February 14, 2021

At the Sunday Night Café...

 ... you can talk about whatever you want.

183 comments:

Achilles said...

I wonder if we will ever learn how Brian Sicknick actually died.

I am sure though that it will always be our fault he died.

Jersey Fled said...

Fun fact for the day:

Per the CDC, daily Covid related hospital admissions dropped by 50% from January 5th to February 8th.

jaydub said...

Glenn Loury speaks a lot of truth in this article from Quillette (via Instapundit.) Well worth the read.

https://quillette.com/2021/02/10/unspeakable-truths-about-racial-inequality-in-america/

Lurker21 said...

I was offline for a while, or I was online but didn't feel like doing much because I'd have to stand outside some place that had wifi and type out the very tiny letters on my new phone with my fat fingers. I broke my 106 day streak learning Spanish and Latin at DuoLingo.com. Now I feel strangely and gloriously free from the compulsion to do my lesson every day, but I know that I will never be able to order a sandwich in Mexico or rule the Roman Empire. The lowered expectations hurt a little.

Rosalyn C. said...

Biden released a statement Feb. 13, 2021 -- "It was nearly two weeks ago that Jill and I paid our respects to Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who laid in honor in the Rotunda after losing his life protecting the Capitol from a riotous, violent mob on January 6, 2021."

Perhaps Joe has the final autopsy info on Sicknick's cause of death, even though none of the rest of us do. And even if he doesn't, there is no reason for Joe not to use the narrative which was carefully constructed by the "Party of Defund the Police" to promote the Impeachment 2.0.

It's such a blatant exploitation of Sicknick's death I'm almost amazed.

Joe goes on to explain that even though the Impeachment failed to convict Trump, he is still guilty. Even Mitch thinks so.

We must all agree that what Trump did was unacceptable and do our part in protecting the country.

This is how Biden intends to unify the country. Wow.

Jersey Fled said...

Second fund fact for the day:

US average gasoline prices increased by 18 cents per gallon during the first 25 days of the Biden presidency.

Never underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up.

narciso said...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2021/02/13/cuomo-aide-melissa-derosa-is-related-to-top-fed-prosecutor/amp/

mockturtle said...

North Dakota is working on legislation that would nullify Biden's gender-blender Executive Order. It would prevent biological males [is there really any other kind?] from competing in female sports in ND. I hope this catches on. It would be nice to see states exert more autonomy and authority to the extent allowed by the Constitution--before it's too late. Because once these idiocies are implemented, there is no reversing them.

narciso said...

You wonder why they were so slow to act


https://www.google.com/amp/s/english.alarabiya.net/amp/News/gulf/2021/02/14/United-Arab-Emirates-swears-in-country-s-first-ambassador-to-Israel

Mark said...

The military occupation of the nation's capital will be a permanent reality.

Recent email from Robert G. Salesses, assistant secretary for homeland defense and global security, “We need to establish the number of personnel (DC National Guard and out-of-state) we can sustain for an extended period – at least through Fall 2021 – and understand additional options for providing [Department of Defense] support, to include use of reserve personnel, as well as active component.”

https://www.dailywire.com/news/national-guard-could-stay-in-d-c-at-least-through-fall-2021-report

Joe Biden's America.

max said...

However the Capitol police officer died, it was not how it was reported in the times.

https://amgreatness.com/2021/02/14/the-new-york-times-retracts-the-sicknick-story/

Achilles said...

Jersey Fled said...

Second fund fact for the day:

US average gasoline prices increased by 18 cents per gallon during the first 25 days of the Biden presidency.

Never underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up.


Why do you think this is not what he intends to happen?

The people in our government have made it their explicit goal to reduce our standard of living and enrich foreign regimes.

Joe Biden has taken Billions of dollars from foreign regimes.

Of course he wants them to make more money by pushing energy prices up.

Mark said...

In other words, El Comandante Joe Biden lied. Multiple times.

Impeach him.

narciso said...


Thats usually metaphorical


https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/02/harvard_lends_a_hand_in_the_effort_to_islamicize_science.html#.YCm9w8RALC0.facebook

narciso said...

I couldnt post this morning

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/02/the_insurrection_hallucination_and_how_we_got_there.html

mockturtle said...

From Zero Hedge regarding Robinhood:
"What Tenev [Vlad Tenev, CEO] did not say, or explain, is why his company - which is merely a client-facing front of Citadel, which buys the bulk of Robinhood's orderflow to use it perfectly legally in any way it sees fit - was so massively undercapitalized that the DTCC required several billion more in collateral to protect Robinhood's own investors against the company's predatory ways of seeking to capitalize on the gamification of investing making it nothing more (or less) than a trivial pursuit to millions of GenZ and millennial investors, a point which Michael Burry made so vividly.

mockturtle said...

Titus, you're going to get either sued or offed one of these days.

Whiskeybum said...

Good Grammar rule for Feb. 14:

Don't use contractions in very formal situations.

TwoAndAHalfCents said...

Due to a family members health issues, my better half is a part of some online groups / message boards dealing with some niche medical conditions. Lately they’ve had vaccine-related posts being deleted or given the automated ‘misinformation’ tag.
Her: “The problem is the suppression. I don’t understand how or why they get to choose who gets heard. Why are they so scared of people discussing it?”
Me: “Sure sounds like something else, no?”
Her:
Me: “Uh, the election?”
Her: “What about it? No one is being censored about the election.”

Two movies indeed...

Narr said...

Got out about 3pm to gauge the streets and get some extra milk and eggs. We've got more snow already than we've seen since about '09 maybe, and the heavy part still hasn't arrived.

The streets were OK, if you drove a little slower and left some space for others, but some of our local retards just drive crazier whenever there's precip of any kind. We may get some ice too, but so far the power outages have been minimal.

In about an hour David Petraeus will interview retired BG Ty Seidule on CSpan, regarding the latter's book "Robert E. Lee and Me." I met General S briefly back in 2018 while visiting West Point, where I learned that opposition to Confederate memory was both strong and growing.

It could be a good opportunity to hear from professionally successful career soldiers what the political and cultural parameters are now, for they will certainly accelerate in the future.

Narr
I haven't yet read the book myself

I'm Not Sure said...

"US average gasoline prices increased by 18 cents per gallon during the first 25 days of the Biden presidency."

Gas at the convenience store on the next block is 44 cents a gallon higher today than it was a month ago.

narciso said...

That is the cause of the saudi production quotas, mostly but the spike in prices will come soon when the impact of curtailef productions hasnt hit yet

Yancey Ward said...

