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Mick,
Sorry to disappoint, but as I live through my 78th year on this small planet, I’m not interested in doing controversy here. I’m more interested in what you did about Social Security, since – if my numbers are right – you have reached that age. If your experience is typical, you were at first tempted to forego the benefit, then took a look at all the money deducted over the years, and decided what the hell. FDR did not intend it as a welfare program, and ultimately that perspective prevails with most of us.
As for the rest, about the only prediction that I’d make with any degree of confidence is that the structure of elite education in this nation is doomed, and thank God. One reason is that we distribute information now so well and in so many forms that the value added of an elite degree is extremely dubious. An autodidact can acquire all the education he or she needs without the colossal expense. All you really get from your Stanford, Harvard, or Pomona’s is certification, that you are in fact Smart. (There’s a scene in the Wizard of Oz that showed up the farce much better than I could.) The Varsity Blues case is not a small matter – it showed up how rotten to the core is the admissions process, as did much of the evidence uncovered in Students for Fair Admissions, the affirmative action case. If the world were as it should be, Clarence Thomas’ paean to actual American pluralism would be read at every Fourth of July celebration. But the really killer opinion on how morally bankrupt the system is was Gorsuch’s. Here’s a link.
The real Constitutional issue that besets our nation is the complete failure of Congress to function in the way the Founding Fathers intended. I am hoping for the emergence of a Third Party.
If you are sick of both the New York Times/Washington Post/CNN agenda reporting – ‘progressive elites reassuring other progressive elites about the state of an America that has never existed’, to quote some articulate someone whose name I should remember, but don’t – and Fox News belligerency, head out to the substack platform, and subscribe to the likes of Andrew Sullivan and Barry Weiss. I have my own little blog there, to which I don’t contribute as often as I should.
The only thing preventing the Democratic Party from complete collapse is the odious personality of Donald Trump, completely unfit for any elected office, particularly the Presidency, I give a monthly contribution to Nikki Haley and hope for a voter’s rebellion in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Over and out, Happy New Year.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
Warning: there is considerable propaganda in this. Nonetheless, there’s enough certifiable fact to make it worthwhile.
Most striking is that Fryer came from an extremely disadvantaged background. His persecutors came from upper class families. Notably, Claudine Gay is Exeter and Stanford, and apparently has little or no experience with the actual lives of lower class African Americans.
If this were simply anecdotal, it wouldn’t matter. But I believe it’s the pattern. Class matters far more in this society than race, a fact that the Coates and Gays of the world would rather die than admit. A terrific town-and-gown feud is shaping up in the black community. Witness the rising Trump numbers in ethnicity.
BTW, I spent 15 years on the CEB, warning about the effects of the wealth gap. Well, the chickens have come home to roost. To my 2ay or thinking, the culture wars are being driven by middle class angst over the increasing difficulty of keeping up.
Now back to online chess.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
The Speaker of the House should learn about the principles of selective prosecution. Because the rule of law sure doesn’t seem to apply to political friends – or, indeed, to anyone but Donald Trump.
Which means, if you’re keeping score, that this isn’t the rule of law at all, but a political vendetta.
The resources of the Democratic Party in keeping Trump front and center are apparently limitless.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
The deranged opposition to Trump has done some extremely deranged things, but this leads the list. You’d think the party that includes Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy would know better.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
There’s a difference between free-thinking and cheer leading
A major news network continuing to tout a theory of election fraud which no one believes is a good example of cheerleading.
You can make a reasoned defense of Trump’s executive successes without buying into the whole line of bullbleep. But few have managed to do that.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
Bailout, no, but buy out very possible. There’s a lot of undervalued assets there.
This isn’t 2008. This apparently is a very conventional bank run, albeit on a massive scale by very wealthy people. James Stewart and Bedford Falls it ain’t.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
Mick,
Thanks for this. Actual insight.
To me, it’s not so much that tech is hated as taken for granted. I’m writing this on a Pixel 7 Pro. I now hold on the paim of my hand an information device more powerful than all the libraries in the world in 1923. . combined. Not Asimov, nor Heinlein, nor Kubrick in their wildest imaginations ever dreamt of such a thing.
Vaccines for serious plagues developed in nine months, five times faster than anything in history. Not ‘wow’ but ‘yawn’.
The success of tech magnifies problems less fortunate societies accepted as natural constraints. Many complaints about this. On Twitter, natch.
