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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Why Bother Trying to Understand?

Why Bother Trying to Understand?

by $8 blue check mistermix|  June 10, 202110:14 am| 135 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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From a Reuters article on Kamala Harris’ visit to Mexico, where she made a good impression on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO):

Lopez Obrador, a leftist, likened the Trump administration to Nazi Germany for its migration policies while he was in opposition, but acceded to the American president’s demands to tighten the border after taking charge of Mexico in December 2018.

I am by no means an expert on Mexican politics, but I know enough to know that calling AMLO a “leftist” isn’t right. The similarly meaningless term “populist” is probably better since it’s generally used to describe the kind of incoherent moron that AMLO seems to be. For example, his COVID response, which was terrible, was widely thought to be a bit better than Brazil’s, so it didn’t get the same attention as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s self-induced tragedy. Still, in March, Mexico re-adjusted their death toll to about the same as Brazil’s (which was almost certainly an under-report): 321,000, for a country that is a little more than half the size of Brazil.

AMLO and his Morena party held on to power (though with a smaller majority) in Sunday’s mid-term elections because the alternatives are worse.

“He’s leading a very capricious government,” said Pilar Hurtado, 52, who voted in a well-to-do Mexico City neighbourhood and accused Amlo of being “against the middle class”.

Still, she opted for Morena, saying: “All the other parties are trash.”

That last sentence pretty much sums up current Mexican politics. Also, “capricious” is better than “populist” or “leftist”.

In addition to screwing the pooch on COVID, AMLO has been unable to curb cartel violence that has gripped the country: for example, at least 34 of the candidates in the midterm election were killed, with basically a zero solve rate on those killings.

Still, I have to defend the guy from Reuters’ facile gloss on his immigration policies. I can certainly understand why he would compare the Trump Administration’s immigration policies to Nazi Germany, while then agreeing to tighten border restrictions. Much of the immigration is from citizens of Central American countries that impacts Mexico (especially considering the COVID situation) on their way to the US/Mexican border. Plus, as is obvious to anyone studying the situation, border controls don’t work when the alternative is death for you and your family. AMLO’s immigration “restrictions” are the sleeves of a vest, and if you were Mexico and faced with Trump, you’d appease him, too.

Anyway, it’s good to see VP Harris visiting Mexico and treating them like an ally instead of a scapegoat. And, for what it’s worth, even though the international coverage of the Times gets endless fawning hand jobs from the rest of the US media complex, the Guardian is every bit as good or better. Here’s their Mexico feed.

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Reader Interactions

135Comments

  1. 1.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    June 10, 2021 at 10:23 am

    Speaking of Latin America, I was watching a video on Brazil and  Bolsonaro can reasonably be described someone who is honestly trying to help the poor, but has some really twisted reactionary ideas. But he seems to madenly unable to understand it’s his own constituents that the Virus is killing and crippling.  Sure,  Bolsonaro is in good shape so the virus is a little cold him, but it’s a serious problem to someone who is malnourished.  I don’t know, maybe these guys are trying for the Bubonic Plague solution to poverty were enough of the poor die it raises the standard of living of the survivors.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 10:43 am

    but I know enough to know that calling AMLO a “leftist” isn’t right

    I don’t follow Mexico enough to know one way or the other how things are now, but when he was elected, Obrador was commonly thought of as left.

    BBC

    Mexico’s López Obrador sworn in as first leftist president in decades

    The Guardian

    Mexico election: historic landslide victory for leftist Amlo

    NY Mag

    Leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador Wins Mexican Presidential Election

    Reuters

    Mexican Lopez Obrador wins historic election landslide for left

    Maybe he didn’t govern as a leftist, or maybe he’s both leftist and bad at governing (not impossible), but I’m wary of the No True Scotsman fallacy.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 10:44 am

    Also, too, I’m happy to see MVP focus on doing the hard work instead of chasing GOP talking points repeated by the media or trying to generate memes for social media.

  4. 4.

    Matt McIrvin

    June 10, 2021 at 10:45 am

    Harris is getting a lot of crap from liberals for the immigration speech in Guatemala. I think it’s a case where the only moral positions and the only politically possible ones just have no overlap at all.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 10:48 am

    @Matt McIrvin: What is the only moral position?

  6. 6.

    Matt McIrvin

    June 10, 2021 at 10:50 am

    @Baud: Totally open borders, give immediate citizenship to anyone who wants it.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 10:50 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Then I agree, no overlap at all.

    ETA:  Not that Tucker Carlson doesn’t make a compelling case for White Replacement theory.

  8. 8.

    Ken

    June 10, 2021 at 10:52 am

    @Baud: When the press began asking why MVP wasn’t “doing something” about the border, my reaction would have been to release a cheap-looking photoshop (or even animation) with her head on a camo-costumed body, on a boat in the Rio Grande.

