This is a follow up to the earlier post on the real red/blue difference being urban/rural, not state vs. state. Yesterday, President’s Day of all days, Marjorie Traitor Goon, shill for far-right conspiracy theories, featured speaker at white-nationalist/white supremacist/pro-Nazi rallies, supporter of political violence, and all-around complete nutjub, renewed her call for secession.
As we have discussed before, this is all the well-known effect of supply-side economics and the fact that the "Masters of the Universe" left these people behind as they shipped millions of essentially blue-collar jobs to Mexico and China. Reversing what Reagan and the neo-liberals did in the 1980s would go a LONG way to reducing the hate and intolerance these people have for those of us who have done well, or at least have survived with our self-esteem intact. At least Smokin' Joe and the Dems are trying, and it is up to us to keep voting for Democrats for President and Congress to keep the "new New Deal" coming.....
You’ve said it well TC. But they are rousing the rabble. A dangerous passage for democracy. On the other hand Biden’s latest deeds are heroic in many ways. The msm will seek to diminish it all. He stands tall. Peace to you in this time of passage.
My only contribution is on the topic of the origins of the right wing ennui that partially motivates the sense of existential fear that conservatives feel, and that motivate their anti-democratic tactics. I agree that they fear they are losing the political debate, and they have had that fear for a very very long time. Not only were they unable to effectively badmouth the New Deal in the 30’s and 40’s, but throughout the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s American public culture was in general very liberal. Just a few examples: think of the plays of Rodgers and Hammerstein, which were extremely popular, and became smash movies, such as Oklahoma (anti-corporatism), South Pacific (anti-racism), The King and I (anti-authoritarianism), etc. Think of the television programming with so many domestic sitcoms where the parents spared the rod, and the kids still learned right from wrong (The Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, Leave it to Beaver, etc.). Or TV programs featuring a bunch of goody two shoes lending a hand (Dr. Kildare, Marcus Wellby, M.D., Barney Miller, The Flying Nun, etc.). And I’m not even counting the obviously liberal propaganda shows such as Mash and Star Trek (I’m so enjoying the first episode of Picard season 3!--sorry, I digress). And then the literature of the period. About the only conservative book to penetrate was Wm. F. Buckley’s God and Man at Yale which, to be honest, was little more than an adolescent cry about getting picked on.
In other words, conservatives were for half a century truly culturally irrelevant, crying in the wilderness. And I suggest that sense of separation from the general liberal culture of America is still strongly felt in the conservative heart, even after they were able to recapture the political debate in the 80’s and 90’s with neo-liberalism. When MTGoon wants to separate the states, I suspect she is giving vent to a deeply felt sense of separation among conservatives generally that has been building for a very long time.
They could have joined the progressive sane people at any time, rejected racism, corporate greed, and exhibited true patriotic love of country. But they continued their whining, allegiance to past power structure, and religious self-righteous bull Schitt. Rupert made it all sound so “normal” when it was the harbinger of the American apocalypse
So exactly correct, Jeri. So well said. (And may I interject: I really appreciate Tom's illuminating thought pieces every day -- sprinkled with gems of humor.)
I'm still baffled, Jeri, by the "Christian" component of this radical white nationalist uprising. Whatever happened to WWJD -- What would Jesus do? My wonderful, funny, easy-going dad, WWII vet, co-owner of a little mechanical engineering factory, who raised us in the Lutheran church, a moderate Republican, not thrilled with but tolerant of my hippie phase, turned into such an angry, entitled, narrow-minded, humorless, hard little man I hardly recognized. All Faux News Channel indoctrination, yes. But the worst characteristic: He called himself a "strong Christian," yet listened to the most vicious church leaders on TV Sunday mornings and repeated some of the most unChristlike remarks. It was heartbreaking. And, as I say, baffling.
Can't these neo-Republican fascists hear themselves?
A gift from Ronald and Rupert thru the decades, I have a feeling that Jesus would heave; WWJD is irrelevant because Jesus is no longer relevant in today’s Christianity. Sad but true. As to your last sentence… “oh, would some power give us the gift to see ourselves as others see us.” Thank you R Burns
You recall the days when I had hope for our future. They didn't just whine; Ronnie gave them the playbook for retaking power, starting in Philadelphia Mississippi.
seriously terrific. and I guess when you talk about the Conservatives regaining the cultural ground, you're primarily talking about Allan Bloom's hysterical book. E.D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy" was published around the same time, and Hirsch ( a very liberal thinker) was tarred with the same brush and is still considered "right-wing." I've checked out his Core Knowledge Foundation stuff, and it strikes me as incredibly sound. it'd be really interesting to work in a school that's adopted its curriculum. it's funny that Bloom's bete-noire was Mick Jagger, and I'm willing to bet his preoccupation involved sexual attraction on his part (he's the original for Saul Bellow's "Ravelstein"). funny thing is, I was in graduate school with a girl who had been his sometime-mistress at Chicago, which only proves once again that people are complicated.
Excellent follow-up TC. A rabid, fearful animal is at its most dangerous when cornered. We must be careful when addressing Ms. Goon and company but address them we must and the time grows near.
I know ... facts are anathema to these folks ... but what if we just didn’t give them any federal funding/support? I know... they’d come out guns blazing... idiots ... dangerous idiots. Such a thing would cause, no force me to move to a blue state ... I imagine my kids would move too ... these dummies don’t realize how much funding they get from blue states? They don’t believe in uniting... they need to get gone. I have had more than enough of their lunacy.
