Krugman's last column for the times comparing when he started to now: What strikes me, looking back, is how optimistic many people, both here and in much of the Western world, were back then and the extent to which that optimism has been replaced by anger and resentment. And I’m not just talking about members of the working class who feel betrayed by elites; some of the angriest, most resentful people in America right now — people who seem very likely to have a lot of influence with the incoming Trump administration — are billionaires who don’t feel sufficiently admired.
It’s hard to convey just how good most Americans were feeling in 1999 and early 2000. Polls showed a level of satisfaction with the direction of the country that looks surreal by today’s standards. My sense of what happened in the 2000 election was that many Americans took peace and prosperity for granted, so they voted for the guy who seemed as if he’d be more fun to hang out with.
In Europe, too, things seemed to be going well. In particular, the introduction of the euro in 1999 was widely hailed as a step toward closer political as well as economic integration — toward a United States of Europe, if you like. Some of us ugly Americans had misgivings, but initially they weren’t widely shared.
Murdoch fails spectacularly in his bid to rewrite his irrevocable trust and keep Fox even more right wing: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/business/media/rupert-lachlan-murdoch-family-trust.html
The alleged suspect appears to have undergone some back surgery which changed him. Perhaps a lumbar-fusion surgery. I generally see this kind of surgery performed on much older people.
We know he was murdered and it is more likely than not intentional homicide. We know a decent amount about the suspect’s time in New York and his route into and out of New York.
But an intentional homicide, even a very planned one, is very different than a “professional hit.”
Everything else is the internet speculating in decadent boredom
Cost of defending. My hourly rate is basically 500 an hour for cases done on the billable hour scale. There are some cases that I can resolve in a few hours or less but that is not most cases. Let's assume I can resolve a case in 60 billable hours total. That is 30K and this on the lowish end.
A case motivated by vindication can easily lead to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in legal fees and costs and the attorneys able to handle this kind of litigation probably charge a lot more than 500 dollars an hour. Their junior associates might charge more than 500 dollars an hour.
1. Professional hitmen are not a thing. They are really not a thing. Most of the ones that people hire end up being undercover cops. Just because someone knows how to use a good competently, doesn't mean that they are a professional killer. The United State has lots of guns and lots of people who are trained in how to use them competently.
2. There are 5 million registered silencers in the United States and the gun industry has been trying to market them as health devices for gun owners because of the reduced silence.
3. United Healthcare apparently denies 32 percent of all claims for coverage. This is twice the national average for all insurers. I had United Healthcare for a time but I have been lucky so far in life and never had an extraordinary health issue so far (knocks wood). The killer apparently had rounds with the word "deny," "delay," "defend" written on them.
4. The response from the internet has been brutal. Media and politicians are covering it as a tragedy but the internet seems to be getting a lot of wicked fun out of the CEO's death.
Trump apparently told Trudeau that Canada should become the 51st state if it dislikes Tariffs because at the very least government for the next two to four years will be of, by, and for people who don’t realize Scarface and Goodfellas were not meant to be exemplary
I hope you are right but I think your views on Trump-doomerism dismissiveness have more to do with not wanting to agree with liberals than anything else.
But my guess is that Trump is surrounded by people who are very giddy about bringing a wrecking ball to everything and Johnson is conspiring to get a conflict on Congressional recess so Trump can invoke Article II, section iii, ram through all his appointments on recess and then rule via executive action. Here is the latest on how he might gut Social Secuirty, Medicare, and Medicaid without Congressional approval.
The Federal Government has resources it can throw at almost anyone and drown them especially if Trump succeeds in turning the entirety of the DOJ into his own personal consligere force
There are those people but also people who think burning down it all can lead to the creation of a real Northern European welfare state as opposed to it just being the Lochner Era/Gilded Age all over again but worse.
We aren't going to norm our way out of this as Lee notes. If Trump's nominees make it through, things are going to get really, really bad most likely. Why is it a good argument to say "well we really need to see if Trump does arrest the Mayor or Denver or Attorney General James or District Attorney Willis." He might try and do it anyway even if Biden issue a preemptive pardon but do we want to get to the sh@t has hit the fan stage" and discover it is too late.
