Open Thread - Thurs 14 Nov 2024 - My Take
My Take for What It's Worth
I can't say I am one of those struggling with the results of the recent Presidential election. Am I happy with those results? No. I wouldn't have been happy unless a third party won. But I know others are struggling, trying to figure out why the party that is supposed to be for the people lost so bad. Are the common people turning into right-wing assholes? Is that why? Or wait, it's white women, who didn't come out to vote for Kamala in enough numbers? Or? The minorities didn't show... Whatever.
Well, I think it's something else. There is no representation for the common people in the government. When someone, even someone like Trump, pretends to care about the common people, some of them will vote for that person. When what was once the common people's party (or pretended to be the common people's party), the Democratic Party, spends all its time talking about how great it is that they selected a non-commoner (money-wise, power-wise, job-wise, etc), to be their candidate for President, when they force that candidate on the people without giving those people any ability to have a say in the selection, even as low a say as primaries (like the say the people had in the 2020 primaries where Kamala had to quit right away with no support), then that party is gonna lose. But TPTB in the party knew that, and didn't care. They are still TPTB, still in charge, and still doing well. F* the rest of us.
From another recent election, but still appropriate! (Source)
Luke O'Neil wrote a good article about this on his website Welcome to Hell World. The piece is entitled Our Final Reward. He starts with sarcasm, about how we are all going to be punished by... whatever... for Kamala's loss. He discusses how horrible it was to write for the mainstream media when he had to and delves a bit into that media's reaction to Kamala's loss and who they are blaming. Apparently they are blaming the fact that her campaign had a supposed left-wing taint (Where? When? I didn't detect it at all and neither did O'Neil) and that's what cratered it.
O'Neil says:
So we have been subjected to ten thousand election postmortems delivered by people who have determined the real culprit in this loss. People like these f*cking Democrat hacks [the 'left' side of the mainstream media] who – as Jack Mirkinson writes – "have simply invented an alternate universe out of thin air" in which the chief reason for Kamala Harris' loss was her supposed left wing campaign.
You and I are not paid to lie nor are we paid to raise money to lose elections every few years in perpetuity we are just some guy so naturally this reads to us as patently absurd nonsense. Indeed "Kamala Harris ran as right-wing a campaign as any Democrat in living memory" Mirkinson writes.
...
I do believe that had Harris run the supposed lefty campaign that they [the hacks] have invented for her she would have won. I could be wrong of course. Who knows anything! But it has become clear that running as Republican-light does not do anything to pull in wayward Republican voters because they already have a party of their own called the Republicans... What their campaign did as best as I can tell is demoralize voters on the left and infrequent voters who might have been activated by promises to improve their lives materially and also – this is very important – by someone telling them repeatedly over and over that they plan to do so. You could even lie about it if you wanted to! Trump sure does. Yet they couldn't even bring themselves to do that.
...
Every single person by default deserves a home and healthcare and an education and a job that pays them enough to live and enjoy leisure and equal rights and dignity and safety regardless of gender or race or birthplace and an end to the perpetual war machine and I'm so f*cking sick of being told this is radical by my supposed coalition partners.
Yep, I'm right there with him, swear words and all.
I don't think the the people in charge of the Democrats give even a tiny little bit of sh*t if working class people suffer, if the climate goes even further to crap, if we are in several wars and might get nuked, if the rich get richer, if taxes go up on the poor, if health care is not available for all, if access to abortion gets even further limited and all the rest they pretend to care about. I don't think they care if they lose, as long as the cash flow keeps coming and the power structure remains. And they certainly don't care if WE lose.
Listening Time!
I found out recently that the song Galway Girl, which is kind of an iconic Irish song now, was written by Steve Earle in 2000! Earle is an American country-western, rock, folk whatever singer. I was floored, because I love the song, and I really love Steve Earle's stuff, have since his very first album in 1986, but I missed this somehow!?! I didn't hear the song until I fell in love with the version done by Fiddler's Green years later. I thought it was a traditional folk song. Heh. What do I know? Enjoy listening and dancing to this great song!
