[What do you feel about wokeness in film and theater?]

I'm excited upcoming film "Saltburn" has a steamy, homoerotic relationship featuring Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan.  IMO Keoghan was fantastic in Banshees and Elordi is also great.  Sounds like the actors got shredded for the roles.

But I dread how the woke Internet will cry foul and raise a stink the production did not cast an out gay actor.  I just don't agree films should limit their cast nor do I understand where on the Kinsey scale the actor must land to avoid being fired.  

[A third-party candidate who could shake the tree]

On 7/19/2023 at 10:46 AM, forky123 said:

If by messaging you mean obvious lies and by better you mean an audience too stupid to understand they are being lied to. 

That's it, in a nutshell,

although how the lamestream media keeps framing the race with messaging about Biden's unpopularity is not helping.

Rather, they could explore data showing how Biden is not optimal yet he remains preferable to TFG, due to Trump's potential dementia, his indictments, grifting by his company, sexual abuser, etc.

But the lamestream media remains hands-off in too many ways.

Similarly, they could frame the Manchin 3rd party candidacy with the inevitable Trump win and by pointing to what Ayres predicts in @stevenkesslar post, 4 years of retribution, not to mention more Trump crimes and more pardons.

But the media does not focus on those issues.  Not enough anyway.

 

 

[The Likely Effect of the Hollywood Strikes]

Economically, if the strikes don't settle soon, that's going to hurt.  Barry Diller talked about it on Face the Nation, Sunday.

I'm not concerned about lack of new content.  I will ramp up my reading.  

[The Great Mel Brooks To Be Awarded Honorary Oscar]

Love Mel Brooks.

 

 

 

 

 

[Is Indicting Trump A Good Idea?]

On 6/19/2023 at 4:13 PM, stevenkesslar said:

Barr has been surprisingly refreshing to listen to.   For many liberals he is still kind of a fascist himself.  But what is helpful about him right now is he is bending over backwards to say there is something called "the law".   And it is not the same as politics or partisanship.  And this idea that the law means one thing for Republicans, and another thing for Democrats - which is what Republicans are having a huge pity party about - is just not the truth.  Period.  The law is the law.  And Trump's former AG knows something about the law.  Period.

That probably explains Barr being precise in saying that whatever would have to be proved in court on J6 is not the same as what has to be proved about Trump obstructing justice with the military and nuclear documents. 

I'm not a lawyer.  But I suspect Barr is on target in arguing that it would be hard to prove in court that Trump wanted a violent riot.  Or he specifically wanted people to beat the shit out of cops.  Or he specifically wanted them to kill Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi.  Or even that he specifically wanted some kind of revolution.  To use Barr's words, as much as I view lying about losing an election and trying to subvert democracy as the bigger crime, it is probably legally correct that none of what Trump did on J6 makes him "toast,"  legally.  Whereas on obstructing justice by keeping military and nuclear documents, Trump is "toast," as Barr said.  A lawyer like him would probably know.

In @Lucky's defense, the indictment he was referring to is Bragg's case.  One can certainly argue that, in retrospect, all it did was draw support to Trump and help him raise money.  Kudos to Paul Ryan and John Bolton, two more lifelong conservatives who are loudmouths about this.  Ryan on CBS just referred to the Bragg case as "petty."  But he made a big point about how Trump fucking with the government to treat military and nuclear secrets as his own personal records is just wrong.  And illegal.  Bolton pointed out that the DOJ or anyone should put pressure on NYC and Bragg to let the other indictment (or maybe indictments?) go first, since they take precedence.

My theory, which Ryan and Bolton and Barr are all reinforcing, is that each indictment is like a nail in the coffin.  While the J6 and Georgia "find me 11,780 votes" indictments may not be as clean legally, they sure seem to be like more horrific offenses, and huge nails, to me.  And to most Independents, according to I think every poll.   I'll add RCP's AB Stoddard as another right of center thinker who says very clearly, "Enough!  This man is a fucking spoiled brat.  We should not feel sorry for him.  How long are we going to tolerate this total bullshit?  It's abusive.  I hate it."  She almost says it that bluntly.

I hope Republicans get their way regarding the double standard with Hillary Clinton. 

There's three very important things we know about Hillary, if we want to be fair and avoid a double standard. 

First, the bumper sticker of Election Year 2016 was, "Lock Her Up!"  Taken literally, it is okay for me, as a Democrat, to follow that standard and argue Trump is guilty before proven innocent.  So he should be locked up immediately. 

Second, Clinton was not indicted.  But her emails were talked about all year in 2016.  Let's just assume for purposes of being fair that Clinton's emails and obstruction were the same as Trump's legally - which they are not, of course.  The point is, assuming it's the same thing, we of course need to talk every fucking day about how Trump  is now a total piece of shit - a murderous traitor and scumbag - that needs to be locked up.  Now!  Just like Hillary was in 2016.  Fair is fair. 

