January 7, 2018

Trump says he's like Reagan... and you know what that means.

His new tweet:

Reagan is remembered by millions of Americans as a great and beloved President, and Trump knows that, but I am sure he also knows that the anti-Trumpers will leap at the opportunity to say, but Reagan was senile and that's what we think you are too, ha ha.

I presume Trump not only knows that he is provoking that reaction but knows that reaction will backfire. It will backfire because: 1. Anyone who likes Reagan already rejects the idea that he was impaired by Alzheimer's Disease while he was President, 2. It's offensive to appropriate the misfortune of Alzheimer's Disease for making cheap political points, and 3. Many people have experienced immense pain dealing with Alzheimer's Disease, and that emotion can only be reshaped into a reason to hate Trump if you trample on that pain.

ALSO: Fake News... Fake Book is great rhetoric.

215 comments:

1 – 200 of 215   Newer›   Newest»
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Leftwing lies and spittle into higher gear.

Mark said...

Quite a lot of the electorate hve no direct memory of Reagan. Except for the partisans, i dont think this is a great argument for them.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

"It's hard to argue with results."

Michael K said...

He is also referring to the awful book, "Dutch" that was mostly fiction but was authorized by the Reagan family in the mistaken impression that Morris would do a good job,.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

I recall the MSM talking heads being absolutely gob-smacked at the outpouring of love and affection for Reagan when he died. Their mouths were practically agape in wonder when they covered his funeral. They were sure they had demonized him.

You know, I'm starting to think some high-level people in the government might actually be going to prison, perhaps even Hillary. There is no doubt that the email server was an illegal means to an illegal end and that the Clinton Foundation was just a way to launder payoff money. The interesting thing is that they would engage in such blatantly illegal acts without fearing repercussions. Just how corrupt is the federal government?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“So will I!”

So when will he start?

AllenS said...

Reagan is remembered by millions of Americans as a great and beloved President

I remember millions and all of the MSM and Hollywood crowd hating his fucking guts.

tcrosse said...

Just how corrupt is the federal government?

How deep is the ocean ? How high is the sky ? Money talks, Hillary walks.

buwaya said...

One could say that Reagan was a genius, to achieve so much in spite of his affliction.

Fabi said...

He must laugh his ass off each morning when he tweets out this type of bait for the proggies and the GOPe!

David Begley said...

On MTP now it is all 25th Amendment all the time. According to Michael Wolff, the WH people talk about the 25th Amendment all the time. And openly.

Author, “Read the book.”

tdocer said...

Trump: Season 2 is off to a better start than I had dared hope for.

Chuck said...

Well, the media has had to put up with a shameless lying Donald Trump from the first day he announced he would be running for president.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The DNC hack MSM are discussing the book with serious attention and serious questioning. Plus- Russia!

MSM = banana republic.

mockturtle said...

Trump is no intellectual but he is sane and focused. Most importantly, he GETS THINGS DONE. For those who complain that he doesn't understand the complexities of policy I say, good! Sometimes it's more important to see the forest in spite of the many trees.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I see your daily shrine to Trump is being kept up well today.

If he ever turned off the tv and read for a change, I daresay your blog could become one very nice source of narcissistic supply for him.

After all, the rest of his cabinet all think he's a moron.

wwww said...

"I am sure he also knows that the anti-Trumpers will leap at the opportunity to say, but Reagan was senile"

The never-Trumpers, in general, have a great admiration for Reagan.

Reagan was a very popular President.

Fabi said...

"Well, the media has had to put up with a shameless lying Donald Trump from the first day he announced he would be running for president."

So much winning!

Seeing Red said...

Well, the media has had to put up with a shameless lying Donald Trump from the first day he announced he would be running for president.


If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. $2500 saving Some! I didn't have sex with that woman!


That's so weak Chuck, you should try harder. But your comment was amusing!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Most importantly, he GETS THINGS DONE.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mussolni's political heirs have spoken. Trains are now on time. Oh wait, I meant, tweets and orders are on time.

How important it is to get done the business of saving the 19th century's energy industry from its obsolescence. I always knew a great nation should dream of propping up uncompetitive, deteriorating industries that employ less people than a roast beef sandwich franchise like Arby's - especially if it means polluting its waterways and continuing to pay nationalized medical benefits for killing its workers with lung disease after their effective 20-year stints in the mines. Much less productive lives than a normal career that lasts double that timespan, at least. But hey! Since when does the Crazy Loony Monster Party care about productive lives and careers?

Since never.

Trump is like a narcotic for all your short-sightedness.

Bay Area Guy said...

The Left hated Reagan, as did many establishment Republicans, at least during his primary run in '76, when he almost toppled Ford, a sitting a President.

Compared to today, though, that attacks against Reagan would be considered quaint.

They teased him for being an "actor" - and you know that an actor killed Lincoln, right?

They, of course, called him a racist and an idiot.

“I am scared that if Ronald Reagan gets into office, we are going to see more of the Ku Klux Klan and a resurgence of the Nazi Party,” Coretta Scott King said in November, 1980.

“I’m afraid things are going to blow sky high during this next term,” a nursing student said. He’s a “nitwit,” added a Democrat. “He’s shallow, superficial and frightening,” one of that year’s historic numbers of “undecideds” insisted.

Seeing Red said...

Reagan was a very popular President.



With whom?


Not the elites, the media or those with a platform like those in Hollywood.


They loathed him.

Bill Peschel said...

Ah yes, the Bitburg visit, where a small portion of the cemetery was where SS men were buried, so the media bloomed it up to "Reagan speaks at SS cemetery. He must love Nazis!" meme.

So far, Trump's dumped useless and costly regulations, put a judge on the Supreme Court who believes the Constitution is more than a piece of paper, exposed Obama's sham dealings with North Korea, and revealed the NYC/DC media as a pack of mediocre party-line hacks.

Not bad for an insane president who everyone hates.

Seeing Red said...

How important it is to get done the business of saving the 19th century's energy industry from its obsolescence.


Have you read the article on the $83 billion dollar deal with China in the works?

Obviously not.

I wasn't aware you can send coal thru pipelines.

320Busdriver said...

Watched the pencil neck geek author on lil Chuck Todds show. Sad.

Apparently he couldn't be bothered to put out a book devoid of copy errors, there are a lot of them, so probably not too credible.

AM Joy is a frail snowflake. Have a good Sunday.

Michael K said...

You know, I'm starting to think some high-level people in the government might actually be going to prison, perhaps even Hillary.

I am too. Read CTH every day and see what new facts are starting to seep out.

The heroes in this may well be Nunes and Admiral Mike Rogers who tipped Trump about the surveillance a few days after the election.

Seeing Red said...

Obama's sham dealings with North Korea

And Iran!

Krumhorn said...

I never defend him, but if the election were held again today, I’d vote for him.

I defended W all the time. Waste of time.

- Krumhorn

Left Bank of the Charles said...

What was Ronald Reagan’s fake book? Probably the one by Donald Regan.

Seeing Red said...

I'm talking coal chunks not liquified.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Chuck,
You never told us yesterday what the disasters of the past year have been.

Seeing Red said...

Reagan in His Own Hand is better.

Oso Negro said...

Blogger Ron Winkleheimer said...
You know, I'm starting to think some high-level people in the government might actually be going to prison, perhaps even Hillary.


Other than another Constitutional convention, or disbursing the agencies of the Federal government throughout the 50 states, retaining D.C. only as a ceremonial capitol, I cannot think of ANYTHING that would be better for the United States than to see Hillary Clinton go to prison. I don't expect any of that, sadly.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Hitler got a lot of things done. So did Stalin and Mao.

It's nice to see the right-wingers finally championing action over inaction in their misleaders these days. I guess actually questioning where it's all going or what it's all about is too much to ask at this point. That's next century's lesson. Slow learners need to take their time.

Seeing Red said...

So when will he start?


He has, that's what's so exciting!

I talked to my dem niece at Christmas. They're young saving for retirement. I told her if Donald can give your generation 1/4 to 1/3 of what Reagan did for ours, her generation will be ok.

Seeing Red said...


Hitler got a lot of things done. So did Stalin and Mao


100 million ++ dead, yet you Progs still push that vile ideology of death.

That's last century's lesson, yet down Venezuela goes.

Talk about slow learners, you can't even understand in real time.