I am glad you have the support of your ex wife/friend Tom. A Karen kindred spirit. We Karen’s have to stick together. We have gotten a bad rap. My ex husband also lives in the Sierras near Yosemite. Small world. Take care and know we are all here for you.
completely unrelated, Karen, but I was thinking of changing my capsule photograph every few days or so. do you think the "dead rockstar cousin" pic should occasionally take the place of the "first meeting Jubal" one I'm now using?
having asked this absurd vanity question, I'll keep it here anyway. as of now, you're the only one who can answer...
I love “first meeting Jubal” David. But I think occasionally slipping in the “dead rockstar” is great idea. It is a great photo. I think I will start switching mine out too. I’m tired of looking at mine. Sometimes we just need to “Break on Through to the Other Side” right?
those are two gorgeous cats. my niece was very vocal today about her cats...one of them seems to have recovered from a dire coronavirus that used to be 100% fatal, but which a new treatment seems to have cured with an analog of Remdesivir.
I’m so glad her cat recovered David. Remdesivir has proven to be an effective antiviral. Apparently for cats too. It reminded me of a somewhat contentious debate I had with a Covid denier/antivaxer. She contended that it was Remdesivir that was causing massive organ failure and killing people not Covid. I had to explain how very sick lungs caused by the virus become unable to exchange O2 and CO2. Resulting in hypoxia (low O2 levels) inadequate oxygen to support life at the cellular level advancing to complete organ failure. I also reminded her that her savior tRump was given Remdesivir and he survived. Well there was no more argument after that. Never mind the science.
in this new world we're in, everybody's an expert about everything all the time. when 9/11 "truthers" started cropping up (in..what...like a few weeks later?), people who never managed to graduate high school were suddenly experts in the highly specialized physics involved in analyzing how the buildings couldn't have fallen as a result of the planes crashing into them. so it hardly surprises me that random people in the street know more about Covid deaths than a highly trained medical professional.
you DID manage to get your interlocutor to shut up, so that's SOMETHING, even if meant having to remind yourself that TFF survived his illness (regretful sigh here).
and now Jack (my niece's cat) has become a miracle cat whose cohort is making a splash in major veterinary journals. Samantha (my niece) said the treatment was a complete nightmare for both of them...very painful daily injections and massive debt; I would have done the same thing.
TC, this is a terrific assessment. I don't know where this "secession talk" is headed. Probably just babble when the older idiots who praise "Goon" realize that leaving the Federal government behind would have consequences. The Blues would control the military and the distribution of "entitlements".
Perhaps the next step in this discussion could include what I might call the "Great Awakening". Many people in Goon's world have some legitimate gripes about jobs being shipped overseas and the implementation of robotics.
And your concept of their isolation from communication technologies is the perfect pairing for what ought to be the Democratic Battle Cry. "Don't Blame the Government. Blame the Oligarchs!" It wasn't Bernie Sanders or AOC that stole your job. It was the Kochs and Co. It was the COMPANIES and the corporate overlords who moved the factory to China or Mexico.
The GOVERMENT sent you checks when the plague was ravaging the nation. Did you get one from Charles Koch, Charles Johnson or Charles Schwab? Did Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Larry Ellison offer you help? I didn't think so.
No the fucking GOVERMENT saves your ass when there is a national disaster. The GOVERMENT gives you money and healthcare in your later years. The GOVERNMENT protects you from criminals and from foreign invasion. It gave you free Covid tests and vaccinations to save your sorry butt.
Ronald Reagan lied. Government is not the problem. It's the money grubbing multi-billionaires who have more homes than kings have castles and drift in luxurious comfort on their yachts the size of small towns. The case against the companies that refuse to provide good internet to every American is so obvious and odious it should be easy to make. What politician will dare? Only one that is not beholding to big corporate funding.
Spot on. I only will add that it was Democrats who demanded and got the legislation passed that creates and continues that help and support. We held the hands of reluctant Republicans and twisted their ties to get the votes, but it has been us getting it to become expected and cough up our tax dollars with pride everytime we see someone bailed out or a new bridge built or another step for mankind made or jobs returned to our neighborhoods and small towns from the cheaper foreign job centers in Asia and Africa and South America. One last thing. We, each of us, are that F***ing Government everyone of them derides, through our representives elected to serve, our taxes that provide a share of investment, our enginuity in figuring out how to help rather than take, and our constant vigilance to not merely do the nice splashy thing or provide a float, but stay on top of where needs of the people are and change, whether they are poor, unable to deal with stuff by themselves, are old, or children, native born or immigrant, living in some s*** hole in Miss*******, or inner city of Seattle. And, most of us have served as citizens or warriors or neighbors to our families and in our communities on our dime or dollar or food baskets or prayers. Damn, Bill, you got my ire up.
Texas is apparently the only state that became a state by treaty and could desolve it's agreement to remain a state. That appears to be why Texas politicians raise their succession fist as they adhere to their historic standing as neither a US nor Mexican prossession. Reminded of this tidbit in my nighttime reading of John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley, 1962.
Excellent writing. In my rural part of Virginia our esteemed MOC-R, Rob Witless, constantly touted his plan for bringing reliable internet to the area. I had to switch between hotspot and router for years. It was dismal. Local company made it better with signal, but… Just before snowbirding South trucks were running high speed down Dungeons Thicket Rd (real name) to access my house. Thanks Joe!
