My wife has recently started watching reruns of "Match Game", and it's interesting how often Billy Carter comes up as a reference and the whole cast laughs because Obviously Everybody Knows Who That Is, Right?
See also PJ O'Rourke complaining that he couldn't write a political-humor book because if he tried to make it about contemporary political figures he'd be revising right up to print time "and still come up with a book as dated as a Jody Powell joke" (which, reading the book in 1989, I had no idea who Jody Powell was but at least I understood the sentiment.)
"Like, with Captain Hindsight parked firmly next to me I ask myself “Would Klobuchar or Pete truly have failed to catch on in a race with Biden not ever in it? "
(Sanders was even with Biden until those two dropped out 18 hours before the Super Tuesday poll.)
" the farm owners want to pay wages that are less than an American would take for doing that kind of work. "
Maybe the Americans have the right idea, considering that part of the "wages" are things like "sun-protection PPE, regular water breaks (and water), bathroom facilities, work aids like collection tools and wheeled carry tubs", all of which are legally (and morally) required to be provided by the employer.
The reason it all went to Mexico is tax cheating, and for automobiles more esoteric games involving fuel-economy standards. These cars should always have cost as much as Trump's tariffs will make them cost.
I mean, you're not wrong to say "these tariffs will make all the stuff more expensive" but most of the people complaining about this were just talking about how rotten it is that these big companies don't pay any taxes on anything ever.
Someone pointed out that one of the biggest problems of the Activist Left is that its concept of politics is based on the Russian Revolution, where the goal is to get a lot of people very excited and in the same place at the same time, and to effect change you point them at the current Obstacle and say "kill". This is why you get Omnicause thinking, "antiracism is antireligion is antitransphobia is equal-pay-for-women is reproductive-rights is economic-justice is environmental protection is antiimperialism is Equality For Gaza is pro-vegan".
And their problem is that you can't jettison any particular part of that without going against your fundamental concept of political organization. It's like telling Southern Baptists not to open with a prayer. If that's what it takes to win then they'd rather lose, because "winning" by giving up everything you are is meaningless.
"I’m sure neo-cons and the dems who love them will really hate peace in Ukraine..."
For the Roman definition of "peace", of course, but hey, who cares what happens to a bunch of Polack Jews, right? If they were worth anything they'd have moved to America, right?
"But breathless “what if” scenarios about losing x, y or z is the real vaporware."
(that clicking noise you hear is Puccio frantically deleting his tweets about how Harris will institute confiscatory gun-control policy and make it a felony crime to own ammunition)
"I can’t help but notice you’ve conflated a lot of Trump’s promised policies with potential poor outcomes."
hey so when you talk about how Harris would've done thus-and-so and it would've been so bad, would you say that's "conflating...promised policies with potential poor outcomes", and if not why not?
"For the first time since 2003 there is not a U.S. combat presence anywhere in the world."
The US is engaged actively in the Red Sea, has bases in Syria that are routinely the subject of bombardments, and was a major part of the defense against Iran's attack on Israel in April 2024. You're right that we don't have tens of thousands of troops occupying large parts of foreign countries, but it's really not true at all to say there's "no combat presence anywhere in the world".
There's also a Test Ban Treaty, and violating that would probably have significant consequences (as in "China might stop selling them US electronics parts" level of consequences)
The interesting thing will be when the Congressional Democrats shut down government again, will it be interpreted as "brave adults standing strong against a squalling toddler throwing a tantrum because he can't have a toy" or as "I recognize that you find your principles really important and I respect that but also we need to have a functional country"...
Thing is, “Kamala actually did pretty well. Nobody could have done better" appears to be true.
Anywhere Harris campaigned heavily went for her. The money she spent worked for her.
What swung things was that there were more places that she didn't campaign heavily, and those places were coin-flips, and enough of them came up Trump to matter.
"Well, why were so many of those places coin-flips" is a decent question but it's not one that the Harris campaign was going to be able to answer with only three months to work.
