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Tick tock motherfuckers!

Peak wingnut was a lie.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

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You are here: Home / Politics / America / The President Had Quite the Morning at the UN

The President Had Quite the Morning at the UN

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The President’s speech to the UN General Assembly this morning was basically a modified rally speech. He started off with his usual vigorous patting himself on the back, which was received well…

So that went well. But as the speech went on, it went someplace weird. And not just weird, but obscurely weird.

We already know that globalism is the code that Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon use to refer to not just the current global system of international trade, international relations, and international security agreements, but to Jews. It is intended to be understood, if I may, literally by the majority of people who aren’t anti-Semites or anti-Semitic curious and figuratively by the President’s supporters who are. But what is this Doctrine of Patriotism? The Doctrine of Patriotism was proposed by Charles Spurgeon a mid to late 19th Century Calvinist Baptist from London.

Specifically, Spurgeon wrote (emphasis mine):

Patriotism is an instinct which is found, I think, in every true Englishman. And most of the other nations of the earth can also boast of their patriots. Let it never be said that the Church of God has no feeling of patriotism for the Holy City, for the Heavenly Land and for her glorious King enthroned above. To us, Christian patriotism means love to the Church of God, for—

“There our best friends, our kindred dwell, There God our Savior reigns.”

Let us have loyalty, by all means, but, chiefly, loyalty to Christ! Let us have true patriotism, but, especially that patriotism which consists in love to “the land of the living” of which Christ is the one King and Ruler.

So here too we have the President using a phrase that is going to either just get a “hmm, that sounds a bit odd” or “what does he mean by that” from most listeners, including scholars of international relations and security and national security professionals and that is going to be heard and understood differently by a very specific group of the President’s base: white Evangelical Christians. Moreover, this concept dovetails with a lot of Putin’s attempts to use and leverage the Russian Orthodox Church to promote himself to white American Evangelicals, as well as a variety of American and European white supremacists, neo-NAZIs, neo-fascists, and neo-nationalists. The President’s use of the doctrine of patriotism, like his use of the term globalist, is meant to be taken figuratively by his base and fellow travelers, but literally by everyone else who doesn’t speak in this coded jargon.

Aside from the fact that realism can’t really be principled by its very nature, neither of these two things – principled realism and the doctrine of patriotism – are actually the Trump Doctrine. The Trump Doctrine, as we’ve discussed here extensively, is “I will be treated fairly or else and only I can ensure that America will be treated fairly or else and only I can ensure that the forgotten men and women of America will be treated fairly or else.”

I’m sure tomorrow’s UN Security Council meeting is going to go very smoothly…

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

209Comments

  1. 1.

    TenguPhule

    So other then Trump driving a stake into the heart of international agreements and cooperation, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

  2. 2.

    ruemara

    Honestly, they should mock, laugh and toss cabbages at him every time they get. The utter disdain & disrespect is possibly the only thing that will get through to his deluded followers.

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    Yeah, tomorrow’s Security Council meeting will be quite the shock to him when everyone present doesn’t kowtow and tongue bath him.

    Embarrassment-in-chief.

  5. 5.

    TenguPhule

    Trump says the U.N. Human Rights Council is a “grave embarrassment” to the U.N. for its bashing of the U.S. “and its many friends.” Says he will not return to it until there is “real reform.” Also says the International Criminal Court has “no authority.”

    Trump may not believe in Nuremberg. But Nuremberg will certainly be ready for him.

  11. 11.

    Marcopolo

    Reposting from the end of the thread below cause it is happy news:

    In the Florida U.S. Senate race, which could be critical to control of the Senate this year, Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson moves into a 53 – 46 percent likely voter lead over Gov. Rick Scott, the Republican challenger, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released today.

    This compares to a 49 – 49 percent dead heat in a September 5 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll.

    Today, women back Sen. Nelson 58 – 41 percent as men are divided, with 51 percent for Gov. Scott and 47 percent for the incumbent.

    White voters back Scott 53 – 45 percent. Supporting Nelson are black voters 90 – 10 percent and Hispanic voters 61 – 39 percent.

    Republicans back Scott 89 – 10 percent. Nelson leads 94 – 5 percent among Democrats and 56 – 40 percent among independent voters.

    Among Florida likely voters who name a candidate choice, 94 percent say their mind is made up.

    I think the Kavanaugh fiasco might be having an effect.

  13. 13.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: He’s already lost the fight he was planning to pick tomorrow:

  17. 17.

    trollhattan

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Has he demanded that second scoop, yet?

    Guessing Bolton didn’t write the speech because Trump didn’t suggest lopping off several floors off the UN Building.

  18. 18.

    Amir Khalid

    I already told you people, you need to take away his passport so he can’t go abroad and embarrass your country!