BTW, begun drawing Social Security yet?
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
The Newt Gingrich mistake.
BTW, you must be reaching Social Security age. It’s still there. Told ya so.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
Sorry, CC, I’m not playing that game.
I’m the same as I’ve always been. The Demented Left is as demented as ever, only now has far more influence than it should have. I still have little regard for the king of the wimps, Barack Obama. (I regret ‘Pretty Boy’ because it has a resonance of effeminacy and homosexuality that is unfair. But the implication of ineffectuality and passivity I don’t regret.) I have no patience with the Woke crowd. I look forward to the Democratic debacle in 2022 and likely in 2024.
The colossal non-sequitur that you and almost everyone else on this board fall into is that, to maintain these beliefs, I have to support Donald Trump. That is simply not so. In fact, it is exactly the logic with which Biden and the Democrats hope to avoid the election consequences they so richly deserve. They hope to force the public to choose between a party wedded to this semi-psychotic narcissist and his absolutely delusional history, and the complete failure of Democratic policy. Donald Trump is the shield from the failure of its policy.
No, thanks. Trump has to go, and into prison. To answer a couple of rather silly points elsewhere, I am fully aware that Trump supposedly offered National Guard troops to Pelosi. (The big lie was 10,000, back in 2o21, upped to 20,000 earlier this year.) It never happened, a rationalization by core Trump loyalists after the fact. It’s been thoroughly debunked – https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jun/13/sean-hannity/no-evidence-pelosi-rejected-trumps-authorization-2/, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/12/15/no-trump-did-not-order-10000-troops-secure-capitol-jan-6/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/12/16/fact-check-no-trump-request-10000-guard-troops-jan-6/8929215002/
Offhand estimates in political speeches are not the same as formal requests, wich Trump never did. The ‘sources’ for this are Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.
Nor do you claim an election was stolen because the press – or some of it – was mean to you. What happens in an election is that you count the votes. The candidate with the greater number wins. Pretty simple. A credible case that there were illicit votes of a material number and you can fairly state the election was stolen. There’s a good case that this happened in 1960. The much demonized Richard Nixon, a real patriot, refused to bring the challenge in the interests of national unity. That sort of thinking is beyond Trump.
What actually happened was that Trump lost cold, and knew it. He responded by summoning a mob to Washington, firing it up, then retreating into the White House for three hours and congratulating himself when it tore into the Congress. He could have gone immediately online and called it off. He didn’t. He apparently gloated, and identified with them.
I’d charge him with treason, seditious conspiracy, and maybe responsibility for the homicide that did occur.
I won’t be posting again here – not worth it. You guys have got to start seeing the world clearly.
Three links to very articulate conservatism, that I like a lot. The first is Common Sense, set up by Bari Weiss, the woman who resigned so spectacularly from the New York Times – https://bariweiss.substack.com/.
The second is The Dispatch, Jonah Goldberg’s venture, a mind of solid observation about the absurdities of the Democratic Party and Woke culture – https://thedispatch.com/people/4350832-jonah-goldberg
Finally, the redoubtable Commentary, around forever – Jewish conservative thought. https://www.commentary.org/
None of these observers has any use for Biden. But one and all, they want Donald Trump gone and forgotten.
You have a choice. You can look for effective opposition to the excesses of the Democrats – or you can continue to be loyal to this semi-psychotic narcissist, and make people wonder about YOUR grasp of reality.
I want to see Trump indicted, convicted, and imprisoned, because he committed major crimes and did colossal damage. That doesn’t mean I’m suddenly Woke. It means I see more clearly than most of you how much harm Trump does to actual opposition to all the nonsense going on.
Go in peace. I’m done.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
Sorry, CC, I’m not playing that game.
I’m the same as I’ve always been. The Demented Left is as demented as ever, only now has far more influence than it should have. I still have little regard for the king of the wimps, Barack Obama. (I regret ‘Pretty Boy’ because it has a resonance of effeminacy and homosexuality that is unfair. But the implication of ineffectuality and passivity I don’t regret.) I have no patience with the Woke crowd. I look forward to the Democratic debacle in 2022 and likely in 2024.
