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
🚨 On Inside the Hive this week @gabrielsherman tells this short hilarious and sad story about Trump that pretty much sums up his presidency. 🚨 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.
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