● Thanks To All: Thanks to everyone who shares their views here. This has been a strange election cycle and I want to congratulate everyone on being civil and sharing interesting thoughts, even when we disagree. Let me particularly say thanks to Scott, who always speaks his mind even though he knows that most of us will disagree with him. Let me also thank Bev for all her efforts. It's really hard to keep coming up with stuff, trust me, and she's done a magnificent job. Thanks to tryanmax for always sharing insightful thoughts from different angles. And thanks to Kit. You have lost your mind my friend, but I respect your passion and your attention to detail.
● Only In America: I love that our First Lady is going to be an immigrant. Welcome to America!
● Reveal Thyself: The left (and a lot of people who pretend they aren't left but are) is really exposing itself. This outpouring of hate is amazing. For people who whine about racism, sexism and lookism, there sure is a lot of that spewing from their mouths. Twitter assassination threads. Vile comments. Smears. Stereotyping. Racism. Sexism. Widespread attacks on anyone they think voted against their utopia. Intolerance. Attempts to bully co-workers, family and friends. Breakdowns. Threats of disloyalty. Attempts to de-legitimize democracy. Comparisons to Hitler. Physically attacking high school students. This is your left, ladies and gentlemen. Never forget.
● More Great Moves By Trump: He told Britain he wants to re-establish the special relationship Obama killed. His potential cabinet: Newt. John Bolton. Rudy Giuliani. Chris Christie. Bob Corker. Jeff Sessions. The CEO of Dune Capital. The Founder of Lucas Oil. The CEO of Nucor (Steel). Billionaire Wilbur Ross. Ben Carson. The CEO of Continental Resources. An impressive list. His shift from eliminating EPA to “refocus the EPA on its core mission of ensuring clean air, and clean, safe drinking water for all Americans.”
● Idiot: Colin Kapernick didn't vote. Of course, he didn't. He's a whiner whose been brainwashed by a guy the 49ers employ, not an activist.
● This Means War: The Democrats have begun a civil war and it looks like Clinton people like Donna Brazile are being bumped off by the progressives. Interestingly, there is some question as to who is left to lead the Democrats. The only leaders they have left are geriatrics with questionable skills. Bernie Sanders? Elizabeth Warren? Chuck Schumer? Joe Biden? Nancy Pelosi? That's your All-Star team. Good luck with that.
● Nooooo Cannnnadahhh!: None of the a-hole celebs who promised to go to Canada will keep their promises. We should make them.
● Watch Your Back: Be careful out there people. After eight years of there being no homeless, no AIDS, no body count in our non-war wars, no inflation and no unemployment, expect all of that to return with a vengeance the minute Trump takes over. Don't worry, the media will explain it to you... every. single. day.
● I Miss: I miss great lyrics. I've been listening to music from the 60's and 70's and 80's and there were such amazing lyrics. Dire Straits. The Fixx. Crosby Stills & Nash. The Police. Genesis. Supertramp. These groups sang about things you'd never suspect and turned a phrase in amazing ways. Today, it's like all lyrics are written by twelve year olds writing about sex. Do you know 'Telegraph Road' from Dire Straits? Who would think to write a song about the evolution of a city from a single man in the woods to the modern world? Listen to 'Camphor', 'Sign of the Fire', 'Liner' ("when a saint starts hiding sins"), 'The Fool' from the Fixx. 'Home By The Sea' from Genesis... talk about spooky. How about the concept albums of Alan Parsons? Hell, the instrumentals of Alan Parsons Project ('Pipeline') are more expressive than anything Lady Gaga has written. 'Try Message In A Bottle' from the Police -- "I wasn't alone at being alone." I miss singers with things to say and the skills to say them.
● This Means War II: I've been asked to join a sort of secret committee to combat the bike lane they added down the road. This is how Vietnam started, I think.
Thoughts?
74 comments:
Let me particularly say thanks to Scott, who always speaks his mind even though he knows that most of us will disagree with him.
Thanks, but I honestly thought we had more in common! :-)
Remember, the only reason I even posted about Trump as much as I did - both here and on social media - was because plenty of folks on your side hated the idea of a Trump presidency, so I felt it was "safe." Hell, Trump's minions made me sympathize with Ben Shapiro of all people!
