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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / The Way We Live Now: A Simple, Marketable Primer for Dealing with the Toddler-in-Chief

The Way We Live Now: A Simple, Marketable Primer for Dealing with the Toddler-in-Chief

by Anne Laurie|  March 18, 20174:17 pm| 164 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Dolt 45, Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Trump Crime Cartel, Assholes, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?, Our Awesome Meritocracy

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1. Let him talk about himself
2. Don't bring up Obama
3. Tell him his crowds were huge
4. Don't stare at his tiny, milky white hands

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 18, 2017

Okay, President-Asterisk Trump is not working nearly as effectively as his biggest boosters hoped, in those heady days after the election. But you deal with the gulls you have, not the gulls you wished you had, so… Politico founders and self-styled machers Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen share some #Savvy in their newest venture, Axios:

Top CEOs have a new First Customer. With President Trump taking a hands-on approach to negotiations, here are five tips for surviving and thriving — based on conversations with executives, aides and friends who have battled Trump in private and found some success…

– Get to the table, whether you love him or not. Trump is a transactional guy with unformed views on many topics. He frequently seeks advice and occasionally takes it. While it might feel right to buckle to pressure and refuse meetings, you lose your leverage, instantly and profoundly.

– Give him something he can call a win. Trump has an elastic view of winning, as seen by his trumpeting of companies announcing new U.S. jobs that were set in motion long before the president won. He NEEDS something to tweet, but often needs the specifics filled in, several business leaders told us…

– Find and exploit common ground — on people, real estate, politics or private aircraft… He has a surface-level-at-best understanding of most policies, so going in for arcane policy discussions doesn’t work.

– Know he’s a vindictive guy who harbors grudges long beyond the moment. If you refuse to meet with him or put out anti-Trump messages, prepare to suffer revenge. He pays close attention to critics, and his aides hand him printouts of anti-Trump statements made by people or companies they don’t like. They have a notional enemies list that gets used for everything from rejecting appointments to key jobs, to deciding who gets a voice in policy debates.

– Work Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner. Both men sit it on key meetings, and often get Trump alone afterward to shape reaction and follow-up to interaction. Both are accessible by text and cell, and like playing the role of the Trump whisperer.

Then sit back and pray he doesn’t whack you with a Saturday morning tweet…

Just think of Trump as a sort of half-bright talking bear with access to vast wealth and powerful quasi-military resources. Prepare to trick him into sharing the first with you, without unleashing the second on you. Contact us for more tips and our very affordable consulting rate sheet!

This is the sort of world-weary how-it-works handout that used to be standard for business-journal articles about third-world dictators like Idi Amin or Muammar Gaddafi.

THANKS FOR BREAKING AMERICA, REPUBS!

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Reader Interactions

164Comments

  1. 1.

    Hal

    March 18, 2017 at 4:19 pm

    No conflicts could possibly come from this:

    Politics

    Kellyanne Conway’s Husband Is Trump’s Choice for Key Justice Post

    President Trump has selected George T. Conway III, right, the husband of Kellyanne Conway, to head the civil division of the Justice Department.
    MATT ROURKE / ASSOCIATED PRESS
    By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
    MARCH 18, 2017
    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump has selected George T. Conway III, the husband of his counselor Kellyanne Conway, to head the civil division of the Justice Department, people familiar with the decision said on Saturday, placing him in charge of a crucial office charged with defending Mr. Trump’s contentious travel ban and lawsuits alleging that his business activities violate the Constitution.

    Mr. Conway, 53, would lead a department of about 1,000 lawyers that has vast reach across the government, handling issues like national security and consumer protection and enforcing federal programs and the actions of the president himself.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 4:26 pm

    That’s good advice for CEOs. But it doesn’t address the problem of what happens when Trump asks something of the CEO that would hurt the company.

  3. 3.

    Suzanne

    March 18, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    @Baud: Trump is the fucking President of the Juggalos. I can’t believe that we have to have guidelines regarding how to handle him, like he’s a hazardous material.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 4:34 pm

    @Suzanne: He kind of is hazardous material.

  5. 5.

    Jay S

    March 18, 2017 at 4:36 pm

    @Baud: Simple, pretend to give it to him. Point to something you’re doing anyway as being responsive.

  6. 6.

    Yarrow

    March 18, 2017 at 4:36 pm

    I hope that Trump being president will help break our country’s apparent fascination with CEOs. We seem to revere them. That is wrong and should stop. They make far too much money for the “work” they do and being a CEO is not a reason someone would be good at any other particular job. Especially President of the United States.

  7. 7.

    Betty Cracker

    March 18, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    Perhaps VandeHei and Allen could turn their intellectual wattage toward developing a “Presidentin’ for Dummies” guide for Trump, who still doesn’t even understand how NATO is funded (and keeps embarrassing the country as a consequence by chasing Merkel, et al, around like a collection agency). Trump is the fool who is in over his head. If anyone needs schooling, it’s him, not people who run actual companies that their daddies didn’t deliver on a silver platter.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    @Yarrow: America doesn’t like politicians. That leaves military and CEOs.

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    March 18, 2017 at 4:39 pm

    @Yarrow:
    Like GWB before him, Trump will prove to be the wrong kind of CEO.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 4:39 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Trump needs it the most, but it would never stick. CEOs can’t wait for Trump to change who he is.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 4:40 pm

    @trollhattan: He was once a Democrat, you know. #GOPafterTheFall

  12. 12.

    Yarrow

    March 18, 2017 at 4:42 pm

    @Baud: You forgot celebrities. Trump is one of those.

    @trollhattan: Maybe. But W. was the Governor of a state. He had some electoral experience. Trump’s entire thing was being “good at business.” I hope Trump’s colossal failure makes people question why CEOs are considered so smart. He’s a total dummy.

  13. 13.

    Betty Cracker

    March 18, 2017 at 4:43 pm

    @Yarrow: Amen. I am also increasingly skeeved out by all the genuflecting before the military, which was bad enough during GWB’s presidency and has gotten worse under Trump. My husband, brother and many other family members are veterans, and I firmly believe the U.S. should live up to the promises made to those who served in the military — particularly those who were deployed in combat zones. But they’re not warrior-gods, and this isn’t feudal Japan. Enough with the worship.

