He is a wanna be wise guy who thinks this is how you get the “best” deals and he is gonna do incalculable damage that people will regret even if they are adamant black pillers.
This is almost too kind even if you note correctly JB dislikes people who dislike Trump. I think it is more that he cannot or will not take anything seriously
The Bulwark looks at the curious case of Lindy Li, a woman who spent 2024 being a very big Democratic cheerleader in PA but turned to a proud Fox News apostate right after the election.
On the one hand, a lot of the "fact checking" that the media engages in is very flawed and almost comically absurd. During the Democratic convention, Harris had an attack line against tariffs and how they will raise the average American's taxes/spending. The media had a "fact check" on how this requires context because even though tariffs are not a direct tax on people, companies often respond to tariffs by raising prices so the consumer pays.
If the media feels pathologically compelled to do this kind of fact-checking perhaps it should go. You also can't fact check your way out of fascism/authoritarianism.
On the other hand, at least it was a nominal effort to keep right-wing propaganda and Trump's never ending flows of lies and falsehoods in check and it is gone. Dana White, a MAGA MMA type is also on their board of directors and corporate overlords seem to be very quickly moving into trying to get rid of anything progressive or a pesky regulation that kept employment places decent.
"[M]embers of labor unions, and unorganized unskilled workers, will sooner or later realize that their government is not even trying to prevent wages from sinking or to prevent jobs from being exported. Around the same time, they will realize that suburban white-collar workers—themselves desperately afraid of being downsized—are not going to let themselves be taxed to provide social benefits for anyone else.
At that point, something will crack. The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking for a strongman to vote for — someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots. A scenario like that of Sinclair Lewis' novel It Can't Happen Here may then be played out. For once such a strongman takes office, nobody can predict what will happen. In 1932, most of the predictions made about what would happen if Hindenburg named Hitler chancellor were wildly overoptimistic.
One thing that is very likely to happen is that the gains made in the past 40 years by black and brown Americans, and by homosexuals, will be wiped out. Jocular contempt for women will come back into fashion. The words 'n****(' and 'k***' will once again be heard in the workplace. All the sadism which the academic left has tried to make unacceptable to its students will come flooding back. All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet. "-Achieving Our Country, Richard Rorty, published 26 years too early perhaps.
On a certain emotional level, I get the idea of tuning out. Like a lot of Democrats, I am deeply upset about the 2024 results and a lot of my fellow Democrats seem to think "Okay, we tried to warn you. You didn't listen. I guess you need to learn the hard way." It has a certain aspect of self-care to it. Things look like they could be dark for a while and I have mixed opinions on whether it is wise or not for the Democratic Party to become a total opposition party. I generally think the only way to win with Trump is not to play but Democratic Party politicians are pathologically incapable of just sitting back even if there is a part of me that thinks "Okay, you say you can work with Trump on kitchen sink issues but how is that going to help when he puts Congress in permanent recess like a would be Charles I." But on the other hand, Trump is not President yet and doing that now just looks chicken little and again, Democrats are pathological towards trying to wrassle something out anything
But checking out is still obeying in advance in some or many ways.
"To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle. One thing that helps toward it is to keep a diary, or, at any rate, to keep some kind of record of one’s opinions about important events. Otherwise, when some particularly absurd belief is exploded by events, one may simply forget that one ever held it. Political predictions are usually wrong. But even when one makes a correct one, to discover why one was right can be very illuminating."-George Orwell
There seem to be a lot of Democrats and anti-Trump types who are looking at 2024 as an "okay, you need to learn the hard way situation." But part of getting people to tune out is the authoritarian playbook.
Vivek seems to have lectured white people like white people lecturer black people and they did not like it. His examples were very old outdated cliches though
Trump is apparently going on again about reclaiming the Panama Canal and Greenland for the United States. This is how CNN decided to "cover" it: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eba4a05a631486aa030e5905a4964f79e63a24d794350612f1fff67f92c54f34.jpg
"The president-elect has suggested a territorial extension into Panama, Greenland and Canada. If he's serious, it would rival the Louisiana Purchase"
One of the things taken out of the Continuing Resolution was money for Pediatric Cancer research.
Today, in the rare unanimous consent vote, the Senate Passed the Gabriella Miller Act which provides 12.6 million a year for 5 years for Pediatric Cancer research. The Senate passed a bill identical to one passed in the House. It now goes to Biden for signature.
