Althouse: "We face the horror of Trump because the structure of American democracy gives disproportionate power to a declining demographic group passionately convinced of its right to rule."

December 21, 2019

"We face the horror of Trump because the structure of American democracy gives disproportionate power to a declining demographic group passionately convinced of its right to rule."

"Trump, with his braying entitlement, his boastful ignorance, his sneering contempt for pluralism, is an avatar of a Republican Party desperate to return to the 1980s, or the 1950s, or maybe the 1910s. He can’t betray America if, to those who fetishize the 63 million, he embodies it.... Democrats didn’t want to impeach, but once they decided to, Trump’s insistence that his Electoral College victory grants him impunity didn’t work. For one night, democracy asserted itself....

Writes Michelle Goldberg in "The Tyranny of the 63 Million/Impeachment didn’t undermine democracy. It vindicated it" (NYT).

What happened to the reverence for the Framers and the Constitution? The Framers were not all for majoritarian democracy, exercised moment by moment. They came up with the Electoral College and presidential terms of 4 years.

Goldberg would validate day-to-day majoritarianism, but I suspect it's mainly because the people she likes are currently dominant in the most majoritarian part of the federal government. She is not taking into account the dangers and instability of majoritarianism.

(Look at the UK, with its Brexit, plunged into because they had a referendum and a surprise majority for the "wrong" side locked them into drastic change.)

320 comments:

«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 320 of 320

Earnest Prole said...: I’ve got impeachment fever, and the only prescription is more impeachment cowbell.; 12/21/19, 11:31 AM
doctrev said...: All the bleating about maximizing human capital could at least get seriously considered if the Democrats hadn't spent decades importing 20+ million (at minimum!) illegals for their own purposes. From another perspective, "learn to code" represents the most completely failed aspect of Western conservatism, and its proponents have been decisively excised from the Republican Party. They still get paid for these views, of course, but they've revealed themselves as the Democrats they always were.

What's hilarious is that both ARM and Michelle Goldberg see this decisive rejection of Western elites in general and one-world globalism in particular, and they're -terrified-. They have to double down against the American nation who had the temerity to reject the program. What else have they got? More than a few Democrats shriek that their areas are richer and by definition more valuable than Republican areas, which is an interesting reveal of their true mindset and social class. They don't realize that we know how much of their rulership is based on corruption, lawlessness, and exploiting a high-trust society. The minimum wage alone is a fantastic device for transferring wealth from rural areas to urban ones. What neither they nor I truly know is how much loyalty their legal immigrants from India and China offer them. They bet it's absolute, I suspect it's non-existent.

Anyways. Enjoy it while you can, amigo. Once certain kinds of control over finance, media, and especially law are completely Purged, you're going to see a radical change in how the American economy looks. DC won't be the hot place to live anymore. And don't laugh too hard: the last four years show the process has already started and the "consensus" for Chinese trade has been firmly broken.; 12/21/19, 11:34 AM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/21/19, 11:39 AM
Earnest Prole said...: It is true that at the moment richer people tend to vote GOP.

You’re ten years behind: Democrats are now unambiguously the party of the rich.

“The two parties have in just 10 years gone from near-parity on prosperity and income measures to stark, fast-moving divergence.

“Democratic districts have seen their median household income soar in a decade—from $54,000 in 2008 to $61,000 in 2018. By contrast, the income level in Republican districts began slightly higher in 2008, but then declined from $55,000 to $53,000.”; 12/21/19, 11:41 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Angle-Dyne, Samurai Buzzard said...
Things come together, and things fall apart. There is no "end of history".

I agree that a range of disastrous outcomes are possible. I am more optimistic on this point but won't live long enough to know if that optimism was really justified. My kids will, so I live in hope.

Careful, you don't want to much intellectualism there, boyo. You want 'em just smart enough to function productively and profitably in their cubicles, and pliant and passive enough that economic anxiety keeps 'em tractable. You don't want 'em questioning whether the global flop-house vision of life is the summum bonum of human existence.

Here I am more pessimistic. Economic anxiety is pervasive even in relatively wealthy communities where it is almost entirely self-inflicted. Everyone needs the newest phone, a house three sizes larger than they really need and to give their kids the most expensive education they can afford without actually going bankrupt. I don't get it. Economic anxiety seems to be part of the human condition for most. Part of it is intraspecies competition but part seems to be a need to live on the edge in order to feel alive.; 12/21/19, 11:43 AM
chickelit said...: Earnest Prole said...I’ve got impeachment fever, and the only prescription is more impeachment cowbell.

Impeachment and impairment -- Ye shall know them by their fruits.; 12/21/19, 11:44 AM
chickelit said...: Democratic districts have seen their median household income soar in a decade—from $54,000 in 2008 to $61,000 in 2018. By contrast, the income level in Republican districts began slightly higher in 2008, but then declined from $55,000 to $53,000.

The wealthiest parts of America are the suburbs ringing the Capitol City. I think this is perverse as they don't really produce anything and they suck value from the rest of nation.; 12/21/19, 11:46 AM
Howard said...: I've worked with the rural and citified white trash my whole career. Never once been punked or wormed out, if you even know what that means.

Those folks are Trump voters but not deplorable. I don't think most of you people have spent significant time in the trenches with real American white trash working men. They are a dying breed. The overly religious big gulp happy meals supersized are their replacements.; 12/21/19, 11:48 AM
Yancey Ward said...: ARM,

I am quite sure you have heard of the fallacy of composition, right? However, I am also quite sure from some of your comments in this thread that you don't really understand it.

For example, lets discuss this sentence:

"But, the communities that are advancing economically right now tend to be blue."

Which parts of the blue community are responsible for the advance? Are you so sure that the vote totals from those areas support your thesis that Democratic voters are the ones responsible, or is it just possible that Republican/Trump voters in those blue areas have a disproportionate share of the output and income?

2016 exit polls showed that Trump won every income bracket from $49,999/yr (households) and up, and that the median US household income in 2016 was about $60,000, so he was taking his vote share from a significant majority of the household income distribution.

All I am saying is this- given that Trump and Clinton had nearly identical vote totals, it is likely that Trump voters as a whole are responsible for more of the GDP of the country, and probably for more of the country's GDP increase year after year than are Hillary's voters. Democrats still get most of their votes from the poorer half of the population, and that is even more dramatic when you factor in cost of living- poor in NYC is quite well off in the middle of Kansas, while rich in the middle of Kansas probably is lower middle class on the island of Manhattan.; 12/21/19, 11:51 AM
Anonymous said...: The solution is to accept that we are now in a global market place and that we have no choice other than to compete with the best from China, India and Europe. That means maximizing our human capital. We have to invest heavily in the education of our kids, not so much financially but in terms of familial and community support, just as these other nations do. We have to dramatically raise the level of our own human capital...

The '90s called. They want their CoC press releases back. If you're going to bitch about Trump having no solutions, at least don't add to the reeking pile of econo-cant.

