Sunday, December 31, 2023
Feed The Kids Beer
There isn't (to me) a precise right answer to how we should deal with teen drinking - culturally, legally - but if you are going to give them booze just give them some beer not the high octane stuff.
As teenagers tried to leave the home on Liz Circle, Schillinger — who police said had supplied the more than 15 minors at the party with a basement bar stocked with vodka and rum, played beer pong with them and encouraged them to take shots with her — ordered them to stay.
Build More Homes
This NYT piece provides a good way of thinking about how to add more homes to an existing area - specifically you can build *a lot* without increasing neighborhood building heights over what already exists (not that building up should be taken off the table, but it's one of those excuses people use).
It's New York City specific, but it shows how even in New York there's plenty of underutilized land.
And, even in New York, most opposition to new housing units is just concern about parking/car congestion. I'm not going to wave away parking as a legitimate concern (as much as I would like to), but parking people tend to go about it the wrong way.
It's New York City specific, but it shows how even in New York there's plenty of underutilized land.
And, even in New York, most opposition to new housing units is just concern about parking/car congestion. I'm not going to wave away parking as a legitimate concern (as much as I would like to), but parking people tend to go about it the wrong way.
Necessary Bits
Much of the economy won't function without some extremely well-regulated bits - insurance in particular - and they're going after what's left of that, too.
It isn't entirely simple, but "the state should just take over the necessary insurance bits" is probably the best way to approach such problems, long term.
We see the problem of the hybrid system here, that the state takes over the costlier parts and leaves the rest to the vultures.
It isn't entirely simple, but "the state should just take over the necessary insurance bits" is probably the best way to approach such problems, long term.
We see the problem of the hybrid system here, that the state takes over the costlier parts and leaves the rest to the vultures.
Saturday, December 30, 2023
Using All Possible Leverage
To make sure it continues.
The Biden administration went around Congress on Friday for the approval of an emergency weapons sale to Israel that includes "projectiles and related equipment," per the Defense Department.
Friday, December 29, 2023
For Once You Do Have To Hand It To Mike DeWine
Good for the moment.
Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday that he has vetoed a bill that would have banned medical practitioners from providing gender-affirming care for transgender minors, saying he believes gender-affirming care is a decision families should make, not the government.
Seems Bad
Don't think enough people are in prison.
Two days before the January 6 insurrection, the Trump campaign’s plan to use fake electors to block President-elect Joe Biden from taking office faced a potentially crippling hiccup: The fake elector certificates from two critical battleground states were stuck in the mail.
...
From there, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and a Pennsylvania congressman assisted in the effort to get the documents into Pence’s hands.
“This is a high-level decision to get the Michigan and Wisconsin votes there,” Chesebro told Michigan prosecutors. “And they had to enlist, you know, a US senator to try to expedite it, to get it to Pence in time.”
Nothing Like The Violence of Politely Asking Sarah Sanders To Leave A Restaurant
The minor Village freakout about that affair - led by Sarah's great friend Maggie - is relevant again given that Trump is currently sending his goons after the Maine Secretary of State.
This is what Sarah was enabling, and it's always telling who matters (Maggie's sources) and who doesn't.
This is what Sarah was enabling, and it's always telling who matters (Maggie's sources) and who doesn't.
Objectitudinal
Describing either the amendment (ridiculous!) or the "clause" (almost as ridiculous!) as "obscure" is one of those little 'objective journalist' things they all deny. Not going to read minds, but the effect is to diminish, to suggest it's a reach, to right up front cast doubt on the legitimacy.
I actually think most journalism can be better if such things are "allowed" but the worst paradigm is the one we are in, which is that journalists do this stuff constantly but pretend they don't.
If by "obscure" they mean "rarely invoked," well, I suppose that's true, but it perhaps is not making the right point!
I actually think most journalism can be better if such things are "allowed" but the worst paradigm is the one we are in, which is that journalists do this stuff constantly but pretend they don't.
If by "obscure" they mean "rarely invoked," well, I suppose that's true, but it perhaps is not making the right point!
Obscurity
The original version obscured the entire 14th amendment. THE FOURTEENTH. This is the improved version! This is about Maine kicking him off the ballot.
Thursday, December 28, 2023
Courts
Whatever the merits of Colorado's ruling about Trump being ineligible to run for president, it is quite telling that a bunch of centrist pundits (Jon Chait, for example) get more enraged about rulings which might stray a bit to the left (30 years of complaining about Roe, also, too), than the nonsense Scalia, and now the Trump judges, regularly come up with.
Amazing Scenes
I think "everything is projection" is overused, but I do think it's the case that fucked up people who surround themselves with fucked up people believe everybody else is even more fucked up than they and their friends are.
A former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor candidate and outspoken voice in the conservative “parental rights” school movement has been charged with punching a teenager while hosting an underage drinking party at her Bucks County home in September.
Clarice Schillinger, 36, is facing criminal charges of assault, harassment and furnishing minors with alcohol during her daughter’s birthday party, according to the case filed in late October. Her attorney has denied all charges and said she will fight them in court.
What's It All About Then
I don't know if the rumors about possible early settlement with Putin having been scuttled (by the US and UK) are true, but I do know that if you'd suggested this as the likely outcome a couple of year ago that people would've screeched at you.
The administration official told POLITICO Magazine this week that much of this strategic shift to defense is aimed at shoring up Ukraine’s position in any future negotiation. “That’s been our theory of the case throughout — the only way this war ends ultimately is through negotiation,” said the official, a White House spokesperson who was given anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the record. “We want Ukraine to have the strongest hand possible when that comes.” The spokesperson emphasized, however, that no talks are planned yet, and that Ukrainian forces are still on the offensive in places and continue to kill and wound thousands of Russian troops. “We want them to be in a stronger position to hold their territory. It’s not that we’re discouraging them from launching any new offensive,” the spokesperson added.
That the war would eventually end with negotiation was always true (I am not saying this is good - Putin's head being held aloft by a guy in a Ukraine tank is fine with me). I suspect lots of decisions were made as if that wasn't true.
Rolling out new product everywhere:
Amazing Suff
Bart Simpson level shit.
The Israeli strike that killed close to 70 people at the Maghazi camp in the center of the Gaza Strip earlier this week was carried out using the wrong munition, resulting in the high death toll, a military official tells the Kan public broadcaster.
Confederate Sympathy Has Long Been An Acceptable Position
Especially when there are reporters with book deals to complete.
"Was slavery bad? The answer is *complicated*" is a view held by many of your faves!
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Is This How It's Going To Be
Reasonable debates to be had about just how Trump should be covered, but I suspect prominent headlines like this every time he ATTACKS is not the way:
There is something called "earned media" which implies you have to do something to earn it beyond farting on your phone.
About That Other Thing
If your guys are desperate to talk about The Inflation Reduction Act, or whatever, you'd better figure out how you are going to get space in newspapers which are 1/4 Trump, 1/4 Republican Primary Dreamboat of the week, 1/4 Gaza, and 1/4 evil elite college students protesting Gaza.
And In Two Weeks
I am not sure precisely why - or even if I am correct - but our political class seems to have an inability to game out what is likely to happen in 2 weeks or 2 months.
Famine and disease in Gaza are happening at a level that no amount of aid can prevent. And then?
I mean I accept that the upper levels of the Blob-adjacent portions of the government are filled with serial killer wannabes, but someone should worry about the politics at least.
