You've said it before, and I will say it here. I cannot believe the lack of boundaries. I mean, come on! Real conservatives are appalled by this. I wish the media would stop calling these people conservatives. They are reactionaries. That is how they should be described. Mitt Romney - Conservative. MTG - Reactionary. I would say Bat-Shit-Crazy, but I realize there are limits.
Apologies? Apologies? Republican liars won't give apologies. They follow their Orange God King and his protege Santos in offering quick and brutal condemnation of all people they consider "progressive wokesters" and then crickets...
Might the upcoming discussion with Paul Ryan involve this ‘evolution’ of the GOP from the ‘own the libs’ memes condoning and even encouraging actual physical brutality.
Yes, we need eliminate police unions and the so called fraternal orders of police. We also need to make it harder to become a police officer and harder to remain one. We need higher pay and much more and different training. The police need better police.
I swear a lot of these Republican promoters are stuck at age 14. And a nasty 14, at that. The viciousness aside, it's the sheer blinding stupidity that gets me. Kirk calling for bail - when it's not on the table. Jr. posting memes from South Park. Trump himself demanding death and destruction - when there is absolutely nothing in our legal system that would allow it - and never will be, if the sane portion of the American public have anything to say. I was going to say I wonder how they spend their spare time - but I won't, as I'd lay heavy money it involves watching torture porn and an awful lot of Kleenex.
I see nothing too far wrong in calling Trump a fascist. If one accepts the old definition of fascism as an anti-liberal, authoritarian ideology and political system under which property is nominally left in private hands, but the unrestrained state controls the economy and people’s lives, that is fairly close to what he is. The only thing he lacks is much of anything in the way of an ideology beyond the imperatives that he should have unopposed power, and the function of the government should be to glorify him. We are just lucky to live in a country where he cannot get enough black shirts to march on Rome or the army to join in an attempt to overthrow the republic in Madrid.
As to the case of the attack on Paul Pelosi, there was nothing wrong with just questioning the official story. Official stories about all sorts of things turn out to be false or incomplete. It is common for them to be doctored or slanted to benefit powerful and well connected people. The event was a strange one, and there was a reluctance to release evidence. What was wrong and disgraceful was hinting without any evidence that the attack was a homosexual assignation and/or drug deal that went wrong. The politicians and media people who did that literally added vulgar insult to Pelosi’s injury. They should apologize, and more important, clean up their acts.
An odd confluence of ideas on the Bulwark. After reading this, I caught up with Shield of the Republic. Toward the end Eliot and the guest, Constanze Stelzenmuller, spoke of their experiences with Judith Shklar at Harvard. She was a philosopher and political theorist who argued that cruelty was the greatest evil. The guest agreed wholeheartedly, citing her experiences as a journalist in places like Rwanda. And now we have a major party that celebrates evil.
Please, Charlie, do not describe the 21 who deny Pelosi’s attacks as PROMINENT. Should be Famous or more apt Infamous. Prominent gives them an air of integrity they just don’t have.
If you look at all those that spread hate and garbage about Mr. Pelosi, it is the Who's Who in attention tramps. No purpose, no integrity, just hate to get clicks and attention. Look at Megyn Kelly's tweet this past weekend about Dr. Biden. The only purpose of that tweet was for validation from her base, her father had a PhD, and was always called Dr., there was absolutely no other reason than personal attention and gratification. How do you fix vile?
Related note: I have been watching British politics this past year because it's not as painful to watch as ours though it is equally dysfunctional and in similar ways. Conservatives have been in charge 12 years .
Brit PM Rishi Sunak seems very much out of his depth and completely lacks self-awareness of it. He reminds me of Paul Ryan. Young, Brash, Entitled, Arrogant, out of touch, and very Superficial. Despite some relevant experience, it does not seem to have educated him much, as he seems clueless about what it takes to actually govern (it isn't just waving a magic wand; it takes thought and work).
One of the problems with policy is that people are often for something in the abstract. You can see this in a variety of polls about policy issues.
It is when you move from the abstract to thge concrete that people develop qualms.
It is going to cost THAT much? It is going to take THAT long? You want me to WHAT?
There is a lot of stuff that would get done if it was painless, free, and required no sacrifice on the part of the electorate.
We have a hodgepodge mess of usually crappy government because of overlapping functions and unwillingness to pay, coupled with a major political party that absolutely hates government unless they get to use it to force people to have babies or not be gay.
We have a population that, by and large, thinks taxation is theft... and that doesn't actually really understand what government does or how, or what the requirements for a functioning civilization are.
Back in the day I lived in western PA, not too far from Pittsburgh. Every township had its own little police force (usually poorly trained and paid). I am not sure what those people did most of the time, TBH, other than traffic stops.
Cities had police forces, if you lived in one (I did not).
We also had state police. State police were actual police--in PA at that time they were sort of the equivalent of the FBI on the federal level. They handled enforcement on the highways and state roads, did investigations for the local cops on major crimes. There were also county sheriff departments but they mostly did... IDK what they did TBH.
You've said it before, and I will say it here. I cannot believe the lack of boundaries. I mean, come on! Real conservatives are appalled by this. I wish the media would stop calling these people conservatives. They are reactionaries. That is how they should be described. Mitt Romney - Conservative. MTG - Reactionary. I would say Bat-Shit-Crazy, but I realize there are limits.