The probability of "familial and community support" is exactly what the "global market place" erodes. No, A Reasonable "Thomas Friedman" Man, China, India, and Europe aren't avoiding those problems, either. And I suspect you know perfectly well who's pulling down the U.S. average in international league tables. (Hint: it's not flyover meth-heads.) "Investing heavily" in whatever isn't going to change that.

The US economy is doing OK, it is the distribution of that success that is creating problems.

Ffs, ARM, have you even given two-minutes thought to the bromides you plunk down here?

DEEP THINKERS have been THINKING DEEPLY about this problem of "the distribution of the gains of globalization" for several decades now. The "solutions" perennially proposed by autistic econo-shills are non-starters (if for no other reason than that the big winners for whom they shill aren't the least bit interested in having *their* swag - and concentration of power - re-distributed).; 12/21/19, 11:51 AM
JaimeRoberto said...: I'm sure the framers never expected that the largest state would have a population almost eighty times that of the smallest state (or that a third of the entire population would live in one-fifth of the states).

Based on the census data for 1800, the largest state had about 10x the free population of the smallest state, and 42% of the free population lived in 1/5 of the states. We have a Senate and the Electoral College precisely because the small states didn't want to be bossed around by a handful of large states. This is stuff we learned in 8th grade.

These things would matter a lot less if power were devolved back to the states as the framers intended. Unfortunately too much power has been centralized in the Federal government over the years, making these battles even more bitter.; 12/21/19, 11:56 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “All you’re saying with that ARM is that Trump counties provide lower value-added or lower-margin items. But a lot of that stuff is finance and tech and of course government “output”. What would Derrida say about that? Because in this case the supplément is made of of food and energy which require a great deal of space. Professions don’t.”

The government doesn’t create wealth. They merely consume it. That is their fundamental goal, to consume as much of the wealth created elsewhere that they can.

One problem there is that almost the only thing that big cities produce is paper wealth. They don’t really produce much of anything useful directly. Rather, they just run everything. But they don’t produce the food they eat or much of the energy they consume. Or really any more the cars they drive, or are driven around in.

And this is going to be one of the big things that is going to be a big problem if they ever seriously try to cheat their way to a Hunger Games society, with them in charge. If they try to abolish the Electoral College, pack the Supreme Court, or abrogate the Bill of Rights. My prediction is that if the civil war ever goes hot, the big urban areas will be starved or frozen into submission in very short order. Even declaring martial law and waiving Posse Comitatus won’t help - our military doesn’t have near enough combat troops to change the balance, and many of them would have to be delegated to protecting their own families. Electric power is easy to disrupt, and the food supply not that much harder. It wouldn’t take anything close to an army to accomplish this - just much of flyover country sitting on the sidelines.

Bloomberg, Soros, etc bought the VA government this year, and with all the Bloomberg money involved, the first thing they did is to try to disarm the Virginia populace. Yesterday, I was sent something about a rumor that the government was going to mobilizing the National Guard in respond to most of the counties declaring themselves 2nd Amdt sanctuaries. The head of the VA Nat Guard was, of course, on board, since he is politically appointed. But you can be sure that he never polled his troops, many, if not most, of whom come from 2A sanctuary counties. The rumor also predicted road blocks throughout the states, and esp near the borders of 2A friendly neighboring states. Won’t matter. Virginians throughout most of the state will continue to buy guns and ammunition, because of the very realistic fear that it is going to get worse before it gets better.; 12/21/19, 12:04 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Howard said...
I don't think most of you people have spent significant time in the trenches with real American white trash working men.

My grandfather was one of the people you are calling white trash working men (rural farmer then suburban house builder), but he was also an educated man, albeit self-educated. He was vigorously questioning of his world. Somehow this kind of man became largely extinct. I interact with a reasonably amount with trades people and men like my grandfather still exist, but the pervasive culture is anti-intellectual. I don't get it.; 12/21/19, 12:06 PM
mccullough said...: The pervasive culture is anti-intellectual.

That’s how we ended up with 69 genders and and 200 pronouns.; 12/21/19, 12:13 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Yancey, the point is that it is largely blue communities that are advancing economically. Communities governed in large part by blue politicians. We are talking about what political solutions exist to improve economic outcomes and, based on current data, those solutions tend to be blue solutions. The distribution of wealth for individuals within those blue communities is biased by the fact that older white people have had a lot of historical economic advantages. Those advantages are eroding. I don't see this as a particularly good thing for my kids but I accept its inevitability and the need to become more competitive.; 12/21/19, 12:14 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Sigh....I give up ARM, but for two last points. Where do you think the richest and most productive Trump voters live, ARM? Where are the highest costs of living in the US?

But I did try to get you to see through your fallacious argument, hopefully I got the other commenters to see through them even if you don't.; 12/21/19, 12:18 PM
Beasts of England said...: ’We are talking about what political solutions exist to improve economic outcomes and, based on current data, those solutions tend to be blue solutions.’

I’ve laughed all I can today - thanks ARM!! Peace, out.; 12/21/19, 12:20 PM
mccullough said...: Detroit, St. Louis, Baltimore are all blue.

ARM is saying that blue communities run by and for whites and Asians are doing great.

The ones whose kids don’t know if they are boys or girls. The ones where anti-depressants are put into the bottled-water supply.

Where their kids need safe spaces from different viewpoints.

They are thriving.; 12/21/19, 12:23 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: One thing that I have never understood is how the left thinks that they can seize control of this country with hundreds of millions more firearms in private hands, than in government hands. Probably at least 300 million more. Maybe even 400-500 million more. Plus tens, if not hundreds, of billions more rounds of ammunition. The left should be arming up at least as quickly as the right has been. They have the money. But they haven’t been. Sure, Antifa has a smattering of arms, some of good quality, but much of lesser quality. But their efforts seem desultory, and are essentially irrelevant, given their numbers.

In our last Civil War, both sides could, and did, call on large contingents of people who knew how to shoot. Sure, the Northern big cities were already trying to impose gun control, but their actual enlistees more often than not came from what we now call flyover country, while they experienced draft revolts by the recent immigrants in the big cities. This time around, the numbers would be nowhere near equal. And, yet, the left seems complacent to allowing the government to handle the problem, once they seize control.; 12/21/19, 12:25 PM
bagoh20 said...: I completely understand how it's a horror to people like Goldberg. To face the fact that you have been wrong about virtually everything for a long time would be horrifying. If they had any wisdom or true character they would accept the facts and learn something, but they will keep trying to put lipstick on their pig of a narrative that keeps failing to work out. What does it tell you that Democrats keep breathlessly telling us how bad things are and how much needs changed when we are living in the best time in human history by nearly every measure? And better yet, it is The United States that is doing best of all, and we are doing it precisely by reversing every idea the Left wants to install in our policy, while nations that have followed them are crumbling into actual horror. The repudiation is total and obvious. If they were smart, open-minded people, they would accept the lessons and be happy that such success is possible, and that it happens by respecting and releasing people rather than infantalizing and controlling them. It should be a time of great joy and pride for us all.; 12/21/19, 12:25 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/21/19, 12:28 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Angle-Dyne, Samurai Buzzard said...
The probability of "familial and community support" is exactly what the "global market place" erodes.