  14. 14.

    philadelphialawyer

    March 18, 2017 at 4:44 pm

    I think that Corey Lewandowski guy is already selling a “consulting”/protection strategy to companies. Pay him enough, and, somehow, you can avoid a damaging Trump tweet storm against your business.

  15. 15.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 4:44 pm

    @Yarrow: True.

  16. 16.

    JMG

    March 18, 2017 at 4:46 pm

    @philadelphialawyer: It won’t be long before some CEO wears a wire to a meeting with Lewandowski.

  17. 17.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 18, 2017 at 4:47 pm

    @Yarrow: as somebody said on twitter this morning, Tillerson’s no good horrible pretty fucking bad trip to Asia shows the danger of bringing a CEO with no public sector experience in to a top government job– hostile to to the press, alien to the idea of public accountability, arrogant, treating foreign gov’t like another corporate leadership group.

  18. 18.

    Betty Cracker

    March 18, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    @philadelphialawyer: I read that somewhere recently, maybe WaPo. What a scumbag. He’s like a low-level hood for the world’s tackiest and most personally incompetent mafioso.

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 18, 2017 at 4:49 pm

    This is the sort of world-weary how-it-works handout that used to be standard for business-journal articles about third-world dictators like Idi Amin or Muammar Gaddafi.

    Exactly what I thought while reading it.

    That or it sounds like how you have to finish a frivolous side-quest in a video game. (Or a main quest in a Square/ENIX game.)

  20. 20.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 18, 2017 at 4:49 pm

    VandeHei and Allen need to be among the first “reconciled” by a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the aftermath of Donald’s Reign of Error.

  21. 21.

    mai naem mobile

    March 18, 2017 at 4:49 pm

    This moron is running the government like a mom and pop family business with maybe 7 employees.

  22. 22.

    MattF

    March 18, 2017 at 4:51 pm

    One thing left off that list is that you shouldn’t believe anything he says– and that includes soothing things said in ‘private’ meetings. There are lots of examples of people who he’s said reassuring things to and then said the opposite later that same day. He’ll say what he thinks you want to hear and then move on.

  23. 23.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 18, 2017 at 4:51 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Also, totally unaware of the history of the region. He’s mistaking the usual bluster of the NKs this time of year for the norm. He’s a fucktard.

  24. 24.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2017 at 4:51 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I’ve been bothered by it for years.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 4:52 pm

    If a company gets in trouble in their dealings with Trump, whose side should a good liberal take?

  26. 26.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 4:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Maybe it’s who I hang out with online, but I keep hearing that from military people but no one seems to do anything about it.

  27. 27.

    Suzanne

    March 18, 2017 at 4:55 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I am skeeved out by the fact that so many of the enlisted people I know think that we owe them something above and beyond the benefits they are owed. Like, dudes, stop. You did not sacrifice ***For America***. You joined the military because you couldn’t hack it in civilian life and you needed a job. For that, you get fair pay and benefits, but I’m not going to suck your dicks and send you to more wars because you need to stay employed and you can’t figure that out.

  28. 28.

    Aimai

    March 18, 2017 at 4:56 pm

    Anyone else notice that all this advice, and the tone, is identical to old style womens magazine advice for how to catch a man? For ambitious girls on the make for a rich moron? The same tactics :be interested in him! Let him win at tennis! Dont come on too knowlegeable on any subject–his ego is as fragile as it is enormous. Then too:chat up his friends. Stay on their good side. All totally horrifiyingly inappropriate to a modern presidency but totally normal for a rotting imperium headed by the moron results of terminal inbreeding.

  29. 29.

    Hal

    March 18, 2017 at 4:56 pm

    @Yarrow:

    I hope that Trump being president will help break our country’s apparent fascination with CEOs

    People in this country have a weird reverence for “business men”. One defense I hear of Trump over and over again is that he’s a business man, or and successful business man. As if that’s all that needs to be said. Does he have any relevant experience that can be applied to the job of President? Doesn’t matter. Business man!!

  30. 30.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2017 at 4:58 pm

    @Baud: I blame my winning personality.

    And Obama.

  31. 31.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 18, 2017 at 4:58 pm

    @Aimai: Oh my god you’re right!

  32. 32.

    JMG

    March 18, 2017 at 4:59 pm

    @Aimai: I had not thought of that, but you’re exactly right.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 4:59 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: It’s not your fault. (Obama is another matter.)

  34. 34.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 5:03 pm

    @Aimai: Good comparison. Makes sense to me.

  35. 35.

    Suzanne

    March 18, 2017 at 5:03 pm

    @Aimai: Ugh. You’re right. Terrifying.

    I remember reading a piece that examined the different attitudes men and women have regarding wanting a partner who has “a good sense of humor”. Overwhelmingly, men defined “a good sense of humor” as “someone who laughs at my jokes/witticisms”, whereas women defined it as actually making jokes or saying funny, incisive things.

  36. 36.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 18, 2017 at 5:04 pm

    @Hal: The people who think he’s a successful businessman obviously have never run a business, because if they did, they’d know better. A guy who claims $10 billion in assets in 2005 and has a 1.5 percent return before taxes is not a successful businessman. He’s a marginal businessman, at best.

  37. 37.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 18, 2017 at 5:04 pm

    @Aimai: Why would any self respecting woman want to be with such a man?

  38. 38.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 18, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    OT: I thought this gif was cute especially with the caption! Teehee.

    Trigger warning: Cute animal

  39. 39.

    Immanentize

    March 18, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: For me the creepiness started when the use of the world “hero” was deployed so randomly that it lost all meaning. Like in: “My son is my hero for enlisting.” Hero?!

  40. 40.

    Gelfling 545

    March 18, 2017 at 5:06 pm

    @Betty Cracker: My son in law is threatening to punch the next person who thanks him for his service. He wonders why they imagine that he did it for them.

  41. 41.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 18, 2017 at 5:07 pm

    @Suzanne: This steams me too, and I’m a vet. Guys, stop pretending you did this out of altruism. It’s a job. One you volunteered for. No one drafted you (/wave raven). It’s a dangerous job, and there are some benefits that accrue to it for that reason, but damn, stop being so fucking unprofessional. It’s embarrassing to the rest of us.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    (1) Not all woman are self-respect just like not all men are.

    (2) Material gain.