    I realize this probably torpedoes my chances of becoming Press Secretary in the Baud! 20XX administration.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 10:53 am

    @Ken: Only if by “torpedoes” you mean “guarantees”.

    Although I think a better photo would be me leading a posse of migrants to capture Ted Cruz.

  10. 10.

    Matt McIrvin

    June 10, 2021 at 10:56 am

    @Baud: I am an extremist on this.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 10:59 am

    @Matt McIrvin: The extremists are the ones who are devoted to punishing Dems for not taking politically hopeless positions.

  12. 12.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 10, 2021 at 11:00 am

    @Matt McIrvin: ​
      Why have nation-states at all?

  13. 13.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 11:01 am

    @Baud: Tankies and RWNJs are unhappy.

  14. 14.

    BruceFromOhio

    June 10, 2021 at 11:02 am

    I can certainly understand why he would compare the Trump Administration’s immigration policies to Nazi Germany, while then agreeing to tighten border restrictions.

    I’ll distinguish between “let’s work together to figure out and address root causes and keep people safe” from “let’s rip babies from their mothers’ arms and throw everyone in cages.” May be a stretch for some.

    Reuters and Guardian over FTFNYT any day, every day.

  15. 15.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 10, 2021 at 11:03 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Including a pedophile, mass-murdering fascist – if one would happened to ask?

  16. 16.

    cain

    June 10, 2021 at 11:03 am

    I have no idea how one would fix all the shit going on south of the border. Mexico has an incredible amount of potential but corruption and cartels are really holding it back – but I can’t help but also feel that we’ve fucked them repeatedly.

    I’m hoping that when the U.S. legalizes weed and become more progressive in its drug policy that cartels start losing money – of course there is still human trafficking and a host of other things.

  17. 17.

    BruceFromOhio

    June 10, 2021 at 11:04 am

    @schrodingers_cat: ​

    ‘Tankies’ ? What is this new plural?

  18. 18.

    ian

    June 10, 2021 at 11:06 am

    The PRI is the traditional ‘leftist’ party in Mexico, and as the article notes, they do indeed do a terrible job when they govern Mexican states.  They haven’t had power nationally since the late 90s.  Morena is a new leftist party,  it and the 4th party whose name I cant remember are splinters of PRI.  PAN is Mexico’s conservative party.

  19. 19.

    Doug R

    June 10, 2021 at 11:10 am

    Not sure what kind of blog y’all want to be running here, but the sidebar just had an ad for “The 20 most gorgeous redheads in Hollywood”. With a picture of a redhead wearing nothing but high heels. Not that I mind pictures, it’s just that sort of click bait can have all kinds of shady links.

  20. 20.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 11:11 am

    Deleted too many links

  21. 21.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 11:13 am

    @BruceFromOhio: Uber lefties, for whom USA is the greatest evil in the history of evil. Twitter is overflowing with them. Many are not even American and have little knowledge of our politics or polity but love Magic Grandpa and the squad and hate Biden, Harris and other Ds.

    Wikipedia

  22. 22.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 10, 2021 at 11:14 am

    @Doug R: I have a sidebar ad for Talbots, and the model is wearing a tshirt and pants. Maybe it’s you? :-)

  23. 23.

    taumaturgo

    June 10, 2021 at 11:16 am

    Surprise. A well-to-do middle-class member upset because AMLO’s government has taken on the gargantuan task of eliminating the rampant corruption that historically has harmed the country while benefiting the middle and upper class at the expense of the mainly indigenous population. The conservatives long for the corrupted days of the previous administrations, in which bribes, favoritism, privatization, judicial negligence, and disdain for the poor were the order of the day. As conservatives defenders of the status quo, they are upset that AMLO has focused on helping the olvidados, the forgotten, and in his daily reports to the country, he highlights the criminality of past administration that believed that taking care of the well to do by privatization and the open stealing of the public treasure was their main function. In his two years plus in power, AMLO has diligently worked to fix the disastrous state of the country’s infrastructure, including healthcare, while facing an avalanche of resistance from the neoliberal press and well-to-do corporate opponents. Mexico is a clear example in which the disastrous embraced of a corrupt neoliberal economic governance has been laid bare. Thankfully, the voters soundly rejected the return to a neoliberal regime except of course for the conservative defenders of the status quo.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 11:19 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    No one ever thanks Google for their targeted advertising.

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 10, 2021 at 11:19 am

    Is saying tankies like saying Betelgeuse?

  26. 26.

    BBA

    June 10, 2021 at 11:20 am

    AMLO = the Mexican Bill de Blasio. Or maybe Wilmer if he could win an election with more voters than live on my block.

  27. 27.

