Open thread 8/8/24
For some we loved, the loveliest and the best
That from his Vintage rolling Time hath pressed,
Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,
And one by one crept silently to rest.
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
If much of what MSM is reporting is true—this could end in disaster for Trump/Vance and the MAGA advocates who INSISTED that no one else would do for them and/or the GOP.
Harris’ crowds seem to be growing, but noticed she seemed to lose control at one gathering—as antisemites and Palestinian/Gaza supporters were rowdy.
Choosing Cult of Personality leaders always seem to turn out bad. Trump’s Personality Cult keeps getting him selected as the GOP candidate, but there seems to be a much larger anti-Cult of Personality (whatever the word?!) working against him.
Polymarket had started out w/ Trump ahead of Harris by 10% or so (forget but is was a lot) – this morning 49% for both, with Harris on top. A “prediction market platform” that people bet their own cryptocurrency/money on – which may or may not be more accurate that many polls. (UPDATE: by time I wrote ‘n posted this – Trump was back on top @ 50% and Harris @ 49%)
I dunno…still early but it ain’t looking good…
A very thoughtful Poem. And sad really.
Following up on yesterday’s discussion of the use of the nuclear bombs in WWII.
The use of the nukes was entirely justified; the only way to deter aggression of the 1930s Japanese type is, as the meme says, make the consequences so biblically horrible that they don’t consider similar activity for a long, long time. Or, as Truman said, “If the American people found out that I had the option to drop the Bomb and did not do it, they would have my head.”
All that said, at the time the Bombs were dropped, the American people were in zero danger of being attacked by Japanese forces.
Now look at Israel.
Iran and her Israel-adjacent proxies are waging endless war on Israel, vowing to wipe every Israeli Jew off the face of the earth. Israelis are under siege, with no means to live their lives as they did before, knowing that any ceasefire or armistice is just an interregnum while their enemies regroup and reload.
If the USA was justified in using atomic weapons in WWII, the Israelis have even more justification to just get it over with. They will be sacrificing any remaining living hostages, but saving multiple more lives in the future. Their window for accomplishing this is rapidly closing as Iran gets closer to getting their deliverable nukes.
This will be especially true if Trump is defeated in November.
there is so much doubletalk like that 2007 NIE which relied almost entirely on IRGC General Ali Asghar, the one who was likely Fuad Shakr’s enabler in Beirut, coincidentally it was David Sanger of the Times who was leaked the NIE, when I read his follow up book, the evidence of projects 110 and 111 did not suggest they had slowed down,
For his next book General Cartwright, gave up everything including Stuixtnet which was at best a patch on the program the details of the drone program, and the surveillance system behind it,
the fatwa supposedly issues by the Ayatollah in 1989, under which nuclear weapons development is still happening, the jizda that was the Iran deal and subsequent sanctions relief, the in kind contribution to Hamas and Hezbollah through our State Department and other agencies, giving money to the LAF is just as effective as giving it to Hezbollah, I’m reminded of that Robert Buettner tale suggesting the Nazis unlike what Heisenberg told Moe Berg, could very well have designed a crude nuclear device,
Speaking of history, and changing narratives, as we were in yesterday’s post, I thought this was a fun read this morning.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/nixon-shouldnt-have-resigned-history-vindicates-my-1974-view-40f1592c?st=6elyajfz692kheg&reflink=article_copyURL_share
Watergate was a smidge before my time, but I remember my dad often saying, “He shouldn’t have resigned.” I don’t think I’ve ever read anyone making that case.
Shock national poll shows candidate taking the lead in the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris
Taken before disastrous (imo) Tim Walz pick…
OT poem: I discovered the Rubayyatt way back when I was 14 and have been enamored by it ever since.
Politics: First video is an interview by Megyn Kelly with Mark Halperin where he discusses the very intentional strategy of keep Harris away from all the press. He says it is really smart as they are campaigning on a personality cult rather than any issues. And for many LIVs this works great as they vote on feeling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0TSSCIVe5Q
Second is a great clip from yesterday where Vance happened to be at the same airport as Harris. He walks over to the press corp by AF2 and asks the obvious question as to why she hasn’t taken any questions, and then subtly shames the press for not doing their job and walks away….very effective. Who knows if it might plant a bit of a seed in the press? Nah…we know better. But the Trump/Vance campaign is going to pound, I would think, the Ds keeping Harris under wraps.
https://choiceclips.whatfinger.com/2024/08/08/boom-trumps-vp-walks-up-to-kamalas-plane-on-live-tv-humiliates-her/
halperin makes me vomit, the way he relayed garbage from schmidt and wallace, back in 2008, in game change, then there was that other garbage hagiography of obama, which should have been rated NC-17
its striking though how a politician of character who actually challenged the party structure they despised, and a garbage politician who has only wrought destruction everywhere she goes, they exalt,
the pile up the next cycle on Christine O’Donnell and even more recently against Bernard in Pennsylvania, it suggests what they really despise,
they will chase down Tienan Men Tim and company to ‘perditions way’
Vance is a very formidable guy.