Just wow, political kudzu. Laugh out loud at 1am. But so not funny. All along this treacherous path, I have maintained that no sane person would buy the QAnon crap or the ranting of morons on Fox. But I was wrong. I know them, have known some all my life, and used to respect them. I have not rejected them because I no longer deal with them on a regular basis. But they have known me, all our lives, as an empathetic, caring person. One of those hated libtards. Will that matter in the long run. I can only hope that bonds forged long ago will last, but the tug of war continues…
I've ended up cutting off several long term people in my life, including a couple who were very close. I can'[t respect anyone who goes down that path, so how can I respect them enough to continue to connect? There have also been more of them who have cut me off for being a "hated lib'tard (in my case frequently the term is Tommie the Commie).
My bro doesn't watch Fox , but he listens to fools (sadly volunteer firefighters). He blathered the Fox crap about the IRS to me. He won't do it again. I don't suffer fools gladly, even family
Lost my long time BFF to Fox; some family and friends contacted me after the death of my husband. He was respected by all who knew him. No argument there. Otherwise, sleeping dogs still lie.
Jeri, I'm so sorry to hear of your husband's passing. That can't have been that long ago. Hope you're finding peace and comfort in your life, day by day.
I know how to make the worse day of my life even worse. Had a wreck on the way home from his funeral. Thank you for comment, digging my way out from the chaos…
I think all of us have had to do some clearing-out of old friends. in my case, it's been newer friends, who tend to be easier to leave alone, because there's so much less history. I have one very old, close friend, who had to be let go for a few years around 2003, when he advocated the Iraq War...he's the guy I mentioned sometime back, who'd been hanging out with his neighbor, Ron Radosh...it's those old Red Diaper Babies who can give you the most trouble...
Oh, Jeri, now I understand why you asked me about the " bonds" quote I wrote to TC!
I still do believe that bonds of real love hold fast in the "end"- when everything gets snapped into perspective and old hurts fall aside in the face of the existential. But those bonds, strong as they may be, can be tried and stretched to the point we think they will break. Especially with those we truly love ( not just acquaintances or superficial friendships). I have a sister we love dearly who becomes another person when we stray into politics. She thinks my 9 brothers are " on her side" and that we four sisters are " fake, deluded idiots because, as she has decided but does not really know, we voted for Biden instead of tfg!! It is not possible at this time to have a reasoned political conversation with her.
Otherwise she is her old self. She is not "rural" , lives in a large, liberal city and has access to good, fast internet but is a small business owner and feels hard done by her
perceived " intrusion" of government--( but took the money during Covid!!!! )
So I see where you are coming from. In our ordinary, daily polis the bonds are being stretched beyond their usual elasticity.
But, when it comes to sitting at the death bed of one I love and have worked at genuinely loving through life then I feel very confident that those bonds are strong and will not be undone by death. I believe that for TC and his beautiful Jurate.
My two Repub sisters renounced them before chump, not so for bros. Maybe because they have friends who are firefighters, one of the most “trumpian” groups. At least around rural NC. Defies any logic…for such an ugly, hateful man to inspire such twisted devotion…
Yes, the bonds forged over 57 years of marriage were strong, mainly because he was an incredible kind, empathetic and forgiving man. He still was after 15 years of Alz. As Khalil Gibran said, “Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” Thank you for your kind thoughts
Am just weary of my "fellow Americans" who elected The Goon, The Hawley, The Cruz, The Gaetz, The McCarthy, The McConnell, The DeSatan, The Boebert..... sigh, they live among us. Yup, our Blue States been subsidizing the Red States, talking about biting the hand that feeds you?
her first two sentences already make my head spin...what would the "Federal government" consist of after the red and blue states separate? would the shrunken government govern only the blue states or the red? how about FOUR houses in Congress and TWO presidents, etc.
not so shrunken, that.
well, at least Kevin has said that he'll watch out for her forever, so...
I posted the above after reading your firsts paragraph. the structure of her sentence made me start to look for blowjob jokes, but when I hit your second paragraph, THERE YOU WERE.
I'm not by nature given to excessive flattery, so when I say you have a real way with these rapid, often angry, history lessons, I'm being entirely accurate. this one was sensational.
and I think your point about bringing rural America into this century and the effects it would have, you're dead on. when you say that it's precisely THIS that the other Repugs fear, I'm right there with you. the only thing I'm not sure of is how conscious the powers-that-be in that party are about this. they're obviously very afraid, but do most of them actually pinpoint those fears in specific terms, or is it just some kind of generalized existential dread? I seriously don't know, but the point is an academic one that the historians in twenty years or so will be in a much better position to analyze.
I used to say (in posts and conversations) that power is worthless without having nowhere to apply it. but that was a few months back, when I was a lot less cynical. of course, they want the power, and entirely for its own sake. my immediate, cynical excuse for why TFF hasn't talked secession (and you might wanna correct "succession" in your title, even if the point is a minor one) is that it would dilute his power as he would no longer be President of all Fifty States.
tomorrow, I'm going to a lecture to memorialize the life of my father's best friend, the great CCNY Poli Sci giant, Stanley Feingold. he was also, quite separately, a beloved friend of both mine and Rochelle's (he contributed to the magazine she edited, as I did). he taught a famous seminar in American Political Thought which trained several generations of important lawyers, judges and independent journalists like Bob Scheer and Joe Burger. the seminar was actually televised on the original NYC Channel 13 (PBS before there was PBS). Stanley very scrupulously taught the course with so little personal input that his students never figured out if he was a liberal or conservative. when he retired, his e-mail handle was "LeftyProf."
the guest speaker will be Hakeem Jeffries, and I think (or hope) he might be able to shed some light on the interpersonal dynamics of the House. at least I hope so. this is the same lecture series in which I told Ed Cox to go fuck himself, but I'll be a good boy so as not to embarrass his wonderful widow and daughter, who is one of the most beautiful women in the Western--and Eastern (she's half-Japanese)--worlds. if you think I'm being hyperbolic, check out "Ikeda Feingold" on FB.