Third, few people realize this, but Hillary lost the election in 2016.  (She actually won the popular vote by the millions.  But most Democrats - unlike most Republicans - respect The Constitution.) So if the fair and uniform standard is that in the final week before the 2016 election the FBI was biting huge pieces of Hillary's ass off, that is what they should do to Trump.  Rip his fat ass apart.  And be precise.  Who care's about 2023?  If we are being fair, the FBI needs to make sure it drives a seriously fucking sharp machete straight up Lock Him Up Don's law breaking ass IN THE WEEK BEFORE PEOPLE VOTE IN 2024.   Neither Comey, nor the FBI, said their intent was to make sure Hillary lost in 2016.  But she did lose.  And Hillary and I both agree that the machete they drove up her ass IN THE WEEK BEFORE PEOPLE VOTED IN 2016 was probably the fatal nail in her coffin.  So, if we are being fair, we need to save the best for last.  We need to make horrific charges against Trump.  Hopefully not even based in fact, like Comey's October surprise in 2016. Fair is fair.

Republicans who whine about double standards perhaps don't know that Hillary lost in 2016, thanks to the FBI.  Or maybe that is the double standard.  Perhaps what they really mean is that it's okay that what Hillary did maybe cost her the Presidency in 2016.  But in 2024, we want Trump to be above the law, unlike Hillary.  I'll leave it to conservatives like Bill Barr and Paul Ryan and John Bolton to help the MAGA True Patriots to figure that shit out. 😯  Good luck, guys.

Speaking of Hillary, I think the real danger here is that, in the weird world of politics, this does the opposite of what it did in 2016.  In 2016 all the allegations involving national security and breaking laws definitely hurt Hillary.  The polls showed it, and she lost the election.  If there is something similar, it is what Paul Ryan just argued.  Republicans would have won the Senate and more House seats but for Trump in 2022.  He argued that Trump is the one candidate who will hand the election, and the Senate, to Biden in 2024.  Because these are all nails in his coffin.  But he also noted that politics in never linear.  So in some weird way, the danger is that a majority of Americans actually feel sorry for Trump.  Because he is right.  He is simply be persecuted. And the majority of fair-minded Americans know it.

The polls, and the 2020 and 2022 election results, suggest the exact opposite.  Barr is saying loud and clear Trump broke the law.  And, thus, is "toast."  But who knows?  Trump and MAGA are sure hoping that people feel sorry for our poor little rich juvenile delinquent.  Stranger things have happened.

I'll be very broken record about this.  In the end, I think it's the economy, stupid.  Or, a bit more precisely, it's the recession, stupid.  As of yesterday one bullish stock talking head said we are on the verge of an expansion.  And the S & P will end 2023 at 4800.  Meaning by Election Day 2024 we will be well into all time highs.  Mike Wilson, the Bear In Chief at Morgan Stanley, says the S & P ends 2023 at 3900.  Which one is correct, and the implications on the economy and inflation, probably matters more to Biden than Trump's indictments.  Happily, most talking heads - bull or bear - premise their arguments on the idea that by next Fall inflation will be back to "normal."  Wilson thinks that will hurt corporate earnings, and the S & P.  Because the free ride for big corporations being able to crank up profits to record levels based on COVID is over.  Not his exacts words.  But if he's right, that may actually help Biden.

One might draw a parallel how

@Lucky's original OP, whether Alvin Brag's 34 count Felony indictment against Trump was a good idea, got dragged into a trans debate like MAGA does,  keeping our eye off the ball, when our focus was on TFG's crimes.  They toss their current dog whistle style smoke bomb tactics into a debate. 

So, circling back to the OP, it is a fair question that many were asking.  Trump fucked around and broke the law to keep hidden what could have hurt his candidacy.  It worked. 

Trump didn't get Comey'ed like Hillary did.  So, does America want to go after Trump now?  The deed was done.  Trump won.  His scheme worked.  What good does it do now to make Trump pay for  that unlawful activity.

In my mind (and I am an engineer, not a lawyer) the answer is yes.  Justice should be blind to the person committing the crime.  Right? 

But in this case many were questioning that belief.  Justice should not be blind.  Alvin Bragg charging Trump would only help Trump raise money and help his poll numbers.  Therefore New York should just let it go.

Fast forward three months, Lucky's OP is more and more apropos, and the media is parroting the same arguments.  Jack Smith and Fani Willis have Trump in their sites.  The media responds how Trump fund raising and poll numbers will benefit.

The dialogue has shifted slightly.  Barr, Pence, Haley and their ilk are now claiming how sticking Trump in prison (vs. Indicting Trump) would be wrong for America. 

Me, I would stick Trump in Guantanamo.

But back to the OP.  As an engineer and not a lawyer, I would logically ask

if forgiving Trump for his crimes in NY is best, then which crimes rise to a level that cries our for Justice?

My opinion is Trump is part of a dangerous situation threatening our Democracy.  His crimes must not be ignored at any level.  History must make clear every crime he is guilty of and we must assign a just sentence in every case. 

Not making Trump pay for all his crimes is a terribly, risky path to take.

LOCK HIM UP!

 

 

[Have The Gays Gone Too Far?]

2 hours ago, forky123 said:

It isn't possible with the electoral system in place and the rank stupidity of the majority of voters. It's time for the democrats to throw away the rulebook and take on the GOP at their own game. 

You make a good point.

Even if the Dems kept their nose clean 24/7,

how the GOP spreads culture war misinformation and spreads lies about our government and the Dems needs a far better response.

