Althouse: At the Friday Night Café...

January 4, 2019

At the Friday Night Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

70 comments:

JackWayne said...: 30 round AR mags are on sale at Academy for $7.99. Thanks democrats!; 1/4/19, 9:00 PM
Tank said...: I get Schumer, I don't get Pelosi. Schumer is an obviously intelligent, sleazy, slimy, Machiavellian politician. Pelosi always seems like a doofus. If you did not know that she was the Speaker of the House, or a Congressperson, would she possible impress you? It's a mystery.; 1/4/19, 9:05 PM
Lucien said...: The left is against the Senate and the Electoral College, they want to pack the Supreme Court if they come into power, they urged members of the Electoral College to be unfaithful to Trump after the 2016 election, and they think it's terrible that President Trump is transgressing so many norms of our government.; 1/4/19, 9:08 PM
gilbar said...: Pelosi's father (and brother (and husband) are all richer than rich.
If you wonder why Pelosi... as they say: It's all about the money; 1/4/19, 9:09 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Forget the wall — Democrats now hate the border itself

Worth reading.; 1/4/19, 9:12 PM
Tank said...: @gilbar

I get that, but, if you were a Dem Congressman, one with dome depth and gravitas, would you want her leading, and speaking on behalf of, your party?; 1/4/19, 9:19 PM
Sebastian said...: "The left is against the Senate and the Electoral College"

They are against the Constitution itself, including the living constitution. As a liberal friend said recently, "I wish we'd get rid of it."

Which also means, of course, that any leftist takes the oath of office in bad faith.; 1/4/19, 9:24 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: I am drinking a gin & tonic, while watching "300:Rise of an Empire". (Eva Green - Yowzah!)

I don't know how the Govt shut down will work, but earlier today I painlessly got two passports for my two teenagers. Planning a trip to Italy in Spring.

My youngest wants to attend USC on an NROTC scholarship and is lifting weights everyday.

My wife just worked out and has joined me for a G&T.

My dog is napping after a nice winter walk.

The jobs report is outstanding.

The Dow was up today 700+.

Life is good. No need to tweet about it.; 1/4/19, 9:29 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @Sebastian,

They are against the Constitution itself, including the living constitution. As a liberal friend said recently, "I wish we'd get rid of it."

Yes, I hear shit like that, too. I wonder if the liberals who say stuff like that realize that what they're talking about there is essentially civil war. There are LOTS of people in this country who see the Constitution, the Senate, the Electoral College, etc. as doing what they were designed to do, and they would take profound umbrage at their abrogation.

It amazes me so many liberals think that if the shit hits the fan that they stand absolutely no chance on being on the downrange end of one of those 300+ million guns owned by those troglodytic deplorables. It's like they're just absolutely positive that the armed forces/police will be there for them when the shit hits the fan. I tell them not to bet on it, that they're nowhere near that lovable that someone else is going to die on the barricades for them.; 1/4/19, 9:34 PM
William said...: Pelosi isn't really annoying. I like her better than Warren, but she's no Ocasio- Cortez, who's definitely hot. I think hot girls who say stupid shit are even hotter when they say stupid shit. It's probably a trick she learned to amp the tips when she was in the service industry. I love it hen she talks about taking 70% of the income of Pelosi's hubby.; 1/4/19, 9:34 PM
narciso said...: Ah yes eva, she was also good in sin city 2, well in her natural state not so much in penny dreadful where she is a Victorian possessed by some Egyptian priestess or something.; 1/4/19, 9:36 PM
William said...: I think it's a crime against nature that Eva Green didn't have a role on Game of Thrones. She would fit right in at Westeros. She's always so much better than her roles. I hope she gets one great role before she dies.; 1/4/19, 9:39 PM
Tank said...: On New Years Eve, Mrs. Tank and I, and another couple, went out for dinner at 4:30 PM, had a couple of drinks and a great lobster and cheese sandwich, and were home by 7:30.

This was the most "old person thing" we've ever done.