I agree this is the trend, but degradation of our society has been a result of individual choices. Where I live I belong to a social group comprised of trades and white collar workers who are explicitly trying to build up social ties within the community. How successful they will be remains to be seen, but they have chosen to fight the trend and have had some successes. Much to my own surprise I have become involved in local politics surrounding improvement of the school district. These are all choices. It is not rational to blame all the bad things that have happened on some amorphous 'other'. Much of the responsibility is individual.

ARM, have you even given two-minutes thought to the bromides you plunk down here?

I acknowledged another poster's comment, that the US economy was doing reasonably well, and then noted that this is not really the source of the discontent. Not sure what I did wrong here. I was trying to be accommodating. I won't do that again, all you motherfuckers.; 12/21/19, 12:28 PM
bagoh20 said...: These people could be extremely happy too if they would heed the words of Ronald Reagan:

"There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit."; 12/21/19, 12:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Note how ARM takes it for granted that his kids will be allowed to compete in a legal multicultural regime.; 12/21/19, 12:30 PM
Anonymous said...: ARM: Here I am more pessimistic. Economic anxiety is pervasive even in relatively wealthy communities where it is almost entirely self-inflicted. Everyone needs the newest phone, a house three sizes larger than they really need and to give their kids the most expensive education they can afford without actually going bankrupt. I don't get it.

I get it intellectually, if not viscerally. Viscerally, I'm a gold-hoarding Scrooge McDuck type who shudders at the very thought of throwing good money at the educational-industrial racket or status-signaling conspicuous consumption. But I can imagine the kind of distorted thinking that might inflict a middle-class person living in an expensive city. "OMG, my children are going to end up in Fishtown if we don't bankrupt ourselves on X,Y, and Z."; 12/21/19, 12:32 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Yancey, you are trying to project forward from a specific snapshot in time in a dynamic system. No one is arguing that older white voters aren't currently richer than average. The question is how does the economy compete in the future. The blue regions have shown that they have a least one solution, even if not an optimal one. The red regions clearly don't.; 12/21/19, 12:33 PM
Original Mike said...: "but the pervasive culture is anti-intellectual. I don't get it."

Apparently you haven't noticed what passes for "intellectual" these days.; 12/21/19, 12:34 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “’We are talking about what political solutions exist to improve economic outcomes and, based on current data, those solutions tend to be blue solutions.’”

Actually one of the most absurd things that I have heard here in a long time.

Which solutions are you talking about that improve economic outcomes? Importing millions of illiterate 3rd World peasants into our technological society? Subsidizing family breakup, and fatherless child rearing? Giving more and more power to unelected bureaucrats often located thousands of miles from their subjects? Raising taxes to pay for all the bureaucrats they need to mismanage the economy? Putting the rights of the .01% tranny population over those of everyone else? Preferential college admissions based solely on skin color, and not merit? Etc.; 12/21/19, 12:34 PM
bagoh20 said...: "I acknowledged another poster's comment, that the US economy was doing reasonably well..."

And Venezuela's is just having a minor slowdown.; 12/21/19, 12:34 PM
Anonymous said...: ARM: I acknowledged another poster's comment, that the US economy was doing reasonably well, and then noted that this is not really the source of the discontent. Not sure what I did wrong here. I was trying to be accommodating. I won't do that again, all you motherfuckers.

Lol.

Fuck you, too.

(I mean that in the most responsibly neighborly, social-capital building way possible.); 12/21/19, 12:35 PM
agentlesoul said...: What are 'blue solutions'? Higher taxes and more free stuff?; 12/21/19, 12:37 PM
Milwaukie guy said...: I love me jokes about my UK cousins.

The English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh are a comedy gold mine. Are there genres like the Scottish jokes "A Scotsman.... But you fuck one goat!"? What is the Welsh equivalent for bestiality funnies? Probably Scottish jokes.; 12/21/19, 12:42 PM
bagoh20 said...: The blue regions of the country voted against the current success, and they want to end it. They will vote overwhelmingly to reverse it in 2020. Even by measures the Left agrees with like green house gas reductions, wages, minority employment, and upward mobility, the nation is doing exceptionally well, but they will still vote against it. I suppose that's what we call "intellectual" now days. It just seems stupid and stubborn to me.; 12/21/19, 12:42 PM
Original Mike said...: The next "blue solution" will have to be the Californias and Illinois' of our Union picking the rest of the country's pocket to pay for their economic "miracle".; 12/21/19, 12:43 PM
mccullough said...: The Left doesn’t care about black unemployment.

They don’t live in St. Louis or Baltimore or Detroit.

The economy is always doing well for them.; 12/21/19, 12:46 PM
dreams said...: "(Look at the UK, with its Brexit, plunged into because they had a referendum and a surprise majority for the "wrong" side locked them into drastic change.)"

In both situations, unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats were looking out for themselves and not serving the people.; 12/21/19, 12:49 PM
Birkel said...: Free people.
Free markets.
Strong borders.

That third piece is where the Chamber of Commerce fools have problems.; 12/21/19, 12:51 PM
Yancey Ward said...: That is just it, ARM, you haven't demonstrated this assertion:

"The blue regions have shown that they have a least one solution, even if not an optimal one. The red regions clearly don't."

Clearly you don't understand the fallacy of composition. I am asking you directly- which groups specifically are responsible for the growth in the blue regions (and, incidentally, who are responsible in the red ones, too)?

You are assuming that the voting patterns are the answer to the question, but I am pointing out that this is almost certainly not true based on the exit polls based on income. What you are seeing is that the blue areas contain significantly higher fractions of high poverty and low income voters who overwhelmingly favor Democrats. One additional factor is that government workers also overwhelmingly favor Democrats- you see this in the D.C. suburbs and pretty much every state capital in the US.

Look, I have pointed out the exit polls by income distribution and the actual vote totals. This data disproves the point you have tried to make here. Trump supporters are responsible for probably 60%+ of the nation's income- and this is a conservative estimate based on just the exit polls and the actual median income numbers. If you had to have a household income above the poverty level to vote, Trump would have won by 10+ million votes.

You would surely object, wouldn't you, if I discussed the economics of blue areas by only discussing inner cities, right? Well, you are doing the same thing with your arbitrary bounderies, too.

This is what is truly hilarious about your comments, though- it is the left that goes on and on and on about GINI coefficient and how Republicans electorally benefit from inequality, and that is why they do nothing about it. And yet here you are claiming that it is the Democrats who are responsible...by inference of your own words.; 12/21/19, 12:55 PM
wildswan said...: "Giovan Pietro Bellori said...
All you’re saying with that ARM is that Trump counties provide lower value-added or lower-margin items. But a lot of that stuff is finance and tech and of course government “output”. What would Derrida say about that? Because in this case the supplément is made of of food and energy which require a great deal of space. Professions don’t."