"technically we won, according to the rules" is not the kind of thing that you say when you're confident that people like you and are happy that you came out on top.
"Personally, I think that the omnicause is a problem but it’s also held by the only folks in the coalition that know how to reward friends and punish enemies (at the cost of also punishing “enemies”)."
And I think one problem is that for a lot of people, punishing enemies is the reward they're looking for.
To quote P.J. O'Rourke, "there's nothing more oily and cynical you can do than to tell the truth. Think how oily and cynical it was for the Republicans to tell the truth about Willie Horton and Kitty Dukakis."
"We managed to get a constitutional amendment to prevent alcohol in the face of the bulk of the nation being drinkers."
Well, it's not like there was some amazing political negotiation and trading that led to the passage of the Volstead Act. What happened was that the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920 and all the women promptly voted for Dry politicians (who had been advocating for suffrage because women wanted to vote for them so their husbands would stop coming home drunk and beating the shit out of them.)
On “Open Mic for the week of 11/25/2024”
"The question is whether throwing some constituency under the bus would pay off."
It worked for Clinton in 1992...
On “Joe Biden Pardons Local Man”
My wife has recently started watching reruns of "Match Game", and it's interesting how often Billy Carter comes up as a reference and the whole cast laughs because Obviously Everybody Knows Who That Is, Right?
See also PJ O'Rourke complaining that he couldn't write a political-humor book because if he tried to make it about contemporary political figures he'd be revising right up to print time "and still come up with a book as dated as a Jody Powell joke" (which, reading the book in 1989, I had no idea who Jody Powell was but at least I understood the sentiment.)
On “I Told You So”
"continue to blame the Muslims in Michigan..."
dude, he isn't *blaming* them.
"
"Like, with Captain Hindsight parked firmly next to me I ask myself “Would Klobuchar or Pete truly have failed to catch on in a race with Biden not ever in it? "
(Sanders was even with Biden until those two dropped out 18 hours before the Super Tuesday poll.)
On “Open Mic for the week of 11/25/2024”
" the farm owners want to pay wages that are less than an American would take for doing that kind of work. "
Maybe the Americans have the right idea, considering that part of the "wages" are things like "sun-protection PPE, regular water breaks (and water), bathroom facilities, work aids like collection tools and wheeled carry tubs", all of which are legally (and morally) required to be provided by the employer.
On “I Told You So”
"You’re familiar with the old saw from the War on Terror days, right?"
mehhh, bro, that was a long time ago bro, you're still talking about that?
On “Open Mic for the week of 11/25/2024”
"There is no cost business will incur that won’t be passed on to consumers."
I never suggested anything different, sir.
"
hm, yes, but I'm old enough to remember this.
"
The reason it all went to Mexico is tax cheating, and for automobiles more esoteric games involving fuel-economy standards. These cars should always have cost as much as Trump's tariffs will make them cost.
I mean, you're not wrong to say "these tariffs will make all the stuff more expensive" but most of the people complaining about this were just talking about how rotten it is that these big companies don't pay any taxes on anything ever.
"
"How could we get this work done if we didn't have all these slaves?"
On “The Mandate That Wasn’t”
"Gaetz always seemed like a negotiating tactic to me. "
Gaetz was Trump's Kyiv; an assault that bogged down almost immediately and was rebranded as a "strategic diversion".
On “Open Mic for the week of 11/25/2024”
Someone pointed out that one of the biggest problems of the Activist Left is that its concept of politics is based on the Russian Revolution, where the goal is to get a lot of people very excited and in the same place at the same time, and to effect change you point them at the current Obstacle and say "kill". This is why you get Omnicause thinking, "antiracism is antireligion is antitransphobia is equal-pay-for-women is reproductive-rights is economic-justice is environmental protection is antiimperialism is Equality For Gaza is pro-vegan".
