Thank you for your work. Until I read this I had not realized that of course the election of Obama was a powerful scare to a lot of good old boys*. They were shocked to see that a black man was president! They were suddenly motivated to take the country back from where we were heading. Which was that hopeful place.
Very efficient and even got to St. Louis 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Only a 4 hour time difference but still.... Just a LOOOOONG ass day. I didnt get to bed till 4am. I'm afraid today will be a bit slow... if I get unpacked and go through the mail, I'll consider that a victory. HAHA!
Told you that traveling on Christmas Day would be a breeze.
I used to fly to Japan the week after Thanksgiving (trade show, in Tokyo), and I would travel the sunday after the holiday. The domestic terminal was a freaking zoo, but the international terminal was almost empty!
You just got a taste of what ignoring the left and tacking solely to the center gets you - four more years of Trump. Want more? I’m pretty sure they’ll oblige you.
I'm sorry but both Nate Cohn and Sweaty Spice spent ridiculous amounts of time, space and energy arguing about "realignment " as if it's the driving force of what's going on with politics and life in America. I'm so tempted right now to end my subscriptions to both because they are just nibbling at the edges of the crappy super processed, packaged frozen dinner meal that corporations with their bought-and-paid-for politicians have marketed and sold to the masses of the USA and the world. We're living in a long running era where some entity pushes out some shiny object, person or idea as the "new and improved" mantra for the masses to glob onto, as if it's a laundry detergent being advertised on a soap opera. Trump's MAGA machine has mastered it to my eternal disgust. The Democrats used Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the same way, but it was too little too late, regardless of how much they promoted the work of being joyful warriors for democracy or how they used p.c. language to disdainfully dismiss MAGA as "weird". Media/political pundits (they're interchangeable these days) glob onto the theme/meme of the moment, and market to their target group(s) whatever will generate the most hits in coin and social media (another form of currency). How else can we explain why MAGA red caps are seen more than caps with the USA flag?
If someone presents an idea that would genuinely help most of us, that person is vilified as an outlier of normality, especially if the idea will reduce the profit margins of corporations and the likeability quotient of their bought-and-paid-politicians. Meanwhile most folks are living their lives accepting whatever is being promoted by the marketing departments of corporations and politicians campaign consultants (also interchangeable). Bernie Sanders and AOC have small pockets of die-hard admirers who believe in the necessity of the government meeting the needs of all of its people. But they don't fit the marketing plan so they're minimized, pasted with labels that change the meanings of words from innocuous to radical harbingers of destruction. I am still amazed at how the term "social democrat" can trigger rabid, foam-at-the-mouth responses from some people (both Republicans and Democrats). Meanwhile the MAGA machine (in its most recent reiteration) chugs along as it has since the inception of this country (don't delude yourselves, this has been going on long before the Gilded era of the early 1900s). The only thing that is different now is that right wing media seems to have a choke hold on mainstream and social media in addition to most religious organizations. It's why people who claim to be freaked out by the cost of eggs and gasoline have no problem plunking down money for cable/satellite tv plans and overpriced trucks and SUVs. Meanwhile a sizeable chunk of the population work several jobs with crappy pay, little or no health benefits or time off and almost non-existent chances of getting a pension or being able to set aside money for retirement. It's like living in the 21st century version of the TV series Mad Men.
Arguing about "realignment" is a waste of time and annoying filler for a digital column. How about talking about proactive, positive actions that will keep us from going further down the destructive path of right-wing demagoguery and authoritarian governments? Moderates and social democrats need to learn how to outperform MAGA by showing that it's both morally decent and profitable to have a democratic government and economy that looks out for everyone. We all need to learn to not spend our lives being vapid consumers to politicial and economic vampires and parasites.
I'm done ranting for now. I genuinely hope that everyone has a happy new year.
Agreed. MAGA will be in turmoil when Agent Orange finally croaks, which will be fun to watch. The GOP brought the chaos and even those who are against Trump can’t ever be completely absolved. All GOP roads led to this moment. There’s no stopping the coming train wreck, but maybe some well placed obstacles can cause a slow down.
A significant reason why MAGA won't just go away is that it was always there in the Republican party. The braintrust in Russia and elsewhere doing the thinking for Trump knew that, and simply gave it some daylight and a figurehead to follow.
