The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    New Project for Lincoln Project! (It just fell in their lap)

    By artappraiser on Mon, 01/25/2021 - 2:02am |

     

    The Lincoln Project’s legal response to the false and defamatory statements made by Rudy Giuliani. @ProjectLincoln https://t.co/HSX0cktGxE

    — Dr. Joseph Frusci (@JFrusci) January 31, 2021

     

    Undumbing Down "Progressive Realism"

    By PeraclesPlease on Sat, 01/16/2021 - 7:15am |

    Response to "What is Progressive Realism" ["But the article was essentially about describing the differences between schools of thought while obviously giving evidence the author thought supported a different school than has predominated and was making a case for trying something different"]

    Robert Wright in the 2nd paragraph makes "realist" a synonym for Kissinger's cynical "realpolitik", thus loading any "realist" with the baggage of Kissinger's policies in Vietnam, turning a blind eye to disaster in Indonesia, et al. A rather tawdry piece of smear and false equivalency. (To be clear, the level of human carnage in SE Asia and the expulsion of Commusts from Indonesia was huge - incomparable to the tolls we've seen in Mideast conflicts the last 20 years.)

    But Wright pulls this off with a "Maybe McFaul had Kissinger in mind when he lamented the 'deaths and horrific repression' that past realists...." - or maybe McFaul didn't, and it's just Wright's fervent imagination leaping to smear by most distant association.

    Wright leaves out McFaul's key sentence, "Realism is an ideology that produced millions of deaths & horrific repression over the centuries." - an expression that might include Mao's "to make an omelette you have to break a few eggs", efforts to "civilize" "backwards people" around the world, accommodate slavery in a new Constitution, Bismarck's approach to Europe & treaties, et al. Certainly not honed in on 1 particular Secretary of State from our Nixon years.

    If this is Wright's "evidence" in "supporting a different school" (i.e. his version of "realists" before he trashes modern "progressive idealists", especially Biden appointees), he's off to a bad start. Note, the whole of McFaul's tweet:

    In the debate about the future Biden foreign policy Im seeing people self-identify as "progressive realists." Where are the "progressive idealists"? Or the "pragmatic idealists?" Realism is an ideology that produced millions of deaths & horrific repression over the centuries.

    — Michael McFaul (@McFaul) November 16, 2020

    It's obvious by paragraph #6 that the real target of this is to bash the choices of Blinken and Sullivan (and Obama in general) as blinkered idealists with blood on their hands. You'd think Neville Chamberlain would come up as such an idealist before 2 apparatchiks within a much more limited alliance, failed or not.
    As this piece progresses, we'll see that it's not really introducing a new framework, but using a purported framework to beat the old dead horse with once again. Let's take this framework 1 by 1:

    #NoFlyList videos

    By artappraiser on Mon, 01/11/2021 - 2:47am |

    Hot new entertainment for liberals on Twitter. Many attendees at the Trump fest have, to their surprise, been placed on the TSA No Fly List:

    Just as the pandemic exhausted my entire Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime streaming lists, trumps insurrectionists are like “hold my beer.” I can watch these #NoFlyList videos all day. pic.twitter.com/46gGTVB6rl

    Sam Harris and Dan Carlin

    By A Guy Called LULU on Sun, 01/10/2021 - 4:06pm |

    Two intelligent people loaded with information and opinions come from different directions and debate the shape of the world, the nature of mankind, lessons of history, effects of religion, the war on terror, American interventionism, and viable options available for dealing with it all.  

     

    Zoom Call the Inauguration

    By moat on Sat, 01/09/2021 - 4:43pm |

    In view of how the Trump administration has clearly poisoned our security capabilities in ways we have yet to understand, I propose having the Inauguration happen in a bunker or an airplane far away from meat space.

    The rot goes too deep for people on the outside to fathom.

    Even under the isolation of corona there's still globalization of culture

    By artappraiser on Tue, 01/05/2021 - 6:52pm |

    it's just that it's far less likely to be led by "America". (Note that they do still sing in English, though.)

    I woke up and BTS COKE AD FROM INDONESIA ⁉️⁉️pic.twitter.com/l03SZQcHSp

    — aul⁷ (@awlmhrn) January 5, 2021

    Georgia Senate run-off election results & related

    By artappraiser on Tue, 01/05/2021 - 6:02pm |

    It was always going to be about the virus. Latest @CNN exit polls show that Georgia voters are more concerned about containing the virus than economy. Many have experienced financial hardship and the majority are worried that they/family members will contract the virus. pic.twitter.com/KtYwC49zAh

    Culture Wars - Liberty or Death?

    By PeraclesPlease on Fri, 01/01/2021 - 2:46am |

    Liberty students start to push back against the Xtian machine.

    https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5febb29ac5b6acb5345bc7f6

    Trump Using Language of the 3rd Reich

    By NCD on Wed, 12/30/2020 - 11:17am |

    LTI - Lingua Tertii Imnperii, Victor Klemperer, was a Professor of Literature at the Dresden University of Technology who lived in Dresden throughout WW2.  He wrote "The Language of the Third R

    Congress Cannot Stop Trump Closing the Government

    By NCD on Sun, 12/27/2020 - 6:05pm |

    According to the US Constitution rules on "pocket vetoes" and also the Constitution on when a new Congress convenes, Trump may, on his own, close the government until Jan 16th and there is nothing Congress can do about it until then. Unless they give in to his demands on the military budget details, including  base renames, various other parts of the overall federal budget, levels and nation's getting foreign aid, the 'section 230' on internet liability and whatever else he manages to demand.