Here's the Fiddler's Green Version:
Or a very recent live performance by Fiddler's Green at Shamrock Castle:
Thanks for reading. Keep on keeping on. Here's the open thread - remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!
Comments
It's Thursday!
Enjoy it! I'm going to do the same.
I do have to ask, theoretically... Matt Gaetz, attorney general? Well, I guess he can refuse to prosecute the president, and himself...
Same old crap, different label.
Hope your day is going well. Tell us what's up, whatcha doing, learning, reading, listening to, whatever! We wanna know!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
I think that
Mr. Gaetz will have one primary job, if confirmed: to attack every possible dem or ex-dem that participated in any way in the anti-Trump lawfare efforts, using every possible legal or quasi-legal avenue. Since most of those folks are the exact same people who were also investigating Gaetz, I don't think that it will take a lot of encouragement to set in motion.
I expect the DoJ to first, jettison many people who were too close to those efforts, regardless of their tenure; and then to go full-scale, rabid-dog, perp-walk on the others. There will be a great many very public pilloryings- starting, no doubt, with HRC, and proceeding from there. It will be ugly, and the opposing cries of "Foul!" and "Suck it up, buttercup!" will be equally deafening. Entire forests will be destroyed just to make the paper for all of the writs and motions. And the TSA will have a *fine* time screwing with all the new additions to their no-fly list.
Oh, and I'm sure that there's be a presidential blanket pardon or two. But Trump 2.0 is going to be dominated by the Revenge Tour, at least for the first couple of years...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Very good analysis about Gaetz
and the Trump 'Revenge Tour'. Gonna be interesting to watch on our way to being an actual empire with no 'power for the people'.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
One thing not touched on
is a soft kind of bigotry that dems have. My wifes family is very well off. SIL was an Obgyn. When she talked about non white patients there was that semi good natured eye role amusement over their lack of knowledge and intelligence. Under the radar was the notion that well, they just are that way by nature, impulsive children. Her real contempt was for poor whites. Almost that she couldn't understand how someone that looks like her could be so ignorant. The kind of contempt that TOP had when economic dislocation devastated segments of the economy that had lower income workers. Well they should just learn how to code and move, just like that. After all in TOP land their 401k is doing great.
Excellent observation, Snode
Whereas the Republicans have historically told the poor to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and work their own selves out of poverty, that party has finally come to realize that the poor cannot work their way out of this miserable economy.
This now leaves uppity Democrats to steal the trope that it is the fault of poor people that they suffer in poverty because they are stupid and/or lazy.
It is fairly easy to conclude that the parties switched on the left/right gauge.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Soft bigotry...
I encountered a lot of that in grad school, so I know what you mean. I sincerely hope I never react that way, it would be a betrayal of my ancestors. One of my grandfathers was a truck driver, the other was an electrician. One grandmother was a sales person in the clothing department of a major department store, the other worked in the food service. I can't imagine thinking they were just not 'motivated' or whatever and that's why they were poor white people.
I lived, by choice, in the ghetto in western Philly when I was in grad school. And I sure learned that no, the ghetto people were there not because they 'weren't trying' or they were dumb or whatever. They were there because that's all they had! Anyway, very, very good points, thank you!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Great essay!
Politics is a job just like being a talking head on MSNBC is a job. Salary comes from the same source.
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
Heh….
Looks like a lot of the talking heads on MSNBC might be finding themselves unemployed soon because they have lost about 40% of their viewers.
Please or please let Rachel Moscow be one of them. That might alleviate some of the anxiety and depression shitlibs are going through.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
I'll do a little prayer for that too..
Let Maddow be one of those 'let off'. Please. Please.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Eaxctly!