The GOP may be shooting themselves in the foot by supporting criminal and ignorant politicians yet the Dems could be taking better advantage.

Back to the OP,

Corporate America knows that  workplace diversity is a competitive imperative.  So,  I say "no, the gays have not gone to far."

Then, can the Dems wake up Corporate America to help stop this ant-diversity crazy train the GOP is on?

Or can the Dems pay attention to the Lincoln Project and to the clever young Dems in the House that are rubbing the GOP's nose in their mess?

Or do we just need more @stevenkesslars out their banging on doors. 

Or all of that and more.

Yet, a lot of voters base their decision on their personal economic situation.  Do the Dems know how to make a better case for that?  

I fear they don't.  So maybe it is time to throw away the rule book.  Our gay lives are at stake.

 

 

 

 

[Have The Gays Gone Too Far?]

On 6/30/2023 at 5:40 PM, stevenkesslar said:

An interesting example of how this works in practice.  And how nuanced it is.  Overall, I take this to be mostly good news for The Gays.

Supreme Court limits LGBTQ protections in dispute over services for same-sex weddings

Every poll I have seen documents that the overturning of Roe V. Wade, and maybe a broader perception that SCOTUS is becoming a foot soldier for the far right, is leading to the highest level of disapproval of SCOTUS since polling started.

The Gallup poll that comes from shows that after SCOTUS legalized same sex marriage in June 2015, their standing actually went up.  The prior Gallup poll, from Sept. 2014, showed slight disapproval of SCOTUS, 44/48.  By July 2015, right after their pro-LGBTQ marriage decision, that flipped to modest approval, 49/44.  As the article in my first post notes, even people who call themselves conservative tend to think more liberally than 20 or 40 years ago on some of these really deep issues.

That said, here's what survey says about the narrower issue of who wants to, or has to, bake Gay weddings cakes.  (Hint:  don't ask for one in Chechnya, or maybe even Moscow these days.)

I can live with this.  If the new reality is that bigots don't have to bake Gay wedding cakes, we'll survive.  Hell, I wouldn't even invite them to the wedding.

Of course, this does open the door for Gay bakers to say they personally object to baking cakes for Catholic weddings.  Since the Catholic Church is a terrorist organization that discriminates against and oppresses Gays.  Even though a lot of the Catholic leadership is, ahem, Gay!!!  But my reading of that poll is that people mostly want tolerance.

This is a great example of how minor changes in words can change polling results.  Here's another poll from Pew on the exact same topic, with somewhat different results:

My interpretation is that the phrasing in the first poll leans toward the idea, under "freedom of speech,"  that people shouldn't be forced to do things that conflict with their personal or religious beliefs.  A clear majority of Americans, including a substantial minority of Democrats, are with the majority of SCOTUS on that.  Politics 101 says Democrats should not be pushing issues that unite Republicans and divide Democrats.

The second question puts a bit more stress on the idea that same sex couples should be treated the same as everyone else.  That splits the country right down the middle, if it means in practice some bigot has to bake me a cake.

I think The Gays won the same sex marriage war in part by pushing the idea of tolerance.  When you have a winning hand, you keep playing it.

 

 

 

I'm somewhat relieved to hear you are not worried, because I am very worried.  But maybe I worry too much.

Nevertheless here are two things I worry about.

First, denying service for creating a web site seems nearly benign. 

I am definitely one of those people that prefers not to have service from someone that is antigay.  I'm careful, e.g. I would never consider surgery at our local Catholic hospital.  And so on. 

But the idea that it is acceptable to deny service because I'm gay sounds like a scary world.  Again, I worry a lot.

Second, I am not confident marriage equality won't be overturned.  Do we know there are already members of SCOTUS that would undo Obergefell v. Hodges? We just don't know how many. 

We also know there are members of far right think tanks and alt right Xtian groups that want to re-criminalize being queer. 

Frankly, it's slowly happening already in red state legislatures.  The pendulum is swinging in the wrong direction.

When Niki Haley recently campaigned how great life was back in the 1950s I thought of Tab Hunter, just turned 24, arrested in 1955 for attending a party that was busted by the cops.  It was all gays and lesbians, dancing together. Tab wrote in the Hollywood Reporter he had been invited to a party by a friend and gone for the free food.  

Some folks prefer those terrible old ways.

So I worry.  

 

 

[Say It Ain't So, Joe]

On 6/22/2023 at 12:14 AM, stevenkesslar said:

Hunter Biden Got a Sweetheart Deal and Everyone Knows It. We Have a Two-Tiered Justice System | Opinion

So are Republicans really going to do this, to entertain Democrats and help Biden, for the rest of 2023 and 2024?  Really? 

Is that really how desperate they are to force Americans to eat shit every day until next November?  Is their thirst for party suicide so acute (with the exception of traditional Republicans with names like Sununu and Christie and Barr - and maybe 1 in 4 actual Republican voters) that they want to kill themselves with bullets even before the pillow fight with lightweight and senile Joe Biden begins?

Please, bring it on!

So I'll get two things out of the way. 

