I had it once as a young man on a business trip to China. To say that I didn't enjoy it would be a massive understatement. However, my palate was not very educated then. Back then I also thought Campari was horrid, and now I adore the stuff. I'd like to try baijui again now.
Apparently, your Moutai is top of the line according to the below-linked article. It also has this entertaining quote:
"I’ve actually seen people taste it and judder their heads with surprised disgust, as if hoping to shake the memory loose."
Yea, I've spent a lot of time in China and my wife's family is there, so I've learned how to drink it. In my experience, the cheap bottles are absolute gasoline, but the more expensive you go (I've had the equivalent of $100/bottle) it's not that bad. It's also something that's never served mixed, so you can't hide the taste.
Liked Lady Gaga's voice, but her tempo was rather unsteady. Not a fan of her particular style of music - or JLo's or Garth's - but a good voice is a good voice. All three have good voices.
She's got a surprisingly great voice. Tell your wife to check out her acoustic version of Pokerface from the Cherrytree Sessions. It's even better than the original, in my opinion.
Last month, subscriber ZZalapski suggested a contest for concert posters of any of the Industrial Shithouse shows at Wembley. Today is the 44th anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd's album "Animals." I envisioned using that album cover as the primary background for an Industrial Shithouse show, with opening acts having their own graphics.
He fed the American people a steady stream of lies, falsehoods, and bullshit for four years. The fact that he never mentioned aliens might somehow make it even more likely that they exist and the government knows about it.
He has also leaked real intelligence secrets because he just has to boast about the great intel he's received. Just because he so frequently lies to service his narcissism doesn't mean he wouldn't use the truth as well. It's just that the truth is rarely kind to his ego.
If there's one lesson from the last 4 years, secrets are overrated. Do it all out in the open! Who cares! No one will stop you. No one ever stopped Trump. No one ever stopped Putin from poisoning everyone who crosses him. What secrets are left?
This is not to say that QAnon and the Proud Boys and the entirety of white supremacy America don't pose a threat to America. But the reaction of the "Cult of Trump" suggests that to some degree it was really was a cult. And sometimes cults fall apart when their leaders are found to be merely human. Or worse, failures. But it is interesting how the narrative is currently not "the election was stolen and we can take it back" but "Trump is just a quitter after all."
Also interesting is how there were pretty much no "armed protests" yesterday. Some of that has to be a result of making every state capitol in the US the sort of armed camp I normally see when I visit key locations in Israel. A massive security presence can have a chilling effect. And some of it might just be the the FBI alert was overstating the case "out of an abundance of caution." But how much of the lack of protests was because of the rejection of Trump by the cult? And how much was bullies acting like bullies, backing down when you actually push back? No matter. I am grateful that the protests fizzled like a late game rally by a bad team.
A-Rod is indeed everywhere. I am disappointed he wasn't covering for ESPN. He couldn't have been more inane than most of the talking heads I avoided in favor of the commentary-free stream from PBS.
Ugh, cops in riot gear. They were out in force Monday at City Hall in NYC to great a peaceful MLK Day march. Really, Mayor DeBlasio, all you have to do is tell the cops "don't wear that gear." I am ever happier he can't be mayor again.
Seeing as my former councilmember is running for his old seat, that is the case. Though I don't imagine anyone will want DeB back. (Then again, my old councilmember seems like a relic of another time but because he has name recognition, he will probably win.)
Or perhaps the lack of violent protests was due to the realization the attack on the Capitol was counterproductive for them and merely alienated people from their cause.
there was a guy the FBI was looking for called "helmet guy" there was video of him taunting a cop named epstien, calling cops gay slur, and bashing a helmet into the speaker's lobby door just prior to the woman getting shot. He was wearing a $325 fur hat and a $70 inter milan jersey.
Anyway, in the twitter thread under the WANTED tweet there were all kinds of internet sleuths post all manner of video. One wa him pushing the woman through the broken window prior to being shot and killed. He is happy-angry in all the videos. Seemingly having a ball.
After the shot rings out, and the woman's body falls limp back he looks down and turns ashen. his face drops. he sprints away
I think it's because cosplaying heroes is fun. Just like in a movie! The bad government guy is defeated by the ordinary person in a surprise attack! Just like Die Hard and White House Down and who knows how many other movies! Movies they probably watch while scrolling 8chan and deviant art on their phones.
Turns out the reality is a bit different and you don't defeat the bad guys but you do go to jail.
The real question we're all asking and no one knows: Was Trump popular because of his policies (white supremacy, turn America into an autocracy with GOP as leaders forever) or because of his personality (openly don't care about governance, legacy, or respect, just personally be a strongman with money, people kissing your ass, and power)? Because every election cycle has a few open racist authoritarians (Duke, Buchanan, Tancredo, Sessions) and they never get very far. But I have literally never seen a candidate like Trump. They're all career policy nerds who imagine their speeches being taught in Harvard Law 100 years from now. Trump wasn't. Trump openly didn't care about anything but his money, and people bowing down to him. He was like a mafia boss. They don't pretend it's for some greater public good. About legacy or what happens after he dies.
The man is a con artist first and foremost. I can't for the life of me figure out how he managed to sell himself to so many people, but it's what his whole career has been built on. And there are clearly a lot of suckers out there, or I would not be getting endless calls for the vehicle owner.
Here in Vermont those Bernie memes were all the rage yesterday...I actually had 3 different customers call and ask if I sold those mittens in my store. Talk about a cult following!
There was a whole story about those mitten in the Washington Post. Short version: A 2nd grade teacher made them out of old sweaters and sent them to him out of the blue in 2016. And no, she isn't making more. (Though I'm sure someone else will cash in on the idea while it's hot)
I think you missed the most significant action by Biden yesterday (not the most important - but we knew all those executive actions were coming): the firing of Peter Robb, Trump appointed (and anti-labor) general counsel
of the National Labor Relations Board, with 10 months left on his term. I think It’s the first time since Ike that someone has been fired early from that role, and it’s significant because it signals that for all the unity talk, Biden is willing to make some bold (norm-breaking?) moves to further his agenda - not just wait around for (pie in the sky) bipartisan agreement.
It’s not like “Presidential speak” needs to be either insane or boring. I’m hoping Biden surprises me and actually takes bold, swift, lasting action to fix some crap around here now that he has the power to do so.
