nittany ram wrote:

Zooey wrote:

I was thinking maybe Rosey Grier because I know he dabbled in Hollywood. Too early for Merlin Olsen.

I figured Lamar Lundy would be on everyone’s shortlist given his height and the time frame.

Well, obviously. But those of us who understand how Hollywood works know that they use an array of techniques to make actors look larger or smaller just for the hell of it. So it was a bit of a surprise they didn’t do that in this case, and probably explains why the episode never aired.

There are lots of hierarchies outside of feudalistic societies. I don’t even understand that statement. Of course the CIA and NSA and FBI are hierarchical.

And I think we can acknowledge that they aren’t all of the same mindset. Not every American is a Trump supporter. Not every American thinks capitalism is God’s own economic system. Not every American thinks that our government’s foreign policy is mostly benevolent. But there are cultures within these agencies that value service to the capitalist, imperialistic nature of our society. People within are largely supportive of these general values, and like General Butler, are prepared to serve those interests in violation of human rights.

nittany ram wrote:

25 is the perfect age – old enough to be treated like an adult, but still young enough to be excused for those moments of immaturity…

Happy B-day.

I thought you were older than that, Nittany.

zn wrote:

I would never have predicted 10 years ago that a Sanders would get as far as he did.

Really, any optimism has to live right there.

His elevation was actually remarkable.

No party endorsement or support. No financial backing from power interests. Used the word “socialist.” Old guy, fairly high on the Nerd scale.

And he had a LOT of popular, energetic support.

Happy birthday.

I think 27 or 28 was about my favorite age.

Probably didn’t hurt that the Rams were still respectable back then.

We are in a very bad place.

The billionaires dominate the media conversation, and have won the propaganda war. Even if the Dems could flip the House, there is no getting control of the media message. A huge minority of Americans are brainwashed beyond repair, it seems to me, and the problems are not going away even if they can be rolled back slightly.

I’m not going to OTAs, either, and what do I get? Nothing.

Just another example of the disparities in our system.

It’s preposterous beyond words.

But we will have our flags wave, and complain about how the government is taking our hard-earned money and giving it to poor people.

Boy. There are times when I wish I could be the world’s grammar and spell checker. Many a great meme is ruined by illiteracy.

Should we discuss the difference between “then/than?”

This t-shirt was almost great. Instead…spectacular failure.

wv wrote:

Zooey wrote:

Yeah, I think there is a big difference between promoting an establishment point of view which is narrow and selective and promoting outright lies, lies of omission, and basically hate speech in order to manipulate a large portion of the population into hostile partisanship.

Those things are not equal.

One of those things can actually be engaged; the other can’t.

====================

Well, its true Fox is off-the-charts, with their NeoCon/Evangelical sales-pitch.

But what IS the NYTimes? What does it stand for, what does it sell to the public exactly?

My own view is that it essentially sells Obama/Clinton. Neoliberalism.
And there is no neoliberalism without the CIA and the Corporations and the Pentagon and weapons manufacturers and the corporate-media, etc, etc etc. The whole shebang. The NYT is pro ‘system’. Pro ‘corporotacracy’.

And what does the corporotacracy do to the biosphere? To the poor?

So is that so much better than what Fox News is all about? Well…yes…i suppose…but still…. blah blah blah yall know my speech by now.

I loathe the NYT.

w
v

I go back to what I said.

The NYT can be engaged.

FOX cannot.

A guy like Sanders has pulled the aperture wide enough now that tuition costs and national health care can now be debated respectably. The NYT will be able to give that issue coverage when Sanders introduces his bill.

FOX never will, and nothing you can say will ever persuade a FOX viewer to look at things differently because they are completely misinformed, and have no critical thinking skills through which to reach them. No discussion is possible with that crowd. Is. Not. Possible.

We have pulled NYT people over to our side on this board. And people to the right of NYT.

Too little, too late, perhaps. But still… Not the same thing.

zn wrote:

Zooey wrote:

I think he has trampled all over their holy service and sacrifice, and shown total disregard for the meaning of all they hold dear. His actions have told them that he doesn’t respect them or value what they do.

I don’t agree with that.

His incompetence jeopardizes what they do.

I don’t think it’s a peevish emotional thing.

He’s brazenly and irremediably incompetent. It fucks things up for them.

And that’s of course whether or not we approve of all the policies he fucks up.

I don’t think it’s peevish, either.

He’s ignorant and incompetent, and he is trashing around the place with disregard for the values they hold – which include steady dependability, among other things.

wv wrote:

=================

I suspect it is more than just ‘he offended’ them. It could be that. But that makes them seem awfully…thin skinned. I have NO idea what the truth is, but it could be more than just ‘personal offense taken’. It could be a deep-state-policy thing.

I dont think we will ever know.

As far as the word ‘conspiracy’ — we are dealing with a secret society, a secret culture, a secret organization — the CIA. So, i dont even know how to leave out the term ‘conspiracy’, or how to even talk about them.

I see it as a pathological organization. Doesnt matter (to me) if a few of them are ‘good people’ or fighting for a less-monstrous-organization. Its no different than Monsanto or Blackwater. I see them as pathological. Reflections of a pathological system in general. I see them the way Smedley Butler saw the powers-that-be.

Again, no ‘heat’ here. I’m just talkin calmly. No big thing.

My views have darkened since about the beginning of the election cycle. Partly because of what i saw the Dems do to Bernie. Partly because of what the corporate media has become — its much worse now than ever. Its essentially nothing but propaganda now. The CIA disgusts me.

w
v

I agree with all of that.

By offended, I’m not talking about reaching into the snack bowl with his hands instead of using the tongs.

I think he has trampled all over their holy service and sacrifice, and shown total disregard for the meaning of all they hold dear. His actions have told them that he doesn’t respect them or value what they do.

zn wrote:

wv wrote:

But ‘something’ about Trump just made some faction in the CIA go nutz.

This is so simple.

They’re professionals and he is dangerously incompetent when it comes to those issues.

It’s nothing more than that. Notice none of the dissent is about policy (unlike in the courts with immigration). It’s about procedures.

I think that’s 90% of it, but I can’t help but think there may be a bit more to it than that.

I can’t remember the exact Nixon quote, but he said something to the effect that the FBI had enough dirt on everybody to bring all of Washington down. And I am sure the FBI and other intelligence agencies went to work on DJT when he announced his candidacy, and probably already had a pretty thick file even before that.

Trump has some pretty suspicious connections around the globe, and I will bet that the intelligence community knows more than it has said. They have to be careful, of course, because the whole thing is a tangled web of money and power. But I think their distrust of him is based on more than his incompetence.

Agamemnon wrote:

Poor, poor San Diego. They have no home.

I think they should move back to San Diego after a year. Now that the Raiders are fully committed to Las Vegas, that would be the smart thing to do.

(at least from my pov because I hate the idea of the LA Chargers)