The colossal non-sequitur that you and almost everyone else on this board fall into is that, to maintain these beliefs, I have to support Donald Trump. That is simply not so. In fact, it is exactly the logic with which Biden and the Democrats hope to avoid the election consequences they so richly deserve. They hope to force the public to choose between a party wedded to this semi-psychotic narcissist and his absolutely delusional history, and the complete failure of Democratic policy. Donald Trump is the shield from the failure of its policy.
No, thanks. Trump has to go, and into prison. To answer a couple of rather silly points elsewhere, I am fully aware that Trump supposedly offered National Guard troops to Pelosi. (The big lie was 10,000, back in 2o21, upped to 20,000 earlier this year.) It never happened, a rationalization by core Trump loyalists after the fact. It’s been thoroughly debunked – https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jun/13/sean-hannity/no-evidence-pelosi-rejected-trumps-authorization-2/, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/12/15/no-trump-did-not-order-10000-troops-secure-capitol-jan-6/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/12/16/fact-check-no-trump-request-10000-guard-troops-jan-6/8929215002/
Offhand estimates in political speeches are not the same as formal requests, wich Trump never did. The ‘sources’ for this are Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.
Nor do you claim an election was stolen because the press – or some of it – was mean to you. What happens in an election is that you count the votes. The candidate with the greater number wins. Pretty simple. A credible case that there were illicit votes of a material number and you can fairly state the election was stolen. There’s a good case that this happened in 1960. The much-demonized Richard Nixon, a real patriot, refused to bring the challenge in the interests of national unity. That sort of thinking is beyond Trump.
What actually happened was that Trump lost cold, and knew it. He responded by summoning a mob to Washington, firing it up, then retreating into the White House for three hours and congratulating himself when it tore into the Congress. He could have gone immediately online and called it off. He didn’t. He apparently gloated, and identified with them.
I’d charge him with treason, seditious conspiracy, and maybe responsibility for the homicide that did occur.
I won’t be posting again here – not worth it. You guys have got to start seeing the world clearly.
Three links to very articulate conservatism, that I like a lot. The first is Common Sense, set up by Bari Weiss, the woman who resigned so spectacularly from the New York Times – https://bariweiss.substack.com/.
The second is The Dispatch, Jonah Goldberg’s venture, a mind of solid observation about the absurdities of the Democratic Party and Woke culture – https://thedispatch.com/people/4350832-jonah-goldberg
Finally, the redoubtable Commentary, around forever – Jewish conservative thought. https://www.commentary.org/
None of these observers has any use for Biden. But one and all, they want Donald Trump gone and forgotten.
You have a choice. You can look for effective opposition to the excesses of the Democrats – or you can continue to be loyal to this semi-psychotic narcissist, and make people wonder about YOUR grasp of reality.
I want to see Trump indicted, convicted, and imprisoned, because he committed major crimes and did colossal damage. That doesn’t mean I’m suddenly Woke. It means I see more clearly than most of you how much harm Trump does to actual opposition to all the nonsense going on.
Go in peace. I’m done.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
Thanks for the compliment, but it’s really not my cup of tea.
A little too one-sided, and every once in a while, some real nastiness.
I’m trying to devote my energy to the blogging to do, but that requires work and the temptation to slack back and watch tennis or one of the really good extended series.
Good luck to everyone, and see you every once in a while.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
Nor do you claim an election was stolen because the press – or some of it – was mean to you. What happens in an election is that you count the votes. The candidate with the greater number wins. Pretty simple. A credible case that there were illicit votes of a material number and you can fairly state the election was stolen. There’s a good case that this happened in 1960. The much demonized Richard Nixon, a real patriot, refused to bring the challenge in the interests of national unity. That sort of thinking is beyond Trump.
What actually happened was that Trump lost cold, and knew it. He responded by summoning a mob to Washington, firing it up, then retreating into the White House for three hours and congratulating himself when it tore into the Congress. He could have gone immediately online and called it off. He didn’t. He apparently gloated, and identified with them.
I’d charge him with treason, seditious conspiracy, and maybe responsibility for the homicide that did occur.
I won’t be posting again here – not worth it. You guys have got to start seeing the world clearly.
Three links to very articulate conservatism, that I like a lot. The first is Common Sense, set up by Bari Weiss, the woman who resigned so spectacularly from the New York Times – https://bariweiss.substack.com/.
