Living in Texas, I hope this motivates everyone who is eligible to vote to TURN OUT TO VOTE in the midterm elections. We must defeat today's GOP at every level, beginning here and now in Texas....
I agree, but with an asterisk. Judging who is a "better American" is a slippery slope and imho is a practice to be avoided. It is, after all, central to the MAGA argument.
I think it is pretty clear who is living up to the ideal of being an American vs those who think that being American means being born here. Also, we have to walk that slippery slope because who is/is not American is no longer a policy discussion, but who gets rights discussion.
I struggle with my own hypocrisy on this. But here is the crucial difference. MAGA is judging humanity solely on looks and what that human can provide FOR MAGA. What resources or abilities do you have to further advance MAGA? So they judge all humans on this. MAGA does NOT believe in America or its ideals. MAGA believes in power and domincance.
In my mind anyone who is fervent MAGA has given up their citizenship. They have given up the title of "American". Because they don't identify as such. They are MAGA. They are Trump. They identidy FIRST and always as MAGA. They don't respect the Constitution (only when it fits their needs), they don't respect the sanctity of ALL life here (they just pretend to care so they can get mad at abortions. otherwise they're for the death penalty and ICE doing their thing), they don't want "others" here, they don't care about enforcing laws equally to protect everyone.
So to call a person a "better American" than most of MAGA is pretty apt. I would consider most non-citizens in other democracies around the world to be better Americans than MAGA. I mean, cmon. Norway's soccer team can stay here and they are all massive upgrades as Americans compared to MAGA.
America held the American Dream to very high standards. We told immigrants hard work and that slice of pie is yours. Turned out we lied. We started closing every door to a prosperous, equitable life for these people that endured so much hardship to get here -many even died. My heart sinks to the ground to think that all Mr. Salgado worked for was brutally ended in minutes. Will there be justice? At times I feel hopeless and powerless.
The same American Dream that was held out to immigrants has been more slowly taken bit by bit from the American taxpayer. No one wins under republican leadership. No one wins under a corrupt supreme court. The only winners are the millionaires and billionaires,
It is ironic to hear Donald Trump - a dishonest man whom many contractors say they would never work with again - complain that he can't do a deal with the Iranians because they are unreliable liars who won't live up to their end of the bargain.
He sounds so frustrated and butt-hurt about it that it makes me wonder if the gods aren't working together to deliver a little karma.
I don't think it's karma, because that would imply that the tables have turned and Trump is the one w/ a legit case being jerked around by the Iranians. But we know that's not true. Trump is the same lying, sleazy, unreliable, manipulative con man he has always been. He's just confused and surprised that others can play that game as well as he does.
It has been proven that Trump’s “art of the deal” is simply bullying. When he meets people who don’t submit to bullying the only other tool in his toolbox is lying. He’s been alternating between the two with Iran: Iran doesn’t submit to the bullying and calls out the lying immediately. You’d think the rest of the world would learn from this but they don’t.
The Iranians will always beat him at his game, because they are willing to suffer and sacrifice. Trump cannot bear the slightest bit of discomfort, and has sacrificed nothing in his life except the health and prosperity of other Americans.
The world, and 60+% of Americans, know that President Trump is dangerously deteriorating and does not have the mental capacity to remember what he said yesterday. He also never had the capacity to care about the consequences of his actions.
However, there are still enough Republicans, crypto and oil advocates, as well as sic Supreme Court Justices, who are all in with corruption and racism, and who don't give a damn about what the hell happens as long as they get theirs.
They have to be rooted out and prosecuted for all kinds of high crimes.
absolutely tragic. I know this man. Not in person. But in character... as the legend goes my grandfather ran away from home at 14 & bounced around on sailing ships until eventually reaching America where he jumped ship (I have a copy of ship manifest listing him as crew.) Early 20th century. Although he was Greek he did not cook & ended up working feeding the boiler in Bloomingdale's basement.