    Ken

    June 10, 2021 at 11:22 am

    @Baud: At the least, we should thank them for the occasional semi-humorous misfire. I’m currently getting an add for a travel company, and I’ve never used one. Maybe because of all the exotic destinations in this post and comments?

  28. 28.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 11:27 am

    @ian: Thanks!

  29. 29.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 11:28 am

    @Ken:

    It boggles my mind that website ads work enough to pay for themselves.

  30. 30.

    BruceFromOhio

    June 10, 2021 at 11:32 am

    @schrodingers_cat:  That is fascinating! Thank you. I happen to be somewhat enamored by The Squad, admittedly for reasons that differ greatly from tankies and purity ponies.

    It is interesting to examine the fascist RWNJ’s in America that have expressed a desire to kill liberals in the same light as the pro-Soviets defending the use of tanks to crush the Hungarian Revolution and the Prague Spring. Old wine, new skins, it would seem.

  31. 31.

    L85NJGT

    June 10, 2021 at 11:33 am

    This will cause no end of issues in an already tight US labor market.

    AMLO wants to restore the PRI glory days. Cronyism, corruption and making Pemex pay for it all. This is like your idiot cousin insisting a ‘69 Thunderbird will make a great everyday driver, but I guess as long as he doesn’t stir up shit with the cartels….

  32. 32.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 10, 2021 at 11:38 am

    I can certainly understand why he would compare the Trump Administration’s immigration policies to Nazi Germany, while then agreeing to tighten border restrictions. Much of the immigration is from citizens of Central American countries that impacts Mexico (especially considering the COVID situation) on their way to the US/Mexican border. Plus, as is obvious to anyone studying the situation, border controls don’t work when the alternative is death for you and your family. AMLO’s immigration “restrictions” are the sleeves of a vest, and if you were Mexico and faced with Trump, you’d appease him, too.

    Gotta make noise for the cameras, but at the end of the day Mexico has never wanted to be anything more for than a pit stop, for migrants heading further north.

  33. 33.

    Betty

    June 10, 2021 at 11:39 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:  Good question.

  34. 34.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 10, 2021 at 11:40 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Totally open borders, give immediate citizenship to anyone who wants it.

    Is this “the only moral position” for all countries, or just us for some reason?

  35. 35.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    June 10, 2021 at 11:40 am

    @ian:  prd (partido revolucionario democratico)?

  36. 36.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 11:42 am

    OT

    House Democrats are prepping 5 antitrust bills to take on Big Tech

  37. 37.

    catclub

    June 10, 2021 at 11:42 am

    @Ken: ​
    &nbsp

    ;I realize this probably torpedoes my chances of becoming Press Secretary in the Baud! 20XX administration.

    No, it improves your chances.

  38. 38.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    June 10, 2021 at 11:42 am

    @L85NJGT: or bernie & donald digging coal in west virginia.

  39. 39.

    Old Man Shadow

    June 10, 2021 at 11:43 am

     at least 34 of the candidates in the midterm election were killed, with basically a zero solve rate on those killings.

    I’m sure they know exactly who did most of them, but don’t feel like ending up dead over it.

  40. 40.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 10, 2021 at 11:44 am

    @Baud:

    One bill under consideration would prohibit online platforms such as Amazon from giving their own products or services an advantage over those of rivals who depend on the same platforms to reach consumers. A similar draft bill would make it illegal for a platform company like Google to operate multiple lines of business that create “conflicts of interest.”

    Another bill would require platforms to be interoperable, so that users could migrate their data and switch services more easily. And two more bills target mergers and acquisitions, giving antitrust enforcers more resources, prohibiting tech giants like Facebook from gobbling up nascent competitors, and in some cases making it costlier for companies to file merger paperwork.

    Some good and some bad here. I’ll write it up when things are firmer. I’m especially curious about an interoperability/portability requirement. Depending on how it’s written, this could bring us to halcyon days or be horrible.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 11:44 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Why have nation-states at all?

    Olympics.

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 10, 2021 at 11:45 am

    @Baud: I’m convinced.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 11:46 am

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Right.  It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.  In general, I’m skeptical of telling companies they can’t promote their own products.  It’s hard to draw up rules than will satisfy anyone and be administrable.

  44. 44.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 10, 2021 at 11:47 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Tankies … are unhappy.

    Happiness is the morally bankrupt sleep of corrupt bougies

    (“tankies” are what some of us used to call “purity ponies” and such like, right?)

  45. 45.

    J R in WV

    June 10, 2021 at 11:48 am

    The last time I was on B-J on my tablet (which has no ad blocker, since I mostly read ad-free fiction on it) I was getting ads for nice big mowers, as if I was a lawn care company, as opposed to having no lawn whatsoever. And they were in Spanish, totally.