"But This misses the real point. This wasn’t Trump’s bill. This was Trump and Johnson’s attempt to clean up the mess Musk created when he tanked their bill. I stick by what I said yesterday: The real story here is that Trump has lost control of the process at what should be his moment of maximum power. As far as I can tell Musk himself didn’t even express an opinion on the vote for the clean up. He’s off to something else. Or he was only there for blowing things up. Putting them back together is someone else’s problem. He left that to Trump and Johnson.
Musk’s superpower here is that he doens’t give a crap. He’s not worried about the midterms or his 2028 reelect. He’s only on hand for the fun.
As I noted yesterday, yes, Trump loves chaos. But his chaos, not someone else’s. His chaos keeps him the center of the action. It forces everyone back on their heels and reacting to him. But here Trump is being forced to react to Musk’s chaos. That’s very different.
Trump’s weathered a lot. It’s not like he’s done for. They’ll eventually figure something out. But the new dynamic here is what’s really important. Trump allowed Musk into the center of power and now Musk is the one calling the shots."
Speaking of capacity, Trump seems not like the President Musk line: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/07a8bcc09d7e05337c7acf2466c55cbe43f296f41004b45d20fb10ee46d95540.jpg
And it was rejected despite Trump's backing and making it easier to get money from China, giving more profits to health insurers, and stripping 190 million from Pediatric Cancer research. As Kevin Drum notes:
1.Democrats negotiate with Speaker Mike Johnson on a CR to keep the government open for another three months.
2. After a bit of minor pressure from Elon Musk, Johnson reneges on the deal.
3. The new deal is: F you. We get everything we want, you get nothing.
On “Multiple Wildfires Rip Through Los Angeles Amid Historic Winds”
Are you telling me JB is trolling?
No….
On “Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago Press Conference: Watch It For Yourself”
He is a wanna be wise guy who thinks this is how you get the “best” deals and he is gonna do incalculable damage that people will regret even if they are adamant black pillers.
On “Open Mic for the week of 1/6/2025”
What economic forces will Trump use to get Canada to bend the knee?
On “Meta Ends Fact-checking Program”
Trump is apparently boasting that this happened because he threatened Zucks but somewhere a winemom was cringe and that is the real sin
"
This is almost too kind even if you note correctly JB dislikes people who dislike Trump. I think it is more that he cannot or will not take anything seriously
"
Yep.
On “Open Mic for the week of 1/6/2025”
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-curious-case-of-lindy-li
The Bulwark looks at the curious case of Lindy Li, a woman who spent 2024 being a very big Democratic cheerleader in PA but turned to a proud Fox News apostate right after the election.
On “Meta Ends Fact-checking Program”
You are a miscreant troll who is too cowardly to admit he likes Trump so you continue your silly dance
"
On the one hand, a lot of the "fact checking" that the media engages in is very flawed and almost comically absurd. During the Democratic convention, Harris had an attack line against tariffs and how they will raise the average American's taxes/spending. The media had a "fact check" on how this requires context because even though tariffs are not a direct tax on people, companies often respond to tariffs by raising prices so the consumer pays.
If the media feels pathologically compelled to do this kind of fact-checking perhaps it should go. You also can't fact check your way out of fascism/authoritarianism.
On the other hand, at least it was a nominal effort to keep right-wing propaganda and Trump's never ending flows of lies and falsehoods in check and it is gone. Dana White, a MAGA MMA type is also on their board of directors and corporate overlords seem to be very quickly moving into trying to get rid of anything progressive or a pesky regulation that kept employment places decent.
"[M]embers of labor unions, and unorganized unskilled workers, will sooner or later realize that their government is not even trying to prevent wages from sinking or to prevent jobs from being exported. Around the same time, they will realize that suburban white-collar workers—themselves desperately afraid of being downsized—are not going to let themselves be taxed to provide social benefits for anyone else.
At that point, something will crack. The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking for a strongman to vote for — someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots. A scenario like that of Sinclair Lewis' novel It Can't Happen Here may then be played out. For once such a strongman takes office, nobody can predict what will happen. In 1932, most of the predictions made about what would happen if Hindenburg named Hitler chancellor were wildly overoptimistic.
One thing that is very likely to happen is that the gains made in the past 40 years by black and brown Americans, and by homosexuals, will be wiped out. Jocular contempt for women will come back into fashion. The words 'n****(' and 'k***' will once again be heard in the workplace. All the sadism which the academic left has tried to make unacceptable to its students will come flooding back. All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet. "-Achieving Our Country, Richard Rorty, published 26 years too early perhaps.
