US Politics: Celebrating and despairing too early;No poll bump for Trump yet.

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Fragile Bird said:

CNN went to the big biker meet, can't remember the name of the town now,

Sturgis, South Dakota.

Hell's Angels were always another variety of what people in the southwest and west called stomps.  As in high school the white bully packs often were characterized as 'stomps and jocks.'  The stomps were of generally lower class, red necks, or what people then denominated as white trash, often really the sons of just small farmers and ranchers; the jocks were generally of higher social status, always all white (yah even the football team -- schools tended not to be integrated yet in a whole of places and still not in some), sons of big ranchers and farmers -- i.e. serious property class, lawyers and other professionals.  Both varieties traditionally joined the military, the stomps right out of h.s. or instead of going to juvenile prison; the jocks often going to a military college, even West Point or the Air Force Academy, and other institutions of higher learning even if a state college, where they took ROTC.  In ye REALLY olden days, both groups despised long hair, pot-smokin' hippies.  But then that all changed -- not despising hippies and liberals and commies, though the jocks still tended to keep their hair really short, but both began imbibing pot and some other drugs with great enthusiasm.  The stomps starting selling, quite like selling moonshine in another US region, though Appalachians also took up using and selling drugs of all kinds with even more enthusiasm.  

So Hell's Angels in the 1950's came out of the prototype of stomp culture of the late 60's and 70's.  So, they loved Nixon and hated peaceniks.  Johnson they didn't love coz he was a u-know-what-word lover.

 

[Serious Callers Only]

Yo, the trash at the whitehouse is already 'planning' the next vietnam (if not precursor to WWIII) and are wagging the dog, Iraq war style:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/04/08/in-unprecedented-move-for-the-u-s-trump-administration-declares-elite-iranian-military-unit-a-terrorist-organization/

I suggest a long long vacation on France followed by refugee status if you have the dollars.

[Zorral]

This is the way we make whatever great again -- the photos of the ghost town he wrought will speak and inform without even reading the text:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/apr/08/atlantic-city-trump-ghost-town-gambling-brian-rose-photographer

Quote

 

 

At one point, Trump had three casinos in Atlantic City, employing 8,000 people and accounting for nearly a third of the area’s gambling revenues. But they eventually became unsustainable thanks to a mixture of enormous debts, rival venues, weak local demand and negative press, which suggested Trump’s businesses were facilitating money laundering – something later given credence when the Taj was fined $10m for failing to report suspicious transactions. Two, the Trump Castle and the Taj, now have new owners, but the famous Trump Plaza, which once hosted Wrestlemania and Mike Tyson fights, stands derelict and is set to be demolished.

The failure of the now president’s five Atlantic City businesses resulted in thousands of job losses and put dozens of local contractors out of business because they were, much like the elephant sculptor, unpaid. Yet, during his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump boasted of how he took “incredible” amounts of money out of Atlantic City, borrowing cash from third parties so his own wealth wasn’t affected by his various businesses going under. According to Rose, his legacy is best reflected by Atlantic City’s 7.4% unemployment rate – nearly double the national average. “When Trump failed with his casinos,” says Rose, “he turned Atlantic City into a ghost town. His legacy still haunts the boardwalk.”

 

 

[Mexal]

Secret Service Chief out shortly after the incident at Mar-a-Lago and him calling out the lax security there that isn't his issue. 

ETA: never mind. Turns out he was told to put his exit plan together before the incident. Still, Trump and team are cleaning house in DHS.

 

[DanteGabriel]

@Fragile Bird Zorral has addressed bikers' propensity for nihilistic violence, but for more reading, you can hark back as far as Hunter S. Thompson's late 60s book on the Hells Angels and what he identified as their "ethic of total retaliation." It's an interesting topic and Thompson's observations of them actually helps understand Trumpists now.

Quote

Most people read Hell’s Angels for the lurid stories of sex and drugs. But that misses the point entirely. What’s truly shocking about reading the book today is how well Thompson foresaw the retaliatory, right-wing politics that now goes by the name of Trumpism. After following the motorcycle guys around for months, Thompson concluded that the most striking thing about them was not their hedonism but their “ethic of total retaliation” against a technologically advanced and economically changing America in which they felt they’d been counted out and left behind. Thompson saw the appeal of that retaliatory ethic. He claimed that a small part of every human being longs to burn it all down, especially when faced with great and impersonal powers that seem hostile to your very existence. In the United States, a place of ever greater and more impersonal powers, the ethic of total retaliation was likely to catch on.

