dagblog - Comments for "Four Tumors"

The Hillary hate in 2008 TPM

Flavius — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 17:57:30 +0000

In reply to There's been others, but no

The Hillary hate in 2008 TPM was an example of the syndrome fairly prevalent here of being unable to distinquish between the personal qualities of our political opponents and their -often hateful- policies.

From " Al Franken,Giant of the Senate"

"When I first got to the Senate Jeff ( Sessions-Flav)was the ranking member of the Judiciary and I made it a point to go to every hearing no matter how perfunctory...........He saw me show up .... He heard me take the responsibility of questioning seriously.

A few weeks in, Chairman Leahy had to miss a hearing so he asked me to fill in and when Jeff got there he saw me holding the gavel.

"Well" exclaimed Jeff in his .drawl " A meteoric rise".

"And well deserved" I replied in my nasal midwestern Jewish twang. Jeff laughed. He's been an easy laugh for me ever since.

When Trump won ...and nominated Jeff to be AG ,it was time for me to return the favor........

No. Of course not.Being a senator does mean finding a way to make friends with people you're fighting against with every fibre of your being.But it also means finding a way to fight with every fibre of your being against people you're friends with.....................

And then I voted against him.

Jeff Sessions is my friend (or was),

.....When our grandson was born Mary (Sessions wife-Flav) knit him a blanket.....It's hard to unfairly demonize someone whose wife knit your grandson his favorite blanket. Which is why when my job meant doing everything in my power to deny my friend this important position , I was relieved there was so much to fairly demonize him for."

End of quote and my sermon,

The tumor is the GOP and its

rmrd0000 — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 14:11:06 +0000

In reply to Huh? I don't see Peracles

The tumor is the GOP and its support network of Fox, Sinclair, Liberty University, Evangelicals, Rush, Hannity, etc. False news is now the norm.

Trump went before Liberty University and quoted the Bible from Two Corinthians ( not Second Corinthians). Liberty University leadership praised Trump as a true Christian. We have evil hypocrites all around.

The metastasis is the voters who buy into the crap.

Ingrained? Then maybe we can

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 07:51:32 +0000

In reply to Ronnie's "charms" absolutely

Ingrained? Then maybe we can measure it.

And you've never heard

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 06:53:00 +0000

In reply to the self-deprecation thing

And you've never heard Hillary be self-deprecating over and over and over again?

Self-deprecation works for alpha males because we all know they're ace, but they lower themselves that tad to pretend they're just like us!!!

"Likeable enough" caught flak because it was too transparently like a "dickish boyfriend" as Jon Stewart put it, back in that far-ago age when you couldn't say women looked like pigs. But coming from John McCain, they would have gushed on how clever he was for phrasing it just so.

For Hillary, she'd just be "pandering" and "insincere". She can go do shots with McCain, but he's just being a "maverick" while she'd be "inauthentic" - same bar, same whiskey, doesn't matter.

Really, there aren't standards - there are only clubs. America is run like "Mean Girls" or "The Heathers". The biggest is the male club, but the even better and more elite is the male military club - which gets extended to hard nosed conservative-spouting chickenhawks and women who shout out "patriot" or "support our troops" enough. (Even though I'm happy Louise Mensch is stirring up the bees' nest, her "patriot" crap for everyone from John McCain to Comey to whoever just keeps my stomach in turmoil). This club is largely claimed by 1 party, so when a usurper like McCleland or John Kerry or Tammy Baldwin slips in, the vipers come out and attack.

Which also makes it funny how Tulsi Gabbard was received from serving a tour in Iraq and thus becoming an expert on all things Middle East. (Steve Bannon trained to drive a ship for 3-4 years, so thus makes him qualified to be head Chief of Staff for all the military...)

I don't want to paint Gabbard's service, as I don't know specifically what she did and what she faced in 2 tours in a medical unit, but we get some of the absurdity in just assuming "Iraq" means "hard times" by noting at least 1 point of duty was Anaconda:

It housed 28,000 military personnel and 8,000 civilian contractors.[citation needed] Like most large bases in Iraq, LSA Anaconda offered amenities, circa 2006 and later, including a base movie theater (Sustainer Theater), two Base/Post Exchanges (BX/PX), fast food courts including Subway, Popeyes, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell (2007), Burger King, Green Bean Coffee, a Turkish Cafe with Turkish food prepared by Turks, an Iraqi Bazaar which sold local souvenirs, multiple gyms, dance lessons, an olympic size swimming pool and an indoor swimming pool. The base was a common destination for celebrities and politicians visiting US troops serving in Iraq on USO Tours including the Charlie Daniels band (2005), Vince Vaughn (2005), Wayne Newton, Gary Sinise, Chris Isaak, Neal McCoy, and Oliver North.[2] Carrie Underwoodplayed there in December 2006 and Gary Sinise visited again going out of his way to greet the troops at the Base/Post Exchange (BX/PX).

Step outside the base, and I'm sure things were hell. But in any case, Sarah Palin was awarded honorary membership to this club by John McCain for spouting enough loony bits about the troops and guns, and as I remind people, delivering the speech of her life at just the right time (nothing after quite mattered - she knocked that one out of the park).