    Oh, wait …

  19. 19.

    Adam L Silverman

    @LAO: Other than screwing up Niki Haley’s title, he actually didn’t do too bad. He kept it short, didn’t lapse into rally mode, and finished by toasting the UN. Given what he normally does, we should mark this as a win.

  21. 21.

    TenguPhule

    @Amir Khalid:

    I already told you people, you need to take away his passport so he can’t go abroad and embarrass your country!

    Oh, wait …

    Ouch. Well played.

  23. 23.

    patrick II

    He also mentioned, again, “America First” prominently in his speech. Which I agree with, but disagree entirely on what policies place America First. If we want a lawless world of bullies, each nation alone and watching its back against all others, and the inevitable conflicts and wars that follow, then Donald’s version of America First works. However, if we want a world where we build on the idea of the American ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence, equality and human rights, then recognition of the rights of others and cooperation in furthering those goals would be a different and better America First. What is good for America is not bullying, chaos, and mistrust; but cooperation, reasonable order allowing for change, and building trust. The world might actually last a little longer that way which would be good for America.

  25. 25.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Marcopolo: That and Gillum’s got coat tails. They’re starting to adjust their voter models for polling now that we’re a little over a month out from the election, so the numbers are going to keep shifting as the survey samples firm up. This has always been Nelson’s election to lose, not Scott’s to win. And Scott has always had trouble getting much above 50% in a statewide race.

  27. 27.

    schrodingers_cat

    So embarrassing to go from Obama to level D. I cringe when I hear the man speak.
    BTW RWNJs are downvoting my lol which made it to the first page ICHC. Give it a thumbs up hereif you like it.
    You can also reach it via my blog if you click my blue nym.

  30. 30.

    James E Powell

    @Marcopolo:

    White voters back Scott 53 – 45 percent.

    This is actually lower than I would have expected. Maybe there is hope for the Pale Race after all.

  31. 31.

    Marcopolo

    @Adam L Silverman: I would like to believe that this has been worked out for a few weeks now and just announced today for maximal effect.

    So glad the Trumpsterfire has done such a great job, like he promised as a candidate, of getting the world to respect the United States again…checks google search results for “US world standing”…okay maybe not so much.

  33. 33.

    Mart

    And when the talking heads break down his doctrines and rejection of the international court; they will say that they do Nazi anything wrong here.

  34. 34.

    Adam L Silverman

    @trollhattan: Miller is still, from what I understand, the primary speech writer. For something like this, my guess is he and his team of writers takes inputs from the President and then get inputs from the nat-sec side for technical details, works stuff in, shows it to the President, the President marks it up with a sharpie, they make revisions.

  35. 35.

    Adam L Silverman

    I’m not really sure one can argue with this:

  37. 37.

    TenguPhule

    “The vast majority of the time I spent in high school was studying or focused on sports and being a good friend to the boys and the girls that I was friends with,” Kavanaugh said earnestly. “I went to an all-boys Catholic high school where I was focused on academics and athletics, going to church every Sunday … working on my service projects and friendship — friendship with my fellow classmates and friendship with girls from the local all-girls Catholic schools. … I’ve always treated women with dignity and respect …“And, yes, there were parties,” the 53-year-old added. “The drinking age was 18, and yes, the seniors were legal and had beer there. And, yes, people might have had too many beers on occasion, and people generally in high school — I think all of us — have probably done things we look back on in high school and regret or cringe a bit, but that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about an allegation of sexual assault. I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone. … And the girls from the schools I went to and I were friends.”

    For that amount of horseshit, I expect to find a pony behind it.

  40. 40.

    ruemara

    @TenguPhule: I’m not in shame. I’m a black woman. Anyone not a black woman has people who look like them they need to talk to. If you need help figuring out what to do this election, I highly encourage emulating most black women. This is a preparatory attack crouch not a cringe.

  42. 42.

    Adam L Silverman

    @TenguPhule: It’s not an embargo. OPEC is just going to let oil go back up to $100 a barrel. The Saudis need to refill the treasury. The misadventures in Yemen and in regard to Qatar are costing a ton.

  47. 47.

    C Stars

    @Marcopolo: Thanks for the good news… It certainly feels like the GOP has been doing everything in its power this week to repel women (and women-sympathetic) voters, but it’s nice to see some hard evidence.

  48. 48.

    TenguPhule

    Kavanaugh listed himself in the class yearbook as treasurer of the ‘100 Kegs or Bust’ club.” (Individual students got to design their personal yearbook pages at the school, so this wasn’t someone else pulling Kavanaugh’s leg.)

    Man, Kavanaugh’s doppleganger has been quite busy in his past.

  50. 50.