First, Hunter Biden is a piece of shit.  Period.  Sorry, Joe.  I voted for you.  And I will again in 2024.  But I have to say it.  Your one living son is a piece of shit.  I'd be happy to see the little entitled brat in jail.  And, btw, did you read what he said about your "cunt" of a wife, Jill, in those texts?  What a piece of shit! I decided to resurrect this old thread from pre-2020 because I was loud at the time that Hunter was serious enough baggage for Joe that maybe it should have been disqualifying.  But, we now know, it wasn't.  Being a socialist was disqualifying for Bernie.  Bernie made Joe look so much better by comparison on Super Tuesday.  So don't be shocked if Trump does the same, again, in 2024.

Second, the polls say very consistently that most voters view Joe Biden as too old, rather than too criminal.  Donald is the one they really tend to see as too criminal.  Including many Republicans.  But I quoted @TotallyOz above because this really should have been settled back in 2019 or so.  Like Oz, I was singing the praises of Elizabeth Warren back then.  Had she been nominated, historian and always correct Presidential election predicter Alan Lichtman would argue any Democrat (even a woman!) would have beaten Trump in 2020.  If she were running again, we would not be worried about her age.  Or her alleged corruption.  Or even her recipes!!! 

So I was a Warren fan boy.  In part BECAUSE Joe was old in 2019, too.  But I am a realist.  It is what it is.  Joe is the guy.  Even if he dropped dead tomorrow, Kamala would be the girl.  And, whatever you think of her, every single poll shows she'd do worse than Joe in 2024.  At least as of now.  So, Joe's the guy.  Even loudmouths like Gavin Newsom, who I'm sure would like to be POTUS, get that.  

So with those two stipulations, I can't believe Republicans want to dig their hole even deeper by forcing even more shit into the mouths of Americans every day.  Isn't lying about the 2020 election enough?  Isn't lying about raping or sexually harassing women enough?  Isn't Trump lying about his taxes enough?  Isn't Trump lying to the FBI, the DOJ, and even his own lawyers enough?  He has gotten away with murder his whole miserable criminal life.  And he knows he could shoot a cop in the middle of Fifth Avenue, or the US Capitol.  And his ardent followers would blame the crime on the dead cop Trump killed.

So really?  Really?  We're now going to have 15 or so months of this shit shoved into our mouths every day?    About how we have two different systems of justice?  And how Donald Trump is an even bigger victim than Jesus Christ?  Really?  And The Mighty MAGAttes still wonder why Republicans like Christie and Sununu say Republicans lost everything they could have won in 2020 and 2022 because of this miserable, lying, criminal narcissist?  To their credit, Christie and Sununu and Barr believe in the power of conservative ideas to win.  What does MAGA believe in?  That crime should not be punished?

That Newsweek article above is the mildest version of the crap being served in every right wing blog around.  The hard core version is that Biden needs to be impeached, immediately.  Because he is obviously guilt of bribery.  Apparently MTG got the memo.  Of course, Republicans in swing districts and swing states may lose their seats over even more divisive lies in 2024.  But, like those Republicans are saying, who ever accused MTG of being a team player?  Or even of being factually correct?

The massive factual gap between Republicans saying "Lock Her Up" in 2016 and saying "Stop Persecuting Trump" in 2024 is entertaining for Democrats like me.  I love irony.  And it really does suggest they don't have any strategy, or logic, or facts, on their side.  And this just deepens the hole.   62 % of Independents just said in a CNN poll that because of these indictments, Trump should step aside now.  How does whining about being persecuted help Trump with that 62 %?  Trump doesn't want to go to jail.  But when a US Attorney Trump appointed while POTUS decides not to send Hunter Biden to jail, Trump whines.  How does that help win the 62 % that want him to go away now?  How does it even pave the way for Trump to get pardoned when he is found guilty, too?

Whatever people think about whatever "deal" Hunter should have gotten for owning a gun while being a drug addict and cheating on his taxes, Republicans are now on record as being against political "deals."  Which is odd.  Since they seem to want the mother of all political deals for Trump.  They want a pardon.  Or, better, let's just pretend he won in 2020 and never lied about, or lost, anything.  Had Trump cooperated with the Feds like Hunter Biden did, he might well have gotten a slap on the wrist rather than an indictment.  And he still might get a plea deal.  And even if Trump pleads innocent, and is found guilty, most Republicans still want to let him completely off the hook with a pardon.  And the logic of saying that, when they want both Hillary and Hunter locked up,  is ........... ? 

The good news for Trump is that this probably increases the chances that Americans, including Democrats, feel that no matter how criminal he is, we just shouldn't lock Trump's criminal ass up.  He was POTUS, after all.  Maybe we just lock him in Mar A Lago, with lots of documents to sort through.

The deal with Hunter is also implicitly bad news for the Republican case against Senile Criminal Joe Biden. 

I mostly believe Jamie Raskin.  Who claims that by the time Barr and Trump parted ways over Trump's lies and criminality in 2020, Barr's DOJ and Trump's FBI had investigated all the Burisma Bullshit sufficiently enough to decide there was nothing other than Hunter's legal influence peddling there.  Back in 2019 I posted a great Atlantic article on Page 1 of this thread about how legal influence peddling sucks.  I still feel that way about Hunter.  Most people do.  But if we are going to punish him, how do we punish Ivanka?  Like for all those patents she got in China while Daddy was POTUS? Or Billion Dollar Baby Jared, whose Saudi patrons have invested billions in him after he did them four years of policy favors?  What punishment does Jared deserve?  Hopefully nothing involving bone saws!

If Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe, and Bill Barr felt the claim was based on anything other than the flimsiest of allegations - or FBI forms reporting hearsay - it is hard to imagine he would have kicked it out of Trump's DOJ.  Even to a Trump-appointed US Attorney.  But, Barr says he did in fact punt all that stuff to a Trump-appointed US Attorney for "further investigation." We all just learned the results of that investigation.  Would a Trump-appointed US Attorney sweep a $5 million bribe to Hunter and The Big Guy under the rug?  I doubt it.  So, again, Republicans just seem to want to dig their hole deeper before 2024. 

But, hey.  Go ahead, MTG.  Impeach Biden, anyway.  No one ever accused you of having good political judgment.  Or facts.

Being the excellent propagandist that Sean Hannity is (at least when he's not with Gavin Newsom, who rebuts all his BS in rapid fire fact telling), Sean knows that one of the best things Republicans have going for them is that 57 % of Americans think Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe.  I find THAT almost impossible to believe.  Only because it has been so clear, for decades, how the Biden variety of DC legal influence peddling works.  Arguably, even his sister did it, by being a paid campaign chief or top adviser.  For sure his brothers peddled influence. Bro Jim will even state the obvious.  That having the last name Biden doesn't hurt.  Hunter just took it too far.  But even he didn't go far enough, or resist in the way Trump did, that got him slammer time.  His Mom is probably right.  Hunter has poor judgment.  But all of this strongly suggests that Joe Biden's political judgment is good.  And he is an expert at keeping his ass well within 

I don't have Arnie's good looks or box office mojo.  But, like him, I'm good at math.  He's right that having the conservative base - or at least the ones who will subordinate raw politics to principles and facts - is just not enough.  You need Independents, too.  What does it tell us that 62 % of Independents (and 85 % of voters who are NOT Republicans) want Trump to drop out now?

Funny (HA-HA!!!) how the lamestream media parrots Trump's claims "the indictments have driven up his poll numbers".

Why bother reporting facts any longer when  drama sells?

My sense is the anti Trump floodgates are slowly opening.

The Bret Baier interview on Fox followed by Fox unfavorable commentaries looked pretty bad.  Trump got cooked.  And then Brit Hume rubbed salt in the wounds.

Not a machete up Trump's ass but a good start.

[Is Indicting Trump A Good Idea?]

Former AG Bill Barr on Face the Nation suggested a former president should not serve prison time.  

He also compared Trump's behavior to a 5 year old boy, and that the United States should not serve as a therapy session for Trump's outrageous behavior.

That said, he also confirmed Trump's legal defense is baseless, that he is guilty.

As far as J6, Barr was not as forthcoming other than to reconfirm the idea that VP Pence unilaterally reversing the election result makes no sense in the same way Trump's document case defense makes no sense.

Trump tends to latch onto the best sounding ideas for himself, no matter how bad, just like his MAGA and QAnon adherents latch onto nutty ideas they find on the Internet. 

That's frightening, especially considering a candidate with a 5-year-old mentality is running for the GOP nomination.

While one might claim indicting Trump is akin to a therapy session for TFG, I would circle back to the OP, and respond that no matter how Bill Barr frames Trump's crimes, indicting TFG is necessary and important for our democracy and important for our allies to see that the US has not lost all of its marbles.

 

[Newsom Calls DeSantis "You Small, Pathetic Man"]

Disney canceled a 1 billion dollar investment in Orlando.  That slowed his mouth a little.

[The New LGBTQ Literature List]

On 5/28/2023 at 6:46 PM, Pete1111 said:

 All That's Left in the World......I'm liking it. 

 

 

I finished this one.  Honestly my interest diminished as I read.  Perhaps this is one young adult book that truly is meant for young adults only.

[What do you feel about wokeness in film and theater?]

I watched the documentary Being Mary Tyler Moore and thought about the film's discussion of feminist criticism of her TV show. 

Nowadays are we cheated out of entertainment of that caliber when it doesn't pass a woke litmus test?  A small majority of whiners and bots can make a big enough stink on Twitter to make investors and advertisers extra careful. 

While people have a right to their opinion, the passage of time shows how silly some criticism seems, like the feminists that didn't like The Mary Tyler More Show. 

It was a comedy, so one should expect a lot of squirrelly behavior.  Yet it was a show where the majority of the players were women (Leachman, White, Engel, Harper and Moore) and the major dufus was a guy.

The character Mary Richards ultimately inspired Oprah to pursue television.  I suppose the woke mob can find fault with Oprah as well if they look hard enough.  That is our world now.

 

 

 

 

 

[The New LGBTQ Literature List]

I started reading

All That's Left in the World.

I belonged to a book club where the leader would call this book a good "beach read". 

A popular book.  I'm liking it.  

