I'm loving every second of Disney sticking it up DeSantis' backside as if a rusty, jagged flagpole -- Schadenfreude at its finest as if an extreme sugar rush. Most people who know me see me as about the most anti-corporate person in their midst. Yet, per Arthasastra, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and if they want and need to flex their considerable muscles in order to bring down the bully that DeSantis revels in being, count me among those who will line up to support them.
DeSantis will find some way to try to make lemonade of this lemon, talking to those who eat up whatever he has to say as if gospel. But a billion dollars is no small amount of money in any scenario, and if things continue on this trajectory, up to and possibly including Disney relocating entirely to a neighboring state that is more hospitable, that will become his legacy in the end. Like all bullies fueled by their own self-importance, he is incapable of following the most fundamental advice for a leader: think and act thoroughly rather than quickly. Inevitably there are consequences over time for fools who so eagerly engage in a fool's errand.
As a New Jersey resident (and someone who watched him humiliate himself for Trump not that long ago) I can attest that Chris Christie is... not without his objectionable qualities. But if he's committing to the Trump-antagonist role, as it seems he is, I DO want to see him up on that debate stage. Out of everyone realistically in the picture, he's the one who stands a chance to really pummel Trump with some smart, bruising attack lines. You remember what he did to Marco Rubio. Needless to say, Trump is not Marco Rubio. But Christie can be just brutal, and someone needs to be just brutal to Trump.
Christie could actually fill the fantasy role that I had in my head for Liz Cheney. There are all sorts of obvious problems with this idea (that's why it's a fantasy) but at one point I pictured her running a kamikaze campaign just so she could get up onstage with Trump and rake him over the coals.
Christie won't see himself as a kamikaze. He'll think he can win. Whatever. But even if he goes nowhere in the race, he can be very effective in the role of wounding and diminishing Trump on the debate stage.
Manslaughter is still manslaughter. Penny wasn’t charged with murder. Neely’s behavior might have been alarming, but what it wasn’t was an imminent threat. And what it most certainly isn’t is some sort of mitigating factor for a guy that was specifically instructed in the uses and the dangers of a chokehold!
As far as Youngkin goes, he’s as much of a culture warrior as DeSantis, except he doesn’t have the legislative majorities to push his agenda through. The guy ditched ERIC even though he ran on the specter of election fraud. His campaign was centered around “wokeism” in schools. And he just passed a porn age verification law. He is a less effective culture warrior than DeSantis, but he’s a warrior nonetheless.
I am glad to see that Disney under Bob Iger is aggressively pushing back against DeSantis’ attempt to have government control the speech and lawful private actions of companies. It is critical to halting this drive to fascism. German companies catastrophically sought to appease Hitler when he pursued the same course as he rose to prominence and consolidated his power.
I note that Cruz and Blackburn are calling for an investigation into Anheuser Busch’s use of Dylan Mulvaney in a couple of its advertisements. Further, they have written to Anheuser Busch demanding a raft of documents related to that marketing decision. I do not care what one thinks of Mulvaney or trans issues, but it should send a shiver down everyone’s spine that US Senators think they have the right to investigate private companies’ marketing decisions if those decisions involve the use of a disfavored celebrity. No way around it - that is neo-fascist. And it needs to be stomped out. It is un-American and unacceptable.
Great article by Cathy Young. It is so clear that we need to do so much better with mental health in this country. Based on their 2nd Ammendment rhetoric, the GOP should be leading the charge for real change! Right???
One thing that is not mentioned in Disney's is the effect of Florida's abortion law banning abortion after 6 weeks. It is my understanding that employees who live in California have been asked to move to Florida along with their jobs and families if the corporate headquarters was moved. I would expect a lot of reluctance to move because of Florida's abortion law.
Excellent balanced article by Cathe Young. I agree with everything she said, up to and emphatically including the media/pundit reactions.
I’m sure I am not the only one who has been threatened and yelled at by an unhoused person with mental illness. What they will do is often unpredictable. The fight-or-flight reaction I’ve felt is immediate and it is hard to respond instead of react. I’ve been trained in de-escalation but that should not be a requirement to ride a train.
