Get rid of the police…
replace them with your new attendees.
anyone besides me know the history of the colored revolutions and other occupations in history?
no?
good.. then i won’t spoil it for you…
but i will give you a hint
The United States is also the world’s third largest army in terms of manpower, with about 1.4 million active military personnel in 2022
we let in 6.4 times the size of our active military.
So fielding 1 million trained men of marriage years (out of the 30 million who will never have a wife in china) is a nothing thing…
heck.
just think of what 10,000 such people as spetznaz can do..
cant wait till the movie starts..
Here’s a guy in his late fifties, still wearing band t-shirt’s, a porkpie hat on his balding head and probably Converse Hi-Tops on his old man feet, who still believes the song & dance men of the Boomer era were some kind of magical avatars of societal change, even as the wreckage of the “sex, drugs & rock & roll” era is smoldering all around us.
It was just silly fun then, and is still silly fun now.
Rock on, Garth…and try growing up.
Troggs are great. Thanks neo for this story. Slow dancing to Love is all around!!
The media reframes Biden’s super angry SOTU message as merely fiery and forceful campaigning.
Is the New Improved Journolist active? Going by web searches, clearly it is.
Hamas claims five civilians including two young boys were killed in Gaza US aid drop after parachute carrying heavy load ‘failed to deploy’
The Right has mostly adopted the phrase illegal immigrant, instead of undocumented immigrant, migrant, or newcomer. I suppose the Cool Kids won’t like you if you say illegal alien.
But illegal immigrant is (or should be) an oxymoron. No one should be allowed to illegally immigrate to our country. Why is this not obvious common sense?
Karmi, He (Biden) just announced he is using our military to build them a port.
A federal judge denied former President Donald Trump’s request to delay enforcement and ordered him to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million by Monday or post bond, according to a filing on Thursday evening. A federal jury in January decided Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll more than $83 million in damages after he denied allegations he raped her in the 1990s. The jury decided Trump must pay $18.3 million in compensatory damages, and $65 million in punitive damages. Trump has appealed the decision. But on Thursday, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan demanded Trump pay the damages by Monday.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
By the time he win this wacko thing in appeals, she would have spent it and would not be able to pay it back…
A D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel issued a ruling Friday that could impact scores of prison terms handed down to rioters convicted and sentenced for joining the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. The three-judge panel ruled that defendants convicted of obstructing the congressional certification had received improper enhancements of their sentences from district court judges who determined their actions amounted to “substantial interference with the ‘administration of justice.'”
The debt load of the U.S. is growing at a quicker clip in recent months, increasing about $1 trillion nearly every 100 days.
The nation’s debt permanently crossed over to $34 trillion on Jan. 4, after briefly crossing the mark on Dec. 29, according to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It reached $33 trillion on Sept. 15, 2023, and $32 trillion on June 15, 2023, hitting this accelerated pace. Before that, the $1 trillion move higher from $31 trillion took about eight months.
For those who went to Dept of Ed schools
That’s 10,000,000,000 a day
or 416,666,666 an hour
or 6,944,444 a minute
or 115,740 a second
but dont you worry…
they been using our money as a slush fund..
so this 34 trillion number… its a pittance..
Over the next 75 years, U.S. taxpayers face nearly $80 trillion in long??term unfunded obligations. What’s more, 95 percent of this unfunded obligation is driven by only two federal government programs: Medicare and Social Security.
US GDP is at a current level of 27.94…
Oh.. and Biden has decided to raise all the prices again!!! As a campaign promise – It will happen when the billionaires leave, and the corporate tax rate is lifted higher and the pass on the costs… and lay people off.. Cause like, nothing like this has ever happened again, and we don’t live in a universe governed by causality.
Took only 10 days to make a liar out of Kathy Hocul
New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing JBS USA, the world’s largest producer of beef, over the company’s emissions and for “greenwashing” by allegedly misleading the public about its environmental impact. In an announcement, James noted that beef production has the largest greenhouse gas footprint of any major food commodity and that animal agriculture accounts for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. According to James, JBS USA’s various net-zero pledges for 2030 and 2040 are therefore misleading and “not feasible” given the scope of its worldwide beef production operations.
oh..
and want to guess which law they will use to do this?
given that this is a global company, if they were smart,
they would either pay for trumps appeal to win OR stop
selling meat to NY State…
[get ready for the crazy train to leave the station – I’m ready, are you?]
I favor the latter… anyone, anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Wild Thing by the Troggs is a great song. But, sexually explicit? You move me? Wow, things really have changed a lot.
It’s interesting how valuable breaks and pauses can be in music. And with pop music, simplicity (e.g. a couple chords) is rarely a problem by itself.
There is a great local cover band that plays a high energy song that gets people out on the dance floor. But I’d never heard it before. Eventually, I found it. The original is very simple and quite good, but our local band embellishes it a bit to good effect. And it is a sex song, though still rather tame by today’s standards.
About samizdat: I had the privilege of knowing and working with Peter Dornan and Mario Corti at RFE/RL in the 1980s. Peter and Mario ran the Radios’ samizdat archive. Peter died in 1999:
Thank you for that column by Taibbi. First I had heard of the award, and the three recipients of the first one certainly earned it.
Yes its suggestive but not graphic
Wonderful hubert
I think i used samizdat first in that context
After reading a fair amount of commentary about last nights SOTU, I get the impression that it was mostly just an old man hopped up on amphetamines yelling things loudly in order to appear vigorous as opposed to sleepy, slow, and demented. It all seems surreal, like a sort of bad mockery of a president.
If this is a typical lecture by the “Professor of Rock and Roll”, I’d change my major. Nice info, but too long a set-up and too much talk.
_________
No one should be allowed to illegal immigrate to a country, but millions do, so they are illegal immigrants. It’s a bit of a step down from “illegal alien” but so many people think aliens are only little green or gray extraterrestrials, that “illegal immigrant” became the better more understandable epithet.
_________
That Biden immediately pivots to his dead son whenever any tragedy is mentioned suggests to me that he doesn’t “know how you feel” when he talks to people about their losses. It’s like he begrudges them a minute of attention.
“…and [Trump] has a track record as president that compares very favorably indeed with Biden’s. ”
• Additional context is available when Trump’ accomplishments are reviewed (see links below).
• The 2nd link resurfaced recently in a blog comment, and this list starts with accomplishments that benefitted different minority groups – and draws content from the first link.
• These lists are a good start for those that need reminding about how successful Trump’ presidency was, and how successful it was compared to other presidencies in our lifetimes – not sure most informed people would say the same about Biden’ presidency (i.e., success or our lifetimes).
***
Trump was a business executive, not a career politician ^ or military officer. Other than Washington ?^^, his experience not only made him unique in our country’s history, it was also the foundation for insights that differentiated him from the presidents that came from a “government pool/ track”.
^ = Taft & Hoover had not held elected office – state or federal – but had held judiciary/ commission/ cabinet positions before being elected president – they had served in USA government.
?^^ = Washington had been a military officer, but that service was conceptually different than that of Grant and Eisenhower, or even Taylor – there was no USA government to serve.
Trump was not the first to offer up some variation of ‘Make America Great Again’ or ‘It’s the Economy Stupid’ during his presidential campaign. But he may have been the first modern president to truly recognize the importance of economics to all aspects of successful governing, even after he was sworn into office (i.e., not just for getting elected).
Many adults are probably aware that many politicians want history to do record more than just they were elected. The politicians want to leave their mark on history. While researching and reading about former presidents it struck me that foreign policy is what the presidents, MSM, think tanks, punditry, historians, et al primarily focused on when it came to how presidents were defined by history. And that “dollars & cents” achievements were for administrators, while “treaties & wars” actions were for statesmen.