Nick Grossman writes how people will miss Pax Americana when it is gone as imperfect as it is. Trump's admin is going to embolden Putin, weaken NATO, weaken the EU, sell Ukraine down the river, not place any restraints on Bibi and the zealots, etc.
I think about this a lot with the burn it all down and start again brigade. Why do they think what replaces they hate will be better? It is likely to be much, much worse.
I think Biden should consider issuing prophylactic blanket pardons to a whole lot of Democrats and make it clear he is doing so because Trump has made it clear he intends to use his second administration for revenge for perceived slights and he is appointing people willing to go all in on this desire. The Mayor of Denver has already been threatened with arrest.
As the pundits and wannabe pundits of the world get their underwear in a bunch about Hunter pardoning his son for crimes which pretty much almost ever lead to indictments in the first place, let's look at the find upstanding nominee for Secretary of Defense and see if we can get our priorities straight: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/pete-hegseths-secret-history?_sp=c14de77e-6851-4630-adb2-722315e90da1.1733133137960
"After the recent revelation that Pete Hegseth had secretly paid a financial settlement to a woman who had accused him of raping her in 2017, President-elect Donald Trump stood by his choice of Hegseth to become the next Secretary of Defense. Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, issued a statement noting that Hegseth, who has denied wrongdoing, has not been charged with any crime. “President Trump is nominating high-caliber and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his administration,” Cheung maintained.
But Hegseth’s record before becoming a full-time Fox News TV host, in 2017, raises additional questions about his suitability to run the world’s largest and most lethal military force. A trail of documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, indicates that Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran—Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America—in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.
A previously undisclosed whistle-blower report on Hegseth’s tenure as the president of Concerned Veterans for America, from 2013 until 2016, describes him as being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity—to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization’s events. The detailed seven-page report—which was compiled by multiple former C.V.A. employees and sent to the organization’s senior management in February, 2015—states that, at one point, Hegseth had to be restrained while drunk from joining the dancers on the stage of a Louisiana strip club, where he had brought his team. The report also says that Hegseth, who was married at the time, and other members of his management team sexually pursued the organization’s female staffers, whom they divided into two groups—the “party girls” and the “not party girls.” In addition, the report asserts that, under Hegseth’s leadership, the organization became a hostile workplace that ignored serious accusations of impropriety, including an allegation made by a female employee that another employee on Hegseth’s staff had attempted to sexually assault her at the Louisiana strip club. In a separate letter of complaint, which was sent to the organization in late 2015, a different former employee described Hegseth being at a bar in the early-morning hours of May 29, 2015, while on an official tour through Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, drunkenly chanting 'Kill All Muslims! Kill All Muslims!'"
I am not optimistic about pundits and wanna be pundits untwisting their underwear and getting their priorities straight.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “From the New York Post: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot outside Hilton hotel in Midtown in targeted attack: cops”
Beer!!!
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/9/2024”
Krugman's last column for the times comparing when he started to now: What strikes me, looking back, is how optimistic many people, both here and in much of the Western world, were back then and the extent to which that optimism has been replaced by anger and resentment. And I’m not just talking about members of the working class who feel betrayed by elites; some of the angriest, most resentful people in America right now — people who seem very likely to have a lot of influence with the incoming Trump administration — are billionaires who don’t feel sufficiently admired.
It’s hard to convey just how good most Americans were feeling in 1999 and early 2000. Polls showed a level of satisfaction with the direction of the country that looks surreal by today’s standards. My sense of what happened in the 2000 election was that many Americans took peace and prosperity for granted, so they voted for the guy who seemed as if he’d be more fun to hang out with.
