From Adam Gopnik's most recent meditation on the coming Trump presidency.
That's in The New Yorker, which just came out with this cover for the inauguration week issue:
January 13, 2017
"To borrow from Woody Allen’s distinction between the miserable (something we all are) and the horrible (fortunately suffered by only a few)..."
"... we must now distinguish resolutely between the sickening and the terrifying. Many programs and policies with which progressive-minded people passionately disagree will be put forward over the next few years. However much or strongly one opposes them, they are, like it or not, the actual agreed-on platform of a dominant national party... One may oppose these things—and one should, passionately and permanently—but they are in no sense illegitimate.... Calm but consistent opposition shared by a broad front of committed and constitutionally-minded protesters—it’s easy to say, fiendishly hard to do, and necessary to accomplish if we are to save the beautiful music of American democracy."
From Adam Gopnik's most recent meditation on the coming Trump presidency.
That's in The New Yorker, which just came out with this cover for the inauguration week issue:
From Adam Gopnik's most recent meditation on the coming Trump presidency.
That's in The New Yorker, which just came out with this cover for the inauguration week issue:
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138 comments:
They have 1 million subscribers, my guess is they're all in Manhattan.
These people are tits on a boar. Without them ... we will be just fine.
Does Trump drive his own vehicle? Hillary didn't.
"the beautiful music of American democracy" just told you to get stuffed. Maybe you should listen to that tune.
Does Trump drive his own vehicle? Hillary didn't.
The Secret Service does not allow the President or the Vice President to drive themselves.
I have a better idea, Democrats. How about you shriek, whine and riot for four years to get us all really and truly on your side for the next election? And don't forget to call us racists! Ideally, you should never complete a sentence without accusing someone, somewhere of racism. 2020 is in the bag!
Has he considered that political correctness might be batshit crazy.
They have 1 million subscribers, my guess is they're all in Manhattan.
Looks like at least one is in Madison.
I can vouch for his ability to pilot a golf cart.
Is followimg and enforcing the law a policy or a program? I can never remember.
All of this hand-wringing by progressives is really starting to irk me. Their lives are going to be in no way as tossed-up by Trump as others have been these past eight years. I am willing to bet that at the end of a Trump presidency these pundits and activists will all still have their jobs. Unlike many of my colleagues who have left medicine of the upheaval caused by Obama and his healthcare reform architects. Unlike the bakers who wouldn't bake a cake for a gay wedding. Or the photographers who wouldn't take photos at a gay wedding. There still stands a very real threat that doctors give treatment they think harmful biologically or face discrimination charges. I wish that the progressives could wrap their heads around the idea that freedom is not a zero sum game.
That cover is brilliant snobbery. How can DJT survive such ridicule? I know What, just have Inaugural Parade feature Yankee, Doodle, Dandy played over and over by the Lincoln Center Tea Party Band.
Big Donald is watching you.
Poor New Yorker. If they spend the next four years drinking heavily and shouting on street corners, it will save embarrassment.
How do they get his car to rock back and forth on the printed version of the magazine?
Seriously, this is pro-Trump because it asserts he made it to President. The rest of the Clinton Crime Family expects Martial Law to be declared and the Russian Election Result set aside and Hillary declared Interim Military Governor pending a United Nations Ruling.
The classic tender snowflake reaction to having the adults in charge again. Pauline Kael made the one and only worthy comment from New Yorker writers on politics.
...calm but consistent opposition shared by a broad front of committed and constitutionally minded protesters...
So coordinating the ones you have to step over on the way to work with the ones that tent on private property and poop on police cars.
Tarrou said...
I have a better idea, Democrats. How about you shriek, whine and riot for four years to get us all really and truly on your side for the next election?
Or in the author's words, "Calm but consistent opposition shared by a broad front of committed and constitutionally-minded protesters. . ."
There is not even any pretense of discussion and persuasion, or even talking to people outside their bubble. Here's hoping their bubble finally pops.
There still stands a very real threat that doctors give treatment they think harmful biologically or face discrimination charges.
Thanks for reminding me of the benefits of retirement, Sydney.
I expect that rule will have a very short life.
Per Gallup, Obama's approval rating--57%. Congress's approval rating--19%.
Donald Trump's approval rating--44% (Obama's in 2009--83%)
However much or strongly one opposes them, they are, like it or not, the actual agreed-on platform of a dominant national party... One may oppose these things—and one should, passionately and permanently—but they are in no sense illegitimate....
Holy shit! Adam Gopnik a voice of moderation & reason. Glenn Greenwald a voice for reportorial prudence!
Excuse me, while I step outside to see what color the sky is on this strange planet I've been teleported to.
@readering,
Donald Trump's approval rating--44%
And what would Hillary's have been?
Did you just not notice that no one in the last presidential election was very popular, and that that fact was pretty strange in the history of American presidential politics?