And yeah, as Craig said, it would be nice to not think about the president 10x a day. Or per hour. It would be nice to open up a news site and not see three or four headlines about whatever batshit nonsense the Prez said or did that day, or some blatant excuse-making by his followists trying to reframe said batshit as a delicious (and healthy!) porterhouse for all to enjoy.
"Make it impossible for anyone to say, two or four years from now, that government was not up to the task of helping fix what is broken with America or that Republicans and Democrats are, really, no different. Because that kind of stuff will empower populists and demagogues, just as it did in 2016."
Craig, you already know the answer to this question. What did hope and change get you? Not a whole lot! Bernie was derailed by the Democrat establishment and corporate media. Democrat Socialism is soooooo radical! I often see the Democrate party referred to as the "Democratic party" -- yeah right!
The problem is institutional. There is no one more institutional than Biden. The fix is in. Biden couldn't step out of line even if he wanted to. The congress is evenly divided -- do you think that is a coincidence?
Populism is a symptom of a larger issue. People are waking up to reality. It was morning in America 35 years ago! More like it's bedtime for bonzo lolololol
My lefty/socialist views are pretty well known at this point. But it's also the fact that Bernie Sanders had two election cycles via which to get America on board with that and he could not muster a sufficiently large coalition to do so. Maybe someone else does later. I hope someone does. But we're not there now and one has to be realistic about that.
In the meantime, I don't think throwing up hands and saying Biden (or whoever) is no better and no good can be done now is in any way useful. Indeed, I believe it can be dangerous.
This is not an appeal to incrementalism for its own sake, but it is an acknowledgment that making the perfect the enemy of the good, or even the somewhat better, is a great way get Trump v.2.0 elected in 2024.
Being realistic is exactly why real change doesn't occur. People are afraid of what could happen. It's complacency. Real change is inconvenient. It's not to be controlled -- guided. This is what happened during the 60s.
The problem is americans believe in individualism. They believe they are in control of their lives. If they want real change -- well, they'll just vote for it. But ... those in power know more about you than you'll ever know. Modern technology has made this a certainty. They know how to control you to get what they want.
The current US left is smart people who worked the hardest and got into the best schools and internships and neighbourhoods and can't conceive of not playing by the rules. That's why the let the GOP gerrymander and file lawsuits and stack the courts and use bureaucracy to prevent minorities from voting. It's a part of some form of individualism, sure. The system works so well for them they can't imagine achieving anything any other way.
It's why they slept on the "squad". Or some old hippie from Vermont. Imagine listening to women who went to state school! Warren bridged the gap by being a brilliant Harvard law prof who basically rewrote bankruptcy law.
i agree, but will note that Bernie did a lot better than Elizabeth Warren, who is not as far to the left. And AOC continues to do well. There is room at the table for the left wing. Just not room at the head of the table yet.
I remain very excited about Warren and voting for her in the Primary was the one time I remember being truly excited to vote. There needs to be a leftwing bloc that pushes the party leftward even if they never see actual power, like the Christian fundamentalists and racists do for the GOP.
Warren was my pick too. I believe had Bernie not been in the race it would have been far closer between the left and the mainstream Dems, and indeed she would have had a real shot at the nomination. At minimum, she isn't loathed in the African-American community like Bernie is, and that would have gone a long way towards giving her a realistic shot.
Never understood why or even if Bernie was loathed in the AA community? Was he really, or was it just older voters preferred insiders? Because he did very well with Latino/a service workers in Vegas.
To be fair, every single candidate did poorly with AA voters in SC except Biden. Since there was no policy difference between Biden and half the field, I have to assume they just picked the one who seemed most likely. If IA hadn’t been a virtual tie, who knows.
I spent March 10th in an online chat with a group of African-American politicos I know, several of whom had worked as staffers in DC. To a person they all hated Sanders, personally, and the ones who had worked there had stories about him. I don't have permission to share them, but I understand why they perceive him as racist and somewhat misogynist. By comparison almost all of them had a great story about interactions they had with "Uncle Joe" and it was a huge contrast. Warren was well liked, but the perception was she could not beat Trump and they weren't taking any chances.
Of course this is just an anecdote from someone on the internet so take it as you will. ;)
I think the best way to get Trump 2.0 is to return to the policies that directly proceeded him. Biden's policies are obviously better than Trump's in both the short and long-term, but this has to be a wildly more accomplished presidency than Obama's to avoid the fate you fear.
I am also remiss to go fully blackpilled w/r/t Biden because there are going to be some good/less bad things that come out of this administration. But in terms of the overriding issue (global warming) it's probably going to be a wasted 4-8 years, which we just can't afford. Which is why, in the end, I think the bigger danger is to show any modicum of complacency.
Trump was elected because white men freaked out about a black man leading the country, plus a quirk in our system (electoral college). It would not have mattered in the slightest what Obama had done, that racial grievance is the main driver, and the seeds of it have been planted since Nixon's southern strategy.
Pretending we got Trump because Obama wasn't good enough by your personal standards is an erasure of the extreme racism the country exhibited during Obama's term, and the fact that Trump offered *no* actual plans, just a lot of racist rhetoric. Which again, is what the Republican party has been nurturing for 45 years now.
Do I think Obama was perfect? Of course not. But the myth of Trump's election being due to economic anxiety or failed neoliberalism is garbage and unsupported by evidence. There were two dozen Republican candidates that cycle, many of whom offered detailed plans that addressed many of the supposed concerns of these mostly white voters.
Instead they ran with the guy who kept getting racist.
Yup. Plus of course the research showing that the average and median Trump voter is significantly above the average and median income level.
There were Republicans in the primary who offered detailed economic plans. The base chose to nominate the guy who offered no such plans but kept saying and doing increasingly racist things.
That's always been tricky. Ever since McGovern and Mondale ate it, every single D POTUS candidate has been a moderate, third way, technocrat centrist who hates their own left wing more than the GOP. And sometimes they win, sometimes they lose by a polite, respectable amount, but trying any other candidate has never been tried.
My hope is Bernie (who tbh is old) begat Warren and Markey and Merkley and Jayapal and Inslee and Castro and everyone on the "squad". Any movement needs to be bigger than one person, and hopefully people no longer associate "socialism" or any kind of economic populism, with old white Jewish men old enough they were literally hippies.