    C Stars

    So basically what you’re saying is that Trump made a speech to the UN that was engineered to appeal to nazis and white supremacists, right? And perhaps be a bit confusing and ambiguous to everyone else?

    But the audience at the UN Assembly…don’t they also understand these dog whistles? It’s not merely figurative (or ambiguous) for them, is it?

  51. 51.

    TenguPhule

    Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who is challenging Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, went on the local television station KX4 on Monday to clarify his statement from the weekend that “nothing evidently happened” between Ford and Kavanaugh. “My point was that there was no type of intercourse or anything like that,” Cramer said. “That was my point. That nothing happened in terms of a sexual, um, event, beyond, obviously, the attack.”

    The congressman continued, “Even if it’s all true, does it disqualify him? It certainly means that he did something really bad 36 years ago, but does it disqualify him from the Supreme Court?”

    Heitkamp, this should be a fucking easy decision to make.

  53. 53.

    Tokyokie

    @TenguPhule: Hell, seeing as he’s apparently decided to go full-Nixon, I’m surprised he didn’t mention his wife’s respectable Republican cloth coat

  56. 56.

    cintibud

    Since this is an open thread, a question for Ohio voters. Are folks receiving forms to request absentee ballots in the mail? I thought Husted said they were to be mailed to all Ohio voters but we never received one. Of course, we live in a Democratic district. My Mother in Law received hers weeks ago and she lives in a heavily republican area. I haven’t checked with our neighbors yet but I am suspicious for some reason.

    I’ll get a form online to request an absentee ballot, but some of my neighbors might not take the time

  57. 57.

    JPL

    @Adam L Silverman: That sickens me, and we are powerless to do much. It appears they might lose Murkowski, but Collins will do what she always does. I hate them all.

    Did the president know they were laughing at him?

  58. 58.

    bemused

    Hardly anyone sees Stephen Miller or talks/writes about him often but Miller is one evil little fucker.

  60. 60.

    Eljai

    From Trump’s UN speech:

    The Iranian people are rightly outraged that their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from the treasury, seized valuable portions and looted the religious endowments to line their own pockets and to send their proxies to wage war.

    Huh. So he’s blasting leaders who steal from the treasury to line their own pockets. It’s always projection with these guys.

  61. 61.

    Jay

    @Adam L Silverman:

    So the FTFNYT will hold this moment triumpially as “Insane Clown POSus finally becomes Presidential”?

    A UN Lunch where he didn’t drop trou and crap on the table or rabidly wave around an electoral college map, yelling Bigly! Bigly! Bigly!

  62. 62.

    JPL

    This isn’t good.. (from Daniel Dale’s twitter feed)

    Now Macron urges the world to STOP making trade agreements with countries that don’t support the Paris Climate Deal….which is… the US.

    Technically that would not occur until 2020, but still it weakens our standing in the world.

  64. 64.

    mozzerb

    I’d be astonished if Trump or any of his speechwriters had heard of Spurgeon, let alone well enough to employ a phrase he used. He’s not well known outside of Baptist circles AFAIK. “Doctrine of patriotism” used by Trump sounds a bit like “axis of evil” — i.e. a phrase that somebody came up with when writing a speech for the president and decided would make a good soundbite.

  66. 66.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I cannot overstate how much I loathe Donald J. Trump.

    Cannot be done. But I’ll spare you all of it and just mutter to myself instead.

  72. 72.

    Adam L Silverman

    @C Stars: Unless you’re dialed into the coded language that is meant to seem neutral, if a bit strange, to the out groups, but has a different, specific meaning for the members of the in group, you’ll just go “that seems strange, what did he mean by that?”.

  73. 73.

    patrick II

    Last night some commenters were saying that they didn’t appreciate Colbert anymore — not that Colbert was bad, but that the situation had just gotten too serious to joke about. Today Trump got laughed at by UN members, which in its way is more disdainful than boos. Laughs don’t always work, but sometime they cut deepest.

  74. 74.

    Raoul

    I listened to maybe the first 15-18 minutes while driving. Not seeing him made it less terrible, but it was still a mess.
    My thoughts included:
    1. This speech, though delivered at an august and highly educated body, is aimed at about a 4th grade reading level. It’s demeaning to his ostensible audience, but digestible to his teevee fans. Yuck.
    2. He was all in on ethno-nationalism. He talked about how it is right for each nation to be proud of itself. But in a way that, to my ears, defends the sort of anti-immigrant sentiment, but couched carefully.

    Each of us here today is the emissary of a distinct culture, a rich history, and a people bound together by ties of memory, tradition, and the values that make our homelands like nowhere else on Earth.

    Not hard at all to imagine that immigrants poke holes in a distinct culture. Or that “people bound together by ties of memory, tradition, and values” don’t take kindly to newcomers.