Progressives changed the rules and now they will just have to live with them until the next election.
So why not turn Progressive's considerable human resources into creating a society in which they wish to live, instead of pointless and non-productive protests/boycotts/disobedience?
The blue cities and states comprise a huge part of the Democrat base/electorate, and are a mess, fix them. Show the country that Progressive policies work, then you would have a better chance of being trusted to make sound choices.
"Donald Trump's approval rating--44% (Obama's in 2009--83%)"
Seems to me that is an indictment of democrats and their unwillingness to accept the results of an election. Many of us on the right were unhappy that Obama was elected but were willing to at least give him a shot. In contrast, "fake news," angry counter marches and plans to disrupt the inauguration. I won't even get in to the racist assaults on Trump supporters and the fake racists attacks staged by Trumps opponents.
Fabi: "How do they get his car to rock back and forth on the printed version of the magazine?
1/13/17, 4:33 PM"
Excellent question. I am guessing they have two versions printed and you need to buy both, then assemble them in a stereograph thing and look back and forth, or close eyes alternately.
Or else (probably better): The printed version will include extra pages with Donald on his horse, and instructions on how to assemble that onto the cover with one of those brass pin things I remember from kindergarten. This will require more work but will reinforce pride of authorship etc.
Either way Trump is, like, doomed.
readering said...
Per Gallup, Obama's approval rating--57%. Congress's approval rating--19%.
Congressional incumbent re-election rate--96%.
Everybody hates "Congress." And they keep re-electing their own Congressmen and Senators at overwhelming rates. They hate everybody in Congress who isn't their guy or gal.
@Sydney,
There still stands a very real threat that doctors give treatment they think harmful biologically or face discrimination charges.
While I certainly agree with you that such nonsense indicates a major flight from reality among many members of the progressive community, the good news is that the ruling is simply an executive declaration from HHS. It is not statutory law from the pen of Congress.
This means that five minutes after Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office, this HHS ruling is dead meat.
These progressives need to go and fuck themselves. Jesus. We endured eight years of the most incompetent man ever to draw breath, the peter principal man of all time, and we behaved ourselves when he rammed down the ACA, when he laughed in our losing faces. So now it is time for them to stfu.
In case you are not clear on what their agenda is, here are today's statements from Brian Fallon, Hilary's former press secretary.
“I think those tweets are just the latest indication that Donald Trump is someone who’s very insecure in his victory, and I understand why. Every day there are new developments — new shoes dropping, so to speak — that call into question the legitimacy of his win,” [Fallon] told CNN.
. . . .
“I think Donald Trump is just trying to cling to whatever legitimacy still is in effect here . . . ."
Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama could stop this but they won't.
Tricky, those Democrats. I think Trump actually believed that he was going to get a smooth cooperative transition.
Naah, fuck that. That's what the Tea Party did, Adam--they disagreed w/the policies of the people running things and those constitutionally-minded people expressed their consistent opposition on a number of issues. How'd you treat them, Adam? How'd your friends in the Media react--how'd they cover those people? Yeah, that's right, they smeared the whole group as racists, as idiots, as dangerous hicks and hillbillies intent on violence and craving the repression of women, minorities, and LGBTQs. You didn't respect their opposition and you didn't grant their voices (and their opposition) any legitimacy. You mocked and you insulted, and the bad news is you won--the actual grass roots Tea Party types lost.
Trump & Trumpian populism is what's come after, God help us. It's MUCH too late to pretend that you respect well-meaning opposition, that you think dissent is valid and should be tolerated, etc. We saw what you did and we remember. You haven't apologized--I have yet to see an apology about how the Media treated Tea Party people or Mitt Romney. You didn't learn and you won't. You judged Tea Party people by the most extreme voices you could pretend were part of that movement and you discredited any opposition at every turn. Fine. You're the opposition now, asshole. Enjoy.
Steve said...
"Donald Trump's approval rating--44% (Obama's in 2009--83%)"
Seems to me that is an indictment of democrats and their unwillingness to accept the results of an election.
Part of it is Trump himself. Part of it is how the election was conducted. The demonization of Trump far outweighed any slander leveled at Obama. A big part of it is the media. Part of it is the self-congratulation we engaged in for the first black president.
But a very significant part is the post election actions of the Democrat apparatus top to bottom. Their hate of Trump and their sense of entitlement to rule are a toxic brew.
Fabi said...
How do they get his car to rock back and forth on the printed version of the magazine?
Wiki: Lenticular Printing
A voice of sanity crying in the wilderness.
Adam Gropnik spent two complicated paragraphs addressing the importance of American musicians to our heritage and then focusing on protest music before bemoaning the fact that liberal musicians will not sing for Trump's inauguration.