Having a memorable doctrine – Monroe, Roosevelt, Truman – is often the pinnacle for making their mark when it comes to historical longevity (i.e., what we are told about a President generations later). Time after time, every presidential doctrine – memorable or not – is described in terms of foreign policy, and most have a military component. After Truman, a focus on communism too.
Once I understood the “rules” – and shortcomings – of how presidential history is defined, it was easier to understand why there is no consensus on the Trump Doctrine. Trump does not fit in the MSM, think tanks, punditry, historians, et al “box”.
The Trump Doctrine was: Economic security is National security. The business executive – who operated on a national & international stage – understood both: a) How intertwined those two objectives are, and b) How decoupling them is detrimental to achieving success.
Yes, Trump’ approach was disparaged & denounced by the MSM, think tanks, punditry, historians, et al in part over politics. But it was also done because they could not understand the critical importance of something as pedestrian as “dollars & cents”.
History is not only proving that the Trump Doctrine was a key to his success during his term, it is also proving that the Trump Doctrine is important going forward (see Biden’ presidency).
The Trump Doctrine is so fundamental that voters should evaluate every future presidential candidate on how they are going to use the Trump Doctrine to govern. That does not mean every future president will have the same level of “nerves & negotiation” as Trump, but it is the standard by which all others should be measured.
Gaza reports say that at least five people were killed and others injured Friday afternoon after aid packages airdropped by the US hit them directly, west of Gaza City. Earlier this week, a Gazan “unboxing” aid packages on social media revealed that they contain four nutritious meals, Tabasco sauce, salt and sugar, and, in addition to the meals, Skittles candies.
ART+Deco @ 1117: yes, I find him to be extremely annoying and avoid his videos.
TommyJay: Wild Thing is easy to play, but the chord sequence takes just a bit of practice to the rhythm right: A D E D repeat. A silly song that everyone likes. I don’t see anything really sexual about it at all. The Troggs other big hit, Love is all Around, is so different it’s hard to believe it’s the same band. The chord sequence in that song is immediately recognizable. It was often a wedding song back in the day.
@ El Polacko
Short Version:
• 100% agree – especially this: “…even as the wreckage of the “sex, drugs & rock & roll” era is smoldering all around us.”
1) The Boomer & Gen X generations refuse to grow up (see my father was “Mr. Smith”, jeans at every event, etc.).
2) Which means they cannot replace the previous “adults-in-the-room”.
3) And they are failing to pass on to their children the lessons/ tribal knowledge that their parents & grandparents attempted to pass on to them (see Adulting, Participation Trophies, etc.).
4) A “Ruling Class” is the natural state.
5) We are being conquered.
Long Version:
• 100% agree.
• For those who were old enough to be active participants – “sex, drugs & rock & roll” era – the reality was most had a home/ “safe place” to return to after they went out to change-the-world/ expand their minds/ fxcked-up.
• Their home/ “safe place” existed because of their Mom & Dad. And M&D were not Hip or Groovy – they were Squares. They were also not obsessed with being cool, forever young, their child’s BFF, etc.
• M&D accepted that they were now Adults, and they absorbed the lessons they were taught by the existing adults-in-the-room. In most cases M&D benefitted from the hard work of their parents, but also worked hard to provide that home/ “safe space” (earned, not given). And their success was due in part to incorporating the foundation that their parents passed on to them – then using that to provide stability & leadership for their families. That included an understanding of destructive & dangerous.
***
• Several decades ago I was sitting around a campfire in the jungles of PNG listening to some Brits & Ozzies debate the importance of the upcoming Euro. Eventually this Brit from the BBC opined that the Euro was destined to take the place of the Dollar as the world reserve currency. No one challenged his assertion.
• Then one of the Ozzies asked me what I thought. I told them that as long as some of the “adults-in- the-room” remembered the Marshall Plan, the Dollar would remain the world reserve currency. Some looked at me with vacant expressions, but the BBC Brit and the remainder understood what I meant, and moved on to another topic.
• In the past the population included “adults-in-the-room” that provided stability & leadership, and as one generation passed on the next generation took a seat. Now that the Greatest & Silent generation have almost passed, we have come to find out that many of the new adults-in-the- room – the Boomer & Gen X generations – cannot provide that stability & leadership.
• I am not without hope, but I am also not optimistic that we can sustain what the post-WWII generations built. Over the past decades I have had the good fortune to travel on six continents, and it is clear to me that for most of the world a “Ruling Class” is the natural state for groups of people. That has been true for every period of recorded history.
“Americans and other Westerners who want their families to enjoy the blessings of life in a free society should understand that the life we’ve led since 1945 in the Western World is very rare in human history. Our children are unlikely to enjoy anything so placid and may well spend their adult years in an ugly and savage world, unless we decide that who and what we are is worth defending.” — Mark Steyn
• The “Ruling Class” victories have reached the point in western democracies that we – the non-ruling class majority – are in a rearguard stance. And most cannot comprehend that we are fighting for our freedom because there have been no “bullets” fired at them. I am 95% certain that at some point – our lifetimes, children’s lifetimes – we will be completely conquered.
• Conquered means we will be forced to live under doctrine & laws we do not believe or support (see CA, OR, WA). Or those who we defeat will be forced to live under doctrine & laws they do not believe or support. And even if we win, that dynamic and conflict will not end in our/ their lifetimes because destructive & dangerous concepts have taken root.
Planned Parenthood is allegedly transferring “proprietary” aborted baby body parts to the University of California San Diego (UCSD) “in exchange for ownership of the university’s ‘patents’ and ‘intellectual property’” created through experiments. The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) obtained documents showing the alleged transaction between the abortion organization and the university after filing a public records request. CMP Founder and President David Daleiden told CatholicVote: “These documents show that the whole time Planned Parenthood swore to Congress and the public they did not sell body parts, they were lying about active contracts like this one to sell aborted fetuses
My 2-cents…Trump was a great Business president, but the Office of President of the United States requires at least some basic Leadership ability—which he proved not to have at all.
‘In the Gate’ he basically settled on a Cabinet suggested to him by the MAGA crowd, which was a disaster, e.g., Jeff Sessions.
From there the flood gates opened – instead of his promise to close them and to Drain the Swamp. His lack of leadership ability actually made the Swamp more powerful, as witnessed even to this day.
He saw that the Democrats were attempting to cheat in the 2020 Presidential election, but even as President of the United States he was unable to even slow them down—in fact he now faces numerous interference charges. Pathetic Leadership, IMHO.
In Florida, as a registered NPA (No-party-affiliation) voter I vote against Democrats, and I voted for Trump twice; however, if he doesn’t soon come out in further strong support of Ukraine I may not vote for President this year. Cabinet, Ukraine, and Israel are important to me this year…
Whatever Trump would do on those three issues if elected would be enormously better than what Biden or Biden’s replacement would do, so I see no logic in not voting for Trump.
How many republicans senators couldnt wait to vote for mayorkas austin garland yet they could barely bothered to show up for trumps appointees
We have a case study from 2016-20 how to keep putin at bay its everything we are not doing now how to keep the houthis hamas at bay
Extra points to Martin for prescience. Last year, he answered ten questions from the editors of the UK-based “Rights in Russia” newsletter and website:
He talks about Ukraine and Aleksei Navalny. Again, he was right about Navalny.
Neo: “I see no logic in not voting for Trump.” Of course not, you are a Republican…
Karmi:
I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Republican.
Karmi;
I think when Trump became president he assumed – wrongly it turned out – that he could rely on individuals he believed were competent, honest and were in accord with what he hoped to implement.