    I think that’s all garbage. This country is improved by the stream of new people who bring their cultures and energy. But the nationalism/racism dog was barking.

  78. 78.

    Elizabelle

    @Adam L Silverman: So Trump is way past dog whistling, and into Nazi whistling?

    I only caught a few moments of his address (where he got laughed at). He sounded drugged. Visual was, he was thrilled to be among his peers, the other Masters of the Universe.

    I just want Kavanaugh to go down, hard. And no hearings on a future USSC pick for Trump until after the new Senate is sworn in. Or never.

    And put the threshhold for confirming justices back to 60. No more of this intense bullying by Mitch McConnell and his fellow criminals.

  81. 81.

    Adam L Silverman

    @JPL: Yep.

  82. 82.

    Adam L Silverman

    @bemused: Actually there has been almost one expose about him or about what is happening with immigration and how he’s acting as a master bureaucratic knife fighter behind the scenes almost every week.

  86. 86.

    Jay

    @Adam L Silverman:

    “Woke” people have studied the “codes”, like you, other Countries, and like most American’s have with racist dogwhistles, women and allies with mysogeny and LBGTQ with homophobia.

    There is probably an entire Cadre of US trained, English Language Experts in the Iranian Republican Guard, constantly on the brink of suicide, because they’ve had to analize every Insane Clown POSus speech and tweet.

    I hope the Mullah’s have given those guys and girls, special dispensation to drink hard.

  88. 88.

    TenguPhule

    @Elizabelle:

    And put the threshhold for confirming justices back to 60. No more of this intense bullying by Mitch McConnell and his fellow criminals.

    First we need to take control of the Senate.

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    @patrick II: Actually Colbert and other comedians, whether they have late night or other tv talk shows, or just do stand up, are an important indicator. As long as they can get up, make fun of the President, his supporters – both those in elected office and his base, and what is going on, then the US is not a lost cause. The minute they can’t, whether because corporations have been warned there will be governmental official repercussions or because there are actual repercussions, is the minute we know that it is time to move beyond normal political behavior and activity.

  98. 98.

    TenguPhule

    2 GOP politicians get temp seats on West Virginia Supreme Court

    Two Republican politicians will serve as temporary justices on the West Virginia Supreme Court after a group of judicial stand-ins on today rejected petitions challenging their appointments to replace two departed justices.

    The court turned back challenges by two lawyers to the appointments of U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and ex-House speaker Tim Armstead. The court said “there is no clear right to the relief sought.”

  101. 101.

    West of the Rockies

    @rikyrah:

    Agreed. Okay, Donald could have gone up there and spit, peed, puked, and flipped everyone off. Instead he just pissed on the dais. Ugh.

  102. 102.

    Ramiah Ariya

    CNN says Trump emphasized “National Sovereignty”. This is getting rather rich – so Republicans voted overwhelmingly and supported the Iraq war just 15 years back. And suddenly the UNITED STATES is lecturing on sovereignty to the REST of the world, and the rest of the world is supposed to feel…what?
    This is insane – Globalisation in the form of Washington Consensus was literally FORCED on other countries by the US itself. Instead this guy Trump is now talking as if all of this was done by the REST of the world on the US, violating the US’s sovereignty – and the SAME Republicans are now like, “This is the Trump Doctrine”? What is wrong with these people? If the US is all for sovereignty, how come Trump said “We should have taken Iraq’s oil” and these SAME guys cheered him on?
    This is peak gaslighting.

  103. 103.

    SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal

    @Elizabelle:

    The whole Cosby thing makes me very ? mad and very ? sad.

    He was so fucking talented. Funny as hell, really smart, a more than decent actor, and a very cool trailblazer in many ways. It breaks my heart. But he deserves the time behind bars.

  105. 105.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Elizabelle: No, the threshold shouldn’t be 60. That whole load of crap was always a hollow threat. The minute the GOP had a Senate majority and a Republican president, they were going to get rid of the filibuster for all Federal judicial nominees the minute the Democratic minority filibustered.

  106. 106.

    Jay C

    @ruemara:

    Honestly, they should mock, laugh and toss cabbages at him every time they get. The utter disdain & disrespect is possibly the only thing that will get through to his deluded followers.

    Strongly disagree: if Trump is (as usual) aiming his comments mainly at his “followers” (i.e. the MAGA-hat-wearing Fox-News-addicted RWNJs), he knows that they are the sort of jingoistic simpletons who will embrace other nations’ scorn of Trump as a sign that he is “standing up for America”, or being “patriotic” – and that if those weenie globalisating furriners don’t like him, he must be doing something right.

