CTF? Yes, I have it too. Maybe you can find one of those class action lawyers to work it up. They have squeezed asbestos and tobacco dry and are probably looking for something new. I can hear the late night TV commercial…. Or how about CTF Bingo?
Matt, you continue to fascinate me, (mostly with your bonus tracks-which play like my own private juke box!) Nancy Griffith? Other Voices was the soundtrack to my courtship with my wife. And 27 years later Nancy still gets play. And of course there’s the fly fishing, but then the real meat, there’s that Trump thing…so I’m not sure if I’m more worried about me or you. Should I read someone who believes so similarly? I feel a little like the Woody Allen line about joining a club willing to take me as a member! At least you write brilliantly, whereas I only can read brilliance.
Not supposed to tell anyone, but I've actually been reading your diary.......Thanks for this, Firefour. You and your wife have good taste. Any friends of that album are friends of mine. Dress of Laces - future play on this site.
It’s about rule of law, Congressman who get rich while in office, government running our lives, poorly, legalized drugs, looking the other way with child porn, open borders and noncitizens voting and receiving government benefits, it’s taking care of America. I only worship one, and it is not a man or a government.
Do you think your god would hate those 'noncitizens' who are fleeing horrible places to come here, the greatest country in the world-To make a better life for their families? Or would he tell you to embrace and help them as best you could?
I totally agree there's a lot more important issues than Trump. Or should be. But if it's not all about Trump, then why are Republicans making loyalty to Trump, and adoption of his election fraud fictions, the litmus test issue in every primary? Forget Liz Cheney. My state (Maryland) just nominated a total mouth-breather for governor (Dan Cox), not because he's competent. The guy's lucky if he doesn't dribble down his shirt while talking. They nominated him because Trump endorsed him. And the only reason Trump endorsed him is because he subscribes to Trump's election-fraud nonsense, and peddles it without shame. Cox will get smoked in the general, by the way. In a usually blue state that saw fit to elect Republican governors for three of the last five terms. So there's yet another election Trump is going to blow, even it's "not all about Trump." Tell that to Republicans. Because they now think it is.
It is somewhat about the attack on Trump by the liberal, socialist, Marxist left. If not Trump, it will be the next citizen they think is out of line with their agenda.
The left wants total control and hates Christians or people with morals, it makes them feel guilty, and they don’t want to feel like they are bad people because of a lifestyle they have chosen.
I don't dispute that D's attack R's no matter who the R is, and vice versa. That is true. (Such is the way of partisan combat.) But I attack Trump all the time, and I'm not a member of the liberal, socialist, Marxist left, and never have been. Some people/things are more worthy of attack than others, no matter who is doing the attacking. . And I'd submit that trying to overturn elections that were lost - repeatedly, serially, relentlessly - should be at the top of the attack list. That's serious business. If democracy goes, the country goes with it. And it's not an overstatement to say that's what Trump was trying to undo in the post-election period. And I don't hate Christians at all - I am one and have been since childhood - have written about it quite a bit. And so am doubly disappointed by paragons of the church, many of whom have totally abdicated their moral responsibility, shilling for a guy who stands against most of what they purport to stand for otherwise, and who have turned their (former) president into their deity. Partisan hate has been getting the better of Christian love for a good long stretch now.
Do you personally know anyone who fits that description? I don’t. I don’t know a single “leftist” who hates Christians or people with morals. Every person I know that might be considered a leftist is pretty moral themselves, some are Christian themselves, and all have Christian friends or relations that they love even if they vehemently disagree with.
Look no further than the presidents cabinet. Read their bios. Washington DC is full of policy makers that fit my description. Federal judges, right on down the political line that control policy and purse strings nationally and in about 27 states.
The GOP has become the party of ignorance and fear, its functionaries so loosely moored to reality that their utterances must be presumed to be lies until objectively proven otherwise. How sad. I identified as a Republican for a while, once upon a time. I was and remain economically conservative and socially liberal. There used to be a place for people like me in the GOP.