  43. 43.

    efgoldman

    March 18, 2017 at 5:11 pm

    @Hal:

    Kellyanne Conway’s Husband Is Trump’s Choice for Key Justice Post

    I thought he was gonna’ be solicitor general. But then, we’re already on the second or third nominee for that post, too.

    Winning. Tired of.
    Such a yoooge bigly administration. You’ll see.

  44. 44.

    efgoldman

    March 18, 2017 at 5:14 pm

    @Baud:

    He was once a Democrat, you know.

    Yeah, and I once voted for Republiklowns, too, until Ed Brooke and Frank Sargent retired.

  45. 45.

    Suzanne

    March 18, 2017 at 5:14 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: The dude that pisses me off the most is a guy who was in my social circle in high school. Dumb as a stump with grades to match, stoned all the time, dropped out the moment he turned eighteen. Whereas others in our group were also similarly working-class, but got college scholarships and good grades and went on to solid careers. Anyway, I ran into this dude about five years ago when a bunch of us got together to visit a mutual friend. He had been unable to stay employed as a waiter, so he joined the Army in his early 30s, after Iraq.

    Guess who is now a constitutional scholar, especially regarding the Second Amendment, and who thinks that the rest of us owe him something for his service and sacrifice?

  46. 46.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 5:16 pm

    If it makes y’all feel any better, there are plenty of Democratic veterans who have been treated disrespectfully.

  47. 47.

    Mike J

    March 18, 2017 at 5:16 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    I am also increasingly skeeved out by all the genuflecting before the military, which was bad enough during GWB’s presidency and has gotten worse under Trump.

    I was annoyed when my Dem congressman tweeted something on Valentine’s day about valentines for the troops. We have Memorial day, veteran’s day, armed forces day, flag day and the 4th of July. Can’t we have any holidays that aren’t militarized?

  48. 48.

    efgoldman

    March 18, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    @Suzanne:

    For that, you get fair pay

    The lower enlisted who need food stamps to feed their families might not agree.

  49. 49.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 18, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Good question

  50. 50.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 18, 2017 at 5:20 pm

    I was blown away by this trailer. I posted it in a thread yesterday. The movie is slated for release next month.
    One of the untold/glossed over stories of the partition of British India was the violence women were subjected to, not just by the “enemy” but by their own.
    Women on both sides of the border have been collecting these oral histories and publishing them before that generation is gone.
    Begum Jaan is set in Punjab, just before Indian independence. The Radcliffe line partitioning Punjab passes through Begum Jaan’s brothel. Yes that actually happened. Cyril just drew lines on a map without bothering to visit. The movie is her struggle to keep her home from being violated by forces far stronger than she is. Click on CC button for the subtitles. The last line of trailer packs quite a punch!
    Women still have to fight for that principle even today, my body, my home, my country, my rules.

    *Vidya Balan is fierce as Begum Jaan.

  51. 51.

    Betty Cracker

    March 18, 2017 at 5:20 pm

    @Aimai: OMG, you are so right! And basically they’re angling for the same transaction — an exchange of self respect for illusory security at the whim of a pampered, arrogant jackhole.

  52. 52.

    Suzanne

    March 18, 2017 at 5:21 pm

    @efgoldman: I want to pay them a fair wage so they can provide for their families. I want to take care of their medical and mental health care. I want to send them to college. I don’t want to treat them like I owe them undying gratitude for their bravery and sacrifice, or that they are more instrumental to building a successful society than anyone else.

  53. 53.

    Yarrow

    March 18, 2017 at 5:23 pm

    @Aimai: Oh, my gosh. You are right. That is so creepy.

  54. 54.

    Seth Owen

    March 18, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    @Suzanne: I wouldn’t go THAT far. You’d be surprised how much genuine patriotism plays a role in people’s decision.

    That said, I feel that it was a privilege to serve, I was fairly compensated during my time and I have continued to enjoy benefits such as the 9/11 GI Bill. Tricare for life and now my military retirement so I’m being thanked quite enough, already. I don’t need hero worship. I did my duty.

  55. 55.

    JMG

    March 18, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    One of my son’s best friends in high school went to West Point. He’s a captain in the Special Forces, two Bronze Stars in Afghanistan, and will graduate Kennedy School to teach poli sci back at the Point for a few years. Obviously, the officer track is way different than the enlisted one (although all the Special Forces tend to be lifers until they can’t physically do it).But I remember how when he was a second lieutenant in plain old infantry, he learned that one of his main duties was teaching his enlisted men the basics of living on their own away from home as they were so young. It is as close to higher education as some of those guys will ever get. I respect their decision, and I’m glad we have people like my son’s friend in the service, but that’s as far as I go. Veterans deserve excellent benefits, which do not include adoration by the rest of us.

  56. 56.

    john fremont

    March 18, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    @Suzanne: Thanks for that Suzanne. I’m a lurker here, but as a veteran I agree with what you said. There are many of us that had jobs but we’re looking for something else at the time. It also ticks me off that being a veteran I ‘m supposed to follow whatever active duty military and other veterans prefer. Since active duty military and vets supported Trump it’s expected that I do the same.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 5:25 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Ah, so it’s a period piece.

  58. 58.

    scav

    March 18, 2017 at 5:26 pm

    @Suzanne: And their “fighting for free speach” does not come with the guarantee that their opinions trump all others, on all subjects, forever-after, amen.

  59. 59.

    philadelphialawyer

    March 18, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    @efgoldman:Shouldn’t be any.

    https://paycheck-chronicles.military.com/2014/02/18/military-and-food-stamps/

  60. 60.

    Betty Cracker

    March 18, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    @Mike J: The bowing and scraping was on full display at the GOP congresscritter’s town hall I attended earlier today. It’s creepy.

  61. 61.

    john fremont

    March 18, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    @scav: This!!!

  62. 62.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 18, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    @Baud: In more ways than one.

  63. 63.

    Yarrow

    March 18, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    @Gelfling 545: I think there’s a fair amount of guilt. Only a small percentage of our population actually join the military so I think some of it is people assuaging their guilt. “I didn’t serve but if I praise this person who did then I’ll be doing something.” Just like the magnetic yellow ribbons on their SUVs. I think for a subset of the population there may also be residual guilt for how poorly Vietnam vets were treated.

  64. 64.

