The Rules
This is not that.
Trump’s apparent assassination of Soleimani is a massive, deliberate, and dangerous escalation of conflict with Iran. The President just put the lives of every person in the region - U.S. service members and civilians - at immediate risk.
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) January 3, 2020
We need de-escalation now. https://t.co/oAenBUsvFl
Thursday, January 02, 2020
Brain Worms
I know that with Trump it's a neverending stream of crazy shit, but really we don't talk enough about the time he drew an extra oval on an NOAA map with a black sharpie (ridiculously in a way which showed he had no comprehension of how those maps are even constructed - the path projections get wider because they get more uncertain) and presented it to the public on the teevee to "prove" that a hurricane was forecast to hit Alabama as he said.
There is much that supports the "the dude has brain worms" position but that one is pretty much undeniable.
And everyone who works with him and all the journalists and Fox News "journalists" who regularly communicate with him know it and in a few years will tell us what they "couldn't" tell us "then."
There is much that supports the "the dude has brain worms" position but that one is pretty much undeniable.
And everyone who works with him and all the journalists and Fox News "journalists" who regularly communicate with him know it and in a few years will tell us what they "couldn't" tell us "then."
I Know... I Got Old... But What Else
“The Wonder Years aired from 1988 and 1993 and depicted the years between 1968 and 1973. When I watched the show, it felt like it was set in a time long ago. If a new Wonder Years premiered today, it would cover the years between 2000 and 2005.” https://t.co/n2JOHQ5svD
— Emily Guskin (@EmGusk) January 2, 2020
I have no idea why this would be true, but I do think people who were my age now (47) in 1988 did feel like 1968 was another era and people who are my age now (also 47) in 2020 don't think 2000 was that long ago. Maybe not true at all! Open for discussion.
No, Seriously, What Are We Doing
After the last couple of decades I have no choice but to conclude that anyone who thinks we should be engaging in continuing glorious military adventures of any kind is either a grifter, genocidal, or an idiot.
The First Gay President
Shot.
An April 22, 2016, article in The New York Times headlined “Donald Trump’s More Accepting Views on Gay Issues Set Him Apart in G.O.P.” picked up where the Today interview left off. It cited a Trump blog post from a decade earlier congratulating Elton John and David Furnish on their civil partnership, his support for HIV/AIDS charities in the ’80s and ’90s, and his appearance alongside former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in a video in which Giuliani dressed in drag as evidence that Trump “is far more accepting of sexual minorities than his party’s leaders have been.”Chaser.
The Trump administration has quietly but systematically removed mentions of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" from executive branch guidelines on discrimination.Two sources close to Jared and Ivanka say they are very upset.
Mummers Blackface
An important thing about the Mummers groups, aside from the history, is that they're generally filled with two generations removed guys from South Jersey. The annual racism isn't, as it once was, an intra-city thing (also bad), but people from outside the city coming to visit shitting in our living room. Don't like all the black people in the city? No need to visit! Your parents moved away 35 years ago.
But at least two mummers affiliated with Froggy Carr wore blackface as part of their costumes, which some people viewed as racist.Don't know about these two, specifically, but..
“All the blackface, it ain’t about that,” Mike Tomaszwski said.
Tomaszwski denies that his blackface is racist, as does Kevin Kinkel.
“Black and orange, getting Gritty with it,” Kinkel said.
Why the blackface?
“Cause I like it. Yeah, why not? I know it’s a shame to be white in Philly right now. It’s a shame,” Tomaszwski said.
Wednesday, January 01, 2020
Inscrutable
I'm reminded of Peak Iraq War when our great journals of thought and current events would run articles about how it was a violation of some weird foreign culture's code of honor when soldiers burst into your homes and pointed guns at you. Oddly people get very upset! Hard to fathom! Other people are truly mysterious.
Monstering
The US press is capable turning someone into a villain (with or without a little aid from reality). These days they're more likely to do it to powerless people than powerful ones. I mean even actually convicted villains are barely treated as such if they are rich enough.
What Does It Really Mean To Be On Autopilot
If the driver is supposedly "required" to be attentive at all times, does autopilot even exist? If it "disengages" right before the accident isn't the driver really responsible?
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating a crash involving a speeding Tesla that killed two people in a Los Angeles suburb, the agency said on Tuesday.
Spokesman Sean Rushton would not say whether the Tesla Model S was on Autopilot when it crashed on 29 December in Gardena. That system is designed to automatically change lanes and keep a safe distance from other vehicles.
The black Tesla had left a freeway and was moving at a high rate of speed when it ran a red light and slammed into a Honda Civic at an intersection, police said. A man and woman in the Civic died at the scene. A man and woman in the Tesla were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. No arrests were immediately made.
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