As for song lyrics, I know there's a name for this (there must be) but my brain has always had trouble parsing song lyrics. It's like, I know what's being said but I just can't quite get there. I think it's why I gravitated towards classical music and film scores at such a young age.
And most songs aren't written by 12-year olds, they're written by middle-aged Norwegians!
We do have a lot in common, Scott. But you have to admit that you do like to be on the other side a lot here.
As for the Norwegian... wow, shoot him!
It's not that I "like" it, I simply am. And I'll take a sane conservative blog over an insane liberal one anytime!
Thoughts on the article later. In the meantime, I'll just say that Ben Shapiro is the only human alive over 12 years old who can properly be called a pipsqueak.
Speaking of songwriting, Leonard Cohen has died. No thanks to Zack Snyder for taking a beautiful song and putting it into a horrible context.
tryanmax -
Ha! I agree 1000%, which makes it all the more insane that I could have that kind of reaction. He might be much more serious with his Judaism than I am with mine, but no one should have to go through the harassment he did, much of it at the hands of his previous employers.
Thanks, Andrew, I tried to make sense of the noise, but I just couldn't and ran out of steam. I spent a LOT of time listening across the political spectrum trying to understand what was going on. Now that the fog has lifted and bright clear light of day has returned, I can see clearly...where's a piano when you need one!
We are now back to holding all politicians responsible. ALL of them. Not jut the "the other side"...ALL OF THEM. Let's keep their feet to fire and make get back to the business of listening to each other. This doesn't mean that we will get all or some or even any of what we want, but maybe we will get a little of what we need.
The MIDDLE/CENTRISTs HAVE SPOKEN! And the adults are back in charge. Let's not waste it.
Btw, the children are not happy. Protest marches, safe room huddles, puppy calming centers etc. But this is what happens when you rear a generation of children who haven't been allowed to fail. They don't understand it and can't cope with it.
You know, Harry Reid has proven himself to be a corrupt, vile little liar. And he just can't stop. He's now baiting the whiners by talking about Trump unleashing a wave of hate (note the hate is his own people) even as other Democrats are trying to work with Trump.
Sorry I haven't been back. Busy day.
Andrew, you may want to update your profile pic: LINK
>> Nooooo Cannnnadahhh!: None of the a-hole celebs who promised to go to Canada will keep their promises. We should make them.>>
I already thought Steven Crowder should rent a U-Haul, and take it through Beverly Hills and the Hollywood Hills, offering to move the applicable celebs up north, giving them his Canadian discount as he sees fit, or dump them in Mexico. Great bit for "Louder with Crowder."
From a movie standpoint, kidnap the celebs instead before plopping them in either location.
OK, maybe it's just enough material for an SNL-style sketch ... but funnier.
Music-wise, Andrew, Paul Westerberg and Bob Mould, in my book two of the best lyricists to emerge from the 80s, are still making great albums, though the latter more prolifically. Tom Petty/Mudcrutch still rockin', quite ably, too.
From a 21st century perspective, Brent Best, formerly of The Drams and the mighty Slobberbone, as well as my vote for heir to the Westerberg lyrical god throne (solo album last year + catalogs from aforementioned bands), and the guys in Lucero (Tennessee-based band, not the Latin act) have a way with words, too. Recommend "Went Looking for Warren Zevon's Los Angeles" from 2015's All a Man Can Do album, and work your way around their previous stuff if you like that.
Please! Please! Please... Canada has enough whack jobs; we don't need yours. send em to Mexico... just to avoid charges of racism of course.
I drove for 10 hours today from Missouri to Texas,,I loved my Sirius radio, I generally listen to 60 and 70s and some 80s music. I loved it.
My brothers and our one remaining sister are having a blast. My little brother is the youngest and he's almost 60.
I am not exuberant about Trump being POTUS, I'm happy because Hillary isn't. But, maybe he's what we need, someone who is blunt and doesn't mince words.
Robert Vaughn passed away,,what a great actor.
What Shapiro went through was, to use a word current in our 2016 lexicon, "deplorable."