My music trivia question from last night reposted:

What do the following songs have in common?

"Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins
"The Pina Colada Song" by Rupert Holmes
"Someday We'll Be Together" by The Supremes
"Why" by Frankie Avalon
"Smoothe" by Santana

narciso said...

The same songwriters.

Whiskeybum said...

what do they have in common?

They are the same set of songs that you posted last night?

Whiskeybum said...

None of them were written by Bob Dylan?

alfromchgo said...

They will not give up, they need cover for the economy and foreign affairs failures

"A day after Trump won his second Senate impeachment trial in two years, bipartisan support appeared to be growing for an independent Sept. 11-style commission."

NBC5 Chicago news

Joe Smith said...

"US average gasoline prices increased by 18 cents per gallon during the first 25 days of the Biden presidency."

Don't care how high it goes...I can afford it.

But maybe not the morons who voted for Joe.

Be careful what you wish for.

CStanley said...

Yancet: they were the last number one hits of their respective decades?

CStanley said...

Or perhaps they spanned two decades as number one hits

narciso said...

Thats just very stupid, what will they do when al queda attacks dc again, they dont like to leave a job undone.

Mark said...

So, will things change for the better? This much is certain -- it cannot be done only by those who voted for Trump. Things will not truly improve until it is the Biden voters and supporters and excusers and collaborators who not only wake up to recognize the dangers that we are now mired in, but do something about it.

The history of mankind does not offer us much hope in this regard.a

I'm watching a series now which dramatizes what happened so many times. People on the gallows, about to get their heads chopped off by the psychopath Henry Rex, from the bloodthirsty lust for power evil Tudor family, and nearly all of them actually praise the tyrannical butcher, with "God save the King" on their breaths as they were killed.

Don't think that things are any different with King Joe. Foolish sycophants and immovable ideologues to the end.

Whiskeybum said...

CStanley @ 8:40

You got it

Mark said...

Someone knows how to cut and paste into a google search.

CStanley said...

Your answer was better and also correct though WB

Rt41Rebel said...

"Don't care how high it goes...I can afford it."

It's great to be retired. I put air in my tires much more frequently than gas in my tank. My household drives less than 1,000 miles a year, and half of that is back and forth to RSW for visitors.

iowan2 said...

Per the CDC, daily Covid related hospital admissions dropped by 50% from January 5th to February 8th

I don't dig into the numbers at all. Mostly I try to understand the analysis of those I trust and smarter than I. An extremely quick look at that tracking numbers show cases fall out of bed in the last month. Deaths not so much. Is this just a lag? Deaths lagging cases. Or are the CDC messing with how they are tabulating things?

narciso said...

Is that wolf hall or the tudors.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, your old friends at InstaPundit have some good advise for you:

“Just stop. Stop reading the New York Times. Right now. Never again visit that awful web site or look at that awful paper or that tweet or that awful article. Do not have that conversation. Do not click or press on the link your friend sent you who is trapped in its clutches. It is a boogeyman and if you fear it it will only get stronger and if you ignore it it will go away.”

Mark said...

I'll say this much for First Lady Michelle Obama (and for Melania Trump, Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan) -- she was authentic. You knew you were getting a genuine person.

Jill Biden, M.D., on the other hand, is so utter and transparently fake. A throwback to the First Lady in the mid to late 1990s in how everything about her and what she says and smiles and how she acts -- including the cookies -- is so completely fraudulent.

Mark said...

Just finished The Spanish Princess, season two. Not as good as the first season or White Queen or White Princess.

Drago said...

Sean Penn, always at the "top" of the new American Soviet Party Class:

Sean Penn@SeanPenn
Evangelical leaders should themselves be impeached by the Vatican if they themselves don’t follow Nikki Haley’s lead & clearly state they should not have followed Satin into the bowels of hell. But, perhaps they are too busy at sex parties.
6:13 PM · Feb 12, 2021

Remember, Penn is lightyears ahead of the Althouse lefties....

chickelit said...

iowan2 said...Per the CDC, daily Covid related hospital admissions dropped by 50% from January 5th to February 8th

Well, Trump's out of power and so his enemies have reeled in the vectors. There may be a future need for "selective vectoring," depending on how the resistance to Biden manifests.

Drago said...

Mark, Jill Biden is not an MD, no matter how many times the gals on The View claim she is.

Mark said...

Corrupt like the First Lady of 1993-2001 too.

Drago said...

chickelit: "There may be a future need for "selective vectoring," depending on how the resistance to Biden manifests."

Under Biden all new vectors originate in Florida.

The democrat-Soviets know they need to take out DeSantis before 2024.

narciso said...

Oh phillipa gregory is very good. Not bowing to tudor propaganda.

narciso said...

Hillary michelle dr. Jill, they are as fake as monopoly money.

WK said...

Not that I pay too much attention to my dreams - but I am not recalling that I have had any where others in the dream were wearing masks. Is it because I have not accepted masks into my subconscious? Not a long enough to make impacts for to my dreams? Anyone having dreams with folks wearing masks? Must mean something . . .

Rt41Rebel said...

"The democrat-Soviets know they need to take out DeSantis before 2024."

I trust DeSantis to stand up to Biden's earpiece, he already brushed it back over that FL travel ban trial balloon. I pray he doesn't run for POTUS, he's needed more in FL than he is needed to be the 2024 sacrificial lamb to our new count every vote needed to win election system.

rcocean said...

The NYT just retracted their lie that the Officer was killed by Pro-Trump supporters on jan 6th. Reason? It had served its purpose. By lying die for ONE MONTH the NYT's allowed the Democrat house manager to quote the NYT and state: “The insurrectionists killed a Capitol Police officer by striking him in the head with a fire extinguisher.”

Here's the statement: “Law enforcement officials initially said Mr. Sicknick was struck with a fire extinguisher, but weeks later, police sources and investigators were at odds over whether he was hit. Medical experts have said he did not die of blunt force trauma, according to one law enforcement official.

Basically what the NYT is saying is that "anonymous source said X, but later anonymous sources were unsure. And now, anonymous sources say he did not die of a blow from a fire extinguisher". What shoddy journalism! IF you can even call it that.

Why doesn't the NYT ask the Police ON THE RECORD to tell us WHAT HAPPENED? Why are the details a SECRET? Where is the video tape? WHO exactly is investigating the murder? Or is there NO INVESTIGATION? Instead, we get vague comments from anonymous sources.

