The photos of the "crowds" at the tank parade remind me of when Bill Hicks would come on stage in an almost-empty club, scan the room slowly, and announce "I've had more people in bed than this" ...
When the president sends a cabinet member on TV to announce "We are using the military to liberate an American city from its elected leaders," where do you go from there. What is left to say. The idea of that being anything short of a near-universal "Wait, what the fuck is going on" moment proves how far we've backslid.
This is from 2022 but it was absolutely right. The practiced buffoonery of Trump 1, all the "just kiddings" and "seriously but not literallys" absolutely succeeded in desensitizing people who are hardly paying any attention to the harder stuff they always intended to do next. ...
The basic fallacy in chasing votes by being "tough on immigration" is that the modal American's position on the issue is "Deport the Bad ones and keep the Good ones," and they alone know who is which, and that simply does not translate into workable policy. So this kind of gestapo stuff horrifies some of the same people who cheered when Trump promised to do it. There are true sociopaths who love this, but "No, I meant only the BAD immigrants! Not my coworker/friend/neighbor!" is as likely a reaction as enthusiasm. You cannot do immigration policy that satisfies these people because what they want is nonsensical.
So by the time center-left parties fully commit to chasing the far right by "getting tough" on immigration, the backlash has already begun to build and they walk right into it. "I thought you people wanted this!" No, they want something impossible and convinced themselves they'd could have it - the "eat whatever you want AND lose weight!" of immigration policies.
It is hard to grasp but large masses of Americans are both racist/xenophobic AND not racist/xenophobic enough to applaud what Trump is doing. It's goldilocks shit, they want a level of racism/xenophobia calibrated exactly to their personal preferences, and you just can't make that policy. Don't try. ...
AP: Trump extends olive branch, invites Musk to White House cellar to taste some brand new amontillado ...
Samantha says:
I expect nothing less than a full presidential pardon from this great administration.
Jude says:
I also expect nothing less than a full presidential pardon from this great administration. Sorry to piggyback. You can see it coming a mile away…
Jude says:
I also expect nothing less than a full presidential pardon from this great administration. Sorry to piggyback. You can see it coming a mile away.
Don't wave your pom poms yet…
Ed says:
No, he'll do some time and then get massively financially rewarding when he gets out in a couple years. It smells like a deal to me.
Scooter, you go to jail for our sins. Minumum security, a couple of years. When you get out, we'll make sure you get a succession of highly paid no-show jobs in the defense industry.
Matthew says:
I went to a bar last night to play some bar trivia – and it is worth noting that most of the teams had Scooter-related names. More specifically, most teams had "Scooter Libby getting anally and orally violated in jail"-related names.
Ed says:
While it is mildly awkward, one can rhyme "Scooter" and "in the pooper" pretty easily.
3-6 Mafia may have a new hit on their hands.
Samantha says:
Okay this is off topic, but Matthew brought it up, and when else will I be able to talk about trivia team names? Ours default name is "When Did I Eat Corn?" although it changes occasionally with current topics. I remember once calling ourselves "Taliban Schmaliban," and another time we were "Cut and Run."
Rick says:
Team names!
"Scooter Scooter Anal Looter"?