 

 

[Your Source for Political News and Commentary]

4 hours ago, JKane said:

I listen to a weekly podcast called "Left, Right, and Center" from public radio in Los Angeles.  Has a good discussion from various well articulated viewpoints.  

https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/left-right-center

I have a memory like an Elephant. I stopped listening years ago when Warren Olney produced a piece on Jerry Sandusky abusing boys  at Penn State, emphasizing the dangers of the foster care system  allowing pedophiles around minors.   Even though the Sandusky crimes didn't really involve foster care, Olney used it to bang the drum about sexual predators and foster care.  For the 2nd half of the show Olney interviewed the president of Family Council of Arkansas discussing whether gays should be allowed to adopt children.  A counterpoint was offered, but not much of one.  Overall it was pretty disgusting.  

By the next day KCRW had launched damage control but the damage was done.  People were pissed.

 I never saw Olney as well informed or well read.  Hopefully he's faded away by now.

[Your Source for Political News and Commentary]

I'm looking for new sources for political news and commentary, specifically the newspapers, podcasts and vlogs you consider worthy.

I read the Washington Post and the New Yorker and I listen to YouTube channels like Brian Taylor Cohen and Pod Save America.

I don't plan on converting to a MAGA conspiracy adherent so anyone that enjoys Steve Bannon and the like can start their own thread to share alt right news sources.  Those aren't what I'm asking about in my post.

I hear folks mention Rolling Stone, The Atlantic and New York Times.  What about LA Times?  Politico?

 

 

[Biden/Harris 2024????]

3 hours ago, Suckrates said:

 

 

If we are so fortunate to see Trump indictments,  we also need to get CONVICTIONS !!!!!!      Brandishing Trump with only an "indictment" label, does nothing to slow him down, as we have already seen.   We need convictions and JAIL !

When that happens, i'll celebrate. 

Oh....they'll be indictments!

Those are coming.

Jail time?   Time will tell.   

Rikers?

Guantanamo?

No more golf?

No more YMCA jiggy?

I think so.

[Biden/Harris 2024????]

If the TFG returns to the White House our Democracy will continue to suffer.  

Maybe we are fooling ourselves there is even a chance to fix things.  Our state legislative bodies are elected by gerrymandered minorities.  The Supreme Court has lost its prestige.   The House is full of uninformed nitwits.

The mainstream media is treating Biden like he's the problem while they give candidate Trump a voice as if he is not an insurrectionist.

To answer S.K., IMO there is no alternative to Biden.   He has done a credible job.  He didn't fuck up in Afghanistan.  Trump fucked that up, giving the Taliban such a sweet (art of the) deal, yet the media never focused on that.

You guys love to bitch about Harris yet let's hear you list all of Pence's accomplishments.  His was a great ass kisser.  That's the one talent I recall.  IMO the black lady has done her job like all Veeps do.

Lastly will the landscape improve when Fanni Willis and Jack Smith put the hammer down with their indictments.

 

 

[George Santos, one foot out the door....]

^   Aunt Wacky Devolder.

[Joe Manchin 2024 Independent Presidential candidate?]

On 5/3/2023 at 7:12 PM, Mavica said:

Ok, I'll put it nicely:  It's naive ... and lacks an understanding of the existing political process and the impacts of individual actions.  it's not a game.  The stakes are high.  Manchin is selfish ... represents very special interests ... and has a distinguished career to this point.  His selfishness doesn't equate to what's in the best interest of the nation.  If there's a third party candidate - Manchin- he'd draw votes from Biden and if Trump is the GOP nominee he'd win the general election.  Once again ... it's not a game, it's real life.

...and if Trump wins, all the insurrectionists and other guilty parties get out of jail, including some still not indicted yet. 

Our Democracy needs Biden to win. 

Back to the comment about our country has taken a left turn....that is just news media bullsh!t.  The Dems chose Biden because he is not far left.  The country is at risk from far right loonies and fascists.  There is no "left turn."

[Tucker Carlson is gone]

20 hours ago, Suckrates said:

Ruppert sent a clear and concise message that "noone is Bigger than Ruppert"......    If your employment costs Ruppert $$$$, you are of NO value to him.      Now Ruppert should go a bit further and complete his "house cleaning"   There are a few more talking heads that Deserve the guillotine....

I thought Bartiromo would be the first to go.

 

8 hours ago, alvnv said:

Meanwhile, Tucker is getting job offers from RT - just as expected

That fits.

 

[Tucker Carlson is gone]

12 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

 

I'll add a bit more on a personal note.  I talked about my college-educated conservative corporate executive niece in a post above.  We can talk about politics, but it is borderline.  I could always talk with my Reaganite Dad about politics, and we rarely disagreed about facts.  So the frustration for me, these days, is how many actual facts are in dispute.  As recently as a month ago, when she was visiting me, she was singing Tucker's praises.  And I'd say she is a "soft" believer in the lies about the 2020 election.  She won't go with some of the more fabulous lies.  But she'll still say that there seems to be smoke (generated by Tucker, of course) so therefore there must be fire. 

So I wouldn't bet on what impact firing Tucker might have on her.  For sure, it goes further than settling a lawsuit out of court.  Add the fact that, as a woman in corporate America, she has her own views about what it means to be a woman in corporate America.  So I'm guessing, if she bothers to read about this stuff, that some of it resonates.  At the very least, she may wonder why Tucker abandoned her - after cheating on her.

