Shattered, neigh, devastated ...
This being Tuesday, the pond had hoped to renew the old acquaintance with Dame Groan (how can she e'er be forgot?), and indulge in the idle pursuit of pesky, uppity furriner bashing... as much fun as snake bashing in Springfield, with snake flesh as tasty as a cat or a dog.
It would have been a great distraction from a horse race the pond has absolutely no interest in, and a way to avoid the US election, which will soon be over, but which could be followed by a nightmare.
For some reason, early in the morn, she seems to have took a powder, scurried off the field, briefly disappeared to the corn field, leaving a deep sense of injustice, unfairness and betrayal. Instead the pond has been left with the bromancer celebrating the Mango Mussolini yet again...
The pond understands many will follow Dame Groan and disappear at the get go.
The pond's partner immediately leaves the room the moment that the MM appears on screen, and refuses to return until his braying ends... but what choice did the pond have?
Look what was on offer in the far right of the lizard Oz ...
Dear sweet long absent lord, talk about Sophie's choice.
The pond can hear a kindly possum murmuring from a distance that the pond should look on the left of the digital edition, which is still on the extreme far right (there is no left in this bizarro world), but in a different position.
Sorry, there's just more gibberish ...
So there you have it, and here's the bro, and that's all the pond has for the day. Perhaps even a tedious horse race might be better, on the off chance a horse might die ...
A Trump victory will be the better outcome for Australia
America would almost certainly be stronger internationally and project a more credible deterrence under Trump than it would under Harris.
The reptiles promise that it's only a five minute read, but in that time you could have enjoyed a manly bout of dinkum Aussie sex ... (sorry, the two minute joke works better).
As usual the reptiles opened with a snap, and unfortunately it was the usual suspect, when a snap of a cane toad might have been more stimulating and uplifting...
As if no one knew Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump (in Iowa Jima pose).Then the bro got into the meat of it ...
Renowned British historian Niall Ferguson recently told John Anderson that Trump carried more deterrence in his little finger than Harris would hold in her entire cabinet. That might be somewhat overstating things – an unusual occurrence of Scottish exaggeration – but it’s hard to argue with Ferguson’s general point.
Renowned Niall blathering with that hick from the stix?
Indeed, indeed. Courtesy of The Bulwark, a bastion of sanity in these troubled times, and The Wheels on the Bus Go Off, and Off, and Off, and... a great example of that deterrence in the little finger:
You know, when I say insane asylums, and then I say Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Does anybody know? They go crazy. They say, “Oh, he brings up these names.” And of, well, that’s genius, right? Dr. Hannibal Lecter. There’s nobody worse than him. Silence of the Lambs. Who the hell else would even remember that? I have a great memory. But they always hit me. I don’t bring it up too much, because they have to take such a—“he brought up Hannibal Lecter, what does that have to do with this? What does it—” It has everything to do with it, right? He was, that’s who we’re allowing into our country. And we don’t want to allow that into our country. So I’ve done something for you that I haven’t done in 20 speeches. I’ve brought up Dr. Hannibal Lecter. And we’re allowing him in. You watch, these fake people will say, “Again he brought up Hannibal Lecter. Has absolutely nothing to do.” You know I do the weave, right? The weave. It’s genius. You bring up Hannibal Lecter. You mention insane asylum, Hannibal Lecter, you go, oh. Now, there’ll be a time in life when the weave won’t finish properly at the bottom. And then we can talk. But right now it’s pure genius, hey. I have an uncle, my uncle, Uncle John, my father’s brother. Forty-one years at MIT, longest-serving professor. So many degrees he didn’t know what the hell to do with them all. And the most complicated—I understand a lot of this stuff. You know, I believe in that. I mean, Jack Nicklaus is not going to produce a bad golfer. Right? You know, that’s the way it works. Uh, it’s just one of those things. It’s in the family, and it’s—whatever. But we have to save this country. We’d better save this country.
Never mind, whatever, it's just one of those things, it's a bro thing ...
Henry Kissinger famously told the Soviets that Richard Nixon was a madman and that he could overreact or escalate at very short notice. Nixon was anything but a madman. But it seemed an effective image.
Ronald Reagan came into office with the reputation of a fierce and militaristic Cold War hawk. In fact Reagan, the greatest of the modern presidents, projected magnificent moral clarity in the Cold War conflict but was extremely careful and parsimonious, as it were, in the use of American force.
At this point the reptiles interrupted with a snap of Tricky Dick and a war criminal, labelled so the readership knew who they were as Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger.
So far, so much bromancer padding good ... as on and on he rambled in the manner of the MM... and surely here the pond readership might find something to stimulate the senses and produce a comment.
There was a moment in Reagan’s presidency where he satirised himself by saying we are about to launch missiles against Russia, without realising that TV cameras and mikes were switched on. It was clearly and instantly communicated to the Russians that this was not a real statement. And of course the left-of-centre media went bananas against Reagan. Yet somehow or other, through the strange osmosis of popular media even back in those pre-internet days, it reinforced the message, to the Russians and everyone else that you better not mess with Reagan.