At the same time, my volunteer work has generally been in homelessness and affordable housing. I’ve often been in contact with unhoused people, many with mental or substance abuse issues (frankly generally both). They are human beings, citizens and worthy of dignity and the natural respect we should have for any person’s life.
Media and opinion would have you believe there is a left/right, hero/villain to this but there isn’t. There were two flawed, reactive people. One of whom died and one of whom will face consequences for his actions, as he should. Can’t there be room to see two human beings involved in a tragic situation and to leave it at that?
I went to the show last night and had a great time. I went with a Democrat friend. He was not familiar with the Bulwark (but still enjoyed it, and it wouldn't surprise me if he started checking it out going forward).
Something that struck me in speaking with him after--we Bulwarkers are in such a minority of political views being homeless ex-Republicans (and formerly Republican leaners). When I explained to him going in the general POV/background of the Bulwark, he was definitely not expecting Charlie, Tim, JVL, and Sarah to just be so brutally negative to the current GOP in general, even after 6 years of Trump. It definitely brought me some perspective about where we still are in terms of living in this 2 party system.
And honestly, it was also a useful reminder to me about echo chambers. The two politics sites I'm most engaged with are here and The Dispatch (obviously I read other sites for news too). And if you are just focusing on The Bulwark and The Dispatch, you think there are a masses of unmoored Never Trumpers. Unfortunately, that's just not the case.
Someone may want to remind Youngkin that the only reason he got to be Governor of Virginia is that the Virginia GOP rigged the primary because they knew if they left the choice up to Virginia Republican primary voters Youngkin would have had no chance to become the GOP nominee.
The kids at the bus stop need to understand that, back in the 1700s, it was common for Patriots to have AR-15s at bus stops. Justices Thomas and Scalia said so.
As president, I am sure DeSantis could get corporations to flee the US and set up shop in other countries. His evil super-power is alienating vast swaths of people. Both Trump and DeSantis fall under the bad candidates label. They are in the same category as Santos. Youngkin has the perception of being less extreme. On the campaign trail he might ruin that. A less extreme candidate is seen as a RINO, and they are considered total sell outs to government that works. Youngkin may have to turn up the crazy like he did in his run for governor, and crazy won't win in a general.
Evidence for a big Democratic win in '24 keeps piling up. It's still precarious enough, though, that nobody gets to feel good yet. We all have to stay miserable for another year and a half.
If desantis does indeed want to run on "make America FL". Then news outlets and reporters are obligated to pick apart exactly what that means. From his gazpacho like election police to his new laws ordering what universities "cannot teach", to his economy killing war on businesses that do not bow to him (there are more than Disney who have decided to pass up the state) to his overt cruelty to people of color especially immigrants. A lot of immigrants illegal and legal are leaving the state, it doesn't matter that much in agriculture right now but it will in the fall. They need to look at the importance of immigrant labor to the FL economy.
There are many holds Penny and two other men ould have used and not risked killing someone. I've had to use them on violent and dangerous students in the past. Penny chose to use the most dangerous hold
FACT: Penny, when he decided he needed to control Neely by choke-holding him had no idea that Neely had all of the history that Cathy points out as fact.
Hence the implication that Penny, his supporters and "neutral" observers like Cathy want to offer that Penny's actions were maybe valid because of Neely's history can only be read as people trying to somehow "right a wrong". They tried this with George Floyd as well (justifying that somehow his previous drug related offenses justified the chokehold that took away his life).
The only thing that matters is if somebody was in impending danger in the moments leading to Penny deciding he had to act. Was he even required to intervene and if yes, did he do his best to de-escalate? I read the chokehold was applied for more than a minute. Did something compel Penny to maintain his chokehold for that long? Did he attempt to ease up knowing that it could be lethal? Perhaps the answers to all these questions is "Yes" and Penny just got caught in a situation that led to a bad outcome.
Pointing to Neely's history is obfuscation from the actual facts.
I'm loving every second of Disney sticking it up DeSantis' backside as if a rusty, jagged flagpole -- Schadenfreude at its finest as if an extreme sugar rush. Most people who know me see me as about the most anti-corporate person in their midst. Yet, per Arthasastra, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and if they want and need to flex their considerable muscles in order to bring down the bully that DeSantis revels in being, count me among those who will line up to support them.