Guess we can shut down TikTok.
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
Can Biden Do That
Joke, sort of, but...
One Trump "Day 1 Dictator" pledge I missed is to expropriate the big endowments of private universities to fund an "American Academy" that would grant online degrees for freehttps://t.co/aRiUDtvFG4
— David Burbach (also @dburbach Bluesky) (@dburbach) December 26, 2023
Yelling At Hippies
My whole life has had a broader Democratic party (electeds, magazine writers, think tankers, etc.) stuffed with people (not just! but them too!) whose primary purpose seemed to be relitgating the 1972 Democratic primary over and over again and making sure the fucking hippies (and women and gays and minorities) who voted for McGovern (and before that, RUINED EVERYTHING INCLUDING THEIR LOVELY LITTLE WAR IN VIETNAM) never worked in This Town Again.
That's exaggeration, of course, but The Discourse of the 90s and the aughts didn't make any sense to me until I understood that bit.
It is not an exaggeration to say that DC is filled with people who will back a genocide to the end, and put Donald Trump in power, rather than admit the hippies are right about anything. Yelling at hippies, and blaming them for their own mistakes, is why they are in politics.
Yes the hippies are almost dead, but the people in power will burn the world down before letting "generational shift" happen. Young (then) nerds like Jon Chait would write glowingly about Scoop Jackson (contrasting what could have been to "when the Democratic Party's foreign policy remained in the grip of McGovernism") in the aughts to please the editors who signed their checks.
The death and destruction caucus among professional Democrats remains powerful, and their second favorite hobby is yelling at hippies.
That's exaggeration, of course, but The Discourse of the 90s and the aughts didn't make any sense to me until I understood that bit.
It is not an exaggeration to say that DC is filled with people who will back a genocide to the end, and put Donald Trump in power, rather than admit the hippies are right about anything. Yelling at hippies, and blaming them for their own mistakes, is why they are in politics.
Yes the hippies are almost dead, but the people in power will burn the world down before letting "generational shift" happen. Young (then) nerds like Jon Chait would write glowingly about Scoop Jackson (contrasting what could have been to "when the Democratic Party's foreign policy remained in the grip of McGovernism") in the aughts to please the editors who signed their checks.
The death and destruction caucus among professional Democrats remains powerful, and their second favorite hobby is yelling at hippies.
From Anti-Trump to Anti-Anti-Trump
Given their supposed commitment to The Marketplace Of Ideas - and various related justifications for publishing awful things by awful people - it is quite "interesting" that neither the WaPo or NYT has a committed Trumper writing for them regularly. Not one who is loud and proud about it, anyway.
What do we make of that?
What do we make of that?
Sure Why Not
The things we'll support.
The Iraqi government has condemned air strikes by the United States military on its territory as “hostile acts” after the Pentagon said it hit sites used by pro-Iran forces to target US forces.
The US strikes killed one member of the Iraqi security forces and wounded 18 people, including civilians, the government in Baghdad said on Tuesday, calling them an “unacceptable attack on Iraqi sovereignty” that would “harm bilateral relations”.
Nikki's Turn
Complete flood of articles about the next great Republican hope, now that they failed to push Meatball Ron onto us. Remember when Ron Was It? That was funny.
Maybe the volume of coverage is fine, but the full court press to make Ron happen by our esteemed objective journalists was hilariously obvious and I am so happy their book deals fell apart. Scramble to be the Haley Whisperers! She has a nonzero chance of being Trump's VP, unlike Ron, so they're pretty excited about their next opportunity!
Maybe the volume of coverage is fine, but the full court press to make Ron happen by our esteemed objective journalists was hilariously obvious and I am so happy their book deals fell apart. Scramble to be the Haley Whisperers! She has a nonzero chance of being Trump's VP, unlike Ron, so they're pretty excited about their next opportunity!
Monday, December 25, 2023
Cop Budgets
A whole range of people - from centrist "good government" types to libertarians to "fiscal conservatives - are just completely silent on absurd cop budgets. Even if one buys into the "law and order nonsense, spending this kind of money on cop overtime to catch a few fare evaders is not a good use of tax money!
For some reason arresting people for skipping a subway fare makes sense to people while no one would consider doing so for the identical crime of not feeding a parking meter.
NYPD overtime pay for extra officers in the subway went from $4 million in 2022 to $155 million this year, according to city records obtained by Gothamist.Almost all they did was arrest and ticket fare evaders.
For some reason arresting people for skipping a subway fare makes sense to people while no one would consider doing so for the identical crime of not feeding a parking meter.
Xmas Lunch
For about 25 years the Star Wars Holiday Special was just a legend told by scifi convention nerds. I actually *think* I saw it when it was broadcast.
Sunday, December 24, 2023
The Moustaches Of Understanding
Don't have to endorse every particular of Tom Friedman's latest to get that he's screaming at the Biden administration to put a stop to this shit.
I'm sure Biden spent decades reading Tom, thinking "wow, that guy, Tom Friedman, he's making sense!" And, well, now would be a good time to listen!!!
The Condemnation Game
Over two months later, the right question is, "do you condemn the actions of Israel?" But nobody does that.
Tapper did the coward's delete of this tweet, which implied Guterres had not condemned 10/7 until now.
Funny what's an obstacle for entrance into The Discourse and what isn't.
Lying With Impunity
I wasn't going to turn this blog into a place to referee various claims and counterclaims about what was happening in Gaza. Fog of war and all that. But it was quite clear very quickly that official Israel accounts had, at best, an indifference to the truth and, subsequently, that they often lied with hilarious obviousness. I mean, it would be hilarious if not for, well, you know.
There was a time, early after 10/7, when questioning these likely lies was a quick path to getting denounced (and for those with more precarious employment, fired). Now "everybody" knows it's been a constant stream of lies, even as they mostly embrace the new ones until the debunking 3 weeks later.
More than that, even if every claim that was made was 100% true - the barbarity of Hamas, the location of "command centers" - it wouldn't be near enough to justify the level of atrocities Israel is inflicting on innocent people.
There was a time, early after 10/7, when questioning these likely lies was a quick path to getting denounced (and for those with more precarious employment, fired). Now "everybody" knows it's been a constant stream of lies, even as they mostly embrace the new ones until the debunking 3 weeks later.
More than that, even if every claim that was made was 100% true - the barbarity of Hamas, the location of "command centers" - it wouldn't be near enough to justify the level of atrocities Israel is inflicting on innocent people.
Traffic
Signed, Not AtriosI honestly can't tell if this is serious or a parody account, but the replies were fun to read. https://t.co/0sjxS267J3
— Avedon Carol🕯️ ❄️🎁🌰🎅🏻❄️☃️🎄 (@Avedon_Says) December 23, 2023
Saturday, December 23, 2023
Point And Laugh
Back when I started blogging (1764), I annoyed some people because I committed the sin of not Grappling With The Careful Arguments Of My Honorable Opponents.
260 years later, you still don't have to treat Ross Douthat (or any of them) as good faith operators. They are always full of shit and when you rebut their powerful arguments they will just move on to the next bit of bullshit. And, then, a few weeks later, right back to the original bullshit.
Lost the Plot
I dunno, dear readers, it is a bit hard to watch the US endorse and facilitate murderous ethnic cleansing and then clap for weed pardons or whatever.
