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"nearly half of those surveyed saying Biden has done a worse job as president than they expected,"

That is one of the scariest things I've read lately. It means that at least half the country did not realize ahead of time just how bad a Biden presidency would be. I suppose one has to add in those who still don't believe it is as bad as it is.

It is not necessary to be a big fan of the narcissistic loudmouth New York asshole to realize that he is less bad that the psychopathic megalomaniac he beat or the corrupt incompetent gasbag that beat him.

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Nov 14, 2021Liked by Matt Labash

One of the things I dislike the most about my current workload is that I donโ€™t get to read your essays as quickly as I would like. Just got through this one. Truth to all sides. Thanks for putting this into words.

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๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚you are correct, wrong to assume. Keep up the good work with providing smiles

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Iโ€™m not saying you canโ€™t critique Biden. But you canโ€™t have one with the other. Like you canโ€™t have anti-semitism and Palestine in the same piece. I read your entire piece btw. I do adore your writing. I recently got attacked for a mild criticism of Harris. But you canโ€™t โ€˜I hate Trumpโ€™ and hereโ€™s a funny fart thing. Just my opinion. Iโ€™m no writer, so Iโ€™m not adept at debate. But there is something crooked (as in structurally, not as in corrupt) in this kind of thing. I donโ€™t want to make you crazy. Maybe youโ€™ll think about it. Maybe not. Iโ€™m just a reader.

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Well Joseph, thanks for the compliment. And I don't wan to turn this into a fart-joke symposium, for all the obvious reasons. But it was mainly there for comic relief. I don't actually hold Biden's emissions against him. We all have those moments. (Not me, but everybody else.) The graf that followed made drive-by reference to more serious concerns from runaway inflation to the Afghanistan debacle to him having lost the confidence of even many who voted for him. But I'll leave it at that. No sense in me gassing off anymore about it.

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Matt,

Guess the era of " the buck stops here " is officially dead. Bless Truman, his vaunted attempt to foresee , and prevent " bothsidesism " included his request to select a one armed economist. To strange queries asking why, his response was that such an economist would never be able to say, " on the other hand. "

And, because you brought it up, has any artist other than Joni Mitchell had an initial monster success with a song , " Both Sides Now ", and lived in a twilight of that ever since ?

Jim Saunders

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Judy Collins? Mitchell supposedly hated her version of it. And I tend to agree with her about that. Or not "hate," it's just not as good.

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To be more direct and precise, I meant that Both Sides Now, as written by Joni Mitchell is pure musical genius. However, I submit that Mitchell never came close to repeating her genius.

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Ahh, I misunderstood, Jim. I don't have much use for later jazzy Joni, but Blue did come out after that. And "A Case of You" is one of the all-time greats in my book. "River" is a pretty great Christmas song, too. Even if it makes you want to cut your wrists.

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My issue with bothesidesism is that when I point out the flaws of this party or that political figure, I'm often met with the response that, well, the other side is just as bad. Even those who are disenchanted with both parties fall into the trap of not making distinctions and/or delineations that is sometimes needed in order to address specific issues and say "this specific thing is wrong." It's basically throwing one's hands in the air and giving up. It makes any further discussion tedious.

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If I hate them both in different but specific ways, do I get a pass?

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Dear Matt,

Here Marco, a reader from Padua, Italy.

Iโ€™m a big fan of yours writings since the Weekly Standard days and I consider your book an excellent specimen of that kind of journalism we sorely miss here in Italy. Thereโ€™s humour, thereโ€™s weirdness, thereโ€™s real understanding for the characters animating your stories. It also depicts the portrait of a sometimes horrible, sometimes irresistible, always rambunctious country (heck, in one of your articles even sleazoid David Duke, albeit for a fleeting moment, was able to take human form and this is not an easy trick to perform). Above all, what really attracts me in your articles is your special brew of disenchanted conservatism (and conservatism at its best should already be a healthy exercise in skepticism of mankind never changing motives).

In your stories there is care. You marvel at the unexpectedness of the human freakshow. You definitely have your own ideas but do not judge easily. Youโ€™re also ready to listen. It is a good thing, especially today, when listening to people with different opinions is considered a weakness if not a sin. Thatโ€™s why I like your writings: itโ€™s the work of a Christian writer acutely aware of how frail and twisted people can be (unfortunately I canโ€™t believe in God but I truly appreciate this point of view).

