tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post6886220224440461874..comments2024-03-28T14:52:13.218-05:00Comments on Stonekettle Station: SnakeJim Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-25238403139321035032023-11-08T20:56:58.447-06:002023-11-08T20:56:58.447-06:00And now it's late 2023, we made it through Tru...And now it's late 2023, we made it through Trump & now have Biden. Actually, not Biden, but who is running the show? I have my suspicions about who she is, but I don't KNOW. You talk about how awful Trump is. A racist, a sexist, a misogynist, a homophobe & so many other things. But I'm going to tell you, I'd rather have an honest son-of-a-bitch than what we have now. People talked about how Reagan was so out of it that he shouldn't be president anymore. Biden is out there somewhere, but it ain't here. His is the face we see, not the brain in action. You talked about how so many things have changed since 1974. Just take a look at television. Reality TV that isn't reality at all. It is the bread & circuses of Rome. Keep us poor, dumb, hungry & entertained. Says it all. I believe I'm from a totally different generation that most who have commented here. Life in the US has changed & changed a lot & NOT for the better. The 60's destroyed this nation. I was part of it. We lost our ideals, our morals, our code of ethics & took most of the rest of the world with us. The only reason Goldwater & the rest could go to Nixon & demand he resign, is because they were old school. Really OLD school. Before you go off on your soapbox & try to lay everything in the lap of one person, look at EVERYTHING, not just a crumb on your plate. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-26850846763037299252020-02-03T14:42:27.564-06:002020-02-03T14:42:27.564-06:00Excellent, most excellent essay. You've writte...Excellent, most excellent essay. You've written so eloquently what I've been feeling for so long. Bread and circuses, he is Nero and Rome is the US.<br /><br />silverblitz2016@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08806749743354831921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-4190188295610129132020-01-28T09:51:30.653-06:002020-01-28T09:51:30.653-06:00No truer words have ever been spoken. The night I ...No truer words have ever been spoken. The night I saw the commercial with him mocking the disabled reporter, and people laughed, I was done. I looked at my husband after I picked my jaw up off the floor and said, "Buckle up...its going to be a bumpy ride."I've always said our elected leaders are a reflection of the constituency. So what's that say about America? And what's even scarier is I predict he will get in for 4 more years.Theresa Yhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16226952474166295533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-78751299131125789952020-01-27T12:31:30.568-06:002020-01-27T12:31:30.568-06:00It is now almost a week since you published this a...It is now almost a week since you published this article. (Excellent by the way.) In that week there have been 2 more smoking guns - the Parnas recording & the Bolton book comments. As the trial continues, it will be interesting to see if these are the tipping point. Somehow I doubt it. I think it's just smoking guns all the way down. Ed Hotchkiss, Ontario Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-89350304771507357992020-01-27T11:01:42.062-06:002020-01-27T11:01:42.062-06:00The only thing we have to fear is fear itself... ...The only thing we have to fear is fear itself... Citizens United needs to go back into the vile hole it crawled out of. Seems to me if we shitcan a few judges to scare the fuck out of the rest and we're most of the way back to where we were. Still lots of work to be done either way. The best thing this debacle has done is shown lunatic fringe of the Republican Party and how dangerous apathy is. We don't need one more party we need six or eight more. T.K. Davidsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15628467216627631477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-80850440606138420052020-01-26T17:25:15.087-06:002020-01-26T17:25:15.087-06:00He was famous for being famous.He was famous for being famous.David305https://www.blogger.com/profile/11950751336731219990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-33264389260058495372020-01-26T14:56:42.292-06:002020-01-26T14:56:42.292-06:00TK Davidson, What are you talking about? What do t...TK Davidson, What are you talking about? What do teachers have to do with this whole discussion? You must have really had a bad experience in school. Sorry for that, but until you have been in the classroom and actually taught children, you have no voice in talking so horribly about teachers.