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 ...
bb in GA says:
SHAZAM! Ms Clinton is not on my Christmas card list nor do I expect that I'm on hers. However, your "too old" comment sent me to digging in the "National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 56, No. 9, December 28, 2007" and specifically "Table A. Expectation of life by age, race, and sex: United States, 2004" Our government stats say:
White Female Black Female
62 —— 22 yrs 62 ——— 20 yrs (All 62 data is interpolated)
55 —— 28 yrs 55 ——— 26 yrs
50 —— 32.9 50 ——— 30.1 yrs
White Male Black Male
62 ——- 18.5 yrs 62 ———- 17 yrs
55 ——– 25 yrs 55 ———- 21.5 yrs
50 ——– 29.1 yrs 50 ———- 25.1 yrs
Looks like Secretary Clinton would have almost a straight up age swap for a 50 yr old WF. (11 years) The BF is a 10 years for the 12 year difference. The males are 10 yrs for 12 yr delta for the WM and 8 for 12 for the BM. From 55 to 62 its almost a straight swap except the females show 6 yrs longevity for 7 yrs delta.
For those that don't like that ol' race traitor (and one of may favorite Justices) Clarence Thomas – If he follows the charts, y'all will be rid of him sooner than some of the others.
The data was only fractioned into All, Black, and White. !Lo siento Senora Sotomayor!
//bb
Keith says:
I don't think it will happen, and I've seen no indications that Sec. Clinton even wants the job. As for Bill, who knows?
ZakAttack says:
Sure would be interesting to see what arguments the Repubs who already voted to confirm her as Secretary of State come up with. Ah, who am I kidding? They'd deny they ever did it.
Crazy for Urban Planning says:
I heard one of the dumb talk radio idiots talk about this on Monday. His premise was Obama is doing such a bad job that Hillary is going to make a challenge on him in 2012! If that is true (*I really doubt it…) why would Clinton challenge Obama? The radio idiot explain to me that she wants to get her power hungry hands on power (kind of like what Repubs want to do in 2012 = expressing your own desires and assuming everyone else shares them). Clearly I think the guy is an idiot. Why would Hillary Clinton give up being Secretary of State? It is a very prestigious position, she is treated like a rockstar everywhere she visits – and she doesn't have to make the decisions! I wouldn't give it up…
Ursula says:
I don't know where you have worked, Urban Planning, but being unable to make decisions can be pretty annoying. I doubt that Clinton needs to enforce many decisions with which she disagrees, but I often do that as part of my corporate job, and it is pretty annoying. The decisions I have to endorse are little things, about how we develop an internal website, not about the direction of how my country relates to the world. SoS might be a cushy job for the other reasons you mentioned, but "not making decisions" shouldn't need to be something you aspire to do.
Robert says:
Also, HRC has never impressed me as somebody looking for a sinecure. Heck, she'd have gone for VPOTUS were that the case.
Part of me is imagining Obama nominating Alan Keyes, just for shits and giggles. "You wanted him in the Senate; isn't he qualified for SCOTUS?"
Also, did anyone ever imagine you'd see a day when there were Catholics and Jews on the Supreme Court, but no Protestants?
HoosierPoli says:
Nominating Hillary would be, politically, the equivalent of nominating Harriet Miers if Miers had also been a member of the KKK. Dumping unqualified political dynamite down the mine shaft that is the US Senate is gonna get people killed, starting with the anemic obese man that in this metaphor stands for Obama's remaining political leverage.
Bugboy says:
To be honest, I got the funny feeling this was a trial balloon floated by the Right to get the masses fired up.
Prudence says:
I actually think Hillary would do a good job on SCOTUS, but the mere mention of the name, "Clinton", causes the right wing to break out in the sort of toy-throwing tantrum that'd make a 2 year old blush. Not helpful. No matter whom Barry noms, the GOP will scream blue murder, but just as I don't second guess absolutely everything at the doctor's, I'm going to trust the Obama administration to do a good job with this. And obsess about the details in the meantime…
Brandon says:
BB in GA: I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say. Is is that, because white women on average tend to live long, Hillary's relatively advanced age isn't quite as big a factor as it would be if she were black? If so, that's a pretty silly argument. Blacks don't have shorter life spans because of their "blackness," as you seem to be saying. They live shorter on average in this country because life expectancy is likely correlated with income, and blacks on average are poorer. Justice Thomas is not poor, so your comment about us being rid of him early because he's black is ridiculous.
Jimcat says:
Also, *average* lifespans take into account a lot of people who die young. Expected lifespan at birth can be a lot different than expected lifespan at age 60.
Jimcat says:
Never mind, I'm an idiot, the first post did have life expectancy by age. Feel free to delete my posts.
bb in GA says:
Brandon:
The context of the data dump is that HRC is "too old" per the Dear Leader.
Too old relative to whom? I supplied ALL the data available from the source I chose for U to chew on and decide whether U agree or not.
Since I am not a Leftist, I "slang" a little dig in that direction using Justice Thomas who is loosely covered by the data.
Perhaps I should have put some kind of smiley on it to indicate my sarcasm.
1000 pardons requested etc etc. //bb
bb in GA says:
Apparently HRC and WJC agree with Ed:
from Political Punch abcnews.com
A Clinton as a Supreme
'The former President said the Secretary of State “would be great at it” and “at one point in her life she might have been interested in it.” But, he added, “she’s like me, you know, we’re kind of doers. We like being out there and doing things, rowing our own boat and making changes we could see happen.” Hillary Clinton turned 62 in October and Mr. Clinton said, if asked, she would also “advise the president to appoint some 10, 15 years younger.'
//bb
Michelle says:
Brandon:
The context of the data dump is that HRC is "too old" per the Dear Leader.
Too old relative to whom? I supplied ALL the data available from the source I chose for U to chew on and decide whether U agree or not.
Since I am not a Leftist, I "slang" a little dig in that direction using Justice Thomas who is loosely covered by the data.
Perhaps I should have put some kind of smiley on it to indicate my sarcasm.
1000 pardons requested etc etc. //bb