I’m one of those foolish ones, I think Trump will win in a landslide!
Ahh, back when the Foxes were still in high school!
Trump’s gracious response to RFKJ. I think this could be a game changer (not my usual pessimistic self), but I guess we have to see what the real fallout is in time.
The media got its directions from the Politburo; eg CNN and Drudge. Meme this morning is to tout that the D convention viewership was bigger than the GOP convention and ignore RFK. LOL, this immediately came to mind:
yes the seinfeld or is tropic thunder convention, really doesnt amount to anything,
I think that Lafayette Lee has been reading Neo and has this advice for Bauxite and Karmi:
“I can’t tell whether it’s good or bad, but I firmly believe you have to be willing to play the cards your dealt. Maybe it was the Army, I dunno, but I can’t stand to sacrifice momentum for purity and perfection. You want that? Go to church. This is politics. It’s war. We fight with the team we’ve got, and that means sending the cynics, purists, and ideologues to the rear so the rest of us can get to work. Our objective now is to win, and that means taking what we’ve got and stepping off. If Donald Rumsfeld was right about anything, it’s that “you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want.” The nerds, poets, and firebrands will have plenty of time to play games once the dust has settled. But right now we need to win.”
Bauxite and Karmi, we all know very well what your views on Trump are. Now we need you in the fight with the army we have. Just imagine the consequences of 4 more years of Obama/Harris.
@ huxley et al. — Something that AI may actually be useful for!
1 stellarexplorer Aug 14, 12:17 pm
An AI program is now able to decipher ancient cuneiform texts, and there is hope for deciphering some of the 30% of the Epic of Gilgamesh that remains undeciphered.
From a NYT article that I don’t link to bc it’s behind a paywall:
“Now, an artificial intelligence project called Fragmentarium is helping to fill some of these gaps. Led by Enrique Jiménez, a professor at the Institute of Assyriology of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Fragmentarium team uses machine learning to piece together digitized tablet fragments at a much faster pace than a human Assyriologist can. So far, A.I. has helped researchers discover new segments of Gilgamesh as well as hundreds of missing words and lines from other works.”
********
There is some caveats from other commenters:
6 Macumbeira Aug 18, 12:56 am
That is nice.
Let’s hope that AI. is not too smart and just fills in the blanks with it’s own creativity.
I distrust all writings appearing after 2022. : )
(As with Wikipedia et al., AI work should always be independently vetted, but it can serve as a jumping-off spot for research.)
************
7 haydninvienna Aug 18, 2:54 am
>6 Macumbeira: I distrust all writings appearing after 2022: I take a slightly simpler approach. With certain well-recognised exceptions, if it’s on the internet it’s a lie. Saves time.
******
My own caveat: without knowing the history of the writers, the “well-recognised exceptions” could either be the Regime Media flagships, or certain conservative gadflies.
(I lean toward the former, from other hints on the site. However, I do recommend LibraryThing if you want to catalog your own books, or read the opinions of a huge bibliophile community.)
A couple of selected comments from the Foxes & Fossils video (which I loved, they sing and play superbly).
No auto-tuning for this group!
@thomashermann2785
4 years ago
Linda Ronstadt once said the real music of the world is played in the garages, alleys and small venues. This is testimony to that truth
@nathanielcromartie8924
4 years ago (edited)
Hey People! Keep in mind that these folks are doing their covers live, without the benefit of studios and sound mix equipment. The fact that they are always spot on underscores their natural chemistry. They have other lives, and they choose to be what they are. Just listen and enjoy the fruits of their efforts.
yes i’m a little concerned they might take shortcuts like they did in Jurassic park, when they enabled the dinosaurs who were supposedly unable to breed to do so,
the Sumerian world view in some ways was alien to ours in others see the Old Gods that Cahn was able to discern,
@ miguel > “you know that line about being cynical”
Mark Steyn has good reason to be cynical about the “dirty stinkin’ rotten corrupt” Department of Justice and its appurtenances in DC especially.
The “untoward” deaths of two people and their lawyer who recently defeated the DOJ itself (in the Northern District of California) also got my attention when the story was first reported.
However, the frightening part is that Mark’s suspicions about their “accidents” seem all too believable, these days.
Coda to my comment:
I sometimes worry that Trump’s vehement declarations of the vengeance he will wreak when elected may not only fire up his voters, but his targets.
Every agency of the Federal Government already hates him, and obstructed him for four years prior to outright persecution through lawfare; they won’t take kindly to threats of being dismembered.
The actions of the Secret Service in Butler PA still have not been adequately explained.
The last landslide in a national election was in 1984. It was a personal victory for Mr. Reagan. The parties were split 50-50 in congressional races, with the Democrats winning a considerable majority due to accumulated gerrymandering.
==
Not optimistic about outcomes, myself.
==
What’s notable about Harris and Walz is what a pair of clots they are. It hasn’t injured their political careers at all bar the implosion of Harris’ presidential campaign at the beginning of 2020. The Bidens are an example of how brazenness trumps intelligence.
==
Partisan Democrats (and palaeo / alt-right roaches) derided George W. Bush for his reliance on connections and his business reversals. He had business reversals because he actually ran businesses. The most recent national candidates in the Democratic Party who had a tour of the business world were Lloyd Bentsen and Jimmy Carter; neither Carter nor Bentsen, adhering to the views they held as working politicians, would today be welcome in the Democratic Party. Jimmy Carter is notable as the only national candidate the Democrats have fielded in living memory who earned a living in a demanding field other than law (you could argue that George McGovern and Hubert Humphrey at least worked in fields requiring considerable preparation). The lawyers they serve up are either unimpressive as lawyers (Biden, Obama, Kerry, Clinton, Dukakis, Mondale, &c) or they’re crook lawyers (Hellary, John Edwards). Joseph Lieberman is the only exception. One gets the impression that Bill Clinton and Michael Dukakis might have distinguished themselves if they’d invested in their profession, but they couldn’t wait to get out of it into political office.
==
So, here we have Kamala Harris, who, absent Willie Brown’s sponsorship might be a staff prosecutor somewhere around San Francisco / Oakland / San Jose. Here we have Tim Walz, a lapsed high school teacher who per the silliness of the age was able to enter that trade innocent of much in the way of liberal education and then had career pratfalls consequent to problem drinking. (We’re you wondering why he seems so prematurely aged?). Both have drawn public-sector salaries without interruption since 1990 and neither has ever had a year-round full time occupation working for a commercial enterprise.
they are like terminators, or the agent smith iterations of the matrix, they are relentless and numerous, also the Borg, Trump and Elon and RFK jr, the three amigos against everyone else in corporate in government in academia the armies of Schwab and his major domo, Larry Fink and Soros,
you cannot get along with them, like Romney and McCain did, they will swallow you like Jonahs whale, yes Harris and Waltz would strive to be mediocrities, but thats how oligarchs prefer it, the typical Soviet party chief was a plodding dullard,
just about 300 miles from here, you have the caribbean variety,
Foxes and Fossils has many great performance up on YouTube, and other really good ones came from their outdoor shows at the Twisted Taco like this one. Not only did Maggie and Sammie sing like angels, they were just such darn cute young ladies!
For those of you not familiar with the band, Sammie (blonde singer) is front man Tim Purcell’s daughter.
If you ask me, it’s a neck-and-neck race between F&F and The Petersens for the most outrageously talented family act on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQpK09EFMaA
I guess you have to give it to the Petersens, as dobroist Emmett Franz is the only non-family member there. Those Petersen kids have to be the best-looking siblings extant!
Xylourgos, above, mentioned commenter “Karmi” who was posting Polymarket betting predictions on the 2024 presidential race. Latest shows R at 287 electoral votes.
I’m one of those foolish ones, I think Trump will win in a landslide!
Sennacherib:
Though I am inclined to soft-pedal my optimism … me too.
In any event I do feel sure Trump will win — with the usual disclaimers of fraud and Whatever TF the Dems and Deep State can come up with in the meantime. I fear they have not scraped the bottom of that barrel yet. October surprise, anyone?
In 2020 Biden won by less then 100,000 votes, converting popular votes to electoral.
Now it’s 2024, not 2020.
All Americans are feeling the effects of inflation. Three-quarters oppose the Dems’ Open Borders policy. Harris ain’t no Obama by a long shot. Quite a few more understand the poison of DEI. Everyone is aware that Dems foisted an old man of declining cognition as our Commander-in-Chief and lied about it over and over again. Including Kamala Harris. Etc.
I call the RFK endorsement as the beginning of a preference cascade — not necessarily huge, but large enough to put Bad Orange Man into the White House.
Part of my optimism comes from seeing cultural shifts all around me. I’m a 60s kid and I believe Breitbart got it right:
Politics is downstream from culture.
E.g. Woke Disney is now dying. The cancellations of a second season of “The Acolyte.” most of the other woke projects in the pipeline, as well as canceling all Leslye Headland’s and Amandla Stenberg’s future projects are a big deal.
The stockholders and Board are fighting back. Disney stock has lost over half its value since its peak a few years back.
Disney spokesfeminists can complain all they want about the “toxic male demographic” but those shows just weren’t getting viewers, i.e. revenue.
Meanwhile the only Disney movies which have made money this summer were “In & Out 2” and “Deadpool and Wolverine” which were non-woke or anti-woke respectively.
Ranked choice voting is a Democrat’s dream, particularly in red states, where they can siphon off GOP candidates who are running against one another. It’s a horribly flawed system that favors Democrats, so it’s good to see someone take a stand against it.
In what may be a surprise blow to Democrats’ chances of holding a key red state seat in the U.S. House, Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announced Friday she is suspending her campaign for Congress.
That leaves a two candidate race between the incumbent Democrat Peltola and Republican Nick Begich.
Hopefully the voters will repeal the arcane nonsense of ranked choice,
==
Nothing arcane or nonsensical about it. Alaska needed to change from two stage to one stage jungle contests, needed to provide for the use of party primaries where apposite, and needed to tie the electoral deposit to nominal personal income per capita and set it at an apposite level. If you have 35 candidates entering, you’ve set it too low.
Thanks Huxley. If Trump wins the screeching will really start.
“Foxes and Fossils”, cute. Entertaining. Good job, girls and boys.
Nick begich isnt really a republican dahlstrom was probably the better candidate
Huxley
We’ve been Disney passholders for years, and go to the parks 4 to 5 times a year. 2019, pre covid, the parks were great. They haven’t been the same since. The woke crowd took advantage of covid to transform the company. The parks are slowly improving, but Disney found all the covid tricks to increase income while diminishing experience. Believe me, most long time Disney people are not happy and have let the company know.
With the post covid travel surge waning park attendance is going down. Also Universal is hot on their heels with their new park opening next year which is expected to further erode WDW attendance.
The entire C suite needs to be replaced but I don’t think the stockholders will go along. The attempt this past year to insert outsiders was thwarted by the establishment to the disappointment of many of the regular people.
Xylourgos – There’s not much left for us to do now but vote. The die is cast. Yes, you go to war with the army you have. The problem is that the GOP primary voters chose this particular army just a few months ago. Significantly better armies were available.
The latest from The Bulwark: The Bought-and-Paid-For
==
I see Charles J. Sykes has departed as editor and been replaced with one of Wm. Kristol’s minions from the defunct Weekly Standard.
Bauxite:
You write “significantly better armies were available,” as though that’s a self-evident truth. It’s not.
Trump was never my first choice. This go-round, DeSantis was. In 2016, I had others. But I never felt that it was a self-evident truth that my favored candidates would do better than Trump in elections. I had no way to know that – nor do you. Polls either didn’t indicate it or indicated it only for a moment in time prior to their nomination (a nomination they never received) and therefore prior to the media turning its full destructive force on them – something that absolutely WOULD have occurred had they been nominated.
If you mean “better” in terms of “I, Bauxite, prefer them to Trump” – then yes, they were better. But that doesn’t make them more likely to win an election. I also prefer some of them to Trump, but I don’t arrogantly assume I know how they would have done in a real-world election. The things that appeal to Bauxite or Neo don’t necessarily win elections.
And thanks to Brian E.!
Art Deco, who is replacing Charlie Sykes? And where is Sykes going?
