Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” Played for an Old Former-Captive Elephant

Music • Views: 25,998

YouTube

Simply one of the most moving music videos I’ve ever seen.

Mongkol is a 61-year-old former logging elephant. His captive-held life was spent hauling trees in the Thai forest. His body shape is deformed through hard labor, he lost his right eye and tusk in this brutal logging practice. Mongkol was rescued and brought to Elephants World to spend the rest of his days relaxing peacefully in freedom by the River Kwai. I discovered Mongkol is an extremely gentle, sensitive elephant who enjoys music, especially this slow movement by Beethoven which I play to him occasionally in the day and night.

Jump to bottom

178 comments
1
Dread Pirate  Feb 23, 2020 • 8:54:06pm
2
goddamnedfrank  Feb 23, 2020 • 9:04:19pm
3
Joe Bacon 🌹  Feb 23, 2020 • 9:13:51pm
4
Belafon  Feb 23, 2020 • 9:20:18pm
5
Renaissance_Man  Feb 23, 2020 • 9:24:22pm

re: #320 The Ghost of a Flea

Um, maybe this is just the no-light-escapes cynicism talking but…

…why would anyone think that smears based on actual material would be better than made up shit barely rooted in reality?

I mean, how many completely fictional scandals have we seen chucked at presidential candidates successfully? The idea that a scandal being really-real will make it more effective is, well, hard to reconcile with observable behavior.

I say this because the negative of this argument: that other people won’t have Bernie-sized controversies the other side can build ads on, doesn’t hold water. In the current media environment anything salacious is devoured by all levels of media like a gazelle. Fake scandals gain verisimilitude because of the performative “concern” and substanceless “analysis” that repeats the idea over and over in public.

Accepting conservative framing of events and issues is always a trap.

“Support the troops.”

Trap. Say the magic words, and then you’re going to get comma-fucked on the details of how much you stan stupid fucking wars that, on record, members of your party have criticized in part or whole. To appease the people who unthinkingly use this phrase, you have to alienate the people who think in detail about US conflicts and try and evaluate their cost-benefit.

“Bernie Sanders hung with communists”

Let’s talk about the scale of the trap here:

If you think Bernie Sanders’ record isn’t going to be used against any candidate…let me sell you some herbal remedies. His actual, factual socialism isn’t going to stand out when there’s thirty years of accusing the entire Democratic Party of comsymp. Like half the YouTube videos I watch include a Trump ad talking about ALL OF US as “socialists” and “crazy.”

If Bernie Sander’s didn’t exist, they’d just use Ilhan Omar. Or Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. Or Dennis Kucinich. Or Jane Fonda. It’s the Land of Bad Faith, it’s doesn’t actually matter what people did, just whatever accusation you can pantomime outrage over.

Same as above: accept Republican framing of “SAY COMMUISTS ARE BAD NUTTIN ELSE” and you will be checked, over and fucking over, with every instance of supposed “pro-communism”—which, again, Republican “communism” is a meaningless word into which they insert anything. It’s bad faith, working the ref, pick your preferred fucking metaphor: your idea as a liberal of what is “bad leftism,” which includes nuance and detail, has no relationship to how the term will be used in the upcoming election. You are arming for the wrong war.

Successful meet all their fucking challenges and they’re still going to call you a socialist pig, while all the abasing will result in losing more leftists who can recognize when they’re being jettisoned.

Stop being reactive.

Fucking punch.

Support the troops?

I support the troops being deployed to do tasks that have finite objectives that actually help this fucking country.

Bernie Sanders did a communism?

So…what?

Bernie hung around with pissed off 3rd-Worlders, who were pissed off because some rich people fucked up their country by funding gunmen and dictators.

Coincidentally, there’s a group of people has kept their tongue up the asses of dictators for fifty years, which explains all the brown shirts. And recently they’ve been fletching communist dictators, too.

At least Bernie is consistent about what he likes about communists. As opposed to what would appear to be the single least appealing cadre of international jetsetting autocracy whores this side of Mars…who also occasionally pull a socialism but only for their rich backers.

I will CL your post because it’s very true. With the current information environment, Republican narratives do not have to be based in reality. Americans will believe what they’re told to.

I’m not a Bernie fan. Americans will find an excuse to not vote for him, and they’ll find it by repeating random words that they hear and read. But that’s not why I’m not a fan - the same will be true of someone completely qualified like Elizabeth Warren, just like it was for another similarly qualified woman.

6
Hecuba's daughter  Feb 23, 2020 • 9:49:13pm

re: #5 Renaissance_Man

I will CL your post because it’s very true. With the current information environment, Republican narratives do not have to be based in reality. Americans will believe what they’re told to.

I’m not a Bernie fan. Americans will find an excuse to not vote for him, and they’ll find it by repeating random words that they hear and read. But that’s not why I’m not a fan - the same will be true of someone completely qualified like Elizabeth Warren, just like it was for another similarly qualified woman.

This is so true. In one debate, Mayor Pete made the argument that every Democrat was going to be called a socialist, whatever positions they take on issues. Of course, it doesn’t help when the candidate personally describes himself as one. But every single one will be demonized, regardless of their record.

7
GlutenFreeJesus  Feb 23, 2020 • 9:54:25pm

re: #6 Hecuba’s daughter

The thing with Bernie though, is there’s video/photos/etc.

8
Renaissance_Man  Feb 23, 2020 • 10:11:19pm

re: #7 GlutenFreeJesus

The thing with Bernie though, is there’s video/photos/etc.

I spoke with two guys today who are doctors - highly educated, white collar professionals - who hate Trump, yet feel that they and others are totally justified in voting for him over Clinton because there were so many questions about her being a murderer, and they could totally see her doing it.

It doesn’t matter whether there are videos and photos. The American media environment is such that Americans cannot tell reality from fantasy. The main issue is what the media narratives will be, and whether they can be subverted.

9
Dread Pirate  Feb 23, 2020 • 10:11:52pm

YouTube

10
goddamnedfrank  Feb 23, 2020 • 10:17:07pm
11
Belafon  Feb 23, 2020 • 10:21:38pm

re: #8 Renaissance_Man

I spoke with two guys today who are doctors - highly educated, white collar professionals - who hate Trump, yet feel that they and others are totally justified in voting for him over Clinton because there were so many questions about her being a murderer, and they could totally see her doing it.

It doesn’t matter whether there are videos and photos. The American media environment is such that Americans cannot tell reality from fantasy. The main issue is what the media narratives will be, and whether they can be subverted.

I’ve seen Pelosi’s words cut up to say the opposite of what she actually said. I’ve seen her name used as a slur to go after Colin Allred. He won anyway.
The two things about Bernie that really trouble me are that he’s giving out the impression that he’s not willing to work with people that will have to compromise, people like Allred who represent more conservative districts; and that he could choose a total fuckup like Gabbard for VP.

12
Renaissance_Man  Feb 23, 2020 • 10:25:22pm

re: #11 Belafon

I’ve seen Pelosi’s words cut up to say the opposite of what she actually said. I’ve seen her name used as a slur to go after Colin Allred. He won anyway.
The two things about Bernie that really trouble me are that he’s giving out the impression that he’s not willing to work with people that will have to compromise, people like Allred who represent more conservative districts; and that he could choose a total fuckup like Gabbard for VP.

No, absolutely, Bernie would be a terrible nominee and a terrible president. He has no interest in getting Democrats elected, he has no particular achievements to his name, and too many of his supporters are trolls. But he’s no more or less electable than any other Democrat. US media will pick someone to drive a certain narrative - the question is how many Americans will be listening.

13
uriel  Feb 23, 2020 • 10:25:22pm

Really, I’m posting this entirely for the response:

14
GlutenFreeJesus  Feb 23, 2020 • 10:32:27pm

re: #8 Renaissance_Man

The real issue is that most people hate politics and think every politician is the same. Any nuances and details are lost with buzzwords and catch phrases. We are becoming the Idiocracy.

15
Hecuba's daughter  Feb 23, 2020 • 10:33:10pm

re: #8 Renaissance_Man

I spoke with two guys today who are doctors - highly educated, white collar professionals - who hate Trump, yet feel that they and others are totally justified in voting for him over Clinton because there were so many questions about her being a murderer, and they could totally see her doing it.

It doesn’t matter whether there are videos and photos. The American media environment is such that Americans cannot tell reality from fantasy. The main issue is what the media narratives will be, and whether they can be subverted.

This is not a modern creation; it’s been true throughout history; false narratives demonized unpopular groups and have led to genocide. No videos or photos were required — just the written or spoken word. And those words did not have to bear any relationship to the truth.

16
Dread Pirate  Feb 23, 2020 • 10:58:13pm

Now make it gallop.

17
Mattand  Feb 23, 2020 • 11:05:56pm

re: #8 Renaissance_Man

I spoke with two guys today who are doctors - highly educated, white collar professionals - who hate Trump, yet feel that they and others are totally justified in voting for him over Clinton because there were so many questions about her being a murderer, and they could totally see her doing it.

It doesn’t matter whether there are videos and photos. The American media environment is such that Americans cannot tell reality from fantasy. The main issue is what the media narratives will be, and whether they can be subverted.

I apologize if these two doctors are friends, but fuck these assholes.

I mean, for fuck’s sake, they’re fucking doctors. They’re supposed to be trained to evaluate evidence and judge facts rationally.

I get not wanting to vote for Clinton over policy. I get not wanting to vote for a “liberal”. I even get (not approve, but get) that these guys may have a nasty misogynist streak and won’t vote for a woman.

But to not for vote for Clinton because they have concerns she’s a murderer? If I ever had a physician who admitted that to me, not only would I cease using their practice, I’d seriously consider reporting them to the local medical board.

Any medical professional who’s having that kind of difficulty embracing reality maybe should not be making decisions that directly impact their patients’ health.

18
Chrysicat  Feb 23, 2020 • 11:19:07pm
19
Patricia Kayden  Feb 24, 2020 • 1:01:00am

re: #8 Renaissance_Man

Those doctors believed that Secretary Clinton was a murderer? Really? They sound like idiots.

20
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 1:19:40am

re: #6 Hecuba’s daughter

This is so true. In one debate, Mayor Pete made the argument that every Democrat was going to be called a socialist, whatever positions they take on issues. Of course, it doesn’t help when the candidate personally describes himself as one. But every single one will be demonized, regardless of their record.