Bernie Sanders was derailed by voters, not any conspiracy of the DNC or "the media." The DNC garbage is a web of lies and stretching of the truth that is admittedly armature compared to Q. Sanders, a non dues paying independent, was not entitled to the same backing of the DNC like a prolific fundraiser like HR Clinton. He was/is an outsider. The rules were in fact, tweaked at his insistence and to his benefit. And yes, officials at the private organization DNC, with a long and fruitful relationship with the Clintons preferred her. As did millions and millions of voters.
Sanders tried again in 2020 and did even worse. Voters did not care for him.
His agenda is/was great! I loved it. Everyone loves it. But it always was and is thin on details about how to get there. The most we heard was "tell the people and they will demand it." Which is divorced from the reality of Joe Manchin let alone Mitch McConnel and Chuck Grassley. I a m excited about his House member acolytes. They seem to have the get a step by step agenda passed along with the broad vision despite the ryan grims and jimmy dore's turning on them calling them "Centrists" or some such bullshit.
Politics in America is a competition. It's practically a game. Our society is built around people competing. We compete economically, politically, socially etc. Worthiness is predicated on successfully competing.
The goal of politics is to win. It is to gain power and hold onto it. The benefit to society is secondary. This is why Pelosi is speaker of the house -- she's a big fundraiser and money is vital to political success in america. It's why Biden is president -- he's the most electable because he siphoned swing-state, older white voters from Trump.
Ideas and progress are sacrificed by the machinery. Under this system, someone with bold ideas like Bernie are viewed as a liability.
But this is by design. The entities in power promote viewpoints and behavior that is compatible and beneficial to their interests. The competition is rigged, of course. The house wins every time.
In your world, women and people of color don't really exist, do they? The reason Bernie is not president is that he did little to nothing to understand and work with either of those groups, he was the mostly white, male leftist candidate, and the Democrats are a party that has more women than men, and includes many communities of color, sexual and religious minorities. Bernie made virtually no efforts in those spaces, and you can't win the Dem nomination without them.
Sanders did win the Hispanic vote in a handful of states. Overwhelmingly when you look at these polls and go to the white/non-white section though, he gets clobbered. Walk through it state by state. It's devastating, especially when you consider how high the percentage of non-whites are in each state, and what the state population levels are.
This is his problem. He's an old white dude who seriously cannot comprehend how his proposals are racially blind in the same was as well-meaning liberals are. Listening to him on NPR in late 2019 being asked about reparations was just cringe-worthy.
The Democrats did have a crowded field with great candidates, many of them young or not that old. The issue was the two at the end were the two old (white straight) guys.
But there are a lot of young people coming up in the House of Reps. And a few Senators. There's a start of an explicitly left wing bloc and I know it won't happen by I hope AOC primaries Schumer in 2022.
No offense, but you like many others really do not understand how or what the DNC is. It is one of three national organizations that work to elect Democrats, and it's not some obscured committee, it's literally representatives voted on by each state who then elect a leader. You can get involved with choosing your reps, and get to know them every couple years.
Also, of the three major organizations, the DNC is the most open and democratic, it is also the weakest. Go look at the committees for house and senate Democrats if you want to know where the real money, power and lack of transparency lies.
This is true, but it makes me hopeful that younger members are more AOC and Pramila Jayapal and less Pete Buttigeig and Andrew Yang.
Also for too long the DNC got away with ignoring labour by focusing on culture issues. Which are equally important. But they should have done both. Both parties got away with screwing the poor and middle class by focusing on women/LGBTQ/minority religion/etc rights, while the GOP did the same for white Christian grievance. It looks like that might fall apart on both sides.
Yang is a concerning development. He attempted to merge alt-right racial 'blindness' with technocratic leftism. Yes, I agree UBI is the necessary future, but not with standard bearers like him. Call me back when he fully repudiates the white nationalists who pushed his candidacy.
First off, our party primaries are not meaningful democracy in any sense of the word. Framing Sanders' defeat as being primarily determined by "the voters" is dishonest at best.
Second, voters liked him fine. Him and Biden had the highest approval ratings of the candidates throughout the primary season.
Third, there were a ton of details on his policies and proposals. Certainly far more than were ever on Biden's website.
Fourth, if you're really going to deny that those in power in the DNC and corporate media have zero/little influence on the proceedings, then you must think they are the most incompetent people in the history of politics.
Primaries as democracy? They never were, they are private organizations. But within that framework, members "vote" on their favorite and the top vote getter is the nominee.
approval ratings? Who care. Trump has terrible approval ratings and cam within 40,00 votes of reelection.
Details? Sure the programs were more thoroughly detailed. But he never has ever given cogent answers on how those policies get enacted.
DNC most incompetent ever? dial back the hyperbole. DNC has influence on it's primary. Yes. Of course. that is the point of having a party. It favors members who work for it. the corprate media has influence? Of course, it's how most people consume information. but blaming them is "Trumpian" as the OP suggested.
Look, we agree, Sanders' agenda is preferable. Biden was the last on all of us who believe in strong social safety nets and regulation on capital. But blaming it on nefarious actors against bernie (tm) is closer to tinfoil hat people than reality.
Saying that powerful people exercise their power to benefit their interests is just how power works. Nothing tinfoil about it. Read the emails from the 2016 DNC leak if you want....nothing explosive or even super nefarious; just the banal exercise of power.
There is a disconnect in your understanding. The DNC is a private organization. they set the rules. Those emails could say "Sanders is a threat to the delta smelt and must be stopped" and it still wouldn't be a nefarious plot.
Sanders chose to run in a presidential primary as a big D Democrat. Twice. and was twice rejected by members. He seems OK with both instances.
He did a great job of moving his agenda forward. Much better than he ever did in his years in the house and senate. It was a good move by him. I am happy about that.
I understand that the DNC and the primary process is a fundamentally undemocratic body/process. I was responding to your initial assertion that "Bernie Sanders was derailed by voters." Voters are not members of the DNC as the DNC is not a "party" by the standard definition of one in most other liberal democracies. I voted in the democratic primary but am not beholden to the DNC in any way. You seem to be conflating these concepts and then assigning your lack of clarity to my responses.