I'm bringing my friend Ryan, who just self-published a book of his newsletters written in the last year. I might have him send you a copy. he's thirty-five and (for his generation, at least) a profoundly political being. very encouraging.
Thanks. I'd like to see that book. BTW - another astute reader pointed out the typo in the headline, which did get fixed, but everyone is responding off the email with the original typo.
returned from the lecture. it was largely a ceremonial occasion since Jeffries had two other appearances tonight. but, being CCNY, it actually got pretty rowdy.
a kid from the Bronx had hatched a scheme with two or three other students to embarrass Jeffries by bringing up this Sy Hersh story (published the other day in his new Substack) about information that WE (the US) bombed the Nordstream pipeline. obviously, Jeffries wasn't able to address the issue directly and the audience was trying to get the kid to shut up and Security had to drag him out, while the other students were shouting all kinds of shit (it's a huge room and with no amplification, so nobody could hear what they were shouting about).
it reminded me of the late '60s. I thought it was pretty thuggish then and it hasn't gotten any better as a political startegy. the students involved were yelling (as far as I could make out) about the need to avoid nuclear war, but they de-legitimized whatever position they might have.
of course, I'm the same guy who shouted at Ed Cox to fuck himself the first time this series began, and was mortified at my own behavior (not that Ed Cox isn't a worthless piece of shit), so maybe I was hypersensitive tonight.
it DID strike me that some of the older folks in the audience tonight might have been doing some shouting fifty-odd years ago, but those shouters didn't help their cause. I wonder if it's gonna make the papers.
and what's going on with this pipeline story. I know Hersh says he has only one source.
there's a PS from yesterday's "rowdy" lecture. my friend Ryan, who was with me, did some research on exactly who the people were who disrupted the Hakeem Jeffries appearance and...guess what?
LAROUCHE scumbags.
so it wasn't just a typical CCNY kerfluffle. it was the SAME PEOPLE who caused similar disruptions almost exactly fifty years ago. a different generation, but the same assholes.
and opening today's NYT, there's an op-ed from a putz out of the Manhattan Institute giving some of the same bullshit lines on Social Security that we talked about here a few days ago.
and ANOTHER one from Charles Blow talks about the fear that motivates these secessionists like he was HERE. maybe he was.
so we're definitely all on the right page.
and good for you yet again, Tom.
and a little while later, I was paging through today's NYT and BINGO...the last girl in that Sarah Lawrence "sex cult," the one who stayed in, just got a four-year sentence.
whew.
feels like lots of those chickens coming home to roost.
THIS…. “Greene and McCarthy - one crazy, one cowardly - represent the two main factions of the modern-day GOP. A party that allows seditionists and secessionists public power without condemnation is morally and politically bankrupt and therefore extremely dangerous.”…..what an f-ing barnburner of an ending, TC.
I call the fellatio theory that you apply as completely correct. I call it the “patriarchal bargain” and one that women in the MAGAt universe have sucked through a straw. They are used to swallowing it. The temptation to follow this path are quite seductive.
I am my most confounded thinking about and realizing this dangerous obstacle to democracy and barrier to human diversity-equity-inclusion that has come to almost mainstream acceptance during Trump’s presidency of four short long years. And now it attacks public education.
Greene and her ilk are a threat and danger not to be ignored.
I choose not to ignore it and participate on several fronts to crush this ignorance in the ruddy persona of MTGreene. I personally believe it is up to women to solve this dilemma. Ancient, generations long situation in my estimation.
🎶“There are two paths to go by”….I have yanked some by their hair to the path of….we are all in this together. There is enough to go around. Now get yo’ ass over here.
Well said Christine! Although I call her Marjorie 3 names with 0 brains, I consider her dangerous and a threat to our democracy. She has proven her willingness to swallow for power. The hideous image of her presiding over Congress pounding the gavel made me ill, and also indicated the power she is holding over the spineless marionette who also loves to pound the gavel. As much as I would love to ignore her ridiculous and ignorant rhetoric, it would be dangerous to do so. We are on this path together to hold on to our democracy, and we are strong 💪. Salud Christine!
Along the lines of your post and our discussion, this fits in quite well. It made me cry and infuriated at the same time. It’s from Thom Hartman’s Substack today. I feel Ike it’s a must read.
As we have discussed before, this is all the well-known effect of supply-side economics and the fact that the "Masters of the Universe" left these people behind as they shipped millions of essentially blue-collar jobs to Mexico and China. Reversing what Reagan and the neo-liberals did in the 1980s would go a LONG way to reducing the hate and intolerance these people have for those of us who have done well, or at least have survived with our self-esteem intact. At least Smokin' Joe and the Dems are trying, and it is up to us to keep voting for Democrats for President and Congress to keep the "new New Deal" coming.....
I like the nickname "Smoking' Joe". He is on a roll.........
You’ve said it well TC. But they are rousing the rabble. A dangerous passage for democracy. On the other hand Biden’s latest deeds are heroic in many ways. The msm will seek to diminish it all. He stands tall. Peace to you in this time of passage.
Back-to-back powerful essays.