Only in America is a long, transparent record of public service viewed as a liability…

21
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 1:21:22am

re: #14 GlutenFreeJesus

The real issue is that most people hate politics and think every politician is the same. Any nuances and details are lost with buzzwords and catch phrases. We are becoming the Idiocracy.

That is what allowed Trump to campaign as the anti-politician, an image he has managed to maintain successfully despite being burdened with a four-year record of public “service”.

22
goddamnedfrank  Feb 24, 2020 • 1:22:41am

re: #19 Patricia Kayden

Those doctors believed that Secretary Clinton was a murderer? Really? They sound like idiots.

A terrifying percentage of otherwise highly educated white men have spent about half their lives listening to Rush Limbaugh, often passively, just as noise to fill their commute.

Which, I mean, yes, makes them idiots. You’re not wrong. They chose to pickle their brains in the affected rantings of a puffed up hypocritical fuckwit.

23
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 1:25:48am

re: #22 goddamnedfrank

A terrifying percentage of otherwise highly educated white men have spent about half their lives listening to Rush Limbaugh, often passively, just as noise to fill their commute.

Which, I mean, yes, makes them idiots. You’re not wrong. They chose to pickle their brains in the affected rantings of a puffed up hypocritical fuckwit.

They believe that there was a pedophile ring in the cellar of a pizzeria that has no basement…

24
Dread Pirate  Feb 24, 2020 • 1:28:33am
25
The Ghost of a Flea  Feb 24, 2020 • 1:29:54am

re: #5 Renaissance_Man

I will CL your post because it’s very true. With the current information environment, Republican narratives do not have to be based in reality. Americans will believe what they’re told to.

I’m not a Bernie fan. Americans will find an excuse to not vote for him, and they’ll find it by repeating random words that they hear and read. But that’s not why I’m not a fan - the same will be true of someone completely qualified like Elizabeth Warren, just like it was for another similarly qualified woman.

The thing I didn’t think to say was that people should consider that whatever is leveled at Bernie will be leveled at Elizabeth Warren, the minute they feel Bernie is neutralized.

Because that’s how this whole disavowal thing works, for it is just another bad faith game rooted in the idea there’s a “center” that stays still and is somehow the ideal. Media goobers are invested in this because they’re pseudointellectuals that have to sell the idea there’s a perfect balance of blame and unreason between both parties, and that means constantly finding fault with the left and excusing the right…because since Nixon the right has fucked up over and over and will not brook being called out, while the left is deeply attentive to criticism and will try, milquetoastian, to explain itself and find comity. The far right is even more heavily invested, because they’re trying to escalate the already-present concept that all leftism is inherently dangerous and axiomatically wrong, which justifies their transformation into compulsively masturbating gibbons waving switchblades.

The left wing of US politics actually believes in reasonableness, but the culture underpinning “what is reasonable” is going bugshit crazy because the culture has been deliberately altered over decades by evil shitheels: the cynical ones that want more power and cash, and the zealot ones who want compliance and thus want to destroy the spectrum of opinion. The belief in reasonableness has stayed constant while “what is reasonable” has becomes unreasonable: we watched this play out with Obama. Take a step towards them, they take a step back and demand you step towards them as a sign of good faith.

So here’s the fucked up thing that I think about this that comes from personal experience: there is a strong incentive to take that step as well, to be “reasonable.” It’s not the people are being tricked, over and over, it’s that it feels like the right thing to do, or at least the expedient alternate to standing still indefinitely. That’s how abusive relationships continue: by leveraging the love, good faith, and fair dealing of the abused party, over and over, until they’re used up…because love, good faith, and fair play held genuinely valuable can’t countenance that degree of bad faith, that never reciprocating is form of “winning.”

This argument of “hey liberals, if you do X, the reasonable people will sign on” should be treated with tremendous suspicion. Especially since a bunch of the people pushing the “Bernie is bad optics, ooohhh pinko” thing are people who have been wrong about shit for three decades and pride themselves on being the intellectual core of a movement of wanking, knife-waving arboreal apes while not noticing that they were surrounded by wanking, knife-waving arboreal apes.

Okay, Bernie grates. His proxies are jerky, his followers are over the top. But he is not in any way equivalent to the consistent, organized perfidy of the right. I have more intense leftist friends in real life than on the board, and I find the to be largely grounded in their assessment of the world as it is, though they have strong opinions about what ought to be, and I can’t disagree with them entirely. I’m forty, pretty damn wealthy, and I’ve never seen the “American Dream” status quo that people are promising a return to. For all that I have, I’m could be destroyed by one bad accident, and I’m doing better than most Americans. Most people I know are making it but overworked and unhappy, or desperate because the very idea of a job has been transformed even as the cultural understanding of what a job means hasn’t. So my experience with their characterization here as…caricature based off a sampling of performers on Twitter…is a disconnect.

That is set in contrast to the consistent unrealities of the Trump supporters I know on and offline (whether or not I generally like them, that their concerns and fears are rooted in unreality is consistent).

These are not the same thing. People angry with specific, describable systems are not comparable to people with vague, drifting anger that simply finds targets. And—I’m sorry, but I’m so sick of doing it I’m never going to preface something with “but I don’t like Bernie” again—the same applies to Bernie Sanders. Okay he’s flawed but he actually says something coherent, so he does not compare to any rightist politician currently in power, all whom are willing to discard meaning and “values” to maintain their social capital (earned from appeasing the aforementioned gibbons).

And it’s really important is that there’s an ongoing push to make hard leftist ideas so unreasonable that simply aren’t circulating in the culture, and this is just another round of it. The label slip from socialist to communist, the “hypocrisy” charge that he’s rich—which, consider, you could take the same data and as a centrist read it as a good sign, that he’s not too hard core—but the point is to establish a taboo. At the same time, even though “centrism” is basically meaningless because of the constant rightward shift and the failure to identity a synthesis of the left thesis and right antithesis, it’s treated as “reasonable” even when it makes no damn sense. And the “right” has rejected the idea that any reactionary idea is taboo, even the agreed-upon ones we tried to kill off last century: they simply won’t be call to account, and they have multiple strategies to dissemble about what they really think that have become normalized, part of “reasonable” culture. It the microcosm equivalent of the death tally of communism being a single bloc that makes the ideology illegitimate forever, but the death tally of capitalism (or “the West”) can be treated as separate incidences that can’t be summed to make condemn the concept. Cheating at the rhetoric game should be identified as such.

Furthermore, the promise of support from people who are so scared they can’t accurately evaluate something genuinely dangerous…a party who’s been hurting them for years versus a hypothetical scenario in which, if all the divinations are correct, Bernie Sanders Will Become Just As Bad As The Actually Bad People Halfway Through Bad Shit Right Now…in exchange for leftists who are bit grating but have accurately described a bunch of shit that’s been going on for decades, who are consistent and stable—this does not strike me as a good trade even if it was made in good faith. Not because the scared people are bad people, but because their primary trait is utter unreliability. If they’re that fear-driven, and that fear is influenced by the theater of politics (optics) rather than calculation, then they’re a fair-weather gain.

I mean, for whom is the theater of fear an easier act to pull off? The party that’s going to lie and swagger about like a ten-in-one hawker selling constant existential threat in exciting exotic varieties that blow up good, or the party that tries to accurately describe the complicated systemic problems the world has?

They don’t know what they’re scared of, and don’t even know how to know what they’re scared of. If you’re the bad faith team intent on fucking all of them over while distracting them with exciting stories and the promise of miracle cures they’re perfectly useful because they’re just voting widgets. But if you’re the good faith team, precisely because you’re a realist in tweed and not a lucha libre match you’re going to disappoint and anger them.

And as much as I rely on dark humor to cope, I’m not saying that to condemn them. Life is painful and confusing and people want structure and comfort, and it’s deeply cruel to offer the illusion of those things in return for compliance…then deliberately make things painful and confusing again. I’m so self-aware of my inchoate fears it’s a mental illness and I’m still disappointed that the Democratic Party can’t make me feel better by hitting someone with a folding chair. I have the privilege of having the time and money to be an autodidact and do therapy; most people don’t. It’s sad.

Except for the rich dudes that think Rush is smart. They need a dose of folding chair.

But the point stands: this process of cutting away bits of leftism on demand, to appease people who don’t seem to be political, just aesthetic, is a losing proposition, because the loop of “X is scary, cut it off” is eternal, and the last couple of decades demonstrate that the ones making demands, creating the fear, are utterly shameless and entirely cynical.

26
goddamnedfrank  Feb 24, 2020 • 1:42:08am

re: #23 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

They believe that there was a pedophile ring in the cellar of a pizzeria that has no basement…

They do now. My point is they didn’t start there.

We wouldn’t be seeing second order, near spontaneous aberrations like QANON without all the groundwork laid by Limbaugh and the entire ecosystem of nonstop right wing sonic brainwashing he created.

Another thing that RM’s story drives home again for me is that human intelligence is compartmentalized to a degree I didn’t really appreciate five years ago.

27
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 1:56:03am
28
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 1:59:02am

re: #26 goddamnedfrank

They do now. My point is they didn’t start there.

It started with basic “principles” like that blacks are lazy and inferior, and deserve the status accorded to them by society and the economy, and that Latinos are coming here to steal our jobs, while sponging off our social system (and sell us drugs against our will)

And the principle that anything labeled “socialism” is evil and designed to wreck society, and that the Unregulated Free Market can do anything and everything better than government.

They took that principle of “taxation without representation is tyranny” and turned it into “taxation is tyranny”

And the principle that homosexuality is unnatural and that gays have to “propagate” by converting and seducing others, especially impressionable youths.

And the principle that an openly armed society is a more polite and orderly society.

29
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 2:03:25am

re: #28 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

It started with basic “principles” like that blacks are lazy and inferior, and deserve the status accorded to them by society and the economy, and that Latinos are coming here to steal our jobs, while sponging off our social system (and sell us drugs against our will)

And the principle that anything labeled “socialism” is evil and designed to wreck society, and that the Unregulated Free Market can do anything and everything better than government.

They took that principle of “taxation without representation is tyranny” and turned it into “taxation is tyranny”

And the principle that homosexuality is unnatural and that gays have to “propagate” by converting and seducing others, especially impressionable youths.

And the principle that an openly armed society is a more polite and orderly society.

I agree with all but the last.

They want a covertly armed society because “in an openly armed society people might still feel they have the right to be uncivil to someone who isn’t visibly carrying a handgun”.