Side-note: Stranger Things is great and worthy of praise.
Given that Hillary was the one earning most of the press coverage when the election happened, I wasn't shocked Trump won. I expect the same anarchy his campaign was marked by.
The primaries reduced us to choosing between Obama sequels.
Finally got a chance to catch up here... One the first part, you, Bev, and LawHawk (I can't leave him out of this even if we never spoke) really created something special here, Andrew. Instead of heated clickbait attacks and/or wonkery all of you actually take the time to think things through, look at what the public really wants, and provide posts that you really can't find anywhere else, al while maintaining a great community. I've learned a lot more about conservatism and politics in general here than I have at any of the bigger sites and I can honestly say I think of you and tryanmax as my political mentors, Andrew. I've enjoyed talking with everyone else here as well.
Good point on Melania being an immigrant, too. That wasn't lost on a few people I know who are excited to have her as First Lady. I admit to being a little surprised by Kaepernick not voting at all, though. It's not like he was risking anything by adding one more vote to Hillary in a state that went for her by a large margin, especially with him playing at activism. Regardless, it sounds like he's almost crossed the line into complete irrelevancy.
I can't say I'm surprised by the meltdown, and it definitely makes me glad I'm no longer in one of GA's deepest blue cities... When Bush won in 2004 it felt like a funeral around Athens and the UGA campus before we had a few protests and people moved on in a week or two. With the riots and everything else going on I can't blame people for being nervous.
On Trump, he's definitely hitting the right notes so far... His statement on the EPA sounds like it could have come out of the Agenda 2016 book. We'll see if he actually follows through with a lot of this, but if he can get some good, sane policies through and finally break the GOP of its LGBT obsession then things might turn out pretty good! And to think me and a few friends were thinking that Hillary and the Democrats were going to put a stake in the GOP for the past few weeks...
Don't get me started on modern pop... I usually listen to one of the local classic rock stations while driving around so I know a few of the songs you mentioned and they're great. Once I get to work, on the other hand, the day's music is 1/3 bad pop, 1/3 bad R&B, and 1/3 bad country. If we're lucky we might get one Queen or David Bowie song in between the garbage.
Sad part is about a year ago we'd get classic rock for one of the day's thirds complete with Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, and Paul McCartney. Now we get at least three Taylor Swift songs, two by Katy Perry (if her mind, music, and personality matched her looks she'd be my dream girl, but alas), and a mix of other crap, with my personal worst offenders being Elle King, Demi Lovato, Walk the Moon, American Authors, and Fifth Harmony...and somehow I'm not surprised to see the latter in that article, Scott! Well, at least I've still got the classic rock station in my car and knowledge of where to stream video game soundtracks as well. The latter's completely nerdy, I know, but it has good stuff!
- Daniel
Kit, I wish I could properly explain shitposting. I know that you're probably only more irritated by the fact that it's offensive just for offense sake, and unmoved by the idea that it's near entirely insincere. I'm not really sure what my point is except to say that the alt-right is awful for different reasons than those generally ascribed to them and it's important to know that if it is to be properly dealt with.
P.S. The alt-right is a tar-baby. That's probably the most important thing to be aware of.
Shapiro is part of a little cabal of people who make their money by diving into the cesspool end of humanity and trying to agitate the turds just enough to buy their stuff but not enough to come hunt them down. So that's his issue and I don't extrapolate his experiences to larger society.
That said, I will say the following.
First, the alt-right is despicable. But like all internet powered groups, it's tiny and irrelevant. It just seems more important because they are good at lobbing verbal grenades that upset people and which the media/left likes to use to smear the right.
I don't see them as even 0.1% of Trump's voters. Trump's voters are Reagan Democrats, Grumpy conservatives, Middle/working class people who are sick of being demonized, and people who could not stomach Hillary.
The average Trump voter I saw is someone who dismissed his early rhetoric as showmanship and then focused on a few key ideas: "he's different" and "he's a businessman" and "I like his team." They are looking for rational and practical, not asinine and fringe.
Moreover, everything I see suggests that Trump is nothing like the early persona he adopted. I suspect he will be quite moderate actually.