Once upon a time i thought sykes was insightful omg he has lost the plot same with jonathan last wth happened
“The problem is that the GOP primary voters chose this particular army just a few months ago. Significantly better armies were available.” Bauxite
What is the profit in winning the war, only to waste the peace?
Whether another leader might more certainly win the election is ultimately irrelevant if, once in office, they seek ‘bipartisan agreement’ with a side dedicated to treason. If any leader on the Republican side realizes that this has become a case of ‘kill’ or be killed… it’s Trump.
Put another way, those on the right who insist they are not interested in war, are willfully blind to the fact that the left has been conducting “take no prisoners” war upon them.
Art Deco, who is replacing Charlie Sykes? And where is Sykes going?
==
Jonathan V. Last. Sykes is already gone. In Robert Stacy McCain’s account, talk radio can be quite lucrative for those who can build a large audience, but the economy of local talk radio collapsed around 2014-15 and left local radio hosts in the lurch. McCain’s interpretation is that Sykes needed a gig to pay his bills, thus working as Pierre Omidyar’s flunky. Sykes is now 70. Perhaps at this point his retirement income is sufficient that he can do other things and not rely on Pierre Omidyar’s money.
Ranked choice voting is a Democrat’s dream, particularly in red states, where they can siphon off GOP candidates who are running against one another. It’s a horribly flawed system that favors Democrats,
==
The level of incomprehension in this remark is stupefying.
Its not a metaphor well since 2017 and alexandria, rand paul among others
Ranked choice was one of those taranto answers to a questions no one asking
Has ranked choice swung any election to the right why do you think that is?
I found lasts case for the Empire amusing but sadly it turned out to be proscriptive
Significantly better armies were available.
==
I seem to recall John Kasich was polling better than Trump contra Hellary in the summer of 2016. Kasich’s behavior in the interim gives you a sense of how beneficial to the world would have been a Kasich Administration.
==
There is no tool used against Trump to date that could not have been used on his Republican rivals. It’s conceivable that deSantis or Cruz would have been more deft in maneuvering contra the lawfare and have established more constructive relationships with their lawyers.
==
See Mitch Daniels on George W. Bush. He was perfectly willing and able to build relationships with Congress and pursue joint projects. He was an abnormally competitive man who had commitments but has never been much of a conviction politician. See his response to embryonic stem cell research in 2001; David Gergen might have dreamed up his direction in policy. And, yet, he was subject to stupefying hostility from the crew of people we used to call the ‘nutroots’. It antedated the deterioration on the ground in Iraq and antedated 9/11. The ‘nutroots’ were not marginal characters. Louise Slaughter was a Daily Kos contributor; Joseph Lieberman’s primary challenger is now the Governor of Connecticut.
Art Deco:
Perhaps Bauxite is looking back to Reagan, who managed to overcome the hatred marshaled against him and win handily. However, Reagan had unusually good skills for that, plus the times were somewhat milder – the attacks were still fairly vicious but not as overwhelming as today, and computers and social media, etc., weren’t a factor.
Thanks, Art Deco. I looked and saw Last’s name on the website, but since I don’t follow it at all, I didn’t realize he’d only recently joined. Not good company to keep.
As a reminder of how much has changed, it’s important to remember that before Reagan was President he was Governor of California, which has been a one-party state for many years now. I think we’ll be waiting a good long time for another Republican President doing what he did.
neo – The man’s approval rating is 10 points underwater and has been consistently since he left office:
The largest (and perhaps the first as such) preemptive attacks by Israel against Hezbollah since Oct. 7th began roughly 45 mins ago, and have now ceased for the time being. This won’t be the end of this exchange though, and may be the inception of the wider war expected to come for some months now. It’s reasonable to assume Hezbollah, which had been seen by Israeli intelligence service preparing for a large scale missile and rocket attack on Israel, will regroup and carry on with their aims. How far Hezbollah will choose to go remains to be seen, and I believe that will in turn determine how Israeli defense forces will respond.
Underwater approval is bad?
Dude, look in the mirror and you’re gonna be seeing -75% in these quarters. Doesn’t seem to stop you though, now does it?
Bauxite is looking back to Reagan, who managed to overcome the hatred marshaled against him
==
Robert Bork, having been an office-holder ca. 1975 and then subject to confirmation hearings ca. 1987, did say that 1981 was a watershed year. I think, however, he was referring to the culture of official Washington. Apart from that, people like Barbara Ehrenreich were emotionally invested in antagonism to Reagan. I was in political discussion groups at the time; the arguments were congenially competitive.
==
Keep in mind that Reagan and his camarilla were rather more challenging to the permanent government, the Democratic Party, and the chatterati than George W/ Bush dreamed of being. The neuralgic response to Bush was indicative in a change in the culture of the Democratic Party and associated subcultures.
Bauxite:
You haven’t seemed to understand the point of what people here are telling you. Trump’s low approval rating is irrelevant to the argument I and others are making – plus, we are well aware of his low approval rating. The point is that any other GOP nominee would have ended up at this point with a low national approval rating – for example, DeSantis. See this – and that was even without being the GOP nominee and having the full smear machine unleashed on him. Nikki Haley was even worse in terms of favorable rating on the national level; see this.
You are living in a dream world on this issue.
Ranked choice was one of those taranto answers to a questions no one asking
==
I was asking them. The utility of ranked-choice voting is manifest when there are more than two candidates on the ballot.
There is word that the Solingen murderer surrendered himself to police and is in custody. I’m a little bit doubtful whether this 26-year-old Syrian was really the one who did it. Perhaps.
Since it’s possible that I may be in Germany briefly in the next little while, this kind of thing naturally occupies my attention to some degree.
In state where one party dominates, I’m not sure ranked choice voting results in less real choice for those states voters, simply because the Republican candidate in a state like California would have to be pretty far left to be competitive.
As for competitive states, ranked choice voting could help break the legal stranglehold the two major parties have, though I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that done.
In the state I live in anyone can say they are any party, but the two parties have their “official” candidates who are not marked as such on the ballot but do have the party apparatus behind them, and those are almost invariably the two who come in first and second.
Osint:
The Official Statement by Hezbollah announcing the beginning of their Retaliation against Israel.
In state where one party dominates,
==
Ranked-choice voting is of use when you have > 2 candidates competing for a single berth. It has utility in judicial elections and in elections to conciliar bodies from multi-member constituencies, but to simplify the discussion one can leave that aside for a time.
==
The degree of one party domination is not salient in determining the utility of ranked-choice apart from the influence of one-party domination on the number of candidates competing. The circumstance in which it is salient is in determining the method to be used in designating candidates for the general election ballot.
==
IMO, when you have one-party domination, all aspirants who collect the requisite number of signatures or who pay the required deposit should appear on the general election ballot. Candidates should appear on the ballot by name with their party registration indicated in brackets, as in “Yancey Ward [Republican]”. The order of candidates on the ballot should vary from one precinct to another. In order to determine candidate order on the ballots, you hold a drawing and append each candidate drawn to a peg on a daisy-wheel. You start with one candidate on the wheel and you proceed counter-clockwise. The order of the candidates on the wheel will be that of one stereotype. You select another candidate for the top spot and you move counterclockwise around the wheel. That’s your second stereotype. You create as many stereotypes as you have candidates qualified. One precinct will get one stereotype, one another, one a third. Equal numbers of precincts will receive each stereotype. The stereotype any one precinct will receive will be determined by lot. If you have just two candidates, you use first-past-the-post. If you have more than two, you use ranked-choice.
==
Where you have a competitive constituency, you have party primaries first. The primaries take place, however, only in those parties which have achieved the status of ‘public organization’ and which thus appear as options on a voter registration form (where you can register as a no-preference voter, a Republican adherent, a Democratic adherent, or an adherent of a 3d party which has achieved public organization status). Candidates who adhere to minor parties which lack public organization status appear consequent to a two step process: conventions and caucuses of party members supplemented with petitioning among no-preference voters. Nonpartisan candidates appear on the ballot consequent to petitioning among no-preference voters. If your system uses deposits in lieu of petitioning, the political parties pay the deposits ‘ere their nomination and designation process begins. Non-partisan candidates pay at the point they turn in their designating petitions. The candidates of the political parties appear in an order determined by the performance of the party in the most recent election to the lower house of the legislature to occur coincident with a gubernatorial election. (Minor) parties who did not participate in that election appear below those who did, in an order determined by lot (if there be more than one). Non-partisan candidates appear last, in an order to be determined by lot. If you have just two candidates, you use first-past-the-post. If you have more than two, you use ranked-choice.
==
Let’s posit that the party with the largest number of registrants in a constituency has x registrants and the party with the second largest number has y registrants. If the ratio of x to y, exceeds 2:1, you define that as a ‘non-competitive’ constituency and the general election consists of all aspirants. If it be less than 2:1, you make use of party primaries and such. In the former, you’ll commonly have a multiplicity of candidates from your most popular party. In the latter, each party offers just one candidate.
Stay safe in your travels Philip. Referring back to Rufus’ last month’s posting on Sabine Hofstadter’s rant on the decrepitude of Germany’s rail system (among other things German) It would be interesting for you to share your rail experiences. I do not believe that things are as dire with Deutsche Bahn as she rants.
Bauxite, what would be your choice of a significantly better General to lead the army? As you keep expounding on this, I would really like to know who you think would be better equipped to take on the Fight. I cannot imagine any other candidate that would be able to stand up to the withering barrage of incessant attacks coming from the MSM and Democrat operatives. The ruthlessness of the left was made apparent to me by the white-hot hatred directed at Mitt (mittens) Romney – a more genteel man would be hard to find. I realize that many do not like Trump’s abrasive style, however he shows that he actually likes the fight. This is what makes him so effective and defended so strongly by his supporters. He relishes combat, and combat it is. The more the Left throws at him, the stronger he appears. In my opinion, at this time, he is the most suitable candidate to take on the Deep State. As you disagree, name your General.
As much as Trump may be disliked, the only salvation available is in a Trump-like candidate who stands a reasonable chance of winning, and in the absence of a workable Trump avatar it seems reasonable to go with the original.
And, as for “inciting ire” on the part of Deep Staters who fear Trump will disband them, it’s a binary condition with max / min limits: they’re already as much against Trump as they can be, more than adequately demonstrated 2016-2020. I doubt they engage in the deep thinking necessary, but reasonable, patient and orderly contraction of the governmental Deep State by a president with moderate support from Congress would be infinitely preferable to the citizens performing the task themselves at the wholesale level or the overnight economic and societal and collapse that’s a high probability endpoint of DNC philosophies and practices.
On the RFK issue, personally for me he’s about 70% positive; some of his positions are leftist, a couple hard leftist, but at the foundational level he’s substantially correct. As a semi-partner with Trump (the usual “politics makes for strange bedfellows” is appropriate here) he adds a great deal of value to the equation and the potential outcome; should Trump’s bid be successful, much of that success will have come from his associaton with, and support from, RFK.
I do note, however, that, to my mind, RFK has been facing an uphill battle on several fronts, particularly the iron propaganda wall of the DNC/MSM, but he is quite hard to understand when speaking, at least to those of us with hearing difficulties. I’m not a fan of podcasts or Youtube videos (or mivoe theaters) because without closed captioning or basic speech-to-text as a crutch I miss nearly half the verbal content, and that’s with some pretty fancy and expensive hearing aids, and if it’s too much work to decipher spoke words I simply won’t bother engaging.
What RFK can, or could, do to improve his speaking voice I have no idea, but, at least for people like me, I suspect it’s more of a handicap to progress than some may realize.
Keep seeing the title “General” given to Trump. Trump lacks even the basic Leadership qualities. Heck, as Commander in Chief he was unable to get the military to follow him. Trump is closer to a used car salesperson than he is to even a Corporal – forget being a “General”.
Reagan and both Bushes (sp?) were Leaders.
Will I vote for Harris over him? No, I won’t vote for either of them. Am done with having to choose between two evils – OR:
‘..you must always choose the lesser of two weevils’ – Captain Aubrey
The more I reflect back on the Hinderaker’s ‘Democrats’ Strategy Is Bizarre, But It May Work post at Power Line (linked to in Neo’s “it’s lies all the way down” post), the more I am convinced that selecting Trump as the GOP Presidential candidate in 2016 was a major disaster for the Republican party—and possibly even our Republic.
