Walz is, in some ways, a mini-Biden. He got a narrow trifecta in MN and then enacted a truck load of policy changes using it. He's overseen legalizing pot which is a significant win not just on policy but also on politics- MN has had two sock puppet Pot legalization parties propped up by the right to split the left vote on pot grounds which have long been a drag and now, with pot legalized, are basically defunct.
Walz has vulnerabilities- his policies are kryptonite for libertarians and some brands of Trumpist populists and he was Governor during the 2020 summer of Floyd.
Personally I'm a fan. Picking Walz was the safer bet compared to Shapiro who is less vetted, less tested and carries more risk (both upside and downside risk). Walz is a party man, a folksy mid westerner and also seems to have some good political instincts. He's a formidable pick but not an inspired one.
Oh yes, I'm not remotely unhappy about things. It is entirely plausible that Harris' vetters said "no bueno" and that was that- I was trying to suggest as much when I mentioned that Shapiro had more downside as well as upside risk.
So Reagan wouldn't have met this criteria. Bush HW would have. Neither Clinton, Carter, Obama or Trump would have met this criteria. So basically only HW Bush in the past forty some years is that right?
Walz is a pretty strong pick but, agreed, also the safer one. Shapiro had more upside and downside risk. I've certainly thought quite well of Walz as my Governor but I'd have never guessed he'd be a contender for veep. With how vital PA will be I'd have leaned in the Shapiro direction myself but Shapiro has more vulnerable attack surfaces on him (not the Israel thing though, he's indistinguishable from the other candidates on that).
Eh that's just partisanship. A wealthy libertarian coming to a Republican to complain that a given Republican tax cut was bad will get a much different (and more tongue bathy) reception than a Dem or a leftist coming to say the same thing.
I could never criticize a libertarian* for voting for the libertarian party. That has a considerable internal intellectual coherence though I do, occasionally see clips of Libertarian party goings on and sigh with a certain degree of pity.
Now green party voters? In this country? Yeah, I'm sorry they're either dupes or delusional.
Slight quibble- the masses generally think that the ACA is aces now. Just took Trump and his party actually coming close to taking it away and Biden polishing it up again once he got into office. To find the "ACA sucks" contingents you gotta go to republicans or medicare for all leftists now.
He didn't say probable, Philip, he just said theoretically. Theoretically I could walk from my office in Minneapolis to Buenos Aires given enough time- it is physically and legally possible. I am extremely unlikely to ever do so (almost as unlikely to do so as those third parties are unlikely to get to the White House) but I could, in theory, do it.
Interesting comparisons considering that Hill lost, and Trump won in the election where those two other terms were used which seems to suggest you think Weird will also be effective?
Personally, I think most of the weird thing, and also the furniture erotica, is just summer doldrum stuff.
I agree with Andrew. We need to wait until September to get a good idea of where the race actually stands. The hopium is good, enjoy it, but don't forget that September will likely give us a colder message. As Chip says, there's a lot of Trump voters out there.
No, a proud, self centered and aging man would run again, having won twice already in the face of the usual suspects claiming he couldn't do so, and would hang in there hoping against hope he could pull it out again for a third time.
And, yes, the party had to organize and push hard to dislodge him (so much the better that the party could do it) but a truly venal man would never have stepped aside regardless and would have taken the whole thing down with him.
I'll just endorse what Ken said about the "adoring press" bit.
I will admit that I had been feeling a dreary malaise since the debate that lifted when Biden stepped aside. What an incredible thing for him to do (for whatever reasons he did step aside- a venal man faced with a strong push to oust him would have said "fish you" and taken us all down flaming with him out of sheer spite),
Also saw this flick recently so glad you reviewed it. Some points.
-The 4th wall breaking stuff, especially when they castigate the MCU for most of their post end game work was quite remarkable. Doubly remarkable when you recall that Feige is very much elbow deep into this film.
-Cassandra Nova was incredible- powerful, scary, beautifully acted, deranged but also volatile and an absolute marvel on screen.
-Agreed on Reynolds and Jackmans chemistry. Also the fight scenes were so very vintage wolverine. The pounces, the furious claw stabs, etc. Jackman did incredible work.
-a Tom Hiddleston cameo wouldn’t have worked in my opinion since he is functionally the Yggsdrasil of the multiverse now and, thus, couldn’t easily be dipping into the stories willy nilly. I was not particularly fond of the Loki miniseries but they made some tolerable use of its material.
Nodding back to the fourth wall breaking stuff I wonder if this is forecasting a better approach to future MCU films? Because they savaged the more recent MCU stuff and, frankly, it has deserved savaging.