    Suzanne

    March 18, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    @Seth Owen: Of the people in my social circle who served/are serving who are in my generational cohort, only one of them did so because he felt a duty or responsibility to service. I have unbelievable respect for him, as I do for my aunt, who was in the Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam era. But everyone else in my group (and yes, I realize that that is a limited circle) joined because they were some combination of unsuccessful in the civilian workforce, weren’t prepared for or inclined toward college, and broke AF and attracted to the benefits. None of those are bad reasons to join, but they are not reasons for me to treat those people as if they are better or more valuable to society than anyone else we know who works hard, raises families, and in general makes society a better place.

  65. 65.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 18, 2017 at 5:32 pm

    @Aimai:

    Anyone else notice that all this advice, and the tone, is identical to old style womens magazine advice for how to catch a man?

    Yes! First thing I thought of (perhaps because I only recently read Lynn Peril’s book Pink Think, which took me right back to those not-so-long-ago days). One of the very worst things about any unequal or asymmetrical relationship is the way it invites, if not demands, the development of manipulative skills on the part of the “weaker” entity. It may be inherent: any three-year-old knows instinctively how to do this with their parents. Respectful deference is one thing; forelock-tugging and dissimulation, something else altogether.

    Pink Think link.

  66. 66.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 18, 2017 at 5:33 pm

    the transformation of the NFL into some kind of quasi-military organization, at the very least as a form of entertainment meant for “the troops” first and the rest of us later, is one of the worst things about the creeping Spartanism of our culture. “Colin Kaepernick is disrespecting the troops!” Of course the comic side of this was Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, FoxNews pundits solemnly borrowing the supposed outrage of “our troops” fighting in Iraq, forced to endure four nano-seconds of an exposed breast!

  67. 67.

    debbie

    March 18, 2017 at 5:33 pm

    @Aimai:

    Trump was born 50 years too late.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 5:36 pm

    I could probably make some money teaching CEOs how to giggle diffidently.

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 18, 2017 at 5:37 pm

    @Suzanne:

    O/T, but did you see the commenter link in Betty C’s thread downstairs that shows a billboard in Phoenix with $wastikas and Mushroom Clowns surrounding Trump’s face? Have you had occasion to see the actual billboard? (Possibly you already answered this; haven’t checked that thread in a while.)

  70. 70.

    Baud

    March 18, 2017 at 5:39 pm

    @debbie: Ain’t no way Trump’s pansy ass gets respect in 50-years-ago America.

  71. 71.

    Suzanne

    March 18, 2017 at 5:39 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes, I saw both the comment and the billboard. I work in central Phoenix and that billboard is close to my office. I also saw the MAGA billboard that got vandalized with swastikas a few months back.

  72. 72.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 18, 2017 at 5:39 pm

    @Baud:

    He kind of is hazardous material.

    There’s no ‘kind of’ about it…

    The man’s a new, prototypical WMD, all on his own… weaponized insanity…

  73. 73.

    randy khan

    March 18, 2017 at 5:40 pm

    @Hal:

    He actually looks like he might be reasonably qualified for the job. He’s a partner in a high-powered New York firm and has done a lot of high stakes litigation.

  74. 74.

    MattF

    March 18, 2017 at 5:45 pm

    @randy khan: It’s fair to note that Trump has a great deal of experience in choosing lawyers.

  75. 75.

    Gravenstone

    March 18, 2017 at 5:45 pm

    @Immanentize: Calling someone your personal hero is one thing. Demanding that anyone in uniform be revered and treated as a hero is an entirely different kettle of idolatry.

  76. 76.

    JMG

    March 18, 2017 at 5:47 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The NFL has been overtly militaristic since well before the first Super Bowl.

  77. 77.

    Chet Murthy

    March 18, 2017 at 5:49 pm

    I remember when the Gulf War was -just- about to start. I was 26, and thought to myself: if drafted, I’d opt for prison. B/c we had no business fighting that war, unless the entire Bush clan (and lots of others) went to prison -first-.

    It was a live issue, b/c selective service registration for males was a new thing back then — I remembered when I had to sign up.

    In my lifetime, there’s been precious little combat that our soldiers have fought, that hasn’t worsened our safety and security (at the cost of many, many thousands of lives): basically the first month or two of the Afghan war. And that’s it. Not Vietnam, not Grenada, not Gulf War, not Iraq War. Just pointless, couterproductive, morally bankrupt militarism.

    ETA: I could agree to: “I find the way our country used you to be odious in the extreme, but I appreciate that you served nevertheless”. In the absence of robust war crimes prosecutions, I see no moral position that offers unqualified support to soldiers.

  78. 78.

    Chris

    March 18, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    I am also increasingly skeeved out by all the genuflecting before the military, which was bad enough during GWB’s presidency and has gotten worse under Trump.

    What’s really skeevy is that the “SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!” chants don’t even need to be tangentially related to the military anymore. Military-worship is broken out fucking incessantly nowadays just as an all-purpose “shut up that’s why.” Someone said a transgender star was brave for coming out of the closet? Cue the whine that “oh YEAH? Well the TROOPS are even BRAVER.” Someone said minimum wage workers should be paid fifteen dollars an hour? Cue the “oh YEAH? Well the TROOPS work a lot HARDER than THEY do.” Someone wants to do something for refugees, prisoners, God knows who? Cue the “oh YEAH? Well I wish you cared about THE TROOPS as much you do about THOSE people!”

    “Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.”
    “OH YEAH? What about THE TROOPS? You think THEY’RE having a very happy day over there, in AFGHANISTAN? I DON’T think so. But you just don’t CARE about that, DO you?”

  79. 79.

    James E Powell

    March 18, 2017 at 5:54 pm

    @Mike J:

    Added to those are nearly every single public sporting event along with the broadcasts of same.

  80. 80.

    Keith P.

    March 18, 2017 at 5:55 pm

    5. Or, just skip #s 1-4 and pay a couple of hookers to piss on each other while he watches.

  81. 81.

    catclub

    March 18, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    @Aimai: well put.

    Doing the right thing, or telling truth to power have no place in this conversation.

  82. 82.

    Suzanne

    March 18, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    @Chris: The worst one is he “Support refugees?! When we have veterans living on the streets?! TAKE CARE OF VETERANS BEFORE REFUGEES!”. Such unbelievable bullshit. Especially because I guaran-fucking-tee you that the people saying that nonsense haven’t done shit for veterans.