DanTheMan said...

>>clearly state they should not have followed Satin into the bowels of hell

Oh, I would never follow Satin anywhere. I would only follow eggshell, or semigloss.

DanTheMan said...

>>>>>clearly state they should not have followed Satin into the bowels of hell

Now, if you had a knight, and he was wearing white Satin, I might not follow, but I would definitely sing along.

mockturtle said...

WK asks: Anyone having dreams with folks wearing masks? Must mean something . . .

I had one dream a few weeks ago in which some people were wearing masks.

walter said...


Blogger Rosa
Biden released a statement Feb. 13, 2021 -- "It was nearly two weeks ago that Jill and I paid our respects to Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who laid in honor in the Rotunda after losing his life protecting the Capitol from a riotous, violent mob on January 6, 2021."
<
It's such a blatant exploitation of Sicknick's death I'm almost amazed.
--
The family claimed they didn't want his death politicized.
What did they think would happen when his remains were put in the rotunda?

DavidUW said...

Yes, the USA new cases are dropping like a rock, as was utterly and completely predictable like every other winter spike in respiratory viruses.

The USA is merely lagging several EU countries like France that peaked out in mid/late November. And they're barely vaccinated.

It. Doesn't. Matter.

Vaccines will eventually mostly squash it, but obviously cases started dropping well before the vaccines started getting rolled out to any real degree. Why?

It. Doesn't. Matter.

People fetishize and fantasize that their holyfacemasklockdown religion can control their fate and magically stop the virus.
Because they are fucking fools.

Mark said...

I noted before that if they were ever to charge someone with homicide, there is a major problem in prosecuting because they have destroyed the evidence.

mockturtle said...

I'll say this much for First Lady Michelle Obama (and for Melania Trump, Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan) -- she was authentic. You knew you were getting a genuine person.

Seriously, Mark? Michelle Obama?

walter said...

Also, as a Trump supporter, would Sicknick himself have approved Joe's commentary?

WK said...

Mockturtle said.....

I had one dream a few weeks ago in which some people were wearing mask.

People wearing two masks probably not far behind. 😄

Mark said...

What do you know??

This is the ABSOLUTELY FIRST movie I have ever seen that is set in Ypsilanti (Michigan).

Of course, it is not a good start that Richard Gere's first mention of the town is Yip-see-lantee. When everyone knows that the Y is silent and it is pronounced Ip-see-lantee (or just plain Ipsee).

chuck said...

Why doesn't the NYT ask the Police ON THE RECORD to tell us WHAT HAPPENED?

Hope springs eternal. Someone wants results and they aren't going to let facts get in the way.

J. Farmer said...

@Yancey Ward:

"The Pina Colada Song" by Rupert Holmes

Here's a weird bit of synchronicity. Holmes' song is about a guy who has fallen into a rut with his girl, answers a personal ad from a woman in a similar predicament, and (spoiler alert) it turns out to be his girl.

A few months after Holmes' song, Kate Bush released "Babooshka" about a woman who tests her husband's loyalty by sending him pseudonymous love letters that end with an arranged meeting and the same plot twist.


p.s. Pina Coladas are a monstrosity. If I'm near a beach in a tropical climate, super sweet heavy cream is not my idea of a good time. Parrot Bay and pineapple juice gives you the same flavors without having to add whatever the hell is in that Coco Lopez can.

walter said...

Yes, Mark. Another concern a LEO might take issue with.

Mark said...

Yes, Michelle Obama was authentic.

She was/is a genuine bitch and obnoxious person, but she is true to herself.

Mark said...

Michelle is an insufferable prig, but she is a genuine insufferable prig.

chuck said...

Yip-see-lantee isn't too bad, Carter mispronounced Mantua (Man-a-way) in one of his call ins.

Known Unknown said...

"Titus, you're going to get either sued or offed one of these days."

Titus is another poster's sockpuppet/alter ego who accidentally posted as Titus (Rare Clumbers, etc.) under their other name. I can't remember what the username was.

I don't really care though.

Rt41Rebel said...

"Oh, I would never follow Satin anywhere."

Depends who is wearing it.

chuck said...

every other winter spike in respiratory viruses

AFAIK, there is no validated theory as to why the spike occurs. Last I read was that migratory birds might carry the flu, but that seems speculative at best and wouldn't apply to covid-19 anyway. If anyone knows what current thinking is, I'd like to hear it. My own guess is that people spend more time together indoors and the sun isn't as intense.

narciso said...

Carrying over from the previous thread the ethical complaint blizzard that the huntress drowned under came to managed by perkins and coie yes the same firm tied to danchenko dossier obamas birth certificates crowdstrike defended gitmo detainees

J. Farmer said...

@mockturtle:

Seriously, Mark? Michelle Obama?

You don't think reactionary Republicans were a little over-the-top in their white hot hated of Michelle Obama?

Still, though, I think the attacks on Chelsea Clinton's looks reached new heights of coarseness and bad taste.

narciso said...

Who thought piccoli would be apex of his intellect.

DavidUW said...

AFAIK, there is no validated theory as to why the spike occurs
>>
Does. Not. Matter.

It's an observation backed by centuries and billions of human years of data.

Making the spike in winter and subsequent drop entirely predictable.

The usual idiots will claim it's all due to masks and isolation and now vaccines, ignoring as I've pointed out that California was locked down since last March and now has a higher infection rate than the free state of Florida. And they'll ignore that vaccination rates are still too low to make much of a difference.

They are fucking fools.

walter said...

"For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback"
"Barack knows that we are going to have to make sacrifices; we are going to have to change our conversation; we're going to have to change our traditions, our history; we're going to have to move into a different place as a nation."

narciso said...

The real agenda becomes very clear


https://computingforever.com

narciso said...

Tear down every institution fan the flames of violence that wrecked dozens of cities.

David Begley said...

Watched The Hurt Locker. Terrible.

narciso said...

There are some tense moments in it, but you could easily cut or two out of it.

mockturtle said...

Watched The Hurt Locker. Terrible.

I watched it twice and thought it was excellent.

narciso said...

That long stretch when hes trying to disarm the car bomb in 120 degree hear, with the insurgents circling him,

chuck said...

Does. Not. Matter.

Oh, I agree, I predicted the fall off here back in early December and am keeping my fingers crossed that the trend continues. IIRC, there was also a French virologist who called it last summer. But it is curious that such a well established fact lacks an explanation. These things are not well understood, and where understanding is lacking, magic steps in.

stephen cooper said...