This turned out not to be the case.
IMHO, he learned the hard way that DC is populated with devious, incompetent, dishonest, life long govt. bureaucrat snakes whose sole goal is to make sure they will always have a job somewhere in that cesspool, in that filthy swamp.
Trump’s inexperience in the world of DC politics, I believe, is why he was susceptible to being misled by “trusted” and incompetent appointees.
The best example of someone he initially replied upon was Fauci, who we now know is not competent at all, is a liar and just your basic lying POS.
IF Trump get’s re-elected, he will not make this mistake again.
For sure he now realizes that he will be dealing with snakes.
As for not voting for Trump, well, you are soiling your own knickers.
MOST of the time in voting for president, we are presented with two sub-optimal choices.
One must choose the “least bad” of the two choices available.
Democrat voters never have this problem; they will always vote for the democrat, whether he is dead or alive or senile or a Stalin wannabe.
It’s only republicans that take a stand on “principle,” not vote for the sub-optimal candidate, and essentially allow a guy like Biden to become president.
Trump may have a lot of unattractive features – no one can deny this – but there is no way in hell he would be worse than a Biden.
It’s difficult to look past Trump’s shortcomings and focus on the policies he wishes to implement. But it is the policies implemented that will affect the citizens and the nation.
And even if he can’t push thru his policies, he will not promote policies like open borders, putting a lid on US production of energy, providing aid to HAMAS !!!!!!!, etc.
An ineffective president is far more preferable to a president who is effective in implementing horrible policies.
Lastly, the next president may have to appoint a new justice of the SCOTUS.
Tell me, do you prefer a liberal democrat president to nominate this candidate, or the loud-mouth, in your face, Trump?
Think about that.
As an amateur student of Russia, admittedly, I find neo soviet, well too much shorthand, certainly Alexander 3rd would be some some one Putin would not take offense, but Nicholas 1st, grandfather of the last Czar, of course he self identifies more with Peter the Great, in that context, any move Sweden would take would be like bre’r rabbit in the tar pit,
now most of that disgraceful performance last night was cribbed from last year, like a malign ground hog day, but as we sink deeper into the mire, well it becomes more pitiful
now you really have too choices either the shambling heap, who seems to be propped up by the old Gods, or Trump, who is aware of the current realities, and has a will to change them, how much can be done, it’s arguable, they never had gone this far before,take for example the damage has been necrotic to the body politic,the proscriptions rising out of the J6 charade is something they never
contemplated before, it become much clearer he was not legitimately elected, they would not show this level of contempt, well maybe Obama,
Neo – I agree with your comment to Karmi re voting for Trump is better than voting for Biden or not voting at all. And for his term to be successful, Trump needs the House and the Senate majorities. I hope that a new Senate leader will help in getting more action through the Senate.
I also hope that Trump has a group of people looking through Biden’s Exec Orders and will have that huge stack of new ones reversing what Biden did – remember that picture of Biden signing the EO without reading any of them….
I think the appropriate phrase is “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
One thing I like about Trump is that he knows that the VP position needs to go to someone who can be his replacement vs someone who checks certain boxes or is more of an insurance policy against replacement.
Neo: Sorry. I owe you a better explanation then.
Ronald Reagan was a Leader – Trump is just a businessman.
Cabinet: I seriously doubt Trump ends up with a better Cabinet than Biden. Plus for Biden.
Ukraine: No way Trump will be better on Ukraine than Biden—unless he comes out soon with something other than he will “end the war.” Plus for Biden – at this point.
Israel: Trump wins this one hands down. Plus for Trump.
Biden 2 – Trump 1
Lastly, the next president may have to appoint a new justice of the SCOTUS.
Tell me, do you prefer a liberal democrat president to nominate this candidate, or the loud-mouth, in your face, Trump?
Think about that.
JohnTyler: Yeah, great point!
If Obama era was creeping fascism, is today’s galloping fascism? The answer is probably YES, considering Leo Goldstein’s succinct piece in American Thinker, “Obama-Biden Administration Was Creeping Fascism”.
Trump’s cabinet will be enormously better than Biden’s, because at least it won’t be filled by woke leftists. I think that is obvious.
And it’s not clear what Trump will do on Ukraine, so I think there’s a question mark there, and on Israel he is far better. I think on Ukraine he would do some sort of deal, but since that war is not going to be settled by fighting – it’s clearly a stalemate – I think a deal is okay if he doesn’t totally sell out Ukraine. I’ve seen no indication he’ll do that. I think he’s playing his cards very close to the vest on this one.
As he is better on just about everything else, including SCOTUS nominations but hardly limited to that.
Neo:
I meant Cabinet being better for the President they will serve…I stand by Biden ending up w/ the better Cabinet. Part of Trump’s leadership issues is that he browbeats & blames staff/employee, i.e., Trump is not a “The Buck Stops Here” kind of a guy. Not many people want to work for someone like that, IMHO. Plus for Biden.
Yes, Trump not being clear on Ukraine is a serious issue. Again, so far it’s about him – “I will stop the war.” Well, that war has been going on since around 2014, and he didn’t stop it when he had a chance. At this point – Plus for Biden.
JohnTyler mentioned SCOTUS noms, so we’ll add it here – Plus Trump
Biden 2 – Trump 2
there should be more brow beating, so they understand who they work for,
conversely Dem nominees know that they need to destroy as much of the country as possible,
our CDC, which has gotten everything wrong,
covers itself,
I cannot imagine thinking Biden’s cabinet being better, if the criterion is what they do for the country. Biden’s cabinet is stuffed with radical leftists who are implementing leftist priorities whether or not these policies are legal or constitutional. Yes, that’s what the Biden cartel want, so yes, his Cabinet is in lockstep with the radical leftist agenda. I don’t consider that a plus.
8.2% of the more than 61 million eligible voters participated.
Karmi: “Ronald Reagan was a Leader – Trump is just a businessman.”
Reagan was certainly a leader, a great and visionary leader (eg, engineering the Soviet Union’s collapse). But to cast a pall over Trump “as just [a grubby] businessman” is to ridiculously underestimate him.
I recommend Victor Davis Hanson’s book “The Case For Trump,” by a thinker who did not vote for him in 2016, as a reasoned antidote. If you prefer, please search up YouTube interviews with VDH after the book was published (it was republished one year later, resulting in a new round of author interviews).
Trump was and remains a clever salesman. And his many years as the definitive Emcee of NBCs “You’re Fired!” Reality contest show well-prepared him for the ceremonial role of the Presidency as Head of State. Check out C-Span videos of, for example, Medal of Freedom award winners, the nation’s highest civilian honor. He is magnificent in every one I’ve seen, almost entirely shorn of political partisanship.
Trump — contrary to nearly all detractors — sets a high standard for gentlemanly statesmanship, just like Reagan.
How is Trump like Reagan but different? Reagan relied on American Exceptionalist ideals, such as the US being like a shining city upon a hill themes of exemplary liberty.
By contrast with that thought, Trump hits upon the same beats but differently. He is exactly like the patriotic and loyal military school graduate of the mid-60s that he is as one would expect — he resonates to all of Reagan’s explicit themes — “God bless America, Land that I love, Stand beside her, And guide her, Through the night with the light from above” (Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” lyrics).
People bizarrely claim that he’s no ideological conservative. No. Intellectualism is not his strong suit. Instead, he is an American Exceptionalist conservative—a viewpoint expanded on by Vivek Ramaswamy, who is MAGA, but also highly capable of thinking at the highest intellectual levels.
