Tapping the American id A second look at Abraham Josephine Riesman’s Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America, this time by John Hendrickson in The Atlantic, contemplates how watching a “good guy” wrestler like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson deliver “‘the people’s elbow’ to a bullying foe” is cathartic for professional wrestling fans. They pay good money for it. WWE’s McMahon “tapped into the American id,” made a fortune by it, and drew Donald Trump a roadmap to the White House. A technology and science fiction writer I know online commented Saturday night on how Generative AI “will turn civilization upside down” in ways hard to predict. For better or worse, Pandora’s Box is open and will never be closed, she wrote. That’s how technology works. Similarly, who could have predicted that professional wrestling and McMahon “could have such a profound influence on American culture and politics,” Hendrickson writes. McMahon’s pal Donald has changed American political culture and the party he leads by dint of throwing elbows at people his fans love to jeer.
Uncategorized
Monday morning geek-out Reflecting on the studies E.J. Dionne referenced (post below), let’s consider where Democrats can narrow their vote margins and perhaps turn losses into wins. The key to Democrats winning in 2024 and beyond could lie in turning out more independent voters in precincts where they lean Democrat. My focus at the moment is how independent voters swing, especially in evenly divided states like North Carolina. (Donald Trump won the state in 2020 by under 1.5 points.) “Unaffiliated” voters (UNAs) here are the largest tranche of state registrants (36 percent in 2022), meaning Democrats must turn out D-leaners to win. Except UNAs statewide voted only 42 percent for the Democrat at the top of the November ticket in the last two general elections. That performance, however, varies wildly by precinct. In mine, four out of five UNAs voted for Joe Biden.* In some of North Carolina’s largest counties, UNAs split as much as 60 percent for Democrats. But take note.
Well, that didn’t go well. I noted over the weekend that the Israeli defense minister had called for the government to at least postpone its “judicial reforms” because the military was starting to fracture over the issue and it was threat to national security. On Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu fired the defense minister — and the country looks like it’s exploding. This Liveblog of the “night of chaos” is stunning. An excerpt: Anti-judicial coup protesters are blocking roads and intersections at multiple locations across Israel on Sunday night to protest Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Gallant. According to police, demonstrations are taking place at over 150 locations. Bibi wants to make these judiciary changes to protect himself from the corruption charges that hang over his head and he has a slim 4 vote majority which he cobbled together by selling his soul to the far right, which wants to hobble the independent judiciary for its own purposes. The systems are very different and it’s not useful to make too many comparisons. But damn, there’s a lot in there that sounds familiar, no?
More things that I’ve noticed about integrating LLMs into my workflow: I also spent some time today catching up on that last piece of hype, Meta’s VR bid. I don’t like to dismiss anyone’s work, but it’s strange how Meta has been shifting tone from Oculus’s gaming vibe to something more … generic? Flat enterprise? […]
A new, anonymously-produced UN report denouncing Nicaragua’s government whitewashes the brutal US-backed 2018 coup against it while refusing to interview victims of sadistic opposition violence. Abuse and weaponization of the United Nations system by the United States and its vassal governments to both mislead and intimidate the rest of the world have been a feature of international relations since the very founding of the United Nations during the time of the Korean War. In recent years, that situation has deteriorated […]
The post Bad faith UN report on Nicaragua whitewashes violent US-backed coup appeared first on The Grayzone.
Kentucky’s 1st District sent this idiot to Congress Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, insisted to CNN’s Jake Tapper this morning that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is improperly conducting a federal investigation. “He’s investigating a presidential candidate, not to mention a former president of the United States, for a federal election crime,” Comer said repeatedly. In fact, Bragg is investigating Donald Trump for falsification of business records under New York state law. “It should be done by the Department of Justice on the federal level,” Comer insisted. BS. Comer Bragg doesn’t believe Trump should be investigated at all. He has a B.S. in Agriculture, BTW. As Aaron Rupar tweeted, the interview did not go well. “We just want the government out of our elections,” Comer said later without recognizing how that sounded. “We believe the local DAs need to be focused on business crimes, on burglary, on theft …” Again, Bragg is investigating Trump for falsification of business reords.
I confess that I thought I had followed this story as closely as humanly possible and I totally forgot about this woman: TWITTER WENT WILD after former President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday. (Surprise: It turned out to be false.) The potential indictment against Trump stemmed from a hush-money payoff to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. From the moment news of the alleged 2006 extramarital tryst between Trump and Stormy came to light, the public instantly formed their opinions and chose a side. You had those who were curious and believed in the possibility of truth beyond the gossip, while the other side of the grass was littered with Trump supporters who chose to believe the desperate words of denial from both the former president and his then-lawyer/fixer, Michael Cohen. As the story grew, I knew exactly which side of the lawn I was on. I had firsthand knowledge of that fateful night in Lake Tahoe, but the story was moving faster than even I could keep up with. Lake Tahoe is a scenic, touristy town that isn’t exactly known for being popular among adult film stars.
He can’t condemn paying hush money to porn actresses, of course, because to do that would be a betrayal of his Dear Leader. Instead, he makes shit up about the DNC and Hillary Clinton using gibberish, which is really all he knows how to do. Bill Barr’s very special prosecutor (who is still in business for some reason) took a case to trial pertaining to that charge and the person accused of being the supposed conduit was acquitted. I don’t think McCarthy even knows what really happened anymore because he and the rest of these liars have created such a convoluted conspiracy theory that they can’t keep it straight in their own minds. But let’s ask ourselves just how lame it is to compare Trump’s sordid little tryst with an adult film actress and his attempts to keep it quiet to the Democrats hiring a firm to do oppo research on their opponent (the same firm that the Jeb Bush campaign had used.) It’s so stupid it makes my head hurt. But then, this is Kevin McCarthy, a man who will be remembered for making deals to sell out his party and his country to a rump group of lunatics in order to become Speaker.
Look who’s coming to save the GOP… Former Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said his trip on Monday to New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary and votes second overall in the GOP presidential nominating calendar, will help him decide whether to “get into the battle” and launch a 2024 GOP presidential campaign. Christie said that a key to that decision will be whether he sees a pathway to victory over former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Christie will headline a town-hall style event Monday evening at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, which for over two decades has been a must-stop for actual or potential White House contenders from both major parties. Word of the town hall and a dinner later in the evening with close friends and supporters in the Granite State was first reported earlier this month by Fox News.
Yeah, it was always ridiculous. That CNN sideshow with him and his brother turned my stomach at the time. I’m not surprised they both crashed and burned. And look at Andrew Cuomo now. Does he think he can make a comeback as a Republican or something? Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) slammed the New York and Georgia investigations into former President Trump as being part of a “cancer in our body politic,” arguing they are politically motivated. Cuomo told John Catsimatidis, who hosts the talk radio show “The Cats Roundtable,” in an interview on WABC 770 that he expects Trump will be indicted in Manhattan next week.