So? Trump won by spewing hatred. He didn't have a 100 point plan on immigration. No one expected that of him. Bernie was the first person in my lifetime to talk about poor people and labour issues like they actually mattered. Democrats spent my whole life being third way and thinking a computer program will solve everything, and technocracy is utopia and ideology means you're a dumb hippie.
And in 2016, the DNC head literally changed the number of debates to benefit Hillary and she STILL nearly lost the first 2 states. And only won SC (and the nomination) because Rep. Clyburn said his heart prefers Bernie, but she had enough institutional connections and power to get him to publicly endorse her. And honestly? Fine. That's the game and an advantage she had. But people were desperate to talk about labour rights without the fear Rush Limbaugh will call you a socialist who wants the USSR and waiting in line for toilet paper. That you'd be perceived as a college student stereotype.
Have you even *looked* at the Dem platform? I mean REALLY READ it? Sure, "Uncle Joe" is An Old White Guy with impeccable Establishment Cred. But the Democrat Party is as "left" as it's ever been! And do you know why? Because they pretty much adopted all of Sanders' policy ideas! They may not have explicitly copied everything over, but things are a heck of a lot closer to his position than they were during the Obama administration.
If Sanders blew the nomination, it's not because of the Establishment or some media / corporate conspiracy. It's because he's a crotchety old fart whose personal stubbornness and unwillingness to compromise turned everyone off.
Agreed. The platform shifted bc (I think) the Party *is* shifting/listening to other voices. I think the horrors of what Trump did helped spur a strong counter-reaction, and the Squad working in the system but also speaking out helped, and George Floyd and the protests over the summer reignited and highlighted ongoing issues that had been somewhat brushed to the side. And I think having Kamala's voice helped as well. A wind of change, bit by bit.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4RjJKxsamQ&feature=emb_logo
I'm confused about his 100 days of masks and 100 days of a million vaccine shots a day initiatives. Does he think masks will no longer be needed after 100 days? Does he think the vaccination problem will be over after 100 million doses? Because I surely still won't be eligible for the vaccine after 100 million doses are given, so I don't know why it would stop at 100 days. We'll need 250 million or more to be vaccinated for herd immunity.
Maybe he thinks in 100 days it will be spring and the need for masks won't be as great. But if it's 1/4 as bad as it is now, we damn sure should still be wearing masks.
By shortly after noon EST yesterday, if you attempted to reach the government web page for the 1776 Commission, you got a 404 error. That's some fast service!
It's funny that we were saved from Trump's policies by Trump's incompetence. Funny how even Stephen Miller, a racist his whole life who went to the best schools and prides himself on his IQ, just farted out some plagiarised, non-cited, middle school book report and didn't even think of a real strategy.
I do not understand why the Qs didn't immediately pivot to "the deep state has won the battle but we'll win the war!" If you proved to Fox Mulder that the Black Oil was just Giuliani's hair dye, then he wouldn't have cried into his coffee; he would have started talking about Roswell. These people can't even conspiracy right.
How much does Q really matter? We're all obsessed with them because they're so ridiculous, but was it ever real? Or was it always an exercise in shitposting and irony as an excuse to support the inexcusable?
I'm more worried about Stephen Miller. And Bannon. And Scott Greer. Tucker Carlson. Nick Fuentes. Razib Khan. Peter Thiel. All funded in secret by the Mercer family. Chan trolls are a distraction. But open white supremacy (and sexism) got violently shoved into mainstream respectability and that's not going away. And unlike Trump, or Q, these guys pride themselves on acting normal. Like serious academics and thinkers. They know how to say the secret code words, how to get what they want with lawsuits and PR campaigns and strategic donations.
About the Blue Jays non-signing: Has anybody ever noticed how often baseball writers go into print/cyberspace with news that doesn't happen? 'Twas ever thus. There's a story about Lindsey Nelson, the great Mets announcer (who coincidentally did college and pro football, but who cares about those anyway), saying on the air one night, we just got word from the Associated Press that such-and-such a team has fired its manager, but then added that they sometimes were inaccurate about those things, and the next thing to come into the booth by teletype was from the AP, saying they were accurate.
But Jim Bouton told the story that struck me as the great explanation. At a dull winter meeting in 1960 or so, the Giants were looking for a manager. Stan Isaacs, Len Shecter, and Larry Merchant were bored and thought, who is the least likely human being in the world to manage a team? Yogi! So they wrote stories about rumors the Giants wanted Yogi. This led to other reporters calling Yogi, who said he hadn't really thought about it but might be interested in managing when his playing days were over. This led to the Giants saying they were talking to numerous candidates, and the Yankees saying they didn't want him to leave. After that, Yogi came up for vacancies and, sure enough, the Yankees made him manager. Maybe the joke was on the sportswriters: He's one of the few managers whose teams have won pennants in both leagues.
It never occurred to me, but yeah, I can see a similarity.
I had it once as a young man on a business trip to China. To say that I didn't enjoy it would be a massive understatement. However, my palate was not very educated then. Back then I also thought Campari was horrid, and now I adore the stuff. I'd like to try baijui again now.
Apparently, your Moutai is top of the line according to the below-linked article. It also has this entertaining quote:
"I’ve actually seen people taste it and judder their heads with surprised disgust, as if hoping to shake the memory loose."
https://thediplomat.com/2015/06/why-does-chinese-alcohol-taste-so-awful/
Yea, I've spent a lot of time in China and my wife's family is there, so I've learned how to drink it. In my experience, the cheap bottles are absolute gasoline, but the more expensive you go (I've had the equivalent of $100/bottle) it's not that bad. It's also something that's never served mixed, so you can't hide the taste.
Liked Lady Gaga's voice, but her tempo was rather unsteady. Not a fan of her particular style of music - or JLo's or Garth's - but a good voice is a good voice. All three have good voices.
She's got a surprisingly great voice. Tell your wife to check out her acoustic version of Pokerface from the Cherrytree Sessions. It's even better than the original, in my opinion.
Last month, subscriber ZZalapski suggested a contest for concert posters of any of the Industrial Shithouse shows at Wembley. Today is the 44th anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd's album "Animals." I envisioned using that album cover as the primary background for an Industrial Shithouse show, with opening acts having their own graphics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_(Pink_Floyd_album)
Biden said the letter Trump left was "very generous". I'm guessing that means he told Biden "You can use my desk".
