A Joe Biden formulation that began to irritate me over time was “That’s not who we are.” Living in Pelham, as you and I have, Home of Michael Schwerner, is a reminder that America has long been far darker, violent and threatened than our vaunted PR would have it. We are a nation that mostly cleansed a continent of its indigenous population, tolerated two centuries of slavery and Jim Crow and adamantly refused to accept the desperate Jews from Europe and somehow manage to te ourselves how great we were before all this damn toleration and empathy came along (some of which is misguided and excessive, to be sure).
For me, one the more painful parts of this turn to cruelty and pettiness is the role Christianity is playing in it. As you get past the “Mixing Bowl” on that trip down to Key West, you enter a land where the substantial majority of folks loudly pronounce their devotion to Jesus Christ - and vote for men and women who contradict everything he stood for. Time for you and John to get Tim Alberta on the pod to discuss.
Finally - Meg Griffin is on the Loft. really? I’ve resisted the siren call of Sirius so far, but that just might push me over the edge.
I think it too early to draw any conclusions. The border was out of control. That is indisputable. Where the rubber will meet the road is whether the war in Ukraine ends quickly and justly. If Trump can end that needless war, he will be a good president. If not he will have failed. The prices have stabilized but the housing market is in a funk. Which way the interest rates will go will determine the economy. Yes, I weary of his endless droning so I turn the channel. This is Trump. He won’t change. One more thing. Get off the interstate. That will depress anyone.
Joe, I’ve driven that road from DC to Florida for years and now, despite your observation, there are no Stuckey’s left. Please tell me I’m wrong because nothing is as tasty as a Stuckey’s pecan log and I’d drive a long way out of my way to buy one.
You have to drive pretty far and wide to find an operating Stuckey's. Hope your vehicle isn't a lease with a mileage limit. Also, I hope you are listening to Bob Lefsetz on SiriusXM as well as via his excellent podcast.
I think you've hit on the new name of that Gulf --- The Gulf of .. . . Whatever. . . is inevitably its name for the next ten or twenty years.
It's a show of power to the world, inside and outside our borders. What Trump says, goes; take note, Germany, Canada, Yemen. If he's going to do that sort of thing, I wish he would knock out the twice-yearly Time Change. It's the last item on my bucket list! That would be both popular and useful, unlike messing with Google Maps.
Far from a show of power, I think this whole renaming thing demonstrates insecurity, which in turn is a sign of weakness. Already, there are signs that both Canada and Latin America are going to forge closer ties to China given that the US is going to be obsessed with self interest, vainglorious braggadocio and regular doses of cruelty. Being the laughing stock of the world isn’t going to be the hardest part of the next four years, but it will be sort of soul crushing nonetheless.
Thanks again Joe. Re birthright---check this out.....
Bill Clinton introduced the Citizen Reform Act in 1995 in an effort to:
"amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny citizenship at birth to children born in the United States of parents who are not citizens or permanent resident aliens.”
In 1996, Clinton then introduced another controversial bill titled:
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA or IIRIRA).
Clinton asserted that the legislation strengthened "the rule of law by cracking down on illegal immigration at the border, in the workplace, and in the criminal justice system — without punishing those living in the United States legally”…...With IIRAIRA, all noncitizens, regardless of legal status and including long-term legal permanent residents, became subject to removal and greatly expanded the offenses that could lead to formal deportation."
off-topic question: when American citizens were drafted to serve in war, the rest of us owed them a lasting debt of gratitude, and benefits like priority in government jobs seemed like the least we could offer in compensation. I remain grateful that many Americans continue to serve, but now that the draft has ended, I no longer recognize the same kind of debt, and don't really understand why we should be giving the current generation of veterans priority in government hiring. I think you're a veteran, and certainly have thought more about it than I have; could you explain?
You know how when you drive by an auto salvage yard and your brain says, some of those were once great automobiles?
That’s a recurring vision for me as the government gets downsized to fit in grover’s bathtub…. a salvage yard of democracy and competence on multiple issues is being created before our eyes.....
and my God, the price of Eggs keeps going up!
The Columbia plane thing is a perfect example of current US GOVERNMENT deception and concurrent media failure to understand context, which has apparently been ruled out of order.
Columbian migrants have been sent back to Columbia for months, on charter aircraft with flight plans. Sending them back on a military plane with no flight plan is an arrangement considered an act of war, (becasue its a military flight.) The Columbians said no! And reminded the US that its deal with charters is well known to ICE. They are a an ally in South America! They buy 4 billion dollars of corn for livestock every year from the USA… the Trump behavior is all about DOMINATION and its juvenile in keeping, appaently, with the bosses wishes. it’s stupid, If you fire or sideline the people in each govt agency who know these things are arranged , its possible to look belligerant and stupid all at once.
A half a year ago, I asked you to talk with and listen to the polite conservatives in Iowa who you applauded for their courtesies… They are your fellow Americans and voted Trump back in to office. I suggest you get to know them better.
Don't use your credit card in a gas pump at the major truck stops I won't name but if you are on the road know which ones I'm talking about. I will leave the "why" to your imagination as well
You are up to date, unfortunately, we are dealing with a President, who determines things on the spur of the moment, mostly to keep our attention on him, and provide no time for thinking. The great unfolding is about to begin, just what it is, has yet to be revealed, the hope is that it is at least reasonable and acceptable to our Republic and Constitution.