Something that interests me, and I'm curious to hear people's thoughts, is what do we make of the failed celebrity endorsements?
The New York Post seems to be onto something when they are saying that people feel "culturally isolated" from these people.
I think there's more too though. I think the problem was how they handled this. While people are herd animals, most seem to want to think that they are independent thinkers. I think the celebrity push was too hard. It was nasty. It was condescending. It was gloating. It had all the hallmarks of bullying. I think the end result was that people responded to that by wanting to go the other way. Then you add the heavy insults aimed by celebrities at whites, men and poor/middle class people, and I think it became a point of pride for many people to vote against them.
I keep going back to the LA Time poll, which said that a majority would vote for Trump but 60/40 thought Clinton would win. I think that tells us that the pressure to conform pissed people off and they wanted to send a message regardless of whether they lost.
Thoughts?
Daniel, That's a rogues list of awful music. "Baby, I'm worth it..." Uh, no, you're not. Learn more than five words before your speak to me again. And Taylor Swift's repertoire of self-pity and white trashery kills me. The only reason I don't completely despise her is that I feel bad for her that Kanye is so obsessed with her in such a vile way... stalker jerk off mode.
I hope the GOP drops their LeGoBoaT obsession. It would do the party good to focus on issues that matter to people again.
Bill Maher --
"The Democratic party . . . lost the white working man. That’s what they used to have. And they made the white working man feel like, ‘Your problems aren’t real.’ Democrats, to a lot of Americans, have become a boutique party of fake outrage and social engineering. And they’re not entirely wrong about that.”
Insightful... for once.
That it is, Andrew, and I didn't know that particular turd of a song was Fifth Harmony as well... They first landed on my makes me twitchy list with Miss Movin' On (which I actually mistook for Demi Lovato). I think one of my most overused phrases when talking about how bad the music at work is goes along the lines of how the music service considers, say, Rob Schneider's spawn and her awful song about jumping from guy to guy to be work friendly yet the more mainstream stuff by Metallica and Ozzy isn't. I mean, we played Ozzy's Crazy Train whenever Chipper Jones came up to bat during the Braves' glory days and their games are classic family outings down here! Agreed on Taylor Swift, too... Her earliest, cutesy stuff might have approached guilty pleasure territory but once the mask came off and she went to, as you say, white trashery and self-pity set to obnoxious pop she turned into a major irritation. I still think that you're on to something about Swift and Kanye/Kim needing to solve their issues in a double drive by, too!
On the celebrity endorsements I think you're right about them backfiring thanks to the tone. There wasn't a celebrity endorsement for Hillary that I can think of that didn't contain some kind of implication that anyone opposing her fell into one of the categories of deplorables. They burned up a lot of goodwill with the public on that.
Expanding on that a bit, I figured that Beyonce in particular would turn into a liability since she's known for having her Twitter "Beehive" that turn into a rabid hate mob whenever someone disparages their queen. If this election cycle has proven anything it's that the SJW Internet hate mobs and college safe spacers have completely put off the average person, which ties into what Maher and a British liberal, Jonathan Pie, have been saying. Telling a white working class man who's been struggling to pay the bills, much less plan his next move in life, appalled by something along the lines of a BLM protest that he's only upset because of his CisHetWhiteMale Privilege isn't going to go over well. The left really has gotten to the point that they believe that you're either with them or you're a monster who deserves to be silenced, shamed, and have your livelihood destroyed. If they don't listen to Maher and Pie on this one they're going to be in the wilderness for a very long time, especially if Trump finally breaks the LeGoBoaT obsession. Of course the left has tacked on to Pence as their new vessel for fearmongering on that regard... I guess we'll have to see how things go, but Trump doesn't strike me as the sort of guy who would let something like that ruin his legacy.
- Daniel
Daniel, A double-drive by would be great.
I think that's right. The endorsements weren't just endorsements, they were insults at anyone who didn't join the collective. I think that was a huge mistake. I think that triggered something in people that made them want to fight back.
I agree complete. I think it's a huge mistake to crap on a working man when you are a rich, child of privilege... singers, actors, college kids. Kind of ironic for a party that whines about representing "the working man."