I believe many of the votes that Trump received were actually votes ‘Against Hillary’. Hillary was hated and feared by a huge number of voters. Trump is probably the most hated and feared now, IMHO.
Trump losing to Biden in 2020 was probably as depressing to me – as Hillary losing to Trump in 2016 was to most DEM voters.
When will the Trump Cult of Personality end (AKA TDS for REPs)? DEMs can survive and even thrive on such cults. I don’t believe that REPs can. A commenter here has even suggested that Trump might run again in 2028 if he loses this time.
Two main parties and both are too far left for me. How far right am I? Can’t say—some law abiding commenter here would probably rat humble me out to the Federal Law Enforcement agencies, and I’d end up in some ‘Place’ like Guantanamo—at best.
REPs’ TDS is going to have to run its course before the Republican party can ever recover. Can the Republic recover and/or hold out long enough for that to happen? America has a strong foundation, so I suspect it can—plus, the ‘Political Pendulum’ doesn’t just swing in one direction…
Trump lacks even the basic Leadership qualities.
==
Trump leads a business with 22,000 employees.
Open Thread Sunday – Everything Isn’t What It Seems
Military Decoys in Ukraine – Fake equipment, inflatables & lessons in deception for foreign forces – Perun
The treatments include speech therapy, surgery on the vocal chords or botox injections into the vocal chords.
Cavendish: RFK’s voice problem is spasmodic dysphonia, not highly treatable (although Scott Adams says he cured his case through surgery — I think Adams could not talk at all). I actually came to find his voice a strange positive: he can’t shout, and I think it forces him to choose his words carefully and you have to listen so.
I was lightly involved with the Kennedy campaign: joined up quite early, went to a few events, zoom meetings and even out to get signatures to put him on the ballot. FWIW, I found most of the people I met through it, especially early on, intelligent, interesting and nice. I would say most people came through a Bernie Bros. route, and another large contingent were people repelled by Fauci/Covid response. Most hated both parties, but I never got any “Avaunt, Satan!” responses when I described coming from a conservative p.o.v., unlike with my “liberal” or “moderate” “friends.”
However, as it became clear that Kennedy wouldn’t get a chance to break through in any way, I did notice an increase in anti-Trump remarks and began to suspect that a few were supporting Kennedy as a spoiler for Trump. And after Oct 7, on campaign social media, probably a majority were against Kennedy’s pro-Israel stance. The choice of Shanahan was a damper on enthusiasm as well.
I don’t see too many voting now for Trump. I’m not sure if they’ll stay home or vote for the Dems.
My reason for supporting Kennedy was that I frankly don’t see Trump either being allowed to win, or if allowed to win, to govern. I am not political whiz, so I hope I’m wrong. I thought if Dems could hear Kennedy on free speech, civility and an appeal to the old days of somewhat more national unity, they might take a look at themselves in a mirror and see what monsters they’ve become. Kennedy could have easily laid out Biden, Harris or Trump in debate.
President Trump continues to say “provocative” things.
“I don’t care what Lindsey Graham thinks,” Trump said, and it got Graham on CNN, where he spent 10 minutes talking about what Trump had done in his first term and the hope Trump will bring to Americans in his next term, reversing the horrible policies by the Biden/Harris administration that have affected everyday life.
It’s probably too 4d chess to think this is a strategy by the Trump campaign to get exposure on liberal media to Trump’s plans to right the ship of state, be it the economy, border or foreign policy.
Without these “personal attacks”, whether it be Graham or Kemp or Haley, would Trump have any exposure on the liberal media outlets?
I’ve heard each of these people on liberal media responding to something Trump has done or said and they’ve been very effective spokespeople for defending and creating a positive message for why Trump is the right person for America right now.
“[Hezbollah terrorist chief Hassan] Nasrallah in Beirut and [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei in Tehran need to know that this is an additional step in changing the situation in the north and returning our residents securely to their homes,” Netanyahu said.
This is what needs to be done, though this is also the very thing the Obama-Biden-(Harris?) psychopathic fiends least want to hear or see accomplished.
“Can’t say—some law abiding commenter here would probably rat humble me out to the Federal Law Enforcement agencies, and I’d end up in some ‘Place’ like Guantanamo—at best.”
Heh. Lovely. Crafty slanders make such powerfully persuasive political arguments, don’t they?
no, but if they prevail it would be something else entirely,
when Trump was in power, Graham was operating against Trump’s agenda, when he was in Ankara about a year before the Khashoggi active measure by Qatar, he wants to go to war with Russia, for what reason, what was his stance on the wall, it wasn’t even his 5th priority I don’t think, he was against Freedom of Speech during the so called Arab Spring, which was an Islamist proxy rebellion, he cried crocodile tears over Benghazi when his vendetta against Qaddafi made it possible,
we saw in embryo the kinds of attacks that for example pavel durov is facing at the hands of the enarques, how they are going after Elon, because he does not allow lies
about biological science to be presentedas truth, Graham he he cheered the shooting of Ashley Babbitt, a non person in his book,
you look at the big picture when Graham could have spoke out, he didn’t and when he did he removed all doubt,when he ran in 2016, he only garnered 1% of the primary electorate,
I understand kennedy just fine, some of his notions about say fossil fuels, are just daft, however looking at his background I can see how he came to those conclusions, He has done chapter and verse on Fauci, a truly wretched creature, who has injured not only the reputation of the medical profession,but the psyches of a generation of youth who were deprived of proper educations
It’s not all about the humble Kermit of Florida. People have lives beyond a blog; “rat out” a sometimes troll? LOL.
so as you can grok I don’t have much respect for Lindsay, same as with McConnell when they could have stood past they were ‘plastic banana, good time rock and roll’ I don’t know what Rush meant with that, but I’m rolling,
Kamala is that answer, to a question no one was asking, meaning lets make our situation 100 x more dire, from hamid kharzai airport to the gates of kiev, to the kibbutz of Southern Israel,
If you want more calamity, you want more inflation, you want more crime, you want more brownouts, or you want Hospitals to sputter to sputter into silence, basically if you want the rest of the 10 plagues, bob’s your uncle,
Which isn’t surprising given the constitutional roles involved.
Trump lacks even the basic Leadership qualities.
Ok Karmi, define what “basic leadership qualities are.” Even try providing a list of some. I’ll wait. Sure, leadership is often one of those “I know it when I see it” things that are harder to define with any kind of systematic or set fashion… but that doesn’t mean it is impossible.
Trump has some glaring deficits as a leader, but also some stellar achievements. He has been managing dozens of thousands of people even in private life and trying to manage the economy and crushing debt even before he ever came down the escalator. And most of his employees and former employees have been quite loyal precisely because he has not mistreated them like the Obamas, Clintons, Biden, and Harris are infamous for. He also helped turn several states that were previously viewed as “Deep Blue” into battlegrounds and made inroads into the “Plantations” of the African-American and Hispanic-American votes that have been so reliable and so important for the Left.
And his track record in foreign affairs was generally pretty good, as the Abraham Accords attest. Ditto his value for energy independence, and picking a logical level of pressure to deal with the likes of Putin, the CCP, IS, and so on without going over the line.
If we wish to trade notes of his failures and misjudgments (of which there are plenty) feel free to do so. But they are going to have to be *ACTUAL* Misjudgements, not claims that he has made the Republican Party more into a “Party of Whites” based on absolutely fuckall evidence and going against virtually all the actual statistical evidence.
Heck, as Commander in Chief he was unable to get the military to follow him.
Define “the military.” He certainly had a great many malcontents like Miley and Vindeman (who by logic should have been arrested for breaches of the law), but he is and has been generally popular in the military, especially on the rank and file. He was able to order them to undertake risky missions like the cratering of Baathist Syrian airfields in retaliation for the “suspicious” air-dropped gas bombings and they did it.
And by that logic I can also speak of similar if not even worse issues for every POTUS since at least W Bush, complete with the literal almost unprecedented shrinking of the US Military to in many cases pre-WWII Headcounts and vehicle counts.
Trump is closer to a used car salesperson than he is to even a Corporal – forget being a “General”.
And how many Corporals or Generals have you worked with or spoken to, Karmi? I’m guessing not as many as I.
Reagan and both Bushes (sp?) were Leaders.
Ok. If so how?
(and yes that is the correct way to spell “Bushes”).
I’ll also note that all three of them faced similar insubordination, leakings, and treason (even if PROBABLY not quite on the same scale).
Will I vote for Harris over him? No,
Ok, that’s one thing.
I won’t vote for either of them. Am done with having to choose between two evils
LMAO. In this existence?
No, no you are not done “having to choose between two evils.” Not even close. None of us are. And I’ll also note that not choosing is itself a choice. I’ve never served but that is literally one of the first lessons hammered in during pretty much every training course in the US Military, and I’d imagine many others).
– OR:
‘..you must always choose the lesser of two weevils’ – Captain Aubrey
Well, I can’t fault you for the media choice on that front at least.
The more I reflect back on the Hinderaker’s ‘Democrats’ Strategy Is Bizarre, But It May Work post at Power Line (linked to in Neo’s “it’s lies all the way down” post), the more I am convinced that selecting Trump as the GOP Presidential candidate in 2016 was a major disaster for the Republican party—and possibly even our Republic.
Ok. But that brings up the question: what is the quality of the reflection? Have you reflected on the reflection?
Considering you made some truly grotesque errors without evidence such as arguing Trump made the Republican Party more of a “Party of Whites” (itself a truly dreadful metric for evaluating modern American politics) while ignoring the actual turnout and polling (such as it is), I’m guessing it is nowhere near as good as you think it is. Ditto the idea that nominating any Republican other than Trump would have been better.
Did you bother reading through the comments under Hinderaker’s post that you cite? Even the one I did?
This is one of your key failures, and it is something you share with Bauxite and possibly BrooklynBoy. When you are arguing that Trump is the Worst of all Possible Republican Candidates, you open yourself up to an easy defeat. People like me don’t even have to argue that Trump is the Best of all Possible Republican Candidates (Though some here and elsewhere would). I simply have to point to those that would do worse, and some results.
And in a reality where the McCain and Romney dumpster fires are living memory and I can point to things like the Abraham Accords and making inroads into Pennsylvania and Michigan, that isn’t a very high bar to match.
You take your opinions of your reflection too seriously, which is why you do not take your reflections seriously enough, which is why it is fairly easy to upend your thesis and many others.
And even if you want to argue the former two are something I am guilty with (and hey, maybe that’s true), good luck arguing the last one. It’s less egotistical to fisk Einstein on economics and psychology than to uncritically and blithely quote Einstein with the assumption he had much in the way of good ideas on both.
I believe many of the votes that Trump received were actually votes ‘Against Hillary’. Hillary was hated and feared by a huge number of voters.
I completely agree, and indeed many have admitted as much.
The problem is that this driving force would absolutely not work in explaining the results of 2020. There Clinton was not on the ticket and Trump had gone through four years. So we would expect Trump to receive LESS votes with the absence of the “Vote Anyone but Clinton.”
Issue is, in 2016 while buoyed by the “Anyone but Clinton” votes, Trump won just a sliver under 63 million votes.
In 2020, after four years of Trump, half a decade of relentless demonization, and no “Anyone but Hillary” effect, Trump won 74 million votes. Indeed, the only reason he lost is because Biden – famously corrupt, ineffectual Biden – won 82 million votes in a pattern that trips most red flags on fraud such as Bentford’s Law.
Again, these are the OFFICIAL STATISTICS. Not some alternative vote count by Sidney Powell or the like. So the logic – and what you completely skip over – is that Trump managed to not only convert a lot of “Anyone but Clinton” votes into “Trump Trump Trump!” Votes, but ALSO to gain a bunch more on top of that.
Now to be fair it wasn’t ALL one way, and he very clearly is said to have lost some of the “Anyone but Hillary” Voters. But that would mean they were still made up for and then some by new voters.
You don’t address this fact, and a fact it very clearly is. You have no theory of election for how another candidate would do this beyond general, airy-in-the-ether “anyone else would have done better.” Which is not going to cut it.
Trump is probably the most hated and feared now, IMHO.
