Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

People are complicated. Love is not.

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Another missed opportunity for Jamie Dimon to just shut the fuck up.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Motown is Joe-Town!

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Labor Day ‘But Seriously… ‘ Open Thread

Labor Day ‘But Seriously… ‘ Open Thread

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… After analyzing nearly four decades of wage data, EPI estimated that male non-union workers in the private sector would be earning, on average, $2,074 [more] per year if the percentage of unionized workers in the private sector had stayed flat since 1979. Overall, EPI found that male non-union workers in the private sector have been losing about $109 billion per year. Women in non-union, private sector jobs took a much smaller hit to their income — about $24 billion annually — because men were significantly likelier to be union members in 1979.

The EPI report was co-authored by Washington University-St. Louis sociologist Jake Rosenfeld, author of the excellent 2014 book What Unions No Longer Do. Rosenfeld told me he had expected to find that union decline had somewhat depressed non-union wages, but that the scale of the effect was “staggering.”

“It has to be seen as a top culprit in the ongoing financial fragility of the average American worker,” said Rosenfeld…

Mr. Pierce, at Esquire:

None of our national holidays have moved as far from its original founding purposes as Labor Day has. This is because most of the people and corporations—which, of course, are indistinguishable from each other; thank you, Justice Kennedy—who have monetized our holidays would rather not have anything to do with the founding purposes of Labor Day… They have no real moral qualms about turning Memorial Day into a celebration of American barbecue, or the Fourth of July into a carnival of gluttonous alcoholism, but they really don’t want Americans remembering that we celebrate the first weekend in September not because of the Americans who died at Gettysburg or Normandy but, rather, that we celebrate the first weekend in September because of the Americans who died at Homestead, and at Ludlow in Colorado, and at Matewan. But that is what this day is for, even now, in a right-to-work, de-unionized global economy…

E.J. Dionne, in the Washington Post, “Help wanted: Phony populism doesn’t feed the family”:

You would have thought that Labor Day 2016 would bring us a serious conversation about lifting the incomes of American workers and expanding their opportunities for advancement.

After all, we have spent the year talking incessantly about alienated blue-collar voters and a new populism rooted in the disaffection of those hammered by economic change…

The truth is that Clinton has offered many more serious policy proposals for raising workers’ incomes than Trump has. Her website is full of ideas on expanding profit-sharing, a “Make it in America” initiative to promote manufacturing, and plans on family leave, child care, cutting student debt and much more…

… Trump has effectively reduced his campaign to immigration and trade (plus “law and order”). He’s arguing that the problems faced by U.S. workers will be magically solved if we throw millions of immigrants out of the country and if he gets a chance to negotiate much tougher trade deals…

In the meantime, voices outside the campaign are trying to interject practical ideas that might help Americans whose incomes are lagging. The Opportunity Nation campaign will release a middle-of-the-road plan at the end of this week. Its main architects, Republican John Bridgeland and Democrat Bruce Reed, draw on ideas that have won support from both parties on expanding early-childhood programs, increasing high school graduation rates, creating much broader opportunities for national service, and finding new ways to connect the 5.5 million Americans ages 16 to 24 who are disengaged from both school and work.

Well worth more attention is the “10-20-30” initiative from Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.). He would mandate that at least 10 percent of spending on federal programs go to counties where at least 20 percent of the population has lived below the poverty line for 30 years or more. Clinton has endorsed it, and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has spoken favorably about it…

And if older union models are out of date in some sectors, we need new ones such as those proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to strengthen the rights of Americans who work in the gig economy.

This was supposed to be the election in which the interests of the non-elite finally got a hearing. We still have two months to make it happen.


(h/t commentor NorthLeft12)

Reader Interactions

136Comments

  1. 1.

    Pogonip

    This isn’t political, but as a fellow sufferer I hope Hillary’s getting that sinus infection taken care of. Those are miserable.

    Also, I blame Thurston.