On “The Virtue of Tuning Out”
On a certain emotional level, I get the idea of tuning out. Like a lot of Democrats, I am deeply upset about the 2024 results and a lot of my fellow Democrats seem to think "Okay, we tried to warn you. You didn't listen. I guess you need to learn the hard way." It has a certain aspect of self-care to it. Things look like they could be dark for a while and I have mixed opinions on whether it is wise or not for the Democratic Party to become a total opposition party. I generally think the only way to win with Trump is not to play but Democratic Party politicians are pathologically incapable of just sitting back even if there is a part of me that thinks "Okay, you say you can work with Trump on kitchen sink issues but how is that going to help when he puts Congress in permanent recess like a would be Charles I." But on the other hand, Trump is not President yet and doing that now just looks chicken little and again, Democrats are pathological towards trying to wrassle something out anything
But checking out is still obeying in advance in some or many ways.
"
"To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle. One thing that helps toward it is to keep a diary, or, at any rate, to keep some kind of record of one’s opinions about important events. Otherwise, when some particularly absurd belief is exploded by events, one may simply forget that one ever held it. Political predictions are usually wrong. But even when one makes a correct one, to discover why one was right can be very illuminating."-George Orwell
There seem to be a lot of Democrats and anti-Trump types who are looking at 2024 as an "okay, you need to learn the hard way situation." But part of getting people to tune out is the authoritarian playbook.
On “Open Mic for the week of 1/6/2025”
Though it comes with plenty of quid pro quo corruption
"
Looks like we might not have super high tariffs after all: https://jabberwocking.com/trump-preparing-to-abandon-yet-another-promise/
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/30/2024”
The devil is in the details.
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/23/2024”
Vivek seems to have lectured white people like white people lecturer black people and they did not like it. His examples were very old outdated cliches though
"
You have a monomania about this conspiracy boy.
"
Trump is apparently going on again about reclaiming the Panama Canal and Greenland for the United States. This is how CNN decided to "cover" it: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eba4a05a631486aa030e5905a4964f79e63a24d794350612f1fff67f92c54f34.jpg
"The president-elect has suggested a territorial extension into Panama, Greenland and Canada. If he's serious, it would rival the Louisiana Purchase"
Our media is not made of serious people.
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/16/2024”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance
"
One of the things taken out of the Continuing Resolution was money for Pediatric Cancer research.
Today, in the rare unanimous consent vote, the Senate Passed the Gabriella Miller Act which provides 12.6 million a year for 5 years for Pediatric Cancer research. The Senate passed a bill identical to one passed in the House. It now goes to Biden for signature.
"
President Musk, mastermind of the upcoming shutdown, has just announced his support for Alternative for Germany, the far-right would be N##i Party
On “From The Wall Street Journal: How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge”
Josh Marshall:
"But This misses the real point. This wasn’t Trump’s bill. This was Trump and Johnson’s attempt to clean up the mess Musk created when he tanked their bill. I stick by what I said yesterday: The real story here is that Trump has lost control of the process at what should be his moment of maximum power. As far as I can tell Musk himself didn’t even express an opinion on the vote for the clean up. He’s off to something else. Or he was only there for blowing things up. Putting them back together is someone else’s problem. He left that to Trump and Johnson.
Musk’s superpower here is that he doens’t give a crap. He’s not worried about the midterms or his 2028 reelect. He’s only on hand for the fun.
As I noted yesterday, yes, Trump loves chaos. But his chaos, not someone else’s. His chaos keeps him the center of the action. It forces everyone back on their heels and reacting to him. But here Trump is being forced to react to Musk’s chaos. That’s very different.
Trump’s weathered a lot. It’s not like he’s done for. They’ll eventually figure something out. But the new dynamic here is what’s really important. Trump allowed Musk into the center of power and now Musk is the one calling the shots."
"
Speaking of capacity, Trump seems not like the President Musk line: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/07a8bcc09d7e05337c7acf2466c55cbe43f296f41004b45d20fb10ee46d95540.jpg
"
Still more competent than the GOP
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/16/2024”
And it was rejected despite Trump's backing and making it easier to get money from China, giving more profits to health insurers, and stripping 190 million from Pediatric Cancer research. As Kevin Drum notes:
1.Democrats negotiate with Speaker Mike Johnson on a CR to keep the government open for another three months.
2. After a bit of minor pressure from Elon Musk, Johnson reneges on the deal.
3. The new deal is: F you. We get everything we want, you get nothing.
On “Fani Willis Disqualification Ruling: Read It For Yourself”
Bending the knee for Musk and Trump
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.