Oh no…the Leopards ate my face thread

For a long time I've been wishing I could fast-forward to read What History Says About Donald Trump.

More and more, I'd also like to see what history says about Democratic persistence in playing by a set of rules that became quainter and quainter as the years rolled on. The Republicans morphed from a party into a machine round about [debatable*], and the Democrats kept going high. Good job staying pure.

 

thanks for posting this. Still getting through it. Not particularly surprising though. I think a lot of is implicitly understood this and have been seeing it coming. To me, it’s a logical (but immoral) reaction to mounting evidence that what the GOP has proposed as a solution since at least Reagan has not worked. And their vision of politics and the role of government is clearly much more close to what has been implemented in the last 40 years than the Dem vision. The GOP knows it hasn’t worked. And more people were starting to understand (and feel) it wasn’t working. They couldn’t run a Romney or McCain or Dubya themed campaign and win. It doesn’t resonate.

So if your vision is a set of business friendly policies where 20% of the country does reasonably well and 1-2% do extremely well, there are two directions to take. You either need to expand the group doing well, which leads to sustainable, more centrist approach. Or you need to go fear based and populist knowing that isn’t a long term solution because you’re still not delivering. It will inevitably result in an even more painful adjustment down the road. Unless you dismantle the state you inherit to consolidate power.

 

Greta Thunberg is already on a new cause.

 

Macomb County, if it went blue would've been the same narrow win for Harris. But I visit Macomb often for family and biking, the place has always been conservative but with Trump it's just fanatical.

The other thing is it's been tried, GOP pols acting like Trump only to lose. Trump also has little to no coattails. The 2022 midterms, the places he won in this year were places either going red already or if it was a swing state, it was by narrow margins.

 

Just listening to that. Interesting stuff but, as an observation... maybe it's just me but it somehow sounds worse in a German accent.

YMMV

 

Is the voodoo related to the playground bully buried within each of us that most of us contain and yet...wouldn't it feel good to just nuke everything. A singular demon for sure. Teflon (or K-Y) hopped up on malignant narcissistic sociopathy.

 

Just on a point of correction... it's not ESSENTIALLY a form of fascism. It IS fascism

I mean, I'm sure some of the pointy headed nerdlingers on here can quote us chapter and verse on whether it's technically fascism but in all the basic requirements of that word, it comes down to the same damn thing.

I think this is part of the problem.

People are thinking that if they don't start straight into the gas chambers part on day one then it's not real nazism, (and yes, I know that's not the same as fascism). But when you're having to parse particular words and phrases like it's a test on constitutional law, that's not a great sign, is it.

 

Yep,that's the great hope for us all. That in the battle between out and out fascism and out and out kleptocracy, kleptocracy will be the winner

 

Them: "The Muslims caused 9/11. They can't be trusted."

Some of the left: "Soo...ACAB?"

Them: "Oh no. Not that at all. Back the Blue!"

Left: "So...including the FBI and those who arrested the 1/6 people?"

The right: "Not those fakes and phonies."

 

I’ll definitely look at the Longwell interview. As far as wagon hitching goes: I am in hindsight not surprised. Something made very obvious to me from work with clients over years: there is a not statistically insignificant number of people in this country who are essentially stateless. And not in a global refugee way. People who can go wherever they want and they’ll be more than extremely comfortable by virtue of their wealth. Maybe 1 in 200 people and they have almost zero loyalty and control most of the decision making too. They don’t have as much skin in the game and they will not hesitate to pull up stakes if the mafia (or a wealth or unrealized gains tax) turns against them.

And by virtue of their success they are also overly confident they can make the system work. So a lot of people in positions of power and influence have made that calculation. If the system blows or is trending unfavorably, they have ways to offshore and infuse other places with capital and continue to grow their stack. If the system breaks, they have the capital to buy the wreckage at rock bottom prices and make even better returns.

This (and the compliance/monitoring difficulties) are problems a Warren or Sanders style wealth tax and the Harris unrealized gains tax grossly underestimated as well.

 

Related story......

David Frum: “It is an ominous sign that Morning Joe felt it had to apologize for something I said on air.”

 

Still think that is idiotic personally. You either care about climate change or you don't, rejecting the entire movement because you aren't on board with the figurehead's positions in some other issues is bonkers.
It's also a purity check that will eventually knock almost every single activist leader of his/her/their perch.
Which I imagine is the point.

 

Say what you will about Tom Nichols but he was right about her.

 

I think you’ll find that just about anyone who holds themselves up as the standard bearer is going to fail us in some way.

 

What did she do?

 

She came out in support of the Palestinians.