  2. 2.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Well worth more attention is the “10-20-30” initiative from Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.). He would mandate that at least 10 percent of spending on federal programs go to counties where at least 20 percent of the population has lived below the poverty line for 30 years or more. Clinton has endorsed it, and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has spoken favorably about it…

    I never heard of this, and I’m a bit surprised His Earnestness doesn’t dismiss it as Big Government.

    I heard an interview with the author of Hillbilly Elegy, a book about white Appalachian society, and he said he’ll probably vote for HRC– he’s leans conservative– but complained she just doesn’t know how to relate to people like him, or people like his family, as he’s now, I believe, a VC lawyer in Silicon Valley. You’d think a guy who went to Yale Law School would be able to look past all the “reliability” nonsense to actual policy.

  3. 3.

    NorthLeft12

    This fits here;https://youtu.be/SKWfnO7fhQM

    I never worked in a union, but have worked along side them for most of my engineering career. I have received many benefits and raises thanks to union negotiations with the company I worked for. Unions are also responsible for many [if not all] labour laws, health and safety regs, and our high standard of living. My thanks to unions. Hopefully people will look back and realize how important they were, and how much we still need them.

  5. 5.

    p.a.

    We absolutely need them to regain the Senate majority, but don’t expect redistributionist legislation (because that’s what’s required) from a majority including Bayhs, Manchins etc.

  6. 6.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    @Pogonip: oh,but it is political. I heard on the NPR story today on HRC talking to the journos on the big plane and it had to be he mentioned that she went back front because she had a coughing spell. Nothing was mentioned about her having a sinus infection so you know the RWNJs will go crazy over Hilz having a condition. I want the NPR reporter to talk about how Trumpy had to go back to NYC because the two year toddler has to have his blankie in NYC to sleep. How is Trumpy going to deal with a state trip to Australia or India or Southern Africa?

  7. 7.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: given that he’s voting for her, he’s probably seen past it.

    Perhaps saddest of all is that the people most able to understand the ‘hillbillies’–what it’s like to have your communities destroyed by elitism, classism, other isms, and unrestrained capitalism and then left to rot–are black, the very people they were taught to despise.

  9. 9.

    gwangung

    @p.a.: Looking to elected politicians for leadership is, for the most part, going at it backwards. It’s a common mistake that the progressive left and the reactionary right are particularly prone to (that they can impose their solutions once they grab power).

  10. 10.

    lamh36

    @ESPNNFL
    More Colin Kaepernick gear was sold last week on 49ers’ team site than past 8 months combined. (via @darrenrovell)

  11. 11.

    mainmata

    This is exactly the problem with this election. The MSM (and I mean the cable and network TV mainly) are chasing ratings (and profits) only. They don’t give a sh*t about the issues. Jeff Zucker of CNN basically said just that so we are not getting any kind of presentation of these issues. What we’re getting is nothingburgers about the Clinton Fdn. and the 9000th investigation of the email servers from Hell. Meanwhile, the Flaming Yamburger is ratings gold so he gets a pass on everything. This is the nadir of Presidential Election coverage. I don’t know how to right this awful situation unless Americans change the Congress (obviously).

  12. 12.

    lamh36

    @GlennThrush 2h2 hours ago Washington, DC
    RIP, Phyllis Schlafly. No woman ever worked so tirelessly, ventured so far on behalf of the belief that other women should do none of that.

  13. 13.

    Kryptik

    @Mai.naem.mobile:
    @lamh36:

    I said it elsewhere, but I’ll say it again, the fact that this has become the new scandal du jour that’s taking up all the air of the news cycle is a testament to just how easily the right-wing can create scandal and ‘concern’ out of total wholecloth. They simply repeat it a few times, and suddenly it’s a ‘very serious concern’ and worth all the goddamn coverage ever.

    Like, how the hell do you pierce through that veil of total bullshit when they can’t invent shit on the fly out of total thin-air and have it treated like total gospel?

  15. 15.

    schrodinger's cat

    The biggest reason behind the current income inequality is that labor is weak, Since the Reagan era government policies have favored priorities of investors over all other stakeholders like deregulation, low inflation etc.