Finally centered on the frightful image of the billionaire politician, Gropnik had some observations that I agree with entirely - and I am as conservative as you will find in flyover country. These two Gropnik paragraphs tell the "tale of the tape."
American conservatism has as many clear, resolute devotees of constitutional democracy as any other stream of ideology—or it once seemed to. For, in truth, those of us Cassandras who predicted a slow collapse of “respectable” Republicans in the face of Trump’s ascension turned out to be, well, too conservative. The collapse has been almost total, and shockingly uncritical. A few resisters aside—in the press, the names Jennifer Rubin, Max Boot, and David Frum come to mind—even those who know better, or did, have allowed the ancient habits of hatred to overwhelm their normal sense of right and wrong.
No, the collapse is total. And at that terrifying first press conference of Trump’s, on Wednesday, we saw the looming face of pure authoritarianism. Rewards are promised to the obedient: those good states that voted the right way, the “responsible” press. Punishments are threatened to the bad: “They’re going to suffer the consequences!” Intimidation is the greeting to any critic. And look! There’s a claque alongside to cheer the big boss and deride his doubters. This is what was once called Bonapartism: I won and I can now do anything I choose. Victory, however narrow, is license for all. Autocracy, after all, has always been compatible with plebiscitary endorsement. The point of constitutional government is to make even the victors subject to the rules.
Although much of this last paragraph applied to Obama as well in his first days, true conservatives know full-well that Trump has not the slightest idea what being conservative even means. Worse, he will listen to no one, influence will be restricted to his liberal family and his amoral New York background and his greed will drive him. None of his actions will be questioned by the populists, so $20 trillion more will be added to the deficit and the economy will again bottom before he is gone.
Fabi: "How do they get his car to rock back and forth on the printed version of the magazine?
They considered having the car burst into flames and explode while a screaming Donald Trump roasted in the back seat, but that's in reserve for use if the current machinations do not work.
Judging by Gopnik, the one thing progressives will not give up during the Trump presidency is their sense of moral superiority over the people with whom they share the responsibility for ruling the country.
@readering
Electoral College 2016: Trump 304, Clinton 227
Trump appointed a true conservative as Attorney General -- possibly the most important cabinet pick. I guess he snuck that one by his liberal family, right gadfly?
true conservatives know full-well that Trump has not the slightest idea what being conservative even means.
And you are a true conservative ? HAHAHAHAHA
"and I am as conservative as you will find in flyover country."
I dunno. You seem to have some of that Meade thing goin' on. He likes to keep folks guessing re if he's a conservative classical liberal or a classical liberal conservative.
Then, he either drops the mic or does that blowup thing w/ his hand.
Goof ball.
Fabi,
Thanks for backing up what I wrote in the other thread: Alabama = true conservative = key America's success in 21st century.
The sooner we can get rid of all the innovative GDP producing parts of the country and replace them w/ the ideology of the most conservative parts, e.g. Mississippi and Alabama, the better.
Down w/ the libs, replace them w/ the governance from the most conservative parts of the country. Make America Mississippi Again.
I didn't back you up on anything, Jelly -- but thanks for displaying your regional bigotry on yet another thread!
They trying to make winning feel like losing? Not working.
@Gopnik: "constitutionally minded" Yeah, right. It is to laugh. And by the way, isn't the Constitution, like, more than a 100 years old and written by, like, white people?
By the way, Jelly -- in my "retirement", I do private equity across the Southeast and have invested in biotech, IT, and remote sensing start-ups in the two states you continually slur. Ignorance leads to bigotry, and you are proudly displaying yours.
Democrats have elevated the language and behaviors of moral outrage and illegitimacy over the language and behaviors of normal politics, and that's been an invaluable gift to Republicans. Gopnik’s plea to return to normal politics is cognitively incomprehensible to those who see politics as their new religion of good and evil.
"Constitutionally-minded protestors?" Bwahahaha.
"Constitutionally" doesn't mean what Gopnik, and probably his readers, think it means.
Rasputin was crude, ignorant, and superstitious. Among the Czar's circle of advisers, he was the only one who cautioned against going to war. He told the Czar that the mobilization orders would cost the Czar his crown and Russia her empire. It's better to be right than to be smart........There was one New Yorker cover where Obama was shown giving a fist bump to his wife. Obama criticized it. The editor profusely apologized, and there was never again a critical cartoon of Obama in the New Yorker. I've seen more cartoons of Mohammed than of Obama in the liberal press. This strict adherence to reverence for the genius and wisdom of Obama is far more Bonapartist than anything Trump could impose. The Whigs and Tories in England ridiculed each other mercilessly. Napoleon took it as a sign of the disunion of the British state. In France there were no mocking cartoons of Napoleon, and the plebiscites he put before the people passed by margins of ninety percent......There's something amiss about the left's universal reverence for Obama and universal repugnance for Trump. It betrays not just a distrust of our system of government but of the American people.