What made that outcome almost certain, Thompson thought, was the obliviousness of Berkeley, California, types who, from the safety of their cocktail parties, imagined that they understood and represented the downtrodden. The Berkeley types, Thompson thought, were not going to realize how presumptuous they had been until the downtrodden broke into one of those cocktail parties and embarked on a campaign of rape, pillage, and slaughter. For Thompson, the Angels weren’t important because they heralded a new movement of cultural hedonism, but because they were the advance guard for a new kind of right-wing politics. As Thompson presciently wrote in the Nation piece he later expanded on in Hell’s Angels, that kind of politics is “nearly impossible to deal with” using reason or empathy or awareness-raising or any of the other favorite tools of the left.

https://www.thenation.com/article/this-political-theorist-predicted-the-rise-of-trumpism-his-name-was-hunter-s-thompson/

[Fragile Bird]

10 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

@Fragile Bird Zorral has addressed bikers' propensity for nihilistic violence, but for more reading, you can hark back as far as Hunter S. Thompson's late 60s book on the Hells Angels and what he identified as their "ethic of total retaliation." It's an interesting topic and Thompson's observations of them actually helps understand Trumpists now.

https://www.thenation.com/article/this-political-theorist-predicted-the-rise-of-trumpism-his-name-was-hunter-s-thompson/

I must read that, thanks. And perhaps go back and revisit HST’s Hell’s Angels book which I read when in journalism school, placing it in context of what’s happening today.

One of the best pieces he ever wrote was for Rolling Stone, iirc, covering the civil rights movement and the white elites of NYC who championed the leaders of the Black Power movement. He opens his story at a fund-raiser cocktail party, focusing on a cracker covered in cream cheese with little specks of black caviar on the cream cheese, then pulling back to look around a room full of white liberal elites with a scattering of black men in the room. Thompson was a powerful writer.

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Fragile Bird said:

overing the civil rights movement and the white elites of NYC who championed the leaders of the Black Power movement. He opens his story at a fund-raiser cocktail party, focusing on a cracker covered in cream cheese with little specks of black caviar on the cream cheese,

Can't flimflam me! First rule of journalism!

That was Tom Wolfe, his Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers (1970), made of two of the articles he originally published in New York Magazine. 

[Varysblackfyre321]

19 hours ago, Yuzzybus said:

You do realize Trump was referring to MS-13 members who like to brutally murder people with machetes.  This is an old story from almost a year ago.  

 I mean not really. I mean yes it’s an old story and and Trump was responding to this: 

Thank you. There could be an MS-13 member I know about — if they don’t reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it.  

But what he actually says in response doesn’t single-out Ms-13. 

We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we’re stopping a lot of them — but we’re taking people out of the country. You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people. These are animals. And we’re taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that’s never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out. It’s crazy.

Notice he simply says people-not Ms-13 members of any other type of gang members. Most of the people coming into this country, the people who Trump is calling animals here aren’t members of any sort of gang. 

[Fragile Bird]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

Can't flimflam me! First rule of journalism!

That was Tom Wolfe, his Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers (1970), made of two of the articles he originally published in New York Magazine. 

Lol, damn it, I mixed up my two favourite authors from those days!

[Zorral]

8 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Lol, damn it, I mixed up my two favourite authors from those days!

Me too, really hate when I do that. 

[Fragile Bird]

1 minute ago, Zorral said:

Me too, really hate when I do that. 

And damn, I was remembering Rolling Stone because Thompson of course wrote a lot for them. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas started as a story for RS.

But I completely forgot Wolfe's piece was for New York.