Friday, December 22, 2023
Care To Revisit This, Jake?
Amazing stuff.
A US official with knowledge of American intelligence says Hamas has a command node under the Al-Shifa hospital, uses fuel intended for it and its fighters regularly cluster in and around Gaza’s largest hospital.
Baited
"The Left is trying to make us start shooting them so they can shoot back" is some grade A conservative thought.
If Only There Had Been Some Way Of Knowing
Why can the TikTok kids see what full briefed from our trillion dollar intelligence agencies senators cannot?
Gotta give the wallet inspector a few more chances.“Before, I was convinced that [al-Shifa] was where these operations were taking place,” a senior U.S. lawmaker told The Post. But now, he said, “I think there has to be a new level of demonstration. They should have more proof at this point.” 3/
— Ellen Nakashima (@nakashimae) December 21, 2023
Thursday, December 21, 2023
$RUDYQ
Ah well.
Rudy Giuliani has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York, one day after a federal judge ruled that he must immediately pay the $148 million he owes two Georgia women he falsely accused of helping to steal the 2020 election.Amazing:
In paperwork filed Thursday to seek protection from New York creditors, Giuliani listed nearly $500 million in debts, including the $148 million he owes former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss.
Obamacare
The good parts of Obamacare were certain regulations (pre-existing conditions, etc.) and the expanded (and then the EXPANDED EXPANDED) Medicaid. The not very good part, though better than what was before, is its central bit - the individual insurance markets/subsidy.
All this is to say the good parts are the "big government" parts.
True story: the Mediaid expansion happened in order to lower the "cost" of Obamacare in order to please the people who were both obsessed with cost and making it shittier. Cost won out on that bit, the best bit.
All this is to say the good parts are the "big government" parts.
True story: the Mediaid expansion happened in order to lower the "cost" of Obamacare in order to please the people who were both obsessed with cost and making it shittier. Cost won out on that bit, the best bit.
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Gotta Pay
JUST IN: Judge HOWELL has ordered immediate enforcement of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss’ judgment against Rudy Giuliani, contending they have ample reason to doubt he will make good on it. pic.twitter.com/C9Hl1gePNE
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 20, 2023
This Is Excellent News For Donald Trump
Anything that happens to Trump just angers his fan so it is good for him actually.
We had better let him win, which would be the worst thing that could happen to him.
This is "news analysis" where reporters write opinion pieces.
And another:
Embrace Reality
Biden isn't doing anything about Gaza because he doesn't want to. All the noises about Israel behaving is just for suckers like us. He will start a wider war over this if necessary.
Oh No Elmo
Amazing stuff.
Individual suspension or steering issues with Teslas have been discussed online and in news accounts for years. But the documents, which have not been previously reported, offer the most comprehensive view to date into the scope of the problems and how Tesla handled what its engineers have internally called part “flaws” and “failures.” The records and interviews reveal for the first time that the automaker has long known far more about the frequency and extent of the defects than it has disclosed to consumers and safety regulators.
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Game On
Fun stuff
Former President Donald Trump is ineligible under the 14th Amendment to run for president in 2024 because of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday -- a historic decision that sets up a battle before the nation's highest court.
"We conclude that ... President Trump engaged in insurrection," the justices wrote in the ruling. "President Trump’s direct and express efforts, over several months, exhorting his supporters to march to the Capitol to prevent what he falsely characterized as an alleged fraud on the people of this country were indisputably overt and voluntary."
Great Moments In Failed Push Polling
What if you told poll respondents what the objective actually is?
Given a choice between two courses of action, a narrow plurality of voters, 44 percent, said Israel should stop its military campaign to protect against civilian casualties, already totaling nearly 20,000 people killed, according to Gaza health authorities. A similar number, 39 percent, advised the opposite course: Israel should continue its military campaign even if it means civilian casualties in Gaza mount.Trying as hard as they can to get the "right" poll response and they still can't do it.
The results were nearly identical no matter whether respondents were given Israel’s objective as securing the release of all hostages (with stopping the war meaning hostages may stay in captivity) or as wiping out Hamas (with stopping meaning that Hamas may not be eradicated).
It Is Quite Likely That Some Of Our Faves Are Implicated
Bring it on.
Federal judge orders documents naming Jeffrey Epstein's associates to be unsealed More than 150 people are expected to be identified in early January.
Hope the judge has a safe room.
Burdens
Plenty of people (including me!) how black diplomats are being used to be the face of the US's unconscionable actions at the UN, but if you don't want to be Colin Powell with the white vial, just resign.
The issue here, really, is that Powell didn't suffer from doing that, except perhaps in his conscience. The easy path is still easy, if it's easy for you to take.
The issue here, really, is that Powell didn't suffer from doing that, except perhaps in his conscience. The easy path is still easy, if it's easy for you to take.
One State Department official described particular concerns at their agency about the way the situation is affecting the legacy of Thomas-Greenfield, one of the most prominent Black diplomats in the U.S. foreign service’s history. “Black officers at the State Department are saying this reminds them of Colin Powell and how they threw him under the bus” to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq at the U.N., the official said, referring to America’s first Black secretary of state.Sure it's unfair, but one person's legacy is not the important thing here!!!
Choose Your Fighter
"International shipping" is way above my pay grade, but with obvious threats to the world (and US) economy, I do think people concerned about the 2024 election should concern themselves with the actions of the people in power and what that tells us about how concerned they are with it.
Destablizing everything to support an ongoing slaughter. I dunno, man, what are you doing?
Destablizing everything to support an ongoing slaughter. I dunno, man, what are you doing?
Solidarity
The almost complete lack of commentary by US journalists about Israel's targeting killing of journalist in Gaza has been quite the lesson of who most of these people are. I'm sure you can blame the bosses, some, as it's quite clear they've all issued edicts preventing comment by their journalists.
"Try not to kill journalists operating in war zones" is the absolute blandest, banal, boilerplate request that journalists make in any conflict, but it's too spicy for this one.
"Try not to kill journalists operating in war zones" is the absolute blandest, banal, boilerplate request that journalists make in any conflict, but it's too spicy for this one.
Sure lots of journalists have precarious jobs, but there are the special ones - the ones with a brand, the ones who always have a license to color outside the lines - and they are mostly silent, too.
A Bit Too On The Nose
Maybe it'd be cheaper and easier to just stop the slaughter.
The group will conduct joint patrols in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.That's some Bush-ass military operation naming.
"This is an international challenge that demands collective action. Therefore today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative," Austin said in a statement early on Tuesday.
Never Go The Full Sinema
A senator being a bit less lefty than you hoped is a tale as old as time, but not every senator gleefully yells "fuck you" at the people who helped put him into office.
There actually is surprising cohesion in the Dem Senate caucus right now (relative to the past). There isn't room for someone to just be a "Max Baucus." If you want to stand out as sticking it to the hippies you gotta go Manchin or Sinema, and that's what Fetterman's doing.
And while we're in "yelling at voters" mode, this is relevant:
There actually is surprising cohesion in the Dem Senate caucus right now (relative to the past). There isn't room for someone to just be a "Max Baucus." If you want to stand out as sticking it to the hippies you gotta go Manchin or Sinema, and that's what Fetterman's doing.