It was the letter every president leaves for the next president about the aliens. (There was a comic a few years back built on that premise.)
It's a funny premise, but if there was even the weakest of evidence for aliens, Trump would have blabbed about it.
But only to the Russians!
He fed the American people a steady stream of lies, falsehoods, and bullshit for four years. The fact that he never mentioned aliens might somehow make it even more likely that they exist and the government knows about it.
He has also leaked real intelligence secrets because he just has to boast about the great intel he's received. Just because he so frequently lies to service his narcissism doesn't mean he wouldn't use the truth as well. It's just that the truth is rarely kind to his ego.
If there's one lesson from the last 4 years, secrets are overrated. Do it all out in the open! Who cares! No one will stop you. No one ever stopped Trump. No one ever stopped Putin from poisoning everyone who crosses him. What secrets are left?
“It was very generous......with usage of misspelled curse words”
"Generous" seemed like an odd choice of words. What might have been in the letter that could be considered generous? But maybe that's just me.
Trump generously left Biden a dollar bill and a note that said "I have a lot more of these than you do, loser!"
there were some starburst left
This is not to say that QAnon and the Proud Boys and the entirety of white supremacy America don't pose a threat to America. But the reaction of the "Cult of Trump" suggests that to some degree it was really was a cult. And sometimes cults fall apart when their leaders are found to be merely human. Or worse, failures. But it is interesting how the narrative is currently not "the election was stolen and we can take it back" but "Trump is just a quitter after all."
Also interesting is how there were pretty much no "armed protests" yesterday. Some of that has to be a result of making every state capitol in the US the sort of armed camp I normally see when I visit key locations in Israel. A massive security presence can have a chilling effect. And some of it might just be the the FBI alert was overstating the case "out of an abundance of caution." But how much of the lack of protests was because of the rejection of Trump by the cult? And how much was bullies acting like bullies, backing down when you actually push back? No matter. I am grateful that the protests fizzled like a late game rally by a bad team.
A-Rod is indeed everywhere. I am disappointed he wasn't covering for ESPN. He couldn't have been more inane than most of the talking heads I avoided in favor of the commentary-free stream from PBS.
Ugh, cops in riot gear. They were out in force Monday at City Hall in NYC to great a peaceful MLK Day march. Really, Mayor DeBlasio, all you have to do is tell the cops "don't wear that gear." I am ever happier he can't be mayor again.
Can he run again after a 4 year break?
Seeing as my former councilmember is running for his old seat, that is the case. Though I don't imagine anyone will want DeB back. (Then again, my old councilmember seems like a relic of another time but because he has name recognition, he will probably win.)
Or perhaps the lack of violent protests was due to the realization the attack on the Capitol was counterproductive for them and merely alienated people from their cause.
there was a guy the FBI was looking for called "helmet guy" there was video of him taunting a cop named epstien, calling cops gay slur, and bashing a helmet into the speaker's lobby door just prior to the woman getting shot. He was wearing a $325 fur hat and a $70 inter milan jersey.
Anyway, in the twitter thread under the WANTED tweet there were all kinds of internet sleuths post all manner of video. One wa him pushing the woman through the broken window prior to being shot and killed. He is happy-angry in all the videos. Seemingly having a ball.
After the shot rings out, and the woman's body falls limp back he looks down and turns ashen. his face drops. he sprints away
I think it's because cosplaying heroes is fun. Just like in a movie! The bad government guy is defeated by the ordinary person in a surprise attack! Just like Die Hard and White House Down and who knows how many other movies! Movies they probably watch while scrolling 8chan and deviant art on their phones.
Turns out the reality is a bit different and you don't defeat the bad guys but you do go to jail.
I really doubt there was that much forethought. I think it's a combination of being dispirited and the temporary social media echo chamber blackout.
Yep. Let's not give them too much credit for thinking through the situation.
The real question we're all asking and no one knows: Was Trump popular because of his policies (white supremacy, turn America into an autocracy with GOP as leaders forever) or because of his personality (openly don't care about governance, legacy, or respect, just personally be a strongman with money, people kissing your ass, and power)? Because every election cycle has a few open racist authoritarians (Duke, Buchanan, Tancredo, Sessions) and they never get very far. But I have literally never seen a candidate like Trump. They're all career policy nerds who imagine their speeches being taught in Harvard Law 100 years from now. Trump wasn't. Trump openly didn't care about anything but his money, and people bowing down to him. He was like a mafia boss. They don't pretend it's for some greater public good. About legacy or what happens after he dies.
I hope to god it's the latter.
I'm thinking it's mostly the personality. But there's certainly some degree of policy mixed in there.
The man is a con artist first and foremost. I can't for the life of me figure out how he managed to sell himself to so many people, but it's what his whole career has been built on. And there are clearly a lot of suckers out there, or I would not be getting endless calls for the vehicle owner.
Don’t sleep on Narnia. If those freaks get nukes we’re screwed.
They have the Jesus Kitty. You already can't beat them.
Here in Vermont those Bernie memes were all the rage yesterday...I actually had 3 different customers call and ask if I sold those mittens in my store. Talk about a cult following!
Unfortunately not. Good looking mittens though.
There was a whole story about those mitten in the Washington Post. Short version: A 2nd grade teacher made them out of old sweaters and sent them to him out of the blue in 2016. And no, she isn't making more. (Though I'm sure someone else will cash in on the idea while it's hot)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/20/bernie-sanders-mittens-inauguration-parka-coat/
I think you missed the most significant action by Biden yesterday (not the most important - but we knew all those executive actions were coming): the firing of Peter Robb, Trump appointed (and anti-labor) general counsel
of the National Labor Relations Board, with 10 months left on his term. I think It’s the first time since Ike that someone has been fired early from that role, and it’s significant because it signals that for all the unity talk, Biden is willing to make some bold (norm-breaking?) moves to further his agenda - not just wait around for (pie in the sky) bipartisan agreement.
It is going to be a long but necessary slog to clean out the Trump loyalists. Hail Hydra.
It’s not like “Presidential speak” needs to be either insane or boring. I’m hoping Biden surprises me and actually takes bold, swift, lasting action to fix some crap around here now that he has the power to do so.
