balzac.bsky.social

Hasan has Matthew Sullivan dead to rights here. LBJ told confidants that civil rights would cost Dems the south for 20-30 years. (It's 60 & counting, because GOP catered to racists.) Sullivan claims it isn't the same. But he says that because history has spoken & he has no smarmy counter-argument.

In the 1930's, Matthew Sullivan would have argued that Nazism was popular, & Germany's economy was rebounding. In 1860, he would have insisted that opposing slavery would destroy the union. Sullivan would have opposed Women's Suffrage-- just like he opposes gay rights & immigration.

Two friends were told the same thing. One was re-diagnosed with MS years later, one died of a mystery ailment. Both were constantly told "We know best. What you believe (or are feeling) isn't important." I know these are tough cases. Given that, maybe doctors should be less cocksure.

A big reason hucksters like RFK get traction is that US medicine insists it is never wrong. In many cases (not all) that's incorrect. I found out, after 6 years of feeling bad, my heart surgery hadn't been done well. Family members have been misprescribed. It's difficult to get issues redressed.

The disturbing thing about this story is the cause: "[T]hey stored various RTE meat and poultry products in a warehouse cooler that experienced temperature deviations." Last week, hackers systematically remotely overrode temperature settings on thousands of commercial freezers & fridges in France.

Tommy is the most authentic "Man of the People" I have seen since "Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, Unlicensed Home Improvement Guy." Good to see El-Sayed avoid kowtowing to him the way John McCain & Barack Obama did.

Opinion | Because she doesn't respect what voters want, and she doesn't give a damn about building the party.

When Dem elites support an independent candidate over Team D's nominee , they're saying one of two things: 1) We believe Team D's brand is so toxic that no nominee can win, or 2) we don't care about the process (or the voters who chose the nominee). Neither encourages voters to support Team D.

Here's the pitch Team D gives candidates: "We need you to run for office in states where you'll face long odds. We don't have the money to help your campaign. "We also reserve the right to order you to drop out, if we decide an "I" might beat the "R". Then they wonder why nobody runs.

Alani Bankhead has no chance to win ($22K in the bank at last filing). She has some similarities to Tulsi Scattered. But how do you expect to build a party if you give candidates the Rod Steiger speech ("Sorry kid-- it ain't your night") every time you think and Indy might win?

Expressing moral outrage at someone's heinous behavior sounds phony if you make it clear (as Chuck Schumer & most of Team D do) that you're playing to the crowd or the media. You can't call someone a monster if you imply that you can "move forward" if they say they're sorry & try to make amends.

You can see the difference when Schumer attacks BDS or IDF war crimes. Or Any Klobuchar rejects regulating the police. Or Cory Booker denounces tech regulation. Nothing matters as much to Hakeem Jeffries as eliminating limits on corporations. You can't disguise that with presentation techniques.

This is a terrible sign; it shows how corrupt & rotted-out the US economy has become. But remember that David Ellison has destroyed CBS-- the only unanswered question is "How badly will he ruin the prime-time lineup?" The same thing will happen to these properties.

It's not just that David is an imbecile-- that he accomplished nothing other than being born to the right father. He's loaded down with debt. The economy is going south & the AI bubble will burst. He'll end up selling all these properties. He'll have to. Capable people could rebuild them.

The thing that will decide our future is the amount of pressure we apply to our leaders after the 2026 & 2028 elections. Team D loves to say "Chill out-- we've got this. We'll fix things if you shut up & let us play eleventy-dimensional chess. Wasn't true when Clinton said it. Or Obama. Or Biden.

If reform doesn't proceed at DOGE speed-- if the Neo-Times & Amazon Post aren't constantly railing about leftist overreach-- the things that need to be done won't get done. If Matt Yglesias, Jon Shite & pundit Nate Silver aren't constantly fulminating, it's a sign we're going too slow.

The thing that will decide our future is the amount of pressure we apply to our leaders after the 2026 & 2028 elections. Team D loves to say "Chill out-- we've got this. We'll fix things if you shut up & let us play eleventy-dimensional chess. Wasn't true when Clinton said it. Or Obama. Or Biden.

The attitude people take toward leaders must be "You've fucked up our mandates too many times before. You ALL have track records-- and they are, without exception, terrible. "We cannot assume you know better. Or that you mean well. Or that you can be trusted. The stakes are too high this time."

Buried in this whinging is a tangible point: Governors can have huge impacts on state-- and ultimately-- national policy. The writer doesn't think it's the DNC's job (or DGA's) to make that case to them. Stupid voters should just grasp it. Would that be best use of their money? He doesn't say.

Astonishing incompetence-- both by Trump's political operation & the media. Navistar didn't just fire 1,341 workers. They filed a WARN notice with the State of Ohio in JULY. Federal law requires employers to give 90-day notice of mass layoffs . Who holds a rally right as the cuts take effect?

Here's the story from three months ago. The notice arrived July 28. I can't believe the media has presenting the layoffs as a sudden decision that blindsided these poor MAGAs. Everyone involved knew. A proper story filed now would address how many people will be rehired after Roshel takes over.

I guess Mansonite Leslie is now the second most loathsome "Van Houten" in the USA. Matthew-- the Tompkins County DA who made it his life's work not to punish the 50-odd Cornell fratboys for rape (or conspiracy)-- is up for election in 2028. It needs to be everyone's mission to see him defeated.