  16. 16.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    If anyone is interested, a Diamond Mind Baseball league that I’m in is looking for new team owners. For those unfamiliar with DMB, it’s a sim league rather than Rotisserie, which means that we play a simulated 162-game season using the previous year’s stats. We’re just now finishing the regular season based on the 2015 stats, and getting set for the playoffs.

    It’s a deep league (60 man rosters) with a hybrid draft/auction system designed to mimic actual baseball contracts. The draft is open to any player that is signed by one of the MLB teams and either didn’t appear during the regular season or had fewer than 150 PAs or 50 IP. You get the first three years of their MLB career really cheap. Established MLB players not on a roster go into the auction.

    We have one owner that doesn’t want to follow minor league players, so he trades away all of his draft picks every year, but it’s advisable not to follow this route. If you’re interested, email me at eeyore1968 at meloncholy-donkey dot com.

  17. 17.

    James E Powell

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I never heard of this, and I’m a bit surprised His Earnestness doesn’t dismiss it as Big Government.

    I’m guessing a very large percentage, maybe even a majority, of those counties are red counties in red states.

  20. 20.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @schrodinger’s cat: Tweety Matthews likes to affect a lot sympathy for the hard-hat, lunch-bucket regular guys he knew back in Philly (north? south? east? west? who cares?), said during the 12 campaign that Obama’s problem was he didn’t have something big from his first term, something big he could point to like Reagan firing the air traffic controllers. Breaking labor was “something big”, saving the auto industry and all the union jobs? doesn’t count. Yeah, it’s Tweety, but I think a lot of times he speaks for the Village, and this is one of those cases.

  21. 21.

    Nora

    I like that Pierce referred to Ludlow and Homestead strikes. My senior honors thesis for my history degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison compared those strikes with the Pullman strike and the Lawrence (bread and roses) strikes. How could anyone who knows anything about history be anti-unions? I don’t get it.

  22. 22.

    Pogonip

    @Mai.naem.mobile: Well, it sounds like a nasty sinus infection to ME, a veteran of same. Could also be bronchitis, walking pneumonia, or congestive heart failure, although to me she doesn’t look swollen enough for the latter.

  25. 25.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Pogonip:

    There seems to be a really nasty post-nasal drip going on with her, which tickles the back of the throat something awful. The attacks tend to come on very suddenly, and while you’re in the thrall of them, the coughing attacks they bring on are painful and violent. I felt terribly sorry for her and hope her medical folks can give her something to suppress the worst of it.

  26. 26.

    Major Major Major Major

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    CLINTON DEVELOPING COUGH SYRUP HABIT?
    SECRETARY OF ROBO-TRIPPING
    SECRET SERVICE MEMBER: WHEN BILL WAS PREZ, I SAW HILL SNEAK IT DURING STATE DINNERS
    CLINTON’S COUGH CONCOTION CONTAINS CODEINE!
    PILL POPPER FOR PREZ?

    must credit major major major major

  27. 27.

    PPCLI

    @James E Powell: Bullseye. How many of these will be Podunk counties in Wyoming with 100 people. 30 of whom are survivalist families.Their share of that sweet Federal boodle will be quite the windfall.

  28. 28.

    debbie

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’ve been dealing with a cough like that for more than a year. Some days, they call it allergic asthma, other days it’s asthmatic allergies. Either way, it’s sucked. I recommend bushels of Ricola Lemon Mint throat drops.

  30. 30.

    Marmot

    would be earning, on average, $2,074 per year if the percentage of unionized workers in the private sector had stayed flat since 1979.

    Er, $2k a year ain’t great. Did they mean $2k more a year? From what average baseline? Jesus.

  33. 33.

    mike in dc

    Incidentally, Saint Glenn of Greenwald is getting into it with the LGM commentariat over FPer Bethany Spencer’s relatively mild critique of some comments he made about Democrats “crying wolf” over Republican presidential nominees. Now at 666 comments, or 1.33 TBogg units.

  35. 35.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    some good news….

    Take that, extinction: giant pandas and the other animals fighting back

    Including the Amur tiger, up to about 360 from about thirty.