Ann Althouse said...

I mainly want bad things not done.

Krumhorn said...

How important it is to get done the business of saving the 19th century's energy industry from its obsolescence.

Ladies and gentlemen, another of the command and control leftie apparatchiks has grasped yet again at the levers of control over the economy...as if the shiny pants’d gub’ment libruls know better than the market! It fails every time it has been tried.

And the lefties are hateful, nasty little shits to boot.

- Krumhorn

Michael K said...

"What was Ronald Reagan’s fake book? Probably the one by Donald Regan."

The Edmund Morris book, "Dutch," which was awful and about half fiction.

Reagan did not like him, it seems and Morris had been authorized by the family on the basis of his Roosevelt biographies.

It was a disaster. The good biography of Reagan is by Steve Hayward,

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

“I am scared that if Ronald Reagan gets into office, we are going to see more of the Ku Klux Klan and a resurgence of the Nazi Party,” Coretta Scott King said in November, 1980.

Reagan begat Limbaugh. And Limbaugh begat Breitbart. And Breitbart begat Bannon.

A nice 36-year arc of history culminating in Charlottesville and tempered by the decline of the hyper-aggressive and power-obsessed white race in America following its slow suicide through corporatist serfdom and other acts of selling out for which they're well known. I think you could get a white guy to sell his mother to Trump - so long as the savings were in the form of a tax cut for his rich boss. He would jump at that opportunity and run off to the Waffle House quicker than when it's announced that the last lottery ticket is about to be sold.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Hitler, Stalin and Mao were all on the political left.

Socialist, Communist and communist. Death to the common man in favor of the state.
This is why leftists run and hide behind "racism." Mommy.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

And the lefties are hateful, nasty little shits to boot.

Are we as black as the lungs of those coal miners whose airways you're still trying to blacken further?

buwaya said...

There is a 21st century energy industry waiting in the wings, entirely capable of electric power generation at sub-2-cents per kWh.

With extremely cheap electricity a very great number of other things become possible.

However, government policy since the 1980s has generally favored very expensive power generation systems, justifying them in all sorts of ways other than cost to the consumer. The structure of electric transmission and distribution makes it a natural monopoly, highly regulated or even owned by the state, that invites Schumpeterian corruption.

It takes quite an powerful political will to favor the consumers vs all the sharks looking to influence policy to their own benefit.

Seeing Red said...

Via Insty:

In the book, Trump has an impossibly short attention span, refuses to learn from policy briefs and fails to grasp the fundamentals of U.S. government.

Where was this version of Trump when giving one of his dozens of interviews, hosting his rallies, or delivering public remarks at any point between 2015 and now?......

mockturtle said...

Althouse asserts: I mainly want bad things not done.

There are eras where 'things not done' are most desirable. A good example is post WWII when General Eisenhower took, albeit reluctantly, the Presidency. The country was war-weary and just wanted to get back to normal. Ike held the reins with a suitably light hand. Today, the swamp has become so dangerously fetid that bold steps are in order.

Krumhorn said...

If all Trumps achieves is to unwind most of the incredibly destructive things that Our Savior wrought during his time at bat, he will be a massively successful president.

- Krumhorn

Seeing Red said...

And that's why he's "Toothless."

That's the best you can do?

You didn't read the article.

Seeing Red said...

My dad always said the country is better off when there's stalemate in Congress.

They can't cause mischief.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

100 million ++ dead, yet you Progs

We progs... what? Still remind you of how many more the right-wing racist incompetents surrounding Hitler would have killed? He and his minions would have killed at least a couple billion! I hate to break the news to you about racial/cultural superiority, but it's not exactly a very inclusive ideology. Just ask the three percenters. Right-wing politics always revolves around some kind of elitism.

That's last century's lesson, yet down Venezuela goes.

Oh no! Venezuela! It's good that you people are here to remind everyone of the exceptions to the rules. One country is all the left has but somehow every other one in Western Europe or South America or wherever else that isn't captured by fanatical right-wing hyper nationalism just doesn't exist.

At least you guys have China. How are its hyper-capitalistic and anti-environmental ways coming along, these days? As long as they're your national model, can you at least seek to emulate their budget discipline, if nothing else?

buwaya said...

But yet, using solid metrics such as median incomes, Coretta King was wrong.

Naming people you don't like is not a reasonable argument.

Gahrie said...

Well, the nation has had to put up with a shameless lying media from the first day a Republican announced he would be running for president.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Today, the swamp has become so dangerously fetid that bold steps are in order.

Please tell me about the noble and definitely not corrupt, self-interested, corporatist ways of every member of Mr. Swamps Are Bad's cabinet - starting with the blonde pseudo-billionaire himself. The one who just pushed through a bill to cut his own taxes - however much of them he actually admits to paying in the first place.

You must be pretty excited at how they got the internet to be sold off to the cable monopolies. I'm sure that was a form of economic vitalism that every internet subscriber was just jumping at anticipation to do.

mockturtle said...

OK, so I mix metaphors.

Seeing Red said...

Are we as black as the lungs of those coal miners whose airways you're still trying to blacken further?


One of my lefty teachers who despised Reagan forced us to watch a documentary on coal miners. ( also had us take an anonymous poll by paper on how many guns were in our houses. They have a pattern they can't help themselves.)

What he didn't know was that my uncle was a coal miner.

So the first three heart-tugging questions were asked and I was number 4.

Since they have lung disease, why were they smoking (during their interviews)?

The teacher announced he wasn't feeling well, had a headache and dismissed class early.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

1. Anyone who likes Reagan already rejects the idea that he was impaired by Alzheimer's Disease while he was President,

Where did you get that assumption from?

2. It's offensive to appropriate the misfortune of Alzheimer's Disease for making cheap political points, and...

"Offensive" sounds like a matter of opinion. And the political points here are very valuable. Most people don't want imbecilic leaders - or as Trump calls them, stupid. Apparently neither does his cabinet but then it seems they've made clear what they make of him in that regard.

3. Many people have experienced immense pain dealing with Alzheimer's Disease, and that emotion can only be reshaped into a reason to hate Trump if you trample on that pain.

Some people are capable of thinking rationally and logically no matter what they've been through. I daresay most family members of people with Alzheimers don't want them running heavy machinery. Or the country, for that matter.

ALSO: Fake News... Fake Book is great rhetoric.

Garbage Pail Kids stuff.

Krumhorn said...

Are we as black as the lungs of those coal miners whose airways you're still trying to blacken further?

Blacker than black. No light escapes from such historical darkness. The political left has burned whole civilizations to a crisp. Hundreds of millions have died at the brutal hands of lefties. Freedom, self-determination, and basic human liberty are not even a memory so black is the blight that libruls bring.

Coal is a cheap and abundant fuel. Command economy leftie dogma NEVER works.

.....speaking of slow learners

- Krumhorn

cronus titan said...

The media, academia, and GOPe despised Reagan for many of the same reasons they despise Trump. They actually made a Very Special Movie, The Day After, because Reagan was an idiot and a cowboy who wanted everyone to die in a nuclear holocaust. It was progressive self-indulgent buffoonery at its finest. GOPe types despised him for cutting taxes and deregulation (likely because their own money would dry up -- sound familiar?). The hateful rhetoric was everywhere and did not calm through two terms. The media, academia, and GOPe try to rewrite the history of the Reagan Presidency every chance they get (they now assume they have proven to each other that he was mentally ill, but of course that is fake news).

Trump, like Reagan, campaigned on a policy of turning over the desks in DC and upsetting what (at least to DC) is the natural order of things (mainly Democrats leading obedent and submissive Republicans). No one should be surprised that the people behind those desks are not intereted in having their desks overturned.

Seeing Red said...

I mainly want bad things not done.


Sometimes we won't agree on what a "bad thing" is.

Michael K said...

However, government policy since the 1980s has generally favored very expensive power generation systems, justifying them in all sorts of ways other than cost to the consumer.

When the left/environmentalists support nuclear power, I will pay attention to their concerns.

The KGB invented the anti-nuclear hysteria in the 1950s to inhibit the development of US military nuclear programs.

It is the most successful program they have ever come up with. And it continues today,

buwaya said...

Europe is not very socialist according to any reasonable standard. I dispute the general misconception of US progressives.

