In the NYT this morning.
1.
A photograph that exemplifies Donald Trump voters as they ominously approach a polling place. The sky is dark, the couple is old and funereal, the man is grim, the woman a clown.
2.
A photograph that's mostly black space, with Donald Trump's face all the way over to the right, emerging from the gloom, and the shadows giving his neck the appearance of a scrotum.
3. The Editorial Board is
"Trying to Read Donald Trump, in Translation." This is not — as I'd originally imagined — the NYT people translating Trump's simple statements into the language of the elite so they can understand it. It's attempting to imagine how Trump's statements are heard by people in other countries.
4. "Does Donald Trump represent a legitimate expression of the people’s will? Is his rise a manifestation of justifiable resentment among less privileged whites at their neglect by higher caste Republican leaders?"
A columnist (Thomas B. Edsall) wonders.
పోస్ట్లు
45 కామెంట్లు:
'..."Does Donald Trump represent a legitimate expression of the people’s will?...'
That isn't the real question. The real question is that sentence, with a 'Why' at the front of it. They bent themselves over double trying to figure out how they could make it untrue, and how they could engineer it into not being the case, and it has driven them crazy, in the process.
Translation:
1. OMG Karen, look at these freaks!
2. Dick.
3. The world laughs at Loser.
4. Not our class, darling.
I have a lot of liberal friends and they have allowed themselves to be driven into a frenzy concerning Trump. I think its because they are incredibly deferent to authority and that authority is the MSM and certain cable news outlets. And, of course, the NYT. They not only read the NYT, they brag about doing so, smugly. They all grew up in a time when Cronkite and Rather were considered authorities and you simply took their word for it. They are not adapting to a world where there are alternative sources for information. And they are definitely not adjusting to the fact that the world is changing. That agreements and norms formulated back in the 50s and 60s are no longer applicable because circumstances have changed.
Elite/Media/Trump will generate a lot of traffic.
I seem to recall one of those word frequency picture graph things from 2015. It was basically the huge word "TRUMP" surrounded by a galaxy of much smaller words. I bet that the word "TRUMP" is even larger now in relative terms.
The high traffic was just an anomalous spike in searches for "Scrotum Neck."
One of my friends is reading a book co-authored by Naomi Klein called End Times Fascism. I haven't read it, but going by its description one of its premises is that we are being steered towards fascism, somehow, because Evangelicals and Elon Musk think the world is going to end. We know that Elon thinks the world is going to end because he wants to colonize Mars. Well, I've been a science fiction fan since I was in grade school and generally, when someone wants to colonize another planet, its not because they want to instigate fascism, on Earth or any where else. In fact, generally the colonist are trying to escape fascism.
…I cannot explain. Perhaps a nostalgic look back to an age when the omnipotent power to Watergate their enemies was assumed, or the new generation of Trump deranged media combing through past strategies like Cliff Notes or less likely, what not to try again….
"Does Donald Trump represent a legitimate expression of the people’s will? Is his rise a manifestation of justifiable resentment among less privileged whites at their neglect by higher caste Republican leaders?"
Not just “higher caste Republican leaders,” but elitists everywhere, and especially those elitists who nodded when Obama spoke about “bitterly clinging to their guns and their religion.”
Grift, graft and absolute dominion over the people is the wind that lifts lefties’ skirts. Fuck them where they breathe
…or given the date, about the time of the primary Trump ascendancy while the left assumed the Trump joke would be over. Maybe it’s the commies looking for something to emulate…
…or given the date, about the time of the primary Trump ascendancy while the left assumed the Trump joke would be over. Maybe it’s the commies looking for something to emulate…
That old post was the one where Chuck wrote that he expected Trump to lose in the general election in a landslide but he won't "be predicting it."
Grift, graft and absolute dominion over the people is the wind that lifts lefties’ skirts. Fuck them where they breathe
1. Nancy Pelosi should be in jail. Agree?
2. Trump (and his whole family, and the Kushner family) should be in jail for the same reason. Agree? Why not.
In the words of George Carlin, it's a big club and you ain't in it.
Nancy and Donnie are both in the club. The club's favorite sport is grift.
