Objectively intelligent.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I don't see that next one coming to fruition.

Given that orange asshole just cost me money in GA, I'd support federal troops going Kent State on the next MAGA crowd to try to pull that crap.

That's what's so infuriating about Trump. He had the chance to go out a sort of a winner. He could have behaved and not attacked GA, not encouraged Rs not to vote, and galvanized Ds to vote. And then we'd have split govt.

But no... If Donald can't win, none of us are allowed to win. Particularly we moderates who were thrilled with split govt.

I think the selfish prick wanted to turn GA blue. He wanted to bring it all down on top of him. Punish the moderate Rs in the suburbs who weren't really with him. Set up Biden to have to deal with the lunatic progressives squabbling with the moderates instead of presiding over a sane, sober administration in which deals might've been possible and Biden could shut down the extreme left by blaming all failures to enact crazy policies on McConnell's obstructionism.

Go to hell, Donald. May they indict you and bankrupt you until you live in a box under a bridge.

It took you until now to figure all this out? WTF?

[Adder]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I'm not googling wage growth relative to asset valuation during that period. If you disagree with that assessment, fine. It's supportable with reams of data, and yes, it can also be criticized with reams of data. But there is no way I'm dicking around providing cites for you to attack at the margins in bad faith.

You're talking about a period in which we, finally, started to see wage growth after a long period of stagnation. Your theory is that people without assets saw their wages going up but just resented that assets were appreciating faster? I guess that's possible...

Do you know what a K recovery is?

The K is where we are now, with professional classes basically fine/growing, while service workers remain in depression because of the pandemic. The conventional wisdom is that the end of the pandemic will be good for working doing things like manicures, because people will go and use those services again.

The obsolescence of certain industries, certain classes and types of workers, was just radically accelerated.

How?

Coming out of this, there will be far fewer bars, restaurants, hotels, etc.

Nah.


I deleted the text that I was going to respond to about Cruz et al, but there is a breed of "young" (back then) conservatives that started showing up in DC over a decade ago (Ilya Shapiro, former colleague and now "constitutional scholar" at Cato is one) that smirked and pretended to be kidding about how the Pinochet regime was good, actually. Cruz is of their type. So convinced of his own ultimate righteousness that there's nothing out of bounds as long as it's achieving his goals. If Cruz could get himself into 45's position, he would not hesitate to coup.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

Pellet gun? I start with an assault rifle, get talked down to a shotgun, and now you want me to get a pellet gun?

Get a German Shepherd. Ours is a sweetheart, but she flips out when we have a visitor at night, until we tell her it's OK.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Adder

I deleted the text that I was going to respond to about Cruz et al, but there is a breed of "young" (back then) conservatives that started showing up in DC over a decade ago (Ilya Shapiro, former colleague and now "constitutional scholar" at Cato is one) that smirked and pretended to be kidding about how the Pinochet regime was good, actually. Cruz is of their type. So convinced of his own ultimate righteousness that there's nothing out of bounds as long as it's achieving his goals. If Cruz could get himself into 45's position, he would not hesitate to coup.

Movement conservatives in this country understand that they are counter-revolutionaries supporting a movement that is supporting by a minority. What they want is not popular. So they need to stick together, a la Reagan's Eleventh Amendment, and that means not turning on the more extreme conservatives. The Ilya Shapiros of the world do not want to talk about whether someone like Pinochet went too far, because that's a tactic to divide his movement, a conversation that is only safe behind closed doors.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I don't see that next one coming to fruition.

They MAGAts will be there. But there will likely be enough security to keep things in line. I'd call that a win for Ty.

I think the selfish prick wanted to turn GA blue.

Yes, he wanted to fuck McConnell. In part for Mitch not being willing to do anything to help the economy before the general election (Mitch thought he was going to lose the majority anyway) and in part to prove that he wasn't the reason it was blue in the presidential race. The $2,000 was part of it.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

Pellet gun? I start with an assault rifle, get talked down to a shotgun, and now you want me to get a pellet gun? Pretty soon you’re going to tell me that the best defense is a Super Soaker, or maybe a stick painted to look like a gun. The Trump motherfuckers are armed to the teeth. I’m mounting an M2 Browning on the deck.

Safest bet would be to make her quit the position. But if she insists on staying, here's what you do. We connect our internet to our smart doorknob. If I see an intruder trying to get in I just zap em with some mega-hurts.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

Jesus. Be careful, dude.

If I lived in Minnesota I'd be ice slipping like a mad man. Although maybe I'd be better at snow/ice running after a few winters there?

[Hank Chinaski]

So we have friends with a son living in Adams Morgan. They left Tuesday night to stay with relatives in Maryland. See, about 50 Proud Boys were staying at a hotel near them. The P.B.s had originally booked a hotel on Capitol Hill, but once that hotel realized who they were they got kicked out. Understand, hotel security was able to keep them out, but Capitol Police could not.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

If I lived in Minnesota I'd be ice slipping like a mad man. Although maybe I'd be better at snow/ice running after a few winters there?