You have to get very selective about any given metric to paint them as such. Their burden of taxation is far less progressive than that of the US, and to the extent that government revenues are higher as %GDP, it comes out of the pockets of the working class. And it is not correct to say, even, that their regulatory burden is worse than that of the US, pre-Trump.

The real advantages the Euros have, in seeming more "left", is that for the most part they are much more efficient at delivering government services. It costs them much less to deliver such things as public education and medical care. This is generally so because their government bureaucracies are not so incredibly convoluted as their American counterparts, nor so "captured" by economic and political interests.

They do government better.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

So Trump is Reagan. Isn't that when the selling off of America to corporate interests started?

I know that Reagan was anti-union. Trump's the same guy; just pretends to be pro-worker. As long as you work a very dangerous, life-shortening job, that is. That's the kind of work Trump would like to see more of.

Will the white race decline further due to their silly cheerleading of this misleader? It seems so. I'm beginning to think they're suicidal, as far as peoples go.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I mainly want bad things not done.”

Me too. I’m thinking a nuclear war might be bad.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Freedom, self-determination, and basic human liberty are not even a memory so black is the blight that libruls bring.

Right. Which right-wing anti-liberal brought those things to Europe and/or parts of Asia in 1945?

As long as you phonies are into "getting things done" finally.

Carol said...


After all, the rest of his cabinet all think he's a moron.


Now that's positively Lincolnesque!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The KGB invented the anti-nuclear hysteria in the 1950s...

This much is obvious. And I agree 100%. I recommend that every right-winger rub plutonium all over his/her gonads right now and get back to me in a couple decades about how safe the stuff is. Obviously much safer than the polonium that Putin uses to kill his adversaries.

Sprezzatura said...


"

Dear Abby,

Got a problem. I'm a decent, underpaid, hardworking county coroner. It's
important that my family eat meat at least three times a week. But we just can't
afford to with the prices the way they are. So I bring home some choice cuts from my
autopsy subjects. Just mix in the Tuna Helper:and ta-da!

The whole family thinks my new meals are delicious. They ask me what's
my secret. Abby, I think they're getting suspicious. My smart-ass 8-year-old keeps
asking, "Where's all the meat? The red dye #2 kind that's kept in the fridge."

If they find out the truth I don't think they'll understand. Abby, what do I tell
my family?


"

Michael K said...

for the most part they are much more efficient at delivering government services.

Theodore Dalrymple warned about that in "The Uses of Corruption."

Admittedly, corruption is a strange kind of virtue: but so is honesty in pursuit of useless or harmful ends. Corruption is generally held to be a vice, and viewed in the abstract, it is. But bad behavior can sometimes have good effects, and good behavior bad effects.


Where administration is light and bureaucracy small, bureaucratic honesty is an incomparable virtue; but where these are heavy and large, as in all modern European states, Britain and Italy not least among them, they burden and obstruct the inventive and energetic. Where bureaucrats are honest, no one can cut through their Laocoönian coils: their procedures, no matter how onerous, antiquated, or bloody-minded, must be endured patiently. Such bureaucrats can neither be hurried in their deliberations nor made to see common sense. Indeed, the very absurdity or pedantry of these deliberations is for them the guarantee of their own fair-mindedness, impartiality, and disinterest. To treat all people with equal contempt and indifference is the bureaucrat’s idea of equity.


The whole thing is worth reading.

Also, many years ago British physician Alex Comfort described the US bureaucracy as "A rogue form of private enterprise."

buwaya said...

It is, for instance, much easier/cheaper to manufacture in Germany than California. There is not the outright institutional hatred of business, of industry, nor the chaos of regulation or bureaucracy.

This in spite of "socialism". This is in spite of government benefits, or labor "protections", both of which cost the Germans far less than their equivalents cost Americans. This word, "socialism", is just a word, and does not define realities.

Michael K said...

Does anyone else see this thread as two threads?

One with leftist ranting and the other normal people trying to have a conversation ?

We seem to get more of these lately.

pacwest said...

""I mainly want bad things not done.”"

"Me too. I’m thinking a nuclear war might be bad."

Add me to that list also. I think we should minimize the possibilities of that happening.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The KGB invented the anti-nuclear hysteria in the 1950s...

Must be. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki residents of the 1940s were all for the stuff.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Putin is a leftover communist. You folks on the mind-numbed left should be worshiping him. the only reason you do not - you think somehow Putin hurt your gal Hillary.

Seth Rich has no comment.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Does anyone else see this thread as two threads?

One with leftist ranting and the other normal people trying to have a conversation ?”

There goes Dr.Michael K once again abusing psychiatry to describe those in political opposition to him. Nice work doc! Who knew you like Soviet style methods.

buwaya said...

Not responsive Ritmo.
Now, I give a 50% probability that you will insult me, 30% that you will insult Filipinos, 10% that you will insult Germans.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

""I mainly want bad things not done.”"

"Me too. I’m thinking a nuclear war might be bad."

“Add me to that list also. I think we should minimize the possibilities of that happening.”

Yes, that is a very normal way to look at it.

Gahrie said...

Which right-wing anti-liberal brought those things to Europe and/or parts of Asia in 1945?

Eisenhower and MacArthur.

Seeing Red said...

I know that Reagan was anti-union.

He was head of SAG.

What happened to PATCO was PATCO's own fault. They chose to break the contract. And Ronnie showing sturdiness in the face of that unlawful defiance is what made the commies sit up and take notice that things weren't going to be the same even though Democrat Tip O'Neill Head of Congress, Third most powerful position in the country, told the commies to ignore Ronnie, they'll still work with them.

Michael K said...

I was scolded on another thread for complaining about the leftists dominating conversation.

I guess Ann likes these 200 comment threads with half by leftist rants,

It's a nice day out here.

Have a good one.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Eisenhower and MacArthur.

Ha ha. How about Stalin and his commanders? I wasn't aware that America lacked a commander in chief during WWII. Leave it to the right to think that you can have a military without the nation actually running/supplying/supporting it.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“leftists dominating conversation.”

Why would he think it’s “domination”? What whiney childish thing to say, step up Doc and assert your dominance! Don’t run away with your tail between your legs.

pacwest said...

"Yes, that is a very normal way to look at it."

Would you agree that Iran and NK having nuclear weapons increase the chances of a nuclear war?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I guess Ann likes these 200 comment threads with half by leftist rants,

Better than short threads with the entire whole comprised of rightist rants.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Mike.

buwaya said...

The American sense of the political desiderata of government is rather different than the European one.

To put it, perhaps, too plainly, the Euros desire results, the Americans desire process. The Euros desire education and medical care and public housing (for instance), the Americans desire a structure whereby as many people as possible can make as much money as possible out of education, medical care and public housing.

These are matters of degree, the Euos certainly do love their institutions and their iron rice bowls, but not to the degree of ravenous insanity the Americans bring into it.

Sprezzatura said...

Some libs also say that DJT has a wee wee wee.

Presumably this is offending certain men.

Sad!


And, the mentally ill (as opposed to mentally incapacitated) are also likely offended when DJT is called crazy.

Not to mention the incontinent backlash. Corker wrapped all of these together when he offended adult daycare attendees. Althouse demo?











Bay Area Guy said...

In 7 days, nobody will be talking about this book.

Whenever, we (the citizens & the pundits & the elected officials) stray from policy issues, wierd, fun and exotic conversations take place.

No welder in Hayward, California, making $73,000/year, trying to pay the rent, trying keep the spark of his marriage alive, trying to make sure his kids don't drink too much beer on the weekends gives a rat's ass about Steve Bannon's political ruminations.

Here's some policy:

1. Tax cut legislation
2. Eliminating the tax penalty under Obamacare
3. Allow oil drilling in ANWAR
4. Appoint Gorsuch and 13 Federalist Society Judges to the appellate courts
5. Massive de-regulation
6. Beefing up border security to reduce illegal immigration
7. Withdrawing from Paris Climate Accords

Are these good policies or not? Do they help the American worker or not? Does it help the welder in Hayward or not?

Those are fair game for criticism and discussion. It should be vigorous. In contrast, the Wolff book is mostly bullshit.



mockturtle said...

Hmmm...let's see. Everyone thought Reagan would bring about a nuclear holocaust. IIRC, it was JFK who brought us closest to a nuclear war with the USSR. The best way to prevent war of any kind is to maintain military strength and make it clear that you mean what you say in regard to retaliation.