Bad news, we enjoyed it.; 1/4/19, 9:41 PM
JackWayne said...: YH, I hear this from a lot of people but I’m mindful that communists, socialists and democrats are some of the best killers in the world. Don’t underestimate their ability to rain death down like an Aztec!; 1/4/19, 9:41 PM
pacwest said...: I may have missed it but did Althouse do any follow up experimentation re the ads she was getting that had a connection to listening devices in her house?; 1/4/19, 9:42 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @JW,

I hear this from a lot of people but I’m mindful that communists, socialists and democrats are some of the best killers in the world.

Against an unarmed populace they were. But this populace isn't unarmed. Not only that, but the culture & market of guns is now so thoroughly right-wing in this country that any major attempt by the left to buy up oodles & oodles of guns will telegraph their intentions. Not to mention the fact that most lefties live in Blue areas where gun ownership is strictly controlled by the local governments.; 1/4/19, 9:45 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: "I hear this from a lot of people but I’m mindful that communists, socialists and democrats are....."

No need to be redundant......; 1/4/19, 9:46 PM
rcocean said...: "drinking Dom Pérignon '53 at a temperature above 38 degrees is like listening to the Beatles without earmuffs."

Still funny - 55 years later.; 1/4/19, 9:52 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: Turns out that both the Senate and the Electoral College are unconstitutional, and racist, and misogynist, and well, you can fill in the rest.; 1/4/19, 9:54 PM
rcocean said...: For all you here are puzzled by the Democrats.

Look at California. Look at NYC. Imagine the whole USA like that.

That's what the Democrats expect -with continued mass immigration.

That's why they behave the way they do.; 1/4/19, 9:55 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: Not to mention that not having at large congresspeople. Basically anything that stands between urban Democrats and eternal domination of our politics is racist, misogynist, and unconstitutional.; 1/4/19, 9:56 PM
rcocean said...: BTW, a congresswoman just called the POTUS a "Motherfucker" in public.

Where is Bill Kristol? where is national review? where is Mitt Romney?

AWOL.

It was NEVER about character. Or Civility. Or being "the country".; 1/4/19, 9:57 PM
JackWayne said...: YH, that part is true. But the success of mega-killers is their ability to persuade people to go somewhat willingly to their deaths. We’ve seen it over and over throughout history.; 1/4/19, 9:57 PM
Gulistan said...: No comment from our host about the recent NY Times crossword puzzle controversy?; 1/4/19, 9:58 PM
Birkel said...: Bay Area Guy,
That is living!
Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
Cheers!; 1/4/19, 9:59 PM
Birkel said...: I liked the Penny Dreadful and Vesper Lynd roles played by Eva Green.; 1/4/19, 10:03 PM
Big Mike said...: I hope [Eva Green] gets one great role before she dies.

Have you seen “The Dreamers”?; 1/4/19, 10:07 PM
narciso said...: Ah that was her debut role, she is his her natural state for significant time in this tale about the 68 revolution in France, deja vu all over again.; 1/4/19, 10:13 PM
narciso said...: Where in Italy are you going just Rome or Naples Milan et al.; 1/4/19, 10:22 PM
pacwest said...: YH and all who think there will be an armed rebellion against the upcoming purge by the socialists are wrong imho. It will be death by a thousand cuts against conservatives, over time, as they are either re-educated (if you're going to get along you'd better go along), or forced into isolation (best to keep your opinions to yourself). The educational system of the past 5 decades has pretty well guaranteed it. Once enough geezers die out for the younger educationally radicalized to seize power, armed rebellion by the populace will not be tolerated and will be squelched by the levers of power they will then command. In the end, most people are sheep anyways. Turn out the lights. The reason I believe this is the fact that Hillary Clinton is not presently behind bars.; 1/4/19, 10:22 PM
narciso said...: Well that's largely due to the fusion flimflam, which sparked this grishenko snipe hunt.; 1/4/19, 10:31 PM
Big Mike said...: The reason I believe this is the fact that Hillary Clinton is not presently behind bars.