We don’t see the Donald being like Ronnie. Except when delivering soaring speeches like he did with one’s written by Steven Miller on Independence Day at Mount Rushmore — or his earlier speech in Warsaw, Poland.
Then, I challenge anyone to listen to these Patriotic speeches and not be warmly reminded of Reagan’s friendly and happy vision of Liberty.
Re Kate: “ Biden’s cabinet is stuffed with radical leftists who are implementing leftist priorities whether or not these policies are legal or constitutional.” Not only is Mayorkas the first cabinet level officer to be impeached by Congress, but AG Merretless Garland needs hoisting by petard, too.
Reagan had a harder project on the international sphere in some ways, on the domestic front, hadn’t considered some countervailing forces like the mass immigration, that he welcomed with amnesty, but in his defense the left had not curdled to the same extent then, as now,
True he was a Governor, but before then, he was a trade union leader and motivational speaker, he saw the Communist first hand
in the former role, then again there were amenable ceo’s like Ralph Gordiner willing to underwrite his message, Jack Welsh as his successor was decided not the same cut of jib,
because of his Gold War focus, he minimized the impact of the Revolutionary Republic of Iran, and this was evident in Beirut certainly,
One last ‘Thang I dislike about Trump. How many people who had worked for President Trump were left in the wind by him to face legal fees, prison, etc.?
‘Whar is Genghis Khan when you need him!
Sure, Karmi, but Biden is destroying the nation.
“Ronald Reagan was a Leader – Trump is just a businessman.” – Karmi
Been waiting for another Reagan to come along, but alas, it appears to be a once in a lifetime event.
I voted for Trump the first time precisely because he was a businessman– and just as importantly a real estate developer. The world is slowing disintegrating beneath a veil of deceit, but many of our immediate problems are economic.
I think you would have to recognize that Trump’s understanding of business produced economic policies that were right for America. That may be the most important benefit to a second term.
As to his cabinet in a second term, too much is made of Trump’s style. He’ll have no problem finding great Americans to fill those positions. These are all adults, very unlikely to wilt under any Trump slight.
Reagan’s day is over and it’s not coming back. Even in his own day, it was becoming clear that an economic boom might be accompanied with deindustrialization at home, and that deficits might really hurt us down the road. Since his time, our unipolar moment of global hegemony has come and gone.
I’m not sure about the bright and happy Reagan versus gloomy, apocalyptic Trump contrast really does work. Trump is about as optimimistic as anyone can be in today’s America, and Americans felt more optimistic during his term than they do in Biden’s era, no matter how much joy tells us that we can do anything we want to do if we want it bad enough.
They say in politics that you can’t beat somebody with nobody. That may be true of electoral politics, but there are a lot of “nobodies” out there who could do a better job for the country than Buttigieg, Granholm, Mayorkas, Yellen, Austin, and Blinken. I just hope that if Trump gets elected, he picks the right ones and is able to work with them.
Kate:
Sure, Karmi, but Biden is destroying the nation.
Country has been rushing towards destruction for a long time, Kate, long before Biden was elected, and war may be the only way from it—at this point…so to speak. I don’t see Biden or Trump as war time presidents – just more of the same back and forth every 4-8 years.
Will still vote against Local, State, and Federal Democratic party candidates, but Trump is going to have to show me something this time around.
I am tired of settling for ‘Luke Warm‘ Presidents…
If Karmi actually votes for Biden, I’ll think of her as an idiot voter–but to call attention to some of Trump’s actions is good, tho I disagree on how bad or not his cabinet was. Garland, and his persecution of peaceful protests, is worse than Sessions or Barr, tho both of these are GOPe ‘good losers’.
It’s common among non-Trump supporters, like Arnold Kling, to claim his cabinet was bad. I claim his 2019 cabinet was better than is Biden’s.
Please consider naming some you think should be ashamed of their results compared to the Dems.
For stopping Woke, the SCOTUS picks will be the most important legacy.
pompeo or blinken
barr or garland
wolf or mayorkas
for any misgiving I might have about the former, specially barr, there is no argument that they did not intend the destruction of the country,who prevents Hamas from being funded who doesnt who grovels to China and who does,who considers terrorists like Antifa, and who has no opinion about same,
the ukraine invasion the fall of kabul the itijihad of October 7th none of these could have been insentivized on Trumps watch,
Immigrant implies that the person has come to settle in a new country. Many or most illegal aliens may be immigrants, but we can’t assume that all are. Many are opportunistic criminals, spies and terrorists, or those who come to work for a time, and then go home.
…so many people think aliens are only little green or gray extraterrestrials, that “illegal immigrant” became the better more understandable epithet.
Don’t be ridiculous. No sane person thinks space aliens are crossing our southern border en masse, or being given government benefits and committing crimes!
Karmi,
So, “Biden’s” management style is better than Trumps, therefore “Biden’s” cabinet would be better, even though it would be filled with totally crazy leftists??
Thank you for your vote for…nothing! /sarc
I don’t know if Karmi is an imbecil or trolling to claim that President Trump was not or won’t be much of a difference
I don’t see Biden or Trump as war time presidents – just more of the same back and forth every 4-8 years.
Karmi may not have been paying attention to the level of Democrat resistance in 2016-2021 (near treason by General White Rage Miley) and the state sanctioned attacks on conservatives and President Trump since 2021.
Maybe Karmi has an explaination for his apparent cluelessness; imbecility or trolling are still possibilities.
Dare I say it? Better than the Bee Gees? What do you think Neo?
Om: No wonder you had to resort to name calling – you just can’t keep up. I’ll try to break it down for you…
I don’t see Biden or Trump as war time presidents – just more of the same back and forth every 4-8 years.
That was from a conversation w/ Kate – we were commenting on “destroying” and/or “destruction” of America. I didn’t think it could be stopped with “just more of the same back and forth every 4-8 years.”
Example: Carter 4, Reagan 8, HW Bush 4, Clinton 8, W Bush 8, Obama 8, Trump 4, and Biden?
As to your “General White Rage Miley” point – just another example (of many many) of Trump’s lack of Leadership Ability…
To Karmi President Trump is now responsible for the actions of every unconstitutional miscreant who served the Democrats while working in his administration.
By Karmi logic Goerge Washington is to blame for the actions of Benedict Arnold. And by Karmi logic every toad that President Trump discovered and fired is a sign of President Trump’s incompetence; ‘such poor judgement in hiring!’
Do explain Karmi. Flesh out the ‘war time’ president, too.
Karmi:
Your list of president pairs includes President Regan. Do you know any history of that time and the differences between Regan, Carter, and Bush the elder. Or the Cold War USSR and The Russian Federation? To claim it is all the same since 1972 isn’t too discerning. Do tell.
Youre nof serious are you one is destroying the country with all their will the other is trying to put it back together
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Get rid of the police…
replace them with your new attendees.
anyone besides me know the history of the colored revolutions and other occupations in history?
no?
good.. then i won’t spoil it for you…
but i will give you a hint
The United States is also the world’s third largest army in terms of manpower, with about 1.4 million active military personnel in 2022
we let in 6.4 times the size of our active military.
So fielding 1 million trained men of marriage years (out of the 30 million who will never have a wife in china) is a nothing thing…
heck.
just think of what 10,000 such people as spetznaz can do..
cant wait till the movie starts..
Here’s a guy in his late fifties, still wearing band t-shirt’s, a porkpie hat on his balding head and probably Converse Hi-Tops on his old man feet, who still believes the song & dance men of the Boomer era were some kind of magical avatars of societal change, even as the wreckage of the “sex, drugs & rock & roll” era is smoldering all around us.
It was just silly fun then, and is still silly fun now.
