TMac despite himself still wins by 3-5 points just on strength of Democratic electorate advantage. The howling and renting of clothes from the right will get half a news cycle while everyone's priors are confirmed.
This isn't really a political phenomena, Trump was better for the media business than Biden is. So you get this kabuki dance of news media folks that hate Trump but need him for their media business model and it leads to some truly schizophrenic coverage.
This reminds me of someone trying to evaluate a young and rather troublesome me to my parents by breaking down the difference between intelligence and clever, genius and ingenious.
I appreciate and respect your thoughts, but feel the need to touch on a few things here. Burt can speak to his own piece and motivations, which I don't question beyond what he submits any more than I do anyone else who writes for us.
As the person who approves everything that goes on the website and thus is responsible for it, I can speak emphatically that we have never, nor ever will, post something "for the sole purpose of the commentariat congratulating each other on how much smarter and better and more ethical they are than “those people”. The piece comes across as frustrated more than mocking to me but everyone can take it as they read it. Even if so, there is no ethical standard for anonymously mocking someone, though we can debate the taste or morality of that. Nor do I agree with everything Burt asserts here, but me or any other editor agreeing with the particulars of a piece is not a criteria for posting on Ordinary Times. The post does serve a purpose, in my opinion, of taking the angle the bad legal advice these folks are getting running into an actual attorney who by oath and law has to tell them things they aren't going to like. Agree or disagree with it that take or opinion or Burt's method, that is a relevant topic and POV. Anything beyond that can, as always, be hashed out in comments, or better yet anyone who wants to write a rebuttal or criticism of Burt's take, or anything else published on OT, can do so and submit it.
Semi-Off topic but being a big Black Crows fans I've always wondered how many takes it took to get the cut shot of legendarily stoic (except when fighting with his brother Chris) Rich Robinson smiling ever-so-slightly at the 2:55 point.
I'm completely with Jay here. Growing up in that time period, grunge hasn't aged well as a whole, not as well as the "bad" music is replaced on the charts which was at least fun. There are certain works that wind up being timeless, and I think this illistrates the point well.
There is zero chance of having fully self-driving trucks anytime soon. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and insurance issues alone will prevent it, let alone the technology.
I'm reminded of the chronically bad at strategery Ryan Grimm, now of the Intercept, and a few others making the decision to change all HuffPost coverage of then-candidate Donald Trump to the entertainment section thinking this was a brilliant statement. It was not only foolish but had the exact opposite affect since it was, to the Trump fans, one more example of (insert various grievance trope about media here, there are many to choose from). Folks fueled by that stuff are like dealing with the Borg, nothing you throw at them is going to work, it just assimilates into their worldview of never being wrong and everyone out to get them. That's not a unique thing to Trumpian die-hards, but they are the glaring example at this particular moment in time.
I'm reminded of when we did firefighting training, they douse hay bails in accelerant and then place them in the corners of the fire tower. The reason - and lesson for the newbies - is if you hit a flaming hay bail directly with the hose, instead of putting out the fire the water pressure explodes it like a bomb and spreads fire all over the room. But you can use indirect methods to change the flow of oxygen in that same room, and lessen the fire and then attack it in the weakened state. Fire doesn't negotiate, it eats fuel and breaths oxygen and relentlessly seeks out both regardless what you think about it, so the reality of that needs to be drilled into the heads of those tasked with stopping it.
Part of dealing with fire is understand what is already on fire is gone already even if it isn't completely invovled yet, so you pick your line and stop the spread, starve it, then kill it. The damage done by the populist Trumpist that have gone full cult of personality isn't changeable by normal means, and its foolish to pretend the fire damage isn't there. But going forward we can attack it with indirect methods, and as it burns all its own fuel up deny it further fuel and oxygen and contain it going forward. That's not a popular thing, like with a fire the house is probably already damaged beyond repair. But it's your only option for dealing with it. Trumpism is going to continue to seek fuel and chase media/political oxygen. Those tasked with stopping it need to realize and come to terms with that if they are going to be successful in opposition.
It's not a dictate of course, but the best course of action for what I try to do here both individually as a writer and as part of the OT team. Folks can of course do as they see fit with TFG
I suspect folks will cry about the potential for ID fraud, why the military moved away from using SSN for ID and went back to service numbers a few years back.