Unfortunately Karmi, both your opinion and mine are but data points in the ether of no great authoritative effect on the scope of it. And the circumstantial evidence begs to differ. Trump faced a serious internal campaign to unseat him in the primaries, including by some people I admire (such as DeSantis) and some I do not (like Haley), but he weathered that storm, even under truly withering effects.
Ditto the inroads he has made in the Rust Belt and in making the Republican Party less… what was your word again? “White.” Could he have done better? Sure. In particular I’d have blared Richard Spencer’s condemnation of him and endorsement of Biden from the rooftops.
But it’s still a better result than any Republican Presidential Candidate since at least Dubya Bush. And that is not a bad result for someone who is like a “used care salesman.”
Trump losing to Biden in 2020 was probably as depressing to me – as Hillary losing to Trump in 2016 was to most DEM voters.
I can sympathize there, for whatever my differences. If anything it was probably worse for me because I did digging and can tell something of how greatly it smells, like the suspicious water pipe breakage and other matters.
When will the Trump Cult of Personality end (AKA TDS for REPs)?
This would be a halfway decent stance were it not for how Trump Derangement Syndrome/TDS present among Republicans, just ask Pence and Romney. But I agree, the Trump Personality Cult is a mistake that cuts on both ways, and even if you wish to argue I am suffering from it I have never been one of the most devoted. I have repeatedly argued that fanatical anti-Trump and fanatical pro-Trump partisans make the same mistake about overly focusing this election on Trump (likely helped to some degree by the man himself and the media), because the issues are deeper than that. While I have no particularly fond opinion of RFK Jr i do think he helped point this out.
And as others pointed out, Trump will not last forever and there needs to be plans for what happens after. He is no miracle worker.
DEMs can survive and even thrive on such cults. I don’t believe that REPs can.
Agreed there, and this is the kind of analysis that would serve you much better than the “Party of Whites” statistical gobbledegook. However, it cuts both ways. And it has been remarkable to see Trump’s most fervent opponents enshrine personality cults of.. uh… “Almost Literally Anyone Else But Trump.” Kemp, Haley, Kaisch, McMullen, even some I admire and support like Caron, Cruz, and DeSantis. As if breaking the left’s hold on the rust belt and on American Minority votes could be taken for granted!
Looking for the “right” person is important, but too much focus on looking for the “right” person isn’t going to roll back DIE, expose things like Biden’s corrupt firing of Shokin, destroy leftist racism in policies and propaganda, or save the Republic. I’d have been more open to alternatives to Trump earlier, but that’s a case that needs to be made with nose to the grindstone and eyes on actionable intelligence.
A commenter here has even suggested that Trump might run again in 2028 if he loses this time.
I can unfortunately believe that, and I would PROBABLY oppose that if there was literally noone better (and I REALLY don’t think the bench is so short we wouldn’t have someone better). I’m inclined to give Trump his second chance, but not beyond that.
However I increasingly fear that by 2028 we might not have general elections of much import given the corrupt and authoritarian leanings of many leftists.
“Two main parties and both are too far left for me.”
I can sympathize there.
“How far right am I? Can’t say—some law abiding commenter here would probably rat humble me out to the Federal Law Enforcement agencies, and I’d end up in some ‘Place’ like Guantanamo—at best.”
You do realize that LEOs doubtless monitor this blog and would have picked that up?
REPs’ TDS is going to have to run its course before the Republican party can ever recover.
I agree, but probably not in the sense you mean. But I also agree the Cult of Trump the Savior is not sustainable indefinitely; even if it were justified and validated, there has to be something that comes after. Christ’s Church, the Buddhist Denominations, and others were all ironed out after their worldly deaths, after all. And looking for singular Saviors is a good way to lose.
Can the Republic recover and/or hold out long enough for that to happen?
We’ll see.
America has a strong foundation, so I suspect it can—plus, the ‘Political Pendulum’ doesn’t just swing in one direction…
Whatever our differences Karmi, I hope you are right on that count. But I’d also point to Venezuela to show the perils of what can happen if a political monoculture has dominated the machines of worldly power by the time a political pendulum swing happens.
But I’ll just say I hope you are right.
Still enjoying black reaction videos. These days there is a land rush of reaction videos staking out territory.
Blacks particularly benefit because the point of a reaction video is being exposed to something for the first time, and there is much white culture blacks don’t know and to which whites enjoy hearing their reactions.
Lately I’m hooked on the Rob Squad, an Oklahoma black couple in their thirties, though I don’t know why they call themselves that. Their names are Jay (Jordan) and Amber. Their instinct is to enjoy the music which their audience recommends. There has been so much great music they can cherry pick from the past 60-70 years.
It’s been a charming voyage to watch them discovering the Beatles and falling in love like it’s 1964 Beatlemania all over again.
Then, far enough back, there is also black music they don’t know and they get to flip over. Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Chubby Checker, the Shirelles, and so on.
Lovely family people. Their latest child, Luca, was born and they celebrated with a reaction to John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy.” They got a call from Yoko Ono!
The Rob Squad couple are also big Bee Gees fans, particularly Jay but really both of them.
@ Turtler
Jeez…your TDS is showing, in case you didn’t notice. This looks twice as long as the last one, so I’ll make my reply briefer.
Even try providing a list of some. I’ll wait.
You’re kidding?! Hold your breath – nah, I’m kidding. Reagan was a Leader. Trump is a leader of a used-car franchise. “The Buck Stops Here” with a real Leader, “the buck stops over there” with Trump. Hard to believe you think Trump is a Leader, Turtler…
Trump has some glaring deficits as a leader, but also some stellar achievements.
No sh*t ‘Sherlock’ Turtler – so why the ridiculous question of me that even Merriam-Webster could’ve answered for you.
I’ll go a tad further, because this is You, but am not going to waste my time if it continues like this. Will skip down some…some more. OK:
Heck, as Commander in Chief he was unable to get the military to follow him.
Define “the military.”
Jeez…will skip down some more…a tad more. OK:
And how many Corporals or Generals have you worked with or spoken to, Karmi? I’m guessing not as many as I.
Have met/known lots and lots of NCOs – possibly more than you. Not a lot of officers – but up to and including Bird Colonels. Did date a Bird Colonel’s daughter. Don’t recall ever meeting a General. Trump wasn’t even in the ballpark with any of them. Are you saying Trump’s Leadership qualities are on par w/ high ranked Commanding Officers you have known?
Enough of that section…I don’t need to explain Leadership qualities to you.
I don’t choose between two evils anymore. If you do, then that is your problem.
Ok. But that brings up the question: what is the quality of the reflection? Have you reflected on the reflection?
What a ridiculous question for one man to ask another…
I stand by my statement that Trump has made the REPs even more of a ‘Party of Whites’ – especially with the selection of Vance. Am white and proud of it, but in a country like America I won’t be a member of any white, black, brown, red or yellow party. Terrible selection of Vance by Trump!
Did you bother reading through the comments under Hinderaker’s post that you cite? Even the one I did?
Another ridiculous question. No, I don’t normally read all the comments in all the posts and news articles I read. Do you?
People like me…
Yes, I am sure you are a ‘a legend in his own mind’.
I believe many of the votes that Trump received were actually votes ‘Against Hillary’. Hillary was hated and feared by a huge number of voters.
I completely agree, and indeed many have admitted as much.
OK – we agree on something…will go a little further in this long-winded essay of yours…Jeez.
Trump is probably the most hated and feared now, IMHO.
Unfortunately Karmi, both your opinion and mine are but data points in the ether of no great authoritative effect on the scope of it.
OK – we’re both opinionated, but so what! 😉
If anything it was probably worse for me because I did digging and can tell something of how greatly it smells, like the suspicious water pipe breakage and other matters.
I dunno…was quite depressed/upset/shocked that Trump lost. Trump did lose…get over it, you’re better than that Turtler.
Apology – for saying/suggesting/insinuating you suffered from Trump Derangement Syndrome/TDS. Quite rude of me…and Ditto on the Apology.
I don’t expect to be in Germany long enough to be taking intercity rail – maybe S-Bahn locally, but not more.
Thanks for providing that link Philip. I see you understand the meaning.
I will explain to you what a Leader is, Karmi. A leader is someone who can get a hi-rise built in Manhattan – one of the most difficult places on earth to succeed. And not one building but numerous major projects built on time and within the budget. Planning through all the stages of conception, design, permitting, contact award, execution and delivery. That takes leadership. Only a Leader can accomplish all of that and more. That’s what differentiates a Leader from the run of the mill politicians we now suffer under. That’s why Trump is a Leader.
Xylourgos – we usually call such people “Builders” here in Florida. OK – Trump is a Builder and a used-car salesperson…
@ Turtler – Part 2
On reflection of a reflection, and thanks for the Tip—BTW, I’ll plan on 2-3 Parters in the future. Your comment replies take a lot of time, effort, thought, etc. on your part—resulting in a professional look (if that is possible with a comment). I lack that ability, but can approach it better – tho I do balk at times to questions and/or questioning.
Part 1 ended with me apologizing for the rude Trump Derangement Syndrome/TDS reference.
I have repeatedly argued that fanatical anti-Trump and fanatical pro-Trump partisans make the same mistake about overly focusing this election on Trump (likely helped to some degree by the man himself and the media), because the issues are deeper than that. While I have no particularly fond opinion of RFK Jr i do think he helped point this out.
Great points, and I agree. Don’t care for RFK Jr either, but excellent observation on your part.
DEMs can survive and even thrive on such cults. I don’t believe that REPs can.
Agreed there, and this is the kind of analysis that would serve you much better than the “Party of Whites” statistical gobbledegook. However, it cuts both ways. And it has been remarkable to see Trump’s most fervent opponents enshrine personality cults of.. uh… “Almost Literally Anyone Else But Trump.” Kemp, Haley, Kaisch, McMullen, even some I admire and support like Caron, Cruz, and DeSantis. As if breaking the left’s hold on the rust belt and on American Minority votes could be taken for granted!
Yeah, I can be a harsh analyst. When I see the REPs looking closer at Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) for 2028 I’ll probably (eventually) drop the “Party of Whites” reference. I have moved him ahead of Tim Scott, Haley, and stealth high-healed cowboy boots wearing DeSantis (whoever advised him to wear them and smile more should stop advising) – at this point, anyway.
A commenter here has even suggested that Trump might run again in 2028 if he loses this time.
I can unfortunately believe that, and I would PROBABLY oppose that if there was literally noone better (and I REALLY don’t think the bench is so short we wouldn’t have someone better). I’m inclined to give Trump his second chance, but not beyond that.
However I increasingly fear that by 2028 we might not have general elections of much import given the corrupt and authoritarian leanings of many leftists.
Yeah, when Trump went with pro-Russia Vance as VP he lost anymore chances from me.
You used a word in another reply comment elsewhere, but can’t remember it, but the point was sorta having to consider that it is close to a time for infiltrating the DEM party. Interesting, but hopefully we’re years away from that…
Yeah, *BIG* Government Law Enforcement is everywhere, and fully supported by most REPs. I don’t care for *BIG* Government anything other than a strong and ready Military. One that could force all Russians to the east of Urals where they belong. 😉
REPs’ TDS is going to have to run its course before the Republican party can ever recover.
I agree, but probably not in the sense you mean. But I also agree the Cult of Trump the Savior is not sustainable indefinitely; even if it were justified and validated, there has to be something that comes after.
Close enough…
I keep thinking back to the turmoil of the sixties/seventies as a comparison to what is happening today. ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ had to be a cultural shock for our elders back then. We dealt with it, but those changes were only a sign of more ‘n faster changes coming down-the-line. Heck, the Roaring Twenties may have seemed crazy to elders back then…
Oh, there’s like 645 comments in that PL post now, and my edit time here is running out. Will look again for your reply there after editing here…
“We dealt with it” regarding the cultural, societal changes of the Sixties sums up Karmi in four words. “We” are not the generation that had to deal with it. That generation dealt with the Great Depression, WWII, and the onset of the Cold War.
Other than that, Karmi is spot on just like with his The Party of White People.
Karmi, I know very well what a builder is as I have been one most of my working life. One who develops billion dollar projects from conception to completion is by definition a builder and a Leader. As you obviously suffer from TDS you are not able to acknowledge that.