<br />joanxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00451994832368353857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-27078514502312500832020-01-26T10:39:41.704-06:002020-01-26T10:39:41.704-06:00Sometimes, just sometimes, I wish you weren't ...Sometimes, just sometimes, I wish you weren't so prescient.Donna Leenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-14506926167658837792020-01-25T13:42:56.514-06:002020-01-25T13:42:56.514-06:00I'm no psychiatrist but I heard this thing des...I'm no psychiatrist but I heard this thing described once. They said if a child has been taught one thing as truth by an authority figure it becomes extremely hard to dislodge. Even with irrefutable facts they can become irrational and even violent to defend this false belief. If I remember right intelligence level doesn't have much impact in this either. Maybe someone here can expound on this or nudge this in the right direction. T.K. Davidsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15628467216627631477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-19126244736593064192020-01-25T13:11:14.378-06:002020-01-25T13:11:14.378-06:00They did the right thing because he tried to secre...They did the right thing because he tried to secretly get the IRS to audit every one of them. Even pirates have standards ya know.T.K. Davidsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15628467216627631477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-55740260555033526152020-01-25T00:50:44.051-06:002020-01-25T00:50:44.051-06:00How true.
How true.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18066502467260341843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-223677235586296202020-01-25T00:48:54.919-06:002020-01-25T00:48:54.919-06:00God help us.God help us.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18066502467260341843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-65120602405076831682020-01-24T22:04:11.352-06:002020-01-24T22:04:11.352-06:00Once again.... how is it that a businessman is sup...Once again.... how is it that a businessman is supposed to know how to run a government? Name one government that operates like a business. I'll be waiting... T.K. Davidsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15628467216627631477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-86848321586539453702020-01-24T21:59:32.095-06:002020-01-24T21:59:32.095-06:00Horse hockey. What good is calculus when your gov...Horse hockey. What good is calculus when your government is comprised of cheap money whores and gangsters? You take the stupid ass so-called teachers out and put a gun to their head and hand them the curriculum they'll be teaching from now on. I have yet to hear even a single teacher take any responsibility for this. That is disturbing. Put human decency and empathy back in the lesson plan. You'll have a brand new country in no time. <br /><br />We could even start teaching history again so as not to be doomed to repeat it.T.K. Davidsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15628467216627631477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-69049542020954200972020-01-24T12:03:00.169-06:002020-01-24T12:03:00.169-06:00I lived and worked in Poland during the times imme...I lived and worked in Poland during the times immediately after the break-up of the Soviet Union. My colleague used to tell me insane stories about how life was during the Communist years, but he was quick to state that life back then wasn't so bad: "I met my wife then, my daughter was born then, I had great times with my friends." The one thing he resented, however, was, as he put it, "all the worst people are in charge", from the Party, to the government, to the police and the schools, even the people who worked in the government-owned stores (who could greatly influence whether you received the amount and quality of a particular good that was in short supply - in other words, pretty much everything). Uneducated, venal, greedy, cruel, incompetent and completely without conscience, these people ran everything, because they were willing to sell their souls to a foreign power.<br /><br />Never in a million years would I have thought that, within a generation, the United States of America would be turned into such a hellscape. But here we are.<br /><br />As an American, I was practically worshiped in that time and place. I used to condescend to my Polish friends, thinking "follow our example, do as we do, and one day, you may be as good as we are." I feel such shame about this now. We've thrown it all away, and for what? The aggrandizement of the least worthy person possible, empowered by the uncomprehending, the scorned, the irredeemable.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13982923494748386002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-70330084500880532372020-01-23T12:28:26.679-06:002020-01-23T12:28:26.679-06:00PS: I think I caught a typo in your third-to-last ...PS: I think I caught a typo in your third-to-last sentence. Did you mean to write<br />"And that, that right THERE, is what America has become."?<br /><br />I waited to post this because I didn't want it to be an early comment, or to pile on in case others noticed. I don't know what your policy is on people alerting you to possible typos, so I hope this doesn't come off as pedantic.