DeSantis will find some way to try to make lemonade of this lemon, talking to those who eat up whatever he has to say as if gospel. But a billion dollars is no small amount of money in any scenario, and if things continue on this trajectory, up to and possibly including Disney relocating entirely to a neighboring state that is more hospitable, that will become his legacy in the end. Like all bullies fueled by their own self-importance, he is incapable of following the most fundamental advice for a leader: think and act thoroughly rather than quickly. Inevitably there are consequences over time for fools who so eagerly engage in a fool's errand.
As a New Jersey resident (and someone who watched him humiliate himself for Trump not that long ago) I can attest that Chris Christie is... not without his objectionable qualities. But if he's committing to the Trump-antagonist role, as it seems he is, I DO want to see him up on that debate stage. Out of everyone realistically in the picture, he's the one who stands a chance to really pummel Trump with some smart, bruising attack lines. You remember what he did to Marco Rubio. Needless to say, Trump is not Marco Rubio. But Christie can be just brutal, and someone needs to be just brutal to Trump.
Christie could actually fill the fantasy role that I had in my head for Liz Cheney. There are all sorts of obvious problems with this idea (that's why it's a fantasy) but at one point I pictured her running a kamikaze campaign just so she could get up onstage with Trump and rake him over the coals.
Christie won't see himself as a kamikaze. He'll think he can win. Whatever. But even if he goes nowhere in the race, he can be very effective in the role of wounding and diminishing Trump on the debate stage.
"Make America Florida" Seriously?!?!?! RDS is aware that "Florida Man" is a national punchline, right?
Manslaughter is still manslaughter. Penny wasn’t charged with murder. Neely’s behavior might have been alarming, but what it wasn’t was an imminent threat. And what it most certainly isn’t is some sort of mitigating factor for a guy that was specifically instructed in the uses and the dangers of a chokehold!
As far as Youngkin goes, he’s as much of a culture warrior as DeSantis, except he doesn’t have the legislative majorities to push his agenda through. The guy ditched ERIC even though he ran on the specter of election fraud. His campaign was centered around “wokeism” in schools. And he just passed a porn age verification law. He is a less effective culture warrior than DeSantis, but he’s a warrior nonetheless.
I am glad to see that Disney under Bob Iger is aggressively pushing back against DeSantis’ attempt to have government control the speech and lawful private actions of companies. It is critical to halting this drive to fascism. German companies catastrophically sought to appease Hitler when he pursued the same course as he rose to prominence and consolidated his power.
I note that Cruz and Blackburn are calling for an investigation into Anheuser Busch’s use of Dylan Mulvaney in a couple of its advertisements. Further, they have written to Anheuser Busch demanding a raft of documents related to that marketing decision. I do not care what one thinks of Mulvaney or trans issues, but it should send a shiver down everyone’s spine that US Senators think they have the right to investigate private companies’ marketing decisions if those decisions involve the use of a disfavored celebrity. No way around it - that is neo-fascist. And it needs to be stomped out. It is un-American and unacceptable.
Great article by Cathy Young. It is so clear that we need to do so much better with mental health in this country. Based on their 2nd Ammendment rhetoric, the GOP should be leading the charge for real change! Right???
One thing that is not mentioned in Disney's is the effect of Florida's abortion law banning abortion after 6 weeks. It is my understanding that employees who live in California have been asked to move to Florida along with their jobs and families if the corporate headquarters was moved. I would expect a lot of reluctance to move because of Florida's abortion law.
Excellent balanced article by Cathe Young. I agree with everything she said, up to and emphatically including the media/pundit reactions.
I’m sure I am not the only one who has been threatened and yelled at by an unhoused person with mental illness. What they will do is often unpredictable. The fight-or-flight reaction I’ve felt is immediate and it is hard to respond instead of react. I’ve been trained in de-escalation but that should not be a requirement to ride a train.