"4. "Does Donald Trump represent a legitimate expression of the people’s will? Is his rise a manifestation of justifiable resentment among less privileged whites at their neglect by higher caste Republican leaders?" A columnist (Thomas B. Edsall) wonders."
He did not represent the "people's" will, at least not at that point. He was an expression of the DNC's will, a straw candidate who was supposed to lose bigly to Hillary. To wit:
"The memo, which was addressed to the Democratic National Committee, outlined “the strategy and goals a potential Hillary Clinton presidential campaign would have regarding the 2016 Republican presidential field.”
The document stated, “Clearly most of what is contained in this memo is work the DNC is already doing. This exercise is intended to put those ideas to paper.”
It continued, “Our hope is that the goal of a potential HRC campaign and the DNC would be one-in-the-same: to make whomever the Republicans nominate unpalatable to a majority of the electorate.”
The memo articulated a three-point strategy. Point 1 called for forcing “all Republican candidates to lock themselves into extreme conservative positions that will hurt them in a general election.”
At the time, there were more than a dozen Republican presidential candidates. The “variety of candidates is a positive here,” the Clinton campaign said.
“Many of the lesser known can serve as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right,” the memo noted.
“In this scenario, we don’t want to marginalize the more extreme candidates, but make them more ‘Pied Piper’ candidates who actually represent the mainstream of the Republican Party,” the Clinton campaign wrote.
As examples of these “pied piper” candidates, the memo named Donald Trump — as well as Sen. Ted Cruz and Ben Carson).
“We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to them seriously,” the Clinton campaign concluded.
This document was part of the tens of thousands of emails to and from John Podesta, the chair of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, which were released by WikiLeaks."
I see a poll that 60% of Democrats want to have a coup to prevent Trump from having a coup.
A couple thoughts come to mind.
Photograpy is incredibly effective in creating opinion masquerading as indisputable "truth". Smokestacks belching huge black clouds of ugly and "dangerous" stuff... A naked little girl running from death by napalm... Americans fleeing Vietnam in "defeat" by clamoring aboard the last Huey out of Saigon.
Anyone paying attention to AI "photography knows, we ain't seen nuthin' yet.
The other thing is the role of information ("truth") gatekeepers.
General Giap never stopped marveling at the US turning thier massive Tet victory into defeat thanks to Uncle Walter declaring it so. I encountered many of the media's high and mighty during most of my professional life. Most were from Central Casting and did not have a clue (not to be confused with an opinion) about issues presented to audiences. Exceptions were rare. Notables like Rather and Connie Chung did not make the cut (I could tell some stories). None, however, were more dishonest and excrebal than the assholes in public broadcasting.
I believe we are at a defining point of an epic battle. Technology has given access to millions of hearts and minds to anyone with an internet connection. Scary. It would be interesting to see a profile of the "Hot 100 Influencers"
BIG media ain't dead yet, though. Keep an eye on what happens at CNN (for starters, I'd fire EVERYONE at CNN International - maybe put Sophhie Cunningham in charge).
I might even make programming at airports and hotels a separate feed.
Stay tuned. Buy some popcorn.
He was an expression of the DNC's will, a straw candidate who was supposed to lose bigly to Hillary
The Grab Em By the Pussy Tape was supposed to be the nail in the coffin for Trump. I would love a real journalist (like Taibbi) to tackle is the Grab Em By the Pussy Tape. Who found it? When? Who knew about it and how long were they keeping it a secret? The Dems thought they had an ace in the hole.
We know HRC didn't just "find" the video in late October. I assume the campaign had the video for a long time.
In April of 2015, the Clinton campaign and the DNC had looped in at least seven of its allies at the New York Times regarding the campaign's plan to promote Trump in order to sow chaos in the Republican primaries. As part of that plan, the Times and other MSM allies gave Trump more than $2 billion in free media before the first primary was held. In March of 2016, they wondered what could have fueled the rise of Trump?
"Nancy and Donnie are both in the club. The club's favorite sport is grift."
There's different clubs. The D'Alessandro/Pelosi family has been on the government payroll continuously since 1926.
“The Grab Em By the Pussy Tape was supposed to be the nail in the coffin for Trump.”