But he was also the liaison that Greek immigrants were told to contact to help them find jobs, places to live etc.
I was 7 when he died of lung cancer, I can only guess in part due to the boiler room & his love for Camels...
Dammit Bill Kristol, you have me crying. It is hard to just keep feeling the frustration of our failures to put this man in check. Thank you for keeping us focused on what counts.
and it just occurred to me at how stupid you must be to run for office with skeletons like that in the closet, especially in this day and age. As I write that, it also occurred to me at how many of those people actually get elected.
I really wish people with solid character like Araujo would run for key offices
They don't run because A) they see the toxicity and want to avoid it and B) voters have shown time and time again that they would rather have a show than someone who is a quiet civil servant. Araujo was not a big character, even his own sons describe someone trying to live a quiet life. Voters have decided that politics is just another form of entertainment and so showmanship >> character it seems.
Maybe Platner looked around him at all the men Republicans elect who not only have skeletons in the closet, but have skeletons who come out of the closet and prance around in public, to the collective yawns of those who vote them into office. Double standard, anyone? Reminds me of the different way the same sexual behavior is looked at in powerful men vs. women.
He was reputed to be a 'drink until you black out' type of alcoholic. He may not actually remember a lot of what he did. It's no surprise his accusers all mention how drunk he was at the time of these incidents.
There has been social chatter encouraging Heather Cox Richardson to run. On the surface, she seems ideal: proud but realistic American historian, child of Maine’s working class who really did pull herself up (with the help of many, she would quickly add).
She has said she won’t, though. And I can’t blame her.
Her stated reason for not running also makes her a much better person than Platner: the skill set of an academic is very different from the skill set of a candidate for office and the one of a legislator, and she has self-assessed that she wouldn’t be a quick enough study of the latter to do the job well. Would that everyone had so much perspective and humility.
She will serve Americans better as an historian and storyteller than as a legislator. We need her knowledge and perspective to provide encouragement for us to forge ahead through the challenges we will face.
People like Araujo *do* run for office- my CA Sen Padilla is literally the personification of the American Dream, much like Araujo’s sons.
Not long after graduating from MIT, he made his first LA City Council run to represent Pacoima- his hardworking immigrant community. He has devoted his adult life to public service.
I literally burst into tears the first time I saw the vid of Noem’s goons throwing him to the ground and handcuffing him. That was the moment I really understood how fragile our great experiment is. Saddened, and honestly frightened, it also radicalized me to fight, and I know I’m not alone.
Or, they see guys like Trump and Paxton and think, “sure, I’ve got skeletons in my closet, but those guys have recently dead bodies in their living rooms, cars, office buildings, mistress’ house, etc.” I mean how can you look at Trump and not think that being a horrible person is an advantage?
Republicans sure do. Moral rot is a maga ethos. Dems? Not so much. It would be fitting of this kind of character if we see trump start to talk about how badly Platner is being treated and try and woo him over to the dark side. Trump would consider this kind of conversion a win. To trump "these criminals are my criminals."
This raises the question of why anybody would run for office in this country. It was never easy but what one must subject one's self and family to is a rather large disincentive to any decent person. That's not even counting the need to raise money and otherwise compromise one's principles from the get go.
"It is these young men who are calling for a full and honest investigation into why a peaceful and law-abiding man was killed while driving to work by agents of our government."
It's stories like these that get me once again in the gloomy place where I just despise Trump voters. There will be no investigation. There will be a coverup. And if the administration says anything publicly, it will be to lie and smear the victim.
I've conducted my own investigation, and here are the results: their father was killed by the American electorate. We voted for a guy who campaigned on mass deportations and on the campaign trail said “Getting them out will be a bloody story. [Undocumented immigrants] should have never been allowed to come into our country. Nobody checked them.”
No one should be surprised when they get what they voted for.
Not just for Lorenzo and his family and friends; I am full of fury for what has been taken from them.