My only contribution is on the topic of the origins of the right wing ennui that partially motivates the sense of existential fear that conservatives feel, and that motivate their anti-democratic tactics. I agree that they fear they are losing the political debate, and they have had that fear for a very very long time. Not only were they unable to effectively badmouth the New Deal in the 30’s and 40’s, but throughout the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s American public culture was in general very liberal. Just a few examples: think of the plays of Rodgers and Hammerstein, which were extremely popular, and became smash movies, such as Oklahoma (anti-corporatism), South Pacific (anti-racism), The King and I (anti-authoritarianism), etc. Think of the television programming with so many domestic sitcoms where the parents spared the rod, and the kids still learned right from wrong (The Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, Leave it to Beaver, etc.). Or TV programs featuring a bunch of goody two shoes lending a hand (Dr. Kildare, Marcus Wellby, M.D., Barney Miller, The Flying Nun, etc.). And I’m not even counting the obviously liberal propaganda shows such as Mash and Star Trek (I’m so enjoying the first episode of Picard season 3!--sorry, I digress). And then the literature of the period. About the only conservative book to penetrate was Wm. F. Buckley’s God and Man at Yale which, to be honest, was little more than an adolescent cry about getting picked on.
In other words, conservatives were for half a century truly culturally irrelevant, crying in the wilderness. And I suggest that sense of separation from the general liberal culture of America is still strongly felt in the conservative heart, even after they were able to recapture the political debate in the 80’s and 90’s with neo-liberalism. When MTGoon wants to separate the states, I suspect she is giving vent to a deeply felt sense of separation among conservatives generally that has been building for a very long time.
I think that analysis of why they think/feel as they do is spot on.
They could have joined the progressive sane people at any time, rejected racism, corporate greed, and exhibited true patriotic love of country. But they continued their whining, allegiance to past power structure, and religious self-righteous bull Schitt. Rupert made it all sound so “normal” when it was the harbinger of the American apocalypse
So exactly correct, Jeri. So well said. (And may I interject: I really appreciate Tom's illuminating thought pieces every day -- sprinkled with gems of humor.)
I'm still baffled, Jeri, by the "Christian" component of this radical white nationalist uprising. Whatever happened to WWJD -- What would Jesus do? My wonderful, funny, easy-going dad, WWII vet, co-owner of a little mechanical engineering factory, who raised us in the Lutheran church, a moderate Republican, not thrilled with but tolerant of my hippie phase, turned into such an angry, entitled, narrow-minded, humorless, hard little man I hardly recognized. All Faux News Channel indoctrination, yes. But the worst characteristic: He called himself a "strong Christian," yet listened to the most vicious church leaders on TV Sunday mornings and repeated some of the most unChristlike remarks. It was heartbreaking. And, as I say, baffling.
Can't these neo-Republican fascists hear themselves?
A gift from Ronald and Rupert thru the decades, I have a feeling that Jesus would heave; WWJD is irrelevant because Jesus is no longer relevant in today’s Christianity. Sad but true. As to your last sentence… “oh, would some power give us the gift to see ourselves as others see us.” Thank you R Burns
Love that.
You recall the days when I had hope for our future. They didn't just whine; Ronnie gave them the playbook for retaking power, starting in Philadelphia Mississippi.
seriously terrific. and I guess when you talk about the Conservatives regaining the cultural ground, you're primarily talking about Allan Bloom's hysterical book. E.D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy" was published around the same time, and Hirsch ( a very liberal thinker) was tarred with the same brush and is still considered "right-wing." I've checked out his Core Knowledge Foundation stuff, and it strikes me as incredibly sound. it'd be really interesting to work in a school that's adopted its curriculum. it's funny that Bloom's bete-noire was Mick Jagger, and I'm willing to bet his preoccupation involved sexual attraction on his part (he's the original for Saul Bellow's "Ravelstein"). funny thing is, I was in graduate school with a girl who had been his sometime-mistress at Chicago, which only proves once again that people are complicated.
in that long article on her published in The Atlantic two issues ago, it talked about the fact that she grew up in a "Sundown Town."
Excellent follow-up TC. A rabid, fearful animal is at its most dangerous when cornered. We must be careful when addressing Ms. Goon and company but address them we must and the time grows near.
Excellent Dave. Thank you.
I know ... facts are anathema to these folks ... but what if we just didn’t give them any federal funding/support? I know... they’d come out guns blazing... idiots ... dangerous idiots. Such a thing would cause, no force me to move to a blue state ... I imagine my kids would move too ... these dummies don’t realize how much funding they get from blue states? They don’t believe in uniting... they need to get gone. I have had more than enough of their lunacy.
I really don’t think Marjorie 3 names with no brains even knows that the blue states primarily subsidize the red states. Or what that even means.
https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2022/01/22/blue-states-pay-more-than-their-fair-share-here-are-the-receipts-column/
I am glad you have the support of your ex wife/friend Tom. A Karen kindred spirit. We Karen’s have to stick together. We have gotten a bad rap. My ex husband also lives in the Sierras near Yosemite. Small world. Take care and know we are all here for you.
I think you and she are around the same age. Your vintage of Karens definitely aren't "Karens". :-)
Excellent Tampa Bay article! Thanks!
completely unrelated, Karen, but I was thinking of changing my capsule photograph every few days or so. do you think the "dead rockstar cousin" pic should occasionally take the place of the "first meeting Jubal" one I'm now using?
having asked this absurd vanity question, I'll keep it here anyway. as of now, you're the only one who can answer...
I love “first meeting Jubal” David. But I think occasionally slipping in the “dead rockstar” is great idea. It is a great photo. I think I will start switching mine out too. I’m tired of looking at mine. Sometimes we just need to “Break on Through to the Other Side” right?
I love it David! I just changed my photo. By the way, I’m the one on the left.
those are two gorgeous cats. my niece was very vocal today about her cats...one of them seems to have recovered from a dire coronavirus that used to be 100% fatal, but which a new treatment seems to have cured with an analog of Remdesivir.