I wonder how many of the Fox viewers bother to read mainstream reporting about recent events.  I doubt they understand much.

 

[Is Indicting Trump A Good Idea?]

1 hour ago, Marc in Calif said:

Perhaps the only truly noble accomplishment from the union between his mother and father! 

I still want to believe he's Sinatra's son.  The resemblance is undeniable.   Ronan Farrow attended Frank's funeral with Mia.  She admited remaining close with Frank.  Of course, it's all their private business. 

Some try to call Trump's situation as no more than a sex scandal, that too much is being made of his private business.

But unlike Trump's escapades with McDougal, Cliffords, and the situation with the doorman, where he manipulated funds illegally to hush a story, Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatras' was a private relationship and is essentially none of our business. 

And really, Ronan may have summed it up best on Twitter when he responded.  "Listen, we're all *possibly* Frank Sinatra's son."  

Do we need to know any more than that?

But IMO we do need to know all about all of Trump's crimes.

[Is Indicting Trump A Good Idea?]

6 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

I read the article, and it was good.  But  I'll make the devil's advocate argument. 

I think one reasonable response to the whole Bragg thing, including among voters who are not Trump supporters,  is:  so what?  Who cares?  Donald Trump had a love child.  Donald Trump grabbed pussy.  Donald Trump and his cronies paid people money to shut up.  So what?  Who cares?  Like Donald Trump is the only celebrity or politician who does this stuff?  Give me a fucking break. 

That's probably the way a lot of people who don't feel strongly about Trump one way or the other feel.  When we start to talk about actual Trump supporters, it quickly becomes fuel for the feeling that he is being singled out and persecuted.  It clearly has helped him in Republican primary polls, even as it doesn't help or perhaps even hurts him in general election polls.

I think two things about the polls on this are right on.  First, by a huge margin, 57 to 38, Americans think criminal charges should disqualify Trump from running for President.  I take that to mean that Americans don't say which criminal charges.  They don't think like lawyers.  My guess is the basic idea is more like, "People who do lots of criminal stuff shouldn't be President."  That's not a radical concept.  What makes sense about Bragg's case to me if that it is one nail in the coffin.  It reinforces lots of other things we know about Trump.  But if this alone was supposed to be the entire coffin, I'd be against it.  

The second poll finding that makes sense is that by an even bigger margin, 62 to 38 percent, people think this is mostly motivated by politics, not the law.  If Trump weren't running for President, this wouldn't be happening.  So, obviously, there are a lot of people in the middle who do see this as a nail in the coffin.  And maybe it means Trump should not be President.  But, at the same time, it's a political witch hunt because he's running for President.

If this were choregraphed by the Secret Deep State of Democrats and child blood eaters that exists in America, I would have preferred they didn't lead with Bragg.  You'd think Democrats who drink the blood of Republican children would know better than to lead with the weakest nail. 

But the point is there is no Secret Deep State of child blood eaters.  If there were such a thing, that would be a much bigger scandal.  Even though many extremists think there are.  And these extremist themes are regularly used in subtle ways in Republican attacks ads.  So instead we have, as Farrow documents, a prosecution that to some people who are not partisans looks like a disorganized mess.     What I find encouraging about the polls is, on a very simple level, something like 57 % of Americans think, "Donald Trump sounds like a criminal who should not be President."  Mostly I hope Team Biden keeps their mouths shut.  Which they are.  And just lets the nail be one nail doing its job.  Because a lot of people are also predisposed to think maybe this is just a witch hunt.

I'm assuming other indictments will come down.  If and when that happens, we'll get a better picture of what the coffin looks like, and whether these nails are holding.  Those indictments Include things a vast majority of Americans agree about.  Like lying about and trying to steal the 2020 election was wrong.  Fomenting a riot at The Capitol to hang Mike Pence or seriously injure lots of cops or whatever that whole thing was about was just very wrong.  Period.  I'd rather focus on that, and a consistent pattern of criminal behavior,  than some doorman who got paid to cover up something that nobody can prove happened.  And that most people don't care about - and may see as a witch hunt - even if it did.

It's not great news that right now Trump and Biden are tied in national polls.  So how does 57 % of Americans thinking criminal indictments disqualify Trump square with him being in a toss up with Biden if the election were actually held today?  The numbers actually match pretty well.  In its horse race average, RCP says Trump and Biden both get in the low 40's right now, give or take.  So a majority of people don't want either.  But may have to choose one, it looks like.

If and when that 57 % solidifies into a solid majority that really feels, "Trump is a criminal and should not be President," that really is Trump's political coffin.  I don't think we are there yet.  Oddly, Trump "won" with 46 % of the vote in 2016 (versus 48 % for Hillary) and "lost" with 47 % of the vote in 2020 (compared to 51 % for Biden).  Maybe if there is a strong third party in 2024 he could win with 44 % of the vote.  Clinton actually won with 43 % in 1992.  But that's a stretch.  