    It’s the elementary-school recess principle writ large: America is the biggest and strongest kid in the schoolyard, so we have the right to be violent bullies and force everyone else to kowtow. Not much more than that….

  107. 107.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Elizabelle: He was just denied bail, he’s proceeding directly to processing. My guess is they’ll send him to the Camp Hill State Correctional Facility, which is in Camp Hill, PA just outside of Harrisburg after they process him at the Montgomery County, PA jail. He will die in prison. One way or the other.

  108. 108.

    MomSense

    There is something wrong with trump’s Mouth (besides the constant BS that comes out of it). His lips look like the bad special effects lips that they apply to babies and pets to make them talk in movies.

  109. 109.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jay: He is a walking, talking, tweeting gift to both our allies’ intelligence services and our adversaries’ intelligence services.

  110. 110.

    Immanentize

    @Adam L Silverman: If I were accused of a serious offense that I truly believed I did not do, there is nothing I would want — beg for — more than an FBI investigation of the matter. Let all witnesses talk to the investigators. Do background checks, speak with peripheral persons perhaps involved, etc. The FBI knows their shit (if LAO were here, she would agree)> They are professional, meticulous, and relentless. If I were accused wrongly of these two things, if they were just left wing smears, I would be BEGGING for an FBI investigation.

    It would be the only way to clear my name and maintain the dignity of the Court.

  112. 112.

    Immanentize

    @Ramiah Ariya: Our view of sovereignty is shared by Israel — no one can tell us what we can do and we can decide what to do to anyone as long as we and we alone perceive it is in our interest.

  115. 115.

    Jay

    @lollipopguild:

    While is was a typical Corporate Welfare deal, it would have redistributed some economic wealth downwards, and created employment and educational opportunities in a economically depressed area, with all the ripple effects spiralling out.

    Untortunatly, until we can restore our economic system, it’s the best we can expect.

  117. 117.

    germy

    So, if I understand this correctly, Ford and Kavanaugh will be questioned on Thursday by a female attorney and by Democrats? They will take turns going back and forth between the attorney and the Democrats? No Republicans will do any questioning? Will they sit silently and glare at her?

  118. 118.

    Brachiator

    Aside from the fact that realism can’t really be principled by its very nature, neither of these two things – principled realism and the doctrine of patriotism – are actually the Trump Doctrine. The Trump Doctrine, as we’ve discussed here extensively, is “I will be treated fairly or else and only I can ensure that America will be treated fairly or else and only I can ensure that the forgotten men and women of America will be treated fairly or else.”

    Hmmm. I would only revise this slightly:

    “I will be treated fairly or else and only I can ensure that America will be treated fairly or else and only I can ensure that the forgotten white men and white women, preferably rich, of America will be treated fairly or else.”

  119. 119.

    Mandalay

    @patrick II:

    Last night some commenters were saying that they didn’t appreciate Colbert anymore — not that Colbert was bad, but that the situation had just gotten too serious to joke about. Today Trump got laughed at by UN members, which in its way is more disdainful than boos.

    That’s all true, but aren’t you comparing apples and oranges? Members of the UN showing their scorn for Trump by laughing at him in person is qualitatively different to people at home laughing at Colbert’s jokes about Trump on TV.

    And while booing at the UN would have been unseemly, I’m not sure that the laughing achieved anything. Trump took it pretty well, and his base will lap it up when he announces what he’s going to do to the UN for daring to laugh at him for being the best president ever.

  121. 121.

    cintibud

    @rikyrah: I can and I will download and print the form for an absentee ballot, but I don’t know how many of my neighbors would go through the extra trouble. I’m asking around though to see if my immediate neighbors have received theirs

  122. 122.

    Immanentize

    @SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: My best friend in highschool and I spent hours listening to, and laughing at, Bill Cosby and George Carlin records. later — Richard Pryor. We knew every joke on all their albums. Not to go all religious here, but as my friend K. Doyle used to say, “My Baptist friends think that the difference between good and evil is the difference between them and others. Catholics know that the line between good and evil runs straight down the center of the human heart.”

    One can be both great and awful. Most folks tip one way or another, but Cosby seemed to have managed to match his great gifts with even greater evil.

  123. 123.

    gratuitous

    Say, wouldn’t now be a good time for a presidential press conference? Ask Trump a few questions about just what the hell he was talking about? I realize Trump has held one press conference already in his term (just one), but if the United States is going to veer off into a radically new foreign policy, shouldn’t we know a little something about it?

  127. 127.

    Jay

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Curse actually. Since Insane Clown POTus was elected, 6 new liquor stores and 3 marajuana shops have opened up on the same block as CSIS HQ. The Communications Analists are easily spotted, from the hours they keep, the red eyes, shakes and staggers.