I know Freddie himself isn't representative of the left but when he waxes at length on this subject he's singing from a pretty standard berniesta-leftist songbook. A rare moment of venn overlap with the leftists whom he often criticizes.
Those folks, Freddie assuredly among them, remain bitter about Sanders not winning the nomination in 2016 and 2020 regardless of the fact that he got outvoted both times (and outvoted worse in 2020 than in 2016).
I think it was Jared Bernstein who said that a political parties core priorities are, in order of importance:
#1 assembling coalitions of voters and agreeing on a platform of policies that addresses the various coalition members principles while not directly violating the other members principles.
#2 selecting nominees who will adhere to the parties platform.
#3 selecting nominees who will win elections .
A lot of people tend to forget that #3 is mostly useless if you don’t achieve #1 and #2.
Regarding Hillary collapsing at the 9/11 event would you concede, now 8 years roughly on from that event with Hillary alive and well, that your various alluded criticisms of people saying her collapsing was not indicative of any serious health problem, were wrong?
You and I don't particularly disagree. The Presidency is big and, set up with competent staff and a specific vision, could run pretty well with little further input from the CVO as you put it.
How about this. To remain president once you are one you only need an absence of evidence that you're incapable. The onus is on opponents trying to force you to resign or to invoke the 25th to provide affirmative evidence of incapacity. To be a presidential candidate, however, requires more of the candidate. Affirmative evidence of capability is required otherwise, well, what happened this last month can happen. (well, at least if you're a member of a living functioning political party)
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Tim Walz Tapped to be VP Kamala Harris Running Mate”
Walz is, in some ways, a mini-Biden. He got a narrow trifecta in MN and then enacted a truck load of policy changes using it. He's overseen legalizing pot which is a significant win not just on policy but also on politics- MN has had two sock puppet Pot legalization parties propped up by the right to split the left vote on pot grounds which have long been a drag and now, with pot legalized, are basically defunct.
Walz has vulnerabilities- his policies are kryptonite for libertarians and some brands of Trumpist populists and he was Governor during the 2020 summer of Floyd.
Personally I'm a fan. Picking Walz was the safer bet compared to Shapiro who is less vetted, less tested and carries more risk (both upside and downside risk). Walz is a party man, a folksy mid westerner and also seems to have some good political instincts. He's a formidable pick but not an inspired one.
On “Tim Walz announced as Kamala Harris’s running mate”
Oh yes, I'm not remotely unhappy about things. It is entirely plausible that Harris' vetters said "no bueno" and that was that- I was trying to suggest as much when I mentioned that Shapiro had more downside as well as upside risk.
"
Fair enough.
"
Yeah I missed the 8 years governor part in the first read through. Though Walz is a six year Governor and was in the military prior to that.
"
Probably so. I don't know if Walz is in the Tim Kaine level of safety choice or not. It occurs to me that I haven't seen Walz debate.
"
I mean, Walz specifically has been 6 years as Governor and was military prior to that so he doesn't seem particularly outside your criteria.
"
So Reagan wouldn't have met this criteria. Bush HW would have. Neither Clinton, Carter, Obama or Trump would have met this criteria. So basically only HW Bush in the past forty some years is that right?
"
Walz is a pretty strong pick but, agreed, also the safer one. Shapiro had more upside and downside risk. I've certainly thought quite well of Walz as my Governor but I'd have never guessed he'd be a contender for veep. With how vital PA will be I'd have leaned in the Shapiro direction myself but Shapiro has more vulnerable attack surfaces on him (not the Israel thing though, he's indistinguishable from the other candidates on that).
On “RFK and Dead Cubs”
Heheh that sounds about right though no one outside the party doubts that it's full of earnest libertarians. Can't say the same for the Greens.
On “The Race Is On, And It’s Getting Weird”
Eh that's just partisanship. A wealthy libertarian coming to a Republican to complain that a given Republican tax cut was bad will get a much different (and more tongue bathy) reception than a Dem or a leftist coming to say the same thing.
On “RFK and Dead Cubs”
I could never criticize a libertarian* for voting for the libertarian party. That has a considerable internal intellectual coherence though I do, occasionally see clips of Libertarian party goings on and sigh with a certain degree of pity.
Now green party voters? In this country? Yeah, I'm sorry they're either dupes or delusional.
On “The Race Is On, And It’s Getting Weird”
Slight quibble- the masses generally think that the ACA is aces now. Just took Trump and his party actually coming close to taking it away and Biden polishing it up again once he got into office. To find the "ACA sucks" contingents you gotta go to republicans or medicare for all leftists now.