As an aside, Michigan, Clemson and Washington all lost today. So much for the Top 4 in College football.
Andrew, if memory serves me right, didn't Maher say he'd kill Anthony Weiner if Hillary lost?
So, with that in mind, who do you think will actually get him? -where will he get it? -and what will they do it with?
I say Huma (on Hillary's orders), in their home (when she *allegedly* comes to collect more of her stuff), with a poisoned spike in the tip of her shoe (a la "From Russia With Love").
On the CFP, I predict a second straight unsatisfying playoff with several good teams left out and playing in non-playoff bowl games. Probably only lead to more calls to expand the playoff from 4 teams to 8- which would be inevitable, if not for the crybaby whining of the SEC, who's dead set against it.
On that note, the students in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh get to switch their rioting from "crying for Hillary" to "glorious win."
Rustbelt, It's going to be interesting to see what happens. If they drop each of these teams, then you end up with a playoff bracket that contains a lot of second tier teams. But if they don't, then the whole thing feels a little rigged. I suspect Ohio State v. Alabama for the final, with two lesser teams tossed in as chum.
If Hillary wants anyone to blame, that would be Huma: Wiener on harassment, Wiener on emails, mother is antisemitic Islamist.
Other candidates: Comey. Hillary blames him for ruining her with white women by accusing her of the crimes she committed.
Obama for his indifference, which kept blacks from turning out.
Bill for his rapiness and ego.
Bernie for making her fight in the primaries when she should have been focused on Trump.
"The media" for reporting on the email scandal. (Seriously, the Dems are pushing that one.)
That's a lot of people. Sounds like we should start up "Layla" and watch for a Goodfellas style montage.
BTW, the Dems are starting to blame her for overconfidence and lack of effort. I would add lack of relatability too.
That's all they're blaming her for? Not very creative.
I was actually going for a 'Clue' thing with Anthony Weiner as the future stiff. But, as Adam Schiff on 'Law & Order' once said, 'give it a month. See who's still standing.'
No idea how the committee sorts this one out.
My current CFP (factoring in emphasis on conference championships) is: Alabama, Wisconsin, Clemson, and the PAC-12 Champ, whoever it is.
I really think expansion to 8 teams is coming. The only opposition comes from the SEC. The most favored scenario for the additional round is to have the first 4 games played in the home buildings of the teams ranked 1 through 4. The SEC is against this because they don't want to potentially play in cold weather.
Trump will govern like he campaigned and like he ran his oft bankrupt businesses.
Poorly thought out, disorganized, key people constantly coming and going (taking big chunks of blame for past catastrophes with them), conflicting statements about policy goals and of course constantly shifting goals.
Trump has stakes in over 500 companies. Six Trump companies have declared bankruptcy and about a dozen of Trump's ventures have failed. Regard that how you will.
My respect for Oprah continues to rise. She is out there telling people t give Trump chance and that she's hopeful, even as the leftist troll army is now smearing her too.
As an aside, there is an article at Daily Mail that I think shows the kind of bias that newspaper give. Trump tweeted that Romney congratulated him and ended with "Very nice." Yet, they are describing this as "gloating." Talk about reading in sarcasm where none is obvious. They did it with a Bush post too.
Rustbelt, I could see that.
Here's a clue to that much hailed "ground game" of the Clinton campaign machine. There Get Out The Vote aka GOTV for Middle America "flyover states" was assigned to some poor schlub in Brooklyn, NY.
And to be fair, I am truly sympathetic to Huma Abedin. Sorry, but I am. Be kind. She hooked her wagon to the Clintons when she was very young and comes out with losing everything in her life. Her husband, her livelihood, her credibility, And it is her innocent child that really loses the most. Not that she doesn't bear the responsibility, btw. If she had not listened to Hillary (most likely) she would have divorced Weiner the first time Carlos Danger was revealed.
Bev, I have tremendous sympathy for her too. She seems nice. She seems earnest. She seems betrayed by her husband and her mother. And now she's going to be scapegoated by the Clinton to cover up their failure to (1) take the election seriously, and (2) hide Hillary's contempt for middle America.
I do feel sorry for her.