Leave a Reply
HTML tags allowed in your
comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>
I’m one of those foolish ones, I think Trump will win in a landslide!
Ahh, back when the Foxes were still in high school!
Trump’s gracious response to RFKJ. I think this could be a game changer (not my usual pessimistic self), but I guess we have to see what the real fallout is in time.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/donald-trump-rfk-jr-arizona-rally/2024/08/23/id/1177717/
The media got its directions from the Politburo; eg CNN and Drudge. Meme this morning is to tout that the D convention viewership was bigger than the GOP convention and ignore RFK. LOL, this immediately came to mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8tPpS7MI6s
you know that line about being cynical
https://www.steynonline.com/14570/asleep-in-the-deep-state
yes the seinfeld or is tropic thunder convention, really doesnt amount to anything,
I think that Lafayette Lee has been reading Neo and has this advice for Bauxite and Karmi:
“I can’t tell whether it’s good or bad, but I firmly believe you have to be willing to play the cards your dealt. Maybe it was the Army, I dunno, but I can’t stand to sacrifice momentum for purity and perfection. You want that? Go to church. This is politics. It’s war. We fight with the team we’ve got, and that means sending the cynics, purists, and ideologues to the rear so the rest of us can get to work. Our objective now is to win, and that means taking what we’ve got and stepping off. If Donald Rumsfeld was right about anything, it’s that “you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want.” The nerds, poets, and firebrands will have plenty of time to play games once the dust has settled. But right now we need to win.”
https://x.com/Partisan_O/status/1827198169425355223
Bauxite and Karmi, we all know very well what your views on Trump are. Now we need you in the fight with the army we have. Just imagine the consequences of 4 more years of Obama/Harris.
@ huxley et al. — Something that AI may actually be useful for!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/362641
Deciphering and Cuneiform texts
TalkHistory at 30,000 feet: The Big Picture
1 stellarexplorer Aug 14, 12:17 pm
An AI program is now able to decipher ancient cuneiform texts, and there is hope for deciphering some of the 30% of the Epic of Gilgamesh that remains undeciphered.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ai-cuneiform-translation-epic-of-gilgamesh-2523735
From a NYT article that I don’t link to bc it’s behind a paywall:
“Now, an artificial intelligence project called Fragmentarium is helping to fill some of these gaps. Led by Enrique Jiménez, a professor at the Institute of Assyriology of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Fragmentarium team uses machine learning to piece together digitized tablet fragments at a much faster pace than a human Assyriologist can. So far, A.I. has helped researchers discover new segments of Gilgamesh as well as hundreds of missing words and lines from other works.”
********
There is some caveats from other commenters:
6 Macumbeira Aug 18, 12:56 am
That is nice.
Let’s hope that AI. is not too smart and just fills in the blanks with it’s own creativity.
I distrust all writings appearing after 2022. : )
(As with Wikipedia et al., AI work should always be independently vetted, but it can serve as a jumping-off spot for research.)
************
7 haydninvienna Aug 18, 2:54 am
>6 Macumbeira: I distrust all writings appearing after 2022: I take a slightly simpler approach. With certain well-recognised exceptions, if it’s on the internet it’s a lie. Saves time.
******
My own caveat: without knowing the history of the writers, the “well-recognised exceptions” could either be the Regime Media flagships, or certain conservative gadflies.
(I lean toward the former, from other hints on the site. However, I do recommend LibraryThing if you want to catalog your own books, or read the opinions of a huge bibliophile community.)
A couple of selected comments from the Foxes & Fossils video (which I loved, they sing and play superbly).
No auto-tuning for this group!
@thomashermann2785
4 years ago
Linda Ronstadt once said the real music of the world is played in the garages, alleys and small venues. This is testimony to that truth
@nathanielcromartie8924
4 years ago (edited)
Hey People! Keep in mind that these folks are doing their covers live, without the benefit of studios and sound mix equipment. The fact that they are always spot on underscores their natural chemistry. They have other lives, and they choose to be what they are. Just listen and enjoy the fruits of their efforts.
yes i’m a little concerned they might take shortcuts like they did in Jurassic park, when they enabled the dinosaurs who were supposedly unable to breed to do so,
the Sumerian world view in some ways was alien to ours in others see the Old Gods that Cahn was able to discern,
@ miguel > “you know that line about being cynical”
Mark Steyn has good reason to be cynical about the “dirty stinkin’ rotten corrupt” Department of Justice and its appurtenances in DC especially.
The “untoward” deaths of two people and their lawyer who recently defeated the DOJ itself (in the Northern District of California) also got my attention when the story was first reported.
However, the frightening part is that Mark’s suspicions about their “accidents” seem all too believable, these days.
Coda to my comment:
I sometimes worry that Trump’s vehement declarations of the vengeance he will wreak when elected may not only fire up his voters, but his targets.
Every agency of the Federal Government already hates him, and obstructed him for four years prior to outright persecution through lawfare; they won’t take kindly to threats of being dismembered.
The actions of the Secret Service in Butler PA still have not been adequately explained.
The last landslide in a national election was in 1984. It was a personal victory for Mr. Reagan. The parties were split 50-50 in congressional races, with the Democrats winning a considerable majority due to accumulated gerrymandering.
==
Not optimistic about outcomes, myself.
==
What’s notable about Harris and Walz is what a pair of clots they are. It hasn’t injured their political careers at all bar the implosion of Harris’ presidential campaign at the beginning of 2020. The Bidens are an example of how brazenness trumps intelligence.
==
Partisan Democrats (and palaeo / alt-right roaches) derided George W. Bush for his reliance on connections and his business reversals. He had business reversals because he actually ran businesses. The most recent national candidates in the Democratic Party who had a tour of the business world were Lloyd Bentsen and Jimmy Carter; neither Carter nor Bentsen, adhering to the views they held as working politicians, would today be welcome in the Democratic Party. Jimmy Carter is notable as the only national candidate the Democrats have fielded in living memory who earned a living in a demanding field other than law (you could argue that George McGovern and Hubert Humphrey at least worked in fields requiring considerable preparation). The lawyers they serve up are either unimpressive as lawyers (Biden, Obama, Kerry, Clinton, Dukakis, Mondale, &c) or they’re crook lawyers (Hellary, John Edwards). Joseph Lieberman is the only exception. One gets the impression that Bill Clinton and Michael Dukakis might have distinguished themselves if they’d invested in their profession, but they couldn’t wait to get out of it into political office.
==
So, here we have Kamala Harris, who, absent Willie Brown’s sponsorship might be a staff prosecutor somewhere around San Francisco / Oakland / San Jose. Here we have Tim Walz, a lapsed high school teacher who per the silliness of the age was able to enter that trade innocent of much in the way of liberal education and then had career pratfalls consequent to problem drinking. (We’re you wondering why he seems so prematurely aged?). Both have drawn public-sector salaries without interruption since 1990 and neither has ever had a year-round full time occupation working for a commercial enterprise.
they are like terminators, or the agent smith iterations of the matrix, they are relentless and numerous, also the Borg, Trump and Elon and RFK jr, the three amigos against everyone else in corporate in government in academia the armies of Schwab and his major domo, Larry Fink and Soros,
you cannot get along with them, like Romney and McCain did, they will swallow you like Jonahs whale, yes Harris and Waltz would strive to be mediocrities, but thats how oligarchs prefer it, the typical Soviet party chief was a plodding dullard,
just about 300 miles from here, you have the caribbean variety,
https://babalublog.com/2024/08/23/cuban-puppet-president-plans-to-attend-un-session-in-new-york-five-us-senators-ask-biden-to-deny-visas-to-him-other-dictators/#comments
who have slid not only into Tampa, but the cradle of the Counter revolution Miami
in the same breath their rail against Putin but they enable Maduro, who is another mediocrity, and characters like this fellow,
in the 70s the Dems put the welcome wagon for Abu Ammar Arafat by 1988 he had captured most of the party leadership which led to the Oslo defile,
Sennacherib, I second that!
My favorite cover band– F&F.
My just discovered second favorite cover band- CSM (SanfordMarkley).
Not only are they not in the same house, not in the same state, they’re not in the same country.
Carry On (cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul5AOhjKqTM
Wasted On The Way (cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncQq3T58bHId
Foxes and Fossils has many great performance up on YouTube, and other really good ones came from their outdoor shows at the Twisted Taco like this one. Not only did Maggie and Sammie sing like angels, they were just such darn cute young ladies!
For those of you not familiar with the band, Sammie (blonde singer) is front man Tim Purcell’s daughter.
If you ask me, it’s a neck-and-neck race between F&F and The Petersens for the most outrageously talented family act on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQpK09EFMaA
I guess you have to give it to the Petersens, as dobroist Emmett Franz is the only non-family member there. Those Petersen kids have to be the best-looking siblings extant!
Xylourgos, above, mentioned commenter “Karmi” who was posting Polymarket betting predictions on the 2024 presidential race. Latest shows R at 287 electoral votes.
https://www.270towin.com/maps/polymarket-2024-presidential-election-odds#google_vignette
We haven’t seen Karmi in a while; when last heard from, he was going in for cataract surgery. Hope he’s okay.
@Kate
Fortunately he is still around, and he and I are jousting a bit in debate in the “Lies all the Way Down” thread. So it’s good he’s still around.
Ah, I hadn’t seen the later posts over there. Good to know. I’m sure you’re doing a good job, Turtler.
Remember when Jill Biden compared Latinos to breakfast tacos?
The latest from The Bulwark:
Harris–Walz Is a Food Fusion Ticket as Diverse as America
But their hotdishes and dosas reflect the same values and warmth.
I’m one of those foolish ones, I think Trump will win in a landslide!
Sennacherib:
Though I am inclined to soft-pedal my optimism … me too.
In any event I do feel sure Trump will win — with the usual disclaimers of fraud and Whatever TF the Dems and Deep State can come up with in the meantime. I fear they have not scraped the bottom of that barrel yet. October surprise, anyone?
In 2020 Biden won by less then 100,000 votes, converting popular votes to electoral.
Now it’s 2024, not 2020.
All Americans are feeling the effects of inflation. Three-quarters oppose the Dems’ Open Borders policy. Harris ain’t no Obama by a long shot. Quite a few more understand the poison of DEI. Everyone is aware that Dems foisted an old man of declining cognition as our Commander-in-Chief and lied about it over and over again. Including Kamala Harris. Etc.
I call the RFK endorsement as the beginning of a preference cascade — not necessarily huge, but large enough to put Bad Orange Man into the White House.
Part of my optimism comes from seeing cultural shifts all around me. I’m a 60s kid and I believe Breitbart got it right:
Politics is downstream from culture.
E.g. Woke Disney is now dying. The cancellations of a second season of “The Acolyte.” most of the other woke projects in the pipeline, as well as canceling all Leslye Headland’s and Amandla Stenberg’s future projects are a big deal.
The stockholders and Board are fighting back. Disney stock has lost over half its value since its peak a few years back.
Disney spokesfeminists can complain all they want about the “toxic male demographic” but those shows just weren’t getting viewers, i.e. revenue.
Meanwhile the only Disney movies which have made money this summer were “In & Out 2” and “Deadpool and Wolverine” which were non-woke or anti-woke respectively.
Good news from Alaska. Now it is a traditional election where the candidate with the most votes wins. Hopefully the voters will repeal the arcane nonsense of ranked choice, although you can be sure that Murk and other Democrats lite will pour money against repeal.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/08/this-is-how-its-done-alaskas-lt-gov-nancy-dahlstrom-deals-democrat-preferred-ranked-voting-a-potentially-fatal-blow/
Fox News reports:
That leaves a two candidate race between the incumbent Democrat Peltola and Republican Nick Begich.
Hopefully the voters will repeal the arcane nonsense of ranked choice,
==
Nothing arcane or nonsensical about it. Alaska needed to change from two stage to one stage jungle contests, needed to provide for the use of party primaries where apposite, and needed to tie the electoral deposit to nominal personal income per capita and set it at an apposite level. If you have 35 candidates entering, you’ve set it too low.
Thanks Huxley. If Trump wins the screeching will really start.
“Foxes and Fossils”, cute. Entertaining. Good job, girls and boys.