[Martell Spy]

Trump Told Stephen Miller He’s ‘in Charge’ of Immigration Policy: Report

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-told-stephen-miller-hes-in-charge-of-immigration-policy-report

Quote

President Trump recently told senior adviser Stephen Miller that he’s “in charge” of his administration’s immigration policy, according to The Wall Street Journal. The recent shake-ups at the Department of Homeland Security, including Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s upcoming departure, reportedly stem from the president’s frustrations with how policies have been enforced at the department. Trump and Miller reportedly want to reinstate the zero-tolerance policy, which received immense backlash last year. Miller reportedly told officials at DHS and the Justice Department to “get in line” with the president’s policy vision.

 

[The Anti-Targ]

9 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

I have a silly question to ask. Why are bikers conservative right-wingers?

Yes, I know not all bikers support Trump, but holy shit, I grew up with the Easy Rider idea of bikers being either free spirits, or bloody gang members, like Hell's Angels. Not Republicans, in other words.

Yet the world seems filled with conservative bikers. Up here north of the wall when I am reading comments and wonder where the right-wing nut bar comes from, 9 times out of 10 they are from oil country, Alberta (land of American wannabes), and have posted pictures of themselves on their Harleys.

And then there is this whole bikers for Trump crap. CNN went to the big biker meet, can't remember the name of the town now, rocksniffer used to go regularly, and they were flying Trump banners all over the place. Board member rocksniffer is a good example of bikers who are definitely not for Trump, and I know others, but they seem to be a minority.

I think that's your answer. Republicans / the right has wrapped itself in freedom, so people who generally opt out of the norms of society tend towards the right-wing. They are more [classical] liberal / libertarian rather than conservative, but that's all part of the milieu of the right of politics. The left is perceived as all tax, regulation and limiting freedom, stuff that's entirely antithetical to the rebel without a cause kind of schtick. 

And guns.

[The Anti-Targ]

8 hours ago, DanteGabriel said:

@Fragile Bird Zorral has addressed bikers' propensity for nihilistic violence, but for more reading, you can hark back as far as Hunter S. Thompson's late 60s book on the Hells Angels and what he identified as their "ethic of total retaliation." It's an interesting topic and Thompson's observations of them actually helps understand Trumpists now.

https://www.thenation.com/article/this-political-theorist-predicted-the-rise-of-trumpism-his-name-was-hunter-s-thompson/

This insight seems to have bypassed most of the Berkley types it was speaking to.

The notion that the racism, Islamophobia and other bigotries are a symptom of a deeper malaise resonates pretty well with what we see, I think. 

[Kalbear]

14 minutes ago, Triskele said:

There is probably an "accelerationist" argument that Miller taking over might lead to heinous enough stuff that it gets Trump out of office.  

Alternately, it'll usher in more atrocities, as his judges continually do not fight him on basic things like this.

Something to consider is that so far we have had zero SCOTUS decisions on the immigration stuff. The uniting families, the asylum seekers and the tent cities, all of the due process violations have been upheld by federal courts - but not SCOTUS. Chances are good Miller (like Bannon before him) is pushing for a fight, and hoping that they win. 

[Gertrude]

1 hour ago, Triskele said:

There is probably an "accelerationist" argument that Miller taking over might lead to heinous enough stuff that it gets Trump out of office.  

I had that thought too, but it's just unimaginable that he's going to have free reign to destroy people's lives. I don't know what kind of monster you have to be to look at the current heartbreak the family separation policy is causing and the lasting damage it will have on these people and think ... yeah, let's double down on that. I hope Trump and Miller live the rest of their lives receiving exactly as much empathy as they extend to others. That's not nearly a severe enough punishment, but it's a start. Keeping them in cages (jail) would be some nice karma too. 

How does he get away with being himself and people eating his shit up? It's unfathomable to me. Obama was traitor and disgraced the office of the president, but pussy-grabber is a god-damned patriot and how dare you question him? He's doing it for the good of 'Murica! I'm not even talking about his political views and policies - just him being him and being a bumbling idiot and con man. I just can't grok it.

[Serious Callers Only]

Obviously these shitheels will coup, btw, Trump just 'fired' the secret service head, you know, the branch that will actually have to manhandle him out of the white-trash house.

 

There is nothing to grok except that conservatives in general and the GOP in particular are treasonous racists wanting to implement their own far 'right' corrupt theocracy and oligarchy and are more than wiling to tolerate and encourage the mass genocide that their hick and incel supporters demand for that power. Probably especially now that global warming is coming. The daily day of hate at the Sinclair radio stations and fox news should have clued you on.