    Reason One:

    Orion's picture

    AOC Takes The Vaccine

    By Orion on Sat, 12/19/2020 - 4:26pm |

    Donald Trump's rampaging Twitter feed might have put a bad taste in people's mouth as far as politicians and public figures on social media go. However, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez seems to actually get the concept of using social media platforms to reach out to people in a constructive way. She took the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine and documented it herself via photos and texts. This is taken from Elle:

    Great American War of 2020

    By artappraiser on Sat, 12/19/2020 - 3:49pm |

    More Americans died from Covid
    the last 10 months than WW2 297,557.

    More Americans Died than

    Afghanistan 2,445
    Iraq 4,431
    Vietnam 58,220
    Korean War 36,547
    WW1 53,402
    Spanish A. War 2,446
    Mexican Amer War 13,283
    9-11 2,977

    COMBINED!

    AND...
    WE STILL HAVE 130,000
    MORE DEATHS! pic.twitter.com/ClQ3kZCVxO

    Orion's picture

    Trumpism Won't Go Anywhere

    By Orion on Fri, 12/18/2020 - 8:52am |

    Note: If this essay passes 1000 views, I'm going to post it as a podcast.

    In 1974, in the aftermath of Richard Nixon's presidency crumbling from scandal, Gerald Ford became president. He came to office proclaiming that "our long national nightmare is over," promising renewal from the scandal of a foul-mouthed president bringing the country to an era of tension, division and shame: 

     

    Breach: Russian Hacking & Poisoning

    By PeraclesPlease on Thu, 12/17/2020 - 2:20pm |

    Placeholder for Russian security attacks, Navalny results...

    Thread on major hack: http://dagblog.com/link/sprawling-hack-federal-agencies-spurs-alarm-whit...

    Oddly timed death of Congressional Putin pal affiliated with Rohrbacher. http://dagblog.com/comment/295907#comment-295907

    Xmas Trump/DoJ Corruption festivities

    By PeraclesPlease on Sun, 12/13/2020 - 3:35pm |

    Trying to find the right tree (not Melania's) and ornament to go with this festive crooked occasion...

    A standing Xmas tree it seems is the hardest to find. A lot of lying, not much standing.

    #BidenCalm

    By artappraiser on Sun, 12/13/2020 - 12:01pm |

    Last one has to turn out the lights. Wondering if anyone has taught him how.

    By artappraiser on Fri, 12/11/2020 - 1:30am |

     continued after the jump

    GOP Campaign 2024 Begins 'Biden an Illegitimate Failure'

    By NCD on Thu, 12/10/2020 - 4:34pm |

    Before most of the apparatchiks and toadies of Trump's Party even admit Trump lost the election, the Party that has lost the national popular vote in every election since 1988 except for one, is now in campaign mode for 2024, with a lies, obstruction and a scorched earth strategy that is already well in motion.

    Lost causes

    By Flavius on Tue, 12/08/2020 - 11:40am |

    With  no dog in this fight -for my  New Bedford  ancestors Fort Sumpter and Appomatox were surely less important than the current cost of twine for the nets )-my reaction is the Black Historians should settle for half  a  cake

    And yes , accepting half the truth. (Do we ever get the full the trutth.?)

    The   descendants of the "lost cause" are going to visit the graves once a year, and briefly 

    remember part of their story. Let them! Because you can't change it,

    Along with murdering  30 ex slaves in New Orleans probably half the murderers had

    The Costs of Code-Switching

    By artappraiser on Mon, 12/07/2020 - 4:49pm |

    The behavior is necessary for advancement — but it takes a great psychological toll Nov. 2019 Harvard Business Review article. Here's a great intro.:

    Orion's picture

    The Trump Family Prospects

    By Orion on Sat, 12/05/2020 - 3:11pm |

    Back in 2019, magician/comedian/entertainer Penn Jillette went on Joe Rogan's podcast (before Spotify) and talked candidly about working with Donald Trump on The Apprentice. Jillette was candid about Trump as a person who generally lacked any sort of filter and had a loss of sensitivity for other people. It wasn't the first time he has talked in such a way - he said in previous interviews that Trump had said racial things that made him uncomfortable. He even theorized that Trump had Asperger's syndrome.

    Appomattox

    By Flavius on Tue, 12/01/2020 - 2:03pm |

    “ With special delight  (Lee)  saw that officers would be allowed to save face by retaining their sidearms and horses and could resume their lives  unmolested.”

     

    Grant : Penguin Books 2017  Ron Chernow page 509

            *************************************

     

    “The following month(Ackerman) portrayed the Klan not as bands of isolated ,wild-eyed ruffians  but

    spanned the entire community."

    Thread for Joe Biden & Kamala Harris' current spin

    By artappraiser on Mon, 11/30/2020 - 1:24am |

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