Fabi,
I'm sure recruiting is awesome. Smart to be based where talent doesn't want to be.
At least the Liberty U grads will come.
Trump U, too.
"Although much of this last paragraph applied to Obama as well in his first days, true conservatives know full-well that Trump has not the slightest idea what being conservative even means. Worse, he will listen to no one, influence will be restricted to his liberal family and his amoral New York background and his greed will drive him. None of his actions will be questioned by the populists, so $20 trillion more will be added to the deficit and the economy will again bottom before he is gone."
Shorter Gadfly: WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! WWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! We could've had Jeb!!! WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!
Gadfly, if you're agreeing with the notion that Jennifer Rubin and David Frum are actually conservatives and not just token moderates painted in conservative colors by the media to give them a patina of objectivity, you need to pay more attention.
And, Pheonix U
And, WyoTech
Don't forget the Golden Arches, they've got a school.
BTW Fabi,
Looking at that picture, do you race?
Maybe you watch, like me. If you're an F1 fan, let me know what races you're hitting this year. You can tell me how awesome Alabama is in person.
"So why not turn Progressive's considerable human resources into creating a society in which they wish to live, instead of pointless and non-productive protests/boycotts/disobedience? "
Very much this. They can start by not yelling when the DJT administration makes the Department of Education stop harassing the Berkeley and MIT online education systems, both doubtless run by good Democrats. Maybe they can ask for funding so these may be expanded as they should be, etc.
The talent and ideas are already there, Jelly. Search "HudsonAlpha" you fucking bigot.
L_PB_O, funny thing is, if California, NY, and IL - our three Bluest states - followed the fiscal policy of those "backwards" Red States, they probably wouldn't have all the budget problems they're currently mired in. California got lucky be virtue of it's location and by virtue of being on the coast. If taxes there keep going up, I wouldn't be surprised if more major businesses decided to pick up and move to a Red State or overseas.
Now we have the "No true conservative" fallacy/tautology
So, no more adventures in social justice with numerous violent coups, mass abortion, immigration reform (e.g. refugee crises), and street trials by sodomy?
What other changes can we look forward to?
The progress of reconstituting institutional racism, sexism, etc. under [class] diversity will be curtailed?
Female chauvinists will banned from denying human life to life that is inconvenient or unworthy of life? Or limited to no more than one premeditated murder for causes of wealth, pleasure, leisure, and political progress?
Planned Parenthood will close their abortion chambers and the Church will be restricted from sacrificing and cannibalizing wholly innocent human lives?
Exposure of scientific mysticism that conflates logical domains and is disposed to liberal departures from the scientific domain, including catastrophic anthropogenic climate change (including progressive wars)?
Jews will take their rightful places replacing Russians as canaries in the abortion chambers?
More?
"A few resisters aside—in the press, the names Jennifer Rubin, Max Boot, and David Frum come to mind..."
Oh dear God. War-mongering hysterical neocon apparatchiks are Gopnik's idea of "resolute devotees of constitutional democracy". (He seems fond of that word, "resolute".)
Not only are these people completely "en-bubbled" against viewpoints in Flyoveria, but they appear to be walled off from any other strain in American political thought, contemporary or historical, that exists outside the shriveled perspective of the here and now of Acela punditocracy.
And he thinks he's "sickened" and "terrified".
I am an F1 fan, Jelly. I haven't travelled to a race in a while but I'd like to see the Texas track. My avatar is a Corsa Clienti car.
I have nothing against Alabama or Missisippi, nor against California or New York.
"If taxes there keep going up, I wouldn't be surprised if more major businesses decided to pick up and move to a Red State or overseas."
This is an ongoing process, well advanced at this point. Business and industry here is concentrating and concentrating into extreme pinpoints. We live in one of these pinpoints.
All physically oriented business activity that can easily move has, and everyone left over is trying to find some angle where they can do so.
Fabi,
I've only done Texas once, although I go to Austin for other stuff a couple times a year.
The one year I did Texas it rained an insane amount. It was almost all terrible, but it was actually nice on Sunday.
I like going abroad for the races.
"Although much of this last paragraph applied to Obama as well in his first days, true conservatives know full-well that Trump has not the slightest idea what being conservative even means."
His cabinet picks sure look conservative to me - more conservative than I expected. I would agree that Trump is not an ideologue, but, paradoxically, it could be that the unhinged reaction of the left to both his candidacy and his victory, have in fact pushed him further right. If so, good job, liberals!
I've heard the Texas track is impressive. Good for you for traveling abroad to follow the season. Do you race?