30
Shiplord Kirel, Friend of Moose and Squirrel  Feb 24, 2020 • 2:18:24am

Yet another reason for the incoming Sanders administration to locate its new FEMA camps in west Texas, the environment is already culturally conditioned for Republicans.

31
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 2:40:10am

re: #29 Chrysicat

I agree with all but the last.

They want a covertly armed society because “in an openly armed society people might still feel they have the right to be uncivil to someone who isn’t visibly carrying a handgun”.

That is their definition of a “polite” society, namely one in which minorities do not get too uppity…

32
Dr Lizardo  Feb 24, 2020 • 3:29:42am

re: #1 Dread Pirate

Related:

U.S. stock futures pointed to sharp declines on Wall Street at the open on Monday as the number of coronavirus cases outside China surged, stoking fears of a prolonged global economic slowdown from the virus spreading.

As of 6 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 850 points, indicating a drop of 843 points at the open. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were down by 2.8% and 3.3%, respectively.

cnbc.com

33
Dr Lizardo  Feb 24, 2020 • 3:45:15am

Ya gotta love Google Translate sometimes…..

The police intervened on Monday morning at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. According to lidovky.cz, Deputy Minister Jana Maláčová (ČSSD) for economic and ICT management Jan Baláč and another employee were detained. Two people were charged.

“The National Central Office against Organized Crime carries out criminal proceedings. Reporting from criminal proceedings was reserved by the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Prague, “headquarters spokesman Jaroslav Ibehej told News.

He said police cannot provide further information. The prosecutor subsequently informed that the police had accused two people of a public procurement procedure.

“The police have initiated criminal prosecution of two persons for the crime of weirdness in awarding a public contract and in a public tender and preparing a crime of abuse of authority of an official in connection with the ongoing and planned procurement procedure for public contracts of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic” Zdeněk Matula.

Original, in Czech: novinky.cz

34
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 4:14:35am

re: #33 Dr Lizardo

Ya gotta love Google Translate sometimes…..

“The police have initiated criminal prosecution of two persons for the crime of weirdness in awarding a public contract

They are learning the weirding way!

35
Anymouse 🌹🎃  Feb 24, 2020 • 4:22:46am

Nvybfm1CfILkTV8nwTE815tS6Qa2Er0aWj0wcgTaMtAwEr8HKAIXj9ZL2Vt4gBniGWTeXVLU2qlM83Tc9WfGcoqa5YadjWSLRl+yMCtoOgxlTM+rYqReBYZI+d3nzTx1IkQP9azUwvgBNFqiHI12o+Re0aAZRKAbU1mfUms7WRW407ZAc3rmE9+PPfgS6oosl+47nHUxbdeRJ/ZTfq+YTB384yzf4cNDywia503dmeZN02qzUYASirVowY21U6PP5Yh0EEBiLfWX1FOumKSzE+QOBIN3o/+xBAHjjUbVFxYCUvuyS1HKYMigMpXo3qA1Vtn5XsPVoohKGm1Qfsf68YUFQrxSF4UUqTmpBsovLWAq65cTpzq3NB35rC1oQnMCw6RzNXA/NbRO9I2GGcepSfpbUFOoi2OzgUZcPrQQB8Bsr6jSJaiEXPYcc0Z4oyOYkvhzifIE2lKP0ZPKEmzLrWUcCmvZc16/uLIzNRC8CvmZMr5qzciPf+KsvbwCWARKEBa8ngpiMdeoQt/gbQBo3r/gn9lYWBFdv+sqU7xcneWHIJo/LNQ9xr99Pl+Pvxg57FWd8YVBy+PmfsDUvUgnHyLfLPJJh80WUmz8dxSQUl+JQDWszWEjXkONpmblV/UQcxT4Yx5p4EhL5c8800u3ADBAy3mbB1YyeJYRiztpiK08rrrahYuHNdUawMPb9moqohJvfVTNOG3o6G4FtEq209c07+zs4lP2yRQPEILuR33NrCHjZ6CRpVYxBpgj2KUw/X7nPiz7D2EH59voWi5D8Ac2zexa4U1RWohPklqFTTlSl5L71xYB/D4GkjVgCJhJm/fgTpG6iYcAT1Jp4Kdf/tvKEK4QDElmTSN0PEcWkKCgef/QjhOy2wd6MwlUSkSFTxtfXRUbrGtwzii9AN09+W1xW7YJDr+F+p4oAA1SDyT2rnRKmTpX5iqejdhhKn7/F/t5aRlMAd6FEtfwisXQpQi1NeDDyR70RxlqTiyQk2/G9lGJ7RYbG4WZF44JiVfbMqZ3xcB+b+ZWn+622oQkKrKhoTdvWeaxQOf4wnjFt3J8jObZcqzt529eZA3LMU5eFVkJR4jHi1a4lZN8/wq1kQ8h2Aa+T7oCwZ0xvckv7xt4Rm+MkGSP3lmnBkLAlJw3pgGLuzrQHqc6NgXwT7Y7v+0zb5ceJ9PCEsQrGT+F66EGr5LQSNG0BmX/UmKhtXHf+UAkKSXjcwCzx5Kk36HPU2E3TS8ypbrp9tsn9CikQJe8D+dbT80Rr4Wjm/0o/MogL9g7OCtpDCrk5IeXpMPWVzYnrNM3g/+ugMf3C9QE1jPH2B60E/Z3iNDhLNv4RiLdFVWmeFd54AeVsW0eb5yODO0GcCoK2ctqaz3ibJPtEBUvGeXyo/Qh0NHKQ/4PYX+aBNnTNWKsVZr9LIScl9qLyVSne5Nqs2CwwqK7zWr8ce1B3V1sHftEFCqRti1fF321cA2fH5sJVSp/E7K+EwH+eIQ7w18tCdw5ERy0DvZLofjRxHJlkHl8m6DB9NvwHw2+0XYq3RGoOTqGfCVGO8BOBv81x4wol2wvmgpZ5u2U315MYHxCGQD7Y/3ilEMMrRbW6fZ6z3dZ3RumLynrJdQJpzSlS7k4IXQ/QzeowSZijheBtvBH+z24J4uP/Kmr/ZIvlb0InhtFkfL5BsQTcgW1miMrP2cV7pyN9o+gBxVdBPer1B9wY0/9DqibPMxUfx3YqC8c8Axotr3zWuRh2PyScbKkqHKpZr7oInxCCGjNSQ76ytlC/ShYb823r9M0fvhXf77l6JMA356uO2i/WfpYpztapFh0VceUUHwc1sWPn0HVP+TvlpG2LbTOqjpZHhZOmdTuymnPYp/ToM3VaJUzn6fM+nyvKwoF6Bm1hXXudCPqvv2cRb0ihw8TiUMmyZf9DImO/t1HzHoZgRhmz8X5pfZLTSWwhhnP011VeXVOnyxRNoa6G39t0Soj0ZxmlZY9wQq3LdpiaaoP/knDAVIfNI9jQJo8CfVnIywxf88P0I1gpo41HdPyJgzVimb9PdN8lUq1/gCe9+KVgsHJgB28bPWQg1ELD/6STCmO4hDOUr5ZRAT2H9WFbR+klVZ3w7sV+nphy079o/LWI1XS2n2Yc5C0X2AmFq1tyKy/SUQlo51FROodDYMtzQzoS68+/L73mIutR9ZY5P8c4tW2GZiEJCL6sWbmmm9e8i1oVhCtMt3UxKcV402eG7Kye598Bsd39+dQVdZk/I9O0LWZ5C7Gn+t27kfazUy0o0EBF3eocum+5EL6qte7kA/UHEor01mKzMrUhjT8LALTHNVej/cfxih7yzJmZzOxqWzNWNICdQrSFn+guMhKmxVaWlUTRJXQZp15EY0anPAV++6Wx32WxLjEj6mJx3oZTnZRQbl9MhDV1Lp88ToClUdhfNt6eegsGDHbvSa8/dWRlSej+sksHMf3Jd+zalUpLVOqoCAZ4jTwj8mtZkUdcud1xH+XQ2O3biaeHcxOTQCY1KHaKr2Gq5GLKHSo1UU//i6umMvPRCWbtxT6tMgWNZNrFzBHbHcrjnerqq43NYs0AcGyojXSmufKtxbYGL29X5CboDyXBEtx7YdJblxdTwjXQwMCkZpK3T6MeVBE5EWIiqj5VbunpY1WS1R1UliUHQswjt75p7KX8hoPCTduloKZUhbC2yllBl1Jzs3VNjNdTSG60b5dfxZUO0rNM4ez8GrZXEjniwf16KMlKTdIm/3HYMkXetxyb2rs+dfaQcJY5e/ydl+NMgkXQSNSHDB9ar+TN566g8DoMNKFc/rb7UwWNPzljhZ1sFPktZz20Fsr4Hd4UdOtuikBmNOYChPnQrN77e6EPl079pJYycejPPU3U7q4pNnx56wL+VIJi+VBWtetj+8OC/aGXs0YZ+qZRrCWL+n8uO2emqzxPKL9Q5eWT3aw6cBQQ/oGPi5W6tP4C0HYvgv/0PrkoPHx1ZK6NrhUgzjPPRtJPwXXU4ZDh5QDX+2EMuIMarplZjw+gcmLmBylMxfBlT6t8ikigugcE60vvw4GsZsrnZaAU6dRUoFGgldsfaAnN1woNLpVtK4SKzVQROkgk7wFVjjldeghOooZYy20j1ZSrbEsTrQ8FaCnNFdDwM47wIqmV7i7VpFrqbDldgKf5Hc8BcxIrREA1rGAuxPAQhGMYJTh+VXCtlZG9crdJIYM3To06EEkjsXz7XSy0HsPsKBKqVYpUdiWGivdD5VInUw5GkyyDP4GZSN8t55oeP5MmE03AmUzgMWmY2quSGqWzJfuKmfZRUOk2ylR6hvJWqV+VtQKQxi6kSbE55istfsxBGIKeg2S7Mtdw+jaTXiVrRAtml/UWMqmQMej3T5OSENigInD382kC2s+57/odpJeHpm4Y4f3++4CrBft5YD2BqxkFwIPt4AvhHQNRmj1Rlos34uikWl+IvizbmU6xWdXlcFK6rBrQC+in1GG2sh/ud1vSdlC4Nsnlwm9VYOiEtuBHSIfyDZY+TfrSztV/ZVwziwHThWKcAlTo7gtQa/M5rvfvacAlpTCe6Iv3+gGmWsO65enUbdtX9xd2xYSO5AYLbDMfT1Wr9s+PPIgxF8nZeCTnOwJcggf0xq/dWXzUMXYzTtmDLZb/+9JAL/sCQFlrzcobWAgStr+bkVYC3SKE5A016DPMW5r8XNEgRtvrrIQ9XdZMMk1UUh02l/twZC2qAgsCbT3y6icUw7uidMgO9yCtOEfwxiy/u45fPi+nHoHSt+IzVdhNPsiL4rfcoEDWDUk5uK8mEUdwJNU9L0b6IuTOAsRGuro4TqLV69CRhS/1ea1UzSrGhT5CPZSGjUIGYUasdkRqEPY2D5Qg/sQy5m0ZxvFjBVTmiVWyOXIW4QEe4yuIYNNBEKkBpGb9MlUtHXb+Xd479vvrJSfM1XkbqrXURGiyset4SNrTCPMqK8pjXv8pJsBdPwlgRYL7zts+IzUEtOqNHIt3canv7zlAEzNsmHCxzc4fEl1AjgHwls0FhWxYjwlrpoEH1DaBEsPLwUemP4Zi05JSmNbaDT9ZtkpdhGqQ5p7kJxSICD10uaahfJGyC+QJ4d/GZX3CUxy5/Lxe6STaXbFh/hJowIb0/yEf4zkwRwZLQfHF2HuquNNw3oQ8XV8lSxRLxwVQ4WwOgsjm0YkxXMTeHuwnPhbX/iToDNgeRXZESDeHB40z4tjO3ry6sJhJ0ucCyaAG5KhHzmRQXmo1ssR41qQMB0hYmb41zxJK6xm+J2QSG1RTNUeTGYNceTrEKPf2E/bjUgOEo8wEUZbA2t+l2J2G2QGDzqFwR5EZgzbn/aG9DuVlogqYi0sxudbc89Cs3cZq9rYPVGqvvfDviHSqwnEiU760Nwy7SokM9Lexv1YzMZELslgR3EM6g313tWXqlVmu8Y6GEqlO4tWlihXc1F4tYXpIdYTy1KDxIPElk8fM6l/hjjMgic5OxSInuhH/k2svdU4u+qrhxDWALhYVfp3gPIEJQKJ8ReOUlIpVtRDbHbG3XCC6hD3mB32dMCM74vOq6NeJvRDYes0m8Q=