Rock on, Garth…and try growing up.
Troggs are great. Thanks neo for this story. Slow dancing to Love is all around!!
The media reframes Biden’s super angry SOTU message as merely fiery and forceful campaigning.
Is the New Improved Journolist active? Going by web searches, clearly it is.
https://instapundit.com/635808/#disqus_thread
A song is interesting. A blowhard talking about a song is not.
Biden provides Hamas another ‘Silver Lining’:
Death by aid drop:
The Right has mostly adopted the phrase illegal immigrant, instead of undocumented immigrant, migrant, or newcomer. I suppose the Cool Kids won’t like you if you say illegal alien.
But illegal immigrant is (or should be) an oxymoron. No one should be allowed to illegally immigrate to our country. Why is this not obvious common sense?
Karmi, He (Biden) just announced he is using our military to build them a port.
A federal judge denied former President Donald Trump’s request to delay enforcement and ordered him to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million by Monday or post bond, according to a filing on Thursday evening. A federal jury in January decided Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll more than $83 million in damages after he denied allegations he raped her in the 1990s. The jury decided Trump must pay $18.3 million in compensatory damages, and $65 million in punitive damages. Trump has appealed the decision. But on Thursday, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan demanded Trump pay the damages by Monday.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
By the time he win this wacko thing in appeals, she would have spent it and would not be able to pay it back…
A D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel issued a ruling Friday that could impact scores of prison terms handed down to rioters convicted and sentenced for joining the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. The three-judge panel ruled that defendants convicted of obstructing the congressional certification had received improper enhancements of their sentences from district court judges who determined their actions amounted to “substantial interference with the ‘administration of justice.'”
The debt load of the U.S. is growing at a quicker clip in recent months, increasing about $1 trillion nearly every 100 days.
The nation’s debt permanently crossed over to $34 trillion on Jan. 4, after briefly crossing the mark on Dec. 29, according to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It reached $33 trillion on Sept. 15, 2023, and $32 trillion on June 15, 2023, hitting this accelerated pace. Before that, the $1 trillion move higher from $31 trillion took about eight months.
For those who went to Dept of Ed schools
That’s 10,000,000,000 a day
or 416,666,666 an hour
or 6,944,444 a minute
or 115,740 a second
but dont you worry…
they been using our money as a slush fund..
so this 34 trillion number… its a pittance..
Over the next 75 years, U.S. taxpayers face nearly $80 trillion in long??term unfunded obligations. What’s more, 95 percent of this unfunded obligation is driven by only two federal government programs: Medicare and Social Security.
US GDP is at a current level of 27.94…
Oh.. and Biden has decided to raise all the prices again!!! As a campaign promise – It will happen when the billionaires leave, and the corporate tax rate is lifted higher and the pass on the costs… and lay people off.. Cause like, nothing like this has ever happened again, and we don’t live in a universe governed by causality.
Took only 10 days to make a liar out of Kathy Hocul
New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing JBS USA, the world’s largest producer of beef, over the company’s emissions and for “greenwashing” by allegedly misleading the public about its environmental impact. In an announcement, James noted that beef production has the largest greenhouse gas footprint of any major food commodity and that animal agriculture accounts for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. According to James, JBS USA’s various net-zero pledges for 2030 and 2040 are therefore misleading and “not feasible” given the scope of its worldwide beef production operations.
oh..
and want to guess which law they will use to do this?
given that this is a global company, if they were smart,
they would either pay for trumps appeal to win OR stop
selling meat to NY State…
[get ready for the crazy train to leave the station – I’m ready, are you?]
I favor the latter… anyone, anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Wild Thing by the Troggs is a great song. But, sexually explicit? You move me? Wow, things really have changed a lot.
It’s interesting how valuable breaks and pauses can be in music. And with pop music, simplicity (e.g. a couple chords) is rarely a problem by itself.
There is a great local cover band that plays a high energy song that gets people out on the dance floor. But I’d never heard it before. Eventually, I found it. The original is very simple and quite good, but our local band embellishes it a bit to good effect. And it is a sex song, though still rather tame by today’s standards.
Head Over Heels by JD McPherson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAmnvAa-dRM
The above live version is better, I think, than the original studio recording below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXn_O8yECCQ
Great piece on “America Enters the Samizdat Era” by Matt Taibbi:
https://www.racket.news/p/america-enters-the-samizdat-era?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
About samizdat: I had the privilege of knowing and working with Peter Dornan and Mario Corti at RFE/RL in the 1980s. Peter and Mario ran the Radios’ samizdat archive. Peter died in 1999:
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-peter-dornan-1126614.html
https://www.rferl.org/a/1092555.html
He was a great guy. He deserves to be remembered. Mario is still around:
https://www.facebook.com/mario.corti.568/about
Hubert:
Thank you for that column by Taibbi. First I had heard of the award, and the three recipients of the first one certainly earned it.
Yes its suggestive but not graphic
Wonderful hubert
I think i used samizdat first in that context
After reading a fair amount of commentary about last nights SOTU, I get the impression that it was mostly just an old man hopped up on amphetamines yelling things loudly in order to appear vigorous as opposed to sleepy, slow, and demented. It all seems surreal, like a sort of bad mockery of a president.
If this is a typical lecture by the “Professor of Rock and Roll”, I’d change my major. Nice info, but too long a set-up and too much talk.
_________
No one should be allowed to illegal immigrate to a country, but millions do, so they are illegal immigrants. It’s a bit of a step down from “illegal alien” but so many people think aliens are only little green or gray extraterrestrials, that “illegal immigrant” became the better more understandable epithet.
_________
That Biden immediately pivots to his dead son whenever any tragedy is mentioned suggests to me that he doesn’t “know how you feel” when he talks to people about their losses. It’s like he begrudges them a minute of attention.
“…and [Trump] has a track record as president that compares very favorably indeed with Biden’s. ”
• Additional context is available when Trump’ accomplishments are reviewed (see links below).
• The 2nd link resurfaced recently in a blog comment, and this list starts with accomplishments that benefitted different minority groups – and draws content from the first link.
• These lists are a good start for those that need reminding about how successful Trump’ presidency was, and how successful it was compared to other presidencies in our lifetimes – not sure most informed people would say the same about Biden’ presidency (i.e., success or our lifetimes).
https://wiba.iheart.com/featured/common-sense-central/content/2021-01-19-the-complete-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments/
https://www.upward.news/a-comprehensive-list-of-trumps-accomplishments/
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/fact-sheet-the-historic-results-president-donald-j-trumps-first-two-years-office
***
Trump was a business executive, not a career politician ^ or military officer. Other than Washington ?^^, his experience not only made him unique in our country’s history, it was also the foundation for insights that differentiated him from the presidents that came from a “government pool/ track”.
^ = Taft & Hoover had not held elected office – state or federal – but had held judiciary/ commission/ cabinet positions before being elected president – they had served in USA government.
?^^ = Washington had been a military officer, but that service was conceptually different than that of Grant and Eisenhower, or even Taylor – there was no USA government to serve.
Trump was not the first to offer up some variation of ‘Make America Great Again’ or ‘It’s the Economy Stupid’ during his presidential campaign. But he may have been the first modern president to truly recognize the importance of economics to all aspects of successful governing, even after he was sworn into office (i.e., not just for getting elected).
Many adults are probably aware that many politicians want history to do record more than just they were elected. The politicians want to leave their mark on history. While researching and reading about former presidents it struck me that foreign policy is what the presidents, MSM, think tanks, punditry, historians, et al primarily focused on when it came to how presidents were defined by history. And that “dollars & cents” achievements were for administrators, while “treaties & wars” actions were for statesmen.