Point taken.; 1/4/19, 10:36 PM
JackWayne said...: Well said pacwest. Keep in mind that there are diverging paths in America. The people who want unlimited government are also people who think that no government can run out of money. So here in America, there is a 3-way race: to disarm the deplorables, before the country goes bankrupt and the older people die off. I don’t think the numbers favor the unlimiteds. I expect complete bankruptcy before 2030, possibly by 2028. The irony is that any reprisals will come from middle-class Democrats, mostly union members, who find their pension has no money. Hell hath no fury like a middle-aged female school teacher who loses her pension?; 1/4/19, 10:46 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Way to rain on my parade, pacwest!

Narcisco - I haven't been to Italy before, so we'll hit the big ticket items (Rome, Naples) and also the Amalfi Coast. I do want to rent a car and drive to the countryside, we'll see. My wife has family in Spain, so maybe there too.; 1/4/19, 10:48 PM
BlackjohnX said...: Bay Area Guy: Good luck to your son getting the NROTC scholarship. I went that route in 1962. A great program. Hopefully, it hasn't changed. The best parts are the summer cruises. First year is usually aboard a ship. If he has a choice, he should choose a destroyer over anything larger. You get to work in every shipboard area (grunt level) and get a chance to know some of the regular shipboard enlisted and really feel a part of things - the Midshipmen on the larger ships tended to get shunted aside and many did little more than cool their heels while on board. Three memories from my first cruise stand out: steaming in our destroyer alongside a carrier and going across on a zip line and back after getting a tour; serving on the bridge during a horrendous storm and seeing the ships in our small fleet fighting through the waves, often disappearing from sight; and attending a dance in Montreal (our northern stopping point on our Caribbean cruise) sponsored by a nurses college for our contingent of Midshipmen - where I first tasted and learned to appreciate the Singapore Sling.; 1/4/19, 10:49 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @Pacwest,

YH and all who think there will be an armed rebellion against the upcoming purge by the socialists are wrong imho. It will be death by a thousand cuts against conservatives, over time, as they are either re-educated (if you're going to get along you'd better go along), or forced into isolation (best to keep your opinions to yourself).

I don't think so. Look at a map of the US votes by county. There's far too many areas that are Red. Too many states are Red. The Blue states may have ways of pressuring their Red, primarily rural, counties, but they have almost no way of pressuring the Red states. The only way they can do that is via the Federal government, and that's a pretty big screen that telegraphs their intentions. Remember, Trump's 2016 win was an electoral landslide in his favor. That electoral map is a map of the strongholds of conservative power, & that's not going to change for a long while.; 1/4/19, 10:50 PM
JackWayne said...: YH, what percent of Americans are nominally communists and what percent are limited government stalwarts? That’s where the true balance of power is. And I believe the communists enjoy a 70-10-20 advantage. With 10 being the stalwarts and the 20 being the usual Don’t Cares.; 1/4/19, 11:02 PM
pacwest said...: YH,
My short answer is that the levers of power, financial, technological, media, are concentrated in the blue areas of the map you describe. Blue areas are flourishing. Again, most people are sheep, or lemmings, and short sighted.; 1/4/19, 11:03 PM
rcocean said...: "YH and all who think there will be an armed rebellion against the upcoming purge by the socialists"

Look, I'm all in favor of the 2nd Amendment. And a well-armed public is a deterrent to a tyrannical government - TO A DEGREE.

But you can fantasize all you want about holing up in a cabin with your 50 cal machine gun - and it won't do you any good when a Air Force Jet drops a load of napalm on you. Or someone orders a platoon of 81 mm's to take you out. BTW, do you have night-vision goggles? The US Army does.

I get really annoyed at kind of Dumbo thinking. Its like: " I'll just sit here and do nothing - because if things get too bad, I'll just take my guns and go off in the woods." That didn't work out too well for Randy Weaver.; 1/4/19, 11:06 PM
narciso said...: There are reasons for concern take my state where the blue tide is held by a narrow fortification that the new prison voting amendment may wash away.; 1/4/19, 11:07 PM
narciso said...: I think the era of randy weaver is sadly rather quaint in civil military relations on both sides of the aisle.; 1/4/19, 11:10 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @JW,

YH, what percent of Americans are nominally communists and what percent are limited government stalwarts? That’s where the true balance of power is. And I believe the communists enjoy a 70-10-20 advantage. With 10 being the stalwarts and the 20 being the usual Don’t Cares.

