It was wonderful meeting you after the San Francisco event. But please be more careful when writing lines such as, “I’m getting schlonged and I know I’m toast. Vote Haley!” I nearly did a spit take with hot coffee, and my dog, Cosmo would’ve been the recipient.
Thank you, and please keep up the fight with your excellent work.
Regarding the "permanent record," I have now added Sununu's comments to his Wikipedia page. Now there's a permanent record of it that people can review for years to come, when deciding how accurate Sununu is! 😊
JVL: please stop hawking subscriptions in the guise of public service announcements regarding the Bulwark’s objectivity. I’m a paying subscriber. A promo is a promo, why not precede it with a warning about what this missive is about.
JVL pines for the return of the Tim Russert-style “let’s go to the tape” tactic of pinning contradictions and flip-flops on politicians. Ain’t gonna happen, because straight reporting on mainstream media no longer dominates political coverage.
Now, politicians and operatives can count on sympathetic outlets to air their spin unchallenged. Confront them and they won’t come on your show or respond to your questions with anything more than a dismissive bleat from a staffer. (Case in point, from Helen Lewis’ March 2023 article in The Atlantic on Ron DeSantis’ Florida: “Asked to respond to fact-checking queries for this article, DeSantis’s press secretary, Bryan Griffin, replied by email: ‘You aren’t interested in the truth; this is just yet another worthless Atlantic editorial.’ ”)
Access is coin of the realm for political reporting. And, outside a handful of unavoidable big guns (Bob Woodward, Jonathan Martin) and “whisperers” (Maggie Haberman, Mike Allen) – political reporters quickly lose access if they are seen as adversarial.
That’s why the best factual political reporting today is the here’s-what-they-assert/here-are-the-data essay, whether short-form à la JVL on perceptions of the economy, or long-form such as Matt Yglesias’ dissections of policy proposals. The coin of that realm is research, not access.
"Pretend you needed an operation and when you went to the surgical consult the doctor mentioned that he believed the Earth was flat. Would you let that doctor operate on you? After all, his belief in a flat Earth doesn’t have anything to do with his skill as a surgeon."
There's a real doctor like that. Michael Egnor is not a Flat-Earther, but in a way worse, as he promotes the anti-evolution "Intelligent Design" (ID) scam. To keep deniers in a "big tent" ID shrewdly "takes no position" on the age and shape of the earth, and even plays dumb about common descent (because some early promoters made the political mistake of admitting it instead of pandering to the "created kinds" crowd). The word "egnorance" was quickly coined to describe his antics.
"We will make mistakes around here: For instance, I predicted that DeSantis would drop out on Wednesday, January 17. He hung in for four more days. Probably just to spite me."
Close enough. 4 days is less than half a Scaramucci.
JVL, please consider podcasting the You Tube shows. I listened to the Tim and Bill show You Tube podcast and would listen to others if made available. Thank you.
"So why did so many people talk themselves into believing that DeSantis would, or that Haley could, beat Trump?"
I'm not one, but the obvious reason why one would believe that is the naive thought that a significant % of GOP voters would suddenly get over their ADDICTION to their tabloid celebrity idol. In fact I also had some hope of that as late as the INITIAL GOP reactions to the insurrection. I even naively thought that "My Kevin" would go to Mar-a-Lago not to "kiss the ring" but to tell Trump that the "Trump era" was over. But one by one, the shameless opportunists and spineless cowards saw how permanently addicted most GOP VOTERS were, and quickly fell back in line. Their spoiled brat cult leader didn't have to lift a finger, much less take any personal risk, as always.
Is it possible to categorize the Darkside YouTube videos? I did not realize you have been doing them for some time and would like to see the others, but they are hard to find. Better yet, could you make them into podcasts in addition. I much prefer to listen than watch and it's easier to find the podcasts and keep those all straight :)
Regarding the Darkside content this week, yep, you brought the darkness. I am very disappointed to hear that Asa Hutchinson is getting ready to, at best, say both Biden and Trump are unacceptable so he will not vote for either or, at worse, end up saying he has to stick to his party because 'policies'. I like Asa and was not happy with the DNC comment (however, I think it was mainly just snark and, overall, a bit of a throw away line AND Biden's team apologizing makes it all a non-issue at this point). What Asa is doing now is not a non-issue. Perhaps you are correct that he just wants stuff to die down, and he will come around, but I fear that will not happen. I also do not see Christie coming around and endorsing Biden, either. I hope I am wrong.
God bless you JVL! You type the things I wish I could type. The fact that politicians on all sides are allowed to say any old thing they want and never have to answer for it is a big part of why we got here. The lack of objective truth allows people to live in different realities where they can simultaneously own 2nd and 3rd properties, own boats, go on trips around the country to hang with their “friends” at Trump rallies and then tell us that America is falling apart economically… Even Trump has a hard time telling this whopper so he is now trying out taking credit for the economy instead. I’m beyond frustrated that we have a dude pitching authoritarian ideas at every speech, constantly praising dictators, and continuing to lie about everything and the Sunday shows continue to bring on Republican politicians to keep normalizing this madness. This isn’t a normal time of politics, this is a defcon level we’ve not seen in a long time and yet this election is being covered like every other one… it’s just crazy!