    Fewer Phyllis Schlaflys and more tigers in the world.

  36. 36.

    sinnedbackward

    AL at Top: Sounds to me that there’s a huge typo there. EP means to say “$2074 MORE per year”. Otherwise, we should all submit to corporate slavery.

  38. 38.

    dmsilev

    @mike in dc: That thread passed ‘trainwreck’ several hours ago and is rapidly approaching ‘Trump rally’. Greenwald doesn’t take criticism well.

  43. 43.

    NJ Maine Coon Slave

    @Kryptik: You can’t. I left FB for mental health and took to twitter. Since then I’ve been blocked by Maggie, dismissed by GG (who cares, really) and attacked by Bernie Bros. As a former lurker I think I will call it a day and settle in here where people love life, each other and lots and lots of furbabies (Looking at you Walter!) and shed the social media skin. I’m tired. And old. Good riddance.

  45. 45.

    Chris

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Perhaps saddest of all is that the people most able to understand the ‘hillbillies’–what it’s like to have your communities destroyed by elitism, classism, other isms, and unrestrained capitalism and then left to rot–are black, the very people they were taught to despise.

    Was reading a family email thread (I was copied; I didn’t participate) on the subject of Trump and his voters, in which the resident right winger, amidst passive-aggressive swipes at his “elite” relatives, lamented the lack of understanding and compassion (citation not given) for the poor people of Appalachia whose communities had been so wrecked and destroyed by the policies of unfeeling elites.

    Because I have no interest in making the family reunions less pleasant and because I had no illusion that there would be a productive or good-faith argument, I didn’t respond “you know, a lot of black and other Democratic communities are in the same spot as your poor Appalachians, and the response from your side of the aisle to their complaints has forever been a combination of ‘blame yourselves,’ ‘pull yourselves up by your bootstraps,’ ‘the world doesn’t owe you anything,’ and ‘God damn it, quit bellyaching and take some responsibility.’ Why exactly should our hearts suddenly start bleeding over white rural Appalachians’ problems when we’re told that they shouldn’t for anyone else’s? Why exactly should I blame their problems on the actions of big meanies in the elites when I’m told that the problems of everyone else in their position are completely self-inflicted? And why isn’t the solution simply to give them the same tough love that we’re told to give everyone else?”

  46. 46.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @dmsilev: Lennon did a pretty good job with the 5th of November, though I don’t think the 5th of September would have had the same meaning for John.

  49. 49.

    Miss Bianca

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: You’d think a guy who went to Yale Law School from a relatively humble background wouldn’t have THAT much trouble relating to someone else who went to Yale Law School from a relatively humble background, would you? I mean, BILL manages it just fine. What’s this idiot’s problem?

    Jesus. I’m really getting tired of Southern white guys in the Jim Webb mode and their special, special brand of butt-hurt.

  50. 50.

    Mnemosyne

    For me, there is no surer rabbit hole than a well-written true crime website, especially if it’s mostly unsolved true crimes. I’m only just resurfacing now.

  51. 51.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Adam L Silverman: I hate threaded comments. They destroy the weird conversations we have here. They may cause more focused discussions. If you want the focused discussions, go to LGM. This place does different things.

  56. 56.

    Suzanne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: O read an interview with the same guy (Vance), and he basically said that “hillbillies” like Trump because he’s mad (or pretends to be mad) at the same people they’re mad at, and they like that he doesn’t come off as educated and “elite” like HRC and BHO.

    If ever I have heard worse reasons to support a candidate, I don’t recall.

  59. 59.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mnemosyne: any recommendations? I never read a lot of true crime, but I went through a podcast rabbit hole with (among others) Serial, and now I listen to Crime Writers On…. hosted by four true crime writers. I haven’t picked up any of their books yet, but I’m getting more interested in the subject.

  61. 61.

    Humdog

    I hope Hillary has a cold, not allergies. She therefore went to visit the reporters on the plane JUST so she could cough on all of them and give them her cold. You want a press conference? Eat my germs!

  62. 62.

