Excellent article, Zooey.

Thanks.

As the young kids used to say, OMG!!

I love body-surfing in the ocean. But those waves look about a thousand times higher than I could handle on my best day.

Amazing feats of athleticism and courage.

Ramsey Glissadevil wrote:

BTW Billy, Do you believe that there are stark differences between democrat and republican congressmen and women? I don’t. The Bushes, are the same as the Clintons and Obama. Many Americans deceive themselves into thinking Republican vs Democrat. Clinton and Bush partied together! They don’t like Trump because he’s an outsider who wants to stop the Globalist Gravy Train. That’s why they hate him. The lame stream media are run by the CIA.

I’ve researched Uranium One. Hillary, FBI, CIA, Obama, and others are tied to it directly. I don’t care what a bunch of Republican crooks in congress said. Why would you take the word of corrupt Republican congressmen? Or democrat congressmen? If you want, I can connect you with over 100 hours of Uranium One information. Just ask if you’re interested.

Ramsey,

Please be honest. Are you the poster formerly known as BNW?

As for your questions. I wish there were stark differences on all issues between the two major parties. I wish we had wide choices, lots of options, and all kinds of alternatives. Like the ability to say no to capitalism altogether, to endless wars, to empire, the surveillance state, the carceral state, the war on drugs, etc. etc. But we don’t. On the big issues, we have degrees of difference when we need real options. We have the center-right Dems and the further right Republicans. Thanks to Trump, we have the solidifying of a far-right GOP fringe. As in, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and neo-Fascists. Trump never would have won the election without them.

Also, Trump was never an outsider. Not in the slightest. He was never going to “drain the swamp.” He IS the swamp, and he’s brought in more direct cases of Pay to Play, Self-Dealing and Grifting than any politician since Boss Tweed, and a host of billionaires for his cabinet.

As for Clinton and Bush partying together. Trump used to be a Dem and gave money to the Clintons and pols like Schumer — all the time. His children and Chelsea were friends before the election. And, Trump has signed off on all the bills brought to him by Ryan/McConnell, including the judges they wanted, the tax cuts for the rich they (and Trump) wanted, the massive deregulation they all wanted, etc. etc.

How has Trump gone against the GOP mainstream? He hasn’t. He threatened trade wars here and there, only to back off and do carveouts for various nations and industries.

As for going up against the so-called “deep state.” Think about it. He hasn’t once tried to help anyone outside his own campaign or himself, if they’ve been ensnared in the CIA/FBI/NSA web. It’s only been about him and his own legal troubles, which are beyond serious.

Let me know when he becomes an actual civil libertarian for all Americans, and I’ll happily reassess my views on at least that issue.

Ramsey Glissadevil wrote:

I don’t see any proof of Russia collusion except for the Uranium One collusion. What do I see? Over a year of investigation and zero evidence that Trump did anything wrong. I didn’t trust Trump a year ago, but now I’m coming around. It felt good get a raise at work, pay less taxes, and now Trump is denuclearizing North Korea.

I value policy over personality. I get the fact many folks don’t like Trump’s personality. Compared to Obama and Bush, I like Trump’s policy and effect on the economy.

Here’s the collusion: The Trump Tower meeting with the Russians. Donny Jr, Jared, Paul Manafort. We have the email trail leading up to this. The Russia government offered dirt on Clinton. The Trump campaign accepted the invitation. That’s collusion. And they did it at least twice.

We also now know of numerous similar meeting with other governments, like Israel, the Ukraine, China, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the Arab Emirates . . . all nations eager to do business with the Trump campaign and help him win the election.

That’s illegal under our campaign finance laws.

And they got their Quid Pro Quo later, with changes to our sanctions policies, help for the Saudis and Emirates against Qatar, help with China on ZTE, help with Israel and Jerusalem, along with massive arms shipments to the Middle East . . . etc. etc.

Trump lied over the weekend when he said that the “crooked” FBI and Justice didn’t warn him. They did. They warned both campaigns back in 2016, and the meetings with the Russians continued, without Trump or his associates telling the FBI. In fact, they kept denying that the meetings ever happened, until they were smoked out and had to admit it.

No innocent person or persons act like that.

