Advice Goddess Free Swim
It's Saturday night, and I have 2.5 brain cells left, but the good news is, I have a new magazine piece coming. Maybe in a week. So for today: You pick the topics.
P.S. One link per comment or my spam filter will eat your post.
Conan probably knows for sure. August has had a lot of dispersed urban strife, but I doubt this has been the most violent time in American history. There certainly aren't as many bombings as in 1970 or so. These kids (almost always white) seem to think the point is to deliver suffering to others with intimate involvement.
Still, it's really bad.
And voters who hate this destruction hate it with a fury that the left cannot comprehend. The negligent mayors of the towns where this is happening are sealing Trump's re-election. How could they not know that?
Biden could win by a landslide if he'd get on a plane and go to Denver and/or DC and/or Portland and/or Kenosha and just show up at the mayor's office with a bag of donuts and a tray of starbucks and say "We gotta put a stop to this." He could send a car to the state capitol offices to return with the governor three hours later. They'd sort everything out before midnight. I can't understand why the Democrats don't do that.
This and that are from the same day. How could they ever presume the monster, being appeased, would eat them last?
Obviously those mayors don't care any more about public safety than Trump does. All these government figures are ready to let people be maimed and killed AS IF SOME SORT OF POINT WERE BEING MADE. None is! No point is being made. Not by anyone involved.
Crid at August 30, 2020 12:58 AM
Too much twitter?
Ben at August 30, 2020 5:35 AM
Too little tail?
Crid at August 30, 2020 6:08 AM
“Biden could win by a landslide if he'd get on a plane and go to Denver and/or DC and/or Portland and/or Kenosha and just show up at the mayor's office with a bag of donuts and a tray of starbucks and say "We gotta put a stop to this." He could send a car to the state capitol offices to return with the governor three hours later. They'd sort everything out before midnight. I can't understand why the Democrats don't do that.”
This doesn’t really jibe with the theory that Jill Biden, and a handful of Antifa 24 year olds are actually running the Biden campaign.
Bet Joe doesn’t even come out of his basement for the debates.
Hating on Trump and a rabid anti gun, pro Antifa platform doesn’t seem to be turning out the votes. Who knew?
Isab at August 30, 2020 8:43 AM
At least not enough good tail. They are a particularly joyless group.
Ben at August 30, 2020 10:23 AM
It's almost like he's Jesus Christ, right? No one must ever 'hate on Trump' or note his failures in any context or find him wanting in any way. This will be how we judge people. Don't talk about history, events, resources, human nature, policies or even incentives: The 21st Century in America is about loyalty!
Rather than reflect upon and describe how the (now literally) Mongolian Cluster Fuck of government and culture have [A] come to pass, [B] threaten us and [C] might be corrected, let's keep things simple, and conserve our energy by concentrating our attention on this single personage, The Game Show Host… For without fealty to his radiance (or petty predations), there can be no progress or trust. Orangefarben Über Alles! Any consideration of broader meaning, any failure to salute is evidence of mental illness; of a "lost mind."
Crid at August 30, 2020 10:44 AM
"Hating on Trump"
You literally think about things in those terms.
Crid at August 30, 2020 10:53 AM
Hating on Trump"
You literally think about things in those terms.
Crid at August 30, 2020 10:53 AM
I think the dems think exactly in those terms considering that Trump resembles a circa 1970 Democrat far more than any traditional Republican.
80 percent of his platform is traditional if dated Team Blue.
To elevate the discourse. What parts of the Democratic platform for the 2020 election do you support? Defund the police? BLM, Antifa? Green New Deal? Gun bans? Unrestricted Abortion? Universal basic income? Reparations for slavery? Universal mail in ballot fraud? Unlimited illegal immigration?
If all you are doing is rooting for chaos, I think we are already there.
Isab at August 30, 2020 11:21 AM
Live your life! Onward.
But don't read my comments; there's nothing in them for you. (Check in with Raddy, Benjy, JayDee Whoever, Orion and about a dozen others. Patty. There's a mailing list, and they trade cards at Christmas.)