For some reason (maybe intellectual colonialism?), Iโ€™ve been always interested in American culture. Moby Dick is my favourite book, I love John Ford, Orson Welles, Buddy Holly and the Velvet Underground. American books, films and music (good and bad) shaped my teenage years. Since I was a kid, American politics and history interested me too: slavery, Indian wars, the caning of Charles Sumner, John Brown, Huey Long, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, you know, that kind of stuff. It is a wild and tragic history, bubbling with hope, savage crimes and complications. For every crooked politician there was a compelling, if troubled, political figure fighting for the right cause โ€“ and vice versa. I found it scary and intriguing: after all, America is really Mark Twainโ€™s country.

This interest led to many discussions with my mostly Leftist friends: when they tried to convince that America was basically an evil superpower, my usual answer was that the United States were badly flawed but the other guys were way worse. I still think I was right.

This rambling introduction only to say that Iโ€™m really mystified by what happened in America in the last 4-5 years. I do not know if Donald Trump is a cause or an effect (probably both) but certainly in the last few years American politics first became a travesty straight out of Melvilleโ€™s โ€œConfidence Manโ€, then took a way darker turn. Everything peaked with January 6: an assault that you can expect happening in Ruritania but certainly not in Washington DC.

I am sincerely afraid that things will go from bad to worse: there are clear indications that there will be more violence (the spectacle of decrepit Claremont professors planning the future coup is certainly something to behold). Traditional conservatism is dead, the new hip things are apocalypse and revolution, always a bad combo.

I fear America is quickly approaching the tipping point after which it wonโ€™t be possible to defuse the crisis: too much tribal hatred, too much emotional commitment to dreadful causes. After that point, bad things will just happen: political disasters move slowly but surely, like plate tectonics, and thereโ€™s no way to scale back.

Please also consider that I do not have any sympathy for wokeism in general. I find it simplistic, anti-historical, vaguely totalitarian. I see its dangers. But right now the real risks for American democracy (sorry, republic) are an ex-president peddling big lies, his clique and several millions of resented people. Again, a very bad combination.

I hope Iโ€™m completely wrong, because violence and political instability would be a big big problem for you Americans and consequently for us welfare-loving Europeans. Regretfully, right now I do not feel too optimistic about the future.

So, Matt, thank you again for your writing, forgive the bad English and just tell me Iโ€™m mistaken about the whole matter.

Un caro saluto,

Marco

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Buongiorno, Marco! My wife still has relatives about two hours from where you live (in Trento - though most live in Tuscany). Thanks for the generous words, and for being a longtime reader. You have good taste in Americans. (Especially Huey Long. An endless source of amusement, even if he was crooked as hell.) Your pessimism, sad to say, is justified. But, just because we're headed in the wrong direction doesn't mean it has to be our final destination. We've gone dark, before, and made it back into the light. There's still time to turn the clown car around if enough good people push for it. And plenty of those still exist (just look around this comments section.) You are right to defend America to your friends against knee-jerk anti-Americanism. (Thanks for showing the flag.) Because flaws and all, it's still the best racket going. Even if Italy has better food and wine. And pretty great scenery, too.

Abbi fede (if I'm saying that correctly - I don't speak Italian),

ML

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Meh.

Matt: 'Just because slavery is awful and Jefferson Davis is a screwball, doesn't mean you can't make fun of old Abe not being able to handle his nutty Mrs.'

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C'mon, Joseph. You can't take a fart joke and now I'm defending slavery?

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No. You said slavery was awful, but letโ€™s have a laugh at how nutty Mrs Lincoln is. Iโ€™m sorry. I like youโ€™re writing. But by abutting a Biden fart joke with Trump you are giving succour to every mincing anti-anti out there. The French provincial mayors. Who seemed like fun guys. And then gave a list of Jews to the Nazis. Yes. Godwinโ€™s law etc. But You canโ€™t trust these people. And this is the abiding crisis of our time.