Walz is an escapee from a cartoon.
Miguel,
Just because you don’t like Halperin doesn’t mean you should dismiss what he is saying. He seems to have a good handle on what the Ds are doing with their strategy, and it would wise for the GOP to understand and attack such. Vance certainly seems in tune.
yes he’s a trafficker in lies, he has been a party to them in at least two cycles 2008 and 2012, he was even involved in some me too hanky pank, which they brushed off,
his father collaborated with the Soviets, when Nixon forced him out, and went to the Institute for Policy Studies founded by Jamie’s Father, Mort where he worked with another East Bloc operative, Phillip Agee
Is there any chance for a change/turnover/revolt at the Democrat’s convention ?I know from personal experience the local democratic party thugs are beasts. If a group of people oppose “the already chosen” those local people get shamed into obedience no matter how strongly they feel against “the chosen” they do not have what it takes to stand and defend another candidate. So, I guess I already know the answer to my question, but I am hoping that maybe someone here has some thoughts about the possibility.
Karmi-
I’m not worried about the Harris surge. It’s totally expected, what with the fluffer-fest ongoing by the MSM and the lefty press. Everyone is infatuated with the non-Biden at the top of the ticket and the shiny new VP thing, about which absolutely nothing is known by the general public.
Once Harris has to show her face, and the truth about how Walz has ruined MN starts to get out, the polls will return to a more normal pattern.
I’m just worried about the cheating.
West TX Intermediate Crude – “fluffer-fest” is best description I’ve seen. 🙂
They had the girl & woman hair sniffing—almost brain-dead Biden last time (2020), so they can obviously work w/ “shiny new” a lot easier, IMHO. Letting her apparently slip away from debates may come back to haunt Trump/Vance – because we saw what happened when the “general public” saw Biden in a debate this time.
When haven’t the Democrats been rumored to cheat. I consider the “excessive cheating” claims of 2020 to be nothing more than Fake but Accurate claims.
Voted for Trump twice but not voting for any Presidential candidate this time…hope he wins, but Down-ballot Voting for me this time…
I have lost my link to Maggie’s farm. I can’t make it open would someone here please send their link? Please and Thank you
Back when I was an aspiring young poet, practicing my craft and learning my traditions, I read Ezra Pound’s “ABC of Reading” in which Pound declaimed FitzGerald’s “Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám” to be one of the greatest poems in English. I’ve been in awe since.
I looked up Pound this morning and discovered that he named his son “Omar”!
Which gives me mixed feelings. It’s a nice tribute, but to hang a name like Omar on your kid….
BTW “ABC” is a useful, accessible book, if one is looking for such an overview.
thats weird i’ve never seen code like that, for posts after April,
Hunter Wendelstedt is a moron.
That is all.
I second both huxley and sdferr. Pound is great, and Hunter Wendelstedt is a moron.
Karmi, so concerned— for someone who has repeatedly said he’s not voting for Trump.
National polls are irrelevant.
This is way too early to draw any conclusions about the fate of the country. Most people don’t start paying attention until after Labor Day.
Trump’s “cult of personality” is just propaganda. Most people support Trump because they have never seen anyone in politics fight for them as Trump has done since 2016. And it obvious to common-sense Americans that Trump’s policies are the best/only way to improve their lives.
Our current trajectory is creating a society of elites and an increasing underclass and a dwindling middle class. The vision of the left is a technocratic elite making the decisions for the country and the underclass living in dependence on government welfare.
Can President Trump reverse that? He/we have to try. The level of dependency/addiction to government welfare may already be too pervasive to stem the tide. But it is not sustainable.
The European model of democratic socialism only worked because of the subsidies to their governments. That model will fail, especially as they have increased the number of aliens that have immigrated for the wrong reasons.
Harris isn’t going to be able to get away with telling pro-Palis “shut up or Trump wins” at the convention! She and CMSgt Tampon are going to have to have a reasonable and consistent position on Israel, and the fighting may get much worse any time before the election or even before the convention.
In August 1988 Dukakis led by 17 points
Walz retired as a MSGT( for reasons) not CSM
Debates back on?
