To be fairer to populism than it perhaps deserves, populists are not wrong that certain elites are taking advantage of them in tangible ways. But they are often wrong about which elites are screwing them and how. And their proposed solutions are often wrongheaded when aimed at real problems and mean-spirited when aimed at fake problems. But not always. The turn of the century American populists were rejected, probably rightly, but the sounder parts of their program were co-opted by the Progressives and the New Deal.
My skills are rusty now, but in my 20's I could have made the shot, though I wouldn't have used an AR-15. I'd have used something more suited to distance shooting and aimed lower, greatly improving the odds of a damaging hit.
Retreats to where? He's on a ladder near the top of the building. Does he go half-way down, hold on with one hand, draw his gun with the other and fire? Does he drop to the ground and do it? Try either and see how long that takes.
Very likely true that the local cops screwed up as an organization. That left the individual cop on the ladder literally hanging with no good moves. Or at least none that work outside of comic books.
I'm using the words I used, or their close equivalents, since I asked the question. If you don't want to answer the question and want to say something else, just say so.
The question was what he could have done, not what he might, or might not, in a given situation, been willing to do. The cop is holding onto a ladder and is poking his head up. Can he draw his weapon there and get off a shot? Maybe in the comic books, but not in real life. By the time he could scramble onto the roof and get his gun out, the shooter would have gotten the shot off. If he announced his presence, the shooter could either get off the shot, then turn and kill the cop, or turn and kill the cop and get the shot off two seconds later. Neither of these courses of action was likely to do a damn bit of good, and the cop would have been dead for nothing.
Remember during the Iraq War all the bloggers who earned the nickname the 101st Fighting Keyboards? There's a cop version of that, too, apparently.
What should the local cop have done that he didn't? What did he do that he should not have done? Other than arranging back-up rather than acting solo, which probably would have delayed things to the point that any action would have been irrelevant. Once that decision was made, what were his reasonable options?
Most post-Kennedy assassination attempts seem to have been the work of whack jobs without a coherent political motivation, or at least not one on the standard spectrum. It's too early to say whether that's true here, but on the odds it's the way to bet.
In my 50-plus years of voting I can't think of a seriously competitive presidential primary in which my preferred candidate won. There were one or two where I didn't have a strong preference, but that's about it. That the party doesn't pick my preferred guy or gal has long ceased to bother me.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Open Mic for the week of 7/15/2024”
Sometimes, you have to do the right thing even when there is no advantage to it. Sometimes that even works.
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To be fairer to populism than it perhaps deserves, populists are not wrong that certain elites are taking advantage of them in tangible ways. But they are often wrong about which elites are screwing them and how. And their proposed solutions are often wrongheaded when aimed at real problems and mean-spirited when aimed at fake problems. But not always. The turn of the century American populists were rejected, probably rightly, but the sounder parts of their program were co-opted by the Progressives and the New Deal.
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Why would you think that, given humanity's flawed and sinful nature?
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Projection isn't just something that happens at the movie theater.
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It probably always has been. See H.L. Mencken, George Wallace, and What's the Matter With Kansas for example.
On “Trump was just shot at a rally. He appears to be fine.”
Disqualifying? We are talking about Trump.
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My skills are rusty now, but in my 20's I could have made the shot, though I wouldn't have used an AR-15. I'd have used something more suited to distance shooting and aimed lower, greatly improving the odds of a damaging hit.
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Retreats to where? He's on a ladder near the top of the building. Does he go half-way down, hold on with one hand, draw his gun with the other and fire? Does he drop to the ground and do it? Try either and see how long that takes.
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No, you didn't. Look at my 10:47 comment.
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"Get shot."
As General Patton said, the point is not to die for your country, it's to make the other sonofabitch die for his country.
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Very likely true that the local cops screwed up as an organization. That left the individual cop on the ladder literally hanging with no good moves. Or at least none that work outside of comic books.
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He's on a ladder.
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And thanks for telling everyone you didn't want to answer the question.
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As the philosophers will tell you, should implies can.
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I'm using the words I used, or their close equivalents, since I asked the question. If you don't want to answer the question and want to say something else, just say so.
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The question was what he could have done, not what he might, or might not, in a given situation, been willing to do. The cop is holding onto a ladder and is poking his head up. Can he draw his weapon there and get off a shot? Maybe in the comic books, but not in real life. By the time he could scramble onto the roof and get his gun out, the shooter would have gotten the shot off. If he announced his presence, the shooter could either get off the shot, then turn and kill the cop, or turn and kill the cop and get the shot off two seconds later. Neither of these courses of action was likely to do a damn bit of good, and the cop would have been dead for nothing.
Remember during the Iraq War all the bloggers who earned the nickname the 101st Fighting Keyboards? There's a cop version of that, too, apparently.
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Please proceed.
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What should the local cop have done that he didn't? What did he do that he should not have done? Other than arranging back-up rather than acting solo, which probably would have delayed things to the point that any action would have been irrelevant. Once that decision was made, what were his reasonable options?
"
Most post-Kennedy assassination attempts seem to have been the work of whack jobs without a coherent political motivation, or at least not one on the standard spectrum. It's too early to say whether that's true here, but on the odds it's the way to bet.
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They found the gun, and it was, indeed, a .223/5.56.
On “Choose Your Own President Biden Press Conference Adventure”
You need to get out more, and listen more.
On “Tipping Over”
I'm not planning to. Though curiosity may get the better of me if David won't elaborate.
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(One of the strangest tips I ever got was when a woman placed a piece of exotic jerky into my pocket, but that’s another story.)
Which I hope we'll hear soon. Otherwise, some diseased imaginations, like mine, will fill in the blanks.
On “The Arrow of Time, Lodged Deep in Our Political Posterior”
And Al Gore is younger than either Biden or Trump.
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In my 50-plus years of voting I can't think of a seriously competitive presidential primary in which my preferred candidate won. There were one or two where I didn't have a strong preference, but that's about it. That the party doesn't pick my preferred guy or gal has long ceased to bother me.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.