When we are young, we are often happy because we are surrounded by love.

When we are old, we sometimes suspect that this world is not a fair place, because, after all ----- and I get this ----- it is sort of difficult to live in a world where one is not loved, perhaps because others are more AMAZING while we are, well, not amazing ..... and the AMAZING people are the people who are loved, and treated kindly, and those of us who are not amazing are just happy when people are not rude to us.

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH WE ARE LOVED.

First off, just remember how many times people have shown you in the past that they loved you and cared about you, or, if in the present tense, you are loved and cared about, rejoice in that.

THE SECOND WAY TO KNOW THAT GOD LOVES YOU IS TO KNOW THIS ----

maybe only you were there when God wanted, in the worst moments of creation, to know what it was like to have created someone who had love in her or his heart no matter what. No matter how sad and lonely life seemed. Maybe you were the one and only creature of God's who was able to make God happy, in those sad moments.
God needs friends too, just like you and me.

I have gone through hell and back to be able to say that, don't even think for a second that it is a good idea to mock me. But if you want to , that is fine ---- you have no what I have gone through simply in order to say to you, mock me all you want, I KNOW GOD LOVES YOU

reader said...

This is a hypothetical - I’m not accusing anyone of anything.

Could Kamala Harris be impeached if evidence was discovered (Ha! Like an investigative reporter would actually investigate) that Biden is and was suffering from senile dementia, she knew the seriousness of the problem prior to the election, and she actively worked with the DNC to hide this from the voting public so that she could become Acting President? Defrauding the voters?

It’s sad. Each side accuses the other of cheating. Each side attempts to impeach the other. Tit for tat if the Republic retake the House in 2022?

independent said...

"The people in our government have made it their explicit goal to reduce our standard of living and enrich foreign regimes.

Joe Biden has taken Billions of dollars from foreign regimes.

Of course he wants them to make more money by pushing energy prices up."

-----------------------------------------
Achilles - I assume you had no problem when Trump brokered a deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia last year to increase oil prices?

You're such a fucking hypocrite.

Ken B said...

Benjamin Spock, Richard Feynman, and Jill Biden meet in a bar.
“Call me Ben.”
“Call me Dick.”
“Call me Doctor.”

Crazy World said...

Demented Joe clocking in for his gun grab today. Bless his heart.

reader said...

This is a hypothetical - I’m not accusing anyone of anything.

Could Kamala Harris be impeached if evidence was discovered (Ha! Like an investigative reporter would actually investigate) that Biden is and was suffering from senile dementia, she knew the seriousness of the problem prior to the election, and she actively worked with the DNC to hide this from the voting public so that she could become Acting President? Defrauding the voters?

It’s sad. Each side accuses the other of cheating. Each side attempts to impeach the other. Tit for tat if the Republic retake the House in 2022?

William said...

There are some rulers who, while they don't quite deserve the obloquy of Hitler, are, nonetheless, let off the hook by historians and posterity. Henry VIII was a serial murderer. Shakespeare, like Anne Boleyn, praised him exuberantly, although not like Anne just before he was murdered by Henry. Henry is usually portrayed as a man of lusty appetites but with his heart in the right place... Napoleon was more than a serial murderer. Something like five million people died before their time because of him. That number might be a great deal higher. Five million is the minimum. Despite this, historians usually take the time to praise the reforms he introduced to Europe, as though any reform is worth five million lives...Cromwell is another douche who doesn't get his fair share of blame. He conquered Ireland in such a way as to cause centuries of famine and unrest. He's receding into obscurity, but Teddy Roosevelt wrote a book praising him......I guess Lenin is now on the outs, but there were books that claimed that had he been allowed to live, the Russian Revolution would have gone on to create the Worker's Paradise.....Of all the madmen of history, Hitler is one of the very few who got what he deserved both in this life and in posterity.

Ken B said...

I think it’s cute reader believes the GOP would be allowed to win in 2022.

Redistricting this year, and blue states have lost population..... so the interior dept announced ... the census data will be very late this year, too late to use.

n.n said...

Per the CDC, daily Covid related hospital admissions dropped by 50% from January 5th to February 8th.

Community immunity that reduces safe sanctuaries for viral transmission, and physiological and environmental factors that mitigate vulnerability (e.g. immune system) and exposure (e.g. indoor/greenhouse effect). If not for the high rate of false positives, the peak was reached in late spring. Immunity is preexisting, or acquired through infection or vaccination. Per the data from oontrolled studies, masks statistically increase infections, then through a combination of misinformation and poor hygienic climates, disease progression. Delaying community immunity through restrictive mandates prolonged opportunity and exposure of people... persons vulnerable to the disease. Denial and stigmatization of early treatments (e.g. HCQ cocktail, Ivermectin protocol) forced excess hospitalizations and deaths. Once again, we have reached the community immunity threshold, but this time with better data to support a conclusion.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

reader said...

Could Kamala Harris be impeached...

Impeachment is a political act, not a legal act. Anyone (in an impeachable office) can be impeached, and convicted, for any (or no) reason, as long as the opposing party has the votes.

narciso said...

Stalin used the mechanisms that lenin had put in place. Its inevitable that he would have gotten there

narciso said...

Morton was the source shakespeare relied on like il macchia for the borgias

walter said...

Happy VD, Titus.

narciso said...


Came across this


https://www.tor.com/2020/08/17/read-to-sleep-in-a-sea-of-stars-by-christopher-paolini-exeunt-1/

A space opera by the author behind erago
N

stephen cooper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Yancey Ward said...

CStanley wins the first prize of exactly this comment congratulating him.

Someone posted a bit of the lyrics of the Phil Collins song last night, prompting me to Google it, and one of the facts in the Wiki article was that it was the last #1 song for the decade of the 1980s- a fact I was actually unaware of even though I am very familiar with the song itself (it plays on the 80s station of Sirius a lot). It made me think of the Rupert Holmes song which I already knew was the last #1 song of the 1970s, and I had, at some point, learned the same for The Supremes' song in regards to the 1960s. I just Googled the rest, though I suspected Smoothe was the last one of the 1990s. I thought about including the last #1 songs of the aughts and the 20teens, but I didn't recognize either one, and thought probably no one else here would either.

Yancey Ward said...

Blogger walter said...
Happy VD, Titus.


Pun intended? If so, you owe me a new keyboard!

Yancey Ward said...