BTW, I totally respect Gary Kubiak (Bronco's coach) and Drew Brees singing along with the national anthem. :)
As for Trump's bankruptcies, most if not all were casino related and in Atlantic City. A city that is also...bankrupt. Up until the last 10 years or so, Atlantic City was the only place on the East Coast with legal casino gambling. Then the Native Armerican tribes got their casinos, then came CT, NY, then finally NJ legalized instate, on-line gambling. All Atlantic City had was...hotels and gambling casinos. They never really saw the need to develop anything else. No need to drive to AC to gamble when people could do at home, or closer to home in the surrounding states.
BTW, this is a bit belated, but thanks to everyone here for forming an island of civil discussion, for making me to put clarity to my ideas and for forcing me to confront ideas I maybe haven't considered. Also, it's great practice for biting my tongue, while also giving me a place to air the things that can't be said at thanksgiving dinner. 😉
Thanks for participating, tryanmax! I find your breakdowns of the communication aspects of events fascinating!
Bev, tryanmax and Anthony, As much as I despise it, bankruptcies are a common business tactic for businesses that make mistakes -- particularly mistakes related to labor deals.
Fascinating. Apparently Rinse Pre-Bus or Rience Preibus will be Trump's Chief of Staff. If true, that's actually a surprisingly smart choice.
Did you see he's not taking the salary?
I didn't see that about the salary, but there is some speculation about whether he'll move into the White House or stay in New York. Apparently he's a real big homebody and even structured his campaign to spend the night at home as much as possible.
I take a little umbrage when people disparage bankruptcy. Mine was personal, but it put me back on my feet. It's not like you get a bonus prize for it. I'd be living in a cracker box otherwise. Like any worthwhile thing, bankruptcy can be abused, but saying Trump has is a steep argument.
Hiring Reince Priebus is a smart move.
The problem is he also hired Steve Bannon, the guy who has turned Breitbart.com into a fetid, alt-right swamp. .
Which means that for one comforting pick he has made one alarming pick.
For me, the jury is still out on whether I think he'll be a good, or even half-decent, president. I'll wait until he forms his national security team before I have an idea.
Further, hiring a smart guy doesn't mean you will follow his advice: Obama hired Rahm Emmanuel, a foul-mouthed political creature lacking that which mortals call a soul, to be his Chief of Staff —and promptly ignored his advice.
If Obama had followed Emmanuel's more moderate, piecemeal approach instead of trying to ram a thousand ultra-left things through at once, we might very well be living with a President Hillary Clinton, Democrat control over the Senate (and maybe the House), a a 5-4 liberal Supreme Court.
Instead, the GOP is dominant.
tryanmax, I don't have problems with personal bankruptcy. I think it's a great tool to help people who really do need it. It's very consistent with the "fresh start" America promises too.
What bothers me is Chapter 11. A lot of businesses use it as a weapon against suppliers and labor. And it's often businesses that shouldn't exist because they are in an over-saturated market. Or they use it to avoid the consequences of law suits.
Kit, So far, Trump has (1) completely changed his style from ass-hat idiot to truly presidential and being a concensus builder unlike I have seen in my political time, and (2) he's made all the right moves up to now -- impressive moves. All told, it has made me very hopeful.
Will he follow through? Don't know, but the signs are good.
Kit, Agreed. I think the irony of Obama is that if he had acted like a moderate, he could have made the Democrats the dominant party for decades. But he went full asshole and he wiped them out.
First, I like Trump's sober appearance since the election. I think there is room for cautious (very cautious) optimism.
Preibus is a good sign, Bannon is (to me) not one. He's the reason the alt-right, a fringe group of anti-semites and racists, are treated with any seriousness. He gave them a platform at Breitbart.com.
On the other hand, having Bannon in the White House may keep the fringe folks in line so they aren't constantly shanking the GOP, which you know they would be doing if it was President-Elect Marco Rubio.
The question, again, is who will have more influence? I'm afraid only time will tell on that one.
Andrew,
The double-irony of Obama is that there are folks on the right who think his strategy is a recipe for success.
Kit, I know. I fought many of those people starting in 2011. It got pretty ugly at times and I was happy to see them go. Idiots.