Salomon Speedcross GTX. Waterproof. Stay off the icy sidewalks and just run in the snow.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

So we have friends with a son living in Adams Morgan. They left Tuesday night to stay with relatives in Maryland. See, about 50 Proud Boys were staying at a hotel near them. The P.B.s had originally booked a hotel on Capitol Hill, but once that hotel realized who they were they got kicked out. Understand, hotel security was able to keep them out, but Capitol Police could not.

The Capitol Police definitely screwed things up yesterday. They looked overwhelmed, and clearly waited too long to ask for help. Once MPD showed up, they were able to clear the building and create a perimeter. They waited too long to ask MPD for help.

Schumer has said that the Senate sergeant-at-arms is out of a job when he becomes majority leader. Pelosi has said that the head of the Capitol Police isn't returning her calls, and I would assume that his days are numbered too.

eta:

Just saw this piece by Masha Gessen in The New Yorker:

I can think of only two explanations for why the Capitol Police failed to prepare appropriately or to respond forcefully. One is that they were in cahoots with the invaders. The other is that they did not take them seriously, which is to say, did not fear them. I will dismiss the first hypothesis because it’s a conspiracy theory. Evidence for the second hypothesis, however, is abundant, and it extends beyond the Capitol Police.

eta: The head of the Capitol Police has now put in his resignation.

eata: More here.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

Salomon Speedcross GTX. Waterproof. Stay off the icy sidewalks and just run in the snow.

YaxTrax has versions for running that are probably your best bet on ice.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Get a German Shepherd. Ours is a sweetheart, but she flips out when we have a visitor at night, until we tell her it's OK.

A dog is no use against an assault rifle wielded by a tweaked-out hillbilly. Plus, we’re at maximum pet capacity right now. So looks like a deck-mounted 50 caliber machine gun is my only option.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

A dog is no use against an assault rifle wielded by a tweaked-out hillbilly. Plus, we’re at maximum pet capacity right now. So looks like a deck-mounted 50 caliber machine gun is my only option.

Trump still has a few weeks. Petition to buy a tactical nuke? It might be pricey, but mutually assured destruction has kept us all safe for decades.

Edit: say it's to protect you from BLM, not the Proud Boys.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I don't see that next one coming to fruition.

Given that orange asshole just cost me money in GA, I'd support federal troops going Kent State on the next MAGA crowd to try to pull that crap.

That's what's so infuriating about Trump. He had the chance to go out a sort of a winner. He could have behaved and not attacked GA, not encouraged Rs not to vote, and galvanized Ds to vote. And then we'd have split govt.

But no... If Donald can't win, none of us are allowed to win. Particularly we moderates who were thrilled with split govt.

I think the selfish prick wanted to turn GA blue. He wanted to bring it all down on top of him. Punish the moderate Rs in the suburbs who weren't really with him. Set up Biden to have to deal with the lunatic progressives squabbling with the moderates instead of presiding over a sane, sober administration in which deals might've been possible and Biden could shut down the extreme left by blaming all failures to enact crazy policies on McConnell's obstructionism.

Go to hell, Donald. May they indict you and bankrupt you until you live in a box under a bridge.

Half of those idiots think Antifa did this. Half of them want to do it again. (There's overlap there too.) They came in with bombs and zip ties and guns. Only a handful got arrested. They were barely teargassed. The one who got shot wasn't an innocent bystander by anyone's imagination. (I'm still waiting on details of the dude who tased himself to death.) There are few consequences and lots of cred on Parler for going for it. And speaking of Parler, sooner or later Trump is going to realize he has a captive fawning audience over there where he can talk directly to them.

Maybe Pence will come through with the 25th. Maybe the capitol hill police will be disbanded and the national guard will be put in its place until the review is over. There's a lot of shit that can happen between now and the 19th. But there's a plan to do it, and I don't see why they won't.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

Pellet gun? I start with an assault rifle, get talked down to a shotgun, and now you want me to get a pellet gun? Pretty soon you’re going to tell me that the best defense is a Super Soaker, or maybe a stick painted to look like a gun. The Trump motherfuckers are armed to the teeth. I’m mounting an M2 Browning on the deck.

What's your property like? If you have some space, establishing a few armed drones on the perimeter would be ideal. You'll get Toothless Tommy long before he's a real threat, and even if Jumpy Jeb manages to breach the perimeter with his AR 15 while you're taking Tommy out, you can use the drones to get him from behind while using your conventional weaponry to keep him at a distance. Cross-fire can be a beautiful thing.

If you have less space, have you considered arming a cupola on top of the house? It's always good to have the high ground, and it may be less visible to the kids.