Re: Run the money-changers out of the temple; put the Carpenter in.
 

The very notion of a Billy Bragg and Wilco Pandora channel (could anything be whiter . . . an Abba and Kenny Chesney harpsichord cover band?) makes me realize that I cannot move forward with my new signature line without taking some affirmative steps. Accordingly, having been inspired by Thurgreed's tireless work on the fashionable lawyers chatting board in the semi-nudity oeuvre, I will be dropping a daily dose of funk here. It might be more appropriate for the fashionable lawyers chatting board, but God knows this board needs it more. Daily Dose #1 - Skull Snaps -- It's a New Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsDEof4hOOo

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

This posts evidences such an ignorance of Japanese history and culture that it compels me to question your claim to having spent 7 years in Osaka studying to be an Itamae?

Re: Run the money-changers out of the temple; put the Carpenter in.
 

Thanks for this -- I bought the album.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I'm sorry, when you talked about "achieving goals" and "bipartisan support" and "reform" and "bucking the idiot voting bloc" and "serious reform", I thought you were talking about passing bipartisan legislation to reform the criminal justice laws, not a kamikaze mission to start the discussion.

Ahead of a curve that he and lots of Democrats and moderate Republicans are already on? Wow, good point.

I don't think Obama is being cynical at all. As with gay marriage, I think he understands that sometimes he serves a cause better by not adding his voice to the debate. If you cared about getting something done instead of a kamikaze mission to start a discussion, you would respect that.

Hey Sebby!
 

Just in case you still believe that, as President, Trump will surround himself with smart people (or appoint them):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...uld-look-like/

TM

Re: Hey Sebby!
 

I assumed (the link was abbreviated on the board) this would be about Carson being promised a cabinet post, and how a man who thinks the pyramids were filled with grain is going to be the next surgeon general.

The actual link is somewhat disturbing, but nothing truly horrifying. Politics is filled with degenerates, and they're often the most effective operatives. (Carville, Atwater, etc.) I still think if Old Orangehead gets the prize, he's going to acquire a cabinet of serious, skilled people. He's going to need it, and I think a number of skilled people who care about the future of the country would volunteer, the thinking being, "My God. If he doesn't have the best in there advising him, this country's going to have some serious fucking problems."

(Of course, the possibility of Carl Icahn as Secretary of the Treasury isn't exactly encouraging... But then, Kasich may get it instead. And either would be better than Larry Summers, who truly, seriously needs to Go The Fuck Away [Bezos should be slapped crisply across the lips for giving that bloviating academic gasbag a weekly column*].)
__________
* Summers might be the most dangerous idiot to have held sway over policy in the last thirty years. He might even be more dangerous than Trump, who has actually run a business (even badly), has been moderate on regulation, and has not advocated idiotic policies like banning $100 bills.

Re: Hey Sebby!
 

Evergreen note to self: Do not listen to Sebby on economics.

Re: Hey Sebby!
 

I said years ago that the economy was fucked, and not really improving. The rise of Trump hasn't proven me entirely right, because I didn't see the exact bifurcation of haves and have nots which created Trump. But I was hell of a lot closer on where things were going than you have ever been arguing, "Oh, everything is doing well. You just wait and see and the policy people will be proven correct."

If our recovery, based in large part on policies advocated by Summers, is such a broad success, why are there tens of millions of Americans, from all classes, voting for a demagogue? Why are millions of Americans stating they are angry, dissatisfied, and feeling "left behind" in poll after poll after poll? Is it all... racism?

I'm just a poor sole in the unemployment line/my God, I'm hardly alive.
 

Here's an interesting article from October 2015 in The Guardian by Chris Arnade (a good follow on Twitter, btw) that lays out the point I was trying to make re working class discontent last week.

The fact that the working class has been screwed is real. The fact that many of the working class blame immigrants is real. The fact that many in the working class are racist is real. (Hi to my now-dead father and uncles, proud union men who were pissed when the NLRB started pushing unions to desegregate in the 1970s.) What I think Trump has been able to do is to add these grievances together in a way that the sum is greater than the equal of the parts.

It's not a choice of taking one position from column A and one from B and saying "this is what Trump's appeal really is." Nope. You can't disassociate one part of his appeal from the other. What you can do (as Flower put it) say "I don't want a racist to be president," and act accordingly. (Or, I suppose, if you are a free trade racist, "I don't want a protectionist to be president.")

ETA "poor sole"? Jesus H. Christ, I fucking hate auto-correct sometimes.

Re: Hey Sebby!
 

The greater mystery to me was how Larry Summers convinced a Republican Congress to enact his vision over the last six years.

Re: Hey Sebby!
 

Yeah, and you were wrong.

Except that's not what created Trump.

Yes.

Re: Hey Sebby!
 

I still think you cray cray. Here is Daily Dose of Funk #2. For all you old school De La Soul fans out there. "Bra" by Cymande:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuLnxjVo6bk

Re: Hey Sebby!
 

From the link:

Well, thank goodness Kevin Drum was able to get on Google to explain to us why Trump voters vote for Trump. I mean, why bother actually talking to them in person in places like Youngstown or Skokie or Gary? I mean, I can't blame him - those places are kinda hard to get to and you probably will have a hard time getting a decent craft beer.

Had he, say, interviewed 200 people over three months* like Arnade did, perhaps his opinion would be spoiled by anecdotal evidence. I mean, polling and economic data are much more accurate about why people vote the way they do than actually talking to a bunch of people.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/...traits/405907/

Re: I'm just a poor sole in the unemployment line/my God, I'm hardly alive.
 

To be fair, I think this is right.

On trade, I'm interested in listening to this podcast about this paper reviewed in this blog post.

A take away seems to be that we have not done enough to counteract the distributional harms of trade with China. That shouldn't really be a surprise. Nor is it the fault of immigrants or the Chinese. But its easier to get outraged at those people and at trade than at the GOP that was completely opposed to functioning government.

Re: Hey Sebby!
 

A. You ignored the data he cited both here and in prior posts.

B. He's got cancer.

Yes, they are.