Having a memorable doctrine – Monroe, Roosevelt, Truman – is often the pinnacle for making their mark when it comes to historical longevity (i.e., what we are told about a President generations later). Time after time, every presidential doctrine – memorable or not – is described in terms of foreign policy, and most have a military component. After Truman, a focus on communism too.
Once I understood the “rules” – and shortcomings – of how presidential history is defined, it was easier to understand why there is no consensus on the Trump Doctrine. Trump does not fit in the MSM, think tanks, punditry, historians, et al “box”.
The Trump Doctrine was: Economic security is National security. The business executive – who operated on a national & international stage – understood both: a) How intertwined those two objectives are, and b) How decoupling them is detrimental to achieving success.
Yes, Trump’ approach was disparaged & denounced by the MSM, think tanks, punditry, historians, et al in part over politics. But it was also done because they could not understand the critical importance of something as pedestrian as “dollars & cents”.
History is not only proving that the Trump Doctrine was a key to his success during his term, it is also proving that the Trump Doctrine is important going forward (see Biden’ presidency).
The Trump Doctrine is so fundamental that voters should evaluate every future presidential candidate on how they are going to use the Trump Doctrine to govern. That does not mean every future president will have the same level of “nerves & negotiation” as Trump, but it is the standard by which all others should be measured.
Gaza reports say that at least five people were killed and others injured Friday afternoon after aid packages airdropped by the US hit them directly, west of Gaza City. Earlier this week, a Gazan “unboxing” aid packages on social media revealed that they contain four nutritious meals, Tabasco sauce, salt and sugar, and, in addition to the meals, Skittles candies.
ART+Deco @ 1117: yes, I find him to be extremely annoying and avoid his videos.
TommyJay: Wild Thing is easy to play, but the chord sequence takes just a bit of practice to the rhythm right: A D E D repeat. A silly song that everyone likes. I don’t see anything really sexual about it at all. The Troggs other big hit, Love is all Around, is so different it’s hard to believe it’s the same band. The chord sequence in that song is immediately recognizable. It was often a wedding song back in the day.
@ El Polacko
Short Version:
• 100% agree – especially this: “…even as the wreckage of the “sex, drugs & rock & roll” era is smoldering all around us.”
1) The Boomer & Gen X generations refuse to grow up (see my father was “Mr. Smith”, jeans at every event, etc.).
2) Which means they cannot replace the previous “adults-in-the-room”.
3) And they are failing to pass on to their children the lessons/ tribal knowledge that their parents & grandparents attempted to pass on to them (see Adulting, Participation Trophies, etc.).
4) A “Ruling Class” is the natural state.
5) We are being conquered.
Long Version:
• 100% agree.
• For those who were old enough to be active participants – “sex, drugs & rock & roll” era – the reality was most had a home/ “safe place” to return to after they went out to change-the-world/ expand their minds/ fxcked-up.
• Their home/ “safe place” existed because of their Mom & Dad. And M&D were not Hip or Groovy – they were Squares. They were also not obsessed with being cool, forever young, their child’s BFF, etc.
• M&D accepted that they were now Adults, and they absorbed the lessons they were taught by the existing adults-in-the-room. In most cases M&D benefitted from the hard work of their parents, but also worked hard to provide that home/ “safe space” (earned, not given). And their success was due in part to incorporating the foundation that their parents passed on to them – then using that to provide stability & leadership for their families. That included an understanding of destructive & dangerous.
***
• Several decades ago I was sitting around a campfire in the jungles of PNG listening to some Brits & Ozzies debate the importance of the upcoming Euro. Eventually this Brit from the BBC opined that the Euro was destined to take the place of the Dollar as the world reserve currency. No one challenged his assertion.
• Then one of the Ozzies asked me what I thought. I told them that as long as some of the “adults-in- the-room” remembered the Marshall Plan, the Dollar would remain the world reserve currency. Some looked at me with vacant expressions, but the BBC Brit and the remainder understood what I meant, and moved on to another topic.
• In the past the population included “adults-in-the-room” that provided stability & leadership, and as one generation passed on the next generation took a seat. Now that the Greatest & Silent generation have almost passed, we have come to find out that many of the new adults-in-the- room – the Boomer & Gen X generations – cannot provide that stability & leadership.
• I am not without hope, but I am also not optimistic that we can sustain what the post-WWII generations built. Over the past decades I have had the good fortune to travel on six continents, and it is clear to me that for most of the world a “Ruling Class” is the natural state for groups of people. That has been true for every period of recorded history.
• The “Ruling Class” victories have reached the point in western democracies that we – the non-ruling class majority – are in a rearguard stance. And most cannot comprehend that we are fighting for our freedom because there have been no “bullets” fired at them. I am 95% certain that at some point – our lifetimes, children’s lifetimes – we will be completely conquered.
• Conquered means we will be forced to live under doctrine & laws we do not believe or support (see CA, OR, WA). Or those who we defeat will be forced to live under doctrine & laws they do not believe or support. And even if we win, that dynamic and conflict will not end in our/ their lifetimes because destructive & dangerous concepts have taken root.
***
• Thank you for sharing.
Exciting yawn
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13170597/no-labels-party-candidate-2024-election-trump-biden.html
Planned Parenthood is allegedly transferring “proprietary” aborted baby body parts to the University of California San Diego (UCSD) “in exchange for ownership of the university’s ‘patents’ and ‘intellectual property’” created through experiments. The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) obtained documents showing the alleged transaction between the abortion organization and the university after filing a public records request. CMP Founder and President David Daleiden told CatholicVote: “These documents show that the whole time Planned Parenthood swore to Congress and the public they did not sell body parts, they were lying about active contracts like this one to sell aborted fetuses
My 2-cents…Trump was a great Business president, but the Office of President of the United States requires at least some basic Leadership ability—which he proved not to have at all.
‘In the Gate’ he basically settled on a Cabinet suggested to him by the MAGA crowd, which was a disaster, e.g., Jeff Sessions.
From there the flood gates opened – instead of his promise to close them and to Drain the Swamp. His lack of leadership ability actually made the Swamp more powerful, as witnessed even to this day.
He saw that the Democrats were attempting to cheat in the 2020 Presidential election, but even as President of the United States he was unable to even slow them down—in fact he now faces numerous interference charges. Pathetic Leadership, IMHO.
In Florida, as a registered NPA (No-party-affiliation) voter I vote against Democrats, and I voted for Trump twice; however, if he doesn’t soon come out in further strong support of Ukraine I may not vote for President this year. Cabinet, Ukraine, and Israel are important to me this year…
https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glenn-beck-program/glenn-becks-initial-reaction-to-bidens-sotu-is-not-what-youd-expect?
Karmi:
Whatever Trump would do on those three issues if elected would be enormously better than what Biden or Biden’s replacement would do, so I see no logic in not voting for Trump.
How many republicans senators couldnt wait to vote for mayorkas austin garland yet they could barely bothered to show up for trumps appointees
We have a case study from 2016-20 how to keep putin at bay its everything we are not doing now how to keep the houthis hamas at bay
Artfldgr:
On that J6 verdict.
F: Glad you enjoyed Taibbi’s piece. Yes, they deserved the award. No, we shouldn’t have such an award in this country.
Miguel: So you were the first to apply the concept of samizdat to the American context? If so, chapeau. Unfortunately, it fits.