In Europe, too, things seemed to be going well. In particular, the introduction of the euro in 1999 was widely hailed as a step toward closer political as well as economic integration — toward a United States of Europe, if you like. Some of us ugly Americans had misgivings, but initially they weren’t widely shared.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/opinion/elites-euro-social-media.html
"
Murdoch fails spectacularly in his bid to rewrite his irrevocable trust and keep Fox even more right wing: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/business/media/rupert-lachlan-murdoch-family-trust.html
On “From the New York Post: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot outside Hilton hotel in Midtown in targeted attack: cops”
The alleged suspect appears to have undergone some back surgery which changed him. Perhaps a lumbar-fusion surgery. I generally see this kind of surgery performed on much older people.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/65e569077ad3392b126467fb04334e94b75c7bf4206fa1f0d2aca59e71152754.jpg
"
I think his politics are off the wall inchoate.
"
TIL that this classic line was apparently an improv and suggested by the actor's wife.
"
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dca5009a143108a6573be473871203379c62eae5cae6ce61a45f7a3b096ca5b7.png
The alleged murderer also hates modern architecture and agrees with Tucker on the point. He appears to be a total nut.
"
The suspect in the CEO murder is a weirdo: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/15384537d52214a05e27bc5990ca54a7547b1a9002e2217cc9e584359764c8a5.png
"
Listen I can have a six-pack or enjoy beer and pizza. I've made my choice. Though the suspect seems to love McD's.
"
Oh he is very weird: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/15384537d52214a05e27bc5990ca54a7547b1a9002e2217cc9e584359764c8a5.png
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/2/2024”
Krugman is leaving the Times after 25 years for different pastures.
On “From the New York Post: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot outside Hilton hotel in Midtown in targeted attack: cops”
I am not making any speculation.
We know he was murdered and it is more likely than not intentional homicide. We know a decent amount about the suspect’s time in New York and his route into and out of New York.
But an intentional homicide, even a very planned one, is very different than a “professional hit.”
Everything else is the internet speculating in decadent boredom
"
So it is wild speculation because you are very bored and want life to be like a Hollywood thriller. Got it.
"
Do you have a basis for this or is it just wild speculation because of sh^t and giggles?
On “Joe Biden Pardons Local Man”
Cost of defending. My hourly rate is basically 500 an hour for cases done on the billable hour scale. There are some cases that I can resolve in a few hours or less but that is not most cases. Let's assume I can resolve a case in 60 billable hours total. That is 30K and this on the lowish end.
A case motivated by vindication can easily lead to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in legal fees and costs and the attorneys able to handle this kind of litigation probably charge a lot more than 500 dollars an hour. Their junior associates might charge more than 500 dollars an hour.
On “From the New York Post: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot outside Hilton hotel in Midtown in targeted attack: cops”
1. Professional hitmen are not a thing. They are really not a thing. Most of the ones that people hire end up being undercover cops. Just because someone knows how to use a good competently, doesn't mean that they are a professional killer. The United State has lots of guns and lots of people who are trained in how to use them competently.
2. There are 5 million registered silencers in the United States and the gun industry has been trying to market them as health devices for gun owners because of the reduced silence.
3. United Healthcare apparently denies 32 percent of all claims for coverage. This is twice the national average for all insurers. I had United Healthcare for a time but I have been lucky so far in life and never had an extraordinary health issue so far (knocks wood). The killer apparently had rounds with the word "deny," "delay," "defend" written on them.
4. The response from the internet has been brutal. Media and politicians are covering it as a tragedy but the internet seems to be getting a lot of wicked fun out of the CEO's death.
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/2/2024”
The President declared Martial Law because the National Assembly is controlled by the opposition.
"
Trump apparently told Trudeau that Canada should become the 51st state if it dislikes Tariffs because at the very least government for the next two to four years will be of, by, and for people who don’t realize Scarface and Goodfellas were not meant to be exemplary
"
I hope you are right but I think your views on Trump-doomerism dismissiveness have more to do with not wanting to agree with liberals than anything else.
