mtutiger

The thing that gets me is how in our case the noxious bull**** we choose to endure doesn't, materially, make us any better off. Eight months in, on top of all the macro items G2 listed in his final sentence, from a policy standpoint the average American is materially poorer and worse off. Whether it be from the OBBB, extremely high tariff rates being imposed, inflation (some caused by the tariffs, some by other factors). We've had roving gangs of federal officials in multiple cities, despite the fact that the American public largely doesn't want it. Vital parts of the government, including now the CDC, are on fire... expertise is leaving, and if we have another pandemic anytime soon, we are boned. The list goes on and on. It'd be one thing if the cultural nihilism came with economic policies that were more beneficial (and popular).... but these guys are all stick and literally no carrot. There's no real reward for any of it, just a more divided, more inequal society and a government that exists to serve Donald Trump's vengeance and not it's people.

I am sympathetic to Eric's point that mental health is a factor, particularly as we become more isolated and AI becomes more prevalent. But "mental health" is a pretty amorphous topic that, in a country of 350 million people, isn't going to lend itself to a one-size fits all solution. Like, even if the GOP didn't just scream "mental health" as a way to run out the clock on the news cycle and actually cared about making progress on that front, I don't think there's a policy change or additional funding on that issue that brings down the prevalence of these events at scale that doesn't involve access to guns. And that discussion has been determined to be off-limits and politically incorrect by our GOP overlords.

Here's what I'll say - politically I don't know how easy any of the issues surrounding guns are to deal with anymore, there's just so many of them distributed throughout society, lobbying for the availability of guns (even as the NRA has diminished in influence) remains as strong as ever, and loosening already loose restrictions on owning and possessing guns is almost a article of faith for the GOP in this country. And they control the store right now. But none of that changes the facts on the ground: the wide availability of guns in American society is the single biggest factor in why these events happen. Over. And Over. And Over. And Over.... and when these events happen, it needs to be called out for what it is. Not blaming video games, SSRI drugs, identities or any of the other bull****. And like it or not, these events happening over and over and over again is not an inevitability. It's a choice that we make as a society. The fact that so many other things get scapegoated and that the guns are off-limits to discuss stands as a tacit acknowledgement of this fact IMO.

Every. Single. Thing. Except. For. The. Guns......

A couple of thoughts One, I find it interesting that the identity of the shooter matters in this case and yet, with Vance Boelter, it was either ignored or his identity was flat out lied about by the same people who care so deeply in this case. Two, I am unclear how the identity of the shooter matters more than, oh, the wide availability of guns for people who otherwise shouldn't be in possession of them. It's amazing how every single thing under the sun is responsible for these shootings *except* for the guns.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/federal-agents-arrest-firefighters-working-on-wa-wildfire/ Don't even know what to say for this one...

As bad as literally everything about this administration has been, I don't think there's a worse appointment that was made than RFK Jr. Just completely unqualified and out of his depth for the job. And he's a lunatic whose views will kill a lot of people in the long run.

As always, ridicule is always the best response.

Again gets to why this problem never gets solved: because we can't agree on what the problem is. The process for legally immigrating to this country has been badly broken for years, and it is part of the reason that we find ourselves where we are currently. Somehow this gets lost in all the punitive focus on "they did it the right way" or whatever. Of course, none of what is happening is about illegal immigration really, because as far as the guy running Trump's immigration policy is concerned (ie. Stephen Miller), pretty much all immigration is bad. Particularly for those immigrating who don't share his same level of melanin.

I said it in the post above, but this government *brought him back* to indict him on criminal charges that they likely knew wouldn't stick. And now are having to deport him *again* to a country even further away. It's a tremendous waste of resources, but somehow Kilmar Abrego Garcia is the bad guy in all of this? SMH

Watching clips of Trump as this press availability is going on.... not to take away from the seriousness of it, but what a ****ing pathetic embarrassment he is.

As far as Kilmar Abrego Garcia is concerned, they said he couldn't be brought back from CECOT. And then he was brought back anyway to (ostensibly) stand for criminal charges. (ie. They lied, as per yoosh) And when it apparently became evident they weren't going to be able to prosecute him on criminal charges, they pivoted to detaining him again and shipping him half way across the world. He's being treated this way for one reason and one reason only: because he embarrassed Dear Leader. There's no real defense to any of it IMO

CC: Jake Tapper

He'd be better at using the levers of government maybe, but as a political athlete, he's really bad at it. I don't think he's inheriting the base

Why? What I "wish" for doesn't really matter at this point, were gonna have to figure out how the lance the boil regardless

We can (and probably will) debate how much public opinion actually matters, but in terms of public opinion regardless, not only do I think the retribution stuff doesn't help how people view him, I think it actually does hurt. Particularly at a time when the public is souring on him due to his actions on just about every political issue of the day. And mark me down on saying that he'd be a idiot for ever going after the most popular political figure in the country.

Lucky would be having the term cut short due to natural reasons

Would just add to the last part, given the focus on Biden's age and his cognitive abilities during the last couple of years of his Presidency, the fact that Trump's isn't being talked about more really sticks out. Setting aside the content of what he said with the FIFA head (and how insane he sounded), he also looked old and out of it.

To the extent that there's any broad strategy to going after John Bolton, its that of a class of public intellectual that is anti-Trump, he's one that's unlikely to engender any sympathy on *either* side. Conservatives don't like him because he's on the wrong side of Donald Trump, Dems don't like him because of Iraq. Pretty straight forward stuff, he's an easy target Barack Obama is probably the most well liked and well respected political figure in this country, outside of maybe his wife.... his approval ratings consistently are in the high 50s-low 60s. It would be moronic to try to go after Obama, and to the extent that he's already losing the public due to everything going on, it would only exacerbate the bleeding IMO. That said, this is Donald Trump we're talking about.... between the authoritarianism and the fact that he's clearly diminishing cognitively, the fact that you cannot rule out him doing something that stupid makes is equal parts unnerving and embarrassing as an American.

On the subject of inflation, this banger is now over three years old:

I would think that it should go without saying, but people (media sources, now JV) keep framing it as "Newsom is trying to mimic Trump" when it's clearly "Newsom is mocking the **** out of Trump".

I've been into a Marianos once since moving up here.... for a store who's reputation is what you described (Wegmans/Central Market/Whole Foods adjacent), it's shocking how little of an upgrade it is to a standard Jewel store. They're opening a Woodman's relatively close by, that's the day I got marked down....