I’m so glad her cat recovered David. Remdesivir has proven to be an effective antiviral. Apparently for cats too. It reminded me of a somewhat contentious debate I had with a Covid denier/antivaxer. She contended that it was Remdesivir that was causing massive organ failure and killing people not Covid. I had to explain how very sick lungs caused by the virus become unable to exchange O2 and CO2. Resulting in hypoxia (low O2 levels) inadequate oxygen to support life at the cellular level advancing to complete organ failure. I also reminded her that her savior tRump was given Remdesivir and he survived. Well there was no more argument after that. Never mind the science.
in this new world we're in, everybody's an expert about everything all the time. when 9/11 "truthers" started cropping up (in..what...like a few weeks later?), people who never managed to graduate high school were suddenly experts in the highly specialized physics involved in analyzing how the buildings couldn't have fallen as a result of the planes crashing into them. so it hardly surprises me that random people in the street know more about Covid deaths than a highly trained medical professional.
you DID manage to get your interlocutor to shut up, so that's SOMETHING, even if meant having to remind yourself that TFF survived his illness (regretful sigh here).
and now Jack (my niece's cat) has become a miracle cat whose cohort is making a splash in major veterinary journals. Samantha (my niece) said the treatment was a complete nightmare for both of them...very painful daily injections and massive debt; I would have done the same thing.
beautiful answer, Karen. or rather, the answer I was hoping for., which makes it "beautiful," right?
so we can both stay tuned. I might just switch it up more frequently.
why not have a little fun while we try to figure out why the bad guys are bad guys, etc."
TC, this is a terrific assessment. I don't know where this "secession talk" is headed. Probably just babble when the older idiots who praise "Goon" realize that leaving the Federal government behind would have consequences. The Blues would control the military and the distribution of "entitlements".
Perhaps the next step in this discussion could include what I might call the "Great Awakening". Many people in Goon's world have some legitimate gripes about jobs being shipped overseas and the implementation of robotics.
And your concept of their isolation from communication technologies is the perfect pairing for what ought to be the Democratic Battle Cry. "Don't Blame the Government. Blame the Oligarchs!" It wasn't Bernie Sanders or AOC that stole your job. It was the Kochs and Co. It was the COMPANIES and the corporate overlords who moved the factory to China or Mexico.
The GOVERMENT sent you checks when the plague was ravaging the nation. Did you get one from Charles Koch, Charles Johnson or Charles Schwab? Did Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Larry Ellison offer you help? I didn't think so.
No the fucking GOVERMENT saves your ass when there is a national disaster. The GOVERMENT gives you money and healthcare in your later years. The GOVERNMENT protects you from criminals and from foreign invasion. It gave you free Covid tests and vaccinations to save your sorry butt.
Ronald Reagan lied. Government is not the problem. It's the money grubbing multi-billionaires who have more homes than kings have castles and drift in luxurious comfort on their yachts the size of small towns. The case against the companies that refuse to provide good internet to every American is so obvious and odious it should be easy to make. What politician will dare? Only one that is not beholding to big corporate funding.
Excellent!
Woke and proud of it, good for you. Wish Dems in power would scream your suggestions from the rooftop.
Spot on. I only will add that it was Democrats who demanded and got the legislation passed that creates and continues that help and support. We held the hands of reluctant Republicans and twisted their ties to get the votes, but it has been us getting it to become expected and cough up our tax dollars with pride everytime we see someone bailed out or a new bridge built or another step for mankind made or jobs returned to our neighborhoods and small towns from the cheaper foreign job centers in Asia and Africa and South America. One last thing. We, each of us, are that F***ing Government everyone of them derides, through our representives elected to serve, our taxes that provide a share of investment, our enginuity in figuring out how to help rather than take, and our constant vigilance to not merely do the nice splashy thing or provide a float, but stay on top of where needs of the people are and change, whether they are poor, unable to deal with stuff by themselves, are old, or children, native born or immigrant, living in some s*** hole in Miss*******, or inner city of Seattle. And, most of us have served as citizens or warriors or neighbors to our families and in our communities on our dime or dollar or food baskets or prayers. Damn, Bill, you got my ire up.
Texas is apparently the only state that became a state by treaty and could desolve it's agreement to remain a state. That appears to be why Texas politicians raise their succession fist as they adhere to their historic standing as neither a US nor Mexican prossession. Reminded of this tidbit in my nighttime reading of John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley, 1962.
Excellent writing. In my rural part of Virginia our esteemed MOC-R, Rob Witless, constantly touted his plan for bringing reliable internet to the area. I had to switch between hotspot and router for years. It was dismal. Local company made it better with signal, but… Just before snowbirding South trucks were running high speed down Dungeons Thicket Rd (real name) to access my house. Thanks Joe!
Postscript: deeply red area.
What a street name!
🤣🤣🤣
No consequence for Greene’s call for a “divorce”
Our Constitution has no teeth
Our laws have no bearing on the behaviors of the GOP; its as if the Justice Department has declared them immune to prosecution
Its all over but for the gnashing of bloody gums
Just wow, political kudzu. Laugh out loud at 1am. But so not funny. All along this treacherous path, I have maintained that no sane person would buy the QAnon crap or the ranting of morons on Fox. But I was wrong. I know them, have known some all my life, and used to respect them. I have not rejected them because I no longer deal with them on a regular basis. But they have known me, all our lives, as an empathetic, caring person. One of those hated libtards. Will that matter in the long run. I can only hope that bonds forged long ago will last, but the tug of war continues…
I've ended up cutting off several long term people in my life, including a couple who were very close. I can'[t respect anyone who goes down that path, so how can I respect them enough to continue to connect? There have also been more of them who have cut me off for being a "hated lib'tard (in my case frequently the term is Tommie the Commie).