  83. 83.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 18, 2017 at 5:59 pm

    @JMG: @James E Powell: I’m trying to remember if the MLB playoffs/World Series had the same kind of attempts at sentimental militarization, for lack of a better term. I don’t remember the “Hi Mom!” videos or shots of active duty military watching the game. I’m sure some active duty/vets did things like throw out the first pitch or sing the national anthem, but I don’t remember it being as relentless as it is with the NFL. I watch a little hockey and almost no basketball, not enough to notice that kind of ceremonial stuff.

  84. 84.

    liberal

    March 18, 2017 at 6:00 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    A great relatively new school of work on this stuff surrounds Jeff McMahan’s Killing in War.

  85. 85.

    catclub

    March 18, 2017 at 6:01 pm

    @Chet Murthy: My response is: Pay your damn taxes and then ask that VA benefits be increased.

    OTOH: Pissing on Veterans is the US tradition. Post WW2 was an aberration.

  86. 86.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 18, 2017 at 6:01 pm

    Girls can do anything, including climb Mt Everest at 13.

  87. 87.

    JPL

    March 18, 2017 at 6:02 pm

    NCAA Spoiler

    If Trump had filled out a bracket, he’d pick Wisconsin. just sayin

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 18, 2017 at 6:02 pm

    @randy khan:

    He actually looks like he might be reasonably qualified for the job. He’s a partner in a high-powered New York firm and has done a lot of high stakes litigation.

    On the merits, he is probably very well qualified for the job. The problem is that he is married to one of the President’s closest advisors. There needs to be some separation.

    Similarly, of all of Trump’s Cabinet appointments, Elaine Chao (Sec’y of Transportation) is quite likely as qualified as, if not more qualified than, anyone for that job. But the fact that her husband is Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate makes her appointment unacceptable to me, or at least worthy of deep scrutiny.

    Not to mention the whole Ivanka-Jared thing.

  89. 89.

    raven

    March 18, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I’d like to see just what “promises” we’re talking about?

  90. 90.

    Aleta

    March 18, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Enough with the worship.

    Seems like Republicans politicians are trying to project an image that is supposed to resemble a military man. (Even if they didn’t serve. Even Trump.) Though it’s closer to a movie character. Straight talking, abrupt. Gets the job done. Believes in action, not talk and meetings. Can do anything he has to. Knows more than you. Gives commands you’d better follow or be sorry. Knows his way around any gun. The Republican Congress seems to aspire to military discipline. They don’t like to explain or give ground; that would weaken their image.

  91. 91.

    catclub

    March 18, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Especially because I guaran-fucking-tee you that the people saying that nonsense haven’t done shit for veterans.

    There was this black guy and his wife who did lots of ‘Hire The Vets’ stuff. He got tons of credit for it with these people who demand we salute the troops.

  92. 92.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 18, 2017 at 6:05 pm

    @Chris: These things are all amazingly easy to say if you’re doing it from the parking lot of a mall in Illinois. It actually betrays just how precious the snowflakes spouting such shit actually are.

    If you do a reverse on it, as I have, by saying “look, buddy, I didn’t freeze my ass off in Germany so you could be a racist, sexist, homophobe bigot” they get all testy with me, starting with “thank you for your service, but…” and then proceeding, even though they don’t realize it, to validate everything I just said to them.

  93. 93.

    Suzanne

    March 18, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    @James E Powell: Last weekend, Mr. Suzanne and I took the Spawns to the Ostrich Festival. That’s an event in Chandler, which is a suburb of Phoenix, and it supposedly honors the city founder, who was a veterinarian. Anyway, we hadn’t been in a few years, and the last time we went, it was very County Fair-ish, with animals and little rides and stuff. But this year, it was a giant event, and ultra-trashy. We only wanted to attend the ostrich races, but they kicked off OSTRICH RACES with this whole extended genuflecting to the flag. But the crazy thing is that the flag was totally desecrated—-covered in fucking yellow fringe and reflective tape and sequins. It was ludicrous. We watched the ostrich races and then left.

    Real ‘Merica: where ostrich races can’t get underway until we pledge allegiance to shitty craft supplies.

  94. 94.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 18, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    @Suzanne: I hope they bought the glitter at Hobby Lobby

  95. 95.

    JMG

    March 18, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Many of the military fetish ceremonies at NFL games were paid for by the Dept. of Defense out of the recruiting budget. The league doesn’t do much unless there’s a nickel in it.

  96. 96.

    Death Panel Truck

    March 18, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    @Yarrow: The one that annoys me the most is the “Let’s see how many likes we can get for the troops!” bullshit on Facebook. If you were to suggest to these people that it might be a better idea to visit wounded veterans at VA hospitals, they’d look at you as if you were crazy, and stammer, “B-b-b-but I have a yellow magnet on my car! Why do you hate the troops?”

  97. 97.

    Hal

    March 18, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    @Chris: I had a friend on Facebook go on a multi post rampage over Colin Kaepernick because of all the veteran’s who fought for him and he isn’t going to stand for the anthem!?!?!?

    Service members are a catchall for a person’s supposed love of America and another Avenue to beat people who feel differently over the head, figuratively speaking.

  98. 98.

    Joejosh999

    March 18, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @Hal: QUASI Military resources??
    Our idiot SoS is about to have us go to war w N Korea.
    Of course, should California get nuked, Trump could care less.

    But he is in charge of the greatest nuclear arsenal in the world. Which can destroy the world many times over. And seems quite curious about using them.

    Not QUASI!

  99. 99.

    JMG

    March 18, 2017 at 6:20 pm

    Off topic, and very sad news indeed. It has been reported by his local TV and the BBC that Chuck Berry has died.

  100. 100.

    randy khan

    March 18, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    @JMG:

    He was 90, so not bad. Actually, for a rock and roll guy, getting to 90 is pretty darned good.

  101. 101.

    debit

    March 18, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    One of my coworker’s has a son who enlisted for National Guard because he was having trouble holding down a regular job and he was offered some sort of signing bonus. Coworker immediately started in on his sacrifice, how hard this would be on (and her) and joined all these “military moms” groups and talked about NOTHING ELSE FOR MONTHS. One day, the subject of flag burning came up and someone else said, “People who do that should be thrown in jail.” I asked why. Military Mom puffed up and shrieked, “My son is risking his life to protect that flag!”