Crid at August 30, 2020 11:26 AM
Kamala Harris seems a weird pick if Antifa is running the campaign.
All my most leftist friends are bemoaning that pick.
NicoleK at August 30, 2020 12:44 PM
You have good friends.
Crid at August 30, 2020 1:08 PM
If you want people to pay attention to you Crid then you need more than reflexive Trump hate. A bit of sanity would help things too. Claiming Trump is responsible for Harris's nomination is as sane as claiming martians probed your but last weekend.
It is telling that when Isab asks you simple questions you can't answer them.
NicoleK, Antifa isn't running the campaign. Harris was the preferred pick of DNC money men. And only preferred by them. If they didn't live in such a bubble they would have picked Bernie. Then again if the DNC wasn't desperate for anyone but Bernie as a candidate then Biden wouldn't be the nominee in the first place.
Ben at August 30, 2020 2:37 PM
I wouldn't be surprised that if Joey Butterfingers did go to Kenosha, he would say he always loved Chicago, and their football team the Broncos.
Man of the people. And if you don't want to vote for him, you should vote for the other Biden.
I R A Darth Aggie at August 30, 2020 3:18 PM
Kamala Harris seems a weird pick if Antifa is running the campaign.
All my most leftist friends are bemoaning that pick.
Are they not bemoaning Joey Butterfingers nomination? I know why they don't like Harris: she's the top cop for the Incarceration State. Joey Butterfingers helped give her the tools needed to create the Incarceration State.
I R A Darth Aggie at August 30, 2020 3:25 PM
Look at who the alternatives were IRA. People have already made their peace with Biden. . . . Well, that and many people think Biden has dementia and thus will be replaced within a few months of taking office.
Ben at August 30, 2020 3:52 PM
> If you want people to pay
> attention
Duzzenmadder. I like expressing myself clearly. Amy lets us practice… Me and a few others who choose to do so. (I've written a number of times about her motives for this, but basically, she rocks.)
She will accept also the presence of those like yourself, who —we should not be surprised to learn— comment for 'attention' (if not admiration) in the style of Junior High, but from distant strangers. Clearinghouse Pipelines! U-B-U!
Crid at August 30, 2020 4:05 PM
I think that's the strategy behind Trump's blatantly live presence at the Republican National Convention. To show up Biden's recorded limited appearance.
I don't think Biden can end the violence, since he's not the candidate who those committing the violence wanted and not the one to whom they will listen. But the effort to do so will manage to show him as active and engaged - something his current campaign strategy is not doing - and that will probably be enough.
Personally, I suspect Biden's a stalking horse for Kamala. Her Senate record is far too liberal for moderate older voters and blue collar voters, but his is not. Once in office, he'll be removed via the 25th Amendment and Kamala will be in charge. The DNC will "help" pick his cabinet, making sure they're Kamala's people.
I have a feeling he won't close out 2021 in office, but he may be left in long enough for her to qualify for a run in 2032. He'll have to serve at least 2 years for her to qualify due to the 10 year limit in the 22nd Amendment.
Conan the Grammarian at August 30, 2020 4:08 PM
" The negligent mayors of the towns where this is happening are sealing Trump's re-election. How could they not know that?"
They were so used to decades of a complete whitewashing by the media calling the left noble warriors no matter how badly they acted and anyone who stood against them as a Nazi/white supremacist before even learning who. And the general public believing it, because they never heard any other possibility. But this time there is too much violence and carnage, happening everywhere, for media to whitewash. So you have CNN reporting in front of a riot and fire, calling it peaceful.
Joe J at August 30, 2020 4:46 PM
Don't forget the 'other than the knife he was unarmed' bit. After all other than his great wealth Warren Buffet is quite poor. Other than his career Michael Jordan wasn't that good at basket ball.
"Personally, I suspect Biden's a stalking horse for Kamala." ~Conan
A number of Kamala supporters have said so in public. The 25th amendment is also mentioned.
Or to put things another way, most of the time a VP is picked to encourage their home state to vote for the candidate. Is the Biden campaign worried about losing California?