And their problem is that you can't jettison any particular part of that without going against your fundamental concept of political organization. It's like telling Southern Baptists not to open with a prayer. If that's what it takes to win then they'd rather lose, because "winning" by giving up everything you are is meaningless.
On “The Mandate That Wasn’t”
"I’m sure neo-cons and the dems who love them will really hate peace in Ukraine..."
For the Roman definition of "peace", of course, but hey, who cares what happens to a bunch of Polack Jews, right? If they were worth anything they'd have moved to America, right?
"But breathless “what if” scenarios about losing x, y or z is the real vaporware."
(that clicking noise you hear is Puccio frantically deleting his tweets about how Harris will institute confiscatory gun-control policy and make it a felony crime to own ammunition)
"I can’t help but notice you’ve conflated a lot of Trump’s promised policies with potential poor outcomes."
hey so when you talk about how Harris would've done thus-and-so and it would've been so bad, would you say that's "conflating...promised policies with potential poor outcomes", and if not why not?
"
"For the first time since 2003 there is not a U.S. combat presence anywhere in the world."
The US is engaged actively in the Red Sea, has bases in Syria that are routinely the subject of bombardments, and was a major part of the defense against Iran's attack on Israel in April 2024. You're right that we don't have tens of thousands of troops occupying large parts of foreign countries, but it's really not true at all to say there's "no combat presence anywhere in the world".
On “Open Mic for the week of 11/18/2024”
There's also a Test Ban Treaty, and violating that would probably have significant consequences (as in "China might stop selling them US electronics parts" level of consequences)
On “The Mandate That Wasn’t”
The interesting thing will be when the Congressional Democrats shut down government again, will it be interpreted as "brave adults standing strong against a squalling toddler throwing a tantrum because he can't have a toy" or as "I recognize that you find your principles really important and I respect that but also we need to have a functional country"...
"
Thing is, “Kamala actually did pretty well. Nobody could have done better" appears to be true.
Anywhere Harris campaigned heavily went for her. The money she spent worked for her.
What swung things was that there were more places that she didn't campaign heavily, and those places were coin-flips, and enough of them came up Trump to matter.
"Well, why were so many of those places coin-flips" is a decent question but it's not one that the Harris campaign was going to be able to answer with only three months to work.
"
"technically we won, according to the rules" is not the kind of thing that you say when you're confident that people like you and are happy that you came out on top.
On “Open Mic for the week of 11/18/2024”
"Who's the Vice President? Jerry Lewis?! And I suppose Jack Benny is the Secretary of the Treasury!"
"
"Personally, I think that the omnicause is a problem but it’s also held by the only folks in the coalition that know how to reward friends and punish enemies (at the cost of also punishing “enemies”)."
And I think one problem is that for a lot of people, punishing enemies is the reward they're looking for.
On “Ordinary Times Needs Your Help”
Just like old Jack Burton always says...
On “Mindless Diversions Extra: The Audience That Wasn’t There”
https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-says-it-should-have-done-user-testing-and-internal-evaluation-earlier-on-concord
(as the guys at Penny Arcade said, "...they're saying that they didn't do that?")
On “Misinformation (In Practice)”
To quote P.J. O'Rourke, "there's nothing more oily and cynical you can do than to tell the truth. Think how oily and cynical it was for the Republicans to tell the truth about Willie Horton and Kitty Dukakis."
On “Open Mic for the week of 11/11/2024”
"We managed to get a constitutional amendment to prevent alcohol in the face of the bulk of the nation being drinkers."
Well, it's not like there was some amazing political negotiation and trading that led to the passage of the Volstead Act. What happened was that the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920 and all the women promptly voted for Dry politicians (who had been advocating for suffrage because women wanted to vote for them so their husbands would stop coming home drunk and beating the shit out of them.)
On “How Republicans Can Save Trump’s Presidency”
Maybe one thing we should take from this is that Republicans can run on "I'm Not That Guy" but Democrats can't.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.