Trump says he has agreed to do THREE debates with Kamala Harris
He left the Trump/Biden Sept. 10 date open for her, but added two more—which is sorta fair. He wants the Fox debate to be Sept. 4 and an added NBC debate on Sept. 25. Hard to believe she will debate him though…
Re: Maggie’s Farm
Anne:
There’s something going on with the domain. Its certificate has expired, so you can reach it this way, but the site is insecure — meaning you could get hacked.
http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/
The normal link with security https://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/ won’t work because the domain certificate has expired.
Presumably the Maggie’s Farm folks will get their certificate up to date.
Reporter Tells MSNBC That Harris’ Past ‘Damaging Moments’ Are ‘On The Mind’ Of Campaign As She Avoids Interviews
Confusion on all involved sides in Iran’s *THREATS* to respond to the suspected Israeli assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
We read about how Israel, US, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc. would respond to such attacks, but here is an interesting one on what the Iranians are probably bouncing around.
Iran Update, August 8, 2024
Israel has already said that it will respond forcefully to any attack by Hezbollah that ‘kills Israeli civilians or causes significant damage.’
Another failed attack by Iran, like the one in April, is gonna make Iran look a lot weaker in many regional eyes.
Only a few such capable missiles would be needed in an attack like that, and I don’t think they are capable of that yet—unless Russia gives them a hand. A wake up call if Iran could pull that one off…
My bit of outrage for the day. Courtesy of Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Taibi.
____________________________________
American Stasi: Tulsi Gabbard Confirms “Quiet Skies” Nightmare
Placed on a terror watch list, the former Hawaii congresswoman and her husband were tailed by Air Marshals and bomb dogs. “Unconstitutional on every level,” she says. “And I’m not the only one.”
https://www.racket.news/p/american-stasi-tulsi-gabbard-confirms
This is the media coverage to expect for the next 100 days:
CNN analyst triggered by JD Vance approaching Kamala Harris’ plane, suggests it was threatening to women
Was she afraid Vance’s SS detail was going to shoot Kamala’s SS detail? Nope.
This story, by the way, is from Fox News.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnn-analyst-triggered-jd-vance-approaching-kamala-harris-plane-suggests-threatening-women
RE: UFOs and Alien Hybrids
The Abduction phenomenon, along with cattle mutilations, are apparently seen by people as the two most “out there” phenomena associated with UFOs, and, as such, they are phenomena which a lot of those who study the UFO phenomena do not want to delve into and to discuss.
Many, perhaps most of the people, who say that they have been Abducted by Aliens say that they were examined as one of our zoologists would examine a captured wild animal, and that frequently these Aliens removed sperm from the men and ova from the women these NHI have Abducted.
Some Abductees also report that sometime later they were shown children that the Aliens said were “theirs”.
Well, prominent long time Harvard-trained Lawyer Danny Sheehan, deeply involved in trying to bring about UFO Disclosure, who has formed the “New Paradigm Institute” to carry on this work, and who has also represented prominent figures in the UFO Community like Dr. Steven M. Greer and, more recently, Lou Elizondo, has just gone there.
Sheehan saying, in the linked interview below, that he believes the evidence is so stong for the existence of an Alien-Human Hybrid program, that, if it were presented in a court of law, it would be sufficient to prove that NHIs are undoubtedly carrying out a program to create Alien-human hybrids.*
I’m not sure that, if my objective were attaining UFO Disclosure, I would bring the subject of Alien-Human Hydbrids into the forefront of the “discussion” at this stage of the game.
* See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJbry1ToJgk
@ huxley – the Gabbard story is frankly infuriating.
Tulsi had more security guards following her “to protect us from a potentially violent terrorist” (my paraphrase) than President Trump had protecting him!
What did the Marshall’s expect a prominent political woman to do that required explosive-detecting dog teams and their handlers?
Three marshals on every flight she took — they must have been ready to restrain her instantly when she attempted to hi-jack the plane with her nail clippers!
These people have wasted millions of dollars tracking implausible if not impossible “threats” and letting actually dangerous people (mostly here illegally) walk around the country at their leisure.
A companion piece from Matt Taibbi:
https://www.racket.news/p/the-first-deep-state-fix-dismantle
Brilliantly written, and dismantling DHS will never happen now, because the department is too big, has too much money going to too many people, and is the military (yes, I know; not officially but practically) arm of the leftist ideology.
AesopFan:
Thanks for reading that link. It went into my “I can’t even…” file.
Aside from the outrage it’s hard to make sense of the effort. I don’t think a SWAT team is about to show up at Gabbard’s door. (Knock on wood.)
It’s just petty, vindictive harassment. I suspect because Gabbard’s a woman who has renounced the Democrat Party to be independent.
Women and blacks who leave the D’s get special treatment. They aren’t just enemies; they are traitors.