    As us normies are finding out, overexposure to Insane Clown POSus’s ‘Murika causes PSTD.

  129. 129.

    chris

    @mozzerb:

    I’d be astonished if Trump or any of his speechwriters had heard of Spurgeon

    Don’t underestimate the “scholarship” of Stephen Miller. His collection of dog whistles is second to none.

  130. 130.

    opiejeanne

    @Betty Cracker: Yes. I really want to believe those newest poll numbers for Scott vs Nelson, but I have learned to tamp that down, to not believe it until the votes are tallied.

    And even then be a little suspicious.

  133. 133.

    Elizabelle

    @SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: I am sad too, although Cosby earned his way into prison.

    I hope he has enough humanity to become a better person there. Hey, it worked for Martha Stewart. Maybe being exposed to the “poundcake” contingent he was mocking, he will see their humanity too. I would love to hear that he ends up entertaining them. Or has some sensible things to say, once he has settled in.

    Although, doesn’t it seem Cosby might be in the throes of dementia? Was that an act? He is not young.

    Camille demeaning the women was a terrible surprise to me. Woman lives in a mansion of denial, no?

  134. 134.

    Immanentize

    @raven: Oh geez, I had completely forgotten that scene. Thank you.
    Saying something about the duality of man is always misunderstood.

  136. 136.

    C Stars

    @Adam L Silverman: OK, having now read a few headlines related to the speech, I see what you mean. There is no pushback.

    Huckababy provokes my gag reflex, so I can’t watch the press briefings, but I wonder if journalists ever probe this. “What specifically does Trump mean by ‘globalism’?” “Would you explain the “doctrine of patriotism”?

    Of course she’d just make her entitled teenager face and sneer “You’ll have to ask him that,” so what’s the point…

  138. 138.

    Brachiator

    @mozzerb:

    I’d be astonished if Trump or any of his speechwriters had heard of Spurgeon

    Trump doesn’t just pull this stuff out of his orange ass. He has surrounded himself with white nationalists and nativists. He clearly likes what they give him, and how they craft his speeches. They may be deeper into the tradition than Trump, but he and his advisors are clearly in sync with each other.

  142. 142.

    Adam L Silverman

    @germy: Pretty much. I expect that the Democratic questioning, other than a round by Senator Feinstein as the ranking member, will all be ceded to and handled by Senators Harris and Klobuchar. The latter will be the good cop. The former will be the bad cop.

  143. 143.

    Amir Khalid

    Lest I forget to mention it, it was spectacularly idiotic of a POTUS to go to the United Nations in New York, the world headquarters of globalism in one of the most cosmopolitan cities on the planet, and urge the General Assembly to reject globalism. He was never going to get any reaction but laughter. It is hard to believe that he and his chief advisers were deluded enough to believe that speech was going to make the world grovel before America, because — man, that takes a lot of delusion.

  144. 144.

    Jay

    @opiejeanne:

    Like the Catholic Church, the established schools of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence have cash flow, properties, lands and buildings, donated by the faithful.

    The Iman’s position is not just a position of religious power, but political and economic.

  146. 146.

    Steve in the ATL

    @ruemara:

    I’m a black woman. Anyone not a black woman has people who look like them they need to talk to.

    So you’ve turned Diamond and Silk around?

    (But point taken–it’s people with my demographics who are ruining this country!)

  148. 148.

    Immanentize

    @raven: Dispatches is the one book that I have lost more copies of than any other. I lend it out, and it never comes back. 8 copies so far. I love that book. The image of Sean Flynn last seen riding his motorcycle toward Laos always summed up the crazy for me.

  151. 151.

    Adam L Silverman

    @mozzerb: No, but if you were wondering who around the President would know the reference, then inside the White House it is Vice President Pence. Or the quote was provided by one of his faith advisors from the Evangelical community. But it isn’t a stretch to figure out how it got into the speech.

  152. 152.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jay: Feel free to give my resume to your contacts at CSIS HQ. Tell them I can translate the Trump Doctrine and its application for them.

  153. 153.

    trollhattan

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Colbert played it very close to the vest for months after Trump won, then simply had had enough, loaded up the shotgun and let him have it with both barrels pretty much every night since. He was punished by a big jump in ratings, which he holds still.

    Kimmel’s tackling Trump head-on surprised me more and in a way, is more effective since he didn’t have a background as identifiable as Colbert’s as reflexively not-a-Republican.

  154. 154.

    TenguPhule

    @Jay:

    constantly on the brink of suicide, because they’ve had to analize every Insane Clown POSus speech and tweet.

    I see what you did there.

  155. 155.

    Ohio Mom

    @cintibud: Ohio Family got our Ohio absentee ballot request forms weeks ago. We’re in a very red suburb in Cincinnati, though Hamilton County as a whole is Blue.