My heart is broken for all of us. For those of us who are brought to tears for this waste of life ( speaking as a Minnesotan who shed plenty of tears this winter).
And my heart is broken for those of us who don’t care, who think Lorenzo deserved it cuz he wasn’t “legal”. Who think he was stealing a job from an “American”. Who think he was less than because he wasn’t a “heritage american”.
My heart is broken for those who value nothing, for what an ugly, small life they lead and who care about nothing but themselves. Lorenzo was a better “american” than many of us.
That's it. That is his "system" for understanding and judging the world. Those are the two things he values above all other things. It is what he has valued his entire life. The man has not changed one iota in the time I have been familiar with him in his public "career" as a supposed entrepreneur, businessman, or political figure. Because he literally is so self-involved/narcissistic he is incapable of self-reflection and change. He does the same shit over and over and over again. The crypto meme coins are just another variation on Trump steaks (or whatever crappy item he is selling for a premium price). Better, in fact, because you don't actually have to have anything real to sell.
As a consequence, if you want to get under his skin, attack his fame or his money... and because of his narcissism, he sees the fame and money of the US as HIS fame and money. He sees the "success" of the stock market as HIS success.
It is why he gets REALLY pissed off about "fake" polling. It is why he TACOs when the market starts getting wobbly. It's why he thought that the price of oil going up was actually a good thing because oil corps were going to make bank--and them making bank was a result of what HE did. Fuck the people who have to pay more for things overall because the price of energy went up.
He doesn't give a shit about how the little people are doing, he does not identify with them. They are not rich. They are not famous. They can be ignored. They can be placated with a bunch of BS and performative action against people that Trump, himself, doesn't like (non-whites, immigrants, "socialists/communists"). His shared hatred of those people/things are what gives him the "authenticity" that these people value so much.
He does have one additional criterion of success: dominance. On a personal level it will actually overpower his other criteria--because he will royally screw things up in order to show dominance. Conversely, that dominance allows him to avoid or recoup the losses that the stupid exercises in it inflict on him.
If you look at what Trump does through those lenses, his behavior is totally understandable (if you factor in his narcissism). It isn't multi-dimensional chess. There is no grand strategy. Just self-service in pursuit of particular personal goals... to the point that he is willing to screw over his own political party to reach those goals.
Bill: "Our current government, by contrast, is led by weak men who constantly complain, and who benefit from exploiting other Americans’ weaknesses and anxieties."
Well, yes. But as I often point out, the ultimate responsibility is on the electorate. Araujo is dead because there was a sufficient number of voters who could not deal with short term economic disruption two years ago, so they voted for a man who attempted a coup. Everything that is happening now -- ICE ganking people, inflation, reputational damage, Iran -- is a result of the voters making that most immoral and self destructive of choices in 2024.
As for Platner, Stuart Stevens said it much better than I ever could last night:
"Everything that is happening now...is a result of the voters making that most immoral and self destructive of choices in 2024." And I will never forgive any of them who don't admit to the horrific choice they made, and commit to spending the rest of their lives trying to make up for it.
Thanks for the link; awesome and spot on. I knew Stuart's name was familiar, but until I looked him up I'd forgotten it was him who wrote the first book I read about this awful time we're in - and it's still one of my favorites. I've recommended it to lots of people.
The ICE agent who killed Salgado should know that in a couple of years, he will be FIRED and PROSECUTED if this turns out to be like the previous killings. Donald Trump will not be in office forever, nor will Houston mayor John Whitmire. The agent should savor every day of freedom he has left, because his day will come.
As the descendant of Irish immigrants who left their country to escape the cruelty of their British overlords, the mother-in-law of a naturalized citizen who escaped Cuba on a raft to make a better life for himself and his family, the mother of a son, daughter, and grandchildren some of whose ancestors were brought to this country as slaves and who are still looked on as inferior by many of their fellow citizens including those in power in Washington, D.C., and a Child of God along with Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was the epitome of the decent, hard-working, ambitious human being who made us a nation of immigrants, I am so very ashamed to be an American citizen today. May God have mercy on us for the evil acts we are committing, and may justice fall upon those who murdered him and those who are letting his murderers loose on our land.