36
steve_davis  Feb 24, 2020 • 4:34:03am

re: #17 Mattand

I apologize if these two doctors are friends, but fuck these assholes.

I mean, for fuck’s sake, they’re fucking doctors. They’re supposed to be trained to evaluate evidence and judge facts rationally.

I get not wanting to vote for Clinton over policy. I get not wanting to vote for a “liberal”. I even get (not approve, but get) that these guys may have a nasty misogynist streak and won’t vote for a woman.

But to not for vote for Clinton because they have concerns she’s a murderer? If I ever had a physician who admitted that to me, not only would I cease using their practice, I’d seriously consider reporting them to the local medical board.

Any medical professional who’s having that kind of difficulty embracing reality maybe should not be making decisions that directly impact their patients’ health.

doctors are notoriously bad at making decisions outside their specialty. If you want to know whether to trust someone or not, find an English instructor. We have years of being lied to through the sweet faces of youth. We’re really good at detecting bullshit.

37
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 4:52:39am

re: #36 steve_davis

doctors are notoriously bad at making decisions outside their specialty.

Ben Carson. Rand Paul.

38
Joe Bacon 🌹  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:03:26am

re: #35 Anymouse 🌹🎃

[Embedded content]

eQNI6Ju4+XYaMEotuBy92gLkjuj0pcCUZhN6ITzED9h8Rrjm4Ykp634bNzP2E1G99Dz4J0g3F3DEP74FGcJcBl/22LwpBW2KX+8sd99I7fP0xrQkk3AVdMWeNY4FQnp2GyQHZNlEvg+0QMCrhjO2somdewQz9TI45sGtU/Q8Yfrvukg7EYCSR/Qsk+m208+HaxTmCLav5RfnUPTEeS6Q7i6OP+eFG7g9JFmVYqbzBB0=

39
Dr Lizardo  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:12:55am

Here’s your daily dose of pitch-black humor:

40
GlutenFreeJesus  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:14:00am

re: #32 Dr Lizardo

Trump won’t be talking about the stocks for awhile.

41
Dr Lizardo  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:16:00am

re: #40 GlutenFreeJesus

Trump won’t be talking about the stocks for awhile.

“THE BIGLIEST SELLOFF, FOLKS, BELIEVE ME NO ONE’S EVER SEEN A STOCK MARKET SELLOFF LIKE THIS!!”

-Trump (probably)

42
sagehen  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:23:31am

re: #9 Dread Pirate

[Embedded content]

Video

that cannot be an ordinary housecat, can it?

43
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:25:05am

re: #41 Dr Lizardo

“THE BIGLIEST SELLOFF, FOLKS, BELIEVE ME NO ONE’S EVER SEEN A STOCK MARKET SELLOFF LIKE THIS!!”

-Trump (probably)

He will be able to blame this on those sloppy, careless Chinese for letting Corona virus get out of hand. And the media will repeat and rationalize his response…

44
b.d. (We're gonna win)  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:30:40am

re: #41 Dr Lizardo

“THE BIGLIEST SELLOFF, FOLKS, BELIEVE ME NO ONE’S EVER SEEN A STOCK MARKET SELLOFF LIKE THIS!!”

-Trump (probably)

CRAZY BERNIE IS ALREADY CRASHING THE STOCK MARKET

45
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:32:53am

re: #44 b.d. (Is Rush Dead Yet?)

CRAZY BERNIE IS ALREADY CRASHING THE STOCK MARKET

he’s in cahoots with the Chinese because they are all Socilists

46
jeffreyw  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:39:57am

Harrumph!

Good morning!

47
Joe Bacon 🌹  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:41:00am

48
Joe Bacon 🌹  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:41:40am

49
sagehen  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:54:51am

re: #36 steve_davis

doctors are notoriously bad at making decisions outside their specialty. If you want to know whether to trust someone or not, find an English instructor. We have years of being lied to through the sweet faces of youth. We’re really good at detecting bullshit.

Or a historian. They’ve spent their careers re-examining primary documents and trying to debunk the mythologies that have arisen among the goldfish-memory hordes.

50
sagehen  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:55:21am

re: #37 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

Ben Carson. Rand Paul.

Bill Frist.

51
John Hughes  Feb 24, 2020 • 5:58:07am

re: #48 Joe Bacon 🌹

Could you please include a link to the original when you post these, your copies are horribly low resolution.

52
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:01:14am

re: #49 sagehen

Or a historian. They’ve spent their careers re-examining primary documents and trying to debunk the mythologies that have arisen among the goldfish-memory hordes.

I think having a history degree has allowed me to be more skeptical of rhetoric over actions.

53
Belafon  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:08:28am
54
lawhawk  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:10:53am

re: #4 Belafon

Super Tuesday will be the clarifying event for everyone. And it will predictably show that Bernie’s strength is exaggerated as is the weakness of Warren and Biden. Everyone else will be playing distant 4-5-6th fiddles.

But those folks: Steyer, Gabbard, Bloomberg, and Klobuchar will not take the hint.

55
NO SMOCKING GUN!  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:13:07am

re: #19 Patricia Kayden

Those doctors believed that Secretary Clinton was a murderer? Really? They sound like idiots.

The Right has been promoting that theory for decades. They have a list of people who have “died mysteriously” that they believe the Clintons had murdered. Starr and Kavanaugh spent years investigating Vince Foster’s suicide.

56
Shiplord Kirel, Friend of Moose and Squirrel  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:14:28am

Trump Grants Pardon To Man Whose Family Gave $200,000 To His Campaign

200 hundred large! What a cheap bastard! That’s the price of a state legislator or, god forbid, a county commissioner. I would expect a President of the United States to have enough integrity not to sell out for less than a million, preferably two or three. I guess that’s what happens when you go wholesale and try to make it up with volume. We need a better class of crook in the White House in any case.

57
NO SMOCKING GUN!  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:15:36am

re: #22 goddamnedfrank

A terrifying percentage of otherwise highly educated white men have spent about half their lives listening to Rush Limbaugh, often passively, just as noise to fill their commute.

Which, I mean, yes, makes them idiots. You’re not wrong. They chose to pickle their brains in the affected rantings of a puffed up hypocritical fuckwit.

My boss asked to listen to Rush while having her MRI. Sorry, but that fucker (Rush) can’t die soon enough.

58
NO SMOCKING GUN!  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:22:37am

re: #25 The Ghost of a Flea

The thing I didn’t think to say was that people should consider that whatever is leveled at Bernie will be leveled at Elizabeth Warren, the minute they feel Bernie is neutralized.

Because that’s how this whole disavowal thing works, for it is just another bad faith game rooted in the idea there’s a “center” that stays still and is somehow the ideal. Media goobers are invested in this because they’re pseudointellectuals that have to sell the idea there’s a perfect balance of blame and unreason between both parties, and that means constantly finding fault with the left and excusing the right…because since Nixon the right has fucked up over and over and will not brook being called out, while the left is deeply attentive to criticism and will try, milquetoastian, to explain itself and find comity. The far right is even more heavily invested, because they’re trying to escalate the already-present concept that all leftism is inherently dangerous and axiomatically wrong, which justifies their transformation into compulsively masturbating gibbons waving switchblades.

The left wing of US politics actually believes in reasonableness, but the culture underpinning “what is reasonable” is going bugshit crazy because the culture has been deliberately altered over decades by evil shitheels: the cynical ones that want more power and cash, and the zealot ones who want compliance and thus want to destroy the spectrum of opinion. The belief in reasonableness has stayed constant while “what is reasonable” has becomes unreasonable: we watched this play out with Obama. Take a step towards them, they take a step back and demand you step towards them as a sign of good faith.

So here’s the fucked up thing that I think about this that comes from personal experience: there is a strong incentive to take that step as well, to be “reasonable.” It’s not the people are being tricked, over and over, it’s that it feels like the right thing to do, or at least the expedient alternate to standing still indefinitely. That’s how abusive relationships continue: by leveraging the love, good faith, and fair dealing of the abused party, over and over, until they’re used up…because love, good faith, and fair play held genuinely valuable can’t countenance that degree of bad faith, that never reciprocating is form of “winning.”