Agree. And news and tech companies get their money from all over but it's all counted as the economy within the county where the headquarters is located. If farmers, ranchers and miners could count the final food, meat and energy price as their economic contribution in the same way as the news and tech companies count all subscriptions as a Silicon Valley or New York City economic contribution, then the economic differences would smooth out or even go the other way. And if we redistributed smaller government agencies away from DC MD and VA, which is perfectly possible, we would see the differences smooth out even more.; 12/21/19, 12:55 PM
Birkel said...: Democratics like ARM cannot understand how, when the blue cities are exfiltrating all the money from the rest of the country, that the Deplorables don't want to follow their economic stewardship.

ARM is stupid.; 12/21/19, 12:58 PM
Milwaukie guy said...: ARM's comment about GDP is dumb.

The U.S. GDP of about $20T has the durable goods sector [$4T], government "value added" [$2T] and services [$14].

Things like government work, universities, social work, hedge-funding and banking, etc., make up a large segment of blue county GDP. All necessary in a complex society.

The red counties do the agriculture [i.e., everyone's food, ICYMI], resource extraction, much of the heavy transportation, much of the manufacturing, cantoning the armed forces, etc. Also, all necessary in a complex society.

But, one is the base, one is the superstructure and I have no idea how government value-added is calculated. You can keep your blue counties.; 12/21/19, 12:59 PM
Michael K said...: The blue regions have shown that they have a least one solution, even if not an optimal one. The red regions clearly don't.

Laugh a minute this morning. Bruce answered you pretty well. The proposals by your Democrats' candidates illustrate how crazy your supposed "solutions" are. Stop fracking. End air travel. Stop eating meat. Cannibalism should be considered.

It's just insane and you don't see it. You probably assume all your candidates are lying but what if they aren't ?

Just hilarious.; 12/21/19, 1:00 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I got into a debate at Marginal Revolution many years ago about educational achievement of students in Texas vs Wisconsin- the two states had used the same test for assessment across their statewide student base, so were directly comparable. Wisconsin's student body as a whole had higher average test scores, and this commenter used the result to do exactly what ARM has done in this thread- tried to use it as proof that Wisconsin had some superior education system. However, when I went into the data, I realized that Texas' students had outperformed Wisconsin across all demographic comparisons. White students in Texas outperformed white students in Wisconsin, Hispanic students had outperformed Hispanic students in Wisconsin, African-American students in Texas had outperformed African-American students in Wisconsin, Asian-American students in Texas had outperformed Asian American students in Wisconsin. Literally every demographic group in Texas outperformed the same demographic group in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin as a whole only had better test scores because 87% of their students were white, even though their white students performed worse than Texas' white students did. Texas just has more minorities contributing to the overall average.; 12/21/19, 1:09 PM
wildswan said...: Perhaps I am wrong about this and if so, I wish someone would show me how. But I think money committed to pensions is being reallocated to health and green energy without regard for the consequences to retirees by Warren and Sanders and other Dems. I think that money is on the books twice - pensions unchanged but pension money also paying for to healthcare and green energy.

This happens because municipal employees pay into a funding plan which then invests in the stock or bond market with the city there to make up shortfalls in market returns. Directly or indirectly it all rests on the stock market as do 401k plans. So taking away all company profits will crash the stock market and destroy the 401k plans but then, in a knock-on, the municipal pension plans which indirectly depend on the stock market will be also destroyed. Yet Warren and Sanders talk of taking all stock market profits and putting them into health insurance or green energy, not realizing that this money is committed to pension plans and having no plan for re-financing the destroyed pension plans.; 12/21/19, 1:12 PM
tcrosse said...: ECONOMIC ROYALISTS. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his speech accepting the Democratic nomination for a second term, delivered at Philadelphia on 27 June 1936, said, "The economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power."; 12/21/19, 1:29 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: What Krumhorn said at 8:50AM.

And I remember Michele Goldberg when she did the Blogging Heads vs. Althouse. She hasn't changed - she is still arrogant and stupid.; 12/21/19, 1:30 PM
Anonymous said...: “Blue solutions”=everyone is a bureaucrat, a gender studies professor, a programmer, a lawyer, or on welfare. No manufacturing, energy, or food production.; 12/21/19, 1:31 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: No one is arguing that we don't need primary industries. But they require a small fraction of the labor they once did. And some, like coal mining, are no longer very competitive. What the rural red districts have failed to do is find some economic path forward. No one is seriously arguing this.

In contrast, the blue districts do have a globally competitive economic model, for the moment. I don't particularly like all the low and not so low paying service jobs, but at least it is growing.

Someone once described Britain as a first class city in a third rate country. The US used to be a first class country but increasingly it is not. The social culture in red districts accounts for a lot of the problems.; 12/21/19, 1:33 PM
mockturtle said...: I'm half English and half Scots-Irish and twice as blessed for it.; 12/21/19, 1:34 PM
Rory said...: "These things would matter a lot less if power were devolved back to the states as the framers intended. Unfortunately too much power has been centralized in the Federal government over the years, making these battles even more bitter."

This moves toward the crux of our problem: the size of the country. We have four political entities - the US, the EU, Russia, and China - that can reasonably be called continental in size. Brazil and Australia have their populations concentrated along their coasts and Canada's is along the border. The lesson we can learn is that, given current methods of organization and technology, trying to govern areas this large is impossible without the insiders becoming contemptuous of the general population. The people become a thing that has to be gotten around. The only answers to that are either a strong commitment to what we call federalism, or breaking up the entities into pieces that are small enough that the government can't hide what it's doing inside itself.; 12/21/19, 1:35 PM
Anonymous said...: How do open borders fit in with that last comment ARM? Because Democrats have religious belief in it now.; 12/21/19, 1:36 PM
Bilwick said...: " . . .convinced of its right to rule . . ." This coming from a "liberal" or some other variety of statist, right? As Glenn Reynolds would day: "Heh." And I add "Double Heh."; 12/21/19, 1:37 PM
Jim at said...: Maybe ARM could walk down the streets of Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles ... et al, and take a good, hard look at what his 'blue solutions' have produced.; 12/21/19, 1:38 PM
Bilwick said...: Translation from the Libspeak to plain English: "Those deplorable Trumpers! If they were educated they would know WE have the right to rule. Submit, peasants!"; 12/21/19, 1:38 PM
Drago said...: ARM: "My grandfather was one of the people you are calling white trash working men (rural farmer then suburban house builder), but he was also an educated man, albeit self-educated. He was vigorously questioning of his world. Somehow this kind of man became largely extinct. I interact with a reasonably amount with trades people and men like my grandfather still exist, but the pervasive culture is anti-intellectual. I don't get it."

LOL

How might ARM's grandfather reacted if an "elite" of his day came up to him and told him that men can become women just by wishing it were so and if ARM's grandfather had any problem with that he would be out of a job?