My disdain for most Never Trump folks is because they were well aware of the presence of the Christian Fascist influence which Reagan <spit> welcomed to their party. To maintain power they allowed/participated in the takeover of democracy via groups like the Federalist Society, which have subverted the justice system to facilitate the dismantling of the constitution to be replaced by some form of Christian Authority State.
Oh yeah, the "Never Trump" crowd mostly ignores their complicity in harnessing the christian right/christian nationalist cohort and downplaying their overt and over the top racist rhetoric all to build and maintain power.
They all were winking when they attempted to counter the "birther movement" during the Obama administration, and tut-tutting about things that mattered, like the tan suit, while harnessing the energy of the tea party.
And while they will point the finger at Gingrich and the Contract on America in the mis 1990's, the reality is that their exalted forebear, Reagan, was the starting point for where we are today.
It was Reagan who used rather blatant dog whistles to coalesce the factions, and begin the march to where we are today.
I will admit that while I read many of them, I also enjoy watching the "Never Trump" cohort squirm.
Fucking blew my mind everything a Never Trumper campaigning for Harris proudly declared themselves a "Reagan Republican" like it was a positive feature that Democrats would appreciate.
That was a nice read. It’s great to live in interesting times. It reminded me to ask myself why I’m not a Trumper considering my pauper income. Maybe it’s the eschewal of TV that caused me to miss the gateway drug that was The Apprentice.
It’s such an incentive to stay healthy in order to make sure and be around for what comes when Donnie Manson Koresh Jones craps the bed. The scramble for that crown is going to be glorious. I’m sure there’s been a time in history when cult leaders were swapped out, but probably not one that wasn’t chaotic.
In the meantime, I guess we just try to keep our bastions of embattled Democracy strong in NY and California.
While I still enjoy movies like Zoolander where the cheeto hued chaos monkey makes a cameo, I just choose to flip off the TV when that scene is on.
The scary thing is that all those who hope for a return to Republican "normalcy" post Trump are deluding themselves. Either it does go back to that (lowest probability) and the MAGA hordes retreat to their bunkers, and that "conservative" party will be barely larger than the Greens, or there's a mad scramble for MAGA which pits folks like Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk against each other looking for an advantage.
Thank you for your work. Until I read this I had not realized that of course the election of Obama was a powerful scare to a lot of good old boys*. They were shocked to see that a black man was president! They were suddenly motivated to take the country back from where we were heading. Which was that hopeful place.
*gender neutral
I have too much jet lag to comprehend this right now...😂😂
How was the flight?
Very efficient and even got to St. Louis 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Only a 4 hour time difference but still.... Just a LOOOOONG ass day. I didnt get to bed till 4am. I'm afraid today will be a bit slow... if I get unpacked and go through the mail, I'll consider that a victory. HAHA!
Told you that traveling on Christmas Day would be a breeze.
I used to fly to Japan the week after Thanksgiving (trade show, in Tokyo), and I would travel the sunday after the holiday. The domestic terminal was a freaking zoo, but the international terminal was almost empty!
You were so right...I'll always do it that way when I can!
Problem is, the Democrats need those lefty votes.
You just got a taste of what ignoring the left and tacking solely to the center gets you - four more years of Trump. Want more? I’m pretty sure they’ll oblige you.
I'm sorry but both Nate Cohn and Sweaty Spice spent ridiculous amounts of time, space and energy arguing about "realignment " as if it's the driving force of what's going on with politics and life in America. I'm so tempted right now to end my subscriptions to both because they are just nibbling at the edges of the crappy super processed, packaged frozen dinner meal that corporations with their bought-and-paid-for politicians have marketed and sold to the masses of the USA and the world. We're living in a long running era where some entity pushes out some shiny object, person or idea as the "new and improved" mantra for the masses to glob onto, as if it's a laundry detergent being advertised on a soap opera. Trump's MAGA machine has mastered it to my eternal disgust. The Democrats used Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the same way, but it was too little too late, regardless of how much they promoted the work of being joyful warriors for democracy or how they used p.c. language to disdainfully dismiss MAGA as "weird". Media/political pundits (they're interchangeable these days) glob onto the theme/meme of the moment, and market to their target group(s) whatever will generate the most hits in coin and social media (another form of currency). How else can we explain why MAGA red caps are seen more than caps with the USA flag?