'Salary comes from the same source.' That is exactly true! Mainstream media is not at all separate anymore, if it ever was. Maybe it was back in from the 30s to the 70s? I dunno.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Matt Gaetz
I've mentioned before that Matt Gaetz is my Congresscritter. A few years ago, when I still had a landline, he would call me every week to invite me to something in the District. He called so much that one of my children started to call him "my boyfriend." Yuck!!!
I don't believe that he messed around with underage girls. Not because he is a fine example of a moral man but because when he was in his early 20's, he was stopped for possible DUI at least a dozen times or more. Usually, he was leaving one of the strip clubs on the island. I think after all the trouble he had, he learned something. Besides, his good buddy is in prison and he's still free. If they had proof, he would have been convicted a long time ago.
Good info...
If he was driving drunk from a strip club... well, he's not the one responsible if the strippers were underage (and I don't think they were). And yes, he probably learned a lesson or two from that. I actually don't dislike him that much. But, boy, the dems sure do.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning Sima. My leedle sis is coming up here for
tanksgibbons day and will not be home to receive a wine shipment that she has coming from a winery she belongs to by remote. Because this is my fault for inviting her, I find myself obligated to venture forth into the wilderness of Sonoma County to fetch said shipment, alas. At any rate, I will soon be off to see what the winery in question has to offer and, no doubt, suffer through a tasting session in order to accomplish my task. Ah me.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Wine tasting!
What a horrible task
Have fun in the wilderness of Sonoma County!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Turkey cuts all ties with Israel
.
And the Saudis are calling Israel out for its genocide and they are making more waves that could affect America’s economy bigly.
"Slowly at first and then all of a sudden."
Let’s hope that pressure is finally going to be applied on Israel.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Pressure ramps up on Israel?
I sure hope so! Not sure Trump will provide it, although he's making some decent talk about ending the Ukrainian debacle. Do I believe it? I'll have to see it first :).
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Galloway's rant on Trump appointments
...made me laugh out loud a few times. Thanks I needed that. I've cued it to start with Sec of State.
Thanks for the OT Sima.
語必忠信 行必正直
Galloway is good!
That made me laugh, thank you! Editted to add: I should say, it made me laugh in irony. People appointed who don't even think Palestine should exist? Sheez.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Will Russiagate ever go away?
Reading what various dem law makers are saying about Tulsi that she is basically a Russian agent. This is not one accusing Tulsi of being a Russian, but the general tone of those postings.
Elizabeth Warren said Tulsi was in Putin's pocket. Not sure this Russia thing moves anybody outside the democratic party base who still believe that Putin changes vote totals from Moscow to defeat Hillary Clinton.
Tulsi...
I think she's one of the better Trump appointments. Now, will she stick to how she's been so far, or will she go further right, and further warmonger? Who knows. Still she's pretty good, so far.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
MSM got their asses handed to them,
so they can either start telling the truth or disappear.
CNN lost 40% of it's viewership. I think MSNBC lost even more.
Perhaps people are finally waking up.
Thanks, sima! Lots to think about, chica!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I don't think that CNN learned anything from the election
results. Here they give war monger Bolton free airtime to spout his message as the host simply listens without challenging any of the assertions.
How many wars did Bolton take his mustache to?
Tulsi bought into the lies that our military fights for our freedoms and she at least saddled up to go kill people herself instead of staying home and egging on the wars like Bolton did. He has no room to talk.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
People waking up...
I sure hope so. And the Msm goes pooooffff. Kinda doubt it though
Have a great one!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
No Pretender
Why would an immensely wealthy media star subject himself to endless impeachments, endless lawfare that threatens his wealth and freedom, and constant attacks from MSM, and come back for more if he did not care about the country? No one has made a credible case that he has personally profited from his foray into politics. They certainly would have if the evidence existed. Please, cure your TDS. Ivermectin might help.
Please, cure...
your attitude. More consideration for fellow members might help.
I am not sure if this is actually true or whether The Onion
just issued its best satire ever.
It seems to be real...
Whether it holds up in court or not (the Alex Jones bankruptcy stuff), we'll see. Hope it does! Best satire, indeed!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so