Nick begich isnt really a republican dahlstrom was probably the better candidate
Huxley
We’ve been Disney passholders for years, and go to the parks 4 to 5 times a year. 2019, pre covid, the parks were great. They haven’t been the same since. The woke crowd took advantage of covid to transform the company. The parks are slowly improving, but Disney found all the covid tricks to increase income while diminishing experience. Believe me, most long time Disney people are not happy and have let the company know.
With the post covid travel surge waning park attendance is going down. Also Universal is hot on their heels with their new park opening next year which is expected to further erode WDW attendance.
The entire C suite needs to be replaced but I don’t think the stockholders will go along. The attempt this past year to insert outsiders was thwarted by the establishment to the disappointment of many of the regular people.
Xylourgos – There’s not much left for us to do now but vote. The die is cast. Yes, you go to war with the army you have. The problem is that the GOP primary voters chose this particular army just a few months ago. Significantly better armies were available.
The latest from
The Bulwark: The Bought-and-Paid-For==
I see Charles J. Sykes has departed as editor and been replaced with one of Wm. Kristol’s minions from the defunct Weekly Standard.
Bauxite:
You write “significantly better armies were available,” as though that’s a self-evident truth. It’s not.
Trump was never my first choice. This go-round, DeSantis was. In 2016, I had others. But I never felt that it was a self-evident truth that my favored candidates would do better than Trump in elections. I had no way to know that – nor do you. Polls either didn’t indicate it or indicated it only for a moment in time prior to their nomination (a nomination they never received) and therefore prior to the media turning its full destructive force on them – something that absolutely WOULD have occurred had they been nominated.
If you mean “better” in terms of “I, Bauxite, prefer them to Trump” – then yes, they were better. But that doesn’t make them more likely to win an election. I also prefer some of them to Trump, but I don’t arrogantly assume I know how they would have done in a real-world election. The things that appeal to Bauxite or Neo don’t necessarily win elections.
And thanks to Brian E.!
Art Deco, who is replacing Charlie Sykes? And where is Sykes going?
Once upon a time i thought sykes was insightful omg he has lost the plot same with jonathan last wth happened
https://youtu.be/d4-FSVVGjVw?si=JWXsba0U4ajqa54G
“The problem is that the GOP primary voters chose this particular army just a few months ago. Significantly better armies were available.” Bauxite
What is the profit in winning the war, only to waste the peace?
Whether another leader might more certainly win the election is ultimately irrelevant if, once in office, they seek ‘bipartisan agreement’ with a side dedicated to treason. If any leader on the Republican side realizes that this has become a case of ‘kill’ or be killed… it’s Trump.
Put another way, those on the right who insist they are not interested in war, are willfully blind to the fact that the left has been conducting “take no prisoners” war upon them.
Art Deco, who is replacing Charlie Sykes? And where is Sykes going?
==
Jonathan V. Last. Sykes is already gone. In Robert Stacy McCain’s account, talk radio can be quite lucrative for those who can build a large audience, but the economy of local talk radio collapsed around 2014-15 and left local radio hosts in the lurch. McCain’s interpretation is that Sykes needed a gig to pay his bills, thus working as Pierre Omidyar’s flunky. Sykes is now 70. Perhaps at this point his retirement income is sufficient that he can do other things and not rely on Pierre Omidyar’s money.
Ranked choice voting is a Democrat’s dream, particularly in red states, where they can siphon off GOP candidates who are running against one another. It’s a horribly flawed system that favors Democrats,
==
The level of incomprehension in this remark is stupefying.
Its not a metaphor well since 2017 and alexandria, rand paul among others
Ranked choice was one of those taranto answers to a questions no one asking
Has ranked choice swung any election to the right why do you think that is?
I found lasts case for the Empire amusing but sadly it turned out to be proscriptive
Significantly better armies were available.
==
I seem to recall John Kasich was polling better than Trump contra Hellary in the summer of 2016. Kasich’s behavior in the interim gives you a sense of how beneficial to the world would have been a Kasich Administration.
==
There is no tool used against Trump to date that could not have been used on his Republican rivals. It’s conceivable that deSantis or Cruz would have been more deft in maneuvering contra the lawfare and have established more constructive relationships with their lawyers.
==
See Mitch Daniels on George W. Bush. He was perfectly willing and able to build relationships with Congress and pursue joint projects. He was an abnormally competitive man who had commitments but has never been much of a conviction politician. See his response to embryonic stem cell research in 2001; David Gergen might have dreamed up his direction in policy. And, yet, he was subject to stupefying hostility from the crew of people we used to call the ‘nutroots’. It antedated the deterioration on the ground in Iraq and antedated 9/11. The ‘nutroots’ were not marginal characters. Louise Slaughter was a Daily Kos contributor; Joseph Lieberman’s primary challenger is now the Governor of Connecticut.
Art Deco:
Perhaps Bauxite is looking back to Reagan, who managed to overcome the hatred marshaled against him and win handily. However, Reagan had unusually good skills for that, plus the times were somewhat milder – the attacks were still fairly vicious but not as overwhelming as today, and computers and social media, etc., weren’t a factor.
Thanks, Art Deco. I looked and saw Last’s name on the website, but since I don’t follow it at all, I didn’t realize he’d only recently joined. Not good company to keep.
As a reminder of how much has changed, it’s important to remember that before Reagan was President he was Governor of California, which has been a one-party state for many years now. I think we’ll be waiting a good long time for another Republican President doing what he did.
neo – The man’s approval rating is 10 points underwater and has been consistently since he left office:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/favorability/donald-trump/
60% of the public didn’t want him to run:
https://www.axios.com/2023/04/25/2024-trump-biden-presidential-rematch
It’s not me. It’s me and about 200 million of my closest friends. Nominating him anyway was madness.
@Bauxite: Nominating him anyway was madness.
What, in your opinion, should the GOP have done differently so that voters would choose someone besides Trump as the Republican nominee?
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/some-40-strikes-reported-in-lebanon-residents-of-israels-north-told-to-stay-near-shelters/
The largest (and perhaps the first as such) preemptive attacks by Israel against Hezbollah since Oct. 7th began roughly 45 mins ago, and have now ceased for the time being. This won’t be the end of this exchange though, and may be the inception of the wider war expected to come for some months now. It’s reasonable to assume Hezbollah, which had been seen by Israeli intelligence service preparing for a large scale missile and rocket attack on Israel, will regroup and carry on with their aims. How far Hezbollah will choose to go remains to be seen, and I believe that will in turn determine how Israeli defense forces will respond.
Underwater approval is bad?
Dude, look in the mirror and you’re gonna be seeing -75% in these quarters. Doesn’t seem to stop you though, now does it?
Bauxite is looking back to Reagan, who managed to overcome the hatred marshaled against him
==
Robert Bork, having been an office-holder ca. 1975 and then subject to confirmation hearings ca. 1987, did say that 1981 was a watershed year. I think, however, he was referring to the culture of official Washington. Apart from that, people like Barbara Ehrenreich were emotionally invested in antagonism to Reagan. I was in political discussion groups at the time; the arguments were congenially competitive.
==
Keep in mind that Reagan and his camarilla were rather more challenging to the permanent government, the Democratic Party, and the chatterati than George W/ Bush dreamed of being. The neuralgic response to Bush was indicative in a change in the culture of the Democratic Party and associated subcultures.
Bauxite:
You haven’t seemed to understand the point of what people here are telling you. Trump’s low approval rating is irrelevant to the argument I and others are making – plus, we are well aware of his low approval rating. The point is that any other GOP nominee would have ended up at this point with a low national approval rating – for example, DeSantis. See this – and that was even without being the GOP nominee and having the full smear machine unleashed on him. Nikki Haley was even worse in terms of favorable rating on the national level; see this.
You are living in a dream world on this issue.
Ranked choice was one of those taranto answers to a questions no one asking
==
I was asking them. The utility of ranked-choice voting is manifest when there are more than two candidates on the ballot.
There is word that the Solingen murderer surrendered himself to police and is in custody. I’m a little bit doubtful whether this 26-year-old Syrian was really the one who did it. Perhaps.
Since it’s possible that I may be in Germany briefly in the next little while, this kind of thing naturally occupies my attention to some degree.
In state where one party dominates, I’m not sure ranked choice voting results in less real choice for those states voters, simply because the Republican candidate in a state like California would have to be pretty far left to be competitive.
As for competitive states, ranked choice voting could help break the legal stranglehold the two major parties have, though I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that done.
In the state I live in anyone can say they are any party, but the two parties have their “official” candidates who are not marked as such on the ballot but do have the party apparatus behind them, and those are almost invariably the two who come in first and second.
Osint:
https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1827547154665103528?t=D9f_kVUGWgcqRMpbRllp3w&s=19
Hezb document translated at link
In state where one party dominates,
==
Ranked-choice voting is of use when you have > 2 candidates competing for a single berth. It has utility in judicial elections and in elections to conciliar bodies from multi-member constituencies, but to simplify the discussion one can leave that aside for a time.
==
The degree of one party domination is not salient in determining the utility of ranked-choice apart from the influence of one-party domination on the number of candidates competing. The circumstance in which it is salient is in determining the method to be used in designating candidates for the general election ballot.
==
IMO, when you have one-party domination, all aspirants who collect the requisite number of signatures or who pay the required deposit should appear on the general election ballot. Candidates should appear on the ballot by name with their party registration indicated in brackets, as in “Yancey Ward [Republican]”. The order of candidates on the ballot should vary from one precinct to another. In order to determine candidate order on the ballots, you hold a drawing and append each candidate drawn to a peg on a daisy-wheel. You start with one candidate on the wheel and you proceed counter-clockwise. The order of the candidates on the wheel will be that of one stereotype. You select another candidate for the top spot and you move counterclockwise around the wheel. That’s your second stereotype. You create as many stereotypes as you have candidates qualified. One precinct will get one stereotype, one another, one a third. Equal numbers of precincts will receive each stereotype. The stereotype any one precinct will receive will be determined by lot. If you have just two candidates, you use first-past-the-post. If you have more than two, you use ranked-choice.
==
Where you have a competitive constituency, you have party primaries first. The primaries take place, however, only in those parties which have achieved the status of ‘public organization’ and which thus appear as options on a voter registration form (where you can register as a no-preference voter, a Republican adherent, a Democratic adherent, or an adherent of a 3d party which has achieved public organization status). Candidates who adhere to minor parties which lack public organization status appear consequent to a two step process: conventions and caucuses of party members supplemented with petitioning among no-preference voters. Nonpartisan candidates appear on the ballot consequent to petitioning among no-preference voters. If your system uses deposits in lieu of petitioning, the political parties pay the deposits ‘ere their nomination and designation process begins. Non-partisan candidates pay at the point they turn in their designating petitions. The candidates of the political parties appear in an order determined by the performance of the party in the most recent election to the lower house of the legislature to occur coincident with a gubernatorial election. (Minor) parties who did not participate in that election appear below those who did, in an order determined by lot (if there be more than one). Non-partisan candidates appear last, in an order to be determined by lot. If you have just two candidates, you use first-past-the-post. If you have more than two, you use ranked-choice.
==
Let’s posit that the party with the largest number of registrants in a constituency has x registrants and the party with the second largest number has y registrants. If the ratio of x to y, exceeds 2:1, you define that as a ‘non-competitive’ constituency and the general election consists of all aspirants. If it be less than 2:1, you make use of party primaries and such. In the former, you’ll commonly have a multiplicity of candidates from your most popular party. In the latter, each party offers just one candidate.
Stay safe in your travels Philip. Referring back to Rufus’ last month’s posting on Sabine Hofstadter’s rant on the decrepitude of Germany’s rail system (among other things German) It would be interesting for you to share your rail experiences. I do not believe that things are as dire with Deutsche Bahn as she rants.
Bauxite, what would be your choice of a significantly better General to lead the army? As you keep expounding on this, I would really like to know who you think would be better equipped to take on the Fight. I cannot imagine any other candidate that would be able to stand up to the withering barrage of incessant attacks coming from the MSM and Democrat operatives. The ruthlessness of the left was made apparent to me by the white-hot hatred directed at Mitt (mittens) Romney – a more genteel man would be hard to find. I realize that many do not like Trump’s abrasive style, however he shows that he actually likes the fight. This is what makes him so effective and defended so strongly by his supporters. He relishes combat, and combat it is. The more the Left throws at him, the stronger he appears. In my opinion, at this time, he is the most suitable candidate to take on the Deep State. As you disagree, name your General.