Gahrie said...

How about Stalin and his commanders?

Only a die hard Leftie Commie lover would be dumb enough to say that Stalin and his commanders spread "Freedom, self-determination, and basic human liberty" anywhere.

Orwell sure had you guys pegged.

Seeing Red said...

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C. S. Lewis
English essayist & juvenile novelist (1898 - 1963)

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Would you agree that Iran and NK having nuclear weapons increase the chances of a nuclear war?”

Yes, however they are sovereign nations.

James K said...

I mainly want bad things not done.

Normally I would agree, but so many bad things were done under the previous administration that we need a lot of them undone. Thankfully Trump is doing that, even if Obamacare is still on life support.

mockturtle said...

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C. S. Lewis
English essayist & juvenile novelist (1898 - 1963)


And noted Christian apologist. One of my very favorite people.

Seeing Red said...

The American sense of the political desiderata of government is rather different than the European one.

To put it, perhaps, too plainly, the Euros desire results, the Americans desire process. The Euros desire education and medical care and public housing (for instance), the Americans desire a structure whereby as many people as possible can make as much money as possible out of education, medical care and public housing.
M
These are matters of degree, the Euos certainly do love their institutions and their iron rice bowls, but not to the degree of ravenous insanity the Americans bring into it.



What you've just described is the difference between a subject and a citizen. I am no subject.

Or as Insty sez:

They'll turn us all into beggars cos they're easier to please.

mockturtle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Seeing Red said...

“Would you agree that Iran and NK having nuclear weapons increase the chances of a nuclear war?”

Yes, however they are sovereign nations.


What presidents helped?im kind of hazy on this.

Sprezzatura said...

"The best way to prevent war of any kind is to maintain military strength and make it clear that you mean what you say in regard to retaliation."

OK. But, don't forget that Ron taught us that the best way to respond to Iran-backed terrorists killing a couple hundred Americans is to promise to never give in to this terrorism, but then run up the white flag of defeat and remove our military months later.

Reality.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“The best way to prevent war of any kind is to maintain military strength and make it clear that you mean what you say in regard to retaliation.”

Maintaining military strength and provoking a loose cannon are two different things.

Seeing Red said...

The American sense of the political desiderata of government is rather different than the European one.



That's because our Founding Fathers lived it and preferred another way.

Anonymous said...

Spot on, Michael K.

mockturtle said...

It should be noted that what Trump is doing is not to increase government but to decrease it. Not to control people but to give them more freedom, whereas the Left thinks it knows what is best for people and seeks to impose it on them.

Gahrie said...

Yes, however they are sovereign nations.

Now if the Left would only recognize that the United States is also......

Seeing Red said...

As my GED working class father said, "That's why the 2nd Amendment protects the First."

Big Mike said...

Well, the media decided to push a shameless lying Donald Trump from the first day he announced he would be running for president.

Fixed it for you, Chuck! And then he turned out to be the best Republican to beat Hillary Clinton like a rented mule. Funny how that works sometimes.

Y'know, Barack Obama used to say perfectly reasonable things, and then his administration would push policies that did the opposite. Intelligent people used to ignore what he said and watch what he did. Trump says outrageous things, but does wonderful things. What a breath of fresh air.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Are these good policies or not? Do they help the American worker or not? Does it help the welder in Hayward or not?

Of course not. Obviously.

1. Tax cut legislation: To help Trump and his buddies, decrease their tax burden and lay the groundwork for further cuts to services as a result. The changes to the non-billionaires were either neutral or removed deductions that helped them.
2. Eliminating the tax penalty under Obamacare: Meaning that 25 million working class Americans with subsidized coverage will now longer be paid for. Stupid and completely political.
3. Allow oil drilling in ANWAR: Killing wildlife and changing the climate is a giveaway to oil execs, not ordinary energy consumers.
4. Appoint Gorsuch and 13 Federalist Society Judges to the appellate courts: Oh. I guess the welder now really cares about promoting conservative ideological legal nonsense instead of policies that help him. Right.
5. Massive de-regulation: More pollution, less responsibility for the owners. Doesn't do shit for labor - unless you think their greatest need is more dangerous working conditions.
6. Beefing up border security to reduce illegal immigration More flash than substance. All for show for Mr. BIg Towers. A marginal help to labor and to send a message to Europe. An exponentially greater benefit to labor could have been made by other measures, but those weren't xenophobic and political enough.
7. Withdrawing from Paris Climate Accords Shutting America out of the newer and more innovative energy industry markets being developed now everywhere else in the world. Just so execs from obsolete industries and those that pollute the groundwater can take a swipe at the best geophysics science NASA and the DOD have to offer. Who needs a planet anyway! Or oceans with fish in them! Phooey! Liberal propaganda! Ecosystems are a hoax! Human life was created by god, not evolution and he says the web of life we rely on doesn't matter!

buwaya said...

I don't think you are getting the distinction I'm making.
My fault.
The Euro/American difference, among those in the pro-state camp, is that the Euros value results, deliverables, while the Americans desire the state for its own sake.

This is why, for instance, in public education (nearly entirely a government service in Europe and the US, staffed almost entirely by government employees in both), the Euros spend half as much per kid as US K-12 does, and still deliver better results.

Guildofcannonballs said...

In honor of the great new "Trump is Reagan" tag I repost here now a key to understanding Trump, and please know I have tried repeatedly and can no longer access WFB's writings hence nothing new from this great article from 1986.

Hillsdale has let me down. Crushed.


FROM UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
FOR RELEASE : THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1986
ON THE RIGHT by William F . Buckley Jr .
UNDERSTANDING REAGAN

When Henry Kissinger went down to Washington last
week to address a meeting of academicians at what he thought
was a closed meeting, he spoke of Ronald Reagan and his
administration in terms he would not have used addressing a
Republican rally. But if you listened carefully to everything
Kissinger said, and weighed it comprehensively, you would
find him much more shocking to academicians than to Reaganite
loyalists.
Of Ronald Reagan Kissinger said that, just to clear
the air, he was in no way "indebted" to Reagan -- in the
sense, let us say, that Henry Kissinger would be bound to
acknowledge being indebted to Richard Nixon. He went on:
Moreover, if you meet Reagan and talk with him briefly, you
wonder how he managed to be elected governor of California,
let alone president of the United States.
One can hear the academic audience purring at this
point; but it did not anticipate what was to come.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Now if the Left would only recognize that the United States is also......”

Of course we are a sovereign nation. The “left” has no trouble understanding this. However being a sovereign nation doesn’t mean that we are an island, all alone in the world.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Only a die hard Leftie Commie lover would be dumb enough to say that Stalin and his commanders spread "Freedom, self-determination, and basic human liberty" anywhere.

Ahh.. So you were rooting for der Fuehrer's troops in Stalingrad then, Gahrie.

Schickelgruber sure had you guys pegged.

FullMoon said...

. I guess actually questioning where it's all going or what it's all about is too much to ask at this point. That's next century's lesson.

Just like global warming, bad stuff gonna happen "next century".

Paco Wové said...

"Americans desire the state for its own sake."

Those make-work jobs don't just create themselves, you know.

MacMacConnell said...

Seeing Red said...
I'm talking coal chunks not liquified.

Then you'd be wrong. Coal pipelines is old tech, they have existed for many decades. If "Liquefied" mean smaller chuck mixed with water then yes, but coal can be transferred through at pipeline as a "tree" also, much like a line "pig".

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

However being a sovereign nation doesn’t mean that we are an island, all alone in the world.

That's why they need to increase their debts to China. To remind them. Otherwise they'd blow the whole world up. Or at least all non-human life on it. I'm sure the people will get along just fine on eating rocks and jellyfish.

Chuck said...


No welder in Hayward, California, making $73,000/year, trying to pay the rent, trying keep the spark of his marriage alive, trying to make sure his kids don't drink too much beer on the weekends gives a rat's ass about Steve Bannon's political ruminations.

You wouldn’t get much pushback from me.

But I wonder or expect that a welder and the head of such a household would be concerned more than anything with the cost of, and coverage provided by, his healthcare insurance.

What Trump said he’d fix.

Hagar said...

In Europe, "socialism" tends to be supported by "the masses" and they think about how to make it work. It won't, but they are earnest about it and work at it.