Ben at August 30, 2020 6:16 PM
"Obviously those mayors don't care any more about public safety than Trump does."
Apparently you missed where the presence of Federal officers to protect Federal property was called fascist stormtrooping by Pelosi... who blamed their presence on Trump.
Radwaste at August 30, 2020 6:50 PM
> called fascist stormtrooping
> by Pelosi... who blamed …
These are politically opposed forces. You know this.
Crid at August 30, 2020 7:10 PM
Yeah they bemoaned Joe when he was the pick but that was a while ago.
Joe couldn't pick Bernie after he'd promised a black woman.
Harris is a good choice in that she will appeal to people who want more law and order (centrist Democrats and Republicans), but at least she's a black woman, so that's throwing a bone to the far left. He couldn't have picked a white law and order person without crazy racist accusations, and if he didn't pick a law and order person I think he'd lose too many centrists.
NicoleK at August 30, 2020 9:00 PM
Harris is a good choice in that she will appeal to people who want more law and order (centrist Democrats and Republicans), but at least she's a black woman, so that's throwing a bone to the far left. He couldn't have picked a white law and order person without crazy racist accusations, and if he didn't pick a law and order person I think he'd lose too many centrists.
NicoleK at August 30, 2020 9:00 PM
The law and order centrists contain a lot of gun owners. He and Kamala already lost those people by shilling for Beto and his crazy confiscation schemes.
Isab at August 30, 2020 9:10 PM
"These are politically opposed forces. You know this."
Okay, I'll say it again so you might notice.
Apparently you missed where the presence of Federal officers to protect Federal property was called fascist stormtrooping by Pelosi... who blamed their presence on Trump, because it was he who sent them.
If not, then who?
Radwaste at August 31, 2020 5:05 AM
Let it go Rad. There isn't much logic going on with Crid these days. Lots of emotion and random gibberish but not much in the way of sanity. Missing the point is kinda his thing these days.
NicoleK, Kamala only had about 3-4% of the DNC voters when going for the nomination. I doubt she has increased much since then. As for pulling in law and order types I don't see that happening. Kamala has a very regional appeal. Outside of LA there really isn't much draw. As for putting a more law and order vibe into the Biden campaign, well it has been three weeks. As Crid bemoans there hasn't been a change from supporting arson and looting. So that sounds a lot like advertising without anything real to back it up. As for placating gestures to the far left, they don't appear to care.
Buy hey, I get it. There really isn't a significantly better alternative that has stepped forward.
Ben at August 31, 2020 5:44 AM
I mean, I really liked Tulsi but he wasn't gonna pick her...
NicoleK at August 31, 2020 5:58 AM
I did, too. Her support for Medicare-for-all was problematic for me, but she was a sane liberal in a sea of insanity at the debates. I think, instead of forcing ACA, she would have negotiated with the opposition to create a sustainable healthcare program.
Conan the Grammarian at August 31, 2020 7:15 AM
The problem is that Harris has a solid left-wing voting record in the Senate. The complaining on the left about her law and order credentials strikes me as a bit of misdirection. Her Senate voting record is fairly compatible with the more left-wing elements of the Democratic Party.
She's a political chameleon, able to shift her positions to meet the priorities of the electorate she needs and the zeitgeist of the times. Most politicians are, but she's especially skilled at it.
Conan the Grammarian at August 31, 2020 7:29 AM
She's a political chameleon, able to shift her positions to meet the priorities of the electorate she needs and the zeitgeist of the times. Most politicians are, but she's especially skilled at it.
Conan the Grammarian at August 31, 2020 7:29 AM
I don’t think she is skilled at all. The press has been particularly diligent in covering for her right from the very beginning. She has a reputation in California for being dumb as a post.
Did you watch her in the Kavanaugh hearings?
She’s another Hillary, except more radical, younger, more attractive, and considerably less intelligent. Probably not an Alcoholic either. Definitely a race baiter.
Isab at August 31, 2020 7:52 AM
> Okay, I'll say it again so
> you might notice.