As much as Trump may be disliked, the only salvation available is in a Trump-like candidate who stands a reasonable chance of winning, and in the absence of a workable Trump avatar it seems reasonable to go with the original.
And, as for “inciting ire” on the part of Deep Staters who fear Trump will disband them, it’s a binary condition with max / min limits: they’re already as much against Trump as they can be, more than adequately demonstrated 2016-2020. I doubt they engage in the deep thinking necessary, but reasonable, patient and orderly contraction of the governmental Deep State by a president with moderate support from Congress would be infinitely preferable to the citizens performing the task themselves at the wholesale level or the overnight economic and societal and collapse that’s a high probability endpoint of DNC philosophies and practices.
On the RFK issue, personally for me he’s about 70% positive; some of his positions are leftist, a couple hard leftist, but at the foundational level he’s substantially correct. As a semi-partner with Trump (the usual “politics makes for strange bedfellows” is appropriate here) he adds a great deal of value to the equation and the potential outcome; should Trump’s bid be successful, much of that success will have come from his associaton with, and support from, RFK.
I do note, however, that, to my mind, RFK has been facing an uphill battle on several fronts, particularly the iron propaganda wall of the DNC/MSM, but he is quite hard to understand when speaking, at least to those of us with hearing difficulties. I’m not a fan of podcasts or Youtube videos (or mivoe theaters) because without closed captioning or basic speech-to-text as a crutch I miss nearly half the verbal content, and that’s with some pretty fancy and expensive hearing aids, and if it’s too much work to decipher spoke words I simply won’t bother engaging.
What RFK can, or could, do to improve his speaking voice I have no idea, but, at least for people like me, I suspect it’s more of a handicap to progress than some may realize.
Keep seeing the title “General” given to Trump. Trump lacks even the basic Leadership qualities. Heck, as Commander in Chief he was unable to get the military to follow him. Trump is closer to a used car salesperson than he is to even a Corporal – forget being a “General”.
Reagan and both Bushes (sp?) were Leaders.
Will I vote for Harris over him? No, I won’t vote for either of them. Am done with having to choose between two evils – OR:
The more I reflect back on the Hinderaker’s ‘Democrats’ Strategy Is Bizarre, But It May Work post at Power Line (linked to in Neo’s “it’s lies all the way down” post), the more I am convinced that selecting Trump as the GOP Presidential candidate in 2016 was a major disaster for the Republican party—and possibly even our Republic.
I believe many of the votes that Trump received were actually votes ‘Against Hillary’. Hillary was hated and feared by a huge number of voters. Trump is probably the most hated and feared now, IMHO.
Trump losing to Biden in 2020 was probably as depressing to me – as Hillary losing to Trump in 2016 was to most DEM voters.
When will the Trump Cult of Personality end (AKA TDS for REPs)? DEMs can survive and even thrive on such cults. I don’t believe that REPs can. A commenter here has even suggested that Trump might run again in 2028 if he loses this time.
Two main parties and both are too far left for me. How far right am I? Can’t say—some law abiding commenter here would probably rat humble me out to the Federal Law Enforcement agencies, and I’d end up in some ‘Place’ like Guantanamo—at best.
REPs’ TDS is going to have to run its course before the Republican party can ever recover. Can the Republic recover and/or hold out long enough for that to happen? America has a strong foundation, so I suspect it can—plus, the ‘Political Pendulum’ doesn’t just swing in one direction…
Trump lacks even the basic Leadership qualities.
==
Trump leads a business with 22,000 employees.
Open Thread Sunday – Everything Isn’t What It Seems
Military Decoys in Ukraine – Fake equipment, inflatables & lessons in deception for foreign forces – Perun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPqYvn5NOEs
Karmi is trying to join the Concerned Conservative army (of one), but is Karmi’s fixation of The Great Orange Whale all consuming? Time will tell.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/08/guest-dialogue-political-philosophy-in-the-age-of-trump.php
Cavendish – RFK jr has spasmodic dysphonia
https://www.yahoo.com/news/whats-wrong-rfk-jrs-voice-154803126.html
The treatments include speech therapy, surgery on the vocal chords or botox injections into the vocal chords.
Cavendish: RFK’s voice problem is spasmodic dysphonia, not highly treatable (although Scott Adams says he cured his case through surgery — I think Adams could not talk at all). I actually came to find his voice a strange positive: he can’t shout, and I think it forces him to choose his words carefully and you have to listen so.
I was lightly involved with the Kennedy campaign: joined up quite early, went to a few events, zoom meetings and even out to get signatures to put him on the ballot. FWIW, I found most of the people I met through it, especially early on, intelligent, interesting and nice. I would say most people came through a Bernie Bros. route, and another large contingent were people repelled by Fauci/Covid response. Most hated both parties, but I never got any “Avaunt, Satan!” responses when I described coming from a conservative p.o.v., unlike with my “liberal” or “moderate” “friends.”
However, as it became clear that Kennedy wouldn’t get a chance to break through in any way, I did notice an increase in anti-Trump remarks and began to suspect that a few were supporting Kennedy as a spoiler for Trump. And after Oct 7, on campaign social media, probably a majority were against Kennedy’s pro-Israel stance. The choice of Shanahan was a damper on enthusiasm as well.
I don’t see too many voting now for Trump. I’m not sure if they’ll stay home or vote for the Dems.
My reason for supporting Kennedy was that I frankly don’t see Trump either being allowed to win, or if allowed to win, to govern. I am not political whiz, so I hope I’m wrong. I thought if Dems could hear Kennedy on free speech, civility and an appeal to the old days of somewhat more national unity, they might take a look at themselves in a mirror and see what monsters they’ve become. Kennedy could have easily laid out Biden, Harris or Trump in debate.
President Trump continues to say “provocative” things.
“I don’t care what Lindsey Graham thinks,” Trump said, and it got Graham on CNN, where he spent 10 minutes talking about what Trump had done in his first term and the hope Trump will bring to Americans in his next term, reversing the horrible policies by the Biden/Harris administration that have affected everyday life.
It’s probably too 4d chess to think this is a strategy by the Trump campaign to get exposure on liberal media to Trump’s plans to right the ship of state, be it the economy, border or foreign policy.
Without these “personal attacks”, whether it be Graham or Kemp or Haley, would Trump have any exposure on the liberal media outlets?
I’ve heard each of these people on liberal media responding to something Trump has done or said and they’ve been very effective spokespeople for defending and creating a positive message for why Trump is the right person for America right now.
Trump said he doesn’t care what Senator Graham thinks. Hear Graham’s reaction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il2roIVNI68
JNS, “Netanyahu: Preemptive strike on Hezbollah ‘not end of the story’ “:
https://www.jns.org/netanyahu-preemptive-strike-on-hezbollah-not-end-of-the-story/
This is what needs to be done, though this is also the very thing the Obama-Biden-(Harris?) psychopathic fiends least want to hear or see accomplished.
“Can’t say—some law abiding commenter here would probably rat humble me out to the Federal Law Enforcement agencies, and I’d end up in some ‘Place’ like Guantanamo—at best.”
Heh. Lovely. Crafty slanders make such powerfully persuasive political arguments, don’t they?
no, but if they prevail it would be something else entirely,
when Trump was in power, Graham was operating against Trump’s agenda, when he was in Ankara about a year before the Khashoggi active measure by Qatar, he wants to go to war with Russia, for what reason, what was his stance on the wall, it wasn’t even his 5th priority I don’t think, he was against Freedom of Speech during the so called Arab Spring, which was an Islamist proxy rebellion, he cried crocodile tears over Benghazi when his vendetta against Qaddafi made it possible,
we saw in embryo the kinds of attacks that for example pavel durov is facing at the hands of the enarques, how they are going after Elon, because he does not allow lies
about biological science to be presentedas truth, Graham he he cheered the shooting of Ashley Babbitt, a non person in his book,
you look at the big picture when Graham could have spoke out, he didn’t and when he did he removed all doubt,when he ran in 2016, he only garnered 1% of the primary electorate,
I understand kennedy just fine, some of his notions about say fossil fuels, are just daft, however looking at his background I can see how he came to those conclusions, He has done chapter and verse on Fauci, a truly wretched creature, who has injured not only the reputation of the medical profession,but the psyches of a generation of youth who were deprived of proper educations
It’s not all about the humble Kermit of Florida. People have lives beyond a blog; “rat out” a sometimes troll? LOL.
so as you can grok I don’t have much respect for Lindsay, same as with McConnell when they could have stood past they were ‘plastic banana, good time rock and roll’ I don’t know what Rush meant with that, but I’m rolling,
Kamala is that answer, to a question no one was asking, meaning lets make our situation 100 x more dire, from hamid kharzai airport to the gates of kiev, to the kibbutz of Southern Israel,
If you want more calamity, you want more inflation, you want more crime, you want more brownouts, or you want Hospitals to sputter to sputter into silence, basically if you want the rest of the 10 plagues, bob’s your uncle,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH_aNNIcNz0
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/08/24/nasa-astronauts-trapped-international-space-station-spacex/
My man Cornel (update):
Cornel West must appear on Michigan ballot, judge says
Bravo! Well done!
Cornel can’t be on Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot, court decides
Bummer. Better luck next time.
@Karmi
Which isn’t surprising given the constitutional roles involved.
Ok Karmi, define what “basic leadership qualities are.” Even try providing a list of some. I’ll wait. Sure, leadership is often one of those “I know it when I see it” things that are harder to define with any kind of systematic or set fashion… but that doesn’t mean it is impossible.
Trump has some glaring deficits as a leader, but also some stellar achievements. He has been managing dozens of thousands of people even in private life and trying to manage the economy and crushing debt even before he ever came down the escalator. And most of his employees and former employees have been quite loyal precisely because he has not mistreated them like the Obamas, Clintons, Biden, and Harris are infamous for. He also helped turn several states that were previously viewed as “Deep Blue” into battlegrounds and made inroads into the “Plantations” of the African-American and Hispanic-American votes that have been so reliable and so important for the Left.
And his track record in foreign affairs was generally pretty good, as the Abraham Accords attest. Ditto his value for energy independence, and picking a logical level of pressure to deal with the likes of Putin, the CCP, IS, and so on without going over the line.
If we wish to trade notes of his failures and misjudgments (of which there are plenty) feel free to do so. But they are going to have to be *ACTUAL* Misjudgements, not claims that he has made the Republican Party more into a “Party of Whites” based on absolutely fuckall evidence and going against virtually all the actual statistical evidence.
Define “the military.” He certainly had a great many malcontents like Miley and Vindeman (who by logic should have been arrested for breaches of the law), but he is and has been generally popular in the military, especially on the rank and file. He was able to order them to undertake risky missions like the cratering of Baathist Syrian airfields in retaliation for the “suspicious” air-dropped gas bombings and they did it.
And by that logic I can also speak of similar if not even worse issues for every POTUS since at least W Bush, complete with the literal almost unprecedented shrinking of the US Military to in many cases pre-WWII Headcounts and vehicle counts.
And how many Corporals or Generals have you worked with or spoken to, Karmi? I’m guessing not as many as I.
Ok. If so how?
(and yes that is the correct way to spell “Bushes”).
I’ll also note that all three of them faced similar insubordination, leakings, and treason (even if PROBABLY not quite on the same scale).
Ok, that’s one thing.
LMAO. In this existence?
No, no you are not done “having to choose between two evils.” Not even close. None of us are. And I’ll also note that not choosing is itself a choice. I’ve never served but that is literally one of the first lessons hammered in during pretty much every training course in the US Military, and I’d imagine many others).
Well, I can’t fault you for the media choice on that front at least.
Ok. But that brings up the question: what is the quality of the reflection? Have you reflected on the reflection?
Considering you made some truly grotesque errors without evidence such as arguing Trump made the Republican Party more of a “Party of Whites” (itself a truly dreadful metric for evaluating modern American politics) while ignoring the actual turnout and polling (such as it is), I’m guessing it is nowhere near as good as you think it is. Ditto the idea that nominating any Republican other than Trump would have been better.