This argument of “hey liberals, if you do X, the reasonable people will sign on” should be treated with tremendous suspicion. Especially since a bunch of the people pushing the “Bernie is bad optics, ooohhh pinko” thing are people who have been wrong about shit for three decades and pride themselves on being the intellectual core of a movement of wanking, knife-waving arboreal apes while not noticing that they were surrounded by wanking, knife-waving arboreal apes.

Okay, Bernie grates. His proxies are jerky, his followers are over the top. But he is not in any way equivalent to the consistent, organized perfidy of the right. I have more intense leftist friends in real life than on the board, and I find the to be largely grounded in their assessment of the world as it is, though they have strong opinions about what ought to be, and I can’t disagree with them entirely. I’m forty, pretty damn wealthy, and I’ve never seen the “American Dream” status quo that people are promising a return to. For all that I have, I’m could be destroyed by one bad accident, and I’m doing better than most Americans. Most people I know are making it but overworked and unhappy, or desperate because the very idea of a job has been transformed even as the cultural understanding of what a job means hasn’t. So my experience with their characterization here as…caricature based off a sampling of performers on Twitter…is a disconnect.

That is set in contrast to the consistent unrealities of the Trump supporters I know on and offline (whether or not I generally like them, that their concerns and fears are rooted in unreality is consistent).

These are not the same thing. People angry with specific, describable systems are not comparable to people with vague, drifting anger that simply finds targets. And—I’m sorry, but I’m so sick of doing it I’m never going to preface something with “but I don’t like Bernie” again—the same applies to Bernie Sanders. Okay he’s flawed but he actually says something coherent, so he does not compare to any rightist politician currently in power, all whom are willing to discard meaning and “values” to maintain their social capital (earned from appeasing the aforementioned gibbons).

And it’s really important is that there’s an ongoing push to make hard leftist ideas so unreasonable that simply aren’t circulating in the culture, and this is just another round of it. The label slip from socialist to communist, the “hypocrisy” charge that he’s rich—which, consider, you could take the same data and as a centrist read it as a good sign, that he’s not too hard core—but the point is to establish a taboo. At the same time, even though “centrism” is basically meaningless because of the constant rightward shift and the failure to identity a synthesis of the left thesis and right antithesis, it’s treated as “reasonable” even when it makes no damn sense. And the “right” has rejected the idea that any reactionary idea is taboo, even the agreed-upon ones we tried to kill off last century: they simply won’t be call to account, and they have multiple strategies to dissemble about what they really think that have become normalized, part of “reasonable” culture. It the microcosm equivalent of the death tally of communism being a single bloc that makes the ideology illegitimate forever, but the death tally of capitalism (or “the West”) can be treated as separate incidences that can’t be summed to make condemn the concept. Cheating at the rhetoric game should be identified as such.

Furthermore, the promise of support from people who are so scared they can’t accurately evaluate something genuinely dangerous…a party who’s been hurting them for years versus a hypothetical scenario in which, if all the divinations are correct, Bernie Sanders Will Become Just As Bad As The Actually Bad People Halfway Through Bad Shit Right Now…in exchange for leftists who are bit grating but have accurately described a bunch of shit that’s been going on for decades, who are consistent and stable—this does not strike me as a good trade even if it was made in good faith. Not because the scared people are bad people, but because their primary trait is utter unreliability. If they’re that fear-driven, and that fear is influenced by the theater of politics (optics) rather than calculation, then they’re a fair-weather gain.

I mean, for whom is the theater of fear an easier act to pull off? The party that’s going to lie and swagger about like a ten-in-one hawker selling constant existential threat in exciting exotic varieties that blow up good, or the party that tries to accurately describe the complicated systemic problems the world has?

They don’t know what they’re scared of, and don’t even know how to know what they’re scared of. If you’re the bad faith team intent on fucking all of them over while distracting them with exciting stories and the promise of miracle cures they’re perfectly useful because they’re just voting widgets. But if you’re the good faith team, precisely because you’re a realist in tweed and not a lucha libre match you’re going to disappoint and anger them.

And as much as I rely on dark humor to cope, I’m not saying that to condemn them. Life is painful and confusing and people want structure and comfort, and it’s deeply cruel to offer the illusion of those things in return for compliance…then deliberately make things painful and confusing again. I’m so self-aware of my inchoate fears it’s a mental illness and I’m still disappointed that the Democratic Party can’t make me feel better by hitting someone with a folding chair. I have the privilege of having the time and money to be an autodidact and do therapy; most people don’t. It’s sad.

Except for the rich dudes that think Rush is smart. They need a dose of folding chair.

But the point stands: this process of cutting away bits of leftism on demand, to appease people who don’t seem to be political, just aesthetic, is a losing proposition, because the loop of “X is scary, cut it off” is eternal, and the last couple of decades demonstrate that the ones making demands, creating the fear, are utterly shameless and entirely cynical.

Great post; that should be published somewhere!

59
Belafon  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:23:11am

There are about four egos that probably won’t go for that, one of whom can spend $500M and not be bothered. It will be interesting to see. I’m not surprised to see this hashtag:

60
NO SMOCKING GUN!  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:26:16am

re: #30 Shiplord Kirel, Friend of Moose and Squirrel

Yet another reason for the incoming Sanders administration to locate its new FEMA camps in west Texas, the environment is already culturally conditioned for Republicans.

[Embedded content]

Freeedumb!

61
lawhawk  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:30:08am

Everything Trump says and does is an exaggeration and takes credit for the work of others.

US India trade relations have been on an upwards trend for years.

2019: Exports 34,409.6 Imports: 57,665.5 Balance: -23,255.9
2018: Exports: 33,502.8 Imports: 54,349.3 Balance: -20,846.5
2017: Exports: 25,648.3 Imports: 48,549.7 Balance: -22,901.5
2016: Exports: 21,647.2 Imports: 46,024.2 Balance: -24,377.1
2015: Exports: 21,452.9 Imports: 44,782.7 Balance: -23,329.7
2014: Exports: 21,499.1 Imports: 45,358.0 Balance: -23,858.9
2013: Exports: 21,810.4 Imports: 41,810.0 Balance: -19,999.5
2012: Exports: 22,105.7 Imports: 40,512.6 Balance: -18,406.9
2011: Exports: 21,542.2 Imports: 36,154.5 Balance: -14,612.3
2010: Exports: 19,248.9 Imports: 29,532.9 Balance: -10,284.1
2009: Exports: 16,441.4 Imports: 21,166.0 Balance: -4,724.6
2008: Exports: 17,682.1 Imports: 25,704.4 Balance: -8,022.3

But what gets lost in this is that those imports are high volume low cost items as well as high tech services that flow in both directions. India is where may US offshore their tech work and back end systems. The trade inbalace has gotten worse as the trade has increased. For a guy who claims that all these deals help his base, this is another example where the reality is far more complex (and far less helpful to his base voters; millionaires like Trump do well).

62
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:31:20am

re: #59 Belafon

[Embedded content]

That’s such a great moment. You have John Lewis who has been a part of the push for human and civil rights in this country talking with Lauren Underwood who would have graduated high school with me if we had gone to the same school working together. And Underwood works hard too. She flipped a Republican district. We don’t appreciate people like her and the others that did enough.

63
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:35:21am

re: #57 NO SMOCKING GUN!

My boss asked to listen to Rush while having her MRI. Sorry, but that fucker (Rush) can’t die soon enough.

I’ll never get Rush’s appeal was after the 80’s which was supposed to be this great time for conservatives and conservatism yet Rush has always been nothing but resentment after resentment.

64
jaunte  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:42:36am

re: #63 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

Ressentiment:

“…According to the existentialists, ressentiment is a sense of hostility directed toward an object that one identifies as the cause of one’s frustration, that is, an assignment of blame for one’s frustration. The sense of weakness or inferiority complex and perhaps even jealousy in the face of the “cause” generates a rejecting/justifying value system, or morality, which attacks or denies the perceived source of one’s frustration. This value system is then used as a means of justifying one’s own weaknesses by identifying the source of envy as objectively inferior, serving as a defense mechanism that prevents the resentful individual from addressing and overcoming their insecurities and flaws. The ego creates an enemy in order to insulate itself from culpability.”
en.wikipedia.org

Always a rich mine for voluble grifters.

65
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:44:15am

re: #64 jaunte

Ressentiment:

Always a rich mine for voluble grifters.

It is definitely interesting to note that Rush arose as a prominent name not out of the Reagan Revolution years but the downturn from Reagan’s poor policies.

66
A hollow voice says, Guilty, guilty, guilty!  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:52:31am

re: #42 sagehen

that cannot be an ordinary housecat, can it?

Looks like a savannah cat, which is a domestic/serval hybrid. They’re not common, but keeping wild and partially wild breeds of small felines is popular some places (don’t do it if you’re not prepared to spend lots of time dealing with their ways).

67
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:52:49am

Rushbo is another practicer of what I call cocktail populism. He acts like he’s an everyman even though he comes from a family of lawyers. Obviously, I have nothing against lawyers as a paralegal but Rush’s whole schtick is Fake. It’s always been fake. And populist movements in our country have been full of men like him from the start. Trump is like that too. Oh he likes eating junk food like I do, he must understand my problems!

68
A hollow voice says, Guilty, guilty, guilty!  Feb 24, 2020 • 6:54:50am

re: #46 jeffreyw

[Embedded content]

Good morning!

Back atcha!

Mondays… why did it have to be mondays?
69
lawhawk  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:00:51am
70
JC1  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:02:16am

re: #56 Shiplord Kirel, Friend of Moose and Squirrel

Trump Grants Pardon To Man Whose Family Gave $200,000 To His Campaign

200 hundred large! What a cheap bastard! That’s the price of a state legislator or, god forbid, a county commissioner. I would expect a President of the United States to have enough integrity not to sell out for less than a million, preferably two or three. I guess that’s what happens when you go wholesale and try to make it up with volume. We need a better class of crook in the White House in any case.

The surprising thing isn’t that politicians can be bought… It’s how cheap the price is.

71
Anymouse 🌹🎃  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:05:45am

re: #38 Joe Bacon 🌹

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

72
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:07:07am

Of course, even more important than my reply is the one that started that thread: Bernie’s so Russophilic that he favours dissolving the current NATO (the odds that most of its members would “re-“join a NATO that includes Russia are slim).

73
A Mom Anon  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:07:48am

I gotta say, it took me a couple of times to get through the video because I started crying. How anyone could mistreat such an amazing and beautiful creature.