<br /><br />Anyway - as I said above, magnificent essay. Thank you for writing it.AuntiGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-3892852191803923852020-01-23T12:19:47.078-06:002020-01-23T12:19:47.078-06:00Magnificent essay. And more significantly, it'...Magnificent essay. And more significantly, it's an *important* essay. The sooner people stop trying to appeal to logic or shame in Trump supporters the better.<br /><br />What I'm worried about aren't the worst of the Maga-heads, but the ones who go along with it. I'm not convinced that ALL of his supporters are as bad as the people at his NuremTrump rallies who eagerly roar with sadistic laughter or revel in violent rhetoric, but these moral cowards are still all OK with it. And now that they've made the decision to defend such behavior, they're stuck with it and sliding further down into the muck. <br /><br />The problem is, decent people don't want to think their fellow citizens are unredeemable, and the go-along Trump supporters still know how a decent person is expected supposed to behave. So if you talk to them one-on-one they can fool you into thinking that there's a chance they can be argued or shamed into changing their allegiance. But psychological research into the Backfire Effect tells us that for the majority of them, it's a waste of time. <br /><br />Which takes me back to your point. If Trump supporters are moved to support him primarily through Trump's spectacle, maybe they can be moved to reject him through a different spectacle. As infuriating as it is to have to stoop to that level of pandering, I hope the rest of us can come up with a sufficient counter-show, because it seems like it's the only chance we have left to retain any hope of democracy.AuntiGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-21231195470121398212020-01-23T05:22:18.395-06:002020-01-23T05:22:18.395-06:00Hear, hear, Stonekettle!
Born in the summer ...Hear, hear, Stonekettle! <br /><br />Born in the summer of ‘68, myself. And I, too, remember these things happening all around me as I grew up. <br /><br />My birth father most likely went to Nam and it is unknown to me if he ever came back. <br /><br />Apparently, my adoptive parents met in a bar in Dallas, drowning their tears the day Kennedy was shot, or so I was told. <br /><br />I took my first inspired steps across the floor around the age of one, while watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin leave mankind’s first footprints on the Moon. <br /><br />And the Nixon Hearings,... My mom watching them.... Engrossed<br /><br />I also remember hiding under the desks, or in the hallways, of the public schools of my suburbanite, childhood, existence, during the drills that would mock prepare us for any natural disasters. And. Or. Unnatural disasters, from Russia, with Love.<br /><br /> Made to feel somewhat like our children must today preparing, as they have to, for active shooters. <br /><br /> I voted for Clinton in my first eligible election, and I voted for Hillary in the most recent one. <br /><br />And now, as I have sat through watching most of the detailed House Impeachment Hearings. ...Or rather, “Yellings”, as half of it would turn out to be. <br /><br />And after some masterful half-time coaching by Leadership Pelosi... <br /><br />Now, we are on to the Senate Impeachment Trial of #IMPOTUS45 , And the machinations of one, #MoscowMitch... And like you, Anonymous, I am left continuously amazed at the willful ignorance of his flock, And unfortunately, the powers that be, thus far. Although, I do not think that the majority of them are blind... Perhaps, just floating up to their eyeballs in their own NRA laundered campaign donation Rubles. <br /><br />There is so much more that they are attempting to keep well hidden behind the curtain of their gerrymandered electoral holdings, than has yet to meet the eye<br /><br />And yet, all that we can do,.. Is sit. And watch. And hope. <br /><br />...That the bitter end of this “SHAM presidency” of #ThePussyGrabber&Thief... And all of his #TraitorTot Administration will come to an end. <br /><br />Sooner. Than. Later. <br /><br />LAwildirishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15766353861047891956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-45790640735654664922020-01-23T02:09:47.831-06:002020-01-23T02:09:47.831-06:00The final two paragraphs for the current article o...The final two paragraphs for the current article on my blog should give you my response to your article; <br /><br />...but make no mistake. If the Senate acquits the OHM without calling witnesses, every Republican Senator who votes to acquit will have taken their turn at sucking the President's cock. Every. One. Of. Them.<br /><br />More importantly, every one of them will be investigated by the next president who takes control of the office, and that investigation could very well be conducted by foreign governments interested in seeking favor with the president of the United States. They should probably think pretty hard about acquitting the OHM. You never know who the next person who holds an office might be. Just ask Barack Obama if he's happy about his current predicament. Ask him if he thinks the future turned out the way he wanted.