“There is a new left and a new right. On the one side there are the unremitting orthodoxies of correct behavior and language reaching its apogee in that weird children’s crusades on college campuses, a frightening and ineffectual exercise in cultural re-engineering. . . . On the other side, there are cadres of radical provocateurs who provoke their foes into greater and greater flights of hysteria—mocking the left’s uptightness the way the left used to mock the right’s. . . . The more the left is provoked, the more it defends itself, making it more difficult for anybody in the ever-left-leaning culture business to deviate from the prescribed rules.”
— Michael Wolff, The Trump Establishment's Cultural Significance, Explained
I don't race.
I sorta did. But, you'll be shocked to learn that I'm impulsive, unwise, and stupid. After destroying a car in the six figures I decided to cut my loses and stick to the streets [w/ even more baller cars].
I wonder what kind of music Castros thugs in Cuba will play for their prisoners whose only crime was wanting to escape communism?
If there is one thing modern lefties DO NOT LIKE (besides intellectual diversity), it's the simple folk trying to escape their leftist Peoples Paradise.
But that's okay. They are only Cubans and the left has made sure everyone knows that they don't fit into the dems mosaic of preferred identity groups.
What's another thousand or so political prisoners in Cuba after all. Those peasants probably had it coming, right LyinPB?
How dare those peons reject their communist masters!! Off with their heads!
Remember, the most beautiful sound in the world is Islamic call to prayer, according to our outgoing Messiah.
It's especially beautiful after a terrorist attack. It must be because it's after terrorist attacks that the left really ramps up support and immigration quotas for these jihadis.
"intellectual diversity"
Is this the new PC term for retard?
"intellectual diversity"
"Is this the new PC term for retard?"
Its the proper term for listening to the school of engineering in most universities.
Most people with public policy concerns don't listen to them.
In CA, most of the time, they are personae non gratae, and don't count as "intellectual".
Apparently.
"Most people with public policy concerns don't listen to them."
I'd be careful, if I were you Buwaya. If you want to be an R apologist, you need to be into creationism. So, don't get too uppity w/ a pro science POV.
BTW, I wonder if today's shifting political sands will push more thinking cons to the Ds, while more creationist black Ds will jump to the Rs.
I dunno.
Blogger Lyin'PB_Ombudsman said...
Fabi,
I'm sure recruiting is awesome. Smart to be based where talent doesn't want to be.
What a gift the left gives the rest of us with this unthinking, unknowing supercilious attitude that disdains anything not in the blue states.
Chicago is California with bad weather.
I am not an R apologist, I am an entirely independent (being a foreign Royalist) enemy of the modern American intelligentsia. Or what passes for one.
Surely you don't identify with such appalling swine?
I could replace the lot of them with foreigners in a few weeks. Serve them right.
Shorter Lying: innocents imprisoned and tortured for leaving a commie prison? Hahahaha!
They had it coming. Now how do we get those captured jihadis back to the battlefield?
#ThisIsHowYouGetTrump
Chicago is nowhere near as corrupt as California. There is much more to steal here, and it's harder to escape.
Poor Hillary. She only had $1.2B to spend on her campaign! It could have been her throwing innocents back to the communist hordes.
Alas.
Maybe next time.
Avant-garde thinking in Manhattan, America's thought capital - let's accept an election won in a constitutional way by someone we don't like. And then let's try to think up reasons by which we win arguments instead of telling the other side they are racist, sexist, homophobic, Christian, white, Nazi, fascist, deluded, ignorant, cismale, cisfemale and American. "Shut up, he explained" does not work anymore, he explains. Thinking is hard, so many don't get this avant-garde stuff. But the technique is worth the effort it takes. Keep trying. Maybe someday you will be able to write for the New Yorker. "Dead white males sometimes have something to say: our Constitution Revisisted." Something like that. Anything can happen in America.
Willie Brown could have taught those Chicagoans some lessons. How to intercept much larger revenue streams, safely, without going to prison. Quite a lot of Illinois public officials have been successfully prosecuted and jailed.
California?
" If you want to be an R apologist, you need to be into creationism"
Bullshit. Most Republicans are not creationists. Most Christians are not creationist.
Probably wasn't worth Willie Browns' while, but he could have wandered off to other states, and taught graduate seminars in public corruption, and how to get away with it.
These days though everything is broken down sufficiently that it no longer requires much skill.
"What a gift the left gives the rest of us with this unthinking, unknowing supercilious attitude that disdains anything not in the blue states."
I love the harshness and ruthlessness of the communities and organizations that push people to supposedly unhealthy levels. When I read the NYT takedown of Amazon because Amazon folks were worked so hard that they broke down and cried at their desks, I thought 'cool place to work, dominating there is a great accomplishment.'
IOW, I'm w/ DJT (in this one situation): you're a winner if you F-ing compete w/ the best and succeed, otherwise you're a loser.
So, some backwards hillbilly from Alabama is, IMHO, a loser. Likewise for some gangbanger in Chiraq.