The problem is less the unions than the politicians who agree to the terms of the union contracts.
Apologies? Apologies? Republican liars won't give apologies. They follow their Orange God King and his protege Santos in offering quick and brutal condemnation of all people they consider "progressive wokesters" and then crickets...
Charlie -
Might the upcoming discussion with Paul Ryan involve this ‘evolution’ of the GOP from the ‘own the libs’ memes condoning and even encouraging actual physical brutality.
Yes, we need eliminate police unions and the so called fraternal orders of police. We also need to make it harder to become a police officer and harder to remain one. We need higher pay and much more and different training. The police need better police.
I swear a lot of these Republican promoters are stuck at age 14. And a nasty 14, at that. The viciousness aside, it's the sheer blinding stupidity that gets me. Kirk calling for bail - when it's not on the table. Jr. posting memes from South Park. Trump himself demanding death and destruction - when there is absolutely nothing in our legal system that would allow it - and never will be, if the sane portion of the American public have anything to say. I was going to say I wonder how they spend their spare time - but I won't, as I'd lay heavy money it involves watching torture porn and an awful lot of Kleenex.
I see nothing too far wrong in calling Trump a fascist. If one accepts the old definition of fascism as an anti-liberal, authoritarian ideology and political system under which property is nominally left in private hands, but the unrestrained state controls the economy and people’s lives, that is fairly close to what he is. The only thing he lacks is much of anything in the way of an ideology beyond the imperatives that he should have unopposed power, and the function of the government should be to glorify him. We are just lucky to live in a country where he cannot get enough black shirts to march on Rome or the army to join in an attempt to overthrow the republic in Madrid.
As to the case of the attack on Paul Pelosi, there was nothing wrong with just questioning the official story. Official stories about all sorts of things turn out to be false or incomplete. It is common for them to be doctored or slanted to benefit powerful and well connected people. The event was a strange one, and there was a reluctance to release evidence. What was wrong and disgraceful was hinting without any evidence that the attack was a homosexual assignation and/or drug deal that went wrong. The politicians and media people who did that literally added vulgar insult to Pelosi’s injury. They should apologize, and more important, clean up their acts.
Charlie, you are writing about Trump and the Far Right way too much for my taste. I am scrolling thru those stories.
An odd confluence of ideas on the Bulwark. After reading this, I caught up with Shield of the Republic. Toward the end Eliot and the guest, Constanze Stelzenmuller, spoke of their experiences with Judith Shklar at Harvard. She was a philosopher and political theorist who argued that cruelty was the greatest evil. The guest agreed wholeheartedly, citing her experiences as a journalist in places like Rwanda. And now we have a major party that celebrates evil.
Charlie,
Character is destiny. And the characters on display are loathsome.
Tom Cannon
Asheville, NC
Could it be the brutality is all Trump has left, well, aside from abject professions of fealty to Putin?
Please, Charlie, do not describe the 21 who deny Pelosi’s attacks as PROMINENT. Should be Famous or more apt Infamous. Prominent gives them an air of integrity they just don’t have.
If you look at all those that spread hate and garbage about Mr. Pelosi, it is the Who's Who in attention tramps. No purpose, no integrity, just hate to get clicks and attention. Look at Megyn Kelly's tweet this past weekend about Dr. Biden. The only purpose of that tweet was for validation from her base, her father had a PhD, and was always called Dr., there was absolutely no other reason than personal attention and gratification. How do you fix vile?
Related note: I have been watching British politics this past year because it's not as painful to watch as ours though it is equally dysfunctional and in similar ways. Conservatives have been in charge 12 years .
Brit PM Rishi Sunak seems very much out of his depth and completely lacks self-awareness of it. He reminds me of Paul Ryan. Young, Brash, Entitled, Arrogant, out of touch, and very Superficial. Despite some relevant experience, it does not seem to have educated him much, as he seems clueless about what it takes to actually govern (it isn't just waving a magic wand; it takes thought and work).
One of the problems with policy is that people are often for something in the abstract. You can see this in a variety of polls about policy issues.
It is when you move from the abstract to thge concrete that people develop qualms.
It is going to cost THAT much? It is going to take THAT long? You want me to WHAT?
There is a lot of stuff that would get done if it was painless, free, and required no sacrifice on the part of the electorate.
We have a hodgepodge mess of usually crappy government because of overlapping functions and unwillingness to pay, coupled with a major political party that absolutely hates government unless they get to use it to force people to have babies or not be gay.
We have a population that, by and large, thinks taxation is theft... and that doesn't actually really understand what government does or how, or what the requirements for a functioning civilization are.
Back in the day I lived in western PA, not too far from Pittsburgh. Every township had its own little police force (usually poorly trained and paid). I am not sure what those people did most of the time, TBH, other than traffic stops.
Cities had police forces, if you lived in one (I did not).
We also had state police. State police were actual police--in PA at that time they were sort of the equivalent of the FBI on the federal level. They handled enforcement on the highways and state roads, did investigations for the local cops on major crimes. There were also county sheriff departments but they mostly did... IDK what they did TBH.
Lots of chiefs and jurisdictions.
They're all cowards. They're in favor of violence as long as they are safely tucked away in their bubbles.