"One way of thinking about the Iran war is that the austere religious zealots have been less sensitive to economic pain than the billionaire New York developer turned professional fraudster. Who’s surprised?"
From my ignorant perspective, the failures of past American wars (Vietnam, Afghanistan, and now Iran) are that American leaders have been incapable of understanding how to wage asymmetric warfare. They don't understand how to win a war against adversaries that are engaging in a different type of war than they are, and because Americans are unwilling to exceed a threshold of pain, they assume that their adversaries are unwilling, too.
One commenter online termed it as a "porcupine strategy." A porcupine won't win a physical battle against a larger predator, but it doesn't need to. By launching a few quills into the predator's body, the predator is quickly forced to make some fundamental decisions about whether enduring the horrendous stabbing pain is worth the meal. The answer is most likely "no."
Iran is aware that it doesn't need to win a military battle with America. By making the passage of the Strait of Hormuz uncertain, it has all the leverage it needs. Iran can withstand severe setbacks. Americans can't even tolerate high gas prices.
Good analogy. And I think it's even better when you correct one point. You say "By launching a few quills into the predator's body," but porcupines don't launch. They simply sit there and let the stupid predator touch their quills. It's kinda like the Bulwark's favorite analogy of "touching the stove"
This is another example of how people don't know history. One of the most successful examples of an asymmetric war was the American Revolutionary War, successfully won by a bunch of guerrilla fighters against the then most powerful country in the world.
Iranian homes are threatened. People are alike all over. I'll fight to my dying breath to protect my home and family. Why do we expect other people to behave otherwise?
On the other hand, I have little desire to rule Iran. So yes, there is a low pain threshold.
Why do our best and brightest have a hard time undressing this?
Is Platner's Sorry, not sorry video a sign of more to come from him and the DSA in Maine after their 15 minutes of election cycle authenticity?
The most important task before Maine Democrats now is to find a candidate who's actually electable.
The second most important task is for them to find some way to get the oyster farmer and his promoters to clam up and let them do it.
BTW, Grahm... If you *really* want a future in politics, considering your overall qualifications and that video, there's no better time than the present to sign up with the GOP.
Remember Kenneth Feinberg who administered the 9/11 victims compensation fund? Here was a guy who could speak as an adult about doing what we could in a bad situation. Hope someone in Maine can articulate that spirit.
Was anyone else struck by the similarity between the ICE statement on how Mr. Araujo came to be killed to the statement they put out following the killing of Renee Good? It's like they just copied it. Is there any reason to believe the description of events is any more accurate than it was last time? Of course not.
Señor Salgado. When a Mexican has three names, the 2nd is generally the paternal surname and the the 3rd is the maternal surname. But they almost always go by their paternal surname. It's confusing to us gringos, but that's their custom.
"Our current government, by contrast, is led by weak men who constantly complain, and who benefit from exploiting other Americans’ weaknesses and anxieties."
All of which points to hard times, they are a'comin.
"I dare say Ronald Salgado Araujo was a better American than they are."
Amen to this.
Living in Texas, I hope this motivates everyone who is eligible to vote to TURN OUT TO VOTE in the midterm elections. We must defeat today's GOP at every level, beginning here and now in Texas....
Far better.
I agree, but with an asterisk. Judging who is a "better American" is a slippery slope and imho is a practice to be avoided. It is, after all, central to the MAGA argument.
I think it is pretty clear who is living up to the ideal of being an American vs those who think that being American means being born here. Also, we have to walk that slippery slope because who is/is not American is no longer a policy discussion, but who gets rights discussion.