Yes, the peak of COVID the second week of January is exactly what happens with the flu/pneumonia season every single year. It is probably a combination of a lot of things- holiday mixing of families of all generations, the changes in the humidity of the indoor settings, the change in the amounts of time people spend outdoors vs indoors, and the change in sunlight. It is interesting that the peaks come shortly after the solstice, even though deep Winter continues well into February in the US and Europe- in fact, this year, February has been much colder nationwide than December and January were.

narciso said...

The phil collins song was a sappy ballad about the homeless, the drive at the early part of the decade was his painful divorces against all odds was just one of the signposts.

Yancey Ward said...

Of course, with the impeachment trial over, the NYTimes starts to backtrack on the Sicknick story. The lie served its purpose and can't be unrevealed forever. The new lie will be that mistakes were made in the reporting of this story- honest mistakes they will promise us.

gadfly said...

@Jersey Fled said...
Second fund fact for the day:

US average gasoline prices increased by 18 cents per gallon during the first 25 days of the Biden presidency.

Never underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up.


Last time I checked, Presidents didn't control world commodity markets although Donald Trump falsely claimed credit for cheap gas.

Yancey Ward said...

I didn't like the song, even though I like a lot of Phil Collins work from the early to mid 80s. Face Value is a great album- I bought it as a teenager. No Jacket Required is pretty good, too- I bought it, as well. After that, though, I lost interest.

J. Farmer said...

@walter:

"For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback"
"Barack knows that we are going to have to make sacrifices; we are going to have to change our conversation; we're going to have to change our traditions, our history; we're going to have to move into a different place as a nation."


Exactly. A couple of throwaway lines that mean nothing. People who have an immense emotional reaction to Michelle Obama are saying something much more about themselves than Michelle Obama. I think grown men incessantly trashing a woman's appearance and femininity because they disagree with her politics was pathetic. By all outward appearances, the Obamas are a lovely family. Frankly, I much prefer that portrait of a family to Trump's history of tabloid sleaziness or the Palins' white trash shenanigans.

Achilles said...

independent said...

Achilles - I assume you had no problem when Trump brokered a deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia last year to increase oil prices?

You're such a fucking hypocrite.


I will assume you are just stupidly repeating some talking point.

Energy prices went down under Trump because he expanded our production capacity.

They are going up under Biden because he is banning fracking and exploration.

Brokering a deal between to other producers has no affect compared to that. It is a completely unrelated point to what actually happened with respect to the living standards of actual American people.

Trump raised our standard of living. Biden is lowering it. Period.

You are a completely dishonest person.

narciso said...

Speaking of 80s callbacks huey lewis was on the blacklist in an episode where remington sort of blackmails him to play at a funeral for a colleague played by calvin middleton who actually died of west nile virus.

walter said...

Gadfly!
Did you vote for Biden?

Gahrie said...

Last time I checked, Presidents didn't control world commodity markets although Donald Trump falsely claimed credit for cheap gas.

It's just a fucking coincidence that energy is cheap under Republican rule, and expensive under Democratic rule...

Mark said...

So the Virginia General Assembly -- taken over by far left progressives -- is poised to legalize marijuana as a matter of racial justice.

That is, they are legalizing it because, they say, lots of Black people like to smoke pot. That's it. Because Black people are drug users. And if it remains illegal, then more Blacks will be arrested and convicted. Because Black folks can't help but be drug users.

That's the progressive idea of racial justice.

https://wtop.com/virginia/2021/02/advocates-promote-social-equity-in-virginia-marijuana-bills/

Achilles said...

J. Farmer said...

Exactly. A couple of throwaway lines that mean nothing. People who have an immense emotional reaction to Michelle Obama are saying something much more about themselves than Michelle Obama. I think grown men incessantly trashing a woman's appearance and femininity because they disagree with her politics was pathetic. By all outward appearances, the Obamas are a lovely family. Frankly, I much prefer that portrait of a family to Trump's history of tabloid sleaziness or the Palins' white trash shenanigans.

Other than the whole spying on political opponents thing and lying to FISA courts and sending the IRS and other government agencies after Americans that opposed his political goals and blowing people up in a dozen or so countries with no legal authorization and purposely dividing the country along racial lines and Obamacare he was a swell guy.

Super swell.

Achilles said...

gadfly said...


Last time I checked, Presidents didn't control world commodity markets although Donald Trump falsely claimed credit for cheap gas.

You have to be one of the dumbest people in the world.

walter said...

Yancey,
When Titus speaks of doing someone, think wine and roses...and squats.

Iman said...

What do the following songs have in common?

Easy, they all suck.

Gahrie said...

You don't think reactionary Republicans were a little over-the-top in their white hot hated of Michelle Obama?

She hated us, and the U.S., first.

J. Farmer said...

@narciso:

The phil collins song was a sappy ballad about the homeless, the drive at the early part of the decade was his painful divorces against all odds was just one of the signposts.

From the album title, "...But Seriously", to the solemn cover photograph, to its choice of lead single, you wanted to tell Phil "we get it already!" I agree the lyrics are sappy as hell, but Another Day in Paradise is still a great pop ballad. Same for Bruce Hornsby's The Way It Is.

Joe Smith said...

"Could Kamala Harris be impeached if evidence was discovered (Ha! Like an investigative reporter would actually investigate) that Biden is and was suffering from senile dementia, she knew the seriousness of the problem prior to the election, and she actively worked with the DNC to hide this from the voting public so that she could become Acting President? Defrauding the voters?"

How about if she (and fiercely heterosexual Corey Booker) were part of the Smollett hoax, timed to give a boost to their anti-lynching bill?

Would love to see the emails and texts flying around that timeframe.

And the communications of Big Mike too...

Joe Smith said...

"You have to be one of the dumbest people in the world."

Amen...when presidents shut down oil pipelines via executive order, gas prices are most definitely affected.

Anyone who doesn't understand supply and demand is too dumb to vote, drive a car, etc.

Joe Smith said...

"Same for Bruce Hornsby's The Way It Is."

Hornsby is a crazy lefty lunatic.

But I saw him in concert about 12 years ago at a small venue.

Goddamn if he isn't an incredible musician.

He makes Elton John look like he plays 'Chopsticks' for a living.

Credit where it's due...

narciso said...

https://babylonbee.com/news/grizzly-bear-shatters-pro-wrestling-records-after-identifying-as-a-human

J. Farmer said...

@Achilles:

Other than the whole...he was a swell guy.

Super swell.


I was talking about his family life not his political life. I think George W. Bush has a lovely family, too. That doesn't change a single criticism I have of his presidency.

pacwest said...

