I doubt this alpha male angle will work. The point isn't that people want to all be alphas or want all Republican elected officials to be alphas. They want the order and reflected glory/power that comes from attaching oneself to a powerful alpha that leads the entire group and is therefore empowered to assert dominance for that group. That Vance will support and empower their chosen alpha benefactor, Trump, at all costs is what makes him a good candidate in their eyes.
How is this even an attack on Vance? We should probably be angry with Tim Ryan for advertising for him.
You know why the Republicans are so comfortable supporting Herschel Walker as he becomes more and more of a disaster of a candidate?
It's because he's a walking, talking stereotype of the racist's image of a black man- strong, stupid, sexually promiscuous, child abandoning, lying, unreliable... It's all there.
And why would they want this stereotype in the chamber of sober second thought? For that most racist of tropes. "Yes masta" He'll just do what the privileged white men want him to do.
Otherwise they'd support the other candidate, the decent, capable person.
Firstly, blacks are not Jews. The fact that Kanye claims that they are is a nod to the anti-Semitic cult of the "Black Israelites". So sorry, but that one doesn't constitute a check mark in the "Kanye isn't an anti-Semite" column.
Secondly, the fact that Kanye claimed such a delusional identification doesn't excuse his comments. If I said, "I blame the Jews for tolerating Trump because he was willing to move the American embassy to Jerusalem" and then said, "and that includes me, because I'm part German and part Polish, and Germans and Poles are both Jews", I really doubt you and your ideological ilk would credit me for not being anti-Semitic.
Thirdly, it isn't just Jews in Hollywood and tech that hate Trump. It's most of the country, and Kanye's support of this man is costing him fans for that reason alone. This latest outburst just poured kerosene on the flames. Nobody is trying to destroy Kanye. He is doing it himself via his own narcissistic ignorance.
Fourthly, and I can't stress this enough (so much so that I am going to obnoxiously employ caps): TRUMP DOES NOT LOVE HIS COUNTRY. HE LOVES HIMSELF. Nobody who loves their country would EVER do what he has done - DECEIVE the American people and refuse to accept the valid results of a Presidential election, ripping apart the very fabric of our democracy FOR HIS OWN PERSONAL BENEFIT. Whether or not he actually believes this nonsense is irrelevant - he has had ample exposure to the truth, and it is only his utter self-obsession that prevents him from accepting it. He has hurt this country more than any American has in my lifetime, and history will bear this out, while credulous dolts like you will be remembered (if at all) as compliant fools and enablers of this country's slide toward autocracy.
Herschel Walker keeps proving why he’s unfit to hold any elected office. More remarkable is all the big name Republicans who rally round him further proving that the Republican Party has no moral compass whatsoever.
I will once again say that elections (and a Republic based upon elections) are, in essence, anti-democratic. They are also anti-competence, anti-ethical, and anti-justice. Look around you--let those that have eyes see.
If your goal in political structure and society/culture is: competence, ethics, justice, then we are going about it the wrong way. You are NOT going to get there from here.
We have a VERY expensive system (when measured in man-hours and dollars spent--IGNORING the larger social costs) that delivers rather shitty results and that actually contributes to the degradation of society and culture. It makes things actively worse... and there is apparently no bottom.
As Travis notes, politics and economics are intertwined. If you have bad politics you will get bad economics (bad, of course being determined by whether you are on the upside (very few people) or downside (most people).
We engage in a CONTINUAL (these days) electoral cycle (with continual fundraising), where elites compete for attention and popularity--largely through performance art rather than actual policy or accomplishment. People don't pay much attention to actual accomplishment and are largely so ignorant that they do not understand what IS an accomplishment, what IS largely uncontrollable, what IS actually controllable.
In a system such as ours that is deliberately unrepresentative in structure to start off with, we add the additional burdens of having either the personal wealth (and leisure) to campaign or connections to those with the wealth to fund your campaign (and to whom you then owe a debt)--and the price increases as you move up the ladder from local to state to national.