And while we're in "yelling at voters" mode, this is relevant:
If you’re a Democrat worried about the 2024 election I think one really bad thing that could happen is if a high profile senator in a swing state who got elected by galvanizing the progressive and youth votes starts actively antagonizing them and confirming that he played them.
— Ghost of Toyotathon Sales Event Past (@PanasonicDX4500) December 18, 2023
Monday, December 18, 2023
Do We Think The State Department Is Filled With People Who Love Nonrich Arabs
Think this answers itself.
Oh No Elmo
Americans can have a bit of a starry-eyed view of the EU regulatory authorities, but they are much more likely than US ones (generally) to actually do something.
EU launches probe into Elon Musk's X platform
X, formerly Twitter, is suspected of having failed to counter illegal content and disinformation, an EU commissioner said about the infringement proceedings. The EU seeks to tackle big tech firms under new regulations.
Will That Be Fun
Too many of our rich weirdos genuinely want the world to end, so they can win the game by being the last man standing.
Will the post-apocalypse be fun? Will you be enjoying yourself?
Will the post-apocalypse be fun? Will you be enjoying yourself?
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is building a sprawling, $100 million compound in Hawaii—complete with plans for a huge underground bunker. A WIRED investigation reveals the true scale of the project—and its impact on the local community.I suspect mere survival won't be as easy as these weirdos imagine, but more than that, their video game servers will stop working.
Woke Pope
Meloni's going to go to war against the Vatican.
ROME -- Pope formally approves same-sex blessings, says people shouldn’t be subject to 'exhaustive moral analysis' to get them.
"Dog-Whistling"
I don't think that term means what Chris Christie thinks it means.
Reminds me that "dog-whistling" once meant secret codes that only racists hear. Now it's more used as "things everybody but political journalists and supposedly respectable Republican politicians can hear."
Reminds me that "dog-whistling" once meant secret codes that only racists hear. Now it's more used as "things everybody but political journalists and supposedly respectable Republican politicians can hear."
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Ivy League Daily
We are several years into the centering of a tiny minority of a tiny minority of university students (usually conservatives at a subset of Ivy League schools, but at the moment The Right Kind Of Jew, as decided by the NYT editors, at a subset of Ivy League schools), and I just have to ask: what the fuck is wrong with all of these grown ass adults obsessed with this stuff?
Al Bundy obsessed with The Big Game is a lot more healthy than these people.
Ignoring The Stink
There's a lot of discussion about whether people are giving Biden enough credit for THE ECONOMY and fair enough but there are other things going on at the moment.
The next step will be to tell people they shouldn't care about the things they care about.
Specifics aside, voters are wrong about lots of things, people care about lots of things they "shouldn't," and yelling at them about either is not effective campaigning.
Political professionals telling voters they shouldn't care about things that they are constantly told they should care about [because they dominate news coverage for months] only happens because they have the "wrong" opinions about such matters.
I really don't think you can get mad at voters for objecting to the Jared Kushner Middle East Peace Plan and the Stephen Miller Immigration Reform Plan.
Protagonists
A very obvious example of the Times determining who the protagonists are. It's one kind of Jew (at HARVARD), not the other kind of Jew.
Which Jewish students did they interview? Which Jewish students did they not interview? Right there in the text. Amazing stuff.
Also, students protesting very politely (including, quite likely, some Jewish students who don't count) is portrayed as hostile antisemitism.
That's before we get to the obvious lack of coverage of what it must be like to be a Muslim student on campus at the moment.
Yah sucks to feel alone and estranged when you are 20, so alone the major newspapers keep putting your concerns in print
Saturday, December 16, 2023
What If Covid II
If "Covid II" showed up tomorrow - a similar epidemic on a similar timeline with no vaccine initially - how would the Biden administration and state governments react?
Elite opinion about Covid seems to fall somewhere close to "all measures from closures to WFH to mandatory masking were wrong" and I suspect the reaction would not be good!
Elite opinion about Covid seems to fall somewhere close to "all measures from closures to WFH to mandatory masking were wrong" and I suspect the reaction would not be good!
Afternoon Thread
Flashback.
To the Editor:
A woman I had dinner with the other night said to me that the atmosphere in this country since the Persian Gulf war is like that at a party in a beautiful home, with everybody being polite and bubbly. And there is this stink coming from somewhere, getting worse all the time, and nobody wants to be the first to mention it. KURT VONNEGUT New York, March 27, 1991
"AI"
One thing we value computers for is precision. You know, the spreadsheet spits out the right calculation and if it doesn't it's probably because I programmed it wrong. I really don't understand the perceived value of sassy chatbots that lie to you.
This Is The End
Rudy's jury was like, ok, cool, let's end him.
Giuliani attorney Joseph Sibley told jurors there's no question that Freeman and Moss were harmed and that they're "good people," but he added that the “punishment must match the crime.” He said Giuliani never promoted racism or violence and that the millions of dollars Freeman and Moss are seeking would be the “civil equivalent of the death penalty.”
“It would be the end of Mr. Giuliani,” Sibley added.
Friday, December 15, 2023
America's Pauper
Worth interrupting happy hour for.
A Washington, DC, jury has ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay nearly $150 million to two Georgia election workers for the harm caused by defamatory statements he made about them following the 2020 election.
I WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING FOR YOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU
Many other people have said this in various ways, but the problem with running a "TRUMP IS SCARY - VOTE BIDEN" campaign is that most elected Democrats generally haven't acted as if Trump - and the rest of the Trump party - is the existential threat they expect voters to somehow understand he is.
And Republicans are horrible - watch us cater to them on immigration, that thing people were very mad at Trump about - is not very compelling either!!!
Leaving aside some other bits of unpleasantness, for the moment.
And Republicans are horrible - watch us cater to them on immigration, that thing people were very mad at Trump about - is not very compelling either!!!
Leaving aside some other bits of unpleasantness, for the moment.
Solved
Foreign Policy Guy was long part of Biden's brand.
What's happening mostly isn't accurately described as "fighting." It's a slaughter.
What's happening mostly isn't accurately described as "fighting." It's a slaughter.
Which Voters Do We Blame
Let me know who I should be yelling at. Hopefully it is people who annoy me on the internet.
A third of Americans currently say they approve of Joe Biden’s job performance as president, while nearly two-thirds (64%) say they disapprove. This is little changed over the last year.
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Theater
But what can Biden do???
The move to rush Israel more weapons comes as US officials repeatedly put out statements urging Israel to wage its war on Gaza more carefully, with more attention to preventing civilian harm. “The administration continues to express concern about civilian harm, but this is yet more evidence that it’s all just words,” said Matthew Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders. “When it comes down to it, they’re gonna keep passing them the ammunition to kill civilians.”
Finucane said that, in addition to undermining the administration’s rhetoric about curbing civilian suffering in Gaza, the sale of tank ammunition, as well as other weapons sales, threatens to undermine the administration’s goal of preventing the war on Gaza from becoming a full-blown regional conflict. “Is Israel envisioning prolonged combat operations in the Gaza Strip for which these shells would be used? Is it envisioning a potential significant escalation with Hezbollah—something the US government does not seem to want—in the north?” he said. “These are the bigger picture policy questions about what war Israel is going to use these for—and whether that’s a war the US wants to be fueling.”
Self-Certification
Sounds bad, and the claim sounds like consumer fraud but YOLO.