(As usual, trying to break this up into smaller chunks)

To me, the Dems, with their centrist, mushy middle, corporatist, dare-I-eat-a-peach “pragmatism,” set the table for Trump, and before that, the tea party, and before that, Dubya, at least. One could even argue that the Dems — who have never been “radical,” of course, but at least once pushed for “progressive” legislation when pressured enough from their left — even set the table for Reagan . . . cuz they had all but abandoned the working class after the 1960s and its backlash.

(Of course, the GOP can’t even claim to have abandoned them. Because they’ve never been for them in the first place.)

People are desperate for strong action now, especially to reverse decades of plutocratic wins, wins for Capital over Labor, wins for everyone but the poor, the working poor, the middle, etc. And when there is no party fighting hard on their behalf, some Americans — and Europeans — have fallen for conartists on the right and the far right, who are often brilliant at pitting those same groups against immigrants, ethnic, religious and sexual minorities and women . . .

In America, they might wear a cowboy hat and drive a pickup truck, or, in the most bizarre case in our history, be a “billionaire” from New York City, one without any record whatsoever of helping the poor, the working poor, etc. etc. But that siren call of “It’s their fault!! They’re out to screw you!!” has all too often worked. It can’t if there’s a legitimate response to economic inequality and social injustice, which has only ever come from “the left.”

Ramsey Glissadevil wrote:

I’ll bet that study said what the guy who conducted the study wanted it to say. Like polls. And the polls said Trump will lose the election. I didn’t vote because I don’t trust politicians. I trust the media less. The media is the megaphone for a corrupt government. If Trump denuclearizes North Korea, he will get my vote. I also liked the economic moves Trump has made and the abolishment of the Obamacare penalty and how Trump has pulled America out of deals or treaties that funneled American tax payer dollars to foreign elite. The Paris climate accord for one.

Its not a white thing. Its a worker thing. Workers don’t like the government taking huge chunks of their paychecks. Hard working black, Hispanic, and oriental folks feel the same way.

Hey, Ramsey, welcome aboard.

Or have you posted here before with a different handle? I had a long period of absence meself, so I may have missed you during that time. Anyway . . .

Trump actually hasn’t pulled us out of any treaties or deals that involve our taxdollars.

TPP wasn’t ratified or implemented yet, so that’s not an issue. We’re still in NAFTA, GATT, WTO, etc. etc.

The Paris Accords were/are all voluntary, with no legal boundaries attached. They don’t take one penny of your taxes.

As for your taxes: Trump and the GOP gifted themselves — as in, the super-rich — literally trillions of dollars in the process, which will all have to be paid back by your grandkids. Trump slashed his own taxes to the point of tens of millions per year, and if he’s as rich as he says he is, his heirs will literally save billions. No “workers” benefit one iota. The super-rich did. And, again, that money has to be paid back, because it had to be borrowed.

But the real “deals” Trump made happen were for himself and his family. Like letting the Chinese company ZTE off the hook and receiving half a billion from China to fund one of Trump’s own projects in Indonesia. China also has given Ivanka Trump 34 trademarks she otherwise never would have received. Jared Kushner received a half a billion dollars in loans (at least) after speaking with two CEOs in the Oval Office. Trump changed US policy toward Qatar after they turned Kushner down for loans.

The list goes on and on. No president in the last century has done as much personal grifting as Trump. It’s not close. He’s easily the most corrupt and mendacious president we’ve ever had, and that’s saying a ton, when we look through our history.

wv wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

All the best to BillyT and zooey.

======

Absolutely.

We are all gettin old, aint we.

Btw, i had an esophagus issue a while back and my doctor said
i should bake it in the oven at 325 degrees for twenty minutes.

w
v

We are. Real old.

But I’m having a lot of trouble picturing you fitting your esophagus into an oven, not to mention lifting it in the first place. Or do you have one of those huge outdoor pit ovens, and you just rolled it over there somehow?

Zooey wrote:

I’m sorry to hear that, Billy. I was hoping you were in the clear, since I hadn’t seen you refer to cancer for quite a while. All the best.

Thanks, Zooey. It sounds like we had similar mindsets regarding when and where to talk about our travails. I had no idea you were going through all of that, and it sounds like you’ve dealt with it with some serious toughness and stoicism. The Rams could use someone like you to play linebacker!!

Quick summary of my own deal: I pretty much stopped talking about it online when the treatments became close to routine. Maintenance chemo was mostly just a fact of life from roughly 2003 on — after the first full treatment — with a year’s break now and again. Two serious flareups in the 2000s, and another in 2013 before this last one, which is the worst of all.