This creates a political elite that serves its own electoral and economic interests first and then serves the people who footed the bill. The people get enough performance art to keep them minimally mollified. They get poison pilled legislation that looks good until you read the fine print. They get incompetent and corrupt government.
Again, as Travis points out if WINNING is everything (be it political winning or economic winning) then anything goes. We have created immense ethical carve-outs in our society to excuse/justify such behavior--and to excuse ourselves from having to sit in judgment or do anything about it.
One of the most toxic phrases in use is "it's just business, not personal." Another is a variation based upon politics--and the expectation that we have that these people will LIE and CHEAT, and be CORRUPT... and it is okay (especially if they are on OUR side).
You cannot build a long-term healthy and just society in that framework. EVERYTHING is personal to someone. Losing your home is not business. Your wife dying because you cannot afford medical insurance is not just business.
There needs to be ONE set of rules, one set of ethics--for business, people, and politics. Our signal failure is that we will put up with stuff from politicians and corps that we would never pout up with from our neighbors or our friends.
Something needs to change. These idiots (our political and economic elites) are going to break things so badly that there WILL be change of some kind. The problem is that it will be chaotic and random rather than thoughtful and measured.. and it probably won't be for the better.
If Jordan Pederson wants to go Old Testament in defense of traditional moral values, then let's: "Behold, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy." (Ezekiel 16:49). The "Godless Sodomites" are not who most people think they are.
I doubt this alpha male angle will work. The point isn't that people want to all be alphas or want all Republican elected officials to be alphas. They want the order and reflected glory/power that comes from attaching oneself to a powerful alpha that leads the entire group and is therefore empowered to assert dominance for that group. That Vance will support and empower their chosen alpha benefactor, Trump, at all costs is what makes him a good candidate in their eyes.
How is this even an attack on Vance? We should probably be angry with Tim Ryan for advertising for him.
Charlie, you need to have Jon Chait of New York Magazine on your podcast.
The coup in 2024 will be legal and completely Constitutional. And if the Republicans take back Congress in 2022 it is a guaranteed outcome.
You know why the Republicans are so comfortable supporting Herschel Walker as he becomes more and more of a disaster of a candidate?
It's because he's a walking, talking stereotype of the racist's image of a black man- strong, stupid, sexually promiscuous, child abandoning, lying, unreliable... It's all there.
And why would they want this stereotype in the chamber of sober second thought? For that most racist of tropes. "Yes masta" He'll just do what the privileged white men want him to do.
Otherwise they'd support the other candidate, the decent, capable person.
Any country that bombs playgrounds and schools to prove it is strong is actually extremely weak.
Walker will be loyal to Republicans because he gets power, attention and money from it. His son has nothing to offer that Walker values.
Ok, David Horowitz.
Firstly, blacks are not Jews. The fact that Kanye claims that they are is a nod to the anti-Semitic cult of the "Black Israelites". So sorry, but that one doesn't constitute a check mark in the "Kanye isn't an anti-Semite" column.
Secondly, the fact that Kanye claimed such a delusional identification doesn't excuse his comments. If I said, "I blame the Jews for tolerating Trump because he was willing to move the American embassy to Jerusalem" and then said, "and that includes me, because I'm part German and part Polish, and Germans and Poles are both Jews", I really doubt you and your ideological ilk would credit me for not being anti-Semitic.
Thirdly, it isn't just Jews in Hollywood and tech that hate Trump. It's most of the country, and Kanye's support of this man is costing him fans for that reason alone. This latest outburst just poured kerosene on the flames. Nobody is trying to destroy Kanye. He is doing it himself via his own narcissistic ignorance.