I don’t think “It’s going to be me” is technically a falsifiable statement because it concerns a non-zero probability of a future event. Is it highly unlikely? Sure. Is it better than any of the other examples of “malarkey” you gave?!? I have a hard time seeing a difference. In fact, if it was indeed falsifiable, I would think that would be considerably better because it would actually be possible to refute with evidence. But I think everything Haley is basically malarkey and it’s exactly why I don’t think having her as the Republican nominee would be a significantly better option than having Trump as the nominee. A candidate who is incapable of telling the truth and who endorses an unfit candidate for President is just as unfit to be President. To me, both are morally reprehensible and dangerous for the future of the party and the country. Haley may seem slightly less dangerous than Trump by keeping both on life support in the short term). I’m not sure that’s better. The Republican Party is beyond saving and the faster we kill it, the faster we can work to create something better from the ashes.
I think according to the weird logic of Republican land (which are inconsistent in different ways than Democrat land), there’s a view that “malarkey” is “within the bounds of reasonable political discourse” while falsifiable claims cross the line. Maybe it’s the same logic that justifies McConnell’s machinations to deny Merrick Garland a seat on the Supreme Court as “a dubious political maneuver” rather than outright dishonest hypocrisy and the theft of the right of a President to appoint a Justice. Maybe it’s the same logic that causes most Republicans to believe that the majority of their party doesn’t harbor any conscious or subconscious racist or sexist attitudes if they don’t voice them publicly.
Maybe this logic - this failure to recognize that there isn’t any meaningful difference between lies and malarkey was and still remains the fundamental flaw of the Republican Party. And maybe it’s this same logic that makes it inconceivable for good Republicans to understand how the party of Reagan could become the party of Trump overnight.
After reading the entire email entitled "The Ballad of Ron and Nikki" I felt that I do not give you enough praise for your content. Your writing is informative, clever, creative, funny, depressing and honest. I never regret paying for it. Thank you for being you.
This is a great idea to question all candidates whenever they report misinformation. But it would be exhausting.
JVL,
It was wonderful meeting you after the San Francisco event. But please be more careful when writing lines such as, “I’m getting schlonged and I know I’m toast. Vote Haley!” I nearly did a spit take with hot coffee, and my dog, Cosmo would’ve been the recipient.
Thank you, and please keep up the fight with your excellent work.
Regarding the "permanent record," I have now added Sununu's comments to his Wikipedia page. Now there's a permanent record of it that people can review for years to come, when deciding how accurate Sununu is! 😊
JVL: please stop hawking subscriptions in the guise of public service announcements regarding the Bulwark’s objectivity. I’m a paying subscriber. A promo is a promo, why not precede it with a warning about what this missive is about.
It's Jan 23 and I don't see JVL and AB anywhere on YouTube....what's up?
JVL pines for the return of the Tim Russert-style “let’s go to the tape” tactic of pinning contradictions and flip-flops on politicians. Ain’t gonna happen, because straight reporting on mainstream media no longer dominates political coverage.
Now, politicians and operatives can count on sympathetic outlets to air their spin unchallenged. Confront them and they won’t come on your show or respond to your questions with anything more than a dismissive bleat from a staffer. (Case in point, from Helen Lewis’ March 2023 article in The Atlantic on Ron DeSantis’ Florida: “Asked to respond to fact-checking queries for this article, DeSantis’s press secretary, Bryan Griffin, replied by email: ‘You aren’t interested in the truth; this is just yet another worthless Atlantic editorial.’ ”)
Access is coin of the realm for political reporting. And, outside a handful of unavoidable big guns (Bob Woodward, Jonathan Martin) and “whisperers” (Maggie Haberman, Mike Allen) – political reporters quickly lose access if they are seen as adversarial.
That’s why the best factual political reporting today is the here’s-what-they-assert/here-are-the-data essay, whether short-form à la JVL on perceptions of the economy, or long-form such as Matt Yglesias’ dissections of policy proposals. The coin of that realm is research, not access.
"Pretend you needed an operation and when you went to the surgical consult the doctor mentioned that he believed the Earth was flat. Would you let that doctor operate on you? After all, his belief in a flat Earth doesn’t have anything to do with his skill as a surgeon."
There's a real doctor like that. Michael Egnor is not a Flat-Earther, but in a way worse, as he promotes the anti-evolution "Intelligent Design" (ID) scam. To keep deniers in a "big tent" ID shrewdly "takes no position" on the age and shape of the earth, and even plays dumb about common descent (because some early promoters made the political mistake of admitting it instead of pandering to the "created kinds" crowd). The word "egnorance" was quickly coined to describe his antics.
"We will make mistakes around here: For instance, I predicted that DeSantis would drop out on Wednesday, January 17. He hung in for four more days. Probably just to spite me."
Close enough. 4 days is less than half a Scaramucci.