Was also recently disabused of an earlier notion that recurrences weren’t that big a deal, because they’d just, well, do chemo again. My latest doctor said these things add up — I read “cumulative effect” between the lines — and they’re really pushing me toward stem cells now.

Will post about that sometime in the future. It was pretty interesting, but depressing, too. It seems we’re not as advanced there as I thought we’d be by now.

Best wishes, Zooey. You know all of this, of course, but spend as much time as you can with family and your closest friends. That’s what counts when all is said and done.

I was thinking of a couple:

Me: That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying we’ll use Air Coryell and pass the ball all the time. No Marty Ball. No Ground Chuck. We’re going to throw it 70% of the time!!

Them: History shows it never works to do that. You can’t do Ground Chuck or Marty Ball and win Super Bowls. We know it leads to disaster again and again. You just can’t run the ball 70% of the time and win.

Me: Again, I’m not saying that. It’s Air Coryell and passing the ball all the time.

Them: But running the ball all the time means millions of deaths and a Stalinist hell!! Everyone knows that!! Why don’t you SEE that!!!

I hope Ekubam can match his elite athleticism with actual productivity. He’s probably the fastest linebacker they’ve had in years and years.

Far from the ideal as far as height and length, but he has speed and agility to burn, and can get stronger.

I might be waaay off on this, but I don’t think any of the other recent draftees are particularly “elite” athletically. McSnead seemed to have concentrated more on older players, with high football IQs, who were often leaders on their respective teams.

Not that they weren’t athletic too. They all are. Just not “elite.”

With this rash of injuries, it’s a damn good thing they decided to draft and sign (UDFAs) so many front seven guys.

I still think Kiser will end up starting this year, but no longer think Obo will. His injury is too much the set back.

On the outside, I’m guessing it’s Young and Ekuban. If healthy, I like Young’s chances to be a good one too.

Something almost no one is talking about in the media, regarding this case:

NFL players kneeling was not a widespread concern until Trump made it so. And it was fading as a concern until he jumped back into the fray recently. Any loss of revenue via boycotts can be traced back to Trump’s highly opportunistic rhetoric, not to the players’ actions. So when the idiot (former?) CEO of Papa Johns made a big stink about the players supposedly costing him money, he should have focused on his buddy Trump, not them.

It’s also the case that no American, regardless of “sides,” should support any president’s call for American citizens to be fired and deported for expressing dissent, especially when it’s non-violent. Even the suggestion that this should happen should be roundly condemned by every American.

snowman wrote:

The NFL’s attempt to dictate the behavior of its black players is typical of our country’s treatment of minorities. We treat them badly, then order them not to inconvenience us.

EDIT:
It just hit me that mandatory attendance at church and tithing and all the other church rules generate fake devotion. It’s about obedience, not faith or patriotism.

I’ve thought the same thing about forcing kids to attend church, especially when it’s clear that’s the last place they want to be.

The older I get, the more convinced I am that the best way to go is live and let live. If you have to coerce anything or anyone, it’s not worth it. You’ve already lost. Let it be, etc.

And I am ferociously opposed to coerced “patriotism” of any kind, cuz it’s not. It’s not patriotic if it’s compelled — via peer pressure, business owners or our liar in chief.

This is so obvious and self-evident, I have no real idea why it’s even an issue. The players silently kneel, harm no one, do this non-violently, and no one can argue that they don’t have every reason in the world TO protest.

This country has lost its mind.

And, of course, Zooey, you’re right about the most important thing here: The protest was/is against police brutality and systemic racism, not about the flag or the anthem . . . . even though I think the anthem should be a part of the protest. It’s written by a slaveholder who later tried to defend his fellow slaveholders in court. The third verse actually celebrates the killing of slaves. We can do better as a nation in our choices.

It still surprises me that black players haven’t brought that up. That tells me they’ve showing remarkable restraint.

Trump likely knew he was doing this all along, but his interjection moved the goalposts for both the protesters and the people who hate the protests:

For the former, it’s now, at least in part, a matter of rejecting the authority of any man/woman, regardless of title, telling them they have to leave the country if they don’t want to stand while the anthem is played. And for those against the protesters, standing with Trump has now entered the fray. It keeps spinning more and more away from the original intent of the players — which was the point, of course.

One sure fire way to destroy dissent is to make sure few enough people remember the original rationale for that dissent.