  157. 157.

    TenguPhule

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The minute they can’t, whether because corporations have been warned there will be governmental official repercussions or because there are actual repercussions, is the minute we know that it is time to move beyond normal political behavior and activity.

    Exfiltration or Infiltration?

  158. 158.

    Mnemosyne

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Knee is moving along. I should be off the crutches in another week or so, but it takes a good 6 months to fully rehab it. Physical therapy hurts a bit, but it’s supposed to. ?

  159. 159.

    Jay

    @Amir Khalid:

    The speech was not to Global Leaders,

    It was a speech at, containing multiple signals,

    To America’s Partners,

    To Israel and the Saudi’s,

    To The Deplorables, Gullibillies and Nazi’s.

    It was a signal that Trumpism, no matter the cost to peace, the world order and institutions, trade or even the US economy, ain’t gonna change course.

  161. 161.

    Adam L Silverman

    @opiejeanne: The phrasing was inept making it hard to parse, but I think @Jay: ‘s got it more or less right. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and their even more elite Quds Force, hold major stakes in almost all sectors of the Iranian economy. As does the Supreme Religious Authority and his council of religious advisors.

  162. 162.

    Jay

    @Adam L Silverman:

    We are pretty clear on Trumpism up here.

    But still, like on the old days of Kremlinology, a bunch of Analists, ( poor souls), have to listen to every speech, read every tweet, 24/7, in shifts I hope,

    Bureaucracy eh?

    Can’t just follow Daniel Dale.

  168. 168.

    Betty Cracker

    @Elizabelle: I’m usually a squishy lib when it comes to second chances and prisoner rehabilitation, but not in Cosby’s case. The man drugged and raped multiple women over a span of many decades. I hope he suffers to his last breath, and I’m sorry there’s no way to pauperize his idiotic wife to compensate his many victims.

  169. 169.

    Jay

    @trollhattan:

    I think the issue for many with Colbert and Kimmel for many people, is that they want the catharthic release after some events of a Louis Black rage rant, not snark, snide or eyerolls.

  170. 170.

    West of the Rockies

    @trollhattan:

    Wasn’t Kimmel part of that terrible The Man Show? He grew up, matured, gained perspective. Adam C, however, remains a man-child.

  174. 174.

    Humdog

    @cintibud: Darn, I cannot remember the thread it was in but I thought I remembered another BJcommenter from Ohio saying the absentee ballots for specific zip codes were not arriving, some mis marked address issue. Why do I want to say Goku?
    Ohio is trying to crooked the vote, again, but make it look like innocent accidents.

  175. 175.

    catclub

    @Adam L Silverman:

    OPEC is just going to let oil go back up to $100 a barrel.

    Important if true! But doesn’t cheating by the members always make that hard on Saudi Arabia, and presently SA needs the money as much as any of them? So is less cabale of maintaining the production limits.

    Also, US supply is much larger fraction than it used to be.

  177. 177.

    Jay

    @Adam L Silverman:

    And the Insane Clown POSus’s position is that the Iranian Revolution stole what belonged to other people, ( the Shah and his Court), but stated it vaguely enough to imply that the Iranian Revolution stole that from the “legitimate” Religious Leaders and the People.

  178. 178.

    Brachiator

    @Jay:

    It was a signal that Trumpism, no matter the cost to peace, the world order and institutions, trade or even the US economy, ain’t gonna change course.

    Yeah, he ain’t gonna change. Trump is ignorant, unimaginative and rigid. His supporters confuse this with “strength.”

  180. 180.

    Adam L Silverman

    @catclub: Yes and yes, but… Even though US produces a lot more of its own, a lot of that winds up on the global market. It doesn’t stay here at home for domestic use. The petroleum industry is a really strange beast in terms of how it works. So if the global price of oil goes up, regardless of why, it will raise gasoline prices here at home. Basically the President demanded that Saudi pump more and OPEC’s response, pushed by Saudi and Russian, was a resounding NO!!!!

  181. 181.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jay: Yeah, that part of the speech was really incoherent. Not sure whether it was because the President didn’t understand what Bolton wrote – I guarantee that that section was all Bolton – or because Bolton was trying to be opaque.

  186. 186.

    Jay

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The oil business really isn’t all that strange.

    There is multiple types and grades of oil.

    There is a huge array of products refined from oil, from chemicals, through fuels to raw materials.

    Every refining process is custom engineered and built to the end products, and most refineries are highly specialized.

    So oil bounces around the world by grade and quality, get’s blended with other oils to meet the needs of these specialized refineries, then then end products travel globally to their end users.

    Added to this is the top down integration of many of the Majors, from well to gas pump, and their international footprint.