Something tells me that ARM's grandfather would not think to himself "gee, that sounds a bit off alright, but I guess because an "elite" is telling me that I'd better start questioning my world view on such matters!".

Something tells me ARM's grandfather would look at this "elite" and politely inquire if he/she had been a recent resident at a loony bin.

Most importantly, "elites" in the days of ARM's grandfather were most certainly not the over-credentialed but neither educated nor accomplished "elites" of our day.; 12/21/19, 1:39 PM
Birkel said...: "...globally competitive market..."

That is completely dependent on the people ARM hates.
Molon labe, ARM.; 12/21/19, 1:39 PM
mockturtle said...: Bruce muses: One thing that I have never understood is how the left thinks that they can seize control of this country with hundreds of millions more firearms in private hands, than in government hands. Probably at least 300 million more. Maybe even 400-500 million more. Plus tens, if not hundreds, of billions more rounds of ammunition. The left should be arming up at least as quickly as the right has been. They have the money. But they haven’t been. Sure, Antifa has a smattering of arms, some of good quality, but much of lesser quality. But their efforts seem desultory, and are essentially irrelevant, given their numbers.

It all depends on who controls the military. Personal firearms aren't going to be terribly effective against laser guided missiles. With the traitors who are currently leading the military carrying water--and jet fuel--for the global elite we can't afford to forget that fact.; 12/21/19, 1:42 PM
Michael K said...: The ARM types think government, which is a parasite, is actually contributing to GDP.

The tech companies of California are not generating GDP. They are moving money around but it has to originate somewhere.

There are a lot of economic illusions floating around right now.; 12/21/19, 1:47 PM
Birkel said...: The military and police have to go home.
Or they have to hole up on bases.

They cannot control a country of free people.; 12/21/19, 1:47 PM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Bruce Hayden said...

One thing that I have never understood is how the left thinks that they can seize control of this country with hundreds of millions more firearms in private hands, than in government hands.

None of them have ever been in a fight before. I'm serious; I doubt any of the people who preach that sort of stuff on the Left were ever in a schoolyard fight when they were kids. Joe Rogan constantly points out, when the topic of Antifa comes up on his show, that none of them look like they've ever been in a fight.; 12/21/19, 1:50 PM
Michael K said...: Personal firearms aren't going to be terribly effective against laser guided missiles. With the traitors who are currently leading the military carrying water--and jet fuel--for the global elite we can't afford to forget that fact.

If you haven't, you should read one of Kurt Schlicter's novels. He is a retired Army officer and lawyer who lives in west LA. He has the language of the Valley Girl types running California down pat.

The best one is the first. It is called "The People's Republic," and was written before the 2016 election.; 12/21/19, 1:51 PM
mockturtle said...: Thanks for the tip, Michael K.; 12/21/19, 1:54 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Yancey, you are living in the past rather than dealing with the dislocating transition that we are currently experiencing. The kinds of jobs that older white middle class people prospered in, such as suburban lawyers, accountants, middle-managers at moderately competitive business etc., those jobs and their relatively high wages are drying up. No one is paying a premium for a suburban lawyer in the future. And no one even has a job at a company that isn't globally competitive.

Everyone here wants to complain about the tech industry but without tech we would have no growth at all. But, we are only competitive in tech because of some inherited advantages that are being steadily eroded by the Chinese and others. Unless the human capital in the country becomes significantly more competitive things are going to go very poorly. Where we are seeing this first is in the rural red districts, which are no longer globally competitive. Those districts are predominantly governed by the red team, which has no answers at all. These are the facts.

That some republican voters can thrive in blue districts does not change those facts. I always find it odd when people here, starting with Althouse, bitch about the blue district they chose to live in. They chose to live there because it is a better place to live. There is no shortage of red districts to live in, and the real estate is cheap.; 12/21/19, 1:57 PM
mockturtle said...: ARM surmises: I always find it odd when people here, starting with Althouse, bitch about the blue district they chose to live in. They chose to live there because it is a better place to live.

Tell that to the thousands who are leaving California.; 12/21/19, 2:00 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Drago said...
How might ARM's grandfather reacted if an "elite" of his day came up to him and told him that men can become women just by wishing it were so and if ARM's grandfather had any problem with that he would be out of a job?

He was self-employed.; 12/21/19, 2:02 PM
chickelit said...: He was self-employed.

Nice dodge. How about "How might ARM's grandfather reacted if an "elite" of his day came up to him and told him that men can become women just by wishing it were so and if ARM's grandfather had any problem with that he would be shunned, boycotted, and possibly harassed by the government?; 12/21/19, 2:15 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/21/19, 2:21 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Elites in my grandfather's day were OK with jailing homosexuals, or forcing them to take hormone treatments to neuter them, or simply driving them to suicide. Doubt they even considered the possibility of transsexuals.; 12/21/19, 2:21 PM
Anonymous said...: ARM to me: "The probability of "familial and community support" is exactly what the "global market place" erodes."

I agree this is the trend, but degradation of our society has been a result of individual choices. Where I live I belong to a social group comprised of trades and white collar workers who are explicitly trying to build up social ties within the community.

People need familial and community support to thrive, you agree that globalization erodes the conditions of familial and community support, but then insist that actually it's all caused by individual choice. At least try to keep the contradictory assertions in separate posts.

Btw, on what basis do you claim that people who notice the disruptive effects of globalization are thereby doing nothing but passively blaming "others" for their condition? "Others" (e.g., enablers of mass illegal immigration) often *are* to blame for the degradation in their quality of life, and blaming the blameworthy in no way interferes with positive local action.; 12/21/19, 2:22 PM
Mr. Majestyk said...: ARM said: "those shitty south American countries."

Where's CHuck to lecture ARM on the outrageousness of saying this -- in public and intentionally, no less?!?!?!!?!?!?!!?; 12/21/19, 2:26 PM
hstad said...: "Goldberg" is the perfect example whose's opinion values are culturally driven by 'Elitism'. 'Nassim Nicholas'states it best on his superb article regarding 'Elites' "...The Intellectual Yet Idiot...What we have been seeing worldwide, from India to the UK to the US, is the rebellion against the inner circle of no-skin-in-the-game policymaking “clerks” and journalists-insiders, that class of paternalistic semi-intellectual experts with some Ivy league, Oxford-Cambridge, or similar label-driven education who are telling the rest of us 1) what to do, 2) what to eat, 3) how to speak, 4) how to think… and 5) who to vote for..."; 12/21/19, 2:34 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Angle-Dyne, Samurai Buzzard said...
you agree that globalization erodes the conditions of familial and community support, but then insist that actually it's all caused by individual choice.

Once upon a time a wide range of smaller industries could prosper in red rural districts. Now those industries have largely failed due to global competition and national consolidation. What were the local people's options at this point? They didn't have any great options and this is why I said globalism is in part to blame, but they did have options where individual choice came into play. The could have moved to where the jobs were (the Kevin Williamson solution) and many did. For those who stayed behind, they needed to find some new way of building a community, which they have largely failed to do. In part this may be because community is a something of an illusion, since it is so strongly dependent on individual economic conditions. But, in part, it does reflect a failure of imagination on those people's part to find a mutually beneficial path forward.