And yeah, as Craig said, it would be nice to not think about the president 10x a day. Or per hour. It would be nice to open up a news site and not see three or four headlines about whatever batshit nonsense the Prez said or did that day, or some blatant excuse-making by his followists trying to reframe said batshit as a delicious (and healthy!) porterhouse for all to enjoy.
"Make it impossible for anyone to say, two or four years from now, that government was not up to the task of helping fix what is broken with America or that Republicans and Democrats are, really, no different. Because that kind of stuff will empower populists and demagogues, just as it did in 2016."
Craig, you already know the answer to this question. What did hope and change get you? Not a whole lot! Bernie was derailed by the Democrat establishment and corporate media. Democrat Socialism is soooooo radical! I often see the Democrate party referred to as the "Democratic party" -- yeah right!
The problem is institutional. There is no one more institutional than Biden. The fix is in. Biden couldn't step out of line even if he wanted to. The congress is evenly divided -- do you think that is a coincidence?
Populism is a symptom of a larger issue. People are waking up to reality. It was morning in America 35 years ago! More like it's bedtime for bonzo lolololol
My lefty/socialist views are pretty well known at this point. But it's also the fact that Bernie Sanders had two election cycles via which to get America on board with that and he could not muster a sufficiently large coalition to do so. Maybe someone else does later. I hope someone does. But we're not there now and one has to be realistic about that.
In the meantime, I don't think throwing up hands and saying Biden (or whoever) is no better and no good can be done now is in any way useful. Indeed, I believe it can be dangerous.
This is not an appeal to incrementalism for its own sake, but it is an acknowledgment that making the perfect the enemy of the good, or even the somewhat better, is a great way get Trump v.2.0 elected in 2024.
Being realistic is exactly why real change doesn't occur. People are afraid of what could happen. It's complacency. Real change is inconvenient. It's not to be controlled -- guided. This is what happened during the 60s.
The problem is americans believe in individualism. They believe they are in control of their lives. If they want real change -- well, they'll just vote for it. But ... those in power know more about you than you'll ever know. Modern technology has made this a certainty. They know how to control you to get what they want.
The current US left is smart people who worked the hardest and got into the best schools and internships and neighbourhoods and can't conceive of not playing by the rules. That's why the let the GOP gerrymander and file lawsuits and stack the courts and use bureaucracy to prevent minorities from voting. It's a part of some form of individualism, sure. The system works so well for them they can't imagine achieving anything any other way.
It's why they slept on the "squad". Or some old hippie from Vermont. Imagine listening to women who went to state school! Warren bridged the gap by being a brilliant Harvard law prof who basically rewrote bankruptcy law.
i agree, but will note that Bernie did a lot better than Elizabeth Warren, who is not as far to the left. And AOC continues to do well. There is room at the table for the left wing. Just not room at the head of the table yet.
I remain very excited about Warren and voting for her in the Primary was the one time I remember being truly excited to vote. There needs to be a leftwing bloc that pushes the party leftward even if they never see actual power, like the Christian fundamentalists and racists do for the GOP.
Warren was my pick too. I believe had Bernie not been in the race it would have been far closer between the left and the mainstream Dems, and indeed she would have had a real shot at the nomination. At minimum, she isn't loathed in the African-American community like Bernie is, and that would have gone a long way towards giving her a realistic shot.
Never understood why or even if Bernie was loathed in the AA community? Was he really, or was it just older voters preferred insiders? Because he did very well with Latino/a service workers in Vegas.
To be fair, every single candidate did poorly with AA voters in SC except Biden. Since there was no policy difference between Biden and half the field, I have to assume they just picked the one who seemed most likely. If IA hadn’t been a virtual tie, who knows.
I spent March 10th in an online chat with a group of African-American politicos I know, several of whom had worked as staffers in DC. To a person they all hated Sanders, personally, and the ones who had worked there had stories about him. I don't have permission to share them, but I understand why they perceive him as racist and somewhat misogynist. By comparison almost all of them had a great story about interactions they had with "Uncle Joe" and it was a huge contrast. Warren was well liked, but the perception was she could not beat Trump and they weren't taking any chances.
Of course this is just an anecdote from someone on the internet so take it as you will. ;)
I think the best way to get Trump 2.0 is to return to the policies that directly proceeded him. Biden's policies are obviously better than Trump's in both the short and long-term, but this has to be a wildly more accomplished presidency than Obama's to avoid the fate you fear.
I am also remiss to go fully blackpilled w/r/t Biden because there are going to be some good/less bad things that come out of this administration. But in terms of the overriding issue (global warming) it's probably going to be a wasted 4-8 years, which we just can't afford. Which is why, in the end, I think the bigger danger is to show any modicum of complacency.
I am encouraged that biden's choices of personnel choices were not that egregiously center neo libs. I am hoping that it works out
Trump was elected because white men freaked out about a black man leading the country, plus a quirk in our system (electoral college). It would not have mattered in the slightest what Obama had done, that racial grievance is the main driver, and the seeds of it have been planted since Nixon's southern strategy.
Pretending we got Trump because Obama wasn't good enough by your personal standards is an erasure of the extreme racism the country exhibited during Obama's term, and the fact that Trump offered *no* actual plans, just a lot of racist rhetoric. Which again, is what the Republican party has been nurturing for 45 years now.
Do I think Obama was perfect? Of course not. But the myth of Trump's election being due to economic anxiety or failed neoliberalism is garbage and unsupported by evidence. There were two dozen Republican candidates that cycle, many of whom offered detailed plans that addressed many of the supposed concerns of these mostly white voters.
Instead they ran with the guy who kept getting racist.
There have been many studies showing that a disproportionate fraction of Trump voters were motivated by "racial resentment" and not economic populism.
Yup. Plus of course the research showing that the average and median Trump voter is significantly above the average and median income level.
There were Republicans in the primary who offered detailed economic plans. The base chose to nominate the guy who offered no such plans but kept saying and doing increasingly racist things.
That's always been tricky. Ever since McGovern and Mondale ate it, every single D POTUS candidate has been a moderate, third way, technocrat centrist who hates their own left wing more than the GOP. And sometimes they win, sometimes they lose by a polite, respectable amount, but trying any other candidate has never been tried.