In America, "the masses" want to get rich, and "socialism" is a pipe dream of the idle wealthy intellectual gentry that is going to come about by miracle and will not involve any hardship for anybody. And certainly not any math!

Watching "Start Trek," you would think that there must be a very large industrial complex behind these fleets of galactic battle-stars cruising through space leaving death and destruction in their wake - though with all good intentions, of course - but no; any civilians seen are few and far between, mostly pleasantly retired, and tending vineyards or operating quaint gourmet restaurants with no customers.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It should be noted that what Trump is doing is not to increase government but to decrease it.

Especially when it comes to the taxes he personally pays to it.

Not to control people but to give them more freedom,

Yes, keep confusing yourself with Trump, why don't you.

..whereas the Left thinks it knows what is best for people and seeks to impose it on them.

Oh, just stop with the slogans and rhetoric already. So boring, so completely removed from reality. If I wanted to go listen to a bunch of mindless cheerleaders I'd go to a football game.

FullMoon said...

Toothless
I think you could get a white guy to sell his mother to Trump - so long as the savings were in the form of a tax cut for his rich boss.

Will the white race decline further due to their silly cheerleading of this misleader? It seems so. I'm beginning to think they're suicidal, as far as peoples go.


Yeah, thought so.

Oso Negro said...

@ The Toothless Revolutionary - are you off your meds today? It didn't fucking matter which socialist monster won in Europe in the 1940s. It was still going to be a socialist monster.

Gahrie said...

Of course we are a sovereign nation. The “left” has no trouble understanding this. However being a sovereign nation doesn’t mean that we are an island, all alone in the world.

1) The American people give more money to foreign causes than anyone in the world. The American government provides many billions of dollars of foreign aid each year, and is the first responder anytime there is a disaster anywhere in the world. The U.S. provides more than 25% of the U.N.'s operating funds.

2) If we are a sovereign nation why can't we protect our borders and keep/kick illegal aliens out?

buwaya said...

The welder (good career at the moment btw, especially if the fellow is willing to move), is more concerned, usually, about finding and keeping work. The job is generally job #1.

And second is his pay.

The rest includes housing, transportation, and etc. Medical insurance is a heavy expense but not the largest one.

And the poor fellow is in California, where the local government has bloated his cost of living, including medical insurance.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Lol. Feeling pretty white today, are you FullMoon?

Under a big, white full moon! Shining with lunacy!

A-roooooooo! Hooooooowl!

Come on, everyone knows how suicidal you are. If you don't reproduce for us whites then who will?

We need you! Now is your chance! The white race awaits your precious FullMoon seed!

All those wonderful attributes that the race and species just can't live without. Especially when it comes to lycanthropy.

Gahrie said...

Ahh.. So you were rooting for der Fuehrer's troops in Stalingrad then, Gahrie.

Nope....I was rooting for both sides to lose.

mockturtle said...

TR bleats: Oh, just stop with the slogans and rhetoric already. So boring, so completely removed from reality. If I wanted to go listen to a bunch of mindless cheerleaders I'd go to a football game.

So, go already!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“...are you off your meds today?”

Ah, there’s that Soviet style abuse of psychiatry again!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It didn't fucking matter which socialist monster won in Europe in the 1940s. It was still going to be a socialist monster.

Much better than a genocidal racist-fascist monster. Don't tell me you're one of those types who feels we choose wrongly in 1939-1941. I know people like that exist, much as it embarrasses the American right-wing to admit it.

Gahrie said...

The Commies and Communist were just as evil as the NAZIs and National Socialism. It is puzzling to me why the Left has never understood this.

Seeing Red said...

Yet they're less dynamic.

And more slotted.

And I think fewer medical breakthroughs.


I'm glad for their metrics. They should have a wonderful, optimistic 21st century. Maybe they can finally solve their high energy cost problem which sucks too much money out of their pockets. Britain might even be able to stop taxing TVs and computers.


I do watch British shows. Their teeth are finally getting better considering they've had national dental care for 5? 6? decades. But I never ever wish to be housed in a ward or have my washing machine in my kitchen.

Until I'm in independent living.

I would also prefer to get treatment after the age of 58.


And we passed European living standards around 1900.

rehajm said...

You know, I'm starting to think some high-level people in the government might actually be going to prison

I assumed the urgency to get Trump was due to the aging of the Supremes but I'm starting to believe it's to wrestle back control of deep state to prevent the jail time.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“2) If we are a sovereign nation why can't we protect our borders and keep/kick illegal aliens out?”

Why did Reagan give them amnesty? Did he set a precedent?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“The Commies and Communist were just as evil as the NAZIs and National Socialism. It is puzzling to me why the Left has never understood this.”

The Holocaust?

wwww said...

"Reagan was a very popular President.
With whom?"

In 1984? With the overwhelming majority of Americans. He won almost every state.

He won the suburbs. He won the younger generation. He cemented the Republican brand for two generations. He was respected in NATO. Our allies respected his leadership. Eastern Europeans looked towards him for hope.

Never Trumpers admire Reagan.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The Commies and Communist were just as evil as the NAZIs and National Socialism. It is puzzling to me why the Left has never understood this.

It is puzzling to me why the Right has never understood that in a world war, a side must be chosen. Especially when one of those sides preemptively bombed out your entire defense fleet for the ocean territory protecting to you to the west.

It is puzzling to me why the Right has never understood that fascist genocide is a far more ambitious goal when it comes to killing off people than socialism. Unless there's a certain sympathy there under the surface that they're concealing.

For some reason, communism could be contained. I guess you think we should have taken a chance offering that policy to genocidal fascist imperialism, too. Interesting thought. I suggest you submit it for publication to all the best historians out there. Surely they will see whatever it is that FDR/Truman/Eisenhower/Marshall etc., etc., etc., couldn't figure out. Sounds like you're really onto something.

buwaya said...

What most US people dont realize is that they have a great deal more disposable income than Europeans in their relative position. That is the result of the European form of socialism.

In particular, the common man is much more heavily taxed there. US taxation is extremely "progressive", tax collections are much more heavily skewed to high incomes, than in Europe. And this in spite of higher tax rates, in Europe, for high incomes. High rates simply lead to high rates of legal (or semi-legal) tax evasion.

pacwest said...

"Yes, however they are sovereign nations."

I was hoping for a clearer answer so I wouldn't have to infer, which I know you dislike. But..

Since you agree that the chances of a nuclear conflagration are increased (to an unacceptable degree imo) by NK and Iran having nukes, what unilateral actions should we be taking to minimize this possibility? -Please don't make this like pulling teeth. Talking points don't make for a good exchange of opinions.

FullMoon said...

Toothless:
Are we as black as the lungs of those coal miners whose airways you're still trying to blacken further?


Whuut?

FullMoon said...


Blogger The Toothless Revolutionary said...

Hitler got a lot of things done. So did Stalin and Mao.


Yeah, your admiration been noted before. SAD!

John henry said...

What 2c/kwh energy do you have in mind, buwaya?

Solar?

Last month I posted a satellite pic of the AES coal and solar plants in guayama pr

Each takes up about 20-25 acres. The coal plant puts out 454mw.

The solar plant puts out 4mw

The coal plant sells power to the utility for 10-12c/kwh

The utility pays 18c for the solar output.

Then there is the whole hurricane thing.

Darkislandpr.blogspot.com

John Henry

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

What most US people dont realize is that they have a great deal more disposable income than Europeans in their relative position. That is the result of the European form of socialism.

In particular, the common man is much more heavily taxed there.


Maybe so, but they live longer there and under far less stress and manipulation by their corporations and monopolies and you already told me that you don't value your own life too highly, let alone life in general. So it sounds like your bias is as strong as it is bizarre. Recuse yourself!

I think there is a medium between corporatism and socialism. Trump's offering money to owners and xenophobia to the laborers. He could worry about the latter more and doing something better for them but figures xenophobia's a better market value. He can use xenophobia to buy out their option for a better deal. Plus, a number of them have deluded themselves into thinking that the owners actually care about them and will use their increased hordes to improve their own lot. What delusion!

buwaya said...

Fascist imperialism was not genocidal.
The fascists certainly didn't want to massacre the peoples they wanted to conquer (unless they absolutely had to). They wanted to make them productive.
Thats why "Facetta Nera" was so popular. The furthest thing that, a song about a pretty Abyssinian. It would not have gone over well with the KKK.