74
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:08:40am

re: #72 Chrysicat

[Embedded content]

You know, all the crap I hear about the working class this and the working class that comes from people who I don’t think have worked a working class job in their life. It all comes very Leninist to me. Bernie will do the revolution for the working class. They say their slogan is “Us not me” but it’s very centered around Bernie.

75
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:09:36am

re: #72 Chrysicat

[Embedded content]

Of course, even more important than my reply is the one that started that thread: Bernie’s so Russophilic that he favours dissolving the current NATO (the odds that most of its members would “re-“join a NATO that includes Russia are slim).

One of these days I will stop coming up with new stuff to add to a post of tweets after it goes up. Today is not that day.

76
jeffreyw  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:14:23am

re: #68 A hollow voice says, Guilty, guilty, guilty!

Back atcha!

[Embedded content]

Monday - I Can Deal
77
Dr Lizardo  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:16:15am

re: #74 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

You know, all the crap I hear about the working class this and the working class that comes from people who I don’t think have worked a working class job in their life. It all comes very Leninist to me. Bernie will do the revolution for the working class. They say their slogan is “Us not me” but it’s very centered around Bernie.

There’s a strong level of the same magical thinking that fueled the Bolsheviks with the Bernie supporters.

78
Belafon  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:19:05am

re: #72 Chrysicat

*I* will take advantage of being in a blue state and vote blue downticket but third-party up top

Please don’t. Not even in a blue state.

Of course, even more important than my reply is the one that started that thread: Bernie’s so Russophilic that he favours dissolving the current NATO

Do you have proof of this?

79
William Lewis  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:22:03am

re: #74 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

You know, all the crap I hear about the working class this and the working class that comes from people who I don’t think have worked a working class job in their life. It all comes very Leninist to me. Bernie will do the revolution for the working class. They say their slogan is “Us not me” but it’s very centered around Bernie.

As a working class Marxist I’ll say one thing: NEVER trust anyone who uses the word Revolution. They’re just as dangerous as fascists as they’re out to ratfuck the proletariat and set themselves up over them. For their own good of course. < spit >

Oh, we’re just in a lovely spot - Nazi wannabes on that side, Commie wannabes on this side and rest of us stuck in the middle waiting for the violence to start.

80
Teukka  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:23:30am

re: #39 Dr Lizardo

Here’s your daily dose of pitch-black humor:

[Embedded content]

I see your black humor and raise you my black humor (stolen from Science Humor over at FaceBook):

Facebook Post

81
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:25:20am

re: #78 Belafon

Please don’t. Not even in a blue state.

Do you have proof of this?

Look at the parent tweet.

“Remaking NATO so that Russia is within it” is a non-starter; the majority of NATO nations are there specifically to be defended against Putinist expansionism at this point.

As for the Bloomberg side, if he’s the nominee, the fifty-state republic has ended because only those who can buy the presidency are eligible for the White House from then on. There isn’t a good option at that point and I’d honestly rather rebel against Washington before the election, because there might be enough people willing to accept the veneer of democracy a Bloomberg reign would hold to.

82
NO SMOCKING GUN!  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:29:53am

Here is an interesting article on popular progressive ideas to run on and unpopular ideas to avoid. For example, cutting military spending is unpopular; so weaponized Keynesianism it is! OTOH sticking it to the rich and the pharmaceutical industry are both popular. vox.com

83
The Pie Overlord!  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:31:04am
84
jaunte  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:31:31am
85
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n😷Trips  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:31:57am
86
jaunte  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:36:53am
87
The Pie Overlord!  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:36:59am

FUCK TO THE NO

88
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n😷Trips  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:42:29am

I think you have to assume shit is very bad in Qom

And, that shit is going to spread everywhere.

And, while it is still a few months away, what the fuck is Saudi Arabia going to do about the Hajj?

89
lizardofid  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:43:23am

re: #87 The Pie Overlord!

FUCK TO THE NO

[Embedded content]

That is horrible idea for multiple reasons.

Good morning all!

90
The Pie Overlord!  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:46:08am

FAKE

91
lawhawk  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:46:15am

re: #87 The Pie Overlord!

92
NO SMOCKING GUN!  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:47:05am

re: #89 lizardofid

That is horrible idea for multiple reasons.

Good morning all!

If the others want to stop Sanders, they need to pick one and the rest endorse him or her. Warren and Klobuchar are just as good a pick for the one, arguably better, than Biden, Bloomberg or Buttigeig.

93
danarchy  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:47:21am

So I guess Marianne Williamson endorsed Bernie this weekend. That 0% of the vote she had will make a big difference I am sure…

94
lizardofid  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:48:46am

re: #91 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

re: #92 NO SMOCKING GUN!

If the others want to stop Sanders, they need to pick one and the rest endorse him or her. Warren and Klobuchar are just as good a pick for the one, arguably better, than Biden, Bloomberg or Buttigeig.

Exactly. Not to mention, many of Warren’s supporters are going to go to Bernie.

95
Joe Bacon 🌹  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:52:23am

re: #93 danarchy

So I guess Marianne Williamson endorsed Bernie this weekend. That 0% of the vote she had will make a big difference I am sure…

Not surprised that that crook endorses Bernie.

96
The Pie Overlord!  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:52:33am
97
Joe Bacon 🌹  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:54:46am

re: #96 The Pie Overlord!

[Embedded content]

Yes and all those red states that refused to expand Medicaid may be in for a rude and nasty shock…

98
Unabogie  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:55:16am

It’s weird to me that we instinctively understand these animals are complex, feeling beings yet we refuse to stop eating them or using them as clothing. Especially in 2020, when it’s dead simple to eat something else.

99
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:56:37am

Seriously, this is the worst defense I’ve heard and I’ve heard it from both Branch Bernidians and Trumphumpers.

If I learn that someone who despises everything I stand for is trying to put me in a specific postiton, and I’m legally forbidden from warning the world about that, I actively reject the position because at the point I’m kinda fruit of the poisonous tree if I do get there and I’ll only wind up second-guessing whether everything I do is actually what the enemy wanted me to.

Bernie, OTOH, just played as though it were business as usual, and if an establishment Dem hadn’t leaked it, would have gone ahead and taken the nomination even knowing Putin was likely to pull his support at that point, because he’s arrogant enough to think he can beat the Trump/Putin team on his own.

100
The Pie Overlord!  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:57:28am

Belgium’s Carnival Parade Featuring Jew Insects. (in spoilers because triggering)

Click to Reveal
101
Joe Bacon 🌹  Feb 24, 2020 • 7:59:23am

re: #100 The Pie Overlord!

Belgium’s Carnival Parade Featuring Jew Insects. (in spoilers because triggering)

[Embedded content]

They went off the deep end because UNESCO revoked their World Heritage Status…still no excuse for this sick ssshhhaaavvviiinnnggg cream…

102
danarchy  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:00:45am

re: #90 The Pie Overlord!

[Embedded content]

Ok, this account seems to have just joined twitter and posted a half dozen memes in a matter of minutes and somehow this one has already made it to LGF. How is that even possible, he has 0 followers? Also this is world series audio laid over the actual video…

103
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:01:07am

re: #100 The Pie Overlord!

Belgium’s Carnival Parade Featuring Jew Insects. (in spoilers because triggering)

[Embedded content]

We’re going backwards in a lot of disturbing ways.

104
The Pie Overlord!  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:02:20am

2tmyHKK1gCQ6cqVBNZ395QmLkA+fSTkxrk2Hqdis9R1I6CW8qHXfxbHM4aBIiC0rByaC7JRM5Hi6HbhTiBCu3kBlOatebgaMFUm/rgpLkFZgJ9ndZdYCuF+Y5FXsH7vC2Kmi6drEVevlfcV/1/0iRtEOQ+HUrUNArIM4xkM0geAnAlPuSJODUQuHNh4GF4NAQtEe1+dhL3GJsmhen1c1QANbca7bsWnrhVH1yXS2Fqej6/ExsLZ/JwP6aDpVidWUd8YN68IntLkGJHQFXuQAOQ==

105
jaunte  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:02:27am

re: #100 The Pie Overlord!

Disgusting.

106
The Pie Overlord!  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:03:07am

re: #102 danarchy

Ok, this account seems to have just joined twitter and posted a half dozen memes in a matter of minutes and somehow this one has already made it to LGF. How is that even possible, he has 0 followers? Also this is world series audio laid over the actual video…

Deleted.

107
Broad With Sass  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:04:38am

re: #102 danarchy

100%
Trollbot Rating: Alarming
This report was created for @AlanStevenson11
Report created: 2020-02-24 11:03:56
Website: botsentinel.com
Normal
Moderate
Problematic
Alarming
Normal: 0% - 24%
Moderate: 25% - 49%
Problematic: 50% - 74%
Alarming: 75% - 100%
Our analysis has concluded AlanStevenson11 exhibits alarming tweet activity and patterns that match a trollbot account. Please report this account to Twitter and avoid.

108
jaunte  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:06:32am

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

“…Americans change politics first by changing minds. If this were not the case, Russia would not be swamping us with disinformation, and the right wing would not flood the country with talk radio and the Fox News Channel, which present fact-free stories designed to divert people from reality. And, of course, Trump would not bother spinning his own lies. People, and now bots, spreading those lies have been so assertive that a lot of folks who know they’re crap have stayed quiet, not wanting to start a fight. But speaking up to identify lies and to celebrate real American values is a crucial step toward changing the national narrative. If it weren’t, no one would be paying bots and trolls to shut us up.

Changing the national narrative is crucially important, but it is not enough to change our government. To do that, we need to complain constantly to our elected officials, even those who ignore us (because they do keep a record), and to support politicians who are advancing democracy. While everyone is currently focused on the presidential race, even more important are the Senate races, and the House. If Democrats take the Senate, Trump will be hamstrung even if he is reelected. And the House needs to be Democratic to check him in the first place. So support a presidential candidate, sure, but pick a Senate race and a House race, and work for that candidate, too.”

109
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:09:10am

Guy is saying “fake news” on 50-year-old articles being able to be read as though they were originally composed for the Web:

110
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n😷Trips  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:17:49am
111
jaunte  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:18:45am

Aided by Fox Nooz

112
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:19:16am

re: #110 FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt’n😷Trips

[Embedded content]

Fox always with the stupidest of takes.

113
The Pie Overlord!  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:20:18am
114
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n😷Trips  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:20:34am

re: #112 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

Fox always with the stupidest of takes.