My hope is Bernie (who tbh is old) begat Warren and Markey and Merkley and Jayapal and Inslee and Castro and everyone on the "squad". Any movement needs to be bigger than one person, and hopefully people no longer associate "socialism" or any kind of economic populism, with old white Jewish men old enough they were literally hippies.
The Bernie Bros. are, in many ways, as bad as the hardcore Trumpeters.
I'd ask you to enumerate, except that I can tell you in advance that you're wrong.
Literal Nazis are worse for sure. the point is, the dirtbag left is not helping
President Lincoln, I am surprised you feel that way given your friendly relationship with Marx: https://www.marxists.org/history/international/iwma/documents/1864/lincoln-letter.htm
Bernie Sanders was derailed by voters, not any conspiracy of the DNC or "the media." The DNC garbage is a web of lies and stretching of the truth that is admittedly armature compared to Q. Sanders, a non dues paying independent, was not entitled to the same backing of the DNC like a prolific fundraiser like HR Clinton. He was/is an outsider. The rules were in fact, tweaked at his insistence and to his benefit. And yes, officials at the private organization DNC, with a long and fruitful relationship with the Clintons preferred her. As did millions and millions of voters.
Sanders tried again in 2020 and did even worse. Voters did not care for him.
His agenda is/was great! I loved it. Everyone loves it. But it always was and is thin on details about how to get there. The most we heard was "tell the people and they will demand it." Which is divorced from the reality of Joe Manchin let alone Mitch McConnel and Chuck Grassley. I a m excited about his House member acolytes. They seem to have the get a step by step agenda passed along with the broad vision despite the ryan grims and jimmy dore's turning on them calling them "Centrists" or some such bullshit.
Politics in America is a competition. It's practically a game. Our society is built around people competing. We compete economically, politically, socially etc. Worthiness is predicated on successfully competing.
The goal of politics is to win. It is to gain power and hold onto it. The benefit to society is secondary. This is why Pelosi is speaker of the house -- she's a big fundraiser and money is vital to political success in america. It's why Biden is president -- he's the most electable because he siphoned swing-state, older white voters from Trump.
Ideas and progress are sacrificed by the machinery. Under this system, someone with bold ideas like Bernie are viewed as a liability.
But this is by design. The entities in power promote viewpoints and behavior that is compatible and beneficial to their interests. The competition is rigged, of course. The house wins every time.
In your world, women and people of color don't really exist, do they? The reason Bernie is not president is that he did little to nothing to understand and work with either of those groups, he was the mostly white, male leftist candidate, and the Democrats are a party that has more women than men, and includes many communities of color, sexual and religious minorities. Bernie made virtually no efforts in those spaces, and you can't win the Dem nomination without them.
This is not true at all. Here are the Nevada exit polls for one reference: https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/primaries-caucuses/entrance-and-exit-polls/nevada/democratic
South Carolina https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/primaries-caucuses/entrance-and-exit-polls/south-carolina/democratic
Sanders did win the Hispanic vote in a handful of states. Overwhelmingly when you look at these polls and go to the white/non-white section though, he gets clobbered. Walk through it state by state. It's devastating, especially when you consider how high the percentage of non-whites are in each state, and what the state population levels are.
This is his problem. He's an old white dude who seriously cannot comprehend how his proposals are racially blind in the same was as well-meaning liberals are. Listening to him on NPR in late 2019 being asked about reparations was just cringe-worthy.
The Democrats did have a crowded field with great candidates, many of them young or not that old. The issue was the two at the end were the two old (white straight) guys.
But there are a lot of young people coming up in the House of Reps. And a few Senators. There's a start of an explicitly left wing bloc and I know it won't happen by I hope AOC primaries Schumer in 2022.
No offense, but you like many others really do not understand how or what the DNC is. It is one of three national organizations that work to elect Democrats, and it's not some obscured committee, it's literally representatives voted on by each state who then elect a leader. You can get involved with choosing your reps, and get to know them every couple years.
Also, of the three major organizations, the DNC is the most open and democratic, it is also the weakest. Go look at the committees for house and senate Democrats if you want to know where the real money, power and lack of transparency lies.
This is true, but it makes me hopeful that younger members are more AOC and Pramila Jayapal and less Pete Buttigeig and Andrew Yang.
Also for too long the DNC got away with ignoring labour by focusing on culture issues. Which are equally important. But they should have done both. Both parties got away with screwing the poor and middle class by focusing on women/LGBTQ/minority religion/etc rights, while the GOP did the same for white Christian grievance. It looks like that might fall apart on both sides.
Yang is a concerning development. He attempted to merge alt-right racial 'blindness' with technocratic leftism. Yes, I agree UBI is the necessary future, but not with standard bearers like him. Call me back when he fully repudiates the white nationalists who pushed his candidacy.
First off, our party primaries are not meaningful democracy in any sense of the word. Framing Sanders' defeat as being primarily determined by "the voters" is dishonest at best.
Second, voters liked him fine. Him and Biden had the highest approval ratings of the candidates throughout the primary season.
Third, there were a ton of details on his policies and proposals. Certainly far more than were ever on Biden's website.
Fourth, if you're really going to deny that those in power in the DNC and corporate media have zero/little influence on the proceedings, then you must think they are the most incompetent people in the history of politics.
Listen to yourself.
Primaries as democracy? They never were, they are private organizations. But within that framework, members "vote" on their favorite and the top vote getter is the nominee.
approval ratings? Who care. Trump has terrible approval ratings and cam within 40,00 votes of reelection.
Details? Sure the programs were more thoroughly detailed. But he never has ever given cogent answers on how those policies get enacted.
DNC most incompetent ever? dial back the hyperbole. DNC has influence on it's primary. Yes. Of course. that is the point of having a party. It favors members who work for it. the corprate media has influence? Of course, it's how most people consume information. but blaming them is "Trumpian" as the OP suggested.
Look, we agree, Sanders' agenda is preferable. Biden was the last on all of us who believe in strong social safety nets and regulation on capital. But blaming it on nefarious actors against bernie (tm) is closer to tinfoil hat people than reality.
Saying that powerful people exercise their power to benefit their interests is just how power works. Nothing tinfoil about it. Read the emails from the 2016 DNC leak if you want....nothing explosive or even super nefarious; just the banal exercise of power.
There is a disconnect in your understanding. The DNC is a private organization. they set the rules. Those emails could say "Sanders is a threat to the delta smelt and must be stopped" and it still wouldn't be a nefarious plot.