Nominally communists?! What? No, liberals aren't "communists". They're just dogmatic in their own special way.

The question is what percentage of Americans want their churches to be free. What percentage want to be able to own their guns legally. Want to be able to express their opinions in public without fear. Want to have local control of their lives.

That's a large fraction; 1/4/19, 11:11 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @pacwest,

My short answer is that the levers of power, financial, technological, media, are concentrated in the blue areas of the map you describe

And where are all the transportation, energy, & food resources?

Do you realize how easy it would be to blockade NYC or San Francisco if the Armed Forces
didn't intervene?; 1/4/19, 11:11 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @rcocean,

But you can fantasize all you want about holing up in a cabin with your 50 cal machine gun - and it won't do you any good when a Air Force Jet drops a load of napalm on you. Or someone orders a platoon of 81 mm's to take you out. BTW, do you have night-vision goggles? The US Army does.

And why would the Armed Forces side with the side that seeks to override the Constitution?

This is the fantasy that the liberals fall for -- that the Armed Forces will be on their side. Do you know what I say to that?

"Do you know what about 65% of the enlisted men in the Armed Forces call Bible Thumpers?"

"Mom & Pop."; 1/4/19, 11:15 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: @andy karas,

Good stuff, Sir. And thanks for your service and good insights. I just told him it's highly competitive and he's gotta get high marks in school.; 1/4/19, 11:20 PM
Birkel said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/4/19, 11:24 PM
Birkel said...: mis-informed

Auto-uncorrect is my nemesis.; 1/4/19, 11:27 PM
pacwest said...: "Do you realize how easy it would be to blockade NYC or San Francisco if the Armed Forces didn't intervene?"

"And why would the Armed Forces side with the side that seeks to override the Constitution?"

Good point about the energy supply, but are you talking guerrilla warfare?

Agree the Armed Forces are key, but what makes you think they would go against an existing government that most of their leaders are a part of? Military coup? I doubt it.

Blockade: Interesting to see how neutral foreign powers would be in that situation.; 1/4/19, 11:28 PM
JackWayne said...: The reason I look at the finances as the trigger that is the SHTF event is that I’m convinced that history shows that social convulsions happen over really serious problems, not over irritants like PC or chasing people out of restaurants. My analysis is as follows: current debt is split into private and public. Private debt is said to be about $22T but that is wrong. Our debt occurs the day the budget is voted out, not by the end of the fiscal year. So our true debt today is about $23.5T. But don’t forget to add in the Fed balance sheet of more than $4T. So that’s $27.5T as of today. Now Social Security debt is hard to figure. In a way, it’s not a true debt, more a marker to say this is a specific unfunded future debt. So don’t add it to the total. HOWEVER, what if the Treasury has monetized that debt and turned it into private debt? In that case, add $4.5T to get $32T of actual debt. One marker of how bad things are: in 2014, the government rolled over $8T in debt when our acknowledged debt was $14T. I believe these rollovers are the portion of the off-budget budget that is never completely described. In 2016, the off-budget expense was $600B. Every year the off-budget amount grows geometrically. When you hear that President X has $1T in debt they are lying by referring to the budgeted borrowing. You have to go to the government website to find out the unbudgeted borrowing. So far the banks have been able to absorb the debt. One day they won’t be able to. Thats when I expect the SHTF event.; 1/4/19, 11:33 PM
pacwest said...: Birkel,
I hope you are right. I have heard stories about kids rejecting the poor preperation for reality that they have recieved, but am looking at young journalists and politicians that make me doubt the hopeful picture you are painting.; 1/4/19, 11:37 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @pacwest,

Agree the Armed Forces are key, but what makes you think they would go against an existing government that most of their leaders are a part of

We've already had one Civil War. What happened there with the officer corps & the far fewer enlisted men than the standing army we have today?

My guess is that the military brass will not be able to convince a sizable fraction of their officer or especially enlisted corps to fight their own people.

but are you talking guerrilla warfare?