Oh, you mean Nazis - well, that is something else.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Hoards not hordes.

FullMoon said...

Still crazy after all these years

Racist Ritmo Brasileiro said...
It's good to know that the stupidest threads are just ripe for the threadjacking. I'll be sure to leave a trail of turds on every one of the brain droppings here that suit my fancy. Getting you shit-eaters to complain about the taste after opening your mouths wide and saying "Ahhhh..." to every bad idea under the sun is very satisfying, I must admit.

10/16/10, 10:28 AM

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Fascist imperialism was not genocidal.
The fascists certainly didn't want to massacre the peoples they wanted to conquer (unless they absolutely had to). They wanted to make them productive.


They were big fans of slavery. Like fascists always are. Very productive form of labor.

They had labor camps as well as death camps, too, bu bu. You should check it out!

Maybe bring the idea back to your companies in the Philippines, try the concept out. It would be a hoot - no matter how lukewarm your own alliance with the Nazis really is.

Seeing Red said...

What most US people dont realize is that they have a great deal more disposable income than Europeans in their relative position. That is the result of the European form of socialism.



Europeans watch our shows, but I don't think they get it, either.

But a lot of them think since we don't have socialized medicine, bodies are stacked up like cordwood here.

There's a reason the Canadian system had to change.


buwaya said...

Nuclear, yes, with many possibilities to make much cheaper, inherently safe physical plant. There is massive process-intensive over-regulation in nukes and this badly skews economic analyses.

buwaya said...

Italy had no slavery or death camps, and locked up rather few political prisoners.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Full Moon said...

It really bothers me that others can comment here and that I have just as little control over them here as I do in in life, generally. I try really hard to impress people in my bay area life by talking about being a homeowner with no education and nothing interesting to say, and for some reason it just doesn't go over as well as I imagine it should. And then there's my boring home life. My sex life also sucks and my wife, plain as she is, hates me just the same. I really wish more people would take me seriously and do as I say but for some reason, they just don't. Maybe there's a way I can embarrass others to make up for the abject embarrassment that I am. If only I could figure out how...

FullMoon said...

All these people afraid of crazy Trump with the power to destroy the whole wide world. Yet, they keep fuckin' with him. Provoking hg him over the edge.

Some years ago, couple of guys decided to throw rocks at the tigers in San Francisco Zoo. Tiger got mildly irritated and jumped the fence.
The guy who survived says, in hindsight, may not have been their best idea. Of course, those scars on his face lead to a pretty good story to tell.

MountainMan said...

Seeing Red said: "How important it is to get done the business of saving the 19th century's energy industry from its obsolescence.
Have you read the article on the $83 billion dollar deal with China in the works? Obviously not. I wasn't aware you can send coal thru pipelines."

This is a very ill-informed set of comments Let me address them:

Sending coal through pipelines - yes, it can be done easily. You simply pulverize the coal to a powder, mix it with water, and then pump the resulting "coal slurry" through a pipeline and then remove the pulverized coal from the water at the other end. Not done very much as it is high cost and there are environmental issues with the used water since it is hard to get all the coal out. That is why coal - which has been washed and separated from the rocks and dirt that come out with - is most always moved by rail hopper car, which is cheap and efficient.

Another way to move the energy content of coal is to bake the coal in the presence of steam and create coal gas. This can be pumped through a pipeline like any other gas. It can be burned for energy and is very clean since the resulting outputs are only carbon dioxide and water and there are no pollutants, like NOx or sulphur compounds. However, the primary use of coal gas in the US is as a chemical feedstock, it can be easily converted to liquid-phase methanol which can then be used as a building block for making acetic anhydride and many highly-valued downstream acetyl chemical products. Eastman Chemical in Tennessee (the old chemicals division of Eastman Kodak) has been doing this for over 35 years, achieving quality and cost efficiencies in making hundreds of highly-valued downstream products that few of its global competitors can match.

The deal with China - yes, this is very significant and a good thing for all parties involved. WV has the abundant cheap raw materials and water and the US has the world's leading technologies for building and operating these type of facilities. That is why the Chinese are willing to make such a large investment here.

As for "19th century" energy, there is nothing 19th century about the current technologies for extracting coal, natural gas, and oil. The US leads in all these technologies, in efficiency, quality, and safety. Coal mining is highly automated. Fracking for oil and natural gas have opened up reserves once thought to be unusable. We have in the US hydrocarbon resources to last hundreds of years. Not only will we continue to use these for energy production - especially where energy is needed in large quantities and on-demand, such as in chemical manufacturing - the extracted hydrocarbons will still be the primary feedstock to make thousands of chemical and polymer products that we use in our everyday life.

Hate to spend so much space here on this wonderful blog for a science and economics lesson but you might consider restricting your comments to something you actually know something about.

John henry said...

Toothless,

What is the difference, ideologically, between progressivism and German National Socialism or Italian Fascism?

When LaFollette founded the Nation Progressive Party in the 30 iwas based pretty explicitly on German National Socialism.

Right dow to the party emblem. 'a circumcised swatika" as the Wisconsin Historical Society calls it.

John Henry

Seeing Red said...

3. Allow oil drilling in ANWAR: Killing wildlife and changing the climate is a giveaway to oil execs, not ordinary energy consumers.


Bwaaaa

I remember the arguments from the 90s, do you?


Post a picture of that desolate rock.

IIRC, it's so hostile we can only drill for 6 months out of the year.

And the Caribou suffered tremendously. Because the pipelines in other parts of Alaska warmed up the terrain, they bred and increased their population.

It's a giveaway to the US consumers because it weans us more from the oil ticks and keeps our energy prices low. Which is good for our pocketbooks and with the tax plan, makes us more attractiv to do business in.

John henry said...

Toothless,

What is the difference, ideologically, between progressivism and German National Socialism or Italian Fascism?

When LaFollette founded the Nation Progressive Party in the 30 iwas based pretty explicitly on German National Socialism.

Right dow to the party emblem. 'a circumcised swatika" as the Wisconsin Historical Society calls it.

John Henry

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Italy had no slavery or death camps, and locked up rather few political prisoners.

So what you're saying is that you're a fan of Italian fascism, if only it hadn't somehow found common cause with the Nazis.

And the genocidal Hirohito regime.

So noted.

You are one odd bird.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Since you agree that the chances of a nuclear conflagration are increased (to an unacceptable degree imo) by NK and Iran having nukes, what unilateral actions should we be taking to minimize this possibility? -Please don't make this like pulling teeth. Talking points don't make for a good exchange of opinions.”

I don’t know what else could be done without killing millions of people. I doubt that would make a good “talking point”. Maybe just not provoking by use of infantile nicknames and talk of button sizes by an American President might help.

John henry said...

Re killing and genocide progressives certainly seem to have no problem with it.

They have just always been too toothless (and squeamish?) to carry it out.

John Henry

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

IN the end, Mussolini did what Hitler wanted him to do.

In the end, so would buwaya puti.

buwaya said...

"Stress and manipulation?"
They have stress too, and boy are they "manipulated".

You need metrics and cause-and-effect here you know.
The biggest determinant of this stuff is cultural.
And this stuff can't be transplanted, they have hundreds of years of divergence of underlying culture.
And much of it will go over very badly in the US.

I am a brown-passport Euro (as well as an Asian), and I speak as a professional foreigner. You will not get these cultural differences unless you have lived them.

FullMoon said...

The Toothless Revolutionary said......
The only women I date are either not from America or are closet freaks - (the good kind). But then sometimes even the freaks aren't also open about all the other things. But not hating yourself sexually is a good start.
9/15/17, 7:46 PM


Heart broken by a strong (white) American woman, eh? Explains a lot.



Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Full Moon said...

It really bothers me that others can comment here and that I have just as little control over them here as I do in in life, generally. I try really hard to impress people in my bay area life by talking about being a homeowner with no education and nothing interesting to say, and for some reason it just doesn't go over as well as I imagine it should. And then there's my boring home life. My sex life also sucks and my wife, plain as she is, hates me just the same. I really wish more people would take me seriously and do as I say but for some reason, they just don't. Maybe there's a way I can embarrass others to make up for the abject embarrassment that I am. If only I could figure out how...