Did you bother reading through the comments under Hinderaker’s post that you cite? Even the one I did?
This is one of your key failures, and it is something you share with Bauxite and possibly BrooklynBoy. When you are arguing that Trump is the Worst of all Possible Republican Candidates, you open yourself up to an easy defeat. People like me don’t even have to argue that Trump is the Best of all Possible Republican Candidates (Though some here and elsewhere would). I simply have to point to those that would do worse, and some results.
And in a reality where the McCain and Romney dumpster fires are living memory and I can point to things like the Abraham Accords and making inroads into Pennsylvania and Michigan, that isn’t a very high bar to match.
You take your opinions of your reflection too seriously, which is why you do not take your reflections seriously enough, which is why it is fairly easy to upend your thesis and many others.
And even if you want to argue the former two are something I am guilty with (and hey, maybe that’s true), good luck arguing the last one. It’s less egotistical to fisk Einstein on economics and psychology than to uncritically and blithely quote Einstein with the assumption he had much in the way of good ideas on both.
I completely agree, and indeed many have admitted as much.
The problem is that this driving force would absolutely not work in explaining the results of 2020. There Clinton was not on the ticket and Trump had gone through four years. So we would expect Trump to receive LESS votes with the absence of the “Vote Anyone but Clinton.”
Issue is, in 2016 while buoyed by the “Anyone but Clinton” votes, Trump won just a sliver under 63 million votes.
In 2020, after four years of Trump, half a decade of relentless demonization, and no “Anyone but Hillary” effect, Trump won 74 million votes. Indeed, the only reason he lost is because Biden – famously corrupt, ineffectual Biden – won 82 million votes in a pattern that trips most red flags on fraud such as Bentford’s Law.
Again, these are the OFFICIAL STATISTICS. Not some alternative vote count by Sidney Powell or the like. So the logic – and what you completely skip over – is that Trump managed to not only convert a lot of “Anyone but Clinton” votes into “Trump Trump Trump!” Votes, but ALSO to gain a bunch more on top of that.
Now to be fair it wasn’t ALL one way, and he very clearly is said to have lost some of the “Anyone but Hillary” Voters. But that would mean they were still made up for and then some by new voters.
You don’t address this fact, and a fact it very clearly is. You have no theory of election for how another candidate would do this beyond general, airy-in-the-ether “anyone else would have done better.” Which is not going to cut it.
Unfortunately Karmi, both your opinion and mine are but data points in the ether of no great authoritative effect on the scope of it. And the circumstantial evidence begs to differ. Trump faced a serious internal campaign to unseat him in the primaries, including by some people I admire (such as DeSantis) and some I do not (like Haley), but he weathered that storm, even under truly withering effects.
Ditto the inroads he has made in the Rust Belt and in making the Republican Party less… what was your word again? “White.” Could he have done better? Sure. In particular I’d have blared Richard Spencer’s condemnation of him and endorsement of Biden from the rooftops.
But it’s still a better result than any Republican Presidential Candidate since at least Dubya Bush. And that is not a bad result for someone who is like a “used care salesman.”
I can sympathize there, for whatever my differences. If anything it was probably worse for me because I did digging and can tell something of how greatly it smells, like the suspicious water pipe breakage and other matters.
This would be a halfway decent stance were it not for how Trump Derangement Syndrome/TDS present among Republicans, just ask Pence and Romney. But I agree, the Trump Personality Cult is a mistake that cuts on both ways, and even if you wish to argue I am suffering from it I have never been one of the most devoted. I have repeatedly argued that fanatical anti-Trump and fanatical pro-Trump partisans make the same mistake about overly focusing this election on Trump (likely helped to some degree by the man himself and the media), because the issues are deeper than that. While I have no particularly fond opinion of RFK Jr i do think he helped point this out.
And as others pointed out, Trump will not last forever and there needs to be plans for what happens after. He is no miracle worker.
Agreed there, and this is the kind of analysis that would serve you much better than the “Party of Whites” statistical gobbledegook. However, it cuts both ways. And it has been remarkable to see Trump’s most fervent opponents enshrine personality cults of.. uh… “Almost Literally Anyone Else But Trump.” Kemp, Haley, Kaisch, McMullen, even some I admire and support like Caron, Cruz, and DeSantis. As if breaking the left’s hold on the rust belt and on American Minority votes could be taken for granted!
Looking for the “right” person is important, but too much focus on looking for the “right” person isn’t going to roll back DIE, expose things like Biden’s corrupt firing of Shokin, destroy leftist racism in policies and propaganda, or save the Republic. I’d have been more open to alternatives to Trump earlier, but that’s a case that needs to be made with nose to the grindstone and eyes on actionable intelligence.
I can unfortunately believe that, and I would PROBABLY oppose that if there was literally noone better (and I REALLY don’t think the bench is so short we wouldn’t have someone better). I’m inclined to give Trump his second chance, but not beyond that.
However I increasingly fear that by 2028 we might not have general elections of much import given the corrupt and authoritarian leanings of many leftists.
“Two main parties and both are too far left for me.”
I can sympathize there.
“How far right am I? Can’t say—some law abiding commenter here would probably rat humble me out to the Federal Law Enforcement agencies, and I’d end up in some ‘Place’ like Guantanamo—at best.”
You do realize that LEOs doubtless monitor this blog and would have picked that up?
I agree, but probably not in the sense you mean. But I also agree the Cult of Trump the Savior is not sustainable indefinitely; even if it were justified and validated, there has to be something that comes after. Christ’s Church, the Buddhist Denominations, and others were all ironed out after their worldly deaths, after all. And looking for singular Saviors is a good way to lose.
We’ll see.
Whatever our differences Karmi, I hope you are right on that count. But I’d also point to Venezuela to show the perils of what can happen if a political monoculture has dominated the machines of worldly power by the time a political pendulum swing happens.
But I’ll just say I hope you are right.
Still enjoying black reaction videos. These days there is a land rush of reaction videos staking out territory.
Blacks particularly benefit because the point of a reaction video is being exposed to something for the first time, and there is much white culture blacks don’t know and to which whites enjoy hearing their reactions.
Lately I’m hooked on the Rob Squad, an Oklahoma black couple in their thirties, though I don’t know why they call themselves that. Their names are Jay (Jordan) and Amber. Their instinct is to enjoy the music which their audience recommends. There has been so much great music they can cherry pick from the past 60-70 years.
It’s been a charming voyage to watch them discovering the Beatles and falling in love like it’s 1964 Beatlemania all over again.
Then, far enough back, there is also black music they don’t know and they get to flip over. Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Chubby Checker, the Shirelles, and so on.
Lovely family people. Their latest child, Luca, was born and they celebrated with a reaction to John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy.” They got a call from Yoko Ono!
https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/local/oklahoma-city/2022/01/02/rob-squad-reactions-stars-stirring-up-positivity-youtube-okc/6467392001/
https://www.youtube.com/@RobSquadReactions/videos
huxley:
The Rob Squad couple are also big Bee Gees fans, particularly Jay but really both of them.
@ Turtler
Jeez…
your TDS is showing, in case you didn’t notice.This looks twice as long as the last one, so I’ll make my reply briefer.You’re kidding?! Hold your breath – nah, I’m kidding. Reagan was a Leader. Trump is a leader of a used-car franchise. “The Buck Stops Here” with a real Leader, “the buck stops over there” with Trump. Hard to believe you think Trump is a Leader, Turtler…
No sh*t ‘Sherlock’ Turtler – so why the ridiculous question of me that even Merriam-Webster could’ve answered for you.
I’ll go a tad further, because this is You, but am not going to waste my time if it continues like this. Will skip down some…some more. OK:
Jeez…will skip down some more…a tad more. OK:
Have met/known lots and lots of NCOs – possibly more than you. Not a lot of officers – but up to and including Bird Colonels. Did date a Bird Colonel’s daughter. Don’t recall ever meeting a General. Trump wasn’t even in the ballpark with any of them. Are you saying Trump’s Leadership qualities are on par w/ high ranked Commanding Officers you have known?
Enough of that section…I don’t need to explain Leadership qualities to you.
I don’t choose between two evils anymore. If you do, then that is your problem.
What a ridiculous question for one man to ask another…
I stand by my statement that Trump has made the REPs even more of a ‘Party of Whites’ – especially with the selection of Vance. Am white and proud of it, but in a country like America I won’t be a member of any white, black, brown, red or yellow party. Terrible selection of Vance by Trump!
Another ridiculous question. No, I don’t normally read all the comments in all the posts and news articles I read. Do you?
Yes, I am sure you are a ‘a legend in his own mind’.
OK – we agree on something…will go a little further in this long-winded essay of yours…Jeez.
OK – we’re both opinionated, but so what! 😉
I dunno…was quite depressed/upset/shocked that Trump lost. Trump did lose…get over it, you’re better than that Turtler.
Apology – for saying/suggesting/insinuating you suffered from Trump Derangement Syndrome/TDS. Quite rude of me…and Ditto on the Apology.
Am worn out Turtler – great convo but am done…
Thanks, Xylourgos. (Speaking of which, today’s Apostle reading kind of touched upon that – I mean, working in wood: https://dcs.goarch.org/goa/dcs/h/s/2024/08/25/h91/gr-en/index.html)
I don’t expect to be in Germany long enough to be taking intercity rail – maybe S-Bahn locally, but not more.
Thanks for providing that link Philip. I see you understand the meaning.
I will explain to you what a Leader is, Karmi. A leader is someone who can get a hi-rise built in Manhattan – one of the most difficult places on earth to succeed. And not one building but numerous major projects built on time and within the budget. Planning through all the stages of conception, design, permitting, contact award, execution and delivery. That takes leadership. Only a Leader can accomplish all of that and more. That’s what differentiates a Leader from the run of the mill politicians we now suffer under. That’s why Trump is a Leader.
Xylourgos – we usually call such people “Builders” here in Florida. OK – Trump is a Builder and a used-car salesperson…
@ Turtler – Part 2
On reflection of a reflection, and thanks for the Tip—BTW, I’ll plan on 2-3 Parters in the future. Your comment replies take a lot of time, effort, thought, etc. on your part—resulting in a professional look (if that is possible with a comment). I lack that ability, but can approach it better – tho I do balk at times to questions and/or questioning.
Part 1 ended with me apologizing for the rude Trump Derangement Syndrome/TDS reference.
Great points, and I agree. Don’t care for RFK Jr either, but excellent observation on your part.
Yeah, I can be a harsh analyst. When I see the REPs looking closer at Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) for 2028 I’ll probably (eventually) drop the “Party of Whites” reference. I have moved him ahead of Tim Scott, Haley, and stealth high-healed cowboy boots wearing DeSantis (whoever advised him to wear them and smile more should stop advising) – at this point, anyway.
Yeah, when Trump went with pro-Russia Vance as VP he lost anymore chances from me.
You used a word in another reply comment elsewhere, but can’t remember it, but the point was sorta having to consider that it is close to a time for infiltrating the DEM party. Interesting, but hopefully we’re years away from that…
Yeah, *BIG* Government Law Enforcement is everywhere, and fully supported by most REPs. I don’t care for *BIG* Government anything other than a strong and ready Military. One that could force all Russians to the east of Urals where they belong. 😉
Close enough…
I keep thinking back to the turmoil of the sixties/seventies as a comparison to what is happening today. ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ had to be a cultural shock for our elders back then. We dealt with it, but those changes were only a sign of more ‘n faster changes coming down-the-line. Heck, the Roaring Twenties may have seemed crazy to elders back then…
Oh, there’s like 645 comments in that PL post now, and my edit time here is running out. Will look again for your reply there after editing here…
“We dealt with it” regarding the cultural, societal changes of the Sixties sums up Karmi in four words. “We” are not the generation that had to deal with it. That generation dealt with the Great Depression, WWII, and the onset of the Cold War.
Other than that, Karmi is spot on just like with his The Party of White People.
Karmi, I know very well what a builder is as I have been one most of my working life. One who develops billion dollar projects from conception to completion is by definition a builder and a Leader. As you obviously suffer from TDS you are not able to acknowledge that.