An armed insurgency of some sort. What's the Armed Forces going to do to them that we haven't been doing to the Taliban for 15 years, and still haven't defeated? And if the insurgents blend into the population what will the Armed Forces do? Level e.g. Redding, CA to get to them, with all the attendant collateral damage? That'll win over hearts & minds, fer shure, fer shure.; 1/4/19, 11:38 PM
pacwest said...: Jack Wayne,

Time frame? Asking for a friend who would like to time the market :); 1/4/19, 11:48 PM
pacwest said...: YH,
Pretty dark. I don't think that will be the scenario if it comes to that. I don't think the percentages are on your side, and maybe out of sheer unthinkability on my part don't believe that will happen. Call me a sheeple.; 1/4/19, 11:54 PM
narciso said...: Well what is your solution, then,; 1/5/19, 12:01 AM
pacwest said...: narsico,
If you are asking me? I have none. Call it the Marxist arc of history.; 1/5/19, 12:09 AM
Birkel said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/5/19, 12:51 AM
YoungHegelian said...: I just want to make something very clear here --- I fear this outcome, I certainly do not desire it nor do I have any wish to foment it. To quote Homer's Iliad, in the words of the wise Nestor:

For none but such as have No Law, No Kin, / Nor House, in civil discord can delight

But, I see far too many people who speak blithely of political & cultural actions that I fear can do naught but provoke violent response. While I think those people have lost their minds, there these people are on major media outlets, speaking as if around 65 million adults will go quietly into the night just because.

It scares the beejeepers outta me.; 1/5/19, 12:59 AM
chillblaine said...: Cat posting. Frida Kahlo Kitty Found a Mouse in the House, try not to laugh at her cruelty.; 1/5/19, 2:49 AM
gilbar said...: Birkel said...
The most interesting tidbit is how much young people have internalized all the negative stories:... they have a hard time understanding how great life is today as opposed to any other time in history.

'studies' have shown that today's youth are more anxious than any, ever.
Here's my $0.02 worth. The less you have to worry about, the more time you have to worry.

{back in my day,} when nuclear damnation seemed Likely, kids didn't worry: about ANYTHING
When fighting (and dying) with the Nazis was on tomorrow's activity list: Kids got married
When fighting (and dying) with the Nazis was done: Kids made families
When getting scalped by angry natives was Likely, kids spent their time learning to shoot

When; the Absolute WORST THING POSSIBLE that can happen to you is a temperature rise of 2 degrees over the next 150 years.... You stay up nights shivering and shaking and weeping and wailing; 1/5/19, 5:34 AM
stevew said...: Went to see a guitarist that goes by the stage name Popa Chubby last night with my wife and some friends. And, yes, his name is meant to mean what those of us whose minds are in the gutter think it means.

Anyway, he's really good with a simple band (guitar, drums, bass) and plays blues inspired tunes. He's also one of those guys that likes to tell stories in between songs. Made some boilerplate anti-Trump comments at one point, but only to mention that at his most recent show at this venue (Woonsocket RI) a guy in the audience with a red MAGA hat took some exception to being singled out for some anti-Trump banter and left after being confronted. This was to introduce his song, "Go Fuck Yourself". Actually a good and funny song but the set up was so typical of what anti-Trump folks spew these days (see "motherfucker" comments from that congresswoman) that the reaction from the crowd was pretty quiet and bored.

Happy Saturday. I'm off to make stuff.; 1/5/19, 6:11 AM
Humperdink said...: As a business owner I generally avoid talking or revealing my political views. Why aggravate my customers or potential customers. If they bring it up though, I will engage.

On time, I mistakenly wore my NRA hat on when I visited a large customer in his warehouse. I always wear a hat due to my sun sensitivity and I grabbed the wrong one. Not knowing his politics, I was more than a bit nervous when I realized it. Turns out he was NRA life member.; 1/5/19, 6:35 AM
Tank said...: stevew said...

Went to see a guitarist that goes by the stage name Popa Chubby last night with my wife and some friends. And, yes, his name is meant to mean what those of us whose minds are in the gutter think it means.