"
Didn't Trump introduce or popularize the "Fake news" thing?
On “RFK and Dead Cubs”
I also don't think Jaybird (or Saul- or anyone) should vote for Trump.
"
He didn't say probable, Philip, he just said theoretically. Theoretically I could walk from my office in Minneapolis to Buenos Aires given enough time- it is physically and legally possible. I am extremely unlikely to ever do so (almost as unlikely to do so as those third parties are unlikely to get to the White House) but I could, in theory, do it.
On “The Race Is On, And It’s Getting Weird”
Interesting comparisons considering that Hill lost, and Trump won in the election where those two other terms were used which seems to suggest you think Weird will also be effective?
Personally, I think most of the weird thing, and also the furniture erotica, is just summer doldrum stuff.
On “Be Excellent To Each Other”
This is where I land too. Also clever!
On “The Problem of Political Commentary”
I agree with Andrew. We need to wait until September to get a good idea of where the race actually stands. The hopium is good, enjoy it, but don't forget that September will likely give us a colder message. As Chip says, there's a lot of Trump voters out there.
"
No, a proud, self centered and aging man would run again, having won twice already in the face of the usual suspects claiming he couldn't do so, and would hang in there hoping against hope he could pull it out again for a third time.
And, yes, the party had to organize and push hard to dislodge him (so much the better that the party could do it) but a truly venal man would never have stepped aside regardless and would have taken the whole thing down with him.
I'll just endorse what Ken said about the "adoring press" bit.
"
I will admit that I had been feeling a dreary malaise since the debate that lifted when Biden stepped aside. What an incredible thing for him to do (for whatever reasons he did step aside- a venal man faced with a strong push to oust him would have said "fish you" and taken us all down flaming with him out of sheer spite),
On “Deadpool & Wolverine: A Nerd Buffet”
Also saw this flick recently so glad you reviewed it. Some points.
-The 4th wall breaking stuff, especially when they castigate the MCU for most of their post end game work was quite remarkable. Doubly remarkable when you recall that Feige is very much elbow deep into this film.
-Cassandra Nova was incredible- powerful, scary, beautifully acted, deranged but also volatile and an absolute marvel on screen.
-Agreed on Reynolds and Jackmans chemistry. Also the fight scenes were so very vintage wolverine. The pounces, the furious claw stabs, etc. Jackman did incredible work.
-a Tom Hiddleston cameo wouldn’t have worked in my opinion since he is functionally the Yggsdrasil of the multiverse now and, thus, couldn’t easily be dipping into the stories willy nilly. I was not particularly fond of the Loki miniseries but they made some tolerable use of its material.
Nodding back to the fourth wall breaking stuff I wonder if this is forecasting a better approach to future MCU films? Because they savaged the more recent MCU stuff and, frankly, it has deserved savaging.
On “None Dare Call It A Conspiracy, Because It Wasn’t”
I know Freddie himself isn't representative of the left but when he waxes at length on this subject he's singing from a pretty standard berniesta-leftist songbook. A rare moment of venn overlap with the leftists whom he often criticizes.
"
Those folks, Freddie assuredly among them, remain bitter about Sanders not winning the nomination in 2016 and 2020 regardless of the fact that he got outvoted both times (and outvoted worse in 2020 than in 2016).
I think it was Jared Bernstein who said that a political parties core priorities are, in order of importance:
#1 assembling coalitions of voters and agreeing on a platform of policies that addresses the various coalition members principles while not directly violating the other members principles.
#2 selecting nominees who will adhere to the parties platform.
#3 selecting nominees who will win elections .
A lot of people tend to forget that #3 is mostly useless if you don’t achieve #1 and #2.
"
Regarding Hillary collapsing at the 9/11 event would you concede, now 8 years roughly on from that event with Hillary alive and well, that your various alluded criticisms of people saying her collapsing was not indicative of any serious health problem, were wrong?
On “President Biden Addresses the Nation Regarding Not Seeking Re-election”
You and I don't particularly disagree. The Presidency is big and, set up with competent staff and a specific vision, could run pretty well with little further input from the CVO as you put it.
How about this. To remain president once you are one you only need an absence of evidence that you're incapable. The onus is on opponents trying to force you to resign or to invoke the 25th to provide affirmative evidence of incapacity. To be a presidential candidate, however, requires more of the candidate. Affirmative evidence of capability is required otherwise, well, what happened this last month can happen. (well, at least if you're a member of a living functioning political party)
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.