I struggle with my own hypocrisy on this. But here is the crucial difference. MAGA is judging humanity solely on looks and what that human can provide FOR MAGA. What resources or abilities do you have to further advance MAGA? So they judge all humans on this. MAGA does NOT believe in America or its ideals. MAGA believes in power and domincance.
In my mind anyone who is fervent MAGA has given up their citizenship. They have given up the title of "American". Because they don't identify as such. They are MAGA. They are Trump. They identidy FIRST and always as MAGA. They don't respect the Constitution (only when it fits their needs), they don't respect the sanctity of ALL life here (they just pretend to care so they can get mad at abortions. otherwise they're for the death penalty and ICE doing their thing), they don't want "others" here, they don't care about enforcing laws equally to protect everyone.
So to call a person a "better American" than most of MAGA is pretty apt. I would consider most non-citizens in other democracies around the world to be better Americans than MAGA. I mean, cmon. Norway's soccer team can stay here and they are all massive upgrades as Americans compared to MAGA.
was on my way to say this
America held the American Dream to very high standards. We told immigrants hard work and that slice of pie is yours. Turned out we lied. We started closing every door to a prosperous, equitable life for these people that endured so much hardship to get here -many even died. My heart sinks to the ground to think that all Mr. Salgado worked for was brutally ended in minutes. Will there be justice? At times I feel hopeless and powerless.
The same American Dream that was held out to immigrants has been more slowly taken bit by bit from the American taxpayer. No one wins under republican leadership. No one wins under a corrupt supreme court. The only winners are the millionaires and billionaires,
How to break this loop?
It is ironic to hear Donald Trump - a dishonest man whom many contractors say they would never work with again - complain that he can't do a deal with the Iranians because they are unreliable liars who won't live up to their end of the bargain.
He sounds so frustrated and butt-hurt about it that it makes me wonder if the gods aren't working together to deliver a little karma.
Hard to carve out space for diplomatic success when you threaten to kill the Iranian negotiators.
Sentient beings long ago recognized that Trump wasn’t trustworthy.
I don't think it's karma, because that would imply that the tables have turned and Trump is the one w/ a legit case being jerked around by the Iranians. But we know that's not true. Trump is the same lying, sleazy, unreliable, manipulative con man he has always been. He's just confused and surprised that others can play that game as well as he does.
It has been proven that Trump’s “art of the deal” is simply bullying. When he meets people who don’t submit to bullying the only other tool in his toolbox is lying. He’s been alternating between the two with Iran: Iran doesn’t submit to the bullying and calls out the lying immediately. You’d think the rest of the world would learn from this but they don’t.
Point taken. Thanks.
The Iranians will always beat him at his game, because they are willing to suffer and sacrifice. Trump cannot bear the slightest bit of discomfort, and has sacrificed nothing in his life except the health and prosperity of other Americans.
The world, and 60+% of Americans, know that President Trump is dangerously deteriorating and does not have the mental capacity to remember what he said yesterday. He also never had the capacity to care about the consequences of his actions.
However, there are still enough Republicans, crypto and oil advocates, as well as sic Supreme Court Justices, who are all in with corruption and racism, and who don't give a damn about what the hell happens as long as they get theirs.
They have to be rooted out and prosecuted for all kinds of high crimes.
He's just pissed that someone is beating him at his own game.
absolutely tragic. I know this man. Not in person. But in character... as the legend goes my grandfather ran away from home at 14 & bounced around on sailing ships until eventually reaching America where he jumped ship (I have a copy of ship manifest listing him as crew.) Early 20th century. Although he was Greek he did not cook & ended up working feeding the boiler in Bloomingdale's basement.
But he was also the liaison that Greek immigrants were told to contact to help them find jobs, places to live etc.
I was 7 when he died of lung cancer, I can only guess in part due to the boiler room & his love for Camels...
why this story hits hard...
Dammit Bill Kristol, you have me crying. It is hard to just keep feeling the frustration of our failures to put this man in check. Thank you for keeping us focused on what counts.