This article, primarily about a library (although it does wander aimlessly for much of the time), describes the self-defeating nature of the responses to economic setbacks taken in at least some red districts. I would contrast this with the stories I have heard from several Chinese coming from very poor rural areas, whose parents were fiercely insistent on obtaining every possible educational advantage that they could for their children. China is not a beautiful society but they do value education in a way that we no longer do. And they would have insisted on getting the best library and librarian possible.; 12/21/19, 2:57 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Mr. Majestyk said...
Where's CHuck to lecture ARM on the outrageousness of saying this

When the public discourse of our leaders becomes corrupt and degraded, the people will heedlessly follow. Chuck is right to stand for public standards and I offer a heartfelt apology. Character matters.; 12/21/19, 3:03 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: If we, the Left, lose playing by the rules, the rules are inherently unfair, and we’re going to find different rules that make us the winners. Islamist Turkish strongman Erodgan really ought to be Michelle Goldberg’s patron saint, for it was he who articulated the true rules by which Goldberg and her Leftist ilk live: “Democracy is like a train: when you reach your destination, you get off.”

Bookworm has a complementary take on the Goldberg essay.; 12/21/19, 3:04 PM
Anonymous said...: mock to ARM: "I always find it odd when people here, starting with Althouse, bitch about the blue district they chose to live in. They chose to live there because it is a better place to live."

Tell that to the thousands who are leaving California.

Ah yes, the most notable feature of modern internal migration in America: the large-scale movement of red-staters into nice blue districts.

That said, ARM is correct that some blue districts are quite nice, even some blue districts that have always been blue, and not just formerly nice red districts now in the twilight zone between what they were and what they will become after the blue influx has effected its policy magic. It's also undeniable that there are, not to put too fine a point upon it, shitty red districts. (I'm definitely not one of those conservatives who thinks yee-haw, unregulated development makes for nice places.) Gentrification, however, is mostly a blue-on-blue phenomenon.

But the inherent problem with those "traditionally blue" nice places (like the place I live) is that the inhabitants are not inclined to think too hard about *why* their little blue bastion of civic virtues and high social capital is the way it is, *why* they've always been able, until very recently, to pass any tomfool prog initiative that happens to tickle their moral vanity this week, and go right on thriving. Part of it is no doubt that the surrounding sea of red keeps the whack in check, but only a small part, I think. (Short answer: It's nice because *they* are nice.); 12/21/19, 3:37 PM
Drago said...: ARM: "Now those industries have largely failed due to global competition and national consolidation."

The hollowing out of Americas heartland was achieved primarily thru trade deals purposely designed to shift jobs and wealth to other nations.

China was allowed into the WTO as an emerging nation giving them tremendous advantages in the trade battles.

Further, Asian and European nations exploited the purposefully placed NAFTA loopholes which allowed those nations easy access to American markets while American products were shut out of those markets.

For example, EU nations only paid 2.5% tariffs in autos imported into the US while autos produced in the US were charged a 10% tariff when imported into the EU.

Did you know that ARM? Of course not. That is another thing one cannot allow oneself to know if one is to remain on the left.

BMW's produced in the US, even with a 10% tariff slapped on them, were still shipped into the EU and sold there.

How can that be you might ask. Because American productivity is far superior to that of EU competitors and American quality is easily equal or superior as well.

Kaboom went ARM's wafer-thin and shallow "analysis"/assessment of the global economic competitive landscape.

But hey, both the EU and China paid many many billions of dollars to key decisionmakers in the US to ensure those advantages stayed in place.......

....and Trump just blew them out of the water.

And I havent even begun to address intellectual property and technology theft by these "competitors", particularly China.

See Billy Boy Clinton/Loral/MIRV technology. You know, when Loral "accidentally" advanced Chinese strategic missile tech by "accidentally" allowing the ChiComs direct access to supposedly secure hardware and software.

Whoopsies!

This was right at the time of lots and lots of ChiCom cash flowing into the Clinton campaign ("No controlling legal authority!!" squawked AlGore) and Bernie Schwartz sitting next to Hillary at the State of the Union.

After that it was a global firesale of American jobs, tech and resources.

And the lobbyists and global bankers got all that sweet cash.

Hows China doing now after just 3 years of Trump?

And Biden told us last night he wants to take the nation right back to where it was under Biden!

Good luck with that one!; 12/21/19, 3:38 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Whenever I hear some of my fellow citizens are doing well, the first thing I think of is how I might kill them before they kill me.; 12/21/19, 3:48 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Earnest Prole said...
Whenever I hear some of my fellow citizens are doing well, the first thing I think of is how I might kill them before they kill me.

Seems to be a common reactions around here.

It's almost as if someone is inciting violent ideation.; 12/21/19, 3:57 PM
Drago said...: ARM: "Seems to be a common reactions around here."

Not possible.

According to the dems this is a dark dark economic period for the US.

I'm sure that will play well in 2020.; 12/21/19, 3:59 PM
mccullough said...: The Dem presidential candidates all say the middle class is struggling economically.

There are enough LIVs in the primary but not enough in the general. Whoever emerges among the Fearsome Foursome will not repeat this in a debate with Trump. Except Bernie. He lives in a bubble with his advisors.; 12/21/19, 4:04 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: With respect to Drago's word salad. China should never have been allowed to join the WTO and should now be kicked out or the WTO abandoned for a democracies only organization. There is no possible way for democratic economies to compete on a even footing with totalitarian regimes, where the rule of law is always optional.

This is why I thought Trump picking trade fights with Canada and the EU was batshit crazy, but I am guessing (and it is just a guess) that Drago will see things differently. Specifically, that these were the master strokes of a genius mind.; 12/21/19, 4:07 PM
mccullough said...: The rural counties are the sources of food. Even soy.

There are 2 million workers in the farming and agriculture industry in the US.

There are 4 million truck drivers in the US.

The blue model takes a lot for granted.; 12/21/19, 4:12 PM
mccullough said...: China is a den of thieves.

So is the EU.

Trade with countries who play by the same rules.

Fuck the EU over until they play by the same rules.; 12/21/19, 4:13 PM
mccullough said...: Canada was China’s conduit in dumping raw materials and goods in the US.

That’s why Trump kicked Trudeau in the nuts.

They also pulled some other shit.

Canada isn’t our friend. We are just on a first name basis with them. Same with the other countries.; 12/21/19, 4:16 PM
mccullough said...: Remember when The Experts predicted Recession from Trump’s Trade Wars?

He who pays The Experts calls the tunes.; 12/21/19, 4:18 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: mccullough said...
There are 4 million truck drivers in the US.
The blue model takes a lot for granted.