    Kind of strange, how far off center that was. Couldn’t be further from my interests. I only mow on the tractor, using a brush-hog around the farm.

  46. 46.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 10, 2021 at 11:48 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: ‘tankies’ are stalinists. https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/tankies

  47. 47.

    Ken

    June 10, 2021 at 11:50 am

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m especially curious about an interoperability/portability requirement. Depending on how it’s written, this could bring us to halcyon days or be horrible.

    Even if the law looks great, it still has to be implemented. I suspect we won’t know the results for quite a while.  The work of the standards committee alone may take a decade.

  48. 48.

    Betty Cracker

    June 10, 2021 at 11:51 am

    If one weren’t 100% convinced that both Bidens have forgiven Harris for the “that little girl was me” incident, the VP’s portfolio — immigration and voting rights — could raise eyebrows. Talk about a pair of Sisyphean tasks!

  49. 49.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 11:52 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: They are an even more extreme version of the purity ponies. They unironically think that Communism is going to be the next best thing. Young, privileged and as I said many are not even American but think of the United States as the big bad on the global scen

    The reason they like the squad and magic Grandpa is the same reason many are Chomsky fans.

  50. 50.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 10, 2021 at 11:53 am

    @Ken: Hehe, well, sure!

    I’m also very much looking forward to the results of Twitter’s skunkworks project for an open/distributed social network protocol.

  51. 51.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 11:54 am

    @Betty Cracker: That’s why she became the VP to do difficult things not as a cushy photo-op and the hate she engenders is epic. And its not just the white guys. Indian tankies and RWNJs are baying for her blood.

  52. 52.

    elm

    June 10, 2021 at 11:55 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It means, as mentioned, Stalinists. Originally it referred to folks who cheered for the Soviet tanks that crushed the Hungarian revolution of 1956 and Prague Spring.

  53. 53.

    Cameron

    June 10, 2021 at 11:59 am

    @Betty Cracker: I agree.  I have no idea how either of those issues get fixed, especially with the Republicans rejecting anything and everything the Democrats propose.  She’s been handed enough for ten people.

  54. 54.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 10, 2021 at 12:03 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: ‘Imagine there’s no countries, it’s easy if you try’.

  55. 55.

    zhena gogolia

    June 10, 2021 at 12:04 pm

    On another topic,

    Yesterday I sat down w a remarkable a Capitol Police officer who was in some of the most intense combat zones in the US Capitol on Jan 6. He trusted us @NewsHour w his story, thoughts on where we are.Here’s the full interview. https://t.co/CC0aluy4yPAnd here’s a thread.— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) June 10, 2021

  56. 56.

    Abnormal Hiker

    June 10, 2021 at 12:10 pm

    @Cameron: So she’s the new Jared then!

  57. 57.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 12:12 pm

    @Abnormal Hiker: Jared could not get a security clearance without his FIL explicit interference. She is the VP, and was a senator and before that AG of California. Yes so exactly the same.

  58. 58.

    Old School

    June 10, 2021 at 12:13 pm

    @Abnormal Hiker: Beat me to it. If Jared could handle the Middle East Peace Process, Veterans Affairs, the opioid crisis, and whatever else he was in charge of, surely Kamala can handle two tasks.

  59. 59.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 10, 2021 at 12:14 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: She also dresses better than Jared, can dance, and is a better cook.  Lighten up.

  60. 60.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 12:19 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Don’t find constant attacks on a capable woman funny. Sorry.
    We saw what they did to Hillary.

    And is lighten up the blog version of why don’t you smile more?

  61. 61.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 10, 2021 at 12:20 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: oh man, Edmond Dantes le Compte is totally going to pie you now!

  62. 62.

    clay

    June 10, 2021 at 12:22 pm

    OT, but guess who snagged tickets for Springsteen on Broadway in September?!!

    (It was my wife, actually. We both tried but she was the one who got through.)

  63. 63.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 10, 2021 at 12:22 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: she can paint an entire apartment in one afternoon! TWO COATS!

  64. 64.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 10, 2021 at 12:25 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: The Jared jokes on this blog weren’t attacks.

  65. 65.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 10, 2021 at 12:25 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Stop attacking her.

  66. 66.

    BruceFromOhio

    June 10, 2021 at 12:27 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: This white guy wanted so badly to vote for her in the primaries, and was disappointed when she had to drop out, ecstatic when Biden picked her as VP, and over the moon when they won. Betty called it, Harris was assigned the big rocks to push up the hill, and I expect took them on willingly. When grooming a future president, the worst thing that can happen is giving that future president the easy tasks.

  67. 67.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 12:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Perhaps not. I just don’t find them humorous.

  68. 68.