My favorite part of all this has to be the Lefty posters pretending they are enjoying off all this so very much. Easy to do online.
Then you see the dems and media (but I repeat myself) on TV and the look like they are going thru withdrawal!
The juxtaposition is jarring and extremely delightful!
It must be because it's after terrorist attacks that the left really ramps up support and immigration quotas for these jihadis.
1/13/17, 7:00 PM
Jihadis who are more likely to attack crowds in blue cities. Cambridge, filled with the intellectual elites so esteemed by Lyin' P, earnestly asked themselves after the Boston Marathon bombing what they did to alienate those poor Tsarnaev boys. "Were we not welcoming enough?"
As the Democrats dominate California, they get sloppier.
New York is showing the same pattern.
Of course, Gopnik would never consider that a number of musicians won't play at the inauguration because it will get them blackballed.
Great, so now we're told that most Christians don't believe that God told the truth re his word.
Anywho, nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.
I love the harshness and ruthlessness of the communities and organizations that push people to supposedly unhealthy levels.
And I'll bet you love the useless trinkets they create with all that stress and "harshness."
Snapchat and Twitter and the other valuable trinkets of the left and the kids.
One of the few real accomplishments of the "knowledge economy" is 3 D printing but I'll bet you don't know what to do with it.
It really is remarkable, watching the "intellectual elites" holding guns to their heads and sneering at the hicks because the dumb rubes don't want to join them in a game of Russian roulette.
I'm speaking metaphorically of course, since the "intellectual elites" have a long-standing distaste for guns and a sudden distaste for Russians.
I was quite interested to hear from Madam Oelosi that our current economic condition is the sole result of GWBush who apparently will hand off responsibility for our economy directly to DJT.
It is unfortunate we were not lucky enough to have a Democrat President in between these 2.
"My favorite part of all this has to be the Lefty posters pretending they are enjoying off all this so very much. Easy to do online.
Then you see the dems and media (but I repeat myself) on TV and the look like they are going thru withdrawal!
The juxtaposition is jarring and extremely delightful!"
When y'all type this sorta thing, it's interesting that no light bulb goes off in the stuff between your ears? You'd think that at some point y'all would think: 'wtf am I doing, why am I a huge ball of emotion, like a teenage girl at a boy band concert?'
If Scott Adams wanted to pile up evidence that folks are motivated by feelings rather than logic and steadfast principles he wouldn't need to look to far.
Lyin'PB_Ombudsman said...
Great, so now we're told that most Christians don't believe that God told the truth re his word."
You are ignorant of Christianity, it seems. Most Christians are not Biblical literalists. That is not new news.
A self-styled intellectual who knows next to nothing about the various sects of the religion that has dominated the Western World for 2000 years is not much of an intellectual. Perhaps you should either shut up about a subject you know very little about or stop relying on Bill Maher and DeGrasse Tyson for your source material.
"Snapchat and Twitter and the other valuable trinkets of the left and the kids."
That's not what's produced. It's tons of houses and private jets.
The Left since the 70s has never internalized the value of federalism. Given a number of the MMSAs are now larger than the US was in the 1800s, isn't the better answer to cut us all loose? tax, representation adjusted for MSAS-sized states, each with millions of citizens with borders drawn to sort them into largely homogenous groups that they already are, each with their own identities rather than force one size shoe to fit all in needs and behavior. Where the importance of the electoral vote is much less significant because so much else is left to the state. Even better the ability of citizens to vote with their feet will discipline both the governments and their electorate, if they are to attract those best able to advance the welfare of their free citizens and their free enterprise. Well what about those shortchanged, who lose the benefits of the old system? That should be solvable as well, else we all die, we could adapt what Al Gore proposed in his “re-inventing government (a form of managing by objectives), which was applied in New Zealand, and succeeded after many sleepless nights of very hard work and very hard negotiations (which like the song means “you can’t always get what you want, but you can always get what you need” after they ran out of money. Though as democratic socialists they could survive on what they had, their citizens could only see their fortunes and their children’s future in decline (and they’d leave) because stasis meant falling from first, to second, to third, to fourth world status. Because the world changed and what was competitive no longer was, and no one would lend them money. So they made big changes in a neo-liberal environment, and did without breaking a contract or union (by law, everyone belonged to a union), nobody starved and minority student scores matched if not beat the best in the world, and the minority schools became the most fought over to attend by all citizens. Look up the “New Zealand Miracle for how neo-liberal policies succeeded as they had fallen to the status of a third world country and knew they had to increase the returns to capital, even when it caused greater unemployment with those had to learn new things and adapt. It all worked out for the best. Even more interesting is what they did about child care, disability, health, torts, and related. Where they confessed that the cost of hip replacement, and the increasing number of hip replacements seemed uncontainable. With the expectation of there being so much revenue around this particular issue worldwide, and health in general, this would drive investment which would create a technical solutions that would match or better the past to rescue them. Which is likely the only solution for our own health care challenges (unless we’re willing to never improve health care or its technology again over what exists today). We need to deliver better health care with machines than can be delivered by humans. Which won’t be believable at first so we’ll need the rich to demonstrate their preference first, as in He!! No! I demand the best. (and the poor to say, just because they can afford it why is it denied to me? One early advantage to the rich might well be never a case of MRSA post operatively which is unachievable in every hospital we have today, so even after we kill it with exotic drugs, it takes years off of lifespan. And do this development on the backs of the poor waiving most torts ad HIPPA at our teaching and experimental hospitals in exchange for free medical care. Self-driving cars. Whoda thunk? Yes I do dream. Note India has created a business in medical tourism because they built several hospitals starting from scratch with the discipline of a silicon foundry, air management, quarantine, stuff similar to what we did for moon dirt, etc.