    I told Military Mom and coworker, that no, actually, he was serving to protect MY right to fly the flag, wrap myself up in it, burn or wipe my ass with it, if I wanted to. I also pointed out that one disposes of a worn out flag by burning it. It was a little chilly in the office for the next week or so.

  102. 102.

    ThresherK

    March 18, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    @Aimai: This presidency has eclipsed the “How to catch your man” column. We may have already gone by the “Can This Marriage Be Saved?” metaphor.

  103. 103.

    randy khan

    March 18, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    With these folks, qualified is a miracle, so I’ll take what I can get. It’s not like the head of the civil division is likely to file cases that the President doesn’t want filed, or refuse to defend cases the President wants to defend.

  104. 104.

    MomSense

    March 18, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    Speaking of breaking America, Chuck Berry died and America’s heart is broken.

  105. 105.

    debit

    March 18, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    @JMG: I wonder how his cousin, Marvin, is taking it.

  106. 106.

    bystander

    March 18, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Worship of the military is the tonguebath they get instead of a well-funded VA and programs that would actually benefit and be responsive to them. It’s the economically sensible way to encourage self-reliance.

  107. 107.

    ThresherK

    March 18, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    @debit: He’s incommunicado right now. I think he’s still doing the soundcheck for the “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance.

  108. 108.

    Jeffro

    March 18, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    There seem to be plenty of opportunities to embarrass Trump since he reacts to whatever he sees on Fox (especially “Fox & Friends”) and since his minions are so stupid they simply scan headlines and assume articles are pro-Trump (like the Alexandra Petri one yesterday), not to mention Google things on the fly and actually include it in Trump’s speeches (like the “Irish proverb” yesterday that turned out to be a piece of Nigerian poetry).

    It’s a monumental level of stupid that we really ought to take advantage of more often.

  109. 109.

    ThresherK

    March 18, 2017 at 6:36 pm

    @MomSense: I am a sucker for the Baroque and Roll version.

  110. 110.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 18, 2017 at 6:42 pm

    @JMG: From Wiipedia:

    Berry claimed on The Tonight Show he was influenced primarily by 1940s swing artist Louis Jordan. “The main guy was Louis Jordan. I wanted to sing like Nat Cole, with lyrics like Louis Jordan with the swing of Bennie Goodman with Charlie Christian on guitar, playing Carl Hogan’s riffs, with the soul of Muddy Waters.”

    Great description of his music… Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole, Charlie Christian, & Muddy Waters…

    Wonderful… never heard of Carl Hogan before… I’ll have to look him up…

    ETA: Ooops… Jordan’s guitar player, which means I’ve heard him play and just didn’t know who that was…

  111. 111.

    Brachiator

    March 18, 2017 at 6:44 pm

    @JMG:

    Off topic, and very sad news indeed. It has been reported by his local TV and the BBC that Chuck Berry has died.

    Chuck Berry is motivatin’ over that hill into rock n roll heaven

  112. 112.

    Keith P.

    March 18, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    @Brachiator: Even though he stole his sound from a young white kid, RIP Chuck Berry.

  113. 113.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 18, 2017 at 6:48 pm

    By the way, Anne Laurie, shout-out for the Trollope reference!

  114. 114.

    raven

    March 18, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    @Brachiator: He played a gig in Decatur, IL in the early 70’s. Packed house and he announced he did get enough money and wouldn’t play until the crown took up a collection. Couple of us had hats and we joined in the collection but HE didn’t get it!

  115. 115.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 18, 2017 at 6:51 pm

    @debit:

    ??

    Marvin Gaye, you mean? Were they related? Didn’t know. Off to Google.

  116. 116.

    raven

    March 18, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    Hail Hail Rock and Roll.

    Drop the coin right into the slot. . .

  117. 117.

    germy

    March 18, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    Even though he was ninety, I was shocked to hear about Chuck Berry. I’ve been waiting for his new album “Chuck” to come out. I was hoping he’d be around for its release.

    He was one of the architects, along with Little Richard and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

  118. 118.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 18, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: No, Marvin Berry…

  119. 119.

    Keith G

    March 18, 2017 at 6:56 pm

    THANKS FOR BREAKING AMERICA, REPUBS!

    I am still white hot angry at certain pockets of Democratic establishment who ran an election that could not, in the end, win the presidency.

    The key lesson from that fiasco is: Do not fight the man first. Argue the policy. Trump’s biggest loses now are caused by a growing realization that his policies will maul the economically desperate working class that was important to his support.

  120. 120.

    germy

    March 18, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    Arrested on charges of unemployment,
    He was sitting in the witness stand
    The judge’s wife called up the district attorney
    Said you free that brown eyed man
    You want your job you better free that brown eyed man

    Flying across the desert in a TWA,
    I saw a woman walking across the sand
    She been a-walkin’ thirty miles en route to Bombay.
    To get a brown eyed handsome man
    Her destination was a brown eyed handsome man

    Way back in history three thousand years
    Back every since the world began
    There’s been a whole lot of good women shed a tear
    For a brown eyed handsome man
    That’s what the trouble was brown eyed handsome man

    Beautiful daughter couldn’t make up her mind
    Between a doctor and a lawyer man
    Her mother told her daughter go out and find yourself
    A brown eyed handsome man
    That’s what your daddy is a brown eyed handsome man

    Milo Venus was a beautiful lass
    She had the world in the palm of her hand
    But she lost both her arms in a wrestling match
    To get brown eyed handsome man
    She fought and won herself a brown eyed handsome man

    Two, three count with nobody on
    He hit a high fly into the stand
    Rounding third he was headed for home
    It was a brown eyed handsome man
    That won the game; it was a brown eyed handsome man

  121. 121.

    D58826

    March 18, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    @germy: His Johnny B Goode was one of the first rock songs that I remember listening to, back in the day when radio still had tubes

  122. 122.

    Keith P.

    March 18, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    Berry, explaining that his cousin was playing an “Enchantment Under The Sea”–themed high school dance when the mysterious teen, Calvin Klein, took to the stage and single-handedly invented rock and roll as we now know it. “Marvin held up the phone and I heard the song that would make me famous. Then I stole it.”

