The epitome of "what happened to San Francisco" was when an illegal immigrant who'd been deported four times stole a gun out of an unlocked police car and used it to shoot a tourist dead and didn't get convicted of a single crime other than "unlawful possession of a firearm" (and that got overturned on appeal.)
Pretty much everything since then has been variations on that theme.
"The one thing I’m stuck on in this reply is its reliance on the number of voters, as though the number of voters were a sign that something is, or is not, fascism."
people sure did care about "the number of voters" back in 2016
Most people who talk about Orwell are talking about Meme Orwell, which is "about evil badguys who, like, control information, and stuff, and how that's bad".
A lot of people don't recognize that Orwell didn't have much use for liberals, either; he was much more of a hard-Left bothsides-er than people are really aware of.
"Sometimes, you have to do the right thing even when there is no advantage to it."
in the thread about the assassination attempt you're telling me that the cop taking cover instead of assaulting the shooter was the right move because there's no expectation for him to put his life on the line
I dunno. I don't recall the book being all that much about I'm So Great Because I'm Great, it was more of a bootstraps narrative. But he wasn't writing about me personally, so it probably doesn't land the same for me.
" a lot of health care resources (in addition to general amenities) are out of state. This was especially a problem when we were on Medicaid because no out-of-state providers accept it."
This is, I think, one of the biggest benefits of a Medicare-For-All type national health-coverage program. Not because it'll cost any less or lead to better overall outcomes, but the elimination of user-is-not-the-customer issues like this one.
"This is why I bring up that Hillbilly Elegy was a book club book."
It's also important to remember that despite people now talking about how it's crapping on rural right-wingers, it was seen as extremely pro right-wing when it came out, mostly because of its thesis that the solution to people's problems was for those people to Shut Up And Shape Up.
"the point is not to die for your country, it’s to make the other sonofabitch die for his country."
Sounds great. I'll be at the gun store tomorrow, making sure that when there's trouble and a cop is standing outside the door thinking "well it's not my job to die here" I have some options.
"What should the local cop have done that he didn’t?"
Get shot.
Setting aside the exigent circumstances of "there's a former President with nothing between him and this rooftop but a couple hundred yards of air", the deal that we were told to accept was that we don't carry our own guns and in return, the cops take a bullet if that's what's warranted. If you want to tell me that the cops are going to back off and look to their own safety before mine and that's okay, then maybe that deal needs to be re-negotiated.
Oh, there are! What I'm saying here is, let's not go out of our way to make this guy over as some kind of secular saint. "We can all hope to react so well when it comes to such a moment," and move on.
A gunshot is a real good signal that someone with a gun and willingness to use it is nearby; and the Secret Service might have been interested to have that information before an ex-President got shot in the face.
Apparently the social-media-comber crew is going for this guy instead of the shooter (because the shooter hasn't got much) and hoo boy, they're finding a ton of fun stuff. This dude was real fond of being a piece of shit online.
I'm glad that in the moment he had the right instincts and the needed reflexes, but it just goes to show that physical courage and being a decent human being are not always related.
oh hey, another one of those situations where a local cop thinks "maybe what the brave thin-blue-line hero ought to do here is put a couple walls between himself and that rifle"
Vogtle 3 and 4 got expensive because they ended up including the cost of "teach the industry how to build nuclear reactors again, and teach the regulatory apparatus how to manage nuclear reactor construction projects again". There'd been twenty years of nothing-much-happening, during which all the contractors who'd learned how to build nuclear reactors went out of business and all the regulators who'd learned how to manage nuclear-plant construction retired.
And now the response will be "oh, well, we just can't do nuclear I guess, time to spend another twenty years not doing nuclear plants".
And the people who are just so worried about the word "nuclear" will feel comforted and safe, which is the feeling that white Americans want more than anything else.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Open Mic for the week of 7/15/2024”
The epitome of "what happened to San Francisco" was when an illegal immigrant who'd been deported four times stole a gun out of an unlocked police car and used it to shoot a tourist dead and didn't get convicted of a single crime other than "unlawful possession of a firearm" (and that got overturned on appeal.)
Pretty much everything since then has been variations on that theme.
"
What could be more American than that?
On “Voting for Republicans is Voting for Fascism”
"The one thing I’m stuck on in this reply is its reliance on the number of voters, as though the number of voters were a sign that something is, or is not, fascism."
people sure did care about "the number of voters" back in 2016
On “Open Mic for the week of 7/15/2024”
Most people who talk about Orwell are talking about Meme Orwell, which is "about evil badguys who, like, control information, and stuff, and how that's bad".
A lot of people don't recognize that Orwell didn't have much use for liberals, either; he was much more of a hard-Left bothsides-er than people are really aware of.
"
"Or you could answer the question."
(He did answer the question.)