1 and 2 go together, they fed each other and aren't as bad without the other. If you had to go with "one thing" it would be Wisconsin, and that smacks of a campaign decision more than probably just her deciding it alone, not that the one state wins it but it was the sign that the open door Trump would electorally slip through to win was left unattended. Unlike words that can be taken out of context or events the Clinton campaign could not control, that one is all on them.
If I might interject something here: Hillary Clinton, IMO to her credit, spent an entire chapter in her "What Happened" book to address the “We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business” incident (which happened after the "deplorables" one and fed the narrative) and her reactions to it, including meeting miners and dealing with it in person which didn't go well but she did show up and take the slings in person. The reason I cite it is yes there is a narrative drum beat around "likability" but there are some legit things buried under that, and contrary to the caricature of HRC she's acutely aware of it and if nothing else at least for political reasons tried to work on it, even if she didn't fully understand it or find it fair.
We aren't far off on principle here. There's a discussion to your point here of constantly getting elected on "get out" but politically incentivized to not once in office.
fair enough point that I consider myself but I keep coming back to the fact we can't claim to be a voting public but not take responsibility for the policymakers and permanent bureaucracy that we continue by omission or commission to vote for.
On “From CNBC: Early voting hits record high in Virginia ahead of dead-heat governor’s race”
TMac despite himself still wins by 3-5 points just on strength of Democratic electorate advantage. The howling and renting of clothes from the right will get half a news cycle while everyone's priors are confirmed.
On “The Lincoln Project Takes a Trip to the Theater”
This isn't really a political phenomena, Trump was better for the media business than Biden is. So you get this kabuki dance of news media folks that hate Trump but need him for their media business model and it leads to some truly schizophrenic coverage.
On “How Do You Define Intelligence?”
This reminds me of someone trying to evaluate a young and rather troublesome me to my parents by breaking down the difference between intelligence and clever, genius and ingenious.
On “Going to the Dogs Over Anthony Fauci”
The first rule of public relations is never knowingly lie. It always come back to bit you.
On “They’ll Think Themselves Victims: Scenes From An Oregon Attorney’s Office”
I appreciate and respect your thoughts, but feel the need to touch on a few things here. Burt can speak to his own piece and motivations, which I don't question beyond what he submits any more than I do anyone else who writes for us.
As the person who approves everything that goes on the website and thus is responsible for it, I can speak emphatically that we have never, nor ever will, post something "for the sole purpose of the commentariat congratulating each other on how much smarter and better and more ethical they are than “those people”. The piece comes across as frustrated more than mocking to me but everyone can take it as they read it. Even if so, there is no ethical standard for anonymously mocking someone, though we can debate the taste or morality of that. Nor do I agree with everything Burt asserts here, but me or any other editor agreeing with the particulars of a piece is not a criteria for posting on Ordinary Times. The post does serve a purpose, in my opinion, of taking the angle the bad legal advice these folks are getting running into an actual attorney who by oath and law has to tell them things they aren't going to like. Agree or disagree with it that take or opinion or Burt's method, that is a relevant topic and POV. Anything beyond that can, as always, be hashed out in comments, or better yet anyone who wants to write a rebuttal or criticism of Burt's take, or anything else published on OT, can do so and submit it.
On “Albums That Changed Everything versus Albums That You Can Still Listen To”
Semi-Off topic but being a big Black Crows fans I've always wondered how many takes it took to get the cut shot of legendarily stoic (except when fighting with his brother Chris) Rich Robinson smiling ever-so-slightly at the 2:55 point.
I'm completely with Jay here. Growing up in that time period, grunge hasn't aged well as a whole, not as well as the "bad" music is replaced on the charts which was at least fun. There are certain works that wind up being timeless, and I think this illistrates the point well.
On “Parsing Out Pete Buttigieg, Parenting And Otherwise”
There is zero chance of having fully self-driving trucks anytime soon. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and insurance issues alone will prevent it, let alone the technology.
"
I'm reminded of the chronically bad at strategery Ryan Grimm, now of the Intercept, and a few others making the decision to change all HuffPost coverage of then-candidate Donald Trump to the entertainment section thinking this was a brilliant statement. It was not only foolish but had the exact opposite affect since it was, to the Trump fans, one more example of (insert various grievance trope about media here, there are many to choose from). Folks fueled by that stuff are like dealing with the Borg, nothing you throw at them is going to work, it just assimilates into their worldview of never being wrong and everyone out to get them. That's not a unique thing to Trumpian die-hards, but they are the glaring example at this particular moment in time.