Fourthly, and I can't stress this enough (so much so that I am going to obnoxiously employ caps): TRUMP DOES NOT LOVE HIS COUNTRY. HE LOVES HIMSELF. Nobody who loves their country would EVER do what he has done - DECEIVE the American people and refuse to accept the valid results of a Presidential election, ripping apart the very fabric of our democracy FOR HIS OWN PERSONAL BENEFIT. Whether or not he actually believes this nonsense is irrelevant - he has had ample exposure to the truth, and it is only his utter self-obsession that prevents him from accepting it. He has hurt this country more than any American has in my lifetime, and history will bear this out, while credulous dolts like you will be remembered (if at all) as compliant fools and enablers of this country's slide toward autocracy.
Who is David Horowitz?
Is he someone of renown I should know?
As my Spanish grandmother would gave answered, if the question was posed to her:
"En su casa!"
Re: if Trump wins. I am not sure that I wouldn’t move to another country. But where? It is a sad day for the future of civilization.
Herschel Walker keeps proving why he’s unfit to hold any elected office. More remarkable is all the big name Republicans who rally round him further proving that the Republican Party has no moral compass whatsoever.
Orcs? Seems like someone has been listening to Shiba Inus on Twitter...
I will once again say that elections (and a Republic based upon elections) are, in essence, anti-democratic. They are also anti-competence, anti-ethical, and anti-justice. Look around you--let those that have eyes see.
If your goal in political structure and society/culture is: competence, ethics, justice, then we are going about it the wrong way. You are NOT going to get there from here.
We have a VERY expensive system (when measured in man-hours and dollars spent--IGNORING the larger social costs) that delivers rather shitty results and that actually contributes to the degradation of society and culture. It makes things actively worse... and there is apparently no bottom.
As Travis notes, politics and economics are intertwined. If you have bad politics you will get bad economics (bad, of course being determined by whether you are on the upside (very few people) or downside (most people).
We engage in a CONTINUAL (these days) electoral cycle (with continual fundraising), where elites compete for attention and popularity--largely through performance art rather than actual policy or accomplishment. People don't pay much attention to actual accomplishment and are largely so ignorant that they do not understand what IS an accomplishment, what IS largely uncontrollable, what IS actually controllable.
In a system such as ours that is deliberately unrepresentative in structure to start off with, we add the additional burdens of having either the personal wealth (and leisure) to campaign or connections to those with the wealth to fund your campaign (and to whom you then owe a debt)--and the price increases as you move up the ladder from local to state to national.
This creates a political elite that serves its own electoral and economic interests first and then serves the people who footed the bill. The people get enough performance art to keep them minimally mollified. They get poison pilled legislation that looks good until you read the fine print. They get incompetent and corrupt government.
Again, as Travis points out if WINNING is everything (be it political winning or economic winning) then anything goes. We have created immense ethical carve-outs in our society to excuse/justify such behavior--and to excuse ourselves from having to sit in judgment or do anything about it.
One of the most toxic phrases in use is "it's just business, not personal." Another is a variation based upon politics--and the expectation that we have that these people will LIE and CHEAT, and be CORRUPT... and it is okay (especially if they are on OUR side).
You cannot build a long-term healthy and just society in that framework. EVERYTHING is personal to someone. Losing your home is not business. Your wife dying because you cannot afford medical insurance is not just business.
There needs to be ONE set of rules, one set of ethics--for business, people, and politics. Our signal failure is that we will put up with stuff from politicians and corps that we would never pout up with from our neighbors or our friends.
Something needs to change. These idiots (our political and economic elites) are going to break things so badly that there WILL be change of some kind. The problem is that it will be chaotic and random rather than thoughtful and measured.. and it probably won't be for the better.
If Jordan Pederson wants to go Old Testament in defense of traditional moral values, then let's: "Behold, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy." (Ezekiel 16:49). The "Godless Sodomites" are not who most people think they are.
It was Flavoraid and I think Horowitz was eating thebrown acid...again
And in other news, Tulsi decided she wasn't a D after all. Another "patriot" bought by Putin.
David Horowitz is an enigma: a Jew who can't see antisemitism when it's presented on a platter.