The blue model is currently making steady strides towards eliminating most of those jobs. Not taking anything for granted.; 12/21/19, 4:23 PM
Drago said...: ARM: "...word salad.."

Typical ARM non-response.

And how could we NOT allow China in on WTO terms? The "elites" demanded it and as we know from ARM's earlier comments, one should never argue with one's "elite" betters.; 12/21/19, 4:25 PM
mccullough said...: The people steadily trying to eliminate those jobs will be eliminated first.

They are taking for granted their worldview.

Farming and ranching rely on a lot of machinery. But there are still a few million people.

Keep bragging about how you are going to eliminate their jobs, which they interpret as eliminate them.

The Blue Class is very smart at some things and are fucking morons at everything else.; 12/21/19, 4:28 PM
Drago said...: ARM: "The blue model is currently making steady strides towards eliminating most of those jobs."

"Steady strides"

Like what, specifically? Clue us in on where this stands.

Dont be shy now. Wow us....; 12/21/19, 4:28 PM
Jim at said...: They chose to live there because it is a better place to live.

Nope. Family circumstances dictate I live where I currently do. But if given the next opportunity, I'm going right back to the 'red' place I left. Less shit on the sidewalks there.; 12/21/19, 4:28 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Drago said...
Like what, specifically?

Come on! All the work on self-driving trucks must have penetrated some small defect in your otherwise impermeant skull.

There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in
- Leonard Cohen; 12/21/19, 4:32 PM
Anonymous said...: Picking fights with the EU? We defend them and they tariff our goods and they don’t make their NATO payments. Fuck that shit ARM. They’re the ones who picked the fight.

I lived there for years. They absolutely take us for granted. If Russia is so terrifying they can pay for their own goddamn defense.; 12/21/19, 4:42 PM
Earnest Prole said...: There are 2 million workers in the farming and agriculture industry in the US.

If you’re under the impression they are all white Republicans you’ve never been to California.; 12/21/19, 4:43 PM
Drago said...: ARM: "Come on! All the work on self-driving trucks must have penetrated some small defect in your otherwise impermeant skull."

I have worked directly in the autonomous vehicle industry.

You have not.

Yet you assume greater knowledge by virtue of "lefty".

You basically prove out every theory on lefty smug self-assurance based on nothing.

The obstacles still place for large scale supply chain adoption of autonomous vehicles are quite daunting...but you know nothing about that.

Worse, a year from now you'll still know nothing...while lecturing those who do.; 12/21/19, 4:50 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “ It all depends on who controls the military. Personal firearms aren't going to be terribly effective against laser guided missiles. With the traitors who are currently leading the military carrying water--and jet fuel--for the global elite we can't afford to forget that fact.”

Ok, maybe the military is going to sit back on their bases and attack its citizens with laser guided missiles. That is going to tie down even more of the Army defending the Air Force. And ignores that much of the enlisted ranks, in particular, come from Red America. How long until one of them puts his missile into his CO’s bungalow? Doesn’t really matter if the CO is there, as long as there are family members present. Eye for an eye, Etc. Sure, you will probably get a number of general officers to buy in, and even some O6s, bucking for promotion. Below that? Lower you go in the military, the more likely they will be from Red America, and sympathize with their family and friends back home. and then when they leave the military, they go back home. Where we live in NW MT, the only place big enough, besides the HS, for a gun show is the VFW. And a lot of those vets are combat veterans from Vietnam up through Afghanistan. And one guy who I have taken shooting lessons from there has two boys who are special forces command operators. Been in long enough that they have likely been deployed all over the place. Do you really want to be laser bombing their family and friends back home.; 12/21/19, 4:55 PM
Milwaukie guy said...: Laser guided munitions? Gonna take out a tent with a Tomahawk? Infantry is still the Queen of Battle. After the rubble bounces, someone has to take the ground.

In a civil war scenario the armed forces and guards/militia will split, probably not evenly. Then it's the Hunters vs. the Hairdressers.; 12/21/19, 5:08 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Drago said...
The obstacles still place for large scale supply chain adoption of autonomous vehicles are quite daunting...

I was originally a skeptic and remain a skeptic for cars, but with some investment in infrastructure it seems that trucks could come into use faster than I expected.

https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/economics/self-driving-truck-goes-2-800-miles-to-deliver-butter-K6KdHASAKEWZRlrN-MTNKg

https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/18/21028288/self-driving-cars-light-duty-trucks-california-dmv

I have a small amount of experience with artificial vision, which is why I was initially a skeptic and remain so for a general purpose replacement of cars. But, the task can be simplified for trucks over standard routes under a limited range of conditions and artificial vision has made strides much more quickly than I anticipated. What I said seems to be broadly correct. And, it was meant as a joke, designed to elicit an image of the blue states working away feverishly to eliminate red state jobs. You need to lighten up Drago, the Great Culture War to end all wars is not upon us yet.; 12/21/19, 5:09 PM
Milwaukie guy said...: Or vs. Hairdressers + Antifa. To be fair.; 12/21/19, 5:09 PM
Rusty said...: last year, I think, Rahm Emanual and the Chicago City Council wanted to impose a 5% tax on every financial transaction on the Chicago Board of Trade. Someone from the Board told them to go ahead. The CBOT could be out of the state in one week. These days nearly all trades are digital. They don't really need to be where they currently are.; 12/21/19, 5:18 PM
Drago said...: ARM: "What I said seems to be broadly correct."

What you said remains broadly incorrect. When you speak of artificial vision being further along than you first expected that is not a broad enough systems/solutions perspective which is what determines technology commercial viability.; 12/21/19, 5:49 PM
Narayanan said...: Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
No one is arguing that we don't need primary industries.
______&&&&&&-------
Before we attempt running before toddling -

Analyze blue? CA only in the agriculture sector.

Basic Food crops vs wine production.

Identify Deplorable vs intellectual elites etc.; 12/21/19, 5:51 PM
Drago said...: ARM: "You need to lighten up Drago, the Great Culture War to end all wars is not upon us yet."

Laughable assertion given what the left has been doing for 30 years.; 12/21/19, 5:53 PM
Seeing Red said...: The blue model is currently making steady strides towards eliminating most of those jobs. Not taking anything for granted.

Food ain’t gonna move itself.

How are you going to protect the trucks?; 12/21/19, 5:57 PM
Drago said...: Culture War test: Go to any University and say out loud "Men cannot become women just because they think they are one"

Let us know how that turns out.; 12/21/19, 5:58 PM
Narayanan said...: In terms of remaining
(Contemptuous?) oblivious to the working class : recall elitist Democratic Thomas Jefferson designed dumb waiting as domestic infrastructure.

Self driving trucks anyone?

You don't even have to say thank you.; 12/21/19, 5:59 PM
Seeing Red said...: It is true that at the moment richer people tend to vote GOP.

Bwaaaa not for at least 15 years. The GOP is the party of the middle class.