People like Graham Platner run for office; people like Lorenzo Salgado Araujo get killed by ICE. smh 🤦♀️
and it just occurred to me at how stupid you must be to run for office with skeletons like that in the closet, especially in this day and age. As I write that, it also occurred to me at how many of those people actually get elected.
I really wish people with solid character like Araujo would run for key offices
They don't run because A) they see the toxicity and want to avoid it and B) voters have shown time and time again that they would rather have a show than someone who is a quiet civil servant. Araujo was not a big character, even his own sons describe someone trying to live a quiet life. Voters have decided that politics is just another form of entertainment and so showmanship >> character it seems.
https://youtube.com/shorts/PIUVU08gVL8?si=p6FZeNrGjKGmrPRE
Maybe Platner looked around him at all the men Republicans elect who not only have skeletons in the closet, but have skeletons who come out of the closet and prance around in public, to the collective yawns of those who vote them into office. Double standard, anyone? Reminds me of the different way the same sexual behavior is looked at in powerful men vs. women.
He was reputed to be a 'drink until you black out' type of alcoholic. He may not actually remember a lot of what he did. It's no surprise his accusers all mention how drunk he was at the time of these incidents.
There has been social chatter encouraging Heather Cox Richardson to run. On the surface, she seems ideal: proud but realistic American historian, child of Maine’s working class who really did pull herself up (with the help of many, she would quickly add).
She has said she won’t, though. And I can’t blame her.
Her stated reason for not running also makes her a much better person than Platner: the skill set of an academic is very different from the skill set of a candidate for office and the one of a legislator, and she has self-assessed that she wouldn’t be a quick enough study of the latter to do the job well. Would that everyone had so much perspective and humility.
Very well put.
She will serve Americans better as an historian and storyteller than as a legislator. We need her knowledge and perspective to provide encouragement for us to forge ahead through the challenges we will face.
People like Araujo *do* run for office- my CA Sen Padilla is literally the personification of the American Dream, much like Araujo’s sons.
Not long after graduating from MIT, he made his first LA City Council run to represent Pacoima- his hardworking immigrant community. He has devoted his adult life to public service.
I literally burst into tears the first time I saw the vid of Noem’s goons throwing him to the ground and handcuffing him. That was the moment I really understood how fragile our great experiment is. Saddened, and honestly frightened, it also radicalized me to fight, and I know I’m not alone.
...or how arrogant to either not understand what's in your skeleton closet or think it's no big deal.
Or, they see guys like Trump and Paxton and think, “sure, I’ve got skeletons in my closet, but those guys have recently dead bodies in their living rooms, cars, office buildings, mistress’ house, etc.” I mean how can you look at Trump and not think that being a horrible person is an advantage?
Republicans sure do. Moral rot is a maga ethos. Dems? Not so much. It would be fitting of this kind of character if we see trump start to talk about how badly Platner is being treated and try and woo him over to the dark side. Trump would consider this kind of conversion a win. To trump "these criminals are my criminals."
Amen.
This raises the question of why anybody would run for office in this country. It was never easy but what one must subject one's self and family to is a rather large disincentive to any decent person. That's not even counting the need to raise money and otherwise compromise one's principles from the get go.
When people of character run on a presidential ticket, like Tim Walz and Tim Kaine, they are called boring saps and a drain on the ticket.
"It is these young men who are calling for a full and honest investigation into why a peaceful and law-abiding man was killed while driving to work by agents of our government."
It's stories like these that get me once again in the gloomy place where I just despise Trump voters. There will be no investigation. There will be a coverup. And if the administration says anything publicly, it will be to lie and smear the victim.
I've conducted my own investigation, and here are the results: their father was killed by the American electorate. We voted for a guy who campaigned on mass deportations and on the campaign trail said “Getting them out will be a bloody story. [Undocumented immigrants] should have never been allowed to come into our country. Nobody checked them.”