Last time I checked, Presidents didn't control world commodity markets although Donald Trump falsely claimed credit for cheap gas.

Market swings occur for various reasons. But Presidents can affect supply. Drill baby drill, or turn off the taps. And demand. Fuel standards, or promote cheap energy. While any nation or coalition doesn't have complete control of pricing worldwide, some resource rich ones can affect it by their energy policies. OPEC being the most obvious example. If average nationwide gas prices rise more than 30% for very long Biden? has a problem. And I've enjoyed the lower energy prices we've had for the past few years.

Joe Smith said...

"Frankly, I much prefer that portrait of a family to Trump's history of tabloid sleaziness or the Palins' white trash shenanigans."

You're outing yourself as a snob.

White trash?

Really?

That term implies poverty to start with.

Now poor people are bad people?

Would love to hear your definition of 'white trash.'

Not all of us grew up with money or social standing...

walter said...

J. Farmer said...Exactly. A couple of throwaway lines that mean nothing.
--
Much like Death to America.
Got it.
For a doomsayer you have a very forgiving bent.
Sweet.

Mutaman said...

"Watched The Hurt Locker. Terrible."

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 97%, based on 285 reviews.

I suspect your taste is a little off there Sparky.

pacwest said...

By all outward appearances, the Obamas are a lovely family. Frankly, I much prefer that portrait of a family to Trump's history of tabloid sleaziness or the Palins' white trash shenanigans.

I agree completely with this sentiment. Unfortunately that and $7.50 will get you a cup of coffee.

narciso said...

It was all part of a series of films financed by dubais film arm that pushed the departure of us forces from the region, they learned quickly that was illadvised

independent said...

"It's just a fucking coincidence that energy is cheap under Republican rule, and expensive under Democratic rule."

No coincidence. When the economy is strong there is a greater demand for energy, resulting in higher prices.

n.n said...

Now poor people are bad people?

Under the rules of diversity (e.g. classicism), yes, they are.

StephenFearby said...

I missed this opinion piece in the NY Post by Michael Goodwin (who used to work at the NYT)

New York Times ties itself in woke knots: Goodwin

'Thunk, thunk. The career guillotine at The New York Times was busy Friday, dispatching two men found wanting by the Purity Police.

When the shock wears off, the former employees [Donald McNeil Jr. and Andy Mills] might consider their departures a blessing. At least they are no longer marooned on an island that evokes “Lord of the Flies.”'

I knew about that story. But not about this one:

'As I reported [in great detail] last July [2nd link below], Times patriarch Adolph Ochs, the current publisher’s great-great-grandfather, was a Confederate sympathizer and contributed to the Stone Mountain memorial in Georgia, which the Times demonizes. He opposed “negro suffrage” and his mother, Bertha Levy Ochs, supported slavery, had a brother and two cousins who fought for the South and was caught smuggling medicine to rebel soldiers.

In addition, census data, family records and other documents show at least two members of the extended Ochs-Sulzberger family were slaveholders, one of whom was also a slave trader.

Surely, one of the paper’s extra-woke reporters will demand that their employer come clean about the Confederates in its closets and archives. Or is the Times itself exempt from the tests of the Purity Police?'

https://nypost.com/2021/02/06/new-york-times-ties-itself-in-woke-knots-goodwin/

https://nypost.com/2020/07/11/ny-times-praises-cancel-culture-but-skips-its-own-racist-history-goodwin/

narciso said...

If youre properly credentialed you can suppress evidence, 'socially network' proudly sell your country to china the skies the limit.

narciso said...

I remember reading some of that in 'the trust

narciso said...

Now if you are properly credentiLed but believe the wrong thing take josh hawley no soup for you.

narciso said...

On a lighter note

https://youtu.be/8M6nuqsbUPI

Ralph L said...

Just watched a 6 y.o. mystery on Britbox with a shockingly un-PC ending. Come to think of it, having an old white male detective (without a female boss) is a rarity, too.

J. Farmer said...

In terms of family values, the elite are doing much better than the working class. They have much less divorce and non-marital births. Murray discussed this in Coming Apart. He, like J.D. Vance, blames the working class' moral failing. It's their own laziness and dishonesty that's to blame for their socioeconomic letharge. It's their bad cultural values. In other words, the exact same conclusion he made 30 years earlier in Losing Ground.

That's why Murray's libertarianism is useless. He does the affable aw shucks Midwesterner bit while blaming the working class for their lot in life and always letting the elites off the hook. Except for when he criticizes them for not being patronizing enough to the working class. It certainly never has anything to do with those neoliberal policies AEI has been pushing for years.

J. Farmer said...

@Joe Smith:

Would love to hear your definition of 'white trash.'

Not all of us grew up with money or social standing...


It has nothing to do with money or social standing. It's about behavior. It's the white version of the n-word. Did you ever see one of those tabloid talk shows like Geraldo or Ricki Lake or Montel Williams or Murray Povich or Sally Jesse Raphael or Jerry Springer?

As for the Palins, I think blackout drunk brawls in public, having the cops come to your house to deal with domestic disturbances, underage pregnancy, two baby daddies, chasing d-list celebrity, and selling stories about your divorce to gossip rags qualifies as trashy behavior.

It doesn't take money to have class. and having money doesn't make you classy. Class is about having high standards for one's own behavior. A classy person has enough self-respect to know they deserve to love the most beautiful person in the room and enough imagination to love them because they're the smartest person in the room. If all else fails, abide by a simple maxim: never insult a woman's beauty or a man's ego.

alanc709 said...

"independent said...
"It's just a fucking coincidence that energy is cheap under Republican rule, and expensive under Democratic rule."

No coincidence. When the economy is strong there is a greater demand for energy, resulting in higher prices."

Name a strong economy under a Democrat president. Obama? Yeah, right. Clinton, maybe. Carter? you're dreaming. You have to go back to Truman, because of the post-war boom. I love how liberals argue "facts" directly in contradiction of the truth.

JMW Turner said...

The Left seems to have parachuted a team of trolls intent on derailing threads and insulting Conservatives, as well as, Libertarians or anyone to the right of Genghis Kahn. Noticed this recent trend at sites as diverse as this blog, Instapundit, Fox News, and others of various notoriety. Is this a trend, or just random?

Big Mike said...

@JMW Turner, surely you meant “to the right of Lenin”?

stevew said...

Bots JMW, Bots.

Rusty said...