I have had to restrict talking to my brother and wife for their loyalty to fox lies. Makes me sad And angry!
Family - the gift that keeps on *living*! :-)
My bro doesn't watch Fox , but he listens to fools (sadly volunteer firefighters). He blathered the Fox crap about the IRS to me. He won't do it again. I don't suffer fools gladly, even family
Lost my long time BFF to Fox; some family and friends contacted me after the death of my husband. He was respected by all who knew him. No argument there. Otherwise, sleeping dogs still lie.
Jeri, I'm so sorry to hear of your husband's passing. That can't have been that long ago. Hope you're finding peace and comfort in your life, day by day.
I know how to make the worse day of my life even worse. Had a wreck on the way home from his funeral. Thank you for comment, digging my way out from the chaos…
I think all of us have had to do some clearing-out of old friends. in my case, it's been newer friends, who tend to be easier to leave alone, because there's so much less history. I have one very old, close friend, who had to be let go for a few years around 2003, when he advocated the Iraq War...he's the guy I mentioned sometime back, who'd been hanging out with his neighbor, Ron Radosh...it's those old Red Diaper Babies who can give you the most trouble...
Oh, Jeri, now I understand why you asked me about the " bonds" quote I wrote to TC!
I still do believe that bonds of real love hold fast in the "end"- when everything gets snapped into perspective and old hurts fall aside in the face of the existential. But those bonds, strong as they may be, can be tried and stretched to the point we think they will break. Especially with those we truly love ( not just acquaintances or superficial friendships). I have a sister we love dearly who becomes another person when we stray into politics. She thinks my 9 brothers are " on her side" and that we four sisters are " fake, deluded idiots because, as she has decided but does not really know, we voted for Biden instead of tfg!! It is not possible at this time to have a reasoned political conversation with her.
Otherwise she is her old self. She is not "rural" , lives in a large, liberal city and has access to good, fast internet but is a small business owner and feels hard done by her
perceived " intrusion" of government--( but took the money during Covid!!!! )
So I see where you are coming from. In our ordinary, daily polis the bonds are being stretched beyond their usual elasticity.
But, when it comes to sitting at the death bed of one I love and have worked at genuinely loving through life then I feel very confident that those bonds are strong and will not be undone by death. I believe that for TC and his beautiful Jurate.
My two Repub sisters renounced them before chump, not so for bros. Maybe because they have friends who are firefighters, one of the most “trumpian” groups. At least around rural NC. Defies any logic…for such an ugly, hateful man to inspire such twisted devotion…
Yes, the bonds forged over 57 years of marriage were strong, mainly because he was an incredible kind, empathetic and forgiving man. He still was after 15 years of Alz. As Khalil Gibran said, “Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” Thank you for your kind thoughts
Am just weary of my "fellow Americans" who elected The Goon, The Hawley, The Cruz, The Gaetz, The McCarthy, The McConnell, The DeSatan, The Boebert..... sigh, they live among us. Yup, our Blue States been subsidizing the Red States, talking about biting the hand that feeds you?
her first two sentences already make my head spin...what would the "Federal government" consist of after the red and blue states separate? would the shrunken government govern only the blue states or the red? how about FOUR houses in Congress and TWO presidents, etc.
not so shrunken, that.
well, at least Kevin has said that he'll watch out for her forever, so...
I posted the above after reading your firsts paragraph. the structure of her sentence made me start to look for blowjob jokes, but when I hit your second paragraph, THERE YOU WERE.
I'm not by nature given to excessive flattery, so when I say you have a real way with these rapid, often angry, history lessons, I'm being entirely accurate. this one was sensational.
and I think your point about bringing rural America into this century and the effects it would have, you're dead on. when you say that it's precisely THIS that the other Repugs fear, I'm right there with you. the only thing I'm not sure of is how conscious the powers-that-be in that party are about this. they're obviously very afraid, but do most of them actually pinpoint those fears in specific terms, or is it just some kind of generalized existential dread? I seriously don't know, but the point is an academic one that the historians in twenty years or so will be in a much better position to analyze.
I used to say (in posts and conversations) that power is worthless without having nowhere to apply it. but that was a few months back, when I was a lot less cynical. of course, they want the power, and entirely for its own sake. my immediate, cynical excuse for why TFF hasn't talked secession (and you might wanna correct "succession" in your title, even if the point is a minor one) is that it would dilute his power as he would no longer be President of all Fifty States.
tomorrow, I'm going to a lecture to memorialize the life of my father's best friend, the great CCNY Poli Sci giant, Stanley Feingold. he was also, quite separately, a beloved friend of both mine and Rochelle's (he contributed to the magazine she edited, as I did). he taught a famous seminar in American Political Thought which trained several generations of important lawyers, judges and independent journalists like Bob Scheer and Joe Burger. the seminar was actually televised on the original NYC Channel 13 (PBS before there was PBS). Stanley very scrupulously taught the course with so little personal input that his students never figured out if he was a liberal or conservative. when he retired, his e-mail handle was "LeftyProf."
the guest speaker will be Hakeem Jeffries, and I think (or hope) he might be able to shed some light on the interpersonal dynamics of the House. at least I hope so. this is the same lecture series in which I told Ed Cox to go fuck himself, but I'll be a good boy so as not to embarrass his wonderful widow and daughter, who is one of the most beautiful women in the Western--and Eastern (she's half-Japanese)--worlds. if you think I'm being hyperbolic, check out "Ikeda Feingold" on FB.