The reason relates to self-certification, a foundational principle of American vehicle regulations. Self-certification works pretty much as it sounds: Automakers are free to design and sell whatever they like, as long as they certify (with a label) that each car adheres to the encyclopedic Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. FMVSS sets design standards for specific elements like seat belts and steering wheels, but it contains massive omissions (i.e., nothing in it references pedestrian safety or maximum acceleration). Updating it takes years.
As long as carmakers like Tesla do not expressly violate FMVSS, they are free to use whatever designs and features they like in the United States. Although Elon Musk said on a recent podcast that the Cybertruck had “passed all of the regulatory tests,” no such tests are required—or even available—from the federal government prior to the launch of a new vehicle. Tesla just needs to give itself the go-ahead.
Not Gonna Read That
I admit I am not going to read 17,000 words from James Bennet in The Economist about The New York Times, but from what I've gathered he thinks it was bad when he was there because it caved to criticism from ridiculous pig people from minority communities, but it is good now because it has declared war on trans people and NOT listened to those critics.
Bennett was the one who resigned after the "send in the military to kill all the black people" controversy. I guess he is still mad. Reminder that he admitted he didn't even read the piece before it was published (as I am not reading his piece). You only had one job, my guy.
No matter how bad you think the Times elite are, they are always always worse.
Bennett was the one who resigned after the "send in the military to kill all the black people" controversy. I guess he is still mad. Reminder that he admitted he didn't even read the piece before it was published (as I am not reading his piece). You only had one job, my guy.
The only paragraph I read: it's enough.
But He Promised!
Can't believe Rudes is denying us this joy.
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani declined to take the stand Thursday to defend himself in a federal lawsuit filed by two Georgia election workers, who say his baseless claims that they stole the 2020 election from Donald Trump destroyed their reputations and exposed them to a torrent of vicious threats and insults.
Despite his repeated statements that he expected to testify in his defamation damages trial, Giuliani’s defense passed on Thursday morning, moving the four-day-old trial to closing arguments after attorneys for plaintiffs Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss rested their case. The pair are asking a federal jury in Washington, D.C., to award them up to $47 million in damages after U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell found Giuliani liable by default in August based on his admissions and failure to turn over evidence in the case.
Hey, Bibi, I Am Your Buddy
Biden not understanding that Netanyahu doesn’t care if they are besties is very Biden.
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Come On, Man
I dunno what you're doing here, man.
Washington — The Biden administration on Tuesday indicated to congressional lawmakers that it would be willing to support a new border authority to expel migrants without asylum screenings, as well as a dramatic expansion of immigration detention and deportations, to convince Republicans to back aid to Ukraine, four people familiar with the matter told CBS News.And then Republicans will never complain about "the border" again!
But Mah Robotaxi
NERD RAGE INITIATED.
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly all vehicles sold in the U.S., more than 2 million, to update software and fix a defective system that’s supposed to ensure drivers are paying attention when using Autopilot.
Documents posted Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators say the update will increase warnings and alerts to drivers and even limit the areas where basic versions of Autopilot can operate.
Moral Clarity
One of the dumb terms from the post-9/11 era, used by violent psychos to compliment each other on their inherent goodness.
I congratulate my learned colleague on his moral clarity, as expressed in his 20,000 word piece about how torture is regrettable, but necessary. That kind of thing.
In that sense, there is "moral clarity" in opposing a ceasefire because the hippies support it.
Clarifying.
Fantasies
The most charitable thing you can say about Biden right now is that he is the last person in DC who thought the "two state solution" was a real thing.
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Stop The Killing
I've said since 10/7 that the primary goal in an escalating conflict is to de-escalate it, no matter how it began. When Biden's people came out of the gate with "no red lines" they fucked it completely. (Oh my God they actually said, "We're not drawing red lines for Israel." How could they have said that? Amazing stuff.)
The current line of regularly repeating that Israel should be nicer isn't un-fucking it, and nor is it intended to.
The current line of regularly repeating that Israel should be nicer isn't un-fucking it, and nor is it intended to.
Susan Collins Has Learned Her Lesson
(narrator: she had not, in fact, learned her lesson)Susan Collins slams TX Supreme Court ruling denying Kate Cox an abortion.
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) December 12, 2023
“I thought it was a terrible decision… that may affect her future ability to carry a child, was forced to leave Texas to get a much needed abortion — it’s just inconceivable to me.”
Calls for genocide
Weeks on something fake, to distract from something real in order to perpetuate a crime against humanity.
The One Rule Of Washington
A bit glib for the moment, but Washington is filled with horrible petty people and sometimes glibness is the appropriate response tone. Yes there are also lots of well-meaning dogooders, but we should ask why they don't seem to run anything and instead flee screaming by the time they are 30.the political class would rather let a genocide happen than admit lefties are right about anything
— Atrios (@Atrios) December 9, 2023
not the only motive, of course, but much more than you think
The employee said the ceasefire call was being treated as untouchable within the organization in part because of its association with massive protests led by groups like Jewish Voice for Peace—which many mainstream Jews consider too radical due to its anti-Zionist politics. Yet, they argued, “I don’t think that reasoning is strong enough when we’re in the middle of a genocide. I really do understand that there’s a line that needs to be walked, but when push comes to shove, is T’ruah going to be able to live with what it did and didn’t say ten to fifteen years from now?”
Cyberhell
The windshield wiper is going to be an issue, but what jumped out at me here is how large the front window glass is.
Tesla has many problems and one is regular spare parts supply problems. Replacing that glass won't be easy or cheap!
Exceptions For The HealthAndTheLifeOfTheMother
The TX Supreme Court is basically saying: doctors get to use their judgment, at which point they will be arrested. Amazing stuff.
Doctors using their judgment was the status quo. Decades of people not understanding that if legal restrictions are passed, then some judge or some AG or some cop or some random citizen is going to have a veto.
Decades of politicians and dipshit centrist pundits sneering at people for claiming that "abortion is health care." They refused to understand people explaining that you cannot put abortion in a distinct category and expect women to get appropriate health care.
They refused to believe their good friends, the nice people Ruth Marcus would meet at parties in DC, wanted precisely this. They love it! This is exactly what they wanted! They pray every night for this woman to die!
No, not everyone who ever checked a "pro life" box on an opinion survey wants this. But every single person associated with the professional pro-life movement wanted precisely this. Every single person working in DC on these issues wanted precisely this. It took a hell of a lot of pretending not to know things to not know this!
Doctors using their judgment was the status quo. Decades of people not understanding that if legal restrictions are passed, then some judge or some AG or some cop or some random citizen is going to have a veto.
Decades of politicians and dipshit centrist pundits sneering at people for claiming that "abortion is health care." They refused to understand people explaining that you cannot put abortion in a distinct category and expect women to get appropriate health care.
They refused to believe their good friends, the nice people Ruth Marcus would meet at parties in DC, wanted precisely this. They love it! This is exactly what they wanted! They pray every night for this woman to die!
No, not everyone who ever checked a "pro life" box on an opinion survey wants this. But every single person associated with the professional pro-life movement wanted precisely this. Every single person working in DC on these issues wanted precisely this. It took a hell of a lot of pretending not to know things to not know this!
Monday, December 11, 2023
Flee
Inevitable. Now will Texas arrest everyone she knows who might have helped her?
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A pregnant Texas woman who sought court permission for an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S. has left the state to obtain the procedure, her attorneys said Monday.Will she be unable to return?