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“All these people afraid of crazy Trump with the power to destroy the whole wide world. Yet, they keep fuckin' with him. Provoking hg him over the edge.”

An American President should not be able to be provoked with a tweet. Sound familiar?

Seeing Red said...

That's why I modified my comment from liquid coal. I was thinking lumps.

Someone once commented Illinois is the Saudi Arabia of coal.


We've got it all for energy independence.


Kind of makes one wonder why we haven't been allowed to become independent or a leader in said energy supply over the past few decades.

To get along and keep the peace?

Patrick Henry said...

buwaya :

Usually, I agree with your comments and thoughts. You have unique insight. However, I think you miss something critical with between the EU and the US.

Those in the EU really do see the government as an institution that does things for you. That's it's job. Do stuff for you. Education. Healthcare. Housing. Transportation. There is an undercurrent of paternalism that permeates the culture. I've seen it living in the UK and in talking to/with those in other parts of Europe.

In the US the government is the institution that does stuff to you. This underlying cultural difference goes way back to 1776. Culturally, American's don't want the government in their lives. Where this gets messed up is when emotions are used to 'do something' perceived as unfair. "Do something" usually means throwing money at a government agency to "fix" the problem. What happens is that those who most benefit from the money are the ones that began the cry to "do something".

Why is education so expensive in the US? It's the political power of the teacher's unions which have co-opted the State for their benefit (it's a bit more complex that just this, but this is a huge part of it - you'll have to throw in the rest of the welfare state to fully understand this bit). Or, to be more succinct in the analysis: It's the socialists from Europe who want to remake America in Europe's image that have been attacking the institution of the state to use them against Americans in hopes to get Americans to cave and let the government just take over life, like it has in Europe. Saul Alinsky tactics played out over decades. You'll also note that cities and states that are controlled by the Left have the highest per pupil costs of education. Their answer to fixing the poor outcomes is always more money which, for some reason, never actually does anything of value, except maybe line the pockets of those in the education institutions.

I could go on with similar things with regard to healthcare in the UK vs the US (something I've experienced first hand recently). They're not getting a bigger bang for their buck here, either.

You say that the Europeans value results and American's the state for sake of the state. I think the Europeans have acquiesced and just let government happen to them. It "knows" better so whatever it does, must be better. They don't fight it. Most* American's would prefer the smallest, most inconsequential state as possible. It is the Left in America that value the state because it is power and money without having to actually be a productive member of society.

*Most meaning those not in predominantly blue parts of the country.

FullMoon said...

An American President should not be able to be provoked with a tweet. Sound familiar?

1/7/18, 11:57 AM


How about with books and MSM , elites, celebrities, actors lying about him all the time? Making stupid jokes about his family, calling his son a retard, his daughter and wife a whore?

Surprised he hasn't rounded up these people and put them in prison on some sort of Trumped up charge.

How was the baby shower, BTW?

buwaya said...

I understand, perhaps I am in error here, that in 1941 the liberal democracies of the United Stated and Great Britain, plus their other democratic allies such as Canada and Australia and etc., found common cause with the dictatorial, despotic and genocidal regime of the Soviet Union. And, besides which, they also allied themselves with the dictatorial, despotic, and occasionally genocidal Chinese regime of Chiag Kai-shek. And with the openly racist, civil-liberties denying white-supremacist regimes of South Africa and Rhodesia. And the whole of the British empire actually.

Hmmm. Realpolitik. Fascist Italy was, probably, foolish to get into the war in the first place, but was it especially evil in its choice of allies? On its own it was not a particularly cruel colonial power, as these went. And to be clear, most of Fascist Italy's worst misbehaviors were carried over from Italian imperial policies of the previous liberal democratic regime.

This stuff is complex and ambiguous, unless your view of history comes out of comic books.

FullMoon said...

Maybe there's a way I can embarrass others to make up for the abject embarrassment that I am. If only I could figure out how...

How about I just cut and paste your own words?

The (racist) Toothless Revolutionary said...

As long as we're going to talk about size the fact of the matter is that C cup is basically the best. And it comes down to shape more than size. Teardrop is the best shape. But luckily C cup usually falls into a teardrop pattern as long as the owner is in good shape.

And then even more importantly than shape and size are the areolae. I could get more into that but I'm a gentleman and more women haven't spoken up. Come on conservative women! Are you going to stand up for 1st amendment protections and not hating male/female sexuality or what?


9/15/17, 7:55 PM

Curious George said...

"Chuck said...

But I wonder or expect that a welder and the head of such a household would be concerned more than anything with the cost of, and coverage provided by, his healthcare insurance.

What Trump said he’d fix"

He would if the GOPe would send some legislation. You know like they did when they knew Obama would veto it.

Repeal and replace. Remember Cuck?

But that shit stopped the second they had the oval office on their side. So fuck them. and fuck you. All of you are eunuchs.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Full Moon said...

It really bothers me that others can comment here and that I have just as little control over them here as I do in in life, generally. I try really hard to impress people in my bay area life by talking about being a homeowner with no education and nothing interesting to say, and for some reason it just doesn't go over as well as I imagine it should. And then there's my boring home life. My sex life also sucks and my wife, plain as she is, hates me just the same. I really wish more people would take me seriously and do as I say but for some reason, they just don't. Maybe there's a way I can embarrass others to make up for the abject embarrassment that I am. If only I could figure out how...

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

How about I just cut and paste your own words?

The (racist) Toothless Revolutionary said...

As long as we're going to talk about size the fact of the matter is that C cup is basically the best.


What do you have against C cup breasts?

Or do you just hate breasts in general?

Been a while since that matronly little missus you live with let you see hers, or something?

I really don't doubt that you really are that creepy.

pacwest said...

Inga,
Perhaps we will be able to have a discussion regarding what policies and actions we prefer the US to follow. Evidently today is not that day. Let me know if/when you are willing to do so. I will not bother you further.

Patrick Henry said...

To paraphrase Glenn Reynolds - Faster please! https://www.newscientist.com/article/2145535-thorium-could-power-the-next-generation-of-nuclear-reactors/

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Heart broken by a strong (white) American woman, eh? Explains a lot.

About whom? Trump? Is that why he prefers to go the foreign woman mail-order route?

Oh, what would you know about women!? You hate them for having breasts!

Mr. Majestyk said...

Thanks for the informative comment St 11:49, Mountain man.

Mr. Majestyk said...

At 11:49

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Perhaps we will be able to have a discussion regarding what policies and actions we prefer the US to follow. Evidently today is not that day. Let me know if/when you are willing to do so. I will not bother you further.”

I don’t know what else you’d like me to say that I didn’t say in my 11:52 response to you. I guess I could be more specific and say Trump could follow Obama’s or GW Bush’s policies toward NK, which would be much smarter than what he’s doing with his provocations in tweet format.

buwaya said...

The British spend extremely little for their NHS.
Part of their problem is that, for this service, they are the biggest cheapskates in Europe.

I did a bit of analysis with a summary here sometime back, and, on a per-capita, purchasing power-adjusted basis, the US could have 2X the British system, or 1X the Canadian system, simply out of what the US already collects for Medicare and Medicaid, before even including what the States separately collect themselves.

I.e., if the US wanted to have European-style "single payer" of whatever flavor (and the Euros have a bunch of different systems, only a couple of which are "single payer") then the US already has the government funds for it, without bothering the public with extra taxes and mandates. It just has to reform the medical services delivery system, and its regulations and legal strictures, to conform to European norms. This is the hidden joker in the entire "debate" about US healthcare. The debate is a sham, a fraud, as is the bloated, inefficient system.

Mr. Fabulous said...

(World Famous Lurker says....)

The Professor said: "I mainly want bad things not done."

This is a variation of "Better than nothing is a high standard."

MacMacConnell said...

This wouldn't be funny and taken unseriously if the Left, the media, academics and so called foreign policy experts haven't said every Republican president or candidate was a fascist, a Nazi, Nuclear Cowboy, Jesus the list is endless.

If the Democrats and the media had been successful with these sky is falling arguments Reagan would never beaten the Soviets and their eventual collapse.

In my lifetime the only time a nuclear exchange ever came close to happening was during JFK's admin. That only happened because the soviets thought JFK was an unserious twink and they though they could get what they wanted. They not only got what they wanted, defensive missiles out of Turkey in exchange for defensive missiles out of Cuba and scored bonus points with a pledge not to invade Cuba.