Blogger independent said...
"It's just a fucking coincidence that energy is cheap under Republican rule, and expensive under Democratic rule."

"No coincidence. When the economy is strong there is a greater demand for energy, resulting in higher prices."

Then why was it so much cheaper under Trump?
I'll wait here.

Mr. Forward said...

Now that the State of Washington has decided to change back to it's original Native American name there is really only one real W state. Yoming is obviously supposed to be spelled with a "Y" and west is a direction, Virginia. Coincidentally "Wes-con-zin" in Native American means "Only state that starts with a W."

Mr. Forward said...

There is the Wooper Peninsula but historically that belongs to Wisconsin.

Humperdink said...

"Last time I checked, Presidents didn't control world commodity markets although Donald Trump falsely claimed credit for cheap gas."

If you squeeze the supply (read: pipeline, fracking) of a raw material, the commodity price is sure to rise. Unless of course you kill the economy, then it may not as fast due to lack of demand.

I have been sitting on some crude oil just in case Biden became tyrant-in-chief. Oil over $60/bbl this morning and rising.

MayBee said...

We watched Assassins last night on Amazon Prime. It's a documentary about the killing of Kim Jung Un's step brother in the Malaysian airport in 2017. Really really good- I highly recommend.

Josephbleau said...

The New Mexican state government is highly dependent on petroleum production for jobs and tax money. They are scared shitless about Biden’s lease withdrawals. They even had to cancel their free college program. Anyone who thinks Biden is not raising gas prices by his policy is blind. Dicking around with the XL pipeline hurts, but hurts Canada more than the US.

Jersey Fled said...

My earlier Fun Fact specifically referred to hospitalizations and not cases.

I don't really care about cases. I personally have direct knowledge of only two people who tested positive for the virus and had symptoms. Both were told by their tele-doc to stay in bed for a few days, and recovered nicely without any real treatment.

Hospitalizations are a different issue. These are people who are seriously ill. Those numbers have dropped by half over the last month or so. Hospitalizations is also a leading indicator for the death numbers, which typically trail by two to three weeks.

This leads me to believe that the winter surge is pretty much over.

Humperdink said...

Election day 2020 crude closed at $39.66/bbl.

February 15, 2021 crude opens at $60.68/bbl.

Humperdink said...

Fortunately the working class do not drive or own cars (sarc). Some might label this a tax on the poor.

George said...

Could we please have a warning sign on all bridges that have been designed by engineers who studied maths at an Oregon school. Sometimes it is important to focus on the one right answer.

George said...

NATO chief suggests solar powered battle tanks. “Nato should do its part to look into how we can reduce emissions from military operations,” he told the Chatham House event. “We know that heavy battle tanks or fighter jets and naval ships consume a lot of fossil fuel and emit greenhouse gases and therefore we have to look into how we can reduce those emissions by alternative fuels, solar panels or other ways of running our missions.”

Zero emissions warfare - the Chinese would love that.

David Begley said...

Mutaman:

If everyone was jumping off a bridge, would you join them?

stevew said...

@George: my daughter sent me an article on that topic that appeared in the NY Post. My question: if demanding the one objectively correct answer to a math problem and being able to show the work as to how it was determined is white supremacy, what do we say about the folks who assert that POC are incapable and unwilling to do so? In other words, who is the racist?

wendybar said...

"UPDATE: New information has emerged regarding the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick that questions the initial cause of his death provided by officials close to the Capitol Police."

WHAT??? The New York Times LIED??...And WEIRD how the truth comes out after the sham impeachment trial. Funny how we STILL don't know why the Capitol police office (and WHO is he anyways???) shot Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed woman who was surrounded by other people. Makes you wonder WHAT really happened there.

The paper cohttps://amgreatness.com/2021/02/14/the-new-york-times-retracts-the-sicknick-story/

wendybar said...

"Now that the Times has essentially retracted its explosive article, will other news organizations, pundits, and lawmakers follow suit? Unfortunately, like so many media-manufactured stories about Donald Trump and his supporters, millions of Americans already believe the Sicknick story as truth; even a Times’ correction won’t change their minds."



Nope. They will just double down on the lies and misrepresentations...and blame it on us Nazi's.

Kevin said...

What do the following songs have in common?

"Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins
"The Pina Colada Song" by Rupert Holmes
"Someday We'll Be Together" by The Supremes
"Why" by Frankie Avalon
"Smoothe" by Santana


None of those people have been in my kitchen.

Meade said...

@Titus, please stop misusing the comment section. Email me or the blogger if you feel you need an explanation for why your comments were removed (although saved to a file) but I suspect you already know why.

stevew said...

@wendybar: The evidence we have proves you right. They still peddle the Charlottesville "Fine people" lie and the Russian Collusion hoax, as well as the Ukraine influence story.

wendybar said...

"It has nothing to do with money or social standing. It's about behavior. It's the white version of the n-word. Did you ever see one of those tabloid talk shows like Geraldo or Ricki Lake or Montel Williams or Murray Povich or Sally Jesse Raphael or Jerry Springer?"

Oh, so like the Clintons and the Kennedys then???

wendybar said...

And who can forget Billy Carter and his Billy Beer???

Mr. Forward said...

Nice catch Meade.

20 minutes before sunrise and 12 below zero. Pair of deer stumble run across my view and I blame it on the snow but I should have thought "coyote" which I did when they turned and looked back down their trail and there he was ignoring them and heading for his burrow.

MadTownGuy said...

Local TV news had a clip about why cancel culture isn't so bad and may be needed. Some credentialed person pontificated about toxicity and disinformation, then some 'person on the street' interviews to bolster the case.

This can't end well.

donald said...

There’s about three seconds in the Sessions at West 57th episode on Gram Parsons on the las song (In My Hour of Darkness, being butchered by Victoria Williams) where the camera zooms in on Hillman and Leadon singing the chorus. They have a pretty nice smile working. Knowing what Chris has said about Gram’s solo albums, that made me happy.

Rick.T. said...

What do the following songs have in common?

"Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins
"The Pina Colada Song" by Rupert Holmes
"Someday We'll Be Together" by The Supremes
"Why" by Frankie Avalon
"Smoothe" by Santana
——————————
None of those people have a world class collection of Alamo artifacts....anymore.

Rusty said...

I'm sur independent will be along shortly to supply and explanation.

MadTownGuy said...

Here's the TV news clip:

Fox 43 - The "cancel culture" trend has locals questioning their freedom of speech

"As many public figures are "cancelled" or held accountable with extreme consequences for wrongdoings, many wonder if their freedom of speech is being attacked."