While of course it is almost an obscenity to compare the crude and at times repulsive Trump to Reagan, nonetheless there was certainly something of this military caution, buttressed by the threat of horrendously tough action if the president deemed it necessary, in Trump’s first term.
During this election, Trump has campaigned against the endless wars that he says the Democrats have got America involved in. Trump needs to be a bit careful here. If he gives Americans, and the world, the idea that it’s never worth America’s while to take military action unless its own sovereign territory is directly attacked, he could very well undermine his own greatest strategic strength.
But of course everyone knows that Trump can change direction on a dime. If a foreign power humiliates the Trump White House, Trump would almost certainly react very aggressively.
After this dramatic but low-content fantasy island campaign we’ve just had, it’s tempting to say that we have no idea how either Trump or Harris would actually govern. I might have said that myself. But on reflection they both have highly indicative records.
Star wars anyone?
How would a bromancer piece be considered suitable without a snap of Ronnie Raybun in four star general salute mode?
Speaking of shooting at journalists and Liz Cheney and the lust for American-style violence in general, the pond always preferred Ronnie Raygun in Don Siegel's version of The Killers, as a dying Lee Marvin takes him and Angie out, and tries stagger off with the loot, resulting in an epic death scene...
Yep, almost anything rather than wading through the bromancer ...
Nothing stands more starkly to Trump’s discredit than the way he egged on the mob on January 6. But before that his record as president was very defensible. He did pay for defence. He had a good economy. He made a strong effort to control US borders. The Abraham Accords were magnificent. The employment rates for blacks and Hispanics were at historic highs. And he was very good for Australia.
And although, in my view grotesquely, he often spoke flatteringly of China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Xi and Putin found Trump extremely difficult to deal with.
Trump revolutionised US debate and policy on China and Biden mostly stuck with Trump’s China policy. Trump imposed more sanctions on Russia than any president had done; he strongarmed Western Europe into spending more on defence, a very bad development for Russia; and he pursued policies that created energy independence for the US, which put Washington in a position of greater leverage in all its key strategic relationships.
Could this simpering, delusional rambling get any worse? Guess what the pond found in its mail box, despite its very best endeavours to keep the crap out ...
May the long absent lord bless the pond? In the pond's experience, She's often a prize bitch ...
Inevitably after an epic bout of rampant stupidity, the bromancer tried to rescue the situation with a gigantic billy goat butt ...
If sometimes you see that I'm mad
Don'tcha know that no one alive can always be an angel?
When everything goes wrong, you see some bad
… But oh, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
… Oh, baby, I'm just human
Don't you know I have faults like anyone?
Sometimes I find myself alone regretting some little foolish thing
Some simple thing that I've done
… 'Cause I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
Don't let me be misunderstood
… I try so hard so please don't let me be misunderstood
The song put it better, but you can see the mad, bad and foolish thing at work ...
I don’t want to be misunderstood. I think Trump a gravely unsatisfactory political leader. His chaotic methods and his constant negotiations, while they are effective when he’s on his game, dangerously personalise strategic fundamentals. They also involve Trump frequently telling lies and reversing himself. Whereas for the whole of my life I had the idea that the word of an American president meant a great deal.
No need to relax. That bout of billy goat buttism is quickly followed by a correction of the usual reptile kind ...
Biden seems to have chosen her because he promised to choose an African-American woman and because he judged that her mediocrity and general ineffectiveness meant she would never be a credible alternative to him. When he was elected, despite what he implied in some interviews, Biden always planned to stay for two terms. Having a weak Vice-President helped that.
At this point the reptiles interrupted with a snap of the Satanic anti-Christ, apparently born of Malaysian and Samoan heritage, a Tuckyo notion that delighted Malaysians:
(Malaysia's Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad) ...remarked on Instagram: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Mr. Carlson. We were not aware that a Malaysian was running for the office of US President."
"Should Puan Kamala win the race, we are delighted to invite her to #balikkampung and try some #nasigorengUSA?,"
The caption? More of the bleeding obvious, Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Michigan, but not to worry, the bromancer was on the final stretch:
Harris’s career has been built on patronage and has always rested comfortably on the left. She has made a few stylistic gestures to Republican-inspired patriotism – such as having the Democratic convention chant “USA! USA!” But she still offers vast new spending and will go along with the left of her party. She’ll be Biden but worse.
The pond was surprised that the bromancer didn't take the next step and mention that Harris's career was built on blow jobs, but perhaps the sight of a presidential candidate performing a blow job on a microphone put him off ... and so to the bromancer's concluding flourish:
Harris doesn’t like any of them because she was condemned to obscurity as Vice-President, given a few assignments she fluffed and then more or less hidden in protective custody. She will appoint fellow leftists plus Obama administration holdovers, leftovers and retreads.
There’s nothing in any of that to give any confidence to Australia. If Trump imposes the maximum tariffs he’s talking about, that would be highly disruptive. But Trump showed in his first term a great propensity finally to compromise. He can’t appoint extremists to his cabinet because they won’t be confirmed by the Senate. The Republicans at best will have a tiny majority, 51 or 52 to 49 or 48, in the Senate, whereas you need 60 votes to confirm a cabinet appointee.