We'll see on Trump. I think all the signs point the right way right now. Even ditching Christie was a good mood because of the reason -- anger at Christie letting his assistant take the fall for him.
By the way, we anti-Trump conservatives find the protestors as contemptible as you do.
Kit, Glad to hear it.
That said, I am actually enjoying this. First, I love their pain. It's like watching Hitler whine about Stalin cheating. Their pain is well-deserved and I hope they get their fill and then some.
Secondly, I think they are WAY overplaying their hand and de-legitimizing themselves, just like OWS did. With the headlines being whining privileged celebrities, kids getting beat up at schools, and riots, I suspect that each day costs them tens of thousands of fence sitters who will now switch sides.
Third, I am seeing people like Oprah who I think are shocked at how they are being treated just for being reasonable. I think this is jarring to a lot of people who were center-left and are stunned to find themselves smeared in the worst possible ways by their hateful friends. Things like that change people those people change the world.
re Trump: The Bannon hiring is worrisome. He's the guy who dredged up the anti-semites and racists to help Trump in the primaries. As Kurt Schlichter put it: "The bad news? Bannon has a job in the Trump admin that doesn't involve a mop and bucket."
Oddly, I am all for peaceful protest. But like OWS the protesters don't really know what they are protesting. It just looks like 1000's of hyperventilating 5 year olds having a meltdown at the mall 'cause Mommy won't buy the pretty pink stuff animal that THEY REALLY MUST HAVE OR THEY WILL DIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
Bannon worries me too, but it depends on what he does.
Kit, judging from how many campaign managers Trump fired over the course of this cycle, I am not too concerned.
Bev, That's exactly what it is. It's a tantrum by angry, whiny, entitled children who don't know what they want. That helps disgrace them even more. Basically, they are neutering the left's "moral authority" right now and I they are outing people Trump can't trust... like Harry Ried.
SNL last night sucked eggs. Terrible show. They're back to not being funny.
Critch - I haven't watched SNL in years. It stopped being funny when they started hiring stand-up comedians rather than sketch comedians. But just this afternoon, I tried to watch the one that Benedict Cumberbatch hosted last weekend. Now, I loves me some Cumberbatch, but the show was just unwatchable. The sketches looked unrehearsed and forced...well, and just stupid. Poorly written. Everyone was glued to the teleprompter, so no one was really committing to the comdey/dialogue. Maybe all of these people are comedians, but they are NOT sketch comedians. And God bless Benedict, but sketch comedy is not within his acting range. It's okay 'cause he does a great Hamlet. I turned it off at the 1/2 hour mark.
With the dust settling, I'm still not sure what surprised me more- Pennsylvania voting Republican or Pat Toomey retaining his Senate seat. I mean, this state has been getting bluer and bluer as the Dems continue to run out just about everyone who might vote Republican.
But Toomey's opponent, Katie McGinty, damn near out-Sandered Bernie Sanders. Every ad was about how Toomey was all for Wall Street; he's only for Wall Street; he cares only for Wall Street; he's all about a bank he started (which means he's a job creator!); and he aims to help Wall Street. That's the kind of stuff the union and union-leaning people in this state love. (In fact, it's downright creepy: I remember when Mark Critz, successor to Jagoff Supreme John Murtha, won the special election after the King of Pork's death. The union people, in all their garb, were looking at him like a messiah and for all the world, appeared to be praying to him. "Free us from thought and responsibility...") But I digress.
This state is just weird. In 2000, PA voted for Gore, but re-elected Rick Santorum. Go figure.
And for what it's worth, the Dems swept the state AG, auditor, and treasurer seats. (And this after ex-AG, Dem. Kathleen Kane, got sentenced last month to 10- 23 months in the slammer for perjury and abuse of office. PA IS CATCHING UP TO NEW YORK, BEV!!!)
Leave it to a group of spoiled leftists to unite conservatives.
So you know when I said that if the Cubs won the World Series, it would be a sign of the pending Apocalypse. Just in case you didn't notice, there have been massive earthquakes all over the world since the Cubbies won. Chili, Haiti, Oklahoma, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and now Argentina.
PA IS CATCHING UP TO NEW YORK, BEV!!!