If someone presents an idea that would genuinely help most of us, that person is vilified as an outlier of normality, especially if the idea will reduce the profit margins of corporations and the likeability quotient of their bought-and-paid-politicians. Meanwhile most folks are living their lives accepting whatever is being promoted by the marketing departments of corporations and politicians campaign consultants (also interchangeable). Bernie Sanders and AOC have small pockets of die-hard admirers who believe in the necessity of the government meeting the needs of all of its people. But they don't fit the marketing plan so they're minimized, pasted with labels that change the meanings of words from innocuous to radical harbingers of destruction. I am still amazed at how the term "social democrat" can trigger rabid, foam-at-the-mouth responses from some people (both Republicans and Democrats). Meanwhile the MAGA machine (in its most recent reiteration) chugs along as it has since the inception of this country (don't delude yourselves, this has been going on long before the Gilded era of the early 1900s). The only thing that is different now is that right wing media seems to have a choke hold on mainstream and social media in addition to most religious organizations. It's why people who claim to be freaked out by the cost of eggs and gasoline have no problem plunking down money for cable/satellite tv plans and overpriced trucks and SUVs. Meanwhile a sizeable chunk of the population work several jobs with crappy pay, little or no health benefits or time off and almost non-existent chances of getting a pension or being able to set aside money for retirement. It's like living in the 21st century version of the TV series Mad Men.
Arguing about "realignment" is a waste of time and annoying filler for a digital column. How about talking about proactive, positive actions that will keep us from going further down the destructive path of right-wing demagoguery and authoritarian governments? Moderates and social democrats need to learn how to outperform MAGA by showing that it's both morally decent and profitable to have a democratic government and economy that looks out for everyone. We all need to learn to not spend our lives being vapid consumers to politicial and economic vampires and parasites.
I'm done ranting for now. I genuinely hope that everyone has a happy new year.
Well said!
Agreed. MAGA will be in turmoil when Agent Orange finally croaks, which will be fun to watch. The GOP brought the chaos and even those who are against Trump can’t ever be completely absolved. All GOP roads led to this moment. There’s no stopping the coming train wreck, but maybe some well placed obstacles can cause a slow down.
A significant reason why MAGA won't just go away is that it was always there in the Republican party. The braintrust in Russia and elsewhere doing the thinking for Trump knew that, and simply gave it some daylight and a figurehead to follow.
My disdain for most Never Trump folks is because they were well aware of the presence of the Christian Fascist influence which Reagan <spit> welcomed to their party. To maintain power they allowed/participated in the takeover of democracy via groups like the Federalist Society, which have subverted the justice system to facilitate the dismantling of the constitution to be replaced by some form of Christian Authority State.
Oh yeah, the "Never Trump" crowd mostly ignores their complicity in harnessing the christian right/christian nationalist cohort and downplaying their overt and over the top racist rhetoric all to build and maintain power.
They all were winking when they attempted to counter the "birther movement" during the Obama administration, and tut-tutting about things that mattered, like the tan suit, while harnessing the energy of the tea party.
And while they will point the finger at Gingrich and the Contract on America in the mis 1990's, the reality is that their exalted forebear, Reagan, was the starting point for where we are today.
It was Reagan who used rather blatant dog whistles to coalesce the factions, and begin the march to where we are today.
I will admit that while I read many of them, I also enjoy watching the "Never Trump" cohort squirm.
They need to be rick-rolled.
Fucking blew my mind everything a Never Trumper campaigning for Harris proudly declared themselves a "Reagan Republican" like it was a positive feature that Democrats would appreciate.
That was a nice read. It’s great to live in interesting times. It reminded me to ask myself why I’m not a Trumper considering my pauper income. Maybe it’s the eschewal of TV that caused me to miss the gateway drug that was The Apprentice.
It’s such an incentive to stay healthy in order to make sure and be around for what comes when Donnie Manson Koresh Jones craps the bed. The scramble for that crown is going to be glorious. I’m sure there’s been a time in history when cult leaders were swapped out, but probably not one that wasn’t chaotic.
In the meantime, I guess we just try to keep our bastions of embattled Democracy strong in NY and California.
Amen brother!
While I still enjoy movies like Zoolander where the cheeto hued chaos monkey makes a cameo, I just choose to flip off the TV when that scene is on.
The scary thing is that all those who hope for a return to Republican "normalcy" post Trump are deluding themselves. Either it does go back to that (lowest probability) and the MAGA hordes retreat to their bunkers, and that "conservative" party will be barely larger than the Greens, or there's a mad scramble for MAGA which pits folks like Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk against each other looking for an advantage.
I'm going to need a LOT of popcorn.
Nice article even if I wanted to puke also. Good one Geoff!