Bruce Hayden said...

“I mainly want bad things not done.”

“Me too. I’m thinking a nuclear war might be bad.”

Sure, but bad for whom? I will admit to my biases here - I think that subjectively a nuclear war hitting the US is far worse than one hitting N Korea. Or Iran, for that matter.

“Would you agree that Iran and NK having nuclear weapons increase the chances of a nuclear war?”

Not seriously. Neither is going to be able to seriously attack this country for decades to come. It is an order of magnitude thing. They are struggling to build fission bombs in the single digits, while we still have thousands of more powerful fusion bombs operational and easily deliverable. Likely we have boomers sitting off shore of both countries that could obliterate either in minutes of verifying a nuclear attack against us. And, even now, we likely have sufficient ABM resources operational to protect the US from those single digits of warheads.

Currently, the only country in the world with a comparable nuclear arsenal as we have is Russia. However, China has the technology base to catch up. And they are the ones I think most likely to, at some point in the future, engage in a major nuclear exchange. Sure, they again look like best friends, but the reality is that one of the big things keeping the opportunistic Chinese out of Siberia is the Russians much larger nuclear arsenal. Russia isn’t going to attack the US because there would be no strategic value to it. And the Chinese aren’t going to for at least the next decade or so, due partially to our overwhelming nuclear advantage, but also because of where they are in the global supply chain.

I think though that the proposition that she was really worried about was the irrational view of the left here that Trump somehow makes it more likely, instead of less likely, that another country will attack us with nuclear weapons, with him as President. I, and probably a significant majority here, believe just the opposite - that Obama’s vacillations and indecision was what endangered us. Did these rogue states know, with a certainty, that he would have responded immediately, with vastly overwhelming force, if they launched a nuclear attack on the US? More likely, he would have dithered. Trump, on the other side has made it clear what would happen, if we were to be attacked. And, sure, Rocket Man is nuts, but the Chinese have him by the balls, which means that they are going to make sure that we don’t explode that many thermonuclear weapons so close to them, and cause a major refugee problem on their border, even if it means forcible regime change there.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

“In 7 days, nobody will be talking about this book.”

3 days, tops. This stuff is so predictable that I have to think Trump is deliberately chumming for Leftist Crazy. For political purposes or just for his own amusement, I couldn’t say.

Big Mike said...

I mainly want bad things not done.

But tell me, Althouse, who gets to decide what are good things versus bad things? You? Me? I’m all in favor of me, not completely sure about you. 😉

Darrell said...

When Reagan died, Ritmo, Inga, and the other Althouse Lefties were shitting on the sidewalk as the caisson rolled by. Now they shit on every thread here.

MacMacConnell said...

Inga
If Obama had been able to run and won a third term he probably would have found a way to finance North Korea's nuclear weapons.

Matt Sablan said...

"If Obama had been able to run and won a third term he probably would have found a way to finance North Korea's nuclear weapons."

-- He kind of already did.

MacMacConnell said...

Matt
I know, but I was trying to keep it simple for Inga.

n.n said...

US healthcare. The debate is a sham, a fraud, as is the bloated, inefficient system.

The issue is cost, not financing, which was already regulated. Also, education reform, self-moderation, and personal responsibility.

Seeing Red said...

Thank you for the education on liquefying coal!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I know, but I was trying to keep it simple for Inga.”

You were keeping it simple because it came from your simplistic mind.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Barnes & Noble is going to have to create a Leftist Fantasy section soon. Maybe next to the self-help books.

n.n said...

solar plants in guayama pr Each takes up about 20-25 acres.

The nonrenewable, unreliable green blight vs the organic black blob vs Mother Nature's nuclear fitness function.

Seeing Red said...

The Brits blew 3-4 billion Euros in a failed technological upgrade for the NHS earlier this decade.




Seeing Red said...

We've never gotten a price tag on our failed exchanges, did we?

Bruce Hayden said...

“1. Tax cut legislation: To help Trump and his buddies, decrease their tax burden and lay the groundwork for further cuts to services as a result. The changes to the non-billionaires were either neutral or removed deductions that helped them.”

Ha Ha. Pure propaganda. Reality is the tax system is more progressive than ever with taxpayers. Overall, those not paying taxes already didn’t benefit. Middle class got lower rates, and more don’t pay. Only group to really pay more are very high earners, esp in high tax states and with very large mortgage loans.

“2. Eliminating the tax penalty under Obamacare: Meaning that 25 million working class Americans with subsidized coverage will now longer be paid for. Stupid and completely political. “

(Ha Ha)!2

Has nothing to do with tax subsidies. But will hasten the implosion of Obamacare due to adverse selection. What this will mean is that young healthy working class families will no longer be funding as much of the healthcare for older, richer, sicker Americans.

“7. Withdrawing from Paris Climate Accords Shutting America out of the newer and more innovative energy industry markets being developed now everywhere else in the world. Just so execs from obsolete industries and those that pollute the groundwater can take a swipe at the best geophysics science NASA and the DOD have to offer. Who needs a planet anyway! Or oceans with fish in them! Phooey! Liberal propaganda! Ecosystems are a hoax! Human life was created by god, not evolution and he says the web of life we rely on doesn't matter!”

(Ha Ha)!3

Throwing a bunch of marginally related subjects together with no actual causative connection.

n.n said...

in Europe, for high incomes. High rates simply lead to high rates of legal (or semi-legal) tax evasion.

People will always find a way to avoid or curb redistributive change carried out by the single-payer sheriff at the end of the rainbow.

mockturtle said...

Patrick Henry at 12:02: I see that purpose of the American government--at least in theory--is to protect the people not just from foreign domination but also from excesses of government.

bagoh20 said...

What do think would happen if the U.S was attacked by a NorKo nuclear weapon under Trump?

Under Obama?

Yea, that's what everyone knows. Under Trump it's a glaringly clear mistake to do so. Under Obama, you would be rolling the dice. You might even get paid to promise not to do it again. I prefer an insane scary president, but it's instructive to notice who see him that way: our enemies and those who enable them.

Seeing Red said...

It just has to reform the medical services delivery system, and its regulations and legal strictures, to conform to European norm.


With the attendant wait times, no thank you. Our ERs are getting bad enough. My friend had to wait 6 hours before being seen for a kidney stone attack.

The other went to 2 ERs.


This was all this past summer.


Canadian provinces publish their wait times for surgeries.

Seeing Red said...

Say what you will about Putin, but he lowered taxes to 13%? The average man on the street interview said, that low? It's not worth trying to hide anything.

Patrick Henry said...

buwaya:

It's not necessarily the dollars spent. That's a distraction from the real issue: is 'government' going to make healthcare decisions or not? Europeans are OK with that. In general, Americans are not.

The totally screwed up system is the result of our federal system were some states elect those who want the government to take from you to pay for my healthcare and other states don't. So "compromise" happens, which takes the worst of all options and turns them into our health care system.

But it doesn't change the underlying cultural differences - Red State Americans don't want "efficient" government, they want significantly limited government. Blue State Americans don't want "efficient" government either, they want paternalistic government.

As for Europe, I sat around a lunch table with some Dutch and Germans. They all talked about how much better their system was than ours in America (none of them having first hand experience with it, just what they've been fed through their media). Then they proceed to totally trash talk their own healthcare systems. Mostly they wanted more for less personal expense. Then they complained about their personal tax burdens. The cognitive dissonance was amazing.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

How the FBI helped Hillary and her cronies get away with breaking the law.

Written by a black dude. You know - cuz the asshole left insist everyone on the right is a racist.
FU.

WA-mom said...


I have got to say, Ann Althouse, that you are the new Head Professor of Trumpian gamesmanship. Scott Adams replays Trump's schemes opening our eyes to the master persuader. But you -- you are anticipating the schemes. Wow.

Lydia said...

"The President's tweets absolutely reaffirm the plainspoken truth: A self-made billionaire revolutionized reality TV and tapped into something magical that's happening in the hearts of this country," said Stephen Miller to Jake Tapper this morning on State of the Union.

Blech. Or, since this is Althouse, discuss the genius of it all?

Lucien said...

"I mainly want bad things not done."

Because "Better than nothing is a high standard."

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