But even that's an indication - Communications Major, talking head - can spout words without any meaning behind. We don't require any actual cognitive activity, no analysis - we're waiting for the Gods of Olympus to distill their wisdom in snippets called "messaging" for us mere mortals. I mean, sure, it's nice to give a clear title to a speech on health care, but 1000 pages of policy is somehow supposed to be a Groucho Marx one-liner or we're off to someone who *can* do it. The military thing is largely this kind of cut-out as well: a few pithy phrases about turning Iraq into glass and you have a DC politi-military career for decades as long as you're not filmed skinny dipping in the tidal basin at night.

What's changed is the membership in this and similar clubs is now convoluted. There used to be boundaries where even a Jack D. Ripper couldn't go. And usually there was a marginal consistency - Rooskies and gooks bad, more big weapons good, piss on the pansies that don't want to fight, America's the greatest that ever existed/salute that flag. But like the famed Vietnam outburst that gave away the absurdity, "we're going to save that hamlet even if we have to bomb it back to the stone age", the conservative movement is now at full war with itself and all Americans - it's heading to unpatriotic to see a doctor even if you have proper military-provided healthcare (certainly women shouldn't), just like education is now a sign of liberal pampering whereas real men will get all they need in bootcamp and the no-longer-so-prevalent front lines (or mucking-and-yucking-it-about at the officers quarters)

the self-deprecation thing

artappraiser — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 05:44:52 +0000

In reply to P.S. I think some kind of

the self-deprecation thing works, wins friends and influences people; from the end of McCain's Senate speech:

I’ve had so many people say such nice things about me recently that I think some of you must have me confused with someone else. I appreciate it though, every word, even if much of it isn’t deserved.

“I’ll be here for a few days, I hope managing the floor debate on the defense authorization bill, which, I’m proud to say is again a product of bipartisan cooperation and trust among the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“After that, I’m going home for a while to treat my illness. I have every intention of returning here and giving many of you cause to regret all the nice things you said about me.

P.S. I think some kind of

artappraiser — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 04:58:50 +0000

In reply to Ronnie's "charms" absolutely

P.S. I think some kind of vulnerability, even for a leader like the U.S. president, may be the key. It can differ what kind. Arrogance is what is really a killer of high likeability, hence Trump in the dumps worse than any other newbie.

Yeah, it's the would you have a beer with guy thing. As I said, it goes with democracy, people often vote heart not mind.

And another thing: I think if you are going to go as far back as JFK, that's dealing with a different culture. It has changed. The country was aching for glamour after the war and then crochetedy old Dwight and Mamie, and Jackie made sure they got some Camelot. Then he became a martyr.

and on the arrogance thing

artappraiser — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 04:56:54 +0000

In reply to P.S. I think some kind of

and on the arrogance thing something just came to mind. When I went to google that "you're likeable enough, Hillary" Obama brouhaha for my first comment upthread, other links reminded me that Obama paid a heavy price fort that one, it was seen as nasty and arrogant.

Yeah, tough isnt enough by

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 04:35:23 +0000

In reply to Ronnie's "charms" absolutely

Yeah, tough isnt enough by itself. How does the misogyny work? Worth reflecting on, wat are the mechanics at play... Nancy and Hillary, never compared, but Nancy likely got an unfair bit of spitoon juice spat at her. Except that "just say no" bit, but that was so unremarkable for her age

Ronnie's "charms" absolutely

artappraiser — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 04:30:57 +0000

In reply to Ha! We're the Hillary we're

Ronnie's "charms" absolutely had reverse affect on me (icky!) but I would never argue that he did not have an incredibly popular personality. Compare Nancy: Not so much! Funny, now that I think on it, I see it as Nancy having a little bit of the Hillary thang going on.Is that misogyny ingrained in our culture? I don't know. I do think women as tough guys have a harder time being likeable. Though as your comment also makes me think, it's not always easy for tough guys to be popular either, they got to do it a certain way.

In the end, we're left facing

NCD — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 04:27:32 +0000

In reply to The people who voted for

In the end, we're left facing the fact that more people than we thought possible are just plain assholes. They're mean. They're weak. They're cowardly.

They're hateful. And they're fucking stupid.

They just voted in their president. And they're marching us toward a fascist state .

(And it doesn't matter if the election was Diebolded and robocalled and thwarted at the polls, either: it should never have been close enough to steal.)

These people never vote for good government; they don't even believe in government. They're spoiled little toddlers who freak out when they're expected to share. They don't think they have to pay for anything that they take. And they're right--they don't.

We do .

The late Steve Gilliard, from 2-0-0-4.

I love the way Rand "OK for drones to kill liquor store robbers" Rand says he cannot vote for Obamacare health care subsidies, when 49.6% of Kentuckians are on federal health care programs, and the money comes from blue states.

This idiot is voted in over and over cuz he makes 'em feel good.

Another of his whoppers was:

Paul questioned whether the Obama administration should carry out its plan to send 3,000 troops to Ebola hot zones in Africa.

"You also have to be concerned about 3,000 soldiers getting back on a ship. Where is disease most transmittable? When you're in a very close confines on a ship, we all know about cruises and how they get these diarrhea viruses that are transmitted very easily," he said. "Can you imagine if a whole ship full of our soldiers catch Ebola?"