Anyway, he's really good with a simple band (guitar, drums, bass) and plays blues inspired tunes. He's also one of those guys that likes to tell stories in between songs. Made some boilerplate anti-Trump comments at one point, but only to mention that at his most recent show at this venue (Woonsocket RI) a guy in the audience with a red MAGA hat took some exception to being singled out for some anti-Trump banter and left after being confronted. This was to introduce his song, "Go Fuck Yourself". Actually a good and funny song but the set up was so typical of what anti-Trump folks spew these days (see "motherfucker" comments from that congresswoman) that the reaction from the crowd was pretty quiet and bored.

Happy Saturday. I'm off to make stuff. .

We were in a small mountain town in Sicily just north west of Siracusa five or ten years ago, and, walking down the street, I saw a poster for an upcoming concert by Papa Chubby. How great would it have been to see him there? He is a great guitarist, does some great Hendrix covers, and is truly an ugly, scary looking dude.; 1/5/19, 6:55 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Bay Area Guy,
Our son went NROTC and it worked out really well for him. Good luck to your son!; 1/5/19, 7:02 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Titania McGrath
@TitaniaMcGrath
4h4 hours ago

My vegan cat keeps trying to chase birds in the garden.

I can only assume it thinks they are some kind of flying vegetable.

118 replies 430 retweets 2,700 likes
Reply 118 Retweet 430 Like 2.7K; 1/5/19, 8:18 AM
Chuck said...: Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...
Forget the wall — Democrats now hate the border itself

Worth reading.

I always like reading Rich Lowry, and that was an entertaining column. My favorite part:

"Trump has the better part of the argument, but his lurch into the shutdown with no discernible strategy and his scattershot pronouncements make it unlikely that his view will carry the day.

"Obviously, a 2,000-mile-long border wall rivaling the best work of the Ming Dynasty never made any sense and was never going to happen. And short of Trump finding a latter-day Gen. Winfield Scott to go occupy Mexico City, Mexico wasn’t going to suffer the humiliation of funding a Yanqui border wall.

"This was all lurid fantasy, and Trump has conceded as much, although he will, at times, deny having conceded as much. His ambitions are now much more reasonable, involving the kind of up-to-date bollard or “steel slat” fencing that already exists in places..."

And Lowry concludes:

"The wall isn’t the most important immigration enforcement measure. Requiring employers to verify the legal status of their employees would be much more consequential. But the wall has taken on great symbolic significance. What it denotes, perhaps more than anything else, is the growing irrationality of the Democrats on immigration."

This is of course a perfectly well-crafted argument by Rich Lowry. Informed, measured, modulated. Nothing like the bile spewed by President Bone Spurs.

But then, Rich Lowry had to reverse himself to get to a place where he now thinks that Trump is an acceptable president, much less a conservative one.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/01/22/national_review_editor_rich_lowry_on_conservatives_against_trump.html; 1/5/19, 8:40 AM
paminwi said...: Bay Area Guy: suggestions while in Italy-Tuscany area (you mentioned driving in the countryside) A great bed and breakfast is
Casa Portogioia. https://www.tuscanbreaks.com and Amalfi Coast we stayed in Sorrento at Hotel Minerva. http://www.minervasorrento.com

Just some suggestions that we have wonderful memories of!; 1/5/19, 9:04 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: Was an article linked at Instapundit this morning about leftist firearms owners in Boulder refusing to do government-mandated permit-obtaining of some sort.; 1/5/19, 11:41 AM
ken in tx said...: Titania McGrath appears to be a British parody character on Twitter. She is like a one-person Onion or Babylon Bee.; 1/5/19, 12:55 PM
stevew said...: @Tank: that would have been fun for the music and to see how he interacted with the crowd. He's a pretty crass guy, which played well in english in Woonsocket RI. Not sure how that would go over with an Italian crowd.

He talked about touring in Europe which got me to thinking about the economics. He plays small venues around here, the total gate last night might have been $2500 - $3500. How would you justify traveling to Europe?

Not my business, just curious. The show was excellent.; 1/5/19, 1:40 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: Ha, ken in tx, Titania is something, isn't she? At one point I knew her's is a parody account and then proceeded to forget about her... until I responded to one of her tweets and had to be reminded that 'she' is not real.; 1/5/19, 4:22 PM