Rudy!
Been slacking off on my Rudy coverage lately.
Rudy Giuliani’s defamation damages trial is set to begin Monday as the court considers the monetary damages the former Donald Trump attorney must pay two election workers.
The trial, which is expected to last four days, marks the last step in a monthslong legal battle between Giuliani and former Georgia election workers Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and Ruby Freeman, who accused Giuliani of smearing them after the 2020 election, when he served as the head of Trump’s legal team.
Woke Jen Rubin
She isn't perfect on every issue, and joking aside I don't really care about praising her, but this is a much better piece than her colleague Marcus's from the other day. And Ruth is the liberal!
Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. sneered in his majority opinion that reversed nearly 50 years of abortion rights precedent, “Women are not without electoral or political power.” Neither are men, who also support abortion rights. Moreover, if Dobbs attempted to get the courts “out of” the abortion issue, it has failed miserably.Marcus's piece was excruciating.
To the contrary, bans have opened a Pandora’s box of litigation as doctors, courts and women try to make sense of laws ill-suited to determine medical decisions. Courts will be more deeply involved than ever as vague and unworkable laws come before them and as women such as Cox seek refuge in the courts. Dobbs has only enmeshed courts more deeply in difficult health-care decisions.
As abortion rights activists predicted, Republicans remained trapped in a dilemma of their own making. Having catered to extreme antiabortion forces and backed extreme and unworkable abortion bans in a slew of states and nationally, they cannot retreat from their stance without infuriating their base. Seeing the political wreckage in the wake of Dobbs, they are unable to step away from a policy that is wildly out of step with a large majority of Americans. They should prepare to reap the political whirlwind in 2024.
I strongly support the right to abortion. But I believe that those on the other side are, for the most part, motivated by the sincere belief that abortion is the taking of a human life. And so, I try to write about this contested subject with respect for their views, and for the moral underpinning of their convictions.They're the same people, Ruth!!! You just refuse to believe it and have for decades!!!
Need something to talk about? Text us for thought-provoking opinions that can break any awkward silence. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is an exception. He deserves no such respect, only condemnation for his unnecessary, inexplicable cruelty. No moral person — no person with true compassion for life — could be launched on Paxton’s current crusade against a Texan named Kate Cox.
Team Trump
As Biden's approvals/re-elect numbers drop in polls, journalists will be lining up to join Team Trump. There are careers to be had! Books to sell!
People say "it was always thus" but people tend to say that about anything. Sure that journalists often root for the guys they're covering is not a new thing (everyone points to Boys on the Bus), but I think the career incentives are extremely obvious now. That's on top of latent sympathies, of course.
People say "it was always thus" but people tend to say that about anything. Sure that journalists often root for the guys they're covering is not a new thing (everyone points to Boys on the Bus), but I think the career incentives are extremely obvious now. That's on top of latent sympathies, of course.
Sunday, December 10, 2023
Schiavo
Lost lore at this point, but Democrats at the time didn't really understand the politics of the Schiavo case. I am not saying they behaved horribly, I just mean that they didn't understand that while people might have objected to Michael Schiavo's position on removing the feeding tube, they objected to Tom DeLay's position - that Tom DeLay got to decide this matter - even more. Much much more.
Lessons for today, of course.
Lessons for today, of course.
Sternly Worded Letters
Thoughts and prayers to Blinken. If only he could do something. This must be very difficult for him.
Saturday, December 09, 2023
Veto
I try to be upbeat, but when people ask WHAT CAN JOE BIDEN DO, not vetoing a UN resolution is it.
We're long past pretending back channel negotiations are helpful. They're fully endorsing this, and that's their legacy.
We pretend too much that "history will remember." Historians might, but ultimately the people who control the microphones and the school curriculums control what "we" remember. Still this will be the biggest thing of the Biden administration.
We're long past pretending back channel negotiations are helpful. They're fully endorsing this, and that's their legacy.
We pretend too much that "history will remember." Historians might, but ultimately the people who control the microphones and the school curriculums control what "we" remember. Still this will be the biggest thing of the Biden administration.
Friday, December 08, 2023
Shut It
Gotta stop giving him rope.
And when he violates it...
A federal appeals court panel has preserved most of a gag order on former President Donald Trump in his federal election interference case in Washington, D.C. The three-judge panel concluded some of Trump's remarks "pose a significant and imminent threat to the orderly adjudication" of justice but said the lower court judge's gag order swept in too much speech protected by the First Amendment.Lets him talk shit about Jack Smith but not anyone else.
And when he violates it...
Population Density Is Good, Car Density Is Bad
I don't know enough about Austin to have any sense of how this will play out - maybe badly in spots for awhile!
Amid a housing affordability crisis, the Austin City Council voted Thursday to allow the construction of more homes on single-family lots in a major bid to put more housing units on the market.They've also removed parking minimums, so new construction can be built without mandatory parking.
So many medium density places are in a bad equilibrium such that they aren't dense enough to be walkable but they have too many cars to be pleasant.
Walkability requires density - both of population and of neighborhood amenities - and what people mostly object to about density is cars.
To break free you need to add more people, and allow neighborhood retail amenities, without adding more cars.
Viper Sack
I wonder if any of these people ever think about why, exactly, everyone around them is a complete asshole.
A Republican member of Congress is alleging that a former top aide spearheaded a “vindictive” threat to expose his daughter’s OnlyFans account.
Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) told POLITICO that his former chief of staff and former legislative director attempted to retaliate against him using his 27-year old daughter’s account on OnlyFans, a popular forum for people to charge for access to sexually explicit content.
I'm On Your Side, MAAAAN
This, or something like it.
Republicans do a lot of messaging which is, basically, "I will stick up for you by crushing everyone you hate." That's not good! Dems can at least do a bit more "I will stick up for you!"
(I don't know if this woman would like that kind of publicity. That too is an issue, of course).
Serves two purposes: makes press about what is happening to women in this country, something I think only people who pay attention are really getting news about, and makes clear who is on which side. I know we all think it's absurd that "everybody" doesn't know which party is team abortion and which party is team pregnant women dying, but they actually don't. And Biden, while as president has been decent on this, doesn't have a full record of being good.Joe Biden travel to Texas on Air Force One, collect this poor woman, and fly her to a free state to receive a safe abortion challenge. https://t.co/YbDmftBgpW
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) December 8, 2023
Republicans do a lot of messaging which is, basically, "I will stick up for you by crushing everyone you hate." That's not good! Dems can at least do a bit more "I will stick up for you!"
(I don't know if this woman would like that kind of publicity. That too is an issue, of course).
Thursday, December 07, 2023
Mechanical Turk
Amazing stuff.
Checkers and Carl’s Jr. are among US fast-food chains hailing AI-powered drive-thrus as labor-zapping wizards that speed up service. But a popular provider of these systems recently revealed a crucial part of how it gets so many orders right: humans.
..
But disclosures in recent filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and changes to marketing suggest that the technology is less autonomous than it first appeared. The company, which went public last year, now says “off-site agents” working in locales such as the Philippines help during more than 70% of customer interactions to make sure its AI system doesn’t mess up.
Surely There Will Be Exceptions For The LifeAndHealthOfTheMother
People who actually paid attention knew pro-lifers laughed at that, as they always mocked such things as "the pregnant woman can just say she's sad." And here we are.