A Joe Biden formulation that began to irritate me over time was “That’s not who we are.” Living in Pelham, as you and I have, Home of Michael Schwerner, is a reminder that America has long been far darker, violent and threatened than our vaunted PR would have it. We are a nation that mostly cleansed a continent of its indigenous population, tolerated two centuries of slavery and Jim Crow and adamantly refused to accept the desperate Jews from Europe and somehow manage to te ourselves how great we were before all this damn toleration and empathy came along (some of which is misguided and excessive, to be sure).
For me, one the more painful parts of this turn to cruelty and pettiness is the role Christianity is playing in it. As you get past the “Mixing Bowl” on that trip down to Key West, you enter a land where the substantial majority of folks loudly pronounce their devotion to Jesus Christ - and vote for men and women who contradict everything he stood for. Time for you and John to get Tim Alberta on the pod to discuss.
Finally - Meg Griffin is on the Loft. really? I’ve resisted the siren call of Sirius so far, but that just might push me over the edge.
Meg's been AWOL for a while, but they seem to be running past shows. She's excellent as you know...and Tim Alberta is a great idea for a podcast.
I think it too early to draw any conclusions. The border was out of control. That is indisputable. Where the rubber will meet the road is whether the war in Ukraine ends quickly and justly. If Trump can end that needless war, he will be a good president. If not he will have failed. The prices have stabilized but the housing market is in a funk. Which way the interest rates will go will determine the economy. Yes, I weary of his endless droning so I turn the channel. This is Trump. He won’t change. One more thing. Get off the interstate. That will depress anyone.
Joe, holler when you get to Florida.
Joe, I’ve driven that road from DC to Florida for years and now, despite your observation, there are no Stuckey’s left. Please tell me I’m wrong because nothing is as tasty as a Stuckey’s pecan log and I’d drive a long way out of my way to buy one.
You have to drive pretty far and wide to find an operating Stuckey's. Hope your vehicle isn't a lease with a mileage limit. Also, I hope you are listening to Bob Lefsetz on SiriusXM as well as via his excellent podcast.
I think you've hit on the new name of that Gulf --- The Gulf of .. . . Whatever. . . is inevitably its name for the next ten or twenty years.
It's a show of power to the world, inside and outside our borders. What Trump says, goes; take note, Germany, Canada, Yemen. If he's going to do that sort of thing, I wish he would knock out the twice-yearly Time Change. It's the last item on my bucket list! That would be both popular and useful, unlike messing with Google Maps.
Far from a show of power, I think this whole renaming thing demonstrates insecurity, which in turn is a sign of weakness. Already, there are signs that both Canada and Latin America are going to forge closer ties to China given that the US is going to be obsessed with self interest, vainglorious braggadocio and regular doses of cruelty. Being the laughing stock of the world isn’t going to be the hardest part of the next four years, but it will be sort of soul crushing nonetheless.
Thanks again Joe. Re birthright---check this out.....
Bill Clinton introduced the Citizen Reform Act in 1995 in an effort to:
"amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny citizenship at birth to children born in the United States of parents who are not citizens or permanent resident aliens.”
In 1996, Clinton then introduced another controversial bill titled:
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA or IIRIRA).
Clinton asserted that the legislation strengthened "the rule of law by cracking down on illegal immigration at the border, in the workplace, and in the criminal justice system — without punishing those living in the United States legally”…...With IIRAIRA, all noncitizens, regardless of legal status and including long-term legal permanent residents, became subject to removal and greatly expanded the offenses that could lead to formal deportation."
When do people start drawing obvious conclusions
off-topic question: when American citizens were drafted to serve in war, the rest of us owed them a lasting debt of gratitude, and benefits like priority in government jobs seemed like the least we could offer in compensation. I remain grateful that many Americans continue to serve, but now that the draft has ended, I no longer recognize the same kind of debt, and don't really understand why we should be giving the current generation of veterans priority in government hiring. I think you're a veteran, and certainly have thought more about it than I have; could you explain?
You know how when you drive by an auto salvage yard and your brain says, some of those were once great automobiles?
That’s a recurring vision for me as the government gets downsized to fit in grover’s bathtub…. a salvage yard of democracy and competence on multiple issues is being created before our eyes.....
and my God, the price of Eggs keeps going up!
The Columbia plane thing is a perfect example of current US GOVERNMENT deception and concurrent media failure to understand context, which has apparently been ruled out of order.
Columbian migrants have been sent back to Columbia for months, on charter aircraft with flight plans. Sending them back on a military plane with no flight plan is an arrangement considered an act of war, (becasue its a military flight.) The Columbians said no! And reminded the US that its deal with charters is well known to ICE. They are a an ally in South America! They buy 4 billion dollars of corn for livestock every year from the USA… the Trump behavior is all about DOMINATION and its juvenile in keeping, appaently, with the bosses wishes. it’s stupid, If you fire or sideline the people in each govt agency who know these things are arranged , its possible to look belligerant and stupid all at once.
A half a year ago, I asked you to talk with and listen to the polite conservatives in Iowa who you applauded for their courtesies… They are your fellow Americans and voted Trump back in to office. I suggest you get to know them better.
Don't use your credit card in a gas pump at the major truck stops I won't name but if you are on the road know which ones I'm talking about. I will leave the "why" to your imagination as well
Why???
Do they upload your DNA to the chemtrails?
I've never known you to hold back true facts.
You are up to date, unfortunately, we are dealing with a President, who determines things on the spur of the moment, mostly to keep our attention on him, and provide no time for thinking. The great unfolding is about to begin, just what it is, has yet to be revealed, the hope is that it is at least reasonable and acceptable to our Republic and Constitution.