Be wounded. Presume that you're just not being clear. Be massaged and manipulated by people who will never, ever give a fuck about you. Butthurt is one word, not two.
Tulsi is indeed the one who got away.
Crid at August 31, 2020 7:53 AM
I only caught snippets of the hearings from the nightly news and from other news sources.
Those were never enough to get a good sense of the questioners, but enough to show that the entire hearing was a circus.
I'll leave it to you to make a knowledgable assessment of her performance as an attorney. However, I lived in California when she was the DA for San Francisco and the AG for the state. I was never particularly impressed with her.
The Senate opening came about and threw the California Democratic Party into a tizzy. Gavin Newsom was chomping at the bit as Jerry Brown's Lt. Gov. and presumed successor while Kamala was a rising star. The Party worried that a Newsom-Harris split for the Senate might hand a win to the Republicans. It was resolved when Newsom agreed to wait and run for governor, allowing Harris to run for senator with no Democratic opposition. She got the better end of that deal - no actual responsibility in the Senate job, while Newsom is busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest with Covid and the wildfires.
If the Biden-Harris ticket does win, Kamala's a shoe-in for the 2024 presidential nomination. The real loser in that sequence will be Nancy Pelosi. Being Speaker of the House made her the highest ranking national Democrat from California and the queen of the California fund-raising circuit, dictating who got money and how much. That money and power will move to Kamala should she win the VP slot, moreso should it become apparent she's gonna depose Joe Biden mid-term.
Conan the Grammarian at August 31, 2020 8:37 AM
> I only caught snippets of the
> hearings from the nightly news
> and from other news sources.
After the '92 riots I threw out my teevee, and every news story that's happened since (excluding the ones I worked on professionally, mostly show biz news, OJ, etc.) has come to me through *reading* about it.
Nothing has made a bigger change, and a bigger change for the better, in my intellectual path. Snippets are one thing: Airport & hotels & the living rooms of women you date. But when you remove your perspective from television —not just television news, but television coverage— it's like having an extra eye which can see around corners. You see all the things that other people miss because they're trying to make sense of the distortions of lenses and microphone placement and editing.
No matter how obvious the truth, people who see things on TV will always believe in their deepest hearts that they saw it with their own eyes, when actually they're completely distracted from the events depicted.
Text compels humility and curiosity.
Plus, of course, you get N (or NN!) hours of your LIFE back, at no cost.
Want to extend your life? Throw out your television. Claim the extended years now, while you're healthy enough to enjoy them.
Crid at August 31, 2020 9:44 AM
N or NN hours per day.
Crid at August 31, 2020 10:55 AM
Probably should, but there are still a few decent movies worth catching once in a while. I just finished watching Red Sun on TCM's Alain Delon marathon. I'll record Le Samourï for later.
Conan the Grammarian at August 31, 2020 1:12 PM
FTR- On the laptops and big screen desktop I watch at least on (or three) thousand hours of video a year, from 10-sec clips to podcasts and movies and F1 races.
But when you exclude the pandering of unavoidable advertising and promotion from your emotional life, the world is infinitely more hospitable.
I love the vulgar rock and roll of my youth, and will until I die. Since returning to the midwestern weather I'm feeling rhumatiz sneaking into the digits; I'm nonetheless going to buy one last electric guitar (it's known as "1888").
But a quarter century ago, Prager distilled a concise truth: Popular culture makes people sad.
(And yes, the internet can do that too, if you let the programmers control your attention.)
Crid at August 31, 2020 5:22 PM
Barro & Carney are very, very, very different men… But both recognize and important principle.
Crid at August 31, 2020 5:31 PM
In the days before micros, mainframe data processing had some very real problems, but there were some important blessings as well.
Crid at August 31, 2020 5:58 PM
> Gavin Newsom was chomping at the
> bit as Jerry Brown's Lt. Gov. and
> presumed successor
Coney— You may not be a podcasts guy, but I think you'd really enjoy this discussion: the scenario you describe is still at play in many minds, and the context is fascinating.
Crid at August 31, 2020 9:21 PM
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