    BruceFromOhio

    June 10, 2021 at 12:30 pm

    @Baud: Au contraire,  click around cupshe.com for a few minutes, and its many bikini ads from there. I am grateful to our advertising overlords for these gifts.

  69. 69.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 10, 2021 at 12:32 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: As long as it’s cheesecake.

  70. 70.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 10, 2021 at 12:33 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Is cheesecake pie?  Interesting….

  71. 71.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    June 10, 2021 at 12:40 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Tankies remind me a lot of “Thin Blue Line” and “Blue Lives Matter” types in their defenses of police. Probably because both share authoritarian tendencies. The next time I encounter one of them, either in meatspace or online, I’m going to compare them to a tankie lol

  72. 72.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 10, 2021 at 12:42 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): ​Or you could just not talk to tankies at all!

  73. 73.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 10, 2021 at 12:42 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): An insult loses effectiveness when you need to explain it.

  74. 74.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 10, 2021 at 12:48 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: It’s round, it has a crust; so yes.

  75. 75.

    James E Powell

    June 10, 2021 at 12:49 pm

    A little help, please. I can’t find a definition of tankie that seems relevant to anything going on right now. Who are you all talking about?

  76. 76.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 10, 2021 at 12:49 pm

    @clay: Jealous!

  77. 77.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 10, 2021 at 12:50 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: a deep philosophical question–we may TBogg this thread!

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 10, 2021 at 12:51 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: This explains much.

    @Steve in the ATL: It is delicious and that is all that matters.

  79. 79.

    Abnormal Hiker

    June 10, 2021 at 12:51 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I guess I should have used a sarcasm tag.  I feel the same way about VP Harris as does BrucefromOhio

  80. 80.

    Amir Khalid

    June 10, 2021 at 12:52 pm

    @clay
    Solo, with Patti, or with the E Street Band?

  81. 81.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 10, 2021 at 12:52 pm

    @James E Powell: Wasn’t Cole a tankie, or was he a tanker?

  82. 82.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 10, 2021 at 12:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Always glad to help you out.

  83. 83.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 12:54 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: He has always been cantankerous.

  84. 84.

    James E Powell

    June 10, 2021 at 12:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Is it even cake?

  85. 85.

    Another Scott

    June 10, 2021 at 12:56 pm

    This is the classic I shouldn't get jail because @Popehat made fun of me defense. https://t.co/pVHBFXQKP3

    — MST Rugby Alum (@RugbyWing) June 10, 2021

    Hey, when you’ve got nothing sensible and you have to file something, well…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  86. 86.

    sdhays

    June 10, 2021 at 1:01 pm

    @Abnormal Hiker: I know you were joking, but another way of looking at it is that, yes, she IS Biden’s Jared. She’s who Biden trusts the most to tackle the thorniest issues facing the country. The comparison breaks down because Jared is and was such a pathetic joke of a man, who’s only real qualification is being married to the daughter of TFG. And TFG didn’t really give a shit about any of the issues he assigned to Jared, other than thinking it would be nice to get some credit for solving them.

    Of course, it also breaks down because our VP isn’t going to fix all of this herself – she’s leading the administration’s response on all of these issues, because that’s what serious-minded, effective leaders do. With Jared, it really pretty much was all him, and the results speak to that.

  87. 87.

    Gravenstone

    June 10, 2021 at 1:06 pm

    @Baud: Only if we can start by replacing him…

  88. 88.

    Another Scott

    June 10, 2021 at 1:06 pm

    @sdhays: +1

    She’s not going to solve these problems.  Nobody sensible thinks that she will.

    What she will do, being VP and being the last person in the room with Biden, is make sure that agencies and people who are tasked with working on the problems actually do work on the problems and propose and implement sensible plans, propose legislation, direct resources, etc., to tackle them.

    She’s the first officer on the bridge, not the team of hundreds in the engine room, etc.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  89. 89.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    June 10, 2021 at 1:08 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    LOL, no I meant I’d call Blue Lives Matters morons “tankies”

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    True. They’re not the brightest bulbs. I guess maybe something more literal? “You people are no different than the tankies who defended the Soviets sending in tanks to crush the Hungarian Revolution in 1956”.

    Wordy, but makes it clear what I think of them. I’m sure being compared to communists would offend them

  90. 90.

    StringOnAStick

    June 10, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    @sdhays: It seems that issues that have their profile raised by, say, having your VP tackle them publicity and with vigor, have a better chance of at least getting the ball moved further downfield.  I don’t envy MVP’s assignments but I can’t think of a better person to set to the task.  The huge increase in real R and bot attacks on her suggests the opposition thinks that too.

  91. 91.

    Gravenstone

    June 10, 2021 at 1:10 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: American exceptionalism would argue that we’re the only country worthy of being such an aspirational emigration destination.