The nation needs a party on the center-right to keep those of us on the center-left financially prudent. Perhaps the Cheneys and the Kinzingers, the Pences and the Hogans will somehow wrest control of the GOP from the neofascists. But I doubt it. Perhaps they and others will cobble together a new party. Perhaps Trump will become president for life - or at least presidential candidate for life (the man knows a good grift when he sees one).
I have just barely enough confidence left in my fellow Americans to think that Trumpism has hit its high water mark, that Trump, DeSantis, and the entire Republican clown posse will see the GOP wither in coming general elections. But I'm hedging my bet. I'm shopping for an apartment in Europe. It can be an AirBnB for now and a bolt hole if I need it.
My dad was a PhD in Political Science. A great thinker, voracious reader and conversationalist until the day he died. He always wanted the best for the common good. The last voice mail I have from Dad, which of course I listen to from time to time, is partially about politics. He doesn't mention Trump by name. Instead all he says is this: "About the current political scene, there isn't anything there for men like you and me." Dad would applaud this article.
I don't think Trump loves himself, I think he hates himself. To cope with that he has created an image of himself that he can love, and he will defend that image to his last breath, because if it is shattered, he will be forced to see that sad, useless, unworthy little boy he has always been.
Matt, I voted for Gerald Ford while you were still pulling girls pigtails, and every GOP nominee since - until I left in 2016. The GOP is irretrievably broken, so why not do what I did six years ago? You don't have to join the AOC Dark Side, become an Independent. When the only party members left with integrity and honor are on the way out (Cheney and Kinzinger), it's time to abandon that sinking ship.
That was one of the most appropriate examinations of the orange tangerine I’ve heard. I had been coming to fret about you because I feared you were locked into their sort of crazy world. (Never trust a right-winger, I always say. :-). Or a Bible-thumper, even though I’m trying to be a Christian myself). We have reached the level of insanity in politics that all I can do is mock people. I’m reflecting on my fellow Virginian, James Madison, I’m pretty sure this is not what he had in mind for our republic. What disturbs me the most is that the current situation is exactly what that horrible man, Bannon, advises. Flood the zone with shit, they’ll never keep up. He’s right, but who wants to trade in all of their integrity for what amounts to a shallow, pathetic life. I’m sure his grandchildren would be proud….just a little joke there, I’m pretty sure the demon was not able to have children.
Trump is all the things you mentioned, granted. However, Pelosi, Shumer and company are equally heinous, they just lie cheat and steal within respectable norms. If you’ve been paying any attention at all you’ve taken note of the Democrat’s unceasing trashing of the country through CRT, emasculating the military, and undoing the fossil fuel industry without serious thought to what can actually replace it. I abhor Trump,but, a little fairness in pointing out the excesses of the other side would be useful.
Um...let's try to do facts vs. feelings. Critical race theory is a very real, but technical term that's been around for about 50 years. It has a bit to do with racial bias that has existed in America for a very long time. CRT is just now en vogue with the kits of Fox. Would you deny that America has had racial bias in its history over centuries?
Emasculating the military? Do you have any relavent and reliable facts to backup that statement? Are you referring to castration? Are you referring to don't ask, don't tell? Are you referring to women in the military? What is your definition of emasculation? Our country spends more on weaponry than the next 20 countries combined...Most of them are our allies. We spend over 33% of all military expenditure in the effing world, dude. We sell over 50% of the world's weaponry overseas.
Let's take a look at undoing the fossil fuel industry. I'll bet you do not realize that the 5 biggest crude oil companies in the world made over 300% PROFIT in Q1 of 2022. For some companies, it was the highest quarterly PROFIT in their history. For people in the know, they were accused of profiteering. Usually that's a term reserved for people who make money off of war. By the way, have you been keeping an eye on the weather over the last 10 years or so?