Sanders chose to run in a presidential primary as a big D Democrat. Twice. and was twice rejected by members. He seems OK with both instances.
He did a great job of moving his agenda forward. Much better than he ever did in his years in the house and senate. It was a good move by him. I am happy about that.
I understand that the DNC and the primary process is a fundamentally undemocratic body/process. I was responding to your initial assertion that "Bernie Sanders was derailed by voters." Voters are not members of the DNC as the DNC is not a "party" by the standard definition of one in most other liberal democracies. I voted in the democratic primary but am not beholden to the DNC in any way. You seem to be conflating these concepts and then assigning your lack of clarity to my responses.
not the OP, I lostthe thread somewhere. ignore that bit
So? Trump won by spewing hatred. He didn't have a 100 point plan on immigration. No one expected that of him. Bernie was the first person in my lifetime to talk about poor people and labour issues like they actually mattered. Democrats spent my whole life being third way and thinking a computer program will solve everything, and technocracy is utopia and ideology means you're a dumb hippie.
And in 2016, the DNC head literally changed the number of debates to benefit Hillary and she STILL nearly lost the first 2 states. And only won SC (and the nomination) because Rep. Clyburn said his heart prefers Bernie, but she had enough institutional connections and power to get him to publicly endorse her. And honestly? Fine. That's the game and an advantage she had. But people were desperate to talk about labour rights without the fear Rush Limbaugh will call you a socialist who wants the USSR and waiting in line for toilet paper. That you'd be perceived as a college student stereotype.
It took Bernie to get us there.
Have you even *looked* at the Dem platform? I mean REALLY READ it? Sure, "Uncle Joe" is An Old White Guy with impeccable Establishment Cred. But the Democrat Party is as "left" as it's ever been! And do you know why? Because they pretty much adopted all of Sanders' policy ideas! They may not have explicitly copied everything over, but things are a heck of a lot closer to his position than they were during the Obama administration.
If Sanders blew the nomination, it's not because of the Establishment or some media / corporate conspiracy. It's because he's a crotchety old fart whose personal stubbornness and unwillingness to compromise turned everyone off.
Agreed. The platform shifted bc (I think) the Party *is* shifting/listening to other voices. I think the horrors of what Trump did helped spur a strong counter-reaction, and the Squad working in the system but also speaking out helped, and George Floyd and the protests over the summer reignited and highlighted ongoing issues that had been somewhat brushed to the side. And I think having Kamala's voice helped as well. A wind of change, bit by bit.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4RjJKxsamQ&feature=emb_logo
I'm surprised he had as many Day 1 Executive Orders as he had...now let's see how long it takes him to get immigrants out of cages.
One important change my wife pointed out to me yesterday: EVERYONE had a mask on. It's about damn time.
It's worth a try I guess, but I don't see anyone who has refused to wear a mask thus far changing their minds now.
(Sorry I undermined your reply by deleting and reposting to correct an error. You replied very quickly!)
I'm confused about his 100 days of masks and 100 days of a million vaccine shots a day initiatives. Does he think masks will no longer be needed after 100 days? Does he think the vaccination problem will be over after 100 million doses? Because I surely still won't be eligible for the vaccine after 100 million doses are given, so I don't know why it would stop at 100 days. We'll need 250 million or more to be vaccinated for herd immunity.
Maybe he thinks in 100 days it will be spring and the need for masks won't be as great. But if it's 1/4 as bad as it is now, we damn sure should still be wearing masks.
By shortly after noon EST yesterday, if you attempted to reach the government web page for the 1776 Commission, you got a 404 error. That's some fast service!
Glad to hear it.
I bet there were quite a few civil servants with all manner of plans to scuttle that kind of crap. Kudos to them.
It's funny that we were saved from Trump's policies by Trump's incompetence. Funny how even Stephen Miller, a racist his whole life who went to the best schools and prides himself on his IQ, just farted out some plagiarised, non-cited, middle school book report and didn't even think of a real strategy.
Just culture war stuff, right to the end.
I do not understand why the Qs didn't immediately pivot to "the deep state has won the battle but we'll win the war!" If you proved to Fox Mulder that the Black Oil was just Giuliani's hair dye, then he wouldn't have cried into his coffee; he would have started talking about Roswell. These people can't even conspiracy right.
"on the other side, it didn't say nothing".... we could all use a bit more "nothing" these days...
How much does Q really matter? We're all obsessed with them because they're so ridiculous, but was it ever real? Or was it always an exercise in shitposting and irony as an excuse to support the inexcusable?
I'm more worried about Stephen Miller. And Bannon. And Scott Greer. Tucker Carlson. Nick Fuentes. Razib Khan. Peter Thiel. All funded in secret by the Mercer family. Chan trolls are a distraction. But open white supremacy (and sexism) got violently shoved into mainstream respectability and that's not going away. And unlike Trump, or Q, these guys pride themselves on acting normal. Like serious academics and thinkers. They know how to say the secret code words, how to get what they want with lawsuits and PR campaigns and strategic donations.
And we have no plans to stop it.
About the Blue Jays non-signing: Has anybody ever noticed how often baseball writers go into print/cyberspace with news that doesn't happen? 'Twas ever thus. There's a story about Lindsey Nelson, the great Mets announcer (who coincidentally did college and pro football, but who cares about those anyway), saying on the air one night, we just got word from the Associated Press that such-and-such a team has fired its manager, but then added that they sometimes were inaccurate about those things, and the next thing to come into the booth by teletype was from the AP, saying they were accurate.
But Jim Bouton told the story that struck me as the great explanation. At a dull winter meeting in 1960 or so, the Giants were looking for a manager. Stan Isaacs, Len Shecter, and Larry Merchant were bored and thought, who is the least likely human being in the world to manage a team? Yogi! So they wrote stories about rumors the Giants wanted Yogi. This led to other reporters calling Yogi, who said he hadn't really thought about it but might be interested in managing when his playing days were over. This led to the Giants saying they were talking to numerous candidates, and the Yankees saying they didn't want him to leave. After that, Yogi came up for vacancies and, sure enough, the Yankees made him manager. Maybe the joke was on the sportswriters: He's one of the few managers whose teams have won pennants in both leagues.