JVL, please consider podcasting the You Tube shows. I listened to the Tim and Bill show You Tube podcast and would listen to others if made available. Thank you.
"So why did so many people talk themselves into believing that DeSantis would, or that Haley could, beat Trump?"
I'm not one, but the obvious reason why one would believe that is the naive thought that a significant % of GOP voters would suddenly get over their ADDICTION to their tabloid celebrity idol. In fact I also had some hope of that as late as the INITIAL GOP reactions to the insurrection. I even naively thought that "My Kevin" would go to Mar-a-Lago not to "kiss the ring" but to tell Trump that the "Trump era" was over. But one by one, the shameless opportunists and spineless cowards saw how permanently addicted most GOP VOTERS were, and quickly fell back in line. Their spoiled brat cult leader didn't have to lift a finger, much less take any personal risk, as always.
"A.B. and I will be on YouTube later today talking about [gestures broadly] all of this."
Can it be a podcast too please? It's so much easier to listen to a podcast while doing other things (including using one's phone).
Is it possible to categorize the Darkside YouTube videos? I did not realize you have been doing them for some time and would like to see the others, but they are hard to find. Better yet, could you make them into podcasts in addition. I much prefer to listen than watch and it's easier to find the podcasts and keep those all straight :)
Regarding the Darkside content this week, yep, you brought the darkness. I am very disappointed to hear that Asa Hutchinson is getting ready to, at best, say both Biden and Trump are unacceptable so he will not vote for either or, at worse, end up saying he has to stick to his party because 'policies'. I like Asa and was not happy with the DNC comment (however, I think it was mainly just snark and, overall, a bit of a throw away line AND Biden's team apologizing makes it all a non-issue at this point). What Asa is doing now is not a non-issue. Perhaps you are correct that he just wants stuff to die down, and he will come around, but I fear that will not happen. I also do not see Christie coming around and endorsing Biden, either. I hope I am wrong.
23 Jan 24
Traitor Trump’s (TT) robo calls into New Hampshire are happening because a WOMAN has a chance of taking the indicted 45th President down.
Nikki Haley is polling at 36.1%. Trump is below 50%.
Nikki is asking New Hampshire’s moderate Republicans and unaffiliated voters to help her take TT out.
SHE is doing her on-the-level best. That’s why we support Nikki.
https://johnadamsingram.substack.com
God bless you JVL! You type the things I wish I could type. The fact that politicians on all sides are allowed to say any old thing they want and never have to answer for it is a big part of why we got here. The lack of objective truth allows people to live in different realities where they can simultaneously own 2nd and 3rd properties, own boats, go on trips around the country to hang with their “friends” at Trump rallies and then tell us that America is falling apart economically… Even Trump has a hard time telling this whopper so he is now trying out taking credit for the economy instead. I’m beyond frustrated that we have a dude pitching authoritarian ideas at every speech, constantly praising dictators, and continuing to lie about everything and the Sunday shows continue to bring on Republican politicians to keep normalizing this madness. This isn’t a normal time of politics, this is a defcon level we’ve not seen in a long time and yet this election is being covered like every other one… it’s just crazy!
I don’t think “It’s going to be me” is technically a falsifiable statement because it concerns a non-zero probability of a future event. Is it highly unlikely? Sure. Is it better than any of the other examples of “malarkey” you gave?!? I have a hard time seeing a difference. In fact, if it was indeed falsifiable, I would think that would be considerably better because it would actually be possible to refute with evidence. But I think everything Haley is basically malarkey and it’s exactly why I don’t think having her as the Republican nominee would be a significantly better option than having Trump as the nominee. A candidate who is incapable of telling the truth and who endorses an unfit candidate for President is just as unfit to be President. To me, both are morally reprehensible and dangerous for the future of the party and the country. Haley may seem slightly less dangerous than Trump by keeping both on life support in the short term). I’m not sure that’s better. The Republican Party is beyond saving and the faster we kill it, the faster we can work to create something better from the ashes.
I think according to the weird logic of Republican land (which are inconsistent in different ways than Democrat land), there’s a view that “malarkey” is “within the bounds of reasonable political discourse” while falsifiable claims cross the line. Maybe it’s the same logic that justifies McConnell’s machinations to deny Merrick Garland a seat on the Supreme Court as “a dubious political maneuver” rather than outright dishonest hypocrisy and the theft of the right of a President to appoint a Justice. Maybe it’s the same logic that causes most Republicans to believe that the majority of their party doesn’t harbor any conscious or subconscious racist or sexist attitudes if they don’t voice them publicly.
Maybe this logic - this failure to recognize that there isn’t any meaningful difference between lies and malarkey was and still remains the fundamental flaw of the Republican Party. And maybe it’s this same logic that makes it inconceivable for good Republicans to understand how the party of Reagan could become the party of Trump overnight.
After reading the entire email entitled "The Ballad of Ron and Nikki" I felt that I do not give you enough praise for your content. Your writing is informative, clever, creative, funny, depressing and honest. I never regret paying for it. Thank you for being you.