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Right. And that's why I wrote this: "Make no mistake, I donโ€™t mean to diminish the crimes of Donald J. Trump. Who Iโ€™m on record as calling a narcissistic, pyromaniac seditionist. Who instead of sitting in exile at his golf club, should probably be sitting in prison, worried that his Nuestra Familia cellie might ask him out on a non-consensual date. January 6 will forever remain a low point of any presidency, a stain on Trumpโ€™s reputation, much, much worse than the potential Hershey-squirt stain on Joe Bidenโ€™s Jockeys during the climate summit. "

Don't think I was being terribly subtle about who I think has wronged America. My larger point being that just because you rightly want to punish someone for committing felonies, doesn't mean you shouldn't be allowed to criticize their successor for committing misdemeanors. It's not a zero/sum game. Or doesn't have to be. But partisans want to make it so.

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I am absolutely, positively and most grievously...unoffended by anything written here. I'd really like to work up a good mad about something, but I just can't seem to get one going. Maybe I should read the darned thing again...with my glasses on, and perhaps a magnifying glass. There must be something worthy of a rise in blood pressure lurking in all those words.

Come on, Matt. After all, it does say "Or, something to make everyone angry" at the top. I was so looking forward to being p.o.'d by the end.

In desperation, I even read all the comments posted so far. Nada.

But, in fairness ( uh-oh, entering bothsides territory here? ) it's probably my own fault, being a non-denominational, "lukewarm Christian", and hair-on-fire unaffiliated voter. Just plain laziness on my part I suppose...don't have enough ambition to fill out the application for tribal membership and go through all those litmus tests, which I'm sure I'd fail anyway.

Probably should have read the piece yesterday when it was posted, a Covid booster from the day before having put the crimp on my normal Mary Sunshine disposition. Might have been a bit more incendiary under those circumstances.

But, thanks for trying. Better luck next time. Oh, and btw, Props.

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Apologies, Michael. Next time, I'll try harder to piss you off. Maybe by defending bourbon'n'coke? (Just kidding - I would never defend that.)

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Yeah, a couple or three fingers of MM or similar bottled in bond, otr or neat, indeed my go to. But no hardcore bourbon snob here. Have downed a B&C or 2 in my time. Under duress. But sometimes a Highball's better than no ball at all.

In fact, the hour now being after work but before after-dark barn chores, I'm enjoying a Maker's Mule as a toast to what is likely the last day of Indian Summer we'll have around these parts this year. Which is going down rather well az i Tipe thiss.

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I find myself pondering all the comments. I keep seeing new things in them. and through them. I'm a newbie in social media--never joined in a discussion like this one before. I am enjoying having my mind opened.

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To be honest, Iโ€™d never heard of you until I ran across your article last week, but man alive, Iโ€™m hooked!

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I hadn't heard of you either, Delaney. But now I'm hooked on your comments.

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Nov 10, 2021Liked by Matt Labash

Very well said. I love your droll humor. Even though I lean left, I took your message to heart and you are absolutely right. Does that make me a bothsider now?

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Nov 10, 2021Liked by Matt Labash

Thanks Matt. I appreciated this and all the other meanderings youโ€™ve posted on Slack Tide, and with the older, wiser Joni Mitchell song, I believe you stuck the landing as well. This piece led to my own tangential musing, in particular about the Christian spiritual discipline of confession. In his own time, G.K. Chesterton was said to have responded to the question โ€œWhat is wrong with the world today?โ€ , with โ€œI am.โ€ One version of this discipline goes something like โ€œI have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbor as myself. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.โ€ If I, and the Christian community I identify with, allow ourselves to be formed and shaped by this discipline, many of our conversations, whether on social media or in person, would also be transformed. Thanks again, Dave Cerling

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That's it! It's time to start paying you. Loved this.

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Thanks, Linda! Don't let me stop you......

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Matt, we'd love to have you on Tablet magazine's podcast. Drop me a line at mark.e.oppenheimer@gmail.com. Thanks, Mark Oppenheimer

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Nov 10, 2021Liked by Matt Labash

โ€˜life is complicated. Rarely are our heroes pure or our villains pure evil. It is helpful to remember that the world rarely sits still long enough for us to make complete sense of it.โ€™ I will occasionally collect quotes as I read and share them with my children and the medical residents I train. You have been deemed quotable, in my humble opinion. Thanks

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