No one should be surprised when they get what they voted for.
+1.
My heart is broken.
Not just for Lorenzo and his family and friends; I am full of fury for what has been taken from them.
My heart is broken for all of us. For those of us who are brought to tears for this waste of life ( speaking as a Minnesotan who shed plenty of tears this winter).
And my heart is broken for those of us who don’t care, who think Lorenzo deserved it cuz he wasn’t “legal”. Who think he was stealing a job from an “American”. Who think he was less than because he wasn’t a “heritage american”.
My heart is broken for those who value nothing, for what an ugly, small life they lead and who care about nothing but themselves. Lorenzo was a better “american” than many of us.
Trump measures everything by two criteria:
Money
Fame
That's it. That is his "system" for understanding and judging the world. Those are the two things he values above all other things. It is what he has valued his entire life. The man has not changed one iota in the time I have been familiar with him in his public "career" as a supposed entrepreneur, businessman, or political figure. Because he literally is so self-involved/narcissistic he is incapable of self-reflection and change. He does the same shit over and over and over again. The crypto meme coins are just another variation on Trump steaks (or whatever crappy item he is selling for a premium price). Better, in fact, because you don't actually have to have anything real to sell.
As a consequence, if you want to get under his skin, attack his fame or his money... and because of his narcissism, he sees the fame and money of the US as HIS fame and money. He sees the "success" of the stock market as HIS success.
It is why he gets REALLY pissed off about "fake" polling. It is why he TACOs when the market starts getting wobbly. It's why he thought that the price of oil going up was actually a good thing because oil corps were going to make bank--and them making bank was a result of what HE did. Fuck the people who have to pay more for things overall because the price of energy went up.
He doesn't give a shit about how the little people are doing, he does not identify with them. They are not rich. They are not famous. They can be ignored. They can be placated with a bunch of BS and performative action against people that Trump, himself, doesn't like (non-whites, immigrants, "socialists/communists"). His shared hatred of those people/things are what gives him the "authenticity" that these people value so much.
He does have one additional criterion of success: dominance. On a personal level it will actually overpower his other criteria--because he will royally screw things up in order to show dominance. Conversely, that dominance allows him to avoid or recoup the losses that the stupid exercises in it inflict on him.
If you look at what Trump does through those lenses, his behavior is totally understandable (if you factor in his narcissism). It isn't multi-dimensional chess. There is no grand strategy. Just self-service in pursuit of particular personal goals... to the point that he is willing to screw over his own political party to reach those goals.
One-dimensional people play a pretty lousy game of multi-dimensional chess.
Especially when they eat the pieces. With ketchup, of course.
Bill: "Our current government, by contrast, is led by weak men who constantly complain, and who benefit from exploiting other Americans’ weaknesses and anxieties."
Well, yes. But as I often point out, the ultimate responsibility is on the electorate. Araujo is dead because there was a sufficient number of voters who could not deal with short term economic disruption two years ago, so they voted for a man who attempted a coup. Everything that is happening now -- ICE ganking people, inflation, reputational damage, Iran -- is a result of the voters making that most immoral and self destructive of choices in 2024.
As for Platner, Stuart Stevens said it much better than I ever could last night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to3P7E1B07g
"Everything that is happening now...is a result of the voters making that most immoral and self destructive of choices in 2024." And I will never forgive any of them who don't admit to the horrific choice they made, and commit to spending the rest of their lives trying to make up for it.
Thanks for the link; awesome and spot on. I knew Stuart's name was familiar, but until I looked him up I'd forgotten it was him who wrote the first book I read about this awful time we're in - and it's still one of my favorites. I've recommended it to lots of people.
Appreciate the link.
The ICE agent who killed Salgado should know that in a couple of years, he will be FIRED and PROSECUTED if this turns out to be like the previous killings. Donald Trump will not be in office forever, nor will Houston mayor John Whitmire. The agent should savor every day of freedom he has left, because his day will come.