<br /><br />Much more at: https://ranthonysteele.com/2020/01/dear-republicans-what-does-trumps-cock-taste-like/R. Anthony Steelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02360569752081330836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-2075437328013874812020-01-22T23:08:56.657-06:002020-01-22T23:08:56.657-06:00We desperately need that the 2016 election was an ...We desperately need that the 2016 election was an outlier because both parties offered awful candidates. The 2018 midterms were encouraging and losing the House was a huge defeat for Trump and the Party of Trump (PofT). I don't share Jim's admiration or evaluation of Hillary Clinton, I'm baffled that the Democrats never discovered people like Jim Webb and Bob Kerry, although they would be preemptively disqualified in the #metoo world. I have said for years that we were sliding toward a pure media President, but I envisioned somebody like Oprah. I was entertained at first by Trump's scything through the GOP minnows, for I had no love lost for the party even though I was still a registered Republican. Trump is an arrogant asshole with no redeeming qualities and I still cannot believe how easily he captured the nomination and the party. I held my nose and voted for HRC, knowing Trump was incompetent but unable to believe he could win. My presidential vote counts because I'm just one congressional district east of Chief Wright in panhandle Florida and Florida IS a swing state although this area is "LA" (Lower Alabama) and before that the Redneck Riviera. A week after the election I changed my registration to "No Party Affiliation", Florida's version of Independent, but I will vote straight Democrat until Trump, Pence, and the ex-GOP "PofT" are either defeated or so entrenched that voting is no longer the way to remove them.Don Hodgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01233199533070184137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-84930196171467193752020-01-22T21:46:27.628-06:002020-01-22T21:46:27.628-06:00Your reply to Jim is not only concise but absolute...Your reply to Jim is not only concise but absolutely perfect in every way.<br /><br />May I have your permission to quote the last sentence but omit your name as I don't want the trolls to target you?<br /><br />Kindest regards, <br />South Jersey DocSouth Jersey Docnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-19689812548746440662020-01-22T21:39:25.933-06:002020-01-22T21:39:25.933-06:00Nixon was bad in the sense of being amoral, crimin...Nixon was bad in the sense of being amoral, criminal, and paranoid, but at least he was competent. He was smart enough to sign the bill creating the EPA, thawed relations with China, etc. <br /><br />Trump, on the other hand, isn't even marginally competent, and to make it worse, doesn't even have competent advisors anymore to try to keep things running relatively straight and smooth. About the only competent one left is Stephen Miller, and given his white supremacist views, he's one that you'd rather NOT be good at his job.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-29917924826723869462020-01-22T21:07:05.604-06:002020-01-22T21:07:05.604-06:00I never watched any of Trump's Apprentice show...I never watched any of Trump's Apprentice shows because I can't be entertained by someone's firing. It's just not anything I'd want to watch. Still, I was willing to give every candidate a chance at first. When Trump mocked the reporter's birth defect on national television, that's when he became irredeemable to me. Anyone who would do that sort of thing lacks the basic empathy I'd want the leader of the free world to have. Everything else the man has done just cements in his overall rottenness as a human being. I vote Blue in every single election, no matter how small, to do whatever it takes to get Trump out of office.Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00500816920855712513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-42640417872386345912020-01-22T20:34:56.315-06:002020-01-22T20:34:56.315-06:00Bread and circuses, the old Roman formula. Trump a...Bread and circuses, the old Roman formula. Trump and the Republicans now want to take away the bread, and the circus seems to be enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-12113011432591257722020-01-22T20:27:22.716-06:002020-01-22T20:27:22.716-06:00Jane, I hear you. The thing that dismays me is th...Jane, I hear you. The thing that dismays me is the rabid support among those who voted for him. I had initially assumed that it was cognitive dissonance that kept people supporting him. As conversations/discussions/arguments have transpired, I have been forced to reassess, and it is the racism and xenophobia that moves them. Xena Tubahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03417809805691967652noreply@blogger.com