"
"Sometimes, you have to do the right thing even when there is no advantage to it."
in the thread about the assassination attempt you're telling me that the cop taking cover instead of assaulting the shooter was the right move because there's no expectation for him to put his life on the line
"
is this the Bargaining phase?
On “Trump Picks Senator JD Vance as Running Mate”
I dunno. I don't recall the book being all that much about I'm So Great Because I'm Great, it was more of a bootstraps narrative. But he wasn't writing about me personally, so it probably doesn't land the same for me.
On “Struggling For Normal”
" a lot of health care resources (in addition to general amenities) are out of state. This was especially a problem when we were on Medicaid because no out-of-state providers accept it."
This is, I think, one of the biggest benefits of a Medicare-For-All type national health-coverage program. Not because it'll cost any less or lead to better overall outcomes, but the elimination of user-is-not-the-customer issues like this one.
On “Open Mic for the week of 7/15/2024”
"A child will like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; a jazz aficionado will be able to follow and enjoy even the most tenuous musicality."
yes, clearly no serious musician would ever consider "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" worthy of investigation or elaboration
"The 1990’s saw deliberately-written arcs...[w]e forgot what genders we were."
sitting here in awe of the audacity of the argument that transgender culture is the result of television shows having a plot.
On “Judge Cannon Dismisses Trump Documents Case: Read It For Yourself”
As I said in the other post, her legal reasoning was "the bullet missed? He's gonna win. Time to show I'm On The Team."
On “Trump Picks Senator JD Vance as Running Mate”
"This is why I bring up that Hillbilly Elegy was a book club book."
It's also important to remember that despite people now talking about how it's crapping on rural right-wingers, it was seen as extremely pro right-wing when it came out, mostly because of its thesis that the solution to people's problems was for those people to Shut Up And Shape Up.
On “Trump was just shot at a rally. He appears to be fine.”
" when a guy is in position with the rifle aimed and finger on the trigger, "
(if the rifle wasn't pointed at the ladder then the cop wouldn't have got shot climbing it)
"
"the point is not to die for your country, it’s to make the other sonofabitch die for his country."
Sounds great. I'll be at the gun store tomorrow, making sure that when there's trouble and a cop is standing outside the door thinking "well it's not my job to die here" I have some options.
"
"What makes you think the shooter couldn’t have shot the cop, then shot the President, making the cop’s sacrifice pointless?"
because the Secret Service is not gonna hear gunshots and think "eh, probably nothing"
"
"What should the local cop have done that he didn’t?"
Get shot.
Setting aside the exigent circumstances of "there's a former President with nothing between him and this rooftop but a couple hundred yards of air", the deal that we were told to accept was that we don't carry our own guns and in return, the cops take a bullet if that's what's warranted. If you want to tell me that the cops are going to back off and look to their own safety before mine and that's okay, then maybe that deal needs to be re-negotiated.
"
rather amused to see someone whose whole job on this Earth is words claim that "could" and "should" are close enough to be considered identical
"
"There are a lot of ways to be a decent human. "
Oh, there are! What I'm saying here is, let's not go out of our way to make this guy over as some kind of secular saint. "We can all hope to react so well when it comes to such a moment," and move on.
"
A gunshot is a real good signal that someone with a gun and willingness to use it is nearby; and the Secret Service might have been interested to have that information before an ex-President got shot in the face.
"
I'm very amused that you made up a way in your head for someone shooting at Donald Trump to somehow be the Republicans' fault.
On “Open Mic for the week of 7/15/2024”
"The bullet missed? He's gonna win. Time to show that I'm On The Team."
On “Trump was just shot at a rally. He appears to be fine.”
Apparently the social-media-comber crew is going for this guy instead of the shooter (because the shooter hasn't got much) and hoo boy, they're finding a ton of fun stuff. This dude was real fond of being a piece of shit online.
I'm glad that in the moment he had the right instincts and the needed reflexes, but it just goes to show that physical courage and being a decent human being are not always related.
"
oh hey, another one of those situations where a local cop thinks "maybe what the brave thin-blue-line hero ought to do here is put a couple walls between himself and that rifle"
"
It is honestly amazing to me that there are truthers about this.
On “Linky Friday: Eternal Vigilance Requires Eternal Listicles, Soundtracked to Roundball Rock”
Vogtle 3 and 4 got expensive because they ended up including the cost of "teach the industry how to build nuclear reactors again, and teach the regulatory apparatus how to manage nuclear reactor construction projects again". There'd been twenty years of nothing-much-happening, during which all the contractors who'd learned how to build nuclear reactors went out of business and all the regulators who'd learned how to manage nuclear-plant construction retired.
And now the response will be "oh, well, we just can't do nuclear I guess, time to spend another twenty years not doing nuclear plants".
And the people who are just so worried about the word "nuclear" will feel comforted and safe, which is the feeling that white Americans want more than anything else.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.