    Hehe

  123. 123.

    germy

    March 18, 2017 at 7:00 pm

    @D58826: I’m glad he insisted on getting a cut of the “Surfin’ USA” royalties.

  124. 124.

    eclare

    March 18, 2017 at 7:00 pm

    @Aimai: Wow, excellent point! Never thought of it that way.

  125. 125.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 18, 2017 at 7:01 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    Okay, I’m not really very knowledgeable about rock. I know a few names and a few songs, that’s it. Never heard of Marvin Berry (although I see your link is to The Onion, so now I don’t know what to think).

  126. 126.

    raven

    March 18, 2017 at 7:03 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    In the 1985 film Back to the Future, Marty McFly performs the song with the fictional band Marvin Berry and the Starlighters during the “Enchantment Under the Sea” high school dance, set in November 1955.[13] Mark Campbell (of Jack Mack and the Heart Attack fame) sang the vocals and Tim May played the guitar, with Michael J. Fox shown miming to both. This scene was revisited in Back to the Future Part II (1989). During Marty’s rendition of the song, Marvin telephones his cousin Chuck, to have him hear what might be the “new sound” Chuck is looking for.

  127. 127.

    germy

    March 18, 2017 at 7:03 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: In “Back To The Future” Michael J. Fox goes back in time and plays Chuck Berry guitar licks (before Chuck Berry has a chance). Chuck’s (fictitious) “cousin” hears, calls Chuck on a payphone and says “You gotta hear this!” The joke is that Michael J. Fox invented the Chuck Berry sound.

    EDIT: Raven’s explanation is best.

  128. 128.

    raven

    March 18, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    @germy: Cut and paste,

  129. 129.

    Keith P.

    March 18, 2017 at 7:07 pm

    @germy: The real joke is that rock n roll was stolen from black people who actually stole it from white people. BTTF II reinforced that white people invented rock (and blues) by having a grizzled old 3-piece band that looked suspiciously like ZZ Top rock the shit out of Hill Valley.

  130. 130.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 18, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    @randy khan:

    With these folks, qualified is a miracle, so I’ll take what I can get.

    I get where you’re coming from, but that just seems like “normalizing” to me.

  131. 131.

    raven

    March 18, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: This is Nat King Cole’s brother

    Freddy Cole performs “I’m Not My Brother, I’m Me”

  132. 132.

    germy

    March 18, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    Little Richard still lives, although I believe he’s in poor health.

  133. 133.

    Keith P.

    March 18, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    @Keith P.: So, in summary, Robert Zemeckis is a racist monster.

  134. 134.

    maeve

    March 18, 2017 at 7:10 pm

    Don’t bring a girl to the table to represent you – she will have girl cooties and he won’t even shake her hand,

    Or do bring it – he can’t even cope

  135. 135.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 18, 2017 at 7:10 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: It’s a gag from Back to the Future…

    Looks like Michael J Fox was actually a pretty decent guitar player…

  136. 136.

    raven

    March 18, 2017 at 7:11 pm

    @germy:

    On April 28, 2016, Little Richard’s friend, Bootsy Collins stated on his Facebook page that, “he is not in the best of health so I ask all the Funkateers to lift him up.” Reports subsequently began being published on the internet stating that Little Richard was in grave health and that his family were gathering at his bedside. On May 3, 2016, Rolling Stone magazine reported that Little Richard and his lawyer provided a health information update in which Richard stated, “not only is my family not gathering around me because I’m ill, but I’m still singing. I don’t perform like I used to, but I have my singing voice, I walk around, I had hip surgery a while ago but I’m healthy.'” His lawyer also reported: “He’s 83. I don’t know how many 83-year-olds still get up and rock it out every week, but in light of the rumors, I wanted to tell you that he’s vivacious and conversant about a ton of different things and he’s still very active in a daily routine. I used to represent Prince and he just engaged me in all kinds of Prince conversations, calling him a ‘creative genius.'”[155]

  137. 137.

    efgoldman

    March 18, 2017 at 7:11 pm

    @Keith G:

    Do not fight the man first. Argue the policy.

    Politicians (and consultants), like generals, are always prepared to fight the last war.
    Nobody, and I mean nobody, thought it as wrong at the time to make a frontal assault on the Shitgibbon.

  138. 138.

    germy

    March 18, 2017 at 7:11 pm

    @Keith P.: Do you remember the band “Blues Hammer” from the movie Ghost World?

  139. 139.

    tobie

    March 18, 2017 at 7:11 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Neither Chao’s nor Conway’s appointment violates the letter of the the anti-nepotism statute, since neither is a relative of Trump, but the whole thing still stinks of cronyism. Jared’s appointment by contrast does seem to violate the law but far be it from this Congress to do anything about it.

    I’ve always disliked Jim Baker but these days I burn in rage at him for promoting this doofus, know-nothing Texan to be secretary of state. He is so manifestly unqualified for the job. He knows nothing about diplomacy, history, or the obligations of being a public servant. Both McCain and Graham said they approved Tillerson’s appointment because Baker and Bob Gates vouched for him. They gave him legitimacy.

  140. 140.

    Chyron HR

    March 18, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    @Keith G:

    I am still white hot angry at certain pockets of Democratic establishment

    62 million people voted for this.
    100 million just didn’t care.

    But, yes, clearly the the only people in the country who actually tried to stop him are the ones to blame.

  141. 141.

    germy

    March 18, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    @raven: Little Richard was so ahead of his time it isn’t even funny. I’m glad he’s still around.

  142. 142.

    raven

    March 18, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    @germy: Little Richard – Lucille (1957)

  143. 143.

    germy

    March 18, 2017 at 7:17 pm

    Robert Zemeckis had the bright idea to do a remake of “Yellow Submarine” with his patented uncanny valley Polar Express animation. For some strange reason, the project fell apart.

  144. 144.

    Phylllis

    March 18, 2017 at 7:20 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Back to the Future reference.

    ETA: Always refresh before responding.

  145. 145.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 18, 2017 at 7:37 pm

    @germy: Zemeckis also gave us Forrest Gump which is a pretty serious offense in and of itself.

  146. 146.

    Keith P.

    March 18, 2017 at 7:41 pm

    @germy: Never saw Ghost World but just caught a clip. Holy shit…when the guy growls “BEEN PICKIN’ COTTON!”, I died.