No need to 'wonder.'

iowan2 said...

Hospitalizations are a different issue. These are people who are seriously ill. Those numbers have dropped by half over the last month or so. Hospitalizations is also a leading indicator for the death numbers, which typically trail by two to three weeks.

So that's why all the re-opening decisions are using the 'cases' metric, %positivity, metric.

Lurker21 said...

The "phoniness" of First Ladies seems to be a recurring theme. Remember the attacks on "Plastic Pat" Nixon and Nancy Reagan? And Melania? Laura Bush didn't get a pass either. Or it was something else. Mamie Eisenhower got grief for being a dowdy homebody. Barbara Bush for being old, heavy and tart-tongued. Michelle Obama for being bossy, though the attacks got much uglier than that. Hillary Clinton ... well, of course, it was always something -- everything -- with her. Jackie Kennedy certainly had a following, but a few observant people did ask if she was phony or just not all there or somehow complicit in Jack's shenanigans.

Yes, "Doctor B" seems phony, but that's to be expected of those in politics. And the problem with sincerity, authenticity, and humanity is that they are so often faked by public figures, or created by their publicists, or imagined by the media. You can't expect reality in politics. Those who play the game have too much at stake.

Lurker21 said...

What do the following songs have in common?

"Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins
"The Pina Colada Song" by Rupert Holmes
"Someday We'll Be Together" by The Supremes
"Why" by Frankie Avalon
"Smoothe" by Santana


They all contain the word "you" (and probably the word "the" as well).

mockturtle said...

My favorite First Lady was Lady Bird Johnson. I've read several books by and about her and am impressed with her intelligence, tact and political acumen. She was utterly devoted to her SOB of a husband and was the perfect political wife, one of the world's most difficult and thankless jobs.

William50 said...

George said...

NATO chief suggests solar powered battle tanks. “Nato should do its part to look into how we can reduce emissions from military operations,” he told the Chatham House event. “We know that heavy battle tanks or fighter jets and naval ships consume a lot of fossil fuel and emit greenhouse gases and therefore we have to look into how we can reduce those emissions by alternative fuels, solar panels or other ways of running our missions.”

Zero emissions warfare - the Chinese would love that.

------------------------------------------------------------------

The stupid, it burns … an M1 tank gets 0.6 mpg. A gallon of diesel contains ~ 40 kWh of energy. A solar panel puts out ~ 1 kWh per day. A solar panel is about 17 sq. ft. You MIGHT fit four of them on an M1 tank without impairing the weapons and sensors. Then you’d need four Tesla Powerwall batteries, weight half a ton.With that setup, every ten days you could move your tank 0.6 miles

Joe Smith said...

Never heard the term 'black trash.'

I wonder why?

Yes, part of it is 'class.'

But the term is most associated with blue collar and lower socioeconomic whites, class or not.

It's the term the 'elites' use when speaking of 'the poors.'

And, like the n-word, they don't usual flat-out say it.

But they're thinking it.

And they can just smell the Trump supporters in Walmart.

Tina Trent said...

J. Farmer: Michelle Obama is a professional liar, thief, and racist. She took sleazy set-aside graft jobs that raped the public health system then immediately demanded that she shouldn’t have to show up to work to get paid. She chose as her mentor cop killer Bernardino Dohrn and lied throughout the entire 2008 election about the fact that she and Obama practically lived with Ayers and Dohrn for eight years, including during 9/11 when Ayers mocked the 9/11 dead. She lied on national stages and on television repeatedly about her relationship with these murdering terrorists.

She lied about how she and a Barack paid for their mansion — pretending they paid for it when it was really Barack’s white grandmother, whom she called a racist repeatedly on the election trail. She calls people like you and me racists regularly.

I agree her physical appearance has been unfairly maligned, though her fashion sense often seemed intentionally ugly. But outward appearances aside, there has never been a First Lady so dishonest, hateful, and prejudiced in the White House since the actual days of slavery. She is a vile, evil, dishonest, racist and thieving woman.

mockturtle said...

Thank you, Tina Trent.

stephen cooper said...

We need more General Halftracks and fewer Dr Strangeloves

Humperdink said...

Spot on Tina

Narr said...

None of our First Ladies have been Josephine de Beauharnais, that's for sure!

Narr
Will President Harris be challenged like Maria Theresa was?

Rusty said...

He's probably got side tracked by something else. He'll be along.

Narr said...

White trash is as white trash does, but as Farmer himself says, the WT demographic is on its way out. Whether through deliberate policy or not, and regardless of who is to blame.

Narr
Can't we just shoot NATO now?

BUMBLE BEE said...

Moochelle and Barry had to surrender their law licenses... why?

Jim at said...

You don't think reactionary Republicans were a little over-the-top in their white hot hated of Michelle Obama?

Someone hates me? I hate them right back.
And that bitch made no secret of her hatred towards people like me.

Narr said...

As usual, William makes his wise and humane points after I've retired from the field, but since this is still open, let me try to address some of what he said last night about H/history and historians. Not with any intent to persuade or from a desire to get lost in moral trigonometry, but because a historian should be honest about his own biases and filters.

Thomas Hardy, IIRC, remarked to the effect that in the longer run even Bonaparte might be seen as a benefactor--he made his times extremely interesting. And to him and the other mighty men of war or state William mentions we can add, oh, Alexander, Charlemagne, Charles V, Louis XIV etc. Of Alexander (and V D Hanson flays him pretty good) Hegel warned of The Schoolmaster's Trick--persuading your students that you're a better man because after all you haven't conquered the known world . . .

Taking William's minimum figure of 5mill premature Bonaparte-caused deaths without debate, what if the number were ascertained to be half of that, or 1/10th? Is there any number of fatalities over the span of N's adventure that would justify or excuse the other--political, cultural, artistic--changes to the world that were the direct result of his ambition, energy, and talent? Honest question.

Let's take something closer to home, our very own All-American Civil Wars About Between Among and Within the States. 700-800k (we think now) dead, for a powerful, modern, dynamic expanding country without millions of enslaved people. How to balance? Honest question.

Every historian or biographer of Napoleon (or any other Great/Hard to Ignore Man or period of revolution) should wrestle with these perspectives, and from Churchill through Geyl and Chandler to Schom to Roberts they do, with the most obvious object of comparison being Hitler.

I leave aside for possible future discussion such cult figures as Lenin and Stalin, consequential though they were.

Narr
Commies are dull