Another expression of elitism. Ordinary, normal people correctly understood it to be a description of the gold dggers among young, pretty women. They LET you grab ‘em by the pussy. Where does that say he made an unwanted grab for a woman’s vulva? Or ANY grab for ANY woman’s crochet?
“As part of that plan, the Times and other MSM allies gave Trump more than $2 billion in free media before the first primary was held. In March of 2016, they wondered what could have fueled the rise of Trump?”
…media is now repeating that strategy hoping for a different result. Major networks claim to be (I guess) figuratively ‘starving Trump of oxygen’ while simultaneously following his every step and utterance at the UN, promoting every word…
"For some reason, this old post is the post of mine that got the most traffic in the last 12 months."
Althouse, did you first think of the possible reasons for the boosted traffic and then decided to say "for some reason" to encompass all, or was it to aviod conspiratorial assumptions and provide space for your readers to ponder?
Most just seem to be reacting to the old post itself.
Highest traffic in the last twelve months? Gotta be some kind of bots.
Pelosi should be investigated and her insider trading made an example that it should be banned.
The left: collectively want to jail and kill their opponents
Trump works for a living. That enrages the left.
Bidens illegals are going to steal our benefits. All of them.
I love how long the boycott lasted. Not even 24 hours. I'll bet PDJT really suffered. In the meantime he got more attention from them talking about not giving him attention than he might have otherwise gotten.
John Henry
Ron Winkleheimer said...
"we are being steered towards fascism, somehow, because Evangelicals and Elon Musk think the world is going to end."
“The dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe.”
― Tom Wolfe
There's different clubs. The D'Alessandro/Pelosi family has been on the government payroll continuously since 1926.
Being "on the government payroll" doesn't concern me. Being on the government payroll and trading on insider information the way Pelosi and the Trump Crime Family do, that's the problem.
Being on the "payroll" of foreign government and foreign business interests the way the Biden Crime Family and the Trump Crime Family are on the payrolls of foreign interests. That's the problem.
It's expensive fake Hunter Biden paintings and board seats on foreign companies. It's Trump's crypto scams and Russian oligarchs giving kickbacks to Donnie's little middle-aged brats. The grimy little piss-faced Jared Kushner acting as an unelected "negotiator" while also making personal investments all across the Middle East and buying an island in Albania.
The Biden Crime family was sleazy but the Trump Crime Family is just plain better at running scams. The Biden Crime Family scammed a few million dollars. The Trump Crime Family is making billions.
Elon Musk, in the next week or so, needs to announce that he is going to buy the NY Times. I don't really care if he does or not, the entertainment value would be HUGE!!!
Yes, the NYT is family owned, sort of. But so is almost every other newspaper in the US. They would bluster about NEVER selling the newspaper and their duty to democracy and a lot of other blather.
But if he offers enough, the various family members would probably sell.
the Graham family sold WaPo to Bezos 13 years ago for $250mm. It might be worth half that today. Would $200mm be enough to buy NYT? That is chump change to a guy who paid $44bn for Twitter.
I keep trying but I just don't think I can manage to hate the media enough.
John Henry
Pelosi should be investigated and her insider trading made an example that it should be banned.
Pigs are flying because I agree with Peachy.
So, Peachy, why shouldn't Trump be prosecuted for doing the exact same thing? Help me understand the difference.
Iman said...
" Grift, graft and absolute dominion over the people is the wind that lifts lefties’ skirts. Fuck them where they breathe"
Or at least where they exhale and speak?
Keeping with your imagry, Imam
John Henry
NKP said...
"Smokestacks belching huge black clouds of ugly and "dangerous" stuff..."
My favorite is when they show the large pinch waisted cooling towers often associated with nuclear plants. These emit plumes of water vapor but the media often call it "Smoke"
They never even think to ask how a nuclear plant emits smoke.
John Henry
D3
That would the "They let you grab 'em by the pussy" wouldn't it?
If one were being honest.
It is also such a widely known fact that it has been a cliche since at least the 60s.
John Henry
Whatever happened to Chuck?
Rory said...
The D'Alessandro/Pelosi family has been on the government payroll continuously since 1926.
And are largely responsible for the shithole Baltimore has become. The D'Alessandros made Tammany Hall look like pikers.