It is a fact that CRT divides us into the worthy due to past discrimination or the shamed or “privileged” due to supposed sins of their ancestors. That is not a good basis for a fair society in which everyone has the same opportunity of outcome. As for the military, the services “stood down” for supposed domestic terrorists in the ranks. It’s not an accident that they’re unable to meet their recruitment quotas, check out the latest recruiting advertisements. They’d be laughable if not for crap that’s in them. The military exists to break things and kill people, nothing else, especially not social experimentation. As for oil companies, why does it bother you so that they’ve achieved record profits? I assure you the stockholders are pleased, as well as governments that tax oil extraction and end products. You don’t seem to mind when a host of other industries make enormous profits or is that ok? I could go on, but neither of us is going to change the other’s mind one wit.
I couldn't care less whether your mind is changed. I just want people to know that you have no idea what critical race theory is. The tropes about critical race theory you are parroting from Fox are wrong and misleading. Look it up. I also would like others to know that you don't know what the word emasculating means. You're using it as some kind of gender slur. I was only making the point that our military is extraordinarily powerful and hasn't lost its testosterone. And yes, there have been loud and proud white supremacists found publicly praising Hitler in "the ranks." I suppose you feel that should be a soldier's right. And that's why there was a 24 hr. stand down. Again, you seemed to be using absurd tropes from Fox News about masculinity...seems to be a Tucker (light up your balls) fad. I would also like readers to know that incentivizing non fossil fuel energy is not immoral or economically naive. If the crude oil industry were to fail tomorrow the world economy would collapse. No one is implying such a thing. I could care less whether they are making money or not, I just don't think they should be taking advantage of everyone in the world so that their shareholders and board of directors can become gazillionaires off the price normal people pay at the pump, then have propagandists like Fox blame it on anyone but the real profiteers (most clear headed people consider profiteering immoral.) You might want to look up that word too. I realize your mind won't change. That's a problem you will have to live with. All that means is that you can't learn anything new. I just don't want you to mislead others.
Also no fan of Orange Julius, and not defending him at all...but much of your top 10 list on cults could readily refer to progressive groups as well. Alas, Matt, really no escape from the malaise.
Sure. Always. Except that I don't think their current leader inspires such cult-like devotion. They're about to throw Uncle Joe over. I'm not even sure Jill Biden is a member of the Joe Biden cult.
I hear a lot of panic in the voices of Our Commenteerz here.
Willing it. Wishing it. Magical thinking it. That the elected Democrats are just as bad as the elected Republicans in this shizz show. It is simply not the case.
Demz are on topic and talking policy. I get it. A lot of Our Commenteerz don’t like the policies. But please, without even talking about the Varsity, let’s go to the 3rd stringers - AOC didn’t endorse a bullet to the brain of Pelosi as MTG did. And as far as I know Schumer hast transported minors across state line soliciting prostitution as Gaetz has.
Please, just stop it. There is no comparing the 2 parties.
PS: okay, Josh Hawley is probably faster than Amy Klobuchar. I give you guys that one….
I'm with you on the cult of trump. Check out this list from the Book of Proverbs on the things that God detests: There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
Does Trump leave a box unchecked? Yet, all of my Christian friends think of him as the second coming.
CTF? Yes, I have it too. Maybe you can find one of those class action lawyers to work it up. They have squeezed asbestos and tobacco dry and are probably looking for something new. I can hear the late night TV commercial…. Or how about CTF Bingo?
Well said. If only the news media would/could ignore him.
I am so chronically fatigued over the Orange One I can't even comment..
Matt, you continue to fascinate me, (mostly with your bonus tracks-which play like my own private juke box!) Nancy Griffith? Other Voices was the soundtrack to my courtship with my wife. And 27 years later Nancy still gets play. And of course there’s the fly fishing, but then the real meat, there’s that Trump thing…so I’m not sure if I’m more worried about me or you. Should I read someone who believes so similarly? I feel a little like the Woody Allen line about joining a club willing to take me as a member! At least you write brilliantly, whereas I only can read brilliance.