I found an old photo of (L-R) British historian and human rights scholar Martin Dewhirst, Peter Dornan, and Mario Corti:
https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Martin-Dewhirst-Peter-Dornan-Mario-Corti.jpg
Context: https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/the-year-1968-in-the-history-of-samizdat/
Martin Dewhirst is also still around: https://www.rightsinrussia.org/martin-dewhirst/. He coined the term “neo-Soviet” to describe Russia under Putin back in the early 2000s:
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2006/11/speaker-says-russia-embraces-its-past/
Extra points to Martin for prescience. Last year, he answered ten questions from the editors of the UK-based “Rights in Russia” newsletter and website:
https://www.rightsinrussia.org/10-questions-2/
He talks about Ukraine and Aleksei Navalny. Again, he was right about Navalny.
Neo: “I see no logic in not voting for Trump.” Of course not, you are a Republican…
Karmi:
I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Republican.
Karmi;
I think when Trump became president he assumed – wrongly it turned out – that he could rely on individuals he believed were competent, honest and were in accord with what he hoped to implement.
This turned out not to be the case.
IMHO, he learned the hard way that DC is populated with devious, incompetent, dishonest, life long govt. bureaucrat snakes whose sole goal is to make sure they will always have a job somewhere in that cesspool, in that filthy swamp.
Trump’s inexperience in the world of DC politics, I believe, is why he was susceptible to being misled by “trusted” and incompetent appointees.
The best example of someone he initially replied upon was Fauci, who we now know is not competent at all, is a liar and just your basic lying POS.
IF Trump get’s re-elected, he will not make this mistake again.
For sure he now realizes that he will be dealing with snakes.
As for not voting for Trump, well, you are soiling your own knickers.
MOST of the time in voting for president, we are presented with two sub-optimal choices.
One must choose the “least bad” of the two choices available.
Democrat voters never have this problem; they will always vote for the democrat, whether he is dead or alive or senile or a Stalin wannabe.
It’s only republicans that take a stand on “principle,” not vote for the sub-optimal candidate, and essentially allow a guy like Biden to become president.
Trump may have a lot of unattractive features – no one can deny this – but there is no way in hell he would be worse than a Biden.
It’s difficult to look past Trump’s shortcomings and focus on the policies he wishes to implement. But it is the policies implemented that will affect the citizens and the nation.
And even if he can’t push thru his policies, he will not promote policies like open borders, putting a lid on US production of energy, providing aid to HAMAS !!!!!!!, etc.
An ineffective president is far more preferable to a president who is effective in implementing horrible policies.
Lastly, the next president may have to appoint a new justice of the SCOTUS.
Tell me, do you prefer a liberal democrat president to nominate this candidate, or the loud-mouth, in your face, Trump?
Think about that.
As an amateur student of Russia, admittedly, I find neo soviet, well too much shorthand, certainly Alexander 3rd would be some some one Putin would not take offense, but Nicholas 1st, grandfather of the last Czar, of course he self identifies more with Peter the Great, in that context, any move Sweden would take would be like bre’r rabbit in the tar pit,
now most of that disgraceful performance last night was cribbed from last year, like a malign ground hog day, but as we sink deeper into the mire, well it becomes more pitiful
now you really have too choices either the shambling heap, who seems to be propped up by the old Gods, or Trump, who is aware of the current realities, and has a will to change them, how much can be done, it’s arguable, they never had gone this far before,take for example the damage has been necrotic to the body politic,the proscriptions rising out of the J6 charade is something they never
contemplated before, it become much clearer he was not legitimately elected, they would not show this level of contempt, well maybe Obama,
Neo – I agree with your comment to Karmi re voting for Trump is better than voting for Biden or not voting at all. And for his term to be successful, Trump needs the House and the Senate majorities. I hope that a new Senate leader will help in getting more action through the Senate.
I also hope that Trump has a group of people looking through Biden’s Exec Orders and will have that huge stack of new ones reversing what Biden did – remember that picture of Biden signing the EO without reading any of them….
I think the appropriate phrase is “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
One thing I like about Trump is that he knows that the VP position needs to go to someone who can be his replacement vs someone who checks certain boxes or is more of an insurance policy against replacement.
Neo: Sorry. I owe you a better explanation then.
Ronald Reagan was a Leader – Trump is just a businessman.
Cabinet: I seriously doubt Trump ends up with a better Cabinet than Biden. Plus for Biden.
Ukraine: No way Trump will be better on Ukraine than Biden—unless he comes out soon with something other than he will “end the war.” Plus for Biden – at this point.
Israel: Trump wins this one hands down. Plus for Trump.
Biden 2 – Trump 1
JohnTyler: Yeah, great point!
If Obama era was creeping fascism, is today’s galloping fascism? The answer is probably YES, considering Leo Goldstein’s succinct piece in American Thinker, “Obama-Biden Administration Was Creeping Fascism”.
THIS is an important reminder of the consequences of choosing who to support in this year’s election.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/03/obamabiden_administration_was_creeping_fascism.html
Karmi:
Trump’s cabinet will be enormously better than Biden’s, because at least it won’t be filled by woke leftists. I think that is obvious.
And it’s not clear what Trump will do on Ukraine, so I think there’s a question mark there, and on Israel he is far better. I think on Ukraine he would do some sort of deal, but since that war is not going to be settled by fighting – it’s clearly a stalemate – I think a deal is okay if he doesn’t totally sell out Ukraine. I’ve seen no indication he’ll do that. I think he’s playing his cards very close to the vest on this one.
As he is better on just about everything else, including SCOTUS nominations but hardly limited to that.
Neo:
I meant Cabinet being better for the President they will serve…I stand by Biden ending up w/ the better Cabinet. Part of Trump’s leadership issues is that he browbeats & blames staff/employee, i.e., Trump is not a “The Buck Stops Here” kind of a guy. Not many people want to work for someone like that, IMHO. Plus for Biden.
Yes, Trump not being clear on Ukraine is a serious issue. Again, so far it’s about him – “I will stop the war.” Well, that war has been going on since around 2014, and he didn’t stop it when he had a chance. At this point – Plus for Biden.
JohnTyler mentioned SCOTUS noms, so we’ll add it here – Plus Trump
Biden 2 – Trump 2
there should be more brow beating, so they understand who they work for,
conversely Dem nominees know that they need to destroy as much of the country as possible,
thats very legit
https://twitter.com/HansMahncke/status/1765852724606726557
our CDC, which has gotten everything wrong,
covers itself,
I cannot imagine thinking Biden’s cabinet being better, if the criterion is what they do for the country. Biden’s cabinet is stuffed with radical leftists who are implementing leftist priorities whether or not these policies are legal or constitutional. Yes, that’s what the Biden cartel want, so yes, his Cabinet is in lockstep with the radical leftist agenda. I don’t consider that a plus.
Iran’s historically low election turnout should spell the end of the regime
Karmi: “Ronald Reagan was a Leader – Trump is just a businessman.”
Reagan was certainly a leader, a great and visionary leader (eg, engineering the Soviet Union’s collapse). But to cast a pall over Trump “as just [a grubby] businessman” is to ridiculously underestimate him.
I recommend Victor Davis Hanson’s book “The Case For Trump,” by a thinker who did not vote for him in 2016, as a reasoned antidote. If you prefer, please search up YouTube interviews with VDH after the book was published (it was republished one year later, resulting in a new round of author interviews).
Trump was and remains a clever salesman. And his many years as the definitive Emcee of NBCs “You’re Fired!” Reality contest show well-prepared him for the ceremonial role of the Presidency as Head of State. Check out C-Span videos of, for example, Medal of Freedom award winners, the nation’s highest civilian honor. He is magnificent in every one I’ve seen, almost entirely shorn of political partisanship.
Trump — contrary to nearly all detractors — sets a high standard for gentlemanly statesmanship, just like Reagan.