Oh, Rustbelt, you naive man (I assume). No state will ever be able to catch up to NY in the "Elected Officials Who Are Convicted Criminals" category. But keep trying...;-)
Though I look at it, the more politicians we send to jail for crimes against the citizen and stealing from the taxpayers, the better the prison system will get, right? Win-Win!
And as for celebrities who think we care what they think, I feel sorry for them. They believe their own publicity. They sadly think that we wait around to hear what Amy Schumer or Robert DeNiro have to say before making decision in our lives. Their over-inflated sense of self-importance is entertaining, but damaging to their careers. This isn't only about "liberal" celebrities, it is also about the conservatives ones as well. There were many who just became waay too strident and insulting. We regular people vote not only in the voting booth, but with our pocketbooks...look at the financial hit that the NFL has taken lately for a good example.
Bev, PA will not give up the fight! As long as Philadelphia remains within the borders of the Commonwealth- along with Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton and Johnstown, a.k.a. Murthaville- the challenge to see who gets the most politicians in jail will go on!
Oh, you sophisticated New Yorkers may think you've got all the pizazz, but lurking in the back is a shadowy figure from Harrisburg with enough vile plans to make both William Penn and Ben Franklin roll over in their graves like a turbine! (Former Pres. James Buchanan will, of course, probably just snore.)
In a way, we Pennsylvanians are like Canadians: no one ever suspects us until it's too late!!! MWAH-HA-HA, HA-HA, HAAAAAAAA!!!!!
(Which, by implication, also means we own New York in hockey!)
Bev -
Re: SNL, I watch every week but I'm the first to admit the writing sucks 99% of the time. As for the teleprompter, it's because the sketches are being re-written up to (and including!) the last minute so there's no chance of actually memorizing lines.
I'd say half the cast come from stand-up and other half come from sketch groups like UCB. I actually took three levels of improv classes at UCB when I lived up north. I found it incredibly cliquey... but I would like to continue taking improv classes out here once I'm settled in at work.
Scott - If you look at the early days of SNL, the whole "being written up to the last minute" hasn't changed at all in the 30+ years the show has been on. I had friends who worked on SNL making props/costumes/etc. It's not about memorizing lines...it's knowing the arch of the sketch and frankly, what "comedy" is. They also used (don't know if they still do) prepare/rehearse MANY sketches before choosing the best to go live. If they still do that, then what didn't get televised must have been dreadfully awful.
But, I must say the opening Trump/Clinton sketch was hysterical.
Let me add this though. I started watching SNL in 1975 when it was groundbreaking, fresh, new, and just plain brilliant. So I am looking at this from that perspective.
Bev -
Yeah, they still do it the same way.
And I've seen complete episodes from the 70s and they're totally uneven. Sure, we remember the classics but there were plenty of bombs, too.
There are a couple of one-off sketches I'd love to see again but they're never included in the compilations. :-)
But they were committed bombs...it's live so stuff happens.
It's been awhile since I've seen SNL outside of a "must see" sketch put online. The curated stuff is funny but rarely edgy. The edgiest thing I've seen in a long time was a recent Black Jeopardy! sketch where Tom Hanks cleaned up as a MAGA hat wearing redneck, but they had to go and screw it up by making the final category "Lives That Matter." It was as if to say, "We have more in common than our differences, but fuck you anyway."
I understand why they did it though. It was too close to the edge and they needed to pull it back, lest they acknowledge an uncomfortable truth. SNL has been putting "undo" stingers on sketches for years–final gags that cancel out the preceding punchline–but this is a particularly stark example. Good humor is subversive and SNL is presently not.
PS - Maybe SNL should scout writers from reddit and the chans. That's where the edgiest humor lies these days.
Also, can anyone tell me whether SNL has done a Pepe sketch in the last few months (or ever)? Doesn't matter if it's positive, negative, or neutral, just any? If not, that just goes to show how far removed from the culture the show is now.
A little slice of home-made Canadian satire that's funnier than what can be found on today's SNL.
Andrew,
I want you to know I have not lost my mind. The stuff my cat is telling me about Donald Trump is the truth and you better accept it!
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