Not supposed to tell anyone, but I've actually been reading your diary.......Thanks for this, Firefour. You and your wife have good taste. Any friends of that album are friends of mine. Dress of Laces - future play on this site.
It’s not about Trump!
It’s about rule of law, Congressman who get rich while in office, government running our lives, poorly, legalized drugs, looking the other way with child porn, open borders and noncitizens voting and receiving government benefits, it’s taking care of America. I only worship one, and it is not a man or a government.
God is my lord and savior!
It’s actually about libraries and womens’ sports, neither of which right wingers ever gave a crap about until their outrage mullahs told them to.
Do you think your god would hate those 'noncitizens' who are fleeing horrible places to come here, the greatest country in the world-To make a better life for their families? Or would he tell you to embrace and help them as best you could?
No, but let’s do it in an orderly manner!
I totally agree there's a lot more important issues than Trump. Or should be. But if it's not all about Trump, then why are Republicans making loyalty to Trump, and adoption of his election fraud fictions, the litmus test issue in every primary? Forget Liz Cheney. My state (Maryland) just nominated a total mouth-breather for governor (Dan Cox), not because he's competent. The guy's lucky if he doesn't dribble down his shirt while talking. They nominated him because Trump endorsed him. And the only reason Trump endorsed him is because he subscribes to Trump's election-fraud nonsense, and peddles it without shame. Cox will get smoked in the general, by the way. In a usually blue state that saw fit to elect Republican governors for three of the last five terms. So there's yet another election Trump is going to blow, even it's "not all about Trump." Tell that to Republicans. Because they now think it is.
It is somewhat about the attack on Trump by the liberal, socialist, Marxist left. If not Trump, it will be the next citizen they think is out of line with their agenda.
The left wants total control and hates Christians or people with morals, it makes them feel guilty, and they don’t want to feel like they are bad people because of a lifestyle they have chosen.
I don't dispute that D's attack R's no matter who the R is, and vice versa. That is true. (Such is the way of partisan combat.) But I attack Trump all the time, and I'm not a member of the liberal, socialist, Marxist left, and never have been. Some people/things are more worthy of attack than others, no matter who is doing the attacking. . And I'd submit that trying to overturn elections that were lost - repeatedly, serially, relentlessly - should be at the top of the attack list. That's serious business. If democracy goes, the country goes with it. And it's not an overstatement to say that's what Trump was trying to undo in the post-election period. And I don't hate Christians at all - I am one and have been since childhood - have written about it quite a bit. And so am doubly disappointed by paragons of the church, many of whom have totally abdicated their moral responsibility, shilling for a guy who stands against most of what they purport to stand for otherwise, and who have turned their (former) president into their deity. Partisan hate has been getting the better of Christian love for a good long stretch now.
Fully spot on today.
Did you happen upon Tom Nichols’ essay 08/15 in The Atlantic?
“A Deepening Void”
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/08/the-new-era-of-political-violence-is-here/671146/?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Do you personally know anyone who fits that description? I don’t. I don’t know a single “leftist” who hates Christians or people with morals. Every person I know that might be considered a leftist is pretty moral themselves, some are Christian themselves, and all have Christian friends or relations that they love even if they vehemently disagree with.
Look no further than the presidents cabinet. Read their bios. Washington DC is full of policy makers that fit my description. Federal judges, right on down the political line that control policy and purse strings nationally and in about 27 states.
I doubt you can name one that hates Christians.
Try Florida State graduate programs. North Carolina, Berkley, Harvard, ………
Also, you can’t go to a major graduate school program without being surrounded by the same socialists, atheists, thought machines.
You are quite simply, Johnnie, a bigot.
Amen, I am sooo exhausted and yet, I have trouble staying away from it...sigh
I am also worried and I wish we could get some divine intervention when it comes to Trump, because nothing else is working...