  92. 92.

    germy

    June 10, 2021 at 1:12 pm

    For so long now we've lived under the rules of the Patriot Act, told to not even joke about violence, watch ourselves and others, stay hyper-vigilant. If you see something say something. Well I see a political party plotting a coup. Who do I tell?

    — ?Rev Magdalen (@revmagdalen) June 10, 2021

    You could create an AI to sift through every message on the whole internet, but you can't create one that can make white people in power take white domestic terrorist threats seriously.

    — ?Rev Magdalen (@revmagdalen) June 10, 2021

    All those times breaking news alerts would cut in, to show us some random flashlight or backpack being examined by a robot. The constant fear that another 9/11 could happen.

    And then these fascists get to just smash the windows and invade the Capitol.

    — ?Rev Magdalen (@revmagdalen) June 10, 2021

  93. 93.

    elm

    June 10, 2021 at 1:12 pm

    @James E Powell: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie

  94. 94.

    rikyrah

    June 10, 2021 at 1:12 pm

    They want MVP to do a Performative Cosplay Bullshyt performance at the border like the GQP did…so that they BOTH SIDES the issue.

    They don’t give a shyt about the solutions that MVP is working on for the issue.

    Just like they didn’t give two shyts about the Border when Dolt45 and his Administration were doing their horrors at the border.

    Oh, there were a handful of journalists actually interested in the issue during Dolt45’s term, but the rest of those muthaphuckas spent their time trying to normalize, and make excuses for the nightmares done on behalf of Dolt45 and his evil crew.

  95. 95.

    Elizabelle

    June 10, 2021 at 1:14 pm

    Ms. Cat’s wiki article on tankies had some interesting links.  The two to Vice won’t work at all.  Trying vice.com brings an error message.

    That happening to anyone else??

  96. 96.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    June 10, 2021 at 1:23 pm

    @cain: Honestly we’ve fucked up much of South and Central America for a century and a half, for example:

    The CIA backed coup to overthrow a democratically elected leader in Guatemala in 1954: US backed coup in Guatemala

    “The United Fruit Company (UFC), whose highly profitable business had been affected by the end to exploitative labor practices in Guatemala, engaged in an influential lobbying campaign to persuade the U.S. to overthrow the Guatemalan government. ”

    There’s also the fact that United Fruit opened fire on striking banana workers in 1928 with the help of the Guatemalan government.

  97. 97.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 1:26 pm

    @rikyrah: Or AOC going to the “border” and crying at the fence. The so called progressives in the Congress crying crocodile tears over Harris being insensitive to immigrants and asylum seekers are the most ardent followers of Vt Jesus who was a favorite guest of Lou Dobbs before he ran for President.

    Biden has always been to the left of the bourgeoise Bernie with a lake front house on immigration

    I find their hypocrisy grating.

  98. 98.

    sdhays

    June 10, 2021 at 1:26 pm

    @rikyrah: They don’t care about the humanitarian crisis happening outside US borders. They don’t care about people fleeing their countries from either violence or a complete lack of economic opportunities. They only care about non-white people coming with their problems into the US at the border.

    It shouldn’t be even be discussed as a problem at the border. Talking about “the border” is what makes “building a wall” seem like a plausible idea. Of course, VP Harris knows all this and knows the real crisis at the border was when TFG was locking babies up in cages.

  99. 99.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 10, 2021 at 1:30 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Heh, true!

  100. 100.

    Soprano2

    June 10, 2021 at 1:31 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Harris is getting a lot of crap from liberals for the immigration speech in Guatemala. I think it’s a case where the only moral positions and the only politically possible ones just have no overlap at all.

    What do they want her to say ? “C’mon, make that dangerous journey, our border is totally open to everyone no matter their status”? Surely they know she can’t say anything like that. The only moral position to take is to tell people not to make that dangerous journey, and that we’re trying to fix our system.

  101. 101.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 10, 2021 at 1:31 pm

    Biden’s USCIS has started reissuing RFEs instead of outright rejecting many immigration applications like they did under the regime of  the Orange Clown. USCIS still doesn’t have a head IIRC. The agency has been gutted of professionals like many other branches of the federal govt. Things are slowly improving. No matter how much the squad or their Twitter Tankie chorus bleats a sitting VP or the President is never going to sound like the second coming of Chomsky.

  102. 102.

    Soprano2

    June 10, 2021 at 1:46 pm

    @rikyrah: They want MVP to do a Performative Cosplay Bullshyt performance at the border like the GQP did…so that they BOTH SIDES the issue.

    They don’t give a shyt about the solutions that MVP is working on for the issue.