Your need to deflect is understandable Lying.
Poor thing, like the other lefties in meltdown mode the cognitive dissonance has to be overwhelming.
God speed for your recovery.
Perhaps a new health care plan could provide you with what you need.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson?
He of the phantom memories.
Hmmm, not unlike John Kerry during Christmas, 1968.
Like Obama believing his policies ROCKED!
Gee, it's like a pattern!
LyinPB: "If Scott Adams wanted to pile up evidence that folks are motivated by feelings rather than logic and steadfast principles he wouldn't need to look to far."
True. Your posts are right here.
exile,
I'm not self-styled anything. But, I grew up in Christian schools until college. And, I currently go to an Assemblies of God Church when I'm in a particular house.
Also, Gallup thinks more than 50% of Christian Rs believe in that BS. And, the Bible does claim that BS, so you can't really hold it against the Christians who do believe that BS.
Carry on.
LyinPB: "That's not what's produced. It's tons of houses and private jets."
I did not know that the magnitude of houses and aircraft built was measured in tonnage.
It is apparent that LyinPB is not one with much of a science or engineering background.
The good news for LyinPB is the new healthcare landscape will allow flexibility in designing his plan to include sufficient mental health offerings.
Could be a big win for him!
The bad news for LyinPB is that uranium and cash for Iran and more Uranium for Russia will be cut off under Trump.
That will be tough for him.
Do carry on.
"It is apparent that LyinPB is not one with much of a science or engineering background."
I meant tens. Typo. I.e., base ten. Is that engineering enough for ya.
I can switch to binary, it that's better.
Or, log.
"The good news for LyinPB is the new healthcare landscape will allow flexibility in designing his plan to include sufficient mental health offerings."
As long as my straight jackets and shock therapy are still covered, it's all good.
Lyin'PB:
I think I type for everybody else when I note you dump plenty of logs around these parts.
"As long as my straight jackets and shock therapy are still covered, it's all good."
That's always the first thing I check as well. You know, just in case.
My fear is that there will be a run on those items in Wash DC and that demand will peak right about 2pm on 20Jan17.
LyinPB: "I meant tens. Typo. I.e., base ten. Is that engineering enough for ya. I can switch to binary, it that's better. Or, log"
Okay, okay. Partial credit.
That's as much as I can do right now. Let me check with dept head and I'll see if I can sweeten that up a bit.
No promises!
Not enough bowel movement chit chat 'round here.
Even I, as a fan of abbreviations, refer to Big Mike as Big M, when BM would be easier.
That's mighty kind of you, son. Might kind.
"That's not what's produced. It's tons of houses and private jets."
Those are consumables, you idiot. Do you really think trinkets are valuable ? Read Thorsten Veblen sometime, although there are big words.
Mike,
You're funny.
Ok, I'll learn to not like enjoyment and success.
Happy?
If you ever wanted to know a mathematical equation for the question "who is a celebrity?" Then using only Wikipedia English, you can check this web page:
https://medium.com/@jasoncrease/was-2016-especially-dangerous-for-celebrities-79d79b9fae02#.3y1sqbv8g
The author determined who a celebrity was, and then calculated if 2016 had the most celebrity deaths. (yes).
"Ok, I'll learn to not like enjoyment and success."
So, you are Trump fan now, PB&J?
Conspicuous consumption, married to a super model, and having the time of his life.
harryo said...
The author determined who a celebrity was, and then calculated if 2016 had the most celebrity deaths. (yes).
The oldest boomers turned 70 in 2016.
"Conspicuous consumption, married to a super model, and having the time of his life."
You left out one of his best quotes, maybe the best quote from him.
More or less: 'If you don't think you can buy happiness, you haven't been shopping in the right stores.'