I have to know if something does work, finally
The GOP has become the party of ignorance and fear, its functionaries so loosely moored to reality that their utterances must be presumed to be lies until objectively proven otherwise. How sad. I identified as a Republican for a while, once upon a time. I was and remain economically conservative and socially liberal. There used to be a place for people like me in the GOP.
The nation needs a party on the center-right to keep those of us on the center-left financially prudent. Perhaps the Cheneys and the Kinzingers, the Pences and the Hogans will somehow wrest control of the GOP from the neofascists. But I doubt it. Perhaps they and others will cobble together a new party. Perhaps Trump will become president for life - or at least presidential candidate for life (the man knows a good grift when he sees one).
I have just barely enough confidence left in my fellow Americans to think that Trumpism has hit its high water mark, that Trump, DeSantis, and the entire Republican clown posse will see the GOP wither in coming general elections. But I'm hedging my bet. I'm shopping for an apartment in Europe. It can be an AirBnB for now and a bolt hole if I need it.
How depressing.
My dad was a PhD in Political Science. A great thinker, voracious reader and conversationalist until the day he died. He always wanted the best for the common good. The last voice mail I have from Dad, which of course I listen to from time to time, is partially about politics. He doesn't mention Trump by name. Instead all he says is this: "About the current political scene, there isn't anything there for men like you and me." Dad would applaud this article.
Your Dad sounds so impressive ! Love that quote
Awesome dad and he is right unfortunately
Thank you. And yes, so unfortunate.
I love that quote from your Dad.
Thank you!
I don't think Trump loves himself, I think he hates himself. To cope with that he has created an image of himself that he can love, and he will defend that image to his last breath, because if it is shattered, he will be forced to see that sad, useless, unworthy little boy he has always been.
While I take exception to well-wishes for Laura, I take no further exception to ML's brilliant and proper perspective. Well done ML.
Matt, I voted for Gerald Ford while you were still pulling girls pigtails, and every GOP nominee since - until I left in 2016. The GOP is irretrievably broken, so why not do what I did six years ago? You don't have to join the AOC Dark Side, become an Independent. When the only party members left with integrity and honor are on the way out (Cheney and Kinzinger), it's time to abandon that sinking ship.
“I’m Moe Greene! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!”
That was one of the most appropriate examinations of the orange tangerine I’ve heard. I had been coming to fret about you because I feared you were locked into their sort of crazy world. (Never trust a right-winger, I always say. :-). Or a Bible-thumper, even though I’m trying to be a Christian myself). We have reached the level of insanity in politics that all I can do is mock people. I’m reflecting on my fellow Virginian, James Madison, I’m pretty sure this is not what he had in mind for our republic. What disturbs me the most is that the current situation is exactly what that horrible man, Bannon, advises. Flood the zone with shit, they’ll never keep up. He’s right, but who wants to trade in all of their integrity for what amounts to a shallow, pathetic life. I’m sure his grandchildren would be proud….just a little joke there, I’m pretty sure the demon was not able to have children.
Well,what good is a title if you can't abuse by it !
And have we forgotten about the Q already ??
And I don't mean Quincy Jones.
I think we have a perfect 10.
Thanks for the tracks, Matt. Nanci Griffith is the only performer my wife and I went repeatedly out of the way to see live. We miss her.
You and me both, brother.
Trump is all the things you mentioned, granted. However, Pelosi, Shumer and company are equally heinous, they just lie cheat and steal within respectable norms. If you’ve been paying any attention at all you’ve taken note of the Democrat’s unceasing trashing of the country through CRT, emasculating the military, and undoing the fossil fuel industry without serious thought to what can actually replace it. I abhor Trump,but, a little fairness in pointing out the excesses of the other side would be useful.
Um...let's try to do facts vs. feelings. Critical race theory is a very real, but technical term that's been around for about 50 years. It has a bit to do with racial bias that has existed in America for a very long time. CRT is just now en vogue with the kits of Fox. Would you deny that America has had racial bias in its history over centuries?