    Yep, they want a photo op for their news feeds. They want footage of her surrounded by the people who are coming here, so they can “bothsides” it and play it over and over and over. I had a MAGA co-worker ask me why Harris hasn’t gone to the border yet. I asked him why he wanted her to do a photo-op. He claimed he thinks she should see what’s happening there with her own eyes. I said, and then what? He said fix it. I was tempted to ask him why hadn’t TFG fixed it, but I suspect he’d say TFG had fixed it just fine (even though they never stopped coming, to MAGAs “fixing it” means making them stay in Mexico so we aren’t threatened by their “brownness”).  So if she goes there, then the howling will be “why hasn’t she fixed the border crisis yet?”. I wish, every time they ask her the question of why she hasn’t been to the border, that she would ask why they’re repeating a Republican talking point, and then ask if they honestly think she needs to physically go to the border in order to work to solve the problem. I have to say that when I saw that clip from the Holt interview I thought she could have been better prepared for that question, because she had to know it was coming.

  103. 103.

    Matt McIrvin

    June 10, 2021 at 1:47 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Why have nation-states at all?

    I’m not fond of them, honestly. They’re a feature of the world as it exists.

  104. 104.

    Steeplejack

    June 10, 2021 at 1:50 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Both the Vice links (in footnotes 4 and 6) worked for me, as did a trip to Vice.com. Maybe a temporary and/or “local” (to you) problem?

  105. 105.

    Soprano2

    June 10, 2021 at 1:50 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: It’s the Star Trek dream of a one world government. It would be nice, but I doubt it ever actually happens.

  106. 106.

    Matt McIrvin

    June 10, 2021 at 1:57 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I dislike the ethnically-based nationalism that a large fraction of the countries in the world (including leading democracies) seem to find unproblematic; while the United States is far from unique in officially disavowing it, one thing I do think puts us in a good tier of countries is that we do officially disavow it. I’d like to see that disavowal extended as far as possible.

    You could probably make a defensible case that full citizenship for immigrants requires some kind of indication of commitment to those values. But the fact that you can be a full citizen just by being born here, no matter who your mommy or daddy were, is great too, but one side effect of that is that any malevolent bozo born here ends up with the franchise. So be it.

  107. 107.

    Betty Cracker

    June 10, 2021 at 2:03 pm

    Truth is the Democrats are between a rock and a hard place on immigration in a way Republicans just aren’t anymore. Dems have to balance policies and perceptions to avoid alienating constituents with opposing views (e.g., old-timey labor advocates with protectionist views vs. progressives and liberals who favor taking in more refugees and welcoming more immigrants).

    Repubs used to have a similar dilemma when placating nativist yahoos demanding tougher enforcement vs. the business lobby that wanted to exploit undocumented workers. But Repubs found they could go full yahoo all the time without completely losing the Chamber vote, so they don’t bother with nuance anymore.

  108. 108.

    Fair Economist

    June 10, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    I think Harris is taking on tough controversial issues so Biden can keep playing the Friendly Grandpa Joe role. Keeping Biden’s net positives up will help us in 2022 and 2024. I think this is fully intentional by both of them.

  109. 109.

    clay

    June 10, 2021 at 2:12 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Solo. He’s reviving his one-man show on Broadway this summer. Storytelling and songs.

  110. 110.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 10, 2021 at 2:15 pm

    Jill Biden throws some loving shade on a certain predecessor…. There will be lots of tantrums at Mar-A-Loco today.

  111. 111.

    James E Powell

    June 10, 2021 at 2:15 pm

    @elm:

    I did see that definition, but it doesn’t seem to apply to anyone under discussion.

  112. 112.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 2:19 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Isn’t that old?  Jill has worn that jacket before.

    ETA: From Jan. 2021.

    Although googling showed that a lot of media are running with the story today.

  113. 113.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 10, 2021 at 2:22 pm

    @Soprano2: You also might want to remind this person that 6 months ago, MVP was the junior Senator for a border state, she’s been to the border in the past.

  114. 114.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 10, 2021 at 2:24 pm

    @Baud: being reported as news

    Unlike her predecessor, Dr. Biden was quick to provide an immediate explanation and context for her choice of a jacket and the message she was trying to send. In comments to reporters traveling with the president, she said that the jacket was intended to offer a “sense of hope” to a world gripped by Covid.
    “I think that we’re bringing love from America,” she said. “This is a global conference, and we are trying to bring unity across the globe. And I think it’s needed right now, that people feel a sense of unity from all the countries and feel a sense of hope after this year of the pandemic.”

    I have a tendency to fall for old tweets being recycled, so I checked this time

  115. 115.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    See my ETA.  It is being reported as news, but it’s happened before.

  116. 116.

    Another Scott

    June 10, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone:

    Kent’s guest post a few days ago talked about the history and how complex it is.

    https://balloon-juice.com/2021/06/08/guest-post-vice-president-harris-in-guatemala/

    We’ve made a mess of things in lots of places, but …

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  117. 117.

    sdhays

    June 10, 2021 at 2:29 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Don’t you know by now that California doesn’t really count as “America”?