Sure, but for 35% of America, it is now canon

115
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:20:35am

re: #91 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

The non-women are not the threat to the rich that Warren and Klobucher are.

116
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:21:38am

re: #114 FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt’n😷Trips

Sure, but for 35% of America, it is now canon

Yep and that’s why I’m cynical even if we beat Trump. So much of our country is lost to propaganda.

117
Shiplord Kirel, Friend of Moose and Squirrel  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:28:03am

re: #110 FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt’n😷Trips

[Embedded content]

“The market has gone down today because of Elizabeth Warren’s .4 percent rise in the polls and not because of the giant meteor that crashed into Wall Street just before the opening bell.”

118
jaunte  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:29:53am

The stock market is a completely rational measure of the economy and that’s why it’s panicking over the existence of a candidate Republicans think they can beat easily.

119
sagehen  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:31:23am

re: #72 Chrysicat

A “President Bloomberg” will mean that no one is eligible for the Oval unless they self-fund.

You’d prefer a nomination goes to whoever wins the Koch/Mercer/Adelson primary? Or whoever a handful of dominionists and mega-preachers order their followers to support? Or whoever Exxon, Pfizer and Aetna choose? Or Lockheed Martin and Raytheon? Or the NRA? Bloomberg doesn’t have to give a crap what any of them want; nor does he have to hide whose bidding he’s doing.

JFK’s father had all the money in the world, and through his brother-in-law he had the Hollywood glamourati on his side. Didn’t help Teddy. Obama got a huge boost from Oprah. Reagan was funded by industrialists. Clinton’s financial advantage wasn’t enough to win. Nor was McCain’s.

Bloomberg’s policy positions are the same ones he’s been on about for decades. His time as mayor proved what he he would do with political power if gets it. Money buys exposure, money buys name ID, but it doesn’t buy voters.

Bloomberg’s wealth saved him from having to win over any of the puppet-masters, and his eventual electoral results are going to be based partly on his debate performances, and the rest on what people think of his NYC record.

120
jaunte  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:34:50am

Before the state’s Democratic primary, on February 29th, some conservatives are trying to settle on the least electable candidate.
newyorker.com

121
sagehen  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:35:28am

re: #86 jaunte

[Embedded content]

122
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:35:37am

re: #120 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Before the state’s Democratic primary, on February 29th, some conservatives are trying to settle on the least electable candidate.
newyorker.com

Operation Ratfuck.

123
jaunte  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:36:39am

re: #122 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

Why don’t parties control their primaries?

124
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:37:46am

re: #123 jaunte

Why don’t parties control their primaries?

They really do need to make all primaries closed now. This is just getting ridiculous.

125
jaunte  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:39:11am

re: #124 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

Seems like a private organization could act quickly. What am I missing?

126
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:39:14am

re: #124 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

They really do need to make all primaries closed now. This is just getting ridiculous.

Obligatory reminder as to who suggested his supporters should threaten the DNC if it even pushed for all states to close their primaries…

127
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:40:13am

re: #126 Chrysicat

Obligatory reminder as to who suggested his supporters should threaten the DNC if it even pushed for all states to close their primaries…

Closed primaries would mean that the independents who support Bernie would not be in a position to vote for him.

128
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:40:27am

re: #125 jaunte

Seems like a private organization could act quickly. What am I missing?

First off, that the private org in question isn’t the nationwide DNC, because the state parties are very devoted to the fiction that their state is the actual nation-state and Washington is merely the headquarters of a supranational organisation.

129
Belafon  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:40:29am

re: #72 Chrysicat

Of course, even more important than my reply is the one that started that thread: Bernie’s so Russophilic that he favours dissolving the current NATO (the odds that most of its members would “re-“join a NATO that includes Russia are slim).

I figure the easiest way to get the Republicans to support campaign finance reform would be for Bloomberg to win the presidency just due to his money.

130
Colère Tueur de Lapin  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:40:30am

re: #91 lawhawk

Misogyny runs deep.

But is very close to the surface.

131
plansbandc  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:41:11am

C’mon man. Let the talented little guy in.

132
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n😷Trips  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:42:09am
133
Unabogie  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:43:05am

re: #127 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

Closed primaries would mean that the independents who support Bernie would not be in a position to vote for him.

And this is reason #1 why closed primaries should die. It’s free and easy to register as a Democrat. There are zero barriers to doing so. The Democratic party should confine their nomination process to their members.

134
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n😷Trips  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:43:14am

Relax, it’s not a “human centipede” tweet

135
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:44:28am

re: #133 Unabogie

And this is reason #1 why closed primaries should die. It’s free and easy to register as a Democrat. There are zero barriers to doing so. The Democratic party should confine their nomination process to their members.

I’ll upding you if you rephrase to mean “open primaries must die”, like the rest of your post suggests you did.

136
Belafon  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:44:56am

re: #133 Unabogie

I think you mean open primaries.

Since the state pays for primaries, they set the rules on them. Plus, not too long ago, the Democrats saw open primaries as a way to get voters to look at them.

137
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n😷Trips  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:46:41am
138
FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt'n😷Trips  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:48:30am
139
Disloyal Archangel  Feb 24, 2020 • 8:51:27am
140
danarchy  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:01:01am

re: #123 jaunte

Why don’t parties control their primaries?

Because the state pays for it. Where the state doesn’t pay for it you get caucuses. Pick your poison.

141
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:04:38am

re: #140 danarchy

Because the state pays for it. Where the state doesn’t pay for it you get caucuses. Pick your poison.

We have come to take it for granted that selecting candidates should be an open and democratic process. That has not always been the case.

142
retired cynic  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:06:05am

re: #73 A Mom Anon

I gotta say, it took me a couple of times to get through the video because I started crying. How anyone could mistreat such an amazing and beautiful creature.

That culture mistreats people in the same way: women, lower castes. And they are amazing and beautiful creatures, too.

(I am NOT disagreeing with you about the beauty of this video, and the love for this elephant. I like most animals more than most people!)

143
Backwoods_Sleuth  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:08:14am

re: #86 jaunte

[Embedded content]

144
William Lewis  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:10:52am

re: #127 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

Yes. Exactly.
Reg card is right here. Don’t want to be a Democrat? Then enjoy the Independent primary.

145
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:13:21am

Ire: #144 William Lewis

Yes. Exactly.
Reg card is right here. Don’t want to be a Democrat? Then enjoy the Independent primary.

Exactly. I’ve technically been a registered Democrat since I turned 18. I knew the two parties. I wanted to be a Democrat because that party aligns with my values more and I have supported their candidates more often than not. But nope we instead get people who want to act like they’re due influence in a party that they’ve never wanted to be a part of.

146
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:16:08am

re: #145 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

I

Exactly. I’ve technically been a registered Democrat since I turned 18. I knew the two parties. I wanted to be a Democrat because that party aligns with my values more and I have supported their candidates more often than not. But nope we instead get people who want to act like they’re due influence in a party that they’ve never wanted to be a part of.

and if there is no other primary, influence in a party they are actively out to ratfuck.

147
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:16:33am

Forget that.

Wrong link somehow even though I specifically checked to see if I’d copied the new one.

148
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:17:55am

re: #147 Chrysicat

Forget that.

Wrong link somehow even though I specifically checked to see if I’d copied the new one.

Here’s the right one:

149
danarchy  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:19:56am

re: #141 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

We have come to take it for granted that selecting candidates should be an open and democratic process. That has not always been the case.

Part of me wonders why the state got into the business of funding the party selection process at all. It certainly has the effect of perpetuating the 2 party system. When you have a huge, years long election before the election imparting legitimacy on the 2 main parties, what chance does a third party realistically have.

150
NO SMOCKING GUN!  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:22:58am

First Cosby, now Weinstein. Trump should be getting nervous. Rich and famous no longer ensures being able to rape without consequences.

151
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:23:24am

re: #150 NO SMOCKING GUN!

First Cosby, now Weinstein. Trump should be getting nervous. Rich and famous no longer ensures being able to rape without consequences.

He will be pardoned

152
Backwoods_Sleuth  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:23:46am
153
The Ghost of a Flea  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:25:23am

re: #87 The Pie Overlord!

See,

THAT RIGHT THERE

is why I just spent the entirety of Sunday writing text blocks about how you’re going to sold a sack of horseshit as “reasonable.”

ETA: I just edited out a bit of snark because I honestly done with compensatory gestures to indicate I’m not one of “those” leftists. Trying to practice what I preach.

154
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:28:50am

re: #151 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

He will be pardoned

Why on earth would Trump do that?

As far as I know both he and his brother are still registered Dems and Trump would much rather hold that they’re moldering in Sing Sing over us.

Besides the which, I don’t think he can because they’ll be moldering in Sing Sing due to the crimes being NY state crimes rather than federal.

155
sagehen  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:30:54am

re: #82 NO SMOCKING GUN!

Here is an interesting article on popular progressive ideas to run on and unpopular ideas to avoid. For example, cutting military spending is unpopular; so weaponized Keynesianism it is! OTOH sticking it to the rich and the pharmaceutical industry are both popular. vox.com

“Taking extreme and unpopular views is going to make it hard to win elections and deliver on your agenda. But the opposite of “extreme and unpopular” views isn’t necessarily “moderate” views, it’s being smart and doing your homework on what’s popular.

“There are easily enough bold progressive ideas out there that are popular — the ones on this list, but also well-known ideas like raising the minimum wage — that there’s little practical cost to urging politicians to emphasize the popular ones while steering clear of unpopular stances.”

156
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:33:21am

re: #154 Chrysicat

Why on earth would Trump do that?

As far as I know both he and his brother are still registered Dems and Trump would much rather hold that they’re moldering in Sing Sing over us.

Besides the which, I don’t think he can***here was what’s supposed to be there*** because they’ll be moldering***to here*** in Sing Sing due to the crimes being NY state crimes rather than federal.

Gah. Un-closed tags are bad. Especially since I’ve lost the habit of using preview.

157
retired cynic  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:34:30am

The Supreme Court quietly goes full MAGA, Judd Legum, Popular Information

Those five [right wing] justices are now quietly circumventing the traditional legal process to do the bidding of the Trump administration. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama appointee, has had enough. In an unusually scathing dissent, Sotomayor formally accused the conservative majority of “putting a thumb on the scale” for the Trump administration.