If indictment and criminal behavior are big potential nails in Trump's 2024 coffin, I think the big and obvious potential nail in Biden's 2024 coffin is a recession.  If I believe the experts, in 18 months Trump's legal problems will be bigger.  But the economy will be better, and the stock market will be much higher.  We'll see.  (Glenn Neely, the wunderkind who was ridiculed when he said after the 1987 crash we'd have a massive bull market, which we did, is now saying by Summer 2024 we'll be at S & P 5500.  Don't hold your breath.)  We do know that the one time Biden actually ran for President, he could win over 50 % of the vote.  Even if many of those Biden voters were voting for the lesser of evils.  If they can do it once, and we're not in a recession, they can probably do it again.

The other way I think about Stormy and Pecker and the doorman and that gang is the way I think about Hunter Biden:  so what?  I think I posted here back in 2019 or so that all the Hunter Biden mess is a good reason not to nominate Biden.  I stand by that.  That said, we Democrats did nominate Biden.  And Biden did win.  And Hunter is still a big fucking mess, in all sorts of ways.  That said, probably most parents can relate when Joe responds by saying, "I love my son."  And if we want to talk about Biden and nepotism and Ukraine, how about that $2 billion those guys who chop up journalists invested in Jared?  Who was not just Trump's son-in-law.  He was one of Trump's top advisers and diplomats.  What was that about?  Which is why I assume most Americans aren't going to support a witch hunt on Joe Biden simply based on the sins of his son.  Good for them.

That's not a criticism of Farrow.  The opposite.  For liberal Democrats like me who like to read the New Yorker, the more of that stuff the better.  Like I said, it was a good article.  Thanks for posting it.

I'll throw that in as another example of Farrow's work that I think is excellent.  But is also a very mixed bag.

I don't think it's a problem to attack Facebook these days for how they feed people lies and bullshit and extremist ideas in order to make money.  That's a good place to go.  What I find most interesting about what Farrow's investigations of Jan. 6th uncovered is that these people Facebook basically helped organize to riot are not all from really weird sects that live in some remote war camp in Idaho.  A big chunk of them were White business owners and professionals who live in America's suburbs  Especially the suburbs that are changing.  And they don't like the way they are changing.  Farrow says you don't have to peel very much below the surface to find these Whites harbor deep racial animus.  So it's not a huge leap from there to, "All Trump supporters are racist."  And that leads us pretty quickly to Hillary and "deplorables."  Which most people now think was a big mistake to say.  

That's not what Farrow is saying.  My point is I think he does an excellent and nuanced job here, which is why I am posting it.  But it's very easy to dismiss this and say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah.  That's all you got.  You think we're all racist and ignorant.  Fuck you."  Which is why this stuff is appropriately placed in The New Yorker or Christine Amanpour.  

My hope is that if Democrats just let the nails do their work, perhaps most importantly the nails Trump manages to nail into his own coffin himself, the majority of Americans will decide this guy is a criminal who should not be POTUS.  Something in that ballpark happened in 2000.

 

I didn't see the article as all that nuanced, other than to remind that Bragg has not revealed what the felony crime(s) are yet, and to cover some background on the crime Trump was indicted, especially how it relates to Farrow's own researching A.M.I. and the doorman.

 Listening to Michael Cohen drone on last Thursday on Ben Meiseles pro democracy podcast about how "dirty" the prosecutors are in the DA's office relating to Cohen's own indictment, reinforces my suspicion of why such momentum is building against Bragg.  It seems odd. 

Farrow obviously would have no complaints about these chickens finally coming home to roost.   Me either.  A crime is a crime, even if the perp is a powerful,  rich white dude.

If Farrow isn't your cup of tea that's fine.  I enjoy him.  I was quite struck by  Catch and Kill so this follow up piece caught my attention.  And I will always respect him for the risks he took and sacrifices he made going after Harvey Weinstein.  Of course he gives all the credit to the women that went on the record for his research.  He's noble that way.

[Is Indicting Trump A Good Idea?]

On 4/5/2023 at 4:34 AM, Pete1111 said:

Whether or not true, 😉the NYC doorman paid off to kill the story about out-of-wedlock baby should have held out for more.  

Harking back to the NYC doorman,

Ronan Farrow contributed a recent piece in the New Yorker focusing on the hush money case and specifically the doorman.

Anyone familiar with Farrow might agree he is in a separate, more reasonable category from the hysterical talking heads on cable TV and YouTube. 

His article is a sanity check the hush money indictment is not the nothing-burger that too many Dems and RINO's are admitting they believe it is.

When I think back to Farrow's book Catch and Kill I tend to not trust where these sound bites that throw cold water on DA Brag are coming from.  Not that I suggest opening up some conspiracy rabbit hole, but rather to remind we've been lied to before, by NBC for example.  Read Catch and Kill !  You'll have a deeper understanding of these players involved in the indictment, plus much more, e.g. the Harvey Weinstein cover up.

 

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-the-hush-money-payments-that-may-decide-trumps-legal-fate?utm_campaign=falcon_FCzP&utm_social-type=owned&utm_brand=tny&mbid=social_twitter&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

Finally, I think highly of Ronan Farrow.  I expect his mother and his husband are both very proud of him.

[$$$ Talks, and Fox Walks]

Though smaller potatoes 

I'm looking forward to the Rudy & Sydney Show