A Texas judge on Friday issued a temporary exemption to the state’s abortion ban that would allow women with complicated pregnancies to obtain the procedure and keep doctors free from prosecution if they determined the fetus would not survive after birth.I know people can't just up and leave places, but I do not know how anyone childbearing age who has options can stay in one of these states. Not faulting people! As I said, I get that people don't really have that freedom. But if, for example, I had a teen daughter, I'd be sending her to university out of state somewhere (she would have some say in the matter, of course).
But hours later, the attorney general’s office filed an appeal with the Texas Supreme Court, blocking the judge’s order from taking effect.
Two Years Of Gullible Coverage
I do wish journalists would occasionally step up and admit they were responsible for spreading bullshit.
NEW YORK, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The main lobbying group for U.S. retailers retracted its claim that "organized retail crime" accounted for nearly half of all inventory losses in 2021 after finding that incorrect data was used for its analysis.The anecdotes tended to center around the big chain pharmacies, and they'd use this "fact" to excuse any branch closures. But "we" all have the same complaints about those stores (and I used to love my local big chain pharmacy branch) - they're always understaffed and half the things you want to buy are locked up.
A spokesperson for the National Retail Federation said Tuesday that the organization had removed the sentence from its report on organized retail crime published in April. It produced the report in collaboration with private security firm K2 Integrity.
And Speaking Of Michigan
You don't go bankrupt when you're out of money, you go bankrupt when you owe lots of money.
Lansing — A group of Republicans is preparing to release a report that contends the Michigan GOP is "on the brink of bankruptcy" because of struggles fundraising under Chairwoman Kristina Karamo and about $600,000 in outstanding debts, according to a draft of the findings.And lol.
Carpenter's draft report found the Michigan Republican Party's main fundraising account had about $315,000 in it as of Nov. 30, less than a year before the 2024 presidential election. But the party owes about $509,000 on its longstanding line of credit with Comerica Bank, along with $110,000 in debt related to paying actor Jim Caviezel to speak at a conference in September, according to the draft report.
What Can You Say
Biden's people are more willing to run with bullshit than even the IDF.
The IDF's incentives are a bit mixed, here.
The Israel Defense Forces says public discussions about the state of captives held in Gaza has moved into reckless territory, urging those responsible to knock it off.I have no idea what's happening with the hostages, but neither does Matthew Miller (by his own admission). This is Radio Rwanda stuff.
“The conversation around the issue is irresponsible, inaccurate and should be avoided,” the IDF says in a rare statement.
The pushback is apparently in response to comments from US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller Monday that Hamas terrorists likely held back on freeing female hostages because it did not want them to speak publicly about being subjected to rape and other sexual violence.
The IDF's incentives are a bit mixed, here.
Voting Rights
I don't think one side is always pure and good, but I think simplifying voting rights is one of those things that left-leaning voters support on the merits and right-leaning voters (and their leaders) support based on their perceived impact on the elections.
An easy example is Pennsylvania, where Republicans pushed through easier voting by mail until Trump decided it would hurt him, and then tried to overturn the law they pushed through.
Obviously I can't speak for all left-leaning voters, but voting and voter registration should be easy and it has never occurred to me to oppose something strategically. OK I'd oppose things with obvious discriminatory intent - like expanding polling places *only* in certain areas - but not otherwise.
And I think we've learned that higher voter turnout isn't necessarily good for Democrats. Irregular voters are weird.
Anyway, good for Michigan Democrats.
Obviously I can't speak for all left-leaning voters, but voting and voter registration should be easy and it has never occurred to me to oppose something strategically. OK I'd oppose things with obvious discriminatory intent - like expanding polling places *only* in certain areas - but not otherwise.
And I think we've learned that higher voter turnout isn't necessarily good for Democrats. Irregular voters are weird.
Anyway, good for Michigan Democrats.
Wednesday, December 06, 2023
Lock'em Up!
Progress.
A Nevada grand jury has indicted six individuals who acted as fake electors in a scheme intended to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, according to the state’s attorney general.
IVF
Of course they were going to head there, but fertility treatments are rather popular with their base. At least for those who need it.
RIP Norman Lear
Hanging on until Henry died, good for him.
My sorta dumb opinion is that you can draw a straight line from WWII to the present - history marches on, things change, but the future doesn't seem that unrecognizable. Except the 70s (bracket the decade however you want to, precisely) which just stands out as being almost unrecognizable relative to what came before and after.
Why Not The Rest Of Them
A problem with these half measures is they obviously don't make any sense? I'm a normie voter, don't follow politics that much, don't have any clue how this got through Congress. I'm scratching my head? Why 10? He's the damn president - why isn't he cutting the prices of all drugs, including this very expensive one I need to take?
Anyway, most "swing" and irregular voters are very confused, and I don't really blame them.
Several Weeks
At least they have Samantha Power making videos about Gaza aid.
US officials expect the current phase of Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza targeting the southern end of the strip to last several weeks before Israel transitions, possibly by January, to a lower-intensity, hyper-localized strategy that narrowly targets specific Hamas militants and leaders, multiple senior administration officials tell CNN.Read the whole piece. The reporters can't hide how full of shit they think these people are.
Tuesday, December 05, 2023
Area Man At A Loss For Words
Bad blogging recently. I hate any impulse to make this about MEEEEE but sometimes I do find it all a bit much.
Henry Kissinger Won't See Your Tweet, But Blinken Will
No justice in this world, but they should know we will cheer their demise.
I AM NOT AS POWERFUL AS I USED TO BE
This is true, also a regret. I was never a kingmaker, but I had some opportunities to promote good things. Maybe I didn't do enough of that?
What Are You For
We can discuss all the reasons why conflict in Israel gets more attention than conflict elsewhere, but it does and will continue to. If there's one thing the "leader of the free world" is supposed to do it is solve this shit.
Monday, December 04, 2023
They Loved Henry
I know I'm repeating myself here, but it is actually vital to understand that our political-pundit culture is one that fucking loved that guy. These are not good people!
HEY HEY LBJ
The ghoulish calculation that all of this will leave the headlines soon shows how ridiculous the people in charge are. Famine and disease don't stop.
Bad
We only get one go - something that becomes more painfully obvious with each year - and the explicit blessing of mass slaughter in Gaza can only be done by people who think some people aren't really people.
Sunday, December 03, 2023
I Am A Humorless Scold
One thing that went wrong in the Trump era was the elevation of SNL's political content to news. ZING! SWISH!
Political satire without a perspective other than "lol these clowns are clowns lol" is just Chris Cillizza.
Saturday, December 02, 2023
Afternoon Thread
Think I deserve some credit (only cash accepted) for telling you all what a dipshit Musk is for years
How Corrupt Are Things
One always has to be careful of suggesting things are getting worse, as it risks implying there was some earlier golden age, however I do think members of Congress get away with an incredible amount of corruption (whether legal or not) that would've violated NORMS twenty years ago.
Generally I think "not technically illegal (maybe)" has justified things which were once just understand to be scummy whether or not you could get the prosecutors (themselves, also, too, often corrupt) involved.
Friday, December 01, 2023
Liberty For Me
Amazing and unsurprising, as these things are.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if the woman who led an ultra-conservative movement in Florida education that sought to put gays back in the closet was having a long-term, three-way lesbian relationship with a lover she shared with her husband, the state’s GOP chairman?I don't think 'hypocrisy' is the right word for this stuff, though. Hypocrisy is me lecturing on the evils of meat eating while having my daily Big Mac. This goes beyond lecturing..