At the same time, my volunteer work has generally been in homelessness and affordable housing. I’ve often been in contact with unhoused people, many with mental or substance abuse issues (frankly generally both). They are human beings, citizens and worthy of dignity and the natural respect we should have for any person’s life.
Media and opinion would have you believe there is a left/right, hero/villain to this but there isn’t. There were two flawed, reactive people. One of whom died and one of whom will face consequences for his actions, as he should. Can’t there be room to see two human beings involved in a tragic situation and to leave it at that?
I went to the show last night and had a great time. I went with a Democrat friend. He was not familiar with the Bulwark (but still enjoyed it, and it wouldn't surprise me if he started checking it out going forward).
Something that struck me in speaking with him after--we Bulwarkers are in such a minority of political views being homeless ex-Republicans (and formerly Republican leaners). When I explained to him going in the general POV/background of the Bulwark, he was definitely not expecting Charlie, Tim, JVL, and Sarah to just be so brutally negative to the current GOP in general, even after 6 years of Trump. It definitely brought me some perspective about where we still are in terms of living in this 2 party system.
And honestly, it was also a useful reminder to me about echo chambers. The two politics sites I'm most engaged with are here and The Dispatch (obviously I read other sites for news too). And if you are just focusing on The Bulwark and The Dispatch, you think there are a masses of unmoored Never Trumpers. Unfortunately, that's just not the case.
But at least we have each other.
Someone may want to remind Youngkin that the only reason he got to be Governor of Virginia is that the Virginia GOP rigged the primary because they knew if they left the choice up to Virginia Republican primary voters Youngkin would have had no chance to become the GOP nominee.
The kids at the bus stop need to understand that, back in the 1700s, it was common for Patriots to have AR-15s at bus stops. Justices Thomas and Scalia said so.
First the MLB all star game in Georgia, now, punked by a mouse. The notion of the GOP being probusiness is dissolving. before our eyes.
Six months, or close to it and the House has done nothing more than to produce Jim Jordan and his ill fitting shirts. I'd go 14rh amendment here.
As president, I am sure DeSantis could get corporations to flee the US and set up shop in other countries. His evil super-power is alienating vast swaths of people. Both Trump and DeSantis fall under the bad candidates label. They are in the same category as Santos. Youngkin has the perception of being less extreme. On the campaign trail he might ruin that. A less extreme candidate is seen as a RINO, and they are considered total sell outs to government that works. Youngkin may have to turn up the crazy like he did in his run for governor, and crazy won't win in a general.
Evidence for a big Democratic win in '24 keeps piling up. It's still precarious enough, though, that nobody gets to feel good yet. We all have to stay miserable for another year and a half.
If desantis does indeed want to run on "make America FL". Then news outlets and reporters are obligated to pick apart exactly what that means. From his gazpacho like election police to his new laws ordering what universities "cannot teach", to his economy killing war on businesses that do not bow to him (there are more than Disney who have decided to pass up the state) to his overt cruelty to people of color especially immigrants. A lot of immigrants illegal and legal are leaving the state, it doesn't matter that much in agriculture right now but it will in the fall. They need to look at the importance of immigrant labor to the FL economy.
There are many holds Penny and two other men ould have used and not risked killing someone. I've had to use them on violent and dangerous students in the past. Penny chose to use the most dangerous hold
I feel compelled to add another fact for Cathy.
FACT: Penny, when he decided he needed to control Neely by choke-holding him had no idea that Neely had all of the history that Cathy points out as fact.
Hence the implication that Penny, his supporters and "neutral" observers like Cathy want to offer that Penny's actions were maybe valid because of Neely's history can only be read as people trying to somehow "right a wrong". They tried this with George Floyd as well (justifying that somehow his previous drug related offenses justified the chokehold that took away his life).
The only thing that matters is if somebody was in impending danger in the moments leading to Penny deciding he had to act. Was he even required to intervene and if yes, did he do his best to de-escalate? I read the chokehold was applied for more than a minute. Did something compel Penny to maintain his chokehold for that long? Did he attempt to ease up knowing that it could be lethal? Perhaps the answers to all these questions is "Yes" and Penny just got caught in a situation that led to a bad outcome.
Pointing to Neely's history is obfuscation from the actual facts.