    Miss Bianca

    @Adam L Silverman: If I’m understanding it correctly, both HRC and the “Hillbilly Elegy” author went to Yale Law School. Apparently he’s complaining that she doesn’t understand people like him. To which I say, “o, rlly?”

  68. 68.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I comletely agree. One of my pleasures in life is reading BJ threads from bottom to top and flipping around to find out what everyone is talking about. It’s like working the room at a lively and intelligent cocktail party.

  73. 73.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @dmsilev:

    Are you familiar with the concept of the ‘chork’?

    I wasn’t and thought you might have made that up from whole cloth; but it’s a real thing. (Again, my shocked face)

  74. 74.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Miss Bianca: one of his big concerns is addiction, Hillary Clinton wants to expand access to health care, released a detailed plan for improving mental health care last week. Paul Ryan wants people to have health savings accounts and go to church.

    Beyond that, she and just about all Democrats want to enact a jobs-infrastructure program. But he’s unsure if Trump is enough reason to vote for HRC, and he thinks its somehow her and Obama’s fault that they don’t want to vote for Ds.

    @James E Powell: cool, thanks

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I can’t remember how, but I stumbled across it this morning and spent most of the day on it: I Did It for Jodie. The downside is that the author is now wondering if she’s exploiting the pain of others by writing about true crime, so she’s taking a break of unspecified duration while she wrestles with that. It’s philosophical musings on real crimes rather than original reporting, but she has good links to original reporting.

    @Humdog:

    I’m probably a bad person, because that was my exact thought.

  86. 86.

    Lizzy L

    I dropped by LGM and became ensnared by the comments on the post referred to, until I got to “Holy fuck, this is insane.” At that point I was liberated and able to drag myself away. Here. Whew.

  87. 87.

    Larkspur

    @SiubhanDuinne: I think I love you. I know you have been asked this before, but how do I say your name aloud? IPA pronunciation rules are okay. My brand new hobby is to become adept at IPA, even if I am not drinking IPA.

  92. 92.

    dmsilev

    @Suzanne: That video reminded me of an infomercial I saw years ago, for a large pot whose lid was basically a colander. For those people who couldn’t master the art of draining a pot of pasta without said pasta going down the sink drain (seriously, that’s what the infomercial was showing). If you can’t successfully use a colander, perhaps you should avoid stovetop cooking entirely and stick to the microwave.

    Edit: found it

  93. 93.

    Mnemosyne

    @efgoldman:

    Don’t get me wrong, all police chases should end with nobody hurt and the chasee taken into custody unharmed, but it does get a little tiresome to have the dichotomy right in front of us — in black and white, even — and see how many white people are absolutely determined to remain clueless about why Black Lives Matter is pissed off.

  94. 94.

    JR in WV

    @NJ Maine Coon Slave:

    Welcome on board!

    I’m old, arthritic, former this and that, WV hillbilly, retired now, and full of piss and vinegar when it comes to republicans. So maybe we’ll get along. Or agree to disagree at 4 am.

  96. 96.

    Larkspur

    Totally OT: the daughter of friends of mine, a recent college graduate, has landed her first grown up job, in Chicago (far from her college in Boston and her home in Northern California) and she’s got a nice little studio apartment. I don’t know Chicago very well, but it appears to be uptown, not far from the lake, and I am just so damn proud of her. I love her and I love her generational cohort, and she and her friends can dance all over my yard, day or night, if only I had a yard. Truly, she’s one of the reasons I care about stuff. Go go go, my dear young friend.

  97. 97.

    Suzanne

    @dmsilev: People can’t cook pasta without dumping it down the sink?! I think that is natural selection trying to starve them to death.

  99. 99.

    Felonius Monk

    @Suzanne:

    I think that is natural selection trying to starve them to death.

    No. It’s why they invented take-out. Because some people can’t boil water and some set their kitchen on fire every time they try to cook.

  100. 100.

    Lizzy L

    @Larkspur: When I graduated from college I moved to Chicago to go to graduate school, and my first apartment was uptown, on Sheridan Rd, which borders the lake. It was a truly spectacular place to be. I lived in Chicago for 5 years, and though I loathed the winters, I made some lifetime friends there, heard some spectacular music, learned to love Korean food, and don’t regret a minute of it. I wish your friends’ daughter all the best.