It’s US against the rich and poor. I think Bastiat had something to say about that.; 12/21/19, 6:02 PM
Bilwick said...: Yeah,what happened to that reverence for the Framers and the Constitution? For all I know, the "liberal" party line of the week may have already changed; although my impression from reading the online comments of the Stupid Left (where "liberalism" meets the Dumbest Generation), I still read phony-sounding invocations of the Founders. It's hard to keep up. One morning the Constitution was an outmoded difficult-to-read document written by slave-owners, and should be ignored or scrapped; but by afternoon it's sacred text and Nancy Pelosi and Shifty Schiff are latter-day James Madison's. I haven't seen such a rapid and radical rewrite of the party line sine "We need to stop distrusting the Kremlin and learn to understand and accommodate Russian interests" became "THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!!!"; 12/21/19, 6:04 PM
Mr. Majestyk said...: "When the public discourse of our leaders becomes corrupt and degraded, the people will heedlessly follow. Chuck is right to stand for public standards and I offer a heartfelt apology. Character matters."

For the record, Trump allegedly said "shithole countries" in a private meeting. It was Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Shithole) who ran to the press to make it public.; 12/21/19, 6:14 PM
Michael K said...: Ok, maybe the military is going to sit back on their bases and attack its citizens with laser guided missiles.

Has anyone asked the North Vietnamese about this ?

I still suggest reading Kurt Schlicter's books.; 12/21/19, 6:18 PM
Drago said...: Mr Majestyk: "For the record, Trump allegedly said "shithole countries" in a private meeting. It was Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Shithole) who ran to the press to make it public."

Apparently Trump allegedly saying "S***hole" in a private meeting is a "big f***ing deal"......; 12/21/19, 6:20 PM
Robert Cook said...: ”Democrats want to end fracking, which even Hillary Clinton has admitted in her Goldman Sachs speech, gives the US advantages not just in energy, but manufacturing.”

It also pollutes groundwater and is a hazard to our health and to the environment.; 12/21/19, 7:50 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Drago said...
Go to any University and say out loud "Men cannot become women just because they think they are one"

Once upon a time some random dude appearing on a university campus loudly proclaiming, "Men cannot become women just because they think they are one", would probably have resulted in that individual spending some time in a mental institution. I think we have progressed since then.; 12/21/19, 7:52 PM
ccscientist said...: She has a strange idea that an elected president who governs is acting "entitled". Wasn't it Obama who said elections have consequences? Wasn't it Pelosi who rammed the ACA down our throats, pluralism be damned? Yes, yes it was. And this is not a victory for democracy. A republic needs both votes and the rule of law, and this impeachment violated all sorts of rules, standards, and laws. Article 2 for example accuses trump of obstruction for taking the requests of congress for info to court--an action virtually every president has taken and that is quite legally proper.; 12/21/19, 8:13 PM
Jeff said...: Economic anxiety is pervasive even in relatively wealthy communities where it is almost entirely self-inflicted. Everyone needs the newest phone, a house three sizes larger than they really need and to give their kids the most expensive education they can afford without actually going bankrupt. I don't get it. Economic anxiety seems to be part of the human condition for most.
Because what they're really competing for is status, and status is a zero-sum game.

Suppose I told you that starting tomorrow, your income was going to be triple what it is today. You'll start thinking of the big house you'll buy, the prettier and younger wife you'll trade up to, and the great private schools you'll be able to afford for your children.

But then I go on and ruin it all by telling you that everyone else's income is going to triple as well. That big house? It's going to triple in price, as will the private schools. And the new wife isn't going to happen either, as mating is the quintessential zero-sum competition, and your relative desirability as a mate hasn't changed at all.

Status matters. A lot. And that's why humans will always be anxious about where they stand relative to others.; 12/21/19, 8:36 PM
Lurker21 said...: "Pluralism" can simply mean rule by an elite that plays different groups off against each other. "Populism" can get out of hand, but it acts as a corrective to the excesses of such "pluralism."

But I don't recognize Trump in her description. As somebody from the entertainment world, he seems to be more open to all sorts of people in a way that some other conservatives or Republicans aren't.

There's a basic assimilationist idea behind that -- the assumption is that people aren't always proclaiming their differences and forgetting the things that unite us as Americans --but isn't that what the country has been about?

Trump plays the game everybody in politics plays. He has his team and he's against the other team. That is what politics is, but I don't see him dividing the country, though the country may be divided about him. One might consider him to be divisive based on the campaign, but he hasn't governed that way.; 12/21/19, 11:46 PM
Crazy World said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/22/19, 12:40 AM
Michael K said...: It also pollutes groundwater and is a hazard to our health and to the environment.

Spoken like someone who has no idea about the topic.; 12/22/19, 7:50 AM
Anonymous said...: ARM @2:57: Stick to the topic. As per your usual MO, you keep switching talking points and meandering off into the weeds instead of ever addressing the counterpoints to your assertions. People told you why the whole "we need to invest in education and stop being so anti-intellectual", "we can't compete" boilerplate was, at best, a misguided analysis. Instead of addressing that you just repeat your assertions, or veer off into your "pessimism" shtick. What was being addressed was the fragility and unsustainable nature of the current international system, not some "decline and fall" scenario. (A disruption in some people's portfolios does not mean a Dark Age for everybody else.)

Unbalanced trade relations are remediable, and fixes for that have nothing at all to do with all the Eeyore analysis of the bad character of American workers you'd rather expatiate on. Nobody before Trump showed any interest in concrete actions to fix these eminently fixable problems, beyond blowing hot air about currency manipulation now and again (a relatively minor issue which they weren't going to do anything about, anyway). Nor with lectures on "no backsies", buggy-whips, and automation, presented as if one had some interest in painting people who want remediable problems remediated as Luddites and economic illiterates who are unaware of other factors affecting economic changes.

Funny how discussions of these remediable problems always brings out this kind of off-point naysaying which essentially amounts to a defense of the (disintegrating) status-quo. It's as if the people doing this are really cheesed for some reason that changeable policies (not, repeat, economic inevitabilities) that have worked against the interests of American workers in general are going to be addressed.

Disingenuous self-interest? Or is it just an artifact of not knowing what you're talking about?; 12/22/19, 9:40 AM
Lurker21 said...: I don't think you can say blue states are prospering and red states aren't or red states are prospering and blue states aren't. West Virginia isn't doing well, but Illinois, California and New Jersey aren't doing that well either. Some rural areas are doing badly, but cities in the same states are doing well - better than many more established cities. Big cities are Democrat and as cities grow they may push states into the Democrat column, but that can be a long process. I don't see Oklahoma or Utah suddenly turning blue.

The "blue state strategy" of education and high tech is actually followed by some red states better than some blue states. I don't know how long those states will remain Republican, and I'm also not sure that strategy really is the way to future prosperity, but it's not likely that one set of states has all the answers and the others are failing or flailing or on the ropes.; 12/22/19, 8:06 PM
Martin said...: Michelle Goldberg sounds a lot like a 21st century American version of Lenin.

A LOT.; 12/23/19, 10:24 PM