  118. 118.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 10, 2021 at 2:35 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): oh well you don’t have to talk to them either!

  119. 119.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 2:36 pm

    @Baud:

    I can’t find better confirmation, but I know I remember it from a while back.

    Anywho, I can’t never get enough Bidens/Trumps comparisons.  Happy to do it again next time Jill wears that jacket.

  120. 120.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 10, 2021 at 2:38 pm

    @Baud: yup, I love that kindly Doc Biden isn’t afraid, or too kind, to remind people just how awful the formers both were.

    They were tacky and vulgar, but we shouldn’t let that over shadow the genuine cruelty underneath the tacky vulgarity

  121. 121.

    Kay

    June 10, 2021 at 2:42 pm

    A big divide among families re in-school mask mandates,
    @RANDCorporation
    researcher Heather Schwartz tells
    @gtoppo
    : 86% of Black parents want masks; just 53% of white parents feel the same way

    They keep making the same mistake with this- they did the same thing with school reopening.

    “Parents wants X, Y or Z!” then they’ll be this huge gaping difference depending on which parents you ask.
    It reminds me of how all “working class people” are white. How many TIMES are they going to make this error? My God, fix it.

  122. 122.

    Baud

    June 10, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    @Kay: That’s still a majority of white people, so it’s not exactly an evenly split issue.

  123. 123.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 10, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    @sdhays: So I should ignore that letter from the US IRS?

  124. 124.

    Ken

    June 10, 2021 at 2:53 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Letters, no, but I assume you know that you should ignore any phone calls supposedly coming from the IRS.  Also those about your car’s warranty expiring.

  125. 125.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 10, 2021 at 2:59 pm

    @Ken: Since I’m in California and not part of America, aren’t they just like the extended car warranties?

  126. 126.

    sdhays

    June 10, 2021 at 3:02 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: What?! No!! How do you expect farmers in East Bumfuck, IN to be able to keep their new Ford F-650’s every couple of years?

    California doesn’t count only when it’s convenient for conservatives. I thought that was clear.

  127. 127.

    Another Scott

    June 10, 2021 at 3:06 pm

    Originally I thought there’s no way in hell Eric Adams lives in New Jersey, nobody is that dumb, nobody thinks it won’t get found out, but he may indeed be that dumb. I don’t know if it matters. The outer boros want a New York accent and a billyclub. But my God, it’s dumb.

    — Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) June 10, 2021

    (Adams is Brooklyn Borough president and running for NYC Mayor.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  128. 128.

    Kay

    June 10, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    @Baud:

    Because masks weren’t that big a deal to kids- understandably, as they deal with school rules every day so adding one didn’t cause them to completely freak out and start waving the Declaration of Independence around.

    It’s just that these people have NEVER worried about the freedom and agency of kids before and kids are subject to all kinds of indignities and searches and such in public schools. They’re not on Team Freedom. They can’t pick and choose which infringements they go nuts over.

  129. 129.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 10, 2021 at 3:18 pm

    @sdhays: Oh, OK.  Gotta keep them in new trucks, while I drive a 10 year old used Prius.

  130. 130.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 10, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    @Another Scott: wants to carry a gun everywhere, abuses his parking privileges, middling job performance, doesn’t live in NYC. Yep—he’s NYPD alright!

  131. 131.

    Another Scott

    June 10, 2021 at 3:31 pm

    Today’s installment of Twitter Kremlinology Ryongsong Residence-ology (needs some work):

    It matters that Kim Jong Un is looking noticeably thinner (nice work by @ColinZwirko) https://t.co/lwm3Yp3Lyw pic.twitter.com/s7IhmGNFLo

    — Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) June 8, 2021

    Hmm…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  132. 132.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 10, 2021 at 3:48 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: ha!

  133. 133.

    SWMBO

    June 10, 2021 at 4:08 pm

    @Cameron: ​
      Or one Jared.

  134. 134.

    jonas

    June 10, 2021 at 4:08 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:  Bolsonaro can reasonably be described someone who is honestly trying to help the poor,

    That’s certainly not my take on him. He’s pretty much a Trump-style asshole — his constituency is police/military, ranchers who want to clear-cut the Amazon, and other grifters and business-types who like a government that looks the other way on various kinds of corruption that benefit them. Covid in Brazil has been devastating to poor and indigenous communities and Bolsonaro could not care less.

  135. 135.

    polyorchnid octopunch

    June 10, 2021 at 5:20 pm

    I know I’m late to the party and all that, but just dropped in to say that the NYT and the Times of London are both garbage newspapers now.

    Real shame how far they’ve fallen.

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