Emasculating the military? Do you have any relavent and reliable facts to backup that statement? Are you referring to castration? Are you referring to don't ask, don't tell? Are you referring to women in the military? What is your definition of emasculation? Our country spends more on weaponry than the next 20 countries combined...Most of them are our allies. We spend over 33% of all military expenditure in the effing world, dude. We sell over 50% of the world's weaponry overseas.
Let's take a look at undoing the fossil fuel industry. I'll bet you do not realize that the 5 biggest crude oil companies in the world made over 300% PROFIT in Q1 of 2022. For some companies, it was the highest quarterly PROFIT in their history. For people in the know, they were accused of profiteering. Usually that's a term reserved for people who make money off of war. By the way, have you been keeping an eye on the weather over the last 10 years or so?
One more thing: facts, not feelings.
It is a fact that CRT divides us into the worthy due to past discrimination or the shamed or “privileged” due to supposed sins of their ancestors. That is not a good basis for a fair society in which everyone has the same opportunity of outcome. As for the military, the services “stood down” for supposed domestic terrorists in the ranks. It’s not an accident that they’re unable to meet their recruitment quotas, check out the latest recruiting advertisements. They’d be laughable if not for crap that’s in them. The military exists to break things and kill people, nothing else, especially not social experimentation. As for oil companies, why does it bother you so that they’ve achieved record profits? I assure you the stockholders are pleased, as well as governments that tax oil extraction and end products. You don’t seem to mind when a host of other industries make enormous profits or is that ok? I could go on, but neither of us is going to change the other’s mind one wit.
I couldn't care less whether your mind is changed. I just want people to know that you have no idea what critical race theory is. The tropes about critical race theory you are parroting from Fox are wrong and misleading. Look it up. I also would like others to know that you don't know what the word emasculating means. You're using it as some kind of gender slur. I was only making the point that our military is extraordinarily powerful and hasn't lost its testosterone. And yes, there have been loud and proud white supremacists found publicly praising Hitler in "the ranks." I suppose you feel that should be a soldier's right. And that's why there was a 24 hr. stand down. Again, you seemed to be using absurd tropes from Fox News about masculinity...seems to be a Tucker (light up your balls) fad. I would also like readers to know that incentivizing non fossil fuel energy is not immoral or economically naive. If the crude oil industry were to fail tomorrow the world economy would collapse. No one is implying such a thing. I could care less whether they are making money or not, I just don't think they should be taking advantage of everyone in the world so that their shareholders and board of directors can become gazillionaires off the price normal people pay at the pump, then have propagandists like Fox blame it on anyone but the real profiteers (most clear headed people consider profiteering immoral.) You might want to look up that word too. I realize your mind won't change. That's a problem you will have to live with. All that means is that you can't learn anything new. I just don't want you to mislead others.
Also no fan of Orange Julius, and not defending him at all...but much of your top 10 list on cults could readily refer to progressive groups as well. Alas, Matt, really no escape from the malaise.
Sure. Always. Except that I don't think their current leader inspires such cult-like devotion. They're about to throw Uncle Joe over. I'm not even sure Jill Biden is a member of the Joe Biden cult.
I hear a lot of panic in the voices of Our Commenteerz here.
Willing it. Wishing it. Magical thinking it. That the elected Democrats are just as bad as the elected Republicans in this shizz show. It is simply not the case.
Demz are on topic and talking policy. I get it. A lot of Our Commenteerz don’t like the policies. But please, without even talking about the Varsity, let’s go to the 3rd stringers - AOC didn’t endorse a bullet to the brain of Pelosi as MTG did. And as far as I know Schumer hast transported minors across state line soliciting prostitution as Gaetz has.
Please, just stop it. There is no comparing the 2 parties.
PS: okay, Josh Hawley is probably faster than Amy Klobuchar. I give you guys that one….