As the descendant of Irish immigrants who left their country to escape the cruelty of their British overlords, the mother-in-law of a naturalized citizen who escaped Cuba on a raft to make a better life for himself and his family, the mother of a son, daughter, and grandchildren some of whose ancestors were brought to this country as slaves and who are still looked on as inferior by many of their fellow citizens including those in power in Washington, D.C., and a Child of God along with Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was the epitome of the decent, hard-working, ambitious human being who made us a nation of immigrants, I am so very ashamed to be an American citizen today. May God have mercy on us for the evil acts we are committing, and may justice fall upon those who murdered him and those who are letting his murderers loose on our land.
"One way of thinking about the Iran war is that the austere religious zealots have been less sensitive to economic pain than the billionaire New York developer turned professional fraudster. Who’s surprised?"
From my ignorant perspective, the failures of past American wars (Vietnam, Afghanistan, and now Iran) are that American leaders have been incapable of understanding how to wage asymmetric warfare. They don't understand how to win a war against adversaries that are engaging in a different type of war than they are, and because Americans are unwilling to exceed a threshold of pain, they assume that their adversaries are unwilling, too.
One commenter online termed it as a "porcupine strategy." A porcupine won't win a physical battle against a larger predator, but it doesn't need to. By launching a few quills into the predator's body, the predator is quickly forced to make some fundamental decisions about whether enduring the horrendous stabbing pain is worth the meal. The answer is most likely "no."
Iran is aware that it doesn't need to win a military battle with America. By making the passage of the Strait of Hormuz uncertain, it has all the leverage it needs. Iran can withstand severe setbacks. Americans can't even tolerate high gas prices.
Good analogy. And I think it's even better when you correct one point. You say "By launching a few quills into the predator's body," but porcupines don't launch. They simply sit there and let the stupid predator touch their quills. It's kinda like the Bulwark's favorite analogy of "touching the stove"
This is another example of how people don't know history. One of the most successful examples of an asymmetric war was the American Revolutionary War, successfully won by a bunch of guerrilla fighters against the then most powerful country in the world.
Iranian homes are threatened. People are alike all over. I'll fight to my dying breath to protect my home and family. Why do we expect other people to behave otherwise?
On the other hand, I have little desire to rule Iran. So yes, there is a low pain threshold.
Why do our best and brightest have a hard time undressing this?
Is Platner's Sorry, not sorry video a sign of more to come from him and the DSA in Maine after their 15 minutes of election cycle authenticity?
The most important task before Maine Democrats now is to find a candidate who's actually electable.
The second most important task is for them to find some way to get the oyster farmer and his promoters to clam up and let them do it.
BTW, Grahm... If you *really* want a future in politics, considering your overall qualifications and that video, there's no better time than the present to sign up with the GOP.
Remember Kenneth Feinberg who administered the 9/11 victims compensation fund? Here was a guy who could speak as an adult about doing what we could in a bad situation. Hope someone in Maine can articulate that spirit.
Yeah. There must be some grown-ups in The Pine Tree State who aren't political saps.
Sap and clams in Maine. Bet you could do similar for all 50 states.
Platner is amazing. He never actually made it to DC but he did develop the sense that the place couldn't survive without him.
Was anyone else struck by the similarity between the ICE statement on how Mr. Araujo came to be killed to the statement they put out following the killing of Renee Good? It's like they just copied it. Is there any reason to believe the description of events is any more accurate than it was last time? Of course not.
Senior Araujo was a far better man! The cowards who killed him will never speak the truth.
Señor Salgado. When a Mexican has three names, the 2nd is generally the paternal surname and the the 3rd is the maternal surname. But they almost always go by their paternal surname. It's confusing to us gringos, but that's their custom.
When in Rome :-)
"Our current government, by contrast, is led by weak men who constantly complain, and who benefit from exploiting other Americans’ weaknesses and anxieties."
All of which points to hard times, they are a'comin.