dagblog - Comments for "Jeremy Corbyn and how to politic in post-media age"

So authoritarian, terrorist

Obey — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 09:00:50 +0000

So authoritarian, terrorist-sympathizing pacifist?

I don't think Ross is drawing a very coherent picture. Just throwing shit at a wall and hoping we all get a rorschach impression of Corbyn. Not his most interesting piece.

edit to add: The anti-semitism, most saliently with ~~McDonnell~~ Livingstone, is worrying though. the leftist anti-zionism is far too indulgent in not slamming down anti-semitism. Shouldn't be a hard line to draw.

Oh well. F* F* F****** F*

Obey — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 08:52:33 +0000

In reply to Jim Messina apparently is

Oh well. F*** F*** F****** F***!

Edit to add: election jitters and four espressos don't go well together. Have a good day.

Jim Messina apparently is

Obey — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 08:29:44 +0000

In reply to Jeremy Corbyn and how to politic in post-media age

Jim Messina apparently is responsible for this clusterfuck of a campaign. He doesn't have the best record post-Obama, does he?

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-24/may-said-to-hire-jim-messina-for-u-k-conservative-election-team-j1vx4am1

Ross Douhat @ NYTimes

artappraiser — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 02:33:15 +0000

In reply to Jeremy Corbyn and how to politic in post-media age

Ross Douhat @ NYTimes published a piece on Corbyn today, calls him "A Very British Radical", gets into the populism thing

don't have to explain to me,

artappraiser — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 17:58:54 +0000

In reply to Could be my personal google

don't have to explain to me, I love me some tabloid style now and then, but definitely not for sports, for gossip and slander. How else to get the zeitgeist of pop culture? I just read a long piece on TMZ the other day @ The New Yorker.

What's always been amazing to me is that tabloids flourish in the UK even though they have the much stronger libel laws. It is sort of related to the long tradition of their press being more adverserial and not even attempting a "objectivity."

Nod nod on the radicalized by

artappraiser — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 17:52:49 +0000

In reply to Two things.

Nod nod on the radicalized by radical imans thing. They have published enough on the alternative angry young male raging hormones thing to know better. Maybe it is because the UK seems to have a lot more of that kind of mosque per square foot that the NYT went there? I do get that impression myself. Here guys looking for it have to go on the internet. I don't know exactly how it happened, probably through harassment and prosecution during the Bush years, and fear of vigilantism, but we don't seem to have too many of the maniac imans around anymore. Even Wahhabi types are rare.

On the intrusive thing. Every citizen has nothing to hide, loud and proud, that's what happens when you have a little island nation that was a hegemon for centuries? (God I hate the word hegemon.) All for one and one for all.

Side note: It's refreshing to have your honest input about the quality of the NHS. I am a firm believer that a nationalized health system, to paraphrase Churchill, is the worst of all systems except for all the others (including single payer, as single payer insurance is still insurance, it all sucks.) I certainly know about the popularity of it, I've been known to cite the satisfication percentages as top in the world.But with all the political spin police around, you get lots of grief if you put out something about the downsides, the cons as well as the pros, because you're supposedly helping the conservative enemy that way. And I am always just thinking: maybe if we put this out there, American ingenuity could improve it. There are significant downsides, and while I think it's the best system to have, I think not allowing additional private insurance and out-of-pocket services is the wrong way to go.

I like to think that the fact she got to the top job is encouraging.

I sort of think of Brits as tolerating this kind of individuality much more than Americans do. When they themselves think that Americans do that better, because of less class behavior strictures, one can be "free" and be oneself, that's why many I've known try to immigrate, or just like to visit a lot. It's like this: because of the class behavior strictures, you can be an asshole if you are a properly behaved asshole.

Could be my personal google

Obey — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 13:37:01 +0000

In reply to Btw, I stopped at Drudge

Could be my personal google-news filter and self-curated twitter filter that gets me a skewed picture. But I like to think that Drudge is intentionally playing up the few scare-mongering pieces there might be. It's a question of general feel, I wasn't suggesting no such coverage existed. Where is that prick Pierce Morgan now? Is he in an editor role somewhere again? Ok, don't care, but his ilk will always plug that shit. By the way, thinking about how I curate my news, I actually get a ton of right-wing tabloid articles showing up as suggested reading since I regretfully read them for the sports section. ha.

Two things.

Obey — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 13:29:39 +0000

In reply to Obey, this is a good point on

Two things.

Firstly, found it odd to see the NYT endorsing what I thought was an outdated idea- that these poor gullible kids get 'radicalized' by evil preachers and go on to extremist violence. I thought it was accepted that it's mostly ultraviolent young men attracted to an excuse for violence. Not that that isn't a reason to keep an eye on islamist preachers. Up until now the Brits have been incredibly American in bending over backwards to protect free speech on the part of these guys. I'm not personally a fundamentalist about free speech rights personally, Germany has little tolerance for extremist speech and I don't think they're worse off for it.

Second, it is amazing how trusting and tolerant the Brits are towards intrusive government surveillance, national porn filter and all. The state is so not the enemy there, and it's not just about the police. They do love their proudly unarmed police. But also adore the NHS across the board. Blair and Cameron had to resort to stealth to try to privatize it and still haven't managed over 20 years. Imho a big part of the movement behind Corbyn is this staunch defense of the NHS. Which is, by the by, all the more impressive given that it is an objectively awful health service (having tried a few across Europe, Canada and US, and Asia). Same for the police. Cooperation within the ranks when there was that Rupert Murdoch phone hacking scandal. And their suppressed role in the massive child abuse scandal going back to the 70s and 80s. I happened to meet the new head of the Met police, my thesis supervisor had been her college tutor and rowing coach and she ended up visiting a couple of times 15 years back or so as she was working her way up the Met ladder. Incredibly smart and charismatic woman. And like our professor, seemed like one of those people who are kind of asshole-ish but would rather get run over by a dumptruck than let go of their principles. She ranted about the horrible corruption of the Met, and the impossibility of getting ahead there without giving the right people a wink and a nod. I like to think that the fact she got to the top job is encouraging.

Lane may have been a bit more

Obey — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 12:54:49 +0000

In reply to Obey,

Lane may have been a bit more terrified than others.

Theresa May, was at her most severe this morning. “It is time to say ‘Enough is enough,’ ” she declared. The United Kingdom, she added, “cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are.” What form that new honesty might take she has yet to clarify,

That 'Enough is enough' remark has been mocked by everyone along with "Brexit means Brexit". More waffle that in the wrong mouth and without a hell of a lot of Gravitas holding it together just crumbles like, well, a stale waffle. Especially since, as you note, May herself is to blame for the police cuts and the weakened preparedness. Her Strong and Stable mantra is kicking her in the behind.

Btw, I stopped at Drudge

artappraiser — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 10:11:20 +0000

In reply to Ok I've got my coffee and am

Btw, I stopped at Drudge Report like maybe 4 hrs. ago, first time in ages, because Trump had retweeted one of their stories (don't remember what that was). And Drudge had pictures of 3 or 4 Brit tabloids front pages splayed across the page, big. And they were all about the attack and playing the fear outrage and loathing thing up to the max I would say. Especially for such a small attack, and was clear that they thought that would sell copy. Must be the nature of it being so soon after the concert attack for their audience(s). Much emphasis on the one cell being in that film, unfurling an ISIS flag, etc. And Drudge was, of course, playing it up too, lots of links. FWIW.