America will survive under either president. Talk of civil war is nonsense. The very latest shift seems to favour Harris coming back against an earlier very narrow Trump lead. No one at this stage can predict the result. But of two wildly unsatisfactory candidates, Trump would likely be better for Australia.
The MM might likely be better for journalism in Australia, or at least might help in fixing the lizard Oz:
Trump made the remark while complaining about the bulletproof glass surrounding him onstage — a fixture at his outdoor events since an attempt to assassinate him at a rally in July.
“I have this piece of glass here,” Trump said. “But all we have really over here is the fake news, right? And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news.
“And I don’t mind that so much,” Trump said. “I don’t mind. I don’t mind.” The audience roared with laughter. (the much diminished WaPo, lurking behind a paywall)
What a laugh, what a hoot, how much better things will be in the golden age of sneakers free of the lizard Oz and the reptiles peddling faux news ... and it will save us from the ramblings of a scribbler who sounds as tired, almost as exhausted, as the MM himself, a disinterested, heedless, inattentive, lackadaisical, mechanical, repetitive, apathetic, careless, slipshod, slovenly, wooden wretch, going through the motions as a reptile columnist ...
As usual, the immortal Rowe caught the vibe ...
In all the detailing, there was a pleasing cameo for Faux Noise, perving on the grinder, as he grinds away at the pole with his allegedly Arnold Palmer-sized member ...
What a feckless flood of sanewashing by the Bro. He's really degenerating all in a rush.
ReplyDeletehttps://archive.md/GjUzD
DeleteAdam Serwer in The Atlantic
Trump’s Followers Are Living in a Dark Fantasy
MAGA adherents deny and dismiss what they are a part of, but they believe Trump’s lies, and will support him until the end.
Which slot for the bromancer?
...There are, I’ve come to see, three circles of MAGA that make up the Trump coalition. The innermost circle comprises the most loyal Trump allies, who wish to combine a traditional conservative agenda of gutting the welfare state and redistributing income upward while executing by force a radical social reengineering of America to resemble right-wing nostalgia of the 1950s...
...There is a second, slightly larger circle around this first one, comprising devoted Trump fans. These fans are the primary target for a sanitized version of the “Great Replacement” theory, which holds that American elites have conspired to dispossess them of what they have in order to give it to unauthorized immigrants who do not belong. They are not ideologically hostile to the welfare state—indeed, many of them value it—but they believe it is being wasted on those who have no claim to it. People in this circle are acting rationally in response to conspiracy theories they have chosen to believe, and are bewildered by those who refuse to acknowledge what they are certain is true. This bewilderment serves only to further cement their feeling that they are the victims of an elite plot to take from them that which they deserve. This is the group you might refer to as true believers...
...Then there is the outer circle: Americans with conservative beliefs who may be uneasy about Trump but whose identification with conservative principles and the Republican Party mean they wish to persuade themselves to vote for the Republican candidate. They may be ardently anti-abortion, or small-business owners, or deeply religious. They do not believe everything Trump says; in fact, their approach to the man is dismissiveness. These are voters who fall into what my colleague David Graham calls the “believability gap.” They don’t like Trump’s authoritarian rhetoric but also don’t think he will follow through with it. This is the “What’s the downside for humoring him?” faction.
This group of Trump voters treat his authoritarianism as mere bombast or as exaggerations from the media, seeing this election as an ordinary one in which a party with a bad economic record should be replaced by a party with a better one, not an election in which a man who tried to destroy American democracy is running for a chance to finish the job.
Denial is the mortar that holds the three MAGA circles together. The innermost circle denies the radicalism of its agenda to the middle ring of fervent Trump supporters, presenting any criticism as the lies of the same liberal elites responsible for dispossessing real Americans of what is owed them. The outer circle treats Trump’s authoritarianism and racism as regrettable and perhaps too colorful, but equivalent or similar to other common character defects possessed by all politicians. To acknowledge the liberal critique of Trump as correct would amount to a painful step away from a settled political identity that these outer-circle members are not willing to take—they would have to join the Never Trumpers in exile.
So that's just one of the common misunderstandings: they are not "Trump’s lies", they are Trump's truths and that's why they can be, and are, believed unquestioningly. This "Trump's lies" thing is part of the reason why they're difficult to criticise and attack. What usually happens is that the anti-Trumpians try to tell their opponents that they've got things wrong whereas the only way to tackle such 'belief systems' is by innocent questioning: present as a genuine inquirer, not an opponent, and induce them to keep on explaining themselves.
DeleteThat will at least occasionally work - via that self induced, not imposed, moment of understanding whereas any other approach is guaranteed to fail.
Of course I never use that approach because I don't care whether they believe or not - in the very short run we are all dead. And if you doubt me, just think how much effort has been expended with very little reward in the matter of dissuading people from all the "religions" of the world. After thousands of years, people are still torturing and killing each other over it - and they'll still be at it thousands of years after Trump is totally forgotten.