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 ...
Pat says:
You're saying that, if you were given an opportunity to be flung by catapult from one building to another, and were given credible assurances of safety, you wouldn't be tempted?
Shane says:
I have to agree with Pat, the experience would make for a good blog post. In the next ten days I will have the "joy" of experiencing Omaha (actually a pretty decent airport), O'hare, the new and improved London Heathrow, Belfast, Dublin and Manchester's airports. While I am excited about the trip, I am not thrilled by the prospect of so much airport/airplane time.
Bad Will says:
I bought a ticket at Dulles for a flight to Atlanta, boarded one of those rolling bread loaves, and upon "arrival" walked immediately to the gate…and missed the flight. They would not open the gate/door for me. And they would not refund my money. I flipped out, not unlike the woman on TV lately, though I managed to stay on my feet. Thank you Dulles and Air Tran.
Shane says:
Ahhh! Where's my morning injection of satire, information and bile? It is not a Saturday or Sunday, and yet there is no new post… I am like the ant on a bug's life that has encountered a break in the line.
Jude says:
Furthermore, what you should've done with Handguns guy is a variation of what Colbert does with liberal guests… y'know casually poise yourself, and ask him: "Barack Obama — Great President or The Greatest?".