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 ...
Ten Bears says:
Since the strike the increase of fights has me wondering if hockey is going to way of wrestling
Will says:
That kind of large lump-in-the-throat/trouble-swallowing is a pretty classic presentation of strep. Might want to head to a doctor if you haven't already.
Erin says:
The 1992 strike? There have been three owner lockouts since then (1994-1995, 2004-2005 and the last one). Fighting has also been in decline for several years in the NHL. I can only imagine the slight uptick in fights this year is due to the increased workload a 48-game season in 100 days.
I'm not sure what's meant by going [the?] way of wrestling. Wrestling in the Olympics? Entertainment wrestling?
c u n d gulag says:
Feel better, Ed.
My Rangers take on the Bruins tonight.
Sally's Dad says:
2nd c u n d & will
As for the NHL, I'm still mourning over the Ducks loss… I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since they ran hot n cold all season.
sluggo says:
I am starting my annual Blackhawks bandwagon jump.
StoneFoxx says:
That would be a happy ending, he's pretty hot.
proverbialleadballoon says:
Despite the Hawks carrying play the last two periods, Howard kept the Wings in it until the end. And it took a money play from Seabrook to keep it from a one-goal game with less than three minutes left. So yeah, tight game, tense game, and the Oduya goal seemed to loosen everybody up a bit, the Hawks, the United Center crowd, those of us watching at home. The Hawks' play the last 40 minutes is promising, but you never count the Wings out.
JazzBumpa says:
Here's my Wings fan perspective, though I only saw part of period 3.
It was late period 2 as I was driving home listening on the radio, and the Detroit announcers were more or less in shock at the Hawks dominance in period 2, when they outshot the Wings 17-5. Final tally was something like 43-21. [more or less] The Wings NEVER get outshot like that. Except they did.
I watched period 3 until it was 3-1, then turned it off to spare myself the agony. It was men against boys. I've seldom seen any sporting event in which a team was so badly outclassed.
Going in, I thought there was a remote possibility the Wings might somehow finagle their way through this series, mostly 'cuz Howard is playing awesome. [How often is the best player on the ice the goalie in a 4-1 loss?] Now it looks like a sweep.
Sadly,
JzB
Jane says:
and what about last night's match between Canada and Sweden?! GOOOOO SWEDEN :)
Elusis says:
I keep vainly hoping to see you turn in a rant on how it's definitely unfair for the IRS to try to make sure that political lobbying groups aren't trying to clothe themselves as not-for-profits by giving extra scrutiny to not-for-profit applications that name themselves after political lobbying groups.
Bitter Scribe says:
I will be dipped in shit. I have loved the Blackhawks all my life, but I had no idea Oduya's dad was from Kenya until I read this post. Yet another reason to love G&T.