How is Trump like Reagan but different? Reagan relied on American Exceptionalist ideals, such as the US being like a shining city upon a hill themes of exemplary liberty.
By contrast with that thought, Trump hits upon the same beats but differently. He is exactly like the patriotic and loyal military school graduate of the mid-60s that he is as one would expect — he resonates to all of Reagan’s explicit themes — “God bless America, Land that I love, Stand beside her, And guide her, Through the night with the light from above” (Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” lyrics).
People bizarrely claim that he’s no ideological conservative. No. Intellectualism is not his strong suit. Instead, he is an American Exceptionalist conservative—a viewpoint expanded on by Vivek Ramaswamy, who is MAGA, but also highly capable of thinking at the highest intellectual levels.
We don’t see the Donald being like Ronnie. Except when delivering soaring speeches like he did with one’s written by Steven Miller on Independence Day at Mount Rushmore — or his earlier speech in Warsaw, Poland.
Then, I challenge anyone to listen to these Patriotic speeches and not be warmly reminded of Reagan’s friendly and happy vision of Liberty.
Re Kate: “ Biden’s cabinet is stuffed with radical leftists who are implementing leftist priorities whether or not these policies are legal or constitutional.” Not only is Mayorkas the first cabinet level officer to be impeached by Congress, but AG Merretless Garland needs hoisting by petard, too.
Reagan had a harder project on the international sphere in some ways, on the domestic front, hadn’t considered some countervailing forces like the mass immigration, that he welcomed with amnesty, but in his defense the left had not curdled to the same extent then, as now,
True he was a Governor, but before then, he was a trade union leader and motivational speaker, he saw the Communist first hand
in the former role, then again there were amenable ceo’s like Ralph Gordiner willing to underwrite his message, Jack Welsh as his successor was decided not the same cut of jib,
because of his Gold War focus, he minimized the impact of the Revolutionary Republic of Iran, and this was evident in Beirut certainly,
One last ‘Thang I dislike about Trump. How many people who had worked for President Trump were left in the wind by him to face legal fees, prison, etc.?
‘Whar is Genghis Khan when you need him!
Sure, Karmi, but Biden is destroying the nation.
“Ronald Reagan was a Leader – Trump is just a businessman.” – Karmi
Been waiting for another Reagan to come along, but alas, it appears to be a once in a lifetime event.
I voted for Trump the first time precisely because he was a businessman– and just as importantly a real estate developer. The world is slowing disintegrating beneath a veil of deceit, but many of our immediate problems are economic.
I think you would have to recognize that Trump’s understanding of business produced economic policies that were right for America. That may be the most important benefit to a second term.
As to his cabinet in a second term, too much is made of Trump’s style. He’ll have no problem finding great Americans to fill those positions. These are all adults, very unlikely to wilt under any Trump slight.
Reagan’s day is over and it’s not coming back. Even in his own day, it was becoming clear that an economic boom might be accompanied with deindustrialization at home, and that deficits might really hurt us down the road. Since his time, our unipolar moment of global hegemony has come and gone.
I’m not sure about the bright and happy Reagan versus gloomy, apocalyptic Trump contrast really does work. Trump is about as optimimistic as anyone can be in today’s America, and Americans felt more optimistic during his term than they do in Biden’s era, no matter how much joy tells us that we can do anything we want to do if we want it bad enough.
They say in politics that you can’t beat somebody with nobody. That may be true of electoral politics, but there are a lot of “nobodies” out there who could do a better job for the country than Buttigieg, Granholm, Mayorkas, Yellen, Austin, and Blinken. I just hope that if Trump gets elected, he picks the right ones and is able to work with them.
Kate:
Country has been rushing towards destruction for a long time, Kate, long before Biden was elected, and war may be the only way from it—at this point…so to speak. I don’t see Biden or Trump as war time presidents – just more of the same back and forth every 4-8 years.
Will still vote against Local, State, and Federal Democratic party candidates, but Trump is going to have to show me something this time around.
I am tired of settling for ‘Luke Warm‘ Presidents…
If Karmi actually votes for Biden, I’ll think of her as an idiot voter–but to call attention to some of Trump’s actions is good, tho I disagree on how bad or not his cabinet was. Garland, and his persecution of peaceful protests, is worse than Sessions or Barr, tho both of these are GOPe ‘good losers’.
It’s common among non-Trump supporters, like Arnold Kling, to claim his cabinet was bad. I claim his 2019 cabinet was better than is Biden’s.
Please consider naming some you think should be ashamed of their results compared to the Dems.
For stopping Woke, the SCOTUS picks will be the most important legacy.
pompeo or blinken
barr or garland
wolf or mayorkas
for any misgiving I might have about the former, specially barr, there is no argument that they did not intend the destruction of the country,who prevents Hamas from being funded who doesnt who grovels to China and who does,who considers terrorists like Antifa, and who has no opinion about same,
the ukraine invasion the fall of kabul the itijihad of October 7th none of these could have been insentivized on Trumps watch,
ok someone has to explain this,
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2024/03/08/investigation-ordered-by-city-of-uvalde-clears-police-and-parents-are-outraged-n3784375
Immigrant implies that the person has come to settle in a new country. Many or most illegal aliens may be immigrants, but we can’t assume that all are. Many are opportunistic criminals, spies and terrorists, or those who come to work for a time, and then go home.
Don’t be ridiculous. No sane person thinks space aliens are crossing our southern border en masse, or being given government benefits and committing crimes!
Karmi,
So, “Biden’s” management style is better than Trumps, therefore “Biden’s” cabinet would be better, even though it would be filled with totally crazy leftists??
Thank you for your vote for…nothing! /sarc
I don’t know if Karmi is an imbecil or trolling to claim that President Trump was not or won’t be much of a difference
Karmi may not have been paying attention to the level of Democrat resistance in 2016-2021 (near treason by General White Rage Miley) and the state sanctioned attacks on conservatives and President Trump since 2021.
Maybe Karmi has an explaination for his apparent cluelessness; imbecility or trolling are still possibilities.
Dare I say it? Better than the Bee Gees? What do you think Neo?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4uSzrsOQr8
But on to more cheery news
UK Ministry of Defense estimate of Russian casualties (KIA, WIA, MIA) so far – 350K
That’s a lot of Russian boots in the ground.
https://redstate.com/streiff/2024/03/08/putins-war-week-106-n2170866
Om: No wonder you had to resort to name calling – you just can’t keep up. I’ll try to break it down for you…
That was from a conversation w/ Kate – we were commenting on “destroying” and/or “destruction” of America. I didn’t think it could be stopped with “just more of the same back and forth every 4-8 years.”
Example: Carter 4, Reagan 8, HW Bush 4, Clinton 8, W Bush 8, Obama 8, Trump 4, and Biden?
As to your “General White Rage Miley” point – just another example (of many many) of Trump’s lack of Leadership Ability…
To Karmi President Trump is now responsible for the actions of every unconstitutional miscreant who served the Democrats while working in his administration.
By Karmi logic Goerge Washington is to blame for the actions of Benedict Arnold. And by Karmi logic every toad that President Trump discovered and fired is a sign of President Trump’s incompetence; ‘such poor judgement in hiring!’
Do explain Karmi. Flesh out the ‘war time’ president, too.
Karmi:
Your list of president pairs includes President Regan. Do you know any history of that time and the differences between Regan, Carter, and Bush the elder. Or the Cold War USSR and The Russian Federation? To claim it is all the same since 1972 isn’t too discerning. Do tell.
Youre nof serious are you one is destroying the country with all their will the other is trying to put it back together