As some blog was pointing out the other day, Tammany practiced "Honest Graft" (Read George Washington Plunkett's autobiography for how it worked. He was rather proud of his honest graft)
Under honest graft, tammany robbed the citizentry blind. Charging 3 times what it actually cost to build a new school. That's the graft. The honest part is that the school got built.
D'alessandro style graft takes the money and doesn't even build the school.
OT: I read Plunkett in HS Civics class in 65 or so. I found it interesting but thought it could not be true, had to be satire. Over the years, I've found that it was true. Plunkett was a Tammany grand poobah and grafter extraordinaire. And he was proud of his graft because he did get some good things done.
I reread the book a couple years ago and it was even better than I remembered, though I had a different point of view than that naive 16 year old in civics class.
John Henry
If one were being honest.
If one were being honest, he was specifically talking about fucking a married woman while he was also married. (If one were being honest, of course.)
And, if one were being honest, Trump said he doesn't even ask before he grabs them by the pussy. They "let him do it" but some of 'em be settling out of court and signing NDAs, Ponyboy.
The lesson of 2024 is that it wasn't just whites who were fed up with Biden and the Establishment.
But what will the lesson of 2026 be?
From Cynical Publius on X:
"Over the past few days I have heard a number of very sober, well-reasoned commentators on the political right talking about the midterms and related polling.
They uniformly speak about the House already being a lost cause for the GOP, and they focus on whether the GOP can hold the Senate.
Things do not need to be this way. Trump won in 2024 by large margins. The only reason that cannot be repeated this fall is if YOU—the average Trump voter—decides to let it happen.
I know, I know, I know. Trump has not made all of your hopes and dreams come true in two years’ time. You think he has done nothing, even though he has had profound victory after profound victory in areas like immigration and downsizing the federal government. You have your pet issue that has not been satisfied to the extent you demand, so you want to “Stay home and send them a message.”
Yes the GOP sucks. It’s a heinous mess of self-interest and failed status quo maintenance.
But the only thing worse is the Democrat Party.
We are running against LITERAL COMMUNISTS who want to abolish the Senate, pack the Supreme Court, add two new deep blue states, open the borders to unlimited immigration and succumb to creeping Sharia and jihad in order to literally destroy the nation. (Plus, they will spend the next two years impeaching Trump and everyone in his orbit, fully defeating what you voted for in 2024.)
So you have two choices. It’s a binary choice, there is no third option:
1. Vote for doing everything we can to pursue MAGA even if that’s not perfect.
2. Stay home and become ruled by literal Communists who want you dead.
Choose.
We can still win this fall, we just need the will to do it."
Shorter version: it's Trump vs. Hillary 2.0.
The judge said...
"Whatever happened to Chuck?"
IEE sounds a lot like him, but considering the supply of trolls is unending, it may be that they read from the same playbook.
Ritmo Brasileiro and his other reinvented monikers is out there in the ether somewhere, his absence unlamented, but his first avatar with an eye superimposed on the Brazilian flag was kinda epic.
Garage Mahal was at least entertaining, and may have had a satori at some point. HDHouse was readable and had impeccable taste in music. I still miss Chip Ahoy and Gahrie. A few commenters jumped over to another less-traveled blog that I still follow. Others who have stepped in meanwhile do manage to keep things lively, and this blog is the closest thing to X that I've seen on Blogger.
They be mouth breathers, John Henry @11:42am.
Nancy Pelosi has gotten famously rich on insider trading, and the practice of Congressmen trading on companies whose business environment they are busy legislating should be banned. But it's a huge mistake to assume that this practice is confined to a few corrupt Democrats. See Unusual Whales.
https://unusualwhales.substack.com/p/congressional-trading-report-2025
Pelosi does not rank very high on the list of offenders, just sayin'
@Aggie Thanks. We live in the United States of Corruption and if you think it is "only the other guys" slurping from the gravy train then that's what grifters want you to think. You are a good boy. Good job! Head pat.
Disappointed to see Steil up at the top of the list.
*I think its because they are incredibly deferent to authority and that authority is the MSM and certain cable news outlets.*
Exactly. And if you had any doubts about that, Covid should've erased them all completely.
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