  101. 101.

    Mnemosyne

    @Larkspur:

    Thirded — if she can stand the winters, Chicago is a wonderful city. I couldn’t, which is why I moved to California at 19 and never really looked back.

    An interesting tidbit I discovered when I got into an argument with another commenter here: of the 15 coldest winters on record in Chicago, 7 of them happened while I lived there, so it may be best for everyone for me to stay in California after all.

  103. 103.

    Suzanne

    @Felonius Monk: I dunno. Honestly think that might be nature’s attempt to keep the stupid from living long enough to reproduce. Takeout is just how we are once again defeating the control mechanism.

    I kid, of course. I had Chinese food delivered tonight and ate the hell out of it. I do know how to cook, though.

  104. 104.

    FlipYrWhig

    Btw, re: Greenwald, he really doesn’t care for the people who frequent Balloon Juice, which he said to my virtual face on that crazy thread at LGM, now past 700 comments and pulling in people eager to rehash every Democrats-and-civil liberties / ¿ Quién es más izquierda? food fight since 2001.

  112. 112.

    frosty

    @NJ Maine Coon Slave:

    As a former lurker I think I will call it a day and settle in here where people love life, each other and lots and lots of furbabies (Looking at you Walter!)

    Welcome! I can’t figure out why, but BJ has the best comments section of any blog I read. Well, except maybe Wonkette, where the snark/sarcasm factor is over the top.

  118. 118.

    Suzanne

    @Major Major Major Major: It’s staggering how some people, and I have to note that they are typically dudes, get very upset if others challenge their brilliance. Freddie Bonerz is a prime example of that, you are absolutely right.

  120. 120.

    NJ Maine Coon Slave

    @FlipYrWhig: I used to like him, but for some time now I am really disappointed with GG. He has an incredible platform to make a lot of noise and instead spends his time attacking the only people who can really make change. Too bad he is such an assh0le.

  121. 121.

    Ruckus

    @Mnemosyne:
    Yes but then he doesn’t like anyone who doesn’t bow at his feet so they can kiss his ass. Also I find it refreshing that we have that sort of power. Of course making a pompous arrogant ass leave is a valuable talent.

  122. 122.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Major Major Major Major et al.: I don’t want to drag a skirmish from there to here but it was the usual thing from him about how anyone who disagrees with his majesty is a wrongthinking pseudo-liberal and bootlicker of institutional power who probably used to like his work but turned against it due to placing partisan loyalty before genuine political principle. Haven’t had one of those in a while. It was kind of like a class reunion.

  124. 124.

    NJ Maine Coon Slave

    @frosty: I am not a huge fan of Wonkette but have been following BJ for quite a while. Just shy and afraid to commit I guess. Of every blog/site I follow BJ is the most honest and loving place I know. Yes it is sappy but there is no place that compares. Thanks to John and thanks to you all as well. I am so glad to be here.

  127. 127.

    FlipYrWhig

    @NJ Maine Coon Slave: He’s a single-issue gadfly. There’s a place for that. What sets me off is the way he thinks all liberalism and leftism align around him, when he’s a Johnny-come-lately to that whole tradition. It’d be like Blink-182 saying that if you don’t like them it’s obviously because you don’t like punk.

  128. 128.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Suzanne: To be halfway fair, bspencer took a shot at him in a front page post. The astounding thing is that he not only showed up but also hung around to pick fights, fling poo, and brag. Was it Josh Trevino (“Tacitus?”) who used to show up within minutes whenever his name was mentioned on a blog that he disagreed with?

  135. 135.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @FlipYrWhig:
    Oh god, I’m flashing back to that execrable article of his about how Ron Paul was so great. GG’s actual counterargument to the criticism he gets about Ron Paul’s racism was that Democrats are uncomfortable admitting that they like killing babies. That’s not even a paraphrase, although he did drag it out into two paragraphs of sneering righteousness.

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