I'm bringing my friend Ryan, who just self-published a book of his newsletters written in the last year. I might have him send you a copy. he's thirty-five and (for his generation, at least) a profoundly political being. very encouraging.
I'd planned a briefer post, but I always do.
great work, Tom, and great food for thought.
Thanks. I'd like to see that book. BTW - another astute reader pointed out the typo in the headline, which did get fixed, but everyone is responding off the email with the original typo.
returned from the lecture. it was largely a ceremonial occasion since Jeffries had two other appearances tonight. but, being CCNY, it actually got pretty rowdy.
a kid from the Bronx had hatched a scheme with two or three other students to embarrass Jeffries by bringing up this Sy Hersh story (published the other day in his new Substack) about information that WE (the US) bombed the Nordstream pipeline. obviously, Jeffries wasn't able to address the issue directly and the audience was trying to get the kid to shut up and Security had to drag him out, while the other students were shouting all kinds of shit (it's a huge room and with no amplification, so nobody could hear what they were shouting about).
it reminded me of the late '60s. I thought it was pretty thuggish then and it hasn't gotten any better as a political startegy. the students involved were yelling (as far as I could make out) about the need to avoid nuclear war, but they de-legitimized whatever position they might have.
of course, I'm the same guy who shouted at Ed Cox to fuck himself the first time this series began, and was mortified at my own behavior (not that Ed Cox isn't a worthless piece of shit), so maybe I was hypersensitive tonight.
it DID strike me that some of the older folks in the audience tonight might have been doing some shouting fifty-odd years ago, but those shouters didn't help their cause. I wonder if it's gonna make the papers.
and what's going on with this pipeline story. I know Hersh says he has only one source.
there's a PS from yesterday's "rowdy" lecture. my friend Ryan, who was with me, did some research on exactly who the people were who disrupted the Hakeem Jeffries appearance and...guess what?
LAROUCHE scumbags.
so it wasn't just a typical CCNY kerfluffle. it was the SAME PEOPLE who caused similar disruptions almost exactly fifty years ago. a different generation, but the same assholes.
and opening today's NYT, there's an op-ed from a putz out of the Manhattan Institute giving some of the same bullshit lines on Social Security that we talked about here a few days ago.
and ANOTHER one from Charles Blow talks about the fear that motivates these secessionists like he was HERE. maybe he was.
so we're definitely all on the right page.
and good for you yet again, Tom.
and a little while later, I was paging through today's NYT and BINGO...the last girl in that Sarah Lawrence "sex cult," the one who stayed in, just got a four-year sentence.
whew.
feels like lots of those chickens coming home to roost.
thanks again, Tom.
e-mail me your address and I'll treat you to one...
This was outstanding TC. I noticed you had some of Peter Wehner/The Atlantic in your post.
Too many of us ignored Trump and
his "silly blather" starting in 2015.
MTG is a seriously twisted individual
and we would ignore her at great risk. I would personally like to
introduce her, in a dark deserted alley, to my power wheelchair and
show her how its studded tires can
canmake interesting designs on a
carc'ass'.
Wehner has a lot of good ideas. I've conversed with him on email. On the important points, I find he has a lot to say.
Yes, Wehner is very good. Frum
is another and had a good take
on Greene. I also read his essay
on the Mexican president. Wow.
I also like Tom Nichols and Ann
Applebaum..
I agree. he seems to have these crazies psyched out pretty accurately. but it's soooo depressing.
Should that be conc’ass’?
Definitely!
THIS…. “Greene and McCarthy - one crazy, one cowardly - represent the two main factions of the modern-day GOP. A party that allows seditionists and secessionists public power without condemnation is morally and politically bankrupt and therefore extremely dangerous.”…..what an f-ing barnburner of an ending, TC.
I call the fellatio theory that you apply as completely correct. I call it the “patriarchal bargain” and one that women in the MAGAt universe have sucked through a straw. They are used to swallowing it. The temptation to follow this path are quite seductive.
I am my most confounded thinking about and realizing this dangerous obstacle to democracy and barrier to human diversity-equity-inclusion that has come to almost mainstream acceptance during Trump’s presidency of four short long years. And now it attacks public education.
Greene and her ilk are a threat and danger not to be ignored.
I choose not to ignore it and participate on several fronts to crush this ignorance in the ruddy persona of MTGreene. I personally believe it is up to women to solve this dilemma. Ancient, generations long situation in my estimation.
🎶“There are two paths to go by”….I have yanked some by their hair to the path of….we are all in this together. There is enough to go around. Now get yo’ ass over here.
Salud TC. 💜 Thinking of you.
🗽
Well said Christine! Although I call her Marjorie 3 names with 0 brains, I consider her dangerous and a threat to our democracy. She has proven her willingness to swallow for power. The hideous image of her presiding over Congress pounding the gavel made me ill, and also indicated the power she is holding over the spineless marionette who also loves to pound the gavel. As much as I would love to ignore her ridiculous and ignorant rhetoric, it would be dangerous to do so. We are on this path together to hold on to our democracy, and we are strong 💪. Salud Christine!
Yes, my sister.
Salud.
WOW. Nailed it. Thank you, I think.
Along the lines of your post and our discussion, this fits in quite well. It made me cry and infuriated at the same time. It’s from Thom Hartman’s Substack today. I feel Ike it’s a must read.
https://hartmannreport.com/p/death-is-the-new-republican-badge