[OldGimletEye]

Charge of The Conservative Clown Brigade
 

Half a league, half a league
Half a league onward
All must rally to save Trump
Said the conservative knuckleheads
Forward clown brigade
Charge for Trump, they said
Right into a blind alley
Rode the conservative knuckleheads

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/opinion/fed-herman-cain-stephen-moore.html

Quote

You see, the Fed’s governing board currently has two vacancies, and Donald Trump has proposed filling those vacancies with ludicrous hacks. If he succeeds, one of our few remaining havens of serious, nonpartisan policymaking will be on its way toward becoming as corrupt and dysfunctional as the rest of the Trump administration.

Stephen Moore and Herman Cain are, of course, completely unqualified — I say “of course” because their lack of qualifications is, paradoxically, a key qualification not just for Trump but for the G.O.P. in general.

 

Quote

Both were hard-money men during the Obama years, demanding higher interest rates despite very high unemployment. Both have now taken to berating the Fed for failing to print more money in the face of low unemployment — because that’s what Trump wants.

 

[DireWolfSpirit]

12 hours ago, Gertrude said:

I had that thought too, but it's just unimaginable that he's going to have free reign to destroy people's lives. I don't know what kind of monster you have to be to look at the current heartbreak the family separation policy is causing and the lasting damage it will have on these people and think ... yeah, let's double down on that. I hope Trump and Miller live the rest of their lives receiving exactly as much empathy as they extend to others. That's not nearly a severe enough punishment, but it's a start. Keeping them in cages (jail) would be some nice karma too. 

How does he get away with being himself and people eating his shit up? It's unfathomable to me. Obama was traitor and disgraced the office of the president, but pussy-grabber is a god-damned patriot and how dare you question him? He's doing it for the good of 'Murica! I'm not even talking about his political views and policies - just him being him and being a bumbling idiot and con man. I just can't grok it.

These snakes genuinely believe the family seperation policy is a good idea because they think its a deterrent to Mexicans comng in the country. And they consider any nonwhite person crossing the southern border a Mexican ( whether they are from Mexico, Central America, or S. America ) doesnt matter to them, its just all Mexico and they are all narco fueled, rapist gang members that they must put on a big show of being tough on and punishing.

Its some ultimate knee jerking strategy at work within the hive mind of Trumpist. We have time traveled to the Eisenhower era and Operation Wetback is in full effect with this autocratic regime.

[Serious Callers Only]

They're not nearly that restrained. They (the GOP and 'alt right' in control of this admin) want to murder you too.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/ted-lieu-plays-candace-owens-hitler-comments-2019-4

 

Quote

During his remarks, Lieu noted that the minority party is allowed to choose its own witnesses for such hearings.

"Of all the people that Republicans could have selected, they picked Candace Owens. I don't know Ms. Owens, I'm not going to characterize her. I'm going to let her own words do the talking," Lieu went on to say.

The California lawmaker then played the first 30 seconds of remarks Owens made on Hitler at a conference in London late last year.

"I think that the definition gets poisoned by elitists that actually want globalism. Globalism is what I don't want," Owens said at the time. "Whenever we say 'nationalism,' the first thing people think about, at least in America, is Hitler. You know, he was a national socialist, but if Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK, fine."

She added, "The problem is that he wanted — he had dreams outside of Germany. He wanted to globalize. He wanted everybody to be German, everybody to be speaking German. Everybody to look a different way. That's not, to me, that's not nationalism. In thinking about how we could go bad down the line, I don't really have an issue with nationalism. I really don't. I think that it's OK."

After playing the video clip of Owens' comments, Lieu asked another witness from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) —an organization that focuses on combatting anti-Semitism — whether it feeds into "white nationalist ideology" when people attempt to "legitimize" Hitler.

Eileen Hershenov, the ADL's senior vice president for policy, replied, "It does, Mr. Lieu. I know that Ms. Owens distanced herself from those comments later but we expressed great concern over the original comments."

Token black GOP nazi woman then accused representative Lieu of racism for playing back a quote.