I'm reminded of when we did firefighting training, they douse hay bails in accelerant and then place them in the corners of the fire tower. The reason - and lesson for the newbies - is if you hit a flaming hay bail directly with the hose, instead of putting out the fire the water pressure explodes it like a bomb and spreads fire all over the room. But you can use indirect methods to change the flow of oxygen in that same room, and lessen the fire and then attack it in the weakened state. Fire doesn't negotiate, it eats fuel and breaths oxygen and relentlessly seeks out both regardless what you think about it, so the reality of that needs to be drilled into the heads of those tasked with stopping it.
Part of dealing with fire is understand what is already on fire is gone already even if it isn't completely invovled yet, so you pick your line and stop the spread, starve it, then kill it. The damage done by the populist Trumpist that have gone full cult of personality isn't changeable by normal means, and its foolish to pretend the fire damage isn't there. But going forward we can attack it with indirect methods, and as it burns all its own fuel up deny it further fuel and oxygen and contain it going forward. That's not a popular thing, like with a fire the house is probably already damaged beyond repair. But it's your only option for dealing with it. Trumpism is going to continue to seek fuel and chase media/political oxygen. Those tasked with stopping it need to realize and come to terms with that if they are going to be successful in opposition.
Just how I approach it.
"
It's not a dictate of course, but the best course of action for what I try to do here both individually as a writer and as part of the OT team. Folks can of course do as they see fit with TFG
"
Thanks for reading
On “No Federal Charges For Jacob Blake Shooting”
Especially after he had already shrugged off the non-lethal deployment before that
On “The DoD, CYA, And The “Accountability For Afghanistan” Blame Game”
Great point
On “The Georgia Howl Of The Trump Vendetta Ride”
This is a good point
On “We Are All Journalists Now”
"Rank sets your pay, Authority gets things done, Accountability is what you pay for both" a wise old Chief told me once a long time ago...
On “About Last Night: Gavin Newsom’s Comfy California Recall Edition”
well played
On “Mistrial Declared in Backpage Case”
Concur
On “Ballot Zombies”
I suspect folks will cry about the potential for ID fraud, why the military moved away from using SSN for ID and went back to service numbers a few years back.
On “Time to Forget ‘Never Forget’”
Hey, beats the nihilist welcome gift of a bottomless tote bag.
That isn't a metaphor, it was literally a tote bag with no bottom in it.
"
"The author’s bio includes a reference to Stoicism, which would be a pretty useful thing for America overall to get to know and embrace."
I'm Stoicism-curious but never got around to the filling out the proper paperwork.
On ““Deplorables” Turns Five Years Old”
1 and 2 go together, they fed each other and aren't as bad without the other. If you had to go with "one thing" it would be Wisconsin, and that smacks of a campaign decision more than probably just her deciding it alone, not that the one state wins it but it was the sign that the open door Trump would electorally slip through to win was left unattended. Unlike words that can be taken out of context or events the Clinton campaign could not control, that one is all on them.
"
If I might interject something here: Hillary Clinton, IMO to her credit, spent an entire chapter in her "What Happened" book to address the “We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business” incident (which happened after the "deplorables" one and fed the narrative) and her reactions to it, including meeting miners and dealing with it in person which didn't go well but she did show up and take the slings in person. The reason I cite it is yes there is a narrative drum beat around "likability" but there are some legit things buried under that, and contrary to the caricature of HRC she's acutely aware of it and if nothing else at least for political reasons tried to work on it, even if she didn't fully understand it or find it fair.
On “An American Exercise In Washing Our Hands of Afghanistan”
we have no problem protesting other things...
"
We aren't far off on principle here. There's a discussion to your point here of constantly getting elected on "get out" but politically incentivized to not once in office.
"
fair enough point that I consider myself but I keep coming back to the fact we can't claim to be a voting public but not take responsibility for the policymakers and permanent bureaucracy that we continue by omission or commission to vote for.
On “Hurricane Ida: Live Stream And Open Thread”
You and yours stay safe today