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That’s the allegation being made about Bridget Ziegler — co-founder of far-right Moms for Liberty and a Sarasota School Board member — by an unnamed woman accusing Christian Ziegler of rape and sexual battery.
Hypocrisy on steroids, if true.
Inverted Power Structure
Our elite publications will still be fretting about imagined intolerance of 19-year-olds in universities instead of the explicit bigotries of the most powerful people in the world. If you're one of the lads, they let you do it.
Nobody made the New York Times invite Musk on stage, and no one made them then overlook the "news" that was actually made, even though the point of such an event is, actually, to make news.
Nobody made the New York Times invite Musk on stage, and no one made them then overlook the "news" that was actually made, even though the point of such an event is, actually, to make news.
They had scripted the personal redemption arc and they weren't going to back down.
The New York Times says Musk apologized, but doesn't note that the apology was followed up by a repetition and elaboration of what he was supposedly apologizing for.
The New York Times says Musk apologized, but doesn't note that the apology was followed up by a repetition and elaboration of what he was supposedly apologizing for.
Debate Me, You Coward
I really don't want to encourage random politicians who aren't running against each other to randomly stage public debates so I will not be commenting on the DeSantis-Neswom "debate."
Redemption Tour
Musk's supposed "apology" was just doubling down, and most people pretended not to notice.
During the sit-down, interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Musk about his post agreeing with an X user’s accusation that “Jewish communities” push “hatred against whites.” After ostensibly expressing regret for the post, which led to companies like Disney and Netflix pulling ads from X, Musk effectively reversed course. “Prominent people in the Jewish community,” he claimed, helped fund “demonstrations for Hamas in every major city in the West.”
He added: “If you generically, without condition, fund persecuted groups … some of those persecuted groups, unfortunately, want your annihilation.”
Unfortunately, Sorkin tried to move on instead of realizing what it was: Musk doubling down on antisemitism. In so doing, Sorkin displayed how so many in the media have failed in properly addressing Musk’s bigotry.
Musk’s comments were essentially an attempt at a more “acceptable” version of saying that Jews are the funders behind the minority groups trying to destroy the Western world. This is, in fact, the Great Replacement conspiracy theory — the same one that he supposedly apologized for backing. Musk’s latest version is more qualified, and an attempt to be more specific, but it’s still a conspiracy theory based on the idea that Jews are manipulating world affairs in order to destroy white civilization.
In his defense (not really), he probably said this stuff to Greenblatt and Netanyahu and they told him he was correct.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Eulogy Flashback
From Osita Nwanevu:
The trouble with this is that people aren’t sent to Washington to have giving hearts for their colleagues, or to charm reporters, as McCain did. They are sent to craft and enact policies that have concrete consequences for ordinary people. It has never been clear whether Obama’s and McCain’s shared civic vision—that preserving civility matters more than achieving ideologically desired outcomes—allows for any point at which the American people should assess the character of political leaders on the basis of the policies they support. Whether, for instance, it was incumbent on Bush to acknowledge on Saturday that his and McCain’s advocacy for, in his words, “the true peace that comes only with freedom” led the United States into a war that brought neither peace nor real freedom to the Iraqi people. Or whether it was appropriate for McCain to select Henry Kissinger as one of his eulogists—a man who remains in Washington’s good graces despite a career that has likely killed millions. (Kissinger’s assistance with Richard Nixon’s sabotage of Lyndon B. Johnson’s peace talks with North Vietnam may have helped extend the torment and suffering of the war not just for McCain, then a prisoner of war, but for thousands of American soldiers and the people of Vietnam.) Much has been made of the fact that President Trump did not attend Saturday’s service. But any doubts that the keepers of American political norms stand ready to fully embrace more rule-bound, polite, and magnanimous representatives of Trump’s bigotry should have been quelled by élite indifference to the presence of John Kelly, one of the architects of the still unresolved family-separation crisis.
It is true, as Obama said in his eulogy, that political discourse can tend toward the “small and mean and petty” and “phony controversies and manufactured outrage.” But, for all the coruscating idiocies that the Trump years have brought us, they have also made clear that our most heated and significant fights are the product of a substantive divide between the values animating the left and the right in this country. The hope that Obama and McCain seemed to share was that we might ultimately come to find these values compatible—that we might commit to a politics uncurdled by wildly different and competing notions about what it means to be an American and which classes of people in our society are truly deserving of wealth, security, and power.
But the rise of Trump should raise doubts about whether that hope can or ought to be realized. It may instead be the case that there are political decisions about which one has a moral responsibility to be mean and unforgiving—that it shouldn’t, for instance, be considered churlish or unsporting to insist that the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi or Vietnamese civilians or the traumas inflicted on children needlessly separated from their families should forever stain the legacies of the leaders who caused them. On Tuesday, protesters loudly interrupted the hearings for the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on the grounds that a conservative majority will have grave implications for women’s health and corporate power, among other issues, for decades to come. The restive and unruly voices on the rise in our politics may not live up to the shining example set by our fables about the Maverick. But, then again, not many people ever have. Not even John McCain.
WHAT CAN BIDEN DOOOOOO
Absolutely nothing, you fools, you imbeciles.
WASHINGTON (AP) — National security adviser Jake Sullivan told lawmakers this week that the White House is not seeking to place conditions on U.S. military assistance to Israel, days after President Joe Biden signaled openness to the notion that was being pushed by some Democrats as the civilian death toll in Gaza from Israel’s war against Hamas climbed.
With A Spoon
And if he violates it...
Donald Trump is once again prohibited from attacking the law clerk at his ongoing bank fraud trial in New York, now that a four-judge appellate panel has reinstated a gag order that was briefly lifted this month.
The two-page appeals court decision on Thursday wiped out Trump’s lone victory—albeit a minor one—during the trial that threatens to destroy the business tycoon’s real estate empire.
Village Royalty
The problem with Henry Kissinger isn't just all the people he killed, it's that he killed all those people - joyfully unapologetically - and was still treated as a Wise Old Man of Washington. A fancy friend to parade at dinner parties to show you were somebody who mattered. A man whose council and praise was sought, treasured, and boasted about.
So when you wonder how things are as they are, how so many fucked up things are tolerated and cheered, how it's the people who object who are painted as deviant or even as The Real Racists, it's because this is a deeply fucked up culture filled with deeply fucked up people who fucking loved Henry Kissinger.
And the Village is - and certainly it was - the place of the "bipartisan consensus." Henry wasn't a Democrat or Republican, really, he was establishment. He was the inner circle. He lived at the head table of the permanent floating dinner party.Rumsfeld died in obscurity as a mostly unlamented clown, as you would expect for a man like him. He wasn’t publicly feted for his genius for fifty years by the world’s most prominent bastards, who got pissy if anyone complained. pic.twitter.com/b44KCOHz8d
— Flying_Rodent (@flying_rodent) November 30, 2023
So when you wonder how things are as they are, how so many fucked up things are tolerated and cheered, how it's the people who object who are painted as deviant or even as The Real Racists, it's because this is a deeply fucked up culture filled with deeply fucked up people who fucking loved Henry Kissinger.