    The oil business is highly globalized and probably was the first full globalization of the modern age.

  188. 188.

    mozzerb

    @Adam L Silverman: Still a surprising one — I hadn’t realised that Spurgeon was well-known in the US (except IIRC as a hymn writer?). That phrase wasn’t at all familiar to me — is it well-known in US Evangelical circles, then? After all, the essence of a good dogwhistle is that the dog can hear it.

  189. 189.

    Adam L Silverman

    @mozzerb: There is, from what I can tell, something of a cottage industry about him sectors of the US white Evangelical movement.

  194. 194.

    catclub

    @Jay:

    The oil business really isn’t all that strange

    so there is probably a reason that the difference in price between WTI and Brent is now about $10, while a year ago it was closer to $2 ?
    If the market really is international, why the change in relative prices? ( I would expect them to be very close, always).

  195. 195.

    opiejeanne

    @schrodingers_cat: Thanks, but geg’s was far worse. I wept when I read it.
    I went on three years later to have a planned baby, and another three years after that. He was an inconsequential creature, and when I found out I was pregnant, I told him I was terminating it, and I made it sound like vengeance from God. He looked shaken. He had no idea his “Oh, it was just a little bit of fun” would have consequences.
    Mark. That was his name. Feh.

    The suppressed rage that this has awakened is powerful. I didn’t realize how angry I still was about it.

  196. 196.

    Miss Bianca

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The minute they can’t, whether because corporations have been warned there will be governmental official repercussions or because there are actual repercussions, is the minute we know that it is time to move beyond normal political behavior and activity.

    Ummm…these women comedians would like to have a word with you. Kathy Griffin:

    Samantha Bee

    Michelle Wolf

    Yeah, they are all still working. Well, maybe not Kathy Griffin. But however risky it may be for male comedians to do so, gender policing makes sure that any *women* comedians who dare to poke fun at the Emperor or the Emperor’s family will be punished more severely – because they’re always transgressing at least one more boundary than the guys are.

  198. 198.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Miss Bianca: Actually Griffin has a huge tour going on right now. No one from the government officially censored them. Yes, they caught significant pushback on social media, which is what it is. And yes, far too little support from the networks they were involved with. But as bad as that is, that isn’t what I’m talking about. What I’m referring to is whether Colbert or Kimmel or Bee or Wolffe or Griffin or any others are removed from the area and then just removed. Corporate America’s, especially the corporate media’s, flinch response needs to go (see Disney and James Gunn), but corporate leadership pre-caving because they think it will preserve profits is not a government crackdown on anyone who publicly or privately makes fun of the President.

  200. 200.

    Bonnie

    My history is mostly a distant memory these days. But, I remember as a kid the work that Eleanor Roosevelt regarding the U.N. I vaguely remember that the Human Rights Council was something Mrs. Roosevelt spent a great amount of time in the creation of it. As a little girl at the time, I was very impressed with her efforts and cheered her. Now, we have a buffoon who bad mouths the entire idea of human rights.

  202. 202.

    Jay

    @catclub:

    Due to the huge complexity of the arrayed market forces and demand, the massive amount of speculation, the automated buying, the algorthymic trading, it’s almost impossible to identify the cause of price differences between the Indexes, other than because Canadian Heavy Crude and Tar Sands Dilbit, is only traded in America, there is a $20-$30 subsidy, per barrel, on volume undercutting global pricing on the WTI.

  204. 204.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Miss Bianca: I’m not trying to deny what Griffin, Bee, and Wolffe went through. It happened and it shouldn’t. And it shouldn’t be forgotten when deciding where to spend one’s dollars or spend one’s time viewing media/entertainment offerings

  205. 205.

    janesays

    @Uncle Cosmo: Miller is an odious little turd who deserves all the invective that he gets, but comparing him to a high-ranking WWII German Nazi is kind of akin to comparing Clarence Thomas to Nathan Bedford Forrest. In Hitler’s Germany, Miller would have been one of the people getting sent to the gas chambers.

    What’s the Jewish equivalent of an Uncle Tom? That would be a more fitting thing to call Miller.

  206. 206.

    Miss Bianca

    @Adam L Silverman: I didn’t think you were minimizing. I was agreeing with you that the repercussions they felt, while bad, weren’t the kind you were specifically referencing. Suppression delivered via the marketplace rather than the government.

  208. 208.

    Kathleen

    @cintibud: Looks like thread is dead, but I live in Cinci and I did receive the application in the mail. Another Buckeye Juicer commented that the zip code on the mailing instructions was incorrect (I believe it was here and I believe that was the issue. Apologies for not remembering who it was). I decided to vote early like I always do, though they moved Hamilton County BOE to an inconvenient location.

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