But my guess is that Trump is surrounded by people who are very giddy about bringing a wrecking ball to everything and Johnson is conspiring to get a conflict on Congressional recess so Trump can invoke Article II, section iii, ram through all his appointments on recess and then rule via executive action. Here is the latest on how he might gut Social Secuirty, Medicare, and Medicaid without Congressional approval.
https://www.vox.com/politics/388393/donald-trump-congress-impoundment-budget-supreme-court
On “Joe Biden Pardons Local Man”
The Federal Government has resources it can throw at almost anyone and drown them especially if Trump succeeds in turning the entirety of the DOJ into his own personal consligere force
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/2/2024”
There are those people but also people who think burning down it all can lead to the creation of a real Northern European welfare state as opposed to it just being the Lochner Era/Gilded Age all over again but worse.
On “Joe Biden Pardons Local Man”
We aren't going to norm our way out of this as Lee notes. If Trump's nominees make it through, things are going to get really, really bad most likely. Why is it a good argument to say "well we really need to see if Trump does arrest the Mayor or Denver or Attorney General James or District Attorney Willis." He might try and do it anyway even if Biden issue a preemptive pardon but do we want to get to the sh@t has hit the fan stage" and discover it is too late.
On “Open Mic for the week of 12/2/2024”
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/youll-miss-pax-americana-when-gone-trump-postwar-international-system
Nick Grossman writes how people will miss Pax Americana when it is gone as imperfect as it is. Trump's admin is going to embolden Putin, weaken NATO, weaken the EU, sell Ukraine down the river, not place any restraints on Bibi and the zealots, etc.
I think about this a lot with the burn it all down and start again brigade. Why do they think what replaces they hate will be better? It is likely to be much, much worse.
On “Joe Biden Pardons Local Man”
I think Biden should consider issuing prophylactic blanket pardons to a whole lot of Democrats and make it clear he is doing so because Trump has made it clear he intends to use his second administration for revenge for perceived slights and he is appointing people willing to go all in on this desire. The Mayor of Denver has already been threatened with arrest.
I am taking Trump seriously and literally.
"
As the pundits and wannabe pundits of the world get their underwear in a bunch about Hunter pardoning his son for crimes which pretty much almost ever lead to indictments in the first place, let's look at the find upstanding nominee for Secretary of Defense and see if we can get our priorities straight: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/pete-hegseths-secret-history?_sp=c14de77e-6851-4630-adb2-722315e90da1.1733133137960
"After the recent revelation that Pete Hegseth had secretly paid a financial settlement to a woman who had accused him of raping her in 2017, President-elect Donald Trump stood by his choice of Hegseth to become the next Secretary of Defense. Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, issued a statement noting that Hegseth, who has denied wrongdoing, has not been charged with any crime. “President Trump is nominating high-caliber and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his administration,” Cheung maintained.
But Hegseth’s record before becoming a full-time Fox News TV host, in 2017, raises additional questions about his suitability to run the world’s largest and most lethal military force. A trail of documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, indicates that Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran—Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America—in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.
A previously undisclosed whistle-blower report on Hegseth’s tenure as the president of Concerned Veterans for America, from 2013 until 2016, describes him as being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity—to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization’s events. The detailed seven-page report—which was compiled by multiple former C.V.A. employees and sent to the organization’s senior management in February, 2015—states that, at one point, Hegseth had to be restrained while drunk from joining the dancers on the stage of a Louisiana strip club, where he had brought his team. The report also says that Hegseth, who was married at the time, and other members of his management team sexually pursued the organization’s female staffers, whom they divided into two groups—the “party girls” and the “not party girls.” In addition, the report asserts that, under Hegseth’s leadership, the organization became a hostile workplace that ignored serious accusations of impropriety, including an allegation made by a female employee that another employee on Hegseth’s staff had attempted to sexually assault her at the Louisiana strip club. In a separate letter of complaint, which was sent to the organization in late 2015, a different former employee described Hegseth being at a bar in the early-morning hours of May 29, 2015, while on an official tour through Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, drunkenly chanting 'Kill All Muslims! Kill All Muslims!'"
I am not optimistic about pundits and wanna be pundits untwisting their underwear and getting their priorities straight.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.