  147. 147.

    germy

    March 18, 2017 at 7:46 pm

    @Keith P.: Yup.

    In the clip you can see the opening act, an authentic blues man is barely noticed by the crowd. But they go crazy when “Blues Hammer” takes the stage.

  148. 148.

    Ruckus

    March 18, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    @Betty Cracker:
    Exactly.

  149. 149.

    Jim Parene

    March 18, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    @Suzanne: The country’s fettish for the military is way out of proporation to the good that the military does for the country.
    WWII & possibly the “Civil War” are the conflicts that, in my view, come close to being “just” wars. The remaining conflicts have all been in the name of imperialism and corrupt capitalism..
    Military dudes who insist that they are all super shiny knights in god’s armor are severly distorting their real worth to society.

  150. 150.

    Suzanne

    March 18, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    @efgoldman: Not to mention, I don’t think fighting on policy grounds is a winner, either. People are dumb, lots of them. Lots of people voted for transparently bad or nonexistent policy positions because they needed to encapsulate their rage.

    A lot of people whose lives the Dems made better turned around and voted for Trump, or stayed home. This was not a logical reaction. So we aren’t going to change their minds with logic, either.

  151. 151.

    Another Scott

    March 18, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Thanks. It looks like a great film.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  152. 152.

    Ksmiami

    March 18, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    @Brachiator: n@Suzanne: no more subtlety-time to roll out the GOP wants your money and wants you dead messaging. concise and true. I want to go medieval on their asses with blowtorches…

  153. 153.

    Another Scott

    March 18, 2017 at 8:53 pm

    @Gravenstone: Sean Spicer is a Commander in the Naval Reserve according to his Wikipedia bio. I wonder if that contributes to him being so horribly bad at being Trump’s press secretary (maybe him thinking that the press is like his sailors, and he’s used to them accepting what he says without question)? Normal people can separate their military and their civilian jobs, but he’s so bad it makes me wonder if he’s unable to do that because he’s not normal…

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  154. 154.

    Another Scott

    March 18, 2017 at 8:58 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Real ‘Merica: where ostrich races can’t get underway until we pledge allegiance to shitty craft supplies.

    Bought at Hobby Lobby, no doubt. ;-)

    rofl.

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  155. 155.

    Another Scott

    March 18, 2017 at 8:58 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: D’Oh!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  156. 156.

    Another Scott

    March 18, 2017 at 9:17 pm

    @Suzanne: I think one can point to other times when fighting policy positions is a losing choice (Carter v. Reagan). Carter pointed out all kinds of things about Reagan’s policies that were horrible, but he just laughed them off and lied (“I was for a different bill!”). If a candidate is a celebrity, going after his persona might make more sense than going after his policy positions (especially if he’s a brain-damaged liar).

    There was a perfect storm of things about this last race (Comey x2, marginal polling in important places, voter suppression and rules confusion, Putin and the Russians, etc., etc.). It’s easy to look back and say she should have done this or that differently. It’s hard to know how instructive it is going forward, other than the big lesson should probably be: “Expect the unexpected, and don’t take any of your voters for granted. No lead is secure until the Wednesday after.”

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  157. 157.

    amk

    March 18, 2017 at 9:29 pm

    gud gawd. It’s kim jong un-american.

  158. 158.

    Central Planning

    March 18, 2017 at 9:35 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: all the corpses on Mt Everest were once highly motivated individuals

  159. 159.

    J R in WV

    March 18, 2017 at 10:21 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Yes, true dat!

    People hear me mention being in the service, and they go on to say “Oh, thanks for your service!”

    You’re welcome, but!!

    Dude, I was drafted and joined the Navy at the point of a gun. I did my duty, obeyed orders,, stayed out of trouble, etc. Got physically strong, had many great experiences, glad to get out when I did. jjkmmjn excuse me, that was blowing a hair off the keyboard!

    Sometimes the typos are cat tracks, also too.

  160. 160.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 18, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    @Central Planning: Poorna scaled the mountain becoming the youngest woman to do so. So what exactly is your point?

  161. 161.

    cleosmom

    March 19, 2017 at 11:50 am

    Lickspittle 101, for freshmen only.

  162. 162.

    cleosmom

    March 19, 2017 at 11:54 am

    @Jim Parene:

    The country’s fettish for the military is way out of proporation to the good that the military does for the country.

    Our military hasn’t been “defending” anything but the profits of military contractors since the early 1950s at the latest; they should just specialize in dealing with natural disasters and be done with it. I’m fed up with this faux-religious cult of military worship.

  163. 163.

    Ella in New Mexico

    March 19, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    @Suzanne:

    I am skeeved out by the fact that so many of the enlisted people I know think that we owe them something above and beyond the benefits they are owed. Like, dudes, stop. You did not sacrifice ***For America***. You joined the military because you couldn’t hack it in civilian life and you needed a job. For that, you get fair pay and benefits, but I’m not going to suck your dicks and send you to more wars because you need to stay employed and you can’t figure that out.

    Whoa there.

    I really hope your are specifically referring to the 1 or 2 “enlisted people” you know because this does NOT square with the majority of people who served in the military. Living in a military town, having tons of current and ex-military enlisted folks in my family and friends circle, I can say that this statement is not only an insulting and demeaning generality, it’s just not accurate.

  164. 164.

    Barney

    March 19, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes, the reference to Trollope’s tale of the disaster area surrounding Augustus Melmotte is highly appropriate. As Trollope said:

    Nevertheless a certain class of dishonesty, dishonesty magnificent in its proportions, and climbing into high places, has become at the same time so rampant and so splendid that there seems to be reason for fearing that men and women will be taught to feel that dishonesty, if it can become splendid, will cease to be abominable. If dishonesty can live in a gorgeous palace with pictures on all its walls, and gems in all its cupboards, with marble and ivory in all its corners, and can give Apician dinners, and get into Parliament, and deal in millions, then dishonesty is not disgraceful, and the man dishonest after such a fashion is not a low scoundrel. Instigated, I say, by some such reflections as these, I sat down in my new house to write The Way We Live Now.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_We_Live_Now

    There was a 2001 BBC/PBS adaptation with David Suchet, if it sounds familiar to people who, like me, aren’t that knowledgeable about 19th century state of the nation novels.

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