The creationism thing is interesting. Progressives seem to believe that creationism -- the belief that God created the human race in some kind of defiance of the laws of nature -- is the product of superstition.
The word "supernatural" merely means 'above nature." Progressives believe all kinds of crazy things, when they think at all. Scientific materialism is the belief that the natural world and its laws are all that there is, and that the human mind is capable of perceiving all of the natural world and its laws. It is the denial of metaphysics.
But if the natural world and its laws are all there is, there is no free will. We are no more capable of free will than a computer program. But if this is true there is no virtue. No one actually makes choices. Yet progressives believe in virtue. Why recycle or condemn exploitation, if these things aren't virtuous? Having an emotional response to, say, racism, is just silly. It's like having an emotional response to your car not starting because you believe that it made a decision not to start, and that is wrong for cars to decide not to start.
But if there is free will, it is built into the natural world that we experience. If I choose to pick up a stone, I have created physical action in the material world that did not originate in the material world. Choosing to pick up a stone is no greater a miracle than the reincarnation of dead flesh.
"It's like having an emotional response to your car not starting because you believe that it made a decision not to start, and that is wrong for cars to decide not to start."
I got this VW w/ a 53 on it that thinks otherwise.
Progressives are so superstitious that they actually believe there are sides of history and they are on the right side and that side is the inevitable progress of society.
Meanwhile Huns, Goths and Vandals are always on the edges of society hoping for its downfall.
Desperately Seeking "Madame Oelosi" per Drago 7:48
But only one in the USA ...
Who is this figure? Or is it an idiom? LOL, STFU, underpants gnome?
A Twitter thing?
Behind in English though I read Spencer. Ars longa, vita brevis.
Thank God for intuition. Madame Pelosi.
The oldest boomers turned 70 in 2016.
Damn right we did! We're the youngest, smartest, most humble seventy years -- evah!
althouse blog comments my favorite part of the internet right now. very provocative!
not sad!
Big Mike said...
The oldest boomers turned 70 in 2016.
Damn right we did! We're the youngest, smartest, most humble seventy years -- evah!
And no 70-year-olds are younger than you! None of them!
From what I understand, real, academic historians aren't into teleology. People are just what they are, there is nothing in them that is "becoming" anything, and there is no past, merely current thoughts about this mental construct called "the past."
don't just move on!
ctrl + f traditionalguy getting increasingly useful though!
I'm going to bed, because I'm tired!
Gopnik is so unreadable despite having smart things to say.
The New Yorker cover conveys such a sense of offended snobbery... it's painful to see. "How dare those inferiors usurp our God's given right and duty to guide the USA?"
Trumpeteers:
The ~3000 counties Trump won generate 36% of US economic activity.
The ~400 counties Hillary won generate 74% of US economic activity.
Majority of counties Hillary won are on the Coasts, big cities and college towns.
It is fact that the prosperous States eg. NY, CA, WA etc. subsidize the less prosperous which are mainly in the middle of the country.
The war is no longer between the Left and Right, it is between the Trumpeteers and the larger Rest who contribute more to the US. And, they are getting angrier and angrier because they generate more economically and subsidize the middle-country.
Go ahead and keep laughing Trumpeteers but you don't have the money - the liberal Coasts do.
Classic example of a Trumpeteer who is violently against Obamacare but loves the ACA which they are subscribed to:
(https://www.reddit.com/r/EnoughTrumpSpam/comments/5mxe2n/im_not_on_obamacare_my_health_insurance_is/)
That's right ... Like millions of dumb Trumpeteers who cannot tell that Obamacare = ACA. Once the Trump administration invicerates Obamacare without a replacement, what are the millions of Obamacare subscribers going to do? Oh, yes - they will vote Trump and Republican again next time. Yeah, right.
Don't forget Trumpeteers - you don't have the money, the liberal Coasts do.
But if the natural world and its laws are all there is, there is no free will.
Nonsense. According to modern physics, this real physical world we live in is not deterministic, while new (though garbage — but none the less useful for that) information continually leaks into the world basically from nowhere. As a result, it's perfectly possible for something very like “free will” to coexist with this universe of ours.
Nonsense. According to modern physics, this real physical world we live in is not deterministic
Astonishing!
There is no first law of thermodynamics?
I have a wait-and-see attitude toward the coming Trump Administration. As a libertarian, I see aspects of his "philosophy" (if one can call it that) that I don't like (his support of a minimum wage; anti-free-trade rhetoric; his support of the Kelo decision). But when I hear the "liberal" Hive's jeremiads against a Trump presidency, I remind myself that "liberals" are The Gang That's Wrong About Nearly Everything (and I'm being charitable about the "nearly"), I feel more favorably disposed toward The Donald.
Astonishing!
Indeed it is.
There is no first law of thermodynamics?
Nothing about the process violates any physical conservation laws, including the laws of thermodynamics.
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