The second is The Dispatch, Jonah Goldberg’s venture, a mind of solid observation about the absurdities of the Democratic Party and Woke culture – https://thedispatch.com/people/4350832-jonah-goldberg
Finally, the redoubtable Commentary, around forever – Jewish conservative thought. https://www.commentary.org/
None of these observers has any use for Biden. But one and all, they want Donald Trump gone and forgotten.
You have a choice. You can look for effective opposition to the excesses of the Democrats – or you can continue to be loyal to this semi-psychotic narcissist, and make people wonder about YOUR grasp of reality.
I want to see Trump indicted, convicted, and imprisoned, because he committed major crimes and did colossal damage. That doesn’t mean I’m suddenly Woke. It means I see more clearly than most of you how much harm Trump does to actual opposition to all the nonsense going on.
Go in peace. I’m done.
End
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
Sorry, CC, I’m not playing that game.
I’m the same as I’ve always been. The Demented Left is as demented as ever, only now has far more influence than it should have. I still have little regard for the king of the wimps, Barack Obama. (I regret ‘Pretty Boy’ because it has a resonance of effeminacy and homosexuality that is unfair. But the implication of ineffectuality and passivity I don’t regret.) I have no patience with the Woke crowd. I look forward to the Democratic debacle in 2022 and likely in 2024.
The colossal non-sequitur that you and almost everyone else on this board fall into is that, to maintain these beliefs, I have to support Donald Trump. That is simply not so. In fact, it is exactly the logic with which Biden and the Democrats hope to avoid the election consequences they so richly deserve. They hope to force the public to choose between a party wedded to this semi-psychotic narcissist and his absolutely delusional history, and the complete failure of Democratic policy. Donald Trump is the shield from the failure of its policy.
No, thanks. Trump has to go, and into prison. To answer a couple of rather silly points elsewhere, I am fully aware that Trump supposedly offered National Guard troops to Pelosi. (The big lie was 10,000, back in 2o21, upped to 20,000 earlier this year.) It never happened, a rationalization by core Trump loyalists after the fact. It’s been thoroughly debunked – https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jun/13/sean-hannity/no-evidence-pelosi-rejected-trumps-authorization-2/, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/12/15/no-trump-did-not-order-10000-troops-secure-capitol-jan-6/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/12/16/fact-check-no-trump-request-10000-guard-troops-jan-6/8929215002/
Offhand estimates in political speeches are not the same as formal requests, which Trump never did. The ‘sources’ for this are Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.
(Part I)
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
The endless rationalizations are amusing and amazing.
Did Trump have control of the mob? We’ll never know, because what he did do, for more than three hours, was remain silent and express his approval of what was happening to a number of (former) allies. He’ll die on that. He either stays silent and lets the implication of approval stand, or takes the stand and dies on cross.
Would Trump have demanded negotiations if his (sic) mob had captured a hostage? Before the fact, I would never have believed that he would insist that the election was stolen AFTER litigation, AFTER extensive investigation – would insist on wilder and wilder lawsuits, suggest the Vice President should abandon his polling duty (this in the absence of ANY evidence of malfeasance). This is a behavior that is near psychotic, and, at the least, a narcissism so profound it should disqualify him from public office.
So don’t tell me he wouldn’t have negotiated for a different election result. Based on his actual behavior, his conviction of righteousness based on nothing but his ego, Trump was capable of anything. Don’t tell me he would have stopped short of this or that. He showed no restraint of any kind.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
Come on. The election was audited to a fair-thee-well.
I followed the litigation commenced just after the election, which was necessary. A tremendous amount of money was spent by Trump – and he found absolutely nothing. The declarations were absurdly inadequate. By mid December, tame AG’s were filing syfy lawsuits – Texas v. Pennsylvania, for heaven’s sake.
Barr told Trump in early December he didn’t have a case, so did one staff member after another. Proof doesn’t matter to him. Remember that year long highly embarrassing audit in Arizona? Looking for ballots made out of Asian materials? Trying to subpoena the ordinary routers used for county business in Pima County because there was absolutely nothing?
Paranoid suspicion against Dominion result in a slander lawsuit that sends all of the confident Trump spokespersons rushing into hiding with procedural defenses – because of course they are quite ordinary machines, run by local precinct workers, and tested at the beginning and end of election day. At the end of the day, it was the Trump accusers who ran away from a decision on the merits, not Dominion.
The election was audited and re-audited. This is a case of people refusing to believe proof. The cause of course is Trump. The harm he has done to the GOP is incredible.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