158
lawhawk  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:34:34am
159
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:35:11am

Trump can’t pardon Weinstein even if he wants to. I swear. i love y’all but it was a state of New York case. Trump can’t use the pardon for people convicted on a state level even if he wanted to. And if he did, he’s not going to use it for Harvey frigging Weinstein.

160
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:36:35am

re: #155 sagehen

“Taking extreme and unpopular views is going to make it hard to win elections and deliver on your agenda. But the opposite of “extreme and unpopular” views isn’t necessarily “moderate” views, it’s being smart and doing your homework on what’s popular.

“There are easily enough bold progressive ideas out there that are popular — the ones on this list, but also well-known ideas like raising the minimum wage — that there’s little practical cost to urging politicians to emphasize the popular ones while steering clear of unpopular stances.”

I’d be more in favour of that approach if “simply allowing trans-people to transition” weren’t still a mildly unpopular stance, as Bernie’s people are stressing in their push to nominate him while pushing LGBT even behind straight Black men.

At some point you have to stand for social justice even if it’ll decrease your vote margin somewhat.

161
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:36:45am

re: #157 retired cynic

The Supreme Court quietly goes full MAGA, Judd Legum, Popular Information

We had the chance for the most liberal court in 50 years stolen from us when McConnell couldn’t accept the fact that Scalia died in the Obama presidency. And the motherfucker is so openly craven he hasn’t even hidden the fact that if there were to be a vacancy this year, he would be right on it.

162
NO SMOCKING GUN!  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:41:18am

re: #160 Chrysicat

I’d be more in favour of that approach if “simply allowing trans-people to transition” weren’t still a mildly unpopular stance, as Bernie’s people are stressing in their push to nominate him while pushing LGBT even behind straight Black men.

At some point you have to stand for social justice even if it’ll decrease your vote margin somewhat.

Well of course, but in your campaign you emphasize your popular ideas. You aren’t going to do a big ad campaign on transitioning because it only affects a small percentage of the population, but you can mention it occasionally, especially when meeting a group of the affected population.

163
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:42:52am

re: #151 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

He will be pardoned

I’m going to ask you kindly here but please stop it with the uninformed hot takes. Trump cannot pardon Weinstein. The state of New York convicted Weinstein not the United States. There’s a reason why then AG Schneidermann and now AG James’ cases in New York get talked about because Trump has no power or pardon or clemency in state cases. It’s why Obama when people wanted him to give Steven Avery and his nephew clemency for the alleged (I haven’t seen all of it) miscarriage of justice there pointed out to people that he couldn’t even do if he wanted to. There are certain powers that Trump simply does not have. He could say he pardons Weinstein or Cosby all he wants but the state of New York is not going to go along with that. DOJ won’t be in charge of the facility that Weinstein will be imprisoned in.

164
Backwoods_Sleuth  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:46:09am
165
lawhawk  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:46:11am

re: #151 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

No one is pardoning Weinstein.

Weinstein was convicted on state charges. The only one who can issue clemency is the governor of the state of New York.

166
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:47:50am

re: #165 lawhawk

No one is pardoning Weinstein.

Weinstein was convicted on state charges. The only one who can issue clemency is the governor of the state of New York.

Hell if anything, Trump’s the kind of guy that would use that Weinstein was a high profile Democratic donor to attack Democrats. His son has already done that on Twitter. Trump gains nothing from pardoning Weinstein. I don’t want to sound harsh but when we’re talking legal matters like this, it might helpful for some of y’all to look at jurisdictions. Trump couldn’t even pardon Weinstein if he wanted to.

167
Eclectic Cyborg  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:48:01am

re: #161 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

We had the chance for the most liberal court in 50 years stolen from us when McConnell couldn’t accept the fact that Scalia died in the Obama presidency. And the motherfucker is so openly craven he hasn’t even hidden the fact that if there were to be a vacancy this year, he would be right on it.

Yep. If Trump gets re-elected he’s pretty much guaranteed two more SCOTUS seats.

168
Dr Lizardo  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:48:26am

A new Czech documentary film will be premiering this week - and it’s likely gonna be somewhat controversial.

A hotly anticipated Czech documentary highlighting the danger posed by online predators premieres in Prague on Tuesday. Presenting over-18 actresses as 12-year-olds on fake social media profiles, Caught in the Net exposes a disturbing phenomenon - and has already led to police action.

radio.cz

As the article notes, police investigations have already been launched against some of those who contacted the decoy girls.

169
Hecuba's daughter  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:49:04am

re: #88 FormerDirtDart 🍕🐀 No Capt’n😷Trips

I think you have to assume shit is very bad in Qom

[Embedded content]

And, while it is still a few months away, what the fuck is Saudi Arabia going to do about the Hajj?

Iran is denying this allegation and remains with the official 12 death count. There have certainly been stories that China has suppressed the actual numbers, mainly by not testing victims for the disease. We will have to see.

And what about the 2020 Olympics?

170
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:50:02am

re: #167 Eclectic Cyborg

Yep. If Trump gets re-elected he’s pretty much guaranteed two more SCOTUS seats.

He would get the most SCOTUS picks of any President since Reagan. 4/9 members of SCOTUS will be appointed by a man who has talked about suing people for treason. That’s while yeah I will bitch about the nominee if he or she annoys me but they’re still getting my vote. Trump is a complete imbecile about the law and he’s advised by people who see the courts as a way of maintaining their ideological power.

171
lawhawk  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:50:18am

re: #167 Eclectic Cyborg

Yep. If Trump gets re-elected he’s pretty much guaranteed two more SCOTUS seats.

Some Democrats warned of this very kind of thing in 2016, and not enough people listened in enough states. Trumpist judges will absolutely gut civil and voting rights and LGBT rights and women’s rights. 2 more SCOTUS seats means that a whole host of rights are likely to be shredded and rich white guys see power accumulate even more since everyone else will be deprived of their rights.

172
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:53:08am

re: #171 lawhawk

Some Democrats warned of this very kind of thing in 2016, and not enough people listened in enough states. Trumpist judges will absolutely gut civil and voting rights and LGBT rights and women’s rights. 2 more SCOTUS seats means that a whole host of rights are likely to be shredded and rich white guys see power accumulate even more since everyone else will be deprived of their rights.

It was my biggest reason for preferring Clinton. Yeah I would gladly sign up for at least two more judges that would be closer to RBG, Breyer, Sotomayor(who is tied with RBG for my favorite SCOTUS member even if she is a Yankees fan :), and Kagan. The judiciary matters.

173
lawhawk  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:54:35am

re: #169 Hecuba’s daughter

Perspective:

In the US alone: CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million - 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 - 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 - 61,000 deaths annually since 2010.

Worldwide, the numbers are even more grim. Seasonal flu kills 291,000 to 646,000 people worldwide each year. We don’t go into a panic over the flu, despite the worldwide reach and worldwide incidence. But this is a new iteration of a coronavirus, and people hear these numbers without perspective.

Same kinds of methods would help contain covid19 as influenza. Washing your hands, limiting contact, etc., except that influenza has vaccinations and anti-viral treatments that can be offered to prevent or mitigate the effects.

174
LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:54:46am

re: #164 Backwoods_Sleuth

[Embedded content]

God he’s so pathetic. But we can’t take being him for granted. Don’t assume that everyone who voted against him last time will this time. It sucks but I remember a lot of people made that mistake in 2004. He’s definitely going to continue to use the economy as his argument for why he should win.

175
Chrysicat  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:55:25am

re: #168 Dr Lizardo

A new Czech documentary film will be premiering this week - and it’s likely gonna be somewhat controversial.

radio.cz

As the article notes, police investigations have already been launched against some of those who contacted the decoy girls.

We did that in the twokays. Called it “To Catch a Predator”. It also inevitably led to charging the catfished creepo.

176
Patricia Kayden  Feb 24, 2020 • 9:56:19am

re: #54 lawhawk

Super Tuesday will be the clarifying event for everyone. And it will predictably show that Bernie’s strength is exaggerated as is the weakness of Warren and Biden. Everyone else will be playing distant 4-5-6th fiddles.

But those folks: Steyer, Gabbard, Bloomberg, and Klobuchar will not take the hint.

I hope you’re right. While I’ll vote for him in the general, Sanders is making me very nervous. I can’t imagine another four years of Trump and I don’t believe that Sanders can beat him. There’s a reason Russia is pushing Sanders to win our primaries.

177
Mike Lamb  Feb 24, 2020 • 10:20:44am

re: #173 lawhawk

Perspective:

In the US alone: CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million - 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 - 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 - 61,000 deaths annually since 2010.

Worldwide, the numbers are even more grim. Seasonal flu kills 291,000 to 646,000 people worldwide each year. We don’t go into a panic over the flu, despite the worldwide reach and worldwide incidence. But this is a new iteration of a coronavirus, and people hear these numbers without perspective.

Same kinds of methods would help contain covid19 as influenza. Washing your hands, limiting contact, etc., except that influenza has vaccinations and anti-viral treatments that can be offered to prevent or mitigate the effects.

While I agree that the hysteria around the corona virus is currently well over the top, my only concern is whether there is an accurate picture of what is happening, particularly in China. When they started shutting down major cities and rail lines, it certainly raised concerns that the issue was much worse than what was being reported.

178
sagehen  Feb 24, 2020 • 10:55:43am

re: #171 lawhawk

Some Democrats warned of this very kind of thing in 2016, and not enough people listened in enough states. Trumpist judges will absolutely gut civil and voting rights and LGBT rights and women’s rights. 2 more SCOTUS seats means that a whole host of rights are likely to be shredded and rich white guys see power accumulate even more since everyone else will be deprived of their rights.

Susan Sarandon is okay with that.

Because if things get bad enough, it will bring on the revolution!!


This article has been archived.
Comments are closed.

Jump to top

Create a PageThis is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). Then browse to a site you want to post, select some text on the page to use for a quote, click the bookmarklet, and the Pages posting window will appear with the title, text, and any embedded video or audio files already filled in, ready to go.
Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.
Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT LGF User's Guide RSS Feeds

Help support Little Green Footballs!

Subscribe now for ad-free access!Register and sign in to a free LGF account before subscribing, and your ad-free access will be automatically enabled.

Donate with
PayPal Cash.app
Recent PagesClick to refresh
Texas County at Center of Border Fight Is Overwhelmed by Migrant Deaths EAGLE PASS, Tex. - The undertaker lighted a cigarette and held it between his latex-gloved fingers as he stood over the bloated